A Collection of Episode Reviews Originally Posted on the MI6 Forums Between July 21 and September 14, 2010
"Emissary"
A fantastic series premiere. Sets up everything you need to know for the show's premise. Introduces all the characters. And does it in a way that's still dramatic, entertaining, and thought-provoking. One thing I really like about "Emissary" is that all of its plot is important to the story of the series, unlike "Encounter at Farpoint" which if you remove all the introductory bits is still just another episode.
"Emissary" gives us things that we have to live with for the rest of the series; aside from the station and its crew we have the Kai on Bajor, Gul Dukat, the wormhole, the Gamma Quadrant, and the Prophets. Even though they risked slowing down the whole show, I think Sisko's explanation of linear time to the Prophets (specifically the baseball speech) is one of my favourite Star Trek scenes of human/alien interaction. I think anyone who thinks DS9 was some sort of horrific violation of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek vision needs to look at that scene, because to me that speech is Roddenberry's vision through and through.
All around its just a crackling good episode, and a great set-up to a new Star Trek show that promised right off the bat to be very different from still-running TNG or TOS before it. Definitely the best Trek pilot IMO.
Character Rundown:
Commander BENJAMIN SISKO: Here's the things I already like about Sisko -- he doesn't frak around, he takes charge of situations, and he has emotions. He's a real person. You can feel how much he loves his son, how much he grieves for his wife -- you can see when he's angry, hurt, lonley, remorseful, etc. It's refreshing after the subdued performances of the TNG cast for five and a half seasons.
Constable ODO: Odo's a real mystery at this point. He's a shapeshifter with a mysterious past who wants to know more about himself and is forced to live among humanoids -- its interesting, but something about it reminds me a lot of Data and Spock. I really dislike how his character looks in the pilot, but I like that -- like Sisko -- he clearly doesn't frak around and gets sh*t done.
Lieutenant Junior Grade JULIAN BASHIR, MD: Julian's a hoot at this stage. I love his overconfidence, his arrogance, the fact that he opens his mouth at the wrong time. It's, again, a refreshing change from the "perfect Starfleet officer" stereotype.
Lieutenant JADZIA DAX: Of all the characters in the pilot, Dax comes off the least interesting. K, she's a Trill, a joined species, but the implications of that aren't really addressed. She's definitely hot, but she plays her part the most low-key, the most like a standard Trek character reading off a console about quantum flux variables and so on.
JAKE SISKO: After the horrors of Wesley Crusher and Alexander Rozhenko, I just couldn't understand why Trek was putting YET ANOTHER KID on a show -- but I like Jake already because he acts like a real kid, not some braggart know-it-all or constantly whining loser.
Senior Chief Petty Officer MILES O'BRIEN: I already knew O'Brien was awesome from TNG. I'm looking forward to an entire series with the Irish salt-of-the-earth, man-of-the-people Mr. Fixit.
QUARK: Quark's awesome. The first really great, truly prime Ferengi character. Which is a huge feat because I've thoroughly hated the Ferengi in all of their previous appearances. But I already love Quark.
Major KIRA NERYS: Kira is frakking great. Tough as nails, doesn't take sh*t ex-terrorist army officer. F*ck Ensign Ro, I think Kira makes a way better first officer character because her allegiance is to Bajor, not the Federation.
I am SOOO excited to finally be starting my DS9 run!!!
"A Man Alone"
Already I like DS9 much more than TNG. A great example is this episode. A plot summary alone makes it sound like not much -- a murder is commited, Odo the prime suspect. But the way its done is leaps and bounds beyond something like "A Matter of Perspective" from TNG season 3. We have genuine conflict between Odo and Sisko, we have a love triangle between Sisko, Bashir, and Dax, we have Keiko trying to find purpose and open a school, we meet new characters, learn more about established ones, and dig deeper into the world of the show, all within the confines of a rather standard murder mystery episode. Great stuff.
