Last-minute indulgence in Deep Space Nine
Nov. 4th, 2003 05:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThe advantage of travelling by train, when in possession of a) a kidnapped laptop, and b) the fifth season of DS9 on DVD: one can watch some episodes. Which is good, because packing for Iceland is scheduled for this evening. Before I get to reviewing, however:
Strangely fitting, considering the number of new icons I aquired recently.
So, back to one of my two favourite space stations. It strikes me how the season opener often sets the tone for the season on this show. In season 2, the opening three-parter was intensely political and giving depth to the entire Bajoran (and Cardassian) situation. Season 4 had The Way of the Warrior, with its shifting alliances, new cold war situation with the Klingons and the increased "who's a changeling" paranoia. Season 5 has Apocalypse Rising. Which isn't quite as grandiose as The Way of the Warrior or as layered as The Homecoming/The Circle/The Siege but is a tense, superb drama nonetheless, and the title certainly fits the season. Season 5 was when DS9 stopped flirting with the will/won't there be a war scenario and went with "will".
As far as the opening episode is concerned, once you get beyond that special brand of suspension of disbelief extended to Starfleet Captains, it's just great. (Sisko being sent to infiltrate the Klingons makes no sense; Odo, yes, because of the Founders; O'Brien, yes, because of these changeling-affecting gizmos could break down; and of course Worf; but why Sisko instead of, say, Dax, who actually lived and fought with Klingons? For the same reason Picard of all the people was sent to infiltrate a Cardassian base in Chain of Command - main characters need to get some action). The boys are clearly having fun impersonating Klingons, Avery Brooks most of all. There are some good character moments - Odo's post-solidification malaise - and two extremely funny scenes involving Kira's pregnancy. One being the only time in the show's history when I think she's deliberately teasing Dukat, about the identity of the father, and the other the inside-joke conversation with Bashir about the baby being his fault. (Though I guess the later isn't funny if you don't know about the actors.) The great twist of the episode - that Gowron isn't the Changeling was something I didn't expect the first time around, and thus applauded.
The Ship is probably DS9's first serious war drama. Now the problem with quite a lot of movies who want to be anti-war is that they're serving two masters; all the action and (mostly male) bonding is presented as attractive even when war is presented as brutal. DS9, otoh, did manage, through seasons 5 - 7, never once to glorify war. I doubt any of their war-centric episodes would serve as recruitment material, and yet I also think veterans would approve. In the case of The Ship, my only problem with it isn't one of writing or acting, but of Trek custom - of course the Redshirt dies. It would probably have been more effective for me if we had met Nunez for some episodes, seeing his relationship with O'Brien develop. The unfair rule of familiarity; which is why one suffers more with Jake or seasons later Nog in their respective war episodes. This aside, The Ship captures the increasingly fractured nerves and the lose/lose feeling superbly. We also get our first semi-sympathetic Vorta, and the emphasis on how not just the Jem'hadar but also the Vorta worship the Founders as their Gods is a good reminder; we'll get back to that in future episodes.
Looking for Par'mach in all the wrong places I liked when watching it first, and still am happy with it. DS9 comedies with a strong Ferengi bias aren't everyone's cup of tea, but most of them work for me. Seeing Grilka return (btw, Mary Kay Adams is much better as Grilka than as Na'toth in B5's second season) and Quark woo her with a little Cyrano-like backup from Worf and Dax was fun, and reminded me again that Quark for all his obvious disadvantages scores more than any of the other guys on the station.*g* And between his amazingly tactful way of divining Grilka needs someone to balance the books for her but can't ask outright in their first encounter and his willingness to push himself through Klingon mating rituals you can see why she doesn't slap him anymore. As he says to Dax, he's both in it for the sex and because he cares for her. Incidentally, I have a special fondness for scenes featuring Dax and Quark as friends, and I certainly get my share in this episode, which is another reason for me to like it.
Speaking of Dax, here we get my favourite Jadzia quote: "Pity. You'd be amazed what I can do in a pair of 18-inch-boots." Worf being clueless - well that's a Worf thing. And I'm not sure, but isn't Jadzia the first example of a female Trek regular who's perfectly in her right mind and not under some sort of Alien spell jumping a male regular? Without a "let's forget this happened" aftermath? Anyway - this was the start of Worf and Dax as a couple, and I still think it is one of the successful pairings Trek pulled off. Her tongue-in-cheek sense of humour and his seriousness seem to compliment each other rather than to clash, they really come across as equals, and hey, for a non-Klingon character to be shown as enjoying rough sex the way Jadzia does here (without being "punished" by some dramatic device to boot) was certainly progressive TV in its time.
