Category Archives: 1996

1996, 2372, Bajoran, Deep Space Nine

“Accession”

August 2, 2015 Paul

asdfasdf — “No, that’s really the Sisko. I know, I know — he looks different with the shaved head and the goatee.”

An old Bajoran ship emerges from the wormhole and its pilot is Akorem Laan (Richard Libertine, otherwise known as the editor on “Fletch”) a famous poet lost for two centuries. He’s convinced that he’s the Emissary as he found the wormhole and the prophets first. Sisko’s initially relieved, but Akorem starts messing things up by saying the Bajorans should revert to a strict caste system. Such a system would prevent Bajor from joining the Federation and prompts a crazy vedek to kill someone from an unclean sect. Sisko and Akorem go into the wormhole, and it turns out the whole endeavor was a sort of test for Sisko (seems like “The Matrix” creators watched this episode). Akorem is sent back to his own time, the caste system is abandoned and Sisko finally starts to embrace his role as Emissary.

Why it’s important

Much of the Bajoran stuff from DS9’s first couple seasons was forgotten by mid- to late-DS9. That’s too bad in some ways, as the trilogy to start season two was really good TV. But its lasting consequences were minimal as Bajor just sort of fell in line (other than our old buddy Kai Winn) as the series went on.

But Sisko’s role as Emissary became increasingly important. Having him embrace it here was crucial for the character, as Sisko went from a career Starfleet officer — see his discussion with Worf at the end of “The Way of the Warrior” — to a person who embraced being a religious figure. For three-and-a-half seasons, this was a point of tension for Sisko. After “Accession”, Sisko not only takes the Emissary ball. He runs with it.

Also of importance is the idea that the prophets are “of Bajor” a point first made here. What exactly this means is never explained, but the fact that the prophets have a stake in what happens in linear time is a very important factor in what we see later, particularly in the Dominion War.

asdfa — Yay! Keiko’s back. Let the bickering begin!

What doesn’t hold up

Of course, the change in the prophets is rather abrupt. Back in “Emissary”, the prophets just sort of tolerated passage through the wormhole and didn’t get linear beings. The Bajorans had built a religion around them, but it certainly appeared as if the prophets hadn’t done anything intentionally to stoke that — even if the orbs they sent were at the center of the Bajoran faith.

Here, it’s pretty clear the prophets helped propagate the religion. Their earlier connection to Bajor isn’t explained — which is fine — but the break from what we saw in season one is abrupt. Now, we learn later that the prophets occasionally would change things after learning about them, so maybe after “Emissary”, they decided to up their game. But that doesn’t make sense for a species that knows no difference between now, the past and the future.

Lastly, I’m surprised no Bajorans wondered whether Sisko did something untoward to Akorem. Remember that these are the same people who very quickly decided Sisko wasn’t the Emissary. Wouldn’t someone have asked some tough questions? Hell, it’s kind of amazing that Kai Winn — who is said to have sided with Akorem — didn’t pop up and fight Sisko.

Final thoughts

A lot of people don’t like the Bajoran DS9 stuff, but I think that had more to do with timing than anything. The Bajoran infighting happened while the series was really getting its sea legs. I think the issue isn’t that the Bajoran stuff was weaker material. I just think it mostly occurred when the actors and writers were fine-tuning their games. Avery Brooks, in particular, grew into the Sisko role as the series went on. Heck, the scene here with Nana Visitor, in which Kira tells Sisko she plans to leave to follow her caste and become an artist, is one of the stronger character moments in the series — especially if you remember where the characters started when the series began.

Now, maybe you could argue that DS9 as a series really took off when the stakes were greater — when the fate of the galaxy was in play, instead of the fate of one (relatively) insignificant planet. Of course, that’s one of DS9’s lasting legacies, that what was at first a rather inconsequential setting became so important in the greater Star Trek tapestry.

This episode also has one of DS9’s best laugh-out-loud moments. The subplot involves Keiko returning to the station and telling O’Brien she’s pregnant. The stuff with O’Brien and Bashir missing each other is nice (if a little forced) but Worf’s reaction to learning Keiko’s preggers — Worf, of course, delivered Molly O’Brien back on TNG — is priceless. A written summary doesn’t do it justice, so just go watch the episode.

