Star Trek Retro Review: "Meridian" (DS9) | Worst Episodes Ever

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  • Опубліковано 27 бер 2024
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    #startrek #review #startrekdeepspacenine #startrekds9
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 357

  • @BlownMacTruck
    @BlownMacTruck Місяць тому +170

    I challenge anyone to identify a Star Trek character that radiates more dad energy than Colm Meaney playing Miles. He looks like your friend’s dad. He’s shaped like a dad. He talks like a dad. You just want to give him a hug like the confused teddy bear that he is.

    • @bradylewis1037
      @bradylewis1037 Місяць тому +5

      And in that one horror movie he insists that everyone calls him daddy.

    • @lisaboban
      @lisaboban Місяць тому +4

      Of all the DS9 characters, he's the most consistent and the most likeable. But the Keiko character is super-annoying.

    • @thing_under_the_stairs
      @thing_under_the_stairs Місяць тому +16

      He's an amazing grumpy Irish dad in The Commitments, too!

    • @andrewklang809
      @andrewklang809 Місяць тому +5

      ​​@@thing_under_the_stairsWell worth seeing The Snapper too. Real blue-collar dad energy. Easily angered, but eventually open-minded and fiercely protective.

    • @Tolly7249
      @Tolly7249 Місяць тому +6

      Colm Meany even manages to Dad Energy when playing a top grade villain in Stargate Atlantis.

  • @DerMannDerSeineMutterwar
    @DerMannDerSeineMutterwar Місяць тому +185

    It says a lot about DS9 that it's worst Episode would be just a mediocre one in most other Star Trek Shows.

    • @GrandNagusEli
      @GrandNagusEli Місяць тому +12

      Might be because this isn't the worst episode. That would be Time's Orphan

    • @MalzraAirwynn
      @MalzraAirwynn Місяць тому +1

      @@GrandNagusEli Fascinatino is my worst for DS9.

    • @Waffletigercat
      @Waffletigercat Місяць тому +5

      IDK man, I’d say this episode is pretty bad.

    • @Nerd704
      @Nerd704 Місяць тому +23

      @@GrandNagusEli My vote goes to "Move Along Home"

    • @TiffanyStarrxxx
      @TiffanyStarrxxx Місяць тому +5

      His Way is my pick. Vick is an awful character

  • @justinaclayburn2248
    @justinaclayburn2248 Місяць тому +27

    This was the episode of Star Trek where I turned to my dad and said “people fall in love awful fast on Star Trek” and he replied “people fall in love awful fast on The Bachelor”.

  • @chrisblake4198
    @chrisblake4198 Місяць тому +81

    I don't buy Meridian because apart from the scene with Sisko, Dax doesn't act like Dax in one key way. Not once does she seem concerned about the symbiont. Nearly every Dax episode at least mentions their relationship or its safety. Yet it never comes up here. Additionally, there's no way Bashir could even guess what would happen to their joint consciousness on the other side, even if his transporter hijinks worked. It's the fulcrum for every other swing in Dax's character development, but never comes up in this episode. That's what took me out of the story.

    • @johnboren8928
      @johnboren8928 Місяць тому +9

      Good point. My dislike of the story is more basic- if you've got a symbiot who's centuries old, you'd recognize that the odds of this fling working out are low. And if it doesn't work out, you're stuck on this planet with its handful of people for 60 years. You can work your way through the whole population in a few years, and then . . .

    • @TheHopperUK
      @TheHopperUK Місяць тому +7

      Honestly it would almost work better as an episode if the person who wanted to stay on the planet was just a one-episode guest character.

    • @OhhCrapGuy
      @OhhCrapGuy Місяць тому +3

      @@johnboren8928Honestly, I think being centuries old kind of adds to the reason that Dax (the symbiont) would be willing to risk their own life, with the consent of Jadzia as a part of Dax. Why? The entire point of the Trill being so selective with hosts, the point of banning reassociation, was that the Trill were absolutely fascinated with new experiences. A non-corporeal existence for 60 years, something that neither Trill species had ever experienced, is certainly believable as a reason to risk one's own existence, given that desire to experience things that had never been experienced by their kind before.
      Kind of a "Sure, I might die, but imagine the knowledge I'll be able to bring back if I don't" sort of mindset.
      Sure, risking possible death for a fling? That's exceedingly out of character for Dax. But risking possible death for an experience that they, and no other trill for that matter, could NEVER have outside of this opportunity? And Jadzia wanted to be a Trill host, that's not without some risks (iirc), so she'd be onboard for it. So Jadzia Dax? Yeah, I buy that.
      I just wish the writers had gone with that as her reasoning, instead of the couple hours old romance. That was just absurd.

  • @hadorstapa
    @hadorstapa Місяць тому +39

    I totally believe that Teran knows senior people in the Ferengi Chamber of Commerce and the Dominion, but I bet he's never seen in the same room with either of them.

