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https://anchor.fm/nimon1/episodes/The-Nimon-Be-Praised--Discuss-Akhaten-and-Praxeus-eknjb1
Plot – I’m desperate to know what exactly the diplomatic message is from the Federation Council to the Ferengi Alliance. Wouldn’t it be taking it one step further into giving the finger to Roddenberry for the DS9 writers to suggest that the Ferengi (who Roddenberry wanted to introduce as the new big bad of TNG) might be the most well organised military power in the Quadrant and could ultimately be responsible for saving the Federation?
It strikes me that Ron Moore wants to have his cake and eat it, and he succeeds. He’s been told he has to write an episode featuring a ton of kids and so he does so, and he makes them as realistically irritating as you would imagine them to be. But at every turn he is subverting what would in another show just be annoying adolescents getting to play spaceship; Jake tries to sound like a cool dude and a console explodes in his face, Shepperd tries to play adult and is seen popping pills to try and keep it together, the First Officer is the most precocious young woman imaginable and at the climax is seen thrown across the bridge as a bloody corpse. Even the helm Officer, who was just as smug and unbearable in Paradise Lost (a really nice piece of casting to have him appear in both episodes) gets to smirk his way through the episode and then gets the close up when the Dominion ship survives their assault and looks like he is going to shit his pants.
Character – DS9 has episodes in its latter run that simply would not have worked in the early days because of the ways in which the characters developed. This is the ultimate ‘Nog loves Starfleet’ piece, a character who began this show as a criminal and a troublemaker in the first two seasons but thanks to the desire to step out of his father (and Uncles) shadow chose a career in Starfleet. He’s been well and truly indoctrinated and favours discipline, honour and the romanticism of the organisation that he works for these days. He’s a determined fighter, adept pilot and bright enough of a engineer to take over the Valiant in that post. Valiant asks you to take a good look at Nog and question whether he is right to follow orders blindly, and to be so in love with an ideal (that the Federation’s way is the only way) that it is worth risking your life for. I’m not sure that he is entirely likable in this episode because he becomes a mouthpiece for the Federation (he sounds a bit like Picard in season one of TNG) to the exclusion of anything else, but he is the Roddenberry ideal and that is the point. He’s fighting for Utopia and is willing to do anything to maintain it. Once he is surrounded by corpses on the bridge of the Valiant, the look on his face says everything. Is this really worth it?
Shepperd is a fascinating character because he is caught somewhere between being a proto-Kirk (a man of action who thinks bravado can see him through anything) and still being a child who lacks the sophistication and experience to see the wood for the trees. At one point he lets slip a racial slur about Cardassians so casually that it’s clear from the outset that his priorities are all wrong. A child would swear and kick against an enemy. An adult would try and understand and outsmart them.
Tired, emotional, depressed; this is a crew of children who are falling to pieces but thanks to the ideals that have pumped into them are continuing to pretend they are the best of the best. It’s discomforting viewing. Jake is the voice of reason trying to convince these kiddiewinks that going up against a Dominion battleship is suicide but they are so convinced of their superiority that they feel they can do anything. As they chant the Red Squad mantra, they are both terrifying and annoying, and also completely sympathetic. If you are told often enough that you are the best of the best then eventually you start to believe it. It’s cult mentality writ large. No wonder Jake looks horrified. ‘We’re Red Squad! And we can do anything!’
Performance – They have deliberately cast the crew of the Valiant so they look old enough to be at the Academy but still far too young to be in command of a Starship. It means the whole time we are on this ship there is a feeling of wrongness that permeates.
Great Dialogue – ‘You’re Starfleet. You’re Red Squad. And you’re the best’ is one of the most terrifying lines in all of Trek. Because they are about to learn that at the end of a Dominion torpedo those things mean nothing.
Production – The music is far, far too soft in the final battle. Which is a shame because technically it is one of the most realistic depictions of a ship being torn to pieces in battle that you will ever see in Star Trek. The torpedos batter the hull, the rooms are being ripped apart, bodies are flying across the bridge and flames are raging. The Dominion have the upper hand and they aren’t like your standard Trek villains; they will keep firing until you are dust. There are a number of close ups of the children looking around as everything has gone to hell and you can’t help but empathise with them. They are all going to die because of their idealism. The final shot of the escape pods leaving the ship (and the Dominion are savage enough that they will even burst them like balloons) and ship finally giving up and tearing itself apart under the might of all those torpedos is extraordinary. I was stunned the first time I watched this. This isn’t how Star Trek episodes are supposed to end.
