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Re-Watching DS9

I spent most of the day today fixing, tweaking, and fine-tuning my first independent film using tools I have available to me now that I didn't have 10 years ago, when we made it. So, basically, I'm making my own Special Edition. Once I got into it, I got into it.

But I finally got around to watching "Falling Towards Apotheosis". This was originally going to be a quick take, with a proper review after I woke up, but writing a review for this is another thing that, once I got into it, I got into it. Much like the episode itself. Seems like a theme for me today.

"Falling Toward Apotheosis" (B5 S4E4)

Great that Ivannova's providing Babylon 5 a news service, so the inhabitants of the station to have to listen to propaganda from Earth or elsewhere. Earth News right now seems like it's even worse than Alex Jones.

Sheridan vs. Kosh, followed by the real Kosh vs. shitty Kosh was amazing! With a little bit Lorien helping out too. It went full fantasy, but it was quite the spectacle. It was an amazing light show. Shitty Kosh won't be missed.

When Sheridan sent Garilaldi and his officers to tell Kosh to leave the station, I was wondering how Galibaldi would get out of there alive, and I expected everyone else to be Redshirts. Lucky for them, Kosh didn't think they were worth killing at that point.

Now that Kosh is gone, I'm happy for everyone who had to deal with him, since they won't have to deal with him anymore. Especially Lyta. And while we're talking about people who should be gone...

Can Cartagia please just die already?! He's crazier than the Joker! He's a true psychopath. I hope he dies next episode! And not by the insane way he wants to that he thinks will elevate him to Godhood. He's truly delusional. I didn't think there'd be a ruler worse than Clark on this show, but Cartagia's it. It was bad enough that he has severed heads gathered around him. It's even worse that he wants Centauri Prime destroyed as he "ascends to Godhood". And to top it all off, he randomly wants an eye removed from G'Kar. Roll credits! What the Hell! It immediately made me think of what happened to Colonel Tigh on Battlestar Galactica, but also Martok on DS9.

Garibaldi! First of all, he's really Gari-balding. I can see why he cut his hair down to almost nothing: it's so he can hide it better. He's also getting more paranoid. First about everyone asking him how he is, and wondering why no one asks about Sheridan, who has Lorien with him all the time.

I was amazed but also somehow not surprised that Lorien was giving Sheridan extended life. Sheridan should otherwise be dead, but he's going to live 20 more years and make it to his 60s. Delenn takes it hard and I can see where she's coming from. But I can see where Sheridan's coming from as well. I feel similar to Sheridan, even though my circumstances are different. My mother died when she was 50. If I make it to 51, I'll be happy with that and grateful for the rest. If you don't understand that kind of thinking, I consider you lucky and I'm glad you don't.

The button on Sheridan coming to terms with his mortality is that he and Delenn are now engaged. I hope they get married before the end of the series!

Did I leave anything out? Garibaldi getting sick of Franklin putting him through so many tests! And then Garibaldi remembering something but not saying anything about it. That's going to come back for sure.

Originally, during the first half I was going to give this a 9, but then everything ratcheted up into high gear, went from insane to totally insane, and ended on a nutsoid cliffhanger. So, I give it a 10.

Cartagia better be dead by the end of next episode! G'Kar killing him would be too easy. I think it should be Londo! But that's just my opinion. I guess we'll see!
 
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I spent most of the day today fixing, tweaking, and fine-tuning my first independent film using tools I have available to me now that I didn't have 10 years ago, when we made it. So, basically, I'm making my own Special Edition. Once I got into it, I got into it.

But I finally got around to watching "Falling Towards Apotheosis". This was originally going to be a quick take, with a proper review after I woke up, but writing a review for this is another thing that, once I got into it, I got into it. Much like the episode itself. Seems like a theme for me today.

"Falling Toward Apotheosis" (B5 S4E4)

Great that Ivannova's providing Babylon 5 a news service, so the inhabitants of the station to have to listen to propaganda from Earth or elsewhere. Earth News right now seems like it's even worse than Alex Jones.

Sheridan vs. Kosh, followed by the real Kosh vs. shitty Kosh was amazing! With a little bit Lorien helping out too. It went full fantasy, but it was quite the spectacle. It was an amazing light show. Shitty Kosh won't be missed.

