Knowing what I do now I can't help but wonder if this episode exists so that Dax's death in the near future felt like it had more impact. So far we haven't seen anything to indicate that the Worf/Dax relationship is about anything other than violent sex and this episode works to fix that. Unfortunately it just didn't really work for me. First of all the idea that Starfleet would send a married couple in a tiny, underpowered ship to rescue one of their most important operatives seems silly. Surely something this has happened before and led to a "no married couples working alone on super critical missions" order. The Bashir and O'Brien learning to play tongo bit was actually really good and I wish it had been more of the episode.
We begin with Worf and Miles watching Jadzia play tongo against Quark who is having quite the winning streak. Worf bets on Dax but O'Brien wins with Quark. Later that night Dax and Worf get summoned to Sisko's office. There is a Cardassian operative who for some reason is transmitting a message to a spot in the badlands so they have to be there to receive it. They are sent along on a runabout on this super important mission. They get the message and the dude wants to defect, like now. They head to the jungle world he is headed towards to meet him after a many mile trek through untamed jungle. Worf is having a great time and Jadzia isn't. They joke around and get ambushed and Dax is badly hurt. Worf eventually leaves her to go to the rendezvous, but turns back and leaves the spy to die. Back on the station Miles talks Julian into taking on Quark at tongo but Quark distracts Julian with talk of Jadzia and wins. Worf gets home and saves Dax, but gets a mark on his record for disobeying orders.
Review: As you can probably tell from my short summary I found this one kinda boring. Most of it is Worf and Dax fighting about dumb stuff and I don't know if you have ever been around when another couple is fighting about nothing forever, but it is actually the worst.
3 out of 10
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Friday, April 29, 2016
DS9: Honor Among Thieves
I can't remember ever complaining about an O'Brien centered episode and I am not about to start here. Colm Meaney is in fine form this episode and the casting of the gangsters is on point. This is also by far the most we have ever seen of the fabled Orion Syndicate and they are living up to their reputation so far. The only miscue in this episode of there is one is the involvement of the Dominion. Maybe it is specifically to set something up later, but if so I don't remember. It kinda felt tacked on to keep us reminded that the Dominion is still out there and a big threat, but the syndicate seems to be plenty of threat on its own.
The episode opens with some gangsters trying to steal some lunch using a neural hacking interface. The hacker gets "spiked" and damages part of the interface. Luckily for the O'Brien is sitting at the bar being undercover guy. He offers to fix the broken part and asks for money, but the head gangster, Liam Bilby, asks if he knows who he is and insists he do it for free. Afterwards O'Brien meets with his Starfleet Intelligence contact and we learn he is trying to find out who the syndicates inside man is in Starfleet. Back on the station we briefly see that pretty much everything is falling apart and Sisko can't talk about where Miles is, and that is pretty much it on the station until the final scene. Miles returns the next morning with the fixed part. Bilby isn't ready to trust him yet and keeps testing, but Miles does well.
Bilby takes Miles back to his place to have some cake and give him some Klingon disruptors to fix. It seems Bilby was instructed to get them for his boss but the ones he bought didn't work. Miles again manages to get back with them, but his aquisisition of the parts raises questions. He tells them he stole the parts though and that makes Bilby happy. The arms dealer shows up and gets killed for selling defective merchandise. That night O'Brien gets Bilby to tell him who the informant is, but they also get a surprise visit from the boss and he brings along a Vorta. Miles reports all this to his contact but since a Vorta showed up he is told to stick with it rather than getting pulled out as they had arranged.
Things are getting serious, it seems the disruptors are for the assassination of a Klingon diplomat and they have to be Klingon weapons so it will look like an inside job. The planning is interrupted by the bosses return. He announces that there is a traitor but luckily it was one of the other gangsters. As soon as that is over Miles goes to his contact but the plan is apparently to warn the Klingons and get Bilby killed. Miles can't stand that though and punches his contact and goes straight to Bilby. He tells him the truth, but that doesn't help. If the syndicate discovers that Bilby knowing vouched for a spy they will kill his family so the only option is to walk into the Klingon trap and get killed. Back on the station Miles and Julian talk about what happened and Julian assures him he was just doing his duty, but it doesn't sit well with Miles.
Review: Not quite as groundbreaking as some have been recently, but still an incredible episode. The tension is great and the moral dilemma is complicated enough that you can really feel for Miles.
8 out of 10
The episode opens with some gangsters trying to steal some lunch using a neural hacking interface. The hacker gets "spiked" and damages part of the interface. Luckily for the O'Brien is sitting at the bar being undercover guy. He offers to fix the broken part and asks for money, but the head gangster, Liam Bilby, asks if he knows who he is and insists he do it for free. Afterwards O'Brien meets with his Starfleet Intelligence contact and we learn he is trying to find out who the syndicates inside man is in Starfleet. Back on the station we briefly see that pretty much everything is falling apart and Sisko can't talk about where Miles is, and that is pretty much it on the station until the final scene. Miles returns the next morning with the fixed part. Bilby isn't ready to trust him yet and keeps testing, but Miles does well.
Bilby takes Miles back to his place to have some cake and give him some Klingon disruptors to fix. It seems Bilby was instructed to get them for his boss but the ones he bought didn't work. Miles again manages to get back with them, but his aquisisition of the parts raises questions. He tells them he stole the parts though and that makes Bilby happy. The arms dealer shows up and gets killed for selling defective merchandise. That night O'Brien gets Bilby to tell him who the informant is, but they also get a surprise visit from the boss and he brings along a Vorta. Miles reports all this to his contact but since a Vorta showed up he is told to stick with it rather than getting pulled out as they had arranged.
Things are getting serious, it seems the disruptors are for the assassination of a Klingon diplomat and they have to be Klingon weapons so it will look like an inside job. The planning is interrupted by the bosses return. He announces that there is a traitor but luckily it was one of the other gangsters. As soon as that is over Miles goes to his contact but the plan is apparently to warn the Klingons and get Bilby killed. Miles can't stand that though and punches his contact and goes straight to Bilby. He tells him the truth, but that doesn't help. If the syndicate discovers that Bilby knowing vouched for a spy they will kill his family so the only option is to walk into the Klingon trap and get killed. Back on the station Miles and Julian talk about what happened and Julian assures him he was just doing his duty, but it doesn't sit well with Miles.
Review: Not quite as groundbreaking as some have been recently, but still an incredible episode. The tension is great and the moral dilemma is complicated enough that you can really feel for Miles.
8 out of 10
Thursday, April 28, 2016
DS9: One Little Ship
DS9 is on a tear with the great episodes right now! And sure, this is no commentary on race relations in modern times, but it is super fun and very clever. And when I say fun, this is honestly Tribbles level fun. The final fight in engineering where the salt shaker sized runabout shoots miniature photo torpedoes at Jem'Hadar soldiers is pure gold. Not to mention Odo and Quark totally getting O'Brien and Bashir in the very end of the episode. And this has been all about the A story so far. The B story is all about the Defiant being taken over by Jem'Hadar and Sisko having to learn to exploit the conflict between Alpha and Gamma Quadrant Jem'Hadar to keep them from taking his ship back to the Dominion.
We begin with the Defiant on a mission to investigate an anomaly rather than fight the Dominion for once. The plan is to send a runabout into the anomaly which will shrink them down around 99% but restore them when they are carefully pulled out the same way they went in. To keep control of the situation a tractor beam will connect the two ships. Dax, O'Brien and Bashir are on the runabout but only Miles seems worried about getting stuck being tiny. They head in and everything seems fine, but suddenly the tractor beam fluctuates. Cut to the Defiant which is under attack but the Dominion. Sisko is determined not to lose the runabout, but it is too late. Jem'Hadar beam on board and take control of the ship, but from the first moment it is clear there is conflict among them. A new first has just taken over and the old first is now second and not happy about it.
On the runabout systems are damaged and Dax his hurt, but not badly. They make it out of the anomaly but sensors are down. Finally Miles gets the windows open and they find themselves staring at a huge hull plating on the Defiant, they are still super small! O'Brien manages to sneak them into a plasma vent and almost gets them cooked, but Dax's nimble piloting saves the day. The Jem'Hadar need the warp drive working and despite the protests of the second the first assigns Sisko and the bridge crew to the job. This is what the runabout crew find in engineering when then emerge from an access panel. O'Brien quickly realizes that Sisko is having Kira actually work on the warp engines while the rest of the crew are trying to seize control of the ship via the command codes. But it isn't going to work.
Luckily O'Brien realizes what is wrong and how they can help. Dax flies the runabout to the bridge and into a panel. Inside Miles and Bashir rewire the ship to make it possible for Sisko to take over the ship. It seems they are too late though. The second figures out the engines have already been repaired but gets into an argument with the first about who's fault it is. Just then the runabout bursts through the door and opens fire on the Jem'Hadar. A fight breaks out and with the help of the tiny ship Sisko takes control of engineering and floods the ship with knockout gas. Back on the station everything is back to normal, well, other than O'Brien and Bashir being terrified that they are still too small...
Review: After such a dark season it is nice to have some relief. And in this case in comes in the form of a well told, witty adventure story. I am actually glad these are the exception, but it is really fun to get to see them when we do!
9 out of 10
We begin with the Defiant on a mission to investigate an anomaly rather than fight the Dominion for once. The plan is to send a runabout into the anomaly which will shrink them down around 99% but restore them when they are carefully pulled out the same way they went in. To keep control of the situation a tractor beam will connect the two ships. Dax, O'Brien and Bashir are on the runabout but only Miles seems worried about getting stuck being tiny. They head in and everything seems fine, but suddenly the tractor beam fluctuates. Cut to the Defiant which is under attack but the Dominion. Sisko is determined not to lose the runabout, but it is too late. Jem'Hadar beam on board and take control of the ship, but from the first moment it is clear there is conflict among them. A new first has just taken over and the old first is now second and not happy about it.
On the runabout systems are damaged and Dax his hurt, but not badly. They make it out of the anomaly but sensors are down. Finally Miles gets the windows open and they find themselves staring at a huge hull plating on the Defiant, they are still super small! O'Brien manages to sneak them into a plasma vent and almost gets them cooked, but Dax's nimble piloting saves the day. The Jem'Hadar need the warp drive working and despite the protests of the second the first assigns Sisko and the bridge crew to the job. This is what the runabout crew find in engineering when then emerge from an access panel. O'Brien quickly realizes that Sisko is having Kira actually work on the warp engines while the rest of the crew are trying to seize control of the ship via the command codes. But it isn't going to work.
Luckily O'Brien realizes what is wrong and how they can help. Dax flies the runabout to the bridge and into a panel. Inside Miles and Bashir rewire the ship to make it possible for Sisko to take over the ship. It seems they are too late though. The second figures out the engines have already been repaired but gets into an argument with the first about who's fault it is. Just then the runabout bursts through the door and opens fire on the Jem'Hadar. A fight breaks out and with the help of the tiny ship Sisko takes control of engineering and floods the ship with knockout gas. Back on the station everything is back to normal, well, other than O'Brien and Bashir being terrified that they are still too small...
Review: After such a dark season it is nice to have some relief. And in this case in comes in the form of a well told, witty adventure story. I am actually glad these are the exception, but it is really fun to get to see them when we do!
9 out of 10
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
DS9: Far Beyond the Stars
I have been looking forward to this episode since I first started this project, and it didn't disappoint. Far Beyond the Stars is one of the greatest episodes of Star Trek and honestly of any television show I have ever seen. It manages to tell two stories at once without any explanation or narration. It deals with issues of racial discrimination in an way that feels more authentic than just about anything else I have ever seen. It gives the cast a chance to play totally unrelated characters which is especially fun for those who are typically covered in makeup. Not shockingly Colm Meaney gives a performance that exceeds most of the rest of the cast, but that's fine. Michael Dorn is as imposing out of makeup as in makeup and Rene Auberjonois makes a great old boss man. (Note: I am going to refer to the characters in the dream/vision by their usual character names.)
