Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

“When it Rains...”

3 stars.

Air date: 5/3/1999
Teleplay by Rene Echevarria
Story by Rene Echevarria & Spike Steingasser
Directed by Michael Dorn

"You need a lesson in humility. I'm going to see that you get it."
"By putting me out on the street?"
"You'll find that the Bajoran people are very kind."

— Winn and Dukat

Review Text

Nutshell: Some interesting revelations, though the execution is a little stiff.

Someone wrote me an e-mail saying these "Final Chapter" episodes seem to be coming off as 90 percent setup and only about 10 percent riveting stories. I find that's an interesting take on the matter—and although I personally think it's a somewhat harsh assessment (setup itself can be riveting), I certainly can see the argument.

"When it Rains..." seems to be a good example of this mindset. This episode offers more plot into the mix, but the feel of the episode is somewhat off-kilter. It's probably the most frustrating yet of the "Final Chapter" episodes, because it moves along for an hour and then suddenly halts in its tracks, with virtually no resolution. If you were like me and weren't watching the clock, you might've been blindsided by the suddenness of the "executive producers" credit appearing.

Issues of multi-part structure aside, "When it Rains..." has a somewhat excessive title. The title seems to imply we're going to be plunged into the Abyss of Despair, perhaps for the last time before the series heads into final wrap-up. I don't think that was the case nor the intention. What is the case, rather, is that we have more setup of plot and character directions, with some interesting new revelations—as the elements continue to pile up.

The theme for this week is "the enemy within." No transporter mishaps or evil doubles, mind you, but rather an indication of various powers beginning to face some internal troubles.

  • In the Klingon Empire: Gowron comes to the station to bestow a great honor upon General Martok. Immediately after giving Martok this honor, Gowron announces he's taking military command of the Klingon fleets personally, sending Martok in as simply a soldier with no real authority. Giving Martok a chance to fight the simple soldier's fight is supposed to be an honor, but the hidden intentions are clear: Gowron wants his fleets run under a different strategy, one that quickly begins to look like a series of foolish suicide missions that undermine the big picture.
  • In the Dominion: We have a large uprising of Cardassian resistance soldiers who are trying to sabotage a force that has conquered them without firing a single shot.
  • Within that Cardassian resistance: We have an internal inability for the Cardassians to choose a strategy for resisting the Dominion. Damar asks Starfleet for help. Starfleet sends Kira, an expert on efficient terrorist-style resistance. Friction ensues, with Damar's right hand, Rosot (John Vickery), looking very much like the most likely candidate to undermine the operation with his inflexible attitudes.
  • In Starfleet: We have Bashir and O'Brien, who learn Odo has contracted the disease that has infected the Founders. In the course of Bashir's new search for a cure, he draws the suspicion and ire of subjects within Starfleet, some probably answering to Section 31.
  • On Bajor: Dukat continues to seek power for himself until the Paghwraiths take an action of their own, and Winn subsequently gives Dukat a lesson in humility.

In short, there's a lot going on here. The episode doesn't always make perfect sense of everything going on (I suspect that's what the next installment is for), but I liked the implications of most of the revelations, and I found the ironies emerging from many of the situations to be interesting.

The most obvious and interesting is the irony of them all: The Cardassians have become the Bajorans. They're fighting a battle against a more powerful group that occupies their soil. And to fight this battle they need help from Starfleet, who sends the person most suited to helping in this situation: Kira. No, Kira isn't happy. No, the Cardassians aren't happy. Yes, this is a partnership destined for conflict. Sisko seems to think giving Kira a Starfleet commission will make the situation slightly less volatile. (Kira finally gets to don a Starfleet uniform. Neat.) Garak and Odo are also sent on the mission as DS9's other resident experts on the Occupation. The mission objective is to prepare Damar and his followers for internal guerrilla warfare.

As is the case with a lot of this episode, I'm impressed more by the ideas behind this story element than the actual presentation. Once Kira meets Damar and his troops, the story execution turns surprisingly routine, with a general cinematic attitude of "show something happening, and quickly move on." Of course there's friction between Kira's group and the other Cardassians—particularly Rosot, who doesn't want to resort to the tactics Kira is proposing, like attacking Dominion targets run by other Cardassians. Kira informs him that they don't have a choice. Damar reluctantly agrees. Rosot isn't convinced, and can't look at the larger picture with Kira's detached pragmatism. And the fact that he absolutely hates Kira doesn't help matters, either.

This is all reasonable, but it's missing the extra punch it needs to be powerful. I wouldn't be surprised to see that punch delivered in the next episode, because "When it Rains..." only sets up the pieces for what's obviously to follow. But for now, "When it Rains..." is interesting but not riveting. It's, let's say, 70 percent setup and only 30 percent riveting story. (This week's formula says I should award one star for every 10 percent of riveting story that I can claim to quantify. Okay, yes, that's a bunch of nonsense. My scale, my rules.)

