My Trek through The Dominion War

[Sisko4Life]

Hey guys, a couple days ago I finally went ahead and did it... I bought the Dominion War seasons on DVD... BOTH of them. I got a good deal on them ($35 a pop). For those of you who don't remember me.. look here http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=60275.

It's quite ironic that I've seen some of DS9 a while ago, but never saw the last two seasons and I am a huge Sisko fan. Anyway, I got the confirmation email saying that they were shipped a couple days ago, so they will arrive soon and I can begin my trek. Since school starts back up in a month, I have committed to watching 2 episodes a day. I will use this thread as my journal and analysis just like Trentman did in his. Feel free to share any thoughts here with me, but please don't ruin the surprises by spoiling any endings or future episode references.

Here is a little insight to what I am looking for in Seasons 6 and 7, as the ONLY episode I can ever remember seeing is Valiant (their stupidity I will never forget).

Weyoun - has quite a reputation as a villain. I've only seen brief youtube clips, but I'm excited to "meet" this character. He has kind of a funny, naive persona from what I've seen.

Dukat - I kind of like him as a character for some reason. Extremely arrogant... but I've seen the youtube clip of Sacrifice of Angels' Battle of Bajor dozens of times and I'm looking forward to seeing the Cardassian-Dominion alliance in its stronger form with Dukat. Looking forward to seeing the Weyoun-Dukat duo.

Sisko - My favorite captain... period.

Fleet Battles - More of them in this collection than probably then entire series of Voyager and TNG. Star Trek fleet battles are fun to watch. I have Star Trek Bridge Commander Kobayashimaru modded... so hours of fun awaits after the battles.

The Dax situation - Not sure what happens here (don't tell me), but always something I wondered. Jadzia is hotter though.


What I am not looking forward too...

Odo - Kira - Female Founder situation - Grrrrr, I like Odo but not when he's a punk bitch.

"Filler" episodes - Lets be real, I want to see the war. I hope these filler episodes are worth the time.

 

[trentman359]

Hey, have fun. I couldn't read your post out of fear of spoiling the show.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

Here is a little insight to what I am looking for in Seasons 6 and 7, as the ONLY episode I can ever remember seeing is Valiant (their stupidity I will never forget).

Two of the best seasons of Star Trek, and all you saw was "Valiant"? Good news! It gets much, much better. ("Profit and Lace" not withstanding.)

Weyoun - has quite a reputation as a villain. I've only seen brief youtube clips, but I'm excited to "meet" this character. He has kind of a funny, naive persona from what I've seen.

No, not naive. The Vorta are born and bred diplomats/bureaucrats. Weyoun is very sharp, though he occasionally affects a disarming persona to put people off their guard. Jeffery Combs, who plays Weyoun, plays three of the best recurring characters on Star Trek. So, no fears with Weyoun. He's always great.

Dukat - I kind of like him as a character for some reason. Extremely arrogant... but I've seen the youtube clip of Sacrifice of Angels' Battle of Bajor dozens of times and I'm looking forward to seeing the Cardassian-Dominion alliance in its stronger form with Dukat. Looking forward to seeing the Weyoun-Dukat duo.

Dukat and Weyoun were a good pairing, but there's another guest character whose verbal spars with Weyoun are amongst the best bits of the Dominion War episodes. I won't say more than that.

Fleet Battles - More of them in this collection than probably then entire series of Voyager and TNG. Star Trek fleet battles are fun to watch. I have Star Trek Bridge Commander Kobayashimaru modded... so hours of fun awaits after the battles.

There are actually not a terribly large number of battles on DS9, even during the war years. It's just that DS9 saved up its money to do some stunningly impressive battles that haven't been topped on television even a decade later. Voyager had more, but typically of the two or three ships attack the lone hero ship variety.

"Filler" episodes - Lets be real, I want to see the war. I hope these filler episodes are worth the time.

This common attitude always rubs me the wrong way, no offense. The show is not about the war. It's about the crew of DS9. It shouldn't matter whether they're fighting the war or struggling with a more personal problem. So many people, even long time Niners, are so focused on the War that they forget that it wasn't the point of the series.

 

[startrekwatcher]

You are going to love the Dominion War arc. It is an epic, rip roaring storyline with tons of plot twists, wonderfully done character moments, interesting character dynamics, wonderful villians, great insight into familiar Trek civilizations and outstanding visual effects.

