Vic Fontaine : Yes or No
- Thread starter Captain Gandalf
- Start date
Kinda liked Vic. He was a nice contrast with the gloom events of the war, and I think I disagree with a lot of people about Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang. The whole "setting up a plan to rob the casino" reeked SO MUCH like a RPG group trying to have a nice plan, and having the GM throwing challenges and problems at them, so they would have to improvise...
It's, like, EXACTLY what being in a Holodeck adventure would feel like. It's shouldn't be about following a script, but thinking your way trough challenges.
It's, like, EXACTLY what being in a Holodeck adventure would feel like. It's shouldn't be about following a script, but thinking your way trough challenges.
Kinda liked Vic. He was a nice contrast with the gloom events of the war, and I think I disagree with a lot of people about Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang. The whole "setting up a plan to rob the casino" reeked SO MUCH like a RPG group trying to have a nice plan, and having the GM throwing challenges and problems at them, so they would have to improvise...
It's, like, EXACTLY what being in a Holodeck adventure would feel like. It's shouldn't be about following a script, but thinking your way trough challenges.
It's, like, EXACTLY what being in a Holodeck adventure would feel like. It's shouldn't be about following a script, but thinking your way trough challenges.
i like the character, gives a nice change every so often, just watched the last episode on virgin 1 and he turned up again, but i like him 
Agreed he was something of an indulgence for ISB, but who can blame him? Besides, "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang", was basically a spoof of "Ocean's 11", in the same way the show had done movie spoofs before (ie Bond).
I loved Vic, and James Darren played him perfectly.
I loved Vic, and James Darren played him perfectly.
Gotta love Vic!
I hope no one minds me reviving this fairly old thread, but I just saw "His Way" for the first time and wanted to chime in with my two cents on this character and episode. I absolutely loved both. I don't know if he just naturally sounds like that, but I dig the way James Darren nailed that whole pseudo-Italian mafia voice that made him sound like Paul Sorvino in Goodfellas (or Alan Arkin in anything ), but friendlier. I interpret the character as the latest evolution in sentient holodeck beings after Moriarty and the 'Holodoctor'.
I thought it was adorable how he contacted Odo over the comm system, pleading for his advice to be considered. It seemed so weird and wonderful to see a holodeck character talking to someone in the real world that way. I realized later that Moriarty had done the same thing on TNG, but the scene still felt fresh because this was the first time I've ever seen such a character do that out of concern. Even more original and delightful was his interrupting Kira's meditation. Her "wtf?" reaction and his casualness about being there were so funny. It seems the writers were playing a little loose with the holodeck rules, but with the results being so fun, I didn't mind.
Vic's such a sweet guy, sort of a 'holodeck Cupid' and I thought "His Way" was a perfect follow-up to "In the Pale Moonlight", lightening the show's tone with a romantic, comedic, and uplifting episode just when the show needed it most. It was also very surreal hearing so much jazzy music on a Star Trek episode...I might have forgotten I was watching Star Trek if not for the various establishing shots of the space station. It probably felt less like Star Trek than any episode of any of the series I've seen, and yet my initial reaction is to think of it as one of the best Star Trek episodes ever. I didn't think I'd find another episode I could call one of my favourites in DS9 so late into the show's run, but this one was that entertaining and emotionally satisfying.
Adding to my metaphors for Fontaine, I think I could also call him sort of 'reverse Q', because while Q generally just stirs up trouble and pisses everyone off, Fontaine seemed to bring out the best, most likable qualities in some of the crewmembers. Him inspiring Odo to quietly sing (which then infectiously spreads to Sisko in one of the cutest DS9 scenes I've had the pleasure of witnessing) and getting Kira to say, "that's a pretty song" in response to "I've Got You Under My Skin" was awesome. It was so cool to see someone react to that song like they'd never heard if before, even though at that point it would be hundreds of years old! I guess they didn't listen to a lot of classic American music in the Bajoran resistance.
As I head into season 7, I'm a little worried over the comments about Vic later being overused and getting a little irritating, but it's going to take a lot for me to ever turn on the character after how marvellously charming he was in his first appearance. I can't believe the series could introduce a new character so late in its run and instead of it seeming tacked on and unnecessary (as is the case when shows do things like have a new baby born in a later season), actually come across as original and an instantly perfect addition to the cast that plays off and enhances the other characters beautifully. In my mind, this officially makes Bashir pass Q and Barclay as "character who came up with the best and most creative way of using the holodeck". On top of everything else Vic does in the episode, one of his greatest accomplishments was making me like Odo for once! That's how I know that he's a really special character...he made me actually root for a character I couldn't stand for six seasons!
I just hope the way Vic is handled in season 7 doesn't destroy all this goodwill I've now built up towards him.
