Spartan: Total Warrior

GameCube, Spartan: Total Warrior (2005) game

Hack and slash, slash and hack, hack-slash, slash-hack. Hackerty-slasherty, slasherty-hackerty… There aren't that many variations in this style of game, and after a short play I began to think I might have made a mistake in getting it, but I was pleased to discover that, while it's not a deep game that will absorb for long, or one that I'd go back and replay, it did have a little more to it than the average hack-slash-fighty game. I remember back in the days of the GameCube's lifespan playing one of 'The Lord of The Rings' games with someone who'd brought it along for me to try, and it was all very brown and all very samey, and my overriding memory is of jabbing buttons until that group of orcs had been dispatched, then running over here to activate a catapult or something, then going through the same formula over and over again. I may be unfair to the game as I didn't play more than a level or two, but neither did I want to, with no inclination to keep playing, despite the antics of a two-player experience, where a fellow human can make it a little more fun. What I'm getting at is that I rarely felt bored with this game, even though it's of the same oeuvre. For one, the locations and graphics were better, with some nice environments and wide open spaces, or the detailed workings of an entire network of city streets to explore. However, there remained a feeling of being led by the nose down a predetermined path, but it felt slightly less constraining thanks to the breadth of the levels.

The sense of scale was impressive in such an old game, and immediately it felt polished, right from the menu screen and cutscenes to the detail of the character models, the opening titles and sound effects boding well that this had been done by a good team, as you'd expect with the Sega name on the front (I was pleased to read in NGC Magazine that the development team had originally ported Amiga games to PC, and as an Amiga user myself that added a little extra respect from me). When you're in a group rushing towards an attacking enemy on the battlefield you really feel like part of a battle rather than the only soldier that matters, even if, in actuality, you are. But there's a good mix of storming the battlements, or defending your own walls; taking on missions deep in enemy territory, or commanding a task force of attackers intent on a purpose. And yet… From the people that brought you the 'Total War' series on computer, I'd have liked a little more of that depth and impression of control. I've never played the series, but from what I've seen of it, and playing other games like 'Age of Empires,' I always love that feeling of controlling an army, not just one character. A console game was always going to be simpler and more immediate, that's a given, but why did it always have to be that way? Could there not have been a way to control your allies (in the 'Rogue Leader' games you had a simple control wheel of options on the D-pad to get your wingmen to form up or go off alone). It seems a console game must have a strong focus on a single character, advanced by the story.

Except the story was never a strong point in this game, consisting mainly of continuous scenes of 'let's show these Romans what we're made of,' turning into a travelling story of you, Spartan, and your band of warrior mates. But it was so slight, and really just an excuse to get to the next action sequence. Did I ever care about any of the characters? No, not even when one of them gets killed near the end. The Spartan did have a voice, unlike, say, Link in 'The Legend of Zelda' who is you, so doesn't ever say anything, to protect the thoughts you're having, as it were and integrate you more strongly with the character. Somehow they had much better stories in the 'Zelda' games, despite that. The game is reminiscent of 'Zelda' in some ways, with combat very similar to Link's swordsmanship, the internal sound sometimes harking back to those classic dungeons of yore, the treasure chests, and the fact you even have to fight 'yourself' at one point! Other games it brought to mind were the 'X-Men Legends' titles (though without the depth of story, or the RPG elements of upgrading parts of yourself or building up a team), 'Minority Report' and 'Enter The Matrix' - action fare where you follow a predetermined path for the most part and hammer the buttons until the hordes are defeated. I like a bit more to my gameplaying experience.

Fortunately, this game did have a little bit more, certainly than those last two games: the combat system. This is what saved it from being a completely average game. Graphics are all well and good, but it's what you do within them that matters most. At first it did seem to be the usual hack and slash, jamming buttons as fast as you can to take out the opposing forces, which can get quite repetitive. But there was a noticeable difficulty curve and towards the end you really needed to master the Spartan's catalogue of moves to stand a chance of getting by: I had become a bit lazy, tapping buttons and rushing off to the next mob, but you eventually come up against more worthy opponents that can't be taken down in a swipe or two of your sword and need careful attention. You had to learn to fight properly, button-bashing could only get you so far. Whether it was rolling on the ground to put out flames if you caught fire, using the different strikes and shield attacks correctly, or knowing when best to use your secondary 'magical' attack, it made the game a little more thoughtful than it at first seemed. And when your health is low, and there are few top-ups around, you have to play it carefully, while also knowing when to boldly strike out. The long-knife-wielding assassins were among the most annoying enemies opposing you, often able to block your sword swipes, so you needed to stun them with your shield to be able to get a stab in. They could often block that too, so my tactic was to repeatedly push them up against a wall in order to keep them stunned enough to get an effective window of opportunity to strike.

There were also irritating archers who'd sap your health from distance, larger warriors you needed to expend some careful consideration on, and all the while you'd be taking out lowly Romans that were more like ants underfoot, though if you gave them an opening they'd chop at you like any other enemy. You might have to deal with a whole group of these mixed enemies requiring different tactics and some thought (or at least reaction and instinct), had to be applied to keep yourself from becoming poked and prodded to death. That was all very well, but you might also have to protect an ally! One of the scenarios that took me longest to complete was in the busy city streets, preserving the intensely irritating Archimedes from harm - not since Natalya in 'Goldeneye' had such an annoying ally been under my protection, squawking and whining, you almost wish he'd die! But it was also quite a fulfilling experience, because in spite of being another of those 'travel A-to-B, fighting,' you had to learn to improve your abilities, using every advantage to slay the attackers and assassins before they either took you out or Archimedes. It was thoroughly satisfying when you eventually did successfully make it to the end. Similarly, I felt the game worked best when you had to protect something from the onrushing hordes, my other most satisfying experience protecting the grain towers from continuous attacks, then taking out Gigantes giants who needed other tactics entirely (the best way I found was to get them to charge through fire at you, giving you time to get in a few blows while they recovered).

The bosses, too, could be a challenge, even early ones such as Medusa and Crassus were tricky, and it was quite addictive to keep trying until they were defeated. There were often little tactics you had to learn to defeat them, while also taking on their minor soldiers here and there, sent to distract you. And you were sometimes confined in the space you had, such as in the fire-walled Beowulf battle in which he comes at you with a massive hammer. One thing that was a disappointment to me, and it may have been just me not realising how to do it, was not being able to choose which of these beaten warrior's' arsenal you could use as your secondary option. Granted, Medusa's Shield was probably the best, with its ability to rain down rays of stone-making power that converted all soldiers on the battlefield into unmoving statues for a time, giving you a free hand to run or destroy as you saw fit, but it would have been nice to have the option to use Beowulf's hammer, or the other weapons you collected. But as I say, it might just have been me not knowing how to select between them, though I couldn't find anything about it in the manual.

One thing I really liked was the heartbeat sound effect which occurred when things became fraught or you were on a roll - listening through headphones I at first thought it was my own, as the fighting could get you pumping when you had multiple things to keep track of! The game was rated 15, and I suppose it was quite violent for a 'Cube title as you decapitate and slice your way through, but because it was done so fast and in the usual console-game style of flashes, bangs, and a swirl of lighting effects, it never felt realistic, and you couldn't really make out the details in the fury of battle - perhaps in that respect it was true to life? Apart from the action there isn't much else to it, though you could try to find all the 'secrets.' These were a bit weak, limited to locating chests on the battlefield rather than any real degree of exploration or interaction with the environment. Very old-skool, it could almost be 'Gauntlet,' without the charm. These so-called secrets would consist of concept art you could view in a gallery, or pieces for Arena mode, simply an extra game where you could fight enemy waves for a high-score, very much in the old style of gaming. Not a bad addition, and I had a go, but I've never been one to play games much where the idea is to repetitively try for a high score. The art was a bit basic a thing to unlock, and I'd have preferred Archimedes' diary had been readable rather than being another piece of unlockable arena object or art. Still, it was a reasonable array of extras, games at that time starting to get more into unlockables and bonus content (and I even recognised Jason Isaacs in the credits as Sejanus, so they were also starting to get known talent for the voice acting!).

