shallowness (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shallowness) wrote2015-02-18 06:28 pm
shallowness) wrote2015-02-18 06:28 pm
Deep Space Nine - discs 5 and 6 and an overview
This post has been (too) long in the making! First, as part of halfamoon, I asked for Kira-centric recs and got two treasure troves of answers here.
The Forsaken
A good episode, minor quibbles about the depiction of the moaning Federation Ambassadors aside – one of them an ageist Vulcan. After all, if they were so awful, why send them to represent the Federation in the Gamma Quadrant? They’d make a terrible first impression.
I could have done without O’Brien’s extended dog metaphor too, although I suppose that he parallels between the probe seeking attention and Lwaxana going after Odo worked, not to mention the meta of referencing the computer’ voice/changing personality when Majel Barrett was guest starring.
I definitely remembered the big moment between Odo and Lwaxana, (i.e. where she carries him in liquid form in her skirt) whereas I can’t say I remember other specific moments from this first season. Her pursuit of him was played for laughs, but she’s basically being a sex pest. I know Barrett plays her charmingly, but imagine a Betazed male paying unwanted attentions to an Odette...
Anyway, as they were trapped in a lift because of the other plot, Odo was forced to reveal more of his past than we’d heard before and found more to Lwaxana that the surface brashness. I had been thinking about how she and The Hunger Game’s Effie should go shopping together – or not. When she whipped off the (Dollyesque) wig she looked so much like daughter Deanna.
And the details of Odo’s sad upbringing explained so much about him as we know him. Plus his forceful lawman at the beginning was fab.
Dramatis Personnae
The weakest of these last four episodes. Perhaps because I’ve watched the first season in such a concentrated block, but it struck me that they were in danger of overusing the device of Odo and Quark/Ferengis, as non-humanoids, being able to withstand what everyone else is susceptible to.
Kira is worried about a gunrunners coming through the station on their way to do what will probably be nefarious business with the Cardassians, as they did when Bajor was occupied. Then a Klingon ship returns early through the wormhole and explodes. One survivor is transported, but quickly dies. Almost immediately, Dax starts strangely (again, why do they always make her girlish and soft?)
The most disturbing image of this episode was when Odo’s head sort of explodes and he seems to pass out. Anyway, all of the other officers are now acting weirdly, with the question of what to do with these Dalerians leading to a split between the Federationites and the Bajorans. Kira is basically plotting to overthrow Sisko over it, with Visitor having fun with her character’s attempt to seduce possible allies (she’s more successful with this dippy version of Dax than in-his-right-mind Odo) and we get to hear Brooks’s purr as Sisko becomes a little all over the place. They pushed this episode tonally – another memorable image was Quark in a futuristic neck brace.
But surely they’d have all died (except Odo) when he threw the telepathic energy matrix (oh yes) out into space?
In hindsight, of course, this is a dry run for some of the tension in ‘In the Hands of the Prophets’ but although it plays on genuine grievances and causes for tension, it’s not really coming from the characters and they’re not being themselves, which takes away from its power.
Duel
This episode takes a step up in terms of material, but has a few blind spots and suffers because of a lack of some build-up. Watching it a few days after the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the parallels that were always there had fresh resonance.
A Cardassian suffering from a disease that places him at a notorious labour camp during the Occupation arrives at DS9. Kira claims he has committed war crimes, Sisko insists that due process takes place. It becomes apparent this chap’s a lying liar, pressing Kira’s buttons in a series of encounters – for she passionately argues for the right to investigate him on behalf of the dead Bajorans. Mostly, she controls herself, but Odo raises all manner of questions about the case she’s building, and the answers they find make Kira realise she doesn’t want what she thought she did. Truth and justice are knottier than she thought.
It’s an interesting battle of wills. Quentin Travers (or rather the actor who played him on Buffy) plays a character playing a part well. Kira is struggling with herself, her people’s awful past and the demands of working with the Federation, with the extremes of the situation bringing out tensions we’ve already seen in past episodes (from Emissary to Battle Lines to Progress, and Dramatis Personae if we’re counting episodes that hit the reset button).The ending is neat – I would have preferred it if we’d come across the Bajoran assassin before (whereas I welcomed seeing O’Brian’s assistant again here).
The real blind spot, for me, is the lack of Garak. You know, the Cardassian they’ve established as living and working on the station. Even if he couldn’t have been brought in as part of the case, he’d be a focal point for the anti-Cardassian feeling on the station as all this happened, no? We do get Gul Dukat talking onscreen to Sisko and Odo, both interesting conversations. We learn a little more about the Cardassians, and that there are more to them than the military.
