Episode 2.20 and 2.21 “The Maquis, parts 1&2” (Mel’s review)

[oncearoundthepromenade]

Neflix description (part 1): The worst is feared when a Cardassian freighter, the Bok’Nor, explodes while departing the station.

What exactly is “the worst” here? I mean, I know what they’re referring to, but just based on this description it could mean anything.

Netflix description (part 2): Sisko, Kira, and Bashir are held in a Maquis camp, but Gul Dukat is not there.

This might be my second favorite description yet (right after the one for “Cardassians”). “…but Gul Dukat is not there"—couldn’t that be said about episodes he doesn’t appear in? The description for "Blood Oath" could be amended thus: "The relative calm of Deep Space Nine is shattered by the arrival of three Klingon warriors, but Gul Dukat is not there.” Actually, I demand they start tacking that on to the end of the episode descriptions for every show on Netflix.

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Time for a shameful confession: I was (more than) a little tipsy when we watched this two parter. I’m not sure why I thought that would be a good idea. Goodness, this is embarrassing. Anyway, I found my notes were of little use to me, so I re-watched the second part in order to be able to write something about this two-parter. 

While I enjoyed other scenes in these two episodes, the entire 2 hours could have just been Avery Brooks and Marc Alaimo in a room talking/arguing and it would have been just as good. These episodes basically belong to the two of them.

One of the things that I like about this episode is that after finding out that his old friend Cal Hudson has joined the Maquis, Sisko doesn’t give up on him. He doesn’t immediately mention it to Starfleet, and he holds on to Cal’s uniform. I feel like this is such a Sisko thing to do. He even listened to Cal and considered his opinion. Sisko is very good about hearing people out (particularly those he trusts), even if he doesn’t agree with what they have to say. 

Aside from the scenes with him and Dukat, my favorite Sisko scene is probably the one with Kira after the visit from Admiral Nechayev. He’s been angered by what the admiral had to say and tells Kira, “It’s easy to be a saint in paradise.” This line is one of the reasons why DS9 is my favorite Trek. I love that it wasn’t afraid to show the flaws of Starfleet/the Federation. 

We get a lot of Dukat in this episode, and he is fantastic to watch. Just letting him—or pretty much any Cardassian—talk (more like monologue!) makes for great viewing. We learn that Central Command isn’t very fond of Dukat, and therefore the air of importance he always tries to project is just in his own mind. 

I said that my original notes weren’t of much use to me. This is because I mostly just wrote responses to bits of dialogue. Here are a few:

• Dukat has 7 children. That he knows of!
• Sisko in lederhosen! Please!
• Jake is watching Bajoran women coming off a transport. Shouldn’t Dukat be racing down there to join him?

Other thoughts:

• Both Marc Alaimo and Bernie Casey appear in these episodes. Nearly twenty years prior, the two of them appeared in the movie Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde (sometimes listed as Dr. Black and Mr. White). I apologize for the poor quality of these screenshots, but I could only find the film on YouTube.

[laurelhach]

Vorta redesign

I guess read more cuts don’t work on text posts anymore *sobs quietly in corner*

  The Vorta are a genetically engineered species used as diplomats and envoys by the changelings, and make up the majority of the Dominion’s government. Their skin is usually a pale purple, and burns easily in sunlight. Due to their artificial development as a species, when compared to a natural species, Vorta have much less phenotypic variation [it’s not that they don’t have any, just not nearly as much as other species.]

  Vorta have four eyes, two larger eyes located lower on the face and two smaller eyes located slightly anterior and superior. The color vision in the smaller eyes is better than in the larger eyes, and though Vorta have few red retinal receptors, their vision does extend somewhat into the ultraviolet. The two larger eyes have fewer rod and cone cells, so have poor color vision, but are better at detecting motion. The placement of the larger eyes and the horizontal pupils allow the Vorta a wide field of vision.

  Vorta have sensitive hearing, and slight tilts of the head help them to establish the direction of the sound and to pick up certain subtleties.  They’re also known for a peculiar diagonal tilt, as their anatomy makes it difficult to directly below themselves. Their senses of smell and taste are negligible. 

  The hands consist of four tentacles, each supported by a highly flexible central column of cartilage. This column creates a single knuckle which articulates with the bones of the hand [which are actually mostly cartilage as well.] The entire hand is supple but powerful appendage, capable of complex manipulations and sensory acquisition. The feet are modified, having a more rigid internal structure to support the body’s mass, but being flexible enough to absorb shock. The two front lobes are fused, creating a fleshy pad, while the hind two remain separate [I drew a picture of how it works when they walk because describing it was hard :P   ] It seems like their feet are small and balance would be difficult, but the split heel (what would be the thumb and third finger on the hand) can spread out and support them. 

  The plates on the body are not hard or bony—rather, they are fleshy and cartilaginous. They may have originally served as a sort of armor, but they have little purpose in their modern state.

Vorta are an middling-sized biped, averaging around 5’5”-5’9”. They sometimes bear scars on their necks and abdomens from the feeding tubes that are used during the cloning process. This is especially common in the clones that are brought up quickly as emergency replacements.

Modern clone Vorta are a sexless species, though this is through their genetic engineering rather than their natural state. Having any sort of sex is unnecessary for their function as the diplomats of the Dominion.

As for their immunity to toxins, I imagine the Vorta have an both extremely sophisticated immune and filtration systems, which would have been bioengineered. Certain resistances could have been built up during the cloning process as well, through whatever chemicals/nutrients they are fed [and by ‘fed’ I mean ‘had piped into them’ because they are vat babies, yay.]

 [an aside—I tried doing more with the body design with the Vorta, at least on the surface. As a genetically engineered clone race, environment wasn’t as big a factor as with some of the other designs. They probably look significantly different from the ‘natural’ Vorta.]

As always, my askbox is open to any discussions/questions, as I never put everything in the description because A) that would make it even longer and B) I forget stuff