The aspect of the game that stopped it being anything more than a solid experience, was that like so many games, you rarely felt in control of your environment or the way you could interact with it. They were detailed, and, for the time, pretty vast, but with generally duller colours in the worlds you went through, coupled with bright slashing effects and so many bodies on screen it could sometimes make it difficult to see your character. And yet it could feel fairly epic at times due to sheer weight of numbers and size of battlefields, and all with good motion capture, seen best in cutscenes. The option to replay levels was appreciated - in some games you could only replay by starting a new game file, having saved over your file to progress, but in truth I never went back to find the secrets I'd missed or for the fun of it. As much as I'll have some good memories of hard-fought battles I can't imagine going back to it, just as I couldn't with the other 'Cube games I mentioned. I said there were no RPG aspects to the game, but you could upgrade health, power and strength at the end of each over-level, and once all three meters were maxed out you'd go up a level to a new hero, though that kind of makes the option to choose where to spend those credits redundant - it could have done with more development. The ending was weak: defeat Ares (shock twist: he's the guy behind it all!), then the game stops and it's off to the credits, but I like the title's synergy with its parent brand, especially as I could see it as a spinoff series with multiple 'Total Warrior' games like 'Total War,' though I don't know if they ever did make it a series.

***

The Sound of Her Voice

DVD, DS9 S6 (The Sound of Her Voice) (2)

A golden opportunity was missed with this one - not in the story, with it's sci-fi portions, or in any other respect, just in terms of Jadzia Dax and how little she was used. I know in spirit Terry Farrell had left, off out auditioning and basically unavailable (at least Colm Meaney's back into the regular category now), but I wish they'd been more forceful in keeping her to the eleventh hour for these last few episodes. She had a b-story in previous episode 'Time's Orphan,' but, this being her penultimate appearance, I felt she really should have been a major part of it. They could have halved or cut Bashir's conversations with Lisa to allow Dax to talk, relaying all her hopes for the future to this woman, making it all the more tragic that both women were effectively dead: Lisa in real terms, Dax in the short term. This would have been a real gut-punch, especially to people re-watching the series, knowing her end was coming. Not that I have anything against Julian, it's just his chats were more about his brilliance, or Lisa teasing him about it (one of the best moments of the episode is when she pretends to be attacked by some creature, even used seriously as a pre-ad break cliffhanger, then talks in a troll's voice, pretending it's eaten her, just to get the Doctor's attention - that's the kind of person she is!). Keeping a woman conscious and alive by talking to her makes for a perfect dramatic framing device and turns the episode into one of the 'DS9' stage plays. I could genuinely imagine this as a play, as it's mostly people in rooms, talking. If, as Q says, the real exploration is within, then this is the perfect Trek episode, because it affords us the chance to see beyond the outer personas of these people, into their inner psyches.

Captain Lisa Cusak can get at the heart of these people thanks to her incredibly open and yet sharp mind, mischievous sense of humour, and general ability to keep her and everyone else's spirits up. And because she's a stranger, a disembodied voice, with no prior connection, even out of the circle of current events for the last eight years (or more…), it gives her licence to ask difficult questions without fear of causing offence. It's most noticeable in her interactions with Sisko, Captain to Captain, who has a hard time admitting that Kasidy Yates' presence aboard the Defiant is unsettling for him, Lisa telling him it's because it's uncomfortable mixing home life with his job. In a way, he does that all the time, as Commander of a station always on duty. But a station also tends to be quieter than a starship, and with Kasidy a roving Freighter Captain she's not always around. Is it commitment he's wary of, too? Having lost his first wife in the Borg attack perhaps he's subconsciously unaware that he wants to keep Kasidy away from him and the midst of danger in time of war. This is pure speculation and I'm travelling a little deeper into the ideas than they did, but it's clear that for Sisko, at least, work and home don't mix. We've seen him a little disconcerted before, such as when he's had dealings with Kasidy in an official capacity - unfortunately it was one of those times she let him down, by turning out to be working, distantly, for the Maquis. So his discomfort has basis in more than the personal. It's also the fact that she can undermine his authority because in their personal life they're equals.

He doesn't give Kasidy enough credit, however. She wouldn't undermine his authority, but it must be a little difficult for her, too, as she probably feels as if she's beginning to have to walk on eggshells. It probably started out fine when they were first on the convoy mission, Kasidy's role as liaison between the freighters and the Defiant the reason she's there now as they head home. But it was a long mission and everyone's tired, so the barriers have come down and Sisko isn't doing such a good job of keeping his personal feelings to himself. Not that he's ever been a Vulcan, anyway! I like the whole idea of having Sisko forced to work with Kasidy on his ship, but I would have liked things to go a bit further, perhaps get heated like in 'The Ship' when everyone's bubbling up with sarcasm and irritation. It might not have been so cosy to watch, but we never see things get out of hand, Kasidy upset only in a quiet way, restrained way, as seen when Sisko goes over to her at the wake. Then she's free to show her body language against Sisko, not constrained by trying to help him do a good job and or keep out of his way. Actually, it's good that things didn't get heated aboard ship as Kasidy was always a fiery personality and if she'd been more selfish she could have caused problems for Ben by acting up and not being professional about it all. But that's why we like her, she really does care about Sisko.

Not that Sisko is really constrained. While he has Kasidy in the back of his mind all through the mission, he demonstrates the kind of decision-making that a Captain must make when the rescue is endangered by lack of speed. The Defiant won't get there in time to save Lisa, O'Brien saying it will shake itself apart above Warp 9 (I wanted Sisko to shout, "Then fly her apart!" a la Sulu in 'Star Trek VI'!), unless they drain the phaser reserves to use that power to hold her together. Worf strongly advises against making the ship vulnerable in case they come up against Jem'Hadar, even though the odds are remote, and Sisko must make his choice. He chooses to take the risk in order to save Lisa and it pays off, or it would have if not for the cruel sting in the tale. It's not really a cruel twist, it's a melancholy realisation that they couldn't have saved her no matter what, because she actually died three years before: classic sci-fi. We've grown to care about this woman with her strong and vibrant character, a tribute to the writers for crafting such a strong personality devoid of physical characteristics, and for she's allowing us to know our characters even better, so it's fitting that Sisko refuses to bury her in a cave on an alien world, far from home, in favour of taking her back for burial among the new friends she's made. The mission wasn't futile, as while they were racing to get to her, they were also talking all the while, getting to know her, baring their souls. She gave them something they might never have had, and in return her last hours were shared in good company. She was privileged to hear of a future she'd never see, but most importantly she didn't die alone and forgotten, and in that short time developed friendships and left people to mourn her.

When you think about it there must be other starships out there that get lost and are never heard from again. As in previous centuries on Earth's seas, the vast ocean of space is full of unknown dangers, and yet the spirit of exploration is at the heart of Trek, what it's all about. There must be other starships going off on long missions - the USS Olympia would have been lost with all hands and without trace if not for the Defiant stumbling upon the signal. But for all the sadness of Lisa's predicament she died in blissful ignorance of the hopelessness of the situation, keeping that hope burning even though it seemed the rescue would be tight - did they factor in the energy barrier surrounding the planet? It was all well and good rushing to the rescue, but if they'd warped up on time and then had nothing left to play with to work out a way through, it would have been all for naught. I wonder if their experiences in 'Children of Time' helped in some way. Initially they didn't know about the barrier sending the signals from the past, but after the truth was known it must have resonated with that previous experience where another energy barrier caused time travel, the Defiant crashing into the past to spawn a colony of descendants. This one is probably the slightest time travel in the history of Trek, with only three years and only audio transmissions travelling, but it's no less effective for that.

The attention to detail is, as ever, very good, with the remains of Captain Cusak covered by a Starfleet uniform from the 'TNG' era (though I couldn't tell if it was the Season 1 'go faster stripes' version!), since her ship set out on its eight year mission eleven years before the episode, which would put it one year before the Enterprise-D began its own. I could see a TV series set aboard the USS Olympia, especially with such a well-written and fun character in command as Lisa, and it would be fascinating to delve into the Beta Quadrant, ironically the least-mentioned part of our Galaxy, even though both the Klingons and Romulans are supposed to have territory within it. It could make for an interesting series, not as 'far' as the Gamma or Delta Quadrants, close enough for Starfleet to be sending ships there, but still years from home, with no chance to pop back to Earth if they were having problems with story ideas!Another episode this reminds me of is last season's 'In The Cards,' in which Jake and Nog inadvertently end up giving joy to everyone after the war has been getting them all down. There's a similar morose exhaustion in this episode, and again all it takes is one person to give a different perspective, take people out of themselves, and for that they were always going to be grateful to Lisa.

