This mostly covers how I was going to answer. Not sure I would say the American system is "beyond all repair," but some work could be done on it.
Shatnertage's Mostly-1st-Time Watch Thread
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This mostly covers how I was going to answer. Not sure I would say the American system is "beyond all repair," but some work could be done on it.
The Begotten was a real pleasure to watch, and it just works despite watching for most of the time a blob of goo. Star Trek has a knack for selling cheapness and making you get sucked in to the whole plot.
This is also another doctor Mora episode, and I think the best of the two. What's clever is that you the see logic behind some of Mora's methods and he is shown to be not quite the person first portrayed when this series started. Rene Auberjonois always does a good job, and even more so with this episode, somehow conveying emotions behind all that makeup. Serious talent there...
It was also clever how both Kira and Odo lost their respective child. The baby changling died in Odo's case, and Kira felt like a mother to Yoshi (I think that is his name), and wanted to be a mother, but she knew it was not her child. So Kira and Odo end up walking down the corridor both sharing something similar, so that was some smart plot writing...
This is also another doctor Mora episode, and I think the best of the two. What's clever is that you the see logic behind some of Mora's methods and he is shown to be not quite the person first portrayed when this series started. Rene Auberjonois always does a good job, and even more so with this episode, somehow conveying emotions behind all that makeup. Serious talent there...
It was also clever how both Kira and Odo lost their respective child. The baby changling died in Odo's case, and Kira felt like a mother to Yoshi (I think that is his name), and wanted to be a mother, but she knew it was not her child. So Kira and Odo end up walking down the corridor both sharing something similar, so that was some smart plot writing...
Well, she is an alien, so I think it's a nice touch that they depicted her labor much differently than a Human's.
The Begotten is a good one. I especially like the scene between Odo and Quark where Odo confesses that his found contentment in being a parent.
Wasn't that Starfleet trying to save face as much as anything? Leyton gets to resign his commission, Starfleet gets to pretend the whole thing never happened.
There's not much about that episode that makes sense or is entertaining in any way, so you have me there.
It seems pretty reasonable to me, but, then again, my views on the justice system are pretty radical (especially in the United States). Yates did her time -- I don't see any reason why she should be punished beyond that sentence.
I thought this was a great way to get odo back to being a shapeshifter as well... and I really didn't know if he was going to be restored at all - which is what is so compelling about this series...
My issue was that they didn't even really need Kasidy Yates for this episode. With a little tweaking, the role of Sisko's confidant and Jake's shoulder to cry on could have been played by Dax. So in terms of the bigger story of the series, there wasn't a good reason to bring her back. In fact, it undercuts the choice that Sisko made when he sent Yates to prison. The end of Maltese Falcon wouldn't be quite as powerful if they had a sequel where, six months later, Brigid was out of jail and she Spade were having a romantic getaway in wine country.
Sorry I took so long.
As for Kasidy, I think they made it pretty clear at the end of For the Cause that she'd be coming back and that Sisko would be there waiting for her. Sisko may not agree with the Maquis and he'll do his duty in arresting them, but he does have some sympathy for their cause and probably understands why Kasidy did what she did. And if you want my completely unqualified psychological opinion about it, you could make a case that Sisko didn't want to be angry at Kasidy because of his feelings for her, so he redirected all that anger at Eddington. That would also explain his irrational level of hatred towards Eddington, but that's a discussion for the next episode...
^ and that's why it's a good thing that I've just seen...
"For the Uniform"
I've got to confess to having never read Les Mis, so I probably missed some of the deeper symbolism and riffing. It's nice, though, to see someone in Trek reading a book besides Shakespeare, Moby Dick, or holonovels.
Sisko's gone all Gambit and is on a Maquis-ish planet looking for a guy named Sink-top. He decides to visit a welding shop to find Sink-top, and gets referred to the back office, where Eddington is waiting. Which is great, because Sisko was going to ask Sink-top where to find Eddington. Turns out Sink-top had an accident. He's still alive, though he's on a really crappy planet. Seeing as Sisko makes no effort find out exactly where Sink-top is and get him some help, we can assume that he dies of either starvation or boredom there. But we didn't tune in to see the Adventures of Sink-top, so that's not our problem.