We begin with Sisko feeling down about the war. A ship captained by a friend of his has just been lost and he is questioning why he is still trying to lead the fight. He has a conversation about it with his father but notices a man in a 50's business suit walking by outside his office and jumps up to see who it is, but no one is there. Later while walking through a hallway with Kasidy he sees a man in a 50's baseball uniform and is suddenly in the middle of a busy street and is hit by a cab. He wakes up in sickbay with strange neural patterns but when he takes a PADD it is suddenly a book of science fiction stories and he is on the streets of New York. He buys the stories and gives a book of matches to Miles to light a cigarette. The two walk to work together, they are both science fiction writers. That day they are handed pictures to write stories for and Sisko jumps at the chance to write about a retro-future space station named Deep Space 9. We also learn they are going to get their pictures taken for the next issue, but both Sisko and Kira are to not show up for work that day.
That night Sisko is walking home when he drops his drawing which is caught under the foot of Dukat. He and Weyoun are cops who hassle him about where he got the suit and threaten to take him downtown, but they have other things to do and he makes it home and starts work on his story. A few days later he is getting breakfast at a diner and flirting with Kasidy who runs the place. Worf shows up as a baseball player and we learn even he is feeling the pressure of racial discrimination. He also meets Jake who is a young man trying to make money no matter how, including selling stolen property. The writing staff love the story, but the editor, Odo, isn't sure about the black protagonist. He is devastated that they won't publish his story, but after writing a bunch of sequels one of the other writers has an idea, make it a dream.
The dream idea takes off and Odo agrees to publish it and Sisko goes to Kasidy to celebrate. As they are leaving the club that night they hear gunshots, Jake has been shot by Dukat for breaking into a car. Sisko tries to confront him over it, but is badly beaten for his trouble. Cut to a few weeks later and Sisko is going back to work for the first time since he was attacked. The other writers are supportive and it is the day the magazine is going out so they can't wait to see his story in it. But Odo arrives with bad news, the publisher refused to print the story of the negro space captain. Sisko collapses in rage and after a talk with his father/preacher about whether it was a dream he wakes up in the infirmary. His drive has been renewed, by the prophets it seems, but all he knows now is that he can't give up.
Review: I am not sure this episode would work as well as some of the other greatest episodes out of context, but in context it is as good as it gets. Great performances and writing all around.
10 out of 10
We begin with Sisko feeling down about the war. A ship captained by a friend of his has just been lost and he is questioning why he is still trying to lead the fight. He has a conversation about it with his father but notices a man in a 50's business suit walking by outside his office and jumps up to see who it is, but no one is there. Later while walking through a hallway with Kasidy he sees a man in a 50's baseball uniform and is suddenly in the middle of a busy street and is hit by a cab. He wakes up in sickbay with strange neural patterns but when he takes a PADD it is suddenly a book of science fiction stories and he is on the streets of New York. He buys the stories and gives a book of matches to Miles to light a cigarette. The two walk to work together, they are both science fiction writers. That day they are handed pictures to write stories for and Sisko jumps at the chance to write about a retro-future space station named Deep Space 9. We also learn they are going to get their pictures taken for the next issue, but both Sisko and Kira are to not show up for work that day.
That night Sisko is walking home when he drops his drawing which is caught under the foot of Dukat. He and Weyoun are cops who hassle him about where he got the suit and threaten to take him downtown, but they have other things to do and he makes it home and starts work on his story. A few days later he is getting breakfast at a diner and flirting with Kasidy who runs the place. Worf shows up as a baseball player and we learn even he is feeling the pressure of racial discrimination. He also meets Jake who is a young man trying to make money no matter how, including selling stolen property. The writing staff love the story, but the editor, Odo, isn't sure about the black protagonist. He is devastated that they won't publish his story, but after writing a bunch of sequels one of the other writers has an idea, make it a dream.
The dream idea takes off and Odo agrees to publish it and Sisko goes to Kasidy to celebrate. As they are leaving the club that night they hear gunshots, Jake has been shot by Dukat for breaking into a car. Sisko tries to confront him over it, but is badly beaten for his trouble. Cut to a few weeks later and Sisko is going back to work for the first time since he was attacked. The other writers are supportive and it is the day the magazine is going out so they can't wait to see his story in it. But Odo arrives with bad news, the publisher refused to print the story of the negro space captain. Sisko collapses in rage and after a talk with his father/preacher about whether it was a dream he wakes up in the infirmary. His drive has been renewed, by the prophets it seems, but all he knows now is that he can't give up.
Review: I am not sure this episode would work as well as some of the other greatest episodes out of context, but in context it is as good as it gets. Great performances and writing all around.
10 out of 10
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
DS9: Who Mourns for Morn?
This is one of those episodes that I didn't remember much about other than really enjoying it and Morn spitting out latinum at the end. I kinda feel like his inner latinum reserve comes up again, but if that is the case there aren't a whole lot of episodes left for that to happen. This has the feel of the writers deciding that having a silent joke character had gone on long enough as a side feature and that it was his time to be front and center. But of course having a character who everyone talks about having discussions with who never actually talks is a bit of a problem. So having him fake his death was a great call. You would think someone would have noticed that his death perfectly coincided with the statute of limitations taking effect on the bank robbery, but then again they were all mad with latinum at that point.
We begin with Odo approaching Morn in his normal spot at Odo's to tell him his shipment of beets has started rotting. But as soon as he touches Morn he realizes it is a hologram. Quark explains that Morn left on business two weeks earlier but that business is bad when he isn't there, thus the hologram. Kira and Sisko arrive with bad news, Morn was killed in an accident. Practically the entire station shows up for his memorial with offerings of food and drink and Quark is hosting. He is also determined to make as much money off the event as possible. It ends with Quark giving a speech about how much he misses Morn, oh, and in his honor everyone needs to step up and keep his seat from ever getting cold. Sisko approaches Quark after with the news that Morn named him the sole beneficiary of his will. Odo takes Quark to tour his new assets, namely a bunch of rotting beets and a hot tub full of mud in Morn's quarters. When Odo leaves though a woman emerges from the mud and tells Quark she is Morn's ex-wife and that she is here to look for the 1000 bricks of latinum Morn won in the lottery years earlier. Quark agrees to let her have ten percent if she doesn't sue him.
Quark goes home but is confronted by two brothers who demand that Quark give them the money and smash a painting over his head before leaving. Alone Quark discovers an access key hidden in the painting and takes it to the lockup on the station. The box contains one brick of latinum, but it also has a bank account number written on the back. On his way to his quarters Quark runs into the ex again and she manages to steal the brick, but he remembers the number and goes home. As he is about to transfer the money he is confronted by a new armed guy who claims to be an officer of some royal family he claims Morn was part of and that the money reverts to them. Quark mentions the ex and learns she has been trying to blackmail the family for years. They agree to have the money brought to the station to trap her.
The ex shows up in Quarks quarters later that day but before they can discuss anything the brothers show up and she hides. Then the officer shows up and the brothers hide too. But it all falls apart, they all know each other and have been lying about who they are. They are in fact robbers who worked in a gang with Morn in a huge heist. They agree to split the money five ways, but they have to wait a day for it to arrive. It finally does but as soon as they have it they all start shooting and Quark hides in the container with the money. Odo arrests everybody but Quark who is heartbroken when he realizes there is only gold, the latinum has been drained from the bricks. But then Morn returns, it was all a ruse by him. He goes reveal to Quark that he has been keeping the latinum in his second stomach all these years and gives Quark a 100 brick share.
Review: Not deep or full of action, but a super fun and clever episode. I always enjoy a good heist and this is one of trek's best.
8 out of 10
We begin with Odo approaching Morn in his normal spot at Odo's to tell him his shipment of beets has started rotting. But as soon as he touches Morn he realizes it is a hologram. Quark explains that Morn left on business two weeks earlier but that business is bad when he isn't there, thus the hologram. Kira and Sisko arrive with bad news, Morn was killed in an accident. Practically the entire station shows up for his memorial with offerings of food and drink and Quark is hosting. He is also determined to make as much money off the event as possible. It ends with Quark giving a speech about how much he misses Morn, oh, and in his honor everyone needs to step up and keep his seat from ever getting cold. Sisko approaches Quark after with the news that Morn named him the sole beneficiary of his will. Odo takes Quark to tour his new assets, namely a bunch of rotting beets and a hot tub full of mud in Morn's quarters. When Odo leaves though a woman emerges from the mud and tells Quark she is Morn's ex-wife and that she is here to look for the 1000 bricks of latinum Morn won in the lottery years earlier. Quark agrees to let her have ten percent if she doesn't sue him.
Quark goes home but is confronted by two brothers who demand that Quark give them the money and smash a painting over his head before leaving. Alone Quark discovers an access key hidden in the painting and takes it to the lockup on the station. The box contains one brick of latinum, but it also has a bank account number written on the back. On his way to his quarters Quark runs into the ex again and she manages to steal the brick, but he remembers the number and goes home. As he is about to transfer the money he is confronted by a new armed guy who claims to be an officer of some royal family he claims Morn was part of and that the money reverts to them. Quark mentions the ex and learns she has been trying to blackmail the family for years. They agree to have the money brought to the station to trap her.
The ex shows up in Quarks quarters later that day but before they can discuss anything the brothers show up and she hides. Then the officer shows up and the brothers hide too. But it all falls apart, they all know each other and have been lying about who they are. They are in fact robbers who worked in a gang with Morn in a huge heist. They agree to split the money five ways, but they have to wait a day for it to arrive. It finally does but as soon as they have it they all start shooting and Quark hides in the container with the money. Odo arrests everybody but Quark who is heartbroken when he realizes there is only gold, the latinum has been drained from the bricks. But then Morn returns, it was all a ruse by him. He goes reveal to Quark that he has been keeping the latinum in his second stomach all these years and gives Quark a 100 brick share.
Review: Not deep or full of action, but a super fun and clever episode. I always enjoy a good heist and this is one of trek's best.
8 out of 10
Monday, April 25, 2016
DS9: Waltz
Dukat has been many things in this show, but I am fairly confident this is his last turn. After rising to the top of the Cardassian government as a part of the Dominion he is now a prisoner of the Federation and his daughter was killed in front of him. In this episode we see what this has done to him, not only does he kidnap Sisko to try and get him to say he respects Dukat, but he is also hallucinating badly. I don't know much about this kind of mental disorder, but I have a feeling it doesn't work quite like this in real life. At the same time the first scene where he is talking to Weyoun it isn't clear to the audience that Weyoun isn't actually there for the first bit which is cool. In the end Dukat loses it and sets of on a mission to kill every Bajoran which luckily he isn't able to accomplish.
The episode begins on the USS Honshu where Sisko is preparing himself to visit Dukat in his cell. The two discuss how Sisko is there to testify at the hearing Dukat will be subjected to when they arrive at a starbase. As the captain prepares to leave the ship is shaken and we cut to the opening credits. Back on DS9 the crew are preparing for a rescue operation. The Honshu was destroyed and they Defiant is needed in a few days to escort a troop convoy so they won't have much time to search. They get underway and we cut back to Dukat and Sisko, now in a cave on an unknown planet. Dukat tells Sisko that he carried Sisko to a shuttle as the Honshu exploded but that he shuttle was damaged in the process and he was forced to put down on this hostile planet. He has an emergency beacon that he took from the shuttle that he tells Sisko is set to broadcast a generic distress signal so they don't know if the Dominion or Federation will find them first.
