“Til Death Do Us Part” continues Deep Space Nine‘s expansive story arc. The results are much the same as the previous installment: Solid plot development, uneven pace and characterizations, a good, not great episode.

Once again, the episode follows the exploits of Sisko and Kasidy, Worf and Ezri, and adds Dukat and Winn. Each of the stories has its strengths and weaknesses. There’s are a lot of interesting threads slowly being woven together, but others are a bit difficult to accept at face value.

The most emotional of these plots revolves around Sisko’s dilmma: follow his heart or follow the Prophets. There’s just something about this thread that just doesn’t sit right. Sisko continues to come across as a person who wants his cake and to eat it, too. He wants to be the Emissary, but this episode marks the second time he has openly defied their warnings.

And it was all going so well.

Initially, Sisko tells Kasidy that he must listen to the Prophets … that the wedding is off. It’s the kind of sacrifice that is excruciating and wrenching … the kind one needs if one is to follow the path of The Chosen One. I suppose his subsequent reversal — which in many ways is completely understandable — shows that he is a flawed man, a romantic even, but if so, this is a case of the series being just a bit too nuanced. The execution makes Sisko’s character come across more as selfish, rather than tragic or sympathetic.

The Dukat-Winn partnership is likewise both interesting and slightly off. Winn, after bemoaning (yet again) that she has never had a vision from the Prophets suddenly has a vision in which she is told that The Sisko has faltered and that she must help bring about The Restoration. And that a guide will be revealed to her.

It’s the pah-wraiths, obviously, who send the vision. And when Dukat arrives (in disguise as a Bajoran named Anjohl), Winn sees him as her guide. They begin what can only be described as some bizarre kind of courtship, resulting in a kiss between them. I actually like the use of the pah-wraiths as a kind of opposing force to the Prophets. But this is a case where the series tries to be too simplistic (the opposite of how it treats Sisko). Instead of keeping Winn and Dukat as plausible characters with selfish motivations, aligning these characters with the pah-wraiths makes them out to be simple villains — something neither character ever was earlier in the series.

And then there is the Worf and Ezri soap. In many ways, it’s the more interesting and compelling story, thanks to the presence of the Breen who end up torturing and interrogating the two of them. Ezri’s dreams are interesting psychological fodder, as are the ramblings of both characters when they return from their interrogations. But here’s where the episode veers a bit off the rails: Worf hears Ezri rambling about love for Bashir, and he immediately accuses her (and by proxy Jadzia) of being unfaithful.

*sigh* Much too soapy.

Then there is the episode’s “big reveal” that the Breen have allied themselves with the Dominion. Of course, the moment is telegraphed due to editing and camera angles (shots of the Jem’Hadar and Breen ships flying in opposite directions, Weyoun keeping Damar in the dark for no real reason).

“‘Til Death Do Us Part” could stand a bit more consistency.  The result is an awkward, uneven installment which, while important overall, isn’t quite a classic.  And one last thing … why is it that no one on DS9 is all *that* concerned with the disappearance of Worf and Ezri? I’m not expecting life on the station to grind to a halt … but at least some acknowledgement and concern … wouldn’t hurt.

Filed under: Deep Space Nine