Not the most interesting episode, but I guess that is partly because I already knew a lot about the Jem'Hadar including their addiction to ketracel white. This is really a followup episode to the season finale/opener that got us to where we are right now in the overall story. It is clear that Odo's role is going to change since discovering he is of the race that runs to Dominion. But also knowing that he isn't some abnormality has him a bit more comfortable with who he is. Instead of resting in his bucket he now has his own quarters where he can practice shape changing with some privacy. Also it is clear that Kira is still interested in him, and he in her, but he is clearly unsure how to handle it.
We begin with Mardah working at the dabo table and convincing a man to bet one more time after a streak of wins and of course he loses. She heads over to Jake's table and mentions that Ben invited her for dinner that night which floors Jake. In the back of the bar Quark is negotiating the purchase of a wrecked ship from the gamma quadrant. He agrees to the price and is soon inspecting his goods. He seems pleased with his purchase until he hears a child crying. Quark returns to the infirmary with the child and Julian has never seen anything like him. The boy is growing at an unheard of rate. That night Sisko is relaxing in his quarters when Jake comes in mortified that he invited Mardah over without warning him. Ben is having a good time though and Jake is both excited and a bit scared.
Not long after Sisko returns to the infirmary to visit the baby, but he isn't a baby any more. He now appears to be at least 8 or 9 years old and can talk without any training or practice. Sisko stops by to talk to O'Brien who has been studying the contents of Quark's acquisition. It appears the child was being held in a stasis chamber to prevent him maturing before it was time, but the chamber was damaged when the ship crashed. Before he leaves O'Brien mentions the dinner with Mardah and Jake. Ben is surprised he knew about it and admits he may have to intervene between the two of them since she is 20 and Jake is 16. Finally we get to the C story where Kira stops by Odo's new quarters with some flowers. He explains he no longer rests in his bucket and even puts the flowers in it after realizing he doesn't have any other appropriate containers.
Bashir and Dax are having lunch together discussing the boy. It seems he has been engineered to lack a key enzyme without which he can't function. Bashir gets called away to the infirmary and when he gets close he sees the boy charging out and gets knocked over. They call Odo who rushes to stop him and the boy runs right through Odo before realizing what he has done. It is then that everyone recognizes what he is, Jem'Hadar. The senior staff have a meeting about the situation. It seems Starfleet has ordered the boy taken to a starbase for study which obviously alarms Odo. Sisko pulls him aside for a private meeting and Odo expresses his desire to try and integrate the boy as an intelligent lifeform before he gets treated like a lab sample as Odo himself was treated. The boy is clearly super stressed out, especially since he has already gone into withdrawal from the missing enzyme. However Odo manages to calm him down enough to let Bashir run some tests.
That night is the big dinner visit. At first Sisko doesn't seem all that impressed with Mardah, but she clearly grows on him with time. More importantly he learns Jake has been writing poetry and playing dom-jot. O'Brien has found what seems to be a container of the enzyme in the cargo and Bashir manages to get it into an injector for the boy. As soon as he has his injections he calms down, well as much as a Jem'Hadar can be calm. Odo takes him to the holosuite and he practices fighting which he enjoys greatly, but Kira stops by and warns Odo he may not be able to control him much longer. Afterward Odo talks to the boy and learns he has literally no desires but to kill which disturbs Odo. Sisko calls Odo to his office and gives him the news that a ship is on its way now for the boy, which leads to the boy appearing beside Odo with a gun. Odo realizes he has to get him to his people and makes for a runabout. Sisko tries to talk him out of it, but also realizes he is right. Starfleet will be pissed, but there is nothing much they can do. When Odo returns he walks up to Kira at the replimat and tells her she was right.
Review: A lot happened for an episode that seemed a bit too much like a middle of the story episode. It does contain at least one complete story though and works pretty well overall. It is really nice to see them treating a young man better than Wesley, Jake is turning into an actually interesting character.
6 out of 10
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Saturday, January 30, 2016
DS9: Second Skin
Damn the Cardassians are tricky bastards. But they also really love their families. This episode does a really good job showing that both these things are at the very core of what it means to be Cardassian. It also shows just how strong and smart Kira really is. Even when presented with all the evidence one could possibly want that she isn't who she thinks she is, she never gives in. At the same time she is a also someone who can recognize a good person, even when they are her sworn enemy. The connection she forms with her fake father is deeper than most characters in Trek seem to have with their actual parents.
The episode opens with Dax alone in Quarks. Quark shows up and in classic Quark style asks if she has been stood up since she had a holosuite reserved a half hour earlier. She replies that her date is Kira who then walks in. But before the two of them can get going on their adventure Kira gets a call from Bajor, a researcher wants to ask her about her time in Cardassian detention center, a center she was never held in. While the discussion is going on she is being watched by an alien woman from the upper level of the promenade. She contacts her supposed cell mate from the time in the center and he recognizes her immediately. He remembers her being dragged out of the cell and never saw her again. Kira realizes the only way she is getting to the bottom of this is on Bajor, but when she leaves she is followed by the alien from the opening. Soon after Sisko gets contacted by the Bajoran government, Kira never arrived on the planet.
Kira awakes in a dark room with the alien woman. She is directed to a mirror where she sees she has been altered to appear Cardassian. A Cardassian member of the Obsidian Order enters named Entek. He explains that she was altered years earlier and given false memories to server the Order in breaking the Bajoran resistance. She has been given drugs now to restore her memory. He also gives her a recording she allegedly made before leaving on her mission to her future self. Back on the station Sisko is investigating where Kira has disappeared to. Garak however seems to have an idea and tells Bashir. He tells them that she is being held by the Obsidian Order and there is nothing he can do for her. But that isn't enough for Sisko, he mounts a rescue in the Defiant and brings Garak along despite his protests. Meanwhile on Cardassia Kira meets her father who clearly has missed her a lot. She refuses to believe him, but he is confident her memories will return. Entek comes back and transports in the body of what appears to be Kira dead from when she was supposedly replaced.
The Defiant has masked its energy signature to seem like a freighter and Dax has a holoscreen to make them appear to match their signature. But when they are confronted by two Cardassian warships and the Cardassians demand to board it is Garak who saves the day. He uses an Obsidian Order code to tell them to leave and erase all record of the contact and it works. Meanwhile Kira is starting to be interrogated by Entek for secrets about the Federation presence around Bajor. Her father who is high in the central command tries to protect her, but that doesn't seem to be working. All she wants to is to escape and eventually he gives in. He is secretly in the resistance and contacts another member who shows up to smuggle her off the planet, but when she learns he is in the resistance it suddenly all makes sense to Kira. They are actually trying to get her father to reveal he is resistance and she is right, Entek suddenly appears with two armed soldiers. Luckily Odo, Garak and Sisko show up just in time to save the day. Entek goes for a hidden gun and Garak kills him. Kira returns to the station and her father comes along. There is a really nice scene at the end where he gives her a family heirloom and she tells him how much respect she has for him.
Review: A surprisingly touching episode about Cardassian politics. Also it turns out Dukats talk about how important family is to Cardassians was just idle talk. DS9 has always been at its best when it deals with cultures not traditionally regarded as "good" making them more than just comical villains and this episode is that in spades.
8 out of 10
The episode opens with Dax alone in Quarks. Quark shows up and in classic Quark style asks if she has been stood up since she had a holosuite reserved a half hour earlier. She replies that her date is Kira who then walks in. But before the two of them can get going on their adventure Kira gets a call from Bajor, a researcher wants to ask her about her time in Cardassian detention center, a center she was never held in. While the discussion is going on she is being watched by an alien woman from the upper level of the promenade. She contacts her supposed cell mate from the time in the center and he recognizes her immediately. He remembers her being dragged out of the cell and never saw her again. Kira realizes the only way she is getting to the bottom of this is on Bajor, but when she leaves she is followed by the alien from the opening. Soon after Sisko gets contacted by the Bajoran government, Kira never arrived on the planet.
Kira awakes in a dark room with the alien woman. She is directed to a mirror where she sees she has been altered to appear Cardassian. A Cardassian member of the Obsidian Order enters named Entek. He explains that she was altered years earlier and given false memories to server the Order in breaking the Bajoran resistance. She has been given drugs now to restore her memory. He also gives her a recording she allegedly made before leaving on her mission to her future self. Back on the station Sisko is investigating where Kira has disappeared to. Garak however seems to have an idea and tells Bashir. He tells them that she is being held by the Obsidian Order and there is nothing he can do for her. But that isn't enough for Sisko, he mounts a rescue in the Defiant and brings Garak along despite his protests. Meanwhile on Cardassia Kira meets her father who clearly has missed her a lot. She refuses to believe him, but he is confident her memories will return. Entek comes back and transports in the body of what appears to be Kira dead from when she was supposedly replaced.
The Defiant has masked its energy signature to seem like a freighter and Dax has a holoscreen to make them appear to match their signature. But when they are confronted by two Cardassian warships and the Cardassians demand to board it is Garak who saves the day. He uses an Obsidian Order code to tell them to leave and erase all record of the contact and it works. Meanwhile Kira is starting to be interrogated by Entek for secrets about the Federation presence around Bajor. Her father who is high in the central command tries to protect her, but that doesn't seem to be working. All she wants to is to escape and eventually he gives in. He is secretly in the resistance and contacts another member who shows up to smuggle her off the planet, but when she learns he is in the resistance it suddenly all makes sense to Kira. They are actually trying to get her father to reveal he is resistance and she is right, Entek suddenly appears with two armed soldiers. Luckily Odo, Garak and Sisko show up just in time to save the day. Entek goes for a hidden gun and Garak kills him. Kira returns to the station and her father comes along. There is a really nice scene at the end where he gives her a family heirloom and she tells him how much respect she has for him.
Review: A surprisingly touching episode about Cardassian politics. Also it turns out Dukats talk about how important family is to Cardassians was just idle talk. DS9 has always been at its best when it deals with cultures not traditionally regarded as "good" making them more than just comical villains and this episode is that in spades.
8 out of 10
Friday, January 29, 2016
DS9: Equilibrium
I remembered that there was an episode about the Dax symbiont having had a secret host, but I wasn't sure this was that episode until it was at least 15 minutes in. I actually appreciate that they don't make the show too much about Trill, they are interesting people, but there is only so much you can do. If I remember correctly Jake ends up following in his grandfathers tradition of being a chef and this episode also starts setting that development up nicely with Jake and his dad hosting a dinner for the senior staff.
The episode opens with Jake and his dad hosting a dinner. Odo is enjoying learning to cook a souffle and Bashir is complaining about beets. Jadzia shows up and after complimenting the beets pulls out an electric keyboard that Jake used to use. After commenting that no Dax ever had any musical talent she starts perfectly playing a song that none of them recognize and gets angry when she messes up part of it. The next day she and Sisko are playing chess and she keeps humming the song from earlier and not paying attention to the game. Sisko moves his knight to check her king and she gets angry and claims he was cheating before storming out. Kira follows to check on her but and Dax threatens to hurt her if she doesn't leave her alone. Dax storms off and finds herself in dark part of the promenade with a masked figure who gets closer to her everytime she tries to get away. The masked figure is right in front of her and takes off its mask but there is only another mask. Suddenly she is back on the brightly lit promenade and the masked figure she has grabbed turns out to be Quark.
Dax reports her hallucination to Bashir who examines her and finds the chemical levels for her communication with the symbiote are badly out of balance and getting worse. The only thing they can do is take her to the Trill homeworld to be examined by the symbiosis commission. Dax tells the commissioners about her visions and that some of the figures seem to be wearing very old uniforms. Looking for answers she visits the cave where unjoined symbionts are tended by unjoined Trill. One of the guardians recognizes her and tells her it is most likely a problem with one of her previous hosts, but that doesn't make any sense to her. While she goes through more medical tests Bashir and Sisko work on tracking down the song that she played that seems to tie it all together.
