Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 27 - Necessary Evil

"Necessary Evil" is a wonderful episode of Deep Space Nine. Peter Allan Fields shows that he is the premiere writer for the show, especially for Odo (Rene Auberjonois) and Kira (Nana Visitor). He knows their characters so well. He has an ear for dialogue, the plot is wonderful, and the mystery is intriguing. Everything comes together to make one stellar episode. If "Duet" is the heart of the show, "Necessary Evil" showcases the soul. The friendship between Kira and Odo is one of the cornerstones.

Quark (Armin Shimmerman) is hired by Vaatrik Pallra (Katherine Moffat) to go into her dead husband's old store back on Deep Space Nine and find a box that is hidden there. Quark, being the greedy soul that he is, opens it, and is shot for his trouble. Vaatrik knew he would do it and sent somebody to watch him. Thanks to Dr. Bashir (Siddig El Fadil), Quark is saved, and Odo begins an investigation into what happened. Rom (Max Grodenchik) leads Odo to the chemist's shop, which takes Odo back to the Cardassian occupation. Vaatrik's husband had been murdered and Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) asks Odo to find out who did it. Kira is one of the main suspects, but she has an alibi. A murder from five years ago may reach forward to the present and destroy a friendship.

I normally don't talk about the direction of an episode, though Deep Space Nine usually has a talented director at the helm. This time, though, I have to. James L. Conway does a masterful job with the transitions between the present day and the past, especially the first. When Odo opens the door to the abandoned chemist's shop, the scene suddenly changes time periods as the door opens. It's a masterful shot, and most of the other transitions are almost as good. The set design is also wonderful, this being the first time we've seen the station as it was under the occupation. Everything is dark, the mood is depressing, armed guards are everywhere and the Bajorans walk around like a beaten people. The camera work is great, capturing all this in the background even as the foreground has a standard questioning scene. It's all wonderfully done.

Enough can't be said about the strength of the story or the dialogue either. The main episode (after the teaser) begins with a wonderful security log entry by Odo, where he goes on about humanity's obsession with keeping records and him saying that Starfleet doesn't trust his "fully adequate" memory to suffice. He then makes his entry. "Everything's under control. End entry." It's a great laugh, but also a great device to get Odo's thoughts across to the viewer as he investigates this murder that's clawed at his mind for the last five years. The scenes with Rom & Quark (and later, Rom & Odo) are funny in their own way, but they don't really fit the tone of the episode. Rom's going back and forth between fear for his brother and fear that his brother won't die (he'll inherit the bar if Quark dies) are very amusing, and would work better in a different episode. They're a little too slapstick for this one, though they do break the tension a little bit. We also (*shudder*) get to hear Rom scream a few times. Definitely not a plus.

That would be the only misstep, though. Odo gets to demonstrate his observational skills (did he take a few lessons from Sherlock Holmes?) as he deduces when people are lying to him. His investigation on the station five years ago was very thorough and he faces the pressure from Dukat to find the name of the murderer as soon as possible. The dialogue between Dukat and Odo is almost perfect, with Alaimo being his normally smarmy self. Auberjonois also plays the scenes with Dukat perfectly, but he is definitely at his strongest when he's compared to his present-day self. Currently, he's confident and direct. Back then, he wasn't sure of himself, making his way on the station by settling petty disputes for the Bajoran slaves. He speaks a bit hesitantly, he looks down a lot, he's unsure of everything. It's completely unclear why Dukat would pick him for this job, as it's obvious that he's lying when he gives his reasons. We do find out at the end why he would, and the revelation is marvelous.

Even better are the scenes between Odo and Kira. Their friendship has often been portrayed in previous episodes, but it's never been a centerpiece. It's the glue that's held them together but it's never been the basis for a show. This time, however, it's showcased. When this murder comes to the foreground again, she's obviously uncomfortable around it. She's by the book whenever she's with Odo. The final scene between them is simply the best scene since "Duet."

The other characters don't have much to do, but that's ok. They get a token scene, but none of them are gratuitous. The only one we don't see is O'Brien, but that's because there was no need for him to get involved. The doctor has to take care of Quark, Odo has to ask Sisko (Avery Brooks) for permission to have Vaatrik brough on to the station. They each play their parts and then get out of the way. Quark is put to his best use in a long while as the catalyst that brings it all together (though you would think he'd have a breaking and entering charge against him when he woke up).

This is simply a beautiful episode from start to finish. The only problem is that there is no fallout from this episode in subsequent episodes. Still, that's not a strike against this one. Sparkling dialogue, excellent sets and costumes, direction, acting. You name it, this episode has it. And best of all, you don't really need to know anything about the show to enjoy it. This is one of the best Deep Space Nine episodes ever.

Memorable Quotes:

Rom: "Wait a minute! You're not suggesting that I…"
Odo: "I've had my eye on you for a long time, Rom. You're not as stupid as you look."
Rom: "I am too!"

Dukat: "Have you ever seen a dead man before?"
Odo: "Yes. In your mines."
Dukat (scoffing): "Oh, those are *casualties*. This…is murder."

5 Stars

Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 26 - Rules of Acquisition

I'm not a big fan of Ferengi episodes. Some of them are funny, but a lot of them are lame attempts at humour that just don't work. The first Deep Space Nine Ferengi episode, "The Nagus," actually was quite good. However, the more the Nagus (Wallace Shawn) comes back, the more grating he is. This, coupled with Quark (Armin Shimmerman) acting like he's in love with no real indication of how he got there, knocks a couple of points off. Thankfully, "Rules of Acquisition" was a lot better than I had remembered it.