Both stories in this episode aren't what they seem. Lisa isn't actually alive, and Quark doesn't actually beat Odo, but it's a surprising glimpse of the true friendship between Quark and Odo - even though they aren't on the mission to rescue Lisa they also show a side of themselves that we don't tend to see: Odo's sense of justice allows him to bend the rules and allow Quark to get away with a profitable crime, and Quark has Jake to confide in about how much he feels Odo owes him for the understanding and advice that helped him win Kira. It was a fun pairing to have Jake in on one of the Ferengi's schemes, explained by the fact that Jake needs inspiration for a crime novel he's writing and comes to Quark to get it - he couldn't have a better teacher! It's great to see Jake and Quark in a story full stop, albeit a b-story, as they were both characters that had got a little lost in the shuffle during the war, to one extent or another. Once again we see the irony of Nog, Mr. Starfleet, having been the one to aspire and reach for that, while Jake is the one of the pair to end up hanging around Quark's Bar learning from his friend's uncle, the master of nefariousness. It's just one of those delightful turnarounds the series was so good at, and because it's a station-bound story with no relevance to the war, it feels like a Season 1 or 2 tale, and I like that they could still do that in spite of the 'big events' all around. They were important, but they could also play a part as backdrop to our characters, it wasn't the other way around, with the characters at the mercy of the overarching story as so many serialised narratives are.

Odo is the kind of man that takes justice into his own hands, regardless of the law. And for once he agreed with Quark that he owed him for helping him to achieve happiness in his life. He wouldn't have gone along with it if it had been a directly dangerous or damaging crime, but because it's just Quark earning illegal profit he lets it go. He sees how Quark really feels for once, as the Ferengi talks of how he listened to and advised Odo even when Kira had Shakaar (he could be referring to 'Crossfire'). Kira's in on it, too, though Odo keeps the truth about how he came to the idea of celebrating their first dinner together, to himself. A wise man! They both look down on Quark from on high, like the ancient gods of Greece, observing the mere mortals as we see Quark excitedly go off to claim his fortune, and it turns into a compliment from Kira about how she keeps finding out new things about Odo, so everyone was a winner. I'd have liked to have seen the Nausicaan business partner on the station, as we don't see them often, and I wonder if the viewscreen conversation was stock footage, as the Nausicaan doesn't say anything, but seeing Quark go off triumphantly was a good way to end his story. This Nausicaan must be more intelligent than most members of the race we've seen, as he changes his comm signature as soon as Quark's ended the message. My first thought about this guy coming to the station with Odo on duty would be Quark fearing for his life, as the Nausicaan might think he'd been crossed, but instead, Quark just thinks of Odo arresting him.

We see a good deal of the Defiant on this mission. Some areas are well known, like Engineering, Crew Quarters, the Mess Hall and the Bridge. But we also see what could be Bashir's Sickbay, or perhaps a side office from it (they've obviously done some redecorating since the ship first came to DS9 as originally it barely even had a Sickbay), following last episode when we also saw Sickbay. We're given the barest of glimpses of the Shuttlepod Bay as Shuttlepod Chaffee (not named in the episode), exits the Defiant from beneath in exactly the same way as they went on to launch Shuttlepods from the NX-01 in 'Enterprise,' so there's some degree of connection once again (I've always felt that series had the most links to 'DS9,' though not in quality, and it's a shame the 'DS9' writers hadn't been in control of it). I'm not certain, but Sisko's mention of a Shuttlepod, may be the only reference to them on Trek prior to 'Enterprise.' I love the design of the tiny vessel, it's engines matching the style of its mothership. It's so cramped inside that we don't get a good view of the cockpit at all, the camera forced up against the three officers' faces, with no room to manoeuvre. Maybe they didn't even build any consoles and just had the actors sit in a shell? The only time I can remember the 'pod being used before was when we first met the Defiant in 'The Search,' Odo taking the unconscious Kira aboard to escape, but that could have been an escape pod…

The Defiant may not be quite as cramped as the Shuttlepod, but I love how the sense of isolation that O'Brien speaks of is emphasised by the camera pulling away from him in the confined space of his quarters. It wasn't all doom and gloom, though, Lisa bringing some light into their lives - I especially enjoyed their views correlating on Counsellors aboard starships, both having doubts as to their validity, even though O'Brien admits to liking some of them personally (I wanted him to mention Deanna Troi by name!). It's a pertinent topic as they'd soon be getting one on the station (or a new one if they'd already had one before). On the other hand, if O'Brien had talked to a counsellor he might not have become unable to talk about losing his friends to them. It sounds like he'd agreed to talk to one by the end of their conversation, but it could be that he meant he'd open up to his friends. Either way, that became redundant when they discover Lisa's death, and the Chief had his opportunity to speak openly and honestly in front of his friends. The Irish wake was a lovely scene, but it's always sad to see the camera linger on Dax and Worf as O'Brien talks of a day when they may lose one of the people in this circle and that the others shouldn't have to mourn alone. Worf's comment about the wake being almost Klingon gave me another flashback to 'The Ship' where he and O'Brien overcome their differences by watching over Muniz' coffin on the journey home. It's good to see the tradition of using a torpedo casing as coffin, (first begun for Spock in 'Star Trek II'), continue, but sad that it would be used again all too soon.

Some oddities stood out in the episode, such as why Sisko moved his coffee cup towards Kasidy when he's called to the bridge? Was it for her to finish, as I suspect, or did he want her to put it in the Replicator for him, a sign he's domesticated her? I'm sure it was the first, but it wasn't clear from the scene so you can get both readings from it! I also thought it strange that in all the years Worf's known the Chief, both on the Enterprise and the station, he's never been to an Irish wake and knows nothing about it, but when you think about all those people they must have memorialised over the years, especially for so many under him he'd have known as Chief of Security, it seems amazing the Chief never got Worf along to one. I also felt it was amazing that with all these conversations covering both personal and galactic, no one ever mentioned the date, or any date that would cause Lisa to question why it didn't add up. And was there no record of when the USS Olympia launched its mission? I'd have thought that details about her and her ship would be the first things they'd check up on! I enjoyed the reference to tri-ox, which had been used as far back as 'TOS' (McCoy gave Kirk a shot for the atmosphere of Vulcan, for example), but it also made me think that if the air is thin and she needs this tri-ox, maybe talking so much wasn't very helpful as it would deplete her oxygen much quicker. Still, it wouldn't have made it last three years, so it didn't make any difference, and the episode would have been very different if she hadn't been conversing with them!

The cave set in which they find Lisa once again displays the ingenuity of the Trek production staff. It's just the same old rocky set they'd always used, but this time we have a rainstorm beating down into it, which I'm sure wasn't an easy effect to achieve, especially at this point in the season when you're working on your penultimate episode. I'm always amazed how they could re-imagine such a standard layout to create such different effects. I also enjoy hearing about classes of planet, this example being a Class-L, a type we've seen before (in 'The Ascent' Odo and Quark crashed on this type of planet). Other enjoyable things included another Trek reference with Lisa mentioning an Andorian whose antennae used to follow her around the room on Andor (she definitely says Andor, not Andoria, so perhaps that's the older designation?), Odo and Kira dressing up in period 1920s French garb, Kasidy complaining about the paperwork (she makes Starfleet sound a lot less fun!), and Morn being spun round on a barstool to prove how safe they are to a sceptical Odo. I can't say I really noticed that the usual stools all had backs to them, but there are such layers of detail to this series, it's unbelievable. The effects work, from Odo reforming out of a couple of barrels having spied on Quark in the Cargo Bay, to the Shuttlepod passing through the energy barrier, are all particularly slick, and the episode doesn't put a foot wrong in its production.

I thought it strange how Sisko just jumps straight into conversation with Lisa once he's decided they're all going to keep her company in that way, in the middle of Engineering with everyone else standing around him. I suppose he didn't know how personal Lisa was going to get at that point… I'd have liked to have seen the scene where Sisko explains over dinner how he can't work with Kasidy around! I wonder how well she took it, or whether she'd already suspected it enough to have accepted the situation, as evidenced by her question to O'Brien over whether he minds her presence. It's not often we see a civilian coordinating with a starship, let alone serving aboard it, so Kasidy was walking in an unknown world, even though she's a Captain herself, and could probably imagine what it would be like if she had to have Sisko on her ship while she was commanding - that might have made for an interesting mirror to hold up in another episode. Something else I wondered at was people referring to Saturday and Sunday. It could just be the Universal Translator doing its work, and they were actually saying something completely different, or perhaps the Federation standard week is comprised of the Earth standard week, and everyone follows that. I don't recall us ever hearing of the Bajoran terms for the different days, or even if they have the same number of days, what with their twenty-six hour clock.

