Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series) Image in the Sand (1998) User Reviews

Great season opener

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 4 January 2010]

As season seven opens the crew of Deep Space Nine are still trying to come to terms with the death of Jadzia Dax and the closing of the wormhole; hardest hit are her husband Worf who fears that because she didn't die in combat she can't enter the Klingon afterlife and Captain Sisko who has returned home to New Orleans and is wondering what he is meant to be doing now that he is cut off from the prophets.

While playing the piano at his father's restaurant Sisko has a vision of desert planet were he digs in the sand and finds a woman, he does not recognise her but after creating a computer image of the face he learns that his father knew the woman. Sure that the vision was a message from the prophets he readies himself to find it, a task which he is aided in by his son, father and an old friend who appears shortly before he is ready to depart.

Back on DS9 Bashir, O'Brien and Quark are trying to arrange for Worf to get a position on a Klingon ship so he may go into combat in Jadzia's name and earn her a place in the afterlife. Things seem to be going well for Kira who is now in acting command of the station but things might get awkward when the Romulans ask to use an uninhabited Bajoran moon to build a hospital.

This was a good opening episode which mainly sets up the story for the next episode as it leaves each of the three story lines open. As this series has some of the best characters of any Star Trek incarnation it didn't suffer for being more talky than most.

Homestretch.

[thevacinstaller · 7/10 · 4 December 2021]

It is tricky to review serialized episodes where the plot of the episode does not actually pay off until later episodes ----- Very few serialized series manage to walk the tightrope of having engaging individual episodes, instead they opt to hang a mystery box carrot in front of your face.

Since this is the a build up episode, I will just opt to go with the bullet point stream of conscious style of review.

• I like seeing Joe Sisko .... Wish he had a moment like he did in that homefront episode.

• The white outfit really helped to sell the severity of the stab wound that Ben Sisko received.

• Ezri Dax might be the friendliest character since George LaForge. She has that type of chemistry to her.

This episode is essentially a dangling carrot in front of my face but leaves me with little to discuss or interpret but it is competently done.

lots of introductions ONLY

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 26 January 2015]

This first episode of the final season of "Star Trek: Deep Space 9", "Image in the Sand" is an important one but not an especially satisfying one. This is because lots of story elements are introduced but there is no resolution of any of them. In other words, you get a taste for what WILL be resolved in the future on the series.

When the show begins, Colonel Kira (yes, she's now a colonel) is practically having a love affair with the Romulan leader stationed on DS9. The two ladies seem to be in sync and spend a lot of time congratulating each other...until Kira learns that this 'nice' Romulan is up to something.

As for Sisko, he's been off the base for three months and no one has heard from him. Since the release of the Pah-Wraiths, no one has heard from the Prophets and Sisko is out sulking or thinking at his father's restaurant on Earth. Fortunately for his faith, the Prophets deliver him yet another vision...but there is danger just around the corner.

Worf is naturally bummed. After all, his wife was just murdered by Dukat and since she didn't die in battle, he cannot hope to meet her in Klingon heaven, Sto-vo-kor. Or, is there some way?

And, when the show ends, Dax's new symbiot, Ezri Dax, is introduced. But apart from introducing herself, you know NOTHING about this new series regular.

As I said, there are a bunch of plots introduced but no real resolution. The next episode picks up with these but it will take some time for the plots to come into their own. As a result, it's an important episode but one that isn't very satisfying on its own.

Moving Forward/Love For Your Fellow

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 8 November 2018]

I liked this one very much. Benjamin has gone back home with Jake and is sitting around wondering what to do. He knows his connection to the prophets is waning. One day he has an image of a desert place where he digs in the sand. He uncovers the face of a woman. This leads to a major piece of information from his father. Meanwhile, Worf is in a rage, destroying things, frustrated that he is helpless to avenge Jadzea. He had hoped she would join him in the Klingon heaven. Other events involve the Romulans who have never been trustworthy forcing themselves into things without consulting the Federation. Sisko now believes that he has what he needs to return as the Emissary but there is one more big surprise for him as he leaves his father's restaurant. This final season looks so great.

Prophets, Pah-wraiths, Romulans, and New Dax

[snarky-trek-reviews · 8/10 · 28 February 2019]

The Pah-wraiths are gaining followers.

Sisko is taking time off to wash potatoes, pursue art and music, and treasure hunt for prophets. Finds his mom instead.

Worf needs a victory not convoy duty so he goes to Vic's to express his frustrations before getting drunk with Obrien and warming his cockles.

Kira doesn't trust the Romulans but she makes friends with one anyway and lets her set up a hospital so they can play poker.

Demar and Weyoun have an excellent intelligence network.

Other notes:

Demar's character is developed nicely here. His exchange with Weyoun early in the episodes says a lot about who he is as a man. He's an underrated and often over looked supporting character but I absolutely love him. New Dax is easy on the eyes and easy to like. Nog is the anti-Scrappy Doo, Jake is the anti-Wesley Crusher.

Verdict: Strong start to a new season. The writers take their time to develop individual characters and themes to drive the story. Much of what happens here sets the stage for the final episodes.

Fun Facts:

Neon signs are still a thing in 24th century New Orleans. Eating the heart of an enemy ensures passage to Stovelcore.