The research on the song leads them to Joran Belar. When they ask Jadzia about him she has a vision of the masked figure killing a doctor and when he removes the mask he is Joran. She then collapses into neurogenic shock. Bashir and Sisko keep digging and find that Joran Belar's records have been erased, but that he died exactly when the host before Curzon died. They contact Joran's brother who tells them that before his brother died 86 years earlier he had told his brother that he had been joined with a symbiont, but there are no records of this happening. Sisko figures this out and goes to the commissioner who is about to remove Dax from Jadzia killing Jadzia. Sisko tells her that he knows the secret, the commission tells the other Trill that only a small percentage of the population is suitable for implantation and that if an unsuitable host is used the symbiont will die in hours, but Joran proved them wrong. He was violent and unstable but managed to live for six months before they forcibly removed the symbiont killing him. To keep the secret the commissioner agrees to let Jadzia try to integrate the memories of Joran. It works and she is back to normal.
Review: An interesting episode, but Jadzia isn't really the strongest character going which hurts this one a bit. But it also works towards making her a more interesting character so I will give it credit there. Overall a slightly above average episode.
6 out of 10
The episode opens with Jake and his dad hosting a dinner. Odo is enjoying learning to cook a souffle and Bashir is complaining about beets. Jadzia shows up and after complimenting the beets pulls out an electric keyboard that Jake used to use. After commenting that no Dax ever had any musical talent she starts perfectly playing a song that none of them recognize and gets angry when she messes up part of it. The next day she and Sisko are playing chess and she keeps humming the song from earlier and not paying attention to the game. Sisko moves his knight to check her king and she gets angry and claims he was cheating before storming out. Kira follows to check on her but and Dax threatens to hurt her if she doesn't leave her alone. Dax storms off and finds herself in dark part of the promenade with a masked figure who gets closer to her everytime she tries to get away. The masked figure is right in front of her and takes off its mask but there is only another mask. Suddenly she is back on the brightly lit promenade and the masked figure she has grabbed turns out to be Quark.
Dax reports her hallucination to Bashir who examines her and finds the chemical levels for her communication with the symbiote are badly out of balance and getting worse. The only thing they can do is take her to the Trill homeworld to be examined by the symbiosis commission. Dax tells the commissioners about her visions and that some of the figures seem to be wearing very old uniforms. Looking for answers she visits the cave where unjoined symbionts are tended by unjoined Trill. One of the guardians recognizes her and tells her it is most likely a problem with one of her previous hosts, but that doesn't make any sense to her. While she goes through more medical tests Bashir and Sisko work on tracking down the song that she played that seems to tie it all together.
The research on the song leads them to Joran Belar. When they ask Jadzia about him she has a vision of the masked figure killing a doctor and when he removes the mask he is Joran. She then collapses into neurogenic shock. Bashir and Sisko keep digging and find that Joran Belar's records have been erased, but that he died exactly when the host before Curzon died. They contact Joran's brother who tells them that before his brother died 86 years earlier he had told his brother that he had been joined with a symbiont, but there are no records of this happening. Sisko figures this out and goes to the commissioner who is about to remove Dax from Jadzia killing Jadzia. Sisko tells her that he knows the secret, the commission tells the other Trill that only a small percentage of the population is suitable for implantation and that if an unsuitable host is used the symbiont will die in hours, but Joran proved them wrong. He was violent and unstable but managed to live for six months before they forcibly removed the symbiont killing him. To keep the secret the commissioner agrees to let Jadzia try to integrate the memories of Joran. It works and she is back to normal.
Review: An interesting episode, but Jadzia isn't really the strongest character going which hurts this one a bit. But it also works towards making her a more interesting character so I will give it credit there. Overall a slightly above average episode.
6 out of 10
Thursday, January 28, 2016
DS9: The House of Quark
Damn that was a good episode! Having an episode about Quark and his adventures with the Klingons was brilliant. He is everything they aren't and is clever enough to use it to his advantage and I loved every minute of it. The subplot about Miles trying to find something to make Keiko happy fell a little flat, but doesn't seriously detract from the rest of the episode. It is nice to see the show getting back to normal to some degree after the discovery of the Dominion. Just because possible war is on the horizon doesn't mean the characters on the station aren't going to get on with their lives and it is great to see the show reflect that.
The episode opens with Quark lamenting the lack of customers to Rom. They do have one customer, a very drunk Klingon who demands more bloodwine. Rom goes to serve him but finds he has no money so goes to Quark. Quark jokes with the Klingon about opening a line of credit which the Klingon doesn't appreciate so he pulls a knife, but is so drunk he falls on his own blade fatally. During the investigation Quark talks to Rom and realizes that if he claims to have killed him in self defense it will get people excited and they will start coming back to the bar so that is precisely what he does. Odo doesn't buy it but the crowd eats it up. Miles returns home from work and finds Keiko working on her bonzai. She tells him that the school has closed since it was down to only two students. She claims to not be upset but clearly is.
The bar is busy just as Quark wanted but Odo shows up to tell Quark the Klingon he killed was Kozak, head of a powerful Klingon family. Soon after he is confronted by D'Ghor who claims to be Kozak's brother. Quark tries to tell him the truth but D'Ghor claims that if that story gets out it will dishonor Kozak and Quark is happy to keep the lie going. Later Grilka, Kozak's widow shows up and refuses to believe Quark killed Kozak and pulls a knife on him. Quark admits the truth so she hyposprays him. He wakes up on Qo'noS and learns that by claiming he killed Kozak D'Ghor gets to take over his house and there is nothing his wife can do, so she marries him. Quark doesn't seem all that upset and asks to look over their finances. She is of course upset to talk about money, but agrees to let him look things over. From the records it is obvious D'Ghor has been manipulating the situation to bankrupt Kozak and take his assets. Grilka asks if he can prove this to the council and Quark says he can.
Miles tries everything he can to cheer Keiko up, but it isn't working. Even offering to build her an arboretum doesn't seem to work. Finally he finds a botany position on Bajor for six months and talks her and Molly into go for it. Keiko is hesitant but agrees to go. On Qo'noS Quark presents his evidence to Gowron. Gowron confronts D'Ghor who calls Quark a liar and demands trial by personal combat. Quark tells Grilka he won't do it, but when the time comes and it looks like D'Ghor will win Quark walks into the council chamber with a bat'leth ready to fight. However when Gowron calls for the fight to begin he throws down the sword and tells D'Ghor to kill him, but since he is so weak it is really an execution without honor. Also be sure and tell your children this is how you won. D'Ghor is about to do it when Gowron steps in and basically agrees with Quark that this is without honor and if he is willing to do this D'Ghor is clearly guilty of the other stuff to. D'Ghor is hauled off in dishonor and Quark gets divorced and then kissed.
Review: A solid character episode with a bunch of funny parts and also some very clever writing. The B story wasn't great, but mostly when compared to the super solid A story. Looking forward to all the Klingon episodes yet to come!
8 out of 10
The episode opens with Quark lamenting the lack of customers to Rom. They do have one customer, a very drunk Klingon who demands more bloodwine. Rom goes to serve him but finds he has no money so goes to Quark. Quark jokes with the Klingon about opening a line of credit which the Klingon doesn't appreciate so he pulls a knife, but is so drunk he falls on his own blade fatally. During the investigation Quark talks to Rom and realizes that if he claims to have killed him in self defense it will get people excited and they will start coming back to the bar so that is precisely what he does. Odo doesn't buy it but the crowd eats it up. Miles returns home from work and finds Keiko working on her bonzai. She tells him that the school has closed since it was down to only two students. She claims to not be upset but clearly is.
The bar is busy just as Quark wanted but Odo shows up to tell Quark the Klingon he killed was Kozak, head of a powerful Klingon family. Soon after he is confronted by D'Ghor who claims to be Kozak's brother. Quark tries to tell him the truth but D'Ghor claims that if that story gets out it will dishonor Kozak and Quark is happy to keep the lie going. Later Grilka, Kozak's widow shows up and refuses to believe Quark killed Kozak and pulls a knife on him. Quark admits the truth so she hyposprays him. He wakes up on Qo'noS and learns that by claiming he killed Kozak D'Ghor gets to take over his house and there is nothing his wife can do, so she marries him. Quark doesn't seem all that upset and asks to look over their finances. She is of course upset to talk about money, but agrees to let him look things over. From the records it is obvious D'Ghor has been manipulating the situation to bankrupt Kozak and take his assets. Grilka asks if he can prove this to the council and Quark says he can.
Miles tries everything he can to cheer Keiko up, but it isn't working. Even offering to build her an arboretum doesn't seem to work. Finally he finds a botany position on Bajor for six months and talks her and Molly into go for it. Keiko is hesitant but agrees to go. On Qo'noS Quark presents his evidence to Gowron. Gowron confronts D'Ghor who calls Quark a liar and demands trial by personal combat. Quark tells Grilka he won't do it, but when the time comes and it looks like D'Ghor will win Quark walks into the council chamber with a bat'leth ready to fight. However when Gowron calls for the fight to begin he throws down the sword and tells D'Ghor to kill him, but since he is so weak it is really an execution without honor. Also be sure and tell your children this is how you won. D'Ghor is about to do it when Gowron steps in and basically agrees with Quark that this is without honor and if he is willing to do this D'Ghor is clearly guilty of the other stuff to. D'Ghor is hauled off in dishonor and Quark gets divorced and then kissed.
Review: A solid character episode with a bunch of funny parts and also some very clever writing. The B story wasn't great, but mostly when compared to the super solid A story. Looking forward to all the Klingon episodes yet to come!
8 out of 10
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
DS9: The Search, Part II
I really liked the first part of this episode, and something seemed off with the second half. And it turned out to be justified, apparently about half the episode took place in some sort of mindcontrol/virtual reality thing. And speaking of, it really doesn't make much sense that the founders would be willing to release Sisko and company since they clearly will learn the location of their secret homeworld. But I guess maybe they could just take their crazy shapeshifter orgy to some other planet without too much trouble. And speaking of orgies, it really seems like the sharing of forms Odo does with the other changeling is sex, they don't say it but the look on Odo's face pretty much says it all.
The episode opens where the last one left off with Odo meeting his people for the first time. A female form changeling shakes hands with him and they partially merge which is clearly a mind blowing experience for Odo. Meanwhile Sisko and Bashir are on a shuttle trying to sneak back to the wormhole when they are grabbed by a tractor beam. They don't have the power to fight back so they are quite happy to have the door open and be greeted by Dax and O'Brien. They explain that the Dominion has agreed to peace negotiations and several founders are on the station right now negotiating. Back on the station they meet Admiral Nechayev who is working with the Dominion delegation. One of the founders wants to meet Sisko and he is surprised when it is another Vorta. On the changeling world Odo and Kira are waiting in a garden when the female returns. She has shape shifting lessons for Odo and Kira tells her she is going to try and contact Sisko but is warned not to call from the planet as its location is a secret.
On the station Garak contacts Bashir, he is worried about the treaty negotiations. As they talk they encounter the Romulan representative T'Rul. She is upset that the Romulans are being left out of the treaty and threatens war if they are cut out completely. Sisko asks Nechayev about the Romulan situation and she tells him the Dominion insisted which worries Sisko. On the planet Kira tries a subtle trick to get a message through but it is blocked. She finds a cave and follows it to a solid metal door, which is an odd thing for a race of shapeshifters to have apparently. On the station Bashir and O'Brien are sharing a drink. A Jem'Hadar soldier starts a fight with O'Brien and throws him across the bar. Federation security show up but take the side of the Jem'Hadar.
