We have reached the seventh and final season of DS9. I think this is my favorite season as whole. It is not just because Jadzia has joined the choir invisible, although that is a change for the better, but because it is the most intense, engaging season of Trek in general and DS9 specifically. The series went out on a high note.Just to get it out of the way, yes, I do like Ezri Dax. She is a far more interesting character than Jadzia ever was. Nicole de Boer is also cute as a bug’s ear. Seriously, she has those chubby little cheeks that make her look like a chipmunk. As it is in real life, she winds up sleeping with the two biggest jerks she can find. Is that not just the way?
She does not show up until the end of the episode when she shows up at the Sisko’s restaurant in New Orleans. Before that, we catch up on what everyone else is up to.Kira is now in charge of DS9 and is having trouble with the Romulan military delegation that has taken up residence as part of the new alliance. Just when Kira begin warming up to the female Romulan in charge, she discovers the hospital she pulled strings in order to get established on a Bajoran moon is loaded with more missiles tha could possibly be necessary for defense. Kira promises Bajorr will remove them if the Romulans do not.
Worf is even more irritable than usual. He is not just mourning Jadzia’s death, but is fearful she is not in Sto Va Kor, the Klingon version of heaven. He only admits his belief after O’Brien has gotten him drunk. The only way he can be certain Jadzia makes it ito Sto Va Kor is if he wins a great battle in her name. O’Brien and Bashir plot to get him assigned to Martok’s ship I time for an assault o theDominion, then decide they will go, too, in order to ensure Jadzia arrives in the land of milk an honey. Or blood wine and targ. Whatever Klingon’s enjoy in paradise.
But the bulk of the episode is about Sisko brooding in New Orleans. Dukat was right I the sixth season finale when he claimed destroying the wormhole would knock Sisko out of the war. The Prophets have not spoken to him for months until they give him a vision of a woman’s face buried in the sand. The woman turns out to be his real mother whom he never knew existed. Somehow, she is associated with Bajor and an Orb of the Emissary, which he has to find. He is attacked by a cult member who worships the Pah’Wraiths, so we have established it will not be easy.
Ezri shows up before the Siskos take off for the planet identified in some ancient writings.
For a season premiere, “Image in the Sand” is very subdued. I suppose it is supposed to be a shock on a personal level that the Sisko family dynamic has been shattered, but the revelation of family secrets does not resonate with me. I recall originally watching the episode twelve years ago and being afraid Sisko really was ’special” and “of Baor.” the other two stories were set up for payoffs later, so there is not much to say about them yet.
“Image in the Sand” is good, but I expected more.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
