Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season Seven Rewatch

“Image in the Sand”

We’re in a much lower gear than the action-packed Dominion War storyline that ended season five and kicked off season six, but nevertheless, I quite like this two-parter that opens season seven.
I like the three-month time-jump between the end of “Tears of the Prophets.” This is unusual for Trek season-openers!
I love that Kira is now a Colonel! I like her new haircut (and have mixed feelings about her slinky new outfit). It’s cute seeing Odo and Kira so happy together.
I love the crazy vision the Prophets give Sisko — I love how it seems to be centered around his baseball (an object which has grown to near-mythic status by this point in the show!) — I love the crazy imagery of Sisko’s digging in the desert and uncovering a face in the sand.
I really like the new character of Senator Cretak. (I always used to say that I wished she’d returned after this opening two parter — but then I realized she did, in “Inter Arma Einem Silent Leges” — it’s just that the role was recast, so I always assumed that was a DIFFERENT Romulan!) It’s a neat development that the Romulans, like the Klingons, now have a permanent presence on DS9. (Though, I wish we saw more the Romulan delegation later this season. Did they leave following the near-conflict in the next episode? We do see Cretak again in “Inter Arma,” so I assume they hung around, though it would have been cool to have seen more of them the way we’ve seen Klingons around these past few years.) I also love that Admiral Ross continues to be a regular presence on the show.
It’s interesting that Damar has started drinking.
Jake finds the woman in an old photo of his grandfather’s — creepy! I like the way this story unfolds, with Joseph admitting that he was married before — and that Sarah was actually Ben’s true mother.
I’m not sure I buy that listening to Vic Fontaine is how Worf is expressing his grief for Jadzia — but I like that Vic has clearly become a regular, too! It’s a logical development that Worf is afraid that Jadzia isn’t actually in Sto-vo-kor, because she did not die in battle. I like the scene in which O’Brien and Worf reminisce about Barclay and his Three Musketeers holodeck program (from TNG’s “Hollow Pursuits”)! I love that O’Brien turns to Martok to help Worf find a way to earn a great victory in honor of Jadzia. (I love that, when Martok comes to speak to Worf, of course Worf is able to defeat him, because Worf is the GREATEST HAND-TO-HAND COMBATANT IN THE GALAXY!)
I like that all three Sisko men go to Tyree again. (But where is Kassidy Yates while Sisko is hiding out on Earth for three months??)
I love the ending that introduces the new Dax host: Ezri Dax!

“Shadows and Symbols”

I love getting to meet Ezri Dax. Yes, it takes away some of the punch of Jadzia’s death. But it’s well-established that Dax would have a new host. And I like getting to know this very different Dax. Some fans are down on Ezri, but I think Nicole deBoer is quite charming as this young, inexperienced, somewhat scatterbrained new Dax. “It’ll be just like old times — except different.” Dax’s seeking out of Sisko, and eventual return to DS9, seems somewhat in contradiction to the Trill taboo against “reassociation” (from “Rejoined”). But it’s fun seeing her reconnect with our characters (with more great stuff in the next episode). It’s funny how the short Ezri thinks Jake looks taller, and that she hates Raktajino. The idea that Ezri is a counselor is also hilarious.
I love how tough Kira is, setting up a blockade of Derna to prevent the Romulan from being able to militarize the base. She won’t settle for political delays; she’s savvy enough to know that, once entrenched on Bajor’s moon, the Romulans will never leave. I love how her steadfastness eventually convinces Admiral Ross to back her, which forces the Romulans to back down.
I like that it’s Martok who convinces Worf to lighten up on his friends, who are accompanying them on their mission in honor of Jadzia. I love Martok! (I also really love the moment, later, after the mission is complete, when Martok grasps Quark’s hand in comradeship! Quark!! Martok is the most open-minded Klingon we’ve ever seen…)
The best part of the episode is the return of Benny Russell!!! I love those scenes of Benny in the asylum, writing the story of this episode on his walls. I loved seeing Casey Biggs (Damar) without his makeup. (Damar was one of the only main recurring characters who didn’t make it into “Far Beyond the Stars”.) I love the tension of Benny’s decision whether to continue living in his “fantasy” world and continue writing. There is a lot of space for various interpretations of these scenes. I see these visions as false visions sent to Sisko by the Pah-Wraiths. (Does that mean “Far Beyond the Stars” was a false vision, too? I know some fans think that, but I don’t.) I also love the meta acknowledgement that Sisko & co.’s lives really ARE the writings and imaginings of human beings who lived centuries earlier…!
I love the tension of all the interwoven storylines at the end. I love how everything changes, across all the stores, after Sisko opens the Orb. Is this a validation of faith in the Prophets, that once they are back on the scene — and the Pah-Wraiths are defeated — that everything takes a turn for the good? Or is it just a coincidence? Both interpretations are possible!
At last, one of the show’s final big secrets is revealed, as we learn that a Prophet took over Sarah’s body and gave birth to Ben. We learn this in an extremely unusual vision from the Prophets, in which Sisko speaks to just a single Prophet, the one who possessed Sarah. I have mixed feelings about this development. On the one hand, Sisko was heroic enough, he didn’t need to become Jesus or part-God (Prophet). On the other hand, I respect the hell out of the show for taking this big swing, and for doing something so unusual for a Star Trek show. This is a very interesting recontextualization of everything we knew of Sisko to this point… He truly does have a pre-determined “destiny” in a way far different from any other Trek character we’ve ever seen before. The biggest problem here is that I’m disturbed (even more now than when the episode originally aired) at the Prophets’ complete contempt for the value of human free will, displayed by their taking over Sarah for several YEARS’ time. How is this any better than the Pah-Wraiths possessing Jake in “The Reckoning”? I’d like to imagine that Sarah wasn’t totally zombified by the possession, that this was more of a combination of her and the Prophet… but the fact that she disappeared after the Prophet left her indicates that she was not happy by the life in which she found herself, and so she ran away. It’s pretty tragic, more so than I think the (male) writers intended it to be.
I would have liked to have known more about this Orb of the Emissary. How did it get to be buried on Tyree? (Where the heck is Tyree??) Why wasn’t that Orb affected when all the other Orbs turned black? Why did it have to be Sisko who found and opened that Orb? (Sarah says: “Because it could be no one else,” which feels like too easy an answer, although also one perfectly in line with the worldview of the non-linear Prophets.) I also think Martok & Worf & co.’s destruction of the shipyards felt a little too easy. (But I did enjoy those brief sequences of combat with the Jem’Hadar in close proximity to the nearby sun!)
The Rotarran causes a solar flare just like the Enterprise did in “Descent” Part II.

“Afterimage”

This is a nice follow-up to the two-part season premiere, as we get to check in with all of our characters and follow Ezri as she attempts to reconnect with Dax’s friends on the station, and decide what she wants to do with her newly-joined life. I love the perfect episode title!
Its interesting to see Ezri visit the Bajoran shrine where Jadzia was murdered. I like all the stuff we get here, of Ezri’s trying to make sense of all of her past lives. (Like previous hosts, she’s standing on her head, and she’s getting space-sick.) Her scene early on with Sisko clarifies that “reassociation” doesn’t apply here (I’d asked that question in my comments on the previous episode), though that seems like a bit of a cheat. Ezri’s sliding right back into Jadzia’s life on DS9 feels like a violation of the spirit of the taboo, even if not the letter (because she’s not resuming a sexual/romantic relationship with Worf). Speaking of Worf, Worf is quite cruel to Ezri, though the episode allows us to understand Worf’s pain and confusion, and I like that the two are able to reach a rapprochement by the end of the episode.
It’s weird to see Quark and Bashir debating their 2nd chance with Dax. (As I’d commented in “Tears of the Prophets, I have mixed feeling about these episodes that show that the two of them were still carrying a torch for Dax. It’s endearingly human, but also makes them look rather small and selfish…) I like the scene when Ezri tells Bashir not to flirt with her. I like that she can express herself so confidently to him. (Hadn’t Jadzia already admitted to Bashir, back in “Starship Down,” that she liked when he used to chase her? The weakness of the scene is that it feels like we’d already covered this ground, years ago.) Still, it’s good to see Bashir express genuine grief over Jadzia’s death, something we hadn’t much seen in these past few episodes.
We get our first mention of Bashir and O’Brien’s Alamo holodeck program! Their obsession is growing… (They first started talking about the Alamo in “Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night”.)
Garak’s storyline is interesting. It makes sense that he’s now working for Starfleet Intelligence, helping to crack Cardassian codes. It fits that this is weighing on him, which leads to an attack of his claustrophobia. The revelation that Tain would lock young Barak in a box when he misbehaved is horrifying but not altogether surprising. Ultimately I think this episode winds up being too simplistic in its depictions of the affects of trauma. That Garak’s subconscious guilt is causing his claustrophobia, and that pretty much goes away once he acknowledges that, feels too simple to me. But I do like that the show is exploring Garak’s guilt at the role in which he’s found himself: working towards the defeat of his people.
It’s funny when Ezri admits that Worf was intimidated by Sisko
I like when O’Brien puts Worf in his place for the way he’s been treating Ezri. When Worf expresses anguish at his situation, and that there’s no way to know what Jadzia would want him to do, O’Brien wisely points out: “Yes, there is.”
Garak despairingly predicts that the Cardassian will fight to the bitter end. Tragically, we’ll see that he is mostly right.
I like that final Worf-Dax scene. It’s heartbreaking when he quietly admits that he loved Jadzia with all his heart.
I love that Jake finds Ezri cute! Suddenly, Dax is much closer to him in age!

