Oh no, I saved the wrong episode!
Game The Most Disliked Maquis Episode
- Thread starter Sakonna
- Start date
The debate is healthy indeed, and I agree that Sisko did the right thing. I'll get to that in my usual tactless style in a moment...
This is a supreme episode, IMHO. It has a reminiscent feel of Star Trek II by riffing on a popular novel's plot trope (and referencing said novel in the episode), while being its own thing and with rather a bit of panache to go along with it. It can't be done everyday, but when done it's got to be BIG. And in this episode, it works. IMHO, YMMV.
The episode is a rare example of "Fight FIIIIIIRE with fire!" as Eddington is hopping solar systems and using biological weapons against Cardassian systems, destroying numerous planets while murdering in cold blood countless lifeforms of all types in the process. (Never mind the diplomatic problems stemming from all that as well. All while gaslighting Sisko in a perverted game of his making.) As a result, after regular methods of diplomacy had failed*, SIsko does unto others what was done unto him and poisons a Maquis world in hopes that Eddington and his faction would get their head out of their collective heiney. Damn, that's huge... (...oops, the pun was not really intended...)
It's also the first time we see a captain do something unusual in front of the crew but the crew go along with it, rather than chuckin' him into the brig and waiting for the evil alien of the week to leave his body. That alone makes this all the more impressive.
This episode has guts, stopping at little, and in a saving grace setting up the situation in a way that doesn't show Sisko as being the outright aggressor. That's a lot to try to pull off in both convincing and appealing ways.
* which is another little issue that pre-DS9 Trek rarely ever got within a light year of, save for a couple of TOS episodes from what I recall... WWA7D? But even then, "A Taste of Armageddon" (another great Trek episode IMHO) still kept most aspects of such interference at a distant reach. DS9 didn't cut corners. That reminds me, David Opatoshu (Anon-7) was also in the episode of "The Bionic Woman" where he plays a world leader who reacts to the triggering of the doomsday machine... ("Doomsday is Tomorrow", one of the show's best episodes and holds up rather well despite the antiquated technological aspects... wish it was on blu-ray proper... or any HD form, they had remastered the negatives...))
It also has Sisko spitting "Set course for Traken Two!", in a cadence that helped put the edge on Eddington, all while he realizes his mindgames and guilt trip against Sisko were not working anymore, never mind it's one of the better "easter egg references" to Doctor Who in BermanTrek that didn't involve a family tree chart with lineage comprised mostly of the actors' names playing the Doctor. Now that's one scene TNG-R didn't need to swap, or at least keep as a deleted scene special feature since they had to come up with something less ludicrous for the high definition version, but oh well...
If anything, Eddington's arc to traitor is a little contrived, but that's not anywhere as jarring as the new f/x toy was demonstrated in the form of the holographic projector - something so neat that it's never used again.
"Parallax" took place early enough to deliver on a small part of Voyager's premised Maquis-Starfleet conflict. Chakotay stands up for himself and his former crew ("I will not be your token Maquis!"), and the interaction between Janeway and Torres is pretty good.
VOY Season 1: "Learning Curve"
VOY Season 7: "Repression"
VOY Season 1: "Learning Curve"
VOY Season 7: "Repression"
Saving "LEARNING CURVE" because the other episode was such a mess, tonally. And the Maquis stuff should NOT have happened in season SEVEN.
"REPRESSION" wins this, handedly.
"REPRESSION" wins this, handedly.
I think the whole reason the holocommunicator was created here was because they wanted to avoid STII's mistake of not having the two interact. It made for great scenes between Sisko and Eddington, particularly the last one. It's one of the rare times we see a truly enraged Sisko.
By the way, it was used again in "DOCTOR BASHIR, I PRESUME?". In some ways, I'm glad they got rid of it. But DISCOVERY has one, though it's more embedded in holoprojectors in the room.
I disagree with the assertion that it was a mistake in TWOK. I know many people, including Shatner himself, have made a big deal of their not having a face-to-face confrontation. But I agree with Nicholas Meyer in that I don't think it would have made a difference. I think it works just fine as it is.
Holocommunicator was definitely the way to go here, though. I don't think those scenes would have been as effective over a viewscreen.
I agree that Repression is an oddly placed episode, which may have been forgivable if the story had been something unique. Alas, it wasn't.
Repression and Journey's End would have been my bottom two.
Repression and Journey's End would have been my bottom two.
"Learning Curve" is the one I despise. I hate every minute of that episode. Except, of course, "get the cheese to sickbay."
Kind of makes me want to do a "season finale villain" elimination game one day. The Borg, the Devidians, Seska, cheese, Arturis...