Sisko was badly hurt and his arm is in a cast. He also allegedly has burns on a large part of his body. Dukat leaves to go look for plants outside and runs into Weyoun who insists that he just go ahead and kill Sisko. Dukat responds that he has the time to get Sisko to tell him he respects him before dying. Suddenly it is apparent that Weyoun isn't there and Dukat is talking to himself. While he is gone Sisko opens up the beacon and realizes it isn't working. When Dukat returns Sisko gets him to check it over and Dukat lies and says it is fine so Sisko knows the whole thing is probably a ruse of some sort. Dukat wants to talk about what he did on Bajor a lot and Sisko is happy to talk, but isn't willing to say that he respects Dukat. The Defiant keeps looking, but despite rescuing 12 survivors there is no sign of the captain.
While Dukat is busy arguing with more sides of his personality, in this case Damar, Sisko manages to get the beacon to actually work and pretends to be resting when Dukat returns. We get a fake out with the Defiant detecting a signal and rescuing two life forms, but of course it isn't the captain. Dukat becomes increasingly unhinged and eventually figures out the beacon is working and blasts it with a phaser. Dukat gets into a fight with "Kira" in front of Sisko and finally admits that he thinks he should have killed all the Bajorans. While he is distracted Sisko hits Dukat over the head with a metal pole and flees to the shuttle. But before he can escape Dukat returns, throws him out, and leaves in the shuttle promising to kill all Bajorans. Sisko is rescued though and swears that this time he won't give Dukat the chance to get away again.
Review: A dark episode that shows just how unhinged Dukat has become. But also that on the inside he doesn't seem to have wanted to be a good person while ruling Bajor and that he was actually making excuses to himself the whole time.
8 out of 10
The episode begins on the USS Honshu where Sisko is preparing himself to visit Dukat in his cell. The two discuss how Sisko is there to testify at the hearing Dukat will be subjected to when they arrive at a starbase. As the captain prepares to leave the ship is shaken and we cut to the opening credits. Back on DS9 the crew are preparing for a rescue operation. The Honshu was destroyed and they Defiant is needed in a few days to escort a troop convoy so they won't have much time to search. They get underway and we cut back to Dukat and Sisko, now in a cave on an unknown planet. Dukat tells Sisko that he carried Sisko to a shuttle as the Honshu exploded but that he shuttle was damaged in the process and he was forced to put down on this hostile planet. He has an emergency beacon that he took from the shuttle that he tells Sisko is set to broadcast a generic distress signal so they don't know if the Dominion or Federation will find them first.
Sisko was badly hurt and his arm is in a cast. He also allegedly has burns on a large part of his body. Dukat leaves to go look for plants outside and runs into Weyoun who insists that he just go ahead and kill Sisko. Dukat responds that he has the time to get Sisko to tell him he respects him before dying. Suddenly it is apparent that Weyoun isn't there and Dukat is talking to himself. While he is gone Sisko opens up the beacon and realizes it isn't working. When Dukat returns Sisko gets him to check it over and Dukat lies and says it is fine so Sisko knows the whole thing is probably a ruse of some sort. Dukat wants to talk about what he did on Bajor a lot and Sisko is happy to talk, but isn't willing to say that he respects Dukat. The Defiant keeps looking, but despite rescuing 12 survivors there is no sign of the captain.
While Dukat is busy arguing with more sides of his personality, in this case Damar, Sisko manages to get the beacon to actually work and pretends to be resting when Dukat returns. We get a fake out with the Defiant detecting a signal and rescuing two life forms, but of course it isn't the captain. Dukat becomes increasingly unhinged and eventually figures out the beacon is working and blasts it with a phaser. Dukat gets into a fight with "Kira" in front of Sisko and finally admits that he thinks he should have killed all the Bajorans. While he is distracted Sisko hits Dukat over the head with a metal pole and flees to the shuttle. But before he can escape Dukat returns, throws him out, and leaves in the shuttle promising to kill all Bajorans. Sisko is rescued though and swears that this time he won't give Dukat the chance to get away again.
Review: A dark episode that shows just how unhinged Dukat has become. But also that on the inside he doesn't seem to have wanted to be a good person while ruling Bajor and that he was actually making excuses to himself the whole time.
8 out of 10
Sunday, April 24, 2016
DS9: Magnificent Ferengi
Missed a day yesterday and don't be surprised if a miss a few more over the coming month. I have a lot of camp outs for work until early June so I will probably miss a fair number of weekend days in the near future. However I am really pumped with the episode today, and yes, the fact that Seven Samurai is my favorite movie of all time may color this feeling a bit. I did really enjoy how different the Ferengi are from humans though in finding motivation to go on a rescue mission. Where the samurai in the original film are motivated by honor or compassion, the Ferengi are all about money (except for the Kyushu figure who is once again all about testing his skill against the best).
We begin with Quark regaling his customers about how he aquired a shipment of the rare syrup of squill with his shrewd negotiating skills. The customers are soon distracted by Dax, O'Brien and Julian returning from a secret mission behind enemy lines which upsets Quark that their heroics are more important to people than making a profit. He gets pulled away before he can finish complaining by a call from the Grand Nagus. It seems Ishka has been kidnapped by the Dominion and Zek has offered a 50 bars of latinum reward for her return. He starts by recruiting Rom, but when they go to Nog he is more reluctant until they offer him the position of strategic coordinator like Worf is on the station and he can't say no to that. Next they recruit a psychotic Ferengi who only wants a chance to kill Jem'Hadar. The final member they attempt to recruit is Quark's cousin Gaila who briefly worked with Quark selling weapons, but lost it all when Quark betrayed him. But the promise of a reward is too much for him.
We begin with Quark regaling his customers about how he aquired a shipment of the rare syrup of squill with his shrewd negotiating skills. The customers are soon distracted by Dax, O'Brien and Julian returning from a secret mission behind enemy lines which upsets Quark that their heroics are more important to people than making a profit. He gets pulled away before he can finish complaining by a call from the Grand Nagus. It seems Ishka has been kidnapped by the Dominion and Zek has offered a 50 bars of latinum reward for her return. He starts by recruiting Rom, but when they go to Nog he is more reluctant until they offer him the position of strategic coordinator like Worf is on the station and he can't say no to that. Next they recruit a psychotic Ferengi who only wants a chance to kill Jem'Hadar. The final member they attempt to recruit is Quark's cousin Gaila who briefly worked with Quark selling weapons, but lost it all when Quark betrayed him. But the promise of a reward is too much for him.
They get together in Quark's to come up with a plan when it is revealed that they don't have a ship to carry out any plan. Right on cue Brunt walks in to "offer" to join them. They all reject the new ex-liquidator, until he mentions that he has a ship. Nog starts training them, but the results are more humorous than threatening. It does lead to the revelation that they are doing it wrong. They are Ferengi, they negotiate, they don't fight. So Quark manages to negotiate with the Federation to get them to let him trade a captured vorta for Ishka. The exchange is to happen on Empok Nor and while heading their they learn from Keevan (the vorta prisoner) that after he is handed over he will be executed for not committing suicide.
They arrive at the abandoned station and set up a base in the infirmary. Nog sets up an alarm to let them know when the Dominion is getting close and all there is left to do is wait. But soon the alarm is going off and not long after it goes off. The Promenade is covered in Jem'Hadar and Quark has to go negotiate the release. He takes Nog and Rom with him and they convince the vorta in charge that he needs to send his Jem'Hadar away on their ship and as soon as he does they will complete the trade. He agrees, but when they get back to their team a fight breaks out when Rom lets it slip that the reward is 50, not the 20 bars of latinum Quark was telling everyone and Keevan is killed. They manage to rig up a remote control for him a la Spock's Brain and it works just long enough to get Ishka back and then shoot the Jem'Hadar. They capture the other vorta and return for their rewards.
Review: A humorous, but also well told story of adventure. It is really nice to see someone other than the bridge crew getting to be heroes, even if it is in a very Ferengi way.
8 out of 10
Friday, April 22, 2016
DS9: Statistical Probabilities
When they made Julian be a genetically enhanced person and people found out it was a pretty big crisis for him since we learned that it is still against the law in the Federation. This of course brings up the question about are there other people who have been modified in this way and what happens to them? In this episode we meet the much more poorly adjusted people who had the same thing done as Julian, but they were caught and institutionalized and it is pretty obvious why. While Bashir is a bit annoying at times, he has nothing on any of these people who are either raving egomaniacs, near childlike maturity, or totally silent. As a bit of a transhumanist myself I find the idea of limiting human development offensive, but with these guys plus Khan I guess the Trek universe may have its reasons for opposing such things.
We begin with a Starfleet psychiatrist dropping off four genetically enhance patients at DS9 for a few weeks with Dr. Bashir to try and get them better adjusted. They don't like Bashir very much since he has gotten away with living on the outside his whole life, but they are also really into having someone to better connect them to the rest of the world. They also won't leave him alone hacking into the com system on the station to get his attention when he leaves them for too long. Their presence also raises the tensions between Bashir and some of the rest of the people on the station, especially Miles. However they prove useful when after only watching one speech by Damar they have figured out most of his background and his motivations. They also come up with a plan for cutting off the supply of ketracel white from the Dominion.
However now that they have proven useful they immediately let it go to their heads. They start calculating the outcome of the Dominion war and convince themselves that it is hopeless and that Starfleet should surrender. Obviously Julian and Sisko aren't interested in this plan but they won't take no for an answer. They tie up Bashir and arrange a meeting with Weyoun to hand over all of Starfleets plans and positions so the war can end as quickly as possible. Luckily Bashir gets the silent augment to untie him and he stops them just in time. Somehow they aren't all arrested and instead they are sent back to their facility with the psychiatrist from the opening.
Review: A decent episode that explores what it would be like to be an illegally enhanced person in a world that doesn't understand you. But also a lesson in why we shouldn't let our egos get in the way of our common sense.
5 out of 10
We begin with a Starfleet psychiatrist dropping off four genetically enhance patients at DS9 for a few weeks with Dr. Bashir to try and get them better adjusted. They don't like Bashir very much since he has gotten away with living on the outside his whole life, but they are also really into having someone to better connect them to the rest of the world. They also won't leave him alone hacking into the com system on the station to get his attention when he leaves them for too long. Their presence also raises the tensions between Bashir and some of the rest of the people on the station, especially Miles. However they prove useful when after only watching one speech by Damar they have figured out most of his background and his motivations. They also come up with a plan for cutting off the supply of ketracel white from the Dominion.
However now that they have proven useful they immediately let it go to their heads. They start calculating the outcome of the Dominion war and convince themselves that it is hopeless and that Starfleet should surrender. Obviously Julian and Sisko aren't interested in this plan but they won't take no for an answer. They tie up Bashir and arrange a meeting with Weyoun to hand over all of Starfleets plans and positions so the war can end as quickly as possible. Luckily Bashir gets the silent augment to untie him and he stops them just in time. Somehow they aren't all arrested and instead they are sent back to their facility with the psychiatrist from the opening.
Review: A decent episode that explores what it would be like to be an illegally enhanced person in a world that doesn't understand you. But also a lesson in why we shouldn't let our egos get in the way of our common sense.
5 out of 10
Thursday, April 21, 2016
DS9: Resurrection
I know I have spent a lot of time talking up how awesome I thought the mirror universe stuff was this time, but I am not going to be doing much of that tonight. This isn't an awful episode, but it is a good example of the writers being lazy and not wanting to have to create a new character to tell a story and instead using an actor whose character they killed off. The fact that Sisko talks to Kira about what it was like to be with Jennifer again just shows how derivative this episode is. And yes, this time it is a trap by the intendant, but it is still clearly a story about Kira getting back together with Bareil. Also, how rough must it be for Odo to again have to watch her fall for the guy of the week.
