I vaguely remember that Louise Fletcher's awesomeness kept me from seeing how weird this turn in her character was. Damar! An unlikely hero if I ever saw one.
I'm pretty sure Damar is still a monster. Just because Joseph Stalin helped win World War II didn't stop him from being Stalin. But I'm REALLY liking Casey Biggs. Yeah, it's still good, but seeing what Fletcher was doing when her character made rock solid sense a couple of episodes ago, they kind of missed the mark. Obvs. I'll keep watching.
When It Rains... -- OK, putting off Julian and Ezri to the last couple of episodes is making me like it less. Somehow I feel that 1) They should have scenes together? and 2) We're going to be pretty busy the next few episodes. Ahhhh Gowran. If only I hadn't seen Picard. Speaking of that (kinda?) is Gowron really that stupid to leave Worf where he is? THERE'S the Kai Winn that I know and Don't Like! Well done! Hey! They pulled a Deanna Troi! They gave Kira a space suit! (Yes, she has always had a Bajoran uniform.) OK, I am REALLY digging the Kira / Damar / Cardasian / Garak storyline. I'm writing this after having watched the next one, so... REALLY. Section 31. Yay. (Ahem.) This disease thing ISN'T a bad plan, given the stakes. It would just mean more if it wasn't this "Organization That Cannot Even Be Named". Make the Federation stand behind this. Especially in contrast to the Kira plot. To quote the 16th president of the United States of America: "There is no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war except its ending. And you are fighting for the lives of your crew." Tacking into the Wind -- "If I don't want pity from the woman I love why would I want it from you?" Yikes! And Garak's reaction is amazing. Ron Moore gets to write about Cardassians AND Klingons. Christmas! No one could have seen Damar turning on the Dominion? Seriously? Are the Weyouns USEFUL in the Gamma Quad? Hey, whatever happened to Kahless? "I am Worf, Son of Mogh, House of Martok, Son of Sergey, House of Rozhenko. Bane to the Duras Family. SLAYER OF GOWRON." I was spoiled just a couple of weeks early. After nearly 24 years! Have I mentioned lately how awesome Sisko is? I will always be a Kirk guy. Mount's Chris Pike is every inch the Ultimate Captain. But Benjamin Lafayette Sisko does it better than anyone. "What kind of people give those orders?" Ahhhh, Kira remembers that Damar is Stalin. I am loving how NOT stupid Damar is. LOVING IT. OK, there was off line radio chatter of someone saying "Acknowledged." Was that Nimoy?!? I'll go look it up when I'm done with the show. Why are Miles and Julian not considering that the extra sketchy Section 31 might just make both of THEM disappear? Hey, Rene, good news! We've decided to make your makeup more extensive and complex. I'm sure the Odo story was moving back in the day. More so with Rene Auberjonois' passing. Three to go!
I'd give odds it's not. If the show were paying Nimoy to come in and record some voice, they would certainly have given him more than one line.
Well, yes, and the Stalin comparison is a good one. But he is a hero to his people, even if he was a Right Bastard for a long time. And yeah, Casey killed this. Nice! I hadn't heard that quote before. I tried to tell you. It was. I haven't watched these since his death though. I imagine it will be rough (since you have convinced me I *really* need to rewatch all of DS9).
I assumed if it was him that they just took Spock from something else. But I can find no evidence that this is the case. TO BE CLEAR: It is a quote from The Savage Curtain. It is Star Trek Lincoln. It has become a favorite of mine because it is awesome but also because Dan Rather quoted part of it in one of his books as an actual Lincoln quote. That will never not make me laugh.
-- Journey to the Center of Sloan's MIND... er, Extreme Measures That was a bit of a roller coaster. Part of the main Odo plot, but not really. Wrapping up the Sloan / Section 31 thread, but also not really. Um... One last Miles and Julian story with hijinx and a touching reflection on friendship wrapped in the trappings of plot as a threadbare excuse? Yeah. That'll do nicely. I hope Westmore got an award for that Odo makeup. Hey! Kira kept the space suit! "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." "Tale of Two Cities?" "The Wrath of Khan." As much as the plot didn't really dive into Section 31 as much as one might have expected, Sloan's eulogy to himself was fascinating. I mean, if you've bothered to hire William Sadler, use him. I also can never tell if Sloan is actually nervous of it that's just him playing Bashir. Again. (Hey, Julian won this time! Wow.) I have to say that when you go back and watch the beginnings of Miles and Julian's friendship it was awkward and forced as hell. I don't know who wanted this. The writers? The actors? It certainly wasn't something they accidentally fell into. But it wound up being one of my all time favorite parts of Star Trek. Bits of this (esp. seeing "The Light") felt like Arthur and Ford. Awesome. Watching this now, of course, one realizes that they needed to bring a top, or other object known only to them, so they could tell if they were REALLY back in the real world. Odo's healing was a bit... Immediate? Miles and Julian at Quark's: I always have to post this - Go to 4:30. Not sure what my plans are. I don't have time to binge three hours of DS9. I'll probably watch The Dogs of War tonight or tomorrow. And then What You Leave Behind Sunday night. TWO TO GO!
