Sons and Daughters

DVD, DS9 S6 (Sons and Daughters)

War is a difficult enough business without having to bring family members into it, but for Worf that's exactly what happens here, with Alexander Rozhenko making his 'DS9' debut, much to everyone's surprise (the war must be going badly if raw recruits like him are required). I suppose the surprise should be that it took them over two years to do it, since Worf's son was an integral part of his life for most of 'TNG.' But was he? He was introduced early on, but Worf kept sending him away to wait until he was old enough to be shown on screen, or because he might get in the way of warrior stories. I don't think Alexander was ever really used to the best of his potential, often coming across as a whiny little brat, nothing like you'd expect a Klingon child to be, especially not one from the genes of the great Worf! But then again, Worf has ever been atypical for a Klingon so it stood to reason that his family wouldn't be either, and don't forget that Alexander's Mum, K'Ehleyr, was half-human, making him one-quarter human, with all the weakness we humans have. What this story does is address, in a small way Worf's perceived abandonment of his son, palming him off to his human grandparents, the Rozhenko's (how much fun it would have been to see them bustling round a Klingon ship, much to Martok's consternation!). This is the reason Alexander has pursued the course of the warrior, when we learned from his last appearance in the final season of 'TNG,' that it wasn't for him, his own future self coming back in time to try and force him to change.

That future was likely changed because Worf learned that he was to die because his son wasn't there to aid him, but now it seems there's even less chance of that happening because Alexander wants to be a warrior after all. It's refreshing to see that this doesn't take the expected route: the young man fails at first, but eventually wins the respect of his compatriots and that of his Father by some daring deed. No, in this, Alexander ends the episode by locking himself in a cupboard by mistake, the last in a catalogue of errors for which he is laughed at. The difference is that by the end they're laughing with him rather than at him. Worf may have been right, that the crew had accepted him earlier as the ship's fool, but they grow fond of him because of, or in spite of, his mistakes, shown best by the bully Ch'Targh, who initially teases and tries to teach him a lesson, ramming home his point to Worf when the Father intercedes, asking if he'll fight the Jem'Hadar for his son, as well. He's not so much of a bully after all, just a typical Klingon soldier, and he ends up volunteering to help Alexander when he goes to fix a problem during the battle. (One of the recruits that joins the Rotarran at the same time as Alexander is named Katogh of Ch'Pok - this could be the same Ch'Pok who was the Klingon advocate for Worf's extradition in 'Rules of Engagement').

The battle scenes may have been the weaker part of the episode, which is strange to say on this series, and in a time of war, but the Rotarran seemed sluggish in the way it was filmed, and even the Jem'Hadar vessels didn't seem as sharp and manoeuvrable as usual. Not that it matters to the story, as it is a story all about the characters, not the action, something else which may surprise in this six-part war story. Everything is about the people embedded in this war, not the actual fighting. The complexities of life under occupation continue to be explored on a personal level for Kira, who, despite everything, falls for Dukat's latest trick, his wily persona always knowing what strings to pull and when: bringing Ziyal back from Bajor to stay on the station, ostensibly because he missed her, but how much of that is true, and how much is it about impressing Kira and using his daughter as a tool in that regard? Even in an episode in which he's trying to get to her, even refusing to accept her response that the bond between them doesn't exist, except in his head ('I don't like you,' 'yes you do'), he shows his true nature by having her meet him whenever he returns to the station, like some kind of lapdog! On a side note, the interesting thing about this episode is that she was supposed to wear her dress uniform, and I'm not sure we'd ever seen that on the series (unless it's the dark blue outfit she wears in 'Crossfire'), so it's a shame she didn't.

Damar notices and responds grumpily, but he really must bear being Dukat's lapdog, as seen when he's told to deliver a package to Kira's quarters as she might like the idea of him being made to do a common errand like that. Dukat's really using everything under his command to win Kira over, even after their conversation about power in the opening episode, and how he has it, and she doesn't. Enough time has passed that she's got used to acting on his whims, perhaps comforted by the fact that she's now planning the resistance on the station, though things don't seem to have moved along much in that regard. The same thing happens in this story as in the previous: she looks in the mirror and is changed (maybe she should have more mirrors around!) - she didn't actually resolve to fight the enemy because of looking in her mirror, but it is an interesting parallel when she's almost caught under Dukat's spell through the use of his daughter, rather than his dragon-like charm (as he probably thought), and who knows, perhaps if she hadn't already had that spur from Vedek Yassim's public suicide, Dukat's use of Ziyal might just have won her over, though I'm sure Dukat himself would have messed up his hold over her as an ally by being so deluded and selfish - his very mind is compartmentalised, an example shown when Kira returns the dress he sent, and he flips it around to please his daughter, saying it's a gift for her. He uses every opportunity that presents itself, without even thinking, to make people love him.

Bringing Ziyal back was a good idea, especially as we learn that she plans to become a bridge between her two peoples, being half-Bajoran, half Cardassian, and doing it through her art. She even thinks she can mend things between Kira and her Father, which is naivety taken to new heights (carried along by his delight, having dinner, organising parties - he does keep late hours though, with dinner at 22:00, and the party at 21:30, but as noted in the previous review they run on a twenty-six hour clock so it's not as late). She's so eager and bright, without any cynicism, and neither of them want to upset her, but, as Kira says when she realises she's found common ground with a man she hates, Ziyal will get over her dislike of him. The two strands to the story are nicely mirrored in each other, one a son, the other a daughter, both trying to find their place and reason for being, both trying to understand a Father, going down a path to something new, looking for acceptance, both abandoned, though perhaps more in Alexander's mind, whereas Ziyal was literally left behind when Dukat switched sides, yet she forgives. One ends happily, a new understanding between Father and son, the other not so happily, a friendship strained because of the daughter's connection with her Father. Environment may have played into it to a certain extent, too, as Alexander's story took place in the confined, smoky atmosphere of a Bird of Prey, dark and moody, Ziyal's on the bright station, her biggest problem being to persuade Kira to come to dinner, or whether she'll be accepted into an art institute on Cardassia.

