Epic Star Trek Re-Watch - Deep Space Nine - Season 1 - Week 4

Through The Looking Glass

Sisko dual wielding :datass:

These authorisation codes aren't very secure when they speak them out loud in front of everyone :lol:

Not the best mirror universe episode, but overall a good episode for DS9.

I'm not sure it fully fits with the canon established in the Original Series, I know the human empire fell, but they were irredeemably (comically!) evil in TOS. Decades of defeat and slavery would obviously change people, but the humans are now just the exact same nice people as the main universe? I'm not sure I buy it.

Improbable Cause

Garek's right about the Boy Who Cried Wolf. Never tell the same lie twice. :lol:

Good episode! I can't believe Garek is stupid enough to believe things have been forgotten. He'll be scheming something or else I'll be very disappointed in him!

I didn't know it was a two parter until the end, I'm glad they didn't rush it.

The Die is Cast

Garek is great. A fascinating character acted to perfection.

Guy we've never seen before and the camera kept showing his face. What a shock he sabotaged the cloaking device!

Cracking episode, one of the best in DS9 so far. And one I imagine will have long reaching consequences. It's a shame the next episode write up sounds like a nonsense load of fluff.

Explorers

Oooo new beard! It's like Riker S2 all over again. I've seen photos of Sisko with that beard and a shaved head, so I'm now waiting for the clippers to come out.

It's all kicking off with the Dominion, but the Commander of DS9 has the time to single handedly (hand build!) a spaceship? :lol:

Would an Irishman really sing Jerusalem, even in 300 years time?

The Bashir story was gooseberry fool. How would she not know who was in her class? Bashir turned 30 recently, it's not like it was a long time ago they were at school! And how did the Lexington never find any life, the Enterprise found new life every time it moved an inch. :lol:

The Sisko story was better. The sail ship thing was bobbins, but there was decent father/son bonding there and Jake's a decent kid (not like Wesley

). The Cardassians suddenly "discovering" some archeology :lol:

Family Business

Hmmm, it kept me entertained but overall was pretty meh. Was a good idea to show some more of Ferengi society/family life, but the Ferengi are such wankers. :lol:

Shakaar

Is it just me, or is Bajor just not very interesting? It sucks they were occupied for so long. But they just aren't interesting enough to have so many episodes about.

Having said that, this wasn't awful. A super rushed ending let it down though.

Facets

Fermat's last theorem? I remember Picard trying to solve that. Don't they know it was solved in 1994?

I think after "A Die Is Cast" the episodes have annoyed me. We were building up to a proper fight with the Dominion, but Sisko had time to build a ship and go sailing? For Dax to meet her past lives. For Quark to go meet his mum? And O'"the power"Brien becoming a darts champ? Get on with the strawberry floating WAR!

Still, moans aside, this was alright. It was interesting to see what Dax's previous lives were like. And Nog's attempts to pass Starfleet tests were fun.

The Adversary

A good season finale! Although I kept expecting Kurt Russell to show up.

It's been obvious for a while that Odo would end up killing a changeling. The constant "no changeling has ever harmed another!" stuff made it a certainty!

And we now have a new Captain! I wonder why they didn't start with Sisko as a captain? A desire to see somebody work their way up, or fear over the reaction to a black man being Kirk/Picard's equal?

Season 3 done. It's a vast (VAST!) improvement over S1 and S2. But it still has way too many gooseberry fool episodes. Somebody said recently that S4 is where DS9 gets amazing, so it's time to find out!

Can't wait to see if Moggy finds the next few seasons to be amazing!

I'm still on track with this (well slightly ahead - I'm actually watching the season 4 opener right now) just haven't had much time to contribute thoughts to the thread.

Do agree with the point above in that they don't necessarily balance the "family gooseberry fool of the week" with the "holy strawberry float a huge galaxy spanning war is upon us" story threads too well at this point. We do get some good material out of it though, René Auberjonois was clearly having a great time as Curzon for example and Shakaar is another great opportunity for the Bajoran leader to demonstrate just how much of a utter bitch she is! :lol:

The Way of the Warrior

Oooo a two parter! And we have a bald captain again (I'm counting Kirk as bald

).

And Worf!! :wub:

Gowron is such a crazy bastard. He makes the other Klingons look sane and they are all crazy bastards. :lol:

That was a strawberry floating brilliant episode(s). It had everything you could want. Space battles, hand to hand fighting, political intrigue, Gowron's crazy eyes and Worf.

More of this quality please DS9!

The Visitor

The Candyman makes a perfect old Jake, although the accent wasn't quite right. But Todd did a great job with the mannerisms.

What a devastating episode. :cry:

strawberry floating hell. :cry:

strawberry float :cry:

Hippocratic Oath

O'Brien is such a racist (speciesist?) when it comes to alien races. Like strawberry float did he do it just to save Julian :lol:

Worf

Overall a pretty nothingy episode. If Julian had made the cure then it might have interesting future implications. But as it was, it was all just a standard "adventure of the week".