Best moment – The phenomenal moment when Jake and Nog, once the best of friends and partners in crime, are on opposing sides of the argument of whether to attack the Dominion ship or not. Superbly written and acted, this sequence throws a light on the ideological differences between these two men like no other. ‘I don’t even know who you are anymore…’ Jake pleads as Nog orders him out of Engineering. They’ve come a long way.
I’ve overlooked the last scene for a long time in favour of the fireworks that come before but it’s the crux of the entire episode. The three survivors of the massacre sit in sickbay and try and decide who make the bad choices. Was Watters a good man? Was he a hero? Was he a misplaced idealised? Was he the villain of the piece? Did the crew let him down? In a few lines of dialogue all of those approaches are considered, and it is left to the audience to decide. That’s great writing and should leave you pondering this episode for some time afterwards.
Worst moment – I don’t think I ever met a montage that I enjoyed but Mike Vejar goes all out to show the brave crew of the Valiant getting everything ready and truly believing in themselves…before slaughtering the lot of them just five minuties later. It makes the montage feel like a very sick joke.
I wish they hadn’t done that – I do object to these random scenes they throw into stories to force the regulars to make an appearance when they have nothing to do with the main story themselves, or a subplot. However, at least the cutaway sequence at the beginning of Valiant is setting up important character work to come. Quark is appalled that Dax is poking about in a grungy replicator and Odo realises he is in love with her. This in turn is brought up again in Tears of the Prophets when he realises that she is going to have a baby with Worf, and then bleeds into the fabric of season seven when Quark tries to woo Ezri. As far as Valiant is concerned, this is entirely superfluous.
A reason to watch this episode again – Valiant is DS9 at its most subversive. It’s a story that invites you to take the side of either Jake (who thinks the members of Red Squad are delusional fanatics) or Nog (who thinks they are heroes) and probes the questions of what it takes to be a Starfleet Officer and looks hard at what happens if you’re not cut out for it but still idealistic enough to think that you are. If this was a TNG, VOY or ENT episode it would probably end with the cadets completing the mission safely and the Federation ideals that they spout being justified. Because this is a Ron Moore scripted DS9 episode, they are all slaughtered in what is one of the most violent and uncomfortable action sequences in the franchises entire run. This is after Moore has allowed us close to these kids and made us really hate them. We’re stuck in the very awkward position between really not enjoying spending time with these children who think they have the experience to behave like adults and then watching them die horribly and feeling sorry that a military organisation that poured their heads full of idealism let them down. It’s deeply uncomfortable viewing and a deconstruction of the Roddenberry ideal perhaps even more than In the Pale Moonlight. Some dodgy performances aside, it’s also a very handsome looking episode with excellent turns from Aron Eisenberg and Cirroc Lofton and a final ten minutes that will quite take your breath away in terms of making you feel sick to your stomach in fear as everything goes wrong. This could have gone down as the DS9 episode with the kids…but by having the nuts to massacre the lot of them it becomes so much more than that. I’m not sure this is a particularly agreeable episode but it is very necessary to show that when the violence becomes nasty enough in war, idealism isn’t enough to see you through. War is an ugly business and standing there waving a flag is going to see you get your head blown off.
****1/2 out of *****
Clue for the next episode -
Plot – Whoever is responsible for arranging the quarters on
board the Enterprise needs shooting because here they are welcoming two bitter
warring rivals to the ship to ferry them to Parliament and their quarters are
placed a mere 100 metres apart.
Character – Poor Mr Singh. He barely had the chance to
register before being summarily dispatched in this episode. There was a strange
roll call of staff in engineering in season one before they finally decided to
shove Geordi down there for good. I wonder what happened to Mr Argyle?
How much fun is Data having playing at being Sherlock
Holmes? At this point in the shows history he is the one character that is
truly having fun and it is a joy to witness. Brent Spiner is too good an actor
to have simply play an unfeeling android. Puffing away on his pipe and
investigating with arrogance and observation, he’s a delight.
Performance – it does worry me when the writers of TNG try
and give Dr Bev something unusual to do. Especially when it comes to behaving
as though she has been possessed. Fortunately, Gates McFadden spends much of
this show walking around a bit like a zombie anyway so she is well up to the task
here. I can’t say it is incredibly convincing but it does mean she is a part of
the plot for once. Why is it when people start acting weird on these shows that
nobody comments on the fact that they are probably possessed given it is
something that happens ever other week?
