To Boldly Sew is a recap of DS9 episodes, with a specific focus on the fashions of the many aliens and other characters that make up the series. Feel free to discuss matters of plot and general Star Trek things in the comments.
All screenshots come from trekcore.com, which is the same place as the original TNG fashion blog (http://sttngfashion.tumblr.com/).
At Quark’s, Quark complains to Odo about a customer who has been using the holosuites for three hours but only paid for one. He’s been fighting a Klingon battle and refuses to come out until he wins. Quark and Odo go up a spiral staircase and to a dark, narrow hallway, and we can hear grunting and metal clashing through the door.
The hallway is pretty dark and narrow. The red and orange lighting is a nice visual note.
Odo asks when Quark added Klingon battles to his holosuite programs. Quark says he bought some from a recent Klingon captain who had gone through the wormhole. The programs are violent, but the Klingons enjoy them.
Odo tells Quark to shut off the power, even though the customer said he’d kill Quark. Quark is reluctant, but powers down the suite. The Klingon comes out with a bottle in hand, angrily shouting in Klingon.
He’s an old guy with kind of curly gray hair. Not much to see of his outfit yet, but it looks like leather and fur.
He yells at Odo and Quark. Odo tells him the battle is over and the people are waiting to celebrate his victory. The drunken Klingon cheerfully wanders off looking for revelry.
The drunken Klingon sleeps it off in a security cell while Odo gets back to work at his desk.
Suddenly, he stands up and finds another Klingon in his office. He asks how the Klingon got in, and the Klingon instead says that he is Koloth.
Koloth also has kind of curly hair, but his is more white than gray. Okay, gonna break down his multi-layered outfit. Turtleneck shirt in sort of checkered gray. Vest that looks like it’s made of rubber in a lighter gray, with gold accents. Sash with what looks like a pretty sharp knife sewn on to it, while another golden corn goes over the other shoulder. Major bling on the necklace. Kind of velvety puffy sleeves.
This guy brings the style, Klingon-wise.
Koloth asks about the drunken Klingon.
Odo has no time for these shenanigans and tells Koloth that the drunk is the guest of honor. Koloth says he must be a brave man to attempt humor at the expense of a Klingon Dahar master.
Odo apologizes, and takes Koloth to see the drunk. Koloth addresses him as Kor, and Odo says he’ll release him into Koloth’s custody.
Slightly better view of Kor’s outfit here. He seems to shift more into the brownish spectrum. Blackish brown leather gloves. Velvety sleeves. Brown pants. He doesn’t have any fancy vests or sashes, just a long leathery jacket, over a brownish shirt.
Koloth yells at Koloth, saying he’s disgraced himself and that he won’t go into battle with one whose honor is washed away in brestanti ale. He tells Odo to keep him and marches off. Kor sighs and goes back to sleep. Odo rolls his eyes.
Odo brings a document to Kira, apologizing for the delay as it has been a “Klingon afternoon.” He says that every time Klingons come to the station, he has a Klingon afternoon. He explains that Kor is singing drunken battle songs in his cell while Koloth wants nothing to do with him. Kira laughs.
He mentions Kor’s name, and Dax, who is sitting nearby, seems to recognize it. She wonders what he’s doing there, and then confirms that the friend’s name is Koloth.
They go to see Kor, who says he’s thirsty. Dax says she’ll take responsibility for Kor, so Odo agrees to let him out.
Dax asks Kor if he remembers Curzon. He replies with a poetically drunken affirmative, so Dax explains who she is, giving some account of scars and pains that Kor has for evidence. Kor is astonished to see Curzon is a woman, and wants to kiss her, but she talks him into a hug instead and says that she’s Jadzia now.
Kor immediately calls her the the right name, still pleased to see her. She leads him off to find Koloth, whom Kor apparently doesn’t remember having seen before. Odo breathes a sigh of relief.
Koloth is carefully slicing what looks like a cake with a fancy knife when Dax and Kor approach.
I don’t know what Klingons think this is, but to me it looks like a cheesecake. I don’t normally eat cheesecake on a bed of…whatever racht is, but maybe Klingons do?
Kor laughs at him for using a sharp knife on his food, but Koloth says that a sharp knife is nothing without a sharp eye. Kor laughs says it’s been 40 years since his good eye was sharp.
