S01.E07: Q-Less

[BizBuzz]

Stardate: 46531.2 - Q arrives on DS9 fresh from exploring the Gamma Quadrant with Vash. Soon afterwards, power fluctuations grip the station. (Description via TheTVDB.com)

[Meushell]

Okay, I apologize to those who like this episode, but it was boring to sit through again. What I did like, or at least found amusing…

O'Brien rolling his eyes as Bashir gives his final exam speech to a woman.

The storage guy describing some items in detail and being vague on others. Someone should fire him, but it did amuse me.

Sisko punching Q. Lol. Q wasn't expecting that. Best part of episode.

Q asking O'Brien who he was. I'm sure he remembered, but he wanted to bug O'Brien.

Q delaying the auction.

The omnipotent Q listing watergate as one of interesting things about past Earth. Like...really? Watergate?

Poor Basir. He disappears, and nobody noticed.

Edited May 3, 2014 by Meushell

[ShadowDenizen]

And... the first true "Speed-Bump" of DS9.

 

Okay, I apologize to those who like this episode, but it was boring to sit through again. What I did like, or at least found amusing…

 

I'm with ya, Meushell! (And thanks for chiming in: I always look forward to your comments!)

This was one of my least-favorite episodes of the first season. (Though I do still giggle at Sisko punching Q with the now-classic "I'm not Picard" line!!)

 

Q was always a heay-handed plot device on TNG, and remains so here. He really was not a good fit at all for the themes this show was trying to explore. I wish they have gotten Q and O'Brien together; something tells me those characters would have played well off each other!

Edited May 5, 2014 by ShadowDenizen

[HalcyonDays]

And... the first true "Speed-Bump" of DS9.

 

 

 

 

I'm with ya, Meushell! (And thanks for chiming in: I always look forward to your comments!)

This was one of my least-favorite episodes of the first season. (Though I do still giggle at Sisko punching Q with the now-classic "I'm not Picard" line!!)

 

Q was always a heay-handed plot device on TNG, and remains so here. He really was not a good fit at all for the themes this show was trying to explore. I wish they have gotten Q and O'Brien together; something tells me those characters would have played well off each other!

 

Q was a heavy handed plot device but also provided some light stories and humour. But yeah, on DS9, they didn't need Q to pontificate or bring his brand of justice or moral lessons to the crew of DS9. They had enough serious and dark things to deal with. I always liked the character, but he was so out of place on DS9. Like, Q was NOT evil or immoral enough for the station and the story lines - he was too much of a good guy, if that makes sense. The punch out scene was the showrunners showing how "different" of a Captain Sisko was, but also clearly showed out out of place Q was.

 

The first speed bump yes, but the speed bump to me was important for the show to experience. I think it taught the showrunners this lessson - don't try to mimic/be like The Next Generation. Be yourself. And you will excel.

Edited May 6, 2014 by HalcyonDays

[ShadowDenizen]

The first speed bump yes, but the speed bump to me was important for the show to experience. I think it taught the showrunners this lessson - don't try to mimic/be like The Next Generation. Be yourself. And you will excel.

 

Well said.

And agreed.

 

But personally I nver cared for the "Light-Heartedness" that always accompanied Q, even on TNG. I think humor can be better apprciated when it comes from within, rather than without, and there's some sentiment behind it. 

 

But, at least this ep, was better thah the Voayger ep where Q wants to procreate with Janeway. UGH.

 

 

[HalcyonDays]

Well said.

And agreed.

 

But personally I nver cared for the "Light-Heartedness" that always accompanied Q, even on TNG. I think humor can be better apprciated when it comes from within, rather than without, and there's some sentiment behind it. 

 

But, at least this ep, was better thah the Voayger ep where Q wants to procreate with Janeway. UGH.

 

The best lighthearted moment for me with Q, is when he gets his powers back and a Mariachi band appeared on the Enterprise Bridge. "I'm Back!!"

Hilarious, to be quite honest. But DS9 didn't that. In fact, I think DS9 have some much better humourous moments in the show, that actually were more organic,

more naturally funny than TNG. There is one in particular coming up in season one that I love.

 

Okay, Q wanted to procreate with Janeway. That's just...yeah. Jump The Shark for Q.

