Legion

DVD, Smallville S8 (Legion)

For those that love comics I'm sure this is exactly the kind of episode to get them excited: bringing in more comics-created characters! Connecting to a larger mythology! Commenting on Clark Kent's place in history! But for those that find comics continuity and the ridiculousness of the world(s) all too much silliness, taking away from more real drama and plunging us into a minefield of silly costumes and characters pulled out of the back end of the science fiction barrel, this does not, on the whole impress. I'm not sure if I've ever heard of the Legion, I may have, but if so it didn't strike a chord, and I'll admit that some of what they were saying about Clark's eventual destiny to lead a new galactic-wide movement that brings worlds together in the distant future was interesting, but it felt out of place on this series and more like a completely different, much more sci-fi-heavy series (and one that I would watch). Mixing these characters into an existing setup in order to get rid of Brainiac, as that's the only reason they were there, was another example of many where the series copped out. If they were going to finally and irrevocably write the Brain Interactive Construct out, couldn't they have done better than some heroes from the future who are pupils to a mentoring Sup– I mean Kal-El, who show up to do the defeating, learn a new lesson from someone you'd think would already have taught them this (it's wrong to kill), mention how great he's going to be, then head off back to 3009.

It did not assist the story that they had three such dull characters that weren't around long enough to get to know. You have Rokk, the leader of the trio, who was fine at being that, but bland. Then there's Imra, the token female who has as much emotion in her actions as an android (for all I know she may well be an android, but it wasn't mentioned!), robotically reciting lines like "Your sadism is historic where I come from" in a completely serious, dull voice. The only interesting character was 'Lightning Lad.' Was this a character created in the fifties or sixties, or maybe even earlier? It just makes you smile with a name like that as if some schoolchild has come up with it. Granted, the costumes weren't as dopey, but they wouldn't have got away with anything too cartoony. But that's the way I feel about the much of the vast roster of superheroes that have been developed over the decades: just makeup a name and chuck in a power and you're done, you have a character. But character is much more than what you're known as or what abilities you have, as Clark has proved. Non-comics readers love Superman, they love Batman, and Spiderman, not just because they're cool and have amazing powers (not just superhuman ones either, in Batman's case), but because they have a strong character to them. So shoving in three new (to me), characters in a weekly TV series for one episode doesn't cut it. I felt the same way about the Justice League, and indeed all but Green Arrow remained undeveloped, just showing up once in a while to crack some wises.

Green Arrow became a character to me due to the episodes that saw him go through things, where we would learn about him and why and what he did and would do, not because he fired arrows. It sounds like a rant against superheroes, and it's not, I just find one-off episodes in which we're asked to like these people we don't know simply because they're part of something bigger, annoying. But as I said, comics readers probably loved it because they were in the know, but even then I wonder, because it wouldn't be enough, you'd want to see more. I suppose the gift of the time-travelling ring at the end was given so that prospect of bringing these characters back into it could be a dangling thread ready to be picked up if this episode had been successful. It may have been and they may turn up again, or Clark may travel to the 31st Century, but I won't be holding my breath in anticipation. Similarly, I had the impression the name of the writer, Geoff Johns, was a semi-famous comic book creator, but again, I'm not up on comics lore, it's just a name I may have heard (not like Stan Lee, or Bob Kane or whomever, the really big names to non-readers). If he is a big name then this must have been a stunt episode to pull in the ratings by featuring a comic writer and familiar characters, but I'm not sure it was the place for it immediately after such a momentous episode.

