317. SanctuaryFORMULA: Up the Long Ladder + Ensign Ro + Coming of Age
WHY WE LIKE IT: An intriguing premise.
WHY WE DON'T: Everything about the Skreeans.
REVIEW: On the surface, Sanctuary is a good story. Bajorans, already absorbing a number of returning refugees, is faced with the prospect of now taking in another batch of refugees. It's also interesting to note that the Skreeans are acting on a prophecy about a legendary homeworld beyond the "Eye of the Universe" (the Wormhole). Have they been contacted by the Prophets as well? In a sense, they're a mirror image of the Bajorans with their own Cardassians (called Turogarans, just invaded by the Dominion). Haneek makes a good point at the end that the Skreeans could have saved Bajor, that they might all have been part of the same prophecy.
But would you want these new aliens anywhere near your Star Trek? They have a terribly unappealing look, for starters, but half their population (the males) are brutish morons. If I never see the subplot about some kid stealing a shuttle, it'll be too soon. The Skreeans annoy the audience as much as they do the Bajorans. The episode misses the mark by having us root for the Bajorans' isolationism. The stodgy Bajoran leaders are just as unpalatable as the Skreeans, especially the horribly acted Minister Rozhan.
Our characters are the only ones who aren't being jerks, so we might take refuge there. Skip the so-called comedy however. Kira and Odo trying to prevent shoplifting, the confusion with the ugly dress, and the universal translator mishap aren't funny. There's a fun bit between Quark, Nog and Odo, and Jake reveals he's dating a dabo girl (we'll meet Marta later). And the musician in Quark's plays a variation on the DS9 theme music, which I love. I now see the theme as a Federation orchestra arrangement of a Bajoran melody.
LESSON: The Ferengi could make a killing selling skin cream to the Gamma Quadrant.
REWATCHABILITY - Low: A good idea so badly executed as to be almost criminal. A second mention of the Dominion cannot even come close to saving it.
Comments
And poor Deborah May, normally quite a beautiful woman... that make-up didn't do her any favors.
Actually I liked the Skreeans; they had a very good point about how the Bajorans had given in to fear. Why not let the agrarian Skreeans take over that uninhabited province and make it bloom again? Because they might fail and require relief. Why not enlist the Federation's aid if relief is required? No good reason -- except the elephant in the room, that the Bajoran people were turning the Skreeans away out of fear.
The bit with the universal translator didn't seem shenaniganny in nature, just an indication that this was a new race that spoke a language unlike anything in the data banks. I'm fine with that.
And frankly I loved the bit with the dress.
I will underscore that the boys weren't stealing. They kept picking stuff up, and that made the shopkeepers nervous, but they made no effort to pocket a single thing.
The bit with the universal translator, I realize, was part of this: on 20th century earth, immigrants do not necessarily speak the native tongue of the new land, and the fact that there is a massive communication barrier is part of what makes it hard to for everything to click. That's another needle the writers wanted to thread: have the Skreeans unable to communicate their intentions (and make it difficult to just tell the boys "it's good manners to look but don't touch"), but you can't do a whole episode where they can't communicate. Sooooo, just have the universal translators take some time to crack their language. Another needle successfully threaded.
And I still loved the bit with the dress. Knowing to watch for it, I imagine she sees the dress in that shop and is saying (head-canon universal translation): "Is THAT what people wear on this side of the eye?" Maybe she was saying it for the sake of levity for her boys. Maybe it felt her feel a little more in control by having some commentary on Bajoran fashion. Anyway, I was good with it.
This episode is about as fair as it can be with regard to the political dilemma. The Skreeans might make it on Bajor, or they might not, and I can understand that the Bajorans had the Skreeans' well-being in mind (somewhat) as well as their own; but in the end the Bajorans had the opportunity to offer hospitality to refugees and chose not to out of fear. I don't agree with their decision but it is at least understandable. I can even imagine some of the Bajorans' arguments against Skreean settlement: they didn't want another "invasion" (even if the Skreeans had no hostile intention), they didn't want the Federation to have yet another strong justification for Bajoran involvement, they didn't want the cultural disruption of trying to incorporate a completely different culture.
I'll probably come up with new insights and comment again in another year or two.
Good intentions buried in bad execution, IMO.