Star Trek - Deep Space Nine [split topic]

[purlieu]

Past Prologue. Lots of intrigue here, working out just who's on who's side. I enjoyed the Cardassian tailor particularly, hopefully he'll be used regularly. Seeing the Duras sisters again after Generations was a bit odd, and will probably work better when I do a chronological rewatch in a few years. Far from a spectacular episode, but solid. It still feels like they're setting up the overall scenario at this stage, almost an extension of the first two-parter.

[Sin Agog]

I never realised that Garak/Andrew Robinson had a bit of a reputation for playing villains until I rewatched Hellraiser recently, recognised the actor, then saw all his credits, including one of his first ever roles as the main baddie in Dirty Harry.

[Blumf]

I enjoyed the Cardassian tailor particularly, hopefully he'll be used regularly.

Garak, he's the best character in DS9, and arguably the whole of Trek.

[petril]

I'm up to Episode 7, which sees the return of Q and Vash. I like John De Lancie a lot, but Q in this episode is far less likeable than when he appears in TNG. The toxicity of him not letting go of Vash is pretty horrible.

yeah, DS9 was always set up to be different, so having a Q episode that wasn't the usual from TNG and having Sisko just chin him ended up being fitting. I think when the writers divvied up some of the universe between DS9 and Voyager the latter got Q as well as the Borg

[purlieu]

A Man Alone. A nice central mystery, although one I'd worked out before the characters. The general Odo / racism thing was largely well handled, with Sisko having a nice moment near the end. I still feel like most of the characters are fairly under-developed so far, but I suppose that's to be expected at this point. 'Keiko sets up a school' is hardly the most exciting of plots, either.

[The Culture Bunker]

Garak, he's the best character in DS9, and arguably the whole of Trek.

I suspect the reason I rate DS9 as my second favourite Trek is 90% because of Garak. Always enjoyed his interactions with Bashir, and it turn I found the faux-love affair between the good Doctor and O'Brien amusing.

[Poobum]

Garak is excellent. Poignant, enigmatic, and cleverly written. Was meant to be a one off originally, but Andrew J. Robinson nailed it. He's even written a few Garak novels, which I've not read admittedly. Another Cardassian character I love is Damar, his utilization shows the writer's talent, that a barely background character becomes one of the most affecting, to me at least. The scenes in Garak's former maid's basement with Damar are full of charm, wit and pathos.

My last watch through was last year, and I have to say it was probably my favourite. All the characters come into their own, and have satisfying arcs. Even the side characters are well rounded, all written and played with such obvious love and passion. I love the performances of Jeffrey Combs more and more each time.

Also I really like the space battles, with the booms, and the lasers, and the explosive decompression.

[Mister Six]

Jesus, only just found out that Garak was also Scorpio in Dirty Harry!

[Malcy]

Cirric Clifton who played Jake Sisko started a podcast with Aron Eisenberg who played Nog not long before he died. They were going through the series and reviewing the ep's with appearances from DS9 cast & crew.

Cirroc is still doing them. Up to S3E9.

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCeOkK1-VmHA0k6bxVz0KQ8Q

[purlieu]

Babel. A fun episode with a decent gimmick. Could easily have been in any other Trek series really, but it's a nice idea pretty well executed. Some great Odo and Quark stuff.

[Malcy]

4 readthroughs done on Zoom with DS9 actors reading episodes written by fans set in 2399. References the hypothetical S8 opener from the recent documentary as well.

https://trekmovie.com/2020/08/04/watch-alone-together-a-4-part-remote-series-read-by-star-trek-deep-space-nine-actors-in-character/

[purlieu]

Captive Pursuit. DS9's first proper encounter with a species with a totally different belief system, and the moral and ethical issues that comes with it. Gives O'Brien a chance to shine for the first time, moving his character beyond 'sarcastic everyman who hates the Cardassians'.

[dr_christian_troy]

Tribunal - One of those episodes that suffers from runtime limitations. A lot of tension built up and then everything is resolved in the last 3 minutes with exposition. It's a shame because it was clearly trying to make some kind of commentary on TV trials etc and was generally very enjoyable up to those last few moments. Although no one needs to see O'Brien's nipples.

[purlieu]

Q-Less. I always enjoy watching Q, and this episode did a pretty good job of being a very funny Star Trek story. Q's slightly incel attitude to Vash probably knocked it down a notch - his admission that he enjoyed seeing the universe through her eyes at the end could really have done with being mentioned at the start so he didn't seem like an abusive boyfriend in a couple of scenes - but he was on top form throughout the other scenes. O'Brien's utter distaste at Bashir's flirting at the start was also a highlight.

