Dax is such an interesting character with the multitudes of lifetimes to explore, but somehow I thought that DS9 managed to make her the least developed character. Terry Farrel was great in the role and when the show gave her something really good, she flourished. This is not quite one of those stellar moments, however important it is to her character development.
The revelation that one of the past hosts was a murderer is a big one, but it doesn't feel like it's made as big a deal of as it should be. This should be a character-changing moment for Jadzia, but the effects of this episode seem to have zero bearing on her future. We see an angry and confrontational side of her personality develop here, but it will seemingly be kept under wraps from here on despite the revelations she has. DS9 was usually a bit better at allowing characters to change with big events (although, fair enough, it's not ignored entirely in future episodes).
The episode has some great moments, though. Odo stirring the souffle is quite charming and it's great to see that Bashir has matured enough to be a doctor rather than a womaniser, as demonstrated when Jadzia comes to sleep in his quarters. Also, how fantastic is it that Sisko has his entire senior staff over for dinner and cooks for them? Picard would never do that.
I think it's a great story and I love learning more about the Trill, it just falls a bit flat in the execution for me.
This has the distinction of being the final "new" DS9 episode I ever saw, as I managed to miss it during its first UK broadcast. I don't think I managed to see it until I got the series on DVD in 2003.
I wasn't missing anything particularly special, though. While the episode does have a compelling story, it's ruined by the fact that the Skrreeans are just incredibly annoying. Even that name is annoying to type. The worst culprit is the late Andrew Koenig as Tumak who is very difficult to enjoy watching and seemingly written to be nothing but an angry pest. Leland Orser is also present, but strangely is not really used at all - I guess this was early in his career.
Another issue is that there is never any proof that Bajor is the planet that the Skrreeans are looking for, and Haneek's reaction is unnecessarily over the top. The alternative they are being offered is better in every way, but some prophecy tells them they need to act like idiots.
But I do quite like the downbeat ending and the fact that Kira's relationship with Haneek is not mended, or even salvageable by the end. It's also interesting to see the universal translator not quite doing its job, and we get another foreboding mention of the Dominion. There's also a great moment for Quark as he defends his nephew, both against the Skrreeans and with Odo.
I do wonder why Bajor didn't allow a small contingent of Skrreeans down as a test of sorts, maybe a couple of thousand to see if they could farm the land and make it work. That would have seemed to be a sensible compromise.
Much like the previous comedy episode 'Spock Amok', I struggled to click with this one. It wasn't particularly bad with some massive TOS vibes, and I always loved holodeck-gone-wrong style episodes, but the problem was that once again it just felt lifeless. The jokes raised a small chuckle at most, with the majority missing the mark entirely.
This time around something I noticed was the lack of musical accompaniment to help lift the comedy. Without it there to help, things feel remarkably dead. Music was there certainly, but so completely subdued.
For the positives, I thought that Dr. M'Benga lead the episode extremely well. I was also pleased to see Hemmer back. Uhura hammed it up brilliantly. Pike/Anson Mount was kind of delightful as the coward, pitching his performance just right. Wizard Spock looked fantastic. And Ortegas seemed in her element, jousting verbally with Pike. It's just a shame that so few of these elements ended up working well together.
The episode was saved for me by the ending, where it managed to hit me hard. The performances here were top notch. At first I was a little surprised at how easily M'Benga willingly gave up his daughter, but then I realised that she is literally at death's door and has no time left (the show hasn't made this quite as clear as it could have). He knew that holding on to her only means her death.
A weaker episode, but not a terrible one. It feels a little too early in the run to do something like this when the characters haven't been fully established.
The show says goodbye to Kes and brings Seven of Nine into the family. I have mixed feelings about both, but I like that they handled both events in one episode.
Kes was a character who never really contributed anything to Voyager, despite the intrigue surrounding her developing mental abilities. It's a shame that nothing came of her, because Jennifer Lien was one of the best actors on the show and always brought more to the stories than others would have. Her relationship with Neelix never worked, but her interactions with Tuvok and the Doctor promised that more could have been coming up. Anyway, her method of leaving the ship is very abrupt and denies her a a proper goodbye with anyone other than Janeway. It's a somewhat emotional finish that leaves open ended questions.
