Let He Who is Without Sin...

[urbandk]

Is an underrated episode. I just read Jammer's review and the comments, and everyone thought the episode was abysmal. I just watched it and loved it. It was funny, touching at times, silly, and it offered new insight into Worf.

I got the sense from the reactions on the Jammer page that people took the episode too seriously. In fact, I notice a pattern that every time DS9 did a silly, light-hearted episode, some people cringed.

Am I in the minority in enjoying the low-brow DS9 episodes?

 

[StarryEyed]

Am I in the minority in enjoying the low-brow DS9 episodes?

You are in the minority but not alone. I've never understood the hate for this episode. I liked it too.

 

[DevilEyes]

I didn't hate it, it was fun and there were parts I really liked, the interaction between Jadzia and Worf was good, especially his revelation about the incident from his childhood.

Yes, the message was a bit heavy-handed, but that's not the only time DS9 has been guilty of that, has it? (Hello, season 7 religious storyline!)

It wasn't a great episode, but I didn't think it was one of the worst. DS9 had a few more cringe-worthy episodes than that, IMO.

 

[Vonstadt]

I too enjoyed it, I thought it was a cute break and yeah a little heavy handed but a fun episode none the less.

Vons

 

[Eyes]

I enjoyed it as well, with the Risian stuff, and the Essentialist thing felt very real, and relevant. It isn't the cream of the crop of DS9, but it is by no means the worst.

 

[tomalak301]

Even though it was stunt casting, I enjoyed Vanessa Williams in DS9. All the stuff with worf though, not good.

 

[RyuRoots]

High points: Vanessa Williams and Terry Farrel (and to a lesser extent, Chase Masterson) in swimsuits.
Low points: Everything else in the episode, from the lowbrow sex humor to the apparent need of the writers to 'explain' Worf's personality.

 

[SchwEnt]

I never thought it was so bad, one of DS9's worst ever.

I liked the idea of a group concerned about Borg invasions and the Dominion, rallying against those screwing around on Risa and in the holodecks.

And the revelation about Work was good stuff. Explains a lot of stuff, even when Guinan remarked that Worf is more hard-ass Klingon than other Klingons. So that's why Work is so uptight and never really cuts loose like a Klingon. Interesting.

Maybe it was lost in the presentation. But the ideas seemed good to me. I can other eps premises that were much worse.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

I didn't think it was that bad.

I thought the opening with Quark getting in Worf's way was pretty hilarious; and, yes, Williams and Farrell did look good in swimsuits...

(The idea that an aged Curzon died after sex with Williams' character years ago took some time to sink in, though....)

 

[Photon]

Sucks

sorry couldn't help those juvenile instincts

 

[Tallis Rhul]

I thought the episode was good too. Not sure about having a ritual to break up on Bajor mind you, where was all the screaming and vase throwing? XD

 

[Too Much Fun]

I like...parts of it. The stuff with Worf opening up to Jadzia about his childhood trauma was cool and his overreacting jealousy towards Jadzia and disgust with Leeta and Bashir was funny. It's just the stuff with Worf and that cult (or whatever the group was) that pissed me off. I felt it dragged the episode down. If it had just focused on the two couples instead of bringing that nonsense into it, the episode probably would have been better.

 

[TeutonicNights]

I thought it was well in character for Worf. Remember how he threatened the Yridian in "Birthright Part One" for example?
Since it was said early on that the Risians won't prosecute, Worf had a chance of letting out his bad temper on a whole planet without real consequences for himself. That was a cool set-up.

The episode is basically about Worf being a dick. And that's cool with me. Except people should have hated him in the end (save Dax) and he would have to leave silently, not enjoy some hot sex on the beach.

The essentialists were just fools. Any plan to make this a "message" episode must have failed. But they didn't really go that route.
And I thought the humor was good. Quark was awesome as the sex tourist and the complaining customer.

 

[Kira Nerys]

I like it ,it is good over any mirror universe episode .

 

[Yassim]

And the revelation about Work was good stuff. Explains a lot of stuff, even when Guinan remarked that Worf is more hard-ass Klingon than other Klingons. So that's why Work is so uptight and never really cuts loose like a Klingon. Interesting.

no, it wasn't.

Worf doesn't need explaining. He's the first Klingon in Starfleet - a Klingon raised by humans. The saying "There's none more Scots than the Scots abroad" applies here - he's overcompensating by being uber-Klingon. And he can't dare show any weakness, because he's representing all Klingon-kind to the humans.

I've always thought of Worf as Jackie Robinson - he's determined to be twice as competent and dignified as everyone else, because he's always being watched.