All I can say is savor it.

 

[Sisko4Life]

Season 6 arrived this morning before expecting it, but I popped it in immediately!

"A Time to Stand" - I really liked this episode; it was a fantastic start to the season. I was immediately drawn in by the sense of peril and desperation with Federation losses mounting. The scene where the Federation / Klingon fleet was retreating and the talks about "no more Dominion pursuit" really says alot about the 3 months they opted not to include into the show. Not that I want the Feds to loose, I just think it's good to finally give them a wake-up call. I didn't care too much for the mission with the little attack ship. It was nice to see Dominion technology and how their ships work but that was all. My complaint so far is that I've seen the Defiant rip those little attack ships to shreds in 2 or 3 seconds, yet the fighter there in takes punishment for minutes... meh.

What really did it for me in this episode was the character interaction on Deep Space Nine. I got my first taste of Weyoun and I absolutely love him... everything about him. He's so... comforting in the most evil way. Dukat was... Dukat! I could ramble forever but you get the idea.


"Rocks and Shoals" - Nice continuation on the first episode. Really learned a lot about Jem'Hadar soldiers in this episode. I liked the Jem'Hadar leader a hell of a lot more than Keevan. Keevan seems like the Weyoun that you just want to kill; hes not as warm and sinister... more like the punk from grade school. But anyway, the Jem'Hadar are honorable soliders, and I really like that about them as "villains." Its the fact that they really aren't villains, more like "tools" of war. Biological obedience aside, I respected them holding up their end of the deal as a Romulan or Cardassian in that situation would try to find a way out of a tough situation. I think Sisko will agree with me on this one, because he showed some concern and respect for the soldier, and just wanted to kill Keevan (I don't blame him).

 

[Lateralus]

Have you seen A Call To Arms, the Season 5 finale? You really must if you haven't. If you're really only interested in the Dominion War, you can do without most of Season 5. But you have to see A Call To Arms.

The last 5 seconds of the episode provokes... nerd arousal.

 

[Navaros]

Weyoun, Keevan, Dukat and all the villains on DS9 are indeed amazing. The most-fleshed out & very best villains Trek has to offer. Not to mention, immaculately-acted by master actors.

The Dominion is indeed awesome.

You definitely got the two very best seasons of Trek in your hands now in DS9 6 & 7.

There are some really bad episodes in those seasons just as there in every season. You kind of just have to tough them out one time so you know what to skip on subsequent viewings, and then simply skip all those bad episodes on all subsequent viewings.

Overall though, you get a ton of great episodes in those seasons that more than drown out the bad ones.

 

[Lindley]

It's just that DS9 saved up its money to do some stunningly impressive battles that haven't been topped on television even a decade later.

I'm in season 5 right now, so I'll soon be able to judge this. I've seen some of season 6+7 before, but not all of it, and the last time was before I had watched B5, SG1, etc. I'll let you know what I think....

 

[Sisko4Life]

"Sons and Daughters" - decent episode. I didn't expect much from it, I figured it would be just about Alexander and Dukat's daughter and it was. I really enjoyed Martok this episode. He's always been my favorite Klingon. He's an honorable general; kind of like a father figure to his crew and helped out Alexander when Worf couldn't. I always liked Martok's friendship towards the Federation as well. He's better than that fool Gowron.

It was good to see Dukat's soft side as well. Hes just not that evil menace that everyone thinks.

"Behind The Lines" - Nice little "interlude" episode. Not much to say about it except I feel the tension building up for Favor the Bold / Sacrifice of Angels.

 

[Cyke101]

I wouldn't so easily dismiss the filler episodes. "You Are Cordially Invited" and "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" are two of my favorite episodes of all time, and they don't have much to do with the War (though I suppose "You Are Cordially Invited" could be seen as an extended epilogue to the initial six-episode arc).

 

[Sisko4Life]

"Favor the Bold" - "Fortune favors the bold... I guess we're going to find out" I really enjoyed this two parter to close out the war arc. The desperation grows at the prospect of thousands of Dominion ships wait to overtake the Alpha Quadrant. Unfortunately for me, I did know ahead of time that the allies would win and re-take Deep Space Nine. Still, the scene with the large Federation fleet leaving the Starbase to head into the battle is a sight to see. I had fun counting out what classes of ships were in the fleet and seeing how massive and beautiful the handful of Galaxy class ships in the center were - the starfleet capital ships or Star Destroyers / Mon Cals if you will. If I didn't see the Battle of Bajor on youtube, I would think the Federation is heading into a suicidal encounter in the face of 1254 Cardassian / Dominion ships.