All this gets worse when Sisko learns Dax has been transfered without his input. He confronts Nechayeve and the Vorta she is negotiating with and they tell him the treaty has been signed, they are giving Bajor to the Dominion. Sisko is outraged but there isn't much he can do. While eating a meal as the station packs up around him Garak walks up. He expresses his distaste for the treaty and states that it would be a pity of they had to defy their governments. Sisko agrees but before their conspiracy can go farther T'Rul rushes in followed by Jem'Hadar soldiers. They shoot her and Sisko starts fighting back but is captured. Garak gets Dax and Bashir to help break him out of the holding cell they put Sisko in. They fight towards the runabout pad but Garak is shot. They barely escape and manage to seal the wormhole. On the planet Kira leads Odo to the metal door. He opens it and they find Jem'Hadar inside. They are led in at gunpoint and find Sisko, O'Brien, Dax, Bashir and T'Rul. The female changeling shows up and tells Odo that they aren't part of the Dominion, they are the Dominion since they are the founders. Odo tells her he doesn't want to stay and be part of an evil empire and rather than hurt him she lets Odo and his friends go.
Review: The ending of the episode seems a bit unrealistic, but I guess the changelings figured Odo would decide to come back eventually and they weren't particularly threatened by the Federation. Still, giving up the location of their secret base seems silly. Also having half the episode be virtual reality was clearly silly.
5 out of 10
The episode opens where the last one left off with Odo meeting his people for the first time. A female form changeling shakes hands with him and they partially merge which is clearly a mind blowing experience for Odo. Meanwhile Sisko and Bashir are on a shuttle trying to sneak back to the wormhole when they are grabbed by a tractor beam. They don't have the power to fight back so they are quite happy to have the door open and be greeted by Dax and O'Brien. They explain that the Dominion has agreed to peace negotiations and several founders are on the station right now negotiating. Back on the station they meet Admiral Nechayev who is working with the Dominion delegation. One of the founders wants to meet Sisko and he is surprised when it is another Vorta. On the changeling world Odo and Kira are waiting in a garden when the female returns. She has shape shifting lessons for Odo and Kira tells her she is going to try and contact Sisko but is warned not to call from the planet as its location is a secret.
On the station Garak contacts Bashir, he is worried about the treaty negotiations. As they talk they encounter the Romulan representative T'Rul. She is upset that the Romulans are being left out of the treaty and threatens war if they are cut out completely. Sisko asks Nechayev about the Romulan situation and she tells him the Dominion insisted which worries Sisko. On the planet Kira tries a subtle trick to get a message through but it is blocked. She finds a cave and follows it to a solid metal door, which is an odd thing for a race of shapeshifters to have apparently. On the station Bashir and O'Brien are sharing a drink. A Jem'Hadar soldier starts a fight with O'Brien and throws him across the bar. Federation security show up but take the side of the Jem'Hadar.
All this gets worse when Sisko learns Dax has been transfered without his input. He confronts Nechayeve and the Vorta she is negotiating with and they tell him the treaty has been signed, they are giving Bajor to the Dominion. Sisko is outraged but there isn't much he can do. While eating a meal as the station packs up around him Garak walks up. He expresses his distaste for the treaty and states that it would be a pity of they had to defy their governments. Sisko agrees but before their conspiracy can go farther T'Rul rushes in followed by Jem'Hadar soldiers. They shoot her and Sisko starts fighting back but is captured. Garak gets Dax and Bashir to help break him out of the holding cell they put Sisko in. They fight towards the runabout pad but Garak is shot. They barely escape and manage to seal the wormhole. On the planet Kira leads Odo to the metal door. He opens it and they find Jem'Hadar inside. They are led in at gunpoint and find Sisko, O'Brien, Dax, Bashir and T'Rul. The female changeling shows up and tells Odo that they aren't part of the Dominion, they are the Dominion since they are the founders. Odo tells her he doesn't want to stay and be part of an evil empire and rather than hurt him she lets Odo and his friends go.
Review: The ending of the episode seems a bit unrealistic, but I guess the changelings figured Odo would decide to come back eventually and they weren't particularly threatened by the Federation. Still, giving up the location of their secret base seems silly. Also having half the episode be virtual reality was clearly silly.
5 out of 10
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
DS9: The Search, Part I
Season three isn't wasting time getting deep into the Dominion plot. They don't even get through the teaser before introducing the USS Defiant and soon after start the process of alienating Odo. I had forgotten that it was this early in the series that they introduce the Founders home planet and sea of changelings, definitely an interesting twist. Quark continues to be entertaining but other than him and Odo there isn't a ton of character stuff in this one. I do like that Sisko finally moves all his old stuff to the station from Earth making it really his home.
The episode opens with Kira in charge of a meeting in Ops to plan the defense of the station in the event of a Dominion attack, but things aren't looking good. Suddenly a possible cloaked ship is detected very close to the station but they are all relieved when it turns out to be a Starfleet ship, with Sisko in command! The Defiant like much of DS9 isn't quite in the character of other Trek series, but in this context I like it just fine. Also coming aboard the station are a Romulan T'Rul and a new security officer to be in charge of Federation security issues which Odo correctly interprets as the man getting his current job. Sisko tries to reassure him but there isn't much he can do. Apparently Sisko has been gone for months and now that he is back it is time to spring into action. The plan is to go through the wormhole and try to find the mythical founders of the Dominion and negotiate with them.
Since Quark is the only one on the station to actually negotiate with a member of the Dominion Sisko drafts him to come along. And a do mean draft, he convinces the Grand Nagus to order Quark to help. Kira tries to convince Odo to go along to represent the Bajorans, but he isn't interested. However just as they are preparing to depart O'Brien notices someone in an airlock, it is Odo and he has decided to come along. Unfortunately for both him and Quark they are forced to share quarters and Odo is already in a terrible mood. They arrive on the planet where Quark made his wine trade deal and convince the leader to give them some basic information on how to start looking to contact the dominion. He can only tell them where a subspace relay is located and points out that it is near the Omarion Nebula which seems to fascinate Odo. Quark manages to convince Sisko to leave him behind and the rest of them head to the relay.
At the relay Dax and O'Brien beam down and break into the computer no problem, but an alarm goes off and the a shield goes up trapping them. Just then the Jem'Hadar arrive and Sisko is forced to abandon them and flee. They seem to have escaped using their cloak. Odo leaves the bridge in a huff and Kira finds him in his quarters. He is mad that he can't take a shuttle to the Omarion nebula even though he can't quite say why. Just then the Jem'Hadar find them and open fire through the cloak. They destroy one of the Jem'Hadar ships but take serious damage and lose main power. The Jem'Hadar beam over and start trying to take over the ship. Kira gets knocked out and when she wakes up she is on a shuttle with Odo. They find a rogue planet in the nebula and land the shuttle. They are on an island in a sea of what appears to be other changelings. Several emerge and one welcomes Odo home.
Review: An action packed episode in a style the only DS9 ever really pulled off. The conflict with the Dominion is so much bigger and more fully realized than any other war in Star Trek and I can't wait to see it all come together. A solid episode, but also one without a full story.
6 out of 10
The episode opens with Kira in charge of a meeting in Ops to plan the defense of the station in the event of a Dominion attack, but things aren't looking good. Suddenly a possible cloaked ship is detected very close to the station but they are all relieved when it turns out to be a Starfleet ship, with Sisko in command! The Defiant like much of DS9 isn't quite in the character of other Trek series, but in this context I like it just fine. Also coming aboard the station are a Romulan T'Rul and a new security officer to be in charge of Federation security issues which Odo correctly interprets as the man getting his current job. Sisko tries to reassure him but there isn't much he can do. Apparently Sisko has been gone for months and now that he is back it is time to spring into action. The plan is to go through the wormhole and try to find the mythical founders of the Dominion and negotiate with them.
Since Quark is the only one on the station to actually negotiate with a member of the Dominion Sisko drafts him to come along. And a do mean draft, he convinces the Grand Nagus to order Quark to help. Kira tries to convince Odo to go along to represent the Bajorans, but he isn't interested. However just as they are preparing to depart O'Brien notices someone in an airlock, it is Odo and he has decided to come along. Unfortunately for both him and Quark they are forced to share quarters and Odo is already in a terrible mood. They arrive on the planet where Quark made his wine trade deal and convince the leader to give them some basic information on how to start looking to contact the dominion. He can only tell them where a subspace relay is located and points out that it is near the Omarion Nebula which seems to fascinate Odo. Quark manages to convince Sisko to leave him behind and the rest of them head to the relay.
At the relay Dax and O'Brien beam down and break into the computer no problem, but an alarm goes off and the a shield goes up trapping them. Just then the Jem'Hadar arrive and Sisko is forced to abandon them and flee. They seem to have escaped using their cloak. Odo leaves the bridge in a huff and Kira finds him in his quarters. He is mad that he can't take a shuttle to the Omarion nebula even though he can't quite say why. Just then the Jem'Hadar find them and open fire through the cloak. They destroy one of the Jem'Hadar ships but take serious damage and lose main power. The Jem'Hadar beam over and start trying to take over the ship. Kira gets knocked out and when she wakes up she is on a shuttle with Odo. They find a rogue planet in the nebula and land the shuttle. They are on an island in a sea of what appears to be other changelings. Several emerge and one welcomes Odo home.
Review: An action packed episode in a style the only DS9 ever really pulled off. The conflict with the Dominion is so much bigger and more fully realized than any other war in Star Trek and I can't wait to see it all come together. A solid episode, but also one without a full story.
6 out of 10
Monday, January 25, 2016
DS9: The Jem'Hadar
Now that is how you conclude a season! DS9 spent its first two seasons getting us used to the characters and the setting but now everything has changed. Instead of being a sleepy outpost near a valuable trade route they are on the front lines of what could easily turn into a galactic war. I believe this is also the first episode that heavily featured Sisko and Quark together. Honestly Quark makes some good points too about how despite their reputation the Ferengi may be morally superior to humanity. Of course they are also the opposite of what Gene envisioned for the future of humanity but not in an evil way.
The episode opens with Ben interrupting Jake's work on a science project. He has something more ambitious in mind, a planetary survey in the gamma quadrant. In ops Sisko is getting things ready for him to be gone for a few days when Jake shows up, he has invited Nog on the trip. It turns out Nog is in danger of failing out of school and could really use a project like this to get his grades up. Ben is clearly bummed out, he was hoping to spend some quality time with his son, but he can tell how much this matters to Jake so he agrees. Quark meanwhile is trying to convince Odo the let him advertise on the monitors throughout the station. Nog shows up to tell Quark he will need a few days off from work at the bar. Quark learns why and gets excited.
In the runabout Ben and Jake are getting things ready when Nog shows up, along with Quark. Ben is especially not excited about this, but again agrees to let him come along. They arrive in the gamma quadrant on a pristine world. Ben and Jake are having a great time walking through the forest but Quark can't stop complaining and talking about how much he would like to cut down the trees and mine the planets resources. They set up camp for the night and Ben makes jambalaya which Nog seems to be enjoying, but Quark can only complain about too many bugs. Things get worse when Quark accidentally catches his sleeve on fire. He admits he is really tired of being talked down to by Sisko. Then without warning a woman rushes out of the forest and knocks Ben down with a telekinetic blast. He isn't injured and she tells them they need to flee the Jem'Hadar. They don't have to wait long to see who that is as alien lizard men literally appear all around them using some sort of personal cloaking devices. The three are put in a holding cell with a telekinetic suppressor on the woman.
Jake and Nog find the Jem'Hadar and realize they can't fight back so they get back to the runabout and start working on getting back to the wormhole. Back on the station a Jem'Hadar ship comes through the wormhole and beams a soldier into ops. He tells them they are from the Dominion who considers all traffic through the wormhole illegal. He also claims to have destroyed many ships, and the colony of New Bajor. Starfleet sends the USS Odyssey, a galaxy class ship, the help retrieve Sisko. Kira and Dax both take runabouts to help with the rescue mission. Back on the planet Quark manages to pick the lock on the telekinetic suppression collar and the woman knocks out the security field. Jake and Nog encounter the Odyssey and runabouts, O'Brien beams to their runabout and they head to the planet to rescue Ben and Quark while the Odyssey and runabouts battle the Jem'Hadar. Their shields are totally ineffective and they take serious damage. O'Brien rescues Quark and Sisko along with the woman and they retreat. But before they can get out a Jem'Hadar ship rams itself into the Odyssey totally destroying both ships. Back on the station Quark realizes the collar was actually just a lock so Sisko confronts the woman. She admits she was a spy before beaming to somewhere.
