The Begotten
This is one of those episodes that leaves me feeling just really, really conflicted. One of the reasons it's taken me over a week to write this review (apart from my chronic tardiness) is that I'm still trying to decide how I feel about it.... and I still haven't, entirely, but here goes anyway.
This episode is made up of two thematically linked stories -- Kira's (long-anticipated) going into labor, and Odo's discovery (well, Quark's discovery, I suppose) of a Changeling infant. Of the two, there's no doubt that the Odo story is by far the more interesting of the two -- and it's resolution has longer-range consequences for the show.
Despite all that, I want to start off by talking about the Kira B-story. Well, Kira's pregnancy is finally over -- and the writers didn't get one good story out of it. Which is a shame. Now, of course, I realize, they hadn't really planned for Kira to get pregnant, it was just a response to reality -- but still, you'd think they could have gotten more mileage out of it than they did. It's true that "The Darkness and the Light" got some really good scenes out of her pregnancy, but the story as a whole didn't demand that. I guess the most memorable storylet involving Kira's pregnancy will probably end up being the bout of flirtation she and Miles enjoyed in "Looking for Par'Mach..." This final chapter of the pregnancy -- the birth -- certainly wasn't memorable.
In fact, that is one of the things I'm conflicted about. On the one hand, the whole childbirth b-story was about as interesting as, say, TNG engineering scenes between Wesley and Geordie -- which is to say, not at all. On the other hand, I'm certainly grateful that DS9 didn't go in for any of the usual cliche childbirth stories -- Kira didn't crash with Odo on some planet and go into labor, she didn't go into labor in a stuck elevator, Worf wasn't involved in any way (once was cute, twice would be bad.) So, that's something, anyway. And the Bajoran style of childbirth eliminated the by now quite familiar TV version of childbirth, with screaming and whacking people over the head with blunt objects (think Murphy Brown.) So, the writers avoided some big pitfalls in TV birth stories. That doesn't, however, mean that they came up with anything much better to replace it -- the sparring between Shakaar and Miles was forced and unwelcome, and Keiko was once again rendered characterless. So, on the one hand, I feel it's a bit of a cop-out to demote the birth to just a B- story, but on the other, I certainly wouldn't have wanted to see the story as written expanded to a full hour, and I wouldn't want to see a more cliched story.
One more note about Kira's labor -- for this they bring back Shakaar? Not when his resistance cell was being killed off, not when Bajor was being admitted into the Federation, but for this yawn-inducing B-story, in which he plays the role of an irritating jerk? Others have commented about this too, so I'd just like to join in the chorus. Shakaar should be more than just Kira's "boyfriend" -- he has a tremendous backstory and plays a pivotal role on Bajor, and that ought to be exploited. (I also think that one of the low points of the entire series will probably be Shakaar referring to Kira as "my girlfriend." Ugh. 5000 years of Bajoran culture, and that's the best description he can come up with?) Another question -- what happens to Kira now? Do Miles and Keiko kick her out of their quarters right away, do they wait a week.... what?
But back to Odo, and the much more interesting part of the story. Odo is presented with a baby changeling, and takes responsibility for raising the critter -- and he intends to do it right, correcting all the mistakes that Odo feels Dr. Mora made. Before Odo can teach the little puddle of goop, tho, Julian has to cure it of some, er.... goo disease. This he seems to do successfully... for a while. Anyway, Odo begins by speaking to the baby constantly -- he explains that since Dr. Mora didn't know he was alive, he never talked to him, and that made him feel terribly isolated and confused. He doesn't want to make that mistake.
Odo tries to get the little shapeshiter to take on different forms, to realize it's true potential -- but the little critter is happier just staying a puddle of goop. But Odo is determined that a gradual, kind, gentle approach will be successful -- unlike the shock therapy he suffered under Dr. Mora. Then, who should show up but Dr. Mora himself. The scenes between Dr. Mora and Odo are really quite good. We learn a lot more about how Odo was raised, about where his feelings for resentment for Dr. Mora come from, and perhaps about the origins of some of his personality traits. But Dr. Mora is presented as much more than just a villain. Most obviously, his care, his love, for Odo is obvious, as is his pain at Odo's rejection of him. Gradually, we also learn of the pressure he was under from the Cardassians to get results, prompting some of his more aggressive experiments. Still, Odo doesn't want to hear this, and their exchanges grow ever more heated, ending up in a shouting match, which is only ended by the silent arrival of Sisko. Sisko's part of the scene is especially well done -- he doesn't try to resolve the dispute, doesn't get involved in their argument at all. He simply asks how things are going, and tells Odo what Starfleet expects. Very effective.
What Starfleet expects, of course, is results. Now, Odo is under the same kind of pressure Mora was when he was raising Odo. So, Odo reluctantly agrees to use the shock method of getting the Changeling to assume new forms, and this proves successful -- prompting a great line from Mora -- "Yes, I smiled like that, too, when you took on a shape" -- a dig at Odo, who attacked Mora for enjoying the experiments too much. Still, the creature makes good progress, which elates Odo and Mora. In a touching scene (inspired by/lifted from "The Abyss"), the changeling reaches out to Odo, crudely mimicking his face. It's a really nice moment.
After this, we see a very rare kind of scene -- Odo celebrating. First, he celebrates with Dr. Mora in his office, coming closer to a real reconciliation. Odo then goes to a closed Quark's, and buys Quark a drink, continuing his celebration. Understandably, Quark is stunned by this. Sadly, their celebration is cut short, as the computer pages Odo -- there's something wrong with the baby. Odo and Mora take it to sick bay, but there's nothing that can be done. Julian and Mora leave Odo alone with the Changeling, who pours the creature into his hand for the first time. The creature suddenly disappears into Odo's hands -- and Odo staggers back.
What follows is a truly magical scene. Odo staggers into the promenade, in a combination of grief, joy, and disbelief -- and morphs into a hawk. There are some truly beautiful shots of the hawk flying through the promenade, including some POV shots -- it's a wonderful scene.
