#star trek liveblogging (sort of)

[kyanitedragon]

I shared a bunch of my thoughts after watching TOS Season 1 for the first time...

But I've been so impressed with Spock in particular, and now I entirely understand why everyone adores him.

Vulcans are such a complicated alien characterization, and it's really easy to misunderstand them or write them wrong. Since these were the first star trek episodes, I was a little worried that season 1 Spock might be far more "human" than later star trek vulcans, or simply than later TOS seasons when it got its footing.

But no, Gene Roddenberry knew what he was doing from the start.

I've always liked vulcans (I started on Voyager first and Tuvok was one of my early faves) but I never appreciated them more than now.

The way Spock is written is absolutely vulcan writing at it's best.

I've been getting tired of the modern trend since Enterprise of vulcans being emotionless assholes wanting to hold back humanity. I've been getting tired of the series not really challenging the humans' views and misconceptions. I've especially disliked Strange New Worlds' obsession with making Spock more "human".

Vulcans have emotions — their emotions are simply repressed and controlled. Vulcans can lie! Vulcans can joke! Vulcans can be amused! They just... do it all in a very vulcan way.

And Spock... TOS Spock does all of that.

He is so damn sassy and I adore it so much. He finds so much amusement in his human crewmembers, he loves to screw with people, he loves to insult Kirk and Bones and they love to insult him back. And no matter what, he always feels so distinctly vulcan.

My personal favorite is from Tomorrow is Yesterday (1x19), when they have an air force captain from the 1960's on the bridge and they're explaining to him the future. The man walks onto the bridge, saying that he "doesn't believe in little green aliens". And Spock, knowing that he is visibly alien, walks forward to show himself and says "Neither have I". He absolutely knew that he would confuse and freak out and overwhelm the 60's captain. He just wanted to have some fun and screw with this stranger.

But that's not all.

Vulcans are telepathic. They can mind mind. We see a mind meld in episode 9. I was shocked that we got one so early.

Vulcans can do the nerve pinch. Spock can easily knock out anyone with a simple shoulder grab, while Kirk has to punch people and hurt his hand.

Vulcans have super strength, too. Each time Kirk and Spock fight, we can clearly see the amount of difference in strength.

By all means, vulcans are OP. By all means, it should be insanely difficult to have such an OP main character surrounded by entirely normal humans.

And yet... it never feels that way. Nor does it feel like they ever need to nerf him.

Spock uses all these powers. He uses them often. He volunteers them, he suggests them, sometimes Kirk asks him to do something difficult or even painful and Spock always agrees with no hesitation.

And this never feels overpowered.

And when Spock doesn't use his powers? It's always because his powers are entirely irrelevant and couldn't be used - no nerfs needed.

This series does so well with Spock!!

[mandareeboo]

I knew Star Trek was gonna be crazy but I was NOT prepared for "Janeway's crew got blasted across the galaxy for space insemination" and "let's do a lung harvesting episode" kinds of crazy lmao

[zaraevee]

Zara Watches Trek: TOS Episode 5 The Enemy Within

I know this is the epiosde kirk spilts into two halves, and the “bad” half is scary, notorious for being overacted and heavy on the eyeliner

I don’t know much beside that and that they eventually get him back together

Also this is the first episode i’m watching on my TV instead of my phone, I managed to get the season one DVD box set from the library

Here we go:

Starting on a planet!

Oh wow they’ve set up a mini camp that’s a very bright tent

What the fuck is Sulu holding? Oh its a dog creature.. That dog’s costume 😂

This is nice to watch on the big screen

Kirks eyes really are gorgeous

Uh oh transporter trouble!

Kirk #2!!

The lighting & shot 😂 so dramatic

“Have my engines looked to” lol

Kirk seems so tired and out of it

Straight to Bones for alcohol 😂

Yeah drunk evil Kirk sounds like a really bad idea

Oh noooo yeoman Rand watch out

Haha its this shirtless scene

Kirk tiddies

And the fact that this is regular Kirk he’s just like that😂

He doesn’t even consider that Bones might not just be fucking with Spock, and by extension, him

They find out something’s up this early??

Poor Janice doesn’t deserve this!

He’s just flirting but he’s gonna be going creepy any second

Annnd Yepp there we go

Ooh the camera following them is a good touch

Kick his ass Janice

Get fucked feral Kirk you deserve those bloody knuckles

Ugh that scene with Janice talking about it was rough, especially knowing what the actress went through behind the scenes

Mouthing “imposter” was good acting! I like the emphasis it adds, as well as the realism of it sinking in for Kirk

I love that they’re all just taking every opportunity to hold this dog

Poor Kirk worried about his landing party

Kirk’s really spacing out a lot is he ok?

Ooh Spock speaking hard truths

These last two episodes are putting a focus on the tough lonely parts of command in certain scenes

I’m loving Spock’s chair touches that are so close to Jim’s back & arm

Ooh evil/feral Kirk is smart too, using makeup is a good idea

And getting a phaser!!

He’s the action half? Like he’s the one that makes decisions and throws himself into danger?

Ok you two! be careful! (me @ Kirk & Spock hunting him alone in the engine room)

Again loving how close they walk together

“I don’t want anyone else to see me” “except you” is implied and that’s so !! That he trusts only Spock to see the darker parts of himself

Oh wow he’s watching them like a monkey in a tree

Nice slide! That was cool gotta give him credit

Why’d you split up watch out Spock!

Oh well guess its Kirk who’s in danger

Feral Kirk is totally hunting Kirk

Standoff!!

