From: wombat@eng.umd.edu (Jose Gonzalez)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: CRITICAL COMMENTS: "Babel"
Date: 28 Jan 1993 17:50:03 GMT
Organization: Project GLUE, University of Maryland, College Park
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: coke.eng.umd.edu
Originator: wombat@coke.eng.umd.edu


***Spoilers***



This is a bit of a backslide for DS9, not as good as the previous episodes,
but still enjoyable because of the *brilliant* Odo and Quark bits.



"Babel," while it does manage to be somewhat entertaining, suffers from
a rather big problem.  Namely, the fact that this is supposed to be a 
suspense piece, except that since Chief O'Brian is the first one inflicted
from the virus, we know no one is going to die (not even extras), we know
a cure is going to be found, and about halfway through, we know exactly
*how* it's going to be found.  So, what's left?  Not quite enough, 
unfortunately.

Comments:

- Beginning on a down note, I'm beginning to get a bit worried about Avery
Brooks' portrayal of Commander Sisko.  It's gotten less impressive with
each successive episode, and I'm not sure exactly why.  It's really
perplexing because Brooks gave what was mostly a *really* impressive
performance in "Emissary."  One possible explanation is that Sisko was
a very-well defined character in "Emissary," with his past experiences
being laid out and his reason for (and place of) existing were clear.  The
thing is, by the end of the pilot, Sisko is no longer the same character.
He's *changed*.  The writers really haven't defined exactly who the 
post-Emissary Sisko is supposed to be.  As a result, Brooks, instead of
trying to define the character in his own way, really isn't doing
too much of *anything*, and he's coming off rather bland.  Now, maybe
Brooks is just burnt out from "Emissary" (he has said it was grueling), but
he really needs to focus and define his character more, with or without
the writers' help.  (However, when the writers give him something an 
emotional edge to it, such as Brooks telling his son that he's not going
to lose him [perhaps thinking about his wife] Brooks does an excellent
job of getting his feelings across.)  I have no doubt that eventually
Brooks is going to make Sisko into a great character (at least I hope so),
but I just hope it's sooner rather than later. 

- Now, on an up note, the thing that really made "Babel" worth watching
was the *wonderful* Odo and Quark interaction.  It's pretty amazing 
that the relationship is this good, this polished, so early in the show.
These two actors and characters really click.  Right now, Odo and Quark
(along with Doctor Bashir) are the best characters, by far.  There were
numerous great one-liners, too many to mention them all.  Two of my
favorites though, were Quark, upon discovering that his cart was actually
Odo, exclaims, "I thought the front wheels were sticking a bit," and 
Odo's "You claimed Rom fixed your replicators.  Rom's an idiot.  He couldn't
fix a straw if it was bent."  This is one area of the show that needs 
no improvement.

- You can't get them out of the airlock, O'Brien?  Excuse me?  Transporters,
anyone?  I could have accepted some explanation for it (maybe the material
in the airlock doors is too dense to allow transport), but no explanation
means the writers slipped up.

- The scene where O'Brien loses verbal communication was well done.
Having had a few instances where, for whatever reasons, people's voices
as well as my own become distorted, I can somewhat identify what the Chief
was going through.  Meaney and Visitor both did a nice job in that scene.

- None of the infirmary(sp?) scenes did anything for me, though.
(Excluding Quark's "*GOLD* *YOU* *OWE* *MEEEE*," which had me rolling, and the
aformentioned Sisko and Jake scene.)  I just didn't see much terror there.
 
- I actually enjoyed the ship-going-to-explode-in-dock danger theme more 
than the virus one.  It was interesting to see that Odo is not quite
the cool-headed officer when faced with unfamiliar danger that we are
accustomed to from Starfleet officers.  Quark was right, Odo *was*
panicking (which he quickly managed to cover up once Quark arrived).  That's
a deviation from the Star Trek characters we've seen , and a welcome
one.

- While the episode wasn't the greatest, the teaser was perfect.  The
humor on the show really works, and it really helped "Babel."  Watching
Chief O'Brien fix things with an attitude was a lot of fun.  Colm Meaney
must really be enjoying the role, and it shows.

"Babel" isn't the best episode,  but it's not bad to watch if you grab
popcorn and a soda to go along with it.

Grade: 7 (rounding up .5 for Odo and Quark)


Season 1 so far:

"Emissary"       8.5
"Past Prologue"  9.0
"A Man Alone"    9.5
"Babel"          7.0 
                -----
Average:         8.5 


Next Week:


Now *this* looks interesting. If "Captive Pursuit" can avoid the pitfalls
of "Babel," and have a strong character drama to complement the action, this
one could be really good.  We'll see.....

-- 
Jose Gonzalez                

                          
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current