DS9 - The Collaborator

[Mecha82]

Well Sinclair did have playful side while Sheridan was more serious.

[Yukaphile]

True, but Sheridan also seemed more light-hearted even if he didn't pull a prank. I do love Sinclair, don't get me wrong, but in retrospect, I can see what Chuck means when he says that he seems a bit uptight. Not that that's bad, it's just different styles for different blokes.

[FaxModem1]

I meant Sinclair. That's why I posted a video of Sinclair playing a prank on Ivanova. Sinclair is pretty straight laced, but he does have a playful side. Like Yoda and Zhaan, they're spiritual people, but there's more to them than that, and that's why they're more alive on-screen than Bareil.

[Yukaphile]

Can't deny that.

[Hero_Of_Shadows]

Oh come on Chuck I know Winn is bad but implying that shed'd work alongside Dukat even indulge his appetite for Bajoran women for her own gain that's too much, that would never happen not in a million years

[Makeshift Python]

I think the only time the romance worked with Kira and Bareil was when he was in a coma at the end of "Life Support", leaving Nana Visitor alone to carry the scene and sell that there was anything going on between the two. That's how bad their chemistry was IMO. And it didn't help that the actor played Bareil too much like a serial killer.

[Mecha82]

I meant Sinclair. That's why I posted a video of Sinclair playing a prank on Ivanova. Sinclair is pretty straight laced, but he does have a playful side. Like Yoda and Zhaan, they're spiritual people, but there's more to them than that, and that's why they're more alive on-screen than Bareil.

It's fitting that you mention two spiritual people that are Yoda and Zhaan that have playful side considering what Sinclair ended up doing. Which is also reason why every species has they own version of Swedish Meatballs (Sinclair's favorite food). No kidding. In one episode G'kar pretty much stated that.

[Trinary]

Watching this review and thinking about what Opaka did made me want to pose a question. In an episode which Chuck hasn't covered yet, we find out about a famous Bajoran resistance member. We also find out that his reputation was completely and totally overblown and fraudulent, to said Bajoran's own annoyance. But Sisko decides to not reveal the truth in order to keep the legend of this figure alive even after he's gone. Jadzia Dax does a similar thing in another episode, where she (or rather, Curzon) is accused of having killed a famous general on some planet and she doesn't talk about it lest she reveal the truth about this general, etc. What do people think about those sort of actions?

Say what you want about "Darkness Wronger Than a Silly Title" or "Necessary Evil/Things Past" but at least they had the characters involved confront the truth and didn't try to hide it from others. Except for some very rare instances, I really hate the "Oooooh, we have to protect the memory of this dead person and hide the truth" resolution.

What was it Picard said? "The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it's scientific truth, or historical truth, or personal truth! It is the guiding principle on which Starfleet is based, and if you can't find it within yourself to stand up and tell the truth about what happened, you don't deserve to wear that uniform."

I also find it amusing that in the DS9 novels that take place after the show ended, Kira is so outraged that the Vedek Assembly tried to cover up and hide an accurate book of prophecies they don't agree with--to the point where a Vedek murders someone--she uploads the book herself, despite it conflicting with her own religious views. She even gives a dressing down to another Vedek, telling them the Bajorans aren't children who need to have things censored and hidden from them because they're upsetting or controversial.

In another DS9 novel, one that covers the Bektreka Nebula incident between the Klingons and Cardassians, we find out the whole incident began because a Klingon wanted to coverup the role of some ancient Klingon hero lest it sully the legend and damage his people's morale. When he finds out about it, K'mpec waves it off, saying the Klingons can handle the sullying of a hero, annoyed that the Empire was dragged into an 18-year series of skirmishes over something so trivial.

I much prefer the books' approach to what we got in those episodes I mentioned. Now, to be fair, I can kinda see the need to sit on the Opaka revelations for a bit ... though letting Winn take over proved to have horrible results for Bajor. But this is the one I'm the most okay with keeping the truth a secret. In those other episodes (re: that resistance figure and that alien general) I cannot accept the stated reason at all.

But what do other people think about it?

[Darth Wedgius]

I read one place (cannot find a reference, so take it or leave it) that Sinclair was played that way because he was damaged by his experience in the Mimbari War. I'm not sure I believe it, but I thought it worth throwing out there.

[Yukaphile]

That hole in his mind probably didn't help.