6-26. Tears of the Prophets.

Sisko at his heighest point - just before his fall.

THE PLOT

The war against the Dominion has finally turned in Starfleet's favor. The Romulans' entry into the war has put the Dominion on the defensive, retreating back into Cardassian space. But the enemy's ability to rapidly replenish Jem'Hadar numbers means that Starfleet must press this advantage while they still have it, and Sisko has been put in charge of the next step: An invasion of Cardassian space!

Sisko has long championed going on the offensive, and already has a plan in place. Cardassian and Jem'Hadar defenses have been weakened in the Chin'toka System, making it a perfect place to gain a foothold. The enemy also recognizes this, however, and Damar (Casey Biggs) has already begun deploying automated weapons platforms that will shore up this weak spot. The Starfleet forces will have to strike immediately, before the platforms become operational.

But on the eve of his departure, Sisko receives a vision from the Prophets. In their usual, maddeningly obscure way, they warn that is dangerous for him to leave Deep Space 9 at this time. But with no specifics, he cannot justify staying behind during such an important battle. He leaves Dax in charge of the station and leads the assault.

His forces arrive too late, however, reaching Cardassian space just as Damar's weapons platforms come to life. As the battle becomes desperate, Gul Dukat puts his own plans into effect - a plan that will lead to devastating personal consequences for Sisko, and potentially to disaster for the entire Alpha Quadrant!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: The episode opens with him at his highest point. He's awarded the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor for retaking Deep Space 9, and he has been chosen to lead the assault on Cardassian space. Even his home life is in balance, with Jake on hand to tell him how proud he is. When you're at your highest point, though, that leaves you a long distance to fall - And as much as it's about any single thing, this episode is about Benjamin Sisko falling hard. After the Prophets' warning, Sisko is bluntly told that he now has to choose whether to be the Emissary of the Prophets or a Starfleet officer. He chooses Starfleet, leading the assault. It's the wrong choice. He is incapacitated during the fight, making him useless on the front line - And disaster strikes the station during his absence. By the end, he's left scrubbing dishes in an alley, his spirit broken... A temporary situation, which I'm sure will be reversed at the start of Season Seven, but the dismantling of this very strong man's spirit is effective and convincingly done, and Avery Brooks gives another superb performance.

Kira: Sisko's fall is accompanied by Kira's rise, as she takes command during the battle. She does an outstanding job. She gives orders sharply and confidently, but listens to the expertise of O'Brien and Garak when it becomes clear that something more than brute force is needed to break through the shielding on the weapons platforms. What makes this more dramatic than the usual "First Officer takes charge" scenario is the nature of the two characters. Sisko, who began the series finding his role as Emissary a burden, is now so reliant on his connection to the Prophets that losing that connection hits him like a physical injury. Meanwhile, Kira - who has always defined herself by her religion as much as by anything - comes into her own at the very moment the Prophets withdraw.

Worf: In the briefing scene early in the episode, as Martok becomes angry and apparently near-violent toward the Romulans, it is Worf who acts as the voice of restraint for him. Worf is stable, calm, and measured in the face of the same sort of insults that once would have driven him into a rage. The scene from A Call to Arms in which Worf and Dax left for war with plans to marry, is mirrored here. This time, Worf leaves for battle, with them making plans to have a child after he returns... Plans that will be cruelly disrupted.

Dax: Is genuinely touched when Kira tells her that she's said a prayer for her efforts to have a baby with Worf. When Dr. Bashir informs her that medically, she and Worf will likely be able to conceive - something that had been in severe doubt - she responds with a giddiness so unforced that it can't help but be endearing. She decides to go to the Bajoran temple to say a prayer as a form of thanks to Kira for her prayers - a minor decision, the sort of whim that takes people on a regular basis, and one that ends up having very big consequences.

Dr. Bashir/Quark: In Change of Heart, we discovered that Bashir's feelings for Dax never really went away - He just stopped chasing her when it became clear nothing would ever come of it. That same episode indicated that Quark also had feelings for her, though it was unclear whether Quark's confession was genuine or just a tactic to distract Bashir from his game. That question is firmly answered when Quark becomes as depressed as Bashir at learning that she plans to have a child with Worf. They were already resigned to her being married to Worf... but the thought of a child makes that into something real. This allows screenwriters Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler the perfect chance to bring back hologram Vic Fontaine (James Darren), who is seen only briefly, and thus remains likable and amusing.

