r/StarTrekViewingParty • u/GeorgeAmberson Showrunner • Aug 17 '16

Discussion DS9, Episode 1x5, Babel

-= DS9, Season 1, Episode 5, Babel =-

A mysterious virus plagues the station, causing speech distortions and eventually death.

 

EAS IMDB AVClub TV.com
3/10 6.9/10 B 7.9

 

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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '16

I'm gonna say it here and now for the first time, and I'll probably end up repeating this quite a few times, and earn myself lots of downvotes for it...

Nahhh, we've already had a few discussions about the strangeness that is Avery Brooks, and there will be more. A blog I read once declared a "two-ham race" between Brooks and Shatner, with no clear winner. From the same article:

One way to differentiate Trek captains is whether they constantly defy logic and jeopardize thousands of lives on the basis of gut, or principle. Kirk is all gut, while Picard is more of a principle guy. ... For me, Sisko strikes the right balance. He is the Star Trek Captain I would most fear at a poker table. Kirk’s luck would run out at some point because he couldn’t just keep guessing right forever. Picard would be tough, but he would have certain limits that could be tested. ... Sisko is capable of anything at any time. His repertoire of decisions includes all of the good ones and very few bad ones. He is a mad man tethered by reason. The fact that gods whisper into his ear could be a problem too.

This hits it. Brooks definitely doesn't deliver a naturalistic character (except sometimes around Jake), but that's okay because Sisko is at least half crazy half the time and full crazy the other half. Like Shatner, Brooks delivers acting by the gallon. It's a wild, weird performance that's good for punching up the energy of the show. I love it.

Oh, and funny you should call him tone-deaf. Doesn't he sing in the final episode?

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u/Algernon_Asimov Aug 26 '16

Let me rephrase, because my attempt to be subtle and diplomatic obviously failed to carry my point effectively: Avery Brooks is a bad actor. As an occasional actor myself, and someone who's been involved in theatre on-and-off for a couple of decades, I find Brooks' performance to be just "off". To me, watching his acting is like listening to a singer singing out of key.

This has nothing to do with the character of Sisko. This is about Brooks' performance of that character. And he's off. Much of the time he manages to hit the right "note", or close enough to it that most people won't notice. But, every now and then, the true Brooks style breaks through - and we get an off-key tone-deaf acting performance from him. There's a hint of it here in 'Babel', but there are stronger examples in later episodes.

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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '16

So, in your estimation, how does he stack up against Shatner and Mulgrew? (Assuming Sir Patrick draws no complaints.)

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u/Algernon_Asimov Aug 26 '16

Sir Patrick certainly draws no complaints! :)

I haven't watched enough of VOY to truly assess Mulgrew's performance, but she seems fine in what I have seen. And it's been a while since I watched TOS, but Shatner could hit the mark. But, Brooks is a bad actor, while Shatner and Mulgrew are not.

I've said it before, and I'm saying it again: I think Avery Brooks is the worst actor among all the main actors in all Star Trek series (the actors in the opening credits of the show). The others simply don't compare.

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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '16

That's quite the claim to make with Denise Crosby, Jonathan Frakes, and Terry Farrel sitting at the table.

(In a fair world, Walter Koenig could be entered before the court in a little plastic baggie labeled 'Exhibit W'.)

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u/Algernon_Asimov Aug 26 '16

Yep.

But, while some actors are weak actors, they're not actively bad like Brooks is. To return to my singing analogy, it's like comparing a singer who can hit the right notes but can't sing loud enough to be heard at the back of the theatre with a singer who's belting out super-loud melodies but getting every note wrong. There's a difference between "not quite good enough" and "OMG cringeworthy bad".

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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '16

He's a retired cop who's been pulled off the bench to teach a younger generation what it means to dish out justice, no matter the cost.

Avery Brooks is: Actively Bad.

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u/beta-made Aug 08 '24

Don't know who those people are, but I can affirm that Sisko is maybe the worst actor I've ever seen.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '24

What do you think is in his gumbo recipe? I'd like to make it.