KTR's reflections from another DS9 newbie

[enterprikayak]

But he is a spy, so he must spy for someone, at least some of the time?

I think his sitch is somewhat like Malcolm's: he used to be a spy, and there are still mysterious spy connections that are sometimes utilised in order that he should still have a spy-ish aura of mystique. But he's not actively, like, 9-to-5 spying.

Am I right guys? It's been awhile for me since I've sat thru a good DS9 marathon.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

But as with the CIA, or the Russian Cheka, you can never really leave the Obsidian Order....

[enterprikayak]

exactly

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

And two more:


3-08 Meridian

My God, Meridian bored me to tears. It had an insipid Romance of the Week™ plot with two characters that had no chemistry and it just kept plodding along. Truly dreadful. I couldn't care less about Jadzia's new love interest or the Brigadoon-esque plight of his people. It was a foregone conclusion that Dax wouldn't be phased out for 60 years, or that they'd introduce an addition to the cast, so why should we care?

The b-plot about Quark trying to create a holo-Kira was meant to be funny but really wasn't. Even Jeff Combs as the Kira-obsessed customer couldn't save this.

I haven't seen a DS9 episode this bad since Move Along Home. Consequently I give Meridian a grade of 1+.



*****

3-09 Defiant

A disclaimer before I go any further with reviewing this episode. I really don't like Riker - I never have and that was long before the character took over the centre seat in that abomination that was supposed to be the ENT finale. Granted it's not William Riker, but his Transporter Twin (TNG's Second Chances) Thomas Riker that makes an appearance in Defiant, but that's just a detail. He may have become a Maquis trying to escape from the shadow of Will, but essentially he is Riker.

That means I hated the first part when he impersonated his twin and put all those smarmy moves on Kira (who should know better) and Jadzia. I really don't get what it is that is supposed to be so appealing with this obnoxious guy!

Otherwise I enjoyed the plot quite a bit. We had some good action scenes and interactions between Sisko and Dukat in the Cardassian war room. I wish they'd shown the visuals of the hijacked Defiant's initial manoeuvring instead of just on a computer graphics display. I liked the Obsidian Order lady too - very much like a KGB or Party zampolit! She put fear into Gul Dukat himself. The revelation that the Order was building their own warships, outside the control of Central Command, should prove a very interesting development.

I didn't like how Sisko initially agreed to share the secrets of the Defiant's technology to the Cardassians. We've seen how the Cardassians cannot be trusted and that war is almost inevitable. That's a situation where you don't want to give away your secrets. The Feds should've sent in an entire fleet to chase the ship instead. But they lucked out in the end and all the Cardassians got was the sensor logs from the Defiant.

Defiant gets a grade of 7. One point deducted for the mere presence of Riker.

[JadziaKathryn]

I have to point out that "the mere presence of Riker" is a rare continuity point for Trek. (DS9 seems to be better with continuity that some Trek series.) It's interesting to see, I think.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

^ I know, but it is still Riker, a character I don't like!


One regular and then a two-parter today:


3-10 Fascination

Oh my God, I don't know where to begin, but this episode was absolutely dreadful. Coming so soon after Meridian one would think they'd try real hard at avoiding making another really bad episode. Fascination has the ignoble distinction of being DS9's worst episode so far - worse even than Move Along Home. I wasn't just bored with it; I hated it and cringed my way through it. Ugh!

And of course it had to be a Lwaxana Troi episode. Figures! One would think that she'd be banned from all Federation installations by now, because she always seems to wreck havoc wherever she goes.

I don't see how the writers thought that having (almost) everyone acting so out of character would be even remotely funny. And the Miles/Keiko scenes were just nasty - a curious mix of soap opera and far too realistic domestic quarrels.

This one gets a big fat 1-. I would give it a zero if it hadn't been for the fact that I haven't seen all of DS9 yet and want to save that grade for something that might possibly be even worse than this. I reserve the right to come back and give it that zero once I'm done with the series.



*****

3-11-12 Past Tense, Part 1-2

For the most part, the Past Tense two-parter was a good instalment and gave us some view into the past of the Trekverse. I liked the twist, even if I saw it coming from a mile away, that Sisko would turn out to be the historical figure of Gabriel Bell. Perhaps this is really what was supposed to happen. The real Bell might not have been this hero character. For one thing he didn't have Jadzia to convince some infatuated media tycoon to broadcast the plight of the Sanctuary people over the net.