Miles' and Julian's friendship is one of my faves in any fictional universe. Love the bloopers - thanks! I'm a bourbon gal, myself.
-- The Dogs of War OK. I'm NOT a fan of bringing back the Defiant II. Just not. This is what we get from the Enterprise -A. But at least back then we had to wait two years. Odo and Sisko - THIS is what I wanted from the "bigotry against Changelings" episode. Sisko might be wrong, but he's not acting like he has no idea what Odo's complaints are. Also "You have my word." "That's all I needed to hear." There can be conflict, stupid petty things (or not so stupid or petty), but let the characters be the characters. Hey! No fair! They're throwing a Ferengi episode at me! I thought we were done! Hey, Tiny Ron is in charge of protecting Max Grodenchik. The last movie I saw them in that didn't go so well! I hate to say it (I HATE to say it) but Rom will make a good Nagus. Damar is ZORRO! Julian and Ezri. Finally? Do I care? The most interesting part of Ezri and Julian is actually Ezri and Worf. And this is no exception. Who knew that Garak and his Nanny would be such a delight. Has Weyoun ever been right about ANYTHING? One does wonder what Grand Nagus Zek was like when he wasn't a doddering old fool. ONE. TO. GO.
Maybe? Except that was considered a defect and he was killed for it. Maybe the Weyouns have always been this bad but the Founders liked it?
He insisted that the only meaningful strategic objective was the wormhole. I'd say he was was fully correct.
-- What You Leave Behind This is a lot. And those of you still reading I appreciate your indulgence. Like tranya, may you relish it as much as I. Here we are. Or here I am. I think I started watching DS9 on the serious in 2018. So I really only watched it two years faster than if I had stuck with it back In the Day. Thank you Paramount+ for not breaking this up into a two parter. Whatever I think of the outcomes, this is nearly the best balanced end of a series I have ever seen. Well, the end of a largely serialized one. TNG probably still wins the day. All Good Things is about as good as it gets. Even the Marvel Cinematic Universe agrees with this. This is the opposite of Voyager which was rushed and unsatisfying. Enterprise does what it does. (I don't consider it the desecration that many do.) For one thing they used the previous episodes to wrap up various other plots. All hail Grand Nagus Nog! The structure is brilliant. We get closure for everybody. And THEN we resolve the Prophets story line. My biggest complaint about Voyager was that we didn't get to say goodbye. We didn't get to see what happened when they REALLY came home. There are a couple of fumbled balls here and there or things that I wish had been done better. But the perfect is the enemy of the "I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING!" Hey, I just realized, that even though I haven't seen all the shows I have now seen at least the premiere and the finale of EVERY STAR TREK EVER MADE. And this is the only finale I didn't watch when it aired. (Just as well since it wouldn't have made a lick of sense.) The only note that I made while I watched it so that I would not forget: When Ben says "It's not linear" I lost it. Special Guest Stars in Alphabetical Order: They don't usually do that, do they? Wait, J.G. Hertzler isn't "special"? I guess I'll go by character: Keiko! And Molly! Nice scene. The O'Briens. I've been asked to re-evaluate them. And so I shall. Damar. Aw. Kinda. He would be the character I would be most interested in paying attention to in a rewatch. (Dear Prophets, no!) (OK, if they ever remaster it like TNG.) Which leads to Garak. Garak's ending almost has a Lawrence of Arabia feel to it. Sitting in the ashes of his victory. Saying goodbye to his friend. I was almost relieved that Garak didn't wind up running Cardassia. Or dead. Plain, simple, Garak. Andrew you were amazing. Winn / Dukat. A mix of ups and downs. Again, I'm not really buying the lengths that Winn is willing to go to for not much gain. And she dies. Yay? Go back to, what was it, beginning of season 2? THAT was a Kai Winn plot. And worthy of her complexity. But poisoning Dukat WAS note perfect. Hey, there's this overhanging mystery at the end of "What happened to Captain Sisko?" But Kai Winn just disappears without a trace and nobody bats an eye? As we've seen in other episodes this sort of thing will be a BIG deal for Bajor! Bajor kind of faded into not much in the last few seasons, didn't it? Bajor became Ben's retirement home. And there was the struggle of the Prophets and the Pa Wraiths. None