  • @alexhirsch5738
    @alexhirsch5738 Місяць тому +54

    Its actually hillarious that this one episode in particular is referenced TWICE in Lower Decks season 2. Once when Mariner teases Quark about having a copy of the Quark/Kira holo-program, and once in the finale when they visit "one of those planets that phases into our dimension for a few hours every couple of years"

  • @jimballard1186
    @jimballard1186 Місяць тому +23

    What makes this episode so regrettable is Terry Farrel absolutely CAN do believable, tempestuous, love at first sight: we see her do it in the one where she meets the woman whose stomach holds the worm that her stomach-worm used to be married to. And despite how I phrased that, I still believe the relationship she and the other actor portray!

    • @kaitlyn__L
      @kaitlyn__L Місяць тому +2

      Godddd I know, that episode really sells the chemistry.

  • @10000spidersinatrenchcoat
    @10000spidersinatrenchcoat Місяць тому +45

    This episode stood out for me mostly because I loved Kira’s voice when she said “but I’ve never won anything before!”, Nana Visitor really gave so many good little moments that fleshed out that character

    • @ultra6671
      @ultra6671 Місяць тому +6

      Considering how she spent almost her entire life fighting the Cardassians, that's pretty sad.

  • @Rigel7WasAlreadyUsed
    @Rigel7WasAlreadyUsed Місяць тому +18

    So in the end, they all moved along home.

  • @gingerestkitten
    @gingerestkitten Місяць тому +63

    The theme of both storylines in this episode is definitely “how far will someone go to get sum fuk”

    • @ryshow9118
      @ryshow9118 Місяць тому +11

      And the answer is apparently a resounding... YES!😅

    • @alanpennie8013
      @alanpennie8013 Місяць тому +6

      A very Gene sort of episode.

    • @Andrew-pr9xv
      @Andrew-pr9xv Місяць тому +7

      ​@@alanpennie8013
      Agreed.
      Gene was, ironically, one of the worst things to happen to Star Trek.

  • @renatocorvaro6924
    @renatocorvaro6924 Місяць тому +69

    Wait, about that weirdo.
    Isn't everyone played by Jeffrey Combs?

    • @alexneff
      @alexneff Місяць тому +3

      Yes

    • @Andrew-pr9xv
      @Andrew-pr9xv Місяць тому +7

      Jeffrey Combs himself is actually played by Vaughan Armstrong.

    • @carlosyoung1629
      @carlosyoung1629 Місяць тому

      I know I'm played by him

  • @danielyeshe
    @danielyeshe Місяць тому +18

    I think this should have been a Bashir episode. It is far more believable that he would fall in love so fast.

    • @alanpennie8013
      @alanpennie8013 Місяць тому +3

      Good point.
      Dr Bashir is kind of dumb so the story would make more sense if it was about him.

    • @danielyeshe
      @danielyeshe Місяць тому +3

      @@alanpennie8013 He also (although not yet established) doesn't have a good relationship with his family. I don't think Dax would just abandon her sister.

    • @ospero7681
      @ospero7681 Місяць тому +1

      They had already pretty much done that one season previously with "Melora". (They would kind of do it again in S7 with "Chrysalis", but at least Sarina was a previously established character, if only in one episode.)

    • @jimballard1186
      @jimballard1186 Місяць тому +1

      Star Trek of that era was pretty convinced women are sex objects, so all their stories had to be about them entering relationships or having intimate violence metaphorically done to them or maybe a spontaneous pregnancy.

  • @JohnMinehan-lx9ts
    @JohnMinehan-lx9ts Місяць тому +30

    Meridian AKA "Brigadoon II."

    • @Spook327
      @Spook327 Місяць тому +4

      "Brigadoon IN SPAAAAACE"

    • @DawnDavidson
      @DawnDavidson Місяць тому +1

      My thoughts exactly! 😂

  • @erbylopez6003
    @erbylopez6003 Місяць тому +8

    How is season one’s “Move Along Home” not the worst DS9 episode ever? Man, I hate that one.

  • @MrJohndoakes
    @MrJohndoakes Місяць тому +15

    The A plot of this is just "Brigadoon" (1954) in outer space.

  • @alissapyrich1891
    @alissapyrich1891 Місяць тому +9

    That's a creepily good Jeffrey Combs voice.

  • @GSBarlev
    @GSBarlev Місяць тому +32

    Hey Steve, I'm really sorry for the hostility-it's been super tense at the office, but that's no excuse for taking it out on you. I hope we can still be friends (or, at least, content creator and parasocial leech).

  • @Rocketboy1313
    @Rocketboy1313 Місяць тому +16

    My problem is that this is a TNG or Voyager type story. A story of weird planet of the week with a one off romance is what auto populates when you tell an AI to outline a Star Trek episode.
    DS9's strengths are in its ongoing story of religion and clashing empires. This show has none of that. This is a Troi or Harry Kim episode.

    • @IvanDobski
      @IvanDobski Місяць тому +2

      Yeah, that happened a few times in early DS9. The Storyteller ep is another obvious example. This cloud creature comes every year and the locals must fight it off. How did that work during the occupation??

