First time watching DS9
- Thread starter Rahul
- Start date
So yes, you wanted something formulaic, soapy full of grand dramatic gestures. The episode you describe has Kira as an emotional teenager instead of a cop who built her identity on being a criminal. Mullibok's stubornness would have been cheapened if it were the result of some single traumatic event he could point to in a flashback. Kira being manipulative, or not understanding of a Bajoran displaced by Cardassians defending his home would cheapen everything established about her character.
I think you have a complete misreading of the episode. Not all character development comes in the form of predigested dramatic gestures.
Kira did come to a realization, a bittersweet one that her role demands she reject the mythology of noble defiance of authority that she based her identity on. Maybe it would have come across if she dramatically slapped Mullibok a few times then slumped over in tears?
JirinPanthosa,
I would prefer it if you would not alter my text when quoting me.
When I cited you I left out the part about Baseball, because that was a seperated statement about a different topic on another episode. Please don't cherry-pick sentences out of context and add own assumptions that would confirm your opinion when they're in opposition to the original statement.
Also, feel free to disagree with me, discussing different viewpoints on episodes is the reason for these reviews.
But I don't want to see personal attacks or wrong allegations in this thread.
I would prefer it if you would not alter my text when quoting me.
When I cited you I left out the part about Baseball, because that was a seperated statement about a different topic on another episode. Please don't cherry-pick sentences out of context and add own assumptions that would confirm your opinion when they're in opposition to the original statement.
Also, feel free to disagree with me, discussing different viewpoints on episodes is the reason for these reviews.
But I don't want to see personal attacks or wrong allegations in this thread.
Last edited:
Next Review:
Dramatis Personae
Synopsis
After a klingon ship comes through the wormhole and explodes, the DS9 crew gets infected from the last klingon with a genetically engineered virus, that implements a telepathic matrix with kognitive patterns into the crews' neurological yada yada yada the crew acts crazy.
Review
Every Star Trek series needs to have at least one 'the whole crew acts crazy' and a 'mutiny'-Episode. Ugh. Might as well get over with it in the first season...
This seems like the type of episode where they had to fill broadcasting slots and just threw an episode together out of already existingmaterial. I don't mind having seen it, there were a few nice moments, but it's more an episode you rush over to get to the better ones.
The problem here is that it's a mix between the classic 'crew acts weird' episode and the 'mutiny under alien influence' episode. And it fails at both of them. Not horribly mind you, but more as a form of wasted potential.
The 'crew acts crazy' part only works as a character episode where we get to know the characters or learn new things about them. Which isn't the case here, since it's not our crew that behaves crazy, but alien minds being imprinted on them. OR it could succed by being batshit crazy and giving us striking moments. TOS' 'The Naked Time' and TNGs' 'The Naked Now' aren't exactly masterpieces either, but they gave us Data sleeping with Natasha Yar (which turned into the origin for many Data developments) and the iconic 'Sulu screaming crazy and wielding a rapier'-moment.
And since Star Trek never does full blown, violent, realistic mutinys like BSG, it always has to be under alien influence. But then it only works if it shows us already existing cracks in the crew. This part started better, with the conflict between the Bajorans and the Federation crew, but it quickly turned into the conflict of others, said alien imprints. Why the hell was Jadzia Dax on Kiras side? She's a starfleet officer and has a strong emotional bond with Sisko for his entire life. Which means it was not a conflict between our heroes, but a conflict between other peoples in our heroes' bodies. And therefore it would have needed to be either way more serious or way sillier.
The saving grace of this episode is Odo. He is not infected and clearly the strong minded guy who is doing his job. I especially like how manipulative he could be! He's plotting Kira against Sisko, O'Brian against Kira and Bashir against all of them effortless, all while really advancing his own goal: to find a cure. Really, Odo could have been the scariest member of the cast: He's a complete alien, who could be everywhere, change into anything, always watching you, just trying to 'blend in' as a human being, but stuck in the uncanny valley with his face, previously having worked with the enemy, being super manipulative and only bothered with his own benefits. But instead, (and I really credit Rene Auberjonois for this) he is a totally up-front being, honest and scrupulous, and influences others only to do the right and obvious things. Sadly, this interesting 'Odo against everyone'-theme is only a short part at the end of the episode.
Pros
-Odo
-Some of the character transformations were fun to watch, especially O'Brian.
-The strange clock Sisko builts under influence. It is never explained what it does nor why it was build. It's just there. I like a little mystery once in a while.
Cons
-Jadzia Dax was even more bland than usual. And that she didn't care for Sisko was really out of character.
-Normally I love it when, in a science fiction setting, the alien is blown out of the airlock. But I'm not exactly sure this would work this time, with non-corporeal beings.
Best quote
Odo, trying to find out more about the alien influence brought to DS9 by the dead klingon, to Julian Bashir:
Odo: "What's up with the klingon?"
Bashir: "He's still dead, if that's what you mean?"
Other thoughts
A mutiny episode should really be an important issue, and not a filler episode. I actually think one of the best mutiny stories in Star Trek is 'Hatchery' in ENTs third season, where the Enterprise has a serious mission to save the world (...yeah). There, only the Captain is infected to have motherly feelings towards alien younglings. It is a moral dilemma, to either help them (and thereby getting the trust of your enemy) or fly away to advance the serious mission. Here only the captain is slightly affected. So the whole mutiny is really seeing how our actual characters would cope with an unreliabel commander. And the power rift is interesting: on one side are the MACOs on board (basically space marines) who blindly follow any orders from the captain, and on the other side our crew, the captains' friends, who conspire against him. That was really interesting and helped to establish (and solve) the power struggle on board and show the pressure everyone's under. Of course such a deep dive into the characters is not possibly when everyone is under alien influence.
