Shatnertage's Mostly-1st-Time Watch Thread

[Eyes]

Voyager's titles for the most part were not good. So many one-episode titles. The Cloud, Hunters and Prey one after the other (who thought that was a good idea?), Drone, One and even simply Endgame for the finale. Some were okay and managed to have more meaning through one word like Deadlock or Rise, but titles like Cardassians aren't the most endearing.

DS9 got some fabulous titles later on, which is very enjoyable. If Wishes Were Horses and Dramatis Personae were the only really 'inspired' titles from the first season, and season 2 isn't much better. From season 5 to the end, you have for the most part some lovely titles.

And Garak is used far too sparingly this early on. I don't think they'd realised what they could do with the character at this point, and I think he only shows up a couple more times in this season. He was wonderful in this episode, as he always is, but he definitely makes this a good episode.

 

[Admiral Shran]

I don't quite get the logic what happened (did Dukat plan the whole thing, with Rugal's family coming to the station, or did he just react quickly)

I think he just reacted quickly once he learned that his scheme was in jeopardy of being revealed.

What is it with people and overly-intricate pajamas on Trek? Doesn't anyone in the future wear sweats/t-shirts to bed anymore?

Sweats or t-shirts are too reminiscent of our backward, barbaric 20th/21st century society of greed. Not like the enlightened era of Star Trek.

I wish Rugal had looked at the stew, looked at Keiko, and said, "Lady, you are dumber than a box of sticks."

I like Keiko, but I'll admit that that made me LOL!

 

[TheGodBen]

Also, I used the Ben Linus comparison as well, to illustrate to my girlfriend why I was such a big fan of Garak. He's only sporadically recurring now, but by the time you get to the end of the show, he's a borderline regular.

He doesn't really show up that much, he's only in 33 episodes overall and he's only in 7 episodes out of the 25 in the final season. He just seemed like he was on the show more than he was because of Andrew Robinson's magnificent presence. Personally, I prefer it that way as his character maintained a certain potency that could easily have been diluted if he had showed up in every episode.

He's my favourite character on the show, and Ben Linus was my co-favourite character on Lost (the other being Locke), so I guess I have a type.

 

[Admiral Shran]

If Wishes Were Horses and Dramatis Personae were the only really 'inspired' titles from the first season, and season 2 isn't much better.

I thought the title In the Hands of the Prophets was a nice one.

 

[Eyes]

If Wishes Were Horses and Dramatis Personae were the only really 'inspired' titles from the first season, and season 2 isn't much better.

I thought the title In the Hands of the Prophets was a nice one.

That one too, I suppose, it does have a nice ring to it. It also has the advantage that it probably isn't going to be used on any other show and sounds good with it.

 

[Admiral Shran]

That one too, I suppose, it does have a nice ring to it. It also has the advantage that it probably isn't going to be used on any other show and sounds good with it.

Coming this fall to the EWTN Global Catholic Network, the brand new drama series - In the Hands of the Prophets!

Follow the amazing adventures of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Obadiah and the rest! Watch as they implore their corrupt and woe-begotten society to turn from their evil ways or face God's punishment (being forced to watch Michael Bay movies)!

 

[Shatnertage]

I am back with...

"Melora"

We start out with a medical log voiceover...DS9's getting a new officer, who happens to be female and is in need of special medical attention. I predict Bashir will be hopelessly in love with her by act 2. And he says's she's the first Asian to join Starfleet. What about Sulu? Oh, Elaysian. Then she shows up and is the classic ice queen. Julian is hooked.

There's a fun little B-story where someone wants to kill Quark because Quark is responsible for him doing 8 years in a Romulan prison. Wasn't this same set-up used in a season one episode? It seems kind of familiar. My laugh from this one was when the alien (who has an incredible handle over him mouth that I still don't see the evolutionary benefit of) complains that he's spent the past eight years handling Romulan bricks. It's kind of easy to mishear that for something else. #prisonsex

(I don't believe I just hashtagged a TBBS post. Hope this doesn't become a habit.)

