Comment Stream

Re: DS9 S6: Favor the Bold

I guess I'm going to have to rewatch this one, because I was completely bored, and I know I'm in the minority.
I found myself distracted, thinking of other things, letting it play in the background. The whole episode seemed like a checklist of really awesome things that were presented in the dullest fashion.
I thought Odo was out of character: this is a guy who's disciplined, I really don't think he'd lose track of three days (or even three minutes). As far as Nog goes, when is someone going to flush him out an airlock? At the very least Sisko should tell him to speak only when spoken to.
I am thrilled to see Jeffrey Combs (and I probably would be thrilled to see him doing infomercials on late night cable TV). I think this is one of the highlights of his acting career. A great actor amongst many great actors.
On another positive note, I'm really loving major Kira, I just feel like I can relate to her so well. I also thought Leeta's reaction was totally appropriate.

[Note - edited to avoid spoilers.]

Re: DS9 S6: Rocks and Shoals

These episodes are so good, the last few and onward. I'm not commenting a lot since I'm doing a rewatch. But a few thoughts... It's nice to see that all of my favorite characters are around, now. Funny how none of them except Odo are in the opening credits.
Given Odo's 'god' status, I think he could rule the station. He's smart enough not to pull that card...maybe he will?
Jake on the station would be a prisoner of war. I think the Cardassians aren't terrified of the Dominion (though they should be), I wouldn't be surprised to see Jake being tortured to death eventually. (If it were my kid, I'd have gone back, AND put his butt in the brig for a while. I hope Sisko has a 'come to Jesus' meeting with him soon, if either survive.)
Finally, wtf is Cadet Nog doing on such a grave mission? For that matter, why Sisko? Is he that unpopular at SF Command? I'd think Worf, maybe O'Brien or Dax, but Nog has had, what, a semester at the academy? No reason he shouldn't be treated like a minor, which he is, not an officer on a potential suicide mission.
Bashir (especially in previous episode) didn't come off as developed to me - more like a different character, trying to act like a tough guy on the bridge instead of in sickbay. And the whole surprise genius stuff never seemed to work.
I am happy to be in season 6 & will give no spoilers, but it's immense television.

Re: DS9 S5: Soldiers of the Empire

I found this to be an ultimately unsatisfying episode; that's a real let-down for me because Martok is one of my favorite characters. Usually he brings out the best in Worf. I think the pacing was very bad. It was genuinely boring. You can show a dispirited crew (who may be bored themselves) without boring the audience. And Dax, once again, didn't really add anything. It could have redeemed itself with a hardcore battle with the Jem Hadar, but that was completely omitted, and relegated to a footnote. Overall the episode felt unfinished - an interesting setup with no juice.

Re: DS9 S5: The Begotten

VOMIT! Was this an entry in a cliche contest? Predictable tripe, void of imagination and heart. The Bajoran sadist was totally offensive as the toxic father; I waited much of the episode for Odo to kill him.

Re: DS9 S5: Doctor Bashir, I Presume

Really sorry I wasted my time with this one. A plot based on a contrivance right out of an American sitcom. They should have named this one Dead on Arrival.

Re: VOY S3: Worst Case Scenario

@Lupe

As an engineer would say, "it depends..."

But seriously, holodecks are one of those highly theoretical aspects of Trek that I just overlook for a great story. (Sorry to say, but I haven't seen many great or even good stories on VOY - just my opinion).

Re: DS9 S5: By Inferno's Light

Enjoyable two-parter, I won't repeat the many excellent comments that have been made. The show's had some continuity issues - did they re-order these for the DVD release? I hope so. A big dominion episode without Odo seems lazy. And I always get the impression that the last ten minutes are written in a one day rush (typical Hollywood). I really like Martok and agree that Klingons have been fairly boring and one-note most of the time - but Martok is an excellent character, with depth and credibility. He definitely helps Worf (who I like, despite his lack of good scripts) become a better part of the show.

Re: DS9 S5: Things Past

Depressing. Just can't think of much to say about this episode. Odo's had a hard life for a long time; he doesn't need more punishment. I just found it pointless, I guess in the way some people find holodeck episodes completely pointless. And just really depressing. Waste of my time.

Re: DS9 S5: Nor the Battle to the Strong

Okay, first, if anyone should have been court martialed, Bashir deserved it. Bashir reminds me of a real doctor more all the time, and I've known plenty.

I almost didn't rewatch this one, as I just rewatched Shattered Mirror and was bored to death. This makes up for it. All I wanted to do as a teenager was be a writer and I relate to Jake on that level.

The relationship between Jake and his father is a good illustration of the difference having your father involved in your upbringing (especially in teaching a boy to be a man), versus say, Wesley Crusher who never seems to rise above the status of boy-man and is widely despised.

I couldn't figure out where Worf, Kira and O'Brien were on this in this episode. I guess the Major and Miles running the station and Worf was just hanging out somewhere - away from Klingons.

We've all had our battles and we can all identify with Jake. Retreating in fear is part of the human experience, and that universality is an excellent theme for a science fiction story. I particularly liked the scene with Jake alone with the dying soldier. I never forget that scene. "I want to go out looking at the sky."