Grade
2/10
A filler episode. Not exactly bad, but not that entertaining either.
Next time
DS9 shows that it has found it's grasp on it's characters and setting!
Dramatis Personae
Synopsis
After a klingon ship comes through the wormhole and explodes, the DS9 crew gets infected from the last klingon with a genetically engineered virus, that implements a telepathic matrix with kognitive patterns into the crews' neurological yada yada yada the crew acts crazy.
Review
Every Star Trek series needs to have at least one 'the whole crew acts crazy' and a 'mutiny'-Episode. Ugh. Might as well get over with it in the first season...
This seems like the type of episode where they had to fill broadcasting slots and just threw an episode together out of already existingmaterial. I don't mind having seen it, there were a few nice moments, but it's more an episode you rush over to get to the better ones.
The problem here is that it's a mix between the classic 'crew acts weird' episode and the 'mutiny under alien influence' episode. And it fails at both of them. Not horribly mind you, but more as a form of wasted potential.
The 'crew acts crazy' part only works as a character episode where we get to know the characters or learn new things about them. Which isn't the case here, since it's not our crew that behaves crazy, but alien minds being imprinted on them. OR it could succed by being batshit crazy and giving us striking moments. TOS' 'The Naked Time' and TNGs' 'The Naked Now' aren't exactly masterpieces either, but they gave us Data sleeping with Natasha Yar (which turned into the origin for many Data developments) and the iconic 'Sulu screaming crazy and wielding a rapier'-moment.
And since Star Trek never does full blown, violent, realistic mutinys like BSG, it always has to be under alien influence. But then it only works if it shows us already existing cracks in the crew. This part started better, with the conflict between the Bajorans and the Federation crew, but it quickly turned into the conflict of others, said alien imprints. Why the hell was Jadzia Dax on Kiras side? She's a starfleet officer and has a strong emotional bond with Sisko for his entire life. Which means it was not a conflict between our heroes, but a conflict between other peoples in our heroes' bodies. And therefore it would have needed to be either way more serious or way sillier.
The saving grace of this episode is Odo. He is not infected and clearly the strong minded guy who is doing his job. I especially like how manipulative he could be! He's plotting Kira against Sisko, O'Brian against Kira and Bashir against all of them effortless, all while really advancing his own goal: to find a cure. Really, Odo could have been the scariest member of the cast: He's a complete alien, who could be everywhere, change into anything, always watching you, just trying to 'blend in' as a human being, but stuck in the uncanny valley with his face, previously having worked with the enemy, being super manipulative and only bothered with his own benefits. But instead, (and I really credit Rene Auberjonois for this) he is a totally up-front being, honest and scrupulous, and influences others only to do the right and obvious things. Sadly, this interesting 'Odo against everyone'-theme is only a short part at the end of the episode.
Pros
-Odo
-Some of the character transformations were fun to watch, especially O'Brian.
-The strange clock Sisko builts under influence. It is never explained what it does nor why it was build. It's just there. I like a little mystery once in a while.
Cons
-Jadzia Dax was even more bland than usual. And that she didn't care for Sisko was really out of character.
-Normally I love it when, in a science fiction setting, the alien is blown out of the airlock. But I'm not exactly sure this would work this time, with non-corporeal beings.
Best quote
Odo, trying to find out more about the alien influence brought to DS9 by the dead klingon, to Julian Bashir:
Odo: "What's up with the klingon?"
Bashir: "He's still dead, if that's what you mean?"
Other thoughts
A mutiny episode should really be an important issue, and not a filler episode. I actually think one of the best mutiny stories in Star Trek is 'Hatchery' in ENTs third season, where the Enterprise has a serious mission to save the world (...yeah). There, only the Captain is infected to have motherly feelings towards alien younglings. It is a moral dilemma, to either help them (and thereby getting the trust of your enemy) or fly away to advance the serious mission. Here only the captain is slightly affected. So the whole mutiny is really seeing how our actual characters would cope with an unreliabel commander. And the power rift is interesting: on one side are the MACOs on board (basically space marines) who blindly follow any orders from the captain, and on the other side our crew, the captains' friends, who conspire against him. That was really interesting and helped to establish (and solve) the power struggle on board and show the pressure everyone's under. Of course such a deep dive into the characters is not possibly when everyone is under alien influence.
Grade
2/10
A filler episode. Not exactly bad, but not that entertaining either.
Next time
DS9 shows that it has found it's grasp on it's characters and setting!
Last edited:
I loved Sisko's clock, looked like something from the old video game, Myst. Yeah, the rest of the episode was meh. I'm not into episodes where everyone has turned into someone they're not, people are all controlled by some unseen influence. There are so many great stories you can do without having to resort to these tired tropes.
So, apologies for following up so late, but I need to point out a couple of things about Sisko in the pilot. In Sisko's view, Picard should have done absolutely anything, even destroying himself, his crew, and his ship, rather than become a tool of the Borg. It's unforgivable (to Sisko) that Picard allowed it to happen. Second, in the pilot Sisko is at the point of resigning anyway. He doesn't really care too much if Picard thinks he's being unprofessional.
In some respect "Babel" is a better fit for the "The Naked Time"/"The Naked Now" anology as all dealt with a virus affecting the crew.
I feel that "Dramatis Personae" was one of the stronger episodes of S1.
@kkt: Thanks for the comment!
