Deep Space Nine Season Five Season Wrap-Up Review
As the season premiere of DS9 looms near, I realize that I had better finally put together my review of the past season. A bit late? Perhaps.... But, remember my excuse from my Voyager summary review -- dead computer, etc. Plus, of course, procrastination. But here it is, at long last, for those few that care.
I will be using pretty much the same format that I used for my Voyager review -- brief reviews of each episode, then some concluding comments. I will be giving the episodes a rating of 1-10 (but there is no compensatory secondary scale here.) So, a 1-10 scale, 10 being an all-time classic, immeasurably [well, not quite, I guess, by definition] great, wonderful outing -- think "City on the Edge of Forever" [TOS], "Yesterday's Enterprise" [TNG], "The Visitor" [DS9], "Love's Labour Lost" [ER], "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'" [X-Files], etc., and 1 being all-time crap -- think "Genesis", "Masks", "Shades of Grey" [TNG], "Threshold" [VOY], the entire run of "Perfect Strangers", etc.
The episodes:
An imposing title, and the season premiere to boot -- the stakes seemed high for this episode. It doesn't quite live up to it's promise, tho. Don't get me wrong -- Miles, Odo, and especially Sisko make fine Klingons. But the intrigue just isn't all that intriguing at the Klingon court. Still, the climax to the story is a doozy -- Gowron's not the changeling, "Martok" is. A nice bit of writing, that, and good detective work by the constable. Also, there is perhaps a bit of foreshadowing of Dukat's future return to ruthlessness, as he coldly blows a Bird of Prey out of the sky. But mostly, a fun, well-written adventure, but not much more.
Rating: 8
The Ship
Ah, that's the stuff. This is what Trek can be when it's very, very good. A beautiful episode, which succeeds on every level. It's gorgeous to look at, with location shooting and the marvelous upside-down Jem'Hadar ship sets. The performances are superb, and everyone gets to play out the full range of their character, right up to blinding rage. And the writing is about as good as you can ask for. It's laden with conflict which is riveting because it's so believable, so rooted in the characters. And, of course, there's the heart-wrenching pathos of the death of poor Munez, which is played for maximum effect without ever becoming treacly. Plus, it's a nice meditation on the true costs -- and causes -- of war. And the closing moments made me like Worf for an instant -- a nearly impossible task. Serious, weighty, credible, and damn exciting. I like it.
Rating: 10
Looking for Par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
Great title. As for the rest of the episode... actually, it's fun. Not great, but fun. Just a little light romance -- most of which works. This, of course, marks the beginning of the full-fledged Dax/Worf romance, and that plot is handled reasonably well. The Quark storyline, with Worf playing the role of Cyrano, is just odd enough to work. And the Miles/Kira flirting is amusing. Not a perfect episode, but certainly enjoyable, and a nice break from war and bloodshed.
Rating: 8
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
...and back to the war and bloodshed. And a darn fine episode. A more honest, un-heroic portrait of a Trek character it's hard to imagine. Jake gets his chance to be the center of an episode, and it works beautifully. We get to experience the horror or a ground war, and it's too much for Jake to handle -- and who can blame him? The setting for the episode is very effectively realized, and the episode has a very effective atmosphere of pervading fear. A very human story that makes the most of the Klingon/Federation war.
Rating: 9.5
The Assignment
An alien possession story that actually works pretty well. Miles has to scuttle around the station, transforming it into what he doesn't know, all to save Keiko from the Pagh Wraith possessing her. Miles' dilemma is mostly believable, and certainly effective -- you feel his tension and fear. Plus, the episode gives Rom a chance to shine, showing that he isn't the one-dimensional character that some keep insisting, despite all evidence to the contrary, that he is. Compared to some other episodes of the season, this one is not particularly memorable or important, but it is mostly successful.
Rating: 8
Trials and Tribble-ations
What is there to say? Genius! Brilliant! Wonderful! A perfect tribute to the original Trek, done with respect, admiration, and a good sense of humor. Technically, it's a stunning feat -- the sets, the costumes, the way the old and new footage is used together -- absolutely stunning. And more surprisingly, the writing is excellent as well. The story is good, it doesn't mess with the original timeline, and it's funny as all get-out. A wonderful gift to the fans. And, oh, how beautiful the Enterprise looked!
Rating: 10
Let He Who is Without Sin...
