#like Sisko when he recruited garak to do his dirty work!

[firelord-frowny]

my sexuality is Garak's deranged and tortured monologue in the episode "The Wire" in Deep Space 9 where he tells the story of being exiled from Cardassia for releasing Bajoran hostages <3 <3 <3

[weerd1]

Star Trek DS9 Rewatch Log, Stardate 1909.28: Missions Reviewed, “Extreme Measures,” “The Dogs of War,” and “What You Leave Behind.”

(Note: as we are in the last nine episodes which run as a continuous storyline, these three will be summarized together.)

Kira and Garak return an ailing Odo to DS9, and his condition is far worse than Bashir expected. Odo asks Kira to return to Damar so she doesn’t have to watch him die, and so Kira’s grief won’t be the last thing he sees. Bashir and O’Brien reveal their plan to Sisko who though angry, gives his approval. They also reveal they have Romulan mind-probes to use if the Seciton 31 agent does not want to be helpful. Soon enough, Sloan himself arrives, and Bashir springs his trap. Realizing he’s cornered, Sloan triggers a suicide device.

 Bashir stabilizes him, but they have about an hour before he dies. Bashir re-rigs the Romulan probes to create a mind meld, and he and O’Brien go into Sloan’s brain to find the material. At first there is little resistance, but the longer they stay the worse it gets until they are shot by a “guard.” They realize that must symbolize where the information is. Trying to enter, they find themselves awakened by Sisko, who puts and end to it. In his quarters, Bashir tries to read, but the book just starts over again right where he left off, and he realizes they are still in Sloan’s brain; Sloan can’t replicate what Julian has not read yet. He gathers O’Brien and returns to “the room,” finding Sloan inside surrounded by documents. O’Brien finds the cure for Odo, but Bashir does not want to leave given all the other information. 

O’Brien talks him out, and they wake up, really this time, as Sloan dies. Bashir replicates the cure and saves Odo. Starfleet however does not want to share the cure with the Founders, and Sisko follows those orders, asking Odo not to do it either. Odo mentions how the Federation wrings their hands about a Section 31, but they still allow them to do the dirty work, and accept that work. On Cardassia, Damar’s resistance cell is in trouble when betrayed by one of the officers he tries to recruit. Soon, it is just Damar, Garak, and Kira hiding in the basement of Garak’s childhood home, tended to by Mila, the servant to Garak’s father Enebran Tain, and likely Garak’s mother.  The ailing Founder decides to pull Dominion forces back into Cardassian space, solidifying their position, and allowing them time to build more ships and Jem’Hadar and extend the war. The Federation Alliance decides not to let this happen, and prepare to invade Cardassia. Kai Winn takes Dukat, whose sight is restored, back in, and the two plan to take the book of Kosst Amojan to the Fire Caves to release the Pah-Wraiths. Quark gets a message from the Grand Nagus that he’s going to be made the next Nagus, and begins to plan. Brunt shows up, ready to suck up, and tells Quark about the various reforms Zek has made, like taxes and wage guarantees and free healthcare. 

Quark vows to return Ferenginar to it’s corrupt, greedy glory. Ezri and Bashir begin to talk about whether or not they should pursue a relationship. Initially they decide not to ruin their friendship, but soon they are making out in a turbo lift. The Nagus arrives, and reveals that he thought he was talking to someone else when he named Quark Nagus…Rom. Rom becomes the Grand Nagus and Quark vows that HIS bar will always be the greedy and corrupt tribute to what Ferenginar should be. Dukat and Winn find the right place in the caves, and reading the right spell, they burst into flame. They await the moment. O’Brien makes the decision that he will return to Earth after the war and take a teaching position at the Academy. Kasidy reveals to Ben that she is pregnant.

The invasion of Cardassia begins. On the planet, Damar reveals he is alive, and the people begin to rise up against the Dominion in the name of Damar. In response, the female Founder orders a city destroyed. She promises every act of betrayal by Cardassians will result in another razed city. Jem’Hadar forces find and capture Darmar, Kira, and Garak.

