DVD, DS9 S4 (The Muse)
As much as I tried not to like this one, and found reasons to do so, I couldn't help but enjoy a lot of moments in it and realised I'd had a good time - the world and its characters were enough to make up for the dull scenes of Jake writing while the vampire bat behind him sucks up his creativity. There's so much to like: Sisko and Kasidy going off on a camping trip to the Bajoran Outback (I didn't even know they had an outback) could have been a sub-story in itself; Majel Barrett's final onscreen Trek appearance; Michael Ansara's final 'DS9' appearance; Odo playing hide and seek; Jake signing off on his future book at the end, neatly tying into 'The Visitor' and its vision of the future (he even mentions the Pennington School again, but it doesn't matter how many times he speaks its name, he's not any closer to getting there!); Quark's uncharacteristic generosity in throwing a party for Odo and Lwaxana, proving despite what he says he really does think of Odo as a friend.
Previously I had found the episode a little tiresome, but the space vampire stuff didn't drag it down enough any more. I wondered if it might have been more effective an episode if Meg Foster had been human-looking, her alienness apparent only from her ghostly pallor and piercing eyes. Or they could have had her appear ugly at first and gradually becoming beautiful like a butterfly emerging so that her next lifecycle was completed - this might have added some sympathy for her, an understanding of her nature that needed creativity to survive. Then when she escaped off the station and went to warp there might have been an element of beauty instead of being a 'TOS' monster of the week, that she might be emerging into her true form at the unfortunate Jake's expense. She reminded me of a cross between the Salt Vampire and Flint since she needed something from others to harvest and she'd lived hundreds of years, knowing many great minds - in Flint's case he was some of the great minds - that would have made a nice crossover, if she had met one of Flint's personas…
When Lwaxana (or Laxwana as Ansara pronounces it the first time!), runs to Odo I at first wondered why she hadn't gone to her daughter on the Enterprise where she'd have been sure of high-ranking support from Captain Picard, but then I remembered the D had been destroyed the previous year and the E hadn't yet been built, or at the very least, shown on screen. The Lwaxana episodes have always been strange on 'DS9,' skewed differently from the comedy the character generally engendered on 'TNG.' Like O'Brien and Worf, the series developed her further than 'TNG' had ever done, giving us a much more vulnerable and honest look into Mrs. Troi and allowing Majel to act rather than overact - not that the overacting was bad, it was delightful, but it is different to see the way she interacts with Odo as opposed to others.
By this point Odo knew her well enough to be at ease with her and understand the way she worked, but he also cared deeply for her, and his testimony of love that must convince her previous husband Jeyal that he genuinely does want to marry her is very far from the hilarious loss of dignity suffered by Picard in a similar position against the Ferengi in 'Menage a Troi' because he's genuine and she has changed him. She was the first he ever opened up to because he had no choice and the first that knew about Kira. It's sad this was the end of her appearances as she always added something to Odo, but they couldn't have gone anywhere else with the two so it was a natural parting.
It did leave her in an awkward position however, as we never found out how she dealt with motherhood at her age, or what Deanna thought about having a half-brother, and in retrospect it may have been better if the story hadn't included the pregnancy somehow as it meant she wasn't going to pop up in any 'TNG' films. She does speak openly about losing her daughter, Kestra, and little links back to 'TNG,' but no 'Mr. Woof' or other funny moments, reduced to having fun with Odo hiding as something in his quarters, or depressing the usually irrepressible Dax before she and Kira head to the Holosuite for another Camelot adventure in their attire from 'The Way of The Warrior' - Worf looks like he was caught coming out of an exercise program, but all look equally dejected.
The usually buttoned up Odo goes to the lengths of allowing all his friends and colleagues into his quarters for the wedding ceremony and declaring his love in the most honest tones that it puts even Lwaxana off her stride. I think he may have surprised himself, and certainly the main cast look suitably dazed by proceedings. I do wonder what Lwaxana did on the station in the time she was there and they were married as that would have made an interesting arc if they'd wanted to pursue it for a few episodes. The other main story about Jake being sucked into a dangerous situation could be an allegory for solitary teens and how they can get fooled and taken to things that at first seem glamourous, but become addictive and dangerous for their health. I couldn't help but think of Onaya all day long putting up all those drapes in her quarters and arranging candles to be just right for Jake's visit - she probably had some kind of power to move things without physically doing it, or maybe she went into her energy form and did a quick whip round the room in no time. In the Trek universe paper is not something you expect to see and I love the way she brings it in, presentation is everything, the rich purple handkerchief covers a perfectly together load of loose sheets that are thin and translucent, yet tough enough to take a good pen stroke.
The visual change in Onaya was subtle, she goes from deathly pale manuscript yellow in almost black clothing to close to normal skin tones, her wardrobe also lightening up as she takes away Jake's life little by little. Good that it's Sisko who saves his boy (while Jones is there in the background and goes down the wrong tunnel!), but even then Jake wants to keep going, feebly asking his Dad not to interfere. The moment she walks through the wall in sickbay, then knocks out poor Nurse Tagana (played by Pat Tallman), was one of the better effects of the episode, though the lighting in the room should have been subdued. The Odo story was far more enjoyable however, seeing him have more fun than we've seen in ages, Rene Auberjonois grinning from ear to ear and nimbly leaping to the ground during the hide and seek game with Lwaxana - he must have been in his late fifties, so it's quite impressive. The Tavnians are a strange race as it seems a wife doesn't need to divorce her husband before marrying someone else, it automatically annuls the first marriage. I don't know how she ever came to be in such a marriage in the first place, but she's always been looking for a new man ever since we first met her in the first season of 'TNG.' Some things never change.
Taken as a horror story it doesn't work very well, but adding all those great Odo moments together and the pleasant way Jake's story ends, I find it hard to be harsh about it. Just being on the station with those characters is sometimes al you need.
***
Monday, 28 November 2011
Monday, 14 November 2011
Freak
DVD, Smallville S6 (Freak)
One of the best this season has produced, and all without the Green Arrow, not something I expected to see. For once a plot comes along that really is clever and shakes up the foundation of the characters without seeming contrived and ridiculous, but more on that later. At first this appeared to be one of the usual freak-of-the-week stories, the guy at the bowling alley possibly having an ulterior motive in handing out bowling tips to Lana on her unconventional batchelorette party with Chloe. It quickly becomes apparent that he was just a harmless example of the Meteor Freak generation, something we haven't seen much of in the past, but adding a new slant to the mutations - some of these have managed to stay quiet about their abilities and help people, not harm, managing to blend in to Smallville society. Daniel Kim was just one of several in the town targeted by Dr. Bethany who is a bit mysterious at first but is soon revealed to be working for Lex, though secretly. He's one of the many that have tried to exploit the infected over the years, and this time he's using one of them to turf out the others.
The unique ability of Tobias Rice is that he can see the infected when his dark glasses are taken off, which leads to one of the most fascinating twists in recent seasons, from several angles: I was probably mistaken for thinking the photo taken at the bowling didn't match up with the time Tobias pointed at Kim, but regardless, it leads to Clark and Chloe going to the freak's house, just like the old days, only this one's not an enemy. There's a great moment where Clark catches the glass in super-speed (though I don't think we actually saw it), to avoid embarrassment, but instead causes much more of a problem because in the confusion Tobias' shades fall off and he sees all! Now that's not too bad - many of the mutants Clark's faced over the years have known he was one of them… or was he? That's the blazing insight given off by the episode: Clark doesn't show up as one of them because, as Chloe explains to him at the end, he's not one of them. But she is. Tobias saw her and she was the one he phoned Dr. Bethany about, which is a thrilling and totally unexpected turn of events!
Clark does some blatant laptop stealing and he really should have taken it without the Doctor's knowledge rather than whipping past and then striding out with it openly under his arm. It was a good moment though, one of many to showcase Clark's powers such as we have't seen for a long time. So often things are reduced to him dashing about at super-speed or throwing baddies against walls, that his super-hearing, X-ray vision and heat vision had almost been forgotten. But not this time! Clark and Jimmy are both devastated by Chloe's abduction, as they should be (Clark not demonstrating super-intelligence as one of his abilities when Jimmy's at Chloe's place over the Talon, Clark comes in, Jimmy asks him where she is, and Clark replies "she's not here?"), but it's what happens when she comes back that makes the difference. Obviously they can't discuss the meteor freaks in front of Jimmy because he's not yet in the know, but someone that does seem to be in the know is Lana, believe it or not. She's finally put all the pieces together and wonderfully tries to protect Clark by helping Tobias escape from his false benefactor, finding out from him that Clark isn't the infected person she believed he was.
The moment where Clark speeds in, deflects the bullet fired by Lana to protect Tobias, takes the blast from Bethany's electro-blast (which must have bounced back to kill him) and exits without being seen is one of those classic moments of brilliance that have long been missing from the series - inventive, impressive and excellently directed. There were some scenes in the episode where I sensed it was going to cut away, but instead the scene carried on: when Lex threatens Bethany for one, and later when Clark reassures Chloe that he'll be there to make sure she's alright even if she becomes a mutant. It was like we were being shown some of the things that are usually cut away from, making it a much more rounded experience.
What could be more satisfying than for Clark and Lana to have a genuine conversation about whether Clark was infected by the meteors or not - it's only taken five and a half years to get to, but it was well worth it to see Lana reassure Clark that even if he were such a person he'd still be the same Clark. They're the words he always wanted to hear, it's just a shame they had to come at a time when she's about to marry Lex and Clark's already seen his world collapse when he told her what he really was in the alternate future last season. I can't imagine him ever getting to that point again, but it's absolutely heartening to see these characters talking warmly to each other, people's lives saved mysteriously again. Lana even holds up the bullet to show Clark, instead of hiding it away in a drawer and stealing glances at it to make us wonder what she knows. I do wonder what she thinks Clark really is or how he might have done the things he seems to have done, but the important thing is that this episode ends happily, even finding time for a song which was another aspect of it that felt like the old episodes.
It's a refreshing change to have so many things spoken of openly and most things cleared up in the space of the episode instead of hanging over, tempting us, but even then there are plenty of things to come back for, not the least that Lex swore on the soul of his baby that he had nothing to do with Tobias or knew anything about it, when it's clear he had much to do with it. Does that mean he thinks their baby won't have a soul? Does that mean it may not even be human, but some terrible experiment from him? It's all a scary thought. If you want horror though, this had a moment that was bordering on the torture films that became popular in the last few years: Clark has to burn through Chloe's skin and rip out a tracking device buried under her collar bone! It was horrible, but it also shone the light fully on their friendship, that she was willing, even begging, to trust him and the control of his abilities, to save her. It turned out to be only a GPS, but it could have been some miniature explosive like 'Mission: Impossible III.'
