Shatnertage's Mostly-1st-Time Watch Thread

[Quinton O'Connor]

No matter how many different Trek-themed aliases I come up with the courts just keep catching me trying to get the American shuttle program up and running again by hand. So far they've arrested Jeff Odo'Connor, Gul Epic, The Doct O'Connor, Tiberius Zerg (bit of a crossover, that one) and they even managed to catch Boob Rosa, my traveling pornographically-oriented assistant.

I'm like a one-man Arkham Asylum.

Anyway, what's been up man, how's Emerald Hill? Minecraft still serving you well?

 

[TheGodBen]

Minecraft has gone very well. I found a pink sheep.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

That's no sheep. It's a space station.

 

[TheGodBen]

Are you sure? Why would a space station drop wool when you shear it?

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Think with portals, man. Every strange question in this wonderful universe can be answered in a satisfactory manner if you just... think with portals.

The real question is, "why wouldn't it?"

 

[Admiral Shran]

I found a pink sheep.

Pink sheep make Worf happy.

Seriously though, after making people suffer through Soul Hunter, Infection, all that Technomage stuff and Moments of Transition, you really should finish your B5 thread.

 

[TheGodBen]

Think with portals, man. Every strange question in this wonderful universe can be answered in a satisfactory manner if you just... think with portals.

The real question is, "why wouldn't it?"

Sorry, I'm off the meth these days so I have no idea what you're talking about.

Seriously though, after making people suffer through Soul Hunter, Infection, all that Technomage stuff and Moments of Transition, you really should finish your B5 thread.

I was going to go back to it this week. Seriously. But then I didn't. No reason really.

I'll get back to it eventually. (That's going to become my catchphrase.)

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

You don't know "think with portals"? Aw man. It's a Portal reference. Oh well. Back to meth you go.

 

[TheGodBen]

You don't know "think with portals"? Aw man. It's a Portal reference. Oh well. Back to meth you go.

But the portals in Minecraft go to the hell dimension where you get attacked by fireball-shooting ghosts and zombie pigmen. There's no wool there.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Well it's still in Beta or something, isn't it? There's time.

 

[Shatnertage]

Well, I'm back, and I finally got to see the introduction of...

"The Jem'Hadar"

Having seen the Jem'Hadar in a later episode, I would have thought their introduction would have been a little more high-profile. The first quarter of the episode is a pretty flat comedy with Quark trying to ingratiate himself with Sisko, then they get captured and meet Eris and learn a few things about the Dominion.

I liked Talak'talan--his "I wish you were a Klingon" was kind of wistful in a way that made him and the Jem'Hadar seem only that much more badass. And the fact that they destroyed a Galaxy-class starship.

I can see where the Dominion gives the show more focus. Instead of just waiting for people to drift by and start something dramatic, they've now got a real threat.

This episode, though, didn't do a lot to wow me. Quark got to make a speech about how bad humanity is (was) instead of Kirk or Picard making a speech about how great humanity is. That was different. All in all, I'd say it did a good job of introducing the Jem'Hadar and revealing a little more about the Dominion, but as a stand-alone episode it really doesn't have much going for it.

I also watched a few of the features. Mostly it was people repeating that DS9 was so different than the other shows because you had people confined together on the same station, and that each week it was off to a new planet. And it's starting to grate on me, because up to this point most DS9 episodes have been exactly the same thing, but with runabouts and 2-man crews instead of the ship and away missions. But I'd say that the best episodes were the ones where it was station-based. So they've definitely got a point.

Besides that, not too much to say. I'm looking forward to next season.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Oh, neat. I joined up in time for the end of the second season.

Something fun to go back and look for now (although it sounds like your time is at a premium so maybe you ought to just read up on it!) is how the Dominion is steadily introduced in the shadows throughout the second year. There are some definitive references to them littered across three episodes. Kinda cool.

The series is going to start changing in fun ways over the next few years. And there will be some bad episodes but you've really broken the barrier between "part of the show where a whole string of iffy episodes take place" and "part of the show where that's fairly unlikely to happen".

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Bit more to say, actually.

Talak'talan is a good character. The Jem'Hadar in general are a good race. I always look forward to the episodes centered around them. The Vorta, too, although you might really begin to understand my fascination with them for another couple of seasons yet.

 

[Admiral Shran]

I agree that The Jem'Hadar is a good episode, but that it needed to be a little more epic. As it stands, it's offers an effective introduction to the Dominion but does fall flat as a standalone. The most epic part is the destruction of the Odyssey - showing that the Dominion is capable and willing to easily destroy the best the Federation can throw at it.

As a side-note - I think TPTB intended for the audience to think that that ship was the Enterprise in the previews for this episode. This was very shortly after TNG ended and the previews didn't give us any indication that it was not the Enterprise. Nice little way to hook some viewers, IMO. Combine that with the fact the Enterprise was mentioned in the previous episode as being at least somewhere near the station, and you got a hook for even more viewers.

Other than the destruction of the ship, however, Quark's little speech about humanity is the only real thing this episode has going for it. It really shows how hypocritical the Federation can be. Granted, it's coming for a guy whose species treats their women like crap, but that doesn't negate the fact that what he's saying is true. They're perfectly willing to accept and tolerate other cultures, as long as they remind them of what they like in themselves.

 

[Thestral]

Part of what I love about "The Jem'Hadar" is how it so effectively transitions from "boring 'comedy' episode, oh look camping with Quark, yay..." to providing what is essentially a paradigm shift in DS9 and introducing the Jem'Hadar and the Dominion. The bait-and-switch really works in the episode's favor, in my opinion.

And something I noticed on a second or third viewing is how much Odyssey really is a stand-in for Enterprise. I mean think about it - same class of ship, similar names, both commanded by an older and rather stuffy but well-respected Captain, both first officers are younger, more go-getting men. And this massive starship is fairly easily taken down by three ships many times smaller than it.

 

[Shatnertage]

Did they use the Enterprise model? They seemed to shoot it from angles where the registry wasn't visible.

It's kind of funny that just after the massively popular TNG goes off the air, they blow up a ship that looks just like the Enterprise.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Yeah, it was the same model as the Enterprise. It was the one they used to blow up the Enterprise multiple times in Cause and Effect.

 

[Thestral]

It's kind of funny that just after the massively popular TNG goes off the air, they blow up a ship that looks just like the Enterprise.

What better way to illustrate to the viewers how dangerous the Dominion is?

 

[Admiral Shran]

Seriously though, after making people suffer through Soul Hunter, Infection, all that Technomage stuff and Moments of Transition, you really should finish your B5 thread.

I was going to go back to it this week. Seriously. But then I didn't. No reason really.

I'll get back to it eventually. (That's going to become my catchphrase.)

I'll hold you to that. (Can that be my catchphase? )

 

[MacLeod]

Some episodes of DSN just lay the foundations for later episodes.