DS9 Stories/News: Memorial Day-Players: A Tribute to TV’s Fallen Heroes

Source: http://www.ugo.com/tv/tv-fallen-heroes?page=4

Remember the honored dead this Memorial Day and celebrate the good old US of A with UGO’s list of some of TV’s Best Fallen Heroes!

By Kevin FitzpatrickMay 30, 2011 Follow

7	Jadzia Dax

Brave Soldier:  Jadzia Dax of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Killed in Action:  By Gul Dukat’s…Pah…Wraith…beam

Lots of great Star Trek deaths to choose from, between Tasha Yar and Christopher Pike (hey, that ain’t livin’) but none so heartbreaking as watching Jadzia Dax struck down by Gul Dukat while the rest of the crew fought off the Cardassians.

Wait, we can just replace her?  And the new Dax is even cuter?  Huzzah!

DS9 Stories/News: DS9 Stories/ News: Odo & Kira Relationship Review (14)

“The Abandoned”

Review originally printed in ORACLE

Newsletter July 2011

____________________________________

 

Review written by Mary Shaver

Sisko hasn’t heeded Odo’s earlier unspoken warning and has placed teams of Star Fleet security personnel around the airlock leading to the runabout.  When Odo and the Jem’Hadar reach the airlock Odo realizes that nothing good can come from this standoff. He entreats Sisko to let them go. He will deliver the Jem’Hadar to the Gamma Quadrant and then return in the runabout. Sisko is concerned about Odo’s safety but Odo assures him the Jem’Hadar ‘couldn’t ‘ harm him because of his genetic programming. The boy bows his head in silent acknowledgement, but the Captain remains unconvinced that this is a wise course of action. At this point Odo has no choice but to give Sisko the brutal truth. If they put the boy on the Star Fleet vessel, he will kill a lot of innocent people and wind up being killed himself long before they ever reach their destination. Odo’s argument tips the scales for Sisko and he agrees to let them go, although it does seem as if he capitulates a little too quickly. Not only is this decision likely to get him in hot water with Star Fleet, but the Captain Sisko we’ve come to know would exhaust every option before admitting defeat. What about putting him in stasis until arrival at Star Base 201, or keeping him sedated, or pulling out the feeding tube to weaken him? The fact that Sisko was so willing to release the Jem’Hadar suggests that he too was terribly uncomfortable with the prospect of turning him into a lab specimen.

 

In response to Sisko’s largess, the Jem’Hadar displays behavior typical of his race. Rather than being thankful that the Captain was doing right by him and trying to be his friend, he announces proudly to Odo that Sisko was afraid of him. He then goes on to assert that not only is Sisko his enemy, but everyone except his own people are his enemies. “Does that include me?” Odo gravely asks. He receives no response. The gulf between them has become an abyss, While the Jem’Hadar can’t harm him, it is clear to Odo that he has become another enemy.

 

So, despite all Odo’s best efforts he couldn’t overcome the genetic encoding his people implanted in the Jem’Hadar. If Odo hoped to ease his own guilt over what the Founders did to the Jem’Hadar, this failure did nothing to ease his conscious. In fact the encounter with a member of a race created by the Founders for the express purpose of implementing the Dominion’s ideology of total control must have further complicated Odo’s conflicted feelings about his people. The very existence of the Jem’Hadar and their genetically designed drug addiction make the Founders even more repugnant. And yet deep in his core Odo still holds a secret longing to be part of the Great Link. It is a perfect recipe for fueling Odo’s sense of shame and self-hate.

 

Finally, whatever idealistic tendencies Odo might have, he is first and foremost a realist and a pragmatist. In the final scene, Odo approaches Kira in the replimat. Taking a seat opposite her, Odo acknowledges the validity of her warnings in his usual simple and direct way. “Major, about the boy. You were right.” While this is a painful admission, it is also another important step in Odo’s personal journey of self-discovery. 

