One thing I love about this episode is how, watching it with later context, you can view it in an entirely different light. Bashir's not just pretending to be a superspy. He's *letting his real, genetically enhanced, superior intelligence* out in a safe environment where he can get away with it.
Except that wasn't a thing when they made 'Our Man Bashir'. They only decided to make Julian enhanced during the writing of the episode 'Doctor Bashir, I presume?' because they thought Zimmerman needed to discover some dark secret in Julian's past. Siddig initially hated the idea. He only found out when he got the script for 'Doctor Bashir, I Presume?'
That would be why it works in "later context". Just because it wasn't intended at the time of "Our Man Bashir" being made doesn't mean that future episodes can't recontextualize our understanding of previous episodes.
@uosdwiSrdewoH you missed part of the first sentence "how watching it with later context," if you are going to write a paragraph in response to something and you want people to take you seriously and engage conversationally it helps if you actually read what you are responding to.
@@larnewman3009 Me too. Though I don't think I've ever thought about this episode since it was aired. It's very enjoyable but it doesn't linger in the memory.
The characters are very lucky that a quirky James Bond style holoprogram was active during their transporter mishap, considering that Quark's holoprograms are probably 90% pornographic. And as viewers we're lucky Bashir wasn't playing one of those bland holoprograms the characters love like 'sunny beach' or 'French café' or 'village of offensive stereotypes of Irish people' 😛
Sisko, Dax, Kira, Worf, and O'Brien have been transported into the holosuite bodies of a half dozen Orion slave girls.....and Bashir and Garak have to keep the program running, at all costs.....
Alternatively, it could have been one of Bashir and O'brien's hopeless battle scenarios. Good luck keeping them alive when they're officers in an army during a battle with a 90% casualty rate.
One thing I noticed when SFDebris did a review of one of the Oirish Voyager episodes is that, going by the road signs, the village depicted is in the middle of Lough Derg and should be roughly 25 to 30 metres under water.
One thing I love about DS9 - The holosuites may just be something that Rom keeps running on baling wire and spit, and knowing Quark it's probably the Ferengi equivalent of something from Harbor Freight, but it almost always worked perfectly. It never went ker-flooey because the wormhole had indigestion. It never developed sentience and decided to make a baby. This episode is the one time things went wrong, and the only reason it did is because Starfleet personnel made it do something it wasn't designed for. Let's get some props out there for Ferengi holosuite tech.
Exactly! Some people may say Rom being an engineering genius came out of nowhere, but Data, Geordi, and Wesley all together couldn't keep the Enterprise holodecks working as consistently smoothly as Rom and whatever cut-rate materials and tools Quark was giving him.
There's an old Star Trek copypasta that references this exact episode for pretty much the same reasons, describing what the poor holosuite had to go through as "swapping your PC's disk drive with a PS2 memory card and expecting it to be able to run Spyro the Dragon".
My first thought when Garak arrives is: why don’t the holosuites have locks on them. I’d hate for someone to walk in uninvited while I was enjoying a fantasy. (Shrug)
They planned on doing more of these but the sets were irreparably damaged from Avery Brooks chewing the scenery. After this they needed to appoint a special "assistant to Mr. Brooks" armed with a water spray bottle to keep him from destroying any more sets
Another bit of clever characterisation, this one possibly unintentional (depending on when they decided this plot point), noticed by SF Debris: Julian Bashir, a man who has abilities beyond ordinary human potential thanks to his genetic modification but can't openly _use_ his incredible gifts and has to constantly under-achieve in order to blend in...unwinds by playing James Bond. The most competent man in the world. An expert in everything. Here, he doesn't have to pretend not to be smarter than everyone around him, because he's James Bond.
I've heard the rule that you can basically use as many coincidences and contrivances as you want to get your characters *into* trouble--the audience will only feel cheated if you use them to get them out.
My headcanon is that no one in Starfleet actually knows how either Transporters or Holodecks work; there are only theories that they use as rough guidelines. Might as well be found-technology like half the shit on Stargate SG-1 😅
I always thought transporters and Holo decks were probably the most specialized of scientific knowledge and very few can actually work on it. That is why people put up with Zimmerman he is one of the few people capable of working on holograms. As opposed to say warp core a very 'old' and understood tech that is more like being any modern engineer highly rigours but more understood and mapped out.
What annoys me is real world people pretending they know what technology from a fictional future is “doing” based off the terminology, abstract analogies, and technobabble the writers put in the mouths of fictional characters to get on with the story. TLDR: Aside from the fact that transporters don’t exist, we also don’t know that they actually convert matter into energy just because people say “energize” and short hand the process as “converting matter into energy”.
If MGM sued everyone who spoofed Bond movies they would have to sue half the TV shows I watched as a kid and would need to hire more lawyers than Donald Trump.
@@andrewklang809 You realize he was literally charged for paying too much to/via said lawyers though. Also he pays *employees* it's the _contractors_ who he usually nickles and dimes over every little thing that doesn't meet his somewhat arbitrary standards. At this point they know he'll do it so they just upcharge him from the start and let him knock off penalties afterwards.
“we keep being shipped, even though we barely along” yet Julian left with Garak instead of telling him to fuck off so he could keep making out with his lady friend
It's clear from later comments that Steve is joking. I thought the same thing, but deleted my comment after Bashir shot Garak in the neck and Steve-as-Garak quipped "I have never been more attracted to you!"
@@Talisguy it’s still a possible interpretation that Steve believes Garak is into Bashir but not vice versa. Though I of course disagree; they have weekly dinner dates filled with debates about history, philosophy, art that he could only dream to have with O’Brien.
An episode where the plot is driven by a holodeck AND transporter malfunctioning at the same time. And yet it still managed to be one of the better ones. Not my personal favorite, but still pretty effing good. Although I do feel a bit sorry for Garak. He seemed like he really wanted to join Bashir on his next spy adventure. Instead Bashir ended up going with O'Brien at every opportunity for the Battle of Britain and the Alamo among others.
Blame Rick Berman, who had a teensy weensy homophobic freakout. It's also why we got Ziyal, mandated heterosexual love interest, and the best Andy Robinson could do was try to play that kind of casual.