Koloth is insulted that they are being greeted by a mere Lieutenant. Dax says he never had much use by the Federation, and says that she called him “ice man” because no proposal would ever satisfy him. Koloth is obviously confused, and looks toward Kor, who explains that she is Dax. Koloth seems not to understand for a moment and then says that it must be a mistake, and Kang must not have known.
Kor says it’s a beautiful mistake. Dax asks if Kang is coming. Kor says he has brought the four of them together after 81 years. Dax starts to ask another question but is interrupted by Kang himself, who says he has found the Albino.
In Dax’s quarters, she hands out drinks, which are refused by all but Kor, and reminisces about a time in the past. Kang claims he has never sat with her before. She says she is Dax, godfather of his son.
Kang is big on the furs. He also has curly hair. Do all Klingons have curly hair? Anyway, Kang looks like he’s wearing a fur coat over a leather shirt, or maybe a vest. Is that strips of metal in the middle of the fur? Looks like zippers to me.
Koloth says she is no one’s godfather. Dax says she is. Kang asks if she’s the same Dax who took a blood oath with them to swear vengeance. She says not to mistake a new face for a new soul. She hopes he will embrace her as a brother. Koloth scoffs at the idea of her being a brother. Kor says there is no difference between brother and sister. He wants Kang to tell them about the Albino and where he was found.
Kang says seven years ago on Dayos IV, he met one of the Albino’s discarded wives. He told her the story of their sons. She feared him and told him nothing, but then three months ago she died, and a week later, an amulet she wore was delivered to him. The amulet had the location of the Albino’s sanctuary.
Oh, here is a shot of Kang lounging. He’s got a belt with some fancy belt buckles. He’s not wearing gloves, but has some wrist guard type things. Brown pants. Knee-high leather boots.
Koloth asks if he’s still there. Kang says he’s confirmed it with traders. It’s on the fourth planet of the Secarus system. The Albino has been hiding there for almost a quarter of a century. Kang says he’s heard there are only 40 men in the compound.
Dax says she wouldn’t count on information from traders as the Albino might have told him what to say if anyone asks questions. Koloth agrees, saying the traders might have warned of their approach. Kang says they’ll never warn anyone ever again and they’ll reach the Albino and he’ll cut his heart out and eat it while the Albino watches him with his dying breath.
Kang nods, and Kor drinks. Dax is skeptical.
Kang and Dax walk through the promenade.
His jacket must have some big shoulder pads. However, it doesn’t seem very long. I feel like it should be a foot or two longer, like Kor’s jacket.
Kang says he did not know that she was Dax, and didn’t want to risk contacting her by subspace in case the Albino intercepted the information, as he has done in the past.
He asks about how Curzon died. She says he died in a hospital room, yelling at doctors and friends who were trying to keep him alive another day. Kang says this is a pity as he was a good man who deserved to die in battle. Dax says that Curzon got many decorations but he was honored most by Kang’s – for a Klingon to choose a Federation official to be his son’s godfather.
Kang says that Curzon opened the door to peace and was the first diplomat he met who seemed to truly understand the Klingon nature. Dax says his blood oath was very important to Curzon. He asks if Dax will eat from the heart of the Albino. He says that he knows the Trills and knows that new hosts do not have any obligation to keep the previous host’s commitments. Dax says she knows a Klingon blood oath will never be broken.
He says the old Klingon ways are passing. The empire used to be feared but now people are opening restaurants and serving racht to the grandchildren of men he killed in battle. I wonder what he’d think of the Klingon chef from the last episode whom we never see again. Things aren’t what they used to be – even the oath. He says that Dax owes nothing to them and doesn’t hold her to the oath.
In Ops, Kira is concerned about a plasma leak she can’t find and asks Dax to help out. While working on it, Dax asks Kira how many people she killed in the underground.
Kira says too many. Dax asks if they were faceless Cardassians or if she remembers them. Kira is uncomfortable with the conversation and asks to stop having it. Dax apologizes. Curiosity gets the best of her, though, and she asks Dax why she’s asking.
Dax doesn’t want to discuss it either, but Kira pushes her and so Dax says that 80 years ago there was a band of depredators lead by an Albino raiding Klingon colonies. Three Klingon warships went to stop him and one of the captains was a friend of Curzon’s. The mission was successful but the Albino escaped.
