In the twenty-sixth and final episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>, EVERYTHING IS SUPER MESSED UP AND IT ALREADY WAS AND NOW IT IS MORE SO. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For body horror.<\/b><\/p>\n
WHAT A FANTASTIC EPISODE. Look, I made reference to\u00c2\u00a0The Thing<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0while watching this, and I know that this episode isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even\u00c2\u00a0close<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to the first time that\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0has invoked the whole IT COULD BE ANYONE trope. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pervasive science fiction and fantasy trope because IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SUCH A TERRIFYING IDEA. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even care that this episode barely distances itself from what I would expect from a tense bottle episode involving a creature that can take the form of anyone. The\u00c2\u00a0stakes<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0made it stand out.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Adversary\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is heavily based in the Dominion plot line of season three. Through it, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen the terrifying lengths that the Changelings have gone to subvert and destroy the Federation. They are The Worst, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plenty of evidence of that. So, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Adversary\u00e2\u20ac\u009d starts off with a quiet unease \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we know something or someone is in the Jeffries tubes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and builds to the moment where O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien discovers sabotage on the\u00c2\u00a0Defiant<\/i>. Once it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a Changeling on board, the writers exploit every possible scene for paranoia. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the sequence where each member of the senior staff is scanned for tetryon particles; then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the use of the buddy system, which breaks down LITERALLY MINUTES LATER; and then, in what\u00c2\u00a0must<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0have been a brilliant reference to\u00c2\u00a0The Thing<\/i>, Julian tests everyone to see if their blood remains blood after it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s removed from their body.<\/p>\n
All of these scenes are wonderful, as is the use of the self-destruct countdown. Indeed, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Adversary\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is packed to the brim with multiple thriller tropes, and that made it a stressful episode to watch. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel the need to give a scene-by-scene examination of these aspects, though. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something in this story that makes it more than An Experience, and that is Odo. Obviously, the people who surround him are nervous that another Changeling is onboard, and I wondered if there was going to be a scene where the two Changelings confronted one another. (I WASN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T READY.) But I 100% missed the tragic foreshadowing in this episode. Odo stated that he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be the first Changeling to harm another of his species, AND HE DIDN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T EVEN KNOW HOW BADLY THIS WOULD GO.<\/p>\n
It has been heartbreaking watching Odo this season because the one thing he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wanted has been horribly denied him. This might be the worst example of that since the season premiere. Not only has he been unable to connect with his people, but he is forced into a scenario where a Changeling has taken control of the\u00c2\u00a0Defiant<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0and will use it to start a war with the Tzenkethi. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certain that killing that Changeling was the last thing Odo wanted to do. And yet? He was backed into a corner. With minutes left before the\u00c2\u00a0Defiant\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>would self-destruct, Odo had to fight being absorbed into the Changeling and buy O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien enough time to take back control of the ship. In the process, he becomes the very first Changeling to harm another.<\/p>\n
And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so deeply, deeply unfair. I think this all but guarantees that unless the Changelings reverse their feelings on non-Dominion species, Odo will never join the Great Link ever again. How can he? He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done something that no other Changeling has ever done, and he\u00c2\u00a0knows<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0that it is awful. Yes, he saved his friends. He prevented a disastrous war from breaking out. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done an incredible service for the Federation, and his actions will most likely get him celebrated as a hero. This is not mutually exclusive with his guilt and shame. We learn from Sisko\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s captain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s log that once Odo returned to DS9, he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t speak for DAYS. Days!!! And who can blame him? The first ever to kill another Changeling, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even scarier to think about how this might not be the last time. The dying Changeling\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s message to Odo is that THEY ARE ALL TOO LATE. THE CHANGELINGS ARE EVERYWHERE. Oh, so the show took a bottle episode, one that was completely resolved, AND EXPANDED IT TO THE ENTIRE FOURTH SEASON? There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no cliffhanger here, but the suspense is still very real. Who else has been replaced? If the Changelings can infiltrate Starfleet and FAKE AN ENTIRE FUCKING MISSION, who’s to say they won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do worse?<\/p>\n
And hell: WHAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S WORSE THAN THAT???<\/p>\n
Season four is going to terrify me, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Adversary\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a><\/b>!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME<\/a>. In the twenty-sixth and final episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine, EVERYTHING IS SUPER MESSED UP AND IT ALREADY WAS AND NOW IT IS MORE SO. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[640,614],"tags":[615],"class_list":["post-5603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deep-space-nine","category-star-trek","tag-mark-watches-star-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5603\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be Death Note<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Neon Genesis Evangelion<\/em>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"