Lex has gone far deeper into the dark side than I expected, baldly lying to Lana, his bride to be, sanctioning Chloe's violent treatment and ordering her kept under close watch, while still taking the lead in all the meteor freak research and development that can be done. Lana has shown she doesn't fully trust him by going over his head and trying to steal Tobias away (nicely finished by sending him to Star City under the care of Queen Industries who will take care of the cornea transplant), and that she would protect Clark if she thought he needed her to. It was a such a good episode all round, and despite Martha and Lionel not featuring it had so many things to recommend it: action, suspense, great twists, wonderful character moments and excellent use of the freak storyline upon which the series was originally based. In some ways that would have made this a freak episode among lesser seasons, but as this season has been an improvement, it merely stands tall as one of the best among the good.
***
One of the best this season has produced, and all without the Green Arrow, not something I expected to see. For once a plot comes along that really is clever and shakes up the foundation of the characters without seeming contrived and ridiculous, but more on that later. At first this appeared to be one of the usual freak-of-the-week stories, the guy at the bowling alley possibly having an ulterior motive in handing out bowling tips to Lana on her unconventional batchelorette party with Chloe. It quickly becomes apparent that he was just a harmless example of the Meteor Freak generation, something we haven't seen much of in the past, but adding a new slant to the mutations - some of these have managed to stay quiet about their abilities and help people, not harm, managing to blend in to Smallville society. Daniel Kim was just one of several in the town targeted by Dr. Bethany who is a bit mysterious at first but is soon revealed to be working for Lex, though secretly. He's one of the many that have tried to exploit the infected over the years, and this time he's using one of them to turf out the others.
The unique ability of Tobias Rice is that he can see the infected when his dark glasses are taken off, which leads to one of the most fascinating twists in recent seasons, from several angles: I was probably mistaken for thinking the photo taken at the bowling didn't match up with the time Tobias pointed at Kim, but regardless, it leads to Clark and Chloe going to the freak's house, just like the old days, only this one's not an enemy. There's a great moment where Clark catches the glass in super-speed (though I don't think we actually saw it), to avoid embarrassment, but instead causes much more of a problem because in the confusion Tobias' shades fall off and he sees all! Now that's not too bad - many of the mutants Clark's faced over the years have known he was one of them… or was he? That's the blazing insight given off by the episode: Clark doesn't show up as one of them because, as Chloe explains to him at the end, he's not one of them. But she is. Tobias saw her and she was the one he phoned Dr. Bethany about, which is a thrilling and totally unexpected turn of events!
Clark does some blatant laptop stealing and he really should have taken it without the Doctor's knowledge rather than whipping past and then striding out with it openly under his arm. It was a good moment though, one of many to showcase Clark's powers such as we have't seen for a long time. So often things are reduced to him dashing about at super-speed or throwing baddies against walls, that his super-hearing, X-ray vision and heat vision had almost been forgotten. But not this time! Clark and Jimmy are both devastated by Chloe's abduction, as they should be (Clark not demonstrating super-intelligence as one of his abilities when Jimmy's at Chloe's place over the Talon, Clark comes in, Jimmy asks him where she is, and Clark replies "she's not here?"), but it's what happens when she comes back that makes the difference. Obviously they can't discuss the meteor freaks in front of Jimmy because he's not yet in the know, but someone that does seem to be in the know is Lana, believe it or not. She's finally put all the pieces together and wonderfully tries to protect Clark by helping Tobias escape from his false benefactor, finding out from him that Clark isn't the infected person she believed he was.
The moment where Clark speeds in, deflects the bullet fired by Lana to protect Tobias, takes the blast from Bethany's electro-blast (which must have bounced back to kill him) and exits without being seen is one of those classic moments of brilliance that have long been missing from the series - inventive, impressive and excellently directed. There were some scenes in the episode where I sensed it was going to cut away, but instead the scene carried on: when Lex threatens Bethany for one, and later when Clark reassures Chloe that he'll be there to make sure she's alright even if she becomes a mutant. It was like we were being shown some of the things that are usually cut away from, making it a much more rounded experience.
What could be more satisfying than for Clark and Lana to have a genuine conversation about whether Clark was infected by the meteors or not - it's only taken five and a half years to get to, but it was well worth it to see Lana reassure Clark that even if he were such a person he'd still be the same Clark. They're the words he always wanted to hear, it's just a shame they had to come at a time when she's about to marry Lex and Clark's already seen his world collapse when he told her what he really was in the alternate future last season. I can't imagine him ever getting to that point again, but it's absolutely heartening to see these characters talking warmly to each other, people's lives saved mysteriously again. Lana even holds up the bullet to show Clark, instead of hiding it away in a drawer and stealing glances at it to make us wonder what she knows. I do wonder what she thinks Clark really is or how he might have done the things he seems to have done, but the important thing is that this episode ends happily, even finding time for a song which was another aspect of it that felt like the old episodes.
It's a refreshing change to have so many things spoken of openly and most things cleared up in the space of the episode instead of hanging over, tempting us, but even then there are plenty of things to come back for, not the least that Lex swore on the soul of his baby that he had nothing to do with Tobias or knew anything about it, when it's clear he had much to do with it. Does that mean he thinks their baby won't have a soul? Does that mean it may not even be human, but some terrible experiment from him? It's all a scary thought. If you want horror though, this had a moment that was bordering on the torture films that became popular in the last few years: Clark has to burn through Chloe's skin and rip out a tracking device buried under her collar bone! It was horrible, but it also shone the light fully on their friendship, that she was willing, even begging, to trust him and the control of his abilities, to save her. It turned out to be only a GPS, but it could have been some miniature explosive like 'Mission: Impossible III.'
Lex has gone far deeper into the dark side than I expected, baldly lying to Lana, his bride to be, sanctioning Chloe's violent treatment and ordering her kept under close watch, while still taking the lead in all the meteor freak research and development that can be done. Lana has shown she doesn't fully trust him by going over his head and trying to steal Tobias away (nicely finished by sending him to Star City under the care of Queen Industries who will take care of the cornea transplant), and that she would protect Clark if she thought he needed her to. It was a such a good episode all round, and despite Martha and Lionel not featuring it had so many things to recommend it: action, suspense, great twists, wonderful character moments and excellent use of the freak storyline upon which the series was originally based. In some ways that would have made this a freak episode among lesser seasons, but as this season has been an improvement, it merely stands tall as one of the best among the good.
***
Shattered Mirror
DVD, DS9 S4 (Shattered Mirror)
Losing one wife and Mother could be considered unfortunate, but to lose the same one twice is sheer carelessness. If you had a choice between sacrificing the real Jake or the Mirror Jennifer most would probably choose Jennifer as she couldn't fit into their lives for real - Kasidy would have a thing or two to say about that. Then again, watching following episode 'The Muse' you might change your mind… Sisko would be most devastated to lose his son, but even more, Jennifer was 'meant' to be dead and it's difficult to see how she could have become a part of his life again, but even so, they didn't have to kill her and missed a trick by not having her meet Kasidy.
This was the third annual jaunt to the Mirror Universe, the final part in a loose kind of trilogy, since the parallel universe was left fallow for a year after, and the next visit was actually an inverse of the other stories by having characters visit our universe. I think it was wise to leave off the strand for a while as, although this was a pretty good episode, it had lost some of the tension of the previous two stories and comes across as low-key. When you think of the big battle in which the tough little ship ISS Defiant faces off against a gigantic Klingon cruiser/warship/whatever it's called, it might seem ludicrous to brand the episode low-key, especially when many of the Mirror performances are anything but.
My point is that there isn't such a feeling of danger and edginess that featured so successfully in the first two visits: in 'Crossover' Kira and Bashir learn about this alternate reality and the revelation that it's the same universe visited by Kirk and crew in 'TOS.' The pair are in constant danger, whether they realise it or not and it becomes a race to escape the clutches of the Intendant and the evil denizens of Terok Nor. 'Through The Looking Glass' took things a stage further by having Sisko kidnapped and forced to play his Mirror counterpart to stay alive, forcefully interacting with people he knows, but doesn't know. The threat of exposure is ever-present and added that extra spice (not to mention the excellent cameo of Tuvok from 'Voyager').
This visit to Mirror, Mirror-land doesn't have such high stakes: the Terran rebels have beaten back the Alliance forces and claimed Terok Nor for themselves. Yes, there's the inevitable threat of a fleet coming to retake the station from them, but there's very little interaction between the two sides, and Regent Worf and Garak (like Jabba The Hutt with Leia chained to his side), are kept removed from the other characters. There are some good moments with Worf displaying the impatience and rage that our Worf keeps in check just below the surface, and the black humour in the moment he stabs the slimy Cardassian while the Klingon guard sheepishly realises the key which Garak was accused of stealing has actually dropped into his boot, is quite amusing (but like last episode I can see why the video was rated 15).
When Sisko first arrives he just walks off with Smiley O'Brien to his office and they have a little chat. There's nothing dynamic in the way Sisko acts, he just seems mildly put out that Jennifer would take Jake. And it turns out that Jake went of his own free will, so there's little to cause ripples, aside from Captain Bashir punching Sisko in return for the wallop he gave him in the last episode, but that enmity doesn't go anywhere, they're even, and Bashir doesn't really cause much trouble after that. Admittedly, I thought he was going off to warn the Alliance when he takes a ship (the interiors looking strangely like that of a Runabout…), so his heroic moment worked, when he comes in cheering to take the Defiant's back in the battle against the Klingon super-cruiser, very much in the style of Han Solo surprising us all by speeding in on the Millennium Falcon during the Death Star attack, something that, thanks to the sheer size of the thing, was quite reminiscent of the surface battle of that film, the Defiant ducking and weaving on the huge underside of the enemy vessel.
Like Bashir, Dax didn't have much to do, aside from slapping Sisko for fooling her at their last meeting, hanging off Bashir and pressing a few buttons. There are a lot of little moments like that that don't have much explanation so it feels like a very insider episode - you need to have seen the other Mirror stories to really understand, there's so little reintroduction of the concepts and characters. I think one of the biggest things that lessens the impact of the episode as a whole is that with Terok Nor now under rebel control its gloomy interior, glowing red and with a slightly different layout to DS9 (no central Ops console, very strange to see and a different camera view from behind the transporter pad), there's no danger there any more. About the most threatening thing on the station is the pint-sized Quark-alike, Mirror Nog, who exists only long enough to upset Jake and get himself killed by the Intendant, adding his name to the roster of familiar characters that have been killed off, and in particular, fulfilling the edict of 'a Ferengi an episode' which began with Mirror Quark and continued with Mirror Rom.