We begin in Ops with a sudden surge of energy from the transporter pad. There doesn't seem to be a source but suddenly Bareil appears on the pad, with a disruptor that he uses to take Kira hostage and demand a ship. She leads him to the runabout pad figuring out that he is from the mirror universe along the way. When they arrive she reveals that she knew his weapon had no power the entire time before beating him up and turning him over to Odo who was waiting with security in the airlock. In the holding cell Bareil begs Kira to destroy the device that will take him back to his own universe. He is only interested in escaping it. He also figures out that the version of him from the prime universe and Kira were involved romantically. Kira tells Sisko she doesn't want to press charges and that she wants him released. Sisko reluctantly agrees and she meets Bareil on the promenade. After some talk he joins her for a Bajoran religious ceremony and then for dinner with Worf and Dax that night. At dinner we learn among other things that he is an experience thief.
The next day the two wake up together. Kira is in love and he seems to be as well. Later they go to the temple and he has his first orb experience and it clearly moves him deeply. He heads home exhausted to be greeted by Indendant Kira. We learn from her that he is actually here to steal the orb and take it back to their universe so he can be a prophet and they can rule Bajor or something. He heads to Quark's next and gets drunk which shocks everyone used to the actual Bareil. Quark notices him casing the temple and mentions it to Kira later that day. That night the Indendant dresses up as the Major and the two put their plan into action. Bareil has almost stolen the orb when the Major shows up to stop him. But she is herself stopped by the Indendant. Fortunately Bareil was changed by the orb experience and stuns the Indendant before heading home with her.
Review: Not a bad episode overall other than feeling a bit cheap the way it pulled at Kira's emotions with someone from her past. Not as bad as I thought the first time through, but a little weak by DS9 standards.
5 out of 10
We begin in Ops with a sudden surge of energy from the transporter pad. There doesn't seem to be a source but suddenly Bareil appears on the pad, with a disruptor that he uses to take Kira hostage and demand a ship. She leads him to the runabout pad figuring out that he is from the mirror universe along the way. When they arrive she reveals that she knew his weapon had no power the entire time before beating him up and turning him over to Odo who was waiting with security in the airlock. In the holding cell Bareil begs Kira to destroy the device that will take him back to his own universe. He is only interested in escaping it. He also figures out that the version of him from the prime universe and Kira were involved romantically. Kira tells Sisko she doesn't want to press charges and that she wants him released. Sisko reluctantly agrees and she meets Bareil on the promenade. After some talk he joins her for a Bajoran religious ceremony and then for dinner with Worf and Dax that night. At dinner we learn among other things that he is an experience thief.
The next day the two wake up together. Kira is in love and he seems to be as well. Later they go to the temple and he has his first orb experience and it clearly moves him deeply. He heads home exhausted to be greeted by Indendant Kira. We learn from her that he is actually here to steal the orb and take it back to their universe so he can be a prophet and they can rule Bajor or something. He heads to Quark's next and gets drunk which shocks everyone used to the actual Bareil. Quark notices him casing the temple and mentions it to Kira later that day. That night the Indendant dresses up as the Major and the two put their plan into action. Bareil has almost stolen the orb when the Major shows up to stop him. But she is herself stopped by the Indendant. Fortunately Bareil was changed by the orb experience and stuns the Indendant before heading home with her.
Review: Not a bad episode overall other than feeling a bit cheap the way it pulled at Kira's emotions with someone from her past. Not as bad as I thought the first time through, but a little weak by DS9 standards.
5 out of 10
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
DS9: You Are Cordially Invited
It isn't going to be a mind blowing revelation to anybody that this wasn't exactly my favorite episode of DS9. It is episodes like this that really show Dax at her worst and most frivolous. It would be one thing if it seemed like she and Worf were actually deeply in love, but other than them both saying it a lot there doesn't seem to be much of a real connection. Other than her long term fascination with Klingons it doesn't seem like Dax and Worf do anything other than fight over tradition and have violent sex.
We begin with life getting back to normal on the station. Sisko congratulates Martok on his promotion to Supreme Commander. In Quark's Alexander is having a drink with Worf and Dax regaling her with stories of the various things he messed up or broke on the Rotarran. Worf is surprised to hear he has been transferred to a new ship and this prompts Dax to call for an immediate wedding so Alexander can be around for it. Worf gathers his male friends of a Klingon bachelor party, which mostly involves fasting and suffering. Dax meanwhile has to be judged by Martok's wife since she will be joining a great house. The Klingon woman is determined to keep Dax out and eventually at a wild party in Dax's honor gets punched in the face. Dax refuses to apologize so the wedding is off. Sisko convinces her to grow up a little so she apologizes and the wedding is back on. It goes off without a hitch, end of episode.
Review: Other than a lot of messing around with wedding traditions not much happens in this episode. I know they have been setting it up for a while, but it just seemed kinda thrown together.
4 out of 10
We begin with life getting back to normal on the station. Sisko congratulates Martok on his promotion to Supreme Commander. In Quark's Alexander is having a drink with Worf and Dax regaling her with stories of the various things he messed up or broke on the Rotarran. Worf is surprised to hear he has been transferred to a new ship and this prompts Dax to call for an immediate wedding so Alexander can be around for it. Worf gathers his male friends of a Klingon bachelor party, which mostly involves fasting and suffering. Dax meanwhile has to be judged by Martok's wife since she will be joining a great house. The Klingon woman is determined to keep Dax out and eventually at a wild party in Dax's honor gets punched in the face. Dax refuses to apologize so the wedding is off. Sisko convinces her to grow up a little so she apologizes and the wedding is back on. It goes off without a hitch, end of episode.
Review: Other than a lot of messing around with wedding traditions not much happens in this episode. I know they have been setting it up for a while, but it just seemed kinda thrown together.
4 out of 10
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
DS9: Sacrifice of Angels
First of all I did not do two episodes yesterday, but it wasn't because I wasn't looking forward to this one. Second, I am impressed they went this many episodes without the crew retaking the station. I feel like most shows wouldn't be able to resist going back maybe an episode after an event like this, but it took six episodes into this season for them to get back to their old digs. I had completely forgotten about the bit about Damar killing Ziyal in front of Dukat, but I had a bad feeling about that whole scene. I am glad to have Odo back, but I am pretty sure he isn't going to be the person he was before he spent all that time linking.
We begin where we left off with the two battle fleets bearing down on each other. Sisko's plan is to try and draw off the Cardassian ships to open a hole for the fleet to punch through and head to DS9 to stop the minefield from being destroyed. On the station Dukat and Weyoun are watching the battle unfold and Dukat has correctly determined Sisko's plan. He tells the Cardassian ships to open what appears to be a hole but close in as soon as the Federation goes in. Sisko decides that even though it may be a trap, it is his only opportunity so he goes for it. It looks like they are doomed but at the very last minute the Klingon fleet arrives and supports the Federation thrust. Only the Defiant breaks through, but it does and heads for DS9 at maximum warp. On the station Kira, Ziyal and Jake are meeting about how they can stop the destruction of the minefield when Damar shows up and takes them all in to holding cells for detention until the wormhole is open. Quark realizes he has to do something and teams up with Ziyal to break them out of the hold cells. Rom and Kira get to work taking down the stations computer, but it is going to be close.
Odo and the female changeling are interrupted by Weyoun, they have discovered Kira's escape and he wants to take the two founders to safety. Odo refuses to go though and they don't do anything to stop him. Kira and Rom are pinned down by Jem'Hadar but suddenly hear the sound of Bajoran phasers (well, Rom hears the sound with his massive ears). Odo has returned to try for some redemption, it isn't clear if Kira forgives him, but she is still happy for the help. Rom and Kira get to the computer but they aren't quite able to get the weapons offline before the minefield is destroyed. The Defiant watches it happen but Sisko still doesn't give up. He takes his ship into the wormhole determined to fight the Dominion inside. They find a fleet of thousands of ships inside the wormhole and as they prepare to fight Sisko is suddenly with the wormhole aliens. They tell him he isn't allowed to die yet. He tells them he has no choice, he has to stop the Dominion. They agree to help, but take from him the ability to find peace on Bajor.
Suddenly Sisko is back on the Defiant about to give the order to fire, when the Dominion fleet disappears. It seems to prophets really meant it. Sisko returns through the wormhole as news of the fleets disappearance arrives at Ops. They begin evacuating the station and Dukat goes to find Ziyal. He finds her and she tells him she loves him, but that she isn't going with him. She also tells him she helped Kira escape which devastates him, but not as much as when Damar shoots her and then flees to the last evacuation ship. Sisko arrives back on the station triumphant, but Garak only wants to find Ziyal, but it is too late. She died soon before in the infirmary. In his office Sisko has Dukat removed. As he leaves a broken Dukat tells Sisko he forgives him and hands over the baseball.
Review: An exciting episode with some serious moments that help it rise above most other episodes. Not quite the greatest this series has to offer, but damn close.
9 out of 10
We begin where we left off with the two battle fleets bearing down on each other. Sisko's plan is to try and draw off the Cardassian ships to open a hole for the fleet to punch through and head to DS9 to stop the minefield from being destroyed. On the station Dukat and Weyoun are watching the battle unfold and Dukat has correctly determined Sisko's plan. He tells the Cardassian ships to open what appears to be a hole but close in as soon as the Federation goes in. Sisko decides that even though it may be a trap, it is his only opportunity so he goes for it. It looks like they are doomed but at the very last minute the Klingon fleet arrives and supports the Federation thrust. Only the Defiant breaks through, but it does and heads for DS9 at maximum warp. On the station Kira, Ziyal and Jake are meeting about how they can stop the destruction of the minefield when Damar shows up and takes them all in to holding cells for detention until the wormhole is open. Quark realizes he has to do something and teams up with Ziyal to break them out of the hold cells. Rom and Kira get to work taking down the stations computer, but it is going to be close.
Odo and the female changeling are interrupted by Weyoun, they have discovered Kira's escape and he wants to take the two founders to safety. Odo refuses to go though and they don't do anything to stop him. Kira and Rom are pinned down by Jem'Hadar but suddenly hear the sound of Bajoran phasers (well, Rom hears the sound with his massive ears). Odo has returned to try for some redemption, it isn't clear if Kira forgives him, but she is still happy for the help. Rom and Kira get to the computer but they aren't quite able to get the weapons offline before the minefield is destroyed. The Defiant watches it happen but Sisko still doesn't give up. He takes his ship into the wormhole determined to fight the Dominion inside. They find a fleet of thousands of ships inside the wormhole and as they prepare to fight Sisko is suddenly with the wormhole aliens. They tell him he isn't allowed to die yet. He tells them he has no choice, he has to stop the Dominion. They agree to help, but take from him the ability to find peace on Bajor.
Suddenly Sisko is back on the Defiant about to give the order to fire, when the Dominion fleet disappears. It seems to prophets really meant it. Sisko returns through the wormhole as news of the fleets disappearance arrives at Ops. They begin evacuating the station and Dukat goes to find Ziyal. He finds her and she tells him she loves him, but that she isn't going with him. She also tells him she helped Kira escape which devastates him, but not as much as when Damar shoots her and then flees to the last evacuation ship. Sisko arrives back on the station triumphant, but Garak only wants to find Ziyal, but it is too late. She died soon before in the infirmary. In his office Sisko has Dukat removed. As he leaves a broken Dukat tells Sisko he forgives him and hands over the baseball.
Review: An exciting episode with some serious moments that help it rise above most other episodes. Not quite the greatest this series has to offer, but damn close.
