5-13. For the Uniform.

Michael Eddington (Kenneth Marshall), leader of the Maquis.

THE PLOT

A Maquis informant gives Sisko a long-awaited lead in his pursuit of Michael Eddington (Kenneth Marshall), the once-trusted security officer who betrayed Sisko eight months earlier. Eddington is now a leader in the Maquis, and he has been waiting for the inevitable rendezvous with his old captain. He activates a virus he had planted deep within the Defiant's systems, allowing him to escape after warning Sisko that it is time for him to "walk away."

Starfleet apparently believes so, as well. Captain Sanders (Eric Pierpoint) tells Sisko that Eddington's pursuit has been taken away from Sisko and assigned to him. Starfleet apparently has lost confidence in Sisko's ability to get the job done, believing that his personal feelings are clouding his judgment. When evidence surfaces of a Maquis attack located too far away from Sanders' position, however, Sisko disregards orders, taking the still-damaged Defiant out to track down the Maquis leader once and for all!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Sisko: Took Eddington's betrayal as a personal failure. Not only did he fail to notice anything was off about his officer, he actually recommended him for a promotion. Though we haven't seen him pursuing Eddington (whom I don't believe has even been mentioned since For the Cause), he has apparently been trying to track him down for eight months without success. Once he finally does have the scent, he pursues his quarry relentlessly. To defeat Eddington at the end, he orders a particularly ruthless action - an order that gives Worf and Kira a moment's pause before they follow it.

Dax: Though she supports Sisko's actions, she also tells him to remember his insistence on pursuing Eddington without authorization the next time he wants to lecture her about hot-headedness. She continues to act as a friend, listening as Sisko vents. She also picks up on the key point about Eddington's love of Les Miserables,allowing Sisko to fold that into his own tactics.

Odo: Only has a small role in this episode, but he does get a couple good moments. His best bit comes early on. He asks Sisko if he had ever reminded Starfleet that they assigned Eddington because they didn't trust him. When Sisko replies that he hasn't brought that up, Odo says: "Please do." Good to see that the constable has neither forgotten that snub nor forgiven it.

Eddington: During his time on Deep Space 9, he prepared for being a fugitive by planting viruses in the systems of both the Defiant and the station. Though he is definitely a criminal, he sees himself as the hero of the story. He compares Sisko's pursuit of him to Inspector Javert's pursuit of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. This tic, complete with his actually calling Sisko "Javert" in later conversations, ultimately makes Sisko realize that Eddington's view of himself as the "romantic hero" is a weakness he can exploit.


THOUGHTS

DS9 picks up the Maquis thread for the first time this season, in a direct sequel to last year's For the Cause. The episode not only marks the return of Eddington and the Maquis storyline, it features one more welcome return as well: writer Peter Allen Fields. Fields wrote some of the best episodes of Seasons One and Two. Duet, The Circle, Necessary Evil, and Blood Oath were all his. He also collaborated on Dax (one of the best early episodes) and Crossover.

While this script isn't up to most of the level of most of those shows, it is still a good, tight thriller. It does a good job of ratcheting up the stakes for Sisko by showing how much Eddington's betrayal was a personal insult to him."He played me... And what is my excuse? Is he a Changeling? No. Is he a being with seven lifetimes of experience? No. Is he a wormhole alien? No. He's just a man, like me - And he beat me!"

Judging the episode only as itself, with no broader context, Sisko's turmoil is a great strength. It makes the chase very personal, and adds a needed emotional level to the proceedings. In the greater context of the series, though, his rage doesn't fully convince. It's been eight months... and in all that time, Sisko hasn't mentioned Eddington nor has he seemed particularly on-edge. We're apparently meant to believe he has been following up leads to find Eddington offscreen. But with that pursuit getting not so much as a throwaway line until now, I can't quite buy into it.

None of which stops this from being good entertainment. The story is swiftly-paced, and does a fine job of making Eddington into a formidable opponent. We see him outmaneuver Sisko twice in the first twenty minutes, then see him trick both Sisko and Capt. Sanders around the midpoint of the episode. His tactics are well-played and believable. Also, since each of these encounters sees Eddington fooling Sisko yet again, it effectively builds Sisko's anger at being fooled by a man he had once trusted.

