Deep Space 9 Superior

[the Fifth Race]

S1 E15 - "Progress" --While not an action packed episode by any means, I enjoyed both stories in this episode. Seeing the character focused story about Kira having to force a Bajoan farmer she grows to care about to leave a moon was touching

Progress is a wonderful sleeper episode that gets to the heart of larger issues using small-scaled human drama. Like "Past Prologue," this episode excels by placing Kira in the middle of tough problems with shades of grey. The interesting issue here is how the provisional government assigns Kira to a job she really doesn't feel she can carry out without betraying part of herself.

[jelgate]

[B][I][U][COLOR="Blue"][CENTER] I don't understand why they didn't simply take some of the aliens back to DS9, where they have far better research equipment. For that matter, they probably have better euthanasia drugs, and people could presumably be kept in stasis while Bashir researched the illness..

That would be unwise from a medical standpoint. If the diease the Dominion gave to these people began to spread out through the inhabitants it would cause an epidemic through out the station. I know Bashir said they wouldn't get infected but he could be wrong. Its better to be safe then sorry by keeping the people quarentined

[Spimman]

S1 E16 - "If Wishes Were Horses"

A somewhat silly episode where the crew members imagination manifest as reality. It ended up being aliens that were just attempting to learn about us. The episode was quite fluffy and not one of the greats, but I must admit that I enjoyed it!

[the Fifth Race]

The Quickening

There's nothing particularly special about the way the story of "The Quickening" unfolds, other than its absorbing execution. The idea, after all, of Bashir getting so personally involved in the plight of his suffering patients is nothing we haven't seen before. But execution here is everything. Like with "Hippocratic Oath," Rene Auberjonois proves quite capable at directing DS9 and making a show have lasting impact on an emotional level. "The Quickening" is small, slow, quiet, and involving drama. It's a very simple medical-oriented show for Bashir that really works, unlike "Life Support" from last season, where he was constantly at the mercy of a manipulative plot.

The most important reason for this episodes success is that it allows us to care about the characters and the victims of the blight. I can't put my finger on why exactly it all works so well, whether it's Auberjonois' direction or Naren Shankar's precise dialogue or a combination of both, but the show makes us very sympathetic for these people. Like the Federation, they were once very much in control of their own fate, but their resistance to the Dominion's autocratic hand led to a vicious attack and endless suffering ever since. Yet while keeping everyone someone we can sympathize with, the drama keeps its bounds and never goes the least bit overboard. There's no preaching or excessive melodrama here - just a very even-handed, fair approach to the material.

And such is the case with pretty much the entire story. The creators and actors all seem to know where they're going with the story, and never push harder than they should. Take, for example, the character of Doctor Trevean. He's a Kevorkian-type who wants to spare people the agony of their final days of life by assisting them in a dignified suicide once the quickening sets in. In the first act, the character initially seems blatantly obvious, right down to an understandable but exaggerated conflict between him and Bashir, who finds it incomprehensible that anyone would help end the life of someone who needs real medical treatment. But the creators play down the conflict angle and make Trevean a sincere and well-intentioned character whose points and actions are very bit as relevant as Bashir's considering that a cure for the condition has indeed been assumed impossible. I appreciate that the episode shows Bashir's disapproval for Trevean's assisted suicides yet still remains completely fair to Trevean and doesn't slight his position.

[USS Defiant]

S1 E16 - "If Wishes Were Horses" -- A somewhat silly episode where the crew members imagination manifest as reality. It ended up being aliens that were just attempting to learn about us. The episode was quite fluffy and not one of the greats, but I must admit that I enjoyed it!

A very silly episode! -- This episode seemingly hopes to earn points for being weird (including a scene featuring a snow storm on the promenade), but the weirdness falls flat under the routine execution. No one seems genuinely concerned about the strange happenings on the station, not even when they escalate to the point of impending apocalypse in the form of a spatial anomaly which threatens to destroy DS9 and the entire Bajoran system along with it.

[Fan-e-Gate]

I found it odd that never once did Bashir, nor Sisko, back on the station - discuss some means of contacting the Dominion to negotiate for a cure. Interesting as it was to see Julian isolated and fighting his own battles, the larger issues are social in nature, and those were largely left untouched.

I don't think the Dominion would give up a cure (even if they had one) at any price. That planet served as a warning to those who would defy them.
As with a lot of Trek episodes, I wonder what happened later. I'm sure it would take years for them to even begin to recover, but I'd like to read a novel or short story that showed the beginnings of that.

[USS Defiant]

The Quickening -- And such is the case with pretty much the entire story. The creators and actors all seem to know where they're going with the story, and never push harder than they should. Take, for example, the character of Doctor Trevean. He's a Kevorkian-type who wants to spare people the agony of their final days of life by assisting them in a dignified suicide once the quickening sets in. In the first act, the character initially seems blatantly obvious, right down to an understandable but exaggerated conflict between him and Bashir, who finds it incomprehensible that anyone would help end the life of someone who needs real medical treatment. But the creators play down the conflict angle and make Trevean a sincere and well-intentioned character whose points and actions are very bit as relevant as Bashir's considering that a cure for the condition has indeed been assumed impossible. I appreciate that the episode shows
Bashir's disapproval for Trevean's assisted suicides yet still remains completely fair to Trevean and doesn't slight his position.