  • @julietteangeli
    @julietteangeli Місяць тому +6

    Quark's come-hither look in the Kira hologram will never stop being amazing and hilarious.

    • @jimballard1186
      @jimballard1186 Місяць тому

      If I ever meet Armin Shimerman, the first thing I will do--once I'm done gushing and humiliating us both--is ask him how he learned to emote so effectively with all that stuff on his face.

  • @shinyagumon7015
    @shinyagumon7015 Місяць тому +25

    The most surprising turn for me with this episode was the fact that this is also the "Quark makes deepfake porn about Major Kira" episode, although I also thought the Meridians turned into slugs at the end, which I think is actually an episode from Voyager, which in my opinion showcases the biggest problem Meridian has: it's forgettable and boring.
    Like you said, the people living there are very flat and not really that interesting. You would think that people who spend the majority of their time as incorporeal beings would have a much more unique outlook on life, but no, they just kind of seem nice. There was something there to make us care about them, though the idea that being shifted around is like a prison to them and that they cherish the time they can experience having a body, but instead we focus on a fairly forgettable romance.
    The Dax and Sisko goodbye scene is great, but it cannot save the episode from being dull for me.

  • @MarkWiseTechno
    @MarkWiseTechno Місяць тому +20

    I agree that Meridian isn't as terrible as its reputation suggests, but it's still worthy of being considered among the worst episodes of DS9 sheerly based on how fucking good most episides of DS9 are. It's like when an honors student in school randomly gets a C+ on a test. It's only a middling grade and not at all a failure but still the one of worst grades they've ever gotten. Meridian is like that for DS9. It's a C-level episode in a show that averaged a B+/A- and rarely dipped below a B.

  • @lightsabermetrics
    @lightsabermetrics Місяць тому +4

    I was always quite impressed that 90s Trek episodes that took place outdoors in a park-type setting still made those outdoors settings look like stage plays.

  • @jonsvendsen4015
    @jonsvendsen4015 Місяць тому +4

    DS9 truly outshines most other Trek series with how the crew talks to each other. They're like people, talking to other people about stuff other than the plot of the week and/or technobabble. Personal stuff that people need to talk to other people about!

  • @ultra6671
    @ultra6671 Місяць тому +3

    I love how nobody ever thinks to just take the Meridian colony away from their planet and relocate them somewhere else.

  • @loorthedarkelf8353
    @loorthedarkelf8353 Місяць тому +4

    Miridian reminds me of Classic Trek. A member of the crew falling in love the moment they hit planet side and then Something Terrible kills the guest star they were head over heels for- occasionally their entire spieces.
    I think that's happened to Kirk at least six times.

  • @rika8484
    @rika8484 Місяць тому +3

    I just gotta say, I knew you were going to say "Threshold", I got nervous and my tummy hurt and I closed my eyes, but you still said "Threshold". I'm so mad, SO MAD, that everyone hates this episode that gave me such good chills that I felt nauseous and cried the first time I watched it. And then I opened Memory Alpha and learned that EVERYONE hates it. It's an effective piece of modern cosmic/existential horror that 2000s Trek rarely nailed so hard. Please, be gentle.

  • @MaxMercuryAnonymous
    @MaxMercuryAnonymous Місяць тому +20

    I don't know why Steve saying "Graham Crackers" in that voice made me audibly chuckle at work, but nice one, Steve.

  • @TheKartana
    @TheKartana Місяць тому +23

    I've seen DS9 like 3 times from beginning to end and the only part of this episode I remember is the Kira hologram

    • @HeadsFullOfEyeballs
      @HeadsFullOfEyeballs Місяць тому +2

      Same, I didn't remember the A plot of this episode at all.

    • @alanpennie8013
      @alanpennie8013 Місяць тому

      ​@@HeadsFullOfEyeballs
      I think we're tagging ourselves as not big fans of Dax.
      Which is true in my case.
      Not that I dislike the character but she's not a favourite.

    • @jimballard1186
      @jimballard1186 Місяць тому

      I remember it because I remember thinking it seemed like they gave Terry Farrel absolutely no direction for the planet disappearing scene; like, "Look, act like you're choking or something, I dunno, we're on a schedule here, figure it out!"

  • @MonkWithoutACause
    @MonkWithoutACause Місяць тому +8

    Completely unacceptable. You didn't even mention *Brigadoon*. 😀

  • @Seal0626
    @Seal0626 Місяць тому +5

    I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that this one was an unused TNG script, which would mean that it was probably written for Troi. At least she's got some telepathic woo going on that could be used to handwave why she fell so in love so quickly that she was willing to leave her entire life, but it's still pretty much making her a damsel in distress which they just _loved_ to do.

  • @st.anselmsfire3547
    @st.anselmsfire3547 Місяць тому +12

    You know, I still think Code of Honor is worse than both Threshold and Spock's Brain, because at least the latter two have that pulp sci-fi cheesiness that harkens back to Star Trek's roots. They're in this MST3K category of Trek - so bad, they actually come around to being good. Code of Honor just doesn't have that.
    As for Meridian, I think it's biggest sin is that it's boring.

