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712 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Vagra II | Vagra II was the formerly inhabited second planet of its star system. The planet was located in the Zed Lapis sector. Prior to 2364, little information on the planet was kept in the library computer, other than the fact of its existence. Sensors indicated no signs of lifeforms, virtually no vegetation, and the minimum atmosphere requirements for humanoids.
A "race of s" once brought out from within themselves all evil and negative attributes that had bound them to destructiveness. As a by-product of this procedure, the unwanted substance spread and coalesced into a dank and vile second skin, Armus, a "skin of evil". The race rejected this malevolent sentient substance and abandoned it on Vagra II.
In 2364, Armus threatened the crew of a shuttlecraft that had crash landed on the surface. It also killed Lieutenant Natasha Yar, who was part of the away team assigned to recover them. After the crew of the Enterprise-D escaped, they destroyed the shuttle wreckage to trap Armus on the planet. Vagra II was subsequently placed under quarantine. ()
In 2367, Ishara Yar learned from Data that her sister had died on Vagra II. ()
In 2381, Ensign Beckett Mariner and Bradward Boimler used a submanifold casting stone so as to send a prank call to Vagra II in order to taunt Armus. ()
Appendices
Background information
According to the script for "Skin of Evil", Vagra II was a planet in the Zed Lapis system and Vagra was pronounced as "VAY-GRA". StarTrek.com describes Vagra II as a minimally M-class planet.
According to , the species that created Armus was native to Vagra II.
The shot of Vagra II from orbit was first used to represent Aldea in .
Apocrypha
In John Vornholt's , Vagra II was the site where a scientist working aboard the Enterprise-D trapped a species of sub-microbe able to pass through the most advanced biofilter.
Planets of the UFP presents the system, identifying Vagra II as Class H.
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Vagra 02 |
714 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Vaughn Armstrong | Vaughn Dale Armstrong, Jr. is a veteran Star Trek actor who is noted for portraying twelve separate characters in twenty-eight episodes over four separate series. Armstrong is one of only five actors to play seven or more different characters in the Star Trek franchise (the others being Jeffrey Combs, Randy Oglesby, J.G. Hertzler, and Thomas Kopache). His characters include a Human, a mirror universe Human, a Romulan, a Borg/former Borg, a Vidiian, a Kreetassan, a Hirogen, two Cardassians, and three Klingons. However, he is probably best known for his recurring role as Admiral Maxwell Forrest in the series. He appeared in both the (in airdate order) second, and penultimate episode of . He has the distinction of playing the first male Klingon on , apart from Worf. He was one of many actors (including Jeffrey Combs and William O. Campbell) who auditioned for the role of William T. Riker on that same series.
Armstrong's talents also extend into the musical arena. He has mastered the , using a "banjo"-style ukulele (commonly known as a ) he made himself. With it he entertains audiences with Civil War-era songs and roots music, leading into the blues music he plays with others. His Trek-related blues songs are popular at convention appearances. His folk song band, The Enterprise Blues Band, includes fellow Trek actors Richard Herd (Owen Paris), Steve Rankin (Colonel Green and other roles), and Casey Biggs (Damar). Armstrong does the lead vocals in the band and plays also harp (harmonica). He has joked on stage during conventions that he is the innovator of Klingon "gutbucket" music and Andorian blues.
As an actor away from Star Trek, Armstrong has had a thirty-plus-year career in roles with many Trek alumni. On film Armstrong cut his teeth in 1977's Roger & Harry: The Mitera Target with Robert DoQui, Richard Lynch, and Harris Yulin. 1978 saw Armstrong in the aviation drama, The Winds of Kitty Hawk, sharing the screen with Robin Gammell, John Hoyt and Eugene Roche. Nearly a decade later, Armstrong would work with fellow multiple Trek star Glenn Morshower in 1984's The Philadelphia Experiment. Another six years passed and Armstrong worked with a number of Trek actors in Family of Spies joining alumni Wren T. Brown, Jefrey Alan Chandler, Gordon Clapp, Paul Collins, William Frankfather, Spencer Garrett, Ken Jenkins, Wyatt Knight, Boris Krutonog, and Aaron Lustig. A year later, Armstrong re-joined Clapp in the telefilm Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis; they were accompanied by Bob Gunton, Jeffrey Nordling, and Cary-Hiroyuki. In 1994, Armstrong re-teamed with Aaron Lustig and Harris Yulin in the Tom Clancy novel cum film, Clear & Present Danger with Reg E. Cathey, Raymond Cruz, Kamala Lopez-Dawson, Elizabeth Dennehy, Ellen Geer, Michael Jace, and John Putch. 1995's computer thriller The Net reunited Armstrong with Wren Brown, and they worked with Juan Garcia and Dan Shor. That same year, Armstrong teamed up again with Gammell, Lustig, and Yulin in the telefilm If These walls Could Talk with Jack Kehler. The film was executive-produced by Whoopi Goldberg. Armstrong was joined by DS9 co-star and fellow Enterprise Blues Band member Casey Biggs in 2 Voices with Nicolas Surovy and in 1998, Armstrong worked with co-star and another Enterprise Blues Band member Richard Herd in I Married a Monster. The most recent film in which Armstrong appeared was Finding Amanda, in which he was joined by Patrick Fischler, Anthony Holiday, and Daniel Roebuck.
Armstrong has also been productive on television. Armstrong appeared on Lou Grant with Voyager colleague Keene Curtis. He made his way to Wonder Woman with Henry Gibson and Dennis Madalone, who later served as Armstrong's stunt double in "Heart of Glory". Following this fantasy turn, Armstrong guested on on A Man Called Sloane with Alex Henteloff and Monte Markham. Armstrong joined Anthony De Longis and Morgan Woodward on Matt Houston. Armstrong played a cop in two episodes of Simon & Simon with Jonathan Banks and Lance LeGault. Armstrong had a role in the television thriller series Alfred Hitchcock Presents with Rif Hutton. On Scarecrow & Mrs. King, Armstrong worked with future DS9 co-star Nana Visitor.
These roles preceded Armstrong's role in . There was work long after that and before he turned up on DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise. Armstrong's role following "Heart of Glory" was on Cheers, starring Kirstie Alley, Kelsey Grammer, and Bebe Neuwirth. Armstrong continued in the comedy vein landing up on Seinfeld with Jason Alexander, Corbin Bernsen, Peter Parros, and Marty Rackham. Armstrong had a brief appearance with future Enterprise star Scott Bakula in the 1992 Quantum Leap episode "It's A Wonderful Leap", where he played Fred Trump - the father of future American business mogul/celebrity (and later 45th President of the United States) Donald J Trump. Armstrong later appeared on the anthology series F.B.I. The Untold Stories, joining Edward Laurence Albert and Adrienne Barbeau. Armstrong was then seen on the comedy-western The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. with Peter Dennis. Armstrong worked with DS9 and TNG guest stars Daphne Ashbrook and Katherine Moffat on the cop series One West Waikiki. Armstrong reunited with Kelsey Grammer on Frasier with Marnie Mosiman. Armstrong then returned to his sci-fi roots on Babylon 5, working with Andreas Katsulas, Bill Mumy, Majel Barrett, Marshall R. Teague, and Ed Trotta. Armstrong was seen twice on Melrose Place with Carlos LaCamara and with Leland Crooke, Margot Rose, and Michael Shamus Wiles. Next was Baywatch Nights with Christopher Michael. Armstrong reunited with Jack Kehler on the court drama Murder One alongside Barbara Bosson, Don McManus, and Rick Worthy. Continuing the fantasy trend, Armstrong joined Voyager co-star Jeri Ryan on Dark Skies with David Carpenter and Charley Lang. Armstrong re-teamed with Robin Gammell and Glenn Morshower on the premiere of C-16: FBI, also starring Michael Cavanaugh and Zach Grenier and guest-starring Melinda Culea and Stanley Kamel. Armstrong found himself once again working with Gordon Clapp and Aaron Lustig on Clapp's starring role series, NYPD Blue, also starring Sharon Lawrence. Law enforcement was still in the cards for Armstrong with a turn on Profiler starring Dennis Christopher. A role on Pensacola: Wings of Gold took Armstrong to the skies with Randy Mulkey. Armstrong then played another cop on Buffy the Vampire Slayer directed by James Whitmore, Jr.. Because of his work on Simon & Simon, producer Philip De Guere, Jr. brought Armstrong over to the military-legal series JAG with Bill Bolender, Blake Lindsley, Benjamin Brown, Paul Collins, and Mark Metcalf. Armstrong joined fellow Romulan player Alan Scarfe on his series Seven Days with Holmes R. Osborne. The next role with a Trek alum was The Beast with Lilyan Chauvin. Another run with Crooke was on Philly with Scott Alan Smith. Then came The Guardian starring Raphael Sbarge with John de Lancie. Reunions were again a theme on the premiere of Mister Sterling, where Armstrong ended up again with Bob Gunton, Stanley Kamel, and Harris Yulin, and along for the episode were Art Chudabala, David Doty, and fellow multiple Trek actor Randy Oglesby. Mister Sterling was short-lived, as was the next series on which Armstrong guest-starred, Smith, starring Virginia Madsen. Armstrong's most recent television roles were on the '60s period comedy-drama Mad Men with fellow Voyager and Enterprise actor Mark Moses; on Desperate Housewives with Teri Hatcher, Vanessa Williams, Brenda Strong, Kevin Rahm, Dakin Matthews, and Aaron Lustig; and on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation with fellow Voyager actor Wallace Langham.
He has also appeared in Criminal Minds and Law & Order: Los Angeles.
Star Trek appearances
Recurring appearance
(Season One)
(Season Two)
(Season Four)
Additional Trek appearances
Star Trek: The Experience - Klingon Encounter as an alternate reality Korath
Trekkies 2 as himself
Voice acting credits
Star Trek: New Worlds as Admiral Fairbanks
Star Trek: Armada II
Star Trek: Bridge Commander as Captain Korbus/Karoon captain
Star Trek: Starfleet Command III
Star Trek: Elite Force II
Star Trek interviews
VOY Season 1 DVD special feature Lost Transmissions from the Delta Quadrant, interviewed on
External links
– official Enterprise Blues Band website
de:Vaughn Armstrong
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Performers
TNG performers
DS9 performers
VOY performers
ENT performers
Video game performers |
715 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Jeffrey Combs | Jeffrey Alan Combs is an actor who has the distinction of portraying eight different characters on three Star Trek television series, most notably those of Brunt and the various Weyouns on , and the Andorian Thy'lek Shran on .
Most recently, he voiced AGIMUS in the episode, .
Personal life
Born in Oxnard, California, Combs was raised in Lompoc, California along with many older and younger siblings. He graduated from Lompoc High School in 1972, after which he honed his acting talents at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Santa Maria, California and the Professional Actor's Training Program at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.
Career
Films
In 1980, after spending four years performing for regional theater, Combs moved to Los Angeles where he landed roles in the films Whose Life Is It Anyway? and Honky Tonk Freeway, both released in 1981. The latter one starred Terri Garr.
Combs is widely recognized as an actor of science fiction and horror movies. His first experience with both genres came in 1983 when he appeared in the science fiction comedy The Man with Two Brains, a film which also featured fellow Trek guest stars James Cromwell, David Warner, and Earl Boen. A few months later, he was seen in the horror film Frightmare, co-starring Scott Thomson.
Combs has since starred in many movies in the horror and science fiction genres, specifically those based on the works of writer . His most well-known Lovecraftian role (and, indeed, his most famous film role in general) is that of Dr. Herbert West in the 1985 classic Re-Animator. He reprised this role in two more films, Bride of Re-Animator in 1990 and Beyond Re-Animator in 2003.
Other Lovecraftian films starring Combs include From Beyond (1986, with Ted Sorel) and Lurking Fear (1994, with Vincent Schiavelli). Combs' association with Lovecraft was such that he actually played the author in the 1993 horror anthology Necronomicon, which featured Dennis Christopher, Gary Graham, Richard Lynch, and David Warner. His more recent Lovecraftian work was the television horror thriller The Dunwich Horror (2009, with Dean Stockwell). Combs voiced King Abdul in the animated feature Howard Lovecraft & the Undersea Kingdom (2017) and H.P. Lovecraft himself in the video sequel Howard Lovecraft and the Kingdom of Madness (2018).
Outside of the Lovecraftian universe, Combs portrayed a Catholic Cleric in the 1991 film The Pit and the Pendulum, also starring Stephen Lee. Combs was further notable for playing the title role of Doctor Mordrid in 1992, on which he co-starred with Brian Thompson. Another notable role is that of crazed FBI agent Milton Dammers in the 1996 horror film, The Frighteners, which co-starred Julianna McCarthy.
Combs' other non-Lovecraftian sci-fi and horror films include Robot Jox (1989, starring Gary Graham), Guyver (1991, with Michael Berryman, Dennis Madalone, Brian Simpson, and Spice Williams), Trancers II (1991, with Richard Lynch), Fortress (1992, co-starring Kurtwood Smith and Tom Towles), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998, along with Bill Cobbs), the remake of House on Haunted Hill (1999, starring Famke Janssen), and Contagion (2002, with Megan Gallagher). More recent horror movie credits include Abominable (2006, in which he co-starred with Matt McCoy and Phil Morris), the remake of The Wizard of Gore (2007, with Brad Dourif), and Dark House (2009, with Diane Salinger and Don Stark).
Combs has of course ventured in other genres besides horror or sci-fi. He played "Dinosaur Bob" in the 1994 thriller Love and a .45 and appeared as Gilroy in the 1995 gangster picture Dillinger and Capone. This latter film co-starred F. Murray Abraham, Stephen Davies, Catherine Hicks, Clint Howard, Bert Remsen, and Time Winters. Combs was also seen in the thriller Felony (1996, co-starring Charles Napier and David Warner), the crime drama Caught Up (1998, with Tony Todd), and the thriller Edmond (2005). Additionally, in 1997, Combs and his DS9 co-stars Rene Auberjonois and Armin Shimerman appeared together in the drama Snide and Prejudice (along with Mick Fleetwood).
Further film work includes the action film Urgency (2010), the fantasy film Dorothy and the Witches of Oz (2012, with Christopher Lloyd), the horror film Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation (2012, with Rhonda Aldrich), the horror film Would You Rather (2012, with Larry Cedar and Bobby C. King), the family comedy Elf-Man (2012), the thriller Favor (2013), the horror film The Penny Dreadful Picture Show (2013, with Sid Haig and Brandon Stacy), the horror comedy Suburban Gothic (2014, with Ray Wise), the family movie Beethoven's Treasure (2014, with Brian George and Patrick Kwok-Choon), the horror comedy Art School of Horrors (2015), the fantasy film Age of Stone and Sky: The Sorcerer Beast (2018), and the horror film Holiday Hell (2018).
He also appeared in the science fiction comedy Unbelievable!!!!! in 2018, which features an almost whole Star Trek cast including Chase Masterson, Garrett Wang, Tim Russ, Nichelle Nichols, Robert Picardo, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Nana Visitor, Walter Koenig, Linda Park, Connor Trinneer, Manu Intiraymi, Dina Meyer, Olivia d'Abo, Julie Warner, Armin Shimerman, John Billingsley, Dominic Keating, Max Grodénchik, Casey Biggs, Brenda Bakke, Patti Yasutake, McKenzie Westmore, Anthony Montgomery, Vaughn Armstrong, Gary Graham, Steve Rankin, Michael Dante, Jack Donner, Michael Forest, Sean Kenney, Gary Lockwood, Barbara Luna, Beverly Washburn, Celeste Yarnall, Bobby Clark, Jasmine Jessica Anthony, Crystal Allen, Menina Fortunato, and Christopher Doohan.
Television
Outside of Star Trek, Combs has made guest appearances on several other television series. In 1987, he appeared on an episode of Beauty and the Beast, starring Ron Perlman. Also in 1987, he was seen on Houston Knights, working with Madlyn Rhue.
Further expanding his science fiction credits, Combs has worked on The Flash (1991, with Dick Miller), Babylon 5 (1994, with Andreas Katsulas, Bill Mumy and David L. Crowley), Perversions of Science (1997, with Jeff Corey, Ron Perlman, and David Warner), and the remake of The Twilight Zone (2003). He also played the recurring role of Kevin Burkhoff on the science fiction series The 4400 (2005-2007).
Other series on which he has appeared include Freddy's Nightmares (1989), Hunter (1991, in an episode with Kenneth Marshall), Life Goes On (1991, with David Graf and Bill Smitrovich), The Single Guy (1996, starring Olivia d'Abo and Mark Moses), Martial Law (2000, with Neal McDonough and T.J. Storm), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2003), and Cold Case (2008).
In 1996, Combs had a role in the television movie Norma Jean & Marilyn. Also starring in this movie were Ashley Judd, Steven Culp, David Drew Gallagher, Alex Henteloff, and John Rubinstein. In 2005, Combs appeared in two made-for-TV horror movies: Voodoo Moon and Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy.
Combs is also a sought-after voice actor, appearing in numerous animated television shows. He has most prominently worked as a voice actor for animation set in the DC Animated Universe, specifically as The Scarecrow in The New Batman Adventures (1997, working on the same episode as Charles Rocket) and The Question in several episodes of Justice League (2004-2006, alongside Clancy Brown, Robert Foxworth, Virginia Madsen, and Charles Napier). He also voiced the Scarecrow for the video game Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (2003), which also featured Cary-Hiroyuki, Loren Lester, and Ron Perlman. Combs voiced the Autobot Ratchet in Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman's Transformers: Prime (2010-2013), Viceroy in Chadam (2010), The Leader in Avengers: World's Mightiest Heroes (2010-2012), Rat King in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012-2016), and Ratchet in Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2016-2017).
Further television guest work includes episodes of Thundercats (2012, with Kevin Michael Richardson and Corey Burton), Femme Fatales (2012), Criminal Minds (2014), Ben 10: Omniverse (2014, with Bumper Robinson, Dee Bradley Baker, and Michael Dorn), Gotham (2015, with Becky Ann Baker), Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. (2015, with Fred Tatasciore and Clancy Brown), Stan Against Evil (2017), and Togtone (2018).
Star Trek
Combs auditioned for the role of William T. Riker on , but lost the part to Jonathan Frakes. Frakes remembered Combs and cast him as Tiron while directing the third season episode . ("Hidden File 10", DS9 Season 5 DVD special feature)
Combs has since earned himself quite a number of appearances on Star Trek, guest starring in thirty-one episodes of Deep Space Nine, one episode of , and eleven episodes of . In , Combs played both Weyoun and Brunt, becoming one of only three Star Trek actors ever to play two unrelated characters in the same episode (the others being Patrick Stewart in , in which he played both Jean-Luc Picard and Michael Williams, and Brian Markinson in , in which he played both Pete Durst and Sulan), and the only one credited for playing both characters in that episode. He did it a second time while playing Weyoun and an unnamed holosuite guest in , the final episode of Deep Space Nine. He has also appeared in two Star Trek series finales: and .
He is one of only five actors to play seven or more different characters in the Star Trek franchise, the others being Randy Oglesby, J.G. Hertzler, Vaughn Armstrong, and Thomas Kopache.
The species that he played on Star Trek include three Ferengi, a Vorta, a Norcadian, and an Andorian. He also played an imaginary Human in . The name of Tiron's race was never revealed. Combs has said that out of all the Trek roles he has played, Weyoun is his favorite character.
When interviewed in in about his two recurring roles on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Combs said that he preferred Weyoun chiefly because he had much more "freedom" to define the character with each appearance, whereas playing Brunt (or any Ferengi character) was simply a matter of following Armin Shimerman's example.
Manny Coto has also said, had Star Trek: Enterprise been given a fifth season, the recurring character of Shran may have joined Enterprise as an "auxiliary or an advisor". As of , Combs remarked, he never heard of such a proposal. ("Behind the Masks" panel at Destination Star Trek Birmingham, 21 October 2018)
Star Trek appearances
Appearances as Brunt
Appearances as Weyoun 5
Appearances as Weyoun 7
Appearances as Weyoun 8
Appearances as Thy'lek Shran
Video game voice acting credits
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Dominion Wars as Weyoun
Star Trek: Elite Force II as Commander Suldok
Star Trek Online as Weyoun and Brunt (also Thykir Shran, a relative of Thylek Shran)
Further reading
"Jeffrey Combs", , September 2000
at StarTrek.com
External links
JeffreyCombs.com – official site
de:Jeffrey Combs
es:Jeffrey Combs
fr:Jeffrey Combs
it:Jeffrey Combs
nl:Jeffrey Combs
Performers
DS9 performers
VOY performers
ENT performers
Video game performers
LD performers |
717 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Morgan Bateson | Morgan Bateson was a Starfleet officer, and captain of the in 2278.
History
In that year, the Bozeman encountered a temporal distortion and was transported forward in time to the year 2368. There, in an area of space known as the Typhon Expanse, it encountered the , with which it collided, causing the Enterprise to explode. The explosion, being in such close proximity to the temporal distortion, ruptured the spacetime continuum, trapping both vessels in a temporal causality loop, wherein the Bozeman continually encountered the Enterprise, and the latter ship was destroyed. Eventually, the crew of the Enterprise was able to realize what was happening and avoid the collision, freeing both vessels from the loop. Bateson subsequently contacted the Enterprise, whereupon he was informed by that ship's captain, Jean-Luc Picard, that Bateson and his crew were stranded in the 24th century. ()
In 2371, the Bozeman was still under the command of Captain Bateson. ()
In 2382, Captain Bateson was instrumental in leading the team that exonerated Captain Carol Freeman from false charges that she was responsible for the destruction of the Pakled homeworld, Pakled Planet. In reality, the Pakleds had framed Captain Freeman, which Bateson helped prove by capturing the data fabricator who had manufactured the evidence against Freeman. ()
Appendices
Appearances
Background information
Bateson was played by actor Kelsey Grammer.
Apocrypha
Bateson was the lead character of the Star Trek novel Ship of the Line, the story of which tells of the incident that trapped the Bozeman in the temporal causality loop and the problems of Bateson and the Bozeman crew trying to adjust to life in the 24th century. The novel establishes that the Bozeman was retired and made into a museum ship at Starbase 12 in 2371, and that Bateson and his crew were briefly assigned to the new for her shakedown cruise the following year. Following the shakedown, Bateson and his crew were reassigned to a new USS Bozeman (NCC-1941-A), which is the ship that participates in the Battle of Sector 001 in .
In addition to this appearance, Bateson also appeared in short stories in both Strange New Worlds VI and Strange New Worlds VII, the novel Spectre, and an appearance with Montgomery Scott in "Out of Time" in the DC Comics TNG Special 2.
He is the captain of the USS Atlas in the Star Trek: Destiny trilogy by David Mack.
He briefly appears in The Captain's Daughter by Peter David, when Hikaru Sulu has to turn down an appointment as the Bozemans first officer after discovering the existence of his daughter, Demora. This saves Sulu from being trapped with the rest of the Bozemans crew.
Bateson was incorrectly referred to as Morgan Bateman in the sourcebook.
External link
de:Morgan Bateson
fr:Morgan Bateson
ja:モーガン・ベイトソン
nl:Morgan Bateson
Humans
Starfleet personnel (23rd century)
Starfleet personnel (24th century)
Starfleet command personnel
Starfleet captains |
719 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Sector 001 | Sector 001, also known as the Sol Sector or the Terran sector, was a region of space in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. This was the central sector of the United Federation of Planets in which the Sol system was located. It bordered the Omicron, Yadalla, Antares, Vulcan, and Muratas sectors. (; ; ; ; )
History
From 2161 to the 31st century, Federation Headquarters and Starfleet Headquarters were located in this sector. After the 31st century, when Earth declared its independence from the Federation, the two headquarters were relocated to another sector where they jointly shared a space station. (; ; )
Data examined the starbase ops status of the Sol Sector in late 2364, finding proof for a conspiracy among the highest ranks of Starfleet Command. ( okudagram)
In 2368, in his final year at the Starfleet Medical Academy, Julian Bashir was the captain of the racquetball team. They took the sector championships this year. ()
In 2369, this sector was named on the chart "Sector Ipai Relay Log - Relay Message Flow 1293" in Relay Station 47 Ops. The was in this sector around the same time that the visited Relay Station 47. ( production art)
In 2371, a microscopic singularity passed through Sector 001 and exploded. This created the conditions for an accident that sent Benjamin Sisko, Jadzia Dax, and Julian Bashir back in time to the year 2024. ()
In 2372, Bashir gave Nog a PADD containing the guidebook A Cadet's Guide to Sector 001 Earth for life on Earth as a going-away . ()
The Battle of Sector 001 between the Federation and the Borg occurred in this sector in 2373. ().
In the 2380s, a section of the holographic map of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, displayed to the former prisoners of Tars Lamora aboard the , was labeled as the Terran sector. ()
In an alternate timeline caused by the death of Gabriel Bell in 2024, the did not detect Starfleet activity in this sector in 2371. ()
In the alternate 2259, this sector, located at Level 3-B, was labeled on a map of the Alpha Quadrant. Four trade lines radiated from a white pentagon in this sector. The sector was being scanned for activity. This map was in a collection of graphics and video media that were seen on a powerwall in the offices of Admirals and at Starfleet Headquarters. ()
Points of interest
Sol system
Sol (primary star)
(Sol I)
Venus (Sol II)
Earth (Sol III)
Luna (The Moon; moon)
see objects in Earth orbit for more.
Mars (Sol IV)
Deimos
Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards (orbiting drydocks)
Jupiter (Sol V)
Jupiter Outpost 92
Jupiter Station (space station)
Moons of Jupiter (moons)
Io (moon)
Ganymede (moon)
Saturn (Sol VI)
Mimas (moon)
Rhea (moon)
Titan (moon)
Uranus (Sol VII)
Neptune (Sol VIII)
Triton (moon)
Pluto (Sol IX)
Starbase 1
(comet; crashed into Mars 2155)
Halley's Comet (comet)
1889 V (comet)
1892 III Holmes (comet)
1892 V (comet)
Biela's Komet (comet)
d'Arrest (comet)
De Vico's Komet (comet)
Enke's Komet (comet)
Faye's Komet (comet)
Finley (comet)
Winnecke's Komet (comet)
Uncertain system
Tarsas III
Starbase 74
Starbase 0834
Starbase 4077
Orion Sector Tactical Command
External link
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Locations (alternate reality) |
720 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Sector | In cartography, a sector was an area in physical space.
The surface of planetary bodies were gridded into sectors. (; )
In stellar cartography, a sector, which was referred to as a star sector or space sector, was a gridded region within the Milky Way Galaxy. Sectors were composed of an area and volume encompassing several light years and typically contained several star systems. A group of sectors was called a sector block, which was located in a quadrant. The sector system and their numbering was used by United Earth, Vulcans, and other spacefaring races at least by the 22nd century. In 2369, the extragalactic space was not divided into sectors, and ships that were sent on deep space cartography missions were listed as being in extragalactic space. (; ; )
Size and range
William T. Riker felt that the warp coil was perhaps one of the greatest advances in Humanity since the 22nd century, explaining that "before there was warp drive, Humans were confined to one sector of the galaxy." ()
When the was probed while en route through an unfamiliar sector of space in 2269, the crew was able to determine the source as being from a planet in the Taurean system, a system located twenty light years away, at the extreme edge of their sector. ()
In preparation for Operation Lovely Angel, the scanned all sectors located within three light years of the Oneamisu sector. ()
A ship was capable of scanning a radius of ten light years at a time, which allowed the ship to effectively scan one sector per day. ()
While en route to the planet Barisa Prime in 2371, Captain Benjamin Sisko noted that the closest ship in that sector, the , which was exploring the Helaspont Nebula, was located twenty hours away at maximum warp. ()
The territory occupied by the Swarm species covered "a huge area of space" and included "hundreds of sectors." For the to go around that region, it would have taken over fifteen months at maximum warp. ()
Voyagers use of Tash's catapult "hurtled" the ship across thirty sectors of space in less than an hour, a journey that would have otherwise taken three years to accomplish. ()
Composition
Sector Z-6 encompassed both Federation and Romulan space, and during the 23rd century, included seven Earth Outpost Stations, the Romulan Neutral Zone, and Romulus and Romii. ()
The sector containing the quasar Murasaki 312 contained at least four complete solar systems. ()
The sector containing the planet Iconia contained three systems whose inhabitants had several cultural similarities with the Iconians. ()
The sector in which the Enterprise-D intercepted the class 8 probe occupied by Ambassador K'Ehleyr was said to contain very little, yet included four colonies and nine outposts throughout. A nearby sector that was threatened by the Klingon sleeper ship contained thirteen Federation colonies. ()
When the shuttlecraft achieved warp 10, it collected data describing "literally every cubic centimeter" of the sector they were in – an amount of information exceeding five billion gigaquads. ()
Naming
Most sectors were numbered, and in some cases, named after an important star system in that sector. In Federation nomenclature, the Sol system and Earth were located in Sector 001. () Others were named after a key star system, such as the Mutara sector. () In other cases, they were given a designation consisting of both a name and number, such as Rhomboid Dronegar Sector 006. ()
Subsector
A subsector was a region of space smaller than a sector and located within sectors. Subsectors were also numbered, for example Subsectors 4534-4432 within sector 450/32450 ( display graphic) and subsector ref 321-053 within sector 30-489.
The latter number, such as the 053 in subsector ref 321-053, was the angle at which the subsector was being viewed on screen. ( display graphic)
List of sectors
See List of sectors
Unnamed sectors
Background Information
The defined a sector as, "In interstellar mapping, a volume of space approximately twenty light-years across. A typical sector in Federation space will contain about 6 to 10 star systems, although sectors toward the galactic core will often contain many more. The Milky Way Galaxy is divided into hundreds of thousands of sectors, grouped into four quadrants. Sectors are usually numbered, although in common usage they are often named for a major star or planet located in that sector."
The Star Trek Encyclopedia (3rd ed., p. 434) authors additionally said,"The numbering system for sectors had been inconsistently used (and sometimes interchanged with quadrants) during the show, especially in its early days. We assume that some sectors may retain older designations from previous mapping systems, much as present-day astronomers still use NGC and Messier catalog numbers."
bg:Сектор
de:Sektor
it:Settore
ja:セクター
nl:Sector
ru:Сектор
Cartography |
721 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | 2024 |
Events
The Earth nation of Ireland is unified after over a century of violence. The reunification is considered to be largely the result of the use of terrorism as a political instrument. ()
France sees widespread civil unrest amid student protests. Around this time the Neo-Trotskyists unseat the Gaullists from power. Political upheaval is common throughout Europe, with a member of the United States' elite disdainfully remarking that "Europe is falling apart." ()
Buck Bokai plays his second season of baseball with Seibu. During this year, he is considered the first Solar system-wide batting champion. ()
January
Three serious wildfires burn in Los Angeles County. Later that month, the fire chief of the county has a press conference where he says that the county could be facing the worst fire season in more than a century. ()
Christopher Brynner of Brynner Information Systems worked to prevent the unionization of his company's workers, claiming that conditions in his factories were better than those in unionized workplaces. In a Fountain Valley factory, the workers voted overwhelmingly against unionization. ()
April 12:
Jean-Luc Picard and his crew time travel to Earth to stop an event which creates a branch in the timeline that creates the Confederation of Earth. ()
Elnor dies from a phaser wound inflicted by the Confederation Magistrate. ()
Dr. Teresa Ramirez's clinic is raided by ICE and Cristóbal Rios is arrested as an illegal immigrant. He and several others subsequently escape custody with the help of Seven of Nine and Raffi Musiker. ()
Guinan closes her bar in Los Angeles. ()
The Borg Queen is killed by Agnes Jurati aboard La Sirena outside Château Picard in France. ()
Dr. Adam Soong has his funding and position revoked for engaging in illegal genetic experimentation. ()
A gala is held for Project Europa astronauts in Los Angeles prior to their quarantine period. ()
April 13:
Picard recovers from injuries sustained at the Project Europa gala protecting his ancestor, Renée. He subsequently visits Guinan at her bar to seek an audience with , but they are arrested by the FBI before any Q appear. ()
Seven and Raffi chase after Jurati, fearing she has been fully assimilated by the Borg Queen. They are attacked but not killed by Jurati, implying some aspect of her humanity remains. ()
Kore Soong learns that she was genetically constructed by Dr. Adam Soong and leaves his care with the help of Q. ()
Dr. Jurati, under the influence of the Borg Queen, recruits Dr. Soong to help sabotage the Europa mission. ()
April 14:
Picard and Guinan are interrogated by FBI Agent Martin Wells, who ultimately releases them at the cost of his career. ()
Jurati, under the influence of the Borg Queen, raids Château Picard with her newly assimilated Borg drones and mortally wounds Seven of Nine. ()
Jurati negotiates with the Borg Queen for Seven's life, in exchange for La Sirena. ()
April 15:
Q goes back in time and influences events in Los Angeles, thus creating an alternate timeline in which the Confederation of Earth exists. ()
Tallinn makes herself known to her charge, Renée, before impersonating her and dying of a Neurotoxin administrated by Soong intended for Renée. ()
The Europa Mission is headed by Renée Picard, who later discovers a lifeform which will aid in the restoration of Earth's environment. ()
Q, using the last of his strength, returns Jean-Luc Picard, Seven of Nine, and Raffi to their original timeline. ()
Rios stays behind to start a life with Teresa Ramirez. ()
Wesley Crusher recruits Kore Soong into the Travelers. ()
August (August 30 – September 3) - A transporter accident sends Starfleet officers Benjamin Sisko, Julian Bashir, and Jadzia Dax to the San Francisco of this year. Sisko and Bashir are taken to the city's Sanctuary District A, where Gabriel Bell is accidentally killed because of their presence. Sisko saves history by taking Bell's role in the later-named eponymous Bell Riots, resulting in his photo being implemented as Bell's image in all future Starfleet records. ()
Episodes
External link
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fr:2024
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sv:2024 |
723 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Klingon Defense Force | The Klingon Defense Forces (sometimes referred to as the Imperial Klingon Defense Forces, or the Klingon military) were the military branch of the Klingon Empire.
History
As of 2373, the headquarters of the Klingon Defense Forces were relocated to Ty'Gokor. The majority of Defense Force members were common warriors. In order to become an officer, a candidate was required to pass the entrance exam. The prospective officer then needed to be approved by an oversight council who could reject the application. Officers usually served on the Klingon Empire's ships and warriors were sent into battle, whether on planetary assaults or when boarding other vessels. ()
The system of hierarchy aboard ships within the Defense Forces was highly structured. According to one of their systems, one that operated successfully for centuries, the first officer of any Klingon vessel had the duty to assassinate his captain when and if the captain became weak or unable to perform. It was expected that his honorable retirement should be assisted by his "first". The second officer also shared similar duties with his "first". (; ). Commanding officers, in addition, held vast disciplinary discretion over subordinates, including summary executions for what other races might consider to be trivial infractions, barely worth a second look by other superior officers, such as hitting the wrong section of an enemy vessel with weapons. ()
The Defense Forces were capable of deploying a fleet of ships to devastate the surface of an entire planet. They did so on several occasions, including the successful destruction of the tribble homeworld in the late 23rd century. ()
It was against regulations to have alcohol on the bridge, although this likely referred to any duty station while working one's shift. ()
Agencies
Klingon Oversight Council
Order of the Bat'leth
Order of Kahless
Military conflicts
Battle of Narendra III (2344)
Betreka Nebula Incident
(alternate timeline) (2344-2366)
Khitomer Massacre (2346)
Klingon Civil War (2367-2368)
Battle of Mempa (2368)
Klingon-Cardassian War (2372-2373)
(2372-2373)
First Battle of Deep Space 9 (2372)
Battle of Ajilon Prime (2373)
Dominion War (2373-2375)
Second Battle of Deep Space 9 (2373)
Battle of Torros III (2373)
Operation Return (2374)
First Battle of Chin'toka (2374)
Raid on Trelka V (2375)
Invasion of Septimus III (2375)
Second Battle of Chin'toka (2375)
Attack on Avenal VII (2375)
Battle of Cardassia (2375)
Gallery
See also
Klingon Defense Force personnel
Klingon Imperial Fleet
Klingon starship classes
Klingon starships
Klingon ranks
Klingon Defense Force uniform
External link
de:Klingonische Verteidigungsstreitmacht
es:Fuerzas de Defensa Klingon
ja:クリンゴン防衛軍
nl:Klingon defensiemacht
Qo'noS
Military organizations |
724 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | 2311 |
Events
A conflict between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire, known as the Tomed Incident takes place, the outcome of which leads to the Treaty of Algeron. The treaty redefines the Romulan Neutral Zone, and as well, ends all Federation research into cloaking technology. Afterward, the Romulans go into a period of complete isolation. (; )
The planet Meridian appears in the primary universe. It does not appear again until 2371. ()
Jillur Gueta is born on Bajor. ()
Appendices
Background information
According to the for , Ki Mendrossen is fifty-five years old in 2366, placing his birth in or around this year.
External link
de:2311
fr:2311
nl:2311
sv:2311 |
726 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Uninhabited planets | This is a list of uninhabited planets. Please add other planets to the list of inhabited planets.
Alpha and Beta Quadrant
United Federation of Planets
Alondra
Bersallis III
Bezride
Browder IV
Delta Vega
Doraf I
Dytallix B
Galorndon Core
Gamma II
Gamma Hydra IV, the home of a research station that was abandoned in 2267
Gamma Tauri IV
Gemulon V
Ivor Prime, the home of a colony that was destroyed by the Borg in 2373
Kabrel I
Kabrel II
Melona IV, the planned home of a colony that was destroyed by the Crystalline Entity in 2368
Nervala IV, the home of a research station that was abandoned in 2361
Omicron Theta, the home of a colony that was destroyed by the Crystalline Entity in 2338
Regula
Cardassian Union
Celtris III
Goralis III
Orias III (according to the Cardassian Central Command)
Ferengi Alliance
Klingon Empire
Iota Geminorum IV
Romulan Star Empire
Eden
Non-aligned or Undetemined
Alfa 177
Alpha Onias III
Argus X
Athos IV
Barradas III
Beta XII-A
Ceti Alpha V
Ceti Alpha VI
Delphi Ardu IV
Doraf I
Draygo IV
Draylon II (colonized in 2370 by the Skrreea)
El-Adrel IV
Forlat III
Gamma Hromi II
Gravesworld
Iconia, the homeworld of the extinct Iconians
Indri VIII
Iota Geminorum IV
Kalla III
Kavis Alpha IV, the future home of the Nanite Civilization
Kei (Braslota III)
Koralis III
Kurl, the homeworld of an extinct species
L-374 I
L-374 II
L-374 III
L-374 IV
Levinius V
Loren III
Mad planet
Maxia Zeta III
Maxia Zeta IV
Minara II, destroyed by Minara supernova in 2268
Miridian VI
Mudd
Nelvana I
Nelvana II
Nelvana III
Nelvana IV
Nelvana V
Paraagan II
Pernaia Prime
Pollux V
Psi 2000
Putak VIII
Shore Leave Planet
Surata IV
Theta VIII
Theta Cygni XII
Totoro (Braslota I)
Surata IV
Vagra II
Veridian III
Vilmor II
Yuri (Braslota II)
Gamma Quadrant
The Dominion
Callinon VII
Non-Aligned
Bopak III
Gaia
L-S VI
Delta Quadrant
Borg Collective
Hirogen
Kazon Collective
Vidiian Sodiality
Non-aligned
Planet 1865-Alpha
Cravic homeworld, the homeworld of the extinct Cravic
Ha'Dara
Planet Hell
nl:Onbewoonde planeten
Planet lists
Cartography |
727 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Theta VIII | Theta VIII (or Theta Eight) was the uninhabited eighth planet of the Theta 116 solar system. This world had an orbital period of 832 days, and a rotational period of 15.3 hours. A K-class transjovian planet, the atmosphere of Theta 116 VIII was composed of nitrogen (57%), methane (23%), liquid neon (14%), yurium (2%), keimium compounds (2%), ethane (1%), and tormium (trace). The mean surface temperature was −291 °C, with wind speeds of up to 320 meters per second. Interesting weather phenomena included ammonia tornadoes. Its age was estimated at 7.2 solar years, and during that time it had built up a mass of 4.35.
In the 21st century, the NASA spacecraft Charybdis was brought on orbit by an unknown intelligence which had inadvertently killed all but one of its crew, Colonel Stephen G. Richey. The intelligence attempted to create an environment for him where he could live, in the form of a small pocket of Earth-like atmosphere on the surface. In it was the entryway to a replica of the namesake hotel from the novel Hotel Royale carried by Richey.
Richey lived in room 727 of the hotel until he died in his sleep in 2082. The hotel was located on a plane of frozen methane with the dimensions of 5.02 × 7.9 kilometers, in the middle of a tremendous storm belt, described as like being in the "eye of a hurricane." The Hotel itself had the following dimensions: 127 × 53 × 244 meters.
Remains of the Charybdis were detected by a Klingon cruiser in 2365. They were found to have molecular disintegration similar to those caused by 24th century-level weapon impacts. The investigated the planet and discovered Richey's fate. ()
Appendices
Background information
In the original (un-remastered) episode, the planet model for Theta VIII was first used for Angel I in . It was used again for Minos in and again for Legara IV in .
The physical parameters of Theta VIII as seen on the planetary scan-okudagram included several curiosities:
According to real-world physics, absolute zero is defined as −273 °C, making Theta VII's mean surface temperature of −291 °C impossible. (Note: In the episode's , −291 °Fahrenheit was used, i.e., about −179 °C.)
If we assume "solar years" imply Earth years, the planet's age of 7.2 (72 billion) solar years surpasses the age of the universe by a factor of approximately five. Using Theta VIII's given orbital period of 832 days would even imply the planet to be roughly ten times older than the universe.
If the planet's mass of 4.35 was meant to be in kilograms or s, it would be extremely low and correspond to only a tiny fraction of Earth's mass, or up to twenty times the mass of Halley's Comet.
A scene ultimately removed from the final version of "The Royale" describes Theta VIII further; "Ship's log, stardate 42625.4, First Officer Riker reporting. We have achieved orbit around Theta Eight [...] the planet furthest from its sun in this previously unmapped solar system. It is a world of ruthless realities: particularly harsh, barren, and inhospitable."
Before "The Royale", two other Theta planets have been mentioned in Star Trek. Theta III seen on a star chart and Theta VII, a colony planet, where delivered vaccines after the events in set in 2265.
External links
de:Theta 116 VIII
es:Theta 116 VIII
nl:Theta 116 VIII
Theta 08 |
730 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Dytallix B | Dytallix B, also known as Dytallix B planet or Mira Antlia V, was the uninhabited fifth planet of the Mira Antlia system. The planet was tidally locked, with temperatures reaching 180 °C on the day side, and had no indigenous lifeforms.
Some time before 2364, the planet was actively mined for the by the Dytallix Mining Company. The mines were located in the temperate zones between the day and night hemispheres. The mines had been long abandoned by 2364.
In 2328, Dytallix B was the point of embarkation for three individuals. traveled to Epsilon Wiltz IV on the , traveled to Alpha Majoris I on the , and Craig Galloway traveled to Alpha Majoris I on the . (, Okudagram)
In 2364, the position and orbital path of the planet was depicted on a system map that was displayed on the bridge of the . (, Okudagram) The planet was used as a secret meeting place by Starfleet Captains Walker Keel, , Tryla Scott, and Jean-Luc Picard to discuss the infiltration of Starfleet Command by parasitic beings. ()
See also
Dytallix
External links
de:Dytallix B
es:Dytallix B
fr:Dytallix B
ja:ダイタリックスB
nl:Dytallix B
pl:Dytallix B
Colonies
Planets |
732 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Dytallix Mining Company | The Dytallix Mining Company was a mining company.
During the 24th century, the company mined seven uninhabited planets for the United Federation of Planets. One of these planets was Dytallix B, though by 2364 the planet was long deserted. ()
See also
Dytallix
External link
de:Dytallix Mining Company
nl:Dytallix mijnbouwmaatschappij
pl:Dytallix Mining Company
Establishments
Mining |
734 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Tidal locking | In planetary science, tidal locking was a phenomenon whereby the rotational period of a planetary body about its axis equals its orbital period. This meant that one hemisphere of the planet always faced its parent or primary.
An example of a tidally-locked planet was Dytallix B, in orbit around Mira Antliae. This uninhabited planet was mined by the Dytallix Mining Company. Due to the extreme temperatures on both the day and night sides of the planet, the mines were located in the temperate zone between these hemispheres. ()
Daled IV was described by Data as a planet that "does not rotate." He further explained that "one side has constant night, the other constant daylight." He surmised that it was because of tidal locking that the two hemispheres on the planet developed disparate cultures, which may have been the major cause of the civil war on that planet. ()
The planet Remus was tidally-locked to the Romulan sun. The Remans who inhabited the planet lived on the dark side due to the day side's extreme temperatures, and had an aversion to light as a result. ()
External link
de:Gezeitenkopplung
fr:Rotation synchrone
it:Rotazione sincrona
nl:Getijdenkoppeling
pl:Obrót synchroniczny
Physics
Astronomy |
735 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Iconian |
The Iconians were an ancient and highly advanced civilization that was presumably destroyed some 200,000 years ago by the orbital bombardment of their homeworld, Iconia.
Ancient texts called the Iconians "Demons of Air and Darkness", who were said to have the ability to appear at will on far-flung planets without the use of starships. This was later found to be a reference to the Iconians' gateway technology, whose instant teleportation allowed them to establish outposts at least as far as Vandros IV in the Gamma Quadrant. Until the discovery of Iconia in 2365, the Iconians were still dismissed by many as nothing more than myth.
Historically, the Iconians were generally described as a race of conquerors, though by the late 24th century, some scholars had disputed this claim as a distortion perpetuated by species who feared and demonized their advanced technology, and eventually destroyed them. It was speculated that not all of the Iconians perished in the attacks, but rather used their gateways to escape to other worlds. Indeed, the similarity between the Iconian language and the later languages of Dewan, Dinasian, and Iccobar was cited as evidence of this theory. (; )
In 2256, the Iconians were mentioned by name on a tactical map on the bridge of the . ()
Later that year, the territory of the Iconians in the Beta Quadrant was labeled on the star chart "Alpha/Beta Quadrant Overview" in the ready room aboard the . ()
In 2377, Tom Paris told Harry Kim he received a call from an "Iconian scientist" who said he had a trans-dimensional gateway that could take anywhere in the galaxy. In reality, Paris was just saying this to prove to B'Elanna Torres how gullible Kim was. ()
In 3190, Federation Security identified "surviving members of the Iconian Empire" as one of the civilizations that may have technology advanced enough to create the Dark Matter Anomaly. ()
Appendices
Background information
The Iconian insignia was designed by Denise Okuda. (Star Trek Sticker Book, pg. 21)
According to Terry J. Erdmann's , the writers of the episode "To the Death" mistakenly referred to the Iconians as the Tkon, causing the art department to design and produce sets based on graphics seen in . The error was discovered not long before shooting took place and corrected.
Apocrypha
The Iconians appear as the main antagonists of a major story arc of Star Trek Online. The former Iconian civilization was an advanced but peaceful galactic superpower, expanding through the use of gateway technology and guarded by an engineered "Herald" servitor species. An alliance of lesser powers formed over fear and resentment of Iconian hegemony bombarded Iconia and its colony worlds from orbit, and leaving only a small number of Iconian survivors. The near-genocide, coupled with the loss of a collective archive called the World Heart, traumatized and radicalized the survivors. Converting themselves into energy-based lifeforms and relocating to a Dyson sphere located in the Andromeda Galaxy, the Iconians spent the next 200,000 years planning their return to the Milky Way. They developed their Heralds into a powerful military, and acted through agents to destabilize civilizations in all four galactic quadrants.
Iconian action was directly or indirectly responsible for a number of incidents throughout the 24th and 25th centuries. They worked with the Tal Shiar, whose experiments with Iconian gateway technology led to the supernova that destroyed the Romulan homeworld. The Elachi, a species native to the Mycelial plane, were suborned as a servitor race and used to kidnap and scan Humans. The Solanae constructed the Iconian Dyson sphere habitats, and after moving to subspace, were also used in kidnappings and experimentation. The Iconians attempted to take control of the Federation by controlling key figures through bluegills infestation, and by the same means successfully captured the leadership of the Vaadwaur, rebuilding their military and unleashing them on other Delta Quadrant powers. They manipulated the Undine into attacking the Alpha and Beta Quadrant before appearing directly, commanding their Heralds in a war against forces from all four galactic quadrants. Eventually the Iconians were convinced to stand down and declare an armistice, retreating to their Dyson sphere, which was teleported from Andromeda to encompass the Iconian system.
The game also lists its Borg designation as "Species 29".
External links
de:Iconianer
es:Iconianos
ja:アイコニア
pl:Iconianie
Species |
742 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Past Tense, Part II (episode) | With history itself at stake, Sisko must risk all to see that the Bell Riots reach their inevitable conclusion, even if it means sacrificing his life…
Summary
Teaser
After moving the hostages into the District Processing Center, Biddle Coleridge tells his friends to shoot any hostage that moves. Posing as the late Gabriel Bell, Benjamin Sisko takes control of the volatile hostage situation in the Sanctuary District by convincing Coleridge that they need the hostages alive as a bargaining chip. Suddenly, Vin bursts into the room holding a gun. Coleridge is about to shoot him when Sisko tackles Vin against a wall. In the chaos, a shot is accidentally fired and Bashir calms down a frightened . Then, Coleridge wants an access code to the net and initially tries to get it from Vin. Bernardo Calvera agrees to help to calm Coleridge down, just wanting to get home to his wife and two children.
Sisko says they need to block the windows, so he and Bashir start doing so, using benches. Meanwhile, Bashir expresses his concern about Sisko posing as Gabriel Bell because Bell historically died when guards stormed the building. Sisko says that he is not Bell, but everyone will treat him like so. Bashir reminds him that he and Sisko are the only two who know this, however and Sisko pauses to consider this.
Act One
Michael Webb arrives and Sisko introduces him to Coleridge. Sisko enlists his help to recruit gimmies, people that he trusts to guard the hostages and to watch over the volatile s as well. Meanwhile, Jadzia Dax sees news coverage of the event at Chris Brynner's apartment and realizes that she must get into the District to help save Sisko and Bashir, despite Brynner's insistence that she could be hurt.
On the , Kira Nerys and Miles O'Brien have narrowed the possible time periods to 10 possibilities but due to the limited number of chroniton particles they have a finite number of trips they can take, not enough to cover all of the possible timeframes. Kira feels ridiculous that she has to wear a bandage on her nose to disguise her Bajoran heritage, and O'Brien advises her to say nothing and let him do all the talking. On their first attempt, they materialize in 1930 and can find no evidence of the team's presence. Before they can leave, they run into a couple leaving a party who looks at them and then runs off.
Coleridge is outraged that gimmies are guarding the hostages, but Sisko emphasizes the importance of having people they can trust. Coleridge tells Sisko and Webb that he intends to trade the hostages for freedom – amnesty, credit chips and the ability to go anywhere they want. Coleridge wants to go to Tasmania, the birthplace of Errol Flynn. However, Sisko says that they must think of the other 10,000 people in the sanctuary as well and that they would not make it far before they were caught. Webb supports Sisko and they agree to campaign for the closure of Sanctuary districts, jobs for the residents and the reinstatement of the Federal Employment Act.
Sisko convinces Webb to act as a representative of the District to speak to the outside world, since he sees him as a relatable person that can't be dismissed as easily as he or Coleridge. As they try to get their position across, though, their connection is broken by the police as per department policy in these situations. However, Detective Preston, a police negotiator from the SFPD, contacts them. First, she asks to see the hostages. Coleridge immediately drags Lee to the screen and threatens Preston, revealing the instability of the situation.
Act Two
Preston calmly asks to talk to Webb again, and so he gently pushes Coleridge and Sisko leads him away. She offers to meet in person by the main gate. Sisko accompanies Webb to the meeting and states their demands. Preston agrees to relay them to Governor Robert Chen and also agrees to do her best to supply the residents with breakfast.
Bashir finds out that Lee is hypoglycemic and offers to help her find treatment. Lee realizes that Sisko (posing as Bell) initially gave her a false name and Bashir explains that "Bell" had run into some trouble a while back. Lee reveals that she processed a woman with a warrant on her for abandoning her child because she could not take care of him and left him with a family she worked for. Lee felt sorry for her and did not log her into the system which would have alerted the police, instead letting her disappear into the Sanctuary. Lee's supervisor almost fired her when the incident was revealed. Lee does not know what happened to the woman but she thinks about her all the time. Bashir explains that it's not her fault the way things are. Lee says that everyone says that but nothing ever changes.
Later, while most of the guards are sleeping, Vin gets up and almost gets his hands on a weapon when Coleridge alerts everyone and holds a gun to him. However, Sisko intervenes by pointing his shotgun towards Coleridge and prepares to shoot him, determined not to let the hostages die.
Act Three
Coleridge sees that Sisko is serious and puts his gun down. Sisko takes Vin aside and threatens him not to do anything stupid again, but he is unmoved. Vin asks him to let the hostages go. Sisko impatiently says that Vin and the others who work at the Sanctuary just don't get it – even though they work here and see the injustices suffered by the people every day. It would be a start for Vin and the others just to acknowledge what is going on.
Meanwhile, on another attempt to find Sisko and the others, Kira and O'Brien end up in 1967 surrounded by a flowered Combi van and loud rock music. Two stoned hippies come out of the van and give flowers and a peace sign to a perplexed Kira and O'Brien, who then awkwardly give back the sign. Just then, they are transported away and the male hippie simply says "wow".
True to her promise, Preston has supplied muffins and fruit juice for the residents, and Sisko makes sure Coleridge shares. Danny comes inside to find his father to be with him. Webb agrees he can stay for a while but says that Danny must go when he says so without question. Meanwhile, Bashir has managed to find some glucogen in the clinic and provides treatment for Lee. Bashir also tells Calvera (who is worried about his family) that something good will eventually come from all of this.
A short time later, Preston returns with the Governor's response: he'll reduce the charges against Bell and Webb to incitement to riot if they release the hostages. Sisko and Webb ask whether the Sanctuary will be closed and jobs offered and Preston says the Governor intends to form a committee to look into the matter and that change takes time. They both reject this offer.
Dax manages to find her way into the Sanctuary District through some underground pipes through the sanitation department. Soon, some dims alert her presence to those at the processing center and, in the process, her combadge is stolen by one of them named Grady. Meanwhile, Sisko and Bashir try to get past the lockout to the Net without luck. In the previous past, a way was somehow found to get past this lockout and many people were able to tell their stories to the world. Bell must have found a way, so now they must do the same. Coleridge then brings Dax inside, and she is reunited with Sisko and Bashir.
Act Four
Sisko and Bashir explain that they can not leave because history must be allowed to run its course. He initially orders Bashir and Dax to head to a beam-out location using Dax's combadge, however, Dax says she can get help to circumvent the lockout. Dax successfully recovers her combadge from Grady with Bashir's help and heads back through the sewer.
Dax returns to Chris Brynner for his help. He initially has doubts about helping the residents as he would lose his interface operating license for turning the channel over to criminals. Dax responds that Brynner would be giving the residents a voice, and people have the right to know their situation. When the Government storms in, the Sanctuary residents will die and those deaths should not be for nothing. Brynner agrees to help restore the processing center's computer link because, although he will lose his license, he will get great ratings. Once this is done, the residents are given the chance to tell their stories to millions around the planet through the network.
Unfortunately, despite pleas from Preston, the governor is unmoved by their plight and orders to send in troops at 0500.
Act Five
Kira and O'Brien return to the Defiant from the year 2048. They realize that the team arrived before then as it was drastically different to the 2048 of unaltered time. Using this information, they narrow the possibilities down to 3 dates, but have only enough chroniton particles for one more attempt. O'Brien makes a guess and they materialize at the corner of Polk Street and California Street. They realize they hit the correct time period when O'Brien detects a residual electrostatic charge and Kira contacts Dax on her combadge. They make arrangements to rendezvous and deactivate their combadges so the Defiant will not recover them until the next day.
In the meantime, the hostages are calmer and talking sports when Coleridge reports movement outside. Sisko and Webb try to keep the hostages safe as SWAT teams move in without regard to their lives. Webb sends away Danny and Coleridge gives Danny his hat. Soon, the troops barge in and open fire. Coleridge and Webb are killed along with a number of others while Sisko takes a bullet protecting Vin, who is trying to stop the shooting. The lead SWAT team member calls the area secure. Vin berates them, as they were reckless. The SWAT team give Vin and Calvera weapons while they go to secure other areas. Bashir examines Sisko and, fortunately, he will live. Sisko pulls Vin in and berates him for not staying low, but Vin understands, finally trusting his motives.
Vin and Calvera lead the group outside, and are shocked by the bodies lying on the street outside. As the National Guard takes control of the situation, the grateful Vin allows Sisko and Bashir to escape by switching their ID cards with two of the dead. So it appears, as before, that Gabriel Bell died while trying to save the hostages. As he leaves, Sisko asks Vin to tell everyone the truth about the incident. Vin responds that he had planned to anyway.
Soon Sisko, Dax and Bashir are returned to the 24th century with history now having following its correct course. As Sisko recovers from his gunshot wound in his quarters on the Defiant, Bashir visits and shows him one unexpected consequence of their visit to the past… Federation historical records which now show Sisko's portrait in an entry regarding Gabriel Bell. Julian asks him, from having seen the 21st century, how the people of that time could have let things get so bad. Sisko tells him "That's a good question. I wish I had an answer."
Log entries
First officer's log, Deep Space 9
Memorable quotes
"It's not your fault things are the way they are."
"Everybody tells themselves that. And nothing ever changes."
- Julian Bashir and Lee
"This is great! We're on every channel. I bet they're watching this in China!"
- B.C., on the news coverage of the riots
"I knew this was a waste of time. They don't care. No one cares about us."
"Why should they? You're all a bunch of losers."
"What did you say?'"
"He didn't say anything."
"You heard me. I called you a loser because that's what you are. And this time, you're going to lose big."
- B.C., Vin and Bernardo
"You really going to shoot me, Bell? I don't think so."
"Think again."
"I thought we were on the same side here!"
"We are, but you get on my nerves… and I don't like your hat."
- B.C. and Benjamin Sisko as Gabriel Bell
"You don't know what any of this is about, do you?! You work here, you see these people every day, how they live, and you just don't get it!"
"What do you want me to say? That I feel for them? That they got a bad break? What good would it do?"
"It'd be a start! Now, you get back in that room and you shut up!"
- Benjamin Sisko, as Gabriel Bell, and Vin
"Wow!"
- Hippie guy, after witnessing O'Brien and Kira beam up
"Woosh! I'm invisible."
"If you say so."
"You can see me?"
"Just barely."
- Grady, Jadzia Dax, and Julian Bashir
"Freeze!"
"I'm a hostage, you idiot!"
- SWAT officer and Vin
"You know, Commander, having seen a little of the 21st century, there is one thing I don't understand: how could they have let things get so bad?"
"That's a good question. I wish I had an answer."
- final lines, spoken by Julian Bashir and Benjamin Sisko
Background information
Story and script
According to Ira Steven Behr, the presentation of the character of B.C. in this episode is the key to the overriding theme. Whereas B.C. cold-bloodedly kills Gabriel Bell in , it is never mentioned in this episode that he is a murderer. The reason for this, according to Behr, is that B.C. would never have killed Bell if society hadn't forced him into that position. B.C. was not inherently a killer, and Behr was determined that the episode not become all about Sisko and Bashir trapped with a cold-blooded murderer. In the writing of the episode, Behr wanted to use the character of B.C. to illustrate the notion that "if you treat people like animals, they become animals. If B.C. had not been homeless, what would he have been? We created his backstory, stuff that would never appear on the screen, and decided he probably would have been a garage mechanic or something. Even though he's obviously a threatening, scary character, and he's on-the-edge-crazy all through both shows, we didn't define him as a murderer." ()
Cast and characters
Clint Howard, who plays Grady in this episode, earlier portrayed Balok in the episode . However, the character of Grady was actually written for Iggy Pop, who turned out to be unavailable at the time. ()
Alexander Siddig felt that both and "Past Tense, Part II" were important shows for Bashir. "This show was the end of the old Bashir and the beginning of the new, more responsible Bashir," he remarked. "Bashir had proved to everyone and himself that he can handle very tricky situations with almost no backup and no gizmos, not even the shotgun Sisko had. It became conceivable that Bashir would be your first or second choice on an away team if you were going on a combat mission. I think they were a renaissance pair of shows for Bashir." ()
About a year after having appeared in this episode, Colm Meaney commented, "The two-part episode last year with the homeless I thought was just superb […] To find a show on popular TV where you can do work like that is extraordinary!" ("Mr. Goodwrench", )
Armin Shimerman (Quark) and Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) do not appear in this episode.
Production
The boxing advertisement visible in the 1930 scene with Kira and O'Brien showcases the same boxers as an advertisement that can be seen in The Original Series episode . (The ad from "The City on the Edge of Forever" is for a bout at Madison Square Garden; the ad in this episode is for a bout at Bay Land Garden, and notes that it is "their first rematch since Madison Square Garden," though Alexander Siddig, in Deep Space Nine Chronicles, incorrectly referred to them as the same poster.) The reason this poster was used was to give a subtle hint that O'Brien and Kira were on Earth at exactly the same time as Kirk and Spock. (Deep Space Nine Chronicles) Doug Drexler said that the poster was included because, while he was reading the script, he realized the scene (featuring "time travelers popping into an urban setting") was almost identical to one in "The City on the Edge of Forever". He excitedly relayed this observation to Michael Okuda and they realized a reproduction boxing poster could be inserted into the DS9 scene. "We thought the poster could blend in seamlessly," noted Okuda. (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, paperback ed., p. 193) Because time was always at a premium during preproduction, the easiness with which the poster could be fabricated was yet another reason it was included. Doug Drexler already had the appropriate reference on hand – an image he had discovered in an old magazine – and simply redrew the design on his computer, then had the poster fabricated at Paramount's sign shop. (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, paperback ed., p. 193)
The advertisement that can be seen in the sixties scene advertises a band called "Berman's Rainbow Dreamers" at the Behr Theater. This poster was designed by Jim Martin. ()
Third-time director Jonathan Frakes was given the assignment to direct this episode by random selection, the typical process for directors being assigned to direct episodes of the series. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages p. 90) Unbeknownst to the art department at the time, Frakes went on to film the boxing poster extensively while shooting the relevant scene. (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, paperback ed., p. 193) Doug Drexler reckoned, "I don't think he realized its significance." (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, paperback ed., p. 193)
Music
David Bell composed the music for the episode. Bell commented, "Well, Dennis [McCarthy] had done part one, and in that case I looked at the score he had done and used a similar harmonic vocabulary, the same chords and orchestrations, and that was fun because I've listened to Dennis's scores and tried to emulate them and I've never really done that before, to get a close look at another composer's mind. Dennis has quite a mind, by the way!" (The Music of Star Trek, p. 191)
Reception
Jonathan Frakes commented, "That was an epic, truly an epic. That was the best DS9 episode that I got and that was Ira Behr […] This was great." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages p. 90)
The audience reaction to this episode was, at least in Colm Meaney's opinion, extremely positive. He noted, "The response to that from all the people involved in homeless social action was extraordinary!" ("Mr. Goodwrench", )
However, when the episode aired, it received some criticism for appearing to be too "preachy", "liberal" and "soap box like", something which disappointed Ira Steven Behr, who felt that the show had important things to say and that it treated a serious situation in a realistic manner; "We're not going to solve anything with two hours of TV. The homeless are still there. The problem hasn't gone away. But maybe just one person saw this and started to see the problem in a different way […] I just thought it was important to show the other side." () Behr also commented that (several months after the two-parter aired), "People are still even writing that we only presented 'one side' in 'Past Tense' and that we should have presented 'both sides' and not just the 'liberal' point of view – and I'm still trying to think what that means. In other words, we should have showed the positive aspects of putting the homeless into concentration camps? And I do admit we probably failed in that – we really did not show the many, many wonderful aspects of life without money and living in over-crowded camps." ("The Behr Necessities", ) On the other hand, Behr was especially proud of the B.C. character. ()
Robert Hewitt Wolfe commented: "As a writer, all you can do is be a voice in the wilderness, sometimes. You can yell, ‘Fire!’ but you can’t put it out. It’s disappointing that we’re still grappling with this problem. I certainly would have hoped it would be better by now, and people would be like, ‘Ha! Remember that Deep Space Nine episode that said homelessness would still be a problem in the 2020s? They were so gloomy!’ But one of the themes of the show is that paradise doesn’t come for free. Even if it does get handed to you, you have to continually work to protect it and renew it and advance it.”
The DS9 art department was thrilled to see how extensively this episode, thanks to Jonathan Frakes, shows the reproduction boxing poster. "When we saw the way he'd shot it, we were laughing," recalled Doug Drexler. "It was so great!" (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, paperback ed., p. 193)
Aftermath
Ira Steven Behr eventually got to cast Iggy Pop in the sixth season episode . ()
"Past Tense, Part II" was Jonathan Frakes' final DS9 directing credit. It was his direction of this episode which secured him the job of directing . ()
A script for this episode was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay.
Trivia
The song which is audible when Kira and O'Brien are transported to the 1960s is "Hey Joe", played by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
The events of this episode take place over approximately three days.
This is the second of only four DS9 episodes not to feature any scenes set on Deep Space 9, with the exception of the regular opening credits. The others are , , and .
This was the first Star Trek production since , in 1986, to feature scenes set in the 20th century.
The civilian clothes that Miles O'Brien and Kira Nerys wear during their various travels through time are the same clothes they wore during their mission to Cardassia IV to rescue Li Nalas in .
This episode was the last to air before of on .
This was the last of twelve DS9 episodes, the first being , that premiered without another Star Trek series also on the air. All episodes of DS9 before "The Search, Part I" and after this premiered while another Star Trek series was also running (before "The Search, Part I", The Next Generation; after this episode, Voyager).
Sisko discusses the London Kings and Buck Bokai with Vin, played by Dick Miller. Both the player and the team were first mentioned during Miller's first Star Trek'' appearance, in the episode .
In this episode, aired in , Sisko states that the 2015 London Kings were the greatest team in baseball history. Vin claims it was the 1999 New York Yankees; in reality, the Yankees did indeed win the World Series in , but the Yankees team of the previous year won sixteen more games and has been often called one of the greatest teams ever. The accuracy of the prediction is surprising given that, while the Yankees were clearly a team on the rise in early 1995, there was little to suggest that the team would go on to dominate the latter half of the 1990s the way they did. Incidentally, the real-life winner of the 2015 World Series were the , a team with a similar mascot, logo, and primary color to the fictional London Kings.
After Sisko tackles Vin to the ground, B.C. is impressed and, in reference to baseball, says that he'd hate to be a catcher seeing Sisko barreling towards home plate. At the time this episode aired, plate collisions were still a fairly common occurrence and were among the most violent plays in baseball. In real life, plate blocking rules in baseball were changed for safety reasons in 2014 and home plate collisions are banned in nearly every circumstance.
The official states that the two years to which O'Brien and Kira travel back in time, in the hope of finding the others, are 1930 and 1967.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.6,
As part of the DS9 Season 3 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Jim Metzler as Chris Brynner
Frank Military as "B.C."
Dick Miller as Vin
Deborah Van Valkenburgh as Preston
Al Rodrigo as Bernardo Calvera
Clint Howard as Grady
Richard Lee Jackson as Danny Webb
Tina Lifford as ""
And
Bill Smitrovich as "Webb"
Co-Stars
Mitch David Carter as Swat Leader
Daniel Zacapa as Henry Garcia
Uncredited Co-Stars
Majel Barrett as Narrator
Mark Riccardi as "Ghost"
Unknown performers as
Bell Rioters
Female hippie
Male hippie
Speakeasy couple
SWAT team
Two "Ghosts"
Stunt double
Unknown stunt performer as stunt double for Dick Miller
Stand-ins
Ivor Bartels as stand-in for Siddig El Fadil
John Lendale Bennett as stand-in for Avery Brooks
Steve Giralo as stand-in for Dick Miller
References
20th century; 1987; 1999; 2015; 2022; 2048; alternate timeline; American history; amnesty; anarchist; apple juice; automobile; Bajoran; barricade; baseball; battalion; Bay Land Garden; Bell Riots; Blue Zone; ; ; brewery; California; California Street; catcher; cellular phone; Channel 90; ; ChemTech Industries; China; chocolate; chroniton particles; clinic; combadge; concussion bomb; corner; credit chip; criminal record; ; DefTech 37 mm launcher; detective; dim; distress signal; District Police; District Processing Center; doctor; Earth; e-mail; electrostatic charge (electrostatic variance); Enfield L85A1; false name; Federal Employment Act; fired; ; football; freedom; gesture; ; gimmie; glucagon; governor; guest list; Heckler & Koch MP5; helicopter; (Jimi Hendrix); ; "Hey Joe"; historical database; home plate; Honorable; hypoglycemia; identification card; incitement to riot; interface; interface operating license; interface terminal; jazz; jeans; London Kings; Luna; M35 series 2.5 ton cargo truck; Marina; Marina family; National Guard; net; New York Yankees; News 90; orange juice; Packard Custom Eight Roadster; penthouse; ; plant manager; police department; Polk Street; poster; quadcycle; ration card; Red Zone; Remington Model 870; riot; rookie; San Francisco; Sanctuary District; Sanctuary District A; sandwich; sanitation department; SFPD; Second Street; sewer; shirt; shotgun; silk; Singapore; slang; sniper; soccer; Sol; speakeasy; Starfleet Command; SWAT; Sweet Georgia Brown; tackle; take-out; Tasmania; temporal displacement; tennis; time travel; Trill; truck; United States of America; van; Volkswagen Type 2; V sign; wanted woman; wanted woman's child;
Other references
Boxing poster: ; Bay Land Garden; ; ; ; Madison Square Garden; ; ; ; ; ; South Lombard Street;
Music poster: Behr Theater; Berman's Rainbow Dreamers
External links
de:Gefangen in der Vergangenheit, Teil II
es:Past Tense, Part II
fr:Past Tense, Part II (épisode)
nl:Past Tense, Deel II
DS9 episodes |
743 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Gamma Tauri IV | Gamma Tauri IV was the uninhabited fourth planet in the Gamma Tauri system of the Alpha Quadrant. Located in the Alpha Quadrant, this system was near the Federation-Cardassian border. (; , okudagram).
Prior to 2364, the Federation established an unmanned monitor outpost on this planet. In 2364, the images of a Ferengi warship were captured on the outpost's automatic scanners as a T-9 energy converter was heisted by crew members of the starship. Alerted by the theft, the starship was tasked with pursuing the warship by Starfleet. During negotiations with the Ferengi, DaiMon Tarr of the Ferengi claimed this system was in Ferengi territory, a claim dismissed by Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise-D. Later, with the persuasion of the Portal, the Ferengi returned the converter to the Federation. ()
In 2374, the location of Gamma Tauri IV was labeled on a tactical map of the plan for the First Battle of Chin'toka. (, okudagram)
External link
de:Gamma Tauri IV
es:Gamma Tauri IV
fr:Gamma Tauri IV
nl:Gamma Tauri IV
pl:Gamma Tauri IV
Gamma Tauri 04 |
745 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Outpost 63 | Outpost 63 was an outpost of the extinct Tkon Empire located on the planet Delphi Ardu IV. The post was maintained by Portal 63. ()
fr:Avant-poste 63
nl:Buitenpost 63
Outposts |
746 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Delphi Ardu system | The Delphi Ardu system was an uninhabited planetary system with eleven planets. Outpost 63, a remote base of the extinct Tkon Empire, was located on Delphi Ardu IV. The Federation had by the mid-24th century charted this system with long-range probes.
In 2364, entered the system in pursuit of a warship which was alleged to have participated in the theft of a T-9 energy converter on Gamma Tauri IV. ()
de:Delphi-Ardu-System
es:Delphi Ardu
fr:Système de Delphi Ardu
nl:Delphi Ardu systeem
pl:Delphi Ardu
Star systems |
752 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Wolf 359 | Wolf 359 was the primary of the Wolf system. This system, located approximately eight light years from Sol, was in the Alpha Quadrant.
Location
In 2259, the location of this star was labeled on a stellar cartography chart that was seen on the 's ready room viewscreen. This star's symbol had a blue color, indicating that it was affiliated with the . ()
In 2364, the location of Wolf 359 was named in a star chart of a stellar neighborhood with Sol at the center. This chart was stored in the library computer. Later that year, the chart was scanned by Outpost 63. (, production art)
In 2371, the location of Wolf 359 was named in the star chart Data and Picard were studying in stellar cartography on the . (, okudagram)
In 2399, the location of Wolf 359 was labeled in a a Federation star chart that was in Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancys office at Starfleet Headquarters. This system was in or near to Federation space, ()
In 2401, the location of Wolf 359 was labeled on a star chart that was seen on the 's bridge viewscreen. The chart was used to show the location of the combined Starfleet-Borg armada and where it needed to go to face a galactic-level threat. ()
In 3190, the location of Wolf 359 was labeled on a star chart used by Commander Paul Stamets for tracking the movement of the Dark Matter Anomaly through the galaxy. ()
Battle of Wolf 359
Main article: Battle of Wolf 359
The Wolf system was the site of the first large-scale engagement between Starfleet and the Borg. In early 2367, a fleet of at least forty ships, under the command of Admiral J.P. Hanson, moved to intercept a Borg cube, en route to Earth, at Wolf 359. The Federation fleet made their stand there and engaged the cube represented by Locutus in the Battle of Wolf 359. () Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the had been assimilated by the Borg, and as Locutus, unwillingly provided them with a decisive advantage through his knowledge of Starfleet technology and tactics. This led to the Federation fleet, tasked with preventing the advance of the Borg to Earth, being quickly overwhelmed and utterly destroyed. Thirty-nine Federation starships were massacred, resulting in approximately eleven thousand deaths or assimilations. (, , )
The Enterprise-D arrived late to the battlefield only to find the wreckage and debris of the starships destroyed by the Borg. Among the ships lost at Wolf 359 were the , command of which had been offered to Commander William T. Riker prior to the battle. () Also lost was the , on which then Lt. Commander Benjamin Sisko was serving. Sisko lost his wife Jennifer in the destruction of the Saratoga, and for a long time, Sisko blamed and disliked Picard for his role in her death. ()
Appendices
Background information
The location of Wolf 359 was depicted in the chart naming stars within twenty light years of Sol. The chart was drawn by Rick Sternbach for the Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology in the late 1970s. Found on page 77, this chart showed Earth commercial and exploration routes after the use of warp drive began.
According to the , this star was "located 7.8 light years away in the constellation " and was "the fourth-closest star to Earth."
According to StarTrek.com, Wolf 359 was 7.6 light years (2.35 parsecs) from Sol.
According to Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 62) and Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ("Federation Historical Highlights, 2161-2385"), Wolf 359 was a M-class star.
In 2019, two candidate exoplanets were detected in orbit around Wolf 359.
Apocrypha
David Gerrolds The Galactic Whirlpool mentioned Wolf 359 as the next most likely destination undergone by a colony of Humans who left Earth decades before the 22nd century.
Comics of the DC TNG volume 2 series mention Wolf 359 was maintained as a wreckyard of the doomed ships, as depicted in the stories "The Worst of Both Worlds, Part I!" and again in "And Death Shall Have No Dominion". Star Trek Online also depicted such a memorial.
External links
de:Wolf 359
es:Wolf 359
ja:ウォルフ359星系
nl:Wolf 359
Stars |
756 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Class M | In the Federation standard system of planetary classification, a class M or Minshara class planet, moon, or planetoid was considered to be suitable for humanoid life. By the mid-24th century, thousands of class M planets had been charted by the Federation. These worlds were the first choice for colonization. Since the early 22nd century, Humanity (and later, the Federation) has been terraforming lifeless worlds such as Mars into class M worlds. Environmental conditions on Federation starships mimicked the class M environment. (; ; )
History
During the mid-22nd century, Vulcan science used the term Minshara-class for such planets. Vulcans were not able to confirm if a planet was Minshara-class through orbital scans, instead sending down probes to collect the necessary . () In 2151, Starfleet officers were not familiar with the term and chose to adopt it. However, by 2154, Starfleet had adopted the term class M. A century later, that term was in general use in Starfleet, even though the term "Earth-type" was also occasionally used.
By the 23rd century, it was theorized that there was a mathematical probability of three million Earth-type planets in the Milky Way Galaxy alone. ()
A planet could fall within the range of the M-class classification. This range was from 1 to 4. The Koinonian homeworld was an example of an M-class type 4 planet. ()
The term was sometimes used to characterize an atmosphere rather than a planet. The standard environment aboard Federation starships was class M. ()
Qualities
Size: Class M worlds were typically terrestrial planets or moons, although planetoids and even large asteroids could qualify if they were massive enough to retain an atmosphere. () The gravity on these worlds was generally Earth normal, but could be slightly less or slightly more. (; )
Orbit: Class M worlds were rare in binary star systems. () These planets were typically located in the habitable zones of their systems (), though terrestrial rogue planets could quantify as class M when sufficient from their interiors was vented outward by geological activities. () At least one class M planet, Finibus III, orbited a black hole rather than a conventional star. ()
Atmosphere: The atmosphere contained large percentages of nitrogen and oxygen, and smaller percentages of trace elements. Most planets had nucleogenic particles in the atmosphere; those without were incapable of producing rain. The atmosphere on these worlds was approximately Earth normal. (; ; ) Temperatures might potentially be hot, but there was an upper limit. ()
Surface: The surface of these planets was usually abundant in water. Minshara-class planets were sometimes described as appearing blue and green from space, indicating water and plant life respectively, although this was not a universal quality. ()
Interior: Beneath the surface, there were additional sources of water. These worlds were geologically active and rich in minerals. () The planetary core of these planets was nickel-iron. (; ) Some of them had a bemonite mantle. ()
Life: These worlds had ecosystems and contained amino acids and protein readings. High percentages of both indicated healthy plant life. Many of these worlds supported carbon-based plant and animal life; any non-carbon-based would have to be non-indigenous. A smaller number of these worlds had proto-humanoid, humanoid, and Proto-Vulcan humanoid lifeforms. (; ; )
Other: Class M worlds emitted electromagnetic radiation. ()
List of class M worlds
Named
Unnamed
Appendices
Background information
The term "class M" was first used in to describe the planet Talos IV. The variant "M class" was also often used. The term has become Star Trek shorthand for Earth-like, and due to obvious production practicalities, this environment is the "default" for planetary surface scenes. It should be noted, however, that not all "Earth-like" planets are necessarily class M: class L worlds such as Kelis' homeworld () and even the occasional class D (such as the one seen in ) can support life as well.
The Vulcan term "Minshara-class" (first used in ) was used in Enterprise to denote planets that in other series would have been called class M by the writers, the implied consequence being that the two terms meant the same, and possibly even that M stood for Minshara. This assumption is supported by the reference book Star Trek: Star Charts. From an in-universe standpoint, the term M-class was first seen chronologically in a text within the Handbook of Exobiology in , the same episode that introduced Minshara-class. However, this mention was barely legible on-screen and may have been included by an art department not yet aware of the intention to use "Minshara class". The first spoken use of the word was in , in which Archer used it to describe Archer IV, a planet implied (but not explicitly confirmed) to be Minshara class in . The term continued to be used several more times in the final season, while "Minshara-class" made no more appearances. The last use of "Minshara class" was in season three's , where it was still used in 2156 in an alternate timeline. The term also appeared on Enterprises computer displays, indicating that Starfleet adapted it eventually. According to the novella The Tears of Eridanus, Minshara is one of many names for the planet Vulcan.
In , Spock called planet Arret class M despite the atmosphere having been ripped away, suggesting that the class M designation goes beyond being able to support life. Alternately, he could have been saying that the planet, prior to losing its atmosphere, would have been categorized as class M.
Ceti Alpha V was described as "barely Minshara class" in , but also as no more inhospitable and savage than the site of Australia's Botany Bay colony before colonization in , suggesting that even on a class M planet like Earth, there might be locations that stretch the definition. Alternatively, the planet might have become more hospitable in the century between the two episodes.
According to Star Trek: Star Charts, class M planets have ages that range from 3 billion to 10 billion years and a diameter between 10,000 and 15,000 kilometers. They are located within the ecosphere of a star system.
List of Planets and Moons
Class M planets from the and StarTrek.com.
Apocrypha
The Strangers from the Sky indicates that the term "class M" was used by Humans prior to First Contact with Vulcans, or indeed before Humanity reached any extra-solar planets.
See also
Earth normal
External link
bg:Клас M
cs:Třída M
de:Klasse M
es:Clase M
fr:Planète de classe M
it:Classe M
ja:Mクラス
nl:Klasse M
sv:M-klassplanet
M
Celestial objects
Lists |
759 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Neptune class | The Neptune class starship was a class of United Earth survey ships that were in service with Starfleet around 2141.
Neptune class ships were limited in speed to warp factor 2. This class of ships utilized the same model of captain's chair that would be initially used on , a newer and more advanced design of starships. ()
de:Neptune-Klasse
ja:ネプチューン級
zh-cn:海王星级
Earth starship classes |
764 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Subspace | Subspace, occasionally spelled sub-space, is an integral part of the universe, distinct from yet coexistent with normal space and its respective space-time continuum.
Subspace has an infinite number of domains. Geordi La Forge compared it with "... a huge honeycomb with an infinite number of cells." () One of these domains could also be called a subspace spectrum. In 2367, the picked up frequencies across the entire electromagnetic and lower subspace spectrum. ()
Subspace and normal space sometimes connected together in the form of space anomalies or subspace anomalies like
Astral eddy (),
Subspace compression anomaly (),
Subspace rift (),
Subspace rupture (),
Subspace sinkhole (),
Subspace tear () or
The Void ()
However, in some regions an interfold layer forms between the two realms. ()
Tetryon particles are a form of subatomic particle which can only exist naturally in subspace. If they are released into normal space, they exhibit erratic properties. This can only occur when the fabric of subspace comes into contact with normal space in some manner.
Subspace was the medium by which faster-than-light transit was possible. Warp travel utilized subspace to create a warp bubble for ships to safely traverse. Without subspace, warp travel would become impossible. ()
Some species, such as the solanogen-based lifeforms, were indigenous to subspace. ()
Subspace physics
Omega Directive
Omega molecule
Subspace bandwidth
Subspace bubble
Subspace emissions
Subspace energy
Subspace filament
Subspace flow field
Subspace force field
Subspace fracture
Subspace harmonic
Subspace interference
Subspace inversion
Subspace layer
Subspace morphology
Subspace oscillation
Subspace radiation
Subspace reading
Subspace residue
Subspace signature
Subspace stress
Subspace surge
Tetryons
Subspace anomalies
Subspace technology
Faster-than-light technology
Subspace communication
Propulsion
Subspace fields
Subspace sensors
Subspace weapons
Subspace transportation
External link
sv:Underrymden
de:Subraum
fr:Subespace
it:Subspazio
ja:亜空間
nl:Subruimte
pl:Podprzestrzeń |
765 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Religion | Religion, or faith, was an abstract set of ideas, values, or experiences developed from cultural interaction. It usually revolves around the idea of the supernatural, sacred, divine, or the highest truth. Religion encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience. It is often codified in prayer, ritual, and religious law.
Comparative religion was a subject taught in the Federation in the early 23rd century. ()
The primary faiths of Earth were considered to include Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, and Wicca. During Doctor Phlox's stay on Earth, he made a point of studying a number of Earth religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. (; )
In 2151, Andorian Commander Thy'lek Shran asked Keval if he lost faith in their mission when Shran ordered a search the same rooms of the Vulcan monastery at P'Jem again and again. ()
By the late 24th century, Human views on religion were mixed with Picard fearing that Human interference had "set back" a pre-industrial race to an age of religious belief. () From the other viewpoint, Kasidy Yates mentioned that her mother would want her daughter to be married by a minister. ()
In 2370, Alixus wondered if new truths could be found in man's ancient religions. ()
In 2372, Kira Nerys attributed Miles O'Brien and Jadzia Dax's ability to converse at ease with Benjamin Sisko to the fact that unlike in hers, he was not a significant figure in either of their religions. ()
Upon hearing Odo lament the lack of a shared faith between himself and Kira in 2375, Julian Bashir reminded him that there were other faiths. ()
As of 2376, the presence of in orbit above Kelemane's planet had inspired several aspects of their culture, including religion. ()
While trying to discourage the belief that the crew of were spirit folk, Michael Sullivan cautioned that "superstition is the religion of fools." ()
Theologies and deities
Bajoran
Bajoran religion
Bajoran prophecy
Pah-wraiths
Cult of the Pah-wraiths
Kosst Amojan
Prophets
Celestial Temple
D'Arsay
Ihat
Korgano
Masaka
Delphic Expanse
Guardians, Makers
Dominion
Founders
Ferengi
Divine Treasury
Blessed Exchequer
Celestial Auctioneers
Registrar
Vault of Eternal Destitution
Human
See: Human religion
Buddhism
Christianity
Greek mythology
Hinduism
Islam
Judaism
Shinto
Wicca
Klingon
Gre'thor
Barge of the Dead
Cavern of Despair
Fek'lhr
Kos'Karii
Kahless the Unforgettable
The Story of the Promise
Klingon mythology
Sto-vo-kor
River of Blood
Mintakan
Ocampa
Comra
Takarian
Holy Pilgrim
Holy Sages
"The Song of the Sages"
Ventaxian
Ardra
Contract of Ardra
Voth
Voth Doctrine
Vulcan
Vulcan mythology
Religious sites
Bajoran
Bajoran temple
B'hala
Calash Monastery
Dakeen Monastery
Kiessa Monastery
Monastery of the Kai
Iponu, Temple of
Dokkaran
Temple of Kural-Hanesh
Human
Garden of Eden
Saint Peter's Square
Klingon
Boreth Monastery
Caves of No'Mat
Kriosian
Temple of Akadar
Vulcan
Temple of Amonak
P'Jem
Mount Seleya
Temple of T'Panit
Takarian
Takarian temple
See also
Armageddon
Blasphemy
Dogma
Philosophy
External links
de:Religion
fr:Religion
nl:Religie en godsdienst
Mythology |
766 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Foods and beverages | The following is a list of foods and beverages organized by species and cultures.
According to Doctor Phlox, many species feed on underground fauna and flora such as tubers, fungi, and insects. ()
See also: Unnamed food and beverages
Acamarian
Brandy
Parthas
Parthas a la Yuta
Altairian
Brandy
Grand Premier
Sandwich
Water
Andorian
Ale
Cabbage soup
Fast food
Redbat
Tuber root
Antarean
Brandy
Bajoran
Alvas
Deka tea
Foraiga
Groatcake
Hasperat
Hasperat souffle
Jumja stick
Jumja tea
Kava
Kava juice
Katterpod
Klavaatu
Larish pie
Makapa bread
Mapa bread
Moba fruit
Palukoo
Ramufta
Ratamba stew
Shrimp
Springwine
Synthale or Bajoran ale
Voodai
Tuwaly pie
Veklava
Banean
Marob root tea
Rolk
Stew
Betazoid
Jestral tea
Oskoid
Uttaberry
Uttaberry crepe
Bolian
Soufflé
Tomato soup
Tonic water
Cardassian
Ale
Fish juice
Kanar
Regova egg
Red leaf tea
Rokassa juice
Rulot seed
Sem'hal stew
Sunrise
Taspar egg
Tojal
Yamok sauce
Zabu stew
Drayan
Cherel sauce
Takka berry
Enaran
Algae puffs
Tarin juice
Ferengi
Black hole
Crab
Eelwasser
Flaked blood flea
Jellied gree-worm
Lokar bean
Millipede juice
Puree of beetle
Slug
Slug-o-Cola
Slug liver
Slug steak
Snail juice
Snail steak
Stardrifter
Starduster
Synthehol
Tube grub
Human
Klingon
Ktarian
Beer
Chocolate puff
Egg
Merlot
Pudding
Risian
Bean
Mai-tai
Wine
Romulan
Ale
Jumbo mollusk
Kali-fal
Osol twist
Viinerine
Talaxian (and other concoctions made by Neelix)
Alcohol
Talaxian champagne
Herbs and spices
Amber spice
Bantan
Nimian sea salt
Prishic
Spith basil
Breakfast dishes
Egg
Jibalian omelette
Talaxian omelette
Coffee
Even better than coffee substitute
Firenut
Landras blend
Paris Delight
Dessert
Jiballian fudge cake
Sweet leola root tart
Juice
Traggle nectar
Other
Ailis paté
Chadre'kab (Talaxian)
Darvot fritters
Hlaka soup
Laurelian pudding
Paraka wings
Plomeek Soup a la Neelix
Salad
Jiballian berry salad
Stew
Talaxian spice stew
Vegetable and vegetable dishes
Felada onion crisp
Feragoit goulash
Leola root
Leola rice pilaf
Leola root broth
Leola root soup
Leola root stew
Talaxian tomato
Torothan
Blood soup
Roast teracaq
Yalasat
Vorta
Kava nut
Q'lava
Rippleberry
Vulcan
Yaderan
Greenbread
Harrid berry
Yridian
Ale
Brandy
Tea
Other
14 Beta 7 (replicator order)
Aldebaran whiskey
Aldorian ale
Alfarian hair pasta
Alkian confection
Allakas malt
Alpha-currant nectar (Wadi)
Alvanian brandy
Antarian cider
Arcturian fizz
Balso tonic (Trill)
Bergamot tea
Bio-enzymatic supplement (Iyaaran)
Bularian canapé
Calaman sherry
Chocolate soufflé
Clavisoa berry
Coltayin root
Confection bar
Delovian souffle
Delvan fluff pastry
Delvan pudding
Denobulan sausage
Draylaxian whiskey
Dresci
Dutara root
Ennan VI ale
Enemy's blood (Kazon)
Enolian spice wine
Enyak's milk
Fanalian toddy
Feline supplement 74
Fettran risotto
Fetran sauce
Gamzian wine
Gramilian sand pea
Green drink
Gremish
Hatana (Taresian)
Hazari ale
Humat pod
I'danian spice pudding
Ice salt
Icoberry
Icoberry juice
Icoberry torte
Jacarine peel
Janaran tea
Jelinian ale
Kaferian apple
Kalo root
Kandora champagne
Karvino juice
Kaylo
Kesatian ale
Kilm steak
Kohlanese barley
Kohlanese stew
Livanian beet
Lorvan cracker
Luhvian quail
Maaza stalk
Makara fizz
Malkothian spirits
Mantickian paté
Maraltian Seev-ale
Mareuvian tea
Matopin rock fungus
Medicinal brew
Melvaran mud flea
Meridor (Gorn)
Modela aperitif
Moon grass
Muskan seed punch (Haliian)
Olian guava
'Owon
Papalla juice
Palamarian sea urchin
Pejuta
Petrokian sausage
Poma (Brunali)
Prosecco
Pyrellian ginger tea
Rama leaf
Rhombolian butter
Rumall stock
Samarian sunset
Saurian brandy
Senarian egg broth
Schplict
Silmic wine
Spiny lobe-fish (Tilonus IV)
Suck salt
Supernova
Syrup of squill
Talsa root soup (Augris' species)
Tamarin frost
Tarkalean tea
Tartoc
Tarvokian pound cake
Tarvokian powder cake
Terellian pheasant
Tellurian spice
Thalian chocolate mousse
Til'amin froth
Toffa ale
Trakian ale
Tranya (First Federation)
Trova (Eminian)
Trixian bubble juice
Tulaberry wine (Dosi)
Tzartak aperitif
Vak clover soup
Valerian root tea
Vermicula (Antedian)
Vilm steak
Waroon
Warp core breach
Waterplum (Mari)
Wentlian condor snake
Whelan Bitters
Yigrish cream pie
Zariphean blend
Zoth-nut soup (Rivos V)
Zylo egg
de:Liste von Speisen und Getränken
fr:Mets et breuvages
nl:Voedsel en dranken |
767 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | TAS Season 1 | The first season of was produced and aired in late and early .
Episodes
Background information
Besides the seven regular characters who returned from the original series (Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, and Chapel), characters who "crossover" from TOS in this season of TAS are: Kyle (, et al.); Sarek, Amanda Grayson, and the Guardian of Forever (); Bob Wesley (); Cyrano Jones, Koloth, and Korax (); and the White Rabbit (); Harcourt Fenton Mudd (; and Kor ().
Of these characters, only Sarek, Cyrano Jones, and Harry Mudd were voiced by the actors who originally played them. The rest were voiced by James Doohan, Majel Barrett, and Nichelle Nichols.
Credits
Opening
Star Trek created by
Gene Roddenberry
Starring the voices of
William Shatner as Capt. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy
Closing
directed by
Hal Sutherland
executive consultant
Gene Roddenberry
general manager
Rock Benedetto
special effects animation
Reuben Timmins
storyboard
Sherman Labby
Paul Fennell
Dale Hale
Jack Miller
Michael O'Connor
Louise Sandoval
Ken Southworth
Dawn Huntley
art director
Don Christensen
key assistants
Mike Hazy
Bill House
key layout
Herb Hazelton
Kay Wright
Alberto De Mello
layout
George Wheeler
Lorna Smith
Les Kaluza
George Jensen
Dick Hall
Warren Marshall
Wendell Washer
Martin Muller
Christopher Lane
Glen Keane
Maria Bennett
Ken Leonard
Wes Herschensohn
Jim Willoughby
Cliff Voorhees
Robert Kline
Virgil Raddatz
John Perry
Carol Lundberg
Malcolm Weizer
George Goode
James Koukos
Tom Burton
director of color
Ervin Kaplan
background artists
Paul Xander
Maurice Harvey
Don Peters
Tom O'Loughlin
Pat Keppler
Curt Perkins
Boris Gorelick
Rolando Oliva
Janet Brown
Karen Shaffner
animators
Robert Bentley
Jim Brummett
Bob Carlson
Rudy Cataldi
Jess Cosio
Zion Davush
Lil Evans
Paul Fennell
Otto Feuer
Fred Grable
Lee Halpern
La Verne Harding
Lou Kachivas
Marsh Lamore
Lawrence Miller
Fred Myers
Jane Nordin
Bill Nunes
Joe Nunez
Casey Onaitis
Jack Ozark
Bill Pratt
Len Rogers
Virgil Ross
Sonja Ruta
Don Schloat
Ben Shenkman
Larry Silverman
Brad Smith
Hank Smith
Reuben Timmins
Bob Trochim
George Waiss
Ron Westland
Kaem Wong
checking supervision
Marion Turk
Jane Philippi
xerography & paint supervision
John Remmel
Betty Brooks
camera supervision
R.W. Pope
camera
Thane Berti
Joseph Ponticelle
Don Dinehart
John Aardal
Bill Kotler
Fredrick T. Ziegler
Earl Benedetto
Gene Gropper
Dean G. Teves
also starring the voices of
George Takei
Nichelle Nichols
Majel Barrett
James Doohan
editorial supervision
Joseph Simon
Doreen Dixon
film coordinator
June Gilham
background music by
Yvette Blais
Jeff Michael
music publisher
Shermley Music Co. ASCAP
music and sound effects
Horta-Mahana Corp.
color by
Technicolor®
associate producer and story editor
D.C. Fontana
produced by
Lou Scheimer
Norm Prescott
A Filmation Production
cs:První sezóna TAS
de:TAS Staffel 1
fr:TAS Saison 1
nl:TAS Seizoen 1
sr:АС: Сезона 1
sv:TAS, säsong 1
eo:LAS Sezono unu
Star Trek seasons |
768 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | TAS Season 2 | The second season of was produced and aired in late .
Episodes
Summary
In early 2270, was nearing the end of the last year of its five-year mission of exploration, under the command of Captain James Kirk.
Background information
In 1973, after the initial contract for the series had run out, NBC ordered another six episodes to be made for the following year. These were the last episodes of the original animated series made, making a total of 22. They were also the last animated episodes of Star Trek until and , 45 years later.
These episodes first aired in September and October 1974, but NBC continued airing the series in re-runs through 1975.
Aside from the seven regular cast members and a silent appearance of Mr. Kyle in , no other characters from the original Star Trek appear in this season.
Credits
Opening
Star Trek created by
Gene Roddenberry
Starring the voices of
William Shatner as Capt. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy
Closing
directed by
Bill Reed
executive consultant
Gene Roddenberry
general manager
Rock Benedetto
special effects animation
Reuben Timmins
storyboard
Sherman Labby
Paul Fennell
Dale Hale
Jack Miller
Michael O'Connor
Louise Sandoval
Ken Southworth
Dawn Huntley
art director
Don Christensen
key assistants
Mike Hazy
Bill House
key layout
Herb Hazelton
Kay Wright
Alberto De Mello
layout
George Wheeler
Lorna Smith
Les Kaluza
George Jensen
Dick Hall
Warren Marshall
Wendell Washer
Martin Muller
Christopher Lane
Glen Keane
Maria Bennett
Ken Leonard
Wes Herschensohn
Jim Willoughby
Cliff Voorhees
Robert Kline
Virgil Raddatz
John Perry
Carol Lundberg
Malcolm Weizer
George Goode
James Koukos
Tom Burton
director of color
Ervin Kaplan
background artists
Paul Xander
Maurice Harvey
Don Peters
Tom O'Loughlin
Pat Keppler
Curt Perkins
Boris Gorelick
Rolando Oliva
Janet Brown
Karen Shaffner
animators
Robert Bentley
Jim Brummett
Bob Carlson
Rudy Cataldi
Jess Cosio
Zion Davush
Lil Evans
Paul Fennell
Otto Feuer
Fred Grable
Lee Halpern
La Verne Harding
Lou Kachivas
Marsh Lamore
Lawrence Miller
Fred Myers
Jane Nordin
Bill Nunes
Joe Nunez
Casey Onaitis
Jack Ozark
Bill Pratt
Len Rogers
Virgil Ross
Sonja Ruta
Don Schloat
Ben Shenkman
Larry Silverman
Brad Smith
Hank Smith
Reuben Timmins
Bob Trochim
George Waiss
Ron Westland
Kaem Wong
checking supervision
Marion Turk
Jane Philippi
xerography & paint supervision
John Remmel
Betty Brooks
camera supervision
R.W. Pope
camera
Thane Berti
Joseph Ponticelle
Don Dinehart
John Aardal
Bill Kotler
Fredrick T. Ziegler
Earl Benedetto
Gene Gropper
Dean G. Teves
also starring the voices of
George Takei
Nichelle Nichols
Majel Barrett
James Doohan
editorial supervision
Joseph Simon
Doreen Dixon
film coordinator
June Gilham
background music by
Yvette Blais
Jeff Michael
music publisher
Shermley Music Co. A.S.C.A.P.
music and sound effects
Horta-Mahana Corp.
color by
Technicolor®
associate producer and story editor
D.C. Fontana
produced by
Lou Scheimer
Norm Prescott
A Filmation Production
cs:Druhá sezóna TAS
de:TAS Staffel 2
fr:TAS Saison 2
nl:TAS Seizoen 2
sr:АС: Сезона 2
sv:TAS, säsong 2
Star Trek seasons |
771 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Bloodwine | Bloodwine was a popular alcoholic beverage among the Klingons, best served warm. () As with many Klingon foods and beverages, it was not for the faint of heart. Bloodwine was known to be highly intoxicating, to the point that most non-Klingons were scarcely capable of tolerating it; it was twice as potent as whiskey. () The first Human known to consume the beverage was Jonathan Archer, while he awaited the verdict of his trial on Narendra III. ()
Klingon captains and generals were fond of carrying several barrels of their favorite vintages to celebrate victories. Martok and Worf considered the vintage of 2309 to be the finest. () Worf liked his bloodwine very young and very sweet. () He programmed the Enterprise-D replicators with a close version of bloodwine. ()
Bloodwine did not have bubbles. Constable Odo found this to be a pity. After he and Miles O'Brien had been drinking it for a time in the Hall of Warriors at Ty'Gokor, O'Brien admitted that he thought he was actually starting to like the stuff. Odo tended to agree, stating that "except for the taste" that "it's really not that bad". ()
Bloodwine was traditionally consumed by warriors being inducted into the Order of the Bat'leth as part of the celebration/endurance test given the night before. ()
Bloodwine was used in a symbolic gesture following the Invasion of Cardassia in 2375. While standing on the surface of Cardassia, Martok offered William Ross and Benjamin Sisko bloodwine which had been previously promised for celebration of victory. However, at that moment, Ross and Sisko reflected on the destructive nature of war, and poured their glasses of bloodwine on the ground. ()
Appendices
See also
Firewine
Klingon martini
Raktajino
Appearances
Background information
The described bloodwine as a variety of red Klingon wine.
Whether there is actual blood in the ingredients has never been revealed; however, the Star Trek Cookbook suggests that bloodwine is made of fermented blood and sugar.
While in later seasons, bloodwine was usually served from large kettles or smaller, silver bottles, in it was served from a glass bottle in the shape of grapes. The same type of bottle appeared in where it contained langour.
A blood wine bottle was among the items which were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay.
In 2012, Vinport produced a Klingon bloodwine made, unauthentically, from grapes.
External link
de:Blutwein
nl:Bloedwijn
Alcoholic beverages
Qo'noS |
776 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Arcturian | The Arcturians were a humanoid species. By the mid-2270s, Arcturians were serving in Starfleet. ()
Since they had an appreciation for Shakespeare, a popular version of Macbeth was re-envisioned by the Arcturians. Sponsored by the Galactic Cultural Exchange Project, this rendition was notably performed by the Karidian Company of Players, a touring theatrical troupe headed by Anton Karidian, in 2266. ()
An Arcturian Starfleet officer was speaking with two Rhaandarites at Starfleet Headquarters air tram station in San Francisco on stardate 7410.2. The three were on a lower platform (in the background) when James T. Kirk and Sonak parted ways at the top of a flight of stairs.
Shortly thereafter, an Arcturian crew member from the attended a mass briefing on the starship's recreation deck. ()
Arcturians were present on Tulgana IV in 2380. ()
People
Unnamed
USS Enterprise crewmember
Appendices
See also
Arcturian dog bird
Arcturian fizz
Background information
The Arcturians were designed by Fred Phillips and Robert Fletcher for The Motion Picture. With the approval of Gene Roddenberry, the Arcturians, as well as numerous other new species in the film, were named by Fletcher and provided a backstory by him. The following is a brief description, in Fletcher's own words:
"ARCTURIANS – A militaristic race of great armies. All are identical – they clone each other, can only tell apart by color of uniforms. Provide infantry for Federation. Planet is enormous and population enormous, subject to any amount of expansion; 100 billion population, army of 20 billion ready overnight. Costume – contains leather and linen. Boots are separate. (Bob wanted woven metal tubes for metal rope decorations; found in obsolete plumbing equipment in an old hardware store; silver-plated it for bandolier [jewelry] and for decoration on shoulders and elbows, denoting rank and regiment.) Briefcase made of plastic, belt buckle of cast metal and resin." (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 130)
Also, their homeworld was referenced as Arcturus. (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 131)
In an interview with Robert Fletcher – published as part one of "The Star Trek Costumes", in the edition of Fantastic Films (pp. 18-19) – the Arcturians were described thus;
"A massive militaristic society, the Arcturians are the race which provides the infantry for the Federation. Their home planet is enormous and likewise their population – over 100 billion strong at last count. Therefore, producing an army of 20 billion overnight is a snap for them. There is, however, one problem. Since all Arcturians are produced by cloning they all look alike. They have overcome this problem easily by using a color coded designation for regiment and rank. But woe to the poor Federation general who suffers from color blindness."
In an interview appearing in the edition of Fantastic Films, part two of "The Star Trek Costumes", Fletcher revealed more information about the Arcturians and the design of their costumes, explaining:
"Only one society was militaristic in our sense of the word. That was the Arcturians, the cloned people who all looked alike. The only way to tell them apart was the coloring of their uniforms. For them we created costumes of leather and linen and originally I wanted woven metal tubes for metal rope decorations. Bob found this material in an obsolete plumbing/hardware store. It was to be silver-plated into a and also used for decorations on the shoulders and elbows denoting rank and regiment. It didn't quite work out so you'll see very little of it in the film, toned down quite a bit. Also, we even created a small briefcase made of plastic, something like the pilots carry today."
A documentary, , confirmed the militaristic intent for the Arcturians, where it was specifically mentioned that they provided the "infantry for the Federation." That notion was reaffirmed decades later, in an article appearing in the edition of , entitled "Who is that Alien?", which stated:
"A race of clones from the densely populated Arcturas [sic]. Fred Phillips and Robert Fletcher speculated that they provided the backbone of the Federation infantry – not least because, if needed, they could clone billions of new soldiers overnight."
The costume for the Arcturian who is visible on the Enterprises rec deck in The Motion Picture was prepared for filming by assistant makeup artist Mike La Valley. (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, interior color photographs)
According to The Trek Encyclopedia (2nd ed., p. 11), "these are one of the many races seen in a segment of the film cut from released prints. Arcturians are members of the Federation that are a palid gray color. Their skin hangs loosely in folds, giving them a most melancholy expression."
Merchandising
In , Mego released a 3¾-inch Arcturian action figure as part of its second series. There was also a 12-inch version.
Apocrypha
Arcturian crewmembers Ensign Taskul and Ensign Tagsut occasionally appeared in the .
According to the novel Death Count, Arcturians had four arms.
The novel Living Memory focuses on the Arcturian race. According to the novel, Arcturians originated on Arcturus I, but had to migrate to Arcturus IV when their sun entered its giant phase. Contrary to Robert Fletcher's notes, Arcturians are a naturally-reproducing race, but during times of war, Arcturians had a tradition of creating vast armies of "Warborn" using pharmaceuticals and hormone boosters to induce parthenogenetic breeding. The Warborn are not clones, but can be produced quickly in vast quantities, since they are born within weeks of conception and take only sixteen months to mature. They are indoctrinated with religious traditions to teach them that warfare is a sacred duty. As Arcturus became unified, these religious traditions evolved and the Warborn were taught to only fight in defense of Arcturus. In recent history, the Warborn fought to repel Saurian invaders led by Maltuvis and another batch of Warborn was created to defend against possible Klingon invasion during the . This last batch was put into suspended animation when Chancellor L'Rell unexpectedly ended the war, since Arcturian society was not equipped to deal with them. The focus of the novel is an attempt to integrate the Warborn into Starfleet.
