Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

I can see starfleet punishing bashir
if they don't it opens the door for more parents to engineer their kids and just not tell them about it, or get them to keep quiet like bashir had
if they know the kid will be punished too it lessens the chance of doing it

I wonder if selective joining of sperm and egg is covered and illegal under the genetic engineering laws?
and there is obviously an exception for different species getting pregnant since in most cases that requires medical assistance but in the strictest sense it is a form of genetic engineering

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

I guess I'm just wondering at what point did Bashir do anything wrong. Unless there is a "have you been genetically altered" question on the Starfleet Entrance exam then this is Starfleet's fault, not Bashir. If you don't want people crawling through your loopholes then close the loophole.

First Six Episodes of Season 6: wow, what an ambitious plan. Every A and B story for 6 episodes (actually 7 if you count the Season 5 finale) is one giant story. For the most part it totally works. The writers take the characters to places you would never expect and they are forced to evolve. Kira turning into a collaborator and the expression on her face when the Vedek commits suicide on the Promenade was amazing. For five seasons we establish that Kira is anti-establishment and is willing to fight to the death for freedom and putting her in the position to have to defend the Dominion was pretty smart and then she's back to being a terrorist but with the added twist of being an insider. Odo going over to the dark side and selling out the resistance by omission I never saw coming when the episode originally aired. Rom turns into the guy willing to die for his beliefs and Nog turns into a good soldier. Quark has to kill two Jem'Hadar soldiers to free Kira, Jake, and Nog. What's really cool about that scene is when it's over, Kira and Rom are out the door ready to fight but Quark just stands there in a state of shock. That makes total sense for this character because Quark, I assume, has never killed anyone before. It is realistic that even though he did what he had to do, the gravity of his actions took hold for a minute and Jake had to come and retrieve him. Damar murders Ziyal and Dukat goes bat poop crazy, yeah, didn't see that coming either. The only thing that doesn't work in these episodes is Alexander's story in "Sons and Daughters." There really was no reason to bring him into the story except the writers didn't want to have to explain why he wasn't at the wedding.

I didn't know this at the time but apparently, having the Prophets intercede in the battle was controversial when it aired. I never thought it was a cop-out, actually, having Rom disable the mines would have been an even bigger cop-out IMHO. The heroes don't always save the day at the last possible moment. Given what we're going to learn about Sisko's relationship with the Prophets, it makes sense that they would finally get involved. It's unfortunate that they Prophets exact a price for their help. In one of the earlier episode there's a great scene where Sisko waxes poetic about how Bajor is where he belongs and how he wants to build a house there. The Prophets telling him in no uncertain terms that he can't have that dream is kinda sad.

"You Are Cordially Invited" Dax and Worf get married in a grand Klingon ceremony. Bashir and O'Brien wanting to beat the living crap out of Worf after the 4-day Klingon bachelor party was pretty funny.

"Resurrection" the alt-universe Bareil shows up on DS9. I never think of this as a mirror universe episode since all of the action takes place in our universe. He's not Bareil by any stretch of the imagination and even though Sisko tries to warn her, Kira gets involved anyway. Tisk-tisk, you should always listen to the Sisko, it saves time and anguish.

BTW, mikehunt, I owe you an apology. In the review of "Defiant" sfdebris refers to Ben Sisko's Mother F***ing Pimp Hand. In the review of "Sacrifice of Angels" he refers to the USS Ben Sisko's Mother F***ing Pimp Hand. I missed the subtle difference, I'm so ashamed :sad:

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

"Statistical Probabilities" I'm not a fan of this episode. It's not a bad episode but I just don't care for our genetically engineered group. Did Bashir really think the Federation was going to surrender just because he and three misfits said they should?

"The Magnificent Ferengi" is Star Trek's answer to The Seven Samurai. It's a pretty fun episode complete with Iggy Pop and Nog controlling the dead Vorta via remote control was weird.

"Waltz" oh this episode shows us how completely around the bend Dukat really is. I kinda agree with sfdebris that the writers should have killed Dukat at the end of this episode but that would have deprived us of his antics later in the show. Dukat really does believe he's a savior to be worshiped instead of the sociopath he really is.

"Who Mourns For Morn" It amazes me that the writers have managed to not let Morn talk this entire time despite the fact that the characters say he's such talker. The bletch at the end when he barfs up the liquid latinum was a little gross but fitting I guess.

"One Little Ship" was pretty awesome from a visual effects standpoint. Kira laughing hysterically at the notion of shrinking Dax, Bashir, O'Brien and the ship tells the audience, yeah, it's ridiculous but just go for the ride.

"Honor Among Thieves" Star Trek meets Donnie Brasco. The Starfleet Intelligence angle provides a nice setup for "Inquisition" and the Section 31 story lines.

"Change of Heart" I love that the writers didn't take the easy route by having Worf complete the mission and save Dax. Married couples don't get to go on missions alone anymore, how sad.

"Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night" I love the ambiguity of this episode. A few seasons earlier Kira would have blown Dukat's quarters up regardless of whether or mother was inside. The question of whether Kira's mom should be characterized as a collaborator or not is open-ended. She became Dukat's mistress to help her family which is wholly legitimate but the fact that she fell in love with Dukat was where the line gets blurry. I wonder where the hell Dukat found time to run Terok Nor between Kira's mom, Ziyal's mom, and the multiple kids he has on Cardassia!

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

I’d be willing to bet that one of the main reasons why many Trekkies don’t like DS9 is because it was much darker than other Trek series. “Inquisition” and “In the Pale Moonlight” are arguably two of the darker episodes of DS9 which is why I’m putting them together. So “Inquisition” introduces us to Section 31, an Obsidian Order/Tal Shire type organization that’s been around since the Federation’s founding and is charged with protecting the Federation’s security by any means necessary. We are led to believe that there’s a security risk on DS9 and Bashir is our main suspect. To be fair, this isn’t that much of a stretch: his genetic engineering debacle has eroded trust and the whole being captured and held by the Dominion doesn’t help. That’s what makes the episode so good: it is completely plausible given what’s happened that Bashir could be a traitor and not know it. Sloan uses sleep deprivation, kidnapping, and lies to get Bashir to confess to being a traitor but it doesn’t work. Turns out, it was mostly a ploy to get Bashir to join Section 31 and that doesn’t work either. When Sisko asks about Section 31 no one confirms its existence but no one denies it either which means yep, it exists and basically has carte blanch to do whatever they want without oversight or consequence.

“In the Pale Moonlight” goes even further. It’s one thing to have some far off organization engaging in shady dealings, it’s another thing to have Sisko doing the shady dealings. I love how this episode is filmed with Sisko doing a first-person narration/confession directly into the camera as he tells us what he’s done to get the Romulans involved in the war. Working with Garek should have been the first sign that things were not going to go well. Sisko lied, bribed, and was an accessory to murder but in the end, the plan worked. The final lines of Sisko saying he could live with what he’d done (and the fact that the second time he says it is more in form of a question than a statement) shows us just how far over the line Sisko has gone. His decisions were morally bankrupt and I think what really pisses people off about this episode is the fact that most of us would have done the exact same thing if we were in Sisko’s shoes. This episode has always been in my top 10 of DS9 episodes but I think now it’s inching its way into the top 5.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

Forgive me while I gush about what is my favorite DS9 episode and probably my favorite Trek episode overall. I think “Far Beyond the Stars” is brilliant and kinda like TNG’s “Inner Light,” I wonder what the hell Emmy voters were smoking that this didn’t get an acting or directing nomination for Brooks. This episode is basically a sequel to last season’s “Rapture” where the Prophets send Sisko visions to help guide his path. Instead of visions of Bajor, Sisko is sent to 1950s earth as a sci-fi writer. Since the war is not going well, Sisko considers resigning his commission and letting someone else make the big decisions. Of course, if you want to teach someone about sacrifice, perseverance, and faith, you send them to 1950s earth as a black man.

Now TOS aired before my time so I wasn’t witness to the social and political significance of having Nichelle Nichols on the Enterprise every week. I know she wanted to leave the show because lets be clear, she didn’t have much to do and she stayed because Martin Luther King Jr. asked her to. My mom, who is not a huge sci-fi fan also talks about how cool it was to see Nichols on TV every week and Whoopi Goldberg made the same argument when she fought to be on TNG. The idea that black folks would survive and thrive in the 23rd century was a revolutionary concept. Now that’s all well and good but as progressive as Trek claims to be, it never really tackled racial issues head-on at least where humans were concerned. We are talking about the franchise that brought us “Code of Honor” yikes. “Far Beyond the Stars does what Trek has been sidestepping since the 1960s: it acknowledged that racial differences exists. The show didn’t necessarily have to go there, having the tall black man in charge of this space station every week acknowledged race without necessarily commenting on it every week (though as I’ve pointed out, there were subtle shout-outs to race starting in the pilot episode). I teach a class on African Americans on TV and it always boggles my mind when doing research for my class that DS9 never gets mentioned and the show was airing at a time when the NAACP was calling for network boycotts b/c there weren’t any black folks starring in shows. Here was Avery Books and Cirroc Lofton and Michael Dorn chillin every week and no one seemed to notice.

Anyway, watching the cops (Weyoun and Duakt) beat Benny toward the end of the episode is still painful to watch. The following scene when Benny breaks down b/c his story won’t be published is painful for different reasons – watching his dreams get crushed like that is so heartbreaking. The discussion between Sisko and his father at the end of the episode has always stuck with me. Sisko questions whether or not their existence is simply a figment of Benny’s imagination (and I know the writers contemplated ending the series with a scene promoting that idea). I’ve always read that scene in a slightly different way: I’ve wondered whether the writers were commenting on the fact that the racially tolerant Trek universe itself was nothing more than a figment of the writer’s imagination: human beings will never get to the world Roddenberry envisioned. It’s a cynical proposition I know but what can I say.