It's always good to have a Klingon story, but ironic that this is the one in the war arc to be most character-driven in many ways. It's good that we're told that they're on their way back to Starbase 375, so it's directly following 'Rocks and Shoals,' which was originally supposed to end with the sight of the Rotarran rescuing the survivors of the downed Jem'Hadar ship. The main characters of that episode barely feature here, which is fair because the Klingon characters didn't get much of a look-in in the previous two episodes, but we do see Jadzia appearing quite well and full of energy, so the Klingon medical bay must have done the trick, and perhaps the journey was a long one (though I'm sure it wouldn't have taken O'Brien and Bashir long before they started complaining about the food!). I didn't think Klingons really bothered with medical bays on their ships, but it's probably the most basic of facilities, just a slab in a bare room with all kinds of knives and sharp implements up on the walls. Sounds just like the training room Alexander exercises in, so maybe it doubled as both (we also see Klingon quarters and an office of Worf's for perhaps the first time)! That area gave us a new piece of information about the Jem'Hadar: their bladed pole weapon (first seen in 'To The Death,' I think), is called a kar'takin - two episodes in a row learning a Jem'Hadar word!

When Martok finds Alexander practicing there, I half expected him to teach him how to be a warrior, but it was a bit late by that point! It's nice that by the end of the episode he inducts the young man into his house (I'm sure he'd be a useful Grandad!), the only disappointment being that we didn't see more of him beyond attending the wedding of Worf and Dax, as I liked him a lot more in this than his 'TNG' appearances. I suppose the story was resolved, as it was about the lack of understanding between Father and son, and they had a meeting of minds - anything further would have been Alexander's story, something which would have added another recurring character to an already vast list. Not that they couldn't have done it, but the series doesn't suffer because we don't see Alexander grow into a man. The message here, and it could be said that it is the message of the series, is that you don't need to be the same as everyone else to find your place and acceptance. Everyone's different and has to approach life on different terms: Alexander doesn't have to be the best warrior possible to make his Father proud, Worf can fit into Starfleet, Rom can be a Ferengi with heart, among many other examples. A heartening message indeed. At first I didn't feel this episode was worthy of the previous two, and although it's not on the same level as them, by the end of it, much like Alexander, I had seen its true potential.

****

Rocks and Shoals

DVD, DS9 S6 (Rocks and Shoals)

Two fantastic episodes one after the other! A season doesn't start better than that. I often think of 'A Time To Stand' as an intriguing window on a new world, the station topsy-turvy and the fascination of dropping in on all these new situations, light on the action for a war episode. And I think of 'Rocks and Shoals' as the reverse: action-packed, but lighter on the mind. It's actually just as deep, with less action than you remember. Those thoughts may come from its primarily location-based story, and the fact that some major events occur, such as the captured Jem'Hadar ship crashing into the ocean of an alien planet, a watery grave for the great prize garnered in 'The Ship,' but it had fulfilled its task, the lives lost in that episode making a difference to the war effort they didn't live to see, so the ship could go to the great scrapyard of the galaxy with honour intact! Not to mention two other Jem'Hadar vessels meeting the same fate (presumably one crashed with loss of all life, as there were two ships chasing, and a Vorta may have been aboard that one also), stranding both Starfleet and Dominion forces in an unknown landscape, and leaving them to work it out. But it's left to our imagination, as often is the case, excepting the great 'Generations' (okay, and the not so great 'Into Darkness'), to visualise the actual impact, excitingly cutting away to the opening music as Garak shouts for the crew to "Hold on!" he being the only one able to see what's coming thanks to the personal viewscreen (even if he does look horizontally when the ship drops vertically - poetic licence).

One of the big things we do see is Dax caught in a blast from her console as the bridge collapses around her. Let's be honest, Season 6 is perhaps both the best and worst year of her life: she gets to marry Worf, both of them surviving the battle to retake DS9, but it's also the season of Dax in distress. Here she's laid out for the episode and we see the vulnerable side of this usual warrior, unable to participate (although her presence, oddly, doesn't do much for the story, though I suppose it adds to the ticking clock of necessary rescue, as well as a counterpoint to the injured Vorta), then we have 'Change of Heart' where she's almost left to die, and 'Tears of The Prophets' where she does. There may be other hardships as well, but we certainly see the weakness of a character so often shown as strong beyond most measure. It's Sisko whom this story (or the planetary portion of it), is all about, rising to the occasion to be The Captain as we look at the underbelly of the war with none of the 'big' figures such as Ross present, and all survival authority on him. This is a good one to show those who may still doubt Sisko could hold his own in a Best Captain contest against his more famous predecessors, as he's in a terribly difficult situation, both physically and morally, thanks to the devious Vorta. But he does have two of the most important elements of a Trek team on his side: the Doctor and the Engineer, both positions whose reputations are noted by Keevan - he needs the skill of a Starfleet Doctor, and knows that the expertise of a Starfleet Engineer will ultimately get him off this rock.

Keevan. He's the next in a line of hypocritical, self-serving servants of the Founders, and also one of the best performances, I feel. Nobody matches the incomparable Jeffrey Combs' Weyoun, but Keevan is probably the second best Vorta of the series. He has such a superior attitude, so cold and calculating, yet realistic, he has no room for the friendly front of Weyoun. The Vorta are more deceptive for appearing so receptive, with even their heads designed to look like a radar dish, always attentive. I say designed because of course they were genetically engineered by the Founders (we never know exactly to what extent, although we do learn they lived in trees and, I think, were ape-like), but we have another self-serving Vorta, and another noble Jem'Hadar leader, which makes you realise the Founders weren't as wise and clever in their genetics as we thought. All Keevan cares about is escaping his soldiers because the ketracel white's going to be exhausted, and just as Goran'Agar of 'Hippocratic Oath' understood, they'll soon be out of control. The difference is that he stayed to give them a merciful death, whereas Keevan is quite happy to up and leave as a POW if it means he survives, even at the cost of all his men.