There are also the other subplots. The biggest twist of the week is the announcement that Odo has the disease, which has the emotional consequences one would probably expect under the circumstances: Kira is worried but presses on with the job she has. Odo is worried but refuses to yield to medical sensibilities—there's a job to do. Bashir takes up an obsessive search to find a cure to a disease currently considered incurable, much like the obsession he took up in fourth season's "The Quickening."

Bashir's quest, however, is only the tip of the iceberg. When he attempts to retrieve Odo's old records (something valuable for his research) from Starfleet Medical, he's greeted with a series of roadblocks. Ultimately, he uncovers what appears to be a conspiracy to keep him from working on a cure. Starfleet's resistance seems reasonable, even understandable, under the circumstances of this war (at this point, the death of the Founders is hardly considered a bad thing)—but it runs deeper, and after further investigation, Bashir concludes Odo was infected with the disease three years earlier and was intended as a carrier to infect the rest of the Link—a plan that apparently worked. The probable engineers of the virus: Section 31.

From a dramatic point of view, this storyline is probably the highlight of the episode. Bashir's search through the madness is executed with skill, and I found Bashir's frustration in getting the Starfleet bureaucratic runaround to be particularly effective. Also plausible, but chilling, are the implications of Section 31 manufacturing a virus for genocide. I hope the morality of this issue is tackled at some point, but for now the idea alone is one that's decidedly anti-Starfleet to the core, "best interests" be damned. As such, I'm intrigued.

Less effective is the Klingon plotline. As much chess-playing as the "Final Chapter" episodes have featured, none of it has really felt like blatant chess-piece manipulation—until now. We haven't seen Gowron since season five, and now all of a sudden he shows up here, using what would appear to any rational person as downright bone-headed military tactics. I know, Klingon culture is very tradition- and honor-based, but I'd expect even Klingons warriors would be skeptical of the strategic practicality of such blatantly suicidal missions. And what is Gowron's motive for doing this—other than, of course, to be at odds with Worf in the next episode's inevitable showdown? Of all the plot developments, this one is clearly the most forced.

Elsewhere in the sea of plot, the Dukat/Winn tidbits provide setup to a storyline going somewhere, but who-knows-where. There's not much here in terms of groundbreaking advancement, but there are some interesting characterizations. When Dukat attempts to read the Kosst Amojan without Winn's permission, a Paghwraith energy beam (or something) flies into his eyes and leaves him blind—temporarily, methinks, as a lesson. Winn then has Dukat put out on the streets of the city as a blind beggar, hoping the experience will serve as a "lesson in humility." This doesn't seem all that important in story terms, but I like what it has to say: Winn is using Dukat as much as he's using her, and she gives him a loud-and-clear indication of that. And, heck, it was just so much fun to see Dukat desperately begging "Adami!" not to throw him out into public. Winn even smiles with a quiet satisfaction.

There's not much else to say. I think that covers the major stuff, and it's tough to evaluate half-finished story themes. "When it Rains..." is a flawed but overall entertaining DS9 setup show. But don't expect any real payoffs in any aspect of the story. You won't be finding it. Yet.

Next week: Chapter six. Worf must go against the Klingon Empire in order to save it. Again.

Previous episode: The Changing Face of Evil
Next episode: Tacking into the Wind

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Comment Section

52 comments on this post

    One of the hardest things to get past in this season, and i think it starts in this episode, is the fact that Garak would ever be helping Damar. Damar killed the women he loved in cold blood (back in "Sacrifice of Angels") and it did not seem to be any secret(nothing Garak could not figure out anyway). Garak should have killed Damar, end of story (Garak is the vengeful type). For plot purposes this is overlooked. I guess its rather hard to let a revenge story of 2 secondary characters get in the way of of a story arc like this, but it really is unbelievable, and ashame for the Garak character. I do like that Damar finds redemption though, but realisticly, he should have been killed.

    I disgree with the comment about Garak, he's always come across as a man who doesn't let his feelings get in the way of the job. Obviously he's not that simple but spy or no spy, exile or exile, the job whatever that may be comes first.

    Yeah you may be right about that, it is hard to say. The job, must always be placed in the context of some value tho. Weather that value is loyalty, or vengence, or self preservation.

    Garak wanted to overthrow the dominion to save his people, out of loyalty (and hatred for the Dominion). In one of the last episodes, when all hope seems lost, he boldy says something like, "All that is left now is vegence!" We also see an intense, i would say, irrational loyalty towards his extremely corrupt father. And again his capacity for vengeance when he attempts to commit genocide on the founders for his father's death. So I would agree that the job comes first, but the job is always influenced by his values, loyalty and vengence being high on that list.

