‘WALTZ’ (DS9)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This is a ‘DS9’ episode that explores Sisko and Gul Dukat’s relationship. I like this episode, especially as it paints Dukat for what kind of man he is and what Sisko sees in him when he’s trapped with him.
The story begins with the starship Honshu transporting Dukat to a hearing on his war crimes. Sisko is also aboard as he’s scheduled to testify. He visits Dukat in the ship’s brig as he kneels on the floor. 😐
Dukat has been undergoing treatment following a nervous breakdown over the death of his daughter Ziyal. He assures Sisko that he has recovered, but Sisko isn’t really sure about his condition.
Soon, the ship’s under attack by Cardassian warships. Whether the Cardassians were trying to rescue Dukat, I do not know. Sisko soon finds himself in a cave on an alien planet with Dukat attending him.
Dukat explains to Sisko what happened as he managed to get him to a shuttlecraft and escape to a nearby planet where he attended to his wounds. Dukat says he’s sent out a distress call to anybody.
But as Sisko discovers, the communication system is in fact not sending out a signal. Sisko tests Dukat by asking him to check the system is working properly and Dukat does, saying that it is okay. 😐
Dukat also has hallucinatory conversations with people like Jeffrey Combs as Weyoun and Casey Biggs as Damar who advise him to kill Sisko. He also gets haunted by Major Kira as she laughs at him.
This episode features a great performance by Marc Alaimo as Gul Dukat. Over the years, Dukat has become a complex and interesting character. He’s not just a two-dimensional villain as he could’ve been.
In his mind, Dukat believes what he did was to be kind to the Bajorans during the Cardassian Occupation many years ago. This episode shows Dukat’s descent into madness. This Sisko witnesses!
Dukat wants to have the respect he ‘deserves’ from Sisko, trying to justify his actions in what he did to the Bajorans. But Sisko isn’t so easily swayed as he can see the kind of man that Dukat actually is.
As all this goes on, Worf, Jadzia, Bashir and O’Brien search for Sisko in the Defiant. They have a limited amount of time as they need to rendezvous with a convoy of Federation ships. They keep on.
Whilst Dukat isn’t watching, Sisko manages to repair the communications unit and plays along to Dukat’s defence of his treatment of the Bajorans. Soon, Dukat finds that Sisko has repaired the unit.
Dukat destroys the unit and attacks the defenceless Sisko for his ‘betrayal’. The Defiant is able to pick up Sisko’s signal just for a brief moment before it cuts out altogether. And he was so close here.
The scenes between Sisko and Dukat are intense as Dukat pushes Sisko to get his approval from him. But Sisko pushes him to talk about the Bajorans. Dukat insists over his benevolence and good will. 😐
But Dukat’s words soon turn to him revealing his hatred of the Bajorans, angrily declaring that he should’ve killed every last one. This is once Sisko berates him for his hypocrisy and self-deception. 😐
Once Dukat is distracted and he rants away, Sisko knocks him out unconscious. He manages to get away and escape to the shuttle, which seems to be still intact. Dukat of course lied to Sisko over this.
Dukat however turns up as he followed Sisko to the shuttle once he recovered. He overpowers him, but once Sisko’s challenged Dukat to kill him, Dukat instead leaves him behind on the planet surface.
As he leaves and takes off in the shuttle, Dukat vows to destroy Bajor. In outer space, the Defiant pick up the signal from Dukat as he leaves in the shuttle from the planet. This leads them to Sisko. 🙂
I assume the Defiant followed the ion trial of Dukat’s shuttle in order to lead back to where Sisko was on the planet surface. However they did that, Sisko is safely aboard the Defiant in the sick bay. 🙂
When Jadzia sees Sisko in sick bay, Sisko vows to defeat Dukat and protect Bajor at all costs. I wonder how Sisko will be able to do that. I wonder how Dukat will make his dramatic return here. 😀
‘Waltz’ is a very good episode in the ‘DS9’ series. I liked Marc Alaimo’s performance as Dukat in this episode and how he interacts with Sisko. It’ll be pretty intriguing to see what occurs next with Dukat.
Oh by the way, this episode was directed by Odo actor René Auberjonois. René must know the ins and out of Sisko and Dukat’s characters to make the character drama between them more engaging.
‘Waltz’ (DS9) rating – 8/10
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