Remata'Klan is cut from different cloth. Like several of his kind before him (Goran'Agar, Ometi'klan, Ikat'ika), he is proud to serve the Founders, and has much more of an understanding of the word honour, than many a Klingon. His men are already starting to crack with the meagre rations of white, leading to disobedience of the order not to fire on the enemy. You'd expect the man who did this to be summarily executed, but he's allowed to live, and Remata'Klan refuses to name him to the cruel Keevan who probably would have ordered his death. 'Klan would rather accept punishment himself, a noble attribute that gives him added depth of character. But it's more than that, because even when he knows he's been betrayed by his Vorta, he still goes ahead with the attack on Sisko's group - he may despise the Vorta, many Jem'Hadar do, but he also knows that above him he truly serves the Founders. As he says to Sisko, he never owned his own life, so he's not giving it up. Sisko has the suggestion that he allow himself and his men to be sedated and placed in medical suspension when they're rescued, until more white can be found, effectively offering the option of surrender, something the Jem'Hadar would never do. I did wonder why the Starfleet people couldn't just stun them, knocking them out until help arrived, and carrying out Sisko's plan without their consent, especially as their physiology might give insight to the Founders, but it may be that stun isn't enough to take down these genetically modified powerhouses, and kill is the only option.

This episode gives us more in-depth understanding of the race than most, as we're permitted to see Jem'Hadar-only scenes, with 'Klan talking to his men. We see his leadership ability, his understanding of the Vorta, and we see some of his men as vulnerable. They were never the Borg, but the Jem'Hadar were always the toughest race out there, considered almost mindless, with no understanding of the greater concepts of life that everyone else feels, but that isn't true, the best of them exist in this state, yet they excel anyway. And if you can bring us around to sympathising and respecting them in an episode, you're a great writer indeed! The ending wasn't as emotionally rimmed as might be thought, in the vein of 'The Siege of AR-558,' but we see the toll it takes on the Starfleet crew as they're forced to shoot down the brave, but foolhardy attackers. 'Klan demonstrates that Jem'Hadar are far from mindless, but tactical and with great courage. We already knew their loyalty was vast - it was Weyoun's fatal mistake to question this in 'To The Death.' Here we see the waste of war. It's underlined for Sisko by the death of one of his security officers, Gordon, the only Starfleet casualty in that final battle, another life taken senselessly for no gain. But as Sisko had reminded them all earlier as the morals of slaughtering the soldiers is debated, they are at war, Sisko is Captain, and he makes the decision. Even if he gives 'Klan the choice to live.

Because we're given more insight into the Jem'Hadar through personal scenes, we learn the term for something as old as their first appearance back in the Season 2 finale: 'shroud' is how they describe their mysterious ability to cloak themselves. I like that even though these are basically enemy foot soldiers, we can learn more about them and their terminology, especially for something that was never explained. It could be a technological enhancement, but more likely from the way they admit to being unable to do so when they're lacking white, is a natural, or genetic ability that requires the drug in their system, or possibly needs high energy levels. Something else seen for the first time, but on the Starfleet side, is what 'Enterprise' would become infamous for: underwear! These were new uniforms so we hadn't had the chance to see their construction, but here we see the various aspects that make up the current Starfleet wardrobe: the outer garment is more like a jacket that can be undone at the front, underneath are the departmental coloured shirts and collars, and going further, since the crew were wet through and had to warm up (in the tried and tested 'phasering a rock' tradition that stretches back to 'TOS'!), and get dry, they strip down to their blue underwear, though keeping the dignity of the characters we only see them gathered around the campfire rock in medium shot and low lighting! But in all seriousness it's good to have further details about things we take for granted, and it's always good for realism to see characters in a difficult physical situation such as having to swim to safety.

Not that there's much swimming, Nog being the only one to doggy paddle to shore. He and Garak make a good team, one straight as a rod, all fresh Starfleet rules and procedure, the other galactically-wise and cunning, the first not turning his back on the other, literally, since Nog still has great reservations about the Cardassian tailor from his experiences in 'Empok Nor.' It's the important difference to other Trek series' that such events are remembered and spoken of and make the characters act differently than they otherwise would. It means that event really happened, and signals that this is a real universe where what happens to people leaves an impression on them. It also gave Garak the chance to repeat his slightly patronising congratulations of there being 'hope for you yet,' as he said to Bashir, his first protege, way back in 'Distant Voices.' Having Nog become his protege might have been an interesting avenue to take the character, as it was something that never happened and I feel Garak got a little lost after Ziyal's death and Sisko's anger at him at the Romulan incident, so that by early Season 7 he didn't have so much spice to his character on an ongoing basis. Here, he's great as a member of the crew, something similar to what he did in the last episodes of the series, being part of a group rather than the individual spy.

The team is rounded out by the two security guards, Neeley and Gordon, somewhat less smug, but still as tough as those in 'Empok Nor' - but there's not too much to be self-satisfied about when their ship's sunk, stranding them. But everyone has their purpose, since with the Jem'Hadar possibility around every rock, they had their task laid out: keep everyone else alive. Gordon's death would have had more impact if he'd gone out saving someone, but instead it emphasises the futility of the situation they're in and makes an impact in a different way. Bashir, as well as making escape possible by curing Keevan, seems much more himself than he did in the preceding episode. In that, he was exercising his genetic super-abilities as ship's mobile computer, but here he's in the proper environment of a frontier doctor. O'Brien is fairly muted for the Chief, especially given his history as a soldier, and now that I think about it, it would have given the story added edginess to it had the recall of 'Empok Nor' included him as well as Nog, perhaps seeing he and Garak fighting side by side. But you can only do so much in a forty-five minute episode, and he wasn't selected as the focus, even though he was no less important, being the one that saved them by fixing the Dominion communications equipment.