And then we have Seven of Nine. A problematic character, because as has been freely admitted she was brought onto the show for no other reason than to have an attractive woman to boost ratings. They stick her in a catsuit, get rid of all the ugly Borg implants and the whole thing is quite ridiculous. What nobody could have forseen is that Jeri Ryan is a fantastic actress who brought a huge amount of weight to all of her scenes and elevated the character far above whatever ambitions the producers had for her.
This episode is all about moving things around, so very little really happens in it. Janeway's ridiculously elastic morals/superiority show up again as she tells Seven that she will have no free will aboard Voyager - at least the script acknowledges how horrible this is by having Seven accuse her of being no different from the Borg.
Okay. Not entirely sure what to make of this right now.
I'm excited to have Stargate back in some official form, I'm less enthused that a subscription-based web series is the route that was taken. This new show clearly has a VERY low budget, but I think they've done well with the resources they have. It looks decent enough, but so far the writing is cheap and cliche-ridden. Exposition is front and centre, but that can be somewhat forgiven as it needs to move fast given we only have 10 minutes to work with.
More problematic is that this doesn't seem to be adhering to established canon - so, rather than being a prequel to the TV shows maybe this is more related to the original film, and a new continuity is being established? Or maybe I'll just wait and see how ti develops.
The acting is mixed. The German stereotypes are quite terrible. It feels like Connor Trinneer is the only one who knows what he's doing. I'm happy to keep watching and see how things go, but part of me is surprised that this has fallen back on such a dated style of storytelling. It's like a Saturday morning cartoon so far (and that's not necessarily a bad thing, I enjoy some Saturday morning cartoons).
I admit, the only reason I'm supporting this show is in the hope that MGM greenlight a new proper Stargate show... okay, and maybe also I'm super nostalgic for SG-1 and Atlantis - and even Universe.
What was with that weird camera spin at the end?
The most interesting thing here is the mind-controlling alien itself. It shows a level of either control or technology that hasn't really been done before, and that makes it kind of fascinating.
The hallucinations that everyone has are unfortunately very obvious and unadventurous. Particularly cringeworthy is the stuff with Paris and his father; daddy issues have never felt so dull. Far better is the revelation that B'Elanna kind of wants to get it on with Chakotay, and true to her Klingon heritage she wants him to be forceful about it. Not something I'm particularly eager to see, but it did manage to take me by surprise. Tuvok was a particular let down with his "I ... do not ... understand ... how this is ... possible". Seriously? There's a mind controlling alien giving you hallucinations, Tuvok, it's pretty obvious. You're supposed to be a logical and clever Vulcan, act like one.
Janeway's holodeck fantasy is a fun diversion despite some of the actors involved. For all its silliness, it's managed to create a compelling mystery (WHAT IS ON THE FOURTH FLOOR?!). However, having had cucumber sandwiches myself I can say with certainty that they are never something worth fantasising about.
Kes continues to develop her mental abilities and comes out, again, as the best part of the story.
I'm disappointed that all of Paul Wesley's singing moments weren't done as spoken word, as a tribute.
So, this was a mixed bag for me - It's very difficult to overcome my negative feelings towards musicals. I found parts of this quite entertaining, and there was also parts where I was cringing in embarrassment. I'm not sure it's going to have any rewatch value for me. I appreciated that they at least incorporated the songs into the storyline as a mystery that needed to be solved, but am never a fan of when they lean into the music as a way to dwell on a character's emotional state. Just move the damn story forward instead of sitting in a single moment for three minutes!
Some musical parts were definitely better than others, but this was always going to be a difficult one for me. There were just too many songs here, and they were too much in the musical theatre style. I didn't like the "finale" at all (the Klingon moment should have been hilarious but literally made me cry out "oh GOD NO").
At the same time, I really appreciate that Strange New Worlds is taking risks and experimenting. This is a thousand times more interesting than the super safe Berman-Trek, even when the results don't completely work for me. The problem is that we are only getting 10 episodes per season, so episodes like this can feel like a monumental waste of storytelling time.
The best stuff here was everything that dealt with character relationships - Chapel/Spock, Pike/Batel and La'an/Kirk.
This episode is nothing special, but it has a couple of important things. One is the introduction of Bra'tac who will become one of the best characters in the series - it's interesting to note how well developed his character feels straight away. Tony Amendola managed to make the character both stern but also incredibly playful.
