7-22. Tacking into the Wind.

Kira's worries about Odo complicate a dangerous mission.

THE PLOT

Kira continues to assist Damar's Cardassian rebellion, but her efforts are complicated by the animosity and blatant disrespect of Gul Rusot (John Vickery). After Rusot provokes a fight that Kira wins, he swears he will take revenge - and he might get a chance sooner that later, thanks to a plan to infiltrate a Dominion repair facility to steal a ship equipped with the Breen energy weapon.

Tensions are also rising among the Klingons on Deep Space 9. It is very clear that Gowron is focusing not on winning the war, but on disgracing General Martok by sending him on missions doomed to defeat. Worf urges the general to challenge Gowron and take his place, but Martok insists that such a challenge during wartime would be dishonorable. When Gowron hatches a new suicide mission - one that could cripple what remains of the Klingons' strength - Worf feels compelled to take matters into his own hands!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Sisko's brief appearance carries shades of In the Pale Moonlight, as he urges Worf to resolve the situation with Gowron, and to "do whatever it takes." He obviously isn't telling Worf to kill the man - But he knows too much about Klingon culture to think that a bloodless solution is likely.

Col. Kira: For the most part, she manages to restrain herself in the face of Rusot's disdain. Season One Kira would have come to blows with him before the end of the last episode, and would have had to have been pulled off him to keep from killing him. Here, she's pushed ot the breaking point by worries about Odo and the frustration of trying to help the Cardassians, and still only snaps when Rusot physically accosts her... And she stops the fight as soon as she's won a clear victory, and even then knows that what just happened was not in anyone's best interest.

Worf: "Worf, you are the most honorable and decent man I've ever met... If you're willing to tolerate men like Gowron, then what hope is there for the Empire?" Ezri confronts Worf directly with the corruption in Klingon society - a thread that's been woven into the fabric of Star Trek since TNG's Sins of the Father. It was then that Worf was first made into an outcast - in the very episode in which he first realized that the society of honorable warriors he had idealized was, in truth, hopelessly corrupt. This episode brings his encounters with that corruption to a logical endpoint, and cements him as a significant figure in the Klingon Empire whether he wants to be or not.

Damar: Rusot is his friend, and was among his first allies in this resistance; Kira is a former enemy, one he personally dislikes. It's no surprise that his instinct is to support Rusot. But he's no idiot, and he recognizes that Kira's strategies are the ones his rebellion will need to embrace to have any chance of victory. As Garak notes, his greatest weakness is his romanticism of Cardassia's past. He mourns a Cardassia that's "dead, and it won't be coming back," when the truth is that his idealized Cardassia was as much a fiction as Worf's idealized Klingon Empire.

Garak: As much a Cardassian patriot as Damar, in his own way. Remember that this was a man willing to annihilate the Founders along with several people he calls friends, all in response to the female changeling's statement that the Dominion would destroy Cardassia. When Kira berates herself for a loose comment to Damar, Garak tells her that if Damar is "the man we hope him to be, then (he was) more receptive to what you said, not less."

Gowron/Martok: Two stubborn men, each clinging to their nature even when it leads to their destruction. Gowron refuses to follow the sound strategy set forth by Sisko and Martok. Instead of focusing on the war, he focuses on his own personal battlefield: Politics, with Martok as a potential rival who must be shamed. Martok, in turn, won't challenge Gowron because Klingon tradition frowns on such challenges in times of war. Without Worf's intervention, Gowron's plan would have played out exactly as he intended... And likely doomed the entire Alpha Quadrant in the process. A perfect illustration of Ezri's words about the Empire's decay.


THOUGHTS

Ronald D. Moore, arguably Deep Space 9's best writer, is paired with Michael Vejar, one of the show's most reliable directors, for a dark installment involving challenges and betrayals. And Klingons, of course - Moore being the franchise specialist in Klingon episodes. Add in that this is pretty much all payoff for the plot complications that built up in the previous installment, and it's no surprise that Tacking into the Wind is an excellent episode.

