Part one: A bombing indicates the Changelings have reached Earth (thunderclap) and Sisko and Odo — with Jake in tow to visit Grandpa Sisko (Brock Peters) — head there to help Starfleet. Admiral Leyton (Robert Foxworth), Sisko’s former CO, appoints our buddy Benny to head Starfleet security on Earth. Then, power goes out across the planet, and everybody assumes it’s a Changeling plot. Leyton gets a previously hesitant Federation Council President Jaresh-Inyo (Herschel Sparber) to allow Starfleet to send troops across the planet as the Changeling paranoia reaches a fever pitch.

Part two: Sisko and Odo learn the power outage was actually caused by Starfleet cadets, on orders from Leyton, who wants more authority to defend Earth from the Changeling threat. Sisko calls the station and has Kira and Worf bring the Defiant to Earth, armed with evidence that some unexplained wormhole openings were faked by Leyton. Meanwhile, Sisko meets a Changeling impersonating O’Brien — further evidence that infiltrators are on the planet. Before the Defiant can arrive, Leyton has Sisko arrested, accusing him of being a Changeling. Leyton sends a Starfleet ship to stop the Defiant from arriving, and the two engage in a short battle. By this point, Sisko has escaped with Odo’s help and has a phaser on Leyton in the admiral’s office. With things about to go from barely lethal to really freaking lethal in the battle, Leyton orders his ship to stand down and is arrested. But he tells Sisko that he hopes they both don’t regret Sisko’s successful efforts to stop him. Sisko’s dad, representing the people of Earth or something, admits he’s terrified, but that life will go on. Sisko and company head back to DS9.

Why it’s important

This episode further escalates the “Changelings are everywhere” theme from “The Adversary”. It’s an interesting approach, in that the Changeling’s don’t actually cause the problems. But the fact that they’re around causes paranoia among the good guys that leads to some classic DS9 shades of gray. It’s a nice two-parter, even if it’s sort of a cheat. Had the Dominion really caused the power outage, you figure a fleet of Jem’Hadar ships would have arrived shortly thereafter to take advantage.

We also get a glimpse of the Founders’ thoughts on Odo’s actions in “The Adversary” when the Changeling impersonating Leyton in part one shows clear animosity toward Odo. There’s also the idea that Sisko is becoming a more important player in Starfleet and Federation matters.

Oh, and for as much crap as I’ve given Sisko for being insubordinate, he’s totally in the right on this one, whereas he’s been arguably in the right in the past.

What doesn’t hold up

The biggest bit of goofiness happens in part two, when the Defiant arrives in time to actually make a difference. At most, a few days pass between the time Sisko contacts Kira and the showdown between the Defiant and the Lakota. It’s never explicitly stated where the showdown takes place, so it might have been a ways from Earth. But it was close enough where the Lakota could respond and where Leighton viewed it as a threat.

We get a glimpse in “The Search” that DS9 is maybe a week or so away from Earth — given a line from Jake — and that doesn’t quite fit the “edge of the frontier” billing and the idea that the Federation is quite large. But a few days from DS9 to Earth makes even less sense. We’ll continue to catalog the “It’s a Small Galaxy” problem DS9 will show us over the next few years. Voyager was guilty of that, too (along with so many other things).

Also, what exactly happened with the Changelings on Earth? We know there was at least one of them, and there were likely more, especially if the Changeling impersonating O’Brien was telling even a bit of the truth. Now, there is the matter of the disease, which we learn later was affecting the Changelings around this time. But wouldn’t the Founders on Earth — who likely weren’t linking with other Changelings, who weren’t infected en masse for at least a few months — have taken the opportunity to wreak some havoc?

The reason they didn’t, of course, is that doing so would have been too tumultuous, even for DS9. We’ll see a lot of this over the next few years, but “Homefront”/”Paradise Lost” is DS9’s biggest example of where rationalizing or retconning the buildup versus the end result doesn’t work at all.

