TheGodBen Revisits Deep Space Nine

[Seven of Five]

And I've been posting more since it became a Golden Girls review thread! Don't tell TheGodBen!

I'm sure it has nothing to do with working loads of extra hours from November, and being preoccupied with buying presents for everybody, and having my best friend back in town for a few weeks, and visiting everyone I know in the world ever!

I love the post-Christmas comedown, it's like waking up from a dream.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Rose the Prude (**)

So Rose is the first one to actually play the horizontal tango with someone. That's interesting. And, it's the first time she's done it since she sexed her husband Charlie to death. I guess Rose is part Risian; they're known for jamaharoning people into their graves you know.

Anyway, not much to talk about here. This is mostly just boring and lacking in a lot of good humor. In fact, Sophia only has one really good laugh in the episode. Most of the humor comes from Dorothy this time.

The problem was that I knew exactly how it would end. Of course Rose was going to end sleeping with Arnie (who, if I'm not mistaken, returns later as Miles, Rose's semi-permanent boyfriend). There's not really that much story to speak of. Besides learning a little about Charlie, there's nothing interesting besides Dorothy's sarcastic remarks and Sophia's one good line ("So, did you and Arnie play find the cannoli?")

Rose's Men: 1
Blanche's Men: 2

 

[Seven of Five]

It's always the quieter ones you have to watch out for.

Well, not that Rose was that quiet. I love her strange ramblings about St. Olaf. Quiet in comparison to the other girls!

And I love Sophia, she has such zingy one-liners.

 

[defiantfan]

However Betty White herself is way cool! I like the she portrayed Rose, without her character Sophia wouldn't be as funny and Dorothy wouldn't be as snarky. Let Rose have her moments in the sun. Maybe we will see more of her shine as time moves on!

 

[TheGodBen]

What in the Sam Hill is going on here?! Get off my lawn, you punk kids! Go review the Golden Girls in your own gardens!

I'm sorry to hear that. Feel free to PM me if you need someone to listen.

Thanks for the offer, but I decided long ago not to bring my personal problems onto the forum, that way nobody can get mad at me when I don't take their advice. I call this strategy "learning from Trekker's mistakes".

 

[defiantfan]

What in the Sam Hill is going on here?! Get off my lawn, you punk kids! Go review the Golden Girls in your own gardens!

He's Back! I hope things are getting better for you. The Admiral kept your thread going. If you were you I would say to Shran: "Thank you for being a friend"

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I'm sorry to hear that. Feel free to PM me if you need someone to listen.

Thanks for the offer, but I decided long ago not to bring my personal problems onto the forum, that way nobody can get mad at me when I don't take their advice. I call this strategy "learning from Trekker's mistakes".

Oh...I wouldn't get mad. I know I don't know everything about someone else's life. But I understand how you feel about that.

 

[Seven of Five]

Run for the hills!

Though seriously, hope things are better for you.

 

[Admiral Shran]

What in the Sam Hill is going on here?! Get off my lawn, you punk kids! Go review the Golden Girls in your own gardens!

That's just Old Man Benn folks. Pay him no mind. Once he's done shaking his cane at us, we can proceed.

Seriously though, I also hope things are going well for you TGB.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Transplant (****)

Best episode yet. I loved the way the drama and comedy were intermingled in this one. Blanche's confessions to everyone that she has trouble having to donate a kidney to her hated sister were especially nice. Given the fact that they had a very difficult life together, which they both admit, I can see how she would have trouble coming to terms with having to do something so drastic in order to save her life. In the end, though she makes the right decision and agree to donate the kidney. I also love that she says it's not just for Virginia, but her as well - she wants to have a better relationship with her sister. It would have been easy to have Blanche end up doing it purely out of generosity after she sees the error of her ways and I credit the show for not going that route. It's still clear that Virginia was in the wrong earlier in life, but that they're both going to work on bettering themselves. Very nice.

The episode would, in fact, score even higher if it wasn't for two things. First, the resolution was way too convenient. They find another donor for Virginia and both she and Blanche get to live happily ever after. Given that the explicitly say that Blanche is in a no-win situation here (having to lose either a sister or a kidney), this feels like a cheat. I would rather have had Blanche actually donate the organ. Second, the babysitting sub-plot. It wasn't needed, added very little to humor (in fact, most of humor, oddly, comes from the main plot about Blanche and Virginia) and could have easily been jettisoned. It just feels like padding and we could have used that time to further Blanche's story.

Blanche's Men: 3

 

[Admiral Shran]

The Triangle (***½)

So, there's more to Rose than meets the eye, huh? She's not quite as stupid as she at first appears.

