Deep Space Nine: For the Fans (2 Viewers)

[Josh Dial]

So on the basis of the fervent advocacy from y'all, I've started watching this despite not thinking much of it when it originally aired.

I was impressed with the two-part pilot, which covered a lot of ground and some pretty big swings in a relatively short amount of time.

The couple episodes I've watched since then were... fine.

One thing that confused me: If Sisko is the commanding officer of an entire starbase, why is he only a commander? In the original series, the starbases were all run by commodores, one step up from a captain. In the Kelvin timeline, Starbase Yorktown was run by a vice admiral, three steps up from a captain. The only reason I could think of was so that Picard would have a superior rank in the series premiere -- creating an interesting tension between Sisko and the man he blamed for his wife's death.

The unfortunate answer is that ranks post-TOS make no sense. Star Trek is basically terrible with ranks.

I'm interested in your thoughts on the series, Adam. As I've noted above (and in the other Trek threads), I'm an apparent outlier in that I'm not the biggest fan of DS9--especially the first five seasons. I think it gets disproportionate praise for the Dominion War arc. It's as though that story line--which is great--makes people forget about the rest of the show's faults. Overall I think the highs are very high, but the lows are very low, and the balance of the series edges toward the low side.

In addition to my A/B plot comment above, a major issue for me is that the show is at its best when it's uninterested with its central conceit (life aboard a "frontier" space station). Heck, when it's at its very best it isn't even interested in being a Star Trek show. Some of the best episodes (indeed some of the best of the franchise) are the ones that put the characters off the station living alternate realities. "Far Beyond The Stars" is, without a doubt, one of the finest pieces of television to bear the Star Trek name. It's just too bad it has nothing to do with DS9. Same with "The Visitor". Even "Trials and Tribble-ations" drafts off TOS.

That all said, I am a big fan of how the show wasn't afraid to take a hard look at the dark side of the Federation and Starfleet. Decades before "fans" complained about Discovery's "un-Star Trek ideals" we had DS9 introducing Section 31, the Federation embroiled in a brutal and costly war, and Sisko...being Sisko.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I watched the fourth episode tonight, "Babel". I liked it better than the other two post-pilot episodes.

The stuff at the beginning with O'Brien being run ragged was great.

Chief of operations for the starbase continues my confusion about ranks; when he was just a recurring character as a transporter tech aboard the Enterprise-D, it made sense that he was just an enlisted man. But here he has one of the core leadership positions on the station, and yet he's technically lower ranked than an ensign freshly commissioned out of Starfleet Academy.

The first few episodes positioned him as being equivalent to the chief engineer on a starship, which would be at least a lieutenant and more likely a lieutenant commander. But this episode positions O'Brien more as the equivilent of the head of facilities for a large office building, or the chief of the boat on a submarine. In that context, being an enlisted man makes more sense.

And the mundane trials and tribulations of trying to keep a space station -- built by another civilization using analoguous but different technology, and completely trashed by the previous owners on their way out -- makes for great human drama that you just don't get on the flagship of the Federation.

The story of the viral outbreak and subsequent quarantine -- while not exactly escapism given our current moment in history -- is the kind of story that wouldn't have been nearly as effective on a starship-based show. And having the cause of the virus be the result of dormant Bajoran sabotage dating back to the Cardassian occupation nicely tied the episodic story into the emerging backstory of this little corner of space. Having so many non-Federation characters allows the show to get away with morally questionable pragmatic decisions that runs counter to Gene Roddenberry's vision for the 24th century.

 

[Sam Favate]

I’m 2/3 of the way through the 3rd season. Still loving it. It’s been 12-13 years since I last watched DS9 all the way through.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Last night I watched:

• "Captive Pursuit" - This was a perfectly adequate episodic story, but they should have saved it for later in the season when travelers through the wormhole from the Gamma Quadrant were more commonplace. It didn't make a lot of sense that the first being from the Gamma Quadrant that the Federation encountered would be passed off on O'Brien to keep an eye on. It should have been a big effing deal. It also felt like an A-plot that any of the starship-based series could have done. If the writers were stuck with the limitations of a series set on a space station that remains in the same place, they should be telling stories that could only be told on a space station.