It’s worth noting that the Dax-Kira friendship that’s been bubbling under throughout this season takes a real step forward, as they talk about something important here.
It’s the elements that tie into the larger story that resonate the most. Kira refers to Sisko calling her his friend and promising to him that she’ll act as befits his commanding officer, and she really tries to do so, although the Bajorans she liberated and the dead ones she couldn’t are on her mind too. (And that set off an interesting train of thought, she’s the only woman first officer since Number One – of course, T’Pol would come later/earlier.) So, while I felt the show could go further and better, it’s ready to face up to dealing with such topics as crimes against humanity. It’s well-meaning, and the duel of the title was gripping, up to a point.
In the Hands of the Prophets
My response was ‘this is more like it’ with this episode – definitely the best of the whole season. Of course, when I watched it, I didn’t realise that it was the closer for the season (I had also failed to realise that disc 6 is just extras.)
Seven episodes after Kai Opaka left the stage (and, granted, in those episodes, they did show the growing trust between Sisko and Kira and properly introduced O’Brien’s Bajoran assistant Neela), we turn to the struggle to fill the Kai-shaped gap in Bajor.
It starts off as a battle between faith and science, as Vedek Winn (she of the Sydney Opera House shaped hat) turns up on the station to take softly spoken offence at the way Keiko teaches about the wormhole at the station’s school. Suddenly, all the Bajoran pupils are taken out of school. (It was really obvious that they didn’t have the money for Nog, so let’s just pretend that he hasn’t yet returned to school since ‘Nagus’.)
Worrying about the threat this poses to the Federation’s position on DS9 and what that would mean for Bajor, Sisko turns to Vedek Bareil, seen as a stronger candidate to be the next Kai and more understanding than the conservative Winn. And then boom! (Kai Winn sorrowfully telling Sisko that there would be consequences to disrespecting the prophets had a different resonance now, I think). Bareil (aka the hot Vedek) sows the seeds of doubt in Sisko’s mind about Winn’s motivations. He had put her down as being motivated by her beliefs. Eventually, even Kira, who had her own reasons for wanting to believe that Winn was what she seemed to be, one of the faithful like Opaka, joins in with his doubts and they, at least, have a strong suspicion, which the viewer knows is right, that Winn was using Neela as a weapon to get rid of her chief rival by fermenting trouble.
The episode goes darker and deeper than the show has often done, with the look at the O’Brien’s marriage, Sisko defending the Bajorans’ faith to Jake and delving properly into how fractious things really are on the station with Bajorans ready to turn against the Federation/Starfleet, and the officers and civilians then lose their patience with them. It’s a genuine antagonism (unlike the playing at it found in Dramatis Personae, although that episode, like Duel and all those where Kira expressed her frustrations with the Federation/Starfleet way of doing things have been building up to this).
I didn’t love Sisko and Bareil’s conversation as reasonable men talking together, while Winn is crazy, but it’s redeemed by the quiet close up of Sisko and Kira talking at the end. So, this closing episode introduces Winn’s consummate politician, pretending to be a spiritual leader, to the show, along with Bareil. Fittingly, Quark and Odo get a moment (though both Quark and Bashir are barely in this episode.)
Among the featurettes – some of which date from the time the first season was created and some from a decade later – there’s confirmation that this show intentionally took on a different Western vibe to the Original Series and The Next Generation one (and every other Star Trek show). I learned that apparently alien ladies always have to be pretty (no, sir, they really don’t.) There were also Easter eggs, which was rather quaint.
I was perhaps a little disappointed that for most of this first series, the show hadn’t stepped out of the shadow of The Next Generation, which may not be fair, coming to it after it has been established as its own thing. I think one can also accuse it of not always being confident enough to delve as deeply as it could into the grittier, darker elements set up from the off. Furthermore, watching it in a more concentrated way than it would be when it aired weekly, formulaic tendencies, like wacky Jake and Nog shenanigans jumped out at me.
But I love Odo and Quark’s push and pull and Major Kira Nerys and all her passions. I want to see more of Jadzia Dax and of Sisko the leader, juggling his responsibilities as Commander, to the Bajorans, Emissary or no, and to his normal, likeable son. I want more Bajorans and to find out more about the Cardassians. I want it to be more consistently as good as I remember, braver, darker and following up the ramifications of what happens.
