6-22. Valiant.

Jake and Nog find themselves on a ship crewed entirely by cadets.

THE PLOT

Jake and Nog are heading to Feringinar on a runabout - Nog to officially represent Starfleet in asking for the Grand Nagus' aid with the war effort, Jake in hopes of getting an interview with the Nagus. Their journey is cut short, however, when they stumble right in the middle of a squadron of Jem'Hadar. Hopelessly outmatched, the two youths appear moments from death. Then the Valiant appears. A Defiant-class ship sent on a mission behind enemy lines, it effortlessly destroys the runabout's pursuers and beams Jake and Nog to safety.

To their surprise, the ship's crew is made up of cadets. Members of Red Squad, Starfleet Academy's elite cadet unit, they were on a training mission when they came under Dominion attack. The experienced Captain Ramirez was killed in the battle. Tim Watters (Paul Popowich), the senior cadet, assumed command, and has been continuing to fight ever since.

Watters insists on fulfilling a mission intended for Capt. Ramirez, to scan and analyze a new Dominion warship. The Valiant has been unable to complete the mission, because of the same engine problems that initially plagued the Defiant. Nog's familiarity with this problem allows him to get the engines up to speed - allowing them to catch up with and scan the warship without incident.

Then Watters decides to take his mission one step further. Instead of returning to Starfleet with the data, he decides they will exploit the weak spot they've identified and destroy the ship themselves - A plan that Jake feels is certain death...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Present only at the very end, when the Defiant receives a Starfleet distress call from an escape pod behind enemy lines. Sisko listens to the caution that this may be a Dominion trap, and acknowledges the possibility - But he also knows it might not be a trap, and decides they have to answer the distress call. His quiet confidence is a stark contrast against Waters' vehemence. Sisko doesn't have to insist he's in command, because unlike Waters, it's very obvious that he truly is a captain.

Jake: While Nog is quickly accepted into this crew of elite cadets, particularly after he proves himself by solving the warp problem, Jake is very much an outsider. When he steps into the mess hall, conversations stop around him. His unease is mostly just a feeling, which could be put down to being the outsider of the group... Until Watters upbraids him for having a simple conversation with a young woman who misses her home. From this point on, Jake is convinced that something is very wrong on this ship. He attempts to convince others after Watters decides on his suicide mission, but he's like Cassandra - He can clearly see the disaster to come, but no one will listen to him.

Nog: Is uneasy when Watters admits that the orders he's following were meant for Capt. Ramirez. But Watters offers him everything he's always wanted: A purpose, a place to belong, a position of responsibility. Rank, without having to go through years of grunt work to get it. He's even made a member of Red Squad, the elite group of cadets he was so desperate to join back at the Academy. And he believes Watters' insistence that the Valiant can complete this mission and can make a real difference to the war. Which makes his disillusionment all the sharper when Watters fails so completely. Aron Eisenberg is superb throughout, keeping our sympathies with Nog even when he becomes a fanatical Red Squad devotee and turns on Jake.

Capt. Watters: I'll give Watters this much credit: After the ship's captain died, he held the crew together and kept Valiant in one piece on the wrong side of enemy lines. Sure, it was reckless of him to accept orders meant for Capt. Ramirez when he clearly should have headed for home (as Ramirez certainly intended him to do)... But he does manage to complete the mission; and if he'd stopped there, returning vital data to Starfleet, declaring him a "hero" would have been fully justified.

However, he's also young and inexperienced, and not up to the responsibility he's assumed. He takes stimulants to keep himself alert, which means he's constantly sleep-deprived. He is controlling to the point of confronting Jake over having a conversation with one of his crew members. Then he insists on attacking the Dominion warship - something Valiant has not been ordered to do, and which in fact jeopardizes the very information the ship was meant to collect and return to Starfleet! When Jake rightly points out that this plan is idiotic, Watters responds by chanting Red Squad propaganda as if he was back at the Academy, using the chant to block out any dissent or even thought. As Nog sums up: "He may have been a hero. He may even have been a great man. But in the end he was a bad captain."


THOUGHTS

I expected Valiant to be terrible. An episode about a starship under the command of a bunch of kids? It sounded like a nightmarish early TNG scenario.

But Michael Vejar's direction lends energy and urgency to what occurs on-screen. Writer Ronald D. Moore's script is carefully structured, with the cracks in the apparently tightly-run Valiant only gradually revealed over the first half of the episode. First comes Watters' admission that Starfleet's orders were actually meant for Ramirez, and that nobody back home realizes that this is a ship of cadets. Then Jake is reprimanded for having a conversation with a crew member. Finally, we see the captain's pill-popping... at which point, we recognize that this crew is on the verge of imploding.

Then Watters comes up with his plan: To charge in and exploit a single weakness that will miraculously cause the Dominion ship to blow up like a firework! It's basically the Death Star run. But it turns out that blowing up that one weak point doesn't actually make the entire enemy ship go "Boom!" Imagine Luke Skywalker going through that trench run and hitting the vent perfectly... Only to discover that all it accomplished was knocking out the Death Star's air conditioning.

To cut a long review short: Good writing and good directing transforms a premise that had every reason to be terrible into a surprisingly pretty good episode.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: The Reckoning
Next Episode: Profit and Lace

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6-21. The Reckoning.

Sisko investigates an impossible Bajoran artifact.

THE PLOT

Sisko takes a break from the Dominion War to view an archaeological find in the ruins of an ancient Bajoran city. A tablet has been discovered with inscriptions in Ancient Bajoran. One phrase has been translated: "Welcome, Emissary."

When Sisko touches the artifact, he receives a vision of the Prophets, in which he is told that "the Reckoning is at hand." Sisko takes the tablet back to the station, so that Dax can translate the rest. It doesn't take her long to decipher another phrase. "The Prophets will weep. Their sorrow will consume the Gateway to the Temple."

