Kudos for the sometimes overlooked Andrew Robinson as Garek. He is excellent in every scene. Rivals Jeffery Coombs.
Add a Review
-
shrapp200231 January 2021
-
Tweekums23 July 2010As the fifth season of Deep Space Nine comes to a close things are looking bleak; more and more Dominion ships are coming through the wormhole and heading to Cardassia. To make matters worse an increasing number of Alpha Quadrant races are signing non-aggression treaties with the Dominion. Knowing that the peace will not last Sisko decides to start the war before the Dominion can amass an unbeatable force in the Alpha Quadrant. To do this they start to mine the opening of the wormhole. As soon as they start the Dominion launch an attack on the station and it is a race against time to finish laying the mines before the Dominion can get through the defences and prevent it being completed. It isn't all doom and gloom though; Rom finally marries the beautiful Leeta and Worf and Jadzia get engaged although by the end of the episode both couples are separated and the Federation have been forced to abandon Deep Space Nine.
This was a great season finale with a fine cliff hanger ending, the station may have fallen but Sisko has left a subtle message to let Gul Dukat know he intends to return. The battle scenes were amongst the best seen in any Star Trek episode to date as a large Dominion fleet takes on the station's defences. As good as the action was the size of the Federation Fleet that the Defiant joins in the closing scene suggests that even larger battles will be seen in the next series. -
snoozejonc6 March 2023Sisko takes action when the Dominion sends forces into the Alpha Quadrant.
This is a classic episode that ends the season spectacularly and sets up an exciting story arc.
I cannot say too much about the plot without spoiling, but it's safe to say that several years of tensions have been building towards this episode and it does not disappoint. The writers make sure that all characters contribute with either big decisions or memorable little moments.
All actors are on great form, particularly Avery Brooks, Jeffrey Coombs and Max Grodénchik (great Casablanca tribute).
The visuals are some of the most memorable in Star Trek history. -
Often "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" would end their seasons with exciting cliffhangers about pending intergalactic wars. Generally, these were among the best of the show, as they were really exciting and action-packed--and a bit contrast to the usually cerebral episodes. So, the fact that I really liked this one is certainly no surprise.
There is a HUGE build-up of Jem'Hadar ships poised to come through the wormhole. At the same time, a combined Cardassian and Jem'Hadar fleet has assembled near DS9. So, it looks pretty obvious that the long-awaited war is about to occur. In a last-ditch effort, Sisko orders the Defiant to mine the entrance to the wormhole and Rom has figured out a way to make these mines self-replicating! Will they have to use the mines or can war be somehow averted?
Apart from some annoying antics from Jake, this is a very good show- -as is the follow-up that will follow. Well worth seeing and one of the better shows of the season. -
Hitchcoc2 November 2018The ending episodes are usually better than this. What we have here is a massive attack by the Dominion and a reprisal by Benjamin, using space mines. But there is no spark. I agree that Jake and Nog are about as worthless as characters can be. Why waste screen time on them. The Cardassians are so smug and full of themselves, but don't you feel that they have a comeuppance at a future time. We are given a hint that things are not finished as the season ends. And then there is that Bajoran treaty. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens in the opening episode of Season 6.
-
dlpburke30 December 2014Let's run through the nonsense that crops up in this episode to illustrate. I haven't done this before, so it should be fun. It will get to the point about how basic some of this writing is. Due to the laziness of Trek writing, there is quite a lot to talk about.
1. Ferengi society is absurd. For a space-faring race, they are grossly unrealistic. Rom still bleating about nakedness at a wedding is comedic only.
2. Garak has supposedly gone through 153 wedding dresses with Rom and Leeta. How does he know it's that many? And just how long have they been stood there? Five Hours? 3. Leeta, Rom, and Ziyal remember exactly which dress goes with which dress number. That means they know all 153 dresses that they discussed with Garak. They know it so fluently, as well. It comes as easy to them as 9 * 9 does to me. 81! There, I can do it too! Piece of cake.
4. Having this wedding comedy going on at the same time as doom and destruction beckon for the Federation sets a conflicting tone in the episode. Mixing those two story lines is naive writing.