Re: DS9 S4: Shattered Mirror

@ Todd F.
I agree wholeheartedly that having Smiley pose as O'Brien would have made Hard Time a much better episode. The chief is too often made to look like a sucker, imo. It would have been perfect to have everyone see Miles acting even more weird after his punishment.

@Jammer
Forgot to mention, great review! I don't always love your reviews but this was really wonderful. I especially appreciated your comments about the Garak - Worf interaction, which was both bizarre, frightening and hilarious.

Re: DS9 S4: Shattered Mirror

I watched this because I wanted to watch all of DS9's MU episodes (which I mostly forgot I watched, haha). I found the return of Jennifer to be very soapy and boring. Captain Sisko seemed very passive and should have had a big sit-down talk with his son right away instead of just throwing up his hands and saying, okay go have fun with her. Any family dynamics involving the reunited Sisko's should have a lot of gravity - instead this episode takes it far too lightly. Also Captain Sisko is a loving and dedicated parent and would do everything he could to minimize risk to Jake. If someone kidnapped my son, I would probably have to kill them. Dead spouse or not.

Deep Space Nine's writers don't seem to be putting their best work into these MU episodes. As a writer myself, this is the kind of stuff that I think up on the bus or wherever, enjoy thinking about it and then realize that it's not worth my time to write.

I turned the episode off about halfway through and picked up a few days later. I found it so boring that I watched it in four parts. Boring and tasteless. I didn't feel like mining Sisko's personal life for a good action story was particularly appropriate.

Definitely a big who cares for me. Starting to suspect that Terry Farrell had some major limits put into her acting contract, making the character inflexible and hard to write for. (I'd expect a mirror version of Dax to be tawdry and underdressed.)

One glaring error I found is that in an earlier MU episode Smiley seemed like an uneducated handyman and wasn't interested in Bashir's encouragement. Yet a couple of seasons later he's just become a ballsy version of O'Brien.

Re: DS9 S5: Looking for Par'mach in All the Wrong Places

Hilarious episode, I forgot how much I liked this one. I love when Sisko chimes in on Worf conversations. And the opera scene on the Defiant was a joy. Worf is such an underused character - I'm glad an overused character like Quark did not dominate the story. (And sorry but I think Miles missed out on an epic threesome arrangement. The writers really seem to hate O'Brien.)

Re: DS9 S5: Let He Who Is Without Sin...

I'm surprised to see people are still commenting on this episode! I finally finished it - out of curiosity more than anything. What a lousy, lousy script. I really don't think that Worf is stupid enough to fall for all the puritanical preaching and (should have) sacrifice his career. But they go to great lengths to make him one dimensional (and, I suppose apathetic).

Based on the tasteless gossiping at the beginning of the episode, it sounds like Worf and Dax have been having a pretty wild time in bed. If he's still grumpy after all that, Dax should realize that there's just no hope for him. (And she should buy more than one swimsuit, yech.) Probably the most boring couple since Data and his girlfriend.

Re: DS9 S5: Let He Who Is Without Sin...

I'm skipping over some of the fluff episodes during my rewatch; I don't really remember watching this one although I'm sure I did. I would have skipped it had it not been for Jammer's review - and indeed it was laughably abysmal. I made it about halfway through and then Julian was there in that awful outfit again and, I just couldn't...

I never found Dax / Farrell interesting at all, arrogance is just so unattractive. But the swimsuit made her at least show off her best attributes. Why couldn't they make a happy episode about Risa where everyone has fun and Worf (who reminds me of the quintessential angry dad on family vacation) could have stayed home to guard the station.

I always liked the idea of Worf, but he's almost never gotten a good episode, and most of the time he's just cliche. But as one writer pointed out, any woman who becomes evasive when asked to discuss their relationship is just being manipulative. I think that's why Dax doesn't make sense to me (until much later), she just seems without depth - the opposite of who her character is supposed to be. If she just wants a bed buddy, she ought to find someone compatible.

Re: DS9 S5: The Ship

I think this episode could have used another rewrite. But most of the tension was really well done, and you can't help but love Sisko when he's asserting his authority. O'Brien is one of my favorite characters, but he just didn't seem very convincing to me here. At first he was taking shit from the from Munoz, and then doing all these worried Grandma faces. I think they make the chief look like a schmuck too much of the time. His rank is also unrealistic considering the breadth of both his duties and accomplishments. My biggest problem with the episode is how it started: it's obvious by now that exploring the gamma quadrant in a runabout is just stupid. Any sane commander would consider the defiant or another warship to be the only reasonable choice.

Re: DS9 S4: Broken Link

"You fight well, for a tailor."

Re: DS9 S4: Hard Time

I really wanted to love this episode, but I think it suffered - as many DS9 episodes do - from the constraints of a 45 minute time slot. Meany is an extraordinary actor, but the story just didn't have the time to be told. His cellmate - what did he mean, in detail, to O'Brien? I felt that was very missing; if you are meant to care about a character you need backstory. Much good, though - I felt like I was watching how REAL people would behave, not TV characters.