[DS9] Lynch's Spoiler Review: "Things Past"
Timothy W. Lynch
WARNING: The time is past for spoilers for DS9's "Things Past".
In brief: A bit pedestrian and a substantial _deus ex machina_ ending,
but quite good in spots.
======
Written by: Michael Taylor
Directed by: LeVar Burton
Brief summary: Odo, Sisko, Garak and Dax mysteriously wind up on
the station as it was seven years ago, in the guide of four Bajorans --
three of whom are about to be executed.
======
Okay; hands up anyone who *didn't* see this as an attempted sequel
to DS9's "Necessary Evil."
Those of you with hands down, put your hands up if you've never
seen "Necessary Evil".
Those of you left with hands down ... one, two, three ... okay, all
four of you. You're lying. :-)
Seriously, given the setting of the station (during the occupation) and
the eventual situation (Odo having covered up an action which would
have made him look bad in the eyes of the Bajorans, especially Kira),
this seemed consciously designed to even the scores set up by
"Necessary Evil", to show that Odo isn't perfect either. That's
certainly a reasonable idea, but the problem with it is that it invites
comparisons between "Things Past" and its predecessor -- and when
one does that, "Things Past" comes up pretty short.
For one thing, the method used to show us the scenes in the past was
somewhat questionable. While I'm just as glad we didn't see any
more time travel (the two-part Voyager, DS9's tribbles homage, and
"First Contact" are quite enough for one month, thank you), I don't
think suddenly creating Changeling telepathy *and* having it
generated spontaneously by a passing plasma storm *and* having it
affect non-Changelings is believable in the slightest. "Necessary Evil"
just had a present-day case causing Odo to remember his days from
years earlier; while it might open up claims of unoriginality, I see no
reason why "Things Past" couldn't have taken a similar approach.
(Of course, then we couldn't have had the life-threatening
psychosomatic symptoms, but that's a reasonable sacrifice in
exchange for a story that makes ten times as much sense.)
The other major problem I had with the story is that it played out
rather predictably. As soon as Odo starting having his visions of
walking corpses it became fairly obvious (at least to me and to my
wife) that Odo had actually been the one who falsely condemned these
three Bajorans to death "in the name of order", not Thrax. The fact
that no one else figured it out until it was revealed is not totally
unconscionable, given that they weren't seeing the visions, but it was
certainly tiresome from a dramatic point of view.
Apart from that, "Things Past" had a fair amount to recommend it.
Yes, it's certainly true that the characters very rarely managed to act
for themselves, instead letting events happen around them -- but given
that they were Bajoran prisoners, there's a limit to how much they
really *could* do, I think. The biggest thing they had to concentrate
on was not doing anything out of the ordinary for Bajorans, given the
likely Cardassian reaction to finding out their circumstances; as such,
actions such as Dax's simulated terror to being in front of Dukat were
about their best choices.
The Dax/Dukat scenes were definite highlights of the show, in fact.
Dax played along as the terrified Bajoran girl extremely well early on,
and Dukat's eventual lowering of his guard seemed entirely in keeping
with his ego. His statement to Dax that "You were not brought here to
be abused" was also effective: while it was intended to put Dax at
ease, it also managed to point out that he *could* abuse her if he
chose, with her having no real recompense. (It also ties in with the
knowledge that Dukat had a Bajoran mistress at the time, though it
does beg the question of why Dukat didn't simply confide in said
mistress.)
Much of the show dealt with Sisko et al. trying to fit in while also
trying to find a way out of their predicament, and those came down to
the execution (if you'll pardon the phrase) of the scenes, which was
solid enough. The "selection" of Dax was nothing special, but
Garak's pickpocketing skills and subsequent research was quite well
displayed. The signal to the resistance (and Garak's scoffing at its
simplicity) came off well -- and after that, there was the explosion.
The rest of the show centered on Odo facing up to the true reality of
the situation -- and while it was rather predictable, Odo's slow descent
into a deeper and deeper emotional well was played quite nicely.
Kurtwood Smith (of "Robocop" and "Dead Poets Society" fame) had
a particularly hard job to do here, as he needed to essentially play
*Odo* in such a way as to make himself recognizable in hindsight but
potentially not before the fact. I don't know if he quite pulled off the
latter, but his tone towards Quark was very Odo-like (which the
characters noted), and his lines in the final exchange with Odo about
how "it has been my observation that..." echoed Odo so strongly that
it should have given the game away to anyone who was paying
attention.
Once everyone woke up, I was feeling a little nonplussed by the
show, due mostly to the implausibilities I mentioned earlier.
