Date: August 9, 2020

Season 6, Episodes 1 and 2

Musical Accompaniment: Back to Trek movie soundtracks with the Generations soundtrack.

Interstellar News: This weekend I did four loads of laundry, watched The Hunt for Red October (with so many TNG folks and Tim Curry!) with a dear friend for our Sunday morning movie date, and have continued to be amazed at how well the Kickstarter is doing. Also, only two more seasons until I’m onto Voyager!

Favorite Quote from “A Time to Stand”:

Bashir: Don’t take it so personally, Garak. It’s strictly a matter of mathematics.

Garak: No, it’s strictly a matter of our lives. You’re not genetically engineered. You’re a Vulcan.

Bashir: If I’m a Vulcan, then how do you explain my boyish smile?

Garak: Not so boyish anymore, Doctor.

Garak giving Bashir shit about being genetically enhanced and Bashir trying to be glib about it.

So what had happened in “A Time to Stand” was…: It’s three months into the Dominion War and everyone is on edge. Worf and Martok rendezvous with the Defiant followed by bad news regarding the 7th Fleet. Sisko and crew, plus Garak, are taken off the Defiant and given a very familiar Jem’Hadar ship to take out a ketracel-white supply station. They encounter a Starfleet ship that fires on them but is soon chased off by other Dominion ships and they make it to the facility. They make the exchange but are unable to leave right away and the bomb they deploy damages their ship as well, the worst being no warp drive.

On DS9 Kira shares that Bajorans will begin returning to the station but she also wants them reinstated at Security, which Dukat nixes much to the chagrin of Weyoun. Dukat also still hasn’t figured out how to de-mine the wormhole. Kira and Odo are sick of doing nothing but know they have to stay put and Quark reminds them both it could be worse, because it was during the Cardassian occupation. Jake tries to interview Weyoun but Weyoun won’t allow any transmissions until Jake reports more balanced without leaning one way or another. Kira talks Odo into using Weyoun’s obsession with him, so Odo gets the Bajorans back on security in exchange for being part of the big three to run the station (Odo, Weyoun, and Dukat).

“Okay, have it your way. First we’ll shed blood and then we’ll feast.”: The Dominion ship has no replicators (poor O’Brien), no infirmary (poor Bashir), no chairs (poor Nog), and no view screen (poor Dax) leaving each member of the team to wish it had at least one of those. It’s interesting to see Bashir show off a little more and give Dax a run for her money as the smartypants on the bridge. Sisko has to tell his dad about Jake and I absolutely love their relationship, you don’t often see or hear men tell each other that they love and care for each other… it’s so damn refreshing. I also love that Worf has been all atwitter about his wedding plans and that he’s making sure everything is done just so, it’s so damn adorable. The whole scene from Dax jumping into his arms, their discussion of the wedding, and them heading off to clearly have sex was just wonderful and clearly what was needed to add some light into the discussion.

On the station, Dukat has turned the creep factor up to 11 and I am disgusted. I know men like him in real life, the ones who get a little power and think they are untouchable. I’m sure there are women like that out there too, but I have had unfortunate dealings with powerful men who didn’t want to be told know and wanted things I did not want to give them. In this situation I would totally bet on Kira kicking his ass, that is once she gets her head out of hers. In my situation, let’s just say I know how to deescalate a situation quite nicely. It’s wonderful to know that Dukat is inept at the one thing he promised, de-mining the wormhole, and that it was Rom of all people who came up with the idea. I hate to admit it, but I do side with Weyoun about the notion of Jake just sticking to reporting the news and not adding any spin. Words have meanings for a reason and knowing what context a word is used makes all the difference… just ask George Carlin. 8 orders of Sisko’s jambalaya for this episode.

Favorite Quote from “Rocks and Shoals”:

O’Brien: I tore my pants.

Sisko: You tore your pants?

laughing uncontrolably

O’Brien: Yeah, I tore my pants. I guess, I guess I’m really in trouble now, huh?

Such a good moment, you had to be there.

