I'm in the process of rewatching Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and reviewing/recapping each episode in detail. Join me in my in depth look at the deepest and most complex Star Trek series to date.
After a Klingon ship returns through the wormhole and immediately blows up, the crew of DS9 begin acting very strangely, conspiring and plotting against each other. Odo is the only senior staff member not affected and he has to try and figure out what happened and fix it before the brewing power struggle tears the station apart.
Episodes where the crew play different characters from themselves are usually pretty enjoyable and this one is no exception. The scheming and plotting is sufficiently entertaining and holds your interest well. Overall a good episode, if rather inconsequential.
THE GOOD
Odo shows a remarkable talent for subterfuge. He navigates the paranoia and plotting with the grace and subtlety of a super spy, playing off each person’s strengths and weaknesses masterfully in order to accomplish his goal of curing them all without them learning his motivations. It foreshadows the espionage capabilities we see from his species later on.
The tension and drama is excellent in this ep. The pacing of the plot is also good. All around a very well-written episode.
THE BAD
Avery Brooks’ acting is super weird in this ep. I’m guessing his character was supposed to be mentally unstable, but he comes off as being really goofy.
Inconsequential terrarium ep.
THE UGLY
I couldn’t stop thinking throughout how perfect Garak would have been in this ep. He would be right in his element and seeing him and Odo work together to save the day would have been a lot of fun too.
The random Bajoran who tries to assasinate Sisko was one of several who were in ops when they beamed aboard the Klingon, so presumably he was also infected and that’s why he took part in the scheming.
Odo shapeshift count: 1...sort of. His face does a weird clapping motion when it rejects the telepathic matrix. I’m going to count it because they used the orange goo effect of him shapeshifting. 9 total for the series.
Hulk Kira count: 1. She picks up Quark and throws him across the bar. Even though Quark is small, no way a petite woman like her would have the upper body strength to do that. 2 total hulk outs for the series so far.
I'm in the process of rewatching Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and reviewing/recapping each episode in detail. Join me in my in depth look at the deepest and most complex Star Trek series to date.
An alien probe comes through the wormhole and begins to affect the station’s computer systems. Meanwhile, some Federation ambassadors are on board and Sisko passes the buck of dealing with them to Dr. Bashir, but one of the ambassadors is Lwaxana Troi and she has taken a special interest in Odo.
This is a pretty pointless and boring episode for the most part. Lwaxana’s presence in eps seems to go one of two ways: either it leads to a lot of humorous situations or it leads to total and complete boredom. This episode is mostly the latter.
The energy that Majel Barrett brings to the screen is impressive, to be sure, but unless Lwaxana is stirring up trouble, she doesn’t lend herself to many interesting stories. It doesn’t help that this particular story has been done with her many times before. Shamelessly throwing herself at every man that she encounters (none of whom want to be with her) was a trope that got old quickly on TNG and this ep does nothing to remedy that. On the plus side, we get some good character development for her and especially Odo in their scenes trapped on the turbolift, and Odo is such a deep and complex character that any development for him is always good. Overall this is a slightly below-average episode.
THE GOOD
Lots of O’Brien, who is great as always.
Sisko is great too in this ep. I love the way he interacts with absolutely everyone. From trying to soothe O’Brien’s ego, to bracing himself before dealing with the ambassadors, to his glee at torturing Bashir with the assignment--he is such a good character. Avery Brooks can be very awkward at times, especially with his dialogue delivery, but he often makes up for it with the nonverbal things he does as an actor to make his character come alive. Plus he is so well written. He’s not hammy like Kirk, nor is he perfect like Picard; he’s the most “real” of the captains by far and that’s why I think he’s equal with those two legendary captains on my ranking scale.
Good character development for Odo, although it’s mostly just talking which isn’t super interesting. Still we get a lot of meaty backstory for him that will be explored deeper in future eps.
Lwaxana Troi reminds me of Michael Scott from The Office. She’s awkward and cringy and often downright unlikable, but she usually does something by the end of the ep to redeem herself or make you feel for her in some small way, just like you usually do with Michael. I think that the last act of this ep does a lot to show her to be more complex, caring, and compassionate than the buffoon she is often portrayed as.