When Sheridan sent Garilaldi and his officers to tell Kosh to leave the station, I was wondering how Galibaldi would get out of there alive, and I expected everyone else to be Redshirts. Lucky for them Kosh didn't they were worth killing at that point.

Now that Kosh is gone, I'm happy for everyone who had to deal with him, since they won't have to deal with him anymore. Especially Lyta. And while we're talking about people who should be gone...

Can Cartagia please just die already?! He's crazier than the Joker! He's a true psychopath. I hope he dies next episode! And not by the insane way he wants to that he thinks will elevate him to Godhood. He's truly delusional. I didn't think there'd be a ruler worse than Clark on this show, but Cartagia's it. It was bad enough that he has severed heads gathered around him. It's even worse that he wants Centauri Prime destroyed as he "ascends to Godhood". And to top it all off, he randomly wants an eye removed from G'Kar. Roll credits! What the Hell! It immediately made me think of what happened to Colonel Tigh on Battlestar Galactica, but also Martok on DS9.

Garibaldi! First of all, he's really Gari-balding. I can see why he cut his hair down to almost nothing: it's so he can hide it better. He's also getting more paranoid. First about everyone asking him how he is, and wondering why no one asks about Sheridan, who has Lorien with him all the time.

I was amazed but also somehow not surprised that Lorien was giving Sheridan extended life. Sheridan should otherwise be dead, but he's going to live 20 more years and make it to his 60s. Delenn takes it hard and I can see where she's coming from. But I can see where Sheridan's coming from as well. I feel similar to Sheridan, even though my circumstances are different. My mother died when she was 50. If I make it to 51, I'll be happy with that and grateful for the rest. If you don't understand that kind of typing, I consider you lucky and I'm glad you don't.

The button on Sheridan coming to terms with his mortality is that he and Delenn are now engaged. I hope they get married before the end of the series!

Did I leave anything out? Garibaldi getting sick of Franklin putting him through so many tests! And then Garibaldi remembering something but not saying anything about it. That's going to come back for sure.

Overall, during the first half I was going to give this a 9, but everything ratcheted up into high-gear, then went from insane to totally insane, then ended on a nutsoid cliffhanger. So, I give it a 10.

Cartagia better be dead by the end of next episode! G'Kar killing him would be too easy. I think it should be Londo! But that's just my opinion. I guess we'll see!
And now you understand what I meant long ago about Sheridan's fate on Z'Ha'Dum being rather unexpected.
 
"The Darkness and the Light"

This episode feels like Deep Space Nine meets Batman. Sillarin Prin is about as much of a Batman Villain as you can get. Half is face was disfigured during the Occupation in an attack from the Shakaar Resistance. He believes that he was an innocent being a Cardassian who wasn't in the militia and only just so happened to be on Bajor. He specifically targets former members of the Shakaar Resistance and no one other Bajorans (at least in this episode) because he has tunnel vision. He's only looking at what happened to him and the specific unit that did it. And he's zeroed in on taunting Kira through his killings, since she's the only who scarred him, when it would've made more sense to go after Shakaar since he was the one who was the leader of the resistance cell. Sillarin isn't rational though, just methodical in wanting to get revenge on Kira. He even has a few more Batman Villain traits. He basically talks in poetry. He's killing to send a message to Kira. He hides in the shadows. And he somehow thinks he's being the better person by sparing Kira physical pain when he wants to remove Keiko's baby from Kira's womb.

Kira herself is in Take No Prisoners Mode and wants to find out who's killing all of her friends from the Shakaar Resistance. She can't stand the thought of not being able to do anything. Kiilling off Lupaza and Furel, who were both last seen in Season 3's "Shakaar", is enough to push Kira over the edge and drive her to take action by taking Odo's list of suspects and running through the list until she finds the murderer: Sillarin Prin.

Before Lupaza and Furel were killed, an unofficial member of the Shakaar Resistance was killed via high-tech transporter weaponry that sounds like an advanced gadget rather than technobabble. When the victim materializes, her remains look very grisly for this show, and it reminded me of what we didn't see in TMP, when two people on the transporter pad were killed, they didn't make it to the Enterprise and Starfleet responded with, "What we got back didn't live long. Fortunately." I'm imagining what happened there looked something like what's shown in this episode.

