This episode gave me a lot of different things to work with, so I'll have to break it up into different parts. But still the same post!
"To the Death"
Even though both episodes deal with an Iconian Gateway, "Contagion" and "To the Death" couldn't be more different from each other. After some banter on the Defiant between Worf and Bashir because Bashir's sitting in Worf's seat in the mezz hall (uh-oh!), the Defiant returns to DS9 with one of the upper pylons destroyed! (We'll totally ignore that by next episode it'll already be completely rebuilt.) There are a ton of casualties, a lot of wreckage, and then the Defiant heads out again to find who was responsible. Out of one situation and into another. Then the credits, then title
"To the Death". If there were music from a Bruce Lee Movie as that title appeared, it would've fit like a love. That's just what type of episode this is.
The Defiant comes across a wrecked Jem'Hadar ship that they quickly determine wasn't responsible, but Sisko doesn't want to take any chances. All the security guards surrounding the transporter when the Defiant is about to beam the survivors of a wrecked Jem'Hadar ship aboard, even though their weapons have been removed. This
extra level of precaution wasn't even taken with the Klingons in TOS in "The Day of the Dove". Once again showing how the Jem'Hadar are a next level opponent.
Amidst all of this is the first appearance of Weyoun, who fills Sisko in on what's going on. The Renegade Jem'Hadar who ambushed DS9 for supplies to restore an Iconian Gateway that was discovered in the Gamma Quadrant. This episode has finally addressed the question of Jem'Hadar loyalty. If they were so loyal, why would they need the white? And this episode shows what could happen if Jem'Hdadar who aren't loyal can operate without any restraints.
Later on, as an editor, I felt a true moment of inspiration:
There's a tactical briefing scene with both crews. It's in what looks like the Defiant mezz hall and it has to be the widest shot of that set I've ever seen. Either they took out the wall behind the camera crew could get a wide enough shot, or they were backed right up against an entire wall. I looked up who was the DP for this episode and it looks like there were actually two DPs: Jonathan West and Kris Koosgove. It makes sense. This episode had
far more shots than usual, they still had the same limited amount of time to shoot it presumably, so they'd need an extra DP to make sure they could get all the coverage.
With the way the tactical briefing was handled, I could just imagine the
First Contact soundtrack underneath it when there was a similar scene with Picard, Data, Worf, and some randos as the planned to retake the Enterprise-E from the Borg. In fact, I just played the tactical briefing scene and actually played
First Contact soundtrack at the same time and it fit like a glove. So much so that I'm going to do a fan-edit of that scene with that music. It really hits when the Jem'Hadar say that Odo has betrayed Heaven, Sisko points out the targets of the mission, and one of the Jem'Hadar challenges Worf. More on that later. But first...
If you want to play that scene with the
First Contact soundtrack, then:
First line up "To the Death" to exactly the 16:00-mark.
Then cue up the music. Here are the two pieces of music I listened to that scene with.
Here starting from the 2:30-mark:
And then here starting from the 0:10-mark, because the previous video ran a little short:
Now tell me that's not fucking perfect. I dare you! In my fan-edit, I can tweak this to get all the beats to hit in exactly the right spots. I don't say this often, but
that would be epic.
On with the rest of the episode:
The Battle Drill was interesting, contrasting the Starfleet way of doing things with the Jem'Hadar way of doing things. I actually hate to admit this, but the Jem'Hadar First was right. Don't plan on abandoning a location if you can't be sure the explosives are secure. That's the grisly reality of war and making sure you win.
I love the scene in the turbolift, afterward, with Sisko, the First, and Weyoun, when the First reveals he and his men already knew about the Gateway that Weyoun was trying to keep secret from them and that they didn't have to be lied to. What I like best about this is that it shows how the different parts of the Dominion aren't all on the same page. And I'm positive Sisko is taking mental notes of all this to tell Starfleet Command.
Elsewhere there's also a payoff from a line that happened almost two full seasons ago. In "The Jem'Hadar", Third Talak Talan was disappointed that he didn't get to a meet a Klingon. So, for two seasons, the idea of a Klingon vs. Jem'Hadar fight has been in the background and "To the Death" finally delivered on that idea. When the Jem'Hadar Second tries to force O'Brien to resume training, Worf intervenes, then Worf and the Second get into a physical fight. Too bad it wasn't allowed to finish. Crazy as that sounds. But I can see Sisko and the First wanting to end the fight. They just go about it in two completely different ways. The First kills the Second. Sisko confines Worf to quarters when not on duty. And the Jem'Hadar is like, "You call
that discipline?" I can't blame the First for thinking that way. To him, it doesn't even look like a slap on the wrist. Then the First says he'll kill Sisko in Worf's place for being so weak. This sets up a mini-arc within the episode where Sisko has to earn the First's respect.
Things remain tense, even though Dax tries to break it up with small talk with one of the Jem'Hadar. When they finally reach the planet the Iconian Gateway is located at, there's a brief pause when O'Brien initially hesitates to start giving the Jem'Hadar phaser-rifles.