Review: A solid episode with lots of plot in addition to lots of character development. It is starting to make sense why Nog would eventually join starfleet. Can't wait to see next season!
7 out of 10
The episode opens with Ben interrupting Jake's work on a science project. He has something more ambitious in mind, a planetary survey in the gamma quadrant. In ops Sisko is getting things ready for him to be gone for a few days when Jake shows up, he has invited Nog on the trip. It turns out Nog is in danger of failing out of school and could really use a project like this to get his grades up. Ben is clearly bummed out, he was hoping to spend some quality time with his son, but he can tell how much this matters to Jake so he agrees. Quark meanwhile is trying to convince Odo the let him advertise on the monitors throughout the station. Nog shows up to tell Quark he will need a few days off from work at the bar. Quark learns why and gets excited.
In the runabout Ben and Jake are getting things ready when Nog shows up, along with Quark. Ben is especially not excited about this, but again agrees to let him come along. They arrive in the gamma quadrant on a pristine world. Ben and Jake are having a great time walking through the forest but Quark can't stop complaining and talking about how much he would like to cut down the trees and mine the planets resources. They set up camp for the night and Ben makes jambalaya which Nog seems to be enjoying, but Quark can only complain about too many bugs. Things get worse when Quark accidentally catches his sleeve on fire. He admits he is really tired of being talked down to by Sisko. Then without warning a woman rushes out of the forest and knocks Ben down with a telekinetic blast. He isn't injured and she tells them they need to flee the Jem'Hadar. They don't have to wait long to see who that is as alien lizard men literally appear all around them using some sort of personal cloaking devices. The three are put in a holding cell with a telekinetic suppressor on the woman.
Jake and Nog find the Jem'Hadar and realize they can't fight back so they get back to the runabout and start working on getting back to the wormhole. Back on the station a Jem'Hadar ship comes through the wormhole and beams a soldier into ops. He tells them they are from the Dominion who considers all traffic through the wormhole illegal. He also claims to have destroyed many ships, and the colony of New Bajor. Starfleet sends the USS Odyssey, a galaxy class ship, the help retrieve Sisko. Kira and Dax both take runabouts to help with the rescue mission. Back on the planet Quark manages to pick the lock on the telekinetic suppression collar and the woman knocks out the security field. Jake and Nog encounter the Odyssey and runabouts, O'Brien beams to their runabout and they head to the planet to rescue Ben and Quark while the Odyssey and runabouts battle the Jem'Hadar. Their shields are totally ineffective and they take serious damage. O'Brien rescues Quark and Sisko along with the woman and they retreat. But before they can get out a Jem'Hadar ship rams itself into the Odyssey totally destroying both ships. Back on the station Quark realizes the collar was actually just a lock so Sisko confronts the woman. She admits she was a spy before beaming to somewhere.
Review: A solid episode with lots of plot in addition to lots of character development. It is starting to make sense why Nog would eventually join starfleet. Can't wait to see next season!
7 out of 10
Sunday, January 24, 2016
DS9: Tribunal
DS9 did well to bring Miles O'Brien over from TNG. There is no way he would have gotten to have such an intense part in any TNG episode, that show was only really about the bridge staff plus Geordi. It is also interesting to see how they are changing the Cardassians from a generic evil bad guy race into an intense police state that cares far more about appearances than it does about truth or anything else. Also, is Starfleet not a thing any more? They mention that the Enterprise has been sent to the border, but don't they have sensor webs to keep Cardassian ships out like they do along the Romulan border?
The episode opens with Miles running around ops trying to get everything ready so he can go on vacation. They eventually get him out of there and he runs into an old friend on the promenade, but can't talk long since he has to go meet his wife. Just after he leaves we see the man from the promenade take out some sort of device ominously. Next Miles and Keiko are on their way to vacation but Miles is having a hard time relaxing. Instead he is reading up on tech manuals and debating himself about whether they should go back for Molly. Keiko eventually distracts him but just then there is a warning tone, another ship is approaching. It is a Cardassian ship and they lock weapons and insist on boarding even though this is Federation space. Once aboard the Cardassians arrest Miles and search the cargo hold for something. He resists and gets shot with a phaser for his trouble.
On Cardassia Miles is processed for trial which includes being drugged and having hair samples taken along with a tooth. Back on the station Keiko is understandably upset. They are contacted by the judge in his trial who informs them he has already been convicted and that his execution is scheduled for the following week. Odo manages to talk his way into being Miles' assistant at the trial since he is still a Cardassian officer of the court. Sisko starts an investigation to try and figure out what Miles has been accused of and if it is possible he could be guilty. Meanwhile Miles meets his "lawyer" whose only job is to try and talk him into confessing. On the station they have discovered that 24 photon warheads are missing and that Miles voice print was used to open the weapons area just before they were stolen.
Odo and Keiko head to Cardassia and Odo manages to calm Miles down a bit. He also tells him what they think the Cardassians are accusing him of. The trial begins and despite everything Odo can do it is clearly a show trial. On the station they have discovered that the voice used to open the locker was altered and Bashir gets a surprise visit from a member of the Maquis who insists the man who Miles talked to wasn't Maquis and that they aren't behind the theft of the warheads. Sisko has the man arrested and eventually they figure out to have a medical exam done. Just as the trial is coming to a conclusion Sisko walks into the courtroom with Miles supposed friend, the judge gets one look at him and orders Miles released to his commanding officer. On the way back he learns his supposed friend had been replaced by a Cardassian 8 years earlier and that he was released to avoid embarrassing the government.
Review: A tense episode with some good twists and turns. Also it was interesting to see how law and order work in another culture. Also, damn I am glad I am not a Cardassian.
8 out of 10
The episode opens with Miles running around ops trying to get everything ready so he can go on vacation. They eventually get him out of there and he runs into an old friend on the promenade, but can't talk long since he has to go meet his wife. Just after he leaves we see the man from the promenade take out some sort of device ominously. Next Miles and Keiko are on their way to vacation but Miles is having a hard time relaxing. Instead he is reading up on tech manuals and debating himself about whether they should go back for Molly. Keiko eventually distracts him but just then there is a warning tone, another ship is approaching. It is a Cardassian ship and they lock weapons and insist on boarding even though this is Federation space. Once aboard the Cardassians arrest Miles and search the cargo hold for something. He resists and gets shot with a phaser for his trouble.
On Cardassia Miles is processed for trial which includes being drugged and having hair samples taken along with a tooth. Back on the station Keiko is understandably upset. They are contacted by the judge in his trial who informs them he has already been convicted and that his execution is scheduled for the following week. Odo manages to talk his way into being Miles' assistant at the trial since he is still a Cardassian officer of the court. Sisko starts an investigation to try and figure out what Miles has been accused of and if it is possible he could be guilty. Meanwhile Miles meets his "lawyer" whose only job is to try and talk him into confessing. On the station they have discovered that 24 photon warheads are missing and that Miles voice print was used to open the weapons area just before they were stolen.
Odo and Keiko head to Cardassia and Odo manages to calm Miles down a bit. He also tells him what they think the Cardassians are accusing him of. The trial begins and despite everything Odo can do it is clearly a show trial. On the station they have discovered that the voice used to open the locker was altered and Bashir gets a surprise visit from a member of the Maquis who insists the man who Miles talked to wasn't Maquis and that they aren't behind the theft of the warheads. Sisko has the man arrested and eventually they figure out to have a medical exam done. Just as the trial is coming to a conclusion Sisko walks into the courtroom with Miles supposed friend, the judge gets one look at him and orders Miles released to his commanding officer. On the way back he learns his supposed friend had been replaced by a Cardassian 8 years earlier and that he was released to avoid embarrassing the government.
Review: A tense episode with some good twists and turns. Also it was interesting to see how law and order work in another culture. Also, damn I am glad I am not a Cardassian.
8 out of 10
Saturday, January 23, 2016
DS9: The Collaborator
I didn't remember how Vedek Winn got herself promoted to Kai, but I figured I wouldn't have long to wait for her to start grabbing power. I really liked the vision Bareil kept getting when he looked into the orb, they were informative enough to make you suspect what he was doing, but didn't reveal exactly what his involvement was until close to the end. Of course who could Bareil possibly care enough about to keep their dirty past a secret other than Kai Opaka.
The episode opens with Vedek Bareil getting a vision from the profits of a man hanging on the promenade and then running into Kira playing springball. He rushes to the corpse and finds it is a man he knew, but Kira tells Bareil it is him. Back in the real world Bareil is standing by a window on the station shirtless when he is caressed by Kira. She tells him she knows he will be Kai, but he is clearly having doubts. Later that day Bareil heads to the temple on the station but is surprised to find Vedek Kai talking to some children. They argue about their interpretation of the profits and Kira says she will tells station security to be on extra alert. Then we see an old Bajoran man trying to walk quietly across the promenade. He is confronted by another Bajoran who recognizes him as a collaborator from the days of the occupation. Odo shows up and recognizes him to, and then arrests the man.
The man, secretary Kubus, is sitting in his holding cell when Odo comes in followed by Kira. She informs him that he has already been convicted and sentenced to exile so he won't be able to continue to Bajor as planned. It turns out Kubus is famous for having given the Cardassians the location of a Bajoran rebel camp which was wiped out soon after. Winn meets with Sisko to find out what he intends to do about the election for Kai and he assures her he will stay out of it as it is an internal affair of Bajor. Kira gets a call from Odo that Kubus is leaving the station, it turns out Winn gave him sanctuary and the government has already approved it. Kira tells Winn that she won't let the ship leave since it is so likely that it has been sabotaged by a Bajoran to try and kill Kubus and she will hold it until the ship has been thoroughly checked. Winn then drops the bomb that Kubus has revealed the man who gave him the information, none other than Vedek Bareil. Kira refuses to believe it but agrees to investigate.
Bareil of course denies having anything to do with it but Kira needs proof. She goes to the Vedek communication records from the period and finds they have been sealed. Quark gets talked into hacking in but reveals that the file is empty. O'Brien has a plan though and reconstructs the iris scan of the person who erased the records, Vedek Bareil. Kira confronts him and he admits he did it to save a much larger group of Bajorans from being killed, but he tells the Vedek assembly he is stepping down from his run for Kai. Kira refuses to believe it and keeps looking. When it is finally too late Kira confronts Bareil, she found proof he was at a monastery and couldn't have shared the information and he admits this. He did it to protect the reputation of Kai Opaka who actually turned over the information. Kira is horrified that he has let Winn become the new Kai just to protect an old friend.
Review: A nicely twisted story that moves the main plot forward substantially. I am super tired but this episode really kept me awake. Not one that stands out a lot, but it also lacks any serious flaws.
6 out of 10
The episode opens with Vedek Bareil getting a vision from the profits of a man hanging on the promenade and then running into Kira playing springball. He rushes to the corpse and finds it is a man he knew, but Kira tells Bareil it is him. Back in the real world Bareil is standing by a window on the station shirtless when he is caressed by Kira. She tells him she knows he will be Kai, but he is clearly having doubts. Later that day Bareil heads to the temple on the station but is surprised to find Vedek Kai talking to some children. They argue about their interpretation of the profits and Kira says she will tells station security to be on extra alert. Then we see an old Bajoran man trying to walk quietly across the promenade. He is confronted by another Bajoran who recognizes him as a collaborator from the days of the occupation. Odo shows up and recognizes him to, and then arrests the man.
