How do I begin to sum up 'The Visitor'? It's not only one of the finest episodes in all of Star Trek, it's one of the best pieces of television ever made. Every time I see it, I end up in tears. But it's not an overly sentimental tearjerker, it's subtle and honest in its storytelling. It's delightfully simple and self-contained, making it something that you can watch even if you've never seen any of DS9 before.
I think what clicks for me always is the performances. Everything that makes Avery Brooks my favourite Star Trek captain is displayed here, not only because of his performance but because of what he allowed Captain Sisko to be. He's a family man and a father before he is a Starfleet officer, and he's never afraid to show his vulnerable and caring side. Duty is important to him, but it's with the simple things in life that his heart really lies.
To complement that, Cirroc Lofton as Jake is probably the best he's ever been so far. The moment where his father first comes back and asks how he's doing, and instead of being able to reply he just starts to cry sums up so much of their close father/son relationship. Jake really needs his dad, even relies on him and there's a really deep love between them, undoubtedly solidified more since he lost his mother. We can see that without his dad, Jake turns completely away from the life he could have and shuts the doors to so many other people and paths. My favourite moment is actually the last time Sisko appears and he just watches old Jake sleeping with such a lovely expression on his face.
Then there's Tony Todd playing the older Jake who also is magnificent. While the old-age makeup effects still look kind of terrible (always a problem, they looked terrible back in the 1990s too), the performances are fortunately able to come through. He also has a great chemistry with the young lady playing Melanie.
Maybe there's a bit too much technobabble at moments, butI love this episode and it will make you want to go and see your dad.
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@arthurzey It's a powerful episode! Thanks for reading my review.
Looking forward to hearing what has happened to Barb, I assume it's something more than simply being kept in the upside down.
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@brydo666 She's dead as far as we know, at least that's definitely what we saw back in season 1.
Review by LeftHandedGuitarist
I get emotional every time. Deep Space Nine ends with a beautiful farewell that manages to cover a lot of bases. It wraps up the Dominion War and gives - mostly - satisfying farewells for these characters. This show had by far the characters with the most depth and development in the franchise. There is no room for arguing that fact at all. They felt real. They had faults and they had arcs and evolved throughout the show.
So, it's a real shame that this is the final on-screen appearance for all of them bar Worf. If there was any Trek show that deserved a continuation in film format it was this one. The stories developed here were so rich, and even though this episode wraps things up it still leaves enough open questions and paths for exploration (with one MASSIVE cliffhanger in particular).
This episode itself is strong though certainly not without problems. The pacing is mostly good, but every time we cut to Kai Winn and Dukat on their pah-wraith search it really spoils the momentum. I've now learned (thanks to online forums that didn't exist for me back in the day) that a lot of people were not fans of any of this storyline. I can kind of understand why, even though it never bothered me too much. I really like the mythos that was slowly built up around the Bajoran religion, and certainly when I was younger I couldn't see the way elements became shoehorned in. The pah-wraiths amount to little more than hand-waving magic when you really look at them and they had the effect of turning both Winn and Dukat into pantomime villains.
I don't really accept the way that Winn changed her entire religious beliefs so readily, even though she tries to justify it. I also don't quite understand most of Dukat's motivations after he loses his daughter in season 6. If we are supposed to believe that he's just gone a bit insane then it could have been portrayed better. The whole showdown is over and done with far too quickly and it all gets a bit Star Wars (which I adore, but Star Wars is fantasy-based whereas Star Trek is science fiction/technology based). It doesn't fit. And we get a fast wrap up where Sisko and Dukat just fall into the fire which is... silly, to be polite.
The rest of the episode makes up for this, though. The final battle of the Dominion War is a visual feast and a gripping rollercoaster. The space battle is a tremendous accomplishment for 1990s television standards, but the best part is the Kira/Garak/Damar resistance storyline. Those three characters have such rich histories of conflict to mine that putting them together leads to nothing but joy on screen. The death of Damar does feel like a gut punch even though we've spent so much time hating him for his actions over the course of the past few seasons. It's a shame that his murder of Ziyal is never directly addressed by Kira or Garak. The love-to-hate-him character Weyoun gets a satisfying send off, and the war is ended with a moment of compassion and understanding when Odo offers to give himself up to save everyone.
The individual character bookends are also greatly satisfying, and often bittersweet. Odo leaves, O'Brien leaves, Worf leaves. Odo's decision feel natural even though he leaves hurt people in his wake, but Miles' is much more unexpected and actually the more emotional for me. The O'Brien/Bashir bromance was among my favourite parts of this show, so the video collage of their past moments is heartbreaking for me. Worf's departure is a bit stranger, since we will see him again in Star Trek: Nemesis and it doesn't acknowledge his decisions here at all. Additionally, I will be forever disappointed that there are no flashback to Jadzia due to licensing reasons.
