Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
"One Little Ship"
Air date: 2/16/1998
Written by David Weddle & Bradley Thompson
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
"I don't feel any smaller." — O'Brien
Nutshell: Totally absurd, but very amusing ... and surprisingly engaging.
"One Little Ship"—also known as "Honey, I Shrunk the Runabout"—is probably the most absurd episode of DS9 you'll see this season, maybe ever. This lightweight, zippy outing feels like a show that belongs in Voyager's fourth season. It's fairly inconsequential but well made. Just when you think it seems likely to spin out of control into an utterly laughable disaster (that is, from the point of seeing the trailers the week before), this show becomes strangely infectious and entertaining.
This is what they call "high concept." Or a better term might be "low concept." How an episode sold on the unfathomably ridiculous idea of "a Runabout is shrunk to about five inches long" can survive a writers staff meeting at DS9 is beyond me, but somehow it did. And how it is this idea actually works also eludes me—but somehow it does.
The question wasn't whether this plot would prove ludicrous, the question was whether it would be workable in a 1990s sci-fi realm. It strikes me as one of the goofiest things in recent memory. The premise seems more like it belongs in the 1950s, and the presentation seems more akin to the cinematic attitudes of Xena: Warrior Princess. But the funny thing is it works for most of the same reasons Xena does: it takes itself just seriously enough to be engaging, yet constantly keeps its tongue lodged firmly in cheek where it belongs.
Do you even want to know more about the plot? What more needs to be said? Well, I'll try anyway. You see, the Defiant and the Runabout Rubicon—with Dax, O'Brien, and Bashir on board—are trying this new scientific experiment involving some bizarre gravitational whatcha-ma-whozit. As the Runabout goes near the anomaly, it shrinks smaller and smaller. The plan is that the Defiant will tractor it back away from the anomaly after the experiment is over, returning the Runabout to its normal size. Well, things of course don't go as planned. The Defiant is attacked by the Jem'Hadar, who board the Defiant and take the crew prisoner before the episode's teaser is even over. The tractor beam connection is lost and the Runabout flies out of control through the anomaly. Since it doesn't exit the anomaly the same way it entered, it doesn't return to its normal size.
The rest of the episode is about how the Rubicon gets inside the Defiant and becomes instrumental in retaking the ship, unbeknownst to everybody on the Defiant for a very long stretch of the plot. With the Defiant's warp drive damaged, Sisko has time to devise a plan to retake the ship or, if all else fails, rig an auto-destruct so that it doesn't fall into Dominion hands. But since the Jem'Hadar have barred all the key officers from the bridge—forcing them instead to repair the engines—the problem is that Sisko has no command access. So he, Worf, Kira, and Nog must try to gain access to the computer while pretending to repair the battle damage, all unbeknownst to the Jem'Hadar soldiers watching over them.
This is where the mini-Runabout comes into play. Since Sisko & Co. are locked down, this leaves it to Dax & Co. in the Runabout to get to the bridge and disable the security lockout to the computer system.
A lot of "One Little Ship" is sold on its special effects. This episode is a visual delight. Watching the Rubicon fly around like a toy ship is great fun. I don't know exactly why, but it is. It's neat. And funny. And strangely infectious. The dash through the plasma conduit was an engaging mix of convincing visuals and understated suspense. The Runabout spying on the engine room was amusing as it peeked mischievously from behind objects. And the Runabout's dash to the bridge was droll, especially when the ship pushes a button on a control panel to open a door to the bridge.
One set piece involves Bashir and O'Brien beaming onto a circuit relay to manually override the commands Sisko needs disabled. Seeing the two officers standing in the middle of a huge mass of cables and computer chips was a fresh spin on the established idea of O'Brien Fixing Something™. Meanwhile, Bashir and O'Brien's subtle banter was amiable as always.
Despite the fluffy aspects of the episode, not everything in "One Little Ship" is inconsequential. For example, I did find the uneasy cracks in loyalty between the "Alpha" and "Gamma" Jem'Hadar soldiers quite interesting, if maybe a little forced and overstated. The new "Alpha" Jem'Hadar (referred to as such because they were engineered and born in the Alpha Quadrant to replace the mass numbers wiped out in "Sacrifice of Angels") seem a little less hard-core in their loyalties to the Dominion, and seemingly less controllable. Their loyalty seems to be to other "Alphas" first and to the Dominion second. And they don't really have much respect for the "Gammas."
