Rigil Kent wrote:So, I acquired DS9 recently (thanks,
Chrisis1033) and watched a couple of the season 1 eps (up to
Captive Pursuit.)
Overall, I already like it much better than I ever liked TNG or VOY. The "uniforms" remain absolutely absurd-looking and I
hate how everyone is running around in the silly unisex outfits without pockets while off-duty; I get they wearing trying to keep the design aesthetic, but I still think they look silly. One thing I
do like is that the other Bajorans are wearing the same "uniform" that Kira is wearing (unlike the inane "uniform" that T'Pol wore ... and
no other Vulcan wore.)
Some of the acting in the pilot was
really wooden and bad, especially Jennifer Sisko. The effects still look pretty damned good, despite the time that has passed. I especially liked that effect in the teaser of the pilot when Sisko is sitting in the escape pod/lifeboat/whatever it was and they eject from the dying ship. So far, none of the episodes have been particularly memorable, but they also haven't been bad enough to make me stop caring (cough*
A Night in Sickbay cough
The Seventh cough).
I've also been impressed that there hasn't been (so far) an establishment of a "ship's babe" (as the retards promptly did with T'Pol as far back as
Broken Bow.) Dunno if that changes, but I sure as hell hope not.
Some thoughts on the characters:
Likes:
- Sisko. In only five episodes (six, I guess, if you count the pilot as two), he already has more gravitas and command ability than I saw in the entire four years of Archer on Enterprise. Avery Brooks comes across as a little wooden sometimes, but he does a much, much much better job at Anger than Bakula ever did. I can actually buy someone being intimidated by him.
- O'Brien. Woot. An NCO portrayed in a very positive light! I really like him so far. He's smart and clearly the only reason that station is even operating. For some reason, he reminds me of Trip. I guess it's the more "Everyman" vibe coming from him.
- Bashir. The wide-eyed FNG of the show. He's very ... eager, but, for some reason, I find myself liking him. I also noticed that he isn't listed as Alexander Siddig in the credits, which is how I've always known him.
- Dax. Aside from the fact that Terry Farrell is hot, even with the spots (or maybe 'cause of the spots), I rather like her interactions with both Sisko and Bashir.
- Kira. For the most part, I like her even though she seems like a walking talking cliche right now ... I like elements of her character (the fact that she's an ex-freedom fighter and, thus, by default, an ex-terrorist) but she's a little over-the-top right now. Does she get better?
Dislikes:
- Odo. I'm sorry, but I'm already sick of him. Maybe he gets better as the series goes on, but right now, he seems like the standard "Vulcan" of the show. The whole conservation of mass thing seems to go right out the window in regards to him ... when he turns into a rat, he should still be as heavy as he was before. That mass can't just go away...
- Quark. I hate him. So far, I've seen him serve no purpose whatsoever on the show, and, given how much how I loath the Ferengi in the first place, it's no surprise that I don't like Quark. Does he get better?
More as I watch the show.
For awhile, Alexander Siddig was still known as Siddig Al Fadil, before he changed his name.
I agree with most of your evaluations so far. The only things I can tell you is that, I don't remember what Odo is like early on, but since he's not branded with actually BEING Vulcan, I guess that's why he seemed to get better. Writers felt like they weren't locked down by that. Either he gets less-Vulcany or I just never thought he was all that Vulcany to begin with, I'm not sure. But he's certainly far from emotionless, he just relies on logic and reasoning and all that because he's an investigator, not because he's being characterized like a Vulcan. I think it makes sense, personally, because he serves a purpose on the show, and his whole 'logical, rational' side makes sense as the personality of a strict investigator. I wouldn't get too bent out of shape about the conservation of mass thing... as will be discussed later, I think you just have to accept that his race is something nobody knows anything about, and that they aren't just a minor biological anomaly, but rather a fundamentally never-before-seen kind of creature. So, I would treat the conservation-of-mass issue as just something that is part of what makes his race so unusual and incredible. I mean, it's not like it's completely outside of the realm of imagination. Just suppose that he's capable of fusing and fissioning matter internally and that his body absorbs the radiation and his mean body temperature just goes up as he does that
. That would explain it
Bashir, I love, and the great thing is, he gets even better through his interactions. He might be the most interesting core character of the whole show... there are one or two characters I think are more interesting but they're not core characters, so they aren't bound by the same necessity for mainstream appeal... and that's Garek and Gul Dukat. Bashir gets even better because, without giving anything away, one of his friendships, IMO, rivals the dynamic between Kirk/Spock/McCoy, and IF it's inferior, is only inferior because it's just him and one other person that I'm referring to, meaning it's 2 to 3 on comparing the friendship dynamics. He's definitely an FNG - I'm not sure if this is explicitly explained, but I'm pretty sure that the intention is that he went through Starfleet Academy, went to Starfleet Medical, and then graduated and his first assignment was DS9. The order may be debatable, maybe they attend medical school in tandem with the Academy, but that would be doubtful. It's probably the same relationship between college-med school for modern day doctors.