My favourite episodes were In the Hands of the Prophets, Emissary, Vortex and The Forsaken. The Storyteller was easily my least favourite. I have the second season on DVD, so it may not be too long before I'm rewatching that.
The Forsaken
A good episode, minor quibbles about the depiction of the moaning Federation Ambassadors aside – one of them an ageist Vulcan. After all, if they were so awful, why send them to represent the Federation in the Gamma Quadrant? They’d make a terrible first impression.
I could have done without O’Brien’s extended dog metaphor too, although I suppose that he parallels between the probe seeking attention and Lwaxana going after Odo worked, not to mention the meta of referencing the computer’ voice/changing personality when Majel Barrett was guest starring.
I definitely remembered the big moment between Odo and Lwaxana, (i.e. where she carries him in liquid form in her skirt) whereas I can’t say I remember other specific moments from this first season. Her pursuit of him was played for laughs, but she’s basically being a sex pest. I know Barrett plays her charmingly, but imagine a Betazed male paying unwanted attentions to an Odette...
Anyway, as they were trapped in a lift because of the other plot, Odo was forced to reveal more of his past than we’d heard before and found more to Lwaxana that the surface brashness. I had been thinking about how she and The Hunger Game’s Effie should go shopping together – or not. When she whipped off the (Dollyesque) wig she looked so much like daughter Deanna.
And the details of Odo’s sad upbringing explained so much about him as we know him. Plus his forceful lawman at the beginning was fab.
Dramatis Personnae
The weakest of these last four episodes. Perhaps because I’ve watched the first season in such a concentrated block, but it struck me that they were in danger of overusing the device of Odo and Quark/Ferengis, as non-humanoids, being able to withstand what everyone else is susceptible to.
Kira is worried about a gunrunners coming through the station on their way to do what will probably be nefarious business with the Cardassians, as they did when Bajor was occupied. Then a Klingon ship returns early through the wormhole and explodes. One survivor is transported, but quickly dies. Almost immediately, Dax starts strangely (again, why do they always make her girlish and soft?)
The most disturbing image of this episode was when Odo’s head sort of explodes and he seems to pass out. Anyway, all of the other officers are now acting weirdly, with the question of what to do with these Dalerians leading to a split between the Federationites and the Bajorans. Kira is basically plotting to overthrow Sisko over it, with Visitor having fun with her character’s attempt to seduce possible allies (she’s more successful with this dippy version of Dax than in-his-right-mind Odo) and we get to hear Brooks’s purr as Sisko becomes a little all over the place. They pushed this episode tonally – another memorable image was Quark in a futuristic neck brace.
But surely they’d have all died (except Odo) when he threw the telepathic energy matrix (oh yes) out into space?
In hindsight, of course, this is a dry run for some of the tension in ‘In the Hands of the Prophets’ but although it plays on genuine grievances and causes for tension, it’s not really coming from the characters and they’re not being themselves, which takes away from its power.
Duel
This episode takes a step up in terms of material, but has a few blind spots and suffers because of a lack of some build-up. Watching it a few days after the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the parallels that were always there had fresh resonance.
A Cardassian suffering from a disease that places him at a notorious labour camp during the Occupation arrives at DS9. Kira claims he has committed war crimes, Sisko insists that due process takes place. It becomes apparent this chap’s a lying liar, pressing Kira’s buttons in a series of encounters – for she passionately argues for the right to investigate him on behalf of the dead Bajorans. Mostly, she controls herself, but Odo raises all manner of questions about the case she’s building, and the answers they find make Kira realise she doesn’t want what she thought she did. Truth and justice are knottier than she thought.
It’s an interesting battle of wills. Quentin Travers (or rather the actor who played him on Buffy) plays a character playing a part well. Kira is struggling with herself, her people’s awful past and the demands of working with the Federation, with the extremes of the situation bringing out tensions we’ve already seen in past episodes (from Emissary to Battle Lines to Progress, and Dramatis Personae if we’re counting episodes that hit the reset button).The ending is neat – I would have preferred it if we’d come across the Bajoran assassin before (whereas I welcomed seeing O’Brian’s assistant again here).
The real blind spot, for me, is the lack of Garak. You know, the Cardassian they’ve established as living and working on the station. Even if he couldn’t have been brought in as part of the case, he’d be a focal point for the anti-Cardassian feeling on the station as all this happened, no? We do get Gul Dukat talking onscreen to Sisko and Odo, both interesting conversations. We learn a little more about the Cardassians, and that there are more to them than the military.
