Nor The Battle To The Strong

DVD, DS9 S5 (Nor The Battle To The Strong)

This is the one where Jake grows up. We've already seen him grow physically, from a child to adult, we've seen him strike out on his career, although I suppose strike out is too strong a word for it. He's slowly been allowed to become who he's going to be, different from expectations, trying to make it as a writer. This time they work in his writing as a kind of field study article he's writing for 'The Journal' (whatever that is), about Dr. Bashir. This no doubt appeals to Bashir's ego, though we know he's actually quite a humble person (remember that episode where everyone was saying he was going to win an award and he didn't believe it - he's brash and proud of the work he does, but he also knows his limitations. Okay, maybe humble isn't the best word to describe him, but he's more self-aware now than he's ever been). Just as Bashir used to annoy O'Brien or Kira when they were stuck in a Runabout with nowhere to escape, he returns to his old manner (the Runabout again not named), and because Jake's there to hear his thoughts he enthuses unreservedly. Putting the two young men in the cast together was a good idea and surprisingly something they'd not really tried before, but then Jake was only a young 'man' recently, and before he had Nog.

I feel that Jake got a little lost in the shuffle of Season 4, and he's always been the least-used main character - even some recurring characters had more to do! But when they did choose to use him they did a good job, 'The Muse' notwithstanding, though I even came to enjoy that episode when I watched it not so long ago. Cirroc Lofton hadn't been given many chances to act in different ways, spending most scenes with either Nog or his Dad, so I liked that they set this episode up, whether intentionally or not, with that conversation on the Promenade between Bashir and him in 'Apocalypse Rising.' One of the best, and most effective tricks of this story is how they use Jake's voiceover to let us in on his thoughts, also reminding us of 'The Visitor' in which a similar device was used. And that's all it appears to be for the majority of the time; his thoughts, maybe written down for his own benefit. It's not until the final flourish, with the reveal that he's written his story, which is actually being read by Bashir and Sisko, that we see his own courage in action. Because he could easily have covered up his cowardice, fictionalised what he didn't like, but then he'd have had to live with that knowledge, and we saw how affected by his shame he was just in the short scene where he can't tell Bashir what's wrong.

Jake's been brought up to be an honourable and honest man. Usually so bright and cheerful, to see him self-pitying, crying alone, or frowning in unconcealed shock at the sights he sees, is upsetting. But he was the perfect choice for this story to happen to because of his status as a civilian. Any Starfleet officer, and certainly the hero characters, would have no qualms about being in a war-zone, of dealing with stress and the horrifying sights of death and destruction. Jake thinks he'll automatically be okay because he's a Sisko, and his Dad's firm grip on situations has always given him peace and strength, usually only having to worry about his Father's safety. But now he's out on a limb without the guidance and safe hands of Dad, unwanted, in the way, everyone too busy to see he needs help adjusting. But he soon does adjust to the sights in the ward of the dying and wounded, and you think he's overcome any nerves he felt.

It isn't until the fateful bombardment on him and Bashir that he acts on instinct and blames himself so heavily, flying from one fear to the next, falling in with a hardened soldier who dies in the grip of horror at his shame of running away. It would be frightening enough for anyone not versed in the business of war. Danny Goldring is that human soldier, in one of his many Trek faces, though they were usually alien. There were plenty of alien faces in this one, the dry Bolian one of the best, his improved makeup detail standing out with the unadorned blandness of those cloth tunics all the medical staff wore. It made them all equal with none of the rank or structure you'd usually see from uniforms and insignia, they were all just trying to save lives, getting in there and getting dirty. There were several other alien species in the facility, some assisting, others patients, though I couldn't name them - maybe they didn't have a name (but I did notice a rare later-season appearance of a 'fish-man' on one of the beds!).