This is an idea that could have some possibilities down the road. As evidenced here, the friction between Second Ixtana'Rax (Fritz Sperberg), a Gamma, and First Kudak'Etan (Scott Thompson Baker), an Alpha who was recently promoted over Ixtana'Rax as the squadron commander, ultimately serves to undermine the Jem'Hadar effort to seize the Defiant. This seems indicative of a larger problem that the Dominion may have on their hands, and I get a strong feeling that we'll be seeing this again. (But then again, I also had a strong feeling that the cracks in Dukat and Weyoun's alliance would play out in some manner, which it ultimately didn't.)
The pivotal action turning point rides on the fact that the Jem'Hadar soldiers are worse shots than the average storm trooper—and hopelessly unobservant as well. I must admit that these Jem'Hadar are a major step down after the riveting performances in "Rocks and Shoals," but that's okay, because they serve their purpose. This episode is a comic book outing, after all, and even though the villains came off as rather bungling in the action finale, I did think that Our Heroes still came off looking surprisingly good. I'd also say the stunt coordination in the final fight was above average for Trek, and introducing a five-inch Runabout with tiny photon torpedoes into the fight was a good move, though hammy as hell. Allan Kroeker's direction made some good camera choices in this final showdown, as well as throughout the episode.
But ultimately, this show lives on its own carefully chosen tone. Through all the convincing special effects, bright ideas, and goal-oriented action, the truth of the matter is inescapable: This is absurd, even for Trek. Weddle & Thompson's screenplay knows that, and knows just when to insert a joke and when to avert seriousness. Such moments as the Bashir/O'Brien discussion on being "this tall" and Sisko announcing to Worf "Your wife is here" make all the difference, and the performances shine through the silliness to make it work better than one might have dreamed possible. Add this to a closing that features Worf reciting part of a poem (?) and then smiling (!) and Odo playing a cruel joke, and you've got a show that inspires to be an amiable and slight action comedy—and succeeds.
I was laughing quite a bit through this show. But I wasn't laughing because the show was laughable (although I admit that the premise certainly was). I was laughing because I was having fun. That's what this episode is: good fun. With "Far Beyond the Stars" last week, DS9 showed the serious, important side of Trek that makes us question ourselves. "One Little Ship" is the type of goofy entertainment that exemplifies Trek's other side.
Next week: O'Brien becomes a thief.
Previous episode: Far Beyond the Stars
Next episode: Honor Among Thieves
73 comments on this post
Sun, Oct 21, 2007, 6:53pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Nov 4, 2008, 3:57pm (UTC -6)
Sun, Feb 8, 2009, 1:50am (UTC -6)
Tue, Mar 24, 2009, 9:39pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Aug 28, 2009, 9:31am (UTC -6)
Sun, Sep 6, 2009, 3:38pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Nov 24, 2009, 8:40am (UTC -6)
Mon, Jun 21, 2010, 9:51pm (UTC -6)
Wed, Mar 2, 2011, 11:54pm (UTC -6)
"I was laughing quite a bit through this show. But I wasn't laughing because the show was laughable (although I admit that the premise certainly was). I was laughing because I was having fun. That's what this episode is: good fun."
"One Little Ship" is the type of goofy entertainment that exemplifies Trek's other side."
These statements can be used to describe both this episode and the past 2 Quark focused episodes yet you rate them differently. I always thought you showed bias against the Ferengi focused eps. And now I see I was right.
Thu, Apr 19, 2012, 1:57am (UTC -6)
OK, so "One Little Ship" was mildly entertaining, I'll admit, but I just think that DS9 fell too much in love with its silly side in season six especially. And this episode was shamelessly contrived. "Honey, I Shrunk The Runabout" indeed. Why? So we could see tiny torpedoes and actual model sized model ships flying about?
"Yes," you say?
OK, fine, but to quote the mustachioed Federation President from ST:VI - "Just because we can do a thing does not mean that we must do that thing."
Sat, May 19, 2012, 9:07am (UTC -6)
Thu, Jun 21, 2012, 10:22am (UTC -6)
Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 11:21pm (UTC -6)
...they should have explored the "Alpha vs Gamma," Jem'Hadar conflict again...but...
...Alpha vs Gamma? Why do ALL the aliens in the show use Hewmon terms?
