#ds9 the search part 1

[filmjunky-99]

s t a r t r e k d e e p s p a c e n i n e created by rick berman, michael piller Ornithar of the Karemma [the search, part i, s3ep1]

'Our only contact with the Dominion has been through the Vorta. I have no idea who they report to. All I know is that the Vorta say to do something and you do it. If you do not, they will send in the Jem'Hadar, and then you die.' - ornithar

[asexualjedi]

Quark and Odo are sharing a room 👀👀 Bashir said matchmaking time

[righthandedleftturn]

The Search, part 1 kicks off season 3 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and introduces:

- a new hairstyle for Dax

- The Defiant

- Michael Eddington and Subcommander T’Rul

- The Founders

I’m glad they got rid of Dax’s hairstyle but I wish T’Rul had stuck around. It would have been fun having a Romulan on the show and it would have been nice to see another woman on a male dominated cast.

[counselor-durango]

if that doesn't describe me then idk what does

[youngpettyqueen]

So I read Revenant because im a jadzia lover & you hyped it up & I really enjoyed it! (If only she was given a plotline with that much agency in the show ugh)

What other ds9 books have you read? Could you elaborate on why you liked the ones you liked if you haven't already? Looking for more recs!

IM SO HAPPY YOU LIKED REVENANT I fucking love Revenant so MUCH it should be required reading for every Jadzia fan its sooooooooooo fucking good

of the DS9 books ive read... A Stitch in Time, Vengeance, Warchild, Bloodletter, The Heart of the Warrior, and The Laertian Gamble. im also almost finished The Big Game. of those, I would highly recommend-

A Stitch in Time: I could say so much about this book, its definitely my fav of the ones ive read so far. an incredibly well-written history of Garak, written by Garak himself, what more could you ask for? this book is a must-read for all Garak fans. its beautiful, its heartbreaking, its fucking hilarious, some scenes are genuinely haunting, its just SUCH a good book

Vengeance: I am the #1 fan of this book ok. Vengeance is solidly written with some of the best character writing for the DS9 cast ive seen so far in the books ive read. the plot is good, the characters are great, pretty much everyone gets time to shine, and we get to explore some really good under-utilized dynamics while we're at it. also, fucking hilarious. laughed out loud so many times. this book reads like a really good 2 part episode, and I cannot recommend it enough

Warchild: want a good Julian story that lets him be angry and upset and cry? want to see Julian at peak defiance and rage? want to get a deep dive into Bajor post-Occupation that is heartbreaking and all too real and at times even hard to stomach? boy, do I have a book for you. this one isnt super highly rated which is a TRAGEDY cause I really enjoyed it

Bloodletter: lets hear it for a good KIRA CENTRIC STORY which has some INSANE stuff going on in it. I love Bloodletter its dark, its tense, its got some INSANE side quest stuff, and best of all its Kira centric and really dives into her and her psyche early on in the show. again, not a super highly rated book, but a really good read imo

those are the ones I would recommend of the ones ive read!! hope this is helpful in your search for more DS9 books to read <3

[ghostmarmot]

So, we all remember the scene in Lower Decks' "The Stars at Night" where the Cerritos immediately starts coming apart at high warp, right? I was reading TV Tropes and there was a comment about how normally other ships take a few scenes to show the ship coming apart from the strain. But, then I was watching DS9 and heard about the shakedown tests of the Defiant. In "The Search, Part 1" they say the ship nearly shook itself apart because the engines were so powerful. And it stuck in my head.

The Cerritos has their registration on a different part of the ship because they are a tow vessel.

In one episode, they mention the warp core is bigger than others in similar size ships.

She easily tows the other ship in S4E10.

Could it possibly be that the Cerritos started immediately falling apart not just because she is (as we have seen in other episodes) not in the best shape but also because her engines are more powerful than another ship of comparable size and she can't handle that power without towing another ship? I mean, the mass of another ship would reduce the speed both would be traveling at and maybe is like a really strong truck bouncing around when unladen, but is a much smoother ride with the bed full because that is how it was designed? Not that I know much about trucks or the engineering world of Star Trek...

[street-corn]

January 29th, 2024 marks the 28th anniversary of the Star Trek Voyager episode "Threshold." This episode is often heralded as one of the worst episodes of Star Trek ever made and I've previously made the observation that everyone seems to dislike the episode for entirely novel reasons. While it's easy to predict that someone will dislike the episode, I find that the exact reason why can only be found by asking. Is it how it ruins established cannon? Is it the bad scientific understanding of how evolution works? Is it plot related as the crew avoids using an easy way home? Is it the poor parenting? Is it dialog and writing? Is it the lizard sex? There's usually a mix of reasons that I suspect one could use as the basis of Some Kind Of MBTI quiz.

