Hawkeye Live Reactions

Another month, another MCU property. We know the drill by now, I post my reactions whenever an episode of Hawkeye comes out and I'll sum up the season once the finale airs. All I'm hoping for from this one is some comfy Christmas vibes, so let's see if we'll get them.

Never Meet Your Heroes: Okay, so right from the get-go it's clear that this is not Clint Barton's show, it's Kate's. And you know what? I'm okay with that. As much as I enjoyed Hawkeye's arcs in Age Of Ultron and Endgame, Kate Bishop has already established herself as a much more dynamic character and Hailee Steinfeld makes for a likable protagonist. There's definitely something endearing about a character that gets themselves into difficult situations and have to bumble their way out, so it was really fun to watch Kate stumble into the black market and into trouble with the Tracksuit Mafia. Similarly, I like how grounded this show is so far, and not "grounded until the big CGI stunts" like Black Widow. The main antagonist so far is the mafia, there's no greater world-ending threat, and the action is definitely the best in an MCU show so far entirely because it feels tactile and real. My only big issue with Kate's story is the parental drama, which didn't really work for me. As for Clint, this episode mostly just establishes what he's dealing with and how he meets Bishop, so I do hope he gets some more screentime next episode. Overall, this was a solid pilot that does a good job at introducting Kate and has some pretty good action. I'd say it's a better pilot than Wanda and Falcon, but not as good as Loki's. Even then, I also think that if we got 50 minutes of Rogers The Musical instead, it would be the best thing the MCU ever made.

Hide And Seek: This was a bizarre episode. Fun, and probably an improvement over the pilot, but still very bizarre. This episode establishes the dynamic and banter between Kate and Clint, and it's really entertaining right from the get-go. This entire episode was pretty funny, but I feel like the dialogue and humor is more consistently on point whenever the two are on screen together. Their separate storylines on the other hand are a bit more uneven. Clint's subplot about going to a LARP event to get his Ronin suit back is hilarious. It gives Clint the screentime I wanted from the first episode, the "choreography" is fantastic, and it overall just feels like the right kind of bizarre. However, Kate's subplot about getting into a fencing fight with her new step-dad was a bit contrived and felt like the wrong kind of bizarre. The fencing fight was also just not as good of a setpiece than the auction, molotov, or LARP fights. Thankfully, the characters reunite by the end of the episode, and we get a pretty neat cliffhanger introducing the character Echo... who I don't know anything about. Regardless, my big takeaway from this episode was the fact that Hawkeye seems to really be nailing the things that FatWS kinda messed up in, with a much more charming dynamic between its leads, a much less forgettable antagonist group in the hilarious Tracksuit Mafia, more grounded action, and surprisingly solid pacing by MCU show standards. Let's see if the show will keep up this solid momentum.

Echoes: I enjoyed most of the action in Hawkeye so far, but the centerpiece chase sequence in Echoes is movie-quality. This episode has around 13-14 straight minutes of nonstop action, and it's all fantastic. From the fun usage of the environment in the Tracksuit Mafia's lair, to the cool long-take from inside the car, to the many crazy trick arrows shown off, the action is Echoes was just plain fun. It's also pretty great story-wise too. Maya Lopez (aka Echo) is a very sympathetic antagonist, her potential connections to Fisk is intriguing, and I like that her presence really hammers home that the consequences of Ronin's actions are catching up to him. Clint and Kate continuing the bond is great, especially when the former loses his hearing aid for parts of the episode forcing them to communicate in unconventional ways. Between Hawkeye and Echo, I think it's great that the show is trying to comment on deafness, and I'm excited to see how those themes develop. Unfortunately, I'm not really sold on the Duquesne stuff, which meant the last few minutes were a bit meh compared to the rest of the episode. Still, this was the best Hawkeye outing yet and I hope the show continues to improve.

Partners, Am I Right?: Hawkeye has pretty surprisingly restrained for an MCU show in a lot of ways. Coming after Loki where it felt like every episode with an entirely different show, Hawkeye has been a bit of a slow burn, and is the first MCU series to completely avoid the "shocking Episode 4 twist". The big moment in Partners, Am I Right? is the reveal that Yelena is after Hawkeye too, which we kind of already knew was going to happen. That final four-way-fight was cool, though I'm not sure I love the fact that her entire motivation is based on a misunderstanding. Otherwise, Kate and Hawkeye's friendship continues to be the best thing about the series. Seeing them having a holiday celebration together was adorable, and they had a heart-to-heart that went to places I really didn't expect the show to go. Although, their falling out at the ending was fairly predictable since this is technically the end of the second act. Meanwhile, the stuff with Kate's family continues to be the worst thing about the series and led to a pretty rough start to the episode. But now that we have two episodes left, I'm having a pretty similar concern to when I was watching WandaVision: How are we going to resolve everything? We have Jack Duquesne, Echo, all that foreshadowing for a potential Kingpin appearance, and now, Yelena and potentially Madame Hydra. It's seeming more and more like Hawkeye is going to have to stick the landing, and that worries me a bit since Marvel isn't very good at that part.

Ronin: I really liked this episode. It's definitely one of my favorites along with Echoes. I forgot how much fun of a character Yelena is. The opening that revealed she got snapped was pretty great, and I loved seeing her casually have dinner with Kate. Seeing as they're both going to be future Avengers I'm glad this episode established a dynamic between the two of them. I was genuinely worried that Hawkeye would fall back to old habits as Ronin, which made me glad that all he meant to do was plant the seed that there may be more to her father's death than she initially thought. And then there's the ending. It's obvious that Kate's mom would be the true mastermind here, which is why I'm glad that they paired it up with the reveal that Kingpin is involved! I really need to get started on my Daredevil reviews because I love that show, and I love Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin. I'm excited to see that he'll be showing up in the finale, and I like that he's going to be the thread that ties all of the characters together. I've really been enjoying how slow-paced Hawkeye is, it rarely feels like the show is doing too much for its own good (looking at you FAtWS), and it all seems to be building for an explosive finale. Let's see if Marvel can finally end the season on a good note. 

So This Is Christmas?: This was... decent. It still feels like Marvel kinda did the bare minimum here, like nothing really surprised me at all, but it still worked as the big finale for the show. It brought all of the characters together in this big final battle in Rockefeller Center with a bunch of really fun setpieces, and resolved all the conflicts on a fairly satisfying note. I think the setpieces this episode were particularly fun, like Kate trying to stop Yelena from reaching Clint, the evergreen tree being destroyed, and Kate vs Kingpin in the toy store. Vincent D'Onofrio still absolutely kills it as Kingpin, and I forgot how much I missed his growly, overly serious voice. I think he was nerfed a bit, he's nowhere near as intimidating as he was in the Daredevil series, but it's still fairly understandable given that was TV-MA meaning we can't have him smashing people's brains with car doors. My biggest concern about the finale is the fact that Echo shot Kingpin. If Marvel killed him off right after reintroducing him, I would feel pretty burned. However, it was off-screen and mimicked a comic scene that Kingpin did end up surviving, so I'm pretty sure he didn't die there. Yelena and Maya seem like they've firmly settled into the good side, which is nice, and I liked the ending where Kate celebrates Christmas with the Bartons. I noticed a lot of people were disappointed with the lack of major set-ups for future MCU stuff, but honestly, I loved that there wasn't any of that. Hawkeye really does feel standalone, and the only real bit of set-up here is the pretty solid reveal that Laura was a Shield agent. Overall, this finale was solid. A bit predictable, but I wouldn't say it screwed up in any major ways.