The man, secretary Kubus, is sitting in his holding cell when Odo comes in followed by Kira. She informs him that he has already been convicted and sentenced to exile so he won't be able to continue to Bajor as planned. It turns out Kubus is famous for having given the Cardassians the location of a Bajoran rebel camp which was wiped out soon after. Winn meets with Sisko to find out what he intends to do about the election for Kai and he assures her he will stay out of it as it is an internal affair of Bajor. Kira gets a call from Odo that Kubus is leaving the station, it turns out Winn gave him sanctuary and the government has already approved it. Kira tells Winn that she won't let the ship leave since it is so likely that it has been sabotaged by a Bajoran to try and kill Kubus and she will hold it until the ship has been thoroughly checked. Winn then drops the bomb that Kubus has revealed the man who gave him the information, none other than Vedek Bareil. Kira refuses to believe it but agrees to investigate.
Bareil of course denies having anything to do with it but Kira needs proof. She goes to the Vedek communication records from the period and finds they have been sealed. Quark gets talked into hacking in but reveals that the file is empty. O'Brien has a plan though and reconstructs the iris scan of the person who erased the records, Vedek Bareil. Kira confronts him and he admits he did it to save a much larger group of Bajorans from being killed, but he tells the Vedek assembly he is stepping down from his run for Kai. Kira refuses to believe it and keeps looking. When it is finally too late Kira confronts Bareil, she found proof he was at a monastery and couldn't have shared the information and he admits this. He did it to protect the reputation of Kai Opaka who actually turned over the information. Kira is horrified that he has let Winn become the new Kai just to protect an old friend.
Review: A nicely twisted story that moves the main plot forward substantially. I am super tired but this episode really kept me awake. Not one that stands out a lot, but it also lacks any serious flaws.
6 out of 10
Friday, January 22, 2016
DS9: Crossover
All I really remember about the mirror universe episodes of DS9 is that as a kid I really didn't like them. But possibly because I watched the original Mirror, Mirror less that a year ago and it seemed pretty cool to me then this one actually seemed pretty good. The first time I saw this I remember being annoyed that they were ignoring the problems in the "real" universe for this alternate one and maybe that will be a problem when it gets revisited later but this first episode was actually a lot of fun.
The episode opens with Bashir and Kira returning from the gamma quadrant when one of the engines springs a plasma leak and they enter the wormhole at greater than intended speed. There is a flash and when they come out of the wormhole the station is gone. Well, not gone, but it is orbiting Bajor instead of at the entrance to the wormhole. They are confronted by a Klingon ship but when the soldiers see Kira they stand down and agree to escort them to the station. When the arrive they are confronted by Garak who is leading a group of Klingon soldiers. The Kira shows up, a different Kira. For those of us familiar with Trek is is clear they are in the mirror universe. Bashir is sent to work in ore processing and Kira is now the new pet of Intendant Kira.
The Intendant seems fascinated by her alternate self and tells our Kira about how she believes that they, like Kirk, come from an alternate reality. Also we learn that Kirk's effect on Spock ended up bringing down the Terran Empire and allowing the Cardassian/Klingon Alliance to conquer the quadrant including Bajor which had been a terran labor colony. In ore processing Bashir meets his new boss, Odo, and the human collaborator who keeps everything running, O'Brien. Kira comes up with a plan to escape using a transporter to take them back to their universe but when she tries to get it from Quark Garak arrives and arrests Quark for helping terrans escape the station. Quark tries to escape by shooting his way out but is captured and taken to interrogation.
The Intendant keeps fawning over our Kira and invites her to a party that night. Garak pulls her aside though and offers to have her replace the Intendant for a few months after he kills her that night and then he will let her and Bashir go in exchange for her giving him the position. Kira tries telling Sisko this but he laughs at her. That night that party is going on with Both Kira's in the same dress. In the mining operation there is a thorium leak and Bashir manages to escape with a gun after killing Odo. He talks O'Brien into helping him but they are captured and taken to the party. The Intendant orders them both executed but Sisko pulls a gun and along with a group of terrans makes his own escape after helping our Kira and Bashir. They manage to get back in the wormhole under the same conditions as at the start and make it back to the main universe where a search for them is ongoing.
Review: Seeing the characters in different roles is cool as long as it doesn't become too much of a thing. But this episode did it right keeping it interesting and surprising. I hope the later Mirror Universe episodes are as good!
7 out of 10
The episode opens with Bashir and Kira returning from the gamma quadrant when one of the engines springs a plasma leak and they enter the wormhole at greater than intended speed. There is a flash and when they come out of the wormhole the station is gone. Well, not gone, but it is orbiting Bajor instead of at the entrance to the wormhole. They are confronted by a Klingon ship but when the soldiers see Kira they stand down and agree to escort them to the station. When the arrive they are confronted by Garak who is leading a group of Klingon soldiers. The Kira shows up, a different Kira. For those of us familiar with Trek is is clear they are in the mirror universe. Bashir is sent to work in ore processing and Kira is now the new pet of Intendant Kira.
The Intendant seems fascinated by her alternate self and tells our Kira about how she believes that they, like Kirk, come from an alternate reality. Also we learn that Kirk's effect on Spock ended up bringing down the Terran Empire and allowing the Cardassian/Klingon Alliance to conquer the quadrant including Bajor which had been a terran labor colony. In ore processing Bashir meets his new boss, Odo, and the human collaborator who keeps everything running, O'Brien. Kira comes up with a plan to escape using a transporter to take them back to their universe but when she tries to get it from Quark Garak arrives and arrests Quark for helping terrans escape the station. Quark tries to escape by shooting his way out but is captured and taken to interrogation.
The Intendant keeps fawning over our Kira and invites her to a party that night. Garak pulls her aside though and offers to have her replace the Intendant for a few months after he kills her that night and then he will let her and Bashir go in exchange for her giving him the position. Kira tries telling Sisko this but he laughs at her. That night that party is going on with Both Kira's in the same dress. In the mining operation there is a thorium leak and Bashir manages to escape with a gun after killing Odo. He talks O'Brien into helping him but they are captured and taken to the party. The Intendant orders them both executed but Sisko pulls a gun and along with a group of terrans makes his own escape after helping our Kira and Bashir. They manage to get back in the wormhole under the same conditions as at the start and make it back to the main universe where a search for them is ongoing.
Review: Seeing the characters in different roles is cool as long as it doesn't become too much of a thing. But this episode did it right keeping it interesting and surprising. I hope the later Mirror Universe episodes are as good!
7 out of 10
Thursday, January 21, 2016
DS9: The Wire
I am going to admit that I made a mistake a few episodes ago and clicked on Garak's entry on Memory Alpha. I stopped myself before I got too far but I did get read almost this entire episode before I caught it, but I didn't realize the episode was coming so soon. On the upside it made me pay extra attention to the scenes where Garak describes his so called back story already aware that he was Elim and was also clearly lying every single time. But I guess through his lies we still did learn a lot about Garak. Meeting the former head of the Obsidian Order (who I also read is secretly Garak's father, stupid me for reading ahead) confirmed at least a lot of Julian's suspicions about just how deeply involved with spycraft Garak must have been.
The episode opens with Garak and Julian stuck in a long line at the replimat. Garak is telling Julian he must be biased for not enjoying the greatest work of Cardassian literature of all time when Julian notices something is wrong. Garak holds his head and claims to be fine, but Julian has noticed his pupils contracting and his skin signs going to hell. Garak refuses to go to the infirmary or tell Dr. Bashir anything about his condition and storms off. After talking with Dax about Garak Julian decides to spy on spy and sees Garak trying to work out a business deal with Quark. When Julian asks Quark what it was about Quark obviously lies and refuses to give any helpful information.
Julian keeps trying to find out what might be wrong with his friend but the computers can't help. Finally he runs into Garak in Quarks out of control drunk. Julian tricks the bottle away from him and then Garak collapses and gets beamed to the infirmary after all. Julian discovers that there is an implant deeply buried in Garak's brain. He goes to Odo and tells him about Garak's conversation with Quark. Odo and Julian then spy on a conversation between Quark and a Cardassian contact. Quark gives the Cardassian the part number Garak asked him for and we see a red light go on. It turns out even the part number is a secret and Quark may have just ruined the Cardassians career. The Cardassian mentions the Obsidian Order and Julian asks Odo about it. Odo explains the order is the intelligence gathering apparatus of the Cardassian state. Julian returns to the infirmary but Garak is gone. Julian tracks him down to his quarters and overrides the door. He finds Garak taking huge doses of pleasurable drugs, dangerous doses in fact.
Julian asks him about the implant and Garak explains it was installed to make him impervious to torture. When he experience pain it would flood him with endorphins, but during his exile he figured out how to turn it on manually and eventually left it on all the time. Julian convinces Garak to be helped by Julian through the withdrawal from the implant despite Garak telling him terrible stories about his deeds under the occupation. It seems to have partly worked and Garak awakens, but he collapses again. Something is wrong with his immune system and Julian can't save him without help from the Cardassians so he flies to Cardassia and gets Tain, the former head of the Obsidian Order to help him. It is clear Tain both loves and hates Garak but we never really learn why. In the end Tain save Garak so he can keep suffering. But after it all Garak shows up for lunch with Julian and even brought him some more Cardassian literature.
Review: Unreliable characters can be a real pain sometimes, but Garak feels like such a rich character that it really isn't a problem for him. If I recall (I did stop ready his entry before it was too late) we never really learn his complete story, but that is fine. Better to leave something to the imagination that to just tell all the parts and have it be less interesting.
7 out of 10
The episode opens with Garak and Julian stuck in a long line at the replimat. Garak is telling Julian he must be biased for not enjoying the greatest work of Cardassian literature of all time when Julian notices something is wrong. Garak holds his head and claims to be fine, but Julian has noticed his pupils contracting and his skin signs going to hell. Garak refuses to go to the infirmary or tell Dr. Bashir anything about his condition and storms off. After talking with Dax about Garak Julian decides to spy on spy and sees Garak trying to work out a business deal with Quark. When Julian asks Quark what it was about Quark obviously lies and refuses to give any helpful information.
Julian keeps trying to find out what might be wrong with his friend but the computers can't help. Finally he runs into Garak in Quarks out of control drunk. Julian tricks the bottle away from him and then Garak collapses and gets beamed to the infirmary after all. Julian discovers that there is an implant deeply buried in Garak's brain. He goes to Odo and tells him about Garak's conversation with Quark. Odo and Julian then spy on a conversation between Quark and a Cardassian contact. Quark gives the Cardassian the part number Garak asked him for and we see a red light go on. It turns out even the part number is a secret and Quark may have just ruined the Cardassians career. The Cardassian mentions the Obsidian Order and Julian asks Odo about it. Odo explains the order is the intelligence gathering apparatus of the Cardassian state. Julian returns to the infirmary but Garak is gone. Julian tracks him down to his quarters and overrides the door. He finds Garak taking huge doses of pleasurable drugs, dangerous doses in fact.
Julian asks him about the implant and Garak explains it was installed to make him impervious to torture. When he experience pain it would flood him with endorphins, but during his exile he figured out how to turn it on manually and eventually left it on all the time. Julian convinces Garak to be helped by Julian through the withdrawal from the implant despite Garak telling him terrible stories about his deeds under the occupation. It seems to have partly worked and Garak awakens, but he collapses again. Something is wrong with his immune system and Julian can't save him without help from the Cardassians so he flies to Cardassia and gets Tain, the former head of the Obsidian Order to help him. It is clear Tain both loves and hates Garak but we never really learn why. In the end Tain save Garak so he can keep suffering. But after it all Garak shows up for lunch with Julian and even brought him some more Cardassian literature.
Review: Unreliable characters can be a real pain sometimes, but Garak feels like such a rich character that it really isn't a problem for him. If I recall (I did stop ready his entry before it was too late) we never really learn his complete story, but that is fine. Better to leave something to the imagination that to just tell all the parts and have it be less interesting.
