DVD, DS9 S7 (What You Leave Behind) (2)
Not the perfect finale I thought it was when I first saw it one Bank Holiday in 2003, viewing it on video as I'd missed the TV transmission on BBC2, or avoided it because I'd missed 'The Dogs of War' and wanted to watch it all complete (nor was I impressed the BBC chose to split up what was supposed to be one long conclusion into two parts), but still the best Trek finale of them all. It kicks into high gear right away with the new Defiant heading off with Klingon and Romulan forces to deal with the Dominion fleet once and for all. Seeing it today (and in my previous viewing, almost ten years ago to the day), I noticed the flaws more fully. The fact is that, though the battle is a terrific one, and far superior to anything done in Trek to this day (only the Battle of The Binary Stars in 'DSC' can really show even an attempt to rival what this series did), it isn't as good as those seen in 'Tears of The Prophets,' 'Sacrifice of Angels' or 'The Way of The Warrior' (though I loved the camera perched on the Defiant's hull as it does a loop-de-loop to plough through pursuing enemies - reminded me of the realistic camera positioning in 'Interstellar' that makes you think of real ships and real launches). There's a slight disjointedness between all the events that makes them a little episodic in narrative structure. The episode required more than the resources they had at their disposal to pull off such an epic story, so we see a lot of intimate spaces and the full grandeur and scale is sometimes nipped in the bud.
The two greatest things to seem smaller than they warranted regarded the two heroes of the story: on Cardassia, Damar's ignoble demise, and on Bajor, Sisko's simple solution. But neither is as problematic when thought about. That the Emissary to the Prophets had had his whole life geared to the point where he would have a moment in which to push Dukat, starring as the Emissary of the Pah-Wraiths, into a fiery pit, seems reductive to so much of what he went through. But to the Prophets that was the most important moment. Time has no meaning for them: a moment is an eternity, as a famous android similarly once said, and so it makes complete sense that years and years passed until this moment came. And if Sisko had had a moment's hesitation, that moment would have been his last. He had to do what he knew to be necessary, and though it was only a simple physical task, he had to be sure and willing to sacrifice himself to the unknown. And it's not like his whole life was geared to just that moment, as Sarah, his Prophet-Mother said, he was to learn new things with them and he knew he'd return to the realm of the corporeal eventually ('Star Trek: Picard'? Somehow I doubt it!), this was just one task he had to perform in his life.
Damar's death, too, can be seen in the light of all that he achieved: he unified Cardassia against their oppressors, and like Rom he prepared the ground for a new Cardassia. Though Garak is bitter that his world is gone, Kira reminds him to fight for a new one. One that was largely birthed by Damar and his choice of reconciliation - to put down the booze that he was using to cover his cowardice and take a stand for his people. To employ the services of a bitter rival in Kira, who stood for Cardassian failure, and not just that, but Cardassian military failure, something they can't endure. And to tell her that without her it wouldn't have been possible. So yes, he'd achieved much, and yes, perhaps it was foolhardy to risk him in the firing line of the Jem'Hadar, but he'd already survived one execution squad in the episode, saved when the Cardassian soldiers turned on their Jem'Hadar counterparts, and this was a last-ditch effort to get to the 'snake head' of the Dominion, as Garak put it. Now Cardassia can remember a great downed leader and erect statues in his honour and sing songs of his heroism, and, because that's all they can do, unable to have such a fair-minded leader to guide them into a new era, as the Ferengi received with Rom, it's a great tragedy, and such an epic tale required some form of sacrifice to add bittersweet meaning to the risks everybody was running. Damar's death is largely small and pointless, but it emphasises that point.
The series was written in many ways to be quite moral. Aside from Damar, the deaths and losses come mainly on the side of evil, and if there was any question of which side was truly evil it is in the actions and decisions of the Female Changeling, whose superiority to all other life forms and hatred of them, leads her to order the complete slaughter of every Cardassian on the planet. She even has a twisted logic about her: that this final act of vengeance will make other powers think twice before they venture into the Gamma Quadrant to destroy the Founders forever. As has always been the case in their history, they are still, despite all this great power, driven by fear, driven by the memory of how they were treated by the solids, blinded from the reality that not all people are of a kind. If only the Federation had sprung up in the Gamma Quadrant, then the Changelings would have had a safe haven to flee to when solids hunted them, but instead they created their own anti-Federation of fear and control. The parallels with the Cardassians are there to be weeded out, and there is much talk of how they deserved what happened to them, but again, it was their racial attitudes that allowed them to fall victim to Dukat, a leader who promised to make them the winning side against the other races of the Alpha Quadrant, a Hitler figure that was willing to sell the national soul in exchange for total power (under the Dominion, of course).
It could be said that the Female Changeling's complete one-eighty on her vicious proposal to sour the allies' victory with genocide was a rather quick reversal for one so set in her ways. But I think it shows how deeply she cared for her own kind: not just in sending a threat message of fighting to utter destruction, but mainly in the proposal Odo made. For him to return to the Great Link at last and take up his place in it as she had always wanted him to do, as she wanted all the infant Changelings that had been sent out, to do. The Link was not complete without him, so like Locutus being willingly given over to the Borg, Odo was willing to become part of the Link again. It's what he wanted to do, and his experience as, or among, solids would be invaluable to life after the war and a lasting peace across the Quadrants. It only makes you wish that the story could have continued, that this highest caliber of writers could have continued the deeply fascinating mix of galactic politics and personal journeys that they had wrought across seven years on the station. It's funny, but the situation has completed switched around from the time I last reviewed this episode in 2009 when it seemed as if the Kelvin Timeline (as it eventually became known), had spelt the end of 'our' universe forever. Yet now we have the possibility (and I keep mentioning it in my reviews because it's still astonishing to me), that the Kelvin films are done and we're going to get post-'Nemesis' stories again with the potential for any characters from 'DS9' returning. And that was an impossibility only a decade ago.
I do find it sad that 'Voyager' was so competitive with 'DS9' rather than being cooperative. They preferred to tighten links with 'TNG' and largely ignore the developments their older brother made in the Alpha Quadrant so that we never saw anyone from 'DS9' crossover post-series, and there were few connections they made beyond recognising the culling of the Maquis. Partly that was down to the series choosing to remain in the Delta Quadrant for so long instead of returning to Alpha to take up the mantle of familiar lore, but I also get the impression they were jealous of the quality of the writing and of the vastness of its cast. It's only an impression, but I don't remember seeing a change in the Ferengi when we got an episode on them in the latter stages of 'Voyager,' nor was there much mention or consequence of the aftermath of the Dominion War. The same goes for 'Star Trek Nemesis,' the final data point in the 24th Century canon until 'Picard' arrives next year, which gave passing reference to the war, and it could be argued all the Romulan stuff came about as a result of it, but it wasn't integral to the story for fear that the mainstream audience couldn't cope with connecting to TV shows - laughable considering the connectivity in superhero franchises today, and such a slapdash approach to appeasing the casual viewers didn't help the film, either. It was criminal that Worf was merely back in his old position at Tactical on the Bridge of the Enterprise-E without any mention of his ambassadorship to Qo'noS, as if he just drifted back to Picard's wing, having moved on from one Captain to another.
The fault of the reins of story not being grasped with relish by the few remaining Trek productions to continue on in the 24th Century is not a concern of 'DS9.' It set up the pieces, and if no one chose to knock them down, then that's their affair. The end of this series was like a tolling bell, warning of the coming end of Trek in its then form, never to have been succeeded since (until the hope inherent in 'Picard'). It was the end of an era, just as it was for the characters, and for me. This isn't the kind of episode you can just stick on - to me, a finale has to be earned because it is the culmination of so much, which is why it takes so many years for me to get round to it again, thus it has even more meaning because each time I see it another chapter of my own life has concluded in the interim. No other Trek series did it this way: 'TNG' felt as if it was just another day, and the series was going to continue as before (which it did with the films), which has its own feeling of security and cosiness. 'Voyager' wasn't afforded even that, ending abruptly with myriad questions about the futures of the characters left unanswered. 'Enterprise' posited a future a few years down the line where things had largely remained the same ('the more things change, the more they remain the same,' said Quark in this episode). 'TOS' had its ending in the films with a hearty conclusion. I suppose the closest comparison is 'Nemesis' where the 'TNG' cast is split up, leaving Picard to face the future 'alone,' but with hope.
I guess that makes Quark the Picard figure in this instance as he is the only one that doesn't really change. His life remains the same, he's the one that stays behind. Sure, Kira and Jake, Bashir and Ezri stay on the station, but all their lives are irrevocably altered by recent events. Quark is the only one to continue on his lonely path to profit. Well, not quite - he does still have his trusty customer Morn to keep a barstool warm from dawn to dusk. But that's what I love so much about this ending, that it shows that though these events have been so damaging or so rewarding, and so much has changed in this world we've viewed so long, the essential world is still there. Quark's Bar will continue. Perhaps Bajor will move towards Federation membership now that the Dominion threat is passed. The rebuilding of Cardassia will throw up new problems. We already know what happened with the Romulans in both 'Nemesis' and 'Star Trek XI,' so it wasn't all roses for them. The Ferengi have a new, kinder Nagus. The Breen… well, they remain as mysterious as ever, even though Kira pulls off another coup, finding a Breen uniform to hide in, just as she did in their first appearance back in Season 4's 'Indiscretion' - we still don't know if she saw what was inside, or whether it was merely discarded. When the Breen express their wish to go and join up at the front of the battle, I really expected them to be evacuating Cardassia as a tactical move so they could slink off from the battle and leave their Dominion allies in the lurch, but to their credit they stuck it out. They must really have wanted Romulus and Earth - perhaps they were avid collectors of homeworlds? (I can see it now, a subscription to 'Star Trek Homeworlds' where the price for signing up is undying loyalty to the Founders, and the reward a new homeworld to add to the collection each month, with a magazine detailing everything the Dominion knows about it!).