Well, I think the scene with Sisko and Picard was the main reason why I didn't like Sisko in the pilot (At this point he has somewhat turned into my favourite character. I think I will be doing a short season recap after I reviewed the final episode, where I will elaborate a bit more why). But at this point in the pilot I didn't knew Sisko. But I knew Picard. And there has to be said one thing: Picard was a victim of the Borg. Picard was mutilated, both his body and his mind, and he was forced to do horrible things without consent. What happened to him was horrifying, even kind of rape-y. But he fought against it, and he succeded, giving Data vital information to defeat the Borg. But he has turned into a broken man because of this. Sisko on the other hand has lost a loved one. Which definetely is a tragedy. But I would say at this point, Picard is more a victim than Sisko. Which in my opinion made Sisko blaming Picard feel wrong. (Possibly not because of what was shown in this episode, but because of what happened over on TNG)
@MacLeod:
Hm, interesting. I compared 'Dramatis Personae' to 'The Naked Time/Now' because all of them were a case of "the crew acts weird". There was also a really horrible episode of Enterprise where everyone acted strange because of a black hole (or something?), I don't recall if Voyager ever did an episode like that. And I'm really not a big fan of either one of these episodes. There is little differentiating them from each other, and all of them have basically the same plot (one of them is not infected and has to save the rest with a technobabbel-solution). I thought the strongest part of 'Dramatis Personae' was the 'Odo against everyone'-angle.
I actually like 'Babel' a lot more. The virus infection is indeed a used trope, but everyone getting aphasia and becoming unable to talk coherently was a fascinating idea I had never seen before.
Can you maybe elaborate a bit more what you liked about 'Dramatis Personae'?
Well, I think the scene with Sisko and Picard was the main reason why I didn't like Sisko in the pilot (At this point he has somewhat turned into my favourite character. I think I will be doing a short season recap after I reviewed the final episode, where I will elaborate a bit more why). But at this point in the pilot I didn't knew Sisko. But I knew Picard. And there has to be said one thing: Picard was a victim of the Borg. Picard was mutilated, both his body and his mind, and he was forced to do horrible things without consent. What happened to him was horrifying, even kind of rape-y. But he fought against it, and he succeded, giving Data vital information to defeat the Borg. But he has turned into a broken man because of this. Sisko on the other hand has lost a loved one. Which definetely is a tragedy. But I would say at this point, Picard is more a victim than Sisko. Which in my opinion made Sisko blaming Picard feel wrong. (Possibly not because of what was shown in this episode, but because of what happened over on TNG)
@MacLeod:
Hm, interesting. I compared 'Dramatis Personae' to 'The Naked Time/Now' because all of them were a case of "the crew acts weird". There was also a really horrible episode of Enterprise where everyone acted strange because of a black hole (or something?), I don't recall if Voyager ever did an episode like that. And I'm really not a big fan of either one of these episodes. There is little differentiating them from each other, and all of them have basically the same plot (one of them is not infected and has to save the rest with a technobabbel-solution). I thought the strongest part of 'Dramatis Personae' was the 'Odo against everyone'-angle.
I actually like 'Babel' a lot more. The virus infection is indeed a used trope, but everyone getting aphasia and becoming unable to talk coherently was a fascinating idea I had never seen before.
Can you maybe elaborate a bit more what you liked about 'Dramatis Personae'?
Duet
Synopsis
People talk about forced labour camps. IN SPACE!
Review
Wow. Colour me impressed. This is easily one of the best Star Trek episodes of all time. Covering such a complex issue like forced labour camps takes an extraordinary amount of courage. In almost all media we regularly see Nazis or Nazi-like groups or aliens as the bad guys. But rarely the true horrors of their actions are examined. There is only a handfull of Movies, theater plays or television episodes that dealt with the causes and consequences of forced labour camps. DS9 upped the ante, by not only tackling this issue, but by showing the side of the perpetrators.
We never see a flashback or even a picture of the camp. All we know about them comes from Kiras and Marizzas words and reactions. And it works. This is also accomplished by the strong plot. The story itself, about Marizzas ilness from a mining accident in Gallitep, is a perfect thriller by itself. There are twists and turns, revelation after revelation. After every emotional punch comes a new insight that let us see the whole picture from different a angle. I think I have rarely seen an actor pulling such a dramatic role so convincing off like Nana Visitor and Harris Yulin (a credit goes also to Rene Auberjonois, who's iron conviction and objectivity in the sight of pure horror is remarkable).
In the end we feel bad for Marizza, because he suffered and possibly went mad over in what he was involved. Even though he was not a good man. He was a collaborateur, who did not dare to stand up against injustice. But we can identify with him, because neither would most of us. It's a shocking awarness that, in the wrong time, at the wrong place, in the wrong circumstances, we might as well keep quiet, protect ourself, and let injustice in shocking proportions happen.
Pros
-The acting between Kira and Marizza was grandiose. I have rarely seen better acting.
-We learn that Marizza was forced to do military service (as most people have to do in military dictaturships). The Cardassian gouvernement may be evil, but the Cardassians themselves are people, like us.
-The descriptions of Gallitep were both horrifying and restrained. Bajorans had to kill each other for food, blankets, and other things to survive. It is almost impossible to accept that humans are able to commit such crime to each other. Yet they did.
-The small back and forth between Odo and Gul Dukat (who had his second appereance since the pilot here) was superb. Shockingly, we learn that Odo has worked for Dukat in the past. And that Cardassia itself has not confronted itself about it's crimes.
-While it was obviously a reference to the Nazi camps (although not the Nazi death camps - those were even worse) the situation between the Cardassians and Bajorans is generalized enough that it could stand for many forced labour camps in history. Many in the western hemisphere forgot, but all colonial powers had horrifying labour camps in their colonies in Asia or Africa, were many unspeakable crimes happened that tarnish our reputation in those continents to this day.
Grade
10/10
Perfect.
Synopsis
People talk about forced labour camps. IN SPACE!
Review
Wow. Colour me impressed. This is easily one of the best Star Trek episodes of all time. Covering such a complex issue like forced labour camps takes an extraordinary amount of courage. In almost all media we regularly see Nazis or Nazi-like groups or aliens as the bad guys. But rarely the true horrors of their actions are examined. There is only a handfull of Movies, theater plays or television episodes that dealt with the causes and consequences of forced labour camps. DS9 upped the ante, by not only tackling this issue, but by showing the side of the perpetrators.
We never see a flashback or even a picture of the camp. All we know about them comes from Kiras and Marizzas words and reactions. And it works. This is also accomplished by the strong plot. The story itself, about Marizzas ilness from a mining accident in Gallitep, is a perfect thriller by itself. There are twists and turns, revelation after revelation. After every emotional punch comes a new insight that let us see the whole picture from different a angle. I think I have rarely seen an actor pulling such a dramatic role so convincing off like Nana Visitor and Harris Yulin (a credit goes also to Rene Auberjonois, who's iron conviction and objectivity in the sight of pure horror is remarkable).
In the end we feel bad for Marizza, because he suffered and possibly went mad over in what he was involved. Even though he was not a good man. He was a collaborateur, who did not dare to stand up against injustice. But we can identify with him, because neither would most of us. It's a shocking awarness that, in the wrong time, at the wrong place, in the wrong circumstances, we might as well keep quiet, protect ourself, and let injustice in shocking proportions happen.
Pros
-The acting between Kira and Marizza was grandiose. I have rarely seen better acting.
-We learn that Marizza was forced to do military service (as most people have to do in military dictaturships). The Cardassian gouvernement may be evil, but the Cardassians themselves are people, like us.
-The descriptions of Gallitep were both horrifying and restrained. Bajorans had to kill each other for food, blankets, and other things to survive. It is almost impossible to accept that humans are able to commit such crime to each other. Yet they did.
-The small back and forth between Odo and Gul Dukat (who had his second appereance since the pilot here) was superb. Shockingly, we learn that Odo has worked for Dukat in the past. And that Cardassia itself has not confronted itself about it's crimes.
-While it was obviously a reference to the Nazi camps (although not the Nazi death camps - those were even worse) the situation between the Cardassians and Bajorans is generalized enough that it could stand for many forced labour camps in history. Many in the western hemisphere forgot, but all colonial powers had horrifying labour camps in their colonies in Asia or Africa, were many unspeakable crimes happened that tarnish our reputation in those continents to this day.
Grade
10/10
Perfect.
In The Hands of the Prophets
Synopsis
Nurse Ratched (Vedek Winn) visits DS9 to teach the controversy in Keikos school. Also, former Bajoran freedom fighters turn out to be terrible at plotting assassinations.
Review
This episode is creepy. Ten years ago, I would have never believed that anyone could be this scary stupid religious dogmatic. How could anybody ignore all facts and evidence to support his own crazy ideology?
Well. Ten years later Radical Islamists, Young Earth Creationists, The Westboro Baptist Church and Fox News have thought me. Seriously, it's creepy how prophetic (haha, get it? ...) DS9 was.
As it turned out, the whole situation was heated up (up to the point of religious bombings) to bring Vedek Bareil, a liberal candidate for the position of religious leader (Kai) and rival to Winn, to the station to assassinate him. The plot itself is a bit complex, with a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo to get an undetected weapon to the promenade deck, but it's made personal by the betrayal of Neela, who is close to O'Brian. (Although, again, the traitor turns out to be the extra we have never (okay, once) seen before and who got a ridiculous amount of screentime out of the blue).
Also, it's the first time a crewmember of DS9, a goldshirt (since he was in engineering departement under the command of O'Brian), gets killed. Ironically, we never see him alive. Everyone reacts professional to his death, as everyone of the main cast has had to deal with death before, but it makes us, the viewer, feel the weight of the events happening.
Pros
-The episode tackles an important issue: the separation between church and state. And it takes a clear stance: Faith belongs into religious schools, science into all education. And no one should be allowed to force his own believes and values onto others against their will. Otherwise we lose our freedom.
-The scene where Sisko explains Winns motives to his son Jake was extremely powerful, and showed that Sisko is a very tolerant being, who is accepting and trying to understand other opinions, and a good father, who wants his son to have the same qualities.
-The Bajorans get fleshed out more.
-I liked Neela.
-There is seriously hinted at onflict between Starfleet and Bajoran personal aboard DS9.
-I seriously expected the episode to end with a cliffhanger. I was pleasantly suprised. The Episode had a proper ending, but introduced many new plot elements.
Cons
-Sisko jumping on the assassin in slow-motion looked a bit silly.
-The assassination plan had a bit too many technobabbel-elements.
-We learn Vedek Winn was behind the assassination attempt. Which makes her a straight up villain, instead of 'just' an opposing religious fanatic.
Other musings
-This is just my opinion, but I would actually have prefered an episode with Cardassians as the bad guys for the season finale. First of all because I love the Cardassians, but also because they were the enemys in the pilot. The Bajoran conflict is interesting, but the stakes felt a bit low. Especially since previously the whole Bajoran star system was once in danger. Now it's an assassination attempt to a candidate we have never seen before. I think it would have been better if the whole station would have been in danger, a threat that the Cardassians could have offered. Also it would have book-ended the season a bit better. But I will not complain, it was a fine episode!
Best dialogue
Sisko tries to persuade Vedek Bareil to come to the station to de-escalate the situation. Bareil makes it clear he can't come without risking his chances to become the new Kai
Bareil: "The prophets teach us patients."
Sisko: "Apparently, the Prophets teach you politics, too."
Quark wants to offer the members of Vedek Winns order his Dabo girls.