That recap at the beginning was exciting and made me think this was going to be a direct sequel like a proper two-parter, but in fact, although it did continue the story, many of the regulars were nowhere to be seen (Jimmy being nursed by Lois in Star City; no Tess or Green Arrow), and Doomsday was popped in a chrysalis in the Fortress for the duration so as not to interfere while Clark had backup. Not that they're likely to do the death of Superman storyline, the only thing I know about Doomsday, as Clark isn't Superman, as is made abundantly clear by the people from the Legion. That side of it was quite fun when Lightning Lad (stifled laugh), asks where his cape is, almost calls him Superman which is the closest we've come to the actual name being said onscreen, I think, and mentions the 'no flights, no tights' line which was a definite part of the writers' code for the series when it started (sadly long abandoned to super-heroic shenanigans far from the potential the series had in those early days, which I will forever, and continue to, mention!). Unfortunately it didn't endear the Lad to those meeting him for the first time, confirming the kind of impressions of comicbookness that keep me away from it all thanks to his annoying excitement at being in the presence of young Clark and everything being an artefact from museums he's thrilled to see.

It's strange, because I like sci-fi when it's done in a realistic way, with method in the madness, and yet even though these people were from the future, it didn't excite me, it just felt out of place. They were a little stereotypical, being a bit arrogant in terms of coming back to a simpler time without revealing much, and try and muscle in on events to sort 'our' time out. Actually even that seemed a little forced to begin with as they're simply chasing a 'Persuader' who's stolen one of their time rings and tried to kill Clark with an axe (an aside: the axe in the side didn't look very realistic, while still being bloody, so why bother? Either it goes into him and is nasty, or it rebounds off, so what was going on there?). So their first appearance is full of the talk of a mythology I know nothing about and have no reason to care about. There was too much of people telling other people what had to be done or what was going to be done, the episode saturated by such scenes and it felt a little too 'insider' comic junkie for my liking as someone with a casual understanding. It was more confusing than it needed to be, positively chucking facts and details at us with the trio acting very stagey and walking awkwardly around each other throughout as if they were tied together by string! Future people being annoyingly cagey and irritating isn't a new thing, and it's understandable when they have so much advance knowledge, and they weren't as smug as, say, Daniels from 'Enterprise,' but at the same time, they were too characterless to be appealing.

Things did improve later in the episode so that by the time we get the three of them being taught the valuable lesson of thou shalt not kill (although hasn't he killed people from the Phantom Zone? I could be wrong), and pulling Brainiac out of Chloe into a black ball to take home as a souvenir (although they seemed remarkably blase about the threat this thing poses - oh, we'll find a use for it - that I hope Brainiac doesn't become another returning villain!), there was finally something happening that meant something. I was also glad this storyline didn't run for a few episodes with Chloe as the villain. It wasn't Allison Mack's fault that she was written as a cliched evil villain, but look at the way James Marsters played the character originally, which was much more interesting and uncertain. It would have been nice to have a cameo from him somewhere, but not essential. I also thought the talk between Clark and Chloe at the end was good stuff, too, as I was wondering why, if she was talking about all this Kryptonian lore as if it was normal, how she could know it all without knowing Clark's 'secret,' but that was corrected quickly, and it was kind of a relief that she does know, after all. So what was the point in the previous episode of making us think that from now on she'll be back in the dark? It seems like the writers thought it would be cool to do stuff, but then changed their mind. Unless it's going to become an issue again, but then it'd be like a revolving door and more annoying.

Lana's return has so far been pretty pointless as she hasn't come back in some great story about her, she's just sort of showed up again, and it's weird. Imra says she won't reveal her 'secret' so presumably that's going to be something that we're supposed to expect to be developed, but it was just a little line thrown in amid so much. Messy is the best way to describe this kind of storytelling, not a cohesive story, although I will credit the episode with having a go at poking some themes when Clark's so adamant that killing is wrong in any instance (again, why did his future followers not know this, or does he change his mind in a thousand years?). They almost talk about this time as if it's an alternate history, since they know about Lana, Lois and Jimmy, but not Chloe. Of course Chloe was a character created specifically for 'Smallville' (one thing that made her cool at the start because they could do what they want - mind you, in those days they could do what they wanted anyway because it was a deliberate differentiation from the expected Superman mythos), which is like it was in comics or films before this series. They don't actually say it is an alternate timeline, just that their knowledge of history might be incorrect or incomplete, but once again if these are followers of Superman, have they not spoken to him, has he not told his life history? And do they not have a code that goes against allowing people from the past to come to the future, so shouldn't be handing out time rings as gifts?

