DS9 Reviews: "Apocalypse Rising"

That's an awfully dramatic title, isn't it? Saw this episode as a kid and I remember thinking it was pretty much the most intense episode ever.

It's really...not. But it's not bad either. Basically, this episode exists to bridge the "Klingons making a ruckus" storyline that was imposed on the writers during season 4 and the "Dominion War" storyline that the writers actually wanted to do and had been setting up since season 2. Now I have to assume some basic familiarity with the characters and situations for these reviews to make any sense, so forgive me. But the short version of the story events leading up to this episode is that, after Odo was punished for killing one of his own people, the Founders/Changelings, by being (somehow?) forced into a human form (a detestable "solid" to them), he remembered from their thoughts that Gowron, the head of the Klingon Empire, was a Changeling infiltrator. This was intense stuff...Gowron had been a recurring character for years, across two Star Trek series. I had his action figure. And now the T-1000 had stuffed him into a closet somewhere and he was creating this whole "Klingons are bad again" thing? Fuck him!

So Starfleet orders Captain Sisko to personally expose Fake Gowron. This is a terrible idea. He's a goddamn Starfleet captain and you're sending him on like a plausible deniability Black Ops kind of deal. Jake and Kira talk about it later and Jake mentions the reason for it as being that "he's the best." Huh? Sisko was assigned to DS9 in the first place when it was a backwater and he was a wholly unremarkable officer. Since then he's certainly proven himself, but in two arenas: diplomacy, and shooting things up with starships. Putting him in this situation is dementedly nonsensical. And since they can't shut up about how suicidal this mission is, they all clearly know what a waste of resources this could be.

But anyway, this is a general issue with Star Trek (television in general?). The leads have to do everything, even when it makes no sense. It's just especially egregious in this ep. So Sisko dresses up like a Klingon and takes along the following:
Worf: Would be very logical except for how recognizable he is. Bashir changes his forehead and hair and he still looks...exactly like Worf.
O'Brien: Best technician in the sector. Knowledge of Klingons/black ops = nil
Odo: Going through an identity crisis, also knows nothing about Klingons and since he is moping about how useless he is now that he can't shapeshift, he's probably worse at sneaking around than like a normal person would be.

Gul Dukat flies up in his Klingon Bird of Prey to take them to TyGokor, where Gowron is presiding over what is essentially a graduation ceremony where a bunch of Klingons get a B.A. in Badass. Dukat is one of the best villains of all time, even (rather, especially) when he's an ally. Still, this is in the middle of a weird period for him, when he's stripped of all political power and flying a BoP that he captured when he was serving as a freighter pilot. He's basically a snarky plot device in this episode, but he gets a hardcore moment that I'll get into below.

There's a bit here that reminds me of what TERRIBLE dialogue that Star Trek can have. I don't envy the writers, who have to deliver volumes of exposition reminding casual viewers how the technology of the setting works in the same hour time slot that all dramatic shows get. They often get away with it by just adopting a style in which all of the dialogue is somewhat stilted and free of slang. But sometimes is just sounds really unnatural. Dukat's flunky Damar (PAY ATTENTION TO HIM, even though he's a glorified extra at the moment) bitches and moans that they shouldn't be trying to expose Gowron and prevent war, but just drop a photon torpedo on him instead. Sisko rather reasonably points out that there are 30 fucking Klingon warships, space stations, planetary forcefields that would "stop a dozen torpedoes," and Damar just whines back that they are all a bunch of wusses.

HUH? Not gonna wind up head of the Cardassian Empire like that, Damar.

So their trip in the Dukat BoP (which somehow never got reported stolen or destroyed or anything) runs into trouble when another BoP shows up and queries them. Dukat brags for a moment how he's got this holofilter that lets him make visual contact with the Klingons, but it abruptly stops working. It looks like we are going to get a cute moment, very much in Star Trek tradition, where Dukat and his Cardassians clear the bridge and the disguised Starfleet guys have to save the day.

Instead, Dukat hits a button and BLOWS THE KLINGONS OUT OF SPACE.

Sisko and Worf complain and Dukat calls them fools (well he should have, the dialogue was more stilted than that).

The scene is a nice turnaround and builds Dukat's evil cred back up a little bit, but in my opinion the Cardassians are actually in the right here and Sisko is being dense. The Klingons are at war with the Federation and the Cardassians at the moment, and we'll find out in a few episodes that their idea of prisoners is "living bat'leth practice dummy." Blasting them with their shields down was indeed preferable to trusting the Starfleet guys, who at this point in the episode are being hastily trained by Worf to actually act like semi-credible Klingons for a few hours.

Speaking of which, that scene is cute as well but it really drives home what a bad idea this is. Sisko for some reason is an awesome Klingon despite having almost no knowledge of them. This is because it turns out that acting like a Klingon is literally just acting like a bellicose moron. O'Brien and Odo find this tricky.