9 out of 10
Monday, April 18, 2016
DS9: Favor the Bold
I'm back! I don't miss very many days, but I spent a long weekend in Tahoe and was away from a computer to watch/write up my thoughts on Star Trek. However I did listen to some episodes of my favorite Trek podcasts: The Greatest Generation and Mission Logs. Greatest Gen is TNG only and I am still in the TOS section of Mission Logs so it is fun to see how far things have come in terms of story telling. Neither of those shows has anything quite like the episode I watched today in terms of building up and paying off something that has been set up over seasons. The closest either TNG or TOS came to a serious war like this is The Best of Both Worlds which featured a large confrontation, but even that pales in comparison to the Dominion war. The Borg only sent one cube as opposed to the combined Cardassian/Dominion fleet of 1200 ships going against a Federation Fleet of 600, and I kinda suspect the Klingons are going to make a last minute appearance to balance things out a bit.
We begin on the Defiant which appears to be in trouble, but it is all a ruse to lure out some Dominion ships which, along with the Rotarran, are no problem for the actually undamaged Defiant. They are called back to Starbase 375 instead of staying on the front. Dax is upset about this and confronts Sisko about not winning by retreating. Luckily he has good news, he is proposing a plan to retake DS9. Sisko takes his plans to the brass, but the admirals are dubious, they fear leaving Earth open to attack, but as Sisko points out Earth isn't the key to the war, the wormhole is. Back on Terok Nor Kira tries to see Odo about Rom, but he is too busy having crazy changeling sex with the female changeling to see her. In his quarters Odo is shocked to learn he has spent three days with the other changeling, he has missed a meeting with Weyoun and Dukat, but she tells him not to worry about it.
Kira tries next to talk Weyoun into releasing Rom, but he isn't interested either. She has a little better luck with Ziyal, but Ziyal fails to convince Dukat and refuses to see her father because of it. In Quark's Damar lets slip that the minefield is coming down in just a few days. Quark tells Kira and along with Jake they convince Morn to smuggle a message to Sisko with the news about the minefield. Sisko isn't having the best luck convincing the Klingons to support his attack so he sends Worf with Martok to try and convince Gowron. Soon after the klingons leave to try and gather support Sisko gets the message about the minefield and gets orders from the admiralty to immediately carry out his plan to retake the station. On Terok Nor news comes through about the movement of the Federation fleet and Dukat pulls a large group of ships off the frontlines to defeat them. Odo tries to apologize to Kira, but she tells him it is way past that point and refuses to talk to him. Sisko and his fleet encounter the massive Dominion fleet and we cut to credits.
Review: Still a bit of a set up episode, but one that works very well and makes me think maybe today will be a multi-episode day...
7 out of 10
We begin on the Defiant which appears to be in trouble, but it is all a ruse to lure out some Dominion ships which, along with the Rotarran, are no problem for the actually undamaged Defiant. They are called back to Starbase 375 instead of staying on the front. Dax is upset about this and confronts Sisko about not winning by retreating. Luckily he has good news, he is proposing a plan to retake DS9. Sisko takes his plans to the brass, but the admirals are dubious, they fear leaving Earth open to attack, but as Sisko points out Earth isn't the key to the war, the wormhole is. Back on Terok Nor Kira tries to see Odo about Rom, but he is too busy having crazy changeling sex with the female changeling to see her. In his quarters Odo is shocked to learn he has spent three days with the other changeling, he has missed a meeting with Weyoun and Dukat, but she tells him not to worry about it.
Kira tries next to talk Weyoun into releasing Rom, but he isn't interested either. She has a little better luck with Ziyal, but Ziyal fails to convince Dukat and refuses to see her father because of it. In Quark's Damar lets slip that the minefield is coming down in just a few days. Quark tells Kira and along with Jake they convince Morn to smuggle a message to Sisko with the news about the minefield. Sisko isn't having the best luck convincing the Klingons to support his attack so he sends Worf with Martok to try and convince Gowron. Soon after the klingons leave to try and gather support Sisko gets the message about the minefield and gets orders from the admiralty to immediately carry out his plan to retake the station. On Terok Nor news comes through about the movement of the Federation fleet and Dukat pulls a large group of ships off the frontlines to defeat them. Odo tries to apologize to Kira, but she tells him it is way past that point and refuses to talk to him. Sisko and his fleet encounter the massive Dominion fleet and we cut to credits.
Review: Still a bit of a set up episode, but one that works very well and makes me think maybe today will be a multi-episode day...
7 out of 10
Friday, April 15, 2016
DS9: Behind the Lines
The war is effecting everyone in different ways. The character most changed is clearly Odo right now. He seems to be buying into the changelings being a totally different and superior form of life compared to the solids. Even before he starts linking with the female changeling Odo is finding it hard to be part of the resistance since his nature fundamentally yearns for order. Sisko meanwhile has actually lost his command of the Defiant to Dax, which seems pretty unreasonable. He is an excellent commander and tactician, but I guess maybe that is the reason he has been promoted.
We begin on the Defiant celebrating the emptying of a power cell from the phaser array with a ceremony where it is put on a rack with the other emptied cells. An admiral pulls Sisko out to brief him on a powerful sensor array that has been discovered that is allowing the Dominion to out maneuver Starfleet, but no more, the Defiant is to destroy the array and Sisko has to come up with a plan to do it. On the station Kira and Rom have set up the second in command of the station, a Cardassian named Damar, but letting his plan to kill all the Jem'Hadar, fall into the hands of the Jem'Hadar. They understandably are upset and a fight breaks out in Quark's. Weyoun and Dukat fight about who is responsible, but don't really make any progress. Odo confronts Kira about the fight, they had discussed doing it but he thought it was a bad idea, but left the meeting and the others decided to do it any way. They are interrupted by the arrival in Odo's office of the female changeling.
She has arrived at the station to put the pressure on the destroy the minefield but also to try and recruit Odo. Back on the Defiant Sisko is relieved of command to take over as tactical coordinator or something and Dax goes on the dangerous mission and Sisko is hella tense the entire time, but they make it back just fine. Odo gives in to the other changeling and links with her which upsets Kira when she finds out. But there is worse news. Damar has figured out how to destroy the minefield which Quark gets out of him by getting him drunk. They come up with a plan for Rom to disable the part of the station that will be used, but it relies on Odo to turn on a diagnostic at just the right moment. But when the time comes he is too busy linking and doesn't think it is important. Rom is captured and interogated and we end with Odo telling Kira he doesn't care any more.
Review: A kinda weak episode compared to what surrounds it. Sure, the war is still going on, but this one is mostly about Odo deciding to betray his friends. Which is interesting, but not what I was looking for in a trek episode tonight I guess.
4 out of 10
We begin on the Defiant celebrating the emptying of a power cell from the phaser array with a ceremony where it is put on a rack with the other emptied cells. An admiral pulls Sisko out to brief him on a powerful sensor array that has been discovered that is allowing the Dominion to out maneuver Starfleet, but no more, the Defiant is to destroy the array and Sisko has to come up with a plan to do it. On the station Kira and Rom have set up the second in command of the station, a Cardassian named Damar, but letting his plan to kill all the Jem'Hadar, fall into the hands of the Jem'Hadar. They understandably are upset and a fight breaks out in Quark's. Weyoun and Dukat fight about who is responsible, but don't really make any progress. Odo confronts Kira about the fight, they had discussed doing it but he thought it was a bad idea, but left the meeting and the others decided to do it any way. They are interrupted by the arrival in Odo's office of the female changeling.
She has arrived at the station to put the pressure on the destroy the minefield but also to try and recruit Odo. Back on the Defiant Sisko is relieved of command to take over as tactical coordinator or something and Dax goes on the dangerous mission and Sisko is hella tense the entire time, but they make it back just fine. Odo gives in to the other changeling and links with her which upsets Kira when she finds out. But there is worse news. Damar has figured out how to destroy the minefield which Quark gets out of him by getting him drunk. They come up with a plan for Rom to disable the part of the station that will be used, but it relies on Odo to turn on a diagnostic at just the right moment. But when the time comes he is too busy linking and doesn't think it is important. Rom is captured and interogated and we end with Odo telling Kira he doesn't care any more.
Review: A kinda weak episode compared to what surrounds it. Sure, the war is still going on, but this one is mostly about Odo deciding to betray his friends. Which is interesting, but not what I was looking for in a trek episode tonight I guess.
4 out of 10
Thursday, April 14, 2016
DS9: Sons and Daughters
I had completely forgotten that the son of Worf made an appearance on DS9. I had probably blocked this out because the Alexander we get this time is very much the emo teen klingon Alexander, and I think we can all agree that isn't the good one. As much as Worf tries to protect him he is clearly in way over his head on this whole "serving on a Klingon" ship deal. Going anywhere near such a ship without a solid background in knife fighting is a death wish even in peace time, but with the Jem'Hadar rolling all over the quadrant it is especially dangerous. This episode also deals with Kira having to resist Dukat's rather blunt efforts at seduction while also planning a rebellion against him. As much as it is distasteful it seems like she might find her efforts to lead a resistance a bit less encumbered if she did go ahead and at least pretend to like Dukat, but I can't really blame her for not going down this path.
We begin on the IKS Rotarran, Martok's ship which has managed to rescue Sisko and company from the nebula behind enemy lines. They arrive at the starbase and get some replacement crew, including Worf's son Alexander. On the station Kira and Odo are trying to plan the resistance when Jake shows up to "help." Kira gets called away though, Ziyal is back on the station and Dukat invites Kira over to have dinner with the two of them. Back on the Rotarran Martok questions Worf about his son, Worf tries to explain, but Martok doesn't understand why Worf let this happen. In the mess hall the other Klingons mock Alexander and one particular bully gets him to draw his knife for a duel. Alexander survives for a minute or two, but things aren't going well until Worf shows up and stops things.
Back on the station Ziyal is showing off her art to Dukat and Kira. She has impressed the head of the Cardassian Institute of Art which impresses both Kira and Dukat. The next day Dukat tells Kira that Ziyal's art has been accepted for exhibition and invites her to a party, in his quarters, and he sends a suggested dress for her. Kira is outraged and returns the dress. On the Rotarran Alexander is still having a rough time. He accidentally gets the crew to rush to battle stations by forgetting to remove a training program from the computer. Worf tries to work on his hand to hand combat skills but Alexander refuses the assistance, but keeps practicing as Martok comes in and demands to know why he is there. Alexander can't give him a good answer so Martok tells him he is being transferred to a cargo vessel per Worf's request. Alexander rushes to Worf and challenges him to a fight to the death, but fortunately they are interrupted by an actual battle alarm.
The Jem'Hadar are attacking the convoy they are defending and things don't look good. They manage to do some damage, but take even more. A plasma leak threatens to destroy the ship but Alexander manages to get in and fix it saving the day. Worf is impressed I guess and sponsors him in joining the house of Martok.
Review: For an episode for off Klingons that even has a space battle this one feels kinda dull. The whole Kira/Dukat thing does manage to feel creepy, but not much else. They do a great job showing why Alexander has no place on a Klingon warship, but in the end they accept him anyway? Not sure about this episode, not the worst of trek, but the worst DS9 in a while.
4 out of 10
We begin on the IKS Rotarran, Martok's ship which has managed to rescue Sisko and company from the nebula behind enemy lines. They arrive at the starbase and get some replacement crew, including Worf's son Alexander. On the station Kira and Odo are trying to plan the resistance when Jake shows up to "help." Kira gets called away though, Ziyal is back on the station and Dukat invites Kira over to have dinner with the two of them. Back on the Rotarran Martok questions Worf about his son, Worf tries to explain, but Martok doesn't understand why Worf let this happen. In the mess hall the other Klingons mock Alexander and one particular bully gets him to draw his knife for a duel. Alexander survives for a minute or two, but things aren't going well until Worf shows up and stops things.
