Well, it made me happy just to see a new episode of DS9. I was hoping that this episode would be knock-you-on-your-butt great, but it wasn't. Which doesn't mean it was bad, by any means -- just didn't live up to my (too high) expectations. The infiltration plot really wasn't as compelling as it could have been. However, there were many hopeful signs throughout, and the ending was a whiz-banger.
The first scene, with Kira and Worf arguing over who is in charge of the station, is the first good sign for the season. Kira is just as strong and determined and forceful as we remember her, hopefully quelling some of the fears about her character becoming too passive. She quite convincingly puts Worf in his place, firmly establishing herself as second in command of the station.
On to the Klingon story. The set-up is good, and carries over logically from last season's finale. The Federation thinks Gowron's a changeling, and someone has to go and find out. Sisko gets the vote. (Now, if we really want to nit pick this to death, it's worth thinking about this decision a bit. Sisko probably isn't the officer in the Federation who knows Klingons the best, and it's not clear that the presence of Worf is in Sisko's favor -- Worf ought to be recognized in Klingon territory, and thus shouldn't be a lot of help. You'd also think that Starfleet might have spies already in the Empire who could do this sort of thing... but if our heroes can't be in the middle of the action, there's not much point to the show, I s'pose. So, on with the review proper!) So, Sisko and the others are going to go deep into Klingon territory to expose Gowron as a Founder -- if that's what he is. The method: Basically a high-tech way of tossing a bucket of water on him to see if he melts. Well, sure, why not. I know some people have objected to the possibly over-gimmicky device, which uses 4 separate spheres, which all have to be in place. I can't really say whether this makes scientific sense, but it does have a precedent in Trek technology. On several occasions in TNG, the crew used some sort of transporter beam- intensifying device, which used several separate emitters to generate the field. Presumably, these pool balls work in a similar way.
Bringing on Dukat as the means of their entry into Klingon space was an inspired choice. It is quite logical, and it lets us see what our favorite Cardassian space-pirate is up to. I also liked the fact that they mentioned that Kira somehow got him to the station under false pretenses without actually showing us the entire affair -- not everything needs to be played out for us. Plus, it saves time. And then, of course, we meet the new, Klingonified trio of Sisko, O'Brien, and Odo. I must say, Sisko makes a fantastic Klingon -- I daresay, one of the very best ever. O'Brien and Odo obviously have a harder time getting into the role -- but that is in keeping with their characters. The scene in which Worf tries to teach them all to be Klingon was reasonably well-done, and kept the prattling on about honor which usually plagues post-TOS Klingon episodes to a minimum.
The encounter with the Klingon bird-of-prey was done extremely well. I was actually taken aback when Dukat simply blew it out of space -- but it was perfectly in keeping with his character. This is another sign that DS9 is staying on the right track. I was worried by the end of last season that the writers might be going too far in turning Dukat into "nice guy." This is, after all, a man who headed up a Nazi-like occupation of Bajor. In the episodes with Dukat and Kira, I was worried that they might be going too far in redeeming him, and ignoring the more ruthless aspects of his character. This episode reassured me. Dukat does seem to be trying to change, and obviously isn't the same man he was when he held dominion over Bajor. But old habits die hard -- and that's as it should be. Evil on that scale shouldn't be easy to leave behind. His ruthlessly pragmatic streak is also in evidence as he leaves Sisko & the others behind -- and his logic is impeccable. Either the Klingons will be grateful to Sisko, or he will be dead. Either way, Dukat isn't really needed.
But it's about here that I thought the episode lost a lot of steam. I was expecting some intrigue and espionage -- tension packed adventures as our heroes try to infiltrate a Klingon outpost. I'm not sure exactly what I expected, but I expected... something. Instead, Sisko and the others simply walk into a room and wait. Waiting in a room full of people, even Klingons, doesn't make for spine-tingling entertainment. This element of the cunning scheme seemed awfully mundane... And since I don't find displays of Klingon behavior inherently engrossing, all the grunting & head-butting didn't enthrall me. Still, there were good moments -- Sisko's "just don't get between me and the blood wine" was marvelous.
Happily, things really picked up in the final 15 minutes or so. Having Sisko called to the podium just as he was about to activate the pool balls effectively ratcheted up the tension, and having Martok bash Sisko over the head and reveal his identity was a great, dramatic moment. From there to the end, the episode really kept me guessing, and I enjoyed being one step behind. When Martok talked with the DS9 crew in the prison cell, I really thought that's how Gowron would be revealed -- with Martok's help. And it's here we find out the pool balls are never going to be used at all --and so revealing the Founder will take a more creative approach. (this also means that the solution to the problem won't be a technical one, which is a nice touch.)
As they made their way out of the prison cell to the great hall, I started to wonder... why was Martok so casually killing loyal Klingons? Soon, of course, I had my answer. As Worf battled Gowron, Odo realizes the truth -- Martok is the Founder. Brilliant! I hadn't seen it coming (maybe I should have, but in any event, I didn't), but it made perfect sense. And having Odo realize the truth of the situation is quite fitting -- he still knows the Founders the best. The destruction of the Founder was a smashing bit of special effects, as well -- quite spectacular.
The conclusion, discussing the situation with Gowron, came close to being too pat, but finally avoided it. With Martok exposed, the writers came close to simply wrapping up the whole Klingon/Federation conflict, and going back to happy co- existence. But I think they avoided that -- Gowron still claims control over Arkanis and other territory, and after all, he chose to follow Martok's advice, he wasn't drugged or forced into it. So there is hope for a reconciliation with the Empire, but it won't be easy. Seems to me, that's the spirit of Trek.
Some other nice moments: the stickers are still up on the wall of Quark's, warning all Ferengi away. The scene with Odo in Quark's was also well done. It's not the first time we've seen an alien adjust to suddenly becoming human, but this was a well handled scene. Focusing on the bubbles in a drink was a nice touch. (And, you know, the bubbles in carbonated drinks DO make a nice soothing sound!) I liked the scene with Kira and Bashir, and the great in-joke line about her baby being Julian's fault. Odo choosing to have his own face restored -- it's a nice plot point in his continuing voyage to accept his new life, and it answers a question I'd had since the end of last season -- couldn't Julian give Odo a human face? I'm glad they addressed that point.
So, all in all: Not a "Visitor"-quality knockout, and it probably would have benefitted from being a 2-parter, but still, a reasonably good episode. The ending was great, and surprising. Almost all the characters were well-represented, and they all behaved in ways consistent with how we've seen them developing in the past. So, all the elements in the show are in place, just waiting for a great story to make a really unforgettable episode. In the meantime, this'll do.
Wow. This is one of those episodes in which DS9 fully delivers on its potential, offering a riveting, tense, thought- provoking, emotion-filled blockbuster. It provided great action and mystery, and hit upon important themes about war, loyalty, and sacrifice. It's similar in tone, in some ways, to TOS' "Balance of Terror", without being derivative. However, like "Balance of Terror," I suspect that years from now, people will look back on this episode as a classic. This is what Trek is all about.
There are so many things right with "The Ship" that it's hard to know where to begin. I'll start with the composition of the crew for the mission. This is another example of DS9 being truer to the vision of a truly multi-species crew than any other Trek since ST:TMP. (No matter what else you may say about that first movie, it did show a lot of non-humans in the crew, at least in the briefing scene.) Last week we heard about that crewmember "budding" again and having 18 offspring; this week we see an away team with a couple of members from the extensive Trek catalog of Federation aliens, including a Benzite. (Benzites must be someone's favorite; as I recall, the captain the Klingon bragged about killing last week was a Benzite, too...) I think this adds a lot to the atmosphere of the series, and makes you believe that the Federation really is serious about welcoming the diversity of its members and allowing different species to work and live together. Anyway, I just like seeing lots of non-human crewmembers.
Also among the landing party is O'Brien's assistant, Munez. Munez is an instantly likable character, exchanging some really nifty banter with O'Brien. As the episode progresses, it becomes more and more important that we liked Munez from the beginning, as a lot of the episode's tension revolves around the question of his survival. There has sometimes been a failing in other Trek episodes wherein to enjoy the episode, you must care about some guest character -- but the writers fail to give you a reason to do so. A recent example is "Remember", the latest Voyager episode, where most of the plot is a flashback to a guest-star's past. All well and good, but we don't know this character, and have no particular reason to care about her. But in "The Ship," we care about Munez from the first minute of the show. The reason? Good writing. An excellent performance also helps, and good chemistry with Colm Meany, but it's the good writing, and a nicely defined character, that put us on his side right from the beginning. Once we're invested in his character, the rest of the episode takes on greater depth.
Adding to our concern for Munez is O'Brien's concern for him. We see Munez's plight largely through O'Brien's eyes, and to a lesser extent through Sisko's. Happily, both actors turn in wonderful performances, letting us clearly see their concern for their fellow crewmember, but not losing sight of the rest of the situation. Avery Brooks does a superb job handling both Sisko's concern for this young man under his command, and the moments in which Sisko has to act more as a hard-assed commander, getting his troops in line. I've never understood how anyone could describe Sisko as "bland," but after this episode, surely no one can.
