#DS91sttime: Season 4, Episode 3, “The Visitor”

August 28, 2013 in #DS91sttime, General Topics

Egad, am I stepping into it this time. I knew after I finished “The Visitor” that I was going to find myself in trouble.

See, I’ve some guidelines I stick to so that each review in this series is truly a virgin experience. One of these is that I make a point not to check out Memory Alpha, or Trek Core, or anywhere else for anyone’s opinions on an episode ahead of my viewing. I don’t want to know about the public’s derision or acclaim, because that small bit of dye dropped into the waters can color my perception.

I failed that guideline with this episode, because of a slip-up that happened well prior to my decision to even make this review series. Sometime back–maybe a few years ago–I googled the most popular Trek episodes of all time, and wound up staring down a list of the best Deep Space Nine episodes. And there was an image of Sisko, holding some old guy’s shoulders–that’s all I knew–and since the episode’s title was simple to remember, it stuck in my head.

Many regard “The Visitor” as the best episode in DS9’s entire run, and–checking Wikipedia after I watched–I saw quite a few viewers believe it is the best episode across the entire Trek universe. Wow. That’s overwhelming.

Overwhelming, too, was the pressure I think I placed on the episode before I watched it. I was ready to slingshot around the sun over this one. How could I not be impressed? So many people loved it, after all.

And yet, I’m left with a somewhat-contrarian review to write. Here comes the shuttle crash. Holofilm at eleven. Read the rest of this entry →

#DS91sttime: Season 4, Episode 1 & 2, “The Way of the Warrior”

August 16, 2013 in #DS91sttime, General Topics

I spent a lot of time thinking how to express the excellence of Deep Space Nine‘s feature-length fourth-season opening episode, “The Way of the Warrior”, and the word that keeps fighting its way to the surface is Qapla’ (that’s Klingon for “success”). Its not that the Klingons own this episode, it’s that their arrival and its subsequent consequences force the crew to cooperate in a way that is compelling and gripping. You can’t watch this thing without being engrossed–it almost approaches First Contact with its thick air of escalating tension.

Pause on that for a moment: this is a season premiere of a syndicated Trek spinoff, and it warrants positive comparisons with First Contact. Read the rest of this entry →