7-8. The Siege of AR-558.

Sisko prepares for a vicious assault.

"Let me tell you something about humans, nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts; deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers; put their lives in jeopardy over extended periods of time - And those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people will become as nasty and violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon."
-Quark once again displays his pinpoint accuracy about human nature.


THE PLOT

The Defiant makes a supply run to AR-558, a planet in the Chin'toka system, which was taken back from the Dominion during Sisko's offensive. AR-558 is home to a communications array, which could be used to intercept enemy communications if they can figure out its workings. That makes this a front-line battleground, constantly under attack by Jem'Hadar under orders to take the array back.

Sisko arrives to a severely depleted force, with less than a third of the original troops still alive. The ones remaining are haunted, angry, and on-edge, left on the front line months past their original rotation date. It's clear they are ready to crumble - And when an unknown number of Jem'Hadar land on the planet, Sisko decides to stay to lead the attackers. His only order is to hold - at any cost!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Clearly recognizes that this unit has been at the front too long, but does not offer any false comfort or reassurance. He's very blunt in telling the acting CO, Lt. Larkin (Annette Helde), that Starfleet's forces are stretched thin and that proper relief may be a while coming. But when the inevitable attack comes, Sisko barely hesitates in announcing his intent to stay. After Nog is injured, Quark bitterly recriminates Sisko for not caring about sending him into harm's way, earning an angry response: "I care about Nog and every soldier under my command. Understood? Every single one!" Quark (wisely) backs off.

Quark: Sent on a fact-finding mission by the Grand Nagus, he provides the perspective of an anti-war outsider. His genuine feelings for his nephew are revealed not by any words, but by his repeated attempts to shield Nog from the battle. When Nog is injured, Quark lashes out at Sisko for sending him into a dangerous situation. He then stays with Nog through the rest of the episode - And finally picks up a weapon and fires on the enemy to protect his injured nephew. Armin Shimerman is superb throughout, and the shift in Quark's attitude - shown through his actions and demeanor, which is much more effective than some "moral of the story" speech - creates one of this episode's multiple compelling through-lines.

Ezri: Bonds with engineer Kellin (Bill Mumy), whom she assists thanks to being able to draw on the engineering expertise of former hosts Tobin and Jadzia. She worries about how she'll fare in battle. She remembers combat from the memories of Jadzia and Curzon, but has never directly experienced it. After she and Kellin are able to uncloak some hidden Dominion mines, she expresses doubts about the morality of turning these weapons against the Dominion, something Sisko brushes aside by pointing out that the fewer Jem'Hadar reach their base alive, the more likely they are to survive.

Nog: Is clearly embarrassed at Quark's presence, all but visibly cringing at his uncle's every act or utterance. He reacts with scorn to Quark's warnings against getting too close to the battle-hardened troops. He's impressed by Reese (Patrick Kilpatrick), who has created a necklace of Ketracel-white tubes taken from dead Jem'Hadar, and generally wants to be accepted by the soldiers. He is almost eager to volunteer for a dangerous scouting mission, and the veterans acknowledge that he "did all right" when he is returned badly injured, but having gathered vital information. He insists to Sisko that he'll be fine, but his face and tone of voice indicate otherwise - Something that I'm very certain will be followed up in later episodes.


THOUGHTS

The Siege of AR-558 is possibly the darkest Star Trek episode I've seen. The tone is grim, with even Quark's scenes providing not comedy relief, but rather dramatic tension in his unwelcome shielding of his nephew and his clashes with Sisko. It's dark in visual terms, as well, with dim lighting on a planet that appears to live in perpetual night, and the battle scenes are illuminated mainly by the firing of the weapons as the Jem'Hadar attack.

This is the series' big battle episode, and has on more than one occasion been compared to Saving Private Ryan. For all of that, a relatively small percentage of the episode is combat. Most of the running time sees the characters waiting for an attack they know is coming. The battle is inevitable, and many of the soldiers will die even if they win the fight. Nog's dangerous scouting mission gathers intelligence about the Jem'Hadar numbers. Ezri and Kellin make it possible to lay a trap to winnow down the enemy numbers. But the fight is coming, and nothing is going to stop it.

A particularly strong dramatic beat comes just before the final battle. The soldiers are waiting, under whatever cover they can find, guns trained where the enemy has to approach. Kellin flicks the sight of his gun repeatedly open and closed, open and closed, creating a metronome-like tap that could be measuring the seconds or the beats of the soldiers' hearts. This is allowed to linger a moment, before Sisko finally gives the man a look.

The performances are superb all-around, with guest actors such as Mumy, KIlpatrick, Helde, and Raymond Cruz making tangible the psychological situation for the soldiers. Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler deliver yet another outstanding script, with some memorable dialogue for every character, all of whom behave in ways that are entirely convincing. Finally, mention must be made of Paul Baillargeon's outstanding score, which sustains the atmosphere of the episode superbly.

Remarkably effective on all levels, The Siege of AR-558 ranks among Deep Space 9's finest hours. Fantastic television - Far from just for science fiction fans, I would rank this as a "must see" for anyone who enjoys well-crafted, emotionally effective drama.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Once More Unto the Breach
Next Episode: Covenant

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6-16. Change of Heart.

Dax is critically injured.

THE PLOT

Starfleet has received an emergency transmission from Lasaran (Todd Waring), a Cardassian double-agent who has been passing intelligence about the Dominion. Lasaran believes he is being watched and demands extraction. He offers an enticing prize for his rescue: Intelligence about every changeling remaining in the Alpha Quadrant!

