Rigil's Reflections from a DS9 Newb...

[CoffeeCat]

Dax/Worf thing really doesn't do anything for me

Oh now you've done it!

[Rigil Kent]

Sorry, but it's true. I'm not offended by the pairing or anything (like I would have been if they had gone an alternate route in ENT). They just don't really inspire me sufficiently to care about their relationship.

[CX]

I feel pretty much the same way.

[CoffeeCat]

I didn't get that far in DS9 yet.

It just seemed like the right thing to say.

[Linda]

I enjoyed watching the Worf/Jadzia interaction but did not get into the ship that much.

Spoiler material follows...I think.

SPOILER!!!:

Well, you probably know that in the seventh season there is a new Dax - Ezri. While I liked Jadzia, I liked Ezri better. There are some interesting scenes between her and Worf.

[CX]

SPOILER!!!:

I didn't like the Worf/Ezri stuff at all myself, it just felt wrong on so many levels.

Eh, I was always a Bashir/Dax fan from Emissary onwards anyway...

[Rigil Kent]

Finished the season today.

In the Cards was a not entirely uninteresting "Jake and Nog get in trouble" filler episode that sets up the coming war better than a lot of the arc episodes so far this season (which is really sad, if you ask me).

One thing I noticed during the exterior station shots was this really cool-looking kitbash of a Starfleet ship in the background. I dunno what it was supposed to be, but I really liked what little of it I could see.

Jake had some fantastic lines in this episode, like how he talked Nog into helping him out, or that comment "I'm not crazy ... I'm just a little obsessed" which cracked me up. I found it mildly amusing how quickly he jumped to conclusions. And Jake's line of BS to Weyoun was hysterical.

So, once again, I find myself enjoying the Sisko family dynamics. I swear, it's refreshing to see a family on a Trek show where the characters don't have "daddy" issues.

One word springs to mind in regards to Call to Arms, and that word is FINALLY! After pussy footing around and slowly slouching toward the war, they kicked it off in a big way. I would have liked to have seen some Starfleet ships involved in the ass whooping, but I guess that's to come in the next season.

Special effects kicked ass (although I think some of the station firing weapons were stock shots from the episode when the Klingons attacked). Some wicked cool space battle shots. I especially liked the shot of Martok's ship decloaking as it nailed the Jem'Hadar ship shooting the Defiant, and that last shot? Hell, yeah! It's about fraking time.

Some very nice bits in this ep that need to be mentioned: Sisko's decision to leave the baseball behind was fantastic, and I liked how Dukat recognized it. The Sisko/Weyoun "discussion" was pretty nifty as well. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the really nice way they introduced Jake as a reporter; the captain's reaction was entirely believable and pretty well done. And his later reaction to discovering that Jake remained on the station was also well done and quite professional of him.

Pity they took so long to get to this point though...

Final Thoughts on Season 5: Time and time again, I've been told that season 5 is when DS9 really starts to kick ass. Unfortunately, apart from the occasional episode that really kicked ass (like Trials and Tribble-ations or the two-parter with Garak in the middle, or the season finale), it's been as hit and miss to me as the previous episodes. Admittedly, it had more positives than negatives (and not a sign of Troi in this entire season which is great), but it really felt (to me, anyhow) that they were idling in neutral for a good portion of the season without really advancing forward. Despite that, though, it ended on a very strong note (something previous seasons have failed to do) and left me really looking forward to the beginning of the next season.

[dark_rain]

Topic moved to the "other trek" forums, as requested by the author.

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=133

[Rigil Kent]

Thank you kindly, d_r.

[cherryblossomjen]

Why is it that modern Trek shows require two full seasons to turn into something watchable? nuBSG had the characters down pat before the mini-series was over. *shakes head in disgust*

I realize you made this comment ages ago and most likely meant it to be a rhetorical question but I've only begun browsing your DS9 reviews and thought I'd add some speculation to your post.

Could it be because Star Trek tends to establish characters as archetypes instead of as "real" people, at least at the start of a series? In the later seasons some characters are fleshed out into more complex, three-dimensional personalities (although sadly some characters never really see that kind of evolution...), making it not only more "realistic" but also more interesting to watch.

This might sound like drabble but I suddenly had an image of my Creative Writing professor giving his spiel about the folly of trying to write a "hero" (or any kind of stock character) instead of just trying to write a person. Despite my professor's ideals, I'm not sure where I stand. I love Star Wars and that's filled to the brim with archetype based characers (Han - the Lovable Rogue; Obi-Wan - the Wise Old Mentor...).

I think I enjoyed the modern Trek's in their early seasons but didn't really love them until I saw the characters develop more. Which is pretty much just what you said, isn't it? I guess I'm not exactly adding anything particulary new or profound to the discussion. Alas.

[Linda]

SPOILER!!!:

CX, I wasn't really into the Ezri\Worf ship. I just throught it was very funny when she told a Klingon (Worf), after having sex, that it wasn't very good. I was rooting for Bashir/Dax too and it is nice that in the very last episode they seemed to be getting together.

[Linda]

Sorry everyone! I screwed up on deployment of that spoiler thing! Cover your eyes and please forgive!

Rigil, now that you are getting into the war years of DS9, I am tempted to get out the DVDs and follow along.

[Rigil Kent]

Could it be because Star Trek tends to establish characters as archetypes instead of as "real" people, at least at the start of a series?