The other important addition is of course Teal'c family, although that's more down to the bearing they have on his character rather than any future appearances they will have going forward. I also really think that Carter shines in this one, throwing grenades and stealing Goa'ulds. I always liked it when she and Daniel teamed up for mini-missions.
Random thoughts:
An episode with a really interesting premise that sort of falls flat on its face. It also helps that Kim Rhodes is pretty charismatic in the role of Lyndsay.
But the episode is all over the place. First of all we get a bizarre situation in which Lyndsay attempts to communicate with Voyager and for some reason her transmission goes to an unmanned screen in an empty room where a little girl just happens to stumble upon it by chance. Since when does communication happen like that on a ship? If Voyager is contacted then the bridge is alerted and someone (usually Harry) says, "Captain, we're receiving a transmission." This episode just decides to do whatever.
Then there's the massive issue that Lyndsay was a beloved and trusted crew member that everyone remembers fondly. Harry was even in love with her. Except... we've never met her before. She's never even been mentioned before. The episode would have had some actual impact if this had been somebody from the show's past who died. Granted, Voyager has never actively tried to introduce us to many crew members outside of the main characters, but I'm sure there was scope for this to work somehow. As it is, we get a disjointed story that it's difficult to care about.
There's also very little drama in her return or subsequent leaving. She's desperate to return to Voyager but then she just decides "nah, not for me" and leaves. Not all that compelling.
Still, the stuff with Seven and the Borg kids (they're still around!) is a little diversion.
This doesn't work for me all that well. Eddington is portrayed as Sisko's nemesis, but we never really saw him enough to care about him. I don't buy the Captain's obsession and anger towards him, because it feels like its come out of nowhere all of a sudden. The Les Mis references feel heavily forced, and Avery Brooks unfortunately overdoes it on the acting front, too.
I think that by this point, the Maquis storyline has reached a dead end and feels spent. There is no exploration of the issues or attempts to resolve them, and the arguments go round in circles. We see a bunch of refugees living rough, but it has zero impact.
I've also got to say that I can't see the new holo-communication system as anything other than a way for the show to save money. It doesn't have the epic feel the viewscreen communication does and it's really overused here, so much so that the gimmick loses appeal very fast.
However, the episode does end on a stinger that I do quite like. We get to see the lengths that Sisko is willing to go to put an end to things. It sets him apart from other captains and is a stepping stone to what will come later (his hands are going to get very dirty), and it manages to successfully feel both uncomfortable and triumphant. There don't appear to be any consequences, though.
This episode is overshadowed by the controversy surrounding it: Deep Space Nine became among the first prime time US TV shows to show a same-sex kiss, in this case between two women. In 1995, this was a big deal - in 2017, we see this sort of stuff in daytime TV adverts and in the episode it becomes nothing more than a beautiful moment between two people. I'm so glad that times have changed in that respect, but I'm also somewhat proud that my favourite television show had the guts to do this back then.
What makes it work even more is the message that is sent, and it highlights how ridiculous it is that anybody could take offence. The fact that this relationship is happening between two women is not addressed at any point in the episode - the scandal is just the fact that they were married in their previous lives. It effectively put things in perspective and, like Trek has done so often before, has something very important to say.
Once we step away from all of that business, the episode itself is nice but not amazing. There's some great chemistry between Terry Farrell and the guest actress and they both give it their all, but the script is very melodramatic. It also felt to me like Dax was acting very out of character - maybe this could be explained away by her remembering what she was like when she was younger, but it's jarring. There's also the obvious fact that this relationship isn't going to go anywhere, because Lenara Khan is not going to join the main cast of characters.
There's a lot of technobabble, too, which further detracted from my enjoyment. But there's some great moments of levity as we see people confusing Quark with magic tricks and especially with Worf having fun by telling people that Klingon dreams are too dark for humans to take (with a twinkle in his eye).
The whole Trill taboo thing does raise the question of how Dax is allowed to interact with Sisko on a daily basis, since they are friends from a past life of hers.
This is an episode made up on some extremely powerful moments, yet somehow when it's all put together I just don't find myself all that enticed and I'm hard pressed to say exactly why.
The Odo/Garak stuff is still the bulk of the story, continuing on from the previous episode. Here they are much more at odds with each other and while they were never particularly friendly towards each other, this really shows that what they go through here puts a strain on whatever relationship they did have. This is supposed to be Garak back in his element, but all we see is a man who wishes he were anywhere else rather than having to torture Odo.