Two final thoughts. First, I mentioned this in my gush-fest about “Inner Light” but the one thing that I think makes “Far Beyond the Stars” a slightly better episode is the fact that the events in the episode had a demonstrable effect on the character. The events in “Inner Light” were mentioned in one future episode. The events of “Stars” came up several different times plus, it was already a sequel to a previous episode so everything fit together a lot better. Second, usually when an actor directs an episode of a show their character is off on assignment somewhere or generally given absolutely nothing to do. The fact that Brooks directed this episode and was basically in every single shot to boot just adds to my admiration of this episode. Plus, it was fun to see the actors without their alien makeup.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

I have a confession to make: I like Vic Fontaine and I like “His Way.” It was cool to hear Visitor and Brooks sing (though the latter was really brief) and we finally got the Kira/Odo relationship underway. Yes the episode is basically a collection of musical numbers but it’s still fun without being over the top.

“The Reckoning” is a really good episode on faith. I know the writers were trying to make Winn more multi-dimensional but to me the episode just made her more of an ass. Kira put it best at the end of the episode: Winn just couldn’t stand that Sisko, an outsider, had more faith in the Prophets than she did. I think it went even deeper than that too, when Winn talked about the 1,000 years of peace that could occur, she said there wouldn’t be any more Vedek’s, Kai’s, or Emissary’s. She couldn’t deal with that loss of power. Sisko was willing to risk Jake’s life and that’s saying a LOT. Heck, at the end of the episode, Jake was willing to die to make sure the Pah-wraith didn’t win, and Jake didn’t even believe in the Prophets. This episode helps explain a lot of what Winn does next season.

“Valiant” so Red Squad got caught behind enemy lines when the war started and have been operating ever since. The groupthink that this crew fell into was just scary and even worse was how quickly Nog drank the kool-aid too.

“Profit and Lace” the less said about the Quark cross-dressing episode the better. Yikes this was a bad episode.

“Time’s Orphan” is another one of those episodes that isn’t good but isn’t bad. For some reason it just doesn’t do anything for me. Molly spending 10 years alone in the wilderness and returning to DS9 just wasn’t an interesting story. The B-story of Worf and Dax talking about starting a family was cool though given what’s going to happen in the next couple episodes.

“The Sound of Her Voice” I really love this episode. It shows the adage that you are more honest with a stranger than you are with your friends. We got to hear what the DS9 crew is thinking about but can’t/won’t say to each other. Even though the series is almost over we got a lot of insight into the characters just though their interaction with the captain who existed three years in the past. O’Brien’s speech at the wake about one of them not being around sadly hit the nail on the head for our next episode.

“Tears of the Prophets” Hey Sisko gets the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor, cool and he gets to plan the invasion of Cardassia. Getting the Klingons and Romulans to agree on anything goes about as well as you think. The Prophets tell him not to go but Sisko doesn’t listen. The Admiral had a lot of nerve telling Sisko he couldn’t be both the Emissary and a Starfleet captain. He’s done a darn good job of it for the last 6 years and the medal he pinned on Sisko’s chest at the beginning of the episode is proof of that. Ducat returned to Cardassia, hopped into bed with the Pah-wraiths, killed Dax and destroyed the wormhole. All in a day’s work. If Winn hadn't stopped the Reckoning we could have avoided this mess. Ferrell’s decision to leave the show with only one season left boggles the mind. She said she wanted to do other things but if you look at imdb, she didn’t - I guess she worked on other projects. I hate, hate, hate that the writers brought in another Dax. Yes it would have sucked to have Kira be the only female main character but having Dax remain dead would have solidified the message that people die in war. Sisko’s monologue over Dax’s coffin and him leaving DS9 was powerful as was Kira’s realization that the baseball was missing. That’s one way to end a season.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

Mom's visit is done so back to DS9.

“Image in the Sand” a nice quiet setup episode which basically lays the groundwork for the next one. Kira’s been promoted, Worf’s still in mourning, Sisko’s chillin’ in The Big Easy and gets stabbed in the stomach for his troubles. He also realizes how to help the Prophets and Ezri goes to New Orleans to join Sisko’s quest.

“Shadows and Symbols” is where the good stuff happens. We finally learn that Sisko is part Prophet and has to find the orb of the Emissary to help the cause. It’s interesting that the Pah-wraiths send Sisko a vision of Benny in a psych ward and Damar is his shrink. Damar tells him that if he just erases Sisko’s story he’ll be OK and in hindsight, he was right. Sisko goes the right thing and the wormhole opens again. It’s all good until Ezri arrives on the station at the end of the episode and introduces herself. I reiterate my stance that the writers shouldn’t have created at new Dax and if they just absolutely had to, she shouldn’t have stuck around.

“Afterimage” at the beginning of the episode, Sisko and Ezri talk about the Trill prohibition on interacting with previous relations which would be a perfect exit for the character. In this case not only was Ezri thrown back with Worf but she was thrown back with a multitude of other relationships, the Trill authorities should have been furious. I have nothing against the actor or the character it just seemed that when the writers introduced a new character they had to spend an inordinate amount of time focusing on that character to the detriment of the other already established arcs and characters. Sisko’s desire to have Dax on the station is cool and all but she was an assistant counselor, if he wanted a counselor on the station he needed someone with experience particularly with PTSD – it is a warzone after all. Garek’s anxiety attacks triggered by his feelings that he’s betraying his people was actually an interesting storyline; the Dax/Worf/Bashir storyline wasn’t.

