Rigil's Reflections from a DS9 Newb...

[Rigil Kent]

Life Support was a pretty decent episode, even if it killed off my favorite recurring Bajoran. Honestly, it wasn't a surprise that Bareil (?) died: he was simply too decent a person to live. Honest, patriotic, loyal. I did like Bashir throwing down the gauntlet with Wynn, though; the good doctor earned my respect the way he refused to back down before that zealot, and I especially liked their first confrontation when he threatened to have security throw her out of his infirmary. I didn't get the positronic matrix thing they stuck in Bareil's technobabbilium to keep him alive; I thought that was what was in Data's head? The Jake/Nog subplot really didn't do much for me, though.

Heart of Stone was also tolerable, although, as the episode progressed, I realized I had seen some of it before so the "reveal" about Kira wasn't a surprise. There were enough hints, I think, to pick that up anyway. Odo had a nifty trick I hadn't seen before where he formed a shield over the "trapped Kira". To my surprise, the Nog subplot was slightly more interesting, and I kind of wanted to smack both Dax & Sisko upside the head when they wondered why Nog wanted to join Starfleet. I mean, haven't they seen his family life?

[Rigil Kent]

Destiny was ... mediocre. It had a very boring teaser and first act. Tracy Scoggins looks totally weird as a Cardassian (and not in a good way). Some of the thinking by the Starfleeters is just flat out stupid: why in God's name would you let a Cardassian run around on Defiant and see the phaser array stuff? Especially knowing that they aren't a trustworthy species and they are members of a rival stellar nation. Total stupidity. I have to laugh every time they mention prophecy as I'm reminded of that quote on Bab5: "Prophecy is a guess that comes true."

Prophet Motive stunk on ice. The only redeeming element was the Bashir subplot, and I found myself desperately wishing they would go back to it every time I had to sit through another stupid Ferengi scene. Once again, I find myself thoroughly disgusted by the anti-capitalist nonsense that permeates the show around them. It's so annoyingly stupid that I have to consciously remind myself that the people in charge of the show are commie libs.

So, I'll go .5 out of 2 'cause Destiny had some scenes that didn't make me want to rip out my eyes.

[Rigil Kent]

Visionary begins with another really long teaser that ultimately meanders to a point. I dunno what it is about this show, but they seem almost incapable (so far) of using the teaser for what the teaser is supposed to be for! Anyway, this was an average Mess With O'Brien episode that relied too much on silly technobabble. And when, exactly, did Klingons begin hating Romulans as they stated in this ep? While I realize that Kira/Odo is one of the principal "ships" of this show, I'm not really on board with it myself. Together, they kind of bore me. Good final moment with O'Brien messing with Quark's head though.

Distant Voices was boring and, aside from having more Garak, there's not much positive I can say about this episode. While the idea of having the other characters represent a part of Bashir's psyche was good, the execution was bad. And, just like the previous episode, they had a final good scene.

One monumental Meh, and one Booooring...

[Rigil Kent]

Well, I was bored and with nothing to do, so I decided to watch two more episodes. This became three as the second ep had a big blue "To Be Continued" at the end.

Through the Looking Glass was the second MU episode and, as some people have commented, it wasn't as good as the first one. It did, however, have a pretty decent teaser. Not perfect, but better. I totally dug seeing MU Tuvok (although he should have had a goatee, dammit!), and thought MU Dax looked awesome with the shorter hair. MU Kira appears to have made the leap to caricature though, and it seems like it's becoming easier and easier to travel between the two universes. Sisko also fell into MU Sisko's role pretty easily. Overall, I can't say it was more than just Average.

Improbable Cause simply rocked. I've gone on record as stating how much I like Garak and in this episode, he really shined. The teaser was very good and managed to capture my attention from the get-go. The bit between Odo & the mysterious Cardassian was quite interesting, but the interaction between the constable and Garak fraking rocked. The scene in Odo's office was spectacular, and then the later one in the runabout before their capture was just as good. Very funny bit with Garak & Bashir before the Cardassian boards the runabout. And the way the Obsidian Order building ships plot from Defiant and the recent eps with the Romulans gaining intel paid off in a big way. Excellent cliffhanger.