    So when it comes to Damar killing Ziyal, his loyalty to her would seem to require vengeance for her cold blooded killing. However, I could see his hatred for the Dominion and desire to see his people free superseding his need for vengence against Damar. But if this were the case, I would have like to at least seen this conflict of interests fleshed out a little. I mean her death goes forgotten, and we never even get to see Garak confront Damar on it. Again, such a conflict would require at least an episode to resolve itself, which may be too much for 2 secondary characters. And I understand they just needed to move the plot along.

    So although you made me rethink what Garak might have done, I am still overall disappointed in the whole thing being brushed aside. I only harp on this because I like the show so much and because Garak was one of my favorite characters. Damar's redemption was also a pretty good story line (but not fleshed out enough.) Deep Space Nine overall does a pretty consistent job at keeping the stories and characters consistent, as opposed to some other serials I have been watching lately, namely heroes. And since it is one my favorite shows of all time, and it does remain relatively consistent, i find it hard to let this error go. Thanks for reply.

    You would be hard pressed to find any TV series, even a well written one that doesn't leave character moments like that. For example, in The West Wing when Sam ran for congress there was a whole arc of episodes for that story but after it was over there was no mention of weather or not he won or lost.

    I do agree that it would be nice to have some time devoted to that story line but then again they were wrapping up so much of the series, it was just one of those things that got lost in the shuffle.

    I found it rather preposterous that of the billions of Cardassian soldiers and citizens left on Cardassia, not a *one* knew enough about guerilla warfare and urban combat to lead a resistance movement. Putting Kira in that position, while expedient for creating dramatic conflict (and giving Kira something to do besides making kissy-face with Odo), makes the Cardassians look galactically stupid. It makes me then question how they managed to conquer Bajor in the first place, much less pose as a competent and even threatening enemy during the latter years of TNG and early years of DS9.

    @ EP

    I agree with you. I mean, give me the internet and a month or so and I could, at least on paper, be just as good at guerrilla warfare as Kira.

    @Ep&Mp

    The cardassian had their own terrorist fighting versus the marquis.And the obsidian order would be the worst secret agency if they did not know how to be great terrorists either.Seems stupid of Sisko to recomend Kira,knowing that she will bring unwanted tension in the core of the newly formed resistance.

    I never saw any evidence that Garak 'loved' Ziyal. He was lonely and wanted to spend time with a Cardassian. When she kissed him it was very clear that he was extremely uncomfortable and certainly not in love. (Because, y'know, he loves Bashir.)

    I thought sending Kira to support Damar made story sense and dramatic sense. It's not like she didn't help him, is it?

    I agree with matt. What's worse, I was so taken by the final chapters' storyline that this fact didn't even occur to me. But perhaps Garak has realized that the destiny of the Alpha Quadrant is at stake here, and is therefore willing to put his sentiments aside, at least momentarily? Perhaps in the last episode(s) we will see Garak has in fact *not* forgotten the Damar-Zihal business, and perhaps we shall see Damar's demise by Garak's hand after all?

    Also, since we're mentioning ironies in this episode, I found that the most striking example came from Kai Winn mentioning "humility". My oh my did I scoff when I heard that line! A lesson in humility from... Kai Winn???? The person who had a chance to redeem herself by applying precisely that principle (as Kira had suggested to her, when she said Winn should step down as Kai), but instead chose to listen to her own ego and remain in power? Boy the hypocrisy!

    A short scene where Garak acknowledges that he must set his personal feelings aside for the good of Cardassia would have been enough. In fact, that would be my only criticism of the arc so far: too fast-paced. Not many scenes were 'filler' (which is great) but there's also a lot of scenes I think the series would have benefitied from but were not shown due to lack of time. Maybe they could have scrapped "Prodigal Daughter" and "The Emperor's New Cloak" and made a 12-hour arc instead :).

    Actually, I've come to see in Garak an extremely cold and ruthless side. I think he would be quite ready to cooperate with anyone if it made sense tactically. I think that would have been lesson #1 growing up in the house of the Obsidian Order.

    Kira is prepared to work with Damarr, I think it was harder for her than it was for Garak.

    But I also find it absurd that the Cardassian rebels would need Kira's assistance. Euqally absurd of the idea that one person could come in and train and deploy a rebel force with thousands of troops.

    We never see any troops in this show; even in the seige of AR-558 we see a dozen or so footsoldiers at the most. But we hear things like the Cardassians losing 500,000 soldiers on that moon that finally proved the last straw for Damarr.

    Obviously Trek doesn't have the budget to conjure up the effects necessary to show a 500,000 strong army in action, or a battle with than many on each side. But they should never have mentioned those sorts of numbers when all we ever see is the same 5 or 6 people doing *everything* themselves.

    With so much being done in space, and the way a couple of battlecruisers can secure an entire solar system, they really should have stayed away from talking about footsoldiers at all. It's somehow ruined the story of the dominion war for me that they try and imply there are millions of troops involved on each side.