But I've gotten a bit ahead of myself. Back to the story. On a scouting expedition, the DS9 crew see a Jem'Hadar warship crash on the planet they are looking over. Sisko quickly realizes the potential importance of this find, and sends for the Defiant to come to help them retrieve the ship. But the stakes quickly go up dramatically: the runabout in orbit is destroyed by an arriving Jem'Hadar ship, killing all aboard. Soon, on the planet, Sisko's party is forced to take refuge in the ship, losing one member, and with one more badly wounded. But the Jem'Hadar don't storm the ship; rather, they try to negotiate. Obviously, there is something on the ship they want. But what is it?
This is a great premise for an episode, and the execution is nearly flawless. Shooting on location adds greatly to the episode, as does the quite remarkable exterior mock-up of the crashed warship. Even better is the interior of the ship -- all twisting, unfamiliar corridors, dark and mysterious. Adding to this feeling of disorientation and paranoia is the fact that the ship is upside-down, making everything look even more alien and forbidding. The set design and construction on the interiors is top-notch, and extremely effective.
The central dilemma between the DS9 crew and the Jem'Hadar and the Vorta is one of trust: if they can trust eachother, an agreement can be worked out. But the Vorta makes any trust on Sisko's part nearly impossible, as her first several actions are all either aggressive or deceitful: destroying the runabout, lying about her experience, and sneaking a Jem'Hadar warrior on board the warship. (the actress who plays the Vorta, btw, like Jennifer Lien from Voyager, previously appeared on the soap "Another World".) Thus, it's difficult for Sisko to place any faith in her later claim that all they want is what's on board the ship, not the ship itself. It's a beautifully set up dilemma, with a great payoff at the end of the episode.
Meanwhile, inside the ship, the DS9 crew is trying to find out what of value is on board the ship, trying to get the ship functional again, and dealing with the wounded Munez. Trying to help Munez produces some powerful conflict between the crew: O'Brien is doing anything he can to keep Munez comfortable and to convince him he might live. Worf argues that Munez ought to start making his journey to Sto'Vo'Kor post-haste. Sisko sympathizes with O'Brien, but needs him to work on the ship to get them out of their predicament. What's great about these conflicts are first, that the conflicts are believable -- none of it seems forced in any way. Secondly, all the conflict stems from character -- there is conflict because the crew is made up of different people with different beliefs and attitudes, and everyone's behavior is perfectly in keeping with their character. So O'Brien tries to stay fiercely loyal to his friend, doing what he believes is right for him; Worf keeps on trying to convince everyone to lop Munez' head off, because he believes that's what's best for him. Dax starts getting on everyone's nerves with her jokes, and Sisko has to stay focused on getting off the planet alive & with the ship. The conflict is all perfectly organic, perfectly believable, and very well written & performed.
There's also a consistent sense of mystery through the episode, as we are kept guessing about just what it is the Vorta wants. When we find out it's a Founder, it's both surprising and eminently logical. The solution to the mystery illuminates what has come before, allowing us to understand the actions of the Vorta & her charges. It's also heartbreaking because we realize that the Vorta had been telling the truth -- all they wanted was the Founder, not the ship. Munez and the others need not have died -- if only trust had been possible. It's a wonderful way to wrap up the story -- for, in the end, there are no winners. The Founder is dead, the Jem'Hadar have killed themselves, and Munez and the others have died. Yes, they have retrieved the ship, which should provide useful information -- but at a terrible price. The final scene with O'Brien and Worf watching over Munez' body was powerful as well. It doesn't gloss over their earlier conflict, but it also underscores what the conflict was about -- they both wanted to honor Munez when he was alive, and now again that he is dead. It doesn't get much better than this.
A couple other nice touches: I enjoyed the brief scene of Odo dragging Julian and Quark up to Kira's office. Brief, funny, in character, and lets us know the Defiant is on the way. (plus, it gives all the regulars at least 30 seconds of screen time). I also like those phaser rifle-mounted flashlights. A very efficient design. I also liked the explanation for the deaths of the crew of the downed ship -- inertial damper failure. Given how often those darned things seem to go off-line (at least on TNG), it's nice to finally see someone addressing what the consequences of that failure might be. And it's not pretty.
I'm trying to think of anything that seemed off or just plain bad in the episode, but nothing comes to mind.
In sum: A likely classic. Strong writing, strong acting, strong directing, strong production values. I think I liked it.
Looking for Par'Mach in All The Wrong Places
Well, after two weeks of hard-hitting episodes about war and intrigue, we have an episode which is.... much ado about nothing. It's a light and airy romantic comedy, reminiscent of Shakespeare's comedies in the number of plots running around, they way they interleave, etc. So, ok, it's not as good as Shakespeare, of course, but apart from that "Taming of the Shrew" episode of Moonlighting, what on TV is?
This is a quite atypical Trek story, in that it's really not sci fi at all. (Ok, there are people out there who don't believe any of Trek really qualifies as SF, but I don't agree with them. So that's that...) It's really just about characters interacting, and in this case, interacting in rather clumsy & amorous ways. It's a nice change of pace, tho I should come clean and admit that this is exactly the kind of thing that drove me up the wall when TNG did it -- ie, a non-SF story. But there's two reasons why i think it works for DS9 (I have to legitimate my opinions somehow, don't I? Otherwise I'm just some guy mouthing off... hey, wait...). First, it 's more defensible for a station-based show to take some time off from saving-the-universe stories and just take some time to look at these people living their lives. If you're out there zooming around the stars with $1.5 million to spend each week, you ought to be able to come up with a SF story. Second, the characters on DS9 are just more interesting than those on TNG, and interact in more interesting ways. And this episode makes good use of possibly the least-likely team up there is: Quark and Worf working together to woo a woman. A bizarre teaming, which turns out to work wonderfully.
Most of the fun starts off when Grilka arrives on DS9, and Worf becomes immediately transfixed by her. Believable? Sure. Worf is, after all, a character who tends to go full-bore with his emotions. Why settle for a little crush when he can go straight for par'mach? Plus, Grilka is everything a traditional Klingon male could want from a traditional Klingon female. And what Worf finally realizes by the end of the show is that in truth, he's not a traditional Klingon male. Anyway, I thought the scene where Worf watches Grilka on the promenade, explaining to Dax why she is so wonderful, as Dax tries to watch her over Worf's shoulder, was beautifully executed. But then Worf finds out that Grilka is here to see Quark -- her ex-husband, of all things! Worf is disgusted. After it is made clear to Worf that, due to his position in Klingon society, he will not be able to pursue Grilka, he agrees to help Quark go after her.
Now, that's quite a stretch, but as it is played out in the episode, we can buy it. Quark goes to Dax for help -- after all, she does know about Klingon society, and isn't so uptight about matters of the heart (or whatever) that she would turn down such request for help. But Worf is there with Dax, and can't help describing the proper way to woo such a lady. This locks Worf into a Cyrano-like relationship with Quark, and he continues to give him advice on pursuing Grilka through the rest of the episode, getting vicarious satisfaction when his approach proves to be successful. All the time, though, he is clueless that Dax is hurling signals at him left and right. Again, this is right in character for Worf, who is usually too caught up in his own grand passions to take any notice of what other people are feeling. Is it in character for Dax? I'd hope she'd have better taste than to fall for Worf, but it's an interesting choice, we've seen it coming for months, and she takes an aggressive role in the relationship, which is refreshing.
While all this is going on, O'Brien and Kira engage in an uneasy flirtation. At least, it made me uneasy. I wasn't sure where they were going with the story, and wasn't sure I wanted to find out. In the end, I think it's fine. It seems pretty clear that the mutual attraction was really just a matter of the situation they were in -- living together, Kira carrying his baby, etc. Thus, it doesn't represent a permanent threat to O'Brien's marriage, or mean that DS9 has to pursue a Miles/Kira romance. So, I think we can just enjoy their awkwardness, especially in the runabout scene, without fear for the future. There are two problems with the story, tho: Keiko is portrayed as being amazingly clueless. For some reason, Keiko keeps on getting written as being rather annoying. When the fetus was first transferred to Kira, Keiko was rather jealous, and this came off a bit obnoxiously. Now, when she ought to be a bit jealous, she is instead happy as a clam, and blind as a bat (how about those animal similes, eh?) to the attraction between the other two people in the room with her. Just because Keiko isn't a permanent character doesn't mean that she shouldn't have a permanent personality. The other problem, if it is one, is that this now means that virtually every male character on the show has been enamored of Kira -- Julian, Quark, Miles, Odo, and Dukat, and, of course, her two Bajoran love interests. There is a danger of simply turning her into the object of other people's affections.
