Nine Deeps of Space

I've had an axe to grind with this overrated episode for a long time. I thought a long, hard look at recent news had finally crystallized that, but maybe not. It's about stuff.

Ignore what I say in the supplemental; it's our second season but Deep Space Nine's first.  We talk a little bit about this season past, the future of characters and stories, and how likeable flawed characters have to be. The future of Nine Deeps of Space is currently undecided, but regular episodes of The Beige and The Bold are starting today over there. https://anchor.fm/tbntb

We talk about a lot of stuff in this one. I think it's a good episode for the overarching story. It underutilizes Keiko a bit. I just don't think it or we know what it's really about. Better than I remember, but not really 'good.' Nine Deeps of Space is a Trekalong podcast that lets you watch Deep Space Nine along with us on Netflix. It updates every Sunday night at 10 PM CST. NDoS alternates with...

We talk about...war crimes mostly. We crack jokes. About the war crimes, now that I think about it. It sounds bad, but you're going to laugh at those war crimes jokes. It's also worse than "Progress." "Progress" had the moral complexity and messiness that becomes a strength of Deep Space Nine . Despite the twists and turns and great acting, "Duet" has the clean ending of an episodic TV show. It's-...

It's not just a contagious, telepathic energy field; it's a contagious, telepathic energy field that's good at improv. It puts the fiction in science fiction. No one is good at improv (except for Star Trek: The Improvised Generation). Odo lords his lack of frail, human feet over us, Kira makes a seduction attempt with martial law, and Commander Sisko buys a 3D printer. It's a good one, actually. A...

The B-Plot outshines the A-Plot again as we study Odo, Lwaxana Troi, and what it is to need other people. That Babylon 5 episode came out a year after this one, but it's still way better. Babylon 5 lacks a lot of DS9's subtlety and nuance, but it fucks around far less.  I can't find a good source for the charges of plagiarism, so here's the highest honor I can confer on this conflict: a grudg...

To quote a great man, "Nothing good happened here today! None was entertained, nothing was achieved, and no child's life was saved. Everything's going to go on as normal and babies are sometimes going to die and no one fucking cares!" "If Wishes Were Horses" happened and it only happens again when you want it to. Think about that. Nine Deeps of Space is a Trekalong podcast that lets you watch Deep...

"Are some main characters a little more main characters than others?" Is a big question, and one I cannot answer in season one. We will have to see together, friends. I usually ask a question here to prompt engagement, but this isn't really a questiony episode. It's what Game of Thrones thinks its being when it's showing us boobs and gore; a survey of hard realities seen through the eyes of our ma...

It's about the limitations of Bajoran territorial law. Bajor has clans I guess. Also villages threatened by monsters. I usually quote twenty thousand years as the age of Bajoran culture. That's actually the age of the lost city of B'hala. Bajoran culture is cited as being five hundred thousand years old. I appreciate an episode about the diversity and nuance of Bajoran culture. But 500,000 years s...

I've been vocal that I don't care about "universe will change forever" type of events because TNG episodes like "The Chase" and "Unnatural Selection" tell us none of it will matter. Canon in general doesn't matter to me unless I know creators care about canon. It's all the difference between "Rick and Morty" and "The Good Place." So I don't even like "Battle Lines" for it's implications for the se...

We're talking about jumpsuit padding, shapeshifter leather, and putting Siri in a runabout this week as hardened investigator and goo of the world Odo is taken in by an alien who knows nothing about anything. Also, this Odo/Quark tension is getting palpable in the rewatch. I get it now, Quodo shippers. You are seen. I guess my final read on Crodin is that he was doing all these criminal things for...

This one took a bit longer because I did some additional editing work on it. Welcome to our apolitical show where the SOCIALIST actor mocks the RICH, LIBERTARIAN FATCATS of our day. We have NO strong feelings about Jordan Peterson! But honestly, Zek is a pretty canny operator in this one. The downfall of many leaders is the issue of succession and the ability of nepotistic transfers of power confe...