Kai Winn arrives soon after, demanding that Sisko return the artifact to Bajor immediately. Sisko agrees - only to then deliberately destroy the tablet with no explanation beyond an "uncontrollable urge." When he does so, two bursts of mysterious energy are released. One represents the Prophets, who take possession of Major Kira and prepare to battle their enemy. The other energy is that enemy, the Pah'Wraiths... And for their vessel, they select Sisko's son, Jake!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Has completely embraced his role as Emissary, and even enjoys it. As Kira observes, going down to Bajor to look at a recently-unearthed artifact is a welcome relief from the pressures of the Dominion War. When he destroys the tablet, he is convinced he must have done so because it was the will of the Prophets - something Kai Winn refuses to accept as anything more than a facile excuse, until he is outright proved correct. Kira and Dax both make observations about Sisko's faith in these Bajoran gods, whom he no longer refers to as "Wormhole aliens," and he demonstrates that faith at the end when, like Abraham with Isaac, he appears willing to sacrifice (or at least jeopardize) his son rather than interfere in the Prophets' battle.

Kira: Watches out for Sisko, as concerned with his morale as with his physical well-being. When Jake complains about taking a trip to see some Bajoran ruins, Kira tells him to at least pretend he's enjoying himself, telling the young man that it's good for Sisko to have something to focus on other than the Dominion. Her new relationship with Odo appears to be a happy one for both of them, and refreshingly they both remain very much who they've always been. Kira appreciates that Odo respects her religion, even if he doesn't share her beliefs; Odo, for his part, continues to expect the worst from every situation.

Dax: Gets a fair amount to do in the first half, as she works on translating the tablet. In these scenes, she plays the rationalist opposite Sisko's increasing spirituality. She reminds him that it wasn't too long ago that he was desperately uncomfortable with his role as Emissary, and that he used to refer to the Prophets as "the wormhole aliens." It's clear that Dax was more comfortable with that arrangement, and tells him that she hopes he doesn't mind that she'll continue to call them "wormhole aliens."

Jake: Is even more uncomfortable than Dax with how seriously his father now takes his role as Emissary. In a very good character scene, he reveals why: Twice in the last couple years, Sisko was left lying in a hospital bed, in danger of dying because of his visions, leaving Jake to watch helplessly and wonder if his father would pull through.

Kai Winn: Kira observes that one reason for Winn's animosity toward Sisko is jealousy. Winn pursued the role of Kai ruthlessly, only to find herself sharing the role of spiritual leader with Sisko. At the start of her tenure, she was only credible as a political leader because of the aid of Vedek Bareil, her former rival. Not longer after Bareil's death, she lost secular political power to Shakaar, another rival. Then in this episode, she actually sees the Prophet possessing Kira talk to Sisko with respect. When she approaches, the Prophet ignores her, treats her as irrelevant - Something that likely feeds all of the doubts and fears about herself that she already carries. Winn's action at the episode's end is entirely defensible - But Kira is probably right that what she does is for selfish reasons, to rewrite the narrative with herself as the hero.


THOUGHTS

The Reckoning is an episode of two halves. The first half is largely excellent. There's a nice build with the mystery of the artifact, and the conflict between Sisko and Winn feels organic to who these characters are. Indeed, one can actually see Winn's point when she compares Sisko's unauthorized confiscation of a Bajoran artifact with the Cardassians' similar behavior during the Occupation.

Character work is generally excellent. Kira's protectiveness toward Sisko speaks to their strong friendship, and her willingness to offer herself as a vessel for the Prophets fits absolutely with her strong sense of religion. Jake's increasing worries over what being the Emissary costs his father also fit, and the Sisko/Jake material is some of the strongest in a while.

Also effective are the background mentions of the Dominion War. Sisko's plan to bring the Romulans into the war is having its desired effect, as the Dominion is forced to retreat from one sector. As in a real war, this creates complications in itself, with Odo warning that their next problem might be getting the Romulans to relinquish the territory they're now claiming. Much like the post-World War II map of Europe, the post-Dominion War map of the Alpha Quadrant is likely to see its borders and balance of power much-changed.

But as the episode moves into the second half, it becomes progressively sillier. After Kira is taken over by the Prophet, it slides into bad TOS territory - And when the possessed Jake shows up with demonic red eyes (to show he's evil, of course), that slide is complete. Their big confrontation is an uninvolving light show, with Sisko left to stand on the sidelines watching.

In the end, that campy climax just undoes so much of the good preceding it. The episode is worth watching for the character work and performances... But the actual title event is poorly-done and does not feel really of a piece with the rest of the show, leaving the episode a near miss - Plenty of good elements, but they just don't come together.


Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Episode: His Way
Next Episode: Valiant 

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Thoughts on Season Five.

Deep Space 9 prepares for war.

At this point, it's become almost monotonous for me to observe that each season of Deep Space 9 has been better than the last. Season Four raised the bar quite high.  Season Five clears that bar by a considerable distance, delivering a consistently exciting series of episodes that exploits the series' strengths as it builds steadily toward a riveting conclusion.

PRELUDE TO WAR

One of the season's few disappointments is how quickly and easily the Klingon conflict is wrapped up. The Klingon hostilities dominated Season Four, but now are all but brushed away in the season premiere. Only the events of Nor the Battle to the Strong keep it from feeling like a reset - And that "reset" feeling comes right back again when encounters with Klingons through the rest of the season are just the way they were during the show's first three years.

Still, if the resolution of the Klingon thread is a disappointment, it's more than made up for by the consistent excellence of the Dominion arc. The Dominion were introduced slowly, first as a name attached to ominous whispers before being revealed as a tangible threat. Seasons Three and Four were built around that threat, with the Dominion gradually making itself a presence in the Alpha Quadrant. This enemy worked subtly, sparking conflict with the Klingons and destabilizing the Cardassian government, often as effective because of others' paranoia about their abilities as through overt action.

By Season Five, they have gained enough strength in the Alpha Quadrant to become more brazen. The Ship, only the second episode of the season, sees open conflict between Sisko's landing party and a group of Jem'Hadar. A changeling replaces Dr. Bashir, patiently spending months playing that role to perfection until the time is right to act. With the fall of the weakened Cardassia, the Dominion establishes an official foothold - and from that moment, the war that's been threatened for more than two seasons becomes an inevitability.

The season ends with the start of that war - and thanks to the Dominion's machinations, Starfleet is almost without allies. Only the Klingons, who were enemies one short year ago, fight alongside, and that's only because Sisko was able to reveal the changeling hands pulling the strings of the conflict. Had Sisko failed, or been manipulated into killing Chancellor Gowron, Starfleet would stand alone, and would be left to a choice between the indignity of surrender or the impossibility of fighting two wars simultaneously.  It took less than three years for the Dominion to evaluate the weakest threads in the Federation's tapestry of alliances, and to sever nearly every one of them to leave Starfleet in as weak a position as possible.

