S05.E25: In the Cards

[John Potts]

Quote

Jake and Nog go through hell and high water, from participating in an auction to dealing with the Dominion, to receiving a Willie Mays baseball card, all in order to cheer up the war-fatigued Captain Sisko.

OK, squeezed between the high tension of Empok Nor and the plot heavy A Call to Arms it was nice to have a good old fashioned caper episode. Yes it's based on an old MASH plot (The Price of Tomato Juice) and it's not without its flaws, but it keeps moving at a fast enough pace to mostly overlook them. Although I'm with Nog in this exchange:

Quote

 

Jake Sisko: Hey - watch it! There's nothing wrong with our philosophy. We work to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity.

Nog: What does that mean exactly?

Jake Sisko: It means... it means, we don't need money.

Nog: Well if you don't need money, you certainly don't need mine!

 

...but that said, he still goes well beyond the call of friendship in this episode and shows how, even though he is a devoted Cadet, is still a natural born Ferengi. OTOH, he does provide the CREEPIEST moment of the episode, when Nog breaks into Leeta's quarters while she's asleep (errmm... it's not like her job isn't one that involves her being highly visible - break in while she's working the Dabo Tables!).

Do like the portrayal of Kai Winn, however much she might disagree with Sisko, she still respects him as Emissary - although you have to wonder why she's negotiating with the Dominion rather than the First Minister. Also, if anyone represents the soulless minions of orthodoxy, you'd have to say that describes the Dominion to a T!

[SVNBob]

20 hours ago, John Potts said:

Do like the portrayal of Kai Winn, however much she might disagree with Sisko, she still respects him as Emissary

Only begrudgingly.  It'd be more accurate to say that she respects that the Bajoran people see and respect Sisko as the Emissary, so she needs to at least appear to do so to remain Kai.

[The Crazed Spruce]

1 hour ago, SVNBob said:

Only begrudgingly.  It'd be more accurate to say that she respects that the Bajoran people see and respect Sisko as the Emissary, so she needs to at least appear to do so to remain Kai.

That's pretty much my take, too. From the start, I got the feeling that she wasn't nearly as spiritual as she purported to be. Or at the very least, her faith was gradually replaced with her ambitions, and the politics involved in rising through the church's ranks. She was never happy with an outsider being the Emissary, but forced herself to accept it for political reasons.

[John Potts]

Obviously, mileage varies - but I took her to be a devout fundamentalist who wasn't happy with a "foreign" Emissary. Rather like how Kira accepted Akorem Laan as Emissary in Accession despite disliking his policies.

Spoiler

Of course, that doesn't fit with her turning to the Pagh Wraiths in the Final Season, but I regarded that as unnecessary character assassination.

[Melgaypet]

I never saw Winn as devout. Kira was devout. I think Winn's faith might have been genuine to a degree, but it was intertwined with her ambition, and ambition was prevalent. I also think Winn was somewhat in denial over how hollow and self-serving her religiosity was.

[legaleagle53]

7 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

I never saw Winn as devout. Kira was devout. I think Winn's faith might have been genuine to a degree, but it was intertwined with her ambition, and ambition was prevalent. I also think Winn was somewhat in denial over how hollow and self-serving her religiosity was.

Louise Fletcher went even further than that in explaining Winn's faith.  She came right out and said once that Winn had never believed in the Prophets, and that it was an issue that dated back to Winn's childhood.  To her, Winn was like the Popes of the Middle Ages, some of whom were notoriously corrupt and barely paid lip service to the tenets of their faith.

And yes, Kira was devout.  She didn't wear her religion on her sleeve, but she believed in and trusted the Prophets.  It's also why she had such a visceral dislike of Winn -- she immediately recognized Winn for the hypocrite that she was.

Edited June 10, 2017 by legaleagle53

[starri]

On 6/9/2017 at 7:31 AM, John Potts said:

it's not without its flaws, but it keeps moving at a fast enough pace to mostly overlook them.

Even in the darkest moments, you can always find something that'll make you smile.

[readster]

15 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

Louise Fletcher went even further than that in explaining Winn's faith.  She came right out and said once that Winn had never believed in the Prophets, and that it was an issue that dated back to Winn's childhood.  To her, Winn was like the Popes of the Middle Ages, some of whom were notoriously corrupt and barely paid lip service to the tenets of their faith.

And yes, Kira was devout.  She didn't wear her religion on her sleeve, but she believed in and trusted the Prophets.  It's also why she had such a visceral dislike of Winn -- she immediately recognized Winn for the hypocrite that she was.

That's exactly it. Even when Kira told Beriel back when Winn became kai Beriel told her: "She'll take us places we would could never imagine." I wanted to tell him: "She'll bring you to chaos because she is a hypocrite." I never had a problem when she ended up turning towards the Pa Wraiths and her ending because it has been building for years. She just liked the power and being in charge and sadly, there were plenty of Bajorians who believed in that because of Cardassian rule, they felt everyone was just going to conquer and kill them. 

[iMonrey]

I find it fairly implausible there was a Willie Mays baseball card among the varied possessions of some alien scavenger. This wouldn't have been of any value to anyone except an earthling, but whatever.

[SVNBob]

11 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I find it fairly implausible there was a Willie Mays baseball card among the varied possessions of some alien scavenger. This wouldn't have been of any value to anyone except an earthling, but whatever.

Kivas Fajo and his peers would disagree.

[rmontro]

Quote

Nog: Well if you don't need money, you certainly don't need mine!

If someone can figure out how the economy of the future works, I'd love to hear it.  They claim to not need money, except when they do.  How do the Federation members even pay for their drinks at Quarks?  Doesn't Nog get paid for his service in Starfleet?  Or is it only people from Earth who don't use money?  And yet, somehow people have possessions.  Sisko's dad runs a restaurant and owns a family home.  Does he just serve people Cajun food out of the goodness of his heart?