“Take Me Out to the Holosuite”

Well, after six-plus seasons of Ben Sisko’s baseball obsession, it’s fun to get a baseball-focused episode at last! This is a fun diversion, though the episode has some major flaws. The Vulcan Solok is played way too over-the-top evil/arrogant. And Sisko acts way out of character crazy here, getting so obsessed with the baseball game that he’s hollering at Rom, Odo, etc. It feels like Avery Brooks having fun playing a baseball manager character, but not like something I could believe Sisko would do, despite his intense rivalry with Solok.
Still, there’s a lot of fun to be had. I love all the jokes about how strange and complex the rules of baseball actually are, as Kira, Worf, Dax and the others struggle to learn the rules. I love O’Brien’s scotch-flavored gum. The moment in which Kira spies Odo, in his office, practicing calling “Safe!” and “Yer out!” is very cute. I love the edit in which Kassidy (who I sorely missed seeing in the season premiere two-parter) promises Sisko that she’ll keep the origin of his rivalry with Solok a secret, and then a second later she’s telling the crew the whole story. I love that Worf’s on-the-field “chatter” is “death to the opposition”.
Hearing the Federation Anthem is interesting! (I wish it was a more memorable tune.)
I’m glad the episode didn’t find a ridiculous way for the near-incompetent “Niners” to beat Solok’s Vulcan team. (Speaking of the “Niners”, I loved their “Niners” baseball uniforms!)
Solok deserves the mockery, but still, the group’s laughing at him in Quark’s at the end plays overly harsh and mean to me. I want a Star Trek story to end with understanding, not this sort of bitterness.
I love the dissolve at the very end of the spinning baseball into the rotating station. Very cool.

“Chrysalis”

Generally I don’t have much patience for these sorts of one-off romance stories that the series used to do a lot of. I like this episode better on rewatching than I did originally. It’s a fun surprise to see the “Jack Pack” from “Statistical Probabilities” again, and this story of Bashir’s romance with Serena is sweet. It has two main weaknesses. First, despite the continuity of seeing Serena & co. again, I knew this was going to be a one-episode return; so I never invested in this story since it felt obvious it wouldn’t last beyond this episode. Second, despite the line about how Bashir removed himself as Serena’s primary physician, it’s wildly inappropriate for Bashir to make the moves on this vulnerable young woman who was his patient. As the episode ultimately shows, it’s a shockingly inappropriate power dynamic, in which Serena feels she “owes” Bashir for curing her (she flat out says to him “I owe you everything”), and as someone who has never been in a romantic relationship before, she has no idea how to navigate this situation. I’m glad that Bashir realizes what he’s done wrong and tells her “you don’t owe me anything,” but really, this should have been clear to him from the outset.
I also wish the episode hadn’t telegraphed Bashir’s being lonely in the opening minutes, and had that been more of a revelation (to him and the audience) when Serena shared her insight into his loneliness later in the episode.
I love that the “Jack Pack” were able to impersonate Starfleet admirals so successfully. It makes me question DS9’s security… but on the other hand, these four ARE super-smart, so I can go with the idea that they were able to sneak onto the station.
I adore the musical sequence in which Serena is reunited with the rest of the “Jack Pack” and they all wind up singing together. Such an unusual and memorable scene! It’s sad later that Serena feels she needs to revert to being silent when she’s with them.
Faith C. Salie is terrific as Sarina — which is a lovely surprise since she was completely silent in her first appearance in “Statistical Probabilities”. Ms. Salie is luminous, and really sells Sarina’s transition from nearly-comatose into a vibrant young woman.
It’s cute that Lauren is infatuated with Nog.
Watching this episode originally, I thought for sure it would end with Serena losing her ability to communicate normally and tragically withdrawing back into her shell. (I was sure the line about her having some unusual readings after the surgery was an indicator of future problems.) I am delighted the episode didn’t go that direction. It’s a nice twist that the treatment DID work, but that she’s afraid and overwhelmed and so pretends to have reverted to her earlier state, rather than that happening for real.

“Treachery, Faith, and the Great River”

This is one of my very favorite DS9 episodes. It perfectly embodies so many of the show’s main themes: politics, religion, faith, and strong character arcs. I love the unique and memorable title, and I love almost everything about this episode.
I like the opening scene with Odo using his shapeshifting abilities to massage Kira’s back. Very romantic.
I love that we finally learn more about Odo’s mysterious Cardassian informant from “Improbable Cause” back in season three! We finally learn his name (Gul Russol), and that he’s dead now (just like all of Garak’s former contacts, as seen in last season’s “In the Pale Moonlight”).
I love the Nog-O’Brien story. I love how Nog’s perspective is so different from O’Brien, and how Nog can use his instincts as a Ferengi (for instance: to get to know the Sector Quartermaster, find out what he likes and about his family) to allow O’Brien to get the equipment he needs. It’s interesting to see the Federation suffering from shortages caused by the war. In a world in which Starfleet “replicators” can seemingly create anything, it’s interesting to learn that Starfleet doesn’t have perfect and instantaneous access to all the materiel they might need. I like learning of the “Sector Quartermaster” who O’Brien has to go through. But even more interesting is to learn about Nog’s faith in “the great material continuum.” Nog explicitly says to O’Brien: “You have to have faith, Chief.” (I love that Nog describes in words very like how Jedi describe the Force: “It’s the force that binds the universe together”!) We got a similar story about young Nog and Jake trading one weird thing to acquire another, way back in season one’s “Progress”. Here we see a far more confident Nog, sailing this great material continuum. It’s awesome how capable Nog is, able to get Chief O’Brien what he needs, while also making Martok and Worf very happy. I’ve said this before about DS9 — it’s special to see Trek treat faith as something good and a valid alternative to the usual secular humanism of the Federation.
Paralleling the story of Nog’s faith, we dive deep into the Vorta and their faith in the Founders. I love this story of how the Weyoun we’ve been following (already the second Weyoun we’ve met, since the first died at the end of “To The Death”) has died, and so we meet Weyoun 6, who is “defective” and wants to defect to the Federation, as well as Weyoun 7. I love how much we get to like Weyoun 6, just over the course of his few scenes in this episode. Jeffrey Combs is so great. When Weyoun 6 sacrifices himself at the end, it’s so tragic!
I love learning that Vorta generally only like to eat nuts and berries (a remnant of their original nature). I absolutely adore hearing Weyoun tell Odo the legend of how the Founders lifted the Vorta up from the small, timid forest creatures they used to be.
This episode is momentous for introducing the development that the Female Changeling is sick! It’s a striking moment when she walks in on Damar and Weyoun, and we see her shriveled, dried-out face. Later, Weyoun tells Odo that “a sickness has spread throughout the Great Link,” and Odo is horrified to discover that his people are all dying… “everyone but me.”
It’s interesting to heat Weyoun 6 tell Odo that he wants him to build and lead a new Dominion — “a new order”.
We get some nice action shots. I love seeing the Runabout fleeing from the pursuing Jem’Hadar, and we get a series of awesome shots of thee chase through the comet fragments. Very cool! (I love how Odo comes up with a very Changeling solution that they need to “become the ice” in order to hide from the Jem’Hadar.)
O’Brien: “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Nog: “Chief, I can’t operate under those kinds of restrictions.” Ha!! I love that exchange!
I love that Weyoun died in a “transporter accident” (and how Weyoun 7 glares at Damar when he says that, indicating Damnar’s likely involvement)!
It’s fascinating that Damar is able to convince Weyoun 7 to destroy the runabout and kill Odo, while keeping that a secret from the Founders and the Jem’Hadar.
We see that Damar is still drinking…
When Nog is talking about the guy who likes to take photos sitting behind the desks of famous people, it’s fun to hear him mention Captain DeSotto (captain of the Hood, mentioned all the way back in the TNG premiere “Encounter at Farpoint”, and mentioned several times subsequently, including an appearance in “Tin Man”) and Captain Picard!
I always love when this show involves dreams, so I love hearing Weyoun describe his dream (nightmare) to Odo.
Even Martok gets a few great moments in this episode, upset about his missing Blood Wine and then happy that Nog acquired him an even better vintage than what his wife Sirella had originally sent him.
I like hearing Kira speak at the end about her faith that the “Wormhole Aliens” are gods. “My faith in them is enough.”
There are a few plot holes. Why didn’t Odo start immediately debriefing Weyoun 6, during the hours they spent together on the runabout? If Weyoun 6 could transmit to Damar and Weyoun 7 at the end, why couldn’t he also transmit to the pursuing Jem’Hadar, to tell them a Founder was on board?
I love the ending, as Odo realizes: “I know now… whichever side wins… I’m going to lose.”

“Once More Unto the Breach”

Kor returns! And he’s given a delightful send-off.
It’s fun to see O’Brien and Bashir discussing Davey Crockett at the Alamo in the opening scene. Worf’s reaction sums up the entire episode. “The only real question is whether you believe in the legend of Davey Crockett or not. If you do, then there should be no doubt in your mind that he died a hero’s death. If you do not believe in the legend, then he was just a man, and it does not matter how he died.” This is beautifully put, and I love how the episode basically depicts that very thing with Kor.
I’m glad we see Kor express sadness about Jadzia’s death — and it’s also great that he eagerly chats with Ezri. Back in “Blood Oath,” Kor was the Klingon who seemed to most easily accept Jadzia. Kor’s situation is sad — he’s made so many enemies in his life, he’s now left out of the Dominion War with no chance for glory. It’s fascinating to see that, while Worf idolizes Kor, Martok hates him. I love the scene in which Martok tells the story of why he hates Kor, and how his father died before he could earn a battlefield commission in the Klingon Defense Forces. When we later see that Kor is suffering from dementia, his situation becomes even sadder. Martok’s razzing of Kor in the mess hall is well-deserved, but hard to watch. Both John Colicos (Kor) and J.G. Hertzler (Martok) are so great in this episode!! Kor’s “don’t live too long” comment is heartbreaking (and also an awesome callback to Kor’s very first appearance in the TOS episode “Errand of Mercy”)… and Martok’s later monologue is even more so: “I’ve hated his name for almost thirty years”… “I’ve had that moment now — and I took no joy from it.” It speaks so well of Martok that he’s able to come to that realization.
Kor tells a story of his old ship, the Klothos, which is a nod to the name of his ship given in Star Trek: The Animated Series.
I love the awesome visual effects shot of the Klingon Birds of Prey soaring over DS9, with the Starfleet ships visible below. The attack on the base is a terrifically executed visual effects sequence. I love the look of the base. It’s amazing to see the Birds of Prey in action.
I love the awesome moment when Worf catches the dagger that Martok throws at Kor!
The Quark-Ezri scene is cute. I love Jake’s delight in the background when Ezri kisses Quark on the cheek.
I like Martok’s old aide — and it’s great that he’s the one to give Kor his final chance.
What an ending! I love the parallel with Worf’s Davey Crockett speech at the beginning. I love that the adventure ends with the legend of Kor — they don’t know exactly what he did, or how — but it doesn’t matter. I love the Klingons all singing at the end.

