Reviewing DS9

[Sarahjs]

Life Support

Girls come between Jake and Nog's friendship and Julian tries to save Bareil's life, for some inexplicable reason. Oh, Winn is also trying to negotiate a treaty with the Cardassians. Well, ok, the reason for trying to save someone's life is not so inexplicable. I am actually quite sad that Bareil dies, who will I pick on now for being dull? Oh, wait, Shakaar will appear soon to replace him... Shakaar is possibly more dull than Bareil, at least in my mind at the moment. I guess I will see when I rewatch his episodes. Kira certainly has the ability to pick the most dull people on Bajor with whom to have relationships. I guess I did not want Bareil to die, as much as I carried on about his dullness. I certainly knew him better than I knew Opaka, so his death was much sadder than hers. If you can call Opaka's death a death, I guess one can't really. This episode certainly plays games with me, first Bareil is dead, then he is not, then he is dead again. *sigh* Actually, Bareil is not too dull in this episode, I would not say he is interesting, but not dull. Well, at least not until the doctor put the implant thing into his brain, then he is even duller than he ever was before. Kai Winn seems really stupid in this episode, she is absolutely incapable of negotiating with the Cardassians, and seems to have no idea what is going on, no wonder she needs Bareil to live so badly. Also, if the talks fail, she will have someone to blame, as Julian says. But really, I think this waters down Winn's character quite a lot by having her incapable on negotiating properly - she has been shown to be quite deviously smart, so what is up with that. The Jake and Nog Story was not too interesting to me, it was ok, pleasant and amusing enough, but nothing amazing.

5/10

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Heart of Stone

Kira and Odo chase a Maquis ship into the badlands and get stranded on a moon, while Nog tries to convince Sisko to give him a recommendation for Starfleet Academy. The Nog substory is my favourite in this episode. Firstly, its amusing and second, it starts the character on an awesome journey. The Odo/Kira, or rather Odo/Female Shapeshifter story is ok, nothing too earth-shattering, nothing too exciting. I'm not as big a fan of Odo/Kira as I know some people are, but Odo is a hell of a better choice than all Kira's other boyfriends (he is not dull) so I am quite happy to go along with this, generally when there isn't an entire episode dedicated to it though. It's also lessened by the fact that the person with Odo actually is not Kira. I felt quite cheated at the reveal. A wonderful interaction and it's not really the real person! Grrr. I enjoyed the story about Odo's name and how it came to be. Oh, this episode has a nice bit of foreshadowing... Female Shapeshifter: "No changeling has ever harmed another." Odo: "There's a first time for everything." Yes, there is. There is, indeed.

6/10

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Destiny

Three Cardassian scientists come to the station, the writers magically remember that Sisko is supposed to be the Emissary and Miles participates in an accidental flirtation. I can't say that I am a huge fan of the Sisko-Emissary story line, but I do appreciate it for its originality within the Star Trek universe. I always found it random that the pilot made a big deal out of Sisko being Emissary and then, while it was mentioned in passing, it did not really play a substantial role until this episode, more than half way through the third season. I'm actually quite amusing by these Bajorans running around claiming they know what the Prophets want, I think, for the most part, the Prophets, or wormhole aliens, if you will, don't want anything. And when they do want something, they are not exactly subtle about it. I enjoyed this episode for the most part, but it is not amazing or anything. I like that this episode starts a trend of Sisko becoming more and more accepting of his Emissary status, something that I never expected to happen. Prophecies are too vague to be taken seriously though. However, since the prophets know what happens at all points in time, I think it does not matter what he chooses to do ultimately, because anything he chose to do would fulfil the prophecy, as the prophets have already seen it happen. Wow, this is almost giving me as much of a headache as time travel, but it seems that it's a bit of a faux-choice. The Obsidian Order agent in this episode is really lame, not at all sufficiently sneaky, I hope she gets executed by the Order.

6/10

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Prophet Motive

Grand Nagus Zek is changed by the prophets and rewrites the Rules of Acquisition to be the Rules of Benevolence, also Julian nearly wins some sort of prestigious medical award. I don't really see the point of the Julian story, but it is non-offensive and not too boring. The Zek story is not too bad, but definitely below average. Quark gets to be a hero in a very odd type of way. Zek is even more annoying when he is benevolent though. It's a bit of a silly episode really and not very amusing, it fails as a comedy episode, which, I am guessing, it is supposed to be. I enjoyed Quark's scene with the prophets, which reinforced, in my mind, what I was saying in the previous episode, that the prophets really don't want anything from the corporeal, linear items, unless they are The Sisko.

