[DS9] Lynch's Spoiler Review: "Meridian"
Timothy W. Lynch
DS9's "Meridian". If you haven't seen the show and don't want to be
spoiled, don't read any further.
In a word: yawn. In another word: why?
"Meridian" was very definitely a snooze-fest, at least in this viewer's
opinion. Before I continue, though, a quick summary:
======
While Dax falls in love with a man whose planet is about to return to
another dimension for sixty years, Quark tries to obtain a holoimage of
Kira for an obsessed customer.
======
Now, as I was saying ... "Meridian" is the sort of show that slips through
the fingers without much in the way of prompting. In fact, while I usually
rewatch shows for a second time before reviewing to catch details or
particular quotes that I like, this time I had to rewatch it simply to
remember what happened. It left that little of an impression.
This may not mean the show was absolutely terrible, however; the *really*
bad shows tend to leave scenes burned into your brain that you can't remove
without major surgery, at least in my experience. :-) This one was just
invisible.
Let's take care of the Kira plot first, since it had less screen time
devoted to it. In a nutshell ... it was a nuisance. I didn't care for the
"obsessed customer" motif, though it was sensible enough -- but more to the
point, this was virtually a standard sitcom plot, and just as hamhandedly
done. Quark getting caught using a holoimager on the Promenade and Kira
threatening to make him eat it? Ah, this is supposed to be funny. I see.
Sorry, but it wasn't.
Three moments stood out in the Kira plot, though -- two decent, one not.
The two cute ones were Quark's "one millionth customer" ploy, which while
also pretty standard fare was cutely played, and the *method* in which Kira
and Odo foiled the plan -- the obvious route was to have Odo impersonate
the bed or something, or to have it be the *real* Kira, and at least what
we saw ended up being somewhat ... striking. :-)
The bad side of the plot, however, was the teaser; more specifically, the
Kira/Odo subterfuge. Even leaving aside the fact that I've been railing
against this proto-romance for weeks, the scene was *so* obviously done and
*so* blatant that any enjoyment about it was lost.
As for the Dax plot ... well, the best thing I can really say about it is
that given the intensely silly premise, they chose the least painful
ending. More on that in a bit.
The premise itself, a planetary "Brigadoon", isn't really all *that* bad --
or at least, it wouldn't have been had we not had some silly technobabble-
centered attempt to explain it all. The issue of "we only age in this
dimension" is intriguing, but glossed over -- if they're still conscious of
time in the other dimension (which they clearly are, since otherwise Deral
wouldn't have been so ticked off at having to wait for sixty years),
doesn't that imply aging on _some_ level? That's about the only
interesting question that I saw coming out of the show; other than that, we
had Obvious Tragic Love Story #85C.
Speaking of which ... is it just me, or was the love story angle given some
of the worst dialogue the show's seen in a long time? The "counting each
other's spots" exchanges, for instance, didn't tug at the heartstrings so
much as the intestines (at least in my case), and the entire romance felt
about as forced as, say, the Riker/Soren romance in TNG's "The Outcast"
years ago. (If you thought that one was good, substitute in Troi/<almost
anyone>.)
The time-critical "one of us must stay with the other before we've forever
driven apart" angle was an obvious one, and really no big deal. The
turnabout, in addition, from Deral leaving to Dax staying, was visible from
a light-year or so off, and the only suspense involved was in figuring out
how they were going to manage neither one without resorting to the cliche
of "oh, I just can't leave my friends behind."
To the show's credit, the ending *did* at least manage to avoid that
cliche. Dax really was prepared to leave, and only a rare occasion of
O'Brien's wizardry failing kept her on board the Defiant. That's not
exactly the justification for the show as a whole, but it does at least
mitigate a little of the damage.
Lest you think I totally abhorred the show, though, let me mention a few of
the good points. Things I liked:
-- As I already mentioned, the Kira-as-millionth-customer scene and the
ending of the Kira plot were good for a laugh or two.
-- The Sisko/Dax farewell scene was probably the strongest scene in the
show; the two have often worked together as old comrades before, and I
liked the way in which Sisko wasn't quite able to voice anything he
*really* wanted to say.
-- The last line: "I just need some time ... just sixty years or so."
That had a surprisingly strong impact to it, particularly with some of the
direction (Dax walking right alongside the closing door, for instance).
This I liked.
