Their discussion on Ezri's search for identity continues to build on the character's central struggle, and works surprisingly well in context. Kellin and Dax form a good chemistry in working to solve a strategic technical problem they come to reveal the other side of the situation-the side that can still think about life rather than impending death. Probably the only of the guest characters who feels like a conventional Starfleet officer rather than a hardened soldier is the engineer, Kellin (Bill Mumy). The leader of the battalion prior to Sisko taking command is Larkin (Annette Helde), who also shows an edge of impatience. The implications are unsettling given the Federation moral scheme, but it's a plausibly gritty idea. The notion of his wearing Jem'Hadar ketricel white vials around his neck as a way of "keeping score" of his kills provides a nice touch. There's also Reese (Patrick Kilpatrick), who seems to be handling the stress better, though he's certainly become combat-hardened. And the moment with Bashir when Vargas tells his story of the bandage and his slain comrade ("I couldn't stand the guy") shows him in a state of mental unease that borders on a nervous breakdown. He's full of bitterness and resentment for being essentially abandoned by Starfleet-left to die on this planet. The presentation of these characters works exceptionally well from step one we can see that this isn't, as Quark so aptly puts it to Nog, "the Starfleet you know." The emotional instability of Vargas (Raymond Cruz) paints a compellingly bleak picture. These soldiers have become hardened, short-tempered, even nasty. The emotional and psychological scars are more than a little evident. Behr and Beimler's story presents us a group who have been worn down by attack after attack. I was quite interested in the guest characters, who have been stuck on this rock for months with no end to their hell in sight. It truly is Us or Them-kill as efficiently as possible, or be killed. What's even more frightening is that this dark side must surface, because it's required for survival. Like " In the Pale Moonlight," it reveals the dark side of human reaction-how extreme situations can bring out the part of a moral person that he or she would never have hoped existed. The tone is unlike any typical installment. I honestly couldn't imagine it on any of the other Trek series it would be utterly foreign. This is the sort of Trek story that could only be told on DS9. One thing I really like about "The Siege of AR-558" is that it utilizes the strengths of DS9's current themes. Sisko's order: To hold off the enemy-period. Them is a large squadron of Jem'Hadar soldiers who have beamed down to the planet surface and intend to retake AR-558. Us is the war-torn Starfleet battalion, of which Sisko takes command. The plot is a perfect exercise in simplicity. Then a portion of Sisko's crew finds itself trapped-unable to beam up when a Jem'Hadar ship enters the game and the Defiant is forced to break orbit to locate reinforcements. Two-thirds of the Starfleet battalion has been killed. ![]() In the meantime, these soldiers have been repelling wave after wave of Jem'Hadar assault to reclaim the array. ![]() They were supposed to be rotated out after three, but Starfleet has been spread too thin in the area to get around to it. (Long-term plot patrol asks: Will we ever hear of this array again, or will its relevance vanish like many other "important" victories attained in episodes dealing with the war?) Stationed on the outpost are Starfleet officers who have been trapped on this front line for five months. The plot brings the Defiant on a supply delivery run to an outpost with a Dominion communications array that has been seized by the Federation. ![]() ![]() "The Siege of AR-558"-essentially a DS9 war movie-is exactly about being neck-deep in the ugliness and impending doom of the front lines. Sure, Our Heroes have had their dose of life-threatening confrontations, whether it was all-out space battles in " Sacrifice of Angels" or the man-to-man combat of " Rocks and Shoals," but they've never been neck-deep in death for a prolonged period the way the front lines of the war are likely to be. Through the war that's been raging between the Federation and the Dominion for a year-plus now, the one thing we rarely get a taste of is the pure intensity of how impending death and daily violence actually feels. Nutshell: A gritty, engrossing, simple, and powerful tale of combat. Reese and Sisko on front-line troop replacements Written by Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler Star Trek: Deep Space Nine "The Siege of AR-558"
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