You have to believe that this is a gift to the regular cast by giving them the opportunity to play characters in a Bond story. Michael Dorn as Worf in a white dinner jacket, dress shirt with french cuffs. smoking a cigar and playing baccarat is just hilarious. And you know Avery Brooks really enjoyed playing a Bond villain. Also, why is EVERYONE smoking cigars? LOVE this episode!
I remember seeing a special where Behr or Moore was talking about this episode and the MGM letter. In the interview they revealed that they had planned on doing more regular Secret Agent Bashir spots going forward if they didn't get any pushback from MGM. When they got the letter, everyone just assumed it was because of "Our Man Bashir", so they stopped referencing it. It later turned out that the letter was about something else that Paramount was doing at the time that had nothing to do with Star Trek, and that the MGM/James Bond people had really enjoyed the episode. I think it was when they were at some Hollywood party where the Bond people found and asked the DS9 people why they didn't do any more Bond spoofs that the mistake was realized.
What I love about this episode is it's dropping a character based on the spy characters of John LeCarre (Garak is a TAILOR for Pete's sake) into an Ian Fleming story and then having them comment and kibbutz about it. It works on a lot of different levels for fans of spy fiction.
It was interesting that Steve mentioned Brooks' overacting because that's the only reason I don't love DS9 as much as TNG... I'll get all the hate here I know but I can't take Sisko seriously when he's hamming it up. Picard, Archer, Pike etc can all nail a big speech but I can never take to Sisko saying something serious with his staccato delivery and gritted teeth.
Still probably the best holodeck episode in the franchise. I also appreciate a "flood the world" plotline that doesn't involve melting ice caps. There's not enough ice to flood the Earth, but making the crust smaller?! God bless Trek for being _just_ scientific enough while still running on blatant magic and pseudo-technodoublespeak.
Hello from Ireland 🇮🇪 Steve Peirce, brosnan is from my hometown Navan county meath Ireland he used to live next door to my grandmother. This episode of DS9 was a great Bond tribute 😀
Also one of my favorite episodes. I really thought they were going to just go with the lazy writing of a long monolog to eat up the screen time, but Bashir's idea of losing to win was so much better!!!!!
I love this episode! Great Bashir/Garak banter, a slinky Kira, a subversion of the usual Bond plot -- solid all the way through. I would argue that this is not JUST a Bond spoof, but a love letter to some of the earlier Bond spoofs. The old Matt Helm movies starring Dean Martin are where you can find women with names resembling Luvsitt and a big revolving bed. Messing with Nature is the fiendish scheme behind Our Man Flint, and Dr. Noah is in fact the name of the Woody Allen villain in the roundly disowned Casino Royale (1967, not 2006). I only wish that they could have squeezed in a Man from UNCLE reference, but it was fine. So much fun to relive. Thanks, Steve.
Thanks to Felix, Bashirs buddy, who gifted him with this amazing holoprogram. One of my favourite Bond stories. Better as some 'real' Bond movies. ❤ And Siddig was just the perfect casting!
I like the implication that the holosuite computer looked at the patterns in the buffer and correctly assigned each to their most appropriate role, although Sisko as Honeybear would have been delicious subversion....
This is one of the absolute all time greats! I always thought Bashir liked the James Bond stuff because it let him show off that genetic super brain of his instead of always having to hide it before the reveal
This episode was closer to a Derek Flint Movie than a Bond one, a bit tongue in cheek and over the top but not as silly as those Austin Powers ones. The holosuit story actually had a pretty good plot, and a great villain.
I bloody love this episode, despite actually loathing James Bond and Bond-Style stories. The glorious piss-take of the sub-genre, the subversion of the "hero saving the day", the entire cast, but especially Brooks, all beautifully chewing the beautiful scenery. and all that Bashir/Garak interaction. Love it.
I enjoy the long shadow this episode casts over the rest of the series almost as much as the episode itself. There are references to it in later episodes that range in scope from Odo barging in on Bashir during the program (this time with Miles playing Falcon by choice) to just throwaway allusions to "Julian's dumb secret agent program." I like the fact that they kept bringing it back even though they couldn't fully bring it back.
VIC FONTAINE: "Do you know how difficult it was for me to get a holographic image of Major Kira? Lucky for you, Julian used her image in one of his spy programs, though it did take me an hour to get rid of the Russian accent." Also calling back to the b-story in "Shadowplay" where Jeffrey Combs hires Quark to get a holographic image of Major Kira, which turns out to be quite a challenging task. Such a brilliant show.
Off topic, but when Edington was revealed as a Maquis, I wondered if him wiping DS9's computer information in this episode would come back into play as something he planned to help the maquis in some way.
As usual Mr. S, I enjoyed your review and you actually made me "LOL" with the cigar comment..."And he renders them all instantly unconscious with a knock-out gas cigar I assume he got from the Penguin". 😁
“How do you know so much about transporters?” “Because I’m the only main character here - do you want me to get Quark? Or Jake? Maybe let him write a novel about the malfunction?”
Always good to hear you give "props" to the crew in these videos, Steve. It really shows how much you admire the shows.... and I just got that Dr Noah wanted to flood the earth. *bravo*
Dr Noah's plan being to flood the world except for an island "ark" was a delightfully clever double meaning since the name references both Dr No and Noah's Ark. Props to the writers.
I'm guessing that letter from MGM is also why we never had another related episode. A real shame. And OMG, when Bashir explains that his assistant's name was Mona Lovsit, I laughed out loud. Great satire of the ridiculous names given to James Bonds' early female counterparts (I think the most ridiculous was Dr. Goodhead from Moonraker).
"My name is Bond. James Bond. I'm looking for Doctor Goodhead." "You just found her." "...A woman." "Your powers of observation do you credit, Mr Bond." One of my favorite Bond movies. Stunningly gorgeous. THE best score. Paced like an glacier. And WEIRD. A "Looking for Mister Goodbar" reference? Why not.