Also, I’m again amazed — maybe even appalled — at the lack of preparation Starfleet and the DS9 crew, in particular have engaged in despite clear warnings of Changeling infiltrators. On Earth, Starfleet tests on Odo what level phaser setting would incapacitate a Changeling. This is a great idea, but one that should have been done WELL BEFORE this episode. Keep in mind that the looming threat of Changeling infiltrators predates even “The Die is Cast”, which happened about a year before this episode! This is another example of a scene used for exposition — it shows that the Changelings are really big threats to anyone who might have missed previous episodes — which makes Starfleet and Sisko look really dumb.

Last thing. These episodes do some big-time character retconning. Sisko, back in “Emissary”, was an officer whose career had apparently taken a downward turn. He was basically damaged goods (with reason) after his wife’s death at the Battle of Wolf 359. Essentially, his time on DS9 reinvigorates his career and gets him promoted, and that all made at least some sense.

But here, it sounds like he was always an officer on the way up. Leyton thinks very highly of him and he’s held in awe by Starfleet cadets. Keep in mind that this episode takes place after maybe three major incidents with the Dominion (in “The Jem’Hadar”, “The Search” and “Starship Down”) only one of which was particularly successful. Granted, Sisko led the defense of the station against the Klingons, but that doesn’t seem like something that would impress the Dominion-crazy cadets or Leyton’s group enough to make Sisko almost James Kirk like in the eyes of Starfleet. At least, not based on what Sisko was less than two years earlier.

Final thoughts

What this episode probably does best is establish in tone the idea that the Dominion stuff is really messing with Starfleet and the Federation, putting the Roddenberry, early-TNG utopian stuff aside to deal with a particularly nasty foe. Some Trekkers hate DS9 because it took Trek in this direction, but I think it was probably inevitable. Keep in mind that some of the darker elements of DS9 — the Maquis, the Cardassian war — were actually part of TNG in the final few seasons. In other words, there’s only so much you can do with franchise centered around a conflict-free civilization.

We also see some great battle scenes in “Paradise Lost” between the Defiant and the Lakota, and we understand Worf’s role on the station. Essentially, he’s second in command of the Defiant and third in command of DS9. Which makes sense, but is very interesting

Coming later this week …

Gul Dukat goes rogue … with Kira’s help?

Newly promoted Captain Sisko is ordered by Ambassador Krajensky (Lawrence Pressman) to take the Defiant to the Tzenkethi border as a show of strength. Turns out the Tzenkethi are another race of bad guys with whom the Federation had a previously unmentioned war (boo, creators) and Kranensky says some new instability within their government has Starfleet worried. On the way, O’Brien discovers sabotage, and it turns out Krajensky is actually a Changeling infiltrator. The crew must hunt out the Changeling, who could be impersonating any of them, as the ship is on course for a Tzenkethi settlement, programmed to attack and likely start a war. As O’Brien regains computer control at the last minute — preventing the attack — Odo fights with the other Changeling, who dies in the struggle. But before he dies, he tells Odo, “It’s too late. We’re everywhere,” something Odo conveys to a shocked and horrified Sisko right before the credits roll.

Why it’s important

This is the second instance in which a Changeling infiltrator attempts to destabilize the Alpha Quadrant. It doesn’t work this time, but it sets the stage for a lot of seasons four and five. It partly motivates the Klingon paranoia we see in “The Way of the Warrior”, in which a government change on Cardassia can only be justified to the Klingons as the work of Changelings.

For Odo, the events here set in motion his eventual fall from grace among the Founders and his punishment at the end of season four. Odo’s relationship with the Founders is one of the key undercurrent of the series.

What doesn’t hold up

It’s hard to believe that Starfleet and the DS9 crew in particular hadn’t put more thought into Changeling infiltrators — particularly after the events of “The Die is Cast”. Assuming Odo and Garak told Sisko what the Changeling impersonating Colonel Lovok told them, everyone should have realized a Changeling spy was a good possibility at really any time. The idea of blood screenings was a good one, but it should have been something the crew thought of before this episode.

Bigger picture, it’s really annoying that Starfleet was at war with yet another space empire in the few years before the events of second-generation Trek. Sisko was involved in the war — we learn that here and later — meaning that the conflict was within the past couple of decades. As noted during our review of “The Wounded”, this is an annoying trope of Star Trek, particularly compared with the high-sounding talk during early TNG about a mostly peaceful Federation.

