Season 1's finale is an intriguing mixture of religious and other themes, involving loosely a succession to Kai from Vedeks Winn and Bareil (both exceedingly well cast, in an episode chock full of first rate acting from all involved - what else is new, to be honest) as well as shoehorning in Keiko's school as a plot point.
The storyline is fairly basic, but that leaves room for a treasure chest of character and complex world building that DS9 had previously engaged with but improves upon no end.
Politicized for villainous means or not, it's still hard to not disagree with Winn - at least early on - as she was actively making concessions to allow a fuller range of classes being told - where is the harm in showing all sides. Was Keiko being the obstreperous one by choice or was she being manipulated? Perhaps season 2 follows up on this, or it's left to the audience, with as much time as they want to think into it. Having said that, she was being obstinate to the point of discomfort. I'll get back to that in a moment.
Science has always described how things work and can be created to a certain extent, or how matter is neither created nor destroyed but reformed in/from other states (per one theory, or two if we bring in the maguffin of "Replicator"), and so on, but never anything more philosophical or anything on a very large scale interface (for those of you techies who dig VLSI, hehe.)
Getting back to that discomfort angle, we've also (as the audience) seen firsthand that these Prophets do exist. As had Sisko and rather more directly and as far back as the premiere episode (whoops!!), even if he's skeptical. But over the year he's less so by the end. So why would he not try to open her mind as well, which almost seems ironic given that's what Keiko wants to do? (That one's easy - there'd be no episode if he convinced her there's more to life than just how the clock goes tick-tock.) Later episodes, if not already established, prove the area inside the wormhole is what amounts to the term "Celestial Temple" as well. Yes, Verteron particles make up some of it. But many could tell you how your house is made from wood and concrete (a mixture of sand, water, and concrete (which has its own ingredients checklist) and does it make any difference? Probably not.
Thankfully, as the episode rolls onward, Winn is definitely showing true colors as a to-be villain and, seriously, Louise Fletcher was inspired casting and is quick to make Winn her own.
The scene in Bareil's gardens (were those on location or on a set, as 90s Trek often had amazing and realistic-looking, nature-like landscapes filmed on a set - must not have been fun to sweet up after filming... I suspect it's a set only due to the sky, but it's a magnificent set.)
As usual, Sisko is quick to prove why he's the best commander of the bunch (before or after DS9 for that matter) so far.
And, of course, more top notch music.
If anything, Kira being quick to throw out the towel regarding Neela (name has no relation to Leela Khaled, I'd presume) after all the work she and the others did to figure out a much more complex mystery just one episode earlier is a huge stretch of disbelief suspension, that even with toast and bacon doesn't make for a balanced meal.
A decent episode to end the season on, my perceived quibbles are few indeed as much elevates a fairly basic plot trope into something more enthralling. A few tweaks could have rendered it better but so much of it is so rock solid right out of the box, with a penchant for character dialogue that only DS9 could put out.
8/10
The storyline is fairly basic, but that leaves room for a treasure chest of character and complex world building that DS9 had previously engaged with but improves upon no end.
Politicized for villainous means or not, it's still hard to not disagree with Winn - at least early on - as she was actively making concessions to allow a fuller range of classes being told - where is the harm in showing all sides. Was Keiko being the obstreperous one by choice or was she being manipulated? Perhaps season 2 follows up on this, or it's left to the audience, with as much time as they want to think into it. Having said that, she was being obstinate to the point of discomfort. I'll get back to that in a moment.
Science has always described how things work and can be created to a certain extent, or how matter is neither created nor destroyed but reformed in/from other states (per one theory, or two if we bring in the maguffin of "Replicator"), and so on, but never anything more philosophical or anything on a very large scale interface (for those of you techies who dig VLSI, hehe.)
Getting back to that discomfort angle, we've also (as the audience) seen firsthand that these Prophets do exist. As had Sisko and rather more directly and as far back as the premiere episode (whoops!!), even if he's skeptical. But over the year he's less so by the end. So why would he not try to open her mind as well, which almost seems ironic given that's what Keiko wants to do? (That one's easy - there'd be no episode if he convinced her there's more to life than just how the clock goes tick-tock.) Later episodes, if not already established, prove the area inside the wormhole is what amounts to the term "Celestial Temple" as well. Yes, Verteron particles make up some of it. But many could tell you how your house is made from wood and concrete (a mixture of sand, water, and concrete (which has its own ingredients checklist) and does it make any difference? Probably not.
Thankfully, as the episode rolls onward, Winn is definitely showing true colors as a to-be villain and, seriously, Louise Fletcher was inspired casting and is quick to make Winn her own.
The scene in Bareil's gardens (were those on location or on a set, as 90s Trek often had amazing and realistic-looking, nature-like landscapes filmed on a set - must not have been fun to sweet up after filming... I suspect it's a set only due to the sky, but it's a magnificent set.)
As usual, Sisko is quick to prove why he's the best commander of the bunch (before or after DS9 for that matter) so far.
And, of course, more top notch music.
If anything, Kira being quick to throw out the towel regarding Neela (name has no relation to Leela Khaled, I'd presume) after all the work she and the others did to figure out a much more complex mystery just one episode earlier is a huge stretch of disbelief suspension, that even with toast and bacon doesn't make for a balanced meal.
A decent episode to end the season on, my perceived quibbles are few indeed as much elevates a fairly basic plot trope into something more enthralling. A few tweaks could have rendered it better but so much of it is so rock solid right out of the box, with a penchant for character dialogue that only DS9 could put out.
8/10