The moral of the story is that evil's day will come: Legate Broca, the puppet leader of the Cardassians is turned on by his superiors when the Cardassians switch sides in the midst of battle, revenge for the Dominion laying waste to Lakarian City. He's taken out into the darkness where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth, and even worse, we see one last stab (literally!), of showing the Jem'Hadar's brutality as they bayonet him and his fellows to death. The Jem'Hadar had been lost in recent seasons - they reached the point of becoming more than a blunt instrument for the Founders to use to batter their enemies, as we were presented other views of them as an honourable, duty-bound force that held their loyalty in the highest honour. But this season especially they weren't given a voice, and even the potential development that would have ensued from the differences between Alpha and Gamma Quadrant-bred types, fell through the cracks as so many other things had to be tied up. That's perhaps one reason why the season doesn't work as well as the preceding one, Ezri taking up a little too much screen time to the detriment of other elements. But at least the Jem'Hadar do have a bodily presence in the finale, even if it's to fail in executing the traitors or protecting their leaders. They demand their prisoners stand to be executed, but deny them any last words, death their only concern, and that's what they received, failing to gain an inkling of what motivates their Cardassian associates, to their undoing.
Weyoun, too, couldn't preserve enough survival instinct to save his life (literally), as he boasts of the waste laid to Cardassia, right at Garak. To be fair, he was still giddy with the kindly praises the Female Changeling (who always remained nameless to the end), gave him as the only solid she could trust, so he was cock of the walk in his last moments, guard down, and body downed by Garak's Phaser. Anyone else would have been gratified to have captured a war criminal, but unfortunately Garak isn't anyone else and has always shown an ability to kill in cold blood. Which is a sort of contradiction in terms since all Cardassians are coldblooded all the time. And if anything, his blood was up, revenge filling his mind so that it only took one trigger from Weyoun to set it off. He was almost ready to shoot Odo for wanting to link with the Female as they really don't want a healthy shapeshifter morphing off into freedom. But no, thanks to Odo's reconciliation, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall inherit the Great Link, she was more than happy to stand trial for her crimes and take responsibility. That's something we never hear about: what was the judgement, and her penance? Could she be judged as an individual or would the whole Link have to be judged. It was enough for the story that we see the historic signing of peace between the peoples in the Ward Room, packed out with humans, Romulans, Klingons, even Vorta, though no sign of Weyoun for he was the last of his clones. Does make you wonder though: did they have copies back in Gamma? Could other forces have been built up there so there was another fleet of Jem'Hadar ships waiting to come through the Wormhole?
Who else dies? Why, the home grown villains of the piece, Kai Winn and Gul Dukat. Fittingly for their hateship, they each kill the other: Winn poisons her fellow cult member gleefully, and Dukat burns her to a crisp (though it's all very tastefully done, the fire too intense for us to see anything - 'DSC' would take as much glee with showing every burn as Winn took in murder), once he's been revived by the evil power of the Pah-Wraiths. Was Winn's turn against them just one more self-serving decision, or did we see a glimpse of the true penitent once more, the one that requested answers from Kira when things weren't going well in her walk with the Prophets? It's difficult to see what the benefits would have been if she had managed to hurl the book of evil into the fire. She might have survived, I suppose (no one will ever know what happened to her as no one comes back from the Fire Caves to tell the tale), but I'd like to think that she finally saw the light at the end. It's never too late for redemption, but unfortunately, thanks to the pattern of her life and choices it's just as, if not more, likely that she was merely interested in hurting the Pah-Wraiths because they rejected her as their Emissary, so like Khan she was spitting her last breath at them, rather than being noble and taking the side of the Prophets' side. Either way, it gave Sisko the moment's diversion he needed to plough into Dukat and end the whole sorry state of affairs.
None of the main cast are killed off, mercifully, whether that was in the vain hope that the series might one day become popular enough that it demanded a film sequel as had happened with its two predecessors, or because it would have been ungrateful to punish such wonderful characters merely for surviving to the end, I don't know. Perhaps it was even in response to the bad taste left from having to execute Jadzia at the end of Season 6, which no one really wanted, I think. I can't help feeling that the current runners of Trek would take great joy in killing off some main cast, believing that only with this will people feel the drama, but for me that is only something to be done if there is no other option because you're taking away the audience's ability to imagine that this world and these people will continue on outside of the adventures we've been privileged to see. It's a lazy choice to kill for dramatic effect and in the name of realism (as if any of this is really real!), so I'm very glad to see they didn't do it to the heroes here. It makes you think anyone could return to the Trek fold in future, though sadly the time has passed for Nog (Aron Eisenberg), and Admiral Ross (Barry Jenner), both having died since the last time I saw this episode, adding a new poignancy to their scenes: Ross the best Admiral ever seen on Trek, and Nog a promising, newly promoted Lieutenant with a career towards captaincy guaranteed. They will be missed, and it makes me wonder how many more of these great actors will have gone by the time I come round to seeing the episode next time?
If the main characters were spared, the writers at least had some fun with the concept, setting us up to wonder about their fates by opening with so many domestic scenes before the stride off to battle. Bashir is toying with audience expectations when he says it would be a shame if anything happened to him or Ezri when they've just found happiness together, and O'Brien is there in the familiar Quarters with his whole family (I wonder if they got the same baby Kirayoshi as last season?), a delight to see and all too brief - he's planning to return to Earth to teach at the Academy. In the same vein we see the Sisko family together in their Quarters with Kasidy requiring a promise that her husband will come back safely. One thing they didn't stint on in this finale is giving the characters chance to breathe and live in this world one last time - the domesticity of the station is one of the things sacrificed on the altar of war over the last few seasons. It may have irked some viewers that there were small stories in the early seasons, but it gave us the chance to get to know these people from all angles and made the station a living place, the 'Cardassian monstrosity' became a home, and a homely place to visit week by week. That's why it's so enjoyable to go back to the beginning and watch through again because you've almost got two different series', the first half concerned with more intimate details and the second a brassier, bolder epic, even heard in the main theme's brassing up.
The joy of the series is to see it as a whole - in fact, if you think about it, not only does the series make Sisko a Prophet, but the dedicated viewer, too. Just like those non-corporeal aliens that live outside time, we see the whole picture of the series, the complete story. Like them we can dip into any part of it in any order, but it remains its own bubble of time internally. You can't say that about all TV shows! The series has always meant so much to me as the first TV show I really 'discovered' on my own over a number of years, and the first and only series I collected the videos for to completion. It came along at just the right time in life and fitted the bill of what I wanted, perhaps moulding my view of how TV should be, and while not exclusive as the only series I am so strongly attached to (both 'BUGS' and 'Voyager' are in the vicinity, though they can't touch it), still, to this day, it remains and shall ever so, my favourite. I'm with Quark when he says he doesn't like change, and it's just one more character trait that cements him as my favourite character across all Trek. Around him everyone is moving on to new places or different roles, but he's still there, just as the series will be still there to revisit.
There's been so much chatter over the years from people wishing they'd hurry up and create a higher resolution version of the series, but to me I think it's better that it remains as it is. It is grainy, and it is gloomy, particularly in this episode which takes place in so many dark spaces, whether it be the Fire Caves, or the smoky Bridge of the Defiant (I couldn't quite make out whether the plaque on the wall said USS Defiant-A, or not - but I like that ambiguity), the dank cellar or the cramped streets of Cardassia, even the low lighting at Vic's. Perhaps it's not good for those of us with poor eyesight, straining to see every detail (Ira Steven Behr just walked past!), but it somehow pulls you in much more than the flat, bright lighting of 'TNG,' and invests the place with a Christmas lights glow. Perhaps for such a huge scale story things were too close and claustrophobic, but they were leavened with some beautiful matte paintings such as the contrast between the sunny, peaceful Bajor, and the ominous red sky over Cardassia, and finally its broken capital, the familiar view replaced by smoking, blackened ruins - there's even a sense of imminent danger as the rebels leave dead Mila's basement for their final attempt on the Dominion stronghold before Jem'Hadar weapons flatten the building. The best stories show the end is just a new beginning, like 'The Lord of The Rings' (I'm sure I've mentioned before, but if 'DS9' were a literary work it would be on par with that great tome), and through the devastation we can imagine the lives of the characters continuing on.
The most heartbreaking sequence of the finale is the montage of scenes from other episodes as characters take a brief moment to recall some of their memories, and well chosen they were, even if it is a tragedy that they couldn't use any clips of Jadzia, which is bizarre considering you'd assume they own the rights to whatever's been filmed - does that mean Terry Farrell refused to allow her image to be used? I can't imagine that. It's unashamedly sentimental, but not indulgent, or at least only as much as the series had earned and these wonderfully drawn characters deserved. That was the key to the series' success, not the action spectacle, nor even the sci-fi trappings, but how well these people were made real in our minds. Worf gained a sense of humour on the station, Sisko found his place, Kira learned control, Bashir could be himself, O'Brien lived life, Quark learnt from the hew-mons, Jake found a career, Dax changed her life, Odo answered the mystery of his… It is a positive, life-affirming series, even though it often appeared murky in tone and visuals, and it had the Trek vision all over it, but with added depth and complexity. They let slip the dogs of war, but still learned, in the words of Jean-Luc Picard, 'what we left behind is not as important as how we've lived. After all, we're only mortal,' except perhaps for Benjamin Sisko, the Builder of Bajor. I'd like to believe the writers, whether consciously or not, took the title from Picard's speech at the end of 'Generations,' because that film also deals with destruction and the moving on of life. Crucially, Kira finds the baseball still on Sisko's desk, an affirmation the Captain is coming back. One day. Until then we pull away from Jake and Kira, standing in front of a window, much like in the alternate future of 'The Visitor' when his Father was ripped away from him. The difference now is that he's grown up, his own man, and Sisko makes it known to Kasidy that it's not over, he will return. As we pull back from the station we see it as a tiny jewel in the vastness of space, among all those other stars. A perfect end.
