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Season 7 too Fluffy?

Nakita Akita

Nakita Akita

Commodore
Commodore
I'm pretty sure that overall we are supposed to like Vic Fontain. And I like his episode with Odo and Kira and the one where he helps Nog. But I think they over-used him.
Watching season 7 and the episode where the entire crew is concerned with saving him.
Really? There's a war going on and they have to go save a hologram character?

Maybe it's just that season 7 isn't all that great. It seems that there are a lot of episodes that are just sort of 'out there'.
Sort of floaty, having nothing to do with furthering the show. (Although I have to admit one entire disc of mine wouldn't even play. )
Any ideas why season 7 seemed to tank?
We're the writers writing resumes, searching for other work? We're the actors unconcerned that they were part of putting out tripe?
Worf and Ezri?couldnt that have been solved better and quicker?
Zek? Really? Saving Zek? Really?
Miles trying to, whatever coincidentally on the planet Ezri's family runs?

Maybe I'm just awake too late?:shrug:
 
Tank? I wouldn't say season 7 was better than 6 AS A whole (nor would I say 6 was better than 5). However, if I had to choose to watch every episode of one of Trek's three season 7s, in order and in one sitting, I would choose DS9's season 7 every time.

Were there reasons season 7 was shakier? Robert Wolfe was never effectively replaced. The studio demanded a certain number of stand-alones before allowing a long closing arc. Certainly they did not allow enough time to write the arc, and they certainly did not synchronize various elements as well as they should. Most obviously, the kai-Dukat story stalls, and Sisko seems to do a lot of nothing. Prodigal daughter is something unique: the writers fully bungled their assignment, and wrote an entirely different episode to compensate. And I would argue that in spite of its flaws, the writers put a lot into the final arc. There are a lot of intertwined story lines and scenes that are highly dramatic or emotional that are very impressive.

On the other hand, the range of stories did not bother me. As a whole, Deep Space Nine was a slowly paced series. Even after accounting for the delays caused by bringing in Worf and being sidetracked by the Klingons, it still took two and a half seasons to go from meeting the Jem'hadar to going to war. It never rushed to the big events like contemporary serialized shows. Indeed, a few season finales and premieres were rather quiet affairs. A few recreational episodes were fine by me: soldiers played games, went on leave, sometimes ended up having kooky adventures. From my perspective, season 7 looks like most other seasons of DS9, just not as tidy or thoughtful.
 
Season 7 DS9, like season 7 of TNG and VOY, is where the writers ran out of ideas. What set DS9 apart, is that home stretch of 11 episodes to close the season and Dominion War on a high note. Without that 11 episode arc, we would've likely seen DS9 meander about like TNG and VOY did in their final seasons.

Not to say DS9 didn't stay too long in some areas too.

The Kai-Winn and Dukat subplot was a major distraction from the war.

Everything with the Pah Wraiths sucked.

A Mirror Universe episode combined with a Ferengi episode.

Baseball game against another Star Fleet crew. Only 2 episodes after restoring the wormhole and Prophets to the temple.

Ezri hunting a Vulcan serial killer, by channeling her serial killer past life.

Holodeck episode where the crew are forced to play the scenario to the end. VOY did a plurality of these, but DS9's single outing wasn't nearly as tedious as those.
 
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The first half of season 7 was mostly weak, with a few gems. I did not care for Vic Fontaine nor understand why everybody in the cast was so into him. Seemed to me like DS9's Poochie. And a few episodes were forced catch-up development for Ezri.
 
I liked a lot of what they did in season 7. I liked Ezri and liked the episodes where we learned more about her. I liked Vik. I liked "Take Me Out..." I would like to have Dukat's arc resolved differently, not be making him a caricature villain. Even in wartime, there are other things happening as well: brief moments of terror in between months of boredom is the rule. I would not have been happy to have the entire season about nothing but the war. There's the danger it would devolve into the Battle of the Week show.
 
I thought season 7 was one of DS9's best seasons, and far superior to season 6. Originally I didn't think that. "Take Me Out To The Holosuites", "Prodigal Daughter", and "The Emperor's New Cloak", the most tasteless foray into the Mirror Universe, soured season 7 for me. When I rewatched season 7 last year, I skipped 2 of those episodes and I was impressed with most every show. Yes, there was some fluff, but not any more than any other season. I enjoyed most of the standalone shows and I enjoyed the final 10 episodes, which were epic.

The writing and character development is sharper in season 7 than in the previous few seasons. Maybe because one of the weakest characters of the show had been killed off recently, and maybe because the show was ending, there was less overwritten, longwinded, and indulgent moments that had plagued DS9 since Ira Behr took over from Michael Piller. The chemistry between Demar and Weyoun was far more fun than that of Dukat and Weyoun. Nana Vistor's looked much more attractive in season 7 and her character was well served as well. Garak was used more effectively than he had been in years, and Jake got the right amount of screen time in season 7. I also thought Nog was portrayed much less superficially by the actor playing him. He carried "It's Only A Paper Moon". The guest stars in season 7 were far superior to season 6. Maybe after "Valiant" the producers decided to only hire real actors?

