Posted on June 25th, 2009 by Samuel Walters
“Sanctuary” is solid episode, weaving a subplot about Bajoran culture with a bigger plot about a civilization of refugees who suddenly appear through the wormhole. The overall writing of the episode successfully comments on themes of prejudice, tolerance, hope and despair. And while the pacing may occasionally stumble, and while the final climactic scene is a bit too hokey to be taken completely seriously, the end result is a classic installment of Deep Space Nine.
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Posted on June 20th, 2009 by Samuel Walters
“Second Sight” is a significant letdown. Rarely does an episode start so promisingly and end so miserably. Sadly, that’s the case here. You can certainly see what the episode was trying to accomplish –between the ideas of romance and dreams, between sacrifice and duty. But everything is undone by a plot that is so hopelessly obscure that it sabotages and undermines the emotional heart of the story.
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Posted on June 18th, 2009 by Samuel Walters
“Necessary Evil” features a surprisingly successful ending to an episode that begins with a great deal of difficulty. The episode itself is loosely modeled after film-noir, with its murder-mystery, voiceover work from Odo, and austere lighting from flashbacks to the time when the Cardassians ran Deep Space Nine. But the setup is a bit too cliché and a bit too slow and a bit too awkward to convincingly pull the audience in to the story. The result is that by the time the episode really gets into its more worthy segments, too much time has passed to really capitalize on them.
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Posted on June 16th, 2009 by Samuel Walters
“Rules of Acquisition” is the second episode to feature the Ferengi and their Grand Nagus. And like the first one, this installment is a mixed bag. The results here are slightly better, thanks to the episode’s rather obvious message against Ferengi misogyny – as well as the introduction of the mysterious Gamma Quadrant entity known as The Dominion. But the pacing, characters, and primary story are either too weak or too silly for the episode to be taken seriously. As a result, it doesn’t quite work either as a comedy or as a serious commentary.
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Posted on June 14th, 2009 by Samuel Walters
The problem with “Melora” is that it is both too obvious and too uncertain. The episode does everything but smack you in the head with its intent and yet it cannot seem to find a consistent message from start to finish. As with most DS9 episodes to date, the take on the episode’s central conflict – in this case the question of what it means to be disabled – is handled with some unexpected developments. And there are, in fact, a number of enjoyable scenes. But the whole production fails to gain any traction thanks to its unfocused plot and characterization.
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Posted on June 12th, 2009 by Samuel Walters
“Cardassians” proves to be a successful episode thanks to an effective layering of its story, adding little textures to the overall fabric by way of strong writing and performances, particularly from the supporting cast. The story itself is a familiar one for TNG aficionados – that of the orphan child being raised by aliens – but the premise here is much more competently explored, especially in terms of how such circumstances affect everyone involved. If there is a criticism, however, it’s in the fact that the orphan in question gets much less attention than the sometimes-spy tailor. True, Garak is a worthy subject, but in a story about being torn between two worlds, the orphan ends up being, well, orphaned by the narrative.
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Posted on June 10th, 2009 by Samuel Walters
Ahhh yes. I suppose it was round about time for one of these “alien takeover” episodes. Odd though, that “Invasive Procedures” comes on the heels of the whole “Bajoran takeover” arc. Apparently a handful of motley aliens – including a hopelessly insecure leader – can accomplish what an entire Bajoran boarding party could not. It’s inconsistencies and sloppy plausibility that really sabotage’s the episode’s attempt to explore the nature of the Trill in general – and Sisko’s deep friendship with Dax in particular.
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Posted on June 8th, 2009 by Samuel Walters
“The Siege” is the predominantly action-filled finale to the opening three-episode story arc to Deep Space Nine’s second season. As one might expect, quite a bit gets resolved here, but it certainly isn’t a neat and tidy conclusion – with respect to either the story or the episode itself. As far as the story is concerned, the unresolved threads are important, underscoring the fact that even when a crisis has passed, the issues of that crisis still linger. For the episode, there is a sense of urgency in bringing the story to a fitting end, but the heavy emphasis on action – while certainly entertaining – tends to come at the expense of the more critical issues beneath the surface of these events. True, the first two episodes of the story arc spent a lot of time on more meaningful explorations, but here the result is a thrilling episode which just doesn’t have enough to it to be considered truly exceptional.
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Posted on June 6th, 2009 by Samuel Walters
“The Circle” is an intense, dramatic and even epic continuation of the storyline that was begun in the season-opening episode, “The Homecoming.” Indeed, this episode draws upon narrative elements as far back as the “The Hands of the Prophets” and if there was any question about the jeopardy facing not only the crew of DS9, but also the planet of Bajor, this episode quickly dispels those doubts with a rapid chain of events that leaves both DS9 and Bajor on the brink of war. The narrative is both engaging and riveting and though there are is an uneven pacing at times, the episode is very, very good.
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Posted on June 4th, 2009 by Samuel Walters
“The Homecoming” launches Deep Space Nine’s second season by thrusting the audience deep into the midst of the political and social turmoil of Bajor – with a former war hero as the central focal point. The story is one of risk and sacrifice, with the repercussions of ideological struggle affecting everyone on DS9 – right down to Sisko’s son, Jake. More than that, this episode has a well-constructed story-arc, moving both the plot and the characters seamlessly along a treacherous path toward instability and conflict. This is an episode which features strong writing and acting and, as a result, this is a very successful installment.
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