"Sacrifice of Angels" - All the tension is mounting to this episode. I saw Dukat and Sisko's tactical strategies at work. I found Dukat and Sisko's baseball and cocky attitude quite amusing, as was his descent into madness. The fleet battle was absolutely stunning in all forms. I saw a lot more happening in the background then what I expected. I used to think the Defiant was the only ship that far into the lines but I saw 3 Galaxies, a Sabre class, a Steamrunner exploding, a couple Akiras.. all diving and dashing in the background behind the Defiant. And what a relief the Klingon's were coming in like reckless abandon. Judging by the nature of this attack and the way the allies fight, you can kind of "guess" the reason for their losses in the beginning of the war were because of numbers and not that Federation / Klingon forces are inferior to the Dominion. As mentioned before the sensor array mission, the Dominion were waiting for the Federation everywhere they went. This episode was a great way to end the war arc and I'm a little bummed its over. So far, I've just completed the best 6 episode streak of Trek I've ever witnessed. My only complaint is about how they "dealt" with the Dominion reinforcements.

Now begins the speculation: What happens if they did make it through the wormhole? Would it really be the end of the war that quick, or would the Federation finally "man up" and concoct a tactical plan like the Spartans did in 300? Shame we will never know...

 

[Sisko4Life]

"You are Cordially Invited" - Good episode, nice change of pace.. and relevant to what's going on. Again, Martok seemed like the father helping Worf out.. such a swell guy (or Klingon). Martok's wife was great too... but it was cool to see Jadzia kick her ass.

"Resurrection" - terrible episode... seemed rather pointless if you ask me. Seemed like a poor 1st season episode thrown into the mix.

 

[Sisko4Life]

"Statistical Probabilities" - neat episode to see the mathematical side of the war. Federation losing to the Dominion! 900 billion casualties! 5 generations of Dominion rule! classic..

I went and skipped ahead to Waltz because of the Dukat thread. I was so eager to see it

"Waltz" - BEST episode so far. Fantastic episode. Really shed some light on Dukat and him being a madman. Still wondering why he cares SOOOOO much about Sisko's thought of him. And it isn't all that he cares what the Emissary thinks.. its Sisko. Still, to this point I don't consider Dukat as evil as Sisko does. He just seems like a tormented man in bad situations that keeps digging himself into a deeper whole to repair his damaged reputation. Thats all.

 

[Sisko4Life]

"The Magnificent Ferengi" - plucky comic relief episode. Still, it was pretty entertaining and funny at parts, especially when the goof killed Keevan.

"Who Mourns for Morn?" - Another one of those episodes that was pretty entertaining because of the humor. I guess these two made a good pair to watch in a day.

 

[Sisko4Life]

"Far Beyond the Stars" - I remember hearing that this episode was a flashback, so popped this one in during dinner with the family.

What began as a slow starting episode quickly turned into an emotionally charged masterpiece. In my opinion, this episode is the best episode that I have seen in all of Star Trek. As a black man in America, my parents and relatives always tell stories of their experiences during that time period, but nothing touched me on such a personal note as this episode did. Benny Russell is a calm, respectable, intelligent black man that is respected by his co-workers, but not by his boss or the business. But most importantly, Benny has a dream where Blacks and all of the human race is not bound by the limitations of discrimination and petty differences. Yet, his story wouldn't get published and people still could not appreciate that. What makes this so close to my own heart is that this episode illustrates why I love Star Trek so much. In a society where I am judged sometimes just because what rappers do on TV, I can relate to Benny and wonder and wish that some day that will fully change. Star Trek has always allowed me to escape that reality and for that I am greatful.

In the last scene of the flashback / hallucination, Benny says "I don't care what you say, you may not print the story, but the idea is REAL and none of you can tell me otherwise (or something along those lines)." That sentence sent a chill down my spine. To put it simply, that is what Star Trek means to me.

I appreciate all who read my "journal" entries. But please feel free to comment on anything - the episodes, my analysis, stopping to say hi.. whatever. I also would like to hear some opinions on what you thought of this episode in particular. Thanks.

 

[Navaros]

Far Beyond the Stars is indeed a masterpiece.

