From: prp@neb (Paul Peterson)
Subject: Thoughts on Emissary *** SPOILERS ***
Organization: Nebula - Public Access Unix/bbs SLC Ut, USA
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 15:43:31 GMT

***WARNING***
This post contains spoilers for Emissary, the 2-hour premiere of DS9.
If you haven't seen it yet, be warned.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I watched Emissary last night and I thought it was excellent!   The
way the characters and situations have been set up, there are plenty
of real good potential stories based on the characters and situations
we have seen.  Overall, I think I would give this episode a B+ or 
maybe even an A-.  There are a few problems which I think still need
to be worked out (see below), but in general I loved it and can't 
wait for the next episode.
 
A few thoughts and observations about the episode:
 
1)  There is no polite way to say this.  The music SUCKS!  I remember
when Encounter at Farpoint was first shown, I walked around for 
several days with the theme music running through my head, thinking
good thoughts every time I recalled it.  Five minutes after watching
Emissary, I couldn't hum 4 bars of the theme if you paid me a
thousand dollars.  It's just plain forgettable.
 
2)  I really missed the opening "Space...The Final Frontier..."
prologue on the credits.  I know they couldn't use the same 
wording as TOS or TNG, but they should have been able to come up 
with something.
 
3)  How do the producers decide the order of billing on the credits?
Obviously it is not in order of importance of the character to the
story.  I was surprised to see the credits in the following order:
     Avery Brooks as Commander Sisko
     Rene Aberjonois as Odo
     Siddig El Fadil as Dr. Bashir
     Terry Farrell as Lt. Dax
     Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko
     Colm Meaney as Chief O'Brien
     Armin Shimerman as Quark
     Nana Visitor as Major Kira
I would have expected Major Kira to get second billing and Jake Sisko
to be last.  I know that in Hollywood billing order has led to many
disputes and arguments between stars, producers and agents, and there
must be some formula for working this out based on popularity, name
recognition, etc., but it looks to me like they just drew the names
out of a hat.
 
4)  Dr. Bashir needs to grow up.  How did this self-centered little
boy even make it through Star Fleet Academy, let alone graduate
top in his class?  On one hand he falls all over himself and looks
like a total idiot trying to get a date with Dax, and on the other
hand he acts like God's gift to the primitive savages bringing his
superior knowledge to this remote uncivilized outpost.  I predict
there will be a lot of "Bashir-bashers" on the net unless his
character is radically changed.
 
5)  Best line in the episode had to be when Sisko was trying to 
talk Quark into staying on the station and rebuilding.  This is
paraphrased from memory and may not be totally accurate.
   Sisko:  We need you to become a community leader.
   Quark:  Me? A community leader?
   Odo:    Why not?  You have all the character references
           of a politician.
 
6)  Best line I would have liked to see.  When Sisko was reliving
his first meeting with Jennifer, after Kai Opaka had examined his
"pah" (sp?)
   Sisko:  Your mother's going to love me!
   Jen:    How do you know that?
   Sisko:  My pah told me.
 
7)  A minor nit-pick.  On Sisko's first meeting with Kira, he said
that he requested a "Bajoran national" as his first officer.  Doesn't
the term "national" refer to country of origin, rather than planet?
Would we refer to a "Martian national"?
 
8)  Regarding Sisko's interrogation by the creators of the worm
hole, if these beings have no distinction between past, present
and future, they already know what's going to happen.  Why do they
have to question Sisko to find out what they already know?  I did
love the way it was handled, however, with the aliens communicating
through the people in his memories.
 
9)  Let's end the discussion about new uniform colors here and now.
Lt. Dax wears a blue uniform, not green as has been posted here.  I
must admit in the pictures in TV guide it looks green, but I think
this must be just an error in the way the photo was reproduced.
 
Well, enough of my ramblings.  In spite of the negative comments above,
I thought the show was well worth watching.  Comments and flames
welcome.

-- 
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email to: hellgate.utah.edu!cusa!prp
                      | pro-gram 1) n. a magical spell cast over a computer
  Paul R. Peterson    |    which causes user input to be transformed into
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                      |    opportunity for relief.
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