So what had happened in “Rocks and Shoals” was…: The ship is still down, is followed into a nebula by two other Jem’Hadar ships, and they crash land on a planet with Dax being injured in the process. A group of 10 Jem’Hadar are also stranded on the planet and their Vorta, Keevan, is dying. Keevan has to ration the ketracel-white and orders his soldiers to observe and report on the Starfleet group. One of the soldiers fires and they all realize they can no longer shroud because they are weak. Sisko agrees to exchange himself and Bashir for Garak and Nog, who were captured, in order to talk with Keevan who sells out the Jem’Hadar so he can be held as a P.O.W. and Sisko can have their comm system. Sisko tries to talk the lead Jem’Hadar our of this but they attack anyway and all are killed, as is one of the Starfleet crew.

On DS9 Kira wakes up to go to work in Ops. Jake tries to interview Kira and Odo and he seems to know a lot, it doesn’t go well. Kira talks to Vedek Yassim about stopping the protest and this occupation is totally not like the Cardassian one. Yassim decides to protest by hanging herself on the Promenade. Kira, devastated, wakes up the next morning and realizes she’s the only Bajoran in Ops and walks out. She admits to Odo she feels like a collaborator and is now resolved to fight back.

“Do you really want to give up your life for the order of things?”: Okay so I loved the part where O’Brien is going “damned this and damned that” and then Nog says “damned” once and O’Brien tells him to “watch your mouth”, it was so pure and good. The whole Starfleet/Jem’Hadar story line is fascinating. You get a good look at a different side of the Jem’Hadar and their feelings, thoughts, and interactions with their particular Vorta. You have the hope that the Jem’Hadar will be swayed by Sisko’s arguments but in the end there’s nothing that can be done. Sisko still has to play the good guy and arrest Keevan even though he’s a dick and sold out those he was supposed to protect. Nog and Garak were adorable because they both did what they do best, but Garak can read the room better.

All of the bits back on DS9 are familiar ones as Kira is trying to settle into her new routine. Everything’s fine until she has the horrifying realization she has no idea who she is anymore. She knows she has to protect Bajor but the cost of a vedek and countless others is too high, so she retreats to what she knows best. Jake is there to keep everyone on their toes and it’s funny to hear him constantly quote “his sources”. I wonder if we’ll ever find out who they are. It’s a very good episode despite how dark it winds up ending, a tale of good things to come I am sure. 8 days a week I realize I’ve become the thing I hate most, says Kira.

TA Out!

Date: August 7, 2020

Season 5, Episodes 24, 25, and 26

Musical Accompaniment: The Search for Spock soundtrack, along with other Trek instrumentals.

Interstellar News: The Lucky Devils and Witchy Ways Kickstarter has smashed six stretch goals and still has 24 days to go!

Favorite Quote from “Empok Nor”:

Garak: Maybe it’s true. Maybe you’re not a soldier anymore.

O’Brien: You’re right. I’m an engineer.

The last think Garak hears before O’Brien blows up (almost) up.

So what had happened in “Empok Nor” was…: Nog and O’Brien are fixing a conduit at Quark’s but the entire system is shot. O’Brien takes an engineering team, plus Garak and Nog, to visit Empok Nor – a Cardassian station just like DS9 that was abandoned a year ago. Garak gets them into the station unharmed but unknowingly awakens two cryogenically frozen Cardassian soldiers who destroy the runabout and jam the com systems. The team splits up to find a way to call for help but Pechetti and Stolzoff are killed by the Cardassians. Garak kills one of the soldiers and discovers they’re under the influence of some type of drug. The other solider kills Boq’ta, Garak kills the Cardassian, and then kills Amaro because Garak’s apparently also been affected by the drug. Garak captures Nog and lures O’Brien in for some hand-to-hand combat, but O’Brien engineers a distraction and gets him, Nog, and Garak back to DS9 where Bashir fixes Garak up.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but that was the plan.”: The music in this episode was absolutely excellent but everything else was just sort of meh. I loved seeing the security guards and engineers talking about the mission before the left the station and they generally had a good sense of camaraderie, so it was an absolute shame that they all died. It was good that we got to know a bit about them before and saw scenes where it was just them, just as it was good to have the mystery of the reactivated soldiers. The real terrible part is when Garak turns on Amaro because you realize the drugs have affected him to and he becomes the villain. I wonder if Garak chose to fight without weapons because somewhere his brain was telling him he couldn’t kill O’Brien and Nog or if it was because the drugs just had to make him prove himself, but either way this gives you a glimpse deeper into Garak’s psyche and it is a dark place. I loved Nog trying to play 90’s action hero with a gun as big as he was, but that doesn’t make up for the episode feeling like it went on for too long without a big enough punch. 5 very hungry voles for this episode.