Unfortunately, that's about it -- and when we were also forced to see
things like Sisko and O'Brien *sniggering* at Dax's relationship, Dax
professing a fear of heights despite a few episodes suggesting the contrary,
and just generally a show that spun its wheels for an hour, you get
something that really didn't appeal to me much at all.
So, that's about it. In sum:
Plot: Just fine ... for an old musical, which this wasn't. Both plots
were pretty forced.
Plot Handling: Frakes put in a few nice moments (more than in "Sub Rosa",
anyway), but nothing spectacular.
Characterization: Pardon?
OVERALL: Call this one a 3. Ugh.
NEXT WEEK:
Where there's a Will...
Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
tly...@alumni.caltech.edu
"I can't remember the last time I did this: strolled through a garden,
climbed a tree..."
"Threw up on some pushy guy ..."
-- Dax and us
--
Copyright 1994, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
This article is explicitly prohibited from being used in any off-net
compilation without due attribution and *express written consent of the
author*. Walnut Creek and other CD-ROM distributors, take note.
Tim Klassen
> ...and the entire romance felt
> about as forced as, say, the Riker/Soren romance in TNG's "The Outcast"
> years ago. (If you thought that one was good, substitute in Troi/<almost
> anyone>.)
Precisely my problem, this WAS a Troi episode, grafted onto Dax. IMHO the
real problem with DSN this season is that the people moved over from TNG
are grafting on 7th season TNG style plotting onto the DSN characters.
DSN is a different show and HAD a very different feel from TNG. Sadly I
don't think Moore and company realize this. I'm starting to feel that the
loss of Wolfe may have been fatal. Of course the show will survive its
seven years, but I wonder if it will ever regain the depth it had during
the second season.
TimK, who if anything, thinks you may be being a little too generous with
your numbers this season! ;-)
Ted McCoy
Timothy W. Lynch <tly...@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:
>Warning: The following article contains spoilers critical to the plot of
>DS9's "Meridian". If you haven't seen the show and don't want to be
>spoiled, don't read any further.
>In a word: yawn. In another word: why?
>devoted to it. In a nutshell ... it was a nuisance. I didn't care for the
>"obsessed customer" motif, though it was sensible enough -- but more to the
>point, this was virtually a standard sitcom plot, and just as hamhandedly
>done. Quark getting caught using a holoimager on the Promenade and Kira
>threatening to make him eat it? Ah, this is supposed to be funny. I see.
>Sorry, but it wasn't.
I found it very funny for some reason. Not sure why. Well, Quark, Odo, and
Kira usually give good performances, so that probably helped.
>Three moments stood out in the Kira plot, though -- two decent, one not.
>The two cute ones were Quark's "one millionth customer" ploy, which while
>also pretty standard fare was cutely played, and the *method* in which Kira
>and Odo foiled the plan -- the obvious route was to have Odo impersonate
>the bed or something, or to have it be the *real* Kira, and at least what
>we saw ended up being somewhat ... striking. :-)
You're right that it all was typical sit-com plot. Although I thought they
pulled most of this off really well.
>The bad side of the plot, however, was the teaser; more specifically, the
>Kira/Odo subterfuge. Even leaving aside the fact that I've been railing
>against this proto-romance for weeks, the scene was *so* obviously done and
>*so* blatant that any enjoyment about it was lost.
You're obsessing on this. :-)
I'm curious where this Odo-Kira stuff is going to end up. This definitely
seems to be a buildup to something, and I don't think it's a buildup to a
romance. They could've handled this with more subtlety -- but than again
this wasn't a subtle episode. The humor worked for me.
>As for the Dax plot ... well, the best thing I can really say about it is
>that given the intensely silly premise, they chose the least painful
>ending. More on that in a bit.
>
>The premise itself, a planetary "Brigadoon", isn't really all *that* bad --
>or at least, it wouldn't have been had we not had some silly technobabble-
>centered attempt to explain it all. The issue of "we only age in this
>dimension" is intriguing, but glossed over -- if they're still conscious of
>time in the other dimension (which they clearly are, since otherwise Deral
>wouldn't have been so ticked off at having to wait for sixty years),
>doesn't that imply aging on _some_ level? That's about the only
>interesting question that I saw coming out of the show; other than that, we
>had Obvious Tragic Love Story #85C.