At the end, as they all toast Lisa, it feels like the ripple of the final curtain to come for them all - how they'd all be going their separate ways by the end of the series. Here, they take time to celebrate their friendship, and even though it was probably more a ripple for the season finale it still has a further resonance of the absolute conclusion, just as in the previous episode O'Brien says he'll get a transfer rather than be parted from his family again - the inklings of the dissolution of the series and its characters, 'a generation's final journey begins,' to steal the last tag line of a 'TNG' production. I strongly credit Rick Kolbe, who did an excellent job directing the episode, totally getting what was required for such a sensitive, talky piece. I wonder if Kira and Odo should have been at the wake, though? Dax never showed herself on the Defiant and she's in full attendance (even if she would never be one to miss a party), so we must assume she spoke to Lisa (unless she was simply accompanying her husband, Worf). But Odo and Kira definitely weren't aboard the Defiant, so they never encountered Captain Cusak, but the way the group is talking it feels like all the main cast should be together for that moment. Except they had their own celebration to hold, and it wasn't really necessary for everyone to be at the event, it was just the sentiments that made it more than just a memorial for one Starfleet officer, but a casting out of the series as a whole, a gauge or reminder, a signpost to the end, and it feels strange that not everyone is present.

****

Evolution Part 2

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S7 (Evolution Part 2)

For a moment there I thought this might be a three-parter, as things looked bleak: many more 'Kull Warriors,' as Anubis calls them, than they had anticipated, but of course the story goes on without needing to be a multi-parter. I also thought this might turn into an Earth-bound adventure, as O'Neill must go off to rescue Daniel and Dr. Lee (who has a rough time of it, though Jackson did the heroic thing and led the kidnappers away from the exhausted doc - I'll bet he starts going to the gym after this experience!). And on the other side of the story, Carter's in charge of a mission to infiltrate Anubis' base using her Dad, Jacob, to sneak in under the captured warrior's armour. What happened to the warrior, did it die? No mention of it at all. It didn't make a lot of sense, and I was expecting Thoth, the chief Goa'uld, to ask him "aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper," but apparently one size fits all, and no one notices that Jacob's a rather diminutive example of the creatures. Fortunately they're rarely expected to speak (except to praise Anubis), so that didn't give him away, but you'd think sensors would immediately show that it wasn't the kind of being supposed to be inhabiting the suit. Mind you, they wouldn't have expected anyone to take it alive, and their overconfidence has always been their downfall.

Talking of overconfidence, O'Neill has to deal with an old 'buddy' from his past who's almost as irritating as Mayborn. I'm still not sure which story to believe about the guy, but I can give him the benefit of the doubt that it really was his last story about their mutual friend turning on him, and working for a warlord, especially as he blasts the shooter who's about to take out Jack and Daniel. It's just that this Burke seems so unstable. Not a character I would especially want to see again. The kidnapper whom he defeats keeps coming back from the dead after he's been shot by his boss for dissent, then stored next to the 'Fountain of Youth' artefact all night. That doesn't explain how O'Neill could shoot him full in the chest and he still keeps coming, since when his former kidnapping associates gunned him down after he went mad and started shooting up the camp, he was lying around for a while before he came after them. I can only speculate that each time he was 'killed' it made the ancient device work more strongly to heal him, but I'm sure if O'Neill had kept shooting he would have been stopped in his tracks. But then we wouldn't have had the reconciliation between him and Burke at the end, which was the point of having his character in the first place, rather than any old guide. And at least Daniel showed some intelligence by coming up with a clever way to escape the wooden shack: create a tourniquet around the planks with a boot and some rags, then twist it open!

Carter's mission didn't have such a strong objective, as they just pop in to see what Anubis is up to and there are the usual shenanigans of being discovered and having to run back to their ship. Good job Jacob's got a symbiote to sustain him as it can't be good for the old guy to be dashing around like that. These Kull are so dangerous that they'll even latch onto a fleeing ship and smash their way in, as one does in this case. For some mysterious reason it doesn't shoot Carter on sight, but decides to stride over and give her a blow across what I thought was the face, but she has a broken arm later, so it must have been the arm. Apart from the fact she's a main character and cannot die (although the artefact might have been useful to bring her back if that had happened), there was no reason for it to hold fire. Maybe it just doesn't like shooting women, because it certainly fired all it had at the men! The mission is something of a success as they do find another queen ready to give birth to symbiotes for more of the warriors. These particular symbiotes will be a blank slate without the host queen's memories which will make them tougher, stronger and more fearsome (or some other combination of devastatingly dangerous qualities). This makes me wonder why all symbiotes aren't blank slates so the Goa'uld can be stronger, tougher, etc?

Sergeant Siler's on hand to help Jacob into the warrior's armour, and for once he's not sporting or complaining about an injury! There isn't really anything else to write home about, it's a straightforward story that doesn't build on part one, just continues from where they left off. I'm generally not excited about the real world episodes they sometimes do, and at least the kidnapping story was leavened by the visit to Anubis's base, it just once again shows that these warriors aren't so terrible - if you can sneak in and out of a base where there are thousands, then what's to worry about? There just wasn't enough tension in the air, I never doubted they'd escape, and the time when something really bad could happen, a Kull getting into the ship as they escape, it pulls its punches for no reason. Yes, everything was a happy ending, with even an odd frisson between Carter and O'Neill that appears, again with very little to set it off except perhaps they were worried about each other while each was off on another mission (though Carter seemed more concerned about her Dad at the time, and O'Neill with rescuing Daniel), but if they want to throw that stuff in there again, then fine. I felt it was just another messy episode, as well-shot and acted as it was, with the chase in the jungle a noteworthy action scene, but not a lot more to it than that, and because it's just the uncovering of information, mostly, it ends up feeling unfinished in the story department.

**

Terra Prime

DVD, Enterprise S4 (Terra Prime)

Strange, when I first saw this two-parter I preferred the second part, but now my opinion is reversed. It's not that it's a bad episode, and to its credit everyone is markedly involved in the story, this being the sort of, kind of, half-official, actual conclusion to the series' timeline (since the finale is a flashback to historical events, and is as much about saying goodbye to all of Trek on TV as it is for concluding 'Enterprise'), but… The villains are a good place to start, the evil Terra Prime terrorist group who, masterminded by John Frederick Paxton (he's got a long name and wears a tie so he must be bad!), had succeeded in taking control of the defence weapon for blasting stray comets in the system to deflect them from Earth or inhabited bodies. And they're not afraid to use it, threatening the very seed of interstellar exploration, Starfleet Command itself! But as long as all aliens leave, they won't destroy the place. Trouble is, they seem pretty stupid, or ill-informed, with Daniel, the man guarding Trip, believing the Vulcans should have stopped World War III back in the day, and thinks Vulcans want to control humans, etc, but all these things make no sense when we hear from Trip what Vulcans are really like. And wanting aliens to step in and save us from our own mistakes goes completely against Terra Prime's mandate. But that's the thing, like all evil organisations they aren't consistent: with an obvious parallel with Hitler to draw (the founder of the force to kill off all non-Aryans, wasn't), since Paxton needs alien medical treatment for a condition he has - Archer points out that Colonel Green, Paxton's hero, would have had him exterminated!

Paxton counters by saying it's now that matters, basically, and seeing the inconsistency of these villains turns them from calculating, intelligent threat, into standard bad guy bozos. I also feel the drop in quality from when the series began: when you look at the pilot, 'Broken Bow,' there's an amazing fight between Archer and Silik that was as inventive as it was exciting. Here, Paxton is defeated in his little control room, basically running out of oxygen (though that doesn't stop him wasting air to triumphantly explain that his mining days have given him greater resilience against oxygen deprivation, as Archer and he fight for the control of the weapon - this is the calibre of enemy we're dealing with!). It is a good moment when we think the weapon is about to wipe out Starfleet HQ, and then it hits the water instead of the San Francisco Bay area (in a visual strikingly reminiscent of the drill blast in 'Star Trek XI' - did they get inspiration for that from seeing this episode?), Trip having recovered enough in the next room to divert the beam. But it's such a limp defeat, and I'm not even sure if Paxton was just unconscious or dead. A far more dramatic ending for him would have seen him sucked out of the opening, or even to show him on trial for his crimes.

At least we finally got to visit Mars, a planet that's always been part of the Trek mythos, particularly well known for being the location of the Federation's foremost shipyards, Utopia Planitia, seen in holographic form when the Doctor on 'Voyager' took Denara Pel to the hills above. This time, Archer, Reed, Mayweather and Phlox get to traverse some of the actual ground there, near Utopia Colony, presumably the forebear to the shipyards, after the ingenious use of a comet to cover their entry path (though surely the point of the weapon was to blast such comets so they couldn't do any damage, yet we see it smash hard into the surface of Mars - maybe Paxton wasn't using the weapon for its intended purpose, conserving the power to attack Earth). It's good that we got to Mars, but the actual production wasn't so good, recreating an alien planet like that difficult at the best of times, especially with shrinking time and budget as the series headed for closure. They could have saved some money by not wearing those odd green and white outfits! Why didn't they just use EV suits or standard uniforms, or was it for disguise in case they were seen as Starfleet from a distance? The Shuttlepod approach looked good, battered in the debris from the comet, but why did they have to fly in on the tail of it anyway, couldn't they have used three-dimensional thinking and approach from the other side of the planet, or did Paxton have satellites and sensors to detect all approaches? While the CG sequence looked great in close-ups, the comet seen from distance had no weight or presence at all.

