Star Trek: Call to Arms

Episode: "Call to Arms"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 26

Original Air Date: June 16, 1997

via Memory Alpha

Garak episode!

The shit hits the fan.

Dominion convoys are passing through the wormhole on the regular, heading towards Cardassia, newly in the fold.  While the ships are there officially to defend the new ally, suspicions are growing that an attack on Deep Space 9 is imminent.  Our friends attempt to mine the wormhole in order to stop the supply line but that only gives Gul Dukat the excuse to strike.  Most of those aboard the station evacuate.  As the episode, and the season, come to a close, Cardassian control over DS9 - now Terok Nor once again - is restored.  The Dominion War has begun.

By design, "Call to Arms" leaves a whole bunch of dangling threads for Season 6.  There are touching goodbyes-for-now between multiple couples.  There's Jake who manages to stay on the station when he really should have left.  The Starfleet crew head into battle on the Defiant.  Odo, Kira and Quark remain behind to make the best of things on the station.  The writers wanted options heading into the next season and now they had plenty.

But the War is definitely for real.

The two most poignant goodbyes...

Dax and Worf, who is off to serve on the Klingon ship Rotarran: Dax agrees to marry Worf once the war is over.

Rom's wonderful Casablanca-esque farewell to Leeta, not long after the two have finally married:

"You've got to go, Leeta. The problems of two newlyweds are but a small thread in the tapestry of galactic events. You might not understand that today, or even tomorrow. But someday you will. So get on that shuttle. And don't look back."

For comparison (for the record, the most famous line, "Here's looking at you, kid," is the lousiest line in the whole movie):

Overall, "Call to Arms" is one of DS9's best.  There's meaningful material for everyone and several storylines reach significant junctures.  We have a lot to look forward to.

And before my season wrap, I must acknowledge what a brutal week it has been for Star Trek...

Walter Koenig
1936-2026

Patrick Stewart
1940-2026

RIP, Gentlemen.

Thoughts on Season Five

General Impressions

Season 5 is not as seamless as Season 4 but it's still awfully damn good.  Six episodes rank in my current running top ten for the series.  Even seemingly run-of-the-mill installments sparkle with dependable professionalism.

Favorite Episode: "...Nor the Battle to the Strong"

Deep Space Nine set itself apart from the rest of Star Trek in bold and significant ways.  Perhaps most meaningfully, the series sits with the horrors of war in ways other series do not.  "...Nor the Battle to the Strong" is the most important episode in this vein.  Screenwriter René Echevarria dug deep into classic war literature for inspiration: Crane, Remarch and especially Hemingway.  Much as The Clone Wars episode "Rookies" feels like something more than Star Wars, "Nor the Battle..." dares to go beyond Trek.  In both cases, they did it by going smaller and more personal.  

Least Favorite Episode: "Let He Who Is Without Sin"

It took over four seasons, but I finally got to a DS9 episode I just don't like very much.  "Let He Who Is Without Sin" is a Risa holiday story, primarily focused on Dax and Worf as they explore their newly romantic relationship.  The idea had potential.  But when the network told the writers they couldn't have the full-on sleaze fest they wanted, they couldn't pivot to something more meaningful.  There are a lot of beautiful women in the episode's cast.  That's really it's only redeeming quality.

Favorite Recurring Character: Garak

It's always Garak.  Maybe at this point, it's more meaningful to highlight a runner-up.  Rom comes into his own in Season 5.  He thrives in engineering and, of course, he marries Leeta.  Other good recurring characters this season include Grilka, Martok, Ishka, Leeta...  As ever, the DS9 bench dazzles.

But Garak's still #1.

Favorite Blasts from the Past: Kirk and Spock

Without a doubt, 1960s Kirk and Spock casually strolling onto the screen in "Trials and Tribble-ations" is one of the great Wow! moments in all of Star Trek.  

Overall, the episode is one of the franchise's most powerful and magical nostalgic tugs.

Favorite Guest Actor, One-Shot: Kaitlin Hopkins

via Memory Alpha

Hopkins played Kilana, a Vorta in the wonderful early-season episode, "The Ship."  She is a narrative descendant of Joanne Linville's Romulan Commander character in the original series episode, "The Enterprise Incident."  She doesn't have quite the same sexual tension with Sisko that the Commander had with Spock but nonetheless, she manages to be a lot more appealing than the typical Vorta.

Onward

The end is coming.  You can feel it in Season 5.  For both Sisko and Odo, in particular, we get a glimpse of narrative paths the audience won't be allowed to follow.  I intend to savor the last two seasons.  It was decades before Trek was anywhere near this good again.