[5.5/10] Comic relief is tricky when you’re telling a story about a community on the brink of war. It’s a problem Deep Space Nine will confront a lot over the coming seasons. There are grave, serious things going on. How do you keep that from becoming a grim slog? You have to try to lighten things up now and then, balancing the severity of events with the moments of human levity that trickle in nonetheless. It’s not an easy task.
“In the Cards” fails at it. But not for lack of trying! What’s tough about the episode is that its fundamentals are good! The construction of the premise is sound! There’s good character motivation and escalation! It’s just, you know, not particularly funny.
The gist of it is that everyone on the station, including Captain Sisko, is feeling despondent given how conflict with the Dominion feels inevitable. When Jake hears tell of a Willie Mays rookie card being auctioned, he thinks it’s the perfect opportunity to cheer his dad up. The quest to get it leads him and Nog on a cockamamie adventure through various corners of the station in an effort to successfully barter for it.
I love several things about that idea! For one, it’s founded on something noble. Jake recognizes the lengths that his father goes to on his behalf, and so wants to turn things around and go the extra mile for his dad for once. That’s sweet, not only providing an altruistic motivation for Jake’s wacky dealings, but creating a conflict when Nog wants to (understandably) come clean at each sign of trouble, while Jake doesn’t want to spill the beans so that he can preserve the surprise.
I’m also a fan of the central If You Give a Mouse a Cookie-style setup for these events. Jake has a simple goal in mind -- win the baseball card at auction. From there, he finds himself emerged in a ludicrous barter system, where he must acquire various items to exchange with the the kook who purchases it, trade favors with the various members of the crew to get the needed stuff, and end up crossing paths with station security, Kai Winn, and even Weyoun and the Dominion as things steadily escalate.
That’s a good idea! Well-meaning schmucks who suddenly find themselves out of their depth when a seemingly simple task spirals out into comic mishegoss is a classic story shape for a comedy. Watching Jake and Nog bounce around the ecosystem of Deep Space Nine on their various ridiculous errands, each with increasing absurdity and unexpected peril, could be a winning formula.
There’s just a few problems. The first and most obvious is that it has to share time with a more serious subplot about Bajor considering a non-aggression pact with the Dominion. Not for nothing, it’s my favorite part of the episode.
From a storytelling angle, the political intrigue elements of Deep Space Nine have always been one of the show’s shining features, and this is no exception. From an in-universe standpoint, Kai Winn makes a fair point about Bajor’s position. Her people and planet are on the front lines of this war, and it’s not clear that the Federation can or would protect them if push came to shove. Especially with Cardassia now backed by the Jem’Hadar, it’s downright practical for her and Bajor to consider aligning with the Gamma Quadrant aggressors.
But there’s also a personal element to it. I love Sisko telling Winn that while they’re not usually on the same page, and he was the one who told her not to let Bajor join the Federation, he’s asking her to trust him now and not to seek shelter with the Dominion either. This is the most earnest, reasonable version of Winn we’ve seen, one who seems genuinely interested in her people’s salvation,and not her own power and position. The softening pays off.
Because there’s a marked difference here. She’s reluctant about what the Emissary suggests, but she feels his pah and trusts him. By contrast, when Weyoung tries his charm offensive, she feels his pah and declares they have nothing in common in her usual “steel behind the smile” sort of way. The stall is on.
It’s a sign that for however much Kai Winn has been a thorn in our heroes' side, she’s on their side, or at least Sisko’s against this enemy. When wrestling wunderkind Maxwell Jacob Friedman went from being a contemptible bad guy to a cheer-worthy good guy, he declared that he was still a scumbag, “but I’m your scumbag.” Well, with the Dominion on the rise in the sector, it’s nice to have Kai Winn as our scumbag for once.
Still, it’s a story with a gravity and import that sits uneasily with wacky antics of Jake’s tangled yet quixotic quest to nab a prized baseball card for his father. But that would be forgivable if Jake and Rom’s misadventures were...well...funnier.
The long expository scene where the pair run into a nutjob who thinks the secret to immortality is entertaining bored cells is a big yawn. The horse-trading they do with the likes of Chief O’Brien and Dr. Bashir to meet the kook’s needs are all but barren of laughs. Rom sneaking into Leeta’s room and blowing in her ear to retrieve a teddy bear is violative and downright creepy. There are some mild chuckles to be had from Jake’s bogus cover story for Weyoun, that they’re Starfleet Intelligence officers investigating Willie Mays as a time traveler. But on the whole, this is a pack of dull, unavailing attempts at humor that result in more instances of checking your watch than holding back laughter.
Which is all to say that you can have the best comic setup in the world, but if you can’t fill it with enough good jokes and charming character moments, the whole thing will be dead on arrival anyway. For being an attempt at humor amid the sturm und drang of impending war, “In the Cards” is a surprisingly stolid hour, one without much in the way of cleverness or personality apart from a disbelieving Odo and good ol’ Weyoung (who’s hilarious invested in the kook’s life extension methods for obvious reasons).
Where the episode deserves credit is in its finish. Sisko’s monologue about light emerging from the darkest of places, with a montage of the various denizens of the station feeling their spirits brighten thanks to Jake and Nog’s actions, is a low key moving finish to an otherwise disappointing outing. There’s an O. Henry-style poetry to Jake setting out to simply cheer up his dad, getting into all kinds of trouble, but inadvertently rousing the spirits of the whole station in the process.