7 out of 10
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
DS9: The Maquis, Part II
This episode really makes you wonder where the hell the rest of starfleet is the entire time. Admiral Nechayev shows up to question Odo and make sure Sisko is doing everything he can to solve the Maquis crisis. Other than that Starfleet doesn't do anything to prevent a war with the Cardassians from breaking out. A war being started by two shuttlecraft level ships in the hands of untrained colonists. Couldn't they have sent anybody with a rank higher than lieutenant commander? I know this isn't the best time to start questioning Sisko's rank, but are there really no starship captains available to help? Even a crappy ship could have easily defeated the Maquis and maybe even captured its leader rather than letting him slip away.
I have work extra early tomorrow so this is going to be short: Sisko tries to negotiate with Calvin Hudson and gets shot with a phaser for his trouble.Admiral Nechayev shows up and is pissed Sisko hasn't already solved the Maquis problem. Cardassian Legate Parm arrives and tells Sisko central command doesn't care what happens to Dukat and blames him for the weapons trafficking. Sisko rescues Dukat who is suprised to learn he has been abandoned and realizes this means he isn't really in anymore and needs to make his own move. Quark out logics his vulcan semi-girlfriend into telling him where the Maquis will strike next. Sisko keeps showing up in the colonies and talking to Hudson but doesn't actually do anything to stop him. Sisko leads three runabouts against the two colony attack ships and wins but lets Hudson go.
Review: I guess the first half WAS the good part of this two parter. Not a total disaster but not a great conclusion. Really it isn't a conclusion, just an ending of this episode and that is the problem. I am not saying everything should have been instantly resolved but it seems like nobody but Hudson is even really trying.
4 out of 10
I have work extra early tomorrow so this is going to be short: Sisko tries to negotiate with Calvin Hudson and gets shot with a phaser for his trouble.Admiral Nechayev shows up and is pissed Sisko hasn't already solved the Maquis problem. Cardassian Legate Parm arrives and tells Sisko central command doesn't care what happens to Dukat and blames him for the weapons trafficking. Sisko rescues Dukat who is suprised to learn he has been abandoned and realizes this means he isn't really in anymore and needs to make his own move. Quark out logics his vulcan semi-girlfriend into telling him where the Maquis will strike next. Sisko keeps showing up in the colonies and talking to Hudson but doesn't actually do anything to stop him. Sisko leads three runabouts against the two colony attack ships and wins but lets Hudson go.
Review: I guess the first half WAS the good part of this two parter. Not a total disaster but not a great conclusion. Really it isn't a conclusion, just an ending of this episode and that is the problem. I am not saying everything should have been instantly resolved but it seems like nobody but Hudson is even really trying.
4 out of 10
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
DS9: The Maquis, Part I
Two part episodes are always hard to make work, but historically (and by this I mean in TNG) the first half of the episode was the better half. In this case I hope that part two is more interesting that the first half. A lot happens in this first half, but it doesn't really come together in the way that you want even in the first half of a two parter. This isn't to say that it is a terrible episode or anything, having it resolve by revealing that Sisko's Federation colleague is behind the Maquis was pretty dramatic, but I don't really feel like the Quark romancing a Vulcan part or the Cardassians kidnapping the guilty bomber parts paid off at all. Maybe it will be better in Part II, but I kinda feel especially the Vulcan bit will be left hanging.
The episode opens with Cardassians preparing to leave the station. After they close the door on their side of the airlock we see a Federation engineer put something into an access panel on their ship. As they pull away from the station their ship explodes. After some investigating they find a trace of an element unknown to the Cardassians left in the residue from the explosion, in fact it is only used by the Federation. Starfleet sends Calvin Hudson, the officer in charge of the demilitarized zone with the Cardassians to investigate with Sisko. The two are old friends so Sisko is pretty happy about it. Gul Dukat creepily shows up unannounced in Sisko's quarters that night and the two of them set out in a runabout to see something he needs to show Sisko. They find two Cardassian craft attacking a Federation ship with another civilian Federation ship shows up and uses its photon torpedoes and phasers to destroy the Cardassians before flying away.
Back on the station Quark is approached by a Vulcan he has the hots for who wants to do business. He talks her into dinner in his quarters but it turns out she is only interested in buying weapons. We also see the Vulcan giving the saboteur from the opening new quarters but when he arrives he gets a hypo to the neck and collapses. Sisko and Dukat continue their journey and head to Cal Hudsons office. He is fighting with another gul who produces the dead body of the saboteur and says he confessed before committing suicide which outrages the colonists. Dukat returns to DS9 and despite a personal Starfleet security detachment he is kidnapped by Maquis. Sisko is preparing to investigate when the Maquis announce their presence. Sisko, Kira and Bashir follow the Maquis ship with Dukat into the badlands and find the planet it headed to. They beam down but are captured by Maquis fighters, lead by none other than Cal Hudson.
Review: Other than some parts not seeming to pay off this actually worked better once I thought it through for the write up. Also fun since I don't remember how this crisis gets resolved, something to look forward to tomorrow!
6 out of 10
The episode opens with Cardassians preparing to leave the station. After they close the door on their side of the airlock we see a Federation engineer put something into an access panel on their ship. As they pull away from the station their ship explodes. After some investigating they find a trace of an element unknown to the Cardassians left in the residue from the explosion, in fact it is only used by the Federation. Starfleet sends Calvin Hudson, the officer in charge of the demilitarized zone with the Cardassians to investigate with Sisko. The two are old friends so Sisko is pretty happy about it. Gul Dukat creepily shows up unannounced in Sisko's quarters that night and the two of them set out in a runabout to see something he needs to show Sisko. They find two Cardassian craft attacking a Federation ship with another civilian Federation ship shows up and uses its photon torpedoes and phasers to destroy the Cardassians before flying away.
Back on the station Quark is approached by a Vulcan he has the hots for who wants to do business. He talks her into dinner in his quarters but it turns out she is only interested in buying weapons. We also see the Vulcan giving the saboteur from the opening new quarters but when he arrives he gets a hypo to the neck and collapses. Sisko and Dukat continue their journey and head to Cal Hudsons office. He is fighting with another gul who produces the dead body of the saboteur and says he confessed before committing suicide which outrages the colonists. Dukat returns to DS9 and despite a personal Starfleet security detachment he is kidnapped by Maquis. Sisko is preparing to investigate when the Maquis announce their presence. Sisko, Kira and Bashir follow the Maquis ship with Dukat into the badlands and find the planet it headed to. They beam down but are captured by Maquis fighters, lead by none other than Cal Hudson.
Review: Other than some parts not seeming to pay off this actually worked better once I thought it through for the write up. Also fun since I don't remember how this crisis gets resolved, something to look forward to tomorrow!
6 out of 10
Monday, January 18, 2016
DS9: Blood Oath
The writers seem like they haven't figured out what to do with Jadzia. Just a few episodes ago she was determined to prove to the world that she wasn't Kurzon any more and now she is willing to potentially throw away her entire career in starfleet to fulfill a promise he made decades earlier. And in the end it seems like they are trying to show that she wasn't capable of it after all. Sure the other Klingon interpreted it as her saving the death for him, but really it seems like she just didn't have the guts for it. And I guess just like Worf she is given a free pass to abandon her duties to go seek revenge against a bunch if humans in guard masks? Also she doesn't seem to have any problem probably killing a bunch of them, but when it comes time to kill the one guy she has spent 80 years hating who is clearly a bastard who revels in having killed children she wimps out? I really don't get what they were trying to say here.
The episode opens with a drunk klingon refusing to leave a holosuite. Odo shows up to get him out and takes Kor to a holding cell. His colleague Koloth comes to take him out, but is so ashamed of his drunken antics he leaves Kor behind. In ops Jadzia hears about Kor and Koloth and asks if Kang is there as well, but he isn't yet. She bails out Kor who has a hard time accepting that she is still Dax but eventually does. But Koloth and Kang aren't easily convinced. It seems Kang has learned the location of the albino, an evil man who they attempted to kill many years earlier and who killed their first born children as revenge including Kurzon's god son who he swore a blood oath to avenge. Jadzia spends most of the episode trying to convince them to let her go along even though she is clearly not actually prepared for it.
They eventually agree and despite Sisko's protestations she goes on the mission. Along the way she learns from Kang that the whole thing is a trap to the three, now four, comrades can die honorably together. She convinces them to take a slightly less suicidal path and it works. They manage to kill a bunch of guards because come on, are guards even people if you can't see their faces? They get into the albinos house and he is super evil of course because there can't be any moral dilema. But even after talking about how proud he is of killing children and that Jadzia is a wimp she in the end can't kill him. Kang does kill him though but Koloth dies. She shows up at the station again to silence from Kira and Sisko.
Review: Jadzia is really starting to fall apart for me as a character. They want her to be strong, and she is at times, but then is also super weak with really no explanation. She goes from being the most self confident character on the show to totally indecisive but it seems more like the writers just can't decide what to do rather than something from inside her.
3 out of 10
The episode opens with a drunk klingon refusing to leave a holosuite. Odo shows up to get him out and takes Kor to a holding cell. His colleague Koloth comes to take him out, but is so ashamed of his drunken antics he leaves Kor behind. In ops Jadzia hears about Kor and Koloth and asks if Kang is there as well, but he isn't yet. She bails out Kor who has a hard time accepting that she is still Dax but eventually does. But Koloth and Kang aren't easily convinced. It seems Kang has learned the location of the albino, an evil man who they attempted to kill many years earlier and who killed their first born children as revenge including Kurzon's god son who he swore a blood oath to avenge. Jadzia spends most of the episode trying to convince them to let her go along even though she is clearly not actually prepared for it.
They eventually agree and despite Sisko's protestations she goes on the mission. Along the way she learns from Kang that the whole thing is a trap to the three, now four, comrades can die honorably together. She convinces them to take a slightly less suicidal path and it works. They manage to kill a bunch of guards because come on, are guards even people if you can't see their faces? They get into the albinos house and he is super evil of course because there can't be any moral dilema. But even after talking about how proud he is of killing children and that Jadzia is a wimp she in the end can't kill him. Kang does kill him though but Koloth dies. She shows up at the station again to silence from Kira and Sisko.
Review: Jadzia is really starting to fall apart for me as a character. They want her to be strong, and she is at times, but then is also super weak with really no explanation. She goes from being the most self confident character on the show to totally indecisive but it seems more like the writers just can't decide what to do rather than something from inside her.
3 out of 10
Sunday, January 17, 2016
DS9: Profit and Loss
Another episode about who the characters really are that only DS9 could have pulled off. The central characters of this story of romance, espionage, rebellion and betrayal are Garak and Quark and wow are they good together. While not exactly clearing up Garak's back story we at least get some firm information that he was once somebody in the military government and has not been exiled. We also learn that there is one thing Quark cares more about than profit and that is his love for Natima, a now rebellious professor from Cardassia.
The episode opens with a damaged Cardassian ship arriving requesting repairs. Their story is that they were damaged by asteroids. There are three Cardassian's on board, Professor Natima and her two students. As they walk down the Promenade Quark interrupts Odo questioning him about a cloaking device to rush out to greet Natima only to be slapped in the face. However before they can get off the promenade they are spotted by Garak and realize the jig is up. Natima and her students go directly to Sisko. He has just learned the damage to the ship wasn't from asteroids, it was Cardassian weapons fire and she freely admits that. She also tells him her students are dissident political leaders attempting to push the military out of power. He offers them quarters while O'Brien rushes to prepare their vessel.
Meanwhile Quark has stopped by Garak's shop and their conversation starts off quite veiled, but it becomes obvious Garak is trying to get Quark to stay out of it. Just how serious he is becomes obvious soon after as a Cardassian warship shows up at the station in attack posture. Garak arrives and ops and tells Sisko the two of them need to talk. Sisko refuses to turn the dissidents over but Garak isn't done. Quark talks to the two student leaders in his bar and at first they refuse to talk to him at Natima's instruction. However when he mentions he has a cloaking device and that he will give it them them if they can talk Natima into staying behind they are very interested. Quark shows up at Natima's quarters to complete the deal but she isn't willing to stay and even shoots him with a phaser. But then realizes she loves him, but still isn't willing to stay. It becomes a non-isssue when Odo arrives to arrest her.