And the torture scene is pretty heavy stuff, at least in the terms of this franchise. Excellent make-up on Odo makes him look like he's drying up and flaking into pieces which is quite a horrifying effect. Still, the impact on character is the real punch to the gut here as Garak begs him to just make up something so that he can end the interrogation, and we get Odo's admission that he just wants to be with his own people.
I can't think of another franchise that would have two characters bonding over one torturing the other, as the episode ends with a wonderful scene that seems to solidify a friendship between the two of them. It's also shot beautifully with Odo's reflection being revealed in the dirty mirror - in fact, the entire episode is full of quite fantastic cinematography including dutch angles and extreme close ups.
This also gives us DS9's first real major space battle, and it's pretty impressive. The Defiant finally gets to show its teeth as it mows its way through Jem'Hadar ships. It feels like we've been waiting a long time to see that.
And yet, I don't find myself being able to love the episode. Perhaps its because the Romulan/Cardassian stuff is so laboured, or maybe it's because I realised that this is the episode which really made me dismiss Enabran Tain as a watchable character. The guy is so driven by his ego and acts so magnanimously, but when it all falls apart at the end he's revealed to be a gibbering wreck. It could have been a great role but Paul Dooley just doesn't cut it for me because it feels cartoonish.
Maybe it's because this episode has MAJOR events for the Trek universe happening - both the Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar are wiped out, and the Dominion show their truly aggressive side - and yet, it doesn't really register as a massive thing.
All that, and the rest of the DS9 crew barely get a look in. Sisko defies orders and (of course) gets away with no repercussions. Dax gets to show of her piloting skills, O'Brien gets to fix things and Eddington reappears for the first time since his initial appearance and pretty much reveals himself to be a dick. I did quite enjoy Bashir trying to substitute O'Brien as a replacement for a lunch partner, and the whole thing failing.
It took me a little bit of time to get my head around just how utterly insane this episode is. By all rights it should stand as one of the most awful entries in the series, but through the sheer audacity of it it ends up as something quite watchable.
From the opening it's clear that the Starfleet headquarters we are seeing isn't real, because everyone is wearing the old uniforms and there are a bunch of Ferengi around. The revelation that Species 8472 have transformed themselves into humans is... a stretch. They are also using Earth slang and engaging in typical social activities. One of them likes kissing Chakotay. It's just such a far fetched concept that it blindsides you. The concept of them appears to have been changed dramatically from their first appearance in the show.
It transpires that it's an elaborate preparation for them to invade the Federation - by play acting as us and spying. Never mind the incredibly advanced technology they possess which would give them a decisive advantage, and their extremely warlike tendencies demonstrated before. The implication here is that they are more like the Soviet Union of the 1960s. Again, I have no idea how this story came into existence.
The ending boils down to a conversation that goes along the lines of:
VOYAGER: We mean you no harm.
SPECIES 8472: We don't believe you.
VOYAGER: But we're telling the truth.
SPECIES 8472: Okay.
I'm not entirely sure the writers had watched the previous episodes with these guys in. No mention is made of the episode 'Prey' in which the crew successfully communicated with a member of Species 8472 and manages to almost reach a kind of understanding. Also, no mention is made of their extensive telepathic abilities which surely would have allowed them a a great deal of knowledge over the crew's true motives.
Add to that some absolutely terrible acting from usually great actors like Kate Vernon and Ray Walston (I can't believe how bad his dialogue is, son) and I can only assume this episode is intended as a massive joke. With that in mind, I sort of enjoyed it because it's just so nuts. People mock an episode like 'Threshold' for how ridiculous it is, but this goes miles beyond that.
Bonus points for also having Billy from Gremlins.
I find the background story to be the far better part of this pleasant but unremarkable episode. Quark realising he can take advantage of the whole Odo/Kira relationship is quite brilliant, as well as seeing Odo's complete infatuation. And at the end, the further proof that he and Quark really do respect each other despite being genuine rivals. There's a friendship there that's complicated and they realise they both owe a lot to each other. Jake's involvement seems very peripheral and left field, but hey, it's nice to see Cirroc Lofton on screen more.
