6-6. Sacrifice of Angels.

Sisko engages in a desperate battle!

"Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the left of them,
Cannon in front of them,
Volley'd an thunder'd."

"Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the Jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred."
-O'Brien and Bashir, reciting the last poem you want to hear when charging into battle.


THE PLOT:

Sisko's fleet, already short its full strength because of the need to rush the attack on Deep Space 9, has come face to face with a Dominion blockade that outnumbers them two-to-one. Sisko attempts to create a hole by sending fighters against the Cardassian forces, in hopes that they will become angry and chase their attackers. It's a strategy that plays right into Gul Dukat's hands. He sees his adversary's plan and obliges by creating the hole, with the intent to close it hard. Sisko recognizes Dukat's strategy in turn - but the clock is ticking, and this may be the only opportunity that presents itself, so he takes the bait anyway - Willfully sending his entire attack force into a trap that may well destroy them all!

On the station, Dukat and Weyoun begin planning for the sustained occupation that will follow their all-but-assured victory. Dukat orders the arrest all those he suspects of conspiring to sabotage his plans: Kira, Jake, and Leeta. But no one spares a thought for Quark, who seizes the opportunity for some surprisingly strong action of his own.

All of which may be for naught, as Sisko's forces are crushed, the Defiant only barely clearing the blockade. Rom and Kira race to stop the efforts to bring down the minefield, as the Defiant races to Deep Space 9. But as that ruthless clock keeps ticking, Sisko turns for help in an unanticipated direction...


CHARACTERS:

Capt. Sisko: The episode opens with him commanding a fleet, but only the Defiant is able to make it through the blockade. The episode opens with the Dominion still blocked by the minefield surrounding the wormhole - but that minefield is being steadily disabled. Left with nothing but one ship, Sisko makes his most desperate plea of all, one whose cost will be very steep - particularly seen in light of Sisko's words about Bajor in the last episode.

Odo: Odo finally gets back off the fence, thanks to Kira. Not because of anything she does here - but when the female changeling announces that Kira will be executed, just to cut off her influence with Odo, it completes what started at the end of Favor the Bold. Odo now recognizes that however much he may hunger for the Great Link, he cannot support his people's actions. He does not want to subjugate the Solids, and he will not allow Kira's death. He gathers together his security force - the Bajoran officers he convinced Weyoun to restore to him in A Time to Stand - and uses them to make sure Kira and Rom are able to break through the Jem'Hadar guarding the area of the station they hope to sabotage. When Kira asks why, he answers both for his original betrayal and for his coming to her rescue now: "The Link was Paradise. But it appears I'm not ready for Paradise."

Quark: With Kira and the others arrested, he is the only one left on the station who can take action. He enlists Ziyal's aid and stages a commando raid on the cells. Quark bursts in, a gun in either hand, looking like he just stepped out of a summer action movie - only in a script that recognizes the ridiculousness of the cliche. Some mild comedy follows, as Quark tells the Jem'Hadar guards to freeze, then unlock the cells, and then has to tell one of them to un-freeze so that the second order can actually be followed. Eventually, they charge - and Quark looks ready to have a heart attack after he pulls both triggers, and actually hits both targets!

Damar: In Seasons Four and Five, I largely dismissed Damar as a minor extension of Dukat. Starting with Call to Arms, and building in earnest since Behind the Lines, he has emerged as a strong character in his own right. He is loyal to Dukat, but more rigid than his mentor. He sees the world in black-and-white. Dukat gives a command, it must be obeyed - Hence, his attempt to forcibly drag Ziyal to him.  In the face of an obstacle, he falls back on force as a first resort... But he's not a dumb thug, or else he would not have figured out how to deactivate Rom's minefield to start with. When it's clear the Federation is about to retake the station and Dukat calls once again for his daughter, he instantly recognizes the truth: That Ziyal will not choose to leave. But his black-and-white view and propensity for violence leads to a shocking action, one that makes sure that Damar is not a character I will ever dismiss again.

Weyoun: Throughout this season, he's been presented as the person keeping Dukat in check. In A Time to Stand, Kira and Odo acknowledged his importance in restraining the Cardassians from mistreating Bajor or its people. He has been the voice of reason and diplomacy. But it's tactical rather than benevolent; when tactics call for ruthlessness, it's no surprise to see him advocating it. When talk shifts from winning the war to holding the territory, he eyes a star map with a clinical eye and calmly insists that Earth's population must be eradicated to break their enemies' will and spirit. This reverses what has been the standard relationship of the two men, with Dukat now trying to curb Weyoun's ruthlessness rather than the other way around.