Odo reveals his feelings to Kira.

LEADERS, SOLDIERS, DIPLOMATS, AND TRAITORS: THE CHARACTERS

As strong as Deep Space 9 is on story, the series' greatest strength lies in its characters. Not only does this series have a large regular cast, it also has the largest retinue of recurring characters of any Trek series. Every year, I find myself more and more impressed by the show's ability to not only make use of this rich and varied ensemble, but to develop and reveal new things about each member of it.

Kira, somewhat underused in Season Four, is back to the foreground this year. The Darkness and the Light reminds us of the things she did during the Occupation, and that she remains unwavering in her belief that all of those actions were justified. The Occupation remains a button that's all too easy for someone to push to get a reaction from her, something Gul Dukat exploits ruthlessly in Ties of Blood and Water. Her friendship/non-relationship with Odo is also effective: The final scene in Things Past, the mirror image of an equally outstanding moment in Season Two's Necessary Evil, completes the circle of each seeing the worst of the other; her shock upon learning of his true feelings in Children of Time is convincing, and it being not that but the alternate Odo's actions that push her away feels exactly right.

Every character gets some terrific material: Quark's brief foray into arms dealing reveals the conscience we already knew he had; Jake experiences the horrors not only of war, but of his own fear, but is able to use the experience to push himself into writing with more honesty and courage than he had before; Bashir and Odo have dark secrets from their pasts revealed; Worf and Dax grow closer as a couple, with Soldiers of the Empire reminding us that Dax may well understand true Klingon culture (as opposed to the ideal of it) better than Worf does; and dependable, decent O'Brien is pushed into becoming a soldier once more.

That's not even mentioning the recurring characters. Dukat begins the season as an uneasy ally, a powerless exile from his own home world. He ends the season as a bitter enemy, having regained his home world by selling it out to the Alpha Quadrant's worst enemy. Kai Winn's convictions are thrown into disarray when Sisko's visions make her reevaluate her dismissal of his role as Emissary. This ruthless manipulator ends the season looking into the eyes of Weyoun, chilled at encountering someone so much colder, more calculating, and more ruthless than she is - Maybe as terrified at the glimpse of herself that she catches as of Weyoun himself. Speaking of whom, Weyoun is resurrected from the dead, in a way that manages not to feel like a cheat - And which quickly pays dividends as it takes only a few episodes for him to become one of the most entertainingly frightening adversaries the Trek universe has seen.

...Given the rich resource of these wonderful characters, exactly why didn't they try at least one Deep Space 9 movie when the TNG ones started to founder?

Odo finds, and attempts to raise, an infant Changeling.

QUALITY CONTROL

Overall episode quality in Season Five is staggeringly high. I've awarded almost as many "10" scores as in the previous four seasons put together. All of the following earned full marks: Nor the Battle to the Strong, Things Past, In Purgatory's Shadow, By Inferno's Light, Children of Time, In the Cards, Call to Arms.  That's seven episodes - More than a quarter of the season. Other notable installments include: Trials and Tribble-ations, Rapture, The Darkness and the Light, For the Uniform, Business as Usual, and Ties of Blood and Water. Not to mention the many other solidly engaging stories that build up character and plot strands to allow the "big" episodes to be all that they are.

Sure, there are a few duds. Let He Who is Without Sin... is an appalling hour of television; Ferengi Love Songs is, in my opinion, even worse. There are also disappointments, episodes that have good material and ideas but which don't quite properly gel, such as Doctor Bashir, I Presume and Empok Nor.  But the bulk of the season is solid at worst, and often excellent.

Sisko struggles to balance his spiritual role
on Bajor with being a Starfleet captain.

SEASON SIX WISHLIST

It's hard to develop much of a wish list when the series is this consistently good. All I really want to see is for the events of the finale to be properly followed through. I already know that Season Six will not repeat Apocalypse Rising's mistake of wrapping up a long-running arc in a single episode. I look forward to seeing how the Dominion War develops, and to watching how the scattered characters fare in their new environments.

I strongly hope the series takes some time before reuniting them. Odo, Kira, and Quark on the re-christened Terok Nor, once again under the rule of Gul Dukat, is a situation worth milking for a few episodes. Jake's situation should be worth at least an episode. Worf serving on a Klingon ship again, this time without Dax as a buffer, should be interesting. Sisko's promise to Dukat should be fulfilled - but that payoff should be delayed, with us made to wait for it. And when it comes, it needs to be worth that wait.

Beyond that, I just want the series to continue to do what it's been doing: Develop its character strands and story strands with a steady patience that allows each new development to spring naturally from the ones before, and to lead to new developments down the road. At this point, my confidence in the series is such that what I want is largely just to watch the narrative unfold.

Sisko meets Capt. Kirk.

I'll close this review by repeating my opening: Each season of Deep Space 9 has been better than the one before. At this point, I don't know how much better the show could possibly get - but I certainly hope to find out!


Previous Season: Season Four
Next Season: Season Six

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5-25. In the Cards.

Jake plans to buy the perfect gift for his father...

THE PLOT

As Starfleet ships begin "disappearing" near the Cardassian (read: Dominion) border, the mood on the station grows grim. The clouds of war are closing in, and Sisko sees no way out. His mood is not helped by a visit from Kai Winn, visiting the station to meet with Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs) to discuss a non-aggression pact between the Dominon and Bajor - a move that would effectively isolate Bajor from the Federation.

Meanwhile, Jake decides he needs to cheer his father up. When he learns that Quark is hosting an auction that includes a rare Willie Mays baseball card, he enlists Nog to help him buy the card. But Dr. Elias Giger (Brian Markinson) outbids them for the lot that includes the card. Giger does agree to let them have their prize... but only if they assist him with his experiments, involving the use of a "Cellular Regeneration and Entertainment Chamber," designed to keep the body's cells from becoming bored, thus granting immortality!

