A tense and (literally) dark war drama. No other show in the franchise dared to show so much of the horrors of war and personal loss. As such it's a continuation of The Ship and Nor the Battle to the Strong. Like the latter episode, some of the depictions of warfare and the actual warriors are a cheap or cartoon-ish version of real (anti-) war movies. Some aspects of the actual battle don't even make sense (like the ubiquitous mines that could easily have destroyed the whole base when detonated at once). But what did you expect? DS9 doesn't have the budget or production time to morph into Platoon, Full metal Jacket or Apocalypse now. That's not the point. That was never the point. They had to work with what they got even if that's the same old same old paper mache cave. Within the constraints of a weekly 90s TV show they produced an extraordinary episode that discussed topics that nobody else dared to discuss. And it's not even the main reason why I will always remember this episode. First time viewers think that's an isolated episode, but it isn't. I will always remember it as the prelude to one of the franchise's best episodes It's only a Paper Moon.
I also like how these officers (and the Ferengis) suddenly do what had to be done w/o being trained or prepared for their new task. People adapt to the atrocities and hardships. That's another parallel to Nor the Battle to the Strong. And although we've seen Benjamin contemplate similarly about personal sacrifice in exchange for futile wartime victories in The Ship, this never gets old.
Tbh though, w/o It's only a Paper Moon this would be a solid 6/10 or low 7/10 but due to its connection to the "second part" this is a very solid 7/10.
Review by Alexander von LimbergBlockedParent2023-10-23T18:44:40Z— updated 2024-03-06T12:18:00Z
A tense and (literally) dark war drama. No other show in the franchise dared to show so much of the horrors of war and personal loss. As such it's a continuation of The Ship and Nor the Battle to the Strong. Like the latter episode, some of the depictions of warfare and the actual warriors are a cheap or cartoon-ish version of real (anti-) war movies. Some aspects of the actual battle don't even make sense (like the ubiquitous mines that could easily have destroyed the whole base when detonated at once). But what did you expect? DS9 doesn't have the budget or production time to morph into Platoon, Full metal Jacket or Apocalypse now. That's not the point. That was never the point. They had to work with what they got even if that's the same old same old paper mache cave. Within the constraints of a weekly 90s TV show they produced an extraordinary episode that discussed topics that nobody else dared to discuss. And it's not even the main reason why I will always remember this episode. First time viewers think that's an isolated episode, but it isn't. I will always remember it as the prelude to one of the franchise's best episodes It's only a Paper Moon.
I also like how these officers (and the Ferengis) suddenly do what had to be done w/o being trained or prepared for their new task. People adapt to the atrocities and hardships. That's another parallel to Nor the Battle to the Strong. And although we've seen Benjamin contemplate similarly about personal sacrifice in exchange for futile wartime victories in The Ship, this never gets old.
Tbh though, w/o It's only a Paper Moon this would be a solid 6/10 or low 7/10 but due to its connection to the "second part" this is a very solid 7/10.