Gul Dukat: "A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place. To force them to acknowledge your greatness." So Dukat intones to Weyoun, giving both the Vorta and us a direct look into the way his mind works. In Dukat's mind, he is a hero - More than that, a savior. But it's not enough simply to win - Everyone else must see him as he so desperately wants to see himself, or else the victory is meaningless. In his mind's eye, he sees it all: The Alpha Quadrant at his feet as he enjoys the adulation of not only Cardassia, but of Bajor and Earth as well, all with his adoring daughter at his side. In the span of about ten minutes, he goes from touching with his fingertips the edges of that dream, to watching it be irrevocably destroyed before his eyes. What is left is broken, leaving Sisko no real sense of victory when he reclaims his prized baseball - Merely a sort of disgusted pity at this shell of a man, beaten less by his enemies than by the crushing weight of his own ego.


THOUGHTS:

Sacrifice of Angels does not finish the Dominion War arc. Starfleet is still in a hard situation, particularly with the heavy losses suffered in this episode at the hands of the Dominion blockade. The Dominion still hold Cardassia, and they still have enormous resources at their disposal. Starfleet has finally won a battle, and a big one - but the war is far from over.

This episode does finish the Occupation of Deep Space 9, however, and does so in spectacular fashion. The battle scenes are large-scale and chaotic. As Sisko throws his fleet at the blockade, exploding ships punctuate every frame - most of those ships, Starfleet's. I love the way the episode treats the strategies of Sisko and Dukat in this battle. Neither man outthinks the other. Dukat recognizes Sisko's strategy, and orders his men to take the bait in order to set a trap. Sisko recognizes Dukat's trap, but orders the fleet to take the bait because it may be their only opporunity. Since Dukat is not diminished, being shown as Sisko's equal in strategic terms, Sisko's ultimate victory feels much more deserved.

Marc Alaimo's performance as Dukat has been a consistent series highlight, ever since the character evolved from "recurring villain" to 3-dimensional character back in early Season Two. This episode lets him run the gamut, from absolute arrogance to absolute ruin. Alaimo is stunning throughout, and in a very real sense it is Dukat who holds this episode together. It's a testament to Alaimo's performance, every bit the equal of the richly complex character Dukat has become, that I find at least as much tragedy as satisfaction in the moment at which Dukat's relinquishes of Sisko's baseball to him, officially handing him back the station.

The entire episode is stunning. I'm sure some have taken issue with the way in which Sisko regains the station. But I found that to work as well, a way of tying what has largely been background mythology for the series into the foreground arc. And we are told that Sisko's victory will come at a price - Something I look forward to seeing delivered on.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Favor the Bold
Next Episode: You Are Cordially Invited

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6-5. Favor the Bold.

Sisko prepares to re-take Deep Space Nine!

THE PLOT:

The war is not going well for Starfleet, which keeps pulling back and retreating in the face of the Dominion forces. Dax complains that even the Klingons are starting to wonder if this war is winnable. A big victory is needed to restore morale. Sisko has just the target in mind: A bold strike that will retake Deep Space 9!

Back on the station, Quark and Kira try desperately to save Rom after his arrest for attempted sabotage. Orders left by the female changeling (Salome Jens) make it impossible for them to see Odo, and Weyoun insists that Rom must be executed, as much for making the self-replicating minefield possible in the first place as for attempting to halt efforts to bring it down. Kira prevails on Gul Dukat's daughter, Ziyal (Melanie Smith), to beg her father for a pardon - but Dukat flatly refuses, insisting that enemies of the state must be punished.  Barring a miracle, Rom's fate appears sealed.

Bad news becomes worse when a test of Damar (Casey Biggs)'s plan to deactivate the mines proves successful, and work to bring down the minefield begins in earnest. If all goes according to the Dominion's plan, the wormhole will be clear within a week - And the full force of the Dominion will be ready to come through!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: "When I go home, it will be to Bajor." The Sisko who was so reluctant to take the assignment to Deep Space 9 and who hated having the role of "Emissary" thrust upon him has transformed remarkably over the last five years. He now pores over Bajoran prophecies, hoping for some guidance, and muses about taking a couple weeks in a Bajoran monastery after the war is over. He directly states that Bajor is his home, extolling its virtues with poetic descriptiveness: "There are parts of the Eastern Province that are like Eden itself: Lush green valleys covered in wild flowers that seem to spring up overnight; hundreds of small, crystal clear ponds interconnected by waterfalls."