So without the imminent threat of discovery, and without the station seeming such a terrible place, and with the enemies off in the distance, what is there to keep something burning in the heart of the episode that it remains a good watch? Jennifer Sisko. Her third and final appearance came at the right time in the series - we'd just had some throwbacks to the first season, with Kai Opaka and Sisko's role as Emissary, and since last we met Mirror Jennifer, Kasidy had come on the scene and the series is now gearing up for its second half. So it seems right that they closed out that storyline. There was never any doubt that Sisko had by now put his wife's death behind him and moved on, so it's left for Jake to carry the weight of seeing his Mother, and yet not his Mother. The first scene when he's been shooed off from his and Nog's spot on the Promenade, visibly missing his friend (and by the end I'll bet he was missing him even more after meeting Nasty Nog), he returns home to see his Mum sitting there. Lofton's features crease into confusion at first, but soon he's playing a great glee and excitement, growing as the episode progresses. Jennifer shares the intensity of the experience, seeing the child she never had and this is the core of the story, leading her to sacrifice herself to protect Jake who looks upon her as the Mother he didn't have.
Jake's belief that they can be a family again is evident on his eager face, so when his Dad tells him to stop making plans you can tell that's exactly what he's been doing. I didn't feel the loss as strongly as other deaths on the series. I'm not sure if it was because of the unreality of the setting, or the thought they could just pop off to another parallel universe and see her again. Actually, that's the point of the Mirror Universe: it's not just any old alternate reality, it's a set reality that has its own continuity and plots - here we're left with the threads of the Intendant's escape to Bajor where friends will hide her (sparing Jake's life and intending to collect the debt from Sisko), and Worf and Garak's plan to kill her and all the rebels. This isn't a universe that can be reset like the eleventh film did, it has its own rules and internal consistency, which I think most people want from Trek. Yet it also enables the writers and actors to have fun and do almost whatever they like.
I'd have liked O'Brien and Kira to cross over (presumably some kind of DNA tracer pattern selected only Sisko for transport), and as it is there are no doubles at all. I also felt it could have done with a guest star from 'TNG' or 'Voyager' for added appeal, although we do get the Mirror Worf for the first time and I loved his "Make it so" before bopping Garak away! I also liked seeing the agoniser again, which was originally used on Chekov in 'TOS,' I believe. Dennis Madalone was the famous Stunt Coordinator, and also played the Marauder in the Mirror episodes, and he finally gets a line, blaming the Intendant for his wife's death. I felt he was far too easily knocked out by little Nog brandishing a tea tray, and I have the feeling he never appeared in the subsequent Mirror episodes, but at least he had a moment of glory, ignoble as it was. Carlos Carrasco, Garak's guard, had previously played another Klingon, D'Ghor in 'The House of Quark' so this could be the Mirror version of him. He'd later play a role on 'Voyager' ('Fair Trade') and an Orion Syndicate criminal in 'Honour Among Thieves.'
It's good that the rebels got their own version of the Defiant, although it had already been seen - the interiors were used for a rebel ship in 'Looking Glass,' minimally disguised. As much as the angry ship was useful, and I liked seeing all these people working hard to get her ready, that's precisely what was missing from the station scenes. I wanted Sisko to blow his top, to do something radical, but everyone knows he's not their Captain Sisko and I wanted to see people out to get him from the rebels, perhaps his life being in danger from Bashir, and having to properly fight him at a critical moment during the battle or preparation. But he stays calm, only seeming slighted by Jennifer stealing Jake away, but at the same time having the greatest endorsement of the way he brought his son up when Jennifer compliments him on Jake, the closest he could get to hearing his wife tell him he's done a good job. Yet I never felt strongly enough about any scenes, even Jennifer's death, and I don't know whether that was the acting (Worf and Garak are off the scale in their own little set, but everyone else isn't extreme enough), or that the story was fairly basic, or that the uncomfortable innuendo was on the rise, I just don't know. Perhaps the invention and opportunities of the Mirror Universe had been exhausted by this time?
***
Losing one wife and Mother could be considered unfortunate, but to lose the same one twice is sheer carelessness. If you had a choice between sacrificing the real Jake or the Mirror Jennifer most would probably choose Jennifer as she couldn't fit into their lives for real - Kasidy would have a thing or two to say about that. Then again, watching following episode 'The Muse' you might change your mind… Sisko would be most devastated to lose his son, but even more, Jennifer was 'meant' to be dead and it's difficult to see how she could have become a part of his life again, but even so, they didn't have to kill her and missed a trick by not having her meet Kasidy.
This was the third annual jaunt to the Mirror Universe, the final part in a loose kind of trilogy, since the parallel universe was left fallow for a year after, and the next visit was actually an inverse of the other stories by having characters visit our universe. I think it was wise to leave off the strand for a while as, although this was a pretty good episode, it had lost some of the tension of the previous two stories and comes across as low-key. When you think of the big battle in which the tough little ship ISS Defiant faces off against a gigantic Klingon cruiser/warship/whatever it's called, it might seem ludicrous to brand the episode low-key, especially when many of the Mirror performances are anything but.
My point is that there isn't such a feeling of danger and edginess that featured so successfully in the first two visits: in 'Crossover' Kira and Bashir learn about this alternate reality and the revelation that it's the same universe visited by Kirk and crew in 'TOS.' The pair are in constant danger, whether they realise it or not and it becomes a race to escape the clutches of the Intendant and the evil denizens of Terok Nor. 'Through The Looking Glass' took things a stage further by having Sisko kidnapped and forced to play his Mirror counterpart to stay alive, forcefully interacting with people he knows, but doesn't know. The threat of exposure is ever-present and added that extra spice (not to mention the excellent cameo of Tuvok from 'Voyager').
This visit to Mirror, Mirror-land doesn't have such high stakes: the Terran rebels have beaten back the Alliance forces and claimed Terok Nor for themselves. Yes, there's the inevitable threat of a fleet coming to retake the station from them, but there's very little interaction between the two sides, and Regent Worf and Garak (like Jabba The Hutt with Leia chained to his side), are kept removed from the other characters. There are some good moments with Worf displaying the impatience and rage that our Worf keeps in check just below the surface, and the black humour in the moment he stabs the slimy Cardassian while the Klingon guard sheepishly realises the key which Garak was accused of stealing has actually dropped into his boot, is quite amusing (but like last episode I can see why the video was rated 15).
When Sisko first arrives he just walks off with Smiley O'Brien to his office and they have a little chat. There's nothing dynamic in the way Sisko acts, he just seems mildly put out that Jennifer would take Jake. And it turns out that Jake went of his own free will, so there's little to cause ripples, aside from Captain Bashir punching Sisko in return for the wallop he gave him in the last episode, but that enmity doesn't go anywhere, they're even, and Bashir doesn't really cause much trouble after that. Admittedly, I thought he was going off to warn the Alliance when he takes a ship (the interiors looking strangely like that of a Runabout…), so his heroic moment worked, when he comes in cheering to take the Defiant's back in the battle against the Klingon super-cruiser, very much in the style of Han Solo surprising us all by speeding in on the Millennium Falcon during the Death Star attack, something that, thanks to the sheer size of the thing, was quite reminiscent of the surface battle of that film, the Defiant ducking and weaving on the huge underside of the enemy vessel.
Like Bashir, Dax didn't have much to do, aside from slapping Sisko for fooling her at their last meeting, hanging off Bashir and pressing a few buttons. There are a lot of little moments like that that don't have much explanation so it feels like a very insider episode - you need to have seen the other Mirror stories to really understand, there's so little reintroduction of the concepts and characters. I think one of the biggest things that lessens the impact of the episode as a whole is that with Terok Nor now under rebel control its gloomy interior, glowing red and with a slightly different layout to DS9 (no central Ops console, very strange to see and a different camera view from behind the transporter pad), there's no danger there any more. About the most threatening thing on the station is the pint-sized Quark-alike, Mirror Nog, who exists only long enough to upset Jake and get himself killed by the Intendant, adding his name to the roster of familiar characters that have been killed off, and in particular, fulfilling the edict of 'a Ferengi an episode' which began with Mirror Quark and continued with Mirror Rom.
So without the imminent threat of discovery, and without the station seeming such a terrible place, and with the enemies off in the distance, what is there to keep something burning in the heart of the episode that it remains a good watch? Jennifer Sisko. Her third and final appearance came at the right time in the series - we'd just had some throwbacks to the first season, with Kai Opaka and Sisko's role as Emissary, and since last we met Mirror Jennifer, Kasidy had come on the scene and the series is now gearing up for its second half. So it seems right that they closed out that storyline. There was never any doubt that Sisko had by now put his wife's death behind him and moved on, so it's left for Jake to carry the weight of seeing his Mother, and yet not his Mother. The first scene when he's been shooed off from his and Nog's spot on the Promenade, visibly missing his friend (and by the end I'll bet he was missing him even more after meeting Nasty Nog), he returns home to see his Mum sitting there. Lofton's features crease into confusion at first, but soon he's playing a great glee and excitement, growing as the episode progresses. Jennifer shares the intensity of the experience, seeing the child she never had and this is the core of the story, leading her to sacrifice herself to protect Jake who looks upon her as the Mother he didn't have.
Jake's belief that they can be a family again is evident on his eager face, so when his Dad tells him to stop making plans you can tell that's exactly what he's been doing. I didn't feel the loss as strongly as other deaths on the series. I'm not sure if it was because of the unreality of the setting, or the thought they could just pop off to another parallel universe and see her again. Actually, that's the point of the Mirror Universe: it's not just any old alternate reality, it's a set reality that has its own continuity and plots - here we're left with the threads of the Intendant's escape to Bajor where friends will hide her (sparing Jake's life and intending to collect the debt from Sisko), and Worf and Garak's plan to kill her and all the rebels. This isn't a universe that can be reset like the eleventh film did, it has its own rules and internal consistency, which I think most people want from Trek. Yet it also enables the writers and actors to have fun and do almost whatever they like.
I'd have liked O'Brien and Kira to cross over (presumably some kind of DNA tracer pattern selected only Sisko for transport), and as it is there are no doubles at all. I also felt it could have done with a guest star from 'TNG' or 'Voyager' for added appeal, although we do get the Mirror Worf for the first time and I loved his "Make it so" before bopping Garak away! I also liked seeing the agoniser again, which was originally used on Chekov in 'TOS,' I believe. Dennis Madalone was the famous Stunt Coordinator, and also played the Marauder in the Mirror episodes, and he finally gets a line, blaming the Intendant for his wife's death. I felt he was far too easily knocked out by little Nog brandishing a tea tray, and I have the feeling he never appeared in the subsequent Mirror episodes, but at least he had a moment of glory, ignoble as it was. Carlos Carrasco, Garak's guard, had previously played another Klingon, D'Ghor in 'The House of Quark' so this could be the Mirror version of him. He'd later play a role on 'Voyager' ('Fair Trade') and an Orion Syndicate criminal in 'Honour Among Thieves.'
