Star Trek: The Forsaken

Episode: "The Forsaken"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 1, Episode 17

Original Air Date: May 23, 1993

via Memory Alpha

A delegation of Starfleet ambassadors pays a visit to the station, including our old friend Lwaxanna Troi.  The daughter of the fifth House, holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed takes a shine to Constable Odo.  Unfortunately, there's also a less welcome interloper in the form of an alien computer program which infects DS9 operations.

The Troi/Odo story is the primary narrative.  "The Forsaken" represents a turning point for both characters.  As I have written several times, I'm not a fan of Lwaxanna.  She grates.  But in this story and in her next (and final) TNG appearance, we see a genuinely vulnerable side that makes her considerably more likable.  The 

"You are not at all what I expected." 

"No one's ever paid me a greater compliment." 

exchange between Odo and Lwaxanna is simply lovely, allowing an insight into her zaniness we've not been previously afforded.  For Odo's part, the vulnerability begins with the physical.  We watch him literally melt as he approaches his solid state limit.  He reveals more once he recognizes Lwaxanna is someone he can trust.

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Constance Towers played the role of Taxco, a high-maintenance Arbazan ambassador.  Towers was born May 20, 1931 in Whitefish, Montana.  She also spent parts of her childhood in Kalispell, Montana,  Moscow, Idaho and Seattle where she worked for a few years as a child radio actor.  Eventually, her family settled in New York City when her father took a job as a pharmaceutical executive.  She studied music at Julliard, then acting at American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Towers was discovered by a film agent while she was at Julliard and soon signed a contract with Columbia Pictures.  Fittingly given her name, Towers is on the tall side at 5'9", a fact that held her back from finding lead roles initially.  Eventually, she was cast in a few: The Horse Soldiers, Sergeant Rutledge and The Naked Kiss.  In 1965, she resumed a stage career with her Broadway debut in Anya.  She also led Broadway productions of The Sound of Music and The King and I.  Daytime television has been especially kind with long runs on both Capitol and General Hospital.  She made her most recent appearance on the latter this year.  Towers has two Emmy nominations: one for General Hospital as "America's Favorite Villain" and one for Best Actress in 1974's Once in Her Life.

Squid Mixes: Mon Nouvel Ami

Mon Nouvel Ami is David Lebovitz's variation on the Old Pal Cocktail, substituting Dolin red for Campari.  Lebovitz published his recipe in his Drinking French book.  The result was a less bitter drink.  My wife described the Dolin as more botanical in flavor.

Largely because of the Lebovitz recipe, I've had my eye out for Dolin for a while.  Technically, it's a vermouth, though more flavorful - and more expensive - than the usual offerings.  It's not available in Vermont liquor stores so I always keep an eye out for it when we're out of state.  Wouldn't you know, I'd find a gem of a liquor store in Northampton, Massachusetts: State Street Wine, Beer & Spirits.  I was able to cross off a decent portion of my wish list so stay tuned.

Star Trek: Rightful Heir

Episode: "Rightful Heir"

Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season 6, Episode 23

Original Air Date: May 17, 1993

via Memory Alpha

Worf visits the monastery on Boreth in order to reconnect with his Klingon spiritual roots.  He experiences a vision of Kahless the Unforgettable.  Except it's no mere vision.  Miraculously, it would seem Kahless has returned in the flesh after fifteen centuries.  The resurrected hero has a plan for rebuilding the Klingon empire.

In the beginning, the story is a bit hokey.  It gains strength as our heroes and their Klingon guests seek to verify Kahless's authenticity.  Gowron - always a welcome visitor, at least for the audience - and entourage are on board to see if Kahless is the real deal, hoping he isn't, of course.  In the end, questions arise over the value of a spiritual leader serving alongside an established secular leadership structure.  It's an issue with relevance in 2022.  I highly recommend John Oliver's recent rant about the relevance of the British monarchy for a contemporary perspective.  