Major Kira: She is furious at Odo for his betrayal. Every time Quark pins his hopes for saving his brother on reaching Odo, she shoots him down: They can't reach Odo because of orders left by the female changeling; and even if they could, she insists it would make no difference. That same anger drives her through the rest of the episode. She is impatient when Ziyal insists that, now that she recognizes Dukat for what he is, she will never go back to him; and when Damar pushes her one time too many, she lets loose all the violence she's been holding back for months now, leaving the Cardassian battered and bruised, and saying that it will be up to him what happens next.

Quark: For all his years of mocking and mistreatment toward his brother, Quark is determined to save Rom from his death sentence. That his faith in Odo remains strong even when Kira's has been shattered speaks volumes about the genuine regard he has for his sometime nemesis, making this a key Quark/Odo episode even though the two don't share a second of screen time. Quark is too shrewd to let his concern be public knowledge, however, and he continues to play the mercenary Ferengi for Damar, using prodigious amounts of kanar as lubrication to keep the flow of information coming.

Odo: Has sex with the female changeling to demonstrate the solids' notion of intimacy. She reacts with amusement at how limited it is, and is surprised that Odo doesn't agree. When she gets a bit over-vehement in pronouncing that the solids must be broken of their attachment to their freedom, Odo recovers enough of himself to see her for what she is - Though his awakening comes too late for Kira to even listen to his attempted apology.

Weyoun: In an effective quiet moment, we see Weyoun musing over one of Ziyal's paintings. He looks at it from every angle, as if willing himself to see it. When Kira walks in, he reveals that the Founders kept all sense of the aesthetic out of the Vorta's genetic makeup, likely finding it irrelevant. He reacts hotly to Kira's suggestion that the Founders "made a mistake," but wistfully acknowledges that he sometimes wishes he could carry a tune.

Gul Dukat: Though he adores his daughter, a virtue even Kira will acknowledge, there is something dangerous in the way he demands to know if she had anything to do with Rom's attempted sabotage. When she asks for mercy for the Ferengi, he instantly suspects some culpability on her part and does not believe her when she (truthfully) pleads innocence. He does, at least, trust Kira to protect Ziyal's welfare. When Damar comes back from his attempt to retrieve the girl having sustained a beating by the major, Dukat knows that his man must have stepped out of line in some way.


THOUGHTS:

Favor the Bold opens with action, as an apparently cripped Defiant braces itself for a Jem'Hadar attack, only to pull a bait-and-switch on the Jem'Hadar and trap them with practiced efficiency. It's a teaser that grabs the viewer right away - desperate action, followed by a subversion of expectations. The entire episode takes a cue from that, building momentum throughout.

As with Behind the Lines, there are two main plot strands: Sisko, preparing an assault on Deep Space 9; and Kira and Quark, desperate both to save Rom and to stop the deactivation of the minefield. The Kira/Quark thread is the stronger: Kira's situation, having to work with the enemy while also trying to undermine them, is just inherently more dramatic, and her constant anger in this episode adds a wonderful additional level. But the Sisko material is also quite good, as we see just how thoroughly he has thought through his proposed attack, bringing all of his determination to bear to secure the agreement of Starfleet and its sole remaining ally.

Writer Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler even manage to adroitly connect the two strands. Learning that the minefield's deactivation is imminent, Kira and Quark manage to smuggle a message to Sisko (in one of the more plot-relevant and amusing uses of Morn). This pushes Sisko to initiate the attack before all of his forces are gathered. The episode ends with Sisko leading an incomplete fleet into battle against a vastly superior force, all because time has left no other option.

"To all ships, this is Captain Sisko. There's an old saying: 'Fortune favors the bold.' Well, I guess we're about to find out."


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: Behind the Lines
Next Episode: Sacrifice of Angels

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6-4. Behind the Lines.