External link
de:~/Spezies/Film/1/6
ja:アークトゥリアン
Species
Memory Alpha articles named from supplementary resources |
777 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Gabriel Bell | Gabriel Bell (April 24, 1987 – September 3, 2024) was a Human male and resident of Sanctuary District A in San Francisco on Earth, in the 21st century. He was a key figure in what came to be known as "the Bell Riots" during 2024. ()
During the riots, Bell was one of the residents who held a number of hostages in the District's Processing Center, and protected them from harm. During that time, Bell was able to gain access to the Interface, allowing hundreds of residents to transmit their stories to the outside world. Later, due to rumors that the hostages had been killed, a SWAT team raided the processing center, killing a number of the hostage-takers, including Bell. After it was discovered that the hostages had come to no harm, public opinion regarding the Sanctuary Districts began to change. Bell's sacrifice made the Bell Riots one of the watershed events of the 21st century and led to the closure of the Sanctuary Districts across the United States of America.
In 2371, Starfleet officers Benjamin Sisko, Jadzia Dax, and Julian Bashir were transported back in time due to a transporter accident. After Sisko and Bashir were placed in District A, they came under attack by other residents. Seeing the incident, Bell attempted to help Sisko and Bashir, but was stabbed to death in the process. This change to history resulted in an alternate timeline that the crew of the were able to observe in the future because the ship had been protected from the changes by a subspace bubble. In this new timeline, Starfleet apparently did not exist, and Romulan transmissions were detected in the vicinity of Alpha Centauri. ()
Later, after realizing the implications that Bell's death would have on the timeline, Sisko chose to take his place, introducing himself to the other hostage-takers as Gabriel Bell. In that capacity, he ensured that none of the hostages were harmed, and managed to gain access to the Interface so the residents could tell their story (although he required the aid of interface tech mogul Christopher Brynner, while Sisko speculated that Bell may have done it on his own). When the SWAT team raided the processing center, Sisko was shot while protecting a guard. After the riots were over, a sympathetic guard agreed to let Sisko go and informed the authorities that Bell had died in the raid.
Afterwards, the Starfleet officers were later able to return to their own time period Bashir found that historical records regarding Gabriel Bell depicted Sisko's image. Concerned, Sisko lamented not looking forward to explaining that to Starfleet Command; Bashir chided Sisko that at least it was a good picture. ()
The content of the historical text read:
Known as the Father of Earth's Post-Modern Reformism, Bell galvanized the people and government of the United States of America when he led an uprising in San Francisco's Sanctuary District "A." Besides arranging for food and medical supplies for the hostages, Bell was able to establish a wide broadcast data link through the planetary communications system, "Interface." Through this broadcast, residents of Sanctuary District talk of their day-to-day struggle to survive. Bell was shot by National Guard troops as they attempted to reach the hostages. According to Sanctuary District police officer [...] Vin, Bell was killed...''"
This image was also displayed in Nog's information on Earth history. He noticed Bell's resemblance to Sisko and showed the image to his father Rom and uncle Quark. The latter dismissed it, claiming that "all hew-mons look alike." ()
External links
de:Gabriel Bell
fr:Gabriel Bell
ja:ガブリエル・ベル
Humans |
778 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Bell Riots | The Bell Riots were a pivotal series of events on Earth that took place in September of 2024. Started in San Francisco's Sanctuary District A, they were named after protest leader Gabriel Bell. One of the most violent civil disturbances in all of American history, the riots and subsequent crackdown resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Sanctuary District residents. ()
Prelude
By the 2020s, the American government – reacting to serious problems of homelessness and unemployment – created special Sanctuary Districts (essentially walled-off sections of the city grid) in most major cities. Unfortunately – while established with the benevolent intent of providing free housing and food, as well as prospects for future employment – the Sanctuaries quickly degenerated into inhumane internment camps for the poor. Even though people with criminal records were not allowed inside Sanctuaries, it didn't take long for the homeless and unemployed to be joined by the mentally ill and other, more violent, social outcasts. These groups were referred to by their slang terms – gimmies, dims, and s.
By late 2024, the twenty square blocks that made up Sanctuary District A had become overcrowded slums. With the records of people inside the Sanctuaries not uploaded to the planetary computer network (and therefore not accessible using an Interface), the true conditions inside were unknown to the general public. American society believed that, despite the political upheaval affecting Europe at the time, the United States was stable and had found a way to successfully deal with the social problems that had been the genesis of the Sanctuaries. An "out of sight, out of mind" mentality had set in. People in the district started to believe that their needs were forgotten.
The spark
On August 30th, three Starfleet officers, Commander Benjamin Sisko, Doctor Julian Bashir, and Lieutenant Jadzia Dax, arrived in San Francisco from 2371, due to a transporter accident. Knocked unconscious during the transport, Sisko and Bashir were awoken by security guards Vin and Bernardo Calvera, who mistakenly believed that the pair of newcomers were homeless. Sisko and Bashir lacked any form of identification and their combadges had been stolen so they were brought to Sanctuary District A, where they were processed by health official . Inside, Sisko and Bashir, in accordance with Starfleet's temporal displacement policy, tried not to affect history while looking for a way out to find Dax.
Dax had meanwhile been awoken and befriended by Chris Brynner, who thought she had been mugged and who found her a place to stay.
On the night of the 31st, Bashir was assaulted by a gang of ghosts trying to take his ration card. In the ensuing scuffle, a man stepped in to help him but was stabbed to death by Biddle Coleridge (B.C.), who hurriedly vacated the scene. Sisko checked the victim's ration card and thereby discovered that the man who had died helping them was Gabriel Bell. Realizing they had changed the past, Sisko (assuming Bell's identity) and Bashir joined gimmie Michael Webb – whom they had met earlier – in gathering support for a rally outside the District Processing Center, the next day.
Riot
Early in the morning of September 1st, a fight between a guard and a dim sparked a riot, wherein the ghosts led by B.C. attacked the Sanctuary guards and quickly captured the Sanctuary Processing Center as well as the rest of the district. Armed with the weapons of the overpowered guards, the ghosts took six center employees hostage, including Vin, Calvera, and Lee. They were joined by "Gabriel Bell" and Michael Webb, who acted as the voice and face of the riot while dealing with police negotiator Detective Preston.
Chris Brynner, who owned Brynner Information Systems (which operated Channel 90 on the net), was convinced by Dax to break the law and to reconnect the Processing Center after the police cut it off. Reconnected on September 2nd, many Sanctuary residents (such as Henry Garcia) were able to tell their stories of imprisonment to the outside world. As a result, the American public became aware of the great injustice that had been hidden from them and further riots broke out in Sanctuaries across the US.
Despite protests from Detective Preston, the governor of California ordered National Guardsmen to retake the Sanctuary by force on September 3rd at 0500 hours. In the melee, hundreds of Sanctuary residents were killed, including B.C. and Michael Webb. "Gabriel Bell" was shot, protecting Vin and the other hostages (all of whom remained unharmed).
Aftermath
Vin and Bernardo took Bell's and Bashir's ration cards after the riot, saying they would list them as casualties, and helped them return to their beam-in site, where Dax was waiting for them. Both Vin and Bernardo went on to tell other people what had happened in the Sanctuary, never knowing that Sisko had been Bell. The away team was rescued by Major Kira Nerys and Chief Miles O'Brien shortly thereafter.
In the wake of the riots, and the senseless death of so many people, public opinion turned against the concept of the Sanctuary Districts. The Districts were abolished as the United States finally began to face the serious social problems it had struggled with for over a century. Because Bell had played a crucial role in protecting the hostages, and in the negotiations prior to the government assault, he was remembered as one of the central figures in the events and his name became forever associated with them.
The Bell Riots were of such significance that their absence from Earth's history led to an alternate timeline, in which the United Federation of Planets was never created.
Appendices
Background information
The conceptualization of the Bell Riots began after Robert Hewitt Wolfe suggested doing a DS9 episode about homelessness. Even though he and Ira Steven Behr tried several ways of doing the story, they were particular about what form the protest against homelessness would take. René Echevarria recalled, "We certainly didn't want to do a , which would have been an obvious way to go. We didn't want to have Sisko leading a march or a protest." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 89)
Ultimately, the writers based the Bell Riots on two historical incidents, both of which took place in the early 1970s: the of anti-war protesters in 1970 and the in 1971. Whereas the reactions to the former event had had a major impact on Ira Steven Behr, his idea of basing the protest on the Attica Prison riot was also a major influence on the DS9 story itself. Behr stated, "I was driving home one evening, and I suddenly thought, 'Attica.' I came in the next day and told Robert, 'I hope you like it, because I think this is the way we have to do it – we're gonna do concentration camps." () Of the Kent State shootings, Behr remembered, "Once they started shooting down American college students, everyone I knew who was still pro-war said, 'Maybe we should just end this damn thing.' And many of the counterculture kids, ironically, said, 'If they're gonna shoot us, screw the revolution. Let's become accountants.' It had a big impact on me, and I got the idea of doing a combination of Kent State and an Attica [prison]-type siege, starting with the question: What would happen if the government started putting these people in camps? How would society deal with that or rationalize it? How would the homeless people deal with it?" (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp. 89-90)
The of 1965 were also an inspiration. Jean-Luc Picard and Geordi La Forge traveled back in time to twentieth-century Los Angeles just before the Watts Riots in Wolfe's original story pitch. (Star Trek: The Next Generation 365, p. 282)
External link
de:Bell-Aufstand
fr:Émeutes de Bell
ja:ベル暴動
Earth conflicts
Economics |
782 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Energy | Energy was the measure of a physical system's ability to do work. Although quantifiable, energy was not an absolute so it had to be measured with respect to a reference energy level (kinetic energy, chemical energy, thermal energy, etc.). Energy for a starship's purposes could be derived from many different reactions, the most common of which were matter-antimatter reactions and nuclear fusion, though like matter, it could not be created or destroyed. Therefore matter-antimatter interactions release energy. Obsolete means of converting energy include combustion and nuclear fission. An antimatter reaction was always calculated using Einstein's equation, E = mc2. In theory, the combined annihilation of one kilogram of antimatter with one kilogram of matter will produce 1.8 joules of energy (180 petajoules). A source of energy was called an energy source.
Starship energy systems
Electro-plasma distribution network (EPS conduits)
Impulse reactors (fusion reactor)
Main power plant
Warp core (matter-antimatter reaction assembly)
Other energy systems
Nuclear fission reactor
Omega energy
Polaric ion energy
Power plant
Energy-based lifeforms
See also: Non-corporeal lifeform
Douwds
John Doe, a mutated Zalkonian
Organians
Forms of energy
Anaphasic energy
Anionic energy
Bio-neural energy
Chromodynamic energy
Dark energy
Electro-plasma
Electrostatic energy
Geothermal energy
Koinoenergy
Multiphasic energy
Metaphasic radiation
Negative energy
Neural energy
Neuro-electric energy
Neurogenic energy
Nucleogenic energy
Plasmatic energy
Polaric ion energy
Psionic energy
RF energy
Sporocystian energy
Tachyokinetic energy
Telepathic energy
Temporal energy
Warp energy
External link
de:Energie
es:Energía
fr:Énergie
it:Energia
ja:エネルギー
sr:Енергија |
783 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Arcturian fizz | Arcturian fizz was a popular drink with pleasure-enhancing qualities.
In 2366, Lwaxana Troi offered to make an Arcturian fizz for the Ferengi DaiMon Tog when she, Deanna, and Commander Riker were held captive on his starship. She claimed she needed Tog's access code to program the replicator to make the drink, but just as Tog was about to give it to her, his suspicious counterpart Dr. Farek interrupted the two of them. ()
External link
de:Arcturianer Fizz
Beverages |
784 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | USS Bellerophon (NCC-74705) | The USS Bellerophon (NCC-74705) was a 24th century Federation starship operated by Starfleet.
Under the command of Admiral William Ross, the Bellerophon transported Federation delegates to Romulus for a conference on Dominion War issues in 2375. ()
Crew members
Appendices
Background information
The Bellerophon sets were a reuse of the sets from . This resulted in the Bellerophon having a galley-style counter in the mess hall instead of the two food service replicators, seen in , and captain's dining room, mentioned in .
"Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" writer Ronald D. Moore named the Bellerophon after , a British warship which served as part of a fleet commanded by in the early 19th century. This vessel was in turn named after the Greek mythological hero , who rode the winged horse, . Coincidentally, the was featured in another episode written by Moore, namely . ()
The Bellerophon was also the name of the starship that colonized planet Altair IV in the film . Gene Roddenberry suggested Pato Guzman "take a very hard look" at the Bellerophons controls and instruments in developing designs for Star Trek. (Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, p. 219)
The Bellerophon was the only Intrepid-class starship other than the USS Voyager ever seen in Star Trek, and the only one to appear outside of Star Trek: Voyager.
This was at least the second starship to bear the name, the first being the vessel seen in the pilot .
External link
bg:USS Белерофонт (NCC-74705)
cs:USS Bellerophon (NCC-74705)
de:USS Bellerophon (NCC-74705)
es:USS Bellerophon (NCC-74705)
fr:USS Bellerophon (NCC-74705)
it:USS Bellerophon (NCC-74705)
ja:USSベレロフォン(NCC-74705)
nl:USS Bellerophon (NCC-74705)
Federation starships |
789 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Saurian (species) | The Saurians were a reptilian humanoid species affiliated with the Federation. They have served in Starfleet since at least the 2250s. ()
Biology
The Saurians resembled humanoid lizards with scaly skin that could be pink or gray. Their large black or yellow eyes were endowed with both vertical and horizontal eyelids, and granted them an enormous visual spectrum of 74,000 nanometers. (; )
They had six nasal canals, making certain afflictions such as the common cold particularly miserable. () Saurians shed their skin once a year, during which time they were forced to avoid any areas where hygiene was important such as mess halls. ()
Saurians were hatched. ()
History
A Saurian named Linus served on the in 2257. ()
A Saurian scientist as well as a second crewmember served aboard the during the final stages of its refit in the mid-2270s. ()
A Saurian commander served on the in 2380. ()
A Saurian diplomat accompanied Federation President Laira Rillak to Ni'Var during the final negotiations for Ni'Var's re-entry into the Federation.()
Culture
The Saurian language consisted of lingual clicks and pops. During the 2250s, the universal translator would on occasion have difficulty translating it. ()
Saurian brandy was an alcoholic beverage, bottled since at least the 22nd century, that had been popular in the Federation for centuries. (; ) It was illegal in the alternate reality as of 2263. ()
Bamboo was one of the foods Saurians ate. ()
People
Named
Linus
Y'Shi
Unnamed
Unnamed Saurians
Appendices
See also
Saurian virus
Appearances
Background information
This species was identified on screen in , previously only identified by production materials created for Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
The original Saurians were designed by Fred Phillips and Robert Fletcher for The Motion Picture. With the approval of Gene Roddenberry, the Saurians, as well as numerous other new species in the film, were named by Fletcher and provided a backstory by him. The following is a brief description, in Fletcher's own words:
"SAURIAN – A lizard person, very able, excellent space officers. Learned to communicate in Earth tongue, have complicated vocal language of own. Have upright, direct posture. Intelligent. Can breathe a number of gases. Valuable in exploration of new areas because of enormous strength due to four hearts. (Note: in rec deck scene only.)" (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, pp. 132-133; #33, , p. 71; , )
Also in 1980, Mego released a 3¾" Saurian action figure as part of its second series; the company inadvertently called it a Rigellian.
Star Trek: Star Charts ('United Federation of Planets I") and Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ("Federation Historical Highlights, 2161-2385") depicted a planet called Sauria in the Alpha Quadrant star system Sauria (). This was a trinary system consisting of three G-class stars. Sauria was listed as a Federation member as of 2378.
Apocrypha
In Star Trek Online, Saurians are one of the playable Federation species, and a Saurian named "Aennik Okeg" is the current Federation President.
External link
de:~/Spezies/Film/1/3
ja:ソーリアン
Species |
793 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Kazarite | The Kazarites were a humanoid species. Two Kazarites were present in the air tram station at Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco on stardate 7410.2 in 2273. One entered a turbolift, and another boarded an air tram. ()
Appendices
Background information
The Kazarites were designed by Fred Phillips and Robert Fletcher for The Motion Picture. With the approval of Gene Roddenberry, the Kazarites, as well as numerous other new species in the film, were named by Fletcher and provided a backstory by him. The following is a brief description, in Fletcher's own words:
"KAZARITES – Like shepherds, from planet still in stage of raising great herds of beasts. But their society is technologically sophisticated. They have certain powers of telekinesis. Can transport selves mentally. Have mental communication with all animals on all planets. Have been imported into Earth system to take care of animals, fish, and bird life. Really 23rd-century ecologists. Little bags hung around them are for food – pellets which they mix with water to produce a yeastlike food." (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 130)
In an interview with Robert Fletcher – published as part one of "The Star Trek Costumes", in the edition of Fantastic Films – the Kazarites were described thus;
"Though their clothing belies the fact, these people come from a socially primitive but technologically sophisticated society. For planetary transportation they rely on the powers of telekinesis but for space travel they employ seemingly crude vessels which they power with their minds. In the 23rd century ecologists do exist and the Kazarites are the ultimate masters of the profession – they are able to communicate with all forms of animal life on all planets within the sphere of Federation influence. Because of this they have been imported into the Earth system to handle the care and communication of all known as well as any new forms of life discovered. These peace-loving galactic veterinarys are vegetarians by nature and the small bags they carry with them contain food pellets which produce a yeast-like food when mixed with water."
In part two of "The Star Trek Costumes" – published in the edition of Fantastic Films, – Fletcher revealed information about the Kazarites and the design of their costumes, commenting, "I felt they should look sort of like an otherworldly shepherd. So the material is very sort of homespun looking."
An article appearing in the edition of , entitled "Who is that Alien?", light-heartedly characterized the Kazarites as "the of the Federation" and suggested that the reason the Kazarites devoted much of their time to caring for animals was "presumably because they enjoyed the conversations."
The robes designed for and worn by the white-furred Kazarite in The Motion Picture was worn by a Tellarite councilor in .
According to Star Trek: Star Charts ("United Federation of Planets III") and Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ("Federation Historical Highlights, 2161-2385"), there was a star system named Kazar, which might possibly be the system of origin for this species, in the Alpha Quadrant. This was a quaternary system with a K-class star, a G-class star, a M-class star, and an A-class star. In 2378, this was a Federation system.
A male Kazarite lieutenant named Chamish served aboard the USS Titan according to the novel Orion's Hounds.
External link
de:~/Spezies/Film/1/2
ja:カザライト
Species
Memory Alpha articles named from supplementary resources |
796 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Deltan | The Deltans were a humanoid species originating from the Federation planet Delta IV. This planet was located in the Alpha Quadrant.
Physiology
Externally, Deltans were physically indistinguishable from Humans but were identified by their bald scalps and were known to wear head dresses. Their strong sexual attraction could be a distraction for members of other species, which is why Deltans swore an oath of celibacy upon entering service in Starfleet. (; ; )
While Deltans had pain-relieving abilities that manifested during tactile contact, this ability did not heal injuries. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition)
History
In 2141, the encountered a group of Deltans. Travis Mayweather, who was fifteen at the time, later described them as very attractive and very open. On the advice and invitation of his father, he dealt with the feelings they engendered in him by performing exhausting workouts in the gym, a method he returned to (and recommended to Lieutenant Malcolm Reed) while three Orion slave girls were "guests" aboard in December 2154. ()
One Deltan serving aboard , Starfleet Lieutenant Ilia, made direct contact with the V'ger entity when it approached Earth in the 2270s, whereupon she was listed as missing in action. () Another Deltan served as an officer aboard the in 2285. () Four male Deltan ambassadors later served on the Federation Council in 2286. () Six Deltan ambassadors were later present at the Khitomer Conference in 2293. ()
In 2364, an illustration of a Deltan appeared when Data was reviewing all literature on the Dixon Hill series of novels in the database. ()
In 2401, Doctors Soji Asha and Agnes Jurati visited the Deltans on Raritan IV as part of a goodwill tour on behalf of synthetics. ()
People
Named
Ilia
Unnamed
Unnamed Deltans
Appendices
Appearances
(on display)
Background information
Deltans were originally to have been part of the ultimately scrapped series Star Trek: Phase II. The writers/directors guide for that series stated, "The Deltan race is much older than Humans, with brains much more finely evolved in areas of art and mathematics," and postulated that all Deltans were "completely hairless except for the eyes." The guide also suggested that esper abilities were common to the Deltans living on their homeworld and that, in their culture, virtually everything (i.e., all social interaction) was sex-oriented, with sexual foreplay consisting "largely of lovers placing images in each other's minds." (Star Trek Phase II: The Lost Series, pp. 90-91)
A character study of Lt. Ilia, written by Gene Roddenberry for , included more information about the Deltan race, stating, "Deltans, at first impression, may seem to be proudly aloof. However, a quick-eyed observer becomes immediately aware that Deltans actually have a splendidly developed sense of humor and fun lying immediately beneath that poised exterior. Their graceful carriage has lured many a Human into believing them cool intellectuals, only to discover that the Deltan is enjoying a good-humored joke at that Human's expense. Unlike the Vulcan race, Deltans value and delight in emotion – they see emotion as one of the myriad delights of being a life form. They are a sensual race – they enjoy the sensation of feeling hunger and fulfilling appetite in every form from satisfying their palates with exquisite foods, to the caress of a warm breeze or the bite of a bitter wind, the touch of an infant's hand, and especially all the shared communications and physical sensations of acts of love. Along its path to individual awareness, all the five (perhaps six) senses of the Deltan become highly acute and sensitive. Their taste buds, the rods and cones of their inner eyes, even their smallest epidermal nerve ending, all are sensitive far beyond the Human norm." The same character study also mentioned historical similarities between the civilizations of Earth and the Deltan homeworld and that the Deltans "long ago lost their interest in space voyaging (concentrating on their own inner-space)," so that, by the time of The Motion Pictures setting, there were only a few Deltans who had joined Starfleet, even though "the highly evolved Deltan intelligence can handle the most complex spherical trigonometric complexities of space navigation as easily as a Human learns simple multiplication tables." (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, pp. 107-108)
Deltans were additionally mentioned in notes that Costume Designer Robert Fletcher wrote about the aliens in The Motion Picture. The note specifically concerning the Deltans described them thus: "Hairless people from Planet Delta IV. Deltans are great jewelry makers. Their jewelry is sold throughout the galaxy and is very popular." In the same note, Fletcher went on to state some plans for what a Deltan male would look like, despite the fact that Ilia is the only Deltan seen clearly in that particular film. This section read, "Male Deltan wears traditional caftan with Deltan symbol on sleeve. Made of gabardine." (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 133)
During a press conference, Ilia actress Persis Khambatta playfully announced, "Sex with a Deltan woman is like nirvana. After that no man can be satisfied with anyone else. The Deltan woman is so sophisticated sexually that any contact with a Human man would drive him insane. It's wonderful." After her hair was shaved off by makeup artist Fred Phillips, the Indian actress joked that the new bald appearance made her look like a Hare Krishna. ()
In the script of , stage directions indicated that Project Genesis scientist Jedda was intended to be Deltan.
Apocrypha
The Deltans' strong sexual presence, even without physical contact, was explained by pheromones and sub-conscious telepathy in Gene Roddenberry's ization of . When Ilia first appeared in the novelization, James T. Kirk reflected that he seemed to instinctively perceive her as naked, despite the fact she was in uniform, and realized this illusion was due to her baldness.
The novelization of expanded on the suggestion of Jedda being Deltan, adding a female Deltan partner. It was also said that sexual activity between a Deltan and a non-Deltan means risking insanity for the non-Deltan.
According to the Star Trek: Star Charts ("United Federation of Planets I"), Delta IV joined the Federation in 2223, the year the Deltans became warp-capable.
In the first issue of the Doctor Who crossover comic Star Trek: The Next Generation - Doctor Who: Assimilation², the Deltans fall victim to an attack on their homeworld by the combined forces of the Borg and Cybermen as their first attack against the Federation on Stardate 45635.2. Their largest cities were targeted, followed by the destruction of their command-and-control infrastructure. Delta IV was overwhelmed in a matter of minutes, forcing its prime minister to order a planetary evacuation well before Starfleet's defensive task force could arrive.
External link
de:Deltaner
fr:Deltan
it:Deltano
ja:デルタン
Species |
800 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Prometheus class | The Prometheus-class was a highly classified Federation starship designed for deep space tactical assignments. It was one of the most advanced Starfleet vessels in operation during the later half of the 24th century as well as later use in the 25th century.
History
The class prototype, the , was launched from the Beta Antares Ship Yards in the Antares sector on stardate 50749.5. At the time of its launch, the Prometheus was so highly classified that only four people in all of Starfleet were trained to operate the prototype. ()
In an alternate timeline, vessels of the Prometheus-class were among the Federation fleet that engaged the forces of the Sphere-Builders during the Battle of Procyon V in the 26th century. ()
Technical data
Propulsion system
The warp drive of the Prometheus-class made the ships of this class faster than any other starship in the fleet at the time in the mid 2370s. The warp drive was capable of maintaining speeds exceeding warp 9.9. ()
Defensive systems
The Prometheus-class was designed with an unprecedented level of automation, and, combined with its advanced tactical systems, was one of the most powerful combat ships in the Alpha Quadrant. The primary battle systems on board the Prometheus included regenerative shielding, ablative hull armor, phasers, and photon torpedoes.
A unique feature included in the Prometheus design was the multi-vector assault mode, which allowed the ship to split into three semi-independent sections that could each deliver massive force against an enemy target. All three sections were warp-capable. In this mode, the Prometheus could easily disable a at warp, or a on the field of battle. () While other starship classes had similar capabilities, such as the with its saucer separation feature, generally the saucer section of such classes had no warp drive and limited weaponry. ()
Additional systems
In addition to standard automation systems, the Prometheus-class design also featured holoemitters on every deck, which allowed the ship's Emergency Medical Hologram (Mark II) to access all areas of the ship (most EMHs were confined to sickbay only).
Primary controls for the ventilation system were located in Jefferies tube 17, which was located five decks up from sickbay. ()
Interior design
Main bridge
The fact that the Prometheus-class was mainly designed for combat was reflected in the design of its bridge. The bridge was designed with efficiency in mind, providing the commanding officer with visual access to all major stations when seated in the command chair. Directly in front of the captain's chair, sunken down with three steps, was the location of the helm on the port side and another station to starboard, combined in one large console. The latter was used to activate multi-vector assault mode and assess the status of ship systems, among other tasks. Both officers shared an unobstructed view of the main viewscreen with the commanding officer. All other stations were mounted against the wall, running around the entire length of the room. Directly aft of the captain's chair was the master systems display, with ops and tactical stations to starboard and port, respectively. To the captain's left and right, beyond these stations, were doors that may have provided access to the turbolift system. Further forward still, on either side of the main view screen, were two more stations, which also faced away from the center of the bridge. The starboard one displayed the same graphics as a typical engineering station of the era and provided an alarm when a warp core breach was imminent. Such an accident could quickly be prevented using this station as well. ()
Sickbay
Sickbays on the Prometheus-class contained a single surgical biobed and a spartan research area. The sickbays were stocked with the latest in medical technologies and were the first to test the EMH Mark II. ()
Ships commissioned
Named
(NX-59650, prototype)
Unnamed
Unnamed Prometheus-class starships
Appendices
Appearances
Background information
The Prometheus-class was designed by Star Trek: Voyager senior illustrator Rick Sternbach and rendered as a CGI model by Foundation Imaging's Adam "Mojo" Lebowitz and Brandon MacDougall. Though the script for "Message in a Bottle" originally called for the Prometheus to split into five ships, the producers decided this may be difficult to make work on screen, and trimmed it down to three. Very early in the design process, Sternbach decided on a four-nacelle design, so the engineering section could easily split along the horizontal axis, into what Sternbach's sketches labeled the "Upper Warp Hull (UWH)" and the "Lower Warp Hull (LWH)." ()
What had started as a Voyager-style shuttlebay door was changed to an "Enterprise-1701-refit set of door fans." The nacelles were intentionally reminiscent of the , with additional inspiration from the and aircraft. ()
A production comparison chart would list the Prometheus as 1,360 feet (414 meters) in length. () A length of 414 meters was also listed in Eden FX materials. ()
The Prometheus-class interiors were designed by Voyager production designer Richard James, using re-dressed portions of the re-created bridge that James had made for , the sickbay, and a number of new sets. One year later, the bridge set went on to again be redressed, for the .
Maximum speed
↑Dialogue in "Message in a Bottle" suggests that warp 9.9, at which the Prometheus was traveling, was too fast for any other ship in Starfleet to catch up with before the ship crossed into the neutral zone. The suggests that a speed of warp 9.9 makes it "the fastest vessel in Starfleet." The Star Trek: Starship Spotter (p. 69) lists the maximum speed as warp 9.99, which corresponds more closely with the idea of the Prometheus being the fastest ship in the fleet, since the had been previously established as capable of warp 9.975.
The Star Trek: Starship Spotter (p. 69) lists the following details and specifications:
Dimensions: Length, 415 meters; beam, 170 meters; draft, 113 meters
Crew complement: 141 persons
Velocity: cruising speed, warp 9; maximum speed, warp 9.99
Standard mission: 1 year
Warp systems: Four LF-50 Mod 1 Advanced Linear Warp Drive Units, One LF-12X Mod 2 Compact Linear Warp Drive Unit
Weapons: Thirteen Type XII Collimated Phaser Arrays, Three Mk 95 Diret-Fire Photon Torpedo Tubes
Primary computer system: M-16 Bio-neural gel pack Isolinear III Processor
Embarked craft: two shuttlecraft, four shuttlepods
Apocrypha
In the series of s Avatar, Book One and Book Two, a Prometheus-class starship named served as Admiral William Ross' personal flagship, replacing the .
In the game Star Trek Online, the class is categorized as an "advanced escort", with derived classes named , , and . When the class was initially added to the game, it did not feature multi-vector assault mode. This was added at a later date via a "multi-vector assault module" console and also included an alternate ship configuration.
External link
cs:Prometheus class
de:Prometheus-Klasse
es:Clase Prometheus
ja:プロメテウス級
Federation starship classes |
802 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Maxia Zeta star system | The Maxia Zeta star system, also known as Maxia, was an uninhabited planetary system in the Maxia sector, in the Alpha Quadrant. The system consisted of a primary and twelve planets, none of which were habitable. The planets Maxia Zeta III and Maxia Zeta IV, as well as moons of the latter planet, were located in the system's habitable zone. The system was located at coordinates 16453/452.45.
In 2259, the system's location was labeled in a stellar cartography chart seen on the 's ready room viewscreen. This system's symbol had a blue color, indicating that it was affiliated with the . ()
On stardate 40217.3, in 2355, the was on a routine survey mission to scan the planets in this system. Traveling at warp through the system, the Stargazer was ambushed by a Ferengi starship that was launched from one of the moons of Maxia Zeta IV. ( display graphic)
The conflict, known later as the Battle of Maxia, became legendary among the students at Starfleet Academy for a particular tactic used by Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the defense of his ship and crew. ()
According to Bok, the system was located within Ferengi space. ()
In 2371, the location of Maxia Zeta was labeled in a star chart which Data and Picard studied in stellar cartography aboard the . (, display graphic)
In 2399, the location of Maxia was labeled in a Federation star chart that was in Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancy's office at Starfleet Headquarters. It was located in or near to Ferengi space. ()
In 2401, the location of Maxia was labeled on a star chart that was seen on the 's bridge viewscreen. The chart was used to show the location of the combined Starfleet-Borg armada and where it needed to go to face a galactic-level threat. ()
Appendices
Background information
In the first draft script of "The Battle", "Maxia Zeta" was the name of a starbase situated about an hour's distance from the site where the Battle of Maxia took place. The associated system was instead called the "Maxia star system" and was said to include a black hole.
The map of the system, seen in "The Battle", depicted the orbital paths of only seven planets. This map was later modified and subsequently appeared in the episodes , , and .
According to Star Trek: Star Charts ("United Federation of Planets I") and Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ("Federation Historical Highlights, 2161-2385"), the Maxia Zeta system was a binary system with a K-class star and a M-class star. In the late 24th century, this was an independent system.
External link
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fr:Système de Maxia Zeta
nl:Maxia Zeta systeem
Star systems |
803 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Xendi Sabu system | The Xendi Sabu system was an inhabited planetary system located near the Maxia Zeta system.
According to Daimon Bok, his ship discovered the adrift at the far edge of this system in 2364. Soon after, the Ferengi made a request to Starfleet that a rendezvous with the be arranged. The Federation starship was ordered to this system, and, while there, ownership of the Stargazer was transferred over to the Enterprise-D by the Ferengi. ()
Background information
Based on the system's seemingly close proximity to the Maxia Zeta system, it would seem that this system is in, or is relatively near the Alpha Quadrant.
According to and the , the Xendi Kabu system from was intended to be the same system; the name was mistakenly changed in a late draft of that episode's script.
According to Star Trek: Star Charts ("United Federation of Planets I") and Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ("Federation Historical Highlights, 2161-2385"), the Xendi Sabu system was located in the Alpha Quadrant. The primary was a M-class star.
According to StarTrek.com, the primary was named Xendi Sabu.
It was not stated in the episode whether Xendi Starbase 9 was in the Xendi Sabu system, or in another system close by.
de:Xendi-Sabu-System
es:Xendi Sabu
fr:Système de Xendi Sabu
ja:ゼンディ・サブ星系
nl:Xendi Sabu systeem
Star systems |
806 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Ligon II | Ligon II was the inhabited second planet of its star system and the homeworld of the humanoid Ligonians. The planet was not a Federation member.
In 2364, Ligon II was orbited by an orbital control station and was the source of a rare vaccine that was needed on Federation planet Styris IV. The visited the planet in an attempt to secure some of the vaccine, and in the process Lieutenant Yar was kidnapped.
Ligonian Centerplace
The Ligonian Centerplace, an imposing structure overlooking a city, was the place were the leader of Ligon II, Lutan, and later Hagon in early 2364, resided. The Centerplace was located on the northern hemisphere of the planet, close to an ocean.
It was characterized by a large tower in the center of the structure and a large open courtyard, with a small fountain in the center. Lutan's throne was located on one end of the courtyard; a large wall of hand-held weapons, including crossbows and spears, was located on the other side. Two sentries were often standing guard next to two giant gongs, which were located close to the fountain.
The Centerplace was adorned with many different plants and the characteristic, hexagonal shape of the Ligonian logo was present everywhere, including on doors and the weapon wall.
A fighting range consisting of different levels of steps, lights, and metal rods could be installed in the middle of the Centerplace. Yareena, Lutan's First One, fought Natasha Yar on this structure in a fight to the death. Several seats were arranged around the fighting range for spectators to attend the ceremony. ()
External links
de:Ligon II
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ru:Лигон II
Ligon 02
Homeworlds |
807 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | USS Thomas Paine | The USS Thomas Paine (NCC-65530) was a 24th century Federation starship operated by Starfleet. In 2364, this frigate was commanded by Captain .
The Thomas Paine was one of the ships that met the at planet Dytallix B when an alien intelligence attempted to take over Starfleet Command in 2364. ()
In 2367, the Thomas Paine was on a diplomatic mission to Epsilon Ashanti III. The ship was named on the chart "Starfleet Operations-Sectors 21166-23079" on the Enterprise-D's bridge. ( okudagram)
In 2368, the Thomas Paine joined Captain Jean-Luc Picard's fleet that blockaded the Klingon-Romulan border during the Klingon Civil War. The ship was one of twenty-three assembled for the fleet and was one of the seventeen chosen for the tachyon network. Identified by its name and registry number, the ship's position in the network was monitored from the Enterprise-D.
When the network was disrupted by a high-energy burst released by the Romulans, the net was no longer effective in a of ten million kilometers around the . Subsequently, Picard ordered the fleet to proceed to Gamma Eridon at maximum warp, where the fleet would attempt to reestablish the net before the Romulans got there. ( okudagram)
In 2369, the Thomas Paine was on a diplomatic mission to Epsilon Ashanti III. The ship was named on the chart "Starfleet Operations-Sectors 21538-23079" in the Enterprise-D's observation lounge. ( okudagram)
External link
de:USS Thomas Paine
es:USS Thomas Paine
fr:USS Thomas Paine (NCC-65530)
ja:USSトーマス・ペイン
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pl:U.S.S. "Thomas Paine"
Thomas Paine |
808 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Styris IV | Styris IV was the inhabited fourth planet in its star system and was affiliated with the Federation.
In 2364, a rare vaccine from Ligon II was needed to combat an outbreak of Anchilles fever on Styris IV and the was tasked with treaty negotiations to acquire it. During the delay in obtaining the vaccine, Starbase 14 informed the Enterprise of the infection rates and projected deaths on the planet. ()
External link
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es:Styris IV
fr:Styris IV
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ja:スタイラス4号星
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Styris 04 |
809 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Antica | Antica was an inhabited major planet of the Beta Renner system in Sector 500. This was the homeworld of the Anticans, a warp-capable canine-like species.
Since achieving spaceflight, Antica had been at war with the neighboring planet . Prior to stardate 41249, Starfleet had detected Ferengi contacts on this planet. In 2364, Antica and Selay both applied for Federation membership. ()
Later that year, prior to stardate 41775, the was advised by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation to take precautions in surveying Sector 500, such as avoiding certain subsectors in this sector. This request was supported by Starfleet Tactical Command. The reason given for the precautions was that the Federation was in diplomatic negotiations with the Antican government. (, okudagram)
See also
Antica IV
Appendices
Background information
According to Star Trek: Star Charts ("United Federation of Planets I"; "United Federation of Planets II"), Antica was located in the Alpha Quadrant and, in 2378, was listed as a Federation member.
Apocrypha
According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation First Year Sourcebook, Antica is the second planet in the Beta Renner system. The Worlds sourcebook claims that Antica is the sixth planet in its system.
External link
de:Antica
ja:アンティカ
nl:Antica
Planets
Homeworlds |
810 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Selay (planet) | Selay was an inhabited major planet of the Beta Renner system in Sector 500. This was the homeworld for the Selay, a snake-like warp-capable species.
Since achieving spaceflight, Selay had been at war with the neighboring planet Antica. Prior to stardate 41249, Starfleet had detected Ferengi contacts on this planet. In 2364, Antica and Selay both applied for Federation membership. ()
Appendices
Background information
The planet model for Selay was first used to represent Delphi Ardu IV in . In that episode, the model was colored blue. In future uses of this model. the green color, first used here for Selay, would be retained. It would be used to represent Persephone V in , Antede III in , and Krios Prime in .
According to Star Trek: Star Charts (United Federation of Planets I & II), by 2378, Selay, along with Antica, had become a member planet of the Federation.
In an Okudagram seen in , Antica was located in Sector 500, which implied that Selay, being a sister planet, was located here as well.
Apocrypha
According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation First Year Sourcebook, Selay is the first planet in the Beta Renner system. According to Worlds sourcebook, it's the fourth planet.
External link
de:Selay (Planet)
ja:セレイ星
Planets
Homeworlds |
813 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Defiant | Defiant could refer to:
One of the various Federation starships of that name:
USS Defiant (NCC-1764), a Constitution-class starship
USS Defiant (2370), registry NX-74205, lead ship of the class, the first Defiant-class starship to bear the name
USS Defiant (2375), the second Defiant-class starship to bear the name (formerly the USS Sao Paulo)
The Defiant (alternate reality), an alternate universe ship mentioned only in the script of Star Trek.
The , a Terran Rebellion starship from the 24th century mirror universe
, The British Royal Navy ship
The escort, a Federation starship type
, a Season Three episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
de:Defiant
fr:Defiant
ja:USSディファイアント
nl:Defiant
sv:Defiant |
816 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Talos IV | Talos IV was the inhabited M-class fourth planet of the Talos system, which was a part of the Talos star group. It was located in the Alpha Quadrant, two light years away from Starbase 11. ()
The planet was the homeworld of the Talosians, a telepathic humanoid species, as well as of the Talosian singing plant. The planet had an atmosphere of oxygen-nitrogen and a gravity that was 0.9 of Earth standard. ()
Location
In 2254, the position and orbital path of Talos IV in an inner system map was displayed on the bridge of the . This planet, located three astronomical units from the binary stars Talos A and Talos B, had a highly inclined orbit. (, production art)
In 2257, the coordinates of Talos IV were noted as 7-4-9 Mark 1-4-8. ()
History
Talos IV had a thriving warp-capable population, until hundreds of thousands of years before 2254 when a nuclear war caused a near-extinction level event. (; )
23rd century
Talos IV regained its ability to support surface life by the mid-23rd century. The planet's deep underground had been inhabited by the Talosians, who had evolved as an old and weakened species with enormous mental powers. In 2254, the planet was visited by the Federation starship – under the command of Captain Christopher Pike – after receiving a distress call faked by the Talosians supposedly from the , that had crash landed on the planet in 2236. However, the only survivor of this crash was Vina, a female Human. ()
The Federation imposed General Order 7 on Talos IV at some point after Pike's original visit. This order prevented anyone from approaching or making contact with the planet, under penalty of death. (, )
In 2257, Michael Burnham discovered that a sequence of numbers Spock had been obsessively writing for the past few weeks were actually the coordinates of Talos IV. She subsequently laid in a course, hoping to find answers to Spock's condition there. ()
In 2267, Talos IV was revisited by the Enterprise while commandeered by Spock, in order to deliver Captain Pike there. Though Pike had been crippled by delta-particle radiation poisoning, he was able to live a normal life on the planet, together with Vina. ()
24th century
In 2328, Talos IV was the destination for passengers traveling from Triskelion Orbital Station via commercial transport. , Wynsdey Adams, Loren Bivens, and Svetlana Reeves-Stevens traveled on the , and Mike Echols traveled on the . (, okudagram)
Lieutenant , a crewmember aboard both the and , was born on this non-Federation planet. In 2369, her planet of origin was listed on the chart "USS Enterprise Personnel Database", which was seen on Jean-Luc Picard's PADD. (, okudagram)
Appendices
Appearances
References
Background information
In the original story outline for (as fully reprinted in the reference book The Making of Star Trek, pp. 47-65), Talos IV was named Sirius IV and was inhabited by crab-like aliens who kidnapped Captain Robert April. The outline additionally described the surface of Sirius IV as "arid, rocky" and "the arid waste."
Near the end of , Gene Roddenberry wrote a memo to his production manager, Jim Paisley, which asked such questions as, "Regarding the surface of planet Talos IV, does the present description of the planet seem practical as regards available locations? Is the description and action presently in the rough draft suited for matching set construction, i.e. stage shooting of the more complicated dialogue portions of these Talos IV planet surface scenes." (Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, p. 205)
In the script of "The Cage", Talos IV was described as "a violet-orange planet."
The set used for Talos IV's surface was built on Stage 16 of Desilu's Culver City lot. The set was designed by art directors Franz Bachelin and Pato Guzman. It included a massive painted backdrop that greatly enlarged the set's apparent size. Although the sky pictured in the backdrop was a cloudy gray, Director of Photography William E. Snyder and the production crew gave the sky a slight greenish tint using colored lights, thereby making the planetscape seem more alien. ( text commentary, TOS Season 1 DVD) The Talosian elevator created as part of the set was built on a platform, allowing the lift to descend without necessitating excavation below the soundstage's floor. ( text commentary, TOS Season 1 DVD) Underground interiors of Talos IV were filmed on Desilu Culver Stage 15.
By , a budget of US$6,400 had been allocated for creation of the special effects necessary to show the exterior of Talos IV in "The Cage". (Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, p. 206) To portray the planet as seen from the Enterprise upon approach in the original version of , footage of Talos IV was reused from "The Cage". The film clip was upgraded and matted into the Enterprises bridge viewscreen. ( text commentary, TOS Season 1 DVD) The remastered versions of and "The Menagerie, Part II", as well as the remastered version of "The Cage", feature several updated, CG shots of Talos IV.
According to Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 34), Talos IV was a quarantined and non-aligned planet. Information on the planet's official name, governmnet, capital city and population were not available to the Federation in the late 24th century. The Talosians were warp-capable 500,000 years ago.
Apocrypha
According to Star Trek Maps (chart D), Talos IV had two moons called Mone and Toh.
According to The Worlds of the Federation, (p. 132) any distress signal or other communication supposedly originating from anywhere in the entire Talosian region was to be assumed false, with no exceptions. According to the reference book, the indigenous name of the planet was Clesik.
External link
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ja:タロス4号星
ru:Талос IV
Talos 04
Homeworlds |
817 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Talos star group | The Talos star group was a stellar cluster in the Milky Way Galaxy which was named after the Talos system.
This Alpha Quadrant cluster was described as being located "in the third quadrant of the vernal galaxy" in the Starfleet file "". The cluster was about two light years from Starbase 11.
In 2254, this star group was approximately two weeks away from the Rigel system at the maximum cruising speed of a heavy cruiser. In 2267, this star group was six days away from Starbase 11 at the maximum warp speed of a Constitution-class heavy cruiser. (; )
Location
In 2293, the location of Talos in the Milky Way Galaxy was labeled in a star chart that was in Captain James T. Kirk's quarters aboard the . (, okudagram)
In 2399, the location of Talos was labeled in a Federation star chart that was in Fleet Admiral Kirsten Clancys office at Starfleet Headquarters. The star group was located in or near to Federation space. ()
In 3189, the location of Talos was denoted on a holographic star chart of the galaxy at Federation Headquarters. ()
History
By the mid-23rd century, the cluster was unexplored and was not the site of any colonies. The only expedition into the region, a survey by the , had culminated in the Columbia disappearing under mysterious circumstances in 2236. Eighteen years later, in 2254, the , under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, on a search-and-recovery mission for survivors of the downed survey ship became the second ship to enter the star group. ()
In the 2280s, a cargo container from Talos III, a planet in the Talos system, was transported to Regula for use in Project Genesis. ()
In the 24th century, Talos IV, a sister planet to Talos III in the Talos system, was a stop on the commercial transport routes. ()
Background information
In the script of , the Talos star group was described as "a dual-sun system."
The image of the Talos star group was a color astrophotographic exposure of M45, the Pleiades Cluster. The exposure was relatively short, and so was lacking detail of the characteristic Merope Nebula. However, the nebula does give a blue halo to the stars visible within the photograph.
The vernal galaxy information comes from the file "Talos IV" read by Captain James T. Kirk in . It was unknown what the vernal galaxy was, exactly, and how its quadrants are arranged. This reference system was never used again. Dialogue in "The Cage" clearly states Earth and Talos to be in the same galaxy. According to Pike, the Enterprise originated from a stellar group at the other end of the galaxy relative to Talos.
de:Talos-Sternengruppe
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Clusters
Regions |
820 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Omicron Theta colony | The Omicron Theta Colony, also known as the Omicron Theta Outpost, was a Federation colony located on the planet Omicron Theta in the remote Omicron Theta star system. It was established before 2328 as a completely self-sufficient colony with a primacy focus on the sciences, although there were also farms. Of the 411 colonists who lived at the colony before its destruction, Dr. Noonian Soong remains the best known.
The former colony was entirely destroyed by the Crystalline Entity in 2338. The Soong-type android Data was found deactivated on this planet by the crew of the , which was alerted to the colony by a signal sent by a signal device. Data was programmed with the journal entries of the various colonists, the intent being that they would provide him with a reference for social behavior.
In 2364, the remains of the colony were revisited by the . There was an extensive facility hidden by the colonists before they perished. The laboratory of Dr. Soong and another android, Lore, were found. ()
Personnel
cs:Kolonie Omicron Theta
ja:オミクロン・シータ・コロニー
Colonies
Outposts |
821 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Federation colonies | Federation colonies were those colonies which were under the authority and jurisdiction of the United Federation of Planets. The Federation contained many colonies of their member planets.
Earth colonies
These colonies were established by various Earth governments or United Earth and largely remained in close contact with and dependence on Earth. Most of them were older than the Federation itself.
Alpha III
Alpha Eridani II
Colony Alpha 5
Cygnia Minor
Deneva colony (Deneva)
Earth Colony II
Lunar colonies (Luna)
Lunar One Colony
Orpheus Mining Complex
Martian colonies (Mars)
Martian Colony 3
Utopia Colony
Proxima colony (Alpha Centauri system)
Terra Nova colony (Abandoned in 2083)
Vega colony
Vulcan colonies
These colonies were established by the High Command. Most of them were older than the Federation itself.
Paan Mokar
Vulcanis Lunar colony
Vulcan monastery planet (location of P'Jem)
Other Federation colonies
Many of these colonies were established by the Federation. Often, Federation citizens from many different member worlds coexisted in these colonies.
Ajilon Prime colony
Aldebaron colony
Archanis IV colony
Archer IV colony
Arvada III colony
Barisa Prime colony
Benecia Colony (Benecia)
Berengaria VII colony
Bersallis III colony
Beta VI
Betazed colonies
Boradis III colony
Caldos colony
Campor III
Cerberus colony
Cestus III colony (destroyed in 2267, rebuilt by 2371)
Coltar IV colony
Corvan II colony
Galen IV colony (Galen IV)
Gamma Hydra IV colony
Gault colony
Gemulon V colony (planned in the 2350s but never established)
Hanolan colony
Iadara colony
Ivor Prime colony (destroyed in 2373)
Janus VI colony (Janus VI)
Kessik IV colony
M-11 colony
Mantilles colony
Manzar colony (Sector 441)
Marcos XII colony
Melona colony
Midos V
Minos Korva colony
MS I colony
Nehru colony (Bajor sector)
New Berlin Colony
New France colony (Bajor sector)
New Paris colonies
New Providence colony (Jouret IV, destroyed in 2366)
Norpin colony (Norpin V)
Omicron colony (Omicron Ceti III, relocated in 2267)
Omicron Theta colony (Omicron Theta, destroyed in 2336)
Ophiucus III colony
Penthara IV colony
Planet Q colony
Rana IV colony (destroyed in 2366)
Relva VII colony
Quadra Sigma III colony
Setlik III colony
Sherman's Planet
Solarion IV colony (destroyed in 2368)
Strnad colony (Strnad solar system, relocated in 2364)
Talos III colony
Tantalus Penal Colony (Tantalus V)
Taranko colony
Tarsus IV colony (Tarsus IV)
Tendara colony
Theta VII colony
Triacus colony
Colonies independent from Earth or the Federation
These colonies declared their independence from Earth or the Federation, were ceded to other governments, or had simply been founded independently.
Bringloid V colony (Bringloid V), forgotten until 2365, then moved to Mariposa colony
Former Briori colony planet (Delta Quadrant)
Dorvan V colony, ceded to the Cardassian Union in 2370
Genome colony (Moab IV), completely isolated itself until 2368
Hakton VII colony (Hakton VII, Demilitarized Zone)
Juhraya colony, ceded to the Cardassian Union in 2370
Mariposa colony (Mariposa), forgotten until 2365, then merged with Bringloid V colony (presumably reintegrated with the Federation)
Marva IV colony (Demilitarized Zone), Maquis colony
New Eden (Terralysium)
Quatal Prime colony (Demilitarized Zone), Maquis colony, formerly Cardassian
"Santa Maria colony" (Orellius system), founded in secret, discovered in 2370
Salva II colony, ceded to the Cardassian Union in 2370, partially moved to Marva IV
Skagaran colony (Delphic Expanse)
Solosos III colony (Demilitarized Zone), Maquis colony
Soltok IV colony (Demilitarized Zone)
Tau Cygna V colony (Tau Cygna V), ceded to the Sheliak Corporate and evacuated in 2366
Terra 10 colony (Terra 10, forgotten until 2269, then moved to Verdanis)
Tracken II colony (Demilitarized Zone), Maquis colony
Turkana IV colony (Turkana IV), failed and declared independence in the 2350s
Umoth VIII colony (Demilitarized Zone)
Velara III colony and Velara Base, ceded to the native "Microbrain" lifeforms and quarantined
Veloz Prime colony (Demilitarized Zone), Maquis colony, formerly Cardassian
Volan colonies (Volan II and Volan III), ceded to the Cardassian Union in 2370
External links
bg:Колонии на Федерацията
cs:Kolonie Federace
de:Föderationskolonien
fr:Colonies de la Fédération
nl:Federatie kolonies
Lists
Cartography
Colonies |
825 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | 2367 |
Events
By starship or station
Jupiter Station
is brought online at the Jupiter Station Holoprogramming Center by Lewis Zimmerman. ()
The is severely damaged following an attempt to destroy a Borg cube and is unable to join the fleet massed at Wolf 359. William T. Riker is field promoted to captain of the Enterprise, and he chooses Borg specialist Commander Shelby as his first officer. At the Battle of Wolf 359, a total of thirty-nine Federation starships are destroyed by the Borg and eleven thousand lives are lost, including Benjamin Sisko's wife, Jennifer. Riker eventually devises a plan to recover Jean-Luc Picard, assimilated as Locutus of Borg, and the Enterprise crew use him to exploit the weakness of the Borg Collective hive mind. The cube is eventually destroyed in orbit of Earth. (; )
The Borg implants are removed from Picard, and he returns to command of the Enterprise, although he requires several weeks of therapy. Riker returns to his post as first officer. ()
The Enterprise docks at Earth Station McKinley for six weeks of repair work. While there, a defective dilithium chamber hatch is installed. ()
Wesley Crusher leaves the Enterprise once he is accepted into Starfleet Academy. ()
The is temporarily transferred near the center of the galaxy by Lieutenant Barclay, where an intelligent species known as the Cytherians is discovered. ()
In another quantum reality, Picard is lost in an encounter with the Borg and Riker succeeds him as captain of the Enterprise-D with Worf as his first officer. In the same alternate reality, Worf and Deanna Troi begin a romantic relationship and have their first child, a son named Eric-Christopher. ()
Other events
This year marks the passage of the hundred years after Spock suggested to Kirk that it would be interesting to return to Ceti Alpha V "and learn what crop had sprung from the seed you had planted". ()
According to Montgomery Scott, while trapped in the mirror universe, Scott stated that the field density between the prime and mirror universes was closing rapidly and, should an escape not be made within the next thirty minutes, it would not be until this year in which another attempt could be made. ()
A number of individuals from both the ships at Wolf 359 and other vessels in the area are captured and assimilated by the Borg while en route to Sector 001. Some are returned to the Delta Quadrant by unknown means. ()
Zio is imprisoned in the Akritirian maximum security detention facility. ()
Commander Shelby heads the task force to build starships in order to bolster the numbers lost to the Borg cube. ()
Chancellor K'mpec of the Klingon High Council dies, causing a power struggle between Duras and Gowron. Picard is appointed as Arbiter of Succession. Duras murders Ambassador K'Ehleyr after she discovers evidence of treachery and collusion with the Romulans by the House of Duras. Worf then claims right of vengeance against Duras, killing him. ()
Vulcan Ambassador is discovered to be a Romulan spy. She is unwittingly returned to a Romulan vessel, with many Federation secrets, before the deception is uncovered. ()
The Juarez baby is born. ()
Peaceful relations are solidified between the Federation and the Cardassian Union, ending years of war and bloodshed between the two powers. The , under the command of Captain Benjamin Maxwell, launches a series of illegal raids against the Cardassians, in hopes of instigating renewed hostilities. The Phoenix is tracked down by the Enterprise-D, with the assistance of Gul Macet, and eventually surrenders. ()
Internal tensions in the Klingon Empire affect the Federation when it is suspected a Klingon exchange officer provided information about the warp core to the Romulans, causing an explosion on board the Enterprise-D. Admiral Norah Satie is sent to investigate. The explosion is later traced back to the refit earlier in the year, but Satie initiates a "witch hunt," eventually implicating Captain Picard in a massive conspiracy. ()
The Federation Archaeology Council holds its annual symposium aboard the Enterprise-D in orbit of Tagus III. Renowned names such as Switzer are in attendance. ()
Q takes Vash on a two-year journey through the Gamma Quadrant. ()
Romulan Commander Sela orders the abduction of Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge and uses a brainwashing technique to instruct him to murder the Klingon governor of Krios, Vagh, and thus draw the Federation into conflict with the Klingons. The plan is thwarted, and further Romulan/Klingon cooperation uncovered. ()
The Klingon Civil War begins as Gowron is installed as leader of the High Council. Gowron is opposed by Duras' sisters, Lursa and B'Etor, who are supported and supplied by the Romulans. Worf resigns his Starfleet commission to fight with Gowron, and his honor within the Klingon Empire is restored. ()
The Trill Jadzia is joined with the symbiont; Curzon, the previous host, dies. ()
Melissa Willoughby is born. ()
Benjamin Sisko attends a Starfleet briefing on Q. ()
Telek R'Mor of the Romulan Astrophysical Academy dies before he can send messages he received from the stranded starship in the year 2371 in the Delta Quadrant. ()
An eclipse occurs on , in the Delta Quadrant. Lidell Ren tells Tom Paris four years later that this was a turn on for her husband Tolen, and that this was the last time "she was his wife". ()
Julian Bashir, Erit, and Elizabeth Lense attend a New Year's Eve party at Bruce Lucier's. ()
Tova Veer becomes Forra Gegen's assistant. ()
The Brunali homeworld is attacked by the Borg Collective. ()
Thomas Riker made a phaser beam carving of the Janaran Falls in metal on Nervala IV. Two years later, he presents this carving as a gift to Deanna Troi. ()
Notes
In a holoprogram created by Barash, William T. Riker, during the Alpha Onias expedition, is infected with the Altarian encephalitis. ()
Episodes
Episodes
(in part)
External link
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827 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Bajoran religion | The Bajoran religion was centered around the Prophets, the Bajoran name for the aliens residing inside the Bajoran wormhole, which the Bajorans believed was the Celestial Temple. Bajorans thought of these aliens as gods and often prayed to them for guidance. () They also believed that everything happened for a reason and that starships were guided by the hands of the Prophets while passing through the Bajoran wormhole. ()
The word of the Prophets guided Bajor for tens of thousands of years, and over the years, ten orbs, or "tears of the Prophets", had emerged from the wormhole. Their religion was so important - and so vital - to them that, during the horrors of Cardassian occupation, it was a powerful inspiration that helped them endure and resist. ()
The spiritual leader of Bajor was called the Kai. ( )
Commander Benjamin Sisko was the first man to fly through the newly-opened wormhole. While flying through, he encountered the wormhole aliens which the Bajorans believed to be the Prophets. They spoke to him in enigmatic ways that seemed strangely wise and even prophetic. When the Bajorans learned about Sisko's experience, they identified him with their religion's . () For a long time, Sisko remained skeptical of who the aliens were. ()
The Prophets continued to talk to Sisko and guided him through the Dominion War. They were able to reach him even when he was outside of the wormhole. () Eventually, Sisko learned that his mother was a Prophet. Sisko later joined the Prophets in the Celestial Temple after defeating Dukat in Bajor's Fire Caves. ()
In 2369, Vedek Winn Adami accused Keiko O'Brien of blasphemy because of her scientific way of teaching knowledge to her students at her school aboard the space station Deep Space 9. ()
Deep Space 9 also had a place in the Bajoran religion as the "gateway" to the Celestial Temple. ()
Charity, humility, and faith were seen as the keys to enlightenment in the Bajoran faith. ()
The Bajoran wormhole was unknown in the mirror universe and the Orbs were never sent to Bajor, so there was no worship of the Prophets. The Bajorans of the Mirror Universe did believe in a pantheon of gods and had some form of an organized religion, but the faith was not central to their daily lives. ()
Organization
Over the centuries, a stratified system had developed by which the Bajoran faith was organized. () Although the took precedence above all others, the Kai was the spiritual leader of Bajor, elected from and by the vedeks in the Vedek Assembly. () There were a number of orders that made up the Bajoran religious landscape, some with more influence than others in the Assembly. Some orders and Vedeks were more orthodox than others. Vedek Winn, for example, belonged to a small, orthodox, order of little influence in the Assembly, but which was perhaps more popular among regular Bajorans. Vedek Bareil, on the other hand, popular in the Assembly, was more unorthodox in his interpretation of the prophecies. () The Assembly ruled alongside the Chamber of Ministers in the Bajoran Republic. ()
Rank structure
Kai
Vedek
Ranjen
Prylar
Important figures
Kai Opaka
Kai Winn
Vedek Bareil
Benjamin Sisko
Religious traditions and celebrations
Death chant
Gratitude Festival
Days of Atonement
Time of Cleansing
Related topics
Bajoran philosophy
Borhyas
Prophets
Bajoran prophecy
Bajoran temple
Cult of the Pah-wraiths
Appendices
Background information
Michael Piller was happy with how Bajoran religion was established on . "I think that the idea of the Prophets, the prophecies and the Orbs takes Star Trek into the metaphysical world for the first time," he commented. "I think this is something that Gene [Roddenberry] would have loved, had he lived to see it [....] We had a very, very good time exploring that, and I think that we were one of the very few television shows that ventured into spiritual, religious areas. But of course, as long as time has existed, stories about spiritual pursuits, Bible stories, have been great storytelling. And it gave us great themes to explore." (Hidden File 10, DS9 Season 2 DVD special features) Even though the Bajoran religion was a contrast to Roddenberry's beliefs (as he was an atheistic, secular humanist), Piller not only expected Roddenberry wouldn't be opposed to the invention of Bajoran religion, he also noted, "He's still with us [mentally] [...] as we think about these conceptual issues." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 23, No. 6, p. 20)
Ira Steven Behr appreciated how Bajoran religion was depicted as unusual, compared to the majority of the Federation, in DS9 Season 1 installment . (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, Nos. 3/4, p. 102) Bajoran spirituality was further explored in first season finale . "I think it enables us, as a specific television series, to explore the Bajoran spiritual life, which we haven't done too much of," opined Behr. Regarding how Bajoran religion was developed in "In the Hands of the Prophets", Michael Piller said, "You start to deal with religion in school, school prayer, the Scopes Monkey Trial, and fundamentalism, and it's very thought provoking." Behr expected the Bajoran religion could be written as clashing with the scientific Federation outlook in subsequent episodes "for quite some time." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 56) Indeed, the DS9 writing staff intended to explore the religious aspect of Bajoran culture more in the show's second season. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, Nos. 3/4, p. 108)
Avery Brooks commented: "I will say that wherever African people are on the planet, there is a connection with the divine. I mean, that happens to be sold. That's fact in our history, in our lineage. So therefore, it is not a stretch in any way for me to understand what was happening with Bajor. And even the - being uncomfortable that is to say Sisko with being a part of being called a prophet, if you will, of the emissary actually. So that it - the spiritual aspect of it - I have my birthright, you see, in understanding that. So therefore, that and all other things, I am the sum of everything that has gone before. And so everything therefore affects what I do".
The intellectual and philosophical subject matters in Bajoran religion were generally not embraced by viewers of DS9. () Writing about Bajoran religious issues was therefore a struggle, as Ronald D. Moore explained; "Anything having to do with Bajoran religion is always kind of difficult to make interesting and exciting for the audience." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 115)
A DS9 episode which deals with Bajoran religion was Season 3's . René Echevarria commented, "It's really interesting regarding the Bajoran religion [...] [and Kira's] beliefs." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 92)
The producers again explored Bajoran religious and spiritual issues in , an installment of DS9 Season 4. "Every once in a while we've got to revisit that Bajoran religion and make sure that everyone knows that we still care. This was our episode for that purpose," recalled Robert Hewitt Wolfe. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 116) Ira Steven Behr noted, "Because of the Bajoran religion, it was a heady show." () The staff writers were able to write "Accession" because they ignored Paramount having advised them that such issues were not what the DS9 audience wanted to see episodes about, though the creative team received no complaints about the installment. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 55) Still, writing the Bajoran religious and spiritual matters into the episode was considerably difficult. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 115)
By midway through the fourth season, Kira actress Nana Visitor was aware of the Bajoran religion undergoing upheaval. "There's no question that there's some sort of corruption in the Bajoran religion right now," she said. "It's a big political mess, which makes sense considering that Bajor is still coming out of having been under the Occupation." ()
When was in early development, a Bajoran religious holiday was to have been established, celebrated with a party. This idea later became a birthday party, however. ()
Much to the surprise of Ira Steven Behr, Bajoran religious aspects of DS9 Season 5 outing proved popular with fans. "They really seemed to take to this, to the spirituality, the faith," Behr related. "There's such a lack of faith in today's society. We're all so desperate to find something to believe in. This is the episode that made me realize just what we had created, in terms of the Bajoran faith and the Emissary. I knew that it was going to become a more and more important part of the show, and that a part of the audience was going to love it." ()
By having a member of the Cult of the Pah-wraiths stab Sisko in , the DS9 writing staff intended to say something about Bajoran religion in general. Explained Ira Behr, "We wanted to show that, like war, religion can be a dangerous thing. We'd spent six years portraying the Bajoran religion, celebrating it, in a way, and establishing that there is something greater than technology. And that's good. But [faith] can be subverted very easily." () Winn actress Louise Fletcher agreed, "The definition of their religion was handed down by mortals to the Bajorans [....] In the hands of a ruthless leader, the will or the words of the Prophets can be perverted or twisted. The people don't have a bible. There's no written word; everything is very hi-tech." ()
Apocrypha
In the hypothetical Season 8, Section 31 determined that the Bajoran religion stood in the way of Bajor's entry into the Federation and set out to destroy it.
External link
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828 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Crossroads of Time | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Crossroads of Time was a video game released in for the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive outside North America) and Super Nintendo Entertainment System consoles. Developed by Novotrade International and published by Playmates Interactive Entertainment, the game was pitched and design work began before the series began its broadcast run (according to a lead designer).
The game itself is a side-scrolling platform game. Through most of it you control Commander Sisko, but at key points also control Dr. Bashir, Major Kira, and Odo.
Story
Mission 1: Saboteurs
"Deep Space Nine, Station Log: Stardate 46871.6. Commander Benjamin Sisko reporting. Political tensions on nearby Bajor has slowed our usual flow of visitors. If not for a Cardassian warship, the station would be very quiet."
Sisko is relaxing in his office when he receives a call from Security Chief Odo asking him to come down to the security office. Taking a turbolift to the Promenade, Sisko makes his way to the office. Talking to Odo, Sisko discovers that one of the station's technicians was attacked and is now being treated for her injuries by Dr. Bashir in the infirmary. When Sisko asks Odo if he was able to find the attacker, Odo says he didn't and didn't find any witnesses. Seeing that the matter is in Odo's hands, Sisko heads back to Ops. Once there, Sisko speaks with Lieutenant Dax, and finds out from the science officer that she has detected anti-proton emissions coming from Lower Pylon 3. She says she'll send Chief O'Brien to do it, but since he's working on the station's security grid, Sisko decides to do it himself. Dax gives him a tricorder that will detect the emissions, and Sisko leaves to carry out his task. Once he gets to the lower pylon, Sisko discovers a stunned crewman and contacts Major Kira, who beams the injured man to the Infirmary. Sisko grabs a phaser, and begins his task of finding the source of the anti-proton emissions. He gets to a corridor and discovers a Bajoran planting a bilitrium grenade, and immediately contacts Dax. Dax immediately tells him to grab it and put it in the nearest ejection tube.
Sisko complies and the explosive is safely beamed out of danger. Sisko continues on, stunning the renegade Bajorans and beaming the grenades (which all are armed and have a 23-second fuse) out into space. Dax contacts Sisko and informs him that she is detecting increased transporter activity in the pylon, apparently from a Bajoran ship that left the station earlier. Since he doesn't want any more renegade Bajorans beaming aboard, Sisko orders Dax to raise the shields. The pylon accessway is cleared of all Bajorans and bilitrium explosives, and Sisko contacts Dax. However, he discovers he isn't finished. Dax has discovered more of the same ahead and Sisko presses on with his task, and Dax has also discovered the cause of the anti-proton emissions. The bilitrium grenades' power cells leak the anti-protons they were so curious about. She asks Sisko to use the tricorder to find them and Sisko moves on further into the pylon. Sisko enters the Pylon superstructure, and Dax informs him she has detected enough anti-protons for five of those bilitrium grenades. O'Brien comes on the line and informs him that someone sabotaged the security grid in the pylon superstructure. He tells him to destroy any devices that he finds attached to the optical cables. After a few more areas to clear of grenades, Sisko contacts Dax and asks her if there are any more anti-proton emissions, and Dax informs him there are none and congratulates him on a job well done. Sisko beams out.
Mission 2: Pursuit
"Station Log: Stardate 46871.7. Having disposed of the explosives planted on the station, I now turn my attention on those responsible."
Sisko approaches Odo in the security office, and Odo informs him that he has questioned the men Sisko stunned. They say that they're Bajoran redemptionists who are loyal to a man named Etok. Sisko is confused, and he asks Odo what "redemptionists" are. Odo simply informs him that they are Bajorans who reject traditional Bajoran culture. Again, seeing the matter is going to be dealt with, Sisko leaves Odo be. Upon leaving Odo's office, Major Kira informs Sisko that Gul Gurgey from the Cardassian ship insists on speaking with Sisko in his office and Sisko informs her he'll be on his way. Before he leaves for Ops, he decides to investigate a little bit. He goes into Quark's and asks the barkeep if he has heard anything about the men that Odo arrested earlier. Quark says he has, and that some of them were there earlier and Quark overheard them talking about going to the Idran system, the system where the wormhole ends up in the Gamma Quadrant. Hearing enough, Sisko leaves Quark's and heads for Ops. He gets sidetracked again, this time by Garak, and Sisko asks if he's heard of any ship bound for Idran. Garak informs the commander that he has; two Bajorans were discussing it outside his shop.
He also overheard that in that system there was an asteroid field. Believing he's got enough information, Sisko finally heads for Ops. When he gets there, Dax informs Sisko that one of the Bajorans he stunned was carrying an unarmed grenade. Odo gave it to her and decided to run a few scans. She informs Sisko that the bomb was a Sestra Co. Model 124C, designed on Earth. Sisko deduces that someone is giving Federation weapons to the Bajoran Redemptionists. Dax agrees, and confers that they should investigate further. Sisko heads for his office for his meeting with Gul Gurgey. Gurgey chastises Sisko, blaming him for allowing Bajoran criminals an opportunity to threaten his ship. Rather than reacting, Sisko takes that as a "thank you" for saving his ship. Gurgey says he will not allow terrorist acts against his ship and he storms out of the office. Sisko contacts Kira and asks her to meet him on the Promenade as soon as she can. He catches up with Kira, and he informs her of what Quark told him and the asteroid field there. Kira requests to go after the ship, and Sisko grants it.
"Station Log: Stardate 46871.8. Major Kira Nerys has taken a Runabout in pursuit of the terrorists' ship. The mission will take her through the wormhole and into the Gamma Quadrant: 70,000 light years from Bajor."
The game turns into a side-scrolling shooting game, with the player taking control of the runabout and firing at the asteroids as well as the ship. First, the player must navigate successfully through the wormhole. After a chase through the Idran asteroid field, Kira manages to knock down the shields of the fleeing vessel and its occupants are beamed aboard. The mission deemed a success, Kira pilots the Runabout back to Deep Space 9.
Mission 3: Nest of Vipers
Kira makes her way to Sisko's office, where he commends her on a job well done. She says thanks, and informs Sisko that there were only two Bajorans aboard; Odo's questioning them now and she's pretty certain they're Redemptionists. Sisko says he'll look into it and Kira leaves. Sisko leaves his office and into Ops where Dax has made an important discovery. She informs Sisko that the explosives were of Earth design, but weren't made there. Scans revealed that there are atomic errors in the sarium krellide power cells. Sisko realizes that someone on Bajor has been copying Federation-made weapons with a replicator. Dax says that may be possible, but the technology isn't that common on Bajor. Sisko heads for the Promenade and encounters Gul Gurgey again. Sisko tells him that Gurgey's men are back on the station. He seems really curious knowing all of the men were gone shortly before the bombing attempt. Gurgey says it was a mere coincidence as they were running a drill.
Gurgey excuses himself and leaves. Sisko runs into O'Brien, and he tells him that the Redemptionists know they have their men and somehow they are getting information from the station. O'Brien says he'll check the communications logs. Sisko heads for Odo's office, and Odo informs him that he searched the ship and found it loaded to the hatches with more bilitrium grenades. Sisko asks about the crew. Odo says there were two more just like the others and they don't say much. Sisko leaves the office, confident that Odo will do his job. Once back to Ops, Kira informs Sisko that the Redemptionists have kidnapped Kai Opaka. The Redemptionists want him personally to negotiate for her release. Kira informs him that if he doesn't do it, Bajor will never see Opaka again.
"Station Log: Stardate 46872.5. In order to save the Bajoran religious leader, Kai Opaka, I will beam down to Bajor from an orbiting Runabout piloted by Lieutenant Dax."
Sisko beams down to Bajor and discovers that it was an ambush; the Redemptionists did not want to negotiate. Dax says she'll beam him back up, but Sisko overrides her, and says that he will rescue Opaka himself and tells her to stand by. Sisko grabs his phaser and tries to locate Kai Opaka. After a dangerous journey through waterfalls and trapdoors, he finally locates Opaka and beams her and Sisko aboard along with an orb that Opaka was carrying.
Mission 4: Mysterious Time Attack
"Station Log: Stardate 46872.7. Having rescued Kai Opaka and the Orb, we are bringing them back to Deep Space 9."
Dax approaches Sisko in his office. He hands her some "souvenirs," parts from the Redemptionists' weapons replicator. He explains he forgot to give them to her on the runabout. Dax says she'll run some tests and leaves the room. Sisko follows right behind, and in Ops, O'Brien has checked the communications logs per Sisko's instructions, and discovers no unauthorized transmissions but he has found that the Cardassian ship has contacted Bajor several times. Sisko acknowledges him, and tells him to keep his eyes and ears open. Sisko heads for the Promenade and heads for Odo's office. Once there, Odo informs Sisko that the prisoners have been extradited to Bajor to stand trial and thinks that everything is back to normal. However, Sisko thinks otherwise. He believes there's more going on than what they're seeing. He tells Odo that the Redemptionists were getting information from the station and whoever was sending them information is still out there somewhere. Sisko leaves, and after he does, Dr. Bashir informs him that a Bajoran monk has been attacked outside the Bajoran temple. When he gets there, Bashir informs him that the monk has got a nasty blow to the head, but he will live. Bashir also tells him that someone attacked him from behind, but he did not see who. Sisko questions the monk, and the monk tells him that after he was attacked, he found the temple's furnishings had been overturned. "Clearly," the monk states, "my attacker was after the Tear of the Prophet". Sisko realizes it's the orb, and tells the monk that they were lucky it was in a safe place. Bashir informs Sisko that Odo has begun investigating, and wonders if there's anything he can do. Sisko tells him he can help out by finding out who attacked the monk. Bashir says that he will do his best. Before he leaves, Sisko tells Bashir that he will have Odo conduct a thorough investigation and to contact him later. Bashir rushes to Ops, and discovers that his medical tricorder has malfunctioned. He asks O'Brien to fix it, and O'Brien discovers the problem: a micrographic scanner contact came loose. Bashir thanks him and leaves for the Promenade. He makes his way to the upper level of the Promenade, and discovers Odo, who tells him that a thorough search of the temple revealed no evidence of the monk's attacker.
Bashir is baffled, and asks Odo if there were any DNA traces of the attacker in the temple, to which Odo replies he didn't find any. He asks if he found any DNA traces on the monk's robe. Bashir forgot to do something like that, and rushes to find the monk again, who tells Bashir that he gave the robe to Kai Opaka, who in turn gave it to Garak to be repaired. Bashir rushes to Garak, whom he must prevent from washing it in order to find evidence of the monk's attacker. He finds Garak, and asks if a robe was brought to him for repair work to which Garak confirms he had gotten a robe and that he cut off the torn part before he started to repair it. Bashir asks where the torn part is, and Garak says he has it right in his hands. Bashir receives the torn fragment, and discovers Cardassian hairs on the fragment, but is unsure whether it's from Garak or the attacker. Bashir asks Garak for a follicle of his hair, initially baffled, Garak gives him a hair from his head. Bashir confirms it isn't from Garak but from the attacker and also finds foreign fibers in the fragment and heads to Ops to have Dax run scans on it. He gets to Ops, and upon examination by Dax, discovers the fibers aren't natural but synthetic. She deduces that it is the same fibers that the Redemptionists' clothing is made from. It isn't what Bashir believed, and proceeds to talk to Sisko about it.
When he's there, Bashir doesn't know what to make of it, the hairs were Cardassian, but the clothing was Bajoran. Sisko is beginning to understand everything now. He commends him on a good job, and then Dax comes in with results from the weapons replicator parts Sisko recovered on Bajor. Sisko realizes something, and asks Dax if they are Cardassian-made replicator components. Dax says that yes, they are, and is baffled at why the Cardassians would give the Redemptionists weapons. Sisko deduces that the Redemptionists' leader is a Cardassian spy that's been surgically altered to look like a Bajoran. He also surmises that the Bajorans would never accept weapons from the Cardassians, but they would from any Bajoran. "This Etok must have risen through their ranks quickly..." the commander says. Dax wonders what they should do and Sisko says that a conversation with Gul Gurgey is in order. Sisko leaves his office, and immediately encounters Gurgey. Sisko accuses him of having one of his men posing as the Redemptionists' leader Etok, and the means to attack him and the station. Gurgey quickly denies the accusation, demanding to know why they would ever do such a thing. Sisko figured it out: get the last orb of the Bajorans, destroy DS9, and miraculously escape. That whole scenario would give him and the Cardassians an excuse to re-invade Bajor. Gurgey commends Sisko on an excellent deduction and that it won't help him, and tells him that the Federation won't be here for much longer, bravely stating that Bajor and the wormhole will be theirs and Gurgey promptly beams back to his ship.
"Station Log: Stardate 46873.4. Gul Gurgey's ship has taken up an attack position nearby, but it has not fired. It appears that Gurgey is waiting, but for what I do not know."
Acting on the threat, Kira places the station on red alert, shields up, and weapons powered. Sisko asks a channel be put through to Starfleet Command. Kira says they cannot, stating that Gurgey is flooding subspace with anti-lepton interference (the same problem the station faced previously). () Odo contacts Sisko and informs him that he found what Gurgey was waiting for. One of Odo's deputies found a bomb and disarmed it in Lower Pylon 3, the same place where Sisko found the anti-proton emissions from the bilitrium explosives. In fact, it was a bilitrium explosive set to go off at 1100 hours. Sisko realizes that Gurgey was going to do the same thing the Redemptionists failed to do earlier. Odo warns Sisko when Gurgey finds out the bomb does not go off, he will most likely attack. Gurgey will have to destroy the station in order to cover his tracks, Odo tells Sisko. Sisko finds out they have two hours before the bomb was set to go off, and must find a solution before then. Sisko heads back to his office. Once there, he discovers Kai Opaka, who tells him the solution is within himself... in his past. But first, he must know when and where to look. Sisko decides to find a way to cut through the anti-lepton interference. He goes to Odo to find a way. Odo says the only way is to crash the Cardassian computers. Sisko asks if that could be done from here, and Odo says the only way is to go aboard and crash them from there. Heading back to Ops, Sisko asks O'Brien if there is any way to transport to the Cardassian ship, to which O'Brien says no because they have the shields tuned to the transporter frequency aboard the station. Sisko asks if there's any way to change the frequency, and O'Brien said that back on the Enterprise, he had information like that at his fingertips not that anything from their past is going to work. Realizing that Opaka was correct about the past, Sisko heads back to his office. Kai Opaka is aware of it, and Sisko says he needs to find data on one of the ships he previously served on. Kai Opaka says that Sisko has found the solution in his past. Sisko says that he never studied the necessary systems and cannot recall things he didn't witness. Opaka says that this is where the Prophets can help, employing the Bajoran Orb of Time...
"Personal Log: I have stepped into my past, but arrived in the worst possible time: during Starfleet's battle with the Borg at Wolf 359. My mission: access the tactical computer of the crippled starship Saratoga."
Sisko finds himself aboard the bridge of his old ship, the Saratoga. The computer wails that the containment of the warp core has been breached and will explode in twelve minutes. Sisko realizes he has that long to find the information he needs in the future. He runs into the Saratogas tactical officer, who tells him that they need to get off the ship. Sisko says that first he needs to access the tactical computers. The tactical officer informs him that the computers are located on Deck 7, near the hull breach. Sisko races to Deck 7, illuminating the emergency lights as he goes along. He gets to Deck 2 and enters a room. There he encounters another member of the Saratogas crew, who tells him that the Borg are tearing the ship apart. He also tells him he won't last long without some equipment and a phaser. From that equipment, Sisko grabs a damaged PADD. Racing, he opens a storage locker and grabs a tricorder. Leaving that room, he encounters his first Borg drone, which basically fires at him with an energy bolt which misses Sisko. Making his way down, Sisko finds another Borg drone that the commander stuns him with a phaser blast. He also discovers an optical chip, and discovers he can use it to repair the damaged PADD. Finally, after blasting doors and Borg drones, Sisko accesses all of the consoles needed for his mission in the future. His mission in the past complete, Sisko beams to the escape pods along with the transporter chief and his son Jake.
Mission 5: Finale
"Station Log: Stardate 46873.5. With Doctor Bashir's help I have been able to recall the data I viewed during my flashback to the Saratoga. Chief O'Brien has modified our transporter system accordingly."
Sisko is in Ops and is informed by O'Brien that thanks to Sisko's previous knowledge of transporters, he has found a way to beam through Gurgey's shields, but only for two people to go aboard. Sisko will let Odo go first, there he will find the command deck and signal the station, and then Sisko will beam aboard. Odo seems eager to go, and beams out.
Odo beams aboard and makes his way to the command deck, morphing into a rat to get there. Odo contacts Sisko, who beams aboard. Odo says he'll create diversions for the computers while Sisko makes his way there and crashes them. Sisko soon discovers after Odo leaves that the ship has numerous defensive systems that he must destroy. Destroying them, he picks up security cards and crashes many of the computers and makes his way to the bridge. He encounters Gurgey again, who says he's armed the self destruct. He says the ship will be destroyed and it will take Deep Space 9 with it. Gurgey beams away while Sisko locates the console for the self-destruct. Disarming it while being injured by one of the defensive systems, Sisko manages to disarm the self-destruct and beams out.
Epilogue
Sisko beams back into Ops, where Major Kira and Odo are waiting. Kira commends them on a job well done and the anti-lepton interference has vanished. Sisko orders Kira to transmit the reports. Kira says she will transmit to both Bajor and Starfleet Command, but then informs Sisko that three more Cardassian warships are approaching.
"Station Log: Stardate 46873.6. Gul Gurgey's ship is crippled. The ship's computers have been hopelessly paralyzed, and its weapons disarmed." (In this log entry, the three Cardassian ships destroy Gurgey's ship.)
Sisko is in his office when Gul Dukat comes in. Sisko suspects Dukat to have an explanation for all of this. Dukat assures Sisko that Gul Gurgey was acting on his own initiative, and that until Sisko's transmission, the Cardassians had no idea what Gurgey was planning. Sisko is skeptical, and Dukat says that what Sisko believes is as unimportant as what he cannot prove. Before Dukat leaves, Sisko gives him a stern warning that they'll be watching them.
"Station Log: Stardate 46874.0. With the departure of the Cardassians I find myself wishing for some time to relax, but I know better than to expect peace and quiet... After all, this is Deep Space 9."
Background information
Credits
Crew
Writers / Designers: "Gul" Gergely Csaszar, Maurice Molyneaux, Kadocsa Tassonyi
Producers: András Császár (Novotrade), David Luehmann (Platmates Interactive)
Production Company: Novotrade
Images
Cover gallery
External links
de:Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Crossroads Of Time
Crossroads of Time |
829 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Gratitude Festival | The Gratitude Festival, also known as the Peldor Festival, was an annual holiday of great importance to the Bajoran people, which dated as far back as 17600 BC.
Traditions
The traditional greeting during the festival was "Peldor joi". ()
Bateret leaves were traditionally burned, and participants wrote their problems on renewal scrolls which were then burned so that their troubles symbolically turned to ashes. ()
Celebrations
In 2369, Benjamin Sisko had hoped to make a three-day trip to Bajor with his son, Jake, to attend the Gratitude Festival and visit the Fire Caves. ()
In 2371, Deep Space 9 hosted its third annual celebration of the Gratitude Festival. Kira Nerys served as Presider of the Festival. Among the crowds were jugglers and dancers. ()
While experiencing a pagh'tem'far in 2373, Benjamin Sisko believed he was in B'hala on the eve of the Festival. ()
In 2374, at the request of the Emissary of the Prophets, the festival was held on Deep Space 9. ()
External link
de:Dankbarkeitsfest
nl:Bajoran dankbaarheidsfestival
pl:Festiwal Peldor
Celebrations
Bajor
Ceremonies |
831 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Star Trek: The Next Generation - Future's Past | Star Trek: The Next Generation – Future's Past was a video game based on .
Premise
From the packaging
You are in command of the . You are on a mission in the Romulan Neutral Zone. There are two main enemies in the game, the Romulans and the Chodak. Your mission is to locate some temporal device. But since you are in charge, you can choose whether you will follow orders or go looking for Romulan and Chodak ships to fight.
Gameplay
Game play consists of the player starting out on the bridge of the Enterprise-D, from which the player receives orders and other messages on the viewscreen. From here, the player can also access the conn and set course to any of a large list of planets. If the need arises, the player can also access the tactical station, from which one controls the Enterprise in battle. The player can also access the turbolift, which takes one to the transporter room. Unless the planet the player chooses is a part of a mission, the player will not be able to leave the bridge.
If access to the transporter room is allowed, the player will then be able to choose members of an away team to beam down to the planet to carry out a mission. The player then takes control of the away team once they are on the planet. One member of the away team will lead while the others follow. The player can alternate between each of the four away team members.
Among the characters the player is able to choose for away team missions are Jean-Luc Picard, William T. Riker, Deanna Troi, Worf, Beverly Crusher, Geordi La Forge, and Data. The player can also choose from several non-senior staff members, all of which were created for the game (and whose features are based on those of the game's designers). Each crewmember is armed with equipment to match their specialties. For example, Picard, Riker, Data, La Forge, and Worf all carry phasers because of their high tactical abilities, while only Data and La Forge carry a tricorder because of their high technical abilities. Medical officers, such as Dr. Crusher, carry a medical tricorder in order to heal injured members of the away team. All senior officers carry a command insignia, which allows them to lead the other members of the away team. All characters has various levels of stamina as well, which also comes into play in choosing an away team. For example, Worf being a Klingon has a much higher stamina rating than La Forge or Dr. Crusher. La Forge's VISOR also allows him to see in the dark. Data is the most invaluable away team member as he is able to carry a phaser, a tricorder, and a command insignia. His android body also gives him an exceptionally high stamina rating which makes him extremely durable against damage as well as environmental hazards. His positronic brain also allows him to see in the dark, although, not as well as La Forge (a reference to when Data tells Riker he cannot see as well as La Forge).
During an away mission, the player must take great care not to lead any senior staff members into harm's way. Although no senior staff members are killed (only the crewmembers designed for the game die; others are transported to sickbay), too many casualties will result in the Enterprise aborting the mission (effectively ending the game). When a senior officer's health is depleted, the away team will be forced to return to the Enterprise and the player must begin the level again. Should any senior officer other than the captain be injured three times, the Enterprise will abort the mission altogether and the game will be over. Should Captain Picard sustain severe injury once during a mission, the entire game will be over immediately.
The final part of the gameplay is the space battle, which is controlled from the tactical station. In this scenario, the player has an overhead view of the Enterprise and the enemy vessel. During battle, the player controls the movements of the Enterprise, as well as the firing of the ship's photon torpedoes and phaser arrays. Naturally, the scenario ends when either the enemy vessel or the Enterprise is destroyed; if damaged enough, some enemy vessels will offer a surrender, and the player may also open hailing frequencies in the hopes the enemy will leave them be.
Bridge commands
Conn/Communications
Observation Lounge (referred to as "Briefing Room")
Sensors
Computer/Tactical
Engineering
Transporter Room
Synopsis
"Captain's Log; The is currently patrolling a region near the Romulan Neutral Zone. Romulan High Command claims a team of their researchers vanished into the Neutral Zone over a month ago. Starfleet offered to assist as a sign of goodwill but the Romulans declined, citing security reasons. Three days ago, they asked for permission to enter the Neutral Zone and conduct their own search."
"Of course Starfleet refused such a one-sided breach. Given the sensitive nature of this area, the Enterprise has been sent to monitor the Romulans' activity."
In orbit around the Corax star, the Enterprise receives a hail from Dr. T'Lirus, a Vulcan archaeologist studying the legend of the Integrated Field Derandomizer (IFD) on planet Codis Mu VI, who claims that she is being harassed by a Romulan away team. Setting course for the planet, an Enterprise away team beams down to the surface and subdues the Romulans, thus saving Dr. T'Lirus.
Beaming back to the ship, the Enterprise comes under attack from the Romulan scout ship that sent the away team down. The small ship proves to be no match for the Enterprise and quickly signals their surrender. The Romulans paint the Enterprise as the aggressors, claiming their attack has nearly cost the peace of the Neutral Zone. Leaving the system, Admiral Baldwin at Starfleet signals with news that a plague has ravaged planet Orientis Alpha IV, and orders the Enterprise to attend to it.
Warping to the emergency, the ship finds an alien vessel in a degrading orbit around one of the planet's moons. Putting aside the alien ship temporarily, the Enterprise tends to the medical emergency on the planet. With their official duties completed, the ship returns to the derelict ship. The ship's sensors detect no power functioning aboard the alien ship and the crew is apparently immobile.
Beaming an away team inside, the crew is able to make sufficient repairs to the alien ship's power and computer systems, as well as triggering the aliens from their stasis. They call themselves the Eunacians and claim that the damage to their ship has prevented them from making full use of a device called a "TAVAD", which they bestow to the Enterprise. They explain that 10,000 years earlier, they won possession of the IFD but the responsibility proved to be too much for them. With no choice, they decided to send the IFD into the future, which is now, to prevent the IFD's misuse in their time. They plead with the Enterprise to continue their work.
Beaming back to the ship, Admiral Baldwin signals and orders the Enterprise to the planet Orientis Gamma IIIB, a mining moon colony, where environmental systems have failed, trapping ten miners underground and orders the Enterprise crew to be careful as this moon isn't a totally friendly place. Upon arrival, an away team (usually with Data assigned) beams down and finds that the indigenous Ganalians have cocooned the miners. Rescuing all ten of them, they claim that their sonic impactors are constantly having to be replaced due to the Ganalians.
With the mission complete, the Enterprise is hailed by Dr. T'Lirus, who has learned of the TAVAD device that the crew has received. She summons the ship back to Codis Mu VI, but before arriving there, the Enterprise discovers a Ferengi ship in orbit around Codis Mu V. The captain calls himself Plak, a well-known smuggler, who strikes a deal with the Enterprise to provide them with the location of DaiMon Radny, who allegedly knows how to crack the Romulan subspace code, if the Enterprise doesn't arrest him and lets him go. The crew agrees and continues to Codis Mu VI, where the Enterprise beams the TAVAD down to Dr. T'Lirus. She discovers that the TAVAD was built by a race called the Senatorius, which ruled the galaxy 100,000 years ago, and used the IFD as their main military weapon. Leaving the device with Dr. T'Lirus for further study, Captain Picard suggests traveling to Starbase 220 in the hopes that they may know the exact location of DaiMon Radny.
Admiral Hilioko directs the Enterprise to a place called "Fizaal's Happy Haven" on Codis Zeta V where a person like DaiMon Radny might be found. Captain Picard leads an unarmed away team down to the planet and discovers Radny, who is desperate to sell his inventory of sonic impactors. Picard directs him to the mining colony on Orientis Gamma IIIB in exchange for the Romulan subspace code.
Intercepting a Romulan message back aboard the Enterprise, the crew discovers that the Romulans are desperate to find the IFD before the Enterprise does. Another message comes in from the SS Nakatomi, a Federation freighter under attack by an unknown adversary.
Rushing to the location of the freighter, the alien ship explodes just as the Enterprise arrives. A message is sent from the bridge of the Federation freighter by the alien captain. Calling themselves the Chodak, they claim to have hijacked the freighter and promise the destruction of the Federation at their hands. With no choice, an away team beams over to the freighter to try and liberate the ship.
The Chodak prove to be resilient against phaser fire and make formidable enemies. Furthermore, they have set up a force field system throughout the ship to hinder the away team's progress. Leaving one crewmember in engineering to work the force field controls, the rest of the away team systematically eliminate the alien invaders and insert two key cards into the bridge consoles, regaining control of the ship.
With the ship liberated, the freighter's crew thanks the Enterprise just as another Romulan message comes in. The crew discovers that the Romulans and the Chodak have engaged in a fierce battle costing five hundred lives. Shortly thereafter, Dr. T'Lirus summons the Enterprise back to Codis Mu VI, where she returns the TAVAD to them. She explains the TAVAD (or "Temporary Artificial Variable Anomaly Device") creates a subspace corridor anywhere in the galaxy; with this one being programmed to seek out the IFD. The device cannot be used as it requires a new source of pellentium and ravarium ores to fuel it.
Calling in a favor, the Enterprise returns to Orientis Gamma IIIB. The miners, who were pleased that the Enterprise sent DaiMon Radny and his stock of sonic impactors to their planet, are anxious to help the crew and provide them with enough ore to power the TAVAD.
The device, when activated, creates a subspace anomaly in the Verenitor Epsilon star system. Racing there at maximum warp, the Enterprise finds the disturbance, as well as a Romulan and Chodak ship also in the vicinity. Before the Enterprise can do too much, Captain Picard is whisked off the bridge.
When Picard regains awareness, he finds himself in a large chamber. He also finds the Romulan commander and the Chodak captain also present. Standing on a pedestal intended for him, a group of non-corporeal aliens address the three captains and explain that, while the Senatorius used the IFD for evil, they hoped that the people of the 24th century were wiser than they were. They order the three to go to Verenitor Alpha I and Verenitor Beta V to find "the crystal shards" and then to return for the final test.
Sent back to the Enterprise, Picard finds the subspace anomaly gone, replaced by the ominous visage of the mysterious IFD on the viewscreen. Setting course for Verenitor Alpha I, an away team beams to the surface. Forced to unravel the solution of various puzzles, the away team eventually finds the red crystal shard.
Setting course for Verenitor Beta V, the Enterprise is plunged into two space battles: first with a robot ship with minimal defenses and then another with more advanced weapons. Defeating both ships, the second robot ship beams the green crystal shard aboard before being destroyed.
Sending another away team to the planet's surface, the crew discovers a frozen wasteland with mysterious robot sentries and indigenous life forms who are impervious to phaser fire. Forced to work their way through adversity and maze, the away team ultimately discovers the third and final shard; the blue one.
With all the crystal shards secured, the Enterprise returns to the IFD, where Picard is once again snatched off the bridge. Armed with a phaser, Picard must outmaneuver and outfox both the Romulan captain and the Chodak captain before they kill him. Inflicting enough damage to both of them, they are both beamed back to their ships, allowing Picard to place the shards in their pedestals.
With the blue and green shards in place, an alien in the center of the room begs Picard not to shoot him. He steps aside and commands Picard to place the final shard in the pedestal. Picard complies. The IFD sends the Romulan and Chodak ships back to their worlds. Picard decides that the power of the IFD is still too great for the people of this time and advises the IFD to send itself forward in time another 10,000 years, in the hopes that intelligent life will be wise enough to use it for peace by then.
Alternate endings
If three senior officers are seriously injured on away missions, Starfleet will recall the Enterprise and the game will end.
If Captain Picard is seriously injured on an away mission, Starfleet will recall the Enterprise and the game will end.
If a member of the away team on Codis Mu VI fires on Dr. T'Lirus, Starfleet will recall the Enterprise and the game will end.
If the Enterprise is destroyed in battle, the game will end.
If an enemy vessel refuses the Enterprises surrender, the ship is captured, the entire crew is taken hostage, and the game will end.
If Captain Picard fires on the IFD alien, Picard will be disgraced and the game will end.
Glitches
While in the cargo bay of the Eunacian ship, if you scan the bottom left section of the room, your tricorder will read you as being in the shuttle bay.
If Dr. Leslie Swan beams down to Verenitor Alpha I in the top away team position, she will have a command insignia in her inventory.
If you obtain the red shard from Verenitor Alpha I and the green shard from the robot ships in orbit of Verenitor Beta V and return to the IFD, Picard will be beamed down to the IFD with all three shards, despite not having obtained the blue one.
Background information
This game is very similar to Star Trek: The Next Generation - Echoes from the Past in many details. In fact, it is the same game, just modified for the Genesis/Mega Drive. It was released about the same time, in June 1994. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Crossroads of Time was released the next year for the same systems.
The character named Ed Semrad is actually based upon the Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine editor of the same name.
If Dr. Crusher is injured on an away mission, Nurse Alyssa Ogawa's face is superimposed over Dr. Crusher's in the sickbay medical report. If Data is injured on an away mission, he will be shown lying on the biobed with a piece of his head missing.
Several still frames from the game are digitized screen captures from various episodes of the television series. For example, the still frame of Captain Picard in his ready room is from , the image of Dr. Crusher healing an injured crewmember is from , while the still frame of the crew in the observation lounge is based upon a scene from with changes in both Troi and Worf's uniforms, as well as the addition of Riker's beard.
Several of the concepts created for this game, including the Chodak species, would be adapted and reused in Spectrum Holobyte's subsequent PC game, Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity, released the following year.
Characters
Crew
Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Commander William T. Riker
Lieutenant Commander Data
Counselor Deanna Troi
Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge
Doctor Beverly Crusher
Lieutenant Worf
Ensign Leanne McDermott
Ensign Vince Mathews
Lieutenant Mike Davila
Ensign Wes Nihei
Ensign Scott Pelland
Ensign Joyce Worley
Ensign Ed Semrad
Doctor Leslie Swan
Ensign Russ Ceccola
Ensign Jay Puryear
Doctor Elizabeth Olson
Ensign Leslie Mizell
Others
Dr. – Vulcan archaeologist
Admiral – Starfleet admiral
Admiral Hilioko – Commander of Starbase
References
: The name and basic concept was later used for another mysterious alien race seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity.
Starbase 202: Federation starbase at Signis Epsilon IB
Starbase 205: Federation starbase at Woki Beta VIIIA
Starbase 220 Federation starbase at Codis Zeta V-A
: An ancient race, the last of which were in stasis for almost 10,000 years. Their ship was heavily damaged in a fight for control of the "Integrated Field Derandomizer", but they managed to be victorious, and sent the device into the future. They had sworn to prevent its misuse.
External links
Future's Past
de:Star Trek: The Next Generation – Future's Past / Echoes from the Past |
832 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Khitomer Accords | The Khitomer Accords consisted of two historic peace treaties between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets and were the first step in reconciliation between the two powers.
The First Khitomer Accords were signed at the Khitomer Conference in 2293 on the planet Khitomer.
First Khitomer Accords
The explosion of the Klingon moon Praxis in 2293 caused severe ecological disasters on the Klingon homeworld and an almost complete shutdown of the Klingon economy. Following these events, the Klingon chancellor Gorkon initiated peace talks with the Federation in which Captain Spock served as a special envoy to the Empire. The peace conference was first scheduled to be held on Earth, but was later relocated due to Chancellor Gorkon's assassination on his way to Earth. The new venue was Camp Khitomer, on the Klingon planet Khitomer, which was kept secret in order to prevent further assaults. Despite further actions by a Klingon/Federation/Romulan conspiracy, the Khitomer Conference was a success and a turning point in Klingon-Federation relations. ()
Curzon Dax represented the Federation in the negotiations, at which the Romulan Senator Pardek was also present. (; )
As part of the agreement, the Empire relinquished its historical claims to the Archanis sector, which was located in Federation territory on the Klingon border. ()
In 2344, the Battle of Narendra III had a decisive influence on interstellar history. As the Klingons were betrayed by the Romulan Star Empire and were deeply impressed by the courage of the , this event had the effect of finally ending Romulan-Klingon relations and solidifying Federation-Klingon relations. ()
Strained friendship
In 2372, Gowron withdrew the Klingon Empire from the Khitomer Accords in response to the Federation Council's condemnation of his invasion of the Cardassian Union. ()
The following year, Gowron reinstated the treaty at Captain Benjamin Sisko's request when an alliance between the Dominion and the Cardassian Union threatened to throw the Alpha Quadrant into war. ()
In 2380, Ensign Brad Boimler worried that failing to deliver General K'orin to negotiations on Tulgana IV would put him and Beckett Mariner in violation of the Khitomer Accords. ()
Second Khitomer Accords
The Second Khitomer Accords banned the use of subspace weapons. The Son'a openly flouted this accord in 2375. ()
In 3190, to dissuade Ruon Tarka's suggestion of using a special weapon that would use an Isolytic burst to destroy the Dark Matter Anomaly, President Laira Rillak points out that such a weapon was banned by the Khitomer Accords.()
Appendices
Background information
It is possible that the second accords may be the 'peace treaty' referred to by Richard Castillo in , suggesting a signing date in the 2340s. The second accord could be the formal alliance between the Federation and the empire referenced in The Next Generation. It is also possible that it occurred after the events of in which the Federation and the Klingon Empire renewed their alliance. This is supported by the fact that Chancellor Gowron and Admiral Ross said in they had met at Khitomer.
Apocrypha
The Khitomer Accords were expanded to include the Imperial Romulan State and the Ferengi Alliance in the novel A Singular Destiny, set in 2381. The Cardassian Union and Talarians were also invited to join.
In the year 2399, the Khitomer Accords break down between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, and all out war is imminent, according to the storyline in Star Trek Online. Khitomer Vortex is the name of a Special Task Force mission in the game available only to flag officer-ranked players. In this mission, the player must join with 4 other players to prevent the Borg from utilizing a temporal vortex and thus corrupting the timeline.
