When It Rains…

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"When It Rains…"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode
Episode no.Season 7
Episode 21
Directed by Michael Dorn
Story by René Echevarria
Spike Steingasser
Teleplay by René Echevarria
Featured music Paul Baillargeon
Production code571
Original air dateMay 3, 1999 (1999-05-03)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 7
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"When it Rains..." is the 171st episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , the fifth of the final nine-episode arc of the series. This episode was directed by Michael Dorn (who also played the role of Worf in the show) and written by Rene Echevarria. It was first aired in broadcast syndication on May 3, 1999. [1]

Contents

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet-managed space station Deep Space Nine near the planet Bajor, as the Bajorans recover from a decades-long occupation by the imperialistic Cardassians. The station is adjacent to a wormhole connecting Bajor to the distant Gamma Quadrant; the wormhole is home to powerful alien beings worshipped by the Bajorans as the godlike "Prophets". The later seasons of the series follow a war between the United Federation of Planets and the Dominion, an expansionist empire from the Gamma Quadrant, which has already absorbed Cardassia; the Dominion is ruled by the shapeshifting Changelings.

This is the fifth episode of the nine-episode concluding story arc of the series, which brings the Dominion War and other story elements to a close. In episodes preceding this one, Gul Dukat, the Cardassian who governed Bajor under the occupation, disguised himself as a Bajoran and won the favor of the ambitious Bajoran spiritual leader Kai Winn, seducing her to the path of the Prophets' evil counterparts, the Pah-wraiths; the Cardassian leader Damar has launched a rebellion against Dominion rule; and the Changeling Founders of the Dominion have developed a mysterious illness with no known cure. This episode advances those plot lines, as Dr. Julian Bashir discovers that DS9's security chief Odo, a rogue Changeling, has been infected with the Founders' disease; Starfleet sends DS9's Bajoran second-in-command, Kira Nerys, to assist the Cardassian resistance; and Winn turns Dukat away. Meanwhile, the Chancellor of the Klingon Empire, an ally of the Federation, assumes personal command of the Klingon war effort.

Plot

The Dominion has deployed a new weapon that can disable starships with one shot; only Klingon ships can be made resistant to it as yet, and so the entire defense of the Alpha Quadrant is in the Klingons' hands for the time being. Klingon Chancellor Gowron visits DS9 to honor General Martok, the commander of the Klingon fleet, by inducting him into the Order of Kahless; but after the ceremony he announces he is assuming command of the fleet himself. He outlines his plan for a new offensive into Dominion territory in order to seize glory for the Klingon Empire, ignoring Martok's objections that they are badly outnumbered by Dominion forces and are overextended already merely defending the border.

To aid Damar's revolt against the Dominion, Captain Benjamin Sisko sends Kira, a veteran of the Bajoran resistance against Cardassian occupation, to train the Cardassians in guerrilla warfare strategies and tactics; she is accompanied by Odo and by exiled Cardassian spy Elim Garak. Anticipating the Cardassians' objections to being advised by a Bajoran former terrorist, Sisko has Kira given a Starfleet commission to lend her more authority. When she arrives at Damar's camp, his men object to her presence—especially when she tells them they must be willing to attack fellow Cardassians if they collaborate with the Dominion—but Damar is willing to take her advice seriously.

Bashir, examining a tissue sample from Odo, discovers that Odo is infected with the same disease plaguing the Founders. Attempting to develop a treatment, Bashir requests a copy of Odo's full medical records from Starfleet. Starfleet bureaucrats stonewall his request, claiming that the records are classified and questioning Bashir's loyalty for trying to cure a disease that primarily threatens the Federation's enemies. When Starfleet eventually sends Bashir a file, he discovers it is a fake. Extrapolating the history of the infection in Odo's system, Bashir conjectures that Section 31, Starfleet's secretive black ops division, deliberately infected Odo with the virus so that he would transmit it to the Founders.

Kai Winn is studying the forbidden Text of the Kosst Amojan to learn how to release the Pah-wraiths from their confinement. Dukat sneaks a look at the book and the Pah-wraiths punish him by blinding him. Winn throws Dukat out to live as a blind beggar, telling him he can return when his sight is restored.

Reception

"When It Rains..." had 4.3 million viewers when it was broadcast on television in 1999. [2]

The episode received mixed reviews from critics. As an intermediate episode in a multi-episode story arc, it received criticism for having a lot of plot setup, but not much resolution. [3] [4]

In 2018, the final story arc of Deep Space Nine, including "When it Rains...", was ranked by Comic Book Resources as the best multi-episode story in the Star Trek franchise. [5] In 2016, The Washington Post called the Dominion war story arc, of which this episode is a part, possibly the "richest narrative" of the Star Trek universe. [6]

Related Research Articles

In the Star Trek universe, the Dominion is an interstellar state and military superpower from the Gamma Quadrant, composed of hundreds of dominated alien species. The Dominion is commanded by The Founders, a race of shapeshifters, responsible for both the creation of the Dominion and all strategic decisions undertaken through its history. The Dominion is administered by the Vorta, clones specifically genetically engineered by the Founders to act as field commanders, administrators, scientists and diplomats. The Jem'Hadar, also engineered by the Founders, are the military arm of the Dominion and one of the most powerful military forces in the galaxy during the Dominion's height.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bajoran</span> Fictional extraterrestrial species from Star Trek

The Bajorans are a fictional species in the science-fiction Star Trek franchise. They are a humanoid extraterrestrial species native to the planet Bajor, who have a long-standing enmity with the Cardassians, owing to decades of subjugation under a military dictatorship which saw many of their species enslaved or forced into exile away from their homeworld. They were first introduced in the 1991 episode "Ensign Ro" of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and subsequently were a pivotal element of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and also appeared in Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Picard.

The Dominion War is an extended plot concept developed in several story arcs of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, an American science-fiction television series produced by Paramount Pictures. In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Dominion War is a conflict between the forces of the Dominion, the Cardassian Union, and, eventually, the Breen Confederacy against the Alpha Quadrant alliance of the United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire and, later, the Romulan Star Empire. The war takes place in the final two seasons of the series, but is gradually built up to over the course of the five preceding seasons.

Dukat (<i>Star Trek</i>) Fictional character from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Dukat is a fictional character from the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. A member of the fictional Cardassian species, he is introduced as the former overseer of the series' namesake space station but goes on to become the leader of his species' governing body, the Cardassian Union. At times an enemy, while at others an ally of Benjamin Sisko, Dukat appears in 35 of the series' 176 episodes. He was portrayed by Marc Alaimo throughout. Dukat became a fan favorite among Star Trek fans and he is widely considered to be one of the most iconic villains in the Star Trek franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kira Nerys</span> Fictional humanoid in the TV Series Star Trek Deep Space Nine

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.

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"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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep Space Nine (fictional space station)</span> Fictional space station in Star Trek

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.

References

  1. ↑ "CBS Syndication Bible" . Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  2. ↑ "WebTrek - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine * SEASON 4 NIELSEN RATINGS". Archived from the original on 2017-02-08. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  3. ↑ DeCandido, Keith R. A. (February 6, 2015). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Rewatch: "When It Rains…"". Tor.com . Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  4. ↑ Handlen, Zack (April 10, 2014). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "The Changing Face Of Evil"/"When It Rains…"". The A.V. Club . Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  5. ↑ Star Trek's Greatest Episodic Sagas, Ranked by Michael Weyer – on Nov 23, 2018
  6. ↑ Drezner, Daniel (September 13, 2016). "The top 10 'Star Trek' episodes ever". The Washington Post . Retrieved June 24, 2019.
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