Specifically Greek Hewmon terms?
Sat, Jul 21, 2012, 4:39pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Aug 6, 2012, 11:35am (UTC -6)
And the Alpha vs. Gamma conflict just pops up suddenly, seems to be based on absolutely nothing (unless the Alphas were bred to specifically be superior assholes) and is just unnecessary. I mean, are the Vortas and Founders really just trying to sabotage their own fighting force? Are they that stupid?
This episode just pisses me off. Jammer's suggestion that it belongs in Voyager's 4th season is right on the money. And that's no compliment.
Sat, Sep 8, 2012, 9:38am (UTC -6)
Things my daughter and I said:
"Where is the remote control?"
"Tiny ship!"
"I want one!"
"Look at it go!"
"Swat it!"
Even the end was hilarious where Odo showed his sense of humor with Bashir and O'Brien.
Sun, Nov 18, 2012, 7:05pm (UTC -6)
Wed, Nov 28, 2012, 4:10am (UTC -6)
Some say DS9 pay attention to details. When the Defiant is attacked, Sisko sits cross-legged. There's an explosion, 2 crewmen go down and the captain is still sitting casually cross-legged on his chair. Second explosion, Kira goes down and hop, it gets Sisko's attention, he runs to Kira without a glance to the others... What does that say about Sisko ? ;-)
Mon, Dec 31, 2012, 1:47pm (UTC -6)
And it was perfect fun coming on the heels of "Far Beyond the Stars."
And I also liked the Gamma vs. Alpha soldiers.
Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 3:08am (UTC -6)
I'm surprised the whole Alphas v Gammas things never came back (despite Jammer's prediction!), would have been good to see that play out.
Fri, Mar 8, 2013, 4:15pm (UTC -6)
Sun, Aug 4, 2013, 9:27pm (UTC -6)
Wed, Aug 28, 2013, 1:40pm (UTC -6)
Action-adventure comedy - I love it!
I don't think the premise of a shrunken ship and crew is any more far-fetched than much of the other stuff we usually just igbnore to enjoy our 45 minutes of Trek - it certainly didn't bother me!
This episode gave me the same "vibe" that I got from watching old adventure movies from the 60'ies or 70'ies. A thrill and a half, just a good romp.
I do feel, however, that we didn't see the "bigguns" through the windows of the runabout enough. We got a shot of Giant Worf at the very end, and that was more or less it - kind of disappointing.
The only thing that annoyed me as I watched the episode was that the ship was clearly large enough for a normal person to definately notice - yet, it flew around a room full of Jem'Hadar and no one saw it. What where they, drunk?
But nevermind - a fun adventure starring our beloved heroes! This is what sci-fi can ALSO do very well if only we let it.
Sun, Oct 20, 2013, 9:54pm (UTC -6)
Wed, Oct 30, 2013, 10:22pm (UTC -6)
3/10
Thu, Dec 12, 2013, 11:45pm (UTC -6)
And I don't mean it only because those other plots are just precisely as fictional for nowadays science as "One little ship"'s plot. I mean it because if time-space distortion, time-space stretch, time-space manipulation, are the basis of many of the fictional stuff we see (and frequently love) in Trek universe, messing with the "space"dimension seems to me as an only natural extension of playing around so often with the "time" dimension.
And the funnier is that this was never on my mind before this episode started. Once I realized what it was going to be about, I was just blown up.
Fri, Dec 13, 2013, 12:22am (UTC -6)
But as Jammer and other people have said, most were just the comedy part (it has to be, it is not possible that anyone in the DS9 production team though of those ideas as serious ones)
Sun, Mar 30, 2014, 7:41am (UTC -6)
Wed, May 7, 2014, 11:25pm (UTC -6)
All in all, good job. Very entertaining episode that is only held back by the 'been-there done-that' nature of the ship takeover scenario itself.
3 stars.
Thu, Jun 26, 2014, 1:08am (UTC -6)
Sure, this is a fluff episode, but nothing remotely funny happens. It's sort of like a leftover TNG script that someone tried and failed to make into comedy.
Tue, Aug 19, 2014, 7:13am (UTC -6)
Why are the 'Alpha's' different from the 'Gamma's'? What possible reason would the Founders alter the appearance of the Jem'Hadar?
I enjoyed the 'butting of heads' between the two though.
2.5 stars for me.