See also
Treaty of Alliance
External links
de:Khitomer-Abkommen
fr:Accords de Khitomer
nl:Khitomer akkoorden
Treaties |
833 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | 2267 |
Events
By starships or station
The is destroyed by eliminating an alien planet killer. Commodore Matt Decker and his entire crew are killed by the planet killer. ()
The original shuttlecraft is incinerated and destroyed. Fortunately, the five crew members on board are saved before its destruction via the transporter. ()
Fleet Captain Christopher Pike is taken by Commander Spock and the USS Enterprise to the planet Talos IV, goes into retirement, and lives with Vina in illusory bliss. ()
The Enterprise visits a mysterious planet in the Omicron Delta region for some much needed shore leave. However, the planet is discovered to be more than the isolated world it appears to be. The planet contains multiple fantasy and wish fulfillment elements found in the crew's minds. Dr. Leonard McCoy is believed to be by an illusory Black Knight. After Captain Kirk and Commander Spock come into contact with the Keeper, McCoy is revived and the Enterprise crew is ultimately able to rest and relax before departing. ()
The Federation observation outpost on planet Cestus III is destroyed which leads the USS Enterprise to make first contact with the Gorn, who are responsible for the outpost's destruction as well as the deaths of two Enterprise crewmen, because the Gorn claim the outpost was in their territory. The Enterprise also makes first contact with the Metrons, who become impressed with Humanity when Captain Kirk shows mercy and spares the life of a Gorn captain after the Metrons set up an arena-style conflict between the two of them. ()
The USS Enterprise uncovers the truth behind the disappearance of the starship that had been lost a hundred years earlier, when it visited the planet Beta III. The Enterprise is responsible for the destruction of the computer known as Landru which had ruled Beta III as a despot for six thousand years. The ship leaves behind its sociologist and a team of specialists to restore that planet's culture to a more Human form. ()
Ensign Pavel Chekov joins the crew of the USS Enterprise. Before the end of the year, Chekov becomes chief navigator. (, )
The is discovered by the USS Enterprise in the Mutara sector after drifting in space for two hundred and seventy-one years. ()
Helmsman Hikaru Sulu's command console explodes in his face aboard the USS Enterprise and Doctor Leonard McCoy accidentally gives himself an overdose of cordrazine which, although not generally revealed, nearly leads him to change history erasing the Federation and Starfleet from existence. ()
Flying parasites invade the Deneva colony. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise discover their weakness and destroy them, ending the spread of mass insanity. ()
Although not generally revealed, the USS Enterprise discovers warp drive inventor Zefram Cochrane, long believed dead, alive on a remote planetoid in the Gamma Canaris region. ()
A transporter accident brings four USS Enterprise personnel from the primary universe to the mirror universe. The primary Kirk encourages the mirror to start a revolution against the Terran Empire. This eventually leads to the conquest of that Empire by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance in the late 23rd century. (; )
The population of the Federation experimental colony on planet Gamma Hydra IV is killed from rapid aging caused by radiation from a rogue comet. The USS Enterprise landing party, sent to investigate, also suffers from the rapid aging, except for Ensign Chekov, including the ship's four senior officers and which results in the death of a science division lieutenant. Fortunately Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott are cured of the rapid aging when McCoy, with the help of Spock, Nurse Christine Chapel, and Dr. Janet Wallace, discovers an adrenaline-based cure. ()
Except for Captain Ronald Tracey, the entire crew of the is killed while in orbit around the planet Omega IV by an unknown disease, which turns them into dehydrated crystals composed of their base minerals. ()
Other events
The Treaty of Organia is signed by the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets, thereby preventing a destructive conflict between the two powers and paving the way for further approaches. ()
Dr. Janice Lester leads an expedition of scientist to Camus II to investigate the civilization that once existed on that planet. ()
The Klingons provide the inhabitants of Neural with firearms, trying to influence local politics. ()
Nimbus III is jointly established as the "Planet of Galactic Peace" by the Romulan Star Empire, the United Federation of Planets, and the Klingon Empire. ()
Starfleet loses contact with John Gill, a Federation cultural observer, on Ekos. They continue their attempts to contact him before sending the Enterprise there to investigate. ()
Notes
This is the third year of Captain Kirk's first five-year mission. ()
A bottle of produced this year is shared by the senior officers of the after Data's death. ()
Kirk claims to Zefram Cochrane that as of 2267, "We're on a thousand planets and spreading out." ()
Appendices
Episodes
(in part)
(in part)
External link
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Mirror universe timeline |
834 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | 2268 |
Events
By starship or station
The Defiant is discovered by the adrift in the interphase of Tholian space with all of the crew dead due to mass insanity. After Kirk is rescued from the ship, unknown to the Federation and Starfleet, the USS Defiant, courtesy of a Tholian tri-cobalt warhead, ends up in the mirror universe in 2155 stolen by Commander and the crew of the . (; )
The Enterprise makes first contact with androids from the Andromeda Galaxy. This is made difficult at first due to the interference of Harcourt Fenton Mudd. ()
The USS Enterprise visits Deep Space Station K-7. ()
James T. Kirk oversees a landing party on Argus X in order to search for the dikironium cloud creature. This expedition is assisted by Ensign Garrovick and security officers Bardoli and . ()
Kirk invents Fizzbin. ()
The USS Enterprise makes first contact with intergalactic beings the Kelvans from the Andromeda Galaxy. This first contact is at first difficult as the Kelvans attempt to hijack the Enterprise and kill one of the crew. ()
Lieutenant Commander and Dr. Ann Mulhall joins the crew of the USS Enterprise. An astrobiologist, Ann Mulhall is the highest ranking female officer to serve aboard the Enterprise during its original five-year mission. ()
The USS Enterprise makes first contact with the xenophobic Melkotians. ()
The planet Amerind is saved from destruction by an asteroid by Kirk and Spock. ()
The USS Enterprise makes first contact with the Eymorgs of Sigma Draconis VI after steals Spock's brain to be used as the new Controller for that planet. McCoy puts Spock's brain back in Spock's head with the help of the Great Teacher, with the Eymorgs being forced to live, again, on the surface of that planet with the Morgs. ()
One of the designers of the USS Enterprise and Federation engineer Dr. Larry Marvick dies a short time after looking at Medusan Ambassador Kollos. ()
Kirk, Commander Spock, and Doctor Leonard McCoy are able to save the native humanoid species of Gamma Vertis IV from the destruction of the star Minara going supernova by showing the Vian scientists Thann and that Gem and her mute species can express love and compassion. ()
Dr. McCoy contracts the rare illness xenopolycythemia but is cured a short time later via the Fabrini's vast database. ()
McCoy is briefly married to Natira. ()
Kirk and Spock reprogram the Yonadas course to the one the Fabrini originally intended. ()
The is destroyed and its entire crew of Vulcans killed, as well as the destruction of the Gamma 7A system, by an enormous space going single-celled organism. ()
Other events
The United Federation of Planets hosts the Babel Conference, which eventually results in Coridan's admission to the Federation. ()
Federation cultural observer and former history teacher of Captain Kirk, John Gill, is shot and killed on the planet Ekos by Melakon after Gill denounces his own idea of a Nazi regime set up on Ekos as well as their battle against the Zeon and the subjugation and extermination of 's population on a star system wide television broadcast. Melakon is in turn shot and killed by Isak. Thereafter, Isak and Ekosians Daras and Eneg agree to end the violence and set Ekos on a more humane path. ()
Dr. Richard Daystrom suffers a mental breakdown aboard the USS Enterprise. ()
The Dohlman of Elas named Elaan is married, in an arranged union, to the ruler of Troyius in the hopes of fostering peace between the planet Elas and the planet Troyius, which are both in the Tellun star system. ()
A brief alliance between the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire occurs. This results in an exchange of technology and spacecraft design, most notably the cloaking device to the Klingons. ()
All the adults of the Starnes Exploration Party are killed, due to the alien Gorgan's influence on the children, on the Federation outpost planet Triacus. Gorgan is destroyed, a short time later, aboard the USS Enterprise. ()
Dr. Miranda Jones boards a Medusan vessel to help ready Medusans to be navigators on Federation starships. ()
Lokai steals a shuttlecraft from Starbase 4. ()
The planet Cheron's humanoid population destroys their cities and kills each other off in a civil war, making much of the planet uninhabitable to humanoid lifeforms; lower species animals encroach on and take over the cities. ()
Dr. McCoy, with the help of Lieutenant Brent and an operations division lieutenant, administers to the inmates/patients of Elba II asylum a revolutionary new medicine that potentially could eliminate mental illness. ()
Odona becomes patient zero (although she is cured of the disease herself) and introduces the disease Vegan choriomeningitis to her people on as a way to control the population on that planet. ()
The star Minara goes supernova. ()
Ceti Alpha VI explodes and turns the former M class planet Ceti Alpha V into a barren wasteland. ()
The Polaric Test Ban Treaty is signed after the near destruction of a Romulan research colony due to a polaric ion device explosion on Chaltok IV. ()
Harry Mudd steals a spaceship to escape the androids from the Andromeda Galaxy. ()
A Slaver stasis box is discovered by archaeologists on the planet Kzin. ()
The Keeper of the Shore Leave Planet dies. ()
A Federation vessel makes first contact with the Children of Tama, but formal relations cannot be established due an inability to understand the Tamarian language, which is described as incomprehensible. ()
Appendices
Episodes
(in part)
Notes
2268 marks the start of the fourth year of Kirk's first five-year mission. ()
On Sigma Draconis VI, the Congress of Morg and Eymorg is founded. (Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 34))
Neural is made a protectorate of the Federation. (Star Trek: Star Charts, p. 34)
External link
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835 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Escort vessel | An escort vessel was a starship whose primary purpose was to accompany and protect other vessels.
In 2154, two Xindi-Reptilian warships escorted Degra's ship during initial testing of the Xindi test weapon in the Calindra system. ()
In the 2260s of the alternate reality, information on escort vessels was located in the Federation database. ()
In 2367, a radical faction based on the Beta moon of Peliar Zel sent a ship claiming to be an escort vessel to intercept the Federation shuttlecraft . ()
The Federation starship, originally developed to counter the Borg, was officially classified as an escort vessel, but was unofficially a warship. ()
In 2372, during the Klingon-Cardassian War, Starfleet provided escorts for Cardassian convoys carrying humanitarian relief supplies. ()
In an alternate timeline, Admiral William T. Riker berated Worf for allowing the to enter the former Romulan Neutral Zone without an escort. ()
External link
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Spacecraft classifications
Spacecraft classifications (alternate reality) |
839 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Bringloid V | Bringloid V was the formerly inhabited fifth planet of the Bringloid system. This M-class world was the home for an Earth colony that was established by the , which was launched in 2123. Located in the Ficus sector, Bringloid V was located half a light year from Mariposa.
In 2365, there were 225 Humans living on the planet, calling themselves the Bringloidi. They were evacuated from this world by the after massive solar flares from the system's star devastated their colony. ()
External links
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Bringloid 05 |
844 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Captive Pursuit (episode) | O'Brien helps an alien from the Gamma Quadrant as hunters descend on the station searching for their humanoid prey.
Summary
Teaser
Sarda, a dabo girl, complains to Commander Sisko in his office that Quark has made repeated sexual advances toward her. His claim that sex is part of her job appears valid since the provision is buried within the contract she signed, but Sisko reassures her that the provision will not stand and sends her on her way. As the dabo girl leaves his office, Major Kira informs him that something is coming through the wormhole.
In Ops, he learns that a small starship has emerged so he has Chief O'Brien hail the ship. The sole passenger is a reptilian humanoid who appears nervous and is extremely suspicious of Sisko and the rest of the crew. However, as the alien's ship is in danger of exploding, the alien reluctantly agrees to allow O'Brien to bring his ship to a docking bay with a tractor beam, using the graviton field in the beam to reinforce the vessel's structural integrity. Dispensing with first contact procedures for the moment, Sisko tells O'Brien to greet the new arrival alone so as to ease their guest's fears and to find out what the alien is so nervous about.
Act One
O'Brien finds the ship deserted when he enters, although sensors indicate the alien is still present. He goes about inspecting the ship when the alien materializes behind him. The alien is Tosk, although Tosk doesn't tell O'Brien if this is his name or ; he is simply Tosk. Although Tosk seems impatient and in a hurry, O'Brien convinces him to let O'Brien help fix the ship.
As the two of them exit the ship and walk toward the Promenade, O'Brien casually attempts to find out about how Tosk's ship was attacked, but he ultimately gets nowhere. The two of them seem to develop an unspoken bond on the Promenade. Tosk observes everything, even Doctor Bashir as they pass him near the infirmary, with great interest. He also takes a particular interest in a diagram of Deep Space 9 on a wall panel. When Tosk observes that others will detect the wormhole and come to Deep Space 9, O'Brien seems enthusiastic, explaining that Starfleet's mission is to seek out new life and new civilizations.
There is an awkward moment while Tosk and O'Brien observe Quark escorting a Bolian woman out of his bar. Quark promises to return the woman's money but forbids her from returning to his establishment, as she has cheated at dabo. O'Brien casually explains that some aspects of his culture can be explained later.
They reach Tosk's temporary quarters and O'Brien escorts him in. Curiously, Tosk requires only seventeen minutes of sleep and has no use for food replicators as liquid nutrients are stored throughout his body. In any case, O'Brien says they can begin work on Tosk's ship tomorrow. Tosk turns to a terminal on the wall as soon as O'Brien is gone and tells the computer to show him where on the station weapons are stored. He studies a schematic of the station as the computer informs access to the specified section is restricted to security clearance seven and above.
Act Two
In Sisko's office, O'Brien informs the commander that, while Tosk seems amicable, O'Brien knows Tosk's ship was damaged by weapons fire. Sisko says he will tell Odo to keep an eye on Tosk.
Back aboard Tosk's ship, he and O'Brien go about repairing the damage and continue to bond as they teach each other new things, including the phrase "piece of cake." There are some areas where they are unable to find commonalities, such as O'Brien's sense of humor. He suggests that he buy Tosk a drink and exits the ship, which intrigues Tosk.
The two of them go to Quark's where Tosk observes that Humans and species like them have too much "downtime." He notes how very different he and O'Brien are. Quark attempts to find a way to make a profit off of Tosk, offering him a visit to a holosuite, but Tosk claims to live the greatest adventure of all, which greatly impresses Quark. He continues to resist O'Brien's attempts to find out about his past.
O'Brien speaks with Commander Sisko and Lieutenant Dax in Ops, where it becomes obvious that O'Brien is attached to Tosk. While Sisko is somewhat suspicious of their guest, he believes it is Tosk's option not to divulge the truth of his mission.
Meanwhile, Tosk tampers with an access terminal in a corridor elsewhere on DS9, attempting to access a weapons locker. A painting on the wall turns out to be Odo, who interrupts Tosk's work. Tosk becomes invisible but is stopped when Odo activates security force fields in the hallway. Trapped, Tosk assures Odo that he will not put up a fight. Tosk is led away to a holding cell.
Act Three
With Tosk in a holding cell, Sisko, O'Brien and Odo meet him in the brig, where Sisko attempts to find out from whom Tosk is running. Tosk seems to think that the fact that he is Tosk explains everything, and he claims he can't tell them any more. Even with the others gone, Tosk is unable to tell O'Brien his predicament. He asks O'Brien to let him die with honor.
O'Brien is perplexed and admits to Odo that he feels partially responsible, being that he was the one who talked Tosk into coming aboard DS9.
Another, larger starship with ion signatures matching those of Tosk's ship comes through the wormhole. However, its occupants do not respond to hails and use alien technology to scan and beam aboard DS9. They board the Promenade, headed for Tosk's cell.
Civilians scatter when three armored Hunters materialize on the Promenade. Sisko, Kira, and O'Brien arrive to join Odo and several deputies, and there is a stand-off feeling as the three officers approach the trio of Hunters. The Hunters appear to ready their weapons. As it is apparent that peaceable actions will not work, Sisko tells his officers to ready their phasers.
Act Four
Sisko instructs the Hunters to put down their weapons, and they refuse to do so. Odo heads forward to confront them, but is struck by one of the Hunters. A brief firefight ensues, with several direct hits against the Hunters, who apparently have a special armor that absorbs phaser energy. Odo comments that they're after his prisoner, Tosk, and vows that no one will abduct a prisoner from his brig while he's alive. Major Kira offers a phaser to Odo to help defend himself, but Odo declines, commenting that she knows he never uses them. Eventually the Hunters blast open the doors to Security in a fiery explosion with their weapons, and they make their way into the brig.
The Hunter scans the empty holding cell with his helmet to find Tosk, who has become invisible. Tosk reveals himself. O'Brien, Odo, and Sisko run into the room as the Hunter tells his two partners that he has found the Tosk alive. The Hunter removes his helmet, then criticizes Tosk for such "a disappointment" for having been caged and caught. It is realized by Sisko that Tosk is prey for the Hunters. The Hunter announces that Tosk will be captured and brought home alive ("the greatest humiliation Tosk can know"). Tosk hangs his head in shame. The Hunter commands Tosk's release, but Sisko does not allow it.
Sisko and the Hunter debate over the morality of hunting another, even if he was bred specifically to be hunted. The Hunter states that the wormhole will be out of bounds for the hunt in the future, then once again demands the release of Tosk to him.
In the operations center, Sisko announces that Tosk will be released to the Hunters. Kira asks about asylum for Tosk. Sisko states it will be granted only if Tosk asks. O'Brien runs to Tosk in the holding cell telling him to request asylum, but even though Tosk does appreciate their efforts to help him, he refuses because it goes against everything that he believes in.
Act Five
Quark complains about the lack of tourism from the Gamma Quadrant while O'Brien drinks a raktajino. The chief tells Quark to be quiet, which piques the Ferengi's interest in whatever has upset O'Brien. Despite O'Brien's apparent annoyance with Quark, the fact that he stays put through Quark's provocative inquiries indicates he wishes to talk about something. Finally, he explains the situation with Tosk and the Hunters' game and observes that the Ferengi don't like playing by the rules. Undeterred by O'Brien's belief the rules are stopping him for accomplishing his desires Quark speaks of the rules and just inquires about them on a conceptual level – if they can be changed or altered within the context of the game and O'Brien suddenly has an epiphany and leaves shouting his thanks. Quark shrugs at his own skills of a bartender tending to his client's needs/concerns.
In the security office, O'Brien claims Sisko has ordered him to escort Tosk and the Hunter, as it is a Starfleet rather than Bajoran matter. Odo immediately heads toward Sisko's office and with him gone, O'Brien claims that he must escort the Hunter off the station rather than transporting them, as a sign of respect. He removes and leaves his combadge on Odo's desk as they leave the office.
Odo arrives in Sisko's office to complain about the matter, but Sisko does not know what the constable is talking about. When Odo reveals the "order" that Sisko gave to Chief O'Brien, Sisko denies ever making such an order, and immediately tries to contact O'Brien. Having left his combadge back in Security, O'Brien does not receive Sisko's repeated calls.
Meanwhile, O'Brien, the Hunter, and Tosk, wearing a ceremonial collar and hanging his head dejectedly, reach the airlock entrance. As the Hunter enters the airlock, the power grid overloads, knocking him off his feet. Downing the Hunter with a punch to the jaw, O'Brien leads Tosk to escape to the second level of the Promenade and enter a corridor as the Hunter informs his colleagues that the hunt has resumed.
Sisko, Odo, and the rest of the crew are in Ops when Dax informs them that internal sensors have located O'Brien and Tosk. Odo immediately heads off to find them, but Sisko tells Odo not to hurry. After a confused moment and a nod, Odo continues on at an almost leisurely pace towards the turbolift.
O'Brien uses a phaser to remove the collar from Tosk's neck. Tosk fends off several attempts by the Hunters to capture him, securing one of their energy crossbows for himself as he and O'Brien make their way to Tosk's ship. Nearly there, the lead Hunter beams in the way with two others, but is determined to be the one that does the deed and fires. Tosk dodges and fires back, killing the Hunter and possibly the other two. In his ship, Tosk stores the crossbow above the pilot's seat and asks O'Brien if he was looking to become a Tosk, which O'Brien declines, explaining that among other things, he has a wife and daughter that would not fit well into this lifestyle. The bond between the two of them is stronger than ever as O'Brien wishes Tosk good luck and Tosk tells O'Brien to die with honor, which the officer returns. As Tosk's ship departs DS9, the Hunter ship follows, continuing the hunt.
Once the ordeal is over, O'Brien arrives in Sisko's office, where he attempts to make a feeble explanation for what transpired. Sisko appears furious with O'Brien as he scolds the chief and warns him not to pull a similar stunt again. Before O'Brien leaves, however, he wonders how it was that he was able to escape. He had figured that Sisko and Odo would be able to apprehend him and Tosk almost immediately. "I guess that one got by us," Sisko observes dryly. He has a satisfied grin on his face when O'Brien leaves.
Memorable quotes
"I am Tosk."
"That's your name, or your species?"
"I am Tosk."
- Tosk and O'Brien
"He immediately made sexual advances?"
- Sisko, to Sarda regarding the fine print on Quark's "contract" for dabo girls
"Hey, barkeep!"
"Don't call me barkeep! I'm not a barkeep!"
- Miles O'Brien and Quark
"Alpha Quadrant has far too much down time."
- Tosk
"How about you… are you an explorer, or scientist?"
"I am Tosk."
"Right."
- O'Brien and Tosk
"I am Tosk."
"I'm sure you are."
- Tosk and Odo
"I am sorry I have no vices for you to exploit."
"A challenge!"
- Tosk and Quark
"Constable… There's no hurry."
- Sisko, to Odo
"Another stunt like this and your wife won't have to complain about the conditions here anymore."
- Sisko, to O'Brien
"Die with honor, O'Brien."
"Die with honor, Tosk."
- Tosk and O'Brien
Background information
Story and script
The story idea that served as this episode's genesis was thought up during an approximately five-day brainstorming session between Ira Steven Behr and Peter Allan Fields during the week of , which led them to devise the premises for the first-conceived episodes of DS9 Season 1 (apart from the pilot episode ). (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 422)
The story of this episode was inspired by the 1924 short story .
Michael Piller regarded this installment as a chance to do some further work on character development, particularly in regard to Miles O'Brien. "It was a bonding show," Piller remarked, "an opportunity to give O'Brien a voice, to show his sense of humor, how he approaches people and problems." ()
A working title of this episode was "A Matter of Breeding". (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Cast and characters
"Captive Pursuit" is Colm Meaney's favorite episode from the first season. Meaney commented, "Scott MacDonald who played Tosk, was tremendous. He gave a great performance. We had a lot of fun doing it. We were on the edge there. Were we interfering with these people, their philosophy, their society? At the same time, what has happening there wasn't fair. It was a classic Star Trek story." ("Colm Meaney – Miles O'Brien", )
Odo actor Rene Auberjonois was extremely pleased with this episode, calling it "a classic Star Trek script, full of pyrotechnics and special effects and stunts, but beyond that […] it's about a fox hunt in the future […] and how it affects our lives." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 23, No. 6, p. 38; Trek: Deepspace Nine, p. 17)
This episode marks the first appearances of Scott MacDonald and Gerrit Graham in Star Trek.
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
Production
Make-Up Designer Michael Westmore based Tosk's make-up upon the picture of an alligator he saw in Smithsonian Magazine. (Deep Space Nine Chronicles) The actual task of sculpting the reptile design fell to Vincent Niebla.
Rick Berman was in the midst of overseeing this episode when he was interviewed by Ian Spelling for ().
The interior of Tosk's ship was a redress of a set used for various alien ships and shuttles on , beginning with Goss' Marauder in . It had most recently been used as Berlinghoff Rasmussen's time-pod in .
For the exterior of Tosk's ship, Greg Jein and Bruce MacRae modified the studio model created to represent the Vulcan . For more details, see TNG studio models.
The model used for the Hunters' ship was originally created for use as the Tarellian starship in , and subsequently modified to appear as other ships. For more details, see TNG studio models.
Reception
Rick Berman commented, "Captive Pursuit' was my favorite show of the first half dozen for all the obvious reasons. Everything worked out well, and the character of Tosk was a creature who was immediately fascinating and sympathetic. The relationship that developed between him and O'Brien was charming." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 44)
Michael Piller commented, "This was one of my favorite episodes of the season." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 43) He was especially impressed with Colm Meaney's work on the episode, Piller commenting, "Colm was excellent [in it]." ()
Director Corey Allen saw this as an important episode in terms of 's attempts to differentiate itself from ; "In general, the DS9 shows are not as squeaky clean as the 'NG shows were. The characters are allowed to be more flawed and that allows for more latitude in interpretation. In TNG, it always seemed to me that the people were wonderfully and heroically bent on the 'unbent' – they were straight arrows. But in 'Captive Pursuit', there's this wonderful moment of realization – almost without words – when O'Brien is sitting at the bar with Quark, and he discovers the possibility that it's conceivable to break the rules of the Federation, which hitherto had been inconceivable to him." ()
Michael Westmore was extremely pleased with this installment. It earned Westmore and his team a nomination for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Series. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, No. 3/4, p. 106)
Gerrit Graham commented: "...the thing I liked about that episode is the same thing I like about all Star Trek episodes. They're always about something real, you know what I mean? A real issue; it's not just fluff. That DS9 episode was about the morality of fox hunting. The Tosk was fleeing from the Hunter, my character, and his two buddies, who were chasing him through many universes. He was rescued from the asteroid in which he was hiding by the DS9 folks, who thought it inhuman, or improper, or whatever. The Tosk had been bred specifically for this one job in life. His place in the universe was to be prey for my group of Hunters. I was even in a mostly red and black outfit, which is what fox hunters wear, and the argument was whether or not it was legitimate to hunt for sport, which is what we were doing. Even though the Tosk explained that his only purpose, and his only meaning in life, was to be our prey, does or doesn’t that legitimizes hunting a fellow for sport? It’s a thorny issue. And, at the time, in the real world, people were making a big stink about fox hunting, so the effect was that this story was about a real issue. That’s what made Star Trek terrific". Graham summed up the series: "I remember that I wasn't really sure what to expect, but by the end of those eight or 10 days, I was a complete fan. I was completely sold on DS9, the way it was done, the writing, the production, everything. I was completely sold. Another thing that makes me feel kind of good is that the two makeups, mine and the Tosk's, won Emmys and they were on display in case in the Paramount offices in Hollywood. They were there for a long time. The Tosk makeup was incredible. That guy's performance was fantastic, but the makeup, head to toe… he looked like what he was supposed to be, sort of a giant walking toad. It was amazing. Amazing makeup."
Cinefantastique (Vol. 24, No. 3/4, p. 88) characterized this episode as "an intergalactic Most Dangerous Game" and "one of the top episodes of [DS9]."
Author Bryan Senn wrote that the episode was "Light on space-thrills but long on thought-provoking ideas and interactions, this episode focuses first on Tosk's fish-out-of-water encounters, with the burgeoning friendship and understanding between the alien and O'Brien becoming both endearing and affecting; then on such weighty notions as moral relativity, cultural differences, and the ideals of one's 'purpose'... Such a thoughtful approach to such dicey moral issues offers no pat answers; but neither does it supply much in the way of action, apart from Tosk's exceedingly brief pursuit through the station at the end (the only part of the “hunt” portrayed). Short on action but long on thought, “Captive Pursuit” adds not only a space-age twist but puts a philosophical spin on the Most Dangerous Game". (The Most Dangerous Cinema: People Hunting People on Film, p. 266)
Trivia
Being genetically engineered for one purpose makes Tosk a similar species to the Jem'Hadar, which plays a very important role in the later seasons of the series. Also, the cloaking ability used by Tosk is similar to that used by the Jem'Hadar. This suggests the possibility of a relationship between the two. In fact, the script for stated that the cloak was to be identical to the one in this episode. Indeed, Robert Hewitt Wolfe himself stated that "the same people who breed the Tosks as gifts to the hunters, breed the Jem'Hadar as well." ()
The Tosk and the Hunters are the first known Gamma Quadrant species seen in Star Trek. Technically, Odo is the first, but his origin wasn't revealed until , the third season premiere.
It is in this episode where we learn that Odo never carries a weapon, something which holds true for the entire run of the series (with the exception of ).
Playmates Toys released figures of Tosk and the Hunter in the 1990s.
This episode marks the first appearance of the doors to the holding cells and the wanted posters in the security office. Previously, the spaces where these appeared were occupied by plain walls with octagonal lighting fixtures.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Gerrit Graham as First Hunter
Scott MacDonald as Tosk
Kelly Curtis as Miss Sarda
Uncredited Co-Stars
Scott Barry as a Bajoran officer
Ivor Bartels as a Human security officer
David Paul Christian as Bajoran deputy
Robert Coffee as a Bajoran officer
Judi Durand as Deep Space 9 computer voice
Robert Ford as operations officer
Kevin Grevioux as a Human security officer
Mark Lentry as a Human command division lieutenant
Ken Lesco as a Hunter
David B. Levinson as Broik
Dennis Madalone as a Hunter
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Mary Meinel-Newport as a Bolian woman
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Joe Murphy (unconfirmed'')
Tyana Parr as a Human DS9 resident
Mic Rodgers as a Bajoran security deputy
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Michael Zurich as a Bajoran security deputy
Unknown performers as
Bajoran walking on the Promenade
Human female DS9 resident
Human male DS9 resident
Human operations ensign
Rotciv member
Human security officer
Stunt Doubles
Chris Doyle as stunt double for Rene Auberjonois
Tom Morga as stunt double for Scott MacDonald
Mark Riccardi as stunt double for Gerrit Graham
Stand-ins
Randy James as stand-in for Colm Meaney
Mark Lentry as stand-in for Rene Auberjonois
References
access conduit; airlock; Alpha Quadrant; amplitude; anomaly; arva node; asylum; Bajoran; Bajoran sector; Bajoran transport; Bajoran wormhole; barkeep; blood sport; cake; "Cardie"; chief of operations; coladrium flow; combadge; contract; convoy; crime; crossbow; dabo girl; decorator; deflector shield; docking ring; dozen; duranium; Earth; employment agreement; energy flux; engineer; explorer; expression; face; Federation; Ferengi; first contact; flea market; food replicator; force field; fuel; gambler; Gamma Quadrant; glass jaw; graviton field; habitat ring; hailing channel; health center; helmet; holding cell; holosuite; honor; host (occupation); hull; Human; humanoid lifeform; Hunter; Hunters' homeworld; Hunters' ship; hunting; jail cell; knuckles; L-band emissions; legal expert; level five; lifeform; light years; liquid nutrients; log; lower species; madame; magnetic coil; magnetic flux; meditation; meter; Milky Way Galaxy; neck manacle; neutrino; oath of silence; oatmeal; ; ; off-axis field controller; ops; "out of bounds"; painting; palm beacon; particle beam; patrol vessel; phaser; pink; plasma injector; plasmic fiber; polarity; power grid; Prime Directive; Promenade; proprietor; propulsion system; R&R (aka down time/rest and relax/rest and relaxation); ramscoop; reactor; red alert; replicator center; routine medical examination; Sarda's ship; scan; scanning device; scientist; security check point; security clearance; security grid; security junction; security office; security sensor; sensors; sentient (sentient being); sexual advances; shields; Starfleet; Starfleet Command; station layout; stellar gas; straight man; structural integrity; suit; sustenance; synthale; Tosk (species); Tosk's ship; tourist; tractor beam; transporter; transporter lock; Vulcans; wager; weapon detector; weapons locker; weapons scanner; weapons sensor; wife; yellow alert
External links
cs:Captive Pursuit
de:Tosk, der Gejagte
es:Captive Pursuit
fr:Captive Pursuit (épisode)
ja:ワーム・ホールから来たエイリアン（エピソード）
nl:Captive Pursuit
pl:Captive Pursuit
sr:Потјера за плијеном (епизода)
DS9 episodes |
845 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Q-Less (episode) | Archaeologist Vash arrives from the Gamma Quadrant as Q plagues the station and an unknown force threatens to destroy it.
Summary
Teaser
In the Replimat on Deep Space 9, Dr. Julian Bashir recalls when he fought the "toughest battle of my life" to an attractive Bajoran woman, while Chief Miles O'Brien sits in the background, listening and occasionally rolling his eyes. Bashir remembers that during his Starfleet Medical exam, he was the last person in the room and there was no one else he could turn to for help. Bashir says that he considered quitting the exam, as he could feel the seconds ticking away. Then, he says he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and he remembered the answer, a pericardial membrane. He entered the answer in just before it was too late. He tells her that it is the stuff that salutatorians are made of. The Bajoran woman wonders why he only made salutatorian. In response, Bashir tells her that during the exam, he mistook a pre-ganglionic fiber for a post-ganglionic nerve. If not for that trick question, Bashir tells her he would have been valedictorian. Bashir begins to tell her more, but then Commander Benjamin Sisko calls both Bashir and O'Brien to landing pad five. At the docking hatch, Sisko and Major Kira Nerys are desperately trying to open the door to the runabout . The Ganges has lost all power and oxygen levels have dropped dangerously low since the ship emerged from the Bajoran wormhole. Inside the Ganges are Lieutenant Jadzia Dax and Ensign Pauley. Bashir scans with his medical tricorder and asks Sisko how many people are supposed to be inside the runabout. Sisko tells him that there are supposed to be two, but Bashir tells him that he is reading three. Kira suggests firing her Bajoran phaser at the door, but Sisko tells her the door hatch is made of duranium composite; it will take her an hour to burn through. O'Brien then tells Kira to hand him an EPI capacitor, which will re-energize the servos and thus open the door hatch. The hatch opens, with assistance from Sisko and Kira. The crew enters the Ganges. O'Brien helps a woman get to her feet and realizes it is Vash, whom he knew from the . O'Brien asks how she got on board. Dax replies that they found her in the Gamma Quadrant, where she has been residing for the last two years. Sisko advises Bashir to take everyone to the infirmary. O'Brien asks Vash how she got to the Gamma Quadrant by herself. She replies that a friend brought her there. As everyone leaves for the infirmary, Q turns around and grins.
Act One
In the infirmary, Bashir scans Vash and finds her to be in perfect health for someone who has been in the Gamma Quadrant for two years and has not had touch with civilization for that long. Vash tells Bashir that the Gamma Quadrant is hardly uncivilized, as there are cultures that have been around for millions of years. In Sisko's office, Sisko discusses with Dax how Vash got to the Gamma Quadrant, as she knew nothing about the wormhole and did not use it to get there. Sisko orders Dax to look into it. In the station's assay office, Vash brings in valuable objects she acquired from the Gamma Quadrant for safe keeping, as she is leaving the next day. Sisko walks to the office and begins talking to Vash. They walk out of the assay office into the Promenade. Sisko tells Vash that the Daystrom Institute will be disappointed not to hear from her, as they are anxious to hear what life is like in the Gamma Quadrant. Sisko also discreetly tries to inquire how Vash ended up in the Gamma Quadrant, but she tells him it is a personal matter and she does not want to talk about it. One of Vash's old professors, Woo, wants to speak with her again, which Vash finds ironic, since Woo suspended her membership, twice. Sisko hopes she'll make an exception in this case. Vash replies that it has been twelve years since she has been on Earth and she thinks she may go back. Sisko promises to arrange passage for her.
While conducting repairs on the Ganges, O'Brien cannot find out why the ship lost power so suddenly. The runabout is now in perfect condition, despite what happened to it earlier. O'Brien replies that once new power reserves are put into the Ganges, it should be fully operational. O'Brien tells Sisko that it is like something drained the ship dry. Sisko asks O'Brien how well he knows Vash. O'Brien replies that he hardly knows her at all, apart from the one time she was on board the Enterprise. Sisko asks what she was doing there. O'Brien tells Sisko that Vash and Captain Jean-Luc Picard were very, very close on the Enterprise, ever since they first met on Risa a few years back. Sisko tells O'Brien that Vash does not seem to be Picard's type, but O'Brien tells him that the captain likes a good challenge. Suddenly, the power goes down in the corridor O'Brien and Sisko are standing in. The power returns. Sisko and O'Brien make their way to Ops, where Sisko asks for a status report. Kira tells him that power has drained. Dax tells the crew that the station's power drain is exactly what happened to the Ganges.
Act Two
O'Brien escorts Vash to her quarters. Vash asks O'Brien how Picard is doing. O'Brien tells her that the last time he saw him, he seemed fine. Vash tells him that now she is back in the Alpha Quadrant, she will have to look him up. Vash enters her quarters and finds Q there, who cannot believe that she is still pining for Picard, whom he still believes to be a "self-righteous do-gooder".
Vash wants to part ways with Q, but Q does not want to leave her. He suggests they still explore the galaxy, as there is still the Delta Quadrant and many other exotic planets to see. Then, Vash's door opens to Quark, the Ferengi bar owner on the station. Q tells him to go away and makes him disappear. Vash makes Q return Quark, which he does. Quark tells Vash that he has heard that she has several items from the Gamma Quadrant that may have enormous financial value. Quark believes he may be able to arrange an auction for Vash's items, for a fifty-fifty split of the profits. Vash, unsatisfied, goes over to Quark and performs oo-mox on him. As she does so, he lowers his cut of the profits in gold-pressed latinum to twenty-two percent. Q reappears, telling Vash that if Quark was the kind of man she was with before, it is no wonder she was attracted to Picard. The doorbell rings and Q disappears again. Vash answers. Dr. Bashir enters and asks Vash out to dinner at Quark's. She accepts, but asks Bashir to wait for her, so she can freshen up. While Bashir is waiting for Vash in the Replimat, Q, disguised as a Bajoran waiter, tells Bashir not to meet with Vash. Bashir takes offense to this and tells Q that it is none of his business and he will be seeing her soon. Q tells Bashir that he looks tired and makes him yawn. Bashir, now very tired, leaves and goes to bed. O'Brien sees Q walking away and exclaims "Bloody hell."
At Ops, O'Brien tells Sisko that Q is on board the station. When Kira asks what Q is, Sisko replies that he is a powerful and extremely unpredictable lifeform. Dax asks what Q wants with them, and Sisko responds that whatever it is, they can be sure they won't like it. O'Brien suggests Vash might know, and when Sisko asks if Q and Vash would know each other from the Enterprise, O'Brien responds that they met in Sherwood Forest. O'Brien tells them it was one of the jokes Q played with the Enterprise crew. Then, the station's power drains, yet again. O'Brien suggests, since the there has been nothing wrong with the systems for the first time in a month, that Q must be playing a game with them. At Quark's, Vash and Quark inspect one of Vash's items, a large crystalline jewel. Vash and Quark discuss what the crystal will be worth at the auction, until Sisko enters Quark's demanding to talk to Vash. Sisko wants her to tell him about Q. However, Q is already in Quark's and asks Sisko if Starfleet is punishing Sisko or if he actually requested command of Deep Space 9.
Act Three
Commander Sisko orders Q to vacate DS9, but Q intends to bring excitement to the droll Cardassian construct. Q then notices the new uniforms that the station crew wear, accordingly altering his own attire looking identical to Sisko's uniform. But Sisko isn't impressed by Q's abilities and demands the cessation of power outages afflicting DS9. Q accepts blame for this if it makes the commander feel better, subtly hinting that he is not responsible. In the course of their conversation Q causes every person on the space station to disappear with the exception of himself and the station commander. In a fit of alarm, Sisko violently grabs hold of Q demanding the immediate return of everyone. Entertained and seeking to further antagonize Sisko, Q suggests they settle the matter "mano a mano."
Temporarily transforming Quark's Bar into a boxing arena, he begins bouncing about Sisko and landing blows. Humorously, Quark and Vash wager on the sideline. Q keeps insisting that his opponent fight back, ultimately an annoyed Sisko knocks him down. Upon being struck to the ground a seemingly bewildered Q says, "You hit me. Picard never hit me."; Sisko answers, "I'm not Picard." Q is very pleased to find a command-level Starfleet officer who is much easier to provoke than the 's captain, and he vanishes in a flash.
Arriving at Deep Space 9, numerous aliens who are attending Vash's auction head towards Quark's, which catches the suspicious eye of Constable Odo. Yet again station power levels drop and the atmosphere in Ops begins to vent, fortunately though O'Brien is able to activate shielding. Investigating one of the hull breaches that happened, Dax scans with her tricorder and finds that the damage was caused by a focused graviton pulse, concluding that Q is the cause although Sisko thinks otherwise.
As per Odo's request Quark arrives at the station security office, where the constable informs the bartender that he is aware concerning the upcoming auction of Gamma Quadrant artifacts. Quark reacts with surprise to this and is a bit angered at being spied on by the local law enforcement, surmising that Odo had shapeshifted into an article of furniture or perhaps the liquor bottle. Odo remarks that the devious Quark cannot keep secrets from him. Quark defends his business venture, but Odo is actually interested in the clientele. In their conversation Odo mentions that he fails to fathom the logic of materialism and greed; the Ferengi then proceeds to tempt the ever spartan Odo with material desire: a suit made of Andorian silk, a ring made of surax, a latinum-plated regeneration bucket. Odo momentarily considers the bucket, but rejects it.
On the Promenade, Q walks with Vash and again attempts to persuade her to stay with him, pointing out the safety she's had due to him. Vash tells Q that she does not require him or his protection in a dangerous universe. Q thus painfully reminds her of a harmful insect bite she received on Erabus Prime which he cured, then causing Vash to physically react as if bitten again. First she experiences irregular balding and her remaining hair becomes lighter in coloration, then something like hives appear on various areas of her body, finally her skin becomes pale and her hair greys as she collapses to the floor from weakness shaking and moaning. Q departs from Vash and allows her to reconsider their so-called friendship, restoring her to health. A man helps the woman up and she continues to Quark's as onlookers gawk.
Act Four
In Sisko's station log, he notes that the station's power is continuing to be drained and is being converted into gravitons. If the drain continues, Deep Space 9's life support system will go offline in less than fourteen hours. The station's Cardassian sensors are not sensitive enough to detect where the power outages are coming from, according to O'Brien. Dax suggests that if they flood the station with ionized tritium gas, they could trace the particle flow to the source of the power outages. Not seeing another choice, Sisko orders it done. Then, Q appears on Ops and remarks that Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D would have solved this problem ages ago. O'Brien tells Q to go do something constructive, like tormenting Cardassians. Q asks if he knows O'Brien. O'Brien tells him he was from the Enterprise. Q remarks that he must have been one of the little people. Q gives Sisko a hint of where the power outages are coming from and tells the crew that Vash is far more dangerous to DS9 than Q is.
In Quark's, , one of the alien bidders, walks up to Quark. He remarks that the Gamma Quadrant merchandise had better be legitimate, or else he will throw Quark out of the nearest airlock. Quark assures him that each item has been authenticated by Vash, who is the Federation's expert on the Gamma Quadrant. Since that is now out of the way, Kolos asks Quark for a synthale. Quark talks more with Vash and proposes a lucrative business venture with her. Vash insists to Quark that she has slept in her last tent, as she is looking forward to living on Earth again. Then, the station shakes. At Ops, Kira, at her station, is reading that DS9 is being pulled out of its normal position. Sisko orders that thrusters be used to stabilize the station, but that does nothing to stop it from moving. O'Brien suggests that the station's reactors be shut down in order to stop the feeding of the station's power to the graviton field. Sisko orders it be done. This, however, does nothing to stop the movement of DS9. Sisko asks Dax to ascertain where the station is headed. The coordinates have Deep Space 9 heading straight for the Bajoran wormhole.
Act Five
At Quark's, the alien bidders are unaware of the station approaching its impending destruction. Quark reminds everyone that payment must be in gold-pressed latinum and that all transactions are final. Vash then holds up a statue of Drohlak from the Verathan civilization in the Gamma Quadrant. She proceeds to go into a long discussion about the history of the Verathan civilization, which begins to bore the bidders. Quark tells Vash that this is not the Daystrom Institute, she does not need to put the statue in its proper historical context, rather Quark tells the bidders that it is rare, beautiful and it is an original Gamma Quadrant piece. The bidding begins. O'Brien starts to flood DS9 with tritium gas and Dax begins a sensor sweep. The first part of the station to be cleared is the docking ring. The tritium gas is draining toward the central core of the station, but O'Brien cannot pinpoint its exact location. Kira notes that the station will collide with the wormhole in eighteen minutes. During the bidding, Kolos has won the statue of Drohlak for thirty six bars of gold-pressed latinum. Bidding continues with a dagger. Q, sitting casually behind the bidders, tells them that the station is hurtling toward the Bajoran wormhole and that they will not live long enough to enjoy their purchases. Quark attempts to calm the bidders down by assuring them that everything is under control. The bidding resumes, with Quark's cousin Stol winning the dagger for a hundred and five bars of gold-pressed latinum.
With the situation getting worse, Dax suggests returning the station to full power, so they will generate enough energy to create a power drain to trace the source of the station's problems. Seeing no other choice, Sisko orders O'Brien to bring the station to full power. Quark brings out the final auction item, the large crystalline jewel. The starting bid is two hundred bars of gold-pressed latinum. Soon, the bidding reaches six hundred bars of latinum. At Ops, the crew is desperately trying to find the source of the station's power drains. Dax finally locates it, on the Promenade. Kira and Dax leave, Sisko accompanies them and leaves O'Brien in charge. At Quark's, the bidding has reached 2,500 bars, which astonishes Quark. Q then proceeds to bid 2,501 bars. Sisko, Kira and Dax reach the Promenade and scan with tricorders. Dax locates the item in Quark's. Kolos makes a final bid with three thousand bars. Q then bids a million bars on the item. Sisko, Kira and Dax head over to the item up for sale. Sisko removes his combadge and places it on the jewel. He orders O'Brien to shut down the reactors and beam the object into space, five hundred meters off of the docking ring. The object is beamed five hundred meters away from the docking ring and begins to transform. Sisko, Kira, Dax, and Vash look outside the Promenade's windows as the creature they have just released heads into the wormhole and back to the Gamma Quadrant.
Vash is preparing to leave DS9 for Earth. While she sits at the bar and has a drink, Quark entices her with news that a Rokai provincial capital has just been uncovered at Tartaras V. Vash decides not to go, as she has her mind set on Earth. Q appears again, calling Earth an abysmal place, although he notes that Earth once had a lot of character a thousand years ago, with the crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and Watergate. Q tells her she would be much happier exploring Tartaras V instead of being on Earth. Q then decides to leave Vash and admits he is going to miss her. Q vanishes again. Vash grabs Quark's lobe and asks him what the quickest way is to Tartaras V. Quark leads her away, just as Bashir awakes from a long sleep induced by Q. He walks up to Dax in the bar and asks "Did I miss something"?
Log entries
"Station log, stardate 46531.2. The station's power is continuing to be drained and converted into gravitons. At this rate, our life support systems will fail in fourteen hours."
"Station log, stardate 46532.3. With the embryonic lifeform off the station, graviton levels have returned to normal. We've used the control thrusters to return the station to its original position."
Memorable quotes
"How did you end up in the Gamma Quadrant?"
"A friend dropped me off."
- O'Brien and Vash, declining to explain how she arrived in the Gamma Quadrant before the wormhole was discovered
"Bloody hell!"
- Miles O'Brien, upon spotting Q on DS9
"What does he want with us?"
"Whatever it is, you can be sure we won't like it."
"You might ask Vash…"
"Why Vash?"
"They know each other…"
"From the Enterprise…"
"I believe they actually met in Sherwood Forest…(Sisko and Dax's faces suggest they don't believe him)…it was one of the little jokes he played on the Enterprise crew."
- Dax, Sisko and O'Brien, alerted to Q's presence
"I'll never understand this obsession with accumulating material wealth. You spend your entire life plotting and scheming to acquire more and more possessions until your living areas are bursting with useless junk. Then you die, your relatives sell everything, and start the cycle all over again."
- Odo
"Starfleet medical finals. Gets them every time."
- Julian Bashir, to Miles O'Brien, after leaving a date with an impressed Bajoran woman
"It's got to be Q, another one of his stupid jokes."
"I'm not laughing."
- Miles O'Brien and Benjamin Sisko
"I must admit, I, I like your new tailor…"
- Q, to Sisko, before changing from a TNG- to DS9-style uniform
"Why don't you do something constructive for a change, like torment Cardassians!"
- Miles O'Brien, to Q
"You hit me… Picard never hit me."
"I'm not Picard."
"Indeed not. You're much easier to provoke. How fortunate for me."
- Q and Benjamin Sisko
"Enterprise? Oh yes, weren't you one of the little people?"
- Q, to Miles O'Brien, on their last meeting
"Mr. Quark, I believe you are trying to take advantage of me."
- Vash, to Quark
"They're honest collectors of antiquities, every one. "
"How honest? "
"As honest as you and I. "
"Then we'd better keep a close eye on them. "
- Quark and Vash
"An abysmal place, Earth. Oh, don't get me wrong. A thousand years ago it had character: the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, Watergate. Now it's just mind-numbingly dull."
- Q
"These mating rituals you Humans indulge in are really quite disgusting."
- Q
"My God, you're an impertinent waiter!"
- Bashir, to Q after the latter tells him to stay away from Vash while Q is posing as a waiter at the Replimat
"It's over Q! I want you out of my life! You're arrogant, you're overbearing, and you think you know everything!"
"But… I do know everything."
"That makes it even worse."
- Vash and Q
"Still chasing your own tail? Picard and his lackeys would have solved all this techno-babble hours ago. No wonder you're not commanding a starship."
- Q, to Sisko, who is trying to figure out what converts DS9's energy to gravitons
"But it's not going to be the same without you. When I look at a gas nebula, all I see is a cloud of dust, but seeing the universe through your eyes I was able to experience… wonder. I'm going to miss that."
- Q, to Vash
Background information
Story and script
Hannah Louise Shearer's original pitch for this episode involved Vash, but not Q. () Michael Piller elaborated, "It was a Vash episode to begin with. We go in and find Vash and bring her back and were struggling to find some focus for it." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 62)
Michael Piller and Robert Hewitt Wolfe decided to bring the character of Q into the episode and tied in with the events of and . () Piller recollected, "I said, 'If you're going to make it Vash, why not bring Q along?', because it's a natural way to get Q onto DS9. We wanted to do a Q show and yet we were very serious about doing it in a credible way. If you just have him come on and say 'Look, is this the new show?' it's silly, but this seemed to be a justifiable way. It gave us an opportunity to have Q play some games with some of the new characters and to see how Sisko would react." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 62)
Robert Hewitt Wolfe made his writing debut on Deep Space Nine with this episode. He wrote the episode after he sold to TNG but before he joined the DS9 writing staff. Wolfe commented, "What happened with Deep Space Nine is they had an outline, or a story doc, for 'Q-Less', and it didn't work. There were a lot of issues with it […] So they showed it to me and asked me what I thought. I sort of said that the whole final ten minutes as proposed wasn't necessary. The story ends with this alien egg going into the wormhole. There was a whole second half of an adventure when they were off the station, and Q was less involved. I was, like, 'No, this is about this segment. This is the sweet spot of the story.' They thought that was smart. I think Ira and Michael liked that and they brought me in to write the script and then they liked the first draft and hired me onto staff." (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 423) Wolfe added, "I did the rewrite while they were negotiating my contract." ()
According to the , the scene in which Q is surprised that Sisko has hit him is a sign of the writers' attempts to differentiate Sisko's character from Jean-Luc Picard. Robert Hewitt Wolfe said, of the difference between the two characters, "Picard is an explorer, and in some ways, very much an intellectual. Sisko is a builder, a different kind of guy. He wears his heart a little more on his sleeve, and he acts on emotion, on instinct, more than Picard." Furthermore, de Lancie himself pointed out, "Q's relationship with Picard has always been a battle of wits, but I come into Deep Space Nine, and Sisko just bopped me on the nose! From a character point of view, that's a very big difference." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 45)
Quark's line "bid high and bid often" is a reference to a quote attributed to the late : "Vote early and vote often." ()
Production
Although Director Paul Lynch had previously directed five episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, he found directing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to be more daunting. "Shooting TNG was never as complex as this. Those shows were a breeze by comparison. I mean, we might have had some special effects makeup and the odd beam on or beam off, but on DS9, it's endless. There was one scene in 'Q-Less' where Q not only appeared and disappeared from one chair to another chair to a third chair, but he also changed costumes as he went. It looks effortless on film, but it took a great deal of time to shoot John de Lancie in different costumes, changing all the way around the bar. It's because Rick Berman wants everything to be the absolute best and that's why the quality is so high. Everything has been planned to the last given point when we come in to shoot. It's just incredibly complex." ()
Armin Shimerman enjoyed watching Avery Brooks and John de Lancie film, as de Lancie had been playing Q for five years at the time of the episode and "Q-Less" was just the fifth Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode after the pilot . Shimerman commented, "It was interesting to watch the two of them together. It was an interesting dynamic because Avery is the lead and so he has the responsibility and that recognition in himself. Yet John de Lancie came on the set with his own agenda, which is that he has played Q quite often and is very familiar with his end and thought of us sort of as the new kids. We were the regulars, he was the guest star, but he felt like he was the regular and we were the visitors." de Lancie replied to this, "I love that Armin quote. I think that one of the things I had to be careful about is I couldn't be so chameleon like as to be a different character just because I was on a different set. I had to carry on in the way that I know works for The Next Generation and carry it into the new show so it would be seamless in a way. There would be kind of a bigness about Q that maybe permeates the tide pool." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 63)
The scene where Q makes Vash experience the results of an insect bite on Erabus Prime was very memorable for Jennifer Hetrick. Hetrick commented, "There was a moment, and it maybe lasted ten seconds on film, where Q is reminding me of how important he was to me and how necessary he was in my life because he had saved my life several times on some planet and they had these quick shots of me reliving what had happened on this planet. I went through probably a total of, I don't know, eight hours of prosthetic makeup, going from from as-is to slowly losing my hair and my face getting all covered in boils and warts and all this kind of stuff. I really was so glad Vash was Human. I kept thanking my lucky stars I hadn't been cast as an alien just because they have to go through an awful lot." (Section 31 hidden file 10, DS9 Season 1 DVD)
In an outtake from the fight scene between Sisko and Q, John de Lancie replied to Avery Brooks' order to bring back the Deep Space 9 inhabitants with the alternate, "Or what? What? You'll ravish me?" de Lancie started to laugh and apologized, and Avery Brooks replied, "I might." The filming crew laughed and applauded. (Ultimate Trek: Star Trek's Greatest Moments)
Reception
Michael Piller noted about this episode, "It was fun." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 62)
Robert Hewitt Wolfe commented, "Looking back on it, I would say the story had some problems that I didn't see when I came in. Almost no one had written a Deep Space Nine episode before that time. 'Q-Less' just didn't have enough emotional impact for our characters. Because Q was familiar to me from The Next Generation and he was so fun to write, I concentrated a little too much on him and not enough on our regular characters. That's the show's flaw." Wolfe also felt Sisko's scene with Q did not go far enough in the episode: "That was important for us to do but I don't think it was enough. Sure, Sisko is not Picard, but Sisko is Sisko. The episode didn't show enough of who Sisko is, or any of the others for that matter, with the exception of Quark. But Quark's pretty easy to figure out." ("Robert Hewitt Wolfe – Writer/story editor", )
Director Paul Lynch enjoyed filming scenes with Q and Vash due to Q's acerbic comments. Lynch elaborated, "That's Q's modus operandi and that's why it's fun to do. They really did get down that fast paced, fun stuff I like. There was a real push in order to do it in the time we had because comedy takes time to make it work. If the timing doesn't work exactly, it doesn't work at all and that takes take after take. We were always running against production conflicts because of that. To a degree, it's a little like Moonlighting, except that the reason Moonlighting sometimes took between twelve and eighteen days to do a one-hour episode was that the amount of time it took to work out the timing in long sustained scenes, which is what you want. You want the scene to play without cuts and that goes back to Howards Hawks where you would just play a scene right through and let the camera watch it. That's what makes it funny. That takes a lot of time to rehearse, to stage and to shoot because if you're a beat off at any given point, you have to go back and do the whole thing over again. That was a hard show, but comedy, as they say, is always the toughest thing to do." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, pp. 63-64)
John de Lancie has expressed some disappointment with this episode, and agrees with the fans who felt that Q is acting out of character. According to de Lancie, "Q is best used when he deals with large philosophical issues. And skirt-chasing just isn't one of them." ()
However, de Lancie did enjoy working with Jennifer Hetrick in the episode. He commented, "[Jennifer] and I have worked a couple of times together other than Star Trek. We just spent a lot of time together trying to get our lines down for which there were a lot. While it was a nice show, the urgency of my involvement and the kind of motivation behind it that I'm in love wasn't explored in a substantial way, which leaves you with a thin thing to play. As a result, the style, the quips and the panache in which things are done become very important." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 63)
Jennifer Hetrick enjoyed the episode, commenting, "It was only their fifth episode so it was a little different than working on The Next Generation in terms of working with new people. The environment was also very different in terms of the whole storyline where you have many more different aliens and characters. It was very colorful and I kind of think of Quark's as the Star Wars cantina. The characters are also a lot of fun and I liked working with John again and continuing the relationship between those two characters." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 63)
Ira Steven Behr commented, "I worked a lot on that episode. Michael [Piller] likes to give challenges out to the staff and the challenge in 'Q-Less' was to write a scene which took place entirely in Vash's quarters: 'I want to take that as long as you can go. Make it as funny as you can and keep people coming in'. I think it worked extremely well." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 64)
Behr also commented, "John de Lancie said it was the funniest and best material he's had as Q." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 45)
Ira Behr enjoyed writing Q's line about technobabble, commenting, "It was a line we wrote with great glee, because at that point we hated the goddamned technobabble." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 45)
Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross rated "Q-Less" as "good". Altman commented, "Q has never been more scathing or outrageous, and his verbal jousts with Sisko are unmatched by anything since Kirk fenced with Harry Mudd." (Trek Navigator: The Ultimate Guide to the Entire Trek Saga)
Trivia
This is the only episode of the entire DS9 series in which John de Lancie (Q) appears. Q also never summons his powers with the traditional snap of his fingers. It also marks the last appearance of Vash.
This episode makes several references to , where Picard first met Vash on Risa; and , where Q took Vash to travel the galaxy.
This is the second of John de Lancie's three appearances on Star Trek during the first season of DS9. He previously appeared in and appeared again in , just one week later.
This episode contains Deep Space Nines third reference to the animated television series . The name of the planet Hoek IV in the episode is named after the main character Ren Höek. The first two Ren and Stimpy references are found in , where the Ren and Stimpy-inspired names "Surmak Ren" and "Spumco" are referenced.
Julian Bashir relates the story about his final exam when he confused a pre-ganglionic fiber with a post-ganglionic nerve for the first time. The story had been originally featured in , but the scene was cut.
Miles O'Brien recognizes both Vash and Q, although he did not share screen time with either character in any of their appearances on The Next Generation. Colm Meaney did not appear in either or , the two previous appearances of Vash; he did appear in two episodes which featured Q, and , but Q and O'Brien did not appear together in any scenes. Q's failure to recognize O'Brien, and subsequent reference to him as "one of the little people," may refer to this slight discontinuity.
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
This episode features six characters who also appeared in : Chief O'Brien, Dr. Bashir, Quark, Q, Vash, and Morn (although only O'Brien, Q, and Vash originated on TNG). This episode also features three of the four characters who appeared in The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and : Quark, Q and Morn. Gul Evek is the only one who does not appear.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 4,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Q collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Jennifer Hetrick as Vash
John de Lancie as Q
Co-Stars
Van Epperson as Bajoran Clerk
Tom McCleister as
Laura Cameron as Bajoran Woman
Uncredited Co-Stars
Robert Coffee as Bajoran officer
Brian Demonbreun as sciences officer
Holiday Freeman as civilian
Randy James as
David Jeffries as Stol
Mark Lentry as command lieutenant
David B. Levinson as
Broik
Ferengi bidder
Dyanna Lynn as boxing spectator
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Stan Petier as Rul the Obscure
Spiro Razatos as boxing spectator
Jane Razzano as Rul's associate
Milan Ruba as Rul's associate
Mark Allen Sheperd as Morn
Michael Zurich as Bajoran security deputy
Unknown performers as
Bajoran assistant
Bajoran waiter
Green-skinned alien with beaked face
Operations ensign
Pauley
Pelian
Yellow-skinned dabo girl
Stunt Doubles
John Lendale Bennett as stunt double for Avery Brooks
Chuck Borden as stunt double for John de Lancie
References
30,000 years ago; 14th century; 2357; 2367; 2373; airlock; Andoran; Andorian silk; archaeologist; artifact; assay office; atmosphere; auction; authorization code; auxiliary power; background check; Bajoran; Bajoran wormhole; ; barbaric; bearing; bed; Betazed; "bloody"; book; boxer; boxing; boxing ring; (planet); broad spectrum power drain; bronze; bucket; bulkhead; buyer; buzzer; captain; Cardassians; cartilage; centimeter; central core; central power linkage; chair; clientele; ; combadge; communications network; confinement shield; containment field; control thruster; couscous; crossover bridge; crown; Crown of the First Mother; Crusades; cup; cycle; dagger; damage report; damping field; day; Daystrom Institute; Daystrom Institute Archaeological Council; decompression protocol; deflector; Delta Quadrant; density; dinner; docking bay; docking ring; dozen; Drohlak; duranium; earring; Earth; eavesdropping; embryonic lifeform; ; entity; EPI capacitor; Epsilon Hydra VII; Erabus Prime; Erabus Prime insect; Erabus Prime insect infection; Errikang VII; ethics; exam; expert; Federation; fisticuffs; flattery; force field; fusion reactor; galaxy; Gamma Quadrant; Gamzian wine; ; gem; Gentleman Jim; god; God of Lies; gold-pressed latinum (aka gold-press latinum; gold latinum; latinum); graviton; graviton field; gulag; habitat ring; hand-held clamp; hatch; hatch servo; hip; Hoek IV; holosuite; hour; hull breach; hull fracture; Human; inertial damping field; infirmary; insect; internal sensor; "Joined at the hip"; kilogram; kilometer; Klingon scout ship; lackey; landing pad; Lantar Nebula; Latin language; level 1 diagnostic; life support system; living quarters; luxury; main power grid; malnutrition; Marquess of Queensberry Rules; mating ritual; mattress; medical tricorder; membership; meter; Milky Way Galaxy; mint tea; minute; MK-7 scanner; MK-12 scanner; molecular density; month; motley crew; Mulzirak transport; Mundahla; museum; mustache; Myrmidon; nebula; necklace; Nineteenth Dynasty; oo-mox; ops; orals; oxygen; parasitic infection; particle; particle flow; parts per million; pericardial membrane; ; plating; podium; postganglionic nerve; power outage; power recalibration; preganglionic fiber; prime ossemite; profit; Promethean quartz; pugilism; pylon; (species); Quark's; reactor core; refraction; repair crew; repartee; replicator; replimat; resolution filter; retinal print; retinal scanner; ring; Risa; Rokai; Rokain; Royal Museum of Epsilon Hydra VII; runabout; salutatorian; Sampalo relic; scientist; self-defense; sensor; sensor sweep; sentient race; Sherwood Forest; Spanish Inquisition; star dancers; Starfleet; starship; statement of authenticity; station log; statue; status report; storage locker; student; subspace emission; suit; surax; synthale; table; tailor; Tanesh pottery; Tartaras V; technobabble; Teleris Cluster; tent; toad; tridium; trinket; troll; upper core; Vadris III; Vadris III native; valedictorian; Verath system; Verathan; wager; waiter; warp drive; Watergate; whipping boy; wine bottle; wit; Woo; wormhole; yawn
External links
cs:Q-Less
de:"Q" – Unerwünscht
es:Q-Less
fr:Q-Less (épisode)
ja:超生命体"Q"（エピソード）
nl:Q-Less
pl:Q-Less
sr:Без Кјуа (епизода)
DS9 episodes |
846 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Dax (episode) | New evidence reopens a thirty-year-old murder case and Dax's previous host, Curzon, is the prime suspect.
Summary
Teaser
Chief Miles O'Brien accompanies his wife Keiko O'Brien to Earth to visit her mother for her 100th birthday. During his absence, Jadzia Dax and Julian Bashir are studying the required repair work. When Dax decides to call it a night, Bashir offers to accompany her to her quarters and she politely refuses. As she walks down the corridor, three hooded figures approach her. One of them, Ilon Tandro, asks her to confirm that she is indeed Dax, after which the two others knock her out and carry her across the corridor. They remove her combadge as she tries to tap it to call for help. Just then, Bashir, having decided to accompany Dax back anyway, arrives and tries to rescue her, but he is unsuccessful and is knocked out as well.
Act One
While Commander Sisko and Major Kira investigate an odd residual charge of the graviton generator in Ops, Bashir regains consciousness and reports the attempted kidnapping. Sisko immediately calls a full station alert and they attempt to contain them by securing turbolifts and airlocks, noting that they need one of the faster ships. The kidnappers manage to escape by avoiding Odo's security system and disabling the tractor beam, the cause of the earlier residual charge. However, Sisko gets it back on line just in time to tow the ship back to the station.
When the kidnappers emerge from the airlock, Ilon Tandro identifies himself and claims that he has a valid warrant for Dax's arrest. The charges are treason and murder of his father, Ardelon Tandro.
Act Two
In order to stall for time, Sisko sends a message to Klaestron IV to confirm the warrant. Odo confirms the nature of the warrant, and that the crime was committed 30 years ago. Realizing it must have been Curzon Dax, Sisko is confused as he never mentioned being on that planet. Moreover, Jadzia refuses to reveal anything about the incident to Sisko, and blatantly says she does not expect help.
In Sisko's office, Tandro wishes to be on his way, now that the warrant is confirmed. However, Sisko refuses, claiming that while the Klaestrons have an extradition treaty with the Federation, Deep Space 9 is a Bajoran station and they have no such treaty with Bajor. Moreover, Ilon knew very well that the Bajorans would object to any request for extradition, which is why he tried to kidnap Dax. Ilon blandly says there are no Bajoran interests concerned, but Major Kira speaks up and says that since Klaestron IV is allied with the Cardassians, Ilon must have obtained the station's security codes from them – "which not only compromises Bajoran security, but also… annoys us." Caught between Sisko and Kira, Ilon has no choice but to agree to an extradition hearing before Dax can be lawfully released.
Odo blackmails Quark into lending his bar for the hearing over the fact that it is not up to current building codes from the Bajoran Provisional Government. Arbiter Els Renora opens the hearing in Quark's with a very strict, no-nonsense call to order. Ilon simply restates the warrant, but Sisko's first argument is that Jadzia Dax is not the person named in the warrant. Curzon Dax should be charged, and he is dead. Renora agrees that Tandro must prove that Jadzia Dax and Curzon Dax are the same person. Sisko is pleased with himself, but Jadzia doesn't seem to return his look.
Act Three
Sisko orders Bashir and Kira to get to work on gathering evidence that Jadzia and Curzon are different people, medical evidence and judicial precedents, respectively. In the meantime, Sisko has sent Odo to Klaestron IV to investigate the evidence on the ground. It appears that the general and Curzon were friends, an odd situation for treason. By speaking with Ilon's mother, Enina Tandro, Odo discovers that the charges are based on the fact that, during a civil war, a coded message informed the opposing side of his father's location. Of the people who knew the location, Curzon was the only one without an alibi. Enina tells him that Ilon has become obsessed with finding the one who betrayed his father, and will not be satisfied until someone is punished. Tandro's murder inspired his people to victory and he has since become a worldwide hero. However, Enina is adamant that Curzon did not betray her husband. Unfortunately, her son won't listen to her.
Back on Deep Space 9, the hearing continues and Dax's fate is still uncertain. Thanks to the testimony of another Trill, Selin Peers, about the nature of the relationship between the symbiont and the host, Sisko is able to establish that Jadzia and Curzon Dax are distinct entities, but Ilon argues that failure to punish Trill symbionts for acts committed in past life times would create a perfect crime. The debate becomes heated and Renora demands a recess. Curiously, Jadzia seems complacent about the entire situation.
Act Four
Julian Bashir takes the stand to explain the biological connection and interdependence between the symbiont and the host of a Trill. He insists that the two individuals are very different, eventually citing that their brain waves are unique. However, upon questioning from Tandro, is forced to admit that, if the symbiont's brain could be isolated, there is no evidence of a change in its activity when it changes hosts. Defeated, he sits down.
Sisko himself then takes the stand and talks about his long-lasting friendship with Curzon Dax and his "new friend" Jadzia. He points out Curzon's mentoring role, but his less-than-ideal habits. He also says that he doesn't know Jadzia that well, yet. Ilon interjects to say that, as a Starfleet officer, he must agree that crimes need to have punishment. The Arbiter calls for a recess before Dax is to take the stand.
Soon afterwards, Sisko receives a message from Odo during a recess that he has discovered evidence of an affair between Dax and Enina, giving Dax a solid motive for the murder.
Act Five
Odo goes back to Enina, who admits the affair to Odo; when he asks how her husband reacted, she replies cryptically that her husband was not the hero in life that he became in death. She tells him that Ardelon will always be remembered as a hero, and that it is her place to never remarry and carry on as the brave widow, representing him always. However, faced with the situation, she decides it is time for her place in history to change. Meanwhile, Sisko confronts Dax with the new knowledge. She doesn't deny it, but still won't go into greater detail about it, and won't defend herself with the revealed truth. She feels the shame of Curzon's indiscretion, just like any Trill symbiont always feels the guilt of past crimes or failings. Sisko is again frustrated, but promises to continue protecting one of his officers, as Curzon once taught him, even though his arguments are running out.
When the hearing resumes, Sisko establishes Jadzia's academic and psychological testing, though Ilon counters that she accepted the responsibility of joining with a symbiont, including past crimes. Just then, Enina enters the courtroom, much to Ilon's shock. Enina tells the court that when the transmission that led to Ardelon's murder was sent, Curzon Dax was in her bed, and could not have sent it. The arbiter tells Ilon he may want to re-examine his evidence for the extradition request and leaves. The question of whether a Trill is responsible for the crimes of its past hosts is now left unanswered. Enina turns to Ilon and tries to place her hand on her son, but he recoils from her touch.
After the hearing is over, Jadzia and Enina walk together along the upper level of the Promenade. Jadzia says that there is much of Curzon that is still part of her, including the desire to protect the reputation of Dax's old friend, General Tandro. Sadly, Enina supposes that the truth will remain unknown forever – that it was General Tandro himself who sent the coded message, attempting to betray his own people, and that the rebels killed him for the favor.
Enina bids an affectionate goodbye to Jadzia, telling her to live her life to the fullest.
Log entries
"Station log, stardate 46910.1. Chief O'Brien has escorted his wife back to Earth to celebrate her mother's hundredth birthday. In the meantime, the rest of us are trying to keep the station up and running."
Memorable quotes
"You Klaestrons are allies of the Cardassians; your knowledge of the station confirms that they must have given you the layouts. Which not only compromises Bajoran security, but also… annoys us."
- Kira Nerys
"I am one hundred years old. I do not have time to squander listening to superfluous language. In short, I intend to be in here until supper, not senility."
- Els Renora
"It's all nonsense, constable! I'm telling you, I knew the man."
"But did you know the symbiont inside the man?"
- Sisko and Odo, discussing the murder charges facing Curzon Dax
"I want you to find all the medical evidence you can to support the theory that Jadzia Dax and Curzon Dax are two entirely separate people. Major –"
"Excuse me, sir; I don't know that there is any medical evidence on that."
"Assume there is, then find it."
- Benjamin Sisko and Julian Bashir
"Is a Trill responsible for the conduct – for the acts – of its antecedent selves."
"Right, that kind of thing."
"What if I find out the answer's yes?"
"Then that answer is wrong."
- Kira Nerys and Benjamin Sisko
"Tell us a little about Curzon Dax, commander."
"He probably wasn't the ideal Trill, he drank a little too much, he could be more interested in women than maybe he should have been.
"I thought he was your friend?"
"I'm simply pointing out that he was nothing like the young woman in this courtroom."
"What was exactly your relationship with Curzon Dax?"
"He took a raw young ensign under his wing and taught me to appreciate life in ways I've never thought about before, he taught me about art and science and diplomacy, whatever sense of honor I might have today… he nurtured. Murder, treason… he was not capable of those things."
- Kira Nerys and Benjamin Sisko
"Are you really willing to commit suicide over something done in another lifetime?"
- Sisko, to Dax on her refusal to defend herself at the hearing
"You may want to reconsider your extradition request."
- Els Renora, to Ilon Tandro after hearing of the affair
Background information
Story and script
The story idea that served as this episode's genesis was thought up during an approximately five-day brainstorming session between Ira Steven Behr and Peter Allan Fields during the week of , which led them to devise the premises for the first-conceived episodes of DS9 Season 1 (apart from the pilot episode ). (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 422)
This story was conceived by the producers because they were keen to explore the character of Dax. They realized that she was an extraordinarily complex character, and they wanted to try to tap into some of that complexity. As Peter Allan Fields said, "There was something more we wanted – heart, character – 'Who is this Dax? Is she old? Is she young?' We were exploring ourselves." They were also trying to clarify for the audience some key aspects of Trill society. ()
Robert Hewitt Wolfe commented, "The show was a little less edgy than I thought it was going to be some ways. We weren't really driving these characters until the episode 'Dax'. Peter Allan Fields wrote and Michael did some work which took it to the next level. 'Dax' was really eye-opening. I get the show. I get what Michael and Ira are going for. Our heroes don't have to be innocent all the time. Our heroes are fallible, interesting and complicated people. I really started seeing the enormous potential of the show." (Science Fiction Television Series, 1990-2004, p. 267)
The teleplay for this episode was co-written by D.C. Fontana, who wrote such TOS episodes as , , and . This was her only credit on DS9, and this was actually the last Star Trek script she wrote.
The writers decided to set the hearing in Quark's bar, rather than build a conference room set (though one was indeed later built in the third season and served as a location for a similar hearing in the fourth season episode ). Michael Piller commented, "We wanted to put it in the bar because it's an interesting set. We could have built a room for this to occur in, but the truth is we had shown the space station destroyed in the pilot three weeks before, and there's no reason to believe there's a lot of usable space. Slowly, it's coming back on line; it was not a production requirement." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 46)
Production
Rick Sternbach designed the Bajoran gavel seen in the episode. Sternbach commented, "In one situation, we were given the task of designing a Bajoran gavel, not the familiar hammer shape that we have here on the Earth, but something that would still get peoples' attention when it was struck on a surface. So we eventually came up with a very alien solution to the gavel as being a polished, ornate stone that would be hit on a striking surface. It pretty well fit the bill." (Deep Space Nine Sketchbook, DS9 Season 1 DVD)
Director David Carson was delighted to film this episode. "I enjoyed doing 'Dax'," he remarked. "That was good fun." Whereas DS9 pilot episode had entered production before Terry Farrell had been cast as Dax, Carson found the making of this episode was much less pressured. This was partly because he didn't have the responsibility of getting the pilot perfect.
Reception
Ira Steven Behr commented that "Dax" was a: "small episode, yet a very well-done one that stands up to anything that was done first season, to an extent. It was one of Sisko's best shows. I think it showed him in a very good light. I liked the Odo stuff and I thought the ending where the wife comes back was touching". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 46)
David Carson commented: "I thought it was a very successful show, marrying camera movement to performance and using the lighting to express the feelings of the piece. It worked very well as an intimate drama and in the courtroom scenes". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 46)
The StarTrek.com staff wrote: "The episode explores the morality of the Deep Space Nine characters, showing their complexities and their conflicts. The idea of a symbiont having to face justice for a crime committed while their host remains innocent is fascinating, and very heavy science fiction, and yet Fontana frames it with elegance and accessibility by grounding it in the very human stories of Jadzia and the rest of the crew".
Brannon Braga enjoyed watching the episode. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 46)
In a review of the Laserdisc release, a reviewer wrote: ""Dax" is better, combining echoes of The Spider's Stratagem with an exploration of the alien physiology of one of the principal characters, though the specific dramatic question — whether that character, who has another being inside of her is responsible for the being's previous acts - is rendered moot at the end and left unanswered". (The Laserdisc Newsletter, 1997)
According to Ira Steven Behr, the portrayal of Curzon Dax in this episode helped establish Jadzia Dax as a fun-loving member of her species. "By building the backstory on Curzon Dax in 'Dax'," Behr commented, "it opened up the whole issue that she is not your usual Trill." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 33)
Trivia
This is the only episode of the franchise whose title consists entirely of a main character's name. (Several other titles include a main character's name—e.g. , —or consist entirely of a guest character's name—e.g. , .)
Raktajino, Klingon coffee, is mentioned for the first time in the series in this episode.
The image of the surface of Klaestron IV was one of many reuses of the matte painting for Angel I from .
Both Gregory Itzin and Fionnula Flanagan make their first Star Trek appearances in this episode. Anne Haney previously appeared as Rishon Uxbridge in . Richard Lineback played Romas in . Spice Williams, who has an uncredited role, first appeared in as the Klingon Vixis.
At one point Selin Peers refers to the ruling body of the planet as the Trillian government. This was the only time the term "Trillian" was used to describe the Trill – which, in turn, could be viewed as an alternative name, such as "Vulcanian" was to Vulcan, or "Bajora" was to Bajoran.
Colm Meaney (Miles O'Brien) does not appear in this episode; it is stated the O'Briens are visiting Keiko's family on Earth. Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode, either.
Among the items and costumes from this episode which were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay were the trousers worn by Spice Williams.
The stardate for this episode is inconsistent with the episodes that follow, actually placing the episode after "If Wishes Were Horses" (DS9), and just before "Second Chances" (Stardate: 46915, TNG).
In this episode only, Dax's quarters feature a replica of the fertility idol from . It can be seen briefly on the top shelf of her glass display case, when Sisko goes to plead with her for information in Act Two. It is not gold plated.
The question of whether a joined Trill inherits legal responsibility from previous symbiont/host combinations is discussed, but ultimately not resolved in this episode.
The inclusion of this episode in DS9 Season 1 meant that the show's writing staff was reluctant to produce , later in the same season. (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 461)
Remastered version
Remastered footage from the episode is featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 4,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Gregory Itzin as Ilon Tandro
Anne Haney as Els Renora
Richard Lineback as Selin Peers
And
Fionnula Flanagan as Enina Tandro
Uncredited Co-Stars
David Paul Christian as Bajoran deputy
Robert Coffee as Bajoran officer
Jeannie Dreams as Human operations division ensign
Judi Durand as Deep Space 9 computer voice
Randy James as
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Tom Morga as Klaestron kidnapper
Tyana Parr as Human DS9 resident
Mark Allen Sheperd as Morn
Spice Williams as Klaestron kidnapper
Michael Zurich as Bajoran security deputy
Unknown performers as
Bajoran officer
Com officer (voice)
Furry alien
Grey-skinned alien
Klaestron bystander
Human operations ensign
Yellow-skinned dabo girl
Stunt Doubles
Chris Doyle as stunt double for Siddig El Fadil
Unknown stunt performers as stunt double for Terry Farrell
Stand-ins
Randy Pflug – stand-in for Colm Meaney and Gregory Itzin
References
2269; 2339; 2341; 2367; academic degree; accusation; accused; affair; airlock; alibi; arbiter; Argosian; Argosian lieutenant; art; astrophysics; attorney; Bajor; Bajoran; Bajoran Provisional Government; Bajoran Security; ball-gavel; banquet; bed; best friend; birthday; blackmail; blood type; boiling; brain; brain wave; building code; cadderon force field; capital crime; Cardassians; cerebral nuclei; chair; ; chief; chief of security; combadge; communication log; courtroom; criminal act; ; ; death penalty; Deep Space 9 levels; diplomacy; docking port; docking pylon; docking ring; duty squad; Earth; egg; Els Renora's great-granddaughter; enemy; ensign; EPS wave guide; exoarchaeology; exobiology; extradition; fact; father; Federation; first officer; fugitive; gender; general; gesture; graviton generator; great-granddaughter; (aka extradition hearing, informal hearing); heel; high warp capability; holosuite; hostage; hour; husband; "in charge"; inn; judge; Keiko's mother; Klaestrons; Klaestron IV; Klaestron Civil War; Klaestron-Federation Extradition Treaty; Klaestron government; Klaestron starship; Klingon coffee; layman; level 3 diagnostic; lieutenant; madame; martyr; mediator; metabolism; meter; minister; minute; mother; murder; national hero; nervous system; ; ; "Old Man"; ops; orrery; Peers; Premier Distinction; prosecution; prosecutor; psychological test; Quark's; raktajino; RCL type-1 matrix field; RCL type-2 matrix field; rebel; re-filtration processor; repair service; Replimat; residual charge; right cross; ring finger; Romulans; runabout; salt; scar; scholarship; science; security alert; security camera; security override code; security tracking grid; semantics; senility; son; special envoy; station layout; station library; station log; statue; subspace message; suicide; supper; symbiont; table; ; tractor beam; traitor; treason; trial; Trill; Trillian government; turbolift; wager; warp; warrant; water; widow; witness chair; witness stand; zoology
External links
cs:Dax (epizoda)
de:Der Fall „Dax“
es:Dax (episodio)
fr:Dax (épisode)
ja:共生結合体生物"トリル族"（エピソード）
nl:Dax (aflevering)
pl:Dax (odcinek)
sr:Декс (епизода)
DS9 episodes |
847 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | The Passenger (episode) | An alien criminal, attempting to prolong his life, hides his consciousness inside the mind of a station crew member.
Summary
Teaser
Major Kira and Doctor Bashir are returning from a medical mission in the runabout . Kira was reluctantly impressed by Bashir's competence after he found a vital clue in a woman whom she dismissed as deceased. Bashir appears to accept such praise as no more than his due, and Kira is about to tell him off for his arrogance, when they receive a distress call from the Reyab, a Kobliad transport. They beam aboard to find that the ship's systems have been disabled by a fire raging on board. Kira looks for fire safety gear, and Bashir goes to the nearest crewperson, a Kobliad female named Ty Kajada. He asks her if anyone else is on board, and she says the pilot is dead. But Bashir reads another lifeform behind a locked door from his tricorder and Kajada warns for him not to open it; the man is a prisoner who started the fire in an attempt to escape. Over her protests, Bashir overrides the door lock and finds a dying Kobliad male, Rao Vantika. Kira comes back and extinguishes the fire, preparing all four of them for emergency transport back to the runabout. Before she can energize, Vantika seizes Bashir by the throat with an iron grip and pulls him close. As Kira tries to pry his hand loose, Vantika growls, "make me live", before expiring. "This one I can't bring back," Bashir muses over Vantika's lifeless body.
Act One
Back on Deep Space 9, Bashir revives Kajada in the infirmary with a hypospray. When she awakes, her thoughts go immediately to her prisoner. Bashir says the man is dead, but Kajada insists on examining his body herself. Bashir, a little insulted, assures her that Vantika is quite dead. She retorts that she has tracked Vantika, a multiple murderer, for over twenty years, during which he has faked his death more times than she can count, and more than a few medical "experts" have been fooled. After scanning Vantika's retinas to confirm that he is brain dead, Kajada shocks Bashir by coolly stabbing the corpse in the chest with a trocar. She asks Bashir to autopsy the body and confirm its identity with DNA records, and to scan her ship for anomalous life readings. Shaken, Bashir agrees.
In Quark's, Quark delivers a drink with unctuous good wishes to Jadzia Dax, while Odo scornfully asks what he thinks his chances are with a woman like her. Quark retorts that nothing ventured, nothing gained, and not everyone in the galaxy is comfortable being as lonely and miserable as Odo. Odo is then put out to receive a visitor, Starfleet Security officer Lieutenant Primmin, who says they have been assigned to work together.
In Ops, Bashir reports that every test he has run confirms that the dead Kobliad is Rao Vantika, and that he is indisputably dead. Kajada has warned that Vantika was on his way to Deep Space 9 when she captured him, and Sisko and Dax connect his destination with a shipment of deuridium ore scheduled to arrive at the station from the Gamma Quadrant. The Kobliads are a dying species, and need deuridium to stabilize their structures. Even with new deposits discovered in the Gamma Quadrant, the demand far outstrips the supply, so it makes sense that Vantika would want to steal a supply for himself. Bashir says Kajada still isn't convinced Vantika is dead, so Sisko agrees to her request to scan her ship. He is also concerned with unearthing any preparations or accomplices Vantika had on the station in preparation for the hijack.
In conference with Primmin, Sisko quickly disabuses him of his belief that the station's security needs an "overhaul" to conform with Starfleet Security regulations; Odo has his own way of doing things, and Sisko has found that way to be effective, and best suited to the unique situations aboard the station. Sisko encourages Primmin to be a little more flexible, as he could actually learn something from "The Constable;" Primmin assures Sisko that he has made himself very clear.
With some difficulty, Odo and Primmin begin working together, reviewing the security arrangements for the deuridium shipment. When Odo tries to access the computer, however, he is surprised to find that everything in the active memory banks has been accessed and then purged. He believes this is impossible, but Kajada appears in his office and says that Vantika has done exactly the same thing before on Rigel VII.
Act Two
In Ops, Sisko and his crew confer, with Kajada and Primmin present. Kajada says that Vantika usually pulls this sabotage trick by planting a subspace shunt in a nonessential system that would be overlooked by security checks. Odo concedes it is an elegant trick: rather than try to get past security programs guarding a particular file, a criminal simply performs a dump of the whole memory, which has not or cannot be guarded against. When a scan of the station detects an anomalous device planted, Odo (and Primmin) both order a security patrol to retrieve it.
During these instructions, Kajada constantly speaks as though Vantika has done these things himself, but Sisko remains skeptical, and asks her whether it is more likely that some accomplice of Vantika is the one responsible. Kajada delivers an impassioned brief of Vantika's criminal history: the man is obsessed with ensuring his own survival; he has prolonged his life in myriad ways, and many of his crimes have been committed in the course of experiments, or thefts of cutting-edge research, to discover even more ways. Kajada assures them all that Vantika wouldn't have started the fire on board the ship unless he had a plan for living through it; she doesn't know what that plan was, but the sabotage aboard the station is enough to convince her that it succeeded. Impressed by her arguments, Sisko instructs the crew to assume for the time being that Vantika is alive, until Bashir receives DNA confirmation from Kobliad Security of the corpse's identity.
Odo asks to have a word with Sisko in his office. Odo begins to complain about Primmin's presence, but Sisko already knows what he'll say. To Odo it is a professional insult, not to mention an annoyance, to have another security chief on the station. Sisko immediately says he likes Odo since he knows where he stands, but he reminds Odo that Starfleet has its own interests on the station, which makes Primmin a fact of life that Odo will have to deal with. Sisko says he has already encouraged Primmin to work with Odo, but Odo isn't satisfied. He wants to know who's in charge, and Sisko says: Odo. Trying not to look too pleased, Odo admits, "I can live with that," and departs.
In Dax's lab, she reports to Sisko that someone tried to break into the cargo hold of the Reyab after it was docked at Deep Space 9. What they could have been looking for, Dax reports, is an isolinear chip she found, containing a "map" of the humanoid brain.
In Quark's Bar, Quark is on his hands and knees collecting his "tips" (dropped money) from the floor of the upper level, when someone seizes him from behind and whispers in his ear, asking him whether he's made the preparations for the deuridium shipment – hiring a group of mercenaries. Baffled, Quark says that he has done so, but he was told by reputable sources that Vantika was dead. The voice whispers, "almost, but not quite," then releases Quark and retreats into the shadows.
Act Three
Bashir calls Kajada into the infirmary and triumphantly shows her the final results of the DNA comparison; every conceivable test has been run and confirms that the Kobliad in the morgue is dead, and that he is Rao Vantika. To his amazement, Kajada still isn't convinced.
Dax calls Bashir into her lab and shows him Vantika's computer models. She theorizes that Vantika was developing a means of transferring his consciousness into another's brain. Bashir says that such a thing is theoretically possible, and if Vantika succeeded, then his most likely "host" is Kajada, the nearest available Kobliad.
They present their theory to Sisko, who isn't convinced. Why would Kajada be warning them so if Vantika was controlling her? Bashir explains that, according to their theory, Vantika is only controlling Kajada part of the time; the rest of the time, he's simply "along for the ride," and Kajada isn't even aware of his presence. Sisko asks for proof, and Dax says that they can't know what to look for until they have a better idea how Vantika accomplished the transfer.
Odo is in his office when Kajada storms in, protesting that he's revoked her security access and is refusing to answer her questions about the precautions for the deuridium shipment. He says he is just being extra cautious, and she storms out.
Suspecting that Quark may be assisting Vantika, Kajada spies on him from the upper level of the bar after closing time. She finds him meeting with the mercenaries he summoned, including Durg. Suddenly, they look up when they hear a scream, and see Kajada, hanging from the balcony rail. Before any of them can react, she loses her grip and plummets to the deck.
Act Four
Kajada lies in a coma in the infirmary, but not before saying she was pushed by Vantika. Bashir reports to Sisko that he cannot examine her more closely until she regains consciousness. Sisko theorizes that Kajada may have tried to kill herself after realizing she was carrying Vantika around with her.
In the morgue, Sisko finds Dax taking samples from under Vantika's fingernails. She says she thinks she has found his transfer method: a biocoded message imprinted onto a glial cell that allows a message to be transmitted along a humanoid's nervous system directly to the brain. She found models of the glial cells on Vantika's data chip. The most effective means of transfer would be to inject the cells directly into the victim's skin, but there were no needles or hyposprays in Vantika's belongings. Examining the tissue from under his nails, Dax finds a microscopic electric generator, to "fire" the message along the nervous system. Vantika hid the device there, just to give himself a last-ditch escape.
In the docking ring, Quark leads the three mercenaries to one of the runabout pads, explaining that their mysterious employer managed to access one and is waiting for them on board. The door opens, and there is Dr. Bashir. Quark backpedals, stammering that they took a wrong turn. But "Bashir" steps forward, smiles coldly, and says, in a voice quite unlike his own, that on the contrary, he has been expecting them.
Act Five
Dax enters the infirmary, calling for Bashir. He does not answer. She asks the computer to locate him, and it answers "the infirmary." She finds his combadge left on a counter.
Odo meets with Kira's team and is surprised to find that Primmin is not working alongside them as agreed. When Odo finds Primmin, the lieutenant explains that he decided to take a hint from Odo's methods, and tried to think like Vantika. Doing so has led him to discover a second subspace shunt hidden in the waste extraction system. Impressed, Odo says that the device, if left in place, would have disabled the station for close to an hour.
As the deuridium cargo ship comes through the wormhole, a runabout leaves the station, unscheduled, to escort it to the station. In Ops, the crew discover that Doctor Bashir is missing, and that it was his access codes that enabled the launch of the runabout.
On the cargo ship, the three mercenaries beam aboard and kill the bridge crew, before signaling Vantika/Bashir that it's safe to board. Sending two of the mercenaries to secure the rest of the ship, Vantika orders the shields raised and to lay in a new course. Before the ship can engage, the station locks a tractor beam on them. Vantika is frustrated, because he thought he'd sabotaged them. Sisko hails the ship, and Vantika introduces himself from Bashir's body. He demands that the tractor beam be removed, or else he'll engage the warp drive, tearing the ship to pieces – killing Bashir and the remaining crew and spreading deuridium (a hazardous material) all over the system. When the mercenary on the bridge refuses to commit suicide, Vantika shoots him dead with his phaser. He gives Sisko one minute to decide, then cuts off the transmission.
Sisko asks for suggestions. The ship's shields are raised, and any attack to overwhelm them would risk breaching the ship's hull. Dax comes up with a way of sending an electromagnetic pulse along the tractor beam, where it will resonate off the shields and cause an energy field inside the ship that will disrupt Vantika's hold over Bashir. It is successful, for long enough for Sisko to get through to a very confused Bashir, who lowers the ship's shields, and let him be beamed to Ops. As Rao tries to seize control of him again, Sisko stuns him with a phaser, and they take him to Dax's lab. With a specially programmed transporter, she removes Vantika's signature glial cells and transfers them to a small containment field. Scanning the unconscious Bashir, Dax pronounces him "clear," and revives him. Waking up with a groan, Bashir's first words are to complain of a splitting headache.
A short time later, Sisko, Bashir, Dax, and a recovered Kajada regard the containment field in Dax's lab. Kajada apologizes to Bashir for his ordeal, while Bashir feels that they all owe her an apology for not taking her warnings about Vantika more seriously. Bashir confesses that he doesn't remember any of what Vantika made him do, and feels humiliated for not being able to stop it. Sisko assures him that no one holds him responsible.
Kajada asks Sisko to formally return custody of "the prisoner" to her. As soon as he agrees, Kajada draws her phaser and disintegrates the container, wiping out the last traces of Vantika, then walks out without another word. Sisko's expression indicates he is a little unsettled by her cold-blooded "execution" of Vantika, and even more unsettled when Dax and Bashir show no reaction at all.
Memorable quotes
"Ah, yes, well… tricorders, very accurate with living people, not so accurate with dead ones. We learned that in first year medical school."
- Julian Bashir
"Make… me… live!"
- Rao Vantika
"If you want my opinion…"
"Actually, I don't."
- George Primmin and Benjamin Sisko
"Three persons were on your ship. Two bodies are in our morgue. Unless the ghost of Vantika is…"
"Don't patronize me, commander!"
- Sisko and Kajada
"What kind of fool are you?!"
"My own special variety."
- Ty Kajada and Odo
"I'm sure almost everyone knows about the shipment by now. Odo was probably making sure that Quark knows we know he knows."
- Sisko
"I've been asking myself, why would anyone induct a bioelectric charge into a glial cell?"
"A question I have always wondered about."
- Dax and Sisko
"I want to speak with Dr. Bashir!"
"Unfortunately, he's… not available at the moment."
- Sisko and Rao Vantika (inhabiting Bashir's body)
"You're deluding yourself."
"There's nothing wrong with a good delusion, I sell them upstairs to dozens of people every day."
- Odo and Quark
"I'm watching you, Quark."
"And I'm watching you, Jadzia."
- Odo and Quark
Background information
Story and script
Morgan Gendel's original story was to have Kajada possessed by Vantika. Gendel commented, "I thought the idea of a cop who's chasing himself was something you could only do in a science fiction show. In my first outline, the bad guy's essence was in the cop, and we captured her at the end of act four. What I did in act five was have this woman Bashir's fallen for trying to convince him to let her out of jail because he's planted a bomb on the station. Act five was all about 'What does Bashir do'? Does he trust his gut or his logic? His gut is telling him he's got to go, even at gunpoint, so that she can lead him to the bomb. That was the tension in act five, which leads up where she changes back to Vantika and this whole run-and-jump thing." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 47)
Morgan Gendel commented on how his pitch was finalized: "When I first pitched it, they said they were looking to do a like character, and then the next pitch they would say, 'We want to make sure we're not doing that.' I pitched it to Ira [Steven Behr] and Peter [Allan Fields], and they called me back and said, 'We want to talk about it with Michael [Piller], and he was ready to say 'let's give it a whirl' when Ira, rightfully, brought up the problems we were going to face […] Ira was raising these fears about the episode – which I think turned out to be accurate, but I'm in there like a salesman and I don't want to walk away without the sale. I said, 'I hear what you're saying Ira, but I think I can explore it and make it work in story,' and I don't know if it was that enthusiasm or Michael felt sorry for me that day, but he said, 'Okay, let's give a run at this,' and, of course, there were problems." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 47) Piller himself remarked about the episode, "It was an opportunity to give Siddig a meaty role and to let him do some things he doesn't ordinarily get to do." ()
The episode's story incorporated a long-discussed character concept. "We had always talked about this Primmin character because Colm was going away to do a movie," explained Michael Piller. "We wanted that story between him and Odo." However, it was only when Piller began rewriting the script that he realized the Primmin character could be used as a red herring. ()
According to writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Bashir's reference to synaptic pattern displacement never being done by a non-Vulcan was a reference to , when Spock's consciousness afflicted Doctor McCoy. ()
Morgan Gendel scripted a song for Quark to sing, but decided not to use it. Gendel commented, "I had [Quark] singing a whole little ditty, like a . I took a day to write this ditty about making money while he's serving people and shorting them on their drinks. I thought it was hysterical and also thought if I turned it in, they were going to laugh me out of the room." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 69)
Cast and characters
Several people involved with the episode commented on Quark's role, as his actions are the first illegal action the character was involved in, in the series. Armin Shimerman commented, "He is still the middle-man. I say that in the episode, 'I'm just the middle-man', when they ask me if I'm going with them. He's just trying to make a buck. But it was a darker Quark, getting back to the Quark of I think of in ''. And that's good. Anytime that I get close to that I feel a little bit better. I feel more confident with that. Drama is always easier to play than comedy." Paul Lynch commented, "[Quark] is suckered in over his head by his own greed. He doesn't really go looking for trouble, and if he had known what he was getting into he wouldn't have, but his own greed overruled him." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 47)
Caitlin Brown commented, "I had a wonderful time doing the show. Ty Kajada was a terrific character to play and it was great working with Rene Auberjonois and Avery Brooks and all the guys. They were all incredibly encouraging and supportive. Working on ST:DS9 is, to date, one of the best experiences I've ever had, just because all of the whole energy of the show. It was great and I'm really proud of my work in that." ("Law-maker, Law-breaker", ) Though she enjoyed working on the set of this episode, Brown was wary of how Brooks and Alexander Siddig were meanwhile thinking of her. "I had to be SUCH a you-know-what in my character, I am sure they thought I was that way in real life, too," she admitted. (BLANKMANinc.com: The Star Trek Interviews)
Alexander Siddig found this episode to be the hardest thing he'd had to do during DS9's first two seasons, as well as, without doubt, his "biggest failure too." He commented, "It was right at the beginning [of the series run], you had to just do it in front of everybody you didn't know, and I had appallingly poor notice with the script. I was given it the day before. You need to prepare for that sort of thing." ()
All of Alexander Siddig's original on-set dialogue as Vantika in the episode was dubbed in post-production. Rick Berman commented, "We had a very odd experience on the show. Siddig made a choice of a voice that didn't work for us. It was too Bela Lugosi-like, and we replaced his entire part with him again, but we had him do it a different way. We didn't really know if it would work or not, but it was fine." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 47)
Colm Meaney (Chief O'Brien) and Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) do not appear in this episode.
Reception
Michael Piller commented, "I felt it was a very effective episode. The guest cast gave great performances, and it gave Bashir a chance to do something unique and different. It's a very spooky mystery, and I liked all the misleads because just when you think you know what's going on, it turns out that you think maybe it's the security officer that's missing and then suddenly you get the final twist that it's Bashir." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 47) Piller also commented, "It was a very successful show, very spooky and moody. The mystery was working." Piller was also pleased with the B-story between Odo and Primmin, terming the latter character as "a good red herring." One aspect of the episode that Piller disliked was a scene with Bashir. "If you look carefully, there's a frame of Bashir, just after you've heard the voice of the dead guy, and Bashir's reaction basically blows the whole show out of the water. It wasn't shot properly and it ruins the whole episode when you see it." ()
Paul Lynch commented, "["The Passenger"] is a mystery and it owes a lot to the thriller conventions of Hitchcock, Murnau and De Palma." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 47)
Ira Steven Behr was not as enamored of the episode, commenting, "The Passenger' was a show at the time I felt could have just as easily been about Geordi. There's nothing wrong with the episode; I just don't have much of a feeling for it. It could have just as easily taken place on the Enterprise." He also admitted to not liking this episode, however, and commented that the reason was "probably" because "it's not really that character oriented. I don't have that visceral hold on it." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp. 31 & 48)
In a review of the Laserdisc release, a reviewer wrote, "The Passenger' is the best episode in the group, a taut mystery in which the heroes must figure out how a villain, clearly dead, intends to rob some rare minerals from the station." (The Laserdisc Newsletter, 1997)
Trivia
The authors of the The New Trek Programme Guide commented in their book that they thought the title of this episode might be a reference to Iggy Pop's 1977 song of the same name.
One of the Bajoran mercenaries who invaded the Norkova has a 23rd century type 2 phaser.
Odo's reaction to Lieutenant Primmin is almost identical to his reaction to Lieutenant Commander Eddington in the third season opener, – on both occasions, he tells Sisko that he will be handing in his resignation.
During this episode, O'Brien is presumably still on Earth, as mentioned in . Although this episode is not given a stardate, O'Brien's absence suggests that it happens after "Dax" (which, according to its own stardate, occurred later than most other episodes of the season).
A somewhat similar premise is later seen in , in which Tieran takes over Kes.
Jadzia Dax mispronounces Vantika's name as "van-TEE-kah" at one point, rather than "VAN-ti-kah" as he is referred to in the rest of the episode.
Caitlin Brown's performance in this installment led to her casting as Vekor in the two-parter and . ("Law-maker, Law-breaker", ) Whereas she believed her work on this episode had left Avery Brooks and Alexander Siddig with a mistaken impression that she was particularly harsh, it wasn't a viewpoint that stuck. "Thankfully we have all spent time together at events and have had a chance to get to know one another," she clarified. (BLANKMANinc.com: The Star Trek Interviews)
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 5,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Caitlin Brown as Ty Kajada
James Lashly as George Primmin
Christopher Collins as Durg
James Harper as Rao Vantika
Uncredited Co-Stars
Majel Barrett as Federation Computer Voice
Scott Barry as Bajoran officer
Patti Begley as Bajoran officer
Simone Boisseree as Norkova captain
Robert Coffee as Bajoran officer
Judi Durand as Deep Space 9 computer voice
Randy James as Lieutenant
Mark Lentry as Human command division lieutenant
David B. Levinson as Broik
Irving Lewis as Norkova cargo officer
Dennis Madalone as Norkova helmsman
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Tyana Parr as Human DS9 resident
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Unknown performers as
Bajoran mercenary 1
Bajoran mercenary 2
Dabo girl
DS9 security officer (voice)
Human civilian
Human operations ensign
Stunt Doubles
Chuck Borden as stunt double for Christopher Collins
Maria Kelly as stunt double for Caitlin Brown
References
2349; accomplice; allergic reaction; alpha wave; alpha-wave inducer; ; anti-gravity generator; authorization access code; auto-destruct system; automatic fire suppression; autopsy; bailiwick; Bajorans; Bajoran system; Bajoran wormhole; Bashir's scapular node patient; bearing; biobed; bioelectrical pulse; bio-regenerative research; black market; body; brain; brain scan; Cardassian; Cardassian freighters; cargo bay; cell structure; cellular longevity; central power linkage; cerebral cortex scan; clone; coin; combadge; command and control functions; computer; computer chip; computer memory; consciousness; cryogenics; day; deep space; Deep Space 9 levels; defense array; deuridium; distress signal; distribution amplifier; DNA; DNA reference scan; docking bay; docking ring; dozen; drug; electrical charge; electromagnetic pulse; emergency unit; EM field; examination; Federation; Ferengi; fiddle ("fit as a fiddle"); fingernail; fingerprint; fire; fire extinguisher; Gamma Quadrant; ghost; glial cell; glial scan; glove; handshake; headache; healer; helm; high security penitentiary; hijacking; holding cell; hour; hull breach; humanoid; hypospray; impulse; infirmary; jail; jewelry; joint operation; jurisdiction; Kobliad; Kobliad homeworld; Kobliad pilot; Kobliad Security; Kobliad transport; lab; life support; lighting control; logic; long range sensor; maneuvering subsystem; manual override; map; medical supervisor; medical school; medical supervisor; medical tricorder; mercenary; micro-containment field; microscope; microscopic generator; middleman; Milky Way Galaxy; minute; M-O; morgue; morning; needle; nervous system; neural pattern (aka neural energy pattern); nitrogen; Norkova, Norkova crewmembers; O²; paralysis; parasitic infection; petri dish; phaser; pilot; ; power waveguide outlet; preliminary examination; priority one; Promenade; pulmonary trauma; raktajino; raktajino machine; rejuvenation drug; replicator; respiratory failure; retinal imaging scan; retinal pattern; retinal scanner; Reyab''; Rigel VII; ; runabout; scan; scanner; scapular node; scientist; security alert yellow; security code; security file; security lockout; security office; security officer; security sweep; shield generator; shields; skin; soldier of fortune; Starfleet Academy; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Security; starship; stasis; stasis room; ; structural integrity field; subspace crossover link; subspace crossover shunt; subspace shunt; suicide; synaptic field; synaptic pattern displacement; "take a cue from"; temperature control; tractor beam; transplant; transporter lock; unnamed medical tools; Vantika's victims; virtual positron imaging scan; Vener VII; visual cortex; Vulcans; warp; waste reclamation system; week; wing; year
Deleted scene references
launch pad; security clearance
External links
cs:The Passenger
de:Der Parasit
es:The Passenger
fr:The Passenger (épisode)
ja:宇宙囚人"バンティカ"（エピソード）
nl:The Passenger
pl:The Passenger
DS9 episodes |
848 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Move Along Home (episode) | A visiting delegation from the Gamma Quadrant turns four crew members into "pieces" for a bizarre game.
Summary
Teaser
It's an important day aboard Deep Space 9 as an official delegation on behalf of the Wadi are due to arrive from the Gamma Quadrant for first contact. Commander Sisko is in his dress uniform preparing to welcome the ship, although he gets worried when he learns that Jake has been learning about Bajoran girls from none other than his new friend Nog. Sisko decides they need to set aside some time the next day so he can work 'damage control'.
The senior staff assemble in the airlock to greet the Wadi representative, Falow. Although Sisko is keen to make a good impression, he is put out to find that Falow and the other Wadi just want to head straight to Quark's in order to play games.
Act One
In Quark's Bar, the Wadi delegates are eager to play a new game. However, Quark has to make sure they have something to gamble with for dabo. Falow offers klon peags or alpha-currant nectar as items of value, but Quark refuses them. Then, he proffers a bag of gems, which Quark accepts greedily.
After about six hours, the delegates are winning almost every spin and both Quark and Commander Sisko are getting tired (in Quark's case, he is tired of them always winning). Sisko decides enough is enough and leaves the bar to go to bed. Before leaving, Sisko asks Quark to inform him when they stop playing dabo. Quark heads over to the table and pleads that the Dabo girl's hands are tired from all of those spins. Falow orders Quark to replace her. Quark gets Broik to replace her and instructs him covertly to begin fixing the table so that the Wadi do not win. He loses the next turn and becomes suspicious. He soon discovers Quark's deception and corners him at the bar. Quark tries to pass it off like he didn't know, but Falow is not fooled. He decides to start a new game and transforms the dabo table to a different board game, which he announces is called chula. He explains that the game involves four s, and that their objective is to "move along home". Quark decides to play the game, in hope that the Wadi will be lenient with his cheating.
In Sisko's quarters, he finds Jake still awake late into the evening. Jake admits to his father that he has been spending time with Nog, but on a school project, nothing more. Sisko tells him to go to bed, saying that is no excuse, and promises to have a chat with him about Nog and girls in the morning. However, as he is sleeping, he tosses and wakes up to find himself lying on the floor of a large, odd room.
Act Two
He tries to call Ops and attempts to end the program, if he is in a holosuite, but no luck. He has his Starfleet tricorder with him, so he searches around, trying all the doors until he finds an unlocked one. Sisko wanders a hall, opening another door. Behind it, he encounters an image of Falow, who, laughing mockingly, instructs him to "Move along, move along home!"
Hearing faint cries for help, he finds Doctor Bashir, who believes this is a dream and is trying to wake himself up. Major Kira and Lieutenant Dax show up moments later, also drawn by Bashir's screams. Sisko tells them of his encounter with Falow, which Bashir believes is a behavioral test, which deeply upsets Kira. They decide to split up and use their comm badges, which are still working, to keep in touch.
Early next morning, Jake Sisko informs Odo that his father is missing. Odo discovers that Sisko and three other senior staff members are not on board the station and launches an investigation. After scolding Lieutenant Primmin, who had assumed they were affected by the long party last night, Odo orders a full security sweep of the station and the docked ships.
Meanwhile, Falow keeps Quark in the game, forcing him to learn the rules as he plays. Quark nervously asks for a minimum wager and rolls. Falow goes to work, executing the next turn. Meanwhile, the four players reach a door, which opens to reveal a girl playing a hopscotch-like game, and singing a rhyme:
"Allamaraine, count to four,
Allamaraine, then three more,
Allamaraine, if you can see,
Allamaraine, you'll come with me…"
The players move into the room, and are sealed in. Moving across the room, Kira stumbles into a force field. The girl, however, moves through it. Bashir deduces that the pattern of the girl's movements allows her to pass though, but is also knocked backwards. Jadzia follows the girl precisely, both singing the rhyme and mimicking the hand actions, and successfully passes the force field. The others follow. The girl proclaims:
"Allamaraine! Third shap."
Back on the station, the Wadi cheer "Allamaraine!", as Falow moves the four pieces down one level on the board and hands Quark several jewels. He happily accepts them and believes he is learning the game.
Act Three
Falow asks Quark to choose a path for the players, either the difficult short route, with a chance of winning more prizes, or the long, easy route. He says to choose carefully. "Double their peril, double your winnings!" teases Falow. Quark excitedly tries to negotiate a licensing agreement to keep the game in his bar, when Odo barges in demanding to know if Quark has seen them. He brushes him off until Odo exclaims four officers are missing. Slowly, Quark makes the connection – four players, four missing officers. He nervously looks at the player pieces and then at Odo, who silently understands Quarks realization. Falow insists he choose, so he chooses the safer path and, with Odo watching, rolls the dice.
Moving through the corridors of the maze, the players find a room with Wadi in it, all drinking and laughing. They don't very well respond to the officers. Frustrated, Kira starts shouting and throwing a tray of food to the floor. Suddenly the doors close, and a toxic gas fills the room, causing the players to start coughing. Furthermore, Falow comes into the room, telling them to move home again, but otherwise not responding. Bashir notices that the Wadi remain unaffected and decides to try some of the drink that is being offered around. The drink relieves the effects of the gas. Sisko and the others also drink, and are also relieved. The Wadi all cheer. The image of Falow states that the players have progressed to shap four. At the table, the Wadi cheer "allamaraine" and Falow moves the player pieces ahead and Quark is happy to win more. Odo, concerned, leaves.
Act Four
After some strange readings are detected on the Wadi's ship, Odo decides to visit the Wadi ship over Primmin's Starfleet objections. Odo retorts that he is not in Starfleet, and he orders him to beam him over and finds a room with an unusual energy signature. Stepping through the doors, he surprisingly ends up in Quark's Bar, to find Quark playing the game. Falow notices him, and reminds Quark to continue playing, choosing the next path. He chooses the safer path, but Falow says it's an "unfortunate roll."
In the game, they continue to move through the corridors when their tricorders detect an energy buildup. A bright light source appears and moves towards them. At the table, Falow selects a player piece. The light source scans them all, and then focuses on Bashir, who vanishes. Falow knocks over the piece, suggesting the player is out. Odo immediately orders them to give the officers back, but Falow ignores it, insisting they keep playing. However, he says Odo can have them back when Quark is done, albeit cryptically. Falow then tells Quark to choose which route to take, and he considers the risky path. Odo cautions Quark, but Quark realizes that the players were only one level away from "home", and the short route would take them there in only one move. Quark reassures Odo that he has spent his life assessing chance in games of all kinds, and that he has a good understanding of this one. With Odo's agreement, Quark decides to take the short route, but rolls a thialo – he must sacrifice one, so that two may live.
Act Five
Odo is dismayed, and so is Quark, who is unable to decide which player to sacrifice. Odo says he cannot be forced to choose, but Falow says all three will be lost if he doesn't. He grovels dramatically and pleads to be allowed not to decide, and Falow accepts. He programs the computer to randomly select a player to be sacrificed.
In the game, they hear Bashir calling out. A door opens, and Dax heads into it. The others follow. They find themselves in a rocky cavern. In the distance, they can hear Bashir's voice calling to them, which entices them forward. Dax stumbles on loose rocks, and a large boulder lands on her leg. Fortunately, the leg is not broken, and they continue onwards. They see Bashir's figure, but instead of coming to help Dax, Falow's figure again appears and tells them they are on shape six. Dax eventually exhorts Kira and Sisko to leave her and reach safety, but they refuse, and insist on attempting to help Dax. Moving round a narrow outcropping on a steep cliff, they all fall off, appearing suddenly back in the bar, together with Bashir.
The Wadi finish their game and change the table back to a dabo table, and are about to leave, when Commander Sisko demands to know what was going on. At that point, Falow's normally stern demeanor changes. He states, with a comical intonation, "It's only a game!" There never was any actual risk, and that Quark had cheated them in Dabo. Having just feared for their lives, Commander Sisko is miffed at the Wadi; the Wadi have committed a faux pas on the group by offering them a game that deceived them into thinking that they were playing for their lives, which understandably would annoy the players especially after finding out that their lives were not in danger all this time. After the Wadi leave, Quark chases after Falow, sensing an opportunity to market Chula.
Memorable quotes
"First contact is not what it used to be."
- Sisko
"This is not what I signed up for!"
- Kira
"Well, I'm not in Starfleet."
- Odo, when Primmin protests it's against Starfleet regulations to board a vessel without permission
"Do they have money?"
- Quark, when the Wadi arrive at Quark's
"Is it against Starfleet regulations to press a few buttons?"
- Odo, when ordering to be beamed over to the Wadi ship
"Constable Odo, good morning to you!"
- George Primmin
"I just had a strange run-in with Falow. He said something about moving along home."
- Sisko
"Use your tricorders for proximity checks every two minutes… and if all else fails, just yell again, doctor. We'll find you."
- Sisko, to Bashir
"Please don't make me do this! I'm begging you. (gets down on his knees) Please, please! Please PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! (crumples under the table) Please, please."
- Quark, groveling when he has to lose a piece
"Do you have sex on your world?"
- Quark
"Move along home!"
- Wadi –
"Choose their path! Double their peril, double your winnings!"
- Falow
"Move along, move along home!"
"You brought us here, you bring us home!"
- Falow and Sisko
"Trust a gambler."
- Quark
"That's not what you said when you were groveling on the floor."
"Oh, that's right… you were here for the groveling."
- Odo and Quark
"Major, I gave you a direct order!"
"Court-martial me."
"I can't, you're not in Starfleet."
"If I were a superior officer, I'd court-martial both of you."
- Sisko, Kira, and Dax
"It's only a game!"
- Falow, in response to the crew's indignation at being the objects of the game
"You know, this game could work here. It really could…"
- Quark
Background information
Story and script
A working title of this episode was "Sore Losers". (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Ira Steven Behr commented that it was "tough to find character stuff" in this episode "in terms of the writing." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 31)
Frederick Rappaport commented he had a different conception of the game environment: "Mine was an exterior setting, almost neo-Martian Chronicles, with a touch of Gaudi-type architecture. There were houses in a little village but they were distorted, as in a nightmare; everything was angular and weird. The setting for the game was much better inside than on a clearly delineated 'outside' set. They made the rooms and hallways almost Arthurian. It was much more of phantasmagorical image." ()
Rappaport's original ending was different from the ending that appears in the finished episode. Rappaport commented, "Michael [Piller] was dissatisfied with my ending, in which Sisko and the others had to cross over a chasm. The chasm fell away, leaving Sisko essentially hanging by a thread. He was telling Kira and Dax to go on, because the passageway to freedom was on the opposite side, where they were. They had to save him, and it was Indiana Jones style." ()
On writing the episode, Michael Piller commented, "I did the story on ['Move Along Home'] and a rewrite on the script […] I had a lot of fun working on it." ()
According to one of the writers, Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci, the name of the game, "Chula", comes from "", as the maze game is a "three-dimensional form" of the game. ()
First versions of the episode were more complex, but history and scenographies were eventually simplified due to budget issues. ()
According to writer Rappaport, "in an earlier version of the teleplay, our people win the game, but they discover that Bashir has not been returned to the station. So Falow strikes a deal – Quark must return all his winnings if they want Bashir back." ()
Michael Piller said that this episode was inspired by the episode "Checkmate" of . In some early versions of the script, the characters who become trapped in the game were placed in a surreal village, similar to the village featured in that series. ()
In a scripted scene, Bashir whispered to Dax that he was considering having Garak make him a new dress uniform, although Jadzia wasn't sure it would be appropriate to have a Cardassian tailor make a Starfleet uniform. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Production
This was the biggest-budgeted show since the series' pilot, . ()
"Move Along Home" was affected by budget issues that arose at the middle of the first season. Piller commented, "I would have thought based on my Next Generation experience that at the midway point of the season I'd be in great shape. I knew ['Move Along Home'] was going to be hugely expensive, but I thought that I'd have money to burn because we had done so many shows on the space station." ("As the Space Station Turns", The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 33)
These budget constraints made the filming of "Move Along Home" complex for the production team. David Livingston commented, "It was a killer. ['Move Along Home'] came at a point in the season where we were over budget. We didn't know how we were going to do the show. We had to make substantial changes in it, and yet it was still a huge episode. David Carson pulled it off." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 32)
The chasm scene was the most complex scene in the episode. David Livingston commented, "We spent a lot of time planning it along with laying the air bags that they fell onto. It just took a lot of time and a lot of thought. We had a lot of discussion about where the chasm would be and the logic of how one person that's injured couldn't get across and the other two could. We ended up putting on a matte shot to see the chasm and it just took a lot of planning to make the logic of it work and then be able to make it physically inside there." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 33)
Terry Farrell's work on this episode prevented her from appearing in , which was filmed around the same time. Siddig El Fadil guest-starred instead. Farrell commented, "I cried. I thought I should have fallen off the rock so I could have gone over there instead of Sid disappearing, because when we were filming 'Move Along Home' his character disappeared, and I was acting throughout the rest of it with Nana and Avery, and we got caught up together." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 48)
Shigemi Numazawa was commissioned by Paramount Pictures to paint spacescapes for the sets of Deep Space 9. His paintings would appear in quarters and in a classroom of the space station. "Move Along Home" was the first episode to introduce his paintings as set dressing.
Scenes from the filming of "Move Along Home" were part of a news report by Gerald Kolpan for Fox29 News.
Reception
Avery Brooks has gone on record as saying how much he hated the installment.
Frederick Rappaport commented, "The audience never really understood the game, and that was the idea. All the audience needed to know was that our guys were in jeopardy. They needed to know as much as the characters needed to know: How the hell do they get out of there?" In the end, Rappaport was disappointed that much of the threat present in his original script was removed by the reveal at the end: "The ending, where we learn it was just a game, undercut everything that went down for the previous four acts. It all seems pointless if there wasn't any jeopardy after all. I've heard from some fans who felt cheated that the characters were never in any kind of threat. I agree with those fans." However, Rappaport was pleased with the episode up to the final moments, commenting, "On the other hand, I know others who were satisfied with it, too. Up to that point at the end, I was as spellbound as any viewer. I was hooked. The show was imaginative and well-realized, and it has gotten a great deal of attention." ()
Director David Carson described this episode as "disappointing." () In a 2011 interview, he commented, "I'm a little vague on 'Move Along Home', but I do remember that it wasn't a very strong story."
David Livingston stated, "The cave sequence at the end with the stunts was amazing." Another aspect of the episode Livingston thought successful was David Carson's directing. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 32)
Armin Shimerman enjoyed aspects of the episode; "In its own cracked way, it's an okay show. It was the first time the writers allowed Quark to get somewhat serious. As Quark, I was once again screwing up, but they had given me a wonderful, almost heroic speech. They allowed Quark to, if not be a hero, at least have aspirations of doing something heroic. It's one of my favorite episodes." ()
Michael Piller commented, "It's one of the best premises of the season […] It's a little hokey, but there are many humorous and interesting twists in it." ()
Rick Berman commented, "It was a big show that had a tremendous amount of problems. It turned out much better than I thought it would. There were a lot of Lewis Carroll elements to the whole thing which were always a little bit on the verge of being hokey for me, but when all was said and done, I was pleasantly surprised." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 48)
Ira Steven Behr commented, "You could just as easily say that 'Move Along Home' was a third season show and that you don't make your characters seem that potentially foolish the first year, but this is Star Trek. You want to believe your audience has a certain amount of sophistication, that they'll accept what you give them." ("As the Space Station Turns", The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 33)
Ronald D. Moore stated that, when he watched this episode prior to joining the DS9 writing staff, he was "wondering if everyone had lost their minds."
In their book Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages (p. 32), Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman described this episode as an "ambitious" installment which "featured a number of intricate alien domains."
In The New Trek Programme Guide, the authors comment that "Move Along Home" was "an excellent and intriguing episode which cleverly uses its surrealism to present a very alien culture. Apparently there are some people out there, just released back into the community, who think this is the worst episode of the season." (The New Trek Programme Guide, p. 301)
James F. Broderick wrote, "Perhaps the most interesting use of Lewis Carroll's opus is in the Deep Space Nine episode 'Move Along Home'. Deep Space Nine lends itself more easily to Alice-based interpretations." (The Literary Galaxy of Star Trek: An Analysis of References and Themes in the Television Series and Films)
Ford A. Thaxton, one of the producers of La-La Land Records' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Collection, likes the episode. When asked in an interview why, he commented, "I’ll tell you why. It’s a very TNG-esque show, right? But the best moment in that show – the memorable moment – is when [Sisko, Bashir, and Dax are] going through this whole thing about what they're going to have to do, and they go to Kira… and Kira just looks at these guys like they’re completely out of their minds. 'Hey, I'm not Federation! I don't do this!' Something along those lines – that was the moment I remember from that. She just says, 'Wait a minute!"
Trivia
Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) does not appear in this episode and is stated to be on Earth. As mentioned in the episode , he and Keiko O'Brien went to visit Keiko's mother for her 100th birthday there.
This episode is not given a stardate, but the above reference suggests that it happened even later than "Dax" (which, according to its own stardate, occurred later than most other episodes of the season).
This is the first episode to feature Sisko and Dax in their dress uniforms. Bashir has lost his in transit to DS9 (referenced in the episode) and at this point in the series a dress uniform hadn't been designed for Kira, so she appears in her normal duty uniform when greeting the Wadi.
Broik's name is first used in this episode.
This episode marks the second and final appearance of George Primmin (James Lashly) on the series, after .
The Wadi ship was the first appearance of this studio model; for more information, see DS9 studio models.
This episode shares several thematic elements with . In both episodes, crew members are transported to a surreal environment, where causality and logic are deranged, and where they are mocked for their efforts to escape.
Awards
This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 5,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Joel Brooks as Falow
James Lashly as George Primmin
Co-Star
Clara Bryant as Chandra
Uncredited Co-Stars
Robert Coffee as a Bajoran officer
Judi Durand as Cardassian Computer Voice
Joe Durrenberger as Wadi
Melissa Eastman as Wadi
Bill Hagy as Wadi
Randy James as
Howard Kay as Wadi
Mark Lentry as a Human command lieutenant
David B. Levinson as Broik
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Pam Pruitt-McGeary as Wadi
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Sandra Wild as dabo girl
Unknown performers as
Human operations ensign
Wadi man 003
Wadi man 004
Wadi woman 003
Stunt Doubles
Anita Hart as stunt double for Terry Farrell
Patricia Tallman as stunt double for Nana Visitor
Unknown stunt performer as stunt double for Avery Brooks
References
2355; 2363; 2366; administrator; airlock; allamaraine; alpha-currant nectar; ambassador; Andolian brandy; antidote; Bajor; Bajorans; Bajoran fashion; Bajoran transport; Bajoran wormhole; bed; behavioral test; bet; case; captain; chief of security; Chula; cocktail party; combadge; court martial; dabo; dabo girl; dabo wheel; damage control; dice; docking bay; dress uniform; drug; Earth; echo; energy flux; explorer; expression; father; fault line; Ferengi; figurines; first contact; flux pattern; franchise; gambler; game; Gamma Quadrant; gemstones; holosuite; hour; Human; ionic field; juice; klon peag; laboratory; laboratory rodent; labyrinth; leg; lemonade; licensing agreement; logic; lokar bean; magnetic field; Master Surchid; maze; McCoullough; meter; minute; mirror; model; money; morning; night; nightmare; Nog; ; Old Man; ops; painting; path; ; poison; proximity check; pyramidic; Quark's; reactive ion impeller; red carpet; rehearsal; replicator; rhyme; riddle; rodent; scan; school; security officer; senior officer; senior staff; ; shap; Starfleet; starship; stick; sweep; swindler; tectonic shift; thialo; three-dimensional chess; transporter; tricorder; Trill; United Federation of Planets; Vulcan ship; Wadi; Wadi homeworld; Wadi ship; wager; waiter
Deleted scene references
Cardassian; clothier; Garak; tailor
External links
cs:Move Along Home
de:Chula – Das Spiel
es:Move Along Home
fr:Move Along Home (épisode)
ja:死のゲーム・DS9（エピソード）
nl:Move Along Home
pl:Move Along Home
DS9 episodes |
849 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | The Nagus (episode) | With the sudden death of Grand Nagus Zek, Quark becomes the new leader of the Ferengi Alliance, but he also becomes a target for murder.
Summary
An airlock door opens, and a Ferengi, Krax, steps out and looks around carefully. Once satisfied, he gestures, and a hunched-over obscured figure, Zek, emerges leaning on a taller humanoid, Maihar'du. In his other hand, he clutches a staff with a golden Ferengi head.
In Commander Sisko's quarters, Jake is getting ready for school gathering his many PADDs when his father enters. Sisko informs his son that they're going to Bajor for the Gratitude Festival. After the festival, Sisko suggests visiting the Fire Caverns that Jake had wanted to see. They'll be leaving at the end of that day's school day and going for three days. Jake asks if he has to go because he and Nog have plans for the next day.
In his bar, Quark is dealing with a customer and sends her on her way. When she is gone, he grabs Rom by the lobes and questions him as to why he had returned her purse against the First Rule of Acquisition and insists that Rom polish every rail in the bar that night. Rom runs off to find Nog, who is building a tower out of PADDs and knocks them over accidentally when his father arrives. Rom insists that Nog polish all of the rails in the bar that night. Nog sighs and heads off to school.
Meanwhile, Quark is telling Morn and some other customers a joke about an Andorian and someone's wife. Just after the finish of the joke, Krax, Zek, and Maihar'du enter the bar looking for Quark. Krax then introduces his father, Zek, as the Grand Nagus. Quark and Rom move to kiss Zek's staff and ask if they're visiting on business or pleasure, and of course, to a Ferengi, there is no difference between the two. Krax demands the use of a holosuite from Quark for his father and takes Quark's five favorite programs for use there.
Act One
In the classroom at the school, the students are all sitting around talking loudly with no sign of their teacher, Keiko O'Brien, in sight. Her husband, Miles, rushes in as their substitute teacher, but only for another two weeks before Keiko is due to return from Earth. The older students had a homework assignment to write an essay on ethics. Nog is chosen to present his first, but claims that his PADD had been stolen by some Vulcans in Quark's. He gets Jake to corroborate his story, and O'Brien lets Nog hand in his essay the following day.
In Quark's, Quark and Krax watch the holosuites and Quark wonders how much longer the Grand Nagus would be. Quark suggests they should check on Zek in case he has somehow injured himself, but Krax strongly disagrees, as Zek left orders not to be disturbed. Quark wanders down the bar to where Rom is standing, thrilled to have the Grand Nagus there, but Quark points out that Zek is likely there to purchase the bar for a price far lower than it is worth. Meanwhile, Zek has emerged from his holosuite, and proclaims it to have been a "good program". Quark offers up Rom's quarters for the Nagus' use while he is at the station and then invites him to dinner… at the Nagus' request.
Sisko approaches O'Brien and asks how school is. The chief mentions that he can't wait for Keiko to get back. O'Brien suggests that Sisko find another friend for Jake, one besides Nog, who seems to be a bad influence. Sisko appreciates the advice, but points out that if Jake were forced to choose between his friend and his father, he likely would choose his friend. When O'Brien expresses doubt at this, Sisko suggests that O'Brien will understand in another eleven years, when O'Brien's own daughter will be Jake's age (14).
At dinner, Zek enjoys the tube grubs, and informs Quark that his cousin Barbo has been released from the Tarahong detention center and that Zek is quite impressed with their sale of defective warp cores to the Tarahong government. Zek also brings up how Quark had left Barbo to "rot behind bars while Quark kept all the profits…" to which Quark quotes the Sixth Rule of Acquisition. Zek compliments Quark on his brilliance at opening a bar so close to a stable wormhole. Nog brings over a tray of instruments, and Zek chooses one to pick his teeth with. Nog asks if he could go to do his homework, to which Krax points out to his father's disappointment that a "hew-mon fee-male" is teaching at a Federation school on the station, and Rom tells his son that he will not be attending school anymore. Zek tells Quark that he needs his bar… and his services to host a Ferengi conference to discuss business in the Gamma Quadrant.
Act Two
Meanwhile, in Ops, Major Kira informs Sisko that the Ferengi ship Sepulo is docking at bay five, the third Ferengi ship in the last eighteen hours. Dax suggests that it might be Quark's birthday. Sisko contacts Odo to ensure that the situation will be looked after.
In Quark's, none of the regular patrons are around, and the dabo tables have been replaced with a large conference table. Krax informs Quark that the seating had to be changed to separate rivals Turot and Hoex. Meanwhile, Morn arrives at the bar, and Quark sends him away since the bar is closed for the impending conference. , one of the other Ferengi, threatens to leave when the Grand Nagus enters, supported by Maihar'du. Rom and Nog leave, but Zek tells Quark to stay.
Out on the Promenade, Jake runs into Nog, who is quite firm in his belief that he did not belong in the school and that school is a waste of time for a Ferengi because there is no profit in it. Nog stomps away after calling Jake a "stupid hew-mon".
Back in Quark's, Zek salutes Nava for taking over the arcybite mining refineries in the Clarius system. However, he points out that the reputation of the Ferengi is making it more and more difficult to do business in the Alpha Quadrant, and that in the Gamma Quadrant, their word could be their bond… until they chose to break it. Zek declines to lead the venture, claiming that he is "just not as greedy as [he] used to be"—and informs the group that the new Grand Nagus is Quark. The other Ferengi complain loudly and storm out of the bar, while Zek congratulates Quark on his new job, commenting that he is sure he will do great. Quark laughs in disbelief.
Act Three
At breakfast in their quarters, Sisko and Jake discuss Nog being pulled out of school over their oatmeal. Jake points out that Nog can't even read and that school wasn't going to be as much fun. To Sisko's comment that they could still get together after school, Jake expresses his worry that Nog no longer wants to be friends because Ferengi and Humans don't get along. Sisko agrees, noting that Human and Ferengi values are very different, and suggests playing some baseball after school, but Jake insists that he has something else to do.
On the Promenade, Grand Nagus Quark and his brother are walking along when Gral approaches Quark and formally introduces himself as Quark's "new best friend," but in ominous tones. Gral suggests that he will protect Quark if Quark would be grateful enough to allow Gral his pick of the more profitable opportunities in the Gamma Quadrant. Though Gral is outwardly polite and respectful, his demeanor suggests to Quark it is more like a threat than an offer.
In Rom's quarters, Zek is trying to figure out where to take his retirement, either Risa or Balosnee VI, as he hasn't taken a vacation in eighty-five years. Quark bursts in and asks Zek what he should do since Gral just seemed to threaten his life. Zek points out that more threats would follow, and that to survive, Quark must surround himself with loyal men, but none too loyal, and that he should be ruthless. Then, without warning, Zek's head slumps onto his chest. Maihar'du checks him, but he is already dead.
Later on, at a private funeral service held at Quark's, Krax is selling small discs with powder, Zek's vacuum desiccated remains, each for twenty bars of latinum. Quark asks Rom to be his bodyguard, because Rom is his closest associate, friend, and brother. Rom expresses his dismay, hoping that he could take over the bar. Quark bursts into laughter at this, until interrupted by Odo, who has questions to ask. Krax explains that his father died from "a massive infection of the tympanic membrane – a chronic condition." Odo wants to have Doctor Bashir examine the body, but of course, the body has already been vacuum desiccated for sale.
Out on the Promenade, Jake and Nog are sitting by their usual railing, but neither says a word. They both try to speak for a moment before the silence descends again. Jake suggests that Humans and Ferengi don't have much to talk about, but notes that they always had stuff to talk about previously. They agree to continue to be friends, despite the fact that it won't please either of their fathers.
The funeral continues in Quark's, where Odo questions Quark about his new status. Quark offers his staff to be kissed by Odo, who grunts at it before leaving. A coin rolls across the floor and Quark steps on it, glancing around to ensure that nobody is watching him, bends over to pick it up, when something zips by overhead and explodes against the wall behind him – an obvious assassination attempt.
Act Four
In Quark's, O'Brien, Odo, and Sisko investigate the explosion and O'Brien points out traces of argine and sorium, a sign of a Ferengi explosive. He notes that it appears to be a Ferengi locator bomb designed to lock onto a target's body odor. If Quark hadn't bent over at the last minute, he would have been fried.
Outside the bar, Bashir informs Sisko that Quark is fine, but a bit shaken up. As they head to the infirmary, Sisko spots his son and Nog running along the upper level and laughing together.
In the infirmary, Odo questions Quark, who tries to hide his fear behind his position as Grand Nagus. Sisko informs Quark that the next time he might not be so lucky, but Quark blows off his concern, although admitting that Krax would benefit most from his death. Rom brings up Gral's threat, but Quark notes that neither could have set off the explosive, both being at the funeral along with all of the other Ferengi. Odo notes that Maihar'du is absent and recalls the devotion of his species to their employers.
Back in Sisko's quarters, Jake is preparing to leave for school when Sisko questions him on his whereabouts the previous night, as he returned home after midnight. Jake responds that he was with Nog, not doing anything wrong, but that it's private. Sisko tells Jake that he wants him home in time for dinner.
In Quark's quarters, Nava is telling Quark that he wishes to find profit in a new field, introducing synthehol to the Gamma Quadrant. Quark points out that Nava was not pleased on Quark's ascension, nor did he congratulate him at the time, but wants this opportunity. Nava suggests a fifty-fifty split on the profits, so Quark grants him the opportunity. Quark, tired after all of his work, heads to his bar to count the day's take and leaves Krax and Rom behind. They note that he is going to become very popular with the way he is handing out such good opportunities, so they need a new plan to kill him, one that could not fail.
Act Five
Sisko sits alone in his quarters at the dinner table, dinner for two cooling. Dax enters and mentions that she was going to inquire as to whether he would be interested in a round of Jokarian chess, but that Sisko is obviously otherwise occupied with his dinner of aubergine stew. Sisko says that he has been waiting for half an hour for Jake, but that he hadn't made an appearance as yet since he was with Nog. Dax suggests that he have a talk with Jake to set boundaries, having "been a mother three times and a father twice," but notes that she was not particularly successful with any of them. Sisko decides to go find Jake and bring him home to eat and finds out from the computer that he's in one of the cargo bays. He thanks Dax and heads out while Dax takes a plate of the stew to eat.
Sisko heads to the cargo bay, not stopping by anything. In the poorly-lit cargo bay, he hears Nog and Jake's voices from ahead, and quietly makes his way through the stored materials. When he sees Jake and Nog, he stops and watches as Jake teaches Nog to read from a PADD. Sisko watches the two quietly.
In Quark's quarters, Rom is helping Quark finish dressing, but seems distracted. Quark says that he is looking forward to traveling through the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant to Stakoron II to negotiate for miszinite ore, negotiations that Zek had previously started, despite Quark not knowing about Zek's prior visit. Rom comments upon Quark having so much and he so little, and that maybe Quark could let him have the bar, but Quark states that's how things are meant to be. Quark and Rom head out and met up with Krax. Quark suggests bringing a dabo girl along for the appearance, but Krax compliments Quark by pointing out that he is so imposing he won't need one.
As they arrive at the airlock for the Ferengi ship, Krax steps aside and lets Quark make a regal entrance into the airlock, only to find that there's no ship, only space through the window, and that the airlock door is sliding shut behind him with Rom and Krax on the other side. He begins to panic, but this only makes Krax smile as he indicates that Quark has been "voted out" of the office of Grand Nagus. Rom also seems to be quite ready to open the airlock and rename the bar to Rom's, saying it's a nice name for a bar.
Just as they are about to release the outer airlock door (Rom had in fact paused briefly), a voice from down the corridor says, "Release him." It is Zek, still alive, standing there with Mairhar'du and Odo. Both Krax and Rom are stunned, and Odo lets Quark out of the airlock. Zek explains that he had entered a Dolbargy sleeping trance taught to him by Maihar'du to test Krax and see if he would be a worthy successor. However, despite the attempt by Krax to grab power, he is disappointed because "you don't grab power. You accumulate it, quietly, without anyone noticing." and that Quark's was the key and a prime location to quietly gather information on the Gamma Quadrant from those who passed through.
Back in the bar, Quark returns Zek's staff, and Zek comments that he had been looking forward to retirement, and before leaving jokes that he might return and buy the bar next time he passes through. Quark catches up with Rom and says that he was pleased with Rom's show of treachery and makes him the Assistant Manager for Policy and Clientele, a position he'd just made up.
Out on the Promenade, Jake and Nog agree to meet up again at the end of Jake's next school day. Sisko steps out of the Replimat and calls Jake over to give him a hug and a kiss on the head before sending him off to spend time with Nog.
Memorable quotes
"Tell me, is the Grand Nagus here on business or pleasure?"
"Is there a difference?"
"No, of course not."
- Quark and Krax
"Hold on… you're saying Vulcans stole your homework?"
"Yes, sir."
"Any idea why?"
"Because they don't have ethics?"
- Nog, telling O'Brien what happened to his essay on ethics
"My father requires rest!"
"Please feel free to use my own… brother's quarters for as long as you're with us."
- Krax and Quark
"Shoo! Shoo!"
- Quark, telling Morn his bar is closed
"There's a Federation school here. Run by a Human. A female."
"And you allow your son to attend such a place."
(to Nog) "Nog, I never want you to step foot in there again! Now go to your room! And no studying!" (to Zek) "My apologies, Nagus. It's those Federation do-gooders, always sticking their ugly noses in other people's business."
"Most distressing."
"Yes, Nagus. Most distressing. Yes, yes."
- Krax, Zek, and Rom
"Now look here, Quark –"
"Ah ah ah! Grand Nagus Quark."
- Sisko and Rom
"So, you were going to toss me out an airlock!"
"I never meant it!"
"Well, I do. Rom's. Nice name for a bar, don't you think?"
- Rom and Quark
"You failed! Miserably!"
- Zek, speaking about his test of Krax's readiness to become Grand Nagus
"It's like talking to a Klingon!"
- Zek, frustrated with Krax
"So, you were going to toss me out an airlock."
"Forgive me, brother."
"Forgive you? Why brother, I didn't think you had the lobes!"
- Quark and Rom
Background information
Story and script
Two working titles for this episode were "Friends & Foes" and "Friend Like Me".
The original story featured Klingons, Romulans, Vulcans, and several new races visiting Deep Space 9 to establish a new criminal syndicate. Ira Steven Behr modified the story to specifically feature the Ferengi. ()
David Livingston pitched the original story idea for this episode, dealing with Quark acting as some sort of a businessman, with the B plot having Jake teaching Nog how to read. The producers liked the B story idea, but disliked the A story. Finally, on a story meeting, Michael Piller came up with the idea of "doing The Godfather", and Ira Steven Behr was assigned to write the script. Livingston's only contribution to "The Godfather story" was the name "Zek".
Ira Steven Behr commented, "David Livingston pitched me an idea for a meeting of the great criminal minds of the galaxy, similar to The Godfather. I said to him, 'Maybe we should do a Ferengi episode', so his idea evolved into 'The Nagus'. I looked through the thesaurus for a good expression for leader and found negus, an Indian word, which I changed to nagus and Grand Nagus Zek, leader of the Ferengi empire was born. With the Ferengi being intergalactic capitalists I also knew that we needed a financial bible for them and after some thought I came up the Rules of Acquisition." ("Behr Necessities", TV Zone special #34)
Behr also commented: "I still remember the date where I came up with the idea for the Nagus and the Rules of Acquisition. I remember sitting in my office, having to figure out these stupid Ferengis and this episode, and looking up and finding the term Nagus, and going, “That’s a good name. I’m going to use that.” It’s like there’s a set of rules, and what are the rules? “Rules of greed?… That’s terrible…” I just was going through different words. 'Rules of Acquisition, of course! That’s it'. "
The Rules of Acquisition are mentioned for the first time in this episode. The two Rules mentioned are the first, "Once you have their money, you never give it back" and the sixth, "Never let family stand in the way of opportunity." That last one is arguably the most broken rule in the show.
According to Ira Behr, the writing of this episode was somewhat daunting, as he was keeping the budget in mind and the fact that speaking roles were paid more than guest performers without any lines. "As I wrote my first script," he said, "one of the things I thought as I was going over it was dare he speak? Dare they speak? Well, dare I take out this optical so this person might be able to speak?" (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 27)
Cast and characters
Armin Shimerman commented that this episode was "a fun and different type of Star Trek episode, like of the original." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion) He also said, "The Nagus' was interesting, but also nerve-wracking for me because it was the first episode where they told me, 'OK, you're going to shoulder this; everybody else can go home', and it was my responsibility to make the episode work. Suddenly, I was the key member doing the work." ()
Armin Shimerman joked about Max Grodénchik's role in this episode, stating, "In 'The Nagus', he had a chance to kill me and fulfill whatever fantasies he had." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, No. 3/4, p. 90)
Production
John Debney composed the music for the episode, and the score was recorded on . Debney commented, "There was a sound that Dennis [McCarthy] and Jay [Chattaway] had established and you adhered to that. But those shows had a comedic edge to them, so I could be a little quirky and comedic with some of the hijinks that Quark was engaged with." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Collection)
The scene where Quark meets Nava was an homage to the opening scene of 's 1972 movie . Quark's Corvan gilvo, the way he scratches his ear, the blinds on the windows, even the dialogue ("Yet now you call me Nagus") were all allusions to the film. ()
The Ferengi face seen on the Grand Nagus' staff was originally sculpted to resemble Armin Shimerman's Quark.
Reception
Although the Deep Space Nine writers and producers had feared that fans might reject comedic episodes that focused on the Ferengi so heavily as this one does, "The Nagus" was surprisingly successful with viewers, to the point that Armin Shimerman cited this episode as the one that convinced the producers that DS9 would be able to produce comedic episodes as well as serious ones. Shimerman commented, "Whatever success we had on 'The Nagus' convinced the writers, and, more importantly, the producers, that we could have purely comic episodes and the audience wouldn't leave us in droves. There are probably many people who grimace when they see there's going to be a Ferengi episode next week, but I think there are even more who are looking forward to the comic episodes, and that was something Rick Berman and company learned from 'The Nagus'. William Shakespeare taught us that – whenever he had a history play like Henry V, he made sure to have a character like Falstaff in there to lighten it up." ()
Michael Piller commented, "It's a very funny episode, and Wally Shawn is something you've never seen on The Next Generation. He's certainly a character that is the most different from anything you'd find on The Next Generation." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion)
Continuity
This episode features the first appearance of Wallace Shawn as Zek and Tiny Ron as Maihar'du.
Krax, Zek's son, was not seen or mentioned again after this episode.
In their book Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages (p. 36), writers Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman commented that this episode "firmly established Rom, along with Jake and Nog's relationship." However, both elements were previously established in the series. While not the first episode to feature Max Grodénchik as Rom, his voice and mannerisms are completely changed in this episode to the ones he became known for the rest of the series.
This episode is the first to mention the Fire Caves on Bajor (home of the Pah-wraiths), although Sisko calls them the "Fire Caverns".
The Gratitude Festival is later celebrated on Deep Space 9 in and .
Chief Miles O'Brien returned in this episode. His last appearance was in , after which, as is mentioned in the episode , he and Keiko O'Brien went to visit Keiko's mother for her 100th birthday on Earth. O'Brien returned sooner than his wife, since he took over her class in school while she was gone.
This episode is not given a stardate, but the above reference suggests that it happened even later than "Dax" (which, according to its own stardate, occurred later than most other episodes of the season).
Commander Sisko mentions, in this episode, that Jake is fourteen while Molly is three. Molly's age is questionable, as she was born in and that episode took place only a year and a half previously.
Trivia
The screen behind O'Brien in the school scene includes a figure of the Ornithoids from , as well as tribbles.
Morn is seen laughing in this episode. He never opened his mouth again throughout the series.
At the beginning of Act 1, there appears to be a model each of a and a vessel in the rear of the school room. The two models lack the upper hull attachments that usually adorn the respective ship classes. There is also a poster containing dorsal views of the five USS Enterprise vessels commissioned by the Federation Starfleet to date, along with two other unknown diagrams.
A rivalry between two Ferengi businessmen, Hoex and Turot, over Volchok Prime is mentioned, but neither of them are credited as making an on-screen appearance.
Remastered version
Remastered scenes from the episode are featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 6,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Max Grodénchik as Rom
Lou Wagner as Krax
Barry Gordon as Nava
Lee Arenberg as
Aron Eisenberg as Nog
Tiny Ron as Maihar'Du
And
Wallace Shawn as Zek
Uncredited Co-Stars
Scott Barry as a Bajoran officer
Ivor Bartels as a operations officer
Robert Coffee as a Bajoran officer
Brian Demonbreun as a sciences officer
Jeannie Dreams as a operations ensign
Judi Durand as Cardassian Computer Voice
Robert Ford as operations officer
Randy James as Lieutenant
Mark Lentry as a command lieutenant
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Theresa St. Clair as a Vulcan girl
Unknown performers as
Alien school girl
Six Bajoran children
Bajoran female customer
Dabo girl
Three Ferengi businessmen
Grey-skinned alien
Hoex
Three Human children
Rotciv member
Tailhead
Turot
References
2284; 2368; 2355; accomplice; adolescence; afternoon; airlock; Alpha Quadrant; amateur; Andorian; ; anti-gravity tractor; anti-grav sled; arcybite; argine; Assistant Manager of Policy and Clientele; aubergine stew; Bajor; Bajoran Gratitude Festival; Bajoran language; Bajoran system; Bajoran wormhole; Balosnee VI; ; Barbo; baseball; baseball glove; beetle; best friend; birthday; bodyguard; body odor; brain; brother; businessman; cane; Cardassian language; Cardassian Union; cargo bay; cargo port; chopstick; chronic condition; Clarius system; coin; Corvan gilvo; cousin; crab; currency pouch; dabo girl; dabo table; ; daughter; day; daydream; death; dinner; disk; docking bay; Dolbargy sleeping trance; ear; Earth; elders; essay; ethics; evening; examination; faking death; father; Federation; Ferengi; Ferengi Alliance; Ferengi death ritual; Ferengi language; Ferengi ship; Ferengi tooth tools; Ferengi wine; fire; Fire Caverns; fish; food taster; fork; funeral service; Gamma Quadrant; gold-pressed latinum; gouge mining; Grand Nagus; Grand Nagus' staff; hallucination; holiday; holosuite; homework; hour; ; Human; Human language; Hupyrian; Jokarian chess; joke; jumja stick; Klingon; leader; lobe; locator bomb; midnight; ; mirror; miszinite; molecular imaging scanner; money; moon; morning; new plan; ; night; oatmeal; ; ; "old man"; ops; orange drink; orange juice; ore; PADD; painting; pheromone; pheromonic sensor; polishing; Quark's; quarters; rail; Rawlings; receipt; replicator; Replimat; Risa; Risian; "Rom's"; Rules of Acquisition; ; school; scepter; seating arrangement; Sepulo; servant; shoes; silverware; socks; son; sorium; spoon; Stakoron; Stakoron II; strangulation; substitute teacher; synthehol; Tarahong detention center; Tarahongian; Tarahong government; three-dimensional chess; transporter; tribble; tube grubs; tympanic membrane; vacation; vacuum-desiccation; Volchok Prime; vote; Vulcan; waffle; warp drive; wife; wormhole
Other references
Comparative Xenobiology: Deneb IV; Denebian slime devil; flying parasite; Excalbia; Excalbian; Horta; Iota Geminorum IV; Large Magellanic Cloud; Ornithoid life form; Pyris VII; Regulan bloodworm; Regulus II; tribble
Starship Chronology: ; ; ; ;
Unreferenced material
algebra; Luta
External links
cs:The Nagus
de:Die Nachfolge
es:The Nagus
fr:The Nagus (épisode)
nl:The Nagus
pl:The Nagus
Nagus, The |
850 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Vortex (episode) | A fugitive from the Gamma Quadrant attempts to trade evidence about Odo's people for freedom.
Summary
Teaser
Odo arrives at Quark's, suspecting that Quark is doing business with the Miradorn raider that just docked at the station. They also discuss a quiet customer who is sitting at the other end of the bar. Just then, Ah-Kel and Ro-Kel, a pair of Miradorn twins, enter the bar and nod in Quark's direction. Quark heads up to a holosuite and asks Rom to bring up a flask of a special langour. Odo morphs into one of the glasses to eavesdrop on the upcoming meeting as Rom takes the tray to the holosuite.
Act One
The twins are offering to sell a small egg-shaped object to Quark, who expresses concern that it was stolen. The twins were under the impression that he guaranteed a buyer who doesn't ask questions. Soon, however, the quiet customer from before, named Croden, enters the room and demands to be given the item at gunpoint. Ah-Kel flips the table with the tray of glasses, shattering them, one of which reforms into Odo as it hits the floor. Quark puts up his hands while Ah-Kel throws the table at Croden and Ro-Kel fires at him, but misses. Croden fires back, killing Ro-Kel, but before Ah-Kel gets a chance to fight back, Odo subdues Croden and calls for security. Bashir arrives and confirms Ro-Kel is dead.
In the security office, Ah-Kel, furious about his twin's death, is interrogated. He explains his species' dependence on their twins, but is denied direct vengeance. Commander Sisko assures him the law will deal with Croden, who is currently being held in the brig, but Ah-Kel is not happy about it. He returns to his ship in frustration, but not before clearly vowing vengeance against Croden before he dies.
They turn to Croden, who expresses that he wants something to eat. Sisko says he will be tried, but Croden says his planet won't help him, as their people don't have trials. At the end of the conversation, Croden turns to Odo and calls him a Changeling, something which piques Odo's attention since it implies he has met or heard of one before. Croden says he may tell Odo of the time he met one, asking to be fed first.
Act Two
Using the , Sisko and Lieutenant Dax leave Deep Space 9 to locate Croden's homeworld to inform his people of Croden's arrest. They are disappointed a first contact must happen under these circumstances, but Major Kira suspects they may be happy to have a criminal taken off their hands.
Meanwhile, Odo goes to investigate Quark at the bar. Morn said Quark bought Croden a meal for some information. Quark denies it, that he was just "being friendly," but Odo makes his accusation: that he was securing a ship for Croden to go back to the Gamma Quadrant in exchange for the stunt he pulled earlier. Quark is nervous about Odo's volume in the bar, but Odo insists on asking him if he said anything about his homeworld or other species. Quark says no, and Odo is called away when Ah-Kel is found blocking his office along with a few mercenaries.
Odo stands Ah-Kel down with a threat to jail him as well, and goes to talk to Croden. He tells Odo Changelings used to live on his planet before they were persecuted, but he knows of a place where there are a few left. Odo is skeptical, saying of course Croden has to bring them there himself for an opportunity to escape. Odo doesn't believe him, so Croden then shows and gives Odo an unusual pendant containing a miniature Changeling that shapes into what could be described as an unusual "chess piece".
Act Three
Sisko and Dax arrive at Rakhar and send out communications. Eventually, they speak to Hadran, the Exarch of Nehelik Province. It transpires that Croden is wanted for multiple crimes on his planet and Hadran demands his immediate return to face execution. Sisko says he should be tried on their station first for that crime, but Hadran interjects and says he is guilty of myriad crimes and his punishment will certainly be consistent with their crime. With an angry threat to a possible relationship with the people, Sisko reluctantly agrees and says to expect him within a couple of days.
Meanwhile, Odo takes the pendant to Dr. Bashir in the infirmary who examines it and tells him that it's organic. The only other living creature he'd encountered with a remotely similar genetic makeup is Odo. Jokingly, Bashir says that the pendant could be considered Odo's distant cousin. It could be a clue to where Odo comes from, but Odo is disappointed at the trustworthiness of the source of this information. He goes back and returns the pendant, at Croden's request. Odo goes to leave, but Croden comes close and says he found the stone in a dense asteroid field in an unusual nebula in the Gamma Quadrant. There, he came across the colony of Changelings by chance. He says it's uncharted, but he knows his way back.
Sisko calls Odo to order him to return Croden to his homeworld, having obtained the Bajoran's agreement. They use a Rigelian freighter to mask their departure from Ah-Kel's raider. He warns Odo that the station can't warn him, for it will alert the raider. He will be on his own. Odo takes Croden on the and successfully escapes detection, and both the freighter and runabout enter the wormhole.
Act Four
Aboard the Ganges, Croden tries to appeal to Odo's loneliness on the station to relate to him. Croden goes on to tell Odo that on his homeworld he was declared an enemy of the state, the punishment of which is the execution of his family members. His two wives were killed and in response Croden killed the security officers responsible. Odo is suspicious of the story but Croden reassures him that it's true.
On the station, Ah-Kel discovers that Croden is gone. After threatening Quark's life, Quark uses his security access to give Ah-Kel Croden's whereabouts. When he leaves, Rom is excited over the prospect of Ah-Kel killing both Odo and Croden, but Quark does not share his enthusiasm. Despite some delays from Sisko and Kira, the Miradorn ship leaves the station and Ah-Kel eventually catches up with Odo's runabout in the Chamra Vortex and opens fire. Odo agrees to let Croden take the controls, since he is familiar with this area of space and Odo is not a combat pilot. Croden successfully gets the Ganges into the nebula, but must be careful due to pockets of what he calls toh-maire which threatens the ship. With a few tricks, Croden evades the attacker and directs Odo to a small planetoid, telling him that he may end up meeting one of his people after all.
Act Five
When they arrive on the planetoid, they find a desolate environment. Croden immediately runs off, but Odo stops him, demanding for him to admit his stories have been false – there are no Changelings present. But Croden is anxious to get somewhere. He heads to a stasis chamber hidden deep in a cave where he uses the "chess piece" as a key to open it and revives his daughter Yareth, seemingly proving his story to be true. On the way back to the runabout, the Miradorn vessel fires upon the planetoid which causes a cave-in and Odo is knocked out. Croden considers leaving him but ultimately goes back for him and rescues him when his daughter questions what he's doing.
Odo regains consciousness on the runabout and is surprised to find that Croden didn't leave him behind. However Ah-Kel is still pursuing them, as Croden hasn't been able to shake him. Odo takes the controls from Croden and leads the Miradorn ship into a pocket of the volatile toh-maire gas. Just before the Ganges is fired upon, Odo moves it out of the way. The gas ignites, destroying the Miradorn ship.
As Croden is preparing to be returned to his people, he asks Odo to take care of Yareth, saying that they're both going to be outsiders and they'll need each other. Odo is looking for a way to decline the request when a Vulcan ship, the T'Vran, intercepts the runabout Ganges, having detected the explosion and asks if they can be of any assistance. Odo replies and, surprising to Croden, asks if they would take the two Rakhari "survivors" back to with them. The captain agrees and, while preparing for transport, Odo tells Croden that he will say Croden was killed during the Miradorn attack on the planetoid. Croden gives Odo his pendant as a way of thanking him for his kindness and for saving his life as well as the life of his daughter before beaming over to the Vulcan ship. Odo warns him that he will be an outsider living in an alien culture, but Croden says as long as he has his daughter he has a home. After they depart Odo, holding the pendant, tells his "cousin" that one day they'll find home as well.
Memorable quotes
"The shapeshifters are harsh in their judgment."
- Croden to Odo
"The usual, Odo?"
"Nothing."
"The usual."
- Quark and Odo
"Whoever you are… you're making a mistake."
"Well, it wouldn't be the first and probably won't be the last. Give that to me."
- Ro-Kel and Croden
"The fact that you just killed a man doesn't affect your appetite?"
- Odo, to Croden
"The next time you lie, I'll save Ah-Kel the trouble of killing you."
- Odo, to Croden
"Five glasses… for four people… !?"
- Quark, after he realizes that Odo was masquerading as a glass
"Homicide as a means to open relations – it's not exactly how they teach it at the Academy, is it?"
- Dax
"Have you known any twinned Miradorn, commander?"
"I'm afraid I haven't met any before now."
"In my species, we are not just twin brothers… together we are a self… two halves of one being. I am incomplete now."
- Ah-Kel, to Sisko
"You could've left me behind."
"Don't thank me, I already regret it."
- Odo and Croden, after Croden decided not to leave Odo on the planetoid
"Oh, you are clever, brother. Now, Ah-Kel will rid us of both Croden and Odo."
"Unless Odo is sensible and gives up his prisoner."
"Oh, no! Then Croden will tell Ah-Kel the truth about our plan. We're dead. We're dead. You shouldn't have told him how to find them."
"Be quiet! Odo would never give up his prisoner. He'll just get himself killed."
- Rom and Quark, about Ah-Kel's plan to kill Croden and Odo
"Home? Where is it? Some day we'll know… cousin."
- Odo, looking at Croden's pendant
Background information
Story and script
Peter Allan Fields' original idea for this episode was based upon the 1953 movie and, as such, Fields hired that movie's writer, Sam Rolfe, to do the teleplay. () Fields commented, "Sam Rolfe is a legendary writer." (Cinefantastique, Volume 24, Issue 1)
According to Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Odo's line "I'm a security chief, not a combat pilot" is a tribute to Leonard McCoy's running line in , "I'm a doctor, not a...." ()
The script specified that two of Ah-Kel's crewmen were Gatherers, who were first seen in another Star Trek episode that Sam Rolfe wrote: . (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
In the shot in which Rom places the bottle of langour onto the drinks tray, we see that there are now five glasses instead of four. The script highlighted the change, and directed that the camera focus on the fifth glass in homage to 's 1946 film . (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Morn is first identified by name in this episode. His name is an anagram for a well-loved character from the television series Cheers, who, like Morn, spent a lot of time sitting at the bar. ()
Cast and characters
Rene Auberjonois was pleased with how this episode portrays his character of Odo, stating it "developed the character wonderfully." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, No. 3/4, p. 95)
Randy Oglesby portrayed both of the Miradorn twins. He also played several other characters in various Star Trek series, including Silaran Prin in the DS9 Season 5 episode and the recurring role of Degra in the third season of .
Armin Shimerman was deeply concerned about how this episode has his character of Quark become involved in a murder without facing any consequences. "I had this chat with Rick Berman about whether we went over the line by having Quark participating in a really high crime," the actor recalled. "I thought so and that might be a little dangerous for the character and for the show. It means he can get away with murder, which is not what I think the show is about, and it also makes somewhat of a fool of Odo […] for that to happen under his nose and to let it get by him and Sisko for that matter, lessens their characters, as well." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, No. 3/4, p. 90)
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
Production
The making of this episode was extremely costly. It was produced amongst a few other installments that were also expensive to produce. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 33)
Originally, the Miradorn throat was designed with a loose flap of skin hanging down over the Adam's apple. Costume Designer Robert Blackman wanted to use a necklace as part of the Miradorn costume, but Make-Up Supervisor Michael Westmore felt that placing a necklace over the flap of skin would render it useless and spoil the effect. As such, it was decided to let the necklace run under the flap of skin, and glue the skin down at the bottom, so it was no longer loose. (Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season One, DS9 Season 1 DVD, special feature)
The exterior visuals of the Chamra Vortex were re-used shots of the Mutara Nebula from , recolored slightly and flipped upside-down.
Reception and aftermath
Michael Piller thought "Vortex" was "a very effective episode. I was mostly concerned that the sentimentality of the little girl on the planet was not going to play and that it was a little hokey. Frankly, I think it did play and I found it quite touching. I was intrigued with the mystery, and the special effects they did in the vortex were sensational." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 51)
Winrich Kolbe felt that an effective aspect of this episode was the fact that, despite mistrusting Croden, Odo follows him nonetheless. "It's intriguing," stated Kolbe. (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 436)
The Miradorn makeup was one of Michael Westmore's favorite designs from the first season of Deep Space Nine. In particular, Westmore liked the throat area. (Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season One, DS9 Season 1 DVD, special feature)
A reviewer in Cinefantastique wrote, "A brief appearance of the Vulcans give the universe of Star Trek in this show a refreshing breadth and diversity." (Cinefantastique, Volume 24, Issue 1)
Gordon Clapp's costume from this episode was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay and may have been re-used in .
Continuity
This episode marks the first time that we see Odo smile. Actor Rene Auberjonois felt that this scene was an important one in the development of the character, believing that "a smile is sort of a gift that Odo gives only on very special occasions." ()
Not only is Morn first referred to by name in this outing but it is also in this episode that the notion that he talks too much is introduced, something that became a running joke for the duration of the series, even though he never speaks onscreen.
This is also the first episode in which the term "Changeling" is used to describe Odo.
Croden did speak some truth about the Changelings – they did flee persecution from humanoids and did live in an unusual nebula in the Gamma Quadrant, being a rogue planet within the Omarion Nebula, as is established in .
As the character of Odo was still being developed in the first season, the episode contains an odd scene where Odo is injured by falling rocks, is knocked unconscious, and later wakes up with a headache. Later seasons and episodes, after further explanations of Odo's unique physiology were expanded upon, clearly indicate that these types of injuries were not possible for a changeling.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 6,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Cliff DeYoung as Croden
Randy Oglesby as Ah-Kel and Ro-Kel
Max Grodénchik as Rom
Gordon Clapp as Hadran
Kathleen Garrett as Vulcan Captain
Leslie Engelberg as Yareth
Co-Star
Majel Barrett as Computer Voice
Uncredited Co-Stars
David Paul Christian as Bajoran deputy
Frank Collison as Dolak (display graphic)
Jeannie Dreams as a Human operations division ensign
Jeffrey Hayenga as Orta (display graphic)
Randy James as Lieutenant
Norman Large as Neral (display graphic)
Mark Lentry as a Human command division lieutenant
David B. Levinson as Broik
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
April Rossi as a Ktarian space hooker (display graphic)
Mark Allen Shepherd as
Human DS9 resident
Morn
Michael Zurich as a Bajoran security deputy
Unknown performers as
Bajoran security deputy (voice)
Buck-toothed alien criminal (display graphic)
Ferengi criminal (display graphic, unconfirmed)
Human operations division ensign
Human raider crewman 1 and 2
Klingon criminal (display graphic)
Tailhead raider crewman
Plix Tixiplik (display graphic)
Stunt Doubles
Dennis Madalone as stunt double for Cliff DeYoung
Buck McDancer as stunt double for Randy Oglesby
Tom Morga as stunt double for Rene Auberjonois
Stand-ins
Randy James as stand-in for Colm Meaney
Mark Lentry as stand-in for Rene Auberjonois
Unknown actor as photo double for Randy Oglesby
References
advocate; Ah-Kel and Ro-Kel's raider; airlock; alien; Alpha Quadrant; Altoran; Altoran trader; amalgam; asteroid; Bajoran; Bajoran transit regulation; Bajoran wormhole; ; bauble; bill of sale; bird; brother; buyer; century; Chamra Vortex; Chamra Vortex asteroid; Changeling; colony; combat pilot; cousin; crime; Croden's shuttle; Croden's wives; crystal; daughter; dawn; day; docking ring; egg; envoy; evasive maneuvers; exarch; eye contact; father; Federation; Ferengi; Ferengi phaser; fowl; Gamma Quadrant; ; gas; gold-pressed latinum; gullet; hailing frequency; hemisphere; holding cell; holosuite; homeworld; homicide; hour; IDIC; impulse; impulse wake; inorganic matter; ionized; key; killer; Klingon; Klingon rescue ship; knife; langour; Latin language; law; lie; life sign; light year; log entry; manacle; matter; M class; merchant; microscope; Milky Way Galaxy; minute; Miradorn; Miradorn raider; mirror; morning; murder; myth; nebula; neck; Nehelik Province; night; objet d'art; ops; orbit; organic; paranoia; photon bank; photon torpedo; plasma charge; Promenade; punishment; quadrant; Quark's; raider; Rakhar; Rakhari; Rakhari merchants; Rakhari sector; Rakhari security officers; Rakhari shuttlecraft; restroom; ; Rigelian; ; robbery; round; runabout; "run interference"; science vessel; security chief; security chip; security clearance; security office; security officer; sedative; sensor; shapeshifter; shapeshifting locket; shields; shuttlecraft; slaughter knife; space station; square; starboard; Starfleet; Starfleet Academy; stasis chamber; station log; subspace communications network; subspace signal; supper; thruster; trial; T'Vran; ; thief; toh-maire; trader; twin; Vanoben transport; volatile pocket; vortex; Vulcan; Vulcan (planet); Vulcan band frequency; wanted poster; wife; year
External links
cs:Vortex (epizoda)
de:Der Steinwandler
es:Vortex
fr:Vortex (épisode)
nl:Vortex
pl:Vortex
DS9 episodes |
851 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Battle Lines (episode) | A runabout carrying Kai Opaka crashes on a planet of eternal war, where it is impossible for the combatants to die.
Summary
Teaser
Jadzia Dax and Miles O'Brien tell Benjamin Sisko in his office about finding the personnel files kept by Dukat, the previous prefect of Deep Space 9. O'Brien tells Sisko he should probably warn Kira Nerys about her file before she can see it. Kira walks in at that moment and asks what should she be warned about; Sisko tells Kira she might find her file disappointing, and Kira assures him she can handle it, and begins to review her file. Moments later, Kira storms out of the room, angry and insulted at how little emphasis she got as a member of the Bajoran resistance. In the meantime, Julian Bashir tells Sisko that Kai Opaka, who has never left Bajor before, is aboard for an unannounced visit and wishes to have the tour of the station that previously Sisko offered her.
As they show her around the station, Opaka seems unusually distracted, which is noticed by Bashir. Sisko then notices Opaka standing by the viewport where the wormhole can be best seen. It's obvious she would like to see the wormhole, but doesn't say it. Since there's nothing scheduled to go through that day, Sisko decides to take her himself on a runabout accompanied by Kira, and he also allows Bashir to tag along. O'Brien prepares the , though, interestingly, as they board Opaka pauses to give O'Brien a necklace she was wearing and asks him to give it to his daughter for her. He sees them off, a bit puzzled.
Act One
Sisko takes the Yangtzee Kiang through the wormhole, and Opaka is amazed and emotionally moved by the spectacle of the interior. Sisko remarks that she'll see in a few years just what it is worth to Bajor, and is ready to head back. Opaka, who is seemingly waiting for something, is disappointed until they pick up a narrow band subspace signal and insists they investigate it before leaving the Gamma Quadrant. They identify the source as a planet orbited by artificial satellites, one malfunctioning. Bashir identifies a habitable moon with possible lifeforms when suddenly one of the satellites comes near the runabout and fires. The runabout is badly damaged and starts to descend towards the moon, and while the officers fight for control Opaka is not fearful but strangely content as the ship crash lands.
On the planet's surface, Sisko, Bashir, and Kira leave the runabout, carrying out the unconscious Kai. Unfortunately, Bashir soon pronounces her dead, and Kira mourns. As they stand by the runabout, they realize they are not alone.
Act Two
Meanwhile, on DS9, the Yangtzee Kiang is now three and a half hours overdue. O'Brien and Dax prepare the to find the missing crew. Odo must handle the frequent messages from Bajor on the Kai's status, as they were informed she went into the wormhole. He can only tell them they have a lead on where they are at the moment. Dax asks Odo to have the Bajorans have a vessel on the Gamma Quadrant side of the wormhole to relay messages via subspace.
On the planet, the crew is taken by the Ennis, a humanoid species, and they escort them into the caves with weapons in hand. They are obviously cautious of them. The apparent leader, Golin Shel-la, is suspicious, but Sisko is able to convince him they are not hostile. He permits Bashir to help Kira with her wounds. He explains that they live along with their enemies the Nol-Ennis on the moon, which serves as a penal colony to which both groups were banished after their homeworld's mediators were unable to negotiate peace between the two factions. Now that the Starfleet crew is with them, they will be considered their allies and in danger, even though a rescue team is probably on the way.
The Nol-Ennis suddenly attack the area and the prisoners immediately start the firefight. Several soldiers are killed from each faction before Kira puts an end to the skirmish by bringing down part of the cave ceiling with a Starfleet phaser, despite Sisko's desire not to get involved. Just then, the silhouette of the Kai unexpectedly appears in the cave entrance. She is alive.
Act Three
Bashir examines the Kai, who appears normal and healthy. She says she only remembers the crash, but then nothing. She gets up and walks to see the area. Bashir further says her physiology is radically different, with an inexplicable biomechanical presence in her cells. He needs to do a full analysis to see what's going on. Interestingly, the other fallen soldiers similarly begin to revive.
Fortunately, O'Brien and Dax are able to trace the Yangtzee Kiangs warp eddy current to the system, and head there, though it is uncharted. O'Brien is confused that they aren't even picking up the ship's transponder signal, which will make the search difficult.
Bashir sees that the same phenomenon in Opaka is the same in these prisoners. Somehow, the transformation has kept them from dying. Shel-la admits that he has "died" many times before. Bashir wants to get the runabout's computer working to figure this out, but Sisko says it's too dangerous. Shel-la wants the answer himself, so he guarantees his protection and Bashir leaves with two of his men. Opaka questions Shel-la on why the war started, but it's clear they don't care, they still want vengeance. It appears that they were sent to the moon as an example for the rest of the population on what happens when two sides can't come to a peace. The whole moon was designed to prolong their suffering. Kira, needing a defensible area, questions Shel-la about the Ennis' lack of defenses. He responds that since both sides have realized that they cannot die, their tactics have changed. Sisko suggests that a Starfleet rescue team might be able to transport both of the factions to different planets, where they could live separately instead of continuing their endless fight. He challenges him to talk to the other leader to get a truce in the meantime.
Act Four
In the meantime, O'Brien and Dax find that they can't trust their sensors due to delta radiation. They'll need to search one planet at a time, but O'Brien comes up with a design for a differential magnetometer which, fitted onto a probe, should detect the particular magnetic resonance traces in the Yangtzee Kiangs hull. This should speed up the search, though Dax is skeptical. Eventually, it works and they are headed to the moon.
The Ennis and the Nol-Ennis agree to meet at a neutral site near the runabout. Sisko leaves with them, but Kira stays behind with Opaka. When they leave, she starts a conversation with Kira about her possibly seeing herself in these hardened people, having fought for so long and delivered so much violence. Kira initially doesn't see the parallels, but Opaka detects the guilt Kira feels for the violence she committed during the Occupation of Bajor. She says Kira must accept the violence within her in order to overcome the guilt, and comforts her. Kira admits she is afraid the Prophets won't forgive her for what she has done, but Opaka says they are simply waiting for her to forgive herself.
Bashir returns to the runabout, protected by the Ennis, to repair the computers so that he can investigate the artificial microbes, or nanites, further. He is successful and starts the computer to analyze the data. Soon, Sisko and the Ennis arrive. The Nol-Ennis leader, Zlangco, steps up to them and Sisko explains the deal. Unfortunately, neither side takes the negotiations seriously and the fighting breaks out again, with the Starfleet crew caught in the middle of it. Bashir pushes Sisko out of the way of a weapon that was coming towards him, saying that they can't afford to die on the moon, not even once.
Act Five
Dax finds Human life signs on the moon, but O'Brien, upon seeing the satellite system, realizes that it must be using a dampening field to block the Yangtzee Kiangs transponder signal, the reason he wasn't detecting it before. They retreat to a safe distance and he works on getting a communication through.
Bashir explains to Sisko that the biomechanical devices that bring the Ennis and the Nol-Ennis back to life cannot survive in any other environment besides that of the moon. Furthermore, once a person has died with them, the body becomes dependent on them, meaning none of the Ennis or Nol-Ennis, nor Kai Opaka, can ever leave again. O'Brien then cuts in to signal Sisko, and lets him know he's working on a plan for transport. The satellites are going to make it difficult.
Sisko goes to inform Opaka of her fate, however, before he gets to it, Opaka declares she is staying. With a moment of clarity, she believes that she has found the answers to her own prophecies. She says that, even as they came through the wormhole, she sensed that she would not return. She asks Kira to tell the others that she has answered the call of the Prophets, and that she was brought there because it is time for the people on the planet to begin their healing process, just as Kira was brought there to begin hers.
O'Brien manages to find a way to beam the marooned crew away by distracting one of the satellites with a probe thereby creating a hole in the defense grid established by the satellites. Informing Sisko, they start on it. Meanwhile, Bashir suggests finding a way to reprogram the microbes so that they would stop functioning after death, allowing the inhabitants to die for good and end their torture. However, when Shel-la expresses his intent to use it in order to defeat the Nol-Ennis for good, Bashir disappointingly abandons the idea. Fighting erupts outside and Shel-la is reluctantly drawn away. Sisko begins to tell the Kai that if they ever find a way to get her off the planet without killing her then they'll return, but Opaka interrupts him and tells him that her work is now on the moon. However, her and Sisko's pagh will cross again. The crew are beamed up, leaving the warring Ennis and Nol-Ennis behind, and the Kai with a lot of work to do.
Memorable quotes
"You might want to warn Kira before she sees her file."
(Walking in) "Warn me? About what?"
"Oh, uh, Dax and Mr. O'Brien discovered some of the last Prefect's personal files. There's a file on you, but you may find it disappointing."
"I'm a big girl, commander."
(Later, storming out) " 'A minor operative whose activities are limited to running errands for the terrorist leaders' ?!"
"Major, when you're through feeling under-appreciated, perhaps you'd join me in welcoming the kai aboard."
- O'Brien, Kira, and Sisko
"Please, commander. I don't get out often."
- Opaka, urging Sisko to investigate the mysterious signal
"The magnetic deflection of a runabout's hull is extremely weak. The probes will never be able to detect it."
"They will if I outfit them with a differential magnetometer."
"A differential magnetometer?"
"Mm-hmm."
"I've never heard of a differential magnetometer. How does it work?"
"I'll let you know as soon as I finish making one."
- Dax and O'Brien
"I've discovered we can't afford to die here. Not even once."
- Bashir
"Nice work, Julian."
- Bashir, to himself, after fixing one of the runabout's computer
"When you cease to fear death the rules of war change."
- Golin Shel-la
"Opaka, if we can ever find a way… "
"My work is here now, commander. But your pagh and mine will cross again."
- Sisko, bidding Opaka farewell
Background information
Story and script
Ira Steven Behr asked Evan Carlos Somers to work on this episode one week after Somers had unsuccessfully pitched to the series. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp. 31-32) "[Ira Behr] calls me up and offers me a rewrite job on 'Battle Lines," Somers recalled. "Apparently he had really gone out on a limb for me. They had hired a writer to work on it and were disappointed with his initial drafts. It was coming up on the Christmas holiday, and the staff of three was tied up with other rewrites. Ira went on a limb and told Michael [Piller] I could do a good job on it. I'm sure inside he was praying I could." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 32) Somers further commented, "I started work on 'Battle Lines' before [''] aired and I saw the pilot and it confirmed some notions I had. I did a little rewriting and it was an elucidating experience. We were forming a new show and I was asked to come in and rewrite an episode that was an incredibly strong story that was dealing with characters I was unfamiliar with. It was in interesting experience." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 76)
The original concept of this episode involved a group of Humans and Cardassians, although this was changed to the Ennis and the Nol-Ennis so it would not look like the main characters had chosen sides. ()
The writers had also considered creating a new character to be killed and resurrected (see redshirt) but this was changed to Kai Opaka, as she was considered to be the most expendable recurring character. ()
The episode was one source of inspiration for this episode for the late Hilary J. Bader, although mainly due to it showing the futility of war, not as a new concept. Indeed, the primary focus of Bader's pitch was to expose war as utterly pointless. This is emphasized in the fact that the Ennis and the Nol-Ennis don't even remember why they are fighting. According to Bader, "There must have been a more meaningful cause for this battle, but it's so long ago that it's not the issue anymore; it's not what they're fighting about. They're fighting about 'You're this and I'm not!'… the point was that it didn't really matter why they fought. The act itself is more important than the issue that started it." Bader also commented, "There are certain themes that reoccur in Star Trek, and the fact that war is pointless is one of them." ()
Production
Paramount Stage 18 was used for the planetary exteriors and caves. (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 27)
"Battle Lines" was one of the stunt performer crew's favorite Star Trek episodes, especially for Dennis Madalone, who directed two days of first unit stunt work. Madalone commented, "That's the only one that ever let me take over the whole set. The director said, 'This is fights all day with the actors. Can you just direct it?' So I directed two days of First Unit of all those battles. I was in the fights too, but I made sure I put myself in the back of the battle so I could cover myself separately and still direct all the action stuff. I kept going up to the director and saying, 'Do you like it?' and he would say, 'Yeah, just print it'. He was reading a magazine the whole time. It was crazy, but a lot of fun!" ("The Stunt Performers' Favorite Series", )
Tom Morga designed the weapons in this episode. He did so by taping together a cardboard blade, a ball, and an old tool handle. ("The Stunt Performers' Favorite Series", )
In an outtake from the first scene on the runabout, Avery Brooks delivered a line "We'll be entering the wormhole in about an hour" instead of the scripted time of a minute. Brooks smiled and Camille Saviola pretended to look at her watch and said, "Well, I ain't got that long, I've got about fifteen minutes!" (Ultimate Trek: Star Trek's Greatest Moments)
The making of this episode was extremely costly. It was produced amongst a few other installments that were also expensive to produce. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 33)
Reception
Evan Somers received news that the DS9 writing staffers were pleased with this episode. "They told me they were extremely happy with it," reminisced Somers, who went on to join the show's writing staff himself. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 32)
Michael Piller was pleased with the concept and the story of the episode. "I think this is one of the best premises of the season," he commented. "For all those people who have written in and said we want more alien violence and sex, this is the episode. Hilary Bader is another one of those people who just keeps coming up with one good fresh idea after another. This was a great idea about a planet where you can never die. It's a great premise for a science fiction show and we put Kai Opaka on there and she becomes a fundamental part of the tale. It's about rebirth and resurrection and spiritual mystical things. One of the things I felt about this season is that I'm finding people react every positively to the mystical component of the pilot of Deep Space Nine. I didn't do a lot more of them on DS9 after we set it up on the pilot, but ['Battle Lines'] is one of them. My feeling is we should be finding more of those kinds of things. I think they're more interesting than ships breaking down." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, pp. 75-76) Piller was ultimately disappointed with the broadcast version of the episode. "We had a show in the first season that I thought was a terrific script and was not a terrific show and it was 'Battle Lines'. I thought it was terrific concept, but the nature of the direction and the performances in that show made it feel operatic." (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p. 7)
"Battle Lines" was the final Star Trek episode to be directed by Paul Lynch, who greatly enjoyed directing it, particularly with working with Camille Saviola. Lynch commented, "It was a wonderful set and combination of standing sets and of adding pieces to the standing set. We had a wonderful spaceship that had crashed into it and the Kai is fabulous. She's a wonderful actress and like a lot of these actors like Avery and Armin and Rene, she is a theater actress too. She gives a performance where part of it is the walking dead. She was such a marvelous woman and a Human being that it was a joy to work with her." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 27)
Paul Lynch also thought that Avery Brooks' performance was excellent in the episode. Lynch commented, "I was there at the beginning and he was sensational, but in 'Battle Lines' he just soared. He's a wonderful actor, but he was just slowly feeling the character." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 99)
Rick Berman was impressed by the performance of Jonathan Banks. Berman commented, "Jonathan Banks did a nice job and there's some wonderful action in it. We deal with the death of the Kai and the rebirth of the Kai. I thought the concept of a punishment that is based on a microbe that allows these warring factions to never die was fascinating, and the idea that you have to constantly be recreating these battles and fighting one another. There was a lot of technobabble in it that got quite complex, but I thought by and large that it was quite nice." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 76)
David Livingston commented, "I worked with Jonathan Banks on Otherworld at Universal. That's where I knew him originally. Then I knew his work with Beverly Hills Cop, and then of course on Wiseguy. He is a very odd and unusual actor, and he wears this wonderful makeup and did a terrific jobs. There are wonderful fight sequences with a lot of action. It's a very strong episode visually. The crew was exhausted after that episode having to work on Stage 18 in the dirt and in those caves and cramped quarters. It's very trying." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 76)
Ira Steven Behr was also pleased with "Battle Lines", commenting that it was "a good show. We say goodbye to the Kai and we have some action. While it's not The Wild Bunch it'll do. We have some vicious little fighting going on, hand to hand. People getting their throats cut and wounded and bleeding. It's an interesting show and I like it." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 75)
Trivia
This episode marks the first time Hilary J. Bader and Richard Danus worked on . Bader later worked on the episodes , and , while Danus wrote the story of .
Kai Opaka leaves the Alpha Quadrant in this episode, making her final 'real' appearance in the series. She does appear later in and in orb experiences and orb shadows.
This episode marks the first time a DS9 runabout is destroyed. The was later replaced by the . The production design team reused an existing Type 6 shuttlecraft nacelle prop in place of constructing an accurate Danube-class nacelle for the crashed runabout Yangtzee Kiang.
This episode was one of the first to state exactly what the United Federation of Planets is. Commander Sisko's response to Zlangco's question was that it "is made up of over a hundred planets who have allied themselves for mutual scientific, cultural and defensive benefits. The mission that my people and I are on is to explore the galaxy." Jean-Luc Picard later says something similar to Lily Sloane in .
Although it was not specified in the episode, the Prefect to whom Sisko refers is Gul Dukat.
Armin Shimerman (Quark) and Cirroc Lofton (Jake) do not appear in this episode.
Remastered version
Remastered footage from the episode is featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Apocrypha
Opaka returns to Bajor in the non-canon DS9 relaunch novels, after being encountered by Jake Sisko.
S.D. Perry's Rising Son is a sequel, of sorts, to this episode. It reveals the changes that have happened among the Ennis and the Nol-Ennis by 2376. Both Shel-la and Zlangco appear in the novel.
The necklace that Opaka gives O'Brien for Molly was not seen or mentioned in the series again, although O'Brien tells Joseph and Judith Sisko about it in Robert Simpson's novel Lesser Evil.
The Star Trek Online expansion Victory Is Life includes the mission "Armistice", where Opaka has succeeded in forging a peace between the Ennis and Nol-Ennis and converting them to the Bajoran religion. The player character is charged with evacuating the Ennis moon in the face of a Hur'q attack, and Opaka resumes the Kaiship after returning to Bajor (taking over from Kira Nerys, who accepts a Starfleet commission and commands the for the remainder of the storyline).
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 7,
The video sleeve appears to render this episode's title as "Battlelines", although the small case font makes it difficult to tell for certain.
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Camille Saviola as Opaka
Paul Collins as Zlangco
And
Jonathan Banks as "Shel-la"
Co-Star
Majel Barrett as Computer Voice
Uncredited Co-Stars
Tracee Lee Cocco as Antican
George Colucci as a Nol-Ennis warrior
Steve Diamond as a Bajoran captain
Chris Doyle as an Ennis warrior
Jeannie Dreams as a Human operations division ensign
Michael Haney as a Nol-Ennis warrior
Randy James as Lieutenant
Ken Lesco as a Nol-Ennis warrior
Dennis Madalone as an Ennis warrior
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Tom Morga as a Nol-Ennis warrior
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Joe Murphy as a Nol-Ennis warrior
Jeff Pruitt as a Nol-Ennis warrior
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Patricia Tallman as Nima
Michael Zurich as a Bajoran security deputy
Unknown performers as
Two female Ennis
Six male Ennis
Human operations ensign
Stunt Doubles
Alan Oliney as stunt double for Avery Brooks
Spiro Razatos as stunt double for Jonathan Banks
Unknown stunt performers as
Stunt double for Paul Collins
Stunt double for Siddig El Fadil
References
airlock; Alpha Quadrant; analysis; antimatter pod; artificial microbe; artificial satellite (); artificial satellite network (low level satellite system); asteroid belt (unnamed asteroid belt); attitude control; Bajor; Bajoran; Bajoran death chant; Bajoran prophecy; Bajoran transport; Bajoran wormhole; bearing; binary star system; bio-pattern; "bloody"; body; bowing; Cardassian; cease fire; ; cellular function; cellular level; Celsius; class 2 probe; computer; crash landing; damnation; damping field; ; ; day; death; Deep Space 9; defense network (defense net); defense system; delta radiation; differential magnetometer; directed energy weapon (aka energy weapon); dozen; Dukat; ecosystem; encryption system; Ennis; Ennis and Nol-Ennis homeworld; Ennis and Nol-Ennis weapons; fear of death; Federation; field triage; flight stabilization; forward thrusters; freedom; fuel cell; Gamma Quadrant; generation; gesture; hour; hull; hull temperature; hysteresis curve; Idran; Idran system; impulse; impulse generator; induction field; jailbreak; Kai; knife; Kohn-Ma; leader; lifeform; light year; long range scanner; magnet; magnetic field; magnetic resonance pattern; M class; mediator; medical personnel; medical tricorder; medkit; megawatt; meson; metal; Milky Way Galaxy; minute; moon; mutual induction field; nanite; narrow band; necklace; needle in a haystack; neuromuscular scan; nightmare; Nol-Ennis; ; operative; ops protocol; orbit; pagh; palm beacon; penal colony (aka prison colony); penal moon, penal moon star system, penal moon sector; pendant; phaser; photon torpedo; ; power reactor; prefect; Prime Directive; probe; Probe A; Probe B; Probe C; Prophet; pulmonary collapse; punishment; rescue team; ; rules of war; runabout; runabout pad C; scan analysis; second; secondary booster; sector; sensor; shields; shoulder; soul; space station; square kilometer; starship; straw; subspace; subspace signal; Tahna Los; temperature; ternary star; terrorist; thoracic vertebrae; thrusters; tomahawk; torture; transponder; Vayan horn fly; war; warp; warp eddy; week; ; year
External links
cs:Battle Lines (epizoda)
de:Die Prophezeiung (DS9)
es:Battle Lines
fr:Battle Lines
nl:Battle Lines
pl:Battle Lines
DS9 episodes |
852 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | The Storyteller (episode) | Chief O'Brien is appointed spiritual leader of a Bajoran village. Meanwhile, Nog and Jake try to help their new friend settle a struggle between two Bajoran villages.
Summary
Teaser
"Station log: Stardate 46729.1. The Bajoran government has asked me to mediate a disagreement between two rival factions: the Paqu and the Navot. At issue is a land dispute, which could trigger a civil war."
Sisko is busy preparing to receive the Paqu and Navot delegations, but another issue has come up with O'Brien. The chief has been assigned to pilot a runabout to Bajor, but he casually tries to find an excuse to get out of it, offering Ensign Boyer as a replacement. When his travel companion, Dr. Bashir, enters, it is obvious why O'Brien does not want to go: he does not like Bashir, who is oblivious to this fact. They have been told there is a medical emergency on a village on Bajor, although the nature of the emergency is uncertain. Sisko leaves O'Brien stuck with Bashir, leaving them in the turbolift to greet the newly-arrived leader of the Paqu. When they get there, they meet Tetrarch Varis Sul – a fifteen-year-old girl.
Act One
During the two hour trip to Bajor, Bashir tries to make small talk, but O'Brien gives him the cold shoulder. Bashir does ask O'Brien not to call him "sir", but to use his first name, "Julian", which he reluctantly agrees to. They beam to the surface to meet the village's magistrate, Faren Kag, but find no signs of disease, despite Faren's claim that the village is in danger of extinction. A man, simply called the , is dying, and Faren believes they will all die with him. Confused, Bashir gets to work.
Meanwhile, Varis and the Navot leader, Woban, meet with Sisko and Kira. They explain that they have had a treaty for ninety years and that it declares the boundary between their people a designated river, the Glyrhond. However, during the Occupation, the Cardassians diverted the river for their mining operations and caused twenty kilometers of land to shift from Navot to Paqu control. While Woban claims the land is still his, Varis believes the original boundary – the river – still stands. They break temporarily, and as Varis passes by a bored Jake and Nog on the Promenade, Nog is lovestruck.
Bashir finishes his scan when the Sirah wakes. He cries about something called the Dal'Rok and calls for his apprentice, Hovath. He tries to get out of bed, but Bashir stops him. Suspecting the Prophets have sent him, he feels for his pagh, but doesn't see it. He calls for his companion, so O'Brien comes over. This time, curiously, he is pleased. The Sirah dismisses them, and Bashir explains to the leader outside that he is suffering system-wide organ failure from old age, and there's nothing he can do. Dismayed, he explains the Dal'Rok, a "terrible creature," will threaten the village that night and only the Sirah can save them.
Act Two
Back on the station, Nog takes Jake to Varis' quarters, but neither has the nerve to ring the doorbell, and they begin arguing. Suddenly the door is opened – Varis no doubt was checking to see what the commotion was all about. Jake and (especially) Nog nervously stumble over their words to offer Varis a tour of the station, mentioning that a Klingon freighter is leaving for the Gamma Quadrant through the wormhole. She accepts with a hint of a smile.
That night, against Dr. Bashir's medical advice, the Sirah insists that he be allowed to "tell the story" as a dark cloud forms over the village (although no atmospheric disturbances or energy discharges can be found with tricorders). He stands on a rock where all the villagers can look at him as his back is to the cloud. He begins to give an inspirational speech, which lifts the hearts of the villagers and causes some sort of energy beam to rise from the village. This seems to push the ominously close cloud back, but the Sirah finally collapses. As he does so, the beam stops and the villagers panic. Without his help, the cloud – the "Dal'Rok" of their legend – fires a lightning-like beam and injures several people.
Act Three
Bashir and O'Brien help the Sirah to his feet and he asks for his successor, but not Hovath, his prior apprentice. He wants O'Brien. Urgently, the Sirah dictates what O'Brien should say and has him tell the story of how the village is stronger than the Dal'Rok. The villagers rejoice as the cloud-like formation is pushed away and disappears; immediately thereafter, the Sirah collapses and Faren proclaims O'Brien the new Sirah, to O'Brien's chagrin.
In Sisko's office, he confronts Varis about the last long round of unproductive talks. Bluntly, he asks whether she is there to talk or to start a war, since she has been wasting everyone's time to this point. She insists that the land belongs to the Paqu, despite claims otherwise. He asks if her people are as ready to die for the land as she seems to be, but she storms out. She heads out to the upper level of the Promenade where she encounters Nog and Jake. She tells the two of them about her land negotiations, but in a circumspect way and Nog suggests that this could be an opportunity instead of a problem. Both Jake and Nog suggest talking to her parents, but she sadly reports that both her parents were killed by the Cardassians during the occupation. Jake tells her his mother has also died in a battle with the Borg. They all get chased off by Odo.
On the planet, neither Bashir nor O'Brien can figure out what the strange creature was, nor how it was controlled. Bashir takes the opportunity to tease O'Brien before some of the villagers arrive bearing gifts and offering services (apparently including his choice of young, beautiful women). When O'Brien says he is a married man, Faren insists that O'Brien bring his wife and daughter down to the village to live with him. As he exits, the Sirah's previous apprentice, Hovath stares at O'Brien with undisguised hatred. The only thing they can do is figure out what the Dal'Rok is and destroy it.
Act Four
"Station log, supplemental. We have completed a second day of talks between the Paqu and the Navot. So far, we're no closer to finding a solution than we were when negotiations began."
Jake and Nog visit Varis again, but she is preoccupied with the negotiations. Just as the two boys turn to leave, she asks how you can "be sure that an opportunity is worth the risk." Nog quotes the ninth Rule of Acquisition to her: "Opportunity plus instinct equals profit." This rings a bell for her, and says that helped, even though Jake and Nog still don't know her problem. Nog decides to celebrate with a practical joke and drags the other two to Odo's office to swipe his bucket with a Cardassian security rod that Nog has. In the office, Nog tells them to watch the front door and then heads to look for the bucket. After a moment, he comes running out, trips and the contents of the bucket spill onto a horrified Jake. But the joke is on Jake: the contents are not Odo, but oatmeal. Nog begins laughing, and the others join in – until Odo walks into the office and takes the bucket from Nog, who, in attempting to escape, runs headlong into Sisko.
Bashir and O'Brien continue to search for any hints of what the Dal'Rok might be when they are approached by a woman wanting her baby blessed by the Sirah. O'Brien leaves Bashir to distract the crowd and heads back to the Sirah's home. There, Hovath approaches O'Brien, and while O'Brien continues to search, draws a dagger and lunges at O'Brien. Instinct saves him and they struggle for a moment until Bashir enters the room and gets between the combatants. Hovath is disarmed and tells O'Brien that he is not the "true Sirah" and that Hovath is.
Act Five
Hovath explains his apprenticeship to O'Brien and Bashir and told how he was unable to control the Dal'Rok three nights ago. He then shows them a bracelet that apparently contains a fragment of one of the Orbs from the Celestial Temple. Hovath continues his story, telling them of the first Sirah, back when the village was split by hatred and mistrust, and how he used the fragment to create the Dal'Rok, and thus "give their fears a physical form" and force the villagers to work together to defeat it. O'Brien gives the Sirah's robe to Hovath, but Faren enters and tells Hovath that he had failed before and would not be allowed to endanger the village again.
In his office, Sisko listens to Varis as she takes responsibility for the actions of Jake and Nog in the security office earlier, telling him that they were just trying to impress her. She tells him that she was trying to learn more about him and that Jake thought very highly of his father. Her own father, Varis reports, was a great man who had been feared by the Navot. Turning to the talks, she admits she has been trying to be strong as he was. He could afford to make compromises because the Navot feared him, but she would not have the same luxury, appearing weak. Varis supposes "you don't lose by saying no," but Sisko remarks that great leaders know when to risk saying "yes." This prompts her to suggest she may have "an opportunity" that allows both sides to say "yes."
In the village, O'Brien is reluctantly getting ready to tell the story. The crowd urges him on as he reaches the platform, but he is obviously not comfortable. He begins to tell the story, poorly, as the Dal'Rok makes its appearance. There is no sign of the sparkling lights to fight off the Dal'Rok though. Meanwhile, Bashir encourages Hovath to step up to his true role and that the prior Sirah had likely chosen O'Brien so that Hovath could rescue him, and thus regain the confidence of the villagers. As the Dal'Rok comes in for the final attack, Hovath rushes onto the platform, grabs the bracelet from O'Brien and begins to tell the story, brimming with confidence. The lights appear, and the Dal'Rok is driven off and defeated once again. Bashir and O'Brien quietly make their escape. Back on the station, O'Brien tells Bashir that he's had enough of storytelling for a while, and Bashir informs him that he is not required to call him "Julian".
Walking with Sisko, Varis is nervous about the compromise she is going to suggest; giving the Navot their land, but allowing free access to the river for the Paqu. They encounter Jake and Nog, watched by Odo of course, and she thanks them both, giving Nog a kiss on the cheek. Odo walks the two boys to the security office to clean up the mess they left. Just then, Bashir and O'Brien arrive back on the station. Bashir's interested in telling people about what happened, but O'Brien has had enough of storytelling.
Memorable quotes
"My dad's a pretty smart guy."
"Mine too! In his own way."
- Jake and Nog
"I'm not a little lady!"
"I'm still charging her for that drink."
- Varis Sul and Quark, when she throws her drink on him and walks off
"Major, what a pleasant surprise. I always look forward to one of your infrequent visits."
- Quark, to Kira
"Once… upon a time… there was a Dal'Rok!"
- O'Brien, trying to fill in as Sirah
"I mean, for all we know, you really were sent by the Prophets."
"I was sent by Commander Sisko!"
- Bashir when O'Brien is selected as the new Sirah
"All right now… let's really focus!"
- O'Brien, still trying
"I believe in people working together to find reasonable solutions to their problems. I hope you do as well."
- Benjamin Sisko, to Varis Sul
Background information
Story and script
Kurt Michael Bensmiller originally pitched for this episode during the first season of . The producers didn't purchase the show, but the script remained in the Star Trek offices at Paramount, and when Michael Piller joined the staff in the third season, he read it and liked it a great deal. Although it never got made for TNG, it was viable for DS9. () Piller commented, "It was a script that was written for Next Generation on spec by a writer named Kurt Michael Bensmiller, who wrote ''. I had this script in my desk for three years and I bring it out every season and I say should we do this script this year? Everybody reads it and they say let's not do it. They just didn't like it. I needed some shows and I needed to put some things into development." After going two months without buying a story pitch for DS9, Piller was forced to resurrect the Bensmiller script which went on to form the basis of this episode. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 33) As soon as the series went into production, Piller contacted Bensmiller and told him to adapt the story for the new show. Indeed, this was so early in DS9's development that Bensmiller had to write the story during Christmas of , several weeks before 's debut. ()
This episode was based on 's short story "". ()
This was the first episode to show the beginnings of friendship between Julian Bashir and Miles O'Brien. While they had had scenes together in and , the idea to pair these two characters up was Ira Steven Behr's. () Michael Piller noted, "Ira did a lot of work on that script." Behr himself remarked, "What I wanted to do was a show that explored the fact that you have two guys working together and one, Bashir, wants to have a really close relationship, and the other one, O'Brien, is saying back off. This was a chance for them to get together." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages pp. 33 & 51)
Cast and characters
Colm Meaney commented, "[Alexander] Siddig and I had a good time doing that episode. It was the first episode in which O'Brien and Bashir – and Siddig and I – had many scenes together. It sort of established our relationship, made us much closer as characters. Bashir relished that I was in trouble there with those people. I had to bluff my way through it." ("Colm Meaney – Miles O'Brien", )
Production
The Sirah's village was constructed on Paramount Stage 18. () Production Designer Herman Zimmerman commented, "We had to design and build a whole village with only seven days to do it, with the company off that stage for only three days." ()
The knife that Hovath tries to stab O'Brien with was a prop constructed from rubber by Joe Longo's props department. ("Alien Artifacts: Season One", DS9 Season 1 DVD special features) The Prop knife was manufactured at Prop'er Effects By Michael Moore
On the filming of the scenes where the villagers face the Dal'rok, David Livingston commented, "We had thirty extras, wind, and lightning. They were really difficult working conditions. I had to use a bullhorn in order to communicate since I had lost my voice. It's physically very demanding on everybody to work on Stage 18. The actors had to have big wind machines blowing in their faces and it was very debilitating, but we got through it. It was fun. Screaming through a bullhorn is a real power trip." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, No. 3/4, p. 93)
The exterior shots of the village were reused from the TNG two-parter and , where the model had been used for a Romulan prison camp on Carraya IV. The exterior view of the prison camp was designed by Richard James and James Magdaleno, from which a miniature model was built. () Dan Curry created the final scene by inserting shots of the miniature into jungle photographs he had taken in Laos in the 1960s.
The making of this episode was extremely costly. It was produced amongst a few other installments that were also expensive to produce. Stated Rick Berman, "It was very difficult to shoot, and we were way over budget on the opticals on that show because of the complexity of this thing that appears in the sky." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp. 33 & 51)
The episode's score, composed by Dennis McCarthy, was recorded on , at Paramount Stage M. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Collection liner notes) Cues from the score – totaling nine minutes, twelve seconds – appear on the first disc of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Collection.
Reception
Ira Steven Behr commented, "I like 'The Storyteller' a lot because it gave us a chance to do Bashir and O'Brien, and that's the core of that show. It also gives a nice little feel for the Bajorans and shows that Bajor is indeed a strange place. There are things happening in those little hamlets and villages that are certainly not your average Federation attitude toward life, religion and spirituality [….] Colm's quite good. It's basically The Man Who Would Be King, and he's a wonderful person to make king." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages p. 33)
Michael Piller commented, "One of the really big problems with this script, which is why it didn't appeal to anybody, is because it was not about any of our characters. We were just watching the events occur by putting O'Brien in the middle, saying you have to solve it. What really appealed to me was the great theme that sometimes we create our own monsters so that we can defeat them and feel secure in our power. I was always in love with that theme, and finally we made it work." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 51)
Rick Berman commented, "It was a little fanciful, but I like the science-fiction element involving a creature created by the collective imagination of this village as a way of bringing them closer together. The story's having to do with a little piece of one of the orbs that is held by the storyteller was a very interesting concept as well." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 51)
In a review in Cinefantastique, the reviewer wrote, "Although the 'evil entity' menace plays like a bad '50s science fiction B-movie contrivance, the juice of the episode is the Abbott & Costello banter between Chief O'Brien and Dr. Bashir. The B-story involving Jake and Nog's affinity for a comely young Bajoran is surprisingly endearing, distinguished by a moment of comic inspiration in which Nog hurls a bucket of oatmeal at the young Sisko who thinks it's Odo in his disassembled form." (Cinefantastique, Volume 24, Issue 1)
Continuity
Several of the Bajorans in the Sirah's village have a forehead ridge that was visible on Ro Laren's forehead in episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and several earlier Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes.
This episode marks the first appearance of Odo's bucket.
Buck Bokai is mentioned by name for the first time in this episode. He was previously alluded to in . He (or at least an alien posing as him) appears several episodes later, in .
Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #9 ("Opportunity plus instinct equals profit").
This is the second episode in which we see Odo smile. The first was two episodes prior, in . In both cases, Odo smiles as a result of interacting with children.
O'Brien protests that it wasn't the Prophets who sent him, but, rather, Commander Sisko. Considering the later revelation of Sisko's heritage, both the perspective of the villagers and of O'Brien are actually accurate.
Apocrypha
Aspects of this episode later became crucial in the , such as Fragments and Omens in Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as well as in Warpath, Fearful Symmetry, and The Soul Key. The village seen in this episode is called "Sidau" in these novels and the orb fragment is called the "paghvaram".
Remastered version
Remastered scenes from the episode are featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 7,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Lawrence Monoson as Hovath
Kay E. Kuter as The Sirah
Gina Philips as Varis Sul
Jim Jansen as Faren Kag
Aron Eisenberg as Nog
Jordan Lund as Woban
Co-Star
Amy Benedict as Woman
Uncredited Co-Stars
as a tailhead
Sam Alejan as a Bajoran villager
Jimmy Angel as Bajoran villager
Angela as Starfleet civilian
T.B. as Yellow-skinned dabo girl
Scott Barry as a Bajoran officer
Jeanne Bascowe as Bajoran gift girl 2 or 3
Christine Anne Baur as a Bajoran villager
Jim Baxter as Bajoran villager
Everdina Boyd as Bajoran gift girl 3 or 2
Bill Buck as Bajoran villager
Stacey Chamberlin as Bajoran villager
Robert Coffee as a Bajoran officer
Len Costanza as Bajoran Paqu advisor
Derek Cravin as Bajoran villager
Janet Dillon as Bajoran villager
Jeannie Dreams as a Human operations division ensign
Holiday Freeman as a Human DS9 resident
Anthony Giger as Bajoran villager
Bob Harks as Bajoran villager
Randy James as Lieutenant
Nira King as Bajoran villager
Malcolm Knight as Bajoran villager
Mark Lentry as a Human command division lieutenant
Tony Lorea as Bajoran villager
Dennis Madalone as a Bajoran villager
Mary Mascari as Bajoran villager
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
as a tailhead
Ivonne Perez as Bajoran villager
Frances Praksti as a Bajoran gift girl 1
Robin R. as Starfleet civilian
Mark Allen Shepherd as
Human DS9 resident
Morn
Ty as Human DS9 resident
Michael Zurich as a Bajoran security deputy
Unknown performers as
Bajoran baby
Twenty-two Bajoran villagers
Human operations division ensign
Pelian
Stand-ins
Randy James
Mark Lentry
Chad McCord
References
1998; 2019; 2025; 2026; 2279; 2360; afternoon; ancients; apprentice; bacterial contamination; Bajor; Bajoran language; Bajoran Provisional Government; Bajoran village; Bajoran wormhole; baseball; baseball glove; Battle of Wolf 359; bed; "bloody"; body; ; border; Borg; Boyer; bracelet; ; Cardassians; celestial temple; cellular decay; chauffeur; civil war; conference table; creature; curve ball; dagger; Dal'Rok; docking bay; docking port; doorbell; father; fury; Gamma Quadrant; Gamzian wine; Glyrhond River; ground water; harvest; hitter; holographic image; holosuite; hors d'œuvres; hour; Human; infection; jelly bean; kilometer; Klingon; Klingon freighter; land dispute; larish pie; leader; level 1 diagnostic; magistrate; mediator; medical emergency; medical tricorder; mining; mirror; Navot; neutrino; night; oatmeal; ; ; Occupation of Bajor; Odo's bucket; old age; orb; orbit; PADD; Paqu; Paqu-Navot Treaty; phase coil generator; plate; pollutant; promenade; Prophets; quarters; replicator; rock face; Rom; Rules of Acquisition; runabout; saying; security office; security rod; shapeshifter; sir; ; ; soil; stardrifter; station log; superior officer; synthale; systemic organ failure; table; targ; tetrarch; treaty; tricorder; Trixian bubble juice; uncle; Varis Sul's father; village; water; ; woods; year
External links
cs:The Storyteller
de:Die Legende von Dal'Rok
es:The Storyteller
fr:The Storyteller (épisode)
nl:The Storyteller
pl:The Storyteller
DS9 episodes |
853 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Progress (episode) | Kira leads the evacuation of a Bajoran moon which is being converted into a massive power plant that will render the entire surface uninhabitable, but an old farmer refuses to leave. Back on the station, Jake and Nog set out to turn an inordinate amount of seemingly worthless condiments into profit.
Summary
Teaser
Quark berates Broik for ordering five thousand wrappages of Cardassian yamok sauce (with the Cardassians off the station, it is worse than worthless). Jake and Nog are playing cards at a table nearby, and Nog overhears the whole exchange, ignoring the game much to Jake's frustration. As Quark leaves the room, he begins to form a scheme to make a few bars of latinum off his uncle's misfortune, telling Jake his "ears are tingling."
"Station log, stardate 46844.3. With the help of the Federation, Bajor is about to commence its first large-scale energy transfer – the tapping of the molten core of its fifth moon, Jeraddo."
The crew in Ops is monitoring the moon's activity while Minister observes nervously. Major Kira assures him everyone is ready and leaves for a final inspection of the moon with Lieutenant Dax in the .
While Dax mentions that Morn had asked her out earlier, their scan reveals that there is a humanoid life-sign still on the planet, in spite of the fact that all the moon's inhabitants were ordered to evacuate. Kira beams down to the surface to find out what is going on, and who is still on the moon. She is surprised to find herself threatened by a Bajoran man and woman holding farm implements.
Act One
An older Bajoran man comes out from the structure to talk to Kira, but tries to close the door on her when she approaches. She holds the door, determined to keep his attention. Assuming they were missed by the evacuation efforts, she tries to tell him he has to leave, but he ignores it, instead inviting her to dinner to stall her.
Meanwhile, Nog and Jake set out to find a buyer for five thousand wrappages of yamok sauce, but having very little luck finding one willing to pay latinum. They grudgingly settle for a hundred gross of self-sealing stem bolts, being sold by a Lissepian freighter captain because the Bajoran man who initially ordered them could not pay.
Back on Jeraddo, the old Bajoran begins preparing for dinner, and it will obviously take several hours. Kira tells Dax she will be delayed, content not to be seen as in a hurry. Along the way, he does his best to aggravate her into leaving, but she recognizes it. The man's name is Mullibok, and he knows that the moon's core is to be tapped and Jeraddo will be uninhabitable soon. Mullibok has decided to stay even at the cost of his life.
Act Two
Nog and Jake are now faced with the problem of obtaining Quark's yamok sauce. Fortunately, Quark is so disgusted with the whole yamok sauce fiasco that he is happy to take Nog up on his offer to dispose of it by any means necessary. His plan is able to continue.
The old farmer tries to bore Kira into submission with the tall tale of how he got started farming on Jeraddo, careful to emphasize his treatment by the Cardassians. She indulgently listens to his story, though a little disbelieving at times. Later, as she begins to tell of her days in the Bajoran Resistance, she realizes she is forced to admit that she survived by hanging on like fanatics, just as Mullibok is doing. Mullibok's mind is made up; he will not leave his home, no matter the consequence.
Act Three
In a cargo bay, Jake and Nog inspect their new acquisition: one hundred gross of top-quality self-sealing stem bolts. Just then, Chief O'Brien enters the cargo bay to tell them to warn Quark about bypassing the station's proper import procedures. He begins to ask a lot of questions about why Quark needs so many self-sealing stem bolts, but fortunately he doesn't dig too deep. It does, however, seem that O'Brien, along with Jake and Nog, has absolutely no idea whatsoever as to what self-sealing stem bolts are, what they are for, what they do, or why anyone would want them. However, the original Bajoran who wanted them must know what they're used for, so Jake and Nog set out to find this person and possibly sell them back to the individual. Jake scans the container and discovers the man's name is Sirco Ch'Ano.
Kira returns to the station, and tries to convince Toran to give her time to convince Mullibok and his friends to leave, but he refuses. If they don't leave the moon, the project will go ahead anyway. Furthermore, Toran refuses Kira's suggestion of phased energy retrieval, which will allow the people to stay on the planet, but with a much longer time frame to obtain the energy. Kira is forced to return to the moon to remove Mullibok against his will, by force if necessary. The situation erupts into violence when Mullibok's friends attack a member of Kira's team. Enraged that his friends are being removed by force, Mullibok attacks one of the security officers and is accidentally shot. Kira rushes to Mullibok's side and yells at one of the officers to contact Dr. Bashir to come to Jeraddo and provide medical assistance.
Act Four
Back on Deep Space 9, Jake and Nog open communications with Sirco Ch'Ano, the original buyer of the stem bolts, under the name "The Noh-Jay Consortium." They offer to sell him the merchandise for five bars of gold-pressed latinum, but he cannot pay four, or even three bars. If he'd had latinum, he could have bought the stem bolts outright. He cannot pay even one bar of latinum, but offers a trade (a less than appealing offer, from Jake and Nog's point of view). The offer is seven tessipates of land on Bajor. Nog is getting impatient; he wants latinum, and he wants it now. Jake, however, is convinced that they should take the land. With no real alternatives, they accept the land. Nog remains skeptical, but Jake is sure it will work out.
On Jerrado, Mullibok has survived. Dr. Bashir is treating him in his house, and informs him that his friends have been evacuated to Bajor. Bashir wants to take Mullibok back to DS9 for observation, but the farmer is adamant – he will not leave. Bashir tells Kira that he will take Mullibok back without his consent; he is injured and needs to be cared for. Kira has another idea. She will stay with Mullibok and take care of his needs. Without another word, she starts to continue Mullibok's chores, building a kiln he has been working on for some time. Bashir reports back to Sisko, who, while unsure of Kira's intentions, decides to allow the situation to continue for the time being. He visits Kira on Jerrado, and discusses with her about her discomfort with the current situation. She was accustomed to being the underdog, fighting against impossible odds; now she is on the other side, and she hates herself for it, finding it awful. Sisko reassures her that she is on the right side, that Bajor needs people like her, and leaves her to decide how to best handle the situation.
Act Five
Jake and Nog have still not managed to sell their newly acquired land. Nog is upset, he thinks the bolts were better than the land; Jake takes the opposite stance: he is certain that land is better than bolts. As they continue their tense and joyless card game, Quark and Odo enter the room, talking about a mysterious new business group: the Noh-Jay Consortium. Quark claims never to have heard of them, but Odo was contacted by someone in the Bajoran government planning to build on a strip of land owned by four different parties. Three of four have agreed to sell, but this fourth one cannot be contacted. Jake's and Nog's ears prick up; the government can't build unless they agree to sell their land. Finally, the land they worked so hard to get is worth something. Quark, intent on getting in on this wonderful opportunity for profit, barely notices as Nog approaches him. Nog proposes a deal to Quark, who, certain that his nephew is just being a bother, dismisses him out-of-hand, until it dawns on him that "Noh-Jay" is indeed Nog and Jake.
Mullibok becomes bedridden and, having had a bad dream, wakes up to Kira taking care of him. She keeps his temperature, and tries to sleep. Soon recovering enough to complete work on his kiln, he gets up while she sleeps. Kira comes out to help him finish, but then, as the old man fires it up, she goes back inside and comes out with her bags packed, along with Mullibok's. Kira says she could use a friend on Bajor and she'd like it to be him. He tells her that, as long as that cottage is standing, he will not leave. In response, she fires her weapon at the kiln, destroying it, and sets fire to his cottage. She tells him it is time to move on. Mullibok is devastated. He asks Kira to kill him as well; he is convinced he cannot leave, but there is nothing left on Jeraddo for him now. He says if he leaves Jerrado, he will die. Kira responds, "No, you won't; I won't let you" and signals the crew to beam them both up.
Memorable quotes
"I told you. My life's here. If I leave here, I'll die. So, I'd rather die here."
- Mullibok, refusing Kira's order to evacuate Jerrado for Bajor
"Nog – you're a good boy."
- Quark
"I assume you found some food before you ran out of belt notches?"
- Kira, to Mullibok
"When I first met you major, I thought you were hostile and arrogant. But I was wrong. Bajor needs you and I need you. I like you and I don't want you to be hurt."
- Sisko, to Kira on her predicament of removing Mullibok from his home
"Let's see… Who on the station is clever enough?"
"Uncle Quark?"
"Not now."
"But uncle Quark!"
"Go sweep the floor!"
"It's important!"
"Alright, make it fast!"
"I have a business opportunity that might interest you. It'll only cost you… five bars of gold pressed latinum."
(Quark looks at Jake who's sitting behind Nog at the bar, and motions between them)
"You? Nog!"
- Quark and Nog, as Quark tries to figure out who the Noh-Jay Consortium is
"If I leave here, I'll die."
"No, you won't. I won't let you… Two to beam up."
- Mullibok, when Kira sets his home ablaze (last lines)
Background information
Story and script
Michael Piller commented, "In the middle part of the year, we suddenly realized we had sort of lost Kira, which is immediately taken care of with this and other episodes as the season goes on." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 79)
The Kira aspect of this episode has a plot similar to the episode . In fact, the final resolution to destroy the kiln mirrors Data's solution of destroying the aqueduct, compelling the residents to leave.
Production
The plot point about Mullibok creating bricks required the DS9 props department to create some relevant tools. "When the guy was making his bricks, we had to make our own trowels," explained Property Master Joe Longo. ("Alien Artifacts: Season One", DS9 Season 1 DVD special features)
Michael Bofshever's costume was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay and also worn by background actor Alan Schwartz in a different episode.
Continuity
This is the second time in DS9 where the Bajoran name order is addressed, when Major Kira says her given name, or first name, is "Nerys". The first time was in .
Reception
Rick Berman commented, "I think it turned out real nice. The end is rather bittersweet. Brian Keith gave a performance that was very interesting and was in many ways better than I expected. It's a very poignant story in the relationship between Major Kira and this old man." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 79)
Writer Peter Allan Fields was not happy with how Mullibok came across in the finished episode. According to Fields, he'd written the Bajoran as a much more manipulative and less likable character; "I wanted a strong guy who did not change at the end. There are too many old guys in television dramas who start out nasty and then get meek and gentle at the end. That's not what I wanted." To help illustrate what he meant, Fields cited the scene when Mullibok asks Kira for her given name. In the script, this question was specifically used to manipulate Kira ("He said it because he was trying to con her"), but in the final episode, it seems as if Mullibok feels a degree of warmth for her. Fields specified he didn't fault Brian Keith's performance, but instead Mullibok simply comes across as too sympathetic a figure; he is "less of an adversary than he ought to have been. He was less of a mountain for Kira to climb." () In the second season episode , the exact opposite happened with the character of Gideon Seyetik – a character whom the writers wanted people to like and sympathize with coming across as pompous and unlikable.