That'd have been really something had Pirates Of The Caribbean came out while Star Trek weas going on. I'm imagining Riker as Jack Sparrow and Picard as Hector Barbosa and that part in World's End where Jack goes belay that belay that. Riker: Close haul er. Luf up the sails and lay her in irons. Picard: Belay that or we'll be a sitting duck. Riker: Belay that belay that
With this following up your "Hollow Pursuits" video I figured you'd point out Bashir's line when Garak first arrives saying it's illegal to barge in on other people's Holodeck programs. I guess they'd call that "Barclay's Law."
I totally agree. This is probably my favourite one as well, that or “Badda Bing, Badda Bang”. I like that this one has the holographic malfunction caused by something Eddington and Odo did rather than totally spontaneous like most of them. In the other, I like that it’s not even a malfunction at all. They both have absolutely banging soundtracks. Both feature the characters dressed-up as and playing other characters. Both feature heightened midcentury ridiculousness. Though if I’m being really honest… Ezri’s waitress outfit in that one beats Kira’s or Dax’s costumes in this one for me. As nice as Kira’s cocktail dress here is. Though on that topic, I think I like Kira’s dress in “Badda Bing” better too. Anyway, yeah, the Bashir and Garak banter is absolutely delicious in this episode. I also love Rom getting to fix things and save the day.
I just love everything our man bashir does I love that it just lets julian have fun and be a dork I love that it presents a brown man as suave handsome and charismatic unironically where we're still fighting stereotypes of brown men being presented as sexually unavailable, not to mention julian is commonly accepted as asd coded I love that it's a shameless garashir episode one of star trek's best episodes ever
I'm finding the last season more and more of a chore. The game of *which member of the almost but not quite completely new bridge crew gets to speak this episode* keeps me watching.
I really enjoy this episode overall, and I really enjoy the Julian/Honey Bare kiss, because the show is aware that it had a tendency (especially in season 1) to set up scenarios for Bashir and Dax to make out, (particularly in "If Wishes Were Horses", so Garak being like "oh great we're going to die and he's being a creep to the image of Jadzia again" fits in 100% with what the show did earlier on, which helps with the "oh Julian knows he's playing James Bond"
You missed Garak's best lines: "I think I joined the wrong intelligence service." and "There's hope for you yet." And the fun of realizing later that when Vic Fontaine used the image of Kira to help Odo, it took him an hour (in computer time) to lose the Russian accent. And while I like the episode (really, really like it), my fav is still "Badda Bing"
As Steve might have mentioned in some video; Robinson and Siddig really both wanted the Gay subtext regarding their 2 characters to be made explicit in the series, but Rick Berman was more worried about alienating homophobic viewers and jeopardizing sponsorship for the show --- the financial bottom line -- than in using Star Trek to fight against bigotry like Roddenberry had usually been brave enough to do. So Garak's "dear young friend" remained no more than that, and just to make sure it NEVEr happened Garak was even bearded with a girlfriend (wasn't it Dukat's daughter, Zial?) which to me seemed particularly cowardly of Berman...
I like to think of the contrived series of events needed to get the characters into the holosuite as a kind of meta-parody. It mirrors the ridiculousness of the villain's plot really well.
The one thing not addressed in this video is bashir himself. He’s playing himself in the program because of his genetic enhancements, he can actually be the super spy because he is himself super human. Throwing a guy through a glass window, having the accuracy to knock them out with a wine cork. He gets to cut loose in a way he can’t in his day to day life. Now, I’m not sure if they knew that’s where they were going with the character by this point when writing it, maybe asking how he was able to do all that stuff had a hand in taking the character in that direction, but by taking the character in that direction retroactively makes this episode better because it fits so perfectly.
Eddington: "Oh man! The chief's gonna be so pissed at me, I'll have to abandon my career and totally re-start my life!" This is now official cannon in my head. >_
WOW! WOW! Steve... you went hard... this is my very favorite Holodeck episode... lol On my favorite show. Only Lower Decks would come this close to being so deep.
PS: This was the main episode I feel Garak and Bashir wanted to fuck... not because they do in the episode... but because they are such a couple my gay mind felt it would be the sweet couple trying to solve it so they can go back home, lol
One of my favorite things about this episode is that, going by Garak and Noah's outfits, it's clearly "set" in the Bond universe timeline at the exact point of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I don't know if that movie had come around and been broadly accepted by the fanbase at that point, as I wasn't yet a fan of the Bond series (the Brosnan era remains my least favorite era by a country mile - in fact, this episode is a better Bond movie than three of his four films) but whether it was Ron Moore's call, the director's or the wardrobe departments, somebody was a fan of that film and made the choice to make that specific homage. OHMSS is and has been my favorite Bond movie ever since I became a fan.
It's definitely my favourite Bond story, mixing some pathos with the silly jokes. I believe Louis Armstrong died just after recording *All The Time in The World*, which hits pretty hard.
@@alanpennie8013 A beautiful song and a beautiful montage. Lazenby wasn't a trained actor by any stretch, but Rigg brought out the absolute best in him. Wouldn't be difficult to pretend to be in love with her.
After this amazing performance, how was Avery Brooks never cast as the villain in an actual James Bond movie? That would be glorious to watch - even more fun than Sean Bean or Mads Mikklesen!
A great call back to this episode is when Odo tries asking Bashier for advice interrupting another session of his spy novels, giving O'Brien a chance to catch him in character, only breaking character for a moment to greet Odo.
I love the theory that only becomes clear in hindsight, that Bashir plays these sorts of holodeck scenarios because it's the only time he can really cut loose with his augmented human abilities (until the secret comes out, and he's no longer constrained).
Deep Space Nine and Voyager ran concurrently for 5 years (1995-1999). If you need a super-stark contrast between these two shows watch "Our Man Bashir" and "Bride of Chaotica!" back to back. Those combos are only second only to "Trials and Tribble-ations" and "Flashback" in the DS9 vs VGR compare-and-contrast debate.
One trope in Star Trek: Any character is capable of any high skilled intervention when the plot requires it without any established training. Warp core engine maintenance? Sure I can to that. Busted replicator? I'm your man. Computer forensics? Bring it on. Complex weapons fire control in battle? Piece of cake.