Wed, Oct 1, 2014, 12:41am (UTC -6)
2-1/2 stars for me. Not essential, but enjoyable for what it is.
Just a comment on season 6 thus far: Someone above stated that the comedy episodes seem to be bunched up a bit. While it's not quite like season 5 having "par'Mach," "Tribbles," and "Let He..." within a four episode stretch, the last eight episodes have alternated between heavy and light. It makes it a little difficult to just hit play and enjoy the flow when the show's tone is jumping from "The Magnificent Ferengi" to "Waltz" to "Who Mourns for Morn?" to "Far Beyond the Stars" to "One Little Ship".
Thu, Nov 13, 2014, 3:57pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Apr 2, 2015, 5:45am (UTC -6)
Tue, Jun 9, 2015, 4:23pm (UTC -6)
------
Because time travel and parallel universes have not been completely shunned by the scientific community and you can suspend your disbelief to them. Micro people, on the other hand is scientifically impossible and absolutely absurd. It's even more absurd watching the crew you have been following in a supposedly serious sci-fi navigating computer systems in a Honey I Shrunk The Crew episode. It fails because it completely removes people from the fiction.
Mon, Jul 20, 2015, 8:18pm (UTC -6)
As for some of the other complaints.
a) Two tiny men use up twice the tiny oxygen molecules, but they can also work twice as fast. I don't see why Dax couldn't just beam more air to them though.
b) The Jem'Haddar used the Hewman conventions of Alpha and Gamma because of the universal translator convention that exists in all Star Trek and most other sci fi and even in movies that take place in foreign countries.
While Star Trek occasionally mentions the universal translators that allow different species to understand each other, it is also an age old dramatic device that allows us to understand two Klingons, Mexicans or Germans who would really be talking in their native languages. It might not be realistic but it beats constantly reading subtitles.
c) As for episodes that "don't move the story", I think we forget that DS9 had more story than TOS and TNG combined and a more than STV ( aka Gilligan's Island in Space) as well.
I think we can get a little spoiled with the continuous story line of DS9. When I watched it when it originally aired, I enjoyed the way the lighter episodes allowed us to slow down and enjoy the great characters.
Finally, I loved the joke that Odo played on Miles and Julian and how Quark joined in. I also loved how the woman who was so impressed with their story looked at them funny when she realized they might be suffering from "shrinkage".
Tue, Jul 21, 2015, 7:03am (UTC -6)
I'm starting to think that, especially when you look at shows like Heroes that try to have an entire full season of continuous plot, that it's a bad idea. It works for HBO shows because they put out 10 a year. I think it's really questionable as to if a full 20+ season of American TV should try to put out 20+ continuous stories per year without standalone episodes that "allow us to slow down and enjoy the great characters."
I think perhaps by now there are more cautionary tales than not (I'm looking at you Lost).
Sat, Sep 5, 2015, 12:17pm (UTC -6)
Sat, Nov 28, 2015, 5:46pm (UTC -6)
The finale was far more thrilling than I expected, with a very well done fight scene. I enjoyed every minute. I'm with Jammer: 3 stars.
Sun, Jan 24, 2016, 9:58am (UTC -6)
What? The last 5 episodes have been about 1. Kira's love affair with Bareil's mirror double; 2. A group of Ferengis going to rescue Quark's mother; 3. Morn's faked death and Quark trying to profit from it; 4. Worf and Jadzia's wedding and 5. Sisko's adventures in 20th century earth.
If there's been a war going on, then I certainly haven't seen it.
Mon, Jan 25, 2016, 11:26pm (UTC -6)
(This is mostly "Fantastic Voyage," I know, but I also would really, REALLY have loved to see an "Incredible Shrinking Man"-style confrontation between tiny O'Brien and, say, a Cardassian vole who had somehow escaped detection and got onto the Defiant, and was out for revenge....)
Having this mostly dropped into a fairly dry takeover/take-back-the-ship plot made the episode feel a bit wonky. The Alpha/Gamma conflict is a bit of a neat idea but in practice very dull, especially the "victory...is..." death scene for the Gamma, as well as having the Jem'Hadar appear pretty consistently incompetent (in failing to monitor Sisko et al.'s constant planning, in failing to notice the Runabout whooshing around, etc.). Maybe it's best to interpret the Alpha/Gamma conflict as a joke -- after all, there is something very funny about the Gamma/Alpha conflict being a generational conflict, with an annoyed grandfather grumbling about "kids today" when the new generation is eight episodes old. And, I guess, the point we are meant to gather, in the end, is that the Alpha Jem'Hadar have a tendency to overlook, ahem, the little things.
