Progress
(Star Trek - Deep Space Nine episode production code 415)
written by Peter Allan Fields
Now we come to one of Deep Space Nine's worst episodes.
Although the sub plot for Jake and Nog is a lot of decent fun,
the main A-plot is working very hard to turn Major Kira into
a bureaucratic jerk, and resorts to way too many brainless
contrivances to try to achieve that unworthy goal.
First of all, it's hard to see how the Bajoran government and
its energy commission could possibly be in the right here.
It goes beyond Spock's old Vulcan adage of the needs of the
many outweighing the needs of the few. Bajor should consider itself
damn lucky to have a moon with breathable atmosphere,
fertile soil, and no other known sentient lifeforms.
This moon should be set aside for colonization.
Instead, they want to completely
wreck its ecosystem? And for what? Are they so desperate
for "energy" that they can't wait one short year
(how long is the Bajoran year anyway?) to put their
environmentally safe and friendly option into operation instead?
One year (even if a Bajoran year is equivalent to as many as four
Earth years) is not an unreasonable amount of time to develop
a massive energy project such as the ones proposed in this episode,
and compared to the billions of years it took for the moon and
its ecosystem to develop and mature, the right answer here should
be a no-brainer.
To borrow Nog's line of thinking from this same episode,
someone does indeed have a lot to learn about opportunity.
The opportunity for the long term of this moon far outweighs
the outright idiotic desperation of the short term.
We also have to wonder who really has jurisdiction over this moon -
the settlers who live there, or the governments of the planet.
Back in
"Battle Lines",
Sisko was prepared to treat the inhabitants
of that moon as a separate society from the one that had spawned them.
Perhaps the same should apply to the settlers here. It seems obvious
that the Bajoran government and its energy commission have not
reached a fair agreement with all those involved. Sisko should be
warning the visiting minister and the Bajoran government at large
that pushing the desperate version of this project through
would not be helping any application
they may make later on for Federation membership.
Now, big issues aside, next come the production contrivances.
Firstly, can the cast manage to come up with a definitive
pronunciation for the moon's name? I count at least half a dozen
different ones here, with none of them emerging as a definitive
one. This could have used some ironing out in rehearsals.
Even worse, as someone who grew up in a family ceramic tile business,
it pains me to see the sloppy narrative, design, and production work
surrounding that outdoor barbecue with the hexagonal tiles,
which is forever burned into my brain as a symbol of the episode's
idiocy. Hexagons are much more difficult to work with
than traditional squares
when used to fill a neatly pre-defined shape, as is attempted here,
and will involve many more specially cut pieces along the many edges.
Realistically speaking, considering this design, you'd likely end up
with more cuts than full pieces. But we're going to be watching
two ACTORS do this job, so they won't bother with any cuts at any
point. The kiln shape has been unbelievably doctored to show
where they should put each piece beforehand. This is also a job
that calls for a seriously heavy-duty mortar, since the tiles are
thick, and will have to withstand the high temperatures of the fire
when the barbecue is eventually lit.
Instead, it looks as if they are using some light-duty
factory produced mastic glue for thin bathroom wall tiles. They
should at least show the brand-name factory pail it came in when
it was imported from Bajor, instead of pretending that our settler
friend mixed it from the local clay or something. I'd guess the
tiles themselves are also imports, since even if this moon had
its own tile factory, the population prior to evacuation wasn't
large and diversified enough to get demand for hexagonal tiles
higher than demand for square ones - it's too much of a luxury item.
I really laugh when they put the "last" piece in
and say that they're done. Ah, guys?
Do you not see a whole row of small cut pieces missing along
the top? How sloppy do you want your workmanship to look?
Ah well, anything less than a full tile is beneath their
level of inspiration and beyond the abilities of the actors
I suppose. No cutting tools here today. Worse, they give their
tiles no time to set, much less cure, before they think they should
fire up the beast. Whoa!! That's asking for trouble! I'll bet
Kira's tiles will fall off first, since she is NOT putting enough
mortar (pardon me, glue) on tiles of that thickness.
Then she blows the whole useless thing up, and carefully torches
the cottage on all the pre-defined flammable bits. Really silly.
If anything, this episode built a lot of anticipation that
our regular crew would get their act together and get the
energy project on track with the slower environmentally-friendly
alternative that also works for the settler that Kira bonds with.
Instead we waste time watching actors fuss around very
unconvincingly with these tiles on a stove and a set designed
for the torch, and then blunder brainlessly into a stupid conclusion.
How much of the production budget was wasted here, considering that
the next two episodes are bottle shows featuring only the DS9
station itself?