Eddington triggers a cascade virus that cripples the Defiant. Who would have known that in the future, crappy IT can still make your workday completely unproductive?
But first, how about a closer look at what seems neat but is actually a bad idea, the Holo-view-screen?
This thing serves absolutely no purpose, except for looking a little cooler than the viewscreen. It makes no sense to me that a ragtag bunch of terrorists have also managed to install this rather frivolous device at the same time as the Defiant, but we'll let that go for a minute. The device serves no purpose whatsoever. They would have been better off upgrading the viewscreen so they could do picture-in-picture video talking, or just let the viewscreen have multiple tabs so they could flip around from view to view easily. Funny that my web browser has more functionality than the viewscreen.
Sisko certainly is developing the obsession with Eddington. When I saw it, I thought that it was weird that Sisko's girlfriend lied to him and betrayed him to the Maquis and she got welcomed back with open arms, while the guy who used to work under him gets the full-on rage obsession. TheGodBen makes a good suggestion that it's redirected Yates angst. Makes sense to me, so we'll go with that.
Eddington starts using a bioweapon against the Cardassians, which to me undercuts the "reluctant terrorist" thing. But more about that later.
There's a bit of ditziness when no one can figure out why Eddington wants selenium and rhodium nitrite. Right now, a little googling would probably tell you what they have in common. That kind of limited information dramatic sense pre-Internet, not so much sense now.
They play cat and mouse some more. Eddington uploads a copy of Les Mis to Sisko's Kindle. Since it's already available for free, it's not the best gift, but it's the thought that counts. Turns out that Eddington's gone a little whacky, and he's brought Sisko along for the ride. Eddington is ValJean, and Sisko his Javert. I wish they would continue this for a five episode mini-arc, because I really like saying "Javert." Although at first I thought he was saying "chevre" and confusing Sisko with goat cheese. Mmmm, goat cheese.
Sisko then does something that, if I was on the bridge, would have seen me mutiny and/or resign my commission. He contaminates the atmosphere of an entire planet, making it unfit for human (and who knows what else) habitation for 50 years. That rare, beautiful species that's found only on the planet and unfortunately shares some commonality with human biology? Wiped out, just so he can trap Eddington.
I understand that within the logic of the episode, it's possible to make a bioweapon out of scratch that is a) airborne b) immediately effective, and c) only works on one lifeform. I don't know enough about biology to know how reasonable this is, but it feels like a very easy out to me. And even if it does only work on humans, you've altered the planet's biosphere in ways you can't even guess at. It's ecoterrorism on a planetary scale.
I know what they were drawing on here--the movie Fail-Safe,
. But it feels like an awfully convenient solution, and one that I believe is unethical, at least by Federation standards, and probably by ours.
That's why this is a good episode, though, because it lets us have arguments about whether Sisko made the right call. I say no. Anyone say yes?
And I was trying to explain to my wife that many fans excoriate Janeway for violating "Federation principles." Outside of working with the Borg in "Scorpion," almost airlocking that guy in "Equinox," and giving the Hirogen holo technology, are there any other examples?
"For the Uniform"
I've got to confess to having never read Les Mis, so I probably missed some of the deeper symbolism and riffing. It's nice, though, to see someone in Trek reading a book besides Shakespeare, Moby Dick, or holonovels.
Sisko's gone all Gambit and is on a Maquis-ish planet looking for a guy named Sink-top. He decides to visit a welding shop to find Sink-top, and gets referred to the back office, where Eddington is waiting. Which is great, because Sisko was going to ask Sink-top where to find Eddington. Turns out Sink-top had an accident. He's still alive, though he's on a really crappy planet. Seeing as Sisko makes no effort find out exactly where Sink-top is and get him some help, we can assume that he dies of either starvation or boredom there. But we didn't tune in to see the Adventures of Sink-top, so that's not our problem.
Eddington triggers a cascade virus that cripples the Defiant. Who would have known that in the future, crappy IT can still make your workday completely unproductive?
But first, how about a closer look at what seems neat but is actually a bad idea, the Holo-view-screen?
This thing serves absolutely no purpose, except for looking a little cooler than the viewscreen. It makes no sense to me that a ragtag bunch of terrorists have also managed to install this rather frivolous device at the same time as the Defiant, but we'll let that go for a minute. The device serves no purpose whatsoever. They would have been better off upgrading the viewscreen so they could do picture-in-picture video talking, or just let the viewscreen have multiple tabs so they could flip around from view to view easily. Funny that my web browser has more functionality than the viewscreen.
