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shallownessI watched the first three episodes quite close together and then took a bit of a break (a lot of shows to catch-up on) before watching the fourth.
Cardassians; Melora; Rules of Acquisition; Necessary Evil
Aka DS9 tackles racism, disability and sexism, I judge it from a 2015 perspective, whine that they compressed a couple of storylines, but enjoy the flashbacks. I liked each consecutive episode more than the last, so these reviews will increase in positivity, promise.
I felt that they mishandled the material, in a way, in ‘Cardassians’, specifically that the episode lost focus of the main issue. I understand that Garak inveigling Julian into Cardassian intrigues and giving us more of the history of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor are interesting things, but the episode dropped the fact that that poor kid bit someone, then the station authorities didn’t really investigate the accusations of cruelty towards him or the person who made them. Then they took ages to talk to the kid and then they overrode his wishes (however wrongheaded and tragic the factors that influenced them). Would his birth father respect his religion? Would he allow the kid to visit his parents – who were his adoptive parents, not his foster parents as Sisko put it? Or even stay in contact with them? What about the other orphaned Carsassians left behind – adopted or not? (What about the mixed-race children, some maybe of rape?)
This kid obviously hated himself and took the blame for what wasn’t his fault, but he had been brought up as Bajoran. I was disappointed in the Federation’s treatment of him, for all that Keiko seemed more liberal than Miles in their interaction with the boy (except Miles had more lines, so it turned out his position was more nuanced than his wife), she fed the kid Cardassian food without discussion. SRSLY. And then got surprised that he got upset.
Maybe this is too much from the year 2015 perspective! I did get really into the themes and problems raised by the episode – that’s good, and Garak was fun, playing with Julian’s naiveté and hinting at so much intrigue. We learned that Gul Dukat is surprisingly short.
In the next episode, the eponymous Melora is a Starfleet ensign from a low-gravity planet, who joins the crew with a chip on her shoulder, as being in ‘normal’ gravity turns her into someone with a disability. Julian has been heavily involved in preparing adaptations on the station for her, and stands up to her attitude. (Seriously, she was cheeking three senior officers. Bad ensign, no biscuit.)
As they become involved (in no time at all) Julian starts researching a ‘treatment’ for her, but the implications are a lot for her to deal with (one huge ethical question is that he’s her doctor AND lover – surely that’s undue influence!?)
Meanwhile a B-plot that could have been the main plot of another episode involves an old colleague Quark ratted on turning up after eight years in a Romulan prison, determined to kill him. There is delicious interplay when Quark turns to Odo in his predicament.
Dax throws an unusual perspective on Melora’s question about romance, and it was nice to see an assertive Julian. The dated paleofuture technological solutions to the low grav issue made it seem as if a lack of thought had been given to them, probably because the writers were concentrating on The Metaphor. I think it might have landed better (sorry) if Melora had been around for longer and her relationship with Bashir had developed over a longer period.
You could argue the same about Pel (especially as the regular cast ratio is six males to two women) who turns up in ‘Rules of Acquisition’.
Quark’s wunderkind new Ferengi waiter displaces Rom (and, it’s hinted, has a sharper mind than Quark’s). I can’t quite share Dax’s appreciation of the Ferengi, but Wallace Shawn’s Grand Nagus is very enjoyable to watch. He’s returned to the station wanting Quark to be his negotiator in the Gamma Quadrant (it talks Quark a good while to ask why), Pel comes along too. But as Quark grows increasingly reliant on ‘him’, Rom and Dax discover ‘he’ is a ‘she’. Beyond Shakespearesque cross-dressing shenanigans, there’s a feminist plea, as the Ferengi like their women extremely submissive, while Pel wants to be out there, being enterprising and seeking profit.
Also, she is, of course, in love with Quark (I wasn’t sure why) and he surprises himself by how much he cares for her, although he’s not conditioned to see the benefits of a partnership that makes the most of her abilities.
Meanwhile, Dax and Kira have to deal with a lot of sexist groping, and although it’s a tautly written episode that mentions the Dominion and gives Odo a moment to imagine family feeling, the handling of the topic of sexism also feels dated 20 years on.
We start off ‘Necessary Evil’ with a heightened vibe, as Quark ventures on to Bajor (huh, for the first time onscreen?) for dealings with a vampy Bajoran from the old Terak Nor days, who hires him to extract a package from the station. Meanwhile, in a nice touch, Odo has been ordered to keep a security log; it’s the most disgruntled log ever.
Quark’s job goes awry (but not because of a surprisingly capable Rom) and Odo is disconcerted because it links back to an unsolved case that Dukat gave him back in the day, thus setting Odo on his investigative path.
The heart of this episode is Odo, the perennial outsider then – Bajorans had an understandable ‘if you’re not with us, you’re one of them’ mindset - and now retracing his steps from his first case. We see how he interacted with Dukat and how he first met Quark (also Rom, but no-one cares) and Kira. And he had a soft spot for her even then.
Actually getting to see Terak Nor under the Cardassians makes a lot of things clearer.
The stuff with Rom in the present day is mostly too broad, and the lighting and pacing choices sometimes pay off, but Dukat getting more airtime, a more naive, vulnerable Odo and seeing how much Odo and Kira care for each other now (even if it’s mostly played as platonic) is great.