    As for the question of the Federation committing genocide - I don't see it as quite the moral quandary that Jammer does. Normally when you talk of genocide, it's abhorrent because it implies that 99% of the people killed are innocent civilians. But if you just spoke of killing all the armed forces, it becomes much less troublesome.

    Well, the dominion is united - every single founder is an active participant in the fight against the alpha quadrant. In my opinion the entire founder population might be just one sentient individual anyway.

    Against this kind of enemy, I think in a desperate situation like this, the idea of 'genocide' being morally wrong doesn't carry the same weight as it does in a normal country-at-war situation.

    I think it's actually a pretty reasonable response, in that it could easily save millions or billions of lives if it defeats the founders a few years early, while killing only known combatants.

    it seems reasonable that under the given circumstances, Damar would need Kira's help
    (depends on circum)
    -yes, there may be guerilla soldiers out in cardassian empire, but those were on the border colonies (the ones that fought the maquis), not the homeworlf.
    -maybe there are some soldiers who are on cardassia who have exp, but that doesnt mean Dumar has access to those trained staff. If anything his prior goal was to execute those for treachery.

    -look at Dumar himself, he was an INSURGENT! against the Klingon empire with Dukat. How good was he at it? Well, look at him now. THey fought right into the hands of the Dominion. THey hated being the weaker force, and loved being an occupier, so they joined the winning side. THis time is differnt because the whole of Cardassia is occupied and they dont have an immediate stronger ally to go running to! Even the Federation cant just step in and kick out Dominion.

    -given the circle of Dumar's group, how big is it that he can send a bat signal to call up trained insurgents. he has immediate access to Gul's and other high staff. but they may have gotten lazy in terms of warfare.
    -he already setup a friendship with Worf and Ezri (Work is Klingon, his people invaded his Empire and he didnt mind allowing them to escape. Worf worked for starfleet. Maybe Kira in a uniform isnt a bad idea.)

    -
    form Sisko's perspective, who else can he send/
    -how many people openly show their guerilla tactics.
    the Maquis are wiped out, Section 31 doesnt officially exist, and most other trained staff are assisting out in the war in other places.
    -Kira is the last option.

    How well equipped is the American army for fighting guerrilla tactics/urban warfare? Could we become Al Qaeda overnight, if the country was being occupied? The Cardassians almost always fought from a position of strength, that can actually work against you when you find yourself as the underdog, since most of your strategies revolve around all that superior firepower and technology. The Bajorans did it for decades, of course they'd have a thing or three to teach.

    She wouldn't train any troops, either. She's training the officers, who would trains NCOs, who would train troops, within their cells.

    Although I've been reading Jammer for what seems about 10 years now, this is my first time posting, so please accept my apologies if I stumble in execution. I would like to spotlight the Ezri/Worf dialog, which I, perhaps undeservedly, found to be exceptional. Although Ezri is not usually my cup of tea, I felt her cutting to the chase with Worf (to paraphrase, '...when was the last time there was a Klingon chancellor you could respect? Has there been even one? ... If a man like you can tolerate a corrupt government, what hope is there for the empire?') I recognize the validity in Jammer's critique that this all seemed rather forced. I would say, rather, that it seemed a bit hurried. Yet nonetheless, given a history of hypocritical political ambition stretching all the way back to TNG season 2, I for one found Ezri's comments in particular, and the subplot in general, elegant and surprisingly satisfying. Probably, on reflection, this is because I feel our own government is reaching a critical turning point, but then the best of Trek is often, as we all know, to be experienced in our own clouded mirrors.

    From what we've seen concerning Cardassians, there's no evidence to suggest they'd have any terrorist training, especially under planetary-occupational levels.

    They were a race of conquerors, that occupied Bajor through the use of more advanced technology, and brute hostility (Dukat tells Sisko in a previous episode, that Bajor was centuries behind Cardassia, technologically, at the start of the Occupation).

    Proud conquerors who use Brute force to bully a peaceful, spiritual, and weaker race, strike me as a people would have a difficult time understanding how to effectively defeat the Dominion from within occupied land. They're too proud to even understand/acknowledge/examine how Bajor resisted their own occupation.

    Just adding my 2 cents: it's about time that Kira was given another uniform. Each time she fought the dominion as a bajoran military, she broke the treaty of non agression between Bajor and the Dominion. Unfortunately, it's only briefly adressed in an earlier episodes and then dismissed.

    Here, it makes sense to send a formerly trained resistant. Like other said, you don't organize a resistance in a matter of days, it takes time. And for a race like the cardassians who's always been the occupant, reversing a way of thinking is not natural.

    Yes, there was a lot to absorb in an hour. And yes, the Gowron plot seemed a little forced.

    Otherwise, I'm fine with the "set-up" and thought it was a very good episode.

    I think I was more pleased with the Winn/Dukat scenes than the rest of y'all, too.

