I've Finally Finished DS9
So, a bunch of misfits, failures, outcasts and emotionally scarred officers ended up on a rundown space station orbiting a war-torn planet that nobody really cared about. Although it was a less than desirable assignment, that rundown space station through a series of events became the most important piece of real-estate in the galaxy, and the centre point of a massive war against an enemy it took an alliance of the Federation, the Klingon Empire, the Romulans and the galaxy's most unlikely resistance cell to defeat. And between that group who initially didn't get along all that well, romances and bromances developed and eventually they became one big unconventional family. Together they faced down massive space battles, holosuite antics and multi-episode story arcs that would later be re-used by Battlestar Galactica. And at the end most of them left, some of them stayed, and among their peoples they became leaders, reformists and teachers.
In other words: Best. Trek. Ever.
This season can really be split into two parts, everything before the finale arc and the finale arc. The everything before was hit and miss, with some terrible episodes but with some brilliant ones. The finale arc was, bar one episode, ranged from great to brilliant.
I thought the show had lost a lot of the magic in Image in the Sand. With the team so fractured thanks to the three storylines not interacting it just didn't seem the same. But became again the show I loved in Shadows and Symbols, with the guys on that awesome mission to get Jadzia into Klingon heaven (her death may have been lame, but the tribute she got in that mission was fantastic), Kira once again comfortable in the position of underdog facing down a much more powerful foe (I thought that was a nice call back to the pilot), and Sisko's plot being more mystical (and I love how it linked into Far Beyond the Stars, and yay for getting Damar into the Benny Hill universe).
I'm not a fan of the Sisko being part Prophet retcon. I would have welcomed it a lot more if there had been something to suggest it in the past (like if Sisko's mother walking out on him had been mentioned in an earlier season). Still I think this show had for the most part pulled of it's retcons. What is it with this show and characters mother's being revealed to have been forced into prostitution? First we had Kira Meru, now Sarah Sisko. I could have done with a bit more anger at the situation Sarah Sisko was put into.
Now is a good time as ever to discuss Ezri Dax. First of all, I really like the idea of a character coming to terms with having suddenly hundreds of years of memories. If a person is a sum of their memories, how do they come to terms with that? Particularly when their memories are so small in comparison. Goodness knows many of my half-finished post Journey's End Doctor Who fix-it fics touch upon the subject.
But, saying that, Ezri initially came off as far too comic-neurotic than actually struggling. And it was so jarring after Jadzia who was so self-assured and confident to have the new Dax a neurotic mess (I suppose the contrast was the point though). And then there was the fact that she was the galaxy's worst counsellor, who spent most of her time trying to work through her own issues and not do her job and told Julian it would have been him if not for Worf (that is not helping!). Any other star-fleet position but counsellor would have been nice.
Garak was the saving grace of Afterimage, but Prodigal Daughter and Field of Fire were just awful. Saying that I warmed to Ezri in the final arc, about the time when she went out to rescue Worf. I prefer Jadzia but Ezri's alright.
I loved Take Me Out to the Holosuite. It was just so much fun.
Random giffage time:
Bashir was being creepily needy in Chrysalis, so I was quite happy with the outcome of that episode. Bashir's an interesting character, on the surface pretty laid back and normal, but in certain situations, his obsessive and needy sides really show.
Treachery, Faith and the Great River was a favourite of mine this first part of the season. I love explorations of faith, and I loved seeing Weyoun's faith in the Founders explored as well the episode giving the Ferengi a spiritual side that is so perfect for a species of capitalists.
Really, if family was a reoccurring theme in season five, it's faith that reoccurs through this season. From the opener with Sisko's faith in the prophets, Worf, Bashir and Quark giving respect to Jadzia's trip to the afterlife, and Odo's near unwavering faith in Kira. Actually, that one thing I really liked about the treatment of faith in this show (and it's something that can be said for BSG as well) is that faith in people or an ideas is treated as just as valid as faith in a god or gods. Odo seems to draw as much comfort from his faith in Kira as Kira does in her faith in the Prophets. Faith in the principle of the Federation comes into play later with Bashir and Section 51.
I'm sad they killed Weyoun Five off off-screen. He was my favourite Weyoun (he was the one who moaned about having no sense of aesthetics, right?)
