Review of DS9 Episode 1.12 "Battle Lines"

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.

RATING: 7/10

Review of DS9 Episode 1.11 "Vortex"

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 from the Gamma Quadrant named Crodan gets mixed up in one of Quark's schemes and as a result ends up killing somebody in a scuffle. While in custody, he tells Odo that he has met other shapeshifters like him in Gamma Quadrant. Odo is very eager to learn more about his people, but Crodan's government demands that he be returned to face punishment for crimes committed on their world. Now Odo is tasked to bring Crodan back, but on the way he will be faced with a conflict between his duty, sense of justice, and his desire to learn more about his people.

The plot of this episode is very complex, with lots of twists and location changes. For the first time since the pilot, we get to see members of the crew going through the wormhole not once, but twice, which is exciting. As a result of the very active plot and character movement throughout, it feels like way more happens in this episode than should even be possible for 42 minutes of TV. We have scheming, murder, revenge, diplomatic contact, political intrigue, chase scenes, and most importantly of all, a lot of important exposition that will continue to be relevant through all seven seasons of the show.

This episode is the first time we hear the phrase "changelings." Though most of what Crodan claims to know about them turns out to be lies, his story about how they used to be persecuted and that's why they don't trust humanoids is accurate. It's also curious that he knew that they don't normally retain a humanoid shape on their own planet. Overall, there's a lot of foreshadowing of future events involving the Founders and Odo's conflicting desires to be with his people but also do the right thing.

THE GOOD

• Great pacing and plot movement. They fit a lot of story into the ep, but it doesn't ever feel rushed.
• Nice submarine hunt sequence. Definitely hearkens back to the epic sequence from Wrath of Khan, but the tactic Odo uses to take out the Miradorn ship is almost identical to the Riker Maneuver from Insurrection (and I'm not referring to the way he sits in chairs).
• A lot of good character development for Odo.

THE BAD

• Guy who plays Crodan lacks charisma and is too lackadaisical about everything. It wasn't too hard to believe right up until the point where it's revealed that his daughter's life was on the line the whole time and then none of his attitude makes sense retroactively.
• There's also no indication given of why Crodan was getting involved in Quark's schemes. We can guess that he wanted money to acquire passage back to get his daughter, but then we are forced to wonder why the heck he left his daughter in a stasis pod in some cave in the middle of a nebula. It makes no sense at all and no explanation is even attempted.

THE UGLY

• "Maybe that's why nobody has ever seen another shapeshifter--they're all hiding!" Like Crodan with his tall tales, Quark is surprisingly close to the truth with this seemingly throwaway line.
• The actor who plays the Miradorn twins, Randy Oglesby, has played seven different characters across four different ST shows over the years, most notably in eleven episodes on ENT season 3 as one of the Xindi leaders.
• Odo shapeshift count: 1 in frame. Out of frame he turns into a drinking glass, and there's a very cool shot on screen where the glass gets shattered and all the pieces turn to goo and congeal back into Odo's humanoid form. 7 total on screen shifts for the series.
• The effects shots of The Nexus appear to use the exact same matte painting used to show nebulae by several different ST projects over the years, including the Mutara Nebula in The Wrath of Khan and the nebula where the Enterprise-D hides from the Borg in "The Best of Both Worlds."
• Runabouts used: Rio Grande taken by Sisko and Dax. The runabout that Odo takes is referred to by the Vulcan captain as the Ganges, but in the effects shots it is missing the Ganges' telltale dorsal sensor module. Either the sensor module is removable, or that was an error in either the script or effects department.

RATING: 7/10

Review of DS9 Episode 1.10 "The Nagus"

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The leader of the Ferengi, Grand Nagus Zek, shows up on DS9 and holds a conference for exploring business opportunities in the Gamma Quadrant. But at the conference he suddenly retires and names Quark his successor—much to the consternation of his son and the Ferengi merchant lords—and then shortly afterwards dies unexpectedly. Now Quark must navigate the treacherous waters of Ferengi governance while dealing with attempts on his life by those jealous of his new prestige and power.