    • @alanpennie8013
      @alanpennie8013 Місяць тому +1

      Absolutely.
      Most of Voyager is so meh that demented episodes like Threshold are actually highpoints.
      They have a lunatic energy which wins me over.

  • @elim_inator
    @elim_inator Місяць тому +9

    When I rewatched DS9 for the first time, I dismissed it right away as a bad episode, but that scene you mentioned with Sisko and Jadzia made me realize once more why this is my favorite Star Trek show. Even in an episode as poorly written as this one, the regulars are great.

  • @deathangel7335
    @deathangel7335 Місяць тому +2

    One of the moments that stood out for me with this episode was a bit of non-verbal acting that Sidig did in a particular scene. Bashir is talking to Jadzia, telling her some meditech about how she's all fixed up and ready to shift to the immaterial dimension, and then the boyfriend walks in. Jadzia and her boyfriend stand right there in front of him and talk about how wonderful it's going to be... You can see it as Julian tries to act like he's OK with all of this while a part of his soul visibly dies.

  • @guaposneeze
    @guaposneeze Місяць тому +3

    Dax is the one character that will probably still exist whenever the planet comes back. From her perspective, he's saying, "I gotta grab something from my car, I'll be right back." So the whole ticking clock premise works better with literally almost any other character in the history of the franchise.

  • @KioAMVs
    @KioAMVs Місяць тому +6

    Just rewatched Meridian yesterday. And the ONLY grounds I can find for Dax acting the way she does--and emphasis on Dax more than Jadzia here, is that one of the primary roles of the host is to act as a vehicle for the symbiont to gain new and unique experiences. We get hit with it over the head repeatedly. And Jadzia herself, even before Dax, has multiple science degrees, which means for both Jadzia and Dax (and thus for Jadzia Dax as a unit), the opportunity to live as pure energy is something no other host could provide for their symbiont, and I think Jadzia is genuinely enthralled by the idea as a scientist and explorer. Perhaps Jadzia's youth is causing her to misassociate her excitement for interest in what's-his-name. But that's the only way it hangs together to me even a little bit. The Sisko/Dax scenes are the only saving grace, and I felt the same thing as you did the first time I saw it.

  • @themediumcheese
    @themediumcheese Місяць тому +12

    I think the ending is kinda tragic even if it's a whatever episode, the last shot of Jadzia looking dejected is pretty rough

  • @m.h.6470
    @m.h.6470 Місяць тому +7

    Next episode is "Threshold"? Oh boy.
    I do like quite a few Voyager episodes, but that one... I actively try to suppress any memory of that episode ever happening. It is just SOOO bad.

  • @spikeoramathon
    @spikeoramathon Місяць тому +16

    "I'm so tired of that formula." The first of many lines making me nearly spit coffee all over my keyboard. You, sir, are a comedic genius.
    After explaining to my husband what a Brigadoon was, I had to look up whether or not it existed in other folklore than Scottish, and, yes, there's examples from around the world of this trope. Huh.
    Yeah, the guy Dax falls for isn't all that. But it's almost like being in love.

    • @altyrrell3088
      @altyrrell3088 Місяць тому +1

      I was about to mention Brigadoon.

    • @casey6556
      @casey6556 Місяць тому +2

      They actually refer to a similar planet on Lower Decks as a “Brigadoon-type planet” which is the ultimate lampshade

  • @ATADSP
    @ATADSP Місяць тому +5

    Bro "Let he who is without sin" and "Profit and Lace" are both far far worse. I barely remember this episode so it can't be that bad.

    • @alanpennie8013
      @alanpennie8013 Місяць тому +3

      As someone remarked above this is generic Trek episode #1.
      It's not good, it's not bad.
      It's just meh and forgettable.

  • @ChallengerBanX
    @ChallengerBanX Місяць тому +2

    It also makes no sense that a joined Trill would even be allowed to just leave and go off and do their own thing. It feels like Trill law has strict rules for things that don't really matter, like getting with a former partner, but the punishment is banishment which also made nonsense it they are joined. They would be wasting symbiotes left right and center.

  • @Obsidian__
    @Obsidian__ Місяць тому +5

    Ah yes, the much needed Brigadoon episode

  • @jamiecashes
    @jamiecashes Місяць тому +4

    The stuff with Quark is classic good stuff with Jeff Combs

  • @robertmiller9735
    @robertmiller9735 Місяць тому +3

    Only saw this one once, and I only remembered the subplot. It is enjoyable for Quark to get punished for that egregiously unethical behavior.

  • @jayodoom
    @jayodoom Місяць тому +4

    I am still, all these years later, absolutely and totally head-over-heels in love with Jadzia Dax

    • @colleenmarin8907
      @colleenmarin8907 Місяць тому

      OMG - Absolutely this - Jadzia is just the best ever!

