It's all about ratings. And Paramount wanted them higher. So what do you do? Why, you bring one of the most popular characters ever in the Trek canon to help boost those sagging ratings. Will it work, or will it fail?
That was up to the fans...
While season three ended with idea that the Changelings were already in the Alpha Quadrant and possibly on Earth, it would nearly half way through the fourth year before these story threads would be picked up again.
It appeared, as the third season was coming to a close, Paramount was already thinking toward the fourth year and was in active -if secret - negotiations with Michael Dorn to bring one of the most popular characters on The Next Generation to Deep Space Nine. Once it was decided, the plot lines from "The Adversary" would be pushed aside and a new direction would have to take center stage.
With Worf now coming to DS9, the writers had to figure out how too not only get him on the station, but also keep him there. The writers hatched onto the idea that Klingons, long now the friends of the Federation, were growing restless due to pending invasion of the Dominion and Federations lack of action. Discourse was brewing and as Ben quoted his old friend Curzon Dax, the best people to deal with the Klingons, was a Klingon.
The two-hour opener, "The Way of the Warrior", reintroduced the Klingons as bad guys and series was off in a new direction. And that was a good thing.
Over all, the fourth season would see the series really grow stronger, building on what was delivered during the previous season. There was "Hippocratic Oath", the brilliant acted and directed episode "The Visitor", "Indiscretion", the controversial, same-sex kissing of "Rejoined", the cat mouse and mouse game of "Starship Down", the comedic "Little Green Men", the James Bond take off "Our Man Bashir", the paranoia two-parter "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost", the silly "Bar Association", the next chapter in the Mirror Universe saga, "Shattered Mirror" and another brilliant, if quiet season finale, "Broken Link".
Yes, there were a few stinkers, but overall, it was a strong season that would lead into an ever-stronger fifth, sixth and seventh year.
And once again, we are left with disturbing news. As Odo was being judged by his people for the actions in last season's "The Adversary", he believes that one of his own people -a Changeling -may be in command of the entire Klingon Empire; an Empire on the brink of war with the Federation...
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