Odo links with the Female Changeling (Salome Jens)

THE PLOT:

Kira's Resistance cell has found a way to strike a blow against the Occupation with no backlash: By playing on the animosity between the Cardassians and the Jem'Hadar. Damar (Casey Biggs), Gul Dukat's right-hand man, penned a report recommending poisoning the final available dose of ketracel white should no new source be established. Kira and Rom arrange for that report to be left where the Jem'Hadar would find it. The result is a full-blown riot, with casualties among both the Cardassians and the Jem'Hadar.

Odo is not pleased, worrying that Kira took a reckless chance. Their argument doesn't get very far, however, because a new arrival steps into his office: the female changeling (Salome Jens) who was Odo's first contact with the Dominion, and who presided over his sentence to become a solid. She has been trapped in the Alpha Quadrant by the minefield, and has come to Odo for the companionship of another changeling.

The link she offers to his past is too much for him to resist. He still has so many questions about who and what he is, and about the nature of changeling society and The Great Link. But as he links with her, he becomes distant from Kira and the situation on the station. And when Damar appears to have found a way to deactivate the minefield, fast action is required - action that the constable may be too distracted to be trusted with...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: In the episode's "B" plot, Sisko is made adjutant to Admiral Ross (Barry Jenner). This means more responsibility for the large-scale war effort... But it also means giving up command of the Defiant. Refreshingly, the dilemma Sisko wrestles with isn't whether or not to accept the promotion - He does so without question. His dilemma is watching his ship and crew going out on a dangerous mission without him. He has no worries over Dax's ability to command; he simply worries over not being there, something Admiral Ross frankly addresses by telling him that the Defiant will be sent out on a lot of missions, and that Sisko had best get used to it.

Major Kira: She genuinely cares for Odo and is concerned for his well-being. That concern manifests itself in hostility toward the female changeling, whom she knows has manipulated Odo at every encounter. Unfortunately, that same hostility plays right into the female changeling's hands. When Kira all but demands that Odo refuse to link with the female, her arguments play perfectly into the other changeling's insistence that solids are the ones manipulating him. He sees Kira as worried about her resistance cell, and Kira's arguments focus on the war effort and the need to conceal their activities. It takes too long for Kira to appeal directly to their friendship - something she does only when it may already be too late.

Odo: "I tried to deny it, I tried to forget, but I can't. They're my people and I want to be with them in the Great Link!"So Odo revealed to Garak in Season Three's The Die Is Cast, and that desire comes into play in a big way in this episode. When the female changeling appears, so warm and friendly as she offers him the link he has craved, the temptation is too much for him to resist. He links with the female changeling twice, and both times he is left not just calm, but detached - his manner eerily similar to that of the alternative Odo from Children of Time. As he tells Kira that in the link, the war no longer seemed to matter, she almost certainly can hear the echo of that other Odo: The Odo who decided that in the face of what he most wanted (Kira's life in that case; the link in this case), everything else just didn't seem to matter.

Quark: Uses guile, along with a healthy dose of kanar, to loosen Damar's tongue and learn the Cardassian plan to deactivate the minefield. He reports that information to Kira's resistance cell - which is significant for Quark, because it means that he's finally stopped being neutral. He has chosen his side, and proclaims as much: "I don't like Cardassians. They're mean and arrogant. And I can't stand the Jem'Hadar. They're creepy. They just stand there like statues, staring at you... I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing business with these people. I want the Federation back. I want to sell root beer again."

Weyoun/Gul Dukat: After the riot that opens the episode, Dukat is quick to defend his people and not shy about being vocal in a public place. Weyoun, who recognizes the importance of demonstrating their alliance, quickly reigns him in. He gets Dukat to agree to discipline his men with a promise that he will do the same. But while Weyoun may continue maintaining a public facade of friendship, it is obvious that these two men have come to intensely dislike each other. The female changeling observes how avidly the two compete for credit and attention, and asks Odo if this is normal behavior - Which Odo confirms is very much the case.


THOUGHTS

Behind the Lines is a difficult episode to review. The episode is less a story in itself than a foundation for future events.  It feels very much like what it is: A set-up episode.

It is however, a very good set-up episode. It moves swiftly, and writer Rene Echevarria's attention to characterization insures that both the "A" and "B" plots are abosrbing.  Both plotlines have big implications for the episodes still to come, and they echo nicely off each other. Odo is torn between his friendship for Kira and his longing to be part of the world of changelings. Sisko is torn between his responsibility to the war effort, by taking on a larger role for Admiral Ross, and his longing to be on the front lines - coordinating the war effort, when what he really wants is to be directly fighting the war.