During a game of Tongo with Dax (Terry Farrell) and a bunch of Quark's Ferengi waiters, a young Ferengi named Pel (Helene Udy) brings himself to Quark's attention. He's fluent in the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition, which govern all Ferengi business practices. Their game is interrupted by news that Grand Nagus Zek is coming to the station. Zek is holding trade negotiations on the station with the Dosi, and he wants Quark to run these negotiations. This will give the Ferengi a great presence in the Gamma Quadrant. Pel insinuates himself into the negotiations by giving Quark some great advice, and Quark asks Pel to be his assistant. Unbeknownst to Quark (or anybody else for that matter), Pel is actually a female! Ferengi women are not allowed to leave the home or wear clothing, and they're certainly not allowed to acquire profit. Pel is determined to change that, even if she has to masquerade as a man to do it. Unfortunately, she finds herself falling in love with Quark, a complication she hadn't intended on.

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I actually enjoyed this episode, because I did not have good memories of it. However, this time there were no really offensive parts (offensive to my sense of humour, if not to my morality) other than seeing a close-up of Zek's ear hair being combed. I could have done without that. Hell, we don't even get any Ferengi screaming! There is some laughter, however, that felt like fingernails on a blackboard.

What we got instead was an examination of gender roles in Ferengi society and Quark learns a lesson. Except for the fact, of course, that he *doesn't* actually learn it, but that's beside the point. The whole thing is almost offensive in itself, but Dax's acceptance of (and actual affection for) the Ferengi as they are mitigates that a little bit. As in the quote below, she knows how they are and deals with them like that. I think she enjoys the attention and enjoys the interplay between them.

The acting is pretty good too, though nothing stellar. Shawn has his moments as Zek, but I did find him a lot more annoying this time around. Actually, he's at his best when his voice lowers and he is threatening somebody. When he's talking normally, he's almost so shrill that it hurts my ears. The final confrontation between Pel, Quark, and Zek is wonderful because of that. The two Dosi, Zyree and Inglotu (Emilia Crow and Brian Thompson) are pretty good, if a little too thug-like. (Fans of The X-Files will recognize Thompson as the Alien Bounty Hunter) Udy is actually pretty good, as it's sometimes hard to tell that she is a woman when she's got her full male Ferengi make-up on. She lowers her voice quite effectively. She also shows that she's in love quite well, with lingering glances at Quark.

The rest of the characters on the show get little or nothing to do. The scene where Zek first comes on the station is marvelous with Sisko (Avery Brooks) and Kira (Nana Visitor) requesting Zek's assurance that the Dosi will not be cheated. Sisko shows he has the mind of a Ferengi in backing Zek into a corner. However, this scene produces the sub-plot of Zek pursuing Kira, which doesn't lead anywhere interesting (other than producing Dax's line quoted at the end of this review). It's too obvious and not well-played at all by either Visitor or Shawn.

There is one thing that I found fascinating however, especially coming immediately after the "please hit me on the head with your message" episode Melora. In "Rules of Acquisition," we have a very effective indication that homosexuality is widely accepted in the 24th century. Dax realizes that Pel is in love with Quark and talks to her about it. She *then* finds out that Pel is a woman. The fact that Dax doesn't even bat an eyelash about Pel's feelings when she thinks Pel is a man speaks volumes and is a much more subtle morality statement then a bludgeoning episode like TNG's "The Outcast." Kudos to the writers for putting this in.

This episode also introduces the concept of the Dominion, which will have far-reaching effects on the show. We don't see the Dominion in action, but we get a sense of just how far the Dominion's reach goes, as the Dosi give Quark a link to them. Right now, there's no hint as to what they are. They could just be a trading consortium of some sort. But I do remember my alarm bells going off when I first saw this episode.

The main problem with "Rules of Acquisition," however, is Quark, or at least his abrupt feelings for Pel. He's clearly uncomfortable when Pel reveals herself to him, and he's clearly against everything that Pel has done to make herself noticed. I can understand Quark defending Pel to Zek, but the ending of the episode just doesn't to make sense. He acts like he has feelings for Pel when there's no way they could have developed that quickly. Unless, of course, we're seeing that Quark swings from that side of the fence too, which we haven't seen any sign of and never will again. I just found the whole thing unbelievable.

All in all, "Rules of Acquisition" is an enjoyable fluff episode. It doesn't say much, despite the fact that it deals with gender issues. Instead, it's a comedy that mostly works, or at least doesn't offend. I didn't laugh very much, but I did chuckle now and again. Is that all we can ask?

Memorable Quotes
"They're greedy, misogynistic, untrustworthy little trolls and I wouldn't turn my back on one of them for a second."

"Neither would I. But once you accept that, you'll find they can be a lot of fun." Kira & Dax, about the Ferengi

"You're…starting to *annoy* me." Inglotu to Quark, echoing the audience, perhaps?

4 Stars

Book Review - Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey

Jacqueline Carey is an interesting writer. She's best known for the Kushiel series of books, a series noted for their sado-masochistic tone as well as their excellent world-building (I say "known" since I haven't actually read them yet, though I do have them). They are thick books and evidently fairly dark. I look forward to actually reading them one day and seeing if they match my taste.

However, with the thriving urban fantasy market out there, it's not a surprise that she might want to dip her hand into it. Dark Currents is her latest novel, and is apparently the first in a series of books about Daisy Johannson, a half-breed (her father is a demon) agent of Hel (a Norse goddess). Typical urban fantasy has a heroic (and sexy) female protagonist who's dealing with something supernatural, be it vampires, werewolves, demons, magic, or what have you. Dark Currents is no different. I'm not a big fan of the genre, though a number of authors have attracted my attention and made me get past my animosity towards it (Devon Monk, to name one example).