Food Notes

via Memory Alpha

Klingon warnog, a traditional Klingon beer, is featured for the first time in this episode.  Tin Man Brewery produced an officially licensed Klingon Warnog, beginning in 2014.  Unfortunately, the product was not successful enough to keep the company afloat as they have since gone out of business.

Acting Notes

Kevin Conway (Kahless, top photo) was born May 29, 1942 in New York City.  He studied the craft at HB Studio.  He found success on stage as both actor and director.  He received a Drama Desk Award in 1974 as an actor for When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? and was nominated as a director for the same in 1980 for Mecca.

Films included Slaughterhouse-Five, Funny Farm and Gettysburg.  He also directed the independent film The Sun and the Moon.  Television work included recurring roles on Oz and The Good Wife.  

Conway died of a heart attack in 2020.

Squid Eats: Moshi Moshi

Moshi Moshi is how one answers the telephone in Japan.  It's also the name of a sushi restaurant in Northampton, Massachusetts.  We recently went for lunch.

Moshi Moshi occupies a tiny space on a street corner by the railroad bridge, barely room on the ground floor for a short bar and a single table - there's upstairs seating, too, fortunately.  Service was friendly and quite attentive - hard not to be in such a small space.  

Most importantly, the food is good.  

That's a California roll, avocado roll, tuna roll, salmon roll and unagi (eel).

Apparently, Moshi Moshi was a favorite of children's literature titan Eric Carle, a longtime Northampton resident:

Star Trek: If Wishes Were Horses

Episode: "If Wishes Were Horses"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 1, Episode 16

Original Air Date: May 16, 1993

via Memory Alpha

Everyone's dreams, both good and bad, come true.  An alien species invades the station by taking the form of beings of our heroes' imaginations: Rumpelstiltskin for Molly O'Brien (or is it for Miles?); Buck Bokai, a fictitious 21st century baseball legend for Jake Sisko; a nauseatingly affectionate version of Dax for Julian; etc.  Harmless fun?  Not so much.  Imagined disasters like a spatial rift are also becoming all too real.

Fantasies becoming reality: this is well-traveled ground for Trek in such episodes as TOS's "Shore Leave" (arguably the precursor to Holodeck episodes) and TNG's "Imaginary Friend."  "If Wishes Were Horses" is not the strongest installment but I always appreciate when the tables are turned on our adventurers, in this case the observers becoming the observed.  A relevant behind the scenes note: according to Terry Farrell (Dax), this was the episode in which the ensemble cast hit their stride in working together.

Acting Notes

via Young Justice Wiki

Keone Young (Buck Bokai) was born September 6, 1947 in Honolulu, Hawaii.  He has had a long, extensive career in television both as a live actor and, especially, as a voice actor.  His biggest on-screen gigs were on Kay O'Brien, Deadwood and The Young and the Restless.  On the mic, he has had principal roles on Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi and American Dragon: Jake Long as well as numerous recurring roles on high profile series such as Teen Titans, Batman Beyond and Star Wars Rebels.  "If Wishes Were Horses" is his first of two Trek appearances.  He plays Hiroshi's father in Enterprise.  

Squid Eats: Herrell's

via Herrell's

Herrell's is a Northampton, Massachusetts (NoHo) food landmark.  Tell anyone you've visited the town and they're sure to ask if you've been to Herrell's.  We went for the first time in August, then returned a couple weekends ago.

Confession time.  I'm an ice cream snob.  My offspring says so and I'm inclined to agree.  Ice cream is my favorite food in the world and I am convinced that I live in the greatest part of the world for eating it.  Sure, you know all about Ben & Jerry's, the local independent gone global, now comfortably in Unilever's portfolio.  But great Vermont ice cream extends far beyond B&J.  First, there's creemies, soft-serve ice cream to the rest of you.  It's both ubiquitous and delicious around here in the summer time.  There's plenty of great hard ice cream, too: Lake Champlain Chocolate, Wilcox, Island Homemade, Kingdom Creamery, Sisters of Anarchy.  It's all yummy.  

