The Rest of DS9 Season Six
Apr. 7th, 2010 08:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meddowI covered in my last post the first six episodes of season six. So this post season really spans from Kira and Odo's reconciliation being disappointing to Jadzia's death being disappointing. But overall, I'd say this is a stronger season that even season five.
I mentioned in my first post about DS9, I watched In the Pale Moonlight and Far Beyond the Stars (as well as What You Leave Behind) last year (they are part of the Captain's Log set which I rented) So for those two, it's the second time I've watched them.
I would have been nice if You are Cordially Invited had managed to get the Enterprise crew. At least their not being present can be hand-waved as due to the war. The Kira/Odo closet conversation was a terrible, terrible cop out and truly disappointing after the brilliance of their falling out. I will have to try and get my hands on that novel which covers it when I'm done watching the series.
My reaction to Resurrection, why writer's, dear god why did you bring him back? Bareil has to be the most boring character in Trek. Statistical Probabilities I enjoyed. The Magnificent Ferengi was just brilliant.
I love episodes like Waltz when they're done right, as this one was, giving us that exploration into Dukat. His rant where he concludes he should have killed the Bajorans was utterly chilling. I've thought for some time that Dukat is a great villain, but this was the first time that Dukat is truly frightening.
I was impressed with Far Beyond the Stars the first time I saw it last year, but now I know its context, in that its part of the big arc of Sisko being the Emissary and also because I know the characters and actors better and can appreciate seeing them more without make-up. So I loved it a lot more this time around. It is such a wonderful concept: the man who is dreaming of a something better, but little does he realise he is the dream.
One Little Ship was a far better episode than it had any right to be given the premise.
I really loved how in Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night we saw the two Dukats, pre-breakdown and post, and we get more insight into why he is so obsessed with Kira. Having the villain call up a character an announce he had her mother kidnapped and then (is 'raped' the word? There's certainly enough coercion to make consent in that situation dubious) for several years is a plot route I cannot imagine any other Trek and few other shows ever deciding to go down. Having Kira decide to kill her mother as a collaborator also was also very dark. I do love these explorations into what the occupation was actually like though, Necessary Evil being another favourite episode of mine.
Watching In the Pale Moonlight this time around, it struck me how it's actually the third act of In the Loop, minus the funny. If only Sisko knew of the magical properties of a blue folder there would have been no need for the murders.
Anyway, that got me thinking about the whole morality of doctoring intelligence. The In the Loop thought made me connect it to Iraq, in which case because the war was unnecessary, doctoring intelligence to bring it about is morally wrong and its in that context that I've always viewed the issue. But then the Dominion is more similar to the Axis powers in WWII. But what if Pearl Harbour had never happened, and the British government had instead been forced to doctor intelligence to drag the US into the war? I that case it's not as clear cut. Anyway, point is, yay for DS9 making me have an internal debate about something.
Another interesting thing about Sisko I noticed watching this episode: he does all this morally reprehensible stuff for the greater good, but he doesn't suffer for it. There's no arc about him seeking redemption for his actions or plotlines about it eating away at his soul or what have you, he just does it and moves on.
His Way I don't know what to make of this episode. On the one hand, Odo coming out of his shell was cute, and finally he convinced Kira to see him as more than a friend and its about time they got together. But I've never understood the appeal of 60s Vegas (or Sinatra and the Rat Pack for that matter) so I was unimpressed with Vic Fontane and the holosuite premise (although Nana Visitor singing 'Fever' and the nods to Our Man Bashir were fantastic). So stuff happened that I liked and it's about time, but I think it could have been done better.
The Reckoning See, now I'd heard this episode sucked, but I really liked it (but then, I love all the Sisko as the Emissary episodes). Kira/Odo in this episode were fantastic. This is the kind of relationship that I love to see on screen, one in which he loves her and respects her enough to let her risk her life for her faith even if it means he may lose her forever, and has enough faith in her himself not to be to particularly worried. It just shows a level of respect you don't see in many relationships in fiction.