Spock just being a total nerd analyzing the sides of Kirk

He’s completely right tho about everything as usual

“Its the way I am” Spock has very expressive soft eyes, easier to see on a big screen

ok and those were very soft eyes from Kirk @ Spock for a second after he said that

Well shit Feral Kirk broke it worse

Ooh poor Sulu & the landing party 🥺

Lol the idea of hot coffee lowered down on a rope... oh Sulu I love you

Oh noo! would take a week?? that’s a death sentence for the landing party!!

So many Captain’s logs in this episode! Are there always this many?

He’s speaking much slower than he was before that’s a really good detail, I feel like it happened gradually over the episode now that i’m thinking about it

Jesus how they are still alive - is 75 below zero even possible to survive?

(My science-inclined brother walks past at this point and goes “are they using Fahrenheit or Celsius?” and we live in the U.S. and this was made in the 60’s so I go “Fahrenheit probably?” And he goes “WHY would they be using Fahrenheit?!” And I don’t know the answer)

Using phasers to heat the rocks is brilliant tho

Ooh poor Kirk he feels so bad

Oh geez screaming evil Kirk sure is something

Welp he’s dying which means regular Kirk probably is too

Aw comforting yourself, holding his hand!that’s a facinating scene, really shows how tactile of a person Kirk is

I can really understand that as someone who is as well, all i’d want in this situation is someone to hold my hand and give me a hug

Damn this episode is so deep

Interesting that one half has the courage and the other has the other rest of the will

That smile can’t be good what’s Feral Kirk up to?

Can’t believe they fixed the transporter! Good ol Scotty!

He’s not even listening! Come on buddy, focus!

The dog barks synthesized that’s cool

Oh nooo “he’s dead, Jim” about a doggg noooo 😢

They doesn’t seem good for Jim and he looks so freaked out

Captain’s log by Spock!

Jim’s voice is so softtt

Spock trying to reassure Kirk that he’ll be ok 😭

Alright you two you’re stressing him out! Stop arguing and presenting opposing sides and opinions!!

Yes! Mention of Human half Spock again

Jim looks so distraught 😢

“Help me, somebody, make the decision” wow I feel that so deep

Yes Jim cling to that force of will!

Yes good job buddy you did good

Aw I wanna give him a hug

He seems physically weak

Oooh nooo Suluuuu

This would be so hard hearing a good friend and crewmember drift toward death

Literally talking to yourself lol

Huh feral Kirk seems very subdued now

Hmm they’re both weak!

Oh shit it was a fakeout!! He’s so sneaky!!

I was like why is Kirk struggling to hold him up so much then I realized he was fighting him

Ooh confrontation on the bridge!

Spock is totally able to tell!

Kirk’s fear of loosing command is really on display this episode

Wow that close up shot with dramatic lighting doesn’t even look like Kirk (this is one of the shots that’s infamous from this episode) just looks like a feral creature- how did he twist up his face like that

there’s a lot of Feral Kirk shouting in this episode glad i’m not watching this @ my best friend’s house, her neighbors would want to kill us 😂

Trusting Spock to take care of things no matter what happens 🥺

Spock doing the transporting himself!

He’s back!!

I know Sulu’s ok (because he’s in the rest of the show) but all I can think is “get better soon Sulu, glad you’re alive!”

“Thank you Mr Spock, From both of us” oh my god they’re too much 🥺

Spock smile!! He’s so happy to have Jim back!

Oh dear.. Kirk just dismissing Rand

I know she isn’t in the rest of it and I just feel bad for her…

Also Kirk’s just totally suppressing any feelings whatsoever and Naked Time plus this episode right after are really driving home for him that its the right thing to do. And he’s probably right, it is. But him having to bury parts of himself to be a “perfect” Captain like Spock said in this episode hurts me 🥺

Is Spock teasing her?? It took me a second to realize that was the word for what he was doing.. There’s another Spock smirk what is happening!

Of course, he could have another intention, I just don’t see it

I feel like he just hasn’t stopped smiling since he spoke with Jim

The end~

After-episode thoughts:

Boy was that an episode! I can see why its a bit infamous, some of it was hard to watch but its a fascinating look into what makes humans, humans and I always like when Trek does that. I realized quickly watching this show that stressful stuff always happens to Kirk, the writers really just won’t let him be happy! And I know it only gets worse. Poor lil meow meow

Anyway, I actually kind of liked it. Especially the scenes with the two Kirks in med-bay. I wouldn’t rewatch it much, but I think it was better than some people give it credit for and tbh I was really impressed with Shatner’s acting opposite himself. I wonder how they did those scenes because I forgot in the moment they didn’t have the technology we do today and it was seamless which is so impressive!

I may not do this for every episode, maybe just the ones I have on the condensed list I made of famous episodes to watch before I decided to just watch them all. For the rest I may do a short impressions & review post

[fast-moon]

My Top 10 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Episodes

So, since I marathoned the entire series and now have nothing better to do than to reminisce, I figured I'd go back and revisit some of my favorite episodes and give a bit more thoughts on them beyond the one-line snark I did when I was liveblogging the whole series during my first-time watch.

These are just the top 10 episodes that personally stuck with me for one reason or another, whether it be the topic they explored, the way it was executed, or basically just stuff that left me thinking, "Huh, that gave me something to think about."

10. 2x14 Whispers So we're still back in the era where the "Let's torture O'Brien" episodes weren't quite as grim as some of the later ones, and also before O'Brien's started getting redpilled. Early-season O'Brien episodes tended to be more enjoyable because the tone was more "Oh my god, they killed O'Brien!" (which an incarnation of him does die in this episode), before they took an uncomfortably dark turn starting with "Tribunal" and "Hard Time".