Sisko certainly is developing the obsession with Eddington. When I saw it, I thought that it was weird that Sisko's girlfriend lied to him and betrayed him to the Maquis and she got welcomed back with open arms, while the guy who used to work under him gets the full-on rage obsession. TheGodBen makes a good suggestion that it's redirected Yates angst. Makes sense to me, so we'll go with that.
Eddington starts using a bioweapon against the Cardassians, which to me undercuts the "reluctant terrorist" thing. But more about that later.
There's a bit of ditziness when no one can figure out why Eddington wants selenium and rhodium nitrite. Right now, a little googling would probably tell you what they have in common. That kind of limited information dramatic sense pre-Internet, not so much sense now.
They play cat and mouse some more. Eddington uploads a copy of Les Mis to Sisko's Kindle. Since it's already available for free, it's not the best gift, but it's the thought that counts. Turns out that Eddington's gone a little whacky, and he's brought Sisko along for the ride. Eddington is ValJean, and Sisko his Javert. I wish they would continue this for a five episode mini-arc, because I really like saying "Javert." Although at first I thought he was saying "chevre" and confusing Sisko with goat cheese. Mmmm, goat cheese.
Sisko then does something that, if I was on the bridge, would have seen me mutiny and/or resign my commission. He contaminates the atmosphere of an entire planet, making it unfit for human (and who knows what else) habitation for 50 years. That rare, beautiful species that's found only on the planet and unfortunately shares some commonality with human biology? Wiped out, just so he can trap Eddington.
I understand that within the logic of the episode, it's possible to make a bioweapon out of scratch that is a) airborne b) immediately effective, and c) only works on one lifeform. I don't know enough about biology to know how reasonable this is, but it feels like a very easy out to me. And even if it does only work on humans, you've altered the planet's biosphere in ways you can't even guess at. It's ecoterrorism on a planetary scale.
I know what they were drawing on here--the movie Fail-Safe,
where the US president agrees to nuke New York City after accidentally nuking Moscow
That's why this is a good episode, though, because it lets us have arguments about whether Sisko made the right call. I say no. Anyone say yes?
And I was trying to explain to my wife that many fans excoriate Janeway for violating "Federation principles." Outside of working with the Borg in "Scorpion," almost airlocking that guy in "Equinox," and giving the Hirogen holo technology, are there any other examples?
I always thought that, if that planet was within Cardassian territory (regardless of who settled it), the Cardassians would've had every right to haul Sisko in for using bioweapons in their territory--doesn't matter if no Cardassians were hurt; if I'd been them I would've pursued it on principle. At the very least, the Federation should've punished Sisko to the fullest extent. The lack of accountability in that was horrific--both for Sisko and the fact that the rest of the bridge crew who knew about it were essentially co-conspirators. They all deserve to be brought up on charges for that.
Yet, their actions allowed them to finally catch Eddington, whom been causing no end of trouble for the Cardassians. Knowing Cardassia's typical sense of justice, I'd think they'd be willing to overlook the means of his capture.
Only thing that I feel undercuts this episode is the 'hyuk, hyuk' vibe between Sisko and Dax at the very end. Would have been nice to see Sisko feel some remorse for having taken things to such extremes. Ah well... (
)
They got Eddington--but even for the fact that it would put some serious egg on the Federation's face and give them all sorts of political advantages, I don't think the Cardassians would pass up the chance to expose it as loudly and publicly as possible, if they could.
Thank you. I also thought that the Holo-Viewscreen was useless. It was created solely so that they wouldn't have to show all the interactions with Eddington over a viewscreen, which TPTB thought would be dramatic death. I honestly don't know why. All the two characters do is stand there and talk at each other - you know, like on a viewscreen.
Eco-terrorism is exactly what it is and I would have also either mutinied or resigned a commission if I were in that position. This is the flaw that sinks this episode for me - Sisko is clearly in the wrong and the writers want us to forgive him anyway. When he says that it's okay because the balance of power has been restored in the DMZ, it's the same old argument of "the ends justify the means." Sorry, the ends do not justify the means. Under Sisko's own argument, it would now be okay for someone who had a home and a life on that planet to travel to New Orleans and burn down Joseph Sisko's restaurant as long as he agreed to relocated Joseph to a new planet and build him a new place.