I suppose. It's an interesting theory, although I honestly think you're giving some of the people in charge more credit than they deserve. I'd actually argue that it's less "archetypes" and more "stereotypes."

This might sound like drabble but I suddenly had an image of my Creative Writing professor giving his spiel about the folly of trying to write a "hero" (or any kind of stock character) instead of just trying to write a person.

Which, frankly, does explain some of the wildly inconsistent characters we get on the various Trek shows. I mean, take a look at Archer during the entire run of ENT, and how you had no idea which version of him was going to show up in a given episode. Was it Ass!Kicker!Archer? Or Diplomat!Archer? Or Angry!Archer? Or maybe even Stupid!I!Don't!Listen!To!My!Crew!Archer? And, as much as I liked her, T'Pol was nearly as inconsistent.

[enterprikayak]

it's ACTually "trechetypes".

Let me see now, a few well-known trechetypes:

*Passionate Engineer With Nonexistant, Glum &/or Difficult Love Life
*Maverick With The Spotty Past Who Comes Around And Is Better For It
*Hopelessly-Out-Of-Touch, Square-Haired, Blank-Head Admiral Placeholder Figurine
*Obscurely Wise & Beloved Foodservice Provider
*Hot, Post-Plastickly-Surgical, Padded-Out, Catsuit-Clad Femform
*Mildly Nonplussed Alien-Outsider-Looking-In Who Yearns Subconsciously For A Human Soul

________(^^^ this one often may be combined with above Femform trechetype to form the dicrete subtype:
___________________*Inwardly-Confused, Oblivious Sex-Kitten With the Get-Back Stare

....just a few trechetypes of many of course......

[Rigil Kent]

To preface, let me say I'm a little irked. I wanted a super monstrous ass-kicking fleet action space battle to kick off the season ... and didn't get it. Don't get me wrong though: the first two episodes of season 6 are pretty strong, but dammit ... I got all excited and pumped for the battle ... and didn't get it. It was especially difficult to stomach given the recap of the second battle of DS9. Grrrrrrr...

A Time to Stand establishes right from the beginning that three months of bitter fighting has passed ... and that opening sequence in the teaser irked me a lot 'cause we didn't see the battle that caused that fleet damage. Garak's line about Bashir always "showing off" was funny, but the punch line about the doctor being a Vulcan was pretty good. The end of the teaser does set up how badly Starfleet is getting their ass kicked ... 14 ships survive out of a hundred plus? Ouch. (grumble grumble ... would have liked to have seen that battle though, grumble grumble).

The stuff back on the station was mildly interesting. The animosity Kira holds for Dukat was really evident, and that was a nice bit of acting between the players. Ditto that between Damar and pretty much anyone other than Dukat. Appreciated that Weyoun's Jem'Hadar bodyguards in the Weyoun/Jake interaction were keeping an eye on the crowd. The speed in which Weyoun agreed to anything Odo demanded was hysterical.

Rather liked the look of the starbase, although it should really have more ships around it, shouldn't it? Really liked the interactions between Sisko and his dad ... again; why is it that the Siskos are the only characters in Trek who don't have "daddy" issues? Don't get me wrong: I love that fact, but it's just kind of weird. Some surprisingly strong tactical thinking on Starfleet's part in regards to the White, and I loved the continuity of the Jem'Hadar ship that Sisko & Co. captured back in "The Ship." Amazing that they're taking a cadet into this crap; I get that he's kind of a "main character," but he's only been through a year of Starfleet training. There's no logic in taking him along.

The Centaur was a pretty cool looking ship, I must say. Nice pretty explosion at the end of the ep, though.

The beginning of Rocks and Shoals just caused me to shake my head. A "dark matter" nebula? Come on. Dark matter can't be observed directly, which caused me to groan at the "Trek science" that makes no sense. And, of course, there just happened to be not only a habitable planet inside the nebula, but one with life on it (based on the sound of birds during some of the outdoors scenes). Uh huh. Riiight. Cool last shot of the Jem'Hadar ship falling toward the planet, though.

Phil Morris was pretty easily recognizable as the Jem'Hadar Third ... and I have to say, it's kind of weird how these Jem'Hadar leaders are always so cool. There was the one on the prison planet, the one who grabbed Bashir & O'Brien, and the one who was in charge of those guys when we first met Weyoun. Morris does a really good job at making Third Ramataclan (or however it is spelled) have a strong personality without coming across as an evil asshole. On the flip side, I kind of wanted Sisko to shoot that Vorta at the end of the episode ... or at least have Garak do it. Would have loved for Sisko to say "Mister Garak," and the Cardassian zap the Vorta before saying something like "Oh dear. My finger appears to have slipped." But that's just me.

The "ripped my pants" scene was pretty damned funny, given the stress that they've been under and their near death experience. Another bit of nice continuity between Nog and Garak. Random sexist comment: the redhead Starfleet chick (LT Neeley?) was pretty cute. Glad she survived.

Not entirely sure what the hell the Vedek's suicide accomplished, apart from proving that some of the Bajorans are insane. If I was Dukat, I would encourage the Bajoran's to kill themselves like this. But then, I've never understood zealots anyhow.

"Humans have rules in war." Heh. Garak hasn't read much human history, has he? Wanted to smack the Starfleeters when the Jem'Hadar were charging forward to get themselves killed, though. Have they ever considered aiming? And how they managed to lose a man while firing from defended positions like they were on eludes my comprehension.

Still haven't gotten my super big, bad ass space battle, dammit. Two pretty strong episodes, though.