It is blatantly obvious that Giger is a lunatic, but he appears to be a harmless one. So Jake and Nog agree, and their efforts to secure a list of needed supplies for Giger leave them performing errands for practically every member of the command crew. Once they've gathered all the supplies, they return to Giger's quarters... only to discover that the man has vanished!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: In a foul mood, and with good reason. The background situation is bad enough, even before Kai Winn announces her visit. He has to acknowledge to Winn that in the event of a Dominion attack, he could not guarantee Bajor's defense - not if core Federation worlds were targeted at the same time. The best advice he can give Winn is to stall for time, in hopes that a solution will present itself before the moment of crisis arrives. It's not much of a solution, and both he and Winn know it.

Jake: Between this episode and Nor the Battle to the Strong, Cirroc Lofton has gotten some very strong material this season, despite being absent for a lot of it. The earlier episode focused on Jake's shame over his own, very human fear in the face of brutal combat. That episode ended with his father comforting him and expressing pride in him. This one sees Jake determined to do something to help his father, who has been there for him every time he's needed him. The ending to the earlier episode and the entirety of The Visitor give credibility to Jake's actions, even as they become ever more obsessive. Lofton overplays some of the comedy moments, but remains a likable performer throughout.

Nog: In the broadest scenes, though, it is very obvious that Aron Eisenberg's comedy instincts are much sharper than Cirroc Lofton's. Eisenberg never goes over-the-top, even when reacting to a mad scientist's plans to entertain his cells into immortality. Nog comes across very well, too. He argues with Jake every step of the way, particularly when his friend's obsession starts to look ever so slightly like its own form of lunacy. But at every critical juncture, he supports Jake, even when his support leads to three uncomfortable encounters with three people you don't want to have mad at you: Winn, Sisko, and Weyoun.

Weyoun: This is only Weyoun's third appearance, and he's already made his mark as yet another of the wonderfully rich recurring characters this show has created. His affable, even gregarious, interactions with others are fun in themselves, but the way actor Jeffrey Combs manages to never let Weyoun's smile reach his eyes really sells the character. He is amusing, but also menacing. When Sisko meets him at the airlock, he gives Weyoun the full force of his blunt disapproval: "I don't like the Dominion; I don't like what it stands for; and I don't like you!" Most would wilt under the force of Sisko's glare. Weyoun simply feigns hurt and says that he's sorry to hear that, since he expects they will be seeing much more of each other. Weyoun comes off the clear winner in the exchange, making him all the more formidable going into negotiations with Winn.

Kai Winn: You know things are bad when Kai Winn is one of the more sympathetic characters! She is out of her depth with Weyoun and the Dominion, and she knows it. For once, she is completely honest with Sisko. She doesn't know what to do about Weyoun's offer, and she doesn't know whether war or peaceful subjugation to the Dominion would be worse for Bajor. She actually turns to him for advice, and accepts what little advice he can give. When Weyoun compliments her on how much they have in common, Winn touches his ear to measure his pagh, and is chilled by what she sees in him. Her voice is calm, but she is clearly shaken as she replies: "No. We are nothing alike."


THOUGHTS

In the Cards has every reason to not work. It has an "A" plot and a "B" plot that are radically different in tone: Jake and Nog's comic antics trying to get their hands on a baseball card, and Sisko's attempts to advise Kai Winn regarding negotiations with the Dominion as the clouds of war close in on them. Though it's the best of the Star Trek shows, Deep Space 9 has often struggled with "A" and "B" plots that differ in tone, and this episode offers two story strands that could not be more different.

With Ronald D. Moore scripting at the top of his game and Michael Dorn showing startling confidence as director, the episode is another gem in a season that has been a veritable treasure trove. The plots are balanced in such a way that not only do they not intrude on each other, each story is able to enhance the other. The material with Sisko, Winn, and Weyoun feels all the more doom-laden contrasted with Jake and Nog's bumbling. The comedy is all the funnier unfolding against a potentially apocalyptic backdrop.

A lot of what makes this work so well is how perfectly judged the cuts from one story to the other are. Both stories begin in the opening scene. We see the station command staff at their most depressed, with Sisko struggling to find anything to talk about other than the Dominion, and Odo revealing that the station's population is the most panicked it has been since the end of the Cardassian Occupation. Jake and Nog observe this behavior, and Jake determines to do something to cheer his father up. Two plots spring from the same seed.

For the first half, the two stories have no plot connection, supporting each other mainly through contrast. The insane Dr. Giger babbles about "soulless minions of Orthodoxy," then we cut to the arrival of Weyoun and the Dominion. Jake and Nog are reduced to stealing back Dr. Bashir's teddy bear from his ex-girlfriend, at the same time that Sisko and Kai Winn discuss the very bad options Bajor has been left with. The silliest moments move right into the darkest moments.

If the whole episode had gone like that, it would have worked just fine. But then the script ups the ante by actually connecting the two stories. At first, it's minor: Weyoun becomes suspicous of Dr. Giger's experiments, fearing some unspecified threat; after Giger disappears, Jake and Nog suspect Winn of having a hand in it. Then the stories truly intersect, in a way that's ridiculous yet entirely satisfying. It's all tied together by a charming epilogue that leaves me ready to move immediately to the season finale - Exactly as its makers intended, no doubt.

In the end, I would sum up my thoughts about In the Cards with two statements: First, that when the final fade-out came, I actually applauded the episode; and second, that it has been too long since a Star Trek episode gave me the level of pleasure I received watching this.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Empok Nor
Next Episode: Call to Arms

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5-9. The Ascent.

Quark and Odo must rely on each other to survive.

THE PLOT

For Jake, the day has finally arrived, a day he has doubtless dreamt of: He is moving out. Nog's return to the station as a cadet means Jake can move in with his best friend, sharing quarters with the young Ferengi while enjoying space away from his father. However, time at the Academy has changed Nog, who has responded all too eagerly to Starfleet discipline. Nog essentially treats Jake like a junior cadet, insisting on a regular exercise schedule and a strict curfew for "lights out." The biggest sticking point, however, is cleanliness: Jake has lapsed into some very slovenly habits, while Nog has become a stickler for perfect order.

Meanwhile, for Odo the day has definitely arrived, a day he has spent ten years waiting for: He has been ordered to place Quark in custody! Odo bundles the Ferengi into a runabout to take him before a Federation grand jury on Inferna Prime, a flight of about eight days. They are about halfway there when Quark notices a buzzing sound inside a maintenance hatch. He opens up the hatch and discovers a bomb - planted by the Orion Syndicate to kill Quark before he can testify!