“The Siege of AR-558”

“We held.” “Those were our orders, sir.” This is a magnificent episode, one of the series’ very best. This dark, gripping episode is a horrifying, deeply moving look at the cost of war. DS9 has done a few episodes in this mold (such as season five’s “Nor the Battle to the Strong”), but we’ve never seen anything like this. This look at a brutal, dirty ground war conflict in the Star Trek universe is incredibly powerful and emotionally affecting.
The only off-note in the whole thing for me is the silly opening scene with Rom singing, which is only there to establish that Bashir takes some Vic Fontaine music with him to the front lines.
We get a somber scene of Sisko staring at a new casualty list. I’m glad they keep showing this, to hammer home the high cost of the Dominion War, even though it’s not front-and-center every episode. “The names have begun to blur together.” We’ve never seen such an ongoing conflict before on Trek!
I’m not sure why Ezri the counselor is on the Defiant’s bridge — but Troi was on the Enterprise bridge for 7 seasons of TNG, so I guess there’s precedent!
“Welcome to paradise, Captain.” Wow.
I love all of the new characters we meet in this episode. They’re well-written and fantastically well cast with strong performers who each make a strong mark. Lost in Space/Babylon 5’s Bil Mumy is fantastic as the gentle engineer, Kellin. Patrick Kilpatrick plays Reese, the grizzled veteran with a necklace of ketracel white tubes. Wilson Cruz (who has gone on to have a great career, including a memorable performance as Tucco on Breaking Bad) is the PTSD-suffering Vargas. Vargas’ story of the man he hated, who tied his bandage before being killed, is devastating. (“Once in his life, he’s quiet!”) Annette Held is also terrific as the tough, weary commander Larkin.
Quark: “Take a look around you, Nog. This isn’t the Starfleet you knew.” Nog: “Sure it is. It’s just that these people have been through hell.” This is the debate fans have about DS9 the series in a nutshell! Some people say it’s not true to Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek ideals. I disagree! It absolutely is! It just shows us the heroism of these characters in trying their best to hold onto their ideals in terribly trying circumstances! It all comes back to Sisko’s “it’s easy to be a saint in paradise” speech from season two’s “The Maquis”!
Quark’s response to Nog is also powerful, and another great piece of Quark’s outsider commentary on humanity (see also: the season 2 finale “The Jem’Hadar”): “Let me tell you something about hu-mons, nephew. They’re a wonderful, friendly people… as long as their bellies are full, and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts… deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers… put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time… and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people will become as nasty and violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon.” It’s interesting to see how Nog worships the Starfleet soldiers. He and Quark are BOTH right, in a way! It’s interesting to hear Quark’s perspective, in a later scene, that the Ferengi would never have allowed a war with the Dominion to happen. “We would have reached an accommodation.” I’m not sure Quark is being realistic, but still, I love hearing this different perspective.
The “Houdini’s” — mines hiding in subspace — are a horrifyingly clever new piece of weapons technology. It’s a creepy scene when they make all of the Houdinis appear, and one pops up right by Cruz’s head.
I love Sisko’s delivery of “There is only one order, Lieutenant — we hold.” It reminds me of the Jem’Hadar’s declaration in “Rocks and Shoals” that “we will hold this world for the Dominion… until we die.”
Nog loses his leg — wow. It’s incredible how far this character has come! The hard cut from Nog’s screaming after being shot to Quark’s listening to the silence is a powerful moment… as is Sisko’s telling Nog, after he’s carried back to base, that he’s proud of him.
I love the sequence in which we hear Vic Fontaine’s song over the tense scene of waiting for the battle for begin. (This has always reminded me of a similar scene in Saving Private Ryan.)
The gorgeous, elegiac score over the brutal, violent combat scene is one of the most powerful, memorable sequences the show has ever done. The music is spectacular.
The ending is so devastating. Billy Mumy’s death is heartbreaking, as is Cruz’s. It’s interesting that we never know who saved Sisko from the Jem’Hadar soldier who was about to shoot him.
“Children.” “Not for long.”
And then, after all that, there are 1730 new casualties on the latest casualty list. Whoof. What a gut punch of an ending.

“Covenant”

Another crazy turn in the wonderful, complicated saga of Gul Dukat. Wow! Now he is a believer in the Path Wraiths and a David Koresh-like cult leader? I did not see that coming!! I didn’t altogether love the crazy Dukat of “Waltz,” and none of his post-Waltz appearances really carried through on his manic, swearing-of-vengeance-upon Sisko at the end of that episode. That being said, there is something absolutely delicious about the idea of Dukat now leading a Bajoran religious cult!!
Why doesn’t Odo go to services with Kira, as seen in the opening scene? Why not give it a try?
Poor Kira is let down by yet another older male role model/father-figure. This time it’s Vedek Fala, who has gotten suckered by Gul Dukat.
It’s a little crazy to me that even a Dominion transporter could beam Kira all the way to Empok Nor. It is fun to be back at Empok Nor again, by the way.
The whole idea of this new Path Wraith cult is fascinating. “We worship the true Prophets.” Dukat is the “Master” — ha! It’s what he’s always wanted — being loved and worshipped by Bajorans! I like that Dukat has been changed by having a Pah-Wraith within him in “Tears of the Prophets.” Dukat later says that he wishes he had the words to describe to Kira the feeling of having a Pah-Wraith within him — but, of course, she had a Prophet within her, too, in “The Reckoning”!
The cult is so twisted! Dukat refers to them as his children — there’s that Jesus-like painting of him — he has to give them permission to get pregnant. It’s all so wonderfully wrong! I have often written about how much I love that DS9 is the only Trek show to really tackle issues of faith, and to show religious faith in a positive light. I love that about the show. So it’s interesting here to see the dark, dangerous side of faith, and how easily it is for faith to become twisted and misguided.
Dukat asks Kira why the Prophets stood by and did nothing during the Cardassian Occupation. Every person of faith has to answer that question for themselves in some way. Dukat is right that Kira’s answer sounds hollow, but what answer wouldn’t?
Dukat claims the Pah-Wraiths aren’t evil — they just wanted to take a more active role in Bajor. For all we know, he’s not wrong in that description. Dukat says the Pah-Wraiths were “cast out of heaven,” which of course makes one think of the Christian story of Satan’s fall.
Dukat describes himself as the Emissary of the Pah-Wraiths. I love that! Despite describing himself as a “changed man,” he’s still competing with Sisko!
I’m glad to get some follow-up to the Pah-Wraith cultist who tried to kill Sisko back in the season premiere (since that was mostly forgotten about in that episode!).
It’s a great, perfectly twisted surprise that the baby born is Cardassian! But — how long was Dukat on Empok Nor? Long enough for him to get that woman (Mika) pregnant, and for her to come to term? That timeline doesn’t make sense.
I’m glad that Dukat and Kira discuss her mother — I’m pleased the writers didn’t ignore the events of “Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night”.
At the end, Dukat prays to the Pah-Wraiths. He is trying to be faithful, and he clearly does believe — but he’s still Dukat. His Jim Jones-like solution of getting his followers to all “drink the Kool-Aid” and kill themselves is horrifying. At the end, Kira confirms that Dukat DID believe — so now he’s even more dangerous… More to come…!

“It’s Only a Paper Moon”