I love how this episode wasn't just about faith in the prophets, it was also about having faith in people. Two test the Kai failed. She did not have faith in the prophets, and she did not have faith in Sisko.
Kai Winn meanwhile has taken a turn from villain to tragic figure: a spiritual leader who finds her faith is not strong enough. She's not that tragic though, since not having a strong faith points to her having become a Vedek for the power.
I've said it before, but she is so my high school chaplain, similar voice, age and oh the passive aggressive nature (she incidentally, preached Pascal's Wager as the reason why we should believe in god. Pascal's Wager encourages people to do lip service to faith if they don't believe, which misses the whole point and which in retrospect, makes me wonder about her faith. Okay, I should stop dredging up old high school grudges that got me threatened with suspension back in the day).
Valiant. Time travel must have been involved in the creation of this episode, or at least a crystal ball. Eleven years before Star Trek XI, we get a plot in which a bunch of cadets lose their Captain, the new guy is overconfident, charges into battle when he shouldn't and even kind of looks like Chris Pine. Except instead of victory, the more realistic thing of them getting their asses kicked and everyone dying horribly happens. Darkly funny and gut wrenching in an almost Children of Earth manner at the same time. I'm guessing JJ Abrams hasn't watched this episode (but then apparently JJ Abrams hasn't watched any Star Trek besides TOS).
I was not expecting the twist at the end of the The Sound of Her Voice. I was half-expecting she would die, but knowing they would never have been able to save her, somehow that makes it all the sadder.
Finally, Tears of the Prophets. I was going to moan about the command structure (because why put all that work into pointing out that Worf was XO of the Defiant, and then completely ignore it), but then the mistake let Kira be awesome (and I am of course for any moment in which Kira gets to be awesome) and also because shortly after watching this episode I watched XI again and the DS9's command structure problems are nothing compared to the problems that movie has.
Most of the stuff about this episode was great: the wormhole closing, Sisko choosing Starfleet over being the Emissary and suffering for it, the little bits of Kira/Odo and Dax/Worf cuteness (could have done without the lovesick Quark and Bashir, or at least the point of their feelings could have been made through the wonders of reaction shots and didn't need scenes). The awesome space battle and the Federation finally making a strike against the Dominion. And Sisko taking The Baseball of Deep Significance.
But yes, Jadzia died, and it was lame. I should be used to this. Trek has a history of being really bad at killing off regular characters. I remember when I was a kid being in complete denial about Tasha Yar's death because I thought that no way was a death that lame a proper death. Kirk's death in Generations: similarly bad (but given that I despise Kirk, I love that his death is crap). And don't get me started on Janeway's death in the novels. So really, I should have expected that Dax would get killed not doing something awesomely heroic, but instead just because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that there would be a tremendous amount of baby anvils in an attempt to make it more upsetting. Still, I'm very disappointed. Somebody needs to explain the concept of 'blaze of glory' to Trek writers.
So when the person who current has the DVDs out returns them, I shall be move onto the seventh and final season. I'm really looking forward the the epic ten-part series finale arc.
I mentioned in my first post about DS9, I watched In the Pale Moonlight and Far Beyond the Stars (as well as What You Leave Behind) last year (they are part of the Captain's Log set which I rented) So for those two, it's the second time I've watched them.
I would have been nice if You are Cordially Invited had managed to get the Enterprise crew. At least their not being present can be hand-waved as due to the war. The Kira/Odo closet conversation was a terrible, terrible cop out and truly disappointing after the brilliance of their falling out. I will have to try and get my hands on that novel which covers it when I'm done watching the series.
My reaction to Resurrection, why writer's, dear god why did you bring him back? Bareil has to be the most boring character in Trek. Statistical Probabilities I enjoyed. The Magnificent Ferengi was just brilliant.
