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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 15, 2015 23:59:16 GMT -5
Ep. 18 Duet
A person with a rare disease called Kalla-Nohra arrives at DS9... Kira is happy to see them, since the disease was one that only stuck people at a particular mining camp she was part of liberating.
When the patient turns out to be Cardassian, she is not happy. She calls Odo, and the guy tries to run. Sisko's not happy, but Kira is insistent, and give an empassioned speech about the horrors of the camp she assumes the Cardassian served in.
Sisko talks to the guy, and he claims he was a clerk, and had never even been on Bajor, claiming he had a similar disease that is treated with the same drugs. He seems harmless enough. Bashir finds he DOES have Kalla-Nohra, and thus must be lying.
The Bajoran government calls, very happy that Sisko has captured a war criminal, but Sisko isn't convinced.
He tries to put Odo in charge, but Kira begs, and he changes his mind. Kira interrogates him, and finds out he was indeed at the camp...as a file clerk. He claims he was a really good file clerk, and taught that at the military academy where he had worked for five years.
He further claims there were no atrocities, but rather the leader of the camp CLAIMED atrocities to scare the Bajorans. Kira, naturally, doesn't buy it.
They get a picture from the camp, and it's not the same guy... instead, it seems to indicate that he's Gul Darheel, the guy in charge of the camp. He seems happy to admit who he is, which is kinda bizarre. He goes on a soapbox rant about how great a leader he was.
Odo and Kira figure out that there's no reason he should know who Kira was, so Kira storms off to ask him. Odo finds that the Cardassian asked for information on Kira months before.
He tries to turn things around on Kira, accusing her of being just as bad as he was.
Odo gets some info out of the Cardassians, and his info seems to indicate that he was NOT actually Gul Darheel, but instead seems to have gone out of his way to show up at DS9 and perhaps, be captured. Bashir finds out he's had plastic surgery, apparently to look like Gul Darheel.
Kira confronts him with it, and he won't talk about it at first, then finally breaks down and admits he IS Maritzza. He explains he wants Cardassia to admit their guilt against Bajor, and thinks a trial of Gul Darheel (who's really dead) would help. Kira lets him go.
As Kira is escorting him home, a Bajoran (who is apparently in jail to dry out regularly) stabs him in the back and kills him, much to Kira's horror.
Thoughts:
-- Right from the outset, this episode feels important... I guess it's due to the fact that the Cardassians being
involved.
-- Sisko is being awfully tolerant in the face of quite a few facts to the contrary. I guess to cause the tension
of the episode, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It turns out he was right, but nothing seemed fishy at all on the face of it.
-- Nice tie in to have the Cardassian ask for Yammack sauce.
-- While I see they're trying to make the Cardassians be not so bad... I'm not buying it this time.
-- Guldar suddenly goes psycho... amusing, but very strange indeed. The guy went from trying to hide his identity to
being proud of his accomplishments as leader of a war camp? Very, very odd.
-- Wait, maybe they are not so bad after all. It all totally makes sense. Well Done!
--- Wow, didn't see that ending coming... very interesting indeed, but a little sad. He would have been a great recurring character.
Definitely an excellent episode... I'm not sure I like it more than the other Kira-focused one a couple episodes ago, but it clearly is more important, and it's great to see some actual depth and development of the Bajoran-Cardassian conflict.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 18, 2015 23:45:40 GMT -5
Ep. 19 (In the Hands of the Prophets)
-- Keiko's teaching about the wormhole when a Bajoran priest-type (Vedek Winn) comes in and gets upset that Bajoran religon isn't being taught... she
touches off a movement among the Bajorans.
-- Meanwhile, an engineering ensign is discovered dead when Chief O'Brien is missing a tool.
-- Things get worse with the Bajorans, first they boycott the school, then a few get 'blue flu'. Kira seems to agree with them, and suggests separate schools.
-- Sisko goes to Bajor to talk to one of the other Kai candidates, and gets stonewalls for political reasons.
-- The missing ensign turns out to have been gunned down, rather than killed in an engineering accident. Odo and O'Brien continue to investigate when the school gets firebombed... no one was there.
-- Sisko's 'friend', Vedek Bareil, comes to the station for a 'tour'... and makes a speech.
-- O'Brien finds a file locked under his name he's never seen, and realizes Neela (his Bajoran Ensign friend) probably did it... we see her talking to Vedek Winn about some sort of plot.
-- The two Vedeks make a speech at the school, and Neela pulls out a gun to assassinate Bareil, but she fires wide when Sisko tackles her just in time... Kira is beside herself that Vedek Winn would do such a thing, but Neela plays martyr.
-- Kira and Sisko have a nice chat, and Kira remembers that she doesn't think the federation is so bad after all. the end!
Comments:
-- Keiko's first act back after like 10 episodes is being a jealous wife? really?
-- Where did all the kids come from? Wasn't Jake hanging with Nog because there were no other kids? Now there, 30? 40?
-- Kai Opaca gets mentioned, but as if she was dead, not living on that other planet.. very disappointing. Here was a perfect oppertunity to use her, even without the actress (if that was the issue)
-- This is O'Brien's best episode, for sure. Neela flirting with him was pretty funny.. I guess Keiko wasn't so far off base.
