[DS9] Cynics Corner Review: "Covenant"
David E. Sluss
O
R Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "Covenant"
N as reviewed by David E. Sluss
E
R copyright (c) 1998 Tiger Bay Publishing
[Do not reply to cynics...@juno.com; it is a spam repository.
Reply instead to sluss at dhp.com]
[ADMIN] Sorry for the delay in getting this cranked out, but better
late than never, right?
Spoilers ahead!
THE BOTTOM LINE: An episode that doesn't incite a strong reaction one
way or the other. There's not much that's really bad about this
episode, but not much that's particularly good, either.
CYNICS CORNER RATING: 6.0
RECYCLING OF THE WEEK: I think we've filled our annual quota of "Empok
Nor footage." I've always thought it was corny as hell to always show
Empok Nor at odd angles, as if that schtick were intended to make sure
that even the most dim-witted viewer realizes which station the
characters are on. But what's even stranger is that episodes continue
to be set there. I presume it's a money-saving measure, which allows
for the existing DS9 sets, rather than brand new ones, to be used.
But, still, about one more trip there, like, say, the Jack Pack
setting up a Hump homebase there, and this is going to start looking
ridiculous.
ATTEMPTED CONTINUITY OF THE WEEK: DS9's writers, pretending that they
are doing arc storytelling, dropped in plenty of references to past
episodes this week, including "Craprifice of Angels," "Songs Longer
Than Debt and Blight," "Fear for the Profits," and "Image in the
Sand," but it felt more like name-dropping for its own sake, rather
than genuine organic storytelling, and in at least one case it may
have actually undermined continuity. So we are now supposed to believe
that the little twerp who tried to bump off Sisko in "Image in the
Sand" was acting alone? Then how the hell did he know about the Orb of
the Emissary and all that hoohah, to say nothing about making it all
the way to Earth and tracking down Sisko all by himself? Or are we
supposed to think that Vedek Fala (wasn't that FDR's dog?) was lying
or didn't know about the cult's assassination attempt? Either way, I
don't expect us to ever find out, in which case I'm not sure it should
have been brought up in the first place. And speaking of
assassination...
CHARACTER ASSASSINATION OF THE WEEK: Well, it's official. Gul Dukat as
a credible character is as dead as Julius Caesar. The journey of the
often-interesting Dukat has taken some bizarre and unlikely turns over
the last year or so, since his breakdown in "Craprifice of Angels."
But now that he's been set up as the mouthpiece for the Pah-wraiths
and the anti-Emissary, I'm afraid that this has gone beyond the pale.
Marc Alaimo isn't even portraying Dukat effectively any longer; no one
could. Worse, it now looks more than ever like we really are being set
up for a comic book-style DS9 finale, with the forces of Order and
Chaos duking it out through their stooges, Sisko and Dukat. We even
got the comic-booky dialogue, "He's more dangerous than ever!" as
additional evidence.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Will the real gods please stand up? Actually
this issue is the high point of the episode. The debate between Dukat
(and Fala) and Kira about the behavior of the Prophets toward Bajor is
good material. And it's nice to see the question of why the Prophets
allowed the occupation to happen addressed, if not (yet) answered. And
it's always nice to be reminded of the Prophet ex Machina disappearing
fleet trick from "Craprifice of Angels."
STARFLEET UNINTELLIGENCE OF THE WEEK: If Worf and company know enough
about those Dominion Tic-tacs to know what particles they emit and
what transporter range they have, why can't they detect them at
station customs? It seems to me that the airlocks are set up to detect
weapons (I seem to recall an early episode in which Odo busted someone
for trying to get one through), and searching, or at least scanning,
incoming people for contraband would seem essential during wartime
(not that it often seems like there's a war -- see, I managed to work
it in!). On the bright side, we finally have found out how Eris
escaped from DS9 way back in the second season finale, "The
Jem'Hadar."
NEXT WEEK: Go back in time, and watch one of the worst episodes from
the sixth season. And we'll see you back here in January.
--
// David E. Sluss (The Cynic) \\ // "I'm impatient with \\
//_________ sluss%dhp.com _________\\//__ stupidity. My people have __\\
\\ Manager of The Cynics Corner: //\\ learned to live without it." //
\\ http://users.dhp.com/~sluss // \\ Klaatu //
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