It gets out-shined by another masterpiece shortly after, in the same Season: In the Pale Moonlight.

Both of which are unquestionably two of Trek's very best episodes.

As are a whole bunch of the other episodes in DS9 S6, many of which you've seen by now.

 

[jgdst]

It's just that DS9 saved up its money to do some stunningly impressive battles that haven't been topped on television even a decade later.

I'm in season 5 right now, so I'll soon be able to judge this. I've seen some of season 6+7 before, but not all of it, and the last time was before I had watched B5, SG1, etc. I'll let you know what I think....

Saying the battle scenes were all the way back in the last millennium (97-99), and that it was all rendered in CGI, I'm still blown away by the work done on it. Considering it came only a year after Independence Day was supposed to have broken all the rules on CGI, and this was done for a show on a relatively tight budget, they did something special on DS9 that I think BSG, SG1 or even Enterprise haven't managed to rival yet.

We're a fortunate lot, us Niners

To quote someone else at the start of this post: Nerd arousal

 

[DWF]

It's just that DS9 saved up its money to do some stunningly impressive battles that haven't been topped on television even a decade later.

I'm in season 5 right now, so I'll soon be able to judge this. I've seen some of season 6+7 before, but not all of it, and the last time was before I had watched B5, SG1, etc. I'll let you know what I think....

Saying the battle scenes were all the way back in the last millennium (97-99), and that it was all rendered in CGI, I'm still blown away by the work done on it. Considering it came only a year after Independence Day was supposed to have broken all the rules on CGI, and this was done for a show on a relatively tight budget, they did something special on DS9 that I think BSG, SG1 or even Enterprise haven't managed to rival yet.

We're a fortunate lot, us Niners

To quote someone else at the start of this post: Nerd arousal

What rules on CGI did Independence Day break? The still used massive amounts of models, the dogfight at the end was the biggest one to date but other than Roland Emmerich still didn't quite trust CGI.

 

[Lindley]

Saying the battle scenes were all the way back in the last millennium (97-99), and that it was all rendered in CGI, I'm still blown away by the work done on it. Considering it came only a year after Independence Day was supposed to have broken all the rules on CGI, and this was done for a show on a relatively tight budget, they did something special on DS9 that I think BSG, SG1 or even Enterprise haven't managed to rival yet.

We're a fortunate lot, us Niners

To quote someone else at the start of this post: Nerd arousal

I was more wondering how it would all hold up compared to some of the B5 episodes Foundation did before they came to Star Trek full time. Severed Dreams, Shadow Dancing, etc.

We've always said that B5's CGI provided the R&D necessary to get the technology up to levels where the Dominion War could use it without a notable visual penalty compared to models. I'm just curious how evident that is in the end result.

Plus, remember that SG-1 started in 1997 as well. I doubt any of the stuff from the early years compares, simply because it wasn't very ship-based at that point, but it's still a comparison point.

 

[Cyke101]

"Far Beyond the Stars" - I remember hearing that this episode was a flashback, so popped this one in during dinner with the family.

What began as a slow starting episode quickly turned into an emotionally charged masterpiece. In my opinion, this episode is the best episode that I have seen in all of Star Trek. As a black man in America, my parents and relatives always tell stories of their experiences during that time period, but nothing touched me on such a personal note as this episode did. Benny Russell is a calm, respectable, intelligent black man that is respected by his co-workers, but not by his boss or the business. But most importantly, Benny has a dream where Blacks and all of the human race is not bound by the limitations of discrimination and petty differences. Yet, his story wouldn't get published and people still could not appreciate that. What makes this so close to my own heart is that this episode illustrates why I love Star Trek so much. In a society where I am judged sometimes just because what rappers do on TV, I can relate to Benny and wonder and wish that some day that will fully change. Star Trek has always allowed me to escape that reality and for that I am greatful.

In the last scene of the flashback / hallucination, Benny says "I don't care what you say, you may not print the story, but the idea is REAL and none of you can tell me otherwise (or something along those lines)." That sentence sent a chill down my spine. To put it simply, that is what Star Trek means to me.

I appreciate all who read my "journal" entries. But please feel free to comment on anything - the episodes, my analysis, stopping to say hi.. whatever. I also would like to hear some opinions on what you thought of this episode in particular. Thanks.

Heck, I think I may watch this episode again. With a box of tissue, of course.