I still don't hate this one as much as most everyone else. Still, it clearly is the worst episode of the season. But it's still not awful. Worf acts like a moron, yes, but after all, he is one. And compared to Voyager, now with Seven of Nine, the "Baywatching of Trek" factor of this episode is relatively minor. Not a particularly good episode, to be sure, but certainly not in "Threshold" territory either.
Rating: 6
Things Past
A return to the old Terok Nor days of DS9, this time due to some sort of pseudo- great link sort of thing. In the past, we witness an event in Odo's history, even though it's not clear (or it's not supposed to be clear) that it's Odo's past. In the end, we find out hat Odo was partly responsible for several innocent men being executed, which adds a layer of complexity to Odo's character. And I always like seeing the station as it was under Cardassian rule -- it's good to be reminded of just what the Bajoran/Cardassian conflict is all about. Still, this isn't a really powerful episode, which it could have been.
Rating: 8
The Ascent
Of course now, in retrospect, this is the episode where there is probably the most payoff of Odo's brief transformation into a solid. Stranded with Quark on a planet after a runabout crash, Odo is forced to cope with harsh conditions as a humanoid -- and he's forced to deal with Quark. There is, of course, lots of Quark/Odo banter, which is good fun if you like that sort of thing, and I do. The end is cookie-cutter TV drama, as Odo breaks his leg and Quark saves him. But at least it's done with flair, and that counts.
Rating: 8
Rapture
A truly unusual outing, as Sisko undergoes a series of visions -- and is willing to risk his life to see them through to the end. A very interesting take on science vs. faith, far more subtle, well laid out, and interesting than Voyager's awful "Sacred Ground." On that level alone, it would be a valuable episode. But it is also a critical episode in larger story arcs. Bajor is finally offered membership in the Federation -- but turns it down on Ben's advice, based on his visions. Ben's visions also prove to be prophetic about the events of the rest of the season -- the locusts swarming towards Cardassia, Bjaor's need to stand alone to survive. Impressive long-term plotting is in evidence. An important, effective, interesting episode.
Rating: 9.5
The Darkness and the Light
This episode is -- or at least at first seems to be -- a quite interesting whodunnit, as Kira's old resistance friends start getting killed off. There are some great scenes there, and wonderfully effective moments. There's also some very nice work filling in some details about Kira's past. But the resolution to the story is a let down, and it cops out on a number of plot points. Also, the final scene just doesn't have the deep significance it so obviously tries for. A lot of good ideas, and wonderful moments, but it doesn't all hang together.
Rating: 7.5
The Begotten
In which Odo becomes a shapeshifter again. I still think they should have put this off much longer, if, indeed, it ever needed to be done at all. Sigh. Still, the story of Odo trying to raise a baby changeling is an interesting one, and the scenes between Odo and Mora are interesting and quite believable -- and there's a nice arc to their relationship. The end -- the baby's death, Odo's return to shapeshifting -- is very effectively done. The Kira-gives-birth B-story, though, is just annoying.
Rating: 7.5
For the Uniform
Literary allusions were a staple of Classic Trek episodes and movies, and I always liked that. When done well -- i.e., when they fit the story, when they help illuminate characters -- such references truly enhance the story (think "Wrath of Khan" and Moby Dick).When done badly, such allusions can be annoying and intrusive (think "First Contact" and Moby Dick). Here, the allusions -- to Les Miserables -- work nicely, and gives us some insight into the mind of Eddington. And it's nice to see Eddington back -- he makes a great villain, and a great nemesis for Sisko. Avery Brooks really shines in these kinds of one-on-one confrontations. There's also some good character work for Sisko, and the story effectively keeps the Maquis story going. Plus, there's some great submarine-style atmosphere, aided by the damaged state of the Defiant.
Rating: 9
In Purgatory's Shadow
Part I of the big mid-season 2-parter in which everything changes. Most of the big political machinations in this episode are set-up work for the next one, so I'll deal with it then. The core of this episode is really the resolution of the Tain/Garak story, in quite moving fashion. Even though I guessed where it was going ahead of time, the revelation that Tain is really Garak's father still worked -- it made for a memorable, touching scene. Plus, this episode features the jaw-dropping revelation that Julian is really a changeling -- and I was completely floored. Nice when that can still happen.