Carey is now another author who has done so. Despite Carey's dark reputation (or, better put, reputation for dark books), Dark Currents is actually quite funny. The tone of the book almost causes whiplash (and may literally cause it if you've just read a Kushiel book before reading this one, though I'm not a doctor so can't say that for sure). The subject matter is still dark, but Carey tells it with a light tone characteristic of the genre. She matches it perfectly.

My review is up on Curled Up With a Good Book.

From the review:

"The Michigan resort town of Pemkowet is a strange place, full of eldritch beings that live side-by-side with normal ("mundane") people: ghouls, werewolves, fairies, nymphs, even vampires. It's also the hometown to an agent of the Norse goddess Hel, Daisy Johanssen. Daisy's father is a demon, so she's already a half-breed. She even has a tail. Working for the local police force as a clerk, she also takes on tasks for Hel that have to do with the supernatural community. When a young college student drowns in the river, signs point to more than just a drowning, and the local police chief asks Daisy to help with the investigation. What was the boy doing on that fateful night? Will Daisy and friends be able to solve the crime before the resort town is shut down by normal humans who are getting tired of co-existing with the supernatural?"

The story does delve down into some rather peculiar sexual practices (which will mean Carey fans can breath a sigh of relief), but it doesn't show them "on-screen" and Daisy is a very breezy narrator. She's able to lighten the tone of the book quite a bit, even as she's horrified by the implications of what really happened.

Even if you're not a fan of the genre, Dark Currents is excellent. More detail on why can be found in the review.

Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 25 - Melora

After the wonderful Cardassians, you would think that Deep Space Nine was on an upswing. Unfortunately, that would not be true. "Melora" has to be the worst episode of the series so far, worse than Q-Less, and that's saying something! This episode is so bland and boring that I couldn't even find a quote for the end of this review. A couple of Quark's (Armin Shimmerman) lines come close to being quote-worthy, but they're too long. "Melora" contains the three killer B's: Bad Acting, Bad Dialogue and Bad Plotting. Put this mish-mash together and you get the fourth killer B: plain, simple, Badness.

A new cartographer is coming to the station on a mapping mission to the Gamma Quadrant. Her name is Melora (Daphne Ashbrook), and she's from the low-gravity planet of Elaysia. Because of this, when she's in normal gravity, she must use a wheelchair and leg supports if she's walking. She also comes bearing an enormous chip on her shoulder because she's tired of everybody trying to make special allowances for her. She's the stereotypical "handicapped person with an attitude" that we've seen in all of those "the disabled are people too" after school specials. She bristles when Commander Sisko (Avery Brooks) won't let her pilot a runabout by herself, despite the fact that no newly assigned ensign would be allowed to do it. She does form a special relationship with Dr. Bashir (Siddig El Fadil), though, which quickly blossoms to romance. When Bashir discovers that there may be a way to make Melora able to walk without help, she has a dilemma.

Meanwhile, Quark is confronted by an old "friend" (Peter Crombie) who he sold out to the Romulans eight years ago. Now Fallit Kot is back to exact his revenge. Much Ferengi whining ensues, though thankfully there is no screaming. I think I would have put my foot through my 47" widescreen TV if I had to put up with more of that.

"Melora" is not of the "so bad it's funny" vein of television shows. No, it's just bad. Some shows take themselves so seriously and try so hard to be "relevant" that they make a mockery of themselves. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when it first came out, I'm sure was intended to be a serious movie, but we now laugh at it. We don't laugh at "Melora," though. We resent the 45 minutes we spent with it. The writers go through every disabled cliche; in the book: Melora attacks everybody to keep anybody from getting too close. Dr. Bashir forces her to see that being dependent on somebody is not a bad thing. Dr. Bashir falls in love with his patient (thankfully, though, he waits until she's not his patient to do so, but then he becomes her doctor again when he begins the treatments to make her walk). The Quark story doesn't suffer as much as the Melora story, but it too is fairly standard stuff. Odo (Rene Auberjonois) gets to make some "I don’t like Quark" jokes, in which Auberjonois appears to just go through the motions. There's really not a lot of substance in any of these.

The story also has a couple of incidents of questionable morality. First, there's Melora's decision about Bashir's treatment. I couldn't believe that Bashir would even offer to change who Melora fundamentally is. The low-gravity existence is part of being an Elaysian. Sure, being able to walk while she's in Starfleet would make her life a little bit easier. But she would effectively be cutting off her entire world, her entire heritage. It would be like asking a Vulcan to give up logic so he can better relate to the humans he's going to be working with. It's just ridiculous.



[MAJOR SPOILER IN THIS PARAGRAPH] The second issue is a combination of this episode and the series itself. When Melora ultimately decides not to go ahead with the treatments, Bashir looks completely crestfallen. The final scene has an uncomfortable moment at dinner between Bashir and her, where Bashir apparently struggles to be affectionate to her, the disappointment all over his face. While that could usually be explained as a temporary thing and he'd get over it, the fact that she's never even referred to again says a lot about Bashir that I don't necessarily like. I'm sure it wasn't intentional on the production side of the story, but the way El Fadil played it combined with that fact was actually quite repugnant.
[END OF SPOILER]

The acting in the episode ranges from passable to atrocious. Crombie is pretty wooden and Ashbrook tries way too hard. El Fadil doesn't have much to play off of, which makes him come off pretty badly too. The zero-gravity scene in Melora's quarters, while it's supposed to be romantic and touching, comes off as very flat. The rest of the cast phones it in too. When even Auberjonois looks bored, you know there's a problem. Wait. Nana Visitor, as Kira, delivers her two lines fairly well, so I shouldn't leave her out. Her "aye, sir" and "the ship [I can't remember its name – Dave] has docked" were well-done. I think she's probably glad she didn't have much to do. Oh, and Ron Taylor is wonderful as the Klingon chef. He does play the role with some gusto.