4/10

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[Kobayshi Maru]

Heart of Stone: I understand that the changelings purpose was to make Kira "die" on that moon, seemingly stifled to death by the growing "Chrystal" but I don't get why she made "Kira" say that she loved Odo. Wouldn't it have better served her purpose to make Kira say though gently and with kid gloves that she didn't love Odo and never will? For one thing it wouldn't have aroused Odo's suspicion as to the nature of the "kira". The first time I saw that I found surprising that Kira had those feelings for Odo and would go out with another man right in front of her love interest. That seems an odd thing to do. The actual denouement seemed definitely less strained to me, than that alternative. Well, so much for the changeling's wisdom I guess, though I find it bizarre that such a cunning person in almost every way, after all her imitation of Kira was absolutely perfect, if we omit those two errors, would make such obvious mistakes.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

IMO, Heart of Stone is carried almost entirely by the B-plot. It is easily one of the most earthy Trek stories, focusing on the expectations that parents place on children and how children reflect on their parents successes. There's also that element of cultures communicating their values that is well executed. If the A-plot has strengths, they are obscurred by the foam rocks that engulf Nana Visitor.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

IMO, Heart of Stone is carried almost entirely by the B-plot. It is easily one of the most earthy Trek stories, focusing on the expectations that parents place on children and how children reflect on their parents successes. There's also that element of cultures communicating their values that is well executed. If the A-plot has strengths, they are obscurred by the foam rocks that engulf Nana Visitor.

I agree that the B-plot was very important since it started Nog on an adventure that would last till the very end of the series when he's promoted to lieutenant!

 

[Sarahjs]

So - I got a bit distracted by work - which was a mistake, because clearly nothing is as important as DS9, but s**t happens. Back on a watching streak today!

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Visionary

Some Romulans come aboard to receive intelligence about the Dominion, and something inexplicable happens to Miles causing him to randomly travel through time for a few moments at a time. Oh, Miles also convinces Quark to put a dartboard in the bar. I enjoyed the scene with the Romulans and Kira, she just got more and more angry, it was quite funny. The Romulans themselves aren't so interesting in this episode. They generally seem not as interesting as they were on TNG, because after watching the brilliant Cardassians, the Romulans are kind of meh. Also, the Romulans are generally more interesting in TNG e.g. Tomalok. Ah, the quantum singularity. Surely the DS9 crew must know that Romulan ships use one of these somehow, can't remember how precisely, but it was shown TNG's Timescape. I can't imagine that Picard would have neglected to inform Starfleet of this and that they would not have passed it along. Our DS9 friends take a bit of a while to figure it out. Hello, there are Romulans on board, its not that much of a stretch that there could be an additional Romulan ship flying around, especially considering the singularity item. I'm not going to talk much about the time travel, I will start overthinking it again. I always enjoy watching Miles though. I would not say this episode is bad, but it's not particularly good either. I have the word average in my mind, maybe even 5.5 level to be honest. I guess I can give an extra half point to Odo's line, "I always investigate Quark." It was so brilliantly delivered by Rene Auberjonois, I laughed for like five minutes. He delivers all his lines exceptionally well in this episode actually. "There is no careful way to question a Klingon." lol Don't all jump on me now, I realize he nearly always delivers his lines well, but it stood out in this episode to me. Oh, it was worth it to see DS9 exploding also. I like to imagine that I would enjoy the episode more without the random time travel. I hate temporal mechanics.

6/10

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Distant Voices

Julian is about to turn thirty and an alien attacks his mind. First, I have a question. Two actually. What is biomemetic gel and why is it illegal. Maybe the answer to the first question will answer the second one. But anyway. I have a bit of a soft spot for this episode. I have a soft spot for any episode which involves Garak to be honest. Then, it makes me think about how I am turning 30 in two and a half years and I start to sympathise with Julian. Maybe I should watch it a few days before I actually turn 30, I might give it 10/10... Anyway, I think this is one of the few episodes where the beginning and the end are both quite good, but the middle is a bit meh. I enjoy the beginning with Julian and Real!Garak's conversation about age and enigma tales. And the end conversation, where there is hope for Julian yet... However, the middle is a bit messed up. It's basically about Julian having a super long dream a.k.a. being in a coma, which is not very exciting and everyone behaving strangely in his mind is quite annoying. All things considered, this episode probably deserves a 4, but, as I said, I have a bit of a soft spot for it.