The situation on the Defiant is a mixed bag. The crew having conversations with the unseen captain is often compelling but at the same time never evolves into anything truly strong. The main characters are all talking about problems which we've seen no evidence of up until this point. I find it hard to believe that nobody on the ship bothered to look up who they were talking to in the Starfleet files and realise that something a bit odd is going on.
The ending is quite heartfelt, and yet manages to feel a bit unnatural in its telegraphing. Julian gets some beautiful dialogue and the camera gives us a lingering shot of Jadzia.. I wonder what's about to happen...
An episode based around the theme of coming together, in some cases to work towards a goal or in some to just forge a friendship. This is the beginning of the fantastic O'Brien/Bashir pairing, and it's off to a rocky start. I love that O'Brien just doesn't like Julian, but I also love that Julian isn't oblivious to this. It seems the writers might have realised just how arrogant they were making the character and began the process of making the doctor more likeable.
The Jake/Nog friendship has also grown to the point where the two of them are becoming inseparable, and to where they now comfortably argue a lot. They behave as believable teenagers, far better than Wesley ever did over on TNG. I have to admit, when I watched this episode as kid I also had a massive crush on Varis Sul, and it's interesting that I had forgotten about her completely but the episode brought it all the memories back!
It's a notoriously cheesy moment within the first season of the show, though. The whole storyteller plot line in the village is really hard to take, mostly because of how stupid the villagers come across. Our first real visit down to Bajor presents a people who seem moronic among the galaxy's occupants, shouting at a cloud in the sky. We've been told repeatedly what an advanced and cultured civilisation they are. I always laugh at O'Brien's attempt to tell the story, though ("once upon a time...").
Nice and moody, a bit creepy. Unfortunately also quite predictable which lets it down a bit. It's plain from the start that they won't be alone on Empok Nor, while the crew of engineers all seem like nothing but cannon fodder and don't act with much intelligence (having loud, rambling conversations when they are trying to stay hidden?). Seeing them bumped off one-by-one is almost relieving.
The existence Empok Nor itself is something of a contrivance while also being a pretty cool idea. But surely there could have been somewhere else to replace the broken part they need? I also found it a bit silly that the station is floating at an angle when they arrive to depict that it's "abandoned". We should realistically see that a lot in space shows given that there's no up/down/left/right.
Andrew Robinson as Garak does some good stuff here, though, channelling some of the psychotic performances he has been known for in other work. But again there are areas there which feel like a let down, especially in his confrontation with O'Brien which ends up being nothing more than a brawl rather than some intricate spy/assassin plan. In fact, crazy Garak comes across as someone more interested in being dramatic rather than a killing machine. Garak should have a lot more cunning than this, but maybe the drug is to blame.
It's a pretty good episode for Chief O'Brien, too, and puts him in a position we don't often see.
Garak does seem to attempt misdeeds like this somewhat often, ending up creating highly awkward situations between him and the station's senior officers but ending with them finding a new respect for each other. He gets away with a lot, in this case murdering a Starfleet officer..
Okay, this is a mixed one. We open with Kes acting like an idiot and behaving completely out of character which leads to her getting seriously injured. What follows is a quasi-spiritual tale that I think we are meant to accept as something beyond science - that would be all well and good, but the entire foundation of Star Trek is science, so this really throws things for a loop and I'm not sure how well it works as a Trek story.
The spiritual guide is annoying smug throughout. I think Janeway comes across quite well throughout this, mostly showing that she's willing to go to great lengths to help her (senior) crew and, for the most part, not falling victim to silly tricks that the "spirits" were attempting to use on her. Instead it turns out that the entire process was a trick, so that at least makes it feel a bit more unique.
As another reviewer here mentions, the apparent revelation that Janeway - a pure scientist at heart - has that science is not necessarily all it's cracked up to be will have zero impact on her from here on out. That makes this all feel completely pointless.
The Doctor does get a lot of good scenes, though.
Quite a nice romance story and Robert Picardo gets to shine as the Doctor. I think I quite enjoyed it for its simplicity, but also found myself craving something with a bit more to it. I'm kind of bored of the Vidiians already, even though Danara has a much different attitude to any one of them we've met before. There were echoes of the Doctor's antics in 'Heroes and Demons' and the romance he found there, but this at least developed things considerably more.
