What do you mean by "without flaws" and a "Mary Sue?" Vic wasn't a hero. He had little agency, even within the holodeck. He made a few big blunders, almost fumbling getting Kira and Odo together and not recognizing how the holodeck was starting to stunt Nog's recovery. Otherwise, he was just there to sing and give friendly advice.
Now I've got the song running through my head: As coroner, I must aver, I've thoroughly examined her and she's not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead! (thanks a lot)
I loved Vic. He brought some levity, lightness and joy to the show when it was most needed, helping counterbalance the bleakness of the war.
The Vic Fontaine eps were annoying with my last rewatch of the series. I felt like there was too many of them. I started rewatching again on Paramount Plus and I'm currently getting to the end of S5 and I was thinking by now he should have showed up so perhaps when he does show up, I will hate him less this time.
Vic always felt like some type of personal interest of the producers, that nobody else is interested in. We all have personal interests that when we talk about them bore the hell out of others, that's Vic. It's basically a reflection of the freedom they had making the show. I think the biggest reason why I don't care about Vic is just that they didn't sell to me why he was necessary to even be a recurring character on the show. Never sold why any character would be into that era of time Vic comes from either. If they had done that I would have accepted it no problem. The vague notion of "we're bored and it's just something to do" is such a weak motivation and that's the real problem.
Regarding nobody being interested in that era of time, we knew Bashir was interested in that era of time from his spy adventures, and he's the one who brought Vic's program aboard DS9, so it's not entirely out of the blue.
Why should they have poker nights, or Sherlock Holmes, or the cafe in Paris from TNG? Because the show is richer for the characters having some side interests. So is DS9.
Yes. And? Why have any hobbies of the heroes? Vic took on significance through the way the characters used him to stay sane during a war. Soldiers do many things to cope. I doubt Starfleet officers are much different.
It's certainly strains credibility less than Tom Paris knowing precisely whatever bit of 20th century trivia is useful this episode.
I can't say that I play it often, but I did pick it up and I do enjoy it; I just own a ton of music (almost 55K files).
I couldn't stand Vic Fontaine, but he was only a major feature in a few episodes. One of them is a great episode and the rest I just hit "Next episode".
I actually really like the music of the time. Makes me nostalgic for decades before I was even born. My one beef with Vic is that I don’t find Darren a particularly great singer. Very nasal voice, especially noticeably in the higher notes. But that’s just nitpicking, I still enjoy the Vic episodes and like most of his cameos.
Vic was great, I found him to be a relaxing distraction from the more intense plot happening in most of the seventh season.
He doesn't have to be a great singer. He's playing Vegas, not Carnegie Hall. He sings with feeling, which is what the gig really calls for.
Isn't it interesting how widely people’s tastes differ and how differently people listen to music? I never found Darren’s voice to be anything but perfect, warm and smooth as velvet.
I think it was aimed at people old enough to remember Sinatra and the Rat Pack, meant to be nostalgic for them. That's a little before my time, so I don't care much about Vic, but I didn't hate him either. Really, there's quite an obsession with the 20th Century among many Starfleet officers across numerous ships and stations, not to mention someone quoting Shakespeare every time you turn around. I mean why wouldn't they like 23rd or 24th Century entertainment? Because the show was made for humans living in the 20th Century.