However, rather than reveling in the episode itself, I want to address a bigger issue of how Star Trek fandom approaches its "worst ever episodes" lists that are a mere Bing search away. Too often I see episodes like Move Along Home (aka Allamaraine!) and Threshold at the top of "worst ever episodes" lists and I think its lazy or disingenuous to let these episodes dominate the conversation. Sure, the episodes are cheesy or campy, but they distract from the genuinely terrible episodes. The episodes that celebrate human rights violations, the episodes that propagate white supremacy, the episodes that teach the audience the wrong lesson, or the episodes that can cause physical discomfort to the audience. I would like to shine a light on a few of these episodes so we can properly discuss what it means to be a bad episode of Star Trek.

Tattoo Tattoo is an absolutely rotten episode. It's drizzled with misinformation and misconceptions about indigenous Americans. It states that indigenous people didn't have language, fire, and barely had any stone tool use (and implies they were too stupid to not migrate away from the cold.) So aliens, depicted as tall and strong, with blonde hair and blue eyes, taught them the basics of human civilization because there was no way this particular group of humans could figure it out on their own.

The Fight This episode is painful to watch. It's all of the worst parts about the Prophets of DS9 but without any allegory. It ruins cannon by making Boothby the Most Important Human To Ever Live. The episode, while late into the production of Voyager, continues the vision quest aspect of Chakotay, which ties it back to Tattoo. While not as offensive as other entries, it is worth putting on a list of actual bad episodes.

Cogenitor The NX-1 Enterprise meets some aliens with three genders. 98% of them are male and female but they also require a third gender to procreate, called the cogenitor. The cogenitors are kept as second class citizens. Their lives are owned by the state and their bodies are traded around to married couples that want to have children. They cannot own property, cannot vote, cannot socialize, are forbidden to become educated or literate, and are forced to wear gray drab clothing. Trip Tucker sees this and thinks its wrong. He teaches a cogenitor how to read. Unfortunately, the cogenitor uses this new skill to learn how oppressed their life is and how they are trapped in a system that cannot change, so they end their own life. Trip Tucker is treated as the villain of this episode. Gross.

Skin of Evil and Tears of the Prophets I'm bundling these episodes together because of their poor treatment of women and actresses behind the scenes. From a plot and writing perspective they do not treat their characters well. They can be summed up as "WTF moments." Behind the scenes it's extra terrible. From writing this I found out something fun and new…

Retrospect This is the episode where Tom Paris is convicted of murder and has to relive the memories of the murder over and over again. Behind the scenes, a certain producer was trying to spin that "women lie and never believe them about sexual assault allegations" while contract negotiations with Terry Farrel were going on. The plot is interesting, but the lessons the episode is trying to teach are wrong.

There are many other well known episodes that involve obvious racism and mistreatment of women, and I think they should make up the entirety of Star Trek's worst episode lists. But bundling campy and cheesy episodes like "Let He Who Is Without Sin…", "Sub Rosa", "The Way To Eden", and "Threshold" with the likes of "Code Of Honor" and "Turnabout Intruder" really confuses what it means to be a truly, awful, no good episode of television.

Anyways, let's watch some salamanders eat pepperoni pizza.

[dragontamerno3]

DS9 S3 E1 - The Search Part 1

I was admittedly underwhelmed by this episode. Don't get me wrong there were several awesome moments that I'll dive into in a minute but over all it wasn't that interesting to me.

The big battle stuff was part of why it was sorta blah, though I am intrigued to see what actually happened to the Defiant since we left it almost in pieces. It was just too early in the season for there to be real tension so it felt like big booms for the sake of big booms.

Odo is the other reason. He was insufferable in this episode. I've said time and time again that while I may like him more than I did at the start (he even kinda won me over after the "We're hologram people" episode) I'm still on the fence with him. In this episode, though, he took like 30 giant steps back. He was whiny and childish. He didn't give Sisko a chance to explain the situation he just decided he was going to resign. When approached by Kira with a job opportunity to get him to come along, he threw it in her face. He flat out ignored Sisko on multiple occasions. And then at the end of the episode he just dismissed everything Kira said and kidnapped her to run off on their own. That last bit I'm both thankful for cause he saved her but also pissed at cause she was right, they should have gone to the wormhole.

I have strong feelings for that man and all of them are seething disappointment and mild hatred at this moment. He was so insufferable, the ending fell so flat.

