Deep Space Nine Rewatch

[tomalak301]

Once you get past The Search, Season 3 got off to a really strong start. The two episodes tonight was two of the strongest episodes of the season, in my opinion, and they are vastly different from one another.

Equilibrium

This is probably my favorite Jadzia Dax story of the series. In hindsight it carried the theme that we saw with Ezri in Season 7 about individuality and understanding ones' self after the joining process. Here, it's not really the host who is mostly affected, even though she is about to die, but it's the Symbiont who has that gap in its mind and the balance that was there is no longer there. This episode has a lot of things I love about trek, the mystery, the suspense, and watching two lead characters investigate and come up with a solution. Sisko and Bashir really worked well together and it was fun watching them figure it out. If there is one negative, it's that I wish we got to meet this Joran Belar a lot better than we did. In facets, he was portrayed as kind of insane, but the way he was described here, he really wasn't. He was a talented muscision who after being wrongly joined, killed the guy who recommended him. He doesn't strike me as a killer other than that guy, but again I guess you only need to kill once and have that criminal record without any kind of rehabilitation. The way he was portrayed here and in Facets was always confusing to me. I would have loved to see this Joran Dax somehow.

Second Skin

Another classic DS9 episode. Everything about this episode is spot on, mainly everything coming from Garak. Garak is such a fun character and when he has lines like "...I overheard it hemming someone's trousers", that's a reason I think we all love him. He got off some great one liners here. Kira was great too, even though suffice it to say, I do think Face of the Enemy is a better episode of this style. Still, it made Ghemor into a sympathetic character and we really got to go inside the Obsidian Order. I'm glad we did get a follow up in Season 5.

 

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

Season Two Overview

Overall I liked the second season better than the first. It had more strong episodes that featured either political developments or insights to the characters and their backstory. But like the first it also had a fair share of clunkers, and it was very uneven, going like a roller coaster from high to low and back. Roughly it started out well and ended well, with a slump in the middle that was occasionally interrupted by some stand out episodes. Watching the show from episode to episode you can never tell if it's going to be good or bad or plain average. There is no real discernible pattern, which unfortunately works against it, if it doesn't shape up.

Sisko has really grown on me as a character and Trek "captain" and he's come very close to be on Kirk's level. Bashir has thankfully grown out of a lot of his initial "new kid on the block" attitude, and I like his… whatever it is he has with Garak. He's also a nice sparring partner with O'Brien. Kira is still by far my favourite female character and Jadzia remains rather uninteresting. Odo and his grumpiness appeal a lot to me and he is one of the most fascinating characters.

Summing up my episode grades I come to the average season grade of 5.64 (translated to a 6- on my 10-graded scale). Compared with ENT's second season that got 5.01, it is the better one. It is also better than both the second seasons of TNG and VOY.


3-01 The Search, Part 1

This season opener really kicked some serious behinds. It's got action, emotion and a great furthering of DS9's overall story arc. And it introduces us to the Defiant, a really cool little ship that packs a lot of ammo and, frankly, is a kind of vessel that Starfleet should have a lot more of. It feels much more realistic than the usual 24th century luxury liners with families they normally cruise around with. The exterior is a bit odd - I'm not sure I like that thing that sticks out in the front - but I really appreciate that they've deviated from the usual saucer-and-nacelles design that I with few exceptions often find ugly. I really like the bridge and the cramped quarters.

But back to the story. It makes sense for the Federation to go and find these Founders and the Defiant is just the type of ship to do it. It even has a Romulan cloaking device - and a Romulan to operate it (since when did the Federation have this kind of co-operation with the Romulans?) It is also a great Odo story. He feels cast out when Starfleet has decided to restrict his responsibilities, and upon entering the Gamma quadrant he feels strangely drawn to a nebula. We can really empathize with Odo here and the ending, when he encounters his fellow changelings packs a lot of emotional punch.

It could've done without the scientific implausibility of a rouge planet that somehow can sustain life, an atmosphere and even light (from where?). And Trek would even repeat this mistake on ENT.

The Search, Part 1 gets a grade of 9 from me.


3-02 The Search, Part 2

Unfortunately they really botched it with The Search, Part 2. I don't think I've seen an episode sequel on Trek before that has disappointed me so much, especially when compared to the first part. All the emotion and excitement from part one just fizzled out.

It became all too clear very early on that what Sisko et al. were experiencing wasn't real. So much were just off - that they all got out of the pounding and boarding of the Defiant so easily (and off camera), the rapid treaty negotiations and their weird result. After this realisation all that remained was to sit and wait this fantasy out, whether it was a holodeck creation, virtual reality or whatever (turns out it was the latter), and I couldn't care less what happened. It didn't mean anything. It was in essence a variation of the hated Reset Button™.

