Deep Space Nine 2.01, 2.02, 2.03
Oh yeah. Here we go. I love that Season 2 started with a 3-parter. What a great way to announce, “Fuck you. We’re not like other television.” And thank the Prophets for that. I mean, who else was doing heavily serialized TV besides DS9 and B5? We take it for granted now. It just didn’t exist like this then. Anyway, on to “The Homecoming”. For a second I thought, no wait - they don’t get Ziyal this early do they? I had completely forgotten about Li Nalas.
There’s so much that gets set up in this first part that it’s tough to know where to begin. I do like that Jake’s and Ben’s roles have reversed somewhat as Jake prepares to go on his first big date. I love their relationship so very much. It’s so refreshing to see such a loving relationship between a man and his son. And it enables Sisko to take his parental frustration out on Quark instead! HA! His exasperated responses to the usual Ferengi whining are all the more funny for the fact that Quark actually listens to him!!
The development of the Circle is great, moving from seemingly innocuous graffiti to the truly terrifying branding of Quark’s forehead. It seems realistic to the political situation, both internal to Bajor as well as interplanetary. So it makes sense that Kira’s rescue mission would have both domestic as well as international ramifications. I like that O’Brien was sent with her. It’s such a nice touch that he spent time on the Cardassian front. We don’t get a lot of it, but we do know he has a real combat history and I always like to imagine that Kira feels just a bit better with a Federation type that hates the Spoon-heads as much as she does.
Possibly the best moment is when Li Nalas finally shares with Sisko the true story of his heroic deeds, and Sisko just says, “So?” I love that he understands implicitly that Bajor needs a figurehead and truth is irrelevant. It makes it that much more shocking when said figurehead gets pawned off on the space station, instead of being allowed to mix with the people on the planet.
The opening scene of “The Circle” is one of my favorite uses of the ensemble cast in the entire series. The reaction of each character - to Kira’s departure, to her acceptance of said departure, to the other people coming in to say goodbye - is just so spot on to their own personalities. And then they all step aside and just watch quietly as Bariel comes to invite her to his monastery. (Which is such a pick-up line.)
I adore the outfit that Kira’s wearing while she’s working on the stone path. I have always maintained that the Bajorans are the only ones in the entire Trek universe that have a decent sense of civilian clothing. Their knitwork and crocheting is gorgeous! I also like the fact that Nerys often wears green and red, which doesn’t seem like Christmas colors whatsoever because they aren’t the same tone of green and brightness of red. Because those colors aren’t assigned a holiday association in Bajoran culture like they are in modern Western culture. Anyway, then fucking Winn shows up to be hilariously bitchy as usual.
I had forgotten both that Kira gets her own Orb experience as well as the fact that Bareil was nekkid in it. Hee!
I think this episode suffers slightly from being in the middle. There’s a lot of moving pieces around that continues the set-up in the first episode but can’t necessarily be resolved yet. I do love the reveal that Minister Jaro is the main bad guy. It’s neat that Frank Langella didn’t want to be credited for his role because he was just doing it because his kids were fans. What a great casting coup for this role. He injects such menace as well as such perfect political arrogance into the way he plays the part. I do wonder if he was aware of the Cardassian connection all along and just didn’t give a fuck.
I really didn’t remember that the station gets taken over so quickly in the series. I kept cracking up at all the extras’ reactions as Sisko was announcing his intention to stay onboard during “The Siege”. The departure of the families is really moving. Jake and Nog vowing to remain friends is a beautiful moment. And I really felt, and as a wife and mother completely understood, Keiko’s anger and hurt at Miles remaining behind.
The Jadzia and Kira mission is a lot of fun. We get to see another of Bajor’s moons and see just how far-reaching the resistance really was. Does the Trill insect thing ever come up again? It was fun seeing the normally serene Dax completely discombobulated by the entire thing, from the setting to the giant spiders to the crappy old ship to the lack of technology to the crash landing. She didn’t seem back on her feet, so to speak, until they were in Vedek disguise.
I really like the General Krim character. I’m glad he acknowledged Sisko sharing information before asking for a favor and then remembered that in this episode. He never believed they’d take the station so easily and actually seemed relieved when the Federation resistance became apparent. I kept expecting the Jeffrey from Wings character to have secretly been working for the Circle so it amused me when it turned out he was just a dick. And then he killed Li Nalas. Which I also didn’t remember. Damn this show has a high body count. It’s interesting that here’s another character that is finally at peace with themselves despite years of great angst and frustration, getting killed at the end instead of having to move on to the hard part of actually living their lives with that new outlook. I’m not sure what that says.