I adore this episode. It’s a very unusual episode and I can totally understand why this episode about a Ferengi and a hologram hanging out isn’t what people are looking for in their Star Trek. But that the DS9 writers could do this, and make it work so well, is why I love this show.
My love for this episode begins right there with the episode’s title, which refers to a classic song which we later hear Vic Fontaine sing. I get chills when Vic sings “it wouldn’t be make-believe if you believe in me.” Just as Benny Russell was both the dream, and the dreamer, I am moved by this meta commentary on DS9 the show. I DO believe in this show and its characters, and so it’s not just make-believe to me… even though I know full well that it IS all really make-believe! Vic sings: “it’s a Barnum & Bailey world, just as phony as it could be” — but that doesn’t matter to me. I love Star Trek, and I believe in it, and in these characters who I love.
It’s fantastic to see this follow-up to the events of “The Siege of AR-558.” I love that they gave Nog this spotlight. His story of his slow, painful process of coming to grips with the loss of his leg is profoundly moving to me. This story is, for me, the perfect culmination of Nog’s entire journey, all the way from the punk lowlife kid he was in the series premiere. It’s all been building to this. I love that they gave Aaron Eisenberg such a showcase, and he kills it. Jimmy Darren is also effortlessly great, as always, as Vic Fontaine. (This episode is also, in many ways, the whole reason for me why Vic is in the show.)
I like the early scene of the senior staff assembling to greet Nog. Leeta’s worries that she’s not Nog’s real mom are sweet. Nog’s reaction is so sad; he doesn’t want to be feted, he just wants to hide away.
I like the scene where Dax fills Nog in on what’s been happening on the station, and how Julian and Miles are even more obsessed with their Alamo holosuite program now. (I also like the later scene in the Ward Room in which everyone mocks all of Julian’s holosuite programs.)
It’s interesting that Nog has become obsessed with the Vic song that Julian was playing in “The Siege of AR-558.” It’s psychologically complex — I think Nog was trying to hold on to the relief he felt in that moment back in the cave, after the surgery, glad he wasn’t dead – that was certainly a better spot to be in than getting murdered by the Jem’Hadar – but also of course listening to that song was also causing him to remember his trauma and stay stuck in that moment, unable to move forward. (Just like Worf was, by the way, in the season premiere when he kept listening to Vic sing that same song over and over…)
The moments in which we see Nog having flashbacks to the events of “The Siege of AR-558” are jarring and painful.
It’s fun to see Nog watching Shane.
This is a Nog-focused episode, but it’s also awesome to see the development for Vic. It’s cool that he gets tired. His program has never run continuously like this — he’s never before been able to live a full life like this. That is a cool development! It’s moving to hear Vic say “I had no idea how much it means to just… live.”
I like the shot of Vic reading the Sports pages while Nog reads the Business section!
I’m glad to see Jake involved in this story, trying (but unfortunately failing) to get through to his friend Nog. (I’d love to know more about the lovely girl Jake brings with him as a date to Vic’s!)
Vic is so clever. I like how he gives Nog a cane and casually throws in that Nog can’t put his whole weight on it. At the same time, it’s so sweet and sad when, while talking with Ezri, we see that Vic really DID want Nog to stay with him in the holosuite.
The climactic Nog-Vic scene is amazing. What a beautiful culmination of seven years of character development. Nog is scared — he knows now that anything can happen. I love Vic’s reply: “but at least you’ll be in the game.” (I love the call-back to the series premiere, with a “game” again used as a metaphor for life — though here Vic is talking about cards, not baseball.)
I love Nog’s gift to Vic in the end, to allow his program to keep running. What a great moment, It’s nice to see Vic so happy!

“Prodigal Daughter”

This is a bad follow-up on a bad episode (Season six’s “Honor Among Thieves”). I like the effort to develop a backstory for Ezri’s family, but there’s not much of interest to me here.
It’s cure how lonely Bashir is without O’Brien.
Sisko is right to be upset that O’Brien and Bashir didn’t tell him that O’Brien was off looking for Bilby’s widow!
It’s sad but not surprising that Bilby’s widow winds up dead. It would mean more if we’d ever met her.
I like the cool, original new matte painting of the Tigan home on New Sydney. (Though they use it a few too many times in the episode.)
Nice Original Series call-back to see someone drinking Saurian Brandy. (Also, the Tigan family mines Pergium, just like the miners in “The Devil in the Dark”!)
Ezri leaves her family a mess in the end. It would’ve been nice maybe had she tried to reconcile with her mom at the end. It doesn’t feel very enlightened to just turn her back on her mom and then walk away. In her final speech to O’Brien at the end, Ezri blames her mom for everything, and she’s probably right — but it still feels very cold to me.

“The Emperor’s New Cloak”

This is a decent lark of an episode, and I’m glad we got one last return to the Mirror Universe here in the final seasons. But as I’d commented back in season four’s “Shattered Mirror,” none of the Mirror Universe episodes we got after the great “Shattered Mirror” were much good. Those first three MU episodes gave us a great escalation and expansion of the story. But then everything interesting got dropped, and we never got the epic tale of the Terran Rebellion and defeat of the Alliance that I’d been hoping for. (Luckily, the novels stepped into the breach, with David Mack’s terrific Rise Like Lions giving readers the proper revolution to the Mirror Universe stories that DS9 itself never actually did.)
I continue to be not that taken with the stories of Quark and Bashir pining after Dax, so I didn’t love here seeing Quark jealous of Ezri and Bashir having dinner.
I love that when Quark prays to the Blessed Exchequer, he starts by giving his god a bribe! So Ferengi!
As was the case in other MU episodes, people can move between universes way too easily to suit me. If the Alliance can so easily pop over to the main universe, why not send a team of commandos to get a cloaking device? Why bother with the complicated ruse with Quark? (It’s silly to think that Rom had access to the schematics for the inter-universe transporter — that should be highly classified technology — and even if he did have it, he just left it lying around where Zak could see it? That’s ridiculous.)
Still, I love seeing Quark and Rom get to be the heroes of this Mirror Universe episode. The scene in which Armin Shimmerman and Max Grodenchik mime their stealing the invisible cloaking device was very silly but very funny. (But how did they ever actually get the cloaking divide off of the Rotarran???)
I love that Mirror Vic Fontaine is a real guy!! (And it’s perfect that it’s Mirror Bashir who shoots him!)
Of course Mirror Jadzia is dead, as Terry Farrell is no longer on the show.
It’s funny that Mirror Brunt is noble and heroic. (And, since the Ferengi always get killed in these MU episodes, we know he is doomed!)
Rom’s musings about the nature of the Mirror Universe are funny. Some things are the opposite of what they are in the main universe, but some aren’t.
Pairing up Mirror Ezri with the Intendant is fun.
I don’t love that Mirror Worf is such a buffoon, as he was in “Shattered Mirror.” And he just surrenders at the end? It’s all way too easy. The rebellion’s victory over the Alliance should have been much more difficult to achieve. And Ezri just lets the intendant get away at the end? Come on.
I like seeing Rom stand up to Mirror Garak.
Mirror Leeta is funny, but she way oversells the “debrief you” line to Ezri at the end, which kills the joke.

“Field of Fire”

It’s a nice bit of continuity to show us Ezri’s having to face Dax’s evil Joran host, but like the other Ezri-focused episode we just got two episodes ago (“Prodigal Daughter”), this is not at all compelling. The whole idea that, to catch a murderer, you have to think like one, feels very cliche.
It’s nice to see there are other important crew members on the Defiant. But it’s so obvious this dude we meet in the beginning is a gonner!! He might as well have been wearing a red shirt. Oy.
Interesting that they recast Joran again. This new actor is fine but not particularly memorable.
Ezri’s dream sequence — it seems like Joran is responsible for the murder; I’m glad that’s not actually what happened.
I like hearing Bashir and O’Brien discussing the mythology of Davey Crockett and frontiersmen (who name their weapons).
I wish we got to see Security Chief Odo be a more capable investigator. It’s O’Brien who figures out how the killer fired through a wall. (Former Security Chief Worf is also surprisingly useless in this episode.)
The idea of a weapon that can see and shoot through walls is creepy. It’s a very interesting futuristic idea.
It’s silly that we see Ezri walk through a deserted Promenade at night — what happened to “increased security”??
Between the Vulcan murder in this episode and the racist Vulcan from “Take Me Out to the Holosuite,” DS9 really dropped the ball on its depiction of Vulcans. This would only get worse in Enterprise.
It’s interesting that the Vulcan served on another doomed Grissom! (The first one, of course, met its end in Star Trek III.)

“Chimera”

I love this episode! It’s fantastic to see the show finally return to the concept of The Hundred (the hundred Changelings sent out into the universe by the Founders, as mentioned in “The Search” part 2). Martok actor J.G. Hertzler delivers a fantastic performance as the damaged Laas (Mr. Hertzler is credited as Gaiman Hertzler for this episode). Furthering what we saw in “Treachery, Faith, and the Great River,” poor Odo is pushed to confront the reality that he cannot maintain his current life forever. Even if he and Kira live happily ever after, she will eventually die, and he will not. “It won’t last,” Laas tells Odo. “If you’re very lucky, you can watch her grow old… and die.” (I’m reminded of the ultimate end of Arwen and Aragorn’s love story in The Lord of the Rings.) This is tragic stuff, very unusual for Star Trek.
I love the beautiful visual of Laas as a spacefaring creature at the beginning. I love how this episode pushes our understanding of what a shapeshifter can do, including Laas’ becoming fire in his quarters, and then smoke on the Promenade… and then culminating in Odo’s beautiful display of lights to Kira at the end.
Laas is two hundred years old! This is a nice call-back to the Female Shapeshifter’s earlier line to Odo that “we are timeless,” and it only emphasizes what I’d mentioned above — how Odo is forced to confront the basic differences between him and Kira. Another difference: Odo can’t have children, and Laas describes how he once was in love with a solid, but their relationship ended because she wanted children.
The tense Odo-Sisko scene, after Laas kills a Klingon, is uncomfortable. Odo’s not really wrong — the Klingons likely are only pressing charges because Laas is a Changeling. I love the great acting by Michael Dorn in that scene, pacing behind Odo. Even though he didn’t have dialogue in the second half of the scene, Worf is still an important presence.
Quark’s speech to Odo is blunt and unpleasant, and he’s also probably not wrong, either, even though this isn’t the Trek optimist I’m used to.
Kira lets Laas go at the end, out of love for Odo — and goes even further in her willingness to let Odo himself go, all out of her love for him. I find this very moving.
The ending is beautiful, though I have a small quibble in that I’m not sure the visual effects quite sell the moment as effectively as I’d have ideally wanted. But the idea of the scene works. It’s sweet to see that Kira has more in common, in the end, with Odo, than Laas does, even though she is not a Changeling.

“Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang”

This is a fun, silly episode. When it first aired, I was impatient that, with so little time left, the writers were wasting our time with this story when so many other storylines needed to be resolved before the series ended. Knowing now how great the final run of episodes are, I find much more enjoyment in this episode when I rewatch it.
Bashir and O’Brien continue to be obsessed with the Alamo, now discussing it with Vic. It’s cute that they invite Vic to join in their holosuite program, and funny that at first Vic thinks they’re talking about the movie!
The idea of a “jack in the box” built into Vic’s program is a bit silly, but it works, and it’s a good way to get us into this heist adventure inside of Vic’s program.
I like how Nog, Kira, and Odo all acknowledge how much they owe Vic.
Sisko’s objections to spending time in Vic’s program are interesting. He’s a bit of a jerk about it, but his concerns are valid. It’s interesting to see Sisko, for the first time on the show, concerned about modern-day (20th/21st century) racial issues. To me, this is fall-out from Sisko’s experiences in “Far Beyond the Stars.”
I love the heist. It’s fun to see the classic approach of seeing the characters talk-through how it should go, and then seeing how things go wrong during the heist itself.
It’s great to see Nog uses his ears as the safe-cracker, and fun that Odo disguises himself as first the tray, and then the bag for all the loot.
I love the montage of everyone practicing for the caper, and then the great shot of them all, dressed-up in period garb, walking down the Promenade.
It’s fun to see Gowron (Robert O’Reilly) as the guy counting the money! (He’s credited as “Bobby Reilly”.)
Unlike most previous holosuite/holodeck adventures on TNG and DS9 (see: “The Big Goodbye”, “A Fistful of Datas”, “Our Man Bashir”, etc.), I’m glad that they don’t try to find a contrived reason why any of our characters would be in any actual danger. Here, the danger is only to Vic Fontaine. But that doesn’t make the stakes any less real! In fact, the episode is better for it.
It’s a little lame that all three women have to use their sexuality for the heist to succeed.
I love the end, with Sisko and Vic singing “The Best is Yet to Come”!! It really is, as the show is about to enter the home stretch…!

“Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges”

This is a magnificent episode. This episode encapsulates everything that DS9 is about! Bashir’s confrontation with Admiral Ross at the end of the episode makes explicit the issues that this show has long wrestled with. “So is that what we have become? A twenty-fourth century Rome, driven by nothing other than the certainty that Caesar can do no wrong?!” The episode’s fantastic title is key — can we allow laws to fall silent during war-time? This is the existential question at the heart of DS9!
Sloan and Section 31 finally return!! Sloan’s cynical predictions regarding what will happen after the Dominion war sounds very plausible to me.
I love the meeting Kira runs at the beginning — it’s fun seeing the details of the Federation-Klingon-Romulan alliance: ship repairs, shore leave schedules, etc.
It’s been a while since we had a great Garak-Bashir scene! I love hearing that Garak once posed as a gardener on Romulus.
It’s cool to see the scenes set on the Bellerophon, making good use of the Voyager sets! It makes sense seeing an Intrepid-class ship (like Voyager) on DS9! I also love seeing the white dress uniforms introduced in Star Trek: Insurrection. I love these continuity connections. Speaking of which: it’s fascinating that Koval wants to ask Bashir about the Quickening virus… and we learn that Neral (introduced back in TNG’s “Unification”) is now the Praetor! (A different actor plays him in this episode.)
The trading embargo has been lifted: Romulan Ale is now legal in the Federation! That’s a fun touch to learn about.
I’ve seen this episode a dozen times, and I’ve always said that I loved Senator Creetak, and I just wish they’d used the same character from the season premiere to have better continuity. The funny thing is that they DID, but because they recast the role I never realized until now that this was supposed to be the same woman! I liked the actress who played Creetak in the premiere, but Adrienne Barbeau, who plays her here, is really terrific.
John Fleck is also terrific as the scary head of the Tal Shiar, Koval.
I like that Sloan remembers that the Jack Pack could tell Damar had killed Ziyal, just by watching a video of him talking.
I love Sloan’s exchange with Bashir: “Let’s make a deal, Doctor: I’ll spare you the ‘ends justify the means’ speech, and you spare me the ‘we must do what’s right’ speech.”
This episode gives us a great twisty mind-fuck. I love the moment when the Romulans drag in a beaten Sloan, and we get the idea that there is no Section 31, but rather than Sloan is just a rogue former Starfleet Intelligence Agent. It’s cool that Bashir is smart enough to see past that. I love the revelation that Admiral Ross works for 31!! It’s sad that poor Creetak gets screwed, just because she trusted Bashir and tried to do the right thing.

“Penumbra”

Here we go! DS9’s “Final Chapter” begins with this very strong episode.
I love the opening scene in which Ben Sisko tells Kassidy he’s bought land in the Kendra Provence on Bajor, where he wants to build his house. Wow. Remember “The Sisko is of Bajor.” Look how far Ben has come from the angry man who didn’t want this post, back in the pilot! (Sisko first talked of building a house on Bajor to Admiral Ross, back in “Favor the Bold”.) I also love that Sisko wants to build the house himself. This fits Sisko-the-builder who worked at the Utopia Planitia shipyards and built his own sailing star-ship in season three’s “Explorers”. I love the little model of the house that Ben builds!
It’s funny to hear Ezri talk about the oft-mentioned-but-never-seen Captain Boday, he of the transparent skull. (Bashir: “I don’t know what Jadzia ever saw in him.” O’Brien: “His brains.”)
Quark is very sweet with Ezri, telling her that Worf owes him money so he must be alive, because there’s no way Worf would allow himself to go to Sto-Vo-Kor knowing that he’s ind eps to Quark.
I like hearing Weyoun refer to the Son’a ketracel white facility, a nice reference to Star Trek: Insurrection.
It makes sense that Weyoun would have trouble comprehending why Sisko would spend three days looking for survivors.
I like seeing Damar’s rising discontent, as Cardassia casualties mount and his drinking continues. (I love that the show is spending a lot of time with the “villain” characters Weyoun, Damar, the Female Changeling, etc…)
I love the beautiful scene in Ezri’s quarters, hearing soundbites of Worf and Jadzia’s history together. (I’m really glad they used Terry Farrel’s voice here, even though she’s no longer on the show!)
Sisko: “a man needs to concentrate in the kitchen”! Ha!
Sisko finally proposes to Kassidy! That’s a great moment! I love that he wants Jake to be his best man. It’s fascinating when Ben and Kassidy’s plans for a small wedding come up against “the biggest wedding Bajor has ever seen”!
We get a nice pay-off to the Worf/Ezri dynamic that has been simmering all season. After she rescues him, they fall into bickering — and then go at it!
I love our first glimpse of the weird-looking Breen ship.
Dukat returns to Damar — and gets surgically altered to look Bajoran!! Another great trip on Dukat’s long and twisty journey.
Sisko’s vision of the prophet Sarah is very moving, and a great pay-off to the season premiere. Sarah tells Ben that “you must walk the path alone” and that if he marries Kassidy, “you will know nothing but sorrow.” That is ominous. I get chills when Ben begs her “let me have this!” and she replies: “It is not for you to have.” She tees up the final run of episodes when she tells Ben that “your greatest trial is about to begin.” I like that we see Sarah show some affection for Ben at the end, when she tells him: “don’t be afraid — all will be as it should be,” and beseeches him to “stay on the path… Benjamin.” I love that she calls him Benjamin (not “the Sisko”) at the end. What a cliffhanger! And we’re off…!!

“‘Til Death Do Us Part”

Winn finally gets to communicate with her gods, just as she’s always longed for — but her vision is from the Pah Wraiths, not the Prophets! This is perfect.
I’m glad Weyoun was smart enough to have figured out that Dukat had returned to Cardassia.
What a powerful moment when Damar catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror — and then turns away to drink.
I love when Dukat reaches out to Damar, telling him that “Cardassia needs a leader.” It’s an incredibly powerful moment when they clasp hands, and we can see Damar straighten up. These are “villain” characters, but it’s still a touching moment to me.
The scene in which Sisko breaks off his marriage to Kassidy is painful. (It’s strange how he doesn’t mention, as a way of explaining his actions, that the last time he went against a warning from the Prophets, Jadzia died.)
The bit in which Ezri dreams about Julian is too silly and on the nose to suit me… as is the later, post-torture scene in which she rambles “kiss me, Julian.” Worf is also a baby when he tells Ezri “I should not have trusted you with my heart.” I think the Ezri-Worf scenes in this episode needed to have been written better/more subtly. I tire of the repetitive structure of their scenes in which they bicker and are interrupted by the Breen guards, over and over again.
Worf’s claim that no one has ever seen what a Breen looks like under their helmet seems to contradict the events of “Indiscretion,” in which Dukat and Kira stripped some Breen of their uniforms.
Dukat meets Winn!! Wow!!! I love that the show’s two biggest and baddest villains are united here at the end! I love Dukat’s slow seduction of Winn.
We get our first meeting with Sobor.
In the scene in which Sisko tells Kira that the Prophets told him that he and Kassidy weren’t mean to walk the same path, I’m reminded that Kira broke things off with Bareil for the same reason.
I like Quark’s sweet, gentle suggestion to Sisko to reconsider: “it seems a shame that something so beautiful should go to waste.”
I love all the little moments when Sisko decides to marry Kassidy after all — I love Nog playing the whistle — we can see that Kira isn’t happy. I love the scene in which Sarah interrupts Ben with a vision, just as he’s about to put the ring on Kassidy’s finger. “I cannot change what is to come,” she warns him — and, as in the previous episode, we can see that she does genuinely seem to care for Ben. She’s pained as she says “be careful… my son.”
At the end, we learn of the Dominion-Breen alliance!! I love it! It’s cool to see the oft-discussed Breen entering the show in such a big way here in the final run of episodes.