Today I watched:

• "Q-Less" - I enjoy John de Lancie's antics as Q as much as the next person, but it does seem strange that he only appears to the Starfleet characters who have television shows devoted to them. This episode does get points for picking up where the TNG episode "Qpid" left off with Vash and Q. Q's behavior toward both Vash and Janeway feels icky and creepy to me in 2020 in a way it might not have to the same extent when it originally aired. I do think this episode does a better job than Q's "Voyager" appearances at hinting that Q's lascivious behavior is more an act than a genuine expression of his feelings. This episode features Q as I like him best: As humanity's teacher whose objectives are morally sound even as he makes things unnecessarily difficult for his own amusement.
  
  
• "Dax" - This episode starts to delve into the nature of Dax, and the relationship between symbiote and host. The first couple episodes made it seem like the symbiote was the brain, with the hosts as interchangable fleshy shells. This episode makes it clear that the situation is more complicated than that; the joining of symbiote and host creates a new entity that is not entirely like either entity was before the merger. While each new host of the symbiote retains all of the symbiote's memories from previous hosts, the new combined entity will not necessarily respond the same way as the previous combined entity would have. The whole thing with the secret about the assassinated war hero actually being a traitor was less successful. I could understand why Dax wouldn't have wanted to testify publicly about what she knew, but I didn't understand why she wouldn't clue Sisko in privately. Having watched Terry Farrell as Reggie for the first few seasons of "Becker", it's interesting what a completely different energy she brings to Dax. Given that she wasn't even thirty yet when she shot this episode, it's amazing the stillness that she brings to the character, and the ways she conveys Dax's advanced age.

 

[benbess]

Season one of DS9 has a lot of dud episodes imho. They were still figuring out the characters and the show. By the end of the first season they were starting to really figure out where they were going. Here are what a think of as the essential episodes from the first season, and below that is the DS9 guide with my family's recommended episodes for all seasons.

​

Emissary I

Emissary II

Past Prologue

Vortex

Battle Lines

Progress

Duet

In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Jason_V]

Call me crazy, but I think every episode-even the "not good" ones-have something to offer viewers of the series. Take "The Storyteller" from S1. It's never in any Top 10/50/100 episode list for DS9, but it's the first Bashir/O'Brien adventure. The relationship we see grow over the series starts in this episode. I'm not sure the end of "Hard Time" would have carried as much oomph if we hadn't seen it develop organically.

"Move Along Home" is cringe-worthy in a lot of ways, but seeing Quark actually having compassion and putting his profit on the line for people is important for his development. Until that point in the series. he was willing to throw anyone under the bus for profit.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Based on Ben's suggested list above and suggestions from a number of other sources, my plan is to watch the following episodes from the first two seasons:

Season 1:

• 1x01/1x02 - "Emissary" (already watched)
• 1x03 - "Past Prologue" (already watched)
• 1x04 - "A Man Alone" (already watched)
• 1x05 - "Babel" (already watched)
• 1x06 - "Captive Pursuit" (already watched)
• 1x07 - "Q-Less" (already watched)
• 1x08 - "Dax" (already watched)
• 1x10 - "Move Along Home" (already watched)
• 1x11 - "The Nagus" (already watched)
• 1x12 - "Vortex" (already watched)
• 1x13 - "Battle Lines"
• 1x14 - "The Storyteller"
• 1x15 - "Progress"
• 1x17 - "The Forsaken"
• 1x18 - "Dramatis Personae"
• 1x19 - "Duet"
• 1x20 - "In the Hands of the Prophets"

Season 2:

• 2x01 - "The Homecoming"
• 2x02 - "The Circle"
• 2x03 - "The Siege"
• 2x04 - "Invasive Procedures"
• 2x05 - "Cardassians"
• 2x06 - "Melora"
• 2x07 - "Rules of Acquisition"
• 2x08 - "Necessary Evil"
• 2x10 - "Sanctuary"
• 2x11 - "Rivals"
• 2x12 - "The Alternate"
• 2x13 - "Armageddon Game"
• 2x14 - "Whispers"
• 2x15 - "Paradise"
• 2x16 - "Shadowplay"
• 2x18 - "Profit and Loss"
• 2x19 - "Blood Oath"
• 2x20/2x21 - "The Maquis"
• 2x22 - "The Wire"
• 2x23 - "Crossover"
• 2x24 - "The Collaborator"
• 2x25 - "Tribunal"
• 2x26 - "The Jem'Hadar"

From what I understand, seasons 3-7 are so heavily serialized that it's not really feasible to skip many episodes.