Good start to the final series that sets the scene well

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 30 July 2023]

Kira is in command of DS9, Sisko has an intriguing vision, and Worf struggles with the loss of Jadzia.

The story kicks off a number of interesting plot threads before leaving them unresolved. Sisko's for me is the most compelling and makes me want to find out what happens next.

Several of the plots include good examples of camaraderie and support between friends and family members. I like the references to TNG made by Worf and O'Brien. Plus there is a great use of Martok, who adds some much needed Klingon directness to all the rallying around Worf's bereavement.

Kira and the Romulans is a pretty good and plausible situation. I liked the developing bond between two characters that hits a snag when something sneaky happens. This all fits well with the portrayals of Romulans and Bajorans so far in the franchise.

It ends with an interesting character introduction. It would be easy to pass judgement on this casting decision based on the physical appearance of the actress, but that would be unfair at this early stage.

All actors are on good form, particularly Nana Visitor, Michael Dorn and in parts Avery Brooks.

Introducing Ezri Dax

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 6 December 2011]

Of all the Season Openers of DS9, this one set up the final story arc so well that our interest was piqued even with the loss of Jadzia Dax.

There has been a minor scattering of the main characters of DS9. A new Bajoran Religion of people worshiping the Pah-Wraiths has emerged. The Celestial Temple has been closed and the Bajoran Orbs are all dark and "The Sisko", not knowing what he is to do, is on Earth, mainly sitting in front of a piano at his Father's (Played by the great Brock Peters) New Orleans Restaurant. Worf seeks Honour for his deceased wife Jadzia, who was brutally murdered by the Pah-Wraith/Gul Dukat entity.

And so while all of these disparate elements converge, The Sisko sees the image of a woman - A woman who plays an important role in this final story arc. And we meet Ezri Dax, who was not a Trill Host Initiate but was compelled to offer herself as Host to Dax due to an emergency.

And this is what I mostly want to talk about - Nicole De Boer is Ezri-Dax. And although she is not explored in this episode that much, she does come to be a major plot element of this final season.

When I initially watched these episodes that showed how another Host would be after joining with Dax, I hated the Ezri character and I thought she was rather silly. But I have not seen these eps since they were played on TV in the 1998-1999 season, it has been almost 12 years since the final season of DS9, and now I can watch these final eps, and it is as if I am seeing them for the first time- I had seen each of the eps of the previous seasons, more than once, so I was very familiar with the DS9 story: Of Season Seven I had only vague recollections. And so in December of 2011, I am viewing the final season of what I think of now as a great Trek show, one that was basically dismissed by Trek canonisers because of its vast differences from Gene Roddenberry's Future Earth.

Well, this series was NOT about Earth, as The Next Generation and TOS was. This series was shown, in the Season 6 Ep "Far Beyond the Stars" - as the imaginings of an under-appreciated coloured Sci-Fi writer of the 40's and 50's, about a Coloured man who was a widower with a young son being the commander of a huge Space Station on the edge of Known Space - A Sci Fi story that would NOT have been published back then. And that story of DS9 was never allowed to be published due to that particular racial bias. So, the way I see it, is that "Benny Russel" is the actual creator of Deep Space Nine, long before Roddenberry - And since the story was allegedly conceived in the Post War years, the story has WW-II elements in it. Oh yes, we know that the concept was shown to Sisko in a vision of the Prophets, but who is to say, that there never was a Benny Russel who was never allowed to publish a story of a coloured Captain - In charge of a Multi-Racial and Multi-Species "Space Station"? Part of Quantum Physics states that our imaginings, the books we read, the TV shows we watch, COULD be other Quantum Realities - Or at least could be stories about "Alternate Time-lines" - This is why I like Fringe so much, because it explores that even more than it was explored in Next Generation and DS9.

Getting back to Ezri-Dax, it is now apparent to me, that Nicole De Boer was carefully cast, and actually uses many of Terry Farrel's mannerisms, eye movements, ways of speaking - This is one of the best continuations of a character I have ever seen, and I BELIEVE it – I really believe now, that Ezri Dax contains the memories of Jadzia Dax, and Curzon, and all of the hosts of the Dax Symbiote.

Sometimes, I forget she is not really Nicole De Boer, who is actually an actress of Merit (The Dead Zone series) - She seems at times to be a shorter version of Terry Farrel. And so as Jadzia was the science officer, Ezri is now a "Ships Counselor" of sorts - Because that is the Ezri host's special talent- But when required, she can, and does, tap into the previous knowledge of the Jadzia symbiote, and can sometimes perform a task which a science officer would do. This Season, even explores how the one Host who was a murderer could help Ezri solve a Murder Investigation on the Station. And so, I just say it here, this season opener sets up a whole universe of possibilities for ontinuation of the DS9 story arcs.

When I watch this DS9 Ep in particular, the Original Trek Story Arc was still strong, but I knew, that this was the end of Trek the way we had known it for the last 15 years of the TNG universe. So: This episode, represents, to me at least, that Trek was turning down the lights, drinking a cup of Tarkalian Tea, and getting ready for Bed - To be Awakened by JJ Abrams in 2009.