The planetary saga, though, was far from the only draw of this episode, as life back home on DS9 is just as affecting, but on a far more personal level. Life on the station has become routine for Kira, the weeks and months having rolled by, so she's shocked by the end of the episode that she allowed herself to get comfortable with the Dominion occupation. So much so that she was prepared to stop a legitimate protest against four hundred Vorta facilitators coming to help Bajor get its economy moving again (it was certainly a high number, as there are usually so few of them in proportion to Jem'Hadar, so if there are that many Vorta, how many Jem'Hadar can there be? At first I was thinking the facilitators would be made up of Vorta, Jem'Hadar and maybe some other Dominion races like the Karemma, but it's made clear they're all Vorta. They could be cloning them in the Alpha Quadrant). Kira's sudden realisation comes in the form of Vedek Yassim, a woman who chooses suicide as her mode of protest. Regardless of whether that was an acceptable course of action or not, it jerked Kira out of her complacency so hard that had she been a pendulum she'd have crashed out the other side of the clock - she warns even Odo not to get in the way of her absolute determination to fight the Dominion, when he urges caution. All the grey in the series that had built up over the years particularly affected the Major, because her former, bitterly hated enemies came to be accepted, grieved for, friends with, even able to laugh with Dukat. For all that muddiness, Yassim's death acted as a clear bell in her mind, the catalyst for action - at first, it sounds like she's planning to go it alone, you half expect her to strap on explosives and guns and take out half the Jem'Hadar!

Jake, too, had his part to play in the drip-drip of warning signs, not taken seriously by Odo and Kira, merely becoming a way of getting news about things he's heard, his journalistic ambition swept aside - Odo even points out that Weyoun still isn't allowing his articles to be sent out, but that doesn't stop Jake from pursuing his goal, the mark of a true Sisko! As the second step of Odo's descent, after joining the ruling council of the station (it's weird to have an episode which doesn't feature Weyoun, Dukat, or Damar, although they're all talked about in some way), he's the one who isn't immediately twisted around in his point of view by the suicide, because he's always been about justice and order above rules and regimes. You sense he'd have been quite happy for things to continue as they were if Kira hadn't been fired up, and would certainly have been dismayed that a Vedek was able to carry out such a demonstration on his Promenade, under his watch (it does make you wonder how she was able to smuggle that rope in and tie it to the railing, but I would guess it was hidden under her robe, and she may have had accomplices making sure she was able to go through with it). But once Kira makes her decision he'll go along with it, though as things progressed, he'd be less opposed, than neutral in the coming episodes.

The quality of an episode doesn't rest purely on the shoulders of the main cast, but the excellence of the guest stars, and, on top of beautiful location shooting with those stark, white rocks and chalky water, the impact of the episode has more power thanks to Phil Morris' great version of a Jem'Hadar leader, perhaps the most noble example of his race that we saw. Morris had a long history with Trek, I think I'm right in saying he was in the 'TOS' episode 'Miri' as a child (his sister Iona definitely was), but had more recently played Thopok the Klingon, and the man Quark must fight in 'Looking For Par'Mach in All The Wrong Places,' and would go on to play John Kelly in 'One Small Step' on 'Voyager.' But he's a well known guest actor, even to the modern era with his role as Clark's helper on the later seasons of 'Smallville.' His appeal made the thankless loyalty, unworthily given to Keevan, even more tragic. Christopher Shea as Keevan would return later in the season, and appear as other characters in both 'Voyager' and 'Enterprise.' Both these people were iconic in the roles of this episode, Remata'Klan the ideal opponent for Sisko as he was a thinker, yet both men military-minded, getting into the psyche of the race - they were bred with unquestioning loyalty, and even their lives aren't their own (when 'Klan uses the word 'conceived' it must have been just an expression, as they're engineered!). The ending is rather downbeat, with the callous Keevan walking through the recent battlefield carrying his little suitcase with no regard or understanding of what happened there. But he'd get his comeuppance tenfold!

*****

A Time To Stand

DVD, DS9 S6 (A Time To Stand)

This is the one I always think of as defying expectations. With 'Call To Arms' as the Season 5 finale you had arguably one of the best ever cliffhangers in all of Trekdom, leaving the station in enemy hands and the Defiant joining a vast armada of Starfleet ships on the way to retake the station, or so it seemed. You'd be forgiven for expecting all out space battles as the sequel, but it isn't what you get. The series was often expert at doing the unexpected, yet still managing to pull off the kind of drama and excitement you wanted, and this episode is the perfect example of that. Rather than 'Star Wars' on TV, we get a much more interesting cross section of life in wartime - we're given what we didn't realise we really wanted because we were thinking about action scenes, and that is an update on what each character is experiencing in this time of chaos. But it's more than that: every interaction, every conversation is expertly written, not a word or gesture wasted: there's no dead weight, every second is utilised, and consequently the episode flies by at warp speed, over before I realised it. It helps that the teaser is one of the longer openings, something I always preferred to the shorter, which 'Enterprise' tended to do (though sometimes a very brief intro can be effective), as I love that build up to the episode proper, and the way you can be drawn in so completely that it's a surprise when the title sequence begins because you forgot it hadn't started yet!

The fact is that though this all had a setup in 'Call To Arms,' it is actually another setup for Trek's first fully serialised multi-episode arc. Previously the series had pushed what Trek was capable of by introducing the first three-episode arc, way back in Season 2, then the first feature-length season opener at the start of Season 4. What else could they do that was suitably big and bold, but a six-episode storyline. A six-parter! It was something completely new to Trek at that time and was the catalyst for the ten-episode closing arc of the series, and probably even 'Enterprise' Season 3, in which all twenty-four episodes were part of a serial. This was also long before the boom of serialised TV series' that came in the early 2000s, but it was necessary because they were dealing with the biggest storyline in Trek history: an Alpha Quadrant in full-blown war. We weren't talking about a Cold War with the Romulans which could come into play when it was convenient, nor a hot and cold on/off skirmish with the Klingons which had been there in the background of 'TOS' and was revived in Season 4 of 'DS9.' No, this was a quadrant-wide war for survival, the home base of the series taken over, the characters split between various positions, and no prospect of an end in sight.