Back to Worf and Quark.... the finale to their story is the challenge made to Quark by Grilka's chief guard. To get Quark through this alive, Worf and Quark use a sort of VR neural link, so that Worf can control Quark's movements throughout the battle. This is an ingenious little device, made all the more appealing by the fact that no one took five minutes out of the show to explain it in reams of technobabble. We can see perfectly well what it does; thus, there's no need to explain it in tons of fake detail. This is a very wise choice (even if it was a choice made due to time constraints, not artistic concern, which is always possible). The device also gives the actors a chance to show off some impressively coordinated fighting moves. The duel itself offers some fine physical comedy, especially after Quark has won, and he doesn't know what he is going to do next (picking up the fallen weapon, handing it to Grilka). "And now... I'll give you the sword... I guess." Very nice. Dax then challenging and straddling Worf was a bit surprising, but worked well. (and no doubt inspired ever more Trekkers' fantasies... if I were Terry Farell, I'd be afraid, very afraid, of her next batch of fan mail.) The capper to the Klingon story is the great scene in sickbay, wherein Julian gets to treat all four of the lovers after their nights of passion. Julian's reactions were priceless, and there's a good payoff in terms of Worf's character development: Dax gets him to admit that he's not a traditional Klingon. And she gets him to laugh! No mean feat, that.
Some random notes.... was Quark able to help Grilka's finances any? It was never mentioned after their first scene together... The war between the Federation and the Klingons isn't over yet, at least that we know -- but yet it seemed awfully easy for Grilka to get over to DS9 and dock there.... I didn't see any Ferengi waiters or bartenders at Quarks -- apparently, they are obeying the ban on doing business with Quark. Nice touch.... I was a bit taken aback by Worf's statement that he had never pursued a Klingon woman -- what with his relationship with K'Ehleyr and all. But, she was only half Klingon, and didn't believe in Klingon traditions; thus, Worf might be accurate in saying that he hadn't pursued a Klingon woman. Still, his comment could have been better phrased so as to not confuse/annoy all of us nitpicking fans.... And the title -- atypically long for post- TOS trek, and I liked it. I've never understood the compulsion for one- or two- word titles. Next weeks' is a winning title, too.
So, in all: A nice, light segment, well acted and well written. And Andrew Robinson directed it quite nicely. Not an outing without flaws, but quite enjoyable.
Nor The Battle to the Strong
[this review is a bit late -- my computer has been sick. So, I may be a bit rusty on some of the details....]
First -- what's gotten into the DS9 writers? Suddenly, they're coming up with truly memorable and interesting episode titles -- somehow fighting back against over 10 years of fairly awful titles. Whatever they're taking, I hope they keep it up! Maybe they can even do better than my all-time favorite Trek episode title, "For the World Is Hollow, and I Have Touched the Sky" -- but I doubt it. But hey, it's good that they're trying! I had to look up this title in the on-line Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (look for it -- it's a great resource) to find out that it is a quote from the Old Testament, ("the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong") but I see one of the other reviewers has given us the whole quote, which really makes it all make sense -- thanks.
Anyway -- what about the episode itself? Quite good, in fact. A very interesting meditation on war and courage... and it gives Cirroc Lofton a meatier role than I think he's ever had before. This episode is really written around a character arc for Jake -- it's a story about him growing up, and learning some perhaps unpleasant truths about himself, and the universe. Pretty strong stuff, and not too many punches were pulled.
I think the story is set up nicely -- Jake is so bored by Julian's technical conference & ramblings, that he jumps at the chance to go into battle, and, appealing to Julian's sense of duty, is able to persuade him that it makes sense. (note also the growth in Bashir's character -- the season One Bashir wouldn't have needed any persuading to rush into a dangerous situation, even with Jake on board) Jake figures he can get a good story out of the experience, something exciting. After all, he figures, he's seen war before -- he's been on the station during attacks.
What he finds out is that he doesn't know much about war at all, and that it's not an exciting adventure -- it's grim and scary and awful. And that's just in the hospital. Jake's first moment of truth comes when he and Julian come under fire, and Jake runs off in terror, leaving Bashir alone. Now, when was the last time a character on Trek acted that imperfect? I think it's quite realistic, tho you still can't help being disappointed with Jake, as he is with himself. The scene with the dying soldier was effective, I thought, in showing how Jake desperately wanted to make his perceived cowardice make sense somehow, that there was a purpose to it -- that he was somehow supposed to run away so he could save the soldier. But, as the soldier said, the universe doesn't work like that.
Jake's second moment of truth comes when he's trying to get down the corridor as the Klingons come barging in, blasters blazing, killing the security guards. This time, Jake can't really run -- he'd be killed instantly. So, he picks up a phaser rifle, and shoots it around -- causing the ceiling to collapse, stopping the Klingons and saving the day. I think it was a good writing move to leave it deliberately vague as to whether or not he intended to shoot down the ceiling -- my feeling was that he was just shooting around blindly with no plan. But we can all make our own decision about it... So, in the end, we get to ask ourselves questions about what is cowardice, what is bravery, and what is heroism. Not a bad set of questions...
There are a lot of other scenes in the episode that work pretty well too. I think the scenes with the doctors doing their best to survive it all by making jokes, etc. were well handled, and made their point. Tho, of course, after a decade of MASH and now ER, this isn't really ground-breaking stuff. The scenes of Sisko worrying about Jake were effective, and, after "The Visitor", absolutely necessary -- we would have felt cheated if we didn't get to see what was going through Sisko's mind. The final scene with the two Siskos was also reasonably well handled, with Jake revealing his darkest secret to his father, and then feeling obvious relief when his father still loves and accepts him. Still, I think perhaps the camera holds onto Jake's smiling face a couple seconds too long. Also, I must be getting even more paranoid about the Founders than Starfleet is -- when the doctor was asking Bashir about what ships were coming to help them and when, I found myself thinking "don't tell her, Julian -- she's a changeling!" Perhaps I've been watching the X-Files too much...
I've noticed that there's been a lot of disagreement on the 'net about the way this episode portrays war in Trek times, and whether or not it violates the Spirit of Trek. I have a bunch of thoughts about that.... first, it looks to me like the creative gang behind DS9 talked a lot amongst themselves about how to handle an actual war with the Klingons on Trek -- how do you handle a war on a show that's always been about trying to promote peace? The answer they seem to have come up with, and I think it's a good one, is to take war seriously. If they had portrayed the war with the Klingons as just high adventure and gee-whiz special effects, I think it would be, perhaps, not very Treky. But they've chosen to take war seriously, to show what a nasty, weighty thing it is. This not only makes for good, compelling drama, but is quite consistent with Trek's ideals, going way back, as I've said before, to the early first season TOS episode "Balance of Terror." So, in my opinion, showing the real costs and consequences of war, including blood and gore, is the most appropriate way to go.
We also see something we've really never seen before in Trek -- a ground war. We also hear about some neat bits of technology we hadn't heard about before -- transporter scramblers, used by the Klingons, and "hoppers" -- presumably, some sort of sub- orbital battle shuttle. Both bits of technology make perfect sense, and are a welcome expansion of what we know about the Trek universe. Does the idea of ground battles in the Trek universe make sense? I think it does. It doesn't seem to me that you can really win a war over a planet with just space battles, that there will always be some fighting on the ground. Well, that's not exactly true -- if you have no desire to make use of the planet once you get the other side off of it, you can just decimate the surface from space. But if you actually want to use the planet, as the Klingons obviously do, there's no sense in destroying everything that's there -- and that requires ground troops. Plus, these are Klingons we're talking about, and they would never be satisfied by a war that didn't involve some hand- to-hand combat.
There's actually a precedent for ground warfare back in TOS, too. In the episode "Arena", Kirk & the others are lured to a Federation colony which has been destroyed utterly. The landing party comes under attack by the Gorn, who are also on the planet -- they are fighting a pitched battle on the ground with an enemy force. They make use of some weapons from the colony's arsenal -- a kind of advanced mortar -- to fight off the attack. From this we learn several things: The Federation does make weapons specifically for ground wars (the mortar). Colonies are, in fact, outfitted with such weapons for their defense. Starfleet crewmembers are trained for this kind of ground combat -- Kirk and his crew knew exactly how to use the weapons, etc. Everything in "Nor The Battle...." is consistent with everything we see in "Arena", and builds on it, with the hoppers, etc. Yes, it's still an unresolved question about who the ground troops are we see in "Nor the Battle" -- are they special "space marines", or are they just security guards who didn't luck into a shipside assignment? Well, maybe we'll find out sometime...
One last TOS note -- in "Nor The Battle...", we hear that the Farragut has been destroyed. Ships named "Farragut" seem to have very bad luck. Kirk's first assignment was on board the Farragut, and over 200 crewmembers, including Captain Garrovick, were wiped out by a mysterious, vampiric gaseous cloud, which Kirk later defeated while commanding the Enterprise ("Obsession"). Of course, come to think of it, ships named "Enterprise" have pretty damn bad luck too....