It's good that the rebels got their own version of the Defiant, although it had already been seen - the interiors were used for a rebel ship in 'Looking Glass,' minimally disguised. As much as the angry ship was useful, and I liked seeing all these people working hard to get her ready, that's precisely what was missing from the station scenes. I wanted Sisko to blow his top, to do something radical, but everyone knows he's not their Captain Sisko and I wanted to see people out to get him from the rebels, perhaps his life being in danger from Bashir, and having to properly fight him at a critical moment during the battle or preparation. But he stays calm, only seeming slighted by Jennifer stealing Jake away, but at the same time having the greatest endorsement of the way he brought his son up when Jennifer compliments him on Jake, the closest he could get to hearing his wife tell him he's done a good job. Yet I never felt strongly enough about any scenes, even Jennifer's death, and I don't know whether that was the acting (Worf and Garak are off the scale in their own little set, but everyone else isn't extreme enough), or that the story was fairly basic, or that the uncomfortable innuendo was on the rise, I just don't know. Perhaps the invention and opportunities of the Mirror Universe had been exhausted by this time?
***
Lessons
DVD, TNG S6 (Lessons)
Patrick Stewart had long ago been granted his wish for the captain to get more action and romance, but these two episodes, 'Starship Mine' and 'Lessons,' side by side together, demonstrate that better than any. In the former he was battering terrorists with his bare hands, and now he's drawn to the new woman in charge of Stellar Cartography (was that an English accent she had?), and most uncharacteristically allows himself to be. She looks strikingly like Beverly, though I'm sure that's nothing to do with it when the real one's there in front of him - it's nice to see them having dinner together (especially as it gives us another look at her fantastically designed tea set!), and going out to the concert. So why can Jean-Luc not say the things to her that he finally comes round to saying to Nella Daren? I think it's because Beverly knows everything, there's nothing he can say to surprise her.
Though I don't generally appreciate the romantic kind of stories they sometimes do on Trek, and feel such things are an acquired taste, there was so much more going on in the episode, and I was especially delighted by the musical interludes, culminating in Picard really singing on his Ressikan flute, which injects the great sadness and joy from 'The Inner Light,' and the deeply personal meaning it has for him. Daren's way to him is through his music, and while it seems rather inappropriate for a crewmember to turn up at the captain's cabin for an impromptu musical session, such moments warmed me to the story, the best being in the acoustic sweet spot (much like the NX-01's gravity sweet spot on 'Enterprise'), where Picard's haunting fluting and Daren's concert roll-up piano soar to the rafters, taking Picard musically where he truly never has gone before, not even ruined by the clearly false perspective Jefferies tube in the background! His opening up to her is shown when he tells her of the origins of his music and the flute, something very personal indeed.
The pitfalls of fraternising with a member of the crew were missing at first, but in the disaster of the firestorms the deepest danger to both of them sweeps through and destroys what was a happy time, but one that could not last. I really thought she'd died, so when Picard grimly closes the case of his flute, forever turning off the sweet sound that had become a part of his life since last season, it was more loss than just love or a musical instrument, it was the realisation that he would always be alone, and in that respect it didn't matter that Daren came back because the result of the shock, of the lesson, was that, like Kirk, Picard really only had his ship. They joke about one of them resigning their commission, but their work was too much a part of them, it was life to both. Picard could walk away from the Enterprise for a while, but he'd never be truly happy, and perhaps that's one of the most profound idiosyncrasies of a captain's position: by choice or not, they are chained to their ship.
Some of the enjoyment to be found in the episode is in the views of day to day life for the captain and crew. We see Picard relaxing in his cabin, having dinner of an evening with Beverly, making a date with Riker for fencing, seeing the early hours shift at work. The captain may be less the centre of attention, but it has to be that way so he can walk his ship, the village community that it is. I must say he didn't seem very well informed. He doesn't know anything about Stellar Cartography's experiment and then when he attends Data's concert he wasn't previously aware that Daren was one of the musicians! It would be interesting to see more life on the ship, and if they'd had a bigger budget perhaps we could have properly travelled the corridors of an entire deck, but constraints mean we never quite see round that next corner (if a saucer can have corners!) - something to hope for in future, and certainly a way for a modern TV series to take things further with CGI set extensions that weren't available in those days.
I can't remember if the captain ever returned to his Ressikan flute in succeeding episodes, but I hope he didn't cast aside the music, because if Daren taught him one thing, it was that his playing was much better than he gave himself credit for, and the soothing music evokes so much.
***
Patrick Stewart had long ago been granted his wish for the captain to get more action and romance, but these two episodes, 'Starship Mine' and 'Lessons,' side by side together, demonstrate that better than any. In the former he was battering terrorists with his bare hands, and now he's drawn to the new woman in charge of Stellar Cartography (was that an English accent she had?), and most uncharacteristically allows himself to be. She looks strikingly like Beverly, though I'm sure that's nothing to do with it when the real one's there in front of him - it's nice to see them having dinner together (especially as it gives us another look at her fantastically designed tea set!), and going out to the concert. So why can Jean-Luc not say the things to her that he finally comes round to saying to Nella Daren? I think it's because Beverly knows everything, there's nothing he can say to surprise her.
Though I don't generally appreciate the romantic kind of stories they sometimes do on Trek, and feel such things are an acquired taste, there was so much more going on in the episode, and I was especially delighted by the musical interludes, culminating in Picard really singing on his Ressikan flute, which injects the great sadness and joy from 'The Inner Light,' and the deeply personal meaning it has for him. Daren's way to him is through his music, and while it seems rather inappropriate for a crewmember to turn up at the captain's cabin for an impromptu musical session, such moments warmed me to the story, the best being in the acoustic sweet spot (much like the NX-01's gravity sweet spot on 'Enterprise'), where Picard's haunting fluting and Daren's concert roll-up piano soar to the rafters, taking Picard musically where he truly never has gone before, not even ruined by the clearly false perspective Jefferies tube in the background! His opening up to her is shown when he tells her of the origins of his music and the flute, something very personal indeed.
The pitfalls of fraternising with a member of the crew were missing at first, but in the disaster of the firestorms the deepest danger to both of them sweeps through and destroys what was a happy time, but one that could not last. I really thought she'd died, so when Picard grimly closes the case of his flute, forever turning off the sweet sound that had become a part of his life since last season, it was more loss than just love or a musical instrument, it was the realisation that he would always be alone, and in that respect it didn't matter that Daren came back because the result of the shock, of the lesson, was that, like Kirk, Picard really only had his ship. They joke about one of them resigning their commission, but their work was too much a part of them, it was life to both. Picard could walk away from the Enterprise for a while, but he'd never be truly happy, and perhaps that's one of the most profound idiosyncrasies of a captain's position: by choice or not, they are chained to their ship.
Some of the enjoyment to be found in the episode is in the views of day to day life for the captain and crew. We see Picard relaxing in his cabin, having dinner of an evening with Beverly, making a date with Riker for fencing, seeing the early hours shift at work. The captain may be less the centre of attention, but it has to be that way so he can walk his ship, the village community that it is. I must say he didn't seem very well informed. He doesn't know anything about Stellar Cartography's experiment and then when he attends Data's concert he wasn't previously aware that Daren was one of the musicians! It would be interesting to see more life on the ship, and if they'd had a bigger budget perhaps we could have properly travelled the corridors of an entire deck, but constraints mean we never quite see round that next corner (if a saucer can have corners!) - something to hope for in future, and certainly a way for a modern TV series to take things further with CGI set extensions that weren't available in those days.
I can't remember if the captain ever returned to his Ressikan flute in succeeding episodes, but I hope he didn't cast aside the music, because if Daren taught him one thing, it was that his playing was much better than he gave himself credit for, and the soothing music evokes so much.
***
Starship Mine
DVD, TNG S6 (Starship Mine)
An empty ship defended by one man: Captain Picard. He earned his keep this time, fighting and climbing and dashing round his beloved Enterprise to foil the terrorist's plan, but in the best tradition of Captain Kirk, he didn't forget to use his head - as Kirk mixed substances together to give him the upper hand against the Gorn, so Picard uses knowledge to create a mix that sets off a minor explosion, knocking his captors off balance. The terrorists were a mixed bunch of old and new faces, or faces that would become familiar, Tim Russ the most obvious example in the days before Tuvok or even his stint on the bridge of the Enterprise-B or playing another terrorist of the Klingon variety in 'DS9.' Even though he was just another guest character on this episode I thought he'd be in it more, but once he's knocked out by Picard (in what appears to be a Vulcan neck pinch if ever I saw one! How does that work?), he's left to be eaten up by the baryon wave. He has the same haircut as Tuvok so it's a bit weird to see him with human ears.
Another regular is Patricia Tallman who gets a more visible role as one of the terrorists, from her usual background roles as a stuntwoman - is that mop of red hair a wig or was it actually hers? Most of the aliens in this looked a bit standard, as if Michael Westmore had had an off day or been uninspired, except for Pomet whose long face and multiple nostrils did look different and made me wonder if he was a member of the same race as the rogues from 'DS9' episode 'A Simple Investigation.' I didn't feel the Kelsey had much of a personality and neither did Neil who was always snivelling and looking sheepish under her glare. The other guy that chases Picard through the Jefferies tubes didn't seem very bright as the baryon wave moved so slowly that he must have had time to scrabble away from it, but instead seems frozen to the spot. He still found time to scream as he died so he must have moved his head back!
The other side of the story, set on Arkaria in a beautiful matte painting (though it did seem to show the same time of day whenever it was used), was initially full of comedy. The crew's greatest trial at that point is surviving the reception of the voluble Commander Hutchinson, who's expertise in the art of small talk inspires Data to great efforts of mimicry and imitation to the merriment of his friends: first Hutchinson irritates everyone with his incessant chatter, then Data begins copying him, and it was dream for them to bring the two together! The family feeling of this group of characters is vibrantly felt in any group scene. Deanna with Will when they're taken hostage, the group having a good laugh at Data during the reception, and later when Picard's concerned for his saddle there's some banter that wouldn't have looked out of place closing out a 'TOS' episode.