But leaving that wonderful scene aside, what to make of the fact that Odo is a Changeling again? I thought it was a remarkable, brave move when DS9 turned Odo into a solid. It was a dramatic, serious change, the kind of thing we don't see on Trek. But now he's changed back. I would have been perfectly happy if Odo had stayed a solid forever. So, I'm a bit let down by this development -- it feels like a cop-out to me. But, what's done is done. What concerns me now is, much like Kira's pregnancy, I don't think the writers got enough mileage out of Odo becoming a solid. There were some nice moments along the way, but there was so much more that could have been done -- further explorations of how his new state effected his police work, including whether he could have remained unarmed forever; further explorations of the physical aspects of being a solid -- I know we saw some of that when Q became human, but there's still so much that can be done (see how well the prune juice line worked?); perhaps some explorations of love and sex as a solid... the possibilities are endless! So it just seems too soon to change Odo back.
On the other hand, let's see what they have accomplished. Odo certainly has a better understanding of what it means to be a solid, of what it means to be injured, etc. If this is worked into his character in the future, it should be good. Of course, there's also the fact that Odo has been rejected by his people, which has had an impact on him. In this episode, Odo had a lot of growth -- he got to experience parenthood, and learned to enjoy parenthood, something he never thought possible. He also became closer than ever to his father figure, Dr. Mora. And, by the end of the episode, Odo was acting more like a solid than ever -- even hugging Mora -- even though physically, he was once again a shapeshifter. Also, this episode seemed to let Odo rediscover the joys of being a changeling, both when he was describing it to the baby and in the hawk scene. If the writers follow through on these character developments, the entire experiment will probably have been worth it, despite the missed opportunities. If they don't, and they just hit the old reset button, then this will be one colossally blown chance to do something really daring.
So, summing it all up... the A-story with Odo and Mora was very effective and moving at points, but only time will tell if Odo's entire life-as-a-solid story will be a big cop-out... The B-story involving Kira giving birth was boring and slightly annoying, but at least avoided most TV cliches. But at least the two stories were woven together very effectively in the very nice last scene with Kira and Odo.
DS9 returns to the question of the Maquis in this powerful episode, which also lets us see a darker side to Sisko than we're usually privy to. A well-written story and great acting all around make for a darn fine show.
I guess every Starship Captain gets their chance at a story about obsession. Kirk had, well, "Obsession", and, from the perspective of the obsessee, "STII: TWOK." Picard had "First Contact" (although his obsession there wasn't convincing.) Sisko recently had a chance at the theme in "Rapture", but he was hopped up on increased synaptic potentials at the time. Here, he's in full command of his faculties (ar at least his brain chemistry is normal), but his obsession is in full flower. The object of his obsession? One Michael Eddington, former Chief of Starfleet Security on DS9, now a Maquis leader. Let the chasing begin!
The episode opens with Sisko going to a covert meeting with an informant in a Maquis hideout. But there is no informant -- instead, he meets Eddington himself -- an Eddington who has been taking smug lessons in his spare time. Eddington teases Sisko that he should give up the chase -- he, Eddington, will always be one step ahead. When he returns to the Defiant, Sisko tries to chase down and disable Eddington's ship -- but Eddington really is one step ahead; he has planted a virus into the Defiant's systems, causing a massive computer failure. Appearing on the Defiant's new holo-communicator system, he taunts Sisko some more (though never in a fake French accent), taking great joy in Sisko's impotence -- "I'm in control here," he says -- then unleashes an assault on the crippled Defiant. Here's a guy who really needs his comeuppance -- but not too soon, 'cause he's so much fun to watch.
So, the Defiant has to limp home, completely crippled. But Sisko's humiliations aren't over -- Captain Sanders of the Malinche (played by Alien Nation's Eric Pierpoint) informs him that Starfleet has taken him off the Eddington case -- he's too close to it, and he just hasn't gotten the job done. This is a really well-done scene. It makes perfect sense that Starfleet would decide at this point to take Sisko off the job of tracking down Eddington -- 8 months, and only a humiliating defeat to show for it is pretty bad, after all. But what makes the scene really come to life is Sanders' discomfort at having to tell Sisko the news (combined with just a flavoring of the sense that Sanders obviously thinks that he can do it.) That combined with Sisko's carefully controlled anger make for a nifty little exchange. (It's also nice to see some Starfleet officers who aren't insane, as they tend to be on Trek. Both in "Rapture" and here, we see fairly three-dimensional Starfleet characters -- this is a good trend!)
We also get a really good scene between Dax and Sisko as Ben works off his anger at Starfleet, Eddington, and, mostly, himself by thwacking a punching bag within an inch of its life. This is a really well written scene, and Avery Brooks sinks his teeth into it, letting Sisko get really furious, in a way we don't often see in Trek characters. Plus, the scene lets us see to the source of Sisko's anger -- he can't stand the fact that, on a level playing field, Eddington just plain beat him. Eddington gained Sisko's trust and friendship, and betrayed him. It's a really sharp scene. In fact, the whole episode is full of really sharp, interesting Dax/Sisko scenes -- Peter Allan Fields obviously has a wonderful command of these two characters and their relationship.
Sisko soon gets another rude surprise -- Eddington has upped the stakes considerably. The Maquis have used weapons of mass destruction on Cardassian colonies, making them uninhabitable by Cardassians. Left unchecked, this campaign could significantly alter the balance of power in the zone -- and Starfleet can't let that happen. So, Sisko takes out the still severely disabled Defiant to chase down and stop Eddington.
The episode takes full advantage of the wounded state of the Defiant. Most of the automatic systems are down, as is the interior com system. Thus, most ship operations have to be done in a more low-tech way, with a lot more commands. Further, all communication between the bridge and engineering has to be relayed through one person -- Nog (making another nice, brief guest appearance, while still avoiding any sense of creeping Wesleyism). This has the effect of making the bridge seem much more military-like, and much more sub-like. (In terms of Trek history, it most resembles the bridge scenes in STII and STVI, which also had a decidedly sub-like feel.) Anyway, its a very effective atmosphere, and really works in the context of the story.
