Three episode reviews today:
6-18 InquisitionFinally we get to learn about the mysterious Section 31, an extremely secret Starfleet intelligence and security organization that officially doesn't exist, and that does all the dirty work needed for the preservation of the Federation. And that it has been doing so for all of Starfleet's existence - in fact, according to ENT, even before the founding of the Federation.
I must say that I really like it, even if some of the more idealistic Trekkies have screamed foul - that it doesn't jive with the Roddenberrian "ideology". Hogwash, I say. This is perfectly in keeping with both my less-than-idealistic worldview and my less-than-rosy interpretation of what kind of society the Federation actually is (at least this 24th century version). As the writers have said, the idea of Section 31 originated with the phrase
"it's easy being a saint when you live in paradise" (from the season two episode
The Maquis), and Sloan and his guys are the ones that makes "paradise" possible.
Of course the Federation have an organization like this one. Everyone has and will always have one. Even my native Sweden, by some foreigners considered to be almost a "perfect" country (well, you don't have to live here…) has one. While I can fault the Federation for much in terms of not having done its job in protecting its citizens, I really cannot fault them for having a Section 31. Come to think of it, the very nature of and self-image the Federation has makes it almost inevitable that this organization would be so secretive. A more honest government might have officially recognized the need. After all, we do know that there is a CIA, a MI6 or a FSB. But the holier-than-thou Feds have to sneak around, much like the Swedish government did prior to the exposure of the
Information Bureau in 1973.
Given the dire circumstances facing the Federation I can't say I disapprove of the actions taken by Sloan here. Of course Bashir is a suspect. It's only because we - the viewers - have followed him around for over six years that we know he isn't a Dominion agent. But I admit there were times that I thought that they may actually have planted a sleeping persona in him while he was captive.
My biggest complaint with
Inquisition is that most of it wasn't real, that it took place on a holodeck. I did suspect that was the case after he was beamed from his holding cell to meet "Weyoun" - that that is when the simulation began. But it turns out everything after he went to bed in the beginning was a simulation, and that lessened the impact of his interactions with "Sisko". They never happened and that was a shame, especially when Bashir admitted that had he not been exposed as being genetically enhanced he would have kept lying to Sisko and everyone else about it.
It would have been better if Sloan actually would have come to DS9 as a "deputy director", but I can see that Section 31 didn't want to expose him like that. Still, it's not like he didn't expose himself anyway. He did tell Bashir about his organization, and even tried to recruit him, and it was obvious that Bashir would tell Sisko about it. So they didn't really gain anything by this maneuver. This is where I have to question the section's competence. Why didn't they mind-wipe Bashir or something?
Inquisition receives a grade of
9 on my 10-graded scale.
*****
6-19 In the Pale MoonlightIn the Pale Moonlight was a great episode, possibly one of the best we've seen from DS9. In the episode before they took the Trekverse to new levels with the introduction if the shady Section 31, only to immediately follow it up with this. This is certainly not the Trek we've come to expect after seeing too much of Picard and his "enlightened" humans from
The Next Generation, and this is a good thing, a very good thing. I suspect that this new direction didn't sit too well with certain portions of the fanbase. But on the other hand it is one of the highest rated episodes among fans.
Had this been any other show than Star Trek, what happened in
In the Pale Moonlight wouldn't have been all that remarkable. In fact, I may be a cynical bastard but I didn't think this was all that controversial. So Sisko tricked the Romulans into going to war with the Dominion? Big deal! That's nothing to be so squeamish about, even for him. Considering all the nasty stuff that happens in a time of war, I don't think this ranks as one of the more serious breaches of any moral codes. One can even say that it was done for the good of Romulus, since even if the Dominion at this time didn't have any plans to invade the Romulan Empire, there is little doubt that they eventually would, and then the Romulans would have had to face them alone.
So Garak made sure that the Romulan Senator Vreenak (played to arrogant perfection by Stephen McHattie) was killed? Big deal! He was a Romulan for chrissakes, vice-chairman of the Tal Shiar no less, and why should we mourn him? Planting a bomb on his ship got the job done, didn't it? The Romulans did enter the war as allies of the Federation and the Klingons.
So it rang a bit hollow to see Sisko getting so worked up about all this. He did poison an entire planet before (
For the Uniform). While the final confrontation between Garak and Sisko was nice, I can't see why he would be this angry. In fact, he should be grateful. Had that not happened, Vreenak's report home would certainly have made it even harder for the Romulans to enter the war. This operation was something Section 31 might have done, which makes Sisko's disapproval in the episode before a bit hypocritical.
And while I really liked this episode, I have to return to my previous complaint that we see very little of the war. They sure
talk a lot about it, but don't
show us much. They had this very nice list of casualties to motivate Sisko, and the invasion of Betazed to finally convince him, but we never
saw what happened to Betazed. Also, regarding Dominion tactics, I wonder why they don't use their forces to retake DS9 and the wormhole. Obviously what they have left is powerful enough to make them threat Andor, Tellar and Alpha Centauri now, so why not use that to get DS9? Or is the bargain Sisko made with the Prophets that they would destroy all reinforcements (instead of just the one time we saw) the Dominion tries to send through the wormhole?
Despite my stated reservations, I do really like
In the Pale Moonlight and I give it a grade of
9. Ditch Sisko's hypocritical qualms and it would've been a full 10.
*****
6-20 His WayWhy am I not at all surprised that the previous two great outings were followed with this silly return of Deep Space 90210? Perhaps because this is how I've come to understand that this show works. For some unfathomable reason they just have to throw in lightweight comedy fluff after giving us some of the more gripping tales Trek has ever told. Sheesh!
His Way didn't even have a b-story. It was just 44 minutes of Odo and Kira getting together using the most contrived plot device ever created for Trek - the holodeck! That's all that this episode was about. Nothing else. Not even a token mention about the war they're right in the middle of fighting.
I've never cared for the Odo/Kira pairing and (like the actors) had hoped it would die a quiet unconsummated death. After all they've danced around it since the second season. Add to that Kira's realization at what Odo could be capable of (
Children of Time), not to mention his dealings with the Founders as late as the beginning of this season. But I forget, that was "resolved" with them talking in depth - and off-camera - in Dax's closet!
In itself, the Vic Fontaine hologram guy was good (as was guest star James Darren) but he had no place being on DS9. His very existence as a sentient hologram raised more questions than answered. Why would anyone create him in the first place, what with TNG's experiences with sentient holograms?
Voyager's Holodoc is a different matter since he was never intended to be sentient, but became one after being active for such a long time. And that was in another quadrant.
His Way deserves no more than a grade of
2- from me.