Sisko showing up with the Defiant was badass, though. It was the spark of hope the crew needed. And his "it's home now" talk with Jake was sweet. The fact that Jake knows his dad well enough to even point to the moments when things shifted was a nice touch.

I like that the Federation is doing more things with the Romulans, given how touchy the relationship was with them in TNG. I hope TRul sticks around for at least a little while. It was interesting to see her struggle with trusting the folks on board and relenting at times. On that same note, the make up design for Romulans is a little different here (or feels different to me at least) and she looked a bit like a Buffy vamp and I was kinda digging it. I also like that her costume isn't super heavy on the shoulder pads lol

My favorite part of the episode might be a bit of a shitty one, but I like that Sisko left Jadzia and Miles behind. I'm very much a no man left behind kind of person but of the Captains/Commanders I am most familiar with, he is the only one I can see given that order and it was a very interesting one.

5/10 - I blame Odo

[subbyfoxelf]

[tv review] ds9 3x01 & 3x02 "the search" (1994)

3x01 “the search, part 1”

i could quibble about how dumb sisko showing up unannounced with the defiant is, but the truth is it’s an incredibly effective bit of storytelling. everyone’s reactions and the fact that it slips right through the station’s defenses really helps both to emphasize that the ship is built to be upfront dangerous in a way starfleet ships usually aren’t and to solidify the very real shift in stakes & tone the show achieved in the previous season’s finale.

the fact that the federation’s response to the haymaker the dominion threw at them at the end of the previous season is to beef up their defenses but also to send sisko & co on a very dangerous mission of peace is something i sincerely appreciate. and sisko is fully bought in. he makes no bones about the fact that he doesn’t especially expect the mission to open a dialogue with the founders to succeed, but that doesn’t stop him from being fully committed to that mission. this is peak starfleet imo. i think the difference between ds9 & tng isn’t so much that picard & sisko are cut from entirely different cloths. they’re pursuing the exact same ends, it’s just that the facts of the situation are markedly different.

as we get deeper into the dominion war, i can think of at least one very specific instance where i think sisko makes a choice that picard wouldn’t, and i’ll be interested to see how i feel about that episode when we get to it, but i appreciate that we get a very clear sign that sisko’s values and the federation’s are lined up much in the same way that it was the case for picard. to rise to the kind of position they’ve both risen to really does require being something of a paragon of virtue.

the other thing that really comes to a head in this episode is all the shit going on with odo. when starfleet assigns a starfleet security chief to ds9, he throws yet another of his epic hissy fits over it, and for what feels like the hundredth time decides to resign. kira, obviously not wanting to lose one of her closest friends on the station, manges to maneuver him into at least accompanying them on the mission to the gamma quadrant. and that puts him in position for his plot to continue for the next episode & a half.

the fact that kira really stuck her neck out for odo here and he repays her by effectively kidnapping her & deserting the ship during a crisis is something i feel like doesn’t entirely get dealt with? like, she’s definitely pissed at him when she wakes up in the shuttle, but odo continues to just do all kinds of flagrantly dealbreaking shit on this show and never get taken to task for it. it’s probably one of my biggest frustrations with the show tbh.

but yeah, ending this episode with the introduction of the founders’ (we don’t know they’re the founders yet) homeworld was an incredibly strong choice. this is both a super eventful episode & a super well-made episode. it’s a great reinforcement of how the previous season ended, and a great start to what the show is going to be about moving forward. a-rank

3x02 “the search, part 2”

i’m going to be very honest here, the first time i saw this episode i straight up never figured out that everything going on on the alpha quadrant side of things was a simulation. and because i watched a few episodes of ds9 here & there when it was airing, i knew for a fact that the wormhole continued to be a going concern later in the show, so when sisko & co stole the runabout and blew up the entrance to the wormhole, i was like, “wait, what?”

watching it now, though, there are enough things subtly wrong with this part of the plot that i’m a little embarrassed i didn’t figure it out? like, i think they did a pretty actually great job of balancing not totally giving it away but also making it very possible for a less credulous viewer than me to have figured it out? like, everything is ever so slightly “off,” but in a way that’s subtle enough that you could be forgiven for just thinking the episode is kinda weird?

i fucking love that the simulation totally nails garak, btw. the part where he pretends to betray sisko & co, and tells the bewildered jem’hadar, “you mean no one told you? you see, i pretend to be their friend… and then i shoot you!” just abruptly changing who he’s betraying mid-sentence like one last little victory lap before he guns them down. just fucking pure, uncut garak.

the way this episode totally flips the a plot & b plot is such a wonderful star trekky move. like, you’re kind of wondering why we’re spending so much time on the odo & kira stuff when it seems so much less consequential than the fate of the galaxy type stuff happening elsewhere, and then it turns out all of that was happening in a simulation literally meters away from where odo & kira have been this whole time.