Worf and Dax plan to meet Lasaran at a rendezvous point in a jungle near a Dominion base on the planet Soukara. Evading detection will mean landing their runabout, hiking roughly twenty kilometers to Lasaran's position, and then getting him back to the ship. All is on track - Until they are spotted by a Jem'Hadar patrol. They manage to kill their attackers, but Dax is critically injured, leaving Worf with a horrible choice: Save Jadzia, and lose Lasara and all of his intelligence; or complete his mission, and leave his wife to die!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Tells Worf that the mission has to be more important than any one life, and bluntly spells out the consequences of failure to both the war and Worf's career. He declares that Worf and Dax will never be allowed to go on a mission alone again. But as a friend, and as a man who lost his own wife, he acknowledges that he understands why Worf would put Dax's welfare above the good of the mission.

Worf: Attempts to be more easygoing for Dax's benefit - a change that Dax finds somewhat disconcerting. When she is injured by the Jem'Hadar, Worf blames himself. He declares that he should have been more vigilant, instead of attempting to be someone he's not. He knows his duty as a Starfleet officer, and both he and Dax are fully prepared for him to leave her to complete the mission - but as soon as he leaves her side, he feels overwhelmed by the choice his duty demands.

Dax: Though it's more subtle, she is also making some adjustments for Worf's benefit. At the episode's start, they are chatting as they prepare for bed. When she notices that Worf is meditating, she stops talking and is respectfully silent until he finishes. She makes a brave effort to carry on once injured - and though the injury eventually becomes too much for her, she makes it farther than she really had any right to do (though one wonders why she didn't just go back to the shuttle - which was actually closer than the rendezvous point - once she was injured and wait there for Worf to complete the mission alone...).

Dr. Bashir/Quark: The episode's "B" plot sees Dr. Bashir pitted against Quark in a game of Tongo. When Bashir proves formidable enough to make Quark nervous, the Ferengi rattles him by bringing up Dax. He reminds the doctor about his once-dogged pursuit of her, empathizing with Bashir by revealing his own similar feelings: "You know what's really sad, what really keeps me awake at night? She's out of reach because we let her go... Deep down in our heart of hearts, we both know she's something unique, something we may never see again - a chance at true happiness- and we let her slip through our fingers. What if fifty years from now, we each look back and say, what a fool I was!" After Quark wins the game, he refuses to tell Bashir whether his words were true, or merely a tactic. It's a fantastic scene, one which takes an expendable and downright unwelcome subplot and pulls from it a genuinely great character moment.


THOUGHTS

Change of Heart is a solid episode that had the potential to be a great one. It has fine performances. Michael Dorn and Terry Farrell are terrific, both in their individual performances and in their interplay. Alexander Siddig and Armin Shimerman take what, up until Quark's big speech, is a typical Trek comedy subplot and make it into something fresh and interesting. And while Avery Brooks only shows up for one scene, his performance and Ronald D. Moore's script combine to make that scene feel important.

Once the rendezvous has been arranged, the main plot doesn't feature a character other than Worf and Dax until the final scene with Sisko. This allows Ronald D. Moore's script to focus on the relationship between the two characters, which has never felt truer or more believable than it does here. When Worf prepares to leave his wife, very probably to die, we can read the agony on both characters' faces, and we believe it when he turns back for her.

However, this focus comes at a price. With no other guest characters to shift the dynamics, we're left only with Worf and Dax and their journey across the Star Trek jungle set. Had the attack occurred, say, after they met with Lasaran, and had the rest of the episode featured all three of them, then there would have been some fresh interactions in the second half. Also, by making Lasaran a fuller character, this might have made Worf's trade of him for Dax something the audience felt more invested in. As it stands, we see Lasaran for exactly one scene, in which he comes across as two-dimensional and unlikable.

Still, the episode does its job. The Worf/Dax interactions are convincing and well-acted, and Worf's final choice and the promise of consequences for it make this feel like more than just a but a bit of expendable mid-season filler. It could have been more than it is... But it's still a solid episode.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: Honor Among Thieves
Next Episode: Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night

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6-14. One Little Ship.

A shrunken runabout must save the Defiant!
 - after it pushes a button on a console, that is.

THE PLOT

Sisko and the Defiant crew take a break from the Dominion War to investigate an anomaly. One of those Star Trek anomalies that operates on the science of High Concept - in this case, that it shrinks the Rubicon, the runabout sent into the anomaly, to a tiny fraction of its normal size, shrinking crew members Dax, O'Brien, and Dr. Bashir in the process. All of this is according to plan - with full assurances that they will return to normal size when they exit the anomaly.

The investigation is cut short when a Jem'Hadar warship attacks the Defiant. Caught unawares in mid-experiment, the Defiant is forced to surrender. Sisko and his crew are taken captive. The battle-hardened Jem'Hadar Second (Fritz Sperberg) recognizes Sisko as a threat and urges his immediate execution. But his First (Scott Thompson Baker), an inexperienced soldier bred in the Alpha Quadrant, decides to keep Sisko and his crew alive in order to repair the ship's warp engines, in order to get their prize to Cardassian space.

The Rubicon crew is unaware of the Defiant's capture. Dax, O'Brien, and Bashir just know that something went wrong and that they need to get back to the ship. They find the Defiant very quickly. But something has gone wrong - They did not return to normal size. As they enter the warship, and discover its capture, they know they must do something to help Sisko and the others. And they have to do it while the size of a child's toy!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: When he sees the hostility between the arrogant, inexperienced First and the veteran Second, he uses that. He plants the idea in the First's mind that he and his crew can repair the warp drive much faster than the Jem'Hadar would be able to, then works with his crew to simultaneously repair the drive and break through the ship's security systems to take control from the engine room. When the First barks about their slow progress, Sisko blames the Second's constant interference, with the end result that he frees his crew from detailed scrutiny as they go about their sabotage.

Dax: In command of the runabout mission, which carries over once they discover that the Defiant has been taken. O'Brien's engineering knowledge is key to helping Sisko retake the ship, but Dax does a good job of listening to his technical knowledge and to Bashir's scientific knowledge and applying both to the current situation. She also has fun embarrassing Worf by publicly announcing that she's looking forward to him writing her a poem - Something which he amusingly turns around on her in the tag.