Rating: 9
By Inferno's Light
...in which the DS9 universe gets well and truly shaken up. The war with the Klingons ends, Cardassia joins the Dominion, and they attempt to blow up the whole damn Bajoran sector. What's really nice about all these developments is that they make sense -- it's believable that Dukat would want Cardassia to join the Dominion, especially given recent events back home. It makes sense for the Klingons, under these circumstances, to end te war and re-sign the Khitomer accords. These developments are not haphazard, but logical, even when they are surprising. Plus, as we now know, this all sets up some really good stuff later on. What works less well is the escape from the prison asteroid, which isn't really plausible, and thus stands out as the weak point of the whole two hours, which is a shame. Martok makes a nice addition to the recurring cast, and Dukat, as always, makes a glorious enemy. All in all, probably stronger in its implications than its execution, but still good stuff.
Rating: 8.5
Dr. Bashir, I Presume
A Big Revelation episode, in which we find out that Julian was genetically enhanced to become supersmart and otherwise just perfect. It's an interesting revelation, and reasonably plausible. The moral issues it raises are interesting, though they're dealt with pretty briefly here, which is too bad. All in all, too little reaction & consequence -- although the scene in which Julian tells his secret to Miles is very effective. The Doc Zimmerman B-story is fine, but not particularly special or memorable.
Rating: 8
A Simple Investigation
Also doubtless known by many as "Odo gets some." The long-awaited episode in which Odo has a romance, including physical love. It's set here in the context of a semi-noirish mystery, centering around the femme fatale that Odo falls for -- is she good? Is she evil? As it turns out, the answer is surprisingly interesting - but that doesn't make getting there any more compelling. Working through the mystery is still pretty standard stuff. While the romance is believable, it will hardly go down in the annals of Trek as a great, memorable romance. The best thing about the episode remains the odd pair of assassins trailing the femme fatale...
Rating: 7.5
Business as Usual
A really good Quark episode which remembers that he's an ethically ambiguous character -- and one that's developing. Due to his precarious financial situation (a good bit of continuity), Quark agrees to go into the arms-smuggling business with his cousin Gaila and his colleague Hagath. This costs Quark all his friends on the station, and causes some twinges in his own -- gasp! -- conscience. His dilemma is well-constructed, making for a compelling story. His solution is innovative, and more than a bit cold-blooded. What mars this all is the reset-button ending, in which Quark is once again warmly embraced into the bosom of station life. Too easy.
Rating: 8.5
Ties of Blood and Water
A very nice character piece, all about Kira exploring her relationship with her father(s) and her inability to deal with such a deep loss. Kira is forced to own up to the fact that she abandoned her father on his death bed, because she couldn't face the emotions involved -- and she is given the opportunity not to make the same mistake again. That's good stuff, and again shows that the characters on DS9 aren't 1-dimensional and perfect -- they are like real people, with flaws, foibles and all. There's also some neat stuff between Sisko, Dukat and Weyoun, which gives a nice break between the heavier Kira/Ghemor scenes.
Rating: 8.5
Ferengi Love Songs
Another Ferengi episode? Why now? Ah, well, it's out of my hands... Quark goes back home to find that his mother is dating Zek -- and that Zek is going senile. Quark then gets caught up in a scheme to topple Zek....This is all fine, but not great. I enjoyed it, but a few months later, it doesn't really seem terribly memorable. Great closet gag, tho. Also, Rom and Leeta get engaged, which, to me, is a good thing.
Rating: 7.5
Soldiers of the Empire
Still the best post-TOS Klingon episode. A 3-dimensional portrayal of the crew of a beleaguered Klingon warship, and one gun-shy commander -- Martok. Worf is put in a dilemma that makes sense, and finds a good solution. Dax gets a chance to shine as the strong, resourceful, independent person she is. A really good episode, complete with a great parting shot of the bird of prey as the crew sings a Klingon space chantey. Not that this means that I'm campaigning for more Klingon episodes -- sometimes less is more...
Rating: 9
Children of Time
That rarity in Trek time-travel episodes -- a story which is simply set up, is internally consistent, and doesn't get too bogged down in temporal mechanics. Better yet, it's centered around a wonderful moral dilemma -- should our heroes escape from the planet and return home, or be sure to crash, thus establishing this 200-year old colony of 8000? Truly a no-win scenario, and the writers bravely choose to leave it that way -- the technological fix is a hoax; the crew really do have to make the hard choice. Absolutely wonderful. This dilemma is wonderfully played out through the episode with our heroes responding in character -- Kira accepting her fate; Miles determined to get back home no matter what; Dax consumed with guilt over this for 200 years; the older Odo having gained some wisdom, and perhaps some madness. All good stuff. Plus, a wonderful planting-day montage set to really good music. The resolution is surprising and debate-provoking -- which is to say, very good. A great job.