 They are about to be executed. The Alliance fleet enters Dominion space and the fight is on.  Things are not going well for them. Winn on Bajor proposes that Dukat drink with her to celebrate, but he realizes too late that she has poisoned him and his death is the sacrifice that brings forth Kosst Amojan. Just as the Jem’Hadar are going to gun down Damar and crew, the Cardassian guards turn on the Jem’Hadar, and declare their allegiance to Damar. They prepare to raid the headquarters. In space, the Cardassian fleet turns its guns on the Breen and Jem’Hadar, turning the tide. The Alliance fleet pursues the Dominion to Cardassian orbit. There are thousands of ships and orbital emplacements there. The fight is not over but becomes a stand off. 

 Given the Cardassian change of sides, the Founder orders the elimination of all Cardassians on the planet. The world begins to burn. The rebels hit the HQ, but Damar is killed in the process. Kira and Garak make it into the control room, and Garak kills the last Weyoun.

 The Founder refuses to call off the attacks on Cardassia or surrender the fleet, telling them they will have to fight to the last Dominion soldier. Odo beams down from the Defiant, linking with the Founder, curing her in the process. In the seconds they are bound together, he negotiates a treaty between Dominion and the Alpha Quadrant. The war comes to an end. The alliance beams down to find the Dominion has killed 800 million Cardassians. Odo reveals the Founder will stay and face war crimes trials, but he will go back to the Great Link and cure his people, teaching them about the Solids. Kira asks when he will come back. He reveals he won’t.

On DS9, everyone gathers in Vic Fontaine’s lounge, realizing it is likely the last time they will all be together. Worf takes the position as Federation ambassador to the Klingons. Garak has stayed behind to rebuild Cardassia. O’Brien gets ready to leave to Earth. On Bajor, Kosst Amojan returns, but rather than come into the Kai, he reanimates Dukat, restoring him to his Cardassian form.

 Sisko senses it from the station, and goes there. Dukat/Amojan disintegrates Winn as she tries to stop him, distracting him enough Sisko can tackle him, and taking the book, knock Dukat, himself, and sacred evil text into the flames. Sisko is suddenly in the Celestial temple.  Sarah/Prophet is there and tells him that he has fulfilled his duty, Dukat will forever be imprisoned with the Pah-Wraiths on Bajor. But Ben’s corporeal form has been destroyed. He is now to stay in the temple and learn, so he may one day return to Bajor as Emissary. He reaches out and brings Kasidy into the temple, telling her what has happened, but telling her to make sure everyone knows Benjamin Sisko, The Emissary, promises to return.

Kira takes Odo back to the Great Link, where he changes his appearance to look as if he is in a tuxedo one more time and bids her farewell. He steps into the dying link, and it begins to heal around him, but he can no longer be differentiated from his people. 

Kira returns to DS9 where she has assumed command of the station. She finds Quark has started a betting pool on who will be the next Kai, which she immediately shuts down. Quark realizes he’s going to have to stay crafty to keep ahead of the new station commander. “The more things change the more they stay the same,” he says. Kira sees Jake Sisko, standing on the upper level of the Promenade, where he and Nog (Kira’s new Ops officer) used to look down on the others. Now he’s looking out, toward the wormhole, knowing his father is in the Celestial Temple. She joins him there, and the two look out as we pull away. Deep Space Nine, formally Terok Nor, hangs in space at the mouth of the wormhole, and as it has for the last seven season…it waits.

I’m not sure how you mourn a show that ended two decades ago, that you know is on Netflix, or that I know I have upstairs on DVD. It’s a show I can revisit anytime I want to in any amount, and dammit, I am sad it is over.  I want more, I would watch all of these people carry on tomorrow if I could. We’ve lost some of them, but dear lord how this all ends, enough to satisfy, but I would return to Bajor in a heartbeat if they announced it.