O'Brien/Bashir: Very much a double-act. O'Brien has trouble wrapping his head around just how small they currently are, something Bashir delights in needling him about. When they have to beam off the runabout to reroute a bridge console from the inside, O'Brien begins hyperventilating, unable to clear his head enough to figure out which circuit is which. Bashir steps up, pushing O'Brien to stop looking at the giant circuitry surrounding them and instead draw on his ingrained knowledge of which components are where, which both calms the engineer and allows him to orientate himself to finish the job at hand.

Jem'Hadar: Dominion presence in the Alpha Quadrant has lasted long enough for them to start breeding Jem'Hadar here. This is creating a conflict between the veteran Jem'Hadar from the Gamma Quadrant and the new Jem'Hadar "Alphas," which I hope we see Sisko exploiting in future episodes. Here, it mainly plays out in the friction between the highly competent Second and his superior. The Second is correct at every turn: Sisko is a threat, and is actively working to retake the ship. Disrupting Sisko's crew and their attempted "repairs" also disrupts their planned resistance. The First's refusal to listen, to the point that he treats the Second with more hostility and suspicion than he does Sisko, is the main reason why the Dominion doesn't end up with the Defiant and its crew at the end. "Obedience breeds victory," the Jem'Hadar insist - But that doesn't hold true when you're obeying bad orders issued by a fool.


THOUGHTS

One Little Ship is a lightweight episode built around a silly and ridiculous concept. It reduces most of the Jem'Hadar to the status of guards so dumb they would qualify as Star Wars stormtroopers, and its situation plays out more as a comedy/adventure than as a thriller. It is, at heart, a rather dumb episode.

It's also a lot of fun to watch. The script, by Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, zips along merrily, taking viewers on a ride through two cliche stories: the "shrink" episode and the hostage episode. There is a lot of humor, from the tiny runabout hiding from view by flying directly behind the oblivious First's head to the way Dax pilots the shrunken ship to gently press buttons on a keypad. But the humor, while infectious, never compromises the characters. The situation itself is funny, but the regulars take that situation seriously - which keeps it just the right side of campy.

Some of the visuals are imaginative, as well. I particularly enjoy the scenes in which O'Brien and Bashir are working inside the bridge console. With giant, Tron-like components surrounding them, it looks - as Bashir observes - like they are "in the middle of an optronic forest."

In the end, One Little Ship is thoroughly silly, but also thoroughly entertaining. Another winner.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Far Beyond the Stars
Next Episode: Honor Among Thieves 

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6-2. Rocks and Shoals.

Stranded Jem'Hadar soldiers prepare for a last stand.

THE PLOT

Under attack, Sisko and his crew take refuge in a nebula - only to see their already-crippled Jem'Hadar ship lose all ship function just before crashing into an unknown planet. Also stranded on the planet are a handful of Jem'Hadar survivors of a similar crash. Their situation is even more dire than Sisko's. Their First and Second were killed in the crash, leaving Jem'Hadar Third Remata'klan (Phil Morris) in command. They are running low on ketracel white, and their Vorta, Keevan (christopher Shea), is mortally-injured.

When Keevan learns that a Starfleet crew is on the planet, he hatches a plot to save his own life. The Jem'Hadar take Garak and Nog prisoner. Keevan then sends Remat'Klan to offer a trade: The two crew members in exchange for the help of Dr. Bashir and a negotiation with Sisko.

Bashir is able to stabilize Keevan, at which point the Vorta offers an even greater trade: In exchange for his life, he will give them the means to contact Starfleet. But first he'll have to deal with the Jem'Hadar, whom the Vorta plans to send into an inescapable ambush...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Is appalled by Keevan's offer, but doesn't see any immediate alternative. Keevan will send the Jem'Hadar to attack regardless of Sisko's acceptance, so the choices are literally kill or be killed. In his interactions with Remata'klan, it's clear that Sisko feels the same respect for this Jem'Hadar that he previously had felt for Omet'iklan in To the Death. He hopes to get through to Remata'klan, to convince him that Keevan is not worthy of his loyalty - but given the heavy conditioning the Jem'Hadar have received to obey the Vorta no matter what, he knows his chances aren't even good enough to describe as "slim."

Kira: "When I was in the Resistance, I despised people like me." She looks even more beaten down and exhausted than in the last episode. And it's no wonder. Pragmatism makes her priority to maintain the status quo of a bloodless Occupation. This involves agreeing to Vorta facilitators coming to Bajor, and defending that choice to the outraged Vedek Yassim (Lilyan Chauvin). Yassim accuses Kira of being an "apologist" for the Dominion, and demands to know what it will take for her to fight back. Kira herself worries that she has become a collaborator, and resolves to take action - though exactly what action that may be is yet to be revealed.

Dr. Bashir: When Dax is injured, he stabilizes her and continues to monitor the injuries to both Jadzia and to the Dax symbiote. When he is brought to Keevan, he takes in the Vorta's condition in a heartbeat and declares that any conversation between Keevan and Sisko will have to wait - Immediate surgery is required. In both cases, his actions are marked by a brisk efficiency. As was clear in the previous episode, most of Bashir's former good humor has been knocked away by the war.

Garak/Nog: When scouting with Nog, the Ferengi insists on walking either behind or beside Garak. When confronted, Nog reminds him of the incident on Empok Nor, brushing aside his protestations of outside influence: "It happened... You can either stand in front of me or walk beside me, but I won't turn my back on you again." Far from being offended, Garak smiles and congratulates the Ferengi, remarking that there may be hope for him yet.

