DS9: Move Along Home

[Chancellor Valium]

I'm sorry, but was this written in a rush to fill a gap 'cuz a story had fallen through?

I mean, it's got the silliest plot possibly until Boom Town came out...

Discuss, until we reach the fifth Schapp :P

[Derek]

Allamaraine. Count to four.
Allamaraine. Then three more.

What a great episode. It does seem to get a bad rap from a lot of people, but it's fun. Especially at the end: "It's only a game!" It does a good job of starting out with one perception, only to have things turned on their head by the end of the episode.

But I won't deny the writers were probably on drugs when they wrote the episode.

[Opium]

Hehe...that was an episode I would have written...

No, really, I write some pretty wacky stuff...

[Ginga]

Oh, hey, I've actually seen that one.

And let me tell you, I liked it a lot.

[PointyHairedJedi]

I had to look it up before I remembered which episode it was. I don't remember it as being particularly good or bad, but it was certainly a different style of story than is usually told in Trek and for that it gets points.

[Scooter]

Isn't that the one with the ugly dress joke? It seemed like a very Rhoda sort of moment for DS9, but then Star Trek becomes very stolid (and solid) if things aren't shaken up periodically. Though they sure jumped the shark when they put Quark in a dress.

[Sa'ar Chasm]

Isn't that the one with the ugly dress joke?

That was Sanctuary, I think. Millions of aliens come through the wormhole, and the universal translator magically doesn't work. Kira and the alien leader have a lengthy exchange of gibberish about a dress in a shop window on the Promenade, and after the translators start working, Kira buys it as a gift for said leader...

...who promptly says it was the ugliest thing she's ever seen.

It was a Kodak moment.

[Scooter]

Originally Posted by Sa'ar Chasm

That was Sanctuary, I think.

You're right, thank you.

[Zeke]

The ending makes the episode -- this one, at least. "Move Along Home" looked like a pretty standard "the crew get stuck in a deadly game" story, and on those terms it was fun (and a good way to get to know the characters, who were still pretty new to us). But that ending was classic. "It's only a game." Of course it is! What aliens visiting a space station would be fool enough to risk killing its command crew just to get back at the bartender? It's not a copout, but it means that we (and the characters) have been worrying over nothing. What a cool twist.

Now if you want the dregs of Season 1, we can talk about "If Wishes Were Horses"...

[Derek]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Now if you want the dregs of Season 1, we can talk about "If Wishes Were Horses"...

I see "Wishes" and "Move Along Home" as being the same type of episode. Audience- and character-perceived danger, when none was there really. Of course, in "Wishes" the perceived danger is/becomes actual danger, but as quickly as it's imagined, it can be unimagined.

I actually like "Wishes". I like the way the crew figures out that their little imaginations are becoming real, but didn't quite figure out that their danger is also the result of their imaginations. Good stuff.

Actually, as I look at DS9's S1 episode list, I can't find one that I out and out dislike. "The Passenger" is fairly lame, especially considering Siddig's performance, but at the same time his performance kinda makes the episode. "Past Prologue" wasn't all that great, but it did have Garak's first appearance. "Dax" was a good exploration of the Trill species, even if the courtroom stuff was pretty standard fare. "Vortex" was nice for the Odo mystery, even if not much happened. "The Storyteller" was great for the Dal'Rok and the evolution of the Bashir and O'Brien relationship ("Yes, Julian"). Those are at the bottom of my season 1 list, but I can't say I really think they're awful.

[Chancellor Valium]

It's fun, but so very, very silly. The change in perspective I felt, rewatching it, was a bit of an anticlimax....And I still can't get that blasted rhyme out of my head!