Final two parter

[Thor Damar]

^ It's spelt "Sisko".

THE Sisko if you please, these things matter

 

[Brikar99]

I had a lot of problems with this episode. I used to feel like the war was resolved too quickly, but in the end, I realized that the only reason I'm not happy with it is because the battle sequence in the first half is mostly recycled footage. The occasional shot here or there wouldn't have been too bad, but they basically lifted entire sequences from earlier episodes and pasted them in with some new music, and that had the effect of lessening the impact of the whole thing.

My second major problem is the chronology of the entire episode. The way it's edited, am I to believe that Winn and Dukat were wandering around those caves for the entire time it took the allied fleet to engage the Dominion, follow them back to Cardassia, end the war, return to DS9, work out a peace agreement and then hang around a bit before Sisko realizes he needs to go to Bajor and stop it all?

In the end the whole episode just feels messy and lazy. There are a lot of good scenes, and the cast gives it their all. But ultimately, this episode is less than the sum of its parts.

 

[john titor]

I had a lot of problems with this episode. I used to feel like the war was resolved too quickly, but in the end, I realized that the only reason I'm not happy with it is because the battle sequence in the first half is mostly recycled footage. The occasional shot here or there wouldn't have been too bad, but they basically lifted entire sequences from earlier episodes and pasted them in with some new music, and that had the effect of lessening the impact of the whole thing.

My second major problem is the chronology of the entire episode. The way it's edited, am I to believe that Winn and Dukat were wandering around those caves for the entire time it took the allied fleet to engage the Dominion, follow them back to Cardassia, end the war, return to DS9, work out a peace agreement and then hang around a bit before Sisko realizes he needs to go to Bajor and stop it all?

In the end the whole episode just feels messy and lazy. There are a lot of good scenes, and the cast gives it their all. But ultimately, this episode is less than the sum of its parts.

I noticed that too, its like wtf were they doing in those caves, plus how did The Sisko get down there so fast, regardless of Warp tech and the real time passing of the episode.

I'd like to blame it all on budget though. Question, was the Cardassian who replaced Damar as leader of the Dominion Cardassian wing the same guy who appears in the TNG episode with the captain who replaces Picard at the negotations table. I believe its the THERE...ARE...FOUR...LIGHTS! episode.

 

[MyCylon]

1. War ended too quickly (due to budget?)

Never had that feeling myself. It had been building to that point over the last few episodes.
I also love the fact that the final victory is brought about by Odo's discussion and linking with the Founder. It's always been clear that the Founders valued Odo far, far more than the Alpha Quadrant itself. That's why I felt it was very fitting that he would have such an impact.

2. The Dukat scenes could have been extended greatly. I mean come on this is a really cool intergalactic tyrant, he should have tortured Sisko for at least 15 minutes and given long speeches on being evil and why its so cool to be evil. In fact he should have used his super powers to destroy DS9 from the planet or something similarly malign.

I definitely think the final confrontation between Sisko and Dukat should have been different. It's what I personally feel is the biggest disappointment in an episode I love otherwise. It just seems to come down to a boring little fist fight.

I'm not sure we needed more of Dukat here, necessarily, but certainly a different ending.

3. The flashback sequences were so lame. That was just filler.

Filler? After seven years of watching the show I found this incredibly rewarding and moving. I thought the flashbacks were a beautiful way to remember how far all of these characters had come, the journey they'd taken and to contemplate what might lie waiting for them next. I also thought the music was beautifully chosen.

My biggest gripe is that there was no Jadzia. I understand why that happened, but I still don't like it. Still, I enjoy those scenes very much.

4. Lot of filler scenes with Quark and the crew standing around, looking at their watches, waiting for the show to end.

I certainly don't remember filler scenes in this episode. I felt it (thankfully) took its time to let the characters say goodbye to each other and enabled us to say goodbye on some level as well. In general, I thought the mix of action and character moments was pretty well handled.

I really loved the ending, for what it's worth, despite some flaws.