Jem'Hadar: In his first conversation with Jem'Hadar leader Remata'klan, Sisko recalls the events of To the Death, in which he was impressed by the Jem'Hadar soldiers but not by their Vorta. That episode ended with the Vorta being killed by the Jem'Hadar First. This situation is the mirror image. Sisko is again faced with a Jem'Hadar leader he respects. He is again faced with a Vorta not worthy of anyone's respect. But Remata'klan does not waver. Even though he knows that Keevan is responsible for stranding them on this planet, and even though he recognizes the Vorta as the treacherous worm that he is, Remata'klan still declares: "He does not have to earn my loyalty, Captain. He has had it from the moment I was conceived. I am a Jem'Hadar. He is a Vorta. It is the order of things."


THOUGHTS

Rocks and Shoals is a fine example of how a story that could have worked independently is enhanced and given context by the Dominion War arc. The "A" plot, with the standoff between Sisko's group and the Jem'Hadar, is not inherently different than several episodes from earlier seasons. But the fact that Starfleet is now actively at war with the Dominion adds an extra layer. The events of A Time to Stand leave Sisko's party completely cut off, with no hope of rescue or of anyone even searching for them.

Just as would have been the case in earlier seasons, the episode cuts away from the main story to a "B" plot back at the station. But what would have provided relief from the bleakness in earlier years now just provides bleakness of a different kind, as Kira struggles with her role on a station that is occupied by an enemy force.

The two stories are tied together, in that both Sisko and Kira are struggling with situations with no easy answers. Kira despises the thought that she is becoming a collaborator, but she knows that active resistance would justify a Cardassian crackdown. Sisko hates dealing with Keevan, and respects the Jem'Hadar - but it is Keevan who offers him a way to keep his people alive. Neither Sisko nor Kira can get a pat, happy Trek ending. Both situations are dark and complex, and writer Ronald D. Moore follows each thread to its natural conclusion.

Performances are excellent, the regulars equally matched by guest stars Phil Morris and Christopher Shea, who turn the Jem'Hadar soldier and the shifty Vorta into fully lifelike characters. The always reliable Michael Vejar directs, and his visual eye gets an added dimension from the location filming. The beauty of the outdoor area, particularly along the water, makes a striking contrast with the desperation of both Sisko and the Jem'Hadar; and the ending confrontation makes tangible the tactical reality of high ground versus low. Not to mention the very well-chosen shots in the repeated montage of Kira's morning routine, particularly when it comes home to her that all those surrounding her in Ops are either Cardassian or Jem'Hadar.

All around excellent, with a memorable "A" plot and a well-handled "B" plot that sets the stage for more developments to come.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: A Time to Stand
Next Episode: Sons and Daughters

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5-23. Blaze of Glory.

Sisko and Eddington: Keep your friends close...

THE PLOT

Gen. Martok informs Sisko that he has intercepted a Maquis message, clearly directed to captured Maquis leader Michael Eddington (Kenneth Marshall), stating that a missile launch is imminent. Martok reveals that the Klingons provided the Maquis with cloaking technology during the conflict with Cardassia. If the missiles are cloaked, they will be impossible to detect; and if they strike Cardassia, then it will be the start of the very war that they have all been trying so hard to avoid.

There is one hope. If they can locate the launch site, then someone who knows the abort codes will be able to deactivate the missiles remotely. Sisko offers Eddington a full pardon for his cooperation. The Maquis leader is bitter about the destruction of his people by the Dominion. He blames Starfleet in general, and Sisko in particular, for allowing it to happen. He does eventually agree to help - but he warns that once this mission is over, he intends to kill Sisko!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: He may be willing to deal with Eddington, but it's clear that he has not forgiven the man his betrayal. Though Sisko talks about how Eddington broke his oath to Starfleet, and how Cal Hudson did so before him, Eddington is right when he says that isn't the captain's real problem. Hudson was a personal friend, Eddington a trusted officer. In Sisko's mind, both men did something worse than betray Starfleet - They betrayed him. Sisko sums it up himself, when he realizes exactly what this entire mission has really been about. "I don't like being lied to!" he snarls, punctuating the statement with a punch.

Eddington: When Sisko says that the Maquis should have been pushing for a negotiated peace with the Cardassians, rather than continuing to wage war, Eddington snaps back: "The Maquis won its greatest victories under my leadership... We had the Cardassians on the run!" As Sisko observes, the Cardassians ran to the Dominion, with predictable results for the Maquis. Those words appear to finally resonate when Eddington stands in the midst of corpses of Maquis who were massacred by the Jem'Hadar. Eddington spends the first part of the episode pretending to have a death wish, a ruse Sisko sees through immediately. After he sees the end result of his private war, what had been an act becomes a reality. Kenneth Marshall's performance here is easily his best of the series, and the many sharp exchanges between Eddington and Sisko form this episode's very strong center.

Nog: Gets the episode's "B" plot. His rotation as cadet now having put him with Security, Nog is finding difficulty dealing with Martok and his Klingons. He complains that they don't even acknowledge his presence, just looking over his head when he tries to talk to them about violations of station regulations. After Sisko tells him to stand up to them, to earn their respect by refusing to be intimidated, Nog spends most of the rest of his subplot spoiling for a fight - though when his chance finally comes, his voice quavers with fear even as he forces the confrontation.


THOUGHTS

Blaze of Glory brings the Eddington arc to a close, and to all appearances closes out the DS9 Maquis arc as well. Following up on Gul Dukat's vow to cleanse Cardassian space of the Maquis, this episode reveals that the Jem'Hadar have destroyed them. Which makes sense: The Jem'Hadar were established in their very first appearance as ruthless.  There's no reason they would have wasted any time in removing an enemy from space settled by treaty as Cardassian space... which is now Dominion space.

For Eddington, this means that the cause he fought for, and the people for whom he sacrificed his freedom, have been all but eradicated. And it happened while he was in prison, helpless to do anything except hear about it through news reports. Again, it makes perfect sense that this has engendered massive resentment against Sisko, who made his capture into a personal crusade. Had Sisko simply left him alone, he would have been able to at least try to save his people from the Jem'Hadar, even if all that would have resulted in was him dying alongside them.