This episode is mostly notable due to its kind of brilliant twist ending, where it's revealed that we've been following an imposter O'Brien the entire episode and the real one had been kidnapped and held prisoner the whole time. Something similar ends up happening a few seasons later with a Changeling version of Bashir.

But early seasons really did love their crazypox episodes, so on an initial watch, it was easy to come to the same conclusion O'Brien did that there was some kind of conspiracy going on or everyone had been affected by something while he was away, similar to that TNG episode where Picard comes back to the ship and everyone's returned to monke.

There isn't much else to say about the rest of the episode, though, but the clever reveal at the end that re-contextualized the entire rest of the episode stuck with me through the whole series, which is why this one can earn the #10 spot on the list, at least.

9. 3x07 Civil Defense Attention Bajoran workers: The failure to rank this episode in the top 5 will cause the remainder of this list to self-destruct in 10 minutes.

This time instead of just torturing O'Brien, O'Brien decides to take everyone down with him by accidentally tripping an old Cardassian security protocol meant to suppress rioting prisoners. The crew then have to figure out how to disable it before the protocol escalates its countermeasures to total station annihilation.

I liked this episode because it ended up being a whole-ensemble episode without the focus on any one character. Except for locking Odo in his office with Quark, rendering him mostly useless the whole episode. Well, useless to the rescue mission. His role was to supply us with ample Odo/Quark banter, which he did very well with.

I did really end up liking the Odo/Quark frenemy relationship. They've got this sort of Lupin III/Zenigata thing going on with the inspector and the thief, constantly trying to outwit each other but also silently respecting each other. Just that "Zenigata" tends to win most of the time. And they do still have each other's backs if one of them gets in trouble (that they didn't cause). Sort of an "I'm the only one who gets to defeat you" kind of thing.

But this episode gets the honor of being the first one to make me laugh out loud, when Dukat tries to transport away after smugly gloating at everyone's predicament for 5 minutes, only to discover his codes had been overwritten and all he could do was stand there awkwardly twiddling his thumbs. It was also at that moment that I stopped being able to take him seriously as a villain, even when the series repeatedly tried to re-villainize him later. It just never worked. He will always be the guy who got caught in his own trap, and then later got stabbed in the ass with a cactus.

Just the way I'm sure Garak wants him remembered.

8. 3x17 Visionary They managed to kill O'Brien three times in this episode, so that's a new high score. And on a re-watch, I realized this episode was also the introduction of the dart board that then carried through the rest of the series.

The B-plot also involved some great scenes with Odo, with his memorable "I always investigate Quark" quip, to his "I just needed to remind you how good I am". And it's also three episodes out from "Heart of Stone", so Odo's crush on Kira is getting pushed hard, too. Kira's reaction to the Romulans' accusation that Odo had feelings for her felt more like she was being protective of him rather than embarrassment. That she had the understanding that he was aro-ace, completely respected that, and would get angrily defensive at anyone who tried to insinuate otherwise, since he has a hard time advocating for himself. As someone who's aro-ace myself, I very much recognize that frustration at people going to great lengths to "prove" that you do secretly want to date or fuck someone and simply don't want to admit it.

But what I like about O'Brien's side of this episode is how he just begrudgingly rolls with it like, "I guess this is my life now". And that everyone is basically immediately on-board with it like, "Oh, so O'Brien's tripping through time now. Hey, can you check tomorrow's lottery numbers?" instead of wasting half the episode not believing him.

And also in true Star Trek fashion, they figure out all the components necessary for his time-travel, from the radiation to the temporal frequencies coming off the anomaly, to the point where they can control the timing and execute it at will. And then proceed to never put this knowledge to use again. TNG was notoriously bad about this, as they regularly used the transporter to cure diseases, reverse aging, or straight-up bring people back to life, and then completely forget they can do that by the next time a similar problem arises. But think of how many problems they could have averted if they simply bothered to peek 5 hours into the future on the regular.

The ending of the episode also poses an interesting philosophical question, where the "Prime" timeline O'Brien dies, and instead sends back his incarnation from three hours in the future to live out the rest of his life. So is this still the "real" O'Brien? If instead the framing of the episode was that O'Brien went back in time and re-lived the last 3 hours of his life, then continued as normal, would it be interpreted the same? Because with all of Prime O'Brien's time-skips, the future incarnations of himself, including the two dead ones, ceased to exist, anyway, due to him changing the future with his foreknowledge.

Next time Keiko comes back, she'll give him the side-eye and be like, "I can tell..."

7. 2x08 Necessary Evil A film noir-style origin story for Odo, chronicling how he became chief of security on the station while it was under Cardassian rule, and how he first met Kira and Quark.

What stood out to me about this episode was how we'd had an entire season telling us about how things were under Cardassian occupation, but this was the first episode to actually show it. Plus Odo had a cooler outfit back when he was working for the bad guys, because bad guys always have cooler outfits. The Bajoran onesies are certainly one of the more questionable design choices for this series. I do miss Kira's shoulder pads from the early seasons, though.

So, the wife of a murdered Bajoran collaborator hires Quark to find his list of other collaborators so she can blackmail them for money, and hires a hitman to take out Quark. This causes Odo to reopen the investigation into her husband's death, which I guess he never actually solved originally, given that he didn't figure out Kira was the killer until the present day end of the episode.

But I like how this episode has a bit where Odo insists that he "doesn't take sides" and is only interested in impartial justice, but still ends up protecting Kira from Dukat after she confesses to a different crime than the one he's been charged with investigating. That "not choosing sides" isn't necessarily "justice" if the status quo itself is unjust.

This was also the episode where Rom seemed to start making the turn from the scheming sidekick who wanted Quark dead to beginning to have some actual personal skills and motives, such as being able to tamper with locks. He's not as stupid as he looks ("Yes I am!").

