User:Cleanse/Second of Pages

Cleanse's War on (Bad) Background Information
My ongoing mission is to fix up background information on episode pages. There are several aspects to this:
 * 1) Removal of bad background information.  I'm eliminating the following:
 * 2) * POV - endemic on TOS episode pages. Notes aren't required praising the directing, music, and acting on every episode.
 * 3) * Restating what happens in the episode (usually with a POV comment "interpreting" it)
 * 4) * Nitpicks
 * 5) * Speculation – "This episode could have been inspired by...". If we don't know, leave it blank.
 * 6) Organising information into sub-sections where there is lots of information.  I think the following works pretty well for an average episode:
 * 7) * Story and production – how the episode was made, from premise to post-production
 * 8) * Continuity
 * 9) * Reception – commentary from people who created the show, as well as any awards the episode won.
 * 10) Removing information that has been uncited for a while.

The worst offender by far was, where

Hall of Fame
Gaffes, incredible nitpicks, and way-out there information. A list for entertainment purposes only; we all make mistakes ;-)
 * 1) In this episode and, Leonard Nimoy has some serious nasal congestion. (From )
 * 2) Chekov's comments about Russians being responsible for all of the greatness of humanity were intended to be a regular feature. But except for this episode,, ,  and an aside about the Garden of Eden being "just outside Moscow" in , this did not end up happening. (From ). So it never happened, except for 5 times?
 * 3) (When Chekov enters the turbolift with Kirk he's wearing the gold sash, but when he's in the lift with Kirk the sash is absent. When they leave the turbolift the sash is back.) In terms of the Trek universe this can be explained as Kirk being in a state of quantum flux as a result of the transporter accident, and visiting at least two mirror universes.  Because every little mistake needs a grandiose sci-fi explanation.
 * 4) This is a list of unnamed holodeck characters; organized by name where possible. (From Unnamed holodeck characters)
 * 5) William Shatner hits a hanging rope as he leaps to hide behind the forge. Seconds later, when Apella and Krell enter the room, it is still swinging, but in the next shot, it is still.
 * 6) Sickbay is on Deck 5, established by dialog. The sickbay of the USS Voyager is also on deck 5. (From ) And...
 * 7) This is the only episode where Spock performs a simultaneous double Vulcan nerve pinch on two distinct alien species while "waking up" from fake unconsciousness. (From ) Astonishing.
 * 8) Hail the Conquering Dominion is a song originating from the Dominion that is usually sung after the Dominion conquers another race or empire...It is unknown if the song is real or if Bashir was being glib. (Original version of page of same name)
 * 9) A fly lands on Kirk's face for a few seconds in the scene where Miramanee announces her pregnancy.  A fly? On a planet?
 * 10) When Dehner is coming to after they cross the barrier, Sulu is supporting her and conspicuously rubs her shoulder for a long time.  (From )

Episode Nitpicks and Oddities
Just a few personal rants and nitpicking. These are by no means my least favourite episodes; rather these are generally good ones with a few aspects I find questionable.

The idea of the episode is good, and Ch'Pok is great, but:
 * Ch'Pok's whole case is nonsense. It is also frankly racist, based on Worf's "Klingon-ness".  Why should the Federation consider this?  The Vulcan judge should have dismissed it as all illogical.
 * Ch'Pok calls on O'Brien as an expert in combat situations. Fair enough.  But O'Brien isn't an officer, and probably hasn't been in command of a starship, so how could his judgment about what Worf should have done have any relevance?
 * However, the worst part of the episode is: Sisko berates Worf for his decision. But, Worf made the right decision, even if it hadn't all been a set-up. There was an established pattern of cloaking and decloaking - why should Worf consider this to break?  Also, if you see a ship decloaking in a combat situation, who would honestly think it was a civilian ship?  If Worf had waited, and it had been a Klingon warship, the Defiant could have been destroyed.
 * Sisko is frankly in no position to criticise Worf. This is from the guy who will poison entire planets in a vendetta with a former officer - which only is okay by a contrived plot twist. .  Would Sisko really hesitate to fire in such an obvious situation? Absolutely not.
 * Just as a side note: Sisko seems to represent his officers an awful lot in legal matters: here, in, and in Section 31's illusion in (which Bashir didn't think was odd).  Perhaps Sisko was a JAG officer at some point?


 * I know the point of the episode was to show this, but the Red Squad cadets are just unbelievably arrogant and ignorant. Doesn't Starfleet have psych evaluations for entrance into the Academy? The only reasonable person in the episode is Jake!
 * Nog should have instantly taken over the ship and brought it back into Federation space. Nog is a genuine officer, Watters and everyone else were cadets.


 * In the middle of a war, Starfleet sends one of its finest warships, which is assigned to one of the most vital installations in the Alpha Quadrant, crewed by the senior staff of said installation, to investigate an anomaly. Wow, that makes sense.

