 |
||
 EPISODE REVIEWS | ||
 |
Statistical Probabilities Airdate: Week of
November 24th, 1997
Written by: Rene Echevarria (teleplay); Pam Pietroforte (story)
Directed by: Anson Williams
In short: Serious on several levels with a nice touch of humor,
"Probabilities" manages to successfully tie both a very controversial issue
and personal dilemma with the continuing war with the Dominion.
Summary: Dr Bashir is asked to help other adults who, like him,
were genetically
engineered, but were unfortunate victims of side effects coming from the
process. Soon, these
"mutants" take interest in the Dominion conflict and make some very
interesting predictions for things
to come.
Review:Perhaps I'm just pleasantly surprised following the weak
"Resurrection," but I
thought "Statistical Probabilities" was excellent. It managed to wrap
intergalactic politics and humor
together into a very personal story, something that's not easy to
accomplish. And it did it so
innocently. Five minutes into the show you had no idea it would end up
where it did, with its
galactic-sized implications. The premise on paper sounds ludicrous, but
Echevarria gave it the right
touch of quirkiness to make it *feel* like a historical sidenote, an
asterisk in the history of the war
that few in the Federation would have ever learned about it. Quite a
treat.
The key to making the story believable was selling the believability of
the original premise. Dr
Bashir is a socially adjusted "mutant" (I thought mutants weren't by
definition engineered.) who is out
in the open. The "children" are adults like him who were engineered, but
whose results weren't all
positive. It makes a great deal of sense, almost too much. Had the
episode held only to the first premise, it would have likely been a
failure. Bashir learning to deal with rascally mutants would have grown
old after 30 minutes. Having the war as a backdrop not only gave us great
continuity, but also gave the show a punch it would not have otherwise had.
Most importantly, the patients seemed believable. Yes, it is a little
easy to have each of the
"mutants" act a certain way, but that makes it easier on the viewer and
allows us to know each
better. Besides, such extreme behaviors are not uncommon amongst people
today with relatively
similar problems. Their dialogue was hilarious, and for the most part
their acting was fine. Contradictions, like Jack's disregard for Sarina
when compared to his desire to save 900 billion lives, in a bizarre way
make sense. Jack does whatever it takes to do what needs to be done, be
it stopping the "noise" or saving lives. If Sarina's neck has to be broken
or Dr Bashir knocked unconcious, so be it. All too logical.
Bringing everything into focus was Dr Bashir. His situation is a very
hard one to be in. Yes,
he's smart, and he knows it, but he's also often right, so people *should*
listen to him. It's a most
unusual situation, first hinted at in "A Time to Stand." He knows a
certain thing must be done
because on paper it is correct, yet beneath all that is the care and
concern of a doctor. This buildup
gave the story a realism, sense of personal drama. I felt like an actual
person was wrestling with fate during the scene at the Dabo table. With
all these heavy issues circling, we need an actual person to deal with them
to make them seem real, and Echevarria accomplished that with Bashir.
Without his decision, the dilemma of whether or not to turn the defense
secrets over would have been a mere abstraction, and though certainly an
interesting point to debate, it wouldn't quite have the same level of
impact. Dr Bashir having to decide for himself that he must stand and
fight the Dominion with his friends is an important statement as well as
quite a character development.
The word "courage" popped up several times, so many times that it had to
have been intentional, and I think it has a great deal of importance. What
is courage? Facing the facts? Trying to fight fate, no matter what the
cost? The show gave no answers to those questions, and I like that. It
would almost be against the show's main idea to make such a large
generalization. It is somewhat trite to say "Humans have facets to them
that mere numbers cannot take into account." But they do, and that's what
seperates us from being automatons. What I liked about it the most was
that the end sequence didn't necessarily rest on some noble ideal, but Dr
Bashir's sense of duty and Sarina's love for Jack - two rather plain things
that make each of us human. It is these things that can't be calculated,
and thought they seem irrelevant, they are what drive us to act the way we
do.
The dinner party helped set us up for Bashir having to decide between
his friends and the
calculations by showing us how differently he and they saw the same issues.
What I really enjoyed
about the scene though was the fact the entire crew was together in a
non-business setting, discussing
real issues. It's scenes like this that set DS9 apart - people just giving
their opinions about an
uncomfortable issue. Worf may not have been very compromising, but that's
Worf, and he gives his
opinions. They're all correct from a certain point of view, since issues
like these have no easy answers.
