7-14. Chimera.

Odo meets another changeling exile.

THE PLOT

Odo and O'Brien are returning to the station from a conference when a changeling appears on their ship. This changeling, Laas (Garman Hertzler), is not a Founder - He is instead one of the 100 sent by the Founders to learn about the galaxy.

That does not make him a friend. Laas has lived for centuries among "mono-forms," a label he sneeringly applies to all the species on Deep Space 9. Experience has taught him that humanoids cannot trust a changeling, and that their mistrust can turn quickly to anger and violence.

When a public display of shapeshifting inspires violence from a pair of Klingons, Laas feels the incident proves his point. And when he uses lethal force to fend off that attack, the Klingon homeworld demands Laas be given over to their custody - a request Odo is horrified to see Sisko seriously considering!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: If the viewer steps back and looks at the situation objectively, Sisko isn't nearly as unsympathetic as Odo views him. He's right that Laas was never in any danger from the Klingon, and that his use of deadly force was almost certainly unnecessary. He also isn't advocating turning Laas over to the Klingons - He simply believes that this should be up to the magistrate. Given the full situation, it's hard to argue that he should have behaved differently.

Col. Kira: Is uncomfortable when Odo reveals he linked with Laas. Given what happened the last time Odo linked with another changeling, I don't particularly blame her - But this episode doesn't reference that, not even by inference. Instead, Kira just says something about wishing she was able to link with him. For the most part, this episode reduces her to being the "supportive love interest," though she is at least proactive in jump-starting the final Act.

Odo: Overlooks Laas' role in the Klingon's death a little too easily. If he acknowledged that Laas had escalated the situation while still insisting that he acted in self-defense, it would feel truer to the Odo who has always valued justice above all. That aside, his delight in finding a fellow changeling who isn't a Founder is entirely convincing, as is his rage at seeing Laas treated more harshly than any solid would be in the same situation.

Quark: Acts as the bearer of harsh truths, reminding Odo that the changelings are very different than the humanoid species on the station and that this, in conjunction with the war against the Founders, guides reactions: "Don't you get it, Odo? We humanoids are a product of millions of years of evolution. Our ancestors learned the hard way that what you don't know might kill you. They wouldn't have survived if they hadn't have jumped back when they encountered a snake coiled in the muck. And now millions of years later, that instinct is still there... Watch your step, Odo. We're at war with your people." Quark's view is one that looks entirely at the worst aspects of human nature while ignoring the best (exemplified by Kira's final speech to Odo) - But that doesn't make it wrong, merely incomplete.

Laas: One suspects he'd actually get along well with the Founders, as he shares the view that shapeshifters are inherently superior to solids. His encounter with the Klingons is certainly started by them, but he does everything in his power to make sure the exchange ends in violence - And his reaction to killing the Klingon is so apathetic that it seems that in his mind, he's just swatted a particularly bothersome fly. It's to the episode's credit that while Laas isn't written as a villain, and his motives in trying to tempt Odo from the station are genuine, he is never made to be likable. The victim of bigotry has responded by himself becoming a bigot - and his attitude is every bit as ugly as the ill-fated Klingon's.


THOUGHTS

Chimera is a well-regarded episode. Rene Echevarria's script is intelligent, with a handful of outstanding scenes and exchanges. The character of Laas is entirely convincing, and all the performances are excellent. Despite some quibbles with Kira being reduced to the role of simple love interest for this episode, by any reasonable objective measure, it has to be regarded as a worthy piece.

Unfortunately, I found it to be a bit dull and distancing. If pushed, I would have to admit that I did not enjoy watching it.

That's one reason why this review took a while to appear. I've mentioned in the past how much easier it is to write about a very good or very bad episode. It's easy to rave about something that excites you, intrigues you, or makes you think; it's even easier to make fun of or rant about something you hate. Trying to express thoughts about something that doesn't evoke much response in you? Very difficult.

