Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

(SPOILER ALERT)

This episode starts with an eldery Jake Sisko greeting a young aspiring writer Melanie into his house. She's enthused by Jake's writting but wants to know why he stopped writing. He says he'll tell her story, of how his father died when he was 18. Ugh...the acting isn't exactly setting the world alight, its all pretty cliche.

Unfortunately its the warm fuzzy Star Trek father and son stuff. Sisko is on the Defiant and the Warp core is breaching but he with the help of Jake manages to save the day, but when he hands Jake back a tool he gets shocked and Sisko dissapears into thin air. That was pretty silly. We then go to the funeral, the narration is grand in nature but feels pretty cheesey. Although there is one brilliant moment when the alien who is always drinking at the bar pats Jake on the shoulder while he's looking glum. We're then treated to alot of Jake and Nogg and that's never fun, they don't act bad its just fundementally lame.

Sisko appears to Jake while he's in bed but soon disappears. As Jake spirals into isolation and depression, but at the same time the Bajorian take the death of Sisko their profit as a sign that the Federation could no longer protect them. They then leave the station for resettlement. Keira and Wharf try to get Jake to leave, but he's too emotionally attach to leave, the acting isn't bad but its not quite there either. Sisko reappears to Jake and this time he can touch him. He's taken to sick bay and he's been pulled into sub space and hasn't experienced the passage of time. As Sisko begins to dissapear again Jake can't promise him he'll be alright. The old Jake said he thought nothing could be worse than having him die the first time until he saw him dissapearing knowing he was alived but trapped away from him.

We then get the mandatory chat between Old Jake and the aspiring author, she's enthusiastic and plays the role well, but can't escape the hamminess of the role. However back to the past and DS9 is handed over to the Klingons. Old Jake then talks about having his first work published. We're now in the future past, and Nogg is now a aspiring Captian and Jake is a middle aged man who is a prized author. Apparently the Dominion are working out some kind of transfer deal and apparently Glom the alien who always hangs around the bar is know the owner of the bar on DS9. Just as Jake is writing his new third book and about to have sex with his wife Sisko appears again, apparently they married in Sisko's dad resteruant. Sisko wants to hear all about Jake's accomplishments but just as Sisko is praising Jake's accomplishments Jake bursts into tears, he's sorry for giving up. Sisko again dissapears. It's getting going now.

Dax figured out Jake would be linked to Sisko and would reappear in his old age. Old Jake explains that when he committed his life to helping his father, he lost his wife in the process. However he got the old crew together, its pretty funny seeing them all old and Nogg as captian. Jake created a sub space dialator or some such. Old Bashir and Old Dax are pretty funny. Its odd old Bashir sounds just like Oddo. They try to bring Sisko back but instead gets pulled into sub space himself. Sisko wants to know about his grandkids and Jake's writting but he explains he's lost them both and Sisko urges him to let go of his father and make a better life for himself but again Jake won't promise him. Its both more emotionally compelling as its gone along.

It turns out Jake has been writting stories again and he gives Melanie a copy before explaining that he can cut the chord and return Sisko to the moment of the accident. He also tells Melanie to keep her head up and not miss out on life. Melanie then thanks him for everything and gives him a kiss. Sisko appears on schedule, Sisko is pleased to know he's taken up writing again, Jake has committed suicide, and with his last word he tells him to dodge the warp corps excharge and he tells him that the boy that he was needs him more than he knows. Its syrupy stuff and the final scene is cringeworthy but its a nice ending.

Final Thoughts: Well this was to be expected, you have a block buster double parter episode that's absolutely brilliant and you always get the comedown episode, its usual a side track tale and this was no exception. I'm not normally a fan of episodes that get erased from history at the end as everything returns to normal, but this was a nicely told story, and the looks at the future of Federation was interesting. It was incredibly soppy inplaces but never bad. It wasn't up to the standard of this season Doctor Who episode of a similar vein but for a side track and a chance to catch your breath in the series this wasn't bad at all. (**1/2)