8/3/2023 0 Comments Deep space nine ferengi![]() When Sisko, serving as an audience surrogate, acts surprised, Weyoun explains that the Weyoun Sisko saw killed was actually a clone-version four, to be exact, and the version we see in this episode (who survives the hour) is version five. While Kira and Ghemor take center stage, “Ties Of Blood And Water” also brings back Weyoun, the magnificently smarmy bastard last seen in “To The Death.” Funny thing: Weyoun was vaporized by his own troops at the end of that story, but here he is at Gul Dukat’s side, snarking on the action and seemingly amused by everything. The drama in the episode is muted, and that’s all to the good the power here comes not so much from tension (although there is one source of suspense), but from watching people we’ve come to care about accept once more the inevitabilities of their universe. Nor does it reunite Ghemor with his missing daughter, or kick Dukat out of his leadership role, or do anything but give our heroes some helpful tips, and allow Kira a chance at imperfect closure. Ghemor gives Kira some sold intel on the Cardassian government (and Dukat’s enemies), but none of it changes the fact that the dead are gone and the dying are going. ![]() Kira stories work best when they have a clear emotional center, and it’s hard to get much clearer than, “I abandoned my father because I couldn’t face losing him.” The Kira/Ghemor relationship seems willed into existence for the purpose of this story, but Visitor and Pressman sell what they’re given, and the straightforward, undeniable sense of loss that runs throughout the episode is hard to deny. It gets hard to dredge up interesting commentary, so you start to nitpick, and that doesn’t make anyone happy. There comes a point in the weekly-reviewing biz (he said, sipping a latte and idly fingering a pile of cocaine) when “good enough” isn’t really good enough. But “perfunctory” is a questionable criticism, relying even more on eye-of-the-beholder assumptions than normal. On the downside, “Ties Of Blood And Water” feels perfunctory. Plus, Jeffrey Combs makes his triumphant return as the not-quite-dead Weyoun (it’s a clone thing), Gul Dukat is an ass, and Sisko gets to talk some smack. It’s better than the last Kira-centric episode, and there’s some legitimate pathos mined in the episode’s more overtly sentimental moments. And the script’s… fine? I want to say fine. Avery Brooks directed it’s an old saw that actors-turned-directors get strong performances out of their casts, and this episode doesn’t dispute that. “Ties Of Blood And Water” is another not-terrible-not-classic hour, with some excellent acting from the cast, Nana Visitor especially. Still, sometimes the grind kicks in, and this week got me to thinking about how that grind can affect how I watch the show, which, in turn, affects how I write about it. ![]() I don’t binge-watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine I stick to the schedule, two episodes a week, and while that means I often miss on foreshadowing, it’s fun to not know what’s coming. Like so much of what we talk about on the Internet, it’s never something I’ve really thought about before I’ve gone on runs of shows from time to time, but it’s always felt like a private, almost shameful thing-what kind of a messed up shut-in can spend three days of vacation plowing through Slings And Arrows in its entirety? (Hand raised.) But now everybody’s doing it, and everybody else is worried about it, and like anything, there are advantages and disadvantages. ![]() There’s been a lot of talk lately about the pleasures and perils of binge-watching television. In which Kira doesn’t want to say goodbye… “Ties Of Blood And Water” (season five, episode 19 originally aired )
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |