[DS9] Lynch's Spoiler Review: "Sanctuary"
Timothy W. Lynch
"Sanctuary". A Ctrl-L will provide a brief sanctuary from those spoilers,
but if you wish to avoid them in full, avoid the article,
In brief: well, not great, but decent.
"Sanctuary" was DS9's statement about immigration, it seems, and all the
various issues it provokes in the US and other countries. All well and good,
and I think a lot of it made sense -- but, as in several other shows this
season, the problems seemed to stand out much more than the good points.
(It could be that I'm just getting jaded, but I don't think so -- "Sanctuary"
just didn't have a lot of scenes that really wowed me.)
The best bits had to do with Kira, probably not surprisingly. From someone
who immediately sympathized with the underdog against her own government in
"Progress", she now appears to have fully come over to the government's side
in things; despite her friendship with Haneek and her pain over what was
happening to the Skrreeans, she agreed with the decision that Bajor couldn't
afford the risk. Right or wrong, that's an interesting decision, and I hope
the progress Kira has come through will parallel developments on Bajor.
Haneek was, for the most part, a very interesting character. Although her
points about the Skrreeans being female-dominated were way too blunt and
completely unnecessary, she did a good job of acting the reluctant leader.
(Not quite as good, say, as Richard Beymer did in the season opener, but
that's a whole different standard.) Her direct, unforgiving nature seemed
good for this race of desperate, then bitter farmers, and I had no problems
with seeing her represent the best of the Skrreeans.
What I *did* have a problem with was Tumak, and it's the same sort of problem
I've had with other characters like him. That problem is that a lot of
actors can't quite seem to differentiate between playing characters whom the
other characters find unpleasant and playing characters who will make the
*viewers* want to do a little house-cleaning rather than watch. Andrew
Koenig, sad to say, was one of the worst offenders in this regard -- between
his snarling delivery and the Quasimodo-like way he carried himself, in most
scenes with Tumak I found myself saying "okay, so it's a Skrreean twit; we
get the point, move on!" We're not given any reason why _Tumak_ is the one
to risk himself in rebellion (aside from him being an emotional male child),
and I for one found his whole presence deadening Bajor's dilemma. (He had
precisely two scenes where he was bearable, and those were his last two.)
The early problems with the translator seemed a bit forced as well. The
language and syntax were so different that the translator couldn't handle it?
They seemed to think a lot like humans once the translator started working --
certainly a lot more than, say, the Tamarians in "Darmok" -- and for them,
the UT *did* work off the bat. I didn't buy into it, and I also think the
immediate jump on "look! she used 'need'!" was silly; "need" is not that
uncommon a syllable, after all. I can see why the writers might have wanted
a language barrier up for a short time, but I simply didn't buy the method.
The station's general reaction to the Skrreeans made a lot of sense,
particularly Quark's, and a lot of the strength the show *did* have came from
that fact. Nog wanting to play a trick on Tumak seemed perfectly in
character, as did the slight discomfort everyone must have felt at the
Skrreeans' flaky skin. It set the stage nicely for Haneek's later hurt and
for Bajor's rejection of the Skrreean plea, and I've no real complaints on
this score.
Although I think Bajor's rejection of the plea was in character (right or
wrong, and I'm really _not_ sure which it was), I think some of the plot
elements were no more than convenient hooks on which to hang that rejection.
The sudden existence of a Bajoran famine, for instance, is too obvious; yes,
it makes for a good reason to reject them (and for Haneek's counterargument),
but famines are Big Deals; why have we never heard of this before? That,
combined with the fairly stilted way Minister Rozahn was presented, undercut
the scene somewhat. (Vedek Sorad, on the other hand, was fine.)
One guest character and new situation that I would _love_ to see again, on
the other hand, is the musician Varani. I know I've seen William Schallert
before in probably a dozen different places, and it annoys me that I can't
remember where -- but Varani was the only guest character besides Haneek that
was completely and utterly believable. I appreciated his urgings about
Bajoran culture (and agreed with them to the hilt), and felt him to be a
great vehicle for addressing some of those concerns. (Besides, the music was
GREAT. :-) ) I'd definitely like to see more of him -- with luck, Quark
won't fire him yet. (In part, I'm also curious -- why did his gift help to
tip the Skrreeans off that Kentanna may have been Bajor? There's a story
hiding in there...)
The final crisis was not unexpected and not all _that_ bad, but again I had a
little problem buying into them. Bajor is not supposed to be THAT
repressive, and it's not like Tumak was carrying some fatal illness. The
easiest thing by far would have been to let him land and then bring him back
-- frightened or not, I think it puts Bajor in a very bad light,
substantially worse than even Haneek tried to say.
That pretty much takes care of the brought strokes. The message of
"Sanctuary" was solid, if unsubtle; while a lot of the scenes getting us to
the central issue seemed forced, there were also some good character bits.
A few short takes, then:
-- The "Skrreeans explore the station" bit before the translators worked
seemed to be about an hour long in and of itself. Did we really need that
kind of padding?
-- On the other hand, Odo pumping Nog about what Quark might know of weapons
sales was a _perfect_ moment, and one of the best throwaway bits of the show.
Odo can be damned sneaky at times.
-- The reference to the Dominion this time, unlike in "Rules of Acquisition",
actually does have me curious. I'm intrigued to see where this leads.
-- Lastly, giving the Skrreeans free rein of the station without so much as
an _orientation_ session or something is just dumb thinking and dumb
plotting. Of course you're going to get friction if you *wait* for them to
screw up without saying anything!
So, that should do it. Without further ado, then, the wrapup:
Plot: Somewhat forced, but on the whole fairly decent.
Plot Handling: Some *very* slow bits, with not enough oomph in the rest to
make up for it.
Characterization: Good Kira and the rest of the regulars, fairly good
Haneek and Varani, but most of the other guests were awful.
OVERALL: 6. On the positive side, but nowhere near top-notch.
NEXT WEEK: The start of at least four weeks of reruns, beginning with the
three-part season opener. Enjoy!
Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
BITNET: tlynch@citjulie
INTERNET: tly...@juliet.caltech.edu
UUCP: ...!ucbvax!tlynch%juliet.ca...@hamlet.caltech.edu
"I am _way_ beyond frustrated."
-- Kira
--
Copyright 1993, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
Jason Snell
(Timothy W. Lynch) wrote:
> One guest character and new situation that I would _love_ to see again, on
> the other hand, is the musician Varani. I know I've seen William Schallert
> before in probably a dozen different places, and it annoys me that I can't
Of course, the key place is as the petty bureaucrat in "The Trouble With
Tribbles"... it was nice to see him on "Star Trek" again, 25 years later...
:)
-jason
--
Jason Snell / jsn...@ocf.berkeley.edu / Cal Graduate School of Journalism
InterText: Electronic Magazine - ASCII or PostScript - Mail me for info!
"I thought for a second that my monkey had rabies -- Thank God it turned
out he had just gotten into the Cool Whip." -- Dave Letterman
Blanche Cohen
a mean violin, if I remember correctly. Or was it a trombone?
Going further back.....the father on the Patty Duke Show.
--
bc
"It might be interesting to explore useless for a while"
"Chocolate is a serious business"
Kevin J. Karmann
> William Shallert also played Mindy's dad on Mork & Mindy - and played
> a mean violin, if I remember correctly. Or was it a trombone?
I think one of us comes from a parallel universe. In the reality I
remember, William Schallert didn't play Mindy's father. A quick
look through TOTAL TELEVISION confirms this hypothesis: Conrad Janis
played Fred McConnell.
> Going further back.....the father on the Patty Duke Show.
More recently, he played the father on THE NEW GIDGET. Of course,
he also appeared in TOS' "The Trouble with Tribbles."
Kevin
brian.bebeau
>WARNING: This post contains spoiler information regarding the DS9 episode
>"Sanctuary". A Ctrl-L will provide a brief sanctuary from those spoilers,
>but if you wish to avoid them in full, avoid the article,
>the other hand, is the musician Varani. I know I've seen William Schallert
>before in probably a dozen different places, and it annoys me that I can't
>remember where -- but Varani was the only guest character besides Haneek that
I was rather young but I'll probably always think of him as Patty Duke's
father.
>was completely and utterly believable. I appreciated his urgings about
>Bajoran culture (and agreed with them to the hilt), and felt him to be a
>great vehicle for addressing some of those concerns. (Besides, the music was
I agree about the music. So now we know that Bajor had good music and was
renowned for their architectural abilities. Sure sounds like a major case
is building for Bajor to expend at least a *little* energy rebuilding culture.
>GREAT. :-) ) I'd definitely like to see more of him -- with luck, Quark
>won't fire him yet. (In part, I'm also curious -- why did his gift help to
>tip the Skrreeans off that Kentanna may have been Bajor? There's a story
>hiding in there...)
>
I figured it was just because his music was so sorrowful, and Kentanna was
the Planet of Sorrows. I would have preferred them explain it though, rather
than put in some filler like, oh, the whole hideous dress thing.
>The final crisis was not unexpected and not all _that_ bad, but again I had a
>little problem buying into them. Bajor is not supposed to be THAT
>repressive, and it's not like Tumak was carrying some fatal illness. The
>easiest thing by far would have been to let him land and then bring him back
>-- frightened or not, I think it puts Bajor in a very bad light,
>substantially worse than even Haneek tried to say.
>
I think they were afraid that if they let _one_ ship land, more people
would try it, thereby unleashing a veritable flood, and they would never
be rid of them.
--
======================================================================
Brian Bebeau | Interactive Systems (a Systemhouse company)
br...@cblph.att.com or | at AT&T-Columbus
b...@cbnewsl.att.com |
just another theatre geek
>In article <2dt7fp$9...@gap.cco.caltech.edu> tly...@juliet.caltech.edu writes:
>>was completely and utterly believable. I appreciated his urgings about
>>Bajoran culture (and agreed with them to the hilt), and felt him to be a
>>great vehicle for addressing some of those concerns. (Besides, the music was
>I agree about the music. So now we know that Bajor had good music and was
>renowned for their architectural abilities. Sure sounds like a major case
>is building for Bajor to expend at least a *little* energy rebuilding culture.
Not if they have a few Republican/libertarian types around.
--
Roger Tang, gwan...@u.washington.edu, Artistic Director PC Theatre
"David Henry Hwang's BONDAGE is about an Asian male attaining his fantasy: being
dominated and humilated by a Caucasian blonde. Sheer fantasy, of course; we all
know in real life it's the other way around."
Lorna Payne
> bla...@du.edu writes:
>> William Shallert also played Mindy's dad on Mork & Mindy - and played
>> a mean violin, if I remember correctly. Or was it a trombone?
>
> I think one of us comes from a parallel universe. In the reality I
> remember, William Schallert didn't play Mindy's father. A quick
> look through TOTAL TELEVISION confirms this hypothesis: Conrad Janis
> played Fred McConnell.
>
>> Going further back.....the father on the Patty Duke Show.
>
> More recently, he played the father on THE NEW GIDGET. Of course,
Probably because he played the father on the original "Gidget".
--
-------------------------------------------------------------
Lorna Payne
Certified Math Geek and Grammarian
-------------------------------------------------------------
The concept is simply staggering. Pointless, but staggering.
-The Doctor (The Pirate Planet)
-------------------------------------------------------------
James M. Fitzwilliam
Nick at Nite has this little occasional spot called "Our Television
Heritage." They did one on Schallert -- he has been in EVERYTHING.
They scroll by the names of literally dozens of TV series he has guest
starred in, and of course I've never yet chanced to tape it to write
down all of the names. He must be one of the most recognizable faces
in the US, though anybody seeing him would probably say "I know you,
but I don't remember from where!" (:
> (Besides, the music was GREAT. :-) )
I thought using the theme music of the show played at an on-quaaludes
tempo (rather than composing a fresh bit of rapturous incidental music)
was mildly tacky. But on the other hand, it DID sound rather nice,
didn't it... (:
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