Odo: " I don't think they want Dabo girls. They are Orthodoxes."
Quark: "Orthodoxes? In this case I would need twice as many! Those orthodoxes love Dabo girls."
Golden Goldshirt-Award
One dead goldshirt in this episode.
Grade
6/10
Above average. The first season ends on a high note.
Synopsis
Nurse Ratched (Vedek Winn) visits DS9 to teach the controversy in Keikos school. Also, former Bajoran freedom fighters turn out to be terrible at plotting assassinations.
Review
This episode is creepy. Ten years ago, I would have never believed that anyone could be this scary stupid religious dogmatic. How could anybody ignore all facts and evidence to support his own crazy ideology?
Well. Ten years later Radical Islamists, Young Earth Creationists, The Westboro Baptist Church and Fox News have thought me. Seriously, it's creepy how prophetic (haha, get it? ...) DS9 was.
As it turned out, the whole situation was heated up (up to the point of religious bombings) to bring Vedek Bareil, a liberal candidate for the position of religious leader (Kai) and rival to Winn, to the station to assassinate him. The plot itself is a bit complex, with a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo to get an undetected weapon to the promenade deck, but it's made personal by the betrayal of Neela, who is close to O'Brian. (Although, again, the traitor turns out to be the extra we have never (okay, once) seen before and who got a ridiculous amount of screentime out of the blue).
Also, it's the first time a crewmember of DS9, a goldshirt (since he was in engineering departement under the command of O'Brian), gets killed. Ironically, we never see him alive. Everyone reacts professional to his death, as everyone of the main cast has had to deal with death before, but it makes us, the viewer, feel the weight of the events happening.
Pros
-The episode tackles an important issue: the separation between church and state. And it takes a clear stance: Faith belongs into religious schools, science into all education. And no one should be allowed to force his own believes and values onto others against their will. Otherwise we lose our freedom.
-The scene where Sisko explains Winns motives to his son Jake was extremely powerful, and showed that Sisko is a very tolerant being, who is accepting and trying to understand other opinions, and a good father, who wants his son to have the same qualities.
-The Bajorans get fleshed out more.
-I liked Neela.
-There is seriously hinted at onflict between Starfleet and Bajoran personal aboard DS9.
-I seriously expected the episode to end with a cliffhanger. I was pleasantly suprised. The Episode had a proper ending, but introduced many new plot elements.
Cons
-Sisko jumping on the assassin in slow-motion looked a bit silly.
-The assassination plan had a bit too many technobabbel-elements.
-We learn Vedek Winn was behind the assassination attempt. Which makes her a straight up villain, instead of 'just' an opposing religious fanatic.
Other musings
-This is just my opinion, but I would actually have prefered an episode with Cardassians as the bad guys for the season finale. First of all because I love the Cardassians, but also because they were the enemys in the pilot. The Bajoran conflict is interesting, but the stakes felt a bit low. Especially since previously the whole Bajoran star system was once in danger. Now it's an assassination attempt to a candidate we have never seen before. I think it would have been better if the whole station would have been in danger, a threat that the Cardassians could have offered. Also it would have book-ended the season a bit better. But I will not complain, it was a fine episode!
Best dialogue
Sisko tries to persuade Vedek Bareil to come to the station to de-escalate the situation. Bareil makes it clear he can't come without risking his chances to become the new Kai
Bareil: "The prophets teach us patients."
Sisko: "Apparently, the Prophets teach you politics, too."
Quark wants to offer the members of Vedek Winns order his Dabo girls.
Odo: " I don't think they want Dabo girls. They are Orthodoxes."
Quark: "Orthodoxes? In this case I would need twice as many! Those orthodoxes love Dabo girls."
Golden Goldshirt-Award
One dead goldshirt in this episode.
Grade
6/10
Above average. The first season ends on a high note.
Last edited:
I liked Progress quite a bit more than Rahul... I would give it about a 7 on the scale he uses. Kira and Mullibok did learn and change. Kira had to act as the authority figure instead of the revolutionary, and learned how to be the authority figure without being as bad as the Cardassians. Mullibok would not accept leaving while his home was still there, so he needed Kira to destroy his home rather than beaming him out involuntarily. He gave Kira the clue to ending the situation. They liked each other, which is what made Kira's job hard.
If Kira hadn't changed from how she acted in the first couple of episodes, she probably would have helped Mullibok fight off the other militia soldiers who would eventually have come to take him off by force. If Mullibok hadn't changed, he probably would have ended attacking Kira or committing suicide. They reached enough of an understanding to go in peace with mutual respect.
Making Mullibok a sympathetic character made the episode more interesting. It's the grey areas that make interesting viewing, to me. If he'd been a scoundrel we wouldn't have cared if Kira just had him beamed directly to the brig.
If Kira hadn't changed from how she acted in the first couple of episodes, she probably would have helped Mullibok fight off the other militia soldiers who would eventually have come to take him off by force. If Mullibok hadn't changed, he probably would have ended attacking Kira or committing suicide. They reached enough of an understanding to go in peace with mutual respect.
Making Mullibok a sympathetic character made the episode more interesting. It's the grey areas that make interesting viewing, to me. If he'd been a scoundrel we wouldn't have cared if Kira just had him beamed directly to the brig.
