Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series) The Storyteller (1993) User Reviews

Was this a form of punishment for the actors?

[thevacinstaller · 5/10 · 10 March 2020]

I'm as big as star trek male 40+ year old cheerleader as the next shut-in but for the love of Sisko this episode hit some rough waters.

I know Colm Meaney is a talented actor ---- I've seen it! However, I sometimes ponder if he feels like this nerdy star trek show is beneath him and he just phones in a performance once and a while ---- I think Shatner could have sold this one. He was bad in this episode --- like first week on the job at a dinner theatre bad. To be fair the script is ridiculous and I can picture Colm sitting in his chair reading the script and saying aloud, "You have got to be kidding me.."

The bajoran diplomat/nog/jake storyline was good enough and established that Nog does indeed have a working brain between his lobes. I'm stretching for positives in this episode ---- I did laugh out loud when Sheriff Odo kicked the kids off the second floor and had a gigantic smile of satisfaction for his efficient order keeping.

"Little House on the Prairie" and "The Waltons" in outer space...

[karacter · 5/10 · 16 April 2009]

The Star Trek creators are infatuated with stories about villagers; we've seen episodes focused on them time and time again- "The Apple" , "Friday's Child", "A Private Little War", and 'The Paradise Syndrome" from TOS, "Code of Honor", and "Who Watches the Watchers" from ST:NG, and even a villager themed movie(!), "Star Trek:Insurrection"(1998). The list goes on and on and on.

The ST creators love episodes about villagers because villagers are economical- wardrobe is kept to a bare minimum (robes and simple tunics and such), make-up is limited, and no fancy gadgets or sets are required (villagers are, after all, primitive and "one-with-nature"- which means you don't have to spend a lot on set construction).

Star Trek villagers as a plot device, however, have 2 main drawbacks:

1. They can quickly become dull and boring if we spend too much time on them, unless the actors and story are so powerful that they can overcome this (as in ST:NG's excellent episode, "The Inner Light", for example);

2. Group scenes with villagers tend to look cheesy, cliché', and staged if not planned creatively. Rather than evoking the image of a mysterious new alien species, they more often end up looking like a group of overacting Southern Californian bit part TV actors who would be more at home in a cereal commercial than on the exotic confines of a Star Trek Planet.

This is the formidable slippery slope that dominates "The Storyteller", a feel good, "group hug", first season installment that plays more like a group therapy session than an exciting Star Trek adventure. Some laughingly poor special effects for the hostile energy cloud ("Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" anyone?) and a rather funny near-encounter between Miles O'Brian and three seriously hot & sexy village women can't salvage this one from being what it is...an excellent cure for insomnia.

As if the show's primary focus on the somnolent villagers wasn't enough to hasten you to your slumbers, the creators add a "coup de grace" subplot back on the station featuring a precocious teenage ambassador and her two smitten suiters (the notorious "plot slowing" Jake and Nog). A couple minutes enduring their stilted dialog, poor acting, and hilarious hijinks (Hey-did you see that? Nog threw oatmeal on Jake!- har, har, har!) and you'll be BEGGING for the return of Wesley Crusher- and wondering if you're watching the right show (is this "Star Trek" or "Saved by the Bell"?)

Well, you've been warned...watch at your own risk (and be sure to bring something to pass the time while you're watching).

So-so episode

[Paularoc · 6/10 · 13 October 2012]

I knew this was not going to be one of my favorite episodes when I found the side plot of Jake and the obnoxious Nog's adolescent antics as entertaining as the main plot of O'Brien - against his will- being named Sirah the Storyteller of a small village on Bajor. Only the Sirah can ward off the monster that periodically threatens the village. Back on DS9, Nog and Jake try to impress the young leader of the Bajoran tribe, the Paqu. The Paqu, along with the rival tribe, the Navot have come to DS9 to present their respective land claims to Sisko for his arbitration. The Paqu leader, Varis is a rather engaging youngster as is Jake. But Nog continues to be annoying. Speaking of annoying, Bashir still rankles. However, Meaney does a wonderful job in portraying O'Brien's discomfort in his role as the reluctant Sirah. I like it that DS9 changes the pace and doesn't always have dark and/or deep story lines; this isn't one of the better light stories but it is still more entertaining than most contemporary television show episodes.