Both men have valid points, but both exaggerate their claims. The Maquis may have become more aggressive under Eddington, but the real damage to Cardassia was wrought by the Dominion's eradication of the Obsidian Order and by the Klingon conflict. Sisko, in turn, did make his pursuit of Eddington personal - but Eddington was launching biogenic attacks against entire planets, clearly raising the stakes past what Starfleet was willing to accept. Our knowledge of the backstory lets us see that neither man is entirely wrong, but neither is entirely right.

The plot ticks along at a swift pace, buoyed by some of the most beautiful effects the series has yet offered in the Badlands scenes. The sequence in which Eddington and Sisko desperately evade two Jem'Hadar warships is particularly well-done, outstanding effects edited tautly with the live action to create a truly nail-biting moment. The planet-bound action of the last third is also effective, the stock Trek set given atmosphere by the dim lighting, by the smoke hanging in the air, and by the Maquis corpses that surround both men even as they battle through Jem'Hadar to reach their goal.

All of this makes Blaze of Glory a good episode, but there is a slightly mechanical quality to it that keeps me from rating it as a great one. Part of this is that the Maquis strand, while far better-handled by DS9 than by Voyager, never felt completely a part of the series. Once or twice a season, DS9 would remember the Maquis were there and do an episode involving them. Folding Eddington into the arc upped the stakes a bit (and did something interesting with a previously bland character)... but in the full season that separated Eddington's betrayal from this resolution, there was only one other Maquis episode and a handful of isolated mentions.

All of which leaves the sense that this episode was mainly designed to cut out an inconvenient thread so that it wouldn't distract from the building Dominion conflict. Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe are among the show's best writers, and they do a fine job of making the Maquis resolution fit with what's come before. But with only scattered build-up of that arc prior to this point, the ending just doesn't have the power that it should have had.

It's still good, though, and significant within the fabric of the series. It's just a pity that the Maquis were never truly exploited to their full potential.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Children of Time
Next Episode: Empok Nor

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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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5-2. The Ship.

Sisko and his team weather a Jem'Hadar siege!

THE PLOT

Sisko, Dax, Worf, and O'Brien are conducting a mineral survey of a planet in the Gamma Quadrant when a ship crashes nearby. It's a Jem'Hadar warship, one which appears to have suffered a failure of its inertial dampeners - resulting in the deaths of the entire crew. With the looming threat of the Dominion, this ship may be the best source of intelligence Starfleet has yet seen.

Retrieving this prize won't be that easy. Not long after reporting the discovery, another Jem'Hadar ship arrives. Within seconds, the runabout that took Sisko and his party to this world is destroyed, and SIsko and his team find themselves under siege.

But Kilana (Kaitlin Hopkins), the Vorta commander of this group, seems reluctant to simply attack the ship and wipe Sisko's men out. There's something on the ship that she and the Jem'Hadar want. Whatever it is, Sisko realizes, it is the only thing keeping them alive!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Is blunt in his dealings with Kilana. He is willing to confer with her, but he lays out up-front that he will not relinquish his prize. His refusal to negotiate is a death sentence for one badly-wounded crew member, and he clearly recognizes this. He acknowledges as much at the end, when agonizing over the dead: "If I had to make the same trade all over again, I would. But five people are dead." He then goes on to give details about some of the dead: One man's ability to play a trumpet, the fact that another man shares a birthday with his son. Avery Brooks is excellent throughout, when making the tough choices in the body of the episode and when reflecting on them in the tag.

O'Brien: Gets a protege in young Crewman Muniz (F. J. Rio). It's almost a father/son relationship between the two, with Muniz teasing O'Brien about his age and O'Brien mock-threatening to transfer him to waste/sewage duties. Once Muniz is badly wounded, O'Brien goes into denial about the young man's condition. When Worf states that his death is inevitable, O'Brien lashes out at him with real ferocity, and he remains antagonistic toward Worf for the remainder of the episode. Colm Meaney does a terrific job with this subplot, giving it just enough for the emotion to resonate without crossing the line into ham.

Worf: Worf's point-of-view in the O'Brien/Worf character conflict is made clear, and has some validity. Instead of denying the truth of Muniz's prospects, Worf looks at the situation from a Klingon perspective: When his wounds are mortal, a warrior should be told the truth so that he can prepare for the journey to the next world. The episode's final scene, in which Worf and o'Brien bridge their differences through the similarity in which they keep vigil over their fallen comrade, puts just the right button on a surprisingly effective subplot.

Dax: Shows some cracks under the pressure of the Jem'Hadar siege. She snaps at Worf for taking a computer console out of a power-dead area of the ship to its command center, then promptly apologizes. A minute later, when Worf and O'Brien argue over Muniz's fate, she makes another crack - prompting a reprimand from Sisko. Once the crisis has passed, she acts as Sisko's emotional support again, validating his decisions as the correct one despite the cost. Still, it is clear that she recognizes the losses as much as Sisko does, and she does not try to downplay them. She just makes sure that Sisko knows that, on balance, they did come out ahead in this encounter.

Hot Alien Space Babe of the Week: Kilana (Kaitlin Hopkins) tries to ingratiate herself to Sisko, first by flattering him and then by playing up her naivete, telling him that it is her first mission outside Dominion space. Sisko recognizes both of these tactics as false, even calling her on how impossible it is to trust her when "the first words out of (her) mouth were a lie!" In short, she underestimates Sisko and gets their negotiations off on the wrong foot from the start. She recognizes this error by the episode's end, but by then it is too late for her to do anything except go back to the Dominion to report a failure that, from what we've seen of them, is likely to be punished severely.


THOUGHTS

The Ship marks Deep Space 9's 100th episode. At least, it does if you count feature-length shows as two-parters... as the network did, when it promoted this as the 100th episode. I won't say it's a landmark episode, but it is certainly a very good one.