  • @Andrew-pr9xv
    @Andrew-pr9xv Місяць тому +17

    An ex of mine counts this as the worst episode of Star Trek ever made.
    I did try to remind her that Voyager episodes with the Borg existed, but she still stuck to her guns.
    In her defence, it is absolutely dreadful, but it doesn't break into my bottom 20 Trek. Hell, I can think of a few worse episodes from DS9 alone.

    • @lightsabermetrics
      @lightsabermetrics Місяць тому +1

      Looking for Par'mach in All the Wrong Places is probably the single worst DS9 episode ever.
      However, I still hate Heart of Stone more than almost any episode in Trek history for its total character assassination of Odo. I'll never forgive the series for making Odo in love with Kira.

    • @Andrew-pr9xv
      @Andrew-pr9xv Місяць тому +1

      ​@@lightsabermetrics
      I love Heart Of Stone!
      For my money, one of the worst things that DS9 ever made was The Darkness And The Light and The Sound Of Her Voice.
      Absolutely dreadful, awful episodes.

    • @Andrew-pr9xv
      @Andrew-pr9xv Місяць тому +2

      ​@@lightsabermetrics
      Odo being in love with Kira is fantastic.
      Kira reciprocating later in the series was a massive disappointment, though.

    • @lightsabermetrics
      @lightsabermetrics Місяць тому +1

      @Andrew-pr9xv respectfully disagree. The Odo/Kira relationship was never built on any sexual tension between them from the first episode. They had mutual admiration and respect, but it was entirely platonic. It should have stayed that way.

    • @Andrew-pr9xv
      @Andrew-pr9xv Місяць тому

      ​@@lightsabermetrics
      Equally respectfully disagree!
      Romantic love doesn't need to have sexual chemistry, but Kido or Odira or whatever definitely works best when their relationship was tragically unreciprocated.

  • @bulbus7062
    @bulbus7062 Місяць тому +3

    Kudos for finding the perfect Kira reaction shot towards Teran

  • @canadianweez
    @canadianweez Місяць тому +4

    Duet did it for me. I really felt that poor cardassian's grief at what he witnessed.

  • @vlmellody51
    @vlmellody51 Місяць тому +4

    I've always been irritated by the near-total lack of chemistry between Doral and Dax.

  • @OsirisMalkovich
    @OsirisMalkovich Місяць тому +2

    On a long enough timeline, every sci-fi show will do a _Brigadoon_ episode.

  • @JDODify
    @JDODify Місяць тому +3

    Steve you gotta do Melora from DS9. their heart was in the right place, but it lands wide of the mark!

  • @anthonybervin3487
    @anthonybervin3487 Місяць тому +2

    "Not the way YOU like it.. the other way" 😂❤*

  • @emmajohnson-geis114
    @emmajohnson-geis114 Місяць тому +1

    Finding that bad entry in a piece of media/genre that makes you realize why you love it is always a special feeling

  • @sailordaigurren8225
    @sailordaigurren8225 Місяць тому +1

    I've always loved Kira and Odo pulling that stunt and swapping in Quark's head. Hilarious. 😂

  • @feliciasmith3195
    @feliciasmith3195 Місяць тому +2

    Thank you🎉this literally made me almost spit out my cereal this morning.My week has been a lot 😅 but this made me laugh out loud and nearly cried and choke! The sarcasm,and dry wit and cutting remarks were just too much!! I remember this episode and the face she makes when planet disappears it was too much!!

  • @joanwerthman4116
    @joanwerthman4116 Місяць тому +2

    I remember being a short ways into this and thinking, “Damn. They’re doing Brigadoon one of the world’s most boring musicals without the music that is its only redeeming feature.

  • @firefly4f4
    @firefly4f4 Місяць тому +7

    Not a good episode, but I consider it more boring than objectionable. 🤷
    Loved the joke about Jeffrey Combs' characters.

    • @firefly4f4
      @firefly4f4 Місяць тому

      WRT "Threshold", it's another one that I can't quite call the worst episode of the series even though it is absolutely atrocious. Nothing about it makes sense even by the "science" of Trek or even the logic of the episode itself. Sidenote that it did win an Emmy for makeup. I can't laugh at it as much as I can "Spock's Brain" because the "science" in it is so bad, but it's one I can enjoy on a, "How was this allowed to happen?" level. Plus the line, "multispectral subspace engine design" gives me a gloriously hilarious vision of some poor sap shoveling My Little Ponies into the warp core. (feel free to use that line, Steve; no credit required)
      My least favorite ENT episode as I've said elsewhere is "Nemesis" is my personal least favorite, although "Fury" is another contender. I give "Nemisis" the nod because it's both boring and inexplicably has the former rebel captain saying that, "violence is not the answer"; a plot point so contrary to the character that it hurts my brain. "Fury" is just, well, infuriating to anyone who actually liked Kes' character and thought she had already been given a pretty good send off, but I can kind of see what they were going for.

