Descent

DVD, Stargate SG-1 (Descent)

Jonas Quinn's first mission as member of team SG-1, and it goes as well as you'd expect waltzing onto an abandoned Goa'uld mothership hovering over Earth would do. So this was Thor's consciousness running the place, something I partially guessed early on - the unexplained sound on the intercom sounded too similar to Asgard speech, distorted as it was, to fool me, and though I'd seen the episode before, it's been ten long years, so forgive me if I don't remember. I liked it a bit better back then, this time enjoying it, but also finding it derivative of many of their previous adventures (a number of which I hadn't seen at first viewing), whenever they've got stuck somewhere that has a ticking clock, or had trouble aboard an alien vessel. The story didn't follow the 'creeping around in darkness' route I so favour, only the one moment when Jacob activates a door for Carter which grinds open to reveal inky blackness, did I have that chill of expectation. After that it was more about bright corridors and water, which, by the way, was well achieved (especially the effect of Jonas and a cylindrical volume of water being ring transported, the water than crashing to the floor). They must have had a watertight set built as they actually fill up entire corridor sections aboard the ship and we see the actors submerged!

I was betting on Replicators as the culprits, don't know how or why, but abandoned ships automatically bring those mechanical fiends to mind, but I'm glad it wasn't anything to do with them as I was never very keen. Mind you, the Samurai warrior Goa'uld surprise didn't live up to their initial appearance. Their silent, deadly force utterly failed against Teal'c, who took all three out in seconds (good for Teal'c's image, bad for their credibility), but even the death of the scientist guy, Dr. Friesan (who would have been alive longer if he hadn't disobeyed O'Neill), wasn't as expected - after pulling out that long sword my immediate thought was decapitation! Okay, this was a family friendly series (for the most part), so they were only allowed to chop off robot's heads, but they didn't have to show a headless corpse or blood, they could have just had the reaction from O'Neill's shock and disgust. Instead, Friesan may well have been sliced through, but it's a very clean death and Jack is quick to check the pulse and it's all so easy. Just like when Jacob got shot: by a staff weapon, I might add! Yet his clothing shows no signs of damage, even though he was seriously injured. Can Selmak repair clothing, too?

As a proving ground for Jonas the story worked fine, allowing him to take his rightful place with the other members of SG-1 after agonising with Teal'c over why O'Neill doesn't let him do anything - he gets to use his gifts, save the team, and join them for a last-minute escape via Death Glider, culminating in the Colonel's response to Jacob's query if Jonas is okay, by answering that all members of SG-1 are accounted for. It was a great moment to end on. It still leaves me wondering how Thor's consciousness is going to be transferred back into his comatose body, Asgard not possessing Vulcan mind meld traditions, as far as I know - perhaps their technology can deal with it. After all, if the Goa'uld can take his mind out, the superior Asgard should be able to put it back in!

Major Davis is along for the adventure this time, though I'm not sure why as he doesn't bring anything particularly to the proceedings. Maybe they wanted a familiar face so you'd wonder if someone might die. They wouldn't get rid of a main character (he says, after they just killed off Daniel Jackson!), but a recurring figure, well, you'd almost expect one of them to pop it. It was useful to have the recap at the start of the episode, as even though it had happened only a couple of episodes ago, exactly what Thor went through was needed to understand what was going on aboard the mothership (and it had been a few months since I watched that episode). At the same time it was a massive clue as to what was going on, so the 'surprise' wasn't very surprising at all.

What was surprising was that somebody apparently wasn't happy with the opening credits sequence as it's been changed again: from focusing on the Stargate it now features each of the main characters, sometimes within the curve of the 'gate. Either the beautiful closeups of the 'gate weren't good enough or they'd always planned to feature the cast montage, but needed more footage to choose from for Corin Nemec. It's fine, but I liked the Stargate-centric previous version. Somehow, a mission featuring SG-1 and Jacob Carter should seem more exciting, maybe I wasn't in a receptive mood, or maybe there just wasn't enough going on between the ears for me to think about, but this time it came across as merely acceptable fare rather than truly 'gate goodness (didn't stop Director Peter DeLuise from having a cameo as a Lieutenant from the sub, though!).

**

E2

DVD, Enterprise S3 (E2)

This has the same concept as the 'DS9' episode 'Children of Time,' but none of the depth. I would have liked to have seen a story that put the NX-01 in peril as they sneak through the space around the spatial vortex and took on the dangerous alien race Degra warned them of. All that that came to was three little ships shooting at them, with none of the air of mystery or danger that Degra implied. These were faceless non-entities whose only role was to shoot at Enterprise and give the crew's descendants on the old Enterprise a reason not to go through the tunnel with them, thus not confusing the series by having a permanent double that's over one hundred years older than itself. At its heart it was a good story, but it was not well told, the ideas not milked as they were in the 'DS9' version. Both sets of descendants from each series didn't tell their ancestors everything, both planned to do harm to them, but I was given very little reason to care about the ones in 'E-Squared' (as it would be known if written without the symbol).

One claim to fame for the episode is that it has the shortest title in Trek history, being just one letter and one numeric symbol, but very little of it stands out apart from that nugget. I'd got used to the longer pre-credit teasers, so it was a surprise to go back to such a short one here, though it was a good one when a Vulcan male goes into the quarters of an ancient T'Pol and they talk of finding Archer. If nothing else, they succeeded with T'Pol's age makeup, perhaps because they were making it in the digital age and were cognisant of the fact that it needed to stand up to freeze frame and high-resolution viewing, or because makeup techniques had improved. One of the indications that this is makeup and not a real old person is that the eyes usually look young and bright, but they took the trouble to give the aged Vulcan misted pupils, and taken with Jolene Blalock's husky voice and doddery movements, it was a realistic portrayal of a Vulcan who was getting towards two hundred years of age.

The ancient Enterprise also had the details of being a beat up old ship that had been buffeted about over the decades, most visibly in the worn look of the walls in T'Pol's quarters. But here begins the dissection of what didn't work in the execution of the ideas: the ship didn't look different enough on the inside to make it believable that it had been operational for over a century. Yes, it had some new technology courtesy of aliens they'd met in the Expanse, but that in itself is hard to swallow considering how many species our Enterprise has met during its mission, and how many have been hostile. Imagine the number of battles this rickety old vessel must have endured, and that's without the advanced 24th Century technology of the USS Voyager. And why stick around in the Expanse anyway, when they could have gone to Vulcan or other warp capable species that would have been friendly? As for the major plot hole of a ship zipping around inside the Delphic Expanse for so long and yet the only thing that's ever been heard of is the odd rumour by the Xindi, it's preposterous! An Earth ship buzzing about for so long and meeting aliens, having them join the crew or whatever, and yet Archer never runs into anyone that had ever seen or heard of it! If they'd had the foresight to talk about a similar ship being sighted, and throughout the season from early on there had been these rumours of the Enterprise being where it couldn't have been, they could have built up to this episode, but taking it as it is, it's difficult to believe in.

The other major problem is that the crew's ancestors aren't very sympathetic or engaging characters. The series has often shown itself to be a poor developer of characters (though ironically some of the lesser used main cast do get a fun scene in what remains of the Mess Hall), so it shouldn't be surprising that they couldn't come up with compelling characters to represent the future of the ones we know. Lorian should have been the most fascinating of all, being the prototype of Mr. Spock as the first half-human, half-Vulcan. He did share a mildly touching scene with his Father, Trip, in Engineering, which had the beginnings of something that could have been explored, but he was such a basic person without the dynamic that should have made him carry the story easily. I don't know whether casting, writing or directing is to blame here, but he stayed a 'soft' character, someone who was there to carry out a function of the plot, but who I wasn't enamoured with or cared whether he sacrificed his ship or not. The same with Karyn Archer. She existed, and that's the best I can say about her.

The people in 'Children of Time' were real: living, breathing continuations of our favourite characters, and while it was fun spotting a Denobulan boy here, or hearing about who got married and how many children they had there, it was a different kind of story to that classic episode because it was required to fit into the NX-01's mission. Having a ship live on as a generational vessel, alone in a dangerous region of space makes me think of Voyager, and though it's somewhat unfair to compare that entire series and concept to this Enterprise who only got one episode, I wasn't drawn in enough to want to see more of it, the legend was not played up and it was very by-the-numbers in terms of introducing this new-old ship and its occupants. Perhaps if they'd fully gone into the weight of the issues, a standalone story unconnected to the Xindi, instead of it being about getting through the corridor without going back in time, we might have had something more fulfilling, but as it was, squashed into the middle of Archer's journey to meet Degra for a hearing at the Xindi council, it didn't fit.

Not to say there aren't morsels to digest, of course - the NX-02 Columbia, is mentioned as being under construction, a good reminder that life continues for Starfleet even while Enterprise fights to spare Earth's destruction, and while the conversations between Trip and T'Pol were rather immoral (all about having one-off fun without any emotional connection or intention to permanence), it was a major reveal that Vulcans and humans could conceive a child. We knew it, we've known it since 1966 when Spock first arched his eyebrow on screen, but for these people it's a new idea. The other reveal is that T'Pol will have to live with the emotions she's tapped into through her Trellium-D addiction, for the rest of her life. Excuse me, but Vulcans live with emotions anyway, it's almost sounding like they're confused about the race, thinking Vulcans don't have emotions. Long before 'Star Trek XI' gave us old Spock meeting young, alternate Spock, we get old alternate T'Pol, meeting young T'Pol, another nice scene, more impressive in some ways because the same actress played both roles. I suppose this gave the writers authority to write T'Pol as emotionally as they wished now, but I always wanted the Vulcans to be played properly, as stoic, dependable, and a little aloof. In this episode we get more emotional Vulcans than usual which didn't help my enjoyment level!

Roxann Dawson was back again for another directorial slot. While there wasn't much that stood out for me in that regard (apart from the good use of sepia-tinted flashback sequences), I was intrigued by the shot on the old Enterprise's bridge as Lorian makes his plans: the camera circles around in an arc behind the huge pulsating pillars of alien technology and it gives it a physically uncomfortable reaction that suits the mood of Lorian's wrongness. It's difficult to describe, but the darkness interspersed with a burst of thin, out of focus light was hard on the eyes, and it's not a reaction I remember having to a shot before (the closest I can think of is just before Voyager goes to warp in that series' credits, and a star blindingly shines out from behind a planet and makes you squint). Ultimately, though, the episode was a misstep, an attempt to do something bold and different and make some good sci-fi instead of the more basic action fantasy. It was one of the closest I've felt to what 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars' might be if the two were merged - dogfights, beaten up ships, basic characters and funny-looking aliens without much of a moral or ethical side to the action. This one didn't have the fun of 'Star Wars,' either, so while I appreciate the attempt at innovation I can't say it succeeded. And I didn't understand how they escaped going back in time the second time, either!

