Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Penumbra

Season 7 Episode 17

Plot Summary: When the ship Worf is commanding is destroyed behind enemy lines, only half the escape pods are successfully recovered, and Worf is not among the occupants. Sisko and Co. attempt a search and rescue, but are unsuccessful and have to come back to DS9 so Sisko can build little model houses. Fueled by memories of Jadzia's love for him, Ezri steals a runabout and continues the search on her own. She powers down the ship and lets the currents of the Badlands carry her to Worf's probable destination. Meanwhile, in house building country, Sisko has bought a nice chunk of land on Bajor and is planning his new home. He then proceeds to propose to Kassidy, saying that they'll live in the soon-to-be-built house. She accepts, and the two start to plan their wedding. Eventually, the Badland currents carry Ezri to Worf's pod, and the two are reunited. On their way home, they have a very steamed argument about whether or not the topic of Jadzia should be brought up. (Needless to say this argument came about when the aforementioned topic did come up.) Fortunately their argument is interrupted when Jem'Hadar ships blow up their runabout. But the argument still goes on since they succeeded in beaming themselves down to The Uninhabited Jungle Planet (TM), where the couple's argument get's even more heated to the point that they embrace in a Klingon love ritual. Go figure. This bliss doesn't last too long, however, because the duo is soon attacked and captured by... The Breen!? Okaaaay... And in the final moments of the episode, Sisko is warned in a vision from his mommy (Sarah, the Prophet) NOT to marry Kassidy. She also tells him his greatest trial is about to begin...

Sub-Plot: Not a true sub-plot, but I'm going to use this section as a "Dominion Activity Update" if ever needed. The letters "DAU" after "Sub-Plot" will indicate this from now on. DAU: The tension between Weyoun and Damar rises a few degrees, while Dukat boards DS9 disguised as a Bajoran...

My Opinion: Well, as usual, it's hard to rate an episode that's part of a whole, but, as usual, I'm going to anyway. The best thing about two-parters and four-parters and what-not is that the creators actually take the time necessary to make realistic character development. An example of the exact opposite would be last year's "Tear's of the Prophets". This episode makes good use of that common trait. Between Sisko and Kassidy, and Worf and Ezri, there's a lot going on, and it's nice to see the proper time allotted to such important relationships. On the Dominion front, I was kind of sad to see Damar and Weyoun reduced to their usual stereotypes, but perhaps the rehash was just to prepare new viewers for some upcoming changes... There were a few good moments, but mostly it was a rather slow-moving episode. In the end they left us a lot of loose ends to be tied up in future episodes, so this one doesn't really work on it's own, but it was still a nice solid piece of work. Wrap-Up: Lacking closure, but for obvious reasons, "Penumbra" was a good start to the Final Chapter Of Deep Space Nine. I give it three stars. Review by William Phillips

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