Soulless minions of orthodoxy

[altariel]

In between the snooker, the election coverage, and reading Goodnight Mister Tom, I also got to the end of the season 5 DS9 DVDs over the weekend.

In the Cards really is one of my very favourite episodes. It has political intrigue, wonderful characterization, and any script that can set up the line: "lions and Gigers and bears" has to be respected, if only for sheer nerve. Plus, big old softie that I am, I get a lump in my throat at the final scene with Sisko and Jake. I think it's because it's an unaffected display of love despite the certainty and imminence of war.

Penultimate episodes of seasons can sometimes get forgotten, particularly if the season closes with a bang. And yet sometimes they're the best examples of a series and an ensemble cast in action: Death-Watch is another case in point.

But Warlord isn't.

Comments

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

Nor indeed The Keeper, though it does at least manage to be entertaining in all the ways that Warlord isn't. Plus, it does feature authentic Danish flags for the Tents of Goth, as was helpfully pointed out to me when we watched it at the weekend.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

That is an excellent fact about The Keeper!

I'm just up to The Web on my DVD watch-through.

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

We got through Volcano and Dawn of the Gods yesterday. Beat that.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

When you manage Stardrive, Animals and Headhunter in one session - then I'll be impressed.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

In the Cards is truly a lovely episode, with a very moving message -- but I fear I can recall far more counterexamples to your rule than examples (Go Fish & The Weight of the World for starters).

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Maybe that's why penultimates get forgotten - on the whole they're shite. So In the Cards and Death-Watch really shine.

The Weight of the World? Is that an episode of Angel (I can never remember the episode titles)?

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Buffy Season 5, which has a particularly wide gulf between the entertainment value of the penultimate (WotW) & ultimate (The Gift) episodes.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I just looked that episode up on the net and I have absolutely no memory of it. Huh. Well, I've only seen season 5 all the way through once, I think.

[hafren.livejournal.com]

I quite like Warlord.... Give or take Zeeona's hairdo. They are at least doing something with a point to it and acting like themselves. Vila's alcohol-fuelled despair, post-Orbit, is quite convincing, as is the end, where (if I'm reading it right) Avon and Soolin know what she's going to do from the start and are all for it; Dayna works it out later and Vila doesn't give a damn as long as it isn't him (but does, oddly enough, still manage to feel a bit sorry for Tarrant).

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I should think of all of these things when I think of Warlord, because you're right, it's a good ensemble piece (for Soolin in particular). But rather than that, I always think of the pink wigs, the repetition of the phrase 'radioactive airborne virus', and I absolutely cringe at the dreadful acting by the warlords in the opening scene.

But I did enjoy going up and down the escalators in Guildford...

[bethos.livejournal.com]

I really adore "In the Cards". I actually converted a close friend of mine to Deep Space 9 with that episode.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

That's a really good choice of episode. I've tried with Our Man Bashir, that's worked on occasion. The friend who converted me started me with The Way of the Warrior, which more reflected his own taste for big space battles, but Garak got off a few cutting remarks, and I was hooked!

Great icon ;-D