Season 6 of Deep Space Nine is the best season of Star Trek to date. An impressive lineup of some of the franchise's finest episodes and a massive step forward in the Dominion War, it'll be hard to top this one.
Season 6 starts with one of the best stretches of episodes in the franchise so far, a six-episode-arc about the crew trying to take back DS9 after it was occupied by the Dominion at the end of Season 5. It's an ambitious and fantastic storyline that's filled to the brim with impactful moments, satisfying payoffs, and a lot of action. The start of this season feels like such an important event, and it's great to see the characters team up to fight a major threat. These six episodes are mostly split into two storylines, one being about the Federation and Klingons fighting in the war and the other being about the members of the crew still at DS9. I love how the former subplot (and most of this season) focuses on how exhausting war can be, but the DS9 storyline is definitely my favorite of the two. Watching Kira, Odo, Quark, and the others try to survive during the Cardassian occupation is incredibly tense and scary. Pretty much every character has their own individual arc as well, from Odo facing the temptation to join the Great Link, to Quark turning from a fairly neutral opportunist to a genuine anti-hero.
Thankfully, as good as the start of the Dominion war, the rest of the season didn't struggle to live up to that amazing start. Even with DS9 back in the hands of the good guys, the war never really lets up, as shown in episodes like One Little Ship and In The Pale Moonlight. There are also a bunch of running storylines throughout the season such as Gul Dukat's descent into madness, Sisko's pact with the prophets, the ongoing Dominion war, and Worf and Dax adjusting to marriage, all of which pay off in the finale. I will admit that the season takes some pretty big swings that I don't quite love, like Gul Dukat going full omnicidal maniac, the increasing focus on the prophets, and Jadzia's death, but I at least understand them. Dukat spiraling into madness after losing pretty much everything in the opening arc is natural, the prophets have been a focus for the whole series and could lead to some interesting discussions on religion, and the crew having to deal with a new Dax is an intriguing prospect. And even if some of the twists this season could have been a bit better executed, it doesn't detract from the fact that, aside from one unfortunate outing, Season 6 has the best lineup of episodes out of any season in the franchise. Not only are its high points some of the highest in Star Trek to date, there's a lot of them.
There were so many amazing episodes this season, but these were the highlights:
The First Six Episodes: As mentioned above, this entire arc was absolutely fantastic, but these episodes were particularly notable:
Rocks And Shoals: The best part of this episode for me was definitely Kira's subplot, where she realizes that she's been complacent to the Cardassians after what is probably the most shocking moment in the series to date. When I went into this show, I absolutely did not expect to see a Bajoran hang herself inside the Promenade.
Behind The Lines: I like how the subplot of Dax's mission is entirely from the perspective of Sisko, really capturing that fear of someone you care about leaving to risk their life and not knowing if they'd come back. I also loved Quark admitting that he does care about the "hew-mons", as well as the intense fight between Kira and Odo at the end of the episode.
Sacrifice Of Angels: This was a truly satisfying end to the occupation arc, bringing everything to a great close. The big space battle managed to top Way Of The Warrior in sheer scale and scope, Quark and Odo finding ways to redeem themselves was great, and Sisko's pact with the prophets is one of the best Deus Ex Machinas ever (probably because it's more of a Chekhov's Gun). But the highlight for me was those last few minutes, with Ziyal's heartbreaking death being one of the most shocking and crushing moments in the series. There have been a few major character deaths in Trek at this point, but I think Ziyal's was one of the better ones.
Waltz: I'll always prefer the more charismatic Dukat we got in Seasons 1-5, but I can't deny that this episode is an absolutely fantastic depiction of his descent into madness. It's basically just a two-act play between Sisko and Dukat, held together by their fantastic acting and the sharp writing. Dukat's big rant against the Bajorans was just stunning.
Far Beyond The Stars: Many TV shows tried to write an episode dealing with the topic of racism, and the results can range from emotionally impactful to ham-fisted and hollow. Far Beyond The Stars falls squarely in the former, a powerful episode about racism that surprised me with how raw it is. There's no allegories, no subtleties, it's just real life. The difficulties with Benny putting his story into his magazine, Jimmy's death and Benny getting beat up by the police just for being emotional about it, the breakdown near the end where Benny/Sisko screams "I am a human being, damn it!", there's no sugar-coating here at all. But despite all of that, Far Beyond The Stars is pretty damn idealistic, with a message about never giving up the fight that applies to not just racism, but sexism, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, islamophobia, and any other sort of injustice in the world. Far Beyond The Stars is a mission statement for how the idealistic all-accepting future of Star Trek can be our future. Oh, and it was also really cool to see the cast without their makeup on.
Inquisition: There has always been something off about Starfleet. Even in the original series, I was never able to believe that they were as perfect and squeaky clean as I thought they'd be, especially given how often they came at odds with Kirk. So the reveal that the Federation has an "Obsidian Order" of their own called Section 31 was really exciting, as we got to see a completely different side of Starfleet. Outside of the reveal, though, this was a pretty harrowing episode that gave me a lot of "Whispers" vibes.
In The Pale Moonlight: It's hard to overstate just how big of a Star Trek episode this one is. Star Trek captains feel like they're supposed to be paragons of morality, always doing what is right no matter the cost, but this episode follows Sisko doing the absolute opposite. He bribes Quark, forges a Dominion meeting, and is ultimately an accessory to murder. By the end of the episode, Sisko did what he wanted to do, he got the Romulans to join their side of the war, but it just doesn't feel like a victory. And what's truly genius about this episode is the ending, and how you don't know whether or not Sisko feels truly guilty. Can he deal with it? Or is he just telling himself that?
Tears Of The Prophets: While not as massive as Call To Arms, this was a really impressive and ambitious season finale. After being on the defensive all season, it was awesome to see the Federation finally land a big blow on the Dominion, and the ensuing space battle was fantastic. Sisko's decision between Emissary and Captain was great too, especially since he made the wrong choice and caused the wormhole to shut down. And while the Jadzia stuff could have been a bit better executed, the sheer amount of exciting plot developments set up for Season 7 still left me satisfied with this finale.
While I loved most of this season, there was one especially bad episode that dragged it down just a bit:
Profit And Lace: I've figured it out! The bad Ferengi episodes are the ones where the Nagus appears! At first, I just thought it was the ones that don't involve just Quark, Rom, and Nog, but the Magnificent Ferengi was fantastic. On the other hand, Nagus Zek is an incredibly irritating character, and his appearance tends to bring in more annoying Ferengi. But while this could have just been your standard "bad Ferengi episode" like Rules Of Acquisition and Ferengi Love Songs, it just so happens to be entirely built around the "man in drag is funny" joke. It's so bizarre because the whole point of Profit And Lace is about Ferengi society trying to distance itself from its misogynistic culture, but it just so happens to be the most misogynistic (and also homo/transphobic) episode in DS9. Talk about missing the mark!
Overall, this isn't a perfect season. Not all of its twists are the best and Profit And Lace is pretty awful. However, Season 6 is as good as a Star Trek season has ever gotten, with a fantastic opening arc, an amazing sense of ambition, and a great collection of some of the best episodes in the franchise.
5/5 Stars
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