‘TAKE ME OUT TO THE HOLOSUITE’ (DS9)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This is a fun episode to watch from the ‘DS9’ series! It distracts us from the serious issues happening in the series e.g. the Dominion War and allows us to enjoy the characters getting to have a fun time.
In the episode, the starship T’Kumbra docks at DS9 for repairs. Sisko is reunited with the starship’s captain, Gregory Wagrowski as Solok, who is a Vulcan. Sisko and Solok have been long-time rivals. 😐
Solok believes that his all-Vulcan crew are superior in every respect. Clearly Solok is arrogant and is in no way like Spock from the original ‘Star Trek’ series. Spock wouldn’t be so critical about humans.
Sisko is challenged to a game of baseball in the holosuite. He accepts the challenge and recruits his crew to form a team. This includes Kira, Worf, Aron Eisenberg as Nog, O’Brien, Bashir and Ezri Dax. 🙂
They also have friends being a part of the team including Max Grodénchik as Rom and Chase Masterson as Leeta. Penny Johnson as Kasidy Yates is soon invited to partake in the baseball game. 🙂
Jake also takes part in the game as well as Quark. Odo gets chosen to be the umpire during the game. Sisko’s baseball team of ‘the Niners’ have only two weeks to get in shape before the game. 😐
I like this set-up of the ‘DS9’ characters being challenged to a baseball game by a group of Vulcans led by Solok. It provides a light-hearted atmosphere and contrasts a lot to the war stories we’ve had. 🙂
It reminds of the ‘Dad’s Army’ episode ‘The Test’ where the Walmington-on-Sea platoon was challenged by the ARP Wardens to a game of cricket. There are echoes of it during the ‘DS9’ episode.
Sisko’s team train hard, though they suffer injuries. It was funny when Rom, who is clearly unskilled, isn’t able to catch the baseball or hit it with a bat during practice. The ‘Dad’s Army’ echoes are here!
Sadly, Sisko soon dismisses Rom from the team since he’s determined his team should win against the Vulcans. Some of the team nearly quit in protest for Rom’s sake, but Rom tells them not to do it.
It’s soon revealed by Sisko to Kasidy why he’s taking Solok’s challenge very seriously. It roots back to when Sisko became drunk and challenged Solok to a wrestling to which he failed and was provoked.
Sisko asks Kasidy not to share what he’s told her to the rest of the team. But she tells them and they come to understand what this baseball challenge means to him. They’re determined to plough on. 🙂
We eventually come to the game between the Logicians (Solok’s team) and the Niners (Sisko’s team). I don’t understand the rudiments of baseball, but it was good fun to see the antics occurring.
It got tense when it was Worf’s turn to bat and Sisko soon got into an altercation with Odo as the umpire. Sisko is soon thrown out of the game by Odo for laying a finger on him. Sisko is so annoyed.
Eventually, Nog throws out a runner who failed to touch home plate. It was funny when Nog had to touch the ball on each Vulcan till the one who did not touch home plate ran out before Nog hits him.
Sisko is pleased to see Nog’s efforts and is reminded why he loved baseball in the first place and that its unpredictability. Seeing Rom being left out of the game, Sisko soon decides to allow him to play. 🙂
I like how Rom is put back into the game, although it doesn’t mean he’s got his baseball skills in an instant. It’s actually ironic since Max Grodénchik who plays Rom is really a baseball player in real life.
Incidentally, the outdoor baseball scenes were filmed in the baseball field of Loyola Marymount University in California. It’s nice to see the DS9 characters being ‘outside’ whilst inside the holosuite.
The game ends with Nog and his father Rom. Rom accidentally hits a perfect ‘bunt’ which brings Nog home, giving the Niners the chance to win. That reminded me of a ‘Terry and June’ cricket episode. 🙂
That’s where the ball hit Terry rather than Terry hitting the ball. The Niners are happy with their success whilst Solok is very unhappy. Sisko and the Niners mock him whilst Solok walks off annoyed.
‘Take Me Out to the Holosuite’ is definitely a fun ‘DS9’ episode that can be watched on its own without needing to watch episodes before and after. I highly recommend it for very pleasant viewing.
‘Take Me Out to the Holosuite’ (DS9) rating – 8/10
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