Chimera is objectively good, but it just didn't much hold my interest. The reactions of Sisko and Laas and, for the most part, Odo are convincingly scripted, and I hugely applaud Rene Echevarria's decision to make Laas unsympathetic. It's a well-turned script, and the few objective faults I can find aren't enough to explain my apathy toward it. This just is not an episode I enjoyed.

With such a sharp divide between objective quality and my own enjoyment (or lack thereof), a final rating is difficult. But these are my reviews, and I'm scoring according to my reactions... So I think I'll parse this one straight down the middle:


Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Episode: Field of Fire
Next Episode: Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang

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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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5-15. By Inferno's Light.

Gul Dukat gives Cardassia to the Dominion.

THE PLOT

Worf, Garak, Dr. Bashir, and the Klingon general Martok (J. G. Hertzler) are all prisoners of the Jem'Hadar. They have a plan for escape - but it hinges on Garak being able to modify Enabran Tain's transmitter to beam them to Worf's runabout. Garak is the only one among them with the technical knowledge to make this work... something that's badly complicated by Garak's extreme claustrophobia.

Back on Deep Space 9, what appears to be a massing Dominion attack is turned on its head when the Dominion fleet flies right past the station on its way to Cardassia Prime. Gul Dukat's ship flies after them - but not to try to attack or pass the fleet to warn Cardassia. Dukat has been in secret negotiations to join the Dominion, and is being installed as the new Cardassian ruler.

Dukat's first order of business is a promise to his people. He will restore the empire to full strength: "There will not be a single Klingon alive inside Cardassian territory or a single Maquis colony left within our borders. Cardassia will be made whole. All that we have lost will be ours again, and anyone who stands in our way will be destroyed!"As he explains to Sisko, Cardassian territory includes Deep Space 9. And with the Changeling impersonating Dr. Bashir preparing mass sabotage of the station, its destruction may be imminent!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Even though Sisko is left to mostly react to events, he still doesn't project the slightest weakness in his conversations with Dukat.  He actively encourages the Cardassian to try to take the station from him, in a tone and manner that should give pause to even the most power-mad of egotists.  He is able to convince Klingon Chancellor Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) to re-commit to the Khitomer Accords, so that the Federation and the Klingon Empire can stand united against the Dominion. Finally, when he realizes that the Bashir he has been trusting is a Changeling infiltrator, he doesn't hesitate to order "Bashir's" shuttle destroyed. 

Worf: Earns Martok's respect by accepting one Jem'Hadar challenge after another, and defeating every one of them. Even as Worf becomes steadily more injured, he refuses to decline a challenge. His sense of honor will not allow him to yield. His final fight is against Ikat'ika (James Horan), the Jem'Hadar First of the camp. By this point, Worf is too badly injured to put up much of a fight, but he still refuses to yield even when both Martok and Ikat'ika insist that "honor has been satisfied." His stubbornness leads Ikat'ika to yield, the Jem'Hadar stating: "I cannot defeat this Klingon. All I can do is kill him - and that no longer holds my interest."

Dr. Bashir: Part One revealed that for the last several episodes, the Bashir on Deep Space 9 was actually a Changeling while the real Bashir languished in a Jem'Hadar prison. This episode cuts between both Bashirs, showing an effective contrast. Changeling Bashir is very smooth and unflappable. The real Bashir's compassion shows itself as he tries to talk Worf out of continuing his fights with the Jem'Hadar and as he insists on Garak taking regular breaks in his work. It really makes me want to go back and watch the last several episodes again, to see if I can spot differences in Bashir's behavior after the fact. I do think it's a missed opportunity that they didn't pick his separation from his allies during Nor the Battle to the Strong the moment at which he was taken, though - It would have turned that episode's one weak point (his miraculous, off-screen return to base) into a retroactive strength.