 

DS9 Stories/News: The Magic Of Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Ritual Magic and The Storyteller

Source: http://bajorron.blogspot.com/2012/02/magic-of-star-trek-deep-space-nine.html

The Sirah and the Dal’Rok:

Deep Space Nine’s First season episode The Storyteller is an interesting one for several reasons. Characterwise, this is the first episode which sows the seeds for Bashir and O’Brien’s future friendship. The main storyline happens on Bajor, but rather than showing us a Bajor under the guidance of the Prophets, it depicts a rural Bajoran village where perhaps older customs survive of what could be called a more Pagan past.

The storyline in brief: Bashir and O’Brien beam down to a village which is in trouble: it is under attack from a creature called a Dal’Rok and the only way to fight this entity is under the leadership of the Sirah, a Storyteller. Bashir and O’Brien witness an attack and the defense, upon which the Sirah collapses, but not after naming O’Brien as his successor. The next evening, the Dal’Rok returns and O’Brien sets out to fight it as he has seen the Sirah do it, but he fails in his attempt. Then Hovath, the young original apprentice Sirah takes over and succeeds in chasing off the entity and is thus appointed as the new Sirah, letting O’Brien off the hook.

The Sirah in action:

This story has a number of interesting Ritual Magic concepts weaven into it. For example: why does O’Brien fail? There are several reasons for that. Yes, he does not know the entire story, although that seems hardly necessary: all we see the Sirah and Hovath do is tell the villagers that they can defeat the creature. But in their cases, they speak with conviction and in magic as well as anywhere else, Words have Power proportional to the conviction with which they are spoken. Magic is not about ‘just speaking the right words and then something will happen, Harry Potter style’, it is about giving words as much power as possible, and that power comes from the conviction of the speaker and from his or her energy. We see O’Brien struggling to speak out the words while he himself barely believes it is going to do any good (nicely played by actor Colm Meany as well!). And his words dissipate into thin air, nothing happens, the magic does not come about and the Dal’Rok keeps attacking.

Incidentally, what is this Dal’Rok? We are informed that the tricorders do not register anything, yet we see something happening, and what is more, we see some attacks that are convincingly real. So what is going on here? My guess would be that we are dealing here with a thought form that has gained a more or less corporeal existence. Probably as a result of repeating this ritual over and over again for many years- a sure recipe to increase the power!- the image has gained so much energy that not only has it become visible to outsiders, it is also found to be interacting with the material environment. Our magical literature abounds with examples of the very same thing: elementals, golems, homunculi, etc. all “conjured” up by the imagination and subsequently energized to such an extent that it gets a “life of its own”.

Hovath (played by Lawrence Monoson):

The fight against the Dal’Rok indeed looks very much like a time-honored ritual, with certain fixed stagesin it, the use of certain words of power and with a more or less hierarchical structure: it is the Sirah and the Sirah only who leads this ritual and is able to direct the energy of the villagers into a concerted defense against the Dal’Rok. He is the High Priest in what looks suspiciously like a ritual to reinforce the village identity by defeating a common foe. In order to become Sirah, a candidate has to undergo a test: he (or she?) should be able to direct the ritual and direct the power single-handedly. Miles O’Brien clearly fails at this test: he does not have the necessary training, he does not have the faith and as an outsider he is also not connected to the village’s group mind. Hovath is and has all those things, so at the end we see him take charge of the ritual and bringing it to a good end, thus finalizing his own initiation as a Sirah. Which brings a final question to mind: what if the old Sirah had staged all this as an initiation ritual for his successor, with O’Brien as the unknowing catalyst? We’ll never know…

DS9 Stories/News: Of Trek and War (1)

Source: http://www.goth.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14138&f=20

This is based on an idea from DarklyInclined, who was wondering how I might rate the rather protracted Dominion War featured in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine versus the one-season Xindi conflict (a subset of the much larger Temporal Cold War) as shown in Star Trek: Enterprise. I thought I’d also open the topic up to other wars in Trek, since those two weren’t quite the only wars shown in all of the series.

