Take Me Out To The Holosuite

DVD, DS9 S7 (Take Me Out To The Holosuite) (2)

Things you never see on 'DS9': people chewing gum; Odo throwing shapes in his office; Rom without his 'hat'; the crew coming together to bully a Vulcan. Already you can start to see a pattern, this being an episode of many firsts, something to celebrate if you can pull it off in a final season. But first (another one), a potted history of the Vulcans: in 'TOS' Spock is cool, and so is his Dad. In 'TNG' they're largely avoided because we're trying not to be 'TOS.' In 'DS9' we have typically atypical examples (arms dealing, baseball-playing, serial killing). Thanks to Tuvok, in 'Voyager' Vulcans are cool again. Then comes 'Enterprise': Vulcans are so not cool, man. And in the Kelvin films Spock rejects his Vulcan-ness, and is emotional. And not cool. From what I hear of 'Discovery' we're back to the snooty 'Enterprise' variety. But for me, Vulcans are 'the' race, the best, and they may seem superior, but that's because they are. Who wouldn't want to subject their emotions to their will, always have a ready answer, and let's not forget the small matter of three times the strength of a human (as Kasidy affirms), and greater speed. If you ever get a Vulcan who is both master of his nature, but also has enough experience to know when to bend from rigid logic (Spock; Tuvok; Vorik), then you have a formidable ally and a terrific character. But this episode is not about alliance, it's about enmity, specifically a long-time, adolescent rivalry Benjamin Sisko brought upon himself against a Vulcan called Solok.

In the original 'Settlers' computer game Sollok the Joker was 'a sly and repugnant adversary, he will try to stop the supply of raw materials of his enemies right from the beginning of the game' according to the manual, and while the two characters have absolutely nothing to do with each other except a very similar name, I've always thought of them in the same sentence, the key being 'sly and repugnant,' for in keeping with the 'DS9' way of doing things differently at the same time as being the most true series to Trek, this particular Vulcan shows none of the traditionally honourable levelheadedness that we'd usually expect, and comes right into Sisko's office like a fire-breathing Mother-in-law, finding fault in all aspects of their situation, boasting that he has two Christopher Pike Medals of Valour to the Captain's one, calling out the inefficiency of human-run stations, and, in a final backhand to the face of his Academy rival in the way Vulcans are so expert in, he cuts right to the bone by mentioning a baseball program his all-Vulcan crew are looking forward to using on the Holosuite, challenging Sisko at his own game. Why would a Vulcan who is so dismissive of humans show such interest in one of their sports? It can only be to rub Sisko's face in the holographic mud and remind him of his inferiority.

Solok displays displeasure, pride in his species and bragging rights, not to mention claiming his crew are 'eager' (exact word), to resume the baseball program, as well as a goading sense of malicious enjoyment at the humans' irritation, and it sounds as if he was much like a bully when he continually used the impromptu wrestling match which a young Ben instigated, to prove Vulcan superiority, an unresolved thorn in the Captain's life, the afterimage still stinging in his mind to this day. An unresolved rivalry from back in the day, a bullying opponent that needs putting in his place, and a team of no-hopers… it sounds like every good sports film out there, but why shouldn't the series cut loose from all the war stories, both psychological and physical, to take a couple of weeks off on behalf of the crew and do a triumph over adversity sports story. It's late in the series, this is the time to do oddball and use the characters in different ways, and it's an excuse to get on board all those much-loved recurring characters that hadn't yet played any part in a season that began with Sisko's quest to return wrong to right, the others to honour Jadzia, and Ezri's quest to find her place on the station. It was time for some fun. But fun is the last thing on Sisko's mind, he's intent on winning. Not at all costs, not even then, but in every way he can he's going to train up his senior staff (and Nog, and Rom, and Leeta, and Kasidy, and even Quark), and beat those haughty Vulcans at his own game that they've appropriated, tryouts at 1300 (lunchtime on DS9?).