This is technically a terrarium episode, but you almost don't notice because of the sweeping galactic implications of it. Episodes like this really fulfill the core promise of DS9 as a show; no longer do we watch a crew going from place to place exploring the unknown, having adventures, and then leaving behind the mess for somebody else to clean up. Now we follow a crew that has the unknown come to them, and the consequences of those encounters are real and must be dealt with. This is more challenging to write because it's more restrictive, but restrictions breed creativity, and while the DS9 writers don't always adequately step up to the challenge, in this episode they definitely did.

This is a fascinating episode because prior to this, Star Trek had always glossed over how Ferengi society works; this is the first in what would become a long line of Ferengi-centered eps on the show. The Ferengi are essentially the exact opposite of the Federation. The Federation has abandoned all market-based activities, including commerce, acquisition of assets, and even money itself; while Ferengi society is entirely based around those things.

If you think about it, neither society is realistic. Both are extreme to the point where it's impossible that they could function as portrayed. The Federation's system implies several dark realities, most notably a denial of people's right to self-determination. If your society needs janitors to function and nobody wants to be a janitor, what happens? Since you can't pay people to be janitors, the only other option is coercing them into being ones. In essence, the Federation's marketless system implies that they resort to nothing less than slavery.

The Ferengi, meanwhile, have no values other than the acquisition of wealth. They treat contracts with the utmost reverence, but seem to have no laws outside of strict adherence to contracts. They treat charity with disgust and view government-run social programs as the ultimate evil. Who takes care of the sick, poor, old, and/or disabled? The implication is that millions of vulnerable Ferengi must be dying in the streets every day. For that matter, according to Ferengi values, why should a parent even feed their own child? There's no profit in it. Unless they are engaging in child slave labor. Shall I go on? Needless to say, no society could function like this. It's impossible; it would be virtual anarchy and inevitably result in the collapse of their civilization.

That all said, there is a deep and rich potential for storytelling when two such opposing societies (however unrealistic they may be) come into contact with each other. TNG never delivered on that potential, but DS9 does here, and will continue to do so in a big (though occasionally disappointing) ways through seven seasons.

THE GOOD

• Wallace Shawn is great as Zek. He was born to play a Ferengi. As I've noted before, the recurring guest stars are the best part of DS9, and episodes that feature them like this one are almost always very good.
• O'brien is back! I missed him but didn't realize just how much I missed him until he walked into that classroom. The show is significantly weaker without him, as the run of three mediocre episodes in his absence proved.

THE BAD

• The B plot is boring and has some bad acting from Cirroc Lofton and Aron Eisenberg. But they're kid actors so that's moderately understandable and expected. A better B plot or a more fleshed-out A plot and no B plot could have pushed this to a 9 or 10 rating.

THE UGLY

• This episode is the first time the Rules of Acquisition are mentioned. Rules quoted count: 2 (the 1st and 6th), 2 total for the series
• Rom's voice and mannerisms are much different from his first appearance and match his character for the remainder of the show's run.
• Rom trying to kill Quark was shocking. I forgot he did that and it shows how much his character changed/grew over the years.
• What happens to Zek's son after this? He never appears or is mentioned again, despite many more Zek-centric episodes.
• Odo Shapeshift count: 1 (turns into goo to pass through a locked door), 6 total for the series

RATING: 8/10

Review of DS9 Episode 1.09 "Move Along Home"

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.


First contact with a gaming-obsessed species from the Gamma Quadrant takes a bad turn when Quark is caught cheating them at Dabo. They get revenge on him by forcing him to play a game of theirs in which Sisko, Kira, Dax, and Bashir are the real life pawns that are forced to confront dangerous obstacles in their attempt to "move along home."

This is a frustrating and frankly quite stupid episode. It's memorable due to just how weird it is, but overall it's bad.

THE GOOD

• Sisko's approach to first contact compared to Picard or even Kirk reveals a lot about his character. Picard in particular seems to relish first contact. Sisko seems to dread it. He is definitely not a diplomat and it probably makes no sense that the Federation didn't send somebody better for the job of receiving their first official visitors from the Gamma Quadrant.
• The exchange when Dax wants Sisko to leave her behind and he refuses is the best part in the episode. Their interactions are always so interesting due to their long and complicated history with each other. Sisko was Curzon's mentee, and now he is Jadzia's commanding officer, and that conflicting dynamic is fascinating.