Bashir, Julian Bashir... coincidence? I love this episode. It's for sure in my top ten, if not even top three of all DS9 episodes. Mayby right behind "In the Pale Moonlight" and "Far Beyond the Stars". Since I also like James Bond, it was always fun, watching this and recognizing all the easter eggs in this episode. And not to forget, Happy Birthday Pierce Brosnan.
Dunno why MGM got so upset. Bond wasn't the only superspy running around in the 60s. On a short list, there were also Matt Helm, Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, and Derek Flint. And the title "Our Man Flint" was much closer to "Our Man Bashir".
This episode is an absolute scream! It plays it exactly right, never sacrifices humour or action for the other. It's perfectly played as well, everyone gives it their all.
Haha, true enough! Why does Odo know about transporters? "Because I'm the only other main character here!" And we have to save Rom's spatula for later.
I love it when you’re mordant, but also like here when you’re genuinely gushing like it’s Xmas morning and ALL your presents are Trek merch. I love satire and Trek, so what could be better than an episode with both? 🌟🖖🏼
“Somewhat interesting, but ultimately meaningless” that’s got to be a t-shirt 15:56 remember they had to build all this stuff just for this episode. Then Scratch it for the next one. And the music is so on point. Agreed. My favorite holodeck episode is the Heist. “Badda-Bing! Badda-bang!” From the final season of DS9. Thanks always for these episodes!
For the past six months or so I've been working my way through DS9, in the order the episodes aired. I just saw this one yesterday! Your observation at 16:46, that Bashir realizes he can let the bad guy win, indeed, _must_ let the bad guy win . . . I hadn't really thought about how counterintuitive this was. Kudos to Dr. Bashir. Yes, this episode was really excellent, this review was really insightful, and now I think I'm going to do something I've never done during my six-month DS9 dive . . . I'm going to rewatch the episode I just saw.
True facts any time Avery Brooks gets to play a villian Who Is Having So Much Fun Being A Villian is something I live for, and is a big reason why this is in my top 10 for fave episodes. Whenever he turns it up to 11 I am HERE FOR IT.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 84 วันนี้!! คู่เอก "ก้องศึก vs เมืองไทย"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3kuzsAIDf1c/mqdefault.jpg)
One thing I love about this episode is how, watching it with later context, you can view it in an entirely different light. Bashir's not just pretending to be a superspy. He's *letting his real, genetically enhanced, superior intelligence* out in a safe environment where he can get away with it.
Except that wasn't a thing when they made 'Our Man Bashir'. They only decided to make Julian enhanced during the writing of the episode 'Doctor Bashir, I presume?' because they thought Zimmerman needed to discover some dark secret in Julian's past. Siddig initially hated the idea. He only found out when he got the script for 'Doctor Bashir, I Presume?'
@@uosdwiSrdewoH You're right, but what the other guy said also works retrospectively.
@@uosdwiSrdewoH That's not relevant to the above post.
That would be why it works in "later context". Just because it wasn't intended at the time of "Our Man Bashir" being made doesn't mean that future episodes can't recontextualize our understanding of previous episodes.
@uosdwiSrdewoH you missed part of the first sentence "how watching it with later context," if you are going to write a paragraph in response to something and you want people to take you seriously and engage conversationally it helps if you actually read what you are responding to.
I know whoever realized that Julian‘s initials were the same as James Bond was enjoying themselves way too much
I was today years old when...
@@larnewman3009
Me too.
Though I don't think I've ever thought about this episode since it was aired.
It's very enjoyable but it doesn't linger in the memory.
The characters are very lucky that a quirky James Bond style holoprogram was active during their transporter mishap, considering that Quark's holoprograms are probably 90% pornographic. And as viewers we're lucky Bashir wasn't playing one of those bland holoprograms the characters love like 'sunny beach' or 'French café' or 'village of offensive stereotypes of Irish people' 😛
Sisko, Dax, Kira, Worf, and O'Brien have been transported into the holosuite bodies of a half dozen Orion slave girls.....and Bashir and Garak have to keep the program running, at all costs.....
Or the freaking Alamo
Alternatively, it could have been one of Bashir and O'brien's hopeless battle scenarios. Good luck keeping them alive when they're officers in an army during a battle with a 90% casualty rate.
If he was doing Battle of Britain the episode might have ended in five minutes with everyone being shot down.
One thing I noticed when SFDebris did a review of one of the Oirish Voyager episodes is that, going by the road signs, the village depicted is in the middle of Lough Derg and should be roughly 25 to 30 metres under water.
One thing I love about DS9 - The holosuites may just be something that Rom keeps running on baling wire and spit, and knowing Quark it's probably the Ferengi equivalent of something from Harbor Freight, but it almost always worked perfectly. It never went ker-flooey because the wormhole had indigestion. It never developed sentience and decided to make a baby. This episode is the one time things went wrong, and the only reason it did is because Starfleet personnel made it do something it wasn't designed for.
Let's get some props out there for Ferengi holosuite tech.
Exactly! Some people may say Rom being an engineering genius came out of nowhere, but Data, Geordi, and Wesley all together couldn't keep the Enterprise holodecks working as consistently smoothly as Rom and whatever cut-rate materials and tools Quark was giving him.
There's an old Star Trek copypasta that references this exact episode for pretty much the same reasons, describing what the poor holosuite had to go through as "swapping your PC's disk drive with a PS2 memory card and expecting it to be able to run Spyro the Dragon".
My first thought when Garak arrives is: why don’t the holosuites have locks on them.
I’d hate for someone to walk in uninvited while I was enjoying a fantasy.
(Shrug)
@@keverzoidThey absolutely do- Quark knows what some people get up to. Garak probably just picked it
@@Anonyomus_commenter or used one of the many old cardassian access codes garak knows
They planned on doing more of these but the sets were irreparably damaged from Avery Brooks chewing the scenery.
After this they needed to appoint a special "assistant to Mr. Brooks" armed with a water spray bottle to keep him from destroying any more sets
I believe you.
Avery brooks was giving William Shatner a run for his money in the ham department this episode and it is GLORIOUS!
