Synopsis: Kira, Damar, and Garak are ambushed on Cardassia; Quark receives a message from Grand Nagus Zek appointing him the next leader of the Ferengi Alliance.

Memory Alpha Summary: A Ferengi episode to interrupt the final drama. Good call, guys.

Review: I was prepared for the penultimate episode being a tour de force, wrapping up the Dominion War while leaving the final episode for the denouement.  Instead we have a decent story for the Cardassian rebellion usurped by one final mess of a Ferengi episode.  While it’s fitting that Rom would be appointed the Grand Nagus given how much their society has changed under the leadership of Moogie, nobody cares, and it sets up another rant by Quark about how he should be able to sexually exploit his workers.  Was that supposed to be funny in 1999?  Gee willikers.  

And, ugh, also don’t care about Julian and Ezri.  They have no chemistry, their romance has no discernible backstory, and there wasn’t enough time for it to develop. 

Sisko’s wife being pregnant was predictable and also lacked dramatic weight, especially since Jake (the apparently forgotten son) is nowhere to be seen.

In other words, too much time here spent focusing on the wrong things. And then they brought back a “new” Defiant just a few episodes later so they could use it in the final battles. Man, have some convictions, writers.