Hans Beimler's script is quite a solid piece of television writing, taking advantage of the inherent tension of a siege situation. The script doesn't fall into the same trap that diminished Starship Down last season. This time, writer and production staff know that there isn't enough budget for sustained action. Instead, the story is crafted so that the lack of a direct attack intensifies the characters' dilemma.

They are in a hopeless situation, saved from slaughter only because there is something on the ship that the Jem'Hadar want. They have no idea what it is, leaving them no way to exploit this potential advantage. All the while, the Jem'Hadar find ways other than direct attack to fray our regulars' nerves. One infiltration, which O'Brien only narrowly survives, reinforces their need to stay on the alert. An explosive bombardment outside the ship is a constant reminder that their deaths have merely been delayed for a while, the noise and what it represents acting as a psychogical assault. By withholding action, but letting us know that something dire could happen at any second, the suspense is raised.

Director Kim Friedman and the production crew make effective use of lighting and tilted cameras in the scenes inside the ship. The corridors are almost always shot with the camera slightly askew, to give the impression the characters are in the corridors of a vessel that isn't quite level. This and the dimmed lighting heighten the tension, making moments such as the attempted Jem'Hadar infiltration all the more effective.

The siege is resolved just a bit too easily. Once the target of the Jem'Hadar search is uncovered, their aggression disappears extremely abruptly. They make a particular decision too easily, when it would make at least as much sense for them to simply attack all-out at the critical moment, if only for the sake of revenge. This does allow a good, if slightly heavy-handed, final scene between Sisko and Kilana - but it undercuts the episode just a bit, turning the fearsome Jem'Hadar into the equivalent of the particularly ineffective Monty Python attack squad seen in The Life of Brian.

Thankfully, the extended tag, as first Sisko and Dax and then Worf and O'Brien mull over the cost of their victory, is excellent. Both scenes are very well-written, one heavily verbal and the other largely silent, and the actors in both scenes are at their best. This allows the episode to cut to credits on a strong note.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Apocalypse Rising
Next Episode: Looking for Par'Mach in All the Wrong Places

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4-23. To the Death.

Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs) has an offer for Sisko.

THE PLOT

The Defiant returns to Deep Space 9 to discover that the station has been attacked! A Jem'Hadar strike team beamed onto the station, stole some engineering equipment, and then set off a bomb in an upper pylon. One look at the damage and the casualties is more than enough to set Sisko off on a hunt for those responsible.

Soon after leaving the station, Sisko encounters a damaged Jem'Hadar warship. When survivors are detected, Sisko orders them beamed aboard. The group of Jem'Hadar are led by Omet'iklan (Clarence Williams III), the First of this Jem'Hadar group, presided over by the Vorta Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs). Weyoun reveals that they were attacked by the same Jem'Hadar who attacked the station. They are renegades who have turned their back on the Founders.

The renegades have discovered an Ikonian gate which will grant them access to all points in the galaxy without use of starships. Such power would allow them to topple the Dominion and the Federation alike, and with the tools they stole from Deep Space 9, they may just be able to get that gate working. Sisko and Weyoun agree to work together to put an end to this mutual threat. But the aggression of the Jem'Hadar, who see the Federation not only as enemies but as weaklings, may make this fragile alliance impossible to maintain, even for this one short mission!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: The instant he sees the impact of the attack on Deep Space 9, he is grimly determined to hunt down the Jem'Hadar responsible. The Starfleet rules of conduct remain ingrained in him, and he does not hesitate to beam Weyoun and his Jem'Hadar aboard Defiant, but he is obviously wary. He works closely with Omet'iklan to try to make the humans and Jem'Hadar work together as a unit, but he finds the Jem'Hadar's extreme behavior distasteful - and they in turn see him as weak.

Worf: He was part of the mission that saw Picard destroy one Ikonian gateway, to keep it out of the hands of the Romulans. As such, he is completely on board with Sisko regarding the need to destroy this new gateway, but he does not trust the Jem'Hadar. He is very aggressive with Toman'torax (Brian Thompson), the Jem'Hadar Second, pushing the soldier toward conflict with Worf. He advises Sisko to be wary of the Jem'Hadar during the battle, and to watch his back.

Odo: Though he denies it, Weyoun recognizes what he confessed to Garak in The Die Is Cast: That his greatest desire is to return to The Link and to his own people. Weyoun exploits that to tempt Odo yet again, reminding the shapeshifter that his people will still accept him and that his home is still not closed to him. Odo walks away from the conversation, but I doubt Weyoun's words will be forgotten.

Dr. Bashir: Though his part is limited to the teaser, we do get a couple character beats. We learn that, among all his other accomplishments, he placed First in Pediatrics as well. He is also willing to needle Worf by sitting in the Klingon's favorite chair. He waits a good minute after Worf's arrival, meeting the other man's eyes the entire time, before vacating it graciously in a way that shows no fear but allows Worf to get what he wants.

Weyoun: Weyoun does not seem to enjoy supervising the Jem'Hadar. He responds to his charges' warrior antics with near-open contempt, with more than a little of fear of them as well. He confesses to Sisko that he believes the Jem'Hadar's loyalty to the Founders is overstated, and that it is actually the drug known as "the white" that keeps them in line. Omet'iklan returns his contempt and shows at every turn that the loyalty of himself and his men is very real. In every scene featuring Weyoun and Omet'iklan, Weyoun appears the weaker - but Combs' performance is such that he steals every scene, which is likely why a character obviously intended to be a one-shot guest star ended up returning later.


THOUGHTS

With Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe in the writer's chair and a focus on the ongoing Dominion arc, it's no surprise that To the Death is a good episode. It's ostensibly an action/adventure piece, opening with an attack on the station and with the narrative building toward a battle scene at the end. But as with most of Behr and Wolfe's work, the story's real strength lies in its characterization.