Worse is the fact that the Tzenkethi are never heard from again! Here’s this big, bad space empire relatively close to DS9 — otherwise, why send the Defiant on this mission? — that is significant enough in military force that it can wage a war that the Federation really fears. And yet, when the Federation, the Klingons, the Romulans, the Dominion, the Cardassians and the Breen are involved in a major interstellar war in DS9’s final two seasons, the Tzenkethi are apparently just cool to sit back and watch. That, my friends, is especially weak sauce. The Tzenkethi aren’t even among the powers who sign non-aggression pacts with the Dominion (among the likes of the Miradorn and the Tholians).

It feels like this episode should have been about the change of government on Cardassia, which we see in “The Way of the Warrior”. That would have made a LOT more sense, as it would have explained Kira and Odo’s presence on the mission — the Bajorans would have an active interest in Cardassian turmoil — and it would have made geographic sense. Sending the Defiant to “show the flag”, as Sisko puts in, along the Cardassian border makes sense, based on everything we had seen on DS9 for three seasons. Hell, it’s hard to believe Starfleet would have been cool with Sisko taking the Defiant and the entire senior staff on the mission we see here, given everything we know, and leaving the station and Bajor undefended and understaffed.

Speaking of which, why didn’t Sisko do anything to verify Krajensky’s orders before leaving the station? Keep in mind that the entire mission was inspired by what the Changeling verbally told Sisko. Couldn’t Sisko have checked to make sure that the alleged coup was actually happening? Keep in mind that the Changeling impersonating Krajensky doesn’t tell Sisko to maintain radio silence or anything similar.

Final thoughts

This is probably the weakest of all of DS9’s season finales. It’s not a terrible action outing, but the plot is just too goofy to make much sense — even if the Odo stuff is extremely consequential. Sometimes, episodes are good enough to look past some flimsy logic. But not here.

Beyond that, I guess what we see later indicates that the Changeling whom Odo killed was really just exaggerating. It’s true that Changelings impersonate some pretty important Alpha Quadrant people in the fourth and fifth seasons, but “everywhere” is a stretch. If they were “everywhere”, they didn’t really cause that much damage — or, they were somehow stopped from doing so in a lot of places. I do have a theory on that, but it’ll have to wait. Let’s just say it has to do with something called “Section 31”.

On the other hand, we learn later that the Founders’ hold on the Jem’Hadar is somewhat overstated. So, maybe the Dominion is just really good at fear mongering/propaganda?

Coming later this week …

A TNG character joins DS9. Can Bashir get along with the irascible Dr. Pulaski? Will Nog and Jake look up to Wesley Crusher?

Part one: With the Dominion threat looming, Sisko brings the Defiant, a prototype Starfleet warship, to DS9. The ship has a cloaking device (on loan from the Romulans) and Sisko’s mission is to find the Dominion’s Founders and work out a deal. On board the Defiant in the Gamma Quadrant, Odo starts acting strangely and feels an odd pull toward the Omarion Nebula. As it gets closer to finding the Founders, the Defiant loses a short battle with the Jem’Hadar. Odo and Kira escape in a shuttle to find their way to the nebula … where Odo meets a group of people who look just like him. After years of searching, our favorite shapeshifter is home.

Part two: Back on DS9, Sisko and Co. (minus Kira and Odo) are told that their mission succeeded and the Dominion is set to establish an alliance with all the great Alpha Quadrant powers, minus the Romulans, for some reason. Meanwhile, Odo learns about his origins and finds that his people are xenophobes who distrusts solids. He was sent out, he’s told, as a group of 100 infant “Changelings” and wasn’t expected to return for hundreds of years. Back on the station, Sisko and Co. decide the treaty with the Dominion would give up too much — especially after they learn the Federation is going to pull out of the Bajoran system. The group steals a runabout and collapses the entrance to the wormhole. Back on the planet, Kira and Odo discover our heroes being held captive — and learn the whole ordeal on DS9 was a simulation to test their responses. Then, it’s learned that Odo’s people are actually the Founders(!). The female Changeling (Salome Jens) who’s been instructing Odo allows the group to leave … but warns that the Dominion won’t be as lenient next time.

Why it’s important

You want big dominoes — then this two-parter is for you, even if the ending to part two is sort of a cheat.