The show also raises the very true notion that such a culture wouldn't exactly welcome an outside hope for a cure with open arms. Indeed, Trevean even makes a not-so-subtle threat aimed at Bashir and all healers "who bring false hope." The fact that everyone has lost hope in saving themselves is certainly understandable, and the episode manages to work it into the equation realistically. In order to run experiments, Bashir needs volunteers. But it takes a while for the hopeless to work up enough hope to defy the pain and allow Bashir to work with them in their weak, quickened stage.

One of the first Bashir works with is Ekoria, a pregnant widow who has not yet quickened, who hopes she can survive long enough to give birth. Wheeler does a terrific job with the material. She's another example of the show's strong point: precision characterization performed without needless moments. Eventually, Bashir has a roomful of volunteers, and before too long he even thinks he may have a potential cure.

But things turn dreadfully wrong when all of Bashir's patients begin gyrating and trembling in pain as an unforeseeable element causes them to reject the treatment. (This leads to perhaps the show's one slightly excessive scene where Bashir gets overly involved in trying to save one dying patient while yelling "Breathe! Breathe!" until Dax has to shake him back into reality.) By morning, Bashir has a roomful of bodies, most of whom asked for Trevean's poison to speed their death. Only Ekoria survives the night.

The deaths lead to an interesting character scene where Bashir reveals to Dax that his arrogance got the best of him. I especially liked some of Bashir's dialogue: "I was so arrogant to think I could cure these people in a week; but there is no cure, the Dominion made sure of that." And Dax's response was even better - very relevant and a very scorching wake-up call: "Maybe it was arrogant to think that. But it's even more arrogant to think there isn't a cure just because you couldn't find it." This is a very good scene that's easy to overlook.

While The Quickening isn't a groundbreaking episode that goes out of its way to choose a topic that's particularly audacious or new, it does cover its chosen topic almost perfectly and with emotional depth. Dramatically, it ventures just up to the point that it should and no farther. The result is a story that feels very real, with characters that act rational and true to themselves, such that we care about what happens to them and we care about the story.

[Weyoun]

The Quickening

This episode examines euthanasia. A blight is killing people on a massive scale. Since there is no cure on this planet, a man is euthanizing people en masse when they come to him to make their death quicker and less painful. Interestingly, Julian and Jadzia both display abhorred reactions to the concept of euthanasia when confronted by it, which is consistent with the Federation's "do no harm" and "never execute anyone" attitude. It also seems a bit impractical. What is the point of prolonging life when life is always painful and there is no hope of a cure? Well, Julian's attention quickly shifts away from the euthanasia problem and dives into finding a cure. The episode thus conveniently avoids making a statement about euthanasia and instead the episode becomes your average miracle cure show.

[Weyoun]

Body Parts

This is a rather silly Ferengi episode, but a rather clever O'Brien/Kira/Keiko episode. Unfortunately, most of the time is squandered on Quark's silly situation. Very little plot is given to Kira and the O'Briens. This plot would have been worth a few more points if Quark's and the O'Briens' allotted time were reversed.

There were a couple stand-out scenes that I enjoyed including Quark seeking to hire Garak to kill him - Keiko explaining morning sickness to Kira - Quark and Garak arguing over the death method. And it even warmed my heart (a little) with everyone chiming in to help Quark in the end.

[Starbase]

Body Parts

Rom and Quark were forgettable and quite horrible. And then when Brunt showed up again, a funny thing happened - The show came together and worked on its terms, even with its basic plot that can be summed up in one sentence. That sentence goes something like this: Quark is tricked into believing he has a terminal illness by Brunt, who buys Quark's remains in advance and then reveals to Quark that he's not going to die, forcing him to choose whether to kill himself to satisfy the contract's terms or to break the contract and live the rest of his life as a pathetic Ferengi outcast.

The key words are "decent" and "semi-serious." While the episode is an overall success, it isn't really anything approaching compelling or dramatic. And there is a lot of comic relief here, some of it's dumb, and some of it's effective. In any case it's enough to see that the show doesn't take itself all that seriously, which is fine for a comedy episode.

What I did find interesting in "Body Parts, was discovering that the episode actually matters. Unlike most Ferengi shows, this one seems to have quite an impact on Quark, and a lasting impact at that. Usually, Quark is just a Ferengi caricature, spouting Rules of Acquisition and being greedy just because the guidelines the writers have set down for the Ferengi as a culture demands it. But this time, the writers address Quark's difference from the rest of Ferenginar. The twist here is the question: What if, despite how greedy and conniving Quark seems to humans, he is actually too generous and overly concerned with the well-being of his workers in the eyes of other Ferengi? And because of this difference he has to prove otherwise by killing himself, or live only as a disgrace to his people?

