DS9 Versus: A viewing experient

[Pemmer Harge]

War Without End probably wins, because, well, see what I said for part 1, and the ending is pretty hard to beat. That being said, this is really close, because The Quickening is really outstanding. It's the second absolutely superb Bashir episode of the season (Hippocratic Oath was the first) and I love pretty much everything about it. It's one of the best episodes of Deep Space Nine.

Voyager can't really compete against this stuff for me, but Basics is one of the best episodes they've done up to this point.

[Kegg]

Vulcan Princess wrote:

---

(For every possible combination of characters, you could probably find someone somewhere who ships them, though.)

I don't care what anyone says - Quark and Ezri? Made for each other.

Pemmer Harge wrote:

---

That being said, this is really close, because The Quickening is really outstanding.

Upon reflection I probably like it better than War Without End; it's just a very strong drama piece while War is, uh, Big Stuff Happens Now. Which is cool - and War Without End is pretty much a form finish of B5 doing what B5 did best - but there's something to be said for the human element.

[DevilEyes]

Vulcan Princess wrote:

---

I don't actually ship them. I just said it would be interesting to see, and I tossed it out as a possibility in the poll. (For every possible combination of characters, you could probably find someone somewhere who ships them, though.)

Three people apparently think Sisko is Kira's 'match made in the Celestial Temple', I call that shipping.

Interesting that everyone in that poll got votes except for Mirror Bareil.

Um, back to the topic... B5 seems to be winning all the time now? Though I guess that will change as DS9 approaches the Dominion war, since you obviously prefer the Event episodes.. For the time being, I'll just have to take your word that those B5 eps are that good.

[Sykonee]

DevilEyes wrote:

---

Um, back to the topic... B5 seems to be winning all the time now? Though I guess that will change as DS9 approaches the Dominion war, since you obviously prefer the Event episodes.. For the time being, I'll just have to take your word that those B5 eps are that good.

Well, the previous two seasons DS9 pretty much owned the spring schedule, and even gave TNG a run for its money during the first May Sweeps. It's good that there's some strong competition going around now. It'll make DS9 work that much harder to regain its dominance next year.

But Event Episodes are almost always going to trump others. After all, when you look at most Top 10 Episodes Lists, they usually consist of a good 80% Event Episodes. They're just more engrossing to an audience. They're the moments in TV that we look forward to the most, as it sends the characters we've gotten to know into dilemmas that are far higher in stake.

[TheGodBen]

Kegg wrote:

---

I don't care what anyone says - Quark and Ezri? Made for each other.

Nah, they displayed no chemistry on screen. Now Quark and Bashir, there's a 'ship I can get behind.

[apenpaap]

Sykonee wrote:

---

But Event Episodes are almost always going to trump others. After all, when you look at most Top 10 Episodes Lists, they usually consist of a good 80% Event Episodes. They're just more engrossing to an audience. They're the moments in TV that we look forward to the most, as it sends the characters we've gotten to know into dilemmas that are far higher in stake.

And yet The Visitor, Duet, Trials and Tribble-ations, Hard Time, It's Only a Paper Moon, Our Man Bashir, and Second Skin are on many people's top ten lists.

[Seven of Five]

Quark/Odo would have been an interesting one - they were always at each others throats, so clearly loved each other!

Actually, what Star Trek has been missing all these years wasn't just a gay relationship, but some necrophilia too! Ezri/Jadzia would have pulled in the ratings!

I've lost the plot. It's those TNG edits, they send me crazy!

War Without End wins again this week, being a continuation of the excellence of last week.

The Quickening is a brilliant DS9 episode that really brings a lot of emotion and drama to the table, and only loses to B5 for being a little less epic in scope. Bashir is so convinced that he can cure the disease, and it's hard for him to get past his arrogance. I loved Jadzia knocking him down a peg, it really cleared his head.

Basics Part 1 is quite average. It builds, and builds, and builds, and bulds, and builds... It does nothing else! In fact, it builds too much by setting up Sudar on Voyager and Paris with the Talaxians as obvious ways of getting the ship and crew out of trouble. I love Seska and Sudar, so having them here is good. They just weren't used particularly well this time.

DS9 solo next week? Easy win then! It's a good one though.