Another bit of clever characterisation, this one possibly unintentional (depending on when they decided this plot point), noticed by SF Debris: Julian Bashir, a man who has abilities beyond ordinary human potential thanks to his genetic modification but can't openly _use_ his incredible gifts and has to constantly under-achieve in order to blend in...unwinds by playing James Bond. The most competent man in the world. An expert in everything.
Here, he doesn't have to pretend not to be smarter than everyone around him, because he's James Bond.
I've heard the rule that you can basically use as many coincidences and contrivances as you want to get your characters *into* trouble--the audience will only feel cheated if you use them to get them out.
Steve... YOU ARE NOT A GARSHIR DENIER! Don't break my heart like this. Those two are in love and I will never hear anything different! /s
This but not /s
Hey hey! If I was a denier, would I have put in that "getting shot in the neck by Bashir makes Garak horny" joke? Come on . . .
I mean, if Alexander Siddig, Andrew Robinson, and Ira Steven Behr say it’s canon…
Garshir, huh! Back in my day we actually used slashes for our slashfic!
My headcanon is that no one in Starfleet actually knows how either Transporters or Holodecks work; there are only theories that they use as rough guidelines.
Might as well be found-technology like half the shit on Stargate SG-1 😅
Apparently Cardassian transporters are digital, who knew there were so many options to choose from
A fan asked Gene Roddenberry how the Heisenberg Compensators in the transporters work. Roddenberry replied, "Quite well, thank you."
I always thought transporters and Holo decks were probably the most specialized of scientific knowledge and very few can actually work on it. That is why people put up with Zimmerman he is one of the few people capable of working on holograms. As opposed to say warp core a very 'old' and understood tech that is more like being any modern engineer highly rigours but more understood and mapped out.
What annoys me is real world people pretending they know what technology from a fictional future is “doing” based off the terminology, abstract analogies, and technobabble the writers put in the mouths of fictional characters to get on with the story. TLDR: Aside from the fact that transporters don’t exist, we also don’t know that they actually convert matter into energy just because people say “energize” and short hand the process as “converting matter into energy”.
If MGM sued everyone who spoofed Bond movies they would have to sue half the TV shows I watched as a kid and would need to hire more lawyers than Donald Trump.
If you never pay your employees like Trump does, you can, in theory, afford infinite lawyers.
@@andrewklang809 You realize he was literally charged for paying too much to/via said lawyers though. Also he pays *employees* it's the _contractors_ who he usually nickles and dimes over every little thing that doesn't meet his somewhat arbitrary standards. At this point they know he'll do it so they just upcharge him from the start and let him knock off penalties afterwards.
“we keep being shipped, even though we barely along” yet Julian left with Garak instead of telling him to fuck off so he could keep making out with his lady friend
It's clear from later comments that Steve is joking. I thought the same thing, but deleted my comment after Bashir shot Garak in the neck and Steve-as-Garak quipped "I have never been more attracted to you!"
@@Talisguy it’s still a possible interpretation that Steve believes Garak is into Bashir but not vice versa. Though I of course disagree; they have weekly dinner dates filled with debates about history, philosophy, art that he could only dream to have with O’Brien.
@@kaitlyn__L
Garak: interstellar man of mystery.
Dr. Noah may have been a name play on Dr. No, but it is also a play on the biblical Noah and a huge flood.
And his plan, based heavily on that of Stromberg from The Spy Who Loved Me, makes a hell of a lot more sense than Zorin's.
I was always thought that it was a play on Dr. No.
@@mariakelly90210 It can be both.
An episode where the plot is driven by a holodeck AND transporter malfunctioning at the same time. And yet it still managed to be one of the better ones. Not my personal favorite, but still pretty effing good.
Although I do feel a bit sorry for Garak. He seemed like he really wanted to join Bashir on his next spy adventure. Instead Bashir ended up going with O'Brien at every opportunity for the Battle of Britain and the Alamo among others.
There's a certain pathos to Garak, though much more to Dr Noah in this episode.
Blame Rick Berman, who had a teensy weensy homophobic freakout. It's also why we got Ziyal, mandated heterosexual love interest, and the best Andy Robinson could do was try to play that kind of casual.
@@alanpennie8013Especially since Garak is the (retired) REAL spy. Besides, I thought he looked cute in that tux.
It’s really cool that there’s loads of development of the Bashir/Garak bromance in a really fun episode.
I wish the first same sex kiss on tv was between them, with the writing team on ds9 they would have done it right.
You have to believe that this is a gift to the regular cast by giving them the opportunity to play characters in a Bond story. Michael Dorn as Worf in a white dinner jacket, dress shirt with french cuffs. smoking a cigar and playing baccarat is just hilarious. And you know Avery Brooks really enjoyed playing a Bond villain. Also, why is EVERYONE smoking cigars?
LOVE this episode!
It has the attraction of a mirrorverse episode without the associated fridge - logic problems.
Because until Goldeneye, almost everyone in a Bond movie smoked cigars or cigarettes.
I remember seeing a special where Behr or Moore was talking about this episode and the MGM letter. In the interview they revealed that they had planned on doing more regular Secret Agent Bashir spots going forward if they didn't get any pushback from MGM. When they got the letter, everyone just assumed it was because of "Our Man Bashir", so they stopped referencing it. It later turned out that the letter was about something else that Paramount was doing at the time that had nothing to do with Star Trek, and that the MGM/James Bond people had really enjoyed the episode. I think it was when they were at some Hollywood party where the Bond people found and asked the DS9 people why they didn't do any more Bond spoofs that the mistake was realized.
What I love about this episode is it's dropping a character based on the spy characters of John LeCarre (Garak is a TAILOR for Pete's sake) into an Ian Fleming story and then having them comment and kibbutz about it. It works on a lot of different levels for fans of spy fiction.
No surprise Garak isn't a fan of the ham & cheese spy story, they're in the wrong (thinly veiled) franchise!
Point #3 is precisely why this episode so much fun. Avery Brooks playing an over the top evil genius? Hell yeah.
It was interesting that Steve mentioned Brooks' overacting because that's the only reason I don't love DS9 as much as TNG... I'll get all the hate here I know but I can't take Sisko seriously when he's hamming it up. Picard, Archer, Pike etc can all nail a big speech but I can never take to Sisko saying something serious with his staccato delivery and gritted teeth.