The First gives his "Victory Is Life" Speech, then O'Brien mocks it. "I'm alive and intend to very much stay that way!" If you'll notice, as soon as the Jem'Hadar leave, Weyoun stays and tells Sisko and his crew sarcastically, "A delightful people." The fact that Weyoun is standing with the Starfleet Officers and didn't leave with the Jem'Hadar is a visual cue that he's not on the Jem'Hadar's side.
Then they head off to fight 150 Renegade Jem'Hadar on the planet's surface.
Play-by-Play, Shot-for-Shot:
And now for a different part of the review where I analyze the battle sequences. I'm going to look at how well the battle scenes were edited together and see if I can spot what was edited out for violence.
When the Renegade Jem'Hadar begin attacking at the 38:53-mark to the 39:05-mark. Every time it looks like characters are in the thick of fighting, the episode cuts to a reaction shot. I'm assuming this is where extended fighting was cut. Sisko finds one of the Starfleet Officers is dead, and it's a woman, so I'm assuming a Jem'Hadar striking her down was cut. Censors would be a lot more sensitive about women in combat situations than men. At least if they're losing. Then Odo comes over and tells Sisko, "Ramirez is dead." We don't see any of that at all, so I'm assuming that's another cut. Otherwise, Ramirez's entire fight happened off camera.
The First: "I suppose you want to call off the mission."
Sisko: "Guess again!"
The fighting picks up from the 39:23-mark and goes to the 39:46-mark. Three quick wide shots of the Jem'Hadar fighting the Renegade Jem'Hadar, the second shot is the widest of all with the other two a little bit tighter. You don't really get to see much for long. Just a sense of "They're fighting!" and that's it. Then there's a shot of the Starfleet Officers arriving, before cutting back to the fighting. Worf comes in from behind, starts slashing at Jem'Hadar, and the camera quickly cuts away to another shot. Worf did a lot more
for sure.
Dax knocks down a Jem'Hadar in a quick shot. Worf and Dax are the only two who get shots of them fighting. They really needed a shot of Sisko too in this part of the battle, just to show off more of Avery Brooks in bad-ass fighting mode. But instead, it's a shot of the Defiant crew working their way inside the building.
The fighting picks up again at the 40:00-mark. The Defiant Crew and Our Jem'Hadar fighting against the Renegade Jem'Hadar. More quick cuts, I'm not going to go over all of them. But Dax is holding off the Renegade Jem'Hadar with some other people, while Worf goes on ahead. Worf holds his own. Dax holds her own.
Dax starts a conversation with the Jem'Hadar she had a conversation with earlier in the episode, saying he'll make honored elder yet. A good line of dialogue but, in this type of situation, where everything's moving so fast, and split-seconds make all the difference, there's no time for those types of discussions. So that was a little forced. It's true they're still fighting Renegade Jem'Hadar while talking, but in hand-to-hand, concentration needs to be 100%. The slightest distraction can kill.
One of the goldshirts with Worf was struck down when Worf finds out where the Iconian Gateway is. I'm guessing he was struck down while the episode cut away to Dax. And it was definitely something that could've been cut for violence. There's a gash on his face just like there was a gash on the woman's face earlier, when the combat began. So, I'm assuming bladed weapons directly to the head where a no-no to the censors.
Ending this sequence at the 40:50-mark is Worf dropping a back, it morphs into Odo and then he takes out three Jem'Hadar in one move. So, Odo gets his bad-ass sci-fi fighting shot in!
The 40:50-mark to the 41:40-mark is the last act of the combat scenes.
We
finally see Sisko and O'Brien after the pathway is clear. So, sent Worf and Dax ahead. That makes more sense now. Especially since O'Brien is the one with the device to destroy the Gateway.
Sisko and the First finally get to combat some Renegade Jem'Hadar now that they're at the Gateway, while O'Brien sets up what he needs to set up. Sisko has his badass fighting shot. The First has his badass fighting shot. Guess they were saving the Top Two for last. Then Sisko stops a shrouded Renegade Jem'Hadar from killing the First, and the First gains respect for Sisko. Nothing cut here. It also makes sense that these Renegade Jem'Hadar would have a Jem'Hadar even guarding the guards for the Sisko and the First gain an understanding through actions instead of words. Whereas the Vorta are all about words. And you know what they say: talk is cheap.
So, it makes total sense that the First would kill Weyoun. He says he did it for Weyoun questioning their loyalty, but I think he subconsciously did it because he knew that Weyoun wasn't truly on their side because he's the one who couldn't be trusted. Which would work its way back to the First conscious level of thought: Weyoun is the one who was disloyal.
Wrapping This Up:
One more thing I want to say about Weyoun before moving on. At one point, Weyoun tells Odo in private that the Founders want Odo to return. Odo rejects the offer. I think Weyoun was trying to get Odo to return so they could judge him for killing the other Changeling in "The Adversary". They tried the carrot. Next, they're going to try the stick, and that's going to be in "Broken Link". Weyoun tried nicely, now they'll be not-so-nice.
Overall, this isn't the type of episode that I would've expected to give a 10. It seriously isn't. But here we are. Any episode that can make me imagine how a scene would play out with movie music, any episode that has such craziness going on in it, and any episode that makes me to do a play-by-play is one that kept me entertained and captivated throughout. And we get to find out more about the Jem'Hadar in an episode that's perfect for them. Plus, the first appearance of Weyoun!
I give it a 10.