I've got to say that Siddig does a really good job with this episode. He gets a chance to do the Hugh Grant bashful romantic thing, and he does it really well, which goes a long way to selling the story. It stretches credibility to think that in a few hours he's able to devise a "cure" for low-grav/high-grav adjustment that's baffled generations of doctors, but he his supposed to be a whiz kid. And we get implied low-grav sex (in which the picture of Melora and her brother stays on the table), but, as I point out as pedantically as possible to my wife, it isn't canon that they had sex. Since I read a thread on here arguing about that kind of thing, it's always cracked me up.

In the end the A and B stories come crashing together in a way that's not totally satisfying, and Melora rejects the cure and, I guess, leaves DS9.

This one was interesting, with some good acting, but probably towards the middle of the episodes I've seen. I read the Memory Alpha page so I learned about the backstory, which is interesting. And I also learned that "Battle Lines" was written in a week and a half, which makes sense.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

The ONLY thing I can possibly think that thing over the mouth could be a response to is to something like the Centaurian slug. Or those creepy-ass parasites from TNG: "Conspiracy."

But that's a serious stretch.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Melora isn't one of my favorites, but it's not horrible either. Very average.

Just another romance-of-week, IMO. And the ending really left me unsatisfied. It would have better if the phaser blast had actually killed her. Instead, we get the standard "everything works out" scenario.

The A story really feels like a TNG story to me. I could easily see something like this happening to, say, LaForge. He falls for a woman on some low-grav planet, he and Data devise a way for her to be in "normal" gravity, she can't be with him, but everything still works out in the end.

 

[Shatnertage]

You know,Melora at first reminded me of the one where LaForge falls for HoloLeahBrahms. Though Bashir has much more game than Geordi.

I knew that this was going to be a Ferengi episode, but didn't suspect that the producers would be actively daring me to stop watching. Maybe that's one of the lesser-known...

"Rules of Acquisition"

We start with a group of Ferengi playing Tongo. The game's options--confront, evade, acquire, retreat--coincidentally make the game sound a lot like an afternoon with my mother-in-law. Dax is there, and Quark feels her up. Hysterical. There's a new waiter who's pretty savvy. Rom hates him.

Then, Sisko and Kira shake down Zek for lots of some kind of technobabbly fertilizer before letting him meet the Dosi on the station. An economist would call that rent-seeking behavior on the part of public officials. Somewhere, Hank Rearden is fulminating against the looters.

I'm able to identify Pel as a woman before the big boob reveal, and every time her name is spoken I feel like I'm applying for financial aid. So it's basically Yentl in space. I can live with that.

What I don't get is why they have to make the Ferengi, and Zek in particular, so completely repulsive. Ear hair grooming? Yuk. It took tremendous willpower not to hit eject during that scene. And Wallace Shawn, who naturally I loved in The Princess Bride, is playing it just a little too broad and grating here for my comfort. It's beyond nails on a chalkboard and into bamboo under the fingernails territory.

I liked the look of the Dosi. They actually seem pretty cool. But they haven't cornered the market in tulaberries. And we get the first mention of the Dominion. I knew there was a war with the Dominion, but I never thought that it started over Tulaberries (yeah, I know it didn't).

All the regulars had at least one good scene, which was good.

The resolution, in which Quark loses both his share of Gamma Quadrant profits and the girl, was pretty much the only way they could have gone.

Not totally my cup of tea, but at least it was well-made--there was one scene where a female alien with what looks like hours of makeup is in the shot for maybe five seconds. I love that attention to detail with the little things. There were even a few Pakleds in here. Wonder if drinking at Quark's all night will make them go?

Even better news--I hear that there's another cross-dressing Ferengi episode that's held in even higher regard by fandom somewhere in my future. DS9 comedy is the gift that keeps on giving, isn't it?

 

[Eyes]

You're in for an average stretch (with one or two exceptions), Shatnertage. Stick it out. It's worth it.

Melora, I have a bit of a soft spot for, but there's not much to it.

Rules Of Acquisition I found utterly boring, the Dosi aside. The first mention of the Dominion couldn't have come from a worse episode (but the second could )

 

[JayOwl]

What I don't get is why they have to make the Ferengi, and Zek in particular, so completely repulsive. Ear hair grooming? Yuk. It took tremendous willpower not to hit eject during that scene.

