Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang Rewatch
November 21, 2016 7:40 AM - Season 7, Episode 15 - Subscribe
Pretty much everything you need to know about the episode right here:
"Bashir, the drink-doctorer,
Nog, the safecracker,
Dax, the cocktail waitress,
Odo, the bag-man,
Kira, the decoy,
Sisko, the high-roller,
Yates, the victim,
and, of course, Vic.
(O'Brien, the falsely-accused patsy, is not present as he is being strip-searched)"
Memory Alpha has your number, pally, and it's eight, not eleven:
- This episode was a pet project for Ira Steven Behr for some time; "I'd wanted to do a caper show for years, but I'd never been able to pull it off. It was now or never – and with Vic Fontaine and a holosuite version of Las Vegas within reach, all the elements seemed to be in place."
- The script borrows from (and parodies) the 1960 Lewis Milestone crooner's film, Ocean's Eleven, starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, and Angie Dickinson. This story, about a similarly convoluted casino heist/inside job, was remade forty-one years later by Steven Soderbergh, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy García and Julia Roberts.
- Ira Behr had wanted Avery Brooks to sing on the show for some time, and after shooting this episode, Behr commented, "It's just jaw-dropping how good he is." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) Previously, Brooks had briefly sung in the episodes "Move Along Home", "Far Beyond the Stars" and "His Way".
- Of Benjamin Sisko's controversial racial commentary in this episode, Behr explains, "We didn't want the audience, especially the younger audience, to think that 1962 Las Vegas was a place where you had a lot of black people sitting in the audience at nightclubs, or enjoying themselves at hotels and casinos. That just didn't happen. So by having someone of Sisko's historical understanding questioning that fact, we could clarify before we got him to Vic's that he's well aware that Vegas was very, very, very white."
- By the time this episode aired, Behr was well aware that there had been something of a fan backlash against Vic Fontaine; some fans loved him, but others disliked the concept of the character. Behr specifically wrote Sisko's role to act as a surrogate for the fans who wouldn't accept Vic, with the idea being that if Sisko could be won over, then anyone could be won over.
- The Vic/Sisko duet at the end of the episode, "The Best Is Yet to Come", refers to the nine-part series finale. In the production order, the "Final Chapter" commenced right after "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang" with "Penumbra."
- Robert O'Reilly (better known for his role as Gowron) portrays the replacement accountant. He was credited here as Bobby Reilly to help hide the fact that it was the same actor.
"We cannot ignore the truth about the past."
"Going to Vic's won't make us forget who we are or where we came from. It reminds us that we are no longer bound by any limitations. Except the ones we impose on ourselves."
- Sisko and Kasidy, on historical accuracy
"So, where are you from again?"
"Bajor."
"That's in Jersey, right?"
"Right."
- Tony Cicci and Odo
Memory Alpha has your number, pally, and it's eight, not eleven:
- This episode was a pet project for Ira Steven Behr for some time; "I'd wanted to do a caper show for years, but I'd never been able to pull it off. It was now or never – and with Vic Fontaine and a holosuite version of Las Vegas within reach, all the elements seemed to be in place."
- The script borrows from (and parodies) the 1960 Lewis Milestone crooner's film, Ocean's Eleven, starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, and Angie Dickinson. This story, about a similarly convoluted casino heist/inside job, was remade forty-one years later by Steven Soderbergh, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy García and Julia Roberts.
- Ira Behr had wanted Avery Brooks to sing on the show for some time, and after shooting this episode, Behr commented, "It's just jaw-dropping how good he is." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) Previously, Brooks had briefly sung in the episodes "Move Along Home", "Far Beyond the Stars" and "His Way".
- Of Benjamin Sisko's controversial racial commentary in this episode, Behr explains, "We didn't want the audience, especially the younger audience, to think that 1962 Las Vegas was a place where you had a lot of black people sitting in the audience at nightclubs, or enjoying themselves at hotels and casinos. That just didn't happen. So by having someone of Sisko's historical understanding questioning that fact, we could clarify before we got him to Vic's that he's well aware that Vegas was very, very, very white."
