DS9 Flashback: Nor the Battle to the Strong

After the writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation repeatedly did Wesley Crusher (and actor Wil Wheaton) wrong with bad material, it was a bit surprising that another child character was included in the main cast of Deep Space Nine. But these writers were smarter about how to use Jake Sisko, and actor Cirroc Lofton rose to the occasion almost every time an episode featured his character. Case in point: the fifth season episode, "Nor the Battle to the Strong."

Jake Sisko is writing a news article about Julian Bashir's presentation at a medical conference. Bored with the assignment, he persuades the doctor to divert their runabout to respond to a distress call from a Federation colony. The two find themselves in a war zone, under fire by Klingon warriors, and facing more casualties than the local field hospital can keep up with. Jake quickly learns the horrors of war, and must face his own reactions under pressure.

Deep Space Nine had previously done episodes that examined what war does to people. Just episodes earlier in this same season, the series portrayed a death in battle, and made it matter. Yet "Nor the Battle to the Strong" is something different: a darker, more visceral episode that gains much of its power from focusing on the character least equipped to deal with it. Inspired by Ernest Hemingway's writings of World War I, this episode, as show runner Ira Steven Behr put it, really messes with the "Teflon image" Star Trek had after The Next Generation. Jake Sisko goes looking for adventure -- something more exciting than his boring profile of Dr. Bashir -- and gets far more than he bargained for.

Star Trek is no stranger to voice-over, of course, but it's not a "captain's log" that guides us through this episode. Jake's narration seems a bit unnecessary at first, expressing emotions that can be read plainly on Cirroc Lofton's face. But ultimately, we learn that what we're hearing are excerpts of the article Jake ends up writing about his wartime experiences. It's not unlike the "letter to home" cliche that's common in prestige war movies, but it feels more potent here not coming from the perspective of a soldier.

We do get some of the tropes of a war film, though, repackaged in a compelling way. There are a lot of almost interchangeable medics in this episode, all with a few lines, each barely distinguishable from the others if not for the alien makeup. Jake tries to stay out of their way in a crisis, is subjected to their crass gallows humor, flees artillery shelling in the field, has to comfort a dying man, and must endure Bashir's apologies to him when he feels he's the one who has failed.

A pivotal exchange comes when Jake meets a cowardly soldier who has wounded himself to get off the front line. Jake looks down his nose at the man... until he comes face to face with his own cowardice in a crisis. The episode's most powerful scene comes when Jake meets the soldier again after his own experiences. Amazingly, this was not a scene in the original script. When director Kim Friedman, a veteran of the show ER and its frenetic pace with similar material, brought in the episode several minutes short, the writers added this scene to drive the main theme home.

It's not just Jake who's affected by this experience. We see his father go through the wringer on the way to a rescue, trying to distract himself with menial work, commiserating with Dax, even confiding in Odo just to relive tension with anyone who will listen. Bashir also shares the trial with Jake; Alexander Siddig noted what a strong episode this was, but lamented that nothing further ever really came of the closeness the two characters experienced here.

Though not an especially big part of the story, we also get a few moments dealing with ongoing story lines for the other characters. Kira's pregnancy is a topic of debate in Ops, in one of the few moments of levity in the episode. Later, Odo suffers an embarrassment when he reacts on instinct and forgets he can no longer shapeshift, causing himself injury.

Other observations:

• Once again, filming on location helps an episode a great deal. The outdoor scenes here were back out in Star Trek staple Bronson Canyon, and add a great deal to Jake's experience under fire.

• Episode writer René Echevarria originally put Jake in a foxhole with a Klingon blinded in battle. The two formed a grudging respect for one another until Jake confessed his cowardice and was thrown out by the Klingon. Ira Steven Behr insisted on changing the Klingon to a Starfleet officer, so that the audience wouldn't be made to like the enemy too much in a story that wasn't about that. This reportedly caused a huge fight between the two at the time, though Echevarria ultimately agreed the change was a good one.

"Nor the Battle to the Strong" feels more real than a lot of Star Trek, and its ending really packs a punch. I give it an A-.