Rating: 9.5
Blaze of Glory
Farewell, Eddington, we hardly knew ye... But what a sendoff! This episode resolves at least two plot threads: what about Eddington, and what ever happened to the Maquis? Even better, it wraps both up quite nicely, if sadly. Eddington is dead, as, it seems, are the Maquis. The episode is mostly made up of scenes between Eddington and Sisko, which is a very good thing -- all those scenes are wonderful, with both actors really sinking their teeth into good material. A blaze of glory, indeed.
Rating: 9
Empok Nor
Bascially, this is just an adventure story outing -- a scary, booby trapped station, some bad guys, some good guys. Let it rip. What makes it really interesting is the setting -- Empok Nor, a twin of Terok Nor -- DS9. Thus, the DS9 sets get to have a starring role here, re-lit to be even darker than usual. Now, since I love and adore the DS9 sets, this episode made me very happy -- the DS9 sets in all their dark, gothic, scary beauty. And a nice action story is a good thing, when done in moderation and with flair. Also making this episode more interesting than it needed to be is the fact that the redshirts got to be real characters -- they all had names, and even personalities. Thus, their inevitable grisly deaths had a bit more impact. Plus, the scenes among them were just fun to watch. In addition, we get to watch Garak exercise his abilities as a trained spy and assassin -- and we get to watch him go nuts. And Nog gets to be actually useful. Not a big, important episode, but a good, stylish thriller.
Rating: 8.5
In the Cards
Which seems to answer the question, "what would it be like if the X-Files' Darrin Morgan wrote an episode of DS9?" This episode, while not written my Morgan, has a similar feel to that writer's work on the X-Files, such as "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'", etc. In other words, it's quirky, strange, funny, and good. Jake and Nog get involved in a complicated quest to get a baseball card for Ben (an ever-growing chain of trades, of a type familiar to longtime M*A*S*H* watchers). At the same time, some very serious stuff is going on between Winn and Sisko, which sets up the events of the next episode. Strangely, it seems that the whole episode was structured to provide a context for the line "lions and Geigers and bears.." "Oh, my." And for that reason, I liked it!
Rating: 8.5
A Call To Arms
Everything one could reasonably ask for in a season finale. The conflict with the Dominion comes to a head, and the shooting war begins. The last of the chess pieces are put into position, as Bajor signs a non-aggression pact with the Dominion -- as do the Romulans. Sisko has Dax mine the entrance to the wormhole, and in the end, Starfleet is forced to abandon the station, under fire. It all works beautifully, aided greatly by a memorable, stirring musical score. Finally, good music comes back to Trek, and it really helps give the episodes punch. All the characters have their moment here -- Rom and Leeta get married; Garak and Ziyal have a touching goodbye; Odo and Kira put their romantic problems on the back burner; the strain between Dukat and Weyoun is beginning to show; there were moments of real affection between Quark and Rom; Dax and Worf get engaged. But best of all was Sisko's goodbye from the promenade, making complete a character arc dating back to the beginning of the series. Sisko finally claims DS9 as his home, and vows to return to it -- and his family. It's a truly stirring moment. One can't help but remember Opaka's words to Sisko -- "you are _of_ Bajor.." Finally, Sisko fully accepts this. All that, plus stuff blowin' up real good every which-way, and a Starfleet armada that has already given legions of Trekkie hardware lovers fodder for months of heated discussion. As I write this, it's 2 days until I see the season premiere which continues this story -- and I just can't wait. This is good stuff.
Rating: 10
Before season 4 began, Worf was added to the cast of DS9 under pressure from Paramount. I, like many others, was appalled -- I was sure this was going to ruin DS9. Happily, I was wrong -- the writers and producers resisted any pressure from the studio to actually make DS9 more like TNG, and produced a great season. But, as we all know, the ratings didn't improve -- in fact, I guess they continued to fall. Thus, I was afraid that there would be more pressure from the Paramount suits this season to make the show more "accessible," more like TNG -- i.e., crappy. But again, the writers and producers resisted, if any such pressure existed -- this past season was not only very good, but was probably the darkest season ever on Trek.
