Category Archives: 2374

1998, 2374, Deep Space Nine, Section 31

“Inquisition”

I'm Colonel Stuar... I mean Luther Sloa...
“I’m Colonel Stuar… I mean Luther Sloan.”

Starfleet Internal Affairs shows up on the station and appears to have Bashir in its sights. Director Sloan (William Sadler) starts asking about some questionable items in Bashir’s past and says he believes Bashir is a Dominion agent — possibly a sleeper agent. After putting the good doctor through the wringer, Bashir is beamed away by Weyoun, who says Bashir has indeed been a sleeper agent. Bashir almost buys it, but realizes it’s all an elaborate ploy by Sloan. Sloan then deactivates his holodeck and tells Bashir that he actually works for Section 31, a secret agency created to ensure the Federation’s security that has no authorization from Starfleet or the Federation Council — but that has been around for 200 years. After trying to recruit Bashir, he eventually lets him go and Bashir reports everything to Sisko. But Sisko’s inquiries about Sloan and Section 31 don’t go anywhere, and the episode ends with the idea Starfleet and the Federation are OK letting Sloan do his thing and that the Federation is not as morally pristine as we’ve been led to believe.

Why it’s important

Well, apparently, the Federation’s been propped up at least in part by a rogue organization that answers to no one for like two centuries. So, there’s that. It’s interesting that the DS9 creators pulled absolutely no punches on this one. They could have underplayed Section 31’s importance  — the episode could have ended with Sisko saying he thought Sloan’s claims were exaggerated or something — but they went for broke.

And, of course, we’ll soon learn how important Section 31 is. They play a major, major role in events that lead to the end of the Dominion War.

Weak eyes... but a fabulous talent for cooking!
“Weak eyes… but a fabulous talent for cooking!”

What doesn’t hold up

From a logic/production standpoint, this episode really doesn’t have a lot of small flaws. It’s a complex drama that works — and if you’re willing to swallow the big conceit (that a rogue organization has been part of the Federation for two centuries) then it’s great. For me, I’m torn, so even though I don’t think what I’m about to say is an indication that the episode doesn’t hold up, it makes the most sense to share my thoughts here.

This episode, in many ways, undermines a lot of what we had seen in Star Trek for the previous 30 years — particularly what had been established in the early days of TNG when humanity’s evolution was really a major emphasis. If you think back to the first couple seasons of TNG, one of the defining characteristics — other than the jumpsuits — was the talk of humanity being above a lot of things, including the kind of treachery it saw from the Ferengi and the Romulans. One wonders what Picard or Riker in, say, 2365, would have thought of Section 31. That the organization existed and had such pull for so long makes early TNG look naive and silly (not that that’s a tall order).

Of course, late TNG was starting to embrace shades of grey (not “Shades of Gray”, as that should never be embraced) with stories about the Maquis, among other topics. But DS9 ramped things up — and did so in two very consequential weeks starting with “Inquisition”. And just wait until we get to reviewing the next episode.

Don't bother looking in the Starfleet budget for these amazing leather shirts...
Don’t bother looking in the Starfleet budget for these amazing leather shirts…

Final thoughts

Interestingly, Section 31 is one of DS9’s most enduring additions to the Trek universe. It shows up on “Star Trek: Enterprise” and is even mentioned in “Star Trek Into Darkness”. That JJ Abrams would choose to bring back that element from second-generation Trek is noteworthy. It shows just how compelling Section 31 is a concept and how the Star Trek creators likely struggled to find drama in a fictional era that was supposed to be relatively conflict free among humans.

Oh, and this episode has perhaps DS9’s greatest meta moment. One of DS9’s absolute worst logical gaffes was the ridiculous idea that the Dominion would have left Worf and Garak’s runabout parked near the prison camp where Worf and Garak were sent (and where Bashir and Martok had been held) back in “In Purgatory’s Shadow and “By Inferno’s Light”. Of course, if the Dominion hadn’t done that, our heroes wouldn’t have escaped.

So, what do the DS9 creators do? They USE that gaffe as one of Sloan’s justifications for believing Bashir was working for the Dominion. Priceless.

Coming next week …

If you thought “Inquisition” rocked Trek to its core, well, hold onto your butts.