Definite points for the wave between Jadzia and Worf, and then Worf's poem and Odo and Quark's joke at the end. The episode is sometimes enjoyable but very thin. 2-2.5 stars...probably 2.
Thu, Feb 4, 2016, 1:48pm (UTC -6)
The Alpha/Gamma Jem'Hadar conflict is actually quite an interesting theme - it's just a shame that the Alphas appear to be the least competent Dominion warriors we've yet seen. 2 stars.
Sat, Mar 12, 2016, 11:49am (UTC -6)
I read on memory alpha that they had planned on expanding on this but shelved it. The writers seem to have a consistent pattern of running away from interesting challenging storylines.
Sat, Mar 12, 2016, 12:18pm (UTC -6)
I do think it would have been a good idea to have some sort of Jem'Hadar storyline that had some real impact on the show -- maybe having "Hippocratic Oath" come up again and have the possibility of Jem'Hadar freed from the White, who then have the possibility (eventually) of making their own choices.
Sat, Mar 12, 2016, 5:34pm (UTC -6)
Sat, Mar 12, 2016, 5:38pm (UTC -6)
Sun, Mar 13, 2016, 4:06pm (UTC -6)
What does strike me is that this is the last time (I think) that Jem'Hadar are actually dealt with. Are there any other major Jem'Hadar characters/moments any later times in the series than this? Which (spoiler) unfortunately is a disappointment with the Vorta too -- we get to know Weyoun, and "Treachery, Faith and the Great River" gives us an alternate Weyoun where we could see how things might have gone, but then Weyoun is mostly a patsy for the rest of the series, only to be killed off by Garak ignominiously. The set-up of the Jem'Hadar & Vorta -- peoples genetically engineered to be loyal to the Founders, but with enough "errors" in the code that they can at times rebel, or to have internal dissent and friction -- was a cool idea that never really came to fruition. I don't know that the Alpha vs. Gamma is the best instance of that, but it could have been interesting, just as the idea of a defector Weyoun could have been interesting, or Jem'Hadar who get off the white, or rogue Jem'Hadar, etc.
Sat, May 28, 2016, 11:40pm (UTC -6)
The tone of the episode is kept exactly where it needs to be kept - whimsical silliness with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The jokes work, for the most part. There is a legitimate sense of suspense in scenes where it is needed. And the special effects really hold up well after all of these years. The scenes of the Rubicon flying through the Defiant are worth the price of admission alone - they are remarkably well done F/X shots.
A lot of people like to say that the difference between "Deep Space Nine" and VOY is either one of serialization or moral ambiguity. I disagree, to a point. It's episodes like this that clearly show the differences. On VOY, they tried many forms of "high concept" science fiction. Most of them didn't work? Because VOY often made its episodes entirely about the high concept being played with - the problem had everything to do with the concept itself so the solution had to be at least as silly as the problem. On "Deep Space Nine", however, the high concept episodes are about people facing strange problems, not the problems themselves. In this episode, the problem isn't the fact that Dax, O'Brien and Bashir are small. The problem is the Jem'hadar seizing control of the Defiant. All of the things done with their size limitations aren't ultimately the point. And returning them to normal size isn't the resolution of the crisis. We don't even see the process of making them tall again, because it doesn't matter. We care about the Jem'hadar on the Defiant. TNG also understood this; it's why "Rascals" works so well - we have the ridiculous idea of people turning into twelve-year-olds but the problem is ultimately the fact that the Ferengi have seized control of the ship. On VOY, however, the ultimate problem that needed to be solved was fixing the malfunctioning holodeck or escaping the random anomaly of the week. See the difference?
A fluff piece, to be sure, but a very well executed fluff piece.
7/10
Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 3:37am (UTC -6)
Vorta Commander: "Good job, Jem'Hadar, you captured the Defiant! A very valuable prize. Now stay on the ship and get it ready for transport while I take my ship on a raid to a no-name planet and leave you guys alone."