Odo beams the explosive into space, but not fast enough to avoid triggering the device and crippling the runabout. Odo is able to get it to a nearby planet, but hopes of rescue are dimmed when they discover their communications equipment was damaged in the crash. Then Quark has an idea: Take the undamaged tranceiver array up a mountain on foot. If they get it high enough, atmospheric interference will be diminished to allow them to send a distress signal. But with Odo a mere man without his shapeshifting abilities, and with Quark being... well, Quark, the climb itself may prove too much for either man to endure!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: He recalls that when they first came to the station, he didn't want Jake having anything to do with Nog, and now he's actually happy at the thought of Nog being his son's roommate. When Jake and Nog argue and Nog moves out, Sisko could be the protective parent and use the opportunity to make his son move back home - Which is probably tempting, as he visibly struggles with the idea of Jake leaving in the opening scene. Instead, he agrees with Rom that the two young men could learn a lot from each other and orders them back together.

Odo: Quark observes that the Founders gave Odo exactly what he wanted when they made him a solid. "I used to see you coming into the bar, watching Morn eat, eyeing my customers as they gambled and flirted with the dabo girls, wishing you were one of them." Odo protests, but not very convincingly. Odo's unspoken concern for Quark remains consistent. When Quark falls during the climb, Odo calls out in worry. It's only when he sees that Quark is uninjured that he shifts tone to snap about avoiding damage to the tranceiver.

Quark: Just as Quark sizes up Odo, so does Odo with Quark. Odo observes that Quark isn't a member of the Orion Syndicate only because he couldn't afford the entry fee after the Ferengi Commerce Authority stripped him of all possessions. Then he recognizes the full extent of the truth: That even before that, Quark couldn't afford it. "All those years of scheming and lying and cheating and you're still too small-time for the Orions." It hits home, but Quark is phased for only a second before getting his own back: "Which means you've spent the last ten years of your life trying to catch a nobody. With little success." Any doubts as to the strength of Quark's will should be put to rest by the ending, in which he pushes all the way to the top of the mountain alone, unwilling to die and leave his bar to his guileless brother and his nephew to full "corruption" by Starfleet.

Jake/Nog: These two dominate the episode's "B" plot. While the Odd Couple of Odo and Quark must work together to survive, Jake and Nog move in together and discover that their time apart has made them very different people. Jake has become slovenly, refusing to tear himself away from his writing (or his time waiting for the muse to strike) to so much as put a dirty plate back in the replicator. Nog has become a martinet, so attached to the military discipline of Starfleet Academy that he applies that to every facet of his existence. Unfortunately, though attempts are made to thematically link Jake and Nog learning to live together with Quark and Odo having to work together, this entire strand mostly comes across to me like a distraction, and I think the episode as a whole would be stronger without it.


THOUGHTS

The rivalry and unstated friendship between Quark and Odo has been a highlight of the series from the beginning. In The Ascent, writers Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe shove them together in a survival situation, allowing opportunities to mine that rich vein of character ore. The trading of insults and cutting observations is wonderfully scripted, and Rene Auberjonois and Armin Shimerman are terrific throughout.

What keeps this episode from being the outright success it should be is the Jake/Nog subplot. There's nothing terribly original about it, and there's little sense of organic development of the two characters. Jake has never previously been portrayed as a slob. It might have been worthwhile to have indicated that this is a recent change following the traumatic events of Nor the Battle to the Strong, but that isn't what the script tells us. Instead, we're meant to believe this is simply who Jake is, despite never having seen this before.

Nog's drill sergeant routine seems even less in-character. We have seen Cadet Nog before, in last season's Homefront/Paradise Lost two-parter - and though he seemed significantly more confident in himself, there was no indication of him becoming the character we see here.

In short, the two characters are forced into a comedy situation that does not arise naturally from who they have previously been shown to be. Jake's a slob and Nog's a militaristic neat freak because the writers hope that will "be funny." If I thought it was funny, I'd let it pass - but I'm afraid I didn't laugh once during these scenes, and simply suffered through them waiting to get back to the good stuff with Quark and Odo.

The success of the "A" plot easily overshadows the failure of the "B" plot, leaving this still a pretty solid episode. But there's no question in my mind that this would be a stronger piece had the strained comedy antics of Jake and Nog been jettisoned.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: Things Past
Next Episode: Rapture

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5-4. Nor the Battle to the Strong.

Jake and Bashir, in a war zone.

THE PLOT

Despite the cease fire, the Klingons have attacked a Federation colony on Ajilon Prime. The distress call comes in just as Jake and Dr. Bashir are returning from a medical conference, which Jake is covering for an article. Bashir reluctantly diverts, stating that they will render what aid they can but leave as soon as reinforcements arrive.

The Farragut is the closest starship, but the Klingons intercept it and destroy it en route, leaving the colony cut off for an indefinite period. The situation grows even more dire as the Klingons shift to an all-out ground war. When the power to the colony's medical center is disrupted, Jake and Bashir head to their runabout for power cells to keep the wounded alive.

Then a barrage of shelling separates them.  As the shells continue, Jake runs for his life - and is left branding himself a coward for having done so...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Consumed with worry from the second he learns that his son is now in a war zone.  When he learns that the Farragut was destroyed, he insists on leaving in the Defiant. Refreshingly, he doesn't arrive in time to save the day. The situation is resolved before he arrives. Avery Brooks gets some excellent scenes opposite Rene Auberjonois and Terry Farrell, reflecting on what it means to be a parent when you are unable to protect your child.

Jake: The start of the episode sees him practically willing the universe to send along a crisis to save him from having to write about Bashir's boring medical conference. Be careful what you wish for, Jake. As he transcribes his thoughts, he observes how much more real the danger seems here than it did during any of the attacks on DS9. There, his father was present. Here, he's alone save for a (very busy) Bashir, and that in itself makes him feel less protected. His terror-stricken flight is actually very easy to forgive. He's a civilian, not a soldier, so he's undergone absolutely no training - and with explosions all around, every impulse in his body is screaming at him to run. But as the son of a Starfleet captain, as someone who has spent his life surrounded by military, he can't forgive himself. Even at the end, it takes his father's words for him to begin to let go of his lapse.