THE BAD
Terrarium ep
The B plot (or is it a C plot?) with the other ambassadors feels utterly and completely pointless. The ambassadors themselves are all so wooden, one-dimensional, and boring. Every scene with them was a chore to get through.
Yet another ep where Lwaxana throws herself at a man. It’s boring and cringy and simply not fun to watch at this point.
THE UGLY
What is up with the episode’s title? Who or what is supposed to be forsaken?
So, apparently this didn’t happen because I can find no confirmation of it on Memory Alpha, but I have a distinct memory of the crew unleashing the Pup during the Dominion War when the station was occupied by the Dominion, in order to mess with their control of it. Maybe it happened in a Dominion War novel I read years ago, but there’s nothing on Memory Beta about that either. Apparently in a novel called Valhalla they do that to a different force that has taken over the station, but I’m like 95% sure I’ve never read that novel so I have no idea where my memory of that happening comes from. According to Memory Alpha, the Pup is never mentioned again on the show.
Odo shapeshift count: 1 (turns to goo to regenerate), 8 total for the series
I'm in the process of rewatching Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and reviewing/recapping each episode in detail. Join me in my in depth look at the deepest and most complex Star Trek series to date.
A strange anomaly appears near the station and at the same time, members of the crew begin inadvertently conjuring people and objects from their imaginations. The crew must discover the link between the two phenomena and find a solution before the expanding anomaly destroys the station...and the entire Bajoran system.
This is a whimsical and mostly entertaining episode with a ton of technobabble but not much story. It’s more lighthearted and fun than your typical DS9 episode, but ultimately inconsequential and pointless.
THE GOOD
It’s fun to see the different encounters that the crew imagines. Odo fantasizing about Quark being in jail is perfect.
”Commander is there something you’d like to tell me?” “I don’t have time for games, Odo.” Sisko is the best.
Buck Bokai is strangely charismatic, even if he is the most unathletic-looking professional athlete imaginable. I’m glad they bring him back for other eps.
THE BAD
The plot is silly and pointless.
The imaginary Dax draping herself all over Bashir is...yeesh. Tough to watch.
THE UGLY
Buck Bokai is the baseball player referenced by Data in the TNG season 1 episode “The Big Goodbye.” Data says that he broke Joe DiMaggio’s streak of consecutive games with a hit, which Buck also references himself doing.
It’s a dangerous gamble that Sisko takes when he refuses to consider the deal with Rumplestiltskin. He says the system is in no danger, but everything in the ep indicates that the imagined objects became completely real. If the rift was real too, the system was actually in great danger. But if the aliens had the power to create an anomaly like that, they must be extremely powerful, almost Q-like. One would hope that they wouldn’t allow their power to be used to arbitrarily wipe out an entire system, but their enigmatic nature makes it impossible to say one way or the other.
Thoron is an isotope of the radioactive noble gas radon. It occurs naturally as part of the reaction chain of certain isotopes of thorium decaying into lead. Why the aliens would be emitting thoron I can’t even begin to guess.
Going off the above point, there is a lot of technobabble in this ep and frankly none of it makes sense. Even though I have good deal of basic knowledge in many different science disciplines, I couldn’t find much, if any, real science behind the technobabble and I’m pretty sure it was all gibberish.
The aliens tease returning “next year” but they never appear again. Probably for the best.
I'm in the process of rewatching Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and reviewing/recapping each episode in detail. Join me in my in depth look at the deepest and most complex Star Trek series to date.
The Bajoran government is planning to tap the molten core of one of its moons and transfer the energy to the planet to heat homes for the winter, but a stubborn old settler on the moon named Mullibok refuses to vacate. Kira tries and fails to convince him to leave, forcing her to choose between her duty and doing what is right.
This is classic moral dilemma Trek episode. A lot of time is spent (basically the entire episode) building a bond between Kira and Mullibok and much is made of her emotional turmoil, but essentially she is forced to choose between her duty and doing the right thing. It doesn't matter how many people the tap will help, the government has no right to forcefully relocate somebody who doesn't want to leave their home and their property. It's essentially the same thing as ethnic cleansing, even if ethnicity isn't involved. And even if it's just one person, it's still evil. As Picard asks in his legendary mini speech from Insurrection, "HOW MANY PEOPLE DOES IT TAKE, ADMIRAL?"
