In The Hands of The Prophets

DVD, DS9 S1 (In The Hands of The Prophets)

Introducing Vedeks Winn and Bareil was like the last pieces of what would become the series' destiny, and especially the second and third seasons. They both come off strongly. One in the good camp, and right away, Winn in the bad. She even admits at this early stage that she wanted to look in the eyes of her gods, and was roundly punished by Opaka. But like Dukat, there would be much more to her than simple evil (or even complex evil as she displays here).

Many things about DS9 make the series as relevant, if not more so, than the time of its original broadcast in the 90s. Here we see the modern conflicts between science and religion, the rise of exremism, that promotes assassination and fear, while the leaders remain safe, and confuse their pupils to take the dangerous path, such as suicide bombers. Neela definitely falls into this category, willing, if sadly, to sacrifice her life, to carry out the mission. Can it really be true that she would be executed though? It seems to me that with the Federation looking disapprovingly over Bajor's shoulder they wouldn't do such a thing, but it could be that it was all part of Winn's rhetoric.

I found myself thinking both ways during the early conflict. In our society it is right to teach both science and belief, whereas we often hear that teaching creationism shouldn't happen in our schools. But as Keiko or Sisko say, it's better not to shield knowledge from people, and it's much better that the various views are discussed. In Keiko's defence, she was willing to teach science and creation, but not solely the viewpoint of the Prophets. Perhaps the escalation of events would have been cleared up if she'd agreed to teach what Bajorans believe as well, but it's a fine line being walked. Suffice to say I wasn't entirely on her side.

In any event it turns out that her agenda was far less concerned with station school policy than with making sure Bareil could be drawn out of his monastery! The sequence where Bareil comes to the station (and I have a little chuckle when I see Morn get caught up in the crowd of Bajorans rushing to greet him, and then gets pulled along by that crowd, even getting a greeting from the mobbed Vedek - he probably didn't have a clue who this famous guy was!), is probably the most exciting sequence of events in the season. O'Brien and Dax are frantically trying to work out the code, while on the promenade Bareil addresses the people, and Neela strides forward in slow-mo. Sisko's alerted, he shouts as Bareil is shocked, standing still, and the commander launches himself at the assassin, pushing her to the floor! Super Sisko! He gets to show he's made of the same material as those other famous Captains of Trek past.

Neela was introduced last episode, but she still comes across a little too easily as the suspicious 'new' character, which is what the writers were trying to avoid. Her scene was too brief in 'Duet' to keep her in memory, and she was supposed to have been in a third episode before that, but another character called Anara was O'Brien's assistant then. Anara would have become the assassin, but was unavailable, so Neela was created instead. So instead, Anara has a nice, happy career, and Neela goes down. The writer's pen truly is mightier than the sword (or phaser)!

Keiko gets to appear without daughter Molly for a change, and shows her career mettle - the school's grown since we first saw it, though Nog's still missing. Presumably Rom was serious when he told Nog he couldn't go to school. Once again Bajor is shown in the best light it can be, with lush location shooting for Bareil's introduction. I like the slow build up to the climax. Like 'Way of The Warrior', only on a smaller scale, it shows what the series can do. And Director David Livingston got his crowd scene as he always wanted!

In casting terms the episode pretty much sums up the season: Dax and Bashir aren't in it much; Jake has a few scenes; O'Brien carries the episode; and Odo is integral. Sisko is probably the character that needed more stories focused on him. After the first one, he played important roles in most episodes, but it wasn't until this one that he takes control. And Dax. Poor Dax. She was the least developed of the season, for no good reason. Quark was the only one to buck the trend, being in only one scene this episode, but featuring a lot over all in the season.

A first season is a time of discovery and tentative exploration. Many of the characters were developed, many of the recurring characters were introduced, and gradually it managed to find it's own style away from The Next Generation, after following some of that series' conventions at first. The second half held the best episodes, and it ended on a high. It was a great first season, and this was a strong episode to finish on. (Even though it doesn't have a cliffhanger!)

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