The Die Is Cast

Only now, I have a real issue with Sisko disobeying a lawful order! It never bothered me before but now that I'm older and have actually been in command...this episode now rubs me wrong. I like Sisko's energy and compassion for "his" people but the prospect of his entire crew receiving a court-martial because of his action to save one of his crew; well, this doesn't sit well with me, no matter how I try to suspend my beliefs.

The torture of Odo is another issue for me now. Garak should never be received back onto DS9. No redemption for him!

Andrew Robinson is amazing. I'm not going to give spoilers but everything about the episode was fantastic especially the scene with Odo and Garak.

Garak and Odo are cloaked in mystery. Garak did something of which we have little or no knowledge. Those actions are at the center of this episode. The first half ended with his joining forces with an evil man with whom he once had an alliance and to whom he owed a huge favor. He must save face and is forced into torturing Odo. I thought for a moment, he was in spy mode, but his allegiance to Tain turns out to be genuine. The writing here is excellent as is the non-stop action. There are some interesting twists and turns along the way. We have a confrontation among the three most powerful evil forces in the known galaxy.

Garak and Tain continue their mission into the Gamma Quadrant.

This is a very strong finish to a two-parter that mixes action with great character development.

There is little I can say about the plot without spoiling, however it is safe to say that characters like Garak, Odo, Tain, and Lovok have the most compelling scenes. Odo and Garak in particular are developed superbly and have a number of intense scenes together. The writing is quite clever and does not spell out exactly why certain characters behave in a certain way, but you can read between the lines about their motivations.

It links back cleverly to some of the early character exchanges between Garak and Dr Bashir in the previous episode as they discussed subjects like 'Julius Ceasar' and 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf'. Humorously linked to that is an amusing lighthearted scene between Bashir and Chief O'Brien.

It is an important episode in the overarching narrative of DS9 as it shifts the focus on to the Dominion as primary antagonist, but it also leaves a certain level of uncertainty about the strategic alliances that might be formed by other antagonists like the Romans and Cardassians.

The whole DS9 crew get to contribute to the plot in a good way and all the actors do great work. The standouts easily though are Andrew Robinson, Rene Auberjonois and Paul Dooley.

Visually it is one of the best Star Trek episodes for spectacle. The space battles are good, the make-up effects are wonderful, as are the pyrotechnics. It think my favourite part is when one character wipes a mirror to reveal another perfectly framed in its reflection.