“Strange Bedfellows”

I love how Martok gleefully asks Sisko about “the war at home”, meaning his new marriage to Kassidy.
Watching Dukat and Winn canoodling is so wrong!!
I love the moment when Worf snaps Weyoun’s neck! And Damar just laughs!! So great. (How amazing is Casey Biggs here?? He’s come so far from his early appearances as just a random Cardassian officer for Dukat to talk to.)
I love Damar’s later jovial greeting of the new Weyoun 8 — and his mistrust and anger when the Breen are allowed access into the command center, and he’s instructed that he now has to submit his military “recommendations” to Thot Gor. Things of course get worse when half a million Cardassia soldiers are killed when Septimus 3 falls… and Weyoun doesn’t seem to care, because he truly believes that any sacrifice is worth it, for the Founders.
Following up on the scene from the previous episode, in which Damar couldn’t look at himself in the mirror, we get the great moment in this episode when he hurls his Kanar at his mirror in disgust. (He’s been drinking that thick slimy stuff all this time?)
I love the brewing little rivalry between Dukat/Anjol and Sobor.
Winn’s vision is fascinating — the Pah Wraiths instruct her to “restore us to our rightful place in the Celestial Temple.” Now we know what “the Restoration” means. It’s great to see Winn’s reaction to learning that it’s the Pah Wraiths who have been speaking to her. I love the scene between her and Dukat when she at first angrily rejects the Pah Wraiths, and he throws in her face that she should “live the rest of your life… in Sisko’s shadow!” It’s interesting that Winn tries to have an Orb encounter to speak to the real Prophets, but as they have always done, they won’t speak to her. It’s sad when she begs the Prophets to forgive her. And then in that great next scene, Winn admits to Kira that she has strayed — she comes so close to a real redemption!! But it all falls apart when Kira suggests that Winn step down as Kai, which is something she can never conceive of doing.
Worf continues to behave poorly with Ezri. She astutely realizes that Worf feels guilty that he has sex with her, even though he doesn’t love her the way he did Jadzia. I like that they finally seem to reach an understanding. Worf: “It appears all we have left to do is to be executed.” Ha!
I love that Damar lets Worf and Ezri go!! What a great twist. “Tell them — they have an ally on Cardassia.”
As Damar makes a step to redeem himself, Winn turns fully evil and embraces the Pah Wraiths. “No one will be able to stand against us… those who dare to try — the Federation and its Vedek puppets, the false Gods and their precious Emissary — they’ll all be swept aside like leaves before an angry wind.” Wow!! What an ending!!

“The Changing Face of Evil”

Awesome opening in which we learn that the Breen have attacked Earth. That shot of the damaged Golden Gate bridge is shocking!
I like that Kassidy won’t adjust her cargo deliveries out of fear, and that she doesn’t want Ben to pull strings in order to protect her.
Following up on the surprising end of the previous episode, Damar is now actively plotting a resistance against the Dominion. What an incredible transformation for this character! It’s interesting that Weyoun notices that Damar has regained his confidence, but he draws the wrong conclusion as to why.
It makes sense that Winn and Dukat are now back on Bajor. It was weird that she was still on DS9 in the last episode, especially since Sisko had already gotten married at the end of the episode before that.
I love O’Brien and Bashir’s enormous Alamo model. Their obsession continues…!!
It’s sort of cute how Worf and Ezri are watching Bashir from above — I like Worf’s protective “he is a child” comment.
I like hearing Weyoun and Damar discuss the mystery of what the Breen look like, and why they wear those refrigeration suits if their home-planet ISN’T a frozen wasteland.
So, Dukat needs Winn to get him the book of the Kostamogen. (Why didn’t the Pah Wraiths just tell Dukat everything he needed to know about how to free them? They’ve told him LOTS of other info.) I like that it’s Winn who realizes right away that they have to figure out how to access the words on the book’s blank-for-now pages.
I like the scene on the Defiant’s bridge — I like seeing their preparations for battle — and it’s a funny moment when we learn that Bashir lost Travis!! (Kira: “That’s what happens when you share your toys.” O’Brien: “It’s not a toy! It’s a model, built to scale!”)
We get an awesome space battle at the end, as the Dominion and the Breen wipe out the Starfleet/Klingon/Romulan task force and retake the Chin’Toka system. Their new energy-dampening weapon is a great game-changer here in the home-stretch of the series. It’s quite a shock that the Defiant is destroyed!!! I love how that raises the states! We get an amazing effects shot of the Defiant being annihilated, as we see the shattered other starships in the background. I like that we get a reason for why the Dominion allows the escape pods to get away, though it’s still a bad idea for them NOT to kill Sisko and the rest of the DS9 command crew…!!
I love that it’s Sobor who figures out that Anjol is Dukat. (“Don’t you recognize the face of your enemy?”) And then Winn kills Sobol! Wow! RIP, Sobol.
I love that Damar launches a full-on rebellion at the end!! I love his speech: “Resist today! Resist tomorrow! Resist until the last Dominion soldier has been driven from our soil!”
I love that Weyoun realizes that “I’m going to be the last Weyoun,” because Damar’s forces destroyed the Dominion’s cloning facility in the Alpha Quadrant.

“When it Rains…”

I love the idea that Kira has to train Damar & co. to be terrorists like she was — this is brilliant. I LOVE seeing Kira in a Starfleet uniform! (It’s funny that Garak the tailor thinks Odo’s outfit is “a little drab.”) What a great moment when Damar admits that he did hate Kira — it wasn’t so long ago, during the arts that opened season six, in which the two were total enemies!! — but he’s over that now. I really wish, though, that we’d gotten a scene in this or one of the subsequent episodes in which Kira and Damar got to hash out Damar’s killing of Ziyal. That feels like a big missed opportunity to me. It’s one of my only big problems with this final run of episodes.
Sisko mentions Garak’s contacts on Cardassia — I thought they were all killed in In The Pale Moonlight?
Gowron returns!! I love having Gowron back involved in the story. It’s cool that Martok gets inducted into the order of Kahless. It’s fascinating to see how selfish Gowron ruins Martok’s moment, taking direct control of the Klingon forces. Gowron is stuck in the old way of thinking. “The glory will be ours… and ours alone,” he later tells Martok and Worf. But the story of DS9 has been about the three main Star Trek empires (Federation, Klingons, and Romulans) learning to work together. I love having Gowron be the one to throw a big ol’ money wrench in things.
Bashir is funny, motioning with his eyes to O’Brien that he wants to talk to Ezri alone. And I also like the later scene when Bashir and O’Brien are gossiping about Ezri & Worf.
Odo is infected with the disease affecting the Great Link!! This is a shock, but only the first in a series of staggering revelations we get in this episode. The sequence in which we see that Starfleet Medical doesn’t want to help Bashir cure the Founder’s disease is stunning. O’Brien: “Guys like them are used to sitting behind their desks, not under them.” And then when Bashir gets Starfleet Medical to send them their file on Odo, they send a fake! Wow. Section 31’s tendrils are everywhere… and we’re surely seeing some of the cracks in the Federation’s noble idealism, as it seems to be that non-31 officers have to be involved in this, acting out of fear or prejudice. Then we get the final wallop: Bashir assumed — as did I, in the audience, when watching this originally — that Odo was infected when he linked with the Female Shapeshifter at the start of season six. But in fact, Odo was infected back when he was at Starfleet Medical in the “Homefront” two-parter in season four, and it was Odo himself who infected the other Changelings!! This is a spectacular twist. Section 31 actually created the virus and used Odo as a carrier. 31 is even more dangerous and dastardly than we’d thought.
Odo linked with Laas in “Chimera,” which means that Laas is infected, too, so he’s screwed…
I love the tense scene in which a Cardassian asks Odo why he didn’t resign his post on Terok Nor, once he realized that the Cardassians wouldn’t treat his prisoners justly. This is a question I too have asked myself. Odo walked a tough line during the Occupation, and as we’ve seen in flashback episodes, his hands aren’t entirely clean.
Dukat is blinded! This is an awesome twist. (Though it’s undermined by our not seeing any more of Dukat and Winn until the finale, which exposes this twist as a writerly way to stall for time…)
I love the cliffhanger. Bashir: “We have to find a way too get our hands on a cure.” O’Brien: “Before 31 gets their hands on us.” This final arc is on fire!!

“Tacking into the Wind”

Another spectacular episode!!
We see in the opening that Odo has deteriorated rapidly. Wow. Garak understand that Odo doesn’t want any pity. So does Kira. I’m glad that Kira knows Odo well enough to know that he’s hiding the extent of his illness from her.
I like Bashir’s certainty that “every puzzle has a solution.” But he and O’Brien are foolish not to let Sisko know what they’re doing.
Gowron continues to be a bastard. I love his dismissive “he’s expected to survive” comment when discussing Martok’s injuries in battle. Sisko is ballsy in calling out Gowron as the man who planned the disastrous mission!
Martok is too honorable to challenge Gowron in the middle of a war — also, he never believes that the great houses would ever follow a commoner like himself. That’s an interesting bit of commentary on the Klingon empire. It’s cool to think back and remember that, back in TNG’s “Redemption” pt. 2, it was Worf who said it was dishonorable to challenge a chancellor in the middle of a war! He’s come around to a different point of view, here…
The Female Changeling is brutal in ordering that Damar’s wife and children be hunted down, and that Cardassian civilians be used as human shields in all important military installations.
I love the Kira-Damar-Russot story. It’s great to see Kira kick Russot’s ass early in the episode. (Shades of the ass-whupping she gave to Damar back in early season six!) I love that Garak had Kira’s back, watching the exchange from the shadows.
It’s devastating to see Damar learn that his family has been killed. Kira is not sympathetic, throwing “yeah, Damar, what kind of people give those orders?” right back in his face. To Kira’s credit, she regrets having said it, but Garak is right: “If he’s the man to lead a new Cardassia”, then he needs to hear that.
Speaking of old hard truths, I absolutely love Ezri’s speech to Dax about the flaws in the Klingon empire. She rightly points out that the Klingon empire is a society in deep denial about itself. They’re “a warrior culture that is willing to accept corruption at the highest levels.” How many times has Worf had to cover up the crimes of Klingon leaders “for the good of the Empire”? She is absolutely right! (It’s especially cool that this is a speak that only the outsider Ezri could have given too Worf — Jadzia never would have had this perspective.) I love that Worf tells her that Martok still considers her to be a part of his house — and it’s funny that Worf objects when Ezri calls Martok “sweet” for saying so.
I like the cool design of the Cardassian shuttle, and the Dominion space station.
I love that the Cardassian soldier recognizes Damar and chooses to help him.
I love O’Brien’s plan to flush out Section 31 by sending them a message that Bashir HAS found a cure! This is very clever!
I love the episode’s climax in which Worf duels with Martok and kills him!!! Wow!!! Once again, we see that Worf is THE GREATEST HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTER IN THE GALAXY!!! What an ending for Gorwon, who has been on Trek since TNG season four. (And, arguably, this episode marks the end of the Klingon Empire storylines that go back even further, to TNG season two’s “The Emissary” and season three’s “Sins of the Father”!!) I love the cool shot during the battle when Worf is bush back through the view-screen. I love that Worf chooses to give the chancellorship to Martok, who of course, being the awesome dude that he is, doesn’t want it. Worf: “Kahless said: great men do not seek power — they have power thrust upon them.” I love that Martok is now Chancellor!!! Amazing!!
I also love the fantastic, tense sequence on Kira/Damar/etc.’s mission — Russot draws on Kira, Garak draws on Russot, and Damar draws on Garak. And then Damar chooses to kill Russot!! Wow!! Damar: “He was my friend. But his Cardassia is dead. And it isn’t coming back.” How amazing has Damar become??