Favorite Quote from “In the Cards”:

Nog: Where’re we going?

Jake: Let me introduce you to a new human expression. We’re going to beard the lion in its den.

Nog: Lions, Gigers, bears.

Jake: Oh my.

A Wizard of Oz reference, huzzah!

So what had happened in “In the Cards” was…: The senior staff are having dinner but everyone is depressed and, to top it off, Kai Winn is visiting the station in order to meet with Weyoun. Quark is running an auction that’s mostly junk aside from a mint baseball card and Jake decides he must have it for Sisko and it must be a surprise. Jake guilts Nog into parting with his latinum (an amount that is familiar to those of us who have watched “Progress“) but they lose the lot to a shifty man named Dr. Geiger. Geiger, however, is willing to trade them the card for some items. They complete some work for O’Brien in exchange for one, rescue Bashir’s teddy bear from Leeta for another, listen to Worf’s operas for a third, and work on Kira’s speech for a fourth. Meanwhile Geiger is making progress but is right under Weyoun’s quarters and Kai Winn is told to stall the Dominion for as long as she can. After getting yelled at by Sisko, Weyoun beams Jake and Nog aboard to find out what they and Geiger have been up to. Weyoun eventually believes the boys are innocent, gives Jake the card, and talks genetics with Geiger. It turns out the boys helping everyone turned their moods around and Sisko loves his card.

“The entire future of the galaxy may depend on us tracking down Willie Mays and stopping him.”: What a damn feel good episode. Nog and Jake are a really good team and they play off each other well. Jake’s determination to get the card and keep it a secret do make it plausible that they were up to something nefarious in the eyes of Weyoun who doesn’t know them, but he realizes that they’re just kids. This is very much like a more adult version of “Progress” where they keep bartering their services, but this time it’s for Sisko instead of for profit. Their actions wind up helping everyone on the station and it’s such a delight. Nog and Jake also touch upon something I’ve been trying to wrap my head around forever. So if Terrans don’t have money, then how do any of the Starfleet officers have money to spend at Quark’s or anywhere else that uses latinum for that matter?

Winn coming aboard, at first, is such a bother for Sisko but she finally is asking for his help and he gives her the best advice he can at the time. I also loved when she grabbed Weyoun’s ear at the end and tells him they are certainly not alike at all. Weyoun is such a fun character and I’m glad they figured out a way to explain his coming back from the dead because he brings so much good humor to every scene he is in. This whole episode just feels right to me and it feels like the calm before the storm because I just know the finale is going to be bananas. 10 mint condition baseball cards, all of “The Great Bambino“.

Favorite Quote from “Call to Arms”:

Rom: My job is here with Chief O’Brien.

Leeta: Then I’m not going either.

Rom: You see that, Nog. We’ve barely finished saying our vows and we’re already having our first fight. We’re really married! You’ve got to go, Leeta. The problems of two newlyweds are but a small thread in the tapestry of galactic events. You might not understand that today, or even tomorrow, but some day you will. So get on that shuttle and don’t look back. Nog, take your Moogie to the docking ring.

Nog: Nice speech, Dad.

Rom is super adorable.

So what had happened in “Call to Arms” was…: Leeta and Rom argue over wedding dresses and then ask Sisko to preside at their wedding in two weeks, just as the fifth convoy of Jem’Hadar ships comes through the wormhole. Jake gets a job with Starfleet News Services, which will become important later. The Dominion has signed a nonaggression pact with the Romulans and several other groups, essentially isolating the Federation, so the Federation decides to mine the wormhole. Rom, in between panicking about getting married and remembering things he’s forgotten to do, comes up with a way to do so. Weyoun comes to give Sisko an ultimatum, remove the mines or else, and then agree to compromise – which neither side actually believes.