The takeaway from the speech and its closing collage is the idea that mirth works in mysterious ways. All it can take is one small attempt at a good deed to snowball into disaster or delight. I appreciate Deep Space Nine taking pains to remember that as it dives into confrontation with the Dominion in earnest, even if this particular comedy act deserves the hook.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-10-08T17:33:13Z
[5.5/10] Comic relief is tricky when you’re telling a story about a community on the brink of war. It’s a problem Deep Space Nine will confront a lot over the coming seasons. There are grave, serious things going on. How do you keep that from becoming a grim slog? You have to try to lighten things up now and then, balancing the severity of events with the moments of human levity that trickle in nonetheless. It’s not an easy task.
“In the Cards” fails at it. But not for lack of trying! What’s tough about the episode is that its fundamentals are good! The construction of the premise is sound! There’s good character motivation and escalation! It’s just, you know, not particularly funny.
The gist of it is that everyone on the station, including Captain Sisko, is feeling despondent given how conflict with the Dominion feels inevitable. When Jake hears tell of a Willie Mays rookie card being auctioned, he thinks it’s the perfect opportunity to cheer his dad up. The quest to get it leads him and Nog on a cockamamie adventure through various corners of the station in an effort to successfully barter for it.
I love several things about that idea! For one, it’s founded on something noble. Jake recognizes the lengths that his father goes to on his behalf, and so wants to turn things around and go the extra mile for his dad for once. That’s sweet, not only providing an altruistic motivation for Jake’s wacky dealings, but creating a conflict when Nog wants to (understandably) come clean at each sign of trouble, while Jake doesn’t want to spill the beans so that he can preserve the surprise.
I’m also a fan of the central If You Give a Mouse a Cookie-style setup for these events. Jake has a simple goal in mind -- win the baseball card at auction. From there, he finds himself emerged in a ludicrous barter system, where he must acquire various items to exchange with the the kook who purchases it, trade favors with the various members of the crew to get the needed stuff, and end up crossing paths with station security, Kai Winn, and even Weyoun and the Dominion as things steadily escalate.
That’s a good idea! Well-meaning schmucks who suddenly find themselves out of their depth when a seemingly simple task spirals out into comic mishegoss is a classic story shape for a comedy. Watching Jake and Nog bounce around the ecosystem of Deep Space Nine on their various ridiculous errands, each with increasing absurdity and unexpected peril, could be a winning formula.
There’s just a few problems. The first and most obvious is that it has to share time with a more serious subplot about Bajor considering a non-aggression pact with the Dominion. Not for nothing, it’s my favorite part of the episode.
From a storytelling angle, the political intrigue elements of Deep Space Nine have always been one of the show’s shining features, and this is no exception. From an in-universe standpoint, Kai Winn makes a fair point about Bajor’s position. Her people and planet are on the front lines of this war, and it’s not clear that the Federation can or would protect them if push came to shove. Especially with Cardassia now backed by the Jem’Hadar, it’s downright practical for her and Bajor to consider aligning with the Gamma Quadrant aggressors.
But there’s also a personal element to it. I love Sisko telling Winn that while they’re not usually on the same page, and he was the one who told her not to let Bajor join the Federation, he’s asking her to trust him now and not to seek shelter with the Dominion either. This is the most earnest, reasonable version of Winn we’ve seen, one who seems genuinely interested in her people’s salvation,and not her own power and position. The softening pays off.
Because there’s a marked difference here. She’s reluctant about what the Emissary suggests, but she feels his pah and trusts him. By contrast, when Weyoung tries his charm offensive, she feels his pah and declares they have nothing in common in her usual “steel behind the smile” sort of way. The stall is on.
It’s a sign that for however much Kai Winn has been a thorn in our heroes' side, she’s on their side, or at least Sisko’s against this enemy. When wrestling wunderkind Maxwell Jacob Friedman went from being a contemptible bad guy to a cheer-worthy good guy, he declared that he was still a scumbag, “but I’m your scumbag.” Well, with the Dominion on the rise in the sector, it’s nice to have Kai Winn as our scumbag for once.
Still, it’s a story with a gravity and import that sits uneasily with wacky antics of Jake’s tangled yet quixotic quest to nab a prized baseball card for his father. But that would be forgivable if Jake and Rom’s misadventures were...well...funnier.
The long expository scene where the pair run into a nutjob who thinks the secret to immortality is entertaining bored cells is a big yawn. The horse-trading they do with the likes of Chief O’Brien and Dr. Bashir to meet the kook’s needs are all but barren of laughs. Rom sneaking into Leeta’s room and blowing in her ear to retrieve a teddy bear is violative and downright creepy. There are some mild chuckles to be had from Jake’s bogus cover story for Weyoun, that they’re Starfleet Intelligence officers investigating Willie Mays as a time traveler. But on the whole, this is a pack of dull, unavailing attempts at humor that result in more instances of checking your watch than holding back laughter.
Which is all to say that you can have the best comic setup in the world, but if you can’t fill it with enough good jokes and charming character moments, the whole thing will be dead on arrival anyway. For being an attempt at humor amid the sturm und drang of impending war, “In the Cards” is a surprisingly stolid hour, one without much in the way of cleverness or personality apart from a disbelieving Odo and good ol’ Weyoung (who’s hilarious invested in the kook’s life extension methods for obvious reasons).
Where the episode deserves credit is in its finish. Sisko’s monologue about light emerging from the darkest of places, with a montage of the various denizens of the station feeling their spirits brighten thanks to Jake and Nog’s actions, is a low key moving finish to an otherwise disappointing outing. There’s an O. Henry-style poetry to Jake setting out to simply cheer up his dad, getting into all kinds of trouble, but inadvertently rousing the spirits of the whole station in the process.
The takeaway from the speech and its closing collage is the idea that mirth works in mysterious ways. All it can take is one small attempt at a good deed to snowball into disaster or delight. I appreciate Deep Space Nine taking pains to remember that as it dives into confrontation with the Dominion in earnest, even if this particular comedy act deserves the hook.