-- Seems like this is the sort of thing Sisko would chat with Dax about in the first few episodes... is it character growth that he didn't, or protecting Terry Farrell from having to act?
-- Why is Kira suddenly regressed to he first couple episodes.. what happened to her character development? She comes back around after the
firebombing, but still, it shouldn't be so easy for her to turn on the Federation.
-- That's two episodes in a row the Bajorans are made to look bad.. interesting.
-- OK, Keiko teaching Gallileo after all that is pretty awesome...well done.
So, we end the season with another extremely heavy handed political statement. A bit of a wimper to end with, I'd say.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 18, 2015 23:50:02 GMT -5
It ALL gets better from here...
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Post by dupersuper on Feb 20, 2015 12:02:41 GMT -5
It ALL gets better from here... If you don't count Profit & Lace... |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Feb 21, 2015 10:02:59 GMT -5
-- That's two episodes in a row the Bajorans are made to look bad.. interesting. That's something I really appreciated with the show. It would have been so easy to present the Bajorans as a spiritual people whose faith was a great help against the brutality of their Cardassian oppressors. And yes, that aspect is acknowledged. But the fact remains: many Bajorans are hard-core integrists putting their beliefs above everything else (including science), and that clashes with many aspects of Federation society. The refusal to paint either the Bajorans or the Cardassians as totally black or white was much more realistic than what most SF shows made me used to. Any group seen in DS9 (be they Bajorans, Cardassians, Founders, Jem'Hadar, Vorta or Klingons) was given a sympathetic angle at one time or another. (The Breen didn't, but that's because they were there for ten minutes at the end of the series). |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 21, 2015 12:21:28 GMT -5
The refusal to paint either the Bajorans or the Cardassians as totally back or white was much more realistic than what most SF shows made me used to. Any group seen in DS9 (be they Bajorans, Cardassians, Founders, Jem'Hadar, Vorta or Klingons) was given a sympathetic angle at one time or another. (The Breen didn't, but that's because they were there for ten minutes at the end of the series). Absolutely. And, interestingly enough, DS9 spent more time on the Klingons than TOS and Next Gen combined. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 25, 2015 22:37:09 GMT -5
Really? Because TNG had almost a whole season of Klingon stories, it seems.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 26, 2015 18:17:29 GMT -5
Really? Because TNG had almost a whole season of Klingon stories, it seems. DS9 spent all of Season 4 on the Klingons and gave them a lot of time beyond that. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 26, 2015 20:45:44 GMT -5
Does it connect with TNG, or is it mostly their own thing (you're making me want to skip ahead...)
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 26, 2015 20:46:27 GMT -5
Does it connect with TNG, or is it mostly their own thing (you're making me want to skip ahead...) It VERY much continues and builds upon the stuff developed in Next Gen. If you thought you knew Gowron, think again  |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 27, 2015 22:48:06 GMT -5
Okay, it is officially killing me that you haven't moved on to Season Two yet. I just did a DS9 marathon tonight, beginning with Duet (I still like it more than you did ), and then the first three episodes of Season Two. Homecoming was pretty much how I remembered it, but The Circle was FAR better upon second viewing, and while The Siege was clearly cut for time, it still did so much right. Truly, if DS9 hadn't gone on to even bigger and better things, those first three episodes of Season Two would be revered as a major high point of the series. Minor detail: Interesting how two random names dropped in those episodes get reused significantly later on. When Keira is inventing names to throw off a Cardassian navigation station while en route to Cardassia IV, she uses the name "Martok," and the admiral Sisko consults with in The Circle is named "Chakotay". |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 28, 2015 8:46:33 GMT -5
In retrospect, Duet was good.. but watching it at first it was all over the place... I think hindsight makes it seem alot better. I almost turned it on last night, but my comic box came  Maybe tonight! |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 28, 2015 22:52:48 GMT -5
Season 2, Ep. 1
Homecoming
Plot: Odo 'confronts' Quark about a hot tip he gave him on some smugglers.. Odo is upset he can't figure out the alterior motive, which is pretty funny. Nog is similarly confused... Quark explains to him he did it to mess with Odo... awesome!
He gets a Bajoran earring from a 'friend', which he brings to Kira, who storms out, upset.
We get a brief interlude with Jake asking for dating advice that was pretty funny... then Kira goes to Sisko to ask for a Runabout to try to rescue a resistance leader that she things belongs to said earring.
Meanwhile, we get introduced to 'the Circle', a Bajorans fringe group that wants everyone else to go away.
Sisko gives in, and sends Kira off... but with O'Brien.
They get scanned, but Kira bluffs their way through. When they arrive, the find there are a dozen Bajorans are on the planet, and land.
Kira plays the prostitute to get inside the force field, and they take out the work camp guards.
4 of the Bajorans stay behind to slow the response down so the others can escape. Li Nalas (the leader they went there for), doesn't want to leave them, but Kira makes the call and they escape.