5/10

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Through the Looking glass

Mirror!Miles kidnaps Sisko and takes him to the Mirror Universe. Was that sentence a bit redundant? Anyway, I don't like this episode very much, I find it a bit dull and irritating. Tuvok makes an appearance in this episode. The Sisko/Dax thing was quite random. Mirror!Bashir behaves like a fool. I am looking forward to the next episode. Very much. Oh, so much. Everyone seems to overact dreadfully in this episode, it's very distracting. Have I ever mentioned that I detest Mirror!Garak? He is so... unsubtle. It's quite action filled though. It is confusing though, why the stations in the Mirror Universe and the Normal Universe would have the same access codes. Seems a bit of a stretch. Also, why can't the mirror people solve their own problems without kidnapping people from the normal universe.

3/10

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Improbable Cause

Garak's shop explodes. - Shortest summary ever. This episode is quite a masterpiece, it can't possibly get anything less than a 10. If I were prone to illogic, I would give it an 11, maybe a 12... Maybe 100. Anyway, that's quite enough stupidity for one day. Back to the episode. I really like the timing of the explosion first of all. The audience hears just enough of the conversation between Kira and Bashir to get involved in that, then BANG! The whole station shakes. Even though I know it's coming, I jump a bit every time. There are also great Garak/Bashir interactions, and, more importantly, wonderful Garak/Odo interactions. And the infamous scene with "the boy who cried wolf." Also, the great joke about the isolinear rod. I guess in itself, it's not so funny but the mixture of delivery and randomness makes it so. If I had to choose an episode that best shows who Garak is and demonstrates his brilliance as a character, it would be either this episode, or Season 6's In the Pale Moonlight. Blowing up his own shop in order to manipulate Odo is classic Garak, and Odo goes with it, even when he realizes that it is an elaborate manipulation. "I seldom waste time speculated about retired spy-masters and their associates." Great line. Both Odo and Garak have their share of great lines here. I would say that Tain and the desire to return to Cardassia are Garak's two weaknesses. And Tain knows exactly which buttons to push in order to sway him to his side. Ah, sentiment, such a dangerous thing and Tain is quite happy to take advantage of it.

10/10

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The Die is Cast

The die is cast. Very seldom do I come across such an apt episode title, that it can pretty much sum up the whole episode. But the die is now cast and there is no going back. It's so telling how much Garak has changed since being exiled from Cardassia, Tain speaks about how much Garak enjoyed "interrogations" while in the Obsidian Order, but when he has the opportunity to "interrogate" Odo, he does not enjoy it at all. In fact, I think it is this event, that sways him back, away from Tain's side. There is a lot more action in this episode than in Improbable Cause, but I find that the character interactions do not get any worse. Garak torturing Odo is among my favourite scenes in DS9, because, as I said before, it shows how much Garak has changed. I think, in a way, Odo broke Garak in that scene, rather than the other way around. It's also sweet how Julian misses Garak's meal-time conversations. Meanwhile, the DS9 crew searches for Odo in the Defiant against Starfleet orders. It's not the most exciting storyline, but it shows highlights Sisko's willingness to disobey orders when he thinks it necessary, I think this is something Picard would not have done. Also, cool space battles. Yay!!

10/10

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[Sarahjs]