Even the Odo and the changelings segment left a lot to be desired. From the very emotional build-up from both part one and the previous two seasons it suddenly came to a grinding halt. His interactions with them lacked any real sense of connection, and we never got to experience how he really felt about meeting his lost cousins. The scenes were just there, feeling unfinished, or should I say unfulfilled.

The revelation that the shapeshifters were in fact the Founders, controlling the Dominion, also didn't come as a surprise. But this is one of the things I was spoiled about before I started viewing the show, so I'm not sure if it worked the first time. Personally I think it would've been more effective to have hidden this fact, allow Odo to come somewhat close to his fellow shapeshifters, and then reveal that they are the Founders.

In the end, I cannot give The Search, Part 2 more than a grade of 4. Very disappointing.


3-03 The House of Quark

Well, as a general rule I don't like Ferengi episodes, and while I enjoy their political shenanigans, as another general rule I don't like the mindless honour-or-death Klingons. Combine the two and it should prove to be a disaster. What ultimately saves The House of Quark is Quark. It was mildly amusing to see him try and cope with this odd situation he found himself in, and even display some courage in the end. So while it was a Klingon episode (and unfortunately not about politics) it wasn't really a Ferengi, but a Quark, episode. As such it was acceptable. And I did like that Klingon woman, Grilka, who was briefly married to Quark.

The subplot of Keiko's and Miles's troubles was watchable, but not terribly engaging. It just felt as a set-up for getting her of the station for most of the coming season - and that is what it really was.

The House of Quark gets an average grade of 5-.

 

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

3-04 Equilibrium

Equilibrium was... kind of weird. I thought the masks and hallucinations were a bit off and felt somewhat artificially inserted. While an interesting look at Trill society and the character(s) of Dax, I nevertheless felt underwhelmed with this episode. It could've been more powerful than it was. Frankly it was boring at times and it dragged too much, at least until they got to the Trill homeworld. That too was rather disappointing. Given how alien the concept of symbionts are, one could reasonably expect Trill to also look much more alien. Instead, it looked just like Bajor, or Cardassia Prime, or... well, you get my drift. The most alien look was the symbiont caves, but that looked too much like the stage set it was.

I did find the revelation that a lot more Trills are capable of joining to be interesting, although I suspect it will turn out to have no consequences. At least one can hope that the thus far bland Jadzia Dax will come to exhibit more of an interesting personality now that this "darker" host's memory has been allowed to integrate with Dax.

I'll give Equilibrium a grade of 4+ on my 10-graded scale.


3-05 Second Skin

The premise of Second Skin felt too much like an implausible gimmick. There's just no way that Kira could conceivably be a Cardassian, and yet they spent all too long trying to convince us (and her) that she was. Had she been, she'd been exposed long ago, at the latest by Dr. Bashir's medical equipment. But I admit it was cool seeing her in Cardassian make-up.

It also felt obvious from the start that she wasn't really the target for the Obsidian Order, but her supposed Cardassian father, the Legate Ghemor, who is part of a dissident movement.

I did like Garak (as I usually do) and the question marks keep adding up regarding him. He did help out this time, as he's done before, but he still cannot be trusted. He's exiled, yet he still must work for somebody. At the very least he has an agenda. I'm not entirely convinced that the producers have thought it all up, though, which could prove to be disappointing in the end.

I also liked the interactions between Kira and Ghemor, especially in the latter half of the episode. Once again she is forced to confront the fact that there are good and honourable Cardassians. Their goodbye scene was quite moving.

Second Skin gets a slightly above average grade of 6- on my 10-graded scale.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

Second Skin

Another classic DS9 episode. Everything about this episode is spot on, mainly everything coming from Garak. Garak is such a fun character and when he has lines like "...I overheard it hemming someone's trousers", that's a reason I think we all love him. He got off some great one liners here. Kira was great too, even though suffice it to say, I do think Face of the Enemy is a better episode of this style. Still, it made Ghemor into a sympathetic character and we really got to go inside the Obsidian Order. I'm glad we did get a follow up in Season 5.

Although I don't like DS9 as much as Voyager, I find that it is not too bad a show (but takes a bit of getting used to for a die-hard VOY fan like myself) and I also enjoy reading these reviews. As for SECOND SKIN, I just wanted to add that for some reason, I like the Kira-centered episodes the best, at least during the first half of the show when they are not (yet) so much about the weekly Bajoran church service. DUET is a really enjoyable one, NECESSARY EVIL even more so but undoubtedly, SECOND SKIN is my favourite one with her. It was very exciting watching it for the first time even though I never believed for a second that she was not who she was. But there is a tension in that episode, even on the third viewing and I really like the idea that they were trying to set up that Cardassian guy and not Kira. It was nice to see how she came to the realization of what was going on and Nana Vistor seemed to be very good in the role.