I love episodes like Waltz when they're done right, as this one was, giving us that exploration into Dukat. His rant where he concludes he should have killed the Bajorans was utterly chilling. I've thought for some time that Dukat is a great villain, but this was the first time that Dukat is truly frightening.
I was impressed with Far Beyond the Stars the first time I saw it last year, but now I know its context, in that its part of the big arc of Sisko being the Emissary and also because I know the characters and actors better and can appreciate seeing them more without make-up. So I loved it a lot more this time around. It is such a wonderful concept: the man who is dreaming of a something better, but little does he realise he is the dream.
One Little Ship was a far better episode than it had any right to be given the premise.
I really loved how in Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night we saw the two Dukats, pre-breakdown and post, and we get more insight into why he is so obsessed with Kira. Having the villain call up a character an announce he had her mother kidnapped and then (is 'raped' the word? There's certainly enough coercion to make consent in that situation dubious) for several years is a plot route I cannot imagine any other Trek and few other shows ever deciding to go down. Having Kira decide to kill her mother as a collaborator also was also very dark. I do love these explorations into what the occupation was actually like though, Necessary Evil being another favourite episode of mine.
Watching In the Pale Moonlight this time around, it struck me how it's actually the third act of In the Loop, minus the funny. If only Sisko knew of the magical properties of a blue folder there would have been no need for the murders.
Anyway, that got me thinking about the whole morality of doctoring intelligence. The In the Loop thought made me connect it to Iraq, in which case because the war was unnecessary, doctoring intelligence to bring it about is morally wrong and its in that context that I've always viewed the issue. But then the Dominion is more similar to the Axis powers in WWII. But what if Pearl Harbour had never happened, and the British government had instead been forced to doctor intelligence to drag the US into the war? I that case it's not as clear cut. Anyway, point is, yay for DS9 making me have an internal debate about something.
Another interesting thing about Sisko I noticed watching this episode: he does all this morally reprehensible stuff for the greater good, but he doesn't suffer for it. There's no arc about him seeking redemption for his actions or plotlines about it eating away at his soul or what have you, he just does it and moves on.
His Way I don't know what to make of this episode. On the one hand, Odo coming out of his shell was cute, and finally he convinced Kira to see him as more than a friend and its about time they got together. But I've never understood the appeal of 60s Vegas (or Sinatra and the Rat Pack for that matter) so I was unimpressed with Vic Fontane and the holosuite premise (although Nana Visitor singing 'Fever' and the nods to Our Man Bashir were fantastic). So stuff happened that I liked and it's about time, but I think it could have been done better.
The Reckoning See, now I'd heard this episode sucked, but I really liked it (but then, I love all the Sisko as the Emissary episodes). Kira/Odo in this episode were fantastic. This is the kind of relationship that I love to see on screen, one in which he loves her and respects her enough to let her risk her life for her faith even if it means he may lose her forever, and has enough faith in her himself not to be to particularly worried. It just shows a level of respect you don't see in many relationships in fiction.
I love how this episode wasn't just about faith in the prophets, it was also about having faith in people. Two test the Kai failed. She did not have faith in the prophets, and she did not have faith in Sisko.
Kai Winn meanwhile has taken a turn from villain to tragic figure: a spiritual leader who finds her faith is not strong enough. She's not that tragic though, since not having a strong faith points to her having become a Vedek for the power.
I've said it before, but she is so my high school chaplain, similar voice, age and oh the passive aggressive nature (she incidentally, preached Pascal's Wager as the reason why we should believe in god. Pascal's Wager encourages people to do lip service to faith if they don't believe, which misses the whole point and which in retrospect, makes me wonder about her faith. Okay, I should stop dredging up old high school grudges that got me threatened with suspension back in the day).