The main two things this episode does is show a very different perspective of the Occupation from someone like Sillarin's warped point-of-view and showing that Kira can still be a bad-ass whether she's pregnant or not. Unfortunately, Sillarin's is a bit too weird and theatrical. His over-the-top behavior detracts from any point he was trying to make. The episode doesn't come across as overly theatrical episode until he's revealed. I still like "The Darkness and the Light" but, as I said, it feels too Batman-ish rather than like DS9. It took me out of it sometimes. The Kira material is very strong however, and I feel bad especially for what happened to Lupaza and Furel. I give it an 8.

Scene of the Episode:
When Lupaza and Furel almost attack O'Brien by accident! Not to mention how easily they were able to take out the guard who was supposed to be safe-guarding Kira!

Also Have to Mention: Some great exterior shots of the Defiant in this episode! Especially the final shot with the underbelly of the Defiant gliding upward past the camera's view. It looks too good to be '90s CGI, so I'm guessing it was model work.

Signs of Bashir as a Changeling: I didn't notice any signs in this episode either. Not even unintentional ones!

Sisko's Uniform: His uniform starts off looking as weird as it did in "Rapture", but then it looks like they fixed it about one act into the episode.

Double Billing! Because I have the time tonight, and I fell a little bit behind earlier, I'll be watching and reviewing the next episode of Babylon 5 as well. So, you can expect my review for "The Long Night" in a few hours (as of this typing) at most.
 
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"The Long Night" (B5 S4E5)

First the obvious. Have to get this out of the way right up front. Bryan Cranston, a.k.a. Walter White on Babylon 5! Heisenberg on Babylon 5. When Sheridan asks Ericsson (Bryan Cranston's character) if he's ready to take on the Shadows in a suicide mission, in my mind, he essentially told Sheridan: "I'm not in danger from the Shadows! I am the danger! I'm the one who knocks!"

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With that out of the way, because you know I had to do it, on with the rest of the episode!

I've been waiting for Cartagia to die for episodes now! The pay-off was worth it. The buildup was worth it. It went better than I could've hoped. Cartagia wants to parade around G'Kar before he kills him and throws a curveball by tightening G'Kar's chains after they'd been weakened but he breaks through anyway. Vir gave Londo a poison dart beforehand to give Cartagia to kill him, Londo was caught off-guard and then Cartagia was caught off-guard himself by Vir being the one to poison him!

Cartagia, you sadistic piece of shit with half-assed Centauri hair, you won't be missed! Not even half-assed. More like quarter-assed!

Vir is disturbed by the fact that he killed. All I can say is, I'm with Londo. Cartagia was willing to sacrifice Centauri Prime and keep the Narn Homeworld enslaved! And he was super twisted, demented, and sadistic. If anyone deserved to die, it was Cartagia. To quote Kirk, "I! Have! Had! Enough of YOU!!!!"

Then the Narn were freed as Vir became the Prime Minister of the Centauri. Where things go from there, who knows? Well, you know, but I don't.

Interesting contrast between Londo and G'Kar. Londo is reluctantly willing to become in charge of the Centauri. G'Kar refuses to become in charge of the Narn. "I didn't fight a dictator to become a dictator myself!" That stupid Narn who then asked G'Kar with he went through. The eye is proof enough! if nothing else. On top of being prominent in the Narn Resistance and backing up Babylon 5 forces. G'Kar did the only thing he could do and simply laughed at him.

Then there's the other half!

I already talked about Ericcson. Beyond that, the huge curveball that Sheridan threw everyone when he said that he was going to bring the Shadows and the Vorlons out into the same space to fight their war all-out right now. I was trying to wrap my mind around it while watching the episode, but it makes sense. It'll pull the Shadows and Vorlons away from everyone else. And if the Shadows and Vorlons aren't ready, then they won't on their A-Games. Between that and them doing serious damage on each other, it'll weaken both while Sheridan strengthens his own forces. That's some tactical thinking right there.

"Captain's Personal Log"! This isn't Star Trek! :lol:

Nice character moment with Ivanova when she makes Sheridan promise that she'll be there in the thick of the fighting when it comes right down to it. She put it the best way: not between friends, not between crewmates, but between soldiers.

