Out of all the Star Trek shows I can understand why some people would say that Deep Space Nine was the best series of them all. The characters and storylines were more complex maintaining the idealistic society established by Gene Roddenberry but showing just how far that ideology could be bent when confronted by the prospects of war. Gul Dukat in particular was one of the best parts of the show in that he truly believed himself to be a good man and that his cruel methods were actually for the betterment of society as a whole, a true sociopath. And Sisko's long arc about being the emissary to the Prophets who were worshipped as Gods by Bajor but were really just aliens on another level of existence within the wormhole was an intriguing idea that you could only hope had a payoff after lots of buildup. But these two characters Sisko and Dukat are what got totally butchered in the final 20 minutes of the series finale and I can't believe more people aren't calling out just how bad this was.
First what worked in the finale? The Dominion War came to a very satisfying conclusion that was appropriate for the ideology of Star Trek. Odo linking with the Changelings, curing them of the disease they had been intentionally infected with and getting them to peacefully surrender was a true Trek solution. Sacrificing his love for Kira for the betterment of all species, very nice stuff. Even Damar who was really just a side character, getting the rest of Cardassia to rise up and rebel against the Dominion, his death was actually heartfelt with what he was willing to do for his people. And getting the goodbye scenes from every DS9 regular was something that effectively hit you in the feels, except for Worf remembering how he hooked up with Ezri as that was completely inappropriate for his character as he should have remembered Jadzia. But I understand the showrunners were limited because the actress playing Jadzia would not agree for her image to be used in the finale without proper compensation. So all things considered these were all the things that worked.
But after all this it's like the showrunners suddenly remembered that they needed to wrap up the Sisko and Dukat Prophets/Pa Wraith storyline that they had been building up since the very first episode of season 1 and they tried to do this in no less than the last 20 minutes. All the build up of Sisko being meant for something grand and Dukat researching and scheming to release the Pa Wraiths, all just amounted to the two getting in a fist fight and Sisko throwing Dukat off a cliff into a pit of fire. No exaggeration that's all that happened. After this the show intentionally ends vague that Sisko still has more work to do for the Prophets and is living in their form of existence now. He may be able to return to his family one day but does not know when that will be and no further explanation on this the show is just over. More insulting is that he does not make any attempt to talk to his son Jake who was with him since the beginning of Season 1, unbelievable.
This finale honestly felt like such a waste of time committing to this show. It was a good end to the Dominion War but this was not what the show was about this was really something that just happened in the last couple of seasons. As a final end to DS9 I could not have been more disappointed and it seems pretty clear to me that the showrunners didn't actually know they weren't getting another season and had to scramble to try to make an ending. I don't care what any of the crew says about this as there are some significant inconsistencies about what they say the plan for the show was. Most telling is the behind the scene drama of how they fired the actress playing Jadzia, who only said she wanted a part time role after Season 6 because she was never told Season 7 would be the last one and didn't want to commit full time for a few more years.
There might be individual episodes I go back to on DS9 because of how strong they were but I'll never watch the show start to finish again because of how bad the writers dropped the ball right at the finish line.
First what worked in the finale? The Dominion War came to a very satisfying conclusion that was appropriate for the ideology of Star Trek. Odo linking with the Changelings, curing them of the disease they had been intentionally infected with and getting them to peacefully surrender was a true Trek solution. Sacrificing his love for Kira for the betterment of all species, very nice stuff. Even Damar who was really just a side character, getting the rest of Cardassia to rise up and rebel against the Dominion, his death was actually heartfelt with what he was willing to do for his people. And getting the goodbye scenes from every DS9 regular was something that effectively hit you in the feels, except for Worf remembering how he hooked up with Ezri as that was completely inappropriate for his character as he should have remembered Jadzia. But I understand the showrunners were limited because the actress playing Jadzia would not agree for her image to be used in the finale without proper compensation. So all things considered these were all the things that worked.
But after all this it's like the showrunners suddenly remembered that they needed to wrap up the Sisko and Dukat Prophets/Pa Wraith storyline that they had been building up since the very first episode of season 1 and they tried to do this in no less than the last 20 minutes. All the build up of Sisko being meant for something grand and Dukat researching and scheming to release the Pa Wraiths, all just amounted to the two getting in a fist fight and Sisko throwing Dukat off a cliff into a pit of fire. No exaggeration that's all that happened. After this the show intentionally ends vague that Sisko still has more work to do for the Prophets and is living in their form of existence now. He may be able to return to his family one day but does not know when that will be and no further explanation on this the show is just over. More insulting is that he does not make any attempt to talk to his son Jake who was with him since the beginning of Season 1, unbelievable.
This finale honestly felt like such a waste of time committing to this show. It was a good end to the Dominion War but this was not what the show was about this was really something that just happened in the last couple of seasons. As a final end to DS9 I could not have been more disappointed and it seems pretty clear to me that the showrunners didn't actually know they weren't getting another season and had to scramble to try to make an ending. I don't care what any of the crew says about this as there are some significant inconsistencies about what they say the plan for the show was. Most telling is the behind the scene drama of how they fired the actress playing Jadzia, who only said she wanted a part time role after Season 6 because she was never told Season 7 would be the last one and didn't want to commit full time for a few more years.
There might be individual episodes I go back to on DS9 because of how strong they were but I'll never watch the show start to finish again because of how bad the writers dropped the ball right at the finish line.
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