There are some things here I might have done differently. I still think Kira should have killed Dukat rather than Sisko, and with all the talk of the Alamo, it seems like the final battle of the show should have happened at DS9, surrounded by insurmountable numbers of Dominion ships, but perhaps that would have been too much like the battle that opened Season 6. The culmination of the Damar storyline, from “Cardassian Bridge Officer” to Dominion toady, to hero of Cardassia is so pitch perfect as to need the climax on his world. The fleet battle so ridiculously epic to this day, despite 20 years old effects, you need it to be where it is so you can cheer when the Cardassians turn, and be horrified when the Dominion turns its guns on Cardassia…formerly the villains. What a change from the first episode, and what a journey.

What a journey for the Ferengi as well, as Rom goes from “Pit boss” to Quark’s brother to engineer to Nagus.  Or Nog as he goes from child thief, to Cadet, to DS9’s operations Lieutenant. Garak, as the plain, simple, tailor with a mysterious past to the defacto ruler of a smoldering Cardassia.  As great as all the main character arcs where, those supporting characters are what really makes DS9 great. Brunt, Weyoun, Martok, Sloan, Cretak, Winn, Bareil, the list goes on. A couple of particular things I took away from the finale, the final battle between Sisko, Dukat, and Winn struck me this time as a nearly beat for beat homage to the final scene of the Classic Series’ second pilot “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” where Kirk has to face his friend Gary Mitchell who has developed god-like power along with ship’s psychologist, Dr. Elizabeth Dehner. The dynamic where Dehner realizes she’s wrong as she watches Gary force Kirk to bow to him as a God is remarkably similar to Winn watching Dukat do the same to Sisko.  More on that in a minute. Another character note I love, and something I missed 20 years ago, Worf becomes Ambassador to the Klingons…the same position once held by Curzon Dax. What a fascinating extension of his relationship to Dax, even as Dax’s current host Ezri has chosen Bashir.

Kira Nerys: Former freedom fighter, who may have delved into terrorist one time too many. Woman of faith, surrounded by a scientific world. Woman who owns her sexuality and her femininity, and is perfectly happy to kick your ass when you need it. A woman we watch grow from ready to kill every Cardassian she sees to co-liberator of their world. Who loved and lost a Changeling, but whose love will set the stage to bridge Odo’s people with the Solids.  Who served next to her Emissary, and stands now in his place waiting for his return. Rewatching DS9 absolutely reinforced my feelings that Kira Nerys is Star Trek’s best character.

Hindsight allows me to see what DS9 foreshadowed in television as well. Complex characters in morally ambiguous situations; long story arcs dependent on you seeing each chapter, and each episode leading into the next; women as leaders and peers who are not marginalized by the story; a brown man who is presented as a good father AND as the Messiah: Deep Space Nine is not just progressive for its time, it helped define what television would become. It’s continuity replicated in a thousand binge-worthy streams on Netflix like “Stranger Things.” Representation for women on shows like “Jessica Jones,” or “Game of Thrones” or of course “Star Trek: Discovery.” Though honestly, we have perhaps not learned enough from DS9, as there has never been another character quite like Benjamin Sisko, and all he represents. We can still learn from that; as I have said many times in this rundown, “Star Trek is always relevant.”

So now it is over, and I find that yes, DS9 holds up pretty well 20 years later. It’s still ahead of its time in some ways, and in those things that aren’t, serves as a roadmap of where we have been, demonstrating why we needed to move beyond such tropes. But in questions of faith, what it means to be human, and how one doesn’t have to be perfect to be better, nothing quite examines the human condition like DS9 does; and that’s why, hands down, at least for now, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is the very best Star Trek has to offer.

NEXT VOYAGE: After  173 episodes, 124 pages, and 71,819 words about DS9, how is there a Next Voyage? Join me one more time for my review of “What We Left Behind,” this year’s DS9 documentary. But let’s face facts: I will never be done talking about DS9.