My journey in Deep Space

[Lindley]

As I said, on the whole it's very difficult to compare Earth Alliance ships to Starfleet ships. But when comparing battle capability specifically, there's no contest; Earth Alliance by a mile.

Just don't start debating warp maneuvers versus jumppoint-positioning attacks.....

 

[indranee]

I just noticed that there was a similar thread to this in the TNG forum. If anyone wishes to join me in this journey they should post in this thread. I would be thrilled if this became a team effort.

thanks for posting your reviews, trentman359 -- love them. one thing about the first two seasons, they yield a rich dividend toward the end of the show when the writers tie them in with character and story arcs. then even little things that seemed insignificant during these two seasons start making perfect, fascinating sense. also, my absolute favorite DS9 episode comes toward the end of Season 1... so keep on plugging!

oh, and to the poster who put up that chart -- AWESOME! THANKS!!

 

[trentman359]

^^

Thanks for the kind words. Comments like that make me want to stick with this thread.

 

[trentman359]

"Vortex"

"robbery on Deep Space Nine leads Odo on a wild chase to what Odo is led to believe will be a colony of changelings in the Gamma Quadrant, but is in fact where the wanted man has hidden his daughter in stasis. He frees the two from their captors, but is left with a mystery about whether his own people really came from the Gamma Quadrant."

A taste if things to come? With the way I know the series is going to go I felt like this episode is one that I'll look back on and see a lot of foreshadowing, however small, with the Odo character.

After that opening scene I realized why Odo is such a good security officer. He was just so badass in the holosuit.

 

[indranee]

^ his biggest weapon is unpredictability. he doesn't often unleash his shapeshifting skills. most of the time, he works in "humanoid" form. but when needed, it's a lethal force.

 

[trentman359]

"Battle Lines"

"A shuttle carrying Bajoran spiritual leader Kai Opaka on a brief tour of the Gamma Quadrant encounters trouble and crashes on a planet where she dies, leaving a devastated Kira and a shocked Sisko and Bashir. Then they discover that people on the planet are resurrected when they die, but can never leave...and the two local warring tribes have been killing one another for decades."

A very good episode. The idea of not being able to die was very cool. Just fighting to kill your enemy without any regard for your own life, rang true.

 

[Apogeal Alpha01]

What was amazing was that the white hot hatred was never quenched or squelched by the realization that their enemies could not be killed. The battles, the ambushes were obviously without consequence except to fuel more hatred.

Very generational and human.

Personally, the Kai was my favorite character of series to that point. I was really sorry to lose her so soon, but she did set the scene for the trueness or legitimacy of the Bajoran spiritual system Sisko was to become a part of.

I'm catching this on Spike now, and it occurred to me to wonder why between the time the Kai died on the ship ahd was revived by the little buggies, she didn't see signs of an afterlife. I guess the Bajoran Gods don't reward their followers or devotees with eternal life.

She's still alive.

 

[Lateralus]

Man... I'm somewhat addicted to this thread now.

Watch faster trentman!

 

[trentman359]

"The Storyteller"

"O'Brien and Bashir find themselves in a Bajoran village where it is believed that only a great storyteller can keep a great menace from destroying the population. Mistaken for the storyteller and his assistant, the two at first enjoy the fame, but when O'Brien must save the village, he gets nervous."

Very average episode. Having two separate story lines in an episode is annoying.

 

[DeVario]

"The Storyteller"

"O'Brien and Bashir find themselves in a Bajoran village where it is believed that only a great storyteller can keep a great menace from destroying the population. Mistaken for the storyteller and his assistant, the two at first enjoy the fame, but when O'Brien must save the village, he gets nervous."

Very average episode. Having two separate story lines in an episode is annoying.

I can't help but laugh when O'Brien is trying to save the village. He's all "Yes! There's the dangerous thing! It's bad! It's trying to get you!" It's like, "O'Brien, you're the man, but you're doing it all wrong."

 

[Lateralus]

I am very disciplined when it comes to watching every episode of the series each time I run through it on DVD. But I always find something to do while The Storyteller is on in the background.

I'm not sure I'd rank it as the worst episode of the series. But it's close. Damn close.

 

[Krieg1981]

The Storyteller is is pretty typical of modern Star Trek first season efforts. But don't get me wrong, first seasons have great episodes too(Heart of Glory, Duet, Eye of the Needle........)!

 

[Apogeal Alpha01]

Seems apropos to todays politics, speaking of someone who's purpose was to rally the collective will of a people and inspire them to fight a powerful being, monster, whatever. It resonates.

 

[intrinsical]

The real reason Odo can be an effective security officer without a phaser is because the perps never put up a fight once Odo knows who his man is. Odo can just casually grab them by the arm, and that's that. They won't ever even try to escape that casual arm grab. Must be a space anomaly near the DS9 station that causes these strange behaviours the minds of the perps IMO.

If Steve Jobs can have a reality distortion field, I don't see any reasons why Odo can't have one too.