What helped make the situation feel as big as it was in  talk, was in the way things are presented. We see a weary crew, tired of a conflict that's been raging and going badly for three months. They may be worn down, but it's in a different way to the stifling battle experiences of 'The Ship,' or the heroic sacrifices of 'The Siege of AR-558,' retaining their sense of humour, so while the series has words bandied around it such as 'dark,' it often retains its lightness, the joy of being on a starship, even if you're not exploring the unknown, defending the right. At the same time we get a taste of another aspect of warfare with the likelihood of friendly fire on an undercover mission. Hearing about (and seeing), another Starfleet ship off the cuff is another aspect that broadens the scope and scale, an unnecessary incident but it shows the crew working together and forced to fire on an ally. We see reassignment with Sisko getting a desk job; we see what life is like under occupation ("It's not an oc-cu-pa-tion!" claims Weyoun musically to Jake); we even get an insight into the civilian view on Earth as Sisko calls his Father to report on Jake's decision to stay on DS9. The viewpoints are wide and varied, both in person and location, so the canvas is broadened even though it's on a TV budget. That's usually the way TV series' go, having to outdo what's gone before. Trouble is this can stretch both budget and credibility and actually make the reality feel smaller (see 'Smallville' for an example), as well as losing the characters. Not so in this case, the characters are at the forefront - there wouldn't be anything without them.

We get the introduction of one new recurrent, the reintroduction of all the main cast, as well as many of the expanded repertory company. Not everyone - we don't see Rom, or Morn, for example, but that leaves us with questions wanting answers, a reason this is one of the most compelling set of episodes ever made for the series. You're desperate to just keep watching and swallow the whole story in one go. In today's world of boxed sets and downloads it's the ideal way to watch. Yet there's still something positive to be said for having to wait a week to see the next part of the story. Your mind buzzes with anticipation, with questions and possibilities. I don't remember the exact first time I saw this, whether it was on video or TV, and I'd probably read up on what was going to happen in 'Star Trek Monthly,' but there's nothing like seeing something happen, and even now when I've seen it so many times before, it always surprises me how good it can be without giving us the desired resolution of fleet on fleet, something else that inspires the appetite to see when they get to the inevitable space rumble. Even though it's just part one of the story this is such a great setup that it remains one of my top episodes of the series, as do several of this six-part story.

Even while time is of the essence with so many familiar faces, it's wonderful that they could give us someone new in Admiral Ross, the greatest example of his rank in a long line of officious, distrustful, untrustworthy and spiky superiors, stretching back all the way to 'TOS.' Maybe it's something about not having the freedom of your own ship that makes Admirals so cranky and so often wrong, but they're generally not a good advert for the position! And even Ross at first seems to fit the bill when we see him reassign Sisko from the Defiant to an office on Starbase 375. 'Great,' you think. 'Another typical Admiral, just when we didn't need any more enemies to fight.' Except even in his brief moments in this episode, while he exudes the necessary authority about him, he also has the air of something else, an understanding maybe, an attitude that is no nonsense, yet open to those under him. Maybe I'm reading too much into too little, knowing the force for good he would become on the series, but he seems a worthy man to be Sisko's commander, something which must have been very difficult to find. Because Sisko commands a lot of respect himself - you have General Martok speaking to him as an equal, the crew following his orders, but we also get a different side to him when we see how uncomfortable he is talking to his Father, who certainly gives him a hard time over leaving Jake behind, so even this time of war hasn't been used as an excuse to make cardboard heroes, and we're still allowed multifaceted characters. If anything the time of stress brings out their character even more.

We've seen Sisko get angry before, and he does so again at the news of the decimation of another Federation fleet, slamming his fist into the table so hard it cracks the glass surface, but even this display of rage is so much more controlled than we've seen from him before - I think of the punchbag scene in 'For The Uniform,' or his wild fighting when the Jem'Hadar invaded the Defiant in 'The Search,' and he really has learned greater control in releasing his anger these days, something useful for a Captain at war to possess. One thing that struck me as an odd beat in the episode is when Admiral Ross takes him off the Defiant and gives him an office, but then he's immediately sent out on the mission aboard the Jem'Hadar ship to blow up the main ketracel white facility! I know it takes a couple of weeks before the ship's ready, but it feels so immediate which makes the reassignment strange. Maybe it would have been better to have the reassignment news in a subsequent episode as that would seem pretty harsh after they've been successful in completing the mission and then Sisko has to hang up his space boots. But as I recall it was a bit like that anyway so perhaps it was a good move to have the news so early as it makes things even more unstable and uncertain in our minds?

Though this isn't the most action-packed episode of the series, the fireworks reserved for the many and varied conversations that take place between a host of characters, the mission to take out the facility is still pretty exciting. I find myself wishing every time that their escape could have gone to plan in that split second 'Mission: Impossible' style that they seem to be aping, but if they'd got off scot-free we might not have had the excellence that was 'Rocks and Shoals,' so it's all fair. I wasn't sure why the Jem'Hadar kept them at the facility after the exchange, but they may have detected the different weight of the container which hid the bomb, or perhaps Garak didn't give a code he was supposed to? You don't want things to go perfectly or the drama would be lost. Mind you, it's bad enough for Sisko trying to use the personal viewscreen of the Jem'Hadar vessel, which makes him so much more grateful for bringing the lost sheep (or is that wolf), Garak, along for the ride. The Cardassian 'tailor' was in a difficult situation, having had to leave his place of exile, the closest he could get to home, under pain of torture and death from Gul Dukat, I imagine. We're missing a scene in which Dukat shows disappointment at not having the opportunity to hold Garak prisoner as I can imagine he would have been, but it's one of those conversations we weren't privy to in the three month gap, that's how I see it.

The two main Cardassians of the series are in very different situations at this point, with Dukat simultaneously riding high, back in his old position aboard Terok Nor, yet also under the thumb of the Dominion having needed them to accomplish his goal. It's like he's both on a leash, but enjoying the power rush at the same time - you only have to look at the way he swaggers round Ops (I thought he bumped into a Jem'Hadar soldier once near the central Ops console, probably an easy thing to do with the bulky costumes, but could also be seen as in character since of course he doesn't really like the Jem'Hadar). Garak has become a nomad, perhaps realising his only current home is with Sisko and the crew - just like a church is the people, Garak's home is the crew. He's a good man to have around (though Nog may not agree as we see in the next episode), being resourceful, and Cardassian, the physiology geared towards the viewscreen headset. I can't remember if this was the first time we saw POV shots from the headset, but it seems likely. Our TVs are limited to displaying things as a flat rectangle in the middle of the picture, but Garak describes it as being in his mind which gives an idea that this is more than the Google Glass concept!

