The Search
Greater little two-parter/season 3 opener!
Nice opening theatrics by Sisko with the Defiant decloaking out of nowhere. But we know he's testing the troops, which Kira - in command - clearly responds nimbly.
I love how the Dominion do what the Borg don't: Analyze and respond immediately. We see how the two Dominion ships (nice purple engine glow BTW) dismiss the sensor blips, but are not fooled as the Defiant is later quickly overtaken by three ships. If only the Borg could adapt as quickly... The Dominion are clearly given a very strong, palpable start.
Sisko gets in one of his best speeches, with Avery Brooks stealing the show in his delivery.
The Jem Hadar seem to be Doctor Who Sontarans but given more backstory and depth, and - typical for Trek vs WHO - the Trek updating of WHO archetypes is given a lot more gravitas and a sense of threat. (e.g. Borg vs Cybermen, Doctor Who's revival (2005-present) has yet to put out a Cyberman story that is anywhere near as effective as any 24th century Borg story...)
The handling of Odo - Starfleet's concern over him is a lot more coherent than its treatment of Picard for "First Contact". I wish Sisko told Kira what he told Odo about fighting for him.
The revelation that the crew were living out a mindwarp at the behest of the Dominion while unconscious was held back fairly well, the viewer really thinking the Federation (with perfectly awkward Admiral being as strong as weak in terms of bending over backward for the Dominion didn't start to raise suspicion until the end... or I didn't notice, but it was weird how the Romulans would be shut out as such - but the timing of the writing felt natural. Even seeing the show out of order again, a lot of these scenes still come across as "shocking developments" - that's how well they're told. Not having seen them in umpteen years possibly helps.) The only other way for the story to end would have been a lot bloodier, since Federation operatives would have had to find a missing ship and important crew.
And the mystery door and why the Founders needed one - oh, they just happen to BE the Dominion... dang. The Gamma quadrant, or an area near and including the wormhole, is clearly under a very strong form of control.
I liked how the Founders, who sent out Odo and the others, explain how Odo felt those sensations. Prior to that, it was bugging me since if any of us went into outer space to a distant planet, we wouldn't feel homesickness pangs as such. (Oh, the Odo/Quark scenes were steeped in angst as a result of Odo's feeling homesick. Maybe Quark subconsciously picked up on that since later episodes, so far, don't address the angrier-than-usual bickering.)
While both parts had some great direction, part 1's overall direction - complete with - dogfight/space scenes - are the most memorable from the story.
One slight detail, typical of 24th century Trek shows, how come the Enterprise and Cardassian sensors pick up cloaking devices since everyone at the console always states "ship decloaking bearing at bleep bloop bleep from the blippity side" so precisely and only after that announcement does she ship begin to decloak. That makes me bleep in abject frustration every time. By the mid-2300s, surely cloaks would be fully able to not be detected until during or after decloaking, not before. (Then again, for this 2-parter, I consider it a subtle bug in mixing different technologies, despite the Romulan engineer already discussing how they could be seen.)
Hmmm, Odo's Constable position seemed to have been forgotten as well, despite a promising start. The story as a whole is so well told that this flies over the viewers' consciousness, but it's forgotten about nonetheless.
And here's another thing - DS9's premiere starts out with Sisko being a glorified turnstile ticket taker. Now he's given a ship - oh, a ship that will tear itself apart if it has to be used so don't use it. Then add in a completely alien technology (no pun intended). Sisko still hasn't been promoted despite ample evidence he's going well above rank time and time again.
And adding in "part 1" at the start only spoils the cliffhanger for viewers. Boo!
As a whole: 8/10 (10/10 pt 1, 7/10 pt 2)
---
The House of Quark
Is this the best Ferengi-themed story or what? Is this the best Klingon-themed story or what? Both cultures' archetypes are used to extreme advantage and effectiveness in what's a great little yarn.
Never enough twists and turns to keep a refreshing storyline even more invigorating. Plenty of great one-liners and dialogue make great plot twists even better, especially when Quark appears in the Great Hall at the end and I don't mean the divorce (which was fantastic in its own merit). That and how Klingons see finance is interesting, made more intriguing thanks to Quark's outsider view to point out the plot.
Great plot with Keiko and Miles as well. One of my favorite TV couples, if not the best. (Mac and Quon Le is another great TV coupling...) I liked how the couple communicated, still trying to honor their vows, but recognizing each other's training (emphasis on Keiko). I've not seen all the O'Brian/Keiko eps yet so if one cheated on the other, please do not tell me about it.
But Mary Kay Adams, if stealing the show is a crime then she's in it for quadruple grand larceny because she is above first rate fantastic as Grilka. The makers could have made a spinoff Trek series for her and her presence would make it last 10 years just by here standing there, growling and/or spitting on people, and doing all the cool assertive stuff.
Odo is quick to not buy into Quark's story about being "Quark, the Giant Killer" - just like the audience. Oh, looks like Odo is all status quo again but that wasn't the job of this story. "The Search" should have dealt with that conundrum a bit better.
One of the few people to work with all the Star Trek crews, I wish Joseph Ruskin had more to do, but his mere presence says more than a thousand lines of dialogue could.
And, as always, the costumes are a feast for the eyes with detail and color.
When Quark does return to the Great Hall, it would have been nice to see what gave him the epiphany or idea to actually follow through as opposed to running away, with that speech that got Gowron to step in to thwart D'Ghor once and for all.
