“PARADISE LOST”
You don’t have to be a megalomaniac to work here, but it helps.
This mid-season two-parter owes something to last season’s “Improbable Cause” and “The Die is Cast”; not only as two-parters with differing titles, but as stories that start down one avenue and then abruptly veer in a different direction. It worked beautifully with the aforementioned third season episodes, but, for my money, this time around the results are mixed. If you’re going to set up one story and shift gears midway through, you have to be sure the new direction is just as compelling as the initial one, if not more so. Don’t get me wrong, I do think “Paradise Lost” is a good episode, and that’s reflected in the more than respectable score I’m giving it, but I do have a number of issues with it.
For me, one of the biggest problems is that “Homefront” kicked off with a powerful premise—the revelation of Changelings causing havoc on Earth—and “Paradise Lost” side-lines it almost completely. I can definitely see why the writers decided to change tack. After all, a key facet of Dominion strategy is weakening the enemy from within by subterfuge and manipulation. Nevertheless, the lack of follow-through did leave me frustrated. In the closing scene, a disgruntled Odo remarks that he seems to be the only one that remembers the Changelings are still a threat, and he’s not wrong.
Part of me wishes the producers had the budget and inclination to have made this two-parter a BLADE RUNNER-eque epic with Sisko on Earth determined to track down and eliminate the Changeling infiltrators. Heck, that could have made a pretty cool action-adventure political thriller! Alas, that was not to be and it’s unfair to judge this episode for what it isn’t, so I’ll stick with what it is.
I can certainly understand why the writers chose to tell this particular story. It’s a cautionary tale about what can happen when people give into fear; or, rather, when the military, or unscrupulous or misguided politicians, decide to use that fear to take control and push an authoritarian agenda. Alas, the first part was so promising and I found it hard to shake a sense of disappointment when we ended up going down a well-trodden path with a Badmiral (Bad Admiral) going rogue and leaving our heroes to take them down and restore order.
Poor Ben has a recurrent theme of betrayal in his life, from Cal Hudson, to Badmiral Leyton here, to Michael Eddington a few episodes hence. Avery Brooks coveys Sisko’s conflict pretty nicely, and Robert Foxworth is good as Leyton, certainly far better than Bernie Casie was as Hudson, and that’s to the episode’s credit. It’s a talky episode to be sure, but much of the Sisko/Leyton dialogue works well, although latter scenes do start to drag a little. Leyton certainly seems to mean well in his own way, but I felt the character lacked a certain nuance and Sisko’s choice was always fairly black and white in spite of his moral deliberating. It seemed a stretch that Leyton managed to assemble such a significant group of Starfleet officers willing to—potentially violently—take control of Earth; and so soon after the initial terror incident (this episode may have played better had it been set several months after the conference bombing).
One of the episode’s glaring flaws probably comes down to budget, but why does Leyton seem to be the ONLY Admiral at Starfleet Command? Where the heck is everyone else and why doesn’t Sisko immediately go to those superiors he knows that he can trust; ones certain not to be aligned with Leyton?
Commander Benteen ultimately comes across as naive and foolish, blindly willing to follow Leyton’s orders without investigating anything for herself (she is told the Defiant is full of Changelings so she is willing to open fire on it, whereas any half-decent Starfleet officer would need proof of that first). I suppose if I’ve learned anything in recent times it’s that people don’t often so much think—or, indeed, vote—intellectually as much as they do emotionally. Still, I expected better of 24th century “evolved” Starfleet officers. Benteen should definitely have been court-martialled and a major dramatic oversight is that we don’t see her stand down or come to realise the error of her ways. It doesn’t help that some of the directing lacks punch and the conflict between the Defiant and Lakota, which should have felt like a HUGE deal (after all, how often do we see Starfleet ships turning on each other?), feels strangely tepid and anti-climatic.
The theme, that we must never trade our personal freedoms out of fear, is a weighty and all too relevant message, although the episode cheats a little because there’s always a price to pay and the writers fail to acknowledge that. In times of war, sacrifices have to be made and security has to be heightened, otherwise acts of terrorism and slaughter WILL happen. The episode pretty much sidesteps this by downplaying the Changeling threat even though it is still there and ultimately they haven’t done anything to really address that outside of blood screenings, which have already proven unreliable. I guess it could be reasoned that the objective of the Founders on Earth was to foment fear and hysteria, but if they are on Earth and capable of imitating anyone, why stop there? I reckon the episode may have felt more satisfying had Leyton been revealed as a Changeling and this would tie us in with the initial thrust of the story.