Overall, Hawkeye was alright. It didn't quite reach the high points of episodes like The Nexus Event or Previously On, but it lacked the disjointed structure of Loki, overstuffed feel of FatWS, and disappointing ending of WandaVision. Hawkeye is a well-paced show with likable characters, fun action, and a cute Christmas vibe. I think Kate Bishop will be a great new Avenger, and I can't wait to see her again in later MCU properties. I'm not entirely sure if this or Loki is my favorite MCU show so far, but the fact that it's so remarkably solid and lacking in frustration definitely gives Hawkeye a solid edge.

4/5 Stars

Arcane (Season 1)

I love video games, and I love movies and television, so it pains me that the "Video Game Curse" exists. It really shouldn't be that hard to adapt a video game, a medium filled with fantastic worlds and memorable characters, into a piece of film. While I'm not a League Of Legends fan, the fact that I enjoyed Arcane as much as I did is a testament to its quality. And with my friends who do play LoL shouting its praises from the mountaintops, Arcane does the impossible task of managing to appeal to both newcomers and long-time fans of the franchise, solidifying itself as quite possibly the best video game adaptation ever.

Arcane takes place in an aristocratic city called Piltover that, in spite of its technological advancements, has a massive class division to the point where half of the citizens live in the dark and dank undercity of Zaun. The main characters of Arcane are the sisters Jinx and Vi, two pretty popular characters from League Of Legends who were orphaned and raised in Zaun, and the story is primarily about how they became the champions we know today. The first three episodes in Arcane are about their childhood and the tragic events that separated them, and the rest of the season is about their reunion and subsequent realization that they have gone separate ways. Meanwhile, there's a subplot about two scientists named Jayce and Victor who've discovered a way to harness arcane magic, with the ensuing politics serving as the backdrop to Jinx and Vi's story. While these two storylines can feel a bit separated at first, they both do a great job of fleshing out the world, and when they intersect it can be really satisfying. The classism issues that Piltover deals with are fascinating and well-realized, and both sides of the city are equally fleshed out.

Out of the two sisters, it's hard for me to pick which of them is more interesting. After accidentally causing the deaths of her friends and adoptive father with an explosive, Jinx (originally named Powder) was taken in by Zaunian crime boss Silco, who wants to disrupt the peace within the city. Jinx delves into insanity, explosives, and villainy, but even in later episodes you can't help but feel bad for her tragic situation. Meanwhile, Vi was imprisoned for a large part of her life by a corrupt Enforcer (basically this show's version of a police officer), separated from her sister. She teams up with an idealistic (at first) new Enforcer named Caitlyn to track Jinx down and get revenge on Silco. Speaking of which, Caitlyn might just be my favorite character. It was really fascinating to watch her spend time in the Undercity and learn just how awful it is for people down there, and her blossoming relationship with Vi has been adorable so far. I hope I can trust the writers to pay it off in later seasons.

Then there's the Piltover storyline which is pretty good too, even if I don't love it as much as the stuff with Jinx and Vi. As mentioned above, the politics within the council are super interesting mostly because of just how shady it all is. The council members manipulate, vote each other out, and are at best completely negligent of the happenings down in Zaun. Jayce and Victor, the scientists working on the arcane magic, have a great dynamic, and watching them be torn apart throughout the season is just heartwrenching. The only thing I'm not a massive fan of here is the relationship between Jayce and Mel, which just doesn't work for me. Their sex scene is definitely one of the more clumsy moments in the series.

And then there's the animation. Much has been said about Arcane's art direction so I'll keep it quick: Arcane looks fantastic. It manages to blend together 3D with a unique painterly style, and while the movements are stunningly fluid and life-like, there's a great amount of exaggeration used that really accentuate the characters. The action scenes are fantastic, and the art shifts used in Jinx's scenes look amazing. Sadly I can't say quite the same thing about the music. The background music is great, but I'm not a massive fan of all the pop songs they used. It works sometimes, most notably in the godly Episode 7 bridge scene, but they usually just stick out. There's one scene in particular that sneaks in a cameo from the Imagine Dragons (who made the also not great title theme) and it just pulled me out of the show.

While the whole show was great, there were some especially great episodes, particularly at the end of acts:

The Base Violence Necessary For Change: Oh, I was not ready. This episode was already pretty eventful up until the halfway point. We got some surprising deaths, Vander being kidnapped, a cool Vi fight scene, Jayce and Victor founding Hextech magic. But then Powder's literal drama bomb shows up and everything changes. The final fifteen-ish minutes of this episode were devastating, from the myriad of deaths to Vander's climactic decision to the fight between Vi and Jinx to the sisters being separated. TBVNFC was definitely what sold me on Arcane and is easily my favorite episode of the season.

When These Walls Come Tumbling Down: The end of Act 2 wasn't quite as big as the end of Act 1, but it was still pretty fantastic. Obviously the highlight was the final few minutes where Vi and Jinx reunite only to realize that they both have drastically changed, but I also really liked the subplot about Caitlyn trying to heal Vi's injuries. It forced her to really gain an understanding about how the Undercity functions and marked a major point of character development.

The Boy Savior: While most of the episode was pretty good, that big bridge scene at the end was especially good. Jinx and Ekko's fight was a massive shift in art direction that worked really well, creating an action setpiece that was both really cool to look at and emotional.

Oil And Water: This is the point where the two major storylines of Arcane really combine into one, between Vi and Caitlyn facing the council and Vi's brief teamup with Jayce. This penultimate episode did a great job of setting the stage for the finale. Heimerdinger taking a tour around the Undercity was sobering yet surprisingly wholesome, the big Vi and Jayce fight scene was amazing, and the episode ends on a dark note with both Jayce and Victor going way too far in their own ways.

The Monster You Created: This was a great season finale, bringing the season's major players together in an incredibly tense dinner table standoff. Vi and Sevika got a badass rematch, Ecco and Heimerdinger form a cute partnership, Silco dies, and the episode ends on a crazy cliffhanger as Jinx blows up the council right as they're about to declare peace. That can't be good...

Overall, Arcane is a fantastic series, definitely up there with Vivy as my favorite of this year. The story is well-paced and interesting, the world is fleshed out, the characters are great, and the animation is phenomenal. It's a great video game adaptation that works both for newcomers and long-time fans. I have to say, it's a miracle it turned out this well.

5/5 Stars

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 7)

Deep Space Nine's seventh and final season has the difficult task of resolving the Dominion war and tying up all of the character arcs in a satisfying manner, and it mostly succeeded... at least when the prophets aren't involved.

Season 7 of DS9 is tasked with tying up all of the storylines for the series, and what ensues is a season that is incredibly serialized, culminating in an impressive (if a bit drawn out) ten-episode-arc at the end of the season. This season is mostly focused around two storylines, the end of the Dominion war, and the conflict between the Prophets and Pah-Wraiths. As always, the former storyline is fantastic, between Damar defecting from the Dominion, the virus that seems to be killing all of the Changelings, and the reintroduction of the terrifying Breen. However, what drags down this season for me is the Prophet stuff. Aside from me just not wanting this sort of mystical stuff in my science fiction show (I had a similar problem with Lost's final season), it all just felt a bit contrived. I think the premiere where we learn the prophets merged with Sisko's mother to ensure his birth (sounds kinda rapey, not gonna lie) soured me on the plot as a whole, but it doesn't help that everything related to the Prophets and Pah-Wraiths were so relentlessly boring.