Once More Into the Breach: My dislike of Klingon episodes has subsided, just because I adore Martok, so having an episode to devoted to Kor did not bug me, and I really enjoyed that as well. I particularly appreciated that talk of legends and their deaths.
I love DS9's 'war is hell' episodes and The Siege of AR-558 is no exception. Quark being there was a bit random, but I appreciated him being the voice who brought up Jake and generally pointed out how dangerous humans could be. And poor Nog.
I read on Memory Alpha that they deliberately picked characters that had not seen much combat for this episode, so Worf, Kira and O'Brien were out. Though this made me thing: we never got to have an episode in which the characters that have seen a lot of combat team up and kick ass. You team Kira, Worf, O'Brien and Garak up, and they'd be unstoppable. (Spin-off!)
Actually, I would have loved an episode with Kira and Worf in which they went into combat together, just because I remember once Worf saying that terrorist tactics were not honourable, and it'd be fascinating to have those two with their two very different attitudes interacting.
Covenant was an enjoyable episode. Again faith, this time Kira's vs Dukat's. As a conclusion to the epic and twisted Kira/Dukat relationship, it was a huge disappointment. I felt there needed to be something more to it. But then, I don't think I would ever be satisfied with any ending to that relationship that having Kira be the one to kill Dukat. But, apparently Sisko was the chosen one, so Sisko it was. *sigh* Couldn't she still have stabbed him or something? He could have lived.
I'm not a big fan of Vic Fontane but I loved It's Only A Paper Moon. Nog is probably the best example of the amazing writing and characterisation in this show. He went from a teenage thief to a traumatised war veteran.
The mirror universe though is an example of taking a good thing and then flogging it to death. The Intendant was really the best thing about the mirror episodes, and even she was getting tiring towards the end, although I enjoyed her surviving. Rom pointing out all the inconsistencies just made matter worse. And Vic Fontane was in the mirror!verse. WTF?
Chimera gave Treachery, Faith et al a run for the episode I enjoyed the most this part of the season. What I've always liked about Odo is that of all the regular characters in any Trek series, he's the most alien. Not eating, drinking, he doesn't need to breathe if he doesn't want too, and his motivation is not to become more human. Furthermore, this episode touched upon his precarious loyalties. Yes, he has turned his back on his people, but as Laas points out, his reason is not due to some great love of humanoids or being anti-war, it's because of Kira. I have a feeling that if Sisko and the others were to ever know that, Odo would not be as trusted.
I have to say, I love Kira/Odo all through this season. Their relationship is so mature. What I love about it is both the immense trust they have in each other, but also the respect each has for the other having their own desires, goals, belief and responsibilities that acknowledgement in their actions those may be bigger than their relationship. Odo's willing to sit back and watching while Kira risks her life for Bajor, just as Kira's willing to acknowledge that Odo's tie to his people may be more important to him than her. So often I see relationships being treated as the be all and end all, love being the supreme thing that justifies all manner of reckless actions with no respect for consequences, and I just don't think that's true. And this love story for me is a breath of fresh air.
Anyway, those two are wonderful in this episode and I loved that we got a glimpse at the problems they face being two members of very different species.
Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang was a fun little distraction. As for Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges, I quite like the idea of section 31, but it just didn't catch my imagination as other plotlines have done. Maybe because spy things bore me stupid (with the exception of anything mocking James Bond). Still, unravelling the mystery of what was going on was good. And I really liked that Romulan senator. I thought she was all kinds of awesome, so it's a shame she became a victim of the intrigue.
Okay, that part of the season is over and done with. On to the massive ten part finale arc:
I'm going to start with Damar, because he rocketed up my list of favourite characters. His transformation from hopeless drunk Dominion puppet to charismatic leader was fantastic. His death was the biggest tragedy of the finale because by the end of it, he was the perfect leader for a new Cardassia, one patriotism and a love of his people, but knew that they had made mistakes in the past and could not afford to repeat them. Why did he have to die? *Sniff*
Possibly unsurprisingly, given my love of Cardassian schemes, Bajor-Cardassia relations and all things Kira Nerys, the Cardassian rebellion happened to be my favourite plotline of this arc. I would have loved to have seen more of it. Hell, give me an whole episode of Kira, Damar and Garak sulking in a basement and I'll be the happiest ever Trek fan.