Everybody, please let me know if I missed any that you think I should add to my list.

EDIT: Updated with suggestions from @Josh Dial and @Sam Favate.

"Move Along Home" is cringe-worthy in a lot of ways, but seeing Quark actually having compassion and putting his profit on the line for people is important for his development. Until that point in the series. he was willing to throw anyone under the bus for profit.

I watched this one last night, enticed by the episodic description mentioning the arrival of the first formal delegation from the Gamma Quadrant.

Holy shit. First of all, even by Star Trek standards, the aliens were low effort. Basically just humans with purple birthmarks on their foreheads. Second of all, there is no explanation for how Sisko, Kira, Dax, and Bashir got transported into game, or where they actually were while the game was going on. Third, there is no repercussions for the aliens essentially abducting the station's senior leadership and fucking with them. It's like the writers were on drugs when they were putting this one together.

 

[Jason_V]

Holy shit. First of all, even by Star Trek standards, the aliens were low effort. Basically just humans with purple birthmarks on their foreheads. Second of all, there is no explanation for how Sisko, Kira, Dax, and Bashir got transported into game, or where they actually were while the game was going on. Third, there is no repercussions for the aliens essentially abducting the station's senior leadership and fucking with them. It's like the writers were on drugs when they were putting this one together.

Well, yeah. It's not good. Actually, embarrassing. And might be the second worst DS9 episode right ahead of "Profit and Lace."

BUT...I won't pass up the chance to watch the regulars skipping and dancing.

 

[Josh Dial]

Everybody, please let me know if I missed any that you think I should add to my list.

I'm not a fan of skipping anything. I see these so-called "ultimate watch lists" for shows like The Clone Wars and just shake my head. The internet is filled with people who don't know how to express their opinions in anything other than absolute statements ("this episode sucks--skip it). Jason's measured commentary about "Move Along Home" (and other bad episodes) is a welcome breath of fresh air.

I guess what I'm saying is I suggest you watch everything.

That said, you asked for suggested additions so here are mine:

1x17 - The Forsaken - This episode is one of Majel Barret's best. In many ways DS9 "fixes" the Lawaxana character.
1x18 - Dramatis Personae - There are some good performances in this one.
2x13 - Armageddon Game - The start of the O'Brien and Bashir relationship. Rosalind Chao is great.

 

[Sam Favate]

2x06 Melora is an interesting episode, dealing with disability in the 24th century. The character was originally intended to be part of the regular cast but the effects were deemed to expensive to do on a weekly basis. It’s also a nice insight into Bashir.

2x11 Rivals is also a good installment of the O’Brien/Bashir friendship. And it has a nice guest spot by Chris Sarandon.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Josh and Sam: Thank you, I've added your suggestions to my list.

Today I watched:

• 1x11 - "The Nagus": Wallace Shawn was a lot of fun as Grand Nagus Zek, but it was a Ferengi-centric episode, and the Ferengi antics are one of my least favorite parts of the show, so I didn't love this one.
  
  1x12 - "Vortex": On the other hand, this was the first episode of the season that I did genuinely love. The teleplay for this episode was Oscar-nominated screenwriter Sam Rolfe's last writing credit before his death; he would succumb to a heart attack a few months after the episode aired. The story actually reminded me a lot of one of Rolfe's Westerns, The Naked Spur, in that it centers around a lawman setting out to bring an untrustworthy criminal to justice while trying to stay ahead of a less scrupulous pursuer who would be happy to see the criminal dead. Basically everybody involved with the goings-on in this episode aside from the senior station leadership were criminals, and most of them were murderers. Just one moral quandary after another, with nothing that felt clear cut.
  Odo starts the episode with a very black-and-white perception of right and wrong, and ends the episode very much operating in the gray. Croden spends the entire episode lying to Odo, but ultimately proves to be honest about the things that are most important. Odo's choices are likewise a departure from his stern, by-the-book nature up until this point. It's also the first hint we've gotten about Odo's origins; while changelings were a myth on Croden's planet, the fact that they're part of the folklore might be a hint that he actually originated in the Gamma Quadrant.
  