One of the episode's stated aims was to develop the Jem'Hadar further than had been done before. This is successful, with Clarence Williams III lending his formidable presence to the lead Jem'Hadar, Omet'iklan. On the one hand, they remain fairly frightening creations. They live to fight, and any who live to age 20 are considered honored elders. Omet'iklan sees Sisko as weak and threatens to kill him, and he and his Second both look forward to the day they conquer first the Klingons, then the Federation as a whole.

On the other hand, Omet'ikan develops quite a bit of dignity as the episode goes on. He is genuine in his faith in the Founders, and scorns Weyoun's slippery ways and silver tongue. He is loyal to his men, but even more loyal to the unit. Victory is the ideal, and his pre-battle speech to his men is equal parts stirring and disturbing:

"I am First Omet'iklan, and I am dead. As of this moment, we are all dead. We go into battle to reclaim our lives. This we do gladly, for we are Jem'Hadar. Remember, victory is life."

There are strong character beats for the regulars, as well. I've already mentioned how good the Sisko/Omet'iklan and Odo/Weyoun moments are. Also worth noting is the moment between O'Brien and Dax, in which O'Brien gives Dax a message for Keiko to input into the ship's logs. It's a fairly standard moment, a crew member leaving behind a farewell message in case he does not survive the battle. But then O'Brien mentions just how many of these messages he's recorded in recent years, and how he wonders each time if this version of the message will be the one Keiko finally receives. This leads Dax to reveal that she records her own messages for her mother, providing a nice bonding moment.

The scene is further underlined when O'Brien makes his own pre-battle statment, a direct response to Omet'ikan's, one that shows the stark differences between the Federation and the Jem'Hadar:

"I am Chief Miles Edward O'Brien. I'm very much alive and I intend to stay that way!"

One problem with doing action episodes on a TV budget is that the payoff almost never is adequate to the conflict. That proves to be the case here. After thirty mostly compelling minutes building up to the assault, it finally is time for the characters to beam down to the planet and attack the gate. This is where the episode declines a notch. The final battle is well enough filmed by television Trek standards, but it feels a bit too quick and a bit too easy. It certainly does not match the intensity of what came before.

The comparative weakness of the final stretch, along with the lack of complications when Sisko and O'Brien finally blow up the gate, lowers the episode's score by one point. Still, the strength of the conflict between Sisko and Omet'iklan, the temptation of Odo by Weyoun, and the generally fine performances keep this an easily above-average episode.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: For the Cause
Next Episode: The Quickening

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4-7. Starship Down.

Worf finds himself suddenly in command.

THE PLOT

The Defiant has traveled to the Gamma Quadrant to meet with Hanok (James Cromwell), the Karemma minister who has been trading with the Federation through Quark. The meeting has only barely begun when two Jem'Hadar vessels appear. The Jem'Hadar attack Hanok's ship to punish them for dealing with the Federation. The Karemma ship breaks and runs, taking cover in the turbulent atmosphere of a nearby gas giant. The Jem'Hadar follow the Karemma ship, and Sisko orders the Defiant in after them.

The atmosphere all but eliminates visibility, forcing the Defiant to rely on sensors and ingenuity. A trick from Kira's days fighting the Cardassians allows them to search for nearby ships - but at the cost of giving away their own position. The stresses from both combat and the atmosphere take their toll, making it as much a battle to keep the ship together as to find and neutralize the Jem'Hadar and rescue the Karemma.

Then the Jem'Hadar score a direct hit, leaving the ship crippled and rendering the bridge useless!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Very conscious of his responsibility to protect the Karemma. How can Starfleet have dealings in the Gamma Quadrant, after all, if they can't protect those they deal with? He pushes his ship past its limits, and shows ingenuity that matches his determination. When he believes Jadzia is dead, we see him reacting nonverbally, but he doesn't lose focus on the fight at hand.

Major Kira: I have issues with the repetitive nature of some her scenes in the second half, but Nana Visitor does a tremendous job with what she's given. She conveys a lot of emotion as she talks to the wounded Sisko, trying to keep him conscious. I wish her monologues revealed more, as most of what she discusses is ground already tread: That she recognizes Sisko's discomfort at being the Emissary, but still thinks of him that way and has difficulty relaxing around him.

Worf: When Sisko is injured at the episode's midpoint, Worf takes over as commander of the ship, with O'Brien acting as his second in command. Worf's instinct is to treat his remaining crew - O'Brien's engineers - as warriors, barking orders and expecting instant obedience. O'Brien takes him aside and asks him to give the engineers a bit of breathing room to solve problems on their own ("what they're good at"), but he does so respectfully. O'Brien's nudge pays off when Worf works with the engineers to execute a trap for the Jem'Hadar. It's all potentially hackneyed, but Michael Dorn and the writers are smart enough to make Worf appear uncomfortable when approaching the men or paying compliments, both things that run counter to his nature. As a result, these fairly unoriginal interactions still manage to work.

Quark: Acting as the intermediary between the Federation and the Karemma, Quark gives into his own nature: He cheats both sides to maximize his own profits. Hanok is furious, of course, threatening to sabotage all of Quark's dealings in the Gamma Quadrant. But Quark's other defining trait is persistence. He works on Hanok, pushing past the other man's resistance. Quark's ode to the joy of gambling and the thrill of risk is genuinely seductive, and Armin Shimerman is wonderful in these scenes.


THOUGHTS

Not for the first time, a DS9 episode begins as an action piece only to morph into a character drama. Starship Down has excellent scenes, both of tension and of character drama, though the end result somehow adds up to a bit less than the sum of its parts.

