Less the heroes of our stories than the villains of some other bastard’s

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L.I. Underhill is a media critic and historian specializing in pop culture, with a focus on science fiction (especially Star Trek) and video games. Their projects include a critical history of Star Trek told through the narrative of a war in time, a “heretical” history of The Legend of Zelda series and a literary postmodern reading of Jim Davis' Garfield.

3 Comments

  1. David Faggiani
    December 9, 2015 @ 5:01 am

    I thought about this episode when Doctor Who did "The Doctor's Daughter in 2008.Similar premise http://www.philipsandifer.com/blog/all-the-years-ive-been-taking-care-of-you-the-doctors-daughter/

    I love the idea of the show being shunted into a side Universe by Opaka's 'death'/retirement, much as we all are by sudden loss. I imagine a universe where Opaka didn't go along on the mission, and ushered Bajor through the entire DS9 epoch… although, knowing Winn, she'd probably meet with an accident anyway by the end of Season 2… I wonder if the tension later to be explored in 'The Circle' would have come to a head with Opaka still in office?

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  2. K. Jones
    December 9, 2015 @ 9:01 am

    What I always find unique on rewatches here is just how calmly the whole Ennis affair begins. The opening scene involves some more settling into the station, going through bureaucratic Cardassian filing systems (we'll find out that not only are Cardassians the mirror image of the bureaucratic Starfleet … not just mirrors … but that they legitimately revel in the games that can be played in these structures.)

    Interrupted by the surprise arrival of Opaka, quite an event, but even that itself just leads into Opaka's curiosity at the Temple and Sisko's willingness to give her a tour of it and keep on going. For ten minutes there's no way to even guess where the journey might go, or that it might go to a war-without-end planet prison and a TOS style parable.

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  3. Daru
    December 22, 2015 @ 12:30 am

    Lovely post Josh. I really, really like this one a lot too, for all the reasons you state above. The leaving behind of the Kai when I watched it a few months actually left me feeling bereft it touched me that much. And yes, the themes woven in here do touch on what I love in the show – i.e. the more spiritual, mystical and non-militaristic.

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