In his last message, he promised to take revenge on the firstborn of each of the three captains, and a few years later he kept his word. Somehow he infected three kids with a genetic virus that killed them. One was Dax’s godson.
Kira says that was Curzon’s godson. Dax says she took a blood oath. Kira says it was Curzon’s oath.
Dax remembers the funeral. The boy was named Dax. Kira asks if they’ve found the Albino. Dax says yes.
Kira says that Dax has said that every new life means starting over, so you don’t pay old debts forever and the Klingons can’t possibly expect her to keep the oath. Dax says they don’t, but she knows she has an obligation even if they say they don’t.
Kira says that in answer to her question about killing – when you take someone’s life, you lose a part of yourself as well.
At Quark’s, Kor is drinking with two women on his lap. He has no free arms to drink now, so Dax pours the drink into his mouth. He introduces the women as students of Klingon history.
Kor’s jacket now looks more like a bathrobe, giving him a Hugh Hefner look. Appropriate.
I can’t even tell what’s going on with the hair on these two ladies. The one on the left looks like some kind of 1980s experiment gone wild, and the one on the right looks like she still has her hair in curlers. I do like the rainbow colored shirt on the right, though. The half see-through shirt on the left just screams Madonna to me. Interesting choice of eye shadow.
Dax asks the women to excuse them, and they leave. Kor says she doesn’t share Curzon’s priorities. She says she does with regard to the Albino. Kang and Koloth don’t want her to come. Kor says Kang thinks too much and Koloth doesn’t feel enough. This seems an accurate summary.
Dax asks where Kor stands, and he says that she should come, basically because killing and fighting is awesome, so she asks him if he can talk to the others on her behalf. He says that Koloth spends all his time practicing in the holosuite and won’t listen, and if Kang has made up his mind there’s nothing he can do.
She tries to butter him up by talking about his glorious victories, but he says that he only carries the weight of his own body and can’t help. She says he’s a great warrior.
In a cave lit by fire, Koloth is practicing with his knife thing that I forget the name of.
Dax steps in to talk with him and he barely stops from hitting her in the face. She says she’s coming with him.
Koloth says that Curzon was a politician and it was a diplomatic ploy for him to do the blood oath. She says that’s a lie. He says he’s practicing and her presence will jeopardize the rest of them and wants her to leave him alone.
Dax orders the computer to make a Klingon bat’leth, which is the name of the blade that I forgot. She specifies the dimensions and weight. The blade appears in her outstretched hand.
Koloth approves of the blade but is skeptical. She says she’ll fight him. He attacks.
They battle, swinging blades and clashing again and again.
Kor, watching, says that Koloth looks tense and should drink more.
They fight some more and Dax falls to the ground, defeated. Koloth tells her to stand up and says that her presence will do great honor to their cause.
Kang says that releasing her from the oath was not enough. Kor things this means she’s coming, but Kang says no, and she will not come. Then he leaves.
They go back to Quark’s, Kor coughing. Kang says they cannot storm an enemy stronghold with him coughing. Kor denies there’s anything wrong with him. Koloth also thinks he should seek medical attention and drags him off.
Kang goes to sit at a table and Dax sits with him, saying he can’t deny her right to vengeance. He says she’s talking like a Klingon but the words aren’t right in her mouth. She says that he said that once before. He doesn’t want to talk about it.
Dax talks about the Korvath colony negotiations, where Curzon walked out in the middle of his long speech, astonishing him. He agrees that he almost killed Curzon. She says that she needed to get him angry with her in order to accomplish her mission. Curzon understood Klingons and the meaning of a blood oath. She would be dishonored if she couldn’t avenge her godson’s death.
Kang says he’d dishonor himself if he allowed her to die in Curzon’s place. She says she has no intention of dying, and he dishonors himself by placing his honor above hers, and no Klingon warrior would leave a comrade behind while he goes off to battle.
He says that if she’s trying to make him angry again, it worked. He agrees she can come and fight with them, and be damned, and then he walks off.
Dax is in her quarters, packing, and Sisko comes in. She says she was about to see him.
She’s changed out of her uniform (or maybe just taken off the jacket?) and is wearing a gray turtleneck shirt with black sleeves. It’s an interesting color choice.
