5x01 Apocalypse Rising

[8.0/10] When I think about Deep Space Nine, I tend to think about the moral and narrative complexity at play. Far away from the centers of Federation power, and thrown into the vicissitudes of war, Sisko had to make tough choices that, say, Picard rarely had to make. And given the static spot of the titular station, the series could deal with evolving political tensions between the Bajorans, and the Cardassians, and the Dominion, and even the Klingons, than more purely episodic shows.

But in an episode like “Apocalypse Rising”, you can practically feel the powers that be declaring “Keep It Simple, Stupid!” Even if you haven't been paying attention to the intricacies of the prior season, it’s easy to follow along with this one. Klingon Chancellor Gowron is, ostensibly, a changeling. Sisko and company are on a mission to expose him. They have to infiltrate a Klingon stronghold and set a trap for him. Badda bing, badda boom.

I’m being a little flip there, but it’s not a knock. I took a break between seasons 4 and 5, and it’s nice to have a straightforward episode like this one to reorient the audience to the central conflicts and reestablish the characters after a three-month absence. Commendably, Deep Space Nine immediately picks up the “Gowron is a Founder” tease from last season’s finale without pussyfooting around it. Diving into a scheme to out him and potentially stop the burgeoning war between the Federation and the Klingon empire makes good on the stakes here.

So does the novelty of the clandestine mission into Klingon territory. I watched most of Deep Space Nine as a fairly young kiddo. As a result, many of my memories of the show are fuzzy. I remember the big picture details, but not necessarily the finer points of individual episodes. And yet, I remembered Sisko and company masquerading as Klingons, which speaks to the power that seeing a crop of familiar characters in such an unfamiliar guise holds.

In truth, “Apocalypse Rising” can get away on sheer novelty alone. Seeing a quartet of Starfleet Officers pretend to be is worth the price of admission. In truth, it’s a little odd for Worf to be able to pull off the deception, since you’d assume he’d be a minor celebrity/curiosity in the Klingon empire, but I’m willing to go along with it for the thrill of the experience. Seeing Odo and O’Brien struggle to pull off the ruse, but rise to the occasion when it counts, is a treat. And there’s something especially compelling about how well Sisko slips into the role -- with a combativeness that recalls him popping Q in the mouth and declaring, “I’m not Picard.”

More to the point, the episode practically writes itself when it comes to establishing tension. The episode makes great fanfare over the fact that our heroes may not survive this dangerous mission to the heart of Klingon leadership. Despite the fact that savvy viewers can probably guess that Sisko and his allies won’t perish on the mission, their efforts to stay undetected and close calls with both run-of-the-mill Klingons who expect a certain bravado and combativeness, not to mention acquaintances like General Martok and Chancellor Gowron who know them in their true forms, bolsters the tense energy of the hour and keeps things interesting.

By contrast, the events back on the station are a little more staid, but still a solid means to remind viewers what the rest of the crew is up to. Seeing Kira more firm in her command in Sisko’s absence is nice evidence of growth for the character. Her scene with Dr. Bashir playfully blaming him for her pregnancy is amusing since Nana Visitor and Alexander Siddig were a real life item at the time. Gul Dukat takes a more, shall we say, exacting approach to the Klingon threat when assisting our heroes. The episode even takes time to acknowledge Jake who, in his aspirations to become a novelist, has become a keen observer of people, recognizing how the denizens of the promenade seem different in a state of war. The key focus of “Apocalypse Rising” is plainly the secret mission in enemy territory, but the show does well to remind us that life goes on aboard the station.

That’s the funny thing about “Apocalypse Rising”. Even when Deep Space Nine is ostensibly going for the simple and accessible, it can’t help but introduce nuance and complications. Our heroes’ goal is to out Gowron as a Changeling thanks to Odo’s intel. But in a clever twist, it turns out that Martok is the Changeling, despite seeming allied with the good guys in their effort to expose Gowron at first, but who reveals his ignorance of Klingon mores steadily. Even the fact that exposing the traitor in the Klingons’ midst, doesn’t end the war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire speaks to the more complicated political situation countenanced by DS9.

But my favorite part of the season premiere is, naturally, Odo. Like TNG’s Deanna Troi when she lost her psychic powers in “The Loss”, there’s the sense of Odo’s new solid state as a disability story. Suddenly robbed of his ability to shape shift, forced to subsist on food and drink like we mere mortals, Odo feels worthless. Life has lost its luster. There’s something sweet but sad about the way he takes solace in the bubbles of an alcoholic beverage at Quark’s, a sign of how far he’s fallen psychologically that he finds such comfort in something he once roundly ignored.

The loss is enough to convince Odo that he’s useless. He believes he’s no good as a “constable” without his Changeling powers to recommend him. His lack of self-confidence in the ruse, and his close calls in the Klingon warriors’ hall speak to that.

Nonetheless, even without his special abilities, it’s Odo who spots Martok as the traitor and changeling. The lack of concern for honor, the ignorance of Klingon cultural norms, exposes Martok to the resurgent lawman, able to identify his countrymen even without the ability to physically out them. The turn is a lovely tribute to the fact that what made Odo a good security officer was his mind, his nose (if you’ll pardon the expression) for details, and his ability to use his critical thinking skills to connect the dots, not his super powers. The way this occurrence serves as more than a solid meat-and-potatoes tale of espionage and political intrigue, but also as a personal story of Odo getting his groove back, so to speak, is characteristic of Deep Space Nine’s approach to Star Trek.

It’s an approach to where, even when the series attempts to be straightforward and accessible, it adds moral and narrative complexity. Do you kill the leader of a foreign government when you suspect they’re a foreign agents? What does it mean to be a capable and loyal officer who takes on tough missions when ordered, but also a single parent with a son waiting for you back home? How do you rediscover your identity when a major part of who you are has been stripped from you against your will? At the start of a new season, one where the producers’ focus had largely shifted elsewhere, Deep Space Nine still aims for excitement and accessibility, but cannot help presenting the sort of depth and complications that would characterize the series.