I agree with your sentiment but not your reasoning, Paul.  Seven is underrated partly because Voyager was so poorly-written, and partly because she was Ms. Fanservice.  But to reduce Seven to merely Ms. Fanservice ignores the fact that they gave Seven a strong and compelling character arc, and that made her a strong…

I agree with your sentiment but not your reasoning, Paul.  Seven is underrated partly because Voyager was so poorly-written, and partly because she was Ms. Fanservice.  But to reduce Seven to merely Ms. Fanservice ignores the fact that they gave Seven a strong and compelling character arc, and that made her a strong…

I remember thinking when I first watched this (I would be about 10) that it was pretty deep for a Very Special Episode where they talk about the evils of drug addiction.  Coming back to it now, I'm hugely impressed by just how smart most of their characterization is.

I remember thinking when I first watched this (I would be about 10) that it was pretty deep for a Very Special Episode where they talk about the evils of drug addiction.  Coming back to it now, I'm hugely impressed by just how smart most of their characterization is.

I'd say it's more until S3 that the writers figure out how to write to Ferrell's acting strengths.  In the beginning, they wrote Dax as being the "Really 800 year-old wizened mystic".  You know the archetype:  she was written to be Sisko's Yoda, who is of course in the body of a supermodel because this is Ben Sisko…

I'd say it's more until S3 that the writers figure out how to write to Ferrell's acting strengths.  In the beginning, they wrote Dax as being the "Really 800 year-old wizened mystic".  You know the archetype:  she was written to be Sisko's Yoda, who is of course in the body of a supermodel because this is Ben Sisko…

Loras suffers from a fairly severe case of The Worf Effect, or at least as severe as any person on the show.  The trope, named for beloved Worf on TNG, applies when a character is explicitly stated to be awesome in a fight, only to demonstrate someone else is even more awesome by having the new person beat the crap…

Loras suffers from a fairly severe case of The Worf Effect, or at least as severe as any person on the show.  The trope, named for beloved Worf on TNG, applies when a character is explicitly stated to be awesome in a fight, only to demonstrate someone else is even more awesome by having the new person beat the crap…

I realize this is a bit off-topic, but I have to say that as of this Monday, I was sure that Tywin and Arya go to Casterly Rock would be the buddy comedy of the year.  But Rasczak and Omar in Yammin' with You has come out of nowhere to give them surprisingly strong competition.

I think that's true, although it works much better in Verad's case than Jadzia's.  Partly it's because Glover is a stronger actor at this point than Ferrell, but it's also because the writers accidentally wrote themselves into a box with Jadzia as a character.  Namely, she's already through her character arc.  By…

I'd have to disagree about this myself.  I don't think that the writers ever managed to really get completely away from the racist portrayal of the Ferengi, and they certainly didn't get away from it in the comedy episodes.  The results were usually terrible (if you think Move Along Home was bad, wait until you have…

Assuming you are THE J. Michael Straczynski, then I have to say that I'm honored to discuss genre characters with you.  B5 is one of my favorite science fiction shows ever, and Ivanova one of my favorite characters.  There was a reason why I called Kira one of the very first Strong Characters, Female on television: …

Whoops. Wrong place.

I wouldn't call Kira Tasha Yar 2.0 so much as a successful second try out a mold that broke poor Tasha.  I don't have the link to it, but there was a great feiminist critique of genre television that argued, quite rightly I think, that when writers heard the call to make strong female characters, they interpreted it…

Thrasymachus, his eyes downcast, palm to forehead.

I have to say that at even the first time watching this show, Kira was my favorite character.  At the time, it was because she was the most obviously tough and resourceful person on the station.  Looking back on it now with older eyes, I still think she's one of the best characters at this point (Odo and smart-Quark…