Plot – The opening of the second season of DS9 has a celebratory air to it. It feels as though the show has survived the difficult first year intact and is moving into the next phase of its development. Everything feels on point here; Quark winding up Odo by declaring peace, Jake worrying Sisko with his latest romantic developments and Kira diving headfirst into Bajoran politics in a very precarious time. The station feels bustling and important and events feel as if they are spiralling out of control very quickly, but all of it based on everything that was set up in the previous year (more importantly, in the previous two episodes).
This is our first real chance to see the politics behind Bajor at the moment, a government that is run by political opportunists who are still reacting (understandably) to the horrors of the Occupation. It’s a planet that needs to heal but all the wrong people have seized power in the aftermath of their abuse. Now we get to watch it all unravel as civil war looms. This was promised in the first episode of the show and I’m pleased to see that followed up here.
Character – Quark is at his all time most charismatic here; running rings around Odo, kissing the Lysepian Captain, flirting with Kira and swindling Rom. Armin Shimmerman must have read this script and smiled a lot. Perhaps it was a huge thank you for the sparkle that he brought to the occasionally dreary first season. Quark managed to put nuggets of gold in episodes like Q-Less and Move Along Home, not an easy task. He really feels like part of the furniture here and one that could not be replaced.
Put yourself in Kira’s shoes for a moment. She is suffering from a period of post traumatic stress as the horrors of the Occupation come to end. The only thing she has known for years is terror and violence and now she is a diplomat and facilitator. It’s no wonder that it all caught up with her in a brutally emotional way. At the point where she is starting to come to terms with her racism and her violent actions and make peace with them, she is told that there are still Cardassians that are brutalising Bajorans and treating them like the Occupation is still going. It drags her right back into that state of mind where she has to fight for justice. Fortunately, she is tempered somewhat by the company that us around her. As she admits in the next episode, she has made some good friends here that have helped to stabilise her. That is what helps her to head to Cardassian Four and rescue the prisoners of war without losing her head. This is terrific characterisation, full of substance and Kira shows real growth from the first season, which is necessary. Losing her, as the episode seems to suggest at its climax, would really hurt the show.
There’s a fresh air around Sisko after his gloomy inaugural year. It feels like the writers have decided to lighten him up a lot whilst still putting the emphasis on his mission and the struggle he is facing running the station. When asking himself whether to give Kira a runabout or not, he has to weigh up the consequences of telling the Cardassians that they know they are still abusing Bajoran citizens. That is a hell of a diplomatic statement to make if you are wrong. He takes a hell of a risk by granting her wish, but the rewards of her success are too enticing to ignore.
Sending O’Brien along with Kira was a really smart move and because of his history with them it has a personal stake.
Performance – Frank Langella terrifies me. He carries the weight of every scene he is in and steals focus from all the other actors by being intensely still. When he speaks, the dialogue is delivered like a weapon. What a coup for the show to get him.
Production – Aside from a few miserable exceptions (Meridian), I always felt that DS9 saved its location work for its important episodes (Past Tense, The Quickening, Rocks & Shoals, Shadows and Symbols) and The Homecoming is no exception. The sequences set in the Cardassian labour camp are expertly brought to life and have an almost blockbuster feel to them. After almost a season set on a cramped Deep Space Nine, it feels like the ultimate refreshment. People often compare DS9 unfavourably to Babylon 5 in its early years but these are the kinds of visuals that B5 could only dream. It’s why DS9 still holds up so well 20 years on. Cardassia Four is exactly the kind of sun-drenched hellhole I always imagined Cardassia to be, and the action sequence that follows releasing Li from prison features some great stunts.
Best moment – Kira pretending to be a hooker to get into the labour camp. This kind of cheeky indulgence is pure DS9 and played to perfection. It might be the ultimate inspiration for feminism, Kira using her obvious charms to get close to a Cardassian soldier and then beating the crap out of him.
The story of Li Nalas and how history has mis-remembered an embarrassing moment as this massive victory against the Cardassians is a beautifully written scene. The Bajorans needed every triumph they could get and whip Li’s lucky shot out of all proportion. He’s not a military tactician or even a particularly brave man, he’s just a normal bloke who happened to be in the right place to make a sudden move to save his life and kill an important Cardassian. History remembers what it wants to remember. That’s a very important lesson. Things are rarely as cut and dried as they appear. ‘Bajor doesn’t need a man, it needs a story…’
A reason to watch this episode again – Anybody that tells you that early DS9 is bad DS9 isn’t watching the same show as me because this is as close to perfect without being as perfect that the show is going to get. Opening the second series with a sense of optimism and impending doom; it features some lovely comedy, powerful drama, politics, action and as usual it is rooted in some fine character work. As a mission statement for the second season it is confident and appetising. There’s a reminder of the horrors of the past (Cardassians still treating Bajorans as POWs) and a foreboding feeling about the future (civil war is on the cards on Bajor) and all of this is channelled through one character (Li Nalas) and Richard Beymler’s subtle and deliberately uncharismatic performance. I felt excited when this episode first aired because we had never seen Star Trek quite as involved as this before and it still holds up today. The only thing that stops this from being an absolute classic is that the direction would be much tighter in later seasons and the performances even more impressive. Even so, this is a great piece of drama and very thoughtful.
****1/2 out of *****
Clue for the next episode:
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