Cardassians; Melora; Rules of Acquisition; Necessary Evil
Aka DS9 tackles racism, disability and sexism, I judge it from a 2015 perspective, whine that they compressed a couple of storylines, but enjoy the flashbacks. I liked each consecutive episode more than the last, so these reviews will increase in positivity, promise.
I felt that they mishandled the material, in a way, in ‘Cardassians’, specifically that the episode lost focus of the main issue. I understand that Garak inveigling Julian into Cardassian intrigues and giving us more of the history of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor are interesting things, but the episode dropped the fact that that poor kid bit someone, then the station authorities didn’t really investigate the accusations of cruelty towards him or the person who made them. Then they took ages to talk to the kid and then they overrode his wishes (however wrongheaded and tragic the factors that influenced them). Would his birth father respect his religion? Would he allow the kid to visit his parents – who were his adoptive parents, not his foster parents as Sisko put it? Or even stay in contact with them? What about the other orphaned Carsassians left behind – adopted or not? (What about the mixed-race children, some maybe of rape?)
This kid obviously hated himself and took the blame for what wasn’t his fault, but he had been brought up as Bajoran. I was disappointed in the Federation’s treatment of him, for all that Keiko seemed more liberal than Miles in their interaction with the boy (except Miles had more lines, so it turned out his position was more nuanced than his wife), she fed the kid Cardassian food without discussion. SRSLY. And then got surprised that he got upset.
Maybe this is too much from the year 2015 perspective! I did get really into the themes and problems raised by the episode – that’s good, and Garak was fun, playing with Julian’s naiveté and hinting at so much intrigue. We learned that Gul Dukat is surprisingly short.
In the next episode, the eponymous Melora is a Starfleet ensign from a low-gravity planet, who joins the crew with a chip on her shoulder, as being in ‘normal’ gravity turns her into someone with a disability. Julian has been heavily involved in preparing adaptations on the station for her, and stands up to her attitude. (Seriously, she was cheeking three senior officers. Bad ensign, no biscuit.)
As they become involved (in no time at all) Julian starts researching a ‘treatment’ for her, but the implications are a lot for her to deal with (one huge ethical question is that he’s her doctor AND lover – surely that’s undue influence!?)
Meanwhile a B-plot that could have been the main plot of another episode involves an old colleague Quark ratted on turning up after eight years in a Romulan prison, determined to kill him. There is delicious interplay when Quark turns to Odo in his predicament.
Dax throws an unusual perspective on Melora’s question about romance, and it was nice to see an assertive Julian. The dated paleofuture technological solutions to the low grav issue made it seem as if a lack of thought had been given to them, probably because the writers were concentrating on The Metaphor. I think it might have landed better (sorry) if Melora had been around for longer and her relationship with Bashir had developed over a longer period.
You could argue the same about Pel (especially as the regular cast ratio is six males to two women) who turns up in ‘Rules of Acquisition’.
Quark’s wunderkind new Ferengi waiter displaces Rom (and, it’s hinted, has a sharper mind than Quark’s). I can’t quite share Dax’s appreciation of the Ferengi, but Wallace Shawn’s Grand Nagus is very enjoyable to watch. He’s returned to the station wanting Quark to be his negotiator in the Gamma Quadrant (it talks Quark a good while to ask why), Pel comes along too. But as Quark grows increasingly reliant on ‘him’, Rom and Dax discover ‘he’ is a ‘she’. Beyond Shakespearesque cross-dressing shenanigans, there’s a feminist plea, as the Ferengi like their women extremely submissive, while Pel wants to be out there, being enterprising and seeking profit.
Also, she is, of course, in love with Quark (I wasn’t sure why) and he surprises himself by how much he cares for her, although he’s not conditioned to see the benefits of a partnership that makes the most of her abilities.
Meanwhile, Dax and Kira have to deal with a lot of sexist groping, and although it’s a tautly written episode that mentions the Dominion and gives Odo a moment to imagine family feeling, the handling of the topic of sexism also feels dated 20 years on.
We start off ‘Necessary Evil’ with a heightened vibe, as Quark ventures on to Bajor (huh, for the first time onscreen?) for dealings with a vampy Bajoran from the old Terak Nor days, who hires him to extract a package from the station. Meanwhile, in a nice touch, Odo has been ordered to keep a security log; it’s the most disgruntled log ever.
Quark’s job goes awry (but not because of a surprisingly capable Rom) and Odo is disconcerted because it links back to an unsolved case that Dukat gave him back in the day, thus setting Odo on his investigative path.
The heart of this episode is Odo, the perennial outsider then – Bajorans had an understandable ‘if you’re not with us, you’re one of them’ mindset - and now retracing his steps from his first case. We see how he interacted with Dukat and how he first met Quark (also Rom, but no-one cares) and Kira. And he had a soft spot for her even then.
Actually getting to see Terak Nor under the Cardassians makes a lot of things clearer.
The stuff with Rom in the present day is mostly too broad, and the lighting and pacing choices sometimes pay off, but Dukat getting more airtime, a more naive, vulnerable Odo and seeing how much Odo and Kira care for each other now (even if it’s mostly played as platonic) is great.