However, unlike Picard, Kira makes the utilitarian choice in the end. This could be an indication of DS9's more morally gray tone compared to TNG, but I think it has more to do with the way sci fi writers insist on writing women. I think they are afraid that if Kira made the right choice and refused to allow Mullibok to be forcefully relocated, that it would be seen as her being controlled by her emotions. In order to avoid being accused of sexism, the writers have her make the choice that is seen as being more rational, even though it is wrong. The same thing consistently happens on Voyager, where Janeway almost always makes the utilitarian choice rather than the one that protects individuals' rights and dignity. I believe this is due to the politically correct forces in Hollywood and it's extremely disappointing because it does a great disservice to the women on these shows. It's truly ironic that political correctness has the consequence of writers not being allowed to write good, complex female characters.
Then again, an argument can be made that the utilitarian choice is the only correct one according to Federation ethics. The Federation is essentially a socialist utopia (at least as presented by Roddenberry—DS9 ironically does a ton to subvert that notion). Socialism is a system of government for which trampling on the rights of individuals for the "common good" is a core tenant, so maybe all the times that Picard chooses to protect the rights of individuals over the collective utilitarian good is actually "wrong" by Federation ethical standards and Janeway is actually correct. That still doesn't explain Kira's choice in this ep, though, since she isn't part of the Federation. Not only is her choice wrong, but it is completely out of character for her and that is why I believe her actions were written the way they were in order to avoid accusations of sexism, rather than in service of the character and the story.
THE GOOD
Mullibok is an interesting and charismatic character. He's equal parts frustrating and endearing. I think he is selfish and his decision not to leave is completely dictated by his fear of...basically everything. He is ruled by his fear. But I also respect him standing his ground against the government and feel bad for him with the way the ep ends.
The moral dilemma is thought-provoking (obviously, considering I just wrote a mini essay on it...).
THE BAD
Kira-centric ep. She's actually not terrible here, but she's also not great.
The plot moves very slowly. It's a character-focused story and Brian Keith as Mullibok more than carries his weight, but Visitor lacks the charisma or acting chops to make such a slow story hold your interest completely.
The B plot with the kids is not interesting. Also this is the third time in four eps that Jake and Nog have been featured in the B plot. It's getting pretty old. Give Dax something to do for once instead, please.
Kira's choice at the end is very disappointing.
THE UGLY
Runabout used: Ganges. No sensor module again, so it must really be removable.
The kids not being able to figure out what a self-sealing stem bolt is is silly. I guess DS9 doesn't have the internet?
It's fascinating that Bajor has a moon capable of supporting a breathable atmosphere. For a class M planet to have a moon massive enough to also hold that kind of an atmosphere, the moon would have to be pretty close to the same size as the planet. In fact, the planet and the moon would most likely be orbiting each other, much like Pluto and its moon Charon do. Pluto and Charon are tidally locked, so it's possible Bajor and Jerrado are as well, which would eliminate the possibility of destructive tidal forces that would otherwise be a consequence of such a massive moon, and also make an energy tap much easier, since the same point on Bajor is always aligned with the same point on Jerrado.
I was planning in making a top 10 list, but decided that I only had interesting things to say about my top 5 metal albums. Plus this list is already super late in getting published, so I cut it down to the top 5 and am including a couple of non-metal album to make the list an awkward top 7, rather than 10. And so I present to you the five best metal and two best non-metal albums of 2018.
#7 Sometimes the World Ain’t Enough by The Night Flight Orchestra
While technically not metal, The Night Flight Orchestra harness plenty of metallic elements on their newest offerings, blending the bombast of 80’s arena music with the soulful power of 70’s classic rock and adding a dash of progginess. The band is composed of several metal veterans, most notably Soilwork frontman Bjorn Strid, who demonstrates range and soul not even hinted at while performing with his main band. In fact it’s safe to say Strid’s powerful and emotive voice is the highlight here, though there are many other great aspects that compete for the honor, including the highly polished songwriting and the warm organic production quality. This is an album that begs to be heard surrounded by flashing stage lights and the haze from fog machines, but absent that, try it with some brandy and a cigar. Sometimes that really is enough, even if the world ain’t.
