Call to Arms - What was it like?

[Tallguy]

I'm watching DS9 (verrrrry slowly so far) for mostly the first time. I've just finished Call to Arms.

I've seen some of these episodes. Somehow I saw Dukat and Sisko's baseball. I actually saw In the Pale Moon Light. I'm looking forward to Take Me Out to the Holosuite. (That's season SEVEN? Come on!)

But I was mostly not watching Star Trek when these aired though I was still hanging around people who did. So I have to ask: What was it like? I know that there's a war coming and that it's going to dominate the last two seasons. Star Trek had never been like this. Never an actual war. Never this episodic. But at the time, did anyone see this coming?

Deep Space Nine has grown in appreciation over the years to be many people's "Best Star Trek". And this is certainly as good as any Berman Trek I've seen.

So again, for those who remember: What was it like? Did people realize what a change this was? Was it unexpected or did it seem like a natural direction?

 

[Lynx]

I'm watching DS9 (verrrrry slowly so far) for mostly the first time. I've just finished Call to Arms.

I've seen some of these episodes. Somehow I saw Dukat and Sisko's baseball. I actually saw In the Pale Moon Light. I'm looking forward to Take Me Out to the Holosuite. (That's season SEVEN? Come on!)

But I was mostly not watching Star Trek when these aired though I was still hanging around people who did. So I have to ask: What was it like? I know that there's a war coming and that it's going to dominate the last two seasons. Star Trek had never been like this. Never an actual war. Never this episodic. But at the time, did anyone see this coming?

Deep Space Nine has grown in appreciation over the years to be many people's "Best Star Trek". And this is certainly as good as any Berman Trek I've seen.

So again, for those who remember: What was it like? Did people realize what a change this was? Was it unexpected or did it seem like a natural direction?

I was actually in the same situation as you are in now.

I watched the first season in 1997 on one of my TV channels. Unfortunately, the stupid channel scrapped the series after one season. I never got the chance to see the whole series until in recent years, even if I had a limited knowledge about what happened in the series.

But you're up for some really exciting events so take your time, don't hurry. Watch the episodes one by one and enjoy them. There will be a lot of twists antd interesting turns on the road.

As for "seeing it coming", after the first encounters with The Dominion, there was always a feeling of a major conflict coming sooner or later.

 

[StarMan]

I'm not sure, but this review from Jammer published soon after the episode premiered (link) is telling:

Nutshell: Wow. A brilliant start. Extremely dark and compelling.

When "Call to Arms" aired and the Federation lost DS9, my one real hope was that they wouldn't get the station back in a single episode. I hoped this situation would be around for awhile, and that we would see how the change in administration on Terok Nor—that is, with Dukat and the Cardassians along with Weyoun and the Dominion now in charge—would play out.

"A Time to Stand" delivered on all my hopes, and then exceeded them.

I don't think it was a foregone conclusion the war would last the duration of the series.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I was less conscious of how DS9 was innovative than how dated and static Voyager became.

 

[Tallguy]

EDIT: Wrong thread.

 

[somebuddyX]

I watched it on VHS in 1997/1998 and it was amazing. I'd been to a Trek convention in Sydney where the MC talked about the station being abandoned and Kira and Odo were going to have some conversation about leaving things as they were for the time being, so I knew it was coming. Also I was in high school and in the library we could look up episodes that were airing in the US so I knew that the war was going on for a while and that the Federation would end up trying to retake the station, although I thought the Federation fleet was going to be completely wiped out, save the Defiant. I did think the war was only going to last the first bunch of episodes and then move onto other things, and even when I realised it was going to last longer the VHS blurb for "Tears of the Prophets" made it seem like there was going to be massive invasion of Cardassian space and I figured the war would be over then.
There's some things in that that don't seem important now but were a big deal to me. I'd never seen two Galaxy-class ships on the screen at the same time let alone the size of that Federation/Klingon fleet. The way "In the Cards" doesn't wrap up the B-story about the Non-Aggression Treaty until this episode was a way of writing I hadn't seen before in DS9. There was build up of the Dominion over the last few episodes with Maquis getting wiped out and Klingon and Federation ships getting openly attacked but it was kind of background details. Leaving things open ended was usually only in two part episodes (although Voyager had done it before). It was wild having the bad guys take over the station and having the good guys on the run. And I watched it on a TV that was 16"x11" and the same day with the VHS of "Worst Case Scenario/Scorpion" so I was very happy. I always think fondly back to this time of Trek.

 

[Tallguy]

I'd never seen two Galaxy-class ships on the screen at the same time let alone the size of that Federation/Klingon fleet.

I think this was the first "Ginormous Fleet" wasn't it? I suppose there was First Contact.

Do they know at this point that this is Terry Farrell's last season?

 

[somebuddyX]

I think this was the first "Ginormous Fleet" wasn't it? I suppose there was First Contact.

Do they know at this point that this is Terry Farrell's last season?

AFAIK Terry didn't decide until at least some time before "Change of Heart" was in production and mentions she thought she should have been killed there. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Change_of_Heart_(episode)#Story_and_script

 

[Tallguy]

Thanks. There are things that I know, but I'm getting close enough that I'm trying not to dig in to all the spoilers.