In happier endings, Julian and Ezri are finally together and I like it. It was all a bit forced but I'm just happy at the thought of them together. Nog gets promoted to Lieutenant (take that, Harry Kim), Kira is in charge of the station and Quark gets to keep running the bar while Rom has become Grand Nagus!
That leaves the saddest ending of all: the Siskos. In particular, I think Jake gets the short straw. His dad is gone but just within reach. Benjamin has not only left his son behind, but his pregnant wife. It's a bold ending that leaves you wanting to know more, and extremely bittersweet. Ben and Jake were the heart and soul of this show from the very beginning and I think it's appropriate that it finishes on a shot of Jake thinking about his dad while being comforted.
I said in my review of 'Emissary' that DS9 was my favourite TV show of all time. This rewatch has solidified that statement for me. The characters here are mismatched, broken people who grow and evolve into true friends and take us on that journey with them. It has also really struck me how much DS9 continues to stand up to today's modern TV landscape, while the other Trek shows feel very much liked dated products of their time. Here we have a tale of terrorism, religion, war and through all that a thread of hope and idealism.
I absolutely can't leave it here, and I'm going to be delving into the "relaunch" novels that pick up where the show ended and continue the journey. It's not official canon and could easily be overwritten at any time (especially given the announcement of all the new Trek heading our way on TV), but that doesn't take away from these new stories at all, and given the "black sheep" nature of DS9 in the franchise I have a feeling that these stories are probably the best I can hope for. There's also the upcoming documentary What We Left Behind to look forward to, and maybe one day we'll get a nice HD upgrade for the show.
See you again down the road, DS9.
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@pcq You're welcome, I enjoyed writing them! Thanks for reading.
How did Ford, who was leaning over the DHD, get shifted by momentum when the entire cockpit was submerged before the drive pod touched the gate? He would have been dematerialised energy.
Also, love the discrete units/only in one piece rule that suddenly applies to gate travel when SG-1 has shown dozens of cases of something being cut off by the gate. Usually staff weapons.
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@tyrannic_puppy I think this rule has been consistent throughout SG-1, at least to my memory. The jumper would have been cut in half too had the 'gate shut down.
Absolutely superb, and a fantastic follow up the equally great 'Touchstone' from season 2. This episode takes you on a ride and manages to make you question whether your really knew O'Neill at all. I loved it when Stargate went full intrigue because the characters were set up well enough to take it to all sorts of unexpected places.
And again, this uses the shows history to build a new story from existing parts, which is so cool. We go right back to Tollana from a few episodes back and use their "no technology" stance to take us down a completely different path. Maybourne and his secrets that were laid in 'Touchstone' begin to be revealed and Jack is even able to use the events of '100 Days' as a reason to help him with his plans.
It manages to keep O'Neill's intentions pretty well hidden, even going as far as to potentially hurt his friendship with Daniel in quite a harsh scene. One thing that always stuck out to me was that in his conversation with Carter about "now I'm acting like myself", his performance really brought me back to the original Kurt Russell version from the movie. Nice.
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@dgw I think it was played with enough ambiguity to raise some questions.
That was DS9.
THEY WENT TO DS9.
This is all I've wanted for the past 21 years.loading replies
@andrewbloom Mariner's flashback to when she was on the USS Quito.
[8.5/10] Expectations can be a difficult thing to manage. When you hear that an actor is going to reprise one of your favourite roles of all time, it's easy to get excited. When you see trailers and it looks good, you get more excited. When you start hearing positive early reviews, your excitement level can go through the roof. If anything, I was worried that my expectations for Picard were just too high, and I was only going to be disappointed.
But almost from the opening moments of this premiere, I was swept up. Picard avoids excessive nostalgia (but provides just a nice amount) and begins by telling a tale full of emotion and character. It's markedly different from Star Trek: Discovery, both in terms of visuals and writing. The pace is measured and characters are given room to breathe, the action is sparse but hard-hitting. Patrick Stewart himself is a frailer man than the one we remember, but there's no mistaking that this is our Jean-Luc Picard back on screen.
It's still early days and there are a lot of directions this story could take. But here I was surprised at just how impactful some of the emotional moments and revelations were. Isa Briones is strong in the role of Dahj, seemingly an unknown "daughter" of Data's,, but it was Picard's reaction to it all that made it have so much more weight. No mention of Data's other daughter, Lal, but that may come up later.
There was some awkward exposition early on with an interview sequence that didn't quite hit the mark due a mix of writing that was a bit too on-the-nose and the actor for the interviewer feeling weirdly out of place. For a mostly calm opening there was a surprising amout of information and story to be digested here and a lot of questions that I can't wait to be answered.