#6 Perdition by Irish Moutarde
Breaking with my tradition, I’ve included a second non-metal album on this list. I’m just enjoying the unique blend of punk rock and Irish folk music that these Québécois have created too much to leave them out. The combination of the electric guitar, banjo, and bagpipes is flawlessly executed, and when combined with boundless punk energy it makes for a great ride, especially on the faster paced songs like “Terre Rouge” (one of my favorite songs of 2018). The highlight here is definitely the banjo, which sits very high in the mix and just sounds incredible. Banjo is a naturally high energy instrument, and it blends perfectly with the punk rock aesthetic, doubly so when supported by the power of the guitar and the primal and savage atmosphere provided by the pipes. Prepare your tapping foot for plenty of action; Perdition is guaranteed to get your jig on!
#5 Conqueror’s Oath by Visigoth
Though it shocked the metal world by being voted album of the year on Metal Archives, Conqueror's Oath is ironically a slight step down in quality from the band’s debut album. That said, it’s still a great big beast of a recording and deserves most of the praise it gets. What it lacks in consistency, it more than makes up for with extremely high points, most notably on “Traitor’s Gate,” which is not only the best song of the year, but easily one of the best songs this decade. Frontman Jake Rogers sounds like a beefier version of Zachary Stevens as he rampages and bellows across eight tracks of classic doom-influenced heavy metal glory; his apex moment coming with a monstrous and impassioned performance on the aforementioned standout track. Raise your drinking horns to Visigoth, because they are a young band showing they are here to stay and are intent on conquering the metal world by fire and the sword.
#4 Astral Necromancy by Hoth
With a perfect blend of aggression and melody, Hoth’s third full length delivers quite an icy punch. As mesmerizing and beautiful as the aurora borealis, Astral Necromancy never for a moment loses your attention thanks to an unending string of breathtaking tremolo riffs, firebreathing lead work, and some of the catchiest songwriting that black metal has ever seen. Wrap that all up in a flawless production job and you have a real wampa of an album. Forget saving Luke Skywalker; venture out past the fourth marker to experience this polar vortex in its full frostbitten glory.
#3 The Last Emperor by Judicator
I don’t know what exactly is going on in Utah, but somehow the land of Mormons has produced two of the five best albums this year (Visigoth are also from Utah). On the surface, The Last Emperor doesn’t offer much of interest. The galloping riffs vaguely sound like Iced Earth or Blind Guardian, but the vocals of frontman John Yelland often sound like they are straining to match the power of the guitar, unlike the beastly vocalists of those bands. And yet...there is an indescribable power to this music. Despite his shortcomings, Yelland is surprisingly charismatic and his range is undeniably impressive. But the real magic lies in the lyrics. Recounting the tale of the First Crusade, the most epic (and least depressing) of all the crusades, Judicator delve into source material that is rich with individual heroism, human suffering, triumph against all odds, divine intercession, massive military clashes, and a sense of grand and sweeping historical and geographical scale. Judicator take the essence of their inspiration and distill it down into a pure metal form. Sure, I could rave about killer riffs, high energy, catchy choruses, or Hansi Kürcsch’s spine-tingling guest spot, but the real charm of this album goes far beyond any technical musical element and deep into the realm of the holy. Take up your cross and strike out for the east because Judicator are on a crusade to bring metal to the heathens of the world, and they won’t stop until Jerusalem is safe again.