That's about it. This episode has a couple of inadvertently offensive aspects, but everything else is just bland and boring. After such a wonderful high in the last episode, somebody should have warned them about that cliff they were about to fall off of. Hopefully, the next episode will be better. There's nowhere to go but up.

1 Star

Podcast Stuff - Episode 52 of Down the Hall

Isn't it amazing what you can do with DNA?

In this week's episode, we talk about how a researcher has managed to code every one of Shakespeare's sonnets into a strand of his DNA (the "why" of this may elude you). Is this the key to our data storage solutions? Not until it doesn't cost you multiple thousands of dollars to decode the DNA strand. But it's still cool!

We also have part 2 of our interview with Dr. Michael Marker, talking about the challenges involved with bringing good education to remote indigenous communities, as well as getting a little bit metaphysical. How about the clash of cultures when attempting to bring teachers to these communities from the outside? It's another great interview, one that I know you'll enjoy (though you should listen to Part 1 if you haven't already).

All of this, the remains of an English king, and why Penguins don't tweet!

You can check out episode 52 here.

You know what else you could do on this Valentine's Day (ok, week, since we still have a few days)? You know, as a Valentine for me?

Why not go to our Facebook page and "like" us?

You do care about me, don't you?

Don't answer that.

Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 24 - Cardassians

One of the horrors of war is the effect it has on the children involved. Innocent children who have done nothing wrong but are scarred for life anyway. When the war is over, what happens to the children left behind? In "Cardassians," we have a story that starts out being about that concept. It eventually becomes a Cardassian political episode, but it still brings to light the issue of the many Cardassian children left behind on Bajor when the Cardassians withdrew. It's an outstanding episode with no "good" or "bad" side (except Dukat, of course, who usually has something up his sleeve). I do wish more had been done about the issue itself, but that's a small quibble. The episode also marks the return of Garak (Andrew Robinson) in a wonderful showcase.

Dr. Bashir (Siddig El Fadil) and Garak are having lunch at the Replimat when a Bajoran man and a Cardassian boy walk in. Garak tries to say a friendly hello and the boy, Rugal (Vidal Peterson), responds by biting him on the hand. Very soon after this is reported to Commander Sisko (Avery Brooks), Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) is calling from the Cardassian High Command asking about the incident. Sisko and Bashir investigate if there has ever been any mistreatment of the boy by his adoptive Bajoran parents, and in the meantime Rugal stays with Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney) and his family. Bashir and Garak continue their investigations, discovering that Rugal is not a war orphan after all, but the long lost son of a Cardassian politician (Robert Mandan). Why is Dukat so interested in the plight of war orphans? What could it get him? Bashir and Garak have to figure it all out while Rugal gets stuck in the middle of a political power play.

"Cardassians" is an outstanding episode for one basic reason: the acting. Bringing together the likes of Andrew Robinson and Marc Alaimo seems to draw out the best in Brooks and Fadil. Meaney's always good, of course, and the other guest stars do an acceptable job as well. Robinson and Alaimo light up the screen, though. Garak is the ultimate game player, never wanting to reveal his cards too early. He leads Bashir around by the nose and Bashir is hopelessly outclassed. Robinson plays Garak with relish, with an almost permanent smile on his face as if he's enjoying one of the best jokes in the world.

However, he can get a bit uncomfortable, such as when they are visiting a Bajoran orphanage and he's confronted by some real Cardassian orphans. His brusque dismissal of the girl who asks if he's come to take them home shows this. Alaimo, on the other hand, is at his malevolent best, with oily opportunism seeping from every utterance. Considering that all of his scenes except the last one are on the viewscreen, and thus must have been acted against a blue screen of some sort, he does an exceptional job.

The rest of the guest cast do ok, though they aren't stellar. Robert Mandan (of the television show Soap does a remarkable dramatic job, though he does appear to be forcing it a little in his initial meeting with O'Brien before seeing his son for the first time. The same goes for Terrence Evans as Rugal's adopted father. Overall he's fine, but he occasionally goes a little too far, especially when his hatred of Cardassians is being highlighted. Poor Dion Anderson, as the alien who brings Rugal's family to the station, does an ok job with a limited role, but the makeup must not like him. He's doomed to wear the underside of a penis on his head, and it doesn't look good on him.

I have to give credit to the writers as well. The dialogue, especially between Bashir and Garak, is simply wonderful. Granted, some of that is due to the actors, but in this case they don't have to make a bad script look good. There are bits and pieces here that don't work, such as the above mentioned meeting with the orphans that doesn't go anywhere, but overall it's top notch.

The script is at times poignant (such as O'Brien's talk with Rugal about Cardassians and how you can't hate an entire race) and at times funny (when Bashir interrupts Sisko's conversation with Dukat to ask about leaving the orphans behind), with just the right mix. As usual, Garak gets the best lines, though Sisko has a few too. When Bashir wakes Sisko up in the dead of night to ask for a runabout to take Garak to Bajor, and then proceeds to tell Sisko that Garak won't tell him why, Sisko sarcastically says "will one be enough?"

"Cardassians" builds on the mystery of Garak, as it establishes that Garak and Dukat hate each other, but it doesn't tell us why. That's one of the things I love about this series. We're give storylines that won't necessarily be played out in one hour. Boiled down to its basics, this story is about Garak and Dukat, with the Deep Space Nine crew being manipulated into following along. Sisko even admits that he feels this in a log entry. While some crewmembers are heavily involved, it's not really about them. What other Trek show would make a story that's mainly about two guest characters? Very impressive.

