Plot
The ship commanded by Captain Sisko crash-lands in a sea on a barren planet, injuring Lieutenant Commander Dax. A crew of Jem'Hadar, the Dominion's genetically engineered soldiers, and their severely injured Vorta supervisor, Keevan, have also recently crashed on the planet. Keevan strictly rations the limited supply of Ketracel White, the drug that the Jem'Hadar need to survive. The Jem'Hadar capture two members of Sisko's crew, Nog and Garak, and learn from them that the Starfleet crew includes a doctor.
The Jem'Hadar commander Remata'Klan delivers a message to Sisko: Keevan will free Garak and Nog in exchange for treatment from Dr. Bashir and a conversation with Sisko. Sisko takes the opportunity to try to drive a wedge between Remata'Klan and Keevan, but Remata'Klan remains loyal.
Bashir successfully treats Keevan's wound. Keevan shows Sisko that he has a broken transmitter that could be used to send a distress call, but not enough Ketracel White to sustain the soldiers until it is repaired; once the supply is gone, the Jem'Hadar will go on a killing rampage. Keevan says he will order the Jem'Hadar to attack the Starfleet crew, but he will give Sisko their attack plan, allowing Sisko's crew to kill the Jem'Hadar easily; he will then surrender himself and the transmitter. Sisko accepts the offer, over the objections of some of his crew.
Sisko's crew establish a lethal crossfire along the Jem'Hadar's approach to their camp. Before the battle begins, Sisko meets with Remata'Klan, and tells him of Keevan's betrayal, arguing that Keevan does not deserve the Jem'Hadar's loyalty. Remata'Klan confesses that he suspected Keevan was deliberately leading them into a trap, but the Jem'Hadar's loyalty to the Vorta is part of the order of things; he will follow Keevan's orders, even though none of his men will survive. When the Jem'Hadar attack, they are quickly mowed down by the Starfleet crew. As Keevan surrenders, a disgusted Sisko orders a burial detail for the dead.
Meanwhile, on Deep Space Nine, the Bajoran Major Kira gradually comes to realize that by not fighting the Dominion occupation, she has become a collaborator; she identifies uncomfortable parallels between her own passivity and those who collaborated with the Cardassians during their brutal occupation of Bajor. A Bajoran priest, Vedek Yassim, hangs herself in protest, declaring "Evil must be opposed." The next morning Kira confides to her friend Odo that she is going to start actively resisting the Dominion.
Reception
The episode helped advance the character of Major Kira Nerys. According to actress Nana Visitor: "Kira's maturity had to kick in, because she couldn't just react the way the younger Kira would. There was too much at stake. There was too much to lose. So even though it wasn't as much fun to play, I found it was an important growth point." [1] Io9's 2014 listing of the top 100 Star Trek episodes placed "Rocks and Shoals" as the 41st best episode of all series up to that time, out of over 700 episodes. [2]
A 2015 binge-watching guide for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine by Wired recommended not skipping this essential episode. [3]
In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter rated "Rocks and Shoals" along with six connecting episodes as among the twenty greatest episodes (or sequences of episodes) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. [4] This six-episode arc is noted for its serialized format, compared to shorter two-episode pair stories that had been more common to the Star Trek franchise up to that time. [4]
The six-episode arc: [4]
In 2018, SyFy recommend this episode for its abbreviated watch guide for the Bajoran character Kira Nerys. [5] They recommend it as sequence of seven episodes including a "Call to Arms," "A Time to Stand," "Rocks and Shoals," "Sons and Daughters," "Behind the Lines," "Favor the Bold" and "Sacrifice of Angels"; this includes from the season finale of Season 5 and the first six episodes of Season 6 of the show. [5]
Kira Nerys is a fictional character in the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999). She was played by actress Nana Visitor. The character is from the fictional planet Bajor, a world which has recently emerged from a brutal foreign occupation. She was a member of the resistance, and the decades-long conflict has left her tough and uncompromising, but she is sustained by her strong faith in traditional Bajoran religion. She has been assigned to Deep Space Nine, a space station jointly operated by the United Federation of Planets and the new provisional Bajoran government, where she serves as second in command as well as the ranking representative of her people.
"The Search" is the 47th and 48th episode of the science fiction television show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
"The Circle" is the 22nd episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is the second in a three-part story arc, and also the second episode of the second season.
"The Siege" is the 23rd episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is the third in a three-part story arc, and the third episode of the second season.
"Call to Arms" is the 26th and final episode of the fifth season of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 124th episode overall. This episode marks the start of the show's celebrated Dominion war story arc.
"What You Leave Behind" is the series finale of the television show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 175th and 176th episodes, the 25th and 26th episodes of the seventh season. The episode was written by showrunner Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler and directed by Allan Kroeker. It originally aired the week of May 31, 1999.
"Sacrifice of Angels" is the sixth episode from the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 130th episode overall. The episode's plot details the efforts of the United Federation of Planets to retake space station Deep Space Nine from the forces of the Dominion. This is the second half of a two-part episode, continuing the story immediately from the end of the previous episode, "Favor the Bold". The episode features a large guest cast and numerous VFX scenes with spacecraft.
"The Dogs of War" is the 174th and penultimate episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 24th of the seventh season. It is the eighth of the nine-episode story arc concluding the series. This episode was written by René Echevarria and Ronald D. Moore, based on a story by Peter Allan Fields, and was directed by Avery Brooks, who also played the role of Captain Benjamin Sisko.
"Image in the Sand" is the 151st episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the opening episode for the series' seventh and final season. It was first aired the week of September 28, 1998.
"In Purgatory's Shadow" is the 112th episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 14th episode of the fifth season. The episode premiered on February 10, 1997 to a Nielsen rating of 6.7 points. It is the first half of a two-part episode, with the second half, "By Inferno's Light", first airing a week later.
"By Inferno's Light" is the 113th episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 15th episode of the fifth season.
"The Ship" is the 100th episode overall of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the second episode of the fifth season. This episode aired on syndicated television on October 7, 1996. It was written by Hans Beimler, Pam Wigginton and Rick Cason, and it was directed by Kim Friedman.
"The Magnificent Ferengi" is the tenth episode of the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 134th episode overall, originally aired in syndication on December 29, 1997. It was written by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler, and directed by Chip Chalmers. The title is a reference to the film The Magnificent Seven, and the episode makes several minor homages to the film.
"Ties of Blood and Water" is an episode of the syndicated American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the nineteenth episode of the fifth season.
"A Time to Stand" is the first episode of the sixth season of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the 125th episode overall. This episode was broadcast on television starting on September 29, 1997.
"Sons and Daughters" is the third episode in the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is the 127th episode overall.
"Behind the Lines" is the fourth episode of the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 128th episode in the science fiction show.
"Favor the Bold" is the 129th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the fifth episode of the sixth season, first broadcast on October 27, 1997. This episode had Nielsen ratings of 6.0 points, which equaled about 5.9 million viewers.
Deep Space Nine is a fictional space station, the eponymous primary setting of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine which aired from 1993 to 1999. It serves as a base for the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant via the Bajoran wormhole and is a hub of trade and travel for the sector's denizens. It is run by a joint crew of Starfleet and Bajoran officers and it is the home port of a number of Starfleet runabouts, as well as the starship USS Defiant.