Overall, it’s still a wholly decent episode, and I enjoyed Sisko and Odo’s systematic investigation into the discrepancies. Sisko’s unmasking as a Changeling provides a nice twist, although his rescue by Odo is too easy, and the limited budget reduces Odo to inexplicably using the Vulcan neck pinch on the guards rather than using his shape-shifting abilities. Brock Peters is once again a delight as Joseph Sisko, although Joseph’s sudden shift of sensibilities with regard to blood screenings is jarringly abrupt and the character doesn’t get much to do other than offer Ben a midnight pep talk, in what is nevertheless perhaps my favourite scene of the episode.
Im afraid a couple more things bugged me. The continual references to Earth as “paradise” were overdone and sounded more like the writers making a point than anything the characters would naturally say. We get it guys, we do. It just seems a bit too on-the-nose. Finally, Colm Meaney’s performance as the fake-O’Brien Changeling is a bold choice and in a strange way almost works, but it does feel “off” tonally and out of character with any Founder we’ve ever encountered before. Was he high on something? There’s also no logical reason for this Changeling to seek out Sisko and casually reveal the number of Founders on the planet. I mean, why would the enemy willingly divulge such information? Wouldn’t that defeat their objective? Why not let them think there are hundreds or even thousands of Changelings on Earth? Unless they just wanted to brag and rub Sisko’s nose in it? As we’ll see in the season finale, they are a vindictive bunch, so that is a possibility.
As you’ll have noticed, I do have mixed feelings about “Paradise Lost”, but it’s still a pass and I enjoyed it more than it probably sounds. In actuality, Ira Behr was far harder on this episode, and reportedly kept a memo pinned to the staff office warning the writers never to end up with another “Paradise Lost” on their hands. Take that how you will. Rating: 7
You don’t have to be a megalomaniac to work here, but it helps.
This mid-season two-parter owes something to last season’s “Improbable Cause” and “The Die is Cast”; not only as two-parters with differing titles, but as stories that start down one avenue and then abruptly veer in a different direction. It worked beautifully with the aforementioned third season episodes, but, for my money, this time around the results are mixed. If you’re going to set up one story and shift gears midway through, you have to be sure the new direction is just as compelling as the initial one, if not more so. Don’t get me wrong, I do think “Paradise Lost” is a good episode, and that’s reflected in the more than respectable score I’m giving it, but I do have a number of issues with it.
For me, one of the biggest problems is that “Homefront” kicked off with a powerful premise—the revelation of Changelings causing havoc on Earth—and “Paradise Lost” side-lines it almost completely. I can definitely see why the writers decided to change tack. After all, a key facet of Dominion strategy is weakening the enemy from within by subterfuge and manipulation. Nevertheless, the lack of follow-through did leave me frustrated. In the closing scene, a disgruntled Odo remarks that he seems to be the only one that remembers the Changelings are still a threat, and he’s not wrong.
Part of me wishes the producers had the budget and inclination to have made this two-parter a BLADE RUNNER-eque epic with Sisko on Earth determined to track down and eliminate the Changeling infiltrators. Heck, that could have made a pretty cool action-adventure political thriller! Alas, that was not to be and it’s unfair to judge this episode for what it isn’t, so I’ll stick with what it is.
I can certainly understand why the writers chose to tell this particular story. It’s a cautionary tale about what can happen when people give into fear; or, rather, when the military, or unscrupulous or misguided politicians, decide to use that fear to take control and push an authoritarian agenda. Alas, the first part was so promising and I found it hard to shake a sense of disappointment when we ended up going down a well-trodden path with a Badmiral (Bad Admiral) going rogue and leaving our heroes to take them down and restore order.