The two main plot strands parallel each other in multiple ways. Both involve a regular trying to convince a patriotic leader to take a stand against a destructive influence from within. Both strands also involve characters (Worf and Damar) who have romanticized and idealized their cultures, turning a blind eye to the corruption that has always been there. The result is that, even though the two plots don't brush up against each other even once, it all feels of a piece. Both strands also come to a strong climax, with the overall arc moved forward as a result.

The Bashir/O'Brien story, involving finding a cure for Odo's illness, also gets some screen time, but it proves to the weakest thread. Nothing really happens in this subplot, which ends this episode exactly at the same place it begins: Odo is dying, Section 31 did it, and Bashir needs to get Section 31 to cure it. Sure, they have the beginnings of a plan... But it feels like that could have been dropped in with a line or two of dialogue at the start of the next episode.

Something I really wish had been done, as the episode's only real weakness is that it feels a touch overstuffed. It doesn't feel rushed, thanks to most of the setup having been taken care of in When It Rains... - But it does feel packed, and I think the two "A" plots would have benefited from the removal of the Bashir/O'Brien scenes in order to give the characters and events a bit of breathing room.

Still, if my primary complaint is that too much happened and that I wanted more of the two primary strands, that's not a bad complaint to have. There's no question but that Tacking into the Wind is not only a significant episode, but an extremely good one as well.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: When It Rains...
Next Episode: Extreme Measures

Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: Deep Space 9

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On BlueSky:

Follow @RandomMusings09 on BlueSky

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

7-15. Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang.

The Ops crew plan a Vegas casino heist...

THE PLOT

Vic Fontaine's nightclub has been taken over.

Back when Vic's holosuite program was created, a "jack-in-the-box" subroutine was buried deep in the code, intended to keep things from becoming stale. Gangster Frankie Eyes (Robert Miano), financed by a mafia godfather, has purchased the hotel and casino. His first act? Firing Vic and replacing him with scantily-clad dancers. Frankie also has Vic roughed up to try to force him to leave town.

The only way to return the club to normal is to defeat Frankie within the program, using means and methods that would have been available in 1962. And so the DS9 command crew decides to use Frankie's mafia connections against him. Mobster Carl Zeemo (Marc Lawrence) will be coming to pick up his monthly payment from Frankie. So all they have to do is steal that money from the safe in the casino's count room. A classic heist.

But planning a robbery is one thing - Actually pulling it off is something else entirely...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Alone of the Ops crew, he has resisted going to Vic's. Kasidy gets him to reveal why: The real 1962 was not a good time for black people, who wouldn't even have been allowed in a place like Vic's unless they were janitors or performers. This idealized version of the past, one that ignores the very real struggles endured, offends him. With a push from Kasidy, he does end up joining in the plan to help Vic, and even enjoys a moment on stage at the end... But his best and most interesting scenes come in the first half, when he resists any contact with the holosuite.

Col. Kira: Gets close to Frankie by pretending to be the stereotypical gangster's moll, flirting constantly while pretending to be impressed by his money. Showing off, Frankie lets her visit the count room - allowing her to report back on the room's layout, its security, and the location of the safe. During the actual robbery, her role is to keep Frankie distracted so that he doesn't notice what the others are doing.

Kasidy Yates: When Sisko talks about the reason Vic's holosuite offends him, she does hear him out and doesn't belittle his reasons. But she does argue against him, framing helping Vic as helping a friend in need. She also insists that the colorblind nature of the holosuite program doesn't insult the harsh realities of history. "Going to Vic's isn't going to make us forget who we are or where we came from. What it does is it reminds us that we're no longer bound by any limitations, except the ones we impose on ourselves."

Vic Fontaine: The most obvious solution to this problem would be to simply reset the program. But doing so would be unthinkable, because it would wipe Vic's memory and all of his experiences. Previous episodes have established Vic as fully self-aware, and It's Only a Paper Moon ended with his program being allowed to run 24 hours a day, giving him the semblance of a "real life." Within the confines of his holosuite, he's as real as any of them; a solution has to be found that maintains his individuality. James Darren remains terrific in the role, retaining Vic's dignity even when the character is thrust into the role of victim.