1998, 2374, Cardassian, Deep Space Nine, Dominion

“Waltz”

My finely tuned captain-sense tells me that nothing could go wrong at all with a high value prisoner transfer like this. Nothing. At. All.
“My finely tuned captain-sense tells me that nothing could go wrong at all with a high-value prisoner transfer like this. Nothing. At. All.”

Sisko is on board the U.S.S. Honshu, a ship taking our old buddy Gul Dukat to a hearing regarding his alleged role as a war criminal. Dukat, of course, had a major breakdown when the Federation retook DS9, and he’s not quite all there. Then, the Honshuu is destroyed by some Cardassian ships and Dukat rescues an injured Sisko and lands a shuttle on a desolate planet — where all they can really do is talk and wait to be rescued. Dukat — who’s hallucinating the entire time — wants Sisko’s approval or at least forgiveness so much that he makes it look like he’s transmitting a distress signal, when he’s really not. Sisko discovers this, and Dukat attacks him. A fed up Sisko finally agrees to talk out Dukat’s past — and gets Dukat to admit that he wanted to kill the Bajorans all along. Sisko nearly escapes after clubbing a distracted Dukat, but Dukat leaves in the shuttle (which apparently was working all along) and tells Sisko he intends to seek revenge on the Bajorans. Dukat then lets a rescue party led by Worf on the Defiant Sisko’s whereabouts. In the Defiant’s sickbay, Sisko tells Dax that he’s sure now that Dukat is “pure evil” and that the two will likely face off again. Thunderclap.

Why it’s important

Dukat’s careening path from ambitious opportunist to crazy psycho is really put in place here, after a pit stop in between in which he was in a mental hospital (which we only  learn about in passing). Dukat, of course, becomes DS9’s random element through the end of the series, not truly acting in the Dominion’s best interest but with motives that (somewhat annoyingly) alternate between getting Sisko and letting him go (as he did here) and getting back at the Bajorans and looking for their worship.

This, of course, wasn’t the first episode since the Federation retook the station, but it is the first one after “Sacrifice of Angels” that we reviewed. So, as a sort of footnote, this episode is one of many where life on the station sort of has returned to normal.

waltz_134
“Let’s play a game of Weyoun clone or hallucination!”

What doesn’t hold up

Too often in late DS9, our heroes (or our main characters) seem to be the only people out of dozens or even hundreds who escape after a ship is destroyed. Why the DS9 creators couldn’t have just said that there were 100 survivors or something is beyond me.

Also, isn’t it odd that Kira and Odo are apparently getting orders from Starfleet and passing them on to Worf and the other Starfleet folks? After the Honshu is destroyed, Kira and Odo are talking in Sisko’s office and then tell Worf, Dax, Bashir and O’Brien that they only have a brief window to find Sisko before starting on another mission. I could probably swallow if Kira on her own was getting the briefing, but Odo? What an odd choice.

In the future, we make everything shiny, including casts. Because... because it's more futuristic!
In the future, we make everything shiny, including casts. Because… because it’s more futuristic!

Final thoughts

“Waltz” is, of course, classic DS9. It opens up the deep canvas of the show’s history with great acting and dialog. Avery Brooks and Marc Alaimo bring their absolute A games as actors who clearly got to know each other’s rhythms over the course of several seasons. Words only can’t really do justice to some of the scenes in the cave.

Coming later this week …

We learn about Starfleet’s dark underbelly in one of DS9’s most controversial episodes.

1997, 2374, Cardassian, Deep Space Nine, Dominion, Klingon

“Sacrifice of Angels”

I shall hit this "base ball" into what they call "right field."
“I shall hit this ‘base ball’ into what they call ‘left field’.”

Sisko’s fleet begins fighting the vastly larger Dominion force while Dukat watches with glee and prepares to take down the minefield around the wormhole. At Damar’s suggestion, Kira, Jake and Leeta are all taken into custody (where Rom was being held pre-execution), leaving Quark as the only member of Kira’s resistance cell able to do anything. Quark, getting an assist from Ziyal, frees Kira’s team, and Kira and Rom work to disable the station so it can’t remove the minefield. The Defiant eventually breaks through the Dominion lines — with some late help from Worf and the Klingons — and sets course for the station. Odo picks his side and helps Kira and Rom, but Rom is just a second to late — and cuts the station’s weapons after the minefield has been destroyed. The Defiant arrives just in time to watch the mines explode and Sisko sets course into the wormhole, where the ship runs into the huge Dominion fleet. Then, the Prophets summon Sisko, asking him if he’s trying to die. Sisko talks the Prophets into intervening — “If you want to be gods, BE gods” — which they do, after telling Sisko there will be a penance. The Dominion ships disappear, and the Defiant comes out of the wormhole, firing on a disabled DS9. Weyoun orders evacuation and a retreat to Cardassian space and a stunned Dukat starts to fall apart. He finds Ziyal, who admits to helping Kira, and just as Dukat has apparently forgiven her, Damar shows up and shoots and kills Ziyal. After the Dominion evacuations, Sisko and company retake the station and find Dukat, a broken man from the ordeal.