Overall: This episode was all about moving the pieces into place to set up the next stage of the war on multiple fronts. It was set-up and pay-off at the same time. And it handled both perfectly. I was on the edge of my seat throughout. I give it a 10.

BTW, poor Lennier! Can't get a word in!
 
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Whoops. Kirayoshi, not Keiko.
Meant to type "Keiko's baby" instead of "Keiko's body". Amazing what a difference two letters make! Fixing the typo now. Thanks!

I thought about it beforehand and I'd decided I wasn't going to start calling him Kirayoshi until he was named it in the show. So that's why I meant to type "Keiko's baby" but then, thinking/typing too fast, it came out "Keiko's body". :o
 
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I liked The Darkness and the Light a bit better, I think. Visitor doing rage alone is worth the price of admission. Sillarin Prin was acting like a PTSD patient, which you would expect from experiences like he's had. Kira stealing Odo's list of suspects seems in character, however not in character is that it didn't seem to hurt their friendship at all.
 
"The Begotten"

I'm not going to lie. I wasn't in the mood to watch this one. An A-Plot with Odo and his equivalent of Daddy Issues, and a B-Plot where Kira finally gives birth and all the Sitcom Hijinks that go with it. "Are you saying you think the episode is bad?" Not at all. It's just not about things I would normally go out of my way to watch.

But there are two major things this episode has going for it: the Baby Changeling and Odo finally becoming a Changeling again. A few months before this episode aired, I was at a Star Trek Convention. Marina Sirtis and Rene Auberjonious were there. Rene Auberjonious did talk about losing his shape-shifting abilities. And then he immediately followed that up with, "How long do you think that's going to last?!" Definitely a tease. Was it a spoiler? Yes and No. This was '90s TV and I was watching it in the '90s, and TV back then loved the Status Quo. So, at the time, I was expecting that he'd eventually get his shape-shifting abilities back. The real surprise would've been if he didn't. And he just so happened to get them back in this episode!

The A-Plot: Odo trying to raise a Baby Changeling was interesting but even I, as a non-parent, could tell that Odo was coddling the Baby too much. Odo talking to the cup, though played like a gag when Worf showed up, felt like it was pushing things to the limit. Sorry, I can only take so much cutesy talk. Maybe you parents who've had a babies can relate to it, but I can't. It's just not for me.

Enter Dr. Mora. Some great insight into how he didn't even know if Odo was actually a lifeform, how it took a while to figure out, and a lot of trial-and-error. Mora was figuring out his way through things with no guide. Odo took all of it the wrong way, then decided "I'm going to be the exact opposite!" only to find out there was a point to a lot of what Mora had to do.

It's true. You can't grow until you're pushed past your comfort level. You can't grow unless you have to learn how to face different challenges and scenarios. And the truest sign of maturity on Odo's part is when he told Mora about how he'd still be an Unidentified Sample in a lab if it wasn't for him. It was good to see Odo and Dr. Mora finally patch things up with each other over the course of the episode.

The tragic part was that Odo had managed to form a true bond with the Baby Changeling, and then the Baby died... but at least not before absorbing into Odo and allowing him to become a shapeshifter again.

I have to agree with Quark: there's something wrong if Odo's too happy. That right there was a sign that something was going to happen.

The B-Plot: The whole ritual to get Kira relaxed enough so she could give birth. It seemed okay, except for the Bad Sitcom bickering between O'Brien and Shakaar who are eventually told to leave, before they can come back in. Cue laugh track.

At the end, Kira finally gives birth to Kirayoshi, then afterwards away from everything, she tells Odo she never wanted a baby but not she wanted to be with Kirayoshi all the time even though she couldn't be. So, she just pulled herself out of there. It makes sense for Kira to feel all kinds of mixed emotions about this.

Overall: This episode wrapped up two things set up at the end of Season 4 in one go. Odo losing his powers and Kira's pregnancy. It worked. I didn't connect with it a lot of the time, but that's more of a reflection on me than it is on the episode. I'll give it a 7.5.

It would've been an 8 if they'd made better use of O'Brien and Shakaar. Great use of Dr. Mora, though.

Signs that Bashir is a Changeling: I have more to work with this time. I think "Bashir" wanted to see how Odo would react to a Baby Changeling and how he would treat it. "Bashir" put on a good show making it look like he was the real Bashir with all those security concerns towards the end of the episode.