It's another one of those early TNG episodes where Patrick
Stewart looks and sounds highly unconvinced that he should be involved in this
project. He plays Picard in a very stiff and upper crust way, almost afraid to
relax in case somebody should watch this and think he is not doing everything
he can to play it seriously. It’s strange how one actor’s response to a show
can determine the entire tone but when season three starts and Stewart starts
to lean into the role rather than fight it, and starts to relax, the show
really starts to breathe. Strangely, once Picard is taken over by the cloud
entity, Stewart finds that he can start having fun with the role. There’s a
very bizarre suggestion that once Picard has become one with the energy cloud
that the two have a lot in common and that Picard is willingly sacrificing
himself so he can travel amongst the stars with the new lifeform. Yeah, I
wouldn’t have gone down that route. Far better for Picard to be seen to be
acting against his will. It means that he wouldn’t have to have a visit from
Counsellor Troi afterwards. ‘So, you want to travel so badly that you were
happy to become an energy cloud for the rest of your life…let’s explore that.’
At this point the two most convincing actors on the show are
Levar Burton, who I think could fit in to any show with his charisma, and Wil
Wheaton, who has won the jackpot, career wise and is clearly having a wonderful
time in this strange and exciting new environment.
Great Dialogue – ‘What’s happened to your mind, Doctor?’ Finally,
somebody asks Dr Bev the right question.
Production – I really like Ron Jones’ music on TNG. It can
be something of a bone of contention because it is 80s synth of the most
dramatic nature but I am somebody that was brought up on 80s Doctor Who and
that style was all the rage. Ron Jones can underscore when he needs to but in
the first season he is spending most of his effort being loud and proud and
creating as much atmosphere and suspense as he can. His score here is one of
the best things about the episode. It clearly hasn’t been made by instruments
but it does add a sheen of style to the piece.
Best moment – The whole subplot surrounding the Selay and
the Anticans is marvellously handled. You can tell that DC Fontana has had a
hand in this. I could have done with the whole episode concerning itself with
this pair of squabbling races and their private hunt on board the Enterprise.
Worst moment – Watch how Geordi tries to restrain Worf. He
throws himself on him as though he is making love to him.
I wish they hadn’t done that – I thought humanity was
supposed to be evolved beyond the point of having racist opinions. Tasha Yar
meets the Selay for less than a minute and suggests that they wouldn’t make
very promising Federation candidates. It’s not just her, there are examples of
this throughout the first few seasons of TNG.
A very odd moment right at the end of the episode where it
appears that one of the Selay delegates has been murdered and possibly boiled
alive and Riker interrupts Yar’s report to insist that she welcomes the Captain
back. Yes, yes, there might be a diplomatic incident involving murder occurring
but please, some courtesy to the Captain before we get to that!
A reason to watch this episode again – I had so much fun
with Lonely Among Us when I was a precocious seven-year-old brat. The idea of
the lightning creature hopping from person to person was such a visually
appealing one that I couldn’t resist. The trouble is re-visiting the same
episode as an adult where I can see there is very little story involved and how
it makes so many of the regulars act out of character. The trouble with the
main plot is that the nature of the cloud creature and its desires are barely
explored and the ‘fun’ of the episode is in watching it hop from person to
person and seeing how each actor tackles the challenge. As such it remains a
bit of a mystery at the end and you’re left wondering what the point of the
episode was. The delegates being shipped to Parliament is far more colourful
and enjoyable subplot. Unfortunately, it is relegated to a few scant scenes of
squabbling and cannibalism. Another disappointing season one entry then, albeit
one that is directed with some oomph.
**1/2 out of *****
Plot – The conclusion that DS9 draws over and over again is that war is ugly and sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. I’ve summed up the show in a single sentence there but it tackles that huge theme in so many fascinating ways, from the psychological, to the emotional to the visceral. Characters that you would expect good things of (like Kira’s mother) turn out to be collaborators. People you would expect nothing of (like Quark) would give the Bajorans a little extra when doing business with them. The show began in the aftermath of a conflict, and spend a good few years showing what happens afterwards and how you heal the wounds and come to terms with what you did in that time. But at the same time it was setting up a war of its own and in its latter years it explores in some depth the lengths you have to go to to ensure that that you win. Things Past is at a fascinating cross roads between the two. Exploring the occupation has becomes a staple of the show now and in just a handful of episodes time the Dominion ships would come pouring through the wormhole. This is one of the last times the show would look back, before definitively looking forwards.
Character – Trust Garak to head to a Bajoran conference and
for the Cardassian tailor to try and defend the occupation of their world. No
wonder they gave him a name tag that said ‘Elim Garak, former Cardassian
oppressor.’ Aside from Andrew Robinson’s usual charismatic presence, there
really isn’t much point in having Garak here but perhaps the fact that he
lights up the room every tine he appears is enough.
