Thirty Days of Star Trek - Favorite Federation Enemy

Day 8 - Favorite Federation Enemy

No question about it: the Cardassians. Their introduction – in TNG’s The Wounded, which was also a great O’Brien episode, showcasing what he could do and probably earning him his promotion to DS9 – was superb. No moustache twirling, literal shades of grey, and yet also undeniably in the wrong on a large scale.

On DS9, the Cardassians became a major feature, since they were the main antagonists for the first few seasons, and also had the villainous occupation backstory with the setting of the show. (Said occupation backstory, btw, was a far better take on the „fascist state occupies countries worlds, is beaten back“ trope than TOS‘ Pattern of Force (cringe), Voyager’s interlude where aliens role play Nazis and Resistance on the holodeck (super cringe) or Enterprise’s s4 opening two parter Storm Front (history is changed, oh noes! Nazis in charge! But don’t worry, our heroes will set it right! – super super cringe).) However, they were also explored as individuals, first via the two recurring Cardassian characters the audience saw the most off, Garak and Dukat, then also via other memorable Cardassian characters, both one shot (for example Marritza in Duet) and recurring (Damar!). Whenever Cardassians were a major part of an episode, chances were really good for it to be excellent. Not least because they made great foils for three of our regulars – Kira above all, but also Bashir and Sisko - , as well as being interesting and complicated people in their own right.

So, my heart belongs to the grey lizards. I still live in hope for a comeback in current Trek.

( The Other Days )

Thirty Days of Medici: Alt. Fact. in the Renaissance

Day 14 ~ Re-Write History: Something you wish never happened.

Look, show, I get why you picked Sandro Botticelli over Angelo Poliziano as the Medici-supported artist to flesh out and make into an important character in this series. He has at least name recognition in your potential audience, and also, he’s a painter, i.e. his art can be used in a visual medium as part of the narrative. And at least Poliziano does exist in this show, albeit with just about five lines in totem.

But. Given that I Medici, just like Da Vinci’s Demons, hands over Angelo P’s big moment in history to a more prominent character, the very least you could have done for the guy is not to depict him doing the very opposite of what he was doing in rl, i.e. run away from the Duomo to save his life, while Botticelli, who in rl didn’t do anything of the sort, runs into it. That’s just slander, and I wish it hadn’t happened in what otherwise is a perfect episode.

( The other days )