This was a pretty good episode. I love how they added conflict between two of the main characters, even though Dorothy did jump the gun really quickly on not believing Blanche's accusation about her boyfriend. The only problems are that, of course, they would resolve the situation, no matter how much it escalated, by the end of the episode and the speed in which they forgave each other. However, I'm willing to forgive them for that due to the way in which it was resolved - by having Rose expose the boyfriend's lies and philandering.

I'm really liking how they're integrating drama into what is essentially a sit-com. Maybe that's something sit-coms did a lot back in the 80s. Today, most of them are nothing but joke after joke, and usually unfunny ones. This is very well done. The fact that Dorothy's new boyfriend is cheating on her isn't played for laughs, like I'm sure it would be today. Instead, the humor comes from elsewhere in the story.

On that note, we also got our first story from Sophia about Sicily.

Dorothy's Men: 1

 

[Seven of Five]

We need a Quantum Leap crossover.

 

[Admiral Shran]

On Golden Girls (*½)

That is a really strange title.

Blanche's 14 year old grandson (who looks a lot older than fourteen, but so be it) comes to stay with them while his parents try to fix their marriage. They have problems with him when they learn that he's rebellious and undisciplined. This episode has all the makings of a great episode, but it just falls flat.

The biggest problem is that everything is so rushed. This story really deserved to have been a two-parter. Either that or eliminate a lot of the scenes that are really just padding (like Dorothy and Sophia sharing a bedroom and Dorothy's French test) and focus more on the main story. First, we find that David is a troublemaker. Then, we have a scene where he actually causes trouble. Then we find out that he comes from a highly dysfunctional family. Then we learn that Blanche really wants to do right by him because she feels she didn't do a good job raising his mother. Then we have a scene where Dorothy, in the space of one four minute conservation, completely changes the way David looks at the situation and his life. Then David wants to stay with them full-time. Next, Blanche confronts her daughter over the telephone and sets her straight. Finally, David and them all part company having come to fully appreciate each other. See the problem here? That's WAY too much story for a twenty-two minute episode, especially one with other stuff going on.

Another big problem is the way in which they get David to see the error of his ways - they give him chores to do. Sorry, but despite what many people think, including the writers of this episode apparently, simply making someone do work for you doesn't make that person respect you. It certainly doesn't help the situation to slap him, as Sophia does at one point. What's odd is that the writers do appear to understand what is required. Dorothy sits down with David and reasons with him on an equal basis, i.e. she treats him like a rational, intelligent being. Again, that's very rushed, but that's the right thing to do, not simply exchanging one bad situation (neglect) for another (coercion).

So, yeah, this could have been much, much better if they had taken more time to flesh out the all the different story dynamics.

 

[defiantfan]

On Golden Girls (*½)

That is a really strange title.

Finally, David and them all part company having come to fully appreciate each other. See the problem here? That's WAY too much story for a twenty-two minute episode, especially one with other stuff going on.

Another big problem is the way in which they get David to see the error of his ways - they give him chores to do. Sorry, but despite what many people think, including the writers of this episode apparently, simply making someone do work for you doesn't make that person respect you. It certainly doesn't help the situation to slap him, as Sophia does at one point. What's odd is that the writers do appear to understand what is required. Dorothy sits down with David and reasons with him on an equal basis, i.e. she treats him like a rational, intelligent being.

You hit the nail on the head in terms of how television deals with troubled children. The real world is sadly much more complicated. At the very least it shows Dorothy is a strong and smart women, beyond her one-liners.

 

[Admiral Shran]

The Competition (**½)

Not much to talk about with this one. Though some convoluted backstabbing and partner swapping, Dorothy and Blanche team up against Rose and Sophia in a bowling tournament. The winner gets bragging rights, for which there's fierce competition. Also on the line is Sophia's right to travel to Sicily with a former boyfriend.

Nothing really stood out for me this time. About the most noticeable thing was how apparent it was that Dorothy would throw the tournament when she saw how happy Sophia was with her former boyfriend and how Sophia would realize that she did it - seriously, I saw those coming a mile away. The humor is still quite good, but again, nothing really stood out.

So, yeah, the ladies go bowling and throw one-liners at each other. That's about it. When I score an episode, I assume it starts out with 5 points out of ten, or **½. This one did nothing to gain or loss points, so there it is.

Sophia's Men: 1

 

[defiantfan]

Thank you so much for explaining your scoring system. Finally an episode dealing with Sophia's love life.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

...

TheGodBen, please, come back and spare me from this. Please. I'm begging you.

 

[TheGodBen]

Sorry guys, in opposition to SOPA/PIPA I've decided to do a blackout of my reviews.

 

[MrBorg]

Sorry guys, in opposition to SOPA/PIPA I've decided to do a blackout of my reviews.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

CURSE YOU SOPA. Set Phasers to kill.

 

[You_Will_Fail]

Haha, whatever.