this is just a fucking awesome misdirect that feels so rewarding. and having it turn out that odo & kira have been interacting with the founders this whole time is such a great way to flip the script considering that the other plot has been all about figuring out who the founders were & what they wanted. it’s such a great way to have these plots intersect.

this two-parter had a lot to accomplish, and i think it accomplished it about as well as it could have all things considered. especially in this era, it was really hard to change the entire trajectory of a television show in a way that feels natural & true to that show’s core identity, and i think they pulled that off admirably here. they cemented the seismic shift that happened at the end of the last season, and actually double downed on that with the bombshell that odo’s been a founder all along. this is truly great television, and more importantly truly great star trek. a-rank

[ao3feed-ds9]

The Dominion War Years: Voyager and the Battle for Deep Space Nine

https://ift.tt/RXO4J7h by Zaglossus The Federation has fallen prey to a coup d’etat orchestrated by Edward Janeway. While he establishes his hold on the newly-styled Terran Union, the legitimate government-in-exile of the Federation licks its wounds on DS9. Desperate for allies, William Riker goes to the gamma quadrant in search of his blood brother, Martok, who has been imprisoned by the Jem’Hadar. The Dominion chooses this time to launch their attack on DS9 and Kathryn Janeway is torn between needing to keep hope alive for finding Will, and the fight for the Federation she loves. ~*~ This is a heavily canon-divergent, plot-driven story with plenty of Janeway/Riker romance. There’s a summary of previous events in the a/ns if you want to hop on board here. Note that the tone is darker than previous entries, with graphic depictions of violence, and minor character death. There is no major character death, however, and with me the angst always has a happy ending. E-rated smut for J/R. Words: 2438, Chapters: 1/24, Language: English Series: Part 8 of The Starfleet Years Fandoms: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: Multi Characters: Kathryn Janeway, William Riker, Jadzia Dax, Deanna Troi, Benjamin Sisko, Elim Garak, Martok (Star Trek), Sirella (Star Trek), Enabran Tain, Edward Janeway, Jean-Luc Picard, Lenara Kahn, Justin Tighe, Tom Paris, B'Elanna Torres, Chakotay (Star Trek), Seska (Star Trek), Seven of Nine, Tuvok (Star Trek), The Doctor (Star Trek), Dukat (Star Trek) Relationships: Kathryn Janeway/William Riker, Jadzia Dax/Lenara Kahn (Background), Deanna Troi/Tuvok (background), Julian Bashir/Elim Garak (background) - Relationship, Martok/Sirella (background) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Janeway/Riker (established relationship), Romance, Action/Adventure, Intrigue, Flawed Starfleet (Star Trek), Dominion War (Star Trek), Heavy Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Torture by Combat, PTSD, Minor Character Death, Suicidal ideation (implied), but it does get better, Smut, Possessive Sex, Intense Janeway/Riker, Ill-advised emotionally overwrought sex, But they do it anyway, Family Dynamics, Family Fluff, Kathryn Janeway Needs a Hug, Garak is a Simple Tailor

[filmjunky-99]

s t a r t r e k d e e p s p a c e n i n e created by rick berman, michael piller [the search part i, s3ep1] 'The Defiant's First Mission to the Gamma Quadrant'

[asexualjedi]

What’s with the weird sexual undertones with sisko and quark sometimes?

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 107 (Feb. 14, 1993) - "Dax"

The Breakdown

After an attempt to kidnap Jadzia Dax is foiled, she’s charged with the alleged crimes of the Dax symbiote’s previous host, Curzon. The head accuser, Ilon, claims that Curzon betrayed his father (a war hero) during a civil war on their planet, leading to his death. Since Jadzia seems suspiciously unwilling to defend herself, Sisko delays the arrest by having the Bajoran government hold a tribunal over jurisdictional rights (Bajoran’s aren’t part of the federation yet so it would require additional paper work) while Odo searches for evidence to exonerate Dax. Sisko proceeds to mount a defense on the grounds that Jadzia shouldn’t be held accountable for Curzon’s actions since they are different people, while Ilon offers an argument to the contrary.

Meanwhile Odo decides to follows a lead in Ilon’s mother (the war hero’s widow) and discovers that Curzon has an airtight alibi.  That’s right, he was bangin’ Ilon’s mom like the horny womanizer he was.  So then why was Jadzia so tight lipped?  Because she felt bad for the Widow (for whom she has residual feelings inherited by the Dax symbiote), and shame for Curzon’s actions; although to be fair it turns out Ilon’s War-hero daddy was actually the real traitor all along.  And that’s it.  Since Curzon truly wasn’t guilty of anything, Jadzia is free to go.

