Dukot Movie Review

[Heike Fallago]

UnlikeA Time to Stand" and "Rocks and Shoals," this week's outing holds very few impacting surprises or astounding moments of insight concerning the status of the Alpha Quadrant. It's a smaller character show that doesn't get as wound up in the bigger, more spectacular things happening in the DS9 universe.

As a smaller show, "Sons and Daughters" is reasonable and pretty nicely conveyed. But, like many shows that center around Klingon milieu (including last season's "Soldiers of the Empire"), there just isn't much of a sense that removes it from the "been there, done that" category. The topic is a well traveled road, and there just isn't a whole lot that leads this particular installment off the standard path.

The episode sports the return of Worf's son Alexander Rozhenko (now played by Marc Worden), bringing up some issues concerning Worf's parenting that had never really been put to rest back in the TNG days. Now a teenager, Alexander has decided to enlist in the Empire's war effort against the Dominion, and he has been assigned to Martok's ship, the Rotarran.

Obviously, this opens some old wounds for Worf. Some may recall how Worf and Alexander were never really on the same page when it came to their respective outlooks on life. But then again, one probably wouldn't expect that Alexander would have needed to chose his life's path at that point (a subject that made some of Worf's intents concerning his son in those days all the more difficult). Now that Alexander has aged several years, it makes sense that he would begin to question his role in the universe. For that reason, I've long thought that we would need to see Alexander again (with Worf having emigrated from TNG to DS9 and all). If nothing else, "Sons and Daughters" brings Alexander back as an issue that will certainly be present in subsequent episodes.

Suddenly having Alexander back in Worf's life is something that definitely screams "further character building" for Worf. The episode successfully conveys the sense that Worf was at least partially at fault for not having been present when his son needed him; rather, he claimed his life as a warrior versus Alexander's as a non-warrior as a basis for deciding their lives would simply be incompatible. Alexander's repressed anger toward his father for constantly "sending him away" when he was younger certainly has a strong basis for its existence.

Unfortunately, the events leading up to the payoff are not on the level of what they should be, especially considering we haven't seen Alexander for so long. The script by Thompson and Weddle does a good job of using Worf and Martok as characters whom we know so well at this point; I've grown particularly fond of J.G. Hertzler as Martok, who has created a very respectable and likable personality with a commanding presence that is simultaneously three-dimensional and true to Klingon attitudes. But what Thompson and Weddle do not do successfully is get to the crux of Alexander's character, which is the episode's biggest problem.

In broad terms, the writers do not give us any motivation for Alexander's about-face from wanting nothing to do with Worf's Klingon values to suddenly wanting to become a warrior. A few heartfelt lines of dialog probably could've made all the difference, but the absence of such dialog really hurts the situation's believability. For this to really work, we need to know why Alexander feels the way he does, and why he is suddenly compelled to prove himself to his father. The fact that Alexander has matured partially explains it, but in and by itself it is not the whole story. As a result of the lack of rationale, Alexander comes off as only half-developed, which is not good.

So what about the "daughters" part of "Sons and Daughters," namely, the renewed relationship between Dukat and his daughter Ziyal? Well, the ideas contained herein are certainly relevant (if a little lightweight), and some of the character interplay proves interesting. Ziyal's difficulty in finding direction in life makes sense given her difficult past. And the fact that she's lost without purpose on Bajor is reasonable, especially considering her "father is leading a war against the Emissary of the Prophets." So Dukat talks to her and they come to a reconciliation of their own. Dukat convinces her to come back to the station.

The details of Ziyal's discovery (her pursuit of art) are not particularly riveting (and Melanie Smith's overacting doesn't help matters), but what Ziyal's presence does accomplish effectively is to reemphasize some of "the other side" of Dukat. I still think Dukat is about as multifaceted as they come, and here his intentions are completely sincere, reopening feelings for his daughter which I had thought forever died in "By Inferno's Light."

And the gift Dukat sends Kira merely serves to emphasize how complex and clever a man he his, balancing sincerity and hidden motives. When Kira refuses to accept the gift, what does Dukat do? He presents it to Ziyal as if it were always meant for her. A sneaky, but strangely nice gesture.

