TheGodBen Revisits Deep Space Nine

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' started by TheGodBen, Oct 16, 2011.

  1. datalogan

    datalogan Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    While "Let He . . . Without Sin . . ." is a pretty ridiculous episode, with Worf and Dax acting pretty out of character, I did really enjoy the moment where Worf finally opens up and talks about the accidental death from his youth and how it shaped him into the man he is today. Good defining character moment.

    It was nice to see more of Dax's spots, but unfortunately that was kept to a minimum (at least the bright out-door scenes) because of Terry Farrell's skin condition.

    Alexander Siddig has stated that this wasn't his best work because he was pretty distracted by the birth of his son, who Nana Visitor gave birth to during the episode (which also explains why Kira is not in the episode).

    The thing that really annoyed me about the "death by jamaharon" tid-bit is not just that it's hard to reconcile with the Orb flashback that Jadzia Dax had in "Emissary", but I am reminded that yet again we are learning about Curzon's past, but not any of the other prior Dax hosts.

    This originally started out in the writers' minds as an episode about 24th century liberal attitudes toward sexual freedom and exploration. It makes sense after all, in their society with medical advances that certainly have eliminated almost all STDs and made birth control very convenient and reliable, that sex would happen more freely. The episode takes place on the planet of free love. "What happens on Risa, stays on Risa" kind of thing. But ultimately, the sexual freedom seen in the episode is not significantly more than seen in other episodes. Another clear chance for a gay or lesbian encounter (if not long-term relationship), but they failed once again to go there. Ultimately, while the writers might have been interested in going a little deeper into 24th century sexual freedom, the producers and audience weren't. So some other stupid plot had to be made (where Worf acts way out of character). Worf and Dax usually get along much better.

    I was glad Julian and Leeta ended their relationship amicably. They weren't right for each other. (And just when did they officially get together in the first place? It wasn't shown on screen.) But it's also nice to have a friendly parting-of-ways versus a fight or something. Also, it reminds us that the Bajorans are aliens. More importantly, Julian had to get rid of any steady girlfriend before he could more easily be taken over by the changeling spy in soon-to-be episodes.
     
  2. InklingStar

    InklingStar Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    It would have been interesting if Bashir came back from the asteroid prison and started making out with Leeta...
     
  3. apenpaap

    apenpaap Commodore Commodore

    You know, I always wondered whether perhaps Risa used to be a normal pre-warp world, until Harry Mudd escaped from the rehabilitation he was put in and landed there, introducing both warp technology and general bad taste to it. It's a shame Enterprise's Risa episode (which was better than Let... Sin, but still awful) blew that hypothesis out of the water.
     
  4. Ln X

    Ln X Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Skin condition? You mean she burnt up out in the bright sunlight?
     
  5. Seven of Five

    Seven of Five Stupid Sexy Flanders! Premium Member

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    I'm not sure what to say about LHWIWS that hasn't been said a million times before. It's just a total bodge of an episode.
     
  6. Worf'sParmach

    Worf'sParmach Commander Red Shirt

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    Worf is my favorite ST character and I think that's why I hate this episode sooo much. It sucks sweaty, hairy Ferengii balls. I can't imagine the actors were even able to take themselves seriously as they were filming it. After every scene I would have walked away shaking my head saying "that was seriously some bullshit"

    The only redeeming thing, was, as you mentioned, the last scene with Worf and Jadzia. Great character defining moment. It's worth maybe an eighth of a star.
     
  7. Paper Moon

    Paper Moon Commander Red Shirt

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    My [mind's] eyes, my [mind's] eyes! :eek: :p

    On a side note... maybe obtaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander provides you with certain benefits (no pun intended)? Such as discretionary use of auxiliary craft, assuming feasibility and CO approval? I mean, there can't be that many LTCDRs on the station, and I would think it requires a serious amount of work to obtain that rank. Shouldn't there be some perks?

    I feel like we see stuff like this elsewhere in Trek; the only one springing to mind is (then-Lieutenant) Worf taking the shuttle to the bat'leth tournament in TNG's "Parallels."