    In the interim between when Odo was apparently infected with the disease, and here, he spent a considerable period of time no longer being a changeling. It's hard to buy that the changelings were capable of making Odo a solid but not capable of detecting the pathogen he already carried at that point when they did so.

    Or...is this the incident which infected the Great Link, and while they were punishing Odo, he (or rather 31) was simultanaeously punishing them...

    Another decent but not great story ep. I wish they had killed off Kai Winn and the Bajoran storyline long ago.

    6/10

    Gowron has the most magnificent eyes, and it's sad to see him go. Martok, however, is on a whole other level. He's one of the most entertaining characters in all of Trek.

    Once again, flying magic from the sacred books making Dukat become blind... This magical-like stuff a la Jedi order, a la Lord of Rings, is pathetic. Really, it is unwatchable.

    Besides, once again, the Starfleet is portrayed completely out of the usual Trek morality. Here, a high officers try to prevent Bashir from finding a cure for Odo in hope of what? Of seeing the whole enemy population die from disease!

    I can already guess that someone would say "but they are at war". And so what? How many times have the Federation been in similar situation before, but not being transformed into this 20th century-ish institution? Our ways of dealing with war today should not be extrapolated for the future as if it was the only way possible. On the contrary, Trek was once about a diferente future.

    DS9 has changed it. You can find it realistic and good, ok. But no one can deny it is a great deal of a change in how Trek saw these matters. Letting Odo die so the enemy whole population may also die from disease? Really?

    A fine episode is what regards execution. But Bajor arc with its cheap RPG magic stuff and this portrayal of Starfleet once again make this episode irritating and even offensive. Although, certainly, a bit less than the last with its bllod-that-makes-sacred-book-get-on-fire.

    My beloved DS9 has become infuriating.

    PS: not mention that the Section 31, supported or at least tolerated by Starfleet, looks to be the original cause of this attempt of mass genocide. In case this proves to be true, then... well, if this is not changing previous Trek's Starfleet and Federation, I don't what more is needed to make people see it.

    My theory is kind of weird, but might be true if they had any type of good writing for twists.

    What if the creator of the changeling disease was Garak, himself?

    Section 31 would have known about due to their illegal surveillance and spycraft, but it was Garak who orchestrated the entire thing.

    Remember in the episode, "In the Pale Moonlight", that Garak requested that he obtain a large supply of Bio-medical gel for "someone" to get the data rod. We find out that the data rod was fake, but no one ever asked what happened to the gel.

    What if Garak sought revenge for the death of his father? It's a classic theme and very simple motivation for a character, especially Garak. He concocted a plan within a plan from as far back as Season 6.

    Sectipn 31 would have researched a cure for the founders, but would wait to offer it as a last resort to save the Federation, if Earth or Core worlds were threatened. Ethically questionable, perhaps, but it would still maintain Star Trek and the Federation's ideals.

    No way Garak 'should' have killed Damar. Couple reasons. He didn't "love" Ziyal like she loved him. As a matter of fact, at her death bed he was still puzzled as to why she loved him. Also, Damar killed Dukat's daughter, which broke Dukat. Garak would consider that a favor.

    TONS going on in this episode.

    Gowron has taken charge of the fleet and is just being stupid. It was obvious to me that this was a method to get rid of Martok. He was becoming too popular as a result of his deeds. Worf would be an easy “fix”.

    Kira goes to help the Cardassian resistance. Wow, Cardassia has become Bajor. What a turn. Kira looks pretty darn good in that Star Fleet uniform. Rosot appears to be a dissenter in the making.

    We learn that Odo has the “disease” and he was the one that infected the Founders. Lol …. Bashir is digging and will find the answer. This has section 31 written all over it. Bashir’s hit many road blocks at Star Fleet medical which is understandable. They have a very real concern about the cure making it’s way to the Founders.

    Dukat finally gets what’s coming to him. Blind and thrown on the street by Winn. Most refreshing. :-)

    I’ll go 3 stars too. Exciting episode.

    Yeah, the magictechnobabble is really annoying.
    But:
    1) It's not new to Trek. TOS gave us Apollo (Who Mourns for Adonais?).
    2) Clarke's 3rd law.

    I have to say that Damar has had one of the most satisfying arc in DS9 in the last few seasons, more so than any of the leads. He is in the centre of things, make possibly the most pivotal decision in the war in a credible way without involving the prophets or anything too melodramatic. You know when you see him that it wouldn't be a filler episode and something serious is going to happen.

    Second the fact that Damar's character arc was amazing. From being a background character, the "other" Cardassian who was always at Dukat's side and was once beaten up by Kira, to being the person that murdered Ziyal, which led to Dukat's demise, and then reconciliating with Kira and ultimately becoming a martyr in the Cardassian revolution.