*****
Tuesday, 26 November 2019
Rogue
DVD, Smallville S1 (Rogue)
I came to this without much preconception as I had no memory of what it was about from the title, and only when I saw it was a school trip in Metropolis did I associate it with Clark saving the bus (or stopping it to save the homeless man, to be precise), so it was with great pleasure that I found it to be a terrific episode, up there with the best so far this season. It's well structured with a strong main plot about Clark being manipulated by a cunning and ruthless Metropolis cop, a smaller secondary story about Chloe being fired from the Torch school newspaper, and a third minor subplot which kicks off Lex' direct fight against his Father thanks to Victoria Hardwick coming onto the scene to begin a new arc for Lex. What struck me most was how powerful the two levels of the series are working at this stage: you have the raw, clumsy, emotional teenage point of view, and then you have the more measured, experienced and rational adult one, and both are fascinatingly bounced off each other. You see how simple Clark's world is from the way he reacts to things - he's pulled into corrupt copper Phelan's plausible narrative and world, despite warnings from Lex and his own Father, because he thinks there's no other choice. Choice is a big theme of the episode, right down to the decision to kill, as we see how horrified Jonathan Kent is when he hears his son build up to a big secret, only to find that, though Clark wanted to kill the man holding his family to ransom, he didn't, and his relief is palpable.
Whether Superman should kill or not is a huge moral issue, so it's fantastic to see the writers address such an integral hallmark of his makeup. Because Phelan probably does deserve death: he's manipulated innocents, he's killed, himself, and he's not even above stealing - there's a reason Internal Affairs are breathing down his neck, he's a really objectionable guy, played to perfection by the actor whose every mannerism and gesture is so full of reality, whether he's twisting people round his finger, or barely containing his own rage at Clark betraying him and landing him in more hot water. He's such a fascinating character that the only downside of the episode for me was that they (seemingly), killed him off, as he could have been a terrific recurring force for evil. Though he claims to be the one standing between the criminals and 'decent' citizens like the Kents, he's actually the one standing between Clark and Lex, holding the cards on both of them. Though Clark doesn't show interest in learning about Lex' dark past, Lex is desperate to know just what Phelan had on his young friend, even to the point where he rushes to ask him before he dies at the Metropolis Museum and Phelan, twisted to the end, refuses to give him the satisfaction. What would have happened if Lex had found out or Clark had come clean with him at this stage of the series, I wonder? Would Lex have been more or less resentful that he wasn't trusted, or would he have become a Phelan-like force, not to control Clark into doing his bidding, but perhaps a voice on his shoulder urging him not to waste such talents. And he probably wouldn't have been self-controlled enough not to want Clark to do something for him at some point.
That's the great thing about this episode, it has all the elements that make the series sing: you've got Lex getting close, but not quite close enough to learning what there is to know about Clark. You've got the incredibly strong bond Clark shares with his parents. You've got the wider town community a part of the story (Sheriff Ethan embarrassedly comes to arrest Mr. Kent). And you've got the bright, happy moments amid all the tension and drama. One place that should be the brightest and happiest is the Torch, run so well as it is by Chloe. But this time Principal Kwan has had enough of her bizarre theories and stories on meteor-related events. What's more bizarre is his assertion that experts have proved the meteor rocks to be harmless, as every encounter you ever see has shown how dangerous they are, so either the 'experts' were incompetent or it was all hushed up by LuthorCorp so they could carry out their own experiments. I don't think these kinds of issues ever got true resolution as the series descended into more comic book simplicity and idiocy in later seasons, but that isn't the case here where there's still a strong impression of reality. Sure, there are still little things that make you double-take, like the bus driver who collapsed from a heart attack, then sits up right as rain after the crash. Or Martha being handed the report in the paper and mere seconds later says there's no mention of any witnesses as if she'd had time to glance through the whole thing! But these are minor problems that don't affect the quality of the story, the first Metropolis-based adventure.
What is major are the character moments and the great superpower stunts. Aside from the spectacular bus crash where Clark stands his ground with the vehicle smashing so hard into him he almost has to pry his way out, there's his anger coming out in smashing a wooden beam into splinters in the Kent Farm kitchen, and though the safe being used to crush Phelan's car isn't a particularly dramatic visual, it's a great way to show Clark uses brain as well as muscle. And of course the impressive slow motion bullet that Clark is surprised to be able to dodge when Phelan fires at him. Even though he'd actually have been fine he's not to know that, and if you could step out the way of a speeding bullet (which he is faster than!), you would do. That's something they've done a great job with: making each new extension of his powers something that surprises him or comes out of the blue, rather than a result of careful experimentation. His Dad's not going to drop farm machinery on him, but a dodgy guest character can do that, and does. You'd think that Clark would be a little more careful with the machine rather than toss it across the barn, but this is another (actually the first), indication that he has a temper as he shows real frustration at being pinned to the floor. While he makes some wrong decisions, he still manages to take the course that sets things right, and I love that although bad things comes from what he does during the episode, his parents never blame him (apart from the lying part), because he feels bad enough already and they realise they've drummed into him so much how careful he has to be not to give away his power that they're proud of him and it's a beautiful moment when his penitence is met with pride.
You feel the depth of difficulty Jonathan and Martha have to deal with as they try to grapple with the issues at hand. They've always known there are those out there who will exploit him, and we see a flash of the old Kent temper when Phelan pushes too hard. I was surprised how level-headed Jonathan was up to that point, actually, as you can imagine him going in all fists blazing, but he treads carefully, controlling himself because his son's life is at stake. I suppose it was the temper that eventually killed him, and certainly didn't do his heart any good. But John Schneider is absolutely masterful in his portrayal of a simple man of the land that has such great love for his family that everything is seen through that filter, with a hard line of pride running through him, a decency, an honesty and a homespun wisdom about how the world works, even while carving out his own corner of it. It's these things that you really miss as the seasons progress, but it's difficult to see where they could have gone with the series without trying to make things bigger in scale and thus losing that intimacy of family and community, as well as the blurring of the lines between teen and adult. Even Lex is younger than I realised as he's said to have a few years to go before he reaches thirty, so it's strange watching it now when I'm well past even that age. But the dynamics are so strong, with the younger people (Whitney and Pete barely appear, though his Dad, Bill Ross is mentioned as he's the one Jonathan wants contacted - I know his wife is eventually seen as a Judge), the middle group of Lex and now Victoria, and the proper adults.
While Clark is shown to be of his age group in the decisions he makes, Chloe and Lana are equally seen to be naive: when Kwan shuts down the paper Lana has so come to like Chloe that she offers to talk to him, but it backfires with the Principal giving her the editorship. It doesn't occur to her for a moment that Chloe could see this as moving in on her territory as she thinks they can carry on as before, only with her as the public head, while internally things would be the same, but a lot of things comes rushing out and I suppose this is where you see that Chloe has designs on Clark and a jealousy toward 'perfect' Lana that has previously only appeared as impersonal dislike of her set. It's deftly written the way Clark and Lana are danced around or dance around each other, with Lex once again arranging for them to meet (shades of his ruthless nature surface again when he advises Clark to see Whitney as the enemy), and obviously the rather on the nose gush of Chloe's views. Crucially the situation with Chloe is worked out by episode's end giving us another happy ending where everyone's friends again, followed by a second finale of the sinister type as Lex puzzles over the blur in the Museum that was Clark super-speeding away.
It really does have it all, even if Lex' position outside the place looks a bit suspicious when there's just been a bomb threat phoned in. Then again, the guards obviously know him, though I wasn't quite sure what he was doing there at the beginning - he's clearly a big shot in town. We even get the most important Jonathan Kent line, too: "You always have a choice, son." The whole thing comes together magnificently, and I can't help but put a deal of that down to the Director, David Carson, as I've always liked his style in Trek: he directed my favourite of the films, 'Star Trek: Generations,' one of the best pilots ('Emissary' for 'DS9'), as well as one of the most well regarded episodes of 'TNG' ('Yesterday's Enterprise'), so it was a pleasure to see his name attached to this. It's hard to believe, but I actually was a little down on this episode when I first saw it, finding it to be very average, but either age has improved it, or my own has given me a better understanding of all the angles, because this time I thought it was very good indeed.
****
I came to this without much preconception as I had no memory of what it was about from the title, and only when I saw it was a school trip in Metropolis did I associate it with Clark saving the bus (or stopping it to save the homeless man, to be precise), so it was with great pleasure that I found it to be a terrific episode, up there with the best so far this season. It's well structured with a strong main plot about Clark being manipulated by a cunning and ruthless Metropolis cop, a smaller secondary story about Chloe being fired from the Torch school newspaper, and a third minor subplot which kicks off Lex' direct fight against his Father thanks to Victoria Hardwick coming onto the scene to begin a new arc for Lex. What struck me most was how powerful the two levels of the series are working at this stage: you have the raw, clumsy, emotional teenage point of view, and then you have the more measured, experienced and rational adult one, and both are fascinatingly bounced off each other. You see how simple Clark's world is from the way he reacts to things - he's pulled into corrupt copper Phelan's plausible narrative and world, despite warnings from Lex and his own Father, because he thinks there's no other choice. Choice is a big theme of the episode, right down to the decision to kill, as we see how horrified Jonathan Kent is when he hears his son build up to a big secret, only to find that, though Clark wanted to kill the man holding his family to ransom, he didn't, and his relief is palpable.
Whether Superman should kill or not is a huge moral issue, so it's fantastic to see the writers address such an integral hallmark of his makeup. Because Phelan probably does deserve death: he's manipulated innocents, he's killed, himself, and he's not even above stealing - there's a reason Internal Affairs are breathing down his neck, he's a really objectionable guy, played to perfection by the actor whose every mannerism and gesture is so full of reality, whether he's twisting people round his finger, or barely containing his own rage at Clark betraying him and landing him in more hot water. He's such a fascinating character that the only downside of the episode for me was that they (seemingly), killed him off, as he could have been a terrific recurring force for evil. Though he claims to be the one standing between the criminals and 'decent' citizens like the Kents, he's actually the one standing between Clark and Lex, holding the cards on both of them. Though Clark doesn't show interest in learning about Lex' dark past, Lex is desperate to know just what Phelan had on his young friend, even to the point where he rushes to ask him before he dies at the Metropolis Museum and Phelan, twisted to the end, refuses to give him the satisfaction. What would have happened if Lex had found out or Clark had come clean with him at this stage of the series, I wonder? Would Lex have been more or less resentful that he wasn't trusted, or would he have become a Phelan-like force, not to control Clark into doing his bidding, but perhaps a voice on his shoulder urging him not to waste such talents. And he probably wouldn't have been self-controlled enough not to want Clark to do something for him at some point.