    Still, I agree that it is a flimsy aspect of the story.
     
  8. apenpaap

    apenpaap Commodore Commodore

    Oh dear, GodBen must have died from delayed aftereffects of watching Let he Who is Without Sin... :O
     
  9. TheGodBen

    TheGodBen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I've been drinking uncontrollably for the last three weeks.
     
  10. Seven of Five

    Seven of Five Stupid Sexy Flanders! Premium Member

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    Just wait till Ferengi Love Songs. :eek:
     
  11. Ln X

    Ln X Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Bless you laddy... May you find the sobriety to continue reviewing season 5...
     
  12. Enterprise is Great

    Enterprise is Great Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Wait until Profit and Lace...Quark in drag? :barf:
     
  13. apenpaap

    apenpaap Commodore Commodore

    Neither of those episodes is that bad. Yeah, they're pretty bad, but not nearly on the painful level of Let he Who is Without Sin... or the A-plots of Meridian and the Muse. They even have some quite funny scenes. Unfortunately, the real worst episode of DS9; The Emperor's New Cloak, is still coming...
     
  14. TheGodBen

    TheGodBen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    You guys aren't helping my attempts to get sober. :p
     
  15. apenpaap

    apenpaap Commodore Commodore

    Well, then to cheer you up: there's not a single awful episode coming up this season again; and only one bad one and one meh one (and both are near the end, still far away). The rest is all good or great. (at least in my eyes...)
     
  16. Seven of Five

    Seven of Five Stupid Sexy Flanders! Premium Member

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    Yeah, that. Season five is easily the best season.

    And then if you're still struggling, you could do all of your future reviews drunk. :techman:
     
  17. Ln X

    Ln X Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Hey TheGodBen are you sober enough to start reviewing again?

    Whatever ya doing ain't worth it laddy; Let he Who is Without Sin ain't worth dying for...
     
  18. Quinton O'Connor

    Quinton O'Connor Commodore Commodore

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    Oh man, I've got so much to catch up on. I'll just silently lurk this thread until I'm caught up... aw, drat, I can't resist just posting once.
     
  19. Quinton O'Connor

    Quinton O'Connor Commodore Commodore

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    Phew, caught up to the end of the second season's reviews. Stellar stuff as usual, TGB. Will read more tonight.

    Thanks for the graph on O'Brien's moobs. That really adds a new dimension to a timeless show.
     
  20. TheGodBen

    TheGodBen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Hey Jeff, here for your bi-annual visit, I see. ;)

    I've eased myself off the alcohol by going back on the meth. Does that count as sober? :confused:


    Things Past (***½)

    Garak, bored of hemming trousers in his prison cell, decides to take a day off to attend a conference and Sisko, Dax, and Odo decide to go with him because, hey, who doesn't want to spend time with Garak? On the way back, from the conference, the crew meet the ghost of Christmas past and it decides to send them on a mind-bending trip into the guilt-centre of Odo's brain.

    Here's the thing, the writers wanted to do a story about Odo's dark past, but didn't want to do a flashback episode because they're clichéd, and they didn't want to do a time-travel episode because they're also clichéd, so they came up with some complicated magic in order to do the episode the way they wanted to do it. This both hurts and helps the episode, it hurts it because the set-up is so crazy that it's hard to buy into, and the early parts of the episode, which should have been full of mystery and intrigue, are undercut by the fact that all of this is explained by Dr Bashir. We also get the added added complication that injuries sustained by the characters in Odo's brain are replicated by their bodies in the real world due to the awesome power of imagination, which leaves us with the cliché that they. Might. Die! (But almost certainly wont.) The episode didn't need that, it's just a cheap way of adding tension to the crazy situation.

    But the craziness does help the episode later as events get more surreal, and we get some weird twists and unusual imagery. Overall, the story isn't bad, perhaps a bit slow to start but it picks up later, and the revelation that Odo isn't as perfect as he wants everyone to think he is an interesting extra layer to his character. It ends with a callback to Necessary Evil, which just served to remind me of how that was a better episode, in part because the set-up wasn't as convoluted.