who knew Deep Space Nine could make you cry?
Friday, January 11, 2008
A friend of mine loaned me his entire collection of DVD sets that encompass the seven year Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series and I have been working my way through it whenever I can, sometimes by myself and sometimes with either or both of Trin and Superwife watching with me. I know, this guy is a nice friend eh? I wouldn't trust anyone I know with hundreds of dollars of my stuff. But that maybe says more about me being a a bit of a jerk than anything else.
Anyway, out of all of the Star Trek series I have watched over the years, DS9 was the one that I always thought the least of. I watched a few episodes here and there, but I never paid it the kind of fanatical attention that I have given to all the other series. To wit, I have copies of pretty much every Next Generation and Enterprise episode, all the movies on various formats, and have watched and re-watched all the Original Series episodes countless times. Even with Voyager I have seen every episode at least once and I knew that show sucked while I was watching it. I think probably because I was (and am) a HUGE Babylon 5 fan that I never gave Paramount's version of a space station on the frontier much of a chance. But I am almost through Deep Space Nine now, one season left to go, and I have a whole new appreciation for the series. Its really very good. I listened to a speech put on by Armin Shimmerman (the guy who played Quark, the bartender) at a convention once, and I now wish I had been more into the show at the time so that I would have geeked out a little more about seeing him speak in person.
The reason for this morning's DS9 love in, is that I just now finished watching one of the most moving Trek episodes I have ever seen and felt the need to record my thoughts before they flitter off onto something else less impactful.
The episode was called Time's Orphan and centered around a Time Travel accident that involves The O'Briens and their daughter Molly. The little girl disappears through a re-use of the City on The Edge of Forever prop 300 years into the past, and when the O'Briens manage to get her back she has aged ten years, and not for the better. She has spent the last ten years as a savage, the only inhabitant on an isolated planet. She is violent, can hardly communicate and only wants to go back to what she thinks of as home. At one point while the O'Briens try to reconnect with their daughter she attacks a number of people and ends up viciously stabbing one poor bystander, causing her to be arrested.
In the end, faced with the prospect of their little girl being sent to some rehabilitation center she would most likely die at, the O'Briens (through the miracle of Treknology) decide to send her back through the time-gate to live out the rest of her life where she is happy and safe. And the scene when they let her go, and the two of them have to say goodbye to her, ostensibly forever, is just really, really heartbreaking. Either the acting in this Star Trek was better than I would have thought, or the fact that I now have a daughter impacts me in ways that I would never have suspected. I seriously had a good cry because of that scene.
And yes I know my daughter isn't likely to go time travelling anytime soon, but I do not ever want to say goodbye to her in any permanent sense as long as I live. I can only hope that she outlives me by a wide margin and that she gets the chance to be happy and safe for however long she has. See, here I go again. Fucking Star Trek: You've been teacher, comforter, friend and longtime companion. But I never thought you'd turn me into a crybaby.
Anyway, out of all of the Star Trek series I have watched over the years, DS9 was the one that I always thought the least of. I watched a few episodes here and there, but I never paid it the kind of fanatical attention that I have given to all the other series. To wit, I have copies of pretty much every Next Generation and Enterprise episode, all the movies on various formats, and have watched and re-watched all the Original Series episodes countless times. Even with Voyager I have seen every episode at least once and I knew that show sucked while I was watching it. I think probably because I was (and am) a HUGE Babylon 5 fan that I never gave Paramount's version of a space station on the frontier much of a chance. But I am almost through Deep Space Nine now, one season left to go, and I have a whole new appreciation for the series. Its really very good. I listened to a speech put on by Armin Shimmerman (the guy who played Quark, the bartender) at a convention once, and I now wish I had been more into the show at the time so that I would have geeked out a little more about seeing him speak in person.
The reason for this morning's DS9 love in, is that I just now finished watching one of the most moving Trek episodes I have ever seen and felt the need to record my thoughts before they flitter off onto something else less impactful.
The episode was called Time's Orphan and centered around a Time Travel accident that involves The O'Briens and their daughter Molly. The little girl disappears through a re-use of the City on The Edge of Forever prop 300 years into the past, and when the O'Briens manage to get her back she has aged ten years, and not for the better. She has spent the last ten years as a savage, the only inhabitant on an isolated planet. She is violent, can hardly communicate and only wants to go back to what she thinks of as home. At one point while the O'Briens try to reconnect with their daughter she attacks a number of people and ends up viciously stabbing one poor bystander, causing her to be arrested.
In the end, faced with the prospect of their little girl being sent to some rehabilitation center she would most likely die at, the O'Briens (through the miracle of Treknology) decide to send her back through the time-gate to live out the rest of her life where she is happy and safe. And the scene when they let her go, and the two of them have to say goodbye to her, ostensibly forever, is just really, really heartbreaking. Either the acting in this Star Trek was better than I would have thought, or the fact that I now have a daughter impacts me in ways that I would never have suspected. I seriously had a good cry because of that scene.
And yes I know my daughter isn't likely to go time travelling anytime soon, but I do not ever want to say goodbye to her in any permanent sense as long as I live. I can only hope that she outlives me by a wide margin and that she gets the chance to be happy and safe for however long she has. See, here I go again. Fucking Star Trek: You've been teacher, comforter, friend and longtime companion. But I never thought you'd turn me into a crybaby.
posted by raistlinsghost at 1/11/2008 12:58:00 AM
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