  

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Well, yeah. It's not good. Actually, embarrassing. And might be the second worst DS9 episode right ahead of "Profit and Lace."

BUT...I won't pass up the chance to watch the regulars skipping and dancing.

Allamarain, count to four.

Poor Terry Farrell was going to be the one making the TNG guest appearance in Birthright, but she was deemed more important to Move Along Home, so she lost the guest spot and they threw Bashir in instead.

I'm not a fan of skipping anything. I see these so-called "ultimate watch lists" for shows like The Clone Wars and just shake my head. The internet is filled with people who don't know how to express their opinions in anything other than absolute statements ("this episode sucks--skip it). Jason's measured commentary about "Move Along Home" (and other bad episodes) is a welcome breath of fresh air.

I guess what I'm saying is I suggest you watch everything.

That said, you asked for suggested additions so here are mine:

1x17 - The Forsaken - This episode is one of Majel Barret's best. In many ways DS9 "fixes" the Lawaxana character.
1x18 - Dramatis Personae - There are some good performances in this one.
2x13 - Armageddon Game - The start of the O'Brien and Bashir relationship. Rosalind Chao is great.

If one has to boil down a series to the few "episodes worthy of watching", it seems like they don't really want to watch the series in the first place.

These dumbass lists are from these damn kids today who think every series has to be a serialized soap opera and every episode has to be a heavily padded part of an overall story instead of a full episode by itself. I know I'd rather have 20+ stories per season instead of just one long, boring story. And DS9 (and later Enterprise) straddled that line effectively.

So, my advice? Don't skip anything, and never listen to a "watch list". The good stuff happens in between the episodes some internet rando deems "Essential". Hell, in today's TV climate with the 10 hour, one story format, DS9 would never have happened because the one-off and guest characters would never have been given a chance to shine and return and become a huge ensemble cast.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Today I watched:

• 1x13 - "Battle Lines": This is an interesting exploration of both Bajoran religion and Federation values. The moon on which Sisko, Kira, Bashir, and the Kai find themselves marooned proves to be the perfect literal embodiment of hell: eternal suffering through eternal conflict. If the two sides could just set aside their differences and accept one another, their suffering would end. But because neither side is willing to end the suffering of the other, the miserable status quo persists. I particularly liked the dynamic between Sisko and the Kai; there is something mysterious and unknowable about both of them in their interactions with one another. The Kai really brings out the Emissary in Sisko, and Avery Brooks really captures the hints that made Sisko actually is a sort of prophet. Certainly he is more comfortable with the Kai's embrace of prophecy and destiny than most in the atheistic socialistic Federation would be. It's also a big episode for Kira; the influence of working alongside Federation officers day in and day out is changing what she values and what she aspires to be. That in turn puts her into conflict with the person she used to be. Kira being on this mission is the equivalent of a devout Catholic going on a pilgrimage with the Pope, and Nana Visitor really sells the weight of that and the awe of that. And the Kai's advice to Kira reminded me a lot of a famous James Baldwin quote: "Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced." Violent revolution is traumatic not only to the defeated but to the victors as well. At the Nuremberg trials, accused of a litany of crimes in relation to the horrors he perpetrated as one of the leaders of the Nazi regime, Hermann Göring famously noted that the victor will always be the judge, and the vanquished the accused. On his lips, that was a rather hollow self-justification. But the fact that history is written by the victors is partly a reaction to the trauma of war; inevitably, those who prevail will have done things that they were not proud of to achieve victory. They usually choose to frame events in a way that justifies or even glorifies the things that left them uneasy. Only the passage of time, and distance from that trauma -- sometimes generational distance -- allows for reassessment in a more neutral way. Kira grappling with the choices she made as a warrior is a crucial first step toward healing in a meaningful way from the war.
  