Explorers

We meet Leeta, Sisko builds an ancient Bajoran spaceship, Jake gets a writing fellowship to New Zealand, Julian meets an old "friend" and Miles gets drunk with Julian, proclaiming his non-hate for him. Oh, and Sisko has a beard. Beverly Crusher would not approve... I, however, do. And I approve of the fact that the beard is not discussed. Not as far as I recall anyway. Even if it is, it is a negligible discussion, since I don't remember it. Back to the episode - Every once in a while I appreciate an episode like this where absolutely nothing of importance happens, but it needs to be well placed. This episode is brilliantly placed after an intense two-parter, so, in a way, it's like a sigh of relief after all that intensity. "The Cardassian Ministry for Refutation of Bajoran Fairytales." Lol. It would be cool if that was an actual ministry - they would not be very successful in their jobs. Anyway, there is some great father/son interaction here from Benjamin and Jake, some great Julian/Miles interaction - both of these things are a plus. It's interesting, when I think of DS9, the picture that comes to my head instantly is Sisko's ship, with sails spread with the station in the background. So, one could say, this episode is the one I think of when I think of DS9, which is ironic, because by all rights, I should find an episode like this quite dull, yet it is not so. So obviously, they did something right with it, it might be the music. I think Avery Brooks delivers his lines exceptionally well in this episode as well.

9/10

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Family Business

Everyone wants Sisko to meet Kasidy Yates, also Brunt, portrayed by the amazing Jeffrey Combs, closes Quark's bar because his mother is making profit, which is a heinous crime. Oh, Kasidy Yates is portrayed by the amazing Penny Johnson, now Penny Johnson Jerald. I like this episode. It's a mildly serious Ferengi episode. We get to see Ferenginar for the first time, and Ishka is quite interesting - a strong Ferengi woman. Pity how she becomes so very annoying in later episodes. She gets about twice as annoying as Zek later on. It's so funny how Ferengi males are embarrassed to look upon clothed women, when humans would probably be embarrassed to look upon unclothed women. Well, maybe embarrassed is not the right word, but anyway. The Sisko/Kasidy story is a bit meh but amusing at times. A solid episode, but not amazing.

6/10

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Shakaar

Shakaar, Shakaar, Shakaar. Another dull Bajoran male. Except he is so dull, that I don't even want to make fun of him for being dull, because doing so would be too dull. So I guess this is a backhanded compliment to the late Vedek Bareil. Anyway, Kai Winn takes over the provisional government, which makes no sense. Have the Bajorans never heard of the separation of church and state? I am not American, but this is a principle I am completely behind. Winn is not very good at her job and needs to go to Kira for help. First she relies heavily on Bareil, now it is Kira... I think I have figured this out. Winn is good at playing the political game when it serves to advance her personally, however, when working for the good of someone else, e.g., the Bajoran people, she is hopeless, because she does not have any invested personal interest. A bad leader. Time goes a bit fast in this episode, they are jumping time all over the place, which is a bit confusing. It does not seem like events are going so slowly, but I think like a month passes in this episode. ?! Anyway, back on the station Miles is playing darts well, at least, until he dislocates his shoulder. A bit of a pointless substory, but it's ok, amusing at times.

4/10

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Facets

Jadzia sets out to meet Dax's previous hosts and Nog takes Starfleet Academy entrance exams. This Nog substory is great, amusing and uplifting. Anyway, I kind of enjoy seeing Dax's previous hosts as entities that are separate of Jadzia. They all have their interesting points, it's a pity that they sort of glossed over the first five. I don't know how Armin Shimmerman delivered his lines here without bursting into fits of laughter. Joran seems quite mad here, much crazier than he was in Equilibrium. Avery Brooks really creeps me out as Joran. Yikes. I will say, that I think Ezri manages to deal with Joran much better than Jadzia does. Jadzia seems to fight against him, while Ezri learns to accept him. Ultimately, this episode is mostly about Jadzia and Curzon and their history. It turns out that Curzon had some sort of perverted crush on Jadzia. I find this really weird, because since Jadzia has Curzon's memories, does she now have a crush on herself? Oh, and why does she not know this before? Since she has his memories, she should have known. Oh, Curzon mentions Sisko's beard. Obviously I was mistaken in my review for Explorers. I always got the impression that Curzon was a bit of a prick, and this episode pretty much confirms it.

6/10

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[Bad Thoughts]

Have the Bajorans never heard of the separation of church and state?

I'm not sure what the confusion is. Having a clergyman be head of state or head of government is possible, and has happened a few times. Indeed, the current president of Germany is an ordained Lutheran minister.

 

[MacLeod]

Anyway, Kai Winn takes over the provisional government, which makes no sense. Have the Bajorans never heard of the separation of church and state? I am not American, but this is a principle I am completely behind.

Well for example in the UK Queen is the Head of State but also the Head of the Church of England, of course the Head of Government is the PM.

