7-23. Extreme Measures.

Sloan lays one last trap for Dr. Bashir - inside his own mind!

THE PLOT

Odo is dying.

The Changeling virus created by Section 31 has advanced to a terminal stage, and he now has just 1 - 2 weeks to live. Dr. Bashir can make him comfortable, but cannot save him. He does have one idea, however - To lure a Section 31 operative to the station by sending a fake message to Starfleet Medical indicating that he's discovered a cure.

The bait is taken, and the trap sprung on - who else? - Sloan (William Sadler). Bashir traps the agent in a force field... But before he can interrogate Sloan, the man activates a suicide capsule. The doctor is able to temporarily stabilize him, but Sloan is already too far gone to reawaken.

Which leaves just one option to find the information he needs. He and O'Brien use Techno (Medo?)-babble devices to travel into Sloan's subconscious mind, entering the dying man's dreamscape to learn how to cure their friend before it's too late!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: When Bashir and O'Brien inform him of their plan, he indicates it's a "pretty long shot," but does not shut it down. Even when he discovers Bashir and O'Brien invading Sloan's mind, he does not stop them; and when they finally come to, just as Sloan dies, he doesn't spare a second for the late, unlamented agent. He just asks if they located the cure... Another example of how much more ruthless and goal-oriented the Sisko of recent episodes has become.

Bashir/O'Brien: The interactions between Bashir and O'Brien help to keep us invested in their disappointingly pedestrian trip down the rabbit hole. The first thing they encounter upon entering Sloan's subconscious is... the DS9 turbolift. They cling to the rails as if for dear life, each goading the other to let go first before finally agreeing to do so together. A later scene has them talking about their friendship vs. their respective romantic relationships. Bashir confesses that he is passionately in love with Ezri, but that he likes O'Brien "a bit more." O'Brien amusingly (unconvincingly) denies the same with regard to Keiko vs. Bashir. It's a funny, genuine moment.

Odo: Gets a standout scene at the start, when he pushes Kira to go back to Damar. He insists that she has to go, and tells her flatly that he wants her to leave. "You watched Bareil die in this very room, and I know how that's haunted you. I don't want your last memory of me to be witnessing my death." Rene Auberjonois and Nana Visitor are terrific, providing an emotional resonance lacking in the rest of the piece.

Sloan: There is one scene that indicates Sloan might have been used to provide that resonance. When Bashir and O'Brien enter his mind, they are almost immediately greeted by the dying man - But a much more open and affable version of him, who desperately wants them to witness his apology to his friends and loved ones. The scene underscores that people like Sloan usually go into their line of work with patriotism and good intentions. That this more human version ends up being assassinated by Section 31 Sloan is a rather obvious bit of symbolism, but it's not ineffective. If only the episode had devoted a little more time to the idea of a good man corrupted by his own work, rather than dodging into a weak Third Act fakeout that wouldn't fool a small child.


THOUGHTS

Just to get this out of the way up front: Extreme Measures is fine, as far as it goes. It does its job in advancing the overall story, while at the same time working as an episode in its own right. And, of course, any Bashir/O'Brien episode benefits from the wonderful screen cameraderie between Alexander Siddig and Colm Meaney.

So it should be understood that I'm not really bashing this episode. I'd probably be fairly positive about it had it popped up in the midst of the mid-season filler. But amongst the strong run of shows wrapping up the series, it feels decidedly lacking by comparison.

A fair comparison can be made to Season Three's Distant Voices, another episode that trapped Bashir inside a station-bound dreamscape. Though that was far from my favorite episode, lacking narrative momentum, it did a much better job of creating a dreamlike atmosphere on the standing sets than this one, not to mention offering some memorable set pieces. This episode achieves neither of those. Steve Posey's direction is competent but bland, and writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle spend half the running time setting up the journey into Sloan's mind, thus leaving only about twenty minutes for Bashir and O'Brien to explore that setting.

There's a Third Act fakeout in which we're meant to think O'Brien and Bashir are back in the real world, only for them to discover they are still in Sloan's mind. The problem is, it's so clearly telegraphed that I can't imagine anyone being fooled. It just provides a complication, something to delay our heroes from the final confrontation with Sloan.

Overall, the episode is serviceable and does what it needs to do, and I wasn't bored by it. But I also wasn't particularly hooked. Given the quality of most of this final run, I can't help but label this a disappointment.


Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Episode: Tacking into the Wind
Next Episode: The Dogs of War

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7-18. 'Til Death Do Us Part.

Dukat, in disguise, manipulates Kai Winn.

THE PLOT

Kai Winn comes to the station to congratulate Sisko on his upcoming marriage... Even as Sisko struggles with the Prophets' message that marrying Kasidy will bring him "nothing but sorrow." Sisko admits to Winn that the Prophets have set a challenge in front of him, one he doesn't feel certain he is up to.

That's when the Kai experiences a vision of her own - A vision that seems to be from the Prophets, and that tells her exactly what she wants to hear: That Sisko has faltered, and that only she can save Bajor by following the instructions of a guide who will have "the wisdom of the land." That night, she receives a visitor - a man calling himself Anjohl Tennan, a self-described "man of the land." A visitor who is actually Gul Dukat, surgically altered to appear Bajoran.