Gul Dukat: Apparently did not go straight back to Cardassia after escaping with Sisko's shuttle. Instead, he has been researching the Bajorans, learning all he can about their religion. He has learned of the pah-wraiths, and sees in them an opportunity to take the war to the true enemies, the ones keeping the Dominion from overwhelming the Alpha Quadrant through sheer numbers: The Prophets! Weyoun clearly has little time for Dukat and his schemes, regarding the former Cardassian ruler with a sort of disgusted pity. Even Damar, though he still very badly wants to respect his mentor, seems doubtful at best. The episode leaves Dukat as a pure wild card - He's an enemy of the Federation, and the Dominion has no time for him. But he's far from harmless, as the events of this installment show in a big way.


THOUGHTS

Tears of the Prophets continues the Deep Space 9 tradition of upending the status quo in every season finale. The episode begins in the same space occupied by much of the season. The war is continuing, with the Dominon and Cardassians plotting on one side while Sisko prepares to act against them on the other. It ends with one of the central features of the series removed entirely, with the death of one regular, and with Sisko back on Earth licking his wounds like an injured dog.

The death will be ameliorated (for good or ill) next season, and I strongly suspect the other two changes will be temporary... But the ramifications of this finale will be felt throughout next season. If nothing else, I tend to suspect that the next time any of the regulars see Dukat, they will be ready to do more than snap insults at him.

It is another superb episode, as reflected by most of my comments in the "Characters" section. The series continues to push the television envelope with regard to space battles, presenting yet another complex large-scale combat scene. It continues to excel at balancing action with character development. Sisko, Kira, Worf, Dax - All of them experience significant events in this episode, and their reactions to those events feel entirely authentic. There are also good roles for most of the ensemble, with only Garak (of all people!) left to feel like a spare part... And after his dominance in In the Pale Moonlight, it's OK for Garak to occupy just the fringes of this episode - That already restored any of the complexity that might have been lost.

With a driving pace, some fine character moments, and a final Act in which every scene hits hard, there's not too much question of my score. Another outstanding finale in a series that has delivered consistently outstanding season enders.


Overall Rating: 10/10.


Previous Episode: The Sound of Her Voice
 Next Episode: Image in the Sand 

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6-24. Time's Orphan.

Molly O'Brien loses ten years to a time travel accident...

THE PLOT

Chief O'Brien celebrates his family's return to the station by taking them on a picnic to the planet Golana, a lush and peaceful world they enjoyed during Keiko's pregnancy. They are having a perfect day... Until young Molly (Hana Hatae), playing near a cavern, takes a fall - right through a mysterious device. Molly vanishes, leaving O'Brien to work desperately to figure out where she went.

The answer proves not to be so much "where" as "when." The device is a time portal, leading to the planet's distant past - before the Bajorans settled, when the only life was wildlife. O'Brien reactivates the device and uses a DNA sample of Molly to beam his daughter back. But he misses the correct time period, beaming back not the child he lost, but a feral young adult Molly (Michelle Krusiec) who has spent 10 years all alone in the planet's past.

This Molly behaves more like an animal than a human, barely interacting with the people around her. She keeps insisting that she wants to go home - to Golana. O'Brien tries to placate her with a holosuite recreation... But when it's time to leave, she goes into a violent rage - One that ends with her stabbing one of Quark's Tarkalean customers.

Leaving the O'Briens with the prospect of their already damaged daughter spending the rest of her life confined to an institution...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: As a father himself, he empathizes with O'Brien's pain. After Molly stabs the Tarkalean, Sisko is as gentle as he can be when he tells O'Brien that Molly will be sent to a facility for "evaluation." He knows as well as O'Brien does that this will turn into a life sentence - But he doesn't try to offer false hope, instead making clear that this is going to happen and that he has no alternative.

O'Brien: At this point, it should be funny just how often he ends up dealing with horrific emotional pain. But there's a reason the writers keep doing this: It works. O'Brien is so utterly relatable, and Colm Meaney so perfectly authentic, it becomes impossible not to empathize with him. No matter how many times O'Brien is dragged out for another round of mental torture, it continues to work - Something which gives a badly-needed boost to the mostly middling material found here.

Keiko: It would have been very easy for this episode to manufacture conflict by having Keiko blame her husband for not watching Molly or for failing to rescue her from her fall. Thankfully, writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle don't go this route. Keiko and O'Brien are supportive of each other throughout the episode. When O'Brien decides he must take desperate action to save Molly from a life in an institution, Keiko is a firm participant in the plan, refusing to allow him to take the risk on his own. Rosalind Chao, in her first episode in too long, remains a welcome screen presence, and she and Colm Meaney feel absolutely natural as a screen couple.

