After several episodes which meandered a bit, Deep Space Nine returns to its Dominion arc with “To The Death” — an action-based installment which manages to find enough time to explore the age-old theme of a clash of cultures. For the most part, it’s a smart, well-paced and executed episode. There’s a wonderful bit of continuity back to TNG’s “Contagion.” There are a number nice little character moments as well. So it’s a wonder, then, that this episode doesn’t register as highly as one might expect. Instead, for all its bluster, it won’t ever be remembered as an exceptional outing. That’s not to say that this is a bad episode, rather, it’s just not one of the best the series has to offer.

Events kick off in shocking fashion when, upon returning from a mission on board the Defiant, Sisko, Dax, Bashir, Worf and O’Brien notice that one of DS9′s docking pylons has been blown to smithereens. Inside, chaos reigns as Kira, who has been injured in the attack, relays that a Jem’Hadar strike force was responsible for the damage as it swooped in and made off with a seemingly random selection of technological equipment. Without hesitating, Sisko jumps back onto the Defiant and gives chase. They discover a badly damaged Jem’Hadar warship and that’s when the episode’s main conflict begins.

As it turns out, the Jem’Hadar ship was on the verge of blowing up — the result of damage sustained by a group of rogue Jem’Hadar, the very ones who stole the equipment from DS9. (Incidentally, Kira says that the Jem’Hadar left DS9 on a transport ship so … how could a transport inflict such damage on a warship? It’s a point the episode leaves unexplained.) Sisko saves the the crew, which includes Jem’Hadar soldiers and a Vorta, in command.

The Vorta quickly tells Sisko that they have a common problem. The rogue Jem’Hadar have found an Iconian Gateway — the very same kind gateway the Enterprise discovered in “Contagion” — a portal that allows its users to transport to just about any planet in the galaxy (the Iconians were intriguing in TNG and their mention in DS9 is very welcome). If the rogue Jem’Hadar reactivate it, they could overrun the Dominion and the Federation. Sisko agrees to a joint venture, and the clash between Federation officers and Jem’Hadar warriors — allies who thoroughly distrust and despise one another — begins.

This is where the episode finds its most success. The tensions and obvious distinctions between these two cultures could not be greater. It takes all of Sisko’s will to maintain any semblance of order. As it is, Worf and a Jem’Hadar get into a brawl, resulting in the immediate execution of the Jem’Hadar warrior (his neck was broken by his commanding officer). Sisko, who merely confines Worf to his quarters, invokes the ire of the commanding Jem’Hadar who promises to kill Sisko as a counterpart to the execution.

Ah, tension.

A bit more subtle are the machinations of the Vorta. He positively slithers from scene to scene and one can never be sure if what he says is true (he even boasts to Odo about his abilities to lie). So was all of this just a setup? What was with his fawning discussion with Odo, anyway? The Jem’Hadar eventually kill the Vorta — for questioning their loyalty — so we may never know. Still, his duplicity hangs like a pall over the entire proceedings.

Another nice touch to the episode was O’Brien’s discussion with Dax about the “messages” they write to family before going into battle. O’Brien mentions that he has done this over a dozen times already. It’s a nuanced moment which helps sell the final battle as a truly dangerous one. Indeed, success is of the utmost importance. O’Brien’s “rebuttal” speech, following the Jem’Hadar war oath was also a nice bit of levity.

Unfortunately, the battle doesn’t quite live up to its billing. There’s hardly and real suspense generated. The only deaths are nameless, faceless Jem’Hadar and Starfleet security personnel (heck TOS redshirts got more attention than these poor saps). And the stylized fight just feels like an exercise in over simplified action.

“To The Death” works on a number of levels — mostly in terms of its smaller, talkier scenes. Unfortunately, it isn’t able to live up to its own expectations and deliver a truly spectacular episode.

Filed under: Deep Space Nine