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Deep Space Nine, the Finale
Review by Techtite
 Ringing
in my ears are the immortal words of Dr. McCoy to Spock, "Must
you be so blasted honest?" However, allow me to be equally
honest: I haven't been a major fan of DS9 for years. Local "Trekkie"
friends stopped watching near the end of the third season or
so. While I myself stopped watching regularly, I would catch
one or two episodes now and then, just to see how things were
going. I suppose a few other Trekkies have done the same. In
any case, no need to casually watch anymore; the last new episode
has aired, on the week of June 6th.
The finale, titled "What You Leave Behind,"
will certainly not make DS9 re-runs gain any more watchers; all
DS9's flaws are still there. To
coin the original Star Trek mantra, there are no new worlds
explored, no new civilizations, and they don't boldly go anywhere
that they hadn't gone before, many seasons ago. As for new alien
races, it is pretty grating to see their last idea for a "new"
race one last time; a bunch of Battlestar
Galactica "Cylon" rejects that are too laughable
to be believable. You can forgive the special effects department
for not using anything groundbreaking for a series finale, though
one unique alien (or scene) would've been nice.
It's
not a bad finale per se; its the past few seasons that have been
bad, which the finale is forced to deal with. The recurring theme,
for several seasons now, has been a "galaxy war" of
sorts between the Federation and the "Founders." With
neither side really winning or losing, this war got old and dull
very fast, with the only real "open ending" each week
being that the war wasn't over (oh, joy). The finale plotline,
therefore, has the sole purpose of tying up all loose ends, in
all of two hours! Fans may be either pleased that they leave
no questions unanswered, or peeved at how easily some of the
dilemmas are resolved. Given how plodding the war was, for several
seasons, its one-episode resolution is bittersweet. It's not
even a "happily ever after finale," either, for many
of the regular cast members; Not a good way to "thank"
fans still watching!
On the plus side, the finale does have what the series always
had; an extremely likeable cast; the characters, as well as the
actors who played them. Avery
"Sisko" Brooks, Nana "Kira" Visitor, Rene
"Odo" Auberjonois, Alexander "Dr. Bashir"
Siddig, Colm "O'Brien" Meaney, Armin "Quark"
Shimerman, and of course Michael "Worf" Dorn, all represent
the best reason --if not the only one-- that loyal fans kept
watching. Even Terry Farrel's replacement to play Dax this last
season, Nicole DeBoer, was quite likeable. By centering most
of its attention to these characters, the finale succeeds on
many levels, by making you care what happens to them,
if not what happens to the series.
By the time the camera pans away from the station one last time
--in a particularly well done visual effect-- what does a viewer
feel? Well, as I have already implied, the series is not as missed
as the stars. With luck, many of these characters will return
in cameos of Next Generation movies and Voyager
episodes. As for DS9 itself, though, this finale
implies that the station and its inhabitants have earned a well-deserved
rest. Agreed.
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