Worf/Dax: Worf and Dax take subplot duties by watching the O'Briens' young son, Yoshi. Worf determines that he must succeed at babysitting the child without Dax's help. At first, this seems like yet more Stupid Klingon Pride (TM). Then Worf explains himself, and both his words and Dax's reactions carry a ring of truth: "(Babysitting) is not important to me. It is important to you... You are judging me on my fitness to be a parent... I have proven myself to be a worthy husband to you, but you are not convinced I would be a good parent to your children." The entire subplot, including Worf's overly-urgent feelings of failure when Yoshi falls during playtime, feels authentic, and Michael Dorn and Terry Farrell are terrific in their scenes - which are just numerous enough to make an impression, without drowning out the main story.


THOUGHTS

Time's Orphan isn't a bad episode, but it is blatant filler with an exceedingly predictable story progression. From the moment child Molly is replaced by a wild-eyed adult, did anyone watching this believe for even an instant that the situation wouldn't be reset without consequence by the end? Knowing that I was watching a Reset Button Episode kept me from becoming truly invested in this from the start, since it was clear that nothing here was going to matter (or likely even be remembered) even a single episode later.

The weak plot is somewhat made up for by the strong performances of the regulars and of guest actress Michelle Krusiec. Krusiec does a commendable job with the damaged Molly, her feral qualities visible without being overplayed. The connection she slowly forms with her not-quite-forgotten parents is well played, and the moments of calm make the disturbed moments more effective by contrast.

Particularly strong is the scene in w hich Molly goes truly, dangerously wild when removed from the holosuites. Director Allan Kroeker does a great job of giving an immediacy to this sequence that is rarely seen in Trek action scenes. When she injures the Tarkalian standing between her and the exit, she stabs him with a broken bottle - an act of raw violence that carries the kind of punch sci-fi shootouts just can't equal. The devastation on O'Brien's face is vivid as he takes in what has happened and realizes that his daughter has just done something irrevocable.

Moments such as this elevate the episode in bursts... But there's just no getting around how predictable the whole thing is. It feels expendable - a sense only heightened by the knowledge that O'Brien will not have to endure a single consequence for the station regulations he breaks in the second half.

It's not a bad episode, and it is worth watching for the performances and the character material. But in an excellent season, this is a decidedly lesser episode.


Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Episode: Profit and Lace
Next Episode: The Sound of Her Voice

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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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6-7. You Are Cordially Invited.

No easy ceremony: The wedding of Worf and Dax.

THE PLOT:

A mood of celebration runs through the station in the wake of Sisko's retaking of Deep Space 9. As Sisko observes, the war is far from over and the station will continue to be "one of the most tempting targets in the entire Quadrant." But with business returning to normal and not a Jem'Hadar in sight, the war "seems very far away."

Worf and Dax had agreed to wait until after the war to marry. But when they learn that Worf's son Alexander (Marc Worden) will be transferred to a new ship at the end of the week, they decide to move the wedding up so that he will be a part of it. Both bride and groom have much to do to prepare for the ceremony. Worf gathers his closest friends - Sisko, Martok, Bashir, and O'Brien - to join him for a four-day Klingon bachelor party... which turns out to be an ordeal of deprivation, pain, and violence ("Sounds like marriage all right," Bashir notes).

Meanwhile, Dax greets Martok's wife, Sirella (Shannon Cochran). As mistress of the House of Martok, Sirella must approve of every wedding... which, since Worf joined Martok's House, includes his. Sirella is a Klingon traditionalist, believing that admitting aliens will dilute their sense of identity - leaving Dax fighting an uphill battle to keep this formidable Klingon woman from cancelling the wedding!


CHARACTERS:

Capt. Sisko: One of his first acts after retaking the station is to recommend Martok for the position of Supreme Commander of the 9th Fleet. He brushes off Martok's gruff irritation with sincere congratulations. In an amusing bit of nonverbal business, Sisko becomes protective of his prized baseball when the Klingon shows a little too much interest in it. After a confrontation between Dax and Sirella temporarily derails the wedding, Sisko is the one to confront his old friend, pushing her to set aside her pride and make the needed apologies.

Major Kira: Grins almost constantly at Sisko throughout their first scene in Ops, and tells him how much she hated to say "Good morning, Dukat," during Sisko's absence. She and Odo attempt to avoid each other, not wanting to talk about either his betrayal or his feelings for her. She's the one who finally decides it's silly to dodge each other in hallways and corrals him at Dax's bachelorette party, pulling him into a private room for a long discussion. We don't see the talk, but based on its aftermath - which sees both of them having lost track of time just talking to each other for the first time in a long time - it would appear to have been a good talk.