Get another actress to play... my corpse...
“Get another actress to play… my corpse…”

Why it’s important

That’s likely the longest plot summary we’ve written, so you can tell that a lot happens here. The Federation retaking DS9 is a HUGE domino, of course — as is the decision by the Prophets to take on a more active role in “corporeal matters,” which plays into the seventh season in a major, major way. And then there’s the matter of Dukat …

Dukat’s breakdown and subsequent actions, which we’ll get into in future reviews, really change the math for the rest of DS9. Instead of merely fighting the Dominion, Sisko must face a random element in Dukat who decides to take on the Bajorans, Sisko and the Prophets because of their actions there.

The first rule of acquisition is... don't f**k with the brothers Quark!
“The first rule of acquisition is… don’t f**k with the brothers Quark!”

What doesn’t hold up

Before I get started, let me be on record as saying I really like this episode, despite what may come across as ranting.

As the episode begins, occupied DS9 has at least a handful of Dominion and Cardassian ships in the area. There’s no discussion of these ships being sent to help with the fighting. And yet, they seem to magically disappear after Rom disables the station’s weapons. This is very important, in that the Dominion gives up the station (too easily) when the Defiant emerges from the wormhole. If even one of those ships was still around, it could have at least tried to take on the Defiant. I know that subsequent dialog establishes that the Starfleet/Klingon ships were on their way to the station after breaking through the Dominion lines. But if the Dominion had kept even a ship or two at DS9, they might have been able to hold off the Defiant until the station’s weapons were fixed so they could hold off the Starfleet and Klingon attackers.

And, BTW, we KNOW that some Dominion ships were still at the station, as the Dominion used them to evacuate its personnel. The creators somewhat weakly sidestep this by not showing the evacuation ships, meaning that maybe they were just shuttles or something that would have been unable to stop the Defiant. But that’s really weak sauce, as it would suggest that the Jem’Hadar and the Vorta would be cool putting a Founder in a small (and presumably lightly armed) ship in the middle of a war zone (among a host of other reasons).

And, frankly, Weyoun and the female Changeling are just WAY too chill about losing the station. Keep in mind that a season-plus later, we learn just how much the Dominion doesn’t like to lose.

As long as the complaint fest is going on, let’s address the fact that the Defiant still has the cloaking device on loan from the Romulans — despite the fact that the Romulans (at this point) have a non-aggression pact with the Dominion. The cloaking device is disabled during the battle early in the episode, but it is mentioned. Shouldn’t the Romulans have gotten that back when the war started?

While this is a criticism that might be best addressed after this episode, it makes sense to mention here: Why wouldn’t the Dominion take action against some weird wormhole aliens who just (apparently) destroyed 2,800 of their ships? After this episode, Dukat is the only one who seems to grasp the Prophets as a threat and a potential enemy. That’s really unlike the Dominion, who take every opportunity to strike out at perceived foes. We learn after this episode — too late, really, as the question is left unaddressed until the end of the season — that the Prophets will begin keeping ships from using the wormhole, preventing reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant. That’s another reason the Dominion likely should have been looking for ways to attack the Prophets.

Victory is assured. I mean only a crazy set of circumstances... from "left field" could stop us now!
“Victory is assured. I mean only a crazy set of circumstances… from ‘left field’ could stop us now!”

Final thoughts

Of course, I could quibble with the deus ex machina allowing Sisko to get rid of 2,800 Dominion ships. Watching this in 1997, I felt the ending was a cheat. But I’ll give the DS9 creators credit for how they incorporated the penance later — and how they use this as a springboard to make the Prophets more active participants. Put another way, it was a cheat — but it was a well-done cheat after the creators (in true DS9 style) stacked the deck too highly against themselves and our heroes.