THE BAD

• The whole structure of the game (or lack thereof) is frustrating. Since Quark (and by extension the audience) doesn't know the rules, everything that happens feels totally random and arbitrary.
• More terrible acting from Alexander Siddig
• The obstacles encountered in the game are neither clever nor interesting.
• The revelation at the end that nobody was ever in danger retroactively ruins the one positive aspect of the plot, which is the tension from worrying about what will happen to the characters.
• No O'Brien for the third ep in a row. Jake mentions that Keiko is still on Earth, so obviously he is with her still. Meaney is lucky he got to sit this one out.

THE UGLY

• Why does Sisko have a tricorder? He was sleeping in bed (in his uniform, no less), and wakes up in the game with a tricorder strapped to his hip. Utter nonsense.
• Quark apparently faces no consequences for his actions.
• The conversation between Brennin and Odo while scanning the alien ship provides some clues as to how the game technology works. Brennin implies that it reads like a continuous transporter beam. Most likely, the four players were locked in some sort of sustained transporter field where matter and energy is able to materialize around them and be manipulated according to the requirements of the game. The tricorders read everything in the game as real, so it's not a holosuite or virtual reality most likely, but rather some highly advanced manipulation of matter and energy, like a holosuite but where everything is fully physical rather than holographic.

RATING: 4/10

Review of DS9 Episode 1.08 "The Passenger"

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Bashir and Kira are returning to the station via runabout when they encounter a ship in distress. They rescue the lone survivor, an alien security officer, but are unable to save her prisoner, a man named Vantika whom she claims is extremely dangerous. Upon returning to the station, someone begins tampering with station security and appears to be plotting to steal an inbound shipment of rare material, and all evidence points to Vantika being the one responsible for the issues. But how can that be if he is dead?

This is another inconsequential episode, although the wormhole does at least play a small part, as the shipment of deuridium is coming from the Gamma Quadrant. The tension and pacing are both decent. Unlike the previous episode, the performances of the actors are all very good (with one very obvious and notable exception). Sisko, Quark, Odo, and Jadzia all gets chances to shine and their performances are what make this a slightly above-average ep.

THE GOOD

• "If you want my opinion—" "Actually I don't." Man I love Sisko's no-BS attitude. His handling of Odo's wounded pride is also very impressive. You gain a lot of admiration for Sisko's ability to command in this episode. He is fair but doesn't tolerate any nonsense.
• As mentioned above, several characters have multiple noteworthy moments. Rene Auberjonois steals the show though. Every scene with him is great, from his conflicts with Lt. Primmin, to his banter with Quark, to his no-holds-barred conversation with Sisko. And even though Odo is too hard on Primmin at first, he knows when he was wrong and gives him due credit at the end, showing he is a fair, if harsh, judge of character.

THE BAD

• Oh my Prime Directive is Alexander Siddig bad here. So, so bad. Especially the scenes where he plays Vantika. I never realized what an awful actor he was in the first season until this time rewatching the show. Fortunately, he does improve as the show proceeds and has actually had a very successful acting career post-Star Trek. But boy is he bad here.
• Maybe it's because I've seen the episode several times before, but it seemed painfully obvious to me that Bashir was the bad guy all along. There was no mystery that I could discern. However, in spite of knowing I still felt the tension from seeing Bashir/Vantika skulk around the station and mess everything up, so that's a positive at least.
• Going off the above "bad," it's baffling to me that nobody suspected Bashir, especially Jadzia after discovering how Vantika had survived, or Kira after seeing Vantika grab Bashir right before dying. Definitely makes the crew look incompetent.
• No O'Brien for the second episode in a row.

