Anyone Else Disappointed with The Search Part II ?

[cwalrus2]

I was rewatching The Search part II, and I remembered how disappointed I was when it first aired. The resolution that everything that was going on during the station plot wasn't real felt like a ripoff as I was actually hoping they would mix things up a bit and turn Sisko and his crew into renegades for a while. With no TNG on the air, it would have been an interesting direction to take the series in.

The Dominion and the Federation signed peace treaty that threatened the stability of the alpha quandrant and compromised Federation values in during that "dream sequence", and it seemed like everyone in the Federation was so bent on avoiding a war that they were willing to sacrifice a whole lot just to preserve the peace while even those people who werent happy with it had to suck it up. Garek appeared to have gotten killed towards the end, and everything was thrown into chaos until we find out that it was just a dream that the Dominion set up to test Sisko and his crew. While I admit that the series turned out just fine, I remember feeling cheated at the end of the episode when it first aired because it set up a premise that I got really excited about and then they just cast it off as a dream sequence.

While the show turned out just fine, I wonder what it would have evolved into had they stayed with that direction. It would have been interesting to see Sisko try to undermine a Federation treaty after having just admonished his old buddy who joined the Marquis not too long before that. Maybe Sisko would have had to join forces with the Marquis to convince the Federation to fight the Dominion rather than join it.

 

[Kegek]

Agreed completely. The VR plot basically boiled down to a big fat reset button, and the conclusion to the arc that began with "The Jem'Hadar" was surprisingly lackluster, our heroes basically getting to go home because the Dominion, the folks who obliterate whole races from sheer machismo and wiped out a Galaxy-class starship last season... had a change of heart. And hell, these supposed new bad guys were all colourless and passionless - without even half the menace or charisma that Gul Dukat had. It wouldn't be until the late fifth season that this was repaired.

"The Search, Part I" had pretty much written itself into an unextractable problem, though, so I can't blame "Part II" that harshly. And yes, the series turned out well in the end - and it pulled the big shots implied in this episode for real.

 

[Jax]

Am glad it wasn't real cause the whole way the Federation acted just seemed so unlike them and I feel would of annoyed the fans. I like the way they went with it cause back then Reset buttons were still pretty new to us.

 

[Navaros]

I don't agree with the mass disappointment of this episode. I found it fascinating to see how shady the Federation can be, and how the Sisko and others would resort to dire means to counter that. Things which came to bear again later on the series, ie: ITPM, Section 31 disease etc. The Search Part II is a great episode IMO.

Besides that, one of most people's favorite episodes, "The Visitor", also pushes the big red reset button by the end of the episode, and no one complains about that. Double standard IMO.

 

[Kegek]

Navaros said:
Besides that, one of most people's favorite episodes, "The Visitor", also pushes the big red reset button by the end of the episode, and no one complains about that. Double standard IMO.

Actually there's a dramatic catharsis there. Jake Sisko sacrifices himself to save his father - and his younger self. It's a rare example of a dramatically cohesive reset button.

"The Search Part II" doesn't have that by a mile.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Any story that deceives the audience must have a good payoff, or it's just going to rile people up. All Trek series have had such episodes, some better than others. "The Search, Part II" is one of those that just doesn't have a good payoff. It's not as though the setup couldn't have had a good payoff, either. Rather than keep the crew in the dark about their predicament, extend the story by another episode, as by the end of Part 2 they could have realized they're living in a simulation. At that point, work to discreetly derail it and completely ruin whatever information the Founders would have liked to glean from the experience.

The story itself was salvageable, I think it just suffered from having one of those endings born out of a sense of, "we're almost to the end of the show and we've written everyone into a corner, so let's wrap it up."

 

[MyCylon]

Interestingly, the thing that bothered me most about The Search as a whole was that the Defiant - just introduced - took such a battering or better put was defeated the first time it was put to the test. That just seemed wrong somehow.

Something else that bothers me in hindsight is the feeling that a lot of what was conceived in The Search got dropped pretty quick, most importantly the Romulan on board. I thought it was a really interesting element though it might have been better to just do without her.

I didn't actually mind the reset at the time. It still doesn't bother me too much but I think another story would probably have been better.
I DO like the fact that the Founders let Sisko and the others go because of Odo. That's something that fascinated me throughout: What the Founders were willing to do for Odo, what they were willing to sacrifice for him always struck me as unique. It's something that really made the Founders interesting in my eyes.

 

[Smiley]

I don't mind the fact that it was a simulation because actual characters did create and study the simulation. It wasn't just a dream to be remembered by one or few, and it gave us some great insight into the views of the Dominion.

