437. Image in the SandFORMULA: Inheritance + The Reckoning + Blood Oath + Redemption
WHY WE LIKE IT: Great set-ups. Cretak.
WHY WE DON'T: Kira's hair. (That's not much to complain about, is it?)
REVIEW: Three months later... The war isn't going well and Federation-Klingon-Romulan progress has been halted. Does the absence of the Prophets have anything to do with it? Or rather the influence of the pah-wraiths? Less metaphysically, it may be that Sisko really was the strategic genius that could win the war. Or that Bashir and his mutant friends were right all along and there's just no conventional way to win against the Dominion. Note the appearance of Damar and Weyoun, characters we'll see a lot more through the season as the villains become a very real part of the ensemble cast. Damar's drinking more openly than ever, and if Weyoun doesn't stop picking on him, he'll break.
Three months later... Kira has made it to Colonel and is head of the station, which is great, though I'm not sure I like the new haircut. I suppose she's less practical these days, but it seems a bit fancy. She and Odo are still rock solid, and Admiral Ross is still around as resident "Federation presence". What DS9 is missing is a Romulan presence, and that's finally supplied here by Senator Cretak, a surprisingly amenable Romulan who immediately befriends Kira in order to get a hospital on one of the Bajoran moons. Oh those Romulans... Is it any surprise they started hoarding torpedoes there? Cue ultimatum from Kira and a stand-off with the Romulans.
Three months later... Worf, resilient Klingon that he is, hasn't gotten over Jadzia's death yet, and his basically handling it by forcing Vic Fontaine to SING! her favorite song while he trashes the place. The notion that having been murdered did not send her soul to Sto-Vo-Kor is surprising, though perhaps less so when you consider Worf's rather exacting standards. Anyone else smell an exciting mission to right that particular wrong? After getting Martok on board, both Bashir and O'Brien decide to join up to honor Jadzia's memory as well.
Three months later... Sisko's still in New Orleans, scrubbing clams and playing the piano, waiting for some sign, some epiphany. Somehow, the Prophets send him a vision (and the pah-wraiths, an assassination attempt - a nasty cult have of course popped up) leading him to question the circumstances of his very birth. Turns out his father was married once before, to a woman who is Ben's biological mother. His condemnation of his father for keeping it from him is much too harsh here, but I suppose he's not in his right mind. How does this Sarah tie into things? The Siskos embark on a quest to the planet from Ben's vision to find out, and they're joined at the last minute by the new Dax, Ezri. We know nothing about her at this point except that she's immensely cute!
LESSON: A picture is worth a thousand words, so it may take a while to understand it.
REWATCHABILITY - High: Image in the Sand gives us three strands to follow to the next episode, enough to get every character in the cast (and plenty from the extended cast) to do cool and interesting things.
Comments
Testify Brother Siskoid!
It's a bit they had such a rough time with the character. It just felt like the writers wanted it to be a new Dax but really didn't have a strong direction for that new persona to be.
No fault of Nicole who I felt did a good job given the material she had to work with.
But her paramount adorableness kept me watching her...
Actually Worf gets all the best lines, most of which shouldn't be good lines at all but for delivery. Early in season 4 (I forget which episode) Odo and Worf were talking about uninvited guests, and when Odo asked him "Do you make your guests feel welcome?" Worf's completely guileless response of "Of course not! That would just encourage them to come back!" makes this anonymous viewer laugh his anonymous ass off every time.