From: tvf@cci632.cci.com (Tom Frauenhofer)
Subject: Deep Review 9: "The Emissary" (SPOILERS)
Organization: Northern Telecom, Network Applications Systems, Rochester, NY
Distribution: world,local
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 21:45:46 GMT

Well, I've been lurking on this board for years, thought I'd join the
"Reviewer Wars" with the new series (that, and because Deep Space 9 is
on before I put my kids to bed whereas TNG is bath time).  Apologies
for any misspellings of names (and I've completely spaced the name of
the doctor.  Oh well, next time).  I take full responsibility for all
errors and omissions.

Spoilers follow, so beware...

Well, a good start, better than "Encounter at Farpoint."


GENERAL COMMENTS

I thought it was very interesting, sort of a "Star Trek-Meets-2001" type of
thing.  It worked pretty well for me, although a lot of my co-workers
weren't exactly thrilled with it.  Most of their complaints centered around
the lack of action, but I think there was more than enough.  (And how many
of you were waiting for a scene where the aliens said to Sisko: "Linear
lifeform?  We must think about this.  Why don't you wait in this white room,
age real fast, and talk to this monolith while we ponder this.")

The opening scene was very well done, with the Borg attack at Wolf 359.  I
loved the effects, my favorite being the escape pod scene.  I was curious
just what an escape pod would be like...

Speaking of the effects, it was obvious that they spent good money, time,
and effort on them, most of them worked.  What didn't was the view of space
from Sisko's quarters on the Saratoga and some of the early scenes where
Sisko and Dax "landed" inside the wormhole (some sloppy matte-style computer
scenery - the editing-in of people was obvious).  Other than that, pretty
good.

The morphing effect for Odo was good, just like in Terminator 2.  I liked the
scene where the guy throws the knife at Odo's head and it "splashed" through.

The scenes where Sisko was talking with the aliens was pretty confusing at
first, but got better once it became clear what was going on.  I think it
was pretty effective at presenting both (a) the aliens' attempts to
understand our concept of time and (b) Sisko's inner turmoil over having
never totally put his wife's death behind him.  It certainly was more
effective to me than the camera work that Woody Allen did in "Husbands and
Wives" in that it worked in making me feel the aliens confusion with respect
to us linear beings, from their point of view.  In "Husbands and Wives,"
however, I felt more like I was a voyeur than a participant, but it started
to seem more like cinematic playtime than unobtrusive device.  Here it went
from obtrusive device to aha.

Related to the above, I couldn't help but do some high school english
analysis of why when Sisko and Dax left the shuttle Sisko saw a desolate,
stormy planet whereas Dax saw a peaceful, quiet world.  Something to do with
the aliens reflecting back at them the "turmoil of their souls" or some such
nonsense.

Overall, a good pilot episode ("Here's our nosy neighbor.  I'm the paperboy
who's going to have a crush on your daughter." stuff).

THE ACTING

Avery Brooks is great.  I loved him in "Spenser: For Hire" and
was very happy to hear that he was to start in DS9.  He didn't disappoint
me.  The initial confrontation with Picard after assuming command of the
station was well done on his part, but I'm glad that the Sisko character was
able to overcome this.  The scene where he confronts the death of his wife
(with the help of the aliens) was excellent (my wife was in tears, I almost
was).  He took some good material and really brought it to life for me.

Cirroc Lofton as Jake was okay, not enough to go on here.  Hey, at least
it's not Alexander.  (And who else wanted to call him "The Sisko Kid?" :-) )

Patrick Stewart did a good job as Picard.  I'm a Stewart fan, I admit it,
and I think he did a good job modulating his character, particularly in the
confrontation scene.  The O'Brien goodbye scene was also well done.

Rene Auberjonios (spelling?) was another actor I was looking forward to.
The jury's still out here, just because he was hardly given anything to do,
minimal lines to say.  What he did do was okay (although I was waiting for
him to sing "Le Poisson" but that's another story...).  He did get the good
bits (the knife bit, and the bag scene aboard the Cardassian ship.)

Nana Visitor as Major Kira (spelling?) was a find - better than I expected.
I do think she overacted a little bit in the confrontation with the
Cardassians, but some over-the-top acting might be appropriate for an
ex-terrorist who has "come in from the cold" (so to speak).  I worry that
she could evolve into a one-note character (as Troi and Worf seem to have),
but the next episode looks like it will center around her.  I'm optimistic.
(BTW, she did a good job in the scene where she put the "Doctor" in his
place - good level of distaste in her voice.)

Terry Farrell as Dax came across somewhat wooden to me.  Anyway, I don't
think she had a lot to do here, so another "wait 'n' see"

The doctor character was an adequate updating of the "Mr. Adventure"
character from "Star Trek III:The Search For Spock." but kind of annoying,
actually.  And, yet again, not a lot to go on.  We'll see, but with a lot
less hope.

Colm Meany as O'Brien doing a LaForge/Scotty schtick was okay.  He really
didn't have any memorable lines.  He's got the hardest job here - taking a
somewhat established character and re-defining him in a new surrounding.

Armin Shimerman as Quark was better than most Ferengi, but I'm still leery.
The Star Trek people still haven't figured out that being greedy and
intelligent CAN go together in a believable character (this "greedy=stupid"
way the Ferengi have been played in the past is pretty tiresome now).