of the complexity like when Ben told Kai Winn to NOT join the Federation. (WOW that was awesome. I'll actually take that over In the Pale Moon Light.) They had kind of spent Dukat a while ago. Marc Alaimo does his steady best as always. He was never Sisko's Moriarty even if he thought he was. But they still both topple over Reichenbach Falls. With Dukat forever with the Pa Wraiths I can't help but think of the end of The Black Hole. (Go look. I'll wait.) Worf and Quark both mostly got their endings in other episodes. And we will not debate their profound wisdom at these proceedings. But Worf gets his last look at Jadzia, er, Ezri. And it speaks volumes. "That man LOVES me! It was written all over his back!" Oh, I love you both (Odo and Quark). Armin you said you wanted to redeem the Ferengi from The Last Outpost. And you couldn't have done any better. Jake. Jake should have had more. He gets the last shot of the show. (And that was wonderful.) But he should have had more with Ben. He should have had more with Kassidy. Kassidy. I might as well go into this here. She was far more front and center than I expected in the resolution to the show. I feel that her pregnancy (and Sisko leaving the child) didn't have enough weight to justify bothering with it. (It should have had a TON.) But that said, she really felt more a part of the DS9 family in this episode than she had in much of her time on the series. As we leave it, she's the last person to seen Ben Sisko. More when I get to Sisko. Julian and Ezri. Hmmm. First off, I don't care. One way or the other. But I also just realized that THIS is the resolution for Dax. Does she end up with Julian? That's what we worry about? Dax has much richer relationships with most of these characters (including Julian!) than this question. And they didn't even bookend it with what a puppydog Julian was for Jadzia in the beginning seasons. One of the biggest changes between Jadzia and Ezri was Jadzia had a relationship with Kira. Ezri didn't. I know there's been a lot going on. But I wish that either of them could have dealt with that. Ezri, you were a worthy successor to Jadzi. Julian, I never hated you as much as people told me I was supposed to at the start. And I loved you even more as time went by. They did a nice job threading Julian through the episode. Ha! I just realized! Julian is the pretty romantic interest whose story is defined by how he affects someone else! Ezri AND Miles! Miles Edward O'Brien. Somewhere it hit me that this was not only the end of Julian and Miles, or Keiko and Miles. This was the last I'd see of a character who started in 1987! And somehow they balanced that ending perfectly with both DS9 and kind of the overall Star Trek of him. Someone had to point out to me that the music that we hear when he finds his last piece of the Alamo toy (model!) was this: Odo and Kira. Both stories were wonderfully played. All of the weight and nuance of her role as a resistance fighter and where she stands with the Cardassians was felt. Odo and Nerys' relationship was resolved. I felt like I might consider Odo's resolution to the Female Shapeshifter's surrender to be fast or forced. But it didn't feel like any of that. And that led to Odo's decision to go back to the Link feeling absolutely right. (Somehow I've seen their last scene together before.) I think this was a little more "real" than Ben and Kassidy. It was a more final decision and it didn't hedge the consequences. Benjamin Sisko. What to say? This finale wasn't about him the way All Good Things was about Picard. Ben was the Captain. And the story was about his Crew. The best part of Sisko's ending is that the way they compartmentalized it. It stayed out of the way enough for everyone to have their finales. And THEN it was time. And it got its full due. I feel that Ben's story (outside of being Jake's dad, something this show did better than any Star Trek before or since) was one part The Prophets and one part Bajor. This didn't do the Bajor part. But it felt like this was where he was going, where he'd always been going. The only misstep was that I think the only way Ben would leave was if he felt that everyone behind him was going to be OK. And that's where Kassidy and the baby mess that up. From a "Life happens" standpoint, what can you do? But from a writing standpoint? It seems that Ben didn't suffer, but Kassidy and the child. But if there was something where Jake could have said "I'm OK. You go on." That's where Kassidy, as wonderful as she was, was a misstep. IMHO. The show started with Ben and Jake. It should have