That's the great thing about this episode, it has all the elements that make the series sing: you've got Lex getting close, but not quite close enough to learning what there is to know about Clark. You've got the incredibly strong bond Clark shares with his parents. You've got the wider town community a part of the story (Sheriff Ethan embarrassedly comes to arrest Mr. Kent). And you've got the bright, happy moments amid all the tension and drama. One place that should be the brightest and happiest is the Torch, run so well as it is by Chloe. But this time Principal Kwan has had enough of her bizarre theories and stories on meteor-related events. What's more bizarre is his assertion that experts have proved the meteor rocks to be harmless, as every encounter you ever see has shown how dangerous they are, so either the 'experts' were incompetent or it was all hushed up by LuthorCorp so they could carry out their own experiments. I don't think these kinds of issues ever got true resolution as the series descended into more comic book simplicity and idiocy in later seasons, but that isn't the case here where there's still a strong impression of reality. Sure, there are still little things that make you double-take, like the bus driver who collapsed from a heart attack, then sits up right as rain after the crash. Or Martha being handed the report in the paper and mere seconds later says there's no mention of any witnesses as if she'd had time to glance through the whole thing! But these are minor problems that don't affect the quality of the story, the first Metropolis-based adventure.
What is major are the character moments and the great superpower stunts. Aside from the spectacular bus crash where Clark stands his ground with the vehicle smashing so hard into him he almost has to pry his way out, there's his anger coming out in smashing a wooden beam into splinters in the Kent Farm kitchen, and though the safe being used to crush Phelan's car isn't a particularly dramatic visual, it's a great way to show Clark uses brain as well as muscle. And of course the impressive slow motion bullet that Clark is surprised to be able to dodge when Phelan fires at him. Even though he'd actually have been fine he's not to know that, and if you could step out the way of a speeding bullet (which he is faster than!), you would do. That's something they've done a great job with: making each new extension of his powers something that surprises him or comes out of the blue, rather than a result of careful experimentation. His Dad's not going to drop farm machinery on him, but a dodgy guest character can do that, and does. You'd think that Clark would be a little more careful with the machine rather than toss it across the barn, but this is another (actually the first), indication that he has a temper as he shows real frustration at being pinned to the floor. While he makes some wrong decisions, he still manages to take the course that sets things right, and I love that although bad things comes from what he does during the episode, his parents never blame him (apart from the lying part), because he feels bad enough already and they realise they've drummed into him so much how careful he has to be not to give away his power that they're proud of him and it's a beautiful moment when his penitence is met with pride.
You feel the depth of difficulty Jonathan and Martha have to deal with as they try to grapple with the issues at hand. They've always known there are those out there who will exploit him, and we see a flash of the old Kent temper when Phelan pushes too hard. I was surprised how level-headed Jonathan was up to that point, actually, as you can imagine him going in all fists blazing, but he treads carefully, controlling himself because his son's life is at stake. I suppose it was the temper that eventually killed him, and certainly didn't do his heart any good. But John Schneider is absolutely masterful in his portrayal of a simple man of the land that has such great love for his family that everything is seen through that filter, with a hard line of pride running through him, a decency, an honesty and a homespun wisdom about how the world works, even while carving out his own corner of it. It's these things that you really miss as the seasons progress, but it's difficult to see where they could have gone with the series without trying to make things bigger in scale and thus losing that intimacy of family and community, as well as the blurring of the lines between teen and adult. Even Lex is younger than I realised as he's said to have a few years to go before he reaches thirty, so it's strange watching it now when I'm well past even that age. But the dynamics are so strong, with the younger people (Whitney and Pete barely appear, though his Dad, Bill Ross is mentioned as he's the one Jonathan wants contacted - I know his wife is eventually seen as a Judge), the middle group of Lex and now Victoria, and the proper adults.
While Clark is shown to be of his age group in the decisions he makes, Chloe and Lana are equally seen to be naive: when Kwan shuts down the paper Lana has so come to like Chloe that she offers to talk to him, but it backfires with the Principal giving her the editorship. It doesn't occur to her for a moment that Chloe could see this as moving in on her territory as she thinks they can carry on as before, only with her as the public head, while internally things would be the same, but a lot of things comes rushing out and I suppose this is where you see that Chloe has designs on Clark and a jealousy toward 'perfect' Lana that has previously only appeared as impersonal dislike of her set. It's deftly written the way Clark and Lana are danced around or dance around each other, with Lex once again arranging for them to meet (shades of his ruthless nature surface again when he advises Clark to see Whitney as the enemy), and obviously the rather on the nose gush of Chloe's views. Crucially the situation with Chloe is worked out by episode's end giving us another happy ending where everyone's friends again, followed by a second finale of the sinister type as Lex puzzles over the blur in the Museum that was Clark super-speeding away.
It really does have it all, even if Lex' position outside the place looks a bit suspicious when there's just been a bomb threat phoned in. Then again, the guards obviously know him, though I wasn't quite sure what he was doing there at the beginning - he's clearly a big shot in town. We even get the most important Jonathan Kent line, too: "You always have a choice, son." The whole thing comes together magnificently, and I can't help but put a deal of that down to the Director, David Carson, as I've always liked his style in Trek: he directed my favourite of the films, 'Star Trek: Generations,' one of the best pilots ('Emissary' for 'DS9'), as well as one of the most well regarded episodes of 'TNG' ('Yesterday's Enterprise'), so it was a pleasure to see his name attached to this. It's hard to believe, but I actually was a little down on this episode when I first saw it, finding it to be very average, but either age has improved it, or my own has given me a better understanding of all the angles, because this time I thought it was very good indeed.
****
Tuesday, 5 November 2019
The Dogs of War (2)
DVD, DS9 S7 (The Dogs of War) (2)
'The line must be drawn here! This far, no further,' so says Quark, the last true Ferengi unconsciously emulating the famous words of Captain Picard in 'First Contact.' Quark had been largely lost, not just in the final nine-part arc, but in the whole season, you could almost say the last third of the series since the war began, though he had a number of episodes within that period. In the final arc he barely features, there only to walk on with a drink and some wise words, before shuffling off stage again. It might appear to be a waste of the series' fast depleting time to give over its penultimate episode to the Ferengi extended family's last visit to the station, and equally it could have followed the pattern of penultimate-to-series-or-season-finales begun in 'TNG' where 'Pre-emptive Strike' was good, but not great, or 'Transfigurations' was forgettable before the monumental 'The Best of Both Worlds.' It became a disappointing trend that some of the last episode slots the writers had available to them as they closed out a series for good were variable in quality: 'Emergence,' 'Bloodlines' on 'TNG,' 'Natural Law,' 'Friendship One' on 'Voyager,' 'Demons,' 'Terra Prime' on 'Enterprise'… That pattern hadn't quite been set and thanks to 'DS9' was not chiselled in stone at this time, once again proving that this was the highest class of Trek ever created - not only did they complete the run of episodes up to the finale with tremendous flair, they brought us a Ferengi episode that even those that couldn't stand the race must have admitted was one of the better episodes of the series.
I reiterate from other reviews that that sentiment about Ferengi (when it referred to 'DS9'), was never mine, and I consider this to be not just a better episode, but one of the series' best. I always think of it as a last Ferengi knockabout episode, but while that is a key part of the story, it is by far not the only one. I'm not sure if it's the A or the B plot, but one thing's for sure: there are so many plots that you might even say we have a C, D and E! Well, there were plenty more letters in the alphabet. The incredible cast list heralds what must be the most recurring characters for a single episode ever: you've got the various Ferengi, you've got the villains, minor characters we've seen before, some not for many years, and even the glorified extras of the bar, Broik and Dabo girl M'Pella, are given part of the limelight. It's astonishing that they could jam in so many people and yet it never feel rushed or illogical in any way. Jeffrey Combs even does double time in a superb combination of Weyoun and Brunt which if you didn't know (and failed to notice the onscreen credit), were played by the same actor, you'd never guess! On the same day as I watched this, I re-watched the Season 1 finale of 'Discovery' and what a miserably put together piece of rubbish it was - I'd go as far as to say it's in the running for worst Trek episode ever and I think I'd even watch the awful 'Shades of Grey' above that one. It got Trek, no it got storytelling itself, so, so wrong that it wipes good Trek from your memory like a Romulan mind probe. Watching 'DS9' reminded me why Trek is so great, or had been so great: the craft that went into not just the production, which 'DSC' succeeded at, but the believability factor and the portrayal of the races, restores all despairing brain cells that had died with that poor ending to a frustration-strewn season.
There are multiple races in this episode, all being used in the way that is so, so right: you have Kira, a Bajoran who is also a figurehead for the Federation in its dealings with Damar's Cardassian Liberation Front, that must continue to walk that tightrope between serving the Federation's purpose for her, and being sensitive enough to know when to keep her creased nose out of the eyes of the Cardassians she's there to support. She's like a caged bear when circumstances force her, Damar and Garak to seek refuge in Enabran Tain's dusty old basement, wanting to do something to strike back at the Dominion, but knowing from where she is she's powerless. The Dominion, using Cardassian collaborators that would sacrifice their world's future for personal gain, have put an end to the carefully constructed network of Damar's resistance: all the bases have been annihilated and it's their belief that Damar, too, has been killed when his ship, piloted by Seskal, is obliterated when they go to meet with further potential allies. It's a miserable beginning to the episode, and the cruel, ruthless nature of Cardassian psychology is shown up to their detriment, as well as its arrogance when we see the new puppet leader, Legate Broca. Damar and his two allies lie on their beds in this dark, dingy cellar, depressed and demoralised, until Mila brings word that the people think Damar still lives. Kira hits on this as a last, desperate solution: extreme circumstances require extreme measures, and while the military is all but ruined, the civilian population are ripe for turning into a force against their oppressors.
