TheGodBen Revisits Deep Space Nine

[R. Star]

Take Me Out to the Holosuite was one of my favorite episodes. After all the serious episodes, it provided a breath of fresh air, and I'll blatantly admit I'm a huge baseball fan, and as much as Sisko has raved over baseball the past six seasons, we needed at least one episode for continuity's sake.

Chrysalis, well.... when you can sum up the episode with Bashir gets lonely/horny and seduces his emotionally vulnerable female patient, the episode has a creepy level all over it. At least Bashir realized how creepy he was being too by the end. You kind of feel sorry for Sarina at the end of it all. She's grateful, but creeped out which makes perfect sense given how isolated she's been her whole life. For some reason I did like the antics of the Jack Pack singing too. Otherwise an average episode at best, with an interesting take on the dead horse romance of the week.

 

[Sykonee]

Accordion Haddaway is far creepier than any vibe I got from Bashir. Plus, having that "Start Again" dude looking at me over and over, it's like I'm in carnival that ain't quite right.

 

[callea]

Here's one more person who found Julian super creepy in Chrysalis. The ep does try to acknowledge the creepiness, by having it drive Sarina back into herself. That helps a bit, but the ending doesn't quite seem to recognize the extent of the wrongness. Sarina may be intellectually advanced, but she was socially and emotionally disabled. So it comes off as a doctor taking advantage of a mentally challenged women because he's lonely.

Also putting it together with other actions of Julian's paints him in a very bad light. He seems quite a creeper when you combine his actions in Chrysalis with also stepping over the dr/patient line in Melora and his later willingness to use medial test results as an excuse to get Ezri to come talk to him. Any one of those I'm ok with, but all 3 indicate a pattern of ignoring medical ethics to pick up women. I really like Julian aside from those things, so I choose to erase Melora and Chrysalis from memory to maintain my teenage fan girl crush.

Aside from the creep factor, the major nit I have to pick with Chrysalis is that the first time around with the Jack Pack, Sarina was in love with Jack. But this episode just forgets that. I think exploring the reasons why a relationship between Sarina and Jack wouldn't have worked and seeing more of how Sarina no longer fit in with her friends would have been more interesting that what we got.

For Julian's part, I don't think romantic interest in Sarina was necessary. He could have learned a more valuable lesson if his interest in her was strictly medical. Julian's main flaw is his arrogance and tendency to miss the trees for the forest. I'd prefer if he'd have been pushing Sarina to fit into the world as a result of his desire for medical success and proving that, with the right treatment, more genetically engineered can fit into society.

The pressure from Bashir to be normal without any understanding of normalcy and no longer fitting in with her own "normal" could have what drove Sarina back to her comfort zone. So Bashir's lesson would have been not to forget about the person behind the treatment instead of the one he learned, which is basically "don't be a creeper".

 

[flemm]

Also putting it together with other actions of Julian's paints him in a very bad light.

It seems like a problem that Bashir might plausibly have, though. Or at least a bad tendency. He's very gifted, but he's also rather insecure, or at least he was often portrayed that way (some of this was muddied a bit by the genetic engineering retcon).

Having said that, I honestly can't say much about this episode because I don't think I've ever re-watched it. And my first impression, back whenever that was, didn't really stay with me.

 

[TheGodBen]

I agree that Bashir was creepy in Chrysalis, but Bashir has always been a bit creepy when it comes to women. His obsession with Jadzia back in season 1 was bordering on harassment, his relationship with Melora was inappropriate, and his relationship with Leeta was so horrifying that they had to have it entirely off-screen. Face it, Bashir was a creep with women, that's why his main relationship on the show was with a man.

Accordion Haddaway is far creepier than any vibe I got from Bashir.

It's amazing what you can find if you're willing to go to the uncharted areas of YouTube. But I must commend the accordionist, he played it with gusto.


Treachery, Faith, and the Great River (****½)

Much like Garak, Weyoun is a character that improves an episode just by being in it, so an episode with two Weyouns is automatically a winner. On the surface, the episode's plot isn't all that original, it's about two people fleeing in a runabout which is the sort of stuff we've seen many times before. What makes this episode a classic is the interaction between Odo and Weyoun-6 which allows us to see a new angle on the Weyoun characters, the Vorta species, and the Dominion as a whole. Weyoun-6 may be defective, but he's still very clearly a Weyoun, perhaps with a smidgen of a conscience. Through Weyoun-6 we get to understand the true evil of the Founders, who turned a race of friendly forest-dwellers into a twisted corps of blindly loyal bureaucrats.

On Cardassia, and Damar's relationship with Weyoun-7 appears to be even less trusting and more acrimonious than the one he had with Weyoun-5, which is a delight for us viewers. The seeds of Damar's rebellion were planted long ago, but in this episode we can see the shoots appearing from under the surface. The suspicions the characters have toward one another, Damar's concern for the Cardassians that have died in the war so far, and his increasing habit of drinking at work are all clear indicators of where things are going. In the middle of all this, Dead Fish shows up and we get the revelation that the Founders are dying of an unknown illness. There's no indication of Section 31's involvement yet, but the writers are clearly planning ahead somewhat with this development.

Meanwhile, Nog steals Sisko's desk. The B-plot to this episode may be a retread of the B-plot from Progress, but it's such a delightful little story that I don't mind. They key difference is that before Nog was navigating the Great Material Continuum for profit, but now he's using his Ferengi business skills to his advantage as a Starfleet officer. It's a nice way to bring together Nog's roots with where he is right now, and there are a few great gags in the story as well.



That's it for me this year as I'll be taking a break from DS9 over Christmas. I hope you all enjoy whatever holiday you celebrate, and if you don't celebrate any then I hope you have a pleasant uneventful week.