Garak: The Garak we see here is largely robbed of his silver tongue. He is forced to face his greatest internal fear, and that strips away his acerbic armor. It does seem that Tain truly was his father (something I doubted at the end of Part One). It also seems clear that he genuinely does care about Ziyal, trying to push himself to overcome his claustrophobia by invoking his promise to her to return. I wouldn't want to see Garak this vulnerable very often, but it is worthwhile to see it occasionally. Knowing that there is a real core underneath the act makes him more complex, not less - And I'm sure another episode will come along in due course to remind us that he is a formidable figure in his own right.

Gul Dukat: "One man's villain is another man's hero." Dukat really does see himself as the hero, striking the devil's bargain with the Dominion in order to make his people strong again. It's completely consistent with what we've seen in previous episodes. In Return to Grace, he was outraged when his government overlooked Klingon aggression in Cardassian space, denouncing the new government as "paralyzed... beaten and defeated." He proclaimed himself "the only Cardassian left!" In his mind, selling his people out to the Dominion is an act of patriotism, to restore his empire to its former glory. Given the shared (pointless) resentment among some fans of the two shows, I hate to throw a Babylon 5 reference in - but Dukat's bargain with the Dominion strongly recalls Londo's dealings with Mr. Morden. I suspect they will lead in a similar direction, but likely without the redemption Londo found.


THOUGHTS

By Inferno's Light makes good use of the many strands left by In Purgatory's Shadow. This is a true Part Two, carrying on both the tone and narrative of Part One. It also functions as a piece of a larger arc. The immediate threat is resolved by the end of the episode, but the series has shifted in a fundamental way by the end.

The 2-parter continues to balance momentum against strong character moments. As the station braces for a Dominion attack, O'Brien sends his family to Bajor for refuge. He comments to "Bashir" that Molly is getting old enough to know when something's wrong, and that he doesn't like seeing her worried or afraid. Dukat says farewell to Kira, observing that it never felt right for the two of them to be on the same side. Quark looks at a potential Dominion takeover in terms of its effect on business: Neither the Founder nor the Jem'Hadar eat, drink, or have sex, which are Quark's three main profit lines. Little moments like these only take a minute or so, and therefore don't interfere with the pace - but they do a lot to personalize the plot developments for the characters, and they make the characters feel that much more real for taking that spare minute here and there.

I was fearful of a weak finish, but that doesn't end up happening. The Bashir Changeling is exposed and his immediate plot is foiled. Beyond that, the Federation and the Klingon Empire are firmly allies again, the end of their conflict fused to the Dominion arc just as the beginning of it was. But as we fade to black, the overall situation is far more grim and far less stable than it has been. 

The Dominion now has a presence in the Alpha Quadrant. The Dominion/Cardassian alliance has driven the Klingons out of Cardassian space. The Maquis will likely be similarly driven out, as the Dominion's scorched Earth tactics will make a guerilla war untenable. Finally, Dukat's ending conversation with Sisko makes it clear that he sees Deep Space 9 as Cardassian property - and that he fully intends to take it back or destroy it. This leaves a threat of war hanging over Deep Space 9's head, a threat which I suspect will materialize right around the season's end.

In short, it's hard to imagine that things can just go back to "business as usual" for the last part of the season. The status quo has changed - and not in a way that can remain stable for long. I look forward to the point at which it will shift again.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: In Purgatory's Shadow
Next Episode: Dr. Bashir, I Presume


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5-12. The Begotten.

Odo bonds with an infant Changeling.

THE PLOT

The time has come for Kira to give birth to the O'Brien's baby. She has opted for a traditional Bajoran birth, with Miles and Keiko at her bedside. The birth is complicated by the delayed arrival of the final guest: Shakaar (Duncan Regehr), whose duties as First Minister to Bajor have interefered with his ability to be there for Kira. Once Shakaar finally arrives, the delivery is further complicated by the increasing competition between Shakaar and O'Brien, each of whom is territorial about his place at Kira's side.