    As for Garak not acknowledging the fact that Damar had murdered Ziyal, I'm pretty sure that the novel 'A Stitch in Time,' written by Andrew Robinson himself, has a bit in it which mentions that Garak had thought about doing so in revenge for Ziyal's death, but he recognised that Damar was the sort of leader that the new Cardassia needed, and put aside his own personal feelings in pursuit for the greater picture, much like Damar did when he killed Rusot. Garak even attends Damar's memorial and regrets that Damar didn't live to see the end of the war.

    Kira arguably loved Ziyal more than Garak did. Garak may have been somewhat interested in her, but Kira loved her like a surrogate parent or a sister. Combined with her general hatred of Cardassians in general and the number of times Damar and Kira were at each other's throats, I think Kira had far more reason to want to kill Damar...and she was willing to set aside her feelings for the mission.

    On top of that, Kira is portrayed as being far more of a loose cannon prone to acting on her feelings of anger and hatred whereas Garak is a very cool customer who generally seems to keep a lid on things, focus on the job at hand, and act with cold calculating precision. Heck, he even fought side-by-side with Dukat in the Klingon attack of DS9. I'm sure Garak was tempted to kill Damar (just as he was tempted to kill Dukat). But if an angry hothead like Kira was able to control herself, Garak certainly would have.

    Why did Bashir need Odo's goo if McCoy had the ability to regrow kidneys in ST:IV?

    Sisko assumed he and Ross weren't invited to drink with the Klingons, but I didn't get that from the scene. If he and Ross had followed along, I doubt they would have been kicked out.

    Having had some resolution last time out we're now back into building mode. Two definitely strong elements in the Cardassian and Odo plot themes - for the former the delicious irony of the Cardassians having to be trained in the tactics used to defeat them is nicely developed, and the latter gives a whole interesting twist on the ruthless nature of Section 31.

    Less successful are the Klingon and pah-wraith themes - bringing back Gowron to be an asshat seems a bit of a waste at this stage of proceedings, and the Harry Potter intervention for Dukat seems a helpful way of kicking this plot into touch for a couple of episodes (although Winn's glee at casting Dukat out is well done).

    So lots to get through, some good, some not so good. 3 stars.

    Solid 3 stars

    Liked the way the writers decided to have only the Klingins die to their unique systems be able to take on Breen.

    Liked how the episode finally brought Kira, Odo and Garak into the forefront and put to good use. When I originally saw the trailer for this episode featuring Kira in a Starfleet uniform I had assumed that with the war going badly the Federation hastily allowed Bajor entry and that's why she was wearing a Starfleet uniform. But I liked her in it more than her Bajoran one.

    I also liked the moment Kira made the very smart point that if the Dominion know the resistance won't fire on a facility if there are Cardassians then the Dominion would station cardassians at all facilities. This kind of stuff showed that these writers really cared about their storytelling

    I also LOVED the whoa! Moment of realization of the Bajor and Cardassian parallels. This was so carefully, methodically done and was so organic in how over the years they carefully laid the groundwork leading to THIA moment! That's some smart writing there!

    The new plot about Odo and the sickness introduced in this episide was a good mystery with some suspense and intrigue to sustain it for the hour. Also the way Bashir discovers Odo is sick was plausible with him researching shapeshifter fluid to help the war wounded. I also was stunned with the revelation that Odo wasn't infected when he linked with the Founder but was actually the one who infected her. And continuity by tying it back to Homefront when Odo was on Earth. And Starfleet's hesitation to give Bashir the medical file actually made sense given the Founders are driving the war and any thing harming them helps the Federation war efforts makes sense. It also makes sense forvtgevwriters to cleverly weave yet another DS9 piece into this story since it fits so perfectly. section 31. I continued to be in awe of these writers and how organically they are bringing everything previously established into the Final chapter and making so much sense. Furthermore section 31 not wanting Bashir to find a cure makes a great deal of sense alone but the revelation that they actually created it and infected Odo with it is just the kind of added layer that makes so much sense that you wonder why you didn't think of it

    And I have to applaud the writers for thinking to bring Gowron, who has been a featured player in Trek all the way back to TNG, into the Final Chapter That's showing real ambition on their parts and continues to display one of the show's assets--an epic canvas and smart thinking putting what they have at their disposal to great use.

    Another one of those setup episodes that's hard to judge on its own -- but I liked it for the various subplots. Good to see Gowron again -- although this subplot is the most questionable. Well, Dukat getting zapped by the Pah-wraiths is pretty questionable too. The best part is the tension with Kira working with Damar and the Cardassians, although this plays out predictably so far.

    Odo getting the Founders disease came as a surprise to me since he didn't have it when the other Founders in the Great Link were already suffering from it. So there must be some kind of delayed reaction for Odo or he doesn't shape-shift as much and hides it well. I don't think Bashir should be able to single-handedly and quickly find a cure -- but he is genetically enhanced and this is television so who knows...

    It's great that Kira's role has come full circle and she's a resistance fighter helping the Cardassians -- that's a great dynamic. Eager to see how this works out and if they can get past the initial unpleasantries.

