3 stars.
Brief Synopsis: A former Bajoran Underground member claims asylum on Deep Space 9. While he has renounced his past now that the Occupation is over, he still has a violent plan to get rid of the Federation and will test Kira's loyalties.
Comments:
One of the things I didn't touch on the first episode is the supposed "confrontation" between Kira (the first officer) and Sisko (the commanding officer). Officially Sisko is a Commander, and he requested a Bajoran official to serve as his first officer, so they gave him Major Kira Nerys. She is not Starfeet (although she fits in the chain of command under Sisko) and she is supposed to bring in the Bajoran point of view.
There WAS a "conflict" in the first episode, but I thought it was very contrived. It seemed to be more of a way to say "this is not your TNG Star Trek". The potential for conflict was actually more in this episode, but again I felt this time it was underplayed rather than overplayed.
Also, if she has to go over Sisko's head, why would she call a Starfleet admiral? She should have just gone to Bajor's officials and let them make things tough for Sisko. In the first episode Sisko is told he can do anything short of breaking the Prime Directive to expedite Bajor's entry into the Federation. I realize things are left murky on purpose, but Kira here seems to be torn between her duty and her former comrade only for some time - she makes her decision rather quickly. Also, to be rather shallow here, she looked better in the first episode with the longer hair. She looks more like a man in this episode. I am not sure if that is what the writers were going for, but this has the effect of automatically portraying Dax as the alluring female of the cast.
Odo seems rather sensible - he wants her to take Sisko's side. I am unsure why Odo has warmed up to Starfleet rather quickly. When the Cardassians left, why didn't he? Does he consider himself more sympathetic to Bajor? Exactly what is the past relationship between him and Kira? I guess that will be explored later, and it's good for these types of "hints" to be part of the episode - shows the writers have a long term plan in mind.
Odo also becomes a rat in this episode and spies on a supposedly criminal exchange. In the season premiere he was a bag. I hope they don't make this shape-shifting a running sketch. I mean, it's nice as an investigator if you can slip into places unsuspected. This is supposed to be a civilian station though (sort of, administered by Starfleet). What sort of oversight does Odo have? He seems to bully Quark at will.
The most interesting aspect of "Past Prologue" is that it introduces the many shades of grey in Star Trek, and the heated arguments between Sisko and Kira highlight how much of an asset conflict between regular characters can elevate a series, if used correctly. Moreover the Garak character manages to steal the limelight every scene he is in. Why I rated it 3 stars is that the character Tahna is hardly fleshed out. Why would he resort to something so drastic when Bajor has just become independent?
This is a straight forward episode, with hardly any philosophical questions being probed. There is one thing though. When the Cardassias were occupying Bajor, these sort of terrorist activities by the Bajor Underground was celebrated by the Bajorans. Now that Bajorans are in charge of their own planet, the same acts by the same people are looked at as terrorists. One man's terrorist, as they say, is another's freedom fighter.
Thus it's not the action that's sinful (or unlawful), it's just the context. This is why one of the main axioms of Islamic Law is that actions are rewarded/punished according to the intentions.
Brief Synopsis: A former Bajoran Underground member claims asylum on Deep Space 9. While he has renounced his past now that the Occupation is over, he still has a violent plan to get rid of the Federation and will test Kira's loyalties.
Comments:
One of the things I didn't touch on the first episode is the supposed "confrontation" between Kira (the first officer) and Sisko (the commanding officer). Officially Sisko is a Commander, and he requested a Bajoran official to serve as his first officer, so they gave him Major Kira Nerys. She is not Starfeet (although she fits in the chain of command under Sisko) and she is supposed to bring in the Bajoran point of view.
There WAS a "conflict" in the first episode, but I thought it was very contrived. It seemed to be more of a way to say "this is not your TNG Star Trek". The potential for conflict was actually more in this episode, but again I felt this time it was underplayed rather than overplayed.
Also, if she has to go over Sisko's head, why would she call a Starfleet admiral? She should have just gone to Bajor's officials and let them make things tough for Sisko. In the first episode Sisko is told he can do anything short of breaking the Prime Directive to expedite Bajor's entry into the Federation. I realize things are left murky on purpose, but Kira here seems to be torn between her duty and her former comrade only for some time - she makes her decision rather quickly. Also, to be rather shallow here, she looked better in the first episode with the longer hair. She looks more like a man in this episode. I am not sure if that is what the writers were going for, but this has the effect of automatically portraying Dax as the alluring female of the cast.
Odo seems rather sensible - he wants her to take Sisko's side. I am unsure why Odo has warmed up to Starfleet rather quickly. When the Cardassians left, why didn't he? Does he consider himself more sympathetic to Bajor? Exactly what is the past relationship between him and Kira? I guess that will be explored later, and it's good for these types of "hints" to be part of the episode - shows the writers have a long term plan in mind.
Odo also becomes a rat in this episode and spies on a supposedly criminal exchange. In the season premiere he was a bag. I hope they don't make this shape-shifting a running sketch. I mean, it's nice as an investigator if you can slip into places unsuspected. This is supposed to be a civilian station though (sort of, administered by Starfleet). What sort of oversight does Odo have? He seems to bully Quark at will.
The most interesting aspect of "Past Prologue" is that it introduces the many shades of grey in Star Trek, and the heated arguments between Sisko and Kira highlight how much of an asset conflict between regular characters can elevate a series, if used correctly. Moreover the Garak character manages to steal the limelight every scene he is in. Why I rated it 3 stars is that the character Tahna is hardly fleshed out. Why would he resort to something so drastic when Bajor has just become independent?
This is a straight forward episode, with hardly any philosophical questions being probed. There is one thing though. When the Cardassias were occupying Bajor, these sort of terrorist activities by the Bajor Underground was celebrated by the Bajorans. Now that Bajorans are in charge of their own planet, the same acts by the same people are looked at as terrorists. One man's terrorist, as they say, is another's freedom fighter.
Thus it's not the action that's sinful (or unlawful), it's just the context. This is why one of the main axioms of Islamic Law is that actions are rewarded/punished according to the intentions.
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