So I've watched quite a few DS 9 episodes since my last review. I don't know if I wanna go through all of them, just a few that I remember things about or my irks about each one I guess.
Season 1, Episode 15--Progress: It was alright. I didn't hate it, I didn't love it. Although I didn't really like how Major Kira acted in this episode. How can she continue being a badass if she falls for every sob story that comes along? One man's home is more important than the power needs of her whole damn planet? I would have just told the old man to move, or we'll transport you out of there by force. Which I guess is good that I wasn't in her place, because I'm mean. I don't even remember how the episode was resolved. Shows how much I cared about it...
Season 1, Episode 16--If Wishes Were Horses: This one was kind of stupid. It had to do with the mind giving fear a physical manifestation. Again. Okay, it wasn't fear this time, it was "imagination" but it was still stupid. The way they solved the problem was to "believe" that it wasn't happening. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know this was a Disney film. Why would O'Brien wish Rumplestiltskin into appearance anyway? And they weren't just figments of the crew's imagination but actual aliens coming to observe them. But again, why? They never said why it was. I feel like the whole premise was just an excuse to film Odo chasing an emu down the Promenade. Because, that was damn funny. Poor man.
Season 1, Episode 17--The Forsaken: Oh this episode was so cute. Not much in plot but a lot in character development. Poor Odo. An ambassador comes and develops an affection for him and he doesn't know how to handle it. He was so confused and flustered, he was actually running away from the woman. And then they get stuck in an elevator and she babbles on and he can't stand the noise but lets her talk but is obviously not listening at all. And then he melts. Which I thought was sweet at the end, that she catches him in her skirt. And that was the episode...
Season 1, Episode 18--Dramatis Personae: Another stupid mind episode. This time it wasn't fear that was messing with anyone, or imagination, but a sense of mutiny and discord. Do they have to go through every possible emotion before the end of the series? The next one they're gonna do is happiness where everyone skips through a field of happy pretty flowers, braids each other's hair, and then end the day holding hands and singing "Kumbaya." That'll be the day. I hope that that never ever happens. And I don't even know what it, that mist thing, was. Again, goes to show how much I pay attention when I don't really care. But Odo is the only one who doesn't change his personality and he has to save everyone by playing to everyone which I thought was pretty cunning of him. What was the purpose of that mist thing anyway? I was trying to figure it out, like maybe it was to show warn people not to fight with each other. But then I was like, that makes no sense whatsoever. There was no reason to have this episode. It wasn't plot development, because the problem gets resolved in the end or character development because everyone was off their rocker and acting totally out of character. The only character it really showed was Odo and how smart he was...which is great, I love Odo, but really? A whole episode to show Odo's greatness? Maybe it was supposed to show how Kira and Sisko are getting along better and acting as more of a united front by the end of the episode...but that was in like the last 2 minutes. The rest of the 43 minutes was Kira trying to kill Sisko and take over the station. So they didn't really make that clear.
Season 1, Episode 19--Duet: This was actually a pretty good episode. The tense relations between the Cardassians and the Bajorans are actually an interesting look at how people deal with a war suddenly being over but the fears and animosity between an invading force and the people they oppressed still being a problem. Kira captures a Cardassian who claims to be the military leader of a Bajoran work camp that was akin to the Concentration camps of the Nazis. She was there when the camp was liberated and saw the death and destruction brought on by the Cardassians. So she is overjoyed to see that the General of the camp is in her custody and the people of Bajor. She wants to put him on trial as a war criminal but Sisko is reluctant to give him up just yet. They end up finding out that this Cardassian altered his looks and wanted to be taken prisoner of Bajor because he was a filing clerk that worked at the camp and felt overwhelming guilt at what his people did to the people of Bajor. He said he heard the screams and he couldn't stop them. He thought maybe if he looked like this general and was caught and found guilty in Bajor, the Cardassians wouldn't be able to deny their involvement in these horrible deeds. But Kira releases him, only to have him get killed by another Bajoran who says all Cardassians are the same, what is the harm of one less?
