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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 14, 2015 21:55:16 GMT -5
I think the casting director of Childhood's End would agree with out assessment of O'Brien... Our favorite grumpy engineer is cast as an even grumpier skeptical journalist in the new miniseries.
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Post by dupersuper on Dec 15, 2015 2:29:59 GMT -5
I think the casting director of Childhood's End would agree with out assessment of O'Brien... Our favorite grumpy engineer is cast as an even grumpier skeptical journalist in the new miniseries. I hope they stay true to the book: it's a favourite of mine. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 15, 2015 5:32:04 GMT -5
I read the book a long time ago (either during or right after college) but I think they did pretty decent. I didn't love the modernizing (the cold war element was missing), but overall better than most.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 15, 2015 23:30:39 GMT -5
s2 e17
'Playing God'
Anjin, a trill candidate, arrives for training/evaluation with Dax. Apparently, Kurzon was epically hard on such trainees (including Jadzia), and thus the guy was a little shy. It turned out he was just a boring dude. They go through the worm hole for a tour, and pick up a little something on the hull, so they come back.
Meanwhile, voles attack! I'm not certain if this is a serious problem or a running gag...we'll see. Also, Jake is in love with an older woman, to be continued! No sign of Bashir again this episode.. and Quark just for a minute (to tend bar for Anjin when he's sad).
The something is a baby Universe, displacing our own and expanding quickly. They come up with a plan to destroy it, but then Dax figures out there's life on it. Kira is incredulous when they don't still blow it up... 'It's like stepping on ants' she says. Odo wants to save it. 'I never step on ants' is his reply. Great scene. Sadly, they cop out by just putting it back, where I guess it will be someone else's problem which we'll never hear about again.
Anjin proves his mettle when he does the Han-Solo-in-the-Asteroid field thing to get through the worm hole without the baby universe exploding, and everyone's happy. The End!
Notes:
-- They tried REALLY REALLY hard to show how interesting Dax is. I think she could be, but Terry Farrell just fails at showing it.
-- The obese accordion playing Klingon was hilarious
-- I'm not clear why Jake is still helping O'Brien if he doesn't want to go into Starfleet (as discussed last ep), or why if he IS helping O'Brien he wasn't Vole hunting
-- If this was anime, I'd almost say the Vole thing was an excuse for the fan service-y butt shots of Kira and Dax they did while crawling under a bridge panel looking for the it. Which, btw, was hugely disappointing to see... even the pests are just Earth animals with bumps on their heads.
-- Maybe it's because the movie's coming out, but between navigating the runabout through the something pockets in the worm hole and Sisko saying 'don't tell me the odds' to O'Brien, I thought I was in the wrong franchise.
-- Awesome parallel with the Borg when Sisko was deciding what to do, which could have been a really interesting moral decision. Sadly, they copped out and he just put it back, which they had said eariler they couldn't do. So what could have been an amazing episode ended up kinda meh.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Dec 16, 2015 5:35:08 GMT -5
This was another of those episodes that just felt like it belonged in TNG as opposed to DS9. DS9 has never been science fiction; it's political fiction set in the future. -- They tried REALLY REALLY hard to show how interesting Dax is. I think she could be, but Terry Farrell just fails at showing it. So sadly true. As for the voles thing, while I remember them being repeatedly brought up to show how not-ideal the conditions on DS9 were, I neither recall them being cute nor a serious threat. This might have been the only time they played a significant role in a plotline. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 16, 2015 9:21:42 GMT -5
There's very little political so far more than 1/2 way through season 2. This episode was the first Cardassian sighting in a while, when O'Brien called someone to ask about the voles... 'they come with the station' was the answer, which was pretty funny... certainly not political, though.
I'll call the episodes of late very reminiscent of the old 60s social Sci-Fi, where they present a moral dilemma couched in future terms so no one gets offended... they're just not great at it.
As to the voles, I wouldn't say they were significant... there was one scene where they stunned one, so we got to see it... one where Sisko said to stop stunning them and start killing them. That was, I think, meant as a counterpoint to the main story, but, again, it failed due to the cop out ending. Then there was the call to the Cardassians. Incidently, this was the first time we see O'Brien actually doing his job (transporting, even! and engineering) for QUITE some time.. mostly he's been doing other random stuff.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 16, 2015 9:28:16 GMT -5
Incidently, they seem to be having a really hard time getting everyone screen time... Bashir has been completely abscent since 'Armegeddon Game'... not even on camera (though they do mention him a few times)... Kira had her fling a couple episodes ago, and yells during this one, but probably hasn't had more than 10 minutes of screen time in the last 6 eps or so... same with Quark.
No Cardassians issues for even longer, as if they forgot there was a long term plot.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Dec 16, 2015 20:58:40 GMT -5
Incidently, they seem to be having a really hard time getting everyone screen time... Bashir has been completely abscent since 'Armegeddon Game'... not even on camera (though they do mention him a few times)... Kira had her fling a couple episodes ago, and yells during this one, but probably hasn't had more than 10 minutes of screen time in the last 6 eps or so... same with Quark. No Cardassians issues for even longer, as if they forgot there was a long term plot. Season Two is weird like that. It began with a clear direction and meticulous plotting but then completely lost its footing for much of the season. I really didn't remember it like this until you started going through the episodes. All I know for sure is that the direction is found again (and is never again lost) by the very end of the season when the Jem Hadar show up. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 21, 2015 23:11:02 GMT -5
s2 e18
Profit and Loss
A Cardassian teacher names Natima and her two students (or whatever she is) have ship problems and stop by
for repairs. Quark knows her... apparently an ex-girlfriend?