Birthing Damar into legend, a mythical folk hero, was something that happened without him doing anything, aside from his daring exploits, of course. But the people took his name on as a source of hope and so he chooses to get off his bed of misery and try to turn things around. With the solidifying of his continued survival, the people can be fired up, and I love how Kira stays in the shadows as Damar takes the floor in a fury of purpose after their attack on a Dominion target, melting away as Damar's position rises. They so succeed at pulling the heart strings, and at every emotion, it's a wonder to behold as tensions mount and ebb, the action a result of logical progression and sense. In some ways a light episode, but not to be taken lightly, it's a deeply personal experience. Some episodes are best left unshared, and this is one of those. I'm not sure why. But it's not one you'd pick out to watch on the fly, it needs to be seen as the semi-culmination of a multi-part saga (just as you wouldn't stick in 'Sacrifice of Angels' on a whim), of a season, of a war and of a series entire. Perhaps for that reason it stands out, it takes a long time to get to this point, however many times you've seen it, and it's a mirror of the characters' own circumstances of reaching somewhere after many years, mainly Rom, but Quark too, who sees what he's become and doesn't like it, rages about it, yet knows what he really thinks - he likes to play up his image of being the true Ferengi, but he is soft. It's this interplay of soft and hard, implacable enemy and close friendship that gives the episode a keenness, because this is almost all there is left.
If Damar is a living legend to his people, Quark is a beacon of Ferenginess, but only to himself. He's struggling to maintain the ways he knows, in the light of extreme social change like you could never have believed, all because of his Moogie's careful reforms over the last couple of seasons. It's really incredible how they could turn a race that was so defined on its ear (!), yet when you see it happen it makes perfect sense, not just because Rom is the ideal candidate to form a fairer, kinder Ferengi society, one at odds with Quark's deep-held, yet lovably hypocritical beliefs, but because the seeds have been planted ever since Moogie and Zek became lobe to lobe and her influence spread. Quark at heart really is kind, and abhors violence. He just wants to make a profit, and he does want to make a fair one. He does have a conscience, he does care, he has succumbed to the bubbly and cloying insidious goodness of Federation 'root beer' values, and it doesn't matter how much he doth protest (too much?), he's fighting his true nature when he refuses to conform to the new Ferenginar and proudly states his bar will be the last outpost (see what they did there - hee, hee, glorious!), of the true Ferengi. Even then he has to rely on his brother's charity in freely giving him back the bar which Rom bought off him without even having to haggle when Quark's mind is on the Nagus-ship which he wrongly believes is coming to him. Even then, he's planning to turn it down, turn down his ultimate dream of untold riches because he stands on principle and if he has to see Ferengi society crumble away he'd rather not be part of it.
Either way, the joke's on him: even if he had been made Nagus by Zek he'd have taken on this role when it had been reduced in power, the reason for having it in the first place, so Quark would have been just as unhappy as finding out that his brother was the actual recipient of the honour. The family politics continue even to this point, because Rom was the 'favourite,' he was the gentler one that needed more help and Quark is more like his conniving, cunning Moogie than he was his profit-failing Father, so he sees himself in her which makes it even harder. But Ishka sees what she's accomplished with Zek and knows that Rom will continue in that direction. My only hope is that if they do touch on Ferengi civilisation in 'Star Trek: Picard' they show how it has changed for the positive, without losing its Ferengi identity. And if they can bring in Max Grodenchik and Chase Masterson as Rom and Leeta it'll be thrilling! Though, thinking about it, when they brought the Ferengi into 'Voyager' they were the same old Ferengi, reverting to the simplistic 'TNG' variety. Here, it's truly brilliant writing to shape it so that Trek gets to have it both ways: Quark remains true to his personal values even while reform comes to the un-reformable, a most Trekkian solution. Amongst both these main plots of the death and rebirth of the Cardassian underground, and the death and rebirth of the Ferengi, there is time for the expected social commentary on one hand, and developments in the war on the other. No area goes unexplored - in fact that's true of Avery Brooks' directing, too.
The last cast member of the series to direct an episode was fittingly the Captain and star, once again demonstrating his supreme ability to juggle all these varied stories and characters without dropping one. It's like he deliberately chose to film in some of the smaller, out of the way areas of the station because these places won't be seen again, and this adds intimacy to what is a grand scale story that features countless sets. When they allow time for even Bashir and Ezri's romantic interlude (in keeping with what became a tradition, if a strange one, of throwing two main characters together at the last moment of the series - see Worf and Deanna in 'TNG,' and Seven and Chakotay in 'Voyager'), Brooks films it in a little Bajoran shop which may or may not have once been the Assay Office of early seasons. It's not a big part of the episode, but is the culmination of a number of recent episodes. It still came out of nowhere, effectively, but at least they gave us time to get used to the idea unlike the other examples I mentioned. And when Quark and Rom are discussing things they do it by going up to the second level of the bar from where Quark can look down on all he surveys, metaphorically, and it's lovely to revisit these quiet little nooks and crannies that have so often been too small to contain the epic main stories we've been watching over the final arc. Brooks also shows accomplishment in his filming of other scenes, such as the fast moving camera as we dart around the Female Changeling's office, or the bomb in the Cardassian street, or the destruction of the captured Jem'Hadar ship as Vaughn Armstrong goes out in a blaze.
It could have been any old unnamed Cardassian, but there's terrific continuity in even the little details. So they bring back Seskal, the surviving 'name' character of Damar's coterie after Rusot had already been dealt with previously, and this makes Damar seem even more alone. I know three's a crowd, and his dark hole of a hideout is cramped by sharing it with Garak and Kira, but their presence is almost worse since one's a Bajoran, the other a disgraced exile, a reminder of Damar's position at the bottom by the only company he can keep. Another wonderful touch of continuity is bringing back Julianna McCarthy as Mila, Tain's housekeeper whom we hadn't seen since Season 3's 'Improbable Cause' - again, they could easily have recast this role, but they chose to bring back the same actress and she is wonderful. When she tells them to get cleaning in that murky basement I sense it was for two reasons: to give them something to do to occupy their hands, and to give them a feeling of earning their keep, having a job so important to mental health. She was a wise old woman was Mila, though her assertion that despite not being a good cook she could keep a secret, was blown a bit by revealing to Kira and Damar that Tain, former head of the Obsidian Order, was Garak's Father! I might be missing something, but I don't know that that was common knowledge or that Garak would necessarily want it to be! I'd have expected some shock for Damar, but maybe it had been rumoured in military circles? Who knows, it's not a problem, it's just one tiny moment that surprised me.
I wonder if the Dominion genuinely believed they'd killed Damar? It's just that you'd think they would have preferred to capture him alive to make an example of him. I guess they don't follow the same rules as the Cardassians who like to think that you haven't truly defeated an opponent until you make him realise he was wrong to oppose you in the first place! It could have been lies from Weyoun as I don't think we see any scenes for the villains to react to Damar's resurgence. Whatever their true beliefs were, the important thing was that the Cardassian people found something to cling onto. It's great to actually visit Cardassia (sandy coloured from orbit, just like its ships), even if it is mainly the grim basements or tight streets rather than seeing the sights - that's one area where 'DSC' made an improvement, it had the money and the advances in technology to be able to swoop into Earth or Qo'noS from orbit right down to the streets, such visuals previously only available to the bigger-budgeted films. I wish we could have seen a larger area of the city streets, but it would have been tricky to do unless without portioning a ton of money towards huge facades on the Paramount backlot city that was used a number of times in Trek, and they must have already been busting the bank with all the things they were doing as it was. They get across the story, which is the main thing, with the people seeing their hero in person.
Even the Cardassian youth that speaks out in excitement, proclaiming Damar's name, had been in a 'Voyager' episode (he was the young Tuvok in 'Gravity' that had aired earlier that corresponding season on 'Voyager'), and interestingly the one credited Jem'Hadar of this episode was also in that (Paul S. Eckstein), and had, and would have, other minor roles in Trek. Velal is brought back for his second appearance as the representative of the Romulan Empire in meetings aboard DS9, and the minor characters, really extras, of Broik and M'Pella (she'd played various uncredited roles across the series), were also given their dues. One character that might not have been expected to return was the USS Defiant, in the form of the Defiant-class USS Sao Paulo. You couldn't have had the coming massive pile-up of starships in battle in the finale without it, really. Although Bashir doesn't like the carpet he must have been pleased to have a proper Sickbay because I seem to remember him complaining about the lack of any such facilities back in Season 3's introduction of the original Defiant in 'The Search' - this time he's off to check out his Sickbay, so things have definitely changed in the intervening years. I especially love that former producer and writer Peter Allan Fields (now sadly deceased), returned to help write this episode, like everyone coming back to the fold for a last push.
Lastly, there are a couple of small moments that are nonetheless important: Bashir informing Odo that he was the carrier rather than a victim of the nasty shapeshifter-crippling plague leads to a short discussion between the Constable and Sisko that Starfleet is abetting genocide by not giving the Founders the cure. He points out to the Captain that when the Federation needs its dirty work done they look the other way, referring to the unofficial Federation-created Section 31. It may not be sanctioned, but it's still not being opposed. This may have been a further prodding to Odo towards his coming decision to leave the solids and return to his people permanently. We've seen Odo can be as hypocritical as any of us ('Things Past'), but he still holds himself to high standards and those that claim to have ideals, and it's true that the Federation comes off looking bad in this. It's also the case that the reforms in Ferengi society had nothing to do with the Federation, so it's another development that occurred in parallel, which they can't claim as being part of other than leading by example, but even there the most Federation-exposed Ferengi, Quark, is still adamantly opposed to their ideals of equality, from the tips of his lobes right down to the garishly painted toenails we see Brunt shamelessly pedicuring. The other small, but integral scene is Kasidy's revelation that she's to have a baby, the warning from the Prophets suddenly taking on more meaning. Will we see this other Sisko child in 'Picard'? Oh there are just so many possibilities in returning to this time period plus twenty years.