Valiant. Time travel must have been involved in the creation of this episode, or at least a crystal ball. Eleven years before Star Trek XI, we get a plot in which a bunch of cadets lose their Captain, the new guy is overconfident, charges into battle when he shouldn't and even kind of looks like Chris Pine. Except instead of victory, the more realistic thing of them getting their asses kicked and everyone dying horribly happens. Darkly funny and gut wrenching in an almost Children of Earth manner at the same time. I'm guessing JJ Abrams hasn't watched this episode (but then apparently JJ Abrams hasn't watched any Star Trek besides TOS).
I was not expecting the twist at the end of the The Sound of Her Voice. I was half-expecting she would die, but knowing they would never have been able to save her, somehow that makes it all the sadder.
Finally, Tears of the Prophets. I was going to moan about the command structure (because why put all that work into pointing out that Worf was XO of the Defiant, and then completely ignore it), but then the mistake let Kira be awesome (and I am of course for any moment in which Kira gets to be awesome) and also because shortly after watching this episode I watched XI again and the DS9's command structure problems are nothing compared to the problems that movie has.
Most of the stuff about this episode was great: the wormhole closing, Sisko choosing Starfleet over being the Emissary and suffering for it, the little bits of Kira/Odo and Dax/Worf cuteness (could have done without the lovesick Quark and Bashir, or at least the point of their feelings could have been made through the wonders of reaction shots and didn't need scenes). The awesome space battle and the Federation finally making a strike against the Dominion. And Sisko taking The Baseball of Deep Significance.
But yes, Jadzia died, and it was lame. I should be used to this. Trek has a history of being really bad at killing off regular characters. I remember when I was a kid being in complete denial about Tasha Yar's death because I thought that no way was a death that lame a proper death. Kirk's death in Generations: similarly bad (but given that I despise Kirk, I love that his death is crap). And don't get me started on Janeway's death in the novels. So really, I should have expected that Dax would get killed not doing something awesomely heroic, but instead just because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that there would be a tremendous amount of baby anvils in an attempt to make it more upsetting. Still, I'm very disappointed. Somebody needs to explain the concept of 'blaze of glory' to Trek writers.
So when the person who current has the DVDs out returns them, I shall be move onto the seventh and final season. I'm really looking forward the the epic ten-part series finale arc.
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no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 01:44 pm (UTC)As you know, my reaction precisely, even after all these years. Boo, hiss. Also why I have problems with K/O in this particular season. If we had gotten them reconciling over several episodes via a subplot, I'd have been all for it. As it is, we basically go from Odo damn near handing over the Alpha Quadrant to Kira hooking up with him because he can sing without a glitch. In addition to everything else, it makes her look like a total hypocrite - why doesn't ODO get any of the scorn her mother gets, hm? Meru was in a far worse situation than Odo ever was. Anyway, next season K/O are love, so I'm fine with them there.
Waltz: err. The episode itself is captivating. But the conclusion - Sisko's "some people are just plain evil" traumatized me for life. Ever since, I'm referring to the fear of three dimensional characters ending up as one dimensionally evil as "X or Y doing a Dukat". From this point onwards, Dukat is basically a moustache-twirling madman (with the exception of "Wrongs deeper...", and that's mostly set in the past), and it's a shame. Which is why I'd have prefered it if they had killed him off in "Sacrifice of Angels".
Statistical Probalitities: liked it as well, but it brings up an ethical problem which I'm not sure the writers intended to. Here's the vignette I wrote to make my point about that: A little more than kin, and less than kind (http://community.livejournal.com/celestial_templ/5162.html). (The person I kill off doesn't die on the show, so that's not a spoiler, it's my invention.)
I'm guessing JJ Abrams hasn't watched this episode (but then apparently JJ Abrams hasn't watched any Star Trek besides TOS).