Ira Steven Behr enjoyed the Jake/Nog B-story, commenting, "I always wanted to do Milo Minderbinder from Catch-22, the guy who can acquire things and we put these two kids together as the Milo Minderbinders of Deep Space Nine and it has some nice stuff in it." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 79)
A reviewer in Cinefantastique wrote, "Brian Keith gives a moving performance as farmer Mullibok and his sarcastic retorts are stinging. The Jake and Nog B-story involving their first business venture is surprisingly engaging. Unfortunately, the episode's ambiguous conclusion is less satisfying and Kira's torching of the farmer's abode brings up several troubling moral questions which the episode fails to address. The character drama is finally coming together on the show as evidenced by a powerful scene between Sisko and Kira on the planet – although those who enjoy Star Trek for its science fiction rather than philosophical content are bound to be sorely disappointed in the season thus far." (Cinefantastique)
Apocrypha
Mullibok appears briefly in the Warchild, where he has Jadzia pass on a message to Kira: that he forgives her for her actions.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 8,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Brian Keith as Mullibok
Aron Eisenberg as Nog
Nicholas Worth as Lissepian Captain
Michael Bofshever as
Co-Stars
Terrence Evans as Baltrim
Annie O'Donnell as Keena
Daniel Riordan as First Guard
Uncredited Co-Stars
Ivor Bartels as operations officer
Robert Coffee as Bajoran officer
Jeannie Dreams as operations ensign
Kevin Grevioux as operations officer
David B. Levinson as Broik
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Tom Morga as Bajoran security deputy
Tyana Parr as Human DS9 resident
Irving Ross as Bolian command officer
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Unknown performers as
Human operations ensign
Rotciv member
Sirco Ch'Ano
Yellow-skinned dabo girl
Stunt Double
Richard E. Butler as stunt double for Brian Keith
References
2329; 2351; address; air; Bajor; Bajor moons; Bajoran; Bajoran government official; Bajoran Militia uniform; Bajoran phaser; Bajoran property owners; Bajoran Provisional Government; Bajoran sector; Bajoran sun; Bajoran system; Bajoran vegetables; baking pot; ; bean; bed; belt; bill; bird; bottle; bricklayer; butcher; carbon; Cardassian; Cardassian survey vessel; career; cargo bay; cargo manifest; carnivorous rastipod; chlorobicrobe; code reader; core; cottage; crop; cupboard; dabo; dabo player (unnamed); ; day; dinner; dirt; discount; fanatic; farm; farm tool; farmer; father; Federation; Federation uniform; ; fingernail; fire; first officer; flower; forehead; freighter captain; ; gold-pressed latinum (latinum); government official; grid square twelve-delta; grid square fifteen-delta; gross; hair; hand barrow; hour; import procedure; Jeraddo; kandipper; katterpod; kellipate; kiln; Kira Taban; labor camp; land; liaison officer lifeform; Lissepian; Lissepian cargo ship; lobes (lobe); lokar bean; Lussilla; Malgorian; manifest PADD; material subsistence report; matter reclamation unit; meter; mining; minister; minute; model; moon; Morn; ; night; nitpicking; Noh-Jay Consortium; nurse; paycheck; peritoneum; playing card; plumb line; puncture; Quark's; reclamation facility; replimat; Rom; root; runabout, seed; self-sealing stem bolt; sensor; shipping code; sir; soil; spoon; Starfleet; starvation; station log; subspace interference; subspace transmission; suicide; sulfur; supper; surrender; sweeping; swill; tempering; tessipate; thermologist; tingle; tooth; tree; tunic; uncle; underdog; uniform; unnamed engineering tool; unnamed medical tool; utensil; vegetable; water pump; waist; week; window; wine; winter; wrappage; yamok sauce; year
External links
cs:Progress
de:Mulliboks Mond
es:Progress
fr:Progress (épisode)
nl:Progress
pl:Progress
DS9 episodes |
854 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | If Wishes Were Horses (episode) | Station residents suddenly find their imaginations are manifested in physical form; a spatial rift threatens to destroy the Bajoran system.
Summary
Teaser
Quark finds Odo in his bar during a particularly quiet time, continuing to oversee the area (and always keeping an eye on himself), so he starts to tell him that he needs to lighten up and have some fun, perhaps in a holosuite. Odo dismisses imagination as a sign that one is not paying attention to one's real life. Quark offers to create a Shapeshifter "playmate" to intermingle with, at which point Odo declares, "You're disgusting!" Seeing Jake Sisko walking toward a holosuite, Odo warns that Quark had better not have created any "playmates" for him. Jake's program, Quark explains, is one that includes famous baseball players from Earth, such as Tris Speaker, Ted Williams and Buck Bokai. Quark has made it his business to learn about Human customs and traditions because a wise man, he says, can smell profit in the wind. He tells Odo to try it. "I have no sense of smell," Odo says.
As Quark explains economics to Odo, on the other side of the bar, Dr. Bashir and Lieutenant Dax are having dinner. Julian wants to become romantically involved with her, but Jadzia politely refuses, pointing out that he has eyed several other women as well. She returns to Ops, where she finds there are elevated thoron emissions in the nearby Denorios belt. Dax and Sisko hypothesize that it is because the amount of traffic around the station is currently elevated.
Meanwhile, O'Brien reads his daughter Molly a bedtime story – "Rumpelstiltskin" – and tucks her in. However, Molly comes back out and claims Rumpelstiltskin is in her room. O'Brien returns with her and finds that Rumpelstiltskin truly has appeared in her room and is sitting on her bed.
Act One
O'Brien sends his wife and daughter away, and calls for security. Rumpelstiltskin wonders where the straw is, supposing he will be asked to spin it into gold. He's not making any threats, nor any other reason he is there. Two security guards arrive at O'Brien's quarters, but cannot catch Rumpelstiltskin, who disappears, leaving the guards grasping at thin air. O'Brien calls for Sisko, but before the commander can proceed, Jake interrupts him, and shows his father that the baseball player Bokai has followed him home from the holosuite. He also does not appear to know why he is there. Meanwhile, Dr. Bashir is asleep in his quarters, but he is awakened by the caresses of a very amorous Dax. He resists at first, supposing that she is sick, or that he is hallucinating. But he can't think of a good answer when Dax asks why he is resisting. He decides to accept his apparent good fortune for a moment, but then believes it to be a prank.
Just then, Sisko calls for all senior officers. Sisko introduces Buck Bokai to the senior staff, pointing out that the former baseball great had been dead for two hundred years, and Rumpelstiltskin, who expresses annoyance that now everyone knows his name. Sisko asks Dax if these puzzling events could be related to the thoron emissions, but she doesn't seem to know what he is talking about. Then the real Jadzia Dax appears, much to Bashir's embarrassment.
Act Two
Bashir examines Bokai, and pronounces that he, and all the new characters, seem to be real. The "fantasy" Jadzia continues to have eyes (and hands) for Bashir, but when she suggests they return to his quarters, the doctor unequivocally rejects her, and she promptly disappears. Just then Odo contacts Sisko, reporting odd and seemingly random events, such as snow on the Promenade, occurring all over the station, apparently from people's imaginations. Sisko calls for a yellow alert while Dax determines that there is, in fact, a subspace disruption where anything that falls in disappears. They'll have to do a full analysis.
Meanwhile, Odo reports that the snow is gone, but a Gunji jackdaw is loose on the Promenade. He shoos him away and goes to Quark's, announcing to everyone to refrain from using their imaginations. There, Quark has found himself surrounded by beautiful women who are unable to resist him, and he hopes that whatever is going on lasts forever, until Odo points out every one of his customers is winning at dabo. He desperately tries to "wish" them to lose, but he is outnumbered.
Dax and Bashir, with the help of O'Brien, are developing a theory as to the cause, and the remedy. Bashir tries to apologize, but Jadzia says an apology is not necessary; we all have fantasies, she points out, and besides, she was a young man once herself. But then she comments on the "fantasy" version's submissive nature. Bashir thought she would let it go, but then the "fantasy" version of herself appears and enters the room, objecting to the description and calling the real Dax a "cold fish." As if on cue, the computer finds a match for the kind of phenomenon that is presently occurring on the station in the Hanoli system in the 23rd century – unfortunately, the phenomenon destroyed the entire system.
Act Three
A probe is launched into the rupture to hopefully better understand the effects of the thoron. While O'Brien is busy working on the solution, he is heckled by Rumpelstiltskin. The Chief tries to ignore what he calls the "figment" – until Rumpelstiltskin mentions Molly, in what could be interpreted in a threatening way. When O'Brien is about to lose his temper, his "figment" disappears. The crew find that the phenomenon is getting larger, pulling in matter from nearby.
While Jadzia and Bashir continue to monitor the probe in search of a solution, Bokai follows Sisko and they briefly discuss baseball and Bokai's career. Baseball, it seems, simply fell out of favor with the general public – only 300 people were in the stands for the World Series. Bokai expressed deep gratitude for Sisko's loyalty to the game.
Rumpelstiltskin, Bokai, and "fantasy" Jadzia all discuss in the Replimat what to them seems like a surprising turn of events. "Jadzia" is annoyed and puzzled as to why Bashir would reject her, when he created her in the first place. Rumpelstiltskin wonders why O'Brien would dream up a character who frightens him. They both insists that their plan has been a failure, but Bokai says that he has made a real connection, and "it ain't over till it's over."
Act Four
The subspace anomaly continues to expand while the crew discuss the earlier rift. A Vulcan vessel attempted to seal it, but ended up destroying the system. O'Brien argues they have better technology, so can perform the same procedure with better control. Sisko then orders Kira to clear all personnel from the pylons as a safety precaution before implementing their plan to seal off the anomaly (which now represents a clear threat to the entire Bajoran system). Odo was supposed to help, but he still has his hands full with Gunji jackdaws (emus) running rampant through the promenade.
As Kira reaches lower pylon one, she is nearly enveloped by a wall of flame, and calls for emergency assistance. She then sees a burning, screaming man running toward her – and she has no escape from the turbolift. Cringing in the corner, Kira expects to be roasted alive. But after a few seconds, she looks up; there is no burning man, and no evidence of a fire. Sisko calls through her comm badge, asking for her report, but Kira is momentarily too confused to respond. Finally she says "false alarm", runs a few scans, then proceeds with the evacuation, somewhat nervously.
Meanwhile, Odo is still dealing with the Gunji jackdaws (and numerous other "imaginative" problems) when Quark runs up to him to report two missing persons – a blonde and a brunette, who his imagination had conjured up earlier, but just then, the two ladies appear and resume acting affectionately to Quark. Knowing that all the strange occurrences on the station have been the result of imagination, Quark expresses no surprise when Odo confirms that none of the recent oddities originated in the unimaginative mind of Odo himself. Odo returns to his office and runs a security sweep on the pylons, only to discover that he has wished Quark into a holding cell, confirming to himself that he does have an imagination.
In the Sisko's quarters, Jake is sitting with his baseball glove, procrastinating on finishing his homework, when he hears the sounds of a baseball park, and Bokai appears, inviting him to play. Jake resists, citing the trouble he'd get into with his father if he didn't first finish his homework. Suddenly, Benjamin Sisko appears (out of thin air) behind Jake's back; Jake mutters an excuse as to why he hasn't completed his homework. His father disappears, and so does Bokai, and Jake starts getting serious about his homework.
The senior staff is still trying to contain a rapidly-growing subspace rift, which is now big enough to be seen on-screen. As Sisko looks it over, Bokai appears next to him. Rumpelstiltskin is seen observing O'Brien, and "fantasy" Jadzia is smiling at Bashir, who (like the rest of the senior staff, except Kira) is staring intently at the anomaly.
Act Five
Kira appears to confirm all pylons have been evacuated and secured. The one hope is a torpedo sent into the anomaly. While the real Jadzia is at her station, the fantasy Jadzia expresses fear at the seriousness of the situation – Bashir told her that if this didn't work, all life on DS9, real or imaginary, would be ended. She asks him to hold her, which he does, but does not take his eyes off the viewing screen. O'Brien is ready with the torpedo, and Sisko calls a red alert and orders him to fire. At first, everything seems to be going well, but then it appears that they are not getting a controlled collapse of the anomaly. Despite heroic efforts by the senior staff, the station is hit by something, and Sisko immediately orders damage control. Fantasy Jadzia is seriously injured, and Bashir attends to her. Although sensors have come back online, it seems inevitable that the station is doomed.
When Sisko asks for suggestions, nobody answers – except Rumpelstiltskin, who claims to be able to solve the problem – for a price. A confused Keiko, holding Molly, suddenly appears, and Rumpelstiltskin says "I always wanted to have a daughter". O'Brien refuses to agree, and angrily insists that if Rumpelstiltskin can seal the rift, he should do so, before realizing to his own confusion that Rumpelstiltskin is a fictional character from a children's fairy tale. At this point, Sisko realizes that everything – including the anomaly, is the product of a wish, or at least an expectation, and as more people believe it exists, its size increases. Sisko orders O'Brien to lower the shields, and believe that there is no subspace rift outside the station. O'Brien complies. As the senior staff present begin understanding, and believing, all readings return to normal, and the "imaginary" characters disappear.
Though almost everything is back to normal, the unusual thoron readings persist. Sisko orders the station go to yellow alert, and asks Jadzia to continue her investigation, "but no speculation!" Sisko then goes to his office, and, soon, Buck Bokai appears, and explaining through baseball metaphors that he is part of an extended mission that followed a Federation ship through the "hole in space." His people wanted to see what "imagination" is really about in an attempt to learn more about humanoids. "Bokai" departs shortly after suggesting that he and his compatriots might return "next year" to inform Sisko about his species. As he leaves, he tosses Sisko a baseball, leaving the captain to contemplate the events.
Log entries
"Station log, stardate 46853.2. We have launched a probe to study the subspace anomaly. Meanwhile, more than half the people aboard DS9 have reported manifestations of their imagined thoughts."
"Station log, supplemental. The subspace anomaly continues to expand. As of yet, we've been unable to find a way to contain it. As a precaution, we have diverted all incoming ships away from the station."
Memorable quotes
"Family entertainment. That's the future, Odo. There's a fortune to be made. Little holocreatures running around. Rides and games for the kiddies, Ferengi standing in every doorway selling... useless souvenirs."
"You're going to replace all your sexual holoprograms with family entertainment?"
"Oh, no! No! I'm expanding! I'm negotiating to lease the space next door so I can use the same hologenerators."
"You're still disgusting." (Odo walks off)
"Till the day I die."
- Quark and Odo
"Julian, you are a wonderful friend." (Bashir sighs heavily) "I enjoy the time we spend together!"
"Stop! You're driving a stake through my heart!"
"Try a high pitched sonic shower. It'll make you feel better."
"No it won't!" (Dax walks off) (to self) "I've already tried it."
- Dax and Bashir
"Sorry I'm late. I was having dinner with Julian."
"How is our young doctor?"
"Young. Anything going on?"
- Dax and Sisko
"Why do we tell her stories about evil dwarves that want to steal children?"
- O'Brien
"She really is submissive, isn't she?"
- Dax, beginning to get annoyed at her double
"I am not submissive! … am I?"
- Illusory Dax, seeking affirmation from Bashir
"Let me out of here! Let me out of here! Get the Nagus on subspace, I want to talk to him and I mean now!" (He touches the force field holding him and gets zapped) "I'm not spending another minute in this cell!"
"How did you get in there?"
"How did I get in here?! You put me in here!"
"Ahh. Hah! I guess I did, didn't I?" (Odo chuckles)
"Yeah…" (Quark then vanishes)
(Odo chuckles) "No imagination indeed. Hah!"
- Quark and Odo, as Odo watches his security cameras and sees Quark in a holding cell
"Perimeter sensors are picking up a subspace oscillation. What the hell does that mean?"
- Kira
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?!" (Grabs a mug from Rom's tray and bangs it on table) "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…" (notices Morn passing by) "…And all androgynous creatures… Your attention, please!"
- Odo
"I'm going to have to ask you all to please refrain from using your imaginations."
- Odo
Background information
Story and script
The story of "If Wishes Were Horses" was different from the final teleplay. Michael Piller commented, "It was a very hard concept to make work. Somebody came in and said, 'Jake brings a baseball player home from the holodeck,' and that was the pitch. Basically, I said we just did , where [] walks out of the holodeck in Next Generation, and I didn't want to do another holodeck show, but I would like to do a show that celebrates imagination, since that's really what Star Trek is, a celebration of the imagination. We knew it was sort of a '' concept, but that was six years ago on another show, so why can't we do something where strange things are happening that people are imagining?" (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 53)
Ira Steven Behr commented that it was "tough to find character stuff" in this episode "in terms of the writing." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 31)
Rumpelstiltskin was originally written as a leprechaun but was changed when Colm Meaney objected, claiming that this was an offensive stereotype against Irish people. According to Meaney, "Using caricatures or cliches of any nation is not something Star Trek is or should be into." ()
Michael Piller recalled his modifications to the script to placate Meaney: "We needed a reason for it to be happening and we came up with the idea that O'Brien would be telling a bedtime story about a leprechaun. We had the script written, and Colm Meaney called Rick [Berman] and said, 'Every Irish actor I know has worked his entire life to overcome the stereotype of Irish people and leprechauns. It's really racist, and I don't want to do it.' We had no idea there was any sensitivity to leprechauns in the Irish culture and certainly we did not want to force Colm Meaney to act with a leprechaun, but what the hell do you do after you've got a whole story structured around a leprechaun stealing a child? Well, we went through story tales and Robert [Hewitt Wolfe] came in with Rumpelstiltskin, and we went by it at least once, maybe twice, because Rumpelstiltskin wasn't exactly the same thing and wouldn't work in the structure we had. When I finally sat down to rewrite it, I said, 'Okay, Rumpelstiltskin – let's see where it goes.' It was one of those scripts where I had no idea how to resolve it or where it was going to go. I wrote each scene to see if it worked and had fun with it." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 53)
Writer William L. Crawford said of the mysterious aliens in this episode, "They were a little shy. And they would use their ability to reflect the fantasies or unconscious of individuals they ran into to bring out their good and bad points, so the aliens could make a decision if they wanted to go further." ()
Production
Colm Meaney reflected that the episode was "very difficult to shoot because we had the appearing and the disappearing. The guy who played Rumpelstiltskin would appear to be behind my back, sitting on a console. But I had to play it in the completely opposite direction. So, he spoke from behind me, but I played the response in front of me. Then we had to reverse it and shoot it the other way. It was very complicated, but it came out well". ("Colm Meaney – Miles O'Brien", )
Michael Piller recalled the filming of the scenes between Bashir and the imaginary Jadzia: "I've saved the dailies of Terry's coming on to Siddig, and [Bashir] doesn't know why, for my personal collection. There were twelve takes, and he kept breaking up and fluffing the lines." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 53) Siddig el Fadil commented: "I had no idea where to put myself, both me and the character. Having someone nibbling your ear while you're doing a scene is something I've never actually had to do. It's funny, because in that episode, I got what I wanted and didn't know what to do with it - partly because there was a real Dax floating around as well. It became sort of spirit loyalty thing. I'd like more of that sort of stuff, please". (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 98)
Armin Shimerman especially enjoyed the scene with Quark's imaginary women. Shimerman commented, "The writers were kind enough to give me every adolescent's fantasy. They gave me these two beautiful women and were very sweet. It was fun." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 53)
Hana Hatae remembered a childhood fear she experienced during the episode; "There are two episodes that really stand out in my mind. The first one being 'If Wishes Were Horses' because I was absolutely terrified of Rumpelstiltskin. I think that I legitimately thought the actor who played him was going to steal me. I was too scared to be alone with him in the same room, so I had someone else with me at all times."
The Gunji jackdaw which appears on the Promenade was played by an . It is the only appearance by an emu on Star Trek. They proved to be difficult to receive direction, so one of their trainers was dressed as a Bajoran . ()
For Rene Auberjonois, interacting with and acting like the emu brought back memories of playing a character who transformed into a bird in . ()
Reception
Ira Steven Behr commented, "This is an episode you've got to try and do. We should be awarded brass balls for doing Rumpelstiltskin. It's an interesting show and it has a high level of imagination and it's a high concept. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 53)
Stated Michael Piller, "If Wishes Were Horses' is a real old-time Star Trek idea […] It's a very funny and intriguing script." ()
This was one of Terry Farrell's favorite episodes because of the fun she had playing two different types of Dax. (Crew Dossier: Jadzia Dax, DS9 Season 2 DVD special features) Farrell also commented that she thought that the episode "was the first time it all sort of gelled with Sid and my relationship. It took a long time before it all came together. This was the first time we as a cast were all really together. It was an interesting moment. We realized we're like this basketball team that had found our camaraderie and felt comfortable." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, No. 3/4, pp. 97-98)
Trivia
Aside from the aforementioned "Where No One Has Gone Before" (in which The Traveler brings the to a remote region of space, where the crew's imagination becomes reality as well), other episodes with similar premises include and . The notion of an exploring race testing the story's heroes before making direct contact is similar to .
The which Sisko keeps on his desk for the remainder of the series is a memento of this episode, given to him by the alien who impersonated Bokai. The ball went on to have great thematic significance in many future episodes, such as , , , and .
Buck Bokai, who appears in this episode, was first mentioned (although not by name) in .
While the aliens hinted they might return the following year, this was their only appearance. The name of their race, if they even had one, was never revealed.
The title of this episode comes from an old English language proverb that goes, "."
Odo's disgust over "intermingling" with a holographic shapeshifter foreshadows his tumultuous relationship with the Great Link and, specifically, the Female Changeling.
In terms of stardates, the events of this episode occur before the events of (stardate: 46910).
The events in the Hanoli system are noted by Jadzia Dax to have taken place in the mid-23rd century. Miles O'Brien, however, later speaks about the contemporary technology being superior to the one 200 years ago, placing the incident in the 22nd century. The confirms this, placing it around 2169. However, O'Brien's remark that "The Vulcans were using a primitive device" could indicate that the Vulcans were not using a state-of-the-art device.
Remastered version
Remastered footage from the episode is featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 8,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest stars
Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien
Keone Young as
Michael John Anderson as
Co-star
Hana Hatae as Molly
Uncredited co-stars
Scott Barry as a Bajoran officer
Ivor Bartels as a Human security officer
Kristin Bauer as Quark's blonde fantasy woman
Robert Coffee as a Bajoran officer
Frank Collison as Dolak (display graphic)
Jeannie Dreams as a Human operations division ensign
Judi Durand as the Deep Space 9 computer voice
Kevin Grevioux as a Human security officer
Jeffrey Hayenga as Orta (display graphic)
Randy James as
Norman Large as Neral (display graphic)
Mark Lentry as a Human command division lieutenant
David B. Levinson as Broik
Dennis Madalone as an illusory burning man
Chad McCord as an operations ensign
Robin Morselli as a Bajoran officer
Tyana Parr as a Human DS9 resident
April Rossi as a Ktarian space hooker (display graphic)
Mark Allen Shepherd as
Morn
Human DS9 resident
Unknown performers as
Plix Tixiplik (display graphic)
Two Bajoran monks
Buck-toothed alien criminal (display graphic)
Dabo girl
DS9 security officer (voice)
Ferengi criminal (display graphic)
Human operations ensign
Klingon criminal (display graphic)
Markalian
Quark's brunette fantasy woman
Yridian
Stand-ins and doubles
Kyra Bucich as photo double for Terry Farrell
Randy James as stand-in for Colm Meaney
Mark Lentry as stand-in for Rene Auberjonois
References
2026; 2042; 22nd century; 2169; 23rd century; 24th century; airlock; allergic reaction; androgynous creature; anomaly; antipasto; art; auxiliary power; Bajoran system; Bajoran wormhole; ballpark (aka ball field); Baneriam hawk; baseball; baseball (object); baseball bat; baseball glove (aka baseball mitten); baseball player (aka ballplayer); baseman; baserunning; bedroom; bedtime story; Betazoid; Betazoid envoy; blizzard; blonde; bonsai; brunette; byproduct; ; captain; centimeter; class-4 probe; "cold fish"; com circuit; concussion; constable; constabulary; crop; dabo; ; daughter; day; Denorios belt; density; deputy; dermal regenerator; Derry; ; dimensional shift; dinner; dozen; ; ear; emergency medical kit; entrepreneur; environmental control; envoy; epitaph; exothermic reaction; fairy tale; family entertainment; farmer; Federation; female junior lieutenant; Ferengi; fever; fire; firstborn; fish; flux density; folded space; gold; ground ball; Gunji jackdaw; habitat ring; hallucination; Hanoli rift; Hanoli system; Harry; heart; holding cell; holo-creature; hologenerator; hologram; holosuite; home run; homework; ; horse; hour; hull; hull temperature; imagination; imagination aliens; impulse engine; impulse sustainer; incarnation; intruder alert; ; ; joke; junior lieutenant; kilometer; king; kingdom; Larosian virus; league; lease; level 1 personnel sweep; life support; locust; London Kings; lunch; magnetic shock wave; manager; medical tricorder; messenger; Milky Way Galaxy; minute; missing person; Nagus; ; Old Crow; ops; optical scanner; painting; perimeter sensor; phenomenon; pinch; plasma field; playmate; poorhouse; Promenade; prophet; proton; proton count; pulse wave; pulse wave device; pulse wave initiator; pulse wave torpedo; pylon; quarters; queen; raktajino; red alert; Replimat; ride; rift; right handed; ; science mission; second; security sweep; senior officer; sense of humor; sense of smell; sensor; shapeshifter; shields; shield generator; sir; snow; sonic shower; souvenir; ; squeaker; Stadius; ; station log; storybook; straw; stuffed animal; subspace; subspace anomaly; subspace disruption; subspace oscillation; subspace rupture; subspace scanner; switch hitting; Tartaran landscape; temperature; three-dimensional chess; thoron emission; thoron field; torpedo; torpedo guidance; trollop; visual scanner; Vulcan; wanted poster; warp engine; wave intensity analysis; wave intensity pattern; ; tricorder; World Series; wormhole; year; yellow alert; Yridian
Other references
Buck Bokai baseball card: California; ; Crenshaw Monarchs; Gotham City; Gotham City Bats; Marina del Rey; Planetary Baseball League; Planetary Baseball League, Inc.; Seibu;
External links
cs:If Wishes Were Horses
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pl:If Wishes Were Horses
DS9 episodes |
855 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | The Forsaken (episode) | An alien computer program wreaks havoc with the station's systems during a visit from Lwaxana Troi and other ambassadors.
Summary
Teaser
"Station log, stardate 46925.1. We have been honored with a visit by a delegation of Federation ambassadors on a fact-finding mission to the wormhole. Fortunately, I have just the officer to take them off my hands."
Dr. Bashir sits in Quark's with a trio of ambassadors: Lojal, a Vulcan, Vadosia, a Bolian, and Taxco, an Arbazan. The ambassadors pester him in every way imaginable; he cannot please them no matter how hard he tries. Their conversation is interrupted as the fourth ambassador, Lwaxana Troi, cries out from the dabo table. Her latinum hair brooch has been stolen. Quark claims his establishment is not responsible for lost or stolen items, but the Betazoid seizes his lobe and demands that everyone in the room be strip-searched until her brooch is found. Fortunately, chief of security Odo arrives and, after a few brief questions, glances around the bar and apprehends a Dopterian pick-pocket who has it. Amazed, Lwaxana asks him how he solved the mystery, and he explains that, since she couldn't sense any guilt in the room, the thief had to be someone immune to telepathy, such as a Ferengi like Quark. However, as Odo doesn't believe Quark would stoop down to petty theft, he instead focused on a member of the Ferengi species's distant relatives, the Dopterians. As Odo leaves, Lwaxana commands Bashir to tell her everything he knows about the station's security chief, and it becomes apparent that he has caught the ambassador's eye.
Act One
In Ops, Chief O'Brien struggles to force the Cardassian computer system to work, as it has a tendency to argue with his suggestions, gives him its opinion, and even on occasions overrules his requests. With the help of Anara, he tries to operate it manually, but continues to have trouble. The problem is so bad, he explains to Commander Sisko, that he is seriously considering completely overhauling and replacing the computer, a procedure that would take around two to three years to complete. Sisko employs his dry humor, but O'Brien is clearly too frustrated. Sisko allows him to do what he must.
Just then, Bashir and the other three ambassadors arrive in the turbolift, having insisted on seeing Ops. Commander Sisko is forced to make conversation, but saved when a mysterious probe comes through the wormhole. The ambassadors interject a bit during the analysis, as Lojal assumes Dax is only a young woman without the necessary experience and Vadosia seems intent on being involved in what may be first contact with a new species. However, Bashir and Sisko are able to stand them down. Sisko assures them there will be a briefing later.
Meanwhile, Lwaxana finds Odo in the security office and flirts heavily with him. She is fascinated by the idea of "being" with a shapeshifter. However, the constable is visibly disquieted by her advances and pretends to have business to which to attend, pretending to hear a com signal and leaves in a hurry.
Act Two
O'Brien and Dax interface with the probe, and the chief finds that the station's computer is cooperating surprisingly well. However, the probe's computer system is unlike anything they've ever seen before. After a while, Anara finds the probe is made out of a type of corundium alloy when suddenly the computer says it's completed an analysis much earlier than expected. O'Brien and Dax come over to see that the probe is just a powerful computer – no communications or science modules, or hint of its origin or mission.
Meanwhile, Odo passes by the group on his way to Sisko's office and complains to the commander about Lwaxana's advances (like a Wanoni tracehound), but Sisko is unable to help him. He suggests he handle the matter "delicately." As he leaves, Lwaxana manages to catch up with Odo despite his attempts to avoid her, saying she's reserved a holosuite with Quark for a picnic. Saying he's not available and tries to re-enter the turbolift, she follows him headed for one of the upper pylons. Intent on having a picnic with him, she says she will send for her picnic basket. He finally goes on a rant about how different he is, but she ignores it. Before they reach their destination, however, the turbolift stops abruptly as the station's systems begin acting up. Dax attempts to beam them out with the Ops transporter, but something causes it to malfunction. Lwaxana happily says "alone at last."
Act Three
Odo cannot shapeshift out due to exposed electric circuits running through the turbolift's positioning mechanisms, so he is forced to put up with Lwaxana while the chief attempts to remedy whatever is going wrong. Odo tells Mrs. Troi that he would prefer to pass the time quietly, however naturally Lwaxana isn't happy with that (while also noting she tends to be attracted to quiet men) and starts telling Odo about the time she was held captive on a Ferengi ship along with her daughter. Odo begins to seriously consider risking the exposed circuit…
In Ops, Bashir begs Commander Sisko to relieve him of his escort duties. Sisko refuses, telling the young officer that he himself had to do the same and in fact Curzon took a perverse pleasure in giving him the unwelcome duty of escorting important guests… until the day Ben punched one of them for trying to force a young ensign into his quarters. Sisko ends the discussion by warning Bashir not to hit any of them, since he won't be as forgiving as Curzon. Chief O'Brien then tells Sisko that he's having a problem with the computer… or rather, he isn't. As strange as he admits that it sounds, O'Brien claims the computer seems nicer somehow, ever since he downloaded the information from the probe. Additionally, every time he leaves Ops, a new problem comes up – as if the computer wants to keep him busy.
Act Four
"Station log, supplemental. Odo and Ambassador Troi remain trapped in turbolift four. As of yet, we have been unable to ascertain what is causing the station's computer to malfunction."
Sisko meets with Dax and Kira in Ops and they attempt to come up with an explanation for what is happening. Dax hypothesizes that the information in the probe might be a type of sentient non-biological lifeform. O'Brien suggests it's not malevolent, as it's not doing damage, so he suggests uploading the probe's files back to the probe. However, Sisko and Kira realize that it may be time for Odo to regenerate, meaning he will revert to his liquid state unless they can get him out of the turbolift. When O'Brien attempts to re-download the information into the probe, the lights go dim and the station shuts down.
In the turbolift, Lwaxana finishes talking about her life and asks Odo if he wants to talk about himself for a while. Although it takes a while for him to open up, Odo starts to tell her about how he began his life being studied by a Bajoran scientist as he learned to become self-sufficient. He then begins to tell the Betazoid that, after that, he tried to fit in by entertaining people at parties, which is why he hates parties so much. Lwaxana tells him that, if he goes to one of hers, she promises everyone will be there to entertain him. Odo finds that, despite his initial reluctance, he is starting to appreciate Mrs. Troi's company. However Odo is also starting to feel pain, as he tries to hold off his need to regenerate.
Meanwhile, O'Brien has come up with a plan to distract the lifeform that has taken over the station; as he slowly tries to cut it off from the station's systems, Sisko, Dax and Anara give the computer increasingly complex commands. The plan seems to be working, but something goes wrong and the system overloads. A fire erupts in one of the corridors, where Bashir is escorting the ambassadors to their quarters. They are trapped.
Act Five
Breaking through the doors sealing Bashir and the ambassadors in the corridor will take longer than expected, so Sisko and Kira work on it. In Ops, O'Brien comes up with a plan. Thinking of the lifeform as a puppy, he realizes it thrives on attention and begins to "build a doghouse," although Dax has no idea what he is talking about.
As Odo begins to lose his ability to hold his shape, Lwaxana can see that his is in pain, yet he turns his back toward her and refuses to show his weakness. He tells her that he's not ashamed, it's just a part of himself that he'd rather keep private and no-one (other than the Bajoran scientist) has ever seen him like this. Just then Mrs. Troi holds forward her hair, revealing it to be a wig. Odo turns around to see Lwaxana with her real black hair tightly pinned up, telling him that no-one has ever seen her like this. Odo assures her that she looks fine, but Lwaxana tells him she looks 'ordinary', something she's never cared to be and she herself changes who she is. Odo tells Lwaxana that she isn't at all like he expected, and Lwaxana gratefully accepts the compliment and kindly offers to take care of him. Finally trusting Mrs. Troi, Odo transforms into his liquid state and houses himself in a fold in her dress.
Kira and the others continue to try to get into the corridor while O'Brien prepares to set his plan into action. He sets up a special program through which all station commands can be performed, transferring the "puppy" into the doghouse. Satisfied to be at the center of the action, the lifeform returns the station to normal.
As a result, Sisko and a team finally manage to enter the corridor where Bashir and the ambassadors were trapped, and the fire suppression systems begin to work. After being briefly thought dead, Bashir and the ambassadors emerge from a conduit, sooty and disheveled but completely uninjured, with the ambassadors' opinions of Bashir considerably changed, having been quite humbled by the experience. Meanwhile, Odo and Lwaxana finally emerge from the turbolift, shape and wig restored. Odo thanks Lwaxana for her company, telling her that can't have been what she intended for their picnic. Lwaxana assures Odo that all that really matters on a picnic is the company, and promises him they will meet again.
Sisko asks O'Brien how he resolved the situation, and he explains he isolated it into a subprogram (but not sent back to the probe). Surprised he suggests keeping it around, O'Brien assures him it won't bother them and he'll give it attention. Sisko tells him to "keep it off the furniture."
Log entries
Station log, Deep Space 9, 2369
Memorable quotes
"You are dealing with a daughter of the Fifth House, holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed!"
"Ah! My ear, please!"
"Yes, and I know where it hurts the most, you little troll! Now I want this room sealed, and I want everyone in it strip-searched until you find my brooch!"
- Lwaxana and Quark
"What seems to be the problem?"
"Well, my brooch has been stolen. It's been in my family for 36 generations, it's absolutely priceless and I want it back!"
"You're certain you were wearing it today?"
"Yes, of course I'm certain. I never use this hair without it."
- Odo and Lwaxana
"Obviously, the young woman doesn't have the necessary experience, I'm…"
"The young woman over there has over three hundred years' experience, Ambassador."
- Lojan and Bashir, about Dax
"Is Odo your first or last name?"
"Yes."
- Lwaxana and Odo
"You are the thin, beige line between order and chaos."
- Lwaxana, to Odo
"I understand you're a shapeshifter."
"That's correct."
"I've never been with a shapeshifter."
"…Been with?"
- Lwaxana and Odo
"All the men I've known have needed to be shaped and molded and manipulated, and finally I've met a man who knows how to do it himself."
- Lwaxana
"Procreation does not require changing how you smell, or writing bad poetry, or sacrificing various plants to serve as tokens of affection."
- Odo to Sisko, in his office, baffled by humanoid mating rituals
"Constable, you can handle thieves and killers, but not one Betazoid woman?"
"I understand thieves and killers. I don't understand… her!"
- Sisko and Odo
"I've always wanted to see an upper pylon."
- Lwaxana, pursuing Odo
"I don't eat! This is not a real mouth. It is an approximation of one. I do not have an esophagus, or a stomach, or a digestive system. I am not like you. Every sixteen hours, I turn into a liquid!"
"I can swim."
- Odo and Lwaxana
"Great. Everything's in working order, except nothing's working."
- Kira
"All of us have had these assignments, Doctor."
"Have you, sir?"
"As a matter of fact, Curzon Dax used to take perverse pleasure in assigning me to take care of VIP guests."
"Ah, so now you take the same perverse pleasure in doing it to me."
"Exactly!"
- Sisko and Bashir
"Nothing makes them happy! They are dedicated to being unhappy and to spreading that unhappiness wherever they go! They are the ambassadors of unhappy!"
- Bashir, on the Federation delegation
"I guess you could say I was the life of the party."
"I don't think I understand."
"My way of trying to fit in. I found I could be entertaining. 'Odo, be a chair.' I'm a chair. 'Odo, be a razorcat.' I'm a razorcat. Life of the party… I hate parties."
"Maybe you've just been to the wrong ones. Come to one of mine, I'll make sure that all the guests are there to entertain you."
- Odo and Lwaxana
"No one's ever seen me like this."
"Why? It looks fine."
"It looks ordinary. I've never cared to be ordinary. So you see, Odo, even we non-shapeshifters have to change who we are once in a while."
"You are not at all what I expected."
"No one's ever paid me a greater compliment."
- Lwaxana and Odo, when she shows him her wig as he begins to melt
"I know that wasn't exactly what you had in mind for your picnic."
"When it comes to picnics, the only thing that really matters is the company."
- Odo and Lwaxana
"Keep it off the furniture."
- Commander Sisko, speaking of the lifeform after O'Brien gave it a "doghouse" to play in.
Background information
Story and script
A working title of this episode was "Only the Lonely", named after a song by . () The episode's first draft script, dated , had that working title.
Writer Jim Trombetta said of the psychological implications of what Odo goes through in this episode, "It goes back to the Renaissance and the characters referred to as 'gentlemen'. They had to be hard warriors with a hard shape, like armor. There's an anxiety if men become soft. They become helpless, babylike. Men don't like that. So here that caption works very vividly. Odo's a constable and a very tough guy, but he has to undergo that process and allow someone else to help him. He has no choice." ()
The first draft of this episode was deemed not entirely successful; in Michael Piller's words, it "didn't quite work." Piller subsequently took on the job of rewriting the script, initially turning in the rewritten first act. Meanwhile, the Writers Guild of America had yet to finalize the episode's writing credits. ()
"The Forsaken" was written as a "bottle show", to save money at the end of the first season. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 54)
Cast and characters
This episode was one of actor Rene Auberjonois' favorites, as he felt it was extremely important in the early development of Odo. "It helped to establish Odo and give him more dimension than he'd had up to that point," said Auberjonois. () As a result, he remarked that this installment "developed the character wonderfully." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, No. 3/4, p. 95)
Majel Barrett Roddenberry (Lwaxana Troi) makes her first of three appearances on DS9 in this episode. Her next appearance is in , and she again appears in and .
Jack Shearer (Vadosia) made his first Star Trek appearance here.
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
Visual effects
The scene in which Odo transforms into his liquid state and slinks into Lwaxana Troi's lap tasked Visual Effects Supervisor Gary Hutzel with depicting Odo in his natural liquid state. Hutzel had his staff of four CGI artists "program several thousand 3D spherical shapes and combine their surfaces mathematically," Hutzel explained, "so we had a kind of bubbling, moving essence inside of the glob that poured into Majel Barrett's lap." It was the first of many episodes to depict a Changeling in his or her natural liquid form. (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, paperback ed., pp. 164 & 165)
Continuity
The stardate of this episode actually places "The Forsaken" after , the episode that follows it.
The events to which Lwaxana refers, involving the Ferengi DaiMon Tog who held her and her daughter Deanna Troi captive, took place in TNG: "Ménage à Troi."
A running gag concerning Lwaxana Troi's love interests recurs here. In one scene, Odo is anxiously looking around as he exits a turbolift, fearing running into her (which he does.) Jean-Luc Picard acts similarly on the Enterprise when she is on board the ship in .
We learn here that Odo's hairstyle was modeled after that of Doctor Mora Pol, although Mora is not mentioned by name. Most other Changelings that appear in future episodes (starting with ) also wear the same hairstyle. As the Female Changeling states when she first appears, their appearance is based on Odo himself, so their hairstyles were indirectly based on Doctor Mora Pol's hairstyle as a result.
The computer entity ("Pup") is never mentioned again on screen (however it is mentioned in the 1995 DS9 novel ), and was presumably destroyed after the activation of Program Sisko 197 by then Major Kira in the fifth season episode .
Reception
Michael Piller commented, "The idea of having an enemy go into the computer is certainly not a new one, but I think we found a different spin on it and we got some very interesting comedy from Sid and his tour of ambassadors. The ensemble seemed to be working much better for me by this time, and I think that stuff in the elevator will be talked about forever. It's a wonderful performance by Rene, and Majel was at her warmest and most wonderful as Mrs. Troi. She goes from being the woman you can't imagine being stuck in an elevator with to the best companion you could possibly ever have." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 54)
Rene Auberjonois observed that this episode succeeded at giving the audience insight into Odo's personality. "Through his relationship with Lwaxana, the audience was introduced to an aspect of him that made him endearing, and they really connected with him," the actor stated. ()
In her book Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before (paperback ed., p. 161), J.M. Dillard cited, in this episode, the conversation Sisko and Bashir have in the commander's office, regarding Bashir's assignment of showing a group of obnoxious ambassadors around the station, as a prime example of Star Treks commitment to multiculturalism, Dillard stating, "Nowhere is this more evident [in DS9]." She also referred to the discussion as "a simple, amusing conversation" and proceeded to comment, "There's nothing unusual about this conversation – it's the kind that goes on every day in offices all over the world. The difference is that when a black man is talking to a Middle Eastern man in a typical television drama, they are almost certain to be talking about drugs, crime, terrorism, or violence – and are most likely to be presented as uneducated, heavily accented, immoral, or antisocial – but never on Star Trek."
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 9,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Majel Barrett as Lwaxana Troi
Constance Towers as Taxco
Michael Ensign as Lojal
Jack Shearer as Vadosia
Benita Andre as Anara
Uncredited Co-Stars
Ivor Bartels as a Human security officer
Patti Begley as Bajoran officer
Robert Coffee as a Bajoran officer
Frank Collison as Dolak (display graphic)
Jeannie Dreams as a Human operations division ensign
Judi Durand as Cardassian Computer Voice
Robert Ford as operations officer
Jeffrey Hayenga as Orta (display graphic)
Randy James as
Norman Large as Neral (display graphic)
Mark Lentry as a command division lieutenant
Chad McCord as operations ensign
April Rossi as a Ktarian space hooker (display graphic)
Mark Allen Shepherd as
Human DS9 resident
Morn
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Michael Zurich as a Bajoran security deputy
Unknown performers as
Green-skinned alien with beaked face
Buck-toothed alien criminal (display graphic)
Dabo girl
Dopterian thief
Ferengi criminal (display graphic, unconfirmed)
Human operations ensign
Klingon criminal (display graphic)
Pelian
Plix Tixiplik (display graphic)
References
13th century; 2366; adaptive interface link; alloy; ambassador; Andevian II; Arbazan; baby; backup system; Bajor; Bajoran earring; Bajoran master data bank; Bajoran Research Center; Bajoran serena; Bajoran wormhole; bed; beige; beneficiary; Betazed; Betazoid; biological organism; bipolar torch; "bloody"; Bolian; brooch; carbon reaction chamber; Cardassian; Cardassian operational guidelines; career; chair; chief of operations; child; circuit; combadge; com line; command pathway; communications system; computer; computer array; computer virus; concert; conduit; constable; control network; control relay; Corado I transmitter array; core memory; corundium; crew level; DaiMon; daughter; dawn; ; day; Deep Space 9 levels; deuterium; dice; digestive system; docking port; docking ring; doghouse; doorstep; Dopterian; earring; electromotive coil, emergency crew; emulator module; engineer; ; ensign; ; entity; EPS power flow; esophagus; exposed multi-phasing alternating current; fact-finding mission; Federation; Federation-Cardassian border; Ferengi; Ferengi cargo ship; Ferengi sex program (); Fifth House of Betazed; fire; fire extinguisher; fire suppression systems (aka fire suppression); first contact; first contact procedure; first year officer; fourth moon of Andevian II; furniture; fusion powerplant; ; gargoyle; generation; guest quarters; habitat ring; hair; hairstyle; hardware; heart; heroism; high-resolution scan; historical database; holoprogram; holosuite; Holy Rings of Betazed; hour; humanoid; humble; isolinear rod; killer; Krayton; KSC; laboratory; latinum; laser-induced fusion; level 1 diagnostic; liaison officer; lifeform; load detection; long range sensor; madame; "made love"; manual fire gear; mating ritual; mechanical life; memory node; meter; minute; mirror; moon; Mora Pol; mother ship; mouth; necklace; Nehru colony; New France colony; non-biological lifeform (non-biological); non-shape-shifter; oo-mox; ops; Ops O2 sensor; oxygen; pail; petty theft; phaser; picnic; picnic basket; plant; plasma; plasma burn; plasma surge; poetry; positioning mechanism; probe; procreation; Promenade; "Pup"; puppy; pylon; Quark's; razorcat; reaction chamber; recalibration sweep; regenerative cycle; replicator; root canal; runabout; Sacred Chalice of Rixx; scanner; scientist; science module; second; security chief; security office; security sweep; sensor; sentient; sexually repressed; shape-shift; shape-shifter; shield generator subsystem; shorthand; sir; soul; Starfleet; Starfleet captain; Starfleet Command; starship; station log; stomach; straw; stray; strip search; subprocessor module; subprocessor pattern; subprogram; subspace emitter; subspace link; subspace link-up; swimming; syntax; tech manual; temperature; thief; Tog; tongue; toranium; transporter; transporter pad; ; troll; turbolift; turbolift power net; viewscreen; VIP; volt; Vulcan; waltz; Wanoni tracehound; wanted poster; wig; woodpole; wormhole; wrestling; year; young female ensign
External links
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Forsaken, The |
856 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Dramatis Personae (episode) | The crew becomes infected by a telepathic imprint of a culture that destroyed itself.
Summary
Teaser
Commander Sisko and Major Kira Nerys are in dispute over a Valerian freighter that is requesting permission to dock at the station. Kira wants to immediately deny their request because the Valerians ran weapons-grade dolamide to the Cardassians during the Occupation of Bajor, and she believes that they are still continuing to do so. Sisko asserts that without proof, there is nothing that they can do. He appeases Kira by promising to contact the Federation about the matter and will threaten to end trade with the Valerians if she brings him solid proof. In the meantime, the Valerians will be allowed to dock.
As Kira steps into Ops, Chief O'Brien is bemoaning to Jadzia Dax the fact his wife is taking her school on a field trip to Bajor to visit a grain processing center at Lasuma. Odo exits the turbolift and informs Kira that he looked into the captain of the Valerian ship like she requested.
A Klingon attack cruiser, the , returns from an expedition through the wormhole a month ahead of schedule. Immediately after clearing the event horizon, the vessel explodes. A Klingon officer, Hon-Tihl, barely manages to materialize on the transporter pad, but the transport does not stabilize properly. O'Brien and Dax launch into action and coordinate the sensors allowing Hon-Tihl to fully materialize using the station's transporter but he immediately collapses. Doctor Bashir rushes over to tend to him, and as he leans over, Hon-Tihl grins and hisses the word "Victory!" before dying.
Act One
"Station log, stardate 46922.3. We have identified the dead Klingon. His name was Hon-Tihl, First Officer of the Toh'Kaht. Why he died, and the cause of his ship's destruction, is still unknown."
Bashir tells Kira, Sisko, O'Brien, and Odo that he found tritanium alloy fragments in Hon-Tihl's body, but also notes that there are severe weapons burns, which ultimately led to his death. The Toh'Kaht had been on a bio-survey mission in the Gamma Quadrant, so the final words of Hon-Tihl make little (if any) sense.
Sisko sends Dax and O'Brien out on a runabout to check the wreckage and look for the mission recorder to find out what may have caused the damage. O'Brien promptly gets up to leave, but Dax remains sitting and starts smiling to herself, as if enjoying a private joke. O'Brien calls after her, and she leaves with him for the runabout.
In the meantime, the Valerian ship, Sherval Das, has been trying to get clearance for docking at the station. Kira is trying to keep the captain entangled in false delays, but Sisko appears and overrules her. Kira protests by explaining that she did a background check on their ship and has learned that it passed through Fahleena III and Mariah IV, the same two stops that the Valerians made when running dolamide for the Cardassians. Sisko ignores Kira's demand and grants the Sherval Das permission to dock.
At his bar, Quark is trying to be a good bartender by listening to one of his patrons, but seems to be doing most of the talking. After his patron walks off, Odo arrives and asks Quark what he has heard among the Klingons. Quark complains about the damage the last crew had caused to one of his holosuites, and how they talked of being on a "glorious mission", despite it being a bio-survey. Quark demands a bribe in exchange for more information, but Odo threatens to reassign the work crew away from the needed holosuite repairs. Quark says that the Klingons mentioned they were in search of something that would "make the enemies of the Klingon Empire tremble." As Odo goes to leave, he screams in agony and grabs his head, which splits in two and collapses in the doorway. A panicked Quark rushes to get Dr. Bashir.
Act Two
In the infirmary, Odo awakens with a start to find Bashir leaning over him, checking him out. Bashir notes that he had no way of knowing if Odo was all right or not, because his body chemistry defies all of Bashir's instruments for a proper analysis. As Odo hastily gets up to leave, Bashir's voice takes on a conniving tone, and he asks if Odo shares his concerns about "the Valerian situation". Confused, Odo asks what he means, and Bashir gloats that the "uneasy alliance" between Sisko and Kira will soon start showing cracks. Odo is put off by Bashir's eerie demeanor and refuses to commit himself to either side of the matter.
Back in Sisko's office, Sisko is busy drawing some sort of blueprint on a PADD when Kira enters. With glee, she announces that the Valerians have visited the Ultima Thule station a week prior, and thus must be carrying dolamide. She announces her intention to board their vessel, confiscate the material, and take them to Bajor to press charges. Sisko, still calm, refuses to allow anything of the sort. Tensions in the room escalate until Kira reminds Sisko that Deep Space 9 is technically Bajoran property. Sisko grimly asks if she is challenging his authority. Kira tells the commander she is not, and Sisko replies with "Good."
On the runabout, Dax and O'Brien locate the debris from the Toh'Kaht. While looking for the mission recorder, O'Brien notes that Kira has been acting aggressively of late, but Dax blows it off as a simple difference of opinion with Sisko. O'Brien does not press the matter, and for a short while the mood of the ship returns to normal. As they sift through the wreckage, O'Brien continues to needle Dax, who seems to be drifting off into her own world. O'Brien cuts off one of her rambling thoughts and demands to know if she's becoming "friendly" with Kira. He advises her to consider her loyalties, and warns that "anyone against Sisko is against me." At this point, they find the mission recorder.
Back in the security office, a seductive Kira enters and starts fawning over Odo, noting that the two of them have worked very well together in the past. Odo responds with caution, and Kira asks for his cooperation in breaking into the Valerian ship to acquire proof of weapons smuggling. Odo asks if Sisko suddenly changed his mind. Kira claims he has. Suspicious, Odo offers to check in with him, prompting Kira to admit her lie. When Odo asks whether she is asking him to go behind Sisko's back, Kira warns him to remember who his friends are, then leaves.
Act Three
"Personal log, Miles O'Brien. Stardate 46923.1. We've managed to retrieve a portion of the Klingon Officer's journal. Of course, Major Kira heard about it immediately. She must have spies everywhere."
In Ops, O'Brien and Dax present the information they found to Sisko, Kira, and Odo. A recording from Hon-Tihl has been recovered, in which he reveals that he killed the medical officer of the ship, Kee-Bhor, believing that he was a spy from the captain of the ship, Tel-Peh. Through the static, Hon-Tihl can also be heard discussing telepathic energy spheres from , which he suspects are somehow responsible for the violence on the ship. Sisko, obviously bored, flatly states that he doesn't care about anything that happens on a Klingon vessel and returns to his office, telling the senior staff not to bother him. O'Brien and Dax continue working on interpolating more of the data in order to fill in the blanks. Dax, still in her own world, childishly remarks that the search is the real reward.
In his bar, Quark set a fancy drink, a modela aperitif, in front of Dax. Kira enters and barks at Quark to "get lost", insulting him and driving him to the other end of the bar. Kira begins to flatter Dax in the same seductive manner she did with Odo earlier. She insists that Dax is the most valuable officer on the station. Dax is oblivious to Kira's advances and continues to quote stories about herself and Sisko. Kira angrily tells Dax that she is going to be rid of Sisko, and threatens Dax with the same. A startled Quark listens to this and accidentally drops a glass. Kira notices Quark's eavesdropping and grabs him by the collar, hoisting him up and throwing him against the back wall of the bar.
Back in Odo's office, Quark enters wearing a neck brace and demands that Odo take action against Kira. He outlines the events in the bar, but Odo is more interested in whether or not Kira managed to persuade Dax. Quark admits that he did not hear much, but that Dax seemed to be "on the fence". Odo inquires about the change in personalities of the other officers, then realizes that Quark hasn't changed at all. With his questions answered, Odo exits, leaving Quark frustrated and demanding satisfaction.
Odo arrives in Sisko's office, but Sisko is nowhere to be found; instead, O'Brien is sitting in Sisko's chair, watching more of Hon-Tihl's journal. O'Brien informs Odo that Sisko is "safe" in his quarters. From the journal, it is noted that Hon-Tihl had placed a thalmerite device near the reactor core to destroy his ship, killing his own crew while he attempted to beam safety to DS9. It seems that there was some sort of mutiny on the ship. O'Brien promises to give Odo access to each of the journal entries as they are reconstructed. On his way out, Odo receives yet another stark warning about his loyalties.
Odo goes to meet with the increasingly reclusive Sisko, and is surprised to find two guards at the door to Sisko's quarters. Inside, Sisko is continuing to work on his blueprints and is becoming apathetic. Odo presents his suspicions about the behavioral changes amongst the crew, but Sisko is uninterested and tells him to go talk to O'Brien. Sisko put down his PADD to reveal that he is drawing up a set of plans for a highly complex clock, which perplexes Odo further.
Act Four
Odo returns to his office to find Kira relaxing in his chair with her feet on the desk. Kira informs him that she locked down the clamps on the docking pylons to keep the Valerian ship from leaving. She states that she is now going after Sisko and O'Brien, and that she needs Odo's help. Kira entices him with the prospect of a station run entirely by her, where Odo will be given free rein to maintain security however he likes, even to declare martial law. Odo decides to play along and asks what Kira's plan is. However, Kira won't share, knowing that Odo's the most incorruptible person on the station. She prefers to wait until Odo proves his allegiance to her camp. When Kira leaves, a distressed Odo immediately attempts to contact Starfleet Command, but finds that Kira has locked out access. He then tries the Bajoran Council, only to guess that O'Brien has similarly locked them out as well. Fortunately, the computer has finished reconstructing the journal of Hon-Tihl, which Odo reviews.
In his office, Sisko is busy building his clock while O'Brien paces around impatiently. O'Brien updates Sisko on the situation, and confides his suspicion that Kira is about to make an attempt on Sisko's life. Sisko happily suggests that they should arrest Kira, along with every Bajoran on the station to root all of her sympathizers. O'Brien counsels against it, due to their larger numbers. He instead suggests leaving the station to gather a Federation attack force; at this, Sisko flies into a rage. O'Brien manages to talk Sisko down, but notes that for his plan to work, they will need time to free the Valerian ship so that they can hitch a ride on it.
In the infirmary, Bashir hands a small device to a Bajoran officer and begins telling him how to use it. When Odo enters, both react as if caught, but Bashir pretends to be giving the Bajoran medical advice. The Bajoran leaves, and Bashir smugly advises Odo to choose sides soon, as events have moved swiftly since their last conversation. Odo decides to talk to Bashir as if he were a co-conspirator, in order to coerce information about the Klingon first officer's autopsy out of him. It seems that there were some symptoms that could have arisen due to some sort of telepathic influence, and that the telepathic archives from the energy spheres could be reenacting the power struggle that had destroyed the Saltah'nan civilization. The only people who have been affected were standing in Ops when Hon-Tihl beamed on board. Odo theorizes that the anomaly tried to control him too, but that he was unaffected due to his lack of a humanoid brain; this explains his earlier seizure in Quark's Bar. Odo coerces Bashir into helping to find a way of removing the telepathic influence, promising him that the means to remove the virus is the key to seizing control of the station for themselves. This nullifies Bashir's suspicion and makes him cooperative.
Back in Ops, O'Brien is still laboring to release the docking clamps, with Dax's help. Sisko steps out of his office to see how much progress is being made. The Bajoran officer that was in the infirmary earlier exchanges a glance with Dax, then takes a PADD over to Sisko. In a flash, he pulls out the device that Bashir gave him and prepares to jab it into Sisko's back, but O'Brien sees it and alerts Sisko. Dax instantly contacts Kira, revealing herself to be a conspirator; O'Brien hits her across the face and silences her. Sisko violently interrogates the Bajoran as to whether or not Kira put him up to this. He picks up the weapon the Bajoran dropped and prepares to use it on him, but at that moment Kira and her guards storm into Ops. Kira points a phaser at Sisko, telling him to drop the device.
Act Five
Kira commands her group to seize O'Brien and Sisko. O'Brien cautiously reaches his hand to the control panel, and both he and Sisko beam out of the room. Frustrated, Kira demands to know why Dax didn't disable the transporters, to which Dax groggily replies "I forgot…"
In an airlock corridor, O'Brien and Sisko find that instead of materializing on board the Valerian ship, their transporter signal has been diverted by Kira, and they are now blocked in on both sides by force fields. Despite his apprehension as to Odo's loyalty, Sisko contacts him for help. Odo uses his priority security codes to guide the pair to the cargo bay entrance at docking bay 4. After the call, both O'Brien and Sisko leave their combadges behind, so that their movements won't be traced.
Meanwhile, back at Ops, Kira and Dax are confused as to why Sisko and O'Brien don't appear to be moving, before realizing that they must have discarded their combadges. Kira quickly deduces that someone has been overriding their security force fields. In anger, she contacts Odo and demands to know what side he is on. Odo coolly replies that he is with her, and that he has just trapped Sisko and O'Brien behind the impenetrable cargo bay door. Bashir, still conspiring with Odo, expresses admiration at Odo's ploy and announces that he has set up an interference signal in that cargo bay, to drive the telepathic field out of the afflicted officers.
In the cargo bay, Sisko and O'Brien discover that they are trapped. Kira, Dax, and their guards make their appearance at the opposite end of the bay. Sisko admonishes Kira for her lack of gratitude, and declares that history will vindicate him. Just as Kira is about to kill Sisko, Odo and Bashir open the door that O'Brien has been trying to open. Odo tells the computer to execute his program, and a strange wave of energy passes through the air of the room. Everyone drops their weapons and, save for Odo, collapses in pain as the telepathic force is driven from their minds. Odo advises everyone to grab onto something, then opens the airlock. The energy field is sucked out of the station into space, and Odo triggers the door shut again.
"Commander's log, stardate 46924.5. With nothing to contain it, the telepathic matrix has dispersed in space. Meanwhile I'm happy to report everything and everyone aboard DS9 has returned to normal."
In the commander's office, Sisko and Kira discuss the strange clock that Sisko built during his affliction. Kira expresses deep regret for her attempted mutiny. Sisko replies "I think we'll let it go… this time." Sisko then focuses his attention on the clock, starts it and seems to still be fascinated by it.
Log entries
Station log, Deep Space 9, 2369
Personal log, Miles O'Brien
Commander's log, Deep Space 9, 2369
Memorable quotes
"I've been friends with Benjamin Sisko for many years… In many ways, he's like a son. Or a nephew… Some kind of close relative anyway…"
- Jadzia Dax
"Is this a Ferengi fashion I'm not aware of?"
- Odo, after Quark enters his office wearing a neck brace
"How are you, Lieutenant?"
(tired)"You know what they say – put the shoe on the right foot first, but put the left foot first into the bathtub."
(confused) "I understand."
- Kira and Dax
"What do you think?"
"What is it?"
"A clock! Fascinating, isn't it?"
- Sisko and Odo, as Sisko shows off his handiwork
"Anyone who's against Sisko is against me."
- O'Brien
"The Klingon, Doctor; what did you find?"
"He's still dead, if that's what you mean."
- Odo and Bashir
"I want you to arrest them. Kira and every Bajoran officer on this station. I want the names of every sympathizer…"
"That's not a good idea, sir. There are a lot more of them than there are of us. If we tip our hand, it could work against us."
"What can we do?"
"Leave the station."
(shouting) "NEVER! Get me a phaser, and I'll get rid of Kira!"
"Hear me out, sir… We leave the station. Raise a Federation attack force… and return. (pause) And on that day we'll get rid of all your enemies."
"How do we proceed?"
"I need a few more hours to free up the Valerian ship. I've already talked to their captain. He's more than happy to take us back to Federation space."
(whispering) "Call me as soon as you're ready."
- Sisko and O'Brien
"So, this is how it all ends."
"For you."
"You know what disturbs me? The ingratitude. I offered you my kindness, my help, my leadership and how do you repay me? With betrayal. But you won't get rid of me so easily. You see, unlike you, I understand history. My name will blaze across the stars long after your petty treacheries have been forgotten."
"But you won't be here to see it."
- Sisko and Kira
"Welcome back, everybody."
- Odo, after excising the energy spheres
"Did you really build that?"
"Apparently so."
"Why?"
"I have no idea."
- Kira and Sisko, about Sisko's clock
Background information
Story and script
The working title of this episode was "Ritual Sacrifice". (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Of his original concept for this show, writer Joe Menosky says, "I wondered if there could be something like a telepathic virus, a little packet of telepathic energy containing something that works in the same way that a virus co-opts the genetic code of a living cell and then changes its biology according to its own design. This would do the same thing, but according to a kind of theatrical complex that it carried, transmit a little drama. Each one of these telepathic viruses represents a little play, containing a bunch of character dramatics and emotions and traumas that had happened. In this particular case, the little play was a power struggle that led to the fall of a race or a civilization." ()
The reason writer Joe Menosky had Sisko making a clock was to try to convey to the audience that he had become "an obsessive quirky " who fussed about with mechanical bits and pieces. ()
Several references from an early version of the script have no mention in the final episode, including the currency pistres and the planets Kelton IV and Elanu IV. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Cast and characters
During the filming of the episode, Nana Visitor slipped on a wet stairway and hurt her back. While Visitor wanted to film her scenes as usual, Rick Berman urged her to go to hospital. However, when she arrived at the hospital still in full makeup, the doctors initially ignored her back in favor of her "terribly broken nose." (The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, p. 206)
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
Continuity
The stardate of the episode actually places "Dramatis Personae" before , the previous episode.
The Saltah'na clock that Sisko builds in this episode is seen in the background of his office in many episodes after this. It was designed by Ricardo Delgado.
When the airlock is opened in cargo bay four to clear the telepathic entity, Sisko can be seen gripping a crate with his combadge clearly visible on his uniform, despite the fact that he and O'Brien removed them in a previous scene. After the bay door closes he appears correctly again, with the missing badge. This portion of the scene had to be re-shot later in the production, and the missing combadge was overlooked.
Reception
This episode is a favorite of Ira Steven Behr, who feels it was a bold move to do a show like this so early in the series; "it was a third season show that we had the nerve to do in the first season. Anybody else would say 'You need to know the characters better before you twist them like this.' But seeing Kira come on to Dax – I don't care if it's first or third season, people are going to be interested in that!" ()
Director Cliff Bole says of Avery Brooks's performance in this episode, "The public didn't know the extent of his abilities for a long time. This man is awesome!" ()
Bole was also pleased with the performances of Rene Auberjonois and Armin Shimerman, noting that "We had a marvelous scene with Armin, when Quark and Odo were together. It's kind of the way I remember Charles Laughton and Peter Ustinov when I was doing script work on Spartacus. The screen just lit up when they were working together, and that's what happens with these two guys, they're marvelous". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 55)
Nana Visitor commented "It was a lot of fun. It was interesting to see how used to each other and the characters we've been playing we are. To see Avery behaving in a certain way and Siddig and Terry in a very different mind-set was fun. I came and watched scenes I wasn't involved with just to see what was going on". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 54)
Armin Shimerman was very pleased with how the episode turned out and the context behind it, commenting "I loved this episode. I love the fact that revolution broke out. Even though it wasn't a real revolution, I still love the conflict between Sisko and Kira, a person who is a national and who only thinks of her world first. I love those issues of nationalism because we go through that here in Los Angeles a lot. We had our riots because neighbourhoods felt that they weren't getting a fair share of the wealth of Los Angeles, and there's the Bajorans who are fighting because they're not getting a fair share of what they think they deserve. That's very intrinsic to the life we live in Los Angeles, so when it's represented on television, I feel for that". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 55)
Michael Piller commented that the episode was: "somewhat low-budget, but very interesting, with great performances. It’s a very perverted little episode and I think entertaining. Cliff, who very much wanted to do DS9 for us came in and finally got to direct this one and did a wonderful job."
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 9,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Star
Tom Towles as Hon-Tihl
Co-Stars
Stephen Parr as Valerian
Randy Pflug as
Jeff Pruitt as Ensign
Uncredited Co-Stars
Scott Barry as Bajoran officer
Ivor Bartels as Human security officer
Tracee Lee Cocco as Kobheerian
Robert Coffee as Bajoran officer
Frank Collison as Dolak (display graphic)
Jeannie Dreams as Human operations ensign
Judi Durand as Station Computer Voice
Kevin Grevioux as Human security officer
Jeffrey Hayenga as Orta (display graphic)
Norman Large as Neral (display graphic)
Mark Lentry as command division lieutenant
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Tyana Parr as Human DS9 resident
April Rossi as Ktarian space hooker (display graphic)
Mark Allen Shepherd as
Human DS9 resident
Morn
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Michael Zurich as Bajoran security deputy
Unknown performers as
Buck-toothed alien criminal (display graphic)
Dabo girl
Ferengi criminal (display graphic, unconfirmed)
Klingon criminal (display graphic)
Plix Tixiplik (display graphic)
Stunt Double
George Colucci as stunt double for Armin Shimerman
References
admiral; airlock; alien; alloy; archive; armory; assassination; assassination device; autopsy; background check; Bajor; Bajoran; Bajoran Council; Bajoran phaser; Bajoran system; Bajoran wormhole; bathtub; bio-survey; blueprint; body chemistry; brain; brain stem; bulkhead; Cardassian; cargo bay; channel; clock; columnar cell; combadge; comet; commander's log; confiscation; constable; containment field; crossbeam; crossover bridge; cryostasis; ; data interpolation; day; debris; diplomatic pressure; docking clamp; docking port; dolamide; duranium; ear; energy matrix; Fahleena III; Federation; Federation territory; first officer; first officer's mission journal, IKS Toh'Kaht; foot; flattery; force field; furniture; Gamma Quadrant; grain; grain processing center; hailing frequency; holosuite; ; hour; insomnia; ionic interference signal; Kalean; Kalean party; Kee-Bhor; Klingon; Klingon disruptor; Klingon Empire; Klingon High Command; Kobheerian; Lasuma; level 5 security protocol; log entry; magnetic field; Mariah IV; martial law; medical officer; meter; microtissue analysis; minute; ; mission recorder; model; Modela aperitif; month; murder; mutiny; ; neck brace; nephew; neutrino; ; Occupation of Bajor; Odo One; ops; painting; ; personal log, Miles O'Brien; phaser; phoretic analyzer; power generator; presentation ceremony; Promenade; purification plant; reactor; reactor core; resonance frequency; Rochani III; runabout; Saltah'na; ; Saltah'na clock; Saltah'na energy sphere; ; scan; secondary hull; security code; security protocol; security sensor; sensor; Sherval Das; shoe; short-range sensor; short-range transport; sir; slit; son; spy; star; Starfleet; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Headquarters; station log; student; subspace communication; subspace message; subspace transponder; sympathizer; tab; telepathy; telepathic archive; telepathic field; Tel-Peh; thalmerite; three-dimensional chess; throat; ; transporter; transporter pad; transporter signal; tricorder; tritanium; Ultima Thule; unnamed medical device; Valerian; Valerian transport; ; Vulcan; Vulcan admiral; wanted poster; weapon burn; weapons scanner; week; work crew; wormhole
Unreferenced material
drought; Elanu IV; Kelton IV; Pistres
External links
cs:Dramatis Personae
de:Meuterei (Episode)
es:Dramatis Personae
fr:Dramatis Personae (épisode)
nl:Dramatis Personae
pl:Dramatis Personae
DS9 episodes |
857 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Duet (episode) | After a Cardassian man arrives on the station suffering from an illness that he could only have contracted at a Bajoran labor camp during the Occupation, Major Kira leads an investigation to determine whether he is actually a notorious war criminal.
Summary
Teaser
It is a typical day in Ops as Major Kira and Lieutenant Dax exchange childhood stories. A Kobheerian freighter, the Rak-Miunis, arrives with a passenger who requires medical assistance for a condition known as Kalla-Nohra Syndrome. Doctor Bashir is unfamiliar with the disease, but Kira recognizes it immediately. The disease originated from a mining accident at the Gallitep labor camp, which Kira helped liberate during the Occupation, so she goes to greet the new arrival in the infirmary, believing him to be a Bajoran.
When Kira reaches the infirmary, she finds Bashir's patient is not a Bajoran, but a Cardassian. She immediately calls for security.
Act One
The Cardassian man runs past Kira and onto the Promenade only to be stopped by Constable Odo and two deputies. Kira and Bashir follow shortly, and Bashir is obviously clueless. Kira informs Odo that the Cardassian is a war criminal and Odo escorts the man to the security office.
In Odo's office, Kira admits to Commander Benjamin Sisko and Odo that the Bajoran Provisional Government has not listed the Cardassian, Aamin Marritza, for any war crimes. However, she is certain that there is no way to contract Kalla-Nohra Syndrome except for the mining accident at Gallitep. As she describes the brutal conditions at the camp, her voice cracks with emotion. Sisko decides to talk to Marritza alone.
In the brig, when Sisko asks Marritza about his illness, Marritza claims he has Pottrik Syndrome, a similar condition to Kalla-Nohra, and that his medication is the same as that which is used to treat Kalla-Nohra Syndrome. Further, he denies ever being at a labor camp, as he is a file clerk who resides on Kora II. A Bajoran prisoner in another holding cell wakes as the Cardassian speaks and yells for Odo, refusing to be held in the same room as Marritza.
Back in Sisko's office, Bashir confirms that a bio-probe proved Marritza's condition is Kalla-Nohra, not Pottrik Syndrome. His conversation with Sisko is interrupted as Kira contacts Sisko to inform him that he has an incoming transmission from the Bajoran Minister of State. Bashir exits and Sisko puts Minister Kaval on his desktop monitor's viewscreen. Kaval has contacted Sisko to congratulate and thank him for detaining Marritza. However, Sisko reminds Kaval that the Cardassian has done nothing wrong, and he therefore has no reason to detain the man much longer. The minister assertively assures Sisko that the man will pay if he was indeed at Gallitep and reminds Sisko that Deep Space 9 is a Bajoran station.
Act Two
Finding Kira sitting at a table in the Replimat, Sisko joins her to inform her that Odo, as Chief of Security, will take over the Marritza investigation. He acknowledges that Minister Kaval put Kira in charge, but he does not feel Kira can be entirely objective in the investigation. While Kira acknowledges that she is not objective, she promises as his first officer to handle the case fairly, as she owes it to the victims of Gallitep. Sisko reluctantly agrees and informs Odo of the change via his combadge.
Odo is releasing an intoxicated Bajoran as Kira enters the security office. The man, Kainon, tells Odo he wants to know when the Cardassian will be hanged. Once Kainon is gone, Odo informs Kira that he has done a background check and confirmed what little they know about Marritza so far.
As Kira enters the holding cell area, Marritza finishes a bowl of sem'hal stew, which he says could use some yamok sauce. Kira commences interrogating Marritza about his claim of having "missed [the] honor" of being at Gallitep, confronting him with the results of the bioscan that proved him to have been. Promising to "make [his] lies more opaque," Marritza confesses to having served at the camp as a file clerk, without any connection to the atrocities that had taken place there under Gul Darhe'el – even as he minimizes them, turning Kira's interrogation into a debate over the deaths being the result of fights between the workers and industrial accidents (Marritza's story) and systematic abuse and brutality (Kira's).
Marritza tells Kira that it was Gul Darhe'el himself who began circulating rumors of large-scale massacres at Gallitep, based on the logic that the rumors on their own would be just as effective as having actually killed millions of Bajorans in achieving the Cardassians' main goal: "To keep you Bajorans thinking of yourselves as victims. To keep you afraid… and helpless."
Having revealed his relatively innocuous identity and the truth of his presence on Gallitep, he challenges Kira to release him, accusing her of being more interested in vengeance than justice.
Act Three
Having learned of the detention of Aamin Marritza as a Cardassian national, Gul Dukat hails Commander Sisko via subspace, demanding Marritza's release and noting that his detention breached a Federation promise to allow free and safe passage through the station and its jurisdiction. Sisko stalls for time, telling Dukat that while he would like nothing better than to release Marritza there were still some inconsistencies in his story that needed to be cleared up. Dukat gives Sisko a thinly veiled warning about allowing Bajoran thirst for violence to create tension between the Federation and the Cardassians. He closes the channel with the warning that the Cardassians will hold Sisko responsible should "those Bajoran hatemongers get their hands on" Marritza.
Meanwhile, Kira is on the Promenade, gazing out of the window. When Dax asks her what she's looking for, Kira replies "Answers." She confides in Dax that even if Marritza is just a file clerk she still wants to see him punished, and that in some way she wants him to be more than just a file clerk; to actually be something worse. As far as Kira is concerned, Marritza is guilty by virtue of simply having been on Gallitep, and that his trial and punishment would bring some "satisfaction" or closure to the Bajorans. However, Dax believes that Kira is "trying too hard to believe" what she's saying and that she already knows that punishing Marritza without reason would not serve any purpose because Kira already knows that simple vengeance is not enough. Dax walks away to leave Kira to her thoughts.
Having consulted the Bajoran Central Archives, Commander Sisko informs his senior staff that Marritza's claims are accurate: there was a filing clerk on Gallitep by the name of Aamin Marritza. A further claim, that Marritza had been teaching filing at a Cardassian military academy on Kora II, is also verified. The Archives have also sent the only known photograph of Marritza from his days at Gallitep; a very blurred image with him in the background on one side. Dax carries out an image enhancement routine which cleans up the image enough to show that the man in the brig claiming to be Aamin Marritza and the man in the picture identified as Aamin Marritza are not the same man. Examining the images of the two other Cardassians in the shot standing in profile relative to the camera, Sisko has an idea: he asks Dax to enhance one of them. The imaging program extrapolates the profile into an impression of the full face, which does match the man in the holding cell. Dax checks the photo's legend, which presents the senior staff with the revelation that the man in the photo thus identified – and thus, the man in their custody – is in fact Gul Darhe'el.
Kira immediately confronts Darhe'el with this knowledge. He accepts his fate, noting that the Bajorans "can only execute me once," and proceeds to taunt Kira with his "accomplishments." Rejecting the notion of a war crimes tribunal on the grounds that there had been no war – the Bajorans having surrendered so quickly – he claims that he did everything he did to wipe out "Bajoran scum" because it needed to be done, he disavows any guilt on the part of his soldiers for having carried out the atrocities in question and derides the efforts of the Bajoran resistance to liberate their homeworld, dismissing Kira's cell in particular as a mere annoyance. Kira coldly challenges him to include his revelations in his testimony to the tribunal, knowing full well that they will sentence him to death, and he replies:
"Let them. Don't you see; it doesn't change anything! Kill me. Torture me… it doesn't matter. You've already lost, Major. You can never undo what I've accomplished. The dead will still be dead!"
Act Four
Shaken and angry, Kira is given a glass of Maraltian Seev-ale by Odo, who suggests that she go and lie down after the shock of the revelations she has just been forced to hear. She refuses to do so: that would be what Darhe'el would want, to send a Bajoran scurrying off to hide in a corner. She goes on to tell Odo what Darhe'el said about the Shakaar cell, leading Odo to counsel her to not to reveal that kind of personal information – but Kira hadn't revealed her membership of Shakaar to Darhe'el during the interrogation.
This sets Odo thinking: as important as Darhe'el was in the Cardassian occupational leadership, he wouldn't necessarily have known that Kira was a member of the Shakaar cell. Had he been in charge of putting down the resistance then he probably would have known, but he was in charge of a labor camp. Realizing that something doesn't fit, Kira goes back to interrogate Darhe'el again, while Odo tells the computer to review all off-station requests for information about Major Kira within the previous eight months.
Back in the holding area, Kira demands to know how Darhe'el knew of her membership in Shakaar. Darhe'el reminds her of his earlier remarks concerning Marritza's filing system and how efficient it was, claiming to remember her name from an action report having previously forgotten about it until he was reminded of it on his arrival on the station. He then challenges Kira to answer some questions of his own – unless Kira is afraid to do so.
Meanwhile, outside the security office, a group of Bajorans has gathered. Wearing the "dust-wraps" around their face that prevented Bajoran laborers from being suffocated in the mines, they are survivors of Gallitep and Gul Darhe'el's brutality, holding a vigil.
Passing them (and Quark) on the way, Odo goes to the infirmary to consult with Bashir: three months previously, there was a request for information on Major Kira from Kora II, by Aamin Marritza. Odo asks Bashir to look into Marritza's medical records. At this point, Dax informs Odo from Ops that Gul Dukat is responding to his subspace hail and his request for access to the Cardassian government's files on Gul Darhe'el. After reminiscing for a moment, Dukat denies Odo access to the files, but notes that they would only tell Odo what Dukat himself is telling him: Gul Darhe'el is dead, that he is buried underneath one of Cardassia's largest military monuments, and that Dukat himself attended his funeral.
Odo tells Dukat that the man in his custody has admitted to being Darhe'el, shocking and enraging Dukat. He accuses Odo of a plot to discredit the Cardassians, and Odo suggests that access to Darhe'el's files would prove Dukat's case. Dukat relents and gives Odo limited access to the files.
In the brig, the prisoner whom Kira still believes to be Darhe'el asks her how many Cardassians she killed. Kira claims not to have kept count, but the prisoner suggests that she did and that she also targeted Cardassian civilians on Bajor, noting that 'one of the most effective terrorist weapons was random violence." Kira admits to regretting some of the things she did during the Occupation, but insists that she had no choice: Bajor was fighting for its survival. The prisoner claims that the Cardassians were doing the same: they had an empire to manage and protect, and had urgent need of Bajoran resources. He finishes on the note "What you call genocide, I called a day's work!" At this point, Odo arrives and asks to speak to Kira outside. He tells her that, based on the research he and Dr. Bashir have carried out, the man in the cell apparently wanted to be caught.
Act Five
In the commander's office, Kira, Odo and Sisko assemble the evidence at hand. Odo shows Sisko a death certificate for Darhe'el included among the files which Dukat gave Odo access to, that lists him as having died six years previously from a massive coleibric hemorrhage. Kira denounces the certificate as a fake, a Cardassian ruse to trick station authorities into releasing him. Odo presents further evidence supplied by Dukat showing that, on the day of the accident at Gallitep when all known cases of Kalla-Nohra Syndrome were contracted, Darhe'el was back on Cardassia being awarded the Proficient Service Medallion, and thus never actually contracted the condition suffered by the man in the cell. Odo also notes that, during the prisoner's last two weeks on Kora II, he resigned his post at the military academy, put his affairs in order – even providing handsomely for his housekeeper – and booked passage on a ship specifically scheduled to stop at Deep Space 9, returning him to Bajoran jurisdiction – an unusual choice of travel plan for a Cardassian war criminal.
Kira will only concede the interesting questions that the evidence raises but insists that the prisoner will stand trial on Bajor. Sisko points out that the decision has still to be made, and Kira challenges him to speak to the prisoner for himself. At this point Dr. Bashir enters with additional medical evidence: aside from his receiving treatment for Kalla-Nohra, the prisoner's medical history is consistent with his relatively advanced years, with one exception. Five years previously, he began taking large doses of a dermatiraelian plastiscine: a dermal regenerative agent used to maintain skin resilience after large-scale cosmetic surgery. Kira realizes that the man in the cell has been surgically altered to resemble Darhe'el.
Kira returns to the brig to confront the prisoner. She asks how he is feeling and offers Dr. Bashir's assistance if he needs it. She asks the prisoner how he came to contract Kalla-Nohra Syndrome when his own progress reports showed him to be on Cardassia at the time receiving the Proficient Service Medallion. The prisoner denounces the reports as inaccurate, but Kira asks him why he is taking a dermal regenerative, and even begins to fill out the gaps. Increasingly frantic in his Darhe'el role, he demands that Kira leave and yells for security to escort her out.
He begins detailing how he ordered his guards to slaughter the laborers on Gallitep while "the useless office clerks were busy packing their precious files" and this prompts Kira to ask why, if that was his opinion of them did he take Marritza's name. The prisoner continues to ignore Kira's questions, proceeding to rant and rave over Bajor and the Bajorans. As she listens to him, Kira's demeanor changes, and she tells him straight: he is Marritza.
"That's not true! I'm alive! I will always be alive! It's Marritza who's dead! (laughing) Marritza, who was good for nothing but cowering under his bunk and weeping like a woman! Who would every night, cover his ears, because he couldn't bear to hear the screaming for mercy of the Bajorans! He would only…"
With that, Aamin Marritza breaks down and sinks onto his bunk, weeping uncontrollably.
"Covered my ears every night, but… I couldn't bear to hear those horrible screams. You have no idea what it's like to be a coward… To see these horrors… And do nothing. Marritza's dead. He deserves to be dead."
Now sympathetic, Kira moves to release him: "You didn't commit those crimes and you couldn't stop them; you were only one man." But Marritza begs her not to reveal his identity, insisting that he go to trial as Darhe'el so that he can be "punished" – that all of his people must be punished for what they did to the Bajorans. When she asks him why he's doing this, Marritza replies:
"For Cardassia. Cardassia will only survive if it stands before Bajor and admits the truth. My trial will force Cardassia to admit its guilt… And we're guilty, all of us… My death is necessary."
Kira, now emotional herself, replies "What you're asking for is another murder… Enough good people have already died… I won't help kill another."
A little later, Kira and Odo walk Marritza along the Promenade to a ship that will take him back home to Kora II. Marritza says there is nothing for him to go back to, but Kira promises that the authorities will help him get back on his feet. Marritza is bitter at Kira: as Gul Darhe'el, his trial might have helped bring about a new Cardassia; as a lowly filing clerk, he can do nothing. Kira reassures him that by saying if Cardassia is to change, it will need the help of men of honor like Marritza.
Suddenly, Kainon reappears from out of the crowd and stabs Marritza in the back, wounding him fatally. Odo apprehends him before Marritza even hits the floor, and a distraught Kira demands of Kainon:
"Why? He wasn't Darhe'el! WHY?" Kainon replies that, "He's a Cardassian. That's reason enough." Marritza is already dead as Kira replies, as much to herself as to anyone else, "No… It's not."
Memorable quotes
"Kill me! Torture me! It doesn't matter! You've already lost, Major! You can never undo what I've accomplished. The dead will still be dead!"
- Marritza/Darhe'el, taunting Kira
"Commander, if you'd been there twelve years ago when we liberated that camp… if you'd seen the things I saw… all those Bajoran bodies, starved, brutalized. You know what Cardassian policy was? Oh, I'm not even talking about the murder, murder was just the end of the fun for them; first came the humiliation! Mothers raped in front of their children, husbands beaten until their wives couldn't recognize them, old people buried alive because they couldn't work anymore!"
- Kira, to Sisko and Odo
"If your lies are going to be this transparent, it's going to be a very short interrogation."
"Well, in that case, I'll try to make my lies more opaque."
- Kira and Marritza/Darhe'el
"What was your rank at Gallitep, what were your duties?"
"You don't want to know."
"Just answer the question."
"You'll be disappointed…"
"I'll risk it."
"I had the distinction of serving in the exalted position of filing clerk."
"Filing clerk?"
"I told you you'd be disappointed. Actually, I would have preferred to avoid military service altogether, but I had the good fortune to be posted to the records office at Gallitep, and I turned out to be an exemplary file clerk. In fourteen units of service, I never misplaced or lost a record. I received numerous commendations. Gul Darhe'el himself called my computer filing system 'a masterpiece of meticulous exactitude'. Well, there you are. My secret's out, my crimes laid bare… I await execution."
- Kira and Marritza/Darhe'el
"You saw what we wanted you to see. Who do you think started the rumors about brutality at Gallitep? It was Gul Darhe'el himself. Now there was a leader. A brilliant, extraordinary man. He knew that to rule by fear was to rule completely. Why bother with actual mass murder, when the mere reports of such incidents achieved the same effect?"
- Marritza/Darhe'el
"This Bajoran obsession with alleged Cardassian improprieties during the occupation is really quite distasteful."
"I suppose if you're Bajoran, so was the Occupation."
- Dukat and Sisko
"What did you do? Did you kill the real Marritza so you could take his place? Well, you'll pay for that death, and all the others you're responsible for."
(chuckles) "Oh, I don't think I could pay for all of them, Major, there were so many. And you can only execute me once."
- Kira and Marritza/Darhe'el
"War crimes? How can there be any war crimes when there hasn't been a war? Oh, I can understand your wish that there had been a war. Your need to indulge in some pathetic fantasy about brave Bajoran soldiers marching to honorable defeat. But in fact, Major, you and I know there was no war. No glory. Bajor didn't resist. It surrendered."
"The Bajorans were a peaceful people before you came, we offered no threat to you. We could never understand why you had to be so brutal."
- Kira and Marritza/Darhe'el
"What lies? You mean my failure to divulge my true identity? Believe me, Major, I yearned to tell you. But I knew how much more satisfaction you would have if you found out for yourself, and that was my only deception. Marritza was a magnificent file clerk. And I, Gul Darhe'el? I hope you'll not think it immodest of me to say so, but I was a magnificent leader. Oh, you never saw Gallitep at its height. For a labor camp, it was the very model of order and efficiency. And why? For that, you have to look to the top. To me! My word, my every glance, was law. And my verdict was always the same: Guilty."
"You're insane!"
"Oh, no, no, Major… you can't dismiss me that easily. I did what had to be done. My men understood that, and that's why they loved me. I would order them to go out and kill Bajoran scum, and they'd do it, they'd murder them! They'd come back covered in blood, but they felt clean! Now why did they feel that way, Major? Because they were clean!"
- Marritza/Darhe'el and Kira
"I do miss working with you, Odo. I miss our games of Kalevian Montar."
"As I recall, Gul Dukat, we played one game, and you cheated."
(laughs) "The same old Odo. Like a blunt instrument."
- Dukat and Odo
"Nothing justifies genocide!"
"What you call genocide, I call a day's work."
- Kira and Marritza/Darhe'el
"You're Marritza, aren't you?"
"You mistake me for that bug? That whimpering nothing? Oh, you stupid Bajoran girl. Don't you know who I am? I'm your nemesis. I'm your nightmare. I'm the Butcher of Gallitep."
"The Butcher of Gallitep died six years ago. You're Aamin Marritza, his filing clerk."
"That's not true. I am alive. I will always be alive! It's Marritza who is dead. Marritza, who was good for nothing but cowering under his bunk and weeping like a woman. Who, every night, covered his ears because he couldn't bear to hear the screaming… for mercy… of the Bajorans…"
-Kira and Marritza/Darhe'el
"Covered my ears every night, but… I couldn't bear to hear those horrible screams. You have no idea what it's like to be a coward… To see these horrors… And do nothing. Marritza's dead. He deserves to be dead."
- Marritza/Darhe'el, to Kira
"What are you doing"
"I'm letting you go."
"Security? Get in here."
"You didn't commit those crimes and you couldn't stop them; you were only one man."
"No, don't you see? I have to be punished. We all have to be punished. Major, you have to go out and tell them I'm Gul Darhe'el. It's the only way."
"Why are you doing this?"
"For Cardassia. Cardassia will only survive if it stands before Bajor and admits the truth. My trial will force Cardassia to admit its guilt… And we're guilty, all of us… My death is necessary."
"What you're asking for is another murder… Enough good people have already died… I won't help kill another."
- Marritza/Darhe'el and Kira
"Why? He wasn't Darhe'el! WHY?""He's a Cardassian! That's reason enough."
"No!… It's not."
- Kira and Kainon, after Kainon kills Marritza
Background information
Story and script
A working title of this episode was "The Higher Law". (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
The original pitch for this episode, by Lisa Rich and Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci, was based upon the simple conflict inherent in the idea of someone having to defend their worst enemy. Carrigan-Fauci later explained, "The basic premise was 'What would happen if you had to defend your worst enemy? What would you do if you had to be responsible for his life?' There's so much inherent conflict in that concept. And, of course, it was only natural to use Kira and a Cardassian in that situation and to have them both learn something about each other." () Michael Piller recalled, "Duet' was pitched to us by two of our interns, who wanted to do something about a war criminal. In the context it was pitched, it didn't turn me on. The idea of a war criminal found aboard DS9 seemed to me to be an interesting concept, but at first it seemed to me to be a court show." Since the first season of DS9 had already included court episode , the show's writing staff didn't want to do another so soon. (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 461)
The plot of this episode was inspired by 's 1967 stage play , which tells of a Jewish man accused of being a war criminal. In fact, Leonard Nimoy had starred in a production of the play years earlier. That play, in turn, is based on actual events that took place after World War II, such as the and the hunt for top-ranking Nazi officials who escaped Germany and made up new identities for themselves, such as . Noted Michael Piller, "Ira Behr gave us the twist that gave it The Man in the Glass Booth kind of feeling, where the guy isn't who he says he is but is doing it for more noble reasons." (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 461)
The intent of this episode was to establish the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor as a metaphor for British, Japanese, and German imperialism circa World War II. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages)
This episode was written to be a bottle show to balance out more expensive episodes in DS9's first season, such as the premiere and . () "Duet' was conceived as a direct result of that very consideration […] On the next-to-last show of the season," remembered Peter Allan Fields, "they said, 'Pete, can you do us a favor? Can you please write a show that costs nothing?' I said, 'Of course, be glad to,' and then you leave the office because you've said yes to your boss and you die a thousand deaths." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 33)
This is one of only a few DS9 episodes without a subplot. (The A-story/B-story formula had been used quite extensively in the series up to this point and was used many more times throughout the later seasons.)
Cast and characters
This episode reunited Quark actor Armin Shimerman and "Duet" guest actor Harris Yulin. Years prior to the making of this installment, they had been acquaintances and had worked on Broadway theater together. (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 461)
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
Music
The episode's score, composed by Dennis McCarthy, was recorded on at Paramount Stage M. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Collection liner notes) A cue from the score – totaling three minutes, thirty-two seconds – appears on Disc One of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Collection.
Continuity
Ira Steven Behr has cited this episode as the first example of the so-called "long Cardassian monologue": "Cardassians love to speak. Garak loves to speak. Enabran Tain loves to speak. Dukat loves to speak – very slowly – and certainly Marritza loves to speak." ()
This episode introduces the character of Neela, who went on to play a crucial role in the following episode, , although she was supposed to be introduced in . The producers' intention was for the audience to assume she was simply a new recurring character, thus creating an unexpected twist when she turns out to be an assassin, and they felt that seeing her twice before the final episode would accomplish this goal. However, the actress cast as Anara for "didn't work out," and she was written out of that episode. She was never supposed to be in , so in the end, she only appeared in one episode prior to being made into a villain. ()
This episode marks the first mention of the Shakaar resistance cell.
Though it is not mentioned in dialogue, the script for this episode stated that Kira was drinking a raktajino when Benjamin Sisko confronted her at the Replimat. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Reception
Both Armin Shimerman (Quark) and Nana Visitor (Kira Nerys) count this episode among their favorites.
Shimerman noted that the episode comes together with "the writing and the directing and the acting all coalescing perfectly." () Elsewhere, he commented, "It's a fascinating episode dealing with Bajor and nationalism and with Cardassian war crimes. I love these kinds of scripts, because they deal with social issues placed in the context of space." (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 461)
Visitor agreed, "The action comes out of big issues on this show. There's action and intrigue, but the writing really lets us deal with issues we're not embarrassed to commit ourselves to as actors and people. On a sitcom, very often it's 'Should I let Johnny stay out after midnight or not?' It's an important issue, but not quite so much as Holocaust victims and facing evil in one person and how you deal with that, which is one thing I had to deal with in 'Duet'. It was kind of harrowing to have to deal with that subject matter every day, but the harder it is, the more rewarding it is." Visitor further commented, "Duet' was a wonderful episode," and was of the opinion that this episode's making was a case where, due to limitations, the people involved in it had needed to start being more creative. "I think everyone had done that and amped up the creativity just a little bit," she said. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp. 33 & 56)
Fans of this episode include Terry J. Erdmann, Dave Rossi, and Ira Steven Behr, the latter of whom said of it, in 1999, "I thought that show was gangbusters. It was very powerful, and it still works today. It's a wonderful episode." (Crew Dossier: Kira Nerys, DS9 Season 1 DVD, Special Features) In Captains' Logs Supplemental, Behr elaborated, "I'm very, very proud of this show. Not in the sense it's a show for all humanity, but that it was a fun show to work on. You had a character who was larger than life and reveling in his evilness. It was just a blast. It was a lot of fun to write, but it was the end of the season, and we were all very tired, so neither Peter nor I were very happy doing it. We work very well together, and the show could have, literally, been another half hour if they would have let us. It was just mind games on top of mind games, and we could have done that forever."
Michael Piller remarked about this episode, "The writing is really quite powerful." He also described the installment as "very thought provoking" (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 55) and that: "Premises that explore the some nature of the human condition are the best shows. 'Duet', which I find was probably the best show of the first season, was two characters in a room - very simple and very elegant. It's one of my favorite lines of shows". (The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, p. 279)
From a production viewpoint, Director of Photography Marvin Rush opined that Director Jim Conway "came in and did a great job. He was real professional and had a difficult episode, because it didn't have a lot of action or movement. It's a small story." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 56)
A special screening of this episode was held at the Museum of Television and Radio Broadcasting in Los Angeles, as part of its annual celebration of television considered high quality. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 58)
In Star Trek 101 (p. 124), Terry J. Erdmann and Paula M. Block list "Duet" as one of the "Ten Essential Episodes" from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.Cinefantastique ranked "Duet" as the best episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 32, No. 4/5, p. 96)
In their book The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years (p. 461), authors Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross remarked that this episode is "generally considered the standout show of the first season" and that the war criminal role was "played magnificently" by Harris Yulin.
Mary Taylor wrote, "Duet" from DS9's second season [sic], continued the commentary on racism begun thirty years before [by ]. The lesson of 'Duet'… was that each individual should be judged on his own merits and not because he is a member of a hated race." (Adventures in Time and Space)
In The New Trek Programme Guide, the authors comment that "Duet" was "the pinnacle of the season, a tightly plotted and allusive tale that could be 'about' the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, the modern Nazi's re-writing of World War Two or even Bosnia. Although the juxtaposition with the previous episode is less than ideal, with Kira seeming to go behind Sisko's back to get what she wants, the strength of the script and the performances more than make up for this. Harris Yulin excels as the coward who personalized the guilt of an entire race. This powerful and absorbing drama is also very Roddenberryesque: Kira realises, just before the clever twist ending, that his being a Cardassian is not reason enough to want to kill him." (The New Trek Programme Guide, pp. 316 – 317)
Remastered version
Remastered footage from the episode is featured in the ending credits of the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 10,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Marc Alaimo as Dukat
Robin Christopher as Neela
Norman Large as a Viterian
Tony Rizzoli as Kainon
Ted Sorel as Kaval
Special Guest Star
Harris Yulin as "Marritza"
Uncredited Co-Stars
Scott Barry as a Bajoran officer
Robert Coffee as a Bajoran officer
Frank Collison as Dolak (display graphic)
Jeannie Dreams as a Human operations division ensign
Judi Durand as Deep Space 9 computer voice
Kevin Grevioux as a Human security officer
Jeffrey Hayenga as Orta (display graphic)
Norman Large as Neral (display graphic)
Chad McCord as operations ensign
April Rossi as a Ktarian space hooker (display graphic)
Mark Allen Shepherd as
Human DS9 resident
Morn
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Michael Zurich as a Bajoran security deputy
Unknown performers as
Aamin Marritza (2357, display)
Bajoran DS9 male nurse
Five Bajoran Gallitep laborers (display graphic)
Five Bajoran Gallitep survivors
Buck-toothed alien
Buck-toothed alien criminal (display graphic)
Cardassian Gallitep officer (display graphic)
Ferengi criminal (display graphic, unconfirmed)
Female Starfleet officer
Klingon criminal (display graphic)
Rotciv member
Plix Tixiplik (display graphic)
References
2355; 2357; 2363; 2364; ailment; amusement; assassination; background check; Bajor; Bajoran; Bajoran Archives; Bajoran Militia casualties; Bajoran Provisional Government; Bajoran Resistance; bio-probe; bruise; ; butcher; Cardassia; Cardassian; Cardassian Empire; Cardassian Military Academy; Cardassian records office; Certificate of Death; chains; champion; channel; ; chief of security; children; coleibric hemorrhage; constable; cosmetic surgery; creature; criminal; ; dagger; day; death; deflector shield; dermal regenerative agent; dermatiraelian plastiscine; desktop monitor; diagnostic; dinner; docking port; drunk; ear; egotist; execution; Federation; file clerk (filing clerk); filing; first officer; forgery; freighter; freighter captain; funeral; Gallitep labor camp; genocide; gul; hanging; holding cell; housekeeper; husband; image enhancement sequence; "in charge"; infirmary; jail; Kalevian montar; Kalla-Nohra Syndrome; Kobheerian; Kobheerian freighter; Kora II; labor camp; laborer; leader; lie; map; Maraltian Seev-ale; mass murderer; medical care; medical emergency; medical history; military leader; medical record; military service; mining; minister; Minister of State; minute; ; mirror; month; monument; morning; mother; murder; night; nightmare; Occupation of Bajor; office clerk; ; Pottrik Syndrome; Proficient Service Medallion; progress report; Rak-Miunis''; raktajino; rape; replicator; Replimat; report; rock; scum; second; sector 22757; security office; sem'hal stew; sensor array; Shakaar resistance cell; signal enhancement module; spoon; subspace com net; subspace link; subspace transmission; surrender; table; termination report; terrorist; torture; traveler; trial; tribunal; ; unnamed medical device; vanity; vendetta; wanted list; wanted poster; war; weep; wife; window; worker; yamok sauce; year
External links
Episode script at TwizTV.com
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DS9 episodes |
858 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | In the Hands of the Prophets (episode) | Orthodox Bajorans object to secular teachings about the wormhole in the station's school, causing tensions between fundamentalists and the Starfleet crew. (Season finale)
Summary
Teaser
It is a regular morning aboard Deep Space 9 with Keiko O'Brien heading to school as Chief O'Brien heads to work. The two discuss the sweet taste of a jumja stick while walking the Promenade, and Miles's Bajoran assistant Neela. Later, Keiko begins teaching the children about the Bajoran wormhole. As the lesson begins, a Bajoran religious leader by the name of Vedek Winn suddenly enters the classroom and asks Keiko to continue. Keiko continues to talk about the wormhole in a scientific way; however, Winn argues against the lesson telling Keiko the wormhole is actually the Celestial Temple and the entities living there are the Prophets. Keiko explains that while she appreciates the Bajorans believe these things, she is teaching the children science and not spiritual beliefs. Winn tells Keiko that what she is doing is teaching blasphemy, and warns that she will not allow her to continue.
Act One
O'Brien is late arriving to supervise Neela in fixing a junction in Odo's security office, but she has already completed it and is ready to test. O'Brien tests it, and is impressed, ready to close the panel. However, he is missing his EJ7 interlock from his case. He'll have to find it.
Winn immediately starts to gain support among the Bajoran civilians who live on the station, while Keiko goes to meet with Commander Sisko. Sisko admits that he always felt this situation was going to crop up eventually, and admits he sometimes wonders if they can find the common ground needed to help ensure Bajor's admission into the Federation. He asks Kira to join the meeting, and asks her about Winn. Kira explains that Winn is a member of an orthodox Bajoran religious order who is currently in the running to take-up the vacant post of Kai, although she isn't expected to succeed. Kira then admits that she supports both Winn's candidacy as well as her viewpoint regarding teachings about the wormhole and asks Keiko if she would be willing to revise the school curriculum or consider having a separate school for Bajoran children, but Keiko outright rejects both ideas. Sisko suggests that Keiko teach the spiritual beliefs surrounding the wormhole in addition to her current lesson plan, but Kira reminds him that there are two completely different philosophies at the center of the debate. Keiko argues that she isn't trying to teach any philosophy, but Kira states that choosing to talk about the wormhole from a purely scientific point of view is a philosophy in itself. She's unsure if the situation can be resolved.
Commander Sisko decides to go visit Vedek Winn while she is at the Bajoran Shrine, however he is made uncomfortable when she addresses him as the Emissary of the Prophets. He asks her not to call him that, but she tells him he has taken up a deeply important role in the Bajoran faith, and how she was punished by Kai Opaka when she questioned why a non-believer was the one to find the Prophets when she (Winn) would have done anything to meet them. Wishing to get to the heart of the matter, Sisko asks Winn if she is willing to discuss her issues with the school, but Winn tells Sisko that she is acting on behalf of the Prophets and that there will be serious consequences if Keiko does not back down from her position.
Act Two
In Ops, O'Brien is determined to find the tool he is missing, as it could be used to access critical systems. Lieutenant Dax then reports that Ensign Aquino, an engineer, failed to report for duty, so they try to use the computer to locate the tool by looking for tritanium. In a maintenance tunnel on Level 12, Section 8, Neela finds a blob of sludge in a power conduit, and a subsequent analysis by Dr. Bashir reveals that it is the remains of both Ensign Aquino and the EJ7 interlock. They had apparently been incinerated by a power surge while Aquino worked on the power conduit at 4 AM that morning.
As O'Brien is walking Keiko to school, he stops at a stand for his usual morning jumja stick, but the Bajoran vendor refuses to sell him one, because of the current controversy involving Keiko. Keiko moves Miles away from the vendor before he attacks him and they move on to the schoolhouse, where they meet Vedek Winn outside the school. She has gathered a group of Bajoran parents and children. Vedek Winn attempts to negotiate in public: she will not object to Keiko teaching a non-spiritual viewpoint of the Wormhole, if Keiko simply does not teach about the Wormhole at all. Keiko replies that it is her job to open children's minds to knowledge, not to hide it from them. Keiko asks if Vedek Winn will also object to teaching of evolution, and of the origin of the universe. Winn leaves with the Bajoran contingent, officially boycotting the school. Finally, only five of her students remain including Jake Sisko.
Act Three
The senior staff is assembled to discuss Aquino's death. O'Brien gives a plausible theory, except he doesn't believe Aquino took his tool without asking, and the repair could have waited. It's an odd situation. Sisko suggests Odo look into it.
After the meeting, Jake Sisko tells his father about school. Keiko continues to teach her remaining five students about Galileo, and how he was tried by the Inquisition for his belief that Earth revolved around the Sun. Jake makes the connection between the story of Galileo and current events on the station. He tells his father that the current controversy is stupid, and asks where the Bajorans get such ideas. Commander Sisko, however, points out that the Bajoran religion is quite reasonable in light of the Wormhole and the nature of the Prophets, and counsels Jake to be tolerant of the beliefs of other cultures. Or else, he warns his son, he will be acting just like Vedek Winn – seeing an issue from only one side.
Sisko, attempting to heal the rift between Starfleet and the Bajorans on Deep Space 9, travels to the planet to meet with Vedek Bareil, the favored candidate to replace Opaka as Kai. Unlike Winn, Bareil is forward-thinking and personable however he is unwilling to arrange an audience for Sisko with the Vedek Assembly since being seen to ally himself with the Federation will certainly harm his chances of being elected. Bareil promises that if he is elected Kai, he will be able to show friendship then but right now can do nothing to help.
Upon returning to the station, Sisko is angry to find that three Bajoran crewmembers have refused to report for duty. He asks Kira for her opinion, and she tells him that as far as she's concerned the only reason the Bajoran government haven't asked the Federation to leave is because if they do the Cardassians will certainly return to retake Bajor and claim the wormhole. Sisko, angered that all his apparent efforts to bridge the gulf with the Bajorans over the past several months have fallen short, orders Kira to get the Bajorans back to work immediately or they will be reassigned.
Further analysis of Ensign Aquino's remains by Dr. Bashir reveals that Aquino was not killed by the discharge in the power conduit. Instead, Aquino had already been killed by phaser fire.
Act Four
In Sisko's office, he wonders to his staff if the murder is related to the school issue, but Aquino was killed before Winn arrived. Furthermore, Odo reports he was actually headed to runabout pad C, not to the power conduit. O'Brien and Neela go to check the runabouts, but Neela reports that she has already performed the diagnostic that O'Brien would have. It appears normal, and so they sit down to think. After a brief chat about how Starfleet and Bajoran officers don't socialize, Neela says O'Brien is easy to work with since he's not fake, and compliments him. He dismisses her, thinking about what his wife was saying earlier.
Odo and Quark observe the Promenade sitting in the Replimat as a deputation of Orthodox vedeks arrives on the station, summoned by Winn to support her boycott of the station's school. Odo asks if Quark knows anything about Aquino's murder. Quark says he does not, but agrees to "keep [his] ears open." O'Brien then approaches Odo and says he has found evidence of tampering at Runabout Pad A, but is confused because Pad C, where Aquino's body was found, was clean. Odo says it makes sense: Aquino surprised his murderer in the act of tampering with Pad C, and after killing him, the murderer switched his plan to Pad A. The tampering seemed intended to allow the murderer to steal a runabout, but none are missing. Odo is confused: "he goes through a lot of trouble to defeat the security net, and then doesn't go through with his plans."
Before he can pursue this line of thought further, a bomb goes off in the schoolhouse. O'Brien runs in panic towards the school in fear that Keiko was inside, which is blazing, but thankfully, school was not in session and no one was hurt.
Act Five
Sisko and several station personnel go to the school, where they are met by Vedek Winn who asks after Keiko. Sisko, knowing that Winn was likely connected to if not directly responsible for the bombing, tells her that he's holding her responsible for the recent act of terrorism and informs her of his belief that, since her order is rarely listened to on Bajor she instead began the school issue to gain more support. Winn in response accuses Sisko (and, by extension, the Federation) of wishing to destroy the Bajoran way of life. Sisko denies the accusation, and makes an impassioned speech where he speaks of how the Federation and Bajoran people have worked hard together over the last several months, and regardless of if they're having a discussion or an argument they still come away with a better understanding of each other. He finishes by telling Winn that her attempts to cause trouble won't succeed, and the Bajorans will eventually bring their children back to school. She simply says "we'll see" and Sisko leaves. Then, Neela and Winn exchange a look.
In the Bajoran shrine, Neela secretly meets with Vedek Winn and tells her that her plan to escape via runabout has been stopped and she now has no way to escape arrest and possible execution. Winn is uncaring, and orders Neela to proceed with their plan anyway, citing the will of the Prophets.
In Ops, O'Brien discovers a secret file lodged in Deep Space 9's systems. With Dax's help, O'Brien decrypts the file (named "ANA"), and discovers that it contains the instructions to disable a series of force fields and create an escape route from the Promenade to one of the runabouts. He immediately locks down all the runabout pads to prevent anyone from using them to escape. Meanwhile Sisko is contacted by Vedek Bareil, who has heard of the bombing and decided to publicly offer Sisko his support.