I knew I loved this episode, but I didn't expect it to hit home as much as it did. It remains one of the most full, charged, complete stories, yet also keeps moving, covers so many things in as satisfying a way as you could desire. It has action, it has meaning, it has social commentary, it deals with multiple established cultures, it has in-jokes that are mere touches you wouldn't even notice unless you knew your Trek. It is lovingly made, lovingly written and acted, and is good enough in tone and mood and success, to be the finale itself, but it isn't over yet and it knows it, and it sets up the last push wonderfully. Like 'Call To Arms,' the incredible finale to Season 5, there's just enough war talk to remind you of the big picture (Martok in his Chancellor's cloak!), while also finding time to service so many, many characters, the small, personal details, the grand gestures of Damar and Rom, it's a real bundle of everything Trek can, and should be. Brooks pulled it all together beautifully, giving us great reassurance throughout an adventure that was at times bleak, but never hopeless, especially in that last quiet scene between Sisko and Kasidy. It's the kind of reassurance and warmth I have yet to see in modern Trek, that has been missing for years as it tried to be something it wasn't. I can't say more to sum up its qualities than to praise its beauty and to declare that this is one of the best episodes of the series, from direction on down to every other aspect. Amazing. And all named after an obscure Klingon quote from 'Star Trek VI'!
*****
'The line must be drawn here! This far, no further,' so says Quark, the last true Ferengi unconsciously emulating the famous words of Captain Picard in 'First Contact.' Quark had been largely lost, not just in the final nine-part arc, but in the whole season, you could almost say the last third of the series since the war began, though he had a number of episodes within that period. In the final arc he barely features, there only to walk on with a drink and some wise words, before shuffling off stage again. It might appear to be a waste of the series' fast depleting time to give over its penultimate episode to the Ferengi extended family's last visit to the station, and equally it could have followed the pattern of penultimate-to-series-or-season-finales begun in 'TNG' where 'Pre-emptive Strike' was good, but not great, or 'Transfigurations' was forgettable before the monumental 'The Best of Both Worlds.' It became a disappointing trend that some of the last episode slots the writers had available to them as they closed out a series for good were variable in quality: 'Emergence,' 'Bloodlines' on 'TNG,' 'Natural Law,' 'Friendship One' on 'Voyager,' 'Demons,' 'Terra Prime' on 'Enterprise'… That pattern hadn't quite been set and thanks to 'DS9' was not chiselled in stone at this time, once again proving that this was the highest class of Trek ever created - not only did they complete the run of episodes up to the finale with tremendous flair, they brought us a Ferengi episode that even those that couldn't stand the race must have admitted was one of the better episodes of the series.
I reiterate from other reviews that that sentiment about Ferengi (when it referred to 'DS9'), was never mine, and I consider this to be not just a better episode, but one of the series' best. I always think of it as a last Ferengi knockabout episode, but while that is a key part of the story, it is by far not the only one. I'm not sure if it's the A or the B plot, but one thing's for sure: there are so many plots that you might even say we have a C, D and E! Well, there were plenty more letters in the alphabet. The incredible cast list heralds what must be the most recurring characters for a single episode ever: you've got the various Ferengi, you've got the villains, minor characters we've seen before, some not for many years, and even the glorified extras of the bar, Broik and Dabo girl M'Pella, are given part of the limelight. It's astonishing that they could jam in so many people and yet it never feel rushed or illogical in any way. Jeffrey Combs even does double time in a superb combination of Weyoun and Brunt which if you didn't know (and failed to notice the onscreen credit), were played by the same actor, you'd never guess! On the same day as I watched this, I re-watched the Season 1 finale of 'Discovery' and what a miserably put together piece of rubbish it was - I'd go as far as to say it's in the running for worst Trek episode ever and I think I'd even watch the awful 'Shades of Grey' above that one. It got Trek, no it got storytelling itself, so, so wrong that it wipes good Trek from your memory like a Romulan mind probe. Watching 'DS9' reminded me why Trek is so great, or had been so great: the craft that went into not just the production, which 'DSC' succeeded at, but the believability factor and the portrayal of the races, restores all despairing brain cells that had died with that poor ending to a frustration-strewn season.
There are multiple races in this episode, all being used in the way that is so, so right: you have Kira, a Bajoran who is also a figurehead for the Federation in its dealings with Damar's Cardassian Liberation Front, that must continue to walk that tightrope between serving the Federation's purpose for her, and being sensitive enough to know when to keep her creased nose out of the eyes of the Cardassians she's there to support. She's like a caged bear when circumstances force her, Damar and Garak to seek refuge in Enabran Tain's dusty old basement, wanting to do something to strike back at the Dominion, but knowing from where she is she's powerless. The Dominion, using Cardassian collaborators that would sacrifice their world's future for personal gain, have put an end to the carefully constructed network of Damar's resistance: all the bases have been annihilated and it's their belief that Damar, too, has been killed when his ship, piloted by Seskal, is obliterated when they go to meet with further potential allies. It's a miserable beginning to the episode, and the cruel, ruthless nature of Cardassian psychology is shown up to their detriment, as well as its arrogance when we see the new puppet leader, Legate Broca. Damar and his two allies lie on their beds in this dark, dingy cellar, depressed and demoralised, until Mila brings word that the people think Damar still lives. Kira hits on this as a last, desperate solution: extreme circumstances require extreme measures, and while the military is all but ruined, the civilian population are ripe for turning into a force against their oppressors.
Birthing Damar into legend, a mythical folk hero, was something that happened without him doing anything, aside from his daring exploits, of course. But the people took his name on as a source of hope and so he chooses to get off his bed of misery and try to turn things around. With the solidifying of his continued survival, the people can be fired up, and I love how Kira stays in the shadows as Damar takes the floor in a fury of purpose after their attack on a Dominion target, melting away as Damar's position rises. They so succeed at pulling the heart strings, and at every emotion, it's a wonder to behold as tensions mount and ebb, the action a result of logical progression and sense. In some ways a light episode, but not to be taken lightly, it's a deeply personal experience. Some episodes are best left unshared, and this is one of those. I'm not sure why. But it's not one you'd pick out to watch on the fly, it needs to be seen as the semi-culmination of a multi-part saga (just as you wouldn't stick in 'Sacrifice of Angels' on a whim), of a season, of a war and of a series entire. Perhaps for that reason it stands out, it takes a long time to get to this point, however many times you've seen it, and it's a mirror of the characters' own circumstances of reaching somewhere after many years, mainly Rom, but Quark too, who sees what he's become and doesn't like it, rages about it, yet knows what he really thinks - he likes to play up his image of being the true Ferengi, but he is soft. It's this interplay of soft and hard, implacable enemy and close friendship that gives the episode a keenness, because this is almost all there is left.
If Damar is a living legend to his people, Quark is a beacon of Ferenginess, but only to himself. He's struggling to maintain the ways he knows, in the light of extreme social change like you could never have believed, all because of his Moogie's careful reforms over the last couple of seasons. It's really incredible how they could turn a race that was so defined on its ear (!), yet when you see it happen it makes perfect sense, not just because Rom is the ideal candidate to form a fairer, kinder Ferengi society, one at odds with Quark's deep-held, yet lovably hypocritical beliefs, but because the seeds have been planted ever since Moogie and Zek became lobe to lobe and her influence spread. Quark at heart really is kind, and abhors violence. He just wants to make a profit, and he does want to make a fair one. He does have a conscience, he does care, he has succumbed to the bubbly and cloying insidious goodness of Federation 'root beer' values, and it doesn't matter how much he doth protest (too much?), he's fighting his true nature when he refuses to conform to the new Ferenginar and proudly states his bar will be the last outpost (see what they did there - hee, hee, glorious!), of the true Ferengi. Even then he has to rely on his brother's charity in freely giving him back the bar which Rom bought off him without even having to haggle when Quark's mind is on the Nagus-ship which he wrongly believes is coming to him. Even then, he's planning to turn it down, turn down his ultimate dream of untold riches because he stands on principle and if he has to see Ferengi society crumble away he'd rather not be part of it.
Either way, the joke's on him: even if he had been made Nagus by Zek he'd have taken on this role when it had been reduced in power, the reason for having it in the first place, so Quark would have been just as unhappy as finding out that his brother was the actual recipient of the honour. The family politics continue even to this point, because Rom was the 'favourite,' he was the gentler one that needed more help and Quark is more like his conniving, cunning Moogie than he was his profit-failing Father, so he sees himself in her which makes it even harder. But Ishka sees what she's accomplished with Zek and knows that Rom will continue in that direction. My only hope is that if they do touch on Ferengi civilisation in 'Star Trek: Picard' they show how it has changed for the positive, without losing its Ferengi identity. And if they can bring in Max Grodenchik and Chase Masterson as Rom and Leeta it'll be thrilling! Though, thinking about it, when they brought the Ferengi into 'Voyager' they were the same old Ferengi, reverting to the simplistic 'TNG' variety. Here, it's truly brilliant writing to shape it so that Trek gets to have it both ways: Quark remains true to his personal values even while reform comes to the un-reformable, a most Trekkian solution. Amongst both these main plots of the death and rebirth of the Cardassian underground, and the death and rebirth of the Ferengi, there is time for the expected social commentary on one hand, and developments in the war on the other. No area goes unexplored - in fact that's true of Avery Brooks' directing, too.
