Deep Space Nine: For the Fans (1 Viewer)

[Dave Mack]

On the DS9 transfers, the "fuzziness" is partially due to the compression technology of the day. Back when DS9 was transferred to DVD (2001) it was a daunting task to put close to 4 hours of video on a disc and maintain good black levels without "mosquito noise". This is especially true of a show like DS9 which contains a preponderance of dark scenes. The compression technology has improved by a factor of 10 since then and it's no problem now.

Actually the eps. are 45 min each (no commercials...) so it's only 3 hours per disc.
The shooting style was soft alot of the time and they transferred all the film elements to 480i SD video for editing and FX work.

 

[Sam Favate]

We watched Battle Lines last night, and while I enjoyed the episode and the events it sets in motion (need for a new Kai, etc.), it was clear that the actors were still finding their characters. Still, even at this early stage of the game, the show was going somewhere. Not to dis season 1 of TNG (because I think it had a certain charm to it), but this show was pretty solid from the beginning.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I watched Necessary Evil. That is a damn good episode. Excellent script, deft direction (example of a small, almost invisible touch: Bajoran children playing on the station in the present, directly followed by a flashback scene with Bajoran children living in fear), and some of the first important character connections. There was even room for some genuine humor, and any script that calls for Ferengi howling is okay by me. I love their annoying laughs, too, though that was more to be found in the previous episode.
Peter Allan Fields wrote the script. He's got an absolutely stellar Trek resume. The Inner Light. Duet. In the Pale Moonlight. Wow.

 

[Sam Favate]

Peter Allan Fields wrote the script. He's got an absolutely stellar Trek resume. The Inner Light. Duet. In the Pale Moonlight. Wow.

Yeah, he's been one of my favorite writers on the series for a long time. (He even wrote some very good TNG episodes.) A shame he never became part of the regular DS9 writing staff when the show was in its groove. He would have done well as part of the Behr-Wolfe-Moore-Echevarria-Thompson-Weddle-et.al. group.
Watched The Stoyteller last night. Fun way to set up the O'Brien-Bashir friendship. Watching O'Brien trying to get out of a mission with Bashir, you'd never know how tight they end up becoming.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I was a little surprised that the mirror episodes started as early as season 2. I didn't remember that at all.

 

[Sam Favate]

We finished season 1 last night. The finale and the episode before it ("Duet") are some of the best episodes of the series, which is saying a lot.

As for the mirror episodes, I liked them generally, although the one with Mirror Bariel was kinda weak, and by the end, those episodes were being played too much for comedy.

 

[Sam Favate]

I'm guessing that most of the participants in this thread are not necessarily watching season one right now, but does anyone recall if they had any glitches towards the beginning of the episode "Duet?" Right after Kira first confronts the Cardassian, and especially during the following scene in Sisko's office, I experienced what I would describe as interlacing errors, even though I'm using a progressive player and television. The movement was a little jerky, with some noticeable lines on the screen. It only happened for a brief time, and the rest of the episode was fine.

Just watched this episode, and saw nothing like you described. No problems with my copy.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Just watched Distant Voices last night. Please let that be the last Joe Menosky epsiode. The man is just plain bad. If everyone's acting out of character, imagination or thought assumes bizarre physical form, and everything is reset at the end of the episode, you're probably watching Menosky. I was a little surprised to find that he didn't write the horrible "Waking Moments" episode of Voyager.
Hmm. I see that he wrote the Molly O'Brien reset fest that is yet to come, but that's his last DS9 script. Then, he moved on to stink up Voyager.
Unfortunately, the follow-up to this was Through the Looking Glass. It was actually a pretty good episode, but not a real palate cleanser. I'm not so big on the mirror eps.
To say something positive, you can have T'Pol or Seven. I just love Kira in that little orange jumper. Dax looked really good on the other side, though. It's a little disturbing that "our" Sisko apparently nailed both Dax and Kira over there.

 

[Chris]

Nana Visitor (Kira) was incredibly hot through most of the series, as was Terry Farrel (Dax).
And I find both (and Ezri) to be far more attractive then Seven Just me maybe.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

Just watched Distant Voices last night.