I can't help but just love it for the irony of having Kira and Garak be the liberators of Cardassia. Kira's story go anymore wonderfully full circle. And poor Garak was heartbreaking in the final episode, discussing the Cardassia that no longer exists.
Oh, and the troops storming the Dominion stronghold and also the scene in the Dogs of War in which everyone was screaming 'For Cardassia!' are two of my favourite moments in Trek.
Loved that it was Kira who busted in an pointed a phaser at the Founder. Really, Kira/Odo/Founder is a bit of a love triangle if you think about it. So I'm guessing the power of love mixed with inevitable defeat convinced the Founder to give up the war? Well, that's how I read it. What had changed between the last time Odo and the Founder linked was that Odo found out that a solid could reciprocate his love and trust him. Or I many have just read that in because I've become a hopeless shipper and I just want to be able to say 'Kira/Odo - their love saved the Alpha Quadrant.' Still fits with the first Star Trek movie.
It was nice that the Worf-Dax-Bashir love triangle achieved resolution. I felt a bit too much time was on it, and while Ezri and Worf really did have to work out their issues before the show ended, the Bashir-Ezri hook-up was kind of unnecessary and seemed a bit quick.
The Klingon stuff I enjoyed immensely, especially Worf's five seconds as the Chancellor of the Empire (go Worf!). I'm not sure it's because I just really like Martok and Worf and so that was why I enjoyed it, or the show has won me over and I've learnt to love Klingons.
The O'Brien and Bashir investigate Section 31 episode was the real clunker of the arc. While I loved the attention given to O'Brien and Bashir's friendship (I was so sad O'Brien never told Bashir he loved him), the story just was not good and it seemed so weird to go from having three to four plotlines an episode to just the one through this one.
The Winn/Dukat hook up was so creepy and wrong. I sat there squirming in my seat as she fell in love with him. I found Winn to be quite sympathetic through the first half of the episodes. With the Prophets silent, it's as if she was set up to fail (I wouldn't be surprised if she deliberately was). But then, she was given a test in the form of Kira telling her to resign as Kai, which was arguably Kira failing at how to not push people to evil deeds, but at the same time the Kai's like that guy on the roof in the flood who rejects the guy in the boat (Kira) in favour of his God, but then when he dies finds out that God sent the guy in the boat, so she failed (and clearly, Kai Winn never watched that episode of The West Wing). Anyway, that plotline became a bit less wrong when she chucked Dukat out on the street and then murdered him. Nice to see the Kai didn't stay a victim.
Still, when I watched What You Leave Behind Last Year, having only the bare bones knowledge of the series, the Fire Caves bit stood out. You see, the big ass space battle, I could understand, the rebellion I could understand, but the Fire Caves bit were rather WTF because they didn't seem to tie in. On second viewing, the same problem emerged. The set up was right there from the first episode of the arc, but it Winn, Dukat and Sisko were all afterthoughts. The writers really needed to find a way to tie it into the war. But then again, maybe not that was a good thing because the temptation would be there to give the whole war a dues ex machina ending, and four seasons of RTD's Doctor Who has taught me how disappointing those are. Basically, the Fire Cave bit sucked, but I don't know how it could not have sucked.
Sisko joining the Prophets was fine, and I'm sure the Sisko-became-a-god thing is used by those arguing why Sisko's the best captain all the time. One thing that bugged me was that he didn't say goodbye to Jake. It seemed Jake was a bit sidelined. Surely he could have gone with Kassidy to say goodbye to his Dad. And, you know, it's not like Jake losing his Dad has caused him to ruin his life before *cough*TheVisitor*cough*
I didn't like the montage of clips, just because I would have picked different clips. The goodbyes were well done, particularly Odo and Quark and Odo and Kira.
And can I just say now, because I knew it was going her ending was going to go this way, but now it's time to celebrate it: thank you writers for not only creating Kira Nerys, but also for giving her character development, not side-lining her when she became on half of a major relationship with another main character, but best of all, for not only not killing her off, but also for give her the freaking station and thus an awesome ending. She's the only major female character in genre television that I can think of right now that didn't fall into any of those holes. Really, it's a sad state of affairs when it comes to the writing of female characters and its one of the major reasons why I'm so bitter and cynical at the moment.