The Bajoran Spiritual leader, well, she came across as someone's mom to me.
I half expected her to offer Sisko a bowl of chicken soup and say "My, what
a nice young man" when she pinched his ear.

Others The cardassians were okay, the actor playing the fleet commander was
somewhat obnoxious and hammy, Nog's bit was refreshingly short (one kid at a
time, please!).

THE SETS

The spacestation is pretty interesting.  A lot of articles played up how
neat the Promenade was supposed to be, but I wasn't terribly impressed.
It's big, but somewhat cluttered (and, not cluttered in the sense that the
Cardassians left a lot of trash around).  (Did anyone else think of the
Saturday Night Live skit with William Shatner where the Enterprise was
turned into a Mariott?)

THE WRITING

Okay, somewhat preachy as only Star Trek can get.  Add to that the
requirements for a pilot (it's sort of like the Little League game where
everybody has to get a chance to play and bat) it had to cram a lot into the
90 minutes of actual (linear?) time that they had to fill.

THE MUSIC

I once worked on a production of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing"
where the review classified our production as "Serviceable but bland."  That
describes the music here, too.  I know that music has been a hot topic for
the TNG reviewers, I just don't think that the composer did a bad job, just
not a great job.  And, yes, I liked the music in "Star Trek:  The Motion
Picture" (although I do think the music was botched in STV:TFF).

THE GOOD

- The scene where they close Quark's bar, give the Cardassians the bag to
  put their winnings, and having the bag turn out to be Odo.  Unexpected,
  nice.

- Sisko used Baseball to explain how linear time works!  I wondered what the
  baseball player was doing in some of the intercuts when he's talking to
  the aliens.  I had heard he was a baseball fan, it's just nice to see it
  used here, constructively.

- Having the big, bad Cardassian ship "towed" out of the wormhole by the
  lowly Federation shuttlecraft.  Some Cardassian Crow had to be eaten
  there.

- No Sela! (Oops!  How'd that get in here? :-) )

THE BAD

- The "move the spacestation" scene.  Pretty hokey.

- How come the Cardassians, who have 8 of those orb things, didn't try to
  find where they came from?  I mean, they were there ~60 years, they wanted
  the orbs pretty bad, don't you think that one of them would think about
  checking it out?  I hope the Cardassians don't go the way of the Romulans.

- The aliens "closing" the wormhole at that point?  I think their dramatic
  license should be suspended, possibly revoked.

- How come the Borg didn't go after the escape pods?

- O'Brien kicks the transporter and it works?  My, we must have been in
  Super-Originality mode that day.  Give me a break!  Would have worked
  better if O'Brien kicked it, had the Major show him how it should work
  and then chew out this Federation no-mind.  Would have worked better for
  me.

PONDERABLES (Was to be THE UGLY, sorry)

- What are the Orbs?  Looked like one was used to drop-off Dax at the
  spacestation.  Are they the beings?  Are they portals?  Are they the
  monolith of the 90's?  Inquiring minds...

- Will we have more run-ins with the maintainers of the wormhole?  What
  exactly are they, anyway?

- Why a wormhole in the first place?  What do they expect to gain from it?
  (Gawd, I sound like a Ferengi reviewer - Where's the profit?  SNEER!)

- So, did Sisko let Nog out of the brig?

THE BIG STAR TREK QUESTIONS:

1) WAS IT GRITTIER?  Well, yes.  What a dirty, dingly little spacestation
they've given us.  And Bajor looks like skortched planet.

2) WAS THERE MORE CONFLICT?  Not a lot more than TNG or TOS, really, but a
lot more potential for conflict.

3) DOES IT HAVE POTENTIAL?  Yes.  A lot more that I thought it would, to be
honest.  I'm not sure how many seasons they can pull out of the concept, but
we'll see.

4) NEXT TIME SISKO GOES IN THE WORMHOLE, WILL ONE OF HIS QUESTIONERS BE
PLAYED BY DENISE CROSBY PLAYING HER OWN GRANDCHILD?  Oops, there I go again!

THE GRADES:

I will grade the episodes on a scale of 0 (extreme excrement) to 10
(Recommended for all living beings as part of their cultural heritage).  I
will compute an average based on all the categories, but I will weight the
Special Effects and the Music categories by 1/2, due to what I feel is their
lesser importance to story/writing/acting.

Acting: 	 8 (Due to Brooks and Stewart.  The rest need more fleshing-out)
Story: 		 7.5 (Down because of the pilot requirements)
Writing: 	 7 (Down again due to pilot requirements)
Special Effects: 9 (-1 for some of the matte shots)
Music:		 5 (Average, not great)

Overall Average: 7.375, rounded up to 7.4.  Lower that I thought I would
give it, but in retrospect fitting.  I do think it was much better than
"Encounter at Farpoint" was.

Season Average to Date: 7.4

Next Week:

Bajoran terrorists threaten life, liberty, and the whole premise for the
series.  Who side is Major Kira on?  Tune in and find out...

(Actually, it looks pretty good to me)
--
Thomas V. Frauenhofer, WA2YYW
tvf@cci.com, ...!uunet!uupsi!cci632!tvf, tvf@cs.rit.edu
Mandlebratwurst: The Meal that Eats Itself!
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current