Not one of my favorites.

 

[Sam Favate]

We're still watching season 2 - we saw Rules of Acquisition last night. Funny, when we watched TNG, my wife hated the Ferengi, but on DS9, she loves Quark and has come to look forward to the Ferengi episodes. At the end of "Rules," she was disappointed that Pel went off on her own at the end. She said she wanted Quark and Pel to live happily ever after!

I found it very cool that the first mention of "the Dominion" on the show is an innocent reference in a Ferengi episode. It stresses how the Federation had no idea what was to come.

Enjoying the show tremendously in what is, I guess, my third time seeing them all. How I wish there would be a movie or a TV-movie or a direct-to-DVD installment for this, the best of the Trek series. Maybe once Paramount sees how well it works for Babylon 5...

 

[Greg_S_H]

If this is her first time through, she'll only come to love the Ferengi even more. Wait until Nog kicks into high gear. I've said it before, but I still crack up at just the thought of Wallace Shawn as Zek. I watched Prophet Motive a few days ago, and he didn't fail to amuse me.

 

[JonZ]

Some of the Ferengi eps were really funny and Armin was a highlight of rewatching these for me as well.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I think it shows just how good Ira Behr & company were, and how details really do matter. I remember a bit when TNG was starting, Roddenberry was being interviewed about the new villains, and his description was "we want motivated heavies. The Ferengi do what they do because they're extremely greedy; they're like the Michael Milkens of space!". I honestly don't think he gave them much thought beyond that, while Behr and his crew basically sat down and said, okay, what's Ferengi society like? What rules do they live by?"

 

[Dave Mack]

I am exactly 1/2way through now. Just finished Disc 3 of S4 and having a great time. Except for the extremely awkward shoehorning in of Worf's character, (I know he gets better but the whole first 1/2 of the season he just felt really tacked on and unneccessary IMHO...) the show is really flying now.
But man, that episode with Quark, Rom and their Mom at home....
aggghhhh....!!!! root canals are more pleasant!

and for the record, I LOVE Armin, (Buffy vet too!) but most of the other Ferengis just give me the wigguns...

 

[Greg_S_H]

I liked that episode in the past. I'll have to wait and see what I think now.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Haven't I read online that the episode "Explorers" is not highly regarded? I think it was excellent, in both the A and the B storylines. The lightship was beautiful, and it was neat seeing that kind of conveyance in Star Trek.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Haven't I read online that the episode "Explorers" is not highly regarded? I think it was excellent, in both the A and the B storylines. The lightship was beautiful, and it was neat seeing that kind of conveyance in Star Trek.

Most fans give this ep three stars (out of four). It was a very nice "change-of-pace" episode that just seemed to come out of nowhere. It was pretty obvious that the featured actors were really having a lot of fun with the material.
Here's a link to one of better reviews of the ep (The review contains lots of SPOILERS) :
http://www.jammersreviews.com/ds9-3/explorers.php
It's my understanding that if there had been a Star Trek: Fan Collective with an "Exploration" theme, this would have been one of the DS9 episodes that would have been considered. (Along with TOS' "The Corbomite Maneuver", TNG's "Relics", and Voyagers' "One Small Step".)

 

[Greg_S_H]

Thanks. I went to a few places I know like Memory Alpha and tv.com but I couldn't get a real sense of how it was regarded.

 

[Dave Mack]

ARGH!!!
I was all set last nite to really get into S4, disc 4, wife, baby and wienerdog asleep, raccoons scurrying on the porch, the Hayward fault (10 blocks away!) being nice and quiet after the 4.2 a couple of weeks ago that rattled our nerves, a tumbler full of chardonnay and seltzer, (yes, a spritzer, I'm a girl inside...) and I had gotten a good 20 minutes into the first ep. and it froze. I ejected the disc and it looked like somone had taken a marker and just defaced the hell out of it. Nothing I could do could get it to play.
(sigh...) I reported it to netflix but will have to wait until tuesday nite for the replacement!
(grumble, grumble...)
:frowning: