DS9 Season Three
Mar. 19th, 2010 07:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meddowIn this season: our heroes get a cool ship and swiftly have their assess handed to them. Odo discovers his people – angst ensues. Dax suffers from all the Dax-centric episodes being incredibly dull this season. Quark introduces some Klingons to the concept of white collar crime. Kira gets a Cardassian daddy. Odo gets a Jem'Hadar son. Dukat missed his calling as a home security system developer. There's a sex pollen episode. Some heavy-handed moralising lets down an otherwise great time travel episode (there are hippies!). Bashir goes all Dr Frankenstein on Kira's dull boyfriend. In the cutest storyline ever, Nog becomes the first Ferengi to join Starfleet. Odo's hopelessly in love with Kira. O'Brien dies, but nobody cares because they get a new one. My favourite Vulcan shows up briefly in the mirror universe episode. Sisko deals with the fact he may be the Bajorans' Jesus, and if that wasn't BSG enough, Garek tortures Odo (RDM has definitely arrived on the writing staff). Sisko and Jake bond in a gorgeous Flight of the Phoenix episode while Bashir and O'Brien get drunk and sing 'Jerusalem' (badly). While we meet Quark and Rom's mum and Sisko meets his future wife. It's Kira vs The Kai round five, with a Bajoran civil war on the cards. Sisko becomes and captain at last and the season finale is an awesome homage to The Thing.
The Search started off the season very well, the first episode especially keeping the adrenaline up after the closer last season, but after that I got a bit frustrated. The Dominion was introduced as this huge threatening power, but then it was all back to business as usual. Meridian was the most frustrating example of this, going back to the 'wacky Gamma Quadrant planet of the week' episode. They should not be surveying the Gamma Quadrant, they should be staying well away least they get their assess kicked again.
I don't want to spend too much time making BSG comparisons, no matter how tempting it is, but I think I do on occasion want it to be more BSG in the way that BSG through four season rarely let the tension dissipate, and I really appreciated that. But then, I quite like a lot of the light-hearted and character focused episodes and wouldn't give them up for anything. So maybe if they just avoided the random sci-fi plot device episodes that have no relation to the seasonal arc or don't give us any significant character exploration and/or development, I'd be more happy.
I loved the episode Destiny, which is my favourite of the season. All they way through I was expecting it to take a turn for the disappointing, at first for Kira to decide she's acting irrationally, and then for Sisko to decide he's acting irrationally and a last minute save would prove that the prophecy was not true. But then, having the prophecy actually come true was a fantastic way to resolve it. And also with the lesson that what they interpretation was wrong, leaving Sisko and Kira to go about their lives from then on as they would without the prophecies, and also it kind of told them both off for assuming 'vipers' meant Cardassians. It also took the Sisko and Kira relationship which had at that point been woefully under-explored and made it one of the most interesting Captain-Second relationships I've come across. I hope there's a bit more exploration.
Other episodes I really enjoyed were The Search, Second Skin, Civil Defence, Heart of Stone, the Past Tense, Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast and Explorers.
Kira's still my favourite character, and I also tend to like any Kira-centric episodes, but I think they also happen to be objectively good as well, just because given the character's back story, there's so much they can do with her. Okay, so usually it's a variation on either 'Kira vs the Kai' or 'Kira learns not all Cardassians/other species she doesn't like are bad', but I never get sick of those plots.
I also tend to like all the Bajor focused episodes. I only made the connection the other day that this show aired only a few years after the fall of the Berlin wall, and Bajor = former Soviet occupied state, although ever since the first episode I haven't been able to help but think of the Federation as the EU.
The Cardassian's have quickly become my favourite species in Star Trek, largely due to Bashir and Garek's literature discussions. I really want to read a Cardassian mystery novel (in which all the suspects are guilty, but you have to figure out which crime they're guilty of). The other reason is all those wonderful elaborate plots and plans that could go wrong at any stage but only seem to unravel at the end. They're like a species of Bond villains.
Is it weird that I finally came around to all the love for Garek in the scene where he tortures Odo. I liked Garek, but never felt comfortable with the character and his place with the others. The torture was the worst thing the audience has ever seen him do, but at the same time, it's the first time when he seemed to be genuine. That is such an RDM thing though, exploring a character through them torturing another.