Sisko, eh. Not my favorite captain. I find his yelling and anger actually to be exactly what you said about the first episode, kind of wooden. He's very physically intimidating on screen and his presence, his movements, they're all very "Commander'ish". I think it's probably just a product of his being a better actor than SB because he knows how to pull of a commanding presence better, no pun intended. But his yelling and anger sometimes just feels fake to me. I'd have to go back and watch it again to really remember why.
Dax is an interesting character because she's a hottie, but the REAL character is this 300 year old worm inside her, so she's got all these sides to her and personality traits that wouldn't seem to fit the stereotypical trim little hottie. If you hate the staple-babe, there's a certain character later you're going to hate, but I really, honestly, think she's MEANT to be annoying.
Quark was actually one of my favorite characters, but I don't remember what he's like in the beginning so maybe he changes a little. The thing is I hate almost every Ferengi episode that was made for DS9. I just can't watch it, their voices, their makeup, everything is fucking annoying to me. I think it's Quark's interactions with the regular crew that I liked, and how he runs his bar to be pretty amusing. The whole bar scene is a neat deal because it's not really like anything else you see on a regular basis in any other Trek. Another aspect of him I have to admire is that he changes in terms of like, the snivveling little rodent he is (as a Ferengi) but NOT too much. Like, in my opinion, they find that very very delicate line for him to get "a little" more of a better person by being around all these humans and their ideals rubbing off and him and stuff, but it's really very marginal, they never break the rule of changing his fundamental nature. I mean with Vulcans no matter how much they are around humans, there's kind of a fundamental rule that their very biology is the reason they are the way they are and therefore it's like an excommunicable offense to write a story where they change in that nature because of environmental influences. I think Ferengi are largely the same way, they're ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS greedy and profit-driven, at least, as long as that's the way they were raised. Rom is going to be an exception, but I think an acceptable exception. But what I like is that Quark changes some.... but not too much. You never really know if they can trust him, and a lot of times they can't, even years into the show when he seems to have become a little more trustworthy. And yes, the initial rationalization for Sisko to keep him on the station was kind of deus ex machina. Kind of like "Ok... apparently he's just meant to be on the show... because otherwise ASKING a Ferengi to stay to be the community leader is probably pretty stupid."
Kira is a little stereotypical but she's earnest and passionate, I guess those are her strengths. IMO, she is really at her best in seasons 6 and 7 when the character starts to grow out of her infantile hatred thing and, so therefore in a way, the cliche-ness of her starts to wear off and in a compelling way, where the character's trying to evolve.
O'Brien's great, and gets a lot better through his interactions with the other crew as well. I really like the whole idea of O'Brien-Keiko-Molly family being created, growing, and evolving over like 15 years of Star Trek. In perspective of the entire franchise it's a footnote, but it's the only representation of a run-at-the-mill family type of thing being part of these "fast-paced, balls-to-the-wall" adventures that go on on star trek on a daily basis. The involvement of his family is just a nice cold splash of dull reality to any episode that it comes up in. And there's a great O'Brien-Kira-Keiko storyline that comes up way later that I very much enjoyed.
) However, I do think Quark gets better and really develops well as a character. He's not my favorite character but I think he works well. One thing I particularly like is that the Ferengi show that not all non-Federation (or, in the case of Bajor, Federation-wanna be) races are totally evil. I also really like Rom.
He's got quite a journey ahead of him as well.