5. "That's the fifth convoy heading for Cardassia in the last five weeks" And you have done nothing about it. Nothing at all. Talk about Adolf and the 1930s.
6. Jake is a reporter, and reports on his dad. Another shoehorned storyline to give a useless character a reason to remain on the show. The whole thing is stupid anyway. Nothing has led up to this apart from some minor words and HEY PRESTO- Heeeeere's Jakey! We haven't seen any proper reporters in Trek. It hasn't been touched upon, because Gene and co eradicated this sort of thing- just like Rock music v Classical. This also brings up the whole problem with how careers would work in a moneyless society. But hell, there is enough crap here to deal with already.
7. Is Sisko a genetic superhuman too? He can tell you what the 190th Ferengi Rule of Acquisition is on a whim.
8. Nog is another worthless character who was given a new job to keep him on the show. Suddenly this brainless half-wit is good enough to join Starfleet. Again, it's another example of Star Trek's HEY PRESTO writing.
9. Mining the entrance to the wormhole. Not a bad idea (maybe you should have started that five weeks ago?), but who have you got coming up with the method? It's Rom- another well established brain-dead character who then suddenly joined Starfleet. On one hand, acts like an idiot and, on the other, comes up with, and implements, a system of self replicating mines. And that brings up a further logical problem: This idea would have been devised a LONG time ago by somebody else. It's as if the writers thought "Wow, good idea. How fun. Roll with it." 10. Look at how this script: Rom: "What if I can't make her happy!? What if this is the biggest mistake of my life!?" O'Brien: "ROM!" Rom: "...Self replication. That's the only answer." WHAT is going on there??????????? And it doesn't stop. Go back and watch.
I can do it, too: "Balloons!" "E=MC2!" 11. There is a gaping problem with the mine idea (well, several actually). Even nuclear weapons today would be able to wipe out thousands of them in one shot. And Trek weapons must be better than that, right? But again, the writers don't care, so shut off your brain, people! 12. "You'll have to wait until the whole minefield is deployed before you can activate it." They can't work individually? That's just nonsense. The explanation Rom gives as to why this is doesn't make any sense either. He then goes on about Leeta's clothes. This entire scene is like he's having some sort of schizophrenic breakdown. The writers want him to be a genius and a dumb-ass at the same time. Comedy has a place, but not in serious exposition of this kind. And no-one acts remotely like this unless they have a medical condition.
13. DS9 would be long gone. It's right next to the wormhole and the Founders would have obliterated it. Especially given it has nothing substantial guarding it, except Starfleet's trusty "Shields down to 10%".
14. An ambassador to the mortal enemy of Starfleet comes to discuss the minefield. A bit like that Nazi ambassador who came to discuss allied tactics with Churchill during WWII....
Oh, and the ambassador knows about a minefield that hasn't even been deployed and to which there was no way an information leak could have occurred. The story doesn't even go into how he found out, because the writers didn't care about that. It's another HEY PRESTO moment.
This list does go to 26.... But no space here.
http://www.jammersreviews.com/st-ds9/s5/arms.php -
thevacinstaller5 August 2021I found it interesting that Starfleet/Klingon's actually started the war with the Dominion. War was coming obviously but it is definitely out of character but certainly warranted.
It turns out that the Ferengi are the salvation of the quadrant thanks to the idiot savant known as Rom. Jake Sisko is working towards an journalism award by willingly staying on the station during it's occupation.
You know ---- This is a perfectly fine episode --- but --- Since 2009 the franchise has been flooded with war arcs/themes and galactic stakes and my enjoyment of this story device is lessened with each year and that has even seeped it's way into DS9's war arc. That's a real bummer but it's the truth.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season 5 overall: * The average review score is 7.11 out of 10. This is the lowest review average of the five current seasons but still overall it is a positive score.
* No 10/10's this season but the episode where Keiko is possessed by a space devil earned a 9/10 and a wonderful episode called 'Children of Time' earned a 9/10 as well.
* I would say there is a quality dip this season. I am interested to see what happens with season 6.
* No performances stand out to me this season. I think Bashir's performance gets better every year though.
* DS9 gets a lot of love for the serialized war arc but I am definitely in the minority that had a favorable opinion of those crazy sci fi episodes of earlier seasons.