On a somewhat different note, I hope one day you'll get to the seventh season because if memory serves, I really liked Ezri Dax and can't wait to read whatever you guys have to say about her.

Until then, please keep up the good work. Remember that I might not say much but I'm here and read your comments with pleasure. I don't know and don't like DS9 well enough to comment on too many aspects and frankly, in contrast to most people on these fora (esp. VOY) I'm not the kind of person who likes to bash shows or characters (having said that, I really don't like Worf ... )

So please carry on with your reviews, you definitely have a regular reader here. Cheers.

 

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

On a somewhat different note, I hope one day you'll get to the seventh season because if memory serves, I really liked Ezri Dax and can't wait to read whatever you guys have to say about her.

I can tell you that right now. I love Ezri Dax. She's just so adorable and cute as a button (just like Nicole de Boer) And her character is way more interesting than Jadzia Dax ever was.

Until then, please keep up the good work. Remember that I might not say much but I'm here and read your comments with pleasure. I don't know and don't like DS9 well enough to comment on too many aspects and frankly, in contrast to most people on these fora (esp. VOY) I'm not the kind of person who likes to bash shows or characters (having said that, I really don't like Worf ... )

So please carry on with your reviews, you definitely have a regular reader here. Cheers.

Thanks for the appreciation. I will keep it up, which is easy since I've already written all my DS9 reviews (see link in my sig). But for the next 10-11 days or so I won't be posting new ones since I'm taking a little vacation to Risa... er, I mean Florida.

 

[tomalak301]

It's been a while, but I wanted to watch some DS9 tonight, so might as well bring this thread back. I took a break to see Marvel's Luke Cage (Which was ok), but now that that is over and I guess we're not getting Jessica Jones Season 2 anytime soon, there's some time for DS9.

The Abandoned

I really like this episode, mainly because it defines who the Jem'Hadar are. In a period of 45 minutes, we learn basically their entire genetic make up and how they are bred to be killing machines. We learn you can't reason with them, and they have the same drive that Odo had, only for different reasons. The Jem'Hadar wanted to be with his people, and Odo wanted to find his, but the difference is the Jem'Hadar is forced to be with his people and genetically engineered to fight. I also liked the stuff with Jake and Marta and Ben, as this was the first episode that brought about the Jake wants to be a writer arc. It was great to see the Shocked look on Sisko's face when he's finding out new stuff about his son.

Civil Defense

This episode is just fun. There's not much going for it, but the Banter between Dukat and Garak is always a highlight. It kinda felt like a season 1 episode but perfect for Season 3 mainly because of what we know about the station and the occupation to this point. Other than that, there's not much to really say about it.

 

[DonIago]

I do love the part in "Civic Defense" where 'Dukat's' program turns on him.

 

[tomalak301]

I do love the part in "Civic Defense" where 'Dukat's' program turns on him.

Yeah that was fun, but that's all part of the Dukat/Garak Banter.

 

[BJ Wagner]

And Dukat really does look hurt and uncomfortable when Garak calls him out for hitting on Kira.

 

[DonIago]

That had me wondering whether in Cardassian society calling someone out on inappropriate flirting is considered particularly poor etiquette.

 

[tomalak301]

Meridian

I'm debating if I want to talk about every episode anymore like I have been doing because there are some that really don't need to be brought up. I do this mainly because I get excited to talk about episodes I just saw, or there's episodes I never see being talked about in this forum that I want to say something about but there are some episodes that aren't worth the mention.

Meridian is one such episode where I really don't think deserves to be talked about. Star Trek doesn't handle relationships very well for the most part, but this episode was annoyingly dull. We come off of a great Dax episode in Equilibrium to probably the worst Dax episode in this one. It was out of character, boring, dull, and just not good. There's worst episodes of DS9 out there, but this episode isn't worth it. There was also a B plot about Quark wanting to get a holosuite image of Kira which was a little amusing but it too isn't worth talking about.

 

[tomalak301]

Defiant

This is such a great episode, and it sets up one of my favorite arcs in the series, albeit subtly. I didn't realize it until much later on, but with a single line, this episode set up Improbable Cause/Die is Cast, which then set up In Purgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light. We see the welcome return of Tom Riker, who was pretty good at playing the reluctant hero/terrorist but this episode really works because of the Sisko/Dukat scenes. Whenever I hear about Dukat being this ruthless villain a la Hitler, I wonder why he is put in such a category because we're in the stretch of the series (starting with The Maquis) where he was actually a likable character. Did he did bad things? Yes and you can't take anything away from that. I still wonder though if there was some truth to what he said about him having to do those bad things. Of course ask a Bajoran and you get a different story, but I don't think you can call Dukat a Hitler like character.

