Overall Rating: 3.0
Mostly...I think EEEEEEWWW sums up my reaction to this episode.
Plot Synopsis:
The details may be found at Wikipedia.org, but I wouldn't recommend wasting your time.
The Skinny:
First the less problematic issues with this script:
1) When we reviewed "Statistical Probabilities," we concluded that none of the mutants with the possible exception of Jack were scary enough to have been locked away in a nuthouse and barred from their freedom (and even Jack was too redeemable to really work). Well that problem is considerably worse in this episode. Even Jack is vaguely lovable in this episode, to say nothing for Serena or Patrick. And...Serena's cataleptic state was solved practically overnight by Bashir...are we really saying Bashir is just...that much better tha whole teams of top notch doctors on Earth? I mean...really?
2) If doctor/patient relationship rules were as bendable as they seem to be in this episode, there would be a lot of victims of diseases being taken advantage of by their former doctors. Just because you tansfer a patient out of your care doesn't mean the rules no longer apply overnight. They will still think of you as their doctor and you will still have a lack of balance in your relationship. It's not fair to the patient and it's dangerous for the doctor.
3) Statistical Probabilities, for all its flaws, and Doctor Bashir, I Presume (with its many virtues) took the issue of genetic manipulation seriously. Just because Bashir wasn't responsible for his own genetic manipulation doesn't mean there weren't consequences for it when the truth came out. And just because Serena is now alert and talkative does not mean she should be given carte blanche to do as she pleases. The very incentives Starfleet supposedly worried about for genetic alteration and eugenics are in play if people like Serena are allowed absolute freedom.
4) I don't get it...Echevarria is usually so good at characters...how could he take Bashir backwards four years for a cheesy man bites girl romance after all of the progress he seems to have made?
Now for the biggest flaw of them all - it's...fucking...BORING. The dialogue is weak and formulaic, right down to the singing and quasi-romantic gobbledygook. The plot is completely pointless - I don't see how this is supposed to be a big lesson learned for Bashir and I really don't see how this does anything for any of the other characters - even the mutants! And...I'm sorry but the acting among the mutants was terrible - especially Serena (nice voice...bad acting...sorry honey).
You know it's boring when that is a bigger issue for me than Doctor Bashir violating medical ethics and victimizing a girl just waking up from a cataleptic state. UGH
Writing: 2.0
Sorry Renee...I love most of your work...this one sucked.
Acting: 5.0
The guest cast was lousy, Alexander Siddig seems to have taken a big step backwards this week, and no one else had enough screen time to save it.
Message: 2.0
Yeah...I have a huge problem with the idea that it's ever ethical (and not punished) to dump a patient off to your subordinate so you can bang her. Please...don't do that again, DS9 writers...you're better than that.
No comments:
Post a Comment