The flurry of activity always impresses, making it more like the feature films in terms of pace and camera movement. The urgency is palpable and helps to convey the mood of impending danger. We've heard a lot about battles and war in the series, but we hadn't often seen such things up close, here on the edge of the field. We're shown just enough of the trauma and victims to know the result of the enemy's power, and told enough so that our imagination can fill in the looming enemy, (they should have been doing this in Season 4), making this episode one of the few that gives the impression of an unstoppable, murdering force heading right for our characters - the Klingons hadn't often been seen like the Borg, but their presence is very effective here. That is, until we get to the only criticism I have of the entire production: the versatile cave set is almost unrecognisable, with electric lighting embedded in the walls, technology and supplies all around, so I didn't have a problem with that. It's the actual sight of the Klingons attacking the cave area that could have looked better. We may have seen more than two of the warriors in the tunnel, and some may have been shot down (I'm not sure, it happened so fast), but my overriding impression is of only two Klingons shooting at Jake and that does lessen the impact of their earlier build-up. It's fortunate that their contribution was over as quickly as it began, when Jake brings the house down with his patented lightsaber phaser move!

Not that that one consideration colours the episode in the slightest for me. On the contrary it covers all the bases and does it so well, Lofton acting his socks off, the supporting cast expertly chosen, and enough scenes back at the station that we have the other characters a part of it too. But this is Jake's story far and above anyone else, learning what true courage is, the fine line between it and cowardice, and making his Dad proud. Sisko is put through it, but in a different way. Odo can't understand why anyone would inflict parenthood on themselves, and Sisko's eyes blaze with joy as he tells him he doesn't know what he's missing. At last Odo's physical condition is addressed - he jumped down some stairs chasing Yridians, forgetting he couldn't change into a bird, and damaged his fragile body. The line wondering at the Founder's use of the word 'solids' said it all, and tied so perfectly into Sisko's own worries about the wellbeing of his son: you see the writing crafted so well as if it's almost a physical entity in front of you, something relatively common in 'DS9' (especially this season), but not so much in the other series'.

There's also the scene between Sisko and Dax when news has come in that the Farragut has been destroyed (sniff - they helped Picard and crew get off the planet after the 'D' crashed), and he springs into action to take the Defiant. Until that point he'd been trying to keep his mind occupied (the real reason he asked Odo to come to his office), and he continues that on the ship, which is when Dax tracks him down (after which he goes off to check the sonic showers in a rare reference on the series - they seemed to mention waste extraction more and more, but the sonic showers were usually left to 'Voyager'), and shares her parental experiences with him. It's beautifully done, with Dax not explaining for the audience's benefit that she's talking about past hosts, we just instantly plug into her reminiscences. Anyone who saw this as their first episode could be nonplussed at her words until she mentions her hosts, but I think it would be a scene to make people want to know more about this character, one of the great strengths of the series: they make you want to go deeper.

And deeper you can go, almost as deep as you could wish, into the background universe they live in. Take the mention of the Rutledge and Tecumseh: the Rutledge was O'Brien's old ship, and he had a friend aboard called Raymond Boone (a false version of whom was seen in Season 2's 'Tribunal'), and we're told the commander of the Tecumseh is a Captain Raymond. Obviously it's not the same character, but I wonder if the name came to the writer subconsciously from the connection with Rutledge? The other thing about the episode is that we see the front lines of war. We'd just come from a clash with Jem'Hadar in 'The Ship,' another brutal meeting, but one in which all concerned were fully paid up Starfleet officers; we'd seen similar face-offs last season in 'To The Death,' but this time we were experiencing things from the standpoint of medics and civilians, making it a much more precarious situation for Jake to be in, and that much more alone in his mind. But the real fighters were the officers outside (in a strange turnaround the majority of the Starfleet fighters come across as either tough and unfriendly, or stupid, such as the guy that shoots himself, or the security officer at the end who leaves cover in the Klingon attack and gets shot by them, while the medical staff are cool and calm throughout).

