Deep Space Nine 5.09, 5.10
I was really looking forward to “The Ascent”. I think it’s my favorite of all of the Quark and Odo interactions. Getting them off the station and onto that mountaintop was a really good idea. 'Have I ever told you how much I hate your endless lying, your pathetic greed, your idiotic little schemes?''> Plus it sets up the Orion Syndicate quite nicely. Have we gotten any real information about them since TOS? I know they come up in the latter seasons of DS9 and in ENT but I can’t remember them being used since the green slave girl in “The Cage”. At any rate, I love that even though Odo doesn’t actually know what he’s done (and of course it turns out he’s a witness), he’s still truly excited about arresting Quark and hauling him in. Their bickering over the one pair of gloves and the single environmental suit would never have been possible if Odo hadn’t been solid. And of course I kept having visions of Frodo and Sam on Mount Doom as they slowly made their way up to a height to get out an SOS signal.
We also get the return of Nog from Starfleet. The idea that the sophomore year is spent doing “field studies” is a great way to get him back on the station and interacting with the main cast. It’s good that there’s tension between Nog and Jake as roommates. Since I live with a professional copywriter I got a good laugh at all the writer’s quirks, like playing computerized dom-jot to clear his head. Ultimately it takes their fathers to get them both to get over themselves. Which was pretty perfect.
“Rapture” is another favorite of mine. I love that Ben keeps going nuts on these decidedly Bajoran projects. He is so the Emissary. And this is also a good way to bring back Kasidy Yates. I love that she’s so unsure of her welcome, but her boyfriend is already enthralled by B’hala and greets her with no reservation because of that. It also throws her into the role of stepmom possibly faster than she would ever have expected. Especially considering that Jake is a grown man living apart from his father now. But I really love how she plays that part, supporting Benjamin up to a point and then reminding him of his duties to his son. It’s all the more poignant knowing that Kasidy and Jake will ultimately lose him in the end. But for now, Jake makes the choice and Ben loses the visions. His heartbreak when he wakes up realizes they’re gone is so palpable, and tinged with the bitterness of the realization that he was really willing to give up his family for them.
I like that Worf sides with Kira on the matter of faith, much to the dismay of Dax and O’Brien.
I also find this one interesting because we’re solidly in the era of Kai Winn as, well not an ally exactly, but a reasonable political figure instead of an outright adversary. She had begun to move into that role while negotiating with the Cardassians earlier and cements it into position with her acknowledgement that she had doubted The Sisko. But she follows him when he says that Bajor must stand alone and not join the Federation. Of course she’s still awful to Kira. But I did like her little speech about the Resistance and how she spent her time in a prison camping for preaching the word of the Prophets.
NEW UNIFORMS!!!!
We also get the return of Nog from Starfleet. The idea that the sophomore year is spent doing “field studies” is a great way to get him back on the station and interacting with the main cast. It’s good that there’s tension between Nog and Jake as roommates. Since I live with a professional copywriter I got a good laugh at all the writer’s quirks, like playing computerized dom-jot to clear his head. Ultimately it takes their fathers to get them both to get over themselves. Which was pretty perfect.
“Rapture” is another favorite of mine. I love that Ben keeps going nuts on these decidedly Bajoran projects. He is so the Emissary. And this is also a good way to bring back Kasidy Yates. I love that she’s so unsure of her welcome, but her boyfriend is already enthralled by B’hala and greets her with no reservation because of that. It also throws her into the role of stepmom possibly faster than she would ever have expected. Especially considering that Jake is a grown man living apart from his father now. But I really love how she plays that part, supporting Benjamin up to a point and then reminding him of his duties to his son. It’s all the more poignant knowing that Kasidy and Jake will ultimately lose him in the end. But for now, Jake makes the choice and Ben loses the visions. His heartbreak when he wakes up realizes they’re gone is so palpable, and tinged with the bitterness of the realization that he was really willing to give up his family for them.
I like that Worf sides with Kira on the matter of faith, much to the dismay of Dax and O’Brien.
I also find this one interesting because we’re solidly in the era of Kai Winn as, well not an ally exactly, but a reasonable political figure instead of an outright adversary. She had begun to move into that role while negotiating with the Cardassians earlier and cements it into position with her acknowledgement that she had doubted The Sisko. But she follows him when he says that Bajor must stand alone and not join the Federation. Of course she’s still awful to Kira. But I did like her little speech about the Resistance and how she spent her time in a prison camping for preaching the word of the Prophets.
NEW UNIFORMS!!!!