Sisko denies her request to have a leave of absence. She is mad that Kira told him. This oath meant a lot to Curzon. Sisko says that Jadzia took an oath when she joined Starfleet and she has to follow orders.
Dax says not to make her disobey a direct order. She picks up her bag and starts to walk away. He steps closer and says he doesn’t understand this as Curzon had a fundamental morality, so why would he swear to kill this Albino and why is she planning to go and kill in his name? What about the laws of the Federation.
She says the Klingons have their own laws and this is their justice, and she’s chosen to respect their code of honor in this matter. He asks if she thinks she’s capable of doing it. She says she doesn’t know and there’s only one way to find out.
Sisko says that supposing she does this and survives this insanity, does she expect to return and resume duties as though nothing happened? She says that’ll be up to him. Then she picks up another bag and leaves.
The group flies out into space.
Kang explains the Albino’s compound to the others. The compound is made of riddinite and there are several walls separating the main house from the rest of the grounds. He points out the main power source and the armory.
Koloth asks if there is information about the position of the sentries. Kang says they are posted at standing intervals 75 meters apart along the perimeter. Standing, so no patrols. Kor muses that perhaps he thinks they’re dead and have stopped chasing him. Or Dax thinks they’re making the defenses look weak. She thinks they must be patrolling, as they can’t make eye contact at 75 meters apart. The others consider.
Kor thinks they’re really at 50 meters apart. Kang doesn’t think it matters. Dax thinks they should use a different strategy, but Kang doesn’t want to sneak into his bedroom and murder him. He wants him to see them coming and make a direct attack and overwhelm them in glorious victory.
Koloth, more practical, thinks it’ll be a glorious death. “It is a good day to die,” Kor says, and Dax echoes him, but with less enthusiasm.
Koloth invites Kor to go and sharpen their blades, leaving Dax and Kang to talk about death. Kang says that Klingon warriors are always prepared to die. She agrees, but thinks inviting death with a direct assault against a superior fight is ridiculous. She asks what’s going on. This seems like a plan for suicide.
Dax has changed into Klingonish attire, which means a jacket with huge shoulder pads and stripes accentuating them. I’m guessing there’s metal in those stripes.
She says she might think he was paid to lure them there. He claims insult due to the blood oath, and she says that’s why he didn’t want her to come – he knew they were coming to die.
He sighs and says that when the amulet arrived, he went to the system to see if it was true. When he arrived, the Albino knew he was there and contacted him with an invitation for one last glorious battle, as he was tired of a lifelong pursuit. He would send 40 skilled men to fight them in honorable battle and he agreed.
Why? Dax asked. He says that if they can’t reach the Albino they can at least die the honorable death a Klingon Dahar master deserves.
Dax says that Klingons embrace death too easily. She thinks life is better, and honorable victory is better than honorable defeat. Kang says there’s no chance of victory.
She asks, what if they had no phasers? That would make it fairer. He asks how. She gives some technobabble answer about going into low orbit and modulating disrupters to send out particles to neutralize energy weapons. He is skeptical, but she explains she is a science officer.
He notes that they would not be able to use their disrupters, but they do have skill with a bat’leth. Dax agrees. She advises they cloak before entering the system and then sharpen their blades. Kang says that perhaps it is a good day to live.
On the planet, some guards are wandering around with weapons with some stone buildings in the back. Dax and the Klingons are hiding in the woods outside.
Dax notes that there’s a gravitic mine buried at the threshold of the building where Kang was promised an honorable battle of hand to hand combat. Koloth realizes this means the Albino plans to detonate the mine, and Kor says that’s what you get for making a deal with the devil.
She says this gives them an advantage, as he’s expecting them at the door. Kor wonders how they know he’s inside. Koloth gets up and says he’s going to find out if the Albino is inside. Kor asks how. He says he’ll ask someone. He heads out.
Kang says they should shut down the sensor array before they attack. Kor says that a power failure will draw their attention, and says he’ll create a diversion at the armory at the same time they shut down the sensors, to create a diversion. Dax says that after the diversion, the person will need to run across a field to escape, and none of them are as quick as they once were, so she volunteers.
Koloth sneaks up on some guards. He returns to the group and says that he encountered a helpful lookout and the Albino is inside, but once they attack he’ll move to a secured location.