Anyway, to sum up: a very good episode, giving some depth to Jake's character, and treating the subject of war with respect, as did "The Ship." Good performances by Jake and Julian, and the various guest doctors and interns. (Btw, was the Bolian doctor the grown-up version of the demon child in "A League of Their Own"?) So far, not a stinker in Season 5.
The Assignment
Like many other reviewers, when I saw the previews for this episode, I didn't have high hopes. Another alien possession story? Do we need that? Well, as it turns out, yes. "The Assignment" is actually a good episode, one with a good story, a nice sense of mystery and suspense, and one which gives Rosalind Chao a chance to really show off her acting chops. Oh, and it puts poor Miles through the emotional wringer again. No wonder he's been longing for the green hills of Ireland lately....
The opening scene, with Miles and Julian trying to figure out how to tell Keiko that her bonsai are dead (and, really, that's a pretty bad thing to have to tell her -- bonsai don't exactly grow overnight) was cute. I especially liked it when Miles tried to get Molly to break the news to Keiko -- her reaction was priceless. The Julian/Miles exchanges seemed a bit... well, a bit Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton-like, actually. I wonder if that's good or bad...
Anyway, the plot takes off quite quickly when Keiko comes back from Bajor -- only it's not quite Keiko. Something has taken over her body, and if Miles doesn't do exactly what she says, the thing will kill Keiko. Again, from that plot description, you don't necessarily get a good episode. I think the reason the episode does work is that the writers do a good job keeping the level of tension high, as well as the level of menace from "Keiko". From that moment on, Miles is constantly kept off balance, running around the station doing the entity's bidding while trying to think of a way to defeat it -- and failing. The fact that Miles can't tell anyone about the problem also adds to the feelings of tension and isolation. There are people he trusts all around him, and yet he's completely alone. A nice touch.
That same fact -- that Miles doesn't tell anyone -- is also one flaw in the episode. Not in a dramatic sense -- as I said, I think it works quite effectively. The problem is, it's not completely convincing. It just seems to me that over the course of a couple of days, Miles could find a way to tell someone what was going on. Yes, Keiko took a swandive off the promenade -- in a chilling scene -- when Miles decided to tell Sisko. But surely Miles could have still gotten word to him some other way. After all, Miles was alone in the bowels of the station for hours on end -- unless "Keiko" could monitor his com-badge and all intra- ship com channels, she wouldn't be able to find out. I guess you just have to put that aside... but it's difficult.
Meanwhile, Miles begins to find out what's going on. He figures out, from a comment by Jake, that what Keiko is possessed by is a Pagh Wraith -- a cast-out Wormhole Alien. Still, this doesn't help Miles piece it together until he has some help from -- of all people -- Rom.
Rom, in fact, is the B-story of the episode -- the story of Rom the engineer. I liked this part of the episode too. Well, I've always liked Rom, and it's fun seeing him grow as a character, and seeing him try to make a life as a station engineer -- leaving behind a whole lot of Ferengi expectations. It's also good to see him doing something he's really good at. Well, two things really -- the engineering, and then playing dumb. As he said, he's Quark's brother -- he knows the role. The writers did an unusually good job linking the A and B stories together, and the way in which Rom gets caught up in Miles' nightmare is quite natural. Even better, he helps Miles figure out what's really going on -- that the Wraith wants to kill the Wormhole Aliens. Again, what's good about all this Rom stuff is that he has a crucial role in resolving the story, but everything he does is in keeping with his character -- his technical skills, lack of social skills, over-eagerness, ability to play a stooge - - all Rom traits. Even knowing the Bajoran myths is convincingly explained -- Leata told them to him. 'nuff said.
The last 15 minutes or so of the episode all work very well. I especially liked the phone call from Molly and Keiko to Miles - - the Wraith's threat was admirably subtle, a too-hard brushing of little Molly's hair. It was also quite believable that Miles didn't cover his tracks well enough to keep Odo off his trail -- Odo is the best law-enforcement officer in the sector, after all -- tho he's going to have to learn how to defend his newly fragile body. Miles was able to take him by surprise and knock his block off quite easily. O'Brien's final solution to the problem is both quite logical, and another problem.
First, the logical part: I know some people think that the solution is a technobabble solution, but I really don't think it is. We know that the Wormhole Aliens, and thus the Wraiths, are beings who interact with time significantly differently than humans do. We know, from lots of other episodes, that chroniton particles are, as their name suggests, particles which, er... well, presumably, their relationship to time is analogous to graviton particles' relation to gravity. Anyway, the point is, they are time-related particles. So, sure, they can kill wormhole aliens -- and thus Pagh Wraiths. Given what we know about Treknology, it's all quite logical -- it's not as if at the end of the episode, Miles simply zapped Keiko with a "zoobtron ray" or something -- or did whatever it was the Voyager did at the end of "The Swarm". What happens here is sensible within the logic of the story.
There is something that isn't sensible within the logic of the story. Why did Miles tell "Keiko" that he knew what she was planning? Logically, Keiko should then have been suspicious of Miles, probably should not have taken him in the runabout. Given how well she was able to predict the rest of his behavior, it doesn't make sense that she would miss this crucial move. However, I regard this as a non-critical error. The story can still end the same way if Miles doesn't tell her -- all he has to do is act surprised when she asks for the runabout, then he can zap her as planned. So the conclusion of the story doesn't depend on this illogical move, and we can pretend that Miles never mentioned his knowledge of the plan to her. It's still a bit of a goof, I think, but again, it's not a critical one.
This episode also gets bonus points for actually being Bajor-related. We don't actually get to see Bajor, and it doesn't involve any Bajorans, but still, it does involve Bajoran mythology. And that's something. Now, if we could just see a couple truly Bajor-related stories... it's been over four years now, after all -- at some point, the government's going to have to stop being "provisional". And just what is Winn up to these days? But I digress....
Anyway, that's about it. A good episode, tho not great. Tight pacing and excellent performances by Rosalind Chao (she finally gets to do more than fret over Miles), Colm Meaney and Max Grodenchik sell the story, and a couple of plot holes don't ruin it. An unexpectedly enjoyable outing.
Trials and Tribble-ations
Oh, gloriosky, what a wonderful episode!!!
I should probably say that I love the original Trek series more than just about anything. I grew up with it, I watched it every day (at 6:00 on Channel 11, WPIX in New York) for years, over and over again. I don't even remember a time when I didn't know all 79 episodes by heart. When I first heard that DS9 was going to do a Gump-esque trick with "Tribbles", one of my all- time favorite episodes, I was nervous. Sure, done right, it could be fantastic, a Trek tribute to end all Trek tributes. Done wrong.... well, it would be a dismal sequel to the atrocious "Generations" and the hopeless "Flashback." I started to get hopeful, tho, when I saw the "Making of..." special about "Trials..." on the Sci Fi channel. Hmm.. started to look pretty good. Then I saw the episode... and oh, my, is it good! Everything about this episode was done right -- the plot, the costumes, the sets, and, of course, the old lady herself, the original Enterprise.
Let me rhapsodize about the shots of the Enterprise for a while. They are glorious! She never looked so good before -- but model photography has come a long was in 30 years. And in "Trials", the Enterprise was simply gorgeous. From the first glimpse of her -- set to her music from the original series -- on, the shots of the ship were just amazing in their beauty. As it turns out, the original Enterprise design is just as beautiful as the movie versions of her -- she just needed better lighting. Everything was just right, down to all the writing and stripes, to the swirling, lighted front bubbles of the warp nacelles. It was as moving to see the Enterprise properly done up in this episode as it was to see her all gussied up in ST:TMP when I first saw that in the theater (and I was moved almost to tears then). Even if the rest of the episode was awful, it would have been worth it just to see the original Enterprise finally shot right. (K-7 and the Klingon ship looked nice, too.)
Happily, the rest of the episode wasn't awful. It was wonderfully written, flawlessly produced, and beautifully acted. The plot is perfect for the purpose of the episode: the crew has to go back and make sure history happens as it did the first time. This means they don't screw around with the original episode -- in fact, their job is to preserve it. But, it allows the DS9 crew to walk around the old ship and to watch bits of the old episode as they happen -- while trying to hunt down the assassin and his bomb. Using Arne Darvin as the key to the story was an inspired choice. I had actually always wondered whatever happened to him after he got back to the Empire -- and now we know. His desire to kill Kirk is also quite logical. Using a Bajoran Orb to get back into the past was a nice surprise, and also let them completely avoid any technobabble. With that kind of efficient set up, we are able to simply sit back and watch the fun.
To look for Darvin, Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, and Bashir go to the Enterprise; Worf and Odo go to K-7. And the sets are simply stunning. All the sets look EXACTLY like they did in the episode 30 years ago! Every color, every panel, every sign plate is exactly right. It's really quite amazing. Given how well we all know the original ship, we would have noticed any mistakes -- but I didn't notice any. Just spectacular. And think of all the things which had to be duplicated -- not just the sets, but the costumes, the hairstyles, the makeup, the props. And oh, the props. I loved the fact that the engineer who interrupted Miles and Julian had one of those old three-pronged engineering tools. Other crewmembers had the old pads, styluses, etc. And, of course, everyone had the old phasers, tricorders, and communicators. And I'm with Dax -- there's nothing like old 23rd century styling. For my money, no Trek props have ever been as cool as the old phaser, communicator and tricorder. Just seeing Sisko whip out his communicator (after an absent-minded slap of his chest) made my heart glad. There's just something.... I don't know- wonderful, cool, futuristic, adventurous, whatever -- about those old props that the new, molded beige plastic doodads of the TNG era just can't match.