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@misnomer Aww, thanks for saying so! I usually feel like I'm just rambling. Yes, Frakes has directed episodes 3 and 4!
A wonderful moment to pause and an important episode for the show. No sci-fi, no drama, no high stakes, just a pure character focus. It's an episode that almost didn't get made, but it's beautiful and feels completely necessary after what Picard has just been through. Patrick Stewart gives a great performance and once again it feels like, as Picard, he lets the mask drop and becomes more himself. Of course, the lingering effects of the emotional damage caused by the Borg are still going to come back and haunt him down the line.
His breakdown while covered in mud is certainly a major turning point for him, and it helped no end that he had great chemistry with the actor playing his stern older brother.
While the focus is on the captain, I found Worf and Wesley's family matters just as interesting. Worf is clearly delighted to see his parents despite the protests he makes to Riker and O'Brien. And oh my God, I LOVE the Rozhenkos!
This episode does drive home what a horrible writing choice will happen later in the film Generations in regards to Captain Picard's family.
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@misnomer Thanks! If we all liked the same things then life would be pretty dull.
Daniel's back!! I'm kind of sad that we never got a full season of Jonas and Daniel together, could you imagine the absolute chaotic dumbass energy they would have had together??
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@psychicrox I agree! It's a shame that Jonas had to leave so that Daniel could stay.
Actions have consequences...with his coworkers, and with the inmates they interview. This is going to be a very hard lesson for Holden. Recent events knocked him down a peg. It will be interesting to see how this develops.
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@jensequel Agreed. I can't help but feel that Holden had this coming and it's vital to his ability to progress within the unit.
SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL
-33-"Can I make the call now?"
Holy shit! This show went dark.
What a way to start this episode.
Always appreaciate those Scenes in which we actall see how they do their stuff, in this case forge a gunfight.
So beatifull made…
Nacho is in a lot of Trouble and who is the source of it?"No more than a week."
Gustavo Fring, again. He creates chaos so he can climb the ladder to the top.
Genius. Who is his tool? The Cousins. Again.
Or should I say for the first time?
His talk with Juan Bolsa is another example how good Gus is.
Always just a little push in the right direction.
He can built an empire. He is made for that.
The Little smile of Gus...
Again: He is not the Gus we know from "Breaking Bad" yet.
He wouldn't have smiled there, not one bit.As he walked into the School, I got goosebumps, then I saw "Chemistry" and I thought:
Is he in Walts School? But it was even better!
As soon as I heard someone sing...
Gale is back! (Run Gale! Run!)
His love to chemistry is one of a kind.
I have to say, I believe him when he says he can make better than 67%!And now to Jimmy.
Eight minutes? More like Eighty minutes^^
Clever way to get this guy out of his office.
But who did he got for the Job?
Ira from Vamonos Pest! Nice cameo.For the letter from Chuck I only have one Thing to say:
The fact that Kim has Tears in her eyes and is so moved by his words and Jimmy had no emotions whatsoever, says it all.
Or does it?
The last conversation with Chuck was so cruel and These words sound off.
Did Chuck wrote the letter only to relieve his soul?
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@mrblonde I got the feeling that the letter had been written a while earlier, before Chuck and Jimmy's more recent relationship. It also seems to me that Kim is feeling tremendously guilty and it's going to reach a breaking point.
[7.5/10] Another very entertaining episode. For one, I like the futuristic riff on the concept of scientific management on a Starfleet vessel. Having everyone rigorously timed in their work, in the hopes of increasing efficiency, is a good setup, especially when the payoff is everyone working frantically and far less getting done than when there was “buffer time.”
Speaking of which, I love the homages to classic bits of Trek here, chief among them Scotty telling Geordi that he’ll never be thought of as a miracle worker if he tells his captain how long a project will actually take. It’s the origin of buffer time! Likewise, homages to the “great bird of the galaxy” and Miles O’Brien (arguably the most notable ascended member of the lower decks!) were both fantastic. There’s also a lot of TOS-style fun with Mariner and her first officer down on the planet of the week, from Commander Ransom’s hands-clasped punches to his efforts to speechify his way out of the problem to the famous Original Series fight music playing. There’s a lot of little treats for longtime fans here.
But I also enjoy the overall theme and how it plays with Star Trek conventions, chiefly that following protocols to the letter isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. That is, dare I say, one of the core ideas of Star Trek, given how many times Kirk and Picard and scads of others have disobeyed orders or broken from the usual norms when they felt the situation calls on it. It’s fun to see that channeled into a more comedic mode here, at the same time the show uses it for a touch of character development and thematic ballast.