“Take Me Out to the Holsuite” is such a fun episode but that could just be the crossing of two of my geek streams: Trek and baseball. The montages of the crew learning baseball was fun as well as the “win one for the captain” scene. The moral victory of Rom accidently bunting to score a run was awesomely funny. Nog having to tag all the players because he didn’t know which one didn’t touch home plate was hilarious. I’m glad the writers didn’t have the DS9 team win the game, breaking up the shutout was all they needed. Odo made the perfect umpire – ejecting Sisko and the Vulcan captain out of the game! I think I’ll go search for some Niners’s gear.

“Chrysalis” our least favorite genetically engineered misfits are back. Helping Sarina speak was a noble goal, immediately diving into a romantic relationship with her was a stupid decision on Bashir’s part. The a cappella music number when on way too long in this episode too.

“Treachery, Faith, and the Great River” so one of the Weyon’s wants to defect to Odo, interesting. Damar continues to show himself to be a full blown alcoholic. We also get our first glimpse of the plague infecting the Founders. It was fun to watch Nog beg, borrow, and negotiate to help O’Brien get parts for the Defiant.

“Once More Unto the Breach” yet another Klingon asks Worf to help him die with honor. Seriously, has Worf’s name morphed into Kevorkian? It’s always fun to watch the inner workings of a Klingon vessel. Kor died a warrior’s death and that’s all he wanted though it was sad to see him suffering from the Klingon equivalent of Alzheimer’s (and his shipmate’s crappy attitude toward him) before his death.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

“Siege of AR-558” shows the horrors of the ground war. Troops are only supposed to be on the frontlines for 90 and the soldier’s we meet have been there for 5 months. They started with 150 troops and are down to 43. I love Raymond Cruz and he plays a soldier/cop in ever role I’ve ever seen him in and here, he nails the PTSD. Quark’s speech about how humans devolve in a sense when deprived of creature comforts nicely summarizes the effects of prolonged conflict. Nog loses his leg in a Jem’Hadar attack and he asks the most important question of the episode: is the communications array worth it. The fact that he idolized the soldiers and was so ready to fight just made the loss more unfortunate.

This episode has one of the few Ezri Dax moments I enjoy. So the Jem’Hadar used mines hiding in subspace all around the camp. This mines were described as hideous: they just appear out of nowhere without warning. Once our soldiers found a way to decloak them, they used the mines in a canyon the Jem’Hadar had to use to get to them. Ezri pointed out that originally those mines were framed as the worse Jem’Hadar weapon but now that our soldier’s can use them, they look a lot friendlier. Having Vic Fontaine’s music play while the soldiers listened to the mines explode off in the distance was eerie. The actual battle was filmed with the score and phaser fire overpowering the dialogue was an interesting choice. I think it made the battle more antiseptic than it could have been but it was still brutal. Having Bill Mumy as a guest star only to kill him in the battle was a bold choice (Cruz didn’t see the end of the episode either).

As if the episode wasn’t bleak enough (I bet folks hated this episode when it aired), we have Quark who so eloquently talks about how horrible humans are in combat and how futile war is, forced to kill a Jem’Hadar solider. Bitter irony indeed.

The end of the episode quietly and effectively hammers home how horrid war is. 1730 names on the casualty list and Sisko reminds us that they’re not just names. It’s not a pretty episode but it’s not supposed to be. It is an excellent episode though.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

My goal is to finish DS9 by Friday, let’s see if I can do it. Just FYI, The USS Ben Sisko’s MF Pimp Hand got another shout-out during the “AR-558 review”

“Covenant” so let me get this straight: Dukat has become the leader of a Pah-wraith cult and Bajorians are actually following him. I have to say when this episode originally aired I didn’t see this coming. I know the writers didn’t want the final series showdown to be about the war: they wanted a one-on-one battle between Sisko and someone and Dukat makes a good choice. The fact that any Bajorian would listen to Dukat boggles the mind.

“It’s Only a Paper Moon” an excellent follow-up to “AR-558” with Nog trying to adjust to life with his prosthetic leg. The entire episode hinges on two recurring characters: Nog and Vic which takes a lot of guts to pull off. The scene at the end of the episode where Nog lays out how enthusiastic he was at the start of the war and the fear of death he can’t shake how that he’s been wounded was powerful. This episode along with “Badda-Bing” are the reasons I like Vic’s character and Eisenberg was brilliant.

“Prodigal Daughter” oh lord this episode was bad and really showcases why I don’t like Ezri Dax. No one cares about her family drama and the fact that the episode plays like a bad melodrama just makes it worse.