At least our main guest star has an enjoyably written character
which the actor delivers with enjoyable charisma, and Nana Visitor
plays well off of him. Too bad that wasn't enough to salvage
a story that pushed her character so far and so awkwardly into
a stupid direction.
In the Hands of the Prophets
(Star Trek - Deep Space Nine episode production code 420)
written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Deep Space Nine episodes improve vastly towards the end of
the first season, until this single-episode finale becomes
an absolute triumph.
Of primary interest is the philosophical territory of pure science
vs. spiritual interpretation, which is very well handled in
this episode, and very organically ropes Keiko O'Brien into
what is possibly the best episode she ever got on Star Trek.
We also get our introduction to the important recurring characters
of Vedeks Bareil and Winn, both of whom make good first
impressions. Louise Fletcher as Vedek Winn in particular
gives a knock-out performance here, very reminiscent of
Nurse Ratchet from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest",
and always seems to be taking good points that one step too far
to create all kinds of irritability and tension. She's
very well cast, and they made good use of her character by
bringing her back so often to the show in further years.
Sisko also gets a chance to shine as someone with a very good
Trekkian balancing viewpoint, and delivers one of his best speeches
in a very believable and moving scene with his young son,
as well as having a key role in the unfolding plot.
Most of the other regulars are also used well, with Miles O'Brien
heavily involved with several plot strands, and Odo demonstrating
many of his better investigative skills.
And so, season one ends with what is probably the best episode
since the pilot, leaving one hopeful for all the other
great DS9 episodes yet to come....
Rankings for season one:
- Emissary
(A classic hero's journey adventure, with a wide variety of
environments delivered with eye-candy production value,
plus an exemplary first encounter with a truly unique sci-fi unknown.
Two thumbs way up on this one!)
- In the Hands of the Prophets
(A real philosophical issue is grappled with
in a very Trekkian manner, an intriguing mystery-thriller plot engages the crew,
important political recurring characters are introduced exceptionally well,
and we get some much better than average direction from David Livingston
showing off the DS9 sets a bit. A very good episode!)
- Past Prologue (Not only an excellent mystery puzzle
and a conundrum of loyalties for Kira,
but Dr. Bashir also gets some of his best material for the 1st season here
opposite a newly introduced Garak. Nice one.)
- A Man Alone (Today's decent mystery centers on Odo, but there's plenty of
better-than-average stuff here for everyone: Jake meets Nog,
Keiko starts her school, Max Grodenchik becomes Rom, and
Michael Piller further fleshes out the standards of interplay
between Sisko and Dax, Bashir and Dax, and Quark and Odo.
And a good episode was had by all.)
- (TNG's Birthright Part I might go here if its parts were ranked separately)
- Dax (This is both a good story
and the critical redefinition of the Trill species
from what they had been previously in
the much inferior TNG story "The Host".
So much comes out here for the first time, it's hard to see
how any writers could do Dax's character justice without
absorbing all that is revealed here. This is an engaging
mystery with some top notch guest stars, and some
lasting sentiments that work so much better than those of "The Host".
Two thumbs up.
-
Something that sticks out a bit in these early episodes
is an almost aloof tranquilness to Dax's personality,
which is supposed to reflect the symbiont's great age and wisdom.
This was later dropped and/or so buried that it almost
doesn't seem like the Dax I remember, the Dax still described
in dialogue or in descriptions of Curzon's character. Curious.)
- The Nagus (A very good world-building episode that locks Rom and Nog
into place and initiates the long-term arc of Nagus Zek stories.
Jake also gets a very rewarding subplot. The episode's decent
pace could be punched up a bit, but this is otherwise quite
satisfying.)
- TNG: Birthright (Another of Dr. Bashir's best appearances this year.
This is a most oddly structured two-parter with mixed fortunes. Data's sections
contain inspired gold, with the additional fun of adding my favourite DS9 regular
Dr. Bashir to Data and Geordi's explorations... but this completes itself by the end
of the first episode, after which I waffle on whether or not to include Part Two
in a rewatch of DS9. Worf's plot works less well, building throughout Part I
and swallowing all of Part II, but knowing that Worf is destined
to join DS9 in later seasons helps make even this feel relevant.)
- Vortex (Though the guest star never quite becomes compelling, and the episode
projects the formulaic likelihood that this will be an inconsequential
"Gilligan's Island"-style deadend on Odo's long-term quest that is only here
to remind us of his motivation, hindsight says that everything we learn
about possible changelings in the episode could likely be true, which gives
the episode some good world-building points. The action and eye-candy
in the opening and closing acts is also quite good, and Rom is further
developed as well. Overall this is a good one, better than it may appear
on first run.)