Worf: As we glimpsed in earlier episodes this season, he has been obsessing over the wedding ever since Dax told him she would marry him. Worf is much like the stereotypical "bridezilla." He has dreamed of his perfect Klingon wedding, obsessed over it, and needs it to be perfect in every detail. When Dax announces that she doesn't really care about Klingon tradition and just wants to get married, he takes it as a direct assault on all he holds dear. In conversation with Martok, he lists all the ways in which he and Dax are mis-matched... Which are also all the ways in which they complement each other so well: "When she is laughing, I am somber. When I am happy, she is crying... She mocks everything, while I take everything seriously. She is nothing like the woman I thought I would marry."

Dax: If Worf has been given the traditional "bride" traits of obsessing ridiculously over the wedding, then Dax has been given the traditional "unconcerned husband" role. She doesn't particularly care about the wedding details, and is perfectly happy to leave all that to Worf. Her very long life-span has cured her of any excitement for weddings: "I've gone through five Trill ceremonies: Three as a bride, two as a groom... I'm a little bored with it." She takes an instant (albeit warranted) dislike to Sirella. When one of her tasks for the Klingon matron is to recite "the chronicle of the women of (Sirella's) family," Dax keeps interjecting with facts from Klingon history that are at odds with the mythology of the chronicle, deliberately baiting her.

O'Brien/Bashir: Or the episode's comedy double-act. Looking forward to a debauched, drunken, four-day Klingon bachelor party, they are gobsmacked when Worf and Martok inform them that they are in for an ordeal. When the wedding is temporarily called off, there's a moment when it seems like they plan to do something to save the day... but their plan of action is to immediately order themselves a feast to celebrate an end to their four-day fast (only to predictably, but still hilariously, have the wedding back on course just as they are about to take their first bite). As he undergoes a particularly painful ritual, Bashir announces that his consciousness has genuinely expanded: "I've had a vision about the future. I can see it so clearly... I'm going to kill Worf!" O'Brien is enthusiastically on-board with the idea.

Quark: In an unguarded moment, he lets slip to Jake that he feels jealous of Worf. He probably doesn't actually "have feelings" for Dax, but he's certainly fond of her. She is a rare non-Ferengi who genuinely enjoys the Ferengi pastimes most of the rest of the Trek races sneer at. She gambles with enthusiasm, haggles when the occasion calls for it, and is a genuine friend to Quark, something that's been very rare in his life. It's no surprise that he thinks she's too good for Worf, a joyless man he describes as "a walking frown."

Martok: It's startling to think that Martok only truly became part of the series' framework in the middle of Season Five, only slightly more than half a season before this episode. By now, he's become an integral part of the series, which shows just how well this show does with its regular and recurring characters. He's the perfect counterpart to Worf: Every bit the true, honorable Klingon warrior, the living model of what Worf inspires to be - Yet at the same time, with a wonderful sense of irreverence and impatience with pompous ceremony for its own sake. J. G. Hertzler is perfect in every scene, and the irritable, growling old warrior steals the show right out from under the rest of the cast.


THOUGHTS:

The first episode after the extended Occupation arc is a character comedy, the first comedy episode the series has provided since In the Cards. This has a nice symmetry to it. The dark, dramatic 7-episode arc that saw the station's fall, Occupation, and finally retaking is bookended with two character-based comedy episodes, allowing some levity and even silliness to counter the heavy material in between.

You Are Cordially Invited is not as splendid as In the Cards. Then again, few episodes are.  This warm, smart, and very funny offering is a joy to watch on its own terms. Ronald D. Moore is hardly the first writer you'd think of for comedy. But the conviction he brings to the characters allows it to work exactly the way character comedy should work. Every person in the show is a fully-realized indivual, driven by a specific viewpoint that makes sense once given context.

Dax and Worf have radically different outlooks on the marriage, but both outlooks make sense: Why should Dax, who has been married numerous times over numerous lifetimes, be excited about yet another wedding? At the same time, why shouldn't Worf, who has always idealized all things Klingon, be insistent on making what he believes will be his only wedding exactly in-keeping with the culture his existence has centered on? Even Sirella, the villain of the piece, has her own viewpoint which is reasonable from her perspective: Why should she give her blessing to a union that, to her, diminishes the purity of her House? She already dislikes that Worf, still officially considered a traitor, is now part of her House. Why should she extend her House to that same traitor's marriage to an alien?