The Defiant heads into the Badlands (looking more threatening than ever, in a lovely, flame-like way), and apparently discovers Eddington's ship -- but after Sisko talks to him, Kira discovers that it was only a probe, relaying the message. Eddington takes the opportunity to mock Sisko yet again, and to draw him into a discussion of some of the finer points of French literature (and Broadway musicals) -- specifically, Les Miserables. Eddington casts Sisko in the role of Javert (perhaps familiar to TV audiences in his guise of Lt. Gerard in "The Fugitive"), a policeman obsessed with hunting down Valjean, guilty only of stealing bread. It's a great analogy, and works really well (not least in getting even further under Sisko's skin). It's also nice to see literary references in Trek branching out from the Shakespeare and Melville rut.
In the meantime, the Maquis have launched a surprise attack on the Malinche, and disabled it. Now it's Sanders' turn to look disgusted and defeated. Again, his exchanges with Sisko ring really true. Dax and Worf give Sisko the two most likely targets for the Maquis' next attack, and Sisko chooses the less likely of the two -- because Eddington likes to think he's unpredictable. It's nice to see Sisko starting to use his knowledge of Eddington against him, just had Eddington had done to Sisko. Sisko's guess proves correct, and they arrive at the planet only moments after the Maquis attack. They are hot on Eddington's tail, but Eddington attacks a Cardassian transport fleeing the scene -- forcing Sisko to choose between catching him and saving the Cardassians. Sisko, of course, saves the transport.
Sisko then spends some time seriously considering the character of Michael Eddington. He takes a long, hard look at Les Miserables to see what he can learn about Eddington from it. He realizes that Eddington has cast himself in the role of the tragic hero -- and thus, to catch him, Sisko must play out his role of villain. Thus, he decides to attack a Maquis settlement with atmospheric trilithium bombs -- weapons which will make the planet uninhabitable for humans. Eddington believes this to be merely a bluff -- a Starfleet officer would never attack a planet. In this case, Eddington has underestimated Sisko, who orders the missiles launched. In the face of Sisko's threat to continue on to other Maquis outposts, Eddington concedes defeat, and surrenders himself to Sisko -- as a good tragic hero must do.
This resolution is truly remarkable for Trek. Sisko's decision not only to threaten to launch weapons against the planet, but to actually carry through on it, is, to say the least, a pretty risky move. I was a little troubled by the bridge crew's relatively easy acceptance of the order -- they looked uncomfortable, but that's about it. I think some more strenuous reactions would have been appropriate. In any event, its's a pretty bold move on Sisko's part. And, again, it should be noted, the weapon would only render the planet uninhabitable for humans -- it would not wipe out the entire biosphere. (Just as the Maquis weapon had done for Cardassian life.) Plus, Sisko gave the humans a warning, so they were able to quickly escape. Still, it's a possibly illegal move, and I'd love to hear what Starfleet's reaction was. This was also, dare I say it, a very Kirk-like move. In some ways, it's a bit like Kirk's decision to destroy the battle computers in "A Taste of Armageddon" -- a move which could have lead to the death of millions. It's hard, though, to imagine Picard making this order. Whether that's a good or a bad thing, I leave to you..... I, of course, love the Kirk/Sisko style. (Though I'm still giving the bombing-the-planet scheme some serious thinking over...)
Anyway, this is an episode full of great moments, and I'm sure I've left some out. All of the Sisko/Eddington scenes, for example, crackled nicely. I also liked the introduction of the holo-comm system. It makes sense given Trek technology, and it works pretty effectively. Plus, it saves money -- there was no need to build a bridge set for the Malinche. The story also took chances, showing Sisko in a potentially unflattering light -- obsession isn't always pretty. Plus, it's something that's been hinted at in Sisko's character before, making it more convincing. Further, his method for resolving the situation -- by planetary attack -- has already launched a minor firestorm of debate online, and will probably continue to do so for a while. And it sparks debate for the right reasons -- because it's a complicated issue, not because it's basically silly and needs some creative rationalization to back it up (unlike, say, Voyager leaving Tom & Janeway's newt children alone on some planet to grow up alone). The story also makes good use of its literary references, rather than merely pasting them on top of the story. The roles of Javert and Valjean are not only subtext, but also constitute a plot point. That's some nice writing, boys. (Said in Chief Wiggum voice). Plus, Das Boot in space! I'd also like to see Capt. Sanders again -- it would be nice to have some recurring Starfleet characters, and if the Malinche is going to stay near the Cardassian border, it would even make sense. (Can you tell I was a big Alien Nation fan?)
So, in summary: an excellent episode, bringing back Eddington to great effect and putting Sisko through the ringer. The acting by all the principals -- especially Avery Brooks, Kenneth Marshall, and Terry Farrell, was absolutely top-notch. Peter Allan Fields makes a rip-roaring comeback to the DS9 universe, and Victor Lobl's direction is great. An interesting, thought-provoking episode. I liked it.
Lately, DS9 has been returning to some of it's core strengths for stories. We've gone back to Bajor for some stories ("Rapture", "The Darkness and the Light") and checked back in on some of the recurring characters there. Las week, we were treated to the return of Michael Eddington and the issue of the Maquis. We've also seen some nice character work on Sisko, Odo, and Kira. In this episode, the writers bring back most of the other recurring characters -- all great in their own right -- and wrap them naturally into a sweeping story about a Dominion invasion. Plus, there are some neck-snapping plot twists along the way to keep you on your toes.
I think one of DS9's greatest strengths has always been its large supporting cast of characters. It's amazing just how many of them there are, and how fully fleshed-out almost all of them are. Garak, Dukat, Nog, Winn, Ziyal, Shakaar, Leeta, Eddington, Kasidy, Rom, Tain... (plus various and sundry Klingons) ... DS9 undoubtedly has a fascinating set of starring roles, but it also has, in baseball terms, a really deep bench. In the past, many of these characters have been put to great use -- especially Garak, for my money the most interesting of the bunch. We haven't seen much of Garak lately, but this episode tries to make up for that, putting him at the center of the story. Dukat has less screen time, but makes the most of what he has. Last season, I was worried that the writers were coming close to making Dukat a "good guy" -- after this episode (and the next, which I haven't seen yet), I suspect I won't have to worry about that any more. Throw in Enabran Tain and General Martok, and you've got an episode just bursting with really cool characters.