Meanwhile, Worf and Ezri are now prisoners of the Breen, who are about to reveal themselves as major new players in the Dominion War...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: In earlier seasons, he would have just ignored the Prophets' warning and moved ahead with his marriage. But over the course of the series, he has become absolute in his belief in the Prophets. He also has to be very conscious that the last time he ignored their advice, it ended very badly. Even so, he's fighting with himself the entire length of the episode, his religious belief battling with every fiber of his personality.

Worf/Ezri: Now that he and Ezri have slept together, Worf assumes they will be a couple from this point on. But it's not that simple. Ezri's feelings for Worf are all bound up in carrying Jadzia's memories; but the look on her face when he announces that the two of them "will have many years together" announces loud and clear that she doesn't want a romantic relationship with him. When Worf discovers this truth, he reacts as if he's been betrayed - Which is not fair on his part, but is definitely in character.

Kasidy Yates: Though her role is small, Penny Johnson's performance remains outstanding. Look at the scene in which Sisko discusses his dilemma with her. As he moves back and forth between declaring how much he loves her and despairing that he cannot go against the Prophets, Kasidy's face shows the entire world disappearing out from under her. Her expression flashes from anger to nausea to despair, often without saying a word. It's a great performance, every bit as good as (maybe better than) Avery Brooks' also excellent work.

Gul Dukat: There's a terrific scene early in the episode, in which Dukat confronts Damar about his drinking and despair. "What happened to that brave officer I served with? The one who stood at my side while we fought the entire Klingon Empire with a single ship? ...Those days might be gone, but the man I served with isn't. He's still within you. Reach in and grab hold of him, Damar. Cardassia needs a leader!" There's no gain for Dukat in this, no angle that he's playing. He's simply responding to a friend and loyal former officer who is clearly in trouble, and instinctively finding the right words to reach him. Yet again, we see that the tragedy of Dukat is that while he may have ended up a villain, with just a few different choices at key moments, he might actually have been the great man he thirsts to be.

Kai Winn: None of which stops him from being a villain, and his manipulations of Winn are classic Dukat. With just a slight push from the pah-wraiths, he is able to play on her ego and her jealousy and resentment of Sisko. Becoming her confidante is effortless, because Winn is so eager to listen to his reflections of her own prejudices. To its credit, the episode does pause to remind us that she isn't a black-and-white villain either - One bit of her past Dukat uses is her own activities during the Occupation, when she bribed Cardassian guards to reroute Bajorans scheduled for execution to labor camps, where they would at least have a chance to survive.


THOUGHTS

'Til Death Do Us Part is largely a transitional episode, connecting Penumbra and the earlier parts of Season Seven to the big events yet to come. It's not at all bad on that basis: It's well-acted, with some excellent character material and fine individual scenes. But it's far from compelling, and feels a bit padded out.

There are three stands: Sisko's dilemma with Kasidy, Worf and Ezri's captivity by the Breen, and Dukat's manipulations of Winn. All three strands are more set up for future episodes than storylines in themselves, and all three feel like they take at least one more scene than is actually needed to reach the episode's end point... Which highlights this installment's biggest problem, that it feels like 30 minutes worth of material has been stretched to fill 45 minutes.

On the plus side, writers David Weddle and Bradley Thompson have a firm grasp on the characters. Everyone is well-written, with the Dukat/Winn material particularly strong. We see the bits of genuine good in both of these villains: Dukat's genuine concern for Damar, Winn's devout faith. And we see very clearly how Dukat manipulates Winn, feeding her pride even as he preys on her faith. This is a strand that seems destined to go to very interesting places, and I only hope that the handful of episodes that remain will allow it to be done justice.

Overall, this is an episode that plays better as a piece of DS9's final arc than it does on its own. Judged as an episode in its own right, it's good enough - But it's stretched too thin, leaving it less effective than some of its counterparts.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: Penumbra
Next Episode: Strange Bedfellows

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7-11. Prodigal Daughter.

Ezri's unhappy homecoming.

THE PLOT

Chief O'Brien has disappeared on New Sidney after traveling there to track down the widow of Orion Syndicate operative Liam Bilby. Since New Sidney is not a Federation planet, it's difficult for Sisko to intervene... But Ezri's mother (Leigh Taylor-Young) owns one of the largest mines in that system. She readily agrees to help locate O'Brien - But only if Ezri returns home for a visit.

Ezri agrees, but reluctantly. Her mother is a domineering figure, who has forced her sons, Janel (Mikael Salazar) and Norvo (Kevin Rahm) to devote their lives to the family business at the expense of their own ambitions. After Ezri left to join Starfleet, she never looked back, and her relations with her family are strained at best.

Ezri's mother keeps her word. Not long after Ezri returns, O'Brien is rescued from a pair of Orion Syndicate thugs by the local police. But when he reveals that Bilby's widow was found murdered, and then discovers that Ezri's family is being pressured by the Syndicate as well, it becomes clear that there is a lot more at stake than family drama...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Is undertandably angry when he learns that O'Brien went to a non-Federation world to play detective after indicating that he was simply visiting his father. I wouldn't want to be in either O'Brien or Bashir's shoes for the next little while - As O'Brien observes, Sisko "has a boot with (his) name on it."  Still, he immediately focuses on the problem, demanding all information on the chief's activities, then going to Ezri for help in recovering his wayward crewman.