"Past Prologue"
While I like the Kira/Sisko/Tana Los conflict in this episode, I think that it might be the least interesting thing about it. I loved seeing the beginnings of Bashir/Garak and I even enjoyed the Duras sisters cameo and I really like how quickly the writers picked up on Odo/Quark -- within the first four episodes (including the next one) I've really come to love those scenes already. I love Sisko, and how little sh*t he takes from anyone. I love the moral ambiguities here, the questions of allegiance, the way this episode puts Kira through her paces. At this point, "someone from Kira's past shows up and challenges her convictions" isn't a cliche.
"Babel"
On one level, this kind of techie disease mystery is a TNG type thing. But its the way the characters react and deal with the dilemma that puts this a step above and beyond. O'Brien is great here, as is the Jake/Sisko relationship, and above all I LOVE Quark in this episode. "Energizing!" I laughed soo much. Just fantastic stuff -- and Bashir does good work, but in the end doesn't miraculously solve the problem; Kira has to kidnap a scientist to do it. Just fantastic.
Already in four episodes I love this show more than TNG. And already I can tell you why: the characters. The only one I'm not into at this point is Dax. I love Bashir, he's too good. Sisko, Odo, and Kira are awesome and strong-willed. Quark's the best. O'Brien is solid. And we've already got a larger supporting cast than TNG: Kai Opaka, Gul Dukat, Garak, Rom, Nog, Morn, etc.
I already love watching DS9, and it's only gonna get better from here.
"Captive Pursuit"
Another pretty good episode, especially since it focused on O'Brien and O'Brien is the man. I like Tosk quite a bit, its a bit of a shame we never saw any more Tosk when we went through the wormhole to the Gamm Quadrant, although I understand the Hunters are supposed to be members of the Dominion? In addition to O'Brien, I just love all the little character moments we get with Sisko, Odo, and Quark. This cast is really alive in a way far more than the TNG cast were by their sixth episode.
The make-up work was great, but the costuming for the Hunters comes off a little silly looking. Other than that, a good episode with some fun foreshadowing.
"Q-Less"
While there are some good moments in this episode (mainly involving Quark and Bashir as always), things mainly fall flat. Q does not work in the DS9 formula, for precisely the reason that the main thing Q does well is bounce off Picard. Sisko just doesn't put up with the crap Q serves up. Its awesome when the Commander punches him in the face, but it also ends any real connection Q could have with the DS9 crew. Basically this episode wants to get TNG viewers onboard with the presence of Vash and Q, but basically just serves to demonstrate how wildly different the two shows really are.
"Dax"
So far in the show, Dax was the only character I hadn't connected with. Sisko kicks ass and takes names, Kira has a troubled past, Odo runs the Promenade with an iron fist, O'Brien fixes things and is Irish, Bashir just wants to get laid, Quark just wants to get paid. But so far all Dax did was spout technobabble and act annoyingly serene, like a horrible mix of Data and Guinan. So this episode, scripted by TOS master scribe DC Fontana, was a welcome bit of character development. Not a lot though, really, but a nice first step. And trial episodes are almost always good on Trek for some reason.
"The Passenger"
A pretty pedestrian plot with an easy to see twist not helped by the fact that Bashir acts like he's mildly retarded when possessed instead of this big criminal mastermind. "Open... a... channel..." The best part of the episode was the conflict between Odo and Primmin. I know Primmin sticks around for a bit, but it should've been longer. Ideally, he should've been Eddington, and had Eddington around longer before he went Maquis. But I actually like Primmin. I like conflicts like the Odo/Primmin one where I like both people in the conflict. It's more interesting that if one person is obviously a huge douchebag.
"Move Along Home"
I actually like the premise of this episode, and some of the ideas. But the execution is just awful! Especially the acting. I don't know how or why, but the performances here were just dreadful.
"The Nagus"
Bits of this episode are fun, mostly stuff like Quark revelling in his new status, and Rom/Nog/Jake getting some screentime again after an extended period, but Wallace Shawn plays Zek just a little... too OTT for my tastes.
"Vortex"
Interesting episode in light of what we later discover about Odo's people. For now the tease is fine. This is a good episode for exploring Odo, although it seems like at this point in the show the writers are latching onto Odo and Quark as characters to write for, to the detriment of other characters in the show.