So anyway, Dukat flies down the throat of the Klingon fleet and quite reasonably tells Sisko that he's getting the fuck out of there once he beams them down, seeing as how his holofilter is busted. This is a contrivance, of course, but I can forgive it. Dukat at this point in the series will stick his neck out a little for Sisko, but certainly no farther than this. He also points out that if they succeed, they'll be heroes to the Klingons, and if they don't, they're dead. Of course, there is another possible outcome (equipment failure) but no one brings this up.

Anyway, the Starfleet guys beam down among a few dozen frat boys...er, Klingons who are participating in a "ceremony" in which they have to drink bloodwine all night and still be awake for Gowron to pin medals on them in the morning. There are the requisite shenanigans and close calls as the Starfleet guys try to plant all four of their technobabble Changeling-exposer-balls. There is also a surprisingly dark moment where a Klingon brags about beaming aboard a Starfleet vessel and slaughtering the crew, including a friend of Sisko's. This is foreshadowing of the "war is hell" theme that will characterize the rest of the show, for better or worse. It's also a good look at the dark side (which is really, uh, the whole side) of those funny old Klingons. This was the best part of making them enemies again, it reminds us that they are really a bunch of vicious thugs. Sadly, this recurring motif of the middle of the series run largely fades when the Klingons become allies again, and they never stop wanking to how great Klingon "honor" is. Anyway, Sisko gets away with beating the guy up because that's just what Klingons do.

General Martok, who once attacked the station, shows up and finds the Starfleet agents very familiar-looking. Uh-oh. Bizarrely, he focuses on O'Brien, a man who he's never met, as opposed to Worf who he knows just fine and who doesn't even look any different. What.

Anyway, Gowron shows up! When he starts to pin a medal on Sisko, Martok's memory bells go off and he knocks Sisko down. Recognizing Sisko at least makes sense cause he's dealt with the guy, but still...Worf's right there! After the commercial break, all of the crew are sitting in a cell. Yes, this bunch of secret agents apparently just surrendered after the captain was exposed as opposed to dispersing into the crowd, or triggering their changeling trap which was already set up.

Gowron continues with the ceremony after locking up the enemy agents in a cell about 30 feet from the hall. Martok comes in and after a bit of posturing says that he too believes Gowron to be a changeling. Worf suggests that he challenge Gowron to a duel and kill him, thus exposing him. Martok brushes that off and says that he'll free them and they'll all go over and kill the son of a bitch right now. Well, isn't that SUSPICIOUSLY convenient?

This time, everyone carries the Idiot Ball except Odo. As the others charge into the room, Odo confronts Martok and basically calls HIM out as being the changeling because "A Klingon would have challenged Gowron. You're just trying to get us all to kill each other and leave you in charge, ergo, changeling." Keep in mind that Martok is HOLDING A GUN on Odo when he says this. All he has to do is shoot Odo and blame it on one of the other hundred armed Klingons around. Or, say "I'm not a changeling, just an asshole." Then shoot Odo.

But instead, the camera cuts away. The three "Klingons" (except Worf is a Klingon...shut up!) run into the room full of Klingons and Gowron actually tells his bodyguard to shut up and sit down while he fights Worf himself. He's a moron...ergo, Klingon. (Actually Gowron is usually rather slimy by Klingon standards, but he does have a serious grudge against Worf at this point.)

And at his point, Odo and Martok come staggering out of the hall wrestling. Where did Martok's gun go? Did Odo call him a changeling and THEN grab for his weapon and SUCCEED? Anyway, Martok throws Odo to the ground and Odo yells that Martok's a changeling.

Then Martok, rather than saying "Nuh-uh," decides to inexplicably, in full view, grow a tentacle and start throttling Odo.

BRILLIANT! That'll shut him up! Oh, wait, Klingons.

Sisko shoots the Changeling, and then so does EVERY KLINGON IN THE ROOM, causing the Changeling to writhe around getting shot for a few seconds and then explode with a whimper.

So Gowron has them flown back home, owing them something of a debt. But he still hates Worf, telling him that he should have killed him (that can't be foreshadowing can it?) and won't call off the war against the Feds completely without concessions (which might be the most realistic thing to happen in this show so far).

So to sum up, this episode had a lot of neat ideas, but really had a lot of stupid in it in order to make it's plot work. The idea of Odo being misled into offing the REAL Klingon leader, and having the Changeling be Martok, was a very nice one. It's just that the execution was very mediocre.

Oh, and for some reason the optical effects of the handheld weaponry are all awful and cheap looking. This will continue through for at least the next several episodes and really hurts the "War is Hell" thing that they are trying to go for.

Runabout Tally: The Rio Grande is damaged by Klingons off-screen when Sisko is flying it back to DS9 in the teaser. They never destroy this runabout, partly as an in-joke and partly so they can keep using stock footage of it, I expect. However, its mysterious invincible forcefields would be the only logical reason for Sisko to be able to fight off a Klingon attack in that thing and live.