Hutchinson prevented any moment on the planet from being boring, but it was a surprise that he died from the weapon's blast when La Forge survived. Maybe it was the age difference or Hutch had medical complications that were exacerbated by the blast (or maybe he was vulnerable without his partner, Starsky), but though he was over-friendly I quite liked him. Glenn Morshower was another familiar face who played more than one role in Trek. Worf gets off a good smirk (which is about all he does get to do in the episode), when he asks to be excused from Hutch's reception, then Geordi can't be, as Worf asked first, but I'll bet when it came down to it he wished he had been there with his friends.
The early part of the episode brings heart to the story, as Picard walks his empty ship, fondly gazing around at her, almost as if this were the last time he'd see her. That may have been intentional as the Enterprise could have been under grave threat had the trilithium gone off. In reality though, I doubt anyone expected the ship to suffer any meaningful damage (not until they got to the films!), so the risk isn't as high as the story makes out. It becomes more of a drama to see what Picard will do next after convincing them he's Mot the barber, then running around taking them out one by one. It doesn't have the same level of action and suspense that, for instance, 'Macrocosm' gave Janeway in 'Voyager,' but there's a distinct draw in seeing Picard going about like a modern Robin Hood in his green shirt and crossbow. Where did the combadge come from though, I ask? I'm pretty sure Picard wasn't carrying one, but they find one in the Jefferies tube anyway.
Seeing the Enterprise totally empty, and only partially lighted isn't something that happens every day, and Picard's action man side has been proven before, but I don't think the episode quite lives up to the reputation of an all-out actioner and B-story of the reception tails off once the crew have been taken hostage. They (and Picard) always look so suspicious when they're trying to be inconspicuous, and any self respecting baddie would spot that they were planning something a mile off - I didn't think it was wise of Beverly to pull Geordi's VISOR up to her ear to block out the sound, but she must have been dazed by the noise.
***
An empty ship defended by one man: Captain Picard. He earned his keep this time, fighting and climbing and dashing round his beloved Enterprise to foil the terrorist's plan, but in the best tradition of Captain Kirk, he didn't forget to use his head - as Kirk mixed substances together to give him the upper hand against the Gorn, so Picard uses knowledge to create a mix that sets off a minor explosion, knocking his captors off balance. The terrorists were a mixed bunch of old and new faces, or faces that would become familiar, Tim Russ the most obvious example in the days before Tuvok or even his stint on the bridge of the Enterprise-B or playing another terrorist of the Klingon variety in 'DS9.' Even though he was just another guest character on this episode I thought he'd be in it more, but once he's knocked out by Picard (in what appears to be a Vulcan neck pinch if ever I saw one! How does that work?), he's left to be eaten up by the baryon wave. He has the same haircut as Tuvok so it's a bit weird to see him with human ears.
Another regular is Patricia Tallman who gets a more visible role as one of the terrorists, from her usual background roles as a stuntwoman - is that mop of red hair a wig or was it actually hers? Most of the aliens in this looked a bit standard, as if Michael Westmore had had an off day or been uninspired, except for Pomet whose long face and multiple nostrils did look different and made me wonder if he was a member of the same race as the rogues from 'DS9' episode 'A Simple Investigation.' I didn't feel the Kelsey had much of a personality and neither did Neil who was always snivelling and looking sheepish under her glare. The other guy that chases Picard through the Jefferies tubes didn't seem very bright as the baryon wave moved so slowly that he must have had time to scrabble away from it, but instead seems frozen to the spot. He still found time to scream as he died so he must have moved his head back!
The other side of the story, set on Arkaria in a beautiful matte painting (though it did seem to show the same time of day whenever it was used), was initially full of comedy. The crew's greatest trial at that point is surviving the reception of the voluble Commander Hutchinson, who's expertise in the art of small talk inspires Data to great efforts of mimicry and imitation to the merriment of his friends: first Hutchinson irritates everyone with his incessant chatter, then Data begins copying him, and it was dream for them to bring the two together! The family feeling of this group of characters is vibrantly felt in any group scene. Deanna with Will when they're taken hostage, the group having a good laugh at Data during the reception, and later when Picard's concerned for his saddle there's some banter that wouldn't have looked out of place closing out a 'TOS' episode.
Hutchinson prevented any moment on the planet from being boring, but it was a surprise that he died from the weapon's blast when La Forge survived. Maybe it was the age difference or Hutch had medical complications that were exacerbated by the blast (or maybe he was vulnerable without his partner, Starsky), but though he was over-friendly I quite liked him. Glenn Morshower was another familiar face who played more than one role in Trek. Worf gets off a good smirk (which is about all he does get to do in the episode), when he asks to be excused from Hutch's reception, then Geordi can't be, as Worf asked first, but I'll bet when it came down to it he wished he had been there with his friends.
The early part of the episode brings heart to the story, as Picard walks his empty ship, fondly gazing around at her, almost as if this were the last time he'd see her. That may have been intentional as the Enterprise could have been under grave threat had the trilithium gone off. In reality though, I doubt anyone expected the ship to suffer any meaningful damage (not until they got to the films!), so the risk isn't as high as the story makes out. It becomes more of a drama to see what Picard will do next after convincing them he's Mot the barber, then running around taking them out one by one. It doesn't have the same level of action and suspense that, for instance, 'Macrocosm' gave Janeway in 'Voyager,' but there's a distinct draw in seeing Picard going about like a modern Robin Hood in his green shirt and crossbow. Where did the combadge come from though, I ask? I'm pretty sure Picard wasn't carrying one, but they find one in the Jefferies tube anyway.
Seeing the Enterprise totally empty, and only partially lighted isn't something that happens every day, and Picard's action man side has been proven before, but I don't think the episode quite lives up to the reputation of an all-out actioner and B-story of the reception tails off once the crew have been taken hostage. They (and Picard) always look so suspicious when they're trying to be inconspicuous, and any self respecting baddie would spot that they were planning something a mile off - I didn't think it was wise of Beverly to pull Geordi's VISOR up to her ear to block out the sound, but she must have been dazed by the noise.
***
Hard Time
DVD, DS9 S4 (Hard Time)
The only connection with Dickens is O'Brien's resemblance to a ragamuffin off the streets of his time. This one is like the 'Voyager' episode 'Ex Post Facto' to some degree, though that was a straightforward investigation and this is a psychological drama, though the Chief's more psycho than logical. It's no wonder when he's had to go through what to him seemed like twenty years in an alien prison thanks to implanted memories. It must be a lot easier to act confused and out of place when you're on a dark prison set with long straggly beard and ragged clothing, but to continue that into the scenes when he's 'back to normal' was expertly done. His speech is slow and laboured, his eyes drink in everything new, but he has a barrier around him - you can see in his bright eyes that he's so happy to see Julian again, but he holds back and stays in his personal space, not able or willing to completely let his guard down as if he's not sure this is reality. I like that it's Kira who cares for him and brings him home, it's another little scene between them that means much more when the events of the last episodes of the season are known. Kira's become a much more caring kind of person this season, losing some of her fire, but gaining a lot of sense and empathy.
I didn't catch some of the details, and I'm not even sure we were given them, but I didn't hear if O'Brien had gone off on this mission to the Argrathi alone, whatever it was, or with Kira. Later, Sisko explains that he'd been charged, convicted and sentenced of espionage (laughable at this stage in the series, until you see episodes like 'Honour Among Thieves'), before Sisko had even been informed. It's not clear how long it took for the memories to be implanted or how long he was away for, but I think it was more likely he'd gone with Kira and was kept away from her for a few days without her being able to do anything about it (or Sisko would have come himself) - it must have been an important mission for them to brave entering the Gamma Quadrant.
The Argrathi come across as a harsh, unforgiving race, awarding extreme penalties for the smallest infraction. The Chief only asked a few questions about some technology and they put him away for twenty years! Their look is as severe as their character, light green skin and knobbly faces - Margot Rose who played Rinn, the face of O'Brien's captors, looked a lot less decorative than she did as Picard's wife in 'The Inner Light' - it's a link that's interesting because both episodes are about false memories of many years, though Picard's experience was a lot more pleasant. I suppose the Argrathi's draconian nature makes sense since they live in a part of the galaxy controlled by the Dominion and we've often seen the races that thrive are the tougher, more unfriendly ones, like the red-faced Dosi toughs from 'Rules of Acquisition' compared to the beaten people of 'Shadowplay.'
Miles is a more complicated man than anyone gives him credit for. He's served as a soldier (Setlik III gets a mention), which made him a killer, he's had a long and varied career, and that affable exterior isn't the whole truth. Just as he has hidden depths (something explored in more detail in the following season's 'Empok Nor'), he carries a shameful secret in this episode, refusing to share it with anyone, his guilt is so great, driving him to behave as he never would normally. He's generally underestimated except in his technical skill, but if Quark knew more about him he might have made sure to pour the Chief a drink quicker. As it is, every bustling movement and every clinking of glasses and trickling of liquid seems to mock the Chief, as if Quark is doing it deliberately, so when the Ferengi has his arm twisted over the bar it's something he wasn't expecting - I notice they still have fillings in the 24th Century as we see right into Quark's upper jaw. Unless they're decorative or technological implants…
The crew, O'Brien's friends, give him a lot of leeway, knowing what a terrible experience he's been through. Bashir is the one to take the most flak, but though he's saddened by O'Brien's outburst (when he's shouting that he's not his friend any more, it's as much to the imagined Ee'char as the Doctor), his medical professionalism doesn't allow him to be offended because he knows, just like Garak in 'The Wire,' that this isn't the same man, it's the frustration and anger talking. All Bashir cares about is O'Brien's wellbeing, and that care rises above all other concerns. The absence of O'Brien's family, particularly Keiko would have been felt most keenly here, so their presence makes the performance and story stronger. I wonder if they brought them back knowing they were going to do this story shortly after? Of course they also cause him more pain when he's horrified at shouting at little Molly - it's the final straw after his professional and personal lives are called into question, driving him to desperation.
Meaney gets to show off his range convincingly - who would have thought in the last few episodes that we'd see the Chief crouched in a corner, crying with a phaser pressed to his head? Oddly, it was Uhura who came to mind in this episode, recalling the time her mind was wiped by Nomad in 'The Changeling' - there was none of the depth of readjustment shown in this episode, but things have moved on a lot since then. O'Brien is seen to go through so many different reactions, from learning to live in a bare cell without hope, being cheered by Ee'char, the man who shared that cell for most of his sentence, to rage and hatred, motivated to kill his friend for a few scraps of food that he was going to share with him anyway. The weight he's been carrying around only comes out at the end when Bashir finds the Chief holding a phaser to his head, set to maximum. Everything seems to have fallen apart and he can't adjust.