With all that attention to detail, the new scenes blend seamlessly in with the old, and the Gump-style composite shots are likewise flawless. You really do believe that Dax is watching Kirk as he talks to Nilz Barris on the com panel in the hall, or that Julian and Miles are standing in the lineup, being dressed down by Kirk. Beautiful execution. It really is quite remarkable. And even better, they work within the context of the story.
The episode is also beautifully written, with lots of priceless comic moments. For me, the biggest laugh was when Worf was asked about the odd appearance of the Klingons -- "Yes, they are Klingons. And it is a long story." I loved it! I also think it was the perfect way to deal with the issue -- yes, they look different. No, I won't say why. OK! I also liked Odo asking Worf if Klingons still sing songs about the "Great Tribble Hunt"... Other great moments: O'Brien trying to figure out how to work the turbolift... the ominous shot of the bomb-laden tribble... Julian suddenly becoming convinced that he is his own great- grandfather... Julian asking Miles and Sisko why they were wearing the wrong color shirts (it still annoys me that they made that switch for TNG)... Quark leaning against his bar with a tribble on his head, mirroring the pose of the barkeeper in the TOS episode... Oh, hell, there's lots more. It was a very well written script.
It's also a very clever script. The framing device of the temporal investigators is really quite inspired. It lets the story hop around to the important bits easily. And it provides a lot of really quite funny moments. "The man was a menace." "Why do you people always say that?" Anyway, they were very snappy, Dragnet-esque scenes, and they were all acted perfectly. Plus, it lets us know a little bit more about Starfleet than we knew before (including that there's apparently a *lot* of time travel going on!).
One of the things that lets us, the audience, enjoy the episode so much is that the characters are as excited about seeing all these historical figures as we are -- especially Dax. As Terry Farrell said in the "making of" special, she's really standing in for all of us fans, just getting a thrill out of everything. And her excitement is contagious. And it's a nice moment at the end when Sisko goes back to meet Kirk, too. (Making Janeway now the only Captain who hasn't met him)
But, is all that nostalgia on the characters' parts really believable? Would they care as much about Kirk and his crew as we do? I think the answer is a big "yes!" After all, it was after Kirk's 5-year mission that all of Starfleet adopted the Enterprise chest symbol as the ubiquitous Starfleet emblem. Before that, each ship had its own unique emblem. So, Kirk is presumably important to the fleet. But some of you probably don't buy that... so here's some other things to remember: it was Kirk's encounter with Kor that led to the Organian Peace Treaty, which prevented war with the Klingons for decades -- and it was Kirk again who made a lasting peace possible (in ST VI). Kirk was the first Captain to encounter the Romulans after their long absence after the first Earth/Romulan war. It was Kirk who shaped the future of the mirror universe the DS9 crew has spent so much time in. It was Kirk's Enterprise that first discovered the feasibility of using a Starship to travel in time. For over 100 years, Kirk was the youngest person ever to achieve the rank of Captain. And, of course, in DS9 time, Kirk had only a year ago come back from the dead to save a planet from destruction by Soran. The point is, it's quite clear that Kirk would be a major figure in Starfleet history, and it's quite believable that the DS9 crew would be excited to meet him. The guy talked to Apollo! He's travelled outside the Galaxy! And to it's core! He's been split in two! Who wouldn't want to meet him? (apart from any crewman in a red shirt....)
Anyway, I don't really have anything critical to say. The episode was tremendously good -- a technical triumph to be sure, but also a good story told with tremendous wit. And it gave us the line "when he sat on that tribble, I thought for sure it would go off." Plus, we may now see some tribbles floating around the station. A wonderful 30th anniversary present to Trek and to the fans. And those shots of the Enterprise.......
I think I'm in the minority on this episode... I didn't hate it. I didn't even dislike it. To be sure, it wasn't great, and we ought to expect more from DS9, but "Threshold" or "Masks" or "The Muse" it wasn't. However, I do agree with a lot of others on the net on one point: it seems like bad timing to have yet another light episode right after "Trials..." and so soon after "Looking for Par'Mach..." Comedies are great, in moderation. TOS, after all, had only three out-and-out comedies in it's entire run -- but they were all quite memorable, and all quite good. ("The Trouble with Tribbles", "A Piece of the Action", and "I, Mudd") DS9 has done some great comedies too -- "Trials...", "Our Man Bashir", for example -- but a few go a long way.
Anyway... why did I moderately enjoy the episode, while so many others hated it? I think it all comes down to one thing: Worf. I have never much cared for Worf -- I always thought he was basically a big dumb jerk. Which, in a way, is fine -- nothing wrong with having a character who's a big dumb jerk. The problem I had with TNG was that Worf acted like a big dumb jerk, but everyone treated him and talked about him as if he were a great guy, and excellent officer, etc. While its true he was the most stand-offish of the TNG crew, everyone more-or-less liked him and got along with him. And no matter how many times he let pathetic aliens take over the Enterprise, and no matter how many times he couldn't hit someone with a phaser from 10 feet away (no wonder he prefers the Bat'telh), he was always regarded as a top-notch officer and great security chief. Balderdash. He's lucky he isn't mining ore somewhere....
On DS9, Worf continues to act basically like a big dumb jerk most of the time. The difference is, people actually notice it now. Even the writers notice it, and don't pretend that it isn't happening. Soon after Worf came aboard, he couldn't leave Odo to do his job, and kept sticking his nose in where it didn't belong, screwing things up. That's perfectly in keeping with Worf's character, and it got him into real trouble and made people angry with him. Which is appropriate. In "The Ship", Worf's inability to keep his opinions to himself led to believable friction with the rest of the crew (and the coda to the episode let him prove he's not a total waste of protoplasm). In TNG, in the last season, when Worf and Deanna set their sights on eachother, everyone -- eventually even including Riker -- just thought it was a peachy idea. On DS9, now that Jadzia and Worf are an item, the rest of the crew, understandably, ask Jadzia, why in heaven's name are you going out with this guy? That's a sensible question given the way Worf behaves. (Jadzia's answer, about him having a warrior's courage and a poet's soul, or something like that, just shows the power of love...)
Therefore, when Worf behaves like a total lout on Risa in "Let He...", I find it totally believable and completely in keeping with who Worf is. Of course he's going to object to the idea of a pleasure planet. Of course he's not going to "let his hair down." And, yes, of course he's going to get sucked in by the Essentialists. Worf, after all, feels guilty for having a mattress and pillow on his bed, unlike what he would have on more Spartan Klingon ships -- of course he'll find the Essentialists' arguments compelling. Paranoia and over-preparedness for combat are Worf's calling cards, after all. The question is, is it believable that Worf, a by-the-book Starfleet officer, would jury-rig an uplink and disrupt Risa's weather systems. That's a tough question... but it is worth noting that Worf is not, in fact, always by-the-book. In several instances -- notably skewering Duras like a shishkabob -- Worf violated Starfleet rules in order to satisfy his honor. So, given that Worf could rationalize that no one would be harmed by his actions, given that Worf is rather self-righteous, and given that he was repressing what his feelings were really about, I find it at least plausible that Worf would engage in this sabotage. (But would his actions place his career in danger? probably not. The Essentialists had already noted that the Risans were extremely unlikely to prosecute anyone for the mock-invasion; it is likely the same thing would apply to the weather-mucking.)
Now let me backtrack and talk about the rest of the episode... I thought the teaser verged on being unpleasantly smirky about Dax's sex life, but didn't quite get there, and was mostly enjoyable. It also gave us another nice little Worfism -- "Do not hug me." Come on, you gotta love that! It was also nice to see Odo adjusting well to being a solid, having coffee with the others. (However, isn't Odo supposed to have breakfast with Garak? Perhaps they've discontinued that practice while Garak is in the pokey...) Worf's growing exasperation up through the runabout trip was also fun, as was Dax enjoying Worf's exasperation.
Which brings us to Risa... What to make of Risa? As luck would have it, our local Trek station just repeated "Captain's Holiday" this week, and I must say, Risa makes a much more convincing pleasure planet when it's not just two sets in a studio. The locations really make it come alive, turning Risa into a quite convincing holiday planet. Of course, it's still basically Riker's fantasy world, which really isn't necessarily a good thing. Having an actual speaking character who is a Risan (Vanessa Williams' character) is a good move tho, turning the natives into more than just the objects of other people's fantasies. (it was also a nice nod to continuity to mention hoverball, a game in evidence in "Captain's Holiday.")