Jem'Hadar 1: "Sir, this is probably the most valuable prize the Dominion has ever captured. I mean, we captured the Federation's premier warship mostly intact, and one of their top crews! Can't you cancel the raid and stay here on guard given a victory of that magnitude? I really don't think anyone would mind."
Jem'Hadar 2: "Or at least call the Dominion and ask them to send, like, a hundred ships or so here to escort us back to our space."
Vorta Commander: "Oh my gosh, you're totally right. I'll put the Defiant in a tractor beam, call reinforcements to meet us, and head to Dominion space at maximum warp. Have the crew confined to the cargo bay where they can't try to take back the ship under our noses. Good call, Alpha, here, have a cookie."
Jem'Hadar 1: "I am a Gamma!"
Vorta Commander: "Whatever, it's not like we're ever going to address this Alpha/Gamma thing ever again."
Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 3:49am (UTC -6)
Given that Ron Moore went on to create the BSG reboot, it's strangely fitting for him. It's interesting to get a glimpse into RDM's mind back then; he was all about taking things in a dark direction and pushing the envelope in that regard, long before the BSG days when that sort of thing became the norm.
It was already stretching it to feature the Jem'Hadar as adversaries in a comic episode (at one point the Pakleds from TNG were considered instead), so I'm glad they cut that scene out. It would be more appropriate in a show like Breaking Bad.
Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 9:01am (UTC -6)
In theory, but not here. Bashir and O'Brien are never both busy. First O'Brien is working while Julian is sitting on his butt, and then O'Brien is resting while Julian does stuff.
Thu, Feb 2, 2017, 9:40pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Feb 10, 2017, 2:55pm (UTC -6)
My pet peeve: Avery Brooks sitting in the captain's chair with his legs casually crossed while his com officer gets blown away 3 meters in front of him and Kira moves quickly to replace him during the opening battle scene when the Jem Hadar attack the Defiant, and then again, in the climax scene when the Jem Hadar soldier misses him (since, as Jammer pointed out, the Jem Hadar "are worse shots than the average storm trooper"), he slowly walks over to the console to do other things, no hurrying, no quick movements, no agitation signs, despite being in the middle of a shootout.. I have somewhat come to expect some degree of mediocre acting from Brooks, but did Allan Kroeker not notice this during the filming or editing?
Fri, Feb 17, 2017, 11:26am (UTC -6)
But since the show did not address it, I have to assume that it was because somehow the species to be conquered in the Alpha Quadrant are more quick-witted than those in the Gamma quadrant and therefore need to be conquered by more quick-witted Jem Hadar. LIke so much of Star Trek's assessment of alien humanoids, that's offensive.
Sat, Jun 10, 2017, 12:08pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Aug 18, 2017, 12:29am (UTC -6)
DS9 should leave TNG type stories alone. TheY are simply not a good fit with the cast and series. In many ways this episode reminded me of Starship Down which I also wasn't crazy about. This was not that interesting or entertaining too.
When the writers try to give the Jem'Hadar personalities it doesn't ever really work. Keep them bloodthirsty soldiers. Also didn't really care about added revelation the Founders are breeding new Jem'Hadar and the fact there is rivalry between the Alphas and Gammas
The one thing I did like was introducing another Vorta and the mention of Coridan--everything else pretty underwhelming
Tue, Oct 31, 2017, 8:20pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Nov 2, 2017, 4:24pm (UTC -6)
What I did like is the budding "rivalry" between Alpha and Gamma quadrant Jem'Hadar and within their command structure. It is a decent part of the episode to see Sisko and his team try and thwart the Jem'Hadar as they work to get warp power back online. Again the Jem'Hadar, despite raising the right issues, come across as being (fairly) easily duped.
I liked the ending with Quark/Odo joking that O'Brien and Bashir seemed a couple of inches shorter -- this is something the later Trek series didn't do enough of as compared to TOS, i.e.) having a little joke to wrap up the episode. Some good classic humor between Kirk, Spock, McCoy is one thing that sets apart TOS -- so good for DS9 to do that here.
Also the episode wrapped up pretty quick with getting the 3 back to normal height as if it was nothing -- guess the theory of getting back to normal size worked in practice pretty well.
2 stars for "One Little Ship" -- fun concept to watch, the Jem'Hadar were pretty engaging but the episode dragged along with its subplots. The part with O'Brien and Bashir outside the Runabout dragged as well. Interesting to see where the internal "conflicts" among Jem'Hadar go but it seems this episode is just a standalone and basically a throw-away one.