Oh, and because it pops up here — when Quark tells O’Brien and Bashir about their usual Thursday night holosuite fun — does it bother anyone else that DS9 uses traditional Earth days? Keep in mind that the Bajoran day is 26 hours long …

Coming later this week …

Is Sisko sleeping with the enemy? Seriously, that was in the old promo.

1996, 2372, Cardassian, Deep Space Nine, Klingon

“Return to Grace”

July 29, 2015 Paul

Kira is escorted to a conference by none other than our old buddy/overseer of genocide Gul Dukat, recently demoted to freighter captain. Dukat’s standing fell after he brought his half-Bajoran daughter Ziyal (Cyia Batten, introduced in “Indiscretion”) back to Cardassia. When Dukat’s ship arrives at the conference, they find the outpost devoid of any life and the Cardassian and Bajoran attendees killed, after a Klingon attack. Kira then helps Dukat mount an attack on the guilty Bird of Prey, which they eventually capture (Dukat kills the crew). With the new ship in hand, Dukat goes against the Cardassian government — which is too crippled to use some intel from the Bird of Prey to go on the offensive — and starts his own private war against the Klingons. Kira takes Ziyal back to DS9.

asdfas — “That’s right, bitches. I’m not just a glorified extra.”

Why it’s important

This episode is likely most remembered for the Kira/Dukat pairing that we saw a lot of starting in season four, beginning with “Indiscretion”. We seriously debated reviewing that episode, as it somewhat leads to this one. Without Dukat sparing Ziyal at Kira’s urging, he wouldn’t have been demoted, which means he wouldn’t have been transporting Kira in this episode.

But more importantly was Dukat’s decision to fight the Klingons on his own and to buck the Cardassian government, which we see here. That, of course, hints at the kind of thinking that leads him to take the Cardassian Empire into a very different direction in the fifth season — a direction which has quadrant-shaking consequences, as we’ll get into later.

There’s also some good stuff in this episode about just how far Cardassia had fallen because of the Klingons. The dialog early in the episode about the decaying Cardassian health system was significant — as was the talk of the Klingons acting with impunity behind Cardassian lines.

And, of course, we meet Dukat’s adjutant Damar (Casey Biggs) for the first time here. Of interest is the fact that Damar started out as a glorified extra who went on to be one of the key players in DS9. More on that in later reviews as well.

asdfasd — “It’s good to see you, too, Nerys! I hope you treat the two other actors who play me as well as you’ve treated me!”

What doesn’t hold up

There are some smaller things that stand out — mostly regarding the Klingons’ willingness to ignore Dukat’s freighter after its rather paltry attack. Frankly, the Klingons, from what we know of them, would have almost certainly destroyed the freighter, as it was a military vessel. It’s not as if doing so would have been a huge tax on resources.

But, bigger picture, the chumminess between Kira and Dukat seen here and in “Indiscretion” just feels weird in concert with what we see of Dukat later. It almost works because it sort of paints Dukat as a pragmatist willing to do anything or behave in any way that he thinks will help him — and Kira (inconsistently) shows contempt for Dukat. But the way it’s done here, it almost paints Kira as in the wrong. It’s clear that the creators hadn’t decided that they’d make Dukat a villain again when they made these two episodes (or “Apocalypse Rising” in early season five).

Final thoughts

The big thing here — which we’ll see a lot of in some upcoming reviews — is just how bad things were for the Cardassians after the fall of the Obsidian Order and the Klingon invasion. “Return to Grace” isn’t a stellar episode, but it’s a good example of the increasingly serial nature of DS9 in the later seasons. This episode could have been a one-off episode. But Dukat’s actions here have a long string of consequences.

Coming next week …

Is Sisko really the Emissary? You bet your earrings he is.