THE UGLY

• PLOT HOLE: Now that Vantika has a new (human) body, he no longer has any need for the deuridium since he originally wanted it to prolong his life. None of his actions after the first scene make any sense in that light. He hangs around the station and waits to get caught for...absolutely no reason.
• Runabout used: Rio Grande multiple times
• The material that Vantika is trying to steal, deuridium, is apparently fictional.
• The freighter carrying the deuridium has Federation LCARS control interfaces, in spite of not being crewed by Starfleet personnel. That would explain how Bashir knew exactly what button to push to lower the shields, even in his disoriented state.
• Glial cells are what Vantika uses to transfer his consciousness into Bashir, but it's unclear how that would work since glial cells are non-neuronal, but are rather part of the central nervous system that surrounds and cares for the neural tissue.

RATING: 6/10

Review of DS9 Episode 1.07 "Dax"

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A foreign government wants to extradite Lt. Jadzia Dax to try her for treason allegedly committed by the former Dax host, Curzon, who was also Commander Sisko's close friend and mentor. Sisko is able to force an extradition hearing arbitrated by a Bajoran representative to attempt to determine whether or not Jadzia can be tried for the crimes of which her predecessor is accused.

Star Trek has a number of good courtroom drama episodes, with "The Measure of a Man" from TNG's second season leading that impressive collection. "Dax" does not unfortunately find a place among those quality stories. While the premise sounds like it could be interesting, the execution does not live up and the writers failed to make any relevant connection to contemporary social issues (at least that I could discern). The "drama" here is flat, the social commentary absent, and the acting dull and lifeless—in strong contrast to the aforementioned legendary episode from the sister show—all of which adds up to a below-average episode in this first season.

THE GOOD

• It's nice to finally get an episode centered on Dax. She has been seriously neglected as a character up to this point, including the aspects of her complicated relationship to Sisko, and this episode does a bit to explore that relationship. Unfortunately, it ends up mostly being Avery Brooks' mediocre dialogue delivery versus Terry Farrell's stoic silence (which she does well, but it's just not interesting).
• Does a good job of demonstrating how, even though she appears to be a young woman, Jadzia has the integrity and conviction of someone much older and wiser. That is really the only lasting takeaway from the ep.
• The shot where the tractor beam chases the Klaestron ship off the screen and then a few seconds later drags it back onto frame is great. Nice blending of quality effects with creative shot design.
• The cranky old Bajoran arbiter is amusing. She is the only one who isn't phoning in her performance here.

THE BAD

• Ironically, in the episode that bears her name and is ostensibly all about her, Dax herself does almost nothing here.
• The story is honestly boring. The ending is a rushed and anticlimactic deus ex machina.
• I hate to keep comparing this episode to "The Measure of a Man," but every courtroom drama ST ep naturally is benchmarked against that great ep. What is lacking here is...literally everything. The acting is far inferior. There are no epic speeches. No thrilling dramatic moments (by contrast, Riker's "Pinocchio's strings have been cut" moment still gives me goosebumps to this day). No important social commentary. "TMoaM" had so many powerful things to say about slavery, consciousness, free will, and more. What is the relevance of this ep? Are they commenting on the importance of redemption? Something about amnesia? I have no clue. It all feels so pointless, especially with the abrupt and unsatisfying ending.

THE UGLY

• First mention of the Klingon coffee, raktajino, which would become a station favorite, essentially replacing Earth coffee on the show.
• Bashir's flying elbow into the Klaestron agent trying to abduct Dax looks like something Kirk would try. The whole brawl was sloppy like a TOS fight, which I found surprisingly entertaining.
• Bashir retcon watch (WARNING: this section contains major spoilers for a future story arc) — With the way Bashir's physical abilities are portrayed post-genetic-engineering reveal, he should have been more coordinated during the critical fight to try and rescue Jadzia from the Klaestron abductors. Instead he looks like an adolescent who doesn't understand how human limbs work. He looks like Gumby getting electric shock therapy. The closest we've ever come to a real life version of a Bethesda game glitch was Bashir's "fight scene." It's bad, is what I'm saying.
• It seems highly unlikely that the culpability of current hosts for the crimes of former hosts would not be an issue that would have previously been settled by Trill law, and thus would serve as a guide for the proceedings of this ep. And yet no such precedence is ever mentioned.