There's a real issue here which the show hasn't addressed, and I've brought it up before because it bugs me: the Doctor appears to have become completely sentient and self-aware. This suggests that ships are capable of creating life forms, and it's not being treated with the kind of importance it deserves. The TNG episode 'Elementary, Dear Data' and its sequel did investigate this concept with some detail, but that's far removed from the current situation.
The Doctor acting on Kes' advice and telling Danara he's romantically attracted to her is a great comedy moment, and I also really liked his subsequent talk with Paris. And again, Paris almost gets the best parts of the episode with his continuing streak of bad behaviour - however, if any viewer was confused about what's been going on with him, then this episode absolutely bashes you over the head with the obvious suggestion that it's a ruse to root out Jonas, the spy on board the ship.
"Shmullus" is an unfortunately laughable name, sorry to anyone who actually has that.
It's silly to the extreme, but I have a lot of fun with this one. Taking its cues from a Shakespearean style comedy, this is enjoyable but feels so very un-Star Trek. There's no real scientific aspect to the story, or exploration of human nature, or politics or even action. In fact, nothing really happens at all here. It's just a fun diversion with our characters getting to act a bit weird. But DS9 was far more about its characters than other Trek shows.
The acting is actually what always made this memorable for me, with Cirroc Loften (Jake) and Terry Farrell (Jadzia) in particular embracing the comedy aspects and really making them work. The creepy side of Bareil actually gets to work its way into the story, and that actually makes this one of his better appearances! (I LOVE it when he punches SIsko, and then Dax decks him.) Avery Brooks directs and does so beautifully, and there are some lovely epic camera movements spread throughout. The station looks bright and colourful.
I also like the O'Brien/Keiko marriage difficulties storyline, as it feels quite realistic (at points) here.
There's also Lwaxana Troi, who is a difficult character for some people to enjoy. I usually kind of enjoy her appearances, although they could be hit and miss. DS9 managed to use her well and bring out a more caring side to her personality, notable here for the great moment where she recognises Odo's feelings towards Kira.
Stargate did clipshow episodes, a money-saving measure that was an unfortunate necessity for many American television shows at that time. They are never fun to watch. This franchise did at least try to make the episodes as interesting as it could, though. In fact, the Stargate clipshows could sometimes be some of the more important ones for pushing the overall story forward. 'Politics' definitely falls under that description, making it a necessary watch.
Outside of the clips, the episode is actually fantastic. The introduction of Senator Kinsey gives us a really loathsome villain who is a lot of fun to watch, especially with all the verbal sparring that accompanies him. The SGC become ever more desperate as they attempt to defend the Stargate program to a person who has already made up his mind. It's a one-room episode that works really well, and the introduction of more political elements to the show opens things up for some good future conflicts.
But, I just can't excuse the use of all the clips from previous episodes. They are also taken from a number of the more awkward episodes, making them even less appealing. Well, at least we can be thankful that they didn't use anything from 'Hathor', I guess.
The Maquis story finally comes to an end, and I can't help but feel like it never managed to take off in the first place. The show failed to portray them as much more than terrorists, and even while I could sympathise with their situation I never liked their methods. It also never helped that none of the shows gave us a charismatic character to speak for them. Overall, I'm quite glad to see the end of the Maquis (Voyager has more or less forgotten they were terrorists by this point).
The episode has some spectacular verbal sparring between Sisko and Eddington, and the Captain feels a lot more like himself than he did in the previous Eddington episode ('For the Uniform'). This time there is fortunately none of the awkward Les Miserables analogy. Just dynamic conversations that allow the sparks to fly without going into emotional outbursts.
But that's just about all the episode has going for it. Once it settles into the second half it becomes less interesting, and we get a cave fight that allows Eddington to go out on his own terms. It never really feels powerful. The shootouts with the Jem'Hadar manage to put some nice humour in, but it's not enough to save it. The b-story with Nog and the Klingons actually becomes the better part, even though it never delves to deeply.
VERY awkward insert of the space station from The Wrath of Khan.
Enjoyable murder mystery with a crazy ending. It's proof again that Beverly deserved more episodes devoted to her, as she's usually very capable at taking the lead, even though this is not as good as some of her previous ones. I enjoyed Guinan's role in all of this, too (her last appearance in the TV show). Seeing a Ferengi scientist is cool, and it would have been nice if there had been at least some discussion about how the character of Dr. Reyga had ended up as one.