The ending is effective in wrapping up the plot of the episode without tying off the Maquis strand. As Sisko says, his actions in this episode maintain the balance of power in the disputed region without actually stabilizing the larger situation. The show clearly plans to revisit this thread. I just hope it won't take another eight months for it to do so.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: The Begotten
Next Episode: In Purgatory's Shadow

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2-19. Blood Oath.

A final mission for some old friends.

THE PLOT

80 years ago, a pirate known only as The Albino was conducting raids against the Klingon Empire. The Empire assigned three of its best captains to destroy his operation: Kang (Michael Ansara), the strategist; Koloth (William Campbell), the icy killer; and Kor (John Colicos), the full-blooded warrior. The captains succeeded, but the Albino escaped and took revenge, arranging to fatally infect each of the three Klingons' first-born sons. Kang's son was also the godson of Curzon Dax, who along with the three captains swore a blood oath to hunt down The Albino and take revenge.

Now the three old Klingon warriors have come to Deep Space 9. Dax realizes instantly what this must mean. She privately doubts that she can murder anyone in cold blood, even the assassin of her godson. But when Kang refuses to acknolwedge her as the Dax he knew and releases her from Curzon's oath, Dax becomes determined to make him change his mind and see it through - even when Kang indicates that this will be a one-way mission!


CHARACTERS

Commander Sisko: Attempts to stop Dax from pursuing Curzon's blood oath. He takes an authoritarian stance, ordering her to stay on the station. When it is clear that this won't work, he tries to reason with her. The one thing he doesn't attempt to do is to forcibly restrain her, which perhaps demonstrates the level of respect Sisko has for Dax. Under similar circumstances, I would fully expect Sisko to call security on his other officers, but he allows Dax to leave.

Major Kira: She also attempts to talk Dax out of the blood oath. She uses Dax's own words about each Trill life being separate and individual - that Jadzia is not bound by any of Curzon's obligations. She also speaks as the voice of experience when it comes to killing, advising Dax of the personal cost of what she proposes to do.

Dax: This is an excellent episode for Terry Farrell. The Trill/host divide has been an interesting area to explore in previous episodes, which have mostly fallen on the side of the personality being more Jadzia than Dax. Here, we see the other side. Jadzia may be very different than Curzon, but she still carries all of his memories and the emotions that go with them. The Albino's murder of Curzon's godson weighs on her just as it did on him. The Blood Oath Curzon swore may not technically bind her, but she insists on upholding it, even if she has to fight Koloth, Kang, and Sisko to be allowed to play her part. Farrell does a splendid job throughout this episode, and does some particularly good nonverbal acting in her final scene, a wordless tag that is flawlessly played not only by Farrell, but also by Avery Brooks and Nana Visitor.

Klingons: This episode reunites TOS viewers with the three most memorable Klingons from the 1960's series: Kor (John Colicos), Kang (Michael Ansara), and Koloth (William Campbell). It's not surprising that Kang and Kor come across more strongly than Koloth, given that they were stronger characters to begin with. It is interesting the way in which the characters have been developed. The coolly diplomatic Koloth is now referred to by Kor as a "stone face" who "feels too little." Kor, the most outright warrior-like of the TOS Klingons, has become a creature of appetites for - well, basically for "wine, women, and song" - while ruminating on his days as a warrior, and clearly regretting that those days are now behind him. Kang is the leader, stubborn and fatalistic, and the most inclined of the three to dismiss Jadzia as not being the same person as Curzon. In his own way, he is also trying to protect Dax, believing that their mission is a strictly one-way affair.


THOUGHTS

Blood Oath is an irresistibly entertaining episode. Its main drawing point may be "episode with the TOS Klingons," but writer Peter Allen Fields has crafted a story that uses those three characters for something other than just a big TOS reunion.

In fact, other than building on their 1960's characterizations, this episode has no real connection with TOS. The words "Kirk" and "Enterprise" are never uttered. Nor are the words "Tribble," "quadrotriticale," or "Organian." Instead, the three Klingon warriors are united with Dax on a quest, in a story that owes more to Akira Kurosawa's samurai pictures than to 1960's Trek, and I think the episode is much the better for it. This is a good story first, and features the three TOS Klingons mainly as a bonus for fans. You could watch this episode without having seen a second of 1960's Trek and not feel as if you were missing anything.

This is a tightly-paced episode, one which effortlessly mixes thoughtful moments into a genuinely exciting storyline. The final action scene, as Dax and the Klingons infiltrate The Albino's lair, is unusually well-executed for 1990's television. All of the performances are good, with the scenes between Michael Ansara and Terry Farrell particular high points.