On a practical note I wonder if either of the actors using the prop really did get headaches from the constant flashing of the eyepiece which must have been disconcerting after doing a scene over and over again. Garak's other use in this episode is to remind us that Bashir is genetically engineered (and to rib him about it since O'Brien's too busy to give him a hard time over it!). This is the first episode to really use his abilities fully as he works out computations faster than the computer and gets called a Vulcan for his trouble. But the Doctor has truly made it now, one of the superhero-type characters Trek does so well, dating back to Spock, and including Data, Odo, Tuvok and others that have gifts beyond normal human resources. Yet it's also made Bashir seem more withdrawn, in a way. Withdrawn might not be the right word as he's still got a twinkle in his eye as he banters with Dax and his fellow crewmates, but he's no longer upbeat. Perhaps it's the effect of so many war casualties, or he's already calculating the odds of the Federation's defeat? He loses his cool and practically shouts at Sisko about the recent losses, and is so singleminded he ignores Martok's direct greeting as he enters a room, something you can't imagine the younger Bashir doing. He's grown up.

Another character that gets to show growth is Major Kira. She's been in the situation of Terok Nor under occupation by the Cardassians before, but it takes Quark to realise that things aren't so bad - with the Dominion's hand of alliance, Bajor's protected from the Cardassians' will, perhaps the first note of disharmony between them and their war allies, something that would come to be the saviour of the Alpha Quadrant. It's ironic when you think that Damar and his hatred of Weyoun, who treats him like a dog ("Get out! Don't look at him…"), and his unfulfilled ambitions to get back at Bajor for having the audacity to stand up to his people, is what comes around to be helpful as time goes by. At this stage Damar remains Dukat's lackey, someone for the leader to talk to, but all he does is either smirk at Kira's discomfort or sulk when he's treated as an underling by Weyoun. But he does it so well! Dukat on the other hand is incredibly sinister - it's hard to believe we ever liked him, but we did. He's so much in love with his power, while at the same time understanding that he has to be diplomatic with Weyoun and show courtesy and respect, the perfect situation for a man of his compartmentalised personalities. And the longer hair somehow makes him seem even more diabolical. It's the way he summons Kira to his office then proceeds to admire her like a new painting he's just had installed, enjoying her flashes of indignant outrage, knowing she's powerless, like a cat watching a mouse running around a cage, living off the fact that at any moment it could reach down and take its prey.

Dukat's never been more chilling, sober. By sober I mean before he goes properly mad rather than just maniacal and ultra self-deluded, because right now he has what he wants and it gives him the thirst for more. Kira, as tough and resourceful as she is, is in danger from a man so unstable and cunning, but we learn the true horror of why he's always been drawn to her later in the season (though it's surprising it's taken three months for her and Dukat to have the conversation they have in his office). For now, she seeks solace in her great friendship with Odo, together realising which buttons to press to access the power they hadn't considered was at their fingertips: Weyoun, as always, is a delight to watch. He's so geared towards being friends with everyone, but retains his innate authority as displayed to Dukat and Damar, or Jake. Quark was right in some ways when he said things aren't too bad under Dominion rule - the Bajorans haven't been betrayed and turned into slave labour; Jake hasn't been interned as a political prisoner; and Jem'Hadar soldiers sit genially in the bar (apart from the genial bit - why were they there? They don't eat, drink or make merry, so I have to assume it was an order from above in order to keep a security presence around. In reality it was probably an excuse to give Quark a line). Though Weyoun questions Jake's naivete at thinking his articles about life on the station would be sent to the Federation, it's sort of naive that Jake is allowed to run around the station anyway - a normal occupation would have seen him as a bargaining tool and held him prisoner, although I suppose he's a prisoner anyway, his cell being the station. It's good to see him doing a real job for the first time - we've seen him write, and the possibilities have often been talked about, but now he's actually doing and it's great to see.

Jake's partner in crime, Nog, also gets to be part of things, a member of the Defiant crew, and a voice of nervousness amongst seasoned Starfleet officers like O'Brien and Dax. Its good to have him as so much a part of the action as he's one that went through incredible change during the series, this being just another step. It's fun to see him amidst the crew, but also to see this crew out in space as a permanent fixture, the only thing missing being the Klingon contingent (though we get a reminder of Worf and Dax' pending marriage as something to look forward to after the opening salvo of episodes - knowing the series you wonder if they'd both make it through alive, something that would, like Sisko's deal with the Prophets come to have consequences, as if happiness wasn't allowed for too long!), but again it's one of those threads that tantalises you so you want to get to the next episode pronto, masterfully written to be addictive TV. Funny thing is, with the Jem'Hadar ship lost in space it's like the series has become 'Voyager' as it will take them years to get home. Unlike 'Voyager' it's because their warp drive is offline, something which emphasises just how vast space is without these integral pieces of technology. Following the 'Voyager' train of thought, you realise that in both parts of the galaxy an unstoppable force is taking over (the war with Species 8472 taking place concurrently with the end of Season 5). I wonder if the Federation and Dominion would have bonded together to fight the common enemy had that race carried through its plan to annihilate the galaxy?

Perhaps the most fascinating of all the interactions is that between Odo and Weyoun. When Kira goes to see the Vorta she can't get her requests through, Weyoun fobbing her off with a 'maybe later' response, but when Odo appears his wishes are instantly granted, Dukat dismissed from the conversation much like Damar had been earlier, and observing the power shift in that room like mercury on a tilted plate is mesmerising. Odo's descent begins here, and even Kira flags up doubts about Weyoun's motives, recognising that Odo's invitation to join the ruling council of the station in some way validates the occupation. At the same time, as Weyoun argued to Jake, this is a Cardassian station and Bajor is an ally of the Dominion (thanks to Sisko's Prophet-led intervention last season), so it's only the loyalties of those on the station to their friends in the Federation that has a tie, making it all the more easy to get comfortable with it all as Kira and Odo do in subsequent stories. Yet for once, Weyoun seems genuine - he really is awed by Odo's presence and you feel that even if Odo had point blank refused the offer of joining the council, Weyoun would have simply acquiesced and Odo would have got his Bajoran security force back, with weapons, anyway. Because the Founders still value Odo, and what they value, the Vorta value. Kira may be treated as an equal, but Odo is treated as a superior.