Sisko urges Bajor to sign a nonaggression pact so that they’ll be safe, so Rom and Leeta get married and all Bajorans leave the station. Martok hails DS9 to warn that the Cardassians and Dominion are coming and the battle ensues. Martok helps defend the Defiant so Dax and O’Brien can finish mining the wormhole and, once everything is complete and the shields are down, Starfleet evacuates DS9. Dax and Worf agree to get married when everything is over, Garak goes with Starfleet, and Kira, Odo, Quark, and Rom stay aboard to “welcome” Dukat and Weyoun to DS9. Rom stays behind to spy for Starfleet, under the guise of managing Quark’s, and Jake stays behind to bring news from the front line. Kira executes “program Sisko 197” which overloads the station’s systems so it will not be easy to fix. Sisko leaves his baseball as a message to Dukat that “he’ll be back”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I feel more comfortable already.”: I’ll start with Garak, Kira, and Odo who don’t have a lot of screen time but are utterly fantastic. Garak is his usual self but I can see the true shock on his face as he kisses Ziyal, like he doesn’t quite know who he is becoming. Odo and Kira are super awkward around each other until Odo says they need to focus on business and you can see the relief wash over Kira. It’s actually quite similar to the conversation Dax and Worf have, about waiting until everything is over in order to get married. Leeta and Rom, on the other hand, don’t wait and get married post haste, though still by the Emissary. Nog, adorably, refers to Leeta as “Moogie” and I just about turned into one of those sappy stickers from Facebook. I was so proud of Jake for handing out medical kits and trying to really stick it out after his debacle in “NtBttS“, he’s really diving into this writing gig head first. The real shock comes twice and both by the Sisko men. Jake staying behind as well as Sisko and the rest of Starfleet abandoning the station had my mouth hanging open in absolute shock that I did not see coming. Both actions make sense after it’s explained but how do you have a show called “Deep Space Nine” when you’re no longer on the damn station?!?! Looks like I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out. Deploy program Sisko 197!

TA Out!

Date: August 5, 2020

Season 5, Episodes 22 and 23

Musical Accompaniment: The dulcet tones of a dear friend who needed to talk because they’ve been without power for over 24 hours now. After we finished, I dived back into iTunes and I’m onto songs that start with the letter ‘J’.

Interstellar News: The Kickstarter I posted about the other day has already met its goal and is almost on its FIFTH stretch goal, you should totally back it too!

Favorite Quote from “Children of Time”:

Gabriel: Is it true you can kill someone just by looking at them?

Worf: Only when I am angry.

You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry… oh wait.

So what had happened in “Children of Time” was…: The Defiant is heading back from a week long mission in the GQ when Kira discloses she and Shakaar have ended things and Dax finds some unusual readings. They go to investigate and encounter their descendants because, apparently, when they were here the first time they entered a temporal disturbance and traveled 200 years back in time and were stranded on the planet they call Gaia. We find out that Worf and Jadzia got married, O’Brien eventually moved on with an ensign from engineering, Bashir shacked up with a new transfer, Odo got really good at shapeshifting, and Kira died.

Our crew knows what happens and wants to avoid it but Yedrin Dax has a plan. The problem is the plan is a phony and, despite objections from Worf and Kira, Sisko plans to avoid the trip through time even if it means the lives of the 8,000 inhabitants. Everyone participates in the “planting day”, even the Klingons, and they all realize they have to repeat history and can’t let these people disappear. They set the ship to autopilot but it moves at the last minute and they realize everything and everyone is now gone and Gaia no longer exists. Odo visits Kira and explains that Gaia’s Odo linked with him before he left and was the one that changed the autopilot because he couldn’t bear for Kira to die again.