At first it's just a release from the tough times the war has brought, a chance to get out into a green field and play his favourite game, sharing it with his friends and colleagues. What could be better! It's only once Rom has proven he has zero chance of even hitting the ball and gets booted off the team, that we see how seriously he's taking this challenge - a case of those that work the hardest play the hardest, putting all his personality that has been there in his roles as Emissary to the Bajoran Prophets and Starfleet Captain of destiny into the goal. It's funny how he assembles the staff and they all assume it's for some important meeting, but they're quick to jump to the aid of their Captain when he speaks of taking on a crew of Vulcans, but faces fall when baseball's mentioned. For the sake of the Captain and all 'emotionally handicapped' species (though they don't know it at the time), they stoically take on the complicated rulebooks, determined not to let Sisko down in his quest - it was probably a relief from daily life as much as for him, and a challenge is no less a challenge, it's more so when it's a trial that is so outside the familiar. Even Worf, who you'd assume wouldn't be into games, is ready to take on an adversary at any task (exhorting death to the opposition!), and I like that he and Bashir's uniqueness are called out when Sisko says the Vulcans are faster and stronger than us, except for Worf (Klingons being just as tough as Vulcans), and the genetically enhanced Doctor (whose visual acuity and quick reactions are also on par with that of a Vulcan).

The rest of them, this raggle-taggle bunch of humans, Ferengi, Bajoran and Trill, don't have that advantage, hence Rom's dismissal for being unable to hit a ball, catch it, or throw it. True to the sweet Ferengi's nature is that, even in his disappointment and humiliation, and despite doing his best and failing miserably, he doesn't hold it against the Captain, and when the rest of the team rallies round him and voice mutiny, Rom asks them to keep playing. Rom is the heart of the story, Sisko's journey is that of taking this game so seriously that Solok has him in a vice so much that if he loses it would ruin his self-respect, followed by his sending off from the field by Odo (the perfect choice as umpire for his love of rules and minute infractions, his almost fascist tendencies allowed full reign in the realm of the baseball rulebook), when he loses his temper, arguing and laying a finger on him. It gives Sisko time to think, a new perspective, which leads to his substituting Rom for his own son, Jake, to let the Ferengi have his chance in the spotlight. He then accidentally bunts, giving Nog the chance to score a run. In the scope of the game it's only a minor victory, as they ultimately lose to the Logicians, but the Niners don't care about that, they go wild with appreciation that Rom was finally able to achieve something, extra special that it enabled his son, carrying the Ferengi Father off the field in glory!

The team spirit is what it was really all about, Sisko forgetting the tenets of the game he loves in the bitter feuding with Solok, and his realising the value of even the worst player is what matters, not whether non-Vulcans can match up to the physical demands of Vulcans, or whether Sisko can get back at Solok for his unfair and repeated punishing of his ego. It always seems a bit mean to goad and taunt the Vulcan Captain at the end when he can't grasp the Niners' ability to celebrate in defeat, but just as Sisko brought the humiliation of the wrestling match upon himself, Solok's refusal to accept this illogical emotional reaction is his downfall, and the episode ends with a shot that's a real beauty: Sisko has a new baseball to add to his collection, this one signed by his team, and he throws it into the air in joy, the camera holding on it as it spins, revealing the signatures, before dissolving into an external view of the spinning station which holds this special group together. A warm and pleasant image to close on.

I suppose Sisko saw himself in Rom (perhaps his 'naked' look sans rear hood was done to emphasise his vulnerability, as I don't remember any other time we see him like that), it's only a subtext to take from the episode, but the cord connecting the pair was humiliation, and Sisko was in a position to reverse it, even going so far as apologising to the Ferengi for his previous attitude. I don't know the first thing about baseball, well, I know about the hitting, the catching and now the bunting, but I couldn't care less about the complex rules and regulations, the stats and the history, but then those things aren't what the story's about, like all good sports stories it's accessible by being about the reiteration of the crew's togetherness, a team-building exercise that goes off-base slightly, then comes right around before the end. Just as presenting a Vulcan who was different (although even Solok is more restrained and unemotional than those of 'Enterprise'), is the usual course for 'DS9,' it is natural for the series to exceed expectations while also defying them: I couldn't remember if they won or lost, but knowing the style of the series so well I guessed that they wouldn't because usually in a sports film the losers who have no chance have to be the ones to triumph and there's more skill in finding a victory in the midst of failure, so of course they were going to find a way to impress that we hadn't considered. It was a good lesson for Sisko to learn, and if you can be seven years into a TV series and still teach your lead character something, you've got it made!