Because of the way that one ended, I simply had to watch the next episode and The Die is Cast didn't disappoint ... much. Interesting title too, given that it comes from Caesar's line when he crosses the Rubicon River to seize control of the Roman Republic. And the teaser? Finally! That's what a teaser is supposed to be like! We also got further proof that Sisko is a good commander as he knew when to not bother his ChEng for stupid status reports about the repairs. Garak's torture of Odo was surprisingly effective and chilling; I'd hate to see what would happen if that thing wasn't turned off. The Romulan colonel (who turned out to be a Founder - nice reveal that) sounded quite Vulcan when he spoke, but that's cool. His comment that the Klingons were one of the only two threats caused me to chuckle, 'cause, frankly, the Klingons are complete jokes. I totally dug the ass whooping space battle ... but I wanted more! Plus, we got to see the Defiant kick a little Jem'Hadar ass. And that last scene in Garak's shop? Fan-fraking-tastic. Excellent directing.

So, despite an underwhelming MU episode, the two following episodes totally rocked and only make me more eager for the coming war...

[JadziaKathryn]

and it seems like it's becoming easier and easier to travel between the two universes. Sisko also fell into MU Sisko's role pretty easily.

Yeah. I always thought DS9 took the mirror universe too far. On the other hand, the MU episodes actually had influence on RU characters. *mumble mumble*

[Linda]

Well, Rigil, I must admit that you might have at least one non-misanthropic quality hidden in you somewhere if you like Garak. Garak is a great character. My favorite line of his is "It's all true. Especially the lies."

[Rigil Kent]

Well, Rigil, I must admit that you might have at least one non-misanthropic quality hidden in you somewhere if you like Garak.

Really? I'd think that the inverse was true.

I think one of my favorite lines was the moral he took from the boy who cried wolf story that Bashir told him; "don't tell the same lie twice."

[Linda]

Well, (gulp), if the inverse is true...that means that I might, now a very slight possibility mind you, (grips edge of desk so won't faint), have a sliver of the misanthrope in me...runs screeming from the room in search of her beany Vulcan doll.

NO INVERSE POSSIBLE - IN COMPLETE DENIAL!

[Rigil Kent]

Welcome to the Dark Side. We have cookies. And cool capes.

[CX]

Odo: "You'd shoot a man in the back?"

Garak: "Well, it's the safest way."

[Linda]

I simply adore Garak. And Soval in his sarcastic, grumpy mood when he is thoroughly disgusted with Humans. So whats wrong with me? Maybe its that hidden alien genetic inheritance my parents where carefully keeping from me. Mahahahaha....take me home to Cardasia with a sidetrip to visit 'a friend' on Vulcan.

[Rigil Kent]

Since my three episode bit ruined my 2/night, I just watched one. Explorers was, for a low-key episode without the war element, quite good with copious amounts of good character interaction. The Bashir/Dax friendship really shined, and of course, the Bashir/O'Brien friendship, and ultimately the Sisko/Sisko interactions were quite good. This ep lends credence to the belief that Sisko was an engineer before becoming station commander, as he puts that cool-looking ship together pretty quick. From what I've read about using solar sails, though, the sails were far too small and would have needed to be kilometers long. I do wonder how they managed to have this sort of downtime though, particularly given what just happened in the previous episode. I'd think that Starfleet would be very tense right about now with concern that the Dominion would be appearing at any minute. Apart from that, however, it was very good, and I really enjoyed the whole thing.

[Linda]

That solar sail ship was beautiful even if the sails were too small. I liked the father/son interaction. Yes, I too was surprised that Starfleet would allow such a trip. I also wondered about the whole history of Bajoran/Cardasian relations, especially in the years just after their first contact. The fireworks for a Bajoran ship had me wondering.

I have not come across any really good layouts of the station, deck by deck as there are of some of the Starfleet ships. It is such an intriguing design, surprisingly diverse for its original ore processing purpose. The bilevel set of the station's commercial area seems more elaborate than other Star Trek set.

[Rigil Kent]

Finished season 3 today. Had nothing to do really, and wasn't motivated to do any writing, so I decided to watch some DS9. Unfortunately, of the four episodes that I watched, I really only liked one.

Family Business stunk for the most part. There was some pretty good Ben/Jake interaction, and I liked that Sisko named the replacement runabout "Rubicon" (which is amusing what with all of the Julius Caesar references a couple of episodes ago.). The DS9 subplot about Sisko being set up with Yates was mildly amusing, and I really liked how excited he got when he found out she was a baseball fan. The Ferengi plot, however, made me want to take a hammer to my skull. Repeatedly. This is definitely one of those episodes that I would not have watched all the way through if I hadn't promised to do so.