The other theme was destiny and how you make your own, as Lana tells Clark. It's strange to see them chatting as if nothing ever happened, but I was sort of neutral about it all, not bothered that she's been brought back, but not excited about what they might do, either. At least Lana isn't dull and wooden, even if she's so far purposeless. Anything else to say? Imra can suddenly hear Chloe inside so, what, did she just not try hard enough before or did she have to get right up close before she knew and changed her mind that it wasn't actually a good idea to murder the Brainiac host after all?! It would be chilling the way they calmly discuss killing Chloe, if they weren't simply unemotional beings the rest of the time (except the Lad when he gets excited about period objects). It was another episode that didn't sit well, but had enough bright lights and flashy things to get you through to something of value with the stuff at the end, but as ever, 'must try harder' would be the conclusion at the bottom of the report, and if they can get the Doomsday stuff to work then they might be onto something. Rokk wasn't too helpful with his advice, though. There was not even a mention of Lex Luthor, or what Clark should expect from Doomsday, he just said be careful. Yeah, thanks future guy, really helpful there.

**

In The Pale Moonlight

DVD, DS9 S6 (In The Pale Moonlight)

Never mind about Sisko, what was Garak's agenda here? He's remarkably willing to get involved in a plot that has Quadrant-wide ramifications. Is it because he's been stuck on DS9 for so long, unable to pull strings that he used to pull, that he's secretly filled with joy at the prospect of putting his skills back into action with the toughest assignment you can imagine? Does he delight at the thought of puppet-mastering the puppet-masters, or is it that he genuinely cares about the safety of the Alpha Quadrant? Siding another, powerful, race against the force that his own people are allied with may seem a traitorous act, but while Garak loves his homeland, he doesn't love those in charge. Is this the closest he ever got to revenge on Damar for the death of Ziyal - he's had the opportunity to carry out such revenge when the Cardassian leader came to the station in 'Statistical Probabilities' for the peace talks, and that was shortly after the deed was done, yet we'd heard remarkably little of Garak ever since the opening arc, and from the way Sisko turns up at his shop and we find the tailor actually tailoring, it makes me wonder if the experience of losing Ziyal made him retreat into his shell.

We hadn't seen him and Bashir having lunch, the friendly assistance he'd given the crew during their joint exile from the station didn't lead to him becoming more a part of the group once DS9 was recaptured. The Bashir side of things may have something to do with the Doctor's reveal as a genetically enhanced human, and I feel that his and Garak's friendship was never as deep as it had been before this. Rather than Garak being impressed with his protege's ability to deceive, it seems more like he was shocked, it never really being discussed in detail between the pair. Bashir spends a lot more time with O'Brien now (the Chief having much more free time with his family safely ensconced on Earth), so what does Garak have left now his two closest friends having essentially abandoned him (Bashir to O'Brien, Ziyal to death)? He always has his tailoring, and that keeps his fingers keen while he no doubt ruminates on revenge and all those other deep and tangled thoughts and plots that even living on DS9 for six years or so hasn't entirely dispelled.

So when Sisko comes to him with a proposition that could have such far-reaching ramifications, allowing him to affect not his small corner, but the greater part of the Alpha Quadrant, it must have seemed like a breath of fresh air. At last he can be useful again, he can flex his creative muscles, he can exercise the skills he has in waiting, and to a connoisseur this is honey to the taste. I've heard it suggested that this was his chance to take some kind of revenge on Sisko for blackmailing him to come to Cardassia way back in Season 3's 'Second Skin,' but while I don't find it hard to believe that Garak would harbour a grudge for years and eventually act on it when he had the opportunity to do so, I'm sure there were other times in the series he could have frustrated the Captain. Maybe revenge was part of his motivation, but Garak is the kind that has multiple motivations at once - he wants his people to be free from Dominion rule; he wants to use his abilities to help that; if he can show that Sisko's Federation platitudes are as easily broken as any other race, then he'll do that too. I don't even think he went out of his way to chop Sisko's conscience up, that's just a satisfying extra, and from Garak's point of view he was right to do whatever was necessary. As he says, it 'only' cost the lives of one Romulan senator, one criminal and Sisko's conscience… Even there he's forgetting that there must have been others on the Senator's ship that died along with him. But they don't count, apparently!