Bareil takes Winn to the school to advocate for a peaceful resolution to the events, and she follows, soon joined by Sisko. As they speak publicly, O'Brien discovers that a security console in Odo's office has been tampered with. Suspicion immediately falls on Neela, who had repaired the security console several days earlier, and O'Brien realizes that she tampered with the security systems so that a weapon could be smuggled onto the Promenade. O'Brien contacts Sisko and informs him of his suspicions. Scanning the crowd in front of the school listening to Bareil's speech, Sisko sees Neela drawing a phaser from her toolbox and aiming at Bareil. He charges through the crowd, which jostles Neela and spoils her first shot. Before she can fire a second, Sisko tackles her to the ground, saving Bareil's life. Odo drags Neela away, as she yells that "the Prophets spoke" and she "answered their call".
Kira rounds on Winn, accusing her of orchestrating the entire school controversy just to lure Bareil to the station and have him killed, to stop him from being elected Kai. Winn turns away without responding.
Later, in Ops, Sisko finds Kira in a melancholy mood at her station. He confirms that Neela has refused to incriminate Winn, and Kira says she never will, leaving them with no proof of Winn's involvement. Kira admits that she supported Winn because Kira wanted her own faith to be as strong as Winn's was. She also says that she listened to Sisko's speech on the Promenade when he faced off with Winn, and agrees that she has begun to trust him and the Federation. She adds that she does not think of Sisko as the devil. Sisko smiles, saying Starfleet and the Bajorans have made some progress after all.
Memorable quotes
"It is my philosophy that on this station there is room for all philosophies."
- Benjamin Sisko
"It may not be what you believe, but that doesn't make it wrong. If you start to think that way, you'll be acting just like Vedek Winn, only from the other side."
- Benjamin Sisko
"We're all very good at conjuring up enough fear to justify whatever we want to do."
- Bareil, apologizing to Sisko
"I'm a teacher. My responsibility is to expose my students to knowledge – NOT hide it from them!"
- Keiko
"The Prophets teach us patience."
"It appears they also teach you politics."
- Bareil Antos and Benjamin Sisko
"What was he doing in a runabout at 4 in the morning?"
"Apparently, he was getting murdered."
- O'Brien and Odo
"Be careful who you share your jumja with."
- Keiko
"No, I don't teach Bajoran spiritual beliefs. That's your job. Mine is to open the children's minds to… history, to literature, to mathematics, to science."
"You are opening the children's minds – to blasphemy. And I cannot permit it to continue."
- Keiko and Vedek Winn
"Did you remember to re-initialize the isolinear co-processor?"
"I did it exactly like you showed me. Should I test it?"
"Eh, let me. You know us old folks, we like to feel useful."
- Miles O'Brien and Neela
"I'm not teaching any philosophy. What I'm trying to teach is pure science."
"Some might say pure science, taught without a spiritual context, is a philosophy, Mrs. O'Brien."
- Keiko and Kira
"I can't tell you how much I've looked forward to this moment."
- Vedek Winn (with her back turned), upon meeting Benjamin Sisko
"Not for sale, huh? How would you like a jumja stick up–"
- Miles O'Brien
"Seek the Prophets!"
"Seek them yourself."
- Jumja salesman and Odo
"You tell our sick Bajoran crewmen they'd better get well immediately, or they'll recover on their way to their next assignment."
- Benjamin Sisko
"You were looking for me? Don't tell me; there's a Bajoran convention on the station I didn't know about? Thanks Odo! I need to call in more dabo girls."
"It's not a convention. They're from an orthodox spiritual order coming to support Vedek Winn's efforts to keep the Bajoran children out of school."
"Orthodox? In that case, I'll need twice as many dabo girls. These spiritual types love those dabo girls."
- Quark and Odo
"What do you know about the death of Ensign Aquino?"
"You wound me. All these years, I thought you knew me. Odo, I am not a killer!"
"No, but most of your friends are."
"True, and I would gladly sell one of them to you if I could."
- Odo and Quark
"Is the Emissary of the Prophets blaming me for this act of terrorism?"
"The commander of this station is."
- Vedek Winn and Sisko
"Now I see that you want nothing less than to destroy us… You live without a soul, commander. You and your federation exist in a universe of darkness, and you would drag us in there with you, but we will not go."
- Vedek Winn
"The Bajorans who have lived with us on the station, who have worked with us for months, who helped us move this station to protect the wormhole, who joined us to explore the Gamma Quadrant, who have begun to build the future of Bajor with us, these people know that we are neither the enemy nor the devil. We don't always agree. We have some damned good fights in fact, but we always come away from them with a little better understanding and appreciation of each other."
- Sisko
"It was all to get him here, wasn't it? The school, the protest, the bombing. You knew that would get him out of the monastery. You did it all to kill him – to stop him from becoming kai."
- Kira, seeing the truth about Winn
"Are you okay?"
"Okay? I've forgotten okay. I haven't seen okay in what seems like years."
- Sisko to Kira after the attempted assassination
"I don't think that you're the devil."
"Maybe we have made some progress after all."
- Kira and Sisko
Background information
Story and script
An early idea for the first season finale was to be a crossover with and have Sisko, Picard and their crews work together to fight against a Cardassian invasion. Rick Berman chose not to go down that route, but Michael Piller decided to bookend the season with a replacement script that also related to . (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 43) Ira Steven Behr commented on linking with the pilot episode, "That was something Michael [Piller] was insisting on." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 36)
This season-ending episode departed from the tradition of having season finales serve as cliffhangers, with a conclusion that left the audience in suspense. "I know people wanted to have the big cliff-hanger and I love cliff-hangers, but they do tend to be a gimmick," stated Ira Steven Behr, "and unless you can find a gimmick that's going to work for you, why do it? We did not have a way to do it successfully because of the budget restraints. To say you have to have a cliff-hanger is ridiculous." Michael Piller remarked, "I didn't feel coming off the excitement of the pilot and the newness of the series that we had to do a cliff-hanger. If we had a wonderful cliff-hanger that we wanted to do, I would have been behind it […] Being a responsible producer, I didn't feel we could do a cliff-hanger, which traditionally costs at least $100,000 more [because of their larger scope and action], and add it to the overage we already had on this season. We already had [an …] episode that could be a season ender that gave a completeness to the season." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp. 36-37) It was the only Deep Space Nine season finale not to be written or co-written by Behr.
This is the first episode of Deep Space Nine to deal with the Bajoran religio-political system. Ira Steven Behr noted that, prior to this episode, the series "hadn't done too much" of exploring "the Bajoran spiritual life." (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 462) Robert Hewitt Wolfe based this Bajoran societal system on fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Catholicism, when the Pope was much more of a political figure than he is today, and different "orders" all vied to have their candidate installed as Pope. () The Bajoran religio-political system went on to become increasingly important as the series progressed and can perhaps be most clearly seen in action in the second season episode .
In relation to the overriding theme of this episode, Robert Hewitt Wolfe has said, "I have a serious objection to people trying to impose their values on other people. And that's what this episode is about. No one has the right to force anyone to believe the things that they believe. That's one of the beautiful things about Gene Roddenberry's vision of IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations), and that was one of the things that we really wanted to hammer home here. Sisko does everything not to impose his values on the Bajorans, but Vedek Winn is determined to impose her values on everyone." () Wolfe also commented, "Although I was raised Catholic and educated in Catholic schools, that was a choice my parents and I made. I did get a religious education, but I think that's where it belongs: in a religious school. It doesn't belong in all schools." ("Robert Hewitt Wolfe – writer/story editor", )
Ira Steven Behr commented, "On one level, you could just say that with 'In the Hands of the Prophets' we were doing Inherit the Wind, but I think it enabled us, as a specific television series, to explore the Bajoran spiritual life." (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 462)
Director David Livingston drew some sketches on his copy of this episode's shooting script. (The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, p. xiii)
Cast and characters
This episode marks the first appearances of Louise Fletcher (Winn Adami) and Philip Anglim (Bareil Antos).
Colm Meaney considered "In the Hands of the Prophets" to be, with , his joint favorite episode from the first season. Meaney explained that this was because it dealt with the "very interesting" subject of fundamentalism and because he believed an asset of Star Trek was when it explored serious, contemporary issues. He concluded, "I'm very glad to see that we're carrying on that tradition." ("Colm Meaney – Miles O'Brien", )
Nana Visitor found she could relate to the final scene of this episode, with Kira's speech to Sisko about how much things have changed in the course of a year. "It was with Avery […] We looked at each other and realized what we'd been through," Visitor recalled. "The day we filmed that was my son's first birthday. That line was totally truthful because a year ago, at that hour, I was giving birth." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, No. 3/4, p. 103)
Production
Bareil's monastery scenes were filmed at Fern Dell near Griffith Park (), which had previously been used for the holodeck sequence in . ()
The matte painting of the Bajoran city from "Emissary" was modified for this episode, to show that the damage to the city had been repaired. (The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
The episode's score, composed by Dennis McCarthy, was recorded on at Paramount Stage M. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Collection liner notes) A cue from the score – totaling two minutes, twenty-one seconds – appears on Disc One of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Collection.
Continuity
No stardate is given in this episode; however, as noted by Sisko, this episode takes place seven months after the events of . Opaka's absence is also mentioned; therefore, this episode takes place after .
Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #7 ("Keep your ears open")
Michael Piller observed that the showdown between the Federation and the Bajorans in this episode was set up earlier in the first season. "It provides a bookend to the season," he said, "that has a confrontation that seems to have been coming all along when we met these people and found out what their lives were like." (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 462)
The sound effect used as the station alert during the explosion of the school was later reused in , as the title starship's red alert klaxon.
Winn paraphrases a line spoken by Opaka to Sisko in a deleted scene from when she says, "I once asked Kai Opaka why a disbeliever was destined to seek the Prophets. She told me one should never look into the eyes of one's own gods."
In this episode, Vedek Winn claims to have spoken with the Prophets, but in both and , she reveals that she had never spoken with them.
Keiko's line asking whether Neela is "working out any better than the last one" is a veiled reference to the fact that Anara, played by Benita Andre, introduced in , and originally planned to be the assassin in this episode, "didn't work out." The name of the force field override program, "ANA", shares its name with the first three letters of Anara's name for the same reason.
When Miles O'Brien is trying to decode the ANA routine, one of the sequences reads, "GENE ROD", a reference to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Another one of the sequences reads "NCC1 701", a reference to Star Treks famous ship, the .
The computer graphic of the ANA program's sequential deactivating of force fields was reused from . ()
Reception
Ira Steven Behr thought highly of this episode and believed it was "clever" of Michael Piller to insist on doing it as a first season finale that linked to DS9 premiere "Emissary". Regarding this season-ending entry, Behr commented, "It's a good Kira story and it's a good Sisko story […] I thought this was an interesting, intelligent show that does a lot for the series." He additionally called it "a conceptually interesting episode" and went on to say, "In the Hands of the Prophets' is not just another episode, it's a season-ending episode that reexamines the relationship between Bajor and the Federation and the relationship between Sisko and Kira, and gives us some thought-provoking drama." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp. 36 & 37)
Robert Hewitt Wolfe commented that "In the Hands of the Prophets" was "a neat mystery with a lot of fun character stuff. It turned out to be a really good episode. I'm proud of it." ("Robert Hewitt Wolfe – writer/story editor", ) Wolfe was particularly impressed by the acting of Avery Brooks, Colm Meaney and Louise Fletcher in the episode. Wolfe commented, "Avery Brooks did a good job with the crowd scenes. He had a great presence when he addressed the crowd. There's also a really nice scene between Sisko and Jake, in which Avery did some nice work. Louise Fletcher was great. She's an Oscar-winner. What more can I say? Colm was excellent. He conveyed the pain of realizing that Neela, whom he thought was promising, bright young woman, wasn't quite the person he thought she was. He also experiences some conflicting emotions, those of a happily married man who finds himself briefly attracted to another woman. Colm did all of that as a subtext to his scenes." ("Robert Hewitt Wolfe – Writer/story editor", )
Michael Piller regarded this as a "very thought-provoking" episode. (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, p. 462; Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages)
Remastered version
Remastered footage from the episode is featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 10,
As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien
Robin Christopher as Neela
Philip Anglim as "Vedek Bareil"
Special Guest Star
Louise Fletcher as "Vedek Winn"
Co-Star
Marie Fairman as Vendor
Uncredited Co-Stars
Scott Barry as Bajoran officer
Ivor Bartels as security officer
Ivy Borg as Rita Tannenbaum
David Paul Christian as Bajoran deputy
Robert Coffee as Bajoran officer
Frank Collison as Dolak (display graphic)
George Colucci as Human DS9 resident
Terry Correll as Bajoran civilian
Brian Demonbreun as Human science officer
Jeannie Dreams as Human operations division ensign
Judi Durand as Deep Space 9 computer voice
Robert Ford as operations officer
Holiday Freeman as Human DS9 resident
Anthony Giger as Bajoran civilian
Kevin Grevioux as Human security officer
Bill Hagy as Human DS9 resident
Bob Harks as Bajoran civilian
Jeffrey Hayenga as Orta (display graphic)
Randy James as
Norman Large as Neral (display graphic)
Mark Lentry as Human command division lieutenant
Susan Lewis as Bajoran civilian
Mary Mascari as Bajoran woman
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Buck McDancer as Bajoran DS9 resident
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Tyana Parr as Human DS9 resident
April Rossi as a Ktarian space hooker (display graphic)
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Michael Zurich as Bajoran security deputy
Unknown performers as
Alien school child
Two Bajoran children
Bareil's monk aide
Bajoran monk
Buck-toothed alien criminal (display graphic)
Ferengi criminal (display graphic, unconfirmed)
Two Human children
Human DS9 resident
Klingon criminal (display graphic)
Markalian visitor
Plix Tixiplik (display graphic)
Two Tailheads
Yridian
Stunt Doubles
Patricia Tallman as stunt double for Robin Christopher
Unknown stunt performer as stunt double for Avery Brooks
References
17th century; 2319; 2368; airlock; alien; ANA; Aquino; arboretum; assassination; Bajor; Bajoran; Bajoran earring; Bajoran language; Bajoran Militia uniform; Bajoran monk; Bajoran philosophy; Bajoran religion; Bajoran shrine; Bajoran transport (Shakaar's transport); Bajoran wormhole; blasphemy; "bloody"; bomb; ; book; ; cabrodine; candle; Cardassian; cargo bay; Celestial Temple; cellular membrane; chief of operations; classroom; co-conspirator; computer interface; conspiracy; constable; constituency; ; curriculum; dabo girl; day; decryption; Deep Space 9 levels; devil; disbeliever; DNA; ear; Earth; EJ7 interlock; Emissary of the Prophets; encryption sequence; engineer; ensign; evolution; execution; faith; Federation; Federation star charts; Feloran bromeliad; fire; fire extinguisher; flow regulator; force field; forefinger; fusion reactor; galaxy; ; Gamma Quadrant; garden; gardener; god; hat; history; homemade; hour; Human; husband; impulse; infernite; Inquisition; isolinear co-processor; jumja stick; jumja tree; kai; killer; level 1 diagnostic; level 3 diagnostic; literature; log; mathematics; minute; monastery; Monastery of the Kai; ; month; morning; night; Occupation of Bajor; Opaka; ops; orb; ; Ornithoid life form; orthodox; pagh; palm beacon; parents; path; phaser; philosophy; plasma; power conduit; Promenade; Prophets; protest; recanting; report; rhetoric; river; Rules of Acquisition; runabout; runabout pad; sap; scanner; school; science; second; security access code; security bypass module; security code; security field; security field subsystem; security net; security office; security seal; sensor; sensor sweep; sir; soul; spiritual leader; Starfleet; student; subspace device; subspace relay; sun; swamp; teacher; terrorism; thumb; toolbox; tool locker; traveler; tritanium; turbolift; turbolift log; turbolift record; universe; unnamed engineering tools; unnamed medical tool; vedek; Vedek Assembly; verteron; vitamin C; wanted poster; waterfall; weapon detector; wife; wormhole; worship; year; Yridian
Library computer references
Federation Star Chart ("The Explored Galaxy"): Aldebaran; Alfa 177; Alpha Carinae; Alpha Centauri; Alpha Majoris; Altair VI; Andor; Ariannus; Arret; Babel; Benecia; Berengaria VII; Beta Aurigae; Beta Geminorum; Beta Lyrae; Beta Niobe; Beta Portolan; Camus II; Canopus III; Capella; Daran V; Delta Vega; Deneb; Eminiar; Fabrini; First Federation; Gamma Canaris N; Gamma Trianguli; Holberg 917G; Ingraham B; Janus VI; Kling; Kzin; Lactra VII; Makus III; Marcos XII; Manark IV; Memory Alpha; Omega IV; Omega Cygni; Organia; ; Pallas 14; Phylos; Pollux IV; Psi 2000; Pyris VII; Regulus; Remus; Rigel; Romulan Neutral Zone; Romulus; Sarpeid; Sirius; Talos; Tau Ceti; Theta III; Tholian Assembly;
A Tunnel in the Sky: Alpha Quadrant; B3; Bajoran star system; commerce; Einstein-Rosen; event horizon; F1; FTR pipeline; Gamma Quadrant; GBF membrane; Godel Universe; ; Idran system; Kerr Newman; Kerr object; millicochrane; negative CTL; negative CTL region; negative space; point singularity; positive CTL; positive CTL region; ring singularity; Schwarzschild; singularity; space warp; superluminal; sync shift; time dilation; warp factor; wormhole
Language chart: Bajoran language; Cardassian language; Cardassian Union; English language; Ferengi Alliance; Ferengi language
External links
de:Blasphemie (Episode)
es:In the Hands of the Prophets
nl:In the Hands of the Prophets
pl:In the Hands of the Prophets
DS9 episodes |
859 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | The Homecoming (episode) | Kira rescues a Bajoran Resistance hero from a Cardassian labor camp; an extremist group calls for all non-Bajorans to leave Bajor. (Part 1 of 3) (Season premiere)
Summary
Teaser
On Deep Space 9, Odo visits Quark in his bar, but the Ferengi is much too busy to speak with him. Odo persists and asks Quark if he remembers a tip the barkeep gave him that a Subytt freighter was carrying smuggled goods, such as defective isolinear rods. Much to Odo's surprise, when he investigated the ship, he found Quark was telling the truth and had some of the crew arrested. Odo thinks he has a hidden agenda but Quark insists he has changed and wants to call a truce. As Quark and his brother watch the Constable leave, Rom can't understand Quark's objective either so Quark quotes the seventy-sixth Rule of Acquisition, "Every once in a while, declare peace – it confuses the hell out of your enemies."
Quark is visited by an old friend, Rionoj, a female Boslic freighter captain. She asks him when the next transport to Bajor is to leave, as she has a delivery to make: a Bajoran earring. It was given to her by a Cardassian maintenance worker on Cardassia IV. Quark agrees to deliver the earring himself. The captain gives it to him, and Quark leaves her with a kiss.
In her quarters, Kira Nerys is meditating. She is interrupted by the chime of the door; it is Quark. She almost refuses him entry but finally relents and gives him five seconds to explain himself before she kicks him out. He tries to flirt as she counts down the time till she's ready to throw him out. He finally comes to the point of his visit and presents her with the earring. She recognizes it immediately, snatches it from his hand, and leaves, with him still standing there. "Consider it a gift", he tells her.
Act One
On the Promenade, Jake Sisko races to catch up to his father. He tells his father that he has a date with Laira, a young Bajoran girl. Benjamin thinks his son is looking for some relationship counseling but Jake says he's looking for some ideas where he can take her. Jake suggests the holosuites but Ben nixes that idea. As another option the boy wants to take her to their quarters to talk. No, no, no, his father asserts. Take her to the Promenade balcony if you want to talk. Jake complains, "But that's boring!"
Just then Kira approaches Benjamin Sisko and asks him if she can borrow a runabout. Bajor is in trouble; since the loss of Opaka in the Gamma Quadrant, there have been an increasing number of riots and civil unrest on the planet. She wants to go to Cardassia IV to rescue a Bajoran prisoner of war. She shows him the earring Quark gave her, telling him it shows the insignia of Li Nalas, one of the leaders of the Bajoran Resistance who is thought of by many Bajorans to be the greatest hero of the Occupation. Li has been missing and presumed dead, but the earring indicates that he's alive, and Kira believes it was smuggled out as a cry for help. Although the DNA on the earring matches Li's records, the Bajoran Provisional Government have refused to allow a rescue mission as they don't want to risk war with the Cardassians. She tells Sisko that Li is exactly the sort of man the increasingly factionalized Bajoran people need to lead them out the aftermath of the Occupation. It will be a dangerous mission and Sisko can only promise that he'll think about it.
Over the intercom, Miles O'Brien calls Sisko to one of the habitat rings. Sisko approaches Odo and O'Brien who point out another problem. Someone has sprayed the station walls with graffiti bearing the insignia of the Alliance for Global Unity, better known as 'The Circle'. The extremist group wants to rid Bajor of all non-Bajorans. A troubled Sisko is worried that matters on Bajor will soon get out of hand so he orders Odo to step up security on the station.
Act Two
With Kira's request in mind, Sisko seeks advice from Dax in his office. He tells her that all their efforts to bring Bajor into the Federation are standing to come undone, and what Bajor needs right now is someone who can unite the factions and bring much needed stability to the planet. Dax advises him to let Kira have the runabout. Surprised that Dax knows the story he then wonders what they will say to the Cardassians if Kira succeeds. Dax counters with a better question, what will the Cardassians say if prisoners of war are still being held there after they promised all were freed? Sisko then decides to give Kira a runabout and hears ways to hide it from Cardassian sensors with O'Brien.
Sisko then goes to Kira's quarters, and O'Brien accompanies him. He tells Kira that he wishes her luck and that O'Brien will be accompanying her on her mission into Cardassian territory. At first, Kira objects, worried that the presence of a Federation officer will only put Sisko in a bad light if they're caught. Sisko states he is willing to risk that and also states he's taking a precautionary measure to get his runabout back in one piece, as O'Brien is a better pilot. O'Brien mentions that he knows how Cardassians treat prisoners and doesn't want anyone to suffer like that. Kira reluctantly agrees saying she can use the company. Sisko and O'Brien rig a runabout to appear Lissepian on long-range scanners. As the Major and the Chief embark Kira tells O'Brien she wants something understood; if they don't return with Li Nalas they're not coming back at all. O'Brien still agrees to go.
Act Three
As the pair nears Cardassia IV, they are hailed by a Cardassian navigational control post, the runabout's disguised power signature having appeared as engine trouble on the post's long range sensors. O'Brien tells Kira that they are out of visual range and suggests they bluff their way out. Kira opens a channel and talks to the outpost. Kira first states they are having engine problems and are attempting to repair them, but the outpost offers to send a repair ship to assist them. When her efforts to decline grow suspicious, she gives the name of a Cardassian, Gul Marayn, that is waiting for her shipment. The post finally relents and closes the channel. When O'Brien inquires about the Gul she mentioned, Kira confesses she'd just made up the name at random.
As they fly over the camp, O'Brien has the transporter scan for Bajoran life signs. They are both surprised when they pick up about a dozen. Since the runabout can only beam up two people at a time, once the first two dematerialize, the Cardassians will be alerted and all hell will break loose in the surface. In order to make sure they retrieve Li, they need to get inside the prison camp, where Bajorans are breaking rocks in the hot sun.
Kira and O’Brien approach the overseer at the entrance, who demands to know what they want. O’Brien demands to see the camp Prefect. The overseer is uneasy about giving them entrance, so O'Brien offers him Kira's services while she flirts with him. Finally, the overseer accepts and shuts down the force field, with O’Brien warning that "no sampling the merchandise until the sale is complete." As Kira walks past the gate, the overseer snaps the force field back on and leaves O'Brien outside. He then asks to see what Kira has to offer. She starts to unbutton her blouse, then suddenly hits the Cardassian under his chin while he's distracted, knocking him out with a few more quick blows. Pulling a phaser hidden behind her back and taking the force field controller from the unconscious Cardassian, Kira lets O'Brien in and they quickly make their way to the prisoners.
Li Nalas is unsure why these strangers are there. His friend Borum admits that he smuggled the earring out in order to get Li rescued. Kira and O'Brien hurriedly usher the group of Bajorans out as Cardassian guards come at them with phasers blazing. Li is hit, and they take cover. The group has the grim realization that they cannot escape with all of the prisoners. Borum orders Kira to take Li back to Bajor and insists that he and three other prisoners will hold off the Cardassian troops. Reluctantly, Kira allows Borum and the others to sacrifice themselves in order to save Li and the rest of the group.
Act Four
Back on the station, Dr. Julian Bashir is there with a medical team as they dock. Li is in need of immediate medical attention and Bashir has them beamed directly to the infirmary. Kira meanwhile seeks Sisko out in his office and inadvertently steps in on a message from Gul Dukat. She is shocked to hear Dukat apologize for the existence of the prison camp, and assure them he will chastise the Prefect accordingly. Sisko and Kira are skeptical when he announces that all of the remaining prisoners will be released. Sisko encourages Kira to be pleased with what has been achieved.
Li is amazed at the tremendous commotion he has caused on the station, as Bajorans openly stare at him in awe. Uncomfortable with the attention he admits he used to work there. An announcement is then heard of Minister Jaro's ship approaching. Kira greets the Minister as he complains that her adventure has made enemies. She has declared war on Cardassia, and they have thankfully declined it. He is adamant that the next time she disobeys orders will be the end of her military career. Then, the consummate politician soothes troubled waters by personally offering her his thanks.
The Bajorans on the station crave a few words from Li and Sisko talks him into responding. After he utters a few words about a Bajor that is now free, Jaro asks to speak. Li politely stands by while the Minister asks his fellow Bajorans to never forget this day because they can tell their children and their grandchildren that this is the day Li Nalas returned to Bajor. When Sisko finally escorts Li to his quarters he tells the commander that all he wants is a moment of privacy. This morning he was a slave and tonight he is a hero. He asks Sisko what Bajor is like with the Cardassians gone. Sisko tells him it is doing well for the most part. He tells Li that both he and Bajor could use his help in bringing stability to the planet. He then tells him to get some sleep and Li remarks that it sounds like he is going to need it.
Meanwhile, inside his closed bar, Quark counts bars of latinum with Rom. Rom complains that the division is unfair because he only gets one bar to every six Quark gets. Quark agrees with his brother that it is very unfair then proceeds to count out one more bar for Rom and seven for himself. A frustrated Rom leaves the bar and Quark continues counting latinum when a group of strangers come in. Quark says the bar is closed but all of a sudden he is attacked by three masked figures in robes, who force him to the floor and burn the flesh on his forehead with what looks like a small branding iron, leaving behind the insignia of The Circle.
Act Five
When Quark comes to sitting at a barstool, Dr. Bashir heals his scar with a dermal regenerator. When the good doctor is done, Quark asks Kira how he looks. She offers a polite non-answer by saying he's as handsome as always and he grins contentedly.
Li is told that Quark's assailants are members of an extremist group from Bajor who call themselves The Circle. Li is appropriately shocked that Bajorans have done such a thing. Sisko explains that many Bajorans are turning to The Circle because they have grown impatient with their floundering government. Kira adds that The Circle is more organized than the government so the Bajorans look there for a leader. She adds that they need someone who will speak out against reactionaries, causing all eyes to zero in on Li.
With the troubles of the station abating, Ben heads for the comfort of his quarters only to find Jake still awake. When Ben asks what's wrong the dejected youth tells his father that his Bajoran girlfriend couldn't make their date. Her dad refused to let the girl see Jake because he is not a Bajoran. Sisko tries to console his son by telling him about some of the problems Bajor is having and that he's sorry Jake has become a victim of the unrest. Nobody deserves it.
Sisko then gets interrupted by a com message. Romah Doek, a Tygarian freighter captain, found a Bajoran stowaway aboard his vessel, the Nanut. As the captain moves aside Li Nalas steps into view. When Sisko retrieves him a short while afterward, the Bajoran hero is forced to explain he was secretly headed for the faraway Gamma Quadrant. Li painfully reveals that he was hardly a hero – the bravery he is so famous for is based entirely on rumors.
Li tells Sisko his story. When all but three of the members of his cell were killed he was the only one with a phaser so he became the point. He came to an embankment by a lake. However, he fell down and landed by the edge of it when suddenly Gul Zarale, one of the most hated Cardassians on the planet responsible for destroying several villages, emerged from the water having been bathing. After a few seconds of almost embarrassed silence, Zarale went for his weapon only for Li to then remember that he had his own phaser and shot the Gul dead. When Zarale's body landed on top of Li and when the other members of his cell found him, they were convinced he'd killed the Cardassian in a savage hand-to-hand fight and told everyone they encountered, despite Li trying to tell them the truth that it was entirely accidental. The story spread, and Li was soon a hero with almost every resistance victory attributed to him. His reputation was so well-known, it followed him into the labor camp where his mere presence inspired the prisoners. Li laments the fact that all his did was shoot an unarmed Cardassian in his underwear, and he is not the man the Bajorans think him to be.
Sisko tells Li that despite this, Bajor does need him and that he isn't expected to perform heroic feats but just to be there for them as the Bajorans look at him and see the best they can be. Li argues that his reputation is built on a lie, but Sisko argues that instead it is a legend and that is exactly what Bajor needs now.
Realizing that Sisko is right, Li agrees to assume whatever role is necessary. When Li returns from a trip to Bajor he is accompanied by Minister Jaro. Jaro announces that by a unanimous vote Li has been named Navarch. It is a new title because there were no suitable titles available. Jaro also mentions in passing that the Navarch is now the Bajoran liaison officer to Deep Space 9 – the position currently held by Kira. "I already have a liaison officer," Sisko complains. Jaro states, "Not anymore, you don't. Major Kira is no longer assigned to this post. She's been recalled to Bajor."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Memorable quotes
"I can see you're not ready to have this conversation."
- Jake Sisko to Benjamin, regarding a discussion of what to do about his first date
"Major, I can't loan you a Starfleet runabout without knowing where you plan on taking it."
"To Cardassia IV, to rescue a Bajoran prisoner of war."
(Whistles) "You're right. I wish you hadn't told me."
- Benjamin Sisko and Kira Nerys
"Would you mind if I addressed the crowd? You can't expect a politician to give up an opportunity like this."
- Minister Jaro Essa to Li Nalas
"You and I are going to be friends."
"You are up to something."
"Why would you say that?"
"Because you are always up to something."
- Quark and Odo
"Commander, you and I both know the provisional government is made up of political opportunists, too busy fighting amongst themselves to care about what happens to Bajor. Since the loss of the Kai, the situation has only gone from bad to worse. There are reports of factional fighting in half a dozen districts. Religious riots have spread throughout the southern islands. Bajor needs a leader - someone the people will listen to, someone they can trust."
"And you think that Li Nalas is that leader?"
"I know he is."
- Kira Nerys and Benjamin Sisko on the State of Bajoran politics
"If we don't leave now, Major, we never will!"
- Miles O'Brien
"What you did today, Major, was declare war on Cardassia. Thankfully, they declined the invitation."
- Minister Jaro Essa to Major Kira Nerys
"The government better get organized, because I intend to sue them for financial compensation!"
"Not now, Quark!"
- Quark and Benjamin Sisko
"Tell me, Major. Who is this Gul Marayn?"
"Don't ask me, I just made him up!"
- O'Brien and Kira, on Kira's cover story
"One for you and six for me..."
- Quark, to Rom
"The Navarch has returned to assume his new post. He's been made the Bajoran liaison officer to Deep Space 9."
"I already have a liaison officer."
"Not anymore, you don't. Major Kira is no longer assigned to this post. She's been recalled to Bajor."
- Minister Jaro Essa and Benjamin Sisko
Background information
Story and script
At the end of season one, Michael Piller directed the writing staff to concentrate on the show's uniqueness for season two and to let go of the links to the universe of The Next Generation. As such, for the season's first episode, the writers chose to do a show which couldn't be done on TNG, a show which was completely unique to the world of DS9. ()
The origin of this episode is to be found in a story pitched by Jeri Taylor to the producers of The Next Generation. Michael Piller, upon hearing the story however, felt it would better suit Deep Space Nine. Taylor's original story focused upon a Bajoran woman who is picked up by the on a mission to rescue a leader of the Bajoran resistance. She would soon discover however that that leader didn't want to be a leader any more, he had become fed up with leading. When the story was brought over to DS9, Ira Steven Behr altered the leader figure from a reluctant hero to a mistaken one. He did this based upon the 1962 movie , which deals with the notion that a legend can be more important than the facts upon which it is based. ()
In the shooting script, Sisko refers to , rather than Bob Gibson as in the aired episode. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Production
Frank Langella's performances in this episode, "The Circle" and "The Siege" are uncredited at the actor's own request as he did the show for his children, not for exposure or money. ()
The same happened to John Fleck but for unknown reasons.
The scenes in the labor camp on Cardassia IV were shot in , north of Los Angeles. The area was known as somewhat inhospitable, and on the call sheet for the first day's shoot was a warning to be on the look-out for bees, snakes and various unspecified bugs. The services people were even told to bring plenty of 'Sea Breeze', which takes the sting out of bug bites. The biggest problem with shooting there however was the extreme heat. According to Nana Visitor, "Colm and I were sick to our stomachs. We were seriously wondering if we were going into heat prostration. It was the perfect Cardassia IV, because it was like hell." Unfortunately, the producers liked the look of the canyon, and the fourth season episode , the fifth season episode and the sixth season episode would all be shot there. In the case of and however, the heat would prove to be even worse than during the shoot for "The Homecoming". ()
Filming began on July 7th 1993. ()
Reception
Winrich Kolbe would later direct the third part of the arc, , although he thought "The Homecoming" was the better episode of the two he directed. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 62)
Trivia
The seventy-sixth Rule of Acquisition is mentioned: "Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies".
"The Homecoming", along with and , comprises the first Star Trek episodic three-parter. The next one wouldn't be until , and which aired almost eleven years later.
Leslie Bevis makes her first appearance as Rionoj, the Boslic freighter captain, in this episode. She later appears in the third season episode and the fourth season finale , where her character is named.
Bashir is revealed to be keen on military strategy.
A jacket worn by Richard Beymer in this episode was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay.
Beginning with this episode, Marc Alaimo is credited with his character name (i.e. "Marc Alaimo as Gul Dukat"), a distinction that most of the series' recurring players would eventually attain.
This is the first episode in which Morn does not appear.
Remastered version
Remastered footage from the episode is featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 11,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Richard Beymer as Li Nalas
Max Grodénchik as Rom
Michael Bell as Borum
Marc Alaimo as "Gul Dukat"
Co-Stars
Leslie Bevis as Freighter Captain
Paul Nakauchi as Tygarian Officer
Uncredited Co-Stars
Ivor Bartels as a Human operations division officer
Tom Burt as Markalian
Tracee Lee Cocco as Kobheerian
George Colucci as a Bajoran prisoner
John Fleck as a Cardassian overseer
Loretta Gordon as a Bajoran prisoner
Frank Langella as Jaro Essa
Mark Lentry as a Human command division lieutenant
Dennis Madalone as a Cardassian guard
Mary Mascari as Bajoran woman
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Richard Neil as a peace officer
Tammy Rodriguez as the yellow-skinned alien dabo girl
Michael Tierney as a Cardassian guard
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Unknown performers as
Jaro's aide
Three Bajoran Circle members
Five Bajoran prisoners
Cardassian Control Post 24 officer (voice)
Two Cardassian guards
Human nurse
Tailhead alien
Stunt Double
Unknown stunt performer as stunt double for John Fleck
References
2360; 2372; ; algebra; Alliance for Global Unity; assailant; Azna; back; Bajor; Bajorans; Bajoran earring; Bajoran Provisional Government; Bajoran Resistance; Bajoran wormhole; baseball; bathing; bearing; bioscan; ; bluff; Boslics; Boslic freighter; branding; Cardassia; Cardassia IV; Cardassians; Cardassian High Command; Cardassian phaser rifle; Cardassian repair ship; Cardassian sun; Cardassian territory; career; Chamber of Ministers; clothes; Constable; courage; crossover bridge; dabo; dabo girl; ; (Esso's transport); ; day; Deep Space 9 levels; deflector shield grid; dermal regenerator; dermal residue; district; DNA; dozen; embarrassment; executive officer; extremist; face; fastball; Federation; Ferengi spore pie; field buffer; formal apology; freighter captain; (Galor warships); Gamma Quadrant; genetic analysis; ; gold-pressed latinum; gul; holosuite; homecoming; Hutet labor camp; icoberry torte (icoberry); I'danian spice pudding; inferior species; insignia; International Space Station; jacarine; kai; killed in action; Klingon skull stew; Kohlanese stew; labor camp; Laira; Laira's father; lake; Lamenda Prime; leader; leadership; liaison officer; Lissepian transport; maintenance worker; Marayn; Martuk; massacre; Massacred villages; minister; ; mooring clamp; mountain; Nanut; Navarch; navigational control post (Post 24); Occupation of Bajor; old man; Opaka; ore processing plant; ; payday; phase modulator; phaser; power signature; prefect; prisoner of war; Promenade; Prophets; Quark's; raktajino; repair ship; Replimat; reputation; resistance cell; Rionoj's freighter; Risa; rock; Rules of Acquisition; rulot; runabout; Sahving Valley; shivering; scanner range; slave; Southern islands; stardrifter; Starfleet; story; strip; subspace emitter coil; subspace field emitter; Subytt; Subytt freighter; freighter crew; sue; Supreme Directive 2645; synchronous orbit; tube grub; Tygarians; Tygarian freighter; underwear; village; visual contact; vote; Vulcan's Anvil; water; xenophobia; Yelikan transport; Zarale
Unused Production Materials
"A Picnic with the Pleasure Goddess of Rixx"; Bajoran sector; Phalonia Prime; Phalonian; Pleasure Goddess of Rixx;
External links
"The Homecoming" script at TwizTV.com
de:Die Heimkehr
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fr:The Homecoming (épisode)
nl:The Homecoming
Homecoming, The |
860 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | The Circle (episode) | Sisko and Odo work to reveal the real force behind the Circle's coup. (Part 2 of 3)
Summary
Teaser
In his office, Commander Benjamin Sisko discusses Kira Nerys's transfer with Minister Jaro Essa, who assures Sisko that this is a promotion, and that Li Nalas will be safer on Deep Space 9 than in the capital with everything going on with the Circle. Sisko doesn't like it and makes it known, saying he expected to be consulted. Jaro politely assuages him, but points out Starfleet would not consult them on their personnel changes. Jaro also expresses mild surprise at Commander Sisko's reaction as he thought Kira was nothing but trouble to him. Sisko counters that he respects Kira completely and she has been an invaluable asset to him. Jaro leaves with the comment that Li must be a better liaison officer.
Just then, Jake Sisko calls his father to their quarters. Upon arriving, he finds that the Circle has painted their emblem on the door.
Act One
Kira is packing in her quarters, when Odo shows up to protest at her departure. She admits she doesn't want to leave, but says she'll go where she's ordered. Odo refuses to accept this, telling her to do "what she does best," and fight for what she wants. She reassures him that Li Nalas is a great man and will do an even better job than her as Sisko's liaison. Their conversation is interrupted by Dax, Bashir, O'Brien, and even Quark showing up at her quarters in quick succession on various pretexts, each reacting in his or her own way to her departure. "Is this a joke? Did you plan this?" she finally exclaims, to which Bashir says, "Nobody could have planned this!" When the door chimes yet again, she sarcastically tells whoever it is to "come on in... join the crowd!" but is taken aback to see Vedek Bareil. He apologizes for interrupting, but she tells him not to worry, the people in the room (she realizes even as she says it) are her friends. Bareil invites Kira to come to his monastery on Bajor to have some time to herself and reflect on her next step. She accepts gratefully.
Reminiscing in Ops, she finds Li who admits he did not want the job. She relates how she hated her assignment to Deep Space 9 when she was first given it; now, a year later, there is nothing she wants more. Li is not sure how a Navarch will work with the Starfleet crew, but promises to work with Sisko, though no one can replace Kira. Finally she is ready to leave, and Sisko promises her that he will get her back soon. Kira departs Ops in a turbolift.
Act Two
On Bajor, Kira has let her hair down and changed her uniform for a simple dress, but is still unable to relax at the monastery. Bareil finds her as she is adjusting, for the umpteenth time, a stepping stone over a stream on the monastery grounds. He asks her why she is so concerned with having something to do, and she replies that, from her earliest girlhood, she has always tried to be useful wherever she is or whoever she is with. Bareil invites her to try being "useless" for a little while – to stop expecting so much of herself and start to reflect on who she really is and what she really wants. For help, he allows Kira to "encounter" one of the Bajoran Orbs, the Orb of Prophecy and Change, for guidance. She has a series of visions in which she is denounced in front of the assembly of vedeks by Winn Adami as a blasphemer, and then she and Bareil embrace as lovers.
Meanwhile, on Deep Space 9, Odo is conferring with an old friend of his in the Bajoran security forces, who says that the violence in the capital city is escalating, and that the Circle's gangs seem to melt away as soon as the security forces start looking for them. This suggests that they have powerful friends in the government. Odo's friend tells him the Bajoran Provisional Government is bringing military troops into the capital to impose martial law and put a final end to the Circle. He advises Odo to keep his eyes open. Odo reassures him, "I always do," and ends the transmission.
Quark has entered his office. At first, Odo thinks he is checking on the progress of the investigation into the assault on him, but Quark is in a panic. He says the Provisional Government is on the verge of toppling, and the Federation on the verge of being expelled from Bajor, and they have to evacuate the station as quickly as possible. Odo scoffs at the idea that the Circle, "a bunch of hooligans" could cause any real trouble, but Quark has learned from his contacts that the Circle has enough weapons and supplies to mount an army. Odo, stunned, asks where the weapons are coming from, and Quark replies, from Kressari traders. Odo is baffled, since the Kressari don't even have a standing military, as they are botanic DNA traders, but Quark is confident that his information is solid. Odo asks him to find out where the weapons are going on Bajor. Quark refuses, telling Odo that he plans to leave Bajor at the first opportunity, so Odo blackmails him, offering him a choice between acting as Odo's deputy or being thrown into a cell on some trumped-up charge.
On Bajor, Kira and Bareil are walking together on the grounds of the monastery. Bareil confides that, the last time he encountered the Orb, Kira was part of his vision. He asks, hesitantly, whether he appeared in her vision, and she – lying through her teeth – says no. They are interrupted by the sound of distant artillery in the city, warning that the violence is getting worse. Vedek Winn appears, claiming to be delighted at having Kira as a guest, and encourages her to stay for as long as she needs – "even a week" she finishes, making it clear, without outright saying it, that Kira is not welcome at the monastery.
Act Three
On Bajor, Sisko visits the commander of the Bajoran Militia, General , and, after an exchange concerning their previous encounter at the Executive Committee, Sisko informs him of their intelligence on the Kressari. He notes that the military does not seem to be engaging the Circle as much as expected. Krim responds they are hesitant to fight other Bajorans, but Sisko also notes that the Provisional Government needs the military. He becomes convinced that the military will not support the Provisional Government if the Circle indeed attempts a coup. At the end of the conversation, he asks for help in getting Kira re-assigned. Krim says that's not in his control, but notes that Sisko did not try to use his earlier intelligence to trade favors.
On DS9, the crew interdicts a Kressari freighter and closely inspects its cargo, but without finding any weapons on board. Li, getting over his nervousness, makes his first real communications as first officer to the angry freighter's captain, Zef'No. Appearing to give in to the captain's angry protests, the Ops crew allows the vessel to depart, with Odo stowing away as a rat.
While on Bajor, Sisko also visits Kira. She says she heard the gunfire in the distance, and he warns her to keep her ears open down there. Very shortly after he leaves, however, several masked members of the Circle kidnap her.
Act Four
Kira regains consciousness in the Circle's underground headquarters. Jaro appears, revealing himself as the true force behind the Circle, preparing to mount a coup d'etat and take control of the Bajoran government. Li Nalas, a popular hero, might have objected to his plan, hence his assignment to DS9. Jaro says he shouldn't have to explain his reasons to Kira, since she shares his contempt for the Provisional Government – "provisional" being just another word for "powerless." He refuses to let the Bajoran people be powerless, and wants all alien influences, be they Cardassian or Federation, expelled from Bajor. What he wants to know from her, he explains, is what Sisko, and the Federation, will do when the coup is revealed. Kira refuses to talk, and he replies that, for all the hatred he has of the Cardassians, they have taught him a few useful interrogation techniques. She is led away.
Aboard the Kressari freighter, Odo watches from the shadows as a shipment of weapons is beamed on board, along with a Cardassian gul, who signs off the shipment with a thumbscan on the captain's manifest pad. He decides to steal the pad for evidence.
Aboard DS9, Kira's disappearance is being discussed by the crew. Quark appears, protesting at Odo's blackmail, but revealing that his underground contacts have located the Circle's headquarters for him: the caverns beneath the Perikian Peninsula. Sisko orders a security team to meet him at a runabout pad, and Li insists on coming along, since he owes Kira for rescuing him from the Cardassians' labor camp.
Slipping into the caverns, Sisko, Li, Bashir, and a team of Bajoran security guards are drawn by the sound of Kira's screams of pain. In a brief firefight with the heavily-armed terrorists, the rest of the party manages to hold them off, while Bashir pins a Starfleet combadge on Kira, allowing them all to be beamed to safety by O'Brien.
Act Five
In the infirmary aboard DS9, Bashir is treating Kira's wounds, as she insists to Sisko that Li is the only person who can convince the Chamber of Ministers to take action against Jaro. At that moment, Odo returns, having "borrowed" the Kressari captain's manifest pad, and informing them that the Cardassians are secretly arming the Circle (though the Circle is unaware of who they are really getting their weapons from). Once the Circle takes , and the Federation is expelled from Bajor, the Cardassians will return and re-occupy the planet. Li says he has to do something, but Sisko contacts Dax in Ops, who says that all communications to Bajor have been cut off, and a squadron of Bajoran assault vessels are coming up from the surface, carrying an occupation force. "Then it has started..." Kira remarks somberly.
Jaro pays a visit to Vedek Winn, asking for her public support for his movement. Winn insists that he provide her with favor in return. Jaro promises that he will make her the next kai, suggesting that their shared orthodox views make them a "match made by the Prophets." Winn agrees to Jaro's suggestion, but demands a greater role in the forthcoming government, suggesting shared leadership with Jaro.
In his office, Sisko confers with Starfleet Admiral Chekote over subspace communication, informing him of the situation and warning him that if the Circle is allowed to take power, they will effectively be handing the Cardassians control of the wormhole. Chekote is troubled, but is forced to conclude that the Prime Directive applies: the Bajorans' power struggle is entirely internal to Bajor, even if the Cardassians are fanning the flames. He orders Sisko to keep out of the conflict, and evacuate the station.
Outside, in Ops, Sisko walks out of his office and asks how long it will take to evacuate the station. O'Brien says maybe a few hours; when Sisko clarifies that he means a complete evacuation – a total removal of the Federation's entire presence – O'Brien says that that could take as long as a week, but the assault vessels will be docking with the station in only seven hours. Sisko notes gravely, "Then I guess some of us won't quite be done by the time they get here…"
TO BE CONTINUED…
Memorable quotes
"If she doesn't care, why should we?"
"Have they given you any reason yet?"
"Did they give you any alternative?"
"I do care, no they haven't, no they didn't. I– I really oughta finish packing!"
- Odo, Bashir, Dax, and Kira
"What's that?"
"A bottle of my favorite synthale, I think. That's very thoughtful, Quark."
"It's also very small."
- Odo and Kira
"If I stay here much longer, I'm sure I could destroy your entire arboretum."
- Kira, to Vedek Bareil
"We gotta leave! Well, I do, anyway! You can just turn into a couch!"
- Quark
"Where would the Circle be getting so many weapons?"
"The Kressari."
"The Kressari? That doesn't make any sense, the Kressari don't even have a military. They're botanic DNA traders."
"Well, they're not delivering flowers these days!"
- Odo and Quark
"Quark, I hate to do this, but–"
"That's not fair!"
"I haven't done anything yet."
"Whatever you're about to do, it's not fair."
"You're a deputy."
"IT'S NOT–! What?"
- Odo and Quark
"It's your choice – you're a deputy or you're a prisoner."
"I'm a deputy."
- Odo and Quark
"How long will you be with us major?"
"I'm not sure."
"Feel free to stay as many days as you'd like... even a week if necessary."
- Vedek Winn and Kira
"Commander Sisko... you told me about the Kressari before you asked the favor regarding Kira. You could have tried to trade that information... for the favor."
"I wouldn't do that."
"I'll remember that about you."
- General Krim and Sisko
"If we withdraw, we'll be giving Bajor and the wormhole back to them!"
- Benjamin Sisko, referring to the Cardassians
"Admiral, are you up to date on my communiqués? "
"I think so, Commander. How's it look? "
"Not good. Jaro has the military, communications have been cut off and assault vessels are on the way here."
"Are you preparing to withdraw? "
"Admiral, we've just obtained evidence that the Circle's been receiving weapons from the Cardassians. If we withdraw, we'll be giving Bajor and the wormhole back to them. "
"Damn. That's a hell of a turn. How can these Bajorans get in bed with the Cardassians? "
"They don't even know the Cardassians are involved. "
"Then you're saying it's a genuine political revolution internal to Bajor. "
"Supported by the Cardassians. "
"But internal to Bajor. The Cardassians might involve themselves in other people's civil wars, but we don't. The Prime Directive applies, Ben."
"Admiral."
"Would you say our people on the station are in danger? "
"Yes. "
"There's no other choice but to evacuate. We'll have to worry about the long term political implications down the road. That's an order, Commander."
- Sisko and Admiral Chekote
"Chief, how long will it take us to evacuate Deep Space 9?"
"I'd say we could have all our people out and away in... three hours."
"I mean a complete evacuation… I intend to take all Starfleet instruments; matériel… in fact, all Federation property of every kind. How quickly can we do that?"
"Sir, that'll take days… a week, for all I know. But those assault ships will be here in seven hours."
"Then, I guess some of us won't quite be done by the time they get here."
- Benjamin Sisko and Miles O'Brien
"They've got more firearms than a Galaxy-class starship."
- Benjamin Sisko, on the Circle
Background information
Story and script
The second draft of this episode's script was submitted on .
Writer Peter Allan Fields feels that the character of Li Nalas became somewhat lost and superfluous in this episode and , and that there was no real character arc for him; "Originally, he was supposed to be this regular guy, not a coward, but a regular guy who had fought some battles. And then, by the time we got to the third episode, this guy would stand up and be counted. But for various reasons, he never really changed his tune. He was an okay guy in part 1, part 2 and part 3. There was no arc in the character whatsoever." Ira Steven Behr concurs, "He did get a little lost in parts 2 and 3." ()
Writer Peter Allan Fields based the scene in Kira's quarters, where everyone comes to say goodbye to her, on a scene in the 1935 film A Night at the Opera, starring the Marx Brothers. Director Corey Allen shot this scene in one continuous uninterrupted take. When the episode was edited together, the scene was intercut with various close-ups and reverse angles, but the master shot of the scene was one long take, something of which Allen was extremely proud. ()
Trivia
"The Circle", along with and , comprises the first Star Trek three-parter.
Sisko's is seen on his desk for the first time.
Odo's thin monitor screen on his desk in the security office is never seen again in the series after this episode.
Vedek Bareil's name is misspelled as "Bariel" in the opening credits.
In the scene where the away team is beamed up, all members are beamed up at once. In the previous episode, it is stated that a runabout can only beam up two people at one time.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 11,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Richard Beymer as Li Nalas
Stephen Macht as
Bruce Gray as Chekote
Philip Anglim as "Vedek Bareil" / Bareil (illusory)
Special Guest Star
Louise Fletcher as "Vedek Winn" / Winn (illusory)
Co-Stars
Mike Genovese as Zef'No
Eric Server as Peace Officer
Anthony Guidera as Cardassian
Uncredited Co-Stars
Majel Barrett as Narrator
Ivor Bartels as Human security officer
Chuck Borden as Bajoran security deputy
Mitchell Danton as Bajoran "Circle" member
Judi Durand as Station Computer Voice
Randy James as
Frank Langella as Jaro Essa / Jaro (illusory)
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Joe Murphy as Bajoran "Circle" member
Spiro Razatos as Bajoran "Circle" member
Mark Riccardi as Bajoran security deputy
Michael Zurich as Bajoran security deputy
Unknown performers as
Bajoran "Circle" member
Bajoran "Circle" member
Bajoran military aide
Bajoran security deputy (voice)
Ferengi criminal
Three Rotciv
Bajoran legislators (illusory)
References
14th Column; 2347; 2355; 2369; Alliance for Global Unity; ambassador; arboretum; architecture; art; Bajor; Bajoran; Bajoran assault vessel (Krim's assault vessels); Bajoran capital; Bajoran Executive Committee; Bajoran Foreign Affairs Building; Bajoran Provisional Government; Bajoran Regional Comm Network; Bajoran sun; Bajoran wormhole; bicycle; blasphemy; bodyguard; botanic DNA trader; ; bruise; bureaucracy; Calondon; candle; Cardassia; Cardassia IV; Cardassian; career; caterer; catering; Chamber of Ministers; ; civil war; combadge; command structure; computer inventory system; couch; coup; curfew; dagger; daydream; deputy (deputize); docking bay; doormat; dozen; Earth; epidellic lotion; extremist; Federation; fingerpainting; flower; force field; ; graffiti; graviton generator; great power; gul; hammer; handkerchief; hooligan; kai; kilometer; Kira Meru; Kira Taban; Kressari; Kressari freighter; Kressarian Government; labyrinth; leader; leadership; liaison officer; manifest interface; meditation; Minicoy; Minicoy ambassador; ; monastery; ; ; navarch; northeast quadrant; nowadays; Occupation of Bajor; Ops; orb; Orb of Prophecy and Change; ; pagh; party; patriot; Perikian Peninsula; Prime Directive; prisoner; Prophets; rat; recreation; rescue mission; runabout; runabout pad C; saying; Sector D; skin lotion; space station; Starfleet; Starfleet Command; storm; surrender; synthale; thumbprint; thumbscan; thunder; trench; turbolift; vacation; Vedek Assembly; Voodai; vote; war hero; woodcrafts
External links
de:Der Kreis
es:The Circle
fr:The Circle (épisode)
ja:帰って来た英雄・パート2（エピソード）
nl:The Circle
pl:The Circle
Circle, The |
861 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | The Siege (episode) | Sisko tries to prevent the Circle from taking the station; Kira and Dax take proof that the Cardassians are the real force that is arming the Circle to the Bajoran government. (Part 3 of 3)
Summary
Teaser
As the Bajoran assault vessels approach Deep Space 9, Sisko convenes with his crew in Ops and announces his intention to stay and defend the station. He will allow anyone who wishes to leave to evacuate along with the station's civilian population, but the entire crew volunteers to stay with him and fight. Sisko tells his crew they have a lot of work to complete before the Bajoran assault vessels arrive in less than five hours.
Act One
Various station residents react differently: Quark decides to sell seats on the evacuation vessels to desperate civilians, by bribing less desperate ones (starting with his brother, Rom) to stay behind and wait for the later vessels to depart. Jake Sisko and Nog realize that they will be leaving on separate runabouts bound for two different colonies, but are determined to stay friends. Keiko O'Brien urges her husband, Miles to leave with her and their daughter Molly, but to no avail.
In Ops, Li Nalas suggests that the Lunar V base may have sub-impulse raiders that can deliver the pad evidence to the Chamber of Ministers. Unfortunately, it was ten years ago that his forces hid them from the Cardassians during the Occupation of Bajor, and it is unclear whether they are still there and capable of flight. Kira is willing to be dropped off so she can try, and Dax can help her with the technology.
Just then, Odo drags Quark in to explain his plan. Sisko angrily grabs him, but then Dr. Bashir calls in to report the consequences of Quark's dealings. A flood of passengers surround the docking bay, thanks to his careless booking. Sisko goes and unsuccessfully tries to calm them, but Li steps forward and manages to calm the crowd by making an appeal for Bajoran unity. As the last evacuation vessel departs, Quark rushes to the airlock, dragging a trunk filled with latinum and insisting that Rom is holding his seat for him. Bashir calmly informs him that Rom gave his seat away to a dabo girl, and has escaped the station and left Quark behind.
Act Two
Once the occupation force from the Bajoran Militia arrives, the station appears deserted, with no sign of a Federation presence, but General is highly suspicious. His forces set up a base in Ops, and find that the security net is disabled and the Federation crew is unaccounted for, leading him to believe they are still aboard. In particular, he tells the crew to scan the air ducts for organic matter, knowing all about Odo and his shape-shifting abilities.
The drops Kira and Dax off on Lunar V and, after a while, they locate one of the raiders. They get to work immediately. Dax mentions she is intent not to have to get stuck eating the local palukoo, as she worries she may be allergic, due to the biochemical reactions between host and symbiont in joined trill.
Minister Jaro hails the station, and Krim's over-confident lieutenant, Colonel , proudly informs him that the station has been captured, intact and without casualties. Krim takes over and tells Jaro that their victory is not complete until the station's crew has been accounted for. Jaro orders Krim to capture Li Nalas alive, knowing that he will be an invaluable ally if they can win him over to their side, but dead, he would be a martyr.
Back on Bajor, Minister Jaro promises Winn that if the Circle's coup succeeds, he will ensure she is elected kai.
Act Three
Kira and Dax manage to get the craft working, and Dax thanks Tobin Dax, whose knowledge she heavily leaned on. Dax judges the engine not to be able to come back on again, so they quickly seat and start to take off.
In Sisko's office, Krim considers his position, and that of the hiding Starfleet forces. Day wants to take them head-on, and argues with him. Just then, the station's sensor array is sabotaged. Krim's suspicions are confirmed, and the soldiers begin a sweep of the station. Meanwhile, the Starfleet crew, in civilian clothes, breaks with rations in the station's access conduits and waits for movement. Odo reports a team moving toward cargo bay 6. Sisko orders Bashir's team to meet them, and they successfully capture their first five prisoners of war.
Over the skies of Bajor, Dax is disoriented by the antiquated state of the technology, to which Kira tells her they are flying by the seat of their pants. Fighters intercept them and a dogfight ensues. Kira takes the dangerous route of going into the atmosphere in order to level the playing field.
Act Four
O'Brien is working on a security panel while Li covers him. One of Krim's forces pins them in, but Sisko's group comes from the docking corridor to cover them with phaser fire and a smoke screen. O'Brien and Li escape the other direction where Odo is waiting to turn into a tripwire.
Meanwhile, Kira's plan successfully forces the two attackers to go to thrusters. Dax finds the phaser targeting lock is dead, so she'll have to aim manually. Kira flips the ship around and Dax eventually fires down one of the attackers. Unfortunately, the other one is still behind them and, with a hit to a plasma conduit, they are forced to land.
Krim's second-in-command, Day, corners Sisko, Li and O'Brien in one of Quark's holosuites. However, it is quickly revealed to be a trap, as Sisko and others are merely holograms. The door locks behind Day and his men, and Sisko's voice informs the soldiers of the Cardassians' involvement in the Circle. Day is beamed back to Ops so he may pass the information on to Krim, but Day chooses not to mention it, having dismissed it as a Federation deception. A scan for Federation communicators reveals they are somewhere in the duranium shielded conduits.
Act Five
Kira was injured in the crash, and so orders Dax to get the evidence to the Chamber of Ministers herself. Dax refuses to leave her, so they hide from the search parties. Kira goes unconscious from the injuries she sustained in the crash.
On the station, Odo informs Sisko that the soldiers intend to flood the conduits with anesthizine gas. They have some time, so Sisko reveals his plan to have Li sway Krim from the "wrong side," and therefore the coups chance of success. Li needs a little convincing, since he's not sure of his ability. Bashir and Quark's group distracts the bulk of the Bajoran forces by making some noise and surrendering. Krim orders them captured and brought to him, then retreating to the office, after which Li and Sisko capture Krim in an attempt to reason with him.
Meanwhile, Kira wakes up at Vedek Bareil's monastery. Bareil had sent out search parties for them and helps them disguise themselves as vedeks to allow them to travel to the Chamber of Ministers. Once there, Jaro immediately attempts to dismiss Kira as a troublemaker. However, she confronts him and everyone there about the Cardassian involvement, at which point Vedek Winn insists on examining the new evidence. Jaro, despite realizing that if the evidence is correct then the Circle is finished, announces that he will cooperate with any investigation. Kira stands, expecting more of a resistance, but Jaro leaves the room without a fuss.
Colonel Day returns to Ops to find Krim in conference with Sisko. Krim berates Colonel Day for withholding vital information from him, but Day scoffs that Sisko's lies were not worth passing on. Krim informs his subordinate that evidence of those "lies" has already been presented to the Provisional Government, which has recalled him to Bajor, where he expects he will be "asked" to resign his commission. Day withers under his superior's cold fury, realizing that his career is over as surely as Krim's, and the dream of an outsider-free Bajor that Jaro promised them all is now ashes.
Krim formally returns control of DS9 back to Sisko and starts to exit Ops. In helpless rage, Day draws his phaser and takes aim at Sisko. O'Brien yells out a warning, and Li Nalas jumps in front of Sisko, taking the full blast in the chest. Before Day can fire a second shot, Odo has him restrained. Li dies within a few seconds, but not before giving an ironic smile and remarking that he's "off the hook after all."
Sitting together in Quark's, Sisko, O'Brien and Kira reflect on recent events after things return to normal. Kira is devastated as she believed that when Li returned things on Bajor would get better and wishes there were more heroes like him. Sisko reminds her that she's a hero herself, but Kira can't bring herself to appreciate the compliment and leaves the bar. O'Brien questions the image that Bajorans have of Li Nalas, that everyone seems to remember him as larger than life and a military genius and yet the Li Nalas he fought with was just an ordinary man. Sisko interrupts O'Brien and states that Li Nalas was the hero of the Bajoran resistance, a man who showed amazing acts of courage, fought for his people and died to ensure their freedom. That's how the Bajorans will remember him and that's how Sisko will remember him… he deserves to be remembered that way. With that, the two officers then leave to reunite with their returning families.
Memorable quotes
"Hey! Odo! You'll miss me. You know you will – say it!"
"I'll miss you, Quark."
(stunned) "You said it!"
- Quark and Odo
"Whoa! What's that, is that a spider or a dog?!"
- Jadzia Dax, upon spotting a palukoo
"Has there ever been one of your kind and one of my kind who were better friends?"
"Never."
"And if our fathers couldn't break us up, no stupid coupe day… c– coop day…"
"Coup d'état. It's French."
"Well, no stupid French thing will either."
- Nog and Jake
"I may have overbooked, slightly."
- Quark, after selling seats on the evacuation ships
"All right, let's see if we can get out of here without bouncing off any walls."
- Kira Nerys
"We can't just let the Cardies have the wormhole!"
"They can have the whole Gamma Quadrant, for all I care!"
- Miles O'Brien and Keiko
"You Starfleet types are too dependent on gadgets and gizmos. You lose your natural instincts for survival."
"My natural instincts for survival told me not to climb aboard this thing! I'd say they were functioning pretty well."
- Kira Nerys and Jadzia Dax
"Can you see any openings where we can put down?"
"Six kilometers ahead at 2 o'clock."
"Uh, anything a little closer?"
"How much closer?"
"How about… right here?"
- Kira Nerys and Jadzia Dax, moments before emergency "landing"
"You're being a fool, Dax!"
"Don't talk to your elders that way."
- Kira and Jadzia
"This is Commander Benjamin Sisko. Please listen carefully. The Cardassians are supplying weapons for this coup."
"Ridiculous! No Bajoran would ever accept help from them."
"Jaro doesn't know. The Cardassians are using the Kressari to deliver weapons to the Circle."
"That is a Federation lie!"
"The proof is on its way to Bajor. Once this evidence is presented, the coup will end."
- Benjamin Sisko and Day
"This is a manifest PADD from a Kressari vessel. It bears the thumbscan of a Cardassian Gul who transferred weapons to that ship. Those weapons were taken by the Kressari to the Circle. This coup will deliver Bajor back into the hands of its greatest enemies. Are you willing to live under Cardassian rule again?"
"I assure you, there is nothing to these accusations."
"Then you should have no objection to an inspection of this manifest, Minister."
- Kira Nerys, Jaro Essa and Winn Adami
"I've done everything I can to help. I'd die for my people, but–"
"Sure you would – dying gets you off the hook. Question is, are you willing to live for your people – live the role they want you to play? That's what they need from you right now."
- Li Nalas and Benjamin Sisko
"Off the hook, after all."
- Li Nalas, last words
"Use your eyes, not your pants, Lieutenant."
- Kira Nerys to Jadzia Dax
"Chief, Li Nalas was THE hero of the Bajoran Resistance. He performed extraordinary acts of courage for his people and died for their freedom. That's how the history books on Bajor will be written, and that's how I'll remember him when anyone asks."
- Benjamin Sisko
Background information
Production
"The Siege" was the most demanding episode of the season for the special effects team. Gary Hutzel commented: "It was a very big show. It had an Odo morph, miniature photography combined with live action, a big phaser battle and a flying dogfight, which amounts to a lot of effects". (Cinefantastique, volume 25/volume 26)
After receiving the script for the episode, Terry Farrell contacted Nana Visitor and said; "My God, did you see what we have to do next episode?". Farrell also commented: "because we were shooting ten pages in two days and it was a ship called a 'rider' – smaller than a runabout – we knew we'd have a lot of added actions to perform, and to try to learn our lines over external sound and all the other confusion in a small set would be hard". (The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, p 216)
The palukoo spider model was a favorite of Joe Longo. Longo commented "The effects guy found that. He was going by a garage sale and got it for about two bucks. It wasn't hairy at the time. It was a plastic spider and mechanical, and it wasn't scary or ugly, just big. But it was exactly what I needed, so I got it from him. I took it out to the special effects shop and had them motor in it with a remote, then over to Michael Westmore and had him put all the hair on it and put in its teeth. The funny thing was, as I remember, that when we brought it up to Mr. Berman, he looked at it and he liked it. I showed him how it moved with the remote, but it was real slow. He said he'd like to see it move much faster, so I sent it back out to the shop and had them put a heavier motor in it I brought it back up for him to look at it again. When I got there, I had the secretary open the door for me and I had the spider run in the room on its own. They all did double takes and really liked it. You only see it real quickly in the show, because if you spend any amount of time on it you can tell exactly what it is". ("Joe Longo Propery Master", , August 1999, p. 53)
Reception
Producer Peter Allan Fields disagreed with the killing of the character Li Nalas, and he felt that it trivialized the events of ; "It seemed to me that killing him would just send us back to square one. Why spend three episodes with this guy, and then let him die? You're back as if he'd never been around. We could have written the whole thing without him." Writer Ira Steven Behr counters this by saying there were two primary reasons for killing the character: 1) to complete his arc there had to be a moment of true sacrifice and heroism ("I just felt that this was a man who was living a lie, and at the end there needed to be a form of redemption, one that involved some self-sacrifice."), and 2) the producers didn't want to make Li a recurring character because they weren't sure if they would be able to afford to bring back actor Richard Beymer in the future. As a result of this, the character of Shakaar was introduced in the third season to perform a similar function as that performed by Li in the Circle Trilogy. ()
Director Winrich Kolbe felt that the storyline of the show didn't warrant a third episode, and he felt it would have been better to condense the overall plot, and handle it as a two-parter; "It really appeared to me at times almost like, 'Well, we've got two-and-a-half hours here – let's make it three'''." ()
Gretchen J. Berg commented: "I love seeing how Kira and Dax get stranded and have to work together. They're not talking about boys, they're two strong women who are trying to fix a problem. They rely on their brains and skills. And it's one of the things I love most about Trek".
Continuity
Dax speaks about her second host Tobin, and he is mentioned as an excellent engineer.
O'Brien mentions the Cardassian front. It was established in that he fought in the Federation-Cardassian War.
Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #31 ("Never make fun of a Ferengi's mother")
Trivia
Richard Beymer (Li Nalas) and Frank Langella (Minister Jaro Essa) are the only actors, besides the regulars, to appear in all three episodes in the Bajoran trilogy (, , and "The Siege").
This episode concludes the first ever Star Trek episodic three-parter. The next was the Augment arc () during Season Four eleven years later. This was subsequently followed by two others: the Vulcan Reformation arc () and the Romulan arc ().
Vedek Bareil's name is misspelled as "Bariel" in the opening credits.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 12, .
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection.
Links and references
Guest stars
Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien
Steven Weber as
Richard Beymer as Li Nalas
Stephen Macht as
Max Grodénchik as Rom
Aron Eisenberg as Nog
Philip Anglim as Vedek Bareil
Special guest star
Louise Fletcher as "Vedek Winn"
Co-stars
Katrina Carlson as Bajoran Officer
Hana Hatae as Molly
Uncredited co-stars
Sam Alejan as sciences officer
Majel Barrett as Narrator
Tracee Lee Cocco as
Antican
Kobheerian
Brian Demonbreun as sciences officer
Kevin Grevioux as operations officer
Charlie-Olisa Kaine as
Frank Langella as Jaro Essa
Mark Lentry as command lieutenant
David B. Levinson as Broik
Susan Lewis as Bajoran woman
Mary Mascari as Bajoran woman
Mary Meinel-Newport as Bolian civilian
Geoffrey Mutch as Bajoran Chamber of Ministers guard
Karlotta Nelson as Bajoran minister
Sherry O'Keefe as Bajoran woman
Randy Pflug as
Irving Ross as Bolian civilian
Chuck Shanks as operations officer
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Robin Wright as Bajoran Chamber of Ministers guard
Unknown performers as
Bajoran military aide
Bilecki
Buck-toothed alien
Fourteen Bajoran Chamber of Ministers ministers
Green-skinned alien with beaked face
Jaro's aide
Operations officer
References
2360; ability; accusation; "ace in the hole"; Alliance for Global Unity; amnesty; anesthizine; Antican; Bajor; Bajor moons; Bajorans; Bajoran assault vessel (unnamed); Bajoran capital; Bajoran interceptor (unnamed); Bajoran Provisional Government; Bajoran Resistance; Bajoran sector; Bajoran wormhole; Bilecki's fiance; Bajoran project partner; ; blasphemy; blood enemy; broker; candy bar; Cardassia IV; Cardassian; Cardie; Chamber of Ministers; coup d'état''; dabo girl; ; Deep Space 9 levels; edict; elders; emergency rations; engagement; evasive maneuvers; extremist; family album; Federation; Federation-Cardassian War; Ferengi; flattery; ; fracture; freedom; French language; French onion soup; gadget; ; Gamma Quadrant; gizmo; gold-pressed latinum; gul; Hanolan colony; high altitude orbit; hip; holosuite; Ishka; isotope; Jeraddo; Kelly's daughter; Korat system; Kressari; Kressari freighter; leader; liaison officer; Lunar V base; manifest PADD; martyr; memento; monastery; Navarch; navigational sensor; Occupation of Bajor; ; overbooking; palukoo; passenger list; pet; petty theft; ; prisoner of war; Quark's; religious order; replicator; ; Rules of Acquisition; runabout; science fair; sex life; Starfleet; Starfleet Medical Academy; stipend; Sub-impulse raider (unnamed); surrender; thorium; tricorder; Trill; ; vole; war hero
External links
de:Die Belagerung
ja:帰って来た英雄・パート3（エピソード）
es:The Siege
fr:The Siege
nl:The Siege
Siege, The |
862 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Invasive Procedures (episode) | A desperate Trill tries to steal the Dax symbiont.
Summary
Teaser
"Station log, Stardate 47182.1. DS9 has been temporarily evacuated due to a violent plasma disruption. Until the disturbance ends, we'll be forced to maintain the station with a skeleton crew."
The crew of Deep Space 9 evacuates to avoid an impending plasma storm, leaving a skeleton crew. Jadzia Dax has the ready at Landing Pad C in case of emergencies. Miles O'Brien and Odo are checking the station and are at the docking ring. A loud banging reveals Quark hiding in one of the airlocks. He goes back to his bar, but they don't see a device on the wall beeping as they leave.
Act One
While monitoring the storm and securing the station, the crew receives a distress call claiming to be from a cargo ship called Ekina. O'Brien and Odo go down to meet them, but the crew is hostile. A timid Trill named Verad and his crew (a pair of Klingon mercenaries, T'Kar and Yeto, and former prostitute Mareel) surprise them. T'Kar directs the takeover, forcing Odo into a locked box, and capturing O'Brien and Dr. Bashir, but not before forcing Bashir to put the box in stasis in the infirmary. The group then goes to Ops and captures the rest of the crew. In the corner, O'Brien realizes Quark probably had a hand in them getting around the security measures and notes this to Sisko.
Yeto goes to Quark's bar and makes it clear he is not going according to the plan Quark understood (a business transaction), and brings him to Ops under guard. There, Verad, again timidly, states he wants the symbiont.
Act Two
Verad explains he is bitter because he applied to be "joined" and was rejected after a lifetime of preparation and sacrifice when the Symbiosis Evaluation Board declared him unsuitable for joining. He targeted the Dax symbiont specifically, as it is the most compatible for him, and furthermore plans to escape to the Gamma Quadrant to start a new life. Bashir attempts to refuse to perform the procedure, but Verad shoots O'Brien at his right shoulder, making it clear he will hurt everyone there if he does not get what he wants. He allows Bashir to tend to O'Brien briefly, and Jadzia submits in order to prevent further harm, even though she knows removing the symbiont will kill her within a few hours. Yeto then escorts them to the infirmary, leaving Mareel and T'Kar.
Verad forces Bashir to transfer the symbiont into his body while he's awake, using a neuro-electrical suppressor, and demands a monitor to watch the procedure. Bashir reluctantly puts Jadzia to sleep, asking for forgiveness. Yeto watches as Bashir performs the operation successfully, asking forgiveness from Jadzia.
In Ops, the crew waits and has a quiet conversation. Demanding silence, T'Kar starts a scuffle and O'Brien is attacked. Mareel subdues Kira and gets the upper hand with a phaser. Later, Kira gets Mareel to talk. She informs them she knew Verad a long time ago back when he was a communications clerk at the Federation Consulate on Khefka IV and he helped her out of a bad situation, and that she loves him. She doesn't believe Sisko's point that a joined Trill becomes an entirely different person than before, and that she will lose him.
At that point, Verad Dax appears, completely calm and confident.
Act Three
Bashir has Yeto act as a nurse as he tries to save Jadzia's life. Yeto resists, trying to get a rise out of Bashir, but does eventually help him. She wakes up feeling very alone. He promises to save her, and tells her to rest.
Meanwhile, Sisko tries to coax his old friend (Verad now has the memories of both Jadzia and Curzon Dax) into setting things right, first by recalling memories going back to when they first met at Pelios Station, but eventually mentioning discovering the Bajoran wormhole, one of Jadzia's memories. This gives him pause, but he says it's too late, that the integration is already happening and the symbiont is too weak to undergo the procedure again. He then justifies it by saying he wants to benefit many worlds in the Gamma Quadrant with his knowledge and experience, including Jadzia's memories. Mareel questions why Verad is entertaining the conversation at all and gets a snap retort from Verad – she begins to realize how much he has changed, but continues to remain loyal to him.
Sisko realizes Verad intends to let Jadzia die, and ends their friendship abruptly. This affects Verad.
Act Four
Verad's group waits the storm for safe passage to the wormhole. Meanwhile, Mareel attempts to give O'Brien a Senarian egg broth to help him with his strength, which he reluctantly accepts. Mareel looks up to Verad, who is thinking alone in Sisko's office, and Sisko again tries to convince her he's changed more than she realizes. She stays loyal, but the talk gets heated. Seeing this, Verad comes out from Sisko's office, but she assures him everything is fine. Just then, Quark attacks T'Kar, and pretends to be injured so he is taken to the infirmary. Verad orders Mareel to take him down. There, Quark squeals and signals to Bashir to "run some further tests." Mareel leaves Yeto alone with him and Bashir, giving the two their opportunity. Bashir knocks him out with a hypospray, then removes the container Odo is in from the medical bay's stasis field. Bashir does not see how the container can be opened without the access code, but Quark identifies its Delgorian locking mechanism, which he manages to crack using his superior hearing and a bit of impromptu "surgery" with one of Bashir's laser scalpels.
Mareel goes to Verad and they plan their escape. Verad wants to ensure she is safe, however, when Mareel mentions them being together, he is reluctant to reciprocate. Now, Mareel is doubtful.
Once Verad realizes Yeto is subdued, he guesses that Odo is free and immediately heads for his ship with T'Kar. He takes Kira as a hostage just in case. Mareel wishes him luck, staying behind in Ops. Verad bids Sisko farewell, wishing they could stay friends, but Sisko promises him they'll be seeing each other again. This stuns Verad a bit, but he leaves.
Act Five
Sisko goes to Mareel again, asking about the rendezvous since he knows it will never happen. She's now convinced Verad lied to her about the rendezvous, which he has never done, and finally accepts that the "new" Verad is no longer the man she loves. Sisko promises that he will save both Verad and Jadzia by removing the symbiont from one and replacing it in the other. Mareel relents and surrenders her phaser and combadge, but promises to kill Sisko if Verad is not brought back alive. He believes her.
By the time Verad reaches his ship, Odo has released the docking clamps, leaving him stranded. Verad runs when he sees Odo, leaving T'Kar to be overpowered by both Odo and Kira. Verad heads for a different runabout in a neighboring airlock, but runs into Sisko and the two have a stand off. Believing that Sisko will not shoot his old friend in fear of harming the symbiont, Verad begins to walk away, but Sisko shoots him with his phaser anyway, declaring, "Don't call me Benjamin."
Fortunately, Bashir successfully reverses the symbiont's host, and Verad wakes up without it. He is very shaken up, despite Mareel's devotion and her promise that she will never leave his side. Meanwhile, Jadzia wakes up on the next table and gratefully embraces Sisko. She confides that the symbiont's brief contact with Verad has given her his memories - "and it's all so sad". Even though the procedure has been reversed, Verad is now part of the Dax symbiont forever.
Log entries
Station log, Deep Space 9, 2370
Memorable quotes
"He couldn’t find a cup of water if you dropped him in a lake but, even if he is an idiot, he’s still my brother."
- Quark
"I’ve struck the sails and battened the hatches, so to speak."
- Bashir
"The Empire is governed by doddering fools and frightened old women who aren’t worthy of the name “Klingon.”"
- T'Kar
"It’s such a pleasure doing business with Klingons."
- Quark
"Either you help me, or you and your friends will die."
- Verad to Bashir
"Thank you, Doctor. I feel better already."
- Quark, after Bashir sedates Yeto
"It's a gift."
- Quark, after unlocking Odo's container
"She let herself be slaughtered like a mindless t’gla. If she wanted to live, she should have fought back."
- Yeto, to Bashir
"Don't call me Benjamin."
- Sisko, to Verad
Background information
Story and script
Robert Hewitt Wolfe says that this show was created because the producers wanted to convey to the audience the idea that not every single Trill was joined, that it was actually extremely difficult to get a symbiont. This, in turn, offered a commentary on the Jadzia character insofar as she was someone who did become joined. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
Production
The symbiont seen in this episode is significantly different from that seen in . As makeup supervisor Michael Westmore explains, the original design was based upon a caterpillar with an octopus' head, but for its second appearance in DS9 (the first was in the pilot ), the design was "streamlined." (Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season Two, DS9 Season 2 DVD, Special Features)
On the scene featuring the Trill symbiont, David Livingston commented, "We didn't want it to look cheesy. It was always a problem showing it. It's that whole idea of ; you don't really want to see it too much because the audience is either going to be repulsed by it or say it's too hokey. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages)
During filming, Tim Russ accidentally punched Patricia Tallman (who was doubling Nana Visitor) in the face during a fight sequence. Tallman noted that "everyone on the set freaked out, but I said, 'No, don't stop! That was really good – it looked very authentic!' So we finished the fight there and then." (Star Trek Monthly issue 52)
Continuity
The third season episode expands on the highly selective and exclusive process of joining. It is explained that if the widespread compatibility of most Trill with symbionts was known, violent attempts at joining such as Verad’s would be far more common.
Reception
Ira Steven Behr commented: "Glover was great, but so was Megan Gallagher. I thought she was just wonderful. It was one of my favorite shows of the season. I love the stuff with Verad becoming Dax and the scene with him and Sisko where he's suddenly his friend. It was very interesting material and well played. Les Landau did a wonderful job with that show". (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p 21)
Robert Hewitt Wolfe commented: "I'm really pleased with "Invasive Procedures". John Glover as Verad turned in a tour de force performance. Avery, as usual, was great. Les Landau gave it excellent direction. It was neat to do this kind of film noir study of our characters. It was especially good for Bashir, who shows he's not only a competent doctor, but he's tough, too. He stands up to the Klingon, then, later. The episode showed a part of Bashir that we hadn't seen before". ("Robert Hewitt Wolfe – writer/story editor", )
Michael Piller commented: "I've been extremely pleased with the growth of Terry's performance. I thought she was very touching in this episode, and the ensemble really worked together very well. John Glover was terrific. We basically took our cue from shows like and ." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages)
This is one of Terry Farrell's favorite episodes because she believes it is very important in terms of differentiating between the host (Jadzia) and the symbiont (Dax); "I approached the scenes in the Infirmary with the idea that Jadzia is scared, that she feels helpless. She cares very deeply for everyone on the station and is afraid for them. That's why she's willing to say 'Fine, I'll give my life for everybody, and you can have Dax.' But that had been while the strength of Dax was inside of her, telling her that everything was going to be okay. Once the worm is gone, she's only twenty-eight years old, and it's like, 'Wait, I haven't lived that much life yet'." ()
When asked after leaving Star Trek: Deep Space Nine who her favorite guest was, Terry Farrell commented "John Glover, absolutely. He was Verad in "Invasive Procedures", the guy who stole my Dax symbiont. He's such a great actor and I was so psyched that he did our show. He said somewhere that he liked working with me, and I was so excited and flattered to hear that". ("Farrell's Fate", Star Trek Monthly, issue 43)
Armin Shimerman dislikes this episode because he feels that Quark commits an unforgivable crime yet receives no punishment. According to Shimerman, "I worry when Quark doesn't get punished for really sizable crimes. It makes the character less important since his acts trigger no consequences, and it makes Odo look a little foolish, in that he's the law keeper and he can't get this little troll punished." ()
Megan Gallagher commented that "Invasive Procedures" had "a good back story. I loved working with John Glover. The whole cast was great. Nana (Visitor) and I had a cool fight scene to do. She has a theater background and I have a theater background. I’d studied stage fighting and combat and all of that. So that was fun, going into your tool box and using something you paid a lot of money to learn how to do".
Trivia
This is the second episode in a row after wherein most of the crew is evacuated from the station, while Quark is left behind and Rom receives passage.
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
Tim Russ makes his second Star Trek appearance in this episode. The first was in TNG's . His next appearance outside was as a Lieutenant aboard the in . He returned to DS9 to play the mirror universe version of Tuvok in , the following year.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 12, .
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection.
Links and references
Guest Stars
John Glover as Verad
Megan Gallagher as Mareel
Tim Russ as T'Kar
Steve Rankin as Yeto
Stunt doubles
George Colucci as stunt double for Armin Shimerman
Irving Lewis as stunt double for Tim Russ
Patricia Tallman as stunt double for Nana Visitor
Spice Williams as stunt double for Megan Gallagher
Unknown stunt performer as stunt double for Colm Meaney
References
airlock; Andorian redbat; Anastasia; auricular lobe; bachelor party; Bajoran wormhole; ; body; brother; bulkhead; buyer; Cardassians; Cliffs of Bole; communications clerk; consulate; contusion; crystallization; cup; ; ; ; ; Deep Space 9 levels; Delgorian locking mechanism; delta-wave inducer; docking pylon; docking ring; dozen; Ekina''; endorphin; evacuation shuttle; Federation; Ferengi; Gamma Quadrant; gold-pressed latinum (latinum); healing; heart; Kela; Khefka IV; Klingons; Klingon Empire; Klingonese; Kustanovich; lake; liquid data chain; ; malleus; military mastermind; neuroelectrical suppressor; operation; ; Pelios Station; plasma discharge; plasma disruption; plasma storm; prisoner; Promenade; Quark's; rebirth; Rom; runabout; runabout pad; safe passage; science officer; second; security grid; Senarian egg broth; "shifter"; shuttle; skeleton crew; slip of the tongue; spitting; Starfleet; stasis chamber; Symbiosis Evaluation Board; tractor beam; Trill; (planet); Trill symbiont; water; wedding
External links
de:Der Symbiont
es:Invasive Procedures
fr:Invasive Procedures (épisode)
it:Il simbionte (episodio)
nl:Invasive Procedures
DS9 episodes |
863 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Cardassians (episode) | Garak and Doctor Bashir investigate abandoned Cardassian war orphans on Bajor.
Summary
Teaser
Doctor Bashir sits down at his usual table at the Replimat with Garak, and once again tries to figure out if Garak is a spy on the station with some thinly-veiled language about his clientele. Garak laughs it off, as he always does. When a young Cardassian boy, wearing a Bajoran earring and escorted by a Bajoran man, sits down near them, Garak cannot resist commenting on it. He goes over to the man and says what a nice boy he has. The boy bites Garak's hand, and shies away.
Act One
After making sure Garak's hand is not severely damaged, the doctor reports to ops, and tells the senior staff about the incident. Odo leaves immediately to investigate. Everyone is baffled; then Gul Dukat calls on subspace to ask about the issue. When Commander Benjamin Sisko skeptically asks Dukat how the news reached him so quickly, Dukat quickly changes the subject. He says the boy is one of the many war orphans left behind when the Cardassians left Bajor at the end of the occupation. He asks Sisko to investigate this incident, since he is trying to get the orphans returned to Cardassia. Sisko agrees.
First, Sisko talks to the father, Proka Migdal. He is initially agitated, thinking that Garak filed a complaint and they want to arrest him. When Sisko explains they just want to talk, he relaxes slightly. He wishes that the Cardassians would have paid as much attention to his boy then as they want to now. He insists that he adopted Rugal so that Rugal wouldn't have to suffer for the mistakes of others, and that Garak should have minded his own business. The doctor points out that the boy was terrified of Garak, and that he was probably raised to hate Cardassians. The father agrees that Rugal hates Cardassians, because the facts alone would – and should – make him hate Cardassians. He loves his son, just as if he were his own flesh and blood, and considers him a Bajoran.
Continuing the investigation, Doctor Bashir goes to Quark's and talks to Zolan, a trader who knows the family well. He is evasive, but when the doctor presses him, he explains that he had visited the family a few times when the father was looking for a new job. He tells Bashir that Rugal is being raised in a terrible way – being told every day that he is horrible for being a Cardassian – and that the parents are taking out their revenge against all Cardassians on the boy. When Sisko and Bashir confront Proka, he is outraged, saying he has done nothing. Sisko accepts his word, but has Rugal stay with the station's school teacher Keiko O'Brien for the time being.
Rugal says he didn't do anything wrong when his father brings him out. He is nervous, but finally goes with Sisko and Bashir when the father says they won't hurt him, because they're Human, not Cardassian. Before leaving, Sisko offers Proka a slight nod of his head.
Act Two
Back in the infirmary, Doctor Bashir heals Garak's hand, and mentions Gul Dukat's attempt to resolve the war orphan predicament. Garak laughs and begins a line of questioning of his own. He plants in Bashir's mind that Dukat's story should not be believed: Dukat was in charge of the withdrawal from Bajor, therefore it is his fault that the children were left behind, so why is he trying to get them returned home?
Back in ops, Sisko is explaining to Dukat that it may not be very simple to send Rugal back to Cardassia. When the doctor arrives, Sisko asks Dukat to look up the boy's DNA to search for any surviving relatives, in case he does decide to send him home. Dukat agrees, then Doctor Bashir interrupts. He asks Dukat why he chose to leave the children behind. Dukat is not pleased, and explains that he was ordered to do it by the civilian leadership of Cardassia and had no choice. Bashir corrects him, and states that the civilian leaders do not have such detailed control of the military. When Dukat asks where he got this information, he admits it was from Garak. Dukat tells Bashir to tell Garak he had no choice, and cuts off the viewscreen.
Sisko asks why the doctor presumptuously interrupted his conversation with Dukat. Bashir explains that Garak thinks Dukat is lying – which he had to deduce, since Garak doesn't actually tell him anything. Sisko is not pleased, but lets him off with a rebuke.
Meanwhile, in the O'Briens' quarters, Chief O'Brien is initially uneasy around Rugal given his own previous experiences with Cardassians, and is aghast to learn that Keiko allowed Molly to play with him. Keiko warns him that she doesn't appreciate his prejudiced attitude. Later that night, Rugal is unable to sleep and O'Brien takes the chance to talk to the boy (who denies being abused) about his situation. O'Brien asks if it's hard on him being Cardassian. Rugal becomes defensive, saying he was born that way and it isn't his fault. The chief rephrases his question: "Isn't it hard to live with people who hate you?" Rugal answers that his parents hate other Cardassians, not him, and they have done nothing wrong to him. When he asks what Miles thinks of Cardassians, the chief explains that he can't generalize an opinion about an entire race – he has met Cardassians he didn't like, and Cardassians he did like. Rugal doesn't understand how the chief could feel that way, since the Cardassians killed ten million Bajorans, and wishes he were Bajoran.
Act Three
In the middle of the night, Garak sneaks into Bashir's quarters and says that they need to go to Bajor now. The doctor wakes Sisko up and tries to explain, not very coherently, that he and Garak need a runabout right away to go to Bajor for something important, which Garak won't tell him. At the same time, Ops informs Sisko through the com that there is a communication for him from Gul Dukat. He informs Sisko that the boy's DNA has identified him as the son of a prominent politician, Kotan Pa'Dar, who is still alive – so the boy is actually not an orphan. Pa'Dar is heading to the station to reclaim him. Sisko repeats that it's not that simple; the boy wants to go back to Bajor, and he won't send him to Cardassia against his will. Pa'Dar will have to wait for the investigation to finish. Bashir points out that Garak's urgency, the trader who made the accusation of abuse vanishing, and the news about Pa'Dar can't be a coincidence, and Garak must know something. This convinces Sisko to give them the runabout.
Garak and Bashir head down to the Tozhat Resettlement Center, an orphanage for Cardassian children and ask about Rugal. , the person in charge, says that since Rugal's adoption occurred eight years ago, when the Cardassians were still in charge, she probably doesn't have the information. Garak responds with a correction that Cardassians always keep meticulous records, and if they would let him use their computer, he might be able to find the file. When she says that the government hasn't had the resources yet to repair her computer system, he offers to fix it himself.
After repairing the computer, Garak downloads all the provincial records into a data clip. This again makes Bashir skeptical that Garak isn't a spy. The wind is taken out of Garak's sails, however, when he spots a couple of Cardassians watching him, with a young girl asking if he's there to take them back to Cardassia. Garak has to regretfully inform them that, no, he has not come to take them home. Garak informs Deela that the computer system is now fully functional before leaving.
Act Four
When they are in orbit, Dr. Bashir gets tired of being strung along. He has the computer shut down the runabout's engines and demands that Garak give him some information or they will sit in space until they rot, he says. Garak explains that Dukat had to leave behind the children, as orphans have no status in Cardassian society. This isn't enough for Bashir, who demands some answers or they will sit there until they rot. With that ultimatum, Garak plays another round of twenty questions. He helps Bashir put it all together: Pa'Dar was one of the most notable civilian leaders at the time, and was involved in the decision to end the occupation and evacuate Bajor; Gul Dukat lost his job as prefect when that happened, so he hates Pa'Dar; and now, mysteriously, this boy turns up, and Dukat coincidentally finds out it is Pa'Dar's long lost son.
Pa'Dar shows up on the station, and Chief O'Brien talks to him before he sees Rugal. He explains that the boy hates everything he is, and probably won't react well to see him. Pa'Dar insists that he is the boy's father, so all of that will change. He explains that on his son's fourth birthday, a bomb blew up their house, and the father was convinced he was dead. Family is very important to Cardassians, he says, and he has come here despite the disgrace it will bring him (because there is no excuse for "losing" a member of his family) for that reason. When Rugal walks in, he is scared and stunned. He doesn't remember his father's face, and wants nothing to do with him, despite his father's pain and explanation of what happened. He says his father deserved his pain, and that his son is dead; he will never go back to Cardassia.
The next fight is between Pa'Dar and Proka. Pa'Dar demands that no Bajoran court rule on the custody hearing. After some loud words, Sisko suggests an arbitrator, and both suggest him. Pa'Dar accepts, and then Odo informs him that Gul Dukat has just arrived on the station.
Act Five
"Station log, stardate 47177.2. The arrival of Gul Dukat only powers my suspicion that we are being manipulated in some unseen manner. Dr. Bashir and Garak continue to search for anything of relevance in the adoption files. So far, they have found nothing, and the decision on custody for Rugal cannot wait much longer."
Dukat explains he has come to observe the hearing, because there is great interest in the case at high levels of the Cardassian government. He wants to see Rugal reunited with his father. He says the disagreements between him and Pa'Dar are not relevant; it is the children who are important. Since Sisko is trying to stall for time to give Bashir and Garak more time to search the files, he asks Pa'Dar to again revisit the events from eight years ago.
The doctor and Garak, however, aren't having any luck. Garak soon realizes it is because Dukat probably purged the file on Rugal, since there was something in it he didn't want anyone to see. So, he looks for – and finds within seconds – the person who created the file, Jomat Luson.
While Sisko asks Rugal what he remembers about his adoption and gets nothing, the doctor and Garak talk to Jomat. She remembers Rugal well, because his case was very unusual. Bajorans usually brought in the Cardassian children from the streets, but Rugal was turned in by a female Cardassian military officer who was attached to Terok Nor and, also unusually, knew his name. Garak helps the doctor put together the last pieces, and they go to the hearing.
With Sisko's permission, Bashir asks several questions. He gets O'Brien to reiterate the humiliation Pa'Dar is feeling, and when asked, Pa'Dar says it will be the end of his career when it is revealed to the people. Not only that, but the timing is very bad, considering there is an inquiry about to begin concerning the Cardassians' involvement in the recent attempted military coup on Bajor. It just so happens that Dukat is one of the key witnesses in that inquiry.
Dukat objects, and says it is irrelevant. Bashir quickly changes his line of questioning, and asks Dukat if he has ever been to the orphanage center where Rugal was adopted. He says no. That center, he explains, is located where Pa'Dar was living eight years ago. Rugal was brought in by a female Cardassian military officer, who seemed to know the child... perhaps she also knew that he wasn't an orphan. When Dukat says he knows nothing about that, Bashir points out that the officer was attached to Terok Nor, which was Deep Space 9's original designation under the Cardassians. The question for Dukat was: who was the commanding officer of Terok Nor eight years ago? Dukat walks out; he was that commanding officer.
"Station log, stardate 47178.3. After long and difficult deliberations, I have decided to allow Pa'Dar to take his son back to Cardassia. Although I am convinced his Bajoran foster parents treated him with love, Rugal has been the clear victim in this conspiracy. I believe it's time for his healing to begin."
Pa'Dar thanks Sisko for salvaging his political career; Dukat will not make these events public, so this is a stalemate instead of a great loss. With a few words of encouragement from Miles O'Brien, Rugal goes with his father, hesitant, but willing. When the doctor asks Garak why he helped to defeat Dukat, he is evasive, as usual. If you can find all the details, he says, you can put it together yourself.
Log entries
Station log, Deep Space 9, 2370
Memorable quotes
"Really, Doctor, must we always play this game? I am no more a spy than you are a..."
"...a doctor."
- Garak and Bashir
"What exactly does [Garak] think is going on?"
"I'm not sure. He doesn't actually tell me what he really thinks... I sort of have to deduce it."
"Ah, so you deduced that Garak thinks Dukat is lying about something you're not sure of. And you proceeded to interrupt my conversation to confront him about whatever that might be."
"I'm sorry, Commander. It just seemed an opportune–"
"Don't apologize; it's been the high point of my day. Don't do it again."
- Sisko and Bashir
"I wish I wasn't Cardassian."
- Rugal
"Come, Doctor. Get dressed. We need to be going."
- Garak, to Bashir in his quarters in the middle of the night
"I assume this couldn't wait until morning."
"No, sir. I need to use a runabout."
"... I'm waiting."
"It's Garak, sir. He wants to go to Bajor."
"Bajor. For what?"
"He wouldn't tell me."
"Well, by all means. Will one runabout be enough?"
- Sisko and Bashir
"I was in the underground."
"Really! Perhaps we have met!"
- Deela and Garak
"I believe in coincidences. Coincidences happen every day. But I don't trust coincidences."
- Garak
"Truth is in the eye of the beholder, Doctor. I never tell the truth because I don't believe there is such a thing. That is why I prefer the simple straight line simplicity of cutting cloth."
- Garak
Background information
Cast and characters
Marc Alaimo commented, "As an actor, when I got the script, I didn't realize Dukat was being set up to take the blame. But I played him as a man who was being set up. A man who was taking the dive because he had wanted to remove the children but his orders were to leave them." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 64)
Bashir actor Alexander Siddig pre-empted this episode by commenting, "The next time Bashir meets Garak, they'll get on better. He's not going to be so freaked out by the fact that he's a spy. He'll still be a little tentative about the fact he's a Cardassian however." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, No. 3/4, p. 91)
On the episode, Andrew Robinson commented, "The best thing about that was the scene where [Garak] and Bashir go to Bajor and run into the orphans. We learned a little more about their culture, that children without parents have no status in Cardassian society, so they just abandoned them. The fact that Garak was faced with this, and realized that there is something very basically wrong about it, was great." ()
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
Production
Director Cliff Bole defined this episode as being "about humanist values." ()
A particular star chart, which had earlier been prominently shown in Remmick's office in , is displayed in the background of the scene when Dukat, Sisko, and Pa'Dar are discussing the orphaned children.
Reception
Ira Steven Behr commented, "I didn't have a lot of faith in this show at first. It was such an issue-oriented show that I thought it would oversimplify a complicated issue, but what got me into the show was when I realized this was not only a chance to bring back Garak but to do this whole weird little number with what is going on between him and Dukat. To me, that nailed the character and I knew after that happened we were going to see a lot of Andy Robinson, who's become quite popular on staff." (The Deep Space Log Book: A First Season Companion, p. 64)
Mary Chieffo thought the episode interesting for depicting Rugal's plight.
Apocrypha
The The Never-Ending Sacrifice depicts Rugal's life after "Cardassians". It begins just after the episode ends and continues for eight years.
Continuity
This is the first time since that Gul Dukat has visited Deep Space 9. Dukat had appeared in and in the interim.
This episode marks Garak's second appearance. He first appeared in .
This is the first reference to the Cardassian name of Deep Space 9, Terok Nor.
This is also the first time hostility between Garak and Dukat is hinted at. The reason for this hostility was later explained to a certain degree in the third season episode , where it's revealed that Dukat's father knew Garak and that Dukat tried to have Garak executed. Their antipathy towards each other also plays a part in the fourth season premiere . Of the intermittent use of the Dukat/Garak dichotomy, Ira Steven Behr stated, "It takes a while sometimes. You lay the pipe and then it'll take a year before you do another show where you can use it." ()
This episode revisits O'Brien's prejudice towards Cardassians, first seen in .
Garak's mechanical skills may be a hint to his past in the Obsidian Order, in a subtle nod to the novel .
Remastered version
Remastered footage from the episode is featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 13, .
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection.
Links and references
Guest Stars
Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien
Andrew Robinson as Elim Garak
Robert Mandan as Kotan Pa'Dar
Terrence Evans as Proka Migdal
Vidal Peterson as Rugal
Dion Anderson as Zolan
Marc Alaimo as "Gul Dukat"
Co-Stars
Sharon Conley as Jomat Luson
Karen Hensel as
Jillian Ziesmer as Asha
Uncredited Co-Stars
Sam Alejan as Starfleet sciences officer
Tracee Lee Cocco as Kobheerian
Brian Demonbreun as Starfleet sciences officer
Kevin Grevioux as Starfleet security officer
Charlie-Olisa Kaine as
David B. Levinson as Broik
Mary Mascari as Bajoran woman
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Randy Pflug as
Tammy Rodriguez as yellow-skinned alien dabo girl
Unknown performers as
Cardassian orphan boy
Three Taal delegates
Tygarian
References
2358; 2362; 2368; ability; accusation; adopt; adoptive parent; adversary; age group; arbitrator; arrest; Bajor; Bajoran; Bajoran transport; Bajoran underground; ; businessman; butcher; ; Cardassia; Cardassians; Cardassian law; Cardassian military; career; children; crime; dabo; ; data bank; Detapa Council; district; DNA; dozen; evidence; exarch; Federation; foster parent; Fredericks family; generation; heart; isolinear data subprocessor; Klingons; leader; leverage; Luna; medical report; memory bank; military officer; name; ; ; Occupation of Bajor; politician; political system; prefect; Proka's wife; Promenade; Prophets; Quark's; record keeper; replicator; Replimat; Rokassa juice; Rom; Rugal's mother; runabout; scum; sewing; ; social volunteer; spanking; spy; swimming; Taal; Tarkalean tea; Terok Nor; Terok Nor female officer; Tozhat Province; Tozhat Resettlement Center; Zabu; Zabu stew
Library computer references
Federation star chart ("The Explored Galaxy"): Aldebaran; Alfa 177; Alpha Carinae; Alpha Centauri; Alpha Majoris; Altair VI; Andor; Ariannus; Arret; Babel; Benecia; Berengaria VII; Beta Aurigae; Beta Geminorum; Beta Lyrae; Beta Niobe; Beta Portolan; Camus II; Canopus III; Capella; Daran V; Delta Vega; Deneb; Eminiar; Fabrina; First Federation; Gamma Canaris N; Gamma Trianguli; Holberg 917G; Ingraham B; Janus VI; Kling; Kzin; Lactra VII; Makus III; Marcos XII; Manark IV; Memory Alpha; Omega IV; Omega Cygni; Organia; ; Pallas 14; Phylos; Pollux IV; Psi 2000; Pyris VII; Regulus; Remus; Rigel; Romulan Neutral Zone; Romulus; Sarpeid; Sirius; Talos; Tau Ceti; Theta III; Tholian Assembly;
Language chart: Bajoran language; Cardassian language; Cardassian Union; English language; Ferengi Alliance; Ferengi language
Evolution of Intelligent Life on Planet Denkir IV: Delphoidia; Delphoidia cochrani; Delphoidia cochrani obliquidens; Delphoidia cochrani tempus; Delphoidia moroboshi; Delphoidia moroboshi lum; Neopictis; Neopictis gourami; Neopictis spinotap; Neopictis spinotap cochrani; Oceosauroida; Oceosauroida mendo; Oceosauroida mendo shinobu; Oceosauroida mendo shutaro; Oniboshi lum; Oniboshi lum ran; Oniobshi benten; Squaluformus; Squaluformus vino; Squaluformus vino shiro; Vermacelli alfredo
Table of Elements: accurentum; averyonium; babaloo; beium; bermanium; brownfieldium; bugsonian; californium; cavorite; chanockian; cheeseium; chico; chronister; cosmoium; craftium; curly; daffyduckium; dentium; dilithium; disneyium; drapanas; duckdodgers; estonianium; exitstageleft; fieldium; franconium; freedonia; Gamma series; groucho; grouchoian; harpo; hawkeye; hobbes; hydrogen; Hypersonic series; jamesium; johnsonium; jonesium; keiyurium; kryptonite; lithium; magnumium PI; mazdaium; meeseian; Mega series; monty; neskoromnium; Omega series; ; pillerium; poi; potatoeium; princessium; purseronite; quarkian; redskinium; rhubarbium; smutkoian; snarkium; sodium; stimsonium; stoogeian; stoogeium; sufferin'sucat; thomsonian; tngonian; Transonic series; World series; yacobian; zeppo
Promenade Directory: Amphitheatre; Andorian Fast Food; Bajoran Consulate; Bajoran Customs Office; Banzai Institute; Berman's Dilithium Supply; Bowling Alley; Cargo Loading and Transfer; Cavor's Gravity Devices; Chief Engineer's Office; Curry's Martial Arts Training; Del Floria's Tailor Shop; Diet Smith Corporation; Diva Droid Corporation; Dock Master's Office; Federation Consulate; Fredrickson's Squid Vendor; Garak's Clothiers; Geological Assay Office; Gocke's House of Mirrors; Klingon Consulate; Import Protocol Office; Infirmary; Jacobson's Used Photons; Jupiter Mining Corporation; Lodging and Accommodation; Milliways; Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club; Quark's Bar; Replimat Cafe; Richarz' Accessories; Rush Dilithium Crystals; Schoolroom - Mrs. Keiko O'Brien; Sirius Cybernetics Corporation; Spacecraft Resupply; Spacely Sprockets; Station Operations; Subspace Communications; Tom Servo's Used Robots; Vince's Gym; Vulcan Embassy; Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems; Chez Zimmerman
External links
"Cardassians" script at twiztv.com
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de:Die Konspiration
es:Cardassians
fr:Cardassians (épisode)
nl:Cardassians (aflevering)
DS9 episodes |
864 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Dax | Dax could refer to:
Individuals
Dax (Crewman), an alien Starfleet crewmember aboard the USS Enterprise-A
Dax (symbiont), the Trill symbiont hosted by several Trill, including Jadzia and Ezri
Dax, son of Kang, named for Curzon Dax, and born in the late 23rd century
Real world
, the first-season DS9 episode
de:Dax
es:Dax
fr:Dax
nl:Dax
ru:Дакс |
865 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Melora (episode) | Doctor Bashir ends up falling in love with a new officer when he develops a way for her to function in a high gravity environment. Meanwhile, Quark receives a death threat from one of his former associates.
Summary
Teaser
"Medical log, Stardate 47229.1. Chief O'Brien and I have been working overtime to prepare for the arrival of a new cartographer. Ensign Melora Pazlar is the first Elaysian to join Starfleet, and as such, requires special accommodations."