Weaker episode of a good series

[Tweekums · 6/10 · 19 February 2010]

This episode features two different stories which both involve a problem for a Bajoran community. Unfortunately neither story was really that strong. The main story, from which the episode gets its name, involves Chief O'Brien and Dr Bashir who have gone down to Bajor when they learn a village is facing a medical emergency. When they get there they are surprised to learn the emergency is just one old man approaching death. It turns out he is "The Sirar" the village story teller who must protect the village from a strange creature which attacks on five nights each year. The chief is taken aback when the dying Sirar names him as his successor, when the chief assists with the vanquishing of the creature the villages all except him as the new Sirar, all that is apart from the old Sirar's apprentice. He explains how the creature is actually created by the villages own fears using a splinter of an orb. The next night the villages will learn if O'Brien has what it takes to save them or if somebody else really deserves the job. Back on DS9 two groups of Bajorans have arrived to try to settle a land dispute. One of the two parties is led by a teenage girl who catches the eye of Jake and Nog. While trying to charm her Nog says something which could help her settle the dispute.

This episode felt weaker than most, the village was of the type we've seen many times in most versions of Star Trek and the story of Nog and Jake trying to charm the young Bajoran was just cheesy although Gina Philips was charming in the role of Varis. One good thing about the episode was how it has started to show O'Brien and Julian's friendship beginning.

Good Character Development Compensates for Silly Plot

[Nominahorn · 7/10 · 22 February 2019]

1.13 "The Storyteller"

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 leader 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 liked it

[brueggemanntami · 7/10 · 24 March 2020]

I read the other reviews and I disagree. I enjoyed how it showed character development plus the strength of friendship and compromise. And I certainly don't understand why everyone is so down on Jake and Nog. I get a kick out of them. True friends, despite all the odds against them. This was not an action driven episode. Both stories were about relationships. You don't have to blow things up to make a point. And it's alright to be a little bit lighthearted once in awhile.

Just a kid

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 22 October 2019]

This DS9 story has the action shift to Bajor as Commander Sisko is brought in as a mediator to settle a dispute between two Bajoran communities. Back during Cardassian occupation the river that was the boundary line was diverted and one community was left with a lot less turf. "

Avery Brooks's problem is that the new head of one faction is a 14 earth years Bajoran girl who really has not had much time to just be a kid. Oddly enough his son Cirroc Lofton and Aron Eisenberg help with that.

And Chief O'Brien gets a job he doesn't want as savior of a village from a monster. What is the monster? Refer to Forbidden Planet for the answer.

Very hokey, just for kids

[guy_in_oxford · 4/10 · 22 December 2014]

This is more of a kids' episode than one for adults. However, I'm not sure even most kids would be patient enough to get through the especially awful Dalrock subplot.

There isn't much to say about this one other than it presaged Star Wars Episode One's little girl leader by quite a few years, although they didn't bother to give her any alien flair.

Although one can always assume that, no matter what happens, the primary characters will emerge unscathed — this episode more than others feels particularly "light" and superfluous. The closest thing there is to drama is when Odo's bucket is used to turn oatmeal into a projectile.

Some decent light hearted religious parody

[snoozejonc · 6/10 · 19 December 2021]

Chief O'Brien and Dr Bashir visit Bajor.

I had low expectations of this but was pleasantly surprised as I personally think it is not as bad as it's made out to be.

The storyteller concept is silly on numerous levels, but O'Brien's awkwardness in a 'The Man Who Would Be King' tribute is quite entertaining. It lightheartedly explores themes of social control via religious figureheads. Although it's resolution leaves a lot to be desired.

The Nog/Jake shenanigans are fairly hit and miss, but they do have some fun moments.

Colm Meaney and Alexander Siddig have decent chemistry and although this episode does not have best example of their character work, it's a good starting point.

5.5/10 for me but I round upwards.

O'Brien in a cape! Yes!

[dand1010 · 4/10 · 11 August 2021]

We have in this episode the potential for civil war between 2 factions if they don't come to some sort of an agreement on the space station moderated by Commander Sisko. Wait.....didn't we just have a civil war episode?

Notice: There is a Laugh Out Loud moment here when O'Brien dons a cape and goes onto a hillside to give the natives a pep talk to dispel a monster. No, I'm not kidding.

Notice: Jake Sisko's friend (the Ferengi boy) Nog tells Jake he doesn't want to go to a holosuite and play baseball because it is so stinking boring. Nog even reminds Jake that humans have not played baseball for several hundred years. I wonder what has happened to professional football and basketball in the future?

Read karacter's review--they nailed this episode right on the head.

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 14 December 2014]

O'Brien and Dr. Bashir are sent on a mission to assist the Sirah, a spiritual leader who controls a monster, the Dal'Rok, by sending it away as it approaches the town each year. Oddly, however, the Sirah is thrilled to see O'Brien and indicates HE is his successor...and the Sirah then dies. But O'Brien has no idea how the old man controlled the weird creation and soon he's shocked at the instant devotion the villagers have towards him.

The other plot involves some negotiations between two Bajoran tribes. It seems that their boundary was a river--and the Cardassians re- routed it. So where is this new border? Well, as for one group, their leader is an obnoxious and extremely immature young woman who seems to delight in arguing during these important negotiations--and Sisko is baffled how to deal with her. At the same time, Nog and Jake are infatuated with her and spend time lusting after her and eventually befriending her.

Both plots seem very inconsequential and rather dull--particularly the one about boundaries. Relying so much on the boys make this one particularly unimpressive and insignificant. And, as often is the case in this show, the Bajorans are an incredibly annoying race, as they are almost constantly fighting and arguing. It also didn't help that the 'monster' in the other plot was created by a special effects person who dumped cream into another liquid and played it back very slowly. All in all, there are quite a few things about this one that make it sub- par and a bit silly.

What a Slog...

[Samuel-Shovel · 1/10 · 3 August 2020]

In "The Storyteller" a pair of Bajoran sects clash over disputed land with Sisko acting as the mediator of the conflict. Meanwhile O'Brien and Bashir head to Bajor to apply medical attention to another Bajoran tribe's spiritual leader. When the man passes away and names O'Brien as the tribe's successor, the two DS9 crewman must figure out how to defeat a dangerous monster and transfer ruling power to another Bajoran.

This has to be my least favorite episode of DS9 thus far (even more than "Move Along Home"). Both storylines focus on expanding the lore of the Bajorans but really miss the mark on supplying us with anything concrete. We're already getting down to the nitty-gritty details of Bajor as we encounter three new tribes. Why are we doing this so soon? We haven't even fully developed Dax yet as a character. She's invisible in this episode!

The climax with the big monster and having it feed off the crowd like a rock star is just awful, awful, awful... I have nothing really positive to say about this episode beyond the fact that we get to see Odo's bucket.

The Big Chief

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 27 September 2018]

Chief O'Brien ends up on a planet where once a year a threat appears. Something that looks like some Pillsbury dough gone ma shows itself in the sky. It fires laser shots at the people. An old man stands on at the top of some steps and yells at it and it goes away. The problem is that he is dying and when the inevitable happens, Chief O'Brien is at hand and is given the title the old guy had. Of course, he is helpless to do anything. This is a silly situational thing. What is this thing and why is it malevolent?

Another Lame Episode with Consequence to the Star Trek Universe

[jseph1234-262-617488 · 2/10 · 23 July 2022]

Another Lame and boring episode with the Doctor and O'brien going down to Bajor on what turns out to be an assine and boring mission.

Also, the kids portion is just plain dumb. Like Save By the Bell dumb but with more Odo and Sisko ridiculous scolding for no good reason.

Really not worth a watch

[maiaemmett · 3/10 · 24 March 2024]

There's a lot to groan about this one. It's clear they were still getting Bashir's characterization down, the special effects work comes off real tacky and cheap, though I don't blame them too hard on that, and it was pretty boring for the most part. The big scary monster coming in and having to be thwarted off by everyone's psychic power of feeling strong and united as a community would be whatever but it's pretty clear there's a bit of an exploitive and cultish nature with this village and the priests that invented the monster in the first place. Them offering women to Bashir and O'Brien was real skeevy considering that the narrative ultimately condones what's happening in the village. It ends by O'Briend helping restore the status quo and I think that's a big problem. May have been a middle of the road episode if the writing actually challenged what was happening there.

middle of the road rejected TNG episode

[thepkhunter · 4/10 · 12 March 2024]

Bad, but not offensive. Just very middle of the road D-tier TNG episode. There's been an uncomfortable number of episodes this series where the cast are just.. Hating being there. Colm phones this one in so hard that Bashir's performance actually looks competent by comparison. There's a scene in particular with entirely ADR'd dialogue because of the wind machine where Colm might as well be reading from a phone book. Really cringe stuff.

Some cute stuff with Jake and Nog and Odo elevates this to a 4, but as an episode it has no linking theme between the A and B plot resulting in a disjointed mess that doesn't say anything. Trek at its best asks big moral questions. This is just community theatre and asks nothing.

Random cameo from The Punisher Jon Bernthal as an uncredited Bajoran villager.