**

Ties of Blood and Water

DVD, DS9 S5 (Ties of Blood and Water)

This is one that improves with age; my age. When I was younger I used to think of this as the one where Kira talks to a boring old Cardassian for a whole episode, but in more recent years I've been old enough to appreciate the weightiness of the subjects, something that children couldn't understand. It brings home the vast change to Kira since we've known her, by having Worf ask the question anyone in the audience that hadn't seen (or had forgotten), the third season's 'Second Skin,' would like to ask (Kira was abducted by the Obsidian Order and made to believe she was actually a Cardassian spy, eventually forming a bond with the man who believed she was his daughter), proving that even with some of the sequel stories the writers tried to bring newcomers up to speed. Usefully, the earlier episode occurred before Worf came to the station so giving them that opportunity to question Kira's attachment to a Cardassian.

It's been a long process for her to overcome her racial prejudices and become friendly with some members of the race that oppressed her people for so long. It began as early as Season One when she was confronted by a man that wanted to take his superior's guilt upon himself, and continued throughout the series as Kira became a calmer, less violent person, culminating in her surrogate pregnancy for the O'Briens. That experience changed her, as has working with Starfleet and their way of looking at things, her friendships with Dax and Sisko, and coming to terms with Bajor's leadership structure by (for the moment), learning to cooperate with Kai Winn and having Shakaar, her former resistance leader and now boyfriend, in the position of First Minister. It's not just outside influences that have formed her, but, as Tekeny points out, public perception of her as one of the most important Bajorans alive today. Being in such a responsible position has tempered her and softened her in equal measure.

That's interesting in an episode where we get our earliest picture of her to this point, seeing her memories of being in the Occupation and being absent for her Father's death. Quite apart from the themes of these sequences there's a lot to like in them on a purely visual level - it's amazing how they could make her look so much younger, and how Visitor could return to that angry, driven persona we saw so much at the start of the series. There's also the joy of having Furel back again (though I would have liked a young Shakaar, too), for his third and final appearance (though William Lucking would return to Trek again), especially considering he'd died only a few episodes before! What's more, we see him with his arm intact, another visual marker to the time Kira's thinking back to. And Thomas Kopache was an excellent casting choice to play Kira's Father, Taban - a regular Trek guest star on all the modern series', his gaunt look and haunted eyes have always served to make him seem vulnerable and innocent. I got the impression that her Father was a gentle man, only interested in peace and the growing of his garden (like a Hobbit in all but form), who was naive enough to think he could talk to the Cardassians when they were destroying it. This view was enhanced when he returned to show an earlier part of Kira family life in Season 6.

Far more than a story about Kira talking to an old Cardassian, this is about the issues of guilt and fear, of overcoming hatred and forgiving the elderly their wrongs before they die. It's not really about Ghemor at all, he's the crucible within which Kira is forced to confront her past. That they could continue to reveal things about the main characters after five years of a series either shows that they didn't do enough backstory early on (it was much more 'TNG' in style in Season 1, with individual, science-based problems to solve), or that the characters were so rich that there could be these seams of gold to discover in the blanks that we knew still existed. A bit of both, and I like that not everything was revealed about them right away, but like real people we got to know them. Such a deeply personal experience as Kira goes through here is not something she would ordinarily speak of, and apart from us it's only Julian, who's administering care for Ghemor, who hears her story. I was surprised by the way I felt more for her own Father in the past than I did about the surrogate parental figure of Tekeny - the sadness comes after exhaustion and the necessary details have been worked out, waiting for him to die. That's when Kira shows how affected she's been.

The episode isn't one of the best of the season, and it may be that it doesn't feel as satisfying as many have done. That may be down to the tone or style that Avery Brooks chose to bring. I don't criticise his choices as being wrong, but I wonder if the way he did the episode was too clinical? He intended to create portraits, and perhaps that overtook the story a little, instead of simply telling it. Or maybe it was told too simply, I don't know, I can't quite express why the end product doesn't reach out as much to affect the viewer as Kira visibly is. I like Brooks and his way of doing things, having the 'Directed By' credit come up over him in frame, seeing some views of the bar that are uncommon (the part with Sisko bringing the kanar, in particular, as it looks fairly high up and towards the entrance, or Kira slumped against the railings when Quark speaks to her).

The episode isn't purely concerned with Ghemor's decision to confide in Kira before he dies, it also features the final peaceful visit to the station by Gul Dukat, the return of Weyoun and the first showcase of the Dominion battleship, seen in long shots during the recent two-parter. Both stories are linked together quite tightly, since the reason for Dukat showing his face in the den of those he betrayed, is to prevent Ghemor from spilling any secrets that might endanger his recently manoeuvred position to leadership of his people. The discussion he has with Sisko via viewscreen regarding his decision to keep the rank of 'Gul,' points up some surprising parallels between the Cardassian view of captaincy, and the Starfleet one. So often Admirals have been a negative force for a Captain to butt heads with, while Captains are considered the heroic frontline. Dukat feels the same, his impression of the role being proactive ('Gul' being the equivalent of Captain and 'Legate' of Admiral), and at the same time getting in a dig at Bajor's First Minister and Sisko's status as Emissary for being pretentious titles!

Sadly, Dukat has lost something through gaining what he always wanted. We no longer have the grounds to respect him as we did when he was growing in fondness for his Starfleet enemies, eventually showing some good under the skin, hidden away. He does exude some ironic charm to Kira when she teases him, suggesting he's enjoying the new role he plays, and he, almost walking into the trap of believing she has an interest in him, even that she would talk to him at all, shows his bad guy grin and enjoys his smugness for all its worth. Only for an instant, as he fails to see that Kira is a coiled cobra, though fortunately for him, the worst sting he receives this time is a teacup hurled with unerring accuracy, speed and violence! Good shot, madam (the best use of a teacup since 'Flashback'?)! If only it had been full of hot tea at the time, that would have wiped the smile off his sneering face - though Cardassians love heat, so it may have been nothing but a warm shower for him… Kira stands toe to toe with him after that, and in future she may have wished she'd killed him there. What I really could have done with is a scene where he visited his daughter, Ziyal. Technically, he did disown her, so she has no reason to speak to him, but it's a missing piece of the picture, leaving us wondering exactly how they stand with each other. That would all change, of course, Ziyal's forgiving nature and Dukat's preening indulgence would bring them back together, but I wanted to see it now.

It could be said that this was a purely business visit, Dukat appearing officially as head of the government with his shadow, the Vorta Weyoun, meaning he had no time for pleasantries. Jeffrey Combs steals the show as Weyoun. He plays him a little differently to the previous version, or the way he would go on to play him in future. This makes sense from the perspective of the new details we learn about his race; how they're cloned by the Founders and have immunity to most poisons, leading to a funny moment to rival the teacup incident. It isn't just that, it's the way Sisko appears waving the kanar bottle and a glass around as if he's auditioning for advertisement rights on Cardassia! Then Weyoun (Combs was Brunt the last time he was in Quark's!), just gulps the glass of poisoned kanar down in one go, much to the surprise and concern of his onlookers. But right from the first time he's on screen, hopping out from behind Dukat's scaly form, he's full of joy, having the time of his cloned life as he experiences as much as possible, be it Dabo, kanar, or watching the insult-hurling between Dukat and Sisko, as if it's a scientific experiment. He's lost some of the suave salesman persona of the Weyoun we knew and would know again, coming across as a purely joyful, lighthearted creature, though he does jump in at Sisko's slight interest in the Vorta's version of immortality - did he really imagine Sisko could be bought by the offer of being cloned when he died?!

Weyoun has good reason to be confident and full of fun, since he knows the Dominion has the upper hand, possibly even thinks that other races will follow Cardassia's lead, and in the immediate future knows he has the might of a battleship to depend on, our first good look at this fearsome vessel (though it had been seen as part of the fleet in the recent two-parter), with its huge arms and angry purple nacelles, rumbling into frame like a Star Destroyer at the opening of a 'Star Wars' film, and no doubt full of Jem'Hadar and Cardassian soldiers. Look out for the scenes with these soldiers standing in the background, supposedly side by side for the equal glory of their peoples, but notice that the Cardassian keeps glancing at his fellow member of the Dominion: nervously or suspiciously? It was a very minor precursor to indicate that not all Cardassians would have been terribly happy for their great Union to become underlings to a power from another quadrant, and that dissension and distrust was probably rife in secret, even if no one in the military was going to open their mouths.

Only the dissident movement would have stood up to such a takeover, and that was represented by a dying man, Tekeny Ghemor. Kira had such grand plans for him before she heard the news, but the best he could do was to pass on his internal knowledge and intelligence, hoping it could be used. I'm not sure it ever was used as part of a story, but I'm sure Starfleet found it useful during their struggle against the Cardassians. It was good to have an update on the dissident movement, even if it's a negative one, sounding as if it no longer has any chance after so much was accomplished to create a freer and more liberal Cardassia. Sadly, this just made Dukat's job easier and also gave him reason to want to take over and the confidence that it could be done so easily against a civilian government. With the full force of ships backing up Dukat in the Alpha Quadrant, you'd be forgiven for thinking things looked bleak for DS9, perched precariously near the Wormhole, but I noticed at least one starship orbiting, plus there's always the Defiant, and since the Klingon garrison was left aboard there were probably ships in the vicinity also.

It wasn't like Dukat and Weyoun had their full freedom on the station, either; permanently flanked by cool-looking Starfleet security officers, (though they didn't seem able to cross the threshold of any door - like a magnetic force they are spun round, backs to the wall whenever their charges walk into another room!). They should have realised that there was no way they were going to get to Ghemor before he got his secrets out - at first Dukat comes along threatening and posturing, then when that doesn't work he changes tack, offering full pardon and military honours, even tempting the whereabouts of Iliana, Ghemor's long-lost daughter. Dukat seems very earnest when he dangles this particular carrot, so much so that I half-believed he really did know where she was. Would he have arranged for Tekeny to meet her or would she have been used to torture the old man? It's difficult to say, but you wouldn't trust putting a patient into the hands of someone that tried to poison him, though the idea of Iliana's involvement in the series could have been a tremendous plot device (I believe they even used her in the novels).

If Ghemor had lived to stay on the station, becoming part of Kira's functional, though non-related family (I thought the bundle was a representation of Kirayoshi until they showed his little face, and I was glad they went to the trouble of getting a real baby), he would also have been the third Cardassian in that community - the Bajorans could have had some kind of display on the Promenade with young (Ziyal), middle-aged (Garak), and old (Ghemor), standing in a line. Art installation? In reality he might very well have fitted into life at DS9, except for the fact that life at DS9 was going to come to an abrupt and sorry end… One sign of things to come was in Quark's role in the episode - he just serves Kira a drink, something he'd be doing a lot for the rest of the series (not solely serving drinks to Kira - she wasn't a drunk!). Not to say he didn't get good episodes, but Quark's bar was going to become less the hub it used to be and with war looming, Quark himself was in less demand. It wasn't that he never served drinks before this season, but slowly, this part of his role was becoming more central to any appearances.