Meanwhile, Odo receives an unexpected delivery: An ornate container Quark obtained from a Yridian dealer. Its contents? An infant Changeling. Odo obtains permission to work with the child, to try to teach it how to shapeshift and establish communication with it. But when Odo's progress is too slow, Dr. Mora (James Sloyan), the Bajoran scientist who unlocked his own shapeshifting skills, arrives to push him to deliver results - bringing with him all of Odo's old resentments about being used as a test subject.


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Initially willing to leave the Changeling child in Odo's care.  Still, when Stafleet becomes impatient over the lack of progress, he's the one who delivers the message that Starfleet will take over if Odo gets no results. I'd tend to suspect that Sisko is the one who alerted Dr. Mora to the situation with the new changeling, as well.

Major Kira: The episode's "B" plot is mostly played for comedy, with the competition between Miles and Shakaar allowing for some amusing broad moments. But the subplot also parallels the main plot, as is made evident when Kira meets up with Odo at the episode's closing. She talks about how she never wanted a child, echoing Odo's own words to Quark earlier in the show, but how much carrying the O'Brien's child meant to her and how she wishes now that she could just hold the baby one more time. As ever, when these two characters are on screen, it's a wonderful moment - a perfect note on which to send this show off to credits.

Odo: Instantly entranced by the infant Changeling. He is parental as he talks to it, assuring it (like many parents before) that he will "not make the same mistakes" that were made by Dr. Mora in raising him. But it isn't long before, as it has for many parents before, reality shatters Odo's ideals about being the perfect parent out of necessity for simply raising the child. Odo's bond with the young Changeling brings out a new facet in Rene Auberjonois' performance, and Odo's emotional journey throughout the episode rings true at every point.

Dr. Mora: James Sloyan returns as Odo's discoverer/surrogate father for the first time since Season Two's The Alternate. Sloyan remains excellent, and Rene Echevarria's script balances Mora's roles as scientist and parent. As a scientist who successfully prompted a Changeling to grow, he is impatient with Odo's overly gentle tactics. As a parent, he is proud when Odo's efforts finally bear fruit. Despite his protestations to Odo, he does feel some guilt at his harsh tactics, and when Odo finally acknowledges that Mora's efforts made his life possible, the scientist's relief at hearing this is evident. 

Shakaar: Returns to watch Kira give birth to the O'Briens' child. I question the priorities of using the character here and not in the previous episode. Here, it would have been easy to have redrafted the Shakaar subplot so that he was too busy to come, while the last episode seemed to cry out for his participation. In any case, while there's some mild amusement in his rivalry with the protective O'Brien, there really isn't much interest, and I find myself mainly waiting for the producers to realize how substantially the Kira/Shakaar romance has failed so that it can be cut off. 


THOUGHTS

The Begotten is another excellent episode in a season that's already met its quota for excellent episodes. Odo's story is pushed further along. We see him experiencing what it is to be a Changeling again by working with this young Changeling. The end result might have felt like a cheat... but it doesn't, in part because it's been foreshadowed in earlier episodes, but mainly because that result comes with a real emotional cost.

Speaking of emotion, I'm going to veer into discussing another, lesser Trek series for a moment. A few weeks ago, I reviewed the Voyager episode Real Life. That episode has some superficial similarities with this one, as it showed the holographic doctor experiencing what it was like to have a family. The endings to the two episodes are particularly similar.

Real Life had Voyager's strongest regular responding emotionally to a quite decent child actress. The Begotten has one of DS9's strongest regulars responding emotionally to a lump of gelatin. And yet the emotion in this episode is so much more genuine and compelling than it was in the Voyager episode, it becomes ridiculous to seriously compare the two. This one is clearly on another level, because the way Odo and Mora react to that lump of gelatin convinces in a way that the saccharine manipulations of Real Life never did.

Rene Echevarria's script focuses on Odo's reactions in a way that is authentic to his character. The scene in which he is truly happy and shares that happiness with - of all people - Quark is a gem. Of course Odo would bring his joy to his nemesis, his unspoken friend, and of course Quark would react with suspicion to this strange behavior. When it becomes clear why Odo is happy, Quark drops his pretense and is genuinely happy for him. For a second, they are genuinely friends - Until a security alert tears the rug out from underneath Odo.