However, the final Odo/Kira scene helped: a mirror image of the
"Necessary Evil" scene it may have been, but it was very necessary
for almost that very reason. Just as Kira's actions in the past should
have affected her and Odo's relationship in the present in "Necessary
Evil", so this revelation about Odo should affect Odo's reputation.
And unlike the way "Necessary Evil" demanded major repercussions
(which were never really carried out, alas), "Things Past" used its
predecessor to let Kira simply acknowledge that she wasn't perfect
either. As such, her final question to Odo -- was this the only time
Odo faltered? -- was the perfect question, and Odo's "I'm not sure; I
hope so" was the only reasonable answer. I liked that scene a lot;
there's a lot of meat there. Had the rest of the episode been done that
well, it'd be a killer episode.
There's not much else to say about "Things Past", really; given the
opening of "First Contact" in theaters, however, I rather expect this
review to get lost in the noise anyway. (Heaven knows it took me a
lot more time to review that than it did this.) So, a few shorter points:
-- "I never knew we were such messy conquerors." Perfect statement
from the oh-so-fastidious Garak.
-- "What I would have liked was less posturing and more debate."
Quick: Garak on the Bajorans, or Garak on the recently-concluded
elections?
That about covers it. Wrapup time:
Writing: The core story isn't bad, but I don't care for the method used
to get at it or some of the obviousness of it.
Direction: LeVar Burton isn't James L. Conway (who directed
"Necessary Evil"), but he managed to get a fair amount of
atmosphere into the scenes in the past.
Acting: No complaints, though only Auberjonois really had
something outside the usual to do.
OVERALL: Call it a 6.5, with one of those points added on for the
ending. Not wonderful, but not bad.
NEXT WEEK:
Odo and Quark forced to rely on each other in a desolate wilderness.
I've had days like that.
Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
tly...@alumni.caltech.edu <*>
"I see I'm going to have to add the word pickpocket to your resume."
"It's only a hobby."
-- Odo and Garak
--
Copyright 1996, 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.
David E. Sluss
tly...@alumnae.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
[substantial snips]
TWL>For one thing, the method used to show us the scenes in the past was
TWL>somewhat questionable. While I'm just as glad we didn't see any
TWL>more time travel (the two-part Voyager, DS9's tribbles homage, and
TWL>"First Contact" are quite enough for one month, thank you),
I literally rolled my eyes when Dax mentioned something about their
consiousnesses being time-displaced.
TWL>I don't
TWL>think suddenly creating Changeling telepathy *and* having it
TWL>generated spontaneously by a passing plasma storm *and* having it
TWL>affect non-Changelings is believable in the slightest.
It seems to open a real can of worms. Are the Changelings all telepathic?
If so, it helps explain how they can so successfully impersonate solids.
Clearly, they have to do more than duplicate people physically; they'd
have to duplicate their speech patterns, attitudes, body language, etc.
As telepaths, they'd be able to pick up cues from people they talk to
about how they should act. But still, it's all so out of the blue, and
seems to give the Changelings a power that hampers future storytelling.
We could be set up for all sorts of nits of the 'Why didn't Troi sense
he was lying?' variety. And as for 'Changeling material' in Odo, I
guess Bashir's scan in 'Broken Link' was so thorough after all.
[snips re: Dax as Dukat's confidante]
TWL>(It also ties in with the
TWL>knowledge that Dukat had a Bajoran mistress at the time, though it
TWL>does beg the question of why Dukat didn't simply confide in said
TWL>mistress.)
I'd have to check 'Indescretions' for the timeframe, but it seems to
me that nine years ago would be after Ziyal and her mother's ship
was lost. I'm not sure.
--
| David E. Sluss | Who can save us now - the world rots |
| A.K.A. Slugenstein | I did know the secret of the universe |
| email: slu...@pitt.edu | ...only I forgot. |
| NTN: SLUGS (Hemingway's) | "Bugle Boy," Matt Johnson |
Dennis F. Hefferman
|WARNING: The time is past for spoilers for DS9's "Things Past".
|
|Once everyone woke up, I was feeling a little nonplussed by the
|show, due mostly to the implausibilities I mentioned earlier.
|However, the final Odo/Kira scene helped: a mirror image of the
|"Necessary Evil" scene it may have been, but it was very necessary
|for almost that very reason. Just as Kira's actions in the past should
|have affected her and Odo's relationship in the present in "Necessary
|Evil", so this revelation about Odo should affect Odo's reputation.
|And unlike the way "Necessary Evil" demanded major repercussions
|(which were never really carried out, alas), "Things Past" used its
|predecessor to let Kira simply acknowledge that she wasn't perfect
|either. As such, her final question to Odo -- was this the only time
|Odo faltered? -- was the perfect question, and Odo's "I'm not sure; I
|hope so" was the only reasonable answer. I liked that scene a lot;
|there's a lot of meat there. Had the rest of the episode been done that
|well, it'd be a killer episode.