  
• 1x14 - "The Storyteller": I didn't love the A plot of this one, which basically consisted of O'Brien spending the episode aggrivated and out of sorts. I also didn't understand why Bashir, so arrogant and ambitious, would have been so desperate for a lowly enlisted man's approval. On the other hand, I liked the B plot with the territorial dispute between two groups of Bajorans a lot. Varis Sul, the teenage leader of the Paqu people, was a really interesting episodic protagonist. She reminded me a lot of Queen Amidala from the Star Wars prequels, in that she carried heavy burdens at a young age and had been shaped by them in interesting ways. Her adventures with Jake and Nog allow her to get a taste of the childhood that was lost when she became the leader of her people. But even when she's having fun with them, she's not really like them; the excursions provide a means for this young politician to gain a better understanding of the person overseeing the arbitration of her dispute. At the same time she's learning about Commander Sisko through what Jake has to say about him, we as the audience are gaining a greater understanding of the relationship between father and son. One of the best validations of Varis Sul's worthiness to lead is that she solicits advice from both Nog and Commander Sisko, evaluates it, and utilizes it. It's the same quality that I loved about Captain Pike on the second season of "Discovery"; captains like Kirk and Picard are great men, of great aptitude and great boldness. But effective leadership is more commonly about effective management, recognizing the resources available to you and understanding how to best make them work for you. Varis Sul's handling of the situation was a good model of those qualities.
  
  
• 1x15 - "Progress": The heart of this episode is a two-hander between Nana Visitor and guest star Brian Keith. It was another strong Kira episode, almost the mirror of her journey in "Battle Lines"; if that episode was about dealing with the lingering trauma of war, this episode is about dealing with the murky dilemmas of peace. Before, she had the clarity of a cause to fight for. Governance is a lot more complex. It's a wonderfully human story, for a tale about two aliens, with a superbly bittersweet ending. It's also a really strong Sisko episode, despite the fact that he's barely in it. Kirk, Picard, and Janeway each had a clear code of conduct with lines they would not cross. Even with the extraordinary pressures of Voyager's plight, the times when she bent that code were few and far between. That's the kind of leadership one wants to see on a starship; starship captains are ambassadors for their people, they are representatives for their way of life. But Deep Space 9 is a powder keg at the center of some very tenuous political agreements. An uncompromising leader who did what was morally right, and damn the consequences, would be disastrous as the commanding officer of Deep Space 9. In this episode, Sisko has a desired end result in mind and manipulates events to achieve his goal. It's not especially decent, but the end result is that his first officer's career remains on track and an essential step in Bajor's recovery is able to proceed smoothly.

I also watched the "Birthright" two-parter from TNG, before I got too far ahead of that story in the timeline. It was a bittersweet thing, watching that story in HD, to see how good the DS9 sets and models could look if ViacomCBS would just invest the money. Going back to watching a glorified videotape will definitely be a disappointment. On the other hand, I really loved the story, which is a really interesting examination of nature versus nurture. We see that Klingons can adapt to a different way of life, if they didn't know any better. But we also see that a certain degree of their savage nature is inherent in who they are; socialization can hide that side of them from them, but it can't eliminate it. What makes it compelling too is that the story was so specific to Worf; he was only able to engage with the society that had arisen inside the prison compound because he himself was the product of two worlds. A Klingon who had lived his entire life inside the Empire would have stabbed first and asked questions later. Worf took the time to understand the people he found himself amongst before beginning to nudge them toward a fuller understanding of themselves. At the same time, his devotion to the Klingon way is not without a cost. In getting the Klingon youth to embrace their heritage, he destroys a way of life that has brought them much peace and happiness. There is nothing to say that they will ultimately be happier out in the galaxy than they were before his arrival. Likewise, Worf deprives himself of a relationship that could have been very meaningful to him, because coexisting with the Romulans is just a bridge too far for him. Jennifer Gatti is wonderful as Ba'el, the living breathing embodiment of this unique society. Worf's interference taught her more about herself, but it also deprived her of the one place where she could be accepted. The tragedy of her character is that the prejudice of the rest of the Romulans and Klingons ultimately proves to be her prison.

 

[Sam Favate]

Great stuff, as always, Adam. As I recently rewatched these, they are fresh in my mind and I think you nailed each of the episodes you describe.