“Emperor’s New Cloak” now this is the last episode in the mirror universe. In the grant tradition of the previous episodes Brunt bites the dust here and so does Garek. This wasn’t as good as the other mirror episode but having Rom pointing out the ridiculousness of the mirror universe was funny.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

“Field of Fire” this was the only Ezri episode I liked when it originally aired but now I’m not so sure. Granted, it’s probably still the best of the Ezri episodes but there’s still a lot of problems. You mean to tell me that with all their know how and technology the only way they could solve this crime was for Ezri to embody a sociopathic serial killer. Yeah there had to be a better way. SFdebris was right in his review, the really interesting thing was the Vulcan who was killing folks on DS9. The fact that the war was so jacked up that it drove a normally logical Vulcan to kill several people just continues the war sucks motif of the series.

“Chimera” this episode reminded me of several TNG episodes were Data experiences prejudice. In this case people’s bias against shape shifters comes out against Odo and his new “friend” Laas. The interesting thing about this episode is the relationship between Kira and Odo. Odo admits that he wants to be in the great link again which lays the groundwork for some future decisions. She cares about him so much that she helps Laas escape and wants Odo to go with him to find other changelings. Laas can’t relate or understand that kind of love. The final scene were Odo reverts to a dance of light and swirls around Kira was touching.

“Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges” Sloan’s back and twirling Bashir around his little finger. Finding out that Admiral Ross was in bed with Section 31 in this instance would leads to the incarceration of an innocent Romulan senator and possibly her execution was a bold move. It’s not quite “In the Pale Moonlight” but once again you have characters doing what they think is necessary to save lives and the morals and consequences be damned.

“Badda-Bing Badda-Bang” another really, really fun episode. I love the fact that the writers addressed the fact that 1960s Vegas was not a warm and fuzzy place for black people as well as the danger of portraying history in an idealized manner. I also love that we finally get to hear Avery Brooks really sing. The episode was a nice shout-out to Ocean’s Eleven, it was a cool twist on the holodeck malfunction story since the holosuite wasn’t actually malfunctioning, and it shows how the DS9 crew feel about Vic. The writers acknowledge how odd this is by having Sisko be the naysaying audience member but even he relents and participates in the caper. We see how the robbery is supposed to go and how it actually happens when everything starts going wrong. The slow-mo “Right Stuff” strut through the Promenade the crew did was 1960s cool and seeing Gorwon without his makeup was an enlightening experience.

If I remember correctly, this was the last standalone episode of the series. Let the games begin, and end.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

“Penubra” Ezri and Worf have angry hate sex and are captured by the Breen (a storyline I could have lived without) and Sisko asks Kasidy to marry him. The real coup d’etat is Dukat being surgically altered to become a Bajoran and the Prophets telling Sisko that his greatest trial is about to begin and if he gets married he will know nothing but sorrow. That news is a really crappy engagement present.

“’Til Death Do Us Part” The Breen continue to torture Worf and Ezri. And Winn and Dukat start their ill fated relationship. The fact that Dukat is a true believer makes his deception and his role in the last several episodes just ups the yuck factor. Sisko quietly defies the Prophets and gets married. The Breen join the Dominion and Worf and Ezri are their joining gifts.

“Strange Bedfellows” good lord I wish Weyoun would just execute Ezri and Worf already because watching them work out their issues is giving me a headache. Seriously, their storyline grinds the episode to a halt which is sad because things really start to pick up here.

Winn continues to think the Prophets are talking to her but it ain’t the Prophets and they’ve finally revealed themselves. I appreciate the fact that Winn was conflicted and contrite at first and that makes her descent into absolute villainy was a tad more tragic. The scene where the orb doesn’t do anything and Winn says the Prophets have forsaken her made me really sympathize with Winn for the first time. Then it all goes to hell when Kira tells her exactly what she needs to do to find redemption and her need for power won’t let her do it. When she talks about how she never really had faith in the Prophets she still thinks the Prophets turned their backs on her and my sympathy goes out the window. Weyoun and the lead Breen continue to push Dumar to the limit – he finally crawled out of his bottle and freed Worf and Ezri.

“The Changing Face of Evil” The news that the Breen have attacked Earth is certainly a forceful way to end a teaser. Seeing San Fran in ruins was one hell of a way to come back from the teaser. The hits keep on coming: holy crap they destroyed the Defiant! That battle did not go well at all and to add insult to injury, the founder lets the battle’s survivors go so that they can spread the word of fear and defeat. Dukat’s secret is finally found out as Winn’s aid exposes him as Dukat. You know, the fact that the Pah-wraith’s text was exposed by the innocent blood of a friend you murdered should have been a hint that the book and the Pah-wraiths are bad news. I’m just saying. The only good news in the episode was Damar breaking from the Dominion. Let the Cardassian resistance begin.

As an aside, I never bought the relationship between Ezri and Bashir. They shared like two scenes together, they’re love for each other came out of nowhere.

Because it’s all one story, it’s difficult to stop watching. It’s like that old potato chip commercial: you can’t watch just one!