On the contrary, Kira's indignation was totally out of line.
a) Odo sentenced three innocent men to death by mistake; Kira was a
terrorist whose _job_ was killing innocent people. (We know from prior
episodes, particularly "Duet" and "Blood Oath" that the we-only-hit-military-
targets line is a lie.)
b) We also know from "Necessary Evil" that standard Cardassian
procedure in "investigating" crimes was to round up a number of Bajorans at
random and execute them for the crime. Odo may have mitigated that in cases
that he was personally involved in, but it still means that almost every time
the resistance pulled something they _knew_ innocent Bajorans would die for it.
Odo's screw-up was certainly not a good thing, but at least he was trying to
make sure blame got attached where it belonged. Kira's bunch was just tossing
it around; basically, she was complaining that he didn't clean up the mess her
organization made.
--
Dennis Francis Heffernan IRC: FuzyLogic heff...@pegasus.montclair.edu
Montclair State University #include <disclaim.h> Computer Science/Philosophy
"I guess my work around here has all been done."
-- The Devil, in "The Garden of Allah", Don Henley
Ian McIntire
tly...@alumnae.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) wrote:
>The Dax/Dukat scenes were definite highlights of the show, in fact.
>Dax played along as the terrified Bajoran girl extremely well early on,
>and Dukat's eventual lowering of his guard seemed entirely in keeping
>with his ego. His statement to Dax that "You were not brought here to
>be abused" was also effective: while it was intended to put Dax at
>ease, it also managed to point out that he *could* abuse her if he
>chose, with her having no real recompense. (It also ties in with the
>knowledge that Dukat had a Bajoran mistress at the time, though it
>does beg the question of why Dukat didn't simply confide in said
>mistress.)
I don't see any problem. What we saw in "Things Past" was not Dukat,
but rather Odo's idea of Dukat. I doubt Odo could be bothered with
remembering that Dukat had a mistress, and I imagine that he frequently
imagined what effect the loneliness of command had on his then-superior.
Ian "Hoped to see a little of what Garak did during the occupation"
McIntire i...@cwru.edu
Timothy W. Lynch
heff...@pegasus.montclair.edu (Dennis F. Hefferman) writes:
>In <57b4sl$4...@gap.cco.caltech.edu> tly...@alumnae.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>|WARNING: The time is past for spoilers for DS9's "Things Past".
>|Once everyone woke up, I was feeling a little nonplussed by the
>|show, due mostly to the implausibilities I mentioned earlier.
>|However, the final Odo/Kira scene helped: a mirror image of the
>|"Necessary Evil" scene it may have been, but it was very necessary
>|for almost that very reason. Just as Kira's actions in the past should
>|have affected her and Odo's relationship in the present in "Necessary
>|Evil", so this revelation about Odo should affect Odo's reputation.
[...]
> On the contrary, Kira's indignation was totally out of line.
By the facts, perhaps. From the perspective of either of those two
characters? No way. Kira is not going to see the logistical
differences here, and Odo is too consumed by guilt at having done it
in the *first* place to object to what he considers rightful
condemnation.
Tim Lynch
Dennis F. Hefferman
|heff...@pegasus.montclair.edu (Dennis F. Hefferman) writes:
|>In <57b4sl$4...@gap.cco.caltech.edu> tly...@alumnae.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
|>|WARNING: The time is past for spoilers for DS9's "Things Past".
|
|By the facts, perhaps. From the perspective of either of those two
|characters? No way. Kira is not going to see the logistical
|differences here, and Odo is too consumed by guilt at having done it
|in the *first* place to object to what he considers rightful
|condemnation.
I don't buy it. Even when he was stressed out to his gills Odo was
still thinking clearly enough to point out all the flaws in the case against
"him". Odo typically does not let his emotions get in the way of his
thinking. He's also not been big at taking anyone's shit; when Worf tried to
chew him out for allowing petty thefts to take place he just started to rattle
off a list of Worf's screwups on the Enterprise, which were legion. He
wouldn't have denied that he made a mistake, but no way should he have
tolerated that kind of condemnation. I wouldn't.