When Sisko said that he'd do anything in order to get the Romulans into the war, I don't think he really meant 'anything.' Anything within his moral outlook, maybe, even though he finds himself having to push the boundaries of that outlook, justifying to himself the results. But it's like Neelix in 'Fair Trade,' it may just be a lie to begin with, but that sets a course for destruction where each new development means further descent into the quagmire. But if Garak had asked if he would sacrifice his son for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant, I don't think Sisko would have honestly agreed. So he wasn't really prepared to do anything. His definition of anything was different to Garak's, however, and he should have known that the man would stop at nothing to achieve the goal. This is a man who tortured Odo, who tried to blast the Founders' planet to smithereens while on a diplomatic mission. But Sisko wasn't thinking. Only after it all plays out does he do the thinking, which is how we get to the framing device of the Captain's Log told to camera as if we're the computer he's talking to.

He says he couldn't even tell Dax about all this, but I have the feeling she'd have been more ruthless than Sisko. This is the woman who went off to kill The Albino in vengeance for the deaths of her Klingon blood-brothers' sons, after all. She might well have taken the position of the end justifying the means. But she's not a Captain. The conversation he does have with her in which she takes on the role (and vocal intonations, and haughty attitude!), of a Romulan rebutting his every attempt to get her to see why the race need to join the war against the Dominion, is priceless. A rare moment of levity amid a serious and heavy weight of burden for Sisko, and is wonderful to see that old friendship continuing, even though he ultimately feels he has to be alone. When he says she'd have made a decent Romulan I automatically wondered if there is such a thing! Until I thought back to the defector, Alidar Jarok, or the Unificationists, and so on. Racist? Not really when we know that Earth and Romulus would have their own war in our future and 'Star Trek's past!

I suppose the central question the episode poses is whether he was right to sacrifice his own convictions for 'the greater good.' Who's to say there wouldn't have been some other breakthrough (like the cure for McCoy's Father coming not long after he turned off the life support machine, as seen in 'Star Trek V'), something that turned things around for the Federation? But like the path to the Dark Side in 'Star Wars,' it's easier to do wrong, especially if you tell yourself it'll lead to right triumphing in the end. And yet at the same time, if Garak hadn't carried out his devious plot, the might of the Romulan Empire (lessened by the Tal Shiar fleet's destruction in the attack on the Founders' homeworld), could have ended up with the Dominion. The Romulans have always been ones to sit things out and pick up the pieces to their greatest advantage. Eventually even they must have realised that unless they rose against the invaders from the Gamma Quadrant, servitude under the greater power was inevitable. But the Romulans have also been arrogant, convinced of their superiority. Isolationism has also been a comfortable state for them, and perhaps they thought it could be again. For their greatest enemies the Federation and Klingon Empire to be in dire straits was only good to them, so it's no surprise when Senator Vreenak finally shows up for Sisko's secret meeting (sanctioned by Starfleet, don't forget!), that he proves to be the most condescending man imaginable, his sharp face and words poking into all of Sisko's pudgy Starfleet values and attitudes (even after sharing a bottle of kali-fal - was this the name of a new drink or, as it appeared from the blueness, a specific brand or type of the infamous Romulan Ale? "Hang on, this isn't Romulan Ale… It's a faaaaaaake!").