Season 1 Recap
Epsidodes
-Emissary (part I & II): 2 x 8/10
-Past Prologue: 7/10
-A man alone: 4/10
-Babel: 5/10
-Captive Pursuit: 6/10
-Q-Less: 5/10
-Dax: 3/10
-The Passenger: 2/10
-Move Along Home: 0/10
-The Nagus: 3/10
-Vortex: 7/10
-Battle Lines: 5/10
-The Storyteller: 2/10
-Progress: 3/10
-If Whishes Were Horses: 8/10
-The Forsaken: 5/10
-Dramatis Personae: 2/10
-Duet: 10/10
-In the Hands of the Prophets: 6/10
Average Grade: 4,95/10
So basically, the average grade of the first season is... average. Which is a good thing! I love my average Trek
It is certainly better than the first season of ENT or VOY. I think the most interesting comparison would be to the first season of TNG:
The first season of TNG had massive problems. The writing was extremely bad at times, and a lot of the characters were insufferable. To make matters worse, a lot of the production values seemed more like a television show from the 60s than from the late 80s, with paper mâché rocks, bad costumes and weak make-up. But it spilled over with grandiose concepts, great ideas, and showed so much excitement about its science fiction content that it turned into one of the greatest science fiction shows of all time.
The first season of DS9 seems to be the complete opposite: The writing was superb. From the second episode on the characters were completely well designed and felt like full fleshed out beings. It is obvious that very experienced people coceived this series. I often found myself engaged in the chemistry between the cast members and their daily routine, something that almost never happened in any of the other Trek series. But sometimes the first season felt a bit uninspired. A lot of the plots weren't exactly new or that creative, a bit new blood in the creative team would certainly help (and arrive later in the form of Ronald Moore and others).
The biggest strenghts of DS9 are certainly their characters. And it makes great use of it's unique setting in the Star Trek universe.
Favourite character
Benjamin Sisko
Which is actually funny, since he started out as my least favourite character. But then again, he seemed to be completely retooled from the man in the pilot. So much so, that I actually wanted to have a little bit of the Sisko from 'Emmissary' back. Not the hitting-on-women-on-the-beach-Sisko, but tha man who lost his wife and is now a single father. There is no need for a whole episode about it, but at least one scene with Jake during the entire season would have been nice (maybe something were Jake mourns his mother, and asks why Sisko doesn't, only for him to tell his son that he indeed grieves for her often, just doesn't show it because of his position as the commander of the station). I really have to rewatch 'Emissary' sometime to see how much of the Sisko I love was already there and how much was added later.
That being said, Sisko is awesome. He is the manliest man since Kirk in the command chair, but also a very human being and a caring father. I think none of the other Star Trek captains could match his sense of humor and (self-)irony, all while still being the serious authority he is.
Serious contenders:
Kira and Odo. Kira steals the show so often, and it's great to have such a strong female character in the main focus! Odo is quite mysterious, but the more we learn about him (especially to the end of the season), the more interesting and likeable he becomes.
Least favourite character
Jadzia Dax.
Which really is a shame. I don't blame Terry Farell for that (although her blandness doesn't help either), but she didn't have good dialogue or much to do this season either. In my opinion the main reason for this is that her whole backstory and the relationship between her symbiont and host isn't thought out. For more about this see my review of the episode 'Dax'.
But it's really a problem that she is the weak character. Because she is the 'science guy' of DS9. Since a lot of Star Trek science is technobabble, it needs a convincing character to pull it off. You believe everything what Spock or Data said because they were so well rounded characters. Tuvok on Voyager didn't quite work, which is in my opinion the reason they introduced Seven of Nine, to have an interesting character explain the more outerworldly scifi-plots. But there is hope: When ENT started T'Pol was insufferable. After they retooled her during season 3 she became one of my favourite characters of that series. So I hope the producers find (well, found...) a way to flesh out Dax a bit more and make her interesting!
The writing
The writing on DS9 is most of the time phenomenal. Together with it's production values it is the main reason why DS9 has aged so well. I would say from all the TNG-era series of Star Trek, this one is already the one that feels most like a modern age television show (mostly for it's ongiong character arcs and developments). The relationships feel real and the character have different personalities that complement each other. They only suck at romance. Hard. Every time people try to hit on each other (Sisko on Jennifer, Lwaxanna on Odo, and Bashir on Dax and pretty much everyone else), the writers arrive in a really bad 90s soap opera. Which is especially jarring since they do such a magnificent job everytime else.
The Station
Having a science fiction series fold around a stationary point is quite difficult. They pulled it off, and even made the problems into strenghts: Often the strange and alien danger to the station come through the wormhole, while on Bajor political and human conflicts evolve. Great job! The station looks beautiful, both the model and the sets, and it's unique look seperates DS9 from the other Trek series.
My only complain would be that nothing is made of the Cardassian origins of the station. At this point it could easily be an old Bajoran space station or a hastly built Federation one, it would actually made the political background easier to grasp. I think there should have been a few episodes early in the series where our heroes explore the station, maybe stumble into dangerous Cardassian experiments, traps, or captured creatures that escape. Something to give the station more of a personality and history, and make it clear that it is inherited from the bad guys.
The Runabouts
I love the runabouts! I was a big fan of the Delta Flyer when it was introduced to Voyager. Smaller scout vessels, which could easily travel between star systems and defend themselfes, open many plot possibilities. I only think they should also use standard sized shuttles from time to time: travel through the wormhole with a runabout, but the daily flights between Bajor and the station should really be done with smaller shuttles. Otherwise you run the risk that the runabouts themselves turn into just a bigger variant of the shuttle.
The uniforms
I am not a big fan of the new Starfleet uniforms. They may have looked good on a small tv-screen in the 90s, but now it's obvious that they are very baggy, and look a lot less like professional uniforms than the ones the TNG-crew is wearing. The purple undearshirt looking through the neck is expecially strange. The worst thing is: I already had to look at them for seven years of Voyager! Luckily I know the DS9-crew will at some point change to the much more professional and better looking 'First Contact'-uniforms. I'm counting the days!