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

“When it Rains…” in the ultimate irony, Sisko sends Kira to find Damar and teach him how to be a resistance fighter. She’s wearing a Starfleet uniform to boot. I hate that we didn’t get the scene where Damar learned that Kira was going to help them. The expression on his face would have been priceless. We learn that Odo is infected with the founder’s disease. The other shoe doesn’t drop until the end of the episode: Section 31 infected Odo with the virus who then spread it to the rest of the founders. The fact that Starfleet medical is willing to let a bioweapon wipe out the founders is disturbing. Dukat tries to read from the Pah-wraith book and gets blinded for his trouble. That will learn you. Gorwon relieves Martok of his command so he can lead the battle to glory - like Winn, Gorwon can’t stand the idea of someone else having more power.

“Tacking into the Wind” Winn only killed one person in her quest for power, Gorwon is killing hundreds of soldiers in his. Sisko and Worf realize this can’t go on and tell Martok to challenge Gorwon. It’s all about politics. Martok won’t stop up so Worf does and kills Gorwon. Yikes. Unlike Gorwon or Winn, Worf doesn’t want power so he hands the Empire over to Martok (who doesn’t want it either but that’s OK). When the Cardassian resistance can’t get away from it as they still can’t keep from provoking Kira – her response, to serve up a wonderful butt whopping, seemed appropriate. Damar talking about the casual brutality of the Dominion killing his wife and son not realizing he could easily be talking about what Cardassia did to Bajor was just perfect. He finally says what needed to be said: the Cardassia we knew is dead and can’t come back- just like the Klingon empire. Awesome stuff.

“Extreme Measures” O’Brien and Bashir take a trip through Sloan’s mind to get a cure for Odo. Miles loves Keko but he likes Julian better. Julian loves Ezri, for reasons I can’t fathom, but he likes Miles better. The last of our bromance episodes *sigh*.

“The Dogs of War” So Rom becomes the new Nagus. This was one of the better Ferengi story lines. It was funny to watch Shimerman channel his inner Picard by pulling a mini-speech from First Contact. Damar turns into a legend which wow, didn’t see that coming when we first meet the character. I hope Combs got overtime pay since he had to play Brunt and Weyoun in this episode. Sisko gets a new MF Pimp Hand, the Federation alliance agrees to launch and offensive attack and we end the episode with Kasidy telling Sisko she’s pregnant. It was a cool “good news” situation to end the episode on but it totally sucks in light of what happens in the finale.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

"What You Leave Behind" An excellent conclusion to an excellent series. Just to show that the show wasn’t about the war, the writers end it halfway through the episode. Damar bites the dust and Garek returns to what’s left of his home, The O’Brien’s return to Earth, Worf is ambassador to Kronos, Odo returns to the great link, and Sisko becomes a Prophet.

I’ve always had two tiny complaints about this episode and they haven’t changed. First, I wish the fight between Sisko and Dukat was a little more epic. Couldn’t the Prophets have inhabited Sisko like in “The Reckoning” so Dukat could get the butt kicking he so richly deserved? That part was a tad anticlimactic IMHO. A bigger disappointment was during Worf’s farewell montage. It doesn’t make any damn sense that when showing Worf’s best moments on the show they don’t include any shots of Jadzia. Hell a shout out to his wedding would have been sufficient. I don’t know if Farrell wouldn’t allow them to use her likeness or if she wanted too much money for the privilege or the producers just didn’t want to pony up any cash but whatever the reason, it was petty and it took away from what was supposed to be a bittersweet moment. Does anyone have insight into what happened? The Companion just says they couldn’t use clips of Jadzia. Hell I just noticed on the episode database on the official site Farrell isn’t listed under the Cast & Creative Staff section at the end of each page – not even for the Dax-centric episodes. There’s some bad blood there.

Originally I didn’t like the fact that Sisko didn’t say goodbye to Jake but watching the episodes in such quick succession makes me dislike that decision a little less. The final shot of Jake and Kira watching the wormhole mirrors a similar shot in “The Visitor.” Instead of looking mournful like in “the Visitor,” Jake and Kira look more hopeful like they’re waiting for Sisko to return. It helps that the previous scene showed that Kira kept Sisko’s baseball and I like that Brooks made the writers change the final conversation between he and Kasidy to reflect that he could return.

If they could re-master just this episode in HD I bet it would look and sound awesome.

I’m going to give my brain a break and then see what Voyager has to offer.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

These are not mutually exclusive.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

hopefully I'll remember my thoughts on the voyager eps when you get to them. I might be able to comment more since they're fresher for me. I'm into season 6 now

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

Four series down, two to go...

“Caretaker” well it’s not the strongest pilot I’ve ever seen but it’s not the worst. The scenes on the array masked as the ho-down set could have been axed. Seriously, move from the Voyager falling apart at the seems after being transported across the galaxy to the scene with the crew disappearing and then being probed in the science lab. There were several things that didn’t make any sense to me. If the Kazon have starships, which we see they do toward the end of the episode, why don’t they fly to a planet that actually has water? Why did Janeway allow Neelix to stay on Voyager when one of the first things he did was lie to them and put them in a dangerous confrontation with the Kazon.

