"Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" Ties of Blood and Water (TV Episode 1997) Poster

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8/10
Death of a good Cardassian
Tweekums14 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
This episode opens with a surprise; Kira is waiting for a guest to arrive and it is clearly somebody she holds in the highest regard; it turns out that the man in question is a Cardassian. He has come to Deep Space Nine because he is dying and wishes to tell Kira everything he knows that will damage his enemies back on Cardassia. He must have important secrets as no sooner is he on the station Gul Dukat is demanding his extradition and when this doesn't happen immediately he turns up on the station along with Weyoun and a Jem'Hadar warship. When this does not intimidate Sisko into handing him over Dukat tell Major Kira about an incident many years before where her friend was involved in an attack on a Bajoran monastery. Hearing this she is disappointed and does not wish to speak to him again even though he was in a very junior position at the time. Interspersed with the main story we see flashbacks to Kira's time in the resistance when her father was mortally wounded but she wasn't there when he died as she went off on a mission.

This was a fairly good episode; Nana Visitor did a good job as Major Kira and Jeffrey Combs was entertaining as always playing Weyoun. I thought it was good that we didn't hear too much detail of what information was passed on as that way we can imagine just how damaging in might be.
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7/10
Emotionally compromised.
thevacinstaller28 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Well, this one hits pretty close to home. I had an estranged relationship with my mother due to some horrible decisions she made during a terrible time in her life. Long story short ---- She was dying and I flew 2500km to be near her before she passed on. She was hooked up to tubes and was not conscious but I said what I needed to say about my issues with what had happened and that I could forgive but not forget.

I could connect with Kira's anger at Ghemor but it ended up being more of a reflection on Kira's attempt to isolate herself from experiencing true loss and emotion. This is likely a necessary attribute to possess when part of a terrorist/resistance group and carried over into her DS9 posting.

It takes quite a bit of personal examination to be able to look at the whole of a person dispassionately when you have a great emotion stake in what they have done in life.

Overall a solid episode examining the complexities of regret, anger and forgiveness.
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6/10
I Agree--Inconsistencies of Character
Hitchcoc31 October 2018
Kira continues to be a rather odd character. She is all over the place emotionally. She is often so tied to her revolutionary days that she can't see the forest for the trees. In this one, her mentor, her second father comes to the station to die. He is Cardassian and a highly reputed on his planet (which Gul Dukat and the Dominion have taken over) but is greatly disturbed by the circumstances. He is a vast storehouse of information. Through his incredible pain, he relates volumes of information about the Cardassian hierarchy and other important facts about their realm. The problem is the quickness with which Kira changes when she finds out about this guy's involvement in an attack on a monastery when he was very young. Her character is just to frenetic to get close to.
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7/10
Good Kira episode with strong character moments
snoozejonc1 February 2023
Kira is visited by Ghemor in a follow up to the series 3 episode 'Second Skin'.

The plot works well to expand Kira's backstory and explore the character's emotional issues. Her scenes are very well performed by Nana Visitor and the supporting cast, but there are elements of the plot that feel contrived to fit the character's emotional journey. There are also some instances of dialogue that over-explain various situations to the audience, that I personally find a bit clunky and takes me out of the moment.

My favourite moments involve characters such as Dukat and Wayoun as they antagonise the likes of Kira and Sisko on DS9. This gives more interest to the main Ghemor plot and develops a sense of threat surrounding the Dominion.

Marc Alaimo, Jefferey Coombs, Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois all contribute well.
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10/10
Nana Visitor killing it.
wdllofzepia13 February 2022
Easily one of the best TV ever produced. This episode didn't have the action or humor other episodes had, but it still managed to outshine almost any other TV show out there.

More to do with internal conflict, decisions, mistakes or not one makes, life and & death situations, death's inevitability and choices we all make.

Good story, good production and good acting especially from Nana Visitor who for me with her acting just took the cup of acting and took it home.

If anyone has experienced particular difficult losses, they will feel it even closer to their heart.

Fantastic TV.
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9/10
Tekeny
wdtice20 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
A Cardassian father comes to DS9 to say goodbye and to pass his secrets on to his daughter so that she can reach out to his enemies after his death.

The catch is... his daughter is Kira!

A follow up episode to a season 3 episode that had Kira as a Cardassian brought home to her father in an attempt to trap him for his revolutionary ideas.

Add Gul Dukat, a Vorta named Weyoun and some other Twists and Turns and you end up with a pretty enjoyable Star Trek show that's starting to show where the whole Dominion 'thing' is going... somewhere nasty!
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4/10
Inconsistent.
planktonrules18 January 2015
Back in 1994, Major Kira was kidnapped and made to look just like a Cardassian. It was all part of a plan to trick an old Cardassian named Ghemor. Both survived the episode and the plot was uncovered- -but Kira maintained friendly relations with Ghemor--and was in some ways was like a second daughter to him. Here in season 5, Ghemor is back--and he's dying. He's returned to see Kira because he wants her to be with him during his dying days and she seems very willing- -at least at first. What gives?

This is a particularly poor episode for Major Kira, as her character seems so incredibly poorly written. Her actions through much of the show just seemed bizarre and violated who the character had so far been through the series. Because of this inconsistent writing, I think this is among the poorer episodes of the series.
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2/10
Yuuuck
woodrow5424 March 2024
Kira is consistently written poorly and acted even worse - especially in dramatic episodes. Since this episode focused on her and her relationship with both of her "fathers", I knew early on this would be an episode to turn on and leave on while I do other things. I was so right.

I just don't get the plot line for Kira. Episode to episode it changes and it changed yet again in this episode. They tried to explain it using flashbacks, but for me, they were way too jarring and, along with the terrible acting and questionable decisions made by Kira, just ruined this episode even further.

Kira's character is fine when she's a supporting part of the story, but man...when she has things to actually do and has to act....big thumbs down for me.
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