 

[misskim86]

DS9 is one of the best tv shows ever made PERIOD! ... BUT!

But.. the first season and the 2nd DS9 never really found its niche, think Babylon 5's first and half 2nd season...

DS9 tried to be too much of a TNG on a space station at first but still it's utterly utterly important you watch it all and in order.

DS9 is only slightly slightly worse than B5

I just don't get what people think is wrong with the first year of Babylon 5.

I thought The Gathering was just a little better than OK the first time I saw it. But I was totally hooked once I watched Soul Hunter. DS9 is great by TV sci-fi standards B5 more like what I expect in very good SF literature.

We can never have enough good SF shows. We have to decide how to use the tech to mold this society in real space.

psik

The problem as I see it with BS5's first season is that it sorta lacked a good story arc. I know there was something about some raiders but really it wasn't compelling at all. Having watched all five seasons of BS5 I know that there was more to season one than meets the eye but for a first timer it's really not that good up until the Narn/Centauri war in season two.

And I love this thread

Oh and you better get used to two simultaneous stories in the episodes because that's sorta standard in ds9

 

[Lindley]

BS5?

The "arc" in season 1 was Sinclair's mysterious Minbari War experience. Certainly it was a lower-key storyline than what came later, but it was enough to keep the interest in place while the rest of the groundwork was laid.

 

[RAMA]

DS9 is small??? Its 1 mile wide!! I don't think that's small by anyone's standard.

In comparison to B5 ships, ST ships seem a lot more advanced. Earth ships in particular are lumbering giants with little bang for the buck. A Galaxy class ship seems packed with high tech equipment in a smaller space, with artifical gravity and advanced features.

I'm as big of a fan of DS9 as one can be... but I also know my Babylon 5. And you're quite wrong.

1) DS9 is tiny, tiny, tiny compared to Babylon 5, and even many other stations in the Trek universe. Sure it has a decent circumference, but its structure is very thin. Think branches on a tree limb; Just because the limb is long and full doesn't mean you can make a table out of it.

2) Babylon 5 was much more realistic as far as offensive/defensive capability. At first glance, Earth ships in Babylon 5 seem cumbersome compared to Starfleet vessels. But that's only because they lack toys like shields (which I still think are a silly concept) and artificial gravity, which in all likelihood will be one of the final things we master as far as space travel.

In Babylon 5, Earth is extremely militaristic. And the areas of advancement in starship technology reflect that.

An Earth Alliance Omega Class, while seemingly inferior to something as glamourous as a Galaxy Class from Starfleet, packs *significantly* more firepower and armor.

As I said, on the whole it's very difficult to compare Earth Alliance ships to Starfleet ships. But when comparing battle capability specifically, there's no contest; Earth Alliance by a mile.

Listen, any culture that still uses centrifugal force for artificial gravity is not even advanced by B5 alien standards! They seem more "realisitc" only in the sense that the pattern for its technological design is set CLOSER to our own. Its only when you compare them to something that is designed to be more advanced like 24th century technology in STnG and DS9 that you see how primitive the technlogies in B5 earth ships are. Plasma weapons and standard missles would be no match for phased weapons and quantum torpedoes. Their size only maakes them seem like lumbering hippos until they get into a jump gate. Something more advanced would be more compact. Yes, they would be no match for Federation ships.

Electromagnetic shields are a lot more likely than stargates, warp drive, or transporters. There are even reports that some tanks and planes NOW in the 21st century have passive shields.

RAMA

 

[trentman359]

I started watching B5 in its 3rd season so I already saw the that there was a huge arc behind each episode. I'm not really getting that feeling with these DS9 episodes.

"Progress"

"Kira is ordered to evacuate an old man from his home to make way for Bajoran progress. When he refuses to be displaced, she must question the wisdom of the new developments taking place on her home planet."

A very average episode. It kinda of felt like a TNG eps with one character taking the lead. I actually enjoyed the "B" storyline better. Jake and Nog are a great pair, especially for teenagers. The scene with O'Brien and the stembolts was great. Sisko is growing to become my favorite character. He just seems to be more of a hardass than Picard.

 

[trentman359]

And I love this thread

I can't believe a thread I've made is getting this much love!

 

[Apogeal Alpha01]

I started watching B5 in its 3rd season so I already saw the that there was a huge arc behind each episode. I'm not really getting that feeling with these DS9 episodes.

"Progress"

"Kira is ordered to evacuate an old man from his home to make way for Bajoran progress. When he refuses to be displaced, she must question the wisdom of the new developments taking place on her home planet."

A very average episode. It kinda of felt like a TNG eps with one character taking the lead. I actually enjoyed the "B" storyline better. Jake and Nog are a great pair, especially for teenagers. The scene with O'Brien and the stembolts was great. Sisko is growing to become my favorite character. He just seems to be more of a hardass than Picard.

This is some of the early character development that really pays off in later seasons.