Indiscretion

Ducat is a dickhead. I like the character though, the slightly camp evil is hilarious.

A bit of a meh one. The Ducat and Kira stuff was mildly interesting. The spike in the bum was funny. The Sisko romance is dull.

WoTW is soooo strawberry floating good. Worf is an amazing addition to the cast and he fits in perfectly.

The Visitor is one of the best DS9 episodes. Todd is fantastic in it and like you say, it's a real tear jerker.

Dukat is unironically my favourite Trek villain. Evil, manipulative bastard that he is. :wub:

Season 4

Way of the Warrior is fantastic, a really strong opener for the season and sets the tone for how epic things are going to be from this point on (for the most part)

And yeah, what a one-two punch to follow it up with The Visitor - such a well put together story and utterly heart wrenching! :cry:

I'm a signed up member of the Dukat fanclub as well, and Indiscretion gives us a bit more insight into a side of him that hasn't really been explored to date. That episode is directed by none other than Moggy's favourite TNG member as well - Jordi!

How do you feel about the slighty reworked main theme Moggy?

I think I prefer the slower, more melancholy version from Seasons 1-3, but I do enjoy the energy this new one has. Ties in with the show ramping up a bit as well.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:How do you feel about the slighty reworked main theme Moggy?

I think I prefer the slower, more melancholy version from Seasons 1-3, but I do enjoy the energy this new one has. Ties in with the show ramping up a bit as well.

I have no idea as I don't think I ever watched it. "Skip intro" ftw

Heathen!

Jenuall wrote:Heathen!

It's not 1997 anymore granddad.

Moggy... for shame.

Just watched the Bashir James Bond fantasy episode, crazy japes but I forgot just how bad Nana Visitor's Russian accent was! :lol:

Rejoined

While having the first Trek gay kiss is important, that was boring. I struggled to stay awake.

From Wikipedia:

1995 and people were editing kisses out of TV episodes. :fp:

The Trill are an odd bunch. Exiling people just for still loving their old spouses? Wankers!

After such strong opening episodes, S4 seems to be going downhill.

Starship Down

Even when faced with death, Julian can't help being creepy with his sharing of his fantasies.

Pretty good episode, god knows why Sisko is so obsessed with baseball though. It's a dull game now, let alone watching holographic replays. :lol:

Little Green Men

I like that the writers of the show envisioned kindles/tablets. But did they really think in the future we'd have one for each book? :lol:

Loved that! Time travel is always fun, but sending Quark and co back was a stroke of genius. I just wish it had been a two parter! Let Quark take over Earth, then in part 2 show how badly he strawberry floated up the galaxy and get somebody to go back to undo it.

The Sword of Kahless

Caves, so many caves. :lol:

Maybe I'm misremembering, but in the episode of TNG where Kahless "returned", didn't Worf say he had no faith and that he'd never seen any visions? And yet in this he saw Kahless as a child?

Reasonably good episode. The Klingons are always fun (crazy bastards), but the mystical side of things was less interesting than the political side of things.

Our Man Bashir

Only up to the credits, but Bashir as Bond. :lol:

They never seem to be able to eject a warp core. I think they should rethink their systems.

Sisko and Garek were fantastic in this. Overall it was a much better episode than it had any right to be, it almost felt like a proto Austin Powers. :lol:

I assume Bashir's final line means they are planning to do another episode like this.

Homefront

O'Brien and Bashir with big boomer energy at the start.

The biggest danger since the last World War? Are they forgetting the Borg? :lol:

I'm not buying Sisko's dad being seriously ill, in The Visitor, didn't Jake go and live with his grandfather?

Very good episode, but hard to judge the story as a whole as it's a two parter.

Paradise Lost

Well, that's an ominous title!

Excellent two parter! It was a bit like the conspiracy episodes of TNG, but done right and without the stupid mind controlling bugs. :lol:

I was surprised that Worf didn't blow up the Lakota, he really is more human than Klingon...

I wish this Dominion war would kick off though! They keep getting the story right to the brink and then backing off. C'mon, blow some gooseberry fool up!

Crossfire

Male Bajoran political and religious leaders are the dullest creatures in the galaxy. Can they not cast anybody with a bit of personality?

The majority of this one was a bit meh. But the Odo and Quark interactions were great. Those two really make a great bickering odd couple. :lol:

Return to Grace

Dukat is a wonderful character. He seemed a one dimensional villain at the start of DS9, but he has depths. Fantastic acting.

The episode itself was very good but not quite in the great category. The guerrilla tactics and Dukat heading off to fight the Klingons with one ship hopefully come back into play in later episodes.

Sons of Mogh

Grown up Jake turns into a Klingon :shock:

Crazy Klingon bastards again. :lol:

Their idea of honour is nuts.

Worf must be confused as hell when it comes to captains. Picard was "yeah killing a Klingon to keep their honour is cool". Sisko is "are you strawberry floating kidding me?!" :lol:

I don't know if this was a way of writing Kurn out of the show or if he'll pop back up. I hope he does!