I'll dock the episode a point because we never see how Dax manages to convince Sirella to change her mind about the wedding. It feels like there's a big piece missing - one which in my opinion could have been accommodated by cutting the (overlong) bachelorette party scene in half.

Still, this is an overall well-paced and well-constructed hour. It's a comedy that manages to be extremely funny without ever losing sight of the truth of its characters. Definitely a good one - And quite a bit better than I had expected.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Sacrifice of Angels
Next Episode: Resurrection

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6-4. Behind the Lines.

Odo links with the Female Changeling (Salome Jens)

THE PLOT:

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

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

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


CHARACTERS

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

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

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

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

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


THOUGHTS

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

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

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

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

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


Overall Rating: 8/10.

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

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5-22. Children of Time.

Odo reveals his feelings to Kira.

THE PLOT

The Defiant, carrying virtually the entire station command staff, is at the end of a week-long reconnaissance mission in the Gamma Quadrant. They are about to head home when the ship picks up what may be life form readings beneath an energy barrier surrounding a planet. Dax assures Sisko that the ship can safely fly through the barrier with just a few shield modifications. Instead, the ship is badly damaged, and Kira is hit by a burst of energy that will kill her in a few weeks if she isn't returned to the station for proper treatment.

That's when the ship are contacted by the colony on the surface - a colony whose leader, Yedrin Dax (Gary Frank) informs them that all the people on the surface are descendants of the Defiant crew. When the ship completes its repairs and leaves orbit, the energy barrier will throw them back in time 200 years, with no hope of rescue. With this knowledge, Sisko and his crew could easily avoid that fate, returning to their lives and saving Kira's. But if they do so, then this successful colony of their direct descendants will not only have been killed - They will never have existed at all!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: "We're not actually considering this?" "No. We're not." I like that Sisko's immediate reaction to this dilemma is to refuse Yedrin. His explicit responsibility is to his crew, not to a colony that either will or will not exist, depending on his decision. He will not ask Kira to sacrifice herself for the colony, nor will he deny O'Brien the chance to return to his family. At the same time, Sisko isn't callous or unfeeling. He admits to Yedrin that he wishes he could help, and he allows his officers to give free voice to their views - Even ultimately allowing himself to be influenced by them.

Major Kira: Though hers is the life that will be lost if they go back in time and found the colony, she is the one most strongly in favor of doing so. This is in part because of her religious convictions. Part of her belief in the Prophets and in prophecy is that certain events are meant to be: "We're all given one destiny, one path." She also is a pragmatist, and when she does the math she comes to the same conclusion Yedrin does: That one life is a small sacrifice for 8,000 lives.

Odo: The "future" Odo is emotionally open with Kira. However, he is never seen interacting with anyone except Kira, nor he is talked about by the people in the colony. We see no evidence of friendships, relationships, or even what his role in the society might be - all of which leaves me suspecting that he is even more separate from the colony than "our" Odo is from Deep Space 9. His loss of Kira, not long after learning that she had broken up with Shakaar and was once again available (which dredged up all his old desires and fears), appears to have been the central fact of his past 200 years. Our Odo had nothing to do with the action this alternative version takes at the episode's end... but Kira's knowledge that he has the potential to do such a thing is far more likely to drive a wedge between them than the revelation of his feelings for her. I hope to see at least some strain in their interactions as a result.

Dax: Two Daxes feature in this episode: Jadzia and Yedrin, who will become the Dax symbiont's host after 200 years in the colony. Both Daxes feel responsible for the crew's situation, since Jadzia had pushed Sisko to take the ship through the energy barrier. But those 200 years make a big difference in perspective. Jadzia feels a direct loyalty to Sisko and the Defiant crew, and feels an urgency to save Kira. Yedren feels the guilt of the crew being stranded and of Kira's death, but he has spent 200 years watching the colony grow (probably most of that time, leading it), and his loyalties lie with his people. Refreshingly, Yedren does not try to force Sisko into repeating the accident. He relies mainly on persuasion, and his arguments are effective. Both Terry Farrell and Gary Frank give strong performances, making the similarities and differences between these two Daxes come to life.

O'Brien: After the original crash, he was the last to give up hope of a return home. Which makes sense: Not only does he have the strongest family ties (Jake is almost an adult; Worf only occasionally sees his son), he also has been separated from them before for a years-long period only to finally be returned. Our O'Brien works hard to reject the colony as valid. He avoids interaction with his descendants, because he needs to focus on returning home. Once he finally is forced to interact with some of his great-great grandchildren, and forced to see them as real people, he changes his mind in an instant and tells Sisko that the crew can't simply leave these people to die.