Doctor Bashir and Lieutenant Dax are in the infirmary, testing out a wheelchair designed for Ensign Pazlar. Dax expresses amazement that the specifications are even in the replicator's database, saying she hasn't seen a wheelchair in over three hundred years. Bashir reveals that they weren't. It was, in fact, Pazlar herself who had sent him the design and specifications, due to the fact that her normal anti-grav unit won't work on Deep Space 9, a situation that Bashir likens to the troubles they had with integrating Starfleet cargo lifts. Before they can discuss it further, Major Kira chimes in over the comm system, informing Bashir that the has just docked at Airlock 14. The doctor responds, telling her they're on their way, before taking the wheelchair and heading out with Dax.
On the Promenade, Bashir tells Dax how Ensign Pazlar must have had a hard time even getting to the station, since she grew up on a planet with such a low surface gravity. Before Dax can reply, Chief O'Brien interrupts them, explaining that he has done the best he can with installing ramps but that the Cardassian design has made it difficult. Bashir explains he has also been making some modifications to her chair, but O'Brien points out there are still a lot of places where she won't be able to get to. Dax suggests they can help her by using the transporter but, as Bashir explains, Melora Pazlar won't have it. She insists on getting about, herself, once her basic needs are met, a stipulation that Bashir greatly admires. He goes on to say that he has examined all of her medical files, in preparation, then checks with the chief that her quarters are already. "I even have the bumps on the head to prove it," the chief jokes, commenting on the low-gravity system he has installed.
In the airlock, Melora is experiencing some difficulty walking. Using a walking stick, she makes it to the entranceway before Dax and Bashir appear round the corner. "Ensign Melora Pazlar reporting for duty," she greets. Dax introduces herself and Bashir, though Melora already recognizes him from their subspace communications. She notices her wheelchair, or "trolley car" as she calls it, and begins walking towards it. Dax offers her some assistance, but Melora abruptly refuses it. Taking a seat in the chair, she notices that it is different from the one she has practiced on. Bashir clarifies, saying he wanted to give her as much mobility as possible, but offers to change it back if that would help. "No, I'll adapt," she adamantly replies, before driving it down the hall. As they walk over one of the ramps O'Brien installed earlier, Dax explains she will be accompanying Melora on her upcoming survey mission in the Gamma Quadrant at the request of Commander Sisko. Melora objects, taking it as a sign the commander thinks she needs extra help to get the job done, but Dax points out the commander wouldn't let any ensign take a runabout into the Gamma Quadrant the day after they arrive. As the group approaches Melora's quarters, she rather apathetically asks Bashir if he has made any modifications to her quarters, as well. He courteously replies that everything is as she requested it. With that, Melora says it was nice to meet them and heads over the ramp and into her room. Dax and Bashir exchange a confounded look before heading off, themselves.
Act One
In Quark's, a Yridian man named Ashrock is admiring one of the Rings of Paltriss. He says there are only eighty of them and Quark just happens to have forty-two in his possession but wants one hundred and ninety-nine bars of gold-pressed latinum for them. Quark proposes they "seal the deal" over a drink and so goes behind his bar to grab a bottle. As he approaches the doorway to his bar, a shady figure enters. Quark immediately recognizes him and is visibly unnerved by his presence. Fallit Kot is his name, and in a typical Quark way, he begins to flatter him with compliments though he isn't buying it. Leaning in closer, he tells Quark that he has business with him, that he has come to kill him.
Meanwhile, in Sisko's office, Bashir and Dax are discussing Melora's situation with the commander when she arrives in Ops. She wheels her way over to Sisko, who welcomes her to the station. Seeing Bashir and Dax, she asks if she is late, if the meeting has already begun but Sisko says he was just being informed about her request to pilot the runabout alone, something she expresses a wish to have been involved in. The commander states he regularly has briefings from his senior staff regarding personnel issues and this one is no different than any other. As they enter Sisko's office, she apologizes for sounding overly sensitive and explains that she is used to being shut out of the "Melora problem", though she believes there is no Melora problem until people create one. She further objects to Doctor Bashir being present, saying she doesn't want to be treated like someone who is ill, though Commander Sisko doesn't see anyone doing that. "Try sitting in the chair, commander," she argues. "No one can understand until they sit in the chair." Calming down slightly, she illustrates the struggle she has been through since leaving her homeworld, that she has always spent her time in one chair or another since. She shows her cane to Sisko and explains it is made from the wood of a garlanic tree and that her family gave it to her when she left. She reveals how only a handful of Elaysians have ever left her planet, but she knew she wanted to be one of them, how she dreamed of exploring the stars when she was a child and that no chair or Cardassian station is going to stop her from attaining that dream. Sisko admires her but reiterates his concerns about sending her into the Gamma Quadrant alone. Melora says she can focus on the job better, but Sisko denies her request; Lieutenant Dax is going with her. They are due to leave tomorrow at 0730 hours.
A little while later, Bashir visits Melora's quarters and asks her how she is finding the low gravity environment they have created for her. She describes the experience as "like slipping into a hot tub at the end of the day." Bashir jokes that he is a shower man himself before examining a photo on the desk, showing her and another man. He asks if it's her husband or boyfriend, but she doesn't answer him. Instead, she apologizes for her choice of words in the commander's office. She says she didn't mean to attack Bashir directly. He knows that she didn't mean any personal offense by it but nonetheless points out that she does a lot of "attacking", an attribute that she demonstrates when scorning Bashir's offer of friendship by telling her to call him Julian instead of Doctor. He makes her realize how others perceive her, how she is always on the defensive, and then surprisingly, asks her out to dinner at the new Klingon restaurant on the Promenade. She accepts, much to his delight.
Act Two
In his bar, Quark is hard at work trying to appease his latest "customer" with a delicious home-cooked meal, starting with Vak clover soup. Quark's "former associate" picks up the dish and pours the soup onto the floor and drops the dish, right in front of Quark. Still thinking he can change his mind, Quark offers up some Jumbo Vulcan mollusks sautéed in Rhombolian butter. Kot takes a bite as Quark explains the game of dabo and how his two "excellent tutors" (dabo girls) can show him how to play. In an attempt to change his mind, Quark makes it clear that he wants Kot's stay on the station to be as pleasurable as possible and, to that end, proposes a toast to "old friends". "To old debts," replies Kot.
At the Klingon restaurant, Bashir orders some racht, a double order of gladst without the sauce and a side order of zilm'kach. He hands a plate to Melora, but she is immediately offended by it. Bashir, thinking her reaction is due to how the food looks, reassures her it tastes good, but that's not what she means. Speaking in fluent Klingon, she barks at the chef to provide racht where she can see the blood running through the veins. The Klingon laughs, noting, "I like a customer who knows what she wants," and snatches the plate from Bashir, flinging it and the food behind him. After a few seconds spent behind his kiosk, he returns with some live racht, as ordered. "There's nothing worse than half-dead racht," Melora jokes.
As Bashir finishes off the last of the racht, he recounts a story to Melora. He tells her of how, when he was ten, he and his father were trapped on Invernia II during an ionic storm, and while they were waiting it out, he found a sick Invernian girl. When the storm passed, his father went to get help, but it was too late, and the girl died in front of his eyes. It was only later he found out that a simple herb, which grew all around them, could have saved her life. Melora asks if that was the reason he decided to study medicine, but Bashir jokes he first decided to study tennis though he later found out he was better at medicine. She laughs at him and there is a moment of silence as they gaze into each other's eyes. Melora suddenly breaks the silence and decides it's time to go. She has an early mission in the morning and wants to get some rest.
The next day, Dax is walking down the corridor on her way to meet with Melora. She presses her door chime but there is no response. She enters her quarters, but she isn't there either and isn't replying to her communication attempts. The computer tells Dax that Melora is on Docking Level 22, Section 14. When she arrives, she finds Melora on the floor; her supports have malfunctioned. She explains how she had come to the storage bay as she wanted to get an extra astrometric array for her upcoming mission but wasn't paying attention and fell.
In the infirmary, Bashir is tending to Melora's minor injuries. He tells her they aren't serious, though she'll have to postpone her mission to the Gamma Quadrant until tomorrow. She is upset with herself, saying that, if she had just paid attention, she would have been fine. Bashir explains to her that, in space, no one is completely independent; they all must depend on each other to some degree.
When she is fit to leave, Bashir escorts Melora to her quarters. As they are walking down the corridor, he comments on some work Nathaniel Teros did thirty years ago, regarding low-gravity species. Melora recognizes his work, but discounts it as not having any practical success though Bashir thinks the principle was sound and, with modern advances, she may be able to walk in "normal" gravity in the future. As they arrive at her quarters, Melora asks him if he would like to come in. Initially hesitant, Bashir declines to allow her some time in low-gravity, but Melora invites him in anyway. Disengaging the gravity, she flies out of her chair, doing a backwards somersault in the air while Bashir looks on in amazement. She asks him to join her and the two float into the air together where he thanks her for allowing him to experience it with her. As they hang in mid-air, Melora tells Bashir that the man in the photo is her brother, before they lean in and kiss each other.
Act Three
The arrives in the Gamma Quadrant with Dax and Melora onboard. As they lay in their course, Melora asks the computer if there are any Vulcan etudes on file then asks it to play something by Delvok. Dax confesses she doesn't see Delvok as a Vulcan, as there's too much emotion in his music, but Melora likes it. "It's pretty," she says. Turning to Dax, she asks if there is room for romance in Starfleet. Dax believes she has fallen for Doctor Bashir's "charming bedside manner". Melora laughs but, on a serious note, thinks their two species are completely different. Dax tells her, however, that she once knew a hydrogen-breathing Lothra who fell hopelessly in love with an Oxygene who were together for fifty-seven years, despite the fact they could only spend forty minutes a day in the same room as each other. Melora tells Dax of two Academy friends who got engaged, even though they were being assigned to different ships. They agree that "love across light years" through subspace is hard but, as Dax puts it, "Look at the alternative."
Back on the station, Quark has gone to see Odo about Kot, but he is surprised to hear the security chief is already aware of him. Odo explains how Kot has recently been released from a labor camp after the attempted hijacking of a shipment of Romulan ale, and Quark's name appears right next to his on the indictment. Quark maintains he had nothing to do with the hijacking itself and was only the "middle-man", though Odo believes he sold out Kot to avoid himself going to the labor camp. Quark tells Odo of Kot's plan to kill him, to which Odo can only smile at the prospect. He begs Odo to do something about it. "I'll do my job, Quark," he tells the Ferengi, who nods and leaves the security office. "…Unfortunately," mutters Odo.
In the infirmary, Bashir is working away when Melora enters. He explains to her that he has been going over Nathaniel Teros' neuromuscular adaptation theory and that he believes he can make it work for her. Melora is extremely excited with the prospect, so much so that she begins to laugh in elation. If it works, she may be able to walk without her servo controls and without the chair.
Act Four
A security deputy has brought Kot to the security office, where Odo is waiting for him. Kot asks if he has done something wrong. Odo replies that they both have something in common; they don't like Quark. However, he isn't prepared to let Kot kill him. He insists that he is not planning to kill Quark and their history is just that – history. Odo says, "You can tell a man's intentions by the way he walks," and, according to Odo, Kot walks like someone who's carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders. "It must be the memory of those Romulan bricks I carried for eight years," he replies. Odo knows he is up to something, but he has no reason to keep him and so allows Kot to leave, keeping a close eye on him as he does so. On the Promenade, Quark approaches Odo and asks what his opinion is of Kot. Odo admits he believes he is a man with nothing to lose and gives Quark a combadge so he can stay in contact with him at all times. He jokingly tells Quark that, if Kot does kill him, he would like to purchase a piece of his body, as per Ferengi tradition.
Back in the infirmary, Melora is laid down on a biobed while Bashir runs some tests on her. She describes a warm sensation down her back, the result of the neuromuscular therapy. The Doctor decides that she has had enough of the treatment for today. He asks her how she feels and if she can use any of her muscles in the "normal" gravity. At first, there is nothing, but as Bashir checks over his calculations, Melora begins to move her toes and then one of her legs. He ascertains her neural pathways are beginning to adapt and she may be able to begin walking within the hour.
In Ops, Sisko asks O'Brien for an update on an upgrade he's installing on the station. He reports he has been able to get it up to 70% of a standard EPS but is then interrupted mid-sentence by the sight of Melora standing by herself on the turbolift, standing beside Bashir. She approaches the commander with her first day's mission report. Sisko is noticeably happy for her but, as O'Brien jokes about Bashir getting his name in the medical journals, Melora begins to look unsettled and stumbles into Bashir. The doctor adjusts her servo controls to compensate as it is just the first day's treatment wearing off. Helping her back to the turbolift, the two of them head to the habitat ring.
In her quarters, Bashir explains that, with each progressive treatment, her muscles will get stronger, but unfortunately, she won't be able to use the room's low gravity field, or she could risk confusing her body's motor cortex. She begins to thank Bashir for all he's done, but he stops her. She let him fly for the first time, so he is repaying that by allowing her to walk. After giving her a kiss, he leaves, saying he'll see her in the morning.
Meanwhile, Quark has also gone to his own quarters. He enters with a drink in his hand and tells the computer to put on the lights, though nothing happens. At first, he thinks nothing of it, but soon realizes Kot may be in the room. Carefully placing his glass on a table, he makes his way back to the door. He tries to call Odo with the combadge he gave him, but Kot grabs him by the neck. Quark pleads for his life, offering Kot one hundred and ninety-nine bars of latinum, the profit he would get from the sale of the rings. "It's a start," Kot growls, releasing him.
Act Five
Bashir and Melora are in the infirmary. Melora complains at how every one of her muscles ached the night before, but Bashir says the effect will improve over time, and her next treatment should last for several hours. She seems happy but she misses experiencing low gravity and asks Bashir if she would be allowed to do it occasionally. Unfortunately, he is worried that if she did, she would experience a loss of fine motor control, meaning her ability to perform complex tasks would be affected. He reassures her that if she does change her mind, the effect is reversible for the next few days and all she has to do is say so.
Later on, she and Dax are on the Orinoco, resuming their cartography mission in the Gamma Quadrant. As she heads for the forward controls, she stumbles slightly, indicating her treatment is starting to wear off again. As she takes her seat, she explains to Dax how she is in two minds about the treatment. On the one hand, it would give her more freedom than she ever dreamed, but on the other, she wouldn't be able to go back to her homeworld for anything more than a short visit. Dax compares her situation to The Little Mermaid, an old Earth fable by Hans Christian Andersen. Melora asks if she lived happily ever after, but Dax remains silent.
On the station, Quark and Kot are meeting with Ashrock in an airlock. After the necessary introductions, Ashrock hands his bag of latinum to Kot while Quark hands over the rings. However, once Kot has finished checking the payment is there, he pulls out a weapon and shoots Ashrock in the chest. He quickly forces Quark to grab both the latinum and the rings and makes an escape down the corridor.
In the security office, Odo has been alerted to the weapons fire and orders a security team to that section, but when they arrive, they are fired on by Kot who heads down another corridor, where Dax and Melora are just disembarking from their runabout. He forces them back inside and orders them to depart the station.
In Ops, Sisko, Kira and O'Brien are tracking the runabout as it leaves the pad. The commander orders a tractor beam to be locked onto the ship as he opens a channel to Kot. He instructs him to return to the station immediately but there is no reply. The tractor beam is engaged, and the runabout comes to a halt. Kot orders Dax to open a channel to the station and demands that Sisko release them, or he will kill a hostage. Sisko offers to negotiate but Kot stops him, mid-sentence. He turns to Quark but then changes his mind and shoots Melora. A charge is sent tearing through her body as the servos overload. Bashir, who has just arrived in Ops, looks on helplessly as she falls to the deck. Kot orders him to release the tractor beam before closing the channel. Sisko then orders Kira to beam himself, O'Brien and Bashir onto the and wait ten seconds before releasing the tractor beam.
Back on the Orinoco, Kot commands Dax to take the runabout through the wormhole and into the Gamma Quadrant, with the Rio Grande in close pursuit. As Kot instructs Dax to go to warp, Melora quietly regains consciousness in the background. Kot asks if the phasers are online but Dax refuses to fire on the Rio Grande and, if he kills her, he won't be able to fly the ship himself. As she confronts him, Dax notices Melora crawling towards the transporter pad and buys her enough time to deactivate the gravity on the runabout. Kot floats into the air while Melora pushes off and slams him into the bulkhead.
On the Rio Grande, O'Brien is monitoring what is happening, reporting that the ship has dropped to impulse and the artificial gravity is offline. Sisko and Bashir immediately transport over after gravity has been restored to find that the situation has been contained and Kot apprehended.
Back on the station, Bashir and Melora are at the Klingon restaurant, talking. Bashir seems enthusiastic that her treatments will work but Melora has decided not to go ahead with them. Though she wants to be independent, she fears that if she continued with the treatments, she wouldn't be an Elaysian anymore. She thanks Bashir for getting her to realize she can depend on people. The Klingon chef then appears and begins to entertain everyone with a Klingon folk song. The couple sit and hold hands together as the chef weaves in and out of the tables. "I want to remember all of this," Melora smiles.
Memorable quotes
"Just passing through, are you? I bet you have business in the Gamma Quadrant. You always had a sharp eye for fresh territories."
"Oh, I'm not going to the Gamma Quadrant. My business is right here, with you."
"With me?"
"That's right. I've come to kill you, Quark"
- Quark and Fallit Kot
"My speech wasn't intended to attack you personally."
"I'm sure you never set out to attack anyone personally, but you do seem to attack a lot."
"That's rather insensitive of you, doctor."
"Julian. I'm no longer your doctor."
"I see! You've decided I need a friend."
"Ooh, was that an attack? You see, you do it so well, with such charm that it's hard to tell."
"I really don't mean to…"
"Sure you do."
"I beg your pardon!?"
"Of course, you mean to. All of these broad shots you fire, it's just your way of keeping the rest of the universe on the defensive. Has to be. You're too good at it."
"Well, it always seemed to work pretty well. Until now."
"Well, that's the nicest thing you've said to me. Or anybody else. Are you hungry? I came here thinking about asking you to dinner."
"Then afterwards, we'll go dancing, I suppose?"
"Oh, red alert."
- Julian Bashir and Melora Pazlar
"I'm sorry if I seem overly sensitive. But I'm used to being shut out of the 'Melora' problem. The truth is there is no 'Melora' problem. Until people create one."
- Melora to Sisko, in their first meeting
"I don't need a medical opinion to tell me my own capabilities…"
- Melora, defending her request to pilot the runabout alone
"I just want you all to know you can depend on me…"
"Okay, you've proven that… what do the rest of us have to do to convince you?"
"Of what?"
"That you can depend on us."
- Melora and Julian Bashir, on her determination to be completely independent
"Oh. It's you."
"Don't be so happy to see me!"
"Alright. I won't."
- Odo and Quark
"Well?"
"I'd say he's a man with nothing to lose."
"As opposed to me?"
"I have no reason to hold him for now and he knows it. I'll watch him the best I can, but I suggest you carry a comm badge with you at all times. Call me at the first sign of trouble."
"What if the first sign is the last sign?"
"You people sell pieces of yourself after you die, don't you?"
"Yes."
"I'll buy one."
- Quark and Odo
Background information
Story and script
A character like Melora Pazlar was initially to be Deep Space 9's science officer, because the producers liked the idea of a character who came from a low-gravity environment. However, due to the difficulty and expense of recreating the effect constantly, the character was replaced by the Trill Jadzia Dax. ()
Michael Piller preempted the writing of this episode by stating, "Before it's all over, we might see that character in an episode." () Indeed, the concept of doing an individual episode around such a "wheelchair officer" remained on the writers' storyboards. Evan Carlos Somers had become familiar with the concept when serving as a Writers Guild intern during Deep Space Nines first season. (; ) He was approached about using the character in a script, and it was clear to Somers, at that time, that the writers wanted the disabled character to be a guest star who would be a potential recurring character and possibly a romantic interest of Bashir's. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, No. 3/4, p. 109) When Somers was invited back to pitch stories in the second season, he was successful in reviving the concept by convincing the producers that he could provide insight into the character, as he himself used a wheelchair; "I didn't think I should let anyone else write this. I could bring some empathy to the character because I am disabled." (; )
After the story-breaking session, Somers gained some ideas and feedback from the writing staff, before going off to write the script. In particular, he wished to respond to the episode , in which Worf's spine is damaged, causing paralysis; "That episode had gotten a little under my skin. Even though Worf is an alien and it's just a TV show, everyone knows we're making statements with Star Trek. Messages and values are being broadcast loud and clear. I resented the message in 'Ethics' – that Worf is worthless now that he's disabled and therefore must kill himself. I'm sorry that the portrayal had to exist at all." Furthermore, Somers recalled that it was "unfortunate that anyone would think that way," regarding Worf's decision to kill himself. "I always thought it would be nice to create a disabled character who's accepted for what she is and doesn't have to change," he says. "The best way to do that on Deep Space Nine was to have Bashir find a cure for the disability, and for the character to turn it down. That was the real driving force behind my wanting to do this episode." ()
Additionally, Somers wanted to create a love interest for Bashir, which was partly down to Siddig El Fadil joking more than once, "When am I going to get a girlfriend?" Somers commented, "The producers had always thought the wheelchair officer would be a man, but I always thought of her as a woman. 'Zero-gravity sex with Bashir' was a prime element to the story in my mind. I also liked the idea that by falling in love with someone who isn't disabled, and having this cure presented to her concomitant to a growing love affair, maybe Melora is doing it for him. How can she turn this cure down? He loves her and he would never want to do anything wrong for her. But she didn't really think it out. In fact, she was surviving, and functioning very well, prior to her arrival on the station. Now, she's faced with a difficult assignment, but when she leaves, things are going to be OK again. She doesn't have to be cured, and she doesn't have to do it to please Bashir." ()
When Somers turned in his original draft, it wasn't received well by the writing staff. Somers blamed a decision he made while writing it; "I had previously committed to another project that started two weeks before, and I needed another week for it. I thought that since I turned out '' in a week-and-a-half, I could do 'Melora' in a week-and-a-half. That decision wasn't the best one to make." Ira Behr then called Somers to inform him that a rewrite wouldn't take place. However, Steven Baum did decide to take a shot at it, but the producers still weren't satisfied. ()
Michael Piller and James Crocker then worked on a third version of the script. In doing so, Piller believed the original story, that was fleshed out in the breaking session, was flawed and very difficult to write, though he did attempt to stick to the basic concept, as Somers later recalled; "He told me I turned in a competent, workman-like draft, but occasionally my problem was that I wasn't giving him the character depth needed. But Michael still commended me and said he stayed very true to my story in his rewrite." ()
Changes made from the original draft include:
The scene where Melora meets Sisko for the first time – the commander originally came down the steps from his office to greet Melora, who didn't have the benefit of the servo-mechanisms to help her walk. Of the change, Somers commented, "I wanted her to roll up to the steps in her wheelchair, and they would have their meeting elsewhere. That would be a realistic situation. I can't just turn on a servo system and climb stairs; if I have to meet or greet someone who's upstairs, they have to come down to me. I really wanted that scene left in because it would have heightened the station's inaccessibility. What is it like for Melora to be unable to access all areas of the station? Piller did hit those beats in his rewrite, but he did it differently. He had her trip over the raised doorways and complain about the station design." ()
The scene in which Quark's old enemy, Fallit Kot (originally named "Megzie Del"), turns up to kill him was originally much longer. Somers had him "psychologically toying with Quark, terrifying him. Megsy was going to kill Quark by using the Ceti eels introduced in , but this variety didn't cause mental vulnerability for mind control […] Megsy had Quark pinned and he was going to insert the creatures in Quark's ears. I thought that would be a fitting, torturous end for someone who had caused eight years of suffering. But in the aired version, Fallit Kot just strangles Quark. It's not quite titanic enough." ()
The climactic scene in which Quark's old enemy, Fallit Kot, takes hostages originally occurred in the cargo bay, not the runabout. O'Brien figured out a way to switch out portions of the gravity, and when he sees the hostage crisis develop, he turned off the gravity. In the ensuing fight, Melora was wounded. Somers admitted this change had enhanced the story; "Piller strengthened it by having her get shot, but not die, and having the chase in the runabouts." ()
Odo was the subject of a scene which didn't survive the script rewrite stage. "There was a party in Quark's Bar where everyone congratulated Melora on completing her mission and utilizing Bashir's cure," Somers explained. "Odo was disdainful of the whole event, and he thought Melora lost something magical in accepting the cure. He ended up voicing what Melora and Dax discuss later, which might have made it a little more obvious. But I think her decision not to go on with the cure comes across pretty clear, even without the Odo scene." ()
Melora's chair was initially to have utilized the anti-grav technology that has been a part of Star Trek since , and the chair from was to be pulled out of storage and remodeled. However, the chair had originally been designed with the larger set of the in mind and it was quickly realized that it would not be practical in the relatively small Deep Space Nine corridor sets. As a result, the script was revised to establish that Cardassian technology was incompatible with Federation anti-grav technology and that Melora was provided with a simplified 21st century wheelchair design, which production could create by adding elements to a present-day wheelchair. (The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, p. 108)
Somers experienced many of the same problems that Melora had on set. During Somers' tenure working at Deep Space Nine, he had worked in an older office building that was initially rampless and had what Somers described as "one of the world's smallest elevators." These experiences further inspired the chair's design. As Somers later explained, "So Bashir has to replicate a much simpler wheelchair for her and she encounters all the problems that I did whenever I went down to the DS9 set to snoop around." ()
Jim Martin designed Melora's exoskeleton; "I started with a basic framework for her limbs. The producers didn't want any chest or waist pieces. They just wanted it to be around her arms, her neck, and her legs. And they didn't want regular hinges, because hinges aren't futuristic enough. So [Senior llustrator] Rick Sternbach designed an expanding and contracting kind of hinge, something that pulls in rather than rotate, that I incorporated into my drawings. But the metallic bands kept popping off, once right in the middle of a scene. Joe Longo never let me forget it!" ()
The final script described Melora as "a cool, professional young woman in her mid- to late-20s […] Although her face is a mask, the extraordinary pressure from gravity is apparent in every move she makes." Additionally, of the last scene, where the Klingon chef serenades his customers; "… it's esque… the sort of thing would have sung to if they were Klingons…"
Also, according to the script, Melora's conversation with the Klingon chef translates as follows :
"You call this live?"
"What's your problem, lady?"
"This slop you call food is the problem."
"If you don't like it, don't eat it."
"I want to see the blood running through the veins!"
"I like a customer who knows what she wants!"
Production and effects
Set Decorator Laura Richarz purchased the chair, which was revamped by Property Master Joe Longo. Longo remembers how the production crew decided to keep the wheelchair as simple as possible, recalling that he, "…added a control panel and some wheel covers to block out the spokes in the wheels, and changed the joystick. Basically we tried to keep it as simple as possible, because of our experience on 'Too Short a Season'. We had made a big albatross of a moving chair for that, and it was bad. But this one worked great; the actress drove it everywhere." ()
Director Winrich Kolbe recounts the difficulties of filming Melora's wheelchair on set; "Obviously there are a lot of thresholds on the station that had to be removed. We put ramps in the set, and it was a pain in the neck, because it's not easy to maneuver a wheelchair even under prime conditions. But going up ramps and making left turns and right turns in these corridors, well…[sighs]" ()
Series producer David Livingston recalls the difficulties in doing the low gravity scene; "We had a lot of discussions about it. We did a lot less flying than we wanted to because we knew we couldn't pull it off on a television schedule. We used a digital wire-removal process that takes away the wires, and it was very successful, but it's also expensive and time consuming. It's hard enough when people are standing on the ground to shoot them, so when you have them flying around in the air and kissing and hugging, it's tough. But [director Winrich] Kolbe is very technically grounded, and the optical effects people were always there with him to make sure it came out." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 64)
Director Winrich Kolbe further explains the low gravity scene; "I think it turned out to be rather good, considering the technical difficulties we had. If I like to shoot at three hundred and sixty degrees, I also like to have everybody fly like real birds. The problem is that in episodic television you just don't have enough time to do that. The state of the art right now is kind of difficult to do because it's a very time-consuming affair. We did it with wires, no mirrors. The unfortunate thing is that I only had two rods to support the wires, so I had to decide, 'Which way do I want her to fly?' Basically straight or it would have required a totally different rig. The rigs that we had were used in . It was basically a situation where you could fly one way and then the opposite way, and that was about it. It was difficult to figure out what we could do so that it didn't just look like somebody going up and down. The image of Peter Pan going across the stage with one leg cocked and the other leg straight always went through my mind, and I said, 'Oh, God, we can't do that.' We had the stunt coordinator there, and the actress, Daphne Ashbrook, did quite well. She was terrific. She was a good sport and didn't chicken out. One of the most enthusiastic actresses I've ever seen and a damn good actress in addition to that." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 64)
Practical Special Effects Supervisor Gary Monak and Stunt Coordinator Dennis Madalone created their own mechanical rig for the scene. Monak believed it was "physically easier to get the action the director wanted" than by using one of the many available electrical flying rigs. He further commented that, in the past, flying rigs had required a wire that was "just fine enough for the camera not to see, but strong enough to hold an actor." However, with the technology available to remove wires in post-production, this simplified things for them. The rig ended up remaining in place until the beginning of Season 5, just in case the writers decided to bring back Melora. It had to be taken down when the engineering set was deemed to be taking up too much space in the swing-set area and so took the place of the rig. ()
The job of removing the wires fell to Glenn Neufeld and David Takemura at Video Image. Takemura recalls the problems involved; "We had to paint out the wires, frame by frame. It wound up being fairly complex, because sometimes the wires got pretty close to the actor's faces." ()
Actor Siddig El Fadil (Doctor Bashir) labeled the low-gravity scene "great fun," although the harness he had to wear was "like a steel bathing suit." He further commented, "It has to be incredibly tight because when you're upside down, you tend to slip out. So they actually put their foot up on your spine and pull the strings tight, literally like an old-fashioned corset." Of the kissing scene, he said, "It was hard to be romantic, kissing somebody longingly, like in some old movie, while you're spinning slightly and you don't know where you're going and you bump into each other's head." ()
For the photo of Melora with her brother, Dan Curry took a photo of the two actors and then one of Santa Susanna mountains at the west end of the San Fernando Valley and composited the two shots using a Photoshop program. After all the effort he put in, the photo was only visible on screen for two or three seconds, though Curry didn't mind, commenting, "Some of our shots may easily represent thousands of man-hours. But the audience recognizes the attention to detail. We always feel like 'good enough' doesn't cut it." ()
Because she was to be involved in a romantic relationship that had to be believable for Bashir, the producers wanted Melora to have a strange-looking forehead but wanted no extensive makeup below her eyes. Therefore, the makeup department designed an enhanced forehead device that ran from the ridge of her nose and stopped there. They also used a blond wig with a receded hairline to allow for the forehead appliance. (Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts, p. 152)
The makeup department created Kot's mouth ridge using durable rubber that looked and moved like a piece of flesh. It is considered by them to be one of the more unique designs seen in Deep Space Nine. (Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts, p. 152)
Continuity
This episode marks the first appearance of the Klingon restaurant on the series.
Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #16 ("A deal is a deal")
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
Reception
Writer Evan Carlos Somers, who wrote the original script, believed some of the changes made in rewrites were largely stereotypical, something he had wanted to avoid; "I resist the idea that a disabled person can't just integrate into the environment […] I liked the idea that the regulars, for a brief moment, would be the problem by misinterpreting Melora's needs and falling over themselves to help. They didn't have to come out looking dumb and awkward; I would never have written it that way. But in the beginning I wanted them to be more of the problem than Melora, and she would react to them. Unfortunately, it was reversed into classic stereotype." Of Winrich Kolbe's direction, he said, "I had a problem with portions of it. I don't agree with how low-key Fallit Kot was. He was controlling a seething fury, but it never came out. I wanted to see some rage! And I never got the sense that Quark was as afraid of this guy as he should have been." Somers was also critical of the scene where Melora gets shot; "…the camera just dollies in on [Bashir]. I had Bashir scream, 'No!' He's in love with her and had zero-gravity sex with this woman. That's unforgettable! It wasn't just another one-nighter with a Bajoran woman. He should have cried out in rage and pain, because he saw Melora's death. Of course, she isn't really dead, but Bashir didn't know that. A dolly-in wasn't enough. Let's see some acting!" When Bashir discovers she is in fact alive, Somers thought it lacked emotion; "Melora's alive.' I wanted more reaction. I wanted the doctor to be overjoyed that she had not died. Then, when he beams aboard and rushes to her aid, I wanted a comment to the effect that he was glad she wasn't dead. Plus, I didn't like Dax's cool demeanor when she refused to fire on the other Runabout. She just said 'No' and smiled with this do-it-yourself look. I wanted more loyalty, more fear, more connection, more worry and concern." Though Somers was critical of some elements of the finished episode, he was fond of one scene in particular; "When Fallit Kot and Quark face this guy called Ashrock, who was making a deal with Quark for some gold bands, there were three rubber faces talking to each other. There wasn't a Human among them. I know that sometimes puts people off of the series. I hear people saying, 'It's so alien, who do I grab onto?' But I like that. It's diversity. I like the characterizations and the richness of Deep Space Nine." ()
Overall, Michael Piller liked the episode; "This was not an easy show to write. The script probably went through five or six rewrites. I was quite proud of what I wrote in that script because it turned out to be a delightful little show. And the interesting thing about it is that I knew, even when it was over with, that it had no real story to it. It had no real drama, but I thought there was a true romance going on between the actors on stage. It came through on film and I just thought that Daphne [Ashbrook] gave a wonderful performance. The result was a charming episode, a slice of life for Bashir, and I thought it was a warm episode." However, he was unhappy with how the installment's B-story turned out; "It was always there because we needed to put these people in jeopardy. But the B-story was a struggle. We never quite knew what it was going to be. The first-draft story had terrorists or something. We did whatever was necessary to bring the two stories together. Everything about that story did not work, including the fact that we were doing a story where an alien has to eat, which becomes a pivotal scene where he's feeding, and makeup designed this big kind of handle across his mouth so he couldn't eat. We had to kind of shove the food down his mouth. It was hilarious. We cracked up during dailies."(Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 64-65)
Ira Behr thought it was time for a Bashir episode; "We needed a love story for Bashir. We wanted to continue showing the audience why we were investing so much in Bashir, because we just thought it was a character who had a lot of things going for him, and I know there has been some resistance to him, which is just ridiculous. We wanted to do a strong show for him, and I thought it was a nice story. I loved the Klingon restaurant." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 64)
Director Winrich Kolbe said of the episode, "It was more of a romantic little story between two people. Siddig is a wonderful actor and is the type to fall in love with a flying woman. It's a little more restricted because it's a character piece." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 64)
Daphne Ashbrook, who portrayed Melora Pazlar, compared the whole experience of working on Deep Space Nine to that of Doctor Who, saying, "It was another family to be part of." She prepared for the role by taking a wheelchair to a local shopping mall. Commenting on the experience, she said, "Everything's an obstacle and also nobody looks at you. I think because people are uncomfortable and they don't know what to do."
The score for this episode is one of composer Dennis McCarthy's favorites; "Melora' was one of the most romantic scores that I've had the chance to write and I really enjoyed it. I made it more ethereal than usual, with less horns, letting the woodwinds play in the lighter areas while I tried to ignore that the station was continually rumbling." ()
Composer Daniel Lopatin () is a fan of the episode. Lopatin commented: "I was mostly into science fiction literature as a kid and some shows like Star Trek: TNG and Deep Space Nine. I liked the metaphysical quandary aspect as a kid as most kids do. There's a great DS9 episode about a woman from a zero-gravity planet who is otherwise handicapped in the high gravity environment aboard Deep Space Nine. It poses a lot of emotional questions about notions of abnormality. It's stuff like that which makes those shows so great".
Authors Mark Jones and Lance Parkin wrote of this episode, "A fairly straightforward episode that demonstrates why Melora shouldn't have been a regular character – despite the intentions of the script, she's little more than a gimmick, and saves the day because of that gimmick." (Beyond the Final Frontier, p. 195)
In The New Trek Programme Guide, the authors comment that: "as noted in the dialogue, ["Melora"] is a reworking of Hans Christian Andersen's mermaid tale that deals cleverly with issues regarding disability, and bravely ensures that Melora is as tough and flawed as any 'normal' character. Like the little mermaid she is only 'disabled' when out of her natural environment. It would have been very right-on to have had an Elaysian on board the Voyager". (The New Trek Programme Guide, p. 329)
Star Trek author Keith R.A. DeCandido gave this episode a poor review, writing that it was "pretty much a disaster on every front." DeCandido felt that the original premise of the crew bending over backwards to help Melora would have been much more interesting than the finished episode and criticized Pazlar's character for being "defensive and argumentative from jump, constantly questioning orders." DeCandido also deplored Peter Crombie's performance as Kot, noting he "utterly fails to be convincingly menacing", though praised Daphne Ashbrook's performance, writing that "with the material she has to work with, she handles both the character’s snarkiness and her joy […] skillfully, and she and el-Fadil have fine chemistry." Overall, he called the episode a "train wreck", awarding it a "warp factor rating" of 3/10.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 13,
As part of the Japanese LaserDisc box set Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Second Season Vol. 1, PILF-2323,
US LaserDisc release (two-episode discs): Disc 13, LV40510-425,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest stars
Daphne Ashbrook as Melora Pazlar
Peter Crombie as Fallit Kot
Don Stark as Ashrock
Co-Star
Ron Taylor as Klingon Chef
Uncredited co-stars
Majel Barrett as Federation Computer Voice
Ivor Bartels as a Human security officer
Ivy Borg as Rita Tannenbaum
Tracee Lee Cocco as Antican
Judi Durand as Station Computer Voice
Mark Lentry as a Human command lieutenant
David B. Levinson as Broik
Chad McCord as operations ensign
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Unknown performers as
Green-skinned alien with beaked face
Markalian
Melora's brother (photograph)
Three Pakleds
Two dabo girls
Stunt doubles
Tom Morga as stunt double for Peter Crombie
Patricia Tallman as stunt double for Daphne Ashbrook
References
21st century; 2220; 2340; 2351; 2362; ability; acetylcholine; airlock; ; anti-grav unit; architect; Ashrock's ship; astrometric array; baby fat; backside; Bajoran wormhole; ; ; Bashir's first tennis opponent; bedside manner; birthplace; boyfriend; breathing apparatus; brick; business partner; buyer's remorse; cane; Cardassians; career; cargo lift; centimeter; chief science officer; concussion; dabo; dabo girl; dance; data bank; day; degree (angle); Deep Space 9 levels; deep space assignment; Delvok; diplomat; Earth; Elaysians; Elaysian homeworld; Elaysians who left home; engagement; ensign; étude; fable; Federation; Ferengi death ritual; freedom; Gamma Quadrant; garlanic tree; gladst; gold-pressed latinum; gravity generator; ; heart; hot tub; husband; hydrogen; indictment; intimacy; Invernia II; Invernian; Invernian girl; Invernian herb; ionic storm; ; jumbo Vulcan mollusk; Klingon; Klingon restaurant; Klingon language; ; Lothra; Lothra lover; low-gravity species; mattress; maximum vertical clearance; medical journal; middleman; ; mission profile; motor cortex/gross motor cortex; neural pathway; neurochemistry; neuromuscular adaptation; ; Oxygene; Oxygene lover; Paltriss; Pazlar's classmates; Promenade; Quark's; racht; ramp; red alert; replicator; Rhombolian butter; Rings of Paltriss; ; Romulan; Romulan ale; Rules of Acquisition; runabout; sector; senior officer; servo controls; shower; slope; Starfleet; Starfleet Academy; subspace communication; tanned; tennis; tensile strength; ; toast; tractor beam; trafficking; transporter; traveler; trolley car; Vak clover soup; Vulcan; walk; work of art; ; Yridian; Yridian homeworld; zilm'kach
External links
de:Das "Melora"-Problem
es:Melora
fr:Melora (épisode)
nl:Melora
DS9 episodes |
866 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Rules of Acquisition (episode) | Grand Nagus Zek assigns Quark to initiate negotiations with a planet in the Gamma Quadrant, but Quark's new associate is not what he seems.
Summary
Teaser
In Quark's, a group of Ferengi are playing a late-night game of tongo – as is Lieutenant Jadzia Dax. She informs Quark and his friends that Curzon used to play the game, but she is a better player than Curzon ever was. One of the newer waiters, , makes a profitable suggestion to Quark during the game and introduces him to sand peas, which he says Quark can use to double beverage profits. While Rom is threatened, Quark is impressed, but before the conversation can continue, an alarm goes off to indicate a subspace communication on Grand Nagus Zek's personal channel. The Nagus offers Quark the chance to make "more profit than you ever dreamed of" – all he has to do is earn it.
Act One
Zek is seated in Commander Sisko's office, accompanied by his Hupyrian servant Maihar'du. Zek offers Hupyrian beetle snuff to Sisko and Major Kira, but they both decline. Zek announces that he has made contact with a species from the Gamma Quadrant called the Dosi and plans to hold a business meeting with them aboard Deep Space 9, but Sisko and Major Kira warn Zek not to cheat their guests. As a goodwill gesture, Zek attempts to make another deal by selling Bajor 50,000 kilos of brizeen nitrate, something Bajor could very well use, at a reduced rate. With the purpose, Sisko suggests making it a gift instead, and Zek then compliments his negotiating skills and agrees.
With Maihar'du at his side and Quark at his feet taking his shoes off, Zek explains that tulaberries and tulaberry wine are the secret to the Gamma Quadrant. He claims they will help the Ferengi Alliance get its foot in the Gamma Quadrant, making it the greatest deal in Ferengi history, and Quark instantly takes to the idea.
However, when Quark goes back to the bar and tells his brother Rom about the new proposal, Pel quotes from the Rules of Acquisition: "The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife." The young waiter seems to think Zek is setting Quark up in case the deal falls through. Over Rom's objections, Quark takes Pel on as his assistant for the negotiations for 20% of the profits. He sends Rom to serve tables, instead.
Pel is pleased with the outcome and, back in his quarters, removes a pair of synthetic lobes (Ferengi females have smaller lobes than males) and uniform, revealing Pel is actually female.
Act Two
The Dosi turn out to be an extremely aggressive people. On first contact with station crew and the Ferengi delegation, the first thing they see is one of the Dosi thrown onto the station during a "minor disagreement" that occurred between themselves just prior. At the meeting with two Dosi named Inglatu and Zyree, Quark, with Pel by his side, opens the deal by buying 10,000 vats of wine with some equipment. However, the Dosi are insulted they are not talking to Zek himself, and offer 5,000 vats instead. Pel helps Quark emphasize the deal and the fact that Zek wanted Quark to represent him. Inglatu eventually says he'll think about the 10,000 vats.
Meanwhile, Maihar'du silently presents Kira a gift from Zek in Ops. He leaves before she realizes what it is and refuses, but Dax says it's nice. Dax has a kinder opinion of Ferengi than Kira does, and Kira makes it known she does not understand why. Dax says she actually enjoys herself around Ferengi more than any other race, thinking through her past lifetimes, even though she admits their primitive attitude toward women and extreme focus on profit. However, she notes that once one accepts this, the species can be quite enjoyable to be around.
It's another night of tongo, now with Zek playing. There is more of the typical jostling, but Zek challenges Quark on the deal. Quark doesn't mention he has, so far, failed to acquire the 10,000 vats of wine that Zek requested, but before he can tell him the bad news, the Nagus decides he wants 100,000 vats instead. While Quark seems to believe this is impossible, Pel compliments Zek on his decision, since it will let them know they mean business. Quietly, Pel now reason to suspect he wants the negotiations to fail. Away from the table to get Zek more tube grubs, Pel encourages Quark, with complete loyalty and faith in him. Quark is glad to meet such a partner.
After the game, Dax meets up with Pel at the replimat. She's observed there's something different about Pel from other Ferengi, for example, the loyalty shown to Quark. Dax admits that, in a certain way, she kind of loves Quark, and Pel does, too. Dax pushes that observation, and then Pel admits she is actually female and for Dax to keep her voice down. Quark arrives and brings Pel for negotiations, leaving Dax to ponder Pel's situation.
Act Three
Zek is having a drink on the upper level of the Promenade looking at women walking by with Maihar'du. Kira comes to return his gift, though at first he supposes she wants to thank him for the nitrate. Also refusing his offer of a night of "wild passionate romance" she hands him the gift and leaves, but not before getting a tap on her rear again. Quark and Pel take her place, reporting that the Dosi have left without signing the contract. Just as Zek erupts at Quark for the failure, though, Pel intervenes, announcing a plan to take the Nagus' ship to the Gamma Quadrant and pursue the Dosi. Quark follows the lead and says he'll pilot the ship.
On the way to the Gamma Quadrant, Quark wonders aloud why Zek insisted on so many vats, and the possibility that he is purposefully sabotaging the deal. Pel doesn't think so, but does believe Zek knows more than he is letting on. Quark says he's glad to have Pel as his consultant, which makes Pel quite happy. Pel tries to say something to him, but Quark interjects, thinking Pel wants more than 20% of the profits, but he will not change that arrangement.
Meanwhile, Rom is tending the bar and is becoming frustrated about Pel's partnership with him. Odo comes to him to inquire about Quark's whereabouts, but Rom doesn't know. After a quick exchange about not letting someone come between family, Rom gets the idea to go through Pel's quarters. He turns it upside down, and eventually finds the synthetic lobes. He's stunned at realizing Pel is actually female and at the same time pleased now he has something to use against her.
Act Four
Quark and Pel reach the Dosi homeworld and travel to some common area, finding several acts of brawls, deals and disagreements among the various inhabitants. Zyree finds them and explains that the Dosi are very serious about profit. They find Inglatu, and Quark reiterates his demand for 100,000 vats of tulaberry wine. Inglatu continues to refuse until Quark declares that he does not plan to leave, and even overturns a barrel of some drink. He agrees to 10,000, but says 100,000 is impossible and leaves.
Quark and Pel stay the night, and obtain quarters. Now, Pel is very anxious about sleeping alone next to Quark, and tries to get out of it. Quark is exhausted, and wants to be near Inglatu in case he changes his mind. Pel stalls with a toast to Quark, but then falls into it and kisses Quark, obviously having fallen in love with him. Just then, Zyree comes to their and reveals that neither Inglatu nor herself nor any Dosi can sell the Ferengi 100,000 vats of wine. Instead, she offers to put them in touch with the Karemma – an important member of something called the "Dominion" – for a price.
Finally, Quark and Pel realize the plan was not to buy wine but to get in contact with the Dominion. At the same time, Quark decides to forget about Pel's attempt to kiss him. They return to Deep Space 9, having bought no wine but with contact information about the Karemma. Zek is very pleased, and gives Quark a percentage of any future deals with them. Rom tries to interrupt with his newfound discoveries about Pel. After leaving Zek, he reveals this secret to Quark, his brother declares that it must remain a secret, as females are not allowed to earn profit and associating with a female like Pel would land him in prison. He faints near the dabo table from the possible consequences.
Act Five
Waking up in the infirmary, Quark makes sure Rom hasn't told anyone about Pel, and says it must be kept a secret. Rom wants to tell Zek, but Quark "convinces" him not to. He then goes to Pel and tells her to leave the station before he gets implicated in doing business with a female.
Pel has other ideas about the secret. During dinner between Zek, Rom and Quark, Pel barges in. She confronts the Nagus and reveals her true identity, to Quark and Rom's amazement. A "clothed female" disgusts Zek, and he threatens Quark with imprisonment until he realizes that he was represented by Pel as well. Zek allows Quark to go free so long as the secret remains secret, but it will cost Quark his Gamma Quadrant profits. Ultimately, Quark and Pel share a heartfelt goodbye, but Quark decides not to go with her when she leaves the station to start a new life.
Quark finds Dax sitting at the bar and offers another game of tongo, but Dax responds that Quark has lost enough today, referring to Pel. He feigns ignorance, but Dax says she knows him enough to know he misses her. She leaves, and Quark begins to lament his lost opportunities in both business and love.
Memorable quotes
"All right, Morn. You know the rules. No sleeping on the Promenade. Go home."
- Odo, finding Morn asleep outside Quark's
"Is that really how you prefer your women— naked and submissive?"
"You find such a lifestyle appealing?"
"Ah… don't you wish?"
"I do… I really do…"
- Jadzia Dax and Quark
"I don't plan on being a waiter forever."
"Good, then you're fired."
"Shut up, Rom."
- Pel, Rom, and Quark
"A little late, aren't we?!"
- Zek, after Maihar'du hands him a handkerchief several seconds after a long sneeze
"If you ever do that again…"
"Do what?"
"If you ever do that again, I'll stick those 50,000 kilos of brizeen right up your—"
"Here they come!" (An alien is thrown out and against the wall, then a large male with red skin and white decoration comes out.)
"Don't worry. Just a minor disagreement."
- Kira Nerys, Zek, Quark and Inglatu –
"You always know what to expect when you do business with the Ferengi."
"Which is why, if you're smart, you don't do business with the Ferengi."
"I think you've made your point, Major."
- Zek, Kira, and Sisko
"They're greedy, misogynistic, untrustworthy little trolls, and I wouldn't turn my back on one of them for a second."
"Neither would I. But once you accept that, you'll find they can be a lot of fun."
- Kira Nerys and Jadzia Dax, on Ferengi
"Actually, I just stopped by to return this."
"Why, is something wrong with it?"
"No, it's lovely, I just can't accept it."
"Then I suppose a night of wild, passionate romance is out of the question?"
"T— that's right."
"Just thought I'd ask!"
- Kira Nerys and Zek
"Who's the Karemma?"
"An important power in the Dominion."
"The Dominion? What's that?"
"Let's just say if you want to do business in the Gamma Quadrant, you have to do business with the Dominion."
- Pel, Zyree, and Quark
Background information
Story and script
This episode was originally to be titled "Profit Margin". It began life as a TNG pitch. Hilary J. Bader's original story had involved with Will Riker. Beverly Crusher would subsequently find out, and she and Pel would develop a kind of sisterhood. ()
In the The Birth of the Dominion and Beyond documentary on the DS9 Season 3 DVD, several of the writers give their views on the need to create a specific identity for the Gamma Quadrant:
Michael Piller: "I can remember that once we decided that we were going to go deeply into the wormhole, that we essentially were forcing ourselves to decide for ourselves what we were going to find there."
Ira Steven Behr: "We just felt that having done a year and a half of the show at that time, that we had such a rich backdrop that we hadn't yet explored. What's on the other side of the wormhole? Is it just more space?"
Robert Hewitt Wolfe: "We just felt it was time to give a face to the Gamma Quadrant. Voyager was going to be wandering through the Delta Quadrant from place to place, meeting new people every week, and we wanted to make the Gamma Quadrant distinctly different from that, by creating the Dominion, a sort of unifying anti-Federation in a way, just to give it a completely different character.
Of the creation of the Dominion, which at this stage was simply a name as the writers hadn't developed any definite plans yet, Ira Behr notes, "The existence of the Gamma Quadrant next door to Deep Space 9 would not help the series if it remained just unexplored space. They did three years of that on The Original Series, and seven years on The Next Generation. We needed to define that space." ()
Production
During the first television broadcast of this episode, the title was misspelled as "Rules of Aquisition". It was fixed by the time the episode reran later in the season.
Make-Up Designer Michael Westmore based the facial art of the Dosi on colorations found in the tribes of Borneo and the South Seas. (Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season 2, DS9 Season 2 DVD special features)
Among the items from this episode which were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay was Brian Thompson's costume.
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
Continuity
This episode marks the first on-screen appearance of a Ferengi female in Star Trek.
This episode marks the first time we see the game of tongo being played.
Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #21 ("Never place friendship above profit"), #22 ("A wise man can hear profit in the wind"), #33 ("It never hurts to suck up to the boss"), #48 ("The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife"), #59 ("Free advice is seldom cheap"), #62 ("The riskier the road, the greater the profit"), and #103 ("Sleep can interfere with…").
This episode hints at a general acceptance of homosexuality in the 24th century. When Pel confesses her love for Quark to Dax, Dax is perfectly at ease with it even though she believes Pel to be a man. It is only later that she learns (to her astonishment) that Pel is a woman.
On the bridge of Zek's ship there is a dome in the background that appears to be the lower half of the thought maker from .
This is the first episode to mention the Dominion. The Karemma are also mentioned for the first time. The decision to locate the initial mention of the Dominion in an otherwise inconsequential "comedy" episode was one which was very purposely taken by the writers to throw the viewers off. Of course, the Dominion would go on to be very important, in contrast to their inauspicious introduction in this episode. (The Birth of the Dominion and Beyond, DS9 Season 3 DVD special features)
No stardate is given in this episode but it obviously precedes the next episode (stardate 47282.5). In that episode Rom references the time Quark stayed "in the Gamma Quadrant overnight".
Reception
The producers were not entirely happy with how this episode turned out, calling it "over the top" and "unsubtle", while writer Ira Steven Behr says, "The tone was off in places. Parts of the episode became a bedroom farce and that's not how I'd envisioned it." For his part, director David Livingston regrets directing the Dosi comically and feels that he should have portrayed them as a race to be taken more seriously by the viewers. ()
Livingston also commented, "I personally felt that in "Rules of Acquisition" these aliens were just right for the episode. Because whatever anybody may say, I think it is a comedy. I keep being told we don't do comedy in Star Trek, but I think it was a comedy". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 65)
Michael Piller commented, "Sometimes less is more. One of the aliens looked like Joe Piscopo in a Saturday Night Live skit. The credibility is so important. You had to swallow that to get into that episode". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 65)
Actor Armin Shimerman is extremely proud of the fact that the first Alpha Quadrant race to make contact with the Dominion were the Ferengi.
Susan Sackett and Fred Bronson were surprised to see this episode after they had pitched a similar story idea to TNG about a female Ferengi posing as a male, which was ultimately discarded. They had subsequently read the same idea as one of multiple "clichés" that the TNG producers weren't interested in. Sackett never thought this episode was out-and-out plagiarism of her and Bronson's idea, so neither of them requested Writers Guild arbitration. (Inside Trek: My Secret Life with Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry, "Log Entry 37")
This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Series.
Remastered version
Remastered footage from the episode is featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 14,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Hélène Udy as
Brian Thompson as Inglatu
Max Grodénchik as Rom
Emilia Crow as Zyree
Tiny Ron as Maihar'du
Wallace Shawn as Zek
Uncredited Co-Stars
Ivor Bartels as operations officer
Ivy Borg as Rita Tannenbaum
Robert Coffee as Bajoran civilian
Jeannie Dreams as operations ensign
Kevin Grevioux as operations officer
Mark Lentry as command lieutenant
David B. Levinson as Broik
Dan Magee as command officer
Mary Mascari as Bajoran civilian
Susan McNabb as arguing Dosi
Robin Morselli as Bajoran civilian
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Unknown performers as
Arguing Dosi
Buck-toothed alien
Dosi group
Dosi quarrelers
Female sciences officer
Kobliad
Markalian
Two Pakleds
References
Andorian transport; assistant; Bajor; Bajoran; Bajoran earring; Bajoran wormhole; ; bedroom; brizeen nitrate; chief negotiator; consultant; crime; ; Dominion; Dosi; Dosi homeworld; Dosi homeworld sector; fainting; Ferengi; Ferengi history; Ferengi law; Ferenginar; fertilizer; fired; flaked blood flea; gambling; Gamma Quadrant; gesture; Gramilian sand peas; greedy; handkerchief; holosuite; Hupyrian beetle snuff; International Space Station; Karemma; Kibberian fire diamond; kilo; kiss; latinum; life in prison; lobe; lokar bean; mattress; misogynistic; negotiation skills; negotiation; northern peninsula; quote; optical data processor; percent; pinch; off; partner; planetary alliance; player; Promenade; Quark's; Replimat; ; Rules of Acquisition; snoring; spell; strip; subspace field modulator; subspace frequency; thigh; toast; tongo; trading consortium; troll; trust; tulaberry; tulaberry wine; vat; year
External links
de:Profit oder Partner!
es:Rules of Acquisition
fr:Rules of Acquisition (épisode)
nl:Rules of Acquisition
DS9 episodes |
867 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Necessary Evil (episode) | An attempt on Quark's life re-opens a five-year-old murder investigation.
Summary
Teaser
On Bajor, a lavishly dressed Bajoran woman named Vaatrik Pallra stands next to her window on a dark and stormy night. Quark is seated on a nearby couch as the two of them reminisce about the Cardassian Occupation. The woman reiterates that she did not kill her husband, although Constable Odo was convinced she did. It is clear Quark does not entirely believe the woman's claim, but he does not care. She hires the Ferengi to retrieve a box, the contents of which are not revealed, hidden in her husband's former shop aboard what is now Deep Space 9. Assuring her it will take a day or two at most, Quark leaves. After he is gone, a Bajoran man steps out from the shadows.
Act One
On DS9, as Odo goes about his daily routine, he commences recording a log.
"Commence station security log, stardate 47282.5. At the request of Commander Sisko, I will hereafter be recording a daily log of law enforcement affairs. The reason for this exercise is beyond my comprehension, except perhaps that Humans have a compulsion to keep records and lists and files – so many, in fact, that they have to invent new ways to store them microscopically; otherwise their records would overrun all known civilization. My own very adequate memory not being good enough for Starfleet, I am pleased to put my voice to this official record of this day. Everything's under control. End log."
Later that evening, Quark and Rom approach the former chemist's shop (now a storage area) cautiously on the darkened Promenade. Quark says he can break through the lock in twenty-five seconds, but Rom is able to do it in ten; he has used a desealing rod to break into the store room at Quark's on occasion while Quark was away. Although Quark accuses his brother of being a thief, Rom denies it. Once they are inside, Rom reveals that he has magnasite drop, which can instantly burn off the wall panel; Rom has had to use them to open Quark's latinum floor vault to store extra profits on good business days. Rom has been hoping that his ingenuity would finally earn his brother's trust, but the older Ferengi tells him never to touch anything in the bar again.
Quark takes out a small box from behind the wall panel, and he and Rom take it back to the bar. There Quark opens it to reveal a list of eight Bajoran names. Curious to find what they are, he tells Rom to fetch an imager before he reseals the box. However, while Rom is gone, the Bajoran man who was with Quark's employer emerges from the shadows, armed. The Ferengi immediately knows who sent the other man; their mutual employer knew Quark could not resist taking a peek. The man shoots Quark with a compressed tetryon beam and takes off with the list. Rom then comes back with the imager, sees his brother lying on the ground, and starts screaming for help.
Act Two
Doctor Bashir is now kneeling over Quark's unconscious body, attempting to resuscitate him, as Odo, Commander Sisko and Major Kira look on nearby. Quark is immediately taken to the infirmary, and Kira goes off to secure outgoing vessels as Sisko and Odo turn their attention to Rom. While the younger Ferengi seems upset by the apparent loss of his brother, Odo suspects Rom of killing Quark for ownership of the bar. Rom is unable to conceal his elation at the thought of finally getting his brother's bar, but then realizes that that quickly makes him a suspect. Sisko (apparently playing "good cop") speaks up in Rom's defense, saying that his son is good friends with Sisko's, and asks Rom, as a friend, to share anything he knows that might be helpful. Rom comes across with the truth about the list and Quark's mysterious employer on Bajor.
Rom then leads Odo to the ship's store, mentioning that the list was hidden during the Occupation, when the room was the chemist's shop. Odo looks at him sharply, and he flashes back five years as the doors open.
Odo, dressed in a nondescript civilian outfit, enters the chemist's shop, where Dukat, the Prefect of Bajor and the commander of Terok Nor, is seated behind a desk in someone else's office, in complete control and enjoying it. Dukat introduces himself to Odo and says that the owner of the shop, Vaatrik, has been found murdered. The standard Cardassian form of "justice" in such an event is to execute ten random Bajorans as an example to the real murderer. But Dukat, claiming that he prefers to be more merciful on this occasion, would rather find the real murderer. Odo has something of a reputation for integrity and is known for breaking up disputes between the Bajorans, so Dukat asks him to conduct the inquiry – since Bajoran witnesses and suspects are hardly likely to be open to a Cardassian officer. Odo is at first resistant to the idea of working for the Cardassians, but agrees for the sake of justice: Finding the guilty party is preferable to decimating ten innocent Bajorans.
Dukat introduces Odo to the prime witness, the victim's wife, Pallra, who hasn't shed a tear since her husband was murdered. Pallra says right away that she knows who killed her husband: a young woman with whom he was having an affair. The woman is still on the station, and she points out a young Kira having a solitary meal on the Promenade.
The flashback ends as Kira approaches Odo. The attempt on Quark's life, and the mention of the list, has brought Vaatrik's murder to both their minds.
Act Three
"Security log, stardate 47284.1. In this job, there is no unfinished business. This assault on Quark re-opens a five-year-old murder case that I've never, not for a moment, closed. Patience is a lost virtue to most; to me, an ally."
In his office, Odo is attempting to get Rom's mind off of his possibly becoming owner of his brother's bar, and the two of them review the events of the night before in an attempt to jog Rom's memory. Although the Ferengi is unable to remember any of the complete names, he believes the first one started with "Ches'so". Odo gives the name to Kira, who goes to investigate as Odo enters another flashback.
Odo approaches a seated Kira in an attempt to seem casual; however, his behavior and lack of experience make it all too obvious that he is a security officer. Kira denies having had an affair with Vaatrik; in fact, she was transferred to the station from the surface after hitting a supervisor who made sexual advances towards her. When Odo asks her for an alibi, Kira says she was in the bar, trying to find work. Odo is a little frustrated at her reticence, and insists that he is not on anyone's side, especially not Dukat's. She rejoins that he will have to pick a side (Cardassian or Bajoran) eventually.
On Bajor, Odo interviews Mrs. Vaatrik in her home, which, in sharp contrast to the time of Quark's visit, is now brightly lit and sumptuously decorated. She claims to be ignorant of any list, or of the attempt on Quark's life. Odo asks whether the name "Ches'so" means anything to her, and she says no. As he is leaving he compliments her on the elegance of her home, then mentions that records show her power had recently been cut off for lack of payments, yet now she is living well again. With a smile, she states that she has received gifts of money from an acquaintance, whose identity she can't reveal. Odo, leaves and a distressed look crosses her face.
Act Four
"Security log, supplemental. The Ferengi holds onto life like it's gold-pressed latinum. Maybe he just doesn't want his brother to get the bar, or maybe he knows he's the only real witness I have."
Dr. Bashir is unsure if Quark will live. Major Kira stops by the Infirmary to tell Odo that she thinks she has identified the "Ches'so" he is looking for: a mining engineer named Ches'sarro Seeto, who traveled to the station frequently during the Occupation and has since been very active for charities benefiting Bajoran war orphans. The bad news is, Ches'sarro is dead – he drowned in a pond at his home the night before. Odo realizes that Mrs. Vaatrik had Ches'sarro killed as soon as he mentioned the name "Ches'so" to her. Realizing that Mrs. Vaatrik knows from him that Quark is still alive, he stations a security guard in the infirmary around the clock. Looking at the still-unconscious Quark, Odo enters another flashback.
As he enters Quark's and finds the Ferengi, Odo once again tries to be casual and discreet, and once again is unable to hide his role and connection to Dukat. When Odo asks him to confirm Kira's alibi, Quark insinuates that Kira was performing a sexual favor for him the night before, as an added "incentive" for him to hire her. But from what he gathered earlier, Odo knows Kira would not do this. Confronted with the truth, Quark admits that Kira paid him to provide her with an alibi.
Odo finds Commander Sisko and Lieutenant Dax sitting at a table in Quark's, and informs them that he has reconstructed the list from Mrs. Vaatrik's communications logs and bank records: eight people, who had no previous contact with her, suddenly began talking to her extensively after the list was stolen, and each of them has transferred 100,000 Bajoran litas into her bank account. The three of them reach the same conclusion: the men on the list were collaborating with the Cardassians during the Occupation and emerged from the Occupation very rich men; with the list, Mrs. Vaatrik has been blackmailing them. Odo admits that he doesn't have enough evidence to charge her with a crime, but he gets permission from Sisko to bring her from Bajor to the station in for questioning. Meanwhile, the man who earlier tried to kill Quark looks on intently and follows Odo out of the bar.
Act Five
"Nobody ever had to teach me the justice trick. That's something I've always known. A racial memory from my species, I guess. It's really the only clue I have to what kind of people they are. Are these kinds of thoughts appropriate for a Starfleet log? I don't care. There's no room in justice for loyalty or friendship or love. Justice, as the Humans like to say, is blind. I used to believe that. I'm not sure I can anymore."
In his office, Odo flashes back again.
In the security office, Kira admits that she lied about her alibi but swears that she didn't kill Vaatrik. Odo demands to know where she was, then, and she admits that she is a member of the Bajoran Underground and was part of a team that planted a bomb in the ore processing section of the station. She begs him not to expose her, saying that she will be executed by the Cardassians. Just then, Dukat enters, demanding to know whether or not Kira is guilty. Realizing that he has to choose a side, Odo does not expose Kira, but simply informs Dukat that he is satisfied she did not commit the murder, and she is free to go. Dukat grabs her by the arm and warns Odo about lying of her involvement in Vaatrik's murder. Odo responds by telling Dukat that if he knows as much about him as he says he does, Dukat should know that he never lies. Dukat releases his hand from Kira, and she leaves.
Mrs. Vaatrik's assassin enters the infirmary with a bouquet of flowers and uses them as a cover to stab the guard Odo has posted there in his chest. Approaching Quark's body, he turns off the Ferengi's life support monitor and then starts to smother him with a pillow. Rom enters the room, and, seeing the attempted murder of his brother, begins screaming at the top of his lungs. The assassin throws Rom aside and tries to run, but is stopped at the door to the infirmary by Odo and his deputies. Odo restrains the assassin and summons Bashir to the infirmary. Rom is still screaming, and Odo tells him he can stop, he has heroically saved his brother's life. Rom appears pleased for a moment, only to realize he has now lost possession of the bar, causing him to start screaming again. On the infirmary bed, Quark has just regained consciousness and gives a small but triumphant smile.
In the brig, Mrs. Vaatrik is brought to view the assassin, and calmly states that she's never seen him before. Odo and Kira say that her communications records and bank transfer statements tell a different story. Vaatrik says she wants her advocate, and Odo locks her in a cell next to the assassin's while she is waiting. Mrs. Vaatrik defiantly says that no matter what else Odo thinks she may have done, Odo can't prove that she killed her husband because she didn't. To Kira's surprise, Odo replies, "I know."
Outside in the security office, Odo confronts Kira with what he has figured out: Vaatrik himself must have been a collaborator, or else he wouldn't have had a list of names hidden in his office. Dukat could not risk exposing his other contacts on Bajor by investigating Vaatrik's murder himself, which is why he recruited Odo to do it. Also he knows that Vaatrik's wife wouldn't have killed him, since he was the one keeping her in luxury. All this means that the people with the strongest reason to want him dead would have been the Underground. Kira admits that another resistance fighter sabotaged the ore processor, while she was sent to Vaatrik's shop. She was not sent to kill him, but to find the list, knowing that Vaatrik was Dukat's liaison with his network of collaborators. She was searching the shop when Vaatrik surprised her, forcing her to kill him.
Odo asks her why she didn't tell him the truth, even after the Cardassians left and he stopped working for them. Kira says she couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth, for fear the incident would affect their friendship. He tells her that it may not, but when Kira asks him if he'll ever be able to trust her in the same way again, Odo falls silent.
Log entries
Security log, Deep Space 9
Memorable quotes
"She sent you, didn't she?"
"She knew you wouldn't be able to resist taking a look. Sorry."
"Yeah, me too." (gets shot)
- Quark and Trazko
"Help! Somebody help! My brother's been killed!"
- Rom, after he finds Quark on the floor
"I've had my eye on you for a long time, Rom. You're not as stupid as you look."
"I am, too!"
- Odo and Rom
"Rom, as a friend, if you know anything that might be useful, I think you should tell us."
"…There was a list. The man who shot my brother stole a list."
"What kind of list?"
"Of names. Eight Bajoran names. It was in this box we… we found."
"Found?"
"In a manner of speaking."
"(growling) You…"
- Sisko, Rom, and Odo
"I really oughta be getting back to my bar."
"He's not dead yet, Rom!"
"They're not keeping him alive by artificial means, are they? My brother wouldn't want that."
"No, he's clinging to life all on his own."
"Typical."
- Rom and Odo
"All right, let's try again. Close your eyes, take a deep breath… clear your mind of anything in it… if there's anything there… breathe… breathe… now, what do you see?"
"The bar."
"Yes?"
"With my name on it!"
- Odo, trying to spark Rom's memory, and Rom
"Pretty girl like you shouldn't be eating alone"
"I don't do whatever it is you want. Not for money, not for food."
"No you misunderstand, I… I'm sorry. Of course I can see how you could… Let me start over."
- Odo and Kira meeting for the first time
"You're not planning on leaving the station soon?"
"If I were, would you have the Cardassians stop me?"
"Yes."
"Then I'm not planning on leaving the station soon."
- Odo and Kira Nerys (on Terok Nor)
"I'm looking for the proprietor of this establishment."
"Does he owe you money?"
"No."
"Are you here to arrest him?"
"No."
"Then you've found him. Quark, at your service."
- Odo and Quark, their very first conversation
"I misjudged you, major. You were a better liar than I gave you credit for."
"You were working for the Cardassians."
"I haven't been for more than a year. You've had all that time to tell me the truth."
"I tried to tell you the truth, a hundred times… What you think of me matters a lot. I was afraid…"
"That it might affect our friendship?"
Kira nods.
"Maybe it doesn't have to."
"Will you ever be able to trust me the same way again?"
(Last lines of the episode. Odo does not answer.)
- Odo and Kira
(Piercing screaming from Rom)
"It's over Rom! Over! You're a hero."
"I am?"
"You saved your brother's life."
(More piercing screaming from Rom)
(Quark gives a small smile)
- Rom and Odo, after saving Quark's life
Background information
Production
A scene was deleted from the third act that revealed that Pallra was having an affair with Dukat. Michael Piller thought that cutting the scene was a mistake. Piller commented: "The greatest regret I have about that show is that I allowed Rick [Berman] to take out one scene that would have really made it better. That was a scene where Odo, having just talked to Kira, was going to see Pallra and he sees Gul Dukat coming out of her room and he kisses her goodbye, indicating that they just had sex. When Dukat walks away, we go around the corner where Odo was and there is now a picture that is crooked. Gul Dukat straightens it out and walks on, and then Odo goes to see Pallra. If we had left that in, that would have suggested Gul Dukat, a red herring, might have also been involved in the murder and was involved in covering it up somehow. That would have been an interesting additional element for people to be thinking about during the course of the show. I have never been as sorry about cutting something out as I felt about that." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 65)
Marc Alaimo was irked that the scene where he kisses Katherine Moffat was cut. Alaimo commented, "Dukat was quite taken with [Pallra]. There was a scene where he walks her to her door and they kiss, but they cut it. I suppose they didn't want Dukat looking soft or something". ("Marc Alaimo: The Unlikely Sex Symbol", )
Trivia
This episode, with its first-person narration, hard-bitten detective main character, flashbacks to a time of war, and overall noir feel, echoes strongly the classic detective fiction of the ’40s. Moreover, Rom’s interrogation by Odo and Sisko shows the police tactic also known as “good cop/bad cop”, because Odo is aggressive towards the Ferengi and tries to threaten him, while Sisko is more supportive and shows sympathy for Rom. (This technique is often used by police characters in movies and TV shows.)
A photo of special-effects designer Dan Curry was used on the PADD showing Ches'sarro Seeto.
The fifth season episode acts as a companion piece of sorts to this episode, revealing a dark mistake Odo had made during the Occupation that he had kept a secret from Kira and the others.
This is the only episode of the series in which we hear Odo narrate a log, which he does several times. It would seem from , in which he records what he believes to be his final entry on his communicator, that he kept the tradition up; however, we do not hear him recording logs in the traditional sense of "captain's log" entries outside of these two episodes.
This is the first episode where we learn that Rom may be a lot smarter than most people think and that he is in fact possessed of a great deal of mechanical/technical knowledge and expertise.
Rom references the time Quark stayed "in the Gamma Quadrant overnight", which occurred in the previous episode, .
When Odo is questioning Vaatrik Pallra he goes to leave the room, stops, turns around and says "One more thing" before asking her another question. He also says the phrase "All part of a routine investigation." Both phrases are a homage to the show , numerous episodes of which were written (uncredited) by Peter Allan Fields.
In this episode, we see Odo meet Gul Dukat, Kira Nerys, and Quark for the very first time.
Chronologically, in the Star Trek timeline, Kira (as part of the Bajoran Resistance) is the first person to call Odo "constable." The line of dialogue is, "Everyone has to choose sides, Constable."
Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #139 ("Wives serve, brothers inherit")
Colm Meaney and Cirroc Lofton do not appear in this episode.
Reception
As with from the first season, "Necessary Evil" is a favorite amongst both cast and crew; David Livingston calls it "one of our best shows", Ira Steven Behr says it was a "great show", and actor Rene Auberjonois enthuses that it was "one of the best episodes we've ever done." ()
Ira Steven Behr also commented: ""["Necessary Evil"] was an attempt to see how Odo and Kira met for the first time and see Odo as an investigator. Then it just grew. What nailed it was the sense of betrayal and the fact that this close relationship between Kira and Odo started out based on this lie, which just makes for fascinating storytelling. I think the director, who also did , Jim Conway, can take a lot of credit. It worked. All pistons were firing; it was a great show." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 66)
Nana Visitor commented: "What I loved about that show is that it was left ambiguous between [Kira and Odo]. Odo doesn't trust me the way he did and he never will, and that's so truthful to me. That's real life, and that's one of the things this show does very well. It doesn't tie things up in nice, neat little bows for the audience. It gives them more credit than that." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 65)
Michael Piller commented on the episode that it "was as close to a perfect episode as we have done. There was great stuff between Kira and Odo and Katherine Moffat did wonderful work in the Lana Turner role as Pallra." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 65)
David Livingston commented: "Jim Conway is an extraordinary director, and it was an extraordinary script. Jim wanted to do film noir, and Marvin Rush delivered it. It has a terrific look and it shows you what the station was like under Cardassian rule." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 66)
In Star Trek 101 (p. 125), Terry J. Erdmann and Paula M. Block list "Necessary Evil" as being one of the "Ten Essential Episodes" from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Remastered version
Remastered footage from the episode is featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Apocrypha
The Star Trek: Terok Nor novel Dawn of the Eagles depicts Kira killing Vaatrik, whose given name was revealed as Drasa, and goes into further detail regarding Odo's investigation into the murder and its immediate aftermath. As depicted in the subsequent episode , Dukat began an affair with Kira's late mother Kira Meru in 2346 and, following her death in 2353, he attempted to track the movements of her children as best he could. Consequently, he was aware that Kira was not only responsible for Vaatrik's death but that she was a member of the Shakaar resistance cell. However, he had his personal aide Basso Tromac obstruct Odo's investigation to prevent him from learning the truth. Nevertheless, Odo took sympathy on Kira and arranged for her to be transported back to the Dahkur Province on Bajor the following week with the assistance of his deputy Dalin Russol, who was secretly a member of the Cardassian dissident movement, supposedly on Dukat's authority. Basso learned of their plan and arranged passage on the same transport. When he ordered the pilot to return the transport to Terok Nor, Kira wrestled Basso's phaser from him and killed him. While not related to the murder investigation, the novel also revealed that Morn arrived on the station during the events of this episode, specifically the day after Odo began the investigation, and almost immediately sat down in what became his regular spot in Quark's. Although Morn would ultimately become his best customer, Quark was initially reluctant to serve him as he regarded Lurians as bad for business.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 14,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Katherine Moffat as Vaatrik Pallra
Max Grodénchik as Rom
Marc Alaimo as "Gul Dukat"
Co-Star
Robert MacKenzie as Trazko
Uncredited Co-Stars
Kevin Brophy as Bajoran security deputy
Tracee Lee Cocco as Kobheerian
Dan Curry as Ches'sarro Seeto
David B. Levinson as Broik
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Randy Pflug as
Mark Allen Shepherd as Human resident
Michael Zurich as Bajoran security deputy
Unknown actors as
Bajoran slave laborers
Two Cardassian guards
Corvallen
Kressari
Markalian
Rotciv
Tygarian
Vaatrik
Two children running in the Promenade
References
2363; 2365; 2369; accusation; advocate; agent; amusement; anti-grav lift; apostrophe; assailant; autopsy; Bajor; Bajoran; Bajoran Center for Science; Bajoran language; Bajoran underground; bank account; bar; (money); blackmail; Bosotile; Cardassians; Cardassian ale; Cardassian neck trick; Cardassian Empire; Cardassian groat; Cardassian High Command; case; Central Bank of Bajor; chemist's shop; chemicals; Ches'sarro Seeto; chocolate; collaborator; companionship; compressed tetryon beam weapon; constable; cortical stimulator; cortolin; Deep Space 9 levels; desealer; desealing rod; duranium; epidermis; eulogy; false accusation; Federation; Ferengi; floor plate; Gamma Quadrant; gold-pressed latinum (latinum); gul; Hadar; hanging; holosuite; homicide; ice; imager; investigator; Kressari; lita; magnasite; Markalian; marriage; medical examiner; Meldrar I; mine worker; mining engineer; Mora Pol; murder; night; Nog; Occupation of Bajor; ore processing; pond; power company; proprietor; pulsatel lockseal; Promenade; Pyrellian ginger tea; Quark's; rebel; replicator; robbery; Rotciv; Rules of Acquisition; salvage team; Sector 4; security detail; security officer; shape-shift; ship's store; shock; soft drink; storeroom; sub-nucleonic device; supervisor; sympathizer; Terok Nor; tetryon; thoracic cavity; Tygarian; vault; vial; work detail; work station
Other references
Promenade Directory: Amphitheatre; Andorian Fast Food; Bajoran Consulate; Bajoran Customs Office; Banzai Institute; Berman's Dilithium Supply; Bowling Alley; Cargo Loading and Transfer; Cavor's Gravity Devices; Chief Engineer's Office; Curry's Martial Arts Training; Del Floria's Tailor Shop; Diet Smith Corporation; Diva Droid Corporation; Dock Master's Office; Federation Consulate; Fredrickson's Squid Vendor; Garak's Clothiers; Geological Assay Office; Gocke's House of Mirrors; Klingon Consulate; Import Protocol Office; Infirmary; Jacobson's Used Photons; Jupiter Mining Corporation; Lodging and Accommodation; Milliways; Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club; Quark's Bar; Replimat Cafe; Richarz' Accessories; Rush Dilithium Crystals; Schoolroom - Mrs. Keiko O'Brien; Sirius Cybernetics Corporation; Spacecraft Resupply; Spacely Sprockets; Station Operations; Subspace Communications; Tom Servo's Used Robots; Vince's Gym; Vulcan Embassy; Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems; Chez Zimmerman
External links
de:Die Ermittlung
es:Necessary Evil
fr:Necessary Evil (épisode)
nl:Necessary Evil
DS9 episodes |
868 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Second Sight (episode) | Sisko falls in love with a woman visiting the station, but she is not what she appears to be.
Summary
Teaser
"Personal log, stardate 47329.4. I finally realize why I've had trouble sleeping the last few nights. Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of the massacre at Wolf 359, the fourth anniversary of Jennifer's death. I'm not sure what bothers me more: the date itself, or the fact that it almost passed unnoticed."
Up late, Jake Sisko can't sleep either. He had a nightmare he is reluctant to share with his father, but eventually reveals it was about running around the corridors of the station, unable to find his father. Once he feels better, he returns to sleep, adding as a footnote he misses his mother.
Commander Sisko, however, still can't sleep. He wanders around the darkened and empty Promenade, looking out the window, and counting the stars. A mysterious woman comes up behind him, and talks to him about the stars for a while. She introduces herself as Fenna, and seems to take an interest in him. They talk for a while, about the station. She doesn't say much about herself, but that she can't stay here long. As he is offering to show her around the station, she disappears.
Act One
The next morning in Ops, Commander Sisko seems to feel more alive than he did last night, even ordering a different drink, chiraltan tea (with a double twist of lemon), instead of the raktajino he usually takes to start every day for the last year. Major Kira Nerys notices this, and is surprised. Lieutenant Jadzia Dax calls on the com, and asks him to meet Professor Gideon Seyetik, a terraformer and an extreme egomaniac, but charming. He arrived to the station in the , for an experimental attempt in reigniting a dead sun, Epsilon 119. He's more than excited and optimistic about his experiment. Dax reminds him it is just a theory, but he brushes it off.
Soon, while Commander Sisko is gazing out of the window again, Fenna reappears, and asks if his invitation to tour the station is still open. He says it is, and shows her around. In one of the upper pylons, looking at the view of the station, she always seems to say exactly the right thing. When he asks about her, she can't say much, and she runs off right away. Once she gets to the turbolift, she's gone.
Act Two
At dinner in his quarters, when Sisko is unable to concentrate on Jake's anecdote, he concludes his father is in love. As he points out, he's showing all three of the signs according to Nog: loss of appetite, daydreaming, smiling all the time. When Jake asks about her, Sisko is at a loss of words to describe her.
Sisko next goes to see Odo in the security office to have her try to find Fenna. He's also unable to describe her to him; the description is vague at best, but Odo will do what he can. Later, Dax takes him aside, wanting to know what's going on, as she saw the two of them on the Promenade. She reminds him that, even if she's a female now, Sisko used to tell Curzon all about his love interests. Sisko assures her it's too early to talk about it.
"Personal log, supplemental. Odo continues to search for new information about Fenna. In the mean time, Professor Seyetik has invited me and the senior staff to dinner aboard the Prometheus."
Before the dinner, the professor is charming as always, even if a bit self-congratulatory, and dominates the conversation. Seyetik explains the process of how the star will be reignited in addition to his projects. Julian Bashir remarks on Seyetik's works of art on Ligobis X, and nine-volume autobiography, one for all of his marriages, he jokes. Meanwhile, his wife, Nidell, has been preparing the meal, yet to meet the crew. After awhile, Seyetik goes to check on her, and she comes out to greet the crew. Surprisingly, she looks just like Fenna. "Now, we have something to talk about," Dax quietly tells Sisko.
Act Three
Toward the end of dinner, Seyetik details his stew recipe, which he perfected after years. Nidell, however, does not seem enthused about the dinner. Sisko whispers to Dax that she is pretending not to recognize him. When he asks her about talking to him, she knows nothing about what he's talking about. She doesn't know who Fenna is, either, but she is quite defensive.
As Sisko and Dax return to the station, Sisko says he is convinced it's her. Odo, however, soon informs him that he couldn't find her after checking all of the logs. Sisko tells him not to bother, saying he did, aboard the Prometheus. Odo is perplexed; he says that no one has left the Prometheus except for the professor.
She also doesn't show up the next day. Sisko is puzzled. Quark offers to talk to him, recognizing the "I've been stood up" look, but Sisko declines. When he enters his quarters, she suddenly appears, and embraces him. He asks her about Nidell, but she has never heard of her either. She doesn't have a twin sister, and she is still hesitant to say where she came from or who she really is. Her only reply is that she thought she was looking for a place, but she was really looking for him. After he kisses her, she suddenly fades out of existence, as if she were non-corporeal. Sisko becomes distraught.
Act Four
After Chief Miles O'Brien and Dax reconfigure the Prometheus warp drive, Sisko comes to travel along with Seyetik's team – and his wife. Dax doesn't think it's a good idea, but Sisko says he needs answers.
En route on the bridge, Dax works with the commanding officer, Piersall, and Sisko talks with Professor Seyetik. He talks about himself on the way there. He has an expectation to keep outdoing himself, quoting a Klingon poet, G'trok, who wrote in The Fall of Kang about a warrior having slain all his enemies. The talk turns to how he met Nidell. She was the daughter of a dignitary, and she was infatuated with him from the moment she met him. He was the first one to take her off-world, and he would give up the entire universe for her.
When the Prometheus arrives at the dead star, Sisko suddenly sees Fenna in his quarters. He immediately calls for Dax. When Dax scans, there is no matter there, just energy. Fenna is frightened, but Sisko takes her hands and wants to help find out what's going on. The three go to Nidell's quarters, where they find Seyetik frantic over her condition. She won't wake up. Dax finds she is in shock. When Seyetik sees Fenna, he recognizes her and knows exactly what happened. Fenna is surprised.
Act Five
Fenna doesn't understand, but Seyetik is outraged, as he was under the impression Fenna would never return to them. The professor explains Fenna is an illusion created by Nidell's unconscious mind. She is a psychoprojective telepath, and has obviously produced Fenna before. According to Dax's scans, there is a lot of energy coming from Nidell's occipital lobe. Dax doesn't believe she can survive more than an hour or two. She also doesn't believe she can do anything about it, despite Seyetik's insistence.
Sisko has Dax take Fenna outside, and Sisko talks to Seyetik. All of the charm fades from him as he explains what's going on. Nidell doesn't know what's happening; she is unconscious, and this happens when her species have strong emotions. All of his wives, he says, have trouble with him after a while; they hate him in the end as much as they love him in the beginning. Nidell can never leave him, because her species, the Halanans, mate for life. Sisko then goes to talk to Fenna, and explains this to her. She can't believe it, and doesn't want to die. Sisko promises to remember her, and that it's a dream. Dax then calls from the bridge, and says that Seyetik has launched the shuttlepod – with himself on it.
Piersall has opened communications with Seyetik, and Sisko tries to convince him to turn around. However, Seyetik says he is freeing Nidell forever, and not just from her current predicament, but from her mating obligation. He cheerfully says he has even written his own obituary, which he would like Sisko to take to the Daystrom Institute. He promises to send it off. Exclaiming "let there be light!", Seyetik's shuttle impacts the star and it is reignited. Then, Fenna disappears from the bridge.
"Station log, supplemental. Epsilon 119 continues to burn brightly, a fitting memorial to a brilliant man. Meanwhile, I am happy to report that Nidell has made a complete recovery. Unfortunately, she has no memory of Fenna's experiences."
Nidell says goodbye, and thanks Sisko. She says she will probably stay on her homeworld New Halana for the rest of her life, and wishes she could remember Fenna, but she can't. Before she leaves, she asks Sisko what Fenna was like, and is told, "She was just like you."
Log entries
Personal log, Benjamin Sisko
Station log, Deep Space 9, 2370
Memorable quotes
"Admit it, chief, if you were on a station where everything worked, you'd be miserable."
"You may be right, sir." [sparks fly from the panel he's working on] "But I'd be willing to give it a try!"
- Benjamin Sisko and Miles O'Brien
"Something wrong?"
"No, nothing."
"If something's bothering you, major, I want to hear it."
"It's just that… every morning for the last year, I've seen you walk in here and start your day with a raktajino."
"I love raktajino."
"I know, you never even talk to anyone until you've had your first cup."
"Because I'm not awake until I've had my first cup."
"So… how come you're drinking Chiraltan tea?"
[pause] "I, uh… I just felt like having something different. That is all right with you, isn't it, major?"
"Of course, you can drink whatever you like."
"Why thank you major, I appreciate your support." [drinks]
- Benjamin Sisko and Kira Nerys
"Do you always do that?"
"Do what?"
"Say exactly the right thing."
- Sisko and Fenna
"Of course it'll work: I never fail! Well, I did once, but I found it didn't agree with me, so I swore never to do it again, and I never break my word."
- Seyetik
"The last time I saw her, she was wearing a… she was wearing red."
- Benjamin Sisko, describing Fenna
"It's hard to talk man-to-man with a woman."
- Dax, to Sisko
"Commander, do you think he'd notice if we weren't here when he got back?"
"Don't even think about it, major. I've had dinner with about two dozen Bajoran ministers, I think you owe me this one. Besides, Seyetik is one of the Federation's greatest minds."
"I know, he told me."
- Kira Nerys and Benjamin Sisko
"Commander, obviously you have mistaken me for someone else."
"Seems that way… doesn't it?"
- Nidell and Benjamin Sisko
"So honor the valiant who died 'neath your sword",
"But pity the warrior who slays all his foes."
- Seyetik and Sisko, citing a fragment of G'trok's "Fall of Kang"
"Keep your eye on the viewscreen, commander, you'll never see anything like this again. Let there be light!"
- Seyetiks last words
"I wish that I could remember Fenna. What she did, how she felt. But I can't, I'm sorry."
"It's all right. I can remember for both of us."
"Tell me one thing."
"If I can."
"What was she like?"
"Fenna? She was just… like you."
- Nidell and Benjamin Sisko
Background information
Story and script
Mark Gehred-O'Connell's original pitch for this episode involved Bashir meeting a mysterious woman who keeps disappearing. He goes to his colleagues for aid in tracking her down but he discovers that no one aboard the station has ever seen her except himself, and as such, he has to unravel the mystery alone, as his crewmates begin to think he's imagining the whole thing. Bashir ultimately discovers that the woman is in fact a projection by a woman who is abused by her husband. This original version of the story was more of an adventure/mystery than a romance. ()
Changing the story to focus on Sisko rather than Bashir was Michael Piller's idea, because he felt that the Sisko character had become far too aloof, and he saw this episode as a way to humanize him. According to Ira Steven Behr, "During the second season, Michael kept saying 'Let's define Sisko.' That's when he and I had conversations about making Sisko the builder, on establishing the difference between him and Picard, the explorer. Sisko is a builder, he stays with a project until the finish. That helped us to see Sisko in a whole lot of different ways. He's a guy who's solid and real and human." The writers felt that giving Sisko a romance would help them to better define the character, and would help the audience to better connect with him on an emotional level. ()
Seyetik was based on director John Huston. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 65)
The poem referenced by both Seyetik and Sisko is called "The Fall of Kang", and it is implied that the poem is about Kang's last great battle. However, ten episodes later, in , Kang turns up on DS9 alive and well. The Kang in the poem is apparently a different Kang. ()
According to Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Seyetik's terraforming technology is based upon the Genesis Device as seen in ; "It was established Federation terraforming technology. Of course, the Genesis device didn't work, but obviously Seyetik's work is built upon the research of previous scientists. And it was a nice way to reference the movie." ()
Production
Dan Curry and Gary Hutzel used a blue screen effect to show Deep Space 9 from Sisko and Fenna's perspective from a viewing port in an upper pylon. ()
Reception
This episode is not a favorite of Ira Steven Behr. He commented "For the show to work, Sisko had to respect Seyetik, and for whatever reason, there was never any current of understanding between Sisko and him. And for me, the show fell apart. The audience had to like Seyetik. He kills himself. How many times do we see a guy commit suicide on Star Trek? It was a great ending, an ending worthy of , but it just seemed like some other wacky thing this character was doing. You didn't feel the sorrow." ()
Michael Piller commented "It had a great premise. It's the old idea where a mysterious woman keeps disappearing in front of your eyes, and we should have made it work". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 66)
Writer Mark Gehred-O'Connell enjoyed the final episode, commenting: "When I saw it on the air, I was thrilled by it. The change [the writers] made in their draft were largely dialogue changes. Their number-one critique of my writing was that my dialogue was far too romantic – too 'purple', in Michael [Piller]'s words. I was trying to write romantically because 'Second Sight' was a love story, but they thought it was too romantic. Michael strongly believes that it's possible to create romance without hearing the characters speaking romance. That was another lesson I learned.". Gehred-O'Connell enjoyed Avery Brooks' performance and thought that Salli Elise Richardson was wonderful: "I couldn't have imagined anyone better to play the woman of Sisko's dreams". ()
Trivia
This episode marks the first appearance of a USS Prometheus in Star Trek. Although the is externally similar to the , not a single piece of any standing set from The Next Generation appeared – the wall outside Seyetik's quarters is a single length of stock Starfleet wall built specifically for DS9 scenes, Seyetik's quarters are a brand new set built from the remains of the runabout aft section seen in , and the bridge is a re-dress of the USS Excelsior bridge set from , combining its forward and aft walls. This smaller starship bridge continued to be seen throughout the series as the bridge of various ships, both Federation and not; it later appeared in as the bridge of the .
This is the first episode of the series to be directed by Alexander Singer.
This episode takes place on the fourth anniversary of the Battle of Wolf 359, although the stardate of the episode does not correspond to the anniversary.
Seyetik's last words, "Let there be light," comes from Genesis 1:3 of the Bible.
The dress worn by Fenna is reused and worn by Antonia in and Leosa, Barclay's seducer in .
The concept of reigniting a dying sun was previously explored in .
Lwaxana Troi suggested to Odo that an upper pylon would be a good place for a picnic in , much as Fenna suggests to Sisko in this episode.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 15,
As part of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Second Season Vol. 1 LaserDisc (Japan only)
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Star
Salli Elise Richardson as Fenna/Nidell
Special Guest Star
Richard Kiley as "Seyetik"
Co-Star
Mark Erickson as Piersall
Uncredited Co-Stars
Bill Hagy as Prometheus ops ensign
David B. Levinson as Broik
Mark Major as Beakface
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Leslie Stump as Explorer #1
John Tamaki as Explorer #2
Unknown performers as
Buck-toothed alien
Prometheus command officer
Prometheus sciences officer
Villus Thed
Photo Double
Lauree Sugar – photo double for Salli Elise Richardson
References
2366; 2367; 2369; accusation; affair; Altrina; Andorian boiler; Andorian tuber root; autobiography; ; Blue Horizon; calculus; calorie; carbon; cascade effect; cellular structure; Central Gallery; chess; Chiraltan tea; ; commissioning; constable; constellation; cup; dash; Da Vinci Falls; ; Daystrom Institute; dead star; Deep Space 9; DNA; dozen; emotional distress; energy; Epsilon 119; Epsilon 119 system; eye; ""; Federation; flux generator; G'trok; gardener; ; Grateful throngs; gravity well; green thumb; Gremish; Halanan; height; holosuite; hot chocolate; Humat pod; hydrogen; ice salt; irregular heartbeat; Kalo root; Kelvin; kiss; Klingons; Klingon food; lemon; Ligobis X; liter; marriage; meter; Milky Way Galaxy; Mount Everest; ; New Halana; Nidell's parent; Nog; occipital lobe; oxygen; ; parade; pepper; poet; Promenade; ; protomatter; psychoprojective ability; psychoprojective telepathy; purr; Quark's; raktajino; red; redspice; Rumall stock; ; sapphire wine; science lab; searing; Seyetik's ex wives; shock; soul; ; star; Starfleet Academy; suicide; telepath; terraformer; terraforming; Terosa Prime; Tiet; tricorder; tumbler; Type 15 shuttlepod (unnamed); understatement; ; (planet); Waroon; warp drive; warp factor; Wolf 359; ; Y'Raka
Other references
USS Prometheus dedication plaque: 40 Eridani A Starfleet Construction Yards; ; Chief of Staff; ; ; Yoyodyne Division
External links
de:Rätselhafte Fenna
es:Second Sight
fr:Sanctuary (épisode)
nl:Second Sight
DS9 episodes |
869 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Sanctuary (episode) | A group of refugees come through the wormhole in search of Kentanna, their fabled homeworld.
Summary
Teaser
Kira Nerys underwent a day of frustrations the previous day with Minister Rozahn fighting bureaucratic excuses concerning the logistics for irrigating the Trilar Peninsula on Bajor. Kira has a sense of urgency, and feels Bajor is really in dire trouble. Unfortunately, she put off gathering next month's duty roster for Commander Sisko, and so Sisko calls her in his office to remind her. He knows what kept her busy, as her frustrated voice carried in Ops. She promises to drop it and get the roster done.
Chief O'Brien then relays a message from Quark, and so Kira goes down to the bar. She finds several Bajorans enjoying a sonata by Varani, but Quark sees customers not ordering any food or drink. Despite agreeing to have Varani play for a month, he would like to see something more upbeat so more people come in and spend latinum. She relays the request to Varani, but wishes there could be a more appropriate venue for him. Varani is passionate about bringing back the Bajorans' artistic heritage. Particularly, he wants to rebuild the Jalanda Forum, and had asked Kira to talk to Minister Bolka about it, but she says Bolka is very busy these days.
All this activity is interrupted by a new ship appearing through the wormhole. The ship is damaged, and four Skrreeans are beamed aboard while their ship is tractored in. Sisko introduces himself, but they are frightened.
Act One
As they attempt to communicate, Sisko and the others realize that the Skrreeans don't appear to understand what they are saying, nor can the crew understand the Skrreeans. They resolve to keep the Skrreeans talking until the universal translator can make sense of the Skrreean language, and decide to bring the group of them, Haneek, Tumak, Gai, and Cowl, down to the infirmary to tend to the wounds of one. This trip, unusually adventurous for a walk to the infirmary, reveals that the single female Skrreean, Haneek, appears to be the leader of the group. She also appears to only trust Kira, the only female so far that has dealt with the Skrreeans.
After Dr. Bashir treats Tumak's hand wound with a dermal regenerator, the Skrreeans arrive at quarters prepared for them, and Sisko gets them some maaza stalks to show them what to do. After some further attempts at communication, the computer begins sporadically, but soon adequately, to translate the Skrreean language. It is revealed that some three million Skrreean refugees are in trouble in the Gamma Quadrant and need the crew's help to inform their people of the wormhole and travel through it.
Act Two
Haneek is now communicating well, and waits with the senior staff for Sisko in Ops. She explains her present and current nervousness is due to the presence of many males, as theirs is a female-dominated society, though she herself is "little more than a farmer." She then goes into their situation: their people have been seeking the Eye of the Universe, as legend says it is the gateway to their new homeworld, Kentanna. They heard about the wormhole and believed it to be the Eye. Sisko, Dax, and Kira resolve to welcome as many Skrreeans on to the station as is possible, and quickly search for a suitable planet for the Skrreeans to colonize. Ominously, Haneek also explains that their race was freed from servitude to the T-Rogorans when that race was in turn conquered by a Dominion member.
Haneek, back in her quarters, receives Kira who wants to have her greet the first group of Skrreeans when they arrive. She is nervous about this, as she's not a leader at all, but it would help to make sure the newcomers know it's safe.
Meanwhile, Jake and Nog talk on the upper level of the Promenade about the dabo girl Jake saw earlier, Mardah, but not quite on a date, as he helped with her homework on entomology. Nog is impressed, and says he couldn't use the excuse of helping someone with their homework to see a girl. They also observe a Skrreean (Tumak) eating leftover food, unaware he can order from the replicators. They wave hello to him, and he runs away.
The arrival of the first large group of Skrreeans is an awesome sight, as many of them fill the Promenade and experience their first taste of freedom.
Act Three
As Skrreeans begin arriving on the station, there is some cultural tension. Haneek earlier had mentioned that the Skrreeans are matriarchal, as they find males too emotional and adversarial to make significant decisions. Nog finds this to be true, as he is pursued and eventually assaulted by several young Skrreeans including Tumak over a practical joke. Odo stops the children, and takes Nog to his office to have him talk to his father Rom. Quark arrives instead and makes Nog apologize. When Nog leaves, Quark looks down on the Skrreeans for loitering "without buying anything," and for the skin flakes they leave around his bar. Later, Nog meets back up with Jake, but runs into the Skrreeans again. Jake has Nog apologise, but the Skrreeans are unimpressed and try to attack Nog, leading all the boys to start brawling in the middle of the Promenade. Quark breaks it up, but makes it clear to the Skrreeans that they have worn out their welcome.
Meanwhile, the Skrreean matriarchs meet and agree that Haneek, as the first to find the wormhole, should lead the Skrreeans to Kentanna. She is nervous, but says she'll do the best she can. Kira encourages her afterward, saying she's not alone. Furthermore, Varani introduces himself, and presents a gift, saying his people know what it's like to be a displaced people. She happily accepts it and returns to her room. The gift inspires her to research Bajor, and finds that it fits the relevant description for the new Skrreean homeworld; it is "a planet of sorrow," and just outside the wormhole.
Dax and Sisko research possible worlds, they settle on Draylon II, a planet with a temperate climate, good soil, and a long growing season. It should be very suitable for them, and they go to meet them with the news. But before they can make the suggestion, Haneek announces they have already found it – Bajor.
Act Four
Haneek insists that the Bajoran Provisional Government be petitioned to let the Skrreeans immigrate there. After a debate to consider the Skrreeans' request, the government in the end denies them, for fear that Bajor's problems will both worsen due to and spread to the Skrreeans. Minister Rozahn and Vedek Sorad travel to DS9 to give the response in person. Varani catches up with Kira beforehand, presuming to know the response, and asks Kira to relay his regret at the eventual denial to Haneek.
In Sisko's office, Rozahn diplomatically explains that, despite Haneek's assurance that they don't need the Bajorans' help, and that their projections on their future growth could be wrong, the government states the risk is too high. Should the Skrreeans need help, the Bajorans cannot deny them, and they simply don't have the resources to do so. Furthermore, the land is not guaranteed to be able to be farmed. Haneek is disheartened, and turns to Kira for support, but Kira states she agrees with the government.
Meanwhile, Jake finds Tumak at the Replimat and tries to be friendly, suggesting icoberry torte. Tumak insults Nog, but Jake shakes it off. Tumak is curt with him, disappointed in the decision to go to Draylon II and his overall experiences on the station.
Haneek considers the situation in her quarters when Kira arrives to talk. Haneek feels betrayed by a supposed friend, but Kira believes it is the right decision. Just then, Sisko calls in to inform Kira that Tumak has taken a Skrreean ship for Bajor, attempting to immigrate by force.
Act Five
Kira and Haneek arrive in Ops to get more information and communicate with Tumak. He, unfortunately, is unaware that his ship is suffering from a plasma leak, and he also resists communication. While Sisko and Haneek are attempting to warn him, a pair of Bajoran interceptors move in to keep him off Bajor. The Bajorans are under direct orders from General Hazar not to let them land, so they contact him directly to stand them down. He does so, but both parties have already exchanged enough fire for Tumak's ship to explode all by itself from the damage of the phaser fire igniting the radiation leak.
In the end, the rejected Skrreeans reluctantly leave for Draylon II. Kira meets up with Haneek at the airlock to wish her luck, and that she still thinks Draylon is the best choice for them and Bajor. Haneek responds she believes it's a terrible mistake the Bajorans are making, insisting that the two races could have helped each other through their troubles. She pities the Bajorans for the suspicion and mistrust gained from the Occupation, and leaves without any parting words save for one last cutting remark: "You were right [Kira]: Bajor is not Kentanna."
Log entries
Station log, Deep Space 9, 2370
Memorable quotes
"It's hard to keep a secret in Ops, especially when you've been shouting at a monitor for the past two days."
"Thought I kept it down to an angry whisper."
"Let's just say your voice carries."
- Benjamin Sisko and Kira Nerys
"Ahh, Major! Get everything settled with Quark?"
"That little toad is this far from doing a 360 out an airlock!"
"I'm glad to hear everything went OK."
- Benjamin Sisko and Kira Nerys
"Heh, there's no doubt who the boss is."
- Odo, after observing Haneek giving orders to the three men with her
"This will be your quarters while you're here at the station. I'm sure you wanna rest and clean up and you don't understand anything I'm saying, do you?"
- Kira Nerys to the Skrreeans
"What's that smell?"
"Ask him!"
"Me? You're the one who stinks!"
- Jake Sisko, Tumak and Nog
"Are all your leaders women?"
"Yes.
"All of them?
"You heard her, Julian."
"Men are far too emotional to be leaders. They're constantly fighting amongst themselves. It's their favorite thing to do." [off looks from O'Brien, Odo and Bashir] "I'm sorry, I hope I haven't offended anyone."
- Jadzia Dax, Haneek, and Julian Bashir
"Mardah's studying entomology. She asked me to help her out."
"A dabo girl who studies entomology! Hah! Sure."
"It's true!"
"Yeah! What is entomology?"
"The study of bugs."
"Oh, you mean she wants to be a chef!"
- Jake and Nog
"It's going to get awfully crowded around here, Commander."
"I know, Constable, but it's worth it. Just look at them. They're experiencing their first taste of freedom."
- Odo and Benjamin Sisko
"This isn't over yet, Big Ears!"
- Tumak
"I think you've made a terrible mistake. All of you. Maybe we could have helped you. Maybe we could have helped each other. The Skreeans are farmers, Kira. You have a famine on your planet. Perhaps we could have made that peninsula bloom again. We'll never know, will we? Fifty years of Cardassian rule have made you all frightened and suspicious. I feel sorry for you. You were right. Bajor is not Kentanna."
- Haneek, to Kira Nerys
"Nog, have you been causing mischief again?"
"No uncle, it's all a misunderstanding."
"He sprayed several Skrreean boys with a foul smelling vapor."
[Smiles] "Did he?"
[Turns to Nog] "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I'm sorry?"
"See the boy is beside himself with guilt!"
- Quark, Nog, and Odo
Background information
Story and script
Frederick Rappaport selected a story that was pitched by Gabe Essoe and Kelley Miles that had not been used by the writing staff. Rappaport commented that "the idea for "Sanctuary" was pretty basic: alien boat people are rescued by Deep Space Nine, and millions more are coming behind them. That's basically what they had, and it wasn't working''. Rappaport created the characters of Haneek and Tumak and plotted an ending in which the Skrreea were allowed to settle on Bajor due to their botanical skills. ()
Michael Piller decided to plot a down-beat ending to this episode and invert the happy ending of Frederick Rappaport's original teleplay. Piller felt that the episode would carry more resonance if things didn't turn out okay for everyone. ()
Frederick Rappaport appreciated the change of the ending, commenting "I worked hard to come up with a twist for the story, but the happy ending just wasn't as strong as what we ultimately came up with. Michael Piller pointed out that, in reality, when a foreign group of people come en masse to someone else's homeland, the natives seldom greet them with open arms and allow them to stay. Michael felt that the Bajorans should do the same thing, and I was pleased that he saw it that way. It was a brilliant stroke, and I admired his guts". ()
The writers had difficulty in finding a uniqueness to the Skrreea, before deciding that their skin would flake. Ira Steven Behr commented "There's something just disgusting and intrusive about an alien race that come and leaves bits of themselves on your table and on your glasses". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 67)
Production
The Skrreean makeup is one of make-up supervisor Michael Westmore's favorite make-ups due to its simplicity and effectiveness. The "bumpy skin" makeup was created by combining little bags of , found in a hobby train shop, with liquid , which was then applied to the actors' faces and dried. (Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season Two, DS9 Season 2 DVD special features)
The main Skrreean ship seen docked at Deep Space 9 was a reuse of the Promellian battle cruiser model from . Glenn Neufeld and David Takemura created some of the background Skrreea ships out of parts from model planes, cars and tanks. ()
William Schallert (who had previously played Nilz Baris in the episode ) guest starred as Varani in the episode. Schallert commented: "…I'd never watched the show, so I was at a bit of a loss. The only person I knew on that was Armin Shimerman. I knew him from our both being involved in the Screen Actors Guild. And I knew his wife as well, Kitty Swink. I'm one of the trustees of our pension and health plan, and she's been very big on that. I like her a lot. She's a really intelligent person. I had a scene with Nana Visitor. I had to play a musical instrument. It happens that I'm a trained musician and I've played the piano all my life. I'd been a folk singer at one time, so I could play guitar. But I'd never played wind instruments. This thing they gave me had nothing on it to suggest where your fingers were supposed to go, and they were playing a specific tune. So I had to sort of imagine in my mind that these various fingers were associated with various notes. I tried my best to duplicate what the tune of the song was. I kind of got close, but I didn’t get it exact. That was actually the most difficult thing I had to do on the show. The acting part of it was fairly simple."
