I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this episode.

It’s a heavy-handed morality play about the futility of war, which is not exactly a new concept for Star Trek to tread. Although, in this case, there’s a stinging irony that DS9 actually has an episode like this in its catalog.

I mean, it’s not like DS9 has already posed the argument that violence is sometimes necessary, right? I mean, geez, what are we supposed to believe? That the Bajoran resistance sat around knitted until the Cardassians gave up and went home? The Bajorans weren’t actually sitting around and non-violently protesting in a Ghandi-like way, were they?

And let’s not even get into the ‘war arc’ which took up more than half of the series run, shall we?

Despite my annoyance of the same-old-same-old plot that’s been done by Star Trek in all its incarnations approximately a zillion times before (not to mention the fact that DS9 has already taken the stance that wars of survival are wars of necessity — and that’s not even taking into account later seasons), there is something very cool about technology that won’t let you die as a form of punishment.

( Episode 12: Battle Lines )
While I remain ambivalent about the storyline for the episode, I come down on the side of liking it for what it is. Oh, not for the tired plot. It’s not engaging enough for that. But because the fall-out from this episode will be massive and lasting for everyone on Bajor and Deep Space Nine.

Wow. Been awhile since I posted one of these. And whaddya know. It's a good one, because holy crap! It’s a first in Star Trek history! An entire episode dedicated to (as JMS put it) moving around the furniture.

One where the real payoff doesn’t happen for another year-and-a-half.

The mind…she boggles!

I need a moment…

I remember seeing this episode first-run many, many moons ago. I never caught it in reruns at all, so I’m watching it via the magic of DVD for the first time in *mumble mumble* years.

I remember that at the time I watched it I thought it was a pretty boring and pointless episode. Even the not-very-exciting chase scene in the middle of the episode couldn’t disguise the fact that nothing really happens.

Imagine my delight that, upon re-watching it, I realized that I was dead wrong. It’s not pointless. In fact, it’s so entirely pointy that it physically hurts.

( Episode 11: Vortex )

As I said: If you watch the episode of no knowledge of what’s to come, it’s a bit of a “meh.” But, if you’ve seen the whole series through, you’ll be jumping up and down with the sheer joy of watching it.

In many ways, “The Nagus” has a very traditional Star Trek spirit.

It’s yet another episode that posits the idea that peace, love, and understanding actually is possible between people from fundamentally different cultures. All it takes is a little trust, a pinch of stubbornness, and the optimism of children who haven’t yet quite caught on that they’re not supposed to have anything in common, let alone forge an unshakeable friendship that will profoundly affect both of them in ways their 14-year-old selves can’t possibly imagine.

Yet, as traditional as the sentiments expressed in the episode are, it does so in a way that’s completely unique to the Star Trek universe. In episodes past, it was Federation adults teaching this lesson to non-Federation adults. In this episode, it’s the Federation adults who’ve got to re-learn the lesson, and discover that sometimes “boldly going where no one has gone before” without ever leaving your home is the hardest thing you can ever do, especially if you're hobbled by a touch of prejudice and enough experience that reinforces that prejudice.

This episode…this one right here…is the one that made me fall madly in love with one of DS9’s unique signatures: Jake’s and Nog’s unsinkable and enduring friendship and how that friendship makes these two characters grow in surprising, yet completely logical, ways over the course of the series.

( Episode 10: The Nagus )

While I’m not usually fond of stories where the adults are all wrong and the kids are all right (‘tis the stuff that treacle-y family sitcoms are made of), in this case the version of that story hits all the right notes. The adults are wrong for all the right reasons, and the kids are right for all the wrong ones.

Certainly, the adults in the B-story have every right to be concerned, given past history and the traditional tension between Ferengi cultural values vs. Federation cultural values, and that makes their wrongness both forgivable and understandable.

And the kids, with their limited experience of the universe, have no idea just how wrong things can go and how severe the consequences can be if their judgment is in error. For that reason, you end up with a very satisfying B story that simply makes you happy to watch it unfold and leaves you with a stupid grin on your face.

You may recall that the crew on Deep Space Nine had a less-than-satisfactory first First Contact already.

They should've taken it as a sign that they're about to embark on the Mother of All Losing Streaks.

Yes, folks. It's true. The home team is about to go 0-2 in the First Contact game.

While it's too early to tell for sure (unless, of course, you've seen the whole series), a picture is beginning to emerge: First Contact is not actually something the folks on Deep Space Nine do well.

Or, y'know, competently.

( Episode 09: Move Along Home )

What can I say? The episode amused me. There were some witty lines that made me laugh out loud, great character interaction, and a distinct lack of holosuites gone wrong that are usually the bedrock of episodes like this.

It’s a cute little episode hampered by plot holes and some leaps in logic (I suspect bad editing more than anything else). Watch it for the amusing character interactions, but don’t watch it for anything more than that.

This is from the files of "What the hell were they snorting when they wrote this?"

( Episode 08: The Passenger )

Personally, I think you could skip this episode and not really miss a thing.