Also, Kira and Odo respect the shit out of each other even when there's friction between them, and I am all for that, every time.

6. 6x19 In the Pale Moonlight Hey, everybody, who wants some war crimes?!

There's a saying along the lines of, "The people who insist you use the proper channels are the ones who control those channels and know they won't work." And that, if there is an injustice that needs to be righted, and all legal means of righting it have been exhausted, does it justify extra-legal means?

In this episode, Sisko is desperate to turn the tide of the war so enlists the help of Garak to try to trick the Romulans into joining the war against the Dominion with a forged recording. The Romulan senator discovers it's a faaaake, but Garak has his ship blown up on the way home in such a way that the Dominion is implicated, anyway.

And Sisko insists that if he'd do it all again if he had to, since it got him what he needed and potentially saved the Alpha Quadrant. And as I get older, I'm more inclined to agree with him. I see so many problems continuing to persist because people would rather do nothing and keep their hands clean, than take action that might dirty their conscience. "This policy will fix a problem for 90% of the people who have it, but if we support it, it will look like we are actively shunning those 10% of people who won't be helped, so it's morally better to not help anyone so everyone continues to suffer equally."

Then there's also the issue where, if your enemy is breaking a rule with no consequence, why should you be obligated to follow it yourself? If you snitch on a resistance group trying to take down the evil empire, no one is going to be commending your dedication to truth and justice.

So in Sisko's case, I can't really fault his methodology, only marvel at the fact that it spiraled so far out of his control and yet he still managed to pick up a win at the end due to Garak being even more conniving than he was and having a backup plan that included murder. But if that one murder ended up saving millions of lives due to prompting a change in policy, does it become justified?

Asking for a guy who shot a health insurance CEO.

5. 2x22 The Wire It's only appropriate that the day I re-watch this episode to figure out where to rank it on the list is the day after Lower Decks drops an episode establishing Garak and Bashir having a romantic relationship in a parallel universe (with their actors reprising their roles, no less).

I'm not really a "shipper", though, as I find that there are scant few relationships in media that I feel would be improved if the relationship was turned romantic. That doesn't mean that a relationship turning romantic necessarily makes it worse, just that it's, at best, a lateral move, where the relationship remains exactly as it was before, just with the understanding that they're now "in love". But a lot of times media injects petty drama and bickering into a relationship once it turns romantic, which ends up destroying the chemistry that made the relationship compelling in the first place when it was platonic. So generally I'd rather just have good chemistry and leave it at that.

So here's an episode with two characters with good chemistry, interacting. Sold.

But we find that Garak's chipper personality until now seems to mostly have been drug-induced, as he's been riding a perpetual high the entire time he's been on the station to cope with being exiled. Now he's starting to suffer from severe side-effects of this dependency, and Bashir has to wean him off of it and help him through withdrawal.

This episode is noteworthy in that it's the episode that redeemed Bashir for me, first and foremost. In season 1, Bashir almost single-handedly ruined the series for me with how insufferable and womanizing he was. He very much did not come across as someone I could trust with my health and safety. But this episode is where he finally took the turn to actually acting like a doctor, Jim, not a narcissist.

Especially with all the skirt-chasing he was doing, he didn't seem to even particularly like any of the women he was chasing, or who were awkwardly written into romances with him with zero build-up, like Leeta or Ezri. Bashir must have a love interest, and it must not be any of the people he actually has rapport with.

We also finally get some Garak backstory, too. ... Or do we? His whole routine has been basically making it up as he goes along, but now that I have the blessing of foresight from having seen the rest of the series, he's actually not too terribly out of line here. He was indeed Obsidian Order, he was indeed "son of Tain". But even with the foresight, it's still unclear what story of his banishment is true. Or we can just take his word for it that they're all true. Even the lies.

Especially the lies.

4. 7x14 Chimera A recurring theme in my episode-by-episode reactions during my initial watch-through was #JusticeForOdo, due to how poorly he was accommodated by the station and crew. That it was just "easier" for everyone else if he contort himself into unnatural shapes every day in order to simply exist among them and perform his duties. And how this imbalance was never really addressed.

Well, it took 7 seasons, but it finally fucking was.

One thing that sci-fi is great for is allegory for social and political topics. People get so inundated with real-world examples of "racism bad", "sexism bad", "homophobia bad" that they tend to become numb to it. Show someone something they've seen a hundred times, and they're likely not going to feel any differently about it than they did before. So you have to make it novel to them to get them to reconsider it. Ask "why can't this man wear a dress in public when it's not hurting anyone", and they'll already have a canned answer ready without even having to think about it. Ask "why can't this man turn into fog in public when it's not hurting anyone", and now they have to think about it, because a canned answer for that isn't available.

On the other side, the episode also doesn't try to paint the station crew as unnecessarily xenophobic or Laas as an innocent victim. They are currently at war with the other Changelings, and so far, Odo is the only one they've ever met who's been "one of the good ones". So their suspicion is, unfortunately, justified. The problem is then compounded by them even being willing to give Laas a chance initially and reach out to him, and Laas being openly xenophobic right back at them, due to his own prior encounters with Solids. It's riding a thin line between having the right to express yourself and going out of your way to offend people and then crying victim when they get upset.

And by the end, all of this starts leading to the uncomfortable conclusion that sometimes two people are too radically different to comfortably co-exist. Laas only seems more reasonable than the Founders because he thinks oppression of other races is excessive, but segregating them is fine. That meeting the needs of one would require too many concessions from the other, and vice-versa. Laas repeatedly presses Odo about how "accepted" he truly is when he has to go out of his way to hide his true nature in public to maintain everyone else's relative comfort. Which is a very valid point.