>
>Speaking of which ... is it just me, or was the love story angle given some
>of the worst dialogue the show's seen in a long time? The "counting each
>other's spots" exchanges, for instance, didn't tug at the heartstrings so
>much as the intestines (at least in my case), and the entire romance felt
>about as forced as, say, the Riker/Soren romance in TNG's "The Outcast"
>years ago. (If you thought that one was good, substitute in Troi/<almost
>anyone>.)
Even though I differ with you on The Outcast -- I'd say that this seemed *more*
forced than any of those Troi romances, or just about any other TNG romance
I can think of. Those lines about spots were *awful*. Absolutely painful to
listen to. And I really disliked Terry Farrell's performance during the
romantic scenes. She did a comedy earlier in her career called "Off the Mark"
and her performance during the romantic scenes here was basically the same
as her performance in "Off the Mark," which seemed inappropriate to me
because the character here is so different. Although I thought her scenes
with the DS9 crew at the end were very well done. But those romantic scenes
were simply agony to sit through. (Actually, I liked the way the scene in
the tree went as far as camera movement goes. But couldn't stand the
dialogue.)
>Lest you think I totally abhorred the show, though, let me mention a few of
>the good points. Things I liked:
>
>-- As I already mentioned, the Kira-as-millionth-customer scene and the
>ending of the Kira plot were good for a laugh or two.
>
>-- The Sisko/Dax farewell scene was probably the strongest scene in the
>show; the two have often worked together as old comrades before, and I
>liked the way in which Sisko wasn't quite able to voice anything he
>*really* wanted to say.
>
>-- The last line: "I just need some time ... just sixty years or so."
>That had a surprisingly strong impact to it, particularly with some of the
>direction (Dax walking right alongside the closing door, for instance).
>This I liked.
I liked that scene too -- which was especially impressive because I wasn't
able to take the romance at all seriously at any point earlier in the
episode.
>Unfortunately, that's about it -- and when we were also forced to see
>things like Sisko and O'Brien *sniggering* at Dax's relationship, Dax
>professing a fear of heights despite a few episodes suggesting the contrary,
>and just generally a show that spun its wheels for an hour, you get
>something that really didn't appeal to me much at all.
>
>So, that's about it. In sum:
>
>Plot: Just fine ... for an old musical, which this wasn't. Both plots
> were pretty forced.
>Plot Handling: Frakes put in a few nice moments (more than in "Sub Rosa",
> anyway), but nothing spectacular.
>Characterization: Pardon?
There was some good characterization in those final scenes, with the DS9 crew.
Actually, every scene that I enjoyed in this episode involved the DS9 crew
interacting with each other. Nice that they are still interesting to watch
even in with a story as dumb as this.
>OVERALL: Call this one a 3. Ugh.
You know, I'd actually give this a 6 or 7. The only part I really disliked
was the romance -- and both the Kira subplot and the character interaction
towards the end made the episode worth watching for me. (Plus, the basic
premise of the planet didn't bother me. I liked the opening and the closing
scenes with the planet; I just wish they'd done something with it in
between.) I'd actually watch this one again, and just read a book or something
during the romance scenes.
>NEXT WEEK:
>Where there's a Will...
Uh
eni...@dorsai.org
: Let's take care of the Kira plot first, since it had less screen time
: devoted to it. In a nutshell ... it was a nuisance. I didn't care for the
: "obsessed customer" motif, though it was sensible enough -- but more to the
: point, this was virtually a standard sitcom plot, and just as hamhandedly
: done. Quark getting caught using a holoimager on the Promenade and Kira
: threatening to make him eat it? Ah, this is supposed to be funny. I see.
: Sorry, but it wasn't.
Sorry, but I thought it was.
: Three moments stood out in the Kira plot, though -- two decent, one not.
: The two cute ones were Quark's "one millionth customer" ploy, which while
: also pretty standard fare was cutely played, and the *method* in which Kira
: and Odo foiled the plan -- the obvious route was to have Odo impersonate
: the bed or something, or to have it be the *real* Kira, and at least what
: we saw ended up being somewhat ... striking. :-)
: The bad side of the plot, however, was the teaser; more specifically, the
: Kira/Odo subterfuge. Even leaving aside the fact that I've been railing
: against this proto-romance for weeks, the scene was *so* obviously done and
: *so* blatant that any enjoyment about it was lost.
I for one hope they have a romance....what's your problem with it
happening anyway.
: As for the Dax plot ... well, the best thing I can really say about it is
: that given the intensely silly premise, they chose the least painful
: ending. More on that in a bit.