Being the final season, the characters needed to finally reach the end of their character arcs, and there was some really good stuff here. The conflict within the Klingon empire that forced Worf to kill Gowron, Odo dealing with his identity as a Changeling and how it alienates him from the rest of Starfleet, Nog losing his leg, Bashir looking into Section 31, and especially Kira assisting with Damar's revolt. I think most of the characters got a satisfying ending by the series finale. This season also introduces Jadzia's successor, Ezri Dax. Believe it or not, I actually liked Ezri, and I think she's a much more interesting character than Jadzia, whose character arc was just loving Klingons. I liked that she was completely unprepared to have the Dax symbiont, and had to deal with readjusting to the station. However, there was some character stuff that just didn't work for me, such as Sisko's arc about the Prophets telling him to break it off with Kasidy, Dukat trying to bring Winn over the Pah-Wraiths side, and the annoying love triangle between Ezri, Worf, and Bashir.

When focused on the Dominion war, this season did put out some pretty great episodes:

The Siege Of AR-558: This was such a unique episode from Star Trek. DS9 has been doing a great job with dodging the glorification of war, but The Siege Of AR-558 really hits you over the head with the fact that war sucks! The gunfights in this episode are some of the most complex in the series, but they're also the most brutal, with many characters either dying or coming close to dying. It's also not a simple one-off, as Nog loses his leg in a shocking twist. My only issue with the episode is that it can be literally dark, as in it's really hard to see what's going on sometimes.

It's Only A Paper Moon: Look, I don't like Vic Fontaine at all, he sticks out in DS9 like a sore thumb. However, I do like how he was utilized in this episode, which does a great job of exploring Nog's PTSD after losing his leg in the previous highlight. It's a great buildup to a fantastic final few minutes, and Nog finally opening up kinda got to me. I'm still impressed that, when all is said and done, a Ferengi became one of my favorite characters.

The Final Ten Episodes: While I still prefer the story arc that opened Season 6, this was a really impressive undertaking for DS9 that at least ended the series on a truly ambitious note.

  Tacking Into The Wind: While this arc had some big turning points like the destruction of the Defiant, the most effective surprise for me was Worf killing Gowron and having Martok take his place. It doesn't just feel like a big moment in DS9, but in all of Star Trek given all the time I've spent with the Klingon empire since the first season of The Next Generation.

  What You Leave Behind: While I liked All Good Things for what it was, there's definitely something special about having a series finale that resolves a big serialized storyline such as the Dominion war. Not everything in What You Leave Behind worked perfectly (that whole fire caves sequence kinda sucked), but between the big final battle, plenty of strong character moments, cute flashback montage, and generally satisfying ending, I'd say this is a worthy series finale for Deep Space Nine.

But of course, you can't have a season of Star Trek without at least one bad episode, and of course it's a Ferengi one:

The Emperor's New Cloak: I've actually been enjoying the yearly Mirror Universe episodes, but for what was supposed to be the last installment in DS9, this was a massive disappointment. The Mirror Universe characters were already cartoony, but add in the Ferengi (and a bizarre Vic Fontaine cameo), and this episode just crosses the line for me. It's also a shame that DS9's second wlw kiss seemed a lot more exploitative.

Overall, Season 7 of DS9 is absolutely one of the most ambitious seasons in all of Star Trek and does a really great job of ending the series on a satisfying note. However, the prophets stuff is pretty bad and the season as a whole does feel a bit weaker coming off of the fantastic Seasons 4-6.

3/5 Stars

My ranking of the Deep Space Nine's seasons is:

6 > 4 > 5 > 3 > 2 > 7 > 1

My ranking of the Deep Space Nine's finales is:

5 > 1 > 7 > 6 > 2 > 4 > 3

My Top 5 episodes of Deep Space Nine are:

1. In The Pale Moonlight
2. Far Beyond The Stars
3. Trials And Tribble-ations
4. Sacrifice Of Angels
5. Duet

Notice how many of them are from Season 6.

And my Top 5 least favorite episodes of Deep Space Nine are:

1. Profit And Lace
2. Let He Who Is Without Sin
3. Ferengi Love Songs
4. The Emperor's New Cloak
5. Rules Of Acquisition

Notice how many of them are Ferengi episodes.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 6)

Season 6 of Deep Space Nine is the best season of Star Trek to date. An impressive lineup of some of the franchise's finest episodes and a massive step forward in the Dominion War, it'll be hard to top this one.

Season 6 starts with one of the best stretches of episodes in the franchise so far, a six-episode-arc about the crew trying to take back DS9 after it was occupied by the Dominion at the end of Season 5. It's an ambitious and fantastic storyline that's filled to the brim with impactful moments, satisfying payoffs, and a lot of action. The start of this season feels like such an important event, and it's great to see the characters team up to fight a major threat. These six episodes are mostly split into two storylines, one being about the Federation and Klingons fighting in the war and the other being about the members of the crew still at DS9. I love how the former subplot (and most of this season) focuses on how exhausting war can be, but the DS9 storyline is definitely my favorite of the two. Watching Kira, Odo, Quark, and the others try to survive during the Cardassian occupation is incredibly tense and scary. Pretty much every character has their own individual arc as well, from Odo facing the temptation to join the Great Link, to Quark turning from a fairly neutral opportunist to a genuine anti-hero.

Thankfully, as good as the start of the Dominion war, the rest of the season didn't struggle to live up to that amazing start. Even with DS9 back in the hands of the good guys, the war never really lets up, as shown in episodes like One Little Ship and In The Pale Moonlight. There are also a bunch of running storylines throughout the season such as Gul Dukat's descent into madness, Sisko's pact with the prophets, the ongoing Dominion war, and Worf and Dax adjusting to marriage, all of which pay off in the finale.  I will admit that the season takes some pretty big swings that I don't quite love, like Gul Dukat going full omnicidal maniac, the increasing focus on the prophets, and Jadzia's death, but I at least understand them. Dukat spiraling into madness after losing pretty much everything in the opening arc is natural, the prophets have been a focus for the whole series and could lead to some interesting discussions on religion, and the crew having to deal with a new Dax is an intriguing prospect. And even if some of the twists this season could have been a bit better executed, it doesn't detract from the fact that, aside from one unfortunate outing, Season 6 has the best lineup of episodes out of any season in the franchise. Not only are its high points some of the highest in Star Trek to date, there's a lot of them.

There were so many amazing episodes this season, but these were the highlights:

The First Six Episodes: As mentioned above, this entire arc was absolutely fantastic, but these episodes were particularly notable:

  Rocks And Shoals: The best part of this episode for me was definitely Kira's subplot, where she realizes that she's been complacent to the Cardassians after what is probably the most shocking moment in the series to date. When I went into this show, I absolutely did not expect to see a Bajoran hang herself inside the Promenade.

  Behind The Lines: I like how the subplot of Dax's mission is entirely from the perspective of Sisko, really capturing that fear of someone you care about leaving to risk their life and not knowing if they'd come back. I also loved Quark admitting that he does care about the "hew-mons", as well as the intense fight between Kira and Odo at the end of the episode.