Amid all the luxury and loveliness, tho, lies a snake in the grass... (just trying to go with the theme of Biblical references from the title, I spose...) The Essentialists. They are essentially a 24th century Moral Majority, with a slightly loony Jerry Falwell/Pat Robertson as a leader. Their concern is the moral rectitude of the Federation, and the possibility that "moral laxness" might lead to the Federation being susceptible to attack from one of their enemies -- Borg, Dominion, whatever. (apparently, they saw a trailer for "First Contact.") This is a rare indication that in the 24th century, there is not universal agreement about values and priorities, and as such is potentially interesting. But, in the end, the story of the Essentialists doesn't really add up to much, and we don't really learn much about what Federation life is like for non-Starfleet personnel. How common are such beliefs? Are there other groups like these? We don't really know... But, at least, in keeping with Trek's optimistic outlook, other people viewed the Essentialists with tolerance and respect, and didn't try to disrupt their rallies and meetings.
As I said, I think that Worf siding with the Essentialists is essentially (ha!) in character. That doesn't mean it's really riveting drama, tho, and the scenes of Worf's conversations with the group aren't particularly interesting. The Essentialists' leader's later transformation into a Really Evil Guy, turning off the tectonic stabilizers, feels like a TV plot device, not particularly convincing characterization. Thus, the conclusion to that element of the story isn't really satisfying -- the Essentialists stop being a threat not because anyone offers a sharply reasoned response to their assertions, but because their leader is a loony. That doesn't deal with the true source of the conflict -- but then again, I don't really think the episode is all that interested in those issues.
One thing I thought was truly commendable about the episode, however, is the scene in which Dax pushes Worf to talk about why he is such a control freak. Worf finally relents, and tells a quite interesting, moving, and revelatory story from his childhood -- Worf accidentally killed a kid playing soccer, because he has a thick head (literally). This breaks a very bad habit Trek had gotten into in TNG, in which nothing was ever revealed about a character's past that we didn't already know. If Picard was going to talk about some crucial event in his past, it was a safe bet it would be the loss of the Stargazer, Jack Crusher's death, or getting stabbed through the heart -- all events first mentioned in the first couple seasons. Each event was revisited in various ways over and over again over the next 6 or 7 years, instead of the writers telling us new things about Picard's past. And on DS9, how many times have we heard about Julian's ganglionic med-school mistake? The point is, the Trek writers have a bad habit of continually revisiting known history instead of inventing new history. Here, they invent new history for Worf which actually sheds light on his character, and makes perfect sense! When viewed in Trek context, this is quite a remarkable breakthrough! I applaud it wholeheartedly.
There is also a bit of a "C" story in this episode (assuming that in some way or another, the Worf/Dax story and the Essentialists' story are the A and B stories), which is about Julian and Leeta breaking up. This doesn't really have any emotional weight, as we really didn't see them developing their relationship, so it's dissolution is hardly heart-rending. However, it does set up a great moment, in which Leeta reveals that she has a bit of a crush on Rom. Julian and Quark's reactions were quite funny. (I also like the idea of Leeta and Rom as a couple... It's an appealingly odd match.) In any event, this story takes up very little screen time, which is just as well.
Other random thoughts... did anyone else notice that there was a scene in the trailer for this episode that didn't make it to the final cut? In the trailer, there was a scene of a significantly more naked Leeta than appeared in the episode... The way Worf threw the Essentialist against the wall should logically have stood a good chance of breaking his back, making it a very odd follow up to Worf's revelation to Dax... Is it really a good policy for Starfleet to let officers take fleet ships for vacations? Shouldn't this kind of trip be made on a private vessel? It'd be hard to explain that an extra runabout wasn't available to ferry victims of some natural disaster because some officers were in desperate need of some jamaharon... Terry Farrell must have hated the bathing-suit scenes, given all the extra spot-painting required... we learned a bit more about Ferengi culture -- dozens of words for rain (160 something, I believe), and no word for "crisp"...
In sum: an inconsequential episode, but not an awful one. Worf continues to act like a butt-head, but at least people notice. Nice use of locations makes Risa almost look appealing. And... well, that's about it.
forthcoming
This episode puts the Quark/Odo relationship into the spotlight more than possibly any other of the series, and your reaction to it probably depends pretty heavily on how you enjoy Quark/Odo scenes. I happen to like them a lot, so I enjoyed this hour -- even though the story is such a standard TV script that it essentially writes itself.
The Quark/Odo relationship has been one of the most interesting ones throughout the course of the series. If I recall properly what I've read in countless sci-fi magazines etc. about the beginning of the series, Quark was originally going to be butting heads with Sisko a lot, and there was to be an emphasis on their clash of world views -- and you can see that still in "The Emissary." But it soon became obvious that Quark and Odo had a nice Spock & McCoy-like chemistry between them, and that's the dynamic that's been explored since. Their relationship is interesting because it has, in fact, changed a lot over time. In the beginning, the two were more clearly adversarial, and Odo's quest to put Quark in jail was quite seriously pursued. Of course, it's also true that Quark used to partake in more serious crimes than he's tended to lately. Anyway, in the beginning, the cop/criminal aspect of the relationship was strongest, with a much less pronounced emphasis on any possible interdependence or friendship.
As the series has progressed, their antagonism has become more surface-level, and their unspoken friendship has grown stronger. This was most clearly demonstrated when Odo had extra soundproofing installed in his floor so as not to annoy Quark so much with his shapeshifting. It was a nice scene, well handled, with neither of the two admitting that they were friends, at least openly. There's been fairly little recently of any real attempt by Odo to put Quark away. This is also probably due, in part, to the fact that Quark is becoming ever less Ferengi-like, and has, so far as we can tell, been engaging in less criminal activity.
Which brings us back to "The Ascent." Odo gloatingly informs Quark that he's finally going away for his crimes; Odo has been ordered to escort him to a Grand Jury hearing. Some of these scenes don't seem to ring true with the current state of the Odo/Quark dynamic -- why, at this stage in the game, would Odo be so happy to see Quark finally go to jail? Is Quark really still his nemesis? Later, we find out that Odo didn't actually know why Quark was commanded to appear before the grand jury -- thus, his previous bluster was presumably a ruse to get Quark to talk, and confess everything to Odo. At any rate, their Runabout trip is a quite tension-filled one, until it gets worse.
A bomb has been planted on the Runabout. The scenes leading up to this revelation are quite good -- I enjoyed Odo mocking Quark about the buzzing sounds. The shift in tone from humorous to suspenseful is handled quite nicely, too, and the bomb disposal and detonation is carried off with a merciful minimum of technobabble. (However, early in the scene, it's quite obvious that it's very difficult for Rene Auberjonois to eat soup with all that latex on his face) After the detonation, the Runabout crash-lands on a barely inhabitable world, and is badly damaged.
It's here that, if one owned a cliche-meter, it would start ringing off the scale. The communications system, of course, doesn't work. The food, of course, is destroyed in the explosion, as are all the survival suits but one. The writers, though, seem to be aware that all of these are cliches, and Quark and Odo soon recite the phrase "destroyed in the explosion" in unison. To get off the planet, they must lug a subspace transmitter up to the peak of the mountain they have landed near and broadcast from there. From there on, most of the scenes are just various kinds of banter between Odo and Quark. If you like this kind of thing, and I do, it's good stuff. If not, I imagine the episode wouldn't be a whole lot of fun.
The most important revelation is that Quark is not, in fact, a suspect, but a witness for the Grand Jury against the Orion Syndicate. It's an interesting turn of events, and puts Odo on the defensive -- he's misjudged the entire situation. The most biting exchanges between the two come when Odo tells Quark that he's nothing but a two-bit hood, a nothing criminal -- and Quark retorts that this means that Odo has spent his entire career unsuccessfully trying to bring down a failure. It's a nice moment, and it's well done.
Again, after this, the story writes itself -- at least if you've ever watched TV before. Quark and Odo get in a fistfight, and Odo ends up with a broken leg. He tells Quark to leave him behind, Quark refuses. Quark eventually gives up, saying he can't go on, and Odo shames him into going on despite himself. Quark eventually gets to the top, and both are saved. All of this is quite predictable. However, at least these cliches are executed with some flair -- when Odo tells Quark to leave him behind, Quark refuses, saying that he might need Odo for food later. It's a great line, and a great way to make a cliche bearable -- and it's miles better than any of the countless "save yourself!" "no! I won't leave you behind!" exchanges in Voyager's "The Chute".
At the end of the episode, Quark and Odo are lying in adjacent beds in sickbay, recuperating. Each tells the other that he still hates him, and then they both laugh. Again, this is a bit of a cliche, but I think it works. What makes it different from the exchange about the soundproofing in the other episode is that more-overt acceptance of their friendship. After saying "I still hate you," they both laugh out loud, in eachother's presence -- thus, they are not even bothering to try to pretend that is true anymore. And that's a nice development in their relationship.