The only way I can forgive Sisko for what he does in this episode, is to pretend it didn't happen.
The problem I have with Janeway isn't that she routinely ignored Federation principles. It's that she slavish adhered to them when she should have been willing to bend on them more often. Working with the Borg and giving the holos to the Hirogen are two examples were she got it right - she bent the rules for the greater good without going to the extreme lengths Sisko does here. The problem with Equinox is that the writers, in that episode, have her completely abandon her own dogmatic set of principles and then have her act like she was unquestioningly in the right all along - going so far as to have Chakotay apologize for interrupting her torture session.
It did bug me a bit the first time I watched it. I was thinking "Surely he's not actually going to do it", and that's also clearly what Eddington thought.
I liked that I was surprised, I didn't like the fact that Sisko just killed a load of innocents over his personal vendetta, and at this point I actually agreed with Eddington's comment- something like "You've already betrayed your uniform... but the sad thing is that you don't even know it."
Good episode though, and I like the dark side of DS9. It's what singles it out from the perfect futuristic utopia that the other shows sometimes are. They leave everything hunky dory and just go on to the next planet (Not that I have anything against TNG, VOY or TOS, it's just that DS9's my favorite.) The writers took a risk here, and I think it worked. Great reviews, keep them coming
.
I liked that I was surprised, I didn't like the fact that Sisko just killed a load of innocents over his personal vendetta, and at this point I actually agreed with Eddington's comment- something like "You've already betrayed your uniform... but the sad thing is that you don't even know it."
Good episode though, and I like the dark side of DS9. It's what singles it out from the perfect futuristic utopia that the other shows sometimes are. They leave everything hunky dory and just go on to the next planet (Not that I have anything against TNG, VOY or TOS, it's just that DS9's my favorite.) The writers took a risk here, and I think it worked. Great reviews, keep them coming
.Deep Space Nine as a series needs to be viewed in the context of two series: Season 1-3 as Western Trek (Sisko as mayor, Quark as bartender, Odo as constable, Bajorans as natives, station on the 'frontier') and Season 4-7 as Military Trek (the plots revolved more about war decisions and scenarios).
"For the Uniform" needs to be viewed in the context of not just a 'Star Trek' episode but as a Military Trek episode.
Sisko's decision to poison the Marquis planets to trap Eddington is actually so routine that it cannot be considered a decision. It was stated, countless times, that Eddington was not just a Marquis terrorist, he had become a terrorist to the Federation. He was disabling Federation starships. He almost shut down Deep Space Nine which is the most important military fortification in the entire Alpha Quadrant. The writers made this clear when they had Sisko said directly, "When you went after Federation ships, you became a threat to the entire Federation," after Eddington kept repeatedly asking Sisko to leave him alone.
What should have happened is the Federation sending an assassin being sent to take out Eddington. However, this episode was very PG rated instead.
It's disappointing that Trek fans get so caught up over Sisko (a hero character) poisoning planets that they miss the threat Eddington posed to the Federation. This is one of those rare times where the audience is wrong and not the writers. The writers communicated and portrayed Eddington's threat to Starfleet operations and ships quite vividly. Also, the planet poison was greatly downplayed. After fifty years or so, the planet returns to normal. And no one dies because it is easy to leave the planet.
In fact, the writers went so far to create a scene of Sisko saving a Cardassian transport. Sisko didn't really have a choice. As a Federation Captain, he had to save the transport. This was actually revealing Federation's high principles in this manner. The Marquis certainly don't care about Cardassians dying. The Federation does.
This episode is wrongly seen as an illustration of Sisko's character. There was actually nothing really portrayed of Sisko's character in this episode. The only choices Sisko made was a 'gung-ho' attitude to get Eddington (which the other Starship Captain said he would have reacted the same which again takes away from any unique character reaction of Sisko) and taking out the Defiant when she is still damaged (which is still the 'gung-ho' about getting Eddington).