THOUGHTS

A refreshing holodeck episode, in that it doesn't revolve around any kind of malfunction. The program is doing exactly what it was designed to do; it's the nature of the "jack in the box" that prompts the plot, rather than something external going wrong. This allows the episode to have fun with the period caper plot, rather than getting sidetracked with Technobabble to justify that plot.

This is, effectively, Deep Space 9 meets Ocean's Eleven, and the episode embraces that. Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler's script has great fun with the structure of a caper story, and plays fair with the audience throughout. The always-reliable Mike Vejar is in the director's chair, providing a visual flair that enhances the fun (including a slow-motion walk by the command crew to the holosuite when they prepare to put their plan into effect).

The episode is often funny, but it isn't a parody. This is largely a straight-up casino heist story, with both humor and drama arising naturally from the situation. Only a handful of scenes take place outside the holosuite - The brief but necessary explanation as to where "Frankie" came from, and the genuinely very good character moment when Sisko explains why he's so hostile toward this particular program. Outside of that, the episode sticks to the period setting, and both actors and show seem to have a great time taking a break from space opera to do a heist caper.

A thoroughly enjoyable bit of fluff, this probably represents Deep Space 9's last chance to relax and have fun before the heavy lifting of wrapping up the many ongoing plot threads. A success on that basis - And in my opinion, a good episode by any reasonable measure.

Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Chimera
Next Episode: Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges


Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: Deep Space 9

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On BlueSky:

Follow @RandomMusings09 on BlueSky

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

6-22. Valiant.

Jake and Nog find themselves on a ship crewed entirely by cadets.

THE PLOT

Jake and Nog are heading to Feringinar on a runabout - Nog to officially represent Starfleet in asking for the Grand Nagus' aid with the war effort, Jake in hopes of getting an interview with the Nagus. Their journey is cut short, however, when they stumble right in the middle of a squadron of Jem'Hadar. Hopelessly outmatched, the two youths appear moments from death. Then the Valiant appears. A Defiant-class ship sent on a mission behind enemy lines, it effortlessly destroys the runabout's pursuers and beams Jake and Nog to safety.

To their surprise, the ship's crew is made up of cadets. Members of Red Squad, Starfleet Academy's elite cadet unit, they were on a training mission when they came under Dominion attack. The experienced Captain Ramirez was killed in the battle. Tim Watters (Paul Popowich), the senior cadet, assumed command, and has been continuing to fight ever since.

Watters insists on fulfilling a mission intended for Capt. Ramirez, to scan and analyze a new Dominion warship. The Valiant has been unable to complete the mission, because of the same engine problems that initially plagued the Defiant. Nog's familiarity with this problem allows him to get the engines up to speed - allowing them to catch up with and scan the warship without incident.

Then Watters decides to take his mission one step further. Instead of returning to Starfleet with the data, he decides they will exploit the weak spot they've identified and destroy the ship themselves - A plan that Jake feels is certain death...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Present only at the very end, when the Defiant receives a Starfleet distress call from an escape pod behind enemy lines. Sisko listens to the caution that this may be a Dominion trap, and acknowledges the possibility - But he also knows it might not be a trap, and decides they have to answer the distress call. His quiet confidence is a stark contrast against Waters' vehemence. Sisko doesn't have to insist he's in command, because unlike Waters, it's very obvious that he truly is a captain.

Jake: While Nog is quickly accepted into this crew of elite cadets, particularly after he proves himself by solving the warp problem, Jake is very much an outsider. When he steps into the mess hall, conversations stop around him. His unease is mostly just a feeling, which could be put down to being the outsider of the group... Until Watters upbraids him for having a simple conversation with a young woman who misses her home. From this point on, Jake is convinced that something is very wrong on this ship. He attempts to convince others after Watters decides on his suicide mission, but he's like Cassandra - He can clearly see the disaster to come, but no one will listen to him.

