Overall Rating: 8.9
Boldy, Deep Space Nine steps up the jeopardy by formally introducing us to the races that will become our mortal enemies in the seasons to come. And what an introduction it is! An in episode that begins with bombastic humor and clever dialog and ends with a shocking twist that still leaves many traditional left-leaning Trek fans uncomfortable, we are sent hurtling into the future of the franchise and left eagerly anticipating the third season.
Plot Synopsis:
Eager to spend some quality time with his son, Sisko encourages Jake to do something creative and adventurous for his science project. Jake wants to learn to pilot a runabout, but he'll settle for a planetary survey of an uninhabited world in the Gamma Quadrant. Sisko beams with pride and looks forward to a little father/son working and camping vacation. Jake has other ideas. It seems his friend Nog - seriously in danger of failing science this year - is looking for an idea for his project and Jake wants to bring him along. Things get even more bizarre when Quark decides to use the trip as an excuse to spend some time with Sisko and try to convince hi to allow a little harmless Ferengi advertising on the station's computer access terminals. The inglorious foursome head off for the remote location with Sisko desperately trying to remember why he'd been so excited about this idea in the first place.
Once they've arrived, they spend a nice day together with Quark whining like a little girl the whole way...the bugs, the heat, the lack of interesting food, and Sisko's unwillingness to allow his advertising scheme leave him in a foul mood indeed. Nog and Jake, for their parts, do good work, making Sisko proud, and Jake and his father do share some quality time aroud the fire that night. Their good time is interrupted, however, when a stranger comes upon their camp site. She urges them to run - the Jem'Hadar are coming! It's too late, however, as some very intimidating looking soldiers appear out of thin air and surround Quark, Sisko and the strange woman (Nog and Jake are fortunately not at the camp site when this attack goes down) and the three are thrown in a lethal containment field while the Jem'Hadar soldiers supposedly await orders from the "Founders"...a legendary group who, it is told among members of the Dominion, created the alliance some ten thousand years ago.
While Quark makes a gigantic ass of himself screaming for attention, Sisko talks to the woman. Her teleconnectic powers, she claims, are controlled by a collar with a sophisticated locking system wrapped around her neck. She tells the story of how her people were forced to join the Dominion - their abilities were of interest to the Founders and the Jem'Hadar were sent to attack their world when they refused membership. Quark, after enough time spent yelling, attracts the attention of the Jem'Hadar guards and Sisko demands to know why they are being held. The Jem'Hadar claims not to know the details. He knows only that he is to hold them for questioning by the Vorta.
Meanwhile, Jake and Nog, having escaped capture by their own good fortune, realize their elders have been taken (Jake doing a little clever scouting notes that they appear to have been dragged away from the camp site), and beam back to the runabout to get help. Once there, however, they realize that the controls are locked out and will only respond to commands from Sisko. In order to get around this, they must deactivate the autopilot subroutine. Jake, putting his time with Chief O'Brien to good use, eventually figures out how to do this (although he nearly blows the runabout to hell at one point - to great comedic affect). Of course, without the autopilot, they can't plot a course and have the ship fly on its own! Making things a little scarier, a ship of some kind takes off from the planet and flies directly overhead, briefly obtaining a weapons lock on the shuttle before warping away. Jake decides he has no choice but to try to fly the shuttle himself. He struggles mightily to fly the thing even at impulse speeds and dares not even attempt to go to warp lest he fly through a star or something.
Back on the station, a Jem'Hadar figter arrives through the wormhole and a Jem'Hadar soldier (the same one Sisko has just been talking to - named Talak'talan) beams to Ops without any warning. Their containment field is worthless as he steps right through the barrier and presents Kira with a list of colonies and vessels destroyed by the Dominion for tresspassing on their turf. One of the targets was New Bajor and thousands of Bajorans have been killed or taken prisoner. Though the Jem'Hadar "consoles" her by saying she should be proud as he's told they faught well. Star Fleet's response is to send a Galaxy class starship of equal strength and compliment to the Enterprise D (The Odyssey) and every runabout they can muster into the Gamma Quadrant to demand the release of Commander Sisko and "show the flag." On their way to Sisko's last known location, they find Jake and Nog in the runabout and Chief O'Brien takes command of that ship.
On the planet, Sisko orders Quark to fight his way through the woman's (who is calling herself Eris) locking collar and after some effort, he breaks through. She uses her powers to bring down the containment field and they make their escape all too easily from the Jem'Hadar encampment. They break for the forest and are chased by Jem'Hadar as they try to locate Nog and Jake and beam back to their runabout.