Also, how hilarious is it when her darling Essa totally turns on Winn and goes into hard core political spin mode? Suck it Winn!
There’s so much that gets set up in this first part that it’s tough to know where to begin. I do like that Jake’s and Ben’s roles have reversed somewhat as Jake prepares to go on his first big date. I love their relationship so very much. It’s so refreshing to see such a loving relationship between a man and his son. And it enables Sisko to take his parental frustration out on Quark instead! HA! His exasperated responses to the usual Ferengi whining are all the more funny for the fact that Quark actually listens to him!!
The development of the Circle is great, moving from seemingly innocuous graffiti to the truly terrifying branding of Quark’s forehead. It seems realistic to the political situation, both internal to Bajor as well as interplanetary. So it makes sense that Kira’s rescue mission would have both domestic as well as international ramifications. I like that O’Brien was sent with her. It’s such a nice touch that he spent time on the Cardassian front. We don’t get a lot of it, but we do know he has a real combat history and I always like to imagine that Kira feels just a bit better with a Federation type that hates the Spoon-heads as much as she does.
Possibly the best moment is when Li Nalas finally shares with Sisko the true story of his heroic deeds, and Sisko just says, “So?” I love that he understands implicitly that Bajor needs a figurehead and truth is irrelevant. It makes it that much more shocking when said figurehead gets pawned off on the space station, instead of being allowed to mix with the people on the planet.
The opening scene of “The Circle” is one of my favorite uses of the ensemble cast in the entire series. The reaction of each character - to Kira’s departure, to her acceptance of said departure, to the other people coming in to say goodbye - is just so spot on to their own personalities. And then they all step aside and just watch quietly as Bariel comes to invite her to his monastery. (Which is such a pick-up line.)
I adore the outfit that Kira’s wearing while she’s working on the stone path. I have always maintained that the Bajorans are the only ones in the entire Trek universe that have a decent sense of civilian clothing. Their knitwork and crocheting is gorgeous! I also like the fact that Nerys often wears green and red, which doesn’t seem like Christmas colors whatsoever because they aren’t the same tone of green and brightness of red. Because those colors aren’t assigned a holiday association in Bajoran culture like they are in modern Western culture. Anyway, then fucking Winn shows up to be hilariously bitchy as usual.
I had forgotten both that Kira gets her own Orb experience as well as the fact that Bareil was nekkid in it. Hee!
I think this episode suffers slightly from being in the middle. There’s a lot of moving pieces around that continues the set-up in the first episode but can’t necessarily be resolved yet. I do love the reveal that Minister Jaro is the main bad guy. It’s neat that Frank Langella didn’t want to be credited for his role because he was just doing it because his kids were fans. What a great casting coup for this role. He injects such menace as well as such perfect political arrogance into the way he plays the part. I do wonder if he was aware of the Cardassian connection all along and just didn’t give a fuck.
I really didn’t remember that the station gets taken over so quickly in the series. I kept cracking up at all the extras’ reactions as Sisko was announcing his intention to stay onboard during “The Siege”. The departure of the families is really moving. Jake and Nog vowing to remain friends is a beautiful moment. And I really felt, and as a wife and mother completely understood, Keiko’s anger and hurt at Miles remaining behind.
The Jadzia and Kira mission is a lot of fun. We get to see another of Bajor’s moons and see just how far-reaching the resistance really was. Does the Trill insect thing ever come up again? It was fun seeing the normally serene Dax completely discombobulated by the entire thing, from the setting to the giant spiders to the crappy old ship to the lack of technology to the crash landing. She didn’t seem back on her feet, so to speak, until they were in Vedek disguise.
I really like the General Krim character. I’m glad he acknowledged Sisko sharing information before asking for a favor and then remembered that in this episode. He never believed they’d take the station so easily and actually seemed relieved when the Federation resistance became apparent. I kept expecting the Jeffrey from Wings character to have secretly been working for the Circle so it amused me when it turned out he was just a dick. And then he killed Li Nalas. Which I also didn’t remember. Damn this show has a high body count. It’s interesting that here’s another character that is finally at peace with themselves despite years of great angst and frustration, getting killed at the end instead of having to move on to the hard part of actually living their lives with that new outlook. I’m not sure what that says.
Also, how hilarious is it when her darling Essa totally turns on Winn and goes into hard core political spin mode? Suck it Winn!