For Boimler, it means getting a moment to thrive when a straight arrow like his succeeds brilliantly in the new framework. But it also means helping the respect-hungry captain realize that her crew does better with discretion, than by dutifully following every protocol until their overtaxed and underperforming.
Mariner’s adventures with Commander Ransom on the surface work in the same vein. Mariner’s resentment for Ransom on the basis that all he does is talk, while she has scars from doing the dirty work of Starfleet to actually get the job does, is a good emotional throughline for that stretch. The show’s teasing some romance for them, which is interesting given their seeming disparate views but surprising common ground. Ransom looks like he’s fitting the Kirk/Riker/Zapp Brannigan mold so positioning him as the counterpart to a begrudgingly respectful Mariner is an interesting move. It makes for a different but no less potent take on the “Do protocols help or hurt?” theme.
Last but not least, I got a kick out of the crystal-worshipping aliens of the week, Their spear-throwing, corridor-vandalizing jag was an amusing dose of our heroes running into quasi-primitive societies. The show included plenty of fun crystal gags to lighten things up.
Overall, another winner. Three-for-three on the year! Very impressive for a Star Trek show’s first season.
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@andrewbloom Yeah, I think it's unheard of for a Trek show to be this good out of the gate! Three episodes in and Lower Decks has proven for me that it can work a full-on comedy framework into Star Trek and make it all pretty seamless.
Nicely done CBS. Deftly blended in some characters (1 this episode) and iconography from TOS to squelch the discord from the nattering, canon fascist nabobs, and pique the curiosity of the undecided, while still remaining PRE-TOS and advancing the original "Discovery" premise. Well played..., well played indeed.
Of course the "purists" will be quick to point out everything wrong with this episode, just as they have all along, insisting that this is a show we shouldn't enjoy because it's not Trekie enough, or TOO futuristic for the timeline, or too politically correct, or too violent, or too gay, when perhaps the real problem is with those whose cranial contents simply haven't evolved enough to grasp the actual depth and awesomeness of the show.
Star Trek has ALWAYS been about "going BOLDLY where no man has gone before" yet, sadly, there are those who desperately try to squeeze it into the confines of what THEY say is correct, and would have the writer and producers restricted to the same tried, true, and BORING stories that were fed to the masses starting almost 50 years ago. Now imagine if they were allowed to restrict technology, or commerce, or just about any facet of life to where it was 5 decades ago. I for one like and embrace the changes that have occurred both IRL and on our screens of all various shapes and sizes. Just as I am willing to give each new generation of Star Trek writers the benefit of the doubt, and the chance to not just copy and paste, but to stretch the limits of possibility and imagination, and take us on new adventures, and to new frontiers.
If that gets some purists canonical panties in a wedgie, well, so be it. But I for one am willing to suspend disbelief, buckle up, lower my shields and enjoy the ride.
As for the episode itself, several nice head fakes, when those familiar with TOS would be expecting certain things to occur but... gotcha!
Kudos to Sonequa Martin-Green for continuing to evolve her portrayal of Michael Burnham, and showing some emotions when appropriate. To the always delightful Mary Wiseman, who, as newly minted officer trainee Tilly is "incandescent" as ever and never fails to make me smile when she's on screen. Anthony Rapp's Staments, is of course going through the stages of grief, and, had me worried for a moment, but, it looks like something new is about to bring him out of his funk. Doug Jones Saru, was, well... Saru, and, believe me when I say, I mean that as a GOOD thing. Anson Mount pulled his weight as Captain Pike, doing a yeoman's job of restraint when stepping into such an iconic (if short lived) role. And the addition of Tig Notaro's deadpan wit and whip-smart timing (as well as her characters apparent next level engineering chops) might have her hanging out in the Montgomery Scott wing of the Discovery, we shall see.Overall a really good season premier, and, from the looks of the upcoming clips, it's gonna be fun.
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@paladin5150 Well said. I particularly liked that the episode finally made the bridge crew feel important and have personalities.
Creative and enjoyable, with a pleasantly weird alternate-universe/time-shift aspect that never becomes too complicated to follow. It leaves you with the odd feeling of having seen the Voyager crew die, but never really being sure if they were our original crew, or whether that even matters. The exact same thing happens to Harry that happens to O'Brien in DS9's 'Visionary', in that we are left with a version of the character who isn't exactly our own one.
It was also good to see the Vidiians back to being pretty decent bad guys again. There was something chilling about the way they just assessed unconscious people by which organs they could harvest from them. Janeway was a bit of a badass in regards to the solution to getting rid of them.
Having the duplicate Janeways standing so close to each other during their scenes made it look like they were about to kiss, and really made me aware of how shows had to work within the 4:3 aspect ratio back then. I felt a bit more let down that the two versions of Kes didn't really interact with each other at all.
