Q-Less

DVD, DS9 S1 (Q-Less)

It seems almost heresy to say a Q episode is bad, but I have to say this is probably the least successful episode of Season One. It has more to do with it being 'The Vash Show', than for any fault of Q's. The fun interjections of the superbeing are frequently amusing, but as a whole, in the grimier, more realistic environment and peoples of the station he comes across as a little bit too silly. If it wasn't for the occasional ironic eyebrow raise or tone of delivery, and De Lancie's skill, Q would have made a mockery of his character. Thankfully he is reined in enough... most of the time. His quick change routines and insults aimed at the crew feel too clownish and forced as if the writers were handicapped with him, trying to make him work as he did with the Enterprise crew.

The other thing is that I never liked Vash. She was always so charmless, manipulative and annoying, and I could never see Picard admiring her in any way. De Lancie has said this was his least favourite episode, because Q's banter didn't suit Sisko and crew, and Robert Hewitt Wolfe, the writer, said he would have focused more on the regulars if he'd had his time again. So the blatant crawling to the TNG viewers is what does the episode in. Having said that, there are a lot of little bits thrown in which make for a fun viewing experience, if nothing more.

There are way too many references and mentions of planets and races, made up or established, enough to make your head spin, but some are interesting. We hear of the Daystrom Institute again, that revered establishment named for Dr. Richard of M5 fame. The Miradon or Miradorn, are mentioned, who would later be seen in 'Vortex'. The Assay office is seen for the first time (with it's rather acerbic proprieter), so another piece of the station unfolds. The most surprising little tidbit is the revelation of Quark's cousin Stol! It's an off camera mention from Quark, and I'd never noticed it before, but it proves that DS9 keeps on giving even after several viewings!

The aliens in the auction were a little undeveloped. They looked like they might have backstory, but they aren't filled in, another case of window dressing. And the denoument of the episode, while beautiful, is an anticlimax which is over very fast, and reminiscent of 'Encounter at Farpoint' - it isn't given the chance to be as strong a moment as it could be because the episode doesn't have a strong narrative, more like sketches, which are fine in their own way, but as a whole don't make a good story. And Q can't help but evaporate tension.

De Lancie's complaint that he just kind of sat back, or was simply there to chase after Vash, instead of being a means to teach something, is valid. Some of the characters are used well. We get another great scene from Odo and Quark, and the joke with Bashir having slept through the crisis thanks to Q is a good ending, but generally the crew and Sisko are sidelined. Seeing the station move so fast also makes the events of 'Emissary' less dangerous. In that, they made a big thing of the station's movement being dangerous. Okay, so they would have shored up the structural integrity and improved systems by now, but it was moving way too fast.

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