Sisko isn't himself in this episode. I'm not saying that to excuse him from the decisions he made, but once he finds himself in this grey area, in which to succeed he has to edge out those solid, concrete morals and tiptoe around. He doesn't have his usual forcefulness, his ground is not firm and secure. He's a bit wooly, almost stuttering now and again, even going as far as misspeaking a word a couple of times (at the end of his talk with Dax in his office was the most memorable one), seen by his interactions with Quark, for example, where his moral surety weakens character. To see him in the power of the Ferengi is a bitter pill, but it could be seen as payback for all the times Quark's been blackmailed by the Captain. Why, in the pilot episode he made a plea bargain in order to keep the Ferengi and his bar on the station! Quark doesn't take as much advantage as you might expect, getting his enjoyment of the Captain's 'price' as much as his payment, and wisely not digging any deeper. It confirms his Ferengi beliefs, so that's almost enough for him! But Sisko does stand firm sometimes, though it feels more like a mask displaying his normal position, than true authority. He orders Bashir to get the biomimetic gel over the Doctor's justified protest. Could he not have simply overruled the Captain, using his rank as CMO? Sisko put his force into action there, but did it less forcefully when dealing with Odo, explaining he wanted the incident where Grathon Tolar stabbed Quark to be kept quiet. Odo accepts this as being part of whatever Sisko's doing, but points out that if Quark presses charges it will become a matter of justice and he will have to make a record of the incident. The rule of law stands and Odo will uphold it, but what would it have been like if Sisko had had to prevent Odo from doing that?

So Sisko comes up against all the different branches, the structure that keep the station running smoothly and securely: he sidesteps Odo's justice barrier by bribing Quark, he overrules Bashir's concerns about the gel when technically the Doctor could have refused. There aren't many more rules and barriers for his resolve to break, but even at this stage he'd never consider murder, I'm sure, as evidenced by his fury towards Garak at the end. I think this rage is as much against himself as his partner in crime, because he knows that somewhere in him he had an inkling that Garak would stop at nothing. It costs Garak, too. He loses all his contacts on Cardassia (except Mila, of course, but he wouldn't have got her involved in this sort of thing if he could help it), and what could have been a 'Mission: Impossible' raid on Cardassian Intelligence to secure information on a likely plot against the Romulans, is instantly transformed into a deep deception. Garak works alone, only he knows that his ultimate plan, the backup, as he tells Sisko afterwards, is the death of the pro-Dominion Senator. It's fascinating to see the progression of secret intelligence workings that have come to the fore in recent episodes.

It begins with 'Honour Among Thieves' in which O'Brien is inexplicably working for Starfleet Intelligence, then 'Change of Heart' in which Dax and Worf are on a mission for same, then Section 31 makes its presence known in 'Inquisition,' and the very next episode is this one in which secret tactics are the name of the game. It's like the war is being lost, so the outward heroic resistance has become a mere shell for the real war effort: to manipulate in a way that even the Romulans would be impressed by. As if the Federation and humans are righteous and upstanding to a point, and because they have this reputation for all the good attributes, their capacity for deception and undercover operations is underestimated. I can see where it comes from, too: it's a scary thought that Federation shipyards are being rebuilt, while Dominion ones operate at a hundred percent, and with a manpower shortage for the Federation, while the Dominion breed hordes of Jem'Hadar, the future's bleak. And Starfleet black ops are nothing new. Back in 'Chain of Command' we saw Picard and a team taking hands-on action of this kind, so it makes sense that in wartime these approaches would also be used to the full. It's just that in this particular case it's at the expense of morality. It was Sisko Section 31 should have been recruiting!