So, if I'm going to stand in a long, winding, confusing line for a cone, as we did at Herrell's in August, it had better be pretty darn good.  I honestly can't remember what flavor I got in the summer - the shop has 40 at any given time with 400+ in rotation.  It was fine.  Not great.  Fine.  Not worth standing in line.

As a result, I've been less inclined to go in subsequent visits to NoHo.  It's possible I even rolled my eyes when our progeny suggested it, prompting the ice cream snob accusation.  Nonetheless, we agreed to go during our most recent visit if the line wasn't too long.

I got rum raisin this time.  It was pretty darn good.  Rum raisin was my go-to Baskin-Robbins order back in the day.  I don't get it too often any more.  To be fair, one doesn't see it so much.  Herrell's was nice - truly rummy and creamier than what I remember from B-R in my childhood.  Is it as good as Vermont's best?  Probably not.  But definitely worth a stop if the line's not too long.

This ice cream snob will be back.

On the Coffee Table: The Sandman

Title: The Sandman, Volume 1: Preludes & Nocturnes

Writer: Neil Gaiman

Artists: Sam Keith, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Dave McKean

via Amazon

Title: The Sandman, Volume 2: The Doll's House

Writer: Neil Gaiman

Artists: Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli. Steve Parkhouse, Dave McKean

via Amazon

The Sandman is widely considered one of the masterpieces of the comic book genre.  Neil Gaiman teamed up with a small staff of master artists to tell the tale of Morpheus, King of the Dreamworld.  Morpheus had been held captive for several decades.  Now that he's free, he must clean up the mess created by those who have sought to fill the void in his absence.  The story shifts not exactly seamlessly between demon-world, dream-world and real world.  

As I have written before, though not for several years, Gaiman's work is hit-or-miss for me.  I can't deny his command of language or narrative skill.  The Graveyard Book is one of my favorites.  But Gaiman often tends too far in the horror direction for my tastes.  I first tried Preludes & Nocturnes several years ago and was deeply turned off.  Maggots in people's eyes?  A diner full of people being manipulated into killing each other?  No thanks.

The new Netflix series sparked my wife's interest.  She'd never read the comics before but is now eagerly seeking them out.  She suggested I read the second book, The Doll's House, as a book swap.  I needed to re-read the first volume to get oriented.

After being freed, Morpheus sets out to gather his dream-manipulating objects: a gas mask, a bag of sand and an amulet.  All have fallen into the possession of unsuitable owners.  I can't say I liked the story any better with the second reading.  Still hauntingly beautiful at times?  Yes.  Still frequently gross and off-putting?  Most certainly.

The Doll's House is better.  The broad arc follows a mortal, Rose Walker, a young woman whose family has been torn apart.  As she works to gather them all back together, she learns of the role she plays, unwittingly, within the dream world.  Once again, some of the stories are lovely.  The prologue is set in the African desert, a man relating a rite of passage tale to his grandson after the latter's ritual circumcision.  In Part Four, Morpheus makes a friend in 14th century England.  After granting him immortality, Morpheus visits his pal every hundred years to see how he's doing.

But there are also truly sickening moments over the course of the story.  Maybe this is the trade off I have to accept with the Sandman series if I'm to continue with it.  And I think I will.  Eventually.  Gaiman is a genius.  If I can endure his horror stories, I will be rewarded with occasional elegance.  Even Rose's story, while frequently disgusting, is beautiful in the end.

The artwork is undeniably brilliant.  With several different artists come a variety of styles.  Sometimes, panel sequence gets confusing, which annoys me.  But overall, the visual presentation is top-notch.  Even the gross stuff.

I don't know if I'm interested in the TV series or not.  I suppose I am curious to see how it all translates to screen.  If I do watch, I may occasionally need to remove to another room from time to time.