 

[Gojirob]

What's your opinion : Would the real Nechayev have gone for the treaty in the simulation? Remember, by this point, she would have felt a little leery of repeating the events surrounding the DMZ Treaty, at least IMO.

 

[cwalrus2]

^ The real Nechayev probably would have went for the treaty if she felt it was in the Federation's best interest. I think the simulation suggests a very plausible turn of events. In the end, there's no way to really know, but I think even before we knew of the existence of Section 31 that there were previous conspiracies and corruption with in the higher ranks of Starfleet and the Federation.

 

[mrs260]

The Dominion not only created and studied the simulation, but also reacted to it.

For example, Sisko and company collapsed the wormhole in the simulation. When they planned to do exactly the same thing later in the real world, the Changeling was prepared for it and not only sabotaged the attempt but reversed its effects to make the wormhole uncollapsible.

Not a reset, IMO. The Dominion was gathering information, and they didn't lose that information at the end.

 

[HRHTheKING]

Not disappointed at all.

It was a perfect set-up for what was to come.

And it provided the far-too smug Federation for a formidable enemy

 

[Marie1]

I liked it- it showed the true colours of the crew in a way- they had the potential to become renegades to do the right thing. Theoretically, the weird behaviour of the admiralty could be traced back to smug changeling infiltrators... not what happened I know, but... it did seem eery.

I just loved Borath telling Sisko "Don't make us send the Jem'Hadar after you..."

 

[Damask]

For example, Sisko and company collapsed the wormhole in the simulation. When they planned to do exactly the same thing later in the real world, the Changeling was prepared for it and not only sabotaged the attempt but reversed its effects to make the wormhole uncollapsible.

Forgot about that actually. Would the Dominion have been concerned with the Prophets more if they were approached in the VR.

I think what could have been cool is if the events played out for real. Not all of them (no Garak killing!). Maybe make Nechayev a founder? The treaty isn't signed yet. Our heroes escape to Bajor and basically try to stop the treaty.

 

[Marie1]

I have a knack for digging up this archaic threads long after the discussion has ended, don't I... LOL! I just keep finding neat things in here.

It would be neat if things had happened in a similar manner, tho I'm curious if they would have excluded the Romulans. You think they'd try and be friendly to the people with the cloaking devices. And yes, we need Garak! For that matter, would the Founders have known about the Prophets? Maybe they would have known that the Bajorans worshiped something called the Prophets, but since the Founders consider themselves Gods, they may not have thought about it... more good news for us I guess?

 

[DWF]

I was disappointed in it as well, the Dominion had Sisko and the others where they wanted them and not only let them go but repaired their ship, totality illogical behavior for somebody who's going to become your greatest enemies.

 

[Red Ranger]

I don't mind the fact that it was a simulation because actual characters did create and study the simulation. It wasn't just a dream to be remembered by one or few, and it gave us some great insight into the views of the Dominion.

Smiley:

I'm with you. I feel the conclusion had a Twilight Zone feel, and an "oh, now I get it" ending worthy of that show. I liked it at the time, and haven't changed my opinion.

Starfleet and the Federation both act atypically, but at the moment, I believed it was the real Nechayev, and her demeanor as a smug, superior member of the admiralty convinced that what she did was right.

I will say I was sorry to see T'Rul go. As a regular, she would have been a fascinating character, esp. seeing how her unbridled hostility might have eventually been charmed away. And I think she and Bashir would've made an interesting couple!

Red Ranger

 

[Marie1]

I was disappointed in it as well, the Dominion had Sisko and the others where they wanted them and not only let them go but repaired their ship, totality illogical behavior for somebody who's going to become your greatest enemies.

The Dominion repaired the ship? I guess enough to bring it to orbit around the Founder homeworld... but I imagine the intent, since without Odo the crew would never have been allowed to leave, was to fix it to reverse engineer the components to fight the Federation, and get the computers working to download their contents.

 

[DWF]

I was disappointed in it as well, the Dominion had Sisko and the others where they wanted them and not only let them go but repaired their ship, totality illogical behavior for somebody who's going to become your greatest enemies.

The Dominion repaired the ship? I guess enough to bring it to orbit around the Founder homeworld... but I imagine the intent, since without Odo the crew would never have been allowed to leave, was to fix it to reverse engineer the components to fight the Federation, and get the computers working to download their contents.

The Defiant was pretty badly damaged and yeah in the novel of the two parter they do say it was totality repaired.

 

[Marie1]

... but not in the show itself?

It was a neat ship, I can see the Dominion thinking about stealing it... or repairing their damage and then bring it somewhere and making its destruction look like an accident...