"Repression" I think is OK. That's one I missed on original air and only saw for the first time a few years ago, so I think finding a "new" Voyager so late may make it play better for me than for others. It's certainly not one of the greats, but I find it a solid, entertaining watch.
But clearly I am a minority opinion, as "Repression" also won this game in 2020. Late-era Voyager is racking up the wins on this round!
Next game will be up Thursday. Thanks for playing all, hope to see you on the next one!
MOST DISLIKED WINNERS, 2022
MIRROR UNIVERSE EPISODE: DS9, Season 6: "Resurrection"
HOLODECK EPISODE: VOY, Season 6: "Spirit Folk"
MAQUIS EPISODE: VOY, Season 7: "Repression"
BARCLAY EPISODE: VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
2-PART/DOUBLE EPISODE: VOY, Season 7: "Flesh And Blood"
VISIT TO EARTH'S PAST: ENT, Season 4: "Storm Front, Part II"
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER'S 100 BEST EPS: ENT, Season 4: "Home"
TIME TRAVEL/TRAVELER/LOOP/ANOMALY: DIS, Season 2: "Perpetual Infinity"
REGULAR CHARACTER: PRO, Drednok
TOTAL SHOW WINS
TOS, TAS, TNG, ST, PIC, LD, & Movies: 0
DS9, DIS, & PRO: 1 win each
ENT: 2 wins
VOY: 4 wins
Kind of makes me want to do a "season finale villain" elimination game one day. The Borg, the Devidians, Seska, cheese, Arturis...
"Repression" I think is OK. That's one I missed on original air and only saw for the first time a few years ago, so I think finding a "new" Voyager so late may make it play better for me than for others. It's certainly not one of the greats, but I find it a solid, entertaining watch.
But clearly I am a minority opinion, as "Repression" also won this game in 2020. Late-era Voyager is racking up the wins on this round!
Next game will be up Thursday. Thanks for playing all, hope to see you on the next one!
MOST DISLIKED WINNERS, 2022
MIRROR UNIVERSE EPISODE: DS9, Season 6: "Resurrection"
HOLODECK EPISODE: VOY, Season 6: "Spirit Folk"
MAQUIS EPISODE: VOY, Season 7: "Repression"
BARCLAY EPISODE: VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
2-PART/DOUBLE EPISODE: VOY, Season 7: "Flesh And Blood"
VISIT TO EARTH'S PAST: ENT, Season 4: "Storm Front, Part II"
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER'S 100 BEST EPS: ENT, Season 4: "Home"
TIME TRAVEL/TRAVELER/LOOP/ANOMALY: DIS, Season 2: "Perpetual Infinity"
REGULAR CHARACTER: PRO, Drednok
TOTAL SHOW WINS
TOS, TAS, TNG, ST, PIC, LD, & Movies: 0
DS9, DIS, & PRO: 1 win each
ENT: 2 wins
VOY: 4 wins
Yes. I wonder if Repression was a rejected script from earlier in the show.
I recently rewatched Voyager and because I knew that season 7 didn't tie up a lot of loose ends, I enjoyed it a lot more. I also like Repression. I think there's nearly a good episode in there somewhere.
"Season finale villain" elimination game sounds fun. Thank you for organising this game.
The other big problem with "REPRESSION", besides its placement in the series, was the first half was a mystery. That part worked really well. Then, it suddenly shifted into some Maquis takeover plot. It was jarring.
Plus, the ending was extremely abrupt. One of the biggest examples of the "VOYAGER Reset Button".
Plus, the ending was extremely abrupt. One of the biggest examples of the "VOYAGER Reset Button".
I'm sorry, I think the big problem with "Repression" was that it made no sense for Teero to try to take over Voyager at all, given how its location made it impossible for it to make a difference to anyone who'd been involved in the conflict. It couldn't hurt the Cardies and could make only a minor difference to the Feddies. (Yes, every life is sacred, but in the context of a war, the loss of a single ship is close to a rounding error.) I don't think there was ever a time when this episode would have worked.
I mean, I like Voyager, but has the... shall we say 'variable' quality ever been in question?
All of that is true. It might have made slightly more sense if the trigger for Tuvok leading a mutiny was something like hearing a code phrase that anyone might say but wouldn't say often. And then someone (not Teero) says that phrase. Like "Should we build a terranium in cargo bay 2"? Then Teero wouldn't even need to know that Voyager was in the DQ.
It's weird that nothing that anyone on Voyager does has any effect on the outcome of the story - the situation just resolves itself.
It does what it was designed to do, provide an episodic, TNG-ish experience. The heavy use of the Big Red Reset Button, while annoying at times, was a calculated decision by the creators. However, the sloppiness was completely unnecessary.
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