But whilst the idea might be great in principal, but how does the application of the idea hold up?

Besides if Kai wants to run for election as First Minister, then if there are no laws preventing them from doing so then if the people choose to elect them then why not, surely that is democracy at work. Sure Winn was power mad, but that is besides the point, I'm sure we could list many Heads of State that were Power Mad throughout History.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

I am not sure Beverly said she disapproved of beards, she simply said it was an affectation. I am not even sure that could be construed as a negative comment.

 

[Sarahjs]

Have the Bajorans never heard of the separation of church and state?

I'm not sure what the confusion is. Having a clergyman be head of state or head of government is possible, and has happened a few times. Indeed, the current president of Germany is an ordained Lutheran minister.

Haha. No confusion. Was being sarcastic more than anything - because Kai Winn is such a foul character. Guess it does not come across well in writing.

 

[Sarahjs]

I am not sure Beverly said she disapproved of beards, she simply said it was an affectation. I am not even sure that could be construed as a negative comment.

I seem to recall that Beverly said that beards make men seem as if they're trying to hide something, but I believe this was more of a joke on her part than anything else. Just like I was making a bit of a snarky jokey reference to that!

 

[MacLeod]

Have the Bajorans never heard of the separation of church and state?

I'm not sure what the confusion is. Having a clergyman be head of state or head of government is possible, and has happened a few times. Indeed, the current president of Germany is an ordained Lutheran minister.

Haha. No confusion. Was being sarcastic more than anything - because Kai Winn is such a foul character. Guess it does not come across well in writing.

It helps if you add a , or something like <Sarcastic> to indicate that a comment is meant that way.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

I'm not sure what the confusion is. Having a clergyman be head of state or head of government is possible, and has happened a few times. Indeed, the current president of Germany is an ordained Lutheran minister.

Haha. No confusion. Was being sarcastic more than anything - because Kai Winn is such a foul character. Guess it does not come across well in writing.

It helps if you add a , or something like <Sarcastic> to indicate that a comment is meant that way.

I believe that it was Oscar Wilde that said that sarcasm was the lowest form of wit.. Well, at least it's wit.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I like this episode. It's a mildly serious Ferengi episode. We get to see Ferenginar for the first time, and Ishka is quite interesting - a strong Ferengi woman. Pity how she becomes so very annoying in later episodes. She gets about twice as annoying as Zek later on. It's so funny how Ferengi males are embarrassed to look upon clothed women, when humans would probably be embarrassed to look upon unclothed women. Well, maybe embarrassed is not the right word, but anyway.

Squinting, I find this episode to be rather touching. It's not easy to pull of what is essentially a family drama when it takes place in an alien, often revolting, context.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

I am not sure Beverly said she disapproved of beards, she simply said it was an affectation. I am not even sure that could be construed as a negative comment.

I seem to recall that Beverly said that beards make men seem as if they're trying to hide something, but I believe this was more of a joke on her part than anything else. Just like I was making a bit of a snarky jokey reference to that!

No problem. But I seem to recall that in that episode where her and Picard are telepathically linked. Picard (involuntarily) reads in her mind that she once made a bad joke about her boyfriend growing a beard: "Is that a beard or is your face dirty?" The boyfriend was deeply hurt and I guess they split up. She told Picard that she learned a valuable lesson from that incident. I wonder what that lesson could be. Probably not "stop making fun of men's beards" though.

 

[Dobian]

No problem. But I seem to recall that in that episode where her and Picard are telepathically linked. Picard (involuntarily) reads in her mind that she once made a bad joke about her boyfriend growing a beard: "Is that a beard or is your face dirty?" The boyfriend was deeply hurt and I guess they split up. She told Picard that she learned a valuable lesson from that incident. I wonder what that lesson could be. Probably not "stop making fun of men's beards" though.

Lesson: Stop dating emos

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

No problem. But I seem to recall that in that episode where her and Picard are telepathically linked. Picard (involuntarily) reads in her mind that she once made a bad joke about her boyfriend growing a beard: "Is that a beard or is your face dirty?" The boyfriend was deeply hurt and I guess they split up. She told Picard that she learned a valuable lesson from that incident. I wonder what that lesson could be. Probably not "stop making fun of men's beards" though.

Lesson: Stop dating emos

That's a real possibility.