Look, the core of this episode is great. Strong women. Existential questions. Moral dilemma. Not clear whether historic Dukat is pure evil or whether he has a genuine warm side (nah, he's a pig - don't get fooled). Not sure what contemporary Dukat is trying to achieve here and - if his story is true - why he kept this secret until now and why he showed that much interest in adult Kira. Isn't the latter very creepy? Did he secretly observe her growing up in occupied Bajor? Did he become - in his insane mind - some sort of stepdad to Kira? And if so, why did he reconnect with Kira immediately after the occupation ended? If I'm not mistaken he even showed some sort of sexual attraction to adult Kira. That's creepy AF. And - that's not discussed - does that mean that Ziyal is the child of Kira's mother's successor as a mistress? Or did Dukat have multiple mistresses at the same time?
It's also repetitive, Kira reviews the morality of Bajoran behavior during the occupation. She realizes that too often she judges the book by its cover. The lines between morality/loyalty and betrayal/collaboration can be pretty blurred in dire times. Again, that's Dukat (both Dukats) who makes her think about these issues. We had this before. The episode in which Ziyal was rescued wasn't that different to be honest.
What I really don't like: the orb. It feels like cheating. I mean, they always needed some "magic" to travel into the past or to travel to the mirror universe. That's not physics 101. I get this. But the sudden introduction of an "orb of time" doesn't feel right. If it is that easy ... and how does temporal mechanics work here anyway? I mean, that's always the big elephant in the room whenever Star Trek tells time travel stories. But if that's real time travel (and at one point they discuss that Kira's action in the past might pollute the real timeline), what does that mean? Does that mean that Dukat already knew Dukat from 20 years back when time traveling Kira visited her mother? There are all sorts of questions like this. Plus, when you consider this a possibility, how could Kira dare to plant a bomb in Dukat's room. Didn't she think of the consequences? Does she realize what that means? Or - if that's all a fictional orb experience - does that mean that this story could be totally ahistorical? Too many questions are left open.
5/10 for the emotional morality play. The rest is strange.
Review by Alexander von LimbergBlockedParent2023-09-29T07:32:15Z
Look, the core of this episode is great. Strong women. Existential questions. Moral dilemma. Not clear whether historic Dukat is pure evil or whether he has a genuine warm side (nah, he's a pig - don't get fooled). Not sure what contemporary Dukat is trying to achieve here and - if his story is true - why he kept this secret until now and why he showed that much interest in adult Kira. Isn't the latter very creepy? Did he secretly observe her growing up in occupied Bajor? Did he become - in his insane mind - some sort of stepdad to Kira? And if so, why did he reconnect with Kira immediately after the occupation ended? If I'm not mistaken he even showed some sort of sexual attraction to adult Kira. That's creepy AF. And - that's not discussed - does that mean that Ziyal is the child of Kira's mother's successor as a mistress? Or did Dukat have multiple mistresses at the same time?
It's also repetitive, Kira reviews the morality of Bajoran behavior during the occupation. She realizes that too often she judges the book by its cover. The lines between morality/loyalty and betrayal/collaboration can be pretty blurred in dire times. Again, that's Dukat (both Dukats) who makes her think about these issues. We had this before. The episode in which Ziyal was rescued wasn't that different to be honest.
What I really don't like: the orb. It feels like cheating. I mean, they always needed some "magic" to travel into the past or to travel to the mirror universe. That's not physics 101. I get this. But the sudden introduction of an "orb of time" doesn't feel right. If it is that easy ... and how does temporal mechanics work here anyway? I mean, that's always the big elephant in the room whenever Star Trek tells time travel stories. But if that's real time travel (and at one point they discuss that Kira's action in the past might pollute the real timeline), what does that mean? Does that mean that Dukat already knew Dukat from 20 years back when time traveling Kira visited her mother? There are all sorts of questions like this. Plus, when you consider this a possibility, how could Kira dare to plant a bomb in Dukat's room. Didn't she think of the consequences? Does she realize what that means? Or - if that's all a fictional orb experience - does that mean that this story could be totally ahistorical? Too many questions are left open.
5/10 for the emotional morality play. The rest is strange.