It was a good episode in which Kira realizes that while the Cardassians as a whole were not great people, that some were truly horrible and relished their status as the Bajorans' captors, others were scared, didn't believe in what they were doing to Bajor and yet couldn't stop the machine that was their government which had already started to move against the Bajorans. And then after the war had stopped were overcome with guilt. She may have started to forgive the Cardassians a bit and yet her realization is not shared by the rest of Bajor. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out in the future, as the Cardassians become more and more of a threat again.
Season 1, Episode 20--In The Hands of the Prophets: Another great episode. The Bajorans are one of the only alien species that have such a strong religious belief. The Vulcans, ever the practical ones, never seemed to put much stock in faith, neither do the Romulans or the Ferengi. Even humans don't have much of a strong religious background, the implication being that once a species has reached Warp capability then they have devoted themselves wholly to science. But Bajor is deeply religious and this is a fascinating angle to play with. Some of the nuns? monks? they call them Vedics are more strict about religion than others and one, a Vedic Winn, does not approve of DS9's school teaching about the aliens in the wormhole. In Bajor, they consider the Aliens as prophets. It's sort of like the argument between the evolutionists and the creationists and what should be taught in school. Vedic Winn would be considered the "creationist" in this context. She believes that the Federation should leave the teaching of Bajoran children to the Bajorans while Keiko O'Brien, the teacher of the school, believes that everything should be taught, yet not the religion because school should teach facts, not beliefs. It's a question not easily answered in the real world. How much does religion play into schooling? Some people say none at all, others say that if evolution is taught then creation should get an equal say. I say, well I'm Christian so I say creation is true. But that's just me. But I don't think it needs to be taught in schools persay. I mean just pushing this agenda is not the point. People need to worry about other things, like the massive unemployment that plagues this country, or the problems in the Middle East, or the problems that we have in the actual United States rather than these petty arguments about government vs. religion...but I digress. Anyway, Vedic Winn turns out to be bad and she starts up this Bajoran religion hoohah to get the other Vedic up there so that he can be assassinated and she can be the next "Kai" (or their like Pope person). She made one of her followers plant a bomb in the school and all this other stuff, so she's really a few sandwiches short of a picnic basket and not all the Bajorans follow her but it sets up for the major story arc in the next season...where Bajor is having problems and the Bajoran people want to have a Bajor for themselves without any foreign aid or the presence of Star Fleet.
Season 2, Episode 1-3: Kira goes to find this Bajoran prisoner of war still being held captive by the Cardassians who she says is the only one who can bring unity to Bajor. This is a huge story arc that goes on for three episodes. Something that I haven't seen from a Star Trek series. Usually they have two parters but never three. It's a very quick look at how a provisional government can fall to extremists in a place where there doesn't seem to be strong leadership. A group calling themselves the "Circle" wants a Bajor for Bajorans without the interference of outsiders such as Star Fleet. But there is a need for the Federation at the mouth of the wormhole and at Bajor that isn't strictly selfish. Without the presence of Star Fleet the Cardassians would swoop in again and invade Bajor...again. What the Circle doesn't seem to understand is that Bajor isn't strong enough to hold off another Cardassians invasion, no matter how much they want a Bajor for Bajorans. The Circle tries for a coup and yet they end up failing. For one, they were getting weapons from the Cardassians who are just waiting for the Bajorans to kick out Star Fleet so that they can come back, and for another I don't think Bajorans want to fight again. Hopefully in the future Bajor can have a stronger government leadership. The War Hero Li Nalas ends up dying and dies as a martyr, a symbol for the Bajorans. And the provisional government comes back into place...I think. I wonder what will happen to Bajor in the future. The provisional government is shaky at best and I don't think this is the last we'll hear from Vedic Winn and her "Circle" friends. There are 6 whole seasons more. So we'll see.
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