…Nor the Battlefield for the Strong: once upon a time, Julian Bashir was the greenhorn, the wet-behind-the-ears character on DS9, the innocent one. This episode reminds us those days are clearly over (though Bashir will always be the voice of humanism on the show); the role has passed to Jake. Jake growing up was a low-key subplot throughout the series, and worked very well. The best Jake episode for me will always be The Visitor, but this one comes close. Again a war drama, this time in the M.A.S.H. direction, and one which refuses to take the easy way out; at the very latest, we realize that when Jake doesn't save the random wounded soldier he stumbles across when running away. As the dying man says, it's not that easy, kid. Jake reacting to his first view of a war hospital and then a battlefield with fear and panic more than everything else showcases DS9's unique melding of dark grittiness with Star Trek humanism; war isn'tenobling, or making "a man" out of someone; the people presented as heroic in this episodes are the doctors with their gallows' humour and exhaustion, trying to save the wounded.
Strangely fitting, considering the number of new icons I aquired recently.
So, back to one of my two favourite space stations. It strikes me how the season opener often sets the tone for the season on this show. In season 2, the opening three-parter was intensely political and giving depth to the entire Bajoran (and Cardassian) situation. Season 4 had The Way of the Warrior, with its shifting alliances, new cold war situation with the Klingons and the increased "who's a changeling" paranoia. Season 5 has Apocalypse Rising. Which isn't quite as grandiose as The Way of the Warrior or as layered as The Homecoming/The Circle/The Siege but is a tense, superb drama nonetheless, and the title certainly fits the season. Season 5 was when DS9 stopped flirting with the will/won't there be a war scenario and went with "will".
As far as the opening episode is concerned, once you get beyond that special brand of suspension of disbelief extended to Starfleet Captains, it's just great. (Sisko being sent to infiltrate the Klingons makes no sense; Odo, yes, because of the Founders; O'Brien, yes, because of these changeling-affecting gizmos could break down; and of course Worf; but why Sisko instead of, say, Dax, who actually lived and fought with Klingons? For the same reason Picard of all the people was sent to infiltrate a Cardassian base in Chain of Command - main characters need to get some action). The boys are clearly having fun impersonating Klingons, Avery Brooks most of all. There are some good character moments - Odo's post-solidification malaise - and two extremely funny scenes involving Kira's pregnancy. One being the only time in the show's history when I think she's deliberately teasing Dukat, about the identity of the father, and the other the inside-joke conversation with Bashir about the baby being his fault. (Though I guess the later isn't funny if you don't know about the actors.) The great twist of the episode - that Gowron isn't the Changeling was something I didn't expect the first time around, and thus applauded.
The Ship is probably DS9's first serious war drama. Now the problem with quite a lot of movies who want to be anti-war is that they're serving two masters; all the action and (mostly male) bonding is presented as attractive even when war is presented as brutal. DS9, otoh, did manage, through seasons 5 - 7, never once to glorify war. I doubt any of their war-centric episodes would serve as recruitment material, and yet I also think veterans would approve. In the case of The Ship, my only problem with it isn't one of writing or acting, but of Trek custom - of course the Redshirt dies. It would probably have been more effective for me if we had met Nunez for some episodes, seeing his relationship with O'Brien develop. The unfair rule of familiarity; which is why one suffers more with Jake or seasons later Nog in their respective war episodes. This aside, The Ship captures the increasingly fractured nerves and the lose/lose feeling superbly. We also get our first semi-sympathetic Vorta, and the emphasis on how not just the Jem'hadar but also the Vorta worship the Founders as their Gods is a good reminder; we'll get back to that in future episodes.
Looking for Par'mach in all the wrong places I liked when watching it first, and still am happy with it. DS9 comedies with a strong Ferengi bias aren't everyone's cup of tea, but most of them work for me. Seeing Grilka return (btw, Mary Kay Adams is much better as Grilka than as Na'toth in B5's second season) and Quark woo her with a little Cyrano-like backup from Worf and Dax was fun, and reminded me again that Quark for all his obvious disadvantages scores more than any of the other guys on the station.*g* And between his amazingly tactful way of divining Grilka needs someone to balance the books for her but can't ask outright in their first encounter and his willingness to push himself through Klingon mating rituals you can see why she doesn't slap him anymore. As he says to Dax, he's both in it for the sex and because he cares for her. Incidentally, I have a special fondness for scenes featuring Dax and Quark as friends, and I certainly get my share in this episode, which is another reason for me to like it.
Speaking of Dax, here we get my favourite Jadzia quote: "Pity. You'd be amazed what I can do in a pair of 18-inch-boots." Worf being clueless - well that's a Worf thing. And I'm not sure, but isn't Jadzia the first example of a female Trek regular who's perfectly in her right mind and not under some sort of Alien spell jumping a male regular? Without a "let's forget this happened" aftermath? Anyway - this was the start of Worf and Dax as a couple, and I still think it is one of the successful pairings Trek pulled off. Her tongue-in-cheek sense of humour and his seriousness seem to compliment each other rather than to clash, they really come across as equals, and hey, for a non-Klingon character to be shown as enjoying rough sex the way Jadzia does here (without being "punished" by some dramatic device to boot) was certainly progressive TV in its time.