The Begotten ends with a major event for Odo, but to the episode's credit that event is actually less memorable than Odo fretting over the Changeling child. It's achievement is that its standalone story resonates. Excellent writing and acting fuse to make for another excellent episode.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: The Darkness and the Light
Next Episode: For the Uniform


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5-1. Apocalypse Rising.

Sisko infiltrates the Klingon Empire.

THE PLOT

Sabre-rattling has finally given way to open conflict: The Klingon Empire and the Federation are at war. In the wake of Odo's revelation that Chancellor Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) is a Changeling, Starfleet has decided to send an infiltration team to go into Klingon territory and do "whatever it takes" to prove that the Klingons have become dupes of the Dominion. 

Sisko has been given polaron emitters, which should bombard a Changeling with enough radiation to make him drop his disguise. He has himself, Odo, and O'Brien modified to look like Klingons, and he makes arrangements for the use of Gul Dukat's hijacked Bird of Prey to get them through Klingon space to Gowron's military base at Ty'Gokor.

But as Worf says, it is not enough to merely look like a Klingon. They must learn to act like Klingons, as well. And in a warrior society where one wrong move can lead to a duel to the death, this simple feat may prove as perilous as the mission itself...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: The aggressiveness required to play a Klingon is well-suited to his own personality traits. He focuses tightly on the mission, but is a good enough commander to recognize Odo's personal crisis and make time for a couple of private chats with him. When he sees that Martok (J. G. Hertzler) has his own doubts about Gowron, he exploits those, working to convince Martok that turning against Gowron's Changeling imposter would not be treason to the Empire, but rather service to it.

Odo: With his shapeshifting abilities now gone, he feels diminished and useless. He reacts to being asked on the mission by suggesting one of his deputies come instead. "There's nohting I can do that he can't," Odo says bitterly. He worries that he will be the reason the assignment fails. Dramatic structure demands that the last third of the episode see this prediction likely to come true, as Odo's emitter is discovered by a Klingon - prompting quick thinking on the part of both Odo and Worf to effectively defuse the situation.

Worf: A scene on Dukat's ship sees Worf training the others in Klingon behavior. Odo and O'Brien make unconvincing Klingons in these early bits, while Sisko is actually too aggressive, engaging in behavior that would prompt a duel to the death. Once at their destination, Worf interprets the Klingon ritual and customs for his comrades (and for the audience), and his interactions with Gowron remind us of the rivalry between them.

Gul Dukat: Makes his first appearance since Return to Grace in mid-Season Four. It was entirely too long a gap, and Marc Alaimo instantly reminds us how delightful he is. Dukat may be Sisko's ally, but he remains ruthlessly pragmatic. It is clear that he believes Sisko's trip is a one-way one, though he is more diplomatic than his first officer in saying so. He limits his assistance to dropping the party off, bluntly telling Sisko: "If you succeed, the war will be over and you won't need us. And if you fail..." 

Klingons: Have gone to war with the Federation with ghastly enthusiasm, bragging of their raids on their former allies. We see more of their warrior culture, with the ceremony for those awarded The Order of the Bat'leth doubling as an endurance test. Only those who remain standing after a night of drinking and, inevitably, brawling will actually receive the honor. Those who are not still on their feet the morning after are removed from the chamber, presumably returning to their units in dishonor. 


THOUGHTS

Apocalypse Rising is a solid season premiere. It establishes the new status quo and re-introduces the major characters and situation. We are reminded of the conflict with the Klingons, and see that it's now gone further than it had at Season Four's close. We are reminded of Odo's loss of his abilities, and see how he is reacting to that. We get at least one moment with each of the regulars, with even Jake getting a brief look-in. At the same time, a solid action/suspense story is told, one which ties directly to the arc while still standing on its own as a good episode.