I got quite wrapped up in the ordeal of Ensign Wildman finally having her baby, which certainly ran through a gamut of emotions! Chakotay was as useless as ever, and I noticed that Voyager didn't require his authorisation to concur with setting the self-destruct - I guess Janeway changed that because she knows he'd just mess it up.
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@dgw I can't remember what I did yesterday, let alone the contents of a review I wrote months ago! :p
I don't believe the "If Earth could have sent help, they would have" argument. The only way to open a gate connection from SGC to the Pegasus galaxy was with a ZPM, and there are no more on Earth. They have no way to send help.
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@dgw Hence the word "if" :p
i.e. they couldn't send help!
In this case, even Netflix failed me: According to IMDB trivia, the Stargate wikia, GateWorld, and a blog post by producer Joseph Mallozzi… this was originally a longer episode (63 minutes vs. 43 minutes, excluding commercials), and was cut down for syndication. Twenty minutes is a lot of material to cut, even if part of it was a "last week on Stargate SG-1 segment—and the list of omitted scenes in the shortened version is damning (see SG wikia).
Fans were right to be mad at MGM for issuing those early DVDs with the shortened version. Without even having seen the original cut, the syndicated version still feels like it's missing something. I'm mad that Hulu, Netflix, iTunes, and Vudu all have the shortened version despite later DVD releases of the show coming with the longer original cut. (Google Play might have the full version, but it's doubtful. Can't tell because it doesn't show episode runtimes in the store.)
My next step will be to request the Season 8 DVDs via interlibrary loan, just so I can watch this episode as it was intended.
GateWorld: https://www.gateworld.net/sg1/s8/threads/#production
Wikia: https://stargate.fandom.com/wiki/Threads#Notes
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0709210/trivia?item=tr0671344
Joseph Mallozzi's post: https://josephmallozzi.com/2011/06/04/june-4-2011-a-sneak-peek-at-the-standing-sets-for-transporter-the-series-they-eyes-dont-have-it-the-stargate-sg-1-season-8-wrap-up/loading replies
@dgw Yep, stick with physical media for the best versions of things :thumbsup:
I don't get it, when the remote didn't work, and it wouldn't spark, all Pop needed was a spark, right? Oh wait, wasn't that a God damn lighter he had in his hand? Yes, yes it was, so why no freaking BOOM!?
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@thenightwolf No, that wouldn't have done anything. C4 doesn't work like that, it needs a detonator to set it off.
A fantastic show of acting from Michael Shanks who manages to convey the different personalities very well. I was especially affected by his portrayal of the young boy and found it quite emotional. I think that Doctor Frasier gets some great stuff to do here too. I wish she had been given a more prominent role a lot of the time.
I will say that the episode is a little inconsistent, or at the least confusing with some of the more technical information given. The final solution is kind of glossed over. We are told that separating the personalities isn't possible (and the excellent water jug demonstration really helps us understand the issues), but in the end it turns out yes, the ship can fix it after all.
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@tyrannic_puppy That makes sense, I probably wasn't paying close enough attention when it was explained. I think you're about to overtake me with your episode viewings!
Review by LeftHandedGuitarist
A fantastic end to season 2 gives us a deceptively small episode that grows bigger as it continues and ends with events that will shape the course of the entire series to come. This has a little bit of everything, starting with some lovely father/son bonding between Jake and Commander Sisko, juxtaposed by the funnier relationship between Nog and his uncle Quark.
In many ways, Quark is the real star of this one. His arguments with Sikso culminate in quite a beautiful speech about the nature of Ferengi vs. humans, and it serves to demonstrate the casual racism that everyone, noble Starfleet officers included, show towards Quark and the rest of his species. It seems like Quark's words are strong enough to actually register with Sisko.
The camping trip is a really enjoyable part of the episode, both Quark and Nog providing some really good humour. More so, though, is the continuing and very genuine love between Jake and his father. Any time they end up reminiscing about Jennifer always results in some quite heartbreaking stuff, and both Cirroc Lofton and Avery Brooks always hit the right notes.
Things change with the arrival of Eris (who we will later learn is a Vorta) followed by our first look at the Jem'Hadar. These guys are just great, and at this point it's all about displaying how intimidating they are. They have personal cloaking devices, great strength and a highly aggressive attitude. One of the most powerful moments of the episode is the way that the soldier on the station just casually walks through the force field the crew think they have him contained in; it's done in such a nonchalant way and shot so well that it becomes kind of unsettling.
If we needed a less subtle demonstration, they destroy a Galaxy-class starship. That could easily have been the Enterprise, as it was thoroughly overwhelmed and had no defence. There's a few moments here which don't track with later developments - Eris has telepathic abilities that will never be seen again, and she doesn't recognise what Odo is - but they're small enough things that it's easy to forget.