There are a couple of quibbles with the episode, but these in no way bring it down in my eyes. First, there is an effective scene that reiterates O'Brien's feelings about Cardassians after fighting them for years. He comes into his quarters and finds out that Rugal and Molly played together, and he's incensed. He makes a vicious comment that Keiko (Rosalind Chao) calls him on. Later, O'Brien is very tender with Rugal trying to get to the bottom of Rugal's feelings about his own people. It seemed like a very quick turnaround to me, despite the earlier dinner scene where they were united in disgust at the Cardassian stew that Keiko made. I realize why the scene was put in (it would have looked very weird not acknowledging his prejudice), but I think the latter scene could have been played better.

The other issue is the orphans. Their meeting with Garak seems to imply that something is going to happen, but the story stays a political story between two Cardassians and the orphan issue is never addressed. I liked the ending of the episode, which shows the Cardassian reluctance to deal with the issue, but it jarred with the way the meeting scene played out.

Overall, this is a massive step up over the last two episodes. These are the kinds of episodes Deep Space Nine did best. Bajoran and Cardassian politics were a rich mine of stories, and when the show played to its strengths, it was a winner. Well-acted, well-written, this episode was one of the best of the second season.

Memorable Quote:

"I believe in coincidences. Coincidences happen every day. But I don't trust coincidences." Garak

5 Stars

Book Review - Armored - Edited by John Joseph Adams

John Joseph Adams has quickly become one of my favourite anthology editors. He's also editor-in-chief of Lightspeed Magazine, with each issue full of great science fiction and fantasy short stories. I have many of this recent anthologies just waiting for me to pick them up when I have a spare moment.

The latest anthology I've read, Armored, has a rather obvious theme: powered armor in all its forms. Mostly it's the armor such as you see in movies like Starship Troopers, but not always. Two of the stories in the anthology actually take place in the past, not the future. Some take place on a future Earth. Most, however, take place out in the depths of space or on some alien planet where the armor is the only way that you're going to be able to survive.

With such a seemingly narrow theme, you would think an anthology with twenty-three stories in it would suffer from too much of the same thing. That's not true of this anthology, though. The stories are quite varied, ranging from a cat rescue at an abandoned space station to steam-powered armor in the late 1880s to help a criminal fend off the law. The authors do an amazing amount of work bringing these characters to life, and even the worst stories in the book are still a treat to read. They may not all have worked for me as a story, but I didn't want to put the book down in boredom when reading any of them.

My review is now up on Curled Up With a Good Book.

From the review:

"The stories don't all take place in the future. "The Last Days of the Kelly Gang" actually takes place in 1880s Australia and involves the notorious Australian criminal Ned Kelly and an old man named Ike who is forced to create a suit of steam-powered armor so that Kelly can fight off the law closing its noose around him. A brilliant inventor, Ike self-exiled after the mishap of one of his greatest inventions. It's a nice character piece about the man and his regrets, as well as his relationship with the gang as he races against time to build the armor, hoping that Ned won't kill him in the process."

If you don't have an inherent bias against short stories, and you like to add a little powered milk to your story-reading coffee, you can't really go wrong with Armored

Note: The Kage Baker retrospective I promised last week will be posted in two weeks.

Why I Like Short Stories

I love short stories. I know some people don't like them because there isn't enough character development, or subplots, or there's not enough time to get involved in the story, or whatever. I think a well-written short story can be brilliant and very entertaining. I also like to occasionally be able to consume a story in a short chunk of time rather than starting three different novels or something like that.

I've never really understood the inherent hostility toward the short form writing. Sure, they're not to everybody's taste, but the amount of venom in this Wet Asphalt post just boggles my mind. Some of my favourite authors have both novels and short stories to their credit, and some of them (Robert Reed, for example) clearly love the craft of writing a good, focused short story. I don't buy the attitude that those who write short stories are slumming or marketing whores keeping their names out in the public, or anything like that.

Those are extreme examples of criticism, though. What about those who just don't like reading them?

Short stories can make you think as a reader. Some people don't like that, of course. They want everything handed to them on a platter with no real nuance. This attempt to engage readers' minds can result in some great stories that end rather ambiguously, forcing the reader to make up his/her own mind about what the story might have meant.

You can't do that in a novel. If a 550-page novel ends on an ambiguous note, I would probably feel cheated unless it was extraordinarily well-done. A short story, though? One that may take 20-30 minutes to read? I'm a bit more forgiving. I may not like how the story ended, but I don't feel robbed of my time once I have finished.

The short story allows for far more experimentation in tone and style as well. Sure, there are varying degrees of success or failure in these experiments. Again, if it fails, you haven't invested huge amounts of time and energy in the story. This can allow writers to do all sorts of things with (and to) their characters, knowing that the character may never come back.

One of my favourite short stories is "Story Kit" by Kij Johnson (published in Eclipse Four, edited by Jonathan Strahan), and I really didn't like it when I started reading it. It starts talking about six different story types (as stated by author Damon Knight) and explores a female writer trying to craft a story about Dido (from the Aeneid). Interspersed with this is the writer's attempts to deal with the failure of her marriage. One becomes a metaphor for the other, and by the end of the story you're really engaged with the writer's dilemma and heartache. It's a fascinating story, and I don't think the style would fit anything other than a short story.

What about the often-given reason for not liking short stories? The "just when I'm getting involved in the story, it ends" reasoning? I think that's looking at things the wrong way. No short story should leave the reader hanging so that they're "just getting involved" in it as the story draws to a conclusion. The narrative arc of the story should take the reader on the journey so that he/she doesn't even notice the length until it comes to its natural endpoint. If you're left "wanting more" because you feel the story is incomplete, then that's a failure on the writer's part. (As opposed to the reader wanting more of that author's work, which is actually a good thing)

How about the "I like to get involved in a story and the characters and a short story doesn't allow me to do that"? The craft of a short story is much different than a novel, and a good writer will pack enough characterization (even if it is done in shorthand) that you feel that you know the characters well enough for this not to be an issue. Yes, you won't get as much detail of the character's background if it's not important to the story, but I would argue that it's the same thing in a novel. Even with greater length, if it's not necessary for me to know that the main character likes tuna fish sandwiches, then I would hope the author wouldn't feel the need to tell me this.