The last cast member of the series to direct an episode was fittingly the Captain and star, once again demonstrating his supreme ability to juggle all these varied stories and characters without dropping one. It's like he deliberately chose to film in some of the smaller, out of the way areas of the station because these places won't be seen again, and this adds intimacy to what is a grand scale story that features countless sets. When they allow time for even Bashir and Ezri's romantic interlude (in keeping with what became a tradition, if a strange one, of throwing two main characters together at the last moment of the series - see Worf and Deanna in 'TNG,' and Seven and Chakotay in 'Voyager'), Brooks films it in a little Bajoran shop which may or may not have once been the Assay Office of early seasons. It's not a big part of the episode, but is the culmination of a number of recent episodes. It still came out of nowhere, effectively, but at least they gave us time to get used to the idea unlike the other examples I mentioned. And when Quark and Rom are discussing things they do it by going up to the second level of the bar from where Quark can look down on all he surveys, metaphorically, and it's lovely to revisit these quiet little nooks and crannies that have so often been too small to contain the epic main stories we've been watching over the final arc. Brooks also shows accomplishment in his filming of other scenes, such as the fast moving camera as we dart around the Female Changeling's office, or the bomb in the Cardassian street, or the destruction of the captured Jem'Hadar ship as Vaughn Armstrong goes out in a blaze.
It could have been any old unnamed Cardassian, but there's terrific continuity in even the little details. So they bring back Seskal, the surviving 'name' character of Damar's coterie after Rusot had already been dealt with previously, and this makes Damar seem even more alone. I know three's a crowd, and his dark hole of a hideout is cramped by sharing it with Garak and Kira, but their presence is almost worse since one's a Bajoran, the other a disgraced exile, a reminder of Damar's position at the bottom by the only company he can keep. Another wonderful touch of continuity is bringing back Julianna McCarthy as Mila, Tain's housekeeper whom we hadn't seen since Season 3's 'Improbable Cause' - again, they could easily have recast this role, but they chose to bring back the same actress and she is wonderful. When she tells them to get cleaning in that murky basement I sense it was for two reasons: to give them something to do to occupy their hands, and to give them a feeling of earning their keep, having a job so important to mental health. She was a wise old woman was Mila, though her assertion that despite not being a good cook she could keep a secret, was blown a bit by revealing to Kira and Damar that Tain, former head of the Obsidian Order, was Garak's Father! I might be missing something, but I don't know that that was common knowledge or that Garak would necessarily want it to be! I'd have expected some shock for Damar, but maybe it had been rumoured in military circles? Who knows, it's not a problem, it's just one tiny moment that surprised me.
I wonder if the Dominion genuinely believed they'd killed Damar? It's just that you'd think they would have preferred to capture him alive to make an example of him. I guess they don't follow the same rules as the Cardassians who like to think that you haven't truly defeated an opponent until you make him realise he was wrong to oppose you in the first place! It could have been lies from Weyoun as I don't think we see any scenes for the villains to react to Damar's resurgence. Whatever their true beliefs were, the important thing was that the Cardassian people found something to cling onto. It's great to actually visit Cardassia (sandy coloured from orbit, just like its ships), even if it is mainly the grim basements or tight streets rather than seeing the sights - that's one area where 'DSC' made an improvement, it had the money and the advances in technology to be able to swoop into Earth or Qo'noS from orbit right down to the streets, such visuals previously only available to the bigger-budgeted films. I wish we could have seen a larger area of the city streets, but it would have been tricky to do unless without portioning a ton of money towards huge facades on the Paramount backlot city that was used a number of times in Trek, and they must have already been busting the bank with all the things they were doing as it was. They get across the story, which is the main thing, with the people seeing their hero in person.
Even the Cardassian youth that speaks out in excitement, proclaiming Damar's name, had been in a 'Voyager' episode (he was the young Tuvok in 'Gravity' that had aired earlier that corresponding season on 'Voyager'), and interestingly the one credited Jem'Hadar of this episode was also in that (Paul S. Eckstein), and had, and would have, other minor roles in Trek. Velal is brought back for his second appearance as the representative of the Romulan Empire in meetings aboard DS9, and the minor characters, really extras, of Broik and M'Pella (she'd played various uncredited roles across the series), were also given their dues. One character that might not have been expected to return was the USS Defiant, in the form of the Defiant-class USS Sao Paulo. You couldn't have had the coming massive pile-up of starships in battle in the finale without it, really. Although Bashir doesn't like the carpet he must have been pleased to have a proper Sickbay because I seem to remember him complaining about the lack of any such facilities back in Season 3's introduction of the original Defiant in 'The Search' - this time he's off to check out his Sickbay, so things have definitely changed in the intervening years. I especially love that former producer and writer Peter Allan Fields (now sadly deceased), returned to help write this episode, like everyone coming back to the fold for a last push.
Lastly, there are a couple of small moments that are nonetheless important: Bashir informing Odo that he was the carrier rather than a victim of the nasty shapeshifter-crippling plague leads to a short discussion between the Constable and Sisko that Starfleet is abetting genocide by not giving the Founders the cure. He points out to the Captain that when the Federation needs its dirty work done they look the other way, referring to the unofficial Federation-created Section 31. It may not be sanctioned, but it's still not being opposed. This may have been a further prodding to Odo towards his coming decision to leave the solids and return to his people permanently. We've seen Odo can be as hypocritical as any of us ('Things Past'), but he still holds himself to high standards and those that claim to have ideals, and it's true that the Federation comes off looking bad in this. It's also the case that the reforms in Ferengi society had nothing to do with the Federation, so it's another development that occurred in parallel, which they can't claim as being part of other than leading by example, but even there the most Federation-exposed Ferengi, Quark, is still adamantly opposed to their ideals of equality, from the tips of his lobes right down to the garishly painted toenails we see Brunt shamelessly pedicuring. The other small, but integral scene is Kasidy's revelation that she's to have a baby, the warning from the Prophets suddenly taking on more meaning. Will we see this other Sisko child in 'Picard'? Oh there are just so many possibilities in returning to this time period plus twenty years.
I knew I loved this episode, but I didn't expect it to hit home as much as it did. It remains one of the most full, charged, complete stories, yet also keeps moving, covers so many things in as satisfying a way as you could desire. It has action, it has meaning, it has social commentary, it deals with multiple established cultures, it has in-jokes that are mere touches you wouldn't even notice unless you knew your Trek. It is lovingly made, lovingly written and acted, and is good enough in tone and mood and success, to be the finale itself, but it isn't over yet and it knows it, and it sets up the last push wonderfully. Like 'Call To Arms,' the incredible finale to Season 5, there's just enough war talk to remind you of the big picture (Martok in his Chancellor's cloak!), while also finding time to service so many, many characters, the small, personal details, the grand gestures of Damar and Rom, it's a real bundle of everything Trek can, and should be. Brooks pulled it all together beautifully, giving us great reassurance throughout an adventure that was at times bleak, but never hopeless, especially in that last quiet scene between Sisko and Kasidy. It's the kind of reassurance and warmth I have yet to see in modern Trek, that has been missing for years as it tried to be something it wasn't. I can't say more to sum up its qualities than to praise its beauty and to declare that this is one of the best episodes of the series, from direction on down to every other aspect. Amazing. And all named after an obscure Klingon quote from 'Star Trek VI'!
*****
Jitters
DVD, Smallville S1 (Jitters)
It was a powerful silence the episode ended with, after Lionel Luthor hugs his son coldly for the PR shots and all Lex can see is the loving family of Clark, Jonathan and Martha, genuinely joyful with each other. Usually they end with the music continuing, but they wisely chose to let that image hang there after the fade to black. Evidence of another of the best episodes of the season, and setup for the kind of deceit we'd expect from the Luthor name, but not the family member we'd expect: Lex is actually very helpful, brave and if not resourceful, willing to go along with what his new resolve allows. In this case, he takes the initiative when his Father fails to say what meteor sufferer Earl Jenkins needs to hear, Lex goes in to negotiate the release of the school party, including Clark and his friends, in exchange for showing Earl the mysterious, disappearing 'Level 3' of the LuthorCorp plant, which he believes is a figment of this ill man's mind. Not only that, but when they all come out of safely, he puts his Father on the spot in front of the media to ensure Earl gets the best medical attention money can buy, much to Lionel's surprise. There's still a big element of wondering if Lex' motivations for doing the right thing are part of his efforts to show who he can be to his Father, or whether they're genuine. It certainly seemed that he was willing to take full responsibility and cement his place as a good guy in the eyes of the community by risking his life to get those students out, but it could equally be interpreted as him showing up his Dad. It really doesn't matter what the true motivating factor was, the important thing is that he did it.
He wouldn't have got out of there if it hadn't been for Clark, who once again saves his life by 'finding' superhuman strength to lift not just Earl, but Lex dangling off the big man's legs! Fortunately it really was an effort for him as Earl's meteor infection was making Clark sick, so he didn't need to act the strain, even though it would have been tough enough for an ordinary mortal to pull Earl up on his own, let alone the weight of two men! I wonder if Lex subsequently had the gantry shipped off to a secret lab to train spotlights on it so he can wander around it pondering how Clark could have done it… In truth, I don't think 'Level 3' came into it again, and it was clearly all Lionel's project. I'm not even sure Gabe Sullivan, Chloe's Dad, who I think headed the plant, or was at least fairly high up, knew anything about it. At least you don't get the idea that someone who can make so many poor jokes in front of high school students would be good at being part of a super secret operation that even Lex was kept in the dark about. Plus I'd like to think he wasn't involved since he's a likeable chap, even though we don't see much of him. He's one of those people in the Smallville community who popped up occasionally, but he was never used enough, I felt. There was some other Level Something-or-Other business in metropolis in later seasons, but again, it never came to much. Here, it was still early days and it seemed really exciting to think Lionel was carrying out dastardly experiments with meteor rock, and added another layer to the series' depth.
The episode in itself felt bigger in scale, with our first visit to Metropolis for the Kents' trip, part of the well-judged humour injected into the episode when Clark tries to have a party when his parents are away, which quickly gets way out of hand, in spite of a kind gesture to help it be a success from the mind of Lex Luthor when he arranges for a firework display - he's a thoughtful guy! Some of the best effects work is in this humorous section of the episode as Clark has to find a bowl for a sick attendee in super-speed time, and also uses his ability to clean up super-fast afterwards, but not fast enough to get by his unimpressed parents! Fortunately for him, Earl's problem took precedence over a severe grounding, and after what happened I doubt his parents were going to be angry with him at the end of that long day! Cheers, Earl. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there must be a name for this phenomenon, and if not I'm going to call it the Todd Rule, because practically whenever Tony Todd is in something he plays a great character and the episode tends to be good, too, whether it be 'Star Trek,' 'Stargate' or this. Sadly, I don't think they ever revisited the character in all this series' ten seasons, though Lionel's experiments would continue.