Poor Ben has a recurrent theme of betrayal in his life, from Cal Hudson, to Badmiral Leyton here, to Michael Eddington a few episodes hence. Avery Brooks coveys Sisko’s conflict pretty nicely, and Robert Foxworth is good as Leyton, certainly far better than Bernie Casie was as Hudson, and that’s to the episode’s credit. It’s a talky episode to be sure, but much of the Sisko/Leyton dialogue works well, although latter scenes do start to drag a little. Leyton certainly seems to mean well in his own way, but I felt the character lacked a certain nuance and Sisko’s choice was always fairly black and white in spite of his moral deliberating. It seemed a stretch that Leyton managed to assemble such a significant group of Starfleet officers willing to—potentially violently—take control of Earth; and so soon after the initial terror incident (this episode may have played better had it been set several months after the conference bombing).
One of the episode’s glaring flaws probably comes down to budget, but why does Leyton seem to be the ONLY Admiral at Starfleet Command? Where the heck is everyone else and why doesn’t Sisko immediately go to those superiors he knows that he can trust; ones certain not to be aligned with Leyton?
Commander Benteen ultimately comes across as naive and foolish, blindly willing to follow Leyton’s orders without investigating anything for herself (she is told the Defiant is full of Changelings so she is willing to open fire on it, whereas any half-decent Starfleet officer would need proof of that first). I suppose if I’ve learned anything in recent times it’s that people don’t often so much think—or, indeed, vote—intellectually as much as they do emotionally. Still, I expected better of 24th century “evolved” Starfleet officers. Benteen should definitely have been court-martialled and a major dramatic oversight is that we don’t see her stand down or come to realise the error of her ways. It doesn’t help that some of the directing lacks punch and the conflict between the Defiant and Lakota, which should have felt like a HUGE deal (after all, how often do we see Starfleet ships turning on each other?), feels strangely tepid and anti-climatic.
The theme, that we must never trade our personal freedoms out of fear, is a weighty and all too relevant message, although the episode cheats a little because there’s always a price to pay and the writers fail to acknowledge that. In times of war, sacrifices have to be made and security has to be heightened, otherwise acts of terrorism and slaughter WILL happen. The episode pretty much sidesteps this by downplaying the Changeling threat even though it is still there and ultimately they haven’t done anything to really address that outside of blood screenings, which have already proven unreliable. I guess it could be reasoned that the objective of the Founders on Earth was to foment fear and hysteria, but if they are on Earth and capable of imitating anyone, why stop there? I reckon the episode may have felt more satisfying had Leyton been revealed as a Changeling and this would tie us in with the initial thrust of the story.
Overall, it’s still a wholly decent episode, and I enjoyed Sisko and Odo’s systematic investigation into the discrepancies. Sisko’s unmasking as a Changeling provides a nice twist, although his rescue by Odo is too easy, and the limited budget reduces Odo to inexplicably using the Vulcan neck pinch on the guards rather than using his shape-shifting abilities. Brock Peters is once again a delight as Joseph Sisko, although Joseph’s sudden shift of sensibilities with regard to blood screenings is jarringly abrupt and the character doesn’t get much to do other than offer Ben a midnight pep talk, in what is nevertheless perhaps my favourite scene of the episode.
Im afraid a couple more things bugged me. The continual references to Earth as “paradise” were overdone and sounded more like the writers making a point than anything the characters would naturally say. We get it guys, we do. It just seems a bit too on-the-nose. Finally, Colm Meaney’s performance as the fake-O’Brien Changeling is a bold choice and in a strange way almost works, but it does feel “off” tonally and out of character with any Founder we’ve ever encountered before. Was he high on something? There’s also no logical reason for this Changeling to seek out Sisko and casually reveal the number of Founders on the planet. I mean, why would the enemy willingly divulge such information? Wouldn’t that defeat their objective? Why not let them think there are hundreds or even thousands of Changelings on Earth? Unless they just wanted to brag and rub Sisko’s nose in it? As we’ll see in the season finale, they are a vindictive bunch, so that is a possibility.
As you’ll have noticed, I do have mixed feelings about “Paradise Lost”, but it’s still a pass and I enjoyed it more than it probably sounds. In actuality, Ira Behr was far harder on this episode, and reportedly kept a memo pinned to the staff office warning the writers never to end up with another “Paradise Lost” on their hands. Take that how you will. Rating: 7
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