#2 Jord by Panphage
If it is possible for an album to transport you to a time and place that you’ve never been and yet feel every detail of that locality, Jord is that album. I’ve never been to a Germanic heathen ritual in the mountains of 9th century Sweden, but when listening to this album I am there and can experience everything; smell the pine, feel the crunch of snow under my fur-lined boots, see the glint of moonlight on my fellow Norseman’s axe, hear the crackle of the fire, and taste the mead on my lips. Only a very powerful piece of music can do that. A one man project by a man known only as Fjällbrandt, Panphage’s magic lies mostly in the rhythm section, where an unending, blistering stream of tremolo picked notes and blast beats hypnotize you into being transported to that alien yet familiar locale. And yet the album avoids getting lost in atmosphere completely, as the riffs are catchy, headbangable, creative, and exploding with energy; Fjällbrandt’s bark is savage and distinct; and the songs stick in your brain long after the chill of that Scandinavian winter night has subsided.
#1 Back to the Sea by Dagon
I can’t decide what is the most remarkable fact about this album being #1 of the year: A) It is a melodeath album, a genre that has been devoid of interesting ideas for well over a decade now, B) Dagon continue to find inspiration for top notch songwriting in exclusively ocean-based thematic elements, C) It’s also been nearly a decade since this band released an album, 2009’s bone-shattering Terraphobic, or D) That these guys took nine years off and came back without losing a single iota of their magic. Seriously, this is an absolute kraken of an album. Highlighted by Jordan Batterbee’s creative and high energy drum patterns, and seven seas worth of riffs, solos, tempo changes, breakdowns (ones that actually sound amazing), and catchy choruses, Dagon have captured lightning in the bottle twice now with their second masterpiece album in a row. This album is more powerful and savage than a perfect storm and more enticing than a siren’s call. Return back to the sea and surrender to the mighty power of Dagon, masters of ocean metal!
So there you have it, the best albums of 2018. But even though I didn’t write about them, there was a number of other really good album that came out. So I’ll end with giving you an honorable mention list in no particular order. Keep it metal, brothers and sisters.
I'm in the process of rewatching Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and reviewing/recapping each episode in detail. Join me in my in depth look at the deepest and most complex Star Trek series to date.
O'Brien and Bashir go to Bajor to assist a village where their spiritual leader, the Sirah, is dying. They discover that the Sirah must perform a nightly ritual to protect the village from a mystical creature called the Dal'Rok. However, when he dies, he names O'Brien as his successor, much to the engineer's dismay. Now he and Bashir have to find a way to save the village when the Dal'Rok returns. Meanwhile on the station, Sisko is mediating a border dispute between two hostile Bajoran factions, with the head of one of the factions being a young girl who is eager to prove that she is a strong leader—even if it means pushing their factions into an avoidable war.
The two plots of this episode are unrelated, despite both being about Bajoran society, and are ultimately inconsequential. The main reason to watch this episode is that it is jam packed with character development. We get tons of great O'Brien moments, and we see even more clearly than ever how much he dislikes Bashir. Considering that they go on to become inseparable friends, it's fun to watch O'Brien struggle (and fail) to contain his annoyance at every single thing Bashir says.
The real character development here, though, is for a different pair of inseparable friends, Jake and Nog. Unlike the last B plot they were involved in (in "The Nagus"), this time both young actors actually do a decent job and their story is fun and interesting. If not for the strength O'Brien as a character, I would argue that the B plot outshines the A plot in this particular episode. We get to see a lot of how Jake and Nog are developing as characters and people, which will be relevant for the entire show's run.
THE GOOD
Good character development for Jake and Nog.
Important piece in the O'Brien-Bashir friendship arc
I love how O'Brien always says "Julian" with venom in his voice throughout the whole ep. It makes Bashir so uncomfortable that he reverses his request for O'Brien to call him that. The smirk from O'Brien when his little mind game works is amazing.
O'Brien's distraught reactions to all the Sirah-related situations he finds himself in are so much fun to watch. I laughed quite a bit more in this ep than I expected to, mostly due to those moments. His trollish cackle when he realizes he's off the hook for being the Sirah is probably my favorite part of the ep.
Going off the above, Bashir's amusement at O'Brien's discomfort is also fun to watch. Even though they aren't friends yet, you can definitely see the seeds of it here. And their friendship becomes one of the best parts of DS9, so it's fun to watch its genesis.
THE BAD
Bajoran ep. Why are their outfits always so ugly?
Inconsequential plot
The girl who plays the Bajoran tetrarch isn't a very good actress
THE UGLY
Rules of Acquisition quoted: 1 (9th). 3 total for the series.