Meanwhile, three Jem'Hadar fighters engage the Odyssey in a pitched battle with two of the three runabouts laying down cover fire. O'Brien breaks formation and races to the planet to locate and rescue Sisko and Quark, which he does successfully. The battle is quite brutal - Jem'Hadar weapons seem to cut right through Federation shield technology. Informed that Sisko has been retrieved, the Odyssey and the runabouts begin their retreat, but one of the Jem'Hadar ships suddenly plots an intercept course and Kamakazi's them, needlessly killing over a thousand people in cold blood! Everyone in the runabouts is completely stunned. The message has been sent - the Dominion will not respond to the Federation's typical diplomatic tactics. They are zealots of the worst kind.
Back on the station, as they arrive in Ops, Quark insists on speaking with Sisko. He has been studying the locking mechanism Eris was supposedly controlled by and what has he learned? Low and behold...it was just a complicated lock. She could have used her teleconnectic powers at any time! Sisko confronts Eris with the evidence and she congratulates him on his ingenuity before beaming away (we have no idea where). Not only are their warriors brutal zealots, their leaders are cagey and dangerous and they may already be infiltrating the governments of every major power in the Alpha Quadrant.
Writing: 9.0
Between the hilarious antics of Nog and Quark (and at least one very incisive jab Quark takes at human history which wins "ouch" points with me, at least), and the rising action that typifies an end-of-season DS9 episode and leaves us wanting more, The Jem'Hadar accomplishes everything you would hope for in a semi-cliffhanger. We are entertained for an hour, we see characters skillfully portrayed in extreme situations, and we introduce a new uber-baddy that will expand the scope of this heretofar sleepy (but very strong) franchise to a whole new panorama. Speaking as someone who prefers large stakes and "big" stories, this will forever separate DS9 from every other incarnation of Star Trek and it all begins here.
Acting: 8.8
Allan Oppenheimer (Captain Keogh of the Odyssey) and Molly Hagan (Eris) annoyed me for different reasons. Eris was way WAY too flat...she didn't sell her character at all...in Jem'Hadar captivity, you should be something other than ridiculously serene...even though we find out later that she's a sleeper agent and was never in any real danger, she needs to do a better acting job than she does. Keogh represents the arrogance of Star Fleet Command, so I suppose his strident performance here isn't that surprising, but it still annoys me. The rest of the cast is brilliant in this episode - particularly Aaron Eisenberg (Nog) in his comedy relief role and Nana Visitor in the role of "the person who gets to do all the awesome 'totally shocked' takes in close up for the camera."
Message: 9.0
We used to knokw this intuitively and from experience. Sometimes, the bad guy is really bad...sometimes he won't listen to reason...and sometimes diplomacy only serves to embolden him. Here in brutal relief that message is drilled into the canvas of Federation society as the crippled Odyssey's retreat and needless destruction will forever change the way Star Fleet deals with the Dominion. I've talked to Trek fans who think that sending the Odyssey was a spectacularly stupid thing to do...perhaps even an act of war...and that instead of learning that the Dominion are ruthless and inplacable...we learn that a show of force is always met with force in reply. I don't see it that way. The Odyssey was one ship...not a fleet...and they were there to assess the Dominion threat, not to start a fight. They were also there in response to Sisko's unprovoked capture. The Federation were entirely the victims here and the response was completely unjust. It's important to remember that when deciding what to make of this episode.
Copious highlights below the cut
Highlights:
SISKO: If you could do anything you wanted...what would it be?
JAKE: Pilot a runabout? (LOL)
SISKO: That's not exactly scientific, is it? Second choice.
JAKE: Visit the Gamma Quadrant?
SISKO: And what would you do when you got there?
JAKE: I don't know..I could...do a planetary survey!
SISKO: That's not bad...let's do it!
JAKE: Really?
SISKO: It'll be like a vacation. A working vacation. (Sisko is awesome. :)...encouraging his son to be creative and fulfilled like this)
JAKE: Dad, guess what?! I was talking to Nog and he said he was having trouble coming up with an idea for his science project so I told him he could be my partner!
KIRA: We can...talk about this later. (Sisko looks disappointed...LOL)
SISKO: What?
JAKE: We talked with Mrs. O'Brien and she said it would be OK.
