I love Deep Space Nine. Somewhere around seasons 5 and 6 it managed to supplant TNG as my favorite Trek series. The rich and complex universe, characters and relationships it developed are unparalleled amongst the other series. My personal sensibility as I grew older gravitated towards the constant shades of grey inflecting every character, the omnipresent conflict between characters and empires, the toning down of the technobabble, the storyarcs and the daring attempts to take the Trek universe somewhere new in every way, not just planets of the week. TNG may have been a bit more effervescent, TOS more visionary and less stolid, Voyager more... accessible and Enterprise more flashy, but DS9 is aging the best out of the modern series primarily through its writing.
That all being said, my niggles with the series finale haven't gone away. The toll of doing an 11-part war arc is evident in the production values - viewers spoiled by the space battle splendor the show started to indulge in from season 3 onwards are treated to a few sparse new shots and a plethora of reused footage from all over the place. Colonel Kira's ragtag team of freedom fighters hides out and does battle on some of the smallest, cheapest sets the show has ever presented outside of Star Trek's infamous cave interiors. Which brings us to the final climax of the show where Sisko matches wits against Dukat and Winn on a greenscreen and some particularly bad-looking cave sets.
The huge cast and epic story conclusion weren't going to be cheap. But it's some of the writing that really lets the side down a bit. Ezri and Bashir's coupling still doesn't ring that true - Trek never did romantic dialogue very well. The way the war wraps up is both effective (the Cardassians are massacred, the Founders surrender to Odo) and underwhelming (the Breen never rise above their arc-long role as simple plot device, the final standoff at Cardassia Prime isn't exactly convincing - we need three characters to earnestly convince each other that the Dominion is still dangerous and capable of rebuilding itself when holed up around only one planet they are in the process of terrorizing. Um, no.)
But it's how the Sisko story unfolds that really doesn't sit well with me to this day. It all comes down to some Dungeons and Dragons mumbo jumbo about an old book? Nevermind the bad sets and FX - THIS is really the culmination of Sisko's purpose? To knock the Pah-Wraith obsessed Dukat (whose descent into full-on mustache-twirling fundamentalist villainy from "Tears of the Prophets" onwards is one of DS9's saddest come-downs) off a cliff?! It's such a sloppy and clearly not entirely thought-out end for Sisko, Dukat and Winn. Sisko's ascension to the realm of the Prophets works, as does his overall arc serving primarily as Bajor's protector for them. But come on - he somehow breaks Dukat's Force Grip to destroy a book of spells and they fall into cheesy fire effects together. Who on that brilliant writing staff thought that was the best they could come up with?
Just some silly venting - I wouldn't feel as strongly if I didn't love the show to death, and it still did a lot right in the end for its characters (the leaving flashback montage works, even if it does need Terry Farrell footage). Its last shot is haunting and a great send off for the show, but I'm curious to know how people today are looking back on the finale. Do tell!
That all being said, my niggles with the series finale haven't gone away. The toll of doing an 11-part war arc is evident in the production values - viewers spoiled by the space battle splendor the show started to indulge in from season 3 onwards are treated to a few sparse new shots and a plethora of reused footage from all over the place. Colonel Kira's ragtag team of freedom fighters hides out and does battle on some of the smallest, cheapest sets the show has ever presented outside of Star Trek's infamous cave interiors. Which brings us to the final climax of the show where Sisko matches wits against Dukat and Winn on a greenscreen and some particularly bad-looking cave sets.
The huge cast and epic story conclusion weren't going to be cheap. But it's some of the writing that really lets the side down a bit. Ezri and Bashir's coupling still doesn't ring that true - Trek never did romantic dialogue very well. The way the war wraps up is both effective (the Cardassians are massacred, the Founders surrender to Odo) and underwhelming (the Breen never rise above their arc-long role as simple plot device, the final standoff at Cardassia Prime isn't exactly convincing - we need three characters to earnestly convince each other that the Dominion is still dangerous and capable of rebuilding itself when holed up around only one planet they are in the process of terrorizing. Um, no.)
But it's how the Sisko story unfolds that really doesn't sit well with me to this day. It all comes down to some Dungeons and Dragons mumbo jumbo about an old book? Nevermind the bad sets and FX - THIS is really the culmination of Sisko's purpose? To knock the Pah-Wraith obsessed Dukat (whose descent into full-on mustache-twirling fundamentalist villainy from "Tears of the Prophets" onwards is one of DS9's saddest come-downs) off a cliff?! It's such a sloppy and clearly not entirely thought-out end for Sisko, Dukat and Winn. Sisko's ascension to the realm of the Prophets works, as does his overall arc serving primarily as Bajor's protector for them. But come on - he somehow breaks Dukat's Force Grip to destroy a book of spells and they fall into cheesy fire effects together. Who on that brilliant writing staff thought that was the best they could come up with?
Just some silly venting - I wouldn't feel as strongly if I didn't love the show to death, and it still did a lot right in the end for its characters (the leaving flashback montage works, even if it does need Terry Farrell footage). Its last shot is haunting and a great send off for the show, but I'm curious to know how people today are looking back on the finale. Do tell!
