• [DS9] Brian the Snorf's Quick Review: "A Simple Investigation"

    From Timothy Bruening@21:1/5 to Timothy Bruening on Wed Feb 19 04:13:00 2020
    On Wednesday, February 19, 2020 at 4:04:36 AM UTC-8, Timothy Bruening wrote:
    On Monday, April 7, 1997 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-7, Brian the Snorf wrote:
    ------(spoilers below)------


























    [DS9] "A Simple Investigation"

    Written by: Rene Echevarria
    Directed by: John T. Kretchmer

    Ever since I saw the preview for this one (now with the stupid Voyager Big Words (tm)), I haven't been looking forward to it. The whole idea of Odo with anyone but Kira still irks me...I'm a hopeless romantic. But I suppose it was bound to happen, though I'm curious as to why they waited until after Odo was changed back? This whole story would make a heck of a lot more sense while he was a solid. Well, maybe it wouldn't make much sense then either. *sigh*

    It didn't start so badly. The opening scene was sufficiently strange enough to get my interest, and the bit about Julian's new holosuite
    program was well done. But after Odo met Alyssa or Arissa or whatever her name was, the episode shifted intro Boredom Central. This was one of two central problems with the episode. It _wasn't_ anything more than "a simple investigation", and therefore managed to be only slightly more interesting than watching paint dry...or watching Voyager, for that
    matter. Long, talky scenes explaining the plot could have been exchanged for more interesting ones with the plot actually *unfolding*. The lackadaisical directing didn't help either-- but the cameraman might have fallen asleep.

    Now, since I mentioned that this was pretty much a "bottle show", where everybody collectively does nothing but sit around and talk, you'd expect some extensive character work going on. In a weird way, we get it, but
    the whole premise seems so outrageous that any possible characterization
    is only there as something you want to dismiss. The plot bears a
    downright frightening similarity to last season's clunker "The Muse."
    (It's interesting to note that both episodes were written by Rene Echevarria, who obviously needs a good bonk on the head.)

    Let's look at Odo's actions throughout. (So Odo falls for a woman.) That I can believe, though the whole "falling in love" part took all of
    two seconds. (Odo kisses this woman.) Ok, sure. But it would be
    somewhat awkward, considering Odo's *koff* experience with matters of the heart. (Odo has sex with this woman a day or two after meeting her.) Um...well...he's never really been one for fooling around with trivialities. (Odo performs well his first time having sex..and enjoys it!!!) This is where I draw the line. No way in hell. And what sort of pleasure is he deriving from this, anyway. I won't go into details...but think about it! On the other hand, don't. This just isn't realistic for
    a guy who has been so against about this kind of thing for years, and who has never really told Kira how he feels. But he's fine with a one-night-stand, I guess. :b

    Concerning the ending, yeah, it works all right. Kind of a copout, but 9 out of 10 Trek episodes concerning relationships end in copouts. And I didn't like her anyway. I was kind of hoping those assassins would kill her, cliched as that would be. And what was the deal with those guys, anyway? I didn't mind them all *that* much, but they weren't very efficient. The Orion Syndicate must be getting sloppy if it's sending Laurel and Hardy to do it's dirty work.

    Why would a MARRIED woman (Arissa) be allowed to go on an long term assignment in which she would be separated from her husband, lose her memories, and likely die? Wouldn't the powers that be want to use someone who was emotionally uncommitted?

    What did Arissa's husband DO for the two years she was away? What did he think she was doing for those two years? I assume that he wouldn't have been told about her infiltrating the Orian Syndicate for security reasons.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Timothy Bruening@21:1/5 to Brian the Snorf on Wed Feb 19 04:04:35 2020
    On Monday, April 7, 1997 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-7, Brian the Snorf wrote:
    ------(spoilers below)------


























    [DS9] "A Simple Investigation"

    Written by: Rene Echevarria
    Directed by: John T. Kretchmer

    Ever since I saw the preview for this one (now with the stupid Voyager Big Words (tm)), I haven't been looking forward to it. The whole idea of
    Odo with anyone but Kira still irks me...I'm a hopeless romantic. But I suppose it was bound to happen, though I'm curious as to why they waited until after Odo was changed back? This whole story would make a heck of a lot more sense while he was a solid. Well, maybe it wouldn't make much
    sense then either. *sigh*

    It didn't start so badly. The opening scene was sufficiently strange enough to get my interest, and the bit about Julian's new holosuite
    program was well done. But after Odo met Alyssa or Arissa or whatever her name was, the episode shifted intro Boredom Central. This was one of two central problems with the episode. It _wasn't_ anything more than "a
    simple investigation", and therefore managed to be only slightly more interesting than watching paint dry...or watching Voyager, for that
    matter. Long, talky scenes explaining the plot could have been exchanged
    for more interesting ones with the plot actually *unfolding*. The lackadaisical directing didn't help either-- but the cameraman might have fallen asleep.

    Now, since I mentioned that this was pretty much a "bottle show", where everybody collectively does nothing but sit around and talk, you'd expect some extensive character work going on. In a weird way, we get it, but
    the whole premise seems so outrageous that any possible characterization
    is only there as something you want to dismiss. The plot bears a
    downright frightening similarity to last season's clunker "The Muse."
    (It's interesting to note that both episodes were written by Rene
    Echevarria, who obviously needs a good bonk on the head.)

    Let's look at Odo's actions throughout. (So Odo falls for a woman.)
    That I can believe, though the whole "falling in love" part took all of
    two seconds. (Odo kisses this woman.) Ok, sure. But it would be
    somewhat awkward, considering Odo's *koff* experience with matters of the heart. (Odo has sex with this woman a day or two after meeting her.) Um...well...he's never really been one for fooling around with
    trivialities. (Odo performs well his first time having sex..and enjoys it!!!) This is where I draw the line. No way in hell. And what sort of pleasure is he deriving from this, anyway. I won't go into details...but think about it! On the other hand, don't. This just isn't realistic for
    a guy who has been so against about this kind of thing for years, and who
    has never really told Kira how he feels. But he's fine with a one-night-stand, I guess. :b

    Concerning the ending, yeah, it works all right. Kind of a copout, but
    9 out of 10 Trek episodes concerning relationships end in copouts. And I didn't like her anyway. I was kind of hoping those assassins would kill
    her, cliched as that would be. And what was the deal with those guys, anyway? I didn't mind them all *that* much, but they weren't very
    efficient. The Orion Syndicate must be getting sloppy if it's sending
    Laurel and Hardy to do it's dirty work.

    Why would a MARRIED woman (Arissa) be allowed to go on an long term assignment in which she would be separated from her husband, lose her memories, and likely die? Wouldn't the powers that be want to use someone who was emotionally uncommitted?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)