The appeal of this particular episode is not just the continuation of a great cliffhanger, not just a setup for what we know is a thrilling multi-part story, or even the real beginning of the end of the series, it is the joy with which each character is used, the full exploitation of this unique situation with all the intricate levels of intrigue, both personal and political, that that entails. It's astonishing how good the series can be, but it's like the groundwork had been solidly put in place over the years, the series had been built up so strongly, yet the embellishments hadn't been forgotten, it was more than function, it was aesthetically pleasing, the best of both worlds, and if I seem to be lapsing into florid metaphor it's because episodes like this inspire it and sometimes it's difficult to find the words to do it justice. Even with the scope the nuances are there to be seen and enjoyed, be it Weyoun's humble, but obsequious flick of the eyes under his bowed head to Odo, or Dukat grinning as he spins Sisko's baseball on his desk, an evocation of his power, the small details are written and shown. It even has a biblical title in the vein of 'a time to reap, and a time to sow,' 'a time for everything under the sun,' from Ecclesiastes 3 - in this case the time to make a stand even though the odds seem stacked against you, which makes it feel even more legendary and epic. This was the writing and the directing working together in perfect harmony, the series at its prime even at a sixth year, which makes you think it could have run far longer.

*****

Retrogaming Review of The Year 2013

Retrogaming Review of The Year 2013

Another year of eschewing gaming, on the whole. A shame, as I've had the itch to get back into it, often thinking it would be fun to dive back into an old 'Zelda' again, or some other epic in response to all the five minute wonders that seem to be popular at the moment, what used to be called 'minigames' appearing to have taken over the general perception of what gaming is. I concede that the reason is because most people don't have time for hours-long experiences, and with other things for me to do, I'm the same in that regard. Time hasn't expanded any more than it did last year (it may even have contracted!), and as can be seen from my other reviews I've had plenty of viewing to keep me busy, among other things. So it's almost a pointless exercise writing this year's Retrogaming Review except as a beacon to remind me to keep playing!

Ratings reflect the games as a total, historical experience, not just the enjoyment level I got out of them this time.


January: A smattering of Snowboard Kids (N64); WCW Vs. NWO: Revenge (N64); Burnout 2 (GameCube); MarioKart: Double Dash (GameCube) - all games played at the tail-end of last Christmas that blurred into the new year. I never guessed that this would be the only time I'd be playing them the entire year.

January-December: UFO: Enemy Unknown (1993, Amiga 1200) - As has been my tradition for years, I continue to get a session of this old classic in on an almost weekly basis. It's been remade, but I haven't got around to purchasing it for my MacBook, perhaps because I still haven't found out if it will be compatible with two-year old technology (it isn't - I've checked). I'd like to play the new one, but I'm quite satisfied with the beautiful graphics, simple sound effects and reassuring familiarity of what is one of the best games ever made. I've been playing this file for so many years that occasionally some interesting glitches appear. This year the game awarded me 23,539 points as my score for the end of a month, which I could never have earned, since my previous best for a month was under 10,000! Another time I was attacking a UFO and my plasma beam range, displayed by vertical lines, went off the screen, so the game may well be cracking up under the strain of continuing for so long, even if I'm not.

March - December: Age of Empires II (2001, MacBook Pro/Powerbook) - The other old faithful I can't stay away from for long, this remains one of the best games I've ever played, though it was sporadically used for days here and there throughout the year, with both two-player and single-player fun. I made no attempt at replaying the Campaigns on a harder difficulty as that seemed too much of a commitment, it's just the freedom of Standard games and the many permutations to try that keeps me coming back, not to mention playing a human opponent. *****

April - May: X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (2005, GameCube) - After my original file had to be abandoned late last year I started again at that time, but it took me months to come back after that initial start. I was glad to finish it, but I won't have many happy memories of a satisfying game thanks to the restart, I was just glad to complete it. **

September - November: Elf (1991, Amiga 1200) - The best experience of my non-regular games, I'd long planned to have a go at finishing this Amiga action-platformer with shades of RPG I'd got stuck on in the 1990s, using the CD32 controller. Well I did, and I didn't regret it, pleased to be able to finish it after so long. ***


Next Year - My goals become more moderate with each passing year, as I often don't do what I planned. This year I succeeded in completing 'X-Men Legends II,' of course, but I never did go back to the 'Age of Empires II' campaigns or buy a new racer. So what's for 2014?

- Get a new racing game, perhaps one from the 'Need For Speed' franchise on 'Cube.

- Those 'Age of Empires II' campaigns on a harder difficulty?

- I'm tempted to get hold of an XBox 360 now the next generation of machines are out, as I'm sure there are plenty of games worth playing, but it's still a big investment of time and money, so we'll see…

Happy New Year!

Identity

DVD, Smallville S8 (Identity)

At last, the season is finally getting started! Things aren't what they seem in this, the best episode so far of an underwhelming opening salvo, but it was worth the wait, whether it be the exciting teaser, good use of all the characters featured this week (only Davis is absent), and some heartfelt rapprochement between Clark and Oliver Queen, who returns having been in hibernation after learning of how his parents died and that Clark knew, but didn't tell him. We have the old humour back, jabbing at the Superman mythos with Clark making jokes about the red cape Queen uses to fool Jimmy and the general public in a brilliant reversal from Season 6 when Clark stepped in to throw Lois off the scent of Green Arrow's true identity. And we have Lois talking about her destiny to fall for a man that flies a lot and wears tights, excellently judged action scenes that make sense and impress, and some great effects. What's going on 'Smallville,' and why can't you be like this all the time?