Ezri: This episode exists to fill in her backstory... Which would be a lot more useful in making us connect to her if her backstory wasn't the stuff of soap operas. The family drama never has the blistering feel of real, decades-long resentments being re-opened. It's just cliched melodrama, dressed up with some sci-fi trappings. Nicole de Boer does her best with the material, and she manages some very good acting when Ezri realizes what actually happened to the dead woman... But I can't help but observe how much more real her disgust at gagh in the teaser feels than any of the family situation in the main story.  It's all very artificial, and the emotion it should carry feels artificial as well.

O'Brien: One indication that is a troubled episode is that it's Ezri-centric, even though O'Brien is the one driving the plot. The main plot only kicks into gear when O'Brien is recovered (about halfway through), and then it's O'Brien who steers the investigation. He is the one who has a brief confrontation with an Orion Syndicate representative, and he is the one who discovers the link between the Syndicate and Ezri's family.  The problem is that while I fully believe O'Brien continuing to feel an obligation to Bilby's family, this story should be an O'Brien episode - and it suffers for being forced to be part of an Ezri plot.

Dr. Bashir: The teaser shows him preoccupied with worry over Chief O'Brien, leaving him barely engaging in any conversation with his friends. When O'Brien doesn't return on the scheduled transport, he immediately goes to Sisko.  He doubtless knows he's going to get chewed out, and he takes thatin stride - He even draws more of the captain's wrath on himself by pointing out that O'Brien did not actually lie to Sisko.


THOUGHTS

Prodigal Daughter has a terrific teaser. The opening neatly introduces the O'Brien plot by showing Bashir's preoccupation, but tips focus to Ezri through her dismay at being informed that some gagh Jadzia had ordered has arrived. Ezri shudders as she recalls not just the taste of the Klingon delicacy, but the way it feels when swallowing it. Once again, she is shown as different from her predecessor - Jadzia jumped into such experiences wholeheartedly, while Ezri reacts... the way most people would, really. The scene scores because it's funny, and because Ezri is absolutely relatable in this moment.

This is followed by a few quick scenes that economically set up all of the conflicts of the episode: The activities of the Orion Syndicate; O'Brien's determination to find his late friend's missing widow; and Ezri's return home to secure her mother's assistance. It all works, and within ten minutes the entire story is set up and ready to take off running.

Then Ezri returns home and the rest of the episode falls completely flat.

A quick glance at Memory Alpha reveals that Prodigal Daughter was written in a hurry, and that its development was further hobbled by a refusal to even imply that Starfleet could be influenced by criminals such as the Orion Syndicate. As was true of Star Trek: Insurrection, the demands of keeping Starfleet clear of any direct wrongdoing cripple the drama, forcing writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle to make their already small-scale story even smaller.

I've already mentioned that the episode suffers from being forced to be an Ezri plot when the story clearly wants to be an O'Brien one.  This is at least partly responsible for some of the awkward pacing, with the scenes between Ezri and her family feeling too often like filler, while the Syndicate story is rushed.  We're also told over and over again how terrible Ezri's mother is... And while she is domineering, she never comes across as being the monster the script insists she is.

The episode's worst sin is that there's nothing remotely interesting about it. The mystery is thin, the murderer very easy to guess. Meanwhile, Ezri's family dynamics were cliches in 1930s melodramas, which results in an Ezri episode whose main revelation is that there's nothing very interesting to know about her!  Very likely, that's why Ira Steven Behr apologized to Nicole de Boer after the episode wrapped

I will credit some decent performances, particularly from Nicole de Boer and Colm Meaney, and this is acceptable late-night insomnia viewing.  But it's the most expendable DS9 episode since Profit and Lace, and is far below this series' usually very high standards.

Overall Rating: 4/10.

Previous Episode: It's Only a Paper Moon
Next Episode: The Emperor's New Cloak

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7-6. Treachery, Faith and the Great River.

Weyoun surrenders to Odo.

THE PLOT

Odo receives a message from Gul Russol, a former contact whom he had assumed assassinated when the Dominion took control of Cardassia. He travels to the rendezvous point, in a cave on a deserted moon. But it's not Gul Russol who is waiting for him - It's Weyoun, claiming that he wants to defect!

They have only begun the trip back to Deep Space 9 when they receive a transmission from Damar, and from his Dominion handler - Weyoun! It turns out that the Weyoun Odo knew and despised died in a suspicious "transporter accident," and the Weyoun defecting (Weyoun 6) was a replacement who was judged "defective." Weyoun 7 and Damar demand Weyoun 6's surrender or death, insisting they will not allow the runabout to reach Deep Space 9.

Weyoun 6 is certain that no member of the Dominion would fire on a ship carrying a Founder. But Damar sees no reason to tell the Jem'Hadar that a Founder is on board. The target is the runabout, and if the Jem'Hadar are ordered to ignore transmissions then they will do so. One changeling who doesn't consider himself a Founder versus the fate of the entire war?

