How do I turn this into a profit?
I’ve completed my re-watch of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Now it’s time to start Deep Space Nine! I am much less familiar with this show, though I’m pretty sure I’ve seen about 80-90% of the episodes. It’s been so long that I’m sure it will all feel brand new. My wife has never seen the show. She and I will go through, review every episode, and give commentary and a grade from A-F. There are SPOILERS for each episode below. Without further adieu, here’s:
“Starship Down”
Synopsis
The Defiant is dispatched to continue trade negotiations with some people in the Gamma Quadrant. They’re mad because of tariffs Quark imposed, and Quark is ordered to fix the situation. However, just as the negotiations are in in force, Jem’Hadar attack and an unexploded torpedo hits the ship right where Quark and other alien are negotiating. They bond over trying to disable the bomb while everybody else fixes the ship. High fives and trade agreements abound.
Commentary
Okay, basically every scene with Quark steals the show in this one. Quark is such an interesting–and entertaining–character that it works. Whether it’s trying to dismantle a dud torpedo or settling down to talk trade deals with the ship still getting repaired, Quark completely steals the show in this one. The rest of the episode is okay, but it really is just a rac to figure out how to repair the ship. That’s about it. And yet I liked this one. It also has Sisko and Kira making a deeper connection as they agree to go watch a game of baseball after it’s all over.
Grade: B “It’s a little silly and disjointed, but wow can Quark sell an episode or what?”
Wife’s Grade and Comment: B “It was good, but it felt a bit disjointed to me.”
“Little Green Men”
Synopsis
Quark ropes Nog and Rom into helping him with a “business venture,” promising that it is nothing illegal that would get them in trouble with Starfleet. Turns out that the ship Quark acquired was not such a benevolent gift however, and he goes back in time with the two–and Odo, who was surreptitiously snooping–to Roswell! Yes, turns out that those stories of aliens were true–they were Ferengi! Odo, with the help of some benevolent earthlings, manages to free the Ferengi from the clutches of a military that wants to do experiments on them, and they manage to return to their own time, no serious damage done. Quark, though, is taken in for smuggling.
Commentary
Ever wonder what really happened at Roswell? Yeah, that’s easy: it was the Ferengi, obviously. This delightful episode plays with our sense of the surreal while interweaving campiness and characterization–I mean, you know Odo wants to catch Quark at all costs–makes this a good move. It’s the kind of episode that DS9 has been able to get away with more easily because it so rarely has truly ridiculous episodes. There was a short run of them before, but unlike the previous two Trek series, this one almost needs the silliness as a break in the ever-heightening tension. DS9 is so serious sometimes. I mean the last episode basically made a joke out of an episode long death threat from a torpedo! It’s like a breath of fresh air to have this kind of silliness once in a while, and not distracting at all from the broader narrative.
There’s little to dislike here, from the intentional over-acting on the part of the soldiers to the wonderful sepia tones at times and the camera angels, it’s all done quite well.
Grade: A “This one is even sillier than the previous one, but it’s all intentional. The explanation for what ‘Really Happened’ at Area 51 was great. I loved it!”
Wife’s Grade and Comment: A+ “It was just a really excellent episode. I enjoyed its self-referential silliness.”
Links
J.W. Wartick- Always Have a Reason– Check out my “main site” which talks about philosophy of religion, theology, and Christian apologetics (among other random topics). I love science fiction so that comes up integrated with theology fairly frequently as well. I’d love to have you follow there, too!
Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!
Star Trek: DS9– For more episode reviews, follow this site and also click this link to read more (scroll down as needed)! Drop me a comment to let me know what you thought!
SDG.
Eclectic Theist 