The story did come off as a bit too preachy for my tastes, as if some magical "federal employment act" could give all these people jobs. Newsflash: government don't create jobs, successful business enterprises do, and what the government can do is allow these enterprises to flourish. But this is a show run by the usual leftist Hollywood types, so they're not going to sing the virtues of free enterprise when they consistently berate the capitalistic Ferengis. It's far more likely that too much state intervention has caused jobs in the private sector to be lost.

I also found the way the got into the past much too contrived and filled with the usual amount of annoying technobabble (chroniton particles my foot). The crew left on the Defiant were also conveniently protected from the changes in the timeline by being in a subspace bubble thingy.

I did like Sisko in this story. He certainly rose to the challenge and took it upon himself to play the part of the ill-fated Gabriel Bell to the bitter end (that turned out to be non-lethal, although history would learn otherwise).

The part with Dax and that rich media guy wasn't that exciting, and served more to hammer down the message of class differences. But I liked the fashion - semi-futuristic combined with 19th century vibes. I suppose fashion styles revert to a more late 20th century look by ENT's time.

Overall I liked part one a little better since I thought that part two dragged a bit with the extended hostage scenes. I'd give the first part a grade of 7+ and the second part 7-. Combined Part Tense gets a grade of 7 on my 10-graded scale.

[Linda]

It was preachy, but not a bad episode. But governemt can create jobs to jump start an economy, though I agree that private industry is usually a stable employer over time. Remember the Civilian Conservation Corps of Roosevelt's in the 1930s? It helped pull us out of a big depression in the U. S., as my parents fondly remembered from their youth. Go to many city parks in the U.S. and you will find buildings, bridges, walkways, built by this corps. And that social security check that many senior citizens have to fall back on when their private industry pension goes belly up with a private company that goes bust? Hey, you can thank Roosevelt for that too. Yuck, now I am getting preachy! Sorry about that. My bad.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

^ Not to get involved too much in a debate over "The New Deal", but I remember reading a book years ago (forget the title) that convincingly claimed that it didn't help America much out of recession. Surprisingly WW2 did.


Two more episodes today:

3-13 Life Support

Life Support was a fairly good episode and I didn't mind them killing off Bareil. I recognize that he was a decent and honest man, but I always thought he was rather boring and I never saw much chemistry between him and Kira. Given who he was this was a fitting end to him, putting duty and the welfare of Bajor first. This may come off as a bit mean, but when he got half his brain replaced with a mechanical device, and lost a lot of the "spark" that made him a soulful being, he didn't seem all that different. To me he never felt that animated to begin with.

The episode did raise some interesting questions about life though. What is life and when does someone cease to be alive in a true sense? How much can be replaced before you lose your humanity (or Bajoranity in this case)? Here Star Trek seems to side with the non-mechanical world view, which is a bit surprising given how issues like these are normally treated. But I found it a refreshing change anyhow. And I liked Bashir in this episode. He was a strong man who took his responsibilities as a doctor first. His showdown with Kai Winn was great.

I remain a bit confused about Winn. Here she was a much softer and insecure character that now relied heavily on her former antagonist. I wonder if this is a permanent change or if it was just as Bashir thought, that she used Bareil's knowledge and expertise to her own ends. I also wondered why a religious leader would be allowed to conduct peace talks. Doesn't the Bajoran government have a say in things of this magnitude?

The b-plot with Jake and Nog felt really inappropriate in the context of such a serious episode. Even taken separately I didn't like it much. It just felt too nasty and Nog seemed to have regressed. He should know that you don't treat females that way and he never did with that Bajoran princess in The Storyteller. But Jake's date was really, really cute!

I'll give Life Support an above average grade of 6+.



*****

3-14 Heart of Stone

They did a real cop-out with Heart of Stone. Here Odo finally admits to Kira that he loves her and then it turns out it wasn't to Kira at all, but the Founder lady who had been impersonating the Major all along, thus nullifying all that transpired before. Whatever poignancy that came out of the story just evaporated and we got back to square one. Granted I'm a bit daft and never got much of the Odo loves Kira vibes before, so in this regard the episode was helpful, but still it was mostly a big waste. Another variation of the dreaded Reset Button™.

I have to wonder just how the female changeling was able to impersonate Kira as well as she did. I could even buy that the real Kira would lie to Odo about loving him back, but Odo is smarter. Also, when you think about it, it was a very contrived way that they put Odo and the Kira fake together. The Founder lady must have gotten the Maquis ship and then waited for the opportune moment when Kira and Odo were off on a Runabout together.

