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[olemars]

I've been watching DS9 lately, since I've been told it's the good spinoff.

There's been a recurring character that I haven't understood the purpose of other than comic relief, and it took me well into the 4th season before I suddenly got the in-joke: Morn - the depressed, lumbering, flabby-chinned alcoholic alien that's always at Quark's bar (where everybody knows his name) and everyone is trying to avoid - is an anagram of Norm.

[Sergius]

I've been watching DS9 lately, since I've been told it's the good spinoff.

There's been a recurring character that I haven't understood the purpose of other than comic relief, and it took me well into the 4th season before I suddenly got the in-joke: Morn - the depressed, lumbering, flabby-chinned alcoholic alien that's always at Quark's bar (where everybody knows his name) and everyone is trying to avoid - is an anagram of Norm.

Well Morn is a bit of an inside joke I think. He's supposedly VERY chatty, interesting, humorous, etc (but never on-camera). Apparently he was actually given lines but they kept cutting them out of the show for time constraints, and it sort of stuck and then it became a running gag.

There's even a novel (allegedly written by Shatner, aka the Shatnerverse ) where the protagonists note that someone giving them radio instructions has a very pleasant and distinctive voice (apparently Morn himself or of the same species) but there aren't actual lines for him either.

Another time (in the show), apparently Morn was "out of town" for a couple of weeks, and Quark placed an hologram of him in his seat because without him there, sales dropped 5%. (then quips that he prefers the hologram, because the real Morn never shuts up)

[Mongol13524]

Season 4 (some say 5) is where the show gets amazing, you'll be glad you suffered through the first 2 seasons if you stick with it a tiny while longer.

There's a great episode all about Morn in season 6, by the way.

[Solifuge]

Even the early parts of DS9 had some great episodes. I just caught the last 2 episodes of Season 1. The one where Keiko O'Brien's School is bombed by Orthodox Bajoran Extremists over what she was teaching her students. And the one where Kira investigates an alleged Cardassian War Criminal, which just kept surprising me, literally had me teary toward the end, and then really twisted the knife in the finish.

The acting and writing really picks up. Some powerful stuff there.

[Sergius]

DS9 is just good drama.

But it can get silly, in fact if you liked the earlier/middle drama episodes, the Darker and Edgier and more X-Treme of later seasons may feel a bit jarring.

One thing I found interesting was even though they had their super-awesome Defiant fighter/thingy, they depended on Romulan permission to continue to operate it, so they had to be extra-nice to them. (was only touched in one episode I think, but at least it was there)

[Mongol13524]

One thing I really like about it for some reason is the uniform change (in season 5?). I love the uniforms in the Star Trek movies, and was happy to see the crew in the cool looking outfits.

[trekkie5249]

Reviving my thread for the release of Star Trek: Into Darkness.
I think it's a bad movie plot-wise, being a bad rehash of The Wrath of Khan.
What are your opinions?

[Vector]

I haven't seen it, but I've heard bad things about white-washing and Dr. Marcus being totally nerfed that will probably mean I'm not going to see it in theaters.

[Scoops Novel]

Did the actors redeem it at all?

I know it's offtopic, but I've got a film night (and day) coming up and I'm wondering how good Babylon 5 and the first 3 seasons of Battlestar Galactica are.

[Vector]

Babylon 5 is sort of slow, and it got obvious enough that I stopped watching.  There's some really awesome stuff, though, and I liked the characters a lot.

I've seen a couple seasons of Galactica.  Sort of overdone on the ghost blowjobs, but I'd watch Starbuck do pretty much anything.  It's got some really fantastic characters, and I think it's worth a try.

[Willfor]

The actors performed nobly. In fact, they -- and the first hour of the movie -- are the only reasons to go to see it. The story falls apart.

There is definitely whitewashing in this film as well.

[Vector]

Hmm, I think I'll stick with the original series, then.  I don't mind phlebotonium, but it had better'd be logically consistent and progressively idealistic :I

[palsch]

I know it's offtopic, but I've got a film night (and day) coming up and I'm wondering how good Babylon 5 and the first 3 seasons of Battlestar Galactica are.

B5 is horribly slow and often just bad during the first season but gets fantastic later. Well worth sticking with till the finale in my view.

I'd say BSG remains awesome till the end of season three, although you can already see the writers pulling shit out of nowhere. It's a good point to bail out before the whole thing goes completely off the rails.



I do think the actors did a good job with a horrible plot and script in the new film. Some parts were just painful though, and a lot of it depends on your opinion of Benedict Cumberbatch. If you like watching him chew scenery it's probably worthwhile. Otherwise skip it.

[NobodyPro]

I'd say BSG remains awesome till the end of season three, although you can already see the writers pulling shit out of nowhere. It's a good point to bail out before the whole thing goes completely off the rails.

I can't remember but was that before or after they time-travel to Nazi Germany?

[Solifuge]

Babylon 5 is sort of slow, and it got obvious enough that I stopped watching.  There's some really awesome stuff, though, and I liked the characters a lot.

I've seen a couple seasons of Galactica.  Sort of overdone on the ghost blowjobs, but I'd watch Starbuck do pretty much anything.  It's got some really fantastic characters, and I think it's worth a try.

I hate to keep going on about it, but I think you'd like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine... interesting plots, great character interactions, and solid cinematography too, if you're into that. It's a very Dramatic show, blending lots of tragedy with bits of comedy, but it holds on to the good-old-fashioned Roddenberry Idealism about human potential.

The series is set on a space station, where the Federation is on a post-wartime peacekeeping mission. Unlike other Treks, the semi-junky Space Station setting is a constant, and they take time to build up local planets, politics, and peoples, and focus more on long-term arcs. At the start, I think it tried too hard to distance itself from The Next Generation... but it found its stride as it moved into the second season. The characters and their interactions are definitely one of my favorite parts of the series:

There's Constable Odo, the ornery, honest-to-a-fault, mildly-OCD shapeshifter. I think you'd like him a lot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MSGQbzMh_4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_V0Oiwoarc

There's Captain Sisko; single Dad, passionate, sometimes volatile, and not the usual Good Guy hero:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS4L8owZinw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-YyL7X4CWw

There are plenty of other interesting, fun, and at times surprisingly deep characters besides:
Major Kira and Lieutenant Dax roleplaying in the Holosuites.
Quark, the Underworld Businessman and station Bartender
Garak, the Tailor, Liar, and (former?) Cardassian Spy
The high-minded, adorable-while-infuriatingly-self-important Dr. Bashir.