How about the story? Well, the writers are certainly aiming high with this one -- the long-awaited Dominion invasion. I think they are probably shooting for something along the lines of "Improbable Cause"/"The Die is Cast" here. I don't think we'll really know if they've succeeded until we see the resolution. But they certainly get a lot of pieces moving with this first part. (I am, of course, a bit worried, given Trek's rather poor track record with the second half of two-parters.) But most of this half of the story is really character arcs. The invasion plot is fairly straightforward. DS9 receives an encoded Cardassian transmission from the Delta Quadrant. Garak (after first lying about it) reveals that it is a message from Tain -- he is alive. When Garak and Worf go to search for him and any other possible survivors, they discover a hidden Dominion attack fleet. They are able to get off only a garbled message before being taken hostage. Sisko and the others realize what the transmission means, and prepare for invasion. As Starfleet has no resources near DS9, the only option is to close the wormhole -- but their efforts fail, due to a Founder's sabotage. As the show fades to black, the Dominion fleet comes tearing out of the wormhole.
Basically, that's all set-up work fro next week. Which is fine, as long as the payoff is good. As Sisko notes, strategically, this is a perfectly logical time for a Dominion attack. The Borg attack (mentioned for the first time) has left Starfleet weakened and thinly-spread; the war with the Klingons is far from settled, and relations with Cardassia remain strained due to the DMZ problem. Apparently, the Romulans are also at less than peak strength. This all presents an awfully tempting target for the Dominion.
But the real meat in this episode is all the character work. And there's a lot of it. There is the growing friendship between Garak and Ziyal, and the problems that causes, both for Ziyal and Dukat and for Dukat and Garak -- never great friends to begin with. Dukat also lashes out at Kira, with none of the overtones of softness or flirtation on his part that marked their past meetings. And, of course, there is the central character story, that of Tain and Garak.
The relationship between Garak and Tain has always been an interesting one, going all the way back to the second season's "The Wire". Tain has repeatedly hurt and abandoned Garak, but Garak has remained loyal -- especially odd, given that normally, Garak seems to value self-preservation above all else. Here, Garak's loyalty to Tain drives the story forward. When Garak first reads the message from Tain, his first instinct is to lie about it, then simply steal a ship and find Tain himself. When that fails, he snows Sisko with some persuasive humanitarian arguments that he doesn't mean in order to still secure a ship to search for Tain. Sisko agrees, sending Worf with him. Garak has to keep on pressing Worf to search harder, deeper into Dominion territory -- Garak is still willing to take enormous risks for Tain. This results in he and Worf getting captured, and taken to a Dominion detention center -- where Garak finally finds Tain, and we finally find out why Garak is so loyal to him.
When Garak finds Tain, he is dying. But Tain's first reaction is to chastise Garak for getting captured. This is not an easy man to please. Later, as Tain is drawing his last breaths, Garak tries again to talk to him. Tain asks about all his old enemies, making sure they are all dead. He asks Garak to promise to seek revenge against the Dominion. Garak promises under one condition -- that Tain make the request as a father, not a mentor. Yes, Tain is Garak's father -- apparently, Garak is an illegitimate son. This revelation makes perfect sense, and illuminates all that we've seen about Garak's relationship with Tain. I don't know if the writers always planned this revelation, but it certainly works. It also makes for a very touching scene -- Garak is finally reaching out emotionally to Tain in a very direct way, but Tain is unable to be so forthcoming. But in his own way, he does reach out to Garak, remembering one time that he had been proud of Garak when he was five years old. Garak remembers the day -- as he points out, "it was the only day." It's a very poignant moment, one that reveals a more vulnerable side of Garak than we've ever seen before. It just works.
The rest of the show is full of great Garak moments, too, of course. I loved the way he convinced both Sisko and Worf to engage in a mission on humanitarian grounds, to find possible Starfleet survivors -- he made a very compelling, logical argument, even though it was obvious he was using it only as a ruse. Sometimes, I guess, the truth is the best kind of lie. I also loved his efforts to get Worf to write a recommendation to Starfleet for him -- just to practice lying. It was a quintessential Garak moment, much like his line to Bashir in "The Wire" -- "they are all true, especially the lies." His scenes with Ziyal also worked very well, as Garak was properly reserved -- aware of Ziyal's crush, while not returning the feeling (or at least not demonstrating any similar feelings). I think Garak even told the truth in one of his conversations with Ziyal -- when he said that he was out here, outcast and alone, but when he was with her, it didn't feel quite so bad. That felt like it was the truth. Although, of course, with Garak, you never really know. At any rate, Andrew Robinson was absolutely perfect throughout the episode, through all of Garak's many mood shifts, etc -- brilliant acting as always.
Another character to keep your eye on throughout the episode is Dukat. Dukat starts out angry in this episode, and just keeps getting angrier. By the end of the episode, he feels betrayed not only by Kira, who allowed Ziyal to become friends with Garak, but by Ziyal herself, who defies Dukat and stays on the station. All of this is played beautifully, and Dukat's obvious love for Ziyal prevents him from being one-dimensional. Still, by the end of the episode, you have the very strong feeling that he's going to do something bad.... Ziyal is adequate throughout. I don't know why the producers are having such a hard time casting this role -- three actresses so far? The second actress, Tracy Middendorf, was fine, but I could never forget the fact that she also played the most annoying incarnation of Carrie on "Days of Our Lives", so I'm not entirely sad that she's gone. I just hope they are going to stick with this latest actress.