Ghemor was the second old Cardassian to die this season, following Enabran Tain. In a way, Kira and Garak now have something in common, both having lost a Father figure who wasn't exactly a Father to them, but at the same time, was. The symmetry of Kira burying this man next to her own Father's grave was a beautiful way to end the story, another in a long line of well-judged concluding scenes. The Bajoran headstone was of particular beauty, but what was more telling was the difference in landscape between the past and the present - when she dug her Father's grave in anger, the hilltop was barren and dark, but now it has blossomed with green grass and flowers all around, a sign of the scars of the Occupation receding from the land: a poetic finish.

***

Redemption Part 2

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S6 (Redemption Part 2)

Better, more coherent, not pushing as hard as they were in part one, not shoving plot lines in at all angles, and with some good continuation, this is a well done story all round. It adds more details to the Stargate that I don't think we'd heard before, furthers Teal'c and Rya'c's family story, gives O'Neill some hero time (saving the world again!), and gets Jonas Quinn assigned to SG-1 in a realistic way - it's either that or Jack gets a Russian officer on the team, and we know how much he loves working with them! Jonas still needs to prove himself to O'Neill, but he's won Carter over which starts the ball rolling so that she adds her voice to Teal'c's from part one, and suggests giving him 'something,' wouldn't be a bad idea. What worked with Jonas this time is that he wasn't in your face, he didn't have a lot of scenes, he wasn't Mr. Eager, he was laid-back, thoughtful, sipping his hot drink and giving Carter the idea of how to save planet Earth. And when he's given an opportunity to show how desperate he is to live up to Daniel Jackson's sacrifice for his world, he takes it, with an impassioned "I want to make a difference" speech. That kind of thing doesn't impress Jack - it's actions more than words that talk to him, so it's a good thing the 'gate had to blow up, at least for Jonas' sake.

That's the gut-wrenching thing here - the original Stargate, that grey circlet of ancient technology (looking more majestic each time I see the new opening credits sequence), gateway to so many adventures, is gone, replaced by the Russian's. It simplifies and streamlines the series to know there's only one on our world, and allowing the Russian's to have their own team, and if you think back, they had done the second 'gate story lines to death, so there wasn't much to be gained by it. Stargates are a bit like warp cores in 'Star Trek' - they're the essential component to the series without which you ain't going anywhere, but they puff and pant away, almost taken for granted, until you realise that they have to be sacrificed. It's not something that can be done more than once, really - ejecting the warp core; destroying the 'gate. In both cases replacements are available, though you don't want it to be too easy to get your hands on them or they're cheapened.

I was expecting Teal'c and Bra'tac to return with the Stargate Anubis' weapon was attacking Earth through, since the area crumbled, and they had a cargo ship, but they didn't, and on first thought, junior's first mission was needless since they weren't able to shut down the 'gate until too late. Then I realised that Anubis' weapon had been undone, so he wasn't going to be able to attempt the same kind of attack again (unless he builds another such weapon). It was also important in building the damaged kinship between Teal'c and his boy, Rya'c able to show his piloting ability and good sense in knowing what to do and when, and prove himself worthy to his warrior Father. Equally, Teal'c got to prove his belief in his son was more than mere words, and I loved seeing the three go off on a mission together, showing their weapon skills and giving wise words to the young, aspiring warrior. The weapon's location (the usual forest environment), worked as another planet, but it was the CGI camera move from their position on a hilltop racing down to the weapon in the midst of a barren crater that impressed. The computer effects were of a good standard, with a Stargate (and the X-302), getting a lift on top of a jumbo jet and Rya'c's dogfight, which all fitted into the world seamlessly.

Even the interactions back at base were worth the price of admission, with Dr. McKay finding common ground with Carter, bonding in his own neurotic, semi-sarcastic way, and becoming a more likeable character because of it. I thought the two white-coated scientists were going to become more of a double-act in the episode, but they didn't come into it as much as expected after their initial opening amusement. It's good to have so many familiar faces in an episode which doesn't feel forced like part one did, getting much closer to the nub of the story, less of the extraneous waffle. It's always a feat to give us new information about the Stargate, too, so learning that it weighs 64,000 lbs (or 29,000 kg), and even better, how it got into the Cheyenne Mountain Complex in the first place, even seeing it go back out that way, added brilliantly to the mythology. I don't remember ever hearing about the 'gate's mechanism to get it in there in previous episodes, but even if it had been mentioned before this is the first time we get to see up the shaft to daylight!

Hammond's words about how he should have retired five years ago were ominous considering he was the next character to leave (if it happened this season), but all the main characters are well served. Jack doesn't get to be too ironic and insubordinate; Carter gets a problem to solve (one of the only complaints I had was that early on the episode was quite tech-heavy, but it soon improved); and Teal'c gets to teach Rya'c a little, and also be proud of his Luke Skywalker-esque Death Glider attack. It was a little bit uninventive to have Rya'c be the one to save Teal'c and Bra'tac (good shooting, though!), and it was a little bit obvious to have Jonas come up with a solution to the problem (as I predicted last episode), but the story fits together nicely and made for a more enjoyable experience than part one, leaving us with further threads to look forward to in the Russian's joining of the program and SG-1+Jonas' first mission together. They even referenced the joke about Jonas wearing the right colour from last episode, and seeing the four of them walk into the Stargate brings things right back to the start of the series again and sparked a tiny tear in the eye.

***

The Forgotten

DVD, Enterprise S3 (The Forgotten)

It's bad, I know, but I had, ironically, forgotten what this episode was about. You could say it's a eulogy to all those redshirts that have been lost over the years, but more specifically it deals with the loss of crewmen from the Enterprise, and through it, Trip's grief over the death  of his sister is worked through after it had been bottled up and become anger for so long. The Engineer had almost forgotten that initial anger and hatred he displayed after the attack on Earth by the Xindi probe, and he'd come back to being that genial drawling tech-head the ship depended on week after week to keep it going. So the title speaks not only of those that died during the Enterprise's mission, but also of Trip's personal sidelining of his dealing with Elizabeth's death and becomes the central core of the episode.

It didn't start out seeming like it was going to be a Trip episode - following on directly from the last two stories (making this, I suppose, the series' first, but not last three-parter), where the NX-01 had made contact with Degra, Archer had explained the truth about the Xindi's position as pawns of a greater future power, and had received help and coordinates for a covert meeting with Degra and his ally, the Xindi-Sloth council member. So it's all about the ship's occupants being on edge, having survived a shattering confrontation with enemy Xindi, many casualties - the story could have veered off to become about the aftermath of T'Pol's addiction, her struggle to retain composure now that emotions are clouding in. It could have been about Reed who defies orders to finish his task (in a sequence reminiscent of the outer hull EVA in 'First Contact'), to put out a plasma fire (green, of course, though not quite as close as it was for Jake, O'Brien and Sisko in 'Civil Defence'!). It could even have been about Archer's determination to win Degra's trust and convince him of the veracity of his evidence.

All of these character pieces form a patchwork, rather like the damaged ship, different parts being dealt with, slowly coming together, everything under a volatile strain that could break at any moment. I even felt that the story was more filler than anything else until the differing parts came together to show that some good work was happening: a crew member who died that Trip has to write a letter about to her parents added to Reed's injury doing his duty with Trip on the hull, added to T'Pol advising how important emotional control is at a difficult time like this, added to Archer's careful and considered attempt to win Degra over, means Trip is the crucible of the story. When he accepts his sister's death and moves on, even though angry at the Captain's decision to treat with the enemy, he can finally write the letter he'd been putting off, and making one of the best closing scenes of the series.

There are other things to like about this beyond Trip, but he takes the meat of the story, a sounding board for what many of the crew must be going through. Archer's speech to the crew in the Shuttlepod launch bay (or a cargo bay), shows him in much better light than he has been lately, a more sober head that has seen the best way out of the conflict is to make peace. But the Reptilians aren't going to allow that, so it becomes a minor battle against one of their ships, with help from Degra gaining the victory and protecting what even Degra now calls the alliance. He's been won over, even allowing space for a mild joke about Archer taking his memory of their previous meeting in 'Stratagem'. This is possibly the best episode yet for Degra, who is fully sympathetic, even trying to get his associate to believe in Archer's story, and showing some small degree of remorse for the Xindi attack on Earth, and a definite desire, an eager wish for Archer to be able to persuade the council of the future he saw - a future in which the Xindi and humans are part of the greater alliance of the Federation. You don't really think of Season 3 as being part of the building blocks towards the Federation, but through this clever temporal knowledge of the future, it brings the organisation closer in a small way.

The season isn't firing on all cylinders, these episodes haven't been classics of the genre or even the best of the series, but they have brought in real damage to the ship and crew, taken time for a remembrance of those that have been lost, acknowledged the frailty of life, and moved at least two characters onward. Plus Dr. Phlox gets to pull rank on Trip, power to Trek doctors everywhere! I don't think Levar Burton's directing added much beyond telling the story, but they were doing the best with what they had available, after writing themselves into this corner and having to pull off a story that could progress over the course of so many episodes when there was really very little latitude to explore: they had to search for and get closer to finding the weapon, so how many ways can you do that without losing the urgency and immediacy of flying through hostile space? Importantly, the Enterprise's primary mission to explore strange new worlds and civilisations, is talked of hopefully by Degra, of all people, and heralded the time when the ship and its crew could return to that life and more optimistic goal again.

***

Business As Usual

DVD, DS9 S5 (Business As Usual)

Many's the time Quark's had to extricate himself from difficult circumstances - doing business with the kind of shady people he does, that should be no surprise. And he's always found an out, whatever the situation. Few are the times when he's found himself in a moral quandary, the only one that immediately springs to mind is when he helped the Cardassian dissident Natima Lang (back in Season 2's 'Profit and Loss'), for love, not profit. This time he doesn't even have romantic excuses for his conscience, but as Quark has said before, he's a people person, and that's why all he has is a bar while Cousin Gaila ("the one with the moon?"), owns his own moon. We already knew Gaila was into sticky business, there are few Ferengi who aren't (the riskier the road, the greater the profit), but here we find out just how he's made his way in the galaxy, and it isn't pretty. For one thing he works for a maniac who will not hesitate to terminate any business associate that fails him, and for another, he's selling weapons that can destroy millions, to insane regents that want to take out their bitterness on a planet full of people.