[Kegg]

Event episodes only trump other stuff on shows like B5, whose best material is easily the arc fare and the standalones frequently sucked. DS9 has a good mix of standalones and arc episodes, but mostly it's the standalone shows that are picked as people's favourite episodes - sure, DS9's two continuous arcs at the beginning of season six and the end of season seven are fairly popular, but "Duet" is far more likely to be someone's favourite episode. Hell even one of the most popular Dominion War episodes, "In the Pale Moonlight", could work perfectly well as a standalone - it's a personal story rather than a lot of arc stuff going down.

TheGodBen wrote:

---

Nah, they displayed no chemistry on screen. Now Quark and Bashir, there's a 'ship I can get behind.

Excuse me, it's the greedy lecherous loner and the cute girl. How is that not a match made in heaven? On any show, expect me to be rooting for some variation of this. I can't fathom why.

Besides, Quark's got eyes for Odo and Bashir's cute on O'Brien, so where the heck did that come from?

[TheGodBen]

The tale of the greedy troll falling in love with the genetically enhanced healer is as old as time itself. I felt they were finally going that direction at the end of season six as the two of them lamented the loss of Jadzia to Worf, that scene screamed out to end with the two of them having sex with one another due to their joint loneliness, and that would make them realise they were perfect for one another. The fact that DS9 missed that golden opportunity is one of the reasons why B5 is the superior show.

(At least I'm not making jokes about Kira laying an egg.)

[Sykonee]

apenpaap wrote:

---

And yet The Visitor, Duet, Trials and Tribble-ations, Hard Time, It's Only a Paper Moon, Our Man Bashir, and Second Skin are on many people's top ten lists.

True, and you'll notice that, aside from Our Man Bashir, they've won in this Versus thread when they've aired as well. I'm not averse to giving the nod to Character Episodes over Event Episodes, especially if an Event Episode is just utter crap (like Investigations or The Search, Part 2 ...which, oddly enough, both aired on solo weeks. Hmm...)

And Trials... is sort of an Event Episode, in that it coincided with the 25 Anniversary. So, it's Meta-Event!

[happydave]

I really enjoy 'Basics', sure it doesn't have the cliffhanger which many episodes have but as a two part story it's quite decent and enjoyable as a whole. It's probably due to actually following more of a 90min movie type pacing than the pacing of two separate television episodes. The unfortunate bit about this is that the first 30 minutes are basically setup which can lead to a flat first half.

Unfortunately WWE and Quickening are both brilliant episodes as well.

[Sykonee]

Week 34: (Ending 06.16.96)
DS9 - Body Parts (Airdate 06.10.96)

Just in case you'd forgotten that DS9's character episodes are often the best of all three shows, here's one centered around Quark. Wait, Quark!?? In a good episode??? Hey, it's happened before, and this is easily his best outing since House Of Quark from waaayy back. (Little Green Men was more of a Ferengi-Family vehicle)

In a funny way, this episode almost feels like a pre-set-up for the season finale, establishing a few changes we're going to have to expect in the following season that probably won't directly tie into any major arcs that have developed the past year. Kira's carrying the O'Brien baby and Quark's become an outcast, things that will undoubtedly affect events later but remain in the background as we see how all this Klingon stuff pans out. Not to mention something very significant happening to Odo next week...

Weekly Winner
DS9

Next:
DS9 - Broken Link

[apenpaap]

At the end of Body Parts, I was just waiting for Garak to suddenly jump around a corner and strangle Quark. Or for him to eat something and then fall down because it was poisoned.

[Sykonee]

apenpaap wrote:

---

At the end of Body Parts, I was just waiting for Garak to suddenly jump around a corner and strangle Quark. Or for him to eat something and then fall down because it was poisoned.

I know there's a number of folks who feel Garak ends up being a loose thread in this episode, but I get the impression that he knows full well that Quark doesn't really want to die, so he just has some fun in scaring him.

[Pemmer Harge]

Body Parts - this one's pretty good. Obviously the O'Brien/Kira sub-plot is ridiculous, but I guess they had to deal with Nana Visitor's pregnancy somehow, and at least it set up that great sub-plot in Looking for Par'Mach...