Here's a wild and crazy thought I had just now: what if "Bashir" linked with the Baby Changeling at some point and encouraged it or told it to morph with Odo? In Season 6, the Female Changeling made it sound like the Founders' forgiveness and giving Odo his abilities back was a deliberate act.
 
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"The Begotten"

I'm not going to lie. I wasn't in the mood to watch this one. An A-Plot with Odo and his equivalent of Daddy Issues, and a B-Plot where Kira finally gives birth and all the Bad Sitcom Hijinks that go with it. "Are you saying you think it's bad?" Not at all. It's just not about things I would normally go out of my way to watch.

But there are two major things this episode has going for it: the Baby Changeling and Odo finally becoming a Changeling again. A few months before this episode aired, I was at a Star Trek Convention. Marina Sirtis and Rene Auberjonious were there. Rene Auberjonious did talk about losing his shape-shifting abilities. And then he immediately followed that up with, "How long do you think that's going to last?!" Definitely a tease. Was it a spoiler? Yes and No. This was '90s TV and I was watching it in the '90s, and TV back then loved the Status Quo. So, at the time, I was expecting that he'd eventually get his shape-shifting abilities back. The real surprise would've been if he didn't. And he just so happened to get them back in this episode!

The A-Plot: Odo trying to raise a Baby Changeling was interesting but even I, as a non-parent, could tell that Odo was coddling the Baby too much. Odo talking to the cup, though played like a gag when Worf showed up, felt like it was pushing things to the limit. Sorry, I can only take so much cutesy talk. Maybe you parents who've had a babies can relate to it, but I can't. It's just not for me.

Enter Dr. Mora. Some great insight into how he didn't even know if Odo was actually a lifeform, how it took a while to figure out, and a lot of trial-and-error. Mora was figuring out his way through things with no guide. Odo took all of it the wrong way, then decided "I'm going to be the exact opposite!" only to find out there was a point to a lot of what Mora had to do.

It's true. You can't grow until you're pushed past your comfort level. You can't grow unless you have to learn how to face different challenges and scenarios. And the truest sign of maturity on Odo's part is when he told Mora about how he'd still be an Unidentified Sample in a lab if it wasn't for him. It was good to see Odo and Dr. Mora finally patch things up with each other over the course of the episode.

The tragic part was that Odo had managed to form a true bond with the Baby Changeling, and then the Baby died... but at least not before absorbing into Odo and allowing him to become a shapeshifter again.

I have to agree with Quark: there's something wrong if Odo's too happy. That right there was a sign that something was going to happen.

The B-Plot: The whole ritual to get Kira relaxed enough so she could give birth. It seemed okay, except for the Bad Sitcom bickering between O'Brien and Shakaar who are eventually told to leave, before they can come back in. Cue laugh track.

At the end, Kira finally gives birth to Kirayoshi, then afterwards away from everything, she tells Odo she never wanted a baby but not she wanted to be with Kirayoshi all the time even though she couldn't be. So, she just pulled herself out of there. It makes sense for Kira to feel all kinds of mixed emotions about this.

Overall: This episode wrapped up two things set up at the end of Season 4 in one go. Odo losing his powers and Kira's pregnancy. It worked. I didn't connect with it a lot of the time, but that's more of a reflection on me than it is on the episode. I'll give it a 7.5.

It would've been an 8 if they'd made better use of O'Brien and Shakaar. Great use of Dr, Mora, though.

Signs that Bashir is a Changeling: I have more to work with this time. I think "Bashir" wanted to see how Odo would react to a Baby Changeling and how he would treat it. "Bashir" put on a good show making it look like he was the real Bashir with all those security concerns towards the end of the episode.

Here's a wild and crazy thought I had just now: what if "Bashir" linked with the Baby Changeling at some point and encouraged it or told it to morph with Odo? In Season 6, the Female Changeling made it sound like the Founders' forgiveness and giving Odo his abilities back was a deliberate act.
I've had the exact same theory since DS9 originally aired: that Bashireling was directly involved in the baby Changeling helping to guve Odo his abilities back. Also, very likely he orchestrated the baby to get into Quark's hands to begin with.

The line from "BEHIND THE LINES" just pointed it to that in a big way. (Well... to me, anyway.)
 
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