Putting it all down to a soccer accident is just plain silly. Was anyone really wondering why he is that way?

It's a weak weak episode. Light, but not funny. Villains who walk a line between harmless and deranged. Absurd but not in a good way.

 

[TeutonicNights]

The truth is Worf acted that way because Jadzia was trying to make him mad.
Seriously, the episode has a few things going for it.

-Risa felt like a "real" place, unlike in TNG, nice new matte, lots of extras, outside shots. I would have loved to see Quark and Bashir riding those hoverbikes though.
- For once, the convenient dramatic thunderstorm made sense, because Worf created it
-Quark was very funny
-I though it was a good idea to make Risa a Federation planet, although that makes it strange that Picard wouldn't know about it.
-Jadzia looked hot

 

[SchwEnt]

And the revelation about Work was good stuff. Explains a lot of stuff, even when Guinan remarked that Worf is more hard-ass Klingon than other Klingons. So that's why Work is so uptight and never really cuts loose like a Klingon. Interesting.

no, it wasn't.

Worf doesn't need explaining. He's the first Klingon in Starfleet - a Klingon raised by humans. The saying "There's none more Scots than the Scots abroad" applies here - he's overcompensating by being uber-Klingon. And he can't dare show any weakness, because he's representing all Klingon-kind to the humans.

I've always thought of Worf as Jackie Robinson - he's determined to be twice as competent and dignified as everyone else, because he's always being watched.

Putting it all down to a soccer accident is just plain silly. Was anyone really wondering why he is that way?

It's a weak weak episode. Light, but not funny. Villains who walk a line between harmless and deranged. Absurd but not in a good way.

I can see where you're coming from with the Jackie Robinson analogy. But still, even when Worf was among other Klingons, he was still 'overcompensating'. I recall "Redemption" when he was with Kurn and other Klingons and was still uptight and all.

Because when Worf was a kid he let loose and accidently killed another kid? That's heavy traumatic stuff for a human, probably a Klingon being raised by humans too. Yes? No?

I don't know...silly or not, I thought it was a big insight into Worf's childhood. We never got all that much about the difficult situations he would have had. I thought it interesting.

 

[Myasishchev]

The episode would not be nearly so bad had Worf not crossed the line from "jerk" to "traitor" by giving access codes to a potentially deadly weather control system to a group of domestic terrorists--and then experienced absolutely zero consequences for an action that should have resulted in massive criminal and civil penalties for every person involved.

I'm not sure the Risians would have to prosecute, although it's absolutely unbelievable that they wouldn't after the sabotage of their entire planet. Surely there's a Starfleet regulation or a Federational federal law that says "don't give state secrets to violent resistance group in order to further their campaign of economic and social disruption." Maybe not in those words, but in that spirit.

Imagine if you could pin the blame on Hurricane Katrina on a weather-controlling terrorist. Is it cool to let him walk away, because he was having difficulty in his relationship? Just unbelievable.

There were some fun parts, though, it's not unwatchable, just bad.

 

[TeutonicNights]

Yeah, maybe the Essentialists should have done something else, unrelated to Worf.
That way, he could save the Risians, be a hero and make up for his actions, deserving his beach sex.

But giving Fullerton the device and the codes (as former security officer no less) should at least raise some eyebrows at Starfleet Command. What if they had been on the other side of the planet or Fullerton had been hiding, so Worf couldn't stop it in time?

On the other hand, this was one of those opportunities where they could have a main character- without an altered state or altered reality situation- become a villain for an episode. So I was glad they did it. That's also why I love "The Sword of Kahless" btw
Worf siding with those mofos to do ugly things was really powerful and disturbing.
With a little tweaking, the concept might have really worked. But Risa was a good place to do it. The raining thing alone need not give him trouble in his career. Letting those guys keep the device, should.

 

[Myasishchev]

Yeah, maybe the Essentialists should have done something else, unrelated to Worf.
That way, he could be a hero and make up for his actions.
But giving Fullerton the device and the codes (as former security officer no less) should at least raise some eyebrows at Starfleet Command.

One the other hand, this was one of those opportunities where they could have a main character- without an altered state or altered reality situation- to become a villain for an episode. So I was glad they did it.
Worf siding with those mofos to do ugly things was really powerful and disturbing.
With a little tweaking, the concept might have really worked.

I'd have been cool with Worf simply agreeing with their means and ends--that makes him a dick and it's easy enough to draw the necessary conflict out of his dickish social and political opinions. But having him actively participate paints him in a very "dishonorable" light, considering he swore an oath to protect the Federation, not flood it.