  • @GeoffTrowbridge
    @GeoffTrowbridge Місяць тому +2

    I’m surprised you didn’t mention that the whole “world disappears for 60 years” trope is borrowed (or stolen) directly from the musical “Brigadoon”.
    And as much as I dislike that musical, it’s an infinitely better story than whatever the hell this was.

  • @psykkomancz
    @psykkomancz Місяць тому +1

    The worst part for me is that Doran as absolutely zero charisma. I don't believe Dax would fall in love with someone like this for a second.

  • @dianavespid937
    @dianavespid937 Місяць тому +3

    I knew Dax was going to leave the show and I swear to god I thought this was the moment and I was already going to go nuts about it

  • @biggysmith
    @biggysmith Місяць тому +1

    c'mon bro, no way this is worse than Move Along Home...
    "Allamaraine, count to four, Allamaraine, then three more, Allamaraine, if you can see, Allamaraine, you'll come with me..."

  • @holofish
    @holofish Місяць тому +3

    Excellent Jeffrey Combs impression!

  • @jeffharris7668
    @jeffharris7668 Місяць тому +1

    If you find yourself trapped in what seems like a hotel room with only a VHS copy of "Meridian" for entertainment, settle in. You are clearly in Purgatory. But if you find yourself trapped in what seems like a hotel room with only a VHS copy of "Threshold" for entertainment, despair. For you are certainly in Hell.
    I do look forward to seeing the review, though.

  • @KariIzumi1
    @KariIzumi1 Місяць тому +3

    Ooh, glad to be home sick to get this one early

  • @kaitiesaxe5753
    @kaitiesaxe5753 Місяць тому +2

    I love this episode 😂 even though the romance is complete nonsense, I love the characterization of Dax (reinforced many times) that as intelligent and dedicated to her job as she is, she would always throw away everything for love. I sort of buy also that dipping out for 60 years wouldn't be nearly as big a deal for a 300 year old lady with theoretically infinite lifetimes.

  • @thishandleistacken
    @thishandleistacken Місяць тому +2

    Tree climbing is my favourite things to do... but be careful its pretty damn dangerous. 2 years ago I broke my foot in 3 places and my fact in 2 places + my nose and I bit the tip of my tongue nearly clean off and had to get it sown back on. It was super romantic

    • @Hugh_I
      @Hugh_I Місяць тому

      oh boy, that sounds like one of those moments in your life where you just feel the urge to shift into another dimension where you can hang out as a non-corporeal being for a while.

  • @versebuchanan512
    @versebuchanan512 Місяць тому +1

    It's not you, man. It's all of us. We've seen Re-Animator too, and we're all kinda struggling with that right now.

  • @finnbaker3985
    @finnbaker3985 Місяць тому +6

    I completely forgot about this episode. No memory of it at all.

    • @lennierofthethirdfaneofchu7286
      @lennierofthethirdfaneofchu7286 Місяць тому +1

      I remembered the B-plot (mostly because of Jeffrey Combs). Forgot the A-plot.

    • @TheMAZZTer
      @TheMAZZTer Місяць тому +4

      I kept thinking it was the one where the Defiant time traveled to the past and crashed on takeoff.
      Kira was on the planet in that episode though which confused me for a bit since she's in the B plot here instead.

    • @Gabriel-ci7db
      @Gabriel-ci7db Місяць тому +1

      The episode only reappears every 60 years.

  • @javiervalverde628
    @javiervalverde628 Місяць тому +1

    Great job with the voices. I laughed the whole way through. Thanks Stave!

  • @fredhuot9279
    @fredhuot9279 Місяць тому +1

    WhT Meridian made me think is how living so many lifetimes has been for Dax. Yes each of the hosts were different and unique as much as 2 persons living within the same culture can be. I believed Dax impulse to go. Not because of her pretty boy but because bow much she must crave for a different life experience.

  • @keithmichael112
    @keithmichael112 Місяць тому +4

    This episode is worse than Move Along Home, but not as bad as the one where Quark dresses up as a girl

  • @getnohappy
    @getnohappy Місяць тому +9

    I watched DS9 over the pandemic. It dawned on me that while Jadzia Dax is a great character she is pretty underserved for Dax-led episodes: this one, the albino, three symbiote based ones (the affair/gay kiss, guy who steals Dax, and the serial killer). Not a lot for 5 seasons, and only two good ones (albino and serial killer). I don't think I've missed any?

    • @KariIzumi1
      @KariIzumi1 Місяць тому +11

      Interesting you point this out, cuz the other thing you mentioned is most of her episodes aren’t even about her specifically but about her previous hosts’ shenanigans. It left Jadzia herself a bit thin on characterization in a way that not even Ezri for the brief time she was on the show suffered from.

    • @getnohappy
      @getnohappy Місяць тому +3

      ​@@KariIzumi1 ay, Ezri got two pretty good episodes if I remember (the Vulcan sniper and the Orion Syndicate episodes)

    • @GSBarlev
      @GSBarlev Місяць тому +3

      ​@@KariIzumi1Don't get me wrong-I love Ezri and _to this day_ haven't gotten over my crush on Nicole de Boer-but the amount of focus _DS9_ S07 gave to her character, even apart from her status as host, seemed like the EPs twisting the knife into Terry Farrell.