"Battle Lines"
Now this is just a classic Star Trek episode. Using a science-fiction concept, the idea that war is pointless and futile is examined and explored. Opaka's death was a major shocker, and the development that held for Kira was well done. I also liked Bashir being put in a dangerous and high stress situation for once, and enjoyed the way Sisko dealt with the warring factions, much different than how Picard would do it. All in all a fine episode.
"The Storyteller"
The best thing this episode does is put Bashir and O'Brien together, resulting in the natural odd couple pairing of the upper class English gentleman and the Irish man of the people. I really enjoy the way they bristle off each other -- it's just a fun pairing.
As for the episode itself, well, to be honest the whole Sirrah thing is a neat idea, but the execution was pretty gay, for lack of a better term. The subplot on the station with Jake and Nog was okay, but not super memorable or anything.
"Progress"
As much as I liked the story being told with Kira and the old man on the moon, and the work it did with the relationship between Kira and Sisko in particular, it's an old hackneyed story -- the old man who doesn't want to leave his house even though the gov't needs him to so they can build a new [noun]. So while its well done and the guy playing the old man was great -- I love that he's totally playing Kira the whole time -- it just doesn't do it for me cause its such a cliche.
Meanwhile, the self-sealing stem bolts plot with Jake and Nog was fun and engaging and I enjoyed it far more, especially with Jake turning out to have better business sense than Nog. It was cute.
"If Wishes Were Horses"
This was a very TOS like episode -- a fun, silly, fantasy romp where the crew interact with fantasy characters becaus some mysterious aliens want to learn about humanity. And in a way its a portent of a quality of DS9 that TNG lacked: the capacity to have fun like TOS. DS9, despite its reputation as "the dark Star Trek" really did embrace the idea of going on romps like TOS used to every once in a while, and it seemed appropriate for the characters, who even enjoyed it. On TNG, they tried it occasionally but the characters were always too stuffy to ever have real fun with it and it never really worked.
The only thing I disliked was there was a ton of useless heavy technobabble in the third act that neither added to anything nor ultimately served any purpose.
"The Forsaken"
Initially I cringed when Lwaxana Troi showed up. I'd made it through an entire season of TNG without her and then she ambushed me on the good show. But I ended up really liking her this time around. The combination of her and Odo ended up working really well, much better than any TNG effort. It's the contrast of the woman who is overly flamboyant to hide how she really feels with the man whose overly bottled up to achieve the same goal. The scene with her wig and him turning liquid was actually quite moving.
Also, I love the development we get for Bashir in the meantime -- I feel like his rescue of the ambassadors is a big step forward for his character.
"Dramatis Personae"
Compare this to TNG's "Power Play" from the previous year. Same basic idea, but this is a far, far superior effort. One thing I liked is that the alien possession conflict actually grows out of the real crew's personalities and conflicts -- it's just that more subtle so that maybe you're not sure what exactly's happening for an additional act. It plays better and ends up revealing more about the characters in response, as opposed to just making them do OOC stuff for the sake of it.
"Duet"
What can I say about this episode that hasn't already been said? Clearly the best of the season, playing to the clear strength of exploring the Bajoran/Cardassian conflict with a heavy emphasis on Holocaust allegory. It's just fantastic on all sides. One thing that I don't believe is noticed that often in the light of the Kira/Marritza scenes is how fantastic Odo is in this episode. He's just the man.
"In the Hands of the Prophets"
Another great episode, not as good as "Duet", but a superb capper to the season -- really giving the feeling of "look what we've accomplished, what we've built in this time." Winn marks the intro of a fantastic villain character, and the conflict with the school was really inevitable. I love what this episode does for Sisko and Kira, and indeed all the characters in how it makes them re-evalutate their place on the station. And I love religion vs. science stories, almost as much as witch hunt stories.
Best Character of Season 1: Sisko
Most Improved Character of Season 1: Bashir
Best Episode of Season 1: Duet
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