…Nor the Battlefield for the Strong: once upon a time, Julian Bashir was the greenhorn, the wet-behind-the-ears character on DS9, the innocent one. This episode reminds us those days are clearly over (though Bashir will always be the voice of humanism on the show); the role has passed to Jake. Jake growing up was a low-key subplot throughout the series, and worked very well. The best Jake episode for me will always be The Visitor, but this one comes close. Again a war drama, this time in the M.A.S.H. direction, and one which refuses to take the easy way out; at the very latest, we realize that when Jake doesn't save the random wounded soldier he stumbles across when running away. As the dying man says, it's not that easy, kid. Jake reacting to his first view of a war hospital and then a battlefield with fear and panic more than everything else showcases DS9's unique melding of dark grittiness with Star Trek humanism; war isn'tenobling, or making "a man" out of someone; the people presented as heroic in this episodes are the doctors with their gallows' humour and exhaustion, trying to save the wounded.
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no subject
Date: 2003-11-04 08:09 am (UTC)I've been thinking for a long time about writing a Dominion War story. Maybe I should get the DVDs (when there's money) and do it.
Alas, I have no internet access on trains! You're lucky to make a living in the writing world. I'm lucky to make a living as a civil rights advocate. Sometimes do you just wake up and say to yourself, "how cool to be us?" :)
a Dominion war story...
Date: 2003-11-04 08:15 am (UTC)Character development for Bashir: yes, that was so very well done. We see it happening season for season. And 5 of course contains the episode about his genetic modification which I'm looking forward to.
You're a civil rights advocate? Very cool indeed! And very important.
Re: a Dominion war story...
Date: 2003-11-04 10:33 am (UTC)Children of Earth -- a little girl in San Francisco tells us about what's happening as the Borg attack
Walk -- a Vulcan Starfleet freshman cadet takes up the story
First Command -- a senior cadet is ordered to remove one of the yard tenders from the battle zone, but the fortunes of war put him in the thick of things
Victory -- the small boy (from my story Cuckoo, which I posted to my livejournal) is now an Admiral, with every bit of responsibility he wanted.
We've talked about doing something similar with the Dominion War. Maybe we should. I particularly want to write Nog!
Yep. I'm a civil rights advocate. I do field work on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues. In the South. Which is...not easy!
Are these stories available on the net?
Date: 2003-11-04 01:31 pm (UTC)And you must do a Nog pov. Come on. You know you want to...
Re: Are these stories available on the net?
Date: 2003-11-04 03:52 pm (UTC)Would you beta them for us?
I'd feel honored to beta.
Date: 2003-11-05 12:07 pm (UTC)Re: I'd feel honored to beta.
Date: 2003-11-06 04:23 am (UTC)It's one of mine, the first chronologically.
It arrived safely.
Date: 2003-11-06 02:38 pm (UTC)envy ...
Date: 2003-11-04 08:25 am (UTC)I am so envious!
I'm looking forward to your lj entries from there. :-)Iceland is defietly on my "must go there one day" list.
How come you'll be going there? (If you do not mind my asking).
Also the Haiku thing is cute. Mine is
Will read your DS9 stuff now ;-) ...
F.
Re: envy ...
Date: 2003-11-04 08:39 am (UTC):-)
Date: 2003-11-04 08:53 am (UTC)I will reserve a special place for it on the mirror in my hall. (That where I stick postcards. This is a good thing because I cant see very much of myself. It all began with a postcard on how to bind neckties which I had put there. ;-)
F.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-04 08:51 am (UTC)how shit Voyager and Enterprise were/arehow much good there was there. No, wait, I stand by the strikeout (with regard to Enterprise at least; someone can try to convert me to Voyager if they like but there must be money involved to get me to play along :) )no subject
Date: 2003-11-04 10:30 am (UTC)Again a war drama, this time in the M.A.S.H. direction, and one which refuses to take the easy way out; at the very latest, we realize that when Jake doesn't save the random wounded soldier he stumbles across when running away.
This is one of the episodes that I remember best. I watched it thinking that they were going to take the easy way out and then was surprised that they didn't. I should have realised that this was DS9, always the riskiest Trek.
You're making me miss this show!
Date: 2003-11-04 11:20 am (UTC)Re: You're making me miss this show!
Date: 2003-11-04 01:07 pm (UTC)Grrr...
Date: 2003-11-04 01:17 pm (UTC)writhes in an attempt to control her inner trekkie
Resistance is futile.
Date: 2003-11-04 01:27 pm (UTC)Thank God there were no borg on DSN
Date: 2003-11-04 01:51 pm (UTC)Still, I could almost live with them being the Wolfram and Hart of "Voyager".
Then they had them on Enterprise.
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Now Borg-like threats have no effect on me.