THOUGHTS

Children of Time is a character episode masquerading as a time anomaly show. The time travel elements make the story possible, but Rene Echevarria's teleplay keeps its focus squarely on the regulars, using the situation to explore their personalities and their reactions. Echevarria, arguably the show's best character writer, is able to give every regular some strong moments, and in every case the characters' reactions feel genuine.

The episode plays fair with its situation. Yedren produces a Technobabble solution to allow Sisko and his crew to return home while still saving the colony... but it's rapidly debunked as a fabrication, an attempt to trick Sisko into going back in time. From then on, the choice is clear: If the Defiant returns home, Kira lives and they return to their lives, but the colony will be wiped out; if the ship replicates the original crash, the colony will live, but Kira will die and none of them will ever see home again. Yedren doesn't make any further attempts to trick them, nor does he attempt force. Sisko and his crew are left to weight two terrible alternatives and decide on their own.

That this decision is taken away from them at the end is narratively necessary, but again it's not used as a cheat. When Odo reveals exactly what happened, it feels true to the story and to the characters, and reveals (not for the first time) that Odo has a legitimate dark side. It also brings a new perspective to the future Odo's apparent peace, which is revealed to be not wisdom but rather an extreme narcissism, elevating his own desires above everything else. Our Odo probably wouldn't make the same decision in the same circumstance... but we (and Kira... And Odo, for that matter) know now that such a decision is within him, and that may color our view of his future actions.

It's all splendidly shot, with director Allan Kroeker making the most of beautiful location shots and making them feel convincingly like part of the same geography as the colony sets. The pace is just right, slow enough to allow the character material to play out, but turning the plot in new directions at regular enough intervals to keep the situation fluid and alive.

Another great episode, in a season that's already had several great episodes.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Soldiers of the Empire
Next Episode: Blaze of Glory

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5-21. Soldiers of the Empire.

Worf begins to doubt Martok (J. G. Hertzler)'s resolve.

THE PLOT

General Martok (J. G. Hertzler) extends an invitation to Worf: Join him as first officer on the Rotarran, a Klingon Bird of Prey. The Rotarran has been assigned to find the B'Moth, a battle cruiser that disappeared near the Cardassian border. It is a great chance at redemption for both men: Martok, to prove that he remains a strong leader after two years in a Dominion prison camp; Worf, to earn honor in the eyes of the Empire that disbanded his House. Dax also insists on coming along as Science Officer, determined to protect Worf from a crew that she can tell is dangerous.

Dax is right: The crew of the Rotarran is in a dark state. Ever since the Cardassians allied themselves with the Jem'Hadar, the Klingon ship has suffered one defeat after another. The Klingons are hungry for a victory, any victory. When Martok plots a course designed to avoid battle, insisting on focusing on the mission, the atmosphere goes from dark to dangerous. And when Martok plays it safe a second time, passing up a potentially easy kill for fear of a Dominion trap, the crew starts to hover on the edge of mutiny!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Talks with Worf before granting the request to temporarily release him to be Martok's first officer. He mainly wants to make sure that Worf genuinely desires this. When Worf explains why he feels loyal to Martok, he adds that he isn't sure Sisko, a human, can understand. Sisko's expression says otherwise, and he grants the request with no further questions.

Worf: His loyalty to Martok stems from his time in the Jem'Hadar prison camp. When the Jem'Hadar forced him to fight in their arena, he could see no end to the cycle and considered letting them win. Martok recognized his intent and stopped him with a single look, saving Worf's life and allowing him to eventually escape. His defense of Martok even when it becomes clear that the general is going out of his way to avoid a fight feels more like something from his human upbringing than from the Klingon values he has always prized. When situations force him to finally confront Martok, that loyalty is still in evidence - something Martok again recognizes, fortunately for Worf.

Dax: With Worf behaving more like a human, it falls to Dax to be "more Klingon than Klingon" this week. She bonds with the crew quite quickly, having calculated exactly how to ingratiate herself: Her first day in the mess hall, she picks just the right fight as a prelude to delivering three crates of blood wine. She quickly recognizes that the crew is in despair over their string of defeats. Worf sees this too, but Dax sees what he does not: Namely, the danger to Worf and Martok in this situation. She pushes Worf at every turn, reminding him that this is not a Federation ship: "If you think the blood looks bad on my uniform, wait until the decks are dripping with it!"