And, of course, the one character that demands watching through repeated viewings is Bashir. Because, it turns out, Julian hasn't been Julian for over a month now. The real Julian is on the prison asteroid. A Founder is on DS9 in his stead. I avoided any spoilers for this episode, so this revelation caught me completely flat-footed -- I was floored (to mix metaphors for a moment.) When Julian walked into that cell, I literally stared at the TV for several moments, repeatedly saying "hommina hommina hommina?" It was a great surprise (if you hadn't read anything about it before hand, which I hadn't.) And it's a nice plot twist. It was also a nice touch to have the real Julian wear the old-style uniform, giving us an indication of when he must have been replaced. This raises all sorts of questions, of course -- most notably, since it was the changeling Julian who treated the sick shapeshifter baby, what exactly was his role in those events? What else has he been able to do in his time aboard DS9? Just how screwed are they? Once you know Julian is really a shapeshifter, it's fun to go back and watch the episode again -- everything he says takes on added meaning. Also, it explains something I had initially wondered about, but then forgot -- how Julian-like was it to wait for Garak in the Runabout *armed with a phaser*? Would the real Julian have held Garak at gunpoint? I'm not sure. But a changeling... (incidentally, this same hint was used in the TOS episode "Whom Gods Destroy", in which the shapeshifter imitating Spock casually points his phaser directly at Kirk, something the real Spock would not do) And was Garak's trip through the wormhole also part of some plan? I don't know... And once we know that the fake Julian is a fake, he manages to slip in some just plain evil looks. Anyway, this was a great plot twist, well executed. I suppose some foreshadowing in the past few episodes would have been nice, but would it have been done in a subtle enough way not to ruin the surprise? I don't know...
There were lots of other nice touches in the episode as well. The opening scene in Odo's quarters was nice and effective, hitting on his new transition back to changeling-hood without spending too much time on it. It was just long enough, and the discussion with Kira was interesting. I also liked the discovery of General Martok in the Dominion prison -- again, this is good writing, connecting pieces from many previous episodes. (I also liked the fact that Martok was kidnapped on Kang's Peak [or something] -- Kang has always been my favorite Klingon ever.) I think it also makes sense that the Dominion keeps these people alive, to further probe them for information when it is needed. And those Jem'Hadar just love fighting Klingons, don't they? Also, Kira's objection to closing the wormhole was appropriate, and it would have been a major mistake not to include it. (Some more communication with Bajor, warning them of the pending invasion, might have been appropriate as well.)
Anyway, summing up. How well the larger Dominion invasion story works will depend on the conclusion. What certainly worked is all the excellent character work in the story, especially by Garak and Dukat. The surprise about the Julian shapeshifter works very well. It's a fascinating, involving story, well-written and superbly acted. Let's hope the conclusion holds together....
A good follow up to "In Purgatory's Shadow" which doesn't completely fall apart, as so many Trek 2-parters have. There are some problems with sloppy writing at the end, but they don't detract too much from the overall quality of the episode. Most importantly, this episode takes big chances and shakes up the Star Trek universe quite effectively.
"Purgatory" placed a greater emphasis on the character-driven stories than the larger political story, and this episode largely reverses that balance, with more of the story coming from the political machinations going on. This gives a nice balance to the two hours as a whole -- I'd like to sit down and watch them back- to-back sometime. Anyway, "Purgatory" set the stage for something big to happen, and "Inferno" follows through -- and starts off with a jolt. The invading Dominion fleet pops through the wormhole, but instead of attacking DS9, swoops off to Cardassia - - followed by Dukat. Dukat reveals why -- he has secretly negotiated a deal whereby Cardassia has joined the Dominion. This is a stunning development. (Well, in truth, I would have found it stunning if I hadn't read about it somewhere first. A shame, that, I was really trying to avoid spoilers. What can you do?) This has a bit of a mixed effect on the DS9 crew -- they are spared for the moment from annihilation, but the long-term consequences of this development are just as frightening. Kira makes a vow to kill Dukat the next time she sees him -- and you don't get the impression she's just saying that for effect...
Back in the Gamma Quadrant, Worf, Garak, Julian and Martok are planning their escape. Their plan is to re-configure the jury- rigged transmitter Tain set up to contact the Runabout to beam them up. From there, they can get away and broadcast a warning to DS9. As Garak is the only one who knows how to re-wire the thing, he gets to climb into the hole in the wall and do it. Meanwhile, Worf must deal with the Jem'Hadar who are just itching to do battle with him in the ring.
There is, however, one big problem with Worf duking it out with all the Jem'Hadar warriors in the ring. I know, it gives him a chance to be insufferably brave, noble, and stalwart and all.... but he shouldn't have fought at all. Before the fight, the Jem'Hadar leader told his troops to watch carefully -- through the fight, they would learn the strengths and weaknesses of their enemy, information critical for the battles to come. Incidentally, this speech also explains what part of the purpose of these prisons is --- through combat, the Jem'Hadar can improve their tactics against their enemy. Very clever. But, for this to work, their enemy must actually fight back, which, of course, Worf does. But what if Worf had simply refused to fight? What if he just stood there and let the Jem'Hadar whack him? They would have been able to learn nothing, and Worf would have helped protect the Klingon Empire and the entire Alpha Quadrant. But Worf, more concerned with his own honor, goes ahead and fights, teaching the Jem'Hadar all about Klingons. Very bad move, Worf. Now, of course, this is an easy problem to fix -- have Worf refuse, and then just have the Jem'Hadar trot out Julian, and say that if Worf doesn't fight, they kill Julian. Then, at least we'd be sympathetic to Worf fighting. As it is, he looks kind of like a dope. (which, of course, I think he is, but that's another story.)
Meanwhile, Garak is having a problem with his role in the mission -- he is claustrophobic, and being in the crawlspace is driving him nuts. Apparently, it all relates back to some experience on Zankath (or however you spell that) -- I wonder if we're ever going to find out who these Zankathi are, and why everyone seems to have had experiences with them.... Anyway, Garak finally breaks down in the crawlspace, and Julian has to fish him out. It looks like their plan is ruined. Later, though, Garak is able to rouse himself and force himself back into the crawlspace to finish up, earning the respect of both Worf and Martok. I liked this part of the plot -- it lets us see another side to Garak, plus it lets him be terribly brave and heroic, which is nice. And there's no particular reason why we should have seen this problem before -- I don't think we've ever seen Garak in a really tiny space before. Maybe in that crawlspace on the Defiant when he tried to blow up the Founders -- but he wasn't acting real calm then, either.... Anyway, I think it was a nice, effective complication to throw in.