And the final shot, Jake and Kira, Sisko's son and his successor, standing looking out over DS9 and towards the wormhole was just perfect.
So I am done. Which means that now with the whole of the canon covered, I can get to acting on those plot bunnies and finish that vid I started.
In other words: Best. Trek. Ever.
This season can really be split into two parts, everything before the finale arc and the finale arc. The everything before was hit and miss, with some terrible episodes but with some brilliant ones. The finale arc was, bar one episode, ranged from great to brilliant.
I thought the show had lost a lot of the magic in Image in the Sand. With the team so fractured thanks to the three storylines not interacting it just didn't seem the same. But became again the show I loved in Shadows and Symbols, with the guys on that awesome mission to get Jadzia into Klingon heaven (her death may have been lame, but the tribute she got in that mission was fantastic), Kira once again comfortable in the position of underdog facing down a much more powerful foe (I thought that was a nice call back to the pilot), and Sisko's plot being more mystical (and I love how it linked into Far Beyond the Stars, and yay for getting Damar into the Benny Hill universe).
I'm not a fan of the Sisko being part Prophet retcon. I would have welcomed it a lot more if there had been something to suggest it in the past (like if Sisko's mother walking out on him had been mentioned in an earlier season). Still I think this show had for the most part pulled of it's retcons. What is it with this show and characters mother's being revealed to have been forced into prostitution? First we had Kira Meru, now Sarah Sisko. I could have done with a bit more anger at the situation Sarah Sisko was put into.
Now is a good time as ever to discuss Ezri Dax. First of all, I really like the idea of a character coming to terms with having suddenly hundreds of years of memories. If a person is a sum of their memories, how do they come to terms with that? Particularly when their memories are so small in comparison. Goodness knows many of my half-finished post Journey's End Doctor Who fix-it fics touch upon the subject.
But, saying that, Ezri initially came off as far too comic-neurotic than actually struggling. And it was so jarring after Jadzia who was so self-assured and confident to have the new Dax a neurotic mess (I suppose the contrast was the point though). And then there was the fact that she was the galaxy's worst counsellor, who spent most of her time trying to work through her own issues and not do her job and told Julian it would have been him if not for Worf (that is not helping!). Any other star-fleet position but counsellor would have been nice.
Garak was the saving grace of Afterimage, but Prodigal Daughter and Field of Fire were just awful. Saying that I warmed to Ezri in the final arc, about the time when she went out to rescue Worf. I prefer Jadzia but Ezri's alright.
I loved Take Me Out to the Holosuite. It was just so much fun.
Random giffage time:
Bashir was being creepily needy in Chrysalis, so I was quite happy with the outcome of that episode. Bashir's an interesting character, on the surface pretty laid back and normal, but in certain situations, his obsessive and needy sides really show.
Treachery, Faith and the Great River was a favourite of mine this first part of the season. I love explorations of faith, and I loved seeing Weyoun's faith in the Founders explored as well the episode giving the Ferengi a spiritual side that is so perfect for a species of capitalists.
Really, if family was a reoccurring theme in season five, it's faith that reoccurs through this season. From the opener with Sisko's faith in the prophets, Worf, Bashir and Quark giving respect to Jadzia's trip to the afterlife, and Odo's near unwavering faith in Kira. Actually, that one thing I really liked about the treatment of faith in this show (and it's something that can be said for BSG as well) is that faith in people or an ideas is treated as just as valid as faith in a god or gods. Odo seems to draw as much comfort from his faith in Kira as Kira does in her faith in the Prophets. Faith in the principle of the Federation comes into play later with Bashir and Section 51.
I'm sad they killed Weyoun Five off off-screen. He was my favourite Weyoun (he was the one who moaned about having no sense of aesthetics, right?)
Once More Into the Breach: My dislike of Klingon episodes has subsided, just because I adore Martok, so having an episode to devoted to Kor did not bug me, and I really enjoyed that as well. I particularly appreciated that talk of legends and their deaths.
I love DS9's 'war is hell' episodes and The Siege of AR-558 is no exception. Quark being there was a bit random, but I appreciated him being the voice who brought up Jake and generally pointed out how dangerous humans could be. And poor Nog.