It’s worth noting that the Dax-Kira friendship that’s been bubbling under throughout this season takes a real step forward, as they talk about something important here.
It’s the elements that tie into the larger story that resonate the most. Kira refers to Sisko calling her his friend and promising to him that she’ll act as befits his commanding officer, and she really tries to do so, although the Bajorans she liberated and the dead ones she couldn’t are on her mind too. (And that set off an interesting train of thought, she’s the only woman first officer since Number One – of course, T’Pol would come later/earlier.) So, while I felt the show could go further and better, it’s ready to face up to dealing with such topics as crimes against humanity. It’s well-meaning, and the duel of the title was gripping, up to a point.
In the Hands of the Prophets
My response was ‘this is more like it’ with this episode – definitely the best of the whole season. Of course, when I watched it, I didn’t realise that it was the closer for the season (I had also failed to realise that disc 6 is just extras.)
Seven episodes after Kai Opaka left the stage (and, granted, in those episodes, they did show the growing trust between Sisko and Kira and properly introduced O’Brien’s Bajoran assistant Neela), we turn to the struggle to fill the Kai-shaped gap in Bajor.
It starts off as a battle between faith and science, as Vedek Winn (she of the Sydney Opera House shaped hat) turns up on the station to take softly spoken offence at the way Keiko teaches about the wormhole at the station’s school. Suddenly, all the Bajoran pupils are taken out of school. (It was really obvious that they didn’t have the money for Nog, so let’s just pretend that he hasn’t yet returned to school since ‘Nagus’.)
Worrying about the threat this poses to the Federation’s position on DS9 and what that would mean for Bajor, Sisko turns to Vedek Bareil, seen as a stronger candidate to be the next Kai and more understanding than the conservative Winn. And then boom! (Kai Winn sorrowfully telling Sisko that there would be consequences to disrespecting the prophets had a different resonance now, I think). Bareil (aka the hot Vedek) sows the seeds of doubt in Sisko’s mind about Winn’s motivations. He had put her down as being motivated by her beliefs. Eventually, even Kira, who had her own reasons for wanting to believe that Winn was what she seemed to be, one of the faithful like Opaka, joins in with his doubts and they, at least, have a strong suspicion, which the viewer knows is right, that Winn was using Neela as a weapon to get rid of her chief rival by fermenting trouble.
The episode goes darker and deeper than the show has often done, with the look at the O’Brien’s marriage, Sisko defending the Bajorans’ faith to Jake and delving properly into how fractious things really are on the station with Bajorans ready to turn against the Federation/Starfleet, and the officers and civilians then lose their patience with them. It’s a genuine antagonism (unlike the playing at it found in Dramatis Personae, although that episode, like Duel and all those where Kira expressed her frustrations with the Federation/Starfleet way of doing things have been building up to this).
I didn’t love Sisko and Bareil’s conversation as reasonable men talking together, while Winn is crazy, but it’s redeemed by the quiet close up of Sisko and Kira talking at the end. So, this closing episode introduces Winn’s consummate politician, pretending to be a spiritual leader, to the show, along with Bareil. Fittingly, Quark and Odo get a moment (though both Quark and Bashir are barely in this episode.)
Among the featurettes – some of which date from the time the first season was created and some from a decade later – there’s confirmation that this show intentionally took on a different Western vibe to the Original Series and The Next Generation one (and every other Star Trek show). I learned that apparently alien ladies always have to be pretty (no, sir, they really don’t.) There were also Easter eggs, which was rather quaint.
I was perhaps a little disappointed that for most of this first series, the show hadn’t stepped out of the shadow of The Next Generation, which may not be fair, coming to it after it has been established as its own thing. I think one can also accuse it of not always being confident enough to delve as deeply as it could into the grittier, darker elements set up from the off. Furthermore, watching it in a more concentrated way than it would be when it aired weekly, formulaic tendencies, like wacky Jake and Nog shenanigans jumped out at me.
But I love Odo and Quark’s push and pull and Major Kira Nerys and all her passions. I want to see more of Jadzia Dax and of Sisko the leader, juggling his responsibilities as Commander, to the Bajorans, Emissary or no, and to his normal, likeable son. I want more Bajorans and to find out more about the Cardassians. I want it to be more consistently as good as I remember, braver, darker and following up the ramifications of what happens.
My favourite episodes were In the Hands of the Prophets, Emissary, Vortex and The Forsaken. The Storyteller was easily my least favourite. I have the second season on DVD, so it may not be too long before I'm rewatching that.