tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4400152815785368447.post953674080532368474..comments2024-03-15T07:28:47.064-05:00Comments on Treknobabble: Deep Space Nine, Season 5: Business As UsualUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4400152815785368447.post-67743632761675699692014-10-03T15:12:42.454-05:002014-10-03T15:12:42.454-05:00Yeah, but that's the model where the only acce...Yeah, but that's the model where the only acceptable grade is an A. Anything less than an A must be wrong in someway. A C should be "average" where the appellation average is not pejorative. If every episode is the "best," then that word loses its utility as a distinction.<br /><br />If nothing else, our central thesis is that average Star Trek is better than most television. I would kill if all TV were in spitting distance of this episode in terms of quality and entertainment value.Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05582237401541322274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4400152815785368447.post-27726104139766162602014-10-03T13:56:36.817-05:002014-10-03T13:56:36.817-05:00I dont know - 60% out of 100 is a grade of what......I dont know - 60% out of 100 is a grade of what...? C-. Sounds pretty bad to me :) poppyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09064123327462038174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4400152815785368447.post-26206625103669414142014-09-28T16:54:49.776-05:002014-09-28T16:54:49.776-05:00A six is a solidly average rating. We seek a stand...A six is a solidly average rating. We seek a standard distribution in our scores, and all the sixes you see are solidly average, entertaining episodes. They just don't for various reasons reach the lofty heights of a Yesterday's Enterprise or a City on the Edge of Forever.matthewweflenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07540521459703556959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4400152815785368447.post-10908300595962527172014-09-28T16:23:15.504-05:002014-09-28T16:23:15.504-05:00Oh no another lousy rating :( Why oh why do you gu...Oh no another lousy rating :( Why oh why do you guys not like it ? (ok, I think it is unfair to say this about things that are about taste, but still). <br /><br />This episode is soooo great. So entertaining. I could watch it, rewind and watch it again. I loved seeing Quark go from being desperate for money that he becomes partners with his sleazy cousin to having developed a conscience and feeling bad about what he did. Great character development for him - showing us once again that he is not your typical, greedy Ferengi who would sell his mother - literally - for a few bars of latinum. <br /><br />I loved how deliciously wicked Hagath was and also the guy they were going to sell those WMDs to. They way he casually picked how many people he wants to die - like he was catering for an event "oh, I wanna start off with ten bottles and throughout the event increase the number to 200." I can almost guarantee you that quite a few war mongers in our midst have had similar conversations. I think it was a great commentary on the weapons and arms trade. Especially how his cousin said "look at all these stars. Half of them is intent to kill the other so who will miss it when one of these stars no longer shines." I loved how they eluded to similar discussions we have right now in that regard, where it is argued that hey - from a business stand point we cannot let such issues of morality be in our way. We are just doing "business (as usual)" and business is business. We cannot let larger issues of morality get in the way of that. I mean these are the exact same issues we, as humanity, have had to deal with when it comes to the ethical consequences of selling arms to entities that then may use them to do horrible things to others. <br /><br />Just look at our nauseatingly strong support of Israel's genocidal apartheid regime. I mean what....2000 Palestinians massacred and Obama cut them another check of 250 million (of the money we said we dont have to take care of our own) a few weeks later. That guy talking about how high he wants the death doll to rise may as well have been netanyahu.<br /><br />We helped built Iron Dome for them. And not just Israel. We armed Hussein 30 or 40 years ago and gave him chemical weapons to use against Iran (and which they did use in a the Kurdish village). Arming rebels is what got us into Vietnam and i think we even supported bin Laden during the cold war. <br /><br />This episode was so relevant and again, this is what i love about Star Trek: they take issues that we, as humanity, talk about, care about and have struggled with and co-opt them into an alien setting and critically discuss them through that prism. I once read Roddenberry did that a lot during the run of TOS: take cold war issues he wasnt allowed to talk about directly, and discuss them via some alien story. So for that alone, this episode was brilliant to me. <br /><br />I dont know why you guys are always bothered by stuff like the logic, for example, the Fedration allowing or not allowing weapons trade. That always seems to be in the way of your enjoyment of episodes - and also why you rate it lower. I mean look, I get it. The fact that Quark "owns" the bar on a Federation/Starfleet base that has done away with money and material wealth and such things, is absurd, too. <br /><br />Or why does Sisko ask him to pay this much money to fix what was damaged when money is no longer an issue on Earth and this Starfleet. Pay restitution to whom? What bank account? The Starfleet Federal Reserve? It all doesnt make sense to me so rather than be disappointed that they didnt follow through on the logic, so choose to tune out. And i acknowledge that not everyone may want to do the same. If it bothers you, it bothers you. I cannot tell you to not be bothered, i can just recommend it :) <br /><br />Anyway I found the episode very entertaining. One of my most favorite DS9 episodes. As you guys say, i liked how the lines of right and wrong were blurred with the part abt Kira saying they shouldnt stand in Hagath's way as he helped arm the resistance etc. poppyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09064123327462038174noreply@blogger.com