Upon returning home, the Cardassians are talking to Sisko, and apologizing for the oversight.. the 4 guys left behind are already on their way home. Both Sisko and Kira are suspicious, but they don't have any way to act on their suspicions.
The Bajorans on the station recognize him quickly, and demand a speech... a minister from Bajor is on hand to make hay on the situation. Li Nalas seems decidedly unheroic and uncomfortable. Sisko gets to him to his quarters, and they have a little chat.
Meanwhile, the Circle attack Quark and tattoo their logo into his forehead. Li Nalas is on hand while they interview him, and is shocked that Bajorans would do such a thing.
Then we find the real tragedy of all these issues... Jake's date cancelled on him because he's not Bajoran.
Li Nalas tries to stow away on a cargo ship to hide in the Gamma quadrant. He tells Sisko the real story, that his big moment was a total accident.. he really stumbled into the Cardassian coming out of a bath, and he's really not that exciting of a guy.
Sisko gives him a pep talk, and it seems to help.. the government names him 'Nabok' whatever that is.. more importantly, he's replacing Kira as Federation liason... to be continued!
Comments:
I think I missed Odo and Quark bickering the last couple episodes.
At some point, you'd think Kira would be a little more mellow about these old war stories.. she flies off the handle awfully easily.
Kira mentions the Kai again, but not that they're trying to pick a new one... odd.
Sisko mentions they've been there for a year... so I guess the show is sorta going in real time. Also, he's back to asking Dax for advice... did someone just remember he likes to do that?
Funny how Federation 'civilian' attire looks exactly like the uniform, only a different color. Or perhaps O'Brien just doesn't own any other clothes?
Kira's bluff was pretty awesome... she has good chemistry with O'Brien.
O'Brien missed his calling... he's a damn fine pimp.
It's funny to see politicans are the same the galaxy over.
This episode was definitely quite good... it's a good story in it's own right, and clearly the beginning of a more signifigant arc... great start to the new season!
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 28, 2015 22:58:20 GMT -5
Kira mentions the Kai again, but not that they're trying to pick a new one... odd. Wait one episode Speaking of which, going back through these old episodes, I realize O'Brien was a lot more likable in the beginning. It isn't until later on that he becomes the volatile curmudgeon I remember so vividly. Yeah, that was pretty disturbing. Kira really had her part down too. We're at a point now where done-in-one episodes become fewer and farther between. There's always something brewing in the background now; the show really begins to explore its serial nature in this season, and it only gets better with the seasons that follow. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 1, 2015 0:15:12 GMT -5
Episode 2 The Circle Minister Jaro has a chat with Sisko, who is seriously pissed off. He claims Kira's getting promoted, which Sisko has no choice but to agree to. He leaves the meeting to find the Circle on the door to his quarters. Odo is furious at Kira for leaving without fighting... it turns into a meeting, as the entire crew turns up. She takes a lap around the bridge with her uniform on, sad music playing, as if we're supposed to believe she's really leaving. Kira hangs out with the guy who I think is the new Kai (though they don't say), and she talks to the prophets. The vision she has end in her naked with the Kai.. either this was fan service, or I missed something. Back on the station, Quark gets a lead on the Circle for Odo, but is unwilling and/or afraid to follow up. So Odo makes him a deputy. Kira lies to the guy (who apparently isn't Kai), about her vision, and the bad Kai candidate runs into them, and gives them a hard time... I guess to make sure we know she's sorta evil. Sisko goes to the planet to talk to the Bajoran general, to let him know they suspect a coup. He then asked to get Kira back. The general seems impressed he didn't try to blackmail him, but instead gave him Quark's info. On the station, the Crisari(Sp?) ship is getting searched for weapons on Quark's info, but they don't find anything. Odo stays aboard, just in case. Sisko visits Kira, to let her know he hasn't given up, and to let her know about the Circle, and the weapons. She's then kiddnapped. On the Crisari ship, a Cardassian signs off on the shipment, while Odo watches. At Circle HQ, Minister Jaro reveals himself to Kira, and pumps her for infomation. She refused to talk, and they take her off to be questioned. Quark finds out where the Circle HQ is, and the rescue mission (including Li Nalas) is off. The go in guns blazing, grab Kira, and leave. Odo comes back just in time with evidence the Cardassians are secretly backing the Circle. On the planet, Minister Jaro promised Vedek Winn she can be Kai if he wins and she supports him. Sisko calls home, and they tell him to butt out and evacuate. He plans to stall as assault ship bear down on them. To Be Continued! --- Kira was awfully happy to see O'Brien... interesting. If I was my teenage daughter, I'd be 'shipping' them That was just WAY too overdramatic a departure. For someone who hates it, Kira does alot of gardening. I'm not sure I buy Li Nalas suddenly being a good, dutiful officer all of a sudden, after trying to flee in terror. Also, what happened to his legions of followers? Quark is awfully good at investigating... I guess it makes sense, but it doesn't make the Bajoran goverment look very good. Minister Jaro is an excellent bad guy. Another excellent episode... this should have been the end of season 1! Too much filler there before they got to the real story that didn't really add to it. |
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Maybe tonight!