This will be a lengthy post. I’ve been working on it for a while now. I tend to write essays instead of simple replies; apologies in advance. Non-Trekkies who don’t really give a shit might want to head for another thread. For those Trekkies not well-versed in the subject matter, I will include links to pertinent data where applicable. Those who do choose read this, please bear with me.

You could make it more fun by taking a shot of your favorite alcoholic beverage anytime I bash Rick Berman & Brannon Braga (two of Trek’s longtime writers/producers, both of whom were blamed for Star Trek’s demise and the early cancellation of Enterprise, if not the near-total downfall of UPN itself) or anytime I mention Ronald D. Moore and Ira Steven Behr (two longtime Trek scribes who later moved on to Battlestar Galactica on SyFy) in a positive light. You’ll be happily plastered by post’s end.

Which did you think was done best: the Dominion War from DS9 or the Xindi conflict from Enterprise (or a different conflict featured in one of the other series, like the Klingon/Federation Cold War from TOS or the brief war against the Klingons in DS9 that served as a prelude to the Dominion War)?

Or, for a much more broad, open-ended question (if it suits you): do you think Star Trek handles a mature subject such as war well or poorly?

Dominion War

If you really don’t care about my lengthy diatribe on the Dominion War vs. the Xindi conflict (maybe because you didn’t live your entire life in your parents’ basement and you actually did have a social life), just skip past this and post your response already. Otherwise, feel free to keep reading.

Eh..?

I’ll open the discussion with my response…

…

I think Deep Space Nine handled the Dominion War fairly well. They didn’t just rush into it head-on. The writers gave it a great build-up, slowly tip-toeing into it, mentioning the Dominion here and there throughout Season Two (the Dominion were first mentioned in “Rules of Acquisition“, a Ferengi episode, no less!) before introducing us to their foot soldiers, the genetically-grown Jem’Hadar, in the Season 2 finale. Even after that, the Dominion didn’t quite take center stage yet, opting instead for a Cold War against the Alpha Quadrant powers, during which they covertly started two wars involving the Klingons – a war between the Klingons and the Cardassians (which the Maquis would get involved in) and renewed hostilities between the Klingons and the Federation. After destabilizing the Alpha Quadrant’s major powers, the Dominion finally invaded. Brilliant tactic! By then, the Federation was so shell-shocked from having to deal with wars on all borders (save the Romulan Neutral Zone) that they barely had the resources to fight the Dominion, a nigh-unstoppable force compared to the Federation.

Jem’Hadar

The Dominion seemed militarily superior in all respects: non-stop construction of warships while the Federation was still trying to convert aging exploration vessels into battleships; they could grow Jem’Hadar at an exponential rate (and even tailor-make them for warfare in that part of the galaxy) while Starfleet couldn’t recruit new officers fast enough; the Dominion were united while Starfleet was divided between the pacifists and the war-mongers (usually represented by a shadowy “rogue” group of Starfleet Intelligence called Section 31, a sort of Starfleet “Men in Black” that utilized very dirty tactics like assassinations, cover-ups and even genocide to preserve the Federation; this was the series’ attempt at exploring a darker side of Starfleet that I, for one, appreciated). Good mix of drama, tension and action all around, plus it was an interesting examination of the Federation through darker lenses than we’re used to.