Much of this season was about war -- either an ongoing war (with the Klingons) or an impending war (with the Dominion). If taken seriously, this requires some pretty dark, heavy stories -- and that's what we got. "The Ship", "...Nor the Battle to the Strong", "In Purgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light", "A Call to Arms" -- all of these took the idea of war very seriously, tried for hard hitting drama, and succeeded. Add to that other weighty episodes like "For the Uniform/Blaze of Glory", "Children of Time", "Things Past", "The Darkness and the Light" and the dark "Empok Nor", along with some others, and you've got a season that's far from light and frothy. And that's why it's so good. Not that the season didn't have it's light moments -- most notably the brilliant anniversary episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" -- but by and large, this was a pretty somber season.
There were some developments I found disappointing this season, though. These were opportunities missed. The first was Odo's stint as a solid. I, for one, didn't see any need for Odo to ever be returned to his changeling state -- I thought it was interesting and brave to turn him into a solid. If he had to be turned back, I think it should have been much later. He really didn't have much of an opportunity to explore what it means to be a human, and that's just a shame. Wouldn't it perhaps have been more interesting if he'd had the romance in "A Simple Investigation" while he was a solid? Wouldn't a few more situations in which Odo was at the mercy of his solid form -- such as in "The Ascent" -- have been worth seeing? Would Odo have started carrying a phaser? Would he have used it? So many possibilities for stories. Another lost opportunity for a character was with Julian, in terms of fallout from the big revelation in "Dr. Bashir, I Presume." We really haven't seen any repercussions since that episode, and again, it's just a shame -- and it seems obviously missing. Another underdeveloped character arc was Kira's pregnancy -- nothing of interest ever really developed there (well, except for Kirayoshi, of course -- and in real life, Django.)
Another lost opportunity was the war with the Klingons. Yes, we did get a couple of episodes out of it, most notably "...Nor the Battle", but all in all, it did not play as large a role in the season as we might have expected. Further, the peace between the Federation and the Klingons seems to hve come a bit easily, with surprisingly little resentment showed towards the Klingons, even after all the death and destruction they caused.
But more often, DS9 has showed more continuity than any other Trek series, and this season it made bolder moves in long-term plotting than we've ever seen before. When Ben had his visions in "Rapture," I wasn't quite sure what to make of them. But at the end of the season, they're all quite clear -- and it's also clear that the writers knew where the season was heading even in the first half. That's wonderful to see, and the season-long story of the Dominion's incursion into the Alpha Quadrant was well plotted and executed. This kind of far-reaching thinking gives me great hope for the upcoming season and the war against the Dominion. I think often our perceptions of DS9's bigger galaxy-spanning arcs are colored by the fact that Bab5 is also currently running, and that show has the most ambitious galactic war arc ever attempted in visual media. (Still, it's a shame about "Into the Fire". I'm still depressed by that.) So, in comparison, DS9's galactic war arc may seem a bit thinner, less well-planned. Certainly the latter is true. On the other hand, if it weren't for Bab5, we'd all be amazed by the scope and planning of DS9's plot -- it's certainly far more ambitious than anything Trek has ever tried before, and so far beyond the quality and complexity of anything attempted by the Voyager writers that the comparison just seems silly.
But what's always been at the heart of DS9 is its characters, and this season served them all quite well. Kira was again well-established as a strong, competent military figure, but also a complex person with a dark past. "The Darkness and the Light" and "Ties of Blood and Water" both explored Kira's past, to generally good effect. Her relationship with Shakaar suffered from the fact that the guy was simply never around, and so it was mercifully ended near the end of the season. Her friendship with the O'Briens showcased the more approachable side to Kira, as did her continued friendship with Dax, although that didn't get quite as much screen time as it might. This season also finally saw some forward movement in the Kira/Odo story, and this was handled quite well. Kira learned of Odo's feelings for her, and happily didn't then forget due to brain injury/temporal anomaly/alien interference etc. Their decision in "A Call to Arms" to put that aside from now made sense, but I hope that the writers get back to it before too long. I have faith that they will.
For Odo, this was quite a season. Again, I don't think that nearly enough was done with his time as a solid. Still, there were more than a few nice moments along the way -- for instance, his speech about bubbles in beer, etc. "The Begotten" provided many nice character moments, and a welcome change in his relationship with Mora. And I can't think of another time we saw Odo unabashedly celebrating anything. Odo's brief romance was reasonably well handled, and it served as a nice warm-up to the deepening of his relationship with Kira. What's less clear is why he would tell Kira that it was his future self that sabotaged the Defiant in "Children of Time" -- was that really in her best interest to know? More troubling, what does it mean about Odo's capacity for obsession that his future self killed 8,000 people, including himself, just for Kira? Interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing how Odo deals with the return of Dukat to the station, especially in light of his revelation in "Things Past."
