From: cblaise@moose.uvm.edu (Chris Blaise)
Subject: Re: DS9: "The Emissary" (SPOILERS)
Originator: cblaise@moose.uvm.edu
Organization: University of Vermont -- Division of EMBA Computer Facility
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 14:20:29 GMT

From article <1i8t56INN8bt@spud.Hyperion.COM>, by koreth@spud.Hyperion.COM (Steven Grimm):
> I just watched the episode; spoilers follow.

> Well, that was... rough.  The script needed a few more drafts, I
> think.  Some of the people I was watching with found the storyline
> confusing, for one, but to me the most annoying thing was the awful,
> don't-do-it-or-you'll-flunk-beginning-screenwriting-class, expositions
> of the characters' pasts -- "Hello, my name is Odo.  I was found near
> the wormhole.  I don't know where I'm from, or whether there are others
> like me, but I'd sure like to find out, so I'm coming with you."  The

	I cringed when that and Kira's "speeches" came up, but hey,
this *is* the first episode.  Some of us may have a clue as to what these
characters are going to be like before these lines, but is the rest
of the country?

> extended "Linear time?  What's that?" sequence in the second half
> should have been trimmed to at most five minutes; they took an
> initially very interesting rendition of some _alien_ aliens and milked
> it for five times what it was worth.

	Agreed.  Even though I watched it 4 times, I still think Sisko's
sequence with the aliens was too long.  (anyone else think that his
explanation at the baseball field was very renminisicient of Kirk?  ;)

> It wasn't a complete loss; the acting was fair to good (I rate the
> actress who plays Dax highest in that regard) and the special effects
> were better than TNG's usually are.  The episode was certainly more
> interesting than "Encounter at Farpoint".  There is some potential here.

	I personally think Nana Visitor (Kira) was the best actor/actress of the
show.  Everyone else I thought was better than TNG average.

> I hope they quickly lay to rest some of the gimmicks in this episode:
> the wormhole effect, the station's state of disrepair, Odo
> shapeshifting to sneak behind enemy lines, 

	No way!  I thought their plan to get into the Cardasian's ship
was brilliant.  Now if they just use Odo as a bag for the rest of the
show, I'll agree with you...

>O'Brien's sudden flashes of
> technobabble inspiration ("I know!  We can redirect the flow of whatzit
> current to the whoknows field generators and the problem will go
> away!") 

	For the most part, yes, I agree, but in the sense that they apparently
don't an awful lot about Cardasian technology, I think it works.

> and Sisko's problems with Picard, to name a few.

	Well Picard/Locutus *did* help to destroy the Saratoga.  While we
can say we've seen another 3-4 seasons of Picard and how he's handled
the ramifications of being a Borg, can Ben say that?

> After six or seven episodes, I think we'll start to see what kind of
> show DS9 will be; that should be enough time for the writers to lay
> the aforementioned gimmicks to rest and flesh out the characters a
> bit more.  This wasn't the best start, but it was good enough to
> interest me in the show.

	I thought it was much more interesting than 1/2 of the season
of TNG has been so far this year...but then again, I guess I'll have to
see another couple of episodes to back that up.

 TTYL
 Chris
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