In short, it does everything a season premiere is supposed to do, and is a good episode besides. However, the previous four seasons opened with some real heavy hitters: Emissary, the Bajoran "Circle" 3-parter, The Search, and The Way of the Warrior. After that run of excellent premieres, my expectations of a Deep Space 9 season opener have been raised just a bit higher than merely "good."

Which is not to say that anything's wrong with Apocalypse Rising. Writers Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe have crafted a fast-paced story. It does an excellent job of building on the Klingon and Changeling complications of Season Four, and turning those strands in a way that will allow for a new direction in Season Five. There's even a nicely-executed plot twist at the end, one which makes a lot of sense out of what had seemed like rather senseless and even contradictory actions on Gowron's part.

But compared to previous premieres, it just lacks that extra "something." Maybe it's because it's a one-parter instead of a two-parter, which limits the extent to which the story can be complicated. The setbacks Sisko's party encounters are predictable ones which are resolved very quickly in all cases. A two-parter would have allowed more complications in reaching Ty'Gokor and more varied interactions among the Klingons once there.

As it stands, I would rate this as a good episode, one with a particularly strong end twist. It just feels a bit "smaller" than I'd have liked.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Broken Link
Next Episode: The Ship


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Thoughts on Season Four.

Season Four of Deep Space 9 is the best so far. That's enough of a surprise, given how very good Season Three was. It's even more of one when you consider that this is a season which undergoes changes made for purely commercial reasons. Shifting emphasis and adding a new character, both on the record as having been done strictly to boost ratings, are the sorts of actions that usually lead to disaster for series television. Instead, the new elements are used in a way that builds on and ties into what went before. 


WHEN A RELAUNCH ISN'T A RELAUNCH: THE CHANGES

Season Four of Deep Space 9 begins with a feature-length episode that, in many respects, seems to act as a second pilot for the show. The Way of the Warrior is designed as a jumping-on point for new viewers, re-establishing the world of Deep Space 9 and resetting its rules. Worf is added as a regular, the Klingons are redefined as adversaries instead of allies, and there is suddenly much more emphasis on action. 

Though this shake-up may have been motivated by ratings concerns, real thought has gone into using it to enrich the show. The season premiere may appear to be a "second pilot," but The Way of the Warrior also takes care to weave its plot around existing threads, so that the Klingon complications build on what has already come before. Time is devoted to Worf finding his place on the station, and time is spent on the renewed animosity with the Klingons. By the middle of the season, though, it becomes clear that the series has not redefined itself around these new elements. The Dominion remains the foremost threat, with an ambitious mid-season two-parter showing how the Dominion presence sparks paranoia even in the heart of the Federation.

The Klingon arc is born from the Dominion threat, as is made clear in The Way of the Warrior. Even so, for most of the season it does feel like a digression, something running alongside the larger arc. The season finale takes that digression and folds it back into the main story, making it clear that all the developments involving the Klingons are part and parcel of the story and doing so in a way that promises even more interesting developments in the future.

In short, what starts out looking like a second start for Deep Space 9 is made part and parcel of the series as it already existed. The action builds as much from events in Seasons Two and Three as from anything created this year. The relaunch isn't actually a relaunch; the digression isn't actually a digression; and both new and old elements come together in a way that makes both more interesting than they would be individually.


WARRIOR, TAILOR, DOCTOR, SPY: THE CHARACTERS

Deep Space 9 continues to excel in using its ensemble. Sisko, the Star Trek captain who probably least idealizes the Federation self-image ("It's easy to be a saint in Paradise!"), nevertheless proves a strong protector of its ideals when his old mentor prepares to launch a paranoid coup. He continues to be protective of his son's welfare, emotional as well as physical, whether the situation involves the Mirror Universe's counterpart of his dead wife or an alien muse, feeding off Jake's creative energies. This is most evident in the season's standout episode, The Visitor, which may be the most successfully emotional episode of Star Trek ever made.