Even the fervently devoted Weyoun 7 can do that math, and reluctantly authorizes Odo's destruction...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Sisko may just be my favorite of the various Star Trek captains. But in this episode... Sisko is an ass. The comedy "B" plot starts because Sisko gives O'Brien a ridiculous timetable for replacing a part on the Defiant. O'Brien explains that it's impossible to get the part in three days, let alone install it, and Sisko's response is to make it O'Brien's problem. After that impossible deadline is miraculously met, Sisko responds by giving the engineer yet another impossible deadline to install it. Since there's no sense of this being an emergency, I'm left thinking that it would serve Sisko right if he took the Defiant out only for every system on the ship to crash, thanks to Engineering not having proper time to install and test all systems.

Col. Kira: She and Odo both acknowledge that the message from Russol is a trap, but she does not argue with his insistence that he owes it to his contact to make the rendezvous. At the end of the episode, she lends some perspective on the actions of Weyoun 6, equating his faith in the Founders with her own in the Prophets. At the same time, she doesn't hesitate to remind Odo that his people are the enemy, and that what they learn in this episode makes them even more dangerous than they were already.

Odo: At the start, Odo is as he usually is with Weyoun: Utterly dismissive of the awe the other man feels for him, wary of traps, and callous of emotion. When it's revealed that "Weyoun 6" is a clone who has been labeled defective for not believing in the war effort, Odo becomes considerably more sympathetic, and from that moment the two work effectively as allies. Odo reveals just how much he does care about his people, even as he fights them, which prompts Weyoun to make one more revelation, one with heavy implications for the future of Odo and of the Dominion itself.

O'Brien/Nog: The "B" plot sees Nog using his Ferengi expertise to secure an elusive part for O'Brien. The comedy shenanigans that follow, in which Nog trades away Martok's blood wine and Sisko's desk, are great fun - not least because they never take up enough screen time to come at the expense of the main plot. Colm Meaney and Aron Eisenberg make an enjoyable comedy duo, with No's enthusiastic assurances that all these deals will work out in the end a perfect contrast for O'Brien's weary resignation as the situation spirals ever more out of control.

Damar: His dislike of the Dominion, and particularly of Weyoun, has reached the stage of active sabotage. It's obvious that Weyoun 5's "accident" was arranged by Damar, and it's also obvious that both of the current Weyouns know it. He's likely still alive because: (a) They can't prove it; and (b) He's useful, and more malleable than Gul Dukat had been. Damar may drink to excess, but he is clear-headed about strategy, and he is able to persuade Weyoun 7 to sacrifice Odo to protect the war effort. It isn't even a particularly hard sell.

Weyoun: A spotlight episode for Jeffrey Combs' Weyoun, seen in two different incarnations - neither of which is the one we've been watching for most of the series! It's a clever use of the "clone" aspect of the Vorta. Both Weyouns have fundamentally the same personality. Both fervently believe in the Founders, though Weyoun 6 believes this war is against the Dominion's best interests. Combs is fantastic throughout, and it's a credit to him that there's just enough difference in the performances of the two Weyouns that they become distinct individuals, and that the interactions of Weyoun 7 and Damar are almost as interesting to watch as those between Weyoun 6 and Odo.


THOUGHTS

"There are millions upon millions of worlds in the universe, each one filled with too much of one thing and not enough of another. And the Great Continuum flows through them all like a mighty river, from have to want and back again. And if we navigate the Continuum with skill and grace, our ship will be filled with everything our hearts desire."
-Nog, persuading O'Brien that his multiple deals will work out in the end.

Treachery, Faith, and the Great River is one of several Deep Space 9 episodes tying a serious "A" plot and a comedy "B" plot together. To their credit, writers David Weddle and Bradley Thompson strike an effective balance between these seemingly incompatible strands. The O'Brien/Nog subplot gets enough screen time to work, but is never allowed to take up too much time. And by anchoring that plot to Nog's religious beliefs as a Ferengi, it is able to fit thematically with the main story.

Previous episodes have made Weyoun's devotion to the Founders apparent. Here, we get some sense of the depth of his feeling, and the ways in which he can reconcile his faith and his reason. For instance, when Odo points out that the Founders have surely coded the Vorta's worship of them into their genome, Weyoun isn't bothered in the slightest. He says of course the Founders have done so - "That's what gods do. After all, why be a god if there's no one to worship you?"

Odo's discomfort with Weyoun's worship of him never changes, but it does evolve over the course of the episode. He stops treating Weyoun's devotion as a joke during their time together. Odo spends a fair bit of the middle of the episode seriously debating questions of faith and the Founders with Weyoun, who tells Odo the story of how the Vorta were uplifted. By the end, Odo is willing to give Weyoun 6 his blessing, even though he still hates the thought of being anyone's god.

In addition to the closer examination of Weyoun's faith, and what that means to Odo, this episode also pushes events forward. In the course of the episode, we see the Female Changeling (Salome Jens) appear unwell, something Damar picks up on even as Weyoun 7 denies even the possibility. By the end of the episode, Weyoun 6 has confirmed this to Odo. This leaves Odo, Kira, and presumably Starfleet as a whole aware of the Founders' weakened condition... and leaves Kira warning that their desperation will now make them even more dangerous.

