DS9 Flashback: The Reckoning

A fifth season Deep Space Nine episode, "The Assignment," had personified the Pah-wraiths as devils opposite the Prophet's angels. But the writers felt there was more material to mine there, and that the Pah-wraith had been dealt with too easily. So they concocted a way to revisit the subject in the form of an epic showdown between good and evil for the episode "The Reckoning."

An ancient stone tablet is discovered on Bajor, with a message to the Emissary that "the reckoning" is at hand. With the station at risk, Sisko unwittingly releases an imprisoned Prophet and Pah-wraith to inhabit corporeal vessels and do battle with one another for the fate of Bajor. It's a showdown that tests the faith of many -- Sisko's in the Prophets' ability to protect his son, Odo's in honoring Kira's spirituality, and Kai Winn's in whether risking so much is really the right thing to do.

Although the writing staff concocted this "battle of good and evil" independently, there was concern that the concept itself was too similar to one previously pitched by a pair of outside writers. Covering their legal bases, they bought the story to then develop what they wanted... eventually. The first draft reportedly pit a Kira-Prophet against a Kai-Winn-Pah-wraith in a fireball-hurling contest all over the station that would have cost a fortune -- until Sisko put a stop to it.

Staff writer René Echevarria, who had not been there during the original story breaking, was sent in for repairs. It was his suggestion that Sisko be the faithful one determined to see the conflict through, and from there it was a short hop to riffing on Abraham and Isaac, casting Jake as the Pah-wraith. Kai Winn, whom the writers wanted to return to a more villainous mode after her most recent appearances, became the doubter who short-circuits the prophesied clash. (Meanwhile, director Jesús Salvador Treviño, looking to save his budget and shooting schedule, was the one who proposed turning the showdown into the goofy "Care Bear Stare" it ends up being -- which was reportedly hilarious to film and weird to look at before the visual effects were added.)

Perhaps this rocky creative road explains some of the elements of the episode that don't quite land. Dax's characterization feels pretty off, her normal playfulness with Sisko dialed up to disrespect and almost belligerence. Kai Winn's resentment of Sisko, while understandable (and perfectly diagnosed by Kira) seems to fit a two-seasons-old incarnation of the character and overlooks her more recent growth. Odo and Kira's relationship is a touch hit-and-miss too; it's good that this episode happens after they've become a couple (because of the stakes that adds for Odo), but we've seen so little of their relationship that their expressions of love still feel strange -- and too public and easily accessed for the bottled-up constable.

But then, there are plenty of moments all throughout the episode that do work. Jake has a chance to articulate his feelings about his father's role as Emissary, and he is completely sympathetic in his fears. Winn has her most defensible point of view in the entire series, in her anger that Sisko has plundered a Bajoran artifact from the planet (like a Cardassian invader) without permission. And there are tinier, resonant accents too: Worf telling Odo he could not leave Kira in danger were he in the constable's place (indeed -- he did not); Odo's view that the Prophets should be explicit when they want people to do something.

Other observations:

• In the background, the war continues. An intriguing notion is put into play: that even though the Romulans are helping now, they may not yield the territory they've taken once the war with the Dominion is over.

• It's not anywhere near the point of the episode, but you get a real demonstration here of how easy it is for a religious zealot to manipulate "evidence" in support of their point of view. Sisko basically argues that he's doing the right thing throughout the episode because of his special relationship with the Prophets (he's always been right before). Winn argues that the environmental catastrophes on Bajor are evidence that he's done the wrong thing. Neither can be proved right, empirically.

• Winn is played as the villain this episode, but I find her a sympathetic one. For all her scheming, I believe in this episode she really does offer herself to the Prophets in sincerity... and Prophet-Kira won't even talk to her.

• A sort of reverse tug-of-war is implied by the light between Prophet-Kira and Wraith-Jake, and it seems the Prophet is about to win at the moment Kai Winn intervenes -- an extra twist of the knife for her lack of faith.

• The writers sometimes talk about how hard it was to ever have any conflict between Benjamin and Jake Sisko, but it's possible they missed an opportunity for it here. Jake lets his dad completely off the hook in the end, saying that when the Pah-wraith was possessing him, he'd have gladly given his life to stop it. He might just as easily been clinging to life, and horrified that his dad seemed not to care, and that Kai Winn of all people saved his life.

"The Reckoning" has some rough spots, but good spots too. I give it a B-.