SISKO: Now hold on a second, Jake-o!
JAKE: Dad, if he doesn't get a good grade on this project, he's going to drop out of school.
SISKO: Well maybe he can help you analyze the survey results when you get back.
JAKE: That's not good enough Mrs. O'Brien said we had to be equal partners. He's my friend...I have to help him. (aw)
QUARK: Well? What did he say?
ODO: What did who say?
QUARK: Commander Sisko. About my idea.
ODO: You mean using the monitors throughout the station to sell merchandise?
QUARK: Stop torturing me, Odo. Tell me what he said.
ODO: Guess.
QUARK: He said yes.
ODO: Guess again. (ROTFL)
QUARK: It would triple my profits. But how could he refuse?
ODO: Maybe it's because he doesn't like you.
QUARK: Don't be ridiculous. Major Kira's the one that doesn't like me. Sisko...
ODO: Doesn't like you either.
QUARK: What did I ever do to him?
ODO: Oh, I could think of one or two things.
QUARK: One or two things. That's nothing. So do you think there's any way I can change his mind?
ODO: Ha! (hee)
NOG: I always wanted to see what the cockpit of a runabout looked like. Hey, how do you fire the phasers?
JAKE: Nog, you promised.
NOG: I wasn't going to touch anything.
SISKO: Why don't the two of you stow our gear in the back while I go through pre-launch?
NOG: I'll do it. (Nog grabs the bags and leaves)
JAKE: I'll be right there.
SISKO: Fire the phasers? (annoyed)
JAKE: He was kidding. (LOL)
SISKO: Our preliminary surveys suggest it's a lot like Earth during the early Devonian period. A lot of plant life, fish, some insects, but no predators or large animals. Pretty, isn't it?
QUARK: I don't see what's so pretty about it.
NOG: I think they mean the trees and stuff.
SISKO: Quark, this is as close to paradise as you're going to get. All you need to do is allow yourself to see it.
QUARK: I can tell you what I see in two words. Exploitable resources.
SISKO: I suppose you want to cut down all these trees and start strip mining the entire planet.
QUARK: As a wise man once wrote, 'Nature decays, but latinum lasts forever.' (hee)
QUARK: I'm on fire! I'm on fire! (He is leaping about with his right cuff ablaze. Sisko wraps a blanket over it.)
SISKO: Quark, cover it up! Are you all right?
QUARK: No, I'm not all right! My ears itch, my nose is running, I'm eating foreign bugs. Now look at me. One minute I'm trying to pick out a couple of bugs out of that jumbawhatsit pot, next thing I know, whoosh!
SISKO: Quark, calm down. Look, do us all a favour. Sit down and try to stay out of trouble.
QUARK: What did I do? (Nog hisses at Quark and runs off.)
JAKE: I'd better go see if he's okay. (Jake follows Nog)
QUARK: Now see what you've done.
SISKO: What I've done?
QUARK: The boy couldn't stand seeing his favourite Uncle insulted. I guess Rom was right after all. You don't like Ferengis, do you?
SISKO: That is not true.
QUARK: All right, name me one Ferengi you do like. Ah ha. You see? I was right. You Federation types are all alike. You talk about tolerance and understanding but you only practice it toward people who remind you of yourselves. Because you disapprove of Ferengi values, you scorn us, distrust us, insult us every chance you get.
SISKO: Quark, I don't have to stand here and defend myself.
QUARK: Tell me, Commander, would you allow your son to marry a Ferengi female?
SISKO: I never thought about it.
QUARK: Exactly my point.
NOG: I'm telling you, Jake, something's happened to them. Maybe they were attacked by a wild animal.
JAKE: You heard my Dad. There aren't any wild animals, just insects and plants.
NOG: Maybe they were attacked by a vicious tree? (bwahahahaaa!)
QUARK: Hey! Is anybody there? Hello! We're humanoids! We require food and water. Hello?
SISKO: Quark, shut up.
QUARK: (to Eris) This is your fault. They were after you, not us. Why don't you say something to them? Tell them you've never seen us before. We have nothing to do with her! This is a misunderstanding!
SISKO: Quark. QUARK: I have the right to express my opinion.
SISKO: I'm about to put my fist in your opinion. (LOL)
NOG: Are you sure you know how to read that thing?
JAKE: Pretty sure.
NOG: Pretty sure? We've been walking for hours and you're only pretty sure?