Overall, this is a very strong episode, one that entertains on its own merits even as it teases more developments to come.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Chrysalis
Next Episode: Once More Unto the Breach

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6-24. Time's Orphan.

Molly O'Brien loses ten years to a time travel accident...

THE PLOT

Chief O'Brien celebrates his family's return to the station by taking them on a picnic to the planet Golana, a lush and peaceful world they enjoyed during Keiko's pregnancy. They are having a perfect day... Until young Molly (Hana Hatae), playing near a cavern, takes a fall - right through a mysterious device. Molly vanishes, leaving O'Brien to work desperately to figure out where she went.

The answer proves not to be so much "where" as "when." The device is a time portal, leading to the planet's distant past - before the Bajorans settled, when the only life was wildlife. O'Brien reactivates the device and uses a DNA sample of Molly to beam his daughter back. But he misses the correct time period, beaming back not the child he lost, but a feral young adult Molly (Michelle Krusiec) who has spent 10 years all alone in the planet's past.

This Molly behaves more like an animal than a human, barely interacting with the people around her. She keeps insisting that she wants to go home - to Golana. O'Brien tries to placate her with a holosuite recreation... But when it's time to leave, she goes into a violent rage - One that ends with her stabbing one of Quark's Tarkalean customers.

Leaving the O'Briens with the prospect of their already damaged daughter spending the rest of her life confined to an institution...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: As a father himself, he empathizes with O'Brien's pain. After Molly stabs the Tarkalean, Sisko is as gentle as he can be when he tells O'Brien that Molly will be sent to a facility for "evaluation." He knows as well as O'Brien does that this will turn into a life sentence - But he doesn't try to offer false hope, instead making clear that this is going to happen and that he has no alternative.

O'Brien: At this point, it should be funny just how often he ends up dealing with horrific emotional pain. But there's a reason the writers keep doing this: It works. O'Brien is so utterly relatable, and Colm Meaney so perfectly authentic, it becomes impossible not to empathize with him. No matter how many times O'Brien is dragged out for another round of mental torture, it continues to work - Something which gives a badly-needed boost to the mostly middling material found here.

Keiko: It would have been very easy for this episode to manufacture conflict by having Keiko blame her husband for not watching Molly or for failing to rescue her from her fall. Thankfully, writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle don't go this route. Keiko and O'Brien are supportive of each other throughout the episode. When O'Brien decides he must take desperate action to save Molly from a life in an institution, Keiko is a firm participant in the plan, refusing to allow him to take the risk on his own. Rosalind Chao, in her first episode in too long, remains a welcome screen presence, and she and Colm Meaney feel absolutely natural as a screen couple.

Worf/Dax: Worf and Dax take subplot duties by watching the O'Briens' young son, Yoshi. Worf determines that he must succeed at babysitting the child without Dax's help. At first, this seems like yet more Stupid Klingon Pride (TM). Then Worf explains himself, and both his words and Dax's reactions carry a ring of truth: "(Babysitting) is not important to me. It is important to you... You are judging me on my fitness to be a parent... I have proven myself to be a worthy husband to you, but you are not convinced I would be a good parent to your children." The entire subplot, including Worf's overly-urgent feelings of failure when Yoshi falls during playtime, feels authentic, and Michael Dorn and Terry Farrell are terrific in their scenes - which are just numerous enough to make an impression, without drowning out the main story.


THOUGHTS

Time's Orphan isn't a bad episode, but it is blatant filler with an exceedingly predictable story progression. From the moment child Molly is replaced by a wild-eyed adult, did anyone watching this believe for even an instant that the situation wouldn't be reset without consequence by the end? Knowing that I was watching a Reset Button Episode kept me from becoming truly invested in this from the start, since it was clear that nothing here was going to matter (or likely even be remembered) even a single episode later.

The weak plot is somewhat made up for by the strong performances of the regulars and of guest actress Michelle Krusiec. Krusiec does a commendable job with the damaged Molly, her feral qualities visible without being overplayed. The connection she slowly forms with her not-quite-forgotten parents is well played, and the moments of calm make the disturbed moments more effective by contrast.

Particularly strong is the scene in w hich Molly goes truly, dangerously wild when removed from the holosuites. Director Allan Kroeker does a great job of giving an immediacy to this sequence that is rarely seen in Trek action scenes. When she injures the Tarkalian standing between her and the exit, she stabs him with a broken bottle - an act of raw violence that carries the kind of punch sci-fi shootouts just can't equal. The devastation on O'Brien's face is vivid as he takes in what has happened and realizes that his daughter has just done something irrevocable.

Moments such as this elevate the episode in bursts... But there's just no getting around how predictable the whole thing is. It feels expendable - a sense only heightened by the knowledge that O'Brien will not have to endure a single consequence for the station regulations he breaks in the second half.

It's not a bad episode, and it is worth watching for the performances and the character material. But in an excellent season, this is a decidedly lesser episode.


Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Episode: Profit and Lace
Next Episode: The Sound of Her Voice

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6-18. Inquisition.

Starfleet Intelligence Officer Sloan (William Sadler)
suspects Dr. Bashir of being a Dominion spy!

THE PLOT

The station receives a very unwelcome visitor: Deputy Director Sloan (William Sadler) of the Department of Internal Affairs. Sloan is there to investigate reports of a traitor among the senior staff, someone who has spent months passing sensitive information to the Dominion. The entire command staff is relieved of duty and confined to quarters for the term of the investigation.

It soon becomes clear that Sloan has fixated on a single suspect: Dr. Bashir. His actual evidence is thin, based on a minor inconsistency in reports of Bashir's time in a Dominon prison camp. But as he twists every aspect of the doctor's record to fit the narrative of him as a spy, even his closest friends begin to have doubts. As Sloan voices the theory that he was programmed to be a spy without knowing it, Bashir begins to doubt himself.

That's when he is suddenly beamed aboard a Dominon warship, where Weyoun greets him with the warmth of an old, dear friend...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: As long as I remain in command, I will see Doctor Bashir whenever I please. Furthermore, from now on I will sit in on all interrogation sessions to make sure his rights are observed. Do I make myself clear? Sisko cooperates with Sloan's investigation - Right up to the point at which Sloan makes Bashir the subject of a witch hunt. He then insists on being part of every interrogation, acting as an advocate for his officer. Even so, Sloan's words start to make him doubt - Particularly when he reminds Sisko about Bashir's recommendation to surrender to the Dominion. Sisko doesn't think the doctor is lying... But he does find Sloan's theory, that he has been programmed to act as an unwitting spy, a plausible one.

Dr. Bashir: As Sloan's implications and insinuations persist, and even Sisko begins to voice doubts, Bashir begins to doubt himself a little. His protestations of innocence sound a little less definitive, a little more like denial of the possibility that the Dominion "broke" him when he was their prisoner. It is only when he sees Weyoun, who practically repeats Sloan's statements verbatim, that he begins to realize the truth. Alexander Siddig gives another excellent performance, and his scenes opposite William Sadler crackle with tension as these two very strong personalities don't so much verbally fence as box, each circling around the other at vulnerable points, each doing his utmost to draw blood.

Weyoun: Appears only briefly, beaming Bashir onto his ship and trying to convince him of the same thing Sloan believes - That he is a Dominion agent, repressing memories of being an agent. Weyoun pleasantly tells Bashir of their many meetings, all of which follow the same pattern: "These little conversations of ours always follow the same pattern. You start out confused, then you get angry, then you deny everything until finally the walls inside your mind start to break down and you accept the truth." Then he offers refreshments - specifically, the very meal Bashir had earlier requested from Sloan. All of this leads Bashir to realize that Sloan must be the one working with Weyoun. It's uncharacteristic, in that Weyoun clearly overplays his hand... Until we learn that there's actually an entirely different game being played beneath the surface of this one.


THOUGHTS

Inquisition is the second Trek episode directed by Michael Dorn, after last season's outstanding In the Cards. This episode could not be more different than that one, but Dorn proves as adept at paranoid thriller as he was at comedy, and at this point is another Trek actor whose directorial outings are worth looking forward to.

The script, by Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, makes excellent use of continuity. Sloan appears to zero in on Bashir as a suspect in large part because of his genetic engineering, repeatedly noting that Bashir is only in Starfleet because he lied, and that he only confided in Sisko after he had already been found out. Some of the "evidence" Sloan provides include Bashir's recommendation to surrender to the Dominion, and (from early Season Four!) Bashir's efforts to help the Jem'Hadar unit that was trying to free itself of addiction to ketracil white. All of these past threads are brought together here, and they serve to strengthen the story by making it believable that Bashir's past behavior could be seen as suspect.

Another aspect of Deep Space 9 that is furthered by this episode is the series' willingness to hold up Gene Roddenberry's idealized Federation to the harsh light of human nature. In Season Two, we saw that the Maquis became rebels due to Starfleet's refusal to respond to Cardassian treaty violations. In Season Four, Sisko's mentor attempted a coup that would have turned the Federation into a police state in the name of security. Now we learn that Starfleet has its own secret police, in the mysterious Section 31, with Sloan fully authorized to detain Bashir until the end of the war without any real evidence against him. Sloan and his Section work as judge, jury, and executioner - and Bashir is quick to point out how rife such a system is for abuse.

As befits a series as regularly intelligence as this one, Section 31 are not presented as simple villains. In the final scene, as the station command staff discuss what has happened, not everyone is condemning their existence. Odo points out that every civilization has such an organization. Sisko admits that he has no answers as to whether such organiations are evil, or simply a necessary evil.

In the end, this is another excellent episode in an excellent season, and I look forward to seeing the questions raised here explored in future installments.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
Next Episode: In the Pale Moonlight

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6-14. One Little Ship.

A shrunken runabout must save the Defiant!
 - after it pushes a button on a console, that is.