Sisko and Odo show up at the holding cell and tell Natima and her students that the Bajoran government has agreed to hand them over to the Cardassians in exchange for some Bajoran prisoners. Sisko isn't happy and promises to keep fighting it but there doesn't seem to be much choice. In Garak's shop a new gul stops by. He offers to let Garak come back to Cardassia if he will kill Natima and the dissidents before they leave the station and Garak agrees. Quark heads to Odo's office to try and convince Odo to let them go and tries bargaining at first, but that doesn't work. Then begging but again no luck. Finally he gives up but Odo agrees anyway because justice. He lets the prisoners go and Quark escorts them to the airlock but just as they are about to board Garak shows up armed. He takes Quark's gun and there is a long discussion about whether it is right or not which is interrupted by the gul from earlier. He takes Garak's gun and is about to kill the dissidents when Garak kills him with Quark's gun. Natima has to say good bye but promises to return for him when there is a free, democratic Cardassia.
Review: A solid episode with lots from some of my favorite characters. Garak and Quark discussing the situation through the analogy of a dress is just amazing. Also we see Garak take his first turn towards maybe not being super evil.
7 out of 10
The episode opens with a damaged Cardassian ship arriving requesting repairs. Their story is that they were damaged by asteroids. There are three Cardassian's on board, Professor Natima and her two students. As they walk down the Promenade Quark interrupts Odo questioning him about a cloaking device to rush out to greet Natima only to be slapped in the face. However before they can get off the promenade they are spotted by Garak and realize the jig is up. Natima and her students go directly to Sisko. He has just learned the damage to the ship wasn't from asteroids, it was Cardassian weapons fire and she freely admits that. She also tells him her students are dissident political leaders attempting to push the military out of power. He offers them quarters while O'Brien rushes to prepare their vessel.
Meanwhile Quark has stopped by Garak's shop and their conversation starts off quite veiled, but it becomes obvious Garak is trying to get Quark to stay out of it. Just how serious he is becomes obvious soon after as a Cardassian warship shows up at the station in attack posture. Garak arrives and ops and tells Sisko the two of them need to talk. Sisko refuses to turn the dissidents over but Garak isn't done. Quark talks to the two student leaders in his bar and at first they refuse to talk to him at Natima's instruction. However when he mentions he has a cloaking device and that he will give it them them if they can talk Natima into staying behind they are very interested. Quark shows up at Natima's quarters to complete the deal but she isn't willing to stay and even shoots him with a phaser. But then realizes she loves him, but still isn't willing to stay. It becomes a non-isssue when Odo arrives to arrest her.
Sisko and Odo show up at the holding cell and tell Natima and her students that the Bajoran government has agreed to hand them over to the Cardassians in exchange for some Bajoran prisoners. Sisko isn't happy and promises to keep fighting it but there doesn't seem to be much choice. In Garak's shop a new gul stops by. He offers to let Garak come back to Cardassia if he will kill Natima and the dissidents before they leave the station and Garak agrees. Quark heads to Odo's office to try and convince Odo to let them go and tries bargaining at first, but that doesn't work. Then begging but again no luck. Finally he gives up but Odo agrees anyway because justice. He lets the prisoners go and Quark escorts them to the airlock but just as they are about to board Garak shows up armed. He takes Quark's gun and there is a long discussion about whether it is right or not which is interrupted by the gul from earlier. He takes Garak's gun and is about to kill the dissidents when Garak kills him with Quark's gun. Natima has to say good bye but promises to return for him when there is a free, democratic Cardassia.
Review: A solid episode with lots from some of my favorite characters. Garak and Quark discussing the situation through the analogy of a dress is just amazing. Also we see Garak take his first turn towards maybe not being super evil.
7 out of 10
Saturday, January 16, 2016
DS9: Playing God
Not a terrible episode, but it felt like this one probably had some road bumps in the script they just couldn't quite work out. It is mostly about Jadzia coming to terms with being the host of the most notoriously troublesome symbiote in all of Trill society and having to decide if she will recommend a new host to receive the a symbiote. That may not seem like a bad idea for an episode, but it just didn't really work for me as executed. Also the moral debate over whether they could destroy a proto-universe seemed a little poorly thought out as well. If it was really going to expand to the size of our universe rapidly would putting it in the gamma quadrant really save that much time? Isn't it going to inevitably wipe out all life as we know it?
The episode opens with Julian meeting a Trill candidate who is to train under Jadzia on a transport and taking him to meet her, in Quarks where she is gambling and winning with a bunch of Ferengi. Arjin, the candidate, is clearly horrified by what he sees and it doesn't really change much as the episode goes on. When he goes to meet her in her quarters he finds an alien man there while she is in the shower, her wrestling partner apparently. The two set off on some sort of undefined mission to the gamma quadrant and get another universe stuck to the warp nacelle. They bring it back to the station but it starts expanding and threatening to wipe out all life as we know it. There is also a B story about Cardassian voles loose on the station chewing up all the cables and stuff but that doesn't really get resolved or go anywhere.
Basically it boils down to Jadzia thinks Arjin is boring and doesn't know what he wants to do with his life and that is basically correct. They dance around it most of the episode but in the end Sisko decides to send the two of them back through the wormhole with the proto-universe and I guess he doesn't mess up piloting so she likes him now? He does stand up for himself a bit as well, but none of it shows what he will bring to the symbiote he is trying to get so she probably honestly shouldn't recommend him, but I guess she does. We also learn Jake is in love with a dabo girl, but that is a story for another episode.
Review: Not a bad concept for an episode, but it really didn't seem to hit it's marks very well. The only enjoyable bits really were Miles' attempts to free the station of voles driving big eared Quark crazy with the sound and getting a flute from Julian.
3 out of 10
The episode opens with Julian meeting a Trill candidate who is to train under Jadzia on a transport and taking him to meet her, in Quarks where she is gambling and winning with a bunch of Ferengi. Arjin, the candidate, is clearly horrified by what he sees and it doesn't really change much as the episode goes on. When he goes to meet her in her quarters he finds an alien man there while she is in the shower, her wrestling partner apparently. The two set off on some sort of undefined mission to the gamma quadrant and get another universe stuck to the warp nacelle. They bring it back to the station but it starts expanding and threatening to wipe out all life as we know it. There is also a B story about Cardassian voles loose on the station chewing up all the cables and stuff but that doesn't really get resolved or go anywhere.
Basically it boils down to Jadzia thinks Arjin is boring and doesn't know what he wants to do with his life and that is basically correct. They dance around it most of the episode but in the end Sisko decides to send the two of them back through the wormhole with the proto-universe and I guess he doesn't mess up piloting so she likes him now? He does stand up for himself a bit as well, but none of it shows what he will bring to the symbiote he is trying to get so she probably honestly shouldn't recommend him, but I guess she does. We also learn Jake is in love with a dabo girl, but that is a story for another episode.
Review: Not a bad concept for an episode, but it really didn't seem to hit it's marks very well. The only enjoyable bits really were Miles' attempts to free the station of voles driving big eared Quark crazy with the sound and getting a flute from Julian.
3 out of 10
Friday, January 15, 2016
DS9: Shadowplay
After yesterdays train wreck of an episode it is nice to see there are still some competent writers on staff. This episode manages to do at least four things at the same time without feeling like they are tacked on. First of all it tells the story of a village that thinks it is real but is in face a holograpic illusion. Second, and tied closely to the first, it continues to build apprehension about the Dominion without actually introducing them. Near the end we learn from the one real villager that the Dominion conquered his planet and he created the illusory village to pretend it hadn't happened. Back on the station Jake finally manages to talk to his father about how a career in star fleet isn't the path he wants to go down and finally Kira and Bareil finally get together for real.
The episode opens with Dax and Odo on a runabout talking about relationships and Odo refuses to believe any woman could ever truly be interested in him. The detect omicron particles on the surface of a nearby planet and beam down to investigate. They find some sort of power generator in the middle of an empty village but before they can do much to figure out what is going on they are being held at gun point. But the hostility from the locals is short lived. After convincing them they have no ill intentions the deputy of the village asks for Odo's help figuring out why members of the village have been disappearing for no apparent reason. Back on the station Kira is trying to keep up with Odo's job of watching Quark and Jake gets a job helping Miles keep things running.
Back in the village they meet the town elder who admits to Odo that he is dying. Next they meet his granddaughter Taya who's mother has disappeared. Odo explains to Taya that he is a changeling and at first she is afraid, but then she becomes fascinated by him. Back on the station O'Brien and Jake work together and Jake admits to Miles that he doesn't want to join starfleet and Miles tells him that his father wanted him to be a cello player but he ran off and joined starfleet instead, but that now his father is really proud of what he has accomplished. Meanwhile there is a surprise guest on the station, Vedek Bareil has arrived allegedly to give a speech at the temple, but really he mostly seems interested in spending time with Kira. The two play springball together and afterwards end up kissing in Kira's quarters.
In the village Odo and Dax are working to try and discover why no one in the village has ever left the valley they live in. When they take a scanner from the village and try to leave it disappears in Dax's hands. Dax figures it all out then, they are holographic projections and the generator is failing. They talk to the villagers and explain it to the them. The villagers agree to let her turn the generator off for repairs. When she does turn it off all but the town elder disappear. He is the one who set the whole thing up to start with and now wants it to stay turned off. Odo and Dax show him how much he cares about Taya and the others though so he agrees to the repairs after ominously mentioning the Dominion. They get the generator working again and everybody reappears including those who had been vanishing over the past few weeks. Before they leave Odo transforms into a spinning top for Taya.
Review: A really touching episode that also manages to move a bunch of long running plot threads forward. Lots of subplots but they all work and make this a really fun if not super memorable episode.
7 out of 10
The episode opens with Dax and Odo on a runabout talking about relationships and Odo refuses to believe any woman could ever truly be interested in him. The detect omicron particles on the surface of a nearby planet and beam down to investigate. They find some sort of power generator in the middle of an empty village but before they can do much to figure out what is going on they are being held at gun point. But the hostility from the locals is short lived. After convincing them they have no ill intentions the deputy of the village asks for Odo's help figuring out why members of the village have been disappearing for no apparent reason. Back on the station Kira is trying to keep up with Odo's job of watching Quark and Jake gets a job helping Miles keep things running.
Back in the village they meet the town elder who admits to Odo that he is dying. Next they meet his granddaughter Taya who's mother has disappeared. Odo explains to Taya that he is a changeling and at first she is afraid, but then she becomes fascinated by him. Back on the station O'Brien and Jake work together and Jake admits to Miles that he doesn't want to join starfleet and Miles tells him that his father wanted him to be a cello player but he ran off and joined starfleet instead, but that now his father is really proud of what he has accomplished. Meanwhile there is a surprise guest on the station, Vedek Bareil has arrived allegedly to give a speech at the temple, but really he mostly seems interested in spending time with Kira. The two play springball together and afterwards end up kissing in Kira's quarters.
In the village Odo and Dax are working to try and discover why no one in the village has ever left the valley they live in. When they take a scanner from the village and try to leave it disappears in Dax's hands. Dax figures it all out then, they are holographic projections and the generator is failing. They talk to the villagers and explain it to the them. The villagers agree to let her turn the generator off for repairs. When she does turn it off all but the town elder disappear. He is the one who set the whole thing up to start with and now wants it to stay turned off. Odo and Dax show him how much he cares about Taya and the others though so he agrees to the repairs after ominously mentioning the Dominion. They get the generator working again and everybody reappears including those who had been vanishing over the past few weeks. Before they leave Odo transforms into a spinning top for Taya.
Review: A really touching episode that also manages to move a bunch of long running plot threads forward. Lots of subplots but they all work and make this a really fun if not super memorable episode.