Bar Association

Rom :wub:

Ferengi labour contracts are a Tory wet dream.

Loved Odo bringing up all the problems on the Enterprise. And Sisko working out what Quark owes the Federation :lol:

I'm not surprised by Odo being anti-union (ACAB) but surprised by Worf being a scab - I'd have had posh Julian down as the Tory.

Interesting that Quark now has no family left working for him. Rom and Nog really came into their own, so (assuming Nog comes back!) it'll be good to see them doing their own thing.

Accession

O'Brien is a terrible father. He's not mentioned his daughter for a year, is pissed off his bachelor year is being disturbed by his kid (and a new one) coming back and in front of his child sucks his wife's face like he's in a porno :lol:

I'm normally pretty bored by the Bajoran religious stuff, but it was actually quite interesting here. Time travel, organised religion and caste systems all wrapped up in one story.

Rules of Engagement

I do like a courtroom episode! They should do a spin off series where a lawyer travels around the galaxy, taking on "impossible" to win cases.

This was filmed in a slightly odd way, the characters almost talking directly to us. But it was highly enjoyable. And Sisko can certainly make a damn good speech when he wants to.

Hard Time

Parent of the millennium O'Brien again.

It's weird, obviously this version of prison is better than a real prison. But feels like it's more horrific, and I don't know why! The punishment side of things strangely reminded me of Demolition Man - getting out after "20 years" to be the same age. But in this one, everything else is also the same. So why does it feel more like torture than rotting away in a real cell?

A good one!

Shattered Mirror

Decent mirror universe episode, although the plot there seems to be wearing thin. There's only so many time we can see slightly different versions of characters needing Sisko's help.

The Muse

I can see the episode description says this has Lwaxana Troi in. Brilliant. :dread:

Of all the characters they could bring over from TNG, why keep bringing her over!

Ok she wasn't actually very annoying in this episode. If she had been that restrained throughout Trek, I might not detest the character.

The other plot was shite. I guessed almost immediately that the creepy woman was going to be some sort of psychic vampire and it was just a crap storyline.

Meh.

For The Cause

Garek's a dirty old man.

I really liked this one. The smuggling/terrorism plot was decent. And I knew that lieutenant was going to be a traitor ever since the episode where he sabotaged the cloaking device. That was on Federation orders, but you could see he was an untrustworthy and sly banana split.

To The Death

The Jem'Hadar are supposed to be a terrifying fighting force. But they seem to mostly be full of gooseberry fool. The rebels outnumber the force sent in, but barely get a scratch on anybody. Except Bashir, and he doesn't count.

Sisko was also way too trusting at the start. Dominion bloke says "trust me! We have to go to this place and do stuff" and he barely questions him?

Minor moans aside, this was decent! Worf bickering with the Jem'Hadar was hilarious. The training scenes were great fun. And the action was decent! It had a real Dirty Dozen sort of vibe to it.

The Quickening

If this is a Highlander crossover, I will be very excited.

Euthanasia isn't a thing in Trek then. Bashir seemed disgusted that the doctor would put people out of their misery. :lol:

A thoroughly depressing episode, there might be hope for the future, but still. :dread:

But it was pretty good, Bashir's overacting slightly ruined it.

Body Parts

"But she's Bajoran, how can she carry a human baby?". What? There are so many interspecies kids running around, why would that have been a problem? :lol:

I understand the pregnancy is to cover the actress's real life pregnancy. But meh, I don't care.

Quark and Garek :lol:

I thought Quark would get out of it by creating a fake body or something. I was surprised the FCA actually won! It'll be interesting to see if Quark gets back in with the Ferengi or falls in deeper with the Federation.

An extra review as I might as well finish off S4.

Broken Link

Not a fighting/explosion heavy end of season episode, but maybe better for having a slower paced mystery episode, with a big plot point at the end.

Odo as a human is going to take getting used to. Imagine his confusion when he has to go for a gooseberry fool, or gets his first erection :lol:

Gowron is a changeling. That makes sense as to why the Klingons have been so warlike (more so than usual!) for a while now. I'm assuming it won't be as simple as just telling the Klingons to test him!

Season 5, here we come!

Just approaching the end of Season 4 myself! Didn't have much time to watch any DS9 over the last couple of weeks due to house moving but should be able to get back on the schedule now :toot:

Moggy wrote:The Quickening

If this is a Highlander crossover, I will be very excited.

Euthanasia isn't a thing in Trek then. Bashir seemed disgusted that the doctor would put people out of their misery.

A thoroughly depressing episode, there might be hope for the future, but still. But it was pretty good, Bashir's overacting slightly ruined it.

Yeah this is a bit of a weird one in terms of Bashir's reaction to the situation, especially as he quickly discovers that the virus the Dominion have given to the people is incredibly hard to deal with, even with the much more advanced technology he has access to! Like, of course these people are going to focus on palliative care, how is that so hard for your to understand!? :lol:

Epic Star Trek Re-Watch - Deep Space Nine - Season 1 - Week 4

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