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Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Way of the Warrior, Parts One and Two

Review by An Honest Fangirl

"The last thing this station needs is more Klingons."

Well, this is certainly one way to start a season. Invasions and banter and new cast members, oh my!

A lot happened this episode, huh? I guess we can start with the obvious. The Klingons are the enemy again. This is wild and another massive shift in the Star Trek universe. It's one of those changes where I wish that I could have seen the reaction when the episode first aired.

I was all prepared for the Dominion to be the main threat this season. The opening scene involved everyone preparing for a changeling sighting. Last season left off with a warning that changelings were already everywhere. I expected them to be our Big Bad. And I guess they still kind of are. We never saw a single member of the Dominion, but their presence was still widely felt. As befitting a shapeshifter race, they aren't exactly an open threat that you can face down head-on like the Klingons. They're more insidious than that, spreading fear and paranoia and letting people do awful things in the name of peace.

All of which is to say, Worf joins the cast! This is also where I admit that I've only seen maybe three episodes of The Next Generation, so I don't have any preexisting attachments to him as a character. That being said, I really enjoyed his character arc and struggle throughout the episode. It gave the Klingons as a whole more depth and dimension to them. It made them real as opposed to just some stereotypical villain to root against.

I also really like the dynamics that he has with the existing cast. He already has a comfortable bond with O'Brien, which is nice to watch, and I really enjoyed all of the scenes where Worf and Sisko were talking about their shared experiences and doubts with Starfleet. But my favorite relationship was probably between him and Dax. Worf apparently knew Dax's other host, but whatever bond of friendship they may have had apparently didn't transfer over. It's an interesting dynamic, and one I'd like to see explored further.

Of course, this episode wasn't just action. And although the action scenes were by and large very well done, I found myself enjoying the smaller, quieter moments a lot more. I particularly enjoyed Sisko during Garak to warn the Cardassians about the incoming invasion. It just a simple, clever solution that treated our characters like the intelligent beings that they are. I also loved the conversation between Garak and Quark about root beer. Definitely no Obvious Symbolism going on there, no sir.

But all in all, an excellent season opener that makes me excited for the future.

Random Thoughts

The Cardassians have a new government, one that's immediately under siege. I'll be curious to see how it fares long term.

Sisko got to kiss his lady friend. Always a good day when that happens.

Although the way she was speaking when they rescued her ship was odd, especially since the subtitles put emphasis on some of her words where you wouldn't normally do that. I kept waiting for them to reveal that she was a changeling. Maybe in a future episode.

Deep Space Nine got a serious firepower upgrade. That was fun to see.

We got a new opening sequence! Not sure which one I prefer yet.

This was originally a two part episode. Netflix has both of them airing as one unit.

Quotes:

Bashir: They broke seven of your transverse ribs and fractured your clavicle.
Garak: But I got off several cutting remakes which no doubt did serious damage to their egos.

Dukat: I must compliment you, Captain. You're nearly Cardassian in your punctuality.

Garak: Well, let me guess. You're either lost, or desperately searching for a good tailor.
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An Honest Fangirl loves superheroes, science fiction, fantasy, and really bad horror movies.

4 comments:

  1. The episode actually originally aired as one two hour episode. It was edited into two parts for syndication. The dvd put it back as one episode.

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  2. Worf didn't actually know Curzon Dax, but Kurzon is a famous figure in Klingon society(Season Two's "Blood Oath" is another episode which highlights this). He was a Federation representative at the Khitomer Conference, which was depicted in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Curzon doesn't appear though, since the movie came out a couple of years before DS9 began. That conference resulted in the Khitomer Accords, which remained in place until the Klingons withdrew from them in this episode.

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  3. I did watch the series when it initially aired and I was unhappy about them moving him over because I *not* a Worf fan at the time. I like Worf much better now, for some reason. Go figure.

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  4. Great review. The introduction of Worf to the show and the Klingons as antagonists actually came about because the studio told the producers to shake things up to boost ratings. And yeah, the root beer scene is a classic.

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