Back at DS9, preparations are under way for war. Soon, a battered Klingon fleet arrives, newly run out of Cardassian space. Gowron heads the fleet, and so Sisko heads to the infirmary to talk to him. They agree to re-instate the Khitomer Accords, re-establishing peace between the Empire and the Federation -- together, they will be better able to fight the Dominion. This is, perhaps, a bit of an abrupt end to the Klingon war -- but in the context of the story, it does make sense. It's clear that the Empire alone would not be able to defeat the Dominion. Also, it's possible that Gowron has been waiting for a politically acceptable moment to re-establish peace with the Federation. At any rate, DS9 now has a growing fleet around it, and the Starfleet armada soon arrives as well. The fake Julian suggests a new round of blood tests for everyone to try to rout out the changeling -- a nice move on the Founder's part. This also seems to prove conclusively that the Founders have found a way to beat the blood tests, perhaps in just the way Sisko's father described.
Back on the prison asteroid, things are coming to a head. Worf is taken out to fight once more, even though he is badly injured by this point -- and his opponent is the leader of the Jem'Hadar. Worf keeps on taking a terrible beating, but refuses to give up. Back in the cell, Garak is back in the wall, configuring the transmitter, when some guards come for him -- Dukat has ordered his execution, apparently. The guards are about to discover Garak when the Breen prisoner saves the day, stealing a blaster from a guard and blasting him (getting vaporized himself in the process). The other guards get taken care of, so the situation is safe -- for a very little while. Back in the ring, the Jem'Hadar leader finally yields himself, rather than continue beating up on Worf. The Vorta orders both their deaths -- but Worf and Martok are beamed out just in time (not so lucky was the Jem'Hadar.)
I think this is where the escape plan stops being credible. I'll buy the fact that the Jem'Hadar kept the Runabout somewhere on or near the asteroid -- it might have some use at a later time. But to so easily beam up only the right prisoners, wherever they might be -- that ought to be pretty difficult. After all, no one was wearing communicators.... they should have been hard to locate. So that part of the escape seems a bit too easy -- as does the fact that there are apparently no ships guarding the prison. Thus, the escape doesn't come off as really convincing, which is too bad.
Back on the station, things are getting scary. Dukat is now the leader of the Cardassian government, and in an open address to his people, he declares that Cardassia will regain everything that it has lost. As he makes clear to Sisko, that includes DS9, and presumably Bajor as well. A Romulan fleet shows up to add to the armada at DS9. Soon, sensors indicate a swarm of Dominion ships -- but none can be seen. This is a ruse -- the real assault is both more subtle and more destructive. The Julian Founder has taken over a runabout (killing its crew), and is heading towards the sun with a bomb -- the plan is to make the Bajoran sun go nova, destroying the entire armada (along with Bajor and DS9). When a transmission comes in from the real Julian, Sisko realizes the danger they are in, and sends the Defiant to destroy the runabout. This the Defiant does in fine style, in a beautifully realized scene -- the shot of "Julian" as he is caught in the tractor beam was wonderfully spooky.
I also thought this bomb plot was a marvelous idea. It certainly makes a kind of cold-blooded logic -- it's certainly a more cost- effective way to destroy all those ships than a pitched battle. I think it is perfectly believable that the Founders would plan this. It's also a nice touch that it was actually foreshadowed a bit -- "Julian" helped convince Gowron to sign the peace treaty with the Federation, guaranteeing that his ships would be present. I wondered why "Julian" did that at the time, and when we find out why, it clicks into place. I also didn't miss having a big space battle -- space battles are great, but a nice, logical plot twist like this is even better.
So, let's sum up the political situation at the end of the hour, since it is substantially different than it was before. The war between the Federation and the Klingons is over, and there will even be a Klingon presence on DS9. I think both of these are good moves. DS9 got a lot of mileage out of the Klingon/Federation war, and there may yet be some good fallout -- but peace with the Klingons is inevitable. After all, when Klingons were introduced in "Errand of Mercy", the Organians revealed that in the future, the Federation and the Empire would be fast friends. So this peace was inevitable, and the timing here makes sense. Also, I liked Martok and his relationship with Worf. So, even though I'm not wild about latter-day Trek Klingons and Klingon episodes, I think this will turn out to be a welcome development. Also, there seems to be the possibility of some sort of peace -- or at least alliance -- with the Romulans, once the writers figure out how to write for Romulans. (This is tricky, as many of the Romulan traits established in TOS -- duty, honor, etc. -- have been grafted onto Klingons now.)
Perhaps more importantly, the Cardassians are now part of the Dominion. This is a biggie -- the Dominion now has a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant. This is a huge development, and it should be interesting to see how it plays out over time. Yes, it does make the Cardassians bad guys again, but it also makes the Alpha Quadrant a more dangerous place, and makes DS9 an even more important station than before. That's all good, as far as I'm concerned. It should have all kinds of interesting consequences... for instance, is this really the end of the Maquis? There is nothing to hold the Cardassians (or Jem'Hadar) back from blowing them all to crap -- perhaps they will simply all flee first. This also ought to make people on Bajor mighty nervous. All in all, there's a lot of plot that comes out of this one action, and I always like that.
It's also worth noting that DS9 is the only Trek series ever to have had big, long-term political stories like this. In TOS, the Organian Peace Treaty was introduced in the same episode that the Klingons were, so relations between the two powers were kept at pretty much the same level throughout. It's true that the Klingons and Romulans became allied during TOS, but that was only because the effects crew lost the model of the Romulan Bird of Prey, and the re-use of the Klingon ships by Romulans had to be explained. TNG followed much the same pattern; Klingons started off as our friends, and stayed that way -- albeit with a lot of yelling and grunting along the way. Romulans popped up every now and then, but didn't do much. Likewise, the Cardassians were introduced after the Federation/Cardassian war was over. So, I think DS9 should get a lot of credit for telling these big, shifting political stories -- and for doing so well.
This episode also has some nice character stuff, too, of course. Garak's bout of claustrophobia, the growing relationship between Worf and Martok (perhaps the closest to a Klingon father figure Worf has yet had), the emotional reunion between Garak and Ziyal -- all were nice character elements. Also good was the brief scene between Ziyal and Quark -- Ziyal showed more life than she had in the whole of "Purgatory". I hope there's some more follow- up on the Julian changeling story -- certainly more than the brief, flippant scene between Julian and Miles.