 

[DonIago]

I wouldn't call Dukat Hitler necessarily, but I believe any "good" deeds he did were done primarily out of self-interest rather than any genuine desire to benefit anyone else. In any case, his history (not to mention his future) is so loathsome that in retrospect all one can really do here is enjoy the brief respite from him being inarguably despicable.

 

[USS Firefly]

Well Dukat did sacrifice a lot for Ziyal

 

[tomalak301]

Well Dukat did sacrifice a lot for Ziyal

Speaking of Ziyal, I wonder what Dukat's son's reaction was when he found out he had a sister.

 

[USS Firefly]

Speaking of Ziyal, I wonder what Dukat's son's reaction was when he found out he had a sister.

Oh no, not another one?
Had Dukat not have like 6 or 7 childeren, ok from one woman but still

 

[tomalak301]

Oh no, not another one?
Had Dukat not have like 6 or 7 childeren, ok from one woman but stil

He had 7 children and we never saw anyone other than Zyial.

 

[tomalak301]

Fascination

This episode is dumb, but it's something I've come to somewhat enjoy over the years. I remember when I first saw this episode when the DVDs came out and it was my first time revisiting DS9 since it originally aired. I didn't remember most episodes, and when I got to Fascination, I was like this episode is stupid. I didn't see many redeeming qualities to it, and I wrote it off and kind of your typical Season 3 below average episode (To which we have kind of entered Season 3's version of that slate from Season 2 where it was average to somewhat decent). Over the years, however, I've come to enjoy this episode for what it is, a fun romp that doesn't take itself seriously and it's perfectly harmless. Yes this episode kind of reminds me of TNG's Manhunt in that it's something somewhat sexual coming from Lwaxana (either from her or indirectly affecting other people) but it was fun. I enjoyed the Bajoran Festival as a backdrop mainly because it gave us more insight into this people from a joyous point of view and I did like the Miles/Keiko story even though I thought Miles was a little out of character saying Keiko should quit her job. It just seemed like O'Brian was being just really selfish and that's not entirely who O'Brian is isn't it? Yes he's married and misses her, but as we see in the end, he has gotten tighter with Julian.

Next episode is Past Tense, and considering this election (and one can argue it works for whoever you voted for so I'm trying to stay really neutral here), it's as timely as ever. In a way, I'm glad I got to these episodes this week because if you want commentary on the times we live in, look no further than the Past Tense two parter, which I think are two underrated episodes.

 

[tomalak301]

Past Tense

This is what Star Trek social commentary is all about. These episodes feel like a warning of what could happen if we as a society are not careful. I'm not going to get political (God knows there's way too much of that these days and I'm trying to stay out of the "mess") but these episodes hits close to home. I think the thing I love about these episodes more than anything else is the idea that people have forgotten how to care. These episodes showed good people (even BC, who was quite out there) down on their luck and struggling to land on their feet. It's hard to find work when there are no jobs and they ended up rounded up and put into these districts and just forgotten.

It's hard to talk about these episodes without being political, so lets move to Sisko and Bashir. I think about Sisko here compared to the Sisko in Far Beyond the Stars and I think Brooks might have been better here than in that episode. Granted, I love the meltdown, but it could be said that Brooks might have hammed up that scene with the "It's REEEAAALLL". Here, he was a true leader, and a true revolutionary, taking on Gabrial Bell's role and saving the hostage workers in the processing center. I also liked Webb, even though what happened to him was so sad. Without getting political, I will end by saying I hope we don't live in a world where Sanctuary districts are a thing. Overall though, these episodes are great and just top notch Star Trek social commentary.

Life Support

Kai Winn is so bad, even when she tries to be good. One can say she killed Berail, and in doing so got what she wanted. This episode is just ok even though I know people were happy Berail was written off the show. I always liked the guy, even though my favorite episodes with him were In the Hands of the Prophets, the Circle Trilogy, and Collaborators. The Nog/Jake storyline was just there even though this should have been dealt with in Season 1. I think the next episode is Heart of Stone, where Nog requests an application to join Starfleet Academy. To make him act like Season 1 Nog here kinda felt out of character, especially since Jake and Nog are friends and hang out quite a bit.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

This episode is just ok even though I know people were happy Berail was written off the show.

Do you know why his character is generally disliked? I quite like him actually, esp. as Kira's boyfriend.