This B-plot is probably ultimately stronger than the A-plot is, but it might've been even better if Ziyal weren't such a hollow character. She's torn here and there by the other characters, but she still isn't much of a person so much as she is a convenient device for analyzing Dukat and Kira.

It's scary and even sort of sad that Dukat can be such a likeable person. It's very hard to say no to a man who's obviously making a great effort to get you to like him and Kira perfectly conveys that feeling.

The combat sequence seemed a little silly. A single bird of prey can take out 3 Jem'Hadar ships? That's making a mockery of the Dominion's supposed technological superiority, unless they're really that terrible in combat tactics.

It's a strange coincidence that both the "son" and the "daughter" were recast at least twice, which I cite as one of the reasons this episode doesn't work (the other being the writing). Not for a second did I believe that Marc Warden was Alexander, and it's not because of how he looks physically but simply because his demeanor is so different - come on, guys, it's only been three and a half years since we last saw him in "Firstborn". Melanie Smith isn't as bad, but she's no Cyia Batten.

The scene where Martok confronts Alexander is powerful, and it is because of the awesomeness that is J.G. Hertzler. Martok may be one of the most well-rounded "secondary" characters on any show, and his scenes in this episode were enough for me to recommend it.

With the Dominion, it's not the fact that they are so skilled, besides the hand to hand of the Jem'Hadar. They have overwhelming numbers and can rebuild fast. They have replaceable ships and soldiers. So, when the BOP took out the 3 warships it's not too unbelievable.

I agree with Jammer on this. Good Ep, but it's nothing special!

Alexander is a kind of tragic character, as shown here. He believes himself a failure and by Klingon standards he is. He is certainly caught between two worlds, even more than Worf, who at least can fight with other Klingons successfully. Whatever becomes of him? In later episodes Worf describes himself as a failure as a father. That's rather sad as well.

In terms of Dukat, it was good to see his "humanity" (so to speak) in this episode, and disappointing that in Waltz he turn to evil. That dismissed his much more interesting moral ambiguity, and how he thinks of himself as a good man while being regarded by others as evil. I would have liked to see him explore his good side more in the end, rather than become a cardboard cutout of evil (literally and figuratively demonized).

Looking back, I realize that one of the things I really liked about this arc was that Worf was barely present and Kira was back to her old self. I liked Worf fine in TNG, but I'm just so bored of the character and his general humorlessness, the honor and duty cliches, his unfathomable relationship with Dax, etc. If it wasn't for Martok, the Klingon episodes would be a total waste for me. I find every other character more interesting and more appealing, and it annoys me when they get sidelined just so we can see Worf do the same thing again. As much as I love DS9, I wish they hadn't been forced to take him onboard. He brings nothing to the show, and whatever he does do is something that someone else more interesting could have been doing.

A dissapointment after the first strong two eps in Season 6. Agree that J.G. Hertzler's Martok steals every single scene he is in on this episode.

The whole episode feels a bit underwritten and weak leaving a lot of the characters with nowhere to go. I am not sure if its the writing or the actors but other peoples comments about the Worf/Dax relationship being unfathaomable (or badly written), the Worf and Alexander scenes also don't work, I agree the scene between Alex and Martok did work, the Klingon stuff is all a bit pedestrian, repetative and seen it done better before, but I did like the mess hall fight!

Well it was bound to happen that Worf's son was going to pop up sooner or later. On one hand I'd like to say this was bad timing on the writers part in the current scheme of things. On the other hand I'd like to say it kind've makes sense in the scheme of things...especially the fact that Alexander did join a sort of Klingon auxiliary force. I agree this was a bit on the sudden side but it didn't cripple the episode. The scenes between Alexander and Martok were inspired.

The continuing events on the station are well-played out as Ziyal returns from Bajor and is cause for further deftly-written characterizations among Kira/Dukat. Some smaller moments including Odo/Kira/Jake on the promenade, among others, add nice touches to the overall tapestry. A scene with Quark offering Jake a job as a waiter was almost off-hand in nature yet it stuck with me for some reason. In a good way.

At this point of the arc, I would think one would hope for something a little more substantial. But what is here isn't necessarily bad. In fact it's quite good in some parts.

I like this one a little bit more than Jammer. Better than average episode that disappoints a bit only within the context of its role in the current arc.

3 stars.

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