Section 31

While Deep Space Nine’s executive producer, Rick Berman (Roddenberry’s hand-picked successor), wanted the Dominion War to last only three or four episodes tops, DS9′s lead writers – Ira Steven Behr and Ronald D. Moore (themselves chosen by Berman for their outstanding work on The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, both of whom would later helm the Battlestar Galactica reboot and create its prequel series Caprica) – conned him into allowing the Dominion War to play out until its “natural” end, which came during the final episode of the series. Say what you will about the Dominion War as a storyline and how it diverges from Roddenberry’s utopian vision of the future or about Deep Space Nine as a series, I think the Dominion War worked successfully (mostly), given its purpose as a method of deconstructing Roddenberry’s notions of the Federation as a utopian society. Ira Steven Behr re-imagined Deep Space Nine as a darker, grittier version of Roddenberry’s vision, and given how the series was written before that (set aboard a Cardassian space station by Michael Pillar – the brain behind some of the best TNG episodes ever, including “The Best of Both Worlds” – who imagined the series as a “frontier town in space” filled with broken individuals, former terrorist “freedom fighters”, orphaned aliens and unscrupulous bartender/merchants), the series worked well as such. The Dominion War, while I admit it was rather protracted (and ultimately weakened the hell out of Season 7, when the writers had to figure out a quick way to end the war in only one season after building the story arc to be a lengthy epic), worked overall as the ultimate test of Roddenberry’s dream.

When such a dream – the notion of humankind striving to better itself through peace and cooperation – is threatened by outside forces, what will humanity endure to protect it? The approach to this was very realistic, from the major portions of the story (“Operation Return“, the re-taking of DS9 after it was taken over by the Dominion) to the humdrum day-to-day stuff (Sisko’s grim ritual of posting casualty reports from the war every Friday). Ultimately, the war took a bitter toll on everyone involved, especially Captain Sisko; he would later commit acts that many Trek fans consider cardinal sins against Roddenberry’s lofty ideals – specifically helping a former Cardassian spy murder a Romulan senator in cold blood and blame the Dominion for it in the masterpiece episode “In the Pale Moonlight” – just to bring a quicker resolution to the war by bringing the Romulans into it. By the series’ end, the Federation is saved, and all the major goals of the series – bringing an end to the Cardassian threat and putting Bajor on the fast-track to membership in the Federation – have been met, along with the added bonus of creating a tentative peace between the Federation, the Klingons and the Romulans. Additionally, Ira Steven Behr was able to inject a bit of Judaism into the story through the Bajorans and their Emissary (messiah figure), Benjamin Sisko, whose story arc Behr based loosely on Moses.

DS9 Stories/News: So You Want To Watch Star Trek: DS9? – Season 2

Source: http://directgeek.com/2011/11/so-you-want-to-watch-star-trek-ds9-season-2/

Previously: A primer on the series, and a guide to season 1.

At first glance, the second season seems like a bit of a mixed bag.  For good reason, though! The first season introduces you to the cast, the governments, and the societies of the show. The second season asks you to question your assumptions about them.  Cowardly Bajorans, socially progressive Cardassians, brave Ferengi, and at one point Jake wears a good-looking jumpsuit.

LOL, j/k.

It’s gonna blow your mind.

2×01-03: The Homecoming, The Circle, and The Siege

Internet, I tried. I watched them again with an eye to “can I let the Internet skip these? Can I really?” And I couldn’t decide. I leave you to make your own choice, but I want it to be an informed decision.

The cons:

• Garak isn’t in these episodes.
• You have to watch Vedek Bareil, and he’s really boring. Plus he wears a lot of orange. He shouldn’t do that.
• Bajoran politics and Bajoran religion are deeply intertwined, and Bajoran religion is insufferable.
• The events in these episodes do not permanently affect the status quo on the station. Things end up pretty much where they began.

The pros:

• There are some Cardassians.
• Hollow folk heroes are the best folk heroes! I’m a big fan of the way these episodes deal with the willful misinterpretation of history.
• 
• The Siege is an actual siege, and a siege episode is always fun.

Choose wisely. If you only watch one of them, I’d say watch 1×03. It’s got the least yadda yadda and the most action.

2×04: Invasive Procedures

Also known as The One Where Lionel Luthor is a Trill. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, then consider me duly embarrassed for admitting to you that I watched Smallville.

If you don’t have the benefit of years of Smallville knowledge and experience, then you may not realize that this episode establishes many of its themes and life lessons. Namely:

1. Don’t date a Luthor.
2. Don’t allow a Luthor to undergo any sort of medical procedure whatsoever.
3. Your friends will one day shoot you.