Nog: Is uneasy when Watters admits that the orders he's following were meant for Capt. Ramirez. But Watters offers him everything he's always wanted: A purpose, a place to belong, a position of responsibility. Rank, without having to go through years of grunt work to get it. He's even made a member of Red Squad, the elite group of cadets he was so desperate to join back at the Academy. And he believes Watters' insistence that the Valiant can complete this mission and can make a real difference to the war. Which makes his disillusionment all the sharper when Watters fails so completely. Aron Eisenberg is superb throughout, keeping our sympathies with Nog even when he becomes a fanatical Red Squad devotee and turns on Jake.

Capt. Watters: I'll give Watters this much credit: After the ship's captain died, he held the crew together and kept Valiant in one piece on the wrong side of enemy lines. Sure, it was reckless of him to accept orders meant for Capt. Ramirez when he clearly should have headed for home (as Ramirez certainly intended him to do)... But he does manage to complete the mission; and if he'd stopped there, returning vital data to Starfleet, declaring him a "hero" would have been fully justified.

However, he's also young and inexperienced, and not up to the responsibility he's assumed. He takes stimulants to keep himself alert, which means he's constantly sleep-deprived. He is controlling to the point of confronting Jake over having a conversation with one of his crew members. Then he insists on attacking the Dominion warship - something Valiant has not been ordered to do, and which in fact jeopardizes the very information the ship was meant to collect and return to Starfleet! When Jake rightly points out that this plan is idiotic, Watters responds by chanting Red Squad propaganda as if he was back at the Academy, using the chant to block out any dissent or even thought. As Nog sums up: "He may have been a hero. He may even have been a great man. But in the end he was a bad captain."


THOUGHTS

I expected Valiant to be terrible. An episode about a starship under the command of a bunch of kids? It sounded like a nightmarish early TNG scenario.

But Michael Vejar's direction lends energy and urgency to what occurs on-screen. Writer Ronald D. Moore's script is carefully structured, with the cracks in the apparently tightly-run Valiant only gradually revealed over the first half of the episode. First comes Watters' admission that Starfleet's orders were actually meant for Ramirez, and that nobody back home realizes that this is a ship of cadets. Then Jake is reprimanded for having a conversation with a crew member. Finally, we see the captain's pill-popping... at which point, we recognize that this crew is on the verge of imploding.

Then Watters comes up with his plan: To charge in and exploit a single weakness that will miraculously cause the Dominion ship to blow up like a firework! It's basically the Death Star run. But it turns out that blowing up that one weak point doesn't actually make the entire enemy ship go "Boom!" Imagine Luke Skywalker going through that trench run and hitting the vent perfectly... Only to discover that all it accomplished was knocking out the Death Star's air conditioning.

To cut a long review short: Good writing and good directing transforms a premise that had every reason to be terrible into a surprisingly pretty good episode.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: The Reckoning
Next Episode: Profit and Lace

Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: Deep Space 9

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On BlueSky:

Follow @RandomMusings09 on BlueSky

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

6-2. Rocks and Shoals.

Stranded Jem'Hadar soldiers prepare for a last stand.

THE PLOT

Under attack, Sisko and his crew take refuge in a nebula - only to see their already-crippled Jem'Hadar ship lose all ship function just before crashing into an unknown planet. Also stranded on the planet are a handful of Jem'Hadar survivors of a similar crash. Their situation is even more dire than Sisko's. Their First and Second were killed in the crash, leaving Jem'Hadar Third Remata'klan (Phil Morris) in command. They are running low on ketracel white, and their Vorta, Keevan (christopher Shea), is mortally-injured.

When Keevan learns that a Starfleet crew is on the planet, he hatches a plot to save his own life. The Jem'Hadar take Garak and Nog prisoner. Keevan then sends Remat'Klan to offer a trade: The two crew members in exchange for the help of Dr. Bashir and a negotiation with Sisko.

Bashir is able to stabilize Keevan, at which point the Vorta offers an even greater trade: In exchange for his life, he will give them the means to contact Starfleet. But first he'll have to deal with the Jem'Hadar, whom the Vorta plans to send into an inescapable ambush...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Is appalled by Keevan's offer, but doesn't see any immediate alternative. Keevan will send the Jem'Hadar to attack regardless of Sisko's acceptance, so the choices are literally kill or be killed. In his interactions with Remata'klan, it's clear that Sisko feels the same respect for this Jem'Hadar that he previously had felt for Omet'iklan in To the Death. He hopes to get through to Remata'klan, to convince him that Keevan is not worthy of his loyalty - but given the heavy conditioning the Jem'Hadar have received to obey the Vorta no matter what, he knows his chances aren't even good enough to describe as "slim."

