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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3h

VOY S5E7, “Infinite Regress”: Seven starts getting taken over by personalities of other people assimilated by the Borg. A fast paced episode that let Jeri Ryan have some fun with it. It's kinda funny to imagine her watching DS9 episodes to learn about Ferengi. I wonder which they chose for her?

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 5h

I can see the utility of the episode: we haven't seen Dukat since the beginning of the season, he (and his relationship with the Pah-Wraiths) is going to be really important at the end of the season, so let's put in a mid-season reminder of what his whole deal is. But it doesn't make for great TV.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 5h

DS9 S7E9, “Covenant”: Kira is abducted by Dukat, who now leads the Cult of the Pah-Wraiths. I like that Dukat is both clearly a changed man and also 1000% back on his usual bullshit. It feels right for him. But this episode mostly feels like an unnecessary cul-de-sac in Dukat's story.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 7h

It is a bit weird that this happens now, in the fifth year of Tom's character arc; it sort of works, but it feels off. Also, B'Elanna is oddly absent from most of it, which is an odd choice. You can feel that the “Tom in the brig” element was tacked on to pad the episode. Still, it's a decent story.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 7h

VOY S5E9, “Thirty Days”: Tom gets a spell in the brig after taking up ecoterrorism. Not sure if this counts as a Thing That Won't Get You Kicked Out Of Starfleet, given that he actually did get real consequences and might well have been kicked out if Voyager were back home.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 10h

DS9 S7E8, “The Siege of AR-558”: Sisko and crew join a group of demoralized soldiers on the front line. I think this is the only true ground war episode of the entire franchise. It's a grim episode, but it has a lot to say, and it says it all too well.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 12h

DS9 S7E7, “Once More Unto the Breach”*: Kor, the aging Klingon Dahar Master, seeks Worf's help to join the war after being frozen out by Martok, who hates him. A worthy sendoff for the last of the TOS-era Klingons, if a bit predictable.

* the title sounds better in the original Klingon, of course

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 1d

That said, it's certainly true that the B-plot, which is a goofy Nog dealmaking story on the lines of “In the Cards” and “Progress”, is a lot more fun. But the A-plot reveals a lot of really game-changing information, most notably the existence of the disease that's killing the Great Link.

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 1d

DS9 S7E6, “Treachery, Faith, and the Great River”: One of the Weyoun clones tries to defect to Odo; meanwhile, Nog helps O'Brien get a needed part for the Defiant. This looks like A/B plot dissonance, but, as the title implies, faith is the through-line connecting them both.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 1d

All of that said… the a capella solfège scene slaps. I'm going to have “do re mi / do re mi / fa re mi do” stuck in my head for a week. Also, the “that's a stupid question” bit is kinda funny. The rest of the episode can get all the way in the bin.

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 1d

The show does give him some brief moments of realization that he's the villain of the piece, but nowhere near the level he deserves. He initiates every step of their relationship! It's all him! She was cataleptic for her entire life and he's planting smooches on her in her first week post treatment!

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 1d

DS9 S7E5, “Chrysalis”: Julian cures one of the genetically engineered patients from “Statistical Improbabilities” and then immediately initiates a romantic relationship with her. This is, in my book, the worst thing he's ever done, and maybe the worst breach of medical ethics in the franchise.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 2d

Can I just point out the incredible detail that Rom claps like a Bajoran? Never mind that the Bajorans are so well-developed they have their own unique form of applause, but to have a Ferengi character married to a Bajoran pick it up from her is so fuckin good. Put it straight in my veins.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 2d

DS9 S7E3, “Take Me Out to the Holosuite”: Sisko is challenged to a game of baseball by the most arrogant Vulcan in the Quadrant. One of the truly great comic relief episodes of the franchise. Death to the opposition!

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 2d

I continue to like Ezri, but I don't feel like the show is trying very hard to make me. She certainly doesn't feel like she's ready to be the station's counselor. Does she have any idea what kind of trauma O'Brien alone goes through on a yearly basis? She needs some time to figure herself out first!

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 2d

He does manage a bit of the old bite here, though even then it feels more like lashing out than anything. Ezri takes the brunt of not only his abuse but also a dressing down from Sisko that feels a bit overly mean. I don't know if that's the best way to motivate her, Ben. Well, it worked, I suppose.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 2d

DS9 S7E3, “Afterimage”: Sisko wants Ezri to stay, and gives her the job of treating Garak's debilitating claustrophobia. Garak at this point in the show has lost some of his edge; everyone knows his secrets now, and no one is really afraid of him. It's odd to see Garak pitied. I imagine he hates it.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3d

I do hate that Odo ends the episode with “just when you thought things couldn't get any more interesting around here,” a very cheesy line which feels more fitting for, like… “Saved by the Bell”, maybe? Other than that, though, it's a good episode.

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3d

DS9 S7E2, “Shadows and Symbols”: Sisko seeks an Orb, Worf grieves via explosions, and Kira bluffs. A satisfying conclusion to all three plot lines, and our introduction to Ezri Dax, who I am actually quite fond of. Her identity crisis is very believable, if slightly overplayed.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3d

DS9 S7E1, “Image in the Sand”: We return to DS9 at last! It's been three months and Ben Sisko is still on leave at his father's restaurant. Meanwhile, Worf is worried Jadzia's not in Sto-Vo-Kor and Kira is dealing with Romulans. A lot going on in this episode! I don't know how they fit it all in.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3d

It is definitely kind of weird that they're just using time travel to fix a regular old mistake. Sets a not great precedent. It's fine for characters to do morally dodgy things… but all the other characters celebrate it without question, and that's a little strange to me.

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3d

VOY S5E6, “Timeless”: In a future where Voyager was destroyed trying out a new engine, Harry and Chakotay, the only survivors, plan to change time. Usually in a time travel episode, the good guys only use it to fix a problem created by time travel, but here it's just them fucking with time. Hmm.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3d

The episode does trip up on one obvious unanswered question: why not find another exobiologist to base the hologram on? Why is it Moset or nothing? Hell, I would have reconsidered the moment I learned he was a Cardassian who worked on Bajor. The failure to consider a third option really took me out.

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3d

Janeway's decision here to use the holographic Moset to save B'Elanna against her express wishes is at least as big a deal as her decision in “Tuvix”, and is much closer to being relevant to real life ethical issues. And to my mind, it's less defensible. It's thoroughly a pragmatic decision.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3d

VOY S5E8, “Nothing Human”: When B'Elanna is attacked by a facehugger, the Doctor calls on a holographic exobiologist for help, unaware that the scientist in question is the Cardassian Josef Mengele. It's funny to me that “Tuvix” is the big controversial episode in the fandom when this one exists.

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