I love seeing Quark during the Occupation because we are so
used to enjoying the company of this lovable rogue but during this time he was
an exploitative and sadistic boss, selecting Bajoran slave workers to work in
his establishment with little pay or rest. He comes off as sadistic and
abusive. It’s ugly and unpleasant and feels very real.
Dukat has always been presented as a man who thinks he was
doing a service to the Bajoran people and so it makes perfect sense that he
would take a Bajoran woman into his confidence. This is a pre-cursor to us
learning that eventually he took a Bajoran woman as his lover (and Kira’s
mother, no less) and I’m sure he would never look at it this way but it almost
feels as though he is trying to gain the acceptance he craves from the Bajoran
people as a whole from the few women he chose to confide in. He’s not without
charm or persuasiveness, that’s all part of the problem. You want to hate Dukat
for everything that he represents, but he knows how to seduce.
Performance – The usually unflappable Odo is reduced to a
man who is full of doubts and insecurities, and wanders through the episode
finding menace in his own shadow. It’s a great chance for Rene Auberjonois to
show what he is capable of and he seeds Odo with a disturbing nervous energy
that all the other pick up and comment on. Just what is Odo hiding about this
time that he doesn’t want his friends to find out about? In a moment of supreme
psychological depth, Odo attempts to desperately plead with his younger self to
examine the evidence in more detail and to realise that the three men who are
about to sentenced to death are innocent. If only we all had that opportunity
to go back and point ourselves in the right direction during our worst moments.
I know the writers had an issue with Odo working for the Cardassians and the
Bajorans as Chief of Security and this is the story that explicitly states that
his need for order in a time when morals were less clean meant that he was (is)
capable of morally questionable behaviour. ‘There is more to life than the rule
of law,’ Odo implores to himself, with a desperate need to convince in his
eyes. He’s learnt a lot since the Federation moved in and this episode throws a
light on that too.
You only have to spend a few minutes with Kurtwood Smith’s
Thrax to realise that there are disturbing similarities with Odo. It’s a
stunning interpretation, albeit without any of the humour or sensitivities that
make Odo such a likable character. The Odo during the occupation was a menacing
character and Smith embodies that completely.
Great Dialogue – ‘How much damage would it do to the
timeline if Quark were to suffer a little accident?’ ‘I don’t know but maybe we
should conduct a little experiment.’
‘My heart is too big…’ ‘…and so is your ego.’
Production – How Levar Burton directs the sequences of the
crewmembers in their comatose state gives the episode a Twilight Zone feel, it
feels as if something very weird and off kilter is going on. How he has the
station redressed and lit to bring the Occupation to life is worthy of comment
too because this episode has a dark and dank visual style like no other in DS9.
The lighting is especially atmospheric. This episode was jokingly titled ‘A
Nightmare on Odo street’ by Burton and you can see why, some of the imagery is
haunting and frightening. Odo bumping into the corpses of the men who he had
murdered is a very effective moment.
Best moment – The public execution sequences with Odo
watching on dispassionately is one of the darkest moments in all of DS9. And
given how much this show spends in the shadows, that is quite a statement.
The final scene, mirroring a much stronger moment in
Necessary Evil but still extremely powerful, features Kira trying to come to
terms with the fact that Odo wasn’t quite the man she thought she was. If it
was anybody else, this scene wouldn’t have the impact that it does. But because
their friendship has been built up throughout the series and because it has
been gently implied that he has feelings for her, this scene is loaded with subtext.
A reason to watch this episode again – I never quite know
what to think about Things Past because it is an episode that comes along when
DS9 is at the height of its powers (look in one direction and you can see
Trials and Trbble-ations and the other and you can see In Purgatory’s Shadow)
and it has all the requisite elements that I consider to be essential for this
show; superb performances, a dark tone, morally ambiguity, terrific art
direction, witty lines and sense that we are really getting into the heads of
the central characters. Literally in this case and that might be a part of my
problem. Because (technically) none of this ever happened it is basically an
extended therapy session for Odo with no real consequences for anybody else. If
the characters were aware they were in his head then there would be no drama at
all but instead they present the story as a mystery and as though they really
are on Terok Nor in the past. Once the twist reveal hits, I’m always left
thinking ‘excuse me?’ But this is a character assassination of Odo and so
there’s bound to plenty of worth involved, and it features a stunning turn from
Rene Auberjonois. Garak is in on the fun, Dukat turns up and as slimier than
ever and Levar Burton delivers some of his best ever direction. Whatever I
think of the premise, there is plenty to enjoy.
***1/2 out of *****
Clue for the next episode -
