The Ship Stardate 50049.3 : Synopsis in main DS9 listing

The "Alamo in the Gamma Quadrant" story wasn't too bad. While on a scouting mission in the Gamma Quadrant for a certain mineral to mine, Sisko, Worf, Miles and a couple of other gold-shirts, doomed not to see the end of the episode observe a Jem'Hadar warship crash. However just as they think they've hit the tactical jackpot, their runabout in orbit is attacked and destroyed by another warship sent to retrieve a mysterious and highly valued chunk of booty inside.
Sisko and Co. take refuge, and whilst having to search for this mystery object, they also have to deal with their wounded crewman, Muniz. I'm not quite sure how long Muniz was hanging around in terms of the series, but his death certainly makes an impression. Nothing so sterile as a cortical implant sounding a long high pitched "beeeeeeeeep" to denote a lack of pulse, with either the EMH or Crusher grimly state "s/he's dead". It's much more brutal AND real than that.
Anyway, so the crew hold up in the ship whilst Sisko attempts to negotiate with the Vorta liaison Kilana, who's surprisingly not a conventional villainess here. You'd expect any other antagonist in her position to send in the troops, massacre the Starfleet crew and take what's found to be a Changeling without a moment's hesitation. However she seeks a peaceful resolution with compromises, which are, surprisingly, acceptable. However Sisko's not convinced, and following the death of the Changeling, the Jem'Hadar, Muniz, the runabout crew and another random Starfleet officer, quite resoundingly states as only Sisko can: "This! Never would have happened! If we only Trusted each! Other!!" ...or something along those lines. The point being that mistrust can blind even the most hardened people and that unwillingness to compromise can cost lives that never should've been taken in the first place (though try telling a Jem'Hadar that!).
The message aside it's not a bad episode, there's some decent action sequences and the claustrophobic atmosphere of the upside-down Jem'Hadar ship is tense. Miles and Worf clash on their views about Muniz's impending death, and while I understand the Klingon view on dishonourable deaths, I'd have expected Worf to be a little more compassionate. He's lived and served with humans long enough and has seen death many times, it almost seems like they just decided to turn him into a jerk to fulfill the stereotypical role of the 'angry, bloodthirsty' Klingon purely to provide the alternate view on how to handle Muniz dying. Dax like always cracks a wise one about the precious cargo being sought by the Jem'Hadar is Kilana's lost earring, I lol'd. And Sisko's pretty good like you can expect. Of course, there's the argument he was too eager to trust Kilana when she wanted to meet with him, but I don't think he had much choice otherwise.
All in all, a well constructed episode, but it all feels a bit drawn out for the message that was being sent (mistrust, compromise, etc.).
Nitpicking: While I'm not expert on this particular Trek series I'm still at a bit of a loss as to why Starfleet must insist on these ever so dangerous missions into the Gamma Quadrant with so few personnel. Very well, the planet the episode takes place on was 3 weeks from Dominion territory, but sending a lone Runabout seemed a bit reckless. Maybe they could've pulled an old Oberth class ship (and model) out of mothballs to have one orbiting that got attacked and destroyed.
Remarkable scene: Sisko musing over the casualty list from the incident on the planet. Never was anything of a similar nature seen on its contemporary and predecessor series TNG and Voyager respectively. Miles and Worf watching over Muniz' coffin to keep predators away according to a Klingon tradition.
Remarkable costume: Kilana's outfit, sexiest Vorta ever :P
Remarkable set: Less said about the exterior the better but the interior of the upside down Jem'Hadar ship, complete with hanging corpses!
Remarkable fact: Jem'Hadar weapons employ some form of anti-coagulant to ensure that once wounded, the victim never stops bleeding.
Rating: 7 (Cameron)

Trials and Tribble-ations Stardate not given: Synopsis in main DS9 listing

Obviously "Trials and Tribble-ations" deserves a high rating just because it is so much fun to watch. The special effects used are outstanding and it is nice to see a higher quality model of the original Enterprise for the first time. I appreciate how the old corny "technology" of the time period was treated. I also appreciate how the writers decided to handle the Klingon forehead problem by only recognizing it but not explaining it- "We do not discuss it with outsiders." Of course, Enterprise will later explain the problem rather well without causing any problems with Worf's statement here.
I only wish the writers took the opportunity they had here to explain or show some things about the old Enterprise that are still a mystery. Perhaps they could have shown the warp core so we could finally see what it looks like and where it is located exactly. Is it directly under the engineering deck that is commonly shown throughout TOS? I would also like to know why we never see any windows on the interior of this ship, yet they are clearly visible on the outside.
Remarkable ship: The Enterprise!
Nitpicking: If time travel is so easy to accomplish by the late 24th century, one would think that someone would have already intentionally screwed up the time line in their favor. I could see some Ferengi taking advantage of an underdeveloped planet like what Quark intended to do in DS9 "Little Green Men" or what the two Ferengi did in VOY "False Profits".
Rating: 9 (Chris)

In the Cards Stardate 50929.4: "The One with the Cellular Regeneration and Entertainment Chamber"

I'm not going to lie, I love this episode. Jake and Nog as the over-reactant action takers is silly, but I find the episode fun. I will, however, try to rate this episode more on the standards set by the rest of the series and less on my personal preferences.
As always, the acting of, and the interplay between Cirroc Lofton and Aron Eisenberg was more than noteworthy. They were serious and yet, at the same time, funny. You really, without hesitation or doubt, believed that these people are as close as brothers. This episode has some close similarities with the later Season 7 episode "Treachery, Faith and the Great River", except that in the latter it is Nog alone making all of the deals, and that this was the main plot here, and a B-plot in the later episode. Even though this type of story is generally better served as a B-plot, I think maybe it was necessary between the exceedingly dark "Empok Nor" and the series-changing "Call to Arms". It gave us just the right amount of down time, as well as allowing Jake to be a main focus again. I liked the accusations and the alliance with the mad scientist, even though they called Jake's presence of mind into question. Yes, he was trying to help his depressed father, but honestly, how far would you go? Not as far as Jake I would hope.
Additionally, I like that we finally see the crew truly foreboding about the coming Dominion conflict, though maybe the crew's crushing depression came about a bit too quickly. More impressively, I liked that we finally see the reason behind Sisko's claims that if Bajor had entered the Federation they would have perished in "Rapture", for here, and more prominently in "Call to Arms", it becomes clear that if Bajor had entered the Federation in the earlier episode it would have been ravaged by the coming Dominion threat.
I want to note Jeffery Combs' portrayal of Weyoun again. He is always entertaining. But I'll admit that as fun as this episode was, it lacked a bit in both seriousness and excitement.
Nitpicking: Two things. One: we see once again a fascination with a period close to the present, instead of something of the future time period between now and TOS that we have yet to see. Two: why were so many people interested in buying a bunch of junk from Quark? People are barely willing to buy anything of quality from Quark.
Remarkable technobabble: Everything said about Giger's Cellular Regeneration and Entertainment Chamber. The remark-ability of it is make even greater by the fact that it sound both slightly credible and completely ridiculous at the same time.
Rating: 4 (legendhiro)

Proceed to DS9 Season 6 Guest Reviews

Home   Top
	Last modified: 15.09.09
http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/episodes/ds95g.htm