[Pippin]

I don't think the writers (on the other "Trek") shows knew exactly what to do with Q, and the quality of the characters and stories showed that.  After the menancing Q who literally threw the Enterprise at the Borg, the character degenerates into a buffoon.

 

The nadir of Q, for me, was when they had the "war" of the Q presented as a re-enactment of the American Civil War.  Really?  Really? When the crew of "Voyager" can best the omnipotent, you know you're in trouble.

OTOH, Sisko punching Q was great!  Just one more reason why Sisko rocks.

[Meushell]

And... the first true "Speed-Bump" of DS9.

I'm with ya, Meushell! (And thanks for chiming in: I always look forward to your comments!)

Aww, thanks. Yes, the first "speedbump" is a good description of this episode.

Q was a heavy handed plot device but also provided some light stories and humour. But yeah, on DS9, they didn't need Q to pontificate or bring his brand of justice or moral lessons to the crew of DS9. They had enough serious and dark things to deal with. I always liked the character, but he was so out of place on DS9. Like, Q was NOT evil or immoral enough for the station and the story lines - he was too much of a good guy, if that makes sense. The punch out scene was the showrunners showing how "different" of a Captain Sisko was, but also clearly showed out out of place Q was.

The first speed bump yes, but the speed bump to me was important for the show to experience. I think it taught the showrunners this lessson - don't try to mimic/be like The Next Generation. Be yourself. And you will excel.

Yes, he just did not fit on DS9. The writers did a much better job at converting other characters from TNG to DS9, such as O'Brien.

[Pippin]

I agree that there really was no place for Q to fit in the DS9 universe on a logical level.  (If you'll forgive the expression.)  Thank heavens the writers didn't try to shoehorn him in.  Much as I love John DeLancie, I think any story with Q in it would have fallen flat, especially considering the course the series took.

 

How would you have the Prophets deal with Q to begin with?  The only answer that comes to my (admittedly migraine-y) head is a war of super-powers, and there's enough of that already.

 

Besides, the series had its own dark enigmatic character (admittedly not omnipotent but powerful enough regardless) in the wonderful Garak.

[BizBuzz]

I am just catching up.

I can't lie that I had a huge smile on my face when I saw Q for the first time in this episode. But that was quickly dismissed. He doesn't fit well with the other characters, although the fight scene with Sisko was priceless ... I am not Picard!

I am enjoying getting to know Quark a bit more ... And it am starting to like Bashir, more than a lot. I love characters who think they are all that, but really aren't. ::giggle::

To me, this was another character building episode, not so much story line. It looks like they were trying to figure out how some older and familiar characters could fit into the new series, will be interesting to see if they hang on. I hope not.

[ShadowDenizen]

The only answer that comes to my (admittedly migraine-y) head is a war of super-powers, and there's enough of that already.

 

Re: Prophets vs Q.

Now, that would have been interesting.  And I hope they explore that in the Trek Universe someday.

But, they basically made Q a love-sick laughinstock in this episode. Not a great intro for Q, in any event. And they never even touched on the Q-Continuum. (Remember, this was the race that brought the threat of the Borg down upon the Federation!)

Edited May 20, 2014 by ShadowDenizen

[Anna Yolei]

I liked when Sisko cleaned Q's clock and Q's reaction to that.

Everything else:Zzzz Thank God the producers ditched being TNG Part II early on.

[iMonrey]

I for one could never stand Q in any of the franchise shows. I can't help it, there's something about John DeLancie's portrayal I find a little too flamboyant, a little too over-the-top, a little too much. And to me, the whole idea of "Q" is too "Star Trek meets I Dream of Jeannie." I was much relieved to learn this was the one and only appearance of Q on DS9. 

[friendperidot]

I think I agree iMonrey, I loved John DeLancie a zillion years ago when he was Eugene on Days of Our Lives, but I just don't like the character of Q no matter which show he's on.

[John Potts]

I was a fan of both Q and of Vash (possibly an unpopular opinion in her case) on Next Gen, but here they both fell flat. They're both interesting as foils and/or contrasts to our main characters (Vash the throwback to "primitive 20th Century" values, Q's arrogant superiority reflecting how the crew view races more backward than them) but here they're just... there (also, I absolutely do not care about their relationship!). I guess this was early enough that they felt they needed "continuity characters" from Next Gen to boost DS9's ratings, but I doubt this episode would have brought many new viewers to the show.