I have fallen badly for Kira/Odo. Really badly. OTP badly. I can't help it though, I love both characters to bits and I just adore in their scenes how each can get under the other's defences, and they're the two characters I most want to see find some happiness. I'm a bit scared I'm going to get burnt though. I'm scared if they get together, Kira's awesomeness is going to be eaten up by the ship. You know, it's watching this show that makes me realise just how badly I got burnt by season 4.5 of BSG. (*sigh* Season 4.5 of BSG: just when you think you've worked through your issues and moved on, you discover you haven't).
Something that surprised me watching this season were some of the directorial choices. There were two scenes in particular that really impressed me:
.
Both stayed lingered one one character when the action was (or at least was partially) somewhere else. While I expect shots like that in shows that have come out in the past five years, I would not have expected those kinds of choices from television that aired fifteen years ago.
Finally, someone on the writing staff has to be a Kiwi (or maybe they were being apologetic for NZ containing the Federations prison the Voyager premier). There were some awesome shout outs to NZ. They even mentioned Christchurch. Christchurch barely registers in New Zealand fiction, so to have it crop up in Star Trek made me so happy.
So on to season four in which now with the Romulans and the Cardassian's crippled, the only the Federation and the Klingons stand between the Dominon and conquest of the Alpha Quadrant. And oh, yeah, and the Founders are everywhere, they look human and they have a plan. (In cool stuff found on YouTube, somebody did the DS9 credits BSG style (shot for shot) and it's really impressive).
The Search started off the season very well, the first episode especially keeping the adrenaline up after the closer last season, but after that I got a bit frustrated. The Dominion was introduced as this huge threatening power, but then it was all back to business as usual. Meridian was the most frustrating example of this, going back to the 'wacky Gamma Quadrant planet of the week' episode. They should not be surveying the Gamma Quadrant, they should be staying well away least they get their assess kicked again.
I don't want to spend too much time making BSG comparisons, no matter how tempting it is, but I think I do on occasion want it to be more BSG in the way that BSG through four season rarely let the tension dissipate, and I really appreciated that. But then, I quite like a lot of the light-hearted and character focused episodes and wouldn't give them up for anything. So maybe if they just avoided the random sci-fi plot device episodes that have no relation to the seasonal arc or don't give us any significant character exploration and/or development, I'd be more happy.
I loved the episode Destiny, which is my favourite of the season. All they way through I was expecting it to take a turn for the disappointing, at first for Kira to decide she's acting irrationally, and then for Sisko to decide he's acting irrationally and a last minute save would prove that the prophecy was not true. But then, having the prophecy actually come true was a fantastic way to resolve it. And also with the lesson that what they interpretation was wrong, leaving Sisko and Kira to go about their lives from then on as they would without the prophecies, and also it kind of told them both off for assuming 'vipers' meant Cardassians. It also took the Sisko and Kira relationship which had at that point been woefully under-explored and made it one of the most interesting Captain-Second relationships I've come across. I hope there's a bit more exploration.
Other episodes I really enjoyed were The Search, Second Skin, Civil Defence, Heart of Stone, the Past Tense, Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast and Explorers.
Kira's still my favourite character, and I also tend to like any Kira-centric episodes, but I think they also happen to be objectively good as well, just because given the character's back story, there's so much they can do with her. Okay, so usually it's a variation on either 'Kira vs the Kai' or 'Kira learns not all Cardassians/other species she doesn't like are bad', but I never get sick of those plots.
I also tend to like all the Bajor focused episodes. I only made the connection the other day that this show aired only a few years after the fall of the Berlin wall, and Bajor = former Soviet occupied state, although ever since the first episode I haven't been able to help but think of the Federation as the EU.
The Cardassian's have quickly become my favourite species in Star Trek, largely due to Bashir and Garek's literature discussions. I really want to read a Cardassian mystery novel (in which all the suspects are guilty, but you have to figure out which crime they're guilty of). The other reason is all those wonderful elaborate plots and plans that could go wrong at any stage but only seem to unravel at the end. They're like a species of Bond villains.
Is it weird that I finally came around to all the love for Garek in the scene where he tortures Odo. I liked Garek, but never felt comfortable with the character and his place with the others. The torture was the worst thing the audience has ever seen him do, but at the same time, it's the first time when he seemed to be genuine. That is such an RDM thing though, exploring a character through them torturing another.
I have fallen badly for Kira/Odo. Really badly. OTP badly. I can't help it though, I love both characters to bits and I just adore in their scenes how each can get under the other's defences, and they're the two characters I most want to see find some happiness. I'm a bit scared I'm going to get burnt though. I'm scared if they get together, Kira's awesomeness is going to be eaten up by the ship. You know, it's watching this show that makes me realise just how badly I got burnt by season 4.5 of BSG. (*sigh* Season 4.5 of BSG: just when you think you've worked through your issues and moved on, you discover you haven't).
