Deep Space Nine's seventh and final season has the difficult task of resolving the Dominion war and tying up all of the character arcs in a satisfying manner, and it mostly succeeded... at least when the prophets aren't involved.
Season 7 of DS9 is tasked with tying up all of the storylines for the series, and what ensues is a season that is incredibly serialized, culminating in an impressive (if a bit drawn out) ten-episode-arc at the end of the season. This season is mostly focused around two storylines, the end of the Dominion war, and the conflict between the Prophets and Pah-Wraiths. As always, the former storyline is fantastic, between Damar defecting from the Dominion, the virus that seems to be killing all of the Changelings, and the reintroduction of the terrifying Breen. However, what drags down this season for me is the Prophet stuff. Aside from me just not wanting this sort of mystical stuff in my science fiction show (I had a similar problem with Lost's final season), it all just felt a bit contrived. I think the premiere where we learn the prophets merged with Sisko's mother to ensure his birth (sounds kinda rapey, not gonna lie) soured me on the plot as a whole, but it doesn't help that everything related to the Prophets and Pah-Wraiths were so relentlessly boring.
Being the final season, the characters needed to finally reach the end of their character arcs, and there was some really good stuff here. The conflict within the Klingon empire that forced Worf to kill Gowron, Odo dealing with his identity as a Changeling and how it alienates him from the rest of Starfleet, Nog losing his leg, Bashir looking into Section 31, and especially Kira assisting with Damar's revolt. I think most of the characters got a satisfying ending by the series finale. This season also introduces Jadzia's successor, Ezri Dax. Believe it or not, I actually liked Ezri, and I think she's a much more interesting character than Jadzia, whose character arc was just loving Klingons. I liked that she was completely unprepared to have the Dax symbiont, and had to deal with readjusting to the station. However, there was some character stuff that just didn't work for me, such as Sisko's arc about the Prophets telling him to break it off with Kasidy, Dukat trying to bring Winn over the Pah-Wraiths side, and the annoying love triangle between Ezri, Worf, and Bashir.
When focused on the Dominion war, this season did put out some pretty great episodes:
The Siege Of AR-558: This was such a unique episode from Star Trek. DS9 has been doing a great job with dodging the glorification of war, but The Siege Of AR-558 really hits you over the head with the fact that war sucks! The gunfights in this episode are some of the most complex in the series, but they're also the most brutal, with many characters either dying or coming close to dying. It's also not a simple one-off, as Nog loses his leg in a shocking twist. My only issue with the episode is that it can be literally dark, as in it's really hard to see what's going on sometimes.
It's Only A Paper Moon: Look, I don't like Vic Fontaine at all, he sticks out in DS9 like a sore thumb. However, I do like how he was utilized in this episode, which does a great job of exploring Nog's PTSD after losing his leg in the previous highlight. It's a great buildup to a fantastic final few minutes, and Nog finally opening up kinda got to me. I'm still impressed that, when all is said and done, a Ferengi became one of my favorite characters.
The Final Ten Episodes: While I still prefer the story arc that opened Season 6, this was a really impressive undertaking for DS9 that at least ended the series on a truly ambitious note.
Tacking Into The Wind: While this arc had some big turning points like the destruction of the Defiant, the most effective surprise for me was Worf killing Gowron and having Martok take his place. It doesn't just feel like a big moment in DS9, but in all of Star Trek given all the time I've spent with the Klingon empire since the first season of The Next Generation.
What You Leave Behind: While I liked All Good Things for what it was, there's definitely something special about having a series finale that resolves a big serialized storyline such as the Dominion war. Not everything in What You Leave Behind worked perfectly (that whole fire caves sequence kinda sucked), but between the big final battle, plenty of strong character moments, cute flashback montage, and generally satisfying ending, I'd say this is a worthy series finale for Deep Space Nine.
But of course, you can't have a season of Star Trek without at least one bad episode, and of course it's a Ferengi one:
The Emperor's New Cloak: I've actually been enjoying the yearly Mirror Universe episodes, but for what was supposed to be the last installment in DS9, this was a massive disappointment. The Mirror Universe characters were already cartoony, but add in the Ferengi (and a bizarre Vic Fontaine cameo), and this episode just crosses the line for me. It's also a shame that DS9's second wlw kiss seemed a lot more exploitative.
Overall, Season 7 of DS9 is absolutely one of the most ambitious seasons in all of Star Trek and does a really great job of ending the series on a satisfying note. However, the prophets stuff is pretty bad and the season as a whole does feel a bit weaker coming off of the fantastic Seasons 4-6.
3/5 Stars
My ranking of the Deep Space Nine's seasons is:
6 > 4 > 5 > 3 > 2 > 7 > 1
My ranking of the Deep Space Nine's finales is:
5 > 1 > 7 > 6 > 2 > 4 > 3
My Top 5 episodes of Deep Space Nine are:
- In The Pale Moonlight
- Far Beyond The Stars
- Trials And Tribble-ations
- Sacrifice Of Angels
- Duet
Notice how many of them are from Season 6.
And my Top 5 least favorite episodes of Deep Space Nine are:
- Profit And Lace
- Let He Who Is Without Sin
- Ferengi Love Songs
- The Emperor's New Cloak
- Rules Of Acquisition
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