I was much more impressed with the b-plot about Nog trying to convince Sisko that he is Starfleet material. That had some real poignancy, especially when Nog desperately tells Sisko that he doesn't want to end up like his father, that he wants to be his own man. Despite Nog's stupid behaviour in the episode before, I kind of like the guy and think he will make a fine officer one day. It was also touching to see Rom standing up for his son's choice with Quark.

Heart of Stone gets a grade of 6- on my 10-graded scale, and that's mostly because of the Nog sub-plot.

[JadziaKathryn]

I never really got O/K vibes either.

[Linda]

Well, they do more with Odo and Kira later. And Ducat (did I spell that right?) tries to get a piece of her. For some wacked out reason, I was rooting for him because at least he is a character with some spirit. Of course he is suposed to be one of the super slime bad guys, so a romance with Kira would be out of the question. Now Garak, that would have been interesting...

Economically, WWII did have more to do with pulling the country out of the depression. But when you talk about the psychological effect of Roosevelt's projects on people, at least upon the people I personally have known who lived through that time, the government programs of the 1930's had a big effect.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

Another two episodes today:


3-15 Destiny

I liked Destiny very much. It made a real clever use of Bajoran beliefs to make a compelling story that doesn't invalidate the prophesy in the end. For each new plot development one realizes that these prophesies does contain some truth, and I like that. It shows respect even if they can be plausibly explained in a non-religious fashion.

I also liked the two female Cardassian scientists. They showed once again that there are good Cardassians out there. And the misunderstanding by one of them into thinking O'Brien was interested in her was quite funny.

But I have to question the "wisdom" of letting these Cardassians onboard the Defiant, where they could roam free and look for secrets. And lo and behold, one of them was an Obsidian order operative that sabotaged the phasers. Memo to Starfleet and Sisko: Never ever allow Cadies onboard again.

Destiny gets a grade of 7- from me.



*****

3-16 Prophet Motive

Wow, season three really has some stinkers, doesn't it? And Prophet Motive sure fits that bill! I absolutely hate this moronic caricature of capitalism that takes form in the Ferengi. For people in Hollywood, who on some level must know about what profit actually means (creating successful TV shows and movies), it is really incomprehensible that they continue to make this kind of drivel. I cannot assume anything other than it's the same kind of (unconscious?) self-loathing that most left-leaning rich celebrities constantly exhibit. There is another word for it: hypocrisy.

The only redeeming thing about Prophet Motive was Quark's quite convincing speech to the wormhole aliens - and I don't mean him telling them that no Ferengi would bother them again, but the true observation about what drives people: challenges and overcoming them (or in Ferengese: greed). Surprisingly insightful for coming from Hollyweird.

The Bashir award nomination b-plot was uninteresting and came off as mere filler. Nice dart scene between Bashir and O'Brien though.

Prophet Motive gives another grade of 1 to season three.

[JadziaKathryn]

The Bashir award nomination b-plot was uninteresting and came off as mere filler.

Really? I rather liked it myself.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

The Bashir award nomination b-plot was uninteresting and came off as mere filler.

Really? I rather liked it myself.

Different strokes, I suppose. I found Kira's gushing about it out of character, not to mention Odo's tips from a friend's friend's girlfriend's dog's former owner's cousin's stepmother's boss (or whatever)!

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

Two more episodes:


3-17 Visionary

Visionary was a rather enjoyable episode. It was kind of nifty to see O'Brien timeshift a couple of hours into the future, and to see how he used this knowledge when he got back. I especially liked when O'Brien interacted with himself. But I was appalled at the amount of technobabble that it took to explain it.

Sometimes I wonder why characters must be so daft. Here there are Romulans on the station, expressing worry about the threat from the Dominion. Then they learn of a quantum singularity orbiting the station. It shouldn't take a genius to figure out that it was a cloaked Romulan ship (since it's established that they power their ships with quantum singularities) and that they'd in all likelihood try and close the wormhole (It's the only way to be sure). I figured it out almost immediately, but it took O'Brien's final trip to the future for them to realize the plot. Oh, well…

I'll give Visionary a grade of 6- on my 10-graded scale.



*****

3-18 Distant Voices

What was the point of Distant Voices? It was obvious from the start that it was all in Bashir's mind and I couldn't get interested in the non-events that transpired there and got really bored pretty quickly. I suppose it was thought of as giving us an insight into Bashir's mind, but like ENT's Vanishing Point did with Hoshi it didn't give us much and I didn't care. Perhaps I should credit the episode for being clever with different characters representing different personality traits of Bashir's psyche, but it lacked subtlety. There was no need to actually spell it out like they did, and that hurt the story.