Short stories don't allow quite the number of twists and turns that a novel can give, but they can still turn on a dime and surprise the reader. Many short stories do have a twist at the end, or at least a change in direction that comes at a shock to the reader. There are no subplots in a short story either, but that's beside the point of what a short story is.

One of the principle reasons I've always loved short stories, though, is the time element. I can read a story and then set the book down again if I want. I won't be stuck in the middle of a narrative. They make great reading for bus trips or something like that where your time is limited. I love novels too, but short stories make a perfect snack in between lengthy tomes, something satisfying to cleanse the pallet.

And you just might find yourself thinking more than you had anticipated as well.

There are some great short stories available online if you want to sample. Lightspeed Magazine hosts many of their stories free for reading without a subscription if you want to dip your toe in. If you're not into SF, then maybe some of the more "literary" stories found at Fish Publishing might be more to your liking?

Whatever the case, give a few a try. Keep in mind that not every short story is good, so try not to read one and say "nope, not for me." Try a few before giving up on them.

You might find yourself with even more great stuff to read.

So what about you? Are you a short story fan or hater? Let me know in the comments.

Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 23 - Invasive Procedures

For some strange reason, whenever Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has an episode about Dax (Terry Farrell), the character herself is marginalized. "Invasive Procedures" marks the second episode where this has happened. Of course, this doesn't have anything to do with the quality of the episode (in some cases, it may heighten it because Farrell's acting can be spotty), but it is curious. The "Circle" trilogy ended on a flat note, so could "Invasive Procedures" bring it back up to the respectable level that we expect from this show? Unfortunately, no. I remember hating this episode when I first saw it, but watching it again has caused me to re-think it. Instead of being a waste of celluloid, it's just a very problematic episode with some good scenes that are pretty much wasted.

A plasma storm is sweeping through the area of space where the station floats, requiring that most of the crew be evacuated and the station be operated by a skeleton crew. Of course, that skeleton crew consists of all the regulars and nobody else, but at least they had Jake leave (that would have really stretched it). Odo (Rene Auberjonois) and O'Brien (Colm Meaney) are sweeping the docking area when they happen upon Quark (Armin Shimmerman) in an airlock. He claims he's pining for his brother and while Odo scoffs, they don't really do anything about it. Bad mistake.

A ship hails the station with a distress call, and when O'Brien and Odo go to meet it, they are swiftly overpowered by a raiding party of two Klingons, a Trill, and another humanoid. The crew is swiftly overpowered and subsequently finds that the Trill, Verad (John Glover) intends to steal the Dax symbiont from Jadzia, which would end up killing her. While Bashir (Siddig El Fadil) initially refuses to do the procedure, Jadzia insists that he do so to prevent anybody else from getting hurt. Once Verad gets the symbiont, Sisko (Avery Brooks) has to race against time to stop him and retrieve Dax before it's too late.

This episode suffers from one almost catastrophic failure: what Quark did is almost unforgivable. Kira (Nana Visitor) at least addresses the issue while they're all waiting in Ops for word about how Jadzia and Verad are doing (she tells him that no matter what happens, Quark is through on the station), but it's never addressed again. There's no way that the show is going to get rid of one its major characters, which means that there will be no repercussions. He does help in the resolution of the whole situation, but given the fact that they wouldn't be in it if it wasn't for him would seem to work against forgiving him, at least to the extent they seem to. And just to add insult to injury, in the execution of Quark's plan to save everybody, we get to hear more Ferengi screaming. Twice. Oh , joy.

The other problem with the episode is that it's predictable and, well, kind of dull. It's so predictable that even the characters can see the future. Sisko tells Mareel (Megan Gallagher) that Verad will change once he's joined. He won't be the same man. She denies it, saying that while he will be more confident, he will still be essentially the same man. Then, of course, she's proven wrong in scene after scene, and we get to see her face fall lower and lower. We got lots of Klingon yelling at people, which is to be expected when they show up (and so welcome, too!). There are barely any scenes in this episode that aren't telegraphed a mile away.

The guest cast is up and down. They are mostly competent, but only Glover excels in his role. He plays the two Verads (the weaker, hesitant one pre-Dax and the stronger, self-assured one post-joining) very well. He also plays the joining scene superbly too. You see him almost afraid, shivering. Then he's in pain as the symbiont is put into his stomach area. Then the look of ecstasy and enlightenment when the joining finally begins. Also of note is his passion when he talks about how he felt slighted when the Symbiosis Commission turned him down for joining. "They reduced my entire life to one word: 'unsuitable'." All in all, it's a great performance by Glover.

Tim Russ plays the main Klingon, and he's almost unrecognizable (he later went on to play Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager, for the two or three of you reading this review who didn't know that). I thought he was doing a fabulous job losing himself in the role, and then I decided that he was playing it way too *loud*. He was almost shouting all of his lines, and we have seen Klingons before who don't do that. I think he was trying a bit too hard. Then there's Steve Rankin as the Klingon, Yeto (what a…non-Klingon name you've got there). His performance is pretty bad, especially his scene with Quark where he keeps saying "You stupid Ferengi!" Couldn't this scene have been jettisoned out into the plasma storm?

