DS9 Season 6 Episode 2 “Rocks and Shoals”

Buhhhhh, wow. Read my rambles after the cut.

I didn’t think it was allowed to have two equally compelling stories in the same episode. One of them’s got to be good and one of them’s got to be kind of crap, right?

And the contrast. Sisko & co. fighting for physical survival on a barren planet filled with hostile soldiers. Kira & co. fighting for moral survival on a space station that’s suddenly gotten too comfortable to bear.

I bought into this episode completely. I was fascinated. I needed to know what was going to happen next. And every twist and turn surprised me.

Little things -

The way Kira sleeps, sprawled out on her bed, and her little smile at herself in the morning. It was very Kira. It hurt when she looked at herself and couldn’t smile.

Mavik the nice Cardassian who brings her raktajino in the morning.

The way her red uniform stood out against the wall of grey faces in Ops. (I kept wondering if I’d see Dukat. I’m kind of glad I didn’t. His delightful scenery chewing would’ve taken the focus off Kira’s quiet desperation.)

Jake’s interview with Kira and Odo. They didn’t want to answer his questions because they didn’t want to hear what they were having to say.

The Vedek’s suicide actually rang a bit flat for me. Protest, okay. Randomly kill yourself? It seems like a very final way to protest. Is there no in-between? She came off as kind of crazy. Then again, I had no context; if the leader of the United Church hung himself in protest, I might better understand how Kira felt.

Kira and Odo, getting closer and closer in adversity. Their relationship is changing subtly, but the bedrock is still friendship and complete trust. She touches him all the time now, and he doesn’t even react. Remember back when she took his hand and he just about jumped out of his skin? They’ve been through a lot more now. Very interesting to watch.

And back on the planet -

Garak’s “oh, NO” when he realized they were about to crash was just wonderful.

Everyone howling with laughter when O'Brien complained about his ripped pants. “I guess we’re really in trouble now!” It felt real and right.

Garak sewing, and Julian with no shirt on, and - you know what, I’m going to have to make separate appreciation posts for this episode for those two. I mean, yeesh.

Poor Dax. I wonder why they shelved her for this episode? Terry Farrell sold the injury well. I was actually worried for her.

Garak and Nog’s interactions, all of them. “Cadet, there may be hope for you yet.”

Garak sussing out the interrogation in about one second and telling Nog sharply to “shut UP!” and doing his best to concoct a plausible story with very little lead time. I was disappointed that he couldn’t think of an excuse for the badge, though. C'mon, Garak, you stole it when you escaped so you could monitor enemy communications - or something - right?

The prisoner exchange. Well staged!

Keevan the Vorta. There’s a lot of hate for Keevan. I agreed with everything he did. I wonder why Sisko didn’t explain to Keevan that he could sedate the Jem'Hadar so that they could live? From Keevan’s point of view, he had no choice but to eliminate a tool that had suddenly become dangerous. It’s what he’s bred to do. The Jem'Hadar understood too. It’s not very Federation, but it’s how things are. (He was kind of a shit about it, though.)

And just a random thing - how nice it is to see everyone outside in natural light. The show’s been getting greyer and greyer. The first few seasons seemed very bright - lots of gaudy light on the Promenade, etc. - and now everything is washed out and depressing. On purpose? I needed the shot of sun, even if the context was sad.

This show, you guys.