{"id":5901,"date":"2016-10-17T13:00:07","date_gmt":"2016-10-17T20:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5901"},"modified":"2016-10-10T09:09:19","modified_gmt":"2016-10-10T16:09:19","slug":"mark-watches-deep-space-nine-s05e22-children-of-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/10\/mark-watches-deep-space-nine-s05e22-children-of-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Deep Space Nine’: S05E22 – Children of Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-second episode of the fifth season of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>, what the fuck is wrong with this show? Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

This show just can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t leave me alone. LOOK, I AM JUST ONE INNOCENT FAN, WHY MUST YOU DO THIS TO ME.<\/p>\n

Destiny<\/b><\/p>\n

Star Trek\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>has used the vehicle of science fiction to give us a number of ethical problems over the years, and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Children of Time\u00e2\u20ac\u009d certainly feels like a very\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0conflict. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thinking of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tuvix\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and my heart hurts.) Yet\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0finds a way to tie this ethical conundrum into an existing storyline just so they can hurt us even more. But let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say the Odo\/Kira part doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exist. Even without it, this is one hell of a nightmare. After crashing on a planet with a weird energy boundary, the crew on the\u00c2\u00a0Defiant<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0meets their descendants. How is that possible? Well, when they tried to leave, they hit a temporal anomaly, got sent two hundred years in the past, and got stranded, thus creating the very colony they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re interacting with in the present time.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure you can see the problem, but I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, at least not until Sisko vocalized it: if the\u00c2\u00a0Defiant<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0crew successfully left the planet, then they never crash land in the past and their descendants never exist. OH GOD, THIS IS A NIGHTMARE. And the writers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make this any easier for\u00c2\u00a0anyone<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0involved. Kira is dead in this timeline; everyone has adorable and living descendants. (Why don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we see any of Julian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s? I thought that was strange.) The Dax symbiont is in a new Trill host, Klingon culture is still thriving, the O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien family line is alive and well. Everything here challenges these people to reconsider leaving.<\/p>\n

And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the huge problem, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? Does it count as murder or, at the very least, unethical for these people to use their scientific prowess in order to escape this timeline? Up until the point where Jadzia discovers that Yedrin lied about the sensor logs, there wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t much of an issue, since I believed they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be able to split the\u00c2\u00a0Defiant<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0into two timelines. However, Yedrin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desire to preserve himself and\u00c2\u00a0two hundred years of history<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0seems less heinous when you consider that he \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and literally every single member of the 8,000+ population of that settlement \u00e2\u20ac\u201c will pop out of existence the second the\u00c2\u00a0Defiant\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>leaves. And what does that mean to each of these characters?<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll touch on Kira last, but for some, leaving is no question. O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien and Sisko want to return home because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got family back at the station. Julian has no reason to stay. Worf and Jadzia are fascinated by their descendants, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no real connection there beyond admiration. What works so well about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Children of Time\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is how the\u00c2\u00a0DS9<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0crew slowly comes to believe that leaving is morally wrong. Kira\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first to insist that this is a terrible idea, but soon, each of them come to believe they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing something awful by leaving.<\/p>\n

Oh god, we have to talk about Kira, though.<\/p>\n

A Glimpse of the Future\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0the Present<\/b><\/p>\n

But the absolute best part of this episode is our glimpse of Future Odo, one who has learned to shapeshift into human form better than ever before, one who has opened up as a person, who is more willing to share his life and feelings with others. WHICH HE DOES BY IMMEDIATELY TELLING KIRA THAT HE LOVES HER AND HAS LOVED HER FOR A VERY LONG TIME. The brilliance of this partially comes from the fact that I did not expect this to come out into the open in this episode, despite that we learned that Kira and Shakaar were no longer seeing each other. The shock of it is a great story choice, but getting to see this version of Odo \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a glimpse of a possible storyline with him \u00e2\u20ac\u201c pushes Kira into wanting to stay. In a way, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heartbreaking. She believes that life only allows for one path, and she chooses the one where she dies, all so that 8,000 other people can live.<\/p>\n

But she also chooses the one\u00c2\u00a0without<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0any chance at a relationship with Odo, and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but feel crushed by this. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s understandable, of course, and the final part of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Children of Time\u00e2\u20ac\u009d makes it clear that a relationship isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even a possibility with Kira at this time. However,\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0avoids a common trope by\u00c2\u00a0not<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0having Kira immediately swoon over Odo. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s surprised by the revelation, she takes Odo seriously, but she also doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that what Future Odo did for her \u00e2\u20ac\u201c altering the\u00c2\u00a0Defiant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0flight plan so that they all survive their exit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c was all that romantic or fair.<\/p>\n

Instead, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Children of Time\u00e2\u20ac\u009d feels remarkably honest for such an absurd premise. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because the writers ground everything in believable characters and believable responses to the situation.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M STILL A MESS, THOUGH.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Children of Time\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.<\/b>
\n– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0 Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"