But, of course, the biggest character shift belongs to Dukat, and I'm sure there are a lot of mixed feelings out there about this. Dukat is definitely back in bad-guy territory again, after becoming almost a loveable rogue last season. I couldn't be happier. Last year, I was really concerned about the treatment of Dukat. I liked his overall story, and liked the image of him out there all alone with his Klingon ship, fighting for Cardassia. But I worried that the writers were going too far in redeeming him. After all, this is a man who headed up a Nazi-style occupation of an entire planet. That's more than just a little bad -- that's about as bad as you can be. Such a man should not be easily redeemed, if at all. It should not be a trivial matter to transform a man who is the moral equivalent of the officer in charge of a concentration camp, and I thought that the writers were heading too far in that direction. Thus, I think it's entirely in keeping with Dukat's character to make a deal with the Dominion. Not that this makes him a one-dimensional character, by any means. I think what drives Dukat is pragmatism -- and love of Cardassia (or his vision of it), not mere mustache-twirling villianry. I'm sure he simply felt it was inevitable that the Dominion would conquer the Alpha Quadrant -- and thus, the pragmatic thing to do is to become their ally, rather than victim. And, being Dukat, he wouldn't worry too much about all those who would die in the process. In many ways, Dukat's role here is similar (I'm sure some will argue too similar) to Londo's role in, say, the second season of Bab5 -- making a deal with the devil for the greater glory of his homeworld. So, anyway, I'm actually glad to see this back-sliding on Dukat's part.
Other comments... I liked the implied lesson of the prison scenes -- it takes all the races working together to beat the Dominion... I also wonder if we'll see more of the Breen -- I'm intrigued... One benefit of Dukat being a baddie again -- we can look forward to more sharp exchanges between him and Sisko -- always fun... Is Worf back in good graces with the Empire now, or is he still hated? What does this mean for Kurn? ...nice to see Cardassia again, and those groovy public TV screens... And line of the week: "Very tricky, those tides (of fortune)..."
So, summing up (after a whole lot of rambling): a momentous conclusion to the two-parter, which really only falters in the escape from prison bit. The changes here, all well set-up, should provide fodder for some interesting stories to come. Risk-taking storytelling -- that's always a good thing.
How about that Julian Bashir -- two major surprises about him in just three weeks -- and I didn't see either of them coming. The surprise this week -- that Julian was genetically "enhanced" as a child -- should have the greater impact over the long haul. At the very least, it made for a hell of a surprising episode.
The episode begins innocently enough, with some Rom/Leeta stuff (more on that later) and the arrival of Dr. Zimmermann to study Julian for the LMH (Long-term Medical Hologram). Of course, if you've seen the ad for this week's episode, you know that some sort of deep dark secret is going to come up, and that it'll involve Julian's parents. But it takes a little while to get there, which, I think, is fine. One thing I would have liked at the outset, though, is a fuller explanation of why Starfleet Medical chose Julian as the Doctor of the Future. Not that he's a bad candidate, but presumably there are lots of talented doctors in the service (and most of them probably didn't spend the last 6 weeks in a Dominion prison.) Ah, well, no matter, it certainly fits in with the high-achieving image of Julian we've had for years... Anyway, there' some nice, light stuff in the first bits of the episode, such as the very nicely done scene with the two Julians and two Zimmermans. The highlight is probably the beautifully edited interview sequence, showing everyone responding to Zimmermann's questions about Julian. I especially liked the inclusion of the ever-silent Morn, and, of course, Miles' part was great -- "are you sure none of this is going to get back to Julian?" The most significant development in the early going is Julian's request to Zimmermann not to contact Julian's parents -- a request Zimmermann quickly goes against, just to try to do in Julian. Appropriately petty for the character, I thought.
Things get interesting when Julian's parents show up. They certainly defy expectations -- especially the father. Unlike the somewhat suave, sophisticated Julian, Richard Bashir is a voluble rogue, basically a bit of a con-man and drifter, moving from career to career, always with great prospects just over the horizon... It's also immediately apparent that Julian is embarrassed by his father... and perhaps there is more. Julian's dinner with his parents goes very badly, devolving into what seems to be a return to some very old battles. They also discuss the family secret that must be kept from Zimmermann. When the elder Bashirs go to talk to Julian the next morning, we find out what the secret is -- that Julian was genetically re-engineered as a child. Unfortunately, it wasn't Julian they were talking to -- it was the hologram, and Miles and Zimmermann were in the next room. The secret is out.
And what a secret it is! I've watched the episode a couple of times now, and I've been thinking about this for a while... the amazing this is that even though I'm quite certain the writers didn't have this in mind for Julian since the beginning of the series, it actually doesn't contradict anything we know about Julian -- it casts everything in a new light, of course, but doesn't really contradict anything. For example, the fact that Julian always drives himself so hard, that he's so unforgiving of his own failures -- we now have a new way to look at this. Julian was engineered to succeed, after all -- he doesn't feel he can fall back on the excuse that he's "just human." Julian's annoying eagerness to please when he first came aboard the station can be seen as an overcompensation for his feelings of unworthiness, etc., from believing he was a freak -- a desperate need to fit in.
We can also re-interpret the few pieces of information we have about Julian's past. For example, he gave up his tennis career -- previously, he said it was because he wasn't good enough. Now, that doesn't seem likely, but we have some more interpretations - - especially since we also know his father helped to convince him to give that up. It may be that Julian felt it wasn't fair to continue with his tennis career, given his genetic advantage. Or, perhaps, his father convinced him that his secret would come out if his enhanced physical abilities were always on display. Or, it could be that Richard convinced Julian that he ought to do something more important with all of his gifts. We've also heard many times about the mistake Julian made in med school (the pre- ganglionic/post-ganglionic thingie mistake) that held him back from being top in his class. It now seems possible that he made that mistake intentionally... perhaps he did it intentionally to lose the top honor to someone who came by it "honestly". (This also gives a completely different subtext to the episode in which he met the doctor who beat him out.) Alternately, the mistake could have been a true mistake, and Julian's obsession with it is again because he feels there's really no excuse for it. The point is, this new revelation opens up whole new interpretations of Julian's past, which is fun. Also, apparently, at some point Julian said that his father was a diplomat. Now, one possibility is that the writers either forgot about that or decided to ignore it, and neither case would bother me much. Another possibility is that Julian simply lied about his father, given how embarrassed Julian obviously is by him.
