Capsule Review: DS9 1.09 "The Passenger"
May. 13th, 2013 11:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ljwritesThis one struck me as Just Another Trek Episode, with the SF equivalent of a spiritual possession being resolved by the power of technobabble. Other than the red herring plot point when we were led to think the lady investigator (the coolest character in the episode, IMO) might have been the baddie, there wasn't much that was particularly memorable.
I mean, the idea of becoming the monster while hunting him is an interesting one, if done before. I also got the impression that catching this guy had come to consume the investigator's life., which was a good foundation for drama. However, there just wasn't enough buildup for the viewers to really care about either character, so the setup really wasn't enough to serve as more than a momentary distraction.
Any possession plot is a good opportunity for an actor to stretch himself, and Siddig El Fadil (I believe he goes by Alexander Siddig now) made a game attempt at portraying the villain. I didn't find it particularly convincing, though. For one thing, the viewers are too unfamiliar with the villain to know what an accurate portrayal would look like. For another, El Fadil's "speak really softly and open his eyes really wide" method of acting wasn't that chilling on its own.
If anything it was Farrell and Brooks as Dax and Commander Sisko who got to show their acting chops. The way these two worked together on the bridge to get their doctor back was understated yet effective. I particularly loved Brooks' expressionless grunt of frustration when the negotiation-cum-chicken-game with the baddie was not going his way. Sisko's gravitas as the commander of DS9 was becoming increasingly evident at this point as Season 1 found its pace.
I mean, the idea of becoming the monster while hunting him is an interesting one, if done before. I also got the impression that catching this guy had come to consume the investigator's life., which was a good foundation for drama. However, there just wasn't enough buildup for the viewers to really care about either character, so the setup really wasn't enough to serve as more than a momentary distraction.
Any possession plot is a good opportunity for an actor to stretch himself, and Siddig El Fadil (I believe he goes by Alexander Siddig now) made a game attempt at portraying the villain. I didn't find it particularly convincing, though. For one thing, the viewers are too unfamiliar with the villain to know what an accurate portrayal would look like. For another, El Fadil's "speak really softly and open his eyes really wide" method of acting wasn't that chilling on its own.
If anything it was Farrell and Brooks as Dax and Commander Sisko who got to show their acting chops. The way these two worked together on the bridge to get their doctor back was understated yet effective. I particularly loved Brooks' expressionless grunt of frustration when the negotiation-cum-chicken-game with the baddie was not going his way. Sisko's gravitas as the commander of DS9 was becoming increasingly evident at this point as Season 1 found its pace.