It makes you want to retch, doesn't it? Don't worry, you only get two or three maximum of these Ferengi comedies per season, and one in particular -

Spoiler: Episode Name

"The Magnificent Ferengi"

is actually really good. Unfortunetly over half of them are either fairly average, or just bad, so it's good they're few and far(ish) between. Having said that, they all have at least something good about them, and Quark does appear with a major role on quite a few different types of episodes, and I like it when he does.

I think personally that the most ferengi eps are just fillers .

 

[3chordboy]

The first mention of the Dominion couldn't have come from a worse episode (but the second could )

hehe...Shatnertage isn't too far away from that little gem either.

i watched series 2 in about a day and a half and one thing that really struck me was how much the writers made reference to previous episodes as the season progressed.

i've never had the opportunity to watch DS9 at such a frequent rate but i'm so glad i am now. easily one of the most enjoyable viewing experiences for me in a while.

ps- just finished a mid-season 3 marathon of Past Tense Part 1 through to Distant Voices. bring it on!!

 

[TheGodBen]

I knew there was a war with the Dominion, but I never thought that it started over Tulaberries (yeah, I know it didn't).

Actually, it started because of an argument over who was the best James Bond. The Federation felt that Sean Connery was the best, while the Dominion preferred Timothy Dalton for some reason or other. The Klingons got involved when the Dominion scoffed at Pussy Galore's name, which was a major interstellar incident as the Klingons loved Goldfinger.

(Disclaimer: I may be misremembering.)

Yeah, introducing the Dominion in a Ferengi episode was an interesting choice. On the plus side, it's successful at throwing new viewers (that aren't members of Star Trek boards and haven't heard of the Dominion) off the scent, while on the minus side, this episode is semi-essential for new viewers.

You're in for an average stretch (with one or two exceptions), Shatnertage. Stick it out. It's worth it.

Ah, the doldrums in the middle of season 2. Not quite as bad as season 1, but still one of the weakest points of the series. Still, not quite there yet...

 

[Canadave]

You're in for an average stretch (with one or two exceptions), Shatnertage. Stick it out. It's worth it.

Ah, the doldrums in the middle of season 2. Not quite as bad as season 1, but still one of the weakest points of the series. Still, not quite there yet...

Indeed. However, season 2 most definitely makes up for it once you get to "Blood Oath," as the final eight episodes of the season make for a ridiculously strong run.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Then, Sisko and Kira shake down Zek for lots of some kind of technobabbly fertilizer before letting him meet the Dosi on the station. An economist would call that rent-seeking behavior on the part of public officials.

Yeah, but it's okay because Sisko and Kira are "good guys." *facepalm*

Actually, this is only a taste of what's to come in a later episode, but I won't name names.

Even better news--I hear that there's another cross-dressing Ferengi episode that's held in even higher regard by fandom somewhere in my future. DS9 comedy is the gift that keeps on giving, isn't it?

Best. Episode. Ever!

Actually, it started because of an argument over who was the best James Bond. The Federation felt that Sean Connery was the best, while the Dominion preferred Timothy Dalton for some reason or other.

Dammit, now I have to side with the Dominion on something.

They must have read my James Bond review thread.

 

[TheGodBen]

Dammit, now I have to side with the Dominion on something.

They must have read my James Bond review thread.

You had better hope that Sisko never reads that thread or...

Spoiler: later episode

this could happen to you.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Is Sisko a Daniel Craig fan? Cause he's my second favorite Bond.

 

[TheGodBen]

No, Sisko is the one that loves Sean Connery. The Federation President tried to overrule him and declare Roger Moore as the Federation's official favourite James Bond, but Sisko was having none of that. By the end of that meeting, the centre of Paris was a pile of rubble, but Sisko felt it was worth it.

 

[Athena28]

I am back with...

"Melora"

We start out with a medical log voiceover...DS9's getting a new officer, who happens to be female and is in need of special medical attention. I predict Bashir will be hopelessly in love with her by act 2. And he says's she's the first Asian to join Starfleet. What about Sulu? Oh, Elaysian. Then she shows up and is the classic ice queen. Julian is hooked...

I didn't love the story but I did find the Elaysians interesting. Thinking about living in such low gravity.