1996, 2372, Deep Space Nine, Dominion

“Homefront” and “Paradise Lost”

July 26, 2015 Paul

Part one: A bombing indicates the Changelings have reached Earth (thunderclap) and Sisko and Odo — with Jake in tow to visit Grandpa Sisko (Brock Peters) — head there to help Starfleet. Admiral Leyton (Robert Foxworth), Sisko’s former CO, appoints our buddy Benny to head Starfleet security on Earth. Then, power goes out across the planet, and everybody assumes it’s a Changeling plot. Leyton gets a previously hesitant Federation Council President Jaresh-Inyo (Herschel Sparber) to allow Starfleet to send troops across the planet as the Changeling paranoia reaches a fever pitch.

Part two: Sisko and Odo learn the power outage was actually caused by Starfleet cadets, on orders from Leyton, who wants more authority to defend Earth from the Changeling threat. Sisko calls the station and has Kira and Worf bring the Defiant to Earth, armed with evidence that some unexplained wormhole openings were faked by Leyton. Meanwhile, Sisko meets a Changeling impersonating O’Brien — further evidence that infiltrators are on the planet. Before the Defiant can arrive, Leyton has Sisko arrested, accusing him of being a Changeling. Leyton sends a Starfleet ship to stop the Defiant from arriving, and the two engage in a short battle. By this point, Sisko has escaped with Odo’s help and has a phaser on Leyton in the admiral’s office. With things about to go from barely lethal to really freaking lethal in the battle, Leyton orders his ship to stand down and is arrested. But he tells Sisko that he hopes they both don’t regret Sisko’s successful efforts to stop him. Sisko’s dad, representing the people of Earth or something, admits he’s terrified, but that life will go on. Sisko and company head back to DS9.

Why it’s important

This episode further escalates the “Changelings are everywhere” theme from “The Adversary”. It’s an interesting approach, in that the Changeling’s don’t actually cause the problems. But the fact that they’re around causes paranoia among the good guys that leads to some classic DS9 shades of gray. It’s a nice two-parter, even if it’s sort of a cheat. Had the Dominion really caused the power outage, you figure a fleet of Jem’Hadar ships would have arrived shortly thereafter to take advantage.

We also get a glimpse of the Founders’ thoughts on Odo’s actions in “The Adversary” when the Changeling impersonating Leyton in part one shows clear animosity toward Odo. There’s also the idea that Sisko is becoming a more important player in Starfleet and Federation matters.

Oh, and for as much crap as I’ve given Sisko for being insubordinate, he’s totally in the right on this one, whereas he’s been arguably in the right in the past.

What doesn’t hold up

The biggest bit of goofiness happens in part two, when the Defiant arrives in time to actually make a difference. At most, a few days pass between the time Sisko contacts Kira and the showdown between the Defiant and the Lakota. It’s never explicitly stated where the showdown takes place, so it might have been a ways from Earth. But it was close enough where the Lakota could respond and where Leighton viewed it as a threat.

We get a glimpse in “The Search” that DS9 is maybe a week or so away from Earth — given a line from Jake — and that doesn’t quite fit the “edge of the frontier” billing and the idea that the Federation is quite large. But a few days from DS9 to Earth makes even less sense. We’ll continue to catalog the “It’s a Small Galaxy” problem DS9 will show us over the next few years. Voyager was guilty of that, too (along with so many other things).

Also, what exactly happened with the Changelings on Earth? We know there was at least one of them, and there were likely more, especially if the Changeling impersonating O’Brien was telling even a bit of the truth. Now, there is the matter of the disease, which we learn later was affecting the Changelings around this time. But wouldn’t the Founders on Earth — who likely weren’t linking with other Changelings, who weren’t infected en masse for at least a few months — have taken the opportunity to wreak some havoc?

The reason they didn’t, of course, is that doing so would have been too tumultuous, even for DS9. We’ll see a lot of this over the next few years, but “Homefront”/”Paradise Lost” is DS9’s biggest example of where rationalizing or retconning the buildup versus the end result doesn’t work at all.

Also, I’m again amazed — maybe even appalled — at the lack of preparation Starfleet and the DS9 crew, in particular have engaged in despite clear warnings of Changeling infiltrators. On Earth, Starfleet tests on Odo what level phaser setting would incapacitate a Changeling. This is a great idea, but one that should have been done WELL BEFORE this episode. Keep in mind that the looming threat of Changeling infiltrators predates even “The Die is Cast”, which happened about a year before this episode! This is another example of a scene used for exposition — it shows that the Changelings are really big threats to anyone who might have missed previous episodes — which makes Starfleet and Sisko look really dumb.