The Verdict

This episode sets up a pretty interesting moral quandary, that it chose to side-step by absolving Dax from the the crimes they were accused of. The end result still isn’t terrible, but the reveal of Curzon’s affair feels like a weak justification for Jadzia to take the fall, considering capital punishment is on the line. I also would have been interested to know the answer regarding Jadzia’s culpability over a crime she realistically inherited through no fault of her own.  Do the Trill’s have a law for this? Does the Federation? Admittedly the relationship between the Trill Symbiotes and their hosts will be explored further in future episodes, but as far as I can recall this particular issue isn’t ever addressed specifically, which seems like a missed opportunity.

There’s also a lot of season 1 theatrics and melodrama that I can mostly forgive, but not entirely overlook. The episode’s saving grace is the depiction of Dax and Sisko’s friendship, and the further establishing of Trill lore. Ultimately Sisko and Dax’s relationship is one of many elements that made DS9 stand out as my favourite Star Trek series, so I’ve come to accept ‘Dax’ as a first step towards better stories.

2.5 stars (out of 5)

Additional Observations:

Lone Wolf Commander: Sisko shows a willingness to play fast-and-loose with procedure and rules. He never overtly crosses the line, but he does express an unwillingness to accept “wrong answers” in his investigation of Jadzia. It’s meant to serve as show of loyalty towards Dax, but considering his rank and position, that attitude teeters close to an abuse of power.  Although to be clear, that willingness to play with shades of gray is also an aspect to the character (and the show) that I find intriguing.

For someone who we learn about almost exclusively through exposition, Curzon is quite a colourful, and often problematic character.  It’s always interesting to watch Sisko reconcile his part in Curzon’s past adventures, while acknowledging that his role-model was not always an ideal one.

Speaking of problematic behaviour; GOD Bashir is such a greasy dude here. The opening scene of his dinner with Jadzia is pure cringe. He shoots his shot, she says no using different words, and he basically just goes “it doesn’t count if I can’t find a loophole in your phrasing.” It’s all the more galling that his lack of respect for her personal space is somewhat responsible for saving her life. You just know he’s never gonna let that go.

[basingstokemercury]

The Search Part 1 definitely ended chaotically (and boy was the part 2 opener a cop-out :/)

But it was a chance to see nearly all the DS9 cast involved in physical combat

And is it me or do they all have the exact same fighting style?

[chaoticrystal]

Aa!! thanks @malloen8c for tagging me.

Hopefully I got the layout right.

3 ships: I'm not a huge shipper but I do like seeing art when it shows up on my dash. Usually it's Terumob and Serirei with the MP100 fandom. Both are solid. As for the third............ I'm left empty-handed.

First ship: Oh dear. I never really considered any shipping until maybe highschool... It's gotta be like... Garnet from Steven Universe... ajgfhghg......

Recent song: Maybe I'm not cut out for this tag game. I listen to the same playlist I made in 2020 on repeat. I rarely add new songs to it, but when I do it's usually 70s-90s music.

Recent movie: ........ I honestly can't remember. I have a stack of movies I want to watch, but haven't. The last movie I watched that I remember? Probably EEAAO like 5 months ago...? I watched part of The Nightmare Before Christmas with my friend, who had put in on for their friend who'd never seen it beofre.

Currently reading: I haven't read any fiction that I remember since mp100 3 years ago, but I've been going through various guidebooks and such. I recently aquired "The Geology of Southern Vancouver Island," "A Field Guide to Gold, Gemstone & Mineral Sites of British Columbia" Volume 1, a.k.a. the Vancouver Island edition, and the RBCM handbook "Mushrooms of British Columbia" which is a lot of fun. I'm currently searching for a book called "Luchiim's Plants" which is an ethnobotany book for Cowichan. It recently came out, and I didn't know about it until a friend showed me. It looks very good :]

Currently consuming: Star Trek. Any of the series that come on tv, but I've also decided I'd watch DS9 from the very beggining, instead of watching in whatever order the tv gods throw the episodes at me. It is my current brainrot alongside MP100.

Currently craving: I know this is probably about food, so I'm gonna say kiwis or broccoli... But right now, I really want to go swing on the swing set with my music. It's pouring rain rn, and I'm too much of a coward to get soaked.

Hm..... I always feel weird tagging people, so I think I'll abstain from this today aa. Though anyone who wants to do it may :]

[fullmetal-angelgrace]

i call this one: there was only one bunkbed what ever will we do now