Dr. Bashir: When he steps into the overwhelmed medical center, Jake is overwhelmed. Bashir, however, is utterly in his element. It doesn't even take five seconds for him to start helping patients. When the power goes down, he doesn't hesitate to go out to recover power cells from the runabout. After Jake returns, Bashir sees that something is bothering the young man and makes himself available if Jake needs to talk. He claims not to have seen Jake after their separation, but I wonder if he did see what happened and simply wants to give Jake space to come to terms with it on his own.


THOUGHTS

Apocalypse Rising had me worried that the Klingon arc had been resolved too neatly and easily, effectively brushed aside without real mess or consequence. Nor the Battle to the Strong answers those concerns, showing that the building hostility of the previous year did simply evaporate with the reveal of Changeling involvement. Like in real conflicts, there were talks that broke down, resulting in an attack before the talks start up again. As Jake observes, it's a battle that will be remembered as "a pointless skirmish," a minor epilogue to the Klingon conflict. Nothing is won or lost - nothing except for many lives.

It's one of the best and grittiest portrayals of war Star Trek has attempted in any incarnation. Rene Echevarria's script avoids any big battle scenes, instead confining the bulk of the story to the colony's medical ward. We hear the sounds of battle in the background, and in the stream of patients overloading the meager staff, we see its consequences. In several early moments, I was actually reminded of the classic MASH episode, O. R. - which, if there's any doubt, is something I mean as a very high compliment.

This extends even to when Jake is outside for the middle part of the episode. He sees dead bodies in the aftermath of a skirmish. He meets a mortally-wounded soldier, who describes the fierce fighting that left him in this state. But the only "action" we witness is Jake running from some shelling. It is left to our imaginations to piece together what happened from the aftermath.

Jake's personal story is expertly structured. He is certain, even cocky, of his ability to "handle himself" in a fight. Once he enters the medical center, however, he is almost instantly aware that he's gotten much more than he bargained for. He copes well as long as he's able to keep busy, but descriptions of Klingons' blood-lust eat at his imagination even before he goes with Bashir to get power cells. Once he runs from the shelling, he is absolutely convinced of his own cowardice.

This is our Red Badge of Courage episode, and the plot does what is required to redeem Jake (to the extent that he needs redeeming at all)... but as he observes, his "heroic deed" at the end is simply him doing what he must to stay alive. The same impulses that lead to flight at the episode's midpoint lead him to desperate action at the end. What's different between the two deeds isn't anything within him - it's just a question of circumstances.

I am tempted to deduct a point for the convenience of Bashir returning, offscreen, to the base almost entirely unscathed. But Bashir isn't the focus of this episode; Jake is. And in a way, learning that Bashir wasn't even badly hurt by the bombardment that led to his flight likely makes his emotional pain all the stronger.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Looking for Par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
Next Episode: The Assignment 

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4-21. The Muse.

Jake falls under the influence of a mysterious alien.

THE PLOT

Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) returns to Deep Space 9, fleeing her Tavnian husband, Jeyal (Michael Ansara). The Tavnians regard women as possessions, a situation Lwaxana was already finding intolerable. Then she became pregnant with a son, leading Jeyal to insist that the son be raised in the traditional Tavnian way: entirely cut off from all women, including his own mother.

Odo agrees to help, allowing her to stay in his quarters while he searches for a legal solution before Jeyal arrives. The meticulous constable finds one. Tavnian law states that any child is the property of the mother's husband, even if that husband is not the father. Jeyal will have no claim to the baby, so long as Odo marries her before the child is born.

Meanwhile, Jake meets Onaya (Meg Foster), an alien woman who promises to help him unlock the creativity he has inside him. She invites him to her quarters to work. She sits him down with paper and pen and has him begin writing his novel, Anslem. "Write whatever comes to you. The idea is to create a stream of consciousness and see where it takes you. You can edit later."

As Jake works, so does Onaya. She uses mysterious powers to stimulate the creative part of his brain. The novel flows out of Jake, seemingly effortlessly. But this perfect storm of creativity comes with a price - one that may cost Jake his life!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Of course Ben has to get off-station, simply because the Jake/Onaya plot will never work if he's present. Sure enough, once he returns, it's a matter of minutes before he confronts Onaya with phaser in hand. Faces with The Wrath of Sisko, she takes the only sensible course of action: She flees. Sisko's heart-to-heart with Jake at the end is a good scene, as he encourages Jake to learn to unlock his creativity on his own - after a good rest, of course.

Odo: Though this is not a particularly good episode, it's an excellent one for Rene Auberjonois' Odo. We see him genuinely enjoying Lwaxana's company, relaxing and having fun with her in a way that is rare for him. He is entirely sincere when, at the wedding ceremony, he recalls his past shame in how different he is from others, and how Lwaxana helped him to feel less shame in that. Lwaxana recognizes, however, that what Odo wants from her is "company... someone to take care of," and gracefully (mercifully) leaves for home at the first opportunity.

Jake: Is instantly fascinated with Onaya, even before she approaches him. After she invites him to her quarters, he is tantalized both by the possibilities of being in her quarters and by what she promises for his writing. That is enough for him to blow off a trip he had planned with his father and Kasidy. Once under the spell of the creative tidal wave Onaya unleashes within him, he is absolutely hooked. His youth and enthusiasm leads him to push himself harder than even his new muse wants. As she observes, he is willing to burn himself out completely in a single creative push.

Creepy Alien Space Babe of the Week: I've always found something sinister about Meg Foster. Even in early '80's films which attempted to play her as some kind of sex siren, some combination of her voice and her eyes made her seem creepy to me. This makes her a good choice for Onaya, a soft-spoken siren whose tender ministrations inevitably result in death. Onaya does give what she promises: She unlocks Jake's potential, allowing him to write a sizable chunk of his novel in a very short time period. But even as she coos to him to "get some rest," the way she feeds on the energy coming from Jake's mind is more than a little vampiric.

Lwaxana Troi: Another year, another Lwaxana episode. Lwaxana remains better-characterized on DS9 than she was on TNG, and this script at least avoids the pitfall of playing her for bad comedy. Majel Barrett is fine with what she's given to work with, and she and Rene Auberjonois share the screen nicely. But it's no joy to see her again. Much as I enjoyed Barrett's acting, particularly in the "hide-and-seek" game with Odo and in her final scene, I would be very happy if this turned out to be this show's final Lwaxana appearance.