This is all something Trek would not have done ten years ago, and it's one
of the reasons I love DS9
so much.
We also got a good look at Captain Sisko. Even though his role was
small, I was impressed with the man's determination. It wasn't blind
obedience that made him think the way he did, but a desire to make sure
everyone survived the war, and I admire that. Sisko Avery Brooks' acting
just clicked in this show. All the strong gestures seemed called for here.
Gotta hope Sisko gets to break some necks before it is over with.
It makes sense to have Chief O'Brien's view on things too, since he is
Bashir's best friend, and once again he serves perfectly as the sort of
Everyman who's keyed in on things but isn't treated that way by others.
Maybe he did overreact to Bashir's statement, but it was the response that
was needed to be shown to contrast how coldly Bashir viewed things.
O'Brien manages to be funny without seeming unintelligent, and that's quite
an accomplishment.
Damar is apparently in charge of Cardassia now. We didn't need the
mutants to tell us he was in
over his head. Weyoun was his usual smug self, this time whispering - or
maybe shouting - behind
the throne with flair. I got the creeps when he made mention to Damar
about how expendable the
Cardassian was, and I couldn't help but laugh when he mentioned how
exciting playing cloak and
dagger was. One diabolical son of a Founder. The only real stretch I
found in the whole show was
when the genuises essentially discerned Damar's background from his speech,
but I suppose they
had to tie the two stories together somehow. Good work here.
Problems? Really only minor ones. I thought something was amiss in all
the mutant scenes, and
looking back, I think it may have been the staging. That spacious room
wasn't very conducive for
antics between the four with Dr Bashir, and I think the scenes were hurt
because of that. Something
needed to be done to make the scenes in that room much more intimate and a
lot less planned and
on cue. I also felt that we needed a little bit more war talk after the
last two shows. While we can
deduce most of what's going on in the war from the show, I would still like
to see more. I think if we
saw the "900 billion" projections it might have helped. Hopefully, with at
least the next two shows
apparently focusing on the war, we'll have some more specifics.
So, overall, an hour well spent. The story has everything going for it
- a personal dilemma, good
continuity, more war developments, humor, and the return of out dear friend
Weyoun. Isn't "Resurrection" that new Alien movie?
Some short takes:
Romulans! Good to see the writers have them on their mind!
Ketracel White! Good to see the writers have worked out the Dominion's
supply problems.
Anyone else find it strange that leaders of major enemy powers are
allowed to walk the station
freely? I doubt that when Jiang Zemin of China visited the White House
awhile back he got to have
secret meetings in the Lincoln Bedroom. Well, maybe he did. :-)
More universal translator madness. Weyoun, speaking "Dominionese," is
to us speaking English,
but to himself he's not only speaking Dominionese, but his mouth is moving
like he's speaking
Dominionese too. Sigh.
Anyone else get the feeling that Jack had actually tossed someone out an
airlock?
The 900 billion causalties deserves some scrutiny. Presumably they mean
actual fatalities of
Federation citizens. That seems high, but keep in mind that it is easy to
destroy a world, and that is
the fastest way to kill large numbers of people. The Federation has over
150 "member" worlds,
which means, quite likely, that there are colony worlds that don't have
membership status. These
member worlds probably have native humanioid populations. Let's say Earth
of the future has 15
billion people, certainly not a large leap of the imagination nor a threat
to food or space limitations.
15 billion times 150 is 2.25 trillion, I think. Considering that the 15
billion figure is just an
assumption, and that colony worlds must fit in the equation too, it is not
beyond possibility that a
devastating war could kill 900 billion people.
Writing:I think I've made it clear that I liked it
Acting:Siddig displayed true pomposity like only the nephew of
Malcolm Macdowell could
Directing:Potsie needed to work on the staging. Aside from that,
fair debut.
Rating:9.4 out of 10.0
Quote:"Tell me, doctor, what kind of enhancments did your parents
have done to
you?"
Lauren, asking Bashir about the genetically enhanced "package" he got
Next week:A rerun. Interesting idea for a murder mystery/ love
story gone bad, but I
really don't want to see Odo naked.
| |
|
|
||
|
NAVIGATION PADD | ||
| ||