There is one scene (or two scenes, I guess, but they go together) that make this episode, though. Right before Bashir removes the symbiont from Jadzia, they share a quiet moment where Bashir apologizes to her and reassures her that he will do whatever he can for her. Then, when she wakes up after the surgery, Farrell plays the scene wonderfully. She feels empty, alone (she's had the symbiont for over two years now) and desperately scared. Bashir does his best to reassure her. These are two beautifully acted scenes.

Brooks also does well in his scenes with Verad, where he's trying to convince Verad to put the symbiont back. He's laughing and cutting up with Verad, trying to show Mareel just how different Verad is now that he's joined, and then tries to convince Verad. When that doesn't work, Brooks delivers his lines with the venom of a man who's just lost his best friend, murdered and taken over by the man standing in front of him. It's very nicely done.

Ultimately, an episode like this lives and dies by the quality of the acting involved. The story is hindered by the "idiot plot" syndrome, which requires the characters to act like morons in order for the episode to proceed. Thus, the actors have to carry it. Unfortunately, they don't. With the exception of a few scenes (mostly what I've already mentioned), they walk through the episode like they know it's just a placeholder for something more interesting coming up (at least I hope it's coming up). Let's hope that something is the next episode, because this one just doesn't cut it.

Note: There is a groan-worthy in-joke in this episode if you're a Star Trek fan. Verad and Sisko are reminiscing about their past and one of them mentions "The Cliffs of Bole." Cliff Bole, of course, has directed many, many, *many* Star Trek episodes. I did almost groan when I heard it.

Memorable Quote:

"I know. I know. He couldn't find a cup of water if you dropped him in a lake." - Quark (about Rom)

3 Stars

The Ethics of Online Journalism Correction

People make mistakes, especially writers. They use the wrong word sometimes, or they don't realize a sentence came out meaning the exact opposite of what they meant to say.

Reporters can be the same way, of course. Maybe they got a fact wrong, or further revelations make something they claim in a story untrue?

In the era of print journalism, corrections would have to be made in later editions. They would have a corrections box that would say something like "in yesterday's story on President Obama's speech, he was identified as President of the United Kingdom. He is, of course, President of the United States. The Journal-Post-Picayune regrets the error."

They didn't report every error, and accusations of getting the story wrong (intentionally or unintentionally) could still be leveled at a newspaper, but the fact that the story was written in a certain way would be indisputable. Somebody could grab yesterday's edition and show what was actually written.

With online journalism? For some reason, journalistic institutions don't seem to feel the need to do that anymore.

Sometimes it's relatively harmless, changing a misidentified person or the spelling of a name. Other times, though, it's particularly egregious and could easily be seen as the outlet attempting to cover its tracks.

Take the Associated Press story about the hostage stand-off in Alabama, where a man shot and killed a school bus driver and took his 5-year-old son hostage.

As shown on Bob Owens' blog, one term keeps getting changed.

When talking about what the man was known for in the neighborhood, the article originally said that he had patrolled his yard with a "flashlight and shotgun." It was later changed, with no notice, to "assault rifle." Hmmmmm. Think that might have something to do with the discussions currently going on in the United States?

Owens then notices them quietly (and again, without notice) changing it back to "shotgun," and then how it was subsequently changed to "firearm." He has a screengrab of the article stating it's an "assault rifle," however.

Commenters have pointed out that it was then changed to "long gun" with a statement that the gun had not been identified.

It's actually quite confusing, with one of the links mentioning a change now going to a more recent article that doesn't even mention how he used to patrol his yard.

No matter whether it was error or bias, where's the accountability? Why don't news organizations append the correction at the bottom of the article when they update it?

Even worse, I've seen some update or re-write whole articles at the same links without any notice whatsoever. If you receive a link to a news story where a friend of yours says "Can you believe the government did this?" and you can't see what your friend is getting upset about, it's very possible that the reason is because the article was edited between your friend sending it to you and you actually reading it and the offending issue is no longer there.

I'm not saying that every misspelling correction should be mentioned. If your article mentions the "Untied States of America" and you correct that to "United," fine. You don't need to tell the reader that the article has been changed. But when you get a fact wrong, or further information is added to the story, I believe it's the responsibility of the news organization to alert their readers to the change.

Something to the effect of "the above article originally said the man patrolled his yard with an assault rifle. Since there is conflicting information about what type of gun he used to patrol his yard, this has now been changed to 'long gun.'"

Perfect! Yes, they can still be accused of bias for using the original term ("yeah, sure it was a 'mistake'!"), but they can't be accused of trying to cover their tracks.

The number of people who trust the media is falling further and further all the time. Accusations of bias fly hot and heavy (and yes, full disclosure, I agree with a lot of the accusations). Actually noting corrections and changes to your articles won't change those accusations, but it would inhibit any accusations of them trying to hide what they're doing.

It would be a start.

I'm not letting bloggers off the hook. Ed Morrissey over at Hot Air always notes when he's made a correction or a change (I think the other bloggers over there do too; I just can't remember any specific instances). I try to also (though that would require an actual readership to hold me accountable).

Whitewashing your errors (or your bias) is never a good thing. It makes you look sneaky and just adds to the horrible reputation that journalists and journalistic organizations have.

"Nothing to see here, folks. Move along, move along" is a running joke on the Internet in regards to trying to get people to ignore something.

It's funny because it's true. Too often, that's the reaction of people in power trying to cover up their mistakes or their biases. Not acknowledging your changes is an excellent way to do that.

Edit (2/5/13): The LA Times gets it right in this story on how people don't want autographs anymore (something I may blog about later this week). Assuming that they don't change the article again at some point.