The writers got themselves in a hole with Gul Dukat, The Pah-Wraiths, and the Prophets, but once they decided how to end the series, however untrue to DS9's roots, the final episodes were executed well.

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I think Season 7 is better on rewatch then originally. For example, when you see where they wanted to take Ezri, episodes like Afterimage and Prodigal Daughter are slightly improved (I like Afterimage more). I also really liked the opening 2 parter, the Baseball episode, Inter Arma, and the non-dukat/Winn parts of the final chapter. I do agree, it's better then the inconsistency of Season 6.

Also, Colonial Kira was the best Kira, especially in the opening two part episode and her dealings with the Cardassians.
 
Season 7 did give us this great scene. I can't complain too much.

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M.A.C.O. said:
Season 7 did give us this great scene. I can't complain too much.

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Click to expand...
:wah:
Some of my season 7 discs don't play.

I like Worf, but.......
Maybe the song could have been like 3/4 SHORTER?:barf:
 
Nakita Akita said:
:wah:
Some of my season 7 discs don't play.

I like Worf, but.......
Maybe the song could have been like 3/4 SHORTER?:barf:
Click to expand...
It really should have been a different song. I don't buy that Jadzia's favorite song would be something so maudlin.

(Indeed, "All of Me" would be a funny, playful song for a Trill.)
 
I really liked Vic and all of his episodes except the one where they all had to save him and his bar. But, "His Way" and "Paper Moon" were excellent. He came across as distant and warm at the same time, which was the point, I believe. I'm not particularly into the rat pack type music, but he did it well. As for Season 7 in general, I thought that they could have been clearer about the Prophets and Sisco, finally. But, I don't think that the writers had an answer and so kept it vague. Were they trying to make him Jesus? I think that the writers were too scared to out and out declare Bajor Israel and the Bajorans Jews, but I think so. I thought that they actually did a good job of putting in Ezri and her personality considering the popularity of Jadzia. The war kind of ended abruptly and Odo leaving Kira was absurd. But O'Brien going back to Earth to give his family a safer, more stable existence made sense. The scene at the very end with Kira and Jake was compelling, touching.
 
Season seven was definitely frustrating in first run. I kept thinking when is it going to get to the meat? It's definitely better when you know what's coming. Eventually I think it became a step up from season six.

I never really took to Ezri in the same way as Jadzia, so it was distracting to have so much Ezri stuff to wade through. Prodigal Daughter and Field of Fire were the tipping point.

The final foray into the mirror universe was combined with a Ferengi episode, and it's probably the season's worse episode. :o

Anything involving the Pah-Wraiths varied in quality. The way their story ended in the finale comes off as a poor rush job, but I did quite like the buildup of Dukat manipulating Kai Winn.

I do like Take Me Out To The Holosuite and Badda Bing Badda Bang, though. Having a baseball game in the middle of a war may seem glib, but with Ben being such a big fan I was easily sold. I think it helped their morale. BBBB was just a romp for me, and was the last fun episode before it all kicks off.
 
You could also add that he is at least part deity. :)

Ben Sisko is just as much Moses as he is Jesus. Moses was a prophet, he had a person he thought was a parent but wasn't (a la Sarah Sisko), he championed his people for decades but he himself never got to live in the Promised Land (The Sisko is of Bajor, but he will not rest there...") he brought word from his deity to the chosen people, and probably more that I don't know 'cause religion ain't my strong suit.

My point is that Ben Sisko isn't anyone else. Storytelling will always have comparisons you can make, but that's all they are. Of course, I could be wrong. If Ira says Ben was Jesus then I guess I concede.
 
Making Dukat the Emissary to the Pah-Wraiths in a sort of Christ vs Anti-Christ dynamic was a mistake. Dukat is Kira's nemesis, not Sisko. Sisko was Dukat's dueling (militarily, politically, public) opponent.
 
Between the discovery that Section 31 had set in motion a plan to commit genocide against the Founders a few years earlier and the near civil war that broke out within the Klingon Empire, I wouldn't call Season 7 as fluffy.

Mind you, I'm not really a fan of it or Season Six. The writing for both seasons seemed a bit . . . unstable for my tastes.
 
Nakita Akita said:
:wah:
Some of my season 7 discs don't play.

I like Worf, but.......
Maybe the song could have been like 3/4 SHORTER?:barf:
Click to expand...


I have had disks problems as well. You should consider ordering replacement disks. You can often find on places like Amazon and Ebay.

As for season 7 I like it a great deal. I would even rate it ahead of season 1 and season 3. "Take Me Out" and "Siege at 8744" and Bashir goes undercover on Romulus fro Section 31, are really special. I like the final arc for the most part. I didn't like the Dukat/Winn stuff. They had no connection at all going into the season and now all of sudden your building a big arc around them with the last few episodes. It didn't quite work for me.

Jason
 
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