Here I can disagree, I didn't much like the love story myself.
: -- As I already mentioned, the Kira-as-millionth-customer scene and the
: ending of the Kira plot were good for a laugh or two.
Yes..very fuuny.
: -- The Sisko/Dax farewell scene was probably the strongest scene in the
: show; the two have often worked together as old comrades before, and I
: liked the way in which Sisko wasn't quite able to voice anything he
: *really* wanted to say.
Also good.
: -- The last line: "I just need some time ... just sixty years or so."
: That had a surprisingly strong impact to it, particularly with some of the
: direction (Dax walking right alongside the closing door, for instance).
: This I liked.
Ok agree here.
: Unfortunately, that's about it -- and when we were also forced to see
: things like Sisko and O'Brien *sniggering* at Dax's relationship, Dax
: professing a fear of heights despite a few episodes suggesting the contrary,
: and just generally a show that spun its wheels for an hour, you get
: something that really didn't appeal to me much at all.
: OVERALL: Call this one a 3. Ugh.
I say a 6. The Odo/Kira stuff, more than made up for the rest of it for me.
Victor
Blanche Cohen
Two things stood out for me...
1) As you said, the last scene with Dax "...about 60 years" What struck me
the most was Farrell's voice dropping in pitch. I really think her voice is
too high most of the time. This was more appropriate for the character.
2) Didn't like Kira/Quark/Odo? hmhmhmhmhmhmhm(*giggle*)
In a private conversation I was trying to explain why I thought this was
a much weaker season that last year (ok, I'm partial to Peter Allan Fields
also!). I described the three of them as The Three Stooges.
Watch what mischeif Quark gets into this week! Watch Kira and Odo foil
another Quark-plot! Laughs abound as Quark tries to get Kira into the
Holosuite!
As for being hum-drum...when I notice the costumes, something's wrong.[Well,
the suit in Crossover is a special case. I would worry about anyone who
DIDN'T notice that costume!] I didn't
think they spent THAT much on "The Pink Thing from Collaborator" that they
really needed to amortize the cost over a second season.
3) Nit pick - how did Quark even KNOW about The Pink Thing from Collaborator?
Armin did comment at one of the cons that it wasn't Nana nor him wearing
it this time. Shucks. I was really hoping Armin's legs were that good.
--
"It might be interesting to explore useless for a while" [DS9]
"Chocolate is a serious business" [TNG]
"Worst case of testosterone poisoning I've ever seen..." [B5]
Melanie Fletcher
related to seeing an actor I like more than anything. . .
bla...@du.edu (Blanche Cohen) writes:
> Spoilers for Tim's review.....just in case
> 2) Didn't like Kira/Quark/Odo? hmhmhmhmhmhmhm(*giggle*)
> In a private conversation I was trying to explain why I thought this was
> a much weaker season that last year (ok, I'm partial to Peter Allan Field
> also!). I described the three of them as The Three Stooges.
>
> Watch what mischeif Quark gets into this week! Watch Kira and Odo foil
> another Quark-plot! Laughs abound as Quark tries to get Kira into the
> Holosuite!
Giggle as Kira fends off an overeager suitor by calling Odo "Sweetheart."
Come on, this sub-plot WAS cute. And I also liked seeing Jeff Combs do
something outside of the Stuart Gordon Reperatory Company--although that
makeup was really, really silly for a really, really obsessive alien. I
mean, yellow skin and red hair--what, did Bozo the Clown forget his
medication that day?
But in the end, I'm very pleased--now that he's done DS9 and Babylon 5, he
can get invited to the SF cons as well as the horror ones. :-) Whee. . .
MMF
*****************************************************************
Melanie Miller-Fletcher flet...@geloser.login.qc.ca
Core Member, SFLAaE/BS * Babe Feminist * Expatriate Chicagoan
"Eat, move, breathe. . .and carry a big stick."
-----Susan Powter, by way of Hoosier Red
*****************************************************************
Dirk A Loedding
bla...@du.edu (Blanche Cohen) wrote:
Spoilers for "Defiant"
[snip]
>Better yet - watch Kira & Ivanova clean out the bar!
Now, *that* I would pay good money to see...:):):) And I could
certainly see it happen, too.
--
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Dirk A. Loedding ju...@america.net dirk.l...@datadim.com |
|<*> <*>|
| "And so, it begins." - Kosh, "Chrysalis" |
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