    As for Gowron -- always a compelling character but him showing up and taking over from Martok is odd. He comes up with a stupid plan to try get glory for himself, or so it seems. An interesting twist for sure...

    Have to wonder if Dukat's blindness is temporary - otherwise, it would be depriving a great character from doing great things in the story arc. Again, not sure what he does as a beggar on the street as part of his humiliation from Kai Winn or what the Kai does going forward...

    3 stars for "When It Rains..." -- more good and different subplots at work. Good setup work for sure. Plenty of good character interactions -- Bashir/O'Brien, Gowron, Kira/Damar/Garak/Rosot. The episode jumps around a bit but it's all quality stuff as far as setup episodes go.

    Hello Everyone!

    There are many great comments here, both for and against.

    I will add my two cents towards those that mentioned the Cardassian Rebels needed to be trained how to be subversive. They really didn't learn anything from the Bajoran rebels they were fighting against. They still felt superior strength would be needed and they'd win. They learned nothing from their fights. As for them not liking Kira, it wouldn't have mattered who it was, as long as it was a Bajoran showing them how to be insurgents. Kira simply had the weight of the Federation behind her, and anyone else would not, short of Shakarr. (sp)

    I love Gowron and his eyes (I'd read once that he opened his eyes like that on purpose during an audition, to make himself stand out. Might be true, since I read it on the internet...). And in a way, though it was forced, I can see him doing just what he was doing. He'd been written as petty and insecure over the years, so this was no surprise to me (other than "Look who's here!"). It'd been better if it had been a few episodes earlier, in my humble opinion.

    Oh, and as for Garak, he would gladly help Damar defeat the Dominion, but he would never forget and would get any revenge he wanted, though it may take years of smiling at him... Of that, I have no doubt.

    Keep smiling... RT

    I just noticed this was one of the few instances where there’s neither a William B or Luke review. Not worth reviewing on its own?

    Luke was going in order and paused before Profit and Lace.

    As for me, certainly the mid-arc aspect was a factor, but I also got pretty behind and ran out of steam.

    @William B

    Ah, that explains it. There’s so much going on in these final DS9 episodes that I can see why it might be hard to analyze them piecemeal.

    Good development.

    Not as exciting as recent build-up eps with the mediocre Gowron plot and the Ezri/Julian silliness, but the Odo reveal was great.

    More Harry Potter happenings on Bajor, as The Book seems a fiery dart into Dukat's eyes and blinds him.

    Onward.

    When it rains

    Star trek leading the cause for social justice. This episode never stops.

    We open with a decisive, confident captain sisko sitting at the head of the meeting table and a pensive, doubtful admiral ross sitting at his side (not even his right side). I wonder if anyone would have noticed if there was a black admiral always looking for answers from, deferring to and acting subordinate to a white officer of a lesser rank? Don’t bother to answer. Their answer to the problem they were meeting about? Send a female to teach white males how to wage rebel war. I wonder if the reverse would have been noticed here too? No need to answer this one either.

    Throughout this episode (and the series as a whole) admiral ross simply tags along with captain sisko. The leader of the klingon race arrives for a state vistit. Admiral ross and captain sisko are there together to greet him. But, it is captain sisko who leads the greeting ceremony. I wonder if the twat necheyev - i mean admiral necheyev - would have behaved so meekly? Don’t bother to answer.

    Odo, garak and kira are flying to meet damar when dr bashir calls and tells odo he has a fatal disease. Odo initially says nothing while kira takes charge and asks questions and makes a decision about what is best for odo to do and what his course of action should be. After the dr delivers his information kira thanks the doctor to signal the end of the consultation - without bothering to let odo ask any questions. Isn’t this something that women are fighting against when something like this is done to them? Hypocrisy in action.
    Before we leave the subject of kira it is worth noting in this episode she again violently subdues in a fist fight another trained, experienced military male attacker twice her size.

    The good doctor contacts headquarters to get odo's medical records and we meet an unlikeable stonewalling bureaucrat. What race and gender did they cast for this role? You can answer this one if you wish.

    Later, Kira and company slaughter the bridge crew and take the dominion ship. Kira and odo are spared from doing the actual killing, which is left to garak - one of the slain enemy is female who is the only one shown laying on the floor after the fact. Odo is appalled. kira makes note to assess blame but decide it can wait for now. Shouldn’t kudos rather than blame be awarded here? In the end they successfully take the ship and head for home but odo succumbs to his disease and gently lays his head on kira's shoulder to draw comfort and strength from her.

    On star trek, senselessly killing females is something that must not pass without notice and blame must be assessed.

    And on we go with the setup for the grand finale.

    It's time to check in on the Cardassian rebellion; who better to send than Kira? That'll trigger some convenient plot-sparks!