Ok so should Voyager even be in the Delta Quadrant? Janeway’s primary goal was to get her crew home and she choses the Prime Directive over her crew. This decision doesn’t make any damn sense. Tuvok could have figured out how to get them home and they could have left a torpedo on a timer and have it explode shortly after they left. That way, everybody’s happy. I know the crew being stranded is the primary crux of the story but they could have come up with a better rationale.

“Parallex” presents us with one of the few instances were the integration of the Starfleet and Maquis crew actually presents a problem. This would have been a great storyline to weave throughout the first season but they kinda drop kicked it after the third episode or so. We do meet Seska for the first time in this episode. The shrinking doctor was pretty funny and it’s clear from the second episode that Robert Picardo is going to be the highlight of this series and Neelix is going to be Neelix.

Reset alert: so in the pilot episode we see that being pulled into the Delta Quadrant caused all sorts of problems: there were fires all over the ship, wires hanging everywhere, hell even Janeway’s hair was jacked up. By the second episode, you wouldn’t even know that there were any problems with the ship. I know that Starfleet engineers can do the impossible in a short amounts of time but really?

“Time and Again” so in “Caretaker” Janeway inserts herself into the conflict between the Ocompa, the Kazon and the Caretaker but in this episode she won’t warn an entire planet of people that they’re about to be annihilated? The Prime Directive doesn’t even seem to apply in this situation because this planet seems relatively advanced: they may not have warp drive but they harnessed an energy source that no one in the Federation was able to master. This bugged me in TNG and it bugs me now, particularly in this episode. Paris was right, whatever effect their presence has on the timeline, it’s got to be better than total planetary holocaust.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

That kind of stuff isn't negotiated individually. I'm sure it's a standard contractual financial payment. The actor doesn't get to say yes or no, it's whether the production wants to spend the money.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

I'm not really sure what actually happened; I've heard everything from she left because she wanted to do "Becker" to she was trying to renegotiate her contract and was fired to make an example out of her to the other actors.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

So the production co. is to blame for the montage omission. Given the discussion on why Tom Paris's character is remarkably similar to Nic Lacarno, I totally buy it.

“Phage” so Neelix doesn’t follow orders and gets his lungs removed. That sucks. At least Janeway is consistent with her morally ambivalent Prime Directive: she’s willing to let Neelix die to keep from killing someone else. It would have been more interesting to have it be a random crew member who’s lungs got jacked and had them die. Decisions without consequences is what makes this show less interesting than it could have been.

“The Cloud” didn’t I see this episode on TNG? The ship screws with what they think is a natural phenomenon and it turns out to be a life form. They have to fix the life form using the ship’s technology. Recycled plot so early in the series run, really? What is annoying about this episode, and throughout the show, is how the writers handled Chakotay. They never say what Native American nation the character belongs to, they just slap an amalgam of cultural traits and stereotypes onto the character. Hooray on the diversity front but boo on the assumption of a monolithic Native American culture.

“Eye of the Needle” is the first episode I rather enjoyed. It did seem a little soon to get the crew’s hopes up in regards to going home but having their Romulan savior be from the past and die before their mission actually began was a interesting way to dash everyone’s dreams. We also get some screen time for the Doctor. Here’s what I don’t understand: why did some folks figure it was a good idea to treat the Doctor like crap. Seriously, he’s your only option if you are wounded, you might want to treat him with a teeny tiny bit of respect. I think this episode would have worked better if it aired in a later season.

Reset alert. So in “the Cloud,” Neelix lectures Janeway on setting a good example for the crew by not using her replicator rations for coffee. It’s a stupid conversation because they’re her rations and it doesn’t matter whether she uses them for coffee or Big Mac, as long as you don’t go over your allotment, who cares. In “Needle,” we see Janeway use her replicator for some soup and she freely offers Kes some random green drink. If rations are so scarce that we have an entire lecture about it, why doesn’t Janeway have lunch in the galley instead of replicating soup?

“Ex Post Facto” proves that Paris is going to be the ho of the crew. His wandering eyes and lips gets him accused and convicted of murder. Having to re-live the murder from the victim’s POV is a novel punishment. Gotta love Tuvok, detective and the key witness being a puppy, that last part was just wrong on so many different levels.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

Re: Terry Farrell's omission from the DS9 montage, this is from Memory Alpha:

So he starts by saying that she "refused" to let them use the clips, but at the end that's softened a bit to saying that she and her manager "would prefer" it and so they didn't.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

It's sad that both sides couldn't come to an agreement but show business is a business, creative decisions be damned.

“Emanations” memo to Janeway: now that your crew is in an uncharted area of space you may want to re-familiarize them with the rules regarding first contact. Kim managed to almost undo an entire society’s belief system by forgetting the cardinal rule to shut your mouth. After basically trampling all over having a belief in an afterlife I did like the fact that the writers did leave the possibility open at the end of the episode.

“Prime Factors” we find the Risa of the Delta Quadrant and the Prime Directive bites the crew in the butt when they find technology to get them closer to home and they can’t have it.

