Season of Change

[Bry_Sinclair]

Just been watching "The Search" again and just seen a few things that could have made things quite different on DS9.

What if T'Rul had been kept on as a regular or semi-regular character? She would have added a new source of internal conflict among the crew (especially when Worf came onboard the following year). Not really sure what her role would be though (other than cloaking device operator and an intelligence analyst).

Odo resigns as Chief of Security and became a private investigator (though still a main character). Eddington becomes a regular character and takes over as Security Chief. It would give his defection even more impact.

Just a couple of thoughts.
-Bry

 

[DonIago]

I was actually fairly annoyed that they introduced T'Rul (or at least the concept of a Romulan on-board the Defiant) and then seemed to immediately forget about it. That could have had some potential.

Odo resigning wouldn't have gone over well with me...I think it would have seemed petty and temperamental of him to do that, unless it was lead up to over time. Seeing Eddington more would have been nice, especially since it seemed usually when we saw him he was acting in an exceptional or atypical capacity. More episodes with him as a regular Starfleet officer could have lent his later turnabout more weight.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I was actually fairly annoyed that they introduced T'Rul (or at least the concept of a Romulan on-board the Defiant) and then seemed to immediately forget about it. That could have had some potential.

Also she was played by Martha Hackett and I like her. Seeing as how in TNG we learned more about Klingon culture through Worf, she could've offered the chance to explore the other TOS 'big bad' in more detail as well.

-B

 

[DS9 Gal AZ]

I believe the writers' original plan was do more with T'Rul, but somewhere along the line they decided they didn't have enough story material for her, and the character was dropped. Her absence is especially glaring since, if you recall, she was there to monitor the Federation's use of the cloak the Romulan government loaned them. So what happened when she wasn't there anymore? Were the Romulans just suddenly okay with the Feds using the cloak whenver they wanted? Wouldn't they be worried the Feds would duplicate the technology and use it other ships, despite whatever agreements they signed to the contrary? The Romulans aren't known for being very trusting after all...

As for the Odo thing, no way. He's the Constable. He's head of station security. That's who he is. Wouldn't want to change that. Eddington got enough screen time anyway.

 

[TheLobes]

Eddington becomes a regular character and takes over as Security Chief. It would give his defection even more impact.

If Eddington had been made a regular his defection would have had less impact! What I really loved about his defection was that Eddington was seen just enough to be remembered, but not quite enough to be taken seriously within the show, he was just there when they needed him. This meant that when the defection came the audience were surprised and angered in the same way the characters were surprised and angered. Just like the characters we had watched Eddington, quite liking him, but never really thinking of him as important, then we find out we've been totally wrong, and hes fooled us.

If Eddington had been a regular character I would have just been pissed off at his defection, because to make a main character defect is usually just an unimaginative way of producing a 'twist'.

As for the whole T'Rul thing, it doesnt make sense, and I would have liked the see her as a recurring character, but unfortunetely the nature of the role would have meant having her there more than she was needed. Everytime they used the Defiant's cloak the writers would have had to force her in there. The Defiant and its myriad of fantasical abilities always pissed me off, one of the only things I didnt like about ds9. The firepower is gave off was so ridiculous. Remember those old school computer games where you controlled a ship, and sometimes a bonus would come along that made it shoot like 50 times the amount it normally did? Thats what the Defiant reminded me of. However, in fairness, they needed a ship like the Defiant, and even if its abilities didnt really fit, they were needed within the show, so Im able to dismiss the whole thing with the cloak.

Compare the Defiant's obvious flaws to Voyagers. Voyager had an unlimited number of shuttles and crew, plus it magically repaired every week, even with huge portions of its hull blown away. The difference is that if the writers had acknowledged that then the show would have been far more interesting, because Voyager is these peoples home and only safe haven, the way it looks and acts is important to the nature of the show. The Defiant was just a means to an end, and so was the cloak. They did well to not acknowledge it repeatedly.

 

[DarKush]

I don't think Eddington got enough development before he turned Maquis. I don't think it had enough impact because the emotional connection hadn't been made. I wish they had done a better job weaving him into storylines. When he first appeared I thought he was going to flirt with Kira, but maybe I was imagining that.

As for T'Rul I wish she had stuck around though I'm not sure what role she could've played. I think the actress added something very needed on VOY anyway. DS9 was already character-rich.

 

[Sykonee]

I actually made a list of all the changes introduced in The Search in the Versus thread.

-New ship!
-New characters! (even if one of them was here just for this two-parter)
-New uniform! (for Odo anyway)
-New hair! (but... why?)
-New shaky-cam! (Or at least, the shakiest I've ever seen the camera in Trek up to that point)
-New combadge! (I didn't even realize that until now -thank you, Memory Alpha!)
-Plus, the Big Reveal! Odo finally found his way home. Well, that was... quick.

Are there any more that I may have missed?

 

[Kira Nerys]

It would have been great to see a romulan as a semi regular character.We might have gotten more of a glimpse of the romulans as a people .

 

[wissaboo]

that was disapointing that she wasn't kept around for longer. And the romulan's that were brought in at the begining of season 6 (?) when kira was in command of the station. Where did they disapear to?

 

[DS9 Gal AZ]

that was disapointing that she wasn't kept around for longer. And the romulan's that were brought in at the begining of season 6 (?) when kira was in command of the station. Where did they disapear to?

Actually it was season 7 I think, but anyway ...

I like Kira butting heads with the Romulan gal, and they had some stuff with Sec 31 and Romulan intrigue and Bashir but yeah ... considering the Romulans were the baddies on TNG and then the Fed's reluctant allies on DS9, would have liked to see them delve into Romulan culture a bit more somewhere along the line. I mean, you saw a Romulan in the war room along with Feds/Klingons planning attacks on the Dominion and all, but they were kind of on the periphery...

 

[George1710]

Just been watching "The Search" again and just seen a few things that could have made things quite different on DS9.

What if T'Rul had been kept on as a regular or semi-regular character? She would have added a new source of internal conflict among the crew (especially when Worf came onboard the following year). Not really sure what her role would be though (other than cloaking device operator and an intelligence analyst).

Odo resigns as Chief of Security and became a private investigator (though still a main character). Eddington becomes a regular character and takes over as Security Chief. It would give his defection even more impact.

Just a couple of thoughts.
-Bry

Really nice thoughts...