  Sacrifice Of Angels: This was a truly satisfying end to the occupation arc, bringing everything to a great close. The big space battle managed to top Way Of The Warrior in sheer scale and scope, Quark and Odo finding ways to redeem themselves was great, and Sisko's pact with the prophets is one of the best Deus Ex Machinas ever (probably because it's more of a Chekhov's Gun). But the highlight for me was those last few minutes, with Ziyal's heartbreaking death being one of the most shocking and crushing moments in the series. There have been a few major character deaths in Trek at this point, but I think Ziyal's was one of the better ones.

Waltz: I'll always prefer the more charismatic Dukat we got in Seasons 1-5, but I can't deny that this episode is an absolutely fantastic depiction of his descent into madness. It's basically just a two-act play between Sisko and Dukat, held together by their fantastic acting and the sharp writing. Dukat's big rant against the Bajorans was just stunning.

Far Beyond The Stars: Many TV shows tried to write an episode dealing with the topic of racism, and the results can range from emotionally impactful to ham-fisted and hollow. Far Beyond The Stars falls squarely in the former, a powerful episode about racism that surprised me with how raw it is. There's no allegories, no subtleties, it's just real life. The difficulties with Benny putting his story into his magazine, Jimmy's death and Benny getting beat up by the police just for being emotional about it, the breakdown near the end where Benny/Sisko screams "I am a human being, damn it!", there's no sugar-coating here at all. But despite all of that, Far Beyond The Stars is pretty damn idealistic, with a message about never giving up the fight that applies to not just racism, but sexism, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, islamophobia, and any other sort of injustice in the world. Far Beyond The Stars is a mission statement for how the idealistic all-accepting future of Star Trek can be our future. Oh, and it was also really cool to see the cast without their makeup on.

Inquisition: There has always been something off about Starfleet. Even in the original series, I was never able to believe that they were as perfect and squeaky clean as I thought they'd be, especially given how often they came at odds with Kirk. So the reveal that the Federation has an "Obsidian Order" of their own called Section 31 was really exciting, as we got to see a completely different side of Starfleet. Outside of the reveal, though, this was a pretty harrowing episode that gave me a lot of "Whispers" vibes.

In The Pale Moonlight: It's hard to overstate just how big of a Star Trek episode this one is. Star Trek captains feel like they're supposed to be paragons of morality, always doing what is right no matter the cost, but this episode follows Sisko doing the absolute opposite. He bribes Quark, forges a Dominion meeting, and is ultimately an accessory to murder. By the end of the episode, Sisko did what he wanted to do, he got the Romulans to join their side of the war, but it just doesn't feel like a victory. And what's truly genius about this episode is the ending, and how you don't know whether or not Sisko feels truly guilty. Can he deal with it? Or is he just telling himself that?

Tears Of The Prophets: While not as massive as Call To Arms, this was a really impressive and ambitious season finale. After being on the defensive all season, it was awesome to see the Federation finally land a big blow on the Dominion, and the ensuing space battle was fantastic. Sisko's decision between Emissary and Captain was great too, especially since he made the wrong choice and caused the wormhole to shut down. And while the Jadzia stuff could have been a bit better executed, the sheer amount of exciting plot developments set up for Season 7 still left me satisfied with this finale.

While I loved most of this season, there was one especially bad episode that dragged it down just a bit:

Profit And Lace: I've figured it out! The bad Ferengi episodes are the ones where the Nagus appears! At first, I just thought it was the ones that don't involve just Quark, Rom, and Nog, but the Magnificent Ferengi was fantastic. On the other hand, Nagus Zek is an incredibly irritating character, and his appearance tends to bring in more annoying Ferengi. But while this could have just been your standard "bad Ferengi episode" like Rules Of Acquisition and Ferengi Love Songs, it just so happens to be entirely built around the "man in drag is funny" joke. It's so bizarre because the whole point of Profit And Lace is about Ferengi society trying to distance itself from its misogynistic culture, but it just so happens to be the most misogynistic (and also homo/transphobic) episode in DS9. Talk about missing the mark!

Overall, this isn't a perfect season. Not all of its twists are the best and Profit And Lace is pretty awful. However, Season 6 is as good as a Star Trek season has ever gotten, with a fantastic opening arc, an amazing sense of ambition, and a great collection of some of the best episodes in the franchise.

5/5 Stars

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 5)

Coming after the phenomenal Season 4, DS9's fifth season isn't quite as strong or consistent, but it does a great job of finally setting the stage for the long-awaited Dominion War.

The Dominion storyline in Deep Space Nine really did take a while to get going didn't it. I remember how excited I was when the station got cleared out back in Season 3 since it felt like things were really getting real, but by the end of Season 4, the Dominion and Federation hadn't really erupted into war yet. This season, however, actually feels like progress is being made. The premiere has the crew learn Martok was the Changeling, kicking off the end of the Federation-Klingon war. Sisko faces off with Eddington in two episodes wrapping up the Maquis storyline. Odo gets used to being a human before managing to get his Changeling powers back, Kira has her (and by her I mean the O'Briens') baby, and the halfway point of the season packs the fantastic reveal that Dukat has been secretly allying with the Dominion all season. It's such an effective twist because Dukat had really been starting to feel like a part of the main cast and even kind of likable, only for him to brutally remind you that he's still a major antagonist. As a whole, this season is stuffed with satisfying and rewarding payoffs, and it makes DS9's slow burn storylines feel all the more worth it. And then the finale happens, a phenomenal episode that not only starts the Dominion war but brings all of the major subplots and character arcs from Rom and Leeta's romance to Jake's writing career to a dramatic head.

However, Season 5 did feel like a much weaker and less consistent season than the one that came before. You can tell that the writers wanted to start the war in the finale, so they decide to go as experimental as possible to fill up the season to 26 episodes, and not all of those experiments worked too well for me. For every The Ship or Trials And Tribble-ations, there was a Nor The Battle To The Strong or Ferengi Love Songs. I also feel like there were just more episodes that rubbed me the wrong way this season, like Worf's awful jealous streak in Let He Who Is Without Sin, Kira endangering Keiko's child and justifying killing children in The Darkness And The Light, and Sisko not facing consequences for poisoning a whole planet. I've always liked how DS9 is willing to depict its characters in an unsavory light, but several of Season 5's outings felt a lot more unsure about whether or not it wants you to sympathize with its characters whenever this happens, which is odd because this wasn't even in an issue in other episodes like Business As Usual, Things Past, and Children Of Time. I think that's a testament to how uneven Season 5 ended up being, though the incredibly strong last few episodes at least end it on a good note.

At its best, Season 5 has some incredibly highlights:

Apocalypse Rising: Continuing the trend of fantastic Deep Space Nine premieres, this episode is an incredibly fun heist mission as Sisko, O'Brien, a newly human Odo, and Worf infiltrate the Klingons to prove Gowron as a Changeling. Aside from just how much fun it is to watch the crew adapt to the Klingon's lifestyle, this was also a tense spy episode with a cool twist that reveals Gowron wasn't even at fault.

Trials And Tribble-ations: Trials And Tribble-ations not only marks the 30th anniversary of Star Trek, but it also marks the halfway point of my big Star Trek binge. And having seen 15 seasons of Trek (and just realizing how absolutely unimaginable that is), The Trouble With Tribbles is still my favorite episode in the franchise. The writing is so sharp, the character interactions are so entertaining, and it's one of the few TOS episodes that hasn't aged a bit since it's aired. Trials And Tribble-ations is an incredibly fun tribute episode that throws the DS9 cast into that iconic episode. This may seem like hollow fanservice and I won't say that seeing that CGI Enterprise again didn't give me all the feels, but between the fantastic digital insertion, clever and meta writing, and hilarious premise of a Tribble having a bomb in it, Trials And Tribble-ations nearly manages to top the episode it's based on.

In Purgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light: I already mentioned just how fantastic the Cardassia twist was, but as a whole, this was a climactic episode that rivaled some of DS9's other behemoth two-parters. We got to see one of the Jem'Hadar's internment camps, the Federation and Klingons finally make up, Bashir is revealed to have been replaced by a Changeling, and Garak learns Tain really didn't die during that big slaughter back in Season 3.

Children Of Time: This episode gave me serious TNG vibes in the best way possible. The DS9 crew faces a really compelling moral dilemma as they have to choose between killing Kira and leaving their families, and killing 6,000 people including future relatives they never knew they'd have. While the crew does have doubts, it's pretty obvious they'll choose the latter, which leads to this haunting sense of inevitability. However, one thing that stuck is Kira finally being made aware of Odo's feelings for her.

In The Cards: This was such a clever penultimate episode built around the juxtaposition between a cute Jake and Nog storyline and the looming threat of war against the Dominion. While all the drama with Kai Winn and Weyoun is great, In The Cards was surprisingly at its best when focused on the hilarious main storyline of Jake and Nog trying to get a baseball card, only to accidentally make everyone on the ship just a little bit happier.

Call Of Arms: The Best Of Both Worlds will always be the most ground-breaking Star Trek finale, but Call Of Arms surpasses it in several ways. The start of the Dominion War impacts pretty much every character in some way, and this finale does a fantastic job of balancing a slew of big character moments that give everyone something to do with some of the best space action in Trek so far. Call Of Arms demolishes the show's status quo in a massive way, but it also ends on a hopeful note asserting that Sisko knows what he's doing, and that the crew will get their station back. 

At its worst, Season 5 has some of DS9's weakest episodes yet:

Let He Who Is Without Sin: TOS and TNG have these episodes that just feel clumsy, like you can't imagine how they ever managed to get approved to air on television. Episodes like Sub Rosa, Masks, The Empath, and The Alternative Factor. DS9 has been fairly avoidant of episodes like this, but Let He Who Is Without Sin is easily the most incompetent episode in the series by a long shot. The awkward writing, Worf's irritating jealous streak, the bad costumes and effects, the horrendous attempt at being "sexy", it's all so uncharacteristically inept for DS9.

Ferengi Love Songs: I said this last review and I'll say it again, Ferengi episodes aren't good unless only Quark, Rom, and Nog are involved. Armin Shimerman can play a Ferengi and make him endearing, but he's still an exception. Not even national treasure Wallace Shawn can make the Nagus likable. I didn't even want Quark to be reaccepted into Ferengi society, they're all so annoying.

Overall, Season 5 was one of the most uneven and experimental seasons in the series, with lofty heights and low lows, but it also made sure to do right by the Dominion storyline and packed in some long-awaited payoffs.

4/5 Stars

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 4)

Season 4 starts by introducing Worf and shaving Sisko's head (among other things) in the closest thing the series had to a soft reboot, but despite all of these changes, it ended up leading to probably the best Star Trek season to date.

Continuing from the ending of Season 3, this season revolves around the reveal that as of now, anyone could be a Changeling. Interestingly enough, there aren't too many actual Changeling appearances this season, as much of the conflict is spawned from the paranoia of the characters, culminating in the Federation and Klingons breaking their alliance in a genius twist. That leads to the next big aspect of Season 4, the addition of Worf to the crew. He spends much of the season struggling to adjust to DS9, possibly mirroring many TNG fans who started watching the series upon learning Worf is now a main character. As a whole, Season 4 hasn't made too much headway on the Dominion due to all of the interspecies conflicts, but the character arcs and subplots are better than ever. Dukat had a particularly strong subplot as he has to deal with the consequences of learning he has a Bajoran half-daughter, but there's also Odo dealing with having killed a changeling, Keiko having another kid, and Rom and Nog separating themselves from Quark and the Ferengi in general.

The Ferengi was definitely the most surprising aspect of Season 4, since despite getting three Ferengi episodes, I don't think any of them were all that bad. It helps that they focused heavily on the core family of Quark, Rom, and Nog, who are definitely the most likable and developed in the species. I particularly found the comedy-driven Little Green Men to be surprisingly entertaining and well-written. I also think Sisko became a much more well-defined captain this season, though that's probably because Avery Brooks looks a lot more badass when he's bald. While I was a bit let down by last season's finale, the Season 4 finale did a much better job of maintaining a small scale while still having that finale feel, completely bringing the season full circle. In addition, Season 4 of DS9 managed to completely usurp TNG's sixth season as the most consistently strong of the series, with hardly any weak episodes whatsoever (aside from The Muse, of course). Sadly, I do think the second half of the season is generally a bit weaker than the first, but even at its worst, Season 4 manages to be pretty damn great. 

By its nature, Season 4 has a lot of potential high points, but these are my favorites:

Way Of The Warrior: The Klingons have been Federation allies for so long, it's kind of painful seeing them go back to being antagonists again. However, it did lead to one of the coolest battle sequences in the series, really showing how far Star Trek has gone from Kirk vs The Gorn. Worf joining the show works perfectly, and his character arc is some of his best material since the Klingon Civil War. Way Of The Warrior is a massive season premiere, filled with action, character work, and sweeping twists that start this season on probably the best note out of any Star Trek season.

The Visitor: The Visitor is a very different type of episode for Star Trek. It even feels kind of unfitting after the action-packed and plot-heavy Way Of The Warrior. However, this is also an incredibly well-written and emotional episode about dealing with losing a father, and it solidifies as Jake Sisko as a far more successful child character than Wes ever was. I also really liked seeing the alternate future, particularly getting to see Nog in the captain's chair.

Rejoined: Despite his role in making TNG the success that it is, the more I learn about executive producer Rick Berman, the less I like him. Notably, he seems to have vetoed pretty much every attempt at tackling LGBT themes, which is why we got the disaster that was The Outcast. And that's why Rejoined felt so big. This episode felt like a big middle finger towards Berman, an episode entirely about two women in a relationship containing the fifth lesbian kiss ever aired on TV. It also aged really well too. Even knowing the two had to break up, I'm glad Lenara wasn't abruptly killed at the end, and the fact that Lenara is perfectly willing to rekindle her relationship with Dax regardless of her not being a guy anymore is kind of progressive! It helps that even outside of the impact, Jadzia and Lenara have great chemistry and their love story feels genuine in a way that many Star Trek love stories don't.

Homefront/Paradise Lost: This was a tense and compelling two-parter about the Changeling invasion on Earth, or at least that's what it initially seemed. Homefront has a pretty great conflict where Sisko get his grandfather to take the blood test to prove he's not a Changeling, and ends on the scary shot of Earth declaring martial law. Paradise Lost, however, is even better, with the genius twist that there are only four Changelings on Earth and that most of the hysteria is manufactured for political gain. These episodes have aged really well and do a great job of exploring what happens when paranoia gets out of control.

Hard Time: Hard Time responds to a massive criticism that many people have with Star Trek, the fact that after going through situations that could have been incredibly traumatic, the characters have immediately gotten over it by the end of the episode. Hard Time is about O'Brien dealing with the trauma of spending twenty years in prison over the course of a few seconds, and it's incredibly hard to watch. I'll admit that watching O'Brien spiral can be a bit too uncomfortable at times, but the final sequence with Bashir and O'Brien is a fantastic payoff and a testament to their odd friendship.