“Extreme Measures”

This is the weak link, for me, in this awesome final run of episodes. It feels like a step back into TNG surrealism, as opposed to the gritty realism of DS9. I wish 31 had been confronted in the real world. That being said, there is something to be said for the concept of a journey into Sloan’s mind, and it’s great to get one last O’Brien-Bashir adventure before the end.
I think Bashir and O’Brien get the drop on Sloan too easily. And then, it’s pretty obvious to me that Sloan would try to kill himself. It’s dumb for Bashir to waste time explaining his plan to Sloan (and the audience). He should have kept Sloan unconscious the whole time.
Poor Kira has had to watch so many of her loved ones die — her father, Bareil, Ghemor — and now Odo is dying too. I think it’s somewhat selfish of Odo to send Kira away, robbing her of a chance for closure with him.
Bashir has an illegal Roman memory scanner? Cool!
I am of a mixed mind about the sweet/silly conversation in which Bashir suggest that O’Brien loves Keiko but that he likes him (Bashir) more. It’s a bit on the nose. We get that these two have become close, we don’t need this spelled out for us. This scene also has given some fans to object, saying why did they beat around the bush — why not just come out and make these two gay! That would have been something, but it’s never been my read on this relationship. I think the intent of the scene was as a nice ode to a strong male friendship, and I like it for that.
The “tunnel to the great beyond” moment is surprising!
I like that O’Brien and Bashir are committed to “do our duty until the very end” — like Travis and Crockett!
I like the fake-out at the end, that Bashir and O’Brien are still in Sloan’s mind. But the book thing is silly to me. If Sloan is creating his whole reality, surely he’d be able to fill in the pages, even if Bashir himself hadn’t finished reading the book.
I do like the moment when Sloan tries to tempt Bashir with all the other secret info that he knows. I like his reference to “former” president Jaresh-Inyo (the Federation President we saw back in season four’s “Homefront” – “Paradise Lost.” I guess that attempted Starfleet coup didn’t sit well with the Federation voters!)
The closing scene of Bashir and O’Brien drinking is lovely. “To friendship.” I like that O’Brien invites Bashir to dinner (“wanna come?”) with him and Keiko.

“The Dogs of War”

I like the payoff, finally, to the Bashir-Dax flirting that’s been going on since the series premiere. I like the opening scene with O’Brien and Worf both watching Bashir and Ezri awkwardly interact.
I like the arrival of the new Defiant, and Ben’s “hello ship” moment. Part of me is bummed that they undid the destruction of the first Defiant by replacing it with a new, identical ship. Though I understand the budgetary reasons for not giving them a different-looking ship for these final two episodes, it would have been cool if they could have done that.
I love the shocking opening in which Damar is ambushed in a trap, and the Jem’Hadar ship they’d been using is captured and destroyed. It makes sense that the powerful Dominion would be able to overcome Damar’s little resistance. I’m glad this wasn’t too easy for Damar & co. I like seeing them pushed to desperate measures here. It’s shocking, later in the episode, when we learn that ALL 18 rebel bases have been destroyed.
I love that Jeff Combs finally appears in the SAME EPISODE as both Weyoun and Brunt!
It’s awesome to finally meet Mila!!
I’m glad that we get to see Bashir tell Odo the truth about how Section 31 gave him the disease. It’s fascinating to learn that the Federation Council has decided NOT to give the cure to the Founders. I can understand their position, but it’s a break in the expected Federation idealism.
It’s a delight to see Zek and Ishka again! I love how Quark thinks Zek will be naming him to succeed him as Nagus. I love the funny shot from above of a giddy Quark lying on the bar while the heads of Rom, Leeta, Nog, and Impella are all gathered around him. I love seeing Brunt throw himself at Quark’s feet! “It’s never too early to suck up to the boss!” The shot of him polishing Quark’s toenails is so gross!
So Zek has been reforming Ferenginar! All bribes are now tax-deductible! Zek has instituted progressive income taxes! The government needs revenues in order to fund new social programs! All of the Nagus’ initiatives must now be approved by “the congress of economic advisors.” I love how horrified Quark is. Brunt’s comment that “you’ll still be a powerful man! I wouldn’t be sucking’ up to you otherwise” is so funny! Perfectly delivered by Jeffrey Combs. And then ultimately Rom is named Nagus! “A kinder, gentler Nagus.” This is the payoff to all of the Ferengi stories we’ve been following throughout DS9. Quark laments having been “infected” by the Federation, which has made him soft. It’s funny to hear him parrot Picard’s “the line must be drawn HERE!” speech from Star Trek: First Contact! It’s sad that Quark resists Zek/Ishka/Nog’s point of view, but it’s also in-character for him. Quark declares that “the Ferenginar I knew doesn’t exist anymore!” This is sort of like the realization that Damar had at the end of the previous episode. But unlike Damar, Quark is still trying to hold onto the old ways. “This bar will be the last outpost of what made Ferenginar great.” (A very Trumpian point of view, long before Trump!) The line is also, of course, a sly reference to the 1st season TNG episode “The Last Outpost,” in which the Ferengi 1st appeared — one of whom was played by Armin Shimmerman!
We get to meet Legate Broca, the new leader of the Cardassian Union. Ha! Another sucker!
It’s interesting to learn that “the Dominion has never surrendered in battle since its founding 10,000 years ago.” Weyoun is correct that “the Federation is by its very nature timid.” If the Dominion pulls back, the Federation probable would leave them alone. That’s consistent with what we’ve always seen in Trek. I love that, here at the end of DS9, we see that Sisko and Ross aren’t going to fall for that, and are ready to push their advantage. “Then it’s settled — we attack.” Wow!
Where did Rom get the 50,000 bars of gold-pressed latinum which he used to buy Quark’s bar, when he thought Quark was going to be Nagus?
I love the funny cut to Bashir and Dax making out in the turbo lift.
Damar’s leading a chant of “freedom!” on the streets of Cardassia is very poignant.
I love the surprising ending that Kassidy is pregnant! (It’s funny to learn a bit about 24th century birth control, when Kassidy needles Ben that “one of us forgot our injection last month.”) I love the beautiful music over that last beat at the end of the episode.

“What You Leave Behind”

