Date: September 1, 2020
Season 7, Episodes 19 and 20
Musical Accompaniment: Ambient Worlds presents Outlander Music
Interstellar News: Today was a strange day.
So what had happened in “Strange Bedfellows” was…: Thot Gor of the Breen has replaced Damar as the right hand of the Dominion and Damar is super pissed at how much this alliance has really cost Cardassia. Weyoun 7 is killed by Worf and replaced by #8. Ezri and Worf make amends with each other and prepare for their execution, but Damar helps them to escape so they can tell the Federation he’s on their side. On DS9 Yates is now “Mrs. Sisko” and the wife of the Emissary while Quark and Bashir pine for Ezri. Winn and Dukat are totally doing it and Winn has another vision, but this time they tell her they are the Pah-wraiths. She consults an Orb but it is quiet and Dukat tells her that he was sent by the Pah-wraiths. To her credit she kicks him out and calls Kira to her room. Kira tries to explain the Prophets are telling her to step down as Kai, but Winn won’t hear another word and calls Dukat back because the Prophets have never given her anything.
So what had happened in “The Changing Face of Evil” was…: Ezri and Worf make it back to DS9 but the Breen have attacked Earth. Sisko tries to protect Yates but he himself has to take the Defiant out right away to protect the Chin’toka System. The Breen use energy dissipators which disables the Defiant and ultimately it and several other ships are destroyed, causing the Federation to fall back. Damar warns Thot Gor of the Dominion’s easily changed loyalty and starts to contact other Cardassiants to start the resistance. They destroy the cloning facility and put out a communication that they are defecting from the Dominion. On Bajor, Winn and Dukat are going to release the Pah-wraiths so they have to consult the Kosst Amojan – but the pages are blank. After weeks of study and getting no where, Solbor figures out who Dukat really is and tells Winn. Winn panics, stabs Solobor, and the blood from the knife brings the pages to life.
Favorite Quotes:
Worf: We must get back to the station and warn Starfleet about the Breen.
Ezri: You’re right. There’s just a few problems. We’re on a Jem’Hadar ship heading in the wrong direction, hanging upside down and…
Worf: And what?
Ezri: I think I’m getting spacesick.
Ezri is more playful in her humor than Jadzia was, but she’s also much younger so there’s that.
Sisko: What are you doing? You don’t cook.
Yates: I know. I was just making sure.
Yates delivers her lines wonderfully.
Part 3 – “There is no honor in self pity”: I can’t believe how long it took me to put together that the Breen and Dominion were getting together. These seemingly unrelated trips, Weyoun telling Damar to pack it up we’re going on a road trip and then the Breen taking on two Starfleet captives, become so obvious once the encounter it made. “Thot”, by the way, is not a nice word and I went wide eyed when it was uttered. That certainty did not age well. You can tell how defeated Damar feels and how he feels he failed his people, but he also sees just how easily he can be discarded by the whims of the Founders. Damar, just as Dukat, has always been a proud Cardassian and he’s finally realizing that the Dominion doesn’t care about the individuality. I was glad to see he helped Ezri and Worf.
On the station I loved how everyone responded to Sisko getting married. Martok reminisces, Quark taunts Odo, and Bashir pines away for losing Dax twice now. I also thought it was a nice touch that Yates expresses how she married the man, not the Emissary, and she’s got to draw the line somewhere. The Winn/Dukat bit was promising until she drank the damn Pah-wraith Kool Aid and also turned Evil with a capital ‘E’. I mean I get that she’s fed up with being ignored but Kira makes good sense… if the Prophets haven’t shared with you it’s likely because they don’t like who you are, so maybe if you show them you can be better they’ll talk to you. Kira says herself, she’s not a vedek, and honestly that’s who Kai Winn should talk to… the damn vedek assembly. I was really hoping Winn was going to finally, finally turn around, and I was really disappointed in the ending.
Part 4 – “He plays with toys.”: When Earth is attacked Yates tries so hard to cheer up Sisko by cooking and then she remembers she can’t. I love the conversation she and Sisko have about their jobs. We always want to keep out loved ones safe but we also have to keep their wishes in mind. As with all newly married couples there are some adjustments to be made, but Sisko and Yates are also adultier adults who can talk about their problems. O’Brien and Bashir try to distract themselves from their problems by diving in deep with their Alamo strategy, while Ezri and Worf take their newfound friendship time to discuss if she really loves Bashir or not. I was shocked and saddened by the passing of the Defiant, it was a tough little ship but she went the way of the other 137 roundabouts on this show. Seriously, how many runabouts have they gone through since the first season?
I sympathize with Damar because he was not the one who made the decision to align with the Dominion (that was Dukat) but he winds up stuck their puppet with no real power. He likely did terrible things during the occupation of Bajor, but we don’t really know his backstory so he’s not as terrible as Dukat. You can’t judge a Cardassian because of their race, but he likely drinks to forget all of the terrible things he’s done in the name of Cardassia. I also loved that they targeted the cloning facility and Weyoun gulps because he might be the last of his line.
Again I am wicked pissed at Winn. When confronted with the truth SHE STILL WON’T ADMIT HER MISTAKE. She has been sleeping with Gul Dukat, he’s clearly been using her to free the Pah-wraiths, and she kills her most loyal aid. I can’t with her any more. There is no redemption for Dukat or Winn, unless one of them sacrifices themselves for the good of Bajor or something.
Two more good episodes that move the plot along… but I want to know what happens!
TA Out!
To Boldly Go Where Everyone Has Gone Before 