In 'TNG' there was a misguided attempt to make out that humans had 'evolved.' They had become almost perfect, solving all their problems and striking out into space to solve unenlightened species' problems too. 'The Original Series' never made such claims, and 'DS9' has shown that everyone still has difficulties and hangups even in this idyllic future landscape - it is the resolution, the working through of these things that makes episodes like this so eternally compelling. O'Brien isn't the only one that seeks to hide his pain (sounding like Sybok now!), and hope it goes away, ashamed that he's not the perfect human being Roddenberry wanted him to be. He's real, if he's pricked doth he not bleed, and all that. O'Brien's jab at evolved humanity is like a pointed comment from the makers of 'DS9' that perfection isn't the issue, and that solving the problem and admitting that there are problems is more important than pie in the sky philosophies about evolution.
As with Keiko's reintegration to the cast, Worf's addition also adds a little extra, playing darts (which he doesn't like doing), and suggesting they go kayaking (I'd have loved to have seen that - 'The River Wild' with O'Brien and Worf!). It's a turnaround from O'Brien's continual attempts at making Worf's transition easier by being so welcoming and providing a familiar face in his new environment. There's some role reversal, too, in Jake's assistance, testing the Chief's memory of engineering tools, just as O'Brien had once begun to teach Jake the trade. It's also nice to see Muniz, a minor character from 'Starship Down' who could easily have been any extra for the brief scene when he checks on O'Brien. His slightly cheeky nature begins to come through (seen much more strongly in 'The Ship'), whereas in his first appearance he was too scared to have an attitude.
The drama of the episode is seeing things from O'Brien's perspective, so that we are basically inside his head. This is done best in a scene where we se a flashback of the Chief losing his self-control and banging on the door of his cell in a raging panic, the chorus of inmates rising to a crescendo with him, from a dark, empty cell we're back on the bustling Promenade as he walks along, the clamour of the experience still echoing, so that when Odo asks how he is in a perfectly ordinary way, we can understand why he responds so brusquely - Odo's voice seems fainter and unimportant compared to the trials he's reliving in his mind. It's a good example for anyone to take with them: you may be walking along the street in a black mood, turmoil in your mind, but that isn't the experience of everyone else around you. It might seem as if people are laughing at you or whatever, but it's purely your own impression, so lighten up and be friendly!
This is an episode that could have been done at any point in the series, it's part of a sub-genre in itself, and perhaps that's the reason the crew are so supportive, recognising that it's the Chief's 'time of the year,' the annual (at least), torture O'Brien slot. This vein of stories, which are often creative and very satisfying, dig down into his character, and were even an in-joke Bashir references when he notes a couple of other instalments; the Paradans duplication of him in 'Whispers' (ironically there are no Paradans in the background of this episode, yet the masks had appeared in several, recently), and his trial by the Cardassians in 'Tribunal.' You can also add 'The Storyteller,' 'Armageddon Game,' and 'Visionary' to name but a few, and like the inevitability of Scotty being thrown around, they are something to look forward to with great delight. About the only thing I could find wrong in the episode were the cheap plastic drums and containers he smashes up. They're clearly empty because they're so light, and knocking over some empty plastic boxes wasn't as dramatic as if they'd been filled with something or had shattered - a very small misstep, but noticeable.
The tragedy of the Chief's experiences come out in his behaviour, stockpiling food for later, sleeping on the floor, having to test the replicator to see if it will give him the fruit he's become used to. When he sleeps on the floor of his quarters I noticed his head was near a pattern of light similar to the ones in the prison. Was that intentional? If so, it's a level of detail that should be applauded. Little Molly is excellent and there's a return to the little domestic scenes of the early seasons, such as the little girl being told to put her dish in the replicator, which she has to reach up to do and press the button! The moment she runs for her Daddy at the end is heartwarming, and O'Brien's agreement that Daddy's home works on multiple levels.
Sisko handles the situation well - the chief would only have taken it from him, even if he does get angry afterwards, but he holds the authority before O'Brien even enters his office, standing with his back to the door, not making eye contact, directing O'Brien to his couch. He needs to show the pips, as it were, since the Chief can be so stubborn, and he catalogues the man's incidents one after another so there can be no room for argument. To O'Brien, in his present state of mind it's a questioning of his professional ability, and the frustration shown when he angrily casts his combadge aside in the turbolift is mainly at himself. I didn't realise there were counsellors aboard the station. Maybe Telnorri was shipped in especially from a nearby starship when Sisko knew what had happened. Bashir even says he could see someone else, so either there are several counsellors aboard, or again, they're in easy reach of the station - changes of personnel must happen all the time as starships come and go, stopping off at starbases of which DS9 is one.
After several serious, grounded episodes this personal mystery thriller makes so much more impact. There's no need to think about wars or political problems, it's totally based around O'Brien struggling to cope with life, life that's been forced into his mind, and unreality. The device of flashbacks may have been used in the previous episode, but that looks sterile and basic in comparison with the heart and soul of this one. There's even a little humour when O'Brien raises his eyebrows at the slightly mad Ee'char and his sand circles. That all seemed a bit New Age to me until I realised it was just a fancy way of explaining doodling! That's all it is, not thinking, just making marks, it's doodling. But that doesn't sound so mysterious I suppose. Ee'char was the other part of the episode that made it work so well. The actor should have been used again because he came through the prosthetics strongly enough to make this character believable as someone that could become O'Brien's best friend, and over who the Chief's guilt rests, even though he was never real.
Although he was fictional, I wondered what crime Ee'char had been accused of to be imprisoned for so long. He asks if O'Brien has been accused of sedition, so that may have been his crime - if the Chief was accused of spying for merely asking a few questions, I can imagine Ee'char being accused of stirring up trouble just from his unconventional personality. He had a lot of life in his eyes, and though I could see how his funny observations and way of looking at his situation could become irritating, especially to someone as stolid and workmanlike as O'Brien, he remains the kind of person you'd want to be with in that situation (as opposed to the wheezy old alien Martus Mazur shares a cell with in 'Rivals'!).
At first he does seem like he could be a little deranged, but he remains like that all the way through, keeping his spirits up and making the best of it, though even he succumbs to irritation. My one question is why he hid the all important food if they were both so hungry? Did he think O'Brien would gobble it up, was he really planning to share it at a time of his choosing or was it to be a nice surprise? His farewell to O'Brien now that he's admitted to what he did is such a nice way to end, walking off, vanishing as he never really existed. His scenes in the present on DS9 are never overdone - they could have had O'Brien always talking to him and the other characters looking at him strangely, but instead he's seen instead of Keiko, as someone that cares about O'Brien's wellbeing, or drawing out the Chief's anger. One of the most visual examples is when the Chief tries to leave him behind, taking a turbolift down, he walks out and there's Ee'char again, he walks round the corner and he's there, like a ragged ghost the Chief can't leave behind.
Though it was a hard time for O'Brien (and one of the only 15-rated episodes of Trek), we share his pain, as not wanting to reveal something to people you know is something everyone experiences at some time. The best Trek episodes deal with these basic human emotions and situations, couched in the kind of imaginative framework and compelling stories played out by sympathetic people that we care about, and this is another of those.
****
The only connection with Dickens is O'Brien's resemblance to a ragamuffin off the streets of his time. This one is like the 'Voyager' episode 'Ex Post Facto' to some degree, though that was a straightforward investigation and this is a psychological drama, though the Chief's more psycho than logical. It's no wonder when he's had to go through what to him seemed like twenty years in an alien prison thanks to implanted memories. It must be a lot easier to act confused and out of place when you're on a dark prison set with long straggly beard and ragged clothing, but to continue that into the scenes when he's 'back to normal' was expertly done. His speech is slow and laboured, his eyes drink in everything new, but he has a barrier around him - you can see in his bright eyes that he's so happy to see Julian again, but he holds back and stays in his personal space, not able or willing to completely let his guard down as if he's not sure this is reality. I like that it's Kira who cares for him and brings him home, it's another little scene between them that means much more when the events of the last episodes of the season are known. Kira's become a much more caring kind of person this season, losing some of her fire, but gaining a lot of sense and empathy.
I didn't catch some of the details, and I'm not even sure we were given them, but I didn't hear if O'Brien had gone off on this mission to the Argrathi alone, whatever it was, or with Kira. Later, Sisko explains that he'd been charged, convicted and sentenced of espionage (laughable at this stage in the series, until you see episodes like 'Honour Among Thieves'), before Sisko had even been informed. It's not clear how long it took for the memories to be implanted or how long he was away for, but I think it was more likely he'd gone with Kira and was kept away from her for a few days without her being able to do anything about it (or Sisko would have come himself) - it must have been an important mission for them to brave entering the Gamma Quadrant.
The Argrathi come across as a harsh, unforgiving race, awarding extreme penalties for the smallest infraction. The Chief only asked a few questions about some technology and they put him away for twenty years! Their look is as severe as their character, light green skin and knobbly faces - Margot Rose who played Rinn, the face of O'Brien's captors, looked a lot less decorative than she did as Picard's wife in 'The Inner Light' - it's a link that's interesting because both episodes are about false memories of many years, though Picard's experience was a lot more pleasant. I suppose the Argrathi's draconian nature makes sense since they live in a part of the galaxy controlled by the Dominion and we've often seen the races that thrive are the tougher, more unfriendly ones, like the red-faced Dosi toughs from 'Rules of Acquisition' compared to the beaten people of 'Shadowplay.'
Miles is a more complicated man than anyone gives him credit for. He's served as a soldier (Setlik III gets a mention), which made him a killer, he's had a long and varied career, and that affable exterior isn't the whole truth. Just as he has hidden depths (something explored in more detail in the following season's 'Empok Nor'), he carries a shameful secret in this episode, refusing to share it with anyone, his guilt is so great, driving him to behave as he never would normally. He's generally underestimated except in his technical skill, but if Quark knew more about him he might have made sure to pour the Chief a drink quicker. As it is, every bustling movement and every clinking of glasses and trickling of liquid seems to mock the Chief, as if Quark is doing it deliberately, so when the Ferengi has his arm twisted over the bar it's something he wasn't expecting - I notice they still have fillings in the 24th Century as we see right into Quark's upper jaw. Unless they're decorative or technological implants…
The crew, O'Brien's friends, give him a lot of leeway, knowing what a terrible experience he's been through. Bashir is the one to take the most flak, but though he's saddened by O'Brien's outburst (when he's shouting that he's not his friend any more, it's as much to the imagined Ee'char as the Doctor), his medical professionalism doesn't allow him to be offended because he knows, just like Garak in 'The Wire,' that this isn't the same man, it's the frustration and anger talking. All Bashir cares about is O'Brien's wellbeing, and that care rises above all other concerns. The absence of O'Brien's family, particularly Keiko would have been felt most keenly here, so their presence makes the performance and story stronger. I wonder if they brought them back knowing they were going to do this story shortly after? Of course they also cause him more pain when he's horrified at shouting at little Molly - it's the final straw after his professional and personal lives are called into question, driving him to desperation.