There's also a B-story in the episode dealing with Jake and Nog moving in together. I think this field study idea is a very clever way to get Nog back on the station for a while, while still being a Starfleet cadet. And Jake's desire to move out on his own is certainly believable. This story, too, is fairly cliche-ridden, and is also quite predictable. But it's not unendurable, and the changes in Nog are interesting. The resolution to Jake and Nog's conflict is a bit flat and anticlimactic, though. The scene with Rom and Sisko speaking as equals, as parents, was very nicely handled, I thought, and shows Rom with a bit of a backbone.
So, summing up: not a surprising or innovative story, but an interesting one, at least for fans of Quark and Odo. It plays on DS9's greatest strength: it's characters. The location shooting is very well executed, and the scenery is gorgeous.
Rapture
An involving, thought-provoking episode, quite unlike any other Trek episode I can recall. This episode hits on all the things that made DS9 great right from the start -- Bajoran culture & politics, the tensions between Starfleet and Bajor, Ben Sisko (The Emissary) and his family -- all of that is front and center as it hasn't been in a long while. (Not, mind you, that I'm saying that the Dominion stuff is terrible and was just added in later seasons -- it's important to remember that the Dominion was first mentioned, as I recall, in the first season. But it's undeniably true that Bajor stories have been less numerous over the past couple years.)
The story begins with the return to Bajor from Cardassia of a famous, very old painting of the legendary city of B'Hala. Sisko has managed to get ahold of it for a few hours to examine (sometimes it's good to be the Emissary), and becomes intrigued by it, certain that the pillar in the center of the town is the secret to B'Hala's location. He works on a holo-representation of the pillar late into the night, until he is interrupted by Quark. While saving the program, Sisko is given a strong shock by a computer malfunction, landing him in the infirmary. Julian informs him that no permanent damage was done, but due to increased synaptic potentials, all of his senses will be heightened for a period of time. Julian tells him to "enjoy the show".
But the shock has done more than merely heightened Sisko's senses -- it has changed him in some way that we don't quite understand. He becomes even more obsessed with the pillar from B'Hala, spending hours on the holodeck trying to unravel it's mysteries. In the middle of all this, a message from Starfleet arrives -- Bajor's application for admittance to the Federation has been approved. While the station celebrates, Sisko spends more time in the holosuite. Kira visits him in the holosuite, breaking Sisko's reverie -- he has had a vision, not only of the past, but of the present and the future -- and the pattern that binds it all together. But now it is gone. Kira believes this is a spiritual vision, a gift of the prophets -- after all, he is the Emissary. Kai Winn arrives on station, and as always, she has her doubts -- about Sisko being the Emissary, and about Bajor joining the federation. She is still convinced joining the federation will be irrevocably harmful to Bajor.
As if this weren't enough, Kassidy Yates returns to the station from prison. Her return is the one part of the episode that falls a bit flat. When she enters the holosuite, Sisko has almost no reaction to her. This is probably due to the fact that he is in a sort of fugue, but it is never really explored later. He seems to merely accept her presence, is kind of happy she's there -- and that's it. No discussion of her betrayal, her imprisonment -- nothing. Hopefully, this will come later. At any rate, Sisko believes he knows where B'Hala is, and, with Kassidy by his side, he uncovers it.
This discovery has a number of effects. Fist, it is further confirmation to many Bajorans that Sisko is, indeed, the Emissary, that he's been touched by the prophets. It also draws Sisko deeper into his visions, and thus elicits great concern from Starfleet command. As we know, Starfleet has never been keen on the idea of Sisko being a Bajoran religious figure, and this is simply making that situation worse. Further, Sisko is beginning to act in ways quite inappropriate for a Starfleet officer -- not only was he not aboard DS9 when the Admiral showed up, but he didn't even respond to his communications. But given Sisko's apparent completion of his primary mission, to get Bajor into the Federation, the Admiral is willing to let this slide -- with the (quite reasonable) proviso that Sisko must get a thorough checkup from Julian.
It's at Sisko's checkup that the stakes really get raised even higher. As Sisko makes his way to Julian's office, he stops to make predictions about people's lives as he passes by, apparently having prophetic visions. Then, he is seized by another of his ever-intensifying headaches. Julian's checkup yields a grim prognosis: if Sisko's condition continues unabated, it will likely kill him. But if he is treated, his visions will cease.
This is a dilemma with very real stakes and a believable setup. It's also a pass at the theme of faith vs. rationality that Voyager mangled so badly (and I mean really, really badly) in "Sacred Ground." Unlike that hamfisted episode, the dilemma here is believable and has real emotional depth to it. We can feel Sisko's desire, his obsession, to continue his quest, to find the Answer, to figure it all out. After all, he's a Starfleet officer -- his entire career has been guided by trying to explore, to expand his & mankind's understanding. Now, he feels he's on the verge of understanding everything -- and he wants to finish. But his family and friends have a different agenda -- they don't want to see him die. And that makes a whole lot of sense. They don't really know what to make of his visions -- after all, they can't see them, and they're not sure what's going on inside his brain. What they do know is that he'll soon die without medical help.
The scenes which follow play out this dilemma nicely. Sisko's conversation with Jake feels right -- Jake's concern is well played, and Ben gives an explanation for his risk taking that allows us to believe that he would take this risk, even though it could separate him from his son. By tying his desire to finish out his visions to his feelings for Jake, the writers allow us to see that his desire really is in character -- to some degree, at least. What doesn't make perfect sense, though, is Kassidy's presence in the discussion -- I'm still thrown off by the lack of a scene dealing with her crimes. What's possibly more interesting is Kai Winn's reaction to all of these developments. She is forced, by her beliefs, to accept that Sisko truly is the Emissary -- something she had never believed before. She is suddenly confronted with the possibility that her actions for the past several years were wrongheaded, that she may have been thwarting the will of the prophets. For someone with her sense of conviction, this is a devastating blow. Further, she must now try to repair her antagonistic relationship with Sisko. This promises all kinds of interesting possibilities ahead.
Sisko seeks Kai Winn's help, asking her to allow him access to the Orb of Prophecy. She complies. This provokes one of the more memorable lines in the episode, when Jake asks, incredulously, "Since when do you trust *her*?" (Though he gets points off for tact for blurting that out in front of Winn) Sisko goes into an orb trance, and continues his vision -- even though he is rapidly growing weaker. In the meantime, the ceremony welcoming Bajor officially into the Federation begins. But Sisko interrupts, fresh from his vision, insisting that Bajor must not join the Federation -- it would be consumed. He then collapses. Can this guy make a dramatic entrance or what?
In sickbay, the central dilemma reaches a head. Sisko will die unless Julian operates -- but Sisko has said he doesn't want the operation. Thus, it falls to Jake, who can make the decision for his incapacitated father. It's a touching scene, and even though we know what the outcome will be, we can still feel the weight of the decision. In the end, Jake just can't bear the possibility of losing his father. This is most definitely the same Jake we saw in "The Visitor", still deeply attached to his father, unable to bear losing him as he did his mother. Thus, he asks Julian to perform the operation. We can also feel Kira's conflicting emotions -- as a devout Bajoran, she wants Sisko to complete his vision -- but she also doesn't want her commanding officer and friend to die. This conflict is played out again in her discussion of the choice with Winn.
Her talk with Winn also leads to one of the most interesting exchanges of an episode full of them. Kira hints that she believes Winn lacks courage. Winn strikes back hard, telling of her time in a Cardassian prison camp, and how she had no weapons to fight back with, as the Resistance did. This gives Winn added depth and strength that we hadn't seen before, and shuts up Kira, and us, mighty quick. As Winn says, suddenly everything is grey, and the path is not so clear. I'm really looking forward to seeing how all this plays out over time.
Back in sickbay, Sisko wakes up, and realizes his visions are gone -- and we can see and feel his agony at having come so close to understanding, only to have it snatched away. It's a wrenching moment. But, as Kassidy reminds him, he's held on to something, too -- his family.
There's really just an awful lot that's good about this episode. All the characterizations rings true, which is especially impressive given all the changes that characters go through as the episode progresses. Winn changes from an enemy to a possible ally, with hitherto unseen complexities -- but I still wouldn't trust her an inch. Sisko seems to be embracing his role in Bajoran culture ever more -- perhaps his vision of Kai Opaka in a previous episode was correct when she said that he was "of Bajor". And the relationship between Ben and Jake works exactly right, and feels rooted in everything that's happened to them since the first episode -- as does Kira's relationship to Sisko. And we finally get a little movement on the question of Bajor's admittance into the Federation -- although it's an unexpected twist. Also, this episode portends all kinds of interesting events in the future -- the coming war with the Dominion, Bajor's eventual entrance into the Federation. Now that's a good episode -- mining story & characterization from the past, telling a thoughtful, surprising story, and setting up what's to come. Not half bad. Also, this outing gets bonus points for showing us a Starfleet Admiral who's basically a sympathetic character. Usually in later-day Trek, Admirals have tended to be lunatics or fascists -- odd for a supposedly utopian society.