[AndySmith]

I think Q in this episode was just a way to try and get TNG fans who weren't already watching DS9 to give it a shot. Nothing more. Well, that and another not-so-subtle way to remind viewers that SISKO IS NOT PICARD!!!

Q could have worked on DS9 had the tone of the episode been different. Maybe if they had tried to match the tones of episodes like "Q Who" and "Tapestry" from TNG (two good showcases that not every Q appearance was light-hearted, and also two good examples of  playing Q as anything but flamboyant, a too over-the-top), Q might have been a better fit on DS9. Then again, I liked most of Q's appearances on TNG, whether light-hearted episodes or the darker ones.

[Maverick]

 Season 1/2 of TNG Q is very different from the rest of his appearances.  Despite being overly dramatic and the occasional quip, he was sinister and played some dark mind games on the crew.  By the time of his appearance on DS9, he was a full on buffoon.   I have a hard time reconciling the guy who took the crew to a post-atomic Earth to try them for the crimes of humanity, who let them watch a kid be stabbed by alien creatures and who threw them in front of an unstoppable enemy to have 20+ people killed with the guy posing as a Bajoran waiter to spy on some human woman who dumped him.   

[legaleagle53]

1 hour ago, Maverick said:

 Season 1/2 of TNG Q is very different from the rest of his appearances.  Despite being overly dramatic and the occasional quip, he was sinister and played some dark mind games on the crew.  By the time of his appearance on DS9, he was a full on buffoon.   I have a hard time reconciling the guy who took the crew to a post-atomic Earth to try them for the crimes of humanity, who let them watch a kid be stabbed by alien creatures and who threw them in front of an unstoppable enemy to have 20+ people killed with the guy posing as a Bajoran waiter to spy on some human woman who dumped him.   

To say nothing of his later appearances on Voyager as basically the equivalent of Mr. Mxytzpytlk.

Edited February 26, 2017 by legaleagle53

[Maverick]

On 2/26/2017 at 2:42 PM, legaleagle53 said:

To say nothing of his later appearances on Voyager as basically the equivalent of Mr. Mxytzpytlk.

 The less said about his Voyager appearances the better.  They seemed to be centered around which wacky Q relative they could bring in:  the suicidal uncle, the bitchy wife, the mischievous son.  I shudder to think about what a fourth appearance would have brought.

 And speaking of Female Q (I love Suzi Plakson's portrayal even though I hate that character is a Q), why wouldn't she have shown up to turn Vash into an insect, yapping dog or some other equally humiliating animal.    

[legaleagle53]

Just now, Maverick said:

 The less said about his Voyager appearances the better.  They seemed to be centered around which wacky Q relative they could bring in:  the suicidal uncle, the bitchy wife, the mischievous son.  I shudder to think about what a fourth appearance would have brought.

 And speaking of Female Q (I love Suzi Plakson's portrayal even though I hate that character is a Q), why wouldn't she have shown up to turn Vash into an insect, yapping dog or some other equally humiliating animal.    

Why should she have bothered?  Vash had already made it clear that she was over Q and wanted nothing more to do with him.  The female Q wouldn't even have seen her as a threat.

[Maverick]

 It's been a while since I saw that one, but I thought she still had a thing (even if it was a love/hate thing) for him.  They did make an obnoxious kid together after all.   A better reason is a lot of people would have been glad to see Vash taken down.

[legaleagle53]

18 minutes ago, Maverick said:

 It's been a while since I saw that one, but I thought she still had a thing (even if it was a love/hate thing) for him.  They did make an obnoxious kid together after all.   A better reason is a lot of people would have been glad to see Vash taken down.

Well, she did, but Vash didn't need taking down at that point.  She'd already clearly told Q that she'd had enough of him and wanted to dissolve their partnership.  That's why he stranded her in the Gamma Quadrant and then later tried to convince her to change her mind by briefly turning her into a withered old hag; he doesn't deal well with rejection.  But because his feelings for Vash weren't being reciprocated, the female Q would have had no reason to take Vash down when Vash had already renounced any sort of relationship with Q.