KTR's reflections from another DS9 newbie

[JadziaKathryn]

Alexander should be, what, eight?

Klingon kids must grow up really quickly.

This has always annoyed me.

[Linda]

In one noval I read, Klingons had shorter lives than Humans. About 40 or 50 years, I think. I don't know if canon has defined the Klingon lifespan, though. Anybody know?

[Alelou]

I've been wondering about this, because I could swear we have some of the same Klingons in Enterprise that we had in TNG. But that would be a ridiculous lifespan, right? Must just be the same actors over again? (Well, I've been wondering but the truth is I don't care enough about it to actually go check.)

[Linda]

Me neither, LOL, since Klingons are not of the greatest interst to me. Anyway, does it matter, especially when they say before going into battle "today is a good day to die"? Maybe they don't know their exact lifespan because none of them ever reach it.

[Asso]

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

Now another bunch of four episodes, which among other things, rounds up the sixth-part war arc for now.


6-05 Favour the Bold

So, I didn't get my big space battle here, but that is of no consequence since I'm bound to get it in the next episode. As a set-up for Sacrifice of Angels Favour the Bold works beautifully. The events are moving inevitably to some sort of conclusion.

On the station things are looking hopeless. The minefield is about to be destroyed and there's not a lot anyone can do about it. After learning about this, Starfleet decides to send a task force there before that will happen, after previously having been convinced by Sisko that a major victory is needed and that the re-taking of DS9 would be just that kind of victory. I liked the way Sisko got the message, thanks to Morn of all people. Who knew he'd be instrumental in saving the galaxy? The unspoken way Kira and Quark approached the barfly was hilarious. The scene when Sisko expressed his desire to eventually settle on Bajor was also nice.

But Rom is in confinement and scheduled for execution and there's no convincing anyone of releasing him. Frankly I'm surprised they even tried. There's just no way a saboteur would be set free, especially in a time of war. This has nothing to do with Dukat and Weyoun being the bad guys. And I could've done without Leeta's whimpering. Surprisingly it was Rom who held firm and showed maturity, willing to become a martyr and trying to convince his brother to finish what he started. Major kudos to Rom here.

I've grown to really like the Damar character, even if he's one of the bad guys, but at least he doesn't make any excuses for it. It's clear that he's disturbed with his boss's alliance with the Dominion, and that he thinks Dukat has a blind spot regarding his daughter Ziyal. But he sure has a blind spot of his own. Why else would he blabber on about the minefield to Quark, the brother of the guy that tried to sabotage his efforts to dismantle it? It makes little sense for him to do that, no matter how much kanaar he's been drinking. I also enjoyed seeing him getting thoroughly beaten up by Kira.

Odo's story is getting rather disturbing, even if it's clear that he hasn't been entirely swallowed up by the Link and the female Founder. And I have to wonder if she doesn't have a major blind spot too - when it comes to Odo. She admits that getting him back to the Great Link is more important than the entire Alpha Quadrant. That still doesn't explain why she's allowing Kira to roam free, since she does know about her part in the sabotage attempt for which only Rom got arrested.

The excellent Favour the Bold receives a grade of 10 from me.



*****

6-06 Sacrifice of Angels

At last, the major fleet engagement I've been waiting for ever since the season began. And it surely didn't disappoint. This was just majorly awesome! Quoting Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade" was entirely appropriate. That sequence had a movie-style quality to it. I liked that it turns out that Starfleet does indeed have fighters. And I cheered when the Klingons came to the rescue. But it was a bit implausible that the Defiant would be the only ship to be able to punch through the Jem'Hadar/Cardassian lines, not to mention that it didn't suffer that much damage in the process. And why was the fleet commanded by Sisko, a mere Captain? One would think that would have been a job for Admiral Ross. Still, this is Trek and I can forgive them for it here because of the great battle.

Things are not idle back on the station either. Sensibly enough Damar has made sure that Kira & Co. are put behind bars. That should've happened long before. But they didn't count on Quark breaking them free. While the security of the brig was a joke, I cannot really fault them for not anticipating the barkeep's maneuver. So it turns out two of the most implausible characters, first Morn and now Quark, are instrumental in saving the galaxy. I liked the look on Quark's face when he realized that he'd killed for the first time.

The ticking clock plot was pretty routine though, but it was a nice touch that they weren't able to stop the minefield from blowing up, but had to settle for dismantling the station's weapons (something of a plothole, but couldn't the ships orbiting the station have used their weapons instead?). I also thought it was too convenient for Odo to have a change of heart and show up just in time to save the beleaguered Kira and Rom. Is this the way the writers intend to settle the issue of Odo's betrayal? If so, that's the easy way out. It also points to the blind spot the female Founder had for Odo.

I guess it was inevitable that Ziyal had to die, and I actually thought Dukat would be the one who killed her after learning that she had helped Quark set Kira and Rom free. Instead it was Damar who did it, and now Dukat has apparently gone a bit mad. Maybe a fitting end for his character, but I'm not sure I'll like it. It depends what happens from here. Nice touch about Dukat giving Sisko his baseball back.

My major complaint about this otherwise excellent episode is the ending. Having the Prophets interfere and just wish the Dominion reinforcements away was quite the cop-out, it was a deus ex machina in the most literal sense and I cannot help but feeling a bit betrayed by that. I know that they had written themselves into something of a corner and had to find a way out of it, especially since having Sisko and the rest back at DS9 was the objective. And I do realize that it did move the Prophet storyline forward, revealing that they do care about corporeal matters and that Sisko will have to pay a price in the future. From what they said he will not be settling on Bajor after the war as he had planned. But I still feel a bit miffed about the whole thing.