I was intrigued to see a different (and rather cool), uniform worn by the military units as if they were special forces, black ops dark clothing with the colour band beneath the usual shoulder location in a thin strip across. I loved those uniforms! There was also talk of 'hoppers' as if we know exactly what they are, and while I never usually advocate confusing Trek with 'Star Wars' I've often thought of those troop transports from Episode II, where they hover over the ground (space hoppers!), ready to land soldiers at a moment's notice. Regrettably we aren't graced with a glimpse of these fabled craft, but again, your imagination fills in for the series on a much cheaper budget than a film would have been. This kind of technology fills me with interest and I would have loved to have seen these planetary craft - they would have been much better than the Argo of 'Star Trek Nemesis,' of that I am certain! Another technological improvement, which may well have been in other episodes, but came to my attention here, is the iPad 3 version of the Tricorder, the slimmer, blinkier model. I believe these were made for 'First Contact' and trickled down to 'DS9' and 'Voyager' (if they had schematics for new tech like this on that series, why couldn't they change into the darker uniforms too!), though the older phaser rifles are still much in evidence, and I have to admit to a soft spot for that earlier model.

In a move to include all the main cast in the episode they had an all too rare group scene at the beginning. Nowadays these non-Wardroom groupings always bring to mind the fantastic off the cuff visit to Kira's quarters in Season 2's 'The Circle,' though I'm sure there have been other times it happened. It's not like this was even a particularly funny scene (aside from Quarktajino!), and was more about men versus women concerning the touchy subject of pregnancy (culminating in more Ferengi customs - they consider pregnancy a rental!). It was a bit unfair, though, as it was two women against only four men, so Sisko should have weighed in to give his fellows some assistance. I noticed the distance between Dax and Worf, who even speaks up for O'Brien's point of view, so the writers were keeping their cards close to their chests about how they were going to progress.

One of the most impressive details of this episode is that a scene written to fill in time after it was running shorter than expected, seamlessly slots in: when Jake meets the soldier that shot himself in the foot again. It does feel different in that the guy is cleaned up and has lost the wildness in his eyes, realising his own shameful conduct, unbecoming of a Starfleet officer, but it strikes home at Jake after his experience running from the shelling. After Bashir's berated himself for being stupid enough to bring Jake to such a danger zone (in some ways he was right - he could have gone back for him right away, but he would have been disoriented and singleminded in his determination to retrieve the generator - it would have been a difficult scene for him to have to tell Sisko he lost his son). Jake's had about as much as he can take, and this is another scene which tips the balance for him. The idea of someone phasering their foot to escape the fighting is a grisly thought, and the episode is full of the imagery of the pointlessness of war. Jake's fellow workers use gallows humour to ward off their feelings, experience teaching them this is the best way to deal with it, but Jake doesn't have that experience and flies off the handle. The unnamed Bolian was the best of these characters, so dry and atypical of his species - he looked quite rounded, as many of them do, but was much more worldly than the usual Bolians who tend to be garrulous in the extreme.

The peace talks with the Klingons were quick to break down and quick to reinstate the ceasefire of 'Apocalypse Rising,' so my feeling is that some general or leader took offence at some act of Starfleet and probably without orders decided to attack. Gowron may not have known about this breach in discipline right away so he couldn't respond to keep his forces in check. There's no evidence of this, it's purely my own speculation, but it seems a reasonable hypothesis given the facts. It also gives credence to Jake's anger at the futility of war, and how no one in ten years will even remember what happened on Ajilon Prime. With the quick change in politics, it's true, and the lives lost there were futile losses, making the carnage so much more barren in meaning and purpose. The title, even following such a magnificently long one as the last episode sported, was another great naming, and especially of interest to me as it's a Biblical quotation from Ecclesiastes (sadly I didn't know the book of the Bible it came from until I read it in the Companion!), making for an excellent inspiration, just as so much has come from other parts of the Bible, Shakespeare or other literary history and film. It means some thought went into coming up with something unique, it isn't just another episode off the production line, the reason why this period of Trek was blessed with such consistency of strong writing, acting and storytelling. How long can this unbroken run of classic-rated stories continue?

****