Marc Alaimo - the only actor to NAIL his performance in Emissary?

Did he really? For the most part, he was a prop on TNG. Pushed buttons and read sensors and stuff. How many episodes actually gave him a chance to play a character? “Data’s Day” comes to mind, and “The Wounded.” What else? Not many.

 

that was pretty much it for him on TNG. DS9 treated him waaay better.

 

the funniest thing to me to this day is how both Jean Luc and his brother Robert had British accents while their mother didn't. the best way out of that whole "Is Picard British or French?" question would have been for TPTB to make his mother British.

 

AFTER the ships were destroyed...but there was no excuse. The Cardassians already TOLD him one of their ships had been destroyed. The prudent assumption would have been that Maxwell was going to do it again. And even if Maxwell WASN'T going to do it again, he would've stood a chance of getting him out of Cardassian territory BEFORE he even fired another shot, whether it was meant to destroy or no.

But think about it from Macet's point of view. I'm not even sure he agreed with what Central Command was doing by rearming the border--and yet here he is stuck, having to defend that action. As far as I'm concerned, Macet WAS genuine...he was just SCREWED by Central Command.

 

That's the thing about the ending when contrasted with Macet's character as presented, you never know whether he was sincere the whole time or if he was just a manipulative bastard trying to play the wounded innocent man up to Picard. It's left to the individual viewers what's the truth about him. Me, I believe that he knew full well the truth and agreed with it ("For Cardassia" and all that).

TNG hit it right out of the ballpark with "The Wounded".

 

(I AM also biased by the fact that the DS9 relaunch novels answered the question. And that I picked up that same answer for my own writing.)

BUT...I think the groundwork IS there in that episode; it's believable.

 

Marc Alaimo is great, indeed. Perhaps the character of Dukat was in a way the easiest to get into in a way. The big bad villain, conniving and scheming, etc.

 

Are you sure about that? They enjoyed torturing poor old Miles O'Brien on DS9!

But I get what you mean

 

I've just rewatched "Emissary" - starting my rewatch of DS9 (I don't think I'll be watching all the episodes, though), and you are right, even though he appears for a total of a couple of minutes, Alaimo is perfect from the word go.

Many of the other actors are obviously not confortable in their roles, which is something I've noticed before. I remember I wasn't too taken with the acting in DS9 when I first watched the pilot. Overall, the characters were obviously still being established, so they come off as a little overstated at times - Bashir's naivete, Kira's anger (people who talk about Kira's "constant anger" must have based their opinion of her only on the pilot). But I also have to say that I found Brooks' acting better this time - he really bugged me before, I think it was because I needed to get used to his theatrical line delivery. Still, he had some good and some very shaky moments (like the scene with Jennifer on the beach) and sharing scenes with such a good actor as Patrick Stewart didn't help. Quark is one of the characters who work really well from the start - Shimerman's laugh after being told he was a community leader is perfectly delivered.

Overall, I found the episode much better than I remembered it, and definitely makes the best Trek pilot ever, by a mile. It is well-paced, presents a fascinating SF concepts with the Prophets/wormhole lifeforms (the scenes with Sisko explaining linear time to them are the highlight of the episode), and despite some shaky acting (or really bad acting - Gul Jasad was awful, thank the Prophets for this Cardassian not returning!), the characters are well established from the start. It is interesting to watch the pilot after having seen the entire series and knowing how they all end up. Which, I guess, it is an experience similar to the Prophets' non-linear existence. Sisko is showing right from the start, with the way he deals with Quark, that he is not a goody-two-shows Starfleet character, and that he is able to manipulate, blackmail and calmly strong-arm people in order to get the job done. Kira's bluff reminded me of her bluff against the Romulans at the start of season 7, and with it, her character was also firmly estabished.

Is it just me, or was Odo's makeup a bit different, and not so good - making him look too human? OTOH, we saw more of him shapeshiting in this episode than in entire seasons later in the show.