It seemed a bit odd to me that the rest of the crew, especially Picard, were disinterested at the potential of a murderer being on board the ship - it would have been fun if Crusher had teamed up with Worf to investigate. In fact, there's an odd level of disinterest from almost all of the other main cast members here. Also, I was a bit incredulous that Jo'Bril endured his own autopsy while apparently conscious, but by the end of the episode is seems that his species doesn't really feel pain. Useful!
The more you stop and think about this one, the less it makes sense, but it's still an enjoyable watch.
The show was still feeling that it needed to connect to The Next Generation, so we get more guest stars from that series. Vash fits in just fine (and has some great chemistry with Quark), but Q's presence is just a bit silly. John de Lancie is always incredibly fun to watch in the role, but the whole thing just feels like someone behind-the-scenes said, "why don't we put Q on the station?" when he has no real place there. On a side note, it gets even worse when he begins appearing on Voyager.
It does serve to highlight how different Sisko and Picard are, exemplified by the wonderful scene where Sisko punches Q in the face. It doesn't do much to endear us to Julian, though, who comes off as nothing more than a womaniser - and quite a cheesy one, at that. Again, we can see the O'Brien really doesn't like him very much. Dax gets to be very scientific and not much else, at this point she really needs to have an episode focus on her.
The Odo/Quark scene is pointless, seemingly just there to remind us that these two have a rivalry of sorts. Most silly of all is the clerk in charge of the assay office, who seems to want to be the most stuck-up Bajoran in the galaxy.
This episode marks a somewhat important point in Stargate lore, but I honestly don't think it's a great episode. It has a welcome guest star in Armin Shimmerman, and the Nox themselves are fun to meet. However, it's all very sedate and the threat from Apophis and his Jaffa feels pretty weak. It's not bad by any means, I just feel like it's importance has been overstated. That mostly comes down to how often its referenced going forward.
Given the late introduction of the character Ezri, the writers obviously felt it necessary to give her quite a few episodes this season. Because of that, it really feels like we've been focusing on her and nobody else for a while. I would be okay with that, because I love Ezri, but the episodes have generally been nothing special.
All the ingredients for a good episode are here, though. Nicole de Boer can carry an episode well and I just enjoy watching her performance. A great guest star is brought in for Joran with Leigh McClosky who is and intimidating and intelligent presence. There's an intriguing murder mystery and a really creative method of killing.
But put together here, it doesn't add up to a very good episode. It's slow and doesn't feel like it adds much to the show. There's a lot of wandering around and talking and pondering, and very little meat.
One thing that really stood out to me was the technology used in the rifle. The camera which can look anywhere on the station is pretty amazing, and since it's obviously a compact piece of equipment it makes no sense that the tech isn't used as standard for security cameras across the station/Starfleet (you could literally place it anywhere and monitor anything). Not to mention it's potential uses for spying and crime. The TR-116 rifle was prototyped for it's use of projectile bullets, not the targeting system, so if this sort of stuff exists it should have been used previously.
It's a lazy thing to say, but I just find this episode to be boring. And that's a real shame because it has a lot going on and it should have been much more enjoyable. Maybe it's just the concept of a religious cult that instantly makes me want to switch off.
This is still a great character piece for both Kira and Dukat. They're complex relationship has a lot of depth by this point, and it's fascinating to see their characters growth here. Kira reacts to everything in far more subdued way that she once would have, using words, logical arguments and restraint rather than aggressively lashing out. It also looks like Dukat genuinely believes in the pah-wraiths even through his own egotistical needs.
This is the third time we've been to Empok Nor, but it's the first time where it's felt like the DS9 set slightly redressed. A good way to save money, unfortunately it takes me out of the episode.
The episode has a couple of genuine "oh, shit!" moments - the reveal of the baby, the airlock sequence (why would she agree to meet there?) and Dukat's fake pill - which help it along, but this is all a bit too lacklustre for me. I'm also frustrated at how gullible the people shown here are.
I should like this more than I did, but for whatever reason on this rewatch the Ferengi episodes aren't clicking with me all that well. There's a lot of great stuff here, but I just wasn't really into it.
Such a shame, because the performances are stellar throughout. Notably brilliant guest star Jeffrey Combs is back as Brunt (I can't believe we still haven't met Weyoun by this point), but it's Max Grodénchik who steals the episode as Rom. Finally, his character is set on the path he was always meant to be on and after many misadventures has found his courage. There's a lovely look at the relationship of siblings Quark and Rom, and the reveal that they both really care about each other despite feeling the need to things which make life harder for the other.