The runabout used by O'Brien and Bashir must be the Rio Grande, since the Yangtzee Kiang is gone and it lacks the Ganges' sensor module.
It takes the runabout 2 hours to get from DS9 to Bajor. If they were travelling at warp 1 (the speed of light), that would mean that Bajor is about 14 AU (2.2 billion km) away from the station. But since the station was in orbit around Bajor before being moved on thrusters to the wormhole, it seems much more likely that they are significantly closer together and the journey between is done at impulse speeds.
The Bajoran tetrarch is consistently referred to as being the same age as Jake and Nog (and the script apparently specifies her as being 15), but the actress who plays her, Gina Phillips, was 23 at the time. Jake is 14 and Nog is around 16, although Aron Eisenberg is actually a few months older than Phillips in real life.
The use of the title "tetrarch" is very interesting. The historical context of that title in Earth history is pretty complex, but the meaning of the word itself implies that she is one of four joint rulers (tetra- being the Greek prefix meaning 'four'—a tetrarchy is a 'leadership of four [people]'). If so, it makes no sense that the other three rulers would send a young girl to negotiate instead of one of them going. Perhaps the rest of tetrarchy was destroyed during the occupation and they keep the title as a matter of tradition?
I'm in the process of rewatching Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and reviewing/recapping each episode in detail. Join me in my in depth look at the deepest and most complex Star Trek series to date.
The Bajoran religious leader, Kai Opaka, makes a surprise visit to the station and Sisko decides to give her a tour of the wormhole. On the other side, they investigate a strange transmission and are attacked and crash land on an alien moon where two sides are locked in an eternal war.
We get our second and last episode featuring Kai Opaka, who is a great character and it's a shame she was "killed" off so early in the show's run. However, the upside is that it clears the way for Kai Winn, who ends up being a great villain for the show.
This episode is supposed to say something about how violence begets violence. It's a theme that Trek brings up pretty frequently, most notably in The Original Series episodes "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" and the great "Day of the Dove"—the latter in particular doing a better job of addressing the issue than "Battle Lines" does. But frankly it's a safe topic to address and not one I find very compelling. "Hatred is bad, mmkay." That said, this episode is still decent, mostly due to the performances of the guest stars.
THE GOOD
Going through the wormhole is always a positive, especially in this rather claustrophobic first season. More cowbell, please.
Camille Saviola is really good as Opaka. It's a major shame she was never brought back for any substantial roles.
Jonathan Banks' IMDB page would probably be taller than me if it was printed out. He's a highly sought after character actor for good reason and it's awesome to see him here as the alien leader.
The action sequences are actually decent, though not amazing. Since they were directed by the stunt director and not the incompetent Paul Lynch, that would explain the step up in quality from previous eps. I'm glad that Lynch doesn't direct any more eps after this one because he isn't good.
THE BAD
Nana Visitor's acting is physically painful to watch. She's so bad.
The ending is rather unsatisfying and depressing. Opaka says they are ready to begin the healing, but no indication of that is given. It seems like maybe she was putting on a brave face so the crew wouldn't feel bad about leaving her behind, damned to an eternal hell of suffering, violence, and death.
THE UGLY
Terrible response time from Sisko and Kira when the satellite system aggresses them. They should have warped out immediately, especially considering their passenger. O'Brien is much quicker on his feet and bugs out the instant the satellites start scanning.
Runabout roster: Ganges and Rio Grande. Say goodbye to the Yangtzee Kiang, as it's destroyed in the crash landing.
Sisko gets defensive when Bashir questions his decision to try and save the prisoners, but I think Sisko's justification for why it's not a violation of the Prime Directive, at least in spirit, is sound. The decaying nature of the defensive satellite system indicates that whoever placed the prisoners there is no longer around, so freeing them isn't a violation of that society's natural course of evolution.
Dax and O'Brien fly the Rio Grande while searching for the missing Yangtzee, but the Ganges seems better suited for a search and rescue mission with its advanced sensors. We can only assume a different crew is flying the Ganges in a different part of the sector, also looking for Sisko.