THOUGHTS

At the tail end of what has been Deep Space 9's strongest season to this point, we get this momentum-killer. Much as with Season Two's Rivals, The Muse is an episode that seems to have been constructed out of two "B" plots. Neither story is entirely without merit, and there are good scenes and performances in both. But neither story is really up to carrying an episode.

The two strands feel completely unconnected. They are linked by neither plot nor theme, nor do they even brush up against each other. This adds to the sense of an episode made up of two "B" plots lifted from the cutting room and pasted together (and yes, I know that wasn't the case - but it sure plays like it was). The best "A" plot/"B" plot structures allow each strand to advance the other, if not in story then at least in atmosphere, each strand making the other stronger for its presence. This is the opposite of that: Each strand simply interrupts the other, preventing any kind of real dramatic flow to take hold.

The Muse is at least better than the previous Lwaxana episode, Season Three's dire Fascination. There are good moments here. All of the scenes between Lwaxana and Odo feature good character writing, and Barrett and Auberjonois play very well off each other. The "hide-and-seek" scene is genuinely charming, and it's a pleasure to see the usually stiff Odo seem relaxed and even happy. In the other stand, Jake's determination to write his entire novel in one sitting is convincingly played, and there is something genuinely sinister in Onaya's ministrations.

But the good moments simply stand as good bits, not really doing much to bolster the surrounding mediocrity. Both plots are thin and obvious, and both are resolved with minimal difficulty. The Muse isn't a horrible viewing experience by any means; I don't even think it's the worst episode this season. But save for its scattered good moments, it's rather dull - dull, and entirely forgettable.


Overall Rating: 4/10.

Previous Episode: Shattered Mirror
Next Episode: For the Cause

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4-20. Shattered Mirror.

Mirror Garak ingratiates himself with Regent Worf.

THE PLOT

Sisko receives an extremely welcome visitor from the Mirror Universe: Jennifer (Felecia M. Bell), that universe's version of his late wife. Jennifer fills him in on a recent victory the Terrans scored over the Alliance of Klingons, Bajorans, and Cardassians. The humans have taken control of Terok Nor, their equivalent to Deep Space 9. But this isn't purely a social call, and when Sisko is called away for a meeting, Jennifer takes Jake to her universe - leaving a transport device behind as an invitation to Sisko.

The captain accepts, grimly determined to recover his son. Jennifer and "Smiley" O'Brien greet him with a deal: His help in exchange for Jake. O'Brien downloaded the schematics for the Defiant during his brief visit to Sisko's universe, but he can't quite make the ship work. The very problem Sisko overcame with the ship's power being too much for her hull is presenting itself here. They need Sisko to solve this problem within four days.

If he can't get the ship online by then, Regent Worf will arrive with his Alliance battle fleet to retake the station. And if that happens, the Terrans promise, then Sisko and Jake will be taken right along with the rest of them!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Fiercely devoted to his son's welfare, and looks ready to tear "Smiley O'Brien" and Jennifer apart with his bare hands when he arrives at Terok Nor. But he is quickly talked down when shown that Jake is well and, in fact, enjoying himself. He is up to the challenge of getting the Defiant into shape, and he is not as immune to Jennifer's appearance as he pretends to be. He surprises himself when he insists on commanding Defiant in the final combat, something which was not part of the arrangement. Avery Brooks is on fine form, and he and "Smiley" make as engaging a team here as they did in Through the Looking Glass.

Kira, The Intendant: Nana Visitor's silky, sexually predatory Intendant remains hypnotic any time she's on screen. This episode plays her almost as a Hannibal Lecter figure. Captured by the rebels, she shows no hint of being cowed by them. She laughs at them as if they were a collective joke. She barters with Sisko for information that will help in the coming battle - All the while plotting to further her own agenda. This is the most powerless we've seen her to date, and yet she is still the most formidable of the villains here. By some distance.

Jake: Is captivated by Jennifer, marveling at just how much she is like the mother he remembers. His absolute love and faith may well push Jennifer to be more and better than she would have been in other circumstances. Mostly, Jake acts as an observer, the one person here who has not seen the Mirror Universe before. He is overjoyed to see not only his mother again, but also Nog - though in the latter case, he's in for a rude awakening as to how starkly different Mirror Nog is from his much-missed best friend.

Worf: Mirror universe Worf actually has much of what our Worf always wanted. He is a pure Klingon, commanding his own ship and his own Klingon crew. He not only keeps Garak prisoner for his failure to defend Terok Nor, he actually keeps him on a chain leash, yanking the leash any time Garak says something that displeases him. He has all the Klingon bloodlust, with none of our Worf's restraint. He commands with an iron fist, and even barks out, "Make it so!" in a fun TNG reference. Michael Dorn seems to be having a grand time playing a near-operatic villain, even if Mirror Worf isn't even close to being as formidable as the Intendant.

Hot Parallel Space Babe of the Week: Felecia Bell returns as Jennifer Sisko... and has apparently taken some acting lessons. She's still noticeably weaker than Avery Brooks or Colm Meaney (or even Cirroc Lofton, for that matter), but she does acquit herself with a reasonable performance that's on par with what you'd expect of a Trek guest actress. It goes without saying that she bonds completely with Jake, and in an effective emotional scene she tells Sisko how hard it is for her to be with the boy. "My Ben Sisko is dead. I look at Jake and all I see is the son that I'll never have."

Garak: Mirror Garak has, in previous episodes, been portrayed as a purely ruthless and dangerous opponent. This episode brings his characterization more into line with the normal Garak - which is a good thing, since his silver tongue and healthy sense of self-preservation are far more entertaining to watch. One of Deep Space 9's strengths is its willingness to create new character pairs. This episode pairs Garak and Worf, to enormously good effect. Their scenes together are darkly hilarious, and I hope to see them revisited in future Mirror Universe installments.


THOUGHTS

Deep Space 9 makes its annual visit to the mirror universe, and delivers another hugely enjoyable piece. Shattered Mirror is a direct sequel to Through the Looking Glass, and it's a good one. It carries that episode's plot forward, moving the Terran/Alliance conflict forward. The sense of momentum is raised even higher than it was in last year's episode, with a rousing battle scene at the climax.