  • @JDizaster
    @JDizaster Місяць тому +1

    Pausing to comment: "I can pay. I assume you accept graham crackers?" is the best and most from-Steve's-brain DS9 joke I can possibly imagine.

  • @bricksloth6920
    @bricksloth6920 Місяць тому +5

    Star Trek Brigadoon.

  • @mjr256
    @mjr256 Місяць тому +2

    I think the B-story actually has aged well in the era of Deepfakes. I find myself referencing it in conversations about deepfake technology.

  • @gothatfunk
    @gothatfunk Місяць тому +1

    Ah, it's gonna be Threshold?
    I was unsure which way you would go.
    Contemporaneously to the release of that episode, I saw a doll of mutated Tom Paris. Apparently, whoever puts up the money for such a product to be made, liked the episode. I still remember my spontaneous laughter in the toy store.

  • @JessieGender1
    @JessieGender1 Місяць тому +4

    Maridiots is my offer

    • @alanpennie8013
      @alanpennie8013 Місяць тому

      Marizzzzz.
      It's those boring Trek hippies we've seen a million times.

  • @SnarkNSass
    @SnarkNSass Місяць тому +3

    I lean towards Neato, myself 😂😂😂

  • @eriks2962
    @eriks2962 Місяць тому +1

    clap clap!
    Good job steve, you've outdone yourself. You perfectly captured the silliness of that story line in your episode summary. Like anyone would ever believe dax would leave like that!

  • @FrostyButter
    @FrostyButter Місяць тому +1

    That establishing shot of Meridian looks a lot like a similar scene on Yavin 4. It sure is a small universe...

  • @ospero7681
    @ospero7681 Місяць тому +4

    Labeling this the worst episode of the series that brought us Fascination, The Muse, Move Along Home, Profit and Lace, Let He Who Is Without Sin... and Valiant (yes, I hate that one more than any other episode of DS9 - it's my least favourite episode of Star Trek ever made, in fact) is a little strange. Maybe if that person thinks "boring" is a worse sin than "actively annoying" or otherwise bad?

    • @ExtremeMadnessX
      @ExtremeMadnessX Місяць тому

      I just started rewatching DS9.
      I don't remember what the plot of these episodes was?

    • @GSBarlev
      @GSBarlev Місяць тому +1

      Ooh, I'll defend "Valiant" (if for no reason beyond CPO Dorian Collins' description of Earthrise on Luna), "Move Along Home" (Kira and Sisko's *sheer annoyance* combined with the double-subversion given the stakes involved), "The Muse" (really stepping up the Jake-as-a-writer arc) and "Profit and Lace" (💯 with Steve on his take from the last video).
      "Fascination" I don't remember very well, except that I, unlike Steve, really enjoy Lwaxana and especially Lwaxana x Odo.

    • @ospero7681
      @ospero7681 Місяць тому +4

      @@ExtremeMadnessX In order: Lwaxana Troi makes everyone on the station into emotionally supercharged teenagers; Jake Sisko gets drained by an energy alien posing as a muse; the most immersive board game ever with the worst minigames ever produced; Quark in drag; holiday on Risa; and finally, Nog and Jake getting in with a ship full of cadets stuck behind enemy lines.

    • @gingerestkitten
      @gingerestkitten Місяць тому +1

      ⁠​⁠​⁠in order… Lwaxana, Jake trades his life force to a sexy alien for a story idea, crew plays VR hopscotch for klon peags, Quark Is Trans For A Day, Worf and Dax foil a terrorist plot to end fun on Risa, 20 children pilot a starship in a war zone

    • @chrisblake4198
      @chrisblake4198 Місяць тому

      I liked the Gratitude Festival because it had very little to do with Lwaxana and let everyone else be silly. I liked the Risa trip because of Bashir and Leeta's breakup and her announcement of her interest in Rom. Both good 'show don't tell ' insights into Bajoran culture.

  • @MeganKoumori
    @MeganKoumori Місяць тому +1

    Of course climbing trees is fun. Even Spock climbs trees. You have to shoot him with a sneezing ecstasy flower first, but then he's a regular Tarzan of the Vulcans.

  • @richardryley3660
    @richardryley3660 Місяць тому

    "Meridian" seems to me like one of those Star Trek episodes where the entire point is to set up the ending. In this case, it is about Dax being an alien race that is effectively immortal. "How can we set up a situation where Dax will have to wait 60 years to continue a romance?"
    It rarely works and I wish Star Trek wouldn't do it so much. I wosh I could think of another example but right now my mind is blanking. Probably trying to protect myself. 😂

  • @Chiscringle
    @Chiscringle Місяць тому

    It's a good thing Jadzia didn't stay on Meridian or else we'd have people asking where she is now that DISCO is in the 32nd Century, which would only be half a year's worth of Meridian time.