Martok: "Broken" by the Jem'Hadar, just as the crew of the Rotarran has been. Like the crew, he needs a victory to restore his confidence. But he's too fearful of the Jem'Hadar to actually get one. Having fallen victim to them once, he sees Dominion traps in every situation. His first choice, to avoid a nebula where warships are certain to be, is sensible: Their mission is to find the B'Moth, not to endanger the ship needlessly. But when he avoids a fight with a Jem'Hadar ship directly in their path just because a trap is possible, it's clear that he is afraid. Once again, his crew directly reflects him, as we see one Klingon officer drunkenly talk about how the Jem'Hadar's lack of honor makes them "better... they're faster and they're stronger than we are!" When Martok refuses to rescue the ship they've been sent to retrieve just because it drifted across the border, he sparks a challenge - and when Martok wins that challenge, his crew begin chanting his name, then singing as he recovers his Klingon blood lust and presses forward into the very battle he (and the ship) have dreaded.


THOUGHTS

In terms of developing the Klingons, Soldiers of the Empire doesn't add anything new to Trek lore. The Klingons live by a warrior code. There is a very specific structure to the way in which a Klingon warrior may advance by challenging his superior, and that structure and code keep the society from chaos despite the chaotic way their culture may appear from the outside. An honorable victory is what a warrior lives for, and defeat is ignominy... All of which is ground tread by previous TNG and DS9 episodes many times before.

What keeps this episode from feeling like a stale retread is the way it is framed. Putting our regulars on a Klingon ship, serving with a Klingon crew, heavily recalls TNG's A Matter of Honor. But the ship Worf and Dax serve on is a ship that has endured a series of defeats, to the point at which the crew now goes into battle expecting to be defeated. This gives it a different flavor from other Klingon episodes, as Worf and Dax must watch their backs around this dangerously demoralized crew even as Worf slowly comes to realize that he will have to challenge Martok for the captain's seat.

Like many Klingon episodes, this is very broadly played, almost operatic in tone and style... Which works, because the Klingons feel right and the dimmer lighting and more claustrophobic set design of the Bird of Prey interiors adds an atmosphere well-suited to the proceedings. It isn't actually an action episode - A brawl that's cut short by Dax and a knife fight at the climax are the only two "action" pieces in the show. But Moore's script and Levar Burton's steady directing keep the tension of the situation tangible, with the viewer left waiting right along with the characters for it to reach its boiling point.

What keeps this from reaching the heights of the best Klingon episodes, such as TNG's Sins of the Father or DS9's The Way of the Warrior, is the guest cast. The crew of the Rotarran are a bunch of one-dimensional "types." There's the drunken one, there's the dangerous one, there's the sympathetic woman... I couldn't even tell you any of the characters' names unless I wanted to look them up. The script is effective in having the crew's fractured state reflect Martok's fractured state, and in bringing the crew together as a unified force just as Martok recovers his old Klingon fire... But I can't help but think that the same could have been accomplished while making at least one or two members of the crew into layered characters.

The weak guest characters are made up for by very strong characterizations of the regular and recurring cast. Moore's script gives Worf and Dax very strong material, with this being one of the best Dax episodes in a while. Martok continues to develop as a memorable and interesting recurring character, and his friendship with Worf promises to become another of the several wonderful character relationships this show has created.  That's more than enough to make this a good episode... Even if it leaves it short of being a great one.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Ferengi Love Songs
Next Episode: Children of Time

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5-18. Business as Usual.

Quark goes into business with a ruthless arms dealer (Steven Berkoff).

THE PLOT

A feldomite strike has sent Quark's investments into freefall, effectively wiping out what little he had left in the wake of the ban by the Ferengi Commerce Authority. "I'm up to my lobes in debt," he frets, with no apparent way to maneuver himself out of his predicament.

Enter Gaila (Josh Pais), Quark's cousin who tried to kill him the previous year. Gaila is here not to bury Quark, but to offer him a lifeline: A 5% cut of a string of lucrative arms dealers brokered on behalf of humans arm dealer Hagath (Steven Berkoff). "Weapons is a growth industry," Gaila tells him. "In a month, all your debts will be paid. In six months, the Ferengi Commerce Authority will be begging to reinstate you. In a year, you'll have your own moon!"

Out of desperation, Quark agrees, only to find himself in very treacherous territory. The station personnel shun him in disgust for his career switch, while it quickly becomes apparent that Hagath is not just ruthless, but downright murderous to anyone who crosses him. Quark tries to ease any pangs of conscience by clinging to the notion that he is selling defensive weapons... Until a crazed Regent (Lawrence Tierney) demands bio-weapons, wanting a final body count of about 28 million!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Hagath's connections are such that he can't touch Quark for arms dealing, not so long as the Ferengi avoids breaking any actual station laws. But he makes it clear that this marks a firm end to his former tolerance for the Ferengi's activities. When Quark ultimately does the right thing, Sisko extends his forgiveness - but only at a rather steep price.

