Deep Space 9 Final Opinions

The last episode of DS9 was interesting to say the least. Damar should have had more of a death rather than just stupidly running out and getting himself killed. Bashir and Garak's final scene was beautiful. Garak, finally having what he's wanted all the way through, realizes that it wasn't worth it in the end.

Bashir is the character I feel sorriest for. He loses both Miles and Garak, two people that have been his best friends on DS9. Although Ezri does a damn good job of making up for it.

Not moved at all by Worf's departure and it seemed that none of the crew were either, considering that Ezri waving from a balcony was the best goodbye they could muster.

Odo's departure was tragic but very predictable. It's always been made clear that he'd return home if his people weren't a bunch of empire-ruling psychopaths. Interestingly, the Dominion still exists in the Gamma Quadrant as it was only their army on Cardassia that was defeated. In series 6 we knew that they were cloning new troops in the Alpha Quadrant and one can assume that it was they who surrendered on Cardassia. The dominion isn't beaten, just simply shoved back to their side of the wormhole.

Dukat's death was a bit rushed and seemed tacked on to the end. It's a shame that he only got a scene back in Cardassian form. It'd have been criminal to let him die a Bajoran when that look simply took away his evilness. I'd love to know how Sisco suddenly decided to run for the fire caves suddenly, but there'll never be an answer. Weyoun's death was also rushed, Garak suddenly flicking into war-crime mode for a moment wasn't exactly out of character but it could have been handled a tad better. All deaths seemed a bit rushed really, considering that these characters have been villains all the way through or certainly for a good proportion of the series.

Keiko had a mercifully short role in the finale. A total bitch on her first appearance and just about the only character that didn't develop at all. How Miles didn't brutally murder her at some point I'll never know. Just the irritating "Mooooiiiiles" that she starts every complaining sentence with would be enough to drive anyone over the edge. Interesting how the series only letdowns are carryovers from The Next Generation.

The lack of Rom and Leeta in the finale was a shame. Both characters did have their stories tied up in the previous episode but an appearance would have been nice. As would a few clips of Jadzia in the ending montage, she was a main character for 6 of the 7 series after all...

So overall it was good, which is an accurate description for the entire series. There were moments of sheer amazement, such as the series 5 cliffhanger. However there were some moments of pure tedium, usually involving boring Klingons. The characters were engaging and for the most part it was well written. There were a few loose-ends that were left untied but anything of importance seems to have been cleared up. Overall the series gets an 7/10. I daresay that'd be a considerably higher mark if there were two things absent from it: Klingons and Keiko. However if you are able to get past these and the usual crap that comes with any Star Trek, it can be a very enjoyable and rewarding series for the viewer.