THE PLOT

Sisko and the Defiant crew take a break from the Dominion War to investigate an anomaly. One of those Star Trek anomalies that operates on the science of High Concept - in this case, that it shrinks the Rubicon, the runabout sent into the anomaly, to a tiny fraction of its normal size, shrinking crew members Dax, O'Brien, and Dr. Bashir in the process. All of this is according to plan - with full assurances that they will return to normal size when they exit the anomaly.

The investigation is cut short when a Jem'Hadar warship attacks the Defiant. Caught unawares in mid-experiment, the Defiant is forced to surrender. Sisko and his crew are taken captive. The battle-hardened Jem'Hadar Second (Fritz Sperberg) recognizes Sisko as a threat and urges his immediate execution. But his First (Scott Thompson Baker), an inexperienced soldier bred in the Alpha Quadrant, decides to keep Sisko and his crew alive in order to repair the ship's warp engines, in order to get their prize to Cardassian space.

The Rubicon crew is unaware of the Defiant's capture. Dax, O'Brien, and Bashir just know that something went wrong and that they need to get back to the ship. They find the Defiant very quickly. But something has gone wrong - They did not return to normal size. As they enter the warship, and discover its capture, they know they must do something to help Sisko and the others. And they have to do it while the size of a child's toy!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: When he sees the hostility between the arrogant, inexperienced First and the veteran Second, he uses that. He plants the idea in the First's mind that he and his crew can repair the warp drive much faster than the Jem'Hadar would be able to, then works with his crew to simultaneously repair the drive and break through the ship's security systems to take control from the engine room. When the First barks about their slow progress, Sisko blames the Second's constant interference, with the end result that he frees his crew from detailed scrutiny as they go about their sabotage.

Dax: In command of the runabout mission, which carries over once they discover that the Defiant has been taken. O'Brien's engineering knowledge is key to helping Sisko retake the ship, but Dax does a good job of listening to his technical knowledge and to Bashir's scientific knowledge and applying both to the current situation. She also has fun embarrassing Worf by publicly announcing that she's looking forward to him writing her a poem - Something which he amusingly turns around on her in the tag.

O'Brien/Bashir: Very much a double-act. O'Brien has trouble wrapping his head around just how small they currently are, something Bashir delights in needling him about. When they have to beam off the runabout to reroute a bridge console from the inside, O'Brien begins hyperventilating, unable to clear his head enough to figure out which circuit is which. Bashir steps up, pushing O'Brien to stop looking at the giant circuitry surrounding them and instead draw on his ingrained knowledge of which components are where, which both calms the engineer and allows him to orientate himself to finish the job at hand.

Jem'Hadar: Dominion presence in the Alpha Quadrant has lasted long enough for them to start breeding Jem'Hadar here. This is creating a conflict between the veteran Jem'Hadar from the Gamma Quadrant and the new Jem'Hadar "Alphas," which I hope we see Sisko exploiting in future episodes. Here, it mainly plays out in the friction between the highly competent Second and his superior. The Second is correct at every turn: Sisko is a threat, and is actively working to retake the ship. Disrupting Sisko's crew and their attempted "repairs" also disrupts their planned resistance. The First's refusal to listen, to the point that he treats the Second with more hostility and suspicion than he does Sisko, is the main reason why the Dominion doesn't end up with the Defiant and its crew at the end. "Obedience breeds victory," the Jem'Hadar insist - But that doesn't hold true when you're obeying bad orders issued by a fool.


THOUGHTS

One Little Ship is a lightweight episode built around a silly and ridiculous concept. It reduces most of the Jem'Hadar to the status of guards so dumb they would qualify as Star Wars stormtroopers, and its situation plays out more as a comedy/adventure than as a thriller. It is, at heart, a rather dumb episode.

It's also a lot of fun to watch. The script, by Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, zips along merrily, taking viewers on a ride through two cliche stories: the "shrink" episode and the hostage episode. There is a lot of humor, from the tiny runabout hiding from view by flying directly behind the oblivious First's head to the way Dax pilots the shrunken ship to gently press buttons on a keypad. But the humor, while infectious, never compromises the characters. The situation itself is funny, but the regulars take that situation seriously - which keeps it just the right side of campy.

Some of the visuals are imaginative, as well. I particularly enjoy the scenes in which O'Brien and Bashir are working inside the bridge console. With giant, Tron-like components surrounding them, it looks - as Bashir observes - like they are "in the middle of an optronic forest."

In the end, One Little Ship is thoroughly silly, but also thoroughly entertaining. Another winner.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Far Beyond the Stars
Next Episode: Honor Among Thieves 

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5-18. Business as Usual.

Quark goes into business with ruthless
arms dealer Hagath (Steven Berkoff).

THE PLOT

A feldomite strike has sent Quark's investments into freefall, effectively wiping out what little he had left in the wake of the ban by the Ferengi Commerce Authority. "I'm up to my lobes in debt," he frets, with no apparent way to maneuver himself out of his predicament.

Enter Gaila (Josh Pais), Quark's cousin who tried to kill him the previous year. Gaila is here not to bury Quark, but to offer him a lifeline: A 5% cut of a string of lucrative arms dealers brokered on behalf of humans arm dealer Hagath (Steven Berkoff). "Weapons is a growth industry," Gaila tells him. "In a month, all your debts will be paid. In six months, the Ferengi Commerce Authority will be begging to reinstate you. In a year, you'll have your own moon!"

