Call to Arms

In the strictest sense, "Call to Arms" isn't really a story. It's a window on one event in the series' big seven-year A-plot, in this case the mining of the wormhole entrance, with lots of focus on how this event affects every other ongoing plotline and character arc threading its way through the show at this time. And some of these plotlines and characters get more attention than others.

For example, Chief O'Brien doesn't get a lot of attention in this one; just some throwaway lines about where the rest of his family is safely tucked away for the duration.

Rom and Leeta perhaps get more attention than anyone else, but in their case I can't say that they get much good material. This really wasn't the right time to do any justice to their wedding, and what we have here is so weird that it fails to make any kind of proper point. However, there are worthy moments on its periphery, including some good moments between just Quark and Rom alone confirming their brotherly bond, Rom's savant-like ability to solve the major technical hitch of the day even while consumed with personal worries, and even Nog's brief scene with Sisko concerning rumours.

Many other bits hit home better, where we have some investment in the characters and their ongoing stories. Deep Space Nine is somewhat catering to its loyal viewers here moreso than to casual viewers, but I think that's a fair choice at this point.

Serious attention (and money I would think) has been put into the numerous optical shots, which to be fair carry a lot of the story points and excitement of this segment of the long adventure. It's a significant step up from what Star Trek dared to put on the TV screen several years prior, and it's now a satisfying source of some of the episode's positive points.

At the end of the day, though, this episode feels like a bit of a junk food sugar rush. We've had our excitement, drama, and character bits. We know where we're at in the big picture. But what was this tale about, at its heart? War tactics? And, for the millionth time again, how the pawns and soldiers feel about it all in their navels? Something of Star Trek's signature optimistic philosophy and greater learning about life is still missing. Something about the ability and resolve to aim for and lead ourselves to the good stuff is far too nebulous and obfuscated here, if indeed it's anywhere in here at all. We haven't really had a nourishing and satisfying meal from this particular episode.

Bottom line, though, is that this approach to an episode works quite well as a season finale, and remains greatly entertaining. It knows it's only a small piece of a greater whole, and doesn't try too hard to pretend to be anything else. Hopefully, you'll have season six on hand to continue the story and reveal how continuing events unfold....

most enjoyable ones:
1. Trials and Tribble-ations
2. Rapture
3. In the Cards
4. Doctor Bashir, I Presume? (big developments for my favourite DS9 character, add my Voyager favourite Robert Picardo, plus triangles, twists, and lots of humour)
5. The Begotten (decently uplifting premises & twists, with some very good moments)
6. Call to Arms (big events impact every ongoing story thread on the series, plus optical shots galore)
7. In Purgatory's Shadow / By Inferno's Light (lots of interesting things for almost everyone to do, many series' arcs make important advancements)
8. A Simple Investigation (a good mystery story, good depth for Odo's character, though I have reservations about staying true to his nature. Why didn't we get this one when he was "human"?)
9. Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places (a classic goes Klingon for humour)
10. Let He Who Is Without Sin... (Keep on the sunny side...)
    
    decent ones:
11. The Ascent (yes, good character work for all, and a nice location, but the imagery anchors Odo & Quark's plot as a very predictable single dimension.)
12. Apocalypse Rising (Odd that as soon as Odo is made "human", he is immediately transformed again into a Klingon. Odd also that these make-up switcheroo antics are passed off as "surgical alterations", especially since Odo's balloon face is actually not there while the Klingon is molded onto Rene's thinner, more angular features. Gloomy it is that so much of the episode takes place in one big foggy red party room. But it's a decent story with some good highlights. Kira blames Bashir, eh?? Hmmm....)
13. Ferengi Love Songs (politics, profit, and obvious relationship wisdom the hard way for most of our Ferengi characters)
14. Blaze of Glory (no great draw, no big mistakes in this episode, just another hum drum action hour)
15. Soldiers of the Empire (Star Trek Klingon examines its own navel for so long, there's no time left to put its real mission on-screen.)
16. Business as Usual (a half-decent half-unhealthy plot facilitates an obvious conscience lesson for Quark, and it's a snoozer for Yoshi.)
17. The Ship (action is decent, philosophy all about soldiering and depressing defeats. Nothing much impressive here. But I let this one set the bar for my tolerances. Any episode that couldn't do better than this one got thrown out back onto the dogpile...)
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    too far off-Roddenberry/Trek-topic for me:

Children of Time (large group of people getting emotional and being convinced to be self-destructive by ABYSMALLY BAD SCIENCE... This one has not aged well...) ...Nor the Battle to the Strong (gross & depressing) The Assignment (Rom brings some welcome humour, but the Pagh Wraith plot is crap.) Things Past Ties of Blood and Water (a dull downer; Weyoun's re-intro is the only lasting point of interest) For the Uniform (wasted opportunities, and a wasted hour) Empok Nor (A promising exploration goes completely retarded. Why did the writers think this would be good or entertaining?)

• The Darkness and the Light (This one is the final straw that broke the camel's back, the one that finally made me give up on DS9 during its initial TV run. In fact I stopped watching all TV. I found the episode demented, ugly, boring, and useless. Not just bottom of the barrel, but oozing out and seeping underneath the barrel.)