To The Death: This is an episode about Starfleet and a Dominion team forming a shaky alliance to stop Jem'Hadar renegades, and while it ends on a big final battle, the most compelling thing about To The Death is the long buildup to said final battle. The dialogue is pointed and interesting, constantly revealing new things about the Jem'Hadar. Nearly every character gets a chance to interact with each other. And the tension slowly builds as the alliance gets shakier and shakier, which is what makes the final battle at the end of the episode so rewarding. In terms of its screenplay, this is easily one of my favorite episodes in the series, if not all of Star Trek.

As per the usual, there's also one fairly weak episode as well:

The Muse: While admittedly I do really like the Odo/Lwaxana subplot, that main storyline about Jake is just so uncomfortable. The age gap between him and Onaya is way too large for this kind of storyline to work.

Overall, Season 4 is a fantastic season that changes the status quo of DS9 for the better, with a lot of really strong episodes, great character arcs, and the few rough edges that DS9 still had being thoroughly smoothed out making for probably the best Star Trek season yet.

5/5 Stars

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 3)

Deep Space Nine's second season ended with the introduction of the Dominion, a new major force in the Star Trek franchise. Their appearance shakes up DS9 in some pretty big ways, but I can't help but feel the show could have done a little more.

Compared to the first two seasons and especially the rest of Star Trek, Season 3 of Deep Space Nine is incredibly plot-driven and serialized. After the Dominion showed their face in the Season 2 finale, they've pretty much become the major antagonist of this season. Even other standalone episodes have the characters bring the Dominion up, and they feel like a looming shadow over the station for all of the season, at least until they wipe out the Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar in one of the show's most effective twists to date. Unfortunately, they don't really get too much to do for a large portion of the season. As a matter of fact, the Dominion hardly does anything unless they're provoked. It's obvious DS9 is going for a slow burn so it can stay somewhat episodic, and while I like how Season 3 chronicles the slowly rising tension between them and the Alpha Quadrant, I can't help but wish it covered a bit more ground. DS9 also introduces the USS Defiant, which allows the characters to go on expeditions and missions without needing a runabout. It's a much more combat-focused ship, even including a cloaking device, but that fits this darker series a lot better. 

While the Dominion stuff is great on its own, Season 3 also does a great job with the character work. This season contains a lot of truly fantastic character arcs, from Odo dealing with the reveal that the Dominion's Founders are of his species as well as his feelings for Kira, to Nog deciding he wants to join Starfleet Academy, to Sisko getting a girlfriend. While I keep saying this with every Star Trek season, Season 3's consistency is incredibly impressive for the franchise. Outside of a few individual dips, a large portion of this season was just solid episode after solid episode. On the other hand, I don't think there were as many particular high points as some of the other seasons outside of a few notable two-parters, but the general quality was pretty solid throughout. One last thing I noticed about this season is its odd structure. Near the end of the season, we get this massive two-part episode that felt truly finale-caliber, and then we got five more episodes to tie up loose ends. And with Sisko growing a beard and a lot of the characters going through changes, it kind of felt like Season 3 had a mini, transitionary season tacked on at the very end. It's another instance of DS9 ending its seasons in some really unconventional ways that oddly work, and while not as ambitious as the near annihilation of two major galactic powers, The Adversary was still a fine enough finale.

As I mentioned, Season 3 did have some notable high points, even if they're all two-part episodes:

The Search: This was a fantastic season premiere that drastically changes the status quo of Deep Space Nine. The Defiant makes its first glorious appearance, Odo is revealed to be the same species as the Founders, and from this episode onward, Deep Space Nine starts to feels just a bit lonelier due to the increased danger the Dominion poses. I especially like Odo's character arc this episode, as he decides that his real home is on DS9 with his crew.

Past Tense: At this point, I've gotten a bit exhausted with Star Trek's time travel stories, but Past Tense unpleasantly surprised me. This is a difficult episode to watch, especially in the decade it's supposed to take place. When it first came out, Past Tense was a brutal piece of world-building that shows just hard things were in Trek's 21st century, while also touching upon the state of California in 1995. In 2021, it's shockingly prescient and a sad showcase of how some things haven't really gotten better, between the rapidly increasing amount of homeless people, the police violence and frequent protests, and a weathly elite that sits on their ass and ignores the rest of the world. This episode was made in 1995 and while not everything is accurate (mental health isn't nearly as stigmatized anymore), it captures that sense of 2020s hopelessness perfectly. Also, seeing Sisko try to replicate a movement after its leader gets accidentally killed was pretty fun.

Improbable Cause: Garak was always one of the more fascinating characters in DS9, and this episode was a pretty entertaining mystery involving his past. The entire final third with Odo and Garak confronting Enabran Tain is such a fantastic sequence, filled with great dialogue, big twists, and a cliffhanger that completely caught me off guard. How was I supposed to know this would be a full-on two-parter? It didn't have Part 1 in the name!

The Die Is Cast: Well, I didn't think Star Trek had the guts. As a continuation of Improbable Cause, this episode is fantastic, with Odo revealing he wishes he could return to the Founders, Garak getting a taste of being back in the Obsidian Order, and the Dominion predictably kicking the asses of both the Romulans and Cardassians. But what really stunned me was how it all stuck. I'm so used to the Romulans and Cardassians being the major antagonistic forces in Trek, and now they're seriously crippled, to the point of not even being a threat anymore. I think this was the episode that really sold me on the Dominion as a major villain. They're ruthless, effective, and now, we know they're smart. And to think I didn't even mention probably the best space battle in a Star Trek show to date!

And of course, there were a few weaker episodes as well:

Fascination: The Naked Now was a remake of The Naked Time where all the characters suddenly get the hots for each other. Fascination is a remake of that remake, and it makes me sad how far we've fallen from one of my favorite TOS episodes.

Prophet Motive: I actually really liked House Of Quark, so maybe it's not Ferengi episodes I don't like. Maybe it's just the Magus.

Overall, while I was hoping for a bit more progress on the Dominion arc, the stronger sense of serialization, incredibly consistent episode quality, and great character work make this the best DS9 season yet.

4/5 Stars

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 2)

Deep Space Nine's second season does a good job of improving on the first, even if it still has its dips in quality. 

Season 2 of Deep Space Nine really has two major overarching storylines. First, there's the Bajoran election set up from the Season 1 finale. This season starts with a three-episode-long arc, a first for the Star Trek franchise, about the DS9 crew stopping a Bajoran extremist group. It's an ambitious and action-packed storyline that left me hoping for even more arcs like this down the line. Near the end of the season, we get an episode that establishes The Maquis (who would appear in TNG soon after), and an episode that resolves everything by having Winn (wait, is that a pun?!) win the election. Winn is still a fantastic and well-acted villain who gives me serious Umbridge vibes in how much more I hate her every time she appears, so I was simultaneously glad and angered to see her make more appearances this season. The other major storyline this season involves the Dominion, a powerful force in the Gamma Quadrant who everyone seems to be scared of. I love how this season planted the seeds of the Dominion in multiple standalone episodes, slowly building up the tension until we get to the fantastic season finale, where they finally reveal themselves and show just how much of a terrifying threat they are.