So one thing I think this episode missed out on, was at least addressing that point for Odo. That things are only uncomfortable when they're novel, but over time as people get used to them and recognize that they're not a threat, they become accepted. Even in media, we've gone from only white men being represented, to Black men, to women, to interracial relationships, to same-sex relationships, all within only, like, 50 years. Similarly with Odo, I feel like there should have been a scene where Sisko states that Odo has always been free to shapeshift in public, and if anyone has a problem with it, they'd have to go through him.

Instead, that permission is limited to Kira. Which, great, and I continue to love how much of an ally and an advocate she is for him. And also her feeling of inadequacy due to there being a level of intimacy that she is physically incapable of giving him, and being okay with him leaving her for someone who can if that's what would make him happiest. So my aro-ace self is still absolutely enamored with the ending where Odo declines to go along with the guy who can give him the most mind-blowing sex in favor of staying with the person who makes him feel emotionally fulfilled.

3. 6x25 The Sound of Her Voice So, my absolute favorite dynamic is "The person you can comfortably vent your ails to." So many annoying conflicts happen in media simply because characters fail to communicate with each other. Or characters are too traumatized to talk about a problem until it becomes everyone else's problem. When so much can be solved by just having someone to talk to.

And that's what this episode is about. The crew intercepts a distress call from a marooned captain who is a 6-day journey away. She's running out of oxygen, so to help keep her conscious, they spend the entire journey keeping her talking over communications and taking turns having conversations with her.

And by doing so, basically the entire crew gets therapy without even realizing it. They're all mentally exhausted from the war and have been starting to become distant from each other. And it's a reality that if you have a problem, and everyone around you is associated with that problem (even if they're not the cause), then it's hard to talk to them about it. Because it means all your frustrated energy is simply recirculating into the same circle. It needs to be vented to the outside, to a third party.

I also love the B-plot of this episode utterly lampshading Odo's tsundere personality, and also a heartwarming take on Odo and Quark's relationship. Quark's got a scheme and needs Odo distracted, so tries to get Odo set up on a date with Kira. Odo ends up rescheduling his date last-minute, which puts Quark in a panic that he'll be found out. Except Odo has already found out, and decides to schedule his date back to when it's most convenient for Quark in order to let him have this one, in order to silently thank him for his efforts in helping him with his relationship with Kira.

The A-plot with the marooned captain then ends with a twist that the transmission they'd been interacting with the entire time had been time-shifted, and the captain had already died of hypoxia three years prior, so they never would have reached her in time. But the crew still decide to recover her body and hold a funeral for her in thanks for her help in getting them to open up about their problems and talk through them.

... Though, it's a good thing the time-shifted transmission still ended before they reached the planet. Otherwise they might have found her body while she was still talking to them, and that would have made for an awkward conversation.

2. 5x06 Trials and Tribble-ations So, I had actually seen this episode a couple times before back in the 90's because one of my friends had taped it and insisted I watch it, because it was kinda infamous at the time. And because I saw it as a teenager with no context for the rest of DS9 (I had at least already seen the original TOS episode), watching it now 30 years later as an adult was kind of weird because it was like... I remembered the scenes and dialogue, but I didn't know who the DS9 characters (aside from Worf) were at the time. I didn't know Kira was pregnant or Odo was stuck in human form at this point in the continuity. I didn't know why Sisko kept calling Dax "Old Man". All I knew was that they had been Forrest Gumped into a TOS episode for the lulz.

And you know what? Lulz are important. A lot of other episodes on this list are ones that have some kind of socio-political or psychological thematic discussion, but this one is just "Woo, self-insert fanfic time!"

I do love that it pokes fun at its own history, like the OG Klingons not having forehead prosthetics and simply having goatees instead, or how laughably bulky all of the handheld equipment was. Granted, they were poking fun at the 60's view of futuristic tech being so analog, and now we poke fun at the 90's view of futuristic tech still being so tied to physical media (like needing a different pad for each document). I'm sure 30 years from now, they'll be laughing at how quaint our view of future tech looked.

The editing in this episode is certainly still impressive for being done on a 90's TV budget, though there are still some areas were it was obvious characters were pasted into the background. The shadows on O'Brien and Bashir when Kirk paces in front of them during the line-up are quite clearly edited in. But the best part is Dax and Sisko being in the storage bin tossing tribbles onto Kirk's head.

It's also hilarious that time-travel happens so often in the Star Trek universe that they have specific training and departments dedicated to handling it. Although, it's also amusing that time travel only seems to happen to the main characters. What happens if they're all sitting around minding their own business, and some other Starfleet crew went back in time and mucked up the timeline and suddenly everything's different? The investigators said that Kirk alone had 17 temporal violations, and the DS9 crew time-travels at least once a season. Hell, Quark time-traveled by accident just by carrying a shipment of magic rocks. If it's that common for them, it must be that common for everyone else.

This episode didn't have any kind of mind-blowing message, but it was silly, it was memorable, and it was innovative enough to get me to watch it back when I wasn't even interested in this series, so that earns it it's spot on this list. 1. 1x19 Duet It was a tough call whether to place this episode or the Tribble one first because they're absolutely impossible to compare. But this episode caught me off guard by literally making me cry at the end, even on a re-watch when I already knew what the reveal was.

Plus it deals with a topic that I spend a lot of time contemplating myself: how much the rank and file of a corrupt regime should realistically be expected to be able to do anything about it. Generally the lower your standing, the more extreme measures you'd need to take in order to have any chance at affecting anything, so at what point can you judge someone for not taking an extremely personally risky action to save others?

