Earlier this week, actor and singer James Darren, best known for his role in the film, was revealed. Gadget film, and for sci-fi fans, his turn on TV as the eccentric lounge singer hologram Vic Fontaine Star Wars: Deep Space Nine——Died at the age of 88. StarCraft In The Galaxy , Darren’s inevitably wry charm and smooth renditions of classic jazz aren’t a good fit for a series that’s focusing on its grandest, most challenging storytelling yet. But his enduring popularity reflects that characters like Vic Fontaine will always be just as important to people. deep space nineA story of war and compromise in a utopia.
Being late for a given show is always a challenging situation for an actor. StarCraft is no stranger to this in its more than half a century of existence and is filled with many success stories (played by Jeri Ryan in Seven of Nine VoyagerSeason 4) because it is controversial—deep space nine With the addition of Nicole de Boer’s Ezri Dax, the next host of the Dax symbiote replaces Terri Farrell after exiting Jadzia (Terri Farrell), faces this problem herself. But Vic Fontaine, who debuted late in season six, faced a particularly daunting entry. StarCraft Prior to this, there were a large number of recurring holodeck clips with untimely tonal conflicts: TNG Picard’s love for 40s film noir and his detective character Dixon Hill, or a rare encounter with the insane Dr. Moriarty. Voyagerrun simultaneously DS9 It’s been a whole lot at this point, from Sandelina, to Paso Resort, to Fair Haven.
But Vic Fontaine is more than just another avenue and genre for a show that often waltzes with genre: He’s a lovable, all-singing, all-dancing smoothie that’s a staple of ’60s gangster movies Irony, pushed inside. deep space nine Calculating the Cost of Total War StarCraftidealized future.
It was an extremely risky move, but one that paid off hugely. This is largely down to Darren’s charisma: with DS9 Like Fontaine, Darren imbues Hologram with affable charm and humor that engages the audience and deep space nineThe war-weary heroes quickly fell into his orbit and felt reassured. But it’s also for what Fontaine and his lounge represent throughout the series as the Dominion War breaks out: a culture and comfort that unites our countless heroes, a home that doesn’t belong to any single creature. Vic Fontaine came to represent deep space nine This romanticized ideal was almost as noble as the ideals fought for in the war for autonomy, this creative imagination of a society’s past that could be shared and accessed by many, and where unity could be found in cultural exchange.
This becomes apparent almost from the moment Vic is introduced to the series. In “His Way,” he’s the catalyst that brings Kira and Odo’s on-again, off-again romance to a climax, providing them with a touchstone and even serving as baggage for them as Bajorans, as well as one of the Phantoms. Shapes begin to complicate their relationship. Vic provides a place for Nog to tell his story of wartime trauma after losing his legs in a battle. DS9The most brutal scenes of war are where these characters escape and come into contact with a sense of universal personality. Vic and his lounge are not only a home away from the war, but also a canvas deep space ninePersonal stories of love, personality and grief are intertwined and given space. It’s an important mirror to the show’s larger story and a constant reminder that when he appears, while you may be taken away from the sadness and action of the Dominion War, DS9role, even if it’s just for a little while.
That’s why Vic’s climax is reached in the supremely silly “Badda-Bing Badda-Bang” – a season seven episode in which Vic is kicked out of his compound by the Mafia as part of a storyline that Gram’s holographic program is threatened with a complete reset – even rightly so. DS9The wider wartime story is coming to a climax. Vic represented a place where everyone on DS9 was welcome—an idea that even Cisco came to admire, as he initially distanced himself from the lounge because its idealized view of the past would look down upon him. By threatening it, and by bringing the entire main cast together in unison with that threat to stop it (through the medium of a classic heist story, of course), DS9 Tell us that this is the home that these various characters have found together, this safe haven from the darkness that will increasingly encroach on them and they will do their best to save it.
Well it’s fitting that one of the final scenes of all DS9 Properly takes us back to Vic’s house. After the war ended and the treaty with the Dominion was signed, the crew gathered together one last time to hear Vic’s voice before beginning to go their separate ways. Darren gave a stunning rendition of “The Way You Look Tonight,” a song about appreciating the little things people who love each other notice in each other. The song is romantic, but it’s also a snapshot of these people together, friends, lovers, survivors, before the circumstances that strengthened them and brought them together in the first place begin to fade from memory. It’s a reminder that this is what they’re fighting for – one last chance to be together, to connect, to feel something in this common place. In the shadow of war, Vicfontein was a shining light; deep space nine need.
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