You're spot on about Brooks, to be fair he is also a better regular actor than Shatner too, but when he decides to ham it up, it is a whole new level.
Still probably the best holodeck episode in the franchise.
I also appreciate a "flood the world" plotline that doesn't involve melting ice caps.
There's not enough ice to flood the Earth, but making the crust smaller?! God bless Trek for being _just_ scientific enough while still running on blatant magic and pseudo-technodoublespeak.
Hello from Ireland 🇮🇪 Steve Peirce, brosnan is from my hometown Navan county meath Ireland he used to live next door to my grandmother. This episode of DS9 was a great Bond tribute 😀
Also one of my favorite episodes. I really thought they were going to just go with the lazy writing of a long monolog to eat up the screen time, but Bashir's idea of losing to win was so much better!!!!!
I love this episode! Great Bashir/Garak banter, a slinky Kira, a subversion of the usual Bond plot -- solid all the way through. I would argue that this is not JUST a Bond spoof, but a love letter to some of the earlier Bond spoofs. The old Matt Helm movies starring Dean Martin are where you can find women with names resembling Luvsitt and a big revolving bed. Messing with Nature is the fiendish scheme behind Our Man Flint, and Dr. Noah is in fact the name of the Woody Allen villain in the roundly disowned Casino Royale (1967, not 2006). I only wish that they could have squeezed in a Man from UNCLE reference, but it was fine. So much fun to relive. Thanks, Steve.
Tbf Pussy Galore is a canonical Bond name, and I don't think any of the spoofs have outdone it.
Thanks to Felix, Bashirs buddy, who gifted him with this amazing holoprogram. One of my favourite Bond stories. Better as some 'real' Bond movies. ❤ And Siddig was just the perfect casting!
I like the implication that the holosuite computer looked at the patterns in the buffer and correctly assigned each to their most appropriate role, although Sisko as Honeybear would have been delicious subversion....
This is one of the absolute all time greats! I always thought Bashir liked the James Bond stuff because it let him show off that genetic super brain of his instead of always having to hide it before the reveal
Dr. Noah's laugh lives rent free in my mind.
... "HA!"
“In like Flint”and Our man Flint” were fun movies and don’t get talked about enough! 😏😈🤘
As a kid, I enjoyed the Matt Helm series too.
This episode was closer to a Derek Flint Movie than a Bond one, a bit tongue in cheek and over the top but not as silly as those Austin Powers ones. The holosuit story actually had a pretty good plot, and a great villain.
This was one of those odd movies we had on VHS, possibly tsped from ABC. I watched them a lot as a kid.
Our Man Flint is one of my top ten favorite movies of all time.
I even liked the commitment to the Dr. No parody name: Sisko is Dr. Noah and his world domination plan is to flood it.
I bloody love this episode, despite actually loathing James Bond and Bond-Style stories. The glorious piss-take of the sub-genre, the subversion of the "hero saving the day", the entire cast, but especially Brooks, all beautifully chewing the beautiful scenery. and all that Bashir/Garak interaction. Love it.
"Why do you know so much about transporters?" "Because I'm the only other main character here!" 🤣🤣🤣🤣
It was an instant classic the moment it aired.
I enjoy the long shadow this episode casts over the rest of the series almost as much as the episode itself. There are references to it in later episodes that range in scope from Odo barging in on Bashir during the program (this time with Miles playing Falcon by choice) to just throwaway allusions to "Julian's dumb secret agent program." I like the fact that they kept bringing it back even though they couldn't fully bring it back.
VIC FONTAINE: "Do you know how difficult it was for me to get a holographic image of Major Kira? Lucky for you, Julian used her image in one of his spy programs, though it did take me an hour to get rid of the Russian accent."
Also calling back to the b-story in "Shadowplay" where Jeffrey Combs hires Quark to get a holographic image of Major Kira, which turns out to be quite a challenging task.
Such a brilliant show.
Best Bond ever 😎
No matter what century, James Bond will be there to stop Spectre and all their goons
Nah. Check out The Living Daylights.
Avery Brooks as a James Bond villain alone, makes this episode a must-see.
This was a great way to have the cast play different people without another mirror universe retread.
I had the same thought.
Heres hoping "Take me out to the holosuite" is on the list of holodeck episodes, its one of the greats
I feel like he already did that one so maybe check. It's my favorite holodeck episode
My personal favorite Holodeck episode ever. Just so damn funny.
Off topic, but when Edington was revealed as a Maquis, I wondered if him wiping DS9's computer information in this episode would come back into play as something he planned to help the maquis in some way.
Kinda. They found the same virus in the station's computer that he used to disable the Defiant.
He had a longer game to play, I'm sure. That long game relied upon guaranteeing the safety of his seniors.
@@ZuluRomeoAlso at this point he genuinely did still care for the rest of the senior crew
As usual Mr. S, I enjoyed your review and you actually made me "LOL" with the cigar comment..."And he renders them all instantly unconscious with a knock-out gas cigar I assume he got from the Penguin". 😁
“How do you know so much about transporters?”
“Because I’m the only main character here - do you want me to get Quark? Or Jake? Maybe let him write a novel about the malfunction?”
Star Trek got to a POC James Bond before James Bond did (BECAUSE THEY STILL HAVEN'T FOR GOD'S SAKE)
Tartan's a colour.
So?
Point of Contact
@@thejabberwalkerNo, Person Of Color
Idris Elba for James Bond!
The least rapey James Bond of all time
We all know that he was really thinking of Garrick the whole time.
Well fortunately none of these women were catatonic, otherwise he'd be right in there.
Man I forgot Eddington was in this episode.
Which isn't surprising, I mostly forget Eddington exists unless we're talking about Sisko's war crimes.
Always good to hear you give "props" to the crew in these videos, Steve. It really shows how much you admire the shows.... and I just got that Dr Noah wanted to flood the earth. *bravo*
Dr Noah's plan being to flood the world except for an island "ark" was a delightfully clever double meaning since the name references both Dr No and Noah's Ark. Props to the writers.
