 |
||
 EPISODE REVIEWS | ||
 |
The Writers Continue to Choke Field of Fire Review by Steve Perry Airdate: Week of February 8, 1999 Written by:Robert Hewitt Wolfe wrote the first draft, then he gave it over to the demons Directed by:Tony Dow Short Take: How lame-ass Angela Lansbury can we get??? Brief Summary: Someone dies, but thank goodness Ezri is on the case! Review:There are certain things you can forgive in a Trek episode. Ezri working all along to solve a case, for example, can be politely brushed aside, because having Odo with her all the time would have seemed clumsy. This is TV, people! "Field of Fire," however, was a waste of time and a joke, filled with cheap mystery suspense that in the end added up to nothing. Any episode that has the main character walk in a suddenly dark area, talking to herself by saying, "Okay, whoever it is, stop joking!" is one for the crapper. (I love how these smart people walk into dark places, talking aloud!) What's so frustrating is that only TWO episodes before we had ANOTHER murder mystery, ALSO involving Ezri, with it ALSO being pretty much pointless. At least that one had nice mattes. Are the writers crazy? I guess. Consider that the war is never shown and this Emissary bable has no direction. It would be nice to have an episode for *February sweeps* (okay, the show is dead after this year, but, still, it is a big time.) that had some relevance. And why Ezri? Terry Farrell may have been a subpar actress, but she was correct in saying that what acting abilities she had never got to shine because she was never used. Suddenly, Ezri's been prominently featured in the last three episodes. Considering how little the main cast is actually used now because the ever-important Nog needs screen time, this is absolutely shocking. Ezri should be an afterthought. Suddenly, she is the driving engine of the show. Is it a coincidence that the show's also in the crapper? Matters would have been helped if the writers had given her something to work with, besides a stale murder mystery plot. The tech made for some interesting camera work, but was hardly nothing to build an episode on by itself. No, for that, we needed a story that made sense. Take for example Ezri's "emergence" ceremony - a potentially good idea idiotically done here. She walks around, basically talking to herself, with only the occasional person noticing. Why not tell Sisko what you have done, so he will know? Or why not stay out of public why you mumble to yourself? Then, of course, Joran, a figment of her mind, has the ability to "see" and tell her things. Folks, this is not nitpicking. The episode tossed out a premise without even bothering to make it consistent. That's just laziness on their part. The bottom line is that it was just poorly written. I mean, listen to that opening scene. It made it sound like Miles and Julian were lovers, spending all that time in the holosuite together gettin' it on, thus explaining why Ensign Ilaurio couldn't intervene. Heck, a better show would have cracked a joke about that rather odd secrecy. (Incidentally, the subject matter isn't completely off-limits, as it was mentioned that the Bolian who died had a "co-husband" or something.) Or a better episode would have used two excellent actors like Meaney and Siddig for better purposes, by dropping this whole "we're goofy guys who fight the Alamo" bit once and for all. I can't remember the last conversation on DS9 from the regulars that was actually fall down funny. The only thing that came close to saving this episode, and thus keeping it from an "F" grade, was the fact that the use of Joran suggested a dark side within Ezri, even if it was there not because of anything in her nature but because if one of her hosts. We have of course seen Joran before, back in "Facets," ("Equilibrium," too) and he was much better done there. For a second I thought they may make it look like Ezri did it, perverted by Joran's temptations. For a second. Don't ask me why, because in retrospect it looks idiotic, but I played with the idea. Then Mr. "I collect guns" popped up momentarily, running from the law when he was innocent, and all thought of that was dismissed. Of course, Ezri confronted her dark side, but it was hardly compelling, since carrying a big phallus around doesn't automatically make you cold blooded, and she was far too perky to be the real killer. I don't call an episode where the climactic moment involves the good guy deciding not to kill the bad guy compelling. That's what good guys do. A much better episode would have had a disorder arising from her abrupt joining that led to Joran reasserting himself. HE was responsible for the murders, and Ezri doesn't know that she's been subconciously highjacked - until she uncovers evidence implicating herself, and she covers it up. After all, she may have physically killed these people, buti t was Joran calling the shots. It has a lot more possibilities and asks a lot more questions than what we got. What we got, of course, was a Vulcan gone nutty. As if they of all species go nutty. There was no real excuse given - he was just a psycho. Yes, the people in the photos were smiling. DON'T ALL PEOPLE SMILE IN PHOTOS???? Ezri's leap in "logic" was nothing short of magical. While we are at it, I'd like to hear more from him than "logic dictates it"... but then again the writers haven't been thinking logically lately. He was a random, pointless killer, making the episode random and pointless too. An existential statement, or are the writers just idiots? Remember, they also wrote "The Emperor's New Cloak." Strong words, you say. What else can I say? This season has been a joke. We've had three episodes - "Treachery," "Once More," and "Siege" - that I would actually watch again. The rest have been generally irrelevant and completely uninteresting. There hasn't been a delightfully witty line, a profound dramatic moment, or a truly troubling question in any of those episodes. As far as I'm concerned, considering that this is Deep Space Nine's last year and it should have so much potential, the fact these episodes are so bad are putting this season into serious running as Trek's worst ever. Some short takes: - I'm glad no one decided to check the security cameras in the halls. That would have answered a lot of questions earlier on in the show. - Incidentally, did anyone understand how the Chief got from the Davy Crockett tale that idea about using a transporter? I sure didn't. - Why would Odo, a shapeshifter, need protective goggles? Rating: C- Next week: Ooh, Odo has to decide between Kira and JG Hertzler! not only are they cannibalizing old plots- they're also cannibalizing old actors! | |
|
|
||
|
NAVIGATION PADD | ||
| ||