2×05: Cardassians

I swear I’m gonna skip some episodes soon, but come on. Come on. It’s called Cardassians. I’m constitutionally incapable of skipping it, and furthermore it’s rather worthwhile.

I want to point out two important things about this episode. First, the people who are milling around in the background during the opening scene.

This is why I love you, Star Trek.

The second is the fact that you should never, ever bite Elim Garak. There is an entire book written about why you should never do this.

In any case, this is the first of many episodes about why Garak is the best. He survives a biting, conducts political shenanigans, changes out of his watermelon outfit, does volunteer computer maintenance for an orphanage (what a guy!), surreptitiously trains Dr. Bashir to be a vicious political operative, and then he changes back into his watermelon outfit. It’s a busy day for him.

2×08: Necessary Evil

This is about how Odo got his job during the Cardassian occupation. I don’t consider it a particularly strong episode, but if you’re super into Odo (he has his puddingy appeal), then this is an episode for you. But, to be frank, you should really just skip to 2×12.

2×10: Sanctuary

The “Dominion”, you say? Why, that does sound menacing!

2×12: The Alternate

In case you didn’t guess this within one minute of meeting Odo, I’ll spoil it for you: Odo’s pseudo-dad is a creepy asshole.  In this episode we meet creepy dad, and Odo’s distant cousin, Plant-Mold-Thing! Plant-Mold-Thing is reportedly silicon-based, canonically proving that Odo is related to the Horta.

Captain Kirk meets Mrs. Odo.

2×17: Playing God

You don’t absolutely have to watch this one, I just want you to know how cute Cardassian voles are.

?

Okay but for real, this is an episode about how Jadzia Dax would be the best, were it not for Garak. As it stands, she is a very, very close second best.

Oh, also the station adopts a baby. A baby universe. As you do.

2×18: Profit and Loss

You need to believe me when I tell you that Quark is the romantic lead of this series. The main event of this episode, however, is Cardassians.

Cardassians.

Because, while Bajoran politics are as much fun as single barrel of dead monkeys, Cardassian politics are twenty barrels of AMAZEBALLS.

Whatever, Garak, you know what I mean.

Romance! Dissidents! The threat of imminent interstellar war! Subterfuge! Garak hitting on Sisko! Betrayal! The longest, most stretched-thin fashion-as-politics metaphor you will ever witness! Garak doing things! Garak saying things! Garak standing around silently! Speaking of which…

2×22: The Wire

This episode is better than the entire television series of the same name. [Ed. note: Gabby has never seen the HBO series "The Wire".]  

When beginning this post, I was aware of the danger of writing a thousand-word love letter to this episode. So I’m just going to tell you to focus on the way Andy Robinson (Garak) enunciates “stimulate”.

Stiiiiiiimulate.

Watch this or else, Internet.

2×23: Crossover

If you’re new to Star Trek, then you may not be familiar with something we locals call The Mirrorverse.  It’s a lot like the universe you’re already familiar with, only with more dramatic lighting and orgies. Ever seen the episode(s) of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer in which they visit an alternate universe where everyone is really slutty? It’s like that. Everyone is really slutty in Mirrorverse.

Everyone.

2×25: Tribunal

I care about Miles O’Brien once a season. This episode is that once.

2×26: The Jem’Hadar

Second time I’m gonna say this: a strange choice for a season finale. I promise the third season finale makes more sense in tone. Except for Jake’s outfit.

Spoilers: nobody knows wtf is wrong with Jake.

Technically speaking, you should watch this episode. It explains some basic Gamma Quadrant stuff, and Sisko and Quark are forced to hang out together for an entire episode. There is some space battle, and you get to see ships shaped like beetles.  It’s okay. It’s the gateway to the third season.

In the next post: Planet: Pudding! Quark’s wife! Species-swap! Sex pollen! Time travel! Dreamscape! Moar Mirrorverse! Garak’s daddy issues! Quark’s mommy issues! Jadzia’s Curzon issues!