I missed that! Thank you.
I'm guessing that letter from MGM is also why we never had another related episode. A real shame.
And OMG, when Bashir explains that his assistant's name was Mona Lovsit, I laughed out loud. Great satire of the ridiculous names given to James Bonds' early female counterparts (I think the most ridiculous was Dr. Goodhead from Moonraker).
"My name is Bond. James Bond. I'm looking for Doctor Goodhead."
"You just found her."
"...A woman."
"Your powers of observation do you credit, Mr Bond."
One of my favorite Bond movies. Stunningly gorgeous. THE best score. Paced like an glacier. And WEIRD. A "Looking for Mister Goodbar" reference? Why not.
This is one of the funnest ds9 episodes, right up there with the Tribble episode in my opinion
Garak repeatedly sticking his nose in Doctor Bashir's business. 😳 😆
That'd have been really something had Pirates Of The Caribbean came out while Star Trek weas going on. I'm imagining Riker as Jack Sparrow and Picard as Hector Barbosa and that part in World's End where Jack goes belay that belay that.
Riker: Close haul er. Luf up the sails and lay her in irons.
Picard: Belay that or we'll be a sitting duck.
Riker: Belay that belay that
And then Geordie shows up out of nowhere going "what's a stunzel?"
With this following up your "Hollow Pursuits" video I figured you'd point out Bashir's line when Garak first arrives saying it's illegal to barge in on other people's Holodeck programs. I guess they'd call that "Barclay's Law."
Yeah, totally agree that Avery Brooks chewing scenery is a huge part of what makes this one great.
I totally agree. This is probably my favourite one as well, that or “Badda Bing, Badda Bang”.
I like that this one has the holographic malfunction caused by something Eddington and Odo did rather than totally spontaneous like most of them. In the other, I like that it’s not even a malfunction at all.
They both have absolutely banging soundtracks. Both feature the characters dressed-up as and playing other characters. Both feature heightened midcentury ridiculousness.
Though if I’m being really honest… Ezri’s waitress outfit in that one beats Kira’s or Dax’s costumes in this one for me. As nice as Kira’s cocktail dress here is. Though on that topic, I think I like Kira’s dress in “Badda Bing” better too.
Anyway, yeah, the Bashir and Garak banter is absolutely delicious in this episode. I also love Rom getting to fix things and save the day.
One of my favorite DS9 episodes.
I just love everything our man bashir does
I love that it just lets julian have fun and be a dork
I love that it presents a brown man as suave handsome and charismatic unironically where we're still fighting stereotypes of brown men being presented as sexually unavailable, not to mention julian is commonly accepted as asd coded
I love that it's a shameless garashir episode
one of star trek's best episodes ever
Thank you for mentioning how great Garak looks in a turtleneck
My all time favorite episode i was on a james bond kick when i watched it for the first time and got so excited when i realized what was happening
Aw, Steve! Now I have to rewatch this one.
I'm never going to finish Discovery!
I'm finding the last season more and more of a chore.
The game of *which member of the almost but not quite completely new bridge crew gets to speak this episode* keeps me watching.
I’ve got a couple science related questions about the whole “ lava shrinking the earth” plan.
I really enjoy this episode overall, and I really enjoy the Julian/Honey Bare kiss, because the show is aware that it had a tendency (especially in season 1) to set up scenarios for Bashir and Dax to make out, (particularly in "If Wishes Were Horses", so Garak being like "oh great we're going to die and he's being a creep to the image of Jadzia again" fits in 100% with what the show did earlier on, which helps with the "oh Julian knows he's playing James Bond"
Its the episode where a holodeck malfunction saves everyone instead of threatening everyone
Yes, "Dr. Noah" sounds like "Dr. No," but there is also the Biblical reference to Noah, who restarted humanity after a global flood.
I LOVE how hard you leaned into the will they/won't they energy, between Bashir and Garak while giving it a humorous spin. 😆 Well done.
You missed Garak's best lines: "I think I joined the wrong intelligence service." and "There's hope for you yet."
And the fun of realizing later that when Vic Fontaine used the image of Kira to help Odo, it took him an hour (in computer time) to lose the Russian accent.
And while I like the episode (really, really like it), my fav is still "Badda Bing"
As Steve might have mentioned in some video; Robinson and Siddig really both wanted the Gay subtext regarding their 2 characters to be made explicit in the series, but Rick Berman was more worried about alienating homophobic viewers and jeopardizing sponsorship for the show --- the financial bottom line -- than in using Star Trek to fight against bigotry like Roddenberry had usually been brave enough to do. So Garak's "dear young friend" remained no more than that, and just to make sure it NEVEr happened Garak was even bearded with a girlfriend (wasn't it Dukat's daughter, Zial?) which to me seemed particularly cowardly of Berman...
A curiosity that DS9, a series known for its ongoing story and heavy continuity (by Star Trek standards) produced so many good standalone episodes.
Proving that the best formula is not pure standalone nor pure season-long serial, but a hybrid.
I like to think of the contrived series of events needed to get the characters into the holosuite as a kind of meta-parody. It mirrors the ridiculousness of the villain's plot really well.
The Dirty Harry line... Nice. He does have rights. Did the Movie ever specify when/if Scorpio gave Harry the time needed to save the Kidnap victim?
Hard agree. Avery Brooks is such a gem when he gets to ham 🥁🥁🥁
You write, film and publish these videos in a single day? That's incredible, but sounds exhausting!
These retro reviews I write, shoot, edit and publish all in one day, yeah. They're not quite exhausting, but it's a full day.
The one thing not addressed in this video is bashir himself. He’s playing himself in the program because of his genetic enhancements, he can actually be the super spy because he is himself super human. Throwing a guy through a glass window, having the accuracy to knock them out with a wine cork. He gets to cut loose in a way he can’t in his day to day life. Now, I’m not sure if they knew that’s where they were going with the character by this point when writing it, maybe asking how he was able to do all that stuff had a hand in taking the character in that direction, but by taking the character in that direction retroactively makes this episode better because it fits so perfectly.
Yes. But, tbf, he can do all that here because he’s the lead in an early James Bond style story and the holosuite computer knows that.