It almost makes you wonder if Lex is about to go off the deep end and become the bad guy he was born to be when he's looking over at the true and genuine Kent family, but there was a way to go yet, he was determined to walk the path he'd chosen. He's still interested in Clark's abilities, and I don't think he really accepted the lad's explanation of adrenaline giving him the strength he needed. It was a bit of stretch to think Clark had time to bash that wall in to show the way to the lift to Level 3, too, although I thought I saw a sledge hammer on the floor, and Clark does hard manual labour on the farm so it might not be all that unbelievable. One thing I was unsure about was his assertion that he knew Earl so well because he'd spent twelve hour days out in the fields working with him. Would Clark really waste that much time when he could have done it in far less, just to keep things real for the farmhands? Maybe he just liked hanging out with the guy. Although he's portrayed as being socially awkward, he's really not that bad and, Whitney aside, most people seem to like him. What I like is that the characters behave as we'd expect them to, so Whitney is the first to suggest tackling Earl as he holds them hostage, Chloe's embarrassed at her Father's attempts to make her classmates laugh, and Lana is sympathetic to Clark's apparent cowardice at not wanting to attack Earl (who had a gun, don't forget).
I loved little things such as Chloe not being too old to be holding hands with her Dad as they hurriedly escaped the plant, and Pete waiting around for Clark when he stays behind to consult with Lex, not to mention his heartfelt guilt at Clark being left behind when everyone got out. The sense of community is strong and continues to feel that way, and the story makes a lot of sense: it's progresses logically from Earl in Metropolis and the tragedy of killing his colleague, to his searching for Jonathan and the tragedy of him being out of town, all things escalating his already desperate temperament to the point where he takes advantage of anything that happens in order to get his cure. Like I said, the scale of the episode added immeasurably to the story, what with SWAT teams running around and all those students having to exit the plant - it even made a good deal of sense that they'd be there for this school trip and I like the generally grounded nature of the storytelling before it went off in wackier directions later in the series. It's also different to the other freaks-of-the-week this time as Earl is an unwilling participant in his 'power,' if it can be called that. His jitters are entirely unwanted, and he's closest to the girl from 'Craving' in that it's a side effect of something that happened to him, but he's not trying to use it, he's trying to escape it, although she was lured in by what it gave her and Earl never wants any part of it. So he's the most pure 'freak' we've seen, and it's only his extreme desperation that makes him willing to do anything to be heard and not to be called a liar or a mental case, part of the tragedy of the story.
The exciting finale on the gantry made it feel almost like a film, and it was certainly one of the more memorable episodes for introducing some new ideas into the mix, of Lionel's continuing evil, Lex wanting what Clark has, and for the friendships. Obviously the people in charge thought so too as lots of clips from this episode would be used in the opening credits montage, which must be a high compliment to pay. I don't suppose it was a deliberate homage, but the early scene of Earl visiting the baby he's denied from seeing officially (I got the impression), reminded me of a similar scene in 'Batman: The Animated Series' with this guy that could be invisible and visits his young child. Both DC, so maybe…
****
It was a powerful silence the episode ended with, after Lionel Luthor hugs his son coldly for the PR shots and all Lex can see is the loving family of Clark, Jonathan and Martha, genuinely joyful with each other. Usually they end with the music continuing, but they wisely chose to let that image hang there after the fade to black. Evidence of another of the best episodes of the season, and setup for the kind of deceit we'd expect from the Luthor name, but not the family member we'd expect: Lex is actually very helpful, brave and if not resourceful, willing to go along with what his new resolve allows. In this case, he takes the initiative when his Father fails to say what meteor sufferer Earl Jenkins needs to hear, Lex goes in to negotiate the release of the school party, including Clark and his friends, in exchange for showing Earl the mysterious, disappearing 'Level 3' of the LuthorCorp plant, which he believes is a figment of this ill man's mind. Not only that, but when they all come out of safely, he puts his Father on the spot in front of the media to ensure Earl gets the best medical attention money can buy, much to Lionel's surprise. There's still a big element of wondering if Lex' motivations for doing the right thing are part of his efforts to show who he can be to his Father, or whether they're genuine. It certainly seemed that he was willing to take full responsibility and cement his place as a good guy in the eyes of the community by risking his life to get those students out, but it could equally be interpreted as him showing up his Dad. It really doesn't matter what the true motivating factor was, the important thing is that he did it.
He wouldn't have got out of there if it hadn't been for Clark, who once again saves his life by 'finding' superhuman strength to lift not just Earl, but Lex dangling off the big man's legs! Fortunately it really was an effort for him as Earl's meteor infection was making Clark sick, so he didn't need to act the strain, even though it would have been tough enough for an ordinary mortal to pull Earl up on his own, let alone the weight of two men! I wonder if Lex subsequently had the gantry shipped off to a secret lab to train spotlights on it so he can wander around it pondering how Clark could have done it… In truth, I don't think 'Level 3' came into it again, and it was clearly all Lionel's project. I'm not even sure Gabe Sullivan, Chloe's Dad, who I think headed the plant, or was at least fairly high up, knew anything about it. At least you don't get the idea that someone who can make so many poor jokes in front of high school students would be good at being part of a super secret operation that even Lex was kept in the dark about. Plus I'd like to think he wasn't involved since he's a likeable chap, even though we don't see much of him. He's one of those people in the Smallville community who popped up occasionally, but he was never used enough, I felt. There was some other Level Something-or-Other business in metropolis in later seasons, but again, it never came to much. Here, it was still early days and it seemed really exciting to think Lionel was carrying out dastardly experiments with meteor rock, and added another layer to the series' depth.
The episode in itself felt bigger in scale, with our first visit to Metropolis for the Kents' trip, part of the well-judged humour injected into the episode when Clark tries to have a party when his parents are away, which quickly gets way out of hand, in spite of a kind gesture to help it be a success from the mind of Lex Luthor when he arranges for a firework display - he's a thoughtful guy! Some of the best effects work is in this humorous section of the episode as Clark has to find a bowl for a sick attendee in super-speed time, and also uses his ability to clean up super-fast afterwards, but not fast enough to get by his unimpressed parents! Fortunately for him, Earl's problem took precedence over a severe grounding, and after what happened I doubt his parents were going to be angry with him at the end of that long day! Cheers, Earl. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there must be a name for this phenomenon, and if not I'm going to call it the Todd Rule, because practically whenever Tony Todd is in something he plays a great character and the episode tends to be good, too, whether it be 'Star Trek,' 'Stargate' or this. Sadly, I don't think they ever revisited the character in all this series' ten seasons, though Lionel's experiments would continue.
It almost makes you wonder if Lex is about to go off the deep end and become the bad guy he was born to be when he's looking over at the true and genuine Kent family, but there was a way to go yet, he was determined to walk the path he'd chosen. He's still interested in Clark's abilities, and I don't think he really accepted the lad's explanation of adrenaline giving him the strength he needed. It was a bit of stretch to think Clark had time to bash that wall in to show the way to the lift to Level 3, too, although I thought I saw a sledge hammer on the floor, and Clark does hard manual labour on the farm so it might not be all that unbelievable. One thing I was unsure about was his assertion that he knew Earl so well because he'd spent twelve hour days out in the fields working with him. Would Clark really waste that much time when he could have done it in far less, just to keep things real for the farmhands? Maybe he just liked hanging out with the guy. Although he's portrayed as being socially awkward, he's really not that bad and, Whitney aside, most people seem to like him. What I like is that the characters behave as we'd expect them to, so Whitney is the first to suggest tackling Earl as he holds them hostage, Chloe's embarrassed at her Father's attempts to make her classmates laugh, and Lana is sympathetic to Clark's apparent cowardice at not wanting to attack Earl (who had a gun, don't forget).
I loved little things such as Chloe not being too old to be holding hands with her Dad as they hurriedly escaped the plant, and Pete waiting around for Clark when he stays behind to consult with Lex, not to mention his heartfelt guilt at Clark being left behind when everyone got out. The sense of community is strong and continues to feel that way, and the story makes a lot of sense: it's progresses logically from Earl in Metropolis and the tragedy of killing his colleague, to his searching for Jonathan and the tragedy of him being out of town, all things escalating his already desperate temperament to the point where he takes advantage of anything that happens in order to get his cure. Like I said, the scale of the episode added immeasurably to the story, what with SWAT teams running around and all those students having to exit the plant - it even made a good deal of sense that they'd be there for this school trip and I like the generally grounded nature of the storytelling before it went off in wackier directions later in the series. It's also different to the other freaks-of-the-week this time as Earl is an unwilling participant in his 'power,' if it can be called that. His jitters are entirely unwanted, and he's closest to the girl from 'Craving' in that it's a side effect of something that happened to him, but he's not trying to use it, he's trying to escape it, although she was lured in by what it gave her and Earl never wants any part of it. So he's the most pure 'freak' we've seen, and it's only his extreme desperation that makes him willing to do anything to be heard and not to be called a liar or a mental case, part of the tragedy of the story.
The exciting finale on the gantry made it feel almost like a film, and it was certainly one of the more memorable episodes for introducing some new ideas into the mix, of Lionel's continuing evil, Lex wanting what Clark has, and for the friendships. Obviously the people in charge thought so too as lots of clips from this episode would be used in the opening credits montage, which must be a high compliment to pay. I don't suppose it was a deliberate homage, but the early scene of Earl visiting the baby he's denied from seeing officially (I got the impression), reminded me of a similar scene in 'Batman: The Animated Series' with this guy that could be invisible and visits his young child. Both DC, so maybe…
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