ended that way. It was as good or better than we deserved. They balanced all the plates. They swept the floors and turned off the lights when they were done. They even managed to include Vic! It was a lovely curtain call for all involved BEFORE Sisko had to go meet his destiny. I really liked that part of the structure. So speaking of Vic and The Way You Look Tonight, I had read that Rick Berman, hater of music, had messed with the music in the flashback. As it turns out the original was better (with a saxophone very up front in the mix) but it wasn't as messed with as I had thought. So we still got the flashbacks (with no Jadzia, sigh) with The Way You Look Tonight played over them. So sweet. Especially (tying into my comments above about Jake and Ben) the scenes with itty bitty Jake from The Emissary. To quote the late Dahar Master Kor: It was glorious. ------ So that was Deep Space Nine. I think that the highs were higher than almost any Star Trek. (Well... Maybe excepting STAR TREK.) The lows were about par for the course. (Allamaraine!) Maybe I'm looking back through the gap of 25-30 years. But something... This show felt LOVED by the people who made it. Even more than TNG. Maybe because it didn't get the accolades that TNG eventually got. They started making the show for THEM. And weren't we lucky for it? I think I'm going to miss this cast more than any in Star Trek. (I love Kirk's crew, but I feel like those people are imprinted on my DNA. I can't miss them if they never leave.) I mean... I'm not going to start reading the books or anything. I'm not sure I'm going to chase down Voyager right now. Or Enterprise. I need to finish Season 4 of Discovery. And I need to finish Slow Horses. And of course I'm going to go watch What We Left Behind. Good heavens! I'm a NINER!
Dukat and Sisko with the Pa Wraiths reminds me of the Original Series "The Alternative Factor" with the two Lazaruses getting stuck together forever.
I watched What We Left Behind. It was on streaming, so I didn't get any of the bonus content. I might have to track down a disc. The HD looked GORGEOUS. I haven't rewatched all of TNG in HD. (But I should get all the blu rays. Not that it would do any good NOW.) But if by truly a miracle they ever come out with DS9 in HD I might watch it again. Yes, even Move Along Home. Maybe not Profit and Lace. The whole thing was really well done. I haven't read any where near as much behind the scenes stuff on DS9 as I have of TOS or even TNG. (Or The Motion Picture!) I can't believe Alaimo was doing DS9 when he was SIXTY. (Have I mentioned that he was in The Last Starfighter?!?) Having gotten through all of DS9 in five-ish years, I haven't seen first season Dax in a long time. SHE'S A CHILD! Hmmm. She was 30. Wow. (Wait. What? Farrell was married to Adam NIMOY?!?) "Action Barbie" made me laugh. I didn't get as much of it from the doc (a bit) but I heard an interview with Visitor on Inglorious Treksperts. She went into her character at length and talked quite a bit about her feelings when Worf joined the show. And the fairy tale ending of how nothing that she thought was going to happen happened. I don't think that without knowing that ahead of time that that would have landed as well. It's a great story. Good for Dorn. And the writers. A great takeaway from the doc was that Behr didn't WANT Bajor to join the Federation. As I said above, one way or the other I wish that that had been underlined in the finale, or at least the final season. BTW, I had pizza with Cirroc Lofton. Like, sat and talked with him for a good stretch while we ate. I had no idea who he was! Or what we talked about! I didn't watch DS9 that much and he was seven years older. (Yikes! I just realized how RECENT Star Trek was at that time. Enterprise had only been gone for a year!) I found out afterwards. I'm sure I was better company because of it. I loved the fact that all of the "extras" were in the doc. I'm a little sad that Louise Fletcher wasn't in it. Damar can sing! Good grief they even had Vic! Rene Auberjonois - He literally talks about his obituary. Sob. I have to admit, I would have loved to have seen a conversation with the two Daxes. As it was, they did a good job of covering both of them. I have to say that Berman was great. This was not a "studio polished" doc. And I think he acquitted himself well. I know it was a lot of work to get this doc done. And only in the age of Kickstarter or whatever they used could it have happened at all. But boy, did it go by too fast. That's it. I've watched seven seasons and not a movie. And it's still not linear.