Kira: "When I was in the Resistance, I despised people like me." She looks even more beaten down and exhausted than in the last episode. And it's no wonder. Pragmatism makes her priority to maintain the status quo of a bloodless Occupation. This involves agreeing to Vorta facilitators coming to Bajor, and defending that choice to the outraged Vedek Yassim (Lilyan Chauvin). Yassim accuses Kira of being an "apologist" for the Dominion, and demands to know what it will take for her to fight back. Kira herself worries that she has become a collaborator, and resolves to take action - though exactly what action that may be is yet to be revealed.

Dr. Bashir: When Dax is injured, he stabilizes her and continues to monitor the injuries to both Jadzia and to the Dax symbiote. When he is brought to Keevan, he takes in the Vorta's condition in a heartbeat and declares that any conversation between Keevan and Sisko will have to wait - Immediate surgery is required. In both cases, his actions are marked by a brisk efficiency. As was clear in the previous episode, most of Bashir's former good humor has been knocked away by the war.

Garak/Nog: When scouting with Nog, the Ferengi insists on walking either behind or beside Garak. When confronted, Nog reminds him of the incident on Empok Nor, brushing aside his protestations of outside influence: "It happened... You can either stand in front of me or walk beside me, but I won't turn my back on you again." Far from being offended, Garak smiles and congratulates the Ferengi, remarking that there may be hope for him yet.

Jem'Hadar: In his first conversation with Jem'Hadar leader Remata'klan, Sisko recalls the events of To the Death, in which he was impressed by the Jem'Hadar soldiers but not by their Vorta. That episode ended with the Vorta being killed by the Jem'Hadar First. This situation is the mirror image. Sisko is again faced with a Jem'Hadar leader he respects. He is again faced with a Vorta not worthy of anyone's respect. But Remata'klan does not waver. Even though he knows that Keevan is responsible for stranding them on this planet, and even though he recognizes the Vorta as the treacherous worm that he is, Remata'klan still declares: "He does not have to earn my loyalty, Captain. He has had it from the moment I was conceived. I am a Jem'Hadar. He is a Vorta. It is the order of things."


THOUGHTS

Rocks and Shoals is a fine example of how a story that could have worked independently is enhanced and given context by the Dominion War arc. The "A" plot, with the standoff between Sisko's group and the Jem'Hadar, is not inherently different than several episodes from earlier seasons. But the fact that Starfleet is now actively at war with the Dominion adds an extra layer. The events of A Time to Stand leave Sisko's party completely cut off, with no hope of rescue or of anyone even searching for them.

Just as would have been the case in earlier seasons, the episode cuts away from the main story to a "B" plot back at the station. But what would have provided relief from the bleakness in earlier years now just provides bleakness of a different kind, as Kira struggles with her role on a station that is occupied by an enemy force.

The two stories are tied together, in that both Sisko and Kira are struggling with situations with no easy answers. Kira despises the thought that she is becoming a collaborator, but she knows that active resistance would justify a Cardassian crackdown. Sisko hates dealing with Keevan, and respects the Jem'Hadar - but it is Keevan who offers him a way to keep his people alive. Neither Sisko nor Kira can get a pat, happy Trek ending. Both situations are dark and complex, and writer Ronald D. Moore follows each thread to its natural conclusion.

Performances are excellent, the regulars equally matched by guest stars Phil Morris and Christopher Shea, who turn the Jem'Hadar soldier and the shifty Vorta into fully lifelike characters. The always reliable Michael Vejar directs, and his visual eye gets an added dimension from the location filming. The beauty of the outdoor area, particularly along the water, makes a striking contrast with the desperation of both Sisko and the Jem'Hadar; and the ending confrontation makes tangible the tactical reality of high ground versus low. Not to mention the very well-chosen shots in the repeated montage of Kira's morning routine, particularly when it comes home to her that all those surrounding her in Ops are either Cardassian or Jem'Hadar.