Star Trek: DS9 - Ep 22 - The Siege

It's Star Trek tradition that the last part of a two-part story is going to stink. The trilogy that opened the second season of Deep Space Nine started out so wonderfully, with two great episodes. The conclusion had a lot to live up to. Would it be able to? Sadly, "The Siege" falls short, even more so because the setup was so outstanding. "The Siege" suffers from some overacting, some faulty plot logic, and a pedestrian feel. It certainly has its good moments, but what a letdown.

Having been ordered to abandon Deep Space Nine by the Federation, Sisko (Avery Brooks) is determined to get the information that the Cardassians are behind the Circle's coup attempt to the Bajoran Chamber of Ministers. With communications cut off, Sisko orders Kira (Nana Visitor) and Dax (Terry Farrell) to find another way down to Bajor. There are old Bajoran fighters abandoned on a Bajoran moon, and Kira asks to be dropped off there.

Meanwhile, the evacuation of non-essential personnel begins, but Quark (Armin Shimmerman) is his usual greedy self and starts selling seats on the departing runabouts, causing massive crowds at the docking bays. He's burned by his own brother, however, who has sold his seat to a Dabo girl and left Quark stranded on the station. With the Bajoran army coming to the station, can Sisko and his crew hold them off and keep them guessing long enough for Kira to accomplish her mission and end the coup?

"The Siege" suffers in many of the areas where the previous two episodes ("The Homecoming" and "The Circle") was strongest. The first two were very politically heavy with a nice action sequence to sweeten the pot. "The Siege" is mostly action with a little bit of politics. Some of the action is good (the sequence on the Bajoran flyer with Kira and Dax was quite good, both in dialogue and action), but a lot of it seemed inconsequential. I know there was a point to it within the story, but to the viewer it seemed extraneous. Worse yet, it was boring. I know that Sisko didn't want to hurt any Bajorans, but the phasers do have stun settings, you know. The fact that they couldn't hit anything was really strange. The fact that they missed so badly was even worse. There also didn't seem to be much tension during the battle scenes. Each person would calmly peer out over his/her cover, fire a shot that missed by 10 feet, then hunker down again. Am I supposed to enjoy this?

Warning: Fanboy paragraphs ahead!
Then there is a plot hole that almost sinks the entire episode, though this is really only a plot hole if you follow Star Trek, so you might not care. It speaks to the internal consistency of the show. Two years before this episode originally aired, Next Generation aired "Redemption," a two-part episode about a Klingon civil war. Captain Picard stated that they could not get involved in the civil war because of the Prime Directive preventing the Federation from involving itself in internal conflicts (which didn't really fit my definition of the Prime Directive anyway, but that's neither here nor there). However, they were able to involve themselves in the prevention of the Romulans from supplying the conspirators, even going so far as to destroy the conspiracy by exposing the Romulans as the strength behind the coup.

Now, two years later, Sisko and company are ordered off the station by the Federation because the conflict on Bajor is an internal conflict. When Sisko tells the admiral that the Cardassians are supplying the coup, the admiral asks if the Bajorans are aware of this. When Sisko says no, that he hasn't been able to get the information to the Bajorans because communications are cut off, the admiral says that since the conspiracy is internal, then it is an internal matter and the Prime Directive applies. Huh? This is the complete opposite of what happened before, and it really rubbed me the wrong way. Granted, this is a problem with "The Circle", but since it was put in that episode to set this episode up, I'll blame this one instead.
End of Fanboy paragraph

He doesn't even look good in this role

The plot was fairly standard and thus not that interesting, but sometimes that can be saved by good acting. Was it here? Well, no, not really. The regulars are fine (Visitor and Farrell are great, especially their banter when they're trying to get the fighter to fly), but surprisingly the guest cast lets the episode down a little bit. Some are criminally under-used (Beymer is great, but he only has two real scenes, not counting being included in some of the action). Louiser Fletcher is also almost non-existent as Vedek Winn, as is Philip Anglim as Bareil. Langella as Minister Jaro is almost comatose. He was mumbling a lot in the first two episodes, but he carried such power and menace that it almost added to the atmosphere. In "The Siege," he's sleep-walking. Steven Weber is over the top as Colonel Day. He shouts almost everything and overplays the arrogance that the character is supposed to have so much that it made me cringe whenever he opened his mouth. He also struts around a lot, much more than the character really called for. He was probably the weakest of the bunch.

There are some great scenes amidst the dross, though. Beymer is riveting in his scene at the docking bays. Sisko and Bashir (Siddig El Fadil) are having trouble keeping the crowds away because the runabouts are already full but more and more Bajorans are trying to get off the station. Beymer cuts through all that with a lovely speech ("Where are you running to?") and that calms them all down. Also, the scene between Miles (Colm Meaney) and Keiko (Rosalind Chao) is great as Keiko questions why Miles has to stay behind and help fight for the station instead of being with his family. The painful choice that Miles has to make when all that Keiko wants is for her family to be safe and together is wonderfully acted by both of them. Finally, the scene that produces the quote at the beginning of this review is also great. Brooks and Beymer play off each other beautifully, and we see again how uncomfortable Li Nalas is with the status that normal Bajorans have given him. He's a man who doesn't want all the attention and the power that would be his for taking if he wasn't so mild-mannered.

Sadly, though, this scene leads to the predictable ending of the episode. Anybody who didn't see it coming a mile away wasn't watching very closely. In fact, that's one of the major problems with the episode. It's predictable. It's rather dull, despite all the phaser blasts, and the acting doesn't help matters at all. The first two episodes were so good, making this even more of a letdown than it would be normally. It's certainly an ok episode, fine for blowing away 45 minutes of your time and you won't regret it, but it's not one to sit down and make time for.

What a missed opportunity.

Memorable Quotes:

"I'd die for my people." Li Nalas

"Sure you would. Dying gets you off the hook. The question is, are you willing to live for your people? Live the role they want you to play?" Sisko

3 Stars