In terms of the characters, Season 2 does improve on a lot of missteps made in Season 1. Jake and Nog don't get nearly as much screentime as they used to, Bashir is a much more likable character, and great minor characters like Garak and Dukat get more time to shine. I do kind of miss when everyone hated each other's guts back in Season 1, but that also means it's rewarding to see the cast more comfortable with each other. Right now, the only weak link in the cast are the Ferengi, who are still very annoying and cartoonish. In terms of the episode quality, Season 2 is a bit more uneven than the first, with higher highs and lower lows. On one hand, the start of the season is fantastic with the aforementioned opening arc and classic episodes like Cardassians and Necessary Evil, and the end of the season is one of Trek's best streaks of episodes yet. On the other hand, the quality dips quite a bit in the middle of the season, with episodes that suffer from poor structures (Rivals), bizarre and annoying species (Sanctuary), wasted potential (Playing God), and one episode in particular (Paradise) feeling like an early version of Star Trek Insurrection, which can only be a bad thing if you've seen my review of that film. Still, while the middle drags, the strong start and fantastic final streak of episodes are leagues better than even Season 1 at its best.

At its best, Season 2 of DS9 has some pretty great episodes:

The Siege: While I liked the entirely of the season's opening arc, I think The Siege was the best episode of the trilogy. I love how character-focused the first third is, as everyone is preparing to fight The Circle. The titular siege is the most action-packed setpiece in DS9 to date, and everyone gets something to do. All the plot threads from the first two episodes in the arc are paid off, Li Natas has a memorable death scene, and everything wraps up on a satisfying, if a bit tidy, note.

Whispers: This was a fantastic episode, suspenseful as hell. With the focus squarely on O'Brien('s robot clone), you spend most of the episode having no idea what's going on, perfectly creating that sense of paranoia when you know you're not on the loop on something. Things just keep escalating throughout the episode until you get to that final twist, at which point everything just clicks into place.

Blood Oath: While I was watching the first half of Blood Oath, I thought this was a really good Dax episode about a bunch of Klingons. But then I realized that those bunch of Klingons was composed of antagonists from The Original Series, and suddenly Blood Oath felt so much more poignant. It dealt with revenge, premeditated murder, Dax keeping promises from her past self, rekindling your past glory, and the massive shift of the Klingon Empire since their first appearance in Errand Of Mercy.

Crossover: Mirror, Mirror was one of my favorite episodes from TOS, and it made me so happy to see Star Trek return to the Mirror Universe and even happier to learn that Kirk's actions had an effect on the place. Seeing a hammy evil version of Kira was absolutely glorious, and the whole episode was just pure alternate universe fun.

The Jem'Hadar: I love the way Deep Space Nine executes its season finales. They feel like standalone stories on the surface, but they pose massive ramifications for the show as a whole without needing to pull an explicit cliffhanger. This finale belongs to the Dominion, as we learn a lot about this new antagonist and what they're capable of. It establishes so many mysteries about the race and ends on such an unsure note, and it really feels like the series has been dramatically changed.

Sadly, the middle part of the season does boast some weak episodes:

Rules Of Acquisition: Look, I've been able to tolerate Quark on his own, and I admire the attempt to deal with the Ferengi patriarchy, but there's only so many of these irritating creatures I can take! I wish we didn't get our first mention of the Dominion in such an annoying episode.

Rivals: Look, I like slice of life episodes in my TV shows, but Rivals just felt kinda pointless. Quark facing off with a con artist feels like it should have been a subplot in a different episode, and Bashir and O'Brien playing space tennis together feels like it should have been a cold open or one-off gag. Also what the hell is Bashir wearing?

Overall, Season 2 of Deep Space Nine was generally an improvement over the first with a strong start and an even better end, but it was dragged down quite a bit by a rough streak of episodes around the middle of the season.

3/5 Stars

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 1)

Star Trek doesn't quite have a history of starting things on a great note. TOS had three potential pilots and they aired the worst one first, TNG's first season is infamously rough, and TMP and Generations are far from the best Star Trek movies. Deep Space Nine's first season isn't amazing, but it starts the series on a much better note than usual.

Deep Space Nine is a change of pace for Star Trek, taking place on a stationary space station rather than a constantly moving ship. The series is about a crew running an old Cardassian station named Deep Space Nine, as they monitor an incredibly important wormhole to and from Bajor. In theory, this show sounds a lot like Babylon 5, which happened to come out that same year. However, DS9 put a larger focus on the main crew adjusting to their new life on the station and learning to get along, as unlike the start of Babylon 5 and most of Star Trek, these characters don't really like each other for most of this season. DS9's cast is by far the most diverse species-wise, and seeing the show dealing with their cultural differences is really interesting. The biggest running storyline here involves the conflict between the Bajorans and the Cardassians, and a lot of episodes this season do a good job of fleshing it out to be a really morally grey conflict. The Cardassians occupied Bajor for quite some time and put a lot of Bajorans in labor camps, yet the show never depicts it as a black-and-white issue while still not downplaying the horror of what they've done. The last two episodes of Season 1 are an especially strong one-two punch, depicting a Cardassian who tries to force his entire species to admit to their atrocities, as well as a Bajoran who blows up a school in an effort to assassinate a candidate in an election. DS9 never settles for Bajoran good, Cardassian bad or vice versa, and I really like that about the series.

Outside of that, I really like how Deep Space Nine utilizes its cast. While TNG did a better job of being an ensemble, you could tell that some characters (Picard, Data, Worf at points) got more attention than other characters (Beverly, Geordi). DS9, on the other hand, not only makes sure to give everyone in the cast an episode to themselves, but it splits many of its episodes in multiple subplots to make sure everyone gets something to do. Compared to how Kirk and Picard were unequivocably the protagonists of their respective series, Commander Sisko doesn't get quite as much screentime, and I think that's kind of cool. As for the characters themselves, I think they're alright. Kira is easily the highlight so far due to her connection to the Bajoran-Cardassian conflict, but I also liked Dax and Odo for being unique species for main characters. On the other hand, Dr Bashir's constant pining for Dax got annoying fast, and there were way too many subplots involving Jake and Nog this season. As a whole, I think the episode quality this season was decent. Aside from Move Along Home, I wouldn't say any of the episodes were bad, but I would say a lot of them were pretty average and dull. 

Still, there were a few episodes that stuck out to me:

Dax: Call it a Measure Of A Man clone all you want, Dax still had an engaging moral conflict that dealt with the concept of a Trill far better than TNG ever has. The question of if Jadzia is accountable for the actions of her symbiont's past hosts was an interesting one, and I really enjoyed that judge who just seemed like she was done with everyone for the entire episode.

Duet: While I enjoyed most of this season, Duet was by far the best episode and it's not even close. I love just how conflicted I felt watching all of it, like I was constantly switching between siding with Kira and Marritza. First, I thought Kira was just being (rightfully) spiteful and vengeful, but then Marritza started to boast and I felt awful for doubting Kira. But then you start to realize that Marritza was just acting, and then we get that fantastic reveal of what he was really trying to do. The final scene where a Bajoran abruptly kills Marritza, doing what Kira wanted at the start of the episode, was heartwrenching, and served as a great bit of character development for Kira.

