#DS91sttime: Season 4, Episode 16, “Bar Association”

May 4, 2014 in #DS91sttime, General Topics

Deep Space Nine, Season 4, Episode 16, "Bar Association"

Workers of the bar, unite. Season Four, Ep. 16: “Bar Association”

One aspect of Deep Space Nine that makes it different from the other Treks is its vast ensemble cast of characters. The fact that this isn’t the adventures of the station’s main officers every week is both its strength and a point of contention many have with it. Personally, I find that uniqueness gives the show a special place in Trek canon.

The show’s fourth season has been one of relationship-mending, of resolving loose ends (or, in some cases, making some), arranging the characters for what’s going to be the main Dominion War dish that will be served later on. It’s interesting that as part of this, we’re given two back-to-back episodes that examine brotherhood, allegiances to societal systems, and the tough decisions one sibling must make when pushed by both his people and his family. Worf and Kurn parted ways (regrettably) in “Sons of Mogh”. It’s ironic that “Bar Association”–even with its almost-campy premise–does a better job with its family-centered conflict. Read the rest of this entry →

#DS91sttime: Season 4, Episode 10, “Our Man Bashir”

December 6, 2013 in #DS91sttime, General Topics

Season Four, Ep 10, "Our Man Bashir"

Season Four, Ep 10, “Our Man Bashir”

Several years ago I was at Dragon*Con waiting for the start of an event in one of the grand ballrooms. Said event was running behind schedule, so the organizers had several people playing “You Don’t Know Jack”, live, while everyone else waited for the real deal to start. I’m pretty sure the demo of the game (which was all it really was) wasn’t supposed to run nearly an hour, but it did.

I knew the main event was delayed, and no announcement had been made as to why, as the organizers apparently thought “…Jack” would keep us sufficiently distracted. I had a lot of laughs, true, but I kept thinking to myself “man, this is taking a while”.

That’s what this season has felt like. We know the Dominion is circling ever closer, but the showrunners don’t seem to be interested in going to the show’s core plot just yet. So we keep getting distractions.

We’ve had an homage to old alien invasion flicks, a send-off to Indiana Jones, and now it seems we’re going to be delving into James Bond territory. “Our Man Bashir” is very much like “Little Green Men”, in that the plot is outlandish, and it makes few apologies for it. Read the rest of this entry →

#DS91sttime: Season 4, Episode 9, “The Sword of Kahless”

November 1, 2013 in #DS91sttime, General Topics

Kor: a great character if there ever was one.

Kor: a great character if there ever was one.

“The Sword of Kahless” is almost a love letter to the treasure-hunting adventure genre. There are so many borrowed tropes in this episode that one wouldn’t be surprised to see Indiana Jones himself show up, perhaps with a phaser in the place of his trusty revolver, cracking away with a Ferengi energy whip.

As I’ve said so many times, no one owns tropes, and I can think of worse things than such an homage within the Star Trek universe. But the affection might have gone a little too far, because this adventure’s similar ending to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade undermines the plot development up to that point. As in, we’re left wondering if there was a point. Read the rest of this entry →

#DS91sttime: Season 4, Episode 7, “Starship Down”

October 16, 2013 in #DS91sttime, General Topics

Worf and enlisted men = challenges. DS9, Season Four, Ep 7: "Starship Down"

Worf and enlisted men = challenges. DS9, Season Four, Ep 7: “Starship Down”

Every show has them: episodes that ignite neither passion, nor derision. They usually have a few nice moments, but on the whole, there is nothing extraordinary to be seen. Ladies and gents, I give you “Starship Down”, a nice episode, with nice character development, and nice special effects, and a nice guest star turn by James Cromwell (albeit in alien makeup, so only his voice and stature give him away). It’s…nice. Read the rest of this entry →

#DS91sttime: Season 4, Episode 6, “Rejoined”

September 27, 2013 in #DS91sttime, General Topics

Dax and Lenara, Season 4, Ep 6, "Rejoined"

Dax and Lenara, Season 4, Ep 6, “Rejoined”

Okay, I take it back. “The Visitor” created a challenging review to write, but this? This is walking into a minefield. And that very aspect of the debate surrounding this episode’s metaphorical subject also happens to lead to my chief bit of criticism. But let’s hit the plot first.

“Rejoined” is our regularly-scheduled Trill episode, which means–sadly–that we’re going to launch into yet another exploration of their society, because Dax can’t be her own person. Literally. Almost all episodes centered on her have to be within the confines of the symbiont in her torso and the plot devices the writers keep building around it. I get that this is a challenging character to write, but there are surely plots that don’t involve either the symbiont’s past, or Jadzia’s seeming enslavement to it. I am so over hearing about what Curzon did. Let’s start talking about what Jadzia does. Read the rest of this entry →