I read on Memory Alpha that they deliberately picked characters that had not seen much combat for this episode, so Worf, Kira and O'Brien were out. Though this made me thing: we never got to have an episode in which the characters that have seen a lot of combat team up and kick ass. You team Kira, Worf, O'Brien and Garak up, and they'd be unstoppable. (Spin-off!)
Actually, I would have loved an episode with Kira and Worf in which they went into combat together, just because I remember once Worf saying that terrorist tactics were not honourable, and it'd be fascinating to have those two with their two very different attitudes interacting.
Covenant was an enjoyable episode. Again faith, this time Kira's vs Dukat's. As a conclusion to the epic and twisted Kira/Dukat relationship, it was a huge disappointment. I felt there needed to be something more to it. But then, I don't think I would ever be satisfied with any ending to that relationship that having Kira be the one to kill Dukat. But, apparently Sisko was the chosen one, so Sisko it was. *sigh* Couldn't she still have stabbed him or something? He could have lived.
I'm not a big fan of Vic Fontane but I loved It's Only A Paper Moon. Nog is probably the best example of the amazing writing and characterisation in this show. He went from a teenage thief to a traumatised war veteran.
The mirror universe though is an example of taking a good thing and then flogging it to death. The Intendant was really the best thing about the mirror episodes, and even she was getting tiring towards the end, although I enjoyed her surviving. Rom pointing out all the inconsistencies just made matter worse. And Vic Fontane was in the mirror!verse. WTF?
Chimera gave Treachery, Faith et al a run for the episode I enjoyed the most this part of the season. What I've always liked about Odo is that of all the regular characters in any Trek series, he's the most alien. Not eating, drinking, he doesn't need to breathe if he doesn't want too, and his motivation is not to become more human. Furthermore, this episode touched upon his precarious loyalties. Yes, he has turned his back on his people, but as Laas points out, his reason is not due to some great love of humanoids or being anti-war, it's because of Kira. I have a feeling that if Sisko and the others were to ever know that, Odo would not be as trusted.
I have to say, I love Kira/Odo all through this season. Their relationship is so mature. What I love about it is both the immense trust they have in each other, but also the respect each has for the other having their own desires, goals, belief and responsibilities that acknowledgement in their actions those may be bigger than their relationship. Odo's willing to sit back and watching while Kira risks her life for Bajor, just as Kira's willing to acknowledge that Odo's tie to his people may be more important to him than her. So often I see relationships being treated as the be all and end all, love being the supreme thing that justifies all manner of reckless actions with no respect for consequences, and I just don't think that's true. And this love story for me is a breath of fresh air.
Anyway, those two are wonderful in this episode and I loved that we got a glimpse at the problems they face being two members of very different species.
Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang was a fun little distraction. As for Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges, I quite like the idea of section 31, but it just didn't catch my imagination as other plotlines have done. Maybe because spy things bore me stupid (with the exception of anything mocking James Bond). Still, unravelling the mystery of what was going on was good. And I really liked that Romulan senator. I thought she was all kinds of awesome, so it's a shame she became a victim of the intrigue.
Okay, that part of the season is over and done with. On to the massive ten part finale arc:
I'm going to start with Damar, because he rocketed up my list of favourite characters. His transformation from hopeless drunk Dominion puppet to charismatic leader was fantastic. His death was the biggest tragedy of the finale because by the end of it, he was the perfect leader for a new Cardassia, one patriotism and a love of his people, but knew that they had made mistakes in the past and could not afford to repeat them. Why did he have to die? *Sniff*
Possibly unsurprisingly, given my love of Cardassian schemes, Bajor-Cardassia relations and all things Kira Nerys, the Cardassian rebellion happened to be my favourite plotline of this arc. I would have loved to have seen more of it. Hell, give me an whole episode of Kira, Damar and Garak sulking in a basement and I'll be the happiest ever Trek fan.
I can't help but just love it for the irony of having Kira and Garak be the liberators of Cardassia. Kira's story go anymore wonderfully full circle. And poor Garak was heartbreaking in the final episode, discussing the Cardassia that no longer exists.