He hasn't, but his scriptwriters have. (Roberto Orci has won my enduring sympathy by comparing JJ at the Star Trek helm with Riker in the s2 episode where Riker participates in the officers exchange program and ends up on a Klingon ship.) But whether they saw this particular one is anyone's guess. :)
The Reckoning: again, I'll let fiction make my points for me. I thought it was a captivating episode, but it let Sisko off the hook in a crucial point by letting Jake tell him he was totally fine with being sacrificed for the greater good. Hence fanfic, in which Jake and Kai Winn have a post-episode chat: Abraham's Son (http://archiveofourown.org/works/15230).
(I also have a rant on the Prophets in general, but I'll give you that once we get to the s7 opening episodes.)
Jadzia's death: is lame, definitely. So, in honour to celebrate her life, here's my take on Quark & Jadzia Dax through the years:
Two of Us (http://archiveofourown.org/works/15240)
Also my grand Dax character exploration, which is about Curzon mainly but also about Jadzia: Fear No More (http://archiveofourown.org/works/12602?view_full_work=true)
no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 10:19 am (UTC)Thinking about with Wrongs Darker in mind, I'm not sure if there could be any way to get them together without some hand waving by the writers. Kira is so very unforgiving. They may have actually written themselves into a hole a bit with that one.
But the conclusion - Sisko's "some people are just plain evil" traumatized me for life.
I forgot about that bit. Possibly my brain just decided it didn't want to remember it. I'm not all that happy about Sisko vs Dukat turning a good vs. evil. I'm not all that happy with it being Sisko vs. Dukat either, not when there's so many other characters with very personal reasons for wanting to seek revenge on Dukat and have had more interesting dynamics with him through the series. Kira, Garak, and Damar, I think all have more pressing claims to Dukat than Sisko. And, well, while the show acknowledges the Sisko is an outsider and even runs with it being on of the reasons Kai Winn resents him, it doesn't stop it from being another repeat of that paternalistic outsider-joins-the-native-people-and-becomes-their-leader/god plotline. I can put my dislike for that aside normally when watching the show, it really comes to the fore in the Sisko vs. Dukat thing.
but it let Sisko off the hook in a crucial point by letting Jake tell him he was totally fine with being sacrificed for the greater good.
I didn't think about that. I'm very glad they did not decide to have a storyline in which Jake is resentful over his father's actions, as after four seasons of everybody's Bill Adama Daddy issues on BSG, I'm so very happy that Jake and Sisko have a wonderful relationship, but still, it does seem like an easy way out.
I.
Date: 2010-04-08 01:09 pm (UTC)They did, but I still think a subplot would have sold me more on the handwaving. As it is, to quote from an older post of mine on the subject: As she tells Odo at the start of season 6, she believes (believed) in the saying "if you're not fighting them, you're helping them". So, seeing her mother not knifing Dukat at the first chance Meru gets (which presumably would have resulted in Meru getting executed, and her family as well), or talking about how much she hates Dukat the minute Dukat is out of earshot but seeing with her own eyes that Meru showed signs of actually being fond of Dukat was too much to take. "It's not that you share his bed, but that you like sharing it!" Nerys screams at Meru.
But. Let's take a step back and compare and contrast. Meru was a nearly starving woman forcibly torn from her husband and children to serve as a prostitute. She then was lucky within that ghastly condition since instead of being passed from one Cardassian to another, she caught the eye of the most powerful one who offered not just physical safety for her but food and shelter for her family as well. (Which he delivered, if Tovan's message is anything to go by.) It still wasn't her choice but what choice did she have? A) Kill Dukat. See above. Would have meant her death and probably the death of her family. B) Endure Dukat to remain alive and help her family but in a "lie back and think of Bajor" manner. C) Doing the Stockholm Syndrom thing and becoming attached to the person providing food, security and care. Now I don't blame her for going the C) way.