What on the other hand was a really great idea is that the Starfleet and the Bajoran personal has different uniforms! It makes clear that they are allies who work together, but there is still a rift between them, with all of them being subordinated to different fractions. VOY really failed on that one with putting all their Maquis-members into standard Starfleet uniforms... Good call DS9!
Awards
Golden Goldshirt-Award:
'In the hand of the prophets' for one dead crewmember
Set course to crash-Award
'Battle Lines' for the first shuttle errrm.... runabout crash
Dr. Evil Award
1st place:
Kira in 'Babel' for attempted murder by infecting a suspect with a deadly disease
2nd place:
Bajoran gouvernement in 'Progress' for devastaing a whole habitale moon and all it's plants and animals
3rd place:
Julian Bashir in 'A man alone' for cloning his own murderer in a jar (only to find a convict in said murder case)
Final Words
I really like DS9 so far! There is room for improvement (especially in it's singular episodes), but the series is by all means a Star Trek series. And I love Star Trek! The best one: It's like a new series for me!
Epsidodes
-Emissary (part I & II): 2 x 8/10
-Past Prologue: 7/10
-A man alone: 4/10
-Babel: 5/10
-Captive Pursuit: 6/10
-Q-Less: 5/10
-Dax: 3/10
-The Passenger: 2/10
-Move Along Home: 0/10
-The Nagus: 3/10
-Vortex: 7/10
-Battle Lines: 5/10
-The Storyteller: 2/10
-Progress: 3/10
-If Whishes Were Horses: 8/10
-The Forsaken: 5/10
-Dramatis Personae: 2/10
-Duet: 10/10
-In the Hands of the Prophets: 6/10
Average Grade: 4,95/10
So basically, the average grade of the first season is... average. Which is a good thing! I love my average Trek
It is certainly better than the first season of ENT or VOY. I think the most interesting comparison would be to the first season of TNG:The first season of TNG had massive problems. The writing was extremely bad at times, and a lot of the characters were insufferable. To make matters worse, a lot of the production values seemed more like a television show from the 60s than from the late 80s, with paper mâché rocks, bad costumes and weak make-up. But it spilled over with grandiose concepts, great ideas, and showed so much excitement about its science fiction content that it turned into one of the greatest science fiction shows of all time.
The first season of DS9 seems to be the complete opposite: The writing was superb. From the second episode on the characters were completely well designed and felt like full fleshed out beings. It is obvious that very experienced people coceived this series. I often found myself engaged in the chemistry between the cast members and their daily routine, something that almost never happened in any of the other Trek series. But sometimes the first season felt a bit uninspired. A lot of the plots weren't exactly new or that creative, a bit new blood in the creative team would certainly help (and arrive later in the form of Ronald Moore and others).
The biggest strenghts of DS9 are certainly their characters. And it makes great use of it's unique setting in the Star Trek universe.
Favourite character
Benjamin Sisko
Which is actually funny, since he started out as my least favourite character. But then again, he seemed to be completely retooled from the man in the pilot. So much so, that I actually wanted to have a little bit of the Sisko from 'Emmissary' back. Not the hitting-on-women-on-the-beach-Sisko, but tha man who lost his wife and is now a single father. There is no need for a whole episode about it, but at least one scene with Jake during the entire season would have been nice (maybe something were Jake mourns his mother, and asks why Sisko doesn't, only for him to tell his son that he indeed grieves for her often, just doesn't show it because of his position as the commander of the station). I really have to rewatch 'Emissary' sometime to see how much of the Sisko I love was already there and how much was added later.
That being said, Sisko is awesome. He is the manliest man since Kirk in the command chair, but also a very human being and a caring father. I think none of the other Star Trek captains could match his sense of humor and (self-)irony, all while still being the serious authority he is.
Serious contenders:
Kira and Odo. Kira steals the show so often, and it's great to have such a strong female character in the main focus! Odo is quite mysterious, but the more we learn about him (especially to the end of the season), the more interesting and likeable he becomes.
Least favourite character
Jadzia Dax.
Which really is a shame. I don't blame Terry Farell for that (although her blandness doesn't help either), but she didn't have good dialogue or much to do this season either. In my opinion the main reason for this is that her whole backstory and the relationship between her symbiont and host isn't thought out. For more about this see my review of the episode 'Dax'.
But it's really a problem that she is the weak character. Because she is the 'science guy' of DS9. Since a lot of Star Trek science is technobabble, it needs a convincing character to pull it off. You believe everything what Spock or Data said because they were so well rounded characters. Tuvok on Voyager didn't quite work, which is in my opinion the reason they introduced Seven of Nine, to have an interesting character explain the more outerworldly scifi-plots. But there is hope: When ENT started T'Pol was insufferable. After they retooled her during season 3 she became one of my favourite characters of that series. So I hope the producers find (well, found...) a way to flesh out Dax a bit more and make her interesting!
The writing
The writing on DS9 is most of the time phenomenal. Together with it's production values it is the main reason why DS9 has aged so well. I would say from all the TNG-era series of Star Trek, this one is already the one that feels most like a modern age television show (mostly for it's ongiong character arcs and developments). The relationships feel real and the character have different personalities that complement each other. They only suck at romance. Hard. Every time people try to hit on each other (Sisko on Jennifer, Lwaxanna on Odo, and Bashir on Dax and pretty much everyone else), the writers arrive in a really bad 90s soap opera. Which is especially jarring since they do such a magnificent job everytime else.
The Station
Having a science fiction series fold around a stationary point is quite difficult. They pulled it off, and even made the problems into strenghts: Often the strange and alien danger to the station come through the wormhole, while on Bajor political and human conflicts evolve. Great job! The station looks beautiful, both the model and the sets, and it's unique look seperates DS9 from the other Trek series.