There’s a lot to love about this finale, even though it has some flaws that I wish weren’t there. It’s not quite as strong as several of the other episodes of this “Final Chapter,” an incredible run of serialized episodes leading to this finale. But it also is filled with an array of extraordinary moments. I am so satisfied by where almost all of the characters wound up — which is so critical for a series finale, and generally very hard to get right. And the final few minutes — and the final shot — are absolute perfection.
What are the flaws? The writing just isn’t as sharp as the best of the series’ previous two-hour episodes or two-part episodes. “The Way of the Warrior,” the “In Purgatory’s Shadow”/”By Inferno’sLight” two-parter — those were much stronger episodes, that were better paced and with more funny/memorable scenes. The writing was just sharper. This two-hour episode feels a bit rushed, like it could have used another pass or two. It’s understandable at the end of a long season, but a bit disappointing nonetheless.
The visual effects don’t quite live up to what I’d hoped for. We DO get some AWESOME sequences of spaceship action as the Federation-Klingon-Romulan fleet takes on the Dominion-Cardassian-Breen forces one final time. But one whole sequence in that battle is made up of recycled visual effects shots from previous episodes. I noticed, and I always find that deflating. The visual effects also fail us when Winn meets her end. That needed to be a viscerally thrilling scene — think Donovan’s demise at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade! But that weak visual and the whimper we hear Winn make on the soundtrack makes that a totally underwhelming moment, which always bums me out whenever I rewatch the episode and get to that scene.
Frankly, the entire Winn-Dukat storyline fizzles out here. After so much great buildup at the start of this final run of episodes, I found most of their scenes here in the finale to be tedious and repetitive. Also, how long were they wandering around in those caves? The entire Dominion War wraps up, everyone gets home to DS9, and the Armistice is signed, all while they’re wandering in those caves. So that doesn’t quite work for me. But more problematically, Winn and Dukat are too easy to defeat, and the task that “the Sisko” has been set to do by the Prophets seems so silly and small-scale — he just has to push Dukat over the edge? I wanted more. I’m also not quite sure why pushing Dukat into the Pah Wraiths causes the book to dissolve away and the Pah Wraiths to be imprisoned again. It’s all a bit weak for me.
But there is also so much to enjoy! Let’s dig in.
I complained about the visual effects, but there is also a lot of GREAT EPIC action here that is so fun!! We get one last clash of fleets, and it’s awesome.
I really love the melancholy tone of the episode. It’s a surprising way for a Star Trek series to end, but it works for DS9. Some moments are so melancholy (such as Bashir-Garak’s final scene) that when I first watched the episode, I was a little put off. But upon rewatches I really love those choices.
I love the title!!
I like seeing all the couples together at the start of the episode. It’s satisfying to see Dax and Bashir together at last. It’s great to see Keiko again, and also Molly and Kiriyoshi! I like seeing Jake and Kassidy — we hadn’t gotten to see much of Jake in this final run of episodes!
“Ensign, I believe you know the way to Cardassia” — I love the awesome shot of the fleet moving out!
I love how happy Garak looks when Mila compliments him. All of his “disgraceful” secretive qualities are now virtues, as a freedom fighter in hiding from the authorities!
Sisko gets one last vision from Sarah: “The Emissary’s task is nearing completion.” She tells him: “Your journey’s end lies not before you — but behind you.” I like that “the Sisko”, who is “of Bajor,” ultimately meets his fate on Bajor.
It’s nice to have Dukat back, but I wish we’d gotten to see his journey, begging on the streets and ultimately regaining his sight and the favor of the Pah Wraiths. It was a writerly cheat to have him be off-screen for these past few episodes. I like hearing Winn cuttingly tell Dukat “I’m sure you have many interesting anecdotes about the Occupation.”
I like seeing Quark and Vic playing Go Fish. “I just hope Nog… and the rest of those heroic idiots… come back in one piece.”
Poor Broca gets choked by the Female Changeling and later shot. I knew he was doomed from when we first met him! Weyoun suggests that the Cardassian people should be punished. These two are revealed as stone cold horrors. It is shocking when the Cardassians destroy Lakarian City, killing two million civilians. This is a horrific moment, one that is dwarfed by the ultimate casualty reports given at the end of the episode. Later, after learning that the Cardassian Fleet has turned against them, the Female Changeling declares “I want the Cardassians exterminated.” She is so hateful; it’s chilling.
I love the moment in which Damar realizes that Kira is to thank for his rebellion’s successes. This is a huge admission for him, beautifully delivered by Casey Biggs.
I love when Mila describes Damar as “such a fine, handsome figure of a man,” and Damar’s pleased “nonsense” reaction!
It’s devastating when Mila is killed.
I love when the Cardassian soldiers shoot the Jem’Hadar officers who are about to execute Damar & co. I love Damar’s “with men like you on our side — how can we fail?” he’s such a leader now!
I love the surprise when the Cardassian fleet switches sides, and attacks the Dominion and Breen ships!! Those are awesome battle sequences.
I love Martok’s cheerful “songs will be sung about this day” attitude about the assault on Cardassia, while Sisko declares “let’s finish what we started.”
I am amused by Dukat’s disappointed reaction when arriving at the Fire Caves. “I was expecting to see Fire!” That Winn can release the Pah Wraiths just by chanting some words seems silly and way too easy.
Damar realized a few episodes ago that his Cardassia was dead — but nevertheless it’s very moving when Garak comes to the same realization here, standing in the ruins of the house where he grew up, with Mila dead. He imagined he’d live in that house again some day, with Mila. But now, “My Cardassia is gone.” This is very sad.
The shot of the Dominion defense perimeter around Cardassia is very cool.
I am still shocked and saddened that Damar died!!! That final “For Cardassia!!” charge by Garak & co. is sad and moving.
It’s so satisfying when Garak kills Weyoun!
The Female Changeling is so chilling, when she declares that “you will have lost so many ships, so many lives, that your victory will taste as butter as defeat.”
I like that Winn poisons Dukat — she’s duplicitous to the last.
What a great moment when Odo links with the Female Shapeshifter. I love that Kira has his back, against Garak’s objections. Odo is right: she does agree to surrender, because he gives himself up in her place. Remember, she had previously said that Odo was worth more to her than the entire Alpha Quadrant. (See season six’s “Behind the Lines,” and also “The Search” part 2 and “Heart of Stone”.) We find out here that she wasn’t exaggerating. She cares more for one Changeling than a Quadrant of Solids. I find that fascinating. Odo’s self-sacrifice is painful, but the show had also carefully established that Odo longed to return to the Great Link (he admitted that under Garak’s torture back during season three’s “The Die is Cast” and it had come up a few times recently, such as in his interactions with Laas in “Chimera”.)
The matte shot of the devastated Cardassia is so sad to see.
I think Sisko and Ross are a bit rude to Martok, spilling out his blood wine on the ground! Let Martok have his moment! (The three had previously promised to drink a toast together on Cardassia Prime back in “Tears of the Prophets.”) Though I do like the idea that our heroes aren’t reveling in so much death…
The final Bashir and Garak scene is heartbreaking. 800 million Cardassian dead is an overwhelming number. It’s so sad that Garak’s exile is finally over — but in the worst way possible. It’s hard to hear Garak say that “some may say that we’ve gotten just what we deserved.” This is a hard truth that Garak has learned over the course of the series. Bashir’s usual optimism vanishes in this moment, as he’s unsure what to say. I long for a more tender final moment between these two men, but this difficult scene is very moving to me. Will they ever see one another again? It’s interesting that the scene leaves that up in the air, but I choose to believe that they will. (Also: it is important and moving that constant liar Garak has, in this moment, finally run out of lies, and feels compelled to speak the bitter truth to Bashir, without any sugarcoating or obfuscation.)
I LOVE that Worf is appointed Ambassador to Qo’noS! I love Martok’s joy at “an ambassador who’ll go Targ-hunting with me!” What a great place for Worf to end up, after his long journey throughout TNG and DS9!
I love the final scene at Vic’s, as he sings “The Way You Look Tonight.” I love how he looks at Kira when he sings “that wrinkles your nose.” I absolutely love Sisko’s somber final toast: “a part of us… a very special part… will always remain here: on Deep Space Nine.” He’s speaking for the viewers, too.
You can see the members of the DS9 writing-staff in the crowd at Vic’s. I wish more members of the larger Ds9 ensemble had been in that scene. I’d have loved to have seen Rom, Nog, Keiko, Leeta, etc.
Of course the Pah Wraiths choose Dukat. I love that they give him back his true face.
I’m always moved when Sarah Sisko tells Ben, “You’re with us now.” This is such a fascinating place for Sisko to end up! What other Star Trek captain ever actually became a God? It’s sad that he is separated from Kassidy. Now we know why Sarah didn’t want Sisko to marry her — not out of cruelty, but to spare them this separation. I love the scene in which Kassidy finds herself in the Celestial Temple, talking with Ben. I LOVE that they play the theme from “The Visitor” during that scene. Will Sisko return to her someday? I choose to believe he will.
While the Ben-Kassidy scene is great, I really wanted a final Ben-Jake scene. That’s a head-scratching omission to me. But I LOVE that Jake DOES get to be in the last shot of the series (more on that below). And, looking back at episodes like season 4’s “The Visitor” and “Far Beyond the Stars” and “Rapture”, it’s cool to see that the show has been carefully laying the seeds of Jake’s having to learn to live without his father (at least for a while)…
I love that O’Brien finds the lost Travis figure!! (O’Brien had accused Bashir of losing Travis in “The Changing Face of Evil”.) And I love that the “Minstrel Boy,” which O’Brien sung back in the TNG season four episode “The Wounded,” plays on the soundtrack in that moment!
I absolutely ADORE the whole final montage, as we see all of the characters preparing to separate, and lots of wonderful clips from throughout the run of the show. This brings me total and complete joy. Seeing clips is unexpected in a Star Trek show, but it works SO WELL in my opinion. I love hearing “The Way You Look Tonight” on the soundtrack, and how that fades into the DS9 theme.
I love that Odo gives Kira his bucket.
I love Odo and Quark’s goodbye. I love that Quiark knew Odo would try too slip away! We get one final “harumpf” from Odo. Like the final Garak-Bashir scene, this goodbye is painful in that we don’t get the expressions of emotion that I was longing for. It’s a more difficult, but also more honest, moment. I love Quark’s declaration: “That man loves me. Can’t you see? It was written all over his back.”
I love that, in the end, Odo returns to the Great Link. His final scene with Kira is so moving and heartbreaking. “You always said I looked good in a tuxedo.” That beautiful musical cue that plays over that scene is spectacular.
I love that Nog has been promoted to Lieutenant!
I love that Colonel Kira is now in charge of the station! It’s so satisfying to see her take Sisko’s baseball!
I like that Bashir has a new holodeck program: the battle of Thermopylae. Ezri: “Have you talked to a counselor about these annihilation fantasies?”
I love that Morn buys hair-gel from Quark!
I love Quark’s “the more things change, the more they stay the same” final scene with Kira. (And it’s cool that Quark gets the final spoken line in the series.)
The final scene of the show is spectacular. An absolutely note-perfect ending. I adore the GORGEOUS, melancholy music that we hear the moment Kira looks up and sees Jake, looking out the window. In the pilot, we first glimpsed DS9 as Jake and Ben Sisko looked out the window of the ship bringing them to the station. It’s so beautiful that the show ends with Jake, looking out the window from DS9, looking for his father — and sort of looking us at us, the viewer. I love the gentle way Kira puts her arm around him. I love that gorgeous final shot, as DS9 moves away and vanishes among the stars. Wow. What a way to end. It moves me every single time I see this episode. Absolute perfection of an ending, in my opinion.

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