I do like the concept of the story, that a group of humans bitter at aliens work to reverse progress, warning all non-humans to leave, at the very time a Coalition of Planets is in its formative stages. Their opposition could almost be called the catalyst to the Federation, except that it's said the Coalition could take years to get back on track after trust is weakened by the incident, and it's recognised that humans aren't quite ready to accept the inevitable change. It would be six long years after the date of this episode (2155-2161), before the United Federation of Planets would be born, and before that we'd have had a four-year war between Earth and Romulus, beginning in 2156 (oh, how I wish we'd got Season 6!), so Paxton's group and its aims were successful, they did slow the rise of the Coalition (just witness the ire of Andorian Ambassador, Thoris, at the danger they're in - played by Joel Swetow, who had been in 'DS9' and 'TNG'), they just weren't very clever about it - take control of the biggest gun in the Solar System and point it at Earth! Not the subtlest of gestures. They should have infiltrated the echelons of power - we already saw that they had operatives all over the place, including on Enterprise herself, but they failed in the Romulan way of extreme subterfuge, unable to contain their rage and hatred at the 'other,' when they could have been an insidious insider force like Section 31, and brought down the Coalition from within. It would have been fun if we found out the Romulans were behind it Terra Prime, just as they were with the Vulcan and Andorian situations earlier in the season.

Section 31 would have been a good role model, except that by the end of this you're thinking they're not so bad after all! Harris has never had any of the menace or exuded the unknown power that Sloan did, as I've mentioned in previous reviews, but he's happy to help Reed here, even wishing him well and shaking his hand like they're old buddies! It's good that we got to see them way back in the timeline as they were on 'Enterprise,' but there's a distinction between using them and using them well, and Harris just wasn't the man for the job of selling 31 as this enigmatic, horribly dangerous insider force - nothing against Eric Pierpoint, he's just playing what's there, but if only they'd taken the opportunity for some stunt casting and got Andrew Robinson in as a much more twisted operative with whom you were kept on the back foot (in emulation of Garak - he could have been amazing). Also, you'd think this would be exactly the kind of direct threat to Earth that Section 31 would deal with, but instead it's left up to Archer and the gang to do it all. I suppose things might have been slightly complicated if we'd seen 31 operatives running around as well as Archer and his people going in under the radar, Terra Prime spies, and Starfleet Intelligence (why didn't Gannet tell Mayweather when she first came aboard that she was SI?), but the series could have done with a greater degree of complexity.

One thing I always remembered was that Kelby, in one of these episode, turned out not to be a villain. I suppose it was expected that a character who had only been in a few episodes had been put there as a spy, it had been done so often before. But although this episode was not even close to the quality of the 'DS9' Season 1 finale, 'In The Hands of The Prophets' with the assassination attempt by an insider, it did at least turn the expectation on its head, Kelby turning out not to be the enemy after all. But that gives rise to another problem, because Ensign Masaro is just another face of the week, so we don't care about him in the slightest. When he commits suicide it would have been more dramatic if he'd vaporised himself, rather than just putting a phaser to his head, as it wouldn't matter where you put the phaser if it was on kill - was it for shame he did it, as I never got any sense of the power of Terra Prime to exact vengeance on failed operatives? Actually we don't know if he was vaporised as his death happens off screen, oddly, Trek had never shied away from grisly phaser deaths before. The trouble with 'Enterprise' was the lack of recurring characters. Yes, you had Soval, Shran, Silik, Daniels, Admiral Forrest, and, to an extent, Crewman Cutler, but we didn't get to know the crew beneath Archer and his main team. Kelby was an attempt to do that, and he was obviously meant to be there for conflict with Trip, having gained command of Engineering and then to lose it again when Tucker chose not to transfer to the NX-02, but he could have done with a lot more development.

I will say this for the episode, it made sure to use all the main cast: Mayweather gets to pilot the Shuttlepod in a truly risky manoeuvre, and makes up with Gannet; Reed's there to get the intel from Harris, and along for the 'pod ride (mainly to be nauseous), and even Phlox gets an emotional scene where he talks of his crewmates as the unexpected family he discovered. That was something else that the episode did, stretching back its hand to the start of the series, reminding us how they began (one reason the fight with Paxton showed up so badly, for me, when it could have been so much more dramatic with air whistling out and a fight to the death), with the Doctor admitting he joined the mission for diversion and to escape the complications of Denobulan family life for a while. Hoshi's past, too, is broached, Archer now confident enough in her to leave her in charge when he leads the rescue mission, noting that she used to jump at the sound of the engines, or something, and now look where she is. She did well under pressure in the Big Chair, despite Samuels proving that it doesn't matter what era you're in, if you command the Enterprise you're going to have a bureaucrat breathing down your neck at the most pressurised moment, urging you to hurry up and take the big decisions! Hoshi's relief at Archer's voice over the comm is evident, the decision weighing heavily upon her - it looked like she was about to carry out her orders, sealing so many of her friends' deaths, one of the best moments of the episode. I'd have loved to see more of Hoshi in command (but is an Ensign the highest rank left aboard? It's like Harry Kim having command!).

T'Pol and Trip, as ever, get plenty of screen time, captives of Terra Prime, with T'Pol having some nice moments of Vulcan-like formalness with her genetic daughter. It was a really nice move to name her Elizabeth after Trip's dead sister, giving us reason to care for this otherwise genetically created baby that came out of the blue (we find out that the spy aboard Enterprise stole their DNA, Paxton can't help boasting at his reach and influence, as all weak baddies do). Oddly, T'Pol is at her most Vulcan-like unemotional state after the death of the baby, whereas throughout the episode she flares up or becomes excitable when her Vulcan calm should be in control, in the way that we've had to get used to over the series. It's one thing I never liked about her, she's more like an emotional Kes sometimes the way her words gush out at moments of crisis. And holding hands with Trip at the end is just one more thing that Vulcan's don't do, but I suppose the damage was already done, and any telepathic connection was already firmly established. I wanted her to wipe away one of Trip's tears, but she seemed distracted and contemplative, which did at least show the difference between humans and Vulcans in a marked way, as opposed to her usual lack of control. And sitting there in Vulcan robes with a crying human made her seem more Vulcan than I can remember before.

While Trip's captive he's ordered to fix the weapon, or was it just the weapons on Paxton's ship, I'm not sure? It begs the question, why didn't Paxton have someone who could do the job without Trip, another flaw in the villain's plans - he even expects Trip to try sabotage, as this confirms he's a man of principle, but it makes the whole sequence rather pointless, except for Trip to try and work on Daniel. And who finished the work if Trip didn't? At least there are reminders of Trek history, with World War III mentioned, and in Archer's speech at the end he talks of humans not knowing there were aliens before a hundred years ago. Paxton seemingly wants to go out conquering, expanding Earth's territory, regardless of other species who are there (he seemed to respect what Archer did in fighting the Xindi, but wasn't a fan of anything else), and I think he said his Father had settled Mars, so there's some parallels between the exploratory minds of both his Father and Jonathan Archer - that's another link to the opening of the series as we see contrast between how Archer and Trip used to feel about the Vulcans, the bitterness they had against the species, and how they've changed, compared to Paxton's views - who knows, perhaps at that time they might have fallen in with such a group, although they're good men at heart, not desirous of power or control, but it shows how far they've come.