Oh, and the troops storming the Dominion stronghold and also the scene in the Dogs of War in which everyone was screaming 'For Cardassia!' are two of my favourite moments in Trek.
Loved that it was Kira who busted in an pointed a phaser at the Founder. Really, Kira/Odo/Founder is a bit of a love triangle if you think about it. So I'm guessing the power of love mixed with inevitable defeat convinced the Founder to give up the war? Well, that's how I read it. What had changed between the last time Odo and the Founder linked was that Odo found out that a solid could reciprocate his love and trust him. Or I many have just read that in because I've become a hopeless shipper and I just want to be able to say 'Kira/Odo - their love saved the Alpha Quadrant.' Still fits with the first Star Trek movie.
It was nice that the Worf-Dax-Bashir love triangle achieved resolution. I felt a bit too much time was on it, and while Ezri and Worf really did have to work out their issues before the show ended, the Bashir-Ezri hook-up was kind of unnecessary and seemed a bit quick.
The Klingon stuff I enjoyed immensely, especially Worf's five seconds as the Chancellor of the Empire (go Worf!). I'm not sure it's because I just really like Martok and Worf and so that was why I enjoyed it, or the show has won me over and I've learnt to love Klingons.
The O'Brien and Bashir investigate Section 31 episode was the real clunker of the arc. While I loved the attention given to O'Brien and Bashir's friendship (I was so sad O'Brien never told Bashir he loved him), the story just was not good and it seemed so weird to go from having three to four plotlines an episode to just the one through this one.
The Winn/Dukat hook up was so creepy and wrong. I sat there squirming in my seat as she fell in love with him. I found Winn to be quite sympathetic through the first half of the episodes. With the Prophets silent, it's as if she was set up to fail (I wouldn't be surprised if she deliberately was). But then, she was given a test in the form of Kira telling her to resign as Kai, which was arguably Kira failing at how to not push people to evil deeds, but at the same time the Kai's like that guy on the roof in the flood who rejects the guy in the boat (Kira) in favour of his God, but then when he dies finds out that God sent the guy in the boat, so she failed (and clearly, Kai Winn never watched that episode of The West Wing). Anyway, that plotline became a bit less wrong when she chucked Dukat out on the street and then murdered him. Nice to see the Kai didn't stay a victim.
Still, when I watched What You Leave Behind Last Year, having only the bare bones knowledge of the series, the Fire Caves bit stood out. You see, the big ass space battle, I could understand, the rebellion I could understand, but the Fire Caves bit were rather WTF because they didn't seem to tie in. On second viewing, the same problem emerged. The set up was right there from the first episode of the arc, but it Winn, Dukat and Sisko were all afterthoughts. The writers really needed to find a way to tie it into the war. But then again, maybe not that was a good thing because the temptation would be there to give the whole war a dues ex machina ending, and four seasons of RTD's Doctor Who has taught me how disappointing those are. Basically, the Fire Cave bit sucked, but I don't know how it could not have sucked.
Sisko joining the Prophets was fine, and I'm sure the Sisko-became-a-god thing is used by those arguing why Sisko's the best captain all the time. One thing that bugged me was that he didn't say goodbye to Jake. It seemed Jake was a bit sidelined. Surely he could have gone with Kassidy to say goodbye to his Dad. And, you know, it's not like Jake losing his Dad has caused him to ruin his life before *cough*TheVisitor*cough*
I didn't like the montage of clips, just because I would have picked different clips. The goodbyes were well done, particularly Odo and Quark and Odo and Kira.
And can I just say now, because I knew it was going her ending was going to go this way, but now it's time to celebrate it: thank you writers for not only creating Kira Nerys, but also for giving her character development, not side-lining her when she became on half of a major relationship with another main character, but best of all, for not only not killing her off, but also for give her the freaking station and thus an awesome ending. She's the only major female character in genre television that I can think of right now that didn't fall into any of those holes. Really, it's a sad state of affairs when it comes to the writing of female characters and its one of the major reasons why I'm so bitter and cynical at the moment.
And the final shot, Jake and Kira, Sisko's son and his successor, standing looking out over DS9 and towards the wormhole was just perfect.
So I am done. Which means that now with the whole of the canon covered, I can get to acting on those plot bunnies and finish that vid I started.