For the most part this season, Worf simply remained Worf -- not much more than a big, dumb, honorable lunkhead. As I've said before, I'm OK with that, as long as it's understood that he's a lunkhead. His relationship with Dax provides a little more depth, I suppose, and certainly provides more opportunities for him to be embarrassed, which I usually enjoy. What this relationship does for Dax is less clear -- it's hard to see just what it is she sees in Worf. Maybe it's just the challenge... We also got to see, in "Soldiers of the Empire", just how effectively Dax can hold her own -- and in "Trials...", we got to vicariously enjoy walking through the old Enterprise through Dax's almost child-like glee. Dax's friendship with Sisko was also played up more this season, which was very welcome. The two work well together, and their friendship deepens both characters.
Julian continued maturing this season, enough so that he was a credible mentor to Jake in "..Nor the Battle to the Strong." Julian's friendship with Miles continues to be one of the highlights of the series, and it was put to the test in "Dr. Bashir, I Presume." Miles, tho, rallied and stayed faithful to his friend. Plus, the interview segments of that episode show just how highly Miles has come to think of Julian. Miles was as solid as always this season, as was Colm Meaney. We got to see Miles in more of a leadership role in both "The Ship" and "Empok Nor", and in both he was quite credible. His style of leadership -- more personal and laced with humor -- is obviously different than Sisko's, but his men and women are clearly loyal to him -- and he to them, as we saw especially in his effort to keep Munez alive. Jake grew up a lot this season, especially in "Nor the Battle." But we also saw him trying to establish an independent, adult identity in "A Call to Arms", and his devotion to his father was evident, especially in "In the Cards." Quark didn't get a lot of character development in this season, and his troubles with the FCA were resolved too quickly and too easily for my taste. Still, "Business as Usual" was a great episode for him, showing both his old, shadier side and how he has changed since then. And "A Call to Arms" saw him show real affection for his brother.
DS9 has probably the largest and best cast of supporting characters of any series now on TV, and they were put to good use this season. Garak was as compelling as always, and the revelation that he is Tain's illegitimate son made perfect sense, and added to his character. I'm not sure how I feel about his relationship with Ziyal, though. I'll wait to see how it develops. It would also be nice to see what kind of relationship Odo and Garak have been developing -- I hope we see something about this next season. But all in all, Garak is always a delight. Dukat probably went through the biggest change of any character this season. In "Apocalypse Rising," he was an ally -- if an unpredictable one. By the end of "By Inferno's Light", he was back to full-fledged villainy. What made this transformation work is that it didn't violate Dukat's character as established. His motives were consistent -- to protect and glorify Cardassia. All of his actions stemmed from that, and thus the changes were believable and exciting. Eddington also made a great villain this season in his two appearances, and had a great exit from the series. Gowron was Gowron, not much change there. Martok, tho, is an interesting new addition, and I like him. His friendship with Worf again adds to both characters -- and by making Worf part of the house of Martok, the writers have finally brought that storyline to some kind of resolution. Kai Winn made some quite memorable appearances this year -- in "Rapture," she showed both her strength (in recounting her survival of the occupation) and a new, surprising vulnerability -- her confusion and disorientation in the face of proof that Sisko actually is the Emissary. Winn coming to Sisko for advice in "In the Cards" was one of the most surprising moments of the series. Shakaar, however, suffered badly this season -- he was absent in episodes that cried out for his presence, and his appearance in "The Begotten" was as a testosterone-addled dolt.
And then there's Rom and Leeta. For some reason, these two have attracted the hatred, scorn, and ridicule of on-line posters more than any other characters I can remember, and I am continually mystified by this. Rom, people keep insisting, is a one-dimensional character. This is simply not true. Yes, he appears buffoonish much of the time -- but unlike Neelix, he actually *isn't* a buffoon. We've seen that he has the independence and strength of character to defy both his brother and Ferengi tradition and give up on any career in finance, becoming an engineer instead. And, in fact, he's a talented engineer, and has become trusted by Miles -- and he has saved the station once or twice. He's a concerned father of Nog. He is painfully shy around women, and not without reason -- he has been burned in love before, we learn. But he's able to finally overcome his shyness and pursue Leeta. What's one dimensional about any of that? I just don't get it. Leeta, it's true, isn't as deep as that. But I think she is more than one-dimensional, and I enjoy her romance -- now marriage -- with Rom. And as I've said before, the union of the conventionally beautiful Leeta with the, well, less-than-conventionally-handsome Rom is what Trek is all about -- overcoming prejudices; IDIC; all that good stuff. So, yes, dammit, I want more of Rom and Leeta!