You get mixed signals when it comes to Gaila (not to be confused with the Orion redhead in 'Star Trek XI', though you couldn't confuse them if they were ever in the same room!), in that he at first seems to be pretty much in control; he's rich, he's got it made. But then you see the way he stupidly wanders about, his mouth hanging open, and you realise he's actually not that intelligent after all - this emphasises how easy it is to make money through evil means, as long as you don't get caught, because even someone of his idiocy has done well financially. Ultimately you see the real shrewdness of Gaila: he does have some intelligence after all, but then when you live on a knife edge, self-preservation is going to be a strong tool for sharpening your intellect, and most Ferengi have a basic cunning when it comes to their own safety and interests. You see, Gaila wants out, and his whole reason for getting Quark involved is to groom him as the replacement, so that Hagath won't kill him for desertion. Had Quark gone through with it all and abandoned his old life and friends on DS9, I suspect Hagath would have had Gaila killed anyway, just for wanting out of the business - he'd be a loose end, something you get the feeling Hagath doesn't tolerate.

No, Gaila was bright enough to know that it was time to quit whilst he was still alive and in the money, so he strives to show up Quark's good qualities in Hagath's eyes. He'd already tried to kill his cousin by gifting him a defective ship back in 'Little Green Men,' and now he was basically killing him again by putting him under Hagath's dangerous nose. Hagath himself (I want to pronounce it 'Hay-gath' rather than 'Hag-ath', for some reason), is an unpredictable man who appreciates the good things in life, even has a sense of humour, but can flit between moods in a second. You almost expect him to clap his hands together to summon refreshments or female company, like some old-fashioned baddie from 'TOS,' and he has as much in common with an ancient pirate like Bluebeard (I think it was Bluebeard), who would fire loaded pistols under the table when he had people round, just for a joke (and to scare the living wits out of them). That's the kind of joke Hagath might play, enjoying the fear in others' eyes - when Quark prepares a feast of delicacies for the visiting Regent, he at first shouts out in anger about it, before relenting and saying it's wonderful. Not the kind of man you'd want holding the trigger of a gun, or even the detonation of a planet-killing virus.

Quark's friends on the station understandably react badly to his new status as an associate of such evil people, but Hagath shows he has wisdom as well as a pride in providing equipment for mass murder, when the Bajorans refuse to interfere in his activities because he was a friend to them during the Occupation, providing weapons, a course of action that now reaps rewards for him. He also shows good business sense by taking over Quark's finances and not allowing him to keep any of his earnings until his creditors have been paid off, because he doesn't want distractions or problems for his employees. His strict code of punishment is what keeps those who work for him in line, but he wasn't wise enough to see who Quark really was. Quark's always striven to be the best Ferengi he can be, but with a brother who started a union, a nephew in Starfleet and a Mother who earns [splutter] profit (!), and [even more splutter] wears clothes (!) - well, he was in a family of misfits in the eyes of his people. Even he has admitted to acts of relative kindness, selling supplies at cost to needy Bajorans during the Occupation years. He tried to be big and bad, and his scheming is never going to stop, but he prides himself on being a sociable type that fits into most situations, and that people are happy to come to his bar, talk and spill their secrets. But taking on arms trading, even though he was never handling a real gun, was a step too far.

He might not have been driven to such measures if not for the FCA (Ferengi Commerce Authority), revoking his licence to do business back in Season 4, stripping him of his assets and blacklisting him to all Ferengi forevermore. (Did that black oval slapped on a pillar stay there ever since then, because I can't remember seeing it that often, yet it's back this time as if as a reminder - maybe Quark gets it out when he's feeling too happy to remind himself to be more depressed!). Because of this he's heavily in debt, which is what allows his conscience to agree to the terms. It fits in with his business style - he likes to talk to the customers and show off wares, which is why Hagath and Gaila want him. But, as demonstrated during a visiting alien's viewing period in a Holosuite, these kinds of customers don't want patter and small talk, just in and out, a quick sale. That's another thing Quark was put off by in the arms trade before, the fact that they aren't interested in interaction, it's just a cold stating of the facts.

What Quark forgot is that his friends rallied round to get the bar going again and so they feel some sense of ownership to it. For him to as much as turn his back on an honest living (or as honest as a Ferengi is likely to be), for the disreputable business of the weapons trade, is going too far. The story of people turning their back on Quark is represented by Dax who has been a friend of his stretching back to the first season when she showed how different she was to her outward appearance by associating with the Ferengi and enjoying their company, much to the disgust of people, like Kira. Tongo was the game that sealed the deal in terms of their friendship, so it was fitting that Tongo should start and end the episode. Having Dax angry at Quark brings home the severity of station feeling - if she reacts like that, imagine what the others are thinking! Sisko and Kira are the only other two to really show how despicable they think Quark is, and it takes it back to those early seasons again with Sisko making it very clear how very disappointed and angry with Quark he is, and even though he can't do anything to him right now, if the Ferengi steps into even the slightest infraction of the law, he'll come down hard. Very hard.

Major Kira is almost delighted to be back in an adversarial mode with him (perhaps she's feeling more anger in her system since Dukat switched sides?), so she makes it equally clear that Quark will suffer if she has her way. At the time I felt that more of the crew needed to show their opposition to Quark, but thinking about it now, using Dax as the sounding board was all that was needed. It's fun to see that even during a boycott of Quark's, Morn is still happy to go and fall asleep in his drink there! A third thing that gives this episode its feel of an early season story, along with Dax playing Tongo, and Sisko and Kira having serious words, is Quark concerned that Odo could be any object around him, listening in to his private and unscrupulous business conversations. This wouldn't have been a problem until a few episodes ago when Odo returned to his true nature of a shapeshifter, and I like that they deal with that, even in such a small way. Odo deserved to be in it more, but as is usually the case, any time a character has to undergo a serious problematic situation where they feel alone, you can't have their best friends or most closely associated characters around to help them out of it.

Besides, Quark managed to come up with his own, dangerous solution to his own version of the Kobayashi Maru, thinking outside the box, or out of his comfort zone at any rate. It was very risky, but it dealt with the situation. Just like in the two stories in which Quark deals with Klingons ('The House of Quark' and 'Looking For Par'Mach in All The Wrong Places'), he comes out of a life-threatening situation unscathed, using his natural guile and the kind of bravery not usually associated with his people. He think he's going to die, but he can't live with 28 million deaths on his conscience, and he does have a conscience, no matter what he says - scratch deeply enough, push through his personal limits and you find a fine man inside, even if he hates that side of himself because it doesn't equal profit. Living among humans and other Federation species has changed him on a deep level. He may yammer on about profit and claim that's all he cares about, but he knows there's more to him than that, and so does Dax. You wouldn't have thought it from the reception she gives him when he comes to her quarters, however!

It's been a long while since we've seen her pad with its bookshelves at one end, the most memorable scene coming in Season 1 (another link to that period), when Sisko tries to talk her into confessing what really happened to save her life in 'Dax' - then it was a device to emphasise the distance and blockage between them, and serves the same purpose this time. I didn't remember there being a door at that end before, but maybe Dax had some modifications done? Creating a mood from a set is the Director's department and in this episode we have a particularly fine English example: Siddig El Fadil, or as he had become known by his acting moniker, Alexander Siddig, on his first ever directing gig for the series, joining the likes of Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois and Michael Dorn, in taking their place behind the camera as well as in front of it. He did a good job, but having a Ferengi episode was always seen as an easier proposition (unless we're talking early 'TNG'!), so that probably helped. He doesn't overwhelm us with his personal style or fancy moves (though the decision to keep the camera on Quark instead of showing the firefight in the cargo bay, and seeing security rush past, was a different way to tell that part of the story, and worked, because it leaves it to the imagination to fill in the gaps, and this is all Quark's story after all), he just lets the story play out, keeping it smooth and well-oiled, just like Jonathan Frakes used to do, so I'm surprised he didn't do many more.

For the most part, the direction is anonymous, except for the stylistic choice of having the camera upside down to show Quark's point of view when he's lying on a couch and Odo stalks into the room. Not an episode where you can pick out shot after shot that worked so well, but one where you don't think about the production side at all, and enjoy the story, which is as valid a way to go as fancier directing is. Only one scene did I think could have been altered to have more impact, and that was the nightmare sequence where Quark walks into the bar to find Sisko and the others the worse for wear, claiming that he killed them. They could have had more graphic injuries than the spot of blood or small cuts that they did sport, not for a gratuitous scare, or even looking much worse, but to get the message across a bit stronger, a bit more shockingly than it was - I always remember Kes entering as a nuclear holocaust victim in the 'Voyager' episode 'Jetrel,' all burnt and smoking, and while they didn't need to go that far, a little more visual damage would have made more impact. Quark crouching down and hugging his ears reminded me of (once again), a Season 1 episode called 'Move Along Home' where he thinks he's risking the lives of Sisko and others, and we haven't seen so much of the physically affected Quark in recent seasons, which shows how much of a trial this is for him.

The funny thing about this episode is that while it is a Quark episode and a Ferengi episode, it isn't a comedy from his standpoint. The humorous side to the story comes with the B-plot of O'Brien struggling to keep holding baby Kirayoshi (the first we've seen of him since he was born in 'The Begotten'), and the various tactics he uses to try and make the boy sleep so he can do some work. The idea of the station's Operations Centre having everyone tiptoe around to keep 'Yoshi from waking up is funny on its own, but add to that the natural reaction of the staff to crowd over for a look, and Sisko's whispered reaction that O'Brien will have to find another solution, makes it even better. Sisko's very good in the screen time he has, coming across as a dedicated manager - someone that cares about his people, but also has to keep the station running correctly, which is why he almost loses his temper with Quark and isn't too accommodating to O'Brien's idea of leaving his baby in the pit in Ops. His son, Jake is also pleasingly included, the first babysitter to fail the cry test. A couple of interesting notes came out of Jake's scene in the O'Brien quarters: one, that he mentions looking after 'Pran's' hatchlings (most likely a reference to Vilix'pran, the famous non-humanoid alien we never see), and that he refers to Keiko as 'Professor' O'Brien.

I don't think we'd ever heard her spoken of like that before, and added to the fact that it is she who's gone off to Bajor to help with a blight of some sort, it makes you wonder if she's become more important, or passed some qualifications recently. It could just be that Jake is referring to her in a more formal manner because she used to be his teacher (again, another early season link!), but it stood out as an odd thing to call her. It's sad that Keiko and Molly couldn't be around, but as with the Quark story, Miles wouldn't have a problem if his wife was there to help. What works very well is his solution to the problem, with the assistance of Mr. Worf; never the most likely-looking man to be good with babies, but perhaps his huge, bear-like arms, and thumping heart, like the beat of a drum, were ideal components in sending Kirayoshi off to the land of nod? Even so, there's a little reference to his fatherhood when he says he never got to see this period in his own son's life - I wouldn't say he sounded wistful, but just as Quark doesn't like to show conscience on account of considering it weakness, Worf doesn't show his softer side very often and it was a perfect link back to that time on the Enterprise in 'TNG.'

