INDISCRETION
Kira and Dukat go searching for some lost POWs.
Breen at last! Breen at last! I’ve always wanted to see what these guys look like and now that I do I really like it.
There is no question that their uniforms are a total rip-off of Boushh from “Return of the Jedi” but by having one of them take off their mask during a rescue and be revealed as Kira in disguise (just as Leia did at Jabba’s palace while rescuing Han from frozen carbonite) they cross over from rip-off into homage territory. Smart!
REJOINED
The infamous Lesbian episode between Dax and her/his former wife.
It’s no secret that I’m not a big fan of Avery Brooks’ acting but I must say I am a fan of Avery Brooks’ directing.
I like Bashir and Kira’s chat on the way out of Quark’s. They stop in this spot that we virtually never see in any other episodes and Kira does this interesting lean against the curved doorway. It’s a beautiful shot featuring that’s incredibly “real”. The way Kira feels comfortable in this spot make DS9 actually feel like it’s her home and she’s become used to it. At the same time I could analyze it from a political or post-colonial viewpoint and say that Kira, as someone who probably sees this station as an offensive place that symbolizes the atrocities committed against the Bajorans can at last find comfort here making it an even more powerful piece of cinematography. But I won’t go quite that deep into it. They did this in the last episode when Kira was talking to Odo – it lets Kira really relax and slouch the way she wants to. They seem to have translated Visitor’s dance training into Kira’s less formal decorum and body language – it’s really working well.
The cut from Dax getting dressed to the reception is a nice flourish.
Regarding O’Brien, I find it hilarious how costume designers (and therefore the people at Starfleet command who make decisions about rank insignia) can’t make up their mind. I read that the DS9 episode about Tribbles references the change in Klingon foreheads; they should do that with regard to non-com ranks and the crazy politics inside Starfleet command.
STARSHIP DOWN
The Defiant faces off against Jem’hadar ships inside a gas giant.
I like this episode but it could have been so much better.
Avery Brooks is not at his best here, it feels like his style and what the director wanted are at odds. His way of delivering tension isn’t the same as Alexander Singer’s and it feels like I’m watching footage of a rough Take 1 all the time.
At one point in the story, Quark finds an undetonated torpedo lodged in the ship’s hull – he decides that he can defuse it. That really felt out of character. I totally believe that Quark is capable of defusing it but he needs a reason. I think Quark should have said that he would rather die quickly at the moment the torpedo explodes than slowly thus giving him a reason to stay in the room with it.
This episode needed a more frenetic pace. I know what the were trying to do, make a single episode focused on the ins and outs of a battle onboard a starship. If that’s the case though it really needed to be faster, more desperate. They should have had the episode take place in real time. The encounter with the Jem’Hadar should have come 5 seconds after the start and never relented.
At first the whole storyline of Kira speaking to an unsconscious Sisko felt like the writers were searching for something these two could do but then it evolved into a very good moment for Kira as she expressed how much he mattered to her as the Emissary. Similarly, I love the ending. I like how their relationship has evolved and I really admire the fact that there is no romantic tension between them.
LITTLE GREEN MEN
This episode is US government disinformation designed to further hide the truth about the Roswell, New Mexico landing.
Any intelligent secular person knows that what really happened in the 1950s was that a Triumvirate of Vegans traveled here through their Einstein-Rosen bridge in response to the Nazi Germany’s radio signal which was broadcast during the 1936 Olympics. Open your eyes, people!
B+
pfsycho 