Quark: Quark is given everything he supposedly ever wanted. His debts are rapidly repaid, and the very deal that troubles his conscience is the one that will give him the kind of profits he's always dreamed of. All that is required is for him to be the person he's always pretended to be: A grasping, soulless being who cares for nothing but profit. Instead, he is stung at being shunned by all Federation personnel. The end of Body Parts showed that, though his own people may have cut him off, he was anything but alone. This episode dangles the prospect of ending the FCA ban - but at the cost of isolating him from people he's come to see (whether he admits it or not) as friends. Quark's final choice is predetermined; this isn't a show that's going to turn one of its regulars into a quasi-villain. But the way in which that choice is portrayed feels very true to who Quark is, which is why the episode works as well as it does.

Dax: Acts as the voice of Quark's conscience. Sisko's may be the official rejection, but Dax's disgust is the rejection he truly feels. This fits, as Dax behaved as a friend to Quark from fairly early on. When he decides he cannot live with the Regent's demands, Dax is the person he chooses to visit before he takes action.

O'Brien: In subplot land, he gets a sitcom story involving his baby's refusal to stop crying unless he's holding him every second. It's dispensable fare, but it's painless enough. The situation is one most parents in the audience will be able to relate to, as O'Brien becomes ever more desperate for his son to stop crying. The final scene of the subplot, as Worf reflects on how he never got to see his own son as a baby and how lucky he thinks O'Brien is, represents a nice character scene. Completely unrelated to the "A" plot, but easy to take in spite of that.

Villain of the Week: Steven Berkoff was a "go-to villain" of the 1980's and early '90's. His Hagath isn't at all far removed from his role as Victor Maitland in Beverly Hills Cop: a soft-spoken businessman whose reptilian presence makes him sinister even when he's behaving in a relatively friendly manner. Hagath is shrewd, knowing when to sell to both sides in a conflict, when to sell to the stronger side, and when to sell to the weaker one. He supplied arms to the Bajorans during the Occupation, choosing to make a friend of Bajor as a business calculation." I knew the Cardassians would eventually lose... They underestimated the Bajoran thirst for freedom. I didn't."


THOUGHTS

"Look out there. Millions and millions of stars, millions upon millions of worlds. And right now, half of them are fanatically dedicated to destroying the other half. Now, do you think if one of those twinkling little lights suddenly went out, anybody would notice? Suppose I offered you ten million bars of gold pressed latinum to help turn out one of those lights, would you really tell me to keep my money?"
-Gaila bluntly lays out the stakes for his cousin Quark.

When I put in a Ferengi episode, I still go in expecting a comedy. By now, I should know not to pre-judge. Last season's Bar Association and Body Parts both offered Quark-centric plots with serious underpinnings, milking decent drama out of episodes that I expected to be mediocre comedies. Business as Usual takes that further, offering an episode that is very clearly not a comedy. This episode puts Quark into a genuinely serious situation, and then cuts off all support from the remaining regulars. He is left entirely to his own devices to extricate himself, one of many excellent choices made by writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle.

One thing I appreciate is that this entire story is a consequence of a previous story. The FCA ban levied against Quark leaves him in a desperate situation. All Ferengi are barred from doing business with him, which cuts deeply into his options. Quark can cross one of his few lines, and deal in weapons sales, or he can lose everything. Little surprise that he makes the choice he does.

I've already discussed Steven Berkoff's Hagath. The other notable guest star is Lawrence Tierney, an actor with a long history of playing crime figures. He's probably best remembered for Reservoir Dogs, though his career stretches back considerably further than that (he also previously guest starred in TNG's The Big Goodbye, playing - you guessed it - a crime boss). The Regent is a very small role, which is likely why Tierney was even up to playing it in the wake of a severe stroke. He only has one major scene. But his presence adds a sense of menace and, yes, insanity that makes Quark's decision to risk his life to sink this deal entirely believable.

Business As Usual is a good episode, one which takes a character often at the center of lighthearted shows and puts him in the middle of a genuinely clever suspense plot. For Alexander Siddig, who directed this episode under his real name (Siddig El-Fadil), it's a strong directorial debut, one which leaves me hoping we'll see more episodes helmed by him in the future.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: A Simple Investigation
Next Episode: Ties of Blood and Water

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