On the other hand, we have Odo. Twice. Who had all the choices of the world. As opposed to Meru, he wasn't starving, nor did he have a family. He could have left his position as security chief at any time; he could have left both Bajor and Terok Nor, with or without Dukat's agreement. (Come on, Odo is a shapeshifter.) Instead, he worked for Dukat for years (and apparently Dukat trusted him enough to make him what-was-that-title-again-from-Tribunal as well), nearly as many as Meru was Dukat's mistress. He made quite a lot of contacts with other Cardassians as well who still owed him favours (Odo-meets-Cardassian-informant is a scene quite common during the early years of the show). He didn't do it for his family or his life, and he certainly wasn't charmed by Dukat. His great justification seems to have been that he wanted to pursue justice, and that someone else would have done worse in his place. Honestly, between Meru and Odo, I'd call Odo a collaborator any time.
Then we have Odo under the second occupation. See above and earlier entries. From Behind the Lines onwards, his actions were his own choices, including, incidentally, literary sharing a bed with the new regime. And yet the same Kira Nerys who though she ultimately can't bear to kill her mother still wishes she would have, who still condemns Meru as unforgivable, forgives him after one long chat. (Which we never see.) And becomes his lover a few months later. This double standard really, really sticks in my throat.
II.
Date: 2010-04-08 01:09 pm (UTC)Recently, I wrote an essay about that (http://selenak.livejournal.com/549651.html). And yes, word on the dynamics between Kira, Garak and Damar on the one and Dukat on the other hand being way more interesting than Sisko versus Dukat. Don't get me started on how the Dukat/Sisko fisticuffs in the show finale are the lamest thing since Kirk and Picard went mano a mano with Soren in Generations. (Doesn't mean the DS9 finale in general isn't good, just not the Sisko versus Dukat part of it. I rather suspect it was to give Sisko something to do, because otherwise all the important stuff in the finale is done by Kira and Odo.) An interesting essay about Dukat is this one (http://community.livejournal.com/ds9agogo/55559.html), which stirred up some considerable controversy. (I agree with parts and disagree with others, but I think it's eminently readable, and not just because it was written for me. *g*)
I love the harmonious Jake and Ben Sisko relationship as well - plus, you know, Sisko's with his own father - the three generations of Siskos getting along so well is a great change from most people having daddy issues everywhere - but I do wish in this particular case, Jake would have been allowed to react. If you play out the Abraham & Isaac scenario, which is one of the most disturbing stories in the Old Testament to me, then please, please, give Isaac the chance to respond to what happened. As it is, the writers were so intent to preserve the Jake and Ben harmony that they shied away not only from this but from a story that was originally planned for s7 but chucked because it would have burdened the father/son relationship - Jake was originally supposed to uncover, as a journalist, his father's shenanigans from "In the Pale Moonlight"; he'd have been Woodward & Bernstein to Ben's Watergate. But no.
Re: II.
Date: 2010-04-09 04:16 am (UTC)I rather suspect it was to give Sisko something to do, because otherwise all the important stuff in the finale is done by Kira and Odo.
You touched on something that's I've been thinking about through this show. Back when I was watching the early seasons, sometime before Destiny, I did think it was weird that Sisko was the lead because other characters, namely Kira and Odo, with the former having all that weighty occupation issues, and the latter discovering his own people ruled the Dominion, had character arcs seemed naturally more tied into where the show was going. Because of that, those two seemed to be more natural protagonists, while Sisko seemed to be made the lead because it was Star Trek and so they needed the lead to be in Starfleet.
Sisko being the lead in later seasons doesn't seem so artificial with the Emissary stuff becoming more prominent and his massive role in the Dominion War. But, still, sometimes Sisko feels sandwiched in.
He'd have been Woodward & Bernstein to Ben's Watergate.
That saddens me a bit because I would have loved to see Jake's career as a journalist become of more relevance to the show, and Jake brought more into the fold. As it is, he just hangs about. When he chose to stay behind in Call to Arms I expected Jake being Sisko's son and a journalist to get him in lots of trouble. Instead he just attended Kira's resistance cell meetings and didn't contribute much.