A united armada of Federation, Klingon, and Romulan ships sets out to end the war once and for all. But the Dominion isn't going down without a fight, and begins a planetary holocaust to quell rebellion on Cardassia Prime. Meanwhile, Dukat and Kai Winn set out to release the Pah-wraiths from the Fire Caves on Bajor.
Even for two hours, this is a jam-packed episode. The slate of guest stars is the longest of any Star Trek ever. There are several major plot lines and dozens of characters arcs to wrap up. But it's all nearly flawless.
We get action of all kinds. There's one last epic space battle -- a mix of flashy previous footage with dynamic new material (including the Defiant performing an "aerial" loop). There's ground fighting as a new crop of Cardassian resistance rises up. The real cost of all this fighting is made clear too; we don't just hear of the staggering 800 million Cardassian deaths, we see the familiar city landscape (used all throughout the run of the show) reduced to smoldering rubble. It's a victory that Sisko and Admiral Ross can't even celebrate. (Though pouring Martok's decades-old bloodwine out right in front of him seems a tad risky, diplomatically speaking.)
Even though "endings" are the main agenda here, there are still plenty of great little character moments along the way. Quark gets a pep talk from Vic Fontaine (the final scene filmed for the series). Damar sincerely thanks Kira for her role in saving Cardassia -- a sentiment which must surely leave her conflicted. Weyoun's role of True Believer is expressed both in his callous call for genocide and the way he sops up praise from the Founder Leader even after she's just lied to the Breen. Kira inherits Sisko's baseball. We get one more righteous monologue from Avery Brooks as Sisko confronts a Dukat clearly emboldened, not cowed, by almost dying. And on the lighter side, there's playful flirting between Mila and Damar, uncontrolled hysterics as the rebels realize they can't even succeed in a suicide mission, and Quark's tone making clear that he's happier to be rid of Worf than Odo.
Almost every character's ending is satisfying and fitting. The end of Garak's exile from Cardassia is far more bitter than sweet. Miles must say goodbye to his dear friend Julian. Nog is promoted. Dax and Bashir are exploring their new love. Worf is made ambassador, officially becoming the bridge between the Federation and the Klingons that he has always been in action. Odo finally returns to his people, an agent of change in every sense of the word. Kira takes charge of the station. Quark is exactly where he's always been, where he wants to be. (Fitting that he gets the last line of the series, following an argument with Kira that mirrors one he had in the first episode.)
Then there are the deaths (and "deaths"). Damar goes out a hero. Weyoun goes out having delivered one smile-laced insult too many. Kai Winn's unchecked ambition finally exacts the ultimate price. Dukat winds up in "hell" with the very "devils" he tried to release. And Sisko's existence becomes a closed loop as he returns to the Prophets who created him.
That last point was a little fraught for actor Avery Brooks. The writers had scripted a definitive ending: Sisko knew that he would never return from the Celestial Temple. But after filming that ending, Brooks went to show runner Ira Steven Behr to express a deep reservation: leaving Kasidy Yates a single mother with an unborn child carried a pervasive, negative stereotype of black men. The scene was rewritten and refilmed to state that Sisko would return... he just could not say how or when.
That's not the only example of one of the actors being insightful about the script; other performers have said many interesting things about the finale over the years. Andrew Robinson shared his belief that Mila was actually Garak's mother. Jeffrey Combs is convinced that the Dominion (and the Vorta in particular) would never be so "all eggs in one basket" foolish enough to let Weyoun's last clone be destroyed, thinking there surely must be another out there somewhere. Armin Shimerman praised the fact that Quark never got a goodbye directly from Odo; he thinks Odo was a true friend in that moment for not "ending the game" between them.
Music plays a key role in the finale. The Vic Fontaine performance of "The Way You Look Tonight" is an unforgettable cap to a scene clearly saying goodbye to the show itself. James Darren gives a great performance full of little moments. ("That laugh that wrinkles your nose" to Kira -- and Nana Visitor's reaction -- is perfection.) This scene was filmed on the actual final day of production, and the anonymous holograms in the crowd are all members of the writing staff and recurring alien actors going without their makeup. Many in the real-world audience won't know this, yet I feel like it all infuses the scene with love and closure.
Dennis McCarthy's score is strong too, with the clear highlight being his piece for the montage of clips highlighting the growth of the characters over the years. It effortlessly weaves the Deep Space Nine theme with both "The Way You Look Tonight" and "The Minstrel Boy," hitting the emotional bullseye. It's also a clever score for the moments with no music, crucially the chilling scene when Weyoun announces the extermination of an entire city.
There are a couple of small misfires -- most having to to with Dukat. That he just shows up with his eyesight restored feels like we've skipped over some worthy chapter of the story. The odd couple pairing of him and Kai Winn has lost some momentum (and believability) in their absence of many episodes. The Winn/Dukat scenes are sprinkled throughout the episode for dramatic effect, even though they clearly can't be unfolding over the same.... days? weeks? ... as the conclusion of the Dominion War. And even though multiple episodes have built Dukat up as "the anti-Emissary," I still feel like his main conflict is with Kira, and she should have been the one to kill him if he was to die.
The sudden conversion/persuasion of the Founder Leader after linking with Odo also feels a bit convenient -- though I suppose one must consider how horrifying the prospect of "dying as a Solid" was to her. Plus, since they last linked, Odo has had a deeper relationship with Kira that surely changes the math on whether solids and changelings can truly coexist.
Perhaps the biggest misfire of all is the absence of Jadzia Dax from the clip montage (most keenly lacking in the section devoted to Worf). Apparently, lingering bad blood between the production and Terry Farrell (hard to blame her for that) led her agent to quote a sky-high price for agreeing to re-use her footage in a new episode of television. The budget couldn't afford it. But it sure distracts from the story on-screen.
Still, the strong parts of the finale so outshine the few weak spots. And the final silent moment is simply perfect: a wordless meeting of Kira and Jake, and a long pullback to literally leave the station behind. This finale isn't designed to be a tearjerker from beginning to end, but man, the moments when it turns that on really work for me.
Other observations:
- This is the first time in an entire season that we've seen O'Brien's family. Molly is looking much older. (I mean, not "came back through a time portal as a teenager" older, but you get my point...)
- Before the battle, in a moment that plays very pointedly when you know how it all ends, Kasidy Yates makes Sisko promise he'll come home to them.
- Dukat explicitly tells us that the Bajorans fear the Fire Cave. Which I guess is why a place with ancient rock carvings on a mountainside isn't crawling with tourists.
- As I noted in reviewing "Far Beyond the Stars," the writers reportedly gave some consideration to using Sisko's alter ego Benny Russell in the finale -- an idea I'm happy was discarded.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine goes out strong; rarely do I find the finale of a television series as satisfying as this. I give "What You Leave Behind" an A. The final season as a whole is quite strong too, with my Top 5 picks of season 7 being this finale, "The Siege of AR-558," "Tacking Into the Wind," "When It Rains…," and "Image in the Sand."
And with that, I leave Deep Space Nine behind -- another series of Star Trek "flashback reviews" complete. To those who have followed along as I've droned on these several years, thanks, and I hope you enjoyed it!
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