Fri, Dec 15, 2017, 6:00am (UTC -6)
First, there's an apparent "break" from the war, but previous episodes were irrelevant to the war arc (and yes, there's always a sub-space anomaly, somewhat...)
The Jem'Hadar apparently know everything about the Defiant, but they can't notice what Sisko is really doing in engineering (at the end, the first order the rest to make the repairs, so they should know what to do and what the Feds were really doing).
In the middle of a shoot-out, Sisko goes casually from one console to the other, slowly, and the blood-thirsty, ultimate-soldier Jem'Hadar can't fire at him... yeah... Then, of course, the ship & co. return to normal without so much to explain, "magically" they could go inside the sub-space anomaly again without shrinking further (they never stated it had a shrinking limit, how could they know if it was going to result?)
The alpha vs gamma rivalry was utterly stupid. You are having shortage of reinforcements, the last thing you want is to create that rivalry among your ranks. The reason why they make the difference should've been the scarcity of the White (the only reason to make them different), or by making them stronger, as they now face the Klingons.
If by introducing a different breed of Jem'Hadar the writers intended to do something interesting, why they wouldn't forget about a "tiny ship" and introduced the "elder" Jem'Hadar as someone who offered to defect from the Dominion in exchange of free passage to the Gamma Quadrant (because his "gamma" brothers are suffering from withdrawal from the White? Remember? The Federation destroyed a White depot, big one, some episodes before.) Sisko would demand them to attack their forces to show the truthfulness of his request.
But no, the show's Achilles Heel was always bad planning, and the writers showed always how to make plotholes and inconsistencies throughout the 7 seasons. Maybe they should had paid Straczynski to know what he was planning with his space station story...
Sat, Mar 31, 2018, 12:50pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Jun 5, 2018, 12:12am (UTC -6)
I didn't like seeing the Jem Hadar reduced to Hogan's Heroes levels of obvious, petty and stupid villains, but it was a good episode regardless.
The idea of Jem Hadar POWs makes no sense, because they'd run out of the ketracel white pretty fast, right?
Mon, Jun 18, 2018, 10:35pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 8:09am (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 29, 2019, 5:41pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Feb 1, 2019, 10:21pm (UTC -6)
--They're going to shrink a runabout with Dax, Bashir, and O'Brien inside? I'm with Kira. That's hilarious.
--Holy Shrinkus Interruptus!! The Jem Hadar!!
--Snarky, cranky, Jem Hadar. Did someone forget to take his ketracel white this morning?
--Funny ending. I give everyone a lot credit for keeping this crazy story line out of the crapper. It's cute and entertaining.
--This story should have been on Voyager. Tom Paris piloting the tiny ship with B'Ellana and Doc on board. They save the ship from a Hirogen takeover. Neelix writes a poem. Seven tells big-again-Paris that he looks a couple of centimeters smaller. Tuvok agrees. EP TITLE: Fantastic Voyager
Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 3:21am (UTC -6)
I want a toy runabout now.
Sun, Aug 18, 2019, 4:59am (UTC -6)
Tue, Nov 19, 2019, 2:40pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 12:25pm (UTC -6)
I was giggling the whole time. The Rubicon booping the door panel is the cutest. No doubt this helped toy sales...!
Sat, Feb 22, 2020, 11:24am (UTC -6)
The bit where O'Brien and Bashir are rummaging around inside a circuit board is entertaining, but in the end, this is just the DS9 equivalent of fast food...
Tue, May 19, 2020, 8:48pm (UTC -6)
Wed, Jun 3, 2020, 3:24pm (UTC -6)
I do love when they take absurd concepts and then add actual science though, such as shrinking down would leave them unable to process oxygen molecules in the regular atmosphere. It reminded me of that episode of Futurama where they have to go microscopically into Fry to battle his worms and use tiny avatars. When someone asks why they just don’t shrink down, the Professor says “that would require tiny atoms, do you know how much they cost? I’m not made of money!” So points to the writing team for addressing this issue, even tho the premise is so crazy, I doubt they’d be called out on it.
All in all, it was a decent outing, but meant very little in the big scheme of the show.
Thu, Jul 30, 2020, 1:20am (UTC -6)
Loved tiny Miles and Bashir in the computer chip, what an awesome set. So cool!
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