And Le Grande Final. I'll do a season recap later. And possibly an entire series recap as well.
7-25 What You Leave BehindMy,
What You Leave Behind was indeed a gut wrenching and emotional episode. It wasn't perfect, but it was surely the best of all the Trek finales (if you don't count
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as the original series' finale, then that was the best). I actually had a lump in my throat by the end and that is praise indeed.
The conclusion to the Dominion War was quite satisfying and poignant. The feelings of Sisko and Ross when they refused a victory toast with Martok in the ruins of Cardassia sums it up nicely. War is hell and now 800 million Cardassians have perished after the desperate Founders levelled Cardassia Prime as punishment for their rebellion. That is maybe poetic justice considering what the Cardassians have done previously, but it's no cause for cheerful celebrations. I liked the scene when Garak contemplated that had finally returned from exile to his home world only to find smoldering ruins.
Too bad that Damar was killed. He was the kind of leader that whatever system that will emerge from the ruins would need. But I suppose it was a fitting end to him as well. He was certainly no innocent himself, even if he redeemed himself through his actions in the end.
The final battle between the Dominion forces and the Federation alliance was very neat, even if I suspect that some footage from previous battles where re-used. I loved the twist when the Cardassian fleet switched sides at a critical moment and turned the tide of battle. It wasn't really surprising, since by now word of what happened on Cardassia Prime had reached them. It goes to show the arrogance and ignorance of the Founders and their Vorta servants. It could've been seen as a convenient way out, but it didn't play out like that.
What was a bit convenient was how Kira and her resistance fighters were able to sneak into Dominion headquarters with so little opposition (although Damar bit the dust). But I loved how Garak just killed Weyoun, and his reply to the female Founder when she told him that that had been the last Weyoun clone.
"I was hoping you'd say that." Heh!
I can't say I was surprised that it was Odo who eventually made the truce possible. Obviously the deal was that the Dominion surrenders in exchange for Odo curing the Great Link. It might have seemed a sudden turn-around for the female Founder, but who knows how fast shapeshifters communicate when they're linked. And it's not like she had much choice if she did want to save her fellow shape-shifters. This resolution also brings out the interesting notion that it was Section 31 that made peace possible in the end. They infected the Great Link and provided the cure (even if it was forced from them). Had they not done so, who knows what would've happened. That's a pretty dark way to wrap up a major plotline, at least for Star Trek. But I like it!
What I didn't like about
What You Leave Behind - and this should come as no surprise - was the resolution to the Dukat/Winn/pah-wraith storyline. I haven't liked it from the beginning and I was bound to get disappointed by how it was finished. Given everything else that happened in this episode, what transpired in the Fire Caves felt very anti-climactic. It had no real punch and eventually that severely lessened the impact and importance of Sisko's ascension. That's a shame since this is when Sisko is supposed to come full circle from his first encounter with the Prophets in the pilot episode
Emissary.
Having Dukat return with his eye-sight restored just illustrated that the writers had developed this plotline prematurely and had realized they must put it on hold for a couple of episodes. We never even got to see a poor and begging Dukat on the streets of Bajor. Then there's the prolonged trek to the Fire Caves and Winn's summoning of the pah-wraiths. Exactly how long did this take? The scenes were cross-cut between the final Dominion showdown and the victory celebrations afterwards, so it must have been some days at least. But it didn't feel that long.
But my main complaint is the complaint that I've had all along. It just rang false. This wasn't the Kai Winn or Dukat I've gotten to know over the years. Here they were moustache-twirling evil caricatures! All subtlety and grey areas were purged from their characters for inexplicable reasons. Thus the whole plot was lost on me. This whole Prophets/pa-wraiths struggle would also have worked better if it had been related to the Dominion War in some ways. Now it existed entirely separate from the main action and just felt tacked-on.
Another thing that bothered me about this was that we never really saw much of Bajor, the planet DS9 has been centred around for so long. Watching this last stretch of episodes you could've guessed that the Bajorans, save for Kai Winn and her ill-fated assistant, had vanished. Winn's actions take place in a vacuum. There is a lot of closure in this finale, but we never learn what happens to Bajor and if they finally becomes a member of the Federation (the very reason why Sisko was appointed to command DS9 in the first place).
Otherwise they did a really good job in getting closure for the show. The farewell party at Vic's was extremely touching and this time I didn't mind the use of the holodeck. Vic Fontaine singing "The Way You Look Tonight" and the flashback montage almost had me in tears. But I noted the conspicuous absence of any footage of Jadzia Dax and thought that was a shame.
There was also a fitting end to most of the characters, even Benjamin Sisko becoming a Prophet (despite how that happened). But I feel for poor - and pregnant - Kasidy, but at least she got to say goodbye. Jake didn't get to do that, although I like to think that the wormhole opening as he looked at it was his father's way of saying farewell. O'Brien is going back to teach at Starfleet Academy. Odo is back with his people and will hopefully teach them to be les hostile towards solids. Kira is now in command of DS9, and Bashir and Ezri remains, as do Quark. But it's not the same. It's something new and that is as it should be. Nothing lasts forever, not even Deep Space Nine.
I'll be generous and give this final episode of DS9 -
What You Leave Behind - a grade of
9-. The Dukat/Winn/pah-wraith thing brings it down and if it hadn't been for the other excellent storylines and the sheer emotional impact this finale had on me it would've been lower still. That doesn't change the fact that, as I mentioned before, this is the best Star Trek final episode ever made.
