**Does contain spoilers** ** Does contain spoilers**.
What a way to start Series 3 off with than with this blockbuster. It had all what I look for in an episode, a good plot, plenty of action and intrigue. Loads of plot twists especially as to who the 'Founders' are.
The 'Defiant' ship was totally hopeless, it got flattened in five minutes, is that the best Starfleet could come up with?. Would the entire senior staff have gone on this mission, inc the stations Doctor?. Other than that improbability it was a most enjoyable pair of episodes.
***Spoiler alert***. We even had the irony of Sisko & Sesko. Spotted her straight away even with the make up on. Quite a few actors have been in different series of Star Trek, Tim Russ being another, YET I never spotted him in his earlier DS9 role.
The producers must think of a new role then remember a past role someone played. Maybe the actors agent pressed hard for another role for their client. Paid off for them two.
Yes, I do like the more spacy scripts in DS9 rather than just the Space Station contrived plots with the odd shuttle craft running about the place getting into some difficulties. It needed a more heavily armed ship permanently attached to DS9, even some older near to decommission Star Ship they all could occasionally use.
Given the location & importance of the Alpha & Gamma quadrant worm hole, surely Starfleet would have assigned something to the station to at least be SEEN as a deterrent. We wouldn't then get this enfeebled malarkey about the station having insufficient defence capabilities taken over in less than 2 hours.
What would have actually occurred were it all real does not equate to what would actually work script wise. The logical most probable action that would be taken does not always fit in with the over all theme & plot of the series or even per episode.
Effort should have been made to narrow those two aspects it would have given the scriptwriters more grandiose props to come up with, going on to give higher level action scenes. That was what turned me off DS9 almost from the start, the almost staticness of the series. Though in these two episodes things were welcomely a lot different.
When Sisko met Sesko, I laughed at that, I wonder was that latter name of hers conceived to link the two earlier?. Some sort of in-joke. The producers must have many to spice things up, if only for themselves.
Anyway, in these two episodes we see Odo has a bit of a problem on his hands. He stands up for his adopted comrades, had he not been there at all, the senior cast would have been in that cave with the Founders lackey running through all the scenarios in their heads, until an invasion was conceived and put in to action.
Odo could well have prevented/delayed such an attempted takeover of the Alpha quadrant that day. Can't remember what went on in DS9, hardly watched it, patchy episodes now and then. It is almost all a new Star Trek series to me. Albeit an old one made ages ago.
The rest of the Star Trek series OTHER than the latest Sociopolitical GARBAGE were avidly viewed, just not DS9. Even with eye candy Terry Farrell in it, (Who has more of a bouffant hair-do in this season!), seems more voluminous and darker than before, with more tire tracks rolled on her neck & side of face.
Were she not so obsessed with DAX this and DAX that dialogue that no one wants to hear about, especially reminiscing between her & Sisko. Curzon Dax & tra-la-la Dax, I switched off from that sickening sub plot dialogue & malarkey from the start. Partly what put me off the series.
Now I've obtained an AI enhanced near 1080p copy of the entire series, well, far better than DVD, which makes it a whole lot better to view on a 65" 4K TV, otherwise with the blurry edged & blurry definition DVD quality versions around I would not have bothered. Those days are over. Good enough for its day, but that was 25 years or so ago. TV series need upgrading in quality as the current tech evolves, to remain usable.
TV Series in just DVD quality can be hard to put up with these days, especially with big 4K TV's people may have. They 'need' to be upgraded in quality. IF a 3rd party guy on the side can make the effort to do so then these big studio corporations can do so with ease.
The TECH is available to do a decent enough job, even these days it can be done. And has been done to the Voyager series as well as most of all the rest. The Star Trek makers can do it for DS9 & Voyager, make it more refined. I'm more than happy on the whole with the AI enhanced stuff I've seen.
If such quality is needed peeps, just use you loaf and seek out such 'free' material where you would likely find it. Seek & you shall find. If the Studios wont bring it out others will. (Though keep well away from this 'Dark Web' malarkey).
The Star Trek makers have made all the money out of us over the years they deserve. Could even make more IF they sat down did us a favour and bothered to upgrade DS9 & Voyager. It 'can' be done, it 'has' been done, to decent enough results, THANKFULLY it has. No excuses there for the ST makers. We owe the makers of Star Trek NOTHING, no matter how much the Star Trek franchise is enjoyed. As Kirk once did in the Kobayashi Maru test, he 'Improvised'.
These two episodes are about the best I've seen so far in 2 full seasons + two episodes of Season 3 of DS9, maybe as in Voyager that took off for me from season 4 onward, perhaps DS9 took off from season 3 onwards, I'll have to see. It'll perhaps have more of an edge to it with this impending doom of the Dominion, added a bit of MENACE along with the Cardassians & as we see from Sesko/T'Rul the old Starfleet/Federation sparring partners the Romulan's as well. EDIT (yes they helped out with a cloaking device but they underlyingly cannot be trusted).
PS, talking of Cardassians, Garak was very sneaky in hipo spraying the Star fleet Security Officer. A very clandestine, sneaky & even creepy character, well used in those episodes. A bit of menace there as well.
Though was that assault on the Star Fleet Security Officer in Odo's office not in aid of obtaining a run-about to blow up the worm hole?. If I can recall, If so it was all in some of the senior casts minds held captive in that Founders cave wasn't it!. Garak even got shot, no idea given if he was just stunned or killed. If Garak reminisced with Bashir later on on the DS9 promenade about these actual matters involving Garak then that is a plot hole. Can't remember the exact conversation they briefly had.
There may be a plot hole in it all somewhere. Just seen it last night, would need to have to see all it again to verify. Maybe things are consistent with the over all plot. It gets very convoluted at times. It can take a few viewings to fully understand an episode sometimes.
The scriptwriters oftentimes did not spare the complexity of their work. Perhaps the best thing to do in the long run. Something can be gained from future reviewing of the material.
Over all there is some good script writing & unexpected twists in there though with these first two episodes of Series 3 A great great start to the new Season. Well done!. Could have been episodes that attracted one of the many awards that DS9 received.
Rene Auberjonois acting as Odo was FANTASTIC in these two episodes (as he generally was throughout the series). He was a little too harsh on poor old Quark in his bunk bed quarters, but that was down to the script.
A gruff demeaner Odo had who didn't take any nonsense off anyone, that I never took to originally, but now I can see it was totally in fitting and integral to the whole series. Profoundly an Alien, very Alien, Alienistic to start with, though with some humanoid tenancies with a determination to do what is right.
EVEN when the pleasurable 'link' he instinctively craved so much 'was' and could have been available to him, (had he fully trained up & submitted to them), Odo so far has taken what he considers to be the right path. Up to date now disowning himself from the newly found Founders, even though in the past being part of the whole. That has added so much more to the ongoing character development of Odo & the entire series as well.
Well worth 9 stars for both episodes.
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