Back on the station Ziyal is showing off her art to Dukat and Kira. She has impressed the head of the Cardassian Institute of Art which impresses both Kira and Dukat. The next day Dukat tells Kira that Ziyal's art has been accepted for exhibition and invites her to a party, in his quarters, and he sends a suggested dress for her. Kira is outraged and returns the dress. On the Rotarran Alexander is still having a rough time. He accidentally gets the crew to rush to battle stations by forgetting to remove a training program from the computer. Worf tries to work on his hand to hand combat skills but Alexander refuses the assistance, but keeps practicing as Martok comes in and demands to know why he is there. Alexander can't give him a good answer so Martok tells him he is being transferred to a cargo vessel per Worf's request. Alexander rushes to Worf and challenges him to a fight to the death, but fortunately they are interrupted by an actual battle alarm.
The Jem'Hadar are attacking the convoy they are defending and things don't look good. They manage to do some damage, but take even more. A plasma leak threatens to destroy the ship but Alexander manages to get in and fix it saving the day. Worf is impressed I guess and sponsors him in joining the house of Martok.
Review: For an episode for off Klingons that even has a space battle this one feels kinda dull. The whole Kira/Dukat thing does manage to feel creepy, but not much else. They do a great job showing why Alexander has no place on a Klingon warship, but in the end they accept him anyway? Not sure about this episode, not the worst of trek, but the worst DS9 in a while.
4 out of 10
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
DS9: Rocks and Shoals
This episode picks up right where the last one left off both with the crew stranded behind enemy likes and the other crew stranded behind enemy lines. I guess Kira may have grown a bit more mature since this time when the Cardassians arrived she was willing to work with them, but it is pretty ingrained in her to fight such things. I had kinda forgotten how much they got into the culture of the Jem'Hadar and how much they actually conflict with the Vorta. I had remembered them being pretty bland soldier guys the first time I watched but it is interesting to see how much more character and depth they have, even if every one of them we have seen develop like this has died.
The episode opens with the crew still on the crippled Jem'Hadar ship, but that won't last long. Two more Jem'Hadar ships show up and break any systems that might have still be working just as they head for a nebula. Luckily they aren't pursued in, but they do run into an M-class planet almost immediately which is unreasonable for a whole host of science reasons, but whatever. Next we see two Jem'Hadar on the same planet. Their first and second have been killed and since the third didn't do what the Vorta ordered he hasn't been promoted. We see Nog and Garak have made it to shore along with the rest of the crew as their ship burns and sinks (how did the Jem'Hadar not notice the other ship crashing?). Both groups set up in caves with Dax badly hurt in the Federation camp and the Vorta slowly dying on the Dominion cave.
While out scouting for something Garak and Nog are captured by the Jem'Hadar but when they are taken to the Vorta he is only interested in if there is a doctor in the Federation camp. Back on DS9 Kira and Odo are being interviewed by Jake about the occupation and the fact that Vorta are being sent down to Bajor. Jake also asks about the protest that afternoon but it is news to both Kira and Odo. Kira says she will try and stop the protest as they walk out of the interview. The Jem'Hadar are sent to scout the Federation camp but one of them has an itchy trigger finger. No one is hurt but the Vorta wants to punish the man who failed. The third stands up for him though and insists on receiving the punishment himself. Back in the Federation cave they are planning an attack when the third arrives to give terms. He offers to trade Nog and Garak for Sisko and the doctor. He even offers to let them go free after. Sisko tries to get him to rebel against his Vorta but he is a very loyal fellow.
On the station the protest seems to be a bust until they notice a vedek on the upper level of the promenade. She hangs herself in front of all of them which deeply disturbs Kira. Sisko meanwhile agrees to the Dominion terms. Bashir is able to save the Vorta but afterwards when they are alone the Vorta tells Sisko that he is running out of white. He tells Sisko that the next morning he is ordering the Jem'Hadar to attack, but he will give them the plan of attack if they will kill the Jem'Hadar and take him prisoner. Sisko doesn't like it, but he has little choice. On the station Kira walks away from her job and Odo finds her alone. Together the two swear to start a new resistance. Sisko tries negotiating one more time but in the end he has to kill all the Jem'Hadar and takes the Vorta prisoner.
Review: An episode about both doing the right thing and also doing the only thing to survive. Lots of complex morality to keep this one interesting.
7 out of 10
The episode opens with the crew still on the crippled Jem'Hadar ship, but that won't last long. Two more Jem'Hadar ships show up and break any systems that might have still be working just as they head for a nebula. Luckily they aren't pursued in, but they do run into an M-class planet almost immediately which is unreasonable for a whole host of science reasons, but whatever. Next we see two Jem'Hadar on the same planet. Their first and second have been killed and since the third didn't do what the Vorta ordered he hasn't been promoted. We see Nog and Garak have made it to shore along with the rest of the crew as their ship burns and sinks (how did the Jem'Hadar not notice the other ship crashing?). Both groups set up in caves with Dax badly hurt in the Federation camp and the Vorta slowly dying on the Dominion cave.
While out scouting for something Garak and Nog are captured by the Jem'Hadar but when they are taken to the Vorta he is only interested in if there is a doctor in the Federation camp. Back on DS9 Kira and Odo are being interviewed by Jake about the occupation and the fact that Vorta are being sent down to Bajor. Jake also asks about the protest that afternoon but it is news to both Kira and Odo. Kira says she will try and stop the protest as they walk out of the interview. The Jem'Hadar are sent to scout the Federation camp but one of them has an itchy trigger finger. No one is hurt but the Vorta wants to punish the man who failed. The third stands up for him though and insists on receiving the punishment himself. Back in the Federation cave they are planning an attack when the third arrives to give terms. He offers to trade Nog and Garak for Sisko and the doctor. He even offers to let them go free after. Sisko tries to get him to rebel against his Vorta but he is a very loyal fellow.
On the station the protest seems to be a bust until they notice a vedek on the upper level of the promenade. She hangs herself in front of all of them which deeply disturbs Kira. Sisko meanwhile agrees to the Dominion terms. Bashir is able to save the Vorta but afterwards when they are alone the Vorta tells Sisko that he is running out of white. He tells Sisko that the next morning he is ordering the Jem'Hadar to attack, but he will give them the plan of attack if they will kill the Jem'Hadar and take him prisoner. Sisko doesn't like it, but he has little choice. On the station Kira walks away from her job and Odo finds her alone. Together the two swear to start a new resistance. Sisko tries negotiating one more time but in the end he has to kill all the Jem'Hadar and takes the Vorta prisoner.
Review: An episode about both doing the right thing and also doing the only thing to survive. Lots of complex morality to keep this one interesting.
7 out of 10
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
DS9: A Time to Stand
They aren't messing around with this Dominion War stuff. I don't really have a problem with them skipping 3 months into the future (presumably that is about how long the original break would have been) but it would have been nice to see a bit about how Jake's stay on the station began. Also for as much as the war isn't going well, it seems unlikely the Dominion can hold out longer than it's supply of ketracel white. But does the Federation actually know that he supply of white is limited? It doesn't seem like they are all that worried that the Jem'Hadar will rebel and seize the supply of white, but maybe they try to keep its origin a secret from the Jem'Hadar?
We begin on the Defiant which is part of a small, heavily damaged fleet of Federation ships. The mood isn't great on the ship with Garak and Julian discussing how unlikely it is they will survive. Garak also clearly resents Julians genetically enhanced intellect. They meet up with Martok's ship and Dax gets to spend some time with Worf after they resolve the crisis of when the sacrifice the targ at their wedding. On the station Dukat is enjoying some gloating and is really not in the mood to be reminded by Weyoun that he actually works for the Dominion, not the other way around. Weyoun is disappointed that the wormhole is still mined and reminds Dukat of how terrible it would be if the supply of white were to run out. Cut to Sisko getting called into an admirals office to have command of the Defiant taken away from him.
Joseph Sisko gets some time to scold Ben for leaving Jake behind so we next get to see Jake is doing alright on the station. He is disappointed to learn his reports to the Federation haven't been going out. Weyoun tells him he will think about it if the reports are less biased against the Dominion. Back to Ben he is given command of his new ship, a captured Jem'Hadar ship! Since they are going into Cardassian space the crew is joined again by Garak. After spending a few weeks getting ready they head out on their secret mission. And of course the first thing that happens is they run into a Federation ship run by a friend of Ben's and the comms are down so they fight for a bit but are saved by other Jem'Hadar ships. Sisko keeps getting headaches from the head mounted display on the bridge so Garak offers to take on that role when they aren't in danger which Ben happily agrees with.
Their secret mission turns out to be destroying the supply depot for ketracel white in the alpha quadrant. The plan is to beam down empty containers of white for restocking but to hide a powerful bomb in one of the. They get cleared to approach and send down their cargo, but something goes wrong, the depots shields go up trapping them inside with the bomb. They come up with some sort of silly plan to blow the shields as the bomb goes off but before they can try it the bomb goes off early. They survive, but their computer core is shot which apparently means no warp engines.
Review: The Dominion War plot is paying off just as well as I remembered. Seeing how it affects all the characters differently is really enjoyable. Can't wait to see how the white shortage will make the Dominion more desperate.
8 out of 10
We begin on the Defiant which is part of a small, heavily damaged fleet of Federation ships. The mood isn't great on the ship with Garak and Julian discussing how unlikely it is they will survive. Garak also clearly resents Julians genetically enhanced intellect. They meet up with Martok's ship and Dax gets to spend some time with Worf after they resolve the crisis of when the sacrifice the targ at their wedding. On the station Dukat is enjoying some gloating and is really not in the mood to be reminded by Weyoun that he actually works for the Dominion, not the other way around. Weyoun is disappointed that the wormhole is still mined and reminds Dukat of how terrible it would be if the supply of white were to run out. Cut to Sisko getting called into an admirals office to have command of the Defiant taken away from him.
Joseph Sisko gets some time to scold Ben for leaving Jake behind so we next get to see Jake is doing alright on the station. He is disappointed to learn his reports to the Federation haven't been going out. Weyoun tells him he will think about it if the reports are less biased against the Dominion. Back to Ben he is given command of his new ship, a captured Jem'Hadar ship! Since they are going into Cardassian space the crew is joined again by Garak. After spending a few weeks getting ready they head out on their secret mission. And of course the first thing that happens is they run into a Federation ship run by a friend of Ben's and the comms are down so they fight for a bit but are saved by other Jem'Hadar ships. Sisko keeps getting headaches from the head mounted display on the bridge so Garak offers to take on that role when they aren't in danger which Ben happily agrees with.
Their secret mission turns out to be destroying the supply depot for ketracel white in the alpha quadrant. The plan is to beam down empty containers of white for restocking but to hide a powerful bomb in one of the. They get cleared to approach and send down their cargo, but something goes wrong, the depots shields go up trapping them inside with the bomb. They come up with some sort of silly plan to blow the shields as the bomb goes off but before they can try it the bomb goes off early. They survive, but their computer core is shot which apparently means no warp engines.
Review: The Dominion War plot is paying off just as well as I remembered. Seeing how it affects all the characters differently is really enjoyable. Can't wait to see how the white shortage will make the Dominion more desperate.
8 out of 10
Monday, April 11, 2016
DS9: Call to Arms
At the end of the fifth season the conflict with the Dominion is finally underway. Watching Sisko leave the station behind is certainly intense, but the fact that his son stayed behind to report on what's happening is another level. Having to see how each member of the crew deals with the change of situation is what makes this episode so good. It doesn't hurt that this episode also contains the wildest space battle yet, and it is only a hint of what is to come. The sealing of the wormhole with mines seems like a solid solution to plugging the Dominion hole without damaging the prophets/aliens who live inside and are vital to the Bajor plot. If I recall correctly this war is almost entirely resolved in the next season which I can't wait to see.