Legalities
I refuse to believe that Quark feels he has no other options than to complete the contract and kill himself, or break it.
 * First of all, why didn't Quark, as an astute businessman, include a clause that the contract was subject to his death by Dorek Syndrome?
 * Furthermore, wouldn't that be implied in such a contract anyway, by either the rules of the Ferengi Futures Exchange or by the general law? As Quark noted to Brunt, Ferengi aren't Klingons and their law should not require a death to satisfy a contract. I find it rather unlikely that such a situation has never occurred before in Ferengi society and has not been prepared for.
 * Even if there is no obvious/existing way out, shouldn't Quark at least consult a lawyer, and very likely, take it to court? We can see that the Ferengi are very litigation-happy from this very episode, where Quark is eager to sue the negligent doctor. In my opinion contracts could and would be challenged all the time in the Ferengi Alliance. Although "A contract is a contract is a contract", it's hardly against the spirt of the Rules to seek to interpret the contract in a favorable manner. And I don't think a Ferengi court would condone Brunt's very un-Ferengi conduct of not accepting the refund and bribe.

Other

 * According to Quark, he is known as The Synthehol King on Ferenginar for conducting his business on DS9. But why should they mock him for finding a unique market? Sure he might not be rich but it seems like an honest (to Ferengi) living to me...
 * On a related note, Brunt mocks Quark's provision of credit to customers and his supposed generosity. While gouging customers is the traditional Ferengi way, couldn't Quark argue that it is good business sense to adapt to your client base? Otherwise he would find himself with no customers. If the Ferengi were really as close-minded as Brunt, they could hardly expand their business operations at all.
 * Why would offering credit be generous anyway? It sounds like exactly the kind of the thing Ferengi would offer to their customers (with large interest rates of course). And for a bar with regular customers, it makes perfect sense.

All episodes from to

 * Why the heck does Starfleet leave the wormhole so woefully undefended, with the knowledge that there is a dangerous enemy on the other side? Sure, there's the Defiant and (after ) the station's defences, but would it really hurt to have say, a fleet there?
 * Maybe initially this isn't necessary, but as tensions mount with the Dominion and their true danger is realised, this lack of defence just gets more and morel ludicrous. Especially after, why doesn't the Federation, with help from the Klingons, just sit a massive fleet on the station to avoid the Dominion sending more ships to Cardassia? Sure, it would start the war, but they (should) know it is inevitable anyway. They have the perfect chokepoint; they could just sit there, laying mines (even if they hadn't thought of the self-replicating idea), and picking off survivors.

Sisko's reference to "our people" to refer to dark-skinned humans in the 24th century has got to be one of the worst lines in Star Trek. The great thing about Sisko is that he isn't "that black captain", he's "the commander of Deep Space 9. And the Emissary of the Prophets. Decorated combat officer, widower, father, mentor and...oh, yes, the man who started the war with the Dominion." Star Trek is meant to portray a future where racism among Humans is a thing of the past. As if Sisko would use the term "our people" in any other meaning than "Humans".

Sisko comes across as a complete idiot and hypocrite anyway by dismissing helping Vic as "nonsense". I seem to recall a certain captain getting his senior staff/main characters to play a baseball game as part of a childish grudge match. 

More coming soon?

Talkback
A list of comments from production staff that I disagree with strongly:


 * The DS9 writing staff thinking the / two-parter was a failure. These two episodes worked just fine without more budget for space battles. The important bit – the story – worked excellently and the episode has continuing relevance whenever paranoia rears up.
 * Alleged universal agreement among production staff that was the worst episode of DS9 Season 7. *fake cough*  *fake cough* The former was mediocre, the latter, appalling.

More coming soon?

O'Brien Must Suffer
From the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine article:


 * In addition to the visits to the mirror universe, the DS9 writing staff wrote a number of episodes where the character of Miles O'Brien would be subject to particular trauma. This became an in-joke among the staff terms "O'Brien Must Suffer" and occurred about once per season. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

My own personal list:
 * (Not the real O'Brien, but thematically consistent)
 * (Not the real O'Brien, but thematically consistent)
 * (Not the real O'Brien, but thematically consistent)

It can be seen that the number of these episodes declined over time. Several episodes that contained elements of this trend, but in my opinion, contained insufficient suffering to be true OBMS episodes:
 * - Miles' experiences in New Sydney prior to Ezri's arrival
 * - Miles suffers due to Nog's crazy scheme

Female Trek authors who go by two initials

 * From Kay Eaton:


 * J.A. Lawrence
 * J.M. Dillard
 * A.C. Crispin
 * M.S. Murdock
 * D.C. Fontana
 * V.E. Mitchell
 * L.A. Graf
 * T.L. Mancour
 * E.L. Flood
 * W.R. Thompson
 * S.D. Perry
 * S.N. Lewitt