DS9 Versus: A viewing experient

[Sykonee]

apenpaap wrote:

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I agree. But I figured Real Life would win this week, so apparently Sykonee as a different taste then me.

It was gunning for a win for most of the episode, heck even right up to the end. Once it was over, however, I had a chance to reflect on it and realized, for as emotionally invested Doc was in his 'family', what it ultimately boiled down to was he was just playing an elaborate version of Sim Family. He started on Beginner's Level, then B'Elanna forced him to play Extreme Level, which he 'lost' when his 'daughter' dies. And as a viewer, I feel the resulting drama is therefore a cheat, no matter how heartfelt it is. I mean, what's to stop him from restarting the simulation on Intermediate Level (which would probably have been a more realistic portrayal of family life anyway) and trying again?


Week 27: (Ending 05.04.97)
DS9 - Soldiers Of The Empire (04.28.97)
VOY - Distant Origin (04.30.97)
B5 - Lines Of Communication (05.01.97)

Why did they have to go and say the Voth evolved on Earth and then left for space? Why not just say aliens took 'em away when they saw the planet was suffering a catastrophe, and then they evolved elsewhere? Works for me! Ah, I'll just go ahead and believe that, and that their original conclusion was faulty. Besides, it's not really what the episode is about, is it?

Dinosaur origins aside, darn near everything else in this episode works! Fresh take on episode format (we don't even see the crew until the second act), great guest actors, great alien designs, great continuity, great costumes, great sociological quandary, great direction, great hair, great eyes, great body, great... sorry, I was focusing on Jennifer Lien for a bit there again.

DS9 and B5 were alright this week too, but aside from some fun Klingon scenes in Soldiers and Delenn kicking serious Drakh ass near the end of Lines, both shows seemed to be going through their paces: DS9 doing a standard "Worf Sacrifices To Do The Right Thing" episode (though he gets a reward for his troubles this time), and B5 moving more Arc Plot along. Hm, might it be neither wanted to send competition against VOY this week? Or maybe they're just saving something bigger for down the road?

Weekly Winner
VOY

Next:
DS9 - Children Of Time
VOY - Displaced
B5 - Conflicts Of Interest

[Seven of Five]

I love Distant Origin! One of the best episodes from season three. It's good that VOY has had this upswing in quality finally as season three has been distinctly average overall.

I loved Delenn in Lines of Communication - absolutely ready to kick arse. It made me feel nostalgic for Delenn of past seasons.

[TheGodBen]

Sykonee wrote:

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Weekly Winner
VOY

Gods damn it.

*calls out window* Puss! Here puss! I have some tuna for you!

[Pemmer Harge]

Hmm, tough call actually, since all three episodes are good, but all have their flaws.

Voyager was imaginative and cool and I loved the Voth and their city ship. Downside: the regulars felt like bit players here.

B5 has the most memorable scenes for me, especially Delenn going all scary and wrathful and the Sheridan-Ivanova scenes were some of their best. Downside: it felt a bit all over the place.

DS9 has a nice coherent story (so good they remade it twice!) that sets up how Worf and Martok's relationship will be from now on. Downside: like all these Bird of Prey episodes, it's not quite as exciting as you'd expect.

Lines of Communication is the one that sticks in my mind the most, but I'm going to give the prize to Distant Origin for being such an imaginative sci-fi story.

[Sykonee]

Week 27: (Ending 05.11.97)
DS9 - Children Of Time (Airdate 05.05.97)
VOY - Displaced (Airdate 05.07.97)
B5 - Conflicts Of Interest (Airdate 05.08.97)

And now it's DS9's turn for a High Concept Sci-Fi Episode! Only, in this case, they remember to also bring in a strong character element.

Well, I guess this was a bitter-sweet cake for all the Kira-Odo 'shippers out there. Finally - finally - Odo's feelings come out in the open, yet it's from an old-timey Odo who's had 200 years of reflective regret over never letting Kira know how he felt. Oh, and he decides to sacrifice a whole colony of folks, including himself, to save her. Um, thanks? That puts young Odo in quite the awkward position, don't it? And with something like that finally out in the open, where can the two go from here? Oh, and the rest of the episode was pretty good too.

Over on VOY, another relationship dynamic seems to be brewing, and quite sensibly at that. I suppose it helps when you start pairing off your regulars, you have the freedom to let it grow over the course of a few episodes (er, provided you don't let Braga have it play out over a series of 'dream'/'wack genetics' episodes). The rest of the plot is standard Saturday Morning cartoon fare: evil aliens take over ship, good guys outwit evil aliens because evil aliens are too stupid to improvise when their Master Plan backfires. I'll pass, thanks.