The other time Sisko's firm and shows his teeth is at an odd point in the episode. Once the holographic forgery is completed, written onto the data rod, you know, the one that can't be rewritten, the forger, Grathon Tolar, is shoved up against a wall and threatened by none other than Sisko, who makes it clear in no uncertain terms that this had better work. Like Darth Vader he alters the deal, pray he doesn't alter it further! But it was too late to threaten Tolar, there was nothing further he could do once it was written to the rod, so why explode like that? Partly to cow the alien, and partly I think he was letting off steam, anger at himself had to come out as we've seen so often before. When his Hulk rage is directed to the right place it can be a formidable tool, but when against himself it can explode in any direction. The use of an alien in Garak and Sisko's plans made for a further element to unbalance the Captain. He doesn't know much about him except he's bad news, and to get this man off a Klingon death sentence he has to grovel to Gowron. There were two things missing from this episode I'd like to have seen. One was Tolar stabbing Quark and the ensuing kerfuffle, and the other was Sisko's conversation with the Klingon Chancellor. What bargain did he make, what story did he spin, or was it as simple as claiming a favour after he and his officers uncovered the Changeling in Gowron's midst back in 'Apocalypse Rising'? It would have been an ideal time to put Sisko in debt to the Klingon, someone that might one day claim his assistance (that would have added even more trouble for Sisko in Gowron's last days on the series if he'd had to stand up for him!).

One thing I noticed, and it's something I do sometimes think about, but usually I just go with, is the pinkness of alien tongues and mouths. It's not a problem, it's just a minor thing, but we get closeups of the blue-skinned Tolar, the grey-skinned Garak and the orange-skinned Quark, and the fact that their mouths are so pink does take away a little from the greatness of the makeup design. It's just a little something that stood out around the eyes and mouth, and something I wonder if it would ever be fixed in future releases? I kind of hope not because it's these little imperceptible things that add up to the essence of the series, and as good as updating can be, somehow the authenticity of the original is important, so whether you change the music, the effects or tiny details, you're altering a historical document. Perhaps for the better, but for the nostalgic among us, I don't know how we'd feel if we could never see the original version again. Although this episode is about details of galactic proportions there are still little things to take in. There are the spoken links to other series' and characters (Proconsul Neral is mentioned, still in position since 'TNG,' and would actually make an appearance the following season; Joseph Sisko's words are recalled; Dabo girl M'Pella is named, I believe for the first time); biomimetic gel makes a comeback (always a good standby for illegal practices, especially due to it's mysteriousness - could it be used to make clones, biological weapons, or worse?); Orion Slave Girls are brought up by Tolar; and the Federation worlds Alpha Centauri, Andor, Tellar, Vulcan and Betazed are all mentioned. With Betazed falling, perhaps the Chief's family aren't as safe on Earth as he thought? That's something that could have been explored for the Chief's character.

The big thing for me, though, is the best view of a Runabout hangar that we ever saw, and short of actually going in on a character level, it was the best we were going to get. We see the Runabout in an alcove behind, perhaps some sort of maintenance area, and the camera is right in the location for the arrival of the new Romulan Scout ship. There was an inconsistency between that shot and the actual set aboard the station: in the model we see a long arm extending towards what appears to be a hatch on the ship, which in relation to the side of the hangar is a fair way away, yet when the Senator comes aboard we see down through the docking airlock to Romulan signage which must be the ship he's coming from, yet it's much closer in relation to the set than in the model shot. It's a bit of a nitpick, but something I noticed, nonetheless. I like that Worf grimaces at Garak as he walks past, breezily greeting the Klingon. After their encounter at the end of Season 4 when Worf found himself fighting the Cardassian in the bowels of the Defiant as he tried to lay waste to the Founders (a time when it might have been better for Garak to have succeeded, just as it might have been better if he had killed Dukat during their battle with the Klingons in 'The Way of The Warrior,' exactly the kind of moral dilemma that this episode is dealing with, except in this case Garak does succeed), he never had a civil word for him. And even when Garak was becoming cuddly and safe as a valued member of the Starfleet team in the opening six-parter, Worf was off with the Klingons and never had that experience.