Last thing. These episodes do some big-time character retconning. Sisko, back in “Emissary”, was an officer whose career had apparently taken a downward turn. He was basically damaged goods (with reason) after his wife’s death at the Battle of Wolf 359. Essentially, his time on DS9 reinvigorates his career and gets him promoted, and that all made at least some sense.

But here, it sounds like he was always an officer on the way up. Leyton thinks very highly of him and he’s held in awe by Starfleet cadets. Keep in mind that this episode takes place after maybe three major incidents with the Dominion (in “The Jem’Hadar”, “The Search” and “Starship Down”) only one of which was particularly successful. Granted, Sisko led the defense of the station against the Klingons, but that doesn’t seem like something that would impress the Dominion-crazy cadets or Leyton’s group enough to make Sisko almost James Kirk like in the eyes of Starfleet. At least, not based on what Sisko was less than two years earlier.

Final thoughts

What this episode probably does best is establish in tone the idea that the Dominion stuff is really messing with Starfleet and the Federation, putting the Roddenberry, early-TNG utopian stuff aside to deal with a particularly nasty foe. Some Trekkers hate DS9 because it took Trek in this direction, but I think it was probably inevitable. Keep in mind that some of the darker elements of DS9 — the Maquis, the Cardassian war — were actually part of TNG in the final few seasons. In other words, there’s only so much you can do with franchise centered around a conflict-free civilization.

We also see some great battle scenes in “Paradise Lost” between the Defiant and the Lakota, and we understand Worf’s role on the station. Essentially, he’s second in command of the Defiant and third in command of DS9. Which makes sense, but is very interesting

Coming later this week …

Gul Dukat goes rogue … with Kira’s help?

1996, 2373, Borg, First Contact

“Star Trek: First Contact”

June 10, 2015 Paul

The Borg are back, but the new Enterprise-E is told to stay out of the fighting, as Starfleet is worried former-Borg Picard could be a liability. Of course, he defies orders, heads to Earth and successfully destroys a cube in Earth’s orbit. Before it explodes, a small sphere emerges and travels back in time — apparently changing history. The Enterprise follows, and determines that the Borg want to stop humanity’s first warp flight by killing its inventor, Zefram Cochrane (see “Metamorphosis”). The Enterprise destroys the sphere, but not before it attacks Cochrane’s facility and beams drones to the Enterprise. Riker and Geordi head to the surface and help Cochrane (James Cromwell) — who’s a drunk and isn’t the paragon of virtue history paints him to be — while Picard must try to save the ship from the Borg. Data is captured by the newly introduced Borg queen (Alice Krige) and Picard sets the ship on autodestruct — to prevent the Borg from taking it over and stopping Cochrane. Before he leaves, Picard tries to save Data, who has apparently switched sides on the Borg queen’s promise of having real skin grafted onto his body (or something) but ends up double-crossing the Borg and allowing Picard to kill the queen. Cochrane’s flight continues (mostly) as planned and a Vulcan ship sees the flight and makes first contact. The Enterprise returns home, with history restored.

Why it’s important

This movie, aside from being mostly very good, explains a lot of Trek’s backstory and is a touchstone for “Star Trek: Enterprise.” Humanity joins a larger galactic community after these events, although it really makes its biggest steps about a century later.

This movie also shows more background on the Borg (some of which is dumb) and is consequential in that humanity was saved twice by the Enterprise crew (first in the initial battle and, then, in the 21st century).

Lastly — and maybe most importantly — we see the new Enterprise-E for the first time. I’ll always have a special place in my heart for its predecessor, but the new Enterprise was pretty badass.

What doesn’t hold up

The movie’s biggest conceit is that it totally ignores everything that happened in “Descent”. There’s no mention of the individual Borg seen in that episode or why Picard was allowed to defend the Federation then but not in this movie. Or, why Riker — who saved Earth from assimilation in “The Best of Both Worlds” — is excluded, as well. Basically, the reason for keeping the Enterprise-E out of the fight is dumb. It would have made more sense if the ship had been late to the fight because it was too far away. Of course, the fact that the Enterprise can leave the Neutral Zone and get to Earth in the course of the battle has never made even a bit of sense. Essentially, the battle would have had to last for DAYS for the Enterprise to make it in time.