All around excellent, with a memorable "A" plot and a well-handled "B" plot that sets the stage for more developments to come.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: A Time to Stand
Next Episode: Sons and Daughters

Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: Deep Space 9

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On BlueSky:

Follow @RandomMusings09 on BlueSky

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

5-24. Empok Nor.

Garak menaces Chief O'Brien's engineering crew!

THE PLOT

The station's plasma conduits are breaking down, leaving the staff in a bind. With Cardassia having joined the Dominion, there is no source for replacement parts, and no ability to replicate those parts. The only reasonable possibility is Empok Nor, a Cardassian space station that was abandoned a year earlier, during the Klingon/Cardassian conflict. Chief O'Brien assembles a team to scavenge the station. Knowing the Cardassians' tendency to leave booby traps, Sisko orders one addition to the team, someone with extensive experience with Cardassian sabotage: Elim Garak!

Garak proves his usefulness almost immediately, disarming a device that would have turned Empok Nor's airlock into a deathtrap. Once aboard, the engineers begin searching for the needed parts. But Garak makes two disturbing discoveries: a bio-gel that he finds only when he makes skin contact with it, and two empty stasis tubes that housed members of the Cardassian First Order, a group that is violently xenophobic even by Cardassian standards. Their statis tubes were apparently set to wake them as soon as the station was breached.

Now they are hunting the Starfleet intruders. Garak's skills as a spy and assassin seem to offer the best hope for combating them... but Garak is sliding ever further into xenophobia himself, turning gradually against the very people he was sent to protect!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: When O'Brien suggests scavenging parts from Empok Nor, Sisko barely hesitates. He does take a moment to verify that the salvage team won't be likely to run afoul of the Dominion, however, and he bribes Garak into going along to help protect the engineers, both of which show a level of caution not always typical of Sisko.

O'Brien: The strongest character material of the episode is when Garak brings up O'Brien's military service during the Federation's war with Cardassia. Garak remarks on O'Brien's audacity at the Battle of Setlik III. This battle was first brought up in the TNG episode The Wounded (the show that introduced the Cardassians), and we saw there how uncomfortable O'Brien was with the things he had to do to survive the conflict. He is similarly uncomfortable here, insisting that he is no longer a soldier but an engineer. But as his men begin to die around him, O'Brien steadily returns to the soldier role, particularly when he is pushed into a battle of wits with Garak... a battle the engineer ends up winning.

Nog: Remains highly enthusiastic about his Starfleet career, to the point that his eagerness to volunteer for every duty available can become slightly annoying at times. His respect for O'Brien is entirely genuine, both from his own observations of the man's hard work and from hearing his father talk about how the chief can fix anything.

Garak: "Lately I've noticed that everyone seems to trust me. It's quite unnerving." It's good to see that Garak - and the writers - are aware that he has become too "safe" as an ally. Part of what makes Garak such a satisfying character is that you can never fully trust him, and that edge has diminished a bit over time. This episode might have served as a reminder that he remains dangerous and unreliable... Except, of course, that Garak does exactly what he was sent to do, right up until the bio-gel makes him "turn bad." And by turn bad, I mean turn into a stock psycho who is vastly less interesting (and less fun) than normal Garak is. Before that turn, we do get some good moments between him and O'Brien, a previously unused character pairing. The scene in which Garak needles O'Brien about his war service is a particularly strong one, leaving me wondering how much better this episode might have been had he gone to the station with a secret agenda that would put him at odds with O'Brien, with no evil bio-gel required.


THOUGHTS

Empok Nor is a story of two halves. The first half, in which the engineering team goes to the abandoned station and eventually finds itself being picked apart by Cardassian commandos, is very good: Tense, well-acted, with good character material and meticulous direction by the ever-reliable Michael Vejar. The second half, in which Garak goes crazy and Andrew J. Robinson recreates his "Gemini Killer" persona from Dirty Harry, is rather weak and silly, derailing an episode that had been on track to become a fine, spooky piece.