In keeping with Quark's ex-communication from Ferengi life (telling that Gaila has no compunction about dealing with him, as if he's above Ferengi law with so much money from illegal arms-trading), he shouldn't have any Ferengi working for him - this has actually been followed quite closely this season, and I've commented several times on the alien bar staff that keep cropping up in the background. This time we get them appearing in a line up like a bunch of criminals when they hold the special dishes for Hagath's inspection. This gives us a good, clear look at who and what they are: there's the Bolian, front and centre, who often serves as bartender; then we have the Yridian who serves at Quark's; and we also have two, (what I believe to be), Dopterians - I only say believe, because there's another race that looks very similar. It was a pleasure to have them out there so distinctly after being noticeable in the background for some time, and further serves to remind us of Quark's status as a Ferengi employer - i.e.: nil. A couple of things I wasn't quite sure about were when Hagath and Gaila congratulate Quark after his first big sale in the Holosuite - they're standing behind and then come forward with champagne glasses, but no bottle, so they must have been standing there for a while with these drinks, waiting to celebrate. Just struck me as odd.

Another oddity was when Hagath gives Quark a present, calling them Andurian beads, and then Quark calls them Andarian beads, leaving me wondering if they both mispronounced 'Andorian' or they were other races entirely! Look out for a strange backhanded hand gesture between Ferengi - we've seen the gesture of supplication that serves as greeting or farewell, but this was a new one on me when Quark and Gaila do it. There was also another sneaky Breen reference, when one of the holographic weapons Quark has to show and tell, is called a Breen something-or-other. Whether it was supposed to be a weapon of the Breen or one named for the Breen was not made clear - I guess you had to go in as a customer and hear Quark's patter to get information like that!

The episode was quite a clever one in terms of the story with those holographic weapons and the ethics of arms-trading, even if the weapons aren't real at the showroom. Was Quark as responsible for the deaths of those killed by the weapons he sold via holographic viewings, or was it just meaningless to display a fake weapon in place of a real one? For that matter, can holo-weapons really be considered exempt from the stringent regulations of Federation or Bajoran law, because technically they are real: something in a Holosuite is created in the image, but it is nonetheless created into a three-dimensional object. I suppose the catch is that it couldn't leave the Holosuite, but what if it could? Could it be modified to fire? These are futuristic extrapolations of laws relating to gun ethics, and gun laws are very much in the public consciousness these days. It shows that you never know what moral messages will come up in an episode that are as relevant today as any other time.

If Gene Roddenberry's vision had been followed correctly, some would say, war would be a thing of the past. There is all this talk about races here or there wanting to wipe each other out, but it's not new to 'DS9' - war was something that existed even in 'TOS' and 'TNG,' and it shows how bloodthirsty the galaxy outside of the Federation is, so whatever wars happened, even if Starfleet got dragged into it, fits within what Roddenberry proposed and believed, I think, because it was more about humanity's response, saying that they had stopped the fighting on Earth. But there would always be someone somewhere spoiling for a fight, and as Quark found out, making a lifestyle choice of your own can affect those around you, bouncing back at you just as much. So make the right choices in life. Please. Just as the last episode's title, 'A Simple Investigation,' was anything but, this one continues the trend. It was business, but not as we know it for Quark. At least he saw sense in the end, extricating himself expertly. I would have been a bit more worried about Hagath and Gaila still being out there somewhere, but he didn't need to worry too much - Gaila was even better value when he returned!

****

A Simple Investigation

DVD, DS9 S5 (A Simple Investigation)

Romance and mystery. What more could you ask for? Well, actually, less of the romance and more of the mystery. The writers admitted over the course of the series that they weren't good at love stories, so it's no surprise that this follows suit, in the same bracket as 'Let He Who is Without Sin…' for example, as one of the few lesser successes of the tremendously, consistently strong, creative and fulfilling season that was the series' fifth. It is notable because it doesn't work so well, but in an early season or other Trek series this would have been a pretty good, solid sort of investigative drama. Odo's the perfect centre to such a story, having already proved himself in great instalments like 'Necessary Evil,' and dealt with the shady criminal organisation, the Orion Syndicate (incidentally, why in all their dealings with the gangsters do we never see any actual Orions? Or are they all undercover agents posing as other races, like that spy disguised as an Andorian in 'Journey To Babel' - maybe they're embarrassed by their colour? As Kermit The Frog always said, it's not easy being green). Bringing back the organisation, the only recurring criminality in Trek that I can think of, was a bright idea, but the story didn't live up to the episode which featured their previous involvement: 'The Ascent.'

What may be a problem for the episode is that it occurs after Odo's return to his natural state of shapeshifter, but feels like a story that had its inception during his humanoid phase: then he was trying out physical sensations, learning what other 'solids' experienced living in the unchanging way that they (we), do. So it would stand to reason that he might go down the route of romance, not that I'm advocating that for him at all, as he's always been such a stoic island, comfortable with isolation. But his time as a solid taught him to unbend a little, ironic considering he was at his most physically immutable then. Now, in a parallel with Spock, who learned to accept, maybe even embrace his human side over the course of the original films, Odo has the best of both worlds: the astounding abilities and unique perspective of an alien to those around him, but also a greater sense of life and experiences outside of his comfort zone that have made him more rounded.

Into this new Odo's pool of existence walks the mystery woman. It's very old-school detective novel when he meets her in a bar, and yet at the same it isn't - she's making fun of the situation a bit and Odo's struck and slightly bewildered by being taken with her. It's all rather pat, and if it had been a ploy by the Syndicate to entrap Odo it would have made more sense, but I suppose, with a leap, I can buy that she planned to use the Security Chief before she met him, or even that she took advantage of the situation. But even smoochy-eyes Odo doesn't lose all sense of self and responsibility: the station's protection at this highly sensitive time as never before, takes his duty to the people he works for, and more importantly, justice, very seriously indeed. An illustration of his preference for justice over rules is when he chooses to drop the charges against Arissa after he finds her trying to get into restricted files using her data port (more on the technological side to this episode soon…). If he was following the letter of the law he could have locked her up, especially after catching her walking out of the Assay Office (a place that had almost fallen out of existence its use had dropped by the wayside for so long!). As he says, "I'm good too."

I wasn't sure how much to trust the wily woman, and I think that hurts the story a little - you're not completely with her because you know how much of a liar she's been and you don't want to see Odo bested by someone like that. If she was made more sympathetic as a person it might have improved the drama, I don't know. It's not that you don't care at all, but she doesn't seem to need much help (especially after somehow beating a Bajoran security officer and O'Brien to the floor in the Infirmary - I think it was the Infirmary, unless it was another of those Science Labs Odo and Mora used in 'The Begotten'?). Still, Odo coming to the rescue works as a concept and is a good sequence. It wasn't the action scene of the season, but there was a pointed satisfaction from the Constable as he flattens out the fat assassin with an unnecessary, but just, blow!

The double-act assassin team were an improving addition. They ooze a confident menace, while also being deadpan and droll, as if they enjoy their job, rather like the green guys who come after Morn in 'Who Mourns For Morn?' or the mirror of Kira's resistance friends, Lupaza and Furel. They have a bit of fun, and though cruel, you get an impression of real people, not just a couple of agents sent to kill someone, which would have been an easy trap to fall into doing. If anything, they weren't in it enough, and could have been built up quite significantly with a bit more work. The look worked - like the terrorist Pomet in 'Starship Mine' on 'TNG,' or the Ilari in 'Voyager' story 'Warlord,' having extra orifices of the face makes you look nastier. Coupled with the pale white skin, lank hair and long, leather coats from 'The Matrix' (if it had come out before this instead of after), and a short, fat one with a tall, thin one, they had a memorable style (I would have liked to have caricatured them).

The coats weren't the only thing that brought 'The Matrix' to mind - the concept of connecting one's brain to a computer to hack or view data is quite futuristic (maybe not quite as much as we believed at the time?), so Arissa's data port attachment, besides having a scary link to the Borg, also adds to the mystery of her - the very idea of this piece of gadgetry on the back of her neck, hidden under the luxurious hair, is a metaphor for the character. A lesson of the story may be to not be fooled by appearances, something Odo should be well versed in, yet he does allow her into his confidence simply because she isn't put off by his appearance and nature, accepting him quickly, maybe instantly. This is one of the fuzzy areas that stops the episode working entirely: how much of her interactions is an act to procure his trust and assistance, and how much is genuine. Certainly by the tragic final scene when she's revealed to be someone else entirely, with another life she'd forgotten, it is poignant and we are upset for the way things have turned out for Odo. Not that it makes his actions correct in the way he throws himself at her, but it does give the rest of the episode credibility, something that was needed much earlier on. But she was a liar even when she wasn't lying, because her memories had been removed and stored (are the Idanians like Vulcans and can store a person's soul, or are memories different?), and she didn't even know the lie she lived.

The Idanians had been one of those races that wouldn't even fit on a tier (you know, like the Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans would be first tier of importance and development, then maybe the Ferengi and Bolians would be second tier, etc), and had been known only for a food called Idanian Spiced pudding (incidentally, we actually get to see someone eating the much-talked of Bajoran Hasperat - it may not be the first time, but it's not what we see all that regularly), and probably weren't even considered an actual race in terms of something that was going to be developed and one day seen, so I suppose we should be grateful that they were made into something instead of remaining a name. Unlike the Breen they hadn't been built up with rumours and references all over the place, so they had nothing to live up to (and it's always better to fill out a corner of the Trek universe rather than make something new with no ties to anything before). Like the Breen we find out that they are a secretive and mysterious race. Unlike the Breen they don't wear face-covering helmets. They're mysterious, right? So they wear… [drum roll] thin hoods.  (The Syndicate's 'hoods' were more interesting!). More thought could have gone into their look, but they were limited in the facial mess they could make because they wanted it to be feasible that Arissa's human-like face could be turned Idanian at the end (with surgery), so (rather like Seska on 'Voyager'), they gave them little forehead bumps instead of anything more elaborate.

The Idanians may not have wowed in their first (and probably only - I don't remember them ever featuring again), appearance, but as we often do, there were plenty of alien faces to tease our interest in the background: aside from the smooth-skinned alien loading cargo in the cargo bay, with his dinosaur-like spiky head ridges in a mohican, representing aliens more familiar were one of the famous 'fish-men' (those gawping pike-alikes I've noticed coming back into fashion this season after mostly vanishing from Seasons 3 and 4), also part of the cargo bay team. What was more surprising was seeing Dax, Bashir, Odo and O'Brien being served by a Yridian in Quarks! Information-gathering business not what it was? A spy in the middle of DS9, hoping to hear things of use from the hub of the station? Whatever his reason for being there (it makes me want to hear his story), it shows Quark in a much more multicultural light - he only used to employ Ferengi waiters and Dabo girls, but he's got a Bolian bartender that often pops up (in this one, too), and now other aliens serving. Could this be… a direct result of the Ferengi Commerce Authority revoking his licence at the end of Season 4? Black-marking him so that no good Ferengi would do business with or work for him? If so, this is an incredible level of attention to detail, so subtle it doesn't even bother to announce itself, the whole production showing the kind of care to keep the world real, and the consequences real, and it is with great admiration that I notice it!