- If Wishes Were Horses (Buck Bokai's episode meanders along quite a bit,
seemingly without aim, while highlighting a lot of classic dynamics
amongst the DS9 regulars. And although the specifics here may not
well represent MY favourite examples, I have to award some points
for the healthiness of the concept of imagination manifesting itself.
That's good Trek, far outdoing the twisting and degenerating of morals
that DS9 will later engage so much more heavily in.
This one turns out quite worthwhile in the end,
while maintaining much of its unpredictability.)
- The Storyteller (Impracticalities abound in this production-value-rich
eye-candy tale of mythical situations and unrealistic relations.
Very entertaining, but not quite so well thought through.
Our young Bajoran diplomat - where are her bodyguards, her entourage?
And Chief O'Brien's troubles - why not expose the truth?)
- The Forsaken (For her 6th annual outing, Majel Barrett took Lwaxana Troi to
the new DS9 instead of TNG. And we have here a story that doesn't
have its main draw working all that well, but one that turns out
more than half-decent by the end. A lot of important pieces of Odo's
personal past come out here for the first time, drawn out of him by
Ambassador Troi, and the understanding they reach at the end remains
touching and highly memorable. Good one.)
- Captive Pursuit (decently weird, and a bit sordid.
Gets you to think about things that are really not all that
worthy of being thought about. You would think there'd be more episodes
quite similar to this one, as it perhaps best physicalizes DS9's main premise for
encountering the unknown, yet most other 1st season stories develop in
less obvious directions.)
- Duet (Gul Dukat makes his first [albeit viewscreen-only] return to the show since the pilot,
in an episode that flaunts a lot of subversive media tactics.
While the honest reveal of some of media's modus operandii seems refreshing at first
[Why commit actual atrocities when mere stories about it can achieve
the same manipulation of morale?], both Kira and the audience
are put to a greater test, namely: How long will it take before we all
stop listening to manipulative propanganda?
[Shades of "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night"!
Don't read your spam and give it a chance to hook your emotions; just delete!]
Kira doesn't do so well in this one.
And for the audience to pass the test, we'd have to turn the episode off....
so maybe this isn't such a good one after all. The resolution makes an interesting
turn though, seeming to head for much better things, before another defeat is snatched
from the jaws of victory. I find it bizarre how undervalued actual truth
has been throughout the episode in motivating its most emotionally invested participants;
aim for that, and much of the story's pointless ambiguity can be easily stripped away.)
- The Passenger [Vantica]
(A strong middle section gives the crew a good
mystery to solve and a battle of wits to engage in,
however the last act seems ridiculously acted,
and it seems there's no point to the tale, nor any wisdom from
a clever ending.)
- Battle Lines (The early exploration and outing for the Kai are enjoyable,
the situation discovered on the moon is not - pretty low-level dynamics,
all to prove an obvious point. Making this a permanent move for
the Kai is also disappointing. Some good acting from the guest stars,
some overacting from Nana Visitor. Not terrible, not great.)
- Q-Less (Q's first real failed episode - all his scenes with Vash are annoying
arguments that are leading nowhere and are a pain while they last.
Thankfully the rest of the plot has some intrigue and the crew has
a neat puzzle to solve.)
- Dramatis Personae (How many times has Joe Menosky had ancient culture force
some recreation of idiot behaviour and unlikeable characters into the present day?
Today's example is well acted and can keep an audience on their toes with
all its twists and turns, but there's no point to it. This is a very
malnourishing hour.)
- Babel (decent, but not outstanding. This one can't really get more
intriguing as it goes; it predictably paints itself into a corner of limited interest,
and turns to arbitrary incidents for some excitement.)
- Move Along Home (The overcomplicated set-up turns out to be far more interesting
than the guest star and his main event: a set of overhyped, clinical,
artificial challenges as boring as hopscotch. At least the maze set looked
intriguing, and Armin and René act up a storm,
but it all heads towards a very deflating ending.)
- Progress (Painfully stupid.
Writer Peter Allan Fields made a bad habit of
[1] putting our regular characters on obviously wrong sides of an issue,
[2] neglecting all their instincts to improve themselves or
aim determinedly for more options and ideal solutions,
and then [3] letting the wrong side win in the end.
Here's this year's worst example. I couldn't wait until it was over.)
These Deep Space Nine Season One stories
are available on DVD.
Click on the Amazon symbol for the desired disc format
and location nearest you for pricing and availability:
Region 1, NTSC, U.S.
Region 1, NTSC, Canada
Region 2, PAL, U.K.