Sisko's decision to poison the planets is the correct tactical decision. There was nothing 'character' portrayed in it. Any commander would have done the same. Eddington was a threat to the Federation and all the planet poison did was make a few people evacuate. It also saved the Cardassian colonies from further Marquis terrorism. It was a win-win decision. Quite safe and lame actually.
Sisko acts like a puppet this entire episode. At one point, he expresses his frustration that 'he played me'. Later on, Sisko purposely chooses to play the puppet. This is not a Sisko episode. Sisko is not making the decisions which alter the plot.
This episode is entirely about the character of Michael Eddington. Eddington is in control of the entire episode from beginning to end. It is Eddington who disables the Defiant and lets her go. It is Eddington who poisons the planet forcing a response from Starfleet. It is Eddington who turns himself in for capture. Eddington was in the driver's seat the entire time.
What I find interesting about this episode is how it portrayed a 'Secret Life' of a character coming into bloom. Eddington was always portrayed as a bland, nice guy security officer who just suddenly went cuckoo. What the episode portrays is that Eddington was underemployed as he is quite a tactical and leadership genius. The bland characters we see in Trek who are not the 'senior staff' apparently do have dreams and 'secret lives'.
The writing here is very strong because in the Season 3 Finale, Eddington reveals to Sisko his frustration with his job. Sisko asks, "You could always switch to command," and Eddington uses a dodge for an answer. Whether or not Eddington's treason was planned or not, this is good foreshadow into what we see Eddington actually is: a romantic.
But the reason why this episode may feel 'different' has nothing to do with the temporary poisoning of a planet (why does this bother Trek fans and not the horrible things that occur in "The Pale Moonlight"?). This episode revolves entirely around the character of Michael Eddington and not our usual characters.
"For the Uniform" needs to be viewed in the context of not just a 'Star Trek' episode but as a Military Trek episode.
Sisko's decision to poison the Marquis planets to trap Eddington is actually so routine that it cannot be considered a decision. It was stated, countless times, that Eddington was not just a Marquis terrorist, he had become a terrorist to the Federation. He was disabling Federation starships. He almost shut down Deep Space Nine which is the most important military fortification in the entire Alpha Quadrant. The writers made this clear when they had Sisko said directly, "When you went after Federation ships, you became a threat to the entire Federation," after Eddington kept repeatedly asking Sisko to leave him alone.
What should have happened is the Federation sending an assassin being sent to take out Eddington. However, this episode was very PG rated instead.
It's disappointing that Trek fans get so caught up over Sisko (a hero character) poisoning planets that they miss the threat Eddington posed to the Federation. This is one of those rare times where the audience is wrong and not the writers. The writers communicated and portrayed Eddington's threat to Starfleet operations and ships quite vividly. Also, the planet poison was greatly downplayed. After fifty years or so, the planet returns to normal. And no one dies because it is easy to leave the planet.
In fact, the writers went so far to create a scene of Sisko saving a Cardassian transport. Sisko didn't really have a choice. As a Federation Captain, he had to save the transport. This was actually revealing Federation's high principles in this manner. The Marquis certainly don't care about Cardassians dying. The Federation does.
This episode is wrongly seen as an illustration of Sisko's character. There was actually nothing really portrayed of Sisko's character in this episode. The only choices Sisko made was a 'gung-ho' attitude to get Eddington (which the other Starship Captain said he would have reacted the same which again takes away from any unique character reaction of Sisko) and taking out the Defiant when she is still damaged (which is still the 'gung-ho' about getting Eddington).
Sisko's decision to poison the planets is the correct tactical decision. There was nothing 'character' portrayed in it. Any commander would have done the same. Eddington was a threat to the Federation and all the planet poison did was make a few people evacuate. It also saved the Cardassian colonies from further Marquis terrorism. It was a win-win decision. Quite safe and lame actually.
Sisko acts like a puppet this entire episode. At one point, he expresses his frustration that 'he played me'. Later on, Sisko purposely chooses to play the puppet. This is not a Sisko episode. Sisko is not making the decisions which alter the plot.
This episode is entirely about the character of Michael Eddington. Eddington is in control of the entire episode from beginning to end. It is Eddington who disables the Defiant and lets her go. It is Eddington who poisons the planet forcing a response from Starfleet. It is Eddington who turns himself in for capture. Eddington was in the driver's seat the entire time.