Meaney gets to show off his range convincingly - who would have thought in the last few episodes that we'd see the Chief crouched in a corner, crying with a phaser pressed to his head? Oddly, it was Uhura who came to mind in this episode, recalling the time her mind was wiped by Nomad in 'The Changeling' - there was none of the depth of readjustment shown in this episode, but things have moved on a lot since then. O'Brien is seen to go through so many different reactions, from learning to live in a bare cell without hope, being cheered by Ee'char, the man who shared that cell for most of his sentence, to rage and hatred, motivated to kill his friend for a few scraps of food that he was going to share with him anyway. The weight he's been carrying around only comes out at the end when Bashir finds the Chief holding a phaser to his head, set to maximum. Everything seems to have fallen apart and he can't adjust.
In 'TNG' there was a misguided attempt to make out that humans had 'evolved.' They had become almost perfect, solving all their problems and striking out into space to solve unenlightened species' problems too. 'The Original Series' never made such claims, and 'DS9' has shown that everyone still has difficulties and hangups even in this idyllic future landscape - it is the resolution, the working through of these things that makes episodes like this so eternally compelling. O'Brien isn't the only one that seeks to hide his pain (sounding like Sybok now!), and hope it goes away, ashamed that he's not the perfect human being Roddenberry wanted him to be. He's real, if he's pricked doth he not bleed, and all that. O'Brien's jab at evolved humanity is like a pointed comment from the makers of 'DS9' that perfection isn't the issue, and that solving the problem and admitting that there are problems is more important than pie in the sky philosophies about evolution.
As with Keiko's reintegration to the cast, Worf's addition also adds a little extra, playing darts (which he doesn't like doing), and suggesting they go kayaking (I'd have loved to have seen that - 'The River Wild' with O'Brien and Worf!). It's a turnaround from O'Brien's continual attempts at making Worf's transition easier by being so welcoming and providing a familiar face in his new environment. There's some role reversal, too, in Jake's assistance, testing the Chief's memory of engineering tools, just as O'Brien had once begun to teach Jake the trade. It's also nice to see Muniz, a minor character from 'Starship Down' who could easily have been any extra for the brief scene when he checks on O'Brien. His slightly cheeky nature begins to come through (seen much more strongly in 'The Ship'), whereas in his first appearance he was too scared to have an attitude.
The drama of the episode is seeing things from O'Brien's perspective, so that we are basically inside his head. This is done best in a scene where we se a flashback of the Chief losing his self-control and banging on the door of his cell in a raging panic, the chorus of inmates rising to a crescendo with him, from a dark, empty cell we're back on the bustling Promenade as he walks along, the clamour of the experience still echoing, so that when Odo asks how he is in a perfectly ordinary way, we can understand why he responds so brusquely - Odo's voice seems fainter and unimportant compared to the trials he's reliving in his mind. It's a good example for anyone to take with them: you may be walking along the street in a black mood, turmoil in your mind, but that isn't the experience of everyone else around you. It might seem as if people are laughing at you or whatever, but it's purely your own impression, so lighten up and be friendly!
This is an episode that could have been done at any point in the series, it's part of a sub-genre in itself, and perhaps that's the reason the crew are so supportive, recognising that it's the Chief's 'time of the year,' the annual (at least), torture O'Brien slot. This vein of stories, which are often creative and very satisfying, dig down into his character, and were even an in-joke Bashir references when he notes a couple of other instalments; the Paradans duplication of him in 'Whispers' (ironically there are no Paradans in the background of this episode, yet the masks had appeared in several, recently), and his trial by the Cardassians in 'Tribunal.' You can also add 'The Storyteller,' 'Armageddon Game,' and 'Visionary' to name but a few, and like the inevitability of Scotty being thrown around, they are something to look forward to with great delight. About the only thing I could find wrong in the episode were the cheap plastic drums and containers he smashes up. They're clearly empty because they're so light, and knocking over some empty plastic boxes wasn't as dramatic as if they'd been filled with something or had shattered - a very small misstep, but noticeable.
The tragedy of the Chief's experiences come out in his behaviour, stockpiling food for later, sleeping on the floor, having to test the replicator to see if it will give him the fruit he's become used to. When he sleeps on the floor of his quarters I noticed his head was near a pattern of light similar to the ones in the prison. Was that intentional? If so, it's a level of detail that should be applauded. Little Molly is excellent and there's a return to the little domestic scenes of the early seasons, such as the little girl being told to put her dish in the replicator, which she has to reach up to do and press the button! The moment she runs for her Daddy at the end is heartwarming, and O'Brien's agreement that Daddy's home works on multiple levels.
Sisko handles the situation well - the chief would only have taken it from him, even if he does get angry afterwards, but he holds the authority before O'Brien even enters his office, standing with his back to the door, not making eye contact, directing O'Brien to his couch. He needs to show the pips, as it were, since the Chief can be so stubborn, and he catalogues the man's incidents one after another so there can be no room for argument. To O'Brien, in his present state of mind it's a questioning of his professional ability, and the frustration shown when he angrily casts his combadge aside in the turbolift is mainly at himself. I didn't realise there were counsellors aboard the station. Maybe Telnorri was shipped in especially from a nearby starship when Sisko knew what had happened. Bashir even says he could see someone else, so either there are several counsellors aboard, or again, they're in easy reach of the station - changes of personnel must happen all the time as starships come and go, stopping off at starbases of which DS9 is one.
After several serious, grounded episodes this personal mystery thriller makes so much more impact. There's no need to think about wars or political problems, it's totally based around O'Brien struggling to cope with life, life that's been forced into his mind, and unreality. The device of flashbacks may have been used in the previous episode, but that looks sterile and basic in comparison with the heart and soul of this one. There's even a little humour when O'Brien raises his eyebrows at the slightly mad Ee'char and his sand circles. That all seemed a bit New Age to me until I realised it was just a fancy way of explaining doodling! That's all it is, not thinking, just making marks, it's doodling. But that doesn't sound so mysterious I suppose. Ee'char was the other part of the episode that made it work so well. The actor should have been used again because he came through the prosthetics strongly enough to make this character believable as someone that could become O'Brien's best friend, and over who the Chief's guilt rests, even though he was never real.
Although he was fictional, I wondered what crime Ee'char had been accused of to be imprisoned for so long. He asks if O'Brien has been accused of sedition, so that may have been his crime - if the Chief was accused of spying for merely asking a few questions, I can imagine Ee'char being accused of stirring up trouble just from his unconventional personality. He had a lot of life in his eyes, and though I could see how his funny observations and way of looking at his situation could become irritating, especially to someone as stolid and workmanlike as O'Brien, he remains the kind of person you'd want to be with in that situation (as opposed to the wheezy old alien Martus Mazur shares a cell with in 'Rivals'!).
At first he does seem like he could be a little deranged, but he remains like that all the way through, keeping his spirits up and making the best of it, though even he succumbs to irritation. My one question is why he hid the all important food if they were both so hungry? Did he think O'Brien would gobble it up, was he really planning to share it at a time of his choosing or was it to be a nice surprise? His farewell to O'Brien now that he's admitted to what he did is such a nice way to end, walking off, vanishing as he never really existed. His scenes in the present on DS9 are never overdone - they could have had O'Brien always talking to him and the other characters looking at him strangely, but instead he's seen instead of Keiko, as someone that cares about O'Brien's wellbeing, or drawing out the Chief's anger. One of the most visual examples is when the Chief tries to leave him behind, taking a turbolift down, he walks out and there's Ee'char again, he walks round the corner and he's there, like a ragged ghost the Chief can't leave behind.
Though it was a hard time for O'Brien (and one of the only 15-rated episodes of Trek), we share his pain, as not wanting to reveal something to people you know is something everyone experiences at some time. The best Trek episodes deal with these basic human emotions and situations, couched in the kind of imaginative framework and compelling stories played out by sympathetic people that we care about, and this is another of those.
****
Trespass
DVD, Smallville (Trespass)
A traditional episode of the series in every sense with paranoid tension levels, a tug of war over Clark's secret and how much who knows what, all topped off with a man in a suit, blood trickling down his face, chasing Lana with a ceremonial axe! It always comes down to Lana being chased in fear of her life and it couldn't be more 'Smallville' than that. In what other ways could this be called traditional? Well, the main one would be that the villain turns out not to be a raving lunatic from outside Lana's world, but a raving lunatic from inside - they say most murders are committed by someone the victim knows so there's some reality in the situation, but whether the security guy (did he even get named?), was a normal person is up for debate as he seemed obsessed with Lana. This has happened many times before and as soon as the two guards were in it for more than one scene I guessed it was going to be one of them. Going by past performance it was always going to be the quiet one that didn't take the limelight and seemed overly professional; the innocent background character. The trouble is, we always know when this is going to happen because of the series' appalling lack of development for minor characters - if someone who's basically an extra gets more than a scene or two and grows in prominence through the course of the episode you can guarantee it's for a reason.
So I guessed the identity of the villain of the piece, but the enjoyment in one of these threatening drama stories is in how Clark will save Lana and the twists and turns of action. It's not that there was a whole lot of action, but the tension bubbles along nicely, the angle of Lana keeping what she thinks is Clark's secret (and is, though so far unconfirmed for her), adding another dimension that appears to put him at risk as much as her. It turns out that the spy didn't take a photo of her because she was holding the bent chisel which Lex stabbed Clark with, that was beside the point - he wanted to fulfil his fantasy of supposedly saving her from the photographer so she'd be undyingly grateful to him. Interestingly, he does speak some truth, Lana has become more like Lex and did used to be a much softer, nicer person. The way the teaser has Lex within a few metres of the door when she runs out of her room is another aspect that piques the interest, suggesting it may have been him watching her. When a disguised voice talks on the phone it always sounds like Lex, and it happens again in this episode. I wonder if they get Michael Rosenbaum to record the lines just to add confusion? In the end it wasn't anything to do with Lex who just happens to have to go away on business at Lana's time of need, leading her to head off to the Kents. This might have been a test from Lex, so no wonder he wasn't thrilled about her choice.