Lastly, I really love that Quark kind of saves the Alpha Quadrant here.

Coming next week …

We see just how badly this all messed up Dukat.

1997, 2374, Cardassian, Deep Space Nine, Dominion, Klingon

“Favor the Bold”

When Shelby said they'd rebuild the fleet, they REBUILT the fleet
When Shelby said they’d rebuild the fleet, they REBUILT the fleet

Sisko begins plans to retake DS9 as things go from bad to worse on the station. Kira does all she can to save Rom, but Dukat and the Dominion are set on executing the Ferengi engineering genius. Sisko, meanwhile, gets buy-in from Starfleet to try to retake the station on the premise that the wormhole is the “key to the Alpha Quadrant”. He begins massing a big fleet — without Klingon assistance, as Gowron needs more convincing to participate. Then, Sisko gets a message from Kira and Jake — sent through Morn — telling him of the Dominion’s plan to take down the minefield and bring 2,800 ships into the Alpha Quadrant. Sisko leaves with 600 or so ships he has and ends the episode facing a Dominion fleet twice the size.

Why it’s important

Like our last review, the summary covers a lot of why the episode is important. This sets in motion one of the biggest battles of the Dominion War.

Not mentioned in the review is the return to form by Odo — or, at least, the beginning of the return to form. After he seemed lost to the Great Link forever in “Behind the Lines”, his loyalties seem more conflicted here. And that’s a big deal going into the next episode and the rest of the series.

Oooh Becker is on... I love that show!
“Oooh ‘Becker’ is on… I love that show!”

What doesn’t hold up

There’s the awful speech by Dax to Sisko at the beginning of the episode that basically insinuates that Sisko is a desk jockey who doesn’t understand what’s going on amid the fighting. Considering that Sisko was IN the fighting the previous week, the scene was just horribly written (not to mention poorly acted by Terry Farrell, who really seems like she had one foot out the door at this point).

There’s also the sloppy business with Worf and Martok going to the Klingon homeworld to convince Gowron to send ships to help Sisko’s task force. While I can get behind the idea of sending a friend and an enemy to talk to Gowron, it’s too hard to swallow that Starbase 375 (where Sisko was posted), the Klingon homeworld and DS9 are so close that Worf and Martok could get to Gowron quickly enough and return quickly enough to help in the fighting. Remember that the timing of the attack had to be moved up, thanks to Morn’s message.

The Klingon piece, really, just side-stepped something I’m guessing the creators didn’t want to handle: Why not send a cloaked fleet of Klingon ships to DS9, decloak near the station and try to take it back over?

Sure, the station is well-defended. But wouldn’t the odds be better for our heroes if 600 or so ships showed up at DS9 before having their ranks thinned by the Dominion fleet? I know the Starfleet ships wouldn’t have cloaking devices (other than the Defiant, and that’s another matter) but it seems like having the Klingons positioned to enter the fighting late in the next episode was just a workaround for the cloaking issue. In some late TNG, there’s discussion of technology that can detect cloaked ships coming from Romulan space to the Federation. But it’s never very clearly explained. Likewise, the Dominion found ways to detect a cloaked Defiant in some episodes. So, maybe the idea is that a large cloaked fleet would likely be detected anyway? Hmmm …

And, the biggest problem: If Sisko and Starfleet are in agreement that the wormhole is the “key to the Alpha Quadrant” why did they give it up with relatively little effort back in “Call to Arms”? Remember, Starfleet committed resources elsewhere leaving just the station, the Defiant and Martok’s ship as a defense. Even if most resources HAD to be committed elsewhere, couldn’t Starfleet have risked another 20 ships or so — in hopes of maintaining control of the wormhole and successfully completing the other mission?

I don't have a problem. I can quit anytime... just. Not. This. Episode.
“I don’t have a problem. I can quit anytime… just. Not. This. Episode.”

Final thoughts

While this episode works in a lot of ways, it’s a great example of one of DS9’s biggest flaws: The creators would bite off so much as far as problems facing our heroes in efforts to increase the drama that the ultimate solution would be somewhat unbelievable and almost stupid.

We’ll get into this more with our next review, but one of the key points in this episode is that Sisko had to rush his plan without a large number of Starfleet ships that hadn’t yet arrived and without the Klingons (as noted). The creators amped up the drama unnecessarily, as even a fleet of, say, 1,000 ships would have been vastly outnumbered by the Dominion and would have had to take on the heavy-duty station defenses in the hands of Dukat.