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@riotaero Good point. I guess I didn't even consider it being a spoiler as it's such an integral part of the show.
Romulan Samurai Nuns are the best hand to hand warriors in the galaxy? Ever heard of Klingons?
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@cholland8776 But all the Klingon warriors are drunks! ;)
Another Geordie-centric episode following straight on the heels of the previous one, but this is much more dynamic. Geordie is also far more interesting when the focus isn't his love life, plus we get to see him without the visor on. LeVar Burton has a very expressive face, so letting us see his eyes is always a good thing.
The very tense situation on the ship is the better side of the episode, though. Romulan intrigue is always entertaining, while Worf gets to make a bold character statement. The scenes he has with both Riker and Picard are wonderful, with the Captain showing him the respect he deserves by not ordering him to help the Romulan, despite the situation.
The fantastic Andreas Katsulas makes his first appearance as Commander Tomalok, and he always leaves an impression. We get to see the better production values of season 3 down on the planet's surface, it looks far more realistic than the cheap cardboard sets we've been stuck with from previous seasons.
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@finfan Great minds think alike ;)
Cracking episode. I never did feel I trusted the Inspector and I'm pleased Janeway didn't either.
Question though. The passengers all left in shuttles and safely got through the Worm Hole. In the last inspection where were Voyagers crew, Tuvok etc?? They weren't in suspension so how come they weren't found?
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@danio1972 I wondered the exact same thing. Strange ending.
Now, this is a difficult episode to write about. On the one hand its an acting tour-de-force and pushes characters in new directions. On the other hand it sometimes tips into really silly territory and turns Dukat into a comic book villain instead of the nuanced, multifaceted character he's been up until this point.
I can't help but feel that it's trying to evoke a similar feeling to the amazing episode 'Duet', which was way back in season 1. It doesn't come close to that overall, but it does achieve a very satisfying back-and-forth between two strong characters. Sisko and Dukat get to really go at it and explore all the aspects of their relationship, finally letting the truth burst out. The actors both give it their all and along with the script they manage to create some truly captivating viewing.
But it's sprinkled throughout the episode rather than being consistent. The lulls are made up for by the excellent scenes with Dukat and his "demons", those being the exaggerated imagined versions of Damar, Kira and Weyoun. These three really move the episode along and provide gorgeously over-the-top caricatures of the real characters - and so much of what they say is true to the real ones while being far more honest and direct.
The episode fumbles things a bit with an unsatisfactory ending in which Dukat just becomes unhinged and accepts his new evil ways. It's hard to not see it as Benjamin pushing him towards that rather than trying to reign him in. At the same time, the truth is liberating and there's a morbid fascination in seeing Dukat admit that he should have killed every single Bajoran when he could.
The scenes on board the Defiant are also troublesome, notably from Bashir and O'Brien who seem to think that Sisko is more important than the thousands of Federation troops their supposed to be protecting. O'Brien even looks disappointed when the find two survivors and they aren't people he knows. It does all lead to a great moment when Worf gets to casually, and authoritatively, put Bashir in his place.
An episode that was aiming higher than it managed to reach, but is still quite captivating. On a side note, I'm watching Voyager alongside this and I can't imagine it ever producing something of this ambition or substance. The writing and characters on that show are just laughable in comparison to the complexity that has developed here.
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@finfan Yes, I feel the same. I understand why some people love it - it's very easy to watch. But it's so lacking in substance for me that it's probably right down at the bottom of my list.
When Voyager tackles big story lines, it can take me by surprise. This is a gorgeously twisty episode that doesn't worry about how much it tries to fit in, starting in one place and taking us on a winding path to get somewhere new. I have to congratulate the writers on handling it all so well.
I'm really glad to see that the Maquis are still not entirely comfortable on board the ship, because they do tend to blend into the background in most episodes. It's just a shame that any time we meet one it has to be a new character and actor. The show would have been so much better if there were all people that we had been seeing since the start.
The death and funeral scene at the start really didn't work for me at all for exactly the reason that we don't know or care about the character who died. All of our main cast were talking about how well they knew him, how he had saved their lives and it falls flat. Chakotay especially fails here as he gives one of the most underwhelming and unemotional funeral eulogies - I don't really think that guy truly cares about anyone, or else Robert Beltran was just bored out of his mind.
Always happy to see Seska back, and her interactions with Maje Cullah were a bit more nuanced here, less evil villain. The Trabe kind of suckered me in, I was hoping they would actually be good guys. Nice nod to The Godfather Part III with the big mass execution.
The ending is a bit of a letdown with Janeway realising that the Starfleet way is the only way (it really shouldn't be), and giving a cheesy motivational speech.