“You don’t look busy.”: There is a lot to unpack in this episode. Of course there’s baseball on Gaia it’s a wonderful legacy for Sisko. It makes sense for Kira and Worf to be on the same page as they are the ones who are most spiritual, just as it makes sense for Dax to feel responsible for the entire community and for O’Brien to just want to go home and feel uncomfortable about the whole thing. Bashir was the one who surprised me since he has made it clear he doesn’t want children and I’m curious if he investigated how his genetically engineered self fared with procreation. I loved the children but my favorite were the Klingons because they were a group that didn’t discriminate. If you wanted to live life as a Klingon but weren’t born one, that’s fine… you’re family now. It reminds me a lot of the LGBTQ community and also how I have my chosen family that is different than the one I was born into.

The signs are there all along, however, when you really look for them. You never see Gaia’s Odo interacting with the others and why would he? He cannot reproduce and the only woman he loved on the ship died, so it makes sense for him to bide his time, get super good at shifting, figure out how long changelings live for, and try to reverse history the first chance he gets. It doesn’t make the ending any less heartbreaking but it wasn’t a huge shock either. This also allows the Kira/Odo will they/won’t they to be back on the table, but adds just a bit of complication because Gaia’s Odo messed with the will of the prophets. Speaking of the prophets, I’m pretty sure Kira forgot that Sisko was the Emissary and if he’s stranded 200 years in the past on some random GQ planet, he can’t be leading Bajor and doing Emissary stuff. Many thanks to the husband person for planting that bug in my ear. Overall, a super interesting time travel-ish episode with 8 smart fungi.

Favorite Quote from “Blaze of Glory”:

Nog: Now either move or I’m going to have to place you under arrest.

Martok: You are either very brave or very stupid, Ferengi.

Nog: Probably a little of both.

Martok: Indeed. Courage comes in all sizes. But don’t tempt fate.

Nog finally figuring out how to deal with Klingons.

So what had happened in “Blaze of Glory” was…: Sisko cooks dinner for Jake and Nog and finds out Nog is having a hard time with his time in Security, mostly because the Klingons don’t take him seriously. He has a few false starts but eventually is able to win the respect of General Martok. Martok reports to Sisko that they intercepted a Maquis transmission about missiles heading to Cardassia and that could lead to war with the Dominion so Sisko goes to visit Eddington in jail. Eddington just wants to die in peace but Sisko thinks that Eddington doesn’t have a death wish. Eventually they work together to escape the Jem’Hadar and get to the launch site but it was really an excuse for Eddington to get the help he needed to free any remaining Maquis. Eddington makes up for lying to Sisko by dying for what he believed in.

“For a dead man, you talk a lot.”: The end to the Maquis and Eddington, though I hear there’s more for me to look forward to in Voyager. I’ll put my likes first. I liked that Morn apparently lost it, attacked Quark, and was naked in the Bajoran shrine but I hate that they didn’t do anything more with it. Sisko adding pureed tube grubs and Jake’s reaction was fantastic and reminds me of the story about my father in law hiding lima beans in pb&j sandwiches… which is for another time. I loved Nog earning the respect of the head Klingon himself, another Ferengi making an impression on an important Klingon by way of hubris. As someone who has been short all of their life, I really feel for Nog. It’s hard to get people to respect you instantly when you are not physically assuming, but it’s certainly not impossible and much easier when you have a quick wit and a sharp tongue. I absolutely loved, loved, loved all of the banter between Eddington and Sisko and will admit I was taken by Eddington’s misdirection and lies. Every time the two of them interacted it was fantastic and was played so beautifully.

Now that that’s all out of the way, here’s my problem with this whole thing… I don’t care about the Maquis. There were two not-so-terrible solutions to the redistricting of the borders: relocation or changing sides. If you didn’t want to move, like we saw in “Journey’s End“, you could just petition to be Cardassian citizens instead of staying with the Federation. If you wanted to stay with the Federation, they were happy to help you relocate. If you didn’t like either of those options then the only choice was to fight, which is what the Maquis did and that was just fucking stupid. I will admit that I’m not from a culture where the land is super important to me and I’m also a super ambitious person and have made my start over many times, but it still never made sense to me how all of these people just decided to become terrorists because the lines got drawn a little differently. It’s a fitting end to Eddington and the Maquis and I give it 7 cloaked missiles.

TA Out!