The real star of this one is the technology, and the way familiar concepts are used slightly differently, not an easy task when you've been using them for over thirty years at this point! I first noticed it with the phaser, or whatever the exact weapon the fat assassin used to vaporise the fantastically named (very 'Deep Space Nine'), Tauvid Rem - he does the deed, then shows casual disappointment at killing him because he thought it was only on stun, as if he'd picked up the wrong groceries at the supermarket! That was more to do with the reaction to the tech than the actual item, but it was a theme that returned when Odo takes Arissa into protective custody and her own quarters, stationing two guards outside, then proceeds to beam her and himself directly to his own quarters as a bluff, and stationing a fake repair crew outside. What a great idea, why has it not been done more often? The third moment that made me happy was when Odo interrupts Bashir's secret agent holoprogram by knocking on the window of a moving limousine. The car's still moving as he and Bashir exchange words and it's a brilliant illustration of how the Holosuite works - they appear to be moving, but they aren't.

It helps that that whole scene is so much fun, taking us back to the joy of last season's 'Our Man Bashir,' (so sad that this was its last usage on the series) and earlier, showing us the group in Quark's waiting for the newest holoprogram to come out, just as we wait for a new episode. In these days you can be in the episode yourself, of course. Dax is at her most playfully irritating, desperately trying to get Odo to join in and rearrange their plans to include him; or later, gossiping to Kira about what's going on with him and Arissa. Worf, who's learned to appreciate Odo as a fellow outsider, one who prefers his own company much of the time, sticks up for him, loudly pointing out that Odo wouldn't want to be the subject of her and Kira's conversation. It's interesting how Kira is played in this one: she wants Odo to pursue this mystery woman, as his friend she finds it amusing, but in a good way. Later, by the time Dax is going on about it, and Sisko suggests it's a good thing, she seems less sure, as if she's had time to think it over. It isn't an overt character arc or anything, but you do get subtext that can be read in different ways. It shows that the running threads of Odo secretly loving and admiring Kira hadn't been forgotten - again, the reality of the series is always just under the surface whether it's part of the story or not.

The story works quite well on the mystery side, but even so, this isn't one I would use to introduce people to the series with. It's far too confined to the station, confined to Odo, and lives up to the common misconception that 'DS9' was a melancholy, gritty version of Trek, with a lot of shadows and uncertainty; a slow burn candle in a darkened room. I say it because this was, unfortunately, the story I watched with my cousins when we were all staying somewhere, as it was on TV, and whom I don't think had previously seen the series. Of all the wonderful Season 5 stories it had to be this one! If only it had been 'Empok Nor,' 'The Ascent,' 'Nor The Battle To The Strong,' or so many others! That's not to say I don't like it, because I do - I particularly enjoy seeing the station and its life at different times of day: Quark closing up the bar (how he failed to notice Morn still in there, I don't know!), Odo walking the Promenade, it all adds, again, to the reality of this being a living, breathing place. It feels very much an early season episode, before the Dominion were part of the series, before the Klingons or Romulans had really made their mark, and this was all the series was. And it would have been enough for me, but much better was to come, and as much as I like the confined, lonely nature of such episodes, the broader, busting open the galaxy style of story is probably more exciting.

In a way, this story was the opposite of 'Second Skin.' In that one Kira was being persuaded that her real life was as a Cardassian spy and that her memories had been replaced - in this Arissa signed up for it (Jason Bourne?), and wakes up to her true life of a spy. One thing I didn't catch was how Draim, the big shot Syndicate member, was going to go to prison. I assume it was from some kind of evidence that Arissa had from working for him, but it wasn't clear enough for me. And look out for a very obscure reference to 'TOS' episode 'The Gamesters of Triskelion': on the barrels in the cargo bay you can see the logo they used, the one that was on the floor as the boundary to be fought within. So obscure I didn't notice until I looked at a photo from the episode. I also noticed another female Bajoran security operative (though she wasn't much use, getting knocked out by the puny Arissa). As Arissa, this wasn't Dey Young's first Trek role, or her last. She was also in the weak 'The Masterpiece Society' of 'TNG,' and the not bad 'Two Days and Two Nights' of 'Enterprise.' While John Durbin who played Traidy, the thin assassin, had previously been an equally as unpleasant Cardassian, the adversary of Captain Jellico in 'Chain of Command.'

***

Redemption

DVD, Stargate SG-1 (Redemption)

A cliffhanger ending can be both a blessing and a curse. It gives the end of the season a dramatic sweep without a conclusion, and it hands the writers a challenge to take those cliffhanging pieces and make them into something good for the season opener. The downside? Coming up with that good thing that starts a season in a way that enthrals and hooks the viewer. Because of the nature of Season 5's ending finishing with a certain amount of closure, they didn't have the heavy Sword of Damocles hanging overhead, but instead had a slightly different challenge: to come up with something new without those threads hanging over from last season, being something of a restart of the series in terms of the cast. They always had threads to pull on with so many stories, characters and planets having become part of the mythology, and that was their partial downfall with this opening to Season 6. They had too much to choose from, and instead of concentrating on a character piece for Teal'c, a setup for Jonas, a crucial scientific problem for Carter, or a piece of new tech for O'Neill to try out, they throw it all in, with extra characters too!

The best of the bunch are Teal'c's battles, both emotional and physical, with his son, Rya'c. He's summoned to a Jaffa camp by Bra'tac, with the terrible news of his wife's decline, and then the devastating reality that she's dead, and finally the triple whammy of his volatile son taking out all his grief and confusion in himself (following the takeover of his mind by Apophis), on his Father. Master Bra'tac proves most wise in the advice he gives: basically to talk to his son and tell him he doesn't doubt him, and their reconciliation is a warm scene, lit beautifully in darkness. As has been the case with recent episodes, last season for example, the series looks better than ever; crisp, bright, full of contrast, and taking advantage of the widescreen ratio - even the CGI is less easy to spot these days (though the Goa'uld ship was given away by its shadow; the X-302 by its slight blurriness, and I suspect the savages running down the dunes in the opening moments were increased by duplication, but in a good way). Clearly the technology had improved by the time this was made (2002).

Technology has also progressed in the fictional world, with a successor to the X-302 (the fighter based on Goa'uld tech that almost got Jack and Teal'c killed back in Season 4, 'Tangent'), though the main benefit of it being able to enter hyperspace and travel to other planets hasn't been ironed out yet (the closest we get to the 'Star Trek' implications is O'Neill's joke, asking if it had phasers!). This advancement angers the Russian Colonel Chekov, (yes, he's here, too), who's outraged that 'gate related technology has been kept from the Russians. That story doesn't come to a head (mind you, this is a two-parter), nor does the X-302, which has to return to base, but you get the feeling that all these bits are spoiling the real story, which is the personal trial of Teal'c dealing with his wife's death, and his son's reaction. One of the best parts of that is Rya'c striking down his Father with a staff weapon, repeatedly beating him in a severe show of lack of respect (but then Teal'c has been something of an absent Father). Rya'c has certainly aged since we last saw him. Then he still seemed boyish, now he's a proper teen, bad temper and everything!

The familial disputes and thoughts about the wider mission of the Jaffa movement to free their enslavement was of much more value than the other, multiple plots, designed to give everyone a bone to play with. And that's the reason for all these things happening in one episode, I think: to reintroduce every main character again, since that's what's expected. One character that walks difficult ground is the newest member of… I was about to put SG-1, but he's being artificially kept away from that spot so far. Everyone knew he was the replacement for Daniel Jackson, so why not get straight into giving him the post and let him prove himself in that way. Instead, we learn he's been on the base for about three months, has learned just about everything Daniel committed to paper, and lots of other things besides, while still having that thing Teal'c used to show a lot more: misunderstanding of human culture and customs. So far he hasn't been well sold, filling that role Teal'c used to fill, wandering around the base like a third glove, trying too hard to be amiable, likeable and having a point. Which so far, he doesn't.

I remember quite liking the guy when I originally watched the season, but even I could see they were tiptoeing around the issue of this character replacing a much-loved, founding member of the series. I can also see why people would complain if it went straight into Jonas on the team without any training or earning the place. But that's a problem: you can see it coming a mile off that his assistance will save the day, thus proving himself in the other team members' eyes, and making him an invaluable part of SG-1. That hasn't exactly happened yet because of the second part still to come, but he's generally made himself a minor annoyance, simply by being so unassuming and friendly. It's bad to say it, but if he'd had more of an attitude and forced people to confront him maybe it would have worked better, but the whole point he behaves in the way he does is because that's his character and what makes him unique, so it's all mixed impressions so far. It even sets things up in an overblown way by pointing out that SG-1 have gone through nine other people trying to find someone suitable, but that makes the SGC look bad because there are many teams, so any volunteer should be fitted into a team smartly, unless it's because the loss of Daniel has made the other members less accepting, but that would be unprofessional and hasn't been the suggestion of why no one worked out.

As expected, there are touches of humour that keep things light a lot of the time, and even when the Stargate is mysteriously under attack (before they know it's Anubis), the danger level isn't projected very strongly at all. The Anubis hologram at the end is rather melodramatic, as O'Neill scoffs, but it rounded out a mildly unsatisfying whole. A lot of blame can be handed to the decision to make it a two-part story, but that shouldn't stop an opener from being a slam-bam enjoyment-fest. There is joy to be had simply in seeing the characters again, and the absence of Daniel isn't keenly felt - it's almost like the departure rocked the real production of the series so they were throwing all these things in to compensate for feeling unbalanced. On top of the Jaffa side of things with Bra'tac, Rya'c, etc, and Anubis representing the baddies, we also have Dr. McKay turning up without much prompting, Siler gets his cameo, and the Russian Colonel is much in evidence (calling for a Russian member of the team, which actually isn't a bad idea until you consider 'The Tomb'!).

"How do I know what colour to wear?" asks Jonas. "We call each other every morning," responds Carter. That's about the funniest line, but I was also interested in the details about four-person SG teams - no one ever said they had to be made up of four, that's just the way it happened. The base is the same old concrete walls and hazard tape, but I can't remember if they had those flat screen monitors last season. I say flat, but they're still pretty chunky by today's standards, and you can always date a series by its computers! Something that has changed is the titles sequence which now features closeup footage of the Stargate in motion, which is fine. I like watching the series, I like seeing the people, and it's not that this was a boring story, it's that it wasn't a story, but an anthology of bits of other stories. Maybe watching both parts together would improve the experience, but regardless of the good stuff, there's too much filling in this sandwich even for Teal'c to munch on.

