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Re: DS9 S1: Emissary

I'm re-watching the series, which is my favourite Star Trek series but which I've seen only about half of, and many of those episodes only when they first aired. I thought I'd recap what I like or don't like about each episode here, on this excellent site, because no one in my personal life wants to hear me expound on a decade-old Star Trek show. :)

I'll break each episode into the Great, the Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. Here goes:

Emissary:

Great:
* The opening battle, obviously.

Good:
* It's great how surefooted the show was with its characters right off the hop. I didn't feel like anything major was wrong or something about a character needed to be "fixed" later.
* Similarly, the relationship between Jake and Benjamin feels real right away.
* Unlike some other comments I've seen, I really like Avery Brooks acting in this episode. I wish he'd kept this light a touch during the whole series. There's a certain Kirk-ness about it.
* There were a couple of characterization things that bugged me back when this aired but don't bother me anymore: One was Sisko's disdain for Picard. It was off-putting at the time to see a stranger berate Picard for something that wasn't his fault, but now that we know Sisko it sits better. Second, Bashir is incredibly annoying, but now that we know he grows it seems acceptable, brave even, to show an unlikable member of the command crew.
* The Picard-O'Brien farewell is nicely understated.
* We take it for granted now, but the wormhole opening and closing looks great.
* I like how otherworldly the prophets are. Wish they'd stayed that way.


Bad Things:
* Nana Visitor's acting is just a smidgen too much, Odo's make-up is a little off, and Quark's Ferengi growl doesn't seem like him.
* Okay, the little 'ow!' Brooks let out on the beach is too much. :)
* This happens in almost every Trek episode, but it always drives me nuts. Kira says, "There's something you'll want to see on the promenade." Just tell him what it is!
* Bashir being naive about his post is fine, but the way he asks Dax out on a date in front of Kira and Sisko is just stupid. He will see her again, after all.
* Odo's 'I don't know where I come from' speech is a little pat.
* I could do without the moving-the-station technobabble.
* The Sisko-in-the-wormhole bit goes on a bit long.
* Gul Jasad twirls his moustache a bit much (which also illustrates how good Marc Alaimo is).

Ugly Things: Nothing in this episode.

Great lines:

* Quark: "Commander, I've made a career out of knowing when to leave. And this Bajoran provisional government is far too provisional for my tastes. And when governments fall, people like me are lined up and shot."
Sisko: "There is that risk. But then you are a gambler, Quark."
Odo: "And a thief."

Prophet Jake: "Baseball? What is this?"
Sisko: "I was afraid you'd ask that."

Prophet Jennifer: "You choose to exist here. It is not linear."

Rating ***1/2