An action episode that successfully manages to place character moments above the fighting. It also has a nice callback to the Iconians from a very old TNG episode. The Jem'Hadar were already a fascinating enemy, but every time the show reveals more about them to us they become even more intriguing - and we see that they are really, really brutal. While they are extremely disciplined it turns out that they are also highly individual. I particularly enjoyed the almost-friendship that begins between Jadzia and Virak'kara, and the complete opposite aggression between Worf and Toman'torax (played by the excellent Brian Thompson).
Of course, this is notable for being the episode that introduces Weyoun (and finally lets us in on how exactly the Vorta function). Played to perfection by Jeffrey Combs (who was already playing the recurring character of Brunt on the show), this guy is grew to be one of my favourite characters in Trek. From the start here he's manipulative, slimy and devious while always being somehow humble and ever so slightly charming. It's an odd mix that results in the viewer both hating him and feeling joy whenever he's on screen because we know if he's around then sparks are going to fly.
There's some good comedy from other areas, especially when Bashir accidentally sits in Worf's favourite chair. That's followed up very quickly by shock when we see that DS9 has had one of its pylons destroyed (fortunately they replace it super fast due to TV magic).
This episode was always memorable to me because the neck-breaking scene was edited on the UK releases (at least on video/DVD). Sky do broadcast it uncut these days, but I remember searching for the clip online back in the day so I could see what I was missing. Not such a big deal now, and the Netflix UK version is the full uncut one.
EDIT: reading about the episode online, it turns out that it was also heavily cut for violence in the USA prior to broadcast, and that footage has never seen the light of day anywhere worldwide. Interesting!
Review by LeftHandedGuitaristBlockedParent2017-11-30T15:03:27Z
An action episode that successfully manages to place character moments above the fighting. It also has a nice callback to the Iconians from a very old TNG episode. The Jem'Hadar were already a fascinating enemy, but every time the show reveals more about them to us they become even more intriguing - and we see that they are really, really brutal. While they are extremely disciplined it turns out that they are also highly individual. I particularly enjoyed the almost-friendship that begins between Jadzia and Virak'kara, and the complete opposite aggression between Worf and Toman'torax (played by the excellent Brian Thompson).
Of course, this is notable for being the episode that introduces Weyoun (and finally lets us in on how exactly the Vorta function). Played to perfection by Jeffrey Combs (who was already playing the recurring character of Brunt on the show), this guy is grew to be one of my favourite characters in Trek. From the start here he's manipulative, slimy and devious while always being somehow humble and ever so slightly charming. It's an odd mix that results in the viewer both hating him and feeling joy whenever he's on screen because we know if he's around then sparks are going to fly.
There's some good comedy from other areas, especially when Bashir accidentally sits in Worf's favourite chair. That's followed up very quickly by shock when we see that DS9 has had one of its pylons destroyed (fortunately they replace it super fast due to TV magic).
This episode was always memorable to me because the neck-breaking scene was edited on the UK releases (at least on video/DVD). Sky do broadcast it uncut these days, but I remember searching for the clip online back in the day so I could see what I was missing. Not such a big deal now, and the Netflix UK version is the full uncut one.
EDIT: reading about the episode online, it turns out that it was also heavily cut for violence in the USA prior to broadcast, and that footage has never seen the light of day anywhere worldwide. Interesting!