 

[Jason_V]

1x15 - "Progress": The heart of this episode is a two-hander between Nana Visitor and guest star Brian Keith. It was another strong Kira episode, almost the mirror of her journey in "Battle Lines"; if that episode was about dealing with the lingering trauma of war, this episode is about dealing with the murky dilemmas of peace. Before, she had the clarity of a cause to fight for. Governance is a lot more complex. It's a wonderfully human story, for a tale about two aliens, with a superbly bittersweet ending. It's also a really strong Sisko episode, despite the fact that he's barely in it. Kirk, Picard, and Janeway each had a clear code of conduct with lines they would not cross. Even with the extraordinary pressures of Voyager's plight, the times when she bent that code were few and far between. That's the kind of leadership one wants to see on a starship; starship captains are ambassadors for their people, they are representatives for their way of life. But Deep Space 9 is a powder keg at the center of some very tenuous political agreements. An uncompromising leader who did what was morally right, and damn the consequences, would be disastrous as the commanding officer of Deep Space 9. In this episode, Sisko has a desired end result in mind and manipulates events to achieve his goal. It's not especially decent, but the end result is that his first officer's career remains on track and an essential step in Bajor's recovery is able to proceed smoothly.

I unabashedly love this episode. It's a great acting episode for Nana Visitor and her interactions with Brian Keith are amazing. It hits the crux of the Bajoran life for the first time in the series outside of "Emissary." You wrestle and toil to make a home for yourself after decades of oppression and then the new government basically does the same thing. It's a "needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one" moment.

And the climax? It couldn't be anything else. Kira tried logic, rationalization, the promise of help and anger to achieve not only her goal but to help Mullibok in a transition. He was stubborn and set in his ways...he didn't want to go. This episode, more than any other in S1 for me, shows a huge progression in Kira's attitude and in her as a character. She's learned, so far in the series, not to jump to anger and yelling to accomplish a goal.

Man, really love this episode.

 

[Josh Dial]

"Progress" is a prime example of DS9's habit of coupling a terrific A-story with a terrible B-story. Jake and Nog up-cycling stem bolts (self-sealing stem bolts!) is dumb. Every second of that plot takes away from Kira (the best character on the show, and one of the best in the franchise).

If this episode was made today the Jake/Nog story would be gone and Nana Visitor would put it in her Emmy reel.

 

[benbess]

....I also watched the "Birthright" two-parter from TNG, before I got too far ahead of that story in the timeline. It was a bittersweet thing, watching that story in HD, to see how good the DS9 sets and models could look if ViacomCBS would just invest the money. Going back to watching a glorified videotape will definitely be a disappointment....

I've been enjoying your episode reviews!

And I agree so much about the remastering. I feel CBS has mismanaged Star Trek as a whole in a few ways, and the biggest is how they stopped the remastering process when they had the people, the expertise, and the techniques all in place to redo DS9 and Voyager.

 

[Sam Favate]

And I agree so much about the remastering. I feel CBS has mismanaged Star Trek as a whole in a few ways, and the biggest is how they stopped the remastering process when they had the people, the expertise, and the techniques all in place to redo DS9 and Voyager.

It really wouldn't take much at this point. They've said multiple times that Star Trek is a priority. For the cost of about 2 episodes of Discovery, they could remaster 176 episodes of Deep Space Nine in HD, ensuring that future generations will want to see them. They have a place to show them in CBS All Access. (Make the remastered episodes exclusive to CBSAA and then sell the blu-rays to the diehards who want them, like us).

All they are lacking is the will.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It really wouldn't take much at this point. They've said multiple times that Star Trek is a priority. For the cost of about 2 episodes of Discovery, they could remaster 176 episodes of Deep Space Nine in HD, ensuring that future generations will want to see them. They have a place to show them in CBS All Access. (Make the remastered episodes exclusive to CBSAA and then sell the blu-rays to the diehards who want them, like us).

All they are lacking is the will.

One of the explanations we hear is that the latter seasons, with mostly digital effects, wouldn't be good candidates for the TNG process. But the fact of the matter is that CG visual effects that were expensive in the mid-nineties are not nearly as expensive in 2020. A lot of the models got used over and over again during the original run, so you put in the money once to recreate them with modern CG and you can use them over and over again for the HD versions as well. For all the stuff that was featured in the earlier seasons, studio miniatures exist that could be 3D scanned to use as the basis for new CG models.

Yes, it may not be worth it in terms of Blu-ray sales or even digital sales. But in terms of asset protection and continued viability in syndication and as part of streaming licenses, it seems like it would be a no brainer.

 

[Sam Favate]

Yes, it may not be worth it in terms of Blu-ray sales or even digital sales. But in terms of asset protection and continued viability in syndication and as part of streaming licenses, it seems like it would be a no brainer.

And that's why I believe it will eventually happen. That, and Mike Okuda said Paramount wants it to happen.