The performances by Colm Meaney and Andrew Robinson are terrific, as expected. The guest cast is undistinguished but perfectly adequate. What keeps this episode from hitting the mark is the script, which never quite finds a proper focus. The subplot with the Cardassian First Order never receives an adequate payoff; this strand is simply and conveniently cut off at the exact moment Garak becomes homicidal. Nor does the "evil Garak" material particularly work. Unlike Garak's nastiest moments in The Wire, his behavior in this episode doesn't seem to stem from his own personality - It's forced upon him, effectively turning him into a different character. The two halves don't really gel, and there's no sense that the events of this story will have any repercussions whatever.

I would also like to raise the question: Why didn't the DS9 crew make sure to have backup supplies of Cardassian equipment? There was a lengthy period, from the end of Season Three through to the first part of Season Five, in which the Federation appeared to be on good terms with the Cardassians. Surely using that opportunity to stock up on parts that could not be obtained from other sources would have been a simple matter of common sense? Had this been addressed with even a throwaway line ("Dukat sabotaged our spares right before leaving the station to join the Dominion), then I'd be fine by it. Instead, it appears to be a situation that exists solely because the plot requires it.

I will say that this is a quite watchable episode, with some good moments. The O'Brien/Garak pairing works extremely well, with the series' most straightforward character forced to interact with the series' least straightforward one, to amusing effect. The scene near the beginning, in which Garak prods O'Brien about his military background, is excellent character material. Also very good is the closing scene, with O'Brien's admission that he was actively trying to kill Garak all the more effective for being underplayed. It's just a shame that these moments and performances are stuffed into an episode that's otherwise unworthy of them.


Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Episode: Blaze of Glory
Next Episode: In the Cards

Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: Deep Space 9

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On BlueSky:

Follow @RandomMusings09 on BlueSky

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads

5-11. The Darkness and the Light.

Kira mourns the loss of an old friend.

THE PLOT

Latha Mabrin (Matt Roe) was a violent man, something the Bajoran Resistance greatly valued during the Occupation but which created problems for him after. Latha finally turned his life around, however, becoming a Vedek and embracing the Prophets. He is performing a ceremony involving repentance when suddenly, a disruptor blast fires from a cermonial object, killing him. Back on Deep Space 9, Kira receives a message: Latha's picture and a mechanical voice, telling her, "That's one."

As the message indicates, Latha's death is only the beginning. Someone is targeting those affiliated with the Shakaar Resistance Cell. Kira attempts to get a step ahead by contacting her friends, but is too late at every turn. One by one, the former Resistance members are assassinated. Odo investigates, but has to confess that he has no real suspects.

And with each Bajoran who falls, the killings grow ever closer to their final target: Kira herself!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Though not heavily spotlighted, we see him making sure to remain informed about Odo's progress (or lack thereof) at every stage. When Kira finally decides to strike out on her own, Sisko orders Worf and Dax to follow her. When they start to point out difficulties, he snaps at them in a tone that brooks neither argument nor excuses "I understand the difficulties! You have your orders - Dismissed!"

Major Kira: Past episodes of Deep Space 9 have had characters, including Kira herself, describe the major as a "terrorist." This episode explores some of the implications of that. As a Resistance fighter, she engaged in attacks that not only killed and injured military targets, but spread the damage among civilians as well. When Odo presents his working theory that the killings are revenge for collateral damage inflicted by the Shakaar Cell, Kira protests that too many of their attacks fit that description for it to be helpful. Nana Visitor is excellent as usual, particularly in showing Kira's mounting frustration at being unable to investigate directly due to her pregnancy, a passivity that goes entirely against her instincts.

Odo: Kira's trust in him is shown throughout, simply in that he is the one she chooses to listen as she reflects on each of her dead friends. In Medlab, where that wonderful monologue is delivered, she waits until Dr. Bashir leaves and she is alone with Odo before she reveals such personal memories. For his part, Odo listens quietly, not speaking until she is done but clearly absorbing all that she says. He insists that he will find the man responsible for the crimes, and he's well on his way to doing so before she decides to take matters into her own hands at the end.