One also wonders why the entire Enterprise crew (save Worf) is serving on the new Enterprise with the same rank. Seems like any one of them could have gone onto greener pastures, particularly with the natural break after the destruction of the previous Enterprise.

Speaking of Worf, it was fun to get him back into the fold by having him command the Defiant in the Borg attack. By this point in the Trek timeline, he was stationed on DS9. But it’s kind of ridiculous that he’s the only DS9 character on the Defiant during the attack. Even if Sisko and some of the others (Kira and Odo, certainly) stayed on the station, why Dax, O’Brien and Bashir aren’t on the Defiant is never explained. Also, the Defiant survivors got absorbed pretty quickly into the Enterprise crew (or, were assimilated).

There’s also the matter of Cochrane in this movie compared with his first appearance in “Metamorphosis”. Besides the fact that James Cromwell looks NOTHING like Glenn Corbett, the two characters sure don’t act alike. Corbett’s Cochrane talked about decency and was weirded out when he learned the Companion had an intimate relationship with him. Cromwell’s Cochrane is a drunk who built the warp engine to get to an island full of naked women. Hmmm …

Also, it’s odd that the Borg chose to try to stop Cochrane in the days before first contact. Why not go to Earth and kill Cochrane as a child — or destroy Cochrane’s complex weeks or months before first contact? There’s no advantage to them arriving right before the event, other than to allow the Enterprise crew to see and be part of the first warp flight.

There are a few other stray items, like why Picard brought Data down to the planet initially. There’s just no way to justify that, considering it’s a primitive culture in which Data sticks out like a sore thumb. But, basically, this movie sets up the Picard-and-Data shoot-’em up approach we see for the rest of the Trek movies. That’s unfortunate, because it doesn’t play to the characters’ strengths from TNG and it marginalizes nearly all of the other characters. Riker and Geordi essentially become the leaders of the B team starting here. The funniest example comes in “Star Trek: Insurrection” — which we won’t review — when the entire senior staff joins Picard, going against orders. Picard is in civilian clothes (planning to leave the ship) and Data, Worf, Troi and Crusher all arrive in civilian clothes as well. Riker and Geordi, though, are in uniform. At that point, it was unclear whether Picard would allow anyone to join him. But he relents, and asks Riker and Geordi to stay on the ship. It’s almost as if those two — and only those two — knew they’d be left behind and dressed appropriately. Or that Picard picked who would join him based on who had changed into civilian attire.

Back to “First Contact”, it does seem that Picard values Data more than just about anyone else. That’s not necessarily a problem — they are, of course, close — but Picard’s decision to go save Data is over the top. It’s justified by him realizing he’s been callous about his disregard for crewmembers who were assimilated earlier. But it’s awful convenient that he had that realization only in time to save Data.

Final thoughts

This really is a good movie, even if it’s more violent than just about any other Trek film. The first contact stuff works quite well — the reveal that the aliens are Vulcans was nicely done — and the Borg action (particularly the space battles) is great.

But the Borg stuff on the Enterprise is kind of annoying. Why don’t more of the Starfleet officers start using bladed weapons — or even replicating bullets? To go to hand-to-hand combat after the Borg neutralize the phasers was really stupid. Hell, Picard uses a machine gun in the holodeck! Why didn’t he replicate a few dozen of those?

I’m not going to get too deep into the Borg Queen stuff, as I don’t absolutely hate the idea and realize it might have been necessary for exposition. But it does run counter to a lot of what we know AND the forced retcon from “The Best of Both Worlds” really was odd. Why the creators decided to make the queen an active part of Picard’s assimilation way back when never made a ton of sense.

Coming next week …

The Enterprise crew has one last mission before it breaks up — and the music of Irving Berlin plays a big role. Hmmm.

What if a site focused on the really important Star Trek episodes, explained how they were important and how they tied together — while tossing in a healthy dose of snark?