[dr_christian_troy]

Oof, the Ferengi sexism is deeply cringeworthy at times. I'm on a Season 3 episode called Life Support and there's this scene with Nog and Jake on a double-date and it's actually quite a hard watch. Not sure if they're aiming for humour or what but it's just very uncomfortable.

[purlieu]

Dax. Basically DS9 trying to do The Measure of a Man, only it's all a bit pointless because no conclusion is drawn. I do really like the concept, though. The idea that Dax is guilty, Jadzia is innocent, and they can't be separated makes for a really interesting argument.

[dr_christian_troy]

Are there any particular characters you're warming to so far purlieu? Aside from Odo who is a solid win from the get go, I'm warming to Bashir and Garek's relationship very easily.

[purlieu]

Odo is wonderful, and his sparring with Quark is really enjoyable to watch.
Bashir, at this point, has yet to move beyond 'creepy and annoying'. I look forward to more of him and Garek in the future though.
O'Brien is the sort of character who on paper shouldn't really work in a bigger role, but they've somehow managed it so far.
Sisko works quite well as the moral compass (for the most part) and he's a warm presence on screen.

Everyone else is a bit of a non-entity at the minute. I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone develops over time, however, especially as I move into the second series in a couple of weeks time.

[Zetetic]

I'm often confused about my feelings towards Sisko, and Avery Brook's acting as part of that.

[Wonderful Butternut]

Yeah, good character, but "OM NOM NOM SCENERY!"

[Zetetic]

But sometimes I catch myself feeling that he's frequently dreadfully underwritten but that Brooks manages excellent moments blending intensity and subtlety.

Brooks is definitely stagey, and maybe that comes across less well simply because Sisko is surrounded by characters that are broader (and suited to broader acting?). I've no idea.

[Malcy]

Apparently when Brooks performed *that* scene in Far Beyond The Stars it took him a fairly long time to break out of it after they yelled cut and the cast got quite upset watching him because he poured his heart and soul in to it and just couldn't stop acting. It's very moving and I think he is a great actor. There are several times he was nothing less than superb in DS9 across a wide range of emotions.

[Phil_A]

Avery Brooks come across very intense in interviews, to the point of being a bit peculiar. He obviously takes himself incredibly seriously, but he is a great actor and I can't imagine DS9 would've been half the show it was without his weird charisma.

I read a nice thing about Cirroc "Jake" Lofton where said that off-screen Brooks was like a surrogate dad to him, supported him while he was having family troubles and generally set him on the right path in life. Warmed my heart a bit, it did.

[Malcy]

Brooks used to take him to sports games with his own kids and would introduce all of them as his sons. I think they are still very close. Brooks keeps out of the limelight completely these days.

[purlieu]

The Passenger. Bog standard sci-fi possession / bodysnatch episode. Siddig El Fadil does an utterly appalling job of playing a menacing criminal and the bridge crew on the cargo ship do the most hilariously bad b-movie deaths. The identity of the villain is obvious from the pre-credits sequence. A sign that things are very much unpolished at this point.

[purlieu]

Move Along Home: An episode that really, really falls down on second viewing. Not much else to say other than it's a fairly standard Trek trope that requires the element of surprise.
Nagus: Now this I really enjoyed, probably my favourite episode so far. I find it utterly ludicrous that something like The Lower Decks can be made as a comedy Trek show when something like this exists. Throw in a laugh track and this episode is pretty much a sitcom. Ferengi, when done well, are comedy gold, and this is a great example of it. The Sisko / Jake / Nog stuff was a lovely character-based subplot that complemented the main story without intruding on it at all. Good stuff.

[Ambient Sheep]

Move Along Home: An episode that really, really falls down on second viewing.

I think most people felt it really really fell down on the first viewing! :-)

[Johnny Textface]

I'm in on this. Going to do the whole lot in 10-15 minute bursts. This week I watched The Emisarry. Not bad trek. Liked Picard. Sisko can come off as a silly actor. Quark amazing from day 1.  Theme tune's got a wierd time signature. 4 stars. And it sounds like one of the Superman themes. 4.5 stars.

[purlieu]

I think most people felt it really really fell down on the first viewing! :-)

I'm not going to claim it's a classic episode, but there's at least some tension there, which is absolutely destroyed by knowing the twist. There are no subtle hints that spare a second viewing from an "I know what is going on" malaise. It relies too heavily on its gimmick to stand up as a rewatchable piece of TV on any level. I suppose that's a general issue with any syndication show this early on in its run: the characters aren't well defined enough to lift a mediocre story, so while I did enjoy the rug-pull first time, there was literally nothing to distract me while waiting for it on second viewing.

[earl_sleek]

Put me down as another person who thinks Brooks was great as Sisko.

Move Along Home is probably the second worst episode of DS9. Somone on Star Trek Shitposting said recently that it would have worked better as a Farscape episode which kinda makes sense.