Following up on that is Shakaar, another Kira-centric episode that had the potential to be interesting but ultimately failed to do much beyond bore me. The fact that Winn was, once again, deceptive and underhanded should have surprised no one, least of all Kira, yet she was surprised that the Kai/First Minister lied. The entire Bajor plot didn't get interesting until around act 4, which is sad, and they missed a big opportunity with the DS9 B Plot revolving around O'Brien. The last scene should have been O'Brien meeting with the Vulcan and getting his half of the winnings (since the odds were 15:1). As it was, the sudden shoulder injury was just lame.

Facets continued this mediocre trend, which is disappointing. While I generally like Dax, this entire episode was just ... bland and uninteresting. The Nog subplot was pretty decent, and I totally dug Rom's furious confrontation with his brother over the reprogramming of the holo-suite so Nog would fail. Odo as Curzon was pretty neat, although the "Curzon was in love with Jadzia" bit totally fell flat. I'm not sure what Curzon/Odo got out of drinking though, since they've previously established he has no sense of taste.

Which leads to the season finale, The Adversary. I wanted to like this episode and, while it was above average, it didn't have the emotional impact that a season finale is supposed to have. I liked that Sisko got frocked, and the continuing Yates plot with him was good, but some of the directing and pacing of this episode was just weird. When did the Federation have a war with the Tzenkethi anyway? Obviously within Sisko's career based on his comments, but that seems to fly in the face of the TNG assertion that they haven't been at war in years. The changeling "ambassador's" escape from the bridge was pretty cool, and his ultimate death was pretty neat, but their really didn't seem to be the sense of peril that the Defiant was actually going to go boom.

Final thoughts on the season: I know that some people have said that DS9 starts to get good in season 3, but honestly, it was about as hit and miss to me as the first two seasons were. The final four or five episodes were not as intense or as exciting as the final four or five episodes of Enterprise's third season (ignoring the nonsensical alien Nazis that Zero Hour ended with.) So truthfully, I can't give DS9 season 3 a higher grade than ENT season 3 (although the people in charge didn't completely lose their senses and make one of the main characters a criminally negligent addict, so that's something I suppose.)

[Rigil Kent]

Obviously, this has been a really boring day. With nothing to do and absolutely nothing on television, I went ahead and started season 4 with The Way of the Warrior.

And it more than made up for the mediocrity of the last four episodes.

Now, I'm no fan of TNG-era Klingons, and this episode really didn't do much to change that opinion (since they were still retarded morons for the most part), but it was still a spectacular season opener. I'm also not that big a fan of Worf, but I really liked how he was introduced and utilized in this.

The teaser was good, if a bit long, and actually accomplished the job of making Starfleet seem smart, what with them actually conducting training drills about how to track and neutralize a Founder. There was a very cute-looking Security chick in there too. And I blame 24 for making me chuckle every time I see Yates, I think of Sherry Palmer. I guess that Yates is a Boomer, huh? And that final shot of all of those Klingon ships? Whoa...

Anyway, bringing in Worf the way they did made absolute sense (kudos to the production team for using their brains instead of his assignment to DS9 coming across as really lame.) I also liked the effective references to Generations and the destruction of the butt-ugly -1701-D.

I instantly recognized Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander from B5) when she popped up on Defiant, and noticed that both Bashir & Dax appear to have been promoted. Once again, proof that this creative team realizes that officers don't stay ensigns for ten years. But I digress...

Defiant kicked some serious ass when it started opening up on the Klingons, and Worf had an awesome line: "In war, there is nothing more honorable than victory." I didn't understand, apart from getting the command crew onto the station, why they would dock Defiant and not have it out there kicking Klingon ass once the shooting started.

I loved the Garak interactions with ... well ... everyone, but especially the ones with Quark & Gul Dukat. The line about the Federation being insidious cracked me up ... although Garak's earlier comment about getting in several cutting remarks that did serious damage to their egos was hilairous.

And the battle? Well, it's about damned time. I wasn't impressed with Klingon battle tactics (or rather, the lack thereof), but it was nice to see that Starfleet actually upgraded their first line of defense against a Jem'Hadar attack. Given their previous track record (honestly, have they ever shown Earth to actually be defended?), it's a nice surprise.

Oh, and the newly revised opening sequence was quite a bit better. There were some slow bits that didn't do much for me. The holosuite scene between Dax & Kira slowed things down a bit, and I thought the Klingons themselves were ridiculously cliched. Given that they have effectively turned into cliches anyway, that's probably not a surprise though.

So, that's how a season opener is supposed to be ... I'd go so far as to say that it's the best season opener I've seen.