Sisko chooses responsibility over desire; Odo falls to temptation. Which leaves him in an interesting place going into the next episodes. The series' long-term structure demands Odo reclaim his former place as an ally. It will take a lot for him to redeem himself for his actions (and inaction) here - and likely will take even more to salvage him in Kira's eyes, as someone she can once again trust.

Really, Odo has disappointed Kira several times over the past season. Past Odo was revealed as a disappointment to her ideal of him as someone who was dedicated to the truth in last season's Things Past. An alternative future Odo left her not only disappointed, but actively appalled, in Children of Time. Now the Odo of the present - her Odo - has disappointed her. That's going to be a lot to forgive, and impossible to forget.

Assuming the next episodes pay this off well, I think it merits a strong score - though if the followup disappoints, I reserve the right to adjust this downward.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Sons and Daughters
Next Episode: Favor the Bold

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4-26. Broken Link.

Odo returns to The Great Link.

THE PLOT

Odo is ill. He is having problems maintaining his form, resulting in debilitating attacks that see him literally reduced to goo. Dr. Bashir doesn't have the knowledge needed to reverse the effect. As Odo's condition worsens, it becomes clear that he has only one hope: A return to the Great Link!  Sisko makes the Defiant ready for a mercy mission to Dominion space. Without its cloaking device, and broadcasting a message to the Dominion about Odo's condition, the ship makes a rendezvous with the enemy. 

Thankfully, Sisko's diplomacy is met with the same. The Founder (salome Jens) who comes aboard promises no aggression, and even agrees to allow the "Solids" to accompany Odo to the shapeshifters' new homeworld. In private, however, she discloses to Odo that his illness is no natural occurrence. He broke the Founders' most sacred rule when he killed a changeling to save his friends. For that, he must face judgment - and punishment!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: When Odo announces that his only hope is to return to his people, Sisko doesn't hesitate. He orders the Defiant prepped and takes the Constable to the Gamma Quadrant with the intention of attracting the Founders' attention. He accedes to every demand made by the Founder, but he stands firm in remaining with Odo, refusing to simply turn him over and withdraw.  This firmness tempered by his diplomatic accommodations seems to earn a level of respect from the Founder - who likely also has heard of his conduct a few episodes earlier, when he teamed with a Jem'Hadar group.

Odo: It's no surprise to see that Odo is a very bad patient, pushing to get out of Medlab as quickly as he's taken there. When Kira brings him a crime report to keep his mind occupied, he finds something that incriminates a smuggler. The sensible thing to do would be to contact his security people to take care of the matter. Instead, he slips out to arrest the criminal himself, making himself far sicker in the process. He refuses to show weakness even at his worst, drawing himself up as he walks through the Promenade to the Defiant, battling his illness for these few minutes with his own indomitable will.

Dr. Bashir: Shows no fear or deference to the Founder when she visits Odo. When she demands he clear the room, he declares that Odo is his patient and only leaves when Odo gives his permission. He argues against Odo's faith in the Founders' "justice," his recent experience with the synthetic plague doubtless at the front of his mind when the topic of Dominion justice comes up.

Klingons: Emboldened by his success against the Cardassians, Chancellor Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) is now provoking the Federation. He is demanding that Starfleet give up all rights to the Archanis Sector, territory the Klingons had voluntarily relinquished 100 years earlier. Federation colonies near the Klingon border are starting to panic, and calls are being made for preemptive action. War has become a likelihood - A war that would leave both Federation and Klingons weakened, easy prey for the Dominion.

Garak: Joins the mission in order to ask about survivors from the Cardassian attack on the Founders' homeworld. He gets his answer, in the episode's most chilling scene, as the Founder reponds to him with absolute coldness:

"There were no Cardassian survivors... They're dead. You're dead. Cardassia is dead. Your people were doomed the moment they attacked us. I believe that answers your question."

He reminds us of how dangerous he is when he processes this in all of two seconds. He then gives a courteous smile and a bow. Had the Founder a stronger sense of self-preservation, she would have killed him right then, as the action he is pushed to take would have likely proved effective (and probably not wrong) had Worf not intervened. 