Something that surprised me watching this season were some of the directorial choices. There were two scenes in particular that really impressed me:
. Both stayed lingered one one character when the action was (or at least was partially) somewhere else. While I expect shots like that in shows that have come out in the past five years, I would not have expected those kinds of choices from television that aired fifteen years ago.
Finally, someone on the writing staff has to be a Kiwi (or maybe they were being apologetic for NZ containing the Federations prison the Voyager premier). There were some awesome shout outs to NZ. They even mentioned Christchurch. Christchurch barely registers in New Zealand fiction, so to have it crop up in Star Trek made me so happy.
So on to season four in which now with the Romulans and the Cardassian's crippled, the only the Federation and the Klingons stand between the Dominon and conquest of the Alpha Quadrant. And oh, yeah, and the Founders are everywhere, they look human and they have a plan. (In cool stuff found on YouTube, somebody did the DS9 credits BSG style (shot for shot) and it's really impressive).
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no subject
Date: 2010-03-19 06:55 am (UTC)The Dominion was introduced as this huge threatening power, but then it was all back to business as usual.
Yes, this! I really think season four's when they realize, whoops, they should probably start building that tension. Much as I love that they don't make it an all-out shooting match from the word go, I think the show's really at its best when it starts using all the added tension to exacerbate existing relations within the Alpha Quadrant. Which is always fun.
That screencap of Garak at the end of "The Die Is Cast" reminds me that I have a whole meta to post on that two-parter - I think that was the episode when I really started to get interested in Garak as a character as well.
Also, I really, really need to watch more of BSG - I keep getting distracted. Considering I basically have the soundtrack memorized, it's a bit embarrassing to admit I've only seen, what, two hours of it? Eep.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-19 07:37 am (UTC)I can see that they were sort of going for a Cold War with the Dominion in series three. It's just that they seemed to have forgotten about it for many of the episodes.
BSG is the only show in which I could imagine anyone having the soundtracks without having seen much of it, such is the genius of Bear McCreary. You should watch more BSG if you get the time. BSG's a show I think everyone should watch. And while the ending is very flawed and pretty much broke the fandom, the utter brilliance of its first two seasons and the majority of three and four more than outweighs the later fail (and heck, season 4.5's worth if for the soundtrack alone) Still, if it helps, it took me three years of saying I was going to watch it before I ever actually got around to watching it myself.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-19 08:07 am (UTC)(I do have a problem with how they finally get together, but that's not due to the romance as such and more with the lack of resolution to a crucial s6 storyline. As a couple in s7, I'm okay with them.)
The Cardassians are among my favourite Trek species as well - those literary shades of grey! - , and Garak was probably my favourite non-regular on the show. You might like my Torchwood/Doctor Who/DS9 crossover in which he ends up stuck with the TW team during the Year That Wasn't, Nowhere Man (http://archiveofourown.org/works/13207).
Past Tense is one of my favourite Star Trek time travel episodes. Why? Because for starters, most ST time travel into the past episodes tend to land Our Heroes in a socially backward time which is also in the viewer's past, so the viewer can feel enlightened about it and think, well, thank god we don't have THOSE views anymore. Not this one. It's a direct prediction of the viewers more immediate future as well as an appeal not to let that happen, and if that's preachiness, give me more. I love my politically activist tv.
RDM - yes, that was when TNG was over and he moved to DS9 and became one of the key writers. It shows. In retrospect, I think TNG and DS9 both demonstrate he is at his best when not being THE headwriter/producer, but a key writer with someone else as the ultimate voice in charge, because I really love what he does on ST.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-19 08:57 am (UTC)I did really like Past Tense for the most part. The second episode was particularly great. I do wish some of the dialogue between Sisko and Bashir discussing the situation hadn't been so heavy handed - the message of the episode did easily came across and didn't need it. It is a scarily plausible scenario for the future though - and I read on Memory Alpha that coincidentally something just like that was being proposed at the time of filming.
RDM does seem to be a writer that needs someone to pull in on occasion. I love his big ideas and the care he gives his characters, and the fact he creates and writes wonderfully complex female characters, but he needs to plan where he's going and to stick to it.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-21 04:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-21 05:40 am (UTC)