My one major ambivalence about the episode comes in the debate of rationality vs. faith. Again, I think the question is set up nicely, everyone's positions make perfect sense (even Worf, who, after all, did believe [for a while, anyway] that K'ahless had come back from the dead -- he does believe in faith). My problem -- and it's not a huge one -- is that there isn't much to hang the hat of rationality on. All we have by way of a scientific explanation for Sisko's visions are his "increased synaptic potentials" -- but can that really explain everything? It's a bit thin. A further explanation, not presented, but certainly reasonable, is that Sisko's heightened consciousness made him receptive to thoughts or transmissions from the wormhole aliens, who, after all, don't obey our conception of time, and thus could fill him in on the past, present, and future. If someone had at least suggested that possibility, I'd have felt better. But, if we add this possibility in, then I'm perfectly happy with the episode.
So, to sum up: an original, risk-taking episode that mines the series' history and characters to provide a surprising, compelling hour. Great acting all around helps it go down even easier. Only a bland re-introduction of Kassidy and a slightly thin scientific cover story detract. A keeper.
The Darkness and the Light
For the second week in a row, DS9 returns to the fertile soil of Bajor for its story, this time exploring the Cardassian occupation and the Bajoran resistance. This is done within the context of a fairly nifty mystery/suspense story, which suffers only from having a resolution which isn't as interesting, or well plotted, as the buildup.
The teaser for this episode is one of the most unusual in all of Trek -- none of the main, or recurring, characters appear, and there's no real dialogue. What we see instead is a Bajoran religious ritual interrupted by a bizarre murder. This is a quite effective teaser, getting us interested in what's going on, and effectively setting the mood for the piece. Plus, it's just damn well directed, as is the whole episode.
What we soon discover is that the victim was once a member of the Shakaar resistance cell -- Kira's cell. Kira is at first willing to believe it was a retribution meant specifically for the cleric -- until she receives a message saying "That's one." It soon becomes clear that someone is trying to wipe out Kira's old friends, and taunt her at the same time. This is a pretty good story. Even though there's no real fear that Kira will die, there is still a believable tone of suspense, as we don't know how many of her friends may die -- or how. Further, we don't really know why this is happening. The sense of foreboding and paranoia is effectively carried through in both the writing and the directing.
Kira tries to save a Bajoran woman who supplied information to the resistance by sending Dax and Worf to pick her up and ferry her to the station. This provides a space for some Worf/Dax banter which is actually pretty good -- Worf's line "I am a graduate of Starfleet Academy -- I know many things" was great. (Though, if I were in full nitpick mode, I would be forced to point out that Worf's having gone to Starfleet Academy is no explanation for how he knows about the Rules of Acquisition. In "The Last Outpost" on TNG, it was established that the Federation at that point knew almost nothing about the Ferengi -- not even what they looked like. However, this seems to have been contradicted by an awful lot of stuff which came later.... well, good thing I'm not in full nitpick mode, or I'd try to sort it all out.) As good as the banter is, there's an undercurrent of palpable tension to the scene -- one has a feeling that something is going to go terribly wrong. And so it does, and the Bajoran woman is killed in the most graphic, gruesome transporter accident since ST:TMP. (and at least this accident makes some sense and fits into the story.)
Odo explains that this was no accident; a sabotage device was likely planted on the victim herself, surreptitiously, causing the accident. However, such a device would require extensive knowledge of Federation security protocols and tremendous technical know-how, as would the messages Kira is receiving. Kira's frustration is clearly mounting, as she feels helpless to do anything to help her friends -- not a situation she likes to be in. Two former members of the Shakaar group show up on the station -- Furel and Lupeza. Like Kira, they are deeply worried about the killings -- and they want to stop whoever is doing it -- and they want to do it themselves. This causes some friction, as Kira, having served on the station for years, is inclined to let Security handle it -- or at least, so she says. At any rate, Furel and Lupeza soon fall victim to the killer, as an explosion rips through the O'Brien's quarters.
What follows are some tremendously effective scenes -- Kira rushes down to the scene of the accident, decking the many hapless security guards who try to stop her. Perhaps the first pregnant action hero? Anyway, it's a great, emotional scene, which ends with Kira collapsing in pain -- she has suffered some tearing of the placenta. She wakes up in sick bay. Odo comes in, and has to tell her the bad news that both of her friends are dead -- killed by a sophisticated bomb, which sought out its victims by visually scanning the occupants of all the rooms on the habitat ring. Again, a highly technical little gadget. Kira tells the story of how she came to join the resistance, of how Shakaar and the others took her in, of her first raid, and how Lupeza made her earring with metal from the Cardassian ship they attacked. It's a great moment, in which we learn a lot about Kira, not only from what she says, but how she says it. We can see both her pride in taking part in the resistance, and her sadness for the childhood she never had -- and her deep connection to the other members of her cell. It's a tremendous performance, and a really good scene.
Odo informs Kira that he's gotten a list of possible suspects from some Cardassian contacts -- but he resists giving it to her, as he's worried that she'll go after them herself. This is, of course, exactly what she does -- stealing the data from Odo's office and then wiping it out. She then steals a Runabout, and goes after the suspects.
It's here that things stop working quite so well. The crimes so far were so complicated, so intimate, and so well carried out, that the possibilities were numerous, and many of them quite troubling. Given all the technical know-how, knowledge of federation security, etc, could it be someone from the Federation? Someone from the station? Could it be someone else from the cell? The killer certainly knows an awful lot about them. But, more generally -- the presentation of the killings was so well done, so interesting, that it cried out for a killer, and a motive, that is equally interesting. That, however, is not to be.
But I'm getting ahead of myself a bit. When Kira steals the ship, she says, in a voiceover, that she has "eliminated" three of the 24 suspects, and is now heading to talk to the fourth on the list. Now, the first time I watched this, I thought this meant that Kira had been able to eliminate three right off the bat, without even talking to them, and thus she found the killer on her first try. The second time I watched it, I realized that maybe they meant she'd already visited the first three suspects and decided they were clean. In either event, she's awfully lucky to find the killer after so few attempts -- maybe she has one of those luck-generating machines from "Rivals". If the second option is true, and she has visited three other suspects in person, I'd really like to have seen how that went -- an armed Bajoran beaming into the living room of a Cardassian with reason to hate her, for the purpose of interrogation? A most volatile situation, and if she got through three other visits without gunfire, she's probably lucky.
Be that as it may, on this attempt, Kira finds her quarry. She is quickly captured by the killer -- a Cardassian named Silarin Prin. Prin, it turns out, was, essentially, a butler to a Gul living on Bajor. The Shakaar cell carried out a raid on the Gul's residence, and Kira planted a bomb which took out most of the house -- leaving Prin scarred and bitter. Prin has never been able to get over having been, in his opinion, an innocent victim of terrorism. He wasn't the one killing Bajorans, so why was he hurt? And how could his attackers live with themselves? So, Prin decided to make the attackers pay -- but he wanted to make sure that he killed only the people he was targeting, no bystanders. Thus, he could feel moral superiority over his victims. Thus, he plans to perform a C-section on Kira, so that her death will not leave to the death of the baby.
Now, this isn't a bad motivation for a killer -- it certainly explains all of his actions. But it's just not really very surprising, or, in some ways, interesting. It also means that the story as a whole really isn't a mystery -- there's no way for the viewer to guess who the killer is until we meet him. And this killer just isn't as interesting as the set-up was over the first 45 minutes of the show.
The other problem with Prin as the killer is that it's not at all clear how he fits the profile developed over the course of the killings. Specifically, the vast technical knowledge and knowledge of Federation security. If Prin was just a butler, how does he come to have such vast, specific knowledge? This question is never addressed. I also don't understand how he knew so much about the Shakaar cell -- he knew exactly what role each member played in the raid on his old home, and he even knew about the woman who wasn't an official member of the cell. How? These questions further detract from the resolution of the story.
There are some interesting moral questions raised by Prin, however. What about the civilian casualties of the resistance? Does Kira completely believe her response, that they were just as guilty as anyone? Obviously, locked down in Prin's torture device, she's not going to say anything else. But what would she say upon further reflection? It would have been nice to have had a conversation between, say, Kira and Odo later on, to allow her to talk about her feelings in another setting. But we don't get that. There's only time left at the end for Kira to make a somewhat oblique, allegorical statement, which isn't as powerful as it would need to be to make a satisfying final statement to the story.
Another slight problem with the story is the complete absence of Shakaar himself. This is his cell being killed off, and yet he is nowhere to be found. I thought that was odd -- and perhaps detracts from the story.
So, there's a lot that's good about "The Darkness and the Light". It has a very nice mood of dread an paranoia, a great setup to a murder mystery, and some effectively presented grisly murders. There are some wonderful character moments with Kira, and there are some interesting questions asked about justice and war. And, the whole thing is directed beautifully. However, the script falters in the end, and the resolution has too many problems and answers too few questions. Well worth the time it takes to watch, but it doesn't, in the end, achieve greatness.