THOUGHTS

THIS ISN'T A MYSTERY

Despite focusing on an investigation into a series of killings, The Darkness and the Light is not a mystery. There are no clues that lead Kira to the killer. The first two-thirds of the episode portrays the killings. Then Odo calls in some old Cardassian favors and delivers up a list of suspects with the technical knowledge and motive to commit the murders. Kira follows up, and the fourth name on the list turns out to be the murderer. There's no real investigation shown.

That would be a significant flaw, if this episode even pretended to be a mystery story. But it doesn't. Odo gives a few status reports on his investigation, simply because otherwise we'd be very justified in wondering exactly what the heck he's doing during all this. Otherwise, the focus is very much on Kira reacting to her friends' deaths and reflecting on her past in the Resistance.

Kira reflects on how the violent Latha turned his life around through religion, or how the perpetually-frightened Fala (Jennifer Savidge) continued to funnel information to the Resistance despite her terror. When two particularly close friends are killed, she recalls her first Resistance mission in a monologue that lasts for almost three minutes. It's pure monologue, no interruptions from any other character. Director Michael Vejar shoots almost all of it in one shot closing steadily on Kira's face, cutting away only once to show Odo listening before going back to his main shot. One person talking, most of the time with the only visual being her face, and thanks to the excellence of both Ronald D. Moore's writing and Nana Visitor's acting it is the best scene in the episode.

SILARAN PRIN

Because this episode is not a mystery, it's not spoiling anything to reveal that the assassin is the mystery to reveal that the assassin is Silaran Prin (Randy Oglesby), a Cardassian living close to Bajor. (Truly, it reveals nothing: Prin is revealed as the killer in the same scene that introduces him.) Prin was a civilian, a servant of a Cardassian Gul targeted by Kira's cell, who was left horribly disfigured by an attack that killed not only the Gul, but twelve Cardassians including servants and the Gul's entire family.

Kira does not respond to these acts with remorse. She insists that Bajor was at war, and that all Cardassians occupying their world were legitimate targets. No exception is made for civilians, spouses, or children, which echoes the statement of the murderer at the end of Duet, who left Kira appalled by his claim that his killing was justified because, "He's a Cardassian. That's reason enough!" Lest it sound like I'm siding with Prin against Kira, I should say that given the situation of the Occupation, her reasoning is correct - In such a situation, mercy simply would not be a viable course to take, while Prin's murders do not have the justification of war.

Vejar's direction during this confrontation is superb, using darkness and light to wonderful effect. Prin, who hisses that Kira is a creature of darkness, imprisons her in a stasis field that puts Kira within a circle of light. Meanwhile, Prin - who presents himself as representing light - stalks around in darkness, only revealing himself fully at the very end. Kira uses his delusions of innocence and a handly plot device (which was neatly planted back in the teaser) to save herself, but she is clearly shaken. She doesn't allow Prin to get away with a claim of innocence, but it's worth noting that she also doesn't she make such a claim about herself.


WHERE'S SHAKAAR?

My last thought of the episode, since this review is already running long. Here we have a show all about a string of killings of members of the Shakaar Resistance Cell. Kira, the woman Shakaar loves, is in enough danger to have a security detail attached to protect her. And Shakaar... is nowhere to be seen.

I understand that Duncan Regehr was a working actor whose availability and expense made it a challenge to regularly feature him. But then, maybe that points to a reason why they should have kept Vedek Bareil around. Bareil's replacement has proved to be a recurring character in name only, not even seen in a episode such as this which practically calls out for an appearance.


OVERALL:

The Shakaar issue in no way detracts from this episode's success. Well-scripted, well-directed, and outstandingly performed by Nana Visitor, The Darkness and the Light is a good episode, and it's an outstanding character spotlight piece for Kira.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Rapture
Next Episode: The Begotten

Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: Deep Space 9

Review Index

To receive new review updates, follow me:

On BlueSky:

Follow @RandomMusings09 on BlueSky

On Threads:

Follow@randommusings09 on Threads