IMHO:DS9:"Hippocratic Oath"
TED BRENGLE
Spoilers for DS9's "Hippocratic Oath" follow...
It is so good to see two intelligent people of good conscience
have an honest ideological disagreement, where *both* sides have
certain merits. The strength of this episode fit snugly in the fact
that sometimes there are no easy answers, and that both Miles and
Bashir had valid points. As Sisko himself said (in a little too
self-conscious an epilogue perhaps) DS9 is a place brimming with
delicious ambiguities.
No wonder so many Trekkies can't stand this show.
Even better was the fact that both guys were willing to go to
the wall for their beliefs, and instead of ignoring the question of
military authority, or using it for an easy okie-doke that removed
the weight of the decision from Bashir and Miles, the script was
smart enough to use it to add another layer of tension to an already
heady situation. In fact, even though Miles eventually does go
rogue, the events had been structured in such a way, and his point
of view well enough enunciated, that I thought this was one of the
more believable (and least annoying) instance of one of The Gang
suddenly deciding to run over their chain of command and years of
discipline with a truck. This does happen with alarming frequency in
Modern Trek, but at least this time it seemed justified both from
both a character and plot standpoint.
I also was impressed with how the script walked a fine line in
its treatment of the Jem'Hadar, expanding on their background and
plight, making them more sympathetic, but also doing it in such a
way that didn't erode their effectiveness as villains or apologize
for their fundamentally alien attitudes and priorities which set
them apart from just about everybody else in the Trek Universe. They
continue to really *enjoy* being bloodthirsty warriors who
exterminate all lesser races (i.e. everybody else), even if they may
like to do it on their terms for a while. I can certainly see why a
race bred for fighting might periodically chaff under the tight
leash of the Dominion and it was nice to see that concern addressed.
And while some Jem'Hadar may be able to be reasoned with to some
extent, they still really aren't the warm-and-snugly guys that
everybody else in the cosmos appear to be. The continuing culture
clash of values is interesting to see as well as dramatically and
speculatively valid. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this
is the sort of thing we should see a lot more of in regards to
interaction with alien cultures. Not everybody in the universe can
possible prize the things the Feds do and the Jem'Hadar and the
Founders are a reminder of that. (Just in case I'm being too subtle,
and somebody out there is missing my thinly veiled insinuation, let
me put it this way: This episode: Good, "I, Borg": Bad. Boy, do I
feel better.)
Indeed, even though the Jem'Hadar maintained their exoticism,
there were also some very nice moments that drew out the small
convergences between Jem'Hadar and humans mind-sets in subtle,
significant details that puts to shame all of "I, Borg's"
Jeepers-They're-Just-Like-Us! theatrics. The most prominent of these
moments was the chilly, but valid, analogy the Jem'Hadar made
between The Founders and human gods and the sweet irony that the
Jem'Hadar had a better understanding with the somewhat-bigoted and
militaristic Miles, who wanted to see them all dead, than they did
with Bashir, who was breaking a gut to help them. The punch of this
was effectively nailed home when Miles has to explain to Bashir the
Jem'Hadar commander's motivations. Nice work by all involved there.
Especially Faddil and Meaney for being such good and energetic
advocates for their respective positions. Their butting heads was
the core of the show and it was effective, even if the "Darts next
week, ol' buddy?" ending seemed a bit too eager to hit that famous
Trek reset switch. But even then, both Faddil and Meaney wisely kept
the scene tense, adding more bitter a coda than I think was probably
written in the script.
So we got a big winner here, right?
Uh, well, yeah, mostly. Alas, there was one problem. One small
problem. A problem that always sets my teeth on edge whenever it
appears.
Yep. You guessed it. I'm talking about our new Tactical
Operations Officer suddenly deciding to grace us yet again with his
prize-winning impression of Maple Syrup (Gee, that's going to leave
a nasty stain on his brand new station, too). After a lean couple of
weeks, which almost had me convinced that he'd finally gotten that
twerp thing licked, Worf-The-Sap made a triumphant comeback (The
first stop on his new World Tour). And what a comeback it was! Be
sure to check it out when Worf beings his All-Star Follies to your
local arena or Van Show. This one was special. Usually the writers
make Worf look like a complete idiot for the highly dubious reason
that if he behaved competently, shot straight, knew how to punch the
right button, didn't walk into a bulkhead, etc., then the Series
Star (we'll designate him PS for convenience sake, just picking two
initials out of the air) wouldn't be captured by the bad guys and,
thus, couldn't deliver his Big Speech at the end of Act 3. So,
basically, it's just laziness.
This, however, was different. This was basically just character
assassination as a way to fill a b-arc and kill some time. It wasn't
that Worf needed to look like a moron for this plot to work. Oh, no.