Well I have... and it was in "Emissary"! The actor who played Gul Jasad was just awful. It's like a textbook example how not to play a Cardassian, or any kind of antagonist role.

 

I have to agree with this. He nailed it completely, and the rest truly did take more time getting settled into their characters. Fortunately, most of them did it very well by the later seasons. Part of the enjoyment I got from it was watching them grow into the roles.

 

Rewatching--man, you guys are SO right about Jasad. He had the temper (and intellect) of a Klingon. And yes. I mean that exactly the way it sounds.

 

Well, just like there are all sorts of humans, I'm sure there are plenty of Cardassians,who are just dim bullies like Jasad... but this guy was really overdoing it, it was cringeworthy.

Speaking of Klingons, this is the first time I recognized J. G. Hertzler playing the Vulcan captain of Saratoga.

 

I adore Marc Alaimo for making Gul Dukat the sexiest Cardassian alive! 8D

In other news: I'm back! Though I doubt that anyone remembers me...

 

I wholeheartedly agree.. but you wouldn't know it from how he's doing in this poll... In fact, Cardassians in general aren't doing very well in it.

 

My problem, unfortunately, is that I can't vote for a total heel like Dukat or Garak. Character is part of beauty in my opinion, and if you lack character, whatever physical attractiveness you may have is worth nothing.

I did, however, put in a vote for Damar. Not only did he look good--he found the courage to face himself and become better than he was. For that, he's the one Cardassian man listed up there who deserves a vote.

(Now if we'd ever gotten Gul Macet dressed in a normal uniform, instead of that awful thing he had to wear in "The Wounded," I would've counted him as well.)

 

Yeah, that's one of the reasons why I didn't vote on that poll. Besides, I don't find Cardassian men attractive. Cardassian and Romulan females on the other hand...

I agree with NG about Macet and Damar, they are two brilliant examples of the model Cardassian. Intelligent, disciplined but with a sense of duty and a conscience.

Alas there were far too many Telles, Jasards and Dukats. Not to mention the Garaks...

 

Yeah, Dukat was just too...evil, really. That's an overused word, but it truly applies here. He isn't one of those bad guys with who can be reclaimed with the love of a good woman or man or whatever - or who is just looking for the cause that will allow his inner goodness to blossom like roses in June. He isn't looking for love and acceptance. He isn't compensating for a bad childhood. He doesn't use his bad qualities to hide the good guy deep inside. There is no good guy deep inside.

He is, quite simply, an evil person. His few redeeming qualities don't come even close to changing that. Garak is at least redeemed by his love for Cardassia. Dukat is redeemed by his love for...nothing. Not even his love for Ziyal was enough to change him. Nothing matters more to Dukat than the glorification of Dukat - not even Cardassia.

Maybe there are people who go for men who, instead of hiding a heart of gold are hiding a heart of chilly calculation and burning ambition. But not me. Compelling, yes, but sexy? Brrrrrrr...

 

The sad thing about Dukat is that he could've been different, I think. But the operative word is could have...and he didn't. All of it was down to his choices.

Now, as far as character, Tekeny Ghemor is another wonderful example of a good-hearted Cardassian. Of course, he was played entirely as a father figure, so it's damned near impossible to perceive him in any other way.

 

Does TV have a problem portraying men (and women, too, perhaps) who are intelligent, ethical, kind, etc., etc., etc....but also sexy? You know, it might. There are examples out there, but an awful lot of TV's sexy guys are also at least half bad boys - with a heart of gold, perhaps, but still...

 

Agreed, I don't normally think that there is such a thing as pure evil but Dukat certainly meets that criteria. He seems to be the classic sociopath using and discarding others to achieve his own ends,kind of like Kai Winn. No wonder those two became allies....

And JustKate, everyone knows that nice guys finish last and that the ladies love a bad boy and such other cliches which have poisoned our society.