Battle Lines

The Bajoran holy woman, Kai Opaka, unexpectedly shows up on Deep Space 9. Even more unexpectedly, she longs to be taken through the wormhole. However, after the runabout with Sisko, Kira, Dr. Bashir and Kai Opaka nears a moon, the planet's defense systems knocks down their craft and the Kai is killed. Once on the surface of this moon, they find a hellish and stupid group who are CONSTANTLY at war with their enemies. Now here's the rub...soon Kai Opaka comes back to life and Dr. Bashir realizes that their's some artificial organism that deliberately keeps everyone on the moon alive forever...and this war seems to be going on forever because these folks are stupid idiots. What's next?

This episode actually seems very similar to an episode from the old "Star Trek", "Day of the Dove"--except that "Battle Lines" is much better and doesn't suffer from a silly and unrealistic ending. Well worth seeing.

Best part, recognizing Jonathan Banks voice! Typical DS9... crazy aliens, awkward silences, bio mechanical control and gritty sets.

Appreciated insight into Kira's character, in an episode that gave everyone something important to do. Impressed by the handling of philosophy and the additional world building for the gamma quadrant.

Oof. Talk about a return to rubbish form after the previous episode's highlight. This week's episode was Battle Lines. Absolute snooze of a plot. A cool sci-fi concept of a prison planet keeping its prisoners alive indefinitely completely wasted. Really basic on-the-nose writing - at one point Bashir hits you over the head with a literal 'we appear to have a moral dilemma'.

Some vaguely mystical nonsense that doesn't get explored with the bajor spirit queen had potential, but just resulted in kira being an absolute sap for the whole episode.

Why are all these gamma quadrant aliens just boring humans?

Bad.

The Kai is an interesting figure. I've always admired figures who risk their personal safety for a cause that is big. If one can take the religion out of it. I think of people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The Kai has a sort of sixth sense and demands to be taken on a rescue mission, only to be submerged in a civil war among a culture that can be regenerated after death by microbes. Soon, the Commander, Kira, and Doctor find themselves trying to negotiate a settlement in an age old war. This is old stuff in the Star Trek world, but at least the results aren't so Kirkish.