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@dgw Great minds, and all that... ! :D
Now, this is classic Star Trek! Despite a few problems, this is a delight to watch from start to finish and is Discovery's first foray into the tried-and-tested 'bottle show'. These episodes often end up being my favourites, we are given a situation and really get to dive into it. They often reveal a lot about our characters and usually have fun doing it. Great examples of this include 'Civil Defense' (DS9), 'Disaster' (TNG), 'Explorers' (DS9) and of course the other classic Trek time-loop show, 'Cause and Effect' (TNG).
If I had any doubts about Rainn Wilson's portrayal of Harry Mudd, this episode easily washed them away. He's a lot of fun and full of energy, as well as managing to come off as a fairly complex person. It was interesting the way he was quite cruel to the crew of the Discovery, and then shrivels up at the sight of Stella and her father. I think there was a missed opportunity to make her a bit more like the shrew seen in The Original Series, but it's important to remember that what we saw there was Mudd's own vision of her rather than the actual person. The various deaths were quite mean spirited, despite being somewhat offset due to the fact that they weren't permanent A couple were also pretty funny, although I never quite got the impression that those little purple balls caused an "agonising" death.
Mostly, I think I enjoyed that this episode showed us the characters in more relaxed and natural states. Captain Lorca's apathy at finding a space whale is quite funny and even endearing, as he tells his crew to just get on with it (loved that he's finally sitting in the chair, too). Tilly continues to just delight me, and drunk Tilly is even better. It seems to me that she's hiding a lot of confidence under a socially awkward front. Stamets possibly emerged as the best part for me, this new happy version of him is charming and fun to spend time with (again, PLEASE let us get back to that mirror image thing from a couple of episodes ago).
The Burnham/Tyler pairing is maybe not my favourite thing. I don't feel a huge amount of chemistry between them, but then again Michael's standoffish nature means that she doesn't really have chemistry with anybody. I think it's more down to me not really clicking with the character of Tyler, as I talked about in my review for the previous episode. He feels like he's fit in too easily and his personality is a bare minimum.
Where the episode could have done a slightly better job is with the various time loop escapades. The movement through them became a bit too quick, and we are supposed to understand that Stamets explains things to Burnham who explains things to Tyler who explains things to Lorca, etc. every time, and everyone just accepts what they're being told and gets to action? That took me out of things a bit, and I would have been perfectly happy to have longer scenes that established things better. It's also hard to ignore the fact that the episode should have been all from Stamet's point-of-view, as he's the one dealing with it all.
Overall though, damn this was fantastic. The use of the introductory log and mostly self-contained nature of the episode made this feel so much like it was a part of the franchise I love. Mostly, though, it let us get a grip on these new characters and let them just get on with things as opposed to being dragged along by plot mechanics.
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@misnomer I'm waaay behind on The Orville (still actually waiting for it to have a UK broadcast), but really am looking forward to getting back into it. I just don't like to have too many shows on the go at once.
Now, this is classic Star Trek! Despite a few problems, this is a delight to watch from start to finish and is Discovery's first foray into the tried-and-tested 'bottle show'. These episodes often end up being my favourites, we are given a situation and really get to dive into it. They often reveal a lot about our characters and usually have fun doing it. Great examples of this include 'Civil Defense' (DS9), 'Disaster' (TNG), 'Explorers' (DS9) and of course the other classic Trek time-loop show, 'Cause and Effect' (TNG).
If I had any doubts about Rainn Wilson's portrayal of Harry Mudd, this episode easily washed them away. He's a lot of fun and full of energy, as well as managing to come off as a fairly complex person. It was interesting the way he was quite cruel to the crew of the Discovery, and then shrivels up at the sight of Stella and her father. I think there was a missed opportunity to make her a bit more like the shrew seen in The Original Series, but it's important to remember that what we saw there was Mudd's own vision of her rather than the actual person. The various deaths were quite mean spirited, despite being somewhat offset due to the fact that they weren't permanent A couple were also pretty funny, although I never quite got the impression that those little purple balls caused an "agonising" death.
Mostly, I think I enjoyed that this episode showed us the characters in more relaxed and natural states. Captain Lorca's apathy at finding a space whale is quite funny and even endearing, as he tells his crew to just get on with it (loved that he's finally sitting in the chair, too). Tilly continues to just delight me, and drunk Tilly is even better. It seems to me that she's hiding a lot of confidence under a socially awkward front. Stamets possibly emerged as the best part for me, this new happy version of him is charming and fun to spend time with (again, PLEASE let us get back to that mirror image thing from a couple of episodes ago).
The Burnham/Tyler pairing is maybe not my favourite thing. I don't feel a huge amount of chemistry between them, but then again Michael's standoffish nature means that she doesn't really have chemistry with anybody. I think it's more down to me not really clicking with the character of Tyler, as I talked about in my review for the previous episode. He feels like he's fit in too easily and his personality is a bare minimum.