JAKE: Would you be quiet? I'm picking up some kind of humanoid lifeforms. (They've found a cave entrance, guarded by Jem'Hadar)
NOG: I don't know who they are, but they don't look friendly.
JAKE: I wish we could get closer.
NOG: I don't think they'll look any friendlier close up. (ROTFL)
QUARK: Hello! I know someone must be listening to me out there.
ERIS: If we escape, do we have to take him with us?
SISKO: He's not so bad.
QUARK: Whoever's in charge, you're missing a very lucrative opportunity.
ERIS: Doesn't he realise he's not accomplishing anything?
SISKO: Don't be so sure. We need to know what the Jem'Hadar plan to do with us. Which means we need to get their attention.
QUARK: Did I mention I happen to be a close personal friend of the Grand Nagus. He's a very powerful person.
SISKO: And if there's one thing I know...
TALAK'TALAN: That's enough.
SISKO: It's that Quark is hard to ignore. (heh...indeed)
TALAK'TALAN: A Ferengi and a human. I was hoping the first race I'd meet from the other side of the anomaly would be the Klingons.
SISKO: I'm sorry to disappoint you.
TALAK'TALAN: It's too late for apologies. The Dominion will no longer stand by and allow ships from your side to violate our territory. I hear that Klingons are effective warriors. What's that weapon they're so fond of? The bat'leth?
SISKO: I am not interested in discussing the Klingons.
TALAK'TALAN: All right. Then what about the Cardassians? Are you satisfied with the treaty your Federation made with them? It seems a tactical error.
SISKO: How do you know so much about our side of the galaxy?
TALAK'TALAN: We gain more knowledge every day, and now we have you to help us learn more. (ooooh...creepy...)
NOG: I hope this works.
JAKE: You wanted a plan, I came up with a plan. Now let me concentrate. Computer, scan the region around our base camp for human and Ferengi lifesigns.
COMPUTER: One human and one Ferengi located.
NOG: That's them.
JAKE: I told you this would work. Computer, lock onto the two lifeforms and beam them up.
COMPUTER: Unable to comply. Subjects are located inside a spatial distortion field.
NOG: I knew it couldn't be that easy.
JAKE: Maybe we'd better go back to the station for help.
NOG: Good idea. Computer, fly us back to the station.
COMPUTER: Please restate command.
JAKE: Computer, disengage autopilot and lay in a course back to the wormhole.
COMPUTER: Enter authorisation code.
NOG: Go ahead. What are you waiting for?
JAKE: I don't know the authorisation code.
COMPUTER: Vessel approaching from the planet's surface, bearing one seven three mark two eight one.
NOG: Computer, evasive manoeuver! Fire phasers! Launch torpedoes...and escape pods!...AAAAAHHH!! (BWAHAHAHAA!!!!!)
JAKE: Computer, display the approaching ship on the monitor. (The blip whizzes off the screen.)
JAKE: Computer, where'd the ship go?
COMPUTER: The vessel has entered warp, bearing one seven one mark two five nine.
NOG: Maybe they didn't see us.
JAKE: Maybe we're not what they're after.
NOG: So what do we do now?
JAKE: We'll have to shut down the autopilot.
NOG: How do we do that?
JAKE: I guess we'll find out how much I learned working for Chief O'Brien.
(An alien ship comes through the wormhole)
KIRA: Hail them, Lieutenant.
DAX: They're not answering.
KIRA: Shields up. Go to yellow alert. (Talak'talan beams in)
O'BRIEN: Computer, intruder in Ops. Activate a level three containment field.
KIRA: I'm Major Kira Nerys, First Officer of this station. You'll have to excuse the containment field, but around here it's customary to identify yourself before transporting into someone else's command centre.
TALAK'TALAN: I'm Third Talak'Talan of the Jem'Hadar. I'm here to inform you that your commander has been detained for questioning by the Dominion. KIRA: Detained? For how long?
TALAK'TALAN: Indefinitely. Commander Sisko will serve as an example of what happens to anyone who interferes with the Dominion.
KIRA: What kind of interference are you talking about?
TALAK'TALAN: Coming through the anomaly is interference enough. Unless you wish to continue to offend the Dominion, I suggest you stay on your side of the galaxy.
DAX: You're making a mistake if you think that detaining Commander Sisko will stop us from exploring the Gamma Quadrant.
TALAK'TALAN: We anticipated that response. (He walks through the forcefield.)