 

[flemm]

That's it for me this year as I'll be taking a break from DS9 over Christmas. I hope you all enjoy whatever holiday you celebrate, and if you don't celebrate any then I hope you have a pleasant uneventful week.

Happy holidays (or lack thereof )!

Treachery, Faith and the Great River is a classic, definitely. Along with Chimera and Inter Arma, the best of the season prior to the final arc, I believe.

 

[Seven of Five]

Yeah, brilliant episode, and all that shit. Just glad to have finished work now for three days.

Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy whatever you're doing.

 

[Avon]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk_XaJ7gE4Q[/yt]

merry christmas

 

[callea]

There are 2 different types of creepy. One is when somebody makes you stop and go "errr…. I don't know about this person". This is usually when someone does something socially awkward -- like try to escort someone home even after they've declined. The other kind of creepy makes your skin crawl, because the act itself makes the person seem repulsive.

Let me give you an example. After a date once, a guy asked me if I was going to "run away from him". Creepy thing to say, but creepy in the 1st degree, not second. When you're hit on by a married guy, that's the 2nd type of creepy.

At first glance, Chrysalis seems in character for Julian. But Julian is the first type of creepy not the second.

Season 1 Julian was face palm embarrassing and socially awkward but no worse than many young, nerdy guys I've met. With Melora, it was inappropriate but excusable, because Julian was young, naive, and socially awkward. Also, Melora was a fully mature adult.

With Sarina, it feels more predatory. Julian should know better, especially since he's grown up quite a bit since Melora. A doctor abusing his authority without considering the welfare of his patient who couldn't possibly be emotionally equipped to handle his advances is on a different level than a naive act by someone who is socially awkward.

I think Chrysalis is out of character for Julian. I don't even think early season Julian would do what he did here. But if he did, he would at least learn a lesson about not violating medical ethics. But we know he doesn't, because later he skirts the boundary to get Ezri to talk to him. And the fact he didn't learn the lesson after Chrysalis makes that relatively innocent act seem creepily predatory as well.

Side note: I don't think the writers actually realized that they made Julian creepy.

Merry Christmas!

 

[TheRoyalFamily]

Influenced by a certain review in your Enterprise thread, I did this:

Spoiler:

Merry Christmas

 

[TheGodBen]

[yt]v=Xk_XaJ7gE4Q[/yt]
merry christmas

All those times I trolled Youtube searching for bizarre versions of What is Love, and I didn't find this masterpiece? It makes me feel bad that this is the last romance of the week episode.

Influenced by a certain review in your Enterprise thread, I did this:

Spoiler:

Merry Christmas

Wow! I think there's real potential in the premise of Star Trek: Destroyager, someone should do a fanfic.

 

[apenpaap]

merry christmas

All those times I trolled Youtube searching for bizarre versions of What is Love, and I didn't find this masterpiece? It makes me feel bad that this is the last romance of the week episode.

Review TOS or TNG next if you want to see more romance of the week.

 

[TheRoyalFamily]

Wow! I think there's real potential in the premise of Star Trek: Destroyager, someone should do a fanfic.

It would have all the best parts of MU Trek: Captain's Wenches, and Lesbians!

...Oh wait, the captain is Janeway.

 

[TheGodBen]

Review TOS or TNG next if you want to see more romance of the week.

I was considering doing TNG next, but with an offer like that, I think I'll pass.

It would have all the best parts of MU Trek: Captain's Wenches, and Lesbians!

...Oh wait, the captain is Janeway.

Is μChakotay μJaneway's wench? Because I can imagine him wearing nothing but leather straps and with a ball-gag in his mouth, and I get the feeling that a lot of Voyager fans have already fantasised about that scenario.

 

[R. Star]

Is μChakotay μJaneway's wench? Because I can imagine him wearing nothing but leather straps and with a ball-gag in his mouth, and I get the feeling that a lot of Voyager fans have already fantasised about that scenario.

My theory is Janeway had him castrated after Caretaker. He was looking like he was going to be a dominant and interesting character on that episode alone. Boy did they trick us there.

 

[apenpaap]

Review TOS or TNG next if you want to see more romance of the week.

I was considering doing TNG next, but with an offer like that, I think I'll pass.

Oh, don't worry, there's one or two of them that are actually somewhat good. If you do review it, you should count romances of the week. Along with Troi stating the bleeding obvious, Riker coming off as a sexual predator, Picard's speeches, and Worf getting beaten with ease by the alien of the week.

 

[Minuet]

Are you alive? Were you killed by a disgruntled shopping mall Santa Claus?

 

[Seven of Five]

He's fine. TheGodBen is Irish, and so celebrated Christmas and the New Year in a suitably drunk fashion.

Should be awake for Easter.

Next year.

 

[TheGodBen]

He's fine. TheGodBen is Irish, and so celebrated Christmas and the New Year in a suitably drunk fashion.

Should be awake for Easter.

Next year.

Hey now, we Irish break our drunken hibernation for St Patrick's Day. It's a holy day, after all.

Actually, the reason why I haven't gotten back to DS9 yet is because I'm watching Archer, which is awesome. There are so many references that I now get that I didn't before. I finally understand why other posters here refer to Captain Archer as Duchess, I thought it was because he was fussy and couldn't fight for shit.

Anyway, I'm almost finished Archer (and just in time for the new season to start) so I should be back to DS9 this week or next.

 

[Ln X]

Actually, the reason why I haven't gotten back to DS9 yet is because I'm watching Archer, which is awesome. There are so many references that I now get that I didn't before. I finally understand why other posters here refer to Captain Archer as Duchess, I thought it was because he was fussy and couldn't fight for shit.

Anyway, I'm almost finished Archer (and just in time for the new season to start) so I should be back to DS9 this week or next.

So you're watching ENT right?