- By the time this episode aired, Behr was well aware that there had been something of a fan backlash against Vic Fontaine; some fans loved him, but others disliked the concept of the character. Behr specifically wrote Sisko's role to act as a surrogate for the fans who wouldn't accept Vic, with the idea being that if Sisko could be won over, then anyone could be won over.
- The Vic/Sisko duet at the end of the episode, "The Best Is Yet to Come", refers to the nine-part series finale. In the production order, the "Final Chapter" commenced right after "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang" with "Penumbra."
- Robert O'Reilly (better known for his role as Gowron) portrays the replacement accountant. He was credited here as Bobby Reilly to help hide the fact that it was the same actor.
"We cannot ignore the truth about the past."
"Going to Vic's won't make us forget who we are or where we came from. It reminds us that we are no longer bound by any limitations. Except the ones we impose on ourselves."
- Sisko and Kasidy, on historical accuracy
"So, where are you from again?"
"Bajor."
"That's in Jersey, right?"
"Right."
- Tony Cicci and Odo
Someone needs to say it: I liked this episode.
posted by miguelcervantes at 8:37 PM on November 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by miguelcervantes at 8:37 PM on November 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
Oh, I liked it just fine. It's overshadowed by the episodes on either side of it, and by the big finale arc, but for an episode that is basically about repairing a saved-game file, it's pretty neat. And Sisko's point is not only valid but kind of daring for what's essentially another nostalgia exercise.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:50 PM on November 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:50 PM on November 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
Yeah, this one's fun, and Sisko's speech (and Kassidy's response) are just right.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 1:07 AM on November 22, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Ursula Hitler at 1:07 AM on November 22, 2016 [2 favorites]
an episode that is basically about repairing a saved-game file
LOL, well, I'll never be able to see this one again without thinking in those terms.
But yes, this is the sort of Fun Installment that so many other Trek incarnations struggled to do well. If I have any criticisms, they're minor nitpicks. Highlights for me:
- The way Sisko tells them to get back to work: not visibly fuming, but you can still tell he's fuming.
- The casting of the one mobster who assaults the guy with a cheesesteak. That guy's great.
- The overall structure used to convey the caper. We witness the hypothetical "if-all-goes-well" version, and then we witness the "one complication after another" version. It's economical, it's exciting, and it's very apt to a heist tale.
- The closing song: well-chosen, and one of my favorites of the genre.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:56 AM on November 22, 2016 [3 favorites]
LOL, well, I'll never be able to see this one again without thinking in those terms.
But yes, this is the sort of Fun Installment that so many other Trek incarnations struggled to do well. If I have any criticisms, they're minor nitpicks. Highlights for me:
- The way Sisko tells them to get back to work: not visibly fuming, but you can still tell he's fuming.
- The casting of the one mobster who assaults the guy with a cheesesteak. That guy's great.
- The overall structure used to convey the caper. We witness the hypothetical "if-all-goes-well" version, and then we witness the "one complication after another" version. It's economical, it's exciting, and it's very apt to a heist tale.
- The closing song: well-chosen, and one of my favorites of the genre.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:56 AM on November 22, 2016 [3 favorites]
Not only is the casting for the mobster perfect, but he delivers one of my new favorite Trek lines.
"He wouldn't know a good pizza if it hit him in the face."
Said just moments after smashing a cheesesteak in another guys face.
posted by 2ht at 8:52 AM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
"He wouldn't know a good pizza if it hit him in the face."
Said just moments after smashing a cheesesteak in another guys face.
posted by 2ht at 8:52 AM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oh, and while double checking that I worded that quote correctly I discovered that Memory Alpha has a pizza page. Because... why not?
posted by 2ht at 8:53 AM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by 2ht at 8:53 AM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
As well they should! Watching Weyoun eat pizza gives me strength.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:47 PM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:47 PM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
This episode was completely ridiculous and also excellent fun. A+ would watch again for silly heist hijinks.
posted by asperity at 9:22 PM on January 16, 2020
posted by asperity at 9:22 PM on January 16, 2020
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Then they should've concealed his eyeballs.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 7:48 AM on November 21, 2016 [8 favorites]