Which is not to say it's a bad episode. The first twenty minutes are particularly strong, with Star Trek space combat doing what it does best: Evoking submarine imagery to create tension not out of the shooting but out of the spaces between it. The lack of visibility effectively forces the Defiant to use sonar to detect the other vessels, and they have to get close to be able to tell whether they have found the ships they need to destroy or the ship they need to rescue - A dilemma that doesn't face the Jem'Hadar, as they intend to destroy everyone. This stacks the odds against our heroes rather nicely.

At about the 20 minute mark, however, the tension goes slack. There isn't the budget to make this a full-length episode just about the conflict, so the writers have the ship get badly damaged, separating the characters into various areas. From here until the climax, Starship Down becomes almost pure character drama. Much of it is good: The Worf/O'Brien scenes anchor the story while honing the development of Worf in his new role; the Quark/Hanok scenes are a lot of fun, with some good dialogue and smart writing; and the Dax/Julian scenes balance out their comfortable friendship now against Julian's early romantic pursuit of her in Season One (and confirm my suspicion that Dax actually quite enjoyed being chased).

The Sisko/Kira scenes don't work for me, however. This is through no fault of Nana Visitor, who does a splendid job with her material. But by rendering Sisko insensible, these scenes are made into Kira monologues. This can work for a single scene, but not for three or four scenes. After a while, listening to Kira tell (very dull) Bajoran stories, watching her pray, and watching her talk about her difficulty balancing Sisko the captain against Sisko the Emissary just... becomes a bit dull, frankly. Since Sisko isn't really contributing a side to the conversation, it's just Kira's inner monologue. Nana Visitor may be acting up a storm, but there's very little here that's new for her character, and I quickly found my interest in these scenes waning.

The climax manages to wrap up the conflict in a way that also feeds the Worf/O'Brien strand, and there's an effective epilogue. All of which makes Starship Down a solid enough addition to the Dominion arc... but given the promise of the first Act, I can't help but feel that it falls short of what it might have been.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: Rejoined
Next Episode: Little Green Men 

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4-4. Hippocratic Oath

Dr. Bashir is captured by the Jem'Hadar!

THE PLOT

Dr. Bashir and Chief O'Brien are on a runabout in the Gamma Quadrant, when they detect a magneton pulse on an apparently uninhabited planet. They investigate, and soon find themselves prisoners of a group of Jem'Hadar!

These are unusual Jem'Hadar. Their leader, Goran'Agar (Scott MacDonald), has overcome the drug addiction the Dominion uses to keep the Jem'Hadar in slavery. Now he has taken his men to this world to wean them from the drug. But it isn't working, and his men will begin dying in five days. He gives Dr. Bashir that same deadline: Five days to find a cure for the drug addiction. If the doctor fails to save his men, then he and Chief O'Brien will be the first to die!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Though he tries to discourage Worf from interfering with Odo's investigation, he doesn't actually order him to stay clear. Perhaps he senses that Worf needs to learn from his mistakes before he'll start fitting in. After Worf bungles Odo's undercover operation, Sisko is quite amiable with Worf, calmly explaining that life on the station comes with "shades of gray" that he would never have experienced on the Enterprise. He assures Worf that once he learns the unofficial rules, he will fit in.

Dr. Bashir: The focus of the episode is on Bashir's dedication to life, even the lives of Jem'Hadar. Given the opportunity to search for a cure to the Jem'Hadar's addiction, he can't help but throw himself into it. He sees the most positive of outcomes if he succeeds: Freed of their addiction, the Jem'Hadar may start questioning all the rules that have guided their existence. The Dominion may be deprived of their army. When O'Brien disagrees, Bashir does something he's never done before: He pulls rank and orders O'Brien to help him, something which seems to shock both men.

O'Brien: O'Brien the war veteran views the situation in the simplest terms. He and Bashir are prisoners; it is their duty to escape. He disagrees with Bashir about freeing the Jem'Hadar, as well. He sees the potential for things to become worse if they are free, telling Bashir: "You don't know how the other Jem'Hadar will react when they're off the drug. They may go marauding through the galaxy on their own. At least now the Dominion keeps them on a short leash!"

Worf: Is having trouble adjusting to no longer working Security. When he sees a known smuggler in Quark's bar, he insists on pursuing the matter, even when Sisko attempts to discourage him. It's a given that he'll end up acting more as a hindrance to Odo than a help. But though it's a predictable "B" plot, it does end with a good scene between Worf and Sisko, one that highlights the challenges the Klingon will face fitting into an environment so much less regimented than what he's used to.


THOUGHTS

Though not up to the level of the three standout episodes preceding it, Hippocratic Oath is another strong episode. The main plot picks up on details planted in last season's The Abandoned. That episode established that the Jem'Hadar are controlled through a genetically-engineered drug addiction. Here, we learn that the Vorta are the ones who directly control them. Most Jem'Hadar have never even seen a Founder. Thus, we get a clearer picture of the hierarchy. The Founders are in control, but mostly at a distance. The Vorta are the direct administrators of the Dominion. Finally, the Jem'Hadar are the ground troops and enforcers.

The starkly different ways Bashir and O'Brien approach the situation contrast both characters effectively. Neither one is firmly in the right or the wrong. Bashir's desire to free the Jem'Hadar is noble, and he judges Goran'Agar correctly. However, the script shows that there may be no cure - Goran'Agar's freedom may simply be a result of a flaw in his genetic engineering, one that can't be replicated with the others.

O'Brien's points also ring true. We have already seen that, even separated from the environment of the Dominion at birth, the Jem'Hadar have been engineered to be instinctive killers. It is certainly unlikely that Bashir would be spared, even if he successfully freed them of their addiction.

The "B" plot is less interesting, though it does serve to smooth Worf's transition to the new show and setting. I did appreciate the episode taking a moment to follow up on the new Klingon aggressiveness, by noting new actions they are taking against the Romulans. Set up for a future episode, by any chance?

A good but not great entry, Hippocratic Oath does keep several of the plot strands developing, while also delivering some strong characterization.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: The Visitor
Next Episode: Indiscretion

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