P.S. In case you were wondering, I think that qualifies as a "yes" to the poll question.
), but friendlier. I interpret the character as the latest evolution in sentient holodeck beings after Moriarty and the 'Holodoctor'. I thought it was adorable how he contacted Odo over the comm system, pleading for his advice to be considered. It seemed so weird and wonderful to see a holodeck character talking to someone in the real world that way. I realized later that Moriarty had done the same thing on TNG, but the scene still felt fresh because this was the first time I've ever seen such a character do that out of concern. Even more original and delightful was his interrupting Kira's meditation. Her "wtf?" reaction and his casualness about being there were so funny. It seems the writers were playing a little loose with the holodeck rules, but with the results being so fun, I didn't mind.
Vic's such a sweet guy, sort of a 'holodeck Cupid' and I thought "His Way" was a perfect follow-up to "In the Pale Moonlight", lightening the show's tone with a romantic, comedic, and uplifting episode just when the show needed it most. It was also very surreal hearing so much jazzy music on a Star Trek episode...I might have forgotten I was watching Star Trek if not for the various establishing shots of the space station. It probably felt less like Star Trek than any episode of any of the series I've seen, and yet my initial reaction is to think of it as one of the best Star Trek episodes ever. I didn't think I'd find another episode I could call one of my favourites in DS9 so late into the show's run, but this one was that entertaining and emotionally satisfying.
Adding to my metaphors for Fontaine, I think I could also call him sort of 'reverse Q', because while Q generally just stirs up trouble and pisses everyone off, Fontaine seemed to bring out the best, most likable qualities in some of the crewmembers. Him inspiring Odo to quietly sing (which then infectiously spreads to Sisko in one of the cutest DS9 scenes I've had the pleasure of witnessing) and getting Kira to say, "that's a pretty song" in response to "I've Got You Under My Skin" was awesome. It was so cool to see someone react to that song like they'd never heard if before, even though at that point it would be hundreds of years old! I guess they didn't listen to a lot of classic American music in the Bajoran resistance.
As I head into season 7, I'm a little worried over the comments about Vic later being overused and getting a little irritating, but it's going to take a lot for me to ever turn on the character after how marvellously charming he was in his first appearance. I can't believe the series could introduce a new character so late in its run and instead of it seeming tacked on and unnecessary (as is the case when shows do things like have a new baby born in a later season), actually come across as original and an instantly perfect addition to the cast that plays off and enhances the other characters beautifully. In my mind, this officially makes Bashir pass Q and Barclay as "character who came up with the best and most creative way of using the holodeck". On top of everything else Vic does in the episode, one of his greatest accomplishments was making me like Odo for once! That's how I know that he's a really special character...he made me actually root for a character I couldn't stand for six seasons!
I just hope the way Vic is handled in season 7 doesn't destroy all this goodwill I've now built up towards him.P.S. In case you were wondering, I think that qualifies as a "yes" to the poll question.
I found Vic, and episodes like 'Take Me Out To The Holosuite' (Trek has an audience outside the States!), quite self-indulgent on the part of Ira Steven Behr, actually.
However, 'It's Only A Paper Moon' was a good ep.
However, 'It's Only A Paper Moon' was a good ep.
What the heck was up with that human Vic Fontaine in 'Emperor's New Cloak' though? That was very weird, to say the least. Maybe the Vic hologram was based on a real crooner in the Fifties, and that Terran resistance member was a descendant? It's a stretch, but how else do you explain that sheer weirdness?
I don't see how that could work, at least with relation to the way the character was introduced in "His Way" (unless he becomes different later), because he seems to have been conceived as a friendly, outgoing, well-adjusted, and optimistic person.
With their troubled, self-destructive personalities, Morrison and Cobain don't exactly fit the profile of someone who seems to have been conceived as a character in the tradition of a 'guardian angel' or 'love doctor' archetype. As far as other musicians whose personalities would allow them to perform Vic's function rather naturally, I think more logical choices would be guys like Elvis or Bruce Springsteen, who actually did play these roles (with Val Kilmer as Elvis and Bruce as himself) in "True Romance" and "High Fidelity", repsectively.
As has been stated in other threads, it's a common courtesy to throw in an appropriate smilie when being saracastic, for the benefit of those of us with broken sarcasm detectors.
As to the original question
Oh no.
Not at all.
I don't really dig that kinda music daddyo ....
But not just that.
I also don't care about a non-sentient computer program when there are real people about.
(If for some reason he has been declared sentient and I missed it ... apologies ...... but I still don't like him anyway)
Oh no.
Not at all.
I don't really dig that kinda music daddyo ....
But not just that.
I also don't care about a non-sentient computer program when there are real people about.
(If for some reason he has been declared sentient and I missed it ... apologies ...... but I still don't like him anyway
)
