Well, it took some time, but we finally got a chance to watch another episode...which we both disliked. At this point, I need some Trek...
"Sanctuary"
This was a bad, bad episode. There's the tedious padding in the beginning, where the Skreeans don't speak universal translator (what purpose did that serve except for chewing up 10 minutes?).
I did have some fun by imagining the guy who played Deputy Rawls on The Wire as some kind of visiting admiral critiquing the crew. For example, when everyone's standing around wondering how to get the Skreeans down to the infirmary, I could hear him say, "beam them directly there, you shitbirds!"
But before the Skreeans even get on board, I pause the DVD to have a talk with my wife about Sisko--very ironic, given what was said in this thread during my absence. Here's the crux of my thoughts on Sisko as of right now:
1. He's waaaaay too placid. Seriously, he seems medicated or something. This was the guy who they had punch Q to show how different he was from Picard. Yet he spends most of his day just sitting back, looking kind of smug.
2. He's just not as angsty as he should be. Starfleet, the organization he dedicated his career to, got his wife killed. Yeah, I know they didn't mean to, but I find it hard to believe he buried all of his resentment back in "The Emissary." He should be just a little bit pissed off at the world.
3. He's raising a teenage son on his own. This should make him completely flustered before he even gets into work. Hell, I've got two very young kids and someone raising them with me, and I'm frustrated before I get into work. But maybe it gives Sisko perspective. As I told my students the other day: "This morning I held down another human being and brushed her teeth against her will. Don't think there's anything you're going to throw at me in here that's going to get under my skin."
4. In general, he seems to be either A) In way over his head, with no idea of what he's doing or B) Possessed of some profound spiritual knowledge that gives him serenity. Either way, it's not where the character should be now.
Was he directed to be that way? I was looking at Kira's mannerisms, which just screamed "frustration" even when she wasn't talking, while Sisko was just standing there.
In my analysis, the only characters who shouldn't be a little pissed off most of the time are:
Dax, because she's 300 years old and has seen it all. She should be self-assured and even smug
Bashir, because he's young, talented, and hasn't, as I put it, "been punched in the face by life yet." He still thinks that his ability's going to solve all of the problems he faces.
Everyone else but Sisko actually does seem annoyed a lot.
Oh, back to "Sanctuary." The only thing I liked was the Quark/Odo stuff. At this point, I'd be game for a Quark-only spinoff. There was a scene between the two of them that made me pause the DVD again and remark that it was incredibly that the best performances were coming from two actors under alien makeup.
I thought that Haneek, to put no fine point on it, was a real asshole. Where did she get the sense of entitlement that made her think that occupation-ravaged Bajor would welcome 3 million refugees.
Particularly since Bajor had just gotten over a paroxysm of nativist sentiment. I'm sure welcoming 3 million refugees would have gone over very, very well.
The story gave us no reason to believe that Bajor really would make a good home for the Skreeans, other than Haneek's hunch. If anything, after being dominated by another species for so long, they should have jumped at the chance to have their own planet. If they wanted to help the Bajorans, they could still ship them food. Or (shudder) the Bajorans could buy it from them, benefiting both sides.
Now, if they wanted to really make it a dilemma, they could have made the Skreeans long-departed Bajorans coming home. That would have actually raised some interesting questions.
So I didn't like this one at all. It had many of the elements that I dislike most in Trek: alien of the week, problem of the week, totally illogical plotting.
But the Quark stuff was a treat.
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