We begin with Leeta and Rom working on picking a wedding dress and after failing at that they succeed at getting Sisko to agree to perform their wedding. Sisko though is distracted watching another Dominion fleet come through the wormhole and head for Cardassian space. That night Jake comes over for dinner and his father is upset to see himself being quoted about the non-aggression pact between Bajor and the Dominion in the Federation news, especially since Jake wrote the article. In a cargo bay Odo has caught Quark trying to smuggle crates of yamok sauce onto the station in preparation for the return of the Cardassians, Kira tells him to throw it into space. News comes that the Romulans have signed a non-aggression pact along with the Tholians and Miradorn. Sisko realizes now is the time to try and block up the wormhole before it is too late to stop the Dominion and orders Dax and O'Brien to get to work on a minefield.
Dax, O'Brien and Rom are all working on the minefield problem but Rom is more interested in worrying about his wedding. He does however contribute the idea of making them self replicating which along with Miles suggestion to make them cloak seems like the best plan available. Kira and Odo meet about cutting of station communications but really they are there to talk about their relationship and both agree to just not worry about it until after the current crisis. Dax takes the Defiant out and starts deploying the minefield. It doesn't take Weyoun long to show up on the station to demand that the minefield be dismantled and even though he leaves amiably Sisko realizes war is now inevitable. The Klingons go to watch the border and final preparations for battle take place on the station.
Leeta and Rom get married and Rom then immediately sends Leeta back to Bajor for safety. Sisko convinces the Bajoran ministers to sign the non-aggression pact with the Dominion and evacuates all non-essential personnel. Sisko also makes some mysterious modifications to the computer. The Dominion arrives with the Defiant still needing 20 minutes to finish the minefield so the station is forced to defend the ship and itself. The Klingons return just in time to save the day and the minefield is activated. Sisko evecuates all starfleet personnel next and Kira welcomes the Cardassian/Dominion fleet as a representative of Bajor. Dax tells Worf she will marry him before Worf gets on Martok's ship and Jake stays behind to report. Garak goes with Sisko on the Defiant and Sisko activates his program which cripples the station before leaving. In his office Dukat finds the baseball and realizes it is a message saying Sisko will be back.
Review: An intense episode that really pays off a lot of the character work they have done over the past few seasons. Things are getting dark and they are going to keep getting darker for a while.
9 out of 10
We begin with Leeta and Rom working on picking a wedding dress and after failing at that they succeed at getting Sisko to agree to perform their wedding. Sisko though is distracted watching another Dominion fleet come through the wormhole and head for Cardassian space. That night Jake comes over for dinner and his father is upset to see himself being quoted about the non-aggression pact between Bajor and the Dominion in the Federation news, especially since Jake wrote the article. In a cargo bay Odo has caught Quark trying to smuggle crates of yamok sauce onto the station in preparation for the return of the Cardassians, Kira tells him to throw it into space. News comes that the Romulans have signed a non-aggression pact along with the Tholians and Miradorn. Sisko realizes now is the time to try and block up the wormhole before it is too late to stop the Dominion and orders Dax and O'Brien to get to work on a minefield.
Dax, O'Brien and Rom are all working on the minefield problem but Rom is more interested in worrying about his wedding. He does however contribute the idea of making them self replicating which along with Miles suggestion to make them cloak seems like the best plan available. Kira and Odo meet about cutting of station communications but really they are there to talk about their relationship and both agree to just not worry about it until after the current crisis. Dax takes the Defiant out and starts deploying the minefield. It doesn't take Weyoun long to show up on the station to demand that the minefield be dismantled and even though he leaves amiably Sisko realizes war is now inevitable. The Klingons go to watch the border and final preparations for battle take place on the station.
Leeta and Rom get married and Rom then immediately sends Leeta back to Bajor for safety. Sisko convinces the Bajoran ministers to sign the non-aggression pact with the Dominion and evacuates all non-essential personnel. Sisko also makes some mysterious modifications to the computer. The Dominion arrives with the Defiant still needing 20 minutes to finish the minefield so the station is forced to defend the ship and itself. The Klingons return just in time to save the day and the minefield is activated. Sisko evecuates all starfleet personnel next and Kira welcomes the Cardassian/Dominion fleet as a representative of Bajor. Dax tells Worf she will marry him before Worf gets on Martok's ship and Jake stays behind to report. Garak goes with Sisko on the Defiant and Sisko activates his program which cripples the station before leaving. In his office Dukat finds the baseball and realizes it is a message saying Sisko will be back.
Review: An intense episode that really pays off a lot of the character work they have done over the past few seasons. Things are getting dark and they are going to keep getting darker for a while.
9 out of 10
Sunday, April 10, 2016
DS9: In the Cards
What a fun episode! I can't recall any other buddy/heisty episodes of Trek before let alone any that work as well as this one. It manages to have an A story about Jake and Nog on a zany quest to get a baseball card and interweaves it with a story about Bajor considering a non-aggression pact with the Dominion. It even works in a C story about a man on a quest for immortality just for kicks. I also really enjoyed the scene just before the end of the episode where it shows how much joy the two friends brought to the so many people on the ship in their quest for the card.
The episode opens with a dinner at the Sisko's but everybody is feeling depressed about the Dominion. The next day at Quark's Nog, Jake and Quark are discussing an upcoming auction Quark is hosting and the topic of what will be available to bid on comes up. Nog reads a list of "worthless" items including a box containing, among other things, a mint condition rookie season Willie Mays baseball card. Jake convinces Nog that he owes it to the captain to help him get the card to help cheer Ben up a bit. And he needs some cheering, Ben is stuck in a meeting with Kai Winn, it seems the Dominion has asked for a meeting with her and she has agreed to meet their representative on the station. That evening the auction takes place but Jake and Nog are outbid by a furtive man in the aisle who runs out after the item is acquired. They track him down but he accuses them of being agents of orthodoxy and runs off.
The next day Nog receives a message from Dr. Giger, the man who won the auction, calling for a meeting in his quarters. It seems he is a bit of a nut who has decided he can gain immortality by entertaining the cells of a humanoid body. He is willing to exchange the card for some equipment and supplies and after some debate they agree to get it for him. They start with Miles who is busy working on calibrating some EPS regulators. He is sure there is on of the parts they need around somewhere, but he doesn't have time to get it. So they agree to do the calibration for him so he can go kayaking and he agrees to send the part to their quarters. Next they go to Julian who after some convincing agrees to get them some medical supplies if they can get his teddy bear back from his ex Leeta which Nog does without any problems. But speaking of problems Weyoun shows up to try and convince Bajor to sign a non-aggression treaty. Sisko gets Winn to agree to stall a bit longer, but that isn't much of a solution.
Weyoun has notice the sounds coming from Giger's quarters and is extremely suspicious about them, but more on that soon. Jake is working on spicing up a speech for Kira and Nog is tuning out distortions from a klingon opera for Worf. They finally have all the stuff they need but when they go to Giger's quarters there is no sign he was ever there. They try reporting it to Odo but he says there is no record of any Dr. Giger on the station. Jake for some reason decides Kai Winn is behind it but confronting her goes even worse than talking to Odo and Ben confines Jake and Nog to quarters. But that doesn't stop Weyoun from beaming them onto his ship and accusing them of conspiring against him somehow. He brings in Giger but he only accuses Jake and Nog of being agents of orthodoxy. Jake tries to convince them all that he and Nog are spies, but that only convinces Weyoun that maybe their story about wanting the baseball card for Ben is accurate. He and Giger hit it off talking about the cellular entertainment thing and Jake leaves with Nog and the card. Ben and many of the crew they helped along the way are cheered up greatly which is good because there are dark times ahead.
Review: Just about everything in the episode works really well. It manages to involve almost the entire crew without feeling like it was just trying to bring everybody in just because. Some of the comedy bits work great and it is fun to see Jake and Nog's different strengths come together to accomplish a goal so well.
8 out of 10
The episode opens with a dinner at the Sisko's but everybody is feeling depressed about the Dominion. The next day at Quark's Nog, Jake and Quark are discussing an upcoming auction Quark is hosting and the topic of what will be available to bid on comes up. Nog reads a list of "worthless" items including a box containing, among other things, a mint condition rookie season Willie Mays baseball card. Jake convinces Nog that he owes it to the captain to help him get the card to help cheer Ben up a bit. And he needs some cheering, Ben is stuck in a meeting with Kai Winn, it seems the Dominion has asked for a meeting with her and she has agreed to meet their representative on the station. That evening the auction takes place but Jake and Nog are outbid by a furtive man in the aisle who runs out after the item is acquired. They track him down but he accuses them of being agents of orthodoxy and runs off.
The next day Nog receives a message from Dr. Giger, the man who won the auction, calling for a meeting in his quarters. It seems he is a bit of a nut who has decided he can gain immortality by entertaining the cells of a humanoid body. He is willing to exchange the card for some equipment and supplies and after some debate they agree to get it for him. They start with Miles who is busy working on calibrating some EPS regulators. He is sure there is on of the parts they need around somewhere, but he doesn't have time to get it. So they agree to do the calibration for him so he can go kayaking and he agrees to send the part to their quarters. Next they go to Julian who after some convincing agrees to get them some medical supplies if they can get his teddy bear back from his ex Leeta which Nog does without any problems. But speaking of problems Weyoun shows up to try and convince Bajor to sign a non-aggression treaty. Sisko gets Winn to agree to stall a bit longer, but that isn't much of a solution.
Weyoun has notice the sounds coming from Giger's quarters and is extremely suspicious about them, but more on that soon. Jake is working on spicing up a speech for Kira and Nog is tuning out distortions from a klingon opera for Worf. They finally have all the stuff they need but when they go to Giger's quarters there is no sign he was ever there. They try reporting it to Odo but he says there is no record of any Dr. Giger on the station. Jake for some reason decides Kai Winn is behind it but confronting her goes even worse than talking to Odo and Ben confines Jake and Nog to quarters. But that doesn't stop Weyoun from beaming them onto his ship and accusing them of conspiring against him somehow. He brings in Giger but he only accuses Jake and Nog of being agents of orthodoxy. Jake tries to convince them all that he and Nog are spies, but that only convinces Weyoun that maybe their story about wanting the baseball card for Ben is accurate. He and Giger hit it off talking about the cellular entertainment thing and Jake leaves with Nog and the card. Ben and many of the crew they helped along the way are cheered up greatly which is good because there are dark times ahead.
Review: Just about everything in the episode works really well. It manages to involve almost the entire crew without feeling like it was just trying to bring everybody in just because. Some of the comedy bits work great and it is fun to see Jake and Nog's different strengths come together to accomplish a goal so well.
8 out of 10
Saturday, April 9, 2016
DS9: Empok Nor
No other trek series has ever managed to be as dark as DS9 and this is a great example. Sure, in TNG it always seemed possible that Data could lose control or something and take over the ship or whatever. But to have a major character stab a crewman in the chest with a flux coupler is pretty hardcore. Even before he was under the influence of the psychotropic drug Garak was already bugging O'Brien about being the hero of Setlik III so when he starts doing it even more it is hard to tell that he has changed. I love that despite the message being that O'Brien isn't a soldier any more, he is still the one who gets to deliver the action movie one liner in the fight with Garak. This episode introduces four crewmen and gives them names and stuff, but since none of them make it through the episode I am not going to be too specific about who's who.
We begin in Quark's where there is a horrible noise coming from somewhere in the bar. It seems Miles and Nog are working to repair a damaged plasma manifold but it is finally and truly broken. Since it can't be replicated and they aren't on great terms with the Cardassians right now the best option seems to be to scavenge one from the abandoned Terok Nor station. O'Brien assembles a team of four crewmen, Nog and Garak since these stations are notoriously booby trapped. On the way there in a runabout Garak tries playing the game kotra with Nog, but the ferengi is too risk averse to play properly. Garak tries to goad Miles into playing, but he isn't interested. As soon as they arrive Garak prove to be a good person to have along as there is a booby trap in the airlock.
