This one is so light and just generally fun that I promptly went to check the episode list because I assumed something absolutely brutal would be coming up and they were lulling me into a false sense of security. But nothing in the immediate future jumps out at me as particularly painful, so I can only conclude that I just have trust issues around TV.
Category: Episode post
2.10: “Sanctuary”
Hmm. I…don’t really have much to say about this one? There are some good Kira moments, and it’s overall a pretty solid episode, but for whatever reason it just doesn’t really do much for me; most of my notes are just about specific lines or interactions I liked.
2.09: “Second Sight”
So after a pretty wild few weeks, this one is a bit more lightweight — even forgettable, at least insofar as, like Nidell with Fenna, I had completely forgotten it since my last rewatch just a couple of years ago, and I am not much more optimistic that I will remember it this time. “Forgettable” also means that, while not great, it’s at least not memorably bad, so it’s got that going for it, I guess?
2.08: “Necessary Evil”
Ah yes, the episode where I remember why “Which Side Are You On?” is on several of my DS9 playlists.
I like this episode a lot! But there are parts that I’m not totally thrilled with. Honestly, it probably doesn’t help that I just kind of…don’t like Odo very much, and don’t feel he’s necessarily earned the benefit of the doubt. So I find the ending a bit frustrating, which I’ll go into a bit more later.
2.07: “Rules of Acquisition”
OK, I know they are a divisive topic in the fandom, so I’m gonna come out with what may be one of my spicier Deep Space Nine takes: I…actually enjoy a lot of the Ferengi episodes? I know I complain a lot about the fact that, while conceived as parodies of 80s-style capitalist excess, a la Steve Castle/That Guy from Futurama, the decision to portray them physically as short troll-like people with oversized facial appendages means they also end up being really unfortunate antisemitic caricatures. But Nog, Quark, and Rom have such great arcs over the course of the show, in no small part due to the phenomenal performances given by Aron Eisenberg (ז״ל), Armin Shimerman, and Max Grodénchik, that, much like Dax, I really do enjoy the time we spend with them. (Also, Wallace Shawn as Zek is positively inspired.)
So, having said that, yes, I actually rather enjoyed this episode!
2.06: “Melora”
OK, let’s start with something really important: I’m pretty sure this is the first time we’ve seen the Klingon restaurant on the Promenade and its nameless proprietor. WHO I LOVE. He is just this Klingon dude who is Extremely Klingon in that he loves to yell and does everything dramatically, and he is just chilling on this station channeling all his Klingonness into making food, and sometimes he serenades his customers. He is #goals.
Moving on!
2.05: “Cardassians”
Okay, this is much later than I generally try to post, but it turns out I had A TON to say, and it took me ages to wrangle it into something halfway readable.
First things first: GARAK!!!!!!!!!!! He becomes such an important secondary character as the show goes on that it’s a little strange to think we haven’t actually seen him since way back at the beginning of the first season.
Honestly, I am pretty much always up for Cardassian bullshit. Cardassians make Vulcans look warm, friendly, and emotionally healthy. They make Klingons look low-drama. They make Romulans look straightforward and plainspoken. They’re always dicks, they’re always horny, and then we find out later that being dicks is also a method by which they indicate horniness for one another. Everything with Cardassians is hilariously overcomplicated and the only person who enjoys that more than I do is every single Cardassian.
2.04: “Invasive Procedures”
You know, a few months ago, just as I was beginning to think about this rewatch project, a screenshot of a Tumblr post appeared on my Twitter timeline that, after I stopped laughing at it, I took as a sign from the universe that I should definitely go ahead with this thing I was thinking about doing. I probably think about that post at least once a day ever since then. And given that this is the second episode in a row in which the station has had to be evacuated, each time for completely different reasons, I feel like this is a good time to share that post with you all.
STATION ON FIRE TRASH CAN, BITCH.
2.03: “The Siege”
So this is the conclusion to the show’s first real multi-parter! And it’s not too bad, actually. I kind of feel like the pacing of the three episodes together is a bit off, but that may also be that it’s been 26 years since it was made, and after years of Peak TV™ my expectations around story beats are different.
2.02: “The Circle”
More Bajoran political and religious intrigue! Also everyone is in love with and/or horny for Kira, which, you know what, fair enough.
Overall, this one is pretty decent — “The Homecoming”, though it had some good moments, was largely about setting things up, and we get a bit more of the story’s meat in this episode and the next.