I forgot just how fantastic this episode really was. I'll be sure not to forget it in the future.

( Episode 07: Dax )

‘Dax’ is an all-around gorgeous episode. It’s gorgeously shot, georgeously lighted, gorgeously directed, gorgeously acted, and gorgeously written. I would put it up there with some of the later season stand-out episodes that explore the same rich vein for other characters, like S5's ‘Nor the Battle to the Strong’ and S6's ‘Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night.’

( Episode 06: Q-Less )

Are there plot holes? Yup. Does the plot actually make any sense? Not really. But that’s not the point! Shut off the brain, kick back, and prepare for one heck of an entertaining hour.

I failed to drink any coffee today. I am now paying the price. *clutches head*



( Episode 05: Captive Pursuit )

A little lunchtime watch.

( Episode 04: Babel )

Overall, not a great episode or one that's particularly memorable. But it's certainly not the worst episode DS9 (or any other Star Trek) has ever done.

Ooooo. A two-fer tonight. And what an awesome way to end it.

( Episode 03: Past Prologue )

We shall now return to our regular fannish programming...

Inspired in part by a local friend's decision to watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — aka DS9 for those "in the in-crowd" — for the first time ever, and inspired in part by several FLister's who are watching Babylon 5 for the first time ever, I've decided to go on my own private DS9 re-watch.

Let me make one thing clear: I love Babylon 5. I've re-watched the series from beginning to end 4 times: 1 time first run, 1 time on TNT reruns, 1 time on SciFi reruns, and 1 time on DVD.

DS9? I've seen only twice. Once first run, although I missed a significant chunk of the first and second seasons. And once on TNT reruns, although I often missed at least one episode a week.

So needless to say, there are quite a few DS9 episodes I've only seen once *waves vaguely* years and years ago. Yet, oddly enough, there are quite a few episodes that have stayed with me over the years, despite the fact that I have seen them only once or twice.

Weirdly enough, I loved both B5 and DS9 when they were running concurrently. Those of you who were online during that time period can attest just how big of an unpopular opinion that was. In fact, there's a whooooooooole history of wank that runs about as long as War and Peace between not just the two fandoms, but between the production teams at the highest levels of both shows in a grudge-wank that has never been matched before or since.

Ahhhh, Usenet. Back in the days when even series creators would cheerfully engage in flamewars with trolls. (Have I ever mentioned that JMS was spectacular at the art of the flamewar? No? Well, he was. Trust this first-hand eyewitness. It was a thing of pure beauty.)

Not to delve into the tip-of-the-tip-of-the-iceberg wanker-y between B5 and DS9, but...Were the shows similar? Well, yeah. And it's more than just the surface issue of both B5 and DS9 taking place on space stations. There are some surprisingly similar thematic issues that crop up in both DS9 and B5 (and even a couple of secondary and tertiary character names look...ahem...similar). This despite the fact that the universes, worlds, races, and political intrigue (yes, there is at least one Star Trek show that actually had political intrigue) were very different between shows.

( The Dirty, Dirty Secret of DS9 )

Okay, yeah. Definitely singing the praises there, hunh?

Anyway, while I've been undergoing my great DS9 re-watch, I was disconcerted by the fact that the first season of DS9 has aged better than the first season of B5. Part of it is because the budget for DS9 was huge in comparison to B5. So the interiors and exteriors and the special effects shots have a solid, professional look that are sometimes *ahem* lacking in B5. The other part is that the acting from the DS9 cast, while somewhat shaky as the show works out the kinks, is slightly better than the acting we saw out of most of the B5 cast. Certainly the guest stars on DS9 where head-and-shoulders better than the guest stars on B5.

The other thing that helps put first season DS9 slightly ahead of first season B5 is that DS9 came with baggage. That baggage helped DS9 as much as hurt it over the show's run, but when it comes to the traditional first season liftoff, DS9 was definitely helped. The most DS9 had to do that first season was introduce the characters and paint the situational background in broad brushstrokes (and, unlike just about every single Star Trek show that came before and after, plant the seeds for most of the story arcs that came over the next seven years). B5 had to build an entire freaking universe that first season. End result? First season B5 got stuck with lots and lots of awkward exposition to not only introduce the characters and the B5 universe, but to also "move around the furniture" (as JMS calls it) to set up the action for the remaining four years.

Although I admit that DS9 had solid advantages over B5 — especially when it comes to the traditional first-season set-up — I found myself warming almost immediately to the first season DS9 when I started re-watching. This is in contrast to B5 which — much as I love it — takes me until at least until 'The Parliament of Dreams' (7 hours' worth of watching time) before I can fully immerse myself in the B5 universe.

Oh, dear. It may turn out that in the long run, I prefer DS9 over B5 after all.

Quick episode reactions under LJ-Cuts to preserve innocent eyes...

( Episodes 01 and 02: Emissary )

Overall, I think this re-watch started off with a bang. I can't wait to move on to the rest of Season 1.