Explorers...

[HaventGotALife]

Oh, I want a re-boot of this show just to build a better story around the light ship. It is very heavy-handed--the structure of the arguments for and against Bajorans and ancient contact! The first 20 minutes contain no conversations, except those of the light ship. The emotions are blunt, the dialogue more-so. This was the problem with the storytelling of the third season. The show still needed to stop insulting the audience. They had great stories and crapped them away, at times, with the most obvious choices possible, never hiding the structures of their show. For subtlety is sublime, this show needed to mature.

What a great concept, and Enterprise-like execution.

 

[Tosk]

The first 20 minutes contain no conversations, except those of the light ship.

The ship isn't mentioned for the first time until the third scene.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

Oh, I want a re-boot of this show just to build a better story around the light ship. It is very heavy-handed--the structure of the arguments for and against Bajorans and ancient contact! The first 20 minutes contain no conversations, except those of the light ship. The emotions are blunt, the dialogue more-so. This was the problem with the storytelling of the third season. The show still needed to stop insulting the audience. They had great stories and crapped them away, at times, with the most obvious choices possible, never hiding the structures of their show. For subtlety is sublime, this show needed to mature.

What a great concept, and Enterprise-like execution.

Explorers isn't about ancient contact between bajorans and cardassians or about a light-ship, it's about a father wanting to be closer to his son. Ancient contact and lightships are merely tools to explore the relationship between Sisko and Jake. In that regard it was very successful.

 

[HaventGotALife]

Explorers isn't about ancient contact between bajorans and cardassians or about a light-ship, it's about a father wanting to be closer to his son. Ancient contact and lightships are merely tools to explore the relationship between Sisko and Jake. In that regard it was very successful.

It's about Ben,H taking stock of the character. He always been uncomfortable with being Emissary. His embrace of the light ship is embracing Bajoran history. Being a builder, as he tinkers with things, built the relationships on the station, and the station itself. He carries Starfleet's adventurous spirit. He is over Jennifer's death, as his reaction to Dax bringing up the nursery, doesn't make him do anything more than reminisce, not brood, when Dax brings her up, through Jake.And, yes,Jake plays a large role, as he is growing. The conversations around him show the different constituencies--O'Brien accusing Kira of being Romulan, Kira calling O'Brien a Cardassians, Dukat contacts the station, Dax pays him a visit. They all have a role in his life. And Jake offers to get a Mom replacement in Kassidy. This is taking stock of Sisko. It's just done in an obvious way, the structure of the story so blunt, I can't stand watching it now.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Sisko looking into the history and culture of Bajor is separate from him being the Emissary, his home is in Bajor's backyard, and one of his objectives since being assigned to DS9 was to work with the Bajorans to get them ready for Federation membership, exploration of their ancient civilisation is part of that. He latches onto the solar sailing ship because he is a builder and appreciates the simple elegance of the design and is in need of a project, what better way to take his mind of off all the stresses and strains of command than reconstructing a piece of history.

Dax is of course supportive, as she knows him so well--reminiscing about Jake's nursery shows the closeness they share, as well as his proclivity for putting his all into something that means a lot to him. Kira and O'Brien bickering is just that, these people have lived and worked together for years, they have disagreements and spats, especially about something that is about Kira's people and O'Brien's modern sensibilities are perplexed, especially since Sisko wants to do it because it'll be fun.

The core of the story is about how dynamics with a father and son change over time. Jake isn't the eager kid anymore, he has a life of his own and new priorities, he's found something he's passionate about and is wrapped up in it. At the same time he is seeing his dad as a man as well as his father, and is worried about his lack of a love life (mental projections of a visiting alien hardly make the cut), so is looking out for him--especially since he could be leaving home soon. He's not looking for a replacement for Jennifer, but someone to make his dad happy.

I thought it was one of their best episodes together. Truths are revealed and their bond only gets stronger, with the added tension of being cast adrift in a ship without any of the mod cons they're used too.

I love the end of the episode, with Dukat saying about how a solar sailer was just discovered on Cardassia, it makes me wonder how long ago that had been discovered and how long they'd been hiding it--not wanting to admit the Bajorans were right.