**

Damage

DVD, Enterprise S3 (Damage)

I thought this was directed by David Livingston, for some reason, most likely because of a variety of experimental shots and some well-judged close-quarters action in the piratical incursion at the end, so well done to James L. Conway for keeping the story moving and living up to the first part of the story in 'Azati Prime.' The title didn't show much evidence of creative thought, being one of the duller 'Enterprise' episode titles, but a Director can't be blamed for that - it was a common flaw with the series that they often didn't try to come up with a meaningful moniker, one of the things that made it seem like 'TNG'-lite, as some dubbed it. It isn't light this time, in fact quite the opposite: most of the lights have gone out! This does suit the general mood of (I hate using this overused word), darkness and desperation pervading the NX-01. They have every right to be in that mood, what with being almost pummelled to destruction by the Xindi-Reptilians at the end of part one, and it's only Degra and his fellow council members that call the attack off, get Archer out of Dolim's custody, and reinforce the Xindi council's rules.

I'm not sure why they allowed Enterprise to be free to go on its merry way, especially as they know it's after their weapon, neither am I sure why the Xindi-Aquatics were tasked with delivering him back to his ship, except that they must be on the more peaceful council members' side, against the aggressive stance of the Reptilians and Insectoids. It will all make sense once Enterprise gets to its rendezvous (cleverly encoded with a stardate, something new to the crew!), but at the time I was confused - it seemed to make more sense to take Archer (at least), and the NX-01 (at most), into their protective custody, otherwise the Reptilians are going to be fuming at the ship being allowed freedom in such sensitive space! They didn't even demand a meeting of the council to talk about what's going on, rather Degra and the others convene to talk to their Future Gal (their equivalent of the Suliban's Future Guy), one of the Sphere-Builders. They do find out that these beings have helped the other Xindi races to build bio weapons, but she had a plausible excuse in that she did it to keep them onside and the council together…

I like that these developments are happening in both camps, so we've got Enterprise doing its stuff, and Degra and the other Xindi are beginning to question the future they've been told about, so things are heating up. They're heating up aboard the Starfleet ship too, with Archer turning into Dread Space Pirate Archer, and T'Pol at last revealing her Trellium-D addiction, if still a secret between her and Phlox. And the audience - we get to see why she's been acting strangely and emotionally in recent episodes, rather than becoming ever more stoic and unflappable as the humans around her shout and buzz. If only Tuvok were here, you can bet he'd be keeping a stiff upper ear in the face of such crisis (which is why 'Voyager' is better than 'Enterprise.' Not the only reason, but one good one!). Okay, maybe he'd be affected by the Expanse as much as the next Vulcan, but we find out it's actually T'Pol's own wish for experimentation with emotion that has drawn her into this predicament. For such a relatively well-lived and experienced member of her species she doesn't do herself much credit here, logic obviously not the fulfilling centre of the universe for her that it is for most of her kind. Let's hope her worry she'll be emotionally compromised forever doesn't come true - I don't remember how she acted for the rest of the series, but it wouldn't make that much difference with the way the race was portrayed on it.

At first I was thinking how badly she was coming off, not living up to the captaincy (didn't help that there wasn't much impression of tension in Archer being gone or the ship being left to drift in space, when it should have felt like life or death), then I remembered about the drug-taking, and I gave her a lot more leeway. I expect Jolene Blalock was glad to be allowed to emote a bit more, but even with all the damage, you'd think her crewmates would notice the change in her. They should, except that the way Vulcans are portrayed has been with rippling emotional undercurrents just below the skin, one of my biggest beefs with the series, as I may have mentioned… But now is not the time to slate the bad, but to praise the good. Except that the crew, or specifically Archer, don't prove very fine, upstanding examples of a future Federation! It was rather serendipitous for a ship to be nearby with a tasty warp coil just when Enterprise needed one, especially as they haven't met many other non-Xindi ships for a while. How could the race not have heard of the Xindi? I was expecting it to turn out to be a trap or ploy in some way, but instead they were just ordinary aliens wanting to get home. This didn't make them particularly sympathetic, surprisingly, even though they were captained by Casey Biggs, most famous for his great role of the Cardassian Damar on 'DS9,' which casting was probably meant to provide (at least for the Niners in the crowd), added reason to care about Archer ripping them off.

Casey Biggs could have been given more to do. I remember when I first saw this, having been excited that he was going to be in it, and then feeling so underwhelmed, both by the race and how much he had to do in the episode. It was problematic that the makeup looked so similar to the Cardassian style, too, with light skin and forehead indentations. Not close to identical, but it did serve to remind me of his better role on 'DS9.' It's another problem of the series that they tended to bring on bland aliens of the week like this, Season 2 a particular offender in this regard, and something Season 3 had tried to avoid by going into the Expanse, so full of wild and weird peoples. Not to say this episode wouldn't have shamed the average Season 2 offering; it would, but they did miss opportunities like this, to make the moral side of the story, the measure of the story, and create an alien of the week that was different, other than slightly different makeup.

I found that, although I wasn't happy with Archer's decision, I enjoyed the warp coil raid, and felt slightly bad for getting into the spirit of it. I would suggest that it stretches credibility a bit that any alien vessel's technology would be compatible with another race's, even if you argued that the essential components are going to be similar enough for warp travel to be possible, but it's only a minor point in service to the story, just as the ship itself being there was due to necessity - do you get the feeling this one wasn't written by Manny Coto? You'd be right. I can see what they were attempting here: an old-fashioned moralistic tale, but with a 21st Century TV series spin. Trouble is, the modern spin is that Archer does the dirty, attacks this innocent ship because it's there, and reasons that he had no choice. The moral is there, but it's distorted, it's unclear whether you're supposed to think this is right or wrong, there isn't enough thinking about the consequences. I know they talk briefly about the other ship; taking three years to get home; leaving supplies; it's just too quick. Certain members of the crew express disapproval (culminating in T'Pol smashing a pad on Archer's desk, a bit like Spock crumpling up a desktop monitor in 'TOS'!), but Archer isn't in the mood to take prisoners, so they don't push it. Thing is, that was his only choice, but other Captains would have found a way around it somehow - circumstances would have given them a dicier, but more correct course of action that was missing from this story.

In spite of all these seemingly negative observations, they sped through the valuable minutes with much goodness, working in T'Pol's addiction, showing the ship totally messed up, something that couldn't be done in an average episode of another season or series, and many of the crew are bruised and bloodied (ponytail MACO lady even gets a name: Parsons). This kind of thing is what sets the episode apart from the pedestrian affairs of Season 2, in which they might have spent a whole episode with T'Pol wandering round the ship trying not to show emotion. The Trip thing was addressed a couple of times - Phlox talks about it with her, and she has a rather full-on 'kissing in shower' scene which wasn't necessary, though I did like the transformation into zombie T'Pol and the earlier impression of things going weird around her as she walks the damaged corridors, her withdrawal from the drug becoming serious. I like that time is found, however little it is, for tiny pin-pricks of character building - a look passes between people which says a lot, and probably couldn't have been done in the first season when these people weren't as developed: Reed shares such a look and a nod with Trip in Engineering; and Phlox with Archer, as well as professing how glad he is to see the Captain back.

Phlox does get to be a prime part of the story thanks to conversations with T'Pol and Archer, though I was surprised that he basically endorsed the Captain's decision to take the warp coil, as you'd think he'd be the sort to take the other stand. The scene with him and Archer talking was perfectly shot to accent the dark for dark business, and this was a good-looking episode, regardless of other shortcomings, with good directing it required to keep up the Season 3 pace and style: Conway has us looking through T'Pol's EVA suit helmet, which I'm not sure had been done before, and there's a quality shot looking in at Archer's pressurised chamber aboard the liquid-filled Aquatic ship - having the most computer-generated creatures part of the story broadens the impression of the Xindi race, although we don't really find out anything more about that particular branch. As I mentioned at the beginning, I was also excited by the phaser battle aboard the Illyrian ship, the action flowing, and the lighting increasing the danger, one of the few times in the episode where real peril was tangible, despite the close quarters and small corridor sets, something missing from most of the episode, which should have emphasised how badly the ship had been torn apart - show, don't tell. But a good continuation of the story in all, not special, but keeping the season moving.

***

Dr. Bashir, I Presume

DVD, DS9 S5 (Dr. Bashir, I Presume)

Seldom have I upgraded an episode's rating from a previous viewing, but that's exactly what I did on my last run through the series when I reached this one: from 'merely' Excellent to Near-Perfect. As I watched it again this time, I hoped it would live up to the Olympian standards I had wreathed about its neck, but to begin with I was struggling to remember why I had felt so strongly for it before. It wasn't until a good third of the way in that it became more than just a fun 'Voyager' crossover or comical romance, and soared to the heights of greatness (or Near-Perfectness, to be exact), living up to all expectations and cementing its position in my all-time favourite episodes list (if a list existed - I've never gone to the trouble of making it, it just sort of hangs in my brain like a cloud, the edges vague and undefined). It usually seems to be wise not to analyse what makes something work this well, because it's more about chemistry that is reliant on biology - a mix of chemicals zipping around a 'body' of work that just happens to be in the right ratio to be satisfying, usually working at all levels of the creative process: acting, directing, music, story and character (and maybe other aspects too, but I'm trying not to get too technical so as to fail to see the beauty of the wood for the trees), and this one had it all (okay, it never had a space battle, but you don't need those to get close to perfection).

Technically it's brilliant, the assured hand of David Livingston in control, ironic, since the title comes from the famous quote, 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume?' But it isn't just his direction that works so well, it's the advance of technology that makes having two Bashirs (or even two Zimmermans - Zimmermen?), look more real than it ever had before. Duplication of characters so they could appear with themselves was something that had been done in all the series' stretching back to 'TOS' (where it seemed like every other week there were two Kirks!), but even as recently as the previous year, the 'Voyager' Season 2 episode 'Deadlock' (a very good one, too), in which two Janeways work together, there was still the impression of having the pair face each other with an invisible dividing line down the centre of the screen, only amplifying the artificiality of the situation. Technology must have moved on, because we have Bashir standing next to his holographic double, following his conversation between the EMH, the LMH and Doc Z, or walking into the Infirmary as O'Brien joyfully steers the holo-Bashir repeatedly into a wall!