The same can be said of the Vulcans (with consulates in Berlin and Canberra - I can understand the warmer climes of Australia, but not so much Germany!), embodied by Soval in his final appearance. Since finding rapprochement with Archer after the Vulcan trilogy, his purpose as a thorn in the side no longer needed - his support is evident when he starts the applause for Archer's rousing speech at the end. Soval was another Vulcan I had problems with, despite appreciating his moments of friendship with Archer, he was always too emotional, shouting out his biting resentment when he would have been so much more cutting, as Vulcans used to be portrayed in the other series', by being snooty and self-satisfied. But the Vulcans were just one problem of a troubled series, which helped to shorten the lifespan of what should have been seven years, at least. It's like the end of an era for the 22nd Century which we didn't get to know as well as we hoped, this two-parter bookended by episodes that don't take place in the series (the Mirror Universe and a future Holodeck recreation), and it does feel like an ending, with Archer's speech to all the Coalition delegates, speaking the message of Trek, just as Q taught Picard: that real exploration isn't to planets and stars, it's ourselves, how we react to threats and opportunities, what we can do, and should do within this world we find ourselves in. The cast stand together (Universal Translators clearly visible, like Starfleet combadges!), facing the future of this little corner of our tiny Galaxy in the vast Universe, faced by the aliens that in time will become allies. And finally a scene of hope between Trip and T'Pol - even though their daughter didn't make it, a human/Vulcan child is still possible, setting the stage for Spock (though I'd have been surprised if they didn't have a baby at some point), and all the history still to be written from their perspective, but that we know so well.

**

Time's Orphan

DVD, DS9 S6 (Time's Orphan) (2)

Molly stabbed the alien in its gut with a broken bottle… Not a sentence you ever expected to play out on screen, but that's the main reason this episode draws you in so effectively (not for Molly stabbing an alien in its gut with a broken bottle), because it does what science fiction does best with a 'what if…?' tale that plays on the themes of loss of childhood and innocence, and the grief that brings, and whether it's fair to take one life in exchange for another (and in the Trek realm, that life can be one and the same person). I hear a lot of negativity in podcasts about Keiko and the O'Brien family, but I've never found them annoying, quite the opposite, in fact - they helped to ground the series in the 'TNG' reality which was all about families, except that on 'DS9' they were in the midst of uncertainty and danger in a way that they were generally protected from on the classy, comfortable Enterprise-D. I also love that they continue that tradition of family, since we saw their conception (literally in Molly's case), on 'TNG,' then development and use as part of ongoing stories thanks to 'DS9.' But with the Dominion War splitting up families and breaking up even what little normality and comfort there was on the station, O'Brien's clan left for Earth back in Season 5 so the Chief wouldn't have to worry so much and could concentrate on his job. I'm sure the family's safety had something to do with it, too! This episode brings them all back together and, as with other characters in these later episodes, sows the seeds of future decisions when he makes the rather rash promise not to send them away again.

You'd think Miles had been all the way to Earth to pick them up, the number of episodes he'd been missing from lately, and who's to say he didn't! He's not above nicking a Runabout for personal use when the mood takes him, as we see here (and we see the Defiant's sickbay for once!). Of course the Chief's family has always been the most important thing to him, but Keiko knows his purpose and usefulness finds greatest outlet in Starfleet's service, and he becomes miserable if he can't do what he's good at. This is, I would say, the reason why he accepted the uncertain and risky proposition of a posting to DS9 in the first place, despite Keiko not being entirely happy with it, but the absence from his family has given him new resolve to put them ahead of his career, and he says he'll ask for a transfer if the war heats up, rather than be parted from his fledgeling clan, which would eventually happen in the final episode of the series. As much fun as it's been seeing O'Brien have fun with Julian, or go undercover for Starfleet (and get Chester the cat, who appears again here, though Keiko gives the impression of hating it - she should be glad her husband had company, but perhaps it urinated on her bonsai or something?), without having to worry about Keiko being concerned about his absence, I love seeing the O'Briens together, as they used to be, particularly in the first two seasons. Like Jake and Nog, the O'Briens were part of that community fabric of continuing drama, and so it's with some sadness that we realise this is the last O'Brien family episode, just as it's the last Worf and Dax family episode.

This realisation evokes added poignancy to what is already an across-the-board affecting episode. Even though I love the O'Briens, and always appreciate the use Trek makes of the great outdoors, I still wasn't ready for the flood of powerful impressions this episode punches you with. It's a surprisingly emotional piece that relies heavily on a guest star, but Michelle Krusiec gives not only a guest star performance, but a star performance, making you believe this really is a Molly aged ten years in a wild and lonely place, alone, having adapted and survived, with the roller-coaster of confusion and utter bewilderment at the many strange experiences she's suddenly thrust into. It says a lot about Molly that she could survive as a child on an alien world for so long - she must have her Father's genes for ingenuity and her Mother's confidence in nature for her to have done so well. One thing I never thought about until right now is where older Molly got her clothes from. I'm tempted to say a time-travelling T'Pol from 'Enterprise' stumbled upon the wild adolescent and gave her one of her castoffs (seriously, the catsuit she wears looks like the Vulcan's - they must have used the same material when they were designing T'Pol's outfit for that series), but it could point to there being some other active technology on this long-abandoned planet. If these aliens hadn't been around for a couple of millennia, yet their time portal still functioned (could it have been an Iconian gateway - it was like a cross between that and the Guardian of Forever?), it's not a stretch to suggest Molly had access to some kind of alien Replicator.

Whatever resources she used to survive her new environment in 'The Jungle Book' or Romulus and Remus manner (the Roman legend rather than the planets), though we assume she had no animal assistance, she was able to thrive and grow into a healthy, and active young woman. Then this woman, who has had years of solitude and learnt to understand the rocks, trees and grass, finds herself ripped away from all she knows like the El-Aurians from the Nexus, via a Transporter beam, the first disorienting encounter with technology, but not the last. You could even suggest the episode almost subliminally presents the idea that for all this wonderful Starfleet technology, what is really needed for health and wellbeing is grass, trees and the fresh living of a natural environment, though whether this was intentional, or just an alternative reading, I couldn't say. But if you look at all the trials and frightening new experiences they throw at Molly in an effort to accept her and try to get her to accept who she was to them, she is only truly free when frolicking in what she thinks is Golana, the world she'd lived on. This was a planet I assumed we'd heard of before, since it's said to be a Bajoran colony, and young Molly has a nice moment with baby brother Kirayoshi, telling him the last time they were there he was in Mummy's tummy, so it's obviously a place she knows well and has visited, but this is the only episode in which it's mentioned.

So the older Molly already had an affinity for the planet, which probably aided her will to survive more than if she'd found herself alone on a Planet Hell environment - if you're going to be marooned somewhere, you want it to be a place you're already accustomed to and love, so she scored on that front. Unfortunately, her parents, while eschewing the experts of Starfleet for some reason, seeing them as the big bad authorities that will eventually come to haul their bedraggled daughter off to be dissected (or you'd think so from the way they react!), aren't child psychologists and cause her untold damage. They do try, oh how they try! That Transporter beam to grab Molly from the other side of the portal was necessary, and they do go to all the trouble of setting up a Cargo Bay full of plants and rocks so Molly feels more comfortable (how did Sisko manage to get that tree in there - cut a hole into the floor below for the root system?), but it still has four walls and a ceiling, Molly can't see the stars. And when they eventually realise that Molly wants to go home, they misunderstand and take her to their home, hoping the memories will acclimatise their daughter back to her old life, but instead it frustrates her even more. After initially gazing in wonder upon the vista of space (she later indicates that her parents home is in the stars, while hers is on the planet in a touching moment of childish understanding of the concept of home, without the context of space stations and starships), her old room is too small, as are its contents - one item we'd see again is the doll's house which Sisko somehow ended up with in Season 7! Maybe he visited once, saw it, and realised that was the house he wanted to build on Bajor, O'Brien donating it to him when Molly grew too old for it?

Wanting the best for their 'child,' the O'Briens make the mistake of indulging her, but only for a short while, taking her to a Holosuite recreation of Golana - it's very accurate, as if they were really there! They must have made a holographic record of their favourite picnic spot as a matter of course, a bit like taking a holo-picture as the Doctor used to as a hobby on 'Voyager.' It's amazing that those rocks weren't real, and I don't mean they were holographic, but in production terms were fabricated and taken to the location, as there weren't any there - they look as if they'd always been part of the landscape. The high of Molly's absolute joy in being back in what has become her native environment is intoxicating, her happiness absolute, but this only makes calling time on the program a much harsher pulling out the rug from under her simplistic understanding. She's already been beamed away from the place once, into a cave full of half-remembered strangers, so it wouldn't seem so strange for her to be suddenly back on the planet, distance and time not something she'd likely fully comprehend. You'd think that special allowances would have been made for the family as it was such a unique and difficult situation, but although Quark is apologetic, he has to turf them out in favour of a couple of Klingons, and Sisko apparently didn't even give the Chief time off as he complains he's falling behind in his repair schedule for watching Molly, indicating he still has a repair schedule! I know we're in a time of war, but even so…

