S06.E24: Tears of the Prophets

[John Potts]

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Despite the warning of the Prophets, Sisko leads an invasion of Cardassia, unaware that Gul Dukat has an ungodly plan.

 

 

Other than Jadzia's death, I can't say I remembered much about this episode. But there's a lot to commend it. First off, for once I actually bought into Worf & Jadzia's marriage in the scene where she's seeing Worf off at the airlock - that actually seemed heartfelt on both their parts. Whether it's a healthy relationship - I want fewer broken bones in mine - is another matter. Nor do I buy that Bashir & Quark would be so cut up over Jadzia wanting a kid - OK, Bashir maybe (he's always had that romantic loser vibe about him) but Quark? I never got the sense of any emotion there except lust, and there are plenty more females to Oo-mox him in the Quadrant.

Secondly, the geo-politics (secto-politics?) was fairly interesting. Of course the Romulans want to adopt a prudent "wait and see" attitude while the Klingons are positively foaming at the mouth to attack: it takes Admiral Ross to point out (almost quoting Senator Vreenak from In the Pale Moonlight!) that even penned up in Cardassian space, the Jem'Hadar are outbreeding the Alliance and so they have to attack. And strategically, it makes sense to find out what those new Dominon/Cardassian weapons platforms can do - I do hope they took home a couple once they'd been deactivated so their techies can see what makes them tick. And it was good to see Starfleet (even in the persona of the only sensible Admiral in Starfleet, William Ross) comment on how they were sick of how the prophets kept jerking Sisko around with all this mystical mumbo jumbo (perhaps he ought to be slightly more grateful to the beings that saved the Alpha Quadrant in Sacrifice of Angels, but we know how Starfleet feels about Godlike beings).

The battle scenes were nicely done (hey, now you've abandoned models you can REALLY go to town on ships flying around) if a little derivative of a certain other Star franchise. But at least they tech-teched a solution rather than flying down a trench to drop a torpedo down the generator's exhaust port.

Finally, nice continuity in having Worf screaming over his wife's corpse (again) - warning those in Stovokhor that a warrior is on her way.

Oh, and one great line that needs mentioning. In discussing how distasteful Weyoun finds this discussion of religion, Damar points out the hypocrisy in him thinking that the Founders are Gods. "That's different - the Founders ARE Gods!" Keep drinking the Kool-Aid, Weyoun, it's why we love you!

[iMonrey]

The Vic Fontaine thing is possibly the most eye-roll inducing factor of any ST episode for me so thankfully I was able to fast-forward through his song. (I could go off endlessly about the annoying concept of the holodeck itself but I'll restrain myself.) In hindsight, I suppose the subplot that involved Bashir and Quark was meant to punctuate the end of Jadzia more than anything else. It was a clumsy way to work them into the story at any rate. 

I do agree about the way the Prophets jerked Sisko around with "mystical mumbo jumbo" and it occurs to me that originally it made sense for them to "contact" him in the pilot episode when he went into the wormhole because that's where they are. I mean, those who do not necessarily believe in Bajor's religion refer to them as the "wormhole aliens" rather than the Prophets. It makes less sense to me they can simply hijack Sisko's consciousness  wherever he happens to be and thrust him into an altered state where they spew vague platitudes at him that he's supposed to figure out. Did they implant his brain with some sort of communication chip during their first contact with him?

At the end of the day, the entire concept of non-linear beings was an ambitious one, but not necessarily one that the writers always had a strong grasp on, as far as how they worked and what the rules were for them. I guess they figured they had a lot of latitude with them since they were more or less "magical" beings.

[blueray]

My take on it is explained in the following season.

His mother was a prophet or at least processed by one. My guess is this left some sort of trace in Sisko.  The same reason he felt that something happened to them, even though he was nowhere near the wormhole.