This time his naivety, arrogance, foolishness and brain-dead gung-ho
posturing can only be put down to a special effort to show him in a
bad light. And, boy, did it work. This plot is so wrongheaded that
the *only* way it can track is as a mean, snickering inside-joke on
how much of a blundering fool Worf is. I mean, come on. Having Worf
criticizes Odo's security acumen is a little bit like having Ed Wood
complain about Stanley Kubrick's choppy editing style. But it
doesn't end there, and soon the episode turns kind of morbid, as
everyone at home, with the same queasy certitude that accompanies
watching teenybopper campers heading off into the dark woods at the
half-hour mark of a slasher movie, just *knows* that Worf has this
blinking red target on his forehead and that it's only a matter of
time before he starts huffin' and puffin' and looking completely
clueless while someone calmly and patiently explains to him exactly
how much of an incompetent, pompous ass he is. I'm just glad he
didn't get anybody killed this time out. Lucky Odo was around. I
guess this was included as part of DS9's continuing campaign to
assuage fan fears of The Worf Show, but it played as a gratuitous
smear. Hell, if the writers wanted to get him that bad, they could
have just dropped an anvil on his head in the middle of the episode
and been done with it.
And now a few more bits of minutia from the Ted Brengle
Notebook.
-"Why Am I Here? Part XXIII" It really is getting harder and
harder to come up with rational reasons to stick two (and only two)
regulars in a Runabout and send them on a field trip into THE MOST
DANGEROUS AREA OF KNOWN SPACE. Not that DS9's reasons for this were
ever that terrific in the first place, but these days... sheesh. The
only thing I can think of is that Star Fleet's Hazardous Duty Pay
must be pretty damn spectacular. "Oh, no! I never knew Holosuites
cost *that* much! Hmmm. Wait a minute, I think I remember leaving my
goldfish, Herbert, in the smoking remains of New Bajor. Oh,
Captain..."
-"Now let's take a brief look at the history of the 'non-com,'
or non-commissioned officer, in Star Fleet..." TPTB again weighs in
on the increasingly nonsensical O'Brien Pip Non-Crisis with one more
sound flogging. Yep. That'll do it. Gawky dialog always helps make a
point THAT NEVER MATTERED IN THE FIRST PLACE! The way they're going
the next time they gallantly take on this issue, they'll have
Admiral Ross Perot deliver a fifteen minute presentation complete
with charts and visual aides.
-"So, Captain, what will we do about the Centur... er, I mean
the Klingons annexing these smaller systems?" The Klingons are on
the march and I was happy to see that periodic check-ups of this
volatile situation are on the itinerary. At least for now. It's an
evolving situation and still big news. I hope they remember to keep
us apprised, if only for the sake of atmosphere.
To the Big Board.
The Grade: B (Suffers in comparison to the last
couple, and because of a sub-plot that feels like a vendetta, but
still a entertaining hour, with very good performances and a visit
with the Jem'Hadar which manages to make them more poignant without
destroying their edge.)
Next Week: Another team-up. And this time they have an actual
*reason* for being on a mission together. Will wonders never cease.
***Ancillary Matters***
Every once in a while I say something in one of these reviews
that lets me know that I am indeed read. Usually, this will be
something so exceptionally inept that no one who reads it is able to
prevent themselves from dashing off a quick note of correction. Last
week, in my review of "The Visitor," I was fortunate enough to make
*two* of these comments, and I again learned very quickly that I'm
read. So, I'm afraid it's time to 'fess up.
(1) At one point last week, I mentioned that "The City On The
Edge Of Forever" was Star Trek's first time-travel episode. This is,
of course, wrong. While I knew that "The Naked Time" aired before
it, I continue to contend that it really doesn't count, as the
time-travel angle was not at all important to the overall story and
was really just a weird post-script. While this may be open to
interpretation, the fact that "Tomorrow is Yesterday" aired before
"City" is pretty damn unassailable. Whoops. I could have sworn it
came later. Oh, well.
(2) More substantially, I made a lot of noise about the title,
"The Visitor" and did my usual song-and-dance about the vacuity of
Trek titles and complained that the name didn't even really
correspond to anything in the episode. Except, uh, the women WHO IS
THE CATALYST FOR THE ENTIRE SHOW. Yes, I'm embarrassed. Again,
whoops. A bigger whoops, too, as I simply let my personal
near-Pavlovian animosity for an aspect of Trek blind my critical
judgement.
And now you guys know why I don't review Voyager anymore...
-Ted Brengle
(The Penitent Cynic)
(c) Copyright 1995, Ted Brengle (IMHO Inc.)
* OLX 2.1 TD * So dull and pointless, you'd swear it was an IMHO review.
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