Star Trek Voyager takes a licking, but it got up-to-speed better than either TNG or DS9. Showrunner Jeri Taylor was both focused and in her prime. Compare DS9 S1, produced during TNG's final season with Star Trek: Generations on the white board. With Berman and Piller spread thin, latter S1 falls off the table, as one timeworn script runs into the next.
To be fair, "The Storyteller" is hard to appreciate for a TOS fan, being a qualified remake of "The Paradise Syndrome." Again, circumstances make a Starfleeter shaman of a native group: here, it's O'Brien as the accidental "Sirah," facing the dragon equivalent, evoking both Forbidden Planet and The Village. As in the 1968 episode, the crewman must be extricated (a jealous local brandishes a knife) without disrupting the culture.
"The Storyteller" adds a B story reminiscent of TNG's "The Dauphin," about a pretty young alien leader interacting with Jake and Nog (Varis is played by Gina Philips, later of Ally McBeal and Boston Public). Like all Star Trek series, DS9 attempted to lure kids and families, with the Jake-and-Nog combination working better than most (Wesley, Naomi Wildman).
"The Storyteller" was a leftover script from TNG, but that's not the problem, in fact the rewrite launches the satisfying O'Brien-Bashir relationship. While there's nothing terrible here (except perhaps the effects for the Dal'Rok), there's also little that's memorable. Also, a plot surrounding the fitness of new leaders is awfully similar to "The Nagus," then green in memory.
But as Doris Day sang, que Sirah, Sirah.
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| Miles O'Brien, captive audience |
"The Storyteller" adds a B story reminiscent of TNG's "The Dauphin," about a pretty young alien leader interacting with Jake and Nog (Varis is played by Gina Philips, later of Ally McBeal and Boston Public). Like all Star Trek series, DS9 attempted to lure kids and families, with the Jake-and-Nog combination working better than most (Wesley, Naomi Wildman).
"The Storyteller" was a leftover script from TNG, but that's not the problem, in fact the rewrite launches the satisfying O'Brien-Bashir relationship. While there's nothing terrible here (except perhaps the effects for the Dal'Rok), there's also little that's memorable. Also, a plot surrounding the fitness of new leaders is awfully similar to "The Nagus," then green in memory.
But as Doris Day sang, que Sirah, Sirah.
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