So in this episode we have Marritza, a low-level Cardassian file clerk who was stationed at a brutal Bajoran concentration camp. He ends up haunted by his time there and wracked with guilt that there was nothing he could do to stop it, so assumes the identity of the camp's leader, Gul Darheel, and gets himself captured. His intent is to take all the Bajorans' anger at the occupation onto himself and give themselves a target of vengeance, and have himself stand trial to force the Cardassians to acknowledge what they did.

But over the course of the episode, Kira figures out his ploy and becomes sympathetic to him. As much as she hates Cardassians for what they did, she can't bring herself to use an innocent one as a scapegoat to take out her anger on, even if he's gift-wrapped himself for her for that purpose.

This also ended up being the episode that really enamored me to Kira. She had already been a decent character, but up until now I had worried that she would just be the 90's archetype of a "strong female character" who's simply an impulsive hot-head who gets offended at everything. And while she started out with an irrational vengeful streak in this episode, she also proved that she could accept new evidence and view an emotionally-charged situation objectively. Which is super hot.

[youcouldbewonderful]

here's my star trek nemesis liveblog

rewatch. this movie isn't fantastic but there's some bits of it that make it better. - letting riker and deanna get married can make me forgive a lot - picard being best man is really sweet - WESLEY SPOTTED? isn't he supposed to be off doing magic in space right now (detour to read the memory alpha for wesley. never mind they actually don't explain him being there at all.) - "ladies and gentlemen and invited transgendered species" is crazy insane of them to say in 2002. good for that - data is singing. funny. i like it - they have a stupid little truck for an away mission which i think is really silly actually - THEY CAN REMOTE CONTROL THE RUNABOUT? - "dr soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end" i'm glad that they address that B4's name is stupid as hell. i love the soong brothers Memories, Stories, and Before - data is one of the few characters that looks good in this era of uniforms - hey why do the remans look like that. - riker is so sexy. me when there's some grey in a man's hair. who said that. - the clone plotline is. strange. also they didn't do a great job casting that man from the front but at least his nose is perfect - can we stop putting deanna in weird situations. please please please leave her alone. - star trek movies always greatly overestimate how much i care about a big fight scene in space - i think star trek should stop killing off characters in movies after the series ends. - oh my god having a shot of deanna and riker hugging and then immediately cutting to geordi looking at them sadly right after data has died??? daforge crumbs final second watch thoughts; i watched this movie YEARS ago and forgot most of it except that data died at the end. the actual plotline is questionable and i don't really care about it. i'm not sure why they added the reman lore. the beginning of the movie before it gets dramatic and space-fighty is silly and has some good character moments. otherwise... i get that the point was to do a sort of character study on picard but i don't think they did it as well as it could have been done. unfortunately i'm about to watch picard so i'm sure it will only get worse. 3/5.

[thethirdromana]

#also are you at exactly the same place as me by astounding coincidence or are you timing your posts to my liveblogs

Sort of the latter? I saw one of your liveblogs and a Miles O'Brien gif in quick succession this morning and the combination sparked the thought in this post.

So I think there's a Watsonian/Doylist thing going on with Keiko and Miles. From a Watsonian perspective you're absolutely right, ESH, they are both making terrible decisions (and everyone around them is enabling those decisions!) and they deserve each other.

My post was coming more from a Doylist perspective. If you take this sequence of events out of the Star Trek context:

Woman cancels wedding on the day

She refuses to speak to her fiancé except through an intermediary

He gets angry, and sends a series of his friends to try to persuade her to change her mind

????

They get married!

... you would assume it was an abusive relationship and she had been coerced, wouldn't you? I feel like I would.

I mean, we know that's not the case because it's Star Trek, and we see the many ways in which their relationship is terrible, but it isn't in any sense abusive. Keiko's actions are not because she's terrified of Miles, but because she's being written as having the communication skills of a 13-year-old. But they're certainly consistent with being afraid of him - especially the choice to go through with the wedding on that day, rather than what feels like the more logical choice, to postpone for a few months and talk it through. They live on a starship in a post-scarcity future, after all, it's not as if they're going to lose the deposit on their venue.

And I think it's deeply unpleasant that the Star Trek writers came up with that plotline and went: yep. That's what we're going to use as our prime example of romantic love this episode.

Whereas I was struck by the fact that Wilkie Collins in 1859 looked at a woman clearly saying "I don't love you, and I don't want to marry you" and a man responding "let's marry anyway" and said: this is profoundly wrong.

Your point about Laura being 20 struck me, too. She's the same age as Dorian Gray, and just slightly older than Lucy Westenra. She's considered old enough to make life-changing decisions, but not old enough even to be consulted on the detail of the contracts she's signing up to. She can ruin her life but she's not allowed to control it.

And Wilkie Collins doesn't seem to be at all on board with that either. Mr Fairlie isn't protecting her as he should be, but she's also not being given the opportunity to protect her own interests, because vital information is being kept from her. It would be easy to have written Laura as a little bit less mature, a little bit more childish, to justify that cultural norm, but I don't get any sense of that.

It's interesting to contrast with something like Pride and Prejudice. Who's at fault for what happens to Lydia, for instance? (I know it's not directly comparable, but it's close enough). I think Austen directs the blame primarily at Mr Wickham, obviously, and secondarily at Mr Bennet for being neglectful, and Mrs Bennet for encouraging Lydia's behaviour. There's not much blame apportioned to a society that makes young women so vulnerable; the problem is individual failings. The rest is just The Way Things Are.

Whereas Wilkie Collins does both. Were Mr Fairlie a better guardian and Sir Percival a true gentleman, none of this would have happened, of course. But I feel like underneath that is a lot of criticism for a society that allows a young woman to be so vulnerable to the failings of others.