Does Lex know all about Clark's secret? If he doesn't, he's not using the usual cunning and tricks he's shown to use with everyone else, and in the scene at the end in which he comes to Clark's barn, seemingly to cause trouble, I half expected him to admit he knows all about Clark, and it wasn't going to make any difference to him and Lana, but there was no indication of that line of thinking. Seeing the two alone together has become an uncommon occurrence, almost recalling the early days, though now there's definite enmity between them. Despite this, for a few seconds I thought Lex was doing Clark a kindness when he reveals his true reason for coming was to deliver the wedding invitation, but that doesn't last long, and it was only for Lana's benefit he did so, as well as to have a crack at Clark, reminding him (and us, since this is such a different feel of episode compared to the previous one), that he'd kidnapped Lana and dragged her to the barn after threatening his life. The series can veer wildly between the uncharacteristic behaviour of certain people and some well-judged character work as seen in this one - as always, consistency has been the key missing ingredient. At least when there are poor episodes there's a chance they can be followed by better ones as happened with this following 'Crimson.'
The only real mystery of the episode is what happened to the incriminating chisel which is now missing from Lana's drawer. Did Lex take it? I still feel that he secretly knows and is just waiting for the right moment to let Clark know he knows. Who knows? Lionel has been a bit of a mute member of the triangle in recent episodes, but in a way it makes things easier without having to follow his shifting motives too. The negative result is that the 'adult' characters (technically they're all adult now) continue to get short shrift. Why Martha allowed Lana to stay in Clark's bedroom when there could be the possibility of her finding something that would expose Clark, is ridiculous, especially as Lois used to stay in the house so there must be a spare bedroom! It was a lovely moment when she discovers the old ex-Kryptonite-infused necklace of the early seasons, a nod to viewers who had watched from the beginning, without needing any explanation. If Lana eventually chooses Clark over Lex it will be for one reason only, I think: he has a much nicer computer! I ask you, what's the likelihood of a farm boy having a top of the range Mac in his bedroom, while multimillionaire Lex makes do with some rubbish little Dell or whatever laptop it is - maybe after all the damage his office has seen over the years he secretly keeps his favourite Mac in his bedroom and doesn't care so much about the PC downstairs…
The soapy aspects didn't conspire to cloud the issue, in fact creating some good moments, such as Jimmy threatening Clark if he hurts Chloe in any way. It's nice that Clark's recent erratic behaviour hasn't put Jimmy off him - as he says, he thinks Clark's a decent sort (he must have forgotten when he gatecrashed Lex' last episode), and the make up with Chloe didn't last long. I don't now why they bothered with the break up in the first place! The episode retains the good looks of the series, this time with a lot of dark, moody and snowy scenes, which I didn't understand at first, until it became apparent the security guy used the threat of the snowstorm to send the mansion staff home so he could be alone with Lana. Poor Kristin Kreuk was definitely looking older and sounded quite ill in parts of the episode, so maybe being chased around by a madman wasn't her worst trial of the episode.
As always in these scary situations when the prudent thing would be to lock yourself in and phone or call for help, Lana goes off with a knife into dark corners. I felt it would have been more effective if she'd been shipped over to the abandoned wing of the Medical Centre without us seeing the dialogue between security guy and the doc, as then it would have been more frightening. The one moment in the episode that came close to making me jump was when she's in that dark, empty wing, turns and is suddenly caught in the flash of a camera. It was directed really well, pictures cutting with the live action as she flees in panic, the scary, hairy photographer continually capturing her image - it's unnerving because it's unnatural for someone to chase after apparently threatening to kill, but madly just keeps taking photos.
Clark is there to save Lana when she needs him (even finding time to do his chores at regular speed in the episode in case he's caught on camera, something he hasn't had to worry about for a long time), not once, but twice. The room full of medical stands, like a forest of metal in which to catch Lana, was perfect, and this is where Clark comes in, throwing the photographer against a wall with one hand. Okay, assuming Lana can accept that (he's a big lad after all), can she accept that he caught her falling from a roof? When she and security guy fall through the glass I thought it a shame Clark wasn't there to break her fall, but then we see his boots and trousers, an effective reveal that he's caught her. I hoped early in the episode that her finding out of Clark's eternal secret shouldn't be wasted on the balance of a dented chisel, but it's still open for a big revelation which I hope lives up to the importance and gravity of such a long-awaited moment.
***
A traditional episode of the series in every sense with paranoid tension levels, a tug of war over Clark's secret and how much who knows what, all topped off with a man in a suit, blood trickling down his face, chasing Lana with a ceremonial axe! It always comes down to Lana being chased in fear of her life and it couldn't be more 'Smallville' than that. In what other ways could this be called traditional? Well, the main one would be that the villain turns out not to be a raving lunatic from outside Lana's world, but a raving lunatic from inside - they say most murders are committed by someone the victim knows so there's some reality in the situation, but whether the security guy (did he even get named?), was a normal person is up for debate as he seemed obsessed with Lana. This has happened many times before and as soon as the two guards were in it for more than one scene I guessed it was going to be one of them. Going by past performance it was always going to be the quiet one that didn't take the limelight and seemed overly professional; the innocent background character. The trouble is, we always know when this is going to happen because of the series' appalling lack of development for minor characters - if someone who's basically an extra gets more than a scene or two and grows in prominence through the course of the episode you can guarantee it's for a reason.
So I guessed the identity of the villain of the piece, but the enjoyment in one of these threatening drama stories is in how Clark will save Lana and the twists and turns of action. It's not that there was a whole lot of action, but the tension bubbles along nicely, the angle of Lana keeping what she thinks is Clark's secret (and is, though so far unconfirmed for her), adding another dimension that appears to put him at risk as much as her. It turns out that the spy didn't take a photo of her because she was holding the bent chisel which Lex stabbed Clark with, that was beside the point - he wanted to fulfil his fantasy of supposedly saving her from the photographer so she'd be undyingly grateful to him. Interestingly, he does speak some truth, Lana has become more like Lex and did used to be a much softer, nicer person. The way the teaser has Lex within a few metres of the door when she runs out of her room is another aspect that piques the interest, suggesting it may have been him watching her. When a disguised voice talks on the phone it always sounds like Lex, and it happens again in this episode. I wonder if they get Michael Rosenbaum to record the lines just to add confusion? In the end it wasn't anything to do with Lex who just happens to have to go away on business at Lana's time of need, leading her to head off to the Kents. This might have been a test from Lex, so no wonder he wasn't thrilled about her choice.
Does Lex know all about Clark's secret? If he doesn't, he's not using the usual cunning and tricks he's shown to use with everyone else, and in the scene at the end in which he comes to Clark's barn, seemingly to cause trouble, I half expected him to admit he knows all about Clark, and it wasn't going to make any difference to him and Lana, but there was no indication of that line of thinking. Seeing the two alone together has become an uncommon occurrence, almost recalling the early days, though now there's definite enmity between them. Despite this, for a few seconds I thought Lex was doing Clark a kindness when he reveals his true reason for coming was to deliver the wedding invitation, but that doesn't last long, and it was only for Lana's benefit he did so, as well as to have a crack at Clark, reminding him (and us, since this is such a different feel of episode compared to the previous one), that he'd kidnapped Lana and dragged her to the barn after threatening his life. The series can veer wildly between the uncharacteristic behaviour of certain people and some well-judged character work as seen in this one - as always, consistency has been the key missing ingredient. At least when there are poor episodes there's a chance they can be followed by better ones as happened with this following 'Crimson.'
The only real mystery of the episode is what happened to the incriminating chisel which is now missing from Lana's drawer. Did Lex take it? I still feel that he secretly knows and is just waiting for the right moment to let Clark know he knows. Who knows? Lionel has been a bit of a mute member of the triangle in recent episodes, but in a way it makes things easier without having to follow his shifting motives too. The negative result is that the 'adult' characters (technically they're all adult now) continue to get short shrift. Why Martha allowed Lana to stay in Clark's bedroom when there could be the possibility of her finding something that would expose Clark, is ridiculous, especially as Lois used to stay in the house so there must be a spare bedroom! It was a lovely moment when she discovers the old ex-Kryptonite-infused necklace of the early seasons, a nod to viewers who had watched from the beginning, without needing any explanation. If Lana eventually chooses Clark over Lex it will be for one reason only, I think: he has a much nicer computer! I ask you, what's the likelihood of a farm boy having a top of the range Mac in his bedroom, while multimillionaire Lex makes do with some rubbish little Dell or whatever laptop it is - maybe after all the damage his office has seen over the years he secretly keeps his favourite Mac in his bedroom and doesn't care so much about the PC downstairs…
The soapy aspects didn't conspire to cloud the issue, in fact creating some good moments, such as Jimmy threatening Clark if he hurts Chloe in any way. It's nice that Clark's recent erratic behaviour hasn't put Jimmy off him - as he says, he thinks Clark's a decent sort (he must have forgotten when he gatecrashed Lex' last episode), and the make up with Chloe didn't last long. I don't now why they bothered with the break up in the first place! The episode retains the good looks of the series, this time with a lot of dark, moody and snowy scenes, which I didn't understand at first, until it became apparent the security guy used the threat of the snowstorm to send the mansion staff home so he could be alone with Lana. Poor Kristin Kreuk was definitely looking older and sounded quite ill in parts of the episode, so maybe being chased around by a madman wasn't her worst trial of the episode.
As always in these scary situations when the prudent thing would be to lock yourself in and phone or call for help, Lana goes off with a knife into dark corners. I felt it would have been more effective if she'd been shipped over to the abandoned wing of the Medical Centre without us seeing the dialogue between security guy and the doc, as then it would have been more frightening. The one moment in the episode that came close to making me jump was when she's in that dark, empty wing, turns and is suddenly caught in the flash of a camera. It was directed really well, pictures cutting with the live action as she flees in panic, the scary, hairy photographer continually capturing her image - it's unnerving because it's unnatural for someone to chase after apparently threatening to kill, but madly just keeps taking photos.
Clark is there to save Lana when she needs him (even finding time to do his chores at regular speed in the episode in case he's caught on camera, something he hasn't had to worry about for a long time), not once, but twice. The room full of medical stands, like a forest of metal in which to catch Lana, was perfect, and this is where Clark comes in, throwing the photographer against a wall with one hand. Okay, assuming Lana can accept that (he's a big lad after all), can she accept that he caught her falling from a roof? When she and security guy fall through the glass I thought it a shame Clark wasn't there to break her fall, but then we see his boots and trousers, an effective reveal that he's caught her. I hoped early in the episode that her finding out of Clark's eternal secret shouldn't be wasted on the balance of a dented chisel, but it's still open for a big revelation which I hope lives up to the importance and gravity of such a long-awaited moment.
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