  • @WildSeven19
    @WildSeven19 Місяць тому +1

    Jeffrey Combs exudes great Cenobite energy in this episode.
    I liked this episode when I was 12 and an idiot; it was a total slog as an adult.

  • @nutherefurlong
    @nutherefurlong Місяць тому +1

    I like taking the Brigadoon thing and carrying the idea as far as it will go, but I don't remember them getting too deeply into what it was actually like. That their brains aren't mush I guess means it's OK.
    Sorta surprised "Move Along Home" doesn't at least get a hat tip. Was a weird setup... one of the first Dominion references but goofy. Didn't skimp on the set design, though

  • @cozmothemagician7243
    @cozmothemagician7243 Місяць тому +2

    I honestly don't remember the episode. But one question I have is 'What about the Symbiot?" Would not this whole, "I'll stay here 4evs" been a great big Eff Yooo to here inner worm?

  • @johnchedsey1306
    @johnchedsey1306 Місяць тому +1

    I think this episode illustrates the problems with TV shows back in the 90s and their 20+ episodes per season. Filler episodes happen far too often and this one definitely feels like one of those. I never thought it was bad, and the Jeffrey Combs character is a riot. But if it had never been made, it's not like we'd be losing much.

    • @alanpennie8013
      @alanpennie8013 Місяць тому

      Exactly.
      If they have 20 episodes to write the writers are gonna give us a few that are a bit ho hum even in the best show.
      It's inevitable.

  • @dimone
    @dimone Місяць тому +1

    My pick for worst Star Trek: DS9 episode is the baseball episode from the final season. Yes, I understand it was meant to be light-hearted and a break from all the heavy goings-on in that season, but I hate it. It's as if not one person (writers, director, producers, actors) involved in that episode have ever heard of baseball.

  • @rmeddy
    @rmeddy Місяць тому +1

    It's not Move Along Home bad or anything like that but it's just forgettable, I only remember this because The Orville did something really similar and I was "oh yeah that was like Meridian from DS9"
    It's biggest sin is the dumb "love interest for one episode" thing but we know they can't flesh it out or have main character leave so we know that isn't going anywhere

  • @mokwella
    @mokwella 4 дні тому

    So what's the actual worst episode?
    "Allamaraine, count to four,
    Allamaraine, then three more,
    Allamaraine, if you can see,
    Allamaraine, you'll come with me…"

  • @alissapyrich1891
    @alissapyrich1891 Місяць тому +1

    Despite having rewatched DS9 multiple times, I seem to have completely blocked this episode from my memory. All for the better.

    • @alanpennie8013
      @alanpennie8013 Місяць тому

      I don't think there's any particular reason to remember it.
      *Let he who is without sin* gets remembered and disliked because fans don't like to see Worf behaving like a jerk.

  • @loiskampp5105
    @loiskampp5105 Місяць тому +2

    'Meridiananians'. But it's pronounced 'Brigadoon'.

  • @pjlusk7774
    @pjlusk7774 Місяць тому +2

    Ah, good ol' Space Brigadoon

    • @pjlusk7774
      @pjlusk7774 Місяць тому +2

      Also, it is genuinely hilarious how every one-off male love interest in this era of Star Trek is an absolute wet noodle of a man. Bariel, Shakaar, this fuckin' guy, Chakotay.

  • @nikau86
    @nikau86 Місяць тому

    Back in the day, I was actually a shipper in my local newsgroup community. (Yes, newsgroups) I had a vested interest in Jadzia being in a relationship with Julian. I was a J&Jer, not a J&Wer.
    This episode, regardless of what side you were on, was the one that you ALWAYS had a pass to skip.

  • @kaitlyn__L
    @kaitlyn__L Місяць тому

    Your lewd and lascivious jokes always get me, but today they were so over the top that I had to actually stop and catch my breath... (insert double entendre there, I guess). Well done, Steve.

  • @paulhunter6742
    @paulhunter6742 Місяць тому

    What confused me; How could Jadzia go through transporter for six hours relining her molecular pattern to stay on Meridian without having serious impact on Sybiote? They had episode in TNG where Trill was injured in Shuttlecraft accident because Trill couldn't use transporter for fear possible damage to Sybiote

  • @PaulTheSkeptic
    @PaulTheSkeptic Місяць тому

    Yeah, early on Dax says something like "Joined Trills tend to look at the whole romance thing as an inconvenience because we did it so many times and it keeps us from our higher pursuits." or something. And now all of the sudden she falls for this guy so hard that she's ready to leave everything behind for 60 years? Yeah, I'm not buying it either.

  • @anniealexander9911
    @anniealexander9911 Місяць тому

    If only Dax's FotW had made airplane noises when feeding her.
    You know Dr Care Bear woulda

  • @AMVH2012
    @AMVH2012 Місяць тому +1

    How could a story that is just a riff on Brigadoon be mediocre. Oh wait, that's how.

  • @Sciath27
    @Sciath27 Місяць тому

    I remember seeing it for the first time, and by the first commercial break I was sighing "It's just a cheap ripoff of Brigadoon..."