The Woman in White Weekly is making me think about a moment in Star Trek that's bothered me ever since I first saw it.

In The Woman in White, when Laura decides she doesn't want to marry Sir Percival Glyde and he wants to go ahead anyway, it's one of many indications that he's going to turn out to be a moustache-twirling villain. I don't know what happens next in the story but it doesn't seem impossible that Laura might end up tied to train tracks at some point. Men who want to proceed with marriages to women who don't want to marry them are bad news!

In Data's Day, Keiko calls off her wedding to Miles, for very solid reasons: "I should be happy, but I'm not. I just feel this weight pressing down on me." And Miles... doesn't do any better than Sir Percival. He gets angry, and he gets a succession of his friends to try to talk Keiko round, even as she refuses to talk to him. By the end of the episode, she's changed her mind and gone through with the wedding, but we don't find out the reason for her change of heart.

And in stark contrast to the Woman in White, we're supposed to see this as a happy ending?

[gayspock]

i bet there werent even any drugs in the air. i bet garak was just feeling a little goofy. like blarhg 🤪.... you know. we've all been there.

[bumblingbabooshka]

‘Timeless’ is such a cool episode holy shit

[melodicsiren]

"I will never understand the human need to find imagery in something as innocuous as a cloud"

Hey. Hey Tuvok.

That's a side effect of high pattern recognition skills.

If Vulcan Logic doesnt even allow for that, I think your species might have a bigger problem

[haveashran]

Theory: Shran hates Andorian Ale

I know this may seem controversial – how could Shran, our main Andorian character, hate the signature beverage he is so often shown consuming? – but bear with me as we deep dive into Shran’s drink preferences.

(Long post so it’s under the cut)

The first time we see Shran drinking anything is at the end of Cease Fire (se2ep15) when he pulls out a bottle at the negotiating table to toast to everyone’s “mutual dissatisfaction”. Now I assume this is a type of Andorian Ale despite the quintessential variety being bright blue (as we see in Proving Ground, se3ep13) because in that episode Shran tells Archer he brought the ale because Archer “seemed to enjoy it the last time we met”, and at least as far as we saw in the show the last time these two hung out was at the initial Weytahn/Paan Mokar negotiations that went down during Cease Fire.

So anyway Shran pours glasses for everyone at the table and they toast. Everyone except for him sips delicately at the drink, but he knocks it back in one gulp while dead-eyeing Soval. 

Wow, what a Hard Drinkin’ Macho Man he is, you may think. Let’s show he can hold his liquor like a real Tough Guy unlike those Vulcan wimps, think the writers. This is the most Masculine Dude to ever appear on screen! thinks R*ck B*rman. 

But here’s the thing: knocking back your liquor can be a power move, but it can also be a sign that someone just really, really hates the taste. And guess what?

He does this EVERY TIME. 

EVEN WHEN THERE’S NO ONE TO DEAD-EYE.

Look at those grimaces. That’s not the face of a tough guy, R*ck, that’s the face of a person who hates the taste but is still trying to get fucked up and also hide the fact that he thinks it’s gross. 

Compare these expressions to when he’s drinking alone. This definitely isn’t the drink that Archer likes, it’s a clear liquid and he drinks it in a normal person way (is it a different kind of liquor? Or maybe just water? If so we stan one hydrated boy).

Wow, look at him calmly sipping instead of just pouring it down his throat like he’s trying to put out a fire in his mouth.

He only seems to drink ale while he’s around other people, so is it a far reach to say that he’s trying to impress people with his drinking prowess even though the beverage in question grosses him out? Plus, he specifically drinks it with Archer because he knows Archer likes it (allegedly. Archer does also grimace a little while drinking it, but not all the time and definitely not to the same extent as Shran). So not only does he keep a decent stock of a drink he hates on hand for special occasions, but also specifically on hand for Archer which implies that his visits are special occasions.

I mean, in Proving Ground we can see a decanter of ale on his desk with TWO glasses ready, even though earlier in the same episode he was shown drinking the clear stuff he actually seems to like which he ALSO kept in a decanter on his desk, yet now that decanter is gone. 

What changed between these two points in the episode? That’s right folks, the Kumari managed to track down the Enterprise and suddenly Archer is present. Is it a coincidence that after they meet up Shran just happens to switch the drink on hand to Archer’s favourite liquor, complete with two convenient glasses for sharing? I think not. 

IN CONCLUSION: While trying to characterize Shran as a Tough Guy Who Drinks Harder Than Anybody Else the writers accidentally made him into a Dude Who Hates Popular Liquor But Still Brings It To Parties Because His Crush Likes It And Drinks It To Impress Him But It’s Not Fooling Anyone Cause He Can’t Control His Face. 

[tsarinajissa]

I have two dogs and a laptop in my lap and after two weeks break I am *finally* once again ready for disco Thursday! Block any of the following tags to save your dashes from the joy that is my star trek discovery liveblog ;)

[kyanitedragon]

Me: I mean sure Spock and McCoy would be interesting together but idk I don't really ship it ship it

S3 Spock @ McCoy:

Me: Oh. Oh.

[soundwavereporting]

“It is quite simply the journey you have always been destined to take.”

So I finished DS9, and I stand by my belief that Sisko is IDW!Optimus, but better. He takes the time to truly learn about the religion he’s involved in, his bad decisions are called out, and most of all it’s made so clear how the crew on DS9 work together and actually like each other. I loved the lower-stakes episodes where you get a chance to see everyone working together and bonding.

