Comment Stream

Re: DS9 S6: Far Beyond the Stars

What I'd forgotten about this episode is how much *fun* much of it is. Seeing the actors without makeup, how they conform (or don't) to their established characters. The scenes in the writers' room, which have great dialogue and pacing. Michael Dorn in general, but particularly trying to squelch his resonant baritone, and J.G. Hertzler changing his Martok voice not at all.

It's also worth noting that was probably the first scifi show that could field a group of black actors out of the regular and recurring characters to play the scenes set in Harlem.

Fenn's comment last year with the MLK quote and the way it it fits for Odo as well as Pabst is brilliant. It also alludes to something that the episode did particularly well, which is showing racism as a systemic problem, rather than the fault of a few individuals, which is what a lot of US media was doing when talking about racism and is still doing now.

I feel like the discussion about Brooks' acting in the breakdown scene is irrelevant, largely because how most people react to it depends on how they react to the episode as a whole. Bluntly: like the ep? Praise Brooks' acting. Don't like it? Say it destroyed the whole story.

The anecdote about Brooks getting lost in the part and actually breaking down was really interesting (and touching), but it points out that we react to that scene based on how we view things outside the story itself--which everyone does.

I love this episode for how it plays with reality, how it talks about race, what it means within the ST canon. But this rewatch reminded me how much I *like* this episode: the dialogue and characterization, the story (which is, thank god, not allegory), the set decoration and costuming.

I also like that it's still got an active thread here 14 years on. Because the episode is iconic and Jammer is amazing..

Re: TNG S7: Gambit

In the immortal (paraphrased) words of Oscar Wilde: to lose one captain may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness.

I'd like to nominate Baran as most incompetent villain ever. THREE spies in his gang of, what, six? There isn't a moment's sense of real jeopardy in this story...but I kind of like that about it. Taken completely unseriously, it's a lot of fun, and it has some very funny lines and characterizations ("As a man with a sister--a sister with a temper--I can sympathize with you").

Re: DS9 S3: Meridian

I think, to enjoy this episode, you need to be drunk.

But there is a lot to enjoy for ds9 fans--a b-plot that includes not only jeffrey coombs' first appearance on ds9 but also an entertaning odo/kira scene.

And if you skip the "romantic" scenes (although I actually think that Dax is absolutely the most plausible person to know that she's in love in a week--300 years ought to give you the ability to recognize love when you find it), the a-story is fun. The technobabble is entertaining, and Jax and Sisco are great.

Also, Sisco and the colony leader have the Best Chemistry Ever. Has anyone written fanfic on that?

Re: DS9 S4: Body Parts

@chris

But did you like it? Did you enjoy the ep? Did it make you laugh? And how about that b-plot?

Re: DS9 S5: In Purgatory's Shadow

@Paul

I think it just means the Bashir changeling was playing for bigger stakes. If you're willing to allow that he had acquired the medical knowledge (and I think that's not unreasonable, given that it would have been a necessary part of impersonating Bashir), his actions are perfectly logical.

I would argue he was put there specifically to make sure the Dominion invasion went off without a hitch (Dukat said he had been in talks with the Dominion for "several weeks"). He wouldn't endanger that mission by not saving Sisko--for all the fraught emotional issues, the surgery itself wasn't particularly complex, and had Sisko died, he might have been exposed. Ditto if he behaved differently in the Odo episode (although the idea that he let the baby changeling die when he might have been able to save him is evocative). I don't remember him playing an important role at all in the Kira episode.

I love the idea that the changelings are clever enough to successfully impersonate someone for that length of time (and they obviously did with Martok for a good deal longer), and focused on the big picture in such a way that they will continue to behave exactly like the people they are impersonating until their moment arrives. It really adds to the sense of uncertainty and serious threat they offer as an enemy.