    Let's send Odo as well... just as Bashir discovers that he's been infected with the Founders disease, but for Plot Reasons, just hasn't yet shown any symptoms on it. That's... convenient. And shock, horror - Bashir manages to confirm that Section 31 created the virus.

    Oh noes. Though it is convenient!

    Snarking aside, it's an interesting twist, not least because it fits in perfectly with what we've already discovered about Section 31, and their decision to infect the Founders is a stark contrast to the Federation's declared ethics, not least because the virus was unleashed at a point before war was officially declared. No doubt there will be ramifications from this...

    Mumbo jumbo magic books blah blah blinding spells blah blah. Moving on.

    Political machinations among the Klingons! Sadly, there's plenty of historic examples of competent military officers being replaced for political reasons, so this bit rings especially true. Though I do still have to question how a species as factional and easily manipulated as the Klingons ever got past the stage of banging the two rocks together!

    As ever, it's interesting to see Damar's unhappy acceptance of the steps he needs to take in order to save Cardassia, with Gul Rusot's angry and extremely grudging response to the same situation highlighting just how difficult this must be for Damar.

    All in all, there's some interesting elements, but it's still all very much just setting things up for the grand finale.

    @ Chrome

    Interesting observation. I also realized William B was missing. I was however happy that a 3rd person was missing, who shall not be named lest he appears suddenly to bash the show as usual.

    I'd give this 3 stars as well, or just under. Mainly for these reasons:

    1. I didn't like the Winn/Dukat scenes - never been a fan of the prophet stuff but their scenes felt like just filler.

    2. Gowron & Klingon honour & glory - eugh, cliche-ridden stuff.

    3. Ezri - more soap opera dialogue and it was obvious Bashir wasn't going to let her finish her explanation and get distracted....

    One other minor flaw or niggle. If Odo really was infected first, shouldn't he have been thr first to show the symptoms? Or is Bashir wrong in his conclusion?

    This shows how long it has been since I watched DS9: I guess I knew that this came out before the Star Wars New Jedi Order books, but I forgot and thought that the use of Section 31 creating a genocidal virus was copying the Galactic Alliance creating Alpha Red to kill all of the Yuuzhan Vong! In fact, this was the first storyline.
    I personally don't like how DS9 made the Federation (even the Section 31 part of them) more grey. They were always the white hats until DS9 came along (although, the Federation did want to do something similar with the Borg as I now recall...)

    During Bashir's frustrating attempt to request Odo's medical records, a huge logical flaw was blatantly pointed out by the dialogue and then never answered.

    The guy Bashir was talking to said "Surely you've taken your own scans of Odo over the years, why do you need ours?"

    Then Bashir says "To use as a point of comparison in hopes of finding a cure"

    That doesn't actually answer the question. And it's a legitimate question. Why is it so crucial that Bashir get the records from when Odo was at Starfleet Medical on Earth? Bashir's answer only states what he plans to do, not why he needs those records specifically to do it. Why are his own records from over the years not sufficient?

    And the sad thing is they could have easily just said "The tests performed at Starfleet Medical were more extensive and would hold more information than any routine tests Bashir performed". Startfleet Medical was, after all, trying to learn as much as they could about the physiology of the Changelings for the purposes of Earth's defense. Also, presumably, Starfleet Medical would have a lot more state of the art testing equipment than Bashir's sick bay.

    So it's not a stretch of the imagination that the Starfleet records would be superior to Bashir's. BUT, the dialogue specifically asks the question of why he needed those records over his own and then didn't give an answer.

    This is so frustrating lol

    Now THIS is a four-star episode, fam!

    It wasn't spoiled even by the Bajoux prophetbabble. Dax v.8.0 came close to ruining it with an attempt at talkie-talkie with Bashir, but luckily we weren't subjected to it after all. Phew, right! I could've done without Smiley and Bashir gossip-fest; boy, they sure act like two yentas. Not a great look.

    JonR makes a good point above. I add to that that StarFleet is being perfectly reasonable in not wanting a cure to be found for the shapeshifters, or at least to not want to facilitate its discovery. Bashir, again being a two-dimensional brat, doesn't seem to understand that curing a friend is outweighed by winning a massive civilizational war.

    Not crazy about the reappearance of Section 31. It's just way too improbable and nothing but a fanciful tool for the plot.

    Anyway, very, very good; one of my favorite eppies of the entire show, certainly the best of Season 7 so far.

    I like Kira's Starfleet rank was full commander. It made sense, but still fun to see.

    @Dark Kirk
    Actually she should have been captain not commander. She was Colonel at that point but making her captain would have been confusing for some considering that Sisko as captain was still her commanding officer. ;)

    How does Garak still have contacts on Cardassia that put him in touch Damar? Weren't all of Garak's contacts killed "In the Pale Moonlight" episode by the Dominion? It seems implausible that he's had the time and means to make new contacts on Cardassia in the time between these two episodes.

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