Star Trek: Deep Space Nine got a strong request to shake things up in the fourth season, so hey, what better way to do that than to make the Klingons go nuts, in “The Way of the Warrior”? Side benefit: we get Michael Dorn as Worf! Plus! Is that a side benefit?
Trekabout Episode 184: The Way of the Warrior
Jenny
-Adding Troi would have been great!
Mindy
-You guys talked for an hour and still didn’t get to all the great things in this episode. The Cardassians didn’t get enough mention. I can’t believe Dukat was in an episode and didn’t get mentioned! Wow. What about Dukat cannily switching sides! Or Garak tipping off Dukat that the Klingons are invading. Or Odo following through on his offer to have breakfast with Garak. Or Garak and Dukat fighting on the same side!! (With Dukat worrying that Garak might shoot him in the back. Alas…)
Also, it was great that DS9 was able to use Dax’s experience with Klingons to have her be able to assist Worf in solving a problem. Hilariously, I bet Dax has lived longer with Klingons than Worf has. I do love the scene between Gowron and Worf, too. I love how quick Gowron is to give Worf the boot.
I also loved the scene where Martok comes in to make a show over how he killed his underling for not executing the search of Kassidy’s ship. (Martok!!!) I also love the scene where they all sit around wondering what to do about the tip off of the Klingon invasion, since they have an alliance with the Klingons and a treaty with Cardassia. All the relationship building the Federation has been doing comes back to bite them, as honoring that alliance with the Klingons would mean leaving Cardassia a sitting duck for invasion and conquest.
It is also kind of amazing how the writers built up the political situation on Cardassia in the background so that the chain of events that we see all make perfect sense. We got the impression of weakening military control of the Empire. A Civilian dissident movement. The Obsidian Order flexing its muscle. Then the Dominion wipes out the Obsidian Order, leaving a power vacuum on Cardassia, which enables the Civilians to finally grab power from the military….. Which then immediately results in an invasion by the Klingons. Ouch. This is EXCELLENT plotting.
And poor Sisko, standing there wailing, “But you guys! This is exactly what the Dominion wants!!!”
This episode is awesome. I love it. So much great stuff in this.
PS. Quark/Garak root beer scene is one of my favorite scenes in all of Trek.
Mindy
-Oh, and also the great gag of Quark wanting to use his disruptor pistol only to find a note from Rom saying he used the parts to fix the replicators.
Eric Brasure
-I know!! There was just so much to talk about!
Such a great episode.
Tangential Commenter
-Apropos of little — I wish you’d do a few Trekabout Presents episodes on Babylon 5. Reviewing the whole series episode by episode would be a severe test of your sanity but I think looking at the overall series as a unit would be interesting.
Eric Brasure
-Funny you mention that–we have some plans surrounding Babylon 5, so stay tuned!
Michael
-Actually please do an episode by episode of Babylon 5. Knowing the disaster it was has made me not want to ever watch it, but I desperately need to live vicariously through the suffering of others.
Eric Brasure
-You’ll just have to wait a couple of months to see what our plans are… stay tuned!