Now to business. The story's a great one, but as often happens with holographic episodes, it leaves questions, technologically speaking. I may have covered them in previous reviews, but here goes anyway: there were a lot of players in the game, usually not an issue because it tends to be only two or three people in a Holosuite at a time, but here we have all those Niners, Logicians, the odd spectator (sorry Rom), and umpire Odo. We've seen how small Quark's Holosuites are, and I know we're not supposed to be thinking about this, but how did they fit all those people in there, spread out many metres apart, running at speed, and no one hit a wall (with the exception of Ezri, who most spectacularly recalled her gymnastic past by doing a backflip to catch a ball), or bumped into each other? My theory is two-fold: either the holographic simulation is carefully laid right over the eyes of each competitor, so in reality each person is close enough to fit within the space, but far enough away that they can run on the spot (thanks to the Holosuite's ability to move the flooring under them), flail wildly around, and even fall over at full length without touching anyone else. Or, and this could be an addendum, they're spread out amongst all Quark's Holosuites (I was trying to find out how many he has, but even the Technical Manual and Encyclopaedia couldn't tell me, though in this very episode we hear that they're to meet for tryouts in Holosuite 4, so there are at least that many), the program synched so they seamlessly appear to be in the same field. Makes sense to me, anyway…

The cheering crowd was a nice addition, and I wondered why they were dispensed with before the game began, perhaps the budget didn't allow for having so many extras for all scenes, or maybe the intent was to focus down onto the players more acutely, but whatever their reasoning it worked wonders for the roll of the story, bringing the crowd back working magic when it came time for Rom to win his victory, and giving the moment more impact than if the crowd had always been there. Seeing Vulcans playing baseball is something you'd never have expected on Trek, and while I can agree that the dignity of the species over the years has been lessened by the disappointingly emotional portrayal of a formerly superb species, and that Solok probably assisted in the precedent for vengeful, proud, or generally negative representations, as most Vulcans have been in 21st Century productions, I nevertheless love the novelty of it, and any excuse to bring the race into an episode in a major way is something I condone. I would have liked some perspective from the other Vulcans on his crew, showing that not all of them shared in their Captain's desire to belittle humans or any other races, and though we do see them interacting with the opposition in the bar at the end, they don't have any actual lines, probably because of the short duration of an episode preventing opportunities for all the recurring characters and new ones, too.

Vulcans had been largely absent from the season so far, and in general on the series, though we'd heard of a Vulcan ship trying to dock at the Romulan hospital on Derna, and a Vulcan was seen in the background at Ezri's party, so it was nice to have them front and centre again. Something that links this episode to 'TOS' is that Solok's ship, the T'Kumbra (any reference being made by the 'DSC' writers by naming a Klingon T'Kuvma, or is that just a sign that they didn't know what they were doing, using a very Vulcan-styled monicker for a Klingon?), is crewed entirely by Vulcans, a trait we saw in the original - thanks to an 'Enterprise' retcon, we know that, along with their ways being so different, one of the main reasons is their acute sense of smell, meaning they're put off by the odours of other species! That could be the reason they appear to hold their noses in the air so much, but Solok is positively racist in his attacks on human inefficiency, prompting Sisko to tell him if he doesn't like it, he can go to an all-Vulcan station, proving that the race even has facilities other than starships, and that the Federation is very accommodating to its primary non-human founding member, and well it should be. But for the Vulcans keeping watch until we were ready to take the one small step into a big Galaxy, who knows where we'd have been? It doesn't mean there aren't those among them that need taking down a peg or two. Even so, I'd have loved to see some of the adventures the T'Kumbra's crew went on in the Dominion War. Logically, it would be fascinating.

****