So that brings down the grade of Sacrifice of Angels to a grade of 9 on my 10-graded scale.



*****

6-07 You Are Cordially Invited

I was bound to get really disappointed with whatever they were going to follow up the six-part war arc with. Add to that that it was another Klingon story, focusing on the by now uninteresting pairing of Worf and Jadzia - their wedding no less - and you have a yawner.

Like most wedding stories this one was as predictable as they come. We have a bachelor party and a bachelorette party, cold feet, the wedding called off, and then back on again. Still, they managed to throw in some funny moments, like how poor O'Brien and Bashir had to suffer ("I can see the future. I'm gonna kill Worf!"), or how Morn and that Samoan guy had decked out on the floor of Jadzia's place.

I didn't like Sirella, Martok's wife who held sway over the proceedings. Jadzia shouldn't have had to come crawling back to that xenophobic bitch after she punched her. Is that all it took for Mrs. Martok to accept Jadzia into the family? I get that Worf is a traditionalist, but if he truly loved Jadzia he shouldn't insist on her humiliating herself like that.

I must also mention the thoroughly unsatisfying resolution (if that's what it was) between Odo and Kira. Given his previous betrayal he got back in people's good graces much too fast to my satisfaction. Having Odo and Kira stuck in a closet for a lengthy discussion - a discussion we're not even privy to - is a real cheat. I would've thought better of the DS9 writers.

The ceremony itself was nice, I guess, especially Jadzia's red leather outfit. But overall this episode didn't do much for me. I'll give You Are Cordially Invited a 3+ on my 10-graded scale. It could've been a grade higher if they hadn't treated the Odo issue in such an off-hand manner.



*****

6-08 Resurrection

I never cared that much for the character of Vedek Bareil. He was too boring and he didn't have a lot of chemistry with Kira. No what do they do? They "resurrect" him by bringing the Mirror Bareil here from the mirror universe. This Bareil is a thief and a liar and not too surprisingly I liked him better than I ever did his real universe counterpart. That couldn't save Resurrection though.

The episode was frankly rather pointless. It felt like the filler it was. I'm pretty tired of the DS9 mirror universe anyway, and not even dominatrix Kira can change that. And while this Bareil was more interesting the plot was pretty pedestrian. I knew he wasn't just looking for a more decent place to live, and I knew he wanted the Orb when he first saw it.

But given Trek's general view of religion I did appreciate what we saw of the Bajoran ceremony and the following exchange between Mirror Bareil and Kira. Bareil: "It must be nice to have that kind of faith. I've always preferred to believe in nothing - that way I'm never disappointed." Kira: "Doesn't sound like much of a life." That is respecting religious beliefs. Too bad that doesn't extend to human religions in the Trekverse.

Ultimately bored with Resurrection, I gave it a grade of 3.

[CX]

In one noval I read, Klingons had shorter lives than Humans. About 40 or 50 years, I think. I don't know if canon has defined the Klingon lifespan, though. Anybody know?

Nope, Klingons might possibly have shorter life-spans than Vulcans, but they are definitely much longer lived than humans. At least three of the main Klingon commanders from TOS made reappearances during DS9, the biggest one being Blood Feud.

[JadziaKathryn]

It was Blood Oath, but yes, Klingons have to live for a while - we're looking at what, 150 years anyway?

That is respecting religious beliefs. Too bad that doesn't extend to human religions in the Trekverse.

Thank you! This has always irked me. We've got respect for Bajoran religion, Klingon religion (Barge of the Dead from VOY especially shows that), random alien religion (I believe it was Sacred Ground, another VOY episode) but never do we see a Christian, a Jew, etc.

[Alelou]

I distinctly remember a reference to the Hindu Festival of Lights in TNG at one point.

But that's about it... unless you count Unexpected when Trip looks up at the ceiling and says, "Thank you!"

[Linda]

Wasn't staying away from religion something Roddenberry wanted? Wasn't he a secular humanist? But ST has evolved since he died. How can you get away from religion when the ST universe poses so many ethical problems? Even TOS had the episode about Greek gods but that was kind of negative toward religion (Roddenberry influence?). I think in every ST series there have been episodes that touched on religion - either real earth religions or made up ones. Mosty made up ones, I think. I would love to see more on religion, but not so that it dominates the series and gets preachy. I like the ethical dilemmas, problems that make you think. It would be interesting to touch on the principles and values of more earth religions - different Christian groups and Jewish groups, different Pagan groups, Hindu, Moslem, Buddhist.

[Asso]

And probably it is just ENT which could have shown something else about religions. You have to consider the era ENT goes through.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

Wasn't staying away from religion something Roddenberry wanted? Wasn't he a secular humanist?

Yes he was. Nevertheless I think that was one of his blind spots.

JMS is also a secular humanist, or at least an agnostic. But he made a point of showing human religions anyway on Babylon 5. While he isn't religious, he did recognize that people often are and that it would be unrealistic to think that they'd suddenly abandon religion altogether.

[Distracted]

Yes. I really admired the way B5 dealt with religious issues. It was very respectful, even to the future version of Catholicism, which rarely gets any respect at all in fiction.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

I really liked Brother Theo on B5.

[Lady Rainbow]

I really liked Brother Theo on B5.

So did I. And didn't CDR Ivanova sit shiva for her dad one time (she was supposed to be a Russian Orthodox Jew, wasn't she?)