RATING: 5/10

Review of DS9 Episode 1.06 "Q-Less"

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 Ganges returns from the Gamma Quadrant with a surprise passenger aboard—Vash, Captain Picard's love interest last seen with powerful entity known only as "Q." It's not long before Q himself shows up and starts to annoy the crew of DS9 in his uniquely irritating way. But with him and Vash also arrives a new danger that threatens the station. Will Sisko's crew be able to figure out what is happening before the station is destroyed? Is Q responsible? How does Vash fit into what is happening?

So for the third time in six episodes, we get crossover characters from TNG, cementing even further that these shows are tightly linked and not afraid to build off of each other. Q is almost always a treat on TNG, and the episodes he appears in are some of the best from that show (with a couple of exceptions). This would be his only appearance on DS9 and it's not too hard to see why. The energy that John de Lancie brings to the screen with this character is incredible, but his chemistry with Sisko is...well...frankly nonexistent—a far cry from the world-class dialogue filled with Shakespeare quotes and historical allusions he exchanges with Patrick Stewart over on the sister show. Part of that is due to Brooks' far inferior acting talents, but part of it simply Sisko's personality. He does not tolerate BS and Q is pretty much the definition of BS.

The scenes with Vash and Q are good though. And with Vash and Quark. Basically Vash is always a highlight. I'm surprised Jennifer Hetrick never got more roles back in the day because she steals the show in all of her Star Trek appearances. And despite not having Picard to banter with, de Lancie is still very entertaining as the enigmatic Q.

The story is well-written here too. The suspense is maintained right up until the end and it's fun to try and guess whether or not Q is nudging things one way or another to help or simply for his own amusement. As usual, even by the end of the ep we really have no idea what his intentions were.

THE GOOD

• O'Brien's face in the opening shot. His reactions to Bashir's whole Starfleet Medical finals story is amazing. We see a continuation of O'Brien's strong dislike for him from the last ep.
• O'Brien describing Vash "The captain likes a good challenge, sir." Way to put it diplomatically, Miles.
• O'Brien on seeing Q on DS9 "Bloody hell!" Colm Meaney could have a YouTube channel called "O'Brien Reacts to Things" and I'd watch the hell out of it.
• Quark is so wonderfully sleazy here. It's a credit to Armin Shimerman's acting talent that he can be charismatic with a giant latex mask and fangs on.

THE BAD

• Some cringy scenes with Bashir. The opening scene when he's telling about his medical finals like it's a war story is delightfully campy, but him hitting on Vash is more weird than fun.
• Aside from being the link to Vash, Q really doesn't do much here story-wise. He's pretty superfluous aside from acting as a red herring. Again, it's no surprise he doesn't return to DS9. He just doesn't fit the tone of the show.

THE UGLY

• How much must it enrage Sisko to get continuously compared to Picard by Q? I feel kind of bad for him because every time that name is mentioned, it must remind him of the death of his wife. No wonder he's so surly with Q.
• The gas used to trace the power drains, tritium, is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. It is indeed very toxic when inhaled, but how it would make changes in the graviton field easier to detect is a mystery since gravitons are currently still only hypothetical.
• It's somewhat subtle, but Q actually appears to help the crew figure out the mystery (or tries anyway). When they are blaming him, he reacts by insulting them but then says that while they are trying to figure it out, Vash is "engaged in base commerce" and says that she is the real danger. This seems to be his MO—be annoying and belittling and pretend not to care while subtly helping the crew survive a serious threat. It's strange that he can simultaneously be both childish and paternal. Of all the many great characters in the history of Trek, Q has to be one of the most enigmatic.
• Bashir retcon watch (WARNING: this section contains major spoilers for a future story arc) — First mention of him mistaking a preganglionic fiber for a postganglionic nerve on his Starfleet Medical finals. We learn much later on that he missed that question on purpose so as to not draw suspicion about his genetically-enhanced nature.
• Odo shapeshift count: none on screen, but it's implied that he was the wine bottle in one scene.

RATING: 7/10