3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Had Tahna bit the bullet, it would have been no Los for me.., October 3, 2000
This review is from: Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 4: Past Prologue [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Oh, just shoot Tahna Los in the first 5 minutes of this episode and put me out of my misery...!
I can sum up the episode in one word, if I must. Cranky. This is a cranky little episode, surrounding the actions of an annoying Bajoran character, Tahna Los.
Here's the plot. Kira meets up with one of her old terrorist friends, Tahna Los, who is seeking political asylum on DS9. The Cardassians chasing him for crimes against Cardassia want him back. Sisko refuses. Cardassian gets cranky. Kira thinks Sisko is not supporting Bajoran causes by hesitating to give assylum. Kira gets cranky. Kira goes over Sisko's head to Starfleet Command, and pulls an Admiral out of a staff meeting. Admiral gets cranky. Admiral complains to Sisko. Sisko gets cranky. Meanwhile, Tahna Los tells Kira she's sold out to the Federation. Kira gets cranky. Klingon chicks show up armed on the promenade. Odo gets cranky. Klingon chicks try to do business with Tahna. Garak gets suspicious... but not cranky. Tahna tries to blow up a big bomb. Everyone gets cranky.
Just for laughs and giggles, I sat through the whole episode. I got cranky...
In all honesty, I did give this episode 3 stars. But that's mainly because of the wonderful introduction of our favorite Cardassian character, the "plain and simple" tailor, Mr. Garak. "No, not Mr. Garak... just plain, simple Garak..." And it was worth the 40 minutes of painful acting and drawn out plot line just to see the looks on Julian Bashir's face as his new Cardassian playmate breaks the good doctor into the spy game.
I was also happy to see Lursa and B'Etor, the Klingon sisters from the House of Duras, show their pretty faces in the Trek universe once again. *They're just SOOO delicate and feminine...!* But, I hate to say it... they seemed to be there not on their own merit, but as a way to give the Trek series legitimacy in its early days.
For anyone interested in learning about Garak, this is unfortunately an important episode to see. History is important, after all, and it does set up the whole Garak/Bashir/Lunch at the Replimat theme that shows its wonderful head throughout the run of the show. And it does have a few great moments... like where Garak tries to sell lingerie to B'Etor and Lursa. *SILKY!* Or where garak is sitting alone at Quark's, secretly watching the klingon chicks... *hubba hubba, Elim!* Or watching Garak's first attempts to seduce the innocent Dr Bashir into establishing their 7 year long lunchtime friendship... This is classic Garak. Who wouldn't love it?
It is also funny to look back at one of the first episodes of DS9. The acting seemed blase, and the story line was predictable at best, boring at worst. DS9 turned out to be an excellent show... but after viewing this episode, I was amazed how the show ever made it past the first season.
Had Gul Danar -- the Cardassian chasing Tahna Los in the first 10 minutes -- been a better shot, the whole episode would have been much less painful. Maybe not for Tahna Los.. but certainly for me...
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Damn Klingon's!, August 19, 2000
This review is from: Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 4: Past Prologue [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Those damn Klingon sisters from Generations and a hand ful of Next Generation episodes are back in a story that focuses on Major Kira and her underground terrorist background. The inital 20 minutes are slow but the ending Runabout action sequence is great, with Kira having to trust her friend or Sisko. A real character building episode that proves nobody does it better then Star Trek.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
[3.5] Still one of the better season one episodes, December 21, 2007
This review is from: Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 4: Past Prologue [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Past Prologue is No Emissary that's for sure, but in a season about to be filled with boring tales and a little too much unexcitement, this episode still shines amongst its surrounders. The acting is still way below what is to come in the series, but has quickly began to improve since the pilot episode. The story is no where near as good as Emissary, but that is to be expected in a 45 minute episode versus a 90 minute.
Probably the best think about this film, is the introduction of the Garak character (Andrew Robinson) who is the only remaining Cardassian aboard DS9. A strange fellow who is hard to figure out at times, owning a clothing shop is almost a front for this interesting charcater played by a fine actor who takes the Garak charcater and quickly gives him his own unique personality. Another treat, mainly for Trekkies, is return of the Duras sisters on Trek, whose earlier appearances in TNG episodes dragged the Klingons into civil war.
The story begins a little weak and uniteresting, but eventually picks up the pace and actually becomes a bit exciting up until a suspensful ending, though the outcome is predictable. Tensions are still strong between the Federation, the Bajorans, and the Cardassians and one man wishes to stop it all with good old fashioned terrorist activities. In his attempt to be a hero, Major Kira struggles to put a stop to it, while Garak and the Duras sisters have their own secret meetings that nicely ties in.
Past Prologue is a nice little season one episode that basically survives from a few interesting character appearances. Other than that its a pretty so-so story that's not such a rough way of spending 45 minutes.
Acting - 3.5
Action - 3
Characters - 4
Story - 3
Overall - 3.5
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