Kang notes the time. He asks if Dax can create the diversion before midday, an hour from now. She says yes. The rest of them will go to the power station. He asks that Kahless guide them on this day of vengeance. They all clasp hands.
The Klingons head toward the power station, choking and disabling some guards as they go. Meanwhile, Dax slips behind a guard and asks him where the tennis courts are, then punches him, knocking him out.
I admire the effort put into the scenery here, considering how little time we spend looking at them.
There’s an explosion, and guards go running. Dax runs away from the explosion and the guards try to shoot at her, but discover their weapons don’t work. They shout at each other to reset, but nothing happens.
Inside the building, a white haired Klingon asks for a report.
The Albino is just…a white haired, pale skinned Klingon. I thought he’d be more remarkable looking.
Anyway, both he and his alien assistant are wearing blue jumpsuits with random patterns on them, and some sort of shiny puffy vests and shoulder pads.
The assistant says that the armory has been sabotaged, so he’s diverted forward patrols to that area. The Albino cancels those orders and tells them to move inland and secure the power station. His assistant says that the sensors aren’t working and he’s running a diagnostic.
The assistant looks like he’s using the hunt and peck method on a tablet, with two fingers. I’m skeptical his diagnostic will be useful.
The Albino says to use long-range sensors to check for interference from a cloaked ship, but in the meantime prepare for hand-to-hand combat. He’s running off when the lights dim.
Outside, the three Klingons encounter some guards, whom they easily defeat. They also run past this awesome statue:
Dax runs up to join them. They head into the building.
Inside, the Albino’s assistant says he can’t make contact with the power station. The Albino says they must have broken through the inner defenses, and orders the perimeter guards moved into the house. His assistant says they have no communication without power.
The Albino says to get out there and tell them himself – he doesn’t want the Klingon filth to get in…
They’re interrupted by an explosion, and the Klingons come in. “Look upon your executioners, killer of children!” one of them shouts, which is an awesome entrance line.
Fighting begins. There’s lots of swinging of bat’leths and other weapons and punching.. Koloth is injured so Kor goes to help.
The others resume fighting. Kor is also injured and goes to sit by Kor, saying that he will sing the story of Koloth. Then Koloth loses consciousness.
The Albino says that Kang will die quicker than his son died. They clash bat’leths as they go up steps. Kang’s bat’leth is broken on the stones. The Albino stabs him in the stomach and stands over him, saying “No vengeance today, Kang.”
Dax has finished with the other guards and runs up, knocking the Albino’s weapon away. He asks who she is and she says she was Curzon Dax. He recalls and says she’s too young and lovely to sport a deadly weapon. She points it toward him.
He says to use it, to kill him in cold blood – run him through the belly and cut out his heart. He starts laughing because he doesn’t think she can do it.
Kang sits up and stabs the Albino in the back. He falls forward and rolls down the stairs.
Kang thanks Dax for saving the killing blow for him. He says he has been honored one last time.
Kor stumbles forward and tells them that Koloth is dead. Kang says he was right, it is a good day to die, then falls back and loses consciousness. Dax says it’s never a good day to die.
Kor begins to sing a Klingon song which I assume is a funereal thing.
We get a final shot of the compound as it burns.
Back on DS9, Dax comes to Ops to find Kira and Sisko. Sisko looks at her but says nothing, and Dax sits down at her computer and begins working. Kira also looks at her and says nothing, so Dax goes back to work.
Stray Thoughts:
* I kind of liked this one. The three Klingons reminded me a lot of the Three Musketeers, with Kor playing the role of Porthos. Their interactions made it clear that this was a long-standing friendship, a final hurrah for the group, and their chemistry was great.
* For all the reasons the Klingons might have to not let Dax go along with them, the fact that she is female is never brought up. They have some initial uncomfortableness about the fact that she is not Curzon (which Kor gets over quickly) but once they’ve accepted that, it’s done. Kor’s line about how there is no difference between a brother and a sister was really heartening to hear after the Ferengi episodes earlier this season.
* I also liked how there wasn’t a big huge exposition dump about what happened, but I also had trouble understanding what was the big deal about the Albino, and why he had been so difficult to capture before.
* Best dressed Klingon? I think I vote for Koloth. What do you think?
* “Today is a good day to live.”
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