And Garibaldi gets to carry an episode on his own over on B5, and thankfully getting something good this time! Well, it's a fairly typical 'private detective is hired to protect former flame' plot, but executed quite well by throwing in some B5 traits into it (out foxing telepaths!). In the end, it was a strong outing for Garibaldi, showing that although he may not be on Sheriden's side anymore, he's still working for what he feels is the right thing (even if it is now cloak'n'dagger shenanigans). And Zathras! Or, no wait, that wasn't Zathras. It was Zathras. No, wait, I'm getting Zathras mixed up with Zathras again. (seriously, quite a fun scene, and all in one take! I wonder how much Choate improvised it, if at all)

Still, DS9 had the strongest outing of them all this week. It delivers yet another gut-punch of character drama, with a clever sci-fi story thrown in for good measure.

Weekly Winner
DS9

Next:
DS9 - Blaze Of Glory
VOY - Worst Case Scenario
B5 - Rumors, Bargains and Lies

[Pemmer Harge]

Children of Time's a cool episode. Nice to see them throw in something so blatantly Trekky now, since obviously things aren't going to be like that for a while at least. Oh, and savour this one, because it's pretty much our last glimpse of the wonders of the Gamma Quadrant.

Conflicts of Interest is OK, but it's one of the season's lesser episodes in my opinion. Some nice stuff and the plot thickens for Garibaldi, but DS9's offering is better this time.

[DevilEyes]

I always thought that the type of time travel featured in Children of Time didn't many any sense, but this is by far the best use of that type of time travel in anything I've seen.

[Sykonee]

Week 28: (Ending 05.18.97)
DS9 - Blaze Of Glory (Airdate 05.12.97)
VOY - Worst Case Scenario (Airdate 05.14.97)
B5 - Rumors, Bargains and Lies (Airdate 05.15.97)

Maquis Week! Well, close enough anyway.

So Eddington gets his big send-off, and a good one at that. At the same time though, it's a shame he goes when he does, as he and Sisko were developing quite the intriguing adversarial dynamic between them. It'd be interesting to watch where they could have gone with them had they decided to explore further potential conflicts between the two. Ah well, out in a blaze of glory indeed.

VOY was pretty fun this week. Yes, even the malfunctioning holodeck jeopardy bit, as out of leftfield as it was. I really enjoyed Tuvok throughout this though, from first it being revealed he was behind the original program (I suspected as much, given the title), to his prideful, protective actions towards the program when Paris takes it upon himself to finish it. Not to mention his improvisation once Seska's Easter Egg is unleashed (and hey, it was nice to see her one last time ...this is the last time, right?).

And B5? Rather quiet and understated regarding the Delenn plot, and quite amusing regarding the Sheridan plot. In fact, the Sheridan plot kind of recalls back to the silly Drazi Green/Purple story from S2, perhaps because it was directed by Vejar in both instances. Still, this was a good episode, balancing drama and comedy quite well.

Man, tough call here. I liked all of these, each for their own unique-to-the-show reasons. In the end, I'm going with the character pairing I enjoyed the most: Sisko-Eddington. The Delenn-Neroon stuff was still good though, and Tuvok-Paris was simply a fun diversion. I just liked the closure we got with Eddington here, whereas B5 ends on something of a quiet cliff-hanger.

Anyhow, VOY has its season finale next week, and hints at being something quite Eventful. Might B5 or DS9 send in something just as competitive? Mmn, with a title like that, I'm not sure if B5 is...

Weekly Winner
DS9

Next:
DS9 - Empok Nor
VOY - Scorpion
B5 - Moments Of Transition

[Eyes]

Blaze of Glory against Worst Case Scenario, whew. Love both of them, and if I was choosing, could have gone either way. WCS was actually doing a holodeck story right for once for at least the first half of the episode, but I suppose I have to agree with you, Blaze of Glory wins this week, with its fantastic closure on Eddington and the Maquis.

[Harvey]

My memory of Moments of Transition is a bit vague, but Scorpion is a pretty strong season finale. VOY might actually squeak out a win.

[Fist McStrongpunch]

Seska will show up one more time in season 7.

[Sykonee]

Fist McStrongpunch wrote:

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Seska will show up one more time in season 7.

Heh. Last time then, as far as I'm concerned.

Unless I end up doing a VOY S6-7 Versus, though I haven't a clue what it'd be Versing against.

[TheGodBen]

I believe Farscape started around the time that DS9 ended, and Andromeda began a year later. Oh, and you have to start reviewing Stargate SG-1 soon, apparently it began in July 1997.

(I have to point out that I watched none of those shows and have no real interest in you reviewing them, I'm just trying to make more work for you. )

[Sykonee]

Bah. I already skipped out on Seaquest and Space: Above & Beyond. What's one more?

[TheGodBen]

I can see you're not dedicated to this project.

I promise everyone on this board that at the appropriate time my Babylon 5 review thread will turn into a versus thread between that show and Space: Above and Beyond!

Wait, I already missed it? Screw it then.