This time it's Sisko that gives Garak a well-deserved thumping, in the best scene of the episode. He storms down to the tailor's shop and knocks him across a table. Could Garak have held his own in a fight with Sisko, as he almost did in the fight with Worf? Possibly, but it wouldn't be in his interests to strike the Captain of the station on which he's sequestered for the foreseeable future - there isn't anywhere else for him to go so he has to stay in Sisko's good graces to an extent. At the same time Sisko may be even more dangerous than Worf when he's in full rage mode, like a whirlwind of fury. Garak would fight dirty and without hesitation, but he prefers, if he can, to fight with words, physical violence being almost distasteful. And he has the advantage of his words being true: if Sisko really looks at himself he knows that Garak was capable of almost anything, and yet he solicited his help. What did he expect? Still, it's a wrench to stop himself from giving Garak a proper beating, he has to physically tear himself away. Does Garak ever get punished for his actions? I think he gets away with it, and so does Sisko, as one of 'the good guys' who's victorious in his goal. The Romulans do enter the war on the right side, their plan was a success, it just wasn't the plan Sisko thought it was. 'Inquisition' had ended with the very question of whether they could sacrifice their morals to ensure the survival of the Federation, and here, in the very next episode, as if that had been a setup, we learn the answer. And it isn't the one we thought it would be. I love that the ending is a tribute to 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,' in the end the 'fallen hero' taking the difficult choice so that others can live in safety. Someone should compile a list of all the film and TV influences the writers have admitted to and draw up a viewing plan to compliment this series!

Fake Weyouns have become a running theme this season, and here we get another to add to the list, this time part of the forged holographic meeting in which he supposedly discusses a plan to attack Romulus with Damar and others. Is Weyoun the most faked character in Trek? His record would take some beating (this is the third holographic recreation of him, alone!), and it almost makes you wonder (if you didn't know), whether the real, genuine Vorta would ever appear again, though real and genuine aren't words usually associated with the slimy Dominion rep. I must say I did like the three-dimensional Cardassian symbol that appears in midair at the end of the program, reminding us that this is a recording, so anything could appear. Something else that has nearly become a running gag, is people being woken up in the middle of the night. Kira did it to Dax and Worf in 'Change of Heart,' and in this she does it to Sisko (who notes that bad news often seems to come in the night), while Bashir was woken after only an hour of sleep in 'Inquisition,' though not by Kira. Probably doesn't mean anything, but it's funny to see the similarities in events that often happen. The very framing device of this episode seems fresh and new, but even that had been used before in modified form: in 'Whispers' O'Brien talks to the computer, recording a log reciting in flashback the strange events he's found himself in, so there may be an influence there, and even talking directly to the camera had been used effectively in 'Rules of Engagement.' That's not to take away from the qualities of this episode, but the best episode of the series?

That's a difficult question (almost as grey as the choices Sisko makes), but a pertinent one as this is often cited as the best. I wouldn't say that. As shocking as it is to see a main character (a Captain!), making the wrong choice ("We always have a choice, son," Jonathan Kent used to say on 'Smallville'), and in a way that made such surprising things happen to take him to the depths of morality, it's a pretty downbeat story for a usually positive series. Though it's often accused of going against the positive feeling of the greater franchise, 'DS9' is more often than not something in which heroes do heroics and villains get their comeuppance. From the way Sisko tells himself he can live with the consequences, there's some ambiguity over whether he's lying to himself, or trying to convince himself, or believes what he says - I think he can live with it, but it's a weight on his mind. Maybe he never shows the weight of this again, but it could have been one of the reasons he loses all faith and heads home to Earth at the end of the season, just one more burden he has to carry. Does the end justify the means? No, I don't think murder is justified, even to improve the chances of surviving a war, but at the same time it shows that even the squeaky-clean Federation, when their backs are to the wall, will do what they need to do to survive. In 'TNG' I can imagine Picard allowing his ship and crew to be destroyed to save others, but things aren't as clear-cut by the time of the films. 'DS9' probably helped to add some reality into the mix, and with episodes like this it provokes thought and leaves warnings without wholeheartedly coming down on Sisko and Garak's heads like divine judgement. So it is a great episode, conundrum, and certainly one of the best, but not among my absolute total favourites.

*****