Rapture - The Most Rewatchable Episode of the Series?

[tomalak301]

Yeah DS9 has so many great and re-watchable episodes, but I watched this one last night and I was just in awe of how awesome and re-watchable it really is. I mean for one, all the visions Sisko saw actually came true. Bajor signed the Non-Aggression Pact, something they couldn't do if they had been admitted to the Federation, and the Locusts (Dominion) did go to cardassia. It's almost as if the writers were planning ahead but I believe it more as a coincidence. I also loved it because it brought the series full circle with what we got now and what came before kind of tying things up. Watching all this again gives me the same feeling I have watching an episode like In Purgatory's Shadow and seeing all the revelations come to light. It's a feeling of holy crap this is fantastic and makes too much sense. Best thing about it is, there's barely any action. All of it is pure emotion, character-driven Drama. I really did forget how awesome this episode was, and how awesome this season is.

 

[flemm]

Rapture is 100% awesome, yes, probably my favorite Emissary episode, though Destiny is also very good. I do think that most of what we see foreshadowed here as prophecy was already planned by this time, certainly the "locusts" as the Dominion invasion fleet that initially heads to Cardassia, along with Bajor's need to sign the non-aggression pact due to the upcoming attack on DS9. That doesn't make the episode any less awesome, though.

Similarly, we see a lot of the later events of the Dominion War foreshadowed in Statistical Probabilities, including the Romulans joining the war and a Cardassian uprising behind the lines. These were also no doubt sketched out at least in a cursory form ahead of time.

The lines about Sisko holding the whole universe in his arms like Jake as a baby are especially memorable. What I enjoy most, though, are the parallels that start to emerge here between Sisko's visions and the writers' own unfolding conception of the DS9 saga: what Sisko sees briefly in this episode is the DS9 story from the writers' point of view, thus leading the way to Benny Russell and Sisko's double life as the science fiction storyteller who created DS9 in the first place

Most rewatchable? Well, there are other eps that I rewatch more, but anyway it is awesome.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Can't wait. So many good episodes to come for me.

 

[tomalak301]

Most rewatchable? Well, there are other eps that I rewatch more, but anyway it is awesome.

I think what I was aiming for wasn't rewatchable on an entertainment level, but more along the lines of how much we get in terms of foreshadowing and how much more appreciation one gets for it after seeing how the series ended up.

 

[DS9 Gal AZ]

I wouldn't call it my favorite episode or the most re-watchable episode (I was never too keen on Sisko getting oh-so-comfortable w/his role as the Emmisary and basically being the Bajoran version of Jesus), but I agree, in terms of foreshadowing it was very clever.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

I just reviewed "The Wire" with relentless praise, and did my best to point out some of the stronger foreshadowing within its classic hour. I think this should be considered a candidate for most rewatchable episode in the series.

 

[DS9 Gal AZ]

ITA about "The Wire!" Garak and Bashir? Awesome.