Deep Space Nine Season Five Reviews - Part II

12) Blaze of Glory - Sisko and Eddington must put aside their differences to prevent a Marquis missile attack on Cardassia what may kill millions. A surprisingly dull episode. The great chemistry between Eddington and Sikso in For the Uniform is gone. Here the characters are just one-note johnnies. Eddington is the sarcastic super-smart trickster; and Sisko the bland Good Guy. Without the driving force of revenge Avery Brooks has nothing to get a hold of. DS9 pairings of characters who dislike each other can be great - CF: Dukat & Kira or Odo & Quark. But this pairing just doesn’t work. Has the following additional problems:

• The story is overly familiar and lacked suspense
• It’s a familiar TV trope. Recruit a criminal to help the police, with the heel turning hero.
• Nog subplot
• The Marquis aren’t a credible threat, since The Federation could wipe them out in a weekend.
• If “cloaked missiles” are such unstoppable weapons, why doesn’t everyone use them?\
Rating **

13)  Ties of Blood and Water- A terminally ill Ghemor (Kira’s Cardassian father figure) comes to DS9, rekindling Kira's memories of her dead father. This is a solid – well acted - but predictable episode. Dukat and the Dominion ambassador’s exchanges with Sisko were the highlight. Negatives? Kira comes off as self-righteous and prissy. She commits terrorism? She has her reasons. A Cardassian kills innocents? That’s intolerable! Rating **1/2

14) Soldiers of the Empire General Martok with Work and Dax search for a missing Klingon vessel possibly destroyed by the Dominion. Overly familiar if well executed Klingon episode. Dax-Wolf and Martok have good chemistry and the Klingon’s are always fun. A stirring ending. Negatives? I could have done without the Klingon chick. Rating **1/2

15) Things Past – Plot: Odo, Sisko, Dax, and Garak are transported back 7 years to Terok Nor and mistaken for Bajorians. This was an excellent episode if you can overlook the unconvincing technobabble as to how it happened. Excellent acting by everyone involved, especially Odo. Rating ***

16) The Ascent Quark & Odo crash-land on a frigid planet and must work together to get rescued. Another bad Jake subplot keeps this from being 4 stars. The by-play between Quark and Odo has been the highlight of the series, and having them together for 45 minutes was a real pleasure. When the insults start to get tiresome, Quark and Odo revel a more serious side to their relationship. Rating ***

17) Apocalypse Rising Sisko (and the gang) go to the Klingon homeworld to expose Gowron as a shape-shifter. Exciting, plot-driven spy mission with everyone pretending to a Klingon. Not much sophistication, but plenty of action. Rating ***

18) For the Uniform Sisko’s determination to capture traitorous Marquis Eddington turns into a personal vendetta. This is one of Avery Brooks better outings as an actor. He’s good at being a badass and his anger at Eddington seems quite real. The guest star is excellent too. Sarcastic and superior. Just the kind of foe Sisko needs. Rating ***

19) Children of Time The Defiant crew beams down to a planet and discovers a colony of survivors who are the crew's descendants and that the crew might be trapped two centuries in the past. Well acted and well written. Thoughtful in spots. I’ve never bought the Odo love for Kira, and the actress Nana Visitor is a little too butch and charmless at times but still there’s some excellent Odo-Kira interaction. rating ***1/2

20)  Emperor Nok - Garak and O'Brien’s salvage operations on an abandoned Cardassian station, goes wrong when two determined predators make an appearance. Solid, entertaining action episode. Lots of atmosphere and plot, not much believability or drama. The only downside was the prescience of “Nog”. Rating **1/2