My only complain would be that nothing is made of the Cardassian origins of the station. At this point it could easily be an old Bajoran space station or a hastly built Federation one, it would actually made the political background easier to grasp. I think there should have been a few episodes early in the series where our heroes explore the station, maybe stumble into dangerous Cardassian experiments, traps, or captured creatures that escape. Something to give the station more of a personality and history, and make it clear that it is inherited from the bad guys.
The Runabouts
I love the runabouts! I was a big fan of the Delta Flyer when it was introduced to Voyager. Smaller scout vessels, which could easily travel between star systems and defend themselfes, open many plot possibilities. I only think they should also use standard sized shuttles from time to time: travel through the wormhole with a runabout, but the daily flights between Bajor and the station should really be done with smaller shuttles. Otherwise you run the risk that the runabouts themselves turn into just a bigger variant of the shuttle.
The uniforms
I am not a big fan of the new Starfleet uniforms. They may have looked good on a small tv-screen in the 90s, but now it's obvious that they are very baggy, and look a lot less like professional uniforms than the ones the TNG-crew is wearing. The purple undearshirt looking through the neck is expecially strange. The worst thing is: I already had to look at them for seven years of Voyager! Luckily I know the DS9-crew will at some point change to the much more professional and better looking 'First Contact'-uniforms. I'm counting the days!
What on the other hand was a really great idea is that the Starfleet and the Bajoran personal has different uniforms! It makes clear that they are allies who work together, but there is still a rift between them, with all of them being subordinated to different fractions. VOY really failed on that one with putting all their Maquis-members into standard Starfleet uniforms... Good call DS9!
Awards
Golden Goldshirt-Award:
'In the hand of the prophets' for one dead crewmember
Set course to crash-Award
'Battle Lines' for the first shuttle errrm.... runabout crash
Dr. Evil Award
1st place:
Kira in 'Babel' for attempted murder by infecting a suspect with a deadly disease
2nd place:
Bajoran gouvernement in 'Progress' for devastaing a whole habitale moon and all it's plants and animals
3rd place:
Julian Bashir in 'A man alone' for cloning his own murderer in a jar (only to find a convict in said murder case)
Final Words
I really like DS9 so far! There is room for improvement (especially in it's singular episodes), but the series is by all means a Star Trek series. And I love Star Trek! The best one: It's like a new series for me!
So here is my question to all of you:
Which are your favourite 'dark horses' from the first season? 'Duet' is a masterpiece, and a lot of people like 'Emissary' and 'Vortex'.
But what are the episodes that you personal like very much, but are overlooked often by others? My choice would be 'If Whishes Were Horses', which I personally like for it's weird scifi-craziness.
What are your 'secret' favourite episodes?
Which are your favourite 'dark horses' from the first season? 'Duet' is a masterpiece, and a lot of people like 'Emissary' and 'Vortex'.
But what are the episodes that you personal like very much, but are overlooked often by others? My choice would be 'If Whishes Were Horses', which I personally like for it's weird scifi-craziness.
What are your 'secret' favourite episodes?
I enjoy Captive Pursuits and Storyteller, two O'Brien episodes, probably because the episodes show more character develope than is typical of a first season episode. Obviously, O'Brien was an established character, but he is more leading the story. In Storyteller, some important relationships are being established.
I do blame the actress, though I'll save my myriad complaints for later. Nonetheless, Farrell fell completely flat in her spotlight episode, "Dax." The person who takes a fall to protect another person is a well established paradigm in TV, so Dax's multiple lives should not have be an impediment to a nuanced performance.
I quoted you verbatim, not altering your text, citing the portion of a long post that was relevant to my response. I criticized the content of your argument without any kind of personal attack at all, after you took an extremely hostile tone toward me because I disagreed with you about what would have made the episode better. Your first response to me was "Did you even read my review?!"
Please don't accuse other posters of the exact same thing you yourself are guilty of.
@Bad Thoughts:
You seem to really dislike Dax
For me she's kind of just there. In a BeverlyCrusherB'ElannaTorresHoshiSatoKes-kind of way.
I have to admit I really have a soft spot for 'Captive Pursuit' too. It's lika a microcosm of the series so far. It takes great use of the setting (with visitors from the wormhole), Tosk is a very fascinating creature. It's a bit sloppy with the action and costumes, but it really shines with the characters (especially the Tosk - O'Brian interaction). It's by no means perfect, but I think it serves as a perfect introductionary episode for new viewers: It introduces all the major plot elements, and it's style is representative for the whole series. So if you like this episode, you're gonna probably enjoy the whole series.
You seem to really dislike Dax
For me she's kind of just there. In a BeverlyCrusherB'ElannaTorresHoshiSatoKes-kind of way.I have to admit I really have a soft spot for 'Captive Pursuit' too. It's lika a microcosm of the series so far. It takes great use of the setting (with visitors from the wormhole), Tosk is a very fascinating creature. It's a bit sloppy with the action and costumes, but it really shines with the characters (especially the Tosk - O'Brian interaction). It's by no means perfect, but I think it serves as a perfect introductionary episode for new viewers: It introduces all the major plot elements, and it's style is representative for the whole series. So if you like this episode, you're gonna probably enjoy the whole series.
@Bad Thoughts:
You seem to really dislike Dax
To be precise, Terry Farrell was very disappointing in the first three seasons, and I am not convinced that the part was too complex. There were plenty of examples of actors playing characters that had divided or layered personalities upon which she could draw. And some of her weakest performances were those that focused on her own character. That's not to say that she didn't have acting strengths: she was very good at making playful contrasts with other main characters, thus helping to make the station feel like a community. But I will have more to say about future Dax episodes.
Similar threads