The suddenness of Molly being jerked out of her reverie sends her back to square one - anyone unpracticed in the art of the Holosuite would find it unnerving for reality to suddenly disappear and shrink to a small, dark room with lots of piercing lights. And then to be dragged through the bar, full of scary alien faces and unfamiliar noises panics her into a wild frenzy, hence the bottle stabbing incident. I liked seeing another 'fish-man' alien (as I dubbed them for their Pike-like appearance), otherwise known as a Markalian, a familiar race on the station, but he's later referred to as a Tarkalean, another well-referenced race (for Tarkalean tea), only ever seen in 'Enterprise' ('Regeneration'), although I was getting confused and thinking of Idanians, another culinary referenced race (for Idanian Spiced Pudding), seen in Season 5's 'A Simple Investigation.' Even accounting for the dim light in the bar, you couldn't mistake a Markalian for either the bumpy-foreheaded, cowl-wearing Idanians or Tarkaleans, except in the phonetic similarity, so this is either a script error, or this particular Markalian had been adopted and raised by Tarkaleans! It's not like Sisko and Odo to make a mistake about something like that, so we'll have to give them the benefit of the doubt - I wonder if they'd fix that sort of thing in a remastered 'DS9'? I hope not, because it's these ephemeral little oddities that I thrive on and enjoy spotting. The terror doesn't end for poor Molly, as she's trapped in a Holding Cell, which is even worse than the Cargo Bay, and, like others before her (Tom Paris in 'Threshold;' a Joran-possessed Sisko in 'Facets,' to name but two dramatically similar moments), she repeatedly flings herself at the forcefield, not to damage herself intentionally, but in a lack of understanding, a tragic, disturbed figure hoping to break through.

The irrational fear Miles and Keiko seem to harbour against Federation institutions seems out of kilter with what we've seen of the organisation in the 24th Century. In Kirk's time you had madmen running asylums and getting away with it (until he intervened, of course), but the very fact that 'TNG' had a counsellor on the bridge should point to mental health being much better understood and dealt with in a careful and understanding way, as part of normal life. I suppose it must be the natural desire of a parent to protect their young, even though they weren't doing a great job with her when you look at it objectively, so perhaps the best thing was for Molly to have that specialist care. There's no reason to think she'd have been studied like a lab animal, but perhaps dealing with the shadier sides of Federation life, such as Section 31, gave O'Brien cause for concern. I don't entirely see why it's any of Starfleet's business to interfere with a 'child' like that anyway, except for the fact that the 'Tarkalean' was pressing charges so there were legal hoops to be negotiated. Would the young Molly face charges when they eventually got her back to 'DS9,' as it's a pretty farfetched loophole to get out of a criminal prosecution by reverting to a younger version of yourself - the court case alone would have made compelling viewing! Then again, despite Molly having physically aged she would surely still be considered a minor, mentally, so I don't think they had anything to worry about. If only Samuel T. Cogley was still alive…

Once again O'Brien has to steal a Runabout in order to 'save' a member of his family, just like in 'The Assignment' when Keiko was possessed by a Pah-Wraith. The stakes might not be so high this time, but Odo wasn't going to get in his way twice (especially after the last time, when the Chief belted him!). Good old Jones, the stalwart member of Starfleet security who's so often there in the background, gets a line for once, although his trust in Odo probably went down a notch when he told him to go and check on Deputy Pinar (pronounced 'panar' which instantly made me think of Pa'nar Syndrome - two T'Pol references in one episode, three years before she first appeared, is this some kind of conspiracy?), the guy on duty at the Holding Cells who gets a neck-full of knockout juice from O'Brien's hypo. I'd love to know how Odo explained his complicity in allowing the Chief to walk off the station like that. If there was a hearing he should have been in the dock too! And with that they're off back to Golana with the strange plan to send Molly back through the portal to an unknown home, with unknown dangers, and seal it up so she can never get through again? All because they think she's going to be locked away. It's not the best reasoning, but it had the result of giving young Molly a chance to return, even if her parents had no idea. It was a hard decision, and slightly bonkers, to give up their child hoping she'd survive, but it's no less touching for that. Most touching of all is older Molly finding her young self shocked and alone, realises it's her, and gives her the Lupi doll (could be Ktarian, but more likely Bajoran), before sending her back through.

It's sad that this older version of Molly ceases to exist, vanishing away like a wisp before our eyes, but like the older Jake in 'The Visitor,' it's a sacrifice that the younger version will benefit from and has some beautiful connotations, even if in this case she didn't know she was going to de-exist. If they'd knowingly planned to exchange Molly two for original Molly there would have been implications: is it fair to give up someone who has ten more years of life, for the same person to live that time over again with her loving family? Didn't this older Molly have as much right to exist as the younger? And yet, if she hadn't returned (and she would have had a good chance of survival if she hadn't vanished away), young Molly would have been left scared and alone. But then she'd have turned into that older Molly, and… it starts to hurt your brain. As it was, it was pure fluke that O'Brien didn't destroy the portal before his little daughter came back through. I suspect Starfleet might have court-martialled him (if they can do that to non-commissioned officers), if he had knocked off the portal, as it's potentially important technology to be studied, but all ended happily. You could say it was a pointless experience, a waste of time, a standalone episode in the midst of far more important continuing events, but you'd be dead wrong - these are the vital ingredients of which Trek is sculpted: family, character, tough choices, and bold self-sacrifice, and if there's a happy ending it can be just as satisfying as a surprise or shock conclusion.

It's amazing the B-story of Worf's acceptance of the challenge of baby Kirayoshi, was a last-minute addition to 'pad' the episode, as it's almost as great as the A-story, especially considering the doom of impending events. It was important to have scenes between Worf and Dax while there was still time, and it shows up the couple's characters so vividly: Dax won't admit until the end that she doubted Worf's ability as a Father, and he himself, in true Klingon tradition sees it as something to be overcome. Just as all Ferengi see opportunity in everything, Klingons see challenge and battle in everything! As Worf says, in one of my favourite lines from the series, "I have stood in battle against Kelvans twice my size… If I can do these things, I can make this child go to sleep." It's one of those innocuous little references to 'TOS' that the 'DS9' writers were so good at, and opens up a whole can of worms about when and how the Kelvans returned to our galaxy (there must be a comic or non-canon novel that dealt with this, surely?), since they were from the Andromeda Galaxy and their natural form was giant squid-like creatures, which would seem to suggest they didn't bother coming back in humanoid guise this time, after their first attempt in 'By Any Other Name,' since Worf is of not inconsiderable height, which would make beings twice his size pretty gigantic. But it's his feelings he battles with most, still having guilt over his parenting of Alexander, undeserved as he turned out fine, if a little clumsy. But Worf feels he failed his son, Kirayoshi and his Dax' future children, in typical Worf fashion taking things too seriously and setting impossibly high standards to live up to.

What it really does is bring him and Dax even closer, if that were possible, and cements the tragedy to come. But future events can't detract from the charm of this B-story, and the two sides complement each other perfectly, as both sets of parents and potential parents deal with their problems. It's much harder on the O'Briens as they battle with teenager issues from a unique perspective, losing someone then getting them back, then giving her up, and getting her back again. I don't think young Molly would have felt much trauma, there's nothing to suggest she was gone too long, as older Molly was sent back to the same time period that she was, so although the story takes place over several days it could have been mere minutes for her. Even so, minutes for a scared child can be a long time, and it's nice to see young Hana Hatae coming along as an actress in the scenes she has: confidently talking to her younger brother, and looking shellshocked at the end when she's trapped alone until the other Molly appears to send her home. It may not boast space battles or sweeping drama, and for some, perhaps that made it feel like an anomaly in this season amidst such big issues and stories, but such character episodes are just as important, if not more, and for me, the episode is summed up wholly by the final words of Keiko: "it's lovely, just lovely."

*****

Evolution

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S7 (Evolution)

I'm in two minds about this one. It brings us a tough new alien foe, an unstoppable foot soldier that, in some ways, is more like this series' Borg than the Replicants, even if that older race was more similar in concept to the famous Trek villains. But it also throws so many names, planets and situations around, mainly in discussion, that I had a hard time keeping up with everything. There were also big logic problems, some, admittedly, solved during the episode: the biggest thing for me is that the warrior is too easy to defeat and capture. I should qualify this by saying that that's what it appeared to be at first, until we find out it wasn't defeated by Teal'c and Bra'tac, actually dying of heart failure, as it's an over-powered and over-gunned host to the Goa'uld, working for the insidious Anubis. That opening sequence when we see the warrior pair confronted with an enemy beyond their combined and considerable force, leaping aside like scared rabbits, was about the only truly great moment in the episode. But it still looked like Teal'c was able to shoot the creature down, even if he wasn't in fact responsible. So our initial impression of a gigantic, implacable foe becomes one of, firstly, an eminently stoppable one, and secondly, an incredibly flawed creation. Hardly Borg-level fear factor. We see another of these creatures unwisely run right through an area full of claymores, C4, and perfect cover for soldiers with projectile weapons, even waltzing right through an energy shield - so although 'unstoppable,' it's also of low intelligence. But then it doesn't need much, nor does it need to worry about tactics: it's pretty much a foot-bound drone sent to kill and destroy, it's physiological excesses counteracted by a Goa'uld symbiote inside that tries to keep it alive long enough to carry out its carnage until it wears itself out. Not a bad idea, but even so, SG-1 are still able to capture it alive and interrogate it! Like the Borg, you think projectile weapons are going to be more effective than the energy-based variety, but it's not really so.