In short: A good one.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Profit and Loss
Next Episode: The Maquis

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2-8. Necessary Evil

Odo begins his first investigation.

THE PLOT

Quark is called upon by Pallra (Katherine Moffat), an old Bajoran associate. Pallra's husband was murdered in his chemist's shop on the station during the Occupation, and she now wants Quark to retrieve something that was hidden inside the shop's walls. Quark does so.  But when he makes the mistake of looking at the goods, a list of eight Bajoran names, an assassin hired by Pallra steps out of the shadows and shoots him.

As Dr. Bashir works to try to save the Ferengi, Odo investigates the shooting. When Rom shows him the shop he and Quark had broken into, he realizes that this is all linked to his very first case as an investigator, long ago. This prompts him to remember that case, in which he first met Gul Dukat, Quark, and Kira, and in which he became the constable of Deep Space 9.  Or as it was known under the Cardassians, Terok Nor...


CHARACTERS

Commander Sisko: Plays "good cop" to Odo's "bad cop" to get Rom to divulge the truth about the list he and Quark stole from the chemist's shop. Beyond that, this is Odo's show, with Sisko barely present.

Major Kira: In flashback, we see a younger Kira pushing Odo to choose sides, insisting that he cannot remain neutral in the Bajoran/Cardassian conflict. She was the first person ever to refer to Odo as "Constable," a nickname which apparently stuck, when she thanked Odo for calling her a bad liar. In the present, Odo's friendship has come to be something Kira values greatly. She is with him in his investigation throughout, offering several key pieces of information to him.

Odo: In the past, he insisted to Kira that he would never take sides. His neutrality was among his defining characteristics, and that does not appear to have changed in the present. He did let Kira go, rather than divulge her membership in the Bajoran Underground. But he justified that by saying, quite honestly, to Gul Dukat that he was convinced of her innocence in the murder of the Bajoran merchant. Gul Dukat picked him for this job for reasons that Odo only finally understands in the present, when the discovery of the nature of the list sees all the pieces finally falling into place - even ones Odo would probably as soon have seen left out of place.

Gul Dukat: That Dukat ultimately retained Odo in the position of constable, despite Odo failing to close the case, raises an interesting question: Why? There's no real sense in the flasbacks that Dukat actually needed an outside constable. As Kira pointed out, the Cardassians had ways of getting information from Bajorans. Was Dukat actively attempting to limit casualties, by enlisting a neutral but fair-minded outsider to get information he would otherwise have obtained through torture and executions? Dukat has never struck me as anything other than a rather one-note baddie up to this point. With this episode, I'm now actively interested in learning a bit more about some of his motivations, both in the present and the past.

Quark: Gets quite a bit of character material packed into the first 10 minutes. There is something very charming about Quark's interactions with Pallra in the teaser. He may be a weasel, but he's no simple coward. When the Bajoran assassin steps out of the shadows to kill him, he faces the man down calmly, with a certain dignity. In flashback, we see how he got off on the wrong foot with Odo - but also how he developed an interest in the constable, and in finding something, anything to tempt him.


THOUGHTS

Necessary Evil is an excellent episode all-around, the best single-part episode the series has offered since Duet. Peter Allen Fields' script is effective in moving between two time periods.  The story gives us greater insight into Odo in particular, but also allows us to see some hints about Kira's background and even Quark's. It's quite interesting to have a look at the station under Cardassian rule. I wouldn't mind more episodes flashing back to the Occupation, rather than simply referencing it. I'm sure Odo, Kira, and Quark all have some interesting stories from that period - not to mention recurring characters such as Winn, Dukat, and Garak.

This is a particularly well-made episode. The starker lighting differentiates the flashbacks from the current story, and some simple but well-judged production design decisions make the station in the flashbacks look like a colder, harsher place to be. More might have been made of some of the transitions - for instance, more direct cuts of Odo/Kira in one setting to them in the exact same setting, five years earlier. But it's still well-done, and visually the contrast between the station now and the station during the Occupation is highly evident.

A lot of an episode or movie's strength lies in the final impression it leaves in the audience.  This episode soars with one of the best endings of the series to date. I like that Kira's final question goes unanswered by Odo.  Rene Auberjonois and Nana Visitor are superb in every scene, as has become expected by this point.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Rules of Acquisition

Next Episode: Second Sight

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