[the Fifth Race]

What I did find interesting in "Body Parts," however, was discovering that the show actually matters. Unlike most Ferengi shows, this one seems to have quite an impact on Quark, and a lasting impact at that. Usually, Quark is just a Ferengi caricature, spouting Rules of Acquisition and being greedy just because the guidelines the writers have set down for the Ferengi as a culture demands it. But this time, the writers address Quark's difference from the rest of Ferenginar. The twist here is the question: What if, despite how greedy and conniving Quark seems to humans, he is actually too generous and overly concerned with the well-being of his workers in the eyes of other Ferengi? And because of this difference he has to prove otherwise by killing himself, or live only as a disgrace to his people?

Despite all the comic mayhem the premise is milked for, this is not a lightweight issue. This requires some hard choices for Quark and, for once, some tough consequences as well. Watching Quark go through his hardship is handled surprisingly well. While I may not like selfish Ferengi customs, it's quite clear that Quark, as a practicing Ferengi businessman, does. He wants to be successful and liked by his peers, but Brunt is determined to see to it otherwise.

So Quark considers killing himself so he can die with Ferengi businessman dignity, or, rather, in one of the season's best turns of comic inspiration, hiring Garak to do it for him (to which, for a rather brief and intriguing moment, Garak smiles ominously). This leads to two of the funniest scenes the series had done in the early seasons. First is the scene where Garak practices killing Quark in a holosuite simulation. (Garak: "How was that?" Quark: "No! Snapping vertebrae is out!") Second is the scene where Quark walks precariously into his darkened quarters expecting a surprise assassination. (This was great physical comedy that didn't wander too far into the realm of slapstick, and I was laughing hard.)

I particularly liked the show's ending. For once, there was no easy fix to the problem. Quark is faced with being completely ruined-period. He sits alone in his empty bar, which has been completely stripped of everything, furniture and all. The only assets he has are his friends--Sisko, Odo, Dax, Bashir, even Morn-who, to help him reopen his bar, donate furniture and supplies out of their own generosity. The final shot is a very reassuring turn of characterization. For once, Quark is actually speechless with gratitude, as if he understands generosity for the first time in his life. Reading into this, I'm hoping this will somewhat change his character's outlook. Being exiled from Ferenginar may cause him to be even more drawn into Federation values; and from now on, maybe he'll think twice before taking advantage of the people around him. That's the payoff of Body Parts (one I find quite respectable). Most Ferengi episodes don't even have a payoff, and it's nice to finally see one with some story and substance.

[Spimman]

S1 E17 - "The Forsaken"

This episode was alright, the fact that the Federation has such awesome Command staff as a general rule (Sisko, Picard, Janeway, Riker...) but chooses such ill-mannered and seemingly immature Ambassadors bothers me. These people visit new cultures, but complain about every little discomfort? The baby power/technology "dog" story was OK for me as well.

All that being said, I did enjoy Odo in this episode. Seeing Mrs. Troi hit on him, but then seeing him open up in the turbo-lift and in the end one of his walls comes down. As a character story about Odo I was impressed.

[Starbase]

S1 E17 - "The Forsaken" I did enjoy Odo in this episode. Seeing Mrs. Troi hit on him, but then seeing him open up in the turbo-lift and in the end one of his walls comes down. As a character story about Odo I was impressed

Like you mentioned, this episode opens the door to some of Odo's mysterious backstory, and shows the constable in a moment of weakened personal pride. Lwaxana's reaction to the situation is nicely handled. Also entertaining is the always-reliable Meaney as an O'Brien frustrated with a hopeless computer system, as well the notion of Sisko passing off the duty of entertaining visiting ambassadors to an unfortunate Doctor Bashir. A decent show.

[Spimman]

S1 E18 - "Dramatis Personae"

Entertaining and quite a bit of action, but not overall a great episode. I liked watching Odo investigate and find out what was going on, so from that stand point it was good. I also liked the clock that Sisko built, interesting little touch on the episode!

S1 E19 - "Duet"

This episode is another good episode that features Kira battling her personal demons of the past, but in the end overcoming them. I thought the investigation, character interaction and dialogue in this episode were well done and I enjoyed it!

[Spimman]

S1 E20 - "In the Hands of the Prophets"

This episode left me longing for more, I was excited to see Vedek Winn, because she is a character I love to hate. The older I get the more I enjoy when a show can really bring out strong emotions if dislike and/or hatred for a character. Winn is one of those characters for me, and I attribute it to the writing and the acting. I really enjoyed this episode all around, the dueling religious factions vs. the Federation. The murder mystery that ended up being related to the whole thing and the resolution we all know won't last for long!


Season 1 has now been completed.

I really enjoyed it, I think I had forgotten how many one-off episodes there were in the early Seasons of DS9. Having been a while since I watched the show my memories are more of the overall War and so have enjoyed seeing the details, the small things over again!