Honestly I LOVED the different parts of the show’s narrative and themes: the parallels between Dukat and the Pah-Wraiths, the irony of Cardassia’s situation at the end of the series as compared to Bajor at the start, the questions of morality and redemption, the impact of the past on the present, of religion and faith and it’s very real impact on people’s lives, and of not being afraid to let go of the old in order to improve.

I’m undecided on whether to watch TNG or Voyager next, but I may just end up rewatching DS9. I’m also definitely going to write some sort of fix-it fic for Weyoun 6, because he deserved better.

[papa-poutine]

So. What's a yeoman outside the context of medieval archer guy

[thewertsearch]

Asks Compilation 25/07

[ god I wish this was true 😂 we don't get any deliberate ones really, but a lot of accidental ones I have to catch lol - C ]

People have spoiled future Aspects, but that's OK, I told them to!

As far as I’m aware, Hiveswap is one of the few Homestuck tie-ins which is actually canon to the comic. 

I’ll probably liveblog it - after I’m done the comic - but I’m not sure if I’ll do it immediately afterwards, or wait for the whole thing to release first.

It's fun - the more Homestuck lore I get in the liveblog, the more I can expand the lore of the adventure! 

The charger sword sounds sick, actually. I wonder if Sahlee uses chargerkind, or if she had something else to hand when she was assigning her Strife Specibus?

I like the idea that she’s really into Troll Star Trek. Since it was produced in a military empire, it probably has a very different tone to Human Star Trek...

“Space. The final battlefield.”

In other words, Life finds a way.

AA, the kidsona, pirated the game and just started messing around with it. Unbeknownst to her, TT, the trollsona, connected as her server player and deployed her starting gear.

TT hasn’t entered yet, and is currently still on Alternia. Let's hope she can get in soon!

Oh what? That's cool. These guys seem less and less human as we go!

Oh, I can definitely see it. 

It’d be nice if she got Rei’s 'I am not a puppet' arc - although hopefully it won’t end with her turning all of trollkind into Faygo. 

I can understand the Mind and Doom associations. Coding is a pretty cerebral task, and the most prominent programming language in the comic is Doom-themed.

Dunno about Light, Space and Time though. I guess you could say coding = computers = electrcity = electromagnetism = Light, but that’s very tenuous. 

But... whatever about its paradoxical status,  Davesprite's timeline is still canon, right? It was depicted in the comic, and its consequences are driving the plot. Seems pretty cut-and-dry to me. 

I’ve picked up a lot of Classes and Aspects over the summer - twenty-one, in total!

The known classes are the Heir, Seer, Knight, Witch, Rogue, Sylph, Mage, Page, Maid, Bard, and Prince. 

The known Aspects are Breath, Light, Time, Space, Mind, Rage, Void, , Doom, Life, and Blood. 

I think the coolest-sounding title I can come up with is the Witch of Void.

Interestingly, this would imply that your Class can change over time. If it’s based on your life experiences, it sort of has to change, since you keep gaining more life experiences. 

Would baby Players even have classes, in this case? If you made a second clone of John the Player - one not destined to play Sburb - would he develop a Title, too?

[ anything that builds Vriska hype is approved - C ]

Oh, I'm so ready.

[ https://youtu.be/U0m-k6qZMx8?t=150 they know... - C ] 

Screw it, let's check this out.

...heh, this is all very early 2000s. It’s weirdly nostalgic to go through, even though I never watched these as a kid - and even though I wasn’t even on the internet in 2000. I started in about ‘04, with Runescape. 

Yes, and it's fucking great. 

I love how it means there's a small chance that Undertale and Homestuck were started on the same computer.

Of course. Just like in every universe, the great visionary, John Cusack, is destined to develop Linux. 

Thanks!! It’s actually really nice having asks to point out stuff I missed, so I can fully understand what it is I'm seeing.

We won't know for sure until the Homestuck movie comes out in 2035, and we can hear their canon pronunciations.

Oh, ok, that actually makes a lot more sense than my interpretation. All the prototypings we’ve seen so far would then conform to the rule, and a kernel with nothing dead in it would be as rare as it’s supposed to be.

Sollux didn’t even release Vii on Alternia. 

Fuck all those other trolls, this editor is for himself and himself alone. 

Nah, AA's is just as easy. I think I'm just starting to remove quirks a little overzealously, lmao

Prototype them both in a sprite together to create The Ultimate Player.

Glitches as horror is so underrated. 

What if this happened to Future Rose and Dave? What if their broken session started to yield broken items?

I'd love to have seen some of this early speculation. Cat mentioned the Homestuck forums have been irreparably destroyed, which really fucking sucks. Hopefully at least some of it got archive.org’d. 

Ayyy!

Oh my god, do you think AG is the type to be like...

“It's all in your head!!!!!!!! Mental illness isn't real, you just need to fight it off with willpower! ::::)”

[trip-tuckers-hyperspanner]

About Me

Hey! I'm Gait. Welcome to the Trek side blog (main blog @gaitwae, likes, asks, and follows will be from there). As many of you know, I am an old Trekkie (running on 11 years of it) and I figured that it's probably smart for me to have one of these pinned posts.

I am above 18 years old. I don't ship often but you will see me posting about my ENT ships, and if it isn't that, it'll be a strictly-canon ship. Sometimes I liveblog about which episodes I'm seeing! Asks and submissions are open :D

Here is an up-to-date chart of the Star Trek series I have/haven't seen minus the movies and they're ranked by my enjoyment not necessarily their quality.

I have a queue that posts 3 times a day and occasionally I will post fics. You can find all my star trek works at my master blog, @gaitwaes-masterlist. Every post will be tagged and sorted, with tagging organization detailed here.

Live long and prosper.