This is a Sisko-heavy episode, and Avery Brooks delivers as expected. Still, reflecting the strengths of the core series, it is also an excellent ensemble piece. There's something here for all of our regulars. Mirror Julian, who was a one-dimensional sneer in Through the Looking Glass, is developed into an effective action man - which is achieved without compromising on the unpleasantness we saw in the previous episode. He's still belligerent and possibly a sadist, but he is also clever and courageous, justifying his (possibly self-bestowed) rank of "captain." He clearly enjoys the loyalty of Mirror Dax, who insists on accompanying him on a possible suicide mission and threatens Sisko with a knife if he ever dares touch her again.

The episode has virtually no dead space, and its 45 minutes breeze by so quickly that it's actually disappointing to see the end credits arrive. The annual Mirror-verse episode had the potential to become a tiresome gimmick, but Deep Space 9 has applied the same sensibilities to the parallel universe that it applies to the core universe. Each episode has stood alone, with its own strong narrative. At the same time, each episode has moved the mirror universe forward.

What Deep Space 9 has done with its mirror episodes is to create an entertaining, even compelling arc. It's impressive stuff, and I look forward to the next mirror episode advancing that even further.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: Hard Time
Next Episode: The Muse

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4-3. The Visitor.

Old Jake Sisko (Tony Todd) and his visitor (Rachel Robinson)

THE PLOT

In the Louisiana bayou, an aspiring writer (Rachel Robinson) comes to the home of her all-time favorite writer: the elderly Jake Sisko (Tony Todd), author of the novel Anslem, a further book of short stories, and... nothing else. She asks the old man one question: Why did he stop writing at a young age? Though on most nights he would simply send her on her way with no answer, on this particular night he decides to tell his story - a story which begins many years ago, with the death of his father.

Ben Sisko and the young Jake were on the Defiant in order to witness a rare inversion of the wormhole: a spectacle that will occur only once every 50 years. But the inversion causes a malfunction in the warp core, one which knocks out the entire engineering staff. Ben is able to save the core, but is hit by an energy discharge, one which knocks him out of time.

Now Ben only appears for a few minutes at a time at irregular intervals, always near Jake. And knowing that his father is still alive has shaken the foundations of the younger Sisko's life, leaving him determined to do whatever it takes to get him back.


CHARACTERS

Captain Sisko: He is not aware of the time that passes between appearances, so it takes a couple of these before he realizes what is happening to him. For Jake, this episode spans decades; for Ben, it doesn't even last an hour. Compressed in that time span, he sees his son wounded at his loss; he sees him grow into a successful man with a beautiful wife and great prospects; then he sees a Jake who has lost all of that to obsession before finally seeing the elderly Jake of the frame story. Our Jake won't carry any awareness of the events of this episode, but Ben will, as we see from him protectively clutching his young son to him at the episode's end.

Jake: We see the story through Jake's eyes, as he lives through every day, week, year, and decade of the time that passes. His life is shattered, but it's not because of his father's loss: It's because of the reappearances. By adulthood, he has moved on. But when his father appears again, the pain of losing him again sets him on a new course. As joyful as it was for Ben to see the successful fortyish Jake, that's how painful it is to see him later - when he has sacrificed all that happiness to an obsession with getting his father back.

Nog: The scenes in the future allow actor Aron Eisenberg to show us a more mature and confident Nog. The adult Nog becomes a career Starfleet officer, climbing the ladder to command in good time. The Ferengi whininess of "our" Nog's voice is all gone from this version, and it's clear that his career choice was the correct one for him. Now I find myself looking forward to seeing the young Nog start to grow into this role in the future.

Hot Earth Babe of the Week: Melanie (Rachel Robinson) is less a character in her own right than an audience stand-in, someone to listen to the elderly Jake as he tells his story. Robinson, daughter of Andrew Robinson (Garak), makes an appealing stand-in for the audience. Her character's enthusiasm for writing and for studying Jake's stories also makes her a strong parallel figure for Jake, allowing him to echo his father's advice to her: "Poke your head up every once in a while and take a look around... It's life. You can miss it if you don't open your eyes."


THOUGHTS

As I write these words, I'm trying to think of exactly how to summarize my thoughts about The Visitor. This is the most emotional episode of Deep Space 9 by some margin.  It's almost certainly the most emotional Trek episode ever made. Not gooey, soap opera emotional melodrama, either. This resonates not with manipulation, but with that pure, raw feeling that can only come from the genuinely heartfelt.

Everything about The Visitor works. It has thematic unity.  Ben's advice about not missing life, echoed by the old Jake, is demonstrated by Jake's "alternate" life. Jake misses his own life as surely as Ben misses it. He loses the love of his wife, his writing career, the things that gave his life as himself meaning - They all fade away in his obsession with regaining his father, and he barely even notices as it happens.

The performances are splendid. Avery Brooks conveys authority and sincerity. As he sees his son's life compressed into a handful of moments, Brooks lets the emotion stand naked on his face. He doesn't overact - He just reacts, often wordlessly, and we know his joy, his disappointment, and his regret.

As good as Brooks is, though, Tony Todd is the one who deserves the greatest praise. The scene in which Ben reappears to Jake in mid-life calls upon Todd to move with whiplash speed from the happiness of a fulfilling life, to the joy of his father's reappearance, to anguish as he realizes that he is going to lose him a third time, to despair as the inevitable disapearance finally happens.

Then there's the elderly Jake's final conversation with Sisko, with Jake now the old man and Ben now the young one. Todd's voice hits all the right notes. This doesn't feel like a fortyish actor "doing old." As he speaks, he is able to infuse his voice with the weary authority of age as he tells his father that all his obsession, all that he's sacrificing to undo that moment in time, is not just for Ben. It's also "for the boy that (Jake) was." Todd's voice, Brooks' expressions as he listens to him talk... The combination is devastating.


OVERALL

Deep Space 9 is a generally strong series, and at this point it's running at its height. Three "10" ratings in three episodes is something that I don't think I've ever encountered before, and I stand by all three of them: The Adversary was an outstanding paranoid suspense piece; The Way of the Warrior was an outstanding action piece.

But this, an outstanding emotional piece, is the one I'm most likely to revisit most often. The Visitor is a very special episode, in the best sense of that phrase.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: The Way of the Warrior
Next Episode: Hippocratic Oath

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