In the Terok equivelent of Quark's Garak touches the stairway and gets some sort of mystery blue goo on his hand. But never mind that, he stops three stasis pods through a doorway. One has a dead cardassian, but the other two are empty other than more of the blue goo. Nog is helping O'Brien and heads back to the runabout for a tool only to watch it explode. About the same time a stasis field goes up blocking communications. They split into three teams to work on a plan to send a signal to DS9 which immediately turns out to be a bad idea. One of the teams of crewmen is attacked and killed by a cardassian soldier and Garak seems to be acting a bit off. He insists on setting off on his own to hunt the two sleeper soldiers while the others work on the communications plan.
Garak ambushes one of the soldiers in the room with the stasis pods, kills him and takes a tissue sample which shows he is all hopped up on a psychotropic drug which he fortunately tells O'Brien and Nog. Garak tracks the other soldier but another crewman is killed before Garak can kill the soldier, but he doesn't stop there, he also kills the surviving crewman. When he doesn't answer O'Brien and Nog rush to the crewman just in time for him to tell them Garak did it and die. Seemingly knowing this Garak starts talking to them via their comm badges. He manages to capture Nog and lures Miles into a confrontation on the Promenade. They both set their weapons down but Miles sets his small phaser on an open tricorder for some reason. They fight but Garak detects correctly that Miles isn't really into it. But that turns out to be because he has a trap laid which goes off exploding his phaser and almost killing Garak.
Review: Miles and Garak are two of my favorite characters on this show so getting to see the two of them have a showdown was awesome. I also love all the off kilter shots of Empok Nor to show how it was just drifting in space.
7 out of 10
We begin in Quark's where there is a horrible noise coming from somewhere in the bar. It seems Miles and Nog are working to repair a damaged plasma manifold but it is finally and truly broken. Since it can't be replicated and they aren't on great terms with the Cardassians right now the best option seems to be to scavenge one from the abandoned Terok Nor station. O'Brien assembles a team of four crewmen, Nog and Garak since these stations are notoriously booby trapped. On the way there in a runabout Garak tries playing the game kotra with Nog, but the ferengi is too risk averse to play properly. Garak tries to goad Miles into playing, but he isn't interested. As soon as they arrive Garak prove to be a good person to have along as there is a booby trap in the airlock.
In the Terok equivelent of Quark's Garak touches the stairway and gets some sort of mystery blue goo on his hand. But never mind that, he stops three stasis pods through a doorway. One has a dead cardassian, but the other two are empty other than more of the blue goo. Nog is helping O'Brien and heads back to the runabout for a tool only to watch it explode. About the same time a stasis field goes up blocking communications. They split into three teams to work on a plan to send a signal to DS9 which immediately turns out to be a bad idea. One of the teams of crewmen is attacked and killed by a cardassian soldier and Garak seems to be acting a bit off. He insists on setting off on his own to hunt the two sleeper soldiers while the others work on the communications plan.
Garak ambushes one of the soldiers in the room with the stasis pods, kills him and takes a tissue sample which shows he is all hopped up on a psychotropic drug which he fortunately tells O'Brien and Nog. Garak tracks the other soldier but another crewman is killed before Garak can kill the soldier, but he doesn't stop there, he also kills the surviving crewman. When he doesn't answer O'Brien and Nog rush to the crewman just in time for him to tell them Garak did it and die. Seemingly knowing this Garak starts talking to them via their comm badges. He manages to capture Nog and lures Miles into a confrontation on the Promenade. They both set their weapons down but Miles sets his small phaser on an open tricorder for some reason. They fight but Garak detects correctly that Miles isn't really into it. But that turns out to be because he has a trap laid which goes off exploding his phaser and almost killing Garak.
Review: Miles and Garak are two of my favorite characters on this show so getting to see the two of them have a showdown was awesome. I also love all the off kilter shots of Empok Nor to show how it was just drifting in space.
7 out of 10
Friday, April 8, 2016
DS9: Blaze of Glory
First of all I have two important things to say about this episode: it seemed like they just really wanted Eddington to have some sort of "good" ending, and second I am super tired so this may be a little short. The space prison Sisko visits to get Eddington for the mission is the station with the genesis device from Wrath of Khan if I am not mistaken which actually stood out quite a bit. Also it seems pretty obvious that Eddington isn't actually going to help Sisko from the beginning which is why I was complaining about this episode existing just to give him an ending earlier.
We begin with General Martok interupting dinner at the Sisko's to tell Benjamin that the Klingons intercepted a transmission which came from the Maquis who everyone thinks are all dead at this point. They are claiming to have launched missiles at Cardassia and the Klingons believe the missiles are cloaked. Sisko decides to only way to stop this missiles which likely contain some sort of biogenic weapon for a vengeance strike is to get Eddington out of prison to help him. Eddington does eventually help when Sisko allows the two to almost be killed by Jem'Hadar but Eddington openly states that he intends to kill Sisko as soon as this is over. Also Sisko believes his dumb lie that the only way to stop the missiles is send the code from the launch site.
They eventually find the carefully hidden base but when they go inside it is swarming with Jem'Hadar. Luckily these are the crappy ones that seem to only show up when our hero's need to get through them so they manage to get into the base and let Eddington's friends out from where they were hiding. It was a ploy of course, there were no missiles. The Jem'Hadar return and Eddington is killed covering his friends escape.
Review: Meh, not terrible but some serious plot holes drag it down a bit. Could have used one more rewrite maybe.
5 out of 10
We begin with General Martok interupting dinner at the Sisko's to tell Benjamin that the Klingons intercepted a transmission which came from the Maquis who everyone thinks are all dead at this point. They are claiming to have launched missiles at Cardassia and the Klingons believe the missiles are cloaked. Sisko decides to only way to stop this missiles which likely contain some sort of biogenic weapon for a vengeance strike is to get Eddington out of prison to help him. Eddington does eventually help when Sisko allows the two to almost be killed by Jem'Hadar but Eddington openly states that he intends to kill Sisko as soon as this is over. Also Sisko believes his dumb lie that the only way to stop the missiles is send the code from the launch site.
They eventually find the carefully hidden base but when they go inside it is swarming with Jem'Hadar. Luckily these are the crappy ones that seem to only show up when our hero's need to get through them so they manage to get into the base and let Eddington's friends out from where they were hiding. It was a ploy of course, there were no missiles. The Jem'Hadar return and Eddington is killed covering his friends escape.
Review: Meh, not terrible but some serious plot holes drag it down a bit. Could have used one more rewrite maybe.
5 out of 10
Thursday, April 7, 2016
DS9: Children of Time
I really appreciate how in this episode the one person human enough to want to save the people he knows from crash landing on a planet in the distant past is Odo. And sure, he is sacrificing himself, but only a version of himself. The other version gets to keep living in a universe where Kira is alive. And sure, 8000 people stopped existing, but in some ways they now never did exist. You can tell this is a bit of a mind bending episode since I am this far into my opening rant and I haven't even gotten to the fact that this is the episode where Kira finally learns Odo love her. And that at least some version of him is willing to sacrifice thousands of lives so a different version of him can have a shot at her. She must have such mixed feelings at this point.
We open with the crew chatting on the bridge of the Defiant after a long mission. Mostly they just want to be home, but we also learn Kira and Shakaar were told by the prophets that they aren't meant for each other and have broken up. Odo can barely contain himself and has to leave to go "regenerate." Dax notices a strange energy field around a planet they are passing and also that the planet has life on it. She convinces Sisko to let her take the ship into the energy field to investigate the planet since life there has had to survive the damage from the energy field. They pass through but there is an explosion on the bridge and Kira has been injured, but apparently not badly. They have taken damage that will take a few days to repair, but there is more pressing business. Dax has detected several thousand humans living on the surface of the planet. They are hailed by a man who know all about them including oddly specific details and promise to explain when they beam down.
Sisko, Worf, O'Brien and Dax beam down and are greeted by Miranda O'Brien and Yedrin Dax. It seems when they try to leave the planet the Defiant will be sent back in time 200 years and will crash trapping the crew on the surface. Well, all the crew except Kira, she died a few weeks after the crash. The remaining crew after many attempts to escape started over with new families and started a colony that now numbers over eight thousand. They are variously horrified and pleased to have spawned such a successful colony. Miles mostly just wants to get out of there and head home to his family. Sisko agrees at first, but things start changing as they meet more descendants. Worf learns that his descendants started a colony of Klingon warriors in the wilderness who survive by hunting rather than farming. They accept human members as well to keep their numbers up. Odo is trapped in a container this whole time, but the Odo from the colony has learned to handle the local energy fields and comes to visit Kira.
The old Odo has a long talk with Kira where he admits he loves her and always has. The two of them go for a walk to visit her grave site where she prays; and decides she can't escape this fate. They have a meeting about what to do and Sisko just listens while the crew argue about whether they can return to their timeline or if they must go through with the crash. Yedrin Dax gives them a third option, they can cause a quantum duplication and send one back in time while the other survives. But this turns out to be a lie. They decide they have to go back, but when they try it doesn't work and the colony disappears from the planet. Odo talks to Kira after, it turns out he joined with the version of himself from the colony who admitted to sabotaging the computer to send them back so Kira wouldn't die which really upsets Kira.
Review: A really cool episode with all sorts of moral questions. It isn't clear what they should do in these circumstances, especially since Sisko is so important to the fate of not just Bajor but the entire Alpha Quadrant. A great what could have been episode.
9 out of 10
We open with the crew chatting on the bridge of the Defiant after a long mission. Mostly they just want to be home, but we also learn Kira and Shakaar were told by the prophets that they aren't meant for each other and have broken up. Odo can barely contain himself and has to leave to go "regenerate." Dax notices a strange energy field around a planet they are passing and also that the planet has life on it. She convinces Sisko to let her take the ship into the energy field to investigate the planet since life there has had to survive the damage from the energy field. They pass through but there is an explosion on the bridge and Kira has been injured, but apparently not badly. They have taken damage that will take a few days to repair, but there is more pressing business. Dax has detected several thousand humans living on the surface of the planet. They are hailed by a man who know all about them including oddly specific details and promise to explain when they beam down.
Sisko, Worf, O'Brien and Dax beam down and are greeted by Miranda O'Brien and Yedrin Dax. It seems when they try to leave the planet the Defiant will be sent back in time 200 years and will crash trapping the crew on the surface. Well, all the crew except Kira, she died a few weeks after the crash. The remaining crew after many attempts to escape started over with new families and started a colony that now numbers over eight thousand. They are variously horrified and pleased to have spawned such a successful colony. Miles mostly just wants to get out of there and head home to his family. Sisko agrees at first, but things start changing as they meet more descendants. Worf learns that his descendants started a colony of Klingon warriors in the wilderness who survive by hunting rather than farming. They accept human members as well to keep their numbers up. Odo is trapped in a container this whole time, but the Odo from the colony has learned to handle the local energy fields and comes to visit Kira.
The old Odo has a long talk with Kira where he admits he loves her and always has. The two of them go for a walk to visit her grave site where she prays; and decides she can't escape this fate. They have a meeting about what to do and Sisko just listens while the crew argue about whether they can return to their timeline or if they must go through with the crash. Yedrin Dax gives them a third option, they can cause a quantum duplication and send one back in time while the other survives. But this turns out to be a lie. They decide they have to go back, but when they try it doesn't work and the colony disappears from the planet. Odo talks to Kira after, it turns out he joined with the version of himself from the colony who admitted to sabotaging the computer to send them back so Kira wouldn't die which really upsets Kira.
Review: A really cool episode with all sorts of moral questions. It isn't clear what they should do in these circumstances, especially since Sisko is so important to the fate of not just Bajor but the entire Alpha Quadrant. A great what could have been episode.
9 out of 10
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