Out of desperation, Quark agrees, only to find himself in very treacherous territory. The station personnel shun him in disgust for his career switch, while it quickly becomes apparent that Hagath is not just ruthless, but downright murderous to anyone who crosses him. Quark tries to ease any pangs of conscience by clinging to the notion that he is selling defensive weapons... Until a crazed Regent (Lawrence Tierney) demands bio-weapons, wanting a final body count of about 28 million!

CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Hagath's connections are such that he can't touch Quark for arms dealing, not so long as the Ferengi avoids breaking any actual station laws. But he makes it clear that this marks a firm end to his former tolerance for the Ferengi's activities. When Quark ultimately does the right thing, Sisko extends his forgiveness - but only at a rather steep price.

Quark: Quark is given everything he supposedly ever wanted. His debts are rapidly repaid, and the very deal that troubles his conscience is the one that will give him the kind of profits he's always dreamed of. All that is required is for him to be the person he's always pretended to be: A grasping, soulless being who cares for nothing but profit. Instead, he is stung at being shunned by all Federation personnel. The end of Body Parts showed that, though his own people may have cut him off, he was anything but alone. This episode dangles the prospect of ending the FCA ban - but at the cost of isolating him from people he's come to see (whether he admits it or not) as friends. Quark's final choice is predetermined; this isn't a show that's going to turn one of its regulars into a quasi-villain. But the way in which that choice is portrayed feels very true to who Quark is, which is why the episode works as well as it does.

Dax: Acts as the voice of Quark's conscience. Sisko's may be the official rejection, but Dax's disgust is the rejection he truly feels. This fits, as Dax behaved as a friend to Quark from fairly early on. When he decides he cannot live with the Regent's demands, Dax is the person he chooses to visit before he takes action.

O'Brien: In subplot land, he gets a sitcom story involving his baby's refusal to stop crying unless he's holding him every second. It's dispensable fare, but it's painless enough. The situation is one most parents in the audience will be able to relate to, as O'Brien becomes ever more desperate for his son to stop crying. The final scene of the subplot, as Worf reflects on how he never got to see his own son as a baby and how lucky he thinks O'Brien is, represents a nice character scene. Completely unrelated to the "A" plot, but easy to take in spite of that.

Villain of the Week: Steven Berkoff was a "go-to villain" of the 1980's and early '90's. His Hagath isn't at all far removed from his role as Victor Maitland in Beverly Hills Cop: a soft-spoken businessman whose reptilian presence makes him sinister even when he's behaving in a relatively friendly manner. Hagath is shrewd, knowing when to sell to both sides in a conflict, when to sell to the stronger side, and when to sell to the weaker one. He supplied arms to the Bajorans during the Occupation, choosing to make a friend of Bajor as a business calculation." I knew the Cardassians would eventually lose... They underestimated the Bajoran thirst for freedom. I didn't."

THOUGHTS

"Look out there. Millions and millions of stars, millions upon millions of worlds. And right now, half of them are fanatically dedicated to destroying the other half. Now, do you think if one of those twinkling little lights suddenly went out, anybody would notice? Suppose I offered you ten million bars of gold pressed latinum to help turn out one of those lights, would you really tell me to keep my money?"

-Gaila, bluntly laying out the stakes for his cousin Quark.

When I put in a Ferengi episode, I still go in expecting a comedy. By now, I should know not to pre-judge. Last season's Bar Association and Body Parts both offered Quark-centric plots with serious underpinnings, milking decent drama out of episodes that I expected to be mediocre comedies. Business as Usual takes that further, offering an episode that is very clearly not a comedy. This episode puts Quark into a genuinely serious situation, and then cuts off all support from the remaining regulars. He is left entirely to his own devices to extricate himself, one of many excellent choices made by writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle.

One thing I appreciate is that this entire story is a consequence of a previous story. The FCA ban levied against Quark leaves him in a desperate situation. All Ferengi are barred from doing business with him, which cuts deeply into his options. Quark can cross one of his few lines, and deal in weapons sales, or he can lose everything. Little surprise that he makes the choice he does.

I've already discussed Steven Berkoff's Hagath. The other notable guest star is Lawrence Tierney, an actor with a long history of playing crime figures. He's probably best remembered for Reservoir Dogs, though his career stretches back considerably further than that (he also previously guest starred in TNG's The Big Goodbye, playing - you guessed it - a crime boss). The Regent is a very small role, which is likely why Tierney was even up to playing it in the wake of a severe stroke. He only has one major scene. But his presence adds a sense of menace and, yes, insanity that makes Quark's decision to risk his life to sink this deal entirely believable.

Business As Usual is a good episode, one which takes a character often at the center of lighthearted shows and puts him in the middle of a genuinely clever suspense plot. For Alexander Siddig, who directed this episode under his real name (Siddig El-Fadil), it's a strong directorial debut, one which leaves me hoping we'll see more episodes helmed by him in the future.

Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: A Simple Investigation
Next Episode: Ties of Blood and Water


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