THOUGHTS

An excellent season ends with a fine finale, one which is very effective in tying together many of this season's threads. For much of the season, the Klingon aggression has seemed like a digression. For the first time since The Way of the Warrior, that arc is tied into the larger Dominion story, in a way that promises much for the future. 

It does this with great economy. The Klingons are only the focus of two scenes, totalling all of about five minutes' screen time. Gowron's declaration at the start of the episode reminds us of that thread, which has lain completely dormant since Rules of Engagement. Then the ending ties the Klingon thread into the Dominon story like a loop closing around a bag, sealing it shut in a single tug.

The rest of the episode is about Odo and his return to the Great Link. This story is a direct consequence of his actions in The Adversary. At the end of a season in which it was intoned as Divine Law that "No changeling has ever harmed another," Odo killed one of his own people. That was already enough to leave him haunted. Now his people have decided to judge him for his crime. Odo reacts as might be expected of a man who clings to the law, any law that applies, with Javert-like devotion: He not only agrees to be judged by the Founders' standards, he actually wants to be.

This isn't just an Odo episode, however. Deep Space 9's ongoing strength of making sure there is good material for several characters continues, and the episode ends up being as much about those who take Odo to the Link as it is about the Constable himself. In The Search, the changelings urged Odo to consider his friendships with Solids as false. Here, his friends prove their loyalty at every turn.

It's easy to talk about moments of high drama, so let me close out this review by noting how well-done and genuine the smaller moments are. There are several semi-comic character bits here: Sisko, Worf, and Dax betting on how many times Kira will sneeze, and Sisko taking a moment to enjoy having made the right guess; O'Brien, feeling outnumbered in a home full of women; Julian, having to stop himself from skipping a stone through the Changeling goo of the Great Link. All of these bits feel rooted in who these characters are, and all of them ring true. 

Which I think is why Deep Space 9 continues to be my favorite Trek series: When the show is at its best, the universe feels textured and lived-in, something that often isn't true of other Trek shows. When the characters are at their best, they feel real. And if they feel real in the little moments, then that makes the big dramatic moments that much more powerful.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: Body Parts
Next Episode: Apocalypse Rising


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3-1, 3-2. The Search.

Odo explores his roots.

THE PLOT

In the wake of the Jem'Hadar's ultimatum, Sisko reports to Starfleet while Kira and the command staff run battle simulations. They all come back with the same result: The Jem'Hadar boarding the station within two hours of engagement. Sisko comes back with a new trump card: the Defiant, a new Starfleet ship, complete with cloaking device, originally designed for combat with the Borg.

Sisko's new mission is to use the Defiant to go through the wormhole. The hope is to seek out The Founders, the fabled (possibly mythical) rulers of The Dominion, to negotiate. But they will have to brave several brushes with the Jem'Hadar to reach their goal. And the closer they get to the heart of The Dominion, the more Odo feels himself called - to a rogue Class M planet, adrift in the Omarion Nebula...

"Welcome home."


CHARACTERS

Commander Sisko: Has come to think of Deep Space 9 as home, something that Jake is quick to notice on their return from Earth. Though he may be uncomfortable with having been dubbed "Emissary" by the Bajorans, he is fierce in his protection of Bajor. Part 1 sees him announce to Jake that he is unwilling to let the Dominion have Bajor; Part 2 shows how far he is willing to go to prove that. He has become increasingly disillusioned with the Admiralty, reflecting how proud he used to be to go through the doors at Starfleet in such a way that his lack of pride in them shows all too clearly.

Major Kira: Her friendship with Odo is shown as she stands up for Odo's position to Sisko. When Sisko points out that he understands Starfleet's decision, even if he disagrees with it - that Odo is "not a team player" - Kira fiercely defends him, pointing out that he gets results. She continues to be a friend to Odo when she accompanies him to the changeling homeworld. She encourages him in reconnecting with his people. She never forgets her duty to Sisko and the others, however, continually attempting to find a way to contact them even after the Changeling matriarch (Salome Jens) forbids her to send any communications.

Odo: Sisko's return sees Odo's status as head of security diminished. He is still chief of security in all matters not pertaining to Starfleet... but in any matter that does impact Starfleet, he must report to Starfleet Commander Eddington (Kenneth Marshall). Odo reacts exactly as he did the last time he saw his authority threatened: He offers his resignation. This seemingly cuts all ties with Starfleet just as he discovers his own homeworld. Still, his friendship with Kira and his loyalty to the Deep Space 9 crew show themselves when he is forced to make a hard choice at the climax.