In the supporting cast, Garak continues to steal every scene he's in and almost every episode that features him. Likely in response to the character's popularity and to Andrew Robinson's wonderful performance, he is featured more and more often. Amazingly, the writers manage to do this without undermining the qualities that made him so much fun to start with. We still don't know all that much about him, and what we do know hardly inspires trust - yet he remains impossible to truly dislike. He might slip a knife in your back, but he'll be enormously entertaining company right up until the second before that happens.

Strong material is spread among all the regulars, with Odo having to deal with consequences from killing a changeling; O'Brien, facing the prospect of becoming a father a second time; and Bashir facing tests of not only medical skills, but also of his principles and his character. On the downside, this is the weakest season yet for Kira, and the only season to date in which she does not end up being a standout character. She still gets good material, particularly when put opposite Marc Alaimo's Gul Dukat (also underused this year), but she has noticeably less to do than in previous seasons. 

Season Four is probably best remembered as the season that brought Worf onto the show. His introduction in The Way of the Warrior is exceptionally well-handled, giving him a dynamic first DS9 episode that makes use of his background from the Klingon episodes of TNG without allowing him to overshadow Sisko and the other regulars. It's an excellent episode, one of the series' best, and an outstanding introduction to Worf.

After The Way of the Warrior, however, there are several episodes in which the writers don't seem entirely sure what to do with Worf. I suspect many of these scripts had already been completed, or at least outlined, before the decision to add him was made, as there are more than a few cases of "a Worf scene" being tacked onto an episode that otherwise has no use for him. 

This tendency does improve as the season goes along, however, and Worf gets some strong episodes and subplots. His friendship/budding relationship with Dax has potential for development of both characters, and his respectful but sometimes strained working relationship with Odo. Even at the season's end, I don't think the show has fully found a place for Worf - but I do think this is likely to be rectified in Season Five.


BAJOR WANING

When I wrote my Season Three overview, I observed how far into the background the Bajor arc had been pushed by the rise of the Dominion threat. Seasons One and Two were heavily centered around Bajor and its political entanglements in the wake of the Cardassian Occupation. Season Three saw that focus reduced, with only a handful of episodes continuing to follow up on Bajor and the machinations of Kai Winn.

Season Three at least continued to develop this thread, though, with the Bajoran/Cardassian peace treaty and the rise of Shakaar, Kira's old resistance cell leader, to First Minister. In Season Four, what few Bajor-centric episodes exist are just placeholders, installments which may entertain, but which don't really alter the status quo. 

Really, as the show becomes less about Bajor and more about the Dominion, it stands out just how well the series has done at weaving the Klingon, Dominion, and Cardassian stories together with that of the station. All of those threads feel like parts of  single, dynamic whole. Bajor, which was the focus of the series when it began, does not feel like part of that same whole, and in Season Four its situation has ceased to be as dynamic as the rest of the series' elements. Continuing to namecheck Bajor has become an obligation of a series that has moved on to other things.


SEASON FIVE WISHLIST

Don't get me wrong when I observe that Bajor has waned in importance at this point. I not only don't foresee a return to a Bajor-centered series, I also don't want that. The central arcs of the series now are genuinely compelling, and the show feels like a richer place than it did in its early days. What I would like is for the Bajoran threads to be woven into the larger story. If this could be done with the Klingon arc - which initially seemed like a colorful digression - then it could certainly be done with Bajor. 

Beyond that, the series has gotten so good at this point, it's almost impossible to wish for major changes. I not only would like, but I genuinely do expect, to see better use made of Worf in seasons to come. I also hope to see Kira return to her former prominence.

Past that, I just hope the series continues to do as well as it has in balancing its many characters and stories, and in keeping them feeling like part of the same whole. 

Even in Season One, I was impressed by how good this series often was. In Season Four, Deep Space 9 has become genuinely excellent television. My biggest wish is for it to remain such, so that I can continue to enjoy the ride.


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