She flips out when she sees Garak(who was chatting with Bashir in his clearly contractually obligated on-screen meal), and runs out. Meanwhile, O'Brien finds out she was shot down.. by other Cardassians.
Turns out they are political dissidents that want to end the military's rule.
Quark goes to see Garak, who warns him that she's in big trouble. She totally rejects him.
The Cardassians send a warship, and Garak appears on the bridge and 'suggests' Sisko turn his guests over.
Quark offers the students an illegal cloaking device to escape with....as long as Natima stays with him.
She shoots him to get the cloaking device, but then feels bad about it and suddenly asks as if she loves him.
They chat about old times until Odo arrives to arrest her.
The Bajorans decided to trade them for 6 prisoners of their own. Sisko is not happy, but has to obey.
A Cardassian thug stops by and tells Garak he can return from exile if he kills the prisoners before they get exchanged.. he seem to
think about it.
Quark goes to Odo to try to get his help... and he lets them escape, but Garak stops them. The thug (Gul Turan) steps in to try to take the credit, but Garak disintigrates him... then lets them go.
Great episode, but I'm sad that none of those Cardassians ever come back(again)... I hope at least their mentioned or something... Shax promised!
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Notes:
Bashir! and Garak!! Huzzah! So Garak is in exile, but is happy to inform to the government.. interesting.
Or, of course, that he's just a deep cover spy. I've now officially no idea what he's up to. He says he loves Cardassia... maybe he's a revolution unto himself?
O'Brien can fix anything? really? I don't recall him being very creative over on the Enterprise.
So Quark's fantasy is human women, and he dated a Cardassian... very strange.
Back to the Latinum thing... Quark goes into Garak's store and a suit is 17 bars of Latinum... all the more reason why 6 from another episode is really not very much.
Seems pretty appropriate that Quark's idea of romance is somewhere between blackmail and slavery.
He was awfully cute, though
Pretty nasty of the Bajorans to sell out people who they should agree with... part of that 'shades of gray' thing. Very cool.
Hey, it's Mary Crosby. It amuses me that Quark and JR Ewing have the same taste in women.
Hogue (the Male Cardassian dissident) was in both TNG and Enterprise.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Dec 21, 2015 23:16:13 GMT -5
Great episode, but I'm sad that none of those Cardassians ever come back(again)... I hope at least their mentioned or something... Shax promised! I'm not gonna lie: I have absolutely no memory of this episode  This will get answered, but only after a LOT more teasing for many seasons to come. And there will be plenty more Bashir and Garek moments as well. Quark's tastes seem to be for just about any female that isn't Ferengi: Human, Cardassian, Trill, Bajoran, Klingon, you name it. A suit was 17 bars of latinum??? Who was buying? One bar is supposed to be a pretty big deal. Yup on all accounts. The Bajorans are not saints, and the Cardassians aren't devils, and we'll learn more and more that the Federation doesn't have it all together either. Nice catch! |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 22, 2015 12:58:54 GMT -5
I'm surprised you don't remember it, where Garak was featured pretty heavily. Yeah, the suit was a present Quark was buying for his Cardassian lady love from Garak's store. Unless there is some smaller unit than a 'bar' and I didn't hear it right. I've been checking IMDB mostly to see if any of the people ever come back, or, in this case, when I can't place an actor I recognize... this episode was both  I think at this point I'd like to see some Bajorans being 'good guys'... other than Kira, the rest are kinda all a-holes so far. |
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Post by shaxper on Dec 22, 2015 13:07:23 GMT -5
I think at this point I'd like to see some Bajorans being 'good guys'... other than Kira, the rest are kinda all a-holes so far. Vedek Bareil |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 22, 2015 13:10:47 GMT -5
That's Kira's special friend? He's OK ... I got the sense he sorta lost and wasn't particularly influential, though. Perhaps future episodes will change that |
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Post by shaxper on Dec 22, 2015 13:13:27 GMT -5
That's Kira's special friend? He's OK ... I got the sense he sorta lost and wasn't particularly influential, though. Perhaps future episodes will change that He kinda' creeped me out at first, but I grew to really respect him. You will too. Beyond that (without spoiling too much) it's going to be up to Sisco to be the force for good on Bajor. Like it or not, he'll have to start owning the role he now plays in their society. Too many good guys down on the surface makes it easier for him to shrug such an obligation. |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 22, 2015 17:49:18 GMT -5
This was another of those episodes that just felt like it belonged in TNG as opposed to DS9. DS9 has never been science fiction; it's political fiction set in the future. I don't think I agree at all. First of all, I think political fiction set in the future is science fiction. And all of Star Trek is and should be about the exploration of ideas. I would even say that in Season 2, there shouldn't be fundamental differences between what type of story should be told in one over the other. It's only in Season 3 that the major differences emerges. That DS9 would take a wide view approach to telling a single long saga over the course of episodes, while TNG was purely episodic. |
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