In The Hands Of The Prophets: Reviewing Star Trek has been an interesting change of pace since it's tendency to deal with real-world issues means I've had to show my biases a bit. I feel very strongly about keeping religion out of school and not using it to deny science, so naturally I found Vedek Winn to be an incredibly hateable character. She's so smug, so condescending, so sure that what she believes is right and that everyone must feel the same way. She should be a fantastic antagonist in the seasons to come. Otherwise, this is an odd approach to a finale. It feels like a standalone episode and isn't as emotional as Duet, yet it delves into Bajoran politics and shows just how tense things are. There's a school bombing, an attempted assassination, and a lot of election drama that I hope is dealt with come Season 2.

And as usual for Star Trek, there had to be at least one clunker:

Move Along Home: This episode was just plain nonsensical. The crew being stuck in a board game that Quark is playing, the bizarre costumes and set design, it all just felt so TOS. Given how Deep Space Nine is generally a darker show in both tone and lighting, Move Along Home felt really out of place.

Overall, I enjoyed the first season of Deep Space Nine. While many of the episodes were pretty average and I didn't love all the characters yet, it was already a more consistent season than many prior seasons of Star Trek. And with its compelling politics, well-balanced ensemble, and fantastic ending, I thought this was a great start for the new series.

3/5 Stars

Vivy: Flourite Eye's Song

One of the most iconic fictional rules of time travel comes from the show Lost, the rule that you need a constant or anchor when jumping. through time or else you'll pretty much go crazy. Vivy: Flourite Eye's Song is an ambitious time travel tale spanning a century with multiple timejumps, and it could have very easily spun out of control, but it manages to stay anchored and grounded thanks to its fantastic robotic protagonist. 

Vivy: Flourite Eye's Song is a show about the titular singer AI being recruited to stop a human-AI 100 years in the making by correcting pivotal points in history. Each arc of Vivy takes place during a different one of these important points in time, and the anime as a whole takes place over the course of these 100 years. With multiple timejumps and only 13 episodes, it could have been easy for Vivy to completely spin out of control, but it doesn't. I get the sense that writers were able to fully plan out a fictional history for the world Vivy takes place in, and being able to see the big events during this important century leads to a lot of great world-building. In addition, while the story jumps around, the main character Vivy's character arc is incredibly well-paced and natural. Vivy is such a great protagonist, you can feel how she evolves from a robotic AI who can't sing well to a far more emotional character who sings with all her heart. Her arc revolves around the theme of how you can sing with your heart if you're an AI, which falls right into the fascinating discussions on robots I like to see from sci-fi. Vivy's partner is a cube-shaped AI named Matsumoto who has returned from the future to send her on missions to prevent these pivotal points in history. He could have easily been an irritating character with his motor mouth, but his dynamic with Vivy is really charming and we eventually learn he's a bit of a sweetheart.

Vivy's pacing is shockingly great for its premise, managing to squeeze in a whopping six story arcs into its 13-episode-length without any of it feeling rushed or overstuffed. As mentioned above, Vivy's character arc is the anchor that helps the show feel cohesive, but each individual arc stands out on their own as memorable, with my favorite being the Ophelia arc, which managed to take an amnesia storyline (one of my least favorite tropes) and actually make me enjoy it. Between that and the timejumps, I'm impressed at how the writers of Vivy managed to take some really bad tropes and make them actually enjoyable. Another thing I really like that Vivy does is that it doesn't shy away from the cost of Vivy's mission. Sometimes, Vivy's attempts at correcting the past don't work the way she and Matsumoto would have hoped, leading to consequences of their own. Other times, Vivy is forced to deal with the fact that to correct the past, people she cares about are going to have to die. It's absolutely heartwrenching every single time it happens. 

As for its presentation, Vivy looks and sounds absolutely amazing. This is my first Wit Studio anime, but they absolutely killed it here. It's not even just the animation that looks great, but the general art direction and usage of CGI looks absolutely stunning at times. The futuristic backdrops, the intricate character designs, it's undeniable that Vivy is an absolute visual treat. The fourth episode in particular has a scene with a spaceship crash that left in complete disbelief that I was even watching an anime, it's that jawdropping! The action scenes are also fantastic, probably some of the best I've seen in an anime. They're fast-paced, kinetic, and incredibly clear, with pretty much zero expository dialogue. Once the action starts and the music kicks in, Vivy goes into overdrive and showcases some of the most fluid animation the show has to offer. The music is also fantastic through and through. Obviously the highlights are the vocal tracks, and I mean all of them. Each arc has its own major theme and they're all fantastic, and the OP quickly rose up the ranks to one of my favorites ever. The background music is fantastic too, though. The mix of piano and synth remind me of games like CrossCode and One Step With Eden, and it all sounds fantastic.

While the whole show was pretty great, there were some episodes (particularly the endings of arcs) that stuck out:

Quarter Note - The Beginning Of The Hundred-Year Journey: This first "arc ending" episode was a pretty bombastic one, culminating in a stunning scene where Vivy jumps off a crumbling building. There's also her first major confrontation with Yugo, and the shocking ending where Vivy is forced to watch as her friend Momoka (who I thought would be a major character) dies in a plane explosion, unable to do anything without altering the timeline further.

Ensemble For Polaris - Our Promise: This episode had everything. The Estella arc ended on a satisfying and heartbreaking note, Vivy got her combat program which would allow for much cooler fight sequences from here on out, and the ending where Estella and Elizabeth sing as they crash the Sunrise is easily one of the best scenes in the series, both for its visual beauty and emotional impact.

Sing My Pleasure - I Love You: While the Metal Float arc wasn't one of my personal favorites, this was easily one of the darkest episodes in the series. The reveal of what happened to Grace is incredibly tragic, and that final scene is even worse. However, this was also a super fun episode with a thrilling chase sequence set to a version of the show's OP, which easily became one of my favorite scenes in the anime.

Harmony Of One's Heart - My Mission, Your Future: This episode was pretty much a 30-minute-long action scene, and it was fantastic. The fight between Vivy and AI Yugo is easily the tightest choreographed in the series, and getting to see Matsumoto duke it out was so damn cool. But this episode also serves as a satisfying and once against sad resolution to the fantastic Ophelia arc, while also finally allowing Vivy to regain her memories of the arcs prior at the cost of all the progress she's made as a singer.

Refrain - My Mission: While the reveal last episode of The Archive being responsible for the AI war was probably the series's best executed twist, this episode really hammered home how well it was all foreshadowed and how much more danger Vivy is in now. Once people started liberally dying during this first attempt at stopping the Archive, I was pretty sure Vivy would have another chance, but it was still shocking just how horribly she failed here. The action this episode was also fantastic, between getting to see her and Elizabeth fight together and that fun chase scene near the end.

Flourite Eye's Song: This is easily one of my favorite finales in any anime I've seen, it really just nails everything. It was so much fun to watch Vivy use all of her knowledge from the past two episodes to come up with the perfect plan and correct all the mistakes that were made the first time, and there are some truly heartwarming moments between her and Matsumoto that show how much they and their friendship has grown. The action was great, Vivy's final song was stunning, and the ending was bittersweet while still being satisfying and rewarding at the same time.  

Overall, Vivy: Flourite Eye's Song is easily my anime of the year and is definitely up there with some of my favorite anime of all time. It takes such an unwieldy and ambitious concept and executes it so well, actually managing to utilize some of my least favorite tropes in some of the best ways I've ever seen. The action, animation, and music is jawdropping, the characters are likable, and the twists and emotional moments hit really hard. And to think this was a side project from Wit Studio, they absolutely killed it here.

5/5 Stars