Eddington: "Oh man! The chief's gonna be so pissed at me, I'll have to abandon my career and totally re-start my life!"
This is now official cannon in my head. >_
MORE DS9!!!! Love this episode. So so so so good.
"Like Life!" 😆😆😆
Garak, in his tweed jacket and turtle-neck sweater, looks like Scorpio, cosplaying as Dirty Harry.
WOW! WOW! Steve... you went hard... this is my very favorite Holodeck episode... lol On my favorite show. Only Lower Decks would come this close to being so deep.
PS: This was the main episode I feel Garak and Bashir wanted to fuck... not because they do in the episode... but because they are such a couple my gay mind felt it would be the sweet couple trying to solve it so they can go back home, lol
I'm a lifelong Star Trek and James Bond fan, and I only now copped the whole Dr No/Noah thing.
Silly me.
A lot of people fessing up to nor getting this little joke.
Possibly it was because he was based on top of Mt Everest and not in a boat.
One of my favorite things about this episode is that, going by Garak and Noah's outfits, it's clearly "set" in the Bond universe timeline at the exact point of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I don't know if that movie had come around and been broadly accepted by the fanbase at that point, as I wasn't yet a fan of the Bond series (the Brosnan era remains my least favorite era by a country mile - in fact, this episode is a better Bond movie than three of his four films) but whether it was Ron Moore's call, the director's or the wardrobe departments, somebody was a fan of that film and made the choice to make that specific homage. OHMSS is and has been my favorite Bond movie ever since I became a fan.
It's definitely my favourite Bond story, mixing some pathos with the silly jokes.
I believe Louis Armstrong died just after recording *All The Time in The World*, which hits pretty hard.
@@alanpennie8013 A beautiful song and a beautiful montage. Lazenby wasn't a trained actor by any stretch, but Rigg brought out the absolute best in him. Wouldn't be difficult to pretend to be in love with her.
After this amazing performance, how was Avery Brooks never cast as the villain in an actual James Bond movie? That would be glorious to watch - even more fun than Sean Bean or Mads Mikklesen!
A great call back to this episode is when Odo tries asking Bashier for advice interrupting another session of his spy novels, giving O'Brien a chance to catch him in character, only breaking character for a moment to greet Odo.
Kira is my favorite Bond girl.
Smashing that like button before I watch because I know this one is gonna be good.
Me, too!
I love the theory that only becomes clear in hindsight, that Bashir plays these sorts of holodeck scenarios because it's the only time he can really cut loose with his augmented human abilities (until the secret comes out, and he's no longer constrained).
Deep Space Nine and Voyager ran concurrently for 5 years (1995-1999). If you need a super-stark contrast between these two shows watch "Our Man Bashir" and "Bride of Chaotica!" back to back. Those combos are only second only to "Trials and Tribble-ations" and "Flashback" in the DS9 vs VGR compare-and-contrast debate.
And that's actually one of Voyager's best episodes. It has Hell's Robot!
Nowhere near this good, though.
Your three points are a perfect summary of why this episode is great. And thanks for the Brooks vs. Shatner comparison.
One trope in Star Trek: Any character is capable of any high skilled intervention when the plot requires it without any established training. Warp core engine maintenance? Sure I can to that. Busted replicator? I'm your man. Computer forensics? Bring it on. Complex weapons fire control in battle? Piece of cake.
Bashir, Julian Bashir... coincidence? I love this episode. It's for sure in my top ten, if not even top three of all DS9 episodes. Mayby right behind "In the Pale Moonlight" and "Far Beyond the Stars". Since I also like James Bond, it was always fun, watching this and recognizing all the easter eggs in this episode. And not to forget, Happy Birthday Pierce Brosnan.
Dunno why MGM got so upset. Bond wasn't the only superspy running around in the 60s. On a short list, there were also Matt Helm, Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, and Derek Flint. And the title "Our Man Flint" was much closer to "Our Man Bashir".
This episode is an absolute scream! It plays it exactly right, never sacrifices humour or action for the other. It's perfectly played as well, everyone gives it their all.
Do you think Sisko would approve of being used in this way? Noah, I don’t think so.
(The I is superfluous. _Noah don’t think so._ )
(in Sisko's voice) THAT! is for DAMN! sure.
Haha, true enough! Why does Odo know about transporters? "Because I'm the only other main character here!" And we have to save Rom's spatula for later.
I LOVED Bashir's decision to side with Noah!!!
I love it when you’re mordant, but also like here when you’re genuinely gushing like it’s Xmas morning and ALL your presents are Trek merch. I love satire and Trek, so what could be better than an episode with both? 🌟🖖🏼
YOOOOOO ONE OF THE GREATS LESSGOOOOO
WHAT DO YOU MEAN, "TRYING TO SHIP"!? They got married bro!
"I want a lawyer! I have rights!"
I see what ya done did there, Steve, recalling a much earlier Andrew Robinson performance.
I haven't watched this yet, but ...."Kiss the girl, get the key..." popped immediately in my head when I saw the title.
“Somewhat interesting, but ultimately meaningless” that’s got to be a t-shirt
15:56 remember they had to build all this stuff just for this episode. Then Scratch it for the next one.
And the music is so on point. Agreed.
My favorite holodeck episode is the Heist. “Badda-Bing! Badda-bang!”
From the final season of DS9. Thanks always for these episodes!
For the past six months or so I've been working my way through DS9, in the order the episodes aired. I just saw this one yesterday! Your observation at 16:46, that Bashir realizes he can let the bad guy win, indeed, _must_ let the bad guy win . . . I hadn't really thought about how counterintuitive this was. Kudos to Dr. Bashir. Yes, this episode was really excellent, this review was really insightful, and now I think I'm going to do something I've never done during my six-month DS9 dive . . . I'm going to rewatch the episode I just saw.
Such a fun episode. I love the commentary. Great job, as always, Steve.
True facts any time Avery Brooks gets to play a villian Who Is Having So Much Fun Being A Villian is something I live for, and is a big reason why this is in my top 10 for fave episodes. Whenever he turns it up to 11 I am HERE FOR IT.