What I find interesting about this episode is how it portrayed a 'Secret Life' of a character coming into bloom. Eddington was always portrayed as a bland, nice guy security officer who just suddenly went cuckoo. What the episode portrays is that Eddington was underemployed as he is quite a tactical and leadership genius. The bland characters we see in Trek who are not the 'senior staff' apparently do have dreams and 'secret lives'.
The writing here is very strong because in the Season 3 Finale, Eddington reveals to Sisko his frustration with his job. Sisko asks, "You could always switch to command," and Eddington uses a dodge for an answer. Whether or not Eddington's treason was planned or not, this is good foreshadow into what we see Eddington actually is: a romantic.
But the reason why this episode may feel 'different' has nothing to do with the temporary poisoning of a planet (why does this bother Trek fans and not the horrible things that occur in "The Pale Moonlight"?). This episode revolves entirely around the character of Michael Eddington and not our usual characters.
A good, dark ep.
Birth & death. This ep. handled both extremely well. Very moving ep.
I always felt this ep. was similar to "Equinox" b/c both Sisko & Janeway lost control, to some extent. If either was placed in front of a military panel, I wonder what the judgment would've been.
The lighting in here is pretty bad--Bashir put on the wrong uniform. We must be...
"In Purgatory's Shadow"
This episode had just about everything--a mystery, intrigue, Garak being Garak, Worf getting pissed off, and even Dukat and Kira having a very intense tiff.
But we start with Odo re-arranging his quarters and getting help from Kira, which makes sense given how "The Begotten" ended.
*******
Sorry to do this, but I just remembered something from "Rapture" which has been cracking me up. At the climax of the story, Sisko starts telling everyone what's going to happen to them, and he tells Admiral Whatley not to worry about the rift between him and his son. Whatley is amazed that Sisko would know that he'd been fighting with his son.
Actually, it's not surprising at all, since every admiral we've seen on Trek with a son hasn't gotten along with him. Granted, it's a sample size of two (the Rikers and the Parises), but it's consistent at least. It would be amazing if an admiral did get along with his son.
*******
Back to "Purgatory." It's cute how Kira finds Odo's Kindle with the book about how to meet and win your perfect mate. And she tells him that it won't be too hard for him.
This is contrasted with the Ziyal/Garak interaction, where they both clearly have feelings of some sort for each other, but Garak basically tells her that if they were back on Cardassia Prime, he wouldn't give her the time of day. But she'll wait for him, anyway.
There was a lot of twinning in this episode. Contrast Kira's attitude towards Kirayoshi to Tain's attitude towards Garak. She wants to acknowledge him as her son even though he isn't, and Tain denies that Garak is his son even though he is.
And current medical science says that Dax is dead wrong--newborns can apparently recognize their parents' voices at a very young age. Don't ask me how--I just read it in a book for expectant parents.
If we're talking about relationships, we've also got Garak's goodbye to Ziyal--distant but seemingly honest--contrasted with Worf's goodbye to Dax--which is passionate but with a lot unsaid.
It's also funny that, just like Trek didn't predict PADDs being able to have more than one book/report on them, they didn't foresee music going into the cloud. Worf has all of his Klingon operas on USB drives, and apparently hasn't bothered to upload them to iTunes.
This is another episode where for some reason they send a runabout to do a job that the cloaked Defiant should be doing. They had absolutely no way of succeeding here--sending an unarmed runabout to a Jem'Hadar prison camp?
It would have been better to have had the Defiant take them out, then Worf and Garak beam down and then get captured. Or maybe not.
Once their in the prison, though, we see Martok, Tain, some Breen guy...and Julian! Didn't see that one coming (and neither did Alexander Siddig!). Shakes things up nicely, though, and makes it plausible that the DS9 wouldn't seal the wormhole when they know the Dominion is coming through.
Tain and Garak's reunion is touching. Is Tain an admiral? His son also has daddy issues. But they're well-placed. I suspected back in the episode where we met Tain ("The Wire?") that Garak was actually the son of Tain and the "housekeeper." Did they later spell this out?
There's a great cliffhanger, with a ton of Dominion ships pouring through the wormhole, the station nearly undefended, and of course the prisoners now trying to escape. Looking forward to seeing how they resolve this.
"In Purgatory's Shadow"
This episode had just about everything--a mystery, intrigue, Garak being Garak, Worf getting pissed off, and even Dukat and Kira having a very intense tiff.