I think Tuvok had the correct mindset on this one. Janeway made it clear that their first priority is to get the crew home and getting their hands on that super transporter was a way to get closer to home. Jartet came to them and offered them to super transporter so I don’t see why Janeway had her underwear in a bunch. Seska was correct: Janeway was smitten with Gath and she let her personal feelings of betrayal get in the way of doing what was best for the crew. According to our friend at sfdebris Russ wanted to add an additional rationale for Tuvok’s decision: Tuvok was trying to stave off a potential mutiny. Adding that rationale in the episode would have made it even more interesting.

“State of Flux” so Seska’s Cardassian and gave Federation tech to the Kazon. Like in the previous episode, Seska went to the Kazon and offered them a food replicator in exchange for protection. Should the Kazon captain have said “you know, we need food but I can’t take your replicator because I’d feel bad about it.” Yeah no, that’s not an internal conversation anyone but Janeway would have. The whole Seska is a Cardassian/traitor would have been more of a “wow” moment if it had happened later in the series. By episode 10, the audience hadn’t seen enough of her to care.

“Heroes and Demons” oh goodness, our first holodeck malfunction episode. That didn't take long at all. I didn't care for Beowolf when I had to read it in high school and I don't care for it now. The doctor did have a name for all of five minutes though.

“Cathexis” Tuvok is possessed by aliens and Chakotay is possessing various members of the crew. Very strange episode.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

“Faces” so the Vidiian’s are back and they’ve managed to split Torres into two: one Klingon and one human. I’m noticing a pattern with these first season episodes. While the majority of the TNG episodes from the first season are just bad, most of the episodes from the first season of VOY are just boring. Some are bad, don’t get me wrong but for the most part, these episodes are unremarkable.

“Jetrel” turns out Neelix is a draft dodger and he spends the episodes squaring off with a war criminal. The episode gave Neelix some depth and thankfully gives Ethan Phillips something to do. Whether or not this episode was an allegory for Hiroshima is debatable but it was certainly trying to mimic DS9’s “Duet.” It didn’t work – DS9 had already set up some of the horrors of Bajor’s occupation but the war on Neelix’s home world came out of nowhere so there isn’t the same emotional resonance.

“Learning Curve” this episode shows how selective my VOY memory is. I completely remember the B-story of this episode. Tuvok trying to get some Maquis crew members to play well with the other children was a solid idea. The writers actually remembered that there were two crews on this ship that had to learn to work together. It would have been awesome if the writers spent more of the first season dealing with that conflict. I wonder if the writers looked at the response to DS9 and figured they’d move VOY in the complete opposite direction i.e. no conflict whatsoever even when the premise of the series calls for it. Anyway, I completely blocked out the A-story of the episode because it involved the ship being destroyed by cheese. I feel dumber just typing that sentence. What a way to end a season though technically it wasn’t the end of the season – they just moved some of the S1 episodes to S2.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

“The 37s” the one where the ship lands. This really should have been shown as the S1 finale. I know they held it for S2 so that they could start airing episodes before the other network shows started airing their episodes but it just seems like a finale. The whole resurrecting cryogenically frozen folks seems awfully reminiscent of the TNG episode “The Neutral Zone” though in VOY we have people abducted by aliens as opposed to the TNG episode where people were frozen by choice. It was nice to see Janeway show some emotions when she sees that the entire crew decides to stay onboard.

“Initiations” Chakotay and Nog are trapped on a planet together. It was nice to get some character development for Chakotay but otherwise there wasn’t much to the episode. I get the distinct feeling that I’m going to be typing that sentence a lot.

“Projections” shows the Doctor having a Matrix moments: he can’t distinguish between reality and a holodeck simulation. This episode explains a lot about the Doctor. It turns out our old friend Reg Barclay was responsible for testing the Doctor’s interpersonal skils. The idea of having a character with very little interpersonal skills programming those same skills into the EMH is laughable.

“Elogium” so the question of crew fraternization and starting families comes up. It’s a legitimate concern and Janeway actually does a good job of laying out the good and the bad points of having a generational ship. Janeway was sympathetic to the fact that you can’t regulate feelings and that if it will take 70 years to get home, they’re going to need replacement crew members in a couple decades. At the same time, since the ship can’t take a turn without getting shot at or pissing off a random alien or space anomaly, Voyager probably isn’t the best place to raise a child. This is the Janeway I like: someone who is smart, thoughtful, and has empathy when it’s appropriate. The Janeway that manages to do stupid crap and seems to go out of her way to be a total hardass doesn’t work. I think the writers were so consumed with creating a female captain for the show that they failed to create an interesting and appropriate captain for the show. Sisko worked because the writers created an interesting captain who happened to be black; they weren’t trying to create a black captain.

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

Nog? I haven't seen the episode since it first aired but I don't remember Nog guest staring. Did you mean Neelix?

Re: Starting a Star Trek journey
 

Aron Eisenberg played the Kazon teenager hell-bent on killing Chaoktay in "Initiations". Even though the actor is in some completely different makeup, his voice is completely recognizable.