But any series like this, even one set on a space station, still relies heavily on it's captain. Happily, this was a good year for Sisko, as well. The writers seemed to have realized something that was always evident in TOS: one-on-one confrontations between the Captain and a worthy adversary make for good drama. Think about Kirk facing off with Khan (twice!), or with Kang, or Kor, or Mudd (Twice!),or Chang, or Nilz Barris and Koloth, or Apollo, etc. That kind of confrontation was largely absent from TNG, and also Voyager. But DS9 has given Sisko the chance to go mano-a-mano with some worthy adversaries, and it always pays off. Sisko's scenes with Dukat are consistently compelling as the sparks fly between them. The same is true for scenes between Sisko and Eddington -- as we saw in "Blaze of Glory", all you need to do is out the two of them in a room, and you've got good TV.
This season was also important in Sisko's development. This year, Sisko accepted his role as Emissary more than ever. In "Rapture", we saw Sisko become passionately involved in both Bajor's past and future -- and, of course, that episode established him, even in Kai Winn's eyes, as the Emissary. And in "A Call to Arms," Sisko proudly claims the station as his home, and it's citizens his family, and vows to take it back. It's a thrilling moment, and ties together the whole series beautifully. If next season continues this element, it should be very good indeed.
Sisko had other great moments this year as well. As I mentioned above, Sisko's friendship with Dax played a prominent role this year, most evident in "The Ship", "For the Uniform," and "Trials and Tribble-ations." This always felt quite natural and quite refreshing. "Trials" was also just a good Sisko episode all round, as was "Children of Time." Sisko's love of Jake was obvious in "Nor the Battle", as well as in "A Call to Arms." And Sisko was a bit more comfortable and relaxed with the rest of the crew in general throughout the season, engaging in easy, comfortable banter with them on many occasions.
So, what is DS9 about? It's about all of these characters. It's about Bajor. And it's about the Gamma Quadrant, and the Federation's war with the Dominion. And it can tell stories about all of these things very, very well. It wasn't a perfect season, and it did have a bit of a mid-season slump. But even the episodes in the slump weren't really bad, and there were no awful episodes at all this season. All in all, it was a very strong season, with excellent episodes scattered throughout.
What makes DS9 so good? Of course it has spectacular production values, especially the beautiful DS9 sets themselves, and there were some great special effects this year. And the actors are all excellent, and turn in good performances week in and week out. But in the end, it's the writing which is the key to DS9's success. Voyager, after all, also has money to burn on production values and some capable performers -- but it doesn't have the writing to back it up. On DS9, the writers -- lead by departing Robert Hewitt Wolf -- seem to push themselves to always be creative, to always push the envelope. For example, in "Children of Time", it would have been very easy for the writers to make the episode about finding a technobabble fix to the situation. But instead, the writers chose the braver, more interesting route, and forced the characters to actually make the tough moral choice. On Voyager, or TNG for that matter, I think the writers would have just taken the easy way out. But to their credit, the DS9 writers try not to do that. Likewise, the writers make no excuses for the hostilities between the crew in "The Ship" -- that's just the way they reacted in that situation. On Voyager and TNG, you only get that kind of conflict when there's drugs or alien mind-probes causing it.
The writers also do a good job of exploding formula and not getting bogged down in cliche. In "For the Uniform," they let Sisko act out the role of villain, taking very controversial actions. In "Nor the Battle," they take a very grim and up-close view of war and of the human psyche. In "Rapture," Sisko has prophetic visions, which seem to actually *be* prophetic. In "Things Past", "Business as Usual," "The Darkness and the Light", and "Ties of Blood and Water," main characters' dark sides were explored without apology. Even when the stories use cliches -- "The Ascent," or "A Simple Investigation," or "Empok Nor" -- they are done with style and flair, putting new spins on the tried and true, rather then simply trotting them out and running through them routinely.
Taking chances, staying true to character, consistently good continuity, long range plotting -- these are the things that make DS9 such a rewarding series, and possibly the best Trek series ever.