Simply 10/10
Greater little two-parter/season 3 opener!
Nice opening theatrics by Sisko with the Defiant decloaking out of nowhere. But we know he's testing the troops, which Kira - in command - clearly responds nimbly.
I love how the Dominion do what the Borg don't: Analyze and respond immediately. We see how the two Dominion ships (nice purple engine glow BTW) dismiss the sensor blips, but are not fooled as the Defiant is later quickly overtaken by three ships. If only the Borg could adapt as quickly... The Dominion are clearly given a very strong, palpable start.
Sisko gets in one of his best speeches, with Avery Brooks stealing the show in his delivery.
The Jem Hadar seem to be Doctor Who Sontarans but given more backstory and depth, and - typical for Trek vs WHO - the Trek updating of WHO archetypes is given a lot more gravitas and a sense of threat. (e.g. Borg vs Cybermen, Doctor Who's revival (2005-present) has yet to put out a Cyberman story that is anywhere near as effective as any 24th century Borg story...)
The handling of Odo - Starfleet's concern over him is a lot more coherent than its treatment of Picard for "First Contact". I wish Sisko told Kira what he told Odo about fighting for him.
The revelation that the crew were living out a mindwarp at the behest of the Dominion while unconscious was held back fairly well, the viewer really thinking the Federation (with perfectly awkward Admiral being as strong as weak in terms of bending over backward for the Dominion didn't start to raise suspicion until the end... or I didn't notice, but it was weird how the Romulans would be shut out as such - but the timing of the writing felt natural. Even seeing the show out of order again, a lot of these scenes still come across as "shocking developments" - that's how well they're told. Not having seen them in umpteen years possibly helps.) The only other way for the story to end would have been a lot bloodier, since Federation operatives would have had to find a missing ship and important crew.
And the mystery door and why the Founders needed one - oh, they just happen to BE the Dominion... dang. The Gamma quadrant, or an area near and including the wormhole, is clearly under a very strong form of control.
I liked how the Founders, who sent out Odo and the others, explain how Odo felt those sensations. Prior to that, it was bugging me since if any of us went into outer space to a distant planet, we wouldn't feel homesickness pangs as such. (Oh, the Odo/Quark scenes were steeped in angst as a result of Odo's feeling homesick. Maybe Quark subconsciously picked up on that since later episodes, so far, don't address the angrier-than-usual bickering.)
While both parts had some great direction, part 1's overall direction - complete with - dogfight/space scenes - are the most memorable from the story.
One slight detail, typical of 24th century Trek shows, how come the Enterprise and Cardassian sensors pick up cloaking devices since everyone at the console always states "ship decloaking bearing at bleep bloop bleep from the blippity side" so precisely and only after that announcement does she ship begin to decloak. That makes me bleep in abject frustration every time. By the mid-2300s, surely cloaks would be fully able to not be detected until during or after decloaking, not before. (Then again, for this 2-parter, I consider it a subtle bug in mixing different technologies, despite the Romulan engineer already discussing how they could be seen.)
Hmmm, Odo's Constable position seemed to have been forgotten as well, despite a promising start. The story as a whole is so well told that this flies over the viewers' consciousness, but it's forgotten about nonetheless.
And here's another thing - DS9's premiere starts out with Sisko being a glorified turnstile ticket taker. Now he's given a ship - oh, a ship that will tear itself apart if it has to be used so don't use it. Then add in a completely alien technology (no pun intended). Sisko still hasn't been promoted despite ample evidence he's going well above rank time and time again.
And adding in "part 1" at the start only spoils the cliffhanger for viewers. Boo!
As a whole: 8/10 (10/10 pt 1, 7/10 pt 2)
---
The House of Quark
Is this the best Ferengi-themed story or what? Is this the best Klingon-themed story or what? Both cultures' archetypes are used to extreme advantage and effectiveness in what's a great little yarn.
Never enough twists and turns to keep a refreshing storyline even more invigorating. Plenty of great one-liners and dialogue make great plot twists even better, especially when Quark appears in the Great Hall at the end and I don't mean the divorce (which was fantastic in its own merit). That and how Klingons see finance is interesting, made more intriguing thanks to Quark's outsider view to point out the plot.
Great plot with Keiko and Miles as well. One of my favorite TV couples, if not the best. (Mac and Quon Le is another great TV coupling...) I liked how the couple communicated, still trying to honor their vows, but recognizing each other's training (emphasis on Keiko). I've not seen all the O'Brian/Keiko eps yet so if one cheated on the other, please do not tell me about it.
But Mary Kay Adams, if stealing the show is a crime then she's in it for quadruple grand larceny because she is above first rate fantastic as Grilka. The makers could have made a spinoff Trek series for her and her presence would make it last 10 years just by here standing there, growling and/or spitting on people, and doing all the cool assertive stuff.
Odo is quick to not buy into Quark's story about being "Quark, the Giant Killer" - just like the audience. Oh, looks like Odo is all status quo again but that wasn't the job of this story. "The Search" should have dealt with that conundrum a bit better.
One of the few people to work with all the Star Trek crews, I wish Joseph Ruskin had more to do, but his mere presence says more than a thousand lines of dialogue could.
And, as always, the costumes are a feast for the eyes with detail and color.
When Quark does return to the Great Hall, it would have been nice to see what gave him the epiphany or idea to actually follow through as opposed to running away, with that speech that got Gowron to step in to thwart D'Ghor once and for all.
Simply 10/10