Leaving aside the illogic of showing us this terrible new force for evil, and then taking it down too many pegs well before the episode's got going, the creature looks pretty good - the hulking form, stomping through the dusty wasteland is a striking image, the sense of size and weight well represented through slowing the camera down. But it's the internal design that most fascinates: like Darth Vader, its helmet can be levered off to reveal the organic creature below, and an ugly, and strangely vacant visage it has. This would be because it's not an actor, but a puppet, or so I would think, the mouth moving more mechanically, and the skin translucent and rubbery as if its exertions have begun to pull it apart. But it remains somewhat disappointing that it has 'none of the Goa'uld personality' as someone says, meaning (fortunately), none of the cartoon arrogance or over the top moustache-twirling villainy, but also none of the hatred and malevolence. It may as well have been a robot for all the terror it induces, especially after it's such an easy capture. Not to say it wasn't an ingenious solution: 'beam it up' into a ship and then vent the atmosphere from the cargo bay until it slips into unconsciousness. But if such strategies can work, it shows it's just a grunt, not something to be taken too seriously except in respect of the exceptional mobile firepower it features.

The creature itself wasn't the only problem I had with the story's structure: it was far too easy for O'Neill to convince the prison guard to let them go free. Would he really be swayed by people saying his 'god' and master will sacrifice all his servants' lives to save his own, and that this creature is a threat to all his people? And with that this guard lets them all out! You'd think he'd either have more respect for his own way of life, and ignore them, show his loyalty and end up getting killed with the rest, or display doubts about his master and run off to save himself, ignoring the prisoners he has no reason to care about. It's not like they apply blinding logic or deep, emotive verbal pressure on him: O'Neill does his usual half-comedic routine (I enjoyed the Vulcan hand gesture when talking to Ramius, though), Teal'c snarls out insults about his master, and Bra'tac says he'll be hiding in a corner, or something. But the worst crime of the episode is in Doctors Jackson and Lee Indiana Jones-ing it up in Honduras to locate a fabled fountain of youth at an unknown temple because… why? It just sort of came up in conversation that there was once this super version of a Sarcophagus that could be used to animate matter, since this 'super soldier' wasn't alive until it was formed. Daniel remembers some legend his Grandfather had about the fountain of youth, he puts two and two together and within a short time they've found a temple no one else knew existed, popped down inside and found the exact flagstone under which this mythical device resides!

There's suspension of disbelief, and there's suspension of disbelief - this requires super soldier energy levels of suspension of disbelief (even if Dr. Lee is amusing, out-Jackson-ing Jackson with his uncertainty and minor irritations). What I can give the episode credit for is showing its presumably expanded budget - this is a two-parter, and it shows. There are more extras, plenty of sets, and an especially good sequence where Jackson literally becomes Indiana Jones, pulling the device out and activating a massive cave-in of gushing water - he should have had a little bag of pebbles handy to replace it with… We also get Bra'tac, and Jacob, but, and this may be in preparation for part two, there's just so much detail and backstory to keep track of. I got the main things: Anubis built these creatures, likely to mop up resistance of the System Lords; they were flawed, but deadly; Daniel knows where a weapon to fight them is; he goes off and gets it. But how did they know one of the warriors was going to go to that planet where they laid an ambush? And why does real life intrude, with the docs getting kidnapped by mercenaries, which is a bizarre side story, seemingly there to keep Jackson out of it for a bit, and add to the cliffhanger. I'm not surprised he had a role to play as the story was co-credited to Michael Shanks, emulating Christopher Judge. It's just farfetched they need a particular device to fight this new menace, and Jackson has a sudden memory of this legend, and finds it without difficulty. Why was the temple never found before, why didn't he look for it before, and why wasn't it plundered? I'm glad that I finally got to the start of these mighty warriors, as they did stick in my head from first viewing, but I hope part two improves on the story sense.

**

Birthright

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S7 (Birthright)

A clan full of warrior women led by Jolene Blalock who becomes Teal'c's new girlfriend - yes, that sounds like something Christopher Judge would write! Except that, to be fair to his writing, he also fitted in some gender role issues and an ethical dilemma, so I can give him some credit. What is missing for me is more about Teal'c himself. It's clear he's not proud of being symbiote-free, in fact I often forget he doesn't have one now, but I was expecting him to weight his argument by revealing that he is the perfect example of a freed Jaffa. Is it that he still has doubts about it, or does he feel some shame, or was he simply being careful not to sway them with his personal experience. Except that's exactly what he should have been doing to ensure that these stubborn women realised the truth. But the notion that strength comes from the symbiote is ingrained in the culture, and if anything, Teal'c demonstrates how deeply by not immediately coming clean about it. This, unsurprisingly, doesn't help his cause. The nub of the matter rests on whether it's okay for Ishta's mob to go out and kill Goa'uld for the purposes of stealing symbionts for girls that come of age. Or, like Teal'c's wife, should they just accept that it's wrong to kill in that way and allow themselves to die as she did. Or they could take the Tretonin and possibly be saved.

The best parts of this episode are in the pleasant character conversations that take place, whether it be Teal'c revealing his history and family to Ishta, speaking proudly of both his son and wife; or Daniel turning on the charm and getting the young girl to open her mouth and talk to him; and even the combative battle of the sexes when Ishta challenges Teal'c to a stick fight. That last was quite impressive, with fast, fluid moves and no obvious cutting between stunt players. I liked the way he initially uses one hand to comfortably fend off her attacks, being not simply a male warrior, but being a great warrior full stop. Of course he was going to beat her, and it had nothing (or very little), to do with physical strength. The female warriors prove themselves several times in the episode, but they don't all show wisdom until the girl convinces Neith, her older sister, to go for the Tretonin which should cure them of their need for symbiotes. And Ishta got to fling Teal'c over her shoulders, just for good measure!

Although the fight was good, I could have watched more of that, but we come late to the power struggle between Ishta and subordinate, Neith. I also couldn't help feeling that not a lot happened in the grand scheme of things. Not to say it was a small matter to convince enemies of this Moloc to curb their activities (the other reason, aside from ethics, being that he was going to notice them sooner or later and come down hard on Hak'tyl, meaning liberation, the planet they were using as base). Fine, it was a chance for Teal'c to relax in female company a little, finding someone on his level, who understood his people and ways, which is very rare for him, but it also felt like getting him a girlfriend was the main point of the episode. It wasn't quite on a par with some of the other Judge-inspired or written story lines we've seen. And at the same time I did find the struggle between preservation and enmity, military reasoning and killing for the sake of it, to be interesting. O'Neill rather got lost in the shuffle, but that's okay, he doesn't need to be the centre of every episode, and I felt that the cast were all worked in sufficiently. The grandiloquence of Jaffa speech can sometimes feel over the top, but you just have to go with that, it's usually the way, same as the baddies invariably are represented by clipped British accents. They're just cultural touchstones that are recognised.

Unlike John Billingsley in the previous episode not finding time away from 'Enterprise' to reprise his 'SG-1' role (I don't know that is the reason, it may be that he just wasn't asked back on that particular occasion, although that's hard to believe), Jolene Blalock throws off the ears (or does she? We don't really see beneath that big blonde wig of hers!), to add another Trek name to the 'Stargate' universe. Could this have been a sign of the future of her series, only lasting one more season? I don't doubt she'll be back on this series again, especially if Judge had his way. While I never felt she was a great actress, she was okay, and it is fun to see her doing something different, even if it's not that different from T'Pol - both look pained and raise their voices when emotion rises to the surface. In Ishta's case that was perfectly fine, in the Vulcan's, not so much! Still, the scenery was as green and lush as ever, with even the odd horse thrown in to give some scope, and I did think pretty well of it, even if the issues addressed weren't approached as deeply as they might have been. It makes me want to hear more about the views of Goa'uld on their symbiotes, and how Teal'c has adjusted to life without it.

***