7 out of 10
Thursday, January 14, 2016
DS9: Paradise
Before we get into this review I want to start by saying fuck anybody who thinks technology has made lives worse. Farmers toiled from sun up to sundown without hope of improving their lives or of not just dying to some random disease for millennia before the modern era. This is the story of a cult of personality based around a religious hatred of technology and unlike so many anti-tech episodes I think those one is actually pretty good. It certainly did a good job of making me hate the evil cult leader Alixus for her torture of her followers and denial of modern medical treatment. The ambiguous ending was a bit annoying but presumably she will be brought to trial and at least the children will be given to option to lead better lives.
The episode opens with Miles and Ben out looking for potential sites to colonize. They find an M Class planet that seems to have human life. When they beam down they find their technology not working due to some technobabble energy field and are held at bow point by two men. They get taken to the colony and find out that it is the remains of the crew of a starfleet vessel that "crashed" here ten years earlier. They are led by the charismatic and totally evil Alixus who would rather they die than use technology of any kind. Sisko and O'Brien don't fit in since they are determined to get back to their lives and are punished severely for it. Kira and Dax eventually realize they are missing and head out looking for them but discover that the runabout that had been missing is travelling at high warp. They manage to track it down and discover someone beamed on board, erased the logs and aimed it at a star but was bad at their job and missed. They start backtracking to the point of origin. In the colony Alixus as started torturing Sisko for refusing to conform and O'Brien manages to track down the source of the energy field and turn it off. Eventually Kira and Dax find them and they bring Alixus back to stand trial.
Review: I am still pretty sick myself so it is a bit of a short summary, but I think it does the episode justice. Along with Kai Winn Alixus is the most evil character so far revealed on the series and it is nice to see not every writer has an anti technology fetish.
4 out of 10
The episode opens with Miles and Ben out looking for potential sites to colonize. They find an M Class planet that seems to have human life. When they beam down they find their technology not working due to some technobabble energy field and are held at bow point by two men. They get taken to the colony and find out that it is the remains of the crew of a starfleet vessel that "crashed" here ten years earlier. They are led by the charismatic and totally evil Alixus who would rather they die than use technology of any kind. Sisko and O'Brien don't fit in since they are determined to get back to their lives and are punished severely for it. Kira and Dax eventually realize they are missing and head out looking for them but discover that the runabout that had been missing is travelling at high warp. They manage to track it down and discover someone beamed on board, erased the logs and aimed it at a star but was bad at their job and missed. They start backtracking to the point of origin. In the colony Alixus as started torturing Sisko for refusing to conform and O'Brien manages to track down the source of the energy field and turn it off. Eventually Kira and Dax find them and they bring Alixus back to stand trial.
Review: I am still pretty sick myself so it is a bit of a short summary, but I think it does the episode justice. Along with Kai Winn Alixus is the most evil character so far revealed on the series and it is nice to see not every writer has an anti technology fetish.
4 out of 10
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
DS9: Whispers
Now that was an episode! Probably the best episode so far this season Whispers is a story about justified paranoia for one of my favorite characters, Miles O'Brien. The idea of replacing someone with a replicant that things they are the original person isn't totally new, but the way this episode is executed is just fantastic. Telling the story from the perspective of the replicant who thinks everyone else has been replaced was just incredible. It also made me wish I knew what had happened with the real O'Brien during this time, but I guess he was busy being liberated by the rebels.
The episode opens with O'Brien in a runabout setting course at maximum warp for the Parada system. He is clearly upset by the events that led him to leave the station and starts a personal log discussing what happened. The episode then cuts to his return to the station. The first problems happen when he wakes up and notices Keiko isn't there. It seems she has gotten up before him as has Molly which is not normal behavior. Keiko leaves soon after and takes Molly with her which again isn't their normal routine. When O'Brien arrives at work he finds an ensign has already started work on the project he was supposed to be working on, getting security ready for a Paradan peace conference. When he gets to ops Julian insists on giving him a physical and when he protests Sisko insists. Miles asks to talk to Sisko who does his best to calm him down but it clearly isn't working. He also learns he has been taken off the job of working on security and put instead on repairing the docking pylons.
Miles goes in for his physical and despite things seeming to take longer than usual everything comes back normal. But everything else is still odd. Jake stops to ask him for help on a project but when the time comes Keiko tells Miles that Jake got sick. The ensign working on security claims to not be able to open a security seal on the Paradan quarters but when Miles leaves he opens it right up. When Odo arrives back on the station Miles talks to him before anyone else and tells him something is wrong on the station. Odo agrees to look into it and Miles returns to his quarters and rigs up some sort of small device.
Odo calls Miles to his office but when he arrives it becomes obvious Odo isn't quite right either but when he turns to leave Miles is confronted by Sisko and Kira. He sets off the small device and makes a get away. He has to reprogram the forcefields on the station to get out but eventually makes his way to a runabout and gets away from the station and back to where the episode opened. He is being pursued by another runabout but manages to lose them in a moons magnetic field. He follows to other runabout to a planet where the crew beamed down and he follows them. He confronts Sisko and Kira talking to two rebels and gets them to disarm before being shot fatally. Before he dies a door opens and the real Miles comes out. It seems the Miles we have been following was a copy programmed to somehow kill the rebel delegation at the peace conference. The replicant tells the real Miles to tell Keiko he loves her before dying.
Review: A tense episode with an actually effective twist ending. I know I saw this when it first aired, but I didn't remember what was actually going on which made this one a lot of fun. A bit of a TNG style episode, but a good one either way.
8 out of 10
The episode opens with O'Brien in a runabout setting course at maximum warp for the Parada system. He is clearly upset by the events that led him to leave the station and starts a personal log discussing what happened. The episode then cuts to his return to the station. The first problems happen when he wakes up and notices Keiko isn't there. It seems she has gotten up before him as has Molly which is not normal behavior. Keiko leaves soon after and takes Molly with her which again isn't their normal routine. When O'Brien arrives at work he finds an ensign has already started work on the project he was supposed to be working on, getting security ready for a Paradan peace conference. When he gets to ops Julian insists on giving him a physical and when he protests Sisko insists. Miles asks to talk to Sisko who does his best to calm him down but it clearly isn't working. He also learns he has been taken off the job of working on security and put instead on repairing the docking pylons.
Miles goes in for his physical and despite things seeming to take longer than usual everything comes back normal. But everything else is still odd. Jake stops to ask him for help on a project but when the time comes Keiko tells Miles that Jake got sick. The ensign working on security claims to not be able to open a security seal on the Paradan quarters but when Miles leaves he opens it right up. When Odo arrives back on the station Miles talks to him before anyone else and tells him something is wrong on the station. Odo agrees to look into it and Miles returns to his quarters and rigs up some sort of small device.
Odo calls Miles to his office but when he arrives it becomes obvious Odo isn't quite right either but when he turns to leave Miles is confronted by Sisko and Kira. He sets off the small device and makes a get away. He has to reprogram the forcefields on the station to get out but eventually makes his way to a runabout and gets away from the station and back to where the episode opened. He is being pursued by another runabout but manages to lose them in a moons magnetic field. He follows to other runabout to a planet where the crew beamed down and he follows them. He confronts Sisko and Kira talking to two rebels and gets them to disarm before being shot fatally. Before he dies a door opens and the real Miles comes out. It seems the Miles we have been following was a copy programmed to somehow kill the rebel delegation at the peace conference. The replicant tells the real Miles to tell Keiko he loves her before dying.
Review: A tense episode with an actually effective twist ending. I know I saw this when it first aired, but I didn't remember what was actually going on which made this one a lot of fun. A bit of a TNG style episode, but a good one either way.
8 out of 10
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
DS9: Armageddon Game
Not an episode with a ton of scope, the alien races introduced in this one never show up again, but an episode that does a good job with mixing the classic Trek scifi/societal issues with solid character development. O'Brien keeps insisting he can't stand being around Bashir, but his protestations seem to be getting a bit weaker over time. It seems like the aliens in this episode have probably started a bigger conflict with the Federation than they intended, but since they aren't Bajoran we never hear anything else about it which is more TOS or TNG style than DS9, but whatever.
The episode opens with Bashir and O'Brien on an alien space station working on a solution to destroy a dangerous biological weapon. Bashir figures out just the right dose of radiation and it works perfectly. They contact DS9 and Sisko encourages them to stay an extra day to celebrate their success to which Bashir is delighted and O'Brien is annoyed. After contacting the station they get to work destroying the last of the weapon and also purging the computer of any records of how to create it. Just as they finish soldiers burst in and start killing everybody. O'Briens military training pays off and along with Bashir's help they manage to kill the soldiers and after failing to beam to the runabout beam down to the planets surface. In the process though Miles gets a small quantity of the genetic weapon onto his skin.
Back on DS9 Sisko is contacted by the ambassadors of both alien races to express their condolences, they claim O'Brien accidentally triggered a failsafe on the station which killed everyone with a powerful pulse of radiation. The staff on the station begin mourning while on the unoccupied planet Bashir and O'Brien get to work trying to survive. While working on a transmitter they spend their time talking about relationships and we learn about Julian's failed love while at the academy and how happy Miles is to be married. But as they work Miles starts coming down with the symptoms of the weapon and Julian has to start doing his work for him.
Back on the station Keiko insists on watching the tape of their supposed deaths and notices Miles is drinking coffee late in the afternoon, something she says he never does. This gets Sisko and Dax working on figuring out of the recording was altered. They arrive at the station where the incident happened but things seem fine. When they inspect the runabout though they discover a deleted record on O'Brien trying to beam off the station after he had allegedly been killed. On the surface Julian and Miles are confronted by soldiers from both races, apparently they want everyone with any knowledge of the weapon killed but Sisko beams them out just in time. They escape by fooling the aliens into thinking they are on the other runabout and when they get back to DS9 Keiko mentions the coffee to which Miles replies that he drinks coffee in the afternoon all the time.
Review: A good if not great episode. A bit above average, especially for the Miles/Julian stuff when they are trapped on the planet.
6 out of 10
The episode opens with Bashir and O'Brien on an alien space station working on a solution to destroy a dangerous biological weapon. Bashir figures out just the right dose of radiation and it works perfectly. They contact DS9 and Sisko encourages them to stay an extra day to celebrate their success to which Bashir is delighted and O'Brien is annoyed. After contacting the station they get to work destroying the last of the weapon and also purging the computer of any records of how to create it. Just as they finish soldiers burst in and start killing everybody. O'Briens military training pays off and along with Bashir's help they manage to kill the soldiers and after failing to beam to the runabout beam down to the planets surface. In the process though Miles gets a small quantity of the genetic weapon onto his skin.
Back on DS9 Sisko is contacted by the ambassadors of both alien races to express their condolences, they claim O'Brien accidentally triggered a failsafe on the station which killed everyone with a powerful pulse of radiation. The staff on the station begin mourning while on the unoccupied planet Bashir and O'Brien get to work trying to survive. While working on a transmitter they spend their time talking about relationships and we learn about Julian's failed love while at the academy and how happy Miles is to be married. But as they work Miles starts coming down with the symptoms of the weapon and Julian has to start doing his work for him.
Back on the station Keiko insists on watching the tape of their supposed deaths and notices Miles is drinking coffee late in the afternoon, something she says he never does. This gets Sisko and Dax working on figuring out of the recording was altered. They arrive at the station where the incident happened but things seem fine. When they inspect the runabout though they discover a deleted record on O'Brien trying to beam off the station after he had allegedly been killed. On the surface Julian and Miles are confronted by soldiers from both races, apparently they want everyone with any knowledge of the weapon killed but Sisko beams them out just in time. They escape by fooling the aliens into thinking they are on the other runabout and when they get back to DS9 Keiko mentions the coffee to which Miles replies that he drinks coffee in the afternoon all the time.
Review: A good if not great episode. A bit above average, especially for the Miles/Julian stuff when they are trapped on the planet.
6 out of 10
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