Leeta finally makes another appearance too, it's easy to forget about her since she hasn't appeared much at all since her first episode. It's easy to understand why she's a fan favourite, but at this point she's really not been given anything interesting to do. There's a nice hint that she and Rom may like each other, though (I can't believe the episode gets away with a blatant conversation about masturbation).
More good stuff with Worf trying to fit in, too. Overall though, my attention was wandering through this one.
I do enjoy episodes about Bajoran culture and politics, but this one just misses the mark. Shakaar and his band of resistance fighters just aren't interesting enough to carry an episode.
Sisko mentions to Kai Winn at one point that this whole thing seems like an overreaction, and I feel like that applies to the whole episode. The fact that Kira and co. immediately go back to their old resistance fighting ways is more than slightly ridiculous. It also means that we have to endure the stock locations of caves and quarries while members of the group bicker with each other over tactics.
It gets some redemption by a pretty great ending, though. Kira (and Shakaar's) realisation that they can't bring themselves to fire on their own people really hits home that they are not in the same situation they were with the Cardassians. The conversation with Colonel Lenaris is mature and sensible, and I love the way they beat Winn at her own game. "Mature and sensible" certainly isn't a phrase that can ever be applied to her, and Louise Fletcher continues to absolutely shine in the role of someone you just want to scream at. It's no surprise that Kira finally has enough of her in this one.
I'm glad that the show has finally acknowledged Kira's mourning of Bareil, and her decision to now move on. It felt like he had been forgotten and his death hadn't really affected her.
As for the b-story with O'Brien playing darts, I'm not sure what that's all about at all. A fun diversion but there's nothing to it, and it feels like it's underusing the actors.
Right, I do enjoy the Mirror Universe but this episode has the intelligence of a piece of paper. It has a fun factor going for it which helps but it's clear that there were no new ideas on the table when this was made. We get to see the Intendant being her usual self, miraculously finding the opportunity to escape at the end as usual. We see Regent Worf being unable to control his temper. We see Mirror Garak being incompetent, and even have an extended joke sequence about it that goes on way too long. It's nothing we haven't seen before, and by this point it's tired.
I kind of like Mirror Ezri, though, with her unscrupulous ways (and a heart of gold hidden underneath). It's a shame that the portrayal of her sexuality is something a 13-year-old school boy would write.
The sequence of Quark and Rom carrying the invisible cloak is quite excellent, so the episode gains points for that. Mirror Brunt is really fun to see. It also loses some for including a mirror version of Vic Fontaine. Seriously, how dumb is that? There is no sensible explanation behind it.
I don't completely hate the episode because I could switch my brain off and have fun, but it's a shame that it feels the need to be so insulting to the audience's intelligence. Ah, well. We won't be going back to the MU again in this show - although the storyline does continue in various books, so I'll be reading them eventually.
Something of a team-building episode, and inspired by submarine movies by the looks of things. It's divided up into separate character sequences and some of these work better than others. The highlights come from Kira/Sisko and Quark/Hanok.
It's surprising to me when I realise that it takes until this far into the show for Kira and Sisko to start relating to each other as more than work colleagues, and finally being friends. The journey here has felt very worthwhile, and it's quite delightful to see them reach a place where they are so at ease with each other. Being Bajoran, Kira has always had to view Sisko as either her commanding officer or a religious icon, and neither are particularly helpful for creating a comfortable relationship. This episode lets her finally see him as a person and there's some joy to be taken from that; part of DS9's strength is that we really follow these characters and their gradual changes make sense.
Quark and the alien Hanok trapped in the mess hall with an unexploded missile is just fun. It works so well not only due to good writing, but the fact that they got an actor with the calibre of James Cromwell to play against Armin Shimmerman. They work brilliantly together both when arguing and working together.
The rest of the episode is mixed. The Bashir/Dax pairing shows (again) how much the doctor has matured and grown since his early days, but doesn't really give the characters much to do. Worf gets to really understand what it's like to be in command and allows himself to learn from O'Brien's advice, a nice part for his character on this new path. It's a rare treat to see some of the lower-decks engineering crew and they're interesting enough. Overall, a solid episode but it feels like a diversion more than anything.