Where the episode could have done a slightly better job is with the various time loop escapades. The movement through them became a bit too quick, and we are supposed to understand that Stamets explains things to Burnham who explains things to Tyler who explains things to Lorca, etc. every time, and everyone just accepts what they're being told and gets to action? That took me out of things a bit, and I would have been perfectly happy to have longer scenes that established things better. It's also hard to ignore the fact that the episode should have been all from Stamet's point-of-view, as he's the one dealing with it all.
Overall though, damn this was fantastic. The use of the introductory log and mostly self-contained nature of the episode made this feel so much like it was a part of the franchise I love. Mostly, though, it let us get a grip on these new characters and let them just get on with things as opposed to being dragged along by plot mechanics.
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@misnomer You disagree with me?! How DARE YOU?! :p
It probably helps me a bit that I have no attachment to the Original Series version of Harry Mudd and considered him a bit of a foppish idiot, so seeing a version of him with a bit more drive and wit just clicks with me better.
An excellent story true to the spirit of the tales it's trying to pay homage to, I really enjoyed this one. The jokes were quite on point, too, without overpowering the narrative. This has confirmed for me that The Orville might become a show I truly love.
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@misnomer So far it feels pretty removed from the comedy stylings of Family Guy to me, and it seems more like people are slapping that label on it because it's all they can equate Seth MacFarlane with. I hope the show continues more in the vein of this episode.
Badgey is the greatest character in the history of Star Trek and you cannot change my mind.
I also instantly recognised JG Hertzler's voice! Nice.loading replies
@odetospot He was the alien captain on the viewscreen!
A joy of an episode to watch despite not really being all that special. Maybe it's just because season 7 is so uninspired that this one really manages to stand out. Interesting to note, though, that plot-wise very little actually happens here - there's no reason behind Worf's dimension-jumping other than an accident, so we don't get any alien conspiracy or vendetta against him. The solution to the problem is also incredibly straight forward and devoid of problems, and in that respect it could be seen as quite disappointing in terms of jeopardy because there really is none.
No, the fun here just comes from following Worf through the different dimensions and spotting all the differences. It's hard not to enjoy seeing Wesley back on the bridge, or more subtle things like the colour of Data's eyes. If anything, I end up wishing that they did more with it and showed us some really insane alternatives (how about one where Data is a female android? Or Dr. Crusher has cybernetic implants? Or where Worf, Alexander and K'Ehyleyr live as a happy family? What if Worf had ended up in a dimension that he DIDN'T want to leave?).
The episode also references events from several previous episodes in a nice (and rare) use of continuity. The big set up here is the pairing of Worf and Deanna, though. It's a strange one, but I have to admit to always thinking that they made a pretty good couple, and the show will run with it for a little while.
Special mention for the nightmare Enterprise that comes from the Borg dimension, Jonathon Frakes does a great job as the manic, crazy bearded Riker!
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@abstractals Oh, really? That's a pure coincidence, I've not heard of it before! I'm just following the Star Trek Chronology Project and it's been ages since I've seen so many of these episodes, it's great fun. I'm also going super geeky and reading all the relaunch novels too, figuring out how everything fits together.
Devlin Medical Technologies, huh? Cute little inside nod to one of the co-writers on Stargate's original film.
This episode contains one of the most conspicuous incorrect card swipes in the whole franchise. Rodney tries the card multiple times, and the fact that it doesn't work is a plot point. The obvious reason is that he's swiping it backwards.
Meanwhile, still trying to figure out why Amanda Tapping joined the main cast only to keep skipping episodes. So far this season, she's appeared in just 6 of the 9 episodes—and many of those featured her character in just a few short scenes. I would guess that the producers probably wanted to add a tie-in with SG-1 after its non-renewal to capture any audience that wasn't already watching Atlantis, but if that had been the reason I started watching this show after SG-1 ended then I'd be none too pleased with her repeated absences. It seems too early for her work on Sanctuary to be interfering with Tapping's appearances here (it didn't premiere until nearly a year later, in October 2008), but maybe the production lead time was greater than I'd expect.
Wallace was almost redeemable until he almost turned kidnapping into murder. I felt that the character crossed a line in that moment. If he hadn't injected Jeannie with the defective nanites, sacrificing himself so Todd the Wraith could finish reprogramming the nanites would have been a much more powerful gesture. As written, Wallace's death and Sheppard's "contribution" to it fell more than a little flat, like "of course that's the solution, duh".
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@dgw I also find myself wondering why Carter is featuring so little in these episodes, especially here where her scientific knowledge would have been a great help to Rodney. Plus, she's just awesome so more of her is good.