I actually saw A Time to Stand in it's entirety back in the day. I have no idea how that happened. Now I'm wondering what else I watched? Crazy to think there was a time you could turn on a TV set and there would just be STAR TREK there and you could watch it by accident!

 

[Leviathan]

I was watching live and vividly recall it...so here are my thoughts at the time.

"damn, an actual Federation is at War... I wonder how much they'll show...". I remember thinking they'd make a bigger deal out of the romulan non-agression pact (like the Soviet deal in 1939)....was dead wrong about that.

Watching on a 36" CRT without freeze frame or pause I missed a ton of detail that is now much easier to get.

Way of the Warrior was the first real "holy f'n asscrackers!!!" use of the stations defences, and I was watching babylon 5 at the time (which was in its epic war season)...so I recall this being a bit of a rehash but with way more interesting results.

 

[Farscape One]

I fully remember "CALL TO ARMS" when it first aired.

That episode was just perfect. It moved the arcs forward. It had great character beats for everyone. It had great action. And that final shot of the fleet... my jaw just dropped to the floor. I cannot tell you how much torture I felt knowing I had to wait 3 months for season 6 to begin, and how truly excited I was that it was coming.

"CALL TO ARMS" is the best season finale the franchise ever did. (Yes, I am putting this well above "The Best of Both Worlds". And while that was a fantastic season finale, it only truly focused on two characters. "CALL TO ARMS" serviced not only all the leads but many recurring characters well.)

 

[Oddish]

What was it like?
Lots of stuff went boom.

 

[somebuddyX]

"CALL TO ARMS" is the best season finale the franchise ever did. (Yes, I am putting this well above "The Best of Both Worlds". And while that was a fantastic season finale, it only truly focused on two characters. "CALL TO ARMS" serviced not only all the leads but many recurring characters well.)

Yeah I agree with that. I only ever watched BOBW on video so there was no time gap between the two parts but even with that the reason I like DS9 season finales over TNG/Voyager is they kind of ask you as question of what happens next and withhold the information but DS9 gives you the information and then you have to deal with it. I think Enterprise might have used both.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

AFAIK Terry didn't decide until at least some time before "Change of Heart" was in production and mentions she thought she should have been killed there. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Change_of_Heart_(episode)#Story_and_script

Yes, it was some time just before that she decided. However, only Berman and the studio execs may have known, and ISB has said that he was continually reassured she would be resigned. That's why the last episodes of season 6 pivot so hard, and why Jadzia's death is crowbarred into the finale.

 

[Farscape One]

ENT did a cliffhanger with season 1, "SHOCKWAVE". And sort of did the same with season 3, "ZERO HOUR"... Xindi arc done, but a new thing happening right there that itches of cliffhangerism.

Season 2, "THE EXPANSE", just got the ball started with the Xindi arc.

So I would agree that ENT used both styles.

 

[Paul755]

I remember being pumped about seeing a huge Federation/Klingon fleet all ready to go whip some ass. Also wondering if we’d get to see the Enterprise.

I had no clue the war would consume the final two seasons.

 

[DonIago]

Saw it 'live'.

While WotW had shown us that VFX had hit a point where DS9 could do a massive fleet battle (and how!), and was already orders of magnitude beyond anything we really saw for space combat in TNG, it was something else to see a Starfleet armada for the first time.

It was a shock to see Our Heroes actually abandoning the station, and opened up so many possibilities for what might happen next.

Based on past experience (turns out Rule #1 of watching DS9 is not to make assumptions based on past experience...) I figured things would be largely back to normal within three episodes. I didn't really anticipate anything as ambitious as the Occupation Arc, and I'm not sure anyone could have predicted the war being such a prominent aspect of the series through the finale, because it was simply unprecedented for Trek to do this level of long-form storytelling.

In a way it reminds me of when I was sent home from work in March 2020 due to the pandemic and was told to pack up what I'd need to work from home, with no idea how long it would be before I'd be working back in the office again. I figured two weeks on the inside and two months on the outside; I never thought that it wouldn't be until 2022 that working in the office again would be a 'normal' possibility, or that continuing to work from home (as I do), would ever be an option, because it was entirely outside the realm of everything I'd come to expect from my professional experience.

 

[Commander Troi]

Pretty much the same as @donlago. I saw all of DS9 when they aired (and have been considering rewatching soon).

It was a surprise when they lost the station... and then didn't "fix" it right away! I could see a conflict with The Dominion was coming, but they constantly surprised me with all the twists along the way. And I definitely didn't foresee it taking up all of the last 2 seasons.

I agree with @Lynx - enjoy the ride!

 

[Farscape One]

DS9 is playing from start to end on the MORE STAR TREK channel, Channel 271 on Pluto TV.

I am currently watching my most rewatched episode in the franchise... "OUR MAN BASHIR".

 

[JediKnightButler]

I remember being pumped about seeing a huge Federation/Klingon fleet all ready to go whip some ass. Also wondering if we’d get to see the Enterprise.

I had no clue the war would consume the final two seasons.

I was all pumped up for the Federation to “make the Dominion pay for stepping foot in the Alpha Quadrant” but when the next season starts we find out that it is actually the Federation getting pummeled by the Dominion and it so demoralizing. As one reviewer noted, A Time To Stand feels like Yesterday’s Enterprise but this time bad things are REALLY happening.