99. Apocalypse Rising

Summary

Sisko and Dax return from meeting with Starfleet command to discuss what's to be done about the fact that Gowron is a Changeling. Starfleet decides to send Sisko to infiltrate the Empire and prove to everyone the truth about Gowron...a tough assignment. Meanwhile, Odo has sunk into quite a little depression after his transformation and is feeling useless and unnecessary. Sisko assembles an infiltration team consisting of himself, Worf, the Chief and Odo (who has to be all but dragged along, doubting his usefulness as a solid) and the three humans are surgically altered to look like Klingons. To get them to Ty'GoKor (Klingon military headquarters) Sisko maneuvers Dukat into transporting them on his commandeered Klingon Bird of Prey. The four must sneak into the ceremony of induction for the Order of the Bat'leth (to which their names have been added) and position four polaron emitters which, when activated by a switch that Sisko keeps, should force the Changeling to lose his shape. They successfully plant the devices but just as Sisko is about to activate the emitters he is called to the podium to receive his medal from Gowron. As he steps down, Martok attacks him, having recognized him as Sisko. The four are arrested and confront Martok...learning that he also suspects the truth about Gowron and wants him exposed just as much as they do. He frees them so they can go to the Hall of Warriors and kill Gowron, which will prove to all that he's a changeling. Martok keeps Odo back, ostensibly because he's not sure of his loyatlies, as Worf charges the podium and challenges Gowron to honorable combat. As they fight, Odo deduces from Martok's behavior that the General, not Gowron, is the Changeling infiltrator. Just as Worf is about to murder Gowron, Odo and Martok burst into the hall. The assembles warriors turn their blasters on Martok and kill the infiltrator. Gowron thanks Sisko for this great service to the Empire and praises Odo's cleverness in realizing that the Founders had deliberately misled him in the hopes that the Federation would eliminate Gowron, allowing the Changeling Martok to take over. The four officers return to DS9, and Odo seems to feel a good deal better about himself.

Analysis

Ehh...well...it's okay. The entire fourth-season Klingon arc was ill-conceived from the get-go and this was the beginning of the recovery process, which took most of the fifth season...therefore this episode has almost the feeling of an afterthought, something tagged on to tie up some loose threads. It's not a terribly satisfying conclusion to the cliffhanger of Broken Link but it does clear the way for the more interesting developments to come. The plot doesn't hang together all that well. They go to all the trouble of introducing those damn polaron emitters, spend a good six or seven minutes showing in excruciating detail just how each is planted...then have them destroyed as soon as Martok catches the infiltrators. And I'll never understand why they didn't get activated. Sisko was standing there, switch in hand, ready to activate them, when his name was called for the ceremony...it wouldn't have taken more than one second to push the damn button, he didn't have to stop everything and go get his medal. It would all have been over right there, which is, of course, why he didn't do it. Odo's transformation also did not get the treatment it deserved. The end of the episode finds him all smiles and jokes and it's hardly ever mentioned again until he becomes a Changeling in The Begotten. That plot development was never really explored with any creativity...oh well, you can't have everything. It is fun seeing Sisko, O'Brien and Odo as Klingons. Sisko makes a great Klingon, but the Chief and Odo look rather strange...especially Odo, since they can't really use his regular makeup underneath the Klingon makeup so what we're really seeing isn't Odo as a Klingon, it's Rene as a Klingon. I gotta say as well that I just love Worf with his hair down. The more you see Worf next to other Klingons the more you realize that he's like the Tom Cruise of Klingons, he's quite the studmuffin. The episode is almost worth it, though, for the obligatory scene between Kira and Bashir where she tells him she blames him for her gestative state...the entire exchange is an injoke, seeing as Siddig El Fadil is the father of Nana Visitor's real-life child. There's also a cute scene when Dukat assumes that Shakaar is the father of the child Kira is carrying and she matter-of-factly tells him that Chief O'Brien's the after, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Rating: 4.5

Memorable Quote:

Quark: You're just in time for Happy Hour, Captain!
Sisko: Do I look happy, Quark?

O'Brien: You know, I think I'm beginning to like blood wine.
Odo: It's really not too bad...except for the taste.

Classic Scene:

I'll go for the scene aboard Dukat's Bird of Prey when Worf is teaching his three proteges how to be real Klingons. Sisko does very well but O'Brien and Odo don't make very convincing Klingons.

Sexually Slanted Line 'O the Episode:

"Gowron had your equipment destroyed." --Martok...ooh, sounds painful.

The O/K Status Report

Nada. Zero. Zip. Zilch.

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