The Adversary

DVD, DS9 S3 (The Adversary)

Season 3, it could be said, was the season in which the series took off. The introduction of the Founders, Odo's long-lost people, meeting new friends, and losing old ones. The series expanded to new and unexplored frontiers, both sides of the Wormhole, and visited every main character's homeworld at least once, as well as some of the other major races'. There was more action in general, the stories were often more powerful and the introduction of the best-looking starship ever into the mix benefited everyone - well, maybe not the Runabouts, forced to take a back seat for much of the year, but Sisko still managed to lose one, true to form. He got promoted anyway, though, and I would echo both O'Brien and Eddington's sentiments that it was not before time.

The beauty of 'Deep Space Nine' the series (as opposed to DS9, the station - the Breen and their supposedly organic vessels were yet to be seen) was the potential woven into the genesis for growth and change. The characters may have started off angry, agressive (Major Kira), inexperienced, even overly exuberant (Dr. Bashir), but by Season 3, and certainly by its finale (not a cliffhanger, in keeping with the previous two seasons), they had gone through huge, yet natural alteration. Sisko, who'd started as a damaged man that didn't want his position as Commander, finished as a Captain, the extra pip seemingly not making a difference, but legitimising his exploits and making him an equal of his contemporaries. There would not have been the opportunity to reward him if he'd started out as Captain. It was like the series had reached its major turning point. In preparation for all that the Dominion could throw at them, Sisko becomes the authority figure, Starfleet's faith shown in him through the captaincy.

Just as Season 2 had ended with the threat of Dominion attack, 3 ends with the promise of further conflict, but by now viewers shouldn't have expected sudden war with the changelings and their Jem'Hadar soldiers - their established methods of manipulation and long planning had already weakened two major powers in the Alpha Quadrant and put the Romulans to shame for deviousness and puppetry. In some ways we're left in the exact same position as at the end of Season 2, that of a coming threat. Words that will herald great deeds and that would make the station and its occupants participants in legend.

Sisko wasn't the only occupant to have changed. Kira went from an angry, Cardassian-hating bigot who distrusted Starfleet's motives, to Sisko's right-hand woman. She learnt about her friend Odo and lost another, Vedek Bareil. She rediscovered her terrorist past, but also learnt some degree of diplomacy. She'd become more than a soldier. Dax confronted her past, learning to come to terms with the hidden doubts of previous hosts. Bashir and O'Brien's friendship took off, enhanced by Keiko taking off. Rom started to speak up for his son, if not for himself, and Nog made his Father proud by walking the path to joining Starfleet. Jake, an unknown quantity, showed his creative flair and ambitions, Odo found his people and became further from them than ever, and Quark... he stayed Quark. I didn't notice before how much he took on the serving drinks role that he was trapped in during Seasons 6 and 7, but he also continued the great tradition of Ferengi episodes.

'The Adversary' is a mixture of the Defiant doing 'Speed' and any claustrophobic monster film. Setting it on the Defiant, the closest thing to a sub we've seen, heightened the tension, even more so when they're crawling around in Jefferies tubes, a confined space in a confined space... in space. The good thing about running around on the Defiant is we get to see more of it - the compact, but attractive engine room, with it's blue, pulsating warpcore; the mess hall where Sisko can sit sipping his "I love being Captain" mug; and a greater sense of scope and scale with weapons being fired down, up and across in the hunt for the changeling. Let's hope Krajensky wasn't the man who gave Sisko his promotion or it would all have been for naught! These shapeshifters, they get everywhere - all that time we thought he was Cardassian Legate Tekeny Ghemor, and now he's posing as a human ambassador! Lawrence Pressman does a fine job, but I never trusted him for a moment as the ambassador - easy to say when I've seen it so many times, I know.

The only disappointment is in the fight between Odo and the changeling. Nowadays it would have been a much more elaborate affair, but the story isn't harmed by lack of action thanks to the fateful message left behind to underline the episode. At least now Starfleet has a new weapon, however small, against the shapeshifters - blood screening. Odo would have done well to mention it earlier rather than waiting for such a life and death moment! Certain parts of the episode may have given some inspiration to 'Star Trek: First Contact', such as the creeping around in dark passages, or at least, darker than most ships. This only increases the brightness of the displays and blinkies. The writhing, interfering technology, too, looked very Borg-like. One other point you might label a misstep was in not bothering to create the Tzenkethi further than a name and a war-like reputation. They were a one-episode wonder (recently resurrected in the books), but it would have been good to find out the whos, whats and whys. Not that they were important, the drama was all internal.

The writers have a bit of fun with the opening as it sounds like the Sisko is leaving, but it turns out he's finishing as a Commander. He gets to say his first ever Captain's Log, and while he doesn't have much to say, there's still a certain thrill about it. There are plenty of nice scenes littered through the episode, such as Eddington and Sisko, or Jake and his Dad, and the best thing is that most of the characters share the limelight, it's much more an ensemble piece. It would have been a sad end to the series had the Defiant and its command crew self-destructed as planned! It would have had to become the Jake and Nog show, with Quark causing trouble on a regular basis. Much like the series as it was then! Some recurring themes crop up again - Kasidy's mentioned, making more episodes in which her name features than she herself. Bolians are once again shown to be extreme types. This one, like the Andorians, was extremely paranoid, whereas others have been shown to be excessively lazy or very jolly. Maybe it's something about blue blood? He added some nice primary colour to the grey backdrops at least. We're left with the knowledge that Odo's probably in big trouble since "no changeling has ever harmed another". There was always the sense before that it was concern for his well-being that stopped open attacks on the station or overt hostility. This isn't necessarily true, but the Dominion's plans were about to be put into motion again. If you thought Season 3 was good, you haven't seen anything... yet.

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