But we start with Odo re-arranging his quarters and getting help from Kira, which makes sense given how "The Begotten" ended.
*******
Sorry to do this, but I just remembered something from "Rapture" which has been cracking me up. At the climax of the story, Sisko starts telling everyone what's going to happen to them, and he tells Admiral Whatley not to worry about the rift between him and his son. Whatley is amazed that Sisko would know that he'd been fighting with his son.
Actually, it's not surprising at all, since every admiral we've seen on Trek with a son hasn't gotten along with him. Granted, it's a sample size of two (the Rikers and the Parises), but it's consistent at least. It would be amazing if an admiral did get along with his son.
*******
Back to "Purgatory." It's cute how Kira finds Odo's Kindle with the book about how to meet and win your perfect mate. And she tells him that it won't be too hard for him.
This is contrasted with the Ziyal/Garak interaction, where they both clearly have feelings of some sort for each other, but Garak basically tells her that if they were back on Cardassia Prime, he wouldn't give her the time of day. But she'll wait for him, anyway.
There was a lot of twinning in this episode. Contrast Kira's attitude towards Kirayoshi to Tain's attitude towards Garak. She wants to acknowledge him as her son even though he isn't, and Tain denies that Garak is his son even though he is.
And current medical science says that Dax is dead wrong--newborns can apparently recognize their parents' voices at a very young age. Don't ask me how--I just read it in a book for expectant parents.
If we're talking about relationships, we've also got Garak's goodbye to Ziyal--distant but seemingly honest--contrasted with Worf's goodbye to Dax--which is passionate but with a lot unsaid.
It's also funny that, just like Trek didn't predict PADDs being able to have more than one book/report on them, they didn't foresee music going into the cloud. Worf has all of his Klingon operas on USB drives, and apparently hasn't bothered to upload them to iTunes.
This is another episode where for some reason they send a runabout to do a job that the cloaked Defiant should be doing. They had absolutely no way of succeeding here--sending an unarmed runabout to a Jem'Hadar prison camp?
It would have been better to have had the Defiant take them out, then Worf and Garak beam down and then get captured. Or maybe not.
Once their in the prison, though, we see Martok, Tain, some Breen guy...and Julian! Didn't see that one coming (and neither did Alexander Siddig!). Shakes things up nicely, though, and makes it plausible that the DS9 wouldn't seal the wormhole when they know the Dominion is coming through.
Tain and Garak's reunion is touching. Is Tain an admiral? His son also has daddy issues. But they're well-placed. I suspected back in the episode where we met Tain ("The Wire?") that Garak was actually the son of Tain and the "housekeeper." Did they later spell this out?
There's a great cliffhanger, with a ton of Dominion ships pouring through the wormhole, the station nearly undefended, and of course the prisoners now trying to escape. Looking forward to seeing how they resolve this.
Glad you liked it; it's one of my favorites of DS9. And, IMO, part two does not disappoint.
Kudos on predicting that Tain was Garak's father. I always thought he was just a mentor to him, kind of like his Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Speaking of Tain, I don't think he's an admiral, just an extremely high-level official. Like in the U.S. Intelligence community, I don't think most of the leaders are active duty military personnel.
Kudos on predicting that Tain was Garak's father. I always thought he was just a mentor to him, kind of like his Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Speaking of Tain, I don't think he's an admiral, just an extremely high-level official. Like in the U.S. Intelligence community, I don't think most of the leaders are active duty military personnel.
Yeah, it gets a little silly that Trek isn't able to keep up with the times a bit better. Even when email was invented, "Hunters" had Neelix running about giving everyone a padd each with ONE short letter on it, and "Good Shepherd" has a padd passing through about 3 different people just to get someone in the deflector to flick a switch.
I think the music held on clear plastic strips is a little more forgivable, but still silly that Worf wouldn't have them stored on the computer. Other examples elude me at the moment.
Anyway, really good episode although I do find some aspects tedious in the second half (By Inferno's Light)
I think the music held on clear plastic strips is a little more forgivable, but still silly that Worf wouldn't have them stored on the computer. Other examples elude me at the moment.
Anyway, really good episode although I do find some aspects tedious in the second half (By Inferno's Light)
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