83. Homefront

Summary

A normal day on the station has a background of tension as the wormhole keeps opening and closing inexplicably, making some at Starfleet suspicious about a cloaked Dominion fleet coming through. The crew receives shocking news that an Antwerp peace conference has been bombed, and the security recordings reveal the presence of a Changeling. Sisko, Jake and Odo set off for Earth to help Starfleet counter the threat from Changeling infiltrators. Along with Sisko's old CO Admiral Layton, they convince Federation President Jaresh-Inyo to implement security measures at Federation installations...blood tests, phaser sweeps, etc. Sisko's father expresses uneasiness with these intrusive measures, but Sisko's convinced they're necessary. When a Changeling temporarily replaces Admiral Layton, their paranoia seems justified. Meanwhile, Nog asks Sisko to help him join Red Squad, a new group of elite cadets. When Joseph Sisko has a mild stroke brought on by an argument he has with Benjamin over the way things are going, Sisko begins to feel uneasy about all this military mobilization on Earth...it's more than just blood tests, it's the paranoia and mistrust that's spreading through the entire populace. Odo tells him that's just what the Founders want, and they have to fight them with whatever means they have. Then, all their worst fears seem to be realized when the planetary power grid is disabled and Earth is plunged into a defenseless darkness. Admiral Layton, Odo, and Sisko use Layton's ship's transporters to get themselves to Inyo's office and persuade him to declare martial law, placing armed guards on every street corner.

Analysis

The Homefront/Paradise Lost two-parter was definitely a highlight of season four and a real departure for DS9. Number one, they don't do Earth stories very often. Number two, they rarely do planetside stories. This is both, and it's very good. I really enjoy the opening scenes on the station that further emphasize the crew's continuing camaraderie...Dax rearranging Odo's furniture (by two centimeters), Miles and Bashir fighting WWII in the holosuite and Odo agreeing to check in on the Chief's family while he's on Earth, things like that. There's also a bit of foreshadowing to the events of Dr. Bashir, I Presume as Odo asks Julian if he can look up anyone for him...Julian stammers a negative and seems eager to change the subject. I also have always wished that more effort was made to show a friendship between Odo and Sisko, I like the way they interact. Another aspect of DS9 that I feel doesn't get enough appreciation is the strong Sisko family relationships, usually it's just Ben and Jake but here we see it extended to include the delightful character of Joseph Sisko, the very personification of the stubborn cantankerous old man with the belly laugh and the heart of gold. The plot is a master of misdirection. We think it'll be a straightforward catch-the-changeling manhunt but it soon becomes clear that something different, something more insidious going on here. We instinctively don't really trust Admiral Layton, though until Paradise Lost we won't really know why. This also represents a significant step forward in the Dominion/Changeling plot...the infiltrating skills of the Founders are one of the main reasons they make such good bad guys. They could be anywhere...and you won't know it! It plays right into the patriotism-gone-awry plot of this two-parter. There's also lots of really cool shapeshifting. All in all a success, and it's an episode I never get tired of watching.

Rating: 9.0

Memorable Quote:

Sisko: Odo, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but there are times I wish you'd never found your people.
Odo: Believe me, Captain...sometimes I feel the same way.

Classic Scene:

My favorite scene is when Odo, having just been flying about Frisco as a seagull, runs into Commander Benteen and Admiral Layton and deduces that Layton is, for the moment, a Changeling.

Sexually Slanted Line 'O the Episode:

"That time I definitely experienced discomfort." --Odo...well, go easy on the rough stuff!

The O/K Status Report

Hmm...he's on Earth, she's on the station. Nothing doing.

Special Alerts

1