The introduction of the Defiant (which is pretty badass) and other items spawning from Sisko’s return — a relationship with the Romulans regarding the Dominion, the introduction of Michael Eddington (Kenneth Marshall), Starfleet’s new security chief at DS9 — shows the magnitude of what happened in “The Jem’Hadar”. DS9 had a lot of turning points, but the first part of “The Search” is as big as any in the series — even without the introduction of Odo’s people. And, of course, they’re not just Odo’s people. The Changelings turn out to be the Founders of the Dominion! Talk about a jaw-dropping couple of hours (or, couple of 45 minutes).

DS9 was the best Trek series at showing consequences. Sometimes, the creators stacked the deck too much against our heroes only to have to backpedal — the threat of Changeling infiltrators in the middle seasons — a threat that largely passed — is the best example. But, what we see here is really compelling storytelling that was ahead of its time. What we start seeing in the third season of DS9 — and particularly, in the fifth, sixth and seventh seasons — was more akin to the great serial dramas of the 2000s than the episodic fare of the 1980s and 1990s.

What doesn’t hold up

Anyone who loved the rebooted “Battlestar Galactica” will love the events of these episodes and will likely see similar flaws. Not shockingly, Ronald D. Moore, the originator of the new BSG, wrote the teleplay for part one. Like BSG, these two episodes are compelling, but not without their shares of logical flaws and outright goofiness. A quick list:

1) Sisko’s mission is to reach out to the Founders and create a dialog — essentially, a peace mission. To do so, they send him on a ship that is armed to the teeth. Not exactly an olive branch. Meanwhile, the ship is barely operational! This is something that we saw a lot of in the Trek movies — the Enterprise would be sent on a key mission despite not having a full crew or being fully operational — and it was as goofy then as it is here.

2) Part one begins with Kira talking with the senior staff (minus Sisko) about how they could defend the station against a Dominion attack. It’s necessary for exposition (I guess) but it seems odd to have the convo apparently two months after the events of “The Jem’Hadar”. What had they been doing for two months? It’s not weird that the conversations were ongoing — but the dialog would seem to indicate that they took forever to reach pretty obvious conclusions.

3) Things actually get stranger in part two. While the stuff on the Changeling planet (until the end) is fine, the “events” on the station are really strange. Sisko (who’s not even a captain, let alone an admiral) is just too annoyed about being kept out of the loop during the “peace negotiations”. Not only is he low-ranking (relatively speaking) he was in a shuttle with a Bashir for most of the talks. Would it even have made sense to just throw him in?

4) Then, as the Dominion’s experiment continues, it’s hard to believe that Sisko and Co. would go as rogue as they did. O’Brien getting beat up by the Jem’Hadar was clearly shocking — as was the murder of the Romulan T’Rul (Martha Hackett). But the crew acts like they are a helluva lot smarter than their superiors. At this point in the series, Sisko’s connection to the Bajoran faith is still tenuous — he only begrudgingly accepts the Emissary stuff — so it’s not totally out of the question that he’d blow up the wormhole. But the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.

5) Then, there’s the whole business of how the Dominion left the Defiant in orbit (and possibly repaired it?) allowing our heroes to leave and (apparently?) return to DS9 after Odo gets the female Changeling to let them go. The Defiant was “dead in space” at the end of part one, according to Odo, so did the Dominion repair it? But more than that, did the Dominion expect to let Sisko and Co. return after the experiment? Shouldn’t they have been tearing the ship apart to learn about Starfleet’s new defensive capabilities? It’s not at all a stretch to say the Dominion hadn’t seen a ship like the Defiant before.

Final thoughts

As noted, this two-parter is entertaining but it’s just got a ton of logical issues. The Sisko and Co. being too big for their britches shows up later in season three — and we saw a touch of this at the beginning of season two when Sisko used the flimsiest excuse to remain on the station despite orders (and the Prime Directive) that should have kept him out of an internal Bajoran matter.

As DS9 progresses, Sisko’s role in Starfleet and Federation grows enough where it’s not hard to figure he could go on to some of the big things that he did. But, at this point, he’s two years off being stationed in a back alley of space as a mid-level administrator!

Coming later this week …

Enabaran Tain takes the fun to the Dominion.