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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5 Review

The fifth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a major improvement upon the previous seasons as this was the start of the show’s biggest arc – The Dominion War.

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“You humans, you never learn.

You let your women go out in public, hold jobs, wear clothing,

and you wonder why your marriages fall apart“

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The beginning of this season was unfortunately not all that strong, and that lessened a bit the impact of an otherwise great season. Apocalypse Rising and The Ship are both quite forgettable and uninspired while Looking for par’Mach in All the Wrong Places is one of those terrible ST romance episodes, and the fact that this one centers on Worf’s romantic escapades makes it even worse.

…Nor the Battle to the Strong is a bit better, but still not all that memorable. The Assignment is the first very good episode of this season where O’Brien’s wife gets possessed by an alien entity. Whenever we have these high concept episodes centering on his character, we are bound to get a terrific thriller and this one is surely quite intense. As for Trials and Tribble-ations, I liked it quite a bit as it referenced that famous episode from the original ST show, but overall it’s more nostalgic than plot-heavy and a bit overrated.

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The less said about Let He Who Is Without Sin… the better. It’s a horrible romance episode that makes Worf abusive and it mistreats otherwise competent Dax so badly. Unlike Odo and Kira, these two should have never been a couple. Things Past is a very good historical episode that gives us a terrific glimpse into the Cardassian occupation of Bajor.

The Ascent is a silly episode most of the time, but the pairing of Odo and Quark produced some very amusing moments throughout. Rapture makes Sisko have prophetic visions, and needless to say, it makes for one hell of a dramatic, spiritual episode. The Darkness and the Light is another strong Kira-centered episode that is very intense, The Begotten is a very interesting Odo episode that makes him yearn for paternal care, For the Uniform is an excellent return of Michael Eddington with Sisko being particularly obsessed this time around.

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In Purgatory’s Shadow and By Inferno’s Light are both parts of a two-part story about a Changeling infiltrator on the station. Both are very good in this particularly thriller-centric season. Doctor Bashir, I Presume is fantastic. It’s by far his finest hour as a character. We learn that he was genetically modified as a child to become more intelligent, and not only does it provide us an amazing backstory for the doctor, but it also explores this very intriguing moral conundrum within the story.

A Simple Investigation finds Odo having a fling with a woman, which makes Kira particularly uncomfortable. It’s not a great episode per say, but I continue to find their will they, won’t they relationship very engaging, which says a lot for the quality of the show’s writing as I usually don’t care for such stories.

Business as Usual is a very fragmented, messy episode. Ties of Blood and Water is also not great, though it’s a moving episode centering on death. Ferengi Love Songs is silly, but amusing for sure. Soldiers of the Empire is pretty good, but not that memorable. Children of Time is a good high concept episode while Blaze of Glory presents the onset of the Dominion War very effectively. I find this group of aliens suitably eerie with their leader wonderfully over-the-top and menacing.

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Empok Nor is a very good episode that is mysterious and quite atmospheric whereas In the Cards is undoubtedly a filler, but a highly entertaining, funny filler centering on Nog and Jake. The inclusion of many different characters among the crew during their quest was so much fun. Sisko decides to mine the entrance to the wormhole with self-replicating cloaked mines, thus beginning the Dominion War in the excellent finale episode Call to Arms that changes everything for this show.

Overall, it was a messy season at first, but then it became truly great. The introduction of this great war will undoubtedly lead to epic action in the last two seasons and I cannot wait to see how it all plays out.

Worst Episodes: Looking for par’Mach in All the Wrong Places and Let He Who Is Without Sin…

Best Episodes: Rapture, Doctor Bashir, I Presume, Blaze of Glory and Call to Arms.