But essentially nothing much happened. Bashir got thrown into a coma and then woke up. End of story. I liked the first and the final, and real, scenes between him and Garak though.

A big yawn and a grade of 2- on for Distant Voices.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

Three episodes today since I had to watch the conclusion of the two-parter:


3-19 Through the Looking Glass

This second mirror universe episode on DS9 wasn't as satisfying as the first one, Crossover. To be perfectly honest I'm not all as enamoured with the mirror universe as most other Trek fans seems to be. I have a nagging feeling that if they do this too much (and I believe they're going to make quite a few on this show) it will quite soon run out of steam. Sure it can be a fun romp but it often borders too close to parody.

With the flimsiest of excuses (although we're probably best without the technobabble required for it to make some semblance of sense) our Sisko is kidnapped into the mirror universe to impersonate his dead mirror counterpart. Sisko managed surprisingly easy to get into the part even if he did came off as a bit too wooden at times. He must try and recruit his mirror wife (Jennifer lived in this universe) to the Terran rebellion. Unfortunately their scenes didn't have a lot of spark and Jennifer came off as even more wooden.

Mirror Jadzia being his mistress and them doing the… well, you know, was just icky. I mean Dax is also Curzon, and it would be like doing it with your old friend. Bleach! But she did look good with the shorter hair.

While looking good as the Intendant, I find it hard to enjoy Mirror Kira. She is just so over the top that she's already become a caricature, much like Mirror Archer was, and I didn't care for him either.

I noticed a brief appearance of a Mirror Tuvok (VOY), so I suppose that in the mirror universe Voyager doesn't get lost in the Delta Quadrant. But given the state of Earth here that's not surprising. This also make you wonder what fate Picard and his crew had here.

Overall I felt that Through the Looking Glass was a bit disappointing. I'll give it an average grade of 5+.



*****

3-20 Improbable Cause

Wow, this was simply amazing. I loved Improbable Cause! I've always liked Garak and most episodes where he shows up. He surely didn't disappoint here with an intriguing spy tale, his tailor shop getting blown up (by himself no less) and his life being threatened. I've also enjoyed Garak's odd "friendship" with Dr. Bashir, but here he is interacting with Odo instead and those scenes totally rocked. It was sheer joy to watch the two of them sparring. That is some great acting.

The continuity with previous episodes was also great. We have the secret fleet the Obsidian Order were building, and the Romulan concern with the Dominion threat. And of course the return of former Cardassian spy master Enabran Tain, who manages to enrol Garak again.

Given the coming belligerence of the Dominion I found it somewhat prudent to take pre-emptive action just like the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order did. If you know that they're going to strike eventually, isn't it best to strike first and try to minimize the threat or at least decimate the enemy? It's not like threats like the Dominion could be appeased. Remember the six-day war?

This is clearly one of the best outings of DS9 I've seen so far. Improbable Cause receives a grade of 9+ on my 10-graded scale. I wish they'd keep this quality up.



*****

3-21 The Die is Cast

The follow-up episode entitled The Die is Cast really lived up to the expectations set by the first part. It features some real cool battles scenes when the joint Romulan/Cardassian fleet gets blown to smithereens by the Jem'Hadar, and I wished those scenes had been longer. But the real action takes place between Odo and Garak in a chilling, yet very moving scene where Garak has to torture Odo for some information about the Founders. Excellent acting and writing. Already a very complex character, we can see that Garak isn't enjoying what he feels he has to do, but he's that desperate to be able to return home to Cardassia. In a heart-breaking moment we see Garak plead to Odo to confess to anything, even if it's a lie. Very good make-up for the deteriorating Odo too. The end scene with the two of them in the remains of Garak's shop were also fantastic. I hope we see more of the two of them.

I liked the revelation that this whole thing had been a trap set up by the Founders (with the Romulan colonel actually being a Founder) so that they could wipe out the threat of the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order. Now all that remains are the Klingons (big laugh) and the Federation. Quite chilling prospects for the Alpha Quadrant.

While I liked that Sisko took action I have to question his motives. It's commendable to try and get your man (Odo) back, but abandoning the station and Bajor like that doesn't seem reasonable to me. It would have been better if he'd been ordered by Starfleet to follow the attack fleet and observe while being cloaked what would happen. I'm sure Starfleet could use that intelligence, especially if things got bad (which they did). I noticed that the Starfleet Admiral wore a yellow shirt, which presumably means he's part of Starfleet Intelligence or Security, and not command like the red wearing Admiral Nechayev.

Since Duet I haven't given any episode a full grade, but The Die is Cast earns a grade of 10-.