Coming later this week …

See above, and get ready for some deus ex machina.

 

1997, 2374, Cardassian, Deep Space Nine, Dominion

“Behind the Lines”

behindthelines_175
“I can take the form of just about anything, but I thought this would be the most alluring to you Odo…”

As the war wages on, Kira’s resistance cell is succeeding in messing with things on the station. Meanwhile, Sisko continues to make an impression as a smart tactician and is made part of Admiral Ross’s staff. That leaves Dax in command of the Defiant, which goes off and completes a dangerous mission. Back on the station, our old buddy the female Changeling (Salome Jens) shows up and starts testing Odo’s loyalties once again — and Damar finds a way to disable the minefield keeping Dominion shifts from entering the Alpha Quadrant. Kira sends Rom to sabotage the station and disrupt Damar’s strategy, a plan hinging on Odo’s help. But Odo is too busy linking with the female Changeling at a key moment, allowing Rom to get caught. Kira confronts him as the episode ends, and after she leaves, the female Changeling appears, having heard the whole exchange from the next room. Will Odo be lost to the bad guys forever?

Why it’s important

This is another review where the plot summary describes most of the immediate significance of the episode. But, otherwise, it is actually extremely important in that it’s where Odo is infected by the disease affecting the Great Link, created by a rogue part of Starfleet. Odo apparently unknowingly infected the link with the disease when he was brought to the Founders’ homeworld and stripped of his shapeshifting abilities in “Broken Link”. We’ll get to that in future reviews, of course.

behindthelines_335
“One does not simply… link with the female changeling. You gotta buy her dinner and flowers first.”

What doesn’t hold up

I suppose I could quibble with the idea that Starfleet would leave a lieutenant commander – one with a non-command specialty – in charge of one of the Federation’s most powerful ships. This is where it would have made sense for Worf to stay on the Defiant (which would have had the side benefit of negating the need for “Sons and Daughters”). But oh, well.

The other question, of course, is whether Odo would have been so likely to be friendly with the Founder after she took away his shapeshifting abilities and whether she would want anything to do with him. The idea that the link (hehe) among the Changelings was very strong was such a core part of the DS9 that I can sort of accept what we see in this episode. But it’s very close to being a stretch.

But I don’t buy that the female Changeling would apparently sit on the information she gets by linking with Odo — to say nothing of what she overheard in his conversation with Kira. The female Changeling should have had Kira arrested, which likely would have prevented the station from falling back into Federation hands two episodes later (for a host of reasons). I guess the idea is the Changelings are above it all and don’t want to get their hands dirty (unless impersonating key Alpha Quadrant figures?). But that’s an easy answer, not to mention a weak one.

You could probably come up with some sort of explanation about how Odo is more important than anything to the Founders to the point where the female Changeling would put keeping his trust above all else. But Odo was sort of out of it at this point, so it’s likely the female Changeling could have had Weyoun do something to Kira without Odo even knowing.

behindthelines_626
“Computer, play ‘Take My Breath Away’ by Berlin”

Final thoughts

This is a strong character episode that shows how comfortable the DS9 cast was after five-plus seasons and how much the characters had changed. Compare Sisko, Kira or Odo from season one to this episode and you see a dramatic, and mostly believable, evolution. This was really one of DS9’s strengths, in that it was the series that evolved the most. However, there is one exception …

Terry Farrell, once again, showed that she was the weakest actor in the main ensemble. Her role as the Defiant’s captain in the scene after the successful mission – mirroring Sisko’s action at the beginning of the episode – was just so weak. In early DS9, the Dax character was so inconsistently written – from a higher-plain type in season one to a party girl by season two – that I kind of shrugged off Farrell’s weak performance. But by this point, when all the other actors were really clicking (with the occasional misfire from Avery Brooks) it really stands out.

Finally, the scene where a drunk Quark relays information about Damar’s plan to Kira and her team is one of my favorites of the entire series. It’s a good example of how the Ferengi characters contributed to the DS9 universe (Rom, in this six-episode arc, plays a huge role, too). It’s just unfortunate that there were so many Ferengi-focused episodes throughout DS9 that sucked so hard.

Coming next week …

Shit gets real(er) in the war.