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shallownessThis is going to be about three of the episodes on this disc, as the last episode is the first of a two-parter, so I’ll group that with the episodes on disc 6.
‘Playing God’ 'Profit and Loss' 'Blood Oath' Playing God is a Trill-centric episode. Jadzia is assessing a Trill initiate (for joining) just like Curzon Dax assessed her once...and rejected her. You’d think she’d have worked through all this already, but this episode gives us another glimpse of what it means to be Jadzia Dax, a relatively newly joined Trill.
There’s a comedy B-plot about Cardassian voles that gets stopped dead when Jadzia and her initiate bring an unexplained space anomaly back from the GQ. Through the wormohole. As you would.
Not.
I got that she was curious, but it served her right when it turned out that the anomaly was a growing proto universe (I bet the show will never deal with the fact that they shunted it back to the GQ).
Quark’s advice to the initiate (who ought to have been too drunk to do preision flying) was fun, and unlike O’Brien, I did feel sorry for Quark, getting temporarily deafened.
Despite my snark, I did think this episode had a nice balance of humour and drama, although with that nasty temper, I wouldn't have approved the initiate.
But Profit and Loss was better. (FINALLY. I’d begun to think I’d have to settle for merely ‘decent’.)
It focuses on enigmatic, torn Garak and a surprisingly lovelorn Quark – it’s interesting that it has little to do with the Federation or Starfleet – Sisko has to defer to the Bajoran government on the emerging situation.
Quark’s trouble is in the form of the ‘love of his life’, a Cardassian from before Odo knew him, who turns up with two ‘students’ who are actually the leaders of an underground Cardassian campaign to wrest power off the military. Garak, the exiled Cardassian tailor who 'might' have been more in a past life, sees an opportunity to return home.
Quark is alternatively myopic and selfish, and I found the depiction of his relationship with Professor Lang very retrograde, even allowing for his being Ferengi. He doesn’t listen to her, but then she feels bad for shooting him and he’s naive about the realpolitik of the situation. All this is leavened by Shimerman’s dependably good performance and the humour, especially as Quark bounces off Odo. Robinson also makes delightful choices that help to keep interest in Garak.
Anyway, this episode definitely seeded problems within the Cardassian power structure.
I found Blood Oath slightly less good than the last episode, but still good and at least we had one episode’s buffer between another focusing on Jadzia Dax, or at least, looking at her relationship with Klingons. Jadzia is, once again, taking on one of Curzon’s responsibilities (did any Dax live as lively a life as his?) but her friends, old and new, question whether she's really ready to keep to the blood oath of the title and get revenge on a childkiller? (She isn’t, quite.)
It plays like a western, three old cowboys, well, Klingons, roll into town, er, Deep Space Nine to resurrect a plot to kill The Albino. It’s all heightened, as Kira, who knows what it costs to kill, and Sisko, who knew Curzon, try to talk Jadzia down from joining the posse. The dynamic of a flinty young woman, with the memories of 80 years and more ago, claiming her honour demands she joins these grizzled warriors is interesting. They are fatherly one minute, Klingons the next. Ultimately, Jadzia Dax wants to live (and, as Sisko points out, is a Starfleet officer).
Props to the scout who found the striking building that features as The Albino’s stronghold.
Who knows when I'll post about DS9 next, as I've been prioritising rewatching the Bourne movies in prep for the new film?
‘Playing God’ 'Profit and Loss' 'Blood Oath' Playing God is a Trill-centric episode. Jadzia is assessing a Trill initiate (for joining) just like Curzon Dax assessed her once...and rejected her. You’d think she’d have worked through all this already, but this episode gives us another glimpse of what it means to be Jadzia Dax, a relatively newly joined Trill.
There’s a comedy B-plot about Cardassian voles that gets stopped dead when Jadzia and her initiate bring an unexplained space anomaly back from the GQ. Through the wormohole. As you would.
Not.
I got that she was curious, but it served her right when it turned out that the anomaly was a growing proto universe (I bet the show will never deal with the fact that they shunted it back to the GQ).
Quark’s advice to the initiate (who ought to have been too drunk to do preision flying) was fun, and unlike O’Brien, I did feel sorry for Quark, getting temporarily deafened.
Despite my snark, I did think this episode had a nice balance of humour and drama, although with that nasty temper, I wouldn't have approved the initiate.
But Profit and Loss was better. (FINALLY. I’d begun to think I’d have to settle for merely ‘decent’.)
It focuses on enigmatic, torn Garak and a surprisingly lovelorn Quark – it’s interesting that it has little to do with the Federation or Starfleet – Sisko has to defer to the Bajoran government on the emerging situation.
Quark’s trouble is in the form of the ‘love of his life’, a Cardassian from before Odo knew him, who turns up with two ‘students’ who are actually the leaders of an underground Cardassian campaign to wrest power off the military. Garak, the exiled Cardassian tailor who 'might' have been more in a past life, sees an opportunity to return home.
Quark is alternatively myopic and selfish, and I found the depiction of his relationship with Professor Lang very retrograde, even allowing for his being Ferengi. He doesn’t listen to her, but then she feels bad for shooting him and he’s naive about the realpolitik of the situation. All this is leavened by Shimerman’s dependably good performance and the humour, especially as Quark bounces off Odo. Robinson also makes delightful choices that help to keep interest in Garak.
Anyway, this episode definitely seeded problems within the Cardassian power structure.
I found Blood Oath slightly less good than the last episode, but still good and at least we had one episode’s buffer between another focusing on Jadzia Dax, or at least, looking at her relationship with Klingons. Jadzia is, once again, taking on one of Curzon’s responsibilities (did any Dax live as lively a life as his?) but her friends, old and new, question whether she's really ready to keep to the blood oath of the title and get revenge on a childkiller? (She isn’t, quite.)
It plays like a western, three old cowboys, well, Klingons, roll into town, er, Deep Space Nine to resurrect a plot to kill The Albino. It’s all heightened, as Kira, who knows what it costs to kill, and Sisko, who knew Curzon, try to talk Jadzia down from joining the posse. The dynamic of a flinty young woman, with the memories of 80 years and more ago, claiming her honour demands she joins these grizzled warriors is interesting. They are fatherly one minute, Klingons the next. Ultimately, Jadzia Dax wants to live (and, as Sisko points out, is a Starfleet officer).
Props to the scout who found the striking building that features as The Albino’s stronghold.
Who knows when I'll post about DS9 next, as I've been prioritising rewatching the Bourne movies in prep for the new film?