 

[Farscape One]

The Ben/Jake relationship was one of THE best things about the show. It's also one of the reasons Sisko will always be my favorite Captain.

This episode has always been dear to me, partly because the closest thing to a father I had was my grandfather, who passed away less than 2 weeks from Christmas in 96, during the break of "THE ASCENT" and "RAPTURE" with the DS9 uniform changeover. As odd as this sounds, I particularly treasure those earlier uniform episodes because it was the last time all my family were alive and with me. While doing my rewatch of all the series, I've found myself having to actually hold back tears at the end of episodes, even ones that have basically no emotional punch to them. It's only recently that I figured out why, and it was particularly the episodes that I saw when pops and nana (my grandfather and grandmother) were both still around when this happens.

My point is that this episode, to me, was perfect. And the O'Brien/Bashir scenes were great, too, because that is another cornerstone of why DS9 was so excellent. Their relationship actually reminds me of my own with my best friend.

I can never tire of seeing this episode, because I get to smile at the bond on screen and what I had, and shed a tear for what I lost. In the end, isn't that what makes a show great... being able to bring you an array of emotions?

 

[Prax]

It's a good episode. I like the little argument O'Brien and Kira have over the ship, and Sisko's "because it'll be fun!"

The only thing I might change is the plausibility factor. It has Sisko building a spaceship by hand, by himself, over 3 weeks(or maybe even 3 weekends, as the guy does have a dayjob). So I would have the intro be in another episode earlier in the season as a little side thing, and then come back to it here when he's completed it. I once built a pop-up Kayak sail, and the thing took me a couple months to design, test, and build.

 

[Tosk]

I once built a pop-up Kayak sail, and the thing took me a couple months to design, test, and build.

Ben was an engineer, and the ship was already designed. I also assume he took leave and worked on it full time, as he also planned to be missing from the station for the trip itself. (Four or five days.)

 

[Prax]

Ben was an engineer, and the ship was already designed. I also assume he took leave and worked on it full time, as he also planned to be missing from the station for the trip itself. (Four or five days.)

If he had an experienced crew working on it full time, and they were replicating all the parts, then I would say "Ok. This is more plausible." Or, if Sisko had 6-9 months to do it himself.

Him being engineer or taking vacation days, or having ancient plans doesn't really change anything about the time it would take. And I never really got the sense that he had an engineering background. He almost always defers to O'Brien, or Jadzia, or others(even Odo) on technical matters.

 

[Farscape One]

He was a lead at Utopia Planitia. He helped design and build the Defiant. He was an engineer before Leyton put him on the command track. We've seen him do engineering work on the station and the Defiant numerous times.

Him letting his Chief Engineer take charge in those matters is nothing more than a leader letting his department heads do what they do best.

 

[Tosk]

And I should add, I do agree that three weeks seems to be a pretty small amount of time for it. But not so much that it bothers me.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

I love the end of the episode, with Dukat saying about how a solar sailer was just discovered on Cardassia, it makes me wonder how long ago that had been discovered and how long they'd been hiding it--not wanting to admit the Bajorans were right.

Watching the ENT Mirror Universe depiction of the Vulcans arriving on Earth, one has to wonder if the Bajorans' arrival on Cardassia sparked some panic. They always seemed too obsessed with Bajor, beyond it being a source of slave labor.

 

[Qonundrum]

It's a nice high concept story that works on a character and metaphorical level, but don't think into the details too much. Or drink coffee while watching, except at least the coffee drinker has a bathroom nearby to dispatch the result of the ingested diuretic - unlike hapless Ben and Jake. Oops. But that's not why I say "don't think into it too much", given the setup (as I recall) of how the Bajorans and Cardassians first met (via a light ship and hilarity did not ensue as a result.) it seemrd weird how everyone was oh-so-happy at the end of the story.

 

[Tosk]

a bathroom nearby to dispatch the result of the ingested diuretic - unlike hapless Ben and Jake. Oops.

There is a bathroom on the ship, Jake even mentions it.

it seemrd weird how everyone was oh-so-happy at the end of the story.

The Cardassians weren't happy, they were putting on a show to try and save face.