Kitty Swink, who portrays the character of Minister Rozahn, is Armin Shimerman's wife. Shimerman commented: "I was very proud of her. There was a sort of stigma about hiring a spouse and I'm glad she broke it". ("Giving Free Advice", Star Trek: The Official Fan Club of the UK Magazine issue 8)
Reception
Ira Steven Behr liked the dark conclusion to this episode, especially Kira's involvement in it; "It was a bold episode. It really walked the line with Kira, and pushed her into a very unattractive place." ()
Behr also commented that the ending "had the impact of a physical blow. It was really well done. I liked doing the stuff with the language and the weird stuff with the two husbands who serviced her. It was a great show." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 67)
Trivia
The music Varani is playing in Quark's in the beginning of the episode is a variant of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine theme song.
This episode marks the second reference to the Dominion. The first reference was in . The unidentified Dominion-member race that Haneek mentioned as having conquered the T-Rogorans were presumably the Jem'Hadar.
Guest star Andrew Koenig, who plays Tumak, was Walter Koenig's son.
This episode is the first of four Star Trek appearances by Leland Orser.
Next to the horrible dress Haneek sees in the clothes shop on the Promenade, the outfits worn by Yareena in and Jenice Manheim in can be seen. The horrible dress itself was worn by Sandra Wild in the episode and altered. It was also sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay.
This episode takes place on exactly the same Stardate as TNG's Season 7 episode , which was broadcast the same week.
After Varani's performance, the Bajorans in the bar (including Kira) clap as Humans do. In earlier and later episodes, they clap with their palm to the back of their hand.
Varani is one of the few Bajorans not to wear an earring.
Haneek – the lead Skrreea woman – occasionally wears the same purple tie-dye dress that Picard's, or rather Kamin's wife, Eline wears in . She wears the dress over a long-sleeved shirt.
Remastered version
Remastered footage from the episode is featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 15,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
William Schallert as Varani
Andrew Koenig as Tumak
Aron Eisenberg as Nog
Michael Durrell as Hazar
Betty McGuire as Vayna
Robert Curtis-Brown as Sorad
Kitty Swink as Rozahn
And
Deborah May as Haneek
Co-Stars
Leland Orser as Gai
Nicholas Shaffer as Cowl
Uncredited Co-Stars
Sam Alejan as Starfleet sciences officer
Ivor Bartels as Starfleet operations officer
Kevin Grevioux as Starfleet operations officer
Norman Large as Neral (display graphic)
David B. Levinson as Broik
Mary Mascari as Bajoran woman
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Ian Spelling as Bajoran officer
Unknown performers as
Alien bar patron
Taal delegation
Green-skinned alien with beaked face
Corvallen
Markalian
Megamouth alien
Rotciv member
Skrreean refugees
Tumak's two friends
Tygarian
Younger Varani
References
16th century; 2319; Alpha Quadrant; amusement; Bajor; Bajoran interceptor; Bajoran Provisional Government; Bajoran sector; Bajoran sun; Bajoran system; Bajoran wormhole; Bolka; ; Cardassians; Chamber of Ministers; class M; comb; constable; crop failure; dabo; dabo girl; dabo wheel; dermal regenerator; Dominion; Draylon II; duty roster; entomology; evasive action; exhibition hall; Eye of the Universe; farmland; Federation; freedom; Gamma Quadrant; general; grammar; gross profit; growing season; heart; hour; icoberry torte; immigration; indicator; Interceptor One; inventory; Jalanda Forum; jeetaka; Jem'Hadar; Kentanna; laborer; latinum; leader; maaza stalks; Mardah; minister; music hall; northwest peninsula; Occupation of Bajor; phaser; plasma burn; plasma leak; profit; projection; Promenade; Quark's; Reegrunions; refugee; replicator; Rom; runabout; Sefalla Prime; self-worth; sense of humor; seven systems; Skrreeans; Skrreean language; Skrreean ships; sonata; spray; strip; T-Rogorans; Taal; ; tivara; toad; Trilar Peninsula; troll; universal translator; vapor; Vedek; Vedek Assembly; winter
Other references
Promenade Directory: Amphitheatre; Andorian Fast Food; Bajoran Consulate; Bajoran Customs Office; Banzai Institute; Berman's Dilithium Supply; Bowling Alley; Cargo Loading and Transfer; Cavor's Gravity Devices; Chief Engineer's Office; Curry's Martial Arts Training; Del Floria's Tailor Shop; Diet Smith Corporation; Diva Droid Corporation; Dock Master's Office; Federation Consulate; Fredrickson's Squid Vendor; Garak's Clothiers; Geological Assay Office; Gocke's House of Mirrors; Klingon Consulate; Import Protocol Office; Infirmary; Jacobson's Used Photons; Jupiter Mining Corporation; Lodging and Accommodation; Milliways; Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club; Quark's Bar; Replimat Cafe; Richarz' Accessories; Rush Dilithium Crystals; Schoolroom - Mrs. Keiko O'Brien; Sirius Cybernetics Corporation; Spacecraft Resupply; Spacely Sprockets; Station Operations; Subspace Communications; Tom Servo's Used Robots; Vince's Gym; Vulcan Embassy; Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems; Chez Zimmerman
External links
de:Auge des Universums (Episode)
es:Sanctuary
nl:Sanctuary
DS9 episodes |
870 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Rivals (episode) | Quark feels threatened when a con artist arrives on the station and opens up a competing bar. Meanwhile, Chief O'Brien is determined to beat Doctor Bashir at racquetball.
Summary
Teaser
On the upper level of Quark's, a lady named Alsia is telling a man of her late-husband and their business, and how she saved up a little bit of latinum every year just for her retirement. But, although she says she has saved quite a tidy little sum, she doesn't think she has enough to retire on just yet, and has decided to invest the money in business. She suddenly realizes that she is divulging all her plans to a stranger, someone she has only just met, though she does say it feels like she has known him forever. As the man charms her with words, she reveals her plans to purchase a mining concession in the Vlugta asteroid belt using the spectrographic analysis data her father, a noted stellar cartographer, gained thirty years ago. She goes on to explain that, as soon as she makes his findings public, she would get seven times her investment back "overnight." Her new-found friend smiles, flattering her with compliments before suggesting the two of them form a partnership in her new endeavor. But before she can respond, Constable Odo slaps his hand on the man's shoulder and begins to frogmarch him to the security office. Alsia implores to the changeling that the two of them were only talking. "You were talking, madam. He was listening", replies Odo.
As the two of them walk along the upper level of the Promenade, Odo reveals he has been closely watching the man, whom he knows to be Martus Mazur, a refugee from the El-Aurian system. Mazur tries to trick Odo by getting him to talk about his homeworld but the Constable knows better, citing the El-Aurians' reputation for being good listeners. Mazur argues everyone needs someone to talk to and if that someone happens to require his help, he is all too happy to provide it. Odo replies he is nothing more than a con artist, a con artist that convinced an elderly couple from Pythro V to invest all of their savings into his business, a business that subsequently folded. Now they have signed a complaint against him.
As they arrive in the security office, Mazur pleads with Odo to release him, offering to talk it through with the Constable. He even offers him a drink but Odo simply laughs and activates the force field to his holding cell.
Act One
Chief O'Brien is heading down a corridor towards his newly built racquetball , practicing some swings with his racket as he goes. As the doors swish open, he is greeted by the unexpected sight of Doctor Bashir, in full racquetball gear. The chief explains that he missed playing the game and so built the court, figuring there would be at least a couple of other players on the station, though he didn't expect Bashir to be one of them. The doctor reveals he was of the team at Starfleet Medical Academy, winning the sector championships in his final year much to O'Brien's surprise. Bashir continues to boast he has taken on some tough opponents, most of whom "didn't really know what they were doing". After demonstrating an ancient warm up ritual, something that makes the heart a friend to the hand, Bashir notes, he challenges O'Brien to a game using the "old style" rules, judging by his lines on the floor. The chief is noticeably annoyed with Bashir's arrogance, "I can play any style you like" he argues, before snapping at Bashir to serve. The doctor then quickly rushes to the right hand side of the court and clubs the ball at the back wall, where it bounces back, hitting the door and narrowly missing O'Brien. "One", Bashir observes.
Meanwhile, in his holding cell, Mazur is getting increasingly bothered by his cellmate's very loud snoring. After shouting at him to no avail, he nudges the man with his knee and the snoring soon stops. As the man lies there, Mazur thinks the worst and tries to wake him. At first there is no response, but with a swift grunt, he then wakes up, much to Mazur's relief. The alien named Cos, apologizes to him, explaining his health is not so good and begins to sound off his sad life story to the El-Aurian, who uncharacteristically decides to ignore him. He says he used to have everything but his life was ruined by a small device, which he takes from his pocket. Mazur's interest is suddenly piqued, believing it to be a gambling device. The man activates it and several lights begin to blink in random fashion, before rapidly dying out. He tells of how every trade deal he has struck since owning it has been a disaster, every alliance formed has fallen apart, and every endeavor has been a failure, but Mazur dismisses it as simply "rotten luck" and lies back down on his bunk. His depressed cellmate agrees that it all comes down to luck and activates it again. This time, however, the device glows a bright white, indicating a win. A big smile appears across Cos' face before he slumps back down his cell wall. He is dead, and Mazur quickly realizes it. Taking the device from his hand, he calls for a security officer, "You've got a dead prisoner in here!", he shouts.
Act Two
O'Brien returns to his quarters after the racquetball match with Bashir. Keiko asks him how the training went but he can only complain about Bashir's smug attitude. "In my day", he says, "I could have wiped the court with him!" he tells Keiko. She points out that he is no longer the young man he used to be and his reflexes are bound to have gotten slower with age, though O'Brien is adamant he can beat him, it will just take some training.
In the Replimat, Bashir is telling Dax about the game and that O'Brien looked like he was going to have a coronary at one point. Dax is surprised Bashir would allow the game to continue but the Doctor says he tried, only O'Brien wouldn't let him finish it; he even made him wait while he went off to replicate a new racket after his own had snapped. Finally, as Bashir explains, he had his assistant interrupt them with a fake emergency medical situation so he could get out of the match. Dax tells him to look on the bright side, at least he's out of the match now. But Bashir know this is only beginning; the chief wants a rematch and not only is he afraid it might injure him, but he respects the Chief's sense of pride and doesn't want to do anything that might humiliate him.
Back in the holding cell, Mazur is playing with the gambling device which he has won several times now. The device lights up yet again as Odo enters, informing him the Pythron couple is now refusing to press s, so he can leave, much to Odo's annoyance.
In his bar, Quark is playing a game of chance with Morn, the prize being a free drink. Unfortunately, the die lands on the blue side and so Morn loses. Just then, Mazur enters and orders a drink, but with no money, Quark initially refuses him. Mazur then wagers his device on the outcome of Quark's game of chance. The die lands in his favor and so Quark pours him his drink as agreed. As he does so, he mentions that he has heard of Mazur's good fortune but, as the forty seventh Rule of Acquisition states, "never trust a man wearing a better suit than your own." Mazur demonstrates his device to Quark, which soon grabs his attention. He has a go himself, but unsurprisingly loses. He hands it back to Mazur, who proves his luck is running good today by winning again. Leaning into Quark, he offers him a proposition; with a little "tinkering" and some replication, the device could be adapted for his casino. But Quark appears uninterested. "It's just a child's toy", he says, but nevertheless places a few slips of latinum down on the prospect it could keep Nog occupied for a while. Mazur refuses the offer, demanding a hundred times what Quark had placed down, but the Ferengi isn't that keen. Mazur insists it will bring Quark profit by the end of the week, which prompts Quark to place a few more slips down. Mazur, however, still refuses, deciding to keep the device for himself. "Thanks for the drink", he says, heading out of the bar.
As he walks out onto the Promenade, Mazur sees a Bajoran woman, Roana, packing away some items from her shopfront. He approaches her and she explains that her husband recently passed away and she doesn't think she can manage the shop without him anymore. "It's so much nicer working with someone else", she recalls. Mazur then picks up a gem stone from her counter and passes it to her, "You understand.", she says.
In the racquetball court, Bashir is playing a rematch with O'Brien, but he is purposely losing the game and the chief knows it. "I don't need your charity", he remarks, "Next time, you either play your best or you don't play".
Odo is walking down the Promenade when Quark suddenly runs up to him from behind. He complains about Mazur, that he has opened a competing establishment against his exclusive contract with the station. He points to where the Bajoran woman's shop used to be. The entrance has been replaced with bright, flashing lights and Mazur is outside welcoming people in. Noticing Quark, he utters to his customers, "Welcome to Club Martus!".
Act Three
Quark is following Commander Sisko on the upper level of the Promenade as he argues his point over the exclusive contract he paid considerably for, stating all gambling happens at Quark's or it doesn't happen at all. Though Sisko immediately dismisses his argument, "A few bribes to the Cardassians when they ran this station, doesn't constitute a contract. Not in the eyes of the Federation." he responds, as the two of them step into a turbolift heading down to the lower Promenade. As they exit, Quark tries a different approach, insisting Sisko owes him, that he begged for him to stay on the station when the Federation took over. Likewise, Sisko reminds him that he blackmailed, not begged him, to stay and that he can't pretend it hasn't paid off for him too. He continues to walk off down the Promenade.
As Quark shouts at him to reconsider, Rom exits the bar with Mazur, who reveals he has offered his brother a one quarter share in his establishment. Rom tells Quark that if he wants him back, he has to offer something better, but Quark simply laughs it off and lets him leave, rushing to tend to his own bar.
The customers are filling up in Club Martus, much to Mazur's pleasure. He is walking through the bar when he spots Alsia, who tells him she has gone ahead with the mining bid and the Vlugtan government has accepted it. However, they won't finalize the deal until she commissions a study on the effects of asteroid mining on intersystem navigation and she put all her money into the bid itself. Alsia tells him she needs ten thousand isiks in order to get it done and she only has a week to do it. She goes on to explain that any investor would see return of ten times that amount. Realizing the potential for profit, Mazur agrees to help her.
Rom approaches with a tray of canapés and warns him that Quark may decide to do something to the food in order to discredit his bar. After the good luck he has experienced recently, Mazur brushes it off to one side, inviting a dabo girl to sit on his lap. But as Roana enters, he quickly jumps to his feet, pretending he was disciplining her. Mazur then takes two drinks from the bar and toasts to his Roana, "the queen of the Promenade". Then proposing they "formalize" their relationship, he offers her a gift of a Bajoran earring.
In Ops, Major Kira is discussing the requirements of a new lab with Dax, who has her feet up at her console. The computer suddenly alerts them to a discovery; Dax explains she has been running a scan for a program buried in the deep code level of the database and the computer has just found it, much to her surprise. She puts it down to luck and the two of them go back to their work.
Chief O'Brien is lying in pain on the floor of the racquetball court. Bashir explains he slipped on the ball while it was in mid-air and fell on his back, to O'Brien's disbelief. Bashir tells O'Brien that he has never seen anything like it before. They are then both interrupted by the sound of one of the medical staff requesting Bashir's presence in the infirmary. The chief says they can continue their match another time but as Bashir leaves, he tells him that he didn't really enjoy as he used to and, apologizing, hopes he'll find another opponent on the station.
Disappointed, O'Brien heads for Quark's. The first thing he notices as he walks in is how empty the bar is; everyone is across the Promenade at Club Martus. In an effort to prove he can be just as much a listener as Mazur, Quark asks the chief how his game went. O'Brien begins to complain about Bashir winning all the time, but it turns out Quark isn't listening after all for he has just thought up a way to get back at Mazur.
Major Kira slams a terminal in Ops after it crashes, destroying an evaluation report she has been working on for weeks; even the backups are affected. Sisko observes he has been hearing a lot of "bad luck stories" over the past few hours, including many people who have reported to the infirmary after sustaining minor injuries. Dax jokingly tells her she has been having a great day so not to send any of it her way. Kira, however, says she thinks everyone makes their own luck right before tripping over a step on her way up to the turbolift.
In Club Martus, everyone playing the gambling device has just hit the jackpot leaving Mazur very unhappy. He reluctantly agrees to pay them all.
Meanwhile, Quark is playing with his cup and dice while concocting up a scheme. "Challenge of the galaxy", he says to himself, "Match of the century. Wonder of the wormhole. House always takes blue!"
Act Four
Quark, standing on his bar, is rallying a group of customers, offering them new thrills, spills and excitement, among them is Bashir but he's confused about what Quark is referring to. The chief enters, in uniform and with his toolkit to hand, looking equally puzzled by what's going on. Quark continues his speech, introducing the "reigning champion of Starfleet, and a legend on both sides of the wormhole, Miles 'The Mechanic' O'Brien" alongside "the fast and the deadly", Julian Bashir, aka "The Doctor". Both of them are equally surprised by Quark's address, expecting to find an emergency in the bar. O'Brien shouts at Quark to get down and explain himself, but he continues with his speech, advertising "the grudge match of the galaxy" with half the winnings going to the Bajoran War Orphans Fund. He finishes by inviting his customers to place a bet on either contender while reminding them the dabo tables are open. O'Brien and Bashir are naturally outraged by Quark taking it upon himself to arrange this without their consent, but he puts the charm on and reminds them about the orphans' donation and that the s have already made down payment on new blankets for the winter. They reluctantly give in to Quark's plan. He smiles smugly across the Promenade to Mazur, who is watching in anger.
Back in Ops, Dax is frustrated with the computer, which seems to have lost the program she was looking for. Kira arrives on the turbolift, noting that she is fine after her earlier trip, which is more than she can say for the other people in the infirmary, whose numbers are increasing. Dax hypothesizes there must be a connection between the accidents and the system failures and Sisko agrees, suggesting it may be a virus or anomaly of some sort. He sets Dax to work finding something that could affect both people and machinery in this way.
Meanwhile, thanks to Quark's scheme, Club Martus is just about empty. Rom is recounting to Mazur the times he was teased for his lobes being too small, but Mazur is too busy dwelling in his own failure and eventually snaps at Rom, before finding "comfort" in the arms of his dabo girl. At that moment, Roana walks in and witnesses his betrayal. As she still holds the lease, she orders him out of her bar and to take his devices with him, before storming out. Mazur chases after her as far as the Promenade where he sees Alsia and has another idea.
A little while later, Mazur and Alsia are in the club where he provides her with the necessary funds she asked for, approximately ten thousand isiks. He reminds her of the return she promised him; he expects ten times as much back. She promises he will get it and leaves the club. Mazur then tries his luck with one of the gambling devices but it fails on him. His luck may be coming to an end.
Act Five
In his quarters, O'Brien is talking to himself in the mirror as he gets ready for the match with Bashir. Before he leaves, Keiko takes a silk handkerchief of medieval Japanese design, scented with her perfume, and ties it around his head as a good luck charm and kisses him. "Kick his butt", she roots.
Bashir is doing press-ups in the infirmary when Quark enters. He says he has brought a special gift from the Bajoran monks, a medicinal brew said to impart great energy and vigor. Bashir unscrews the bottle and takes a sniff, reeling at the smell of it. Quark tells him the monks said to drink it all in one go to get the proper effect which immediately causes the doctor to suspect he is up to something. Sure enough, after running a medical scan on the liquid, Bashir finds there is seventeen milligrams of hydroxylated quint-ethyl metacetamine, an anesthetic, which would make him hardly able to stand let alone play racquetball. Quark explains that nobody is betting on O'Brien to win so he had to do something to gain a profit from the match, and of course, raise funds for the orphans. Bashir instructs Quark that he will be paying for the orphans' blankets whatever the outcome of the match and that is the end of the discussion.
In Ops, Dax has found something. Sensors have detected strange solar neutrino activity within the station. According to the laws of probability, around half of the neutrinos should be spinning clockwise and the other half counter clockwise, yet over eighty percent of them are spinning clockwise. Dax believes it is another symptom of the unusual activity on the station.
O'Brien wishes Bashir a good game as they prepare to start. The Doctor takes the first serve, which the chief successfully counters, hitting the ball against the back wall and back to Bashir, who misses it. In Quark's everyone is watching the game on a large viewscreen as he narrates the score. O'Brien serves the next point which Bashir successfully hits back. O'Brien again successfully hits the ball back to Bashir but this time the Doctor's racket snaps in two. "Not a rousing start for the Doctor", Quark narrates.
In Club Martus, Mazur is impatiently waiting on Alsia who had promised to meet him there once she had completed the deal. Rom reminds him that one quarter of the money he loaned to her is his and he expects it back. Mazur states he only gets any profit after all expenses have been settled and since all the money has gone towards expenses, he won't getting anything. Angry with this prospect, Rom takes his jacket off and throws it at Mazur, before returning to his brother's bar with the dabo girl.
Back in the court, Bashir trips and falls to the floor in an unlucky move. O'Brien, realizing something isn't quite right, cuts the video transmission with the bar. He admits to Bashir that he is playing better than he did fifteen years ago when he played five hours a day. Bashir throws the ball straight against the back wall, expecting it to bounce back to him, but it goes to the Chief instead. Then O'Brien tries, this time ricocheting the ball around all the curves and corners of the room, though it still ends up in his hand. Something is most definitely happening. Heading for the nearest comm panel, he contacts Ops.
Sisko and Dax have come down to the racquetball court to observe the phenomenon for themselves. O'Brien says he has thrown the ball at varying angles a dozen times now and it has always ended up in his hand. Sisko links this experience to the other improbable events that have been happening on the station and Dax believes she can find out what's causing it.
They walk into Club Martus just as Mazur has lost another spin on his device. Dax notes that ninety eight percent of the neutrinos in the room are rotating clockwise and it's the machines that are causing it. Sisko asks Mazur how they shut them off but he doesn't know. He says he just told the replicator to scan the original and create copies, though he does believe they have an internal power source. With no way to turn them off, Sisko and Dax take out their phasers and shoot each of the devices, destroying them for good. Mazur claims he cannot be held responsible for what has happened and even though he would like to arrest him for it, Sisko admits he has no evidence on which to charge him. However, Odo enters and reveals he does; the elderly Pythron couple have decided to press charges after all.
Mazur is back in his holding cell when Odo brings Alsia into the room. He incorrectly assumes she has come to get him out, right before she is herself placed into a cell. Quark reveals that she just tried to scam him with "the old asteroid mining trick." He tells Mazur that he has come to let him out and takes great pleasure in the fact that he was fooled by one of his own victims. Mazur demands Quark give him two thousand isiks so he can book passage out of Deep Space 9. Quark barters with him, until the price gets lower and lower. "Go on", he says. "I'm listening."
Memorable quotes
"Officer! You've got a dead prisoner in here!"
- Martus Mazur, after his cellmate, Cos, dies
"You had a game?"
"No, he had a game. I just kinda stumbled around the court for ninety minutes and made a complete ass of myself!"
- Keiko O'Brien and Miles O'Brien
"Sector champion, my eye. He's vulnerable to every one of my best shots. I just… I just couldn't get them there! This time."
- Miles O'Brien
"I don't need your charity! Next time, you either play your best game or you don't play."
- Miles O'Brien to Julian Bashir, after Bashir purposely loses a game
"I'll take a hundred times what you got here."
"Not in this space-time continuum, you won't."
- Martus Mazur and Quark, bartering for the device
"My benevolence is known far and wide."
"Oh, it's legendary, I'm sure."
- Quark and Martus Mazur
"Kick his butt."
- Keiko O'Brien, to Miles before his racquetball match with Bashir
"I have a contract for which I paid considerably! All gambling on DS9 happens at Quark's or it doesn't happen!"
"A few bribes to the Cardassians when they ran this place doesn't constitute a contract. Not in the eyes of the Federation."
"He's a con artist… a crook!"
"One more won't make much difference."
"You owe me! You begged me to stay here when you first came on board, and I did. Against my better judgment."
"I didn't beg, I blackmailed you. And don't pretend it hasn't paid off for you, either."
- Quark and Benjamin Sisko
"It's nothing to be ashamed of. People just naturally slow down."
"Oh, like molasses in winter, huh? Thanks!"
-Keiko O'Brien and Miles O'Brien
"Where are you going?"
"Back to Quark! At least then I'll be cheated by family!"
- Martus Mazur and Rom
Background information
Story and script
This was one of the first episodes to be put in development for DS9's second season. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, No. 3/4, pp. 109-110) Jim Trombetta originally pitched the idea for this episode during season one, and the story was much different. As he later explained, "Quark gets a device that gives him a lot of good luck, at the expense of other people. Someone had dug up this machine from an ancient civilization and was using it to gamble with. And Quark started having all this good luck, while everyone else was having terrible luck and things were falling apart." ()
Michael Piller decided to buy the concept and worked on it for a little while. As he explained, "It was around for a year, and Jim came up with all these quirky science fiction ideas. We had to figure ways to make them work as Star Treks. It was a little quirky for us, but you've got to take some chances." The original pitch focused on the , which was also the original name for the show. Martus Mazur wasn't in this version of the story; instead, he was added later by Michael Piller. Joe Menosky, who wrote the episode's teleplay, further commented, "Writers would come in and say, 'What about the chaos theory?' And someone else would say, 'Well, what about it?' Everyone would struggle but nobody would devise a story. It wasn't until Jim Trombetta pitched that Michael [Piller] saw a story." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 67; )
On writing the teleplay itself, Menosky further commented, "A lot of times a writer is given a six-page story that isn't in very good shape, and you look at it and think, 'What the hell am I going to do with this?' But 'Rivals' was a pleasure to work on, because Michael [Piller] had a really strong idea about what he wanted to do with Martus as a rival for Quark." ()
Trombetta himself said it was extremely frustrating developing the story, "because there was this subplot of the racquetball game that they had wanted to put in a number of times and had not been able to, so they put it in this [episode] after I was gone because they felt it made the most sense since this was about games." He went on to say, "I would have liked to have done more with the quantum-luck thing. I had the idea that if randomness could be managed, then you're in a lot of trouble. Basically, the universe is random; it's a mind boggling thing. Eventually Quark would beat [Martus] by using Mr. Randomness. We never got into that, although I would have liked to." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 67)
Michael Piller conceived Martus Mazur to be the wayward son of Guinan. Guinan herself was to appear in the episode but Whoopi Goldberg was unavailable. All the references to Guinan were removed and only Martus' status as an El-Aurian was retained. ()
The script described Martus as "a tall, elegantly dressed and mannered man in his forties…" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Author and theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss pointed out that neutrinos can only exist in a specific spin state, the left-handed spin state (antineutrinos are in the right-handed spin state), and therefore Dax could never have discovered a "statistically unlikely" left-handed alignment of whirling neutrinos. Science Advisor Andre Bormanis said of this error, "This was a mistake on my part; I thought neutrinos had multiple spin states like other subatomic particles, and didn't double-check. Well, as Spock noted in – nobody's perfect. (Star Trek Science Logs, p. 54) In November 2016, a group of European physicists published a paper in which they suggested the inclusion of six additional particles to the current Standard Model used to describe sub-atomic physics. Three of these would be neutrinos with a right-handed spin state. Neutrinos with a right-handed spin state are, to current date, still unproven and only theoretical.
Production
Originally, there were three designs for the probability machine: the handheld device (which was initially designed larger than its appearance in the final episode), the larger device created by Martus, and a four-person gambling orb for the casino. Ultimately, only the first two designs (with some elements from the third) were incorporated into the final production. (The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, p. 47) The script described the handheld version as a "small, spherical, softball-sized, handheld GAMBLING DEVICE. It has a strange design, covered by curious angles and curves, as if fashioned from exotic seashells."
The racquetball court was built on the holosuite set. Due to the cost of putting up and taking down the set, it was decided not to re-use the sport. According to Siddig El Fadil (Julian Bashir), "The dartboard was cheaper, and we started using that in the third season." ()
Though the racquetball scenes only took six hours to shoot, there were issues, as El Fadil later noted: "The scenes were kind of bizarre because the racquetball court was such an odd shape that the ball would bounce wrong. It was designed in a sci-fi shape, with the walls at all sorts of oblique angles, and you'd hit the ball and you wouldn't know where it would go. So we were chasing these balls around like nutters, until they finally just staged us so we could look like we were shooting the ball where we wanted it to go."
Of the decision to have O'Brien appear shirtless, director David Livingston commented, "I thought it was important. He represents the common man on the show, and common men, when they get sweaty, take off their shirts. And so what if he doesn't look like Fabio. He looks real, like a Human being. And later on, he has this nice loving moment with Keiko, where she hands him his shirt. I fought for that." Robert Hewitt Wolfe noted, "I think it was an attempt to show he's sexy to his wife. There's some sparks between the two of them. We don't see it all the time, but it's a real ongoing thing." On the prospect of being a sex symbol, Colm Meaney (Miles O'Brien) joked, "It would seem to me that there are far more likely candidates for it!" On the idea of Bashir taking his shirt off in a future episode, El Fadil replied, "I reckoned they were going to send me to a gym for six months before they made me do a love scene." It wouldn't be until the series finale , that Bashir gets a love scene in the form of Ezri Dax. ()
One of the ingredients in Quark's sedative drink is "dilithium flavoring extract oz. 435" as shown on Bashir's computer screen. This is one of the many examples of in-jokes that have been added by the show's art department throughout the series.
The costume worn by Alexander Siddig (Julian Bashir) during the racquetball match was auctioned off in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction. The shoes are, in reality, silver-painted Nike air shoes.
This episode was the first to air in .
Continuity
Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #47 ("Never trust a man wearing a better suit than your own") and #109 ("Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack").
Although by this point Guinan had not been identified as an El-Aurian, several hints are dropped in this episode, as El-Aurians are described multiple times as a "race of listeners," and Guinan referred to herself often as "a listener," and in , referred to herself as coming from a "species of listeners." It was only in that she was confirmed to be an El-Aurian.
Oddly, Club Martus appears to be located where the Bajoran temple normally is on the Promenade. The front of the temple had been converted to be a storefront seen in . The temple was not restored until three episodes later in .
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
Reception
Michael Piller originally had different plans for Martus's future: "When we did 'Rivals' I thought that the character of Martus had a chance of being a recurring one. It was like Harry Mudd or something like that. But I don't think it will. I thought it was an average episode, albeit with some great character stuff in it." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p.67)
Writer Jim Trombetta wasn't entirely happy with the finished product either: "Ultimately, it seemed a little confusing. I never explained the quantum gambling device adequately. The problem is, after ten drafts there's always a problem that never quite gets solved. I've written six or seven outlines for some of these things, but then the problem gets to be part of the solution that might be plausible." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p.67)
Ira Behr said of the episode, "I can happily say that 'Rivals' was not a show I did a lot of work on. I don't think we had a lead guest star who worked. We were looking for a Michael Caine, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels type, and Chris Sarandon was a lot more stolid and less effervescent. There were a lot of nice moments, and I loved Max [Grodenchik]. I think Rom is a great character, and he's someone we can keep exploring because the relationship between brothers is endlessly fascinating. I love the Bashir/O'Brien stuff also. I could have seen the whole just be about that. We brought the idea of random luck in a fit of needing to buy stories, which happens sometimes, but it never makes any sense. We never cared about it. It's too much to justify. I don't think there was an episode we did all year that didn't have something in it that was watchable, and this had the whole O'Brien and Bashir story, which was very watchable." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p.67)
In contrast, director David Livingston was happy with how the episode turned out: "It was another light kind of story with kinetic elements. Working with Colm [Meaney] and [Alexander] Siddig was fun. I didn't have any time to shoot the racquetball match, so it was one of those things where you're just going on adrenaline and instinct. I was literally just shooting only the pieces that I needed. And when it was all put together, I surprised myself. It came out much better than I thought, because I had these horrible thoughts it wasn't going to work." However, he was aware that some people did not: "People just didn't like it. It was pretty much a piece of fluff, but it was fun. I had a good time doing it." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p.67; )
One aspect of the show that did receive positive comments from fans was the racquetball sequence. Robert Hewitt Wolfe recalled, "Our e-mail fans really liked the tight suit that Bashir wore in the matches. They liked that a lot." ()
Actor Armin Shimerman (Quark) believed there was opportunity for some good character rivalry scenes but in the finished episode it "didn't quite gel". Shimerman had previously worked with guest star Chris Sarandon (Martus Mazur) on Broadway fifteen years earlier but didn't feel there was the right spark in this instance: "Chris and I got along fine, but the one-upmanship that should have been there, these two swindlers trying to out swindle each other, didn't really work." ()
Authors Mark Jones and Lance Parkin wrote of this episode, "A dreadful attempt at a comedy story, the sparring between Quark and his rival just doesn't work. Since that's the key to the episode, what's left is poor plotting disguised as the effects of the gambling device and a few set-pieces that couldn't even have looked that good on paper." (Beyond the Final Frontier, p. 197)
Similarly, Star Trek author Keith R.A. DeCandido thought Chris Sarandon, "utterly fails in the role of Mazur. He’s flat, dull, uninteresting, has none of the needed spark with Armin Shimerman that the role calls for, nor do we see any evidence of the charm he’s supposed to be using on both Alsia and Roana." However, he did praise the O'Brien-Bashir racquetball rivalry, calling it, "hilarious and charming," but did say, "it’s kind of too bad that it was short-circuited by the technobabble plot, as I wanted to see how the showdown would really turn out. Still, the whole thing is wonderfully played by Colm Meaney, Siddig el-Fadil, and Rosalind Chao, and if you must watch the episode, just watch those bits." Overall, he gave this episode a "warp factor rating" of 4/10.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 16,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien
Barbara Bosson as Roana
K Callan as Alsia
Max Grodénchik as Rom
Albert Henderson as Cos
Special Apearance By
Chris Sarandon as Martus Mazur
Uncredited Co-Stars
Sam Alejan as Starfleet sciences officer
Ivor Bartels as Starfleet operations officer
Patti Begley as Bajoran command officer
Ivy Borg as Rita Tannenbaum
Brian Demonbreun as Starfleet sciences officer
Terry Green as operations lieutenant
Kevin Grevioux as Starfleet operations officer
Sue Henley as Starfleet command officer
Randy James as
Mark Lentry as Starfleet command lieutenant
David B. Levinson as Broik
Mary Meinel-Newport as Bolian woman
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Michael Prokopuk as Human civilian
Tammy Rodriguez as yellow-skinned alien dabo girl
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Sandra Wild as Club Martus dabo girl
Unknown performers as
Three Bajoran monks
Kressari
Markalian
Pakled
Pelian
References
2332; 2340; 2344; 2355; 2361; 2368; 47; 5000 years ago; adopted; Alsia's father; Alsia's husband; anesthetic; appointment; ass; assistant; asteroid; asteroid mining; backhand; backup; ball; Bajor; Bajoran War Orphans Fund; Bajoran wormhole; Bashir's assistant; battle; beg; bet; bid; bidding war; blackmail; blanket; blue; Bolians; bribe; brother (sibling); butt; canapé; captain (sports); Cardassian; cargo ship; casino; champion; championship; ; childhood; Club Martus; coin purse; complex carbohydrate; con artist/con man (crook); contract; copy; corner shot; coronary; ; dabo girl; deep code level; donation; double or nothing; down payment; dozen; drop shot; El-Aurians; El-Aurian system; emergency call; evaluation report; exercise; family; father; Federation; Final; final year; financial access code; flattery; ; folk medicine (traditional medicine); fossil; full spectrum mineral analysis; fundraiser; gambling device; gambling machine; game; Gamzian wine; grain; grudge match; hand; handkerchief; health risk; heart; heart attack; intersystem navigation; intestinal bug; invest; investor; Isiks; jackpot; Japanese; joke; Keldar; kill shot; Kressari; latinum; laws of probability; lease; listener; lobe; logic; luck; Markalian; marriage proposal; match fixing; "" (mechanic); medical student; medicinal brew; medieval; merchant; Milky Way Galaxy; milligram; mining concession; molasses; ; month; Naming Day; neck; nephew; Nog; Occupation of Bajor; officer; operating costs; ; orphan; overhead; Pakled; particulate; partnership; pastime; peddle; Pelian; ; Plygorian mammoth; poison; potassium bromide; power source; s; Promenade; promoter; prosecco; prospecting; pulse; push-up; Pythro V; Pythrons (Pythron couple); Quark's; racket; racquetball; recapitalization; refugee; rematch; replicator; retirement; riser shot; Roana's husband; Rules of Acquisition; Sector 001; Sector Champion; Sector Championship; security chief; security file; self-destruct; serve; scam; science; score; shaving; shop; sign; silk; snoring; solar neutrinos; space-time continuum; spatial fluctuation; spin shot; sprain; stamina; Starfleet Medical Academy; stellar cartographer; sucrose; suit; survey; sweat; symptom; synthehol; terminal; testify; throwing; time; toast; training; transmission; Top raquetball player; tournament; toy; tricorder; trust; vegetable; virus; Vlugtans; Vlugta asteroid belt; Vlugta government; Vulcan; Vulcan racquetball opponent; wall; warm-up; week; winter; year
Other references
Substance analysis report 4611: centrose; dextrose; dilithium flavoring extract; enriched wheat flour; folic acid; hydrogenated soybean oil; hyvroxilated quint-ethyl metacetamin; niacinamide; palmitate; pyridoxine hydrochloride; substance analysis report; tribnel root extract; yeast
External links
de:Rivalen
es:Rivals
fr:Rivals (épisode)
nl:Rivals
DS9 episodes |
871 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | The Alternate (episode) | The Bajoran scientist who used to be Odo's teacher arrives with evidence of others of Odo's kind.
Summary
Teaser
In his bar, Quark is trying to sell pieces of Plegg to a Ferengi customer when Odo walks in and comes up to Quark. The other Ferengi leaves upon hearing Quark's asking price, but Odo takes out latinum as if to buy some of the remains, before informing Quark that he wants to buy parts of Plegg, but that is impossible because Plegg is still alive and well on Khosla II. Quark claims he bought the remains in good faith and demands Odo investigate the fraud against him. As they are discussing this, Dr. Mora Pol enters the bar and calls out to Odo. As Quark starts to talk to Dr. Mora, Odo leaves in disgust, with Dr. Mora walking with him. They head to the Replimat, where Dr. Mora hints that he may have found a clue to Odo's origins.
Act One
Benjamin Sisko is sitting on a couch reading a PADD in his quarters when Jake tries to discreetly leave to meet Nog. Sisko asks Jake about his homework, and upon hearing that it is done, tells Jake he can't leave because he should be listening to Klingon opera to appreciate their culture. In frustration, Jake asks his father when was the last time he listened to Klingon opera. Sisko informs Jake that it was when he was his son's age, and then suggests that Jake invite Nog over and they can listen to the Klingon opera together. Jake walks off in frustration as Odo enters. Odo requests the use of a runabout for investigation of a planet in the Gamma Quadrant, where DNA similar to Odo's had been found.
Jadzia joins Odo, Dr. Mora, and a Bajoran scientist named Dr. Weld on the runabout. Dr. Mora encourages Odo to tell Jadzia the story of when he was in the lab, but then repeatedly interrupts Odo to correct him. The four people beam down to the planet, L-S VI, and begin to scan the surrounding area. They come upon a tall artifact. Apparently it was important to its makers, but the lettering on it is unrecognizable. Jadzia suggests taking it back to the station to let the computers there decipher it. As they are engaged in looking at the artifact, Dr. Weld comes across a lifeform which has similar DNA to Odo. The silicate-based creature is placed in a container, and the artifact is transported up to the runabout. But as soon as it leaves the surface of the planet, the ground begins to shake and a toxic gas is released. In seconds only Odo is left standing. He orders the runabout's computer to lock onto their combadges and transport them back on board.
Act Two
In the infirmary on the station, Dr. Bashir is caring for the two Bajorans and Jadzia Dax, though he will need more time to understand what happened. Odo wasn't affected by the gas as the others were, presumably because he has no respiratory system, so he joins Miles O'Brien in studying the silicate-based creature that was found on the planet. Along the way, Sisko walks with Odo, presuming he is worried about Mora as a son would if his father was ill. Odo appreciates the thought, but informs Sisko that he doesn't see Mora as a father figure.
O'Brien states that the creature keeps changing, and that he's put a level 5 security field on it. It's been frequently reproducing and undergoing a . He observes the artifact they brought back for a second, then leaves.
That night, Sisko is sleeping when Major Kira wakes him up and asks him to come down to the science lab. The lab has been trashed, and the case that the lifeform was in has been broken apart.
Act Three
The crew looks for signs of what has happened, while Odo sets up a scan for the missing lifeform, and the station goes to yellow alert. O'Brien notes that the lifeform might have gone through the ventilation. Dax enters the science lab and Odo leaves to talk to Dr. Mora. There, Mora attempts to leave sickbay to help find the creature, but Odo convinces him to stay.
As O'Brien crawls through the ventilation duct in search of the lifeform with a tricorder, he is informed by Sisko there was a malfunction in the lab's security cameras and a temporary increase in heat. He suggests a lifeform that feeds off the computer's power, but there should have been an increase detected. Then, he hears something, and follows the sound. He comes across a structural breach, and when putting his hand up to touch the structure it breaks, pouring down some kind of liquid. He identifies it as the missing lifeform, and states that it is now dead.
Dr. Bashir studies the lifeform, and determines that it needed more carbon dioxide to survive. As he is in the infirmary, he hears a noise coming from the ceiling. He is unable to find anything, but as he resumes his work a tentacle comes up from behind and grabs him. He struggles, it lets go, then he uses a laser scalpel to cut the creature. The lifeform retreats back through the ceiling vent, and Bashir calls security down to the infirmary, reporting an intruder alert.
Act Four
After a team arrives, Bashir explains to them what he has seen, but he did not get a good look at the creature. However, he did agree that the room was warm, so Odo suggests looking for RF energy and the same power fluctuations they saw in the lab. Dax finds organic residue traces, giving more analysis to do. Sisko puts the station on red alert and Odo suggests closing the Promenade.
As Odo and Mora walk away from the infirmary, Mora remarks on the remarkable way Odo handled the investigation, but Odo claims se was just doing his job. Mora then talks about the similarities between police work and the scientific method, Odo admits he hadn't thought of his approach to his work like that, .
Odo and Mora arrive at the lab, and Jadzia reports no luck translating the symbols or with the residue. Jadzia starts a cross-tabulation analysis, and while it runs, Mora talks to her about Odo. She says he's private, but invaluable on the station. Mora clearly regrets the bad parting they had previously, and is pleased that Odo is integrating into society. The analysis completes and they find that the lifeform found on the planet and the one that attacked Dr. Bashir in the infirmary don't have enough similarities to be the same lifeform. Dr. Mora has her run a lengthy analysis on the new sample, but he already knows what it is.
Mora goes to Odo's office to tell him he recognizes the organic sample as being from Odo himself.
Act Five
Dr. Mora confronts Odo with the likelihood that it was Odo himself, during his regeneration period, who trashed the science lab and attacked Dr. Bashir. Odo proposes that the gas from the planet they were on affected him somehow, but Dr. Mora suggests Odo may have been responsible for unsolved crimes in the past. He then says that now that they know the truth, none of the station staff will trust Odo, and advises Odo to return to the scientific center with him, stating he has experience with Odo.
Odo refuses: he says he doesn't trust Mora, which Mora resents. As they are arguing, Odo hits a security panel and starts to change into something else. Dr. Mora flees from security.
Dr. Mora arrives at Ops as the station crew attempt to find out why the power in security has just failed. He explains that Odo is the creature, and that this metamorphosis is probably a reaction to the gas that was encountered on the planet. Dr. Mora volunteers to be bait to attract the creature that was Odo into a trap. Mora waits on the Promenade, along with Sisko, Kira, Bashir, and station security personnel. The creature comes out and into the force field waiting for it. Dr. Mora watches in distress as the creature slams itself into the force field again and again, realizing then how Odo must have felt during his time at the center – a prisoner. Sisko apparently has the same reaction and orders the force field dropped. The creature then morphs back into Odo and falls to the ground. Mora rushes over to him.
Later, in the Infirmary, Odo is back to normal again, and Bashir informs him that the gas has been purged from his system with help from Dr. Mora. Odo apologizes to Dr. Mora for attacking him, and Mora apologizes for not seeing sooner how Odo felt about their early days together. Mora says he would like to be a small part of Odo's life on the station and visit occasionally, and Odo accepts.
Memorable quotes
"I am merely a businessman. It would take an orator with the skills of the late, great Plegg himself to sing the praises of the late, great Plegg."
- Quark
"When was the last time you listened to Klingon opera?"
"When I was your age."
"There, you see?"
- Jake Sisko, explaining to his father Benjamin why studying for a test on Klingon opera is not important
"Humanoid death rituals are an interest of mine."
"Death rituals?"
"Everybody needs a hobby."
- Odo and Quark
"Doctor Bashir gave you permission to be up and about?"
"Doctor Bashir wouldn't listen to me and hid my clothes so I wouldn't leave. I had to sneak out to my quarters in a hospital gown that wouldn't close in the back."
- Sisko and Jadzia
"Feel like getting a raktajino before we call it a night?"
"My replicator or yours?"
- Jadzia and Bashir
"Constable?"
"It's a nickname that I barely tolerate."
"It's an expression of affection that you find difficult to accept."
- Mora and Odo
"I prescribe rest, because it's hard for a doctor to go wrong with that one."
- Bashir
Background information
Story and script
The idea for this episode came to Jim Trombetta when he realized that if a shapeshifter was suffering from multiple personality disorder, "not only would he go around exhibiting different personalities, but different bodies." ()
Mora Pol was originally to be played by Rene Auberjonois himself, much as Data's creator Noonian Soong was played by Brent Spiner, and as The Doctor's creator Lewis Zimmerman would later be played by Robert Picardo, but this plan was scrapped when it was realized how much time it would take each day to get Auberjonois out of one make-up and into another. Most DS9 episodes were shot in 7 days, but it was estimated that with Auberjonois playing both parts it would take at least 14 to complete the shoot. ()
When telling Odo the story about his father, Sisko seems to imply (without actually saying it) that his father had passed away after becoming ill. Joseph Sisko ultimately made six appearances in the series, his first one taking place almost exactly two years after this episode. Possibly because of the information disclosed in this episode, it is mentioned in the script of that "several years earlier Joseph fought a debilitating battle against a severe illness, barely surviving. He's never gotten back to full strength, but he's determined to live out the rest of his years with gusto". (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
A script for this episode was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay.
Production
Special effects supervisor Glenn Neufeld wasn't especially pleased with how this episode turned out, primarily due to the fact that he feels the audience sees too much of the 'monster'; "I figured out the way the script was written, by my timing, we'd be looking at the creature for a minute and a half of screen time. Thirty cuts between three and fifteen seconds each, at various times in the show. I was forced to point out that in the movie Alien up to the moment where we really see it, there are only a hundred frames of creature. And do we really want to see our creature all that time? And, of course, the answer was 'Yes'." ()
Dennis McCarthy scored the music for the episode. McCarthy commented: "I treated it like a horror film. An orchestra can give you tremendous horror effects, but it can also sound dated. Adding the synthesizer pushes you into the era that we're in now". ()
Reception
Michael Piller commented, "I like this show. It's the closest thing we've ever done to a monster movie, and the hardest part was to keep the secret that Odo was the one who was actually doing it. I had to throw in a bunch of red herrings." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 69)
David Carson was pleased with this episode. "I enjoyed 'The Alternate'," he remarked. "It had a lot of different colors and interesting stuff in it."
Some viewers saw similarities to Forbidden Planet. The authors of Beyond the Final Frontier wrote, "inspiration for Star Trek in the first place, Odo's bestial form strongly resembles the Id monster at the end of that movie."
Continuity
James Sloyan made his first of two appearances as Dr. Mora Pol in this episode. He reprised the role in the fifth season episode .
This episode establishes that travel time between Bajor and Deep Space 9 is five hours. However, in , Bashir states that the journey from the station to Bajor takes two hours. The discrepancy is reasonable, as Bajor is a planet in orbit and not a fixed-point in space.
This episode is the last Star Trek episode to be directed by David Carson. He went on to direct .
The appearance of Dr. Mora in this episode justified the claim Odo made in , when he told Lwaxana Troi that he modeled his hairstyle after his mentor.
It seems that Dr. Mora was correct when he identified the monolith as a "relic of Odo's people," as an almost identical monolith can be clearly be seen on the Founders' planet in the episode .
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 16,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Star
James Sloyan as Mora Pol
Co-Star
Matt McKenzie as Dr. Weld Ram
Uncredited Co-Stars
Sam Alejan as sciences officer
Majel Barrett as Federation Computer Voice
Ivor Bartels as operations officer
Tracee Lee Cocco as Antican
Terry Green as operations lieutenant
Kevin Grevioux as operations officer
Sue Henley as civilian
Randy James as
David B. Levinson as Broik
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Michael Zurich as Bajoran security deputy
Unknown actor as
Bajoran security deputy 2
DS9 security deputy (voice)
DS9 female security officer
DS9 male security officer 1
Ferengi
Markalian
Rotciv member
Tygarian
References
; Alpha Quadrant; amusement; analysis; asteroid; Bajor; Bajorans; Bajoran Institute of Science; Bajoran science probe; Bajoran sector; Bajoran vessel (unnamed); Bajoran wormhole; Board of Ministers; break-in; businessman; carbon-based lifeform; carbon dioxide; career; cellular structure; Changeling; Chief of Security; "chopping up"; computer; confined to quarters; conduit seal; constable; criminal act; cross-tabulation analysis; ; Deep Space 9 levels; Deka tea; display case; DNA chain; DNA pattern; energy fields; engineering crew; entrepreneur; expression; family reunion; Federation; Ferengi; Ferengi death ritual; Ferengi Seal of Dismemberment; Friday; Gamma Quadrant; high security prison; holosuite; homework; hospital gown; ice; intruder alert; Khosla II; kill setting; Klingon; Klingon opera; Krokan petri beaker; L-S VI; label; latinum; letter of authenticity; level 5 security field; lifeform; ; minute; Nog; nonessential personnel; nucleotide sequence; ; Odo Junior; orator; per se; Plegg; polarity; Promenade; Quark's; RF energy; raktajino; red alert; replicator; Replimat; ; runabout; scientific method; security camera; sentient lifeform; shape-shifting lifeform; silicate; ; social integration; ; strip; stun setting; synchronous orbit; tentacle; tornado; trace element; tricorder; viscosity; volcanic gas; way station; weigh station; yellow alert; zoo
External links
de:Metamorphosen
es:The Alternate
fr:The Alternate (épisode)
nl:The Alternate
Alternate, The |
873 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Whispers (episode) | Upon returning from a mission to the Parada system, O'Brien begins to notice the crew acting strange around him and suspects there may be some unknown influence at work.
Summary
Teaser
The enters the wormhole. is at the helm and instructs the computer on a new course; the Parada system at maximum warp. Since the journey is going to take over an hour, he decides to record a log entry, creating a new file for a personal log. After prompting the computer, he begins.
"O'Brien personal log, stardate 47581.2. I've got to try to set the record straight about the last 52 hours. I don't know who's going to hear this. I don't even know if I'll be alive by the time this log is recovered. I figure they'll be coming after me. If I'm right about this whole thing, they won't want me to warn the Paradas…"
He pauses and, turning to the replicator, asks for his favorite beverage; "coffee, Jamaican blend, double-strong, double-sweet." He then continues with his log;
"I wish I could tell you who 'they' are but that's part of the puzzle I haven't figured out yet. Part of the puzzle. Hell, none of this whole damn thing makes any sense. I'm trying to remember the first time I noticed things were wrong. It seems to me it was… yeah. It had to be the first morning after I got back to the station…"
O'Brien awakens in his quarters and quickly notices that his wife is missing from her side of the bed. Putting on a gown, he heads into the living area where Keiko and Molly are having their breakfast. He asks them what they're doing up at 5:30 in the morning. Keiko says she has a lot of essays to read and so wanted to get an early start, though there is a nervous slant to her voice, as if she doesn't know exactly what to say. O'Brien doesn't pay much attention to it and simply orders a cup of coffee from the replicator before saying good morning to Molly. He asks her if she had sweet dreams last night but she tells him to go away and rushes off into her room. Keiko explains it's just a phase and not to let it bother him. Though he does seem concerned, the chief sits down and enjoys his coffee anyway, allowing Keiko to clear the table.
As she begins to place the plates into the replicator, Keiko wants to know all about O'Brien's time with the Paradas. The Chief explains that they had him going through basic training on all of their security measures for an upcoming peace conference, something he believes Odo would have enjoyed far more than he did. After clearing away the last of the dishes, Keiko gets ready to leave. O'Brien offers to drop Molly at day care on his way to work but Keiko immediately rejects the idea. She says that she is taking Molly to school with her as there is a Vulcan program she wants to show her while her mind is fresh. Picking Molly up, she heads out, leaving a confused O'Brien to drink his coffee.
A short while later, in the security office, Ensign DeCurtis is conducting some repair work when the Chief walks in. He tells DeCurtis that he was waiting until Odo returned from Bajor before he conducted any repairs, though the Ensign explains he was ordered to do it by Commander Sisko. O'Brien is noticeably annoyed with the idea that Sisko didn't consult him on this and so departs, leaving DeCurtis to continue his work. As he walks down the Promenade, he sees the commander engaged in serious conversation with Keiko outside the school. As Sisko leaves in a turbolift, O'Brien hides out of sight, wondering what's going on.
Act One
In the runabout, O'Brien is now fifty three minutes away from the Parada system. Directing the sensors back towards the wormhole, he asks the computer to display information on a pursuing craft; it's the . He knows they can't catch up to him at warp, so sits back and orders the computer to continue his log entry.
"Okay… so, it was all a little curious. But who could have guessed at that time? I mean, the way they were acting, they might have been trying to pull off one of those surprise parties that I can't stand. Only, my birthday's not until September, and believe me, as it turned out, I had nothing else to celebrate…"
O'Brien arrives in Ops, where everyone is busy at work as usual. As he heads to his station, Doctor Bashir makes himself known. The chief is overdue a physical and Bashir wants him to report to the infirmary within the hour. The chief objects, saying he has too much work but the doctor persists. Just then, Sisko walks out of his office and asks what is going on. Bashir explains the situation, forcing Sisko to order O'Brien to his physical. The chief gives in and tells Bashir he'll be down in an hour.
As Bashir walks off, O'Brien asks to see Sisko in his office. As the two enter the room, Sisko apologizes for assigning Ensign DeCurtis without advising him. "I guess I dropped the ball on that one," Sisko tells O'Brien while holding his . Changing the subject, Sisko asks him about the Paradas and if there's anything the chief can tell him that is "off the record." One thing comes to mind; the Paradas have an odor from some kind of skin excretion which changes with their moods, but it seems like Sisko was after something different. O'Brien reassures him that all the security protocols will be in place for the arrival of the Paradan delegation, something that he will see to personally. The commander insists that's not necessary and instead asks him to see to the three pylons that have gone down again. He explains they had to tow a Bolian freighter into one of the lower pylons just that morning. A bewildered O'Brien swears he has just been over those systems and they were working perfectly fine, but agrees to look at them right away nonetheless. Sisko reminds him that his physical comes first as the chief gets up and heads for the door. Before he leaves, he turns and asks Sisko about his chat with Keiko on the Promenade. He explains that Jake has been having some problems with his grades, to which a relieved O'Brien assures him Keiko will do what she can to help him.
In the infirmary, Bashir has finally gets O'Brien to submit to his physical, though the chief isn't happy about it in the slightest, not hesitating to wind up the doctor with his sarcastic comments. After a few medical questions, Bashir asks him about his parents' health. Annoyed, O'Brien reminds him his mother died two years ago and he told Bashir all of this before, when his father remarried to a woman he has never met. Finally, frustrated by all of the questioning, he leaps to his feet and demands to know why the medical is taking so long. Suddenly, he comes to the conclusion that he must be dying and that's why everyone is behaving strangely. But before he can ponder on it any longer, Bashir calmly reports he is in perfect health and is free to go.
Having changed back into his uniform, O'Brien is now heading along the Promenade when he is greeted by Jake Sisko who needs his help in building a subspace transceiver for his school science project. Recounting how he used to build them as a young boy himself, the chief says he is more than happy to help him get those grades back up. But Jake doesn't seem to know what he's talking about. "Oh, my grades are great" he says, "I just want to keep them that way." A bewildered O'Brien looks on as Jake walks off, wondering why Sisko would have lied to him.
Act Two
"Sisko was telling the truth about one thing: the upper pylons had failed again. It didn't make any sense. Because the new pressure locks I had installed seemed to be working just fine… so it had to be an entirely new problem. I realized it wasn't going to be a quick matter to track it down after all, and I couldn't help thinking how this was going to keep me occupied while the security arrangements for the Paradas were underway."
In one of the station's corridors, Ensign DeCurtis is finishing work on the security arrangements for the Paradan quarters when Chief O'Brien arrives. He orders DeCurtis to open up the door so he can check everything over himself, but as the ensign explains, the security field has been activated and only Major Kira can authorize access. Tapping his combadge, O'Brien asks Kira for the access codes, but Sisko interrupts over the comm, wanting to know what he is doing there when he should be seeing to the upper pylons. The chief argues he should be permitted to oversee the preparations but is overruled. He reluctantly complies with Sisko and seemingly walks back to the upper pylons. However, turning a corner, he stops and watches as DeCurtis opens the door to the Paradan quarters. It seems he was lying about the access codes.
Back on the Promenade, O'Brien is deep in thought when he is again interrupted by Jake, who has with him an inverter for his science project. He asks the chief if it's the right one, and after close examination, he replies it is but he hasn't seen one of these models in a long time. Jake explains he replicated it from a really, really old data file. O'Brien then invites him to come round to his quarters later on so they can put it together, before asking him if anything unusual happened on the station while he was gone. Before Jake can reply, Major Kira interrupts telling him his father needs to see him about something important. As he walks away, Kira smiles, asking O'Brien if everything's under control. "All under control, major", he replies.
"I worked in the pylon controls the better part of the day. 'Needle in a haystack' wouldn't do this job justice. When I finally found the crack in the RF power conduit, I couldn't imagine how it could've occurred so deep in the system… unless someone had broken it deliberately."
A tired O'Brien staggers into his quarters and places himself on the sofa. Keiko informs him that Sisko just called and Jake can't make it tonight due to illness, which he finds peculiar since he was talking to him on the Promenade just a few hours ago. He then notices that Molly is missing, but Keiko explains she is spending the night at the Fredricksons'. With that in mind, O'Brien tries to stir up a bit of romance with his wife by kissing her but she uncharacteristically backs away saying she is just too tired for it and finishes replicating dinner. The chief notices she has replicated Fricandeau stew for him, his favorite, but since she doesn't like it, she's going to have the salad instead. O'Brien is suspicious. He plays with the food before going to take a mouthful. Noticing Keiko is looking at him with anticipation in her eyes, he stops, the fork inches from his mouth. Placing it back on his plate, he decides he doesn't have an appetite after all.
"I don't know if there was anything wrong with the stew or not. When I went back later to check, she'd already put it into the disposal. But all I could think of as I looked at her… was that this was not my Keiko."
Act Three
On the Rio Grande, O'Brien instructs the computer to play back the last line of his personal log. "You're right", he mutters to himself, "She wasn't."
"I didn't get much sleep that night. I waited for Keiko or whoever she was… to go to bed… and I started my search. I had no idea what I was looking for… something odd, something not quite normal – anything to explain what might be going on."
"Scan complete" the computer announces, "no unknown microorganisms detected." O'Brien continues to go through station sensor records checking for unknown chemical agents, subharmonic transmissions, unusual neural wave patterns, even telepathic activity; all return a negative result. He then asks the computer to display the vessel arrival logs in an attempt to locate something unusual but, again, there is nothing. Sighing, he replicates another cup of coffee then orders the computer to playback the logs of all officers on the station. It takes time for the computer to play through the logs of all the senior officers but nothing seems out of the ordinary, that is, until the computer comes to a log which cannot be accessed. It seems all logs from the time O'Brien returned to the station are restricted to Level One access only and won't accept his access code.
Arriving in Ops, the chief heads for the operations pit but before he can do much, he is interrupted by Ensign DeCurtis, who offers his help with any repairs he may be making. O'Brien politely declines his help, explaining that he is trying to get the upper pylons working by morning, which DeCurtis seems to accept.
"There were several traps laid into the computer subroutine, no doubt to let someone know if I'd penetrated their security lockout. I wasn't fooled for a minute and released the protected files without any problem."
O'Brien makes his way back to his quarters, making certain that nobody is following him.
"What I found in those hidden logs didn't answer all my questions… but it sure as hell confirmed what I'd been afraid of. The were analyzing and reanalyzing everything I'd put into my report about Paradan security. They'd even broken into my personal logs to see what they could find in there. I hope they enjoyed reading the sexy letters to my wife. There were several entries by Sisko about secured messages from the Parada system but no indication what those messages were about. Maybe they were afraid I'd get into their files even with the security lockout. Smart people."
At one of the station's airlocks, a Bajoran transport has just docked. Several passengers begin to disembark, with Odo among them. O'Brien takes the security chief to one side and explains his suspicions about the crew. Odo tells him to do nothing while he investigates and once they have some solid proof, they can go to Starfleet and the Bajoran authorities.
"I felt better than I had for a long time. I finally had an ally. Now, all I had to do was wait. I like to think I'm a man with many talents, but waiting isn't one of them. I had to cover my bets, prepare myself for whatever might happen next. I still had a few tricks up my sleeve."
In his quarters, O'Brien opens up his toolkit and takes out several small pieces. After assembling them all together as one, he places the device behind his uniform sleeve, just in case.
Having left his quarters, O'Brien is now sitting on the upper level of Quark's, watching everyone walk by and waiting for something to happen. Quark then interrupts his thoughts, "The odds are against you, O'Brien" he taunts. The chief, thinking he knows something, grabs the Ferengi by his collar and demands to know what he means by it. It turns out Quark was simply referring to the racquetball rematch scheduled with Bashir for next week. Hearing this, the chief realizes he has made a mistake and lets him go. Quark then asks for information on the Paradas, explaining, "It's always good business to know about new customers before they walk in your door." The chief tells him to find his information elsewhere, before he is summoned to the security office by Odo.
In his office, Odo asks O'Brien what he knows about the Paradan rebels, as it looks as if the secret communication messages he found were in fact to the rebels, a direct breach of the agreement they had with the Paradan government. O'Brien immediately suggests they cancel the talks but Odo disagrees, prompting the chief to suspect him as well. Before he can do anything, Sisko and Kira – both armed with phasers – enter and attempt to take him into custody. But O'Brien has other plans. Taking the device from his sleeve, he throws it to the floor, where it explodes with an intense flash, stunning everyone in the room. Grabbing Kira's weapon, he stuns the two security guards on the Promenade and escapes through one of the adjoining corridors.
Act Four
In the corridor, O'Brien orders the computer to lock onto his combadge and initiate an emergency transport to the Rio Grande but the computer denies his request. Throwing his combadge to the floor, he continues to run down the corridor, but is soon stopped by force fields. Realizing he can't take them down, he does the exact opposite and raises all force fields on the station, prompting Sisko's team to disable them all.
Still on his way to a runabout, O'Brien bumps into Jake. He tries to explain what's happening but Jake has seemingly been affected as well and calls for security to that location before running away. Knowing he can't go back or forward, O'Brien crawls into one of the access conduits just as Odo's security teams arrive.
O'Brien manages to make it to a ladder in the crawl space and begins to climb higher and higher. The climb wears him out and he soon drops his phaser down the tube. He eventually makes it to his destination; the cargo bay, where he uses the cargo transporter to beam himself to the runabout.
After disengaging the docking clamps, Sisko appears on the comm channel and orders him to stand down, but O'Brien has no intention of doing so. With the tractor beam sabotaged, Sisko opens fire on the runabout, reducing shield strength significantly. With some quick rerouting of the emergency life support power, the shield strength quickly increases and O'Brien escapes the range of Deep Space 9. He immediately opens a subspace channel to Admiral Rollman at Starbase 401 to inform her of the situation, but she doesn't seem to accept what he's saying and orders him back to the station. O'Brien terminates the communication upon hearing the order.
"It seemed almost unbelievable to me. Had someone… or something started to infiltrate all of Starfleet?"
Laying in a new course, O'Brien takes the ship through the wormhole, on a heading for the Parada system.
Act Five
With just one minute until the Parada system, O'Brien replicates himself another cup of coffee as he formulates his plan to escape the Mekong. With Parada IV being the largest planet in the system, he decides to head there and so adjusts course. A few seconds later, the runabout enters range. O'Brien instructs the computer to reduce speed to allow the Mekong to catch up but after a few seconds engages full impulse and swings into orbit of a nearby moon, shutting down all power systems on the ship to avoid detection. The pursuing Mekong soon gives up and heads off on a new course for Parada II, where its crew beams down to the surface. O'Brien, armed with a phaser, follows suit.
The chief materializes in some underground caves. Scanning the local area, he notices a doorway of artificial origin. He opens it to find Sisko and Kira meeting with two Paradan rebels. Sisko tries to negotiate with him, saying it's not as it seems, but O'Brien isn't listening. One of the rebels, Coutu, tells him that all the answers he needs are behind another door and all he has to do is open it. But he isn't buying it. Kira insists they are not the enemy but before they can negotiate further, another Paradan shoots a bolt of energy at O'Brien, knocking him to the ground. Coutu opens the doorway he pointed before and Bashir rushes out with medical kit in hand. Inside, another Miles O'Brien is lying on a bed, looking surprised.
Bashir tries his best to treat the O'Brien on the floor while the other O'Brien approaches him, amazed at the accuracy of the copy. As Sisko and Coutu explain, the real O'Brien had been kidnapped and replaced with a replicant version who had been programmed to disrupt the peace talks. Bashir goes on to say how the copy was indistinguishable from the real thing; he recounts how the copy had passed a physical with flying colors and certainly knew his way around the station. Coutu wonders why the replicant was returning to the planet, and O'Brien suggests that if he knew something was wrong on the station he'd try and warn someone. Sisko notes that, in a strange way, the replicant was trying to save the day and be a hero. With the replicant version dying rapidly, it holds out his arm to the real O'Brien and says just one thing, "Keiko… tell her I love…"
Memorable quotes
"Are you nearly finished? I believe you poked into every orifice in my body… and created a few new ones."
"Any dizziness? Oversleeping? Lack of energy? Euphoria?"
"Yes! All of them, especially euphoria! Lots of euphoria!"
"Seriously."
"Look, if you are determined to keep me here until you find something wrong with me, I'll see if I can't grow you a hangnail!"
"Eye problems? Hearing? Headaches?"
"Headache! There you go. In fact, I'm getting a very bad one right now!"
- Replicant O'Brien and Bashir, during a physical
"Short temper… flies off the handle under the slightest provocation. Perfectly normal."
"I'm glad you're enjoying this."
"Sorry, I know how you feel about doctors."
"It's not doctors I have a problem with."
[Together] "It's you, Julian."
- Bashir and Replicant O'Brien, during a physical
"Well, your sense of humor seems normal enough."
"I don't have a sense of humor."
"Cough."
[O'Brien coughs]
"How's the sex life?"
"I don't have a sense of humor."
- Replicant O'Brien and Bashir, during a physical
"They'd even broken into my personal logs to see what they could find in there. I hope they enjoyed reading the sexy letters to my wife…"
- Replicant O'Brien, voiceover
"I wonder why he was coming back…"
"If it was me, I'd be trying to warn somebody that something was terribly wrong at the station…"
"Maybe, in a strange sort of way, he was just trying to be a hero…"
- Coutu, O'Brien, and Sisko
"Keiko…"
"What about her?"
"Tell her… I love…"
- The last words of the Replicant O'Brien to the real O'Brien
Background information
Story and script
Writer Paul Robert Coyle's original idea for this episode involved O'Brien waking up one morning to find Molly and Keiko gone and nobody on the entire station remembers him ever being there. He then finds out that there is a Chief Miles O'Brien in Starfleet but he is serving on the , and the episode entails him trying to sort out the mystery. () A similar premise would later be used in the episode, .
The general theme of the story appealed to James Crocker and Michael Piller who gave the job of writing the teleplay to Coyle. However, as the story developed the writing staff felt the amnesia plot wasn't working, as Coyle explains: "When we got to break sessions, the staff decided that they didn't like any of the amnesia business, so everybody in the room brainstormed and somebody came up with the idea of doing The Parallax View, a Warren Beatty-starred suspense thriller from the 1970s, which was highlighted by strong accents of political paranoia as the central character attempts to unravel a dangerous mystery." ()
The Parallax View wasn't the only inspiration for the episode, as Ira Steven Behr recalls; "In a way, it's Invasion of the Body Snatchers from the body snatcher's point of view. That's what ultimately makes the show tragic and interesting, that the body snatcher doesn't know it. It's unfortunate that the show ends so abruptly. I wish we'd had a little more time there." ()
The decision to use the word "replicant" when referring to the fake O'Brien was motivated by the desire to use something other than "android", which was deemed to be too familiar with the character of Data, or the term "clone" which didn't seem to fit in this instance. Writer Paul Robert Coyle ultimately chose replicant as an homage to the 1982 film and the fact that the term hadn't already been used in Star Trek. Coyle commented, "Obviously, this guy wasn't a clone or an android or a robot. So what's left? I used replicant and nobody objected." ()
Production
The starship arrival roster was created by the art department and features numerous starship names and assignment information.
There were some problems during the production of the episode, as Coyle recounts: "The episode came up short for one particular reason: we had to stick entirely on O'Brien for every minute. We couldn't cut away to any of the other characters because they'd obviously be saying, 'We don't think O'Brien is O'Brien.' So we could never open the story up for the audience and go to a B-story, or even linger on two characters after O'Brien leaves the room, because it'd be giving the story away." ()
The flashback structure was added by the in-house staff after Coyle had submitted his draft, as a way to expand the story. ()
A scene was filmed with O'Brien singing "The Minstrel Boy" while being chased on the runabout, an allusion to the TNG episode , where he says it is his "happy thought" song for bad situations. However, due to a continuity slip that wasn't noticed until the last minute, the scene was removed. The mistake involved the name of the pursuing runabout, which is referred to as the Rio Grande. However, the Rio Grande was the runabout being chased, while the pursuing ship was actually the Mekong. This wasn't noticed until writer Paul Robert Coyle was sent a copy of the shooting script (which is only sent out after an episode is completed) and immediately informed Behr. By the time the mistake was spotted, it was too late to sort it out, so the scene was simply removed. Coyle was disappointed that it had to be removed: "After all that trouble to add scenes to pad the show out, here was a two-page scene they ultimately had cut." () The cut scene can be read in the episode's .
Continuity
This episode marks the second of two appearances of actress Susan Bay as Admiral Rollman. The first was in .
The runabout is introduced as a replacement for the , which was destroyed in the previous episode, .
The Cardassian/Federation Demilitarized Zone is mentioned for the very first time in this episode, a region which will play a significant role in future DS9 and episodes (as well as in the series premise of ).
Quark refers to Bashir and O'Brien's racquetball match in .
Jadzia Dax only speaks off-screen in this episode, in O'Brien's playback of vocal station logs. She appears briefly as Bashir ambushes O'Brien in Ops.
Referenced Rules of Acquisition: (tentatively) #194 ("It's always good to know about new customers before they walk in your door")
One of the Pakleds can be seen on the Promenade, sitting next to Jake Sisko.
This episode establishes O'Brien's birthday as being in September.
This is the first instance of a (supposed) member of Starfleet being seen using a Bajoran phaser (the O'Brien replicant steals Major Kira's phaser after incapacitating the officers in the security office with a flash grenade.)
Curiously, Deep Space Nine is seen firing on the Rio Grande with green phaser beams. By , DS9 is seen firing standard Starfleet phasers.
Reception
Ira Behr thought the episode "… is a terrific show. There's something about the way it was shot and the point of view that made it into an episode that was really special, and obviously Colm [Meaney] is one of the strongest actors we have." ()
Michael Piller thought the episode was "very original." Of the Body Snatchers theme, he said, "We couldn't think of anyone who had done that before. How many times in this life can you find a plot gag that hasn't been used?" (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 69) He once labelled this episode his favorite of all Deep Space Nine episodes.
Colm Meaney said of playing the replicant O'Brien, "In order not to give away what was going on to the audience, we tried to keep him exactly the same, even though it was a different O'Brien. I played it exactly the way I usually do. It was only the circumstances around him that were weird and gave you the feeling that something else was going on." ()
Of the changes made to his initial script, Coyle said, "The additions worked well on the screen, adding a nice pace to the show, and also emphasized the mystery: 'Why is O'Brien running?" ()
Although he liked the episode, series Director David Livingston thought there were parts that could have been improved: "Les [Landau] made a decision to shoot it film noir and I think he did a brilliant job on it. He shot it really fast and he came in way under schedule. We saved a ton of money. He kept telling me that he was concerned about what he was delivering because it was going so fast. I was watching the dailies and kept saying it was wonderful. I think it's a really good episode, but I'm not a real fan of the last scene and the denouement. Whether or not you buy the plot point, Les did a really nice job, and there is this sort of constant undercurrent of uncertainty that gives it a satisfying feel." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 69)
This episode is the favorite Star Trek episode of Futurama co-creator and writer , who says he finds it has "a slightly Futurama-esque storyline."
Authors Mark Jones and Lance Parkin wrote of this episode, "A twist that owes a great deal to the works of , but is nevertheless a surprise. We see that even a duplicate O'Brien is a man of integrity and determination. The episode ends too quickly, but that's preferable to dragging it out." (Beyond the Final Frontier, p. 198)
Star Trek author Keith R.A. DeCandido described the episode's plot twist as, "a magnificently played gut-punch", though he felt it only worked if the viewer didn't already know the outcome. "The what’s-going-on tension is lessened when you know it’s not really O’Brien, and you don’t have the same vibe when the sabotage trigger kicks in." However, DeCandido did praise the performance of Rosalind Chao, describing Keiko's behavior as, "just one of many people acting weird, but when you know what’s coming, you really feel for the poor woman, who has to pretend that everything’s perfectly normal because they have no proof that this isn’t O’Brien." Overall, he gave the episode a "warp factor rating" of 7/10.
Remastered version
Remastered footage from the episode is featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 17,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien
Todd Waring as DeCurtis
Susan Bay as Rollman
Philip LeStrange as Coutu
Co-Stars
Hana Hatae as Molly O'Brien
Majel Barrett as Computer Voice
Uncredited Co-Stars
Judi Durand as Station Computer Voice
Bill Hagy as Paradan guard
Sue Henley as command officer
Colm Meaney as (replicant)
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Unknown performers as
Pakled
Starfleet guard shot by O'Brien
Bajoran deputy shot by O'Brien
References
2358; 2368; 47 references; annual physical; arrival roster; assassination; Bajor; Bajor VII; Bajor VII third moon; Bajoran; Bajoran transport; Bajoran wormhole; Bolian freighter; Cardassians; Cardassian border; Chamber of Ministers; civil war; "clean bill of health"; coffee; conflict of interest; constable; cough; day care; Deep Space 9 levels; Demilitarized Zone; dizziness; dozen; "dropped the ball"; Eminiar VII; emitter crystal; endive salad; engineering crew; essay; euphoria; Federation; "field day"; flan; Fredrickson family; fricandeau stew; Gamma Quadrant; grade; Gupta; hangnail; headache; hide and seek; Jamaica; kiss; leader; level 1 diagnostic; level 1 security clearance; magnetic field; marriage; ; ; O'Brien's mother; O'Brien's stepmother; oversleeping; out of the loop; Parada II; Parada IV; Parada IV moon; Parada Civil War; Parada system; Paradan; Paradan government; Paradan rebels (rebel); paranoia; polar magnetic field; problem solving; Promenade; protozoic species; Quark's; racquetball; replicator; RF power conduit; Rigel VII; ; Romulus; Rules of Acquisition; runabout; senior officer; sense of humor; September; sex life; sexy; shield generator; shuttle; silent running; Starbase 401; Starfleet; subspace channel; subspace technology; surrender; synchronous orbit; training; tricorder; Vulcan
Other references Deep Space 9 - Vessel Arrival:''' 12, GS; 54-Q, CAR; ; Annandale; ; Arlington IV; ; C-111 system; C-57-D; Cameron Station; CAR; Carinae Delta V; Centre Minor; CGM; ; ; Deneb XX; ; Dytallix; ; Elmira, ITA; FGMS; FMS; ; GCS; Geldonero, FMS; Gh'aster, CGM; GHD; ; ; GS; ; ; Gyt'aerat, FGMS; Hispaniola Minor; ; ITA; Jura'assic IV; ; Lilliput IX; Lunar Receiving; ; Neutral Zone; New Brooklyn IX; okudagram; ; Organia; Per'ot, GHD; Powell, USGS; ; ; ; Recio, GCS; ; ; Sol system; ; SS; Starbase 58; Starbase 172; starships visiting Deep Space 9; ; Theta Omicron IV; USGS; ''; ; ; ;
External links
de:O'Briens Identität
es:Whispers
fr:Whispers (épisode)
nl:Whispers
DS9 episodes |
874 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Paradise (episode) | Sisko and O'Brien are trapped on a world with no advanced technology, and the Human colonists living there are determined to keep it that way.
Summary
Teaser
"Station log, stardate 47573.1. To respond to questions about setting up colonies near the wormhole, Chief O'Brien and I have set out to survey nearby star systems."
Sisko and O'Brien are aboard the and in the middle of a discussion about the possibility of Jake Sisko apprenticing with the Chief to help prepare him for Starfleet Academy. When Sisko mentions that Jake placed in the lower third of his age group on a mechanical aptitude test, O'Brien reveals that the same was true of him at the boy's age. He says his experiences on the front lines during the Federation-Cardassian War were what taught him the most and relates a story about repairing a field transporter on Setlik III before he and others became prisoners of war, which was the reason he became an engineer. As they talk, they come upon an M-class planet which would be a perfect place to build a colony. However, there is already an uncharted Human colony on the planet. The colony does not respond to hails, likely due to a low-level duonetic field that O'Brien suspects is interfering with the hailing signal. They decide to beam down and say hello the 'old-fashioned way'.
The moment Sisko and O'Brien materialize on the planet's surface, their tricorders cease functioning – not even the diagnostics subroutine will work. Sisko attempts to contact their runabout, the Rio Grande, but his combadge, as well as their phasers, appear to be nonfunctional as well. O'Brien suspects the suppression of their devices' electromagnetic (EM) activity may have something to do with the duonetic field, although he is not sure what. Before they can investigate further, a voice from behind orders them not to move and to put their hands up.
Act One
A pair of Humans stand behind O'Brien and Sisko, the younger one armed with a bow. The older man, Joseph, recognizes their Starfleet uniforms after a second and has the younger one lower his weapon. He introduces himself and his companion Vinod and explains that they are part of a group of colonists who were destined for Gemulon V over ten years ago. When their ship developed life support problems, they landed on the planet and like the tricorder, all of their electronic devices stopped working.
As Joseph and Vinod lead them to the colonists' village, Sisko recognizes a crashed transport. It was originally named the , but now the colonists refer to it simply as "the cabin." Alixus, apparently the community leader, is delighted when she sees O'Brien and Sisko. The entire village comes out to see the newcomers and they answer several questions from the colonists about the outside world and how it has developed in the past ten years. Joseph was an engineer aboard the Santa Maria but is unfamiliar with runabouts, which O'Brien explains are multipurpose vessels a quarter of the Santa Marias size.
Apparently, the villagers gave up any hope of escape years ago, in part because the marshes surrounding the village are filled with astatine deposits. Like the runabout, their ship detected the duonetic field, but they have been unable to bypass whatever is inhibiting EM activity. Alixus seems especially proud of how well the colonists have performed under the circumstances, boasting about the quality of life they enjoy despite the lack of comforts such as replicators. She claims that, despite many hardships and the deaths of several colonists, they have "rediscovered what man is capable of without technology."
Sisko reassures the colonists that even if they are unable to contact the runabout, someone from Deep Space 9 will eventually find it in orbit. However, when the topic of leaving comes up, Alixus says each person will have to make his or her mind up for themselves and declares her intention to stay on the planet. What they have, she says, means too much to her. However, Alixus welcomes O'Brien and Sisko to everything the village has to offer, the only condition being that they contribute. She adds that supper tastes sweeter when one works for it. As Joseph leads O'Brien and Sisko off to find a place where they can stay, Alixus tells Vinod that two more strong, healthy men could mean a lot to their community.
Act Two
Back on DS9, the crew are unaware of O'Brien and Sisko's predicament. In Ops, Kira and Dax make small talk as Kira wonders why someone named Admiral Mitsuya has made arrangements to divert the to the station for a discussion about Cardassian foreign policy. Dax laughs and tells her it is an excuse to play poker with Sisko, as Mitsuya wiped him out a year ago. She remarks about how Sisko has never had a poker face in 's two lifetimes of knowing him. While Dax talks, Kira notes that the Rio Grande is not responding to her hails.
Meanwhile, Sisko has discovered that Alixus authored numerous books prior to becoming stranded. A philosopher, she wrote about a variety of topics, including economics, politics, and literature. Of particular note is that Alixus was a harsh critic of Humanity's heavy reliance on technology, claiming that it had made people "fat and lazy and dull." O'Brien casually jokes that it took a crash-landing for Alixus to find her paradise.
O'Brien is unable to find anything among the wreckage of the Santa Maria to use in his efforts to contact the runabout. However, Joseph informs him that the colonists discarded all such materials long ago. In part, this was because they were unable to use it, but Sisko detects the hand of Alixus at work. Joseph admits she told the colonists that removing the advanced technology was necessary to make the transition to their new lifestyle easier. As an engineer, he describes himself as the last "convert," but he believes Alixus helped the colonists discover a new philosophy of life and that they are better for it. interrupts the conversation to inform Joseph that the condition of a young girl named Meg has deteriorated.
Meg has a bite from one of the native insects, which the colonists are trying to heal using various combinations of indigenous plants. It is not working and Alixus tells Sisko three colonists have already died from similar bites. Fearing Meg will die before a rescue team arrives and lacking faith in the colonists' ability to find a cure, he and O'Brien discuss ways by which to contact the runabout, which likely has a cure in its medkit. Alixus tells them to search for a root or fungus in the forest, and when Sisko argues with her, she asks to talk to him outside.
Alone with Sisko, Alixus warns him that talk of contacting the runabout is "not constructive." She insists that he is wasting precious time and must not plant such ideas in the colonists' heads. Sisko pushes the point but Alixus claims they are doing all they can for Meg. When he contradicts this, she forbids any further discussion of a Starfleet rescue party. "Before they come, if they come, you'll have to do things our way," she tells him. Before leaving, Alixus adds that the planet is hot in the afternoon and suggests he take his uniform off.
Act Three
Deep Space 9 receives a report from Starfleet Command that the Romulan vessel Gasko reported seeing an abandoned runabout in Sector 401. The markings match those of the Rio Grande, and the report says the runabout was traveling at warp two. Kira and Dax immediately start an investigation, leaving Ops and heading to landing pad C.
Vinod compliments Sisko on his skill as the two prepare the field for planting. Sisko tells Vinod his father was a chef who grew his own food and he and his brothers used to work the garden every day. Unlike the other colonists, Vinod has never eaten replicated food because Alixus never allowed it. The other colonists had grown up on replicated food, he says, so the flavor of food from hand-grown gardens came as quite a surprise at first. O'Brien tells of how, while his wife Keiko is a botanist, he is known as the "black thumb." He thinks she would like the planet, and when Joseph suggests that Keiko visit some day, O'Brien jokingly suggests she would not want to leave if she did so. The men's attention is taken away from the field when two colonists open a nearby box with a young man inside.
The man's name is Stephan and as they learn, he was placed in the box the day before for stealing a candle. While O'Brien and Sisko find such a punishment system outrageous, Alixus claims that all of the colonists approved it and they all live by it. As Stephan recovers from his time in the box, he apologizes to Alixus for letting the community down. She tells Stephan the matter is closed and sends him away. Once he is gone, Alixus points out to Sisko that neither Stephan nor anyone who saw him will ever steal again, calling the punishment box a simple and effective way to maintain law and order. As Alixus leaves, O'Brien suspects she does not plan on him or Sisko leaving any time soon.
That night, Cassandra comes to Sisko's room to ask if he needs anything. When he says no, she enters anyway carrying a bowl of oil, extracted from a xupta tree. She apologizes for the fact that there are no doors, a policy Alixus implemented, and tells him he eventually will grow accustomed to the tradition with time. Alixus has told the colonists to be patient with Sisko until he is accustomed to their way of life, although he has no intention to stay any longer than necessary. She offers to massage Sisko with the oil, insisting it will make him feel better. When Sisko asks if Alixus sent Cassandra to make love to him, she looks frightened. Sisko visits Alixus's room immediately.
Surprised to see Sisko, Alixus says she is writing about him and O'Brien and mentions she has heard he is quite a chef. He angrily slams her book shut and she seems pleased, claiming it is the first "core behavior" she has seen in him. "Does that chapter come before or after sexual procurement?" he demands angrily. Alixus admits to sending Cassandra to his room and Sisko calls her contemptible. In Alixus's view, however, Cassandra wanted to make Sisko feel welcome and Alixus suggested she might make things easier for him; the choice was Cassandra's. Sisko mentions the "interesting" coincidence that Alixus became stranded on a planet that fit her philosophy so well and she agrees, bringing up another book she is writing. Seeing that Sisko still rejects her way of life, Alixus assigns Sisko to guard duty for the rest of the night.
Act Four
The next day at breakfast, Alixus asks if a tired Sisko will be able to work his normal shift in the field, infuriating O'Brien. She innocently tells Sisko she will understand if he cannot work, but he tells her he can work his shift just fine. Alixus notes with enthusiasm that Joseph is optimistic about a new combination of herbs with which he hopes to cure Meg. Once more, she suggests that Sisko change into "some more comfortable clothes."
Following the runaway Rio Grande in the Orinoco, Kira and Dax work on a way to catch it. Kira plots an intercept course and plans to beam over, but Dax looks for a better idea. She begins configuring the runabout's controls and claims she can use "an old rope trick" she once learned from a Hopi. Theoretically, Dax can use a tractor beam to "rope" the Rio Grande and bring it back to impulse, although Kira points out that there is also a chance the resulting strain will tear the hulls of both runabouts apart. However, it is the best chance they have and Kira reluctantly agrees. After a couple of tries, Dax manages to catch the Rio Grande with the tractor beam, and as the Orinoco brakes sharply, it forces the other runabout to come to a stop, allowing them to beam aboard.
Back on the planet, Alixus informs the village that Meg has died and notes that no one was prouder of what the village has accomplished than Meg was, calling her an inspiration. Alixus uses Meg's death as a segue, claiming someone has committed an act that by its very nature defiles Meg's memory. As Vinod brings O'Brien out of the building behind Alixus, she claims that he and Sisko have continually disrespected the village's way of life and that O'Brien has committed the worst offense possible: selfishly wasting time that could have been put to productive use.
The "offense" is that O'Brien was found attempting to contact his and Sisko's runabout, and as Joseph points out, it was probably an effort to retrieve medical supplies with which to help Meg. Alixus thanks Joseph for bringing that point up, as it demonstrates the true danger that O'Brien and Sisko represent. Had the villagers spent their time trying to escape from the planet over the course of the past ten years, Alixus claims they would all be dead. As he realizes where Alixus is going with the topic, Sisko asks if Alixus plans to put O'Brien in the punishment box. "No, Ben," she answers. "As his commanding officer, I'm putting you in there." An angry O'Brien attempts to intervene but is restrained by Vinod and another villager; without a word, Sisko places himself in the box and two villagers seal him in.
Act Five
Kira and Dax find no signs of struggle or weapons fired aboard the Rio Grande and are perplexed by the fact that it was flying aimlessly through space. Further investigation reveals that it has been exposed to intense gamma radiation resulting from a close proximity to Orellius Minor, a nearby star. Dax hypothesizes that someone tried to destroy the Rio Grande by flying it into the star, for if the trajectory were slightly off, the gravity of the star could have deflected the ship and sent it off in a new direction. They tow the Orinoco back to the Orellius system in the hope of tracing the runabout's original warp signature.
The next morning, Sisko is brought into Alixus's office, visibly weak and unable to talk. She tries to comfort him by claiming that watching him suffer is painful for her – she wants to help him, to give him food and water, but she needs him to help her as well. Alixus offers Sisko water if he will change into different clothes, leaving them on the table as she exits. Seconds later, he staggers out of the building still in his Starfleet uniform, motioning for O'Brien to stay away. He slowly places himself back in the punishment box and closes the door.
When Joseph finds O'Brien in a nearby cave, O'Brien solicits Joseph's help in disabling the duonetic field. Although Joseph repeats Alixus's claim that nearby astatine deposits have caused the field, he and O'Brien both know that were that the case they could have contacted the runabout long ago. O'Brien thinks he has discovered a way to find the source of the field, but he knows that if Joseph simply looks the other way Alixus will put Joseph in the punishment box. He asks Joseph to look at a hematite deposit he has discovered, and Joseph, knowing what O'Brien plans to do, reluctantly complies. Knocking Joseph out gently, O'Brien whispers, "I owe you one, my friend."
An improvised compass leads O'Brien as he wanders through the woods until he finds a clearing where there is a very faint but very strange humming. Confused, he wipes away some nearby dirt to reveal a power generator. He slowly realizes what the generator means when an arrow hits a nearby tree, just barely missing him. Vinod prepares to fire another and O'Brien runs. After a brief chase through the forest, Vinod shoots what he thinks is O'Brien in a bush, but he discovers it is only O'Brien's uniform. O'Brien tackles the confused Vinod from a nearby tree and subdues him, noting with amusement that Alixus finally got one of the Starfleet officers out of his uniform.
O'Brien enters the village with Vinod restrained and demands to see Alixus. He opens the punishment box with his now-functional phaser and reveals to the colonists that the duonetic field was artificially created. However, when Sisko attempts to contact their runabout, he finds it missing. Alixus emerges and admits that she destroyed the runabout and even helped invent the device that created the duonetic field in the first place. She even planned the crash on the isolated planet. The colonists are outraged, but Alixus defends her actions by pointing out how much better each of them is thanks to the "accident." Sisko asks about Meg and the others who died. She replies that even if her son had been one of the sick colonists who ultimately perished, she would have let him die "for the sake of the community." She says she is prepared to leave and answer for what she has done.
Kira contacts Sisko and he tells her to stand by for multiple transports. O'Brien says the colonists should pack up whatever they want to take with them, but Joseph stops him. They do not want to leave, he says. However unethical Alixus's methods were, the planet is the colonists' home now and nothing will change that. As Joseph and apparently the rest of the colonists see it, she may have taken ten years of their lives, but she gave them the gift of their community in exchange. He says he doesn't know if they'll leave the damping device on or off, but they have a community they value, and they want to stay.
"It's time for those of us who don't belong here to leave," Alixus tells Sisko, and he, O'Brien, Alixus, and Vinod beam off the planet's surface. The colonists go about their business, leaving two young children staring at the punishment box.
Memorable quotes
"You got a better idea… ?"
"I'm a science officer. It's my job to have a better idea."
- Kira and Dax
"But perhaps a lie can lead to a more important truth. Would any of you have learned who you truly are, at the core, if you hadn't come here? Joseph, you would have been a repairman all of your life. Cassandra, you would have been a technical clerk in some closed-in room. And Stephan. My friend, you probably would have been in prison by now. Look at yourselves! Look at what you've become! What you've achieved here has redefined your potential — the potential of man. Just as I knew it would. You are the living proof."
- Alixus
"Sounds like it took a crash landing for her to find her paradise."
- O'Brien, on Alixus
"What if it were your son who had been sick? Would you let him die too?"
"Yes. For the sake of the community. I did it all for the community."
- Sisko and Alixus
"Two more strong, healthy men, Vinod. That could mean an awful lot to this community."
- Alixus to her son when Sisko and O'Brien arrive
"That's the first core behavior I've seen from you since you arrived."
"Core behavior? Does that chapter come before or after sexual procurement?"
- Alixus and Sisko
"Well, I hope you find a few more of those talents you never knew you had because if you don't, we're gonna have a hard time getting off this…"
"Don't move and put your hands up!"
- Benjamin Sisko to O'Brien, and Vinod to both of them
"Miles, this is our home. Whatever Alixus may be guilty of, she did give us our community. I'm not sure if we'll leave the device on or off now that we know it's there. And we'll have to decide if we want to establish contact with the outside world. But Alixus is right: We have found something here that none of us is willing to give up."
- Joseph
Background information
Story and script
Michael Piller commented "We hadn't done a Sisko episode since and I wanted to do another show that gave Sisko the opportunity to show courage and force of personality". (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p 35)
The idea of a cult was chosen as Michael Piller was interested in the idea. Piller commented "Cultism is an issue that I'm very interested in because I've got a family member who was involved in a cult, so I had to study the issues quite a bit". (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p 36)
Jim Trombetta based his original idea for the episode on the primitivist anti-technology philosophy of the of Southeast Asia. ()
In a deleted or unfilmed part of the scene where Sisko and O'Brien confront Alixus with their evidence, Alixus mentions that she met a quantum physicist at the Delta Six station who had been investigating the effect of radiation on electromagnetic flow, giving her the idea of the duonetic field. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
The term Zydrolian is used for the second time in a script, with the first being in . (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Production
"Paradise" was filmed in Griffith Park in Los Angeles. ()
The village and the Santa Maria were designed by Jim Martin. ()
David Livingston commented "It was a tough show, because we had to create an exterior environment on Stage 18. The way that Corey and Martin shot it with long lenses and stuff was successful in selling that world. It was fun to build part of a ship on the surface so you really got the sense of size. We wanted it to be bigger, but we just didn't have the money, so the grand designs that we had for the set were severely truncated". (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p 35)
Dennis McCarthy composed the music for the episode. McCarthy commented: "There's an eight-minute sequence at the end where Alixus is trying to get everybody to stay and as I watched it, I thought, What would Martin Luther have put in here? So I played it from a very Protestant viewpoint, using all the old church harmonies. It's subtle, but if I shortened the music and made it slightly more melodic, it could be used in a hymnal". ()
Ira Steven Behr asked Hans Beimler and Richard Manning to join the writing staff of during the filming of this episode, but each declined. Beimler joined the crew a year later as a and writer. ()
Reception
Both producer Ira Steven Behr and director Corey Allen were disappointed with the final form of this episode. Behr felt that the show wavers unevenly between depicting the colony both in a good and a bad light, but never really settles for either view; "In terms of what those people were doing, the message of the show always seemed a little unclear. It was a show that worked well, but I don't know if we ever found it. We went back and forth over whether what these people were doing was a positive thing or a negative thing. Star Trek is such a tech show, and making these people antitechnology, it was almost like doing a negative show on ." Allen felt that Alixus comes across as harsher than she should, although he doesn't fault actress Gail Strickland for this. On the contrary, he praises her for giving the character any Humanity at all; "Gail and I worked very hard to make that character reasonable, because her motives were right-thinking. She had created a paradise, and she needed to preserve it through discipline. We set out to let her be the reasonable and caring Human being that she and I agreed she was, but we were swimming upstream. It didn't come out that way. But I think that it's to Gail's credit that in making the effort the character came out with more Human traits." ()
Mark A. Altman commented that "Paradise" is "a far more intriguing look at the dynamics of cult leadership than the relatively ponderous TNG entry "Descent II"". (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p 35)
Trivia
The colonists say that they have not seen a Starfleet uniform in ten years. The style would have been the kind seen in Seasons 1 and 2 of .
Sisko begins his station log while aboard the Rio Grande.
This episode sets up Jake's ongoing apprenticeship to O'Brien which would become official in the next episode.
Four actors – Rene Auberjonois (Odo), Siddig El Fadil (Dr. Julian Bashir), Armin Shimerman (Quark), and Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) – do not appear in this episode. This is the first episode of the series in which Rene Auberjonois and Siddig El Fadil do not appear.
A script for this episode was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay.
It may seem contradictory that O'Brien says his actions during the Cardassian wars "earned him the gold suit" while his first appearance in he is seen wearing the red style outfit, but this is because he was made a division chief through those actions, but was not a chief on the Enterprise.
This episode establishes that Sisko had at least two brothers. When Vinod comments that he has a talent for gardening, he says that his father was a chef who grew his own vegetables and sent Sisko and his brothers out to work in the gardens each day.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 18, .
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection.
Links and references
Guest Stars
Julia Nickson as
Steve Vinovich as Joseph
Michael Buchman Silver as Vinod
Erick Weiss as Stephan
And
Gail Strickland as Alixus
Co-Star
Majel Barrett as Computer Voice
Uncredited co-stars
Lisa Madigan as Meg
Unknown performers as additional colonists
References
2360; 2366; 2368; abeam; actinide; age group; arboretum; astatine; author; baffle plate; Bajoran; Bajoran wormhole; BDR; bioimplant; bluff; bow and arrow; box; Cardassians; centimeter; class M; clerk; commissioning; conversion; core behavior; ; curve ball; duonetic field; Earth; elbow; EM; EM system; ; ; F-type star; fashion; Federation-Cardassian War; Ferengi; fever; ; field transporter; foreign policy; gamma radiation; garden; Gasko; Gemulon V; Golanga; ; heart; hematite; herb; Hopi; hull; Japan; Jake-o; kilometer; "make love"; marriage; mechanical aptitude; millimeter; Mitsuya; mold; Native American; ; Old West; Orellius; Orellius diseases; Orellius Minor; Orellius pear; Orellius system; ; poker player; power generator; prisoner of war; punishment box; ranking officer; repairman; ; Romulan; rope; runabout; ; (aka "The Cabin"); science officer; Sector 401; sexual procurement; Setlik III; ; ; Sisko's brothers; sleeger fungus; soccer; Starfleet; synchronous orbit; technical clerk; temperature; thank you note; thorium; thorium grease; tractor beam;tricorder; warp tow; winter; Xupta tree
External links
de:Das Paradiesexperiment
es:Paradise
fr:Paradise (épisode)
nl:Paradise
DS9 episodes |
876 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Playing God (episode) | While hosting her first Trill initiate Dax discovers a tiny, expanding protouniverse that threatens to destroy the Bajoran system.
Summary
Teaser
Arjin, a Trill initiate looking to get joined with a symbiont, arrives on Deep Space 9 on the from Starbase 41. Jadzia Dax was assigned to be his field docent, and he's been nervous about meeting the famous . In the past, Dax has eliminated 57 host candidates from the program. Before arriving on the station, he found himself sitting next to Dr. Julian Bashir, who managed to put him at ease about meeting Dax. When Arjin first meets Dax, she's in Quark's winning a game of tongo and exposing the Ferengi's weaknesses.
Act One
The next morning, Arjin arrives at Dax's quarters early. A rather intimidating male alien named Trajok answers him at Dax's door asking what he wants, but Jadzia interrupts wearing nothing but a towel. Dax and the alien exchange pleasantries while Arjin watches uncomfortably. The alien leaves and while Dax gets dressed, she asks Arjin to get her a . The two talk briefly before heading to Ops, and Arjin feels like he can't say anything right to impress Jadzia.
When they arrive at Ops, O'Brien and Kira are hunting down Cardassian voles. The voles are becoming quite a problem because they are chewing through wires, causing breakdowns in equipment. Dax jumps in to help them in their hunt and ends up stunning a vole with a phaser and handing it to Arjin who again looks uncomfortable and has no idea what to do with it.
Dax takes Arjin in the runabout to a trip through the wormhole and back. On the way, the two Trills discuss training, past experiences, and flight experience. Arjin had recently obtained his fifth level flight training, which shocked Dax because she only obtained her third level in her last year of training. Dax assures her first trill initiate that he doesn't have to impress her. During the flight, the runabout runs through a subspace interphase pocket. The Mekongs starboard nacelle snagged a piece of "subspace seaweed" and is no longer functioning.
Act Two
Meanwhile, O'Brien has come up with a directional sonic generator which can produce a sound at a frequency uncomfortable to the vole's ears and drive them out of hiding. Quark bursts into Ops carrying a dead vole that had run across a dabo table and demands they take care of the vermin problem. When O'Brien tries to demonstrate the sonic generator to Quark to show they are working on it, Quark falls to the ground screaming – the sonic generator works, at least on Ferengi. Dax and Arjin return to the station, and Dax wants to study this "subspace seaweed" further. She asks O'Brien to setup a containment chamber in the science lab, and O'Brien informs her it'll take a while.
While waiting, Dax takes Arjin to a Klingon restaurant on the Promenade where they discuss his past and eat racht. Arjin is less than thrilled with his Klingon meal, and reveals he's only in the initiate program because it was his father's dying wish and has no plans for the future. Back in Ops, O'Brien is getting desperate to handle this vole problem and contacts Cardassia looking for a solution, finding Gul Evek. Evek provides no solution and "kindly" reminds O'Brien that the vole mating season is fast approaching. O'Brien terminates the transmission after Evek suggests that the Federation could always retreat from Bajor.
After dinner, Dax and Arjin part ways and Jadzia heads to Ops to talk to Benjamin Sisko about the "subspace seaweed" and Arjin. Dax admits she doesn't see Arjin being much of a host to a symbiont, but doesn't feel it's her place to confront him about it as it's very clear in the guidelines as to what she's supposed to do. Sisko disagrees and reminds Dax of the things Curzon Dax did to her.
In the science lab, a pair of voles manage to take down the security field that was surrounding the subspace sample.
Act Three
O'Brien has discovered the voles have eaten through the security fields energy lines, and Sisko tells him it's time to take the phasers off stun – to better handle the vole problem. Dax and Arjin continue their analysis on the sample, but Dax's attitude toward Arjin has changed – she's become more harsh and critical and accuses him of telling her what she wants to hear. Arjin feels betrayed because of their conversation in the runabout earlier, and begins to insult Dax, saying she is far below the standards of a host. He leaves the science lab and heads to Quark's to go "drown himself" in synthehol. Quark has a disheartening talk with Arjin, explaining how he once missed his big opportunity and never recovered and welcomed Arjin to "the club".
Dax has discovered the subspace sample is highly structured and doesn't conform to any physical laws. Further analysis reveals the electromagnetic flux are high plasma concentrations in a rapidly expanding mass. The mass is expanding in a very specific way that the computer recognized as the expansion patterns of a universe. Their "subspace seaweed" is actually a protouniverse in its early stages of formation. As it grows, it will displace their own universe. Returning it to the wormhole could prove devastating to the whole system if it came in contact with any of the wormhole's verteron nodes, and not doing anything would be just as bad. They decide to try to contain it using the universe's own feedback pressure to create an implosive wave destroying the protouniverse – and the science lab – in the process.
Dax continues to study the protouniverse, and discovers local entropy readings in the protouniverse have decreased 12% in the last hour. This shows indications of life in the protouniverse and these readings have been confirmed by the computer.
Act Four
The senior staff are meeting with Kira amazed at the idea of any life in this universe. Bashir points out that while it has only been hours for them, it is possible billions of years have passed in this other universe. Odo adds that entire species could have been born since then. Sisko agrees to cancel the containment field and let the protouniverse expand and destroy level 22 section 14 of the station, causing multiple hull breaches. Kira can't understand why they won't destroy the protouniverse, comparing it to stepping on ants to which Odo replies, "I don't step on ants, Major." When Kira presses them for another solution, Sisko says he'll have a decision in an hour.
While thinking things over, Sisko drops by his quarters to visit Jake. While talking, Sisko finds out Jake is in love with a dabo girl named Mardah – the one Jake has been tutoring in entomology. Jake asks if she can come over for dinner tonight, and Sisko says not tonight but soon, he does want to meet her after all. Dax and Arjin are in Quark's talking more about the initiate program. Arjin is convinced it's over, but Dax says otherwise and explains her past and how she changed after meeting Curzon Dax. Sisko interrupts the two saying he's decided to take the protouniverse back through the wormhole.
Act Five
After preparing a containment field aboard the that will block out the verteron node radiation, the protouniverse is beamed over and the journey through the wormhole begins.
While traveling through the wormhole, the containment field slowly starts to collapse. Every time they pass through a verteron node, the field gets weaker. They bring the runabout to a stop and decide to let the containment field fail and fly the runabout through the wormhole without touching any verteron nodes. This type of precision flying has never been done before, and Arjin is reluctant to try. Dax convinces him that he can do it, and he manages to get them to the Gamma Quadrant safely so they can return the protouniverse to where they found it. Dax tells Arjin this will look very good on his initiate record.
After the mission, Arjin apologizes to Dax for the things he said. Dax says she wouldn't recommend the process of being joined with a symbiont for everyone, but with time, she might recommend it for Arjin–when he's ready.
Log entries
Personal log, Benjamin Sisko
Memorable quotes
"Female!"
- Quark, to Jadzia Dax leaving the tongo table
"Phasers on stun, Mister O'Brien. I want those voles taken alive."
- Benjamin Sisko
"You haven't touched your racht."
"No, I have. It's interesting."
"No, you've moved it around your plate to make it look like you've touched it."
"I didn't have to move it. It moved itself."
- Dax and Arjin
"Take those phasers off stun, Chief. No more Mister Nice Guy."
- Benjamin Sisko
"I should have known this. I should have realized this. You're Dax! Standards for Trill hosts? That is really incredible coming from you. I have never seen any host in my life who is so far below those standards as you are, ma'am! No wonder Curzon Dax tried to terminate your training."
- Arjin to Jadzia Dax, after feeling betrayed
"There isn't a problem in the world that can't be fixed by the right holosuite program."
- Quark
"It's like stepping on ants, Odo!"
"I don't step on ants, Major."
- Kira and Odo