O'BRIEN: Security team to Ops.
TALAK'TALAN: Here's a list of vessels we've destroyed for violating our territory. (And puts down a small PADD.)
KIRA: Where did you get this datapadd.
TALAK'TALAN: From the Bajoran colony on our side of the anomaly. You should be proud. I hear they fought well for a spiritual people. I hope we won't have to repeat this lesson. (yikes!!)
SISKO: Got it. It looks like some kind of multiple locking system.
ERIS: Even if I can break through the security barrier, how do you plan to get off the planet?
SISKO: We'll try to find my son. We'll use his communicator to signal my ship and transport us off the surface.
ERIS: And then what?
SISKO: You're welcome to come back to the station with us. I'm sure Starfleet would like to hear anything you have to tell them about the Dominion.
ERIS: I'd be glad to tell them all I know.
SISKO: Quark, maybe you'd better take a look at this.
QUARK: Sure, Quark, be quiet. Quark, stand watch. Quark, pick a lock. All you ever do is order me around. You know, Commander, I think I've figured out why humans don't like Ferengis.
SISKO: Not now, Quark.
QUARK: The way I see it, humans used to be a lot like Ferengi. Greedy, acquisitive, interested only in profit. We're a constant reminder of a part of your past you'd like to forget.
SISKO: Quark, we don't have time for this.
QUARK: But you're overlooking something. Humans used to be a lot worse than the Ferengi. Slavery, concentration camps, interstellar wars. We have nothing in our past that approaches that kind of barbarism. You see? We're nothing like you. We're better. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lock to pick. (oh snap!)
(Isolinear chips and stuff are all over the floor)
JAKE: This shouldn't be so hard. I just watched Chief O'Brien run a maintenance check on the Mekong's navigational array a couple of weeks ago.
NOG: From the looks of things, you haven't been watching very closely. Try that one.
JAKE: I don't think that's it.
NOG: Try it. I have a hunch.
JAKE: All right. Let's see. (Red alert)
COMPUTER: Warning. Warp core collapse in ten seconds. Nine, eight
NOG: Put it back! Put it back! Aaaahhh! AAAAHHH!!!!! (ROTFLSHIAD!)
COMPUTER: Seven, six. Warp core containment field stabilised.
NOG: Sorry.
KIRA: Captain Keogh has moved up our departure time. We have to be ready in fifteen minutes.
ODO: I'm on my way to meet Chief O'Brien and Lieutenant Dax at the Mekong right now.
KIRA: Are you sure that you don't want to stay and oversee things here on the station? I don't know what we're going to come up against once we're there. Your duties do not require you to come with us.
ODO: I realise that, but I figure while you and the others are trying to rescue Sisko and the boys, someone ought to be there to look out for Quark. (aawwww...Odo wubs Quark muchly)
KIRA: Quark? You're joking. I thought you hated Quark.
ODO: I do. But I'd rather see him in jail than in the hands of the Dominion. Believe me, Major, if anything happened to him, you'd miss him too.
KIRA: I'd be willing to take that chance. But not today. I'd better get to the Orinoco. Odo? Keep your head down.
ODO: Make sure you do the same.
ERIS: I can't believe I'm on the other side of the galaxy. (Sisko comes out of his office, armed.)
SISKO: You'll get used to it. Move away from her.
ERIS: I don't understand.
QUARK: I've been looking over this collar of yours. I thought if I replicated it, I might be able to turn a tidy profit. Imagine my surprise when I discovered there's nothing in here. It's just a complicated locking device.
SISKO: Which means you could have used your telekinetic abilities at any time. So the question is, why didn't you?
ERIS: You seem to already know the answer.
SISKO: The Jem'Hadar wanted us to escape, didn't they? That was the plan all along, for us to bring you back here so that you could spy on the Federation.
ERIS: Well done, Commander.
SISKO: You're one of the Founders, aren't you?
ERIS: You think the Founders would waste their time with you?
SISKO: Constable.
ODO: Madam, if you'll come with us
ERIS: You have no idea what's begun here. (Eris taps her cuff and beams out)
SISKO: Chief!
O'BRIEN: I'm picking up a transporter signature but I can't trace it. She didn't rematerialise anywhere on the station. There are no ships nearby.
BASHIR: Then where is she?
KIRA: She'll be back. The question is who she'll bring with her?
SISKO: If the Dominion comes through the wormhole the first battle will be fought here, and I intend to be ready for them.
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