It shows how well I reacted to the weaving of the story that I didn't mind Jimmy being fooled into thinking Clark couldn't be the mysterious Red-Blue Man (as I'd like to call the blur - the only thing missing from this episode is a nickname given to the super fast samaritan. There's another name right there!), with Chloe even pointing out that Clark should use the publicity and take an alias to inspire hope in people, something later taken up between him and Oliver, who always caused friction with Clark because of his outrage at the Kent boy being happy to sit back and stay secret instead of embracing his abilities and going full-time in the superhero business! It's wonderful to see these themes carried across between sets of friends and shows that the series can write well when it chooses. Not to say I wasn't a little disappointed when, after teasing us in the aptly named teaser by hinting that Jimmy can see that it's Clark saving Lois from the car when he's in the middle of trying to take a photo of the mugger (it never rains, but it pours, right?), we then find out when the episode starts properly that it was just a red and blue blur. I was kept guessing as to how this was going to go in the story - from the teaser I was sure this was going to be the moment Jimmy discovered the secret, then it all changed and he wasn't going to know, then when he's dedicated to uncovering the identity and he's put it all together and Clark and Chloe have to openly lie to him I was astonished that they didn't just admit it.

In the end poor Jimmy's left out in the cold, but it was done in such an inventive way with a plan to convince him, which then turns out to work better than expected despite being artfully messed up, I couldn't help but be pulled along by it all. Yes, there are problems: the feel is still sometimes 'small' thanks to the reuse of the Ace of Clubs for Lois' dinner date, and the same city street set being used all season; and going back to the teaser, I didn't really get the mugging and whether it was Mercer instigated (she's still after the blue stone which she learns in this Lois doesn't have), since I had the impression it was the same mugger who attacks Jimmy at the end, and at Kane's first appearance I thought maybe it had been him with a beard; and what's the point of Jimmy getting a picture of the maniac, who could just take the camera, when he should have attacked him; and why wouldn't Lois put two and two together and see that shortly after she'd called Clark Kane had been thrown across the room. Most importantly, why couldn't Chloe, engaged to be married to Jimmy, lest we forget, and Clark, a good friend of his, lie so barefacedly to him? It was cold and heartless, and he even understands that it's difficult to entrust such a secret to him. It's funny when Clark's elaborate plan to convince Jimmy he's not the famed hero goes completely wrong and ends up making him even more sure it's Clark, until he sees with his own eyes Green Arrow dressed in the semi-Superman costume. Even the disappointment they couldn't admit Jimmy into the inner circle didn't matter because it was so well done.

I at first felt the addition of Sebastian Kane, a meteor freak whom I wasn't sure whether he was a pre-made character from the comics or a new invention from the vaults of LutherCorp, or some place called Black Creek, which Chloe had apparently been inside (there are so many facilities and groups of mutants I lost track of whether this was something we'd actually seen), was too much when they had this great story of Jimmy knowing the secret, but even that was neatly worked into the finale with Clark having to rush off to save Lois from certain death, although she did pretty well in the fight scene with this vicious thug. And it was another thing that wasn't what it seemed because Clark thinks she's immediately fallen for this new reporter at the Daily Planet (the way Kane walks in without any explanation I didn't understand whether he worked there or had just wandered in off the street!), which, unfortunately was only too easy to believe, but in fact she's going undercover, knowing his past - maybe she didn't know about his powers or the extent of them, to be able to read people's minds, engagingly illustrated by showing us fast rewind flashbacks of what they've just been thinking or saying, which was inventive and shows us extra things such as what was going across Lois' face when Clark's doing up the back of her dress for her. So he wasn't the typical freak-of-the-week, he had a real purpose and an interesting ability, and it was only sad that he couldn't have survived to be a thorn in Clark's side in future.

That was quite an ending, though. Chilling to see Chloe come into Kane's room wearing black, pulling off black gloves and grabbing his arm so his mind reading ability completely overloads his brain thanks to all the knowledge she's accumulated from Brainiac. It also made me wonder if that was Brainiac's influence as it was quite a harsh thing for her to do, basically wipe his mind, even though it was a necessary evil because Clark's secret would have got back to Mercer, Kane's employer. But still, it's practically cold-blooded murder, not something we expect from Chloe, and reminds me of all that stuff when Lana went bad, wearing black and doing 'whatever it took' when she felt it was warranted. That was never Chloe's style, so I hope it turns out Brainiac is taking over her mind. But none of the medical staff noticed Chloe walking out of Kane's transparent room, with all those windows and people all around? Pah, even those usual little niggles mattered not as I was carried along by a satisfying story that brought back the feeling of friendship between all these people, as well as setting up potential danger for Clark as Lois is now dead set on finding out the identity of the hero.

Whether it was the making up with Oliver Queen, which shakes him out of his depression and brings back his desire to get back out on the streets as Green Arrow again, (I was expecting The Flash to do the saving since he usually wears red anyway), Lois and Clark bantering away in a caring style, little things like seeing the photo of Clark, Jonathan and Martha Kent, or the clever setting up and diverting of expectations, it was a pleasure to watch. We've seen many times when a vital piece of evidence is destroyed or a story is changed to protect Clark's identity, so it was refreshing that he came to see that this publicity was actually a good thing, even if it was super-suspicious of him to go to Mercer and beg off writing the article for the front page when he's just a lowest grade reporter who should want to make his name. They could have played up the ethics of wanting to be an honest journalist, but it didn't really matter, and it would have been even more suspicious of him and Chloe to somehow lose Jimmy's photo or get rid of it, and would have caused all kinds of grief, so the different angle was appreciated. Instead, Jimmy got his story, Clark kept his secret safe, and he began to realise that he could be as much an inspiration as a saviour for people, which is an inspirational message in itself. I had a feeling Jimmy might not get to know after all because he's part of the Superman story, and there's no Superman yet so how could he be that innocent photographer when he knew such a deep secret. But if they ever do reveal it, he's going to be so angry with Chloe and Clark for their lies, with every right!

***