There are more serious consequences of this revelation, as well, which are well handled. The first fallout is the conversation between Julian and Miles about Julian's secret, a really beautifully written scene. At first, Miles doesn't quite believe it, then he is merely stunned, and obviously feels more than a little uneasy. By the end of the conversation, though, Miles is firmly on Julian's side, trying to get him to fight for his career. We also get the entire story from Julian's point of view... how he was a slow child, unable to keep up with his classmates at all (it's a bit jarring to hear Julian saying how slow he was as a child, which just makes the scene more effective), and how his parents, out of shame, took him offworld to be "enhanced." It wasn't just his mind that was enhanced, but his body as well. It's also obvious that still, after all these years, Julian is, at least in part, disgusted by what he is -- a freak, he says... unnatural.
Unfortunately, Starfleet may agree with Julian. There are regulations preventing any genetically enhanced individuals from serving in the fleet. Julian wants to simply resign and try to minimize the shame, but his father wants to fight. Julian accuses him of simply trying to duck responsibility, as he always does. In the end, Richard sacrifices himself for his son, making a deal with Starfleet to go to prison for two years. This brings a nice resolution to the story about his relationship with Julian, while still forcing him to pay some price for breaking the law.
The JAG's rationale for the law shows a welcome embrace of the Trek universe's history, while getting the details staggeringly wrong. The laws against genetic tampering apparently date back to the Eugenics wars, in which a desire to create better humans resulted in the creation of more ruthless tyrants, such as Khan. The Federation is still unwilling to open that can of worms again, and prohibits any genetic manipulation. (This bit of the story seems quite topical this week, in the wake of all the cloning news.) Of course, the Eugenics wars took place in the mid-1990's (didn't you notice them?), so the JAG's statement that they were 200 years ago is utterly confounding. Even "First Contact", which badly garbles and misrepresents Trek history, would put the Eugenics wars as no later than the 21st century. Ah well... Anyway, the larger point is a good and interesting one.
This story does raise all sorts of interesting questions about genetic engineering -- was it wrong to create the "new" Julian? Do all the lives he has saved factor into the equation in any way? etc, etc. The most emotionally resonant issue though is the Bashirs' motives for doing this to Julian. Julian was convinced that it was because they were ashamed of him... The Bashirs, on the other hand, say that they did it out of love for Julian, because it hurt them so much to see him struggling and unhappy... this conflict just felt very real, very human, and helps ground the sci-fi issue in very human reality. I think that helps to sell the story. There are still lots of issues left to be resolved -- jut how strong, agile, and smart is Julian? Are we going to see any of this again, now that he doesn't have to hide his abilities? Will there be repercussions in his relationships with other people? I for one would like to hear Kira's take on the issue...
The other story in the episode is much less weighty -- the love story between Rom and Leeta. I seem to be the only person on the net who enjoyed it. Oh, well, I enjoyed it, and I'm happy. Now, it certainly wasn't flat-out brilliant, but it was good enough, I guess. I've always liked Rom and Leeta. Rom has become ever more three dimensional as the series has gone on -- over the years, he has defied his brother in allowing Nog to join Starfleet, has quit his job at the bar and become an engineer -- and a very good one at that, defied Ferengi convention many times (including forming a union), and even helped save the station once. In this episode, Rom's back story even gets filled in a bit more -- we finally find out just where Nog came from, and how Rom made the mistake, fatal for Ferengi, of falling in love with his wife, and how this lost him all his money. A welcome bit of history. Some people have complained that Rom is just a moron -- a criticism which I think is just plain unfounded. He may stammer and say "uuhhh..." a lot, but that alone doesn't a moron make. Neither does he act like a moron in this episode. What he acts like is someone with almost no experience at romantic relationships -- which is what he is, given that romance plays no part in Ferengi marriages.
Leeta has been less well defined over the course of the series, unfortunately. We know she was a good enough friend to Jadzia to host one of her former selves for a while, and she helped fight for a union at Quark's. And, of course, she had a short-lived relationship with Julian, which each of you can interpret as a good move, a bad move, or both. In any case, she has not been presented as brainless -- and I don't believe she is here either. I've read lots of comments form people saying Leeta is an idiot in this episode. I don't see it. Yes, she is aggravatingly passive throughout much of the episode -- but that's not the same thing as stupid. She comes close to being assertive when she asks Rom if she has a reason to stay (though she could have come right out and completely spoken her mind...). It's true that there are some perhaps unnecessary ogle-worthy Leeta scenes -- but compared to the Baywatch set now in use on Voyager, this seems downright tasteful. (Leeta's apparent lack of concern, btw, with standing naked in front of Zimmermann doesn't necessarily signal stupidity, either; she may not consider being seen naked to be a big deal. There are differing attitudes on the subject, after all. Again, I think people are reading stupidity in where it may not be.) In any event, I like the pairing of these two a lot. At the very least, the fact that Leeta loves Rom demonstrates that she is not completely superficial, and is also a lovely demonstration of Trek's values of embracing diversity -- Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, indeed! I wonder what their kids would look like...
Other comments, etc.... It's always nice to see Trek characters' parents. Over the years, we've seen only Spock's parents, Worf's, McCoy's father and Picard's mother in visions, Sisko's father, Riker's father, Geordi's folks, and, of course, Deanna's mother.... I loved the scene in which Miles ran Julian's double into the wall over and over again (perhaps because I Wrote a skit very much like that in college)... I also liked it when Leeta and Zimmermann were about to enter the docking bay, only to hear a strange sound floating through the hallways... some nice bits of continuity from last week: Klingon ships and Federation ships orbiting the station in number, and some Klingons on the station itself... the Holo-communicator makes another appearance, and continues to work -- and saves the cost of an office with a San Francisco view.
Summing up: a well-written episode bringing up some big issues, and doing an adequate job of exploring them. Very nice character work among the Bashirs and between Julian and Miles. The Leeta/Rom subplot is lightweight, but fun. The glaring omission of a resolution to the LMH story is a definite weakness.