I always look for the scene in which we see Doc Z and his double, the EMH, standing next to Bashir and his double, the LMH, but it never happened. The closest we get is the aforementioned scene with two Bashirs and the EMH standing together, but that cuts to Doc Z at a console. Not that that small oversight would have tipped the episode over into Perfection, as that's pretty much an impossible state to achieve (although I'd rate the 'DS9 Companion' to be about as perfect as is possible), and it remains a fantastic moment (much like Brent Spiner's three-role extravaganza in 'Brothers'). Robert Picardo, like Armin Shimerman, had endeavoured to increase the scope of his character as far as possible. While Shimerman's Quark had graced the pilot of 'Voyager,' and one of the last episodes of 'TNG,' his small role in the ninth film, 'Insurrection,' was notoriously cut out and never seen again, but Picardo had appeared in the previous film, 'First Contact,' only months prior to this episode, and in fact, had played the character of Zimmerman in a 'Voyager' story that season, so his plan was working (sadly, neither Picardo or Shimerman ever made it to 'Enterprise,' but if Season 5 had happened…).

I'm actually of the opinion that Doc Z was a more multi-layered character than the Emergency Medical Hologram. The EMH was so ernest and honest, so good at impassioned speeches in the later seasons' incarnation. He, unsurprisingly, lost the grumpy, cutting side of his personality as he became more accepted, almost a vision of what Doc Z might have been had he had the opportunity to be accepted on a ship that relied on him because it was stranded many lightyears from home. What's compelling about Doc Z is his many flaws, and the way such a genius is forced to interact with the world around him. He has a sensitive side which comes out here, that is usually covered by rudeness and directness, but all sides of his personality are explored a little bit in this episode. It seems harsh to say it, but I think this is possibly Picardo and even the EMH's best episode, although I'm lumping the actor and character together in one body since they're basically the same man.

All this without even talking about Bashir. I always liked him, being English myself, he was an example of the nation and he was often fun and always so well acted, growing so much over the course of the series - one of the funniest lines, simply because it's so true and recalls the kind of antagonism that went on in the first season or two, is Kira's comment that she used to wish he'd just shut up! It's so true, she couldn't stand the brash, cocky, self-assured young man back then, but as we've discovered in these reviews, that wasn't who he remained. He changed a lot over time, and this point of the series and season marked the next stage of development for him. It's amazing that they could add in this major revelation about his life, that he was genetically enhanced as a child, and yet you can still watch the last five years of stories and it fits in with the way he was portrayed! There may be a scene here or there where you could express disbelief that someone who was enhanced did something, or failed to do something, but I can't remember any examples of that, and there's always been a small degree of inconsistency in Trek over the years, just from the vast numbers of episodes, characters, and facts that have been created. The point is that this retcon worked tremendously, and was in line with the changing outward personality of Bashir, moving from a fresh-faced, eager beaver, to a more restrained, caring person, and onwards from this point into a slightly world-weary genius.

If we're going to mention inconsistencies then this story has one of the biggest in Trek history, although it's only a line of dialogue. Rear Admiral Bennett should have known better than to say the Eugenics Wars and Khan had been two hundred years ago, but in his defence, he'd just come from a meeting, he was just going to a meeting, and his secretary was pestering him to sign various orders, his wife wanted to know his opinion on some new curtains, and he'd just been reading a 23rd Century book all about Khan, so (just like the writer of the episode, Ron Moore), he had the two hundred figure in mind, and forgot that he was now over a hundred years after that. That's the excuse I like to imagine for him, and Sisko wasn't going to correct him in front of civilians, so he got away with it. Either that or he was referring to a little known second Eugenics Wars which occurred in the 2090s, and got muddled about Khan. Right?

I have to single out the directing in this episode with high praise. It's not that we have shot after shot which takes your breath away in its complexity or scope, or that it's so expertly formed that it tells the story without you even noticing the technical side, but it does tell the story and tell it well, with certain choices staying with me after the episode had ended. A minor example is the way the holo-communicator was shot. Yes, it's the return of that technological advancement that meant a person appeared to be standing in the room talking to you, when in fact they were projected holographically, first used in 'For The Uniform.' This time it was made clearer that the person in question (Rear Admiral Bennett), was not real, by a stronger lighting contrast, so that he's bathed in brightness, like an angel. But what was different, and hadn't been done before, was the camera move which circles the subject, moving right behind him so we can see a three-dimensional entity, something not possible in the cramped confines of the Defiant, where the technology had appeared before. Other, more noteworthy shots include the view of the Dabo table at the end, with all the customers cheering (Livingston certainly got his crowd of extras this time!), the camera zooming in to follow a Klingon that breaks from the crowd, then goes in even further as he stomps up the staircase, picking out the dartboard right at the back of the bar as a dart hits the spot!

The interviews Doc Z conducts with Bashir's colleagues is also done superbly well, with one of those exceedingly rare times when characters are allowed to talk directly to camera, not breaking the fourth wall (as in last season's 'Rules of Engagement'), but as part of the story, since the audience is sitting where Zimmerman is. Not only the framing (with the bold curve of the wide window behind), but the way each question is actually addressed to the person who will appear next, though it seems like he's talking to the current interviewee. Granted, the credit must also go to the writing, but it's the direction that pulls it all together. These moments of comedy or deft control of a scene never overshadow important moments. The critical scene when Bashir tells O'Brien the tale of his childhood, is stripped bare of cuts, moves or any other device, it simply features Bashir perching in front of camera as if the audience is his confessor, his friend in the background. I can't imagine a scene like that being allowed to happen today where it's always cutting to stop people getting bored or losing interest with their short attention spans, but anything else would have taken away that direct cord to Bashir and lost some of that tension. A good director knows when to stay in one place - Livingston knew what he was doing.

One character that didn't know what he was doing was poor O'Brien. By this episode he doesn't know whether he's coming or going, you can see the expressions on his face morphing constantly as Bashir talks to him. And it's no surprise he's confused - he'd just spent several weeks with a fake Bashir (the changeling imposter), and now he learns the real Bashir is something of a fake too! Yet he doesn't lay into his mate, he responds as a true friend, encouraging the doctor with his words about Bashir not being a fraud - his ambition and compassion, his personality and interests, none of these were part of his enhancement, and he is who he is because of himself. The greatest proof of Bashir's true self is when he knows the secret will be out soon, Doc Z planning to inform Starfleet, and his Father advises him to fight it, take it all the way up the legal chain. Instead, Bashir wants to come clean, not make the problem worse or resign and cover over his life of lies. There's one of the best, if not the best, display of parental affection and honesty in the scenes between the Bashirs. His Mother appealing desperately to make him see that they were never ashamed of him, but wanted him to have a better life. Then his Father takes the fall for the crimes, allowing Julian to continue his Starfleet career.

It can never be a bad thing to meet a character's family because it's part of their history, it deepens our understanding of them, makes them more real. It had worked with Sisko's Father, the O'Brien family, Quark's, Worf's ("I have all the diagrams!"), even Odo meeting his people, solidifying these fictional creations even more than seeing them go on through their daily lives or off for adventures. Bashir's parents are maybe not what could have been expected. It would have been easy to jump to the conclusion of an Admiral Paris type, who drove his son hard, who never lived up to those parental expectations; someone posh and high up in the Federation, maybe; a brilliant scientist Mother who gave the doctor his curiosity and compassion for others. When it comes to it though, we find a man that has struggled through life, but it's easy to see where Bashir's puppy-like enthusiasm came from, as Richard is full of himself and always has something to say, while his wife, Amsha, is more reserved, a little more understanding of her husband than Julian, and together they make a family that could easily have been revisited. At the same time, I'm glad they came on for this one story and never showed up again, as it couldn't have been improved and it would just have been a cameo with no deeper meaning. Bashir's genetic heritage did come to the fore in two of Season 6's best episodes, 'Statistical Probabilities' (where he's charged with helping other 'enhanced' humans), and 'Inquisition' (where his history becomes a curse).

I haven't even got to the other story of the episode - I couldn't exactly call it the B-story because both Bashir's and Rom's trials are linked together through Doc Z, in the best tradition of 'DS9,' right down to a perfectly intertwined ending in which Bashir sees off his parents at an airlock, then leaves, and in the same shot Zimmerman and Leeta exit a Turbolift, heading for the same airlock, a bit like the ending to 'The Begotten' where Odo and Kira's stories both conclude at the airlock - almost makes me wish every story could finish there! Neither Rom nor Leeta have yet featured heavily in the series, though Rom had been more regular in his appearances in the first couple of seasons. It's easy to forget that the two characters didn't come into their own until the latter part of Season 5 onwards, as they were such a part of the broader canvas of life on the station. But just as Martok and Ziyal had been set up to be recurring characters in the previous two-parter, Rom and Leeta reached their proper places here. It gives the story a wider view than if it had been all closed doors and private conversations about the LMH or Bashir's secret, showing life on the station goes on, even when one particular character is going through a tough time.

What makes it work even better is how it brings out a different Doc Zimmerman, one that is lonely and full of persuasive charm instead of blunt and unimpressed (the way he asides 'let's go' to Bashir, instead of waiting for Sisko to dismiss them! And Captain Archer thought he came up with that one first…). We hear a little about his life on Jupiter Station, a place we'd eventually visit in the 'Voyager' episode 'Lifeline,' and how he'd love Leeta to come and live there. This story was ripe with the possibility of writing out both Bashir and Leeta - he could easily have resigned in disgrace, and she could have gone with Doc Z. Maybe she knew Rom would eventually measure up to the task and lose his inhibitions, or maybe she really was impressed with the Doc's offer of a new life. She certainly hadn't been singled out working for Quark, and working for a human was always going to be a better proposition than for a Ferengi (if you were female, of course). We hear a little about Ferengi marriage rituals, and that, as in most aspects of their culture, it's a contract, which can be for only five years! We hear the name of Rom's previous wife, Prinadora for the first time, though Quark's scolded him about her before now - in his own crude Ferengi way, he tries to cheer up his brother, never really understanding him, but going as far as Quark would go in being affectionate.

Rom's use of his lobes to listen in on Leeta and Zimmerman's conversation had been done in similar fashion by Quark in 'Looking for Par'Mach in All The Wrong Places,' and we know well the capabilities of a Ferengi's lobes, so why not show one actually tuning in like a satellite dish! Another thing: was the woman that Doc Z follows into the ship at the end, a Boslic? We hadn't seen one this season, but she had the same kind of forehead and clothing, just not the striking purple hair, but is that a feature of Boslic physiology, or just a preference of the Boslic Captain that was friends with Quark? I also have to point to the music, which is so confident and appropriate, a deeper theme within the storytelling that can go unnoticed. It has such a powerful effect in the background, something that took a step up this season, to be even stronger than it had been, but still not in your face. As is often the case, all components click together to form a more than delightful, perfectly judged mix of two stories, both equally amusing and sad, but ending happily, with the heroic values of self-sacrifice and honesty that you hope for in the best examples of Trek, every character getting their moment (even Morn!), a forty-four minute ride of delight: Jules didn't sparkle, but this treasure does.

*****