Dax: What died on top of her head? I've consistently enjoyed Terry Farrell's Dax, but if this is her new look for Season Three, then I hope her screentime is minimal until it runs its course. I've never really been one to notice hairstyles... but the "dead animal on top of head" look is so bad as to be genuinely distracting!


CHANGES FOR SEASON THREE

Perhaps under the theory that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," relatively little changed in the show's basic format between Seasons One and Two. With the momentous events of Season Two's finale, however, along with Deep Space 9's rating struggles, some very visible changes have been made to the series for Season Three.

The introduction of the Defiant is the most visible of these. The series now has its own starship, so that Sisko and his crew can travel to different parts of space in a starship. I'm glad the show had two seasons without this feature, as it forced the show to either stay on the station or put the characters in a position of relative weakness in every episode. However, given the developments of The Jem'Hadar, this change makes sense. Deep Space 9 is now effectively the front line of a possible (in fact, very likely) war with the Dominion. Given that, they need more military strength of their own.

Another aspect of the Defiant that makes it work within the show's tone and context is that it has design flaws. When he looks over the ship, O'Brien comes up with a huge list of areas needing maintenance. Many of the crew quarters don't yet have life support. The engines are unreliable at full power, because the ship is "overgunned and overpowered." It has no luxuries, and its capabilities are hobbled by its limitations. Another Enterprise would seem out of place in the gritty, flawed world of Deep Space 9. But a ship that is itself full of flaws and limitations that must be worked around? That suits the show just fine.


THOUGHTS

The Search picks up the threads of The Jem'Hadar, with Starfleet reacting to the Jem'Hadar threat in typical Starfleet fashion: by trying to make peace. Part 1 sees Sisko attempting to initiate peace negotiations from a position of strength, by bringing the Defiant into the Dominion's territory. Part 2 sees Starfleet negotiating from a weaker position.  Starfleet appears willing to buy peace at any price, much to Sisko's frustration, as he realizes what the Stafleet admiralty will not: War is a terrible thing, but capitulation to tyranny is worse - and it's clear to Sisko, and us, that capitulation to the Dominion in the way Starfleet is prepared to do in Part 2 will only lead to the Dominion gaining a larger and larger foothold in the Alpha Quadrant, until they move to seize the Quadrant for themselves.

Of the two episodes, it's not surprising that Part One is the stronger. As I've noted in the past, the first episode of almost any two-parter generally has the advantage, in that its entire construction - building toward a cliffhanger - is to constrict the characters into an ever-tightening noose. The resolution, meanwhile, must free them from that noose - a process that can often lead to an anticlimax.

There's also a sharp divide in tone between Parts One and Two. Part One, written by Ronald D. Moore, is a thriller. Defiant infiltrates the Dominion Space using its cloaking device. Then we get the equivalent of a submarine running silent as it hides from passing Jem'Hadar warships. It explodes into action at the episode's end, just in time for a genuinely startling cliffhanger.

Part Two, from Ira Steven Behr, has some excellent scenes. All of the material involving Kira, Odo, and the shapeshifters is very good, with Rene Auberjonois on particularly fine form. But the scenes back on the station are much weaker, as the Federation's treaty with the Dominion proceeds far too quickly. The tone just feels off, with Starfleet capitulating to the Dominion far too quickly and easily, seemingly just to prompt Sisko and his crew to join with Garak for a big action climax. It's all very entertaining, but it doesn't seem to fit.

...Some of which is explained by an ending twist, albeit at the price of essentially nullifying a full half of Part Two. I might feel cheated at this ending, but so much of the station scenes feels so off-kilter anyway, that it actually serves to make sense of it. It may even be foreshadowed, at least a bit, when Sisko has a conversation with Garak and is genuinely surprised at how much he and Garak think alike.

In any case, the ending does at leat allow for some substantial development to the arc involving the Dominion. At the same time, we get a lot of good character material for Odo, which Rene Auberjonois responds to with his accustomed excellence. Even with Part Two being noticeably weaker than Part One, this remains a strong story overall, and a fine start to Deep Space 9's third season.


Overall Rating: 8/10

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