It's The Heartbreaker. "Move Along Home" broke Derek; it's a show that can break a man. So I'm happy that Kit and I can rip on it for 45 minutes because it's SO BAD! So come along with us as we talk Mousetrap (and other board games), Armin Shimmerman's acting, and whatever accent Lt. Primmin is affecting (HE IS NOT SOUTHERN!).  Nine Deeps of Space is a Trekalong podcast that lets you watch De...

We get into it pretty quickly. There are a lot of questions. Well, one question, "Who is Vantika?" It's answered in the teaser, but we also get to see Odo act out and talk a bit about Sisko doing admin. So there's a lot happening here. Also, Lt Primmin is not a Southerner! This is a point of contention! Nine Deeps of Space is a Trekalong podcast that lets you watch Deep Space Nine along with us on...

Jadzia Dax is on trial for the, alleged, crimes committed by Kurzon Dax and we spend a plurality of our time discussing Trill probate law and an app called Spotz that lets you hire Trill to point at other Trill. So it's a good one. What can we say? We can say that your parents are probably still having sex and once the sentient slug inside of you is put into a new, younger host body, that slug wil...

There's so many things wrong with this episode--actually, just the one thing wrong. The all-powerful being harassing his powerless ex without a moral core, lesson learned, or any point to it really except for how we're supposed to find the cruelty funny.  Also, there's a sci-fi "thing" that's so token I feel you could lose it at Quark's dabo table. The Skeleton War was 2014, not 2012. I apolo...

It's our first O'Brien episode. No, he doesn't get tortured. Why would you even ask that? "Captive Pursuit" captures a lot of early Deep Space Nine. There's a lot of TNG's mystery stories, but with more action. The characters are actual characters, but without their throughlines or an ungrayed moral lesson, it can feel pointless. In the series' urgent attempts to ingratiate itself with fans, like...

So we've moved past the humor/horror of "isn't this happening now, lol," TV logic, and into the forgetting references. Titus Andronicus was the Shakespeare play. The Scrubs episode was Season 5, Episode 12 "My Cabbage." DS9, like its predecessor, features officers who know how to make a scene dramatic. Starfleet sends out surveys for this kind of thing. I feel like we don't have a big idea here. T...

In this one we're talking about the big, red analog button in every runabout, Klingon sartorial choices, and how effectively Commander Sisko can recap Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes. We also meet a new guy named...Farak or something. I don't think a tailor will be too important to our series going forward. I guess the lesson here is that there's no unity without change? That it's not wort...

I admit, I misremembered the climax a bit, both this time and last time. It's an Odo episode which I feel doesn't tell us too much about Odo and doesn't know how to get where it wants to be. All of our side stories are good; Keiko wants to be useful, Sisko and Dax are adjusting to their new relationship, and Bashir continues to be Bashir.  The first few episodes of DS9 try to focus on individ...

We're back with a new co-host, Kit, who has seen some TNG but is new to DS9. Welcome to season two of Nine Deeps of Space. It's a good episode that never gets old and I can confirm that seeing it with fresh eyes always gives a new insight. Did The Prophets know what they were doing? Maybe the better question is...did they have done how they were because Sisko...good? I hate temporal mechanics. Vas...

And we're done. It's weird, after six years, for Derek to be out. But here we are. I don't really know what comes next. See you space cowboy.

It's another episode with no moral, barely any plot, and just enough character stuff to make it interesting, The Wadi suck and I'm glad we never see them again. Also, I mistook Chutes and Ladders for Candyland. Candyland isn't a game by some definitions because there's no actual randomization and it's all predetermined. I meant no offense to Chutes and Ladders, a different collection of crappy rul...

So I guess that's it. Derek is done. It's always been something we've done as long as it was fun and it just wasn't fun for Derek anymore. The status of Nine Deeps of Space is in limbo, but I'm still dedicated to continuing it. Really, I think "Move Along Home" broke him.

I am 100% more compelled by the first five minutes of this episode than the sci-fi idea behind it. Bashir is a legitimately good doctor and has every right to take criticism as validation instead of a humbling gift. I just really like Bashir. This is the first of a duo of episodes without O'Brien, and so we get Diet Caffeine-Free O'Brien, which is bizarre. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that...