#DS91sttime: Season 3, Episode 25, “Facets”

July 30, 2013 in #DS91sttime, General Topics

"Lucky" Volunteers, S3, Episode 25, "Facets"

“Lucky” Volunteers, S3, Episode 25, “Facets”

“Facets” gives Deep Space Nine yet another chance to spend an entire episode exploring the Trill race, and the many demands of being a symbiont host. This pattern of plots is either a kind of repeating blessing, or a curse without end, depending on how much one really wants to know about the Trill. Someone on this show’s staff is so obsessed with this symbiont-centered culture they believe Dax should endure one metaphysical voyage of self-discovery after another. And the resulting episodes have a certain innate laziness to them.

Laziness? “Isn’t that a little harsh?” you ask. I don’t think so, because I take the same issue with the show’s treatment of the Trill as I do with the Ferengi. These people should be much more than the main characteristics they’re known for. The Ferengi are interesting when they’re not greedy stereotypes. And Dax shines when the symbiont is just a facilitator for regret, insecurity, and other aspects of her personality. You don’t have to have these folks waving signs saying “I’m a fount of avarice” or “I have a worm in my chest!”. That reduces what they are to bullet points on a 3×5 index card.

To further elaborate, let’s talk about the alien this show has the most respect for: Odo. If you talk to a lot of fans, they’ll tell you they love our friendly constable. Of course they do. Because Odo never faces down an episode like this.
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#DS91sttime: Season 3, Episode 24, “Shakaar”

July 24, 2013 in #DS91sttime, General Topics

Kai Winn

Kai Winn

It’s that time again. It’s time for Kira to talk sense into another former Bajoran freedom fighter. We’ve run into so many of these guys over the course of this show–and it’s only Season Three–that I’m starting to wonder if any of Kira’s old resistance cell-mates actually died fighting the Cardassians. By my count, this is the third time Kira has had to bring such a man to his senses, and the second time she’s had to travel down to a farm to do so.
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#DS91sttime: Season 3, Episode 23, “Family Business”

July 10, 2013 in #DS91sttime, General Topics

Rom and Ishka, S3, Episode 23, "Family Business"

Rom and Ishka, S3, Episode 23, “Family Business”

In the great ocean of the Trek universe, the Ferengi are so much flotsam, their culture so different from the obviously-honorable Klingons, the ever-conflicted Bajorans and the stalwart Federation. Sometimes, the franchise doesn’t know what to do with them. It’s a rare writer that treats them as anything other than a caricature of capitalism; a kind of uber-libertarian endgame so many believe would result if market regulations were relaxed. There are many fans that find the Ferengi just as horrible as the Cardassians. Then there’s the second camp, which I belong to, that adore the hidden depth they’re capable of when someone comes along and uses them the right way in an episode.

As I’ve said before, the Ferengi are so much more interesting when they’re not treated like clowns, or relentlessly-greedy thugs. I like it when the show gives their unique culture greater respect.
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#DS91sttime: Season 3, Episode 22, “Explorers”

July 3, 2013 in #DS91sttime, General Topics

I didn’t go into “Explorers” expecting to find one of the show’s best episodes yet. This was supposed to fall apart from the very beginning. After all, how exciting or plausible, really, is Ben Sisko suddenly deciding to prove a Bajoran space exploration theory by hand-building a primitive solar-sail ship and setting off toward Cardassian territory?

The lightship from S3, Episode 22: "Explorers"

The lightship from S3, Episode 22: “Explorers”

And indeed, throughout the episode, the realist in me was picking things apart. We know that the rate of acceleration for one of these vessels–if ever built–would probably be glacial, since they’re using the force exerted by photons against their “sails” to accelerate. We know that Sisko setting off in a defenseless ship on the eve of a galactic war smacks of stupidity at worst, and almost criminal recklessness at best. We don’t see how the arrival of one of Bashir’s former classmates is supposed to provide an entire B plot.

Doesn’t matter.
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#DS91sttime: Season 3, Episode 21, “The Die is Cast”

June 28, 2013 in #DS91sttime, General Topics

A daring plan. Season 3, Episode 21, "The Die is Cast"

A daring plan. Season 3, Episode 21, “The Die is Cast”

In “The Die Is Cast”, Odo and Garak find themselves deep in a secret mission waged by a joint Romulan-Cardassian task force. Before it is over, betrayals test allegiances, and the full weight of the Dominion descends upon a first strike by Alpha Quadrant forces.

I have been waiting more than two and a half seasons to write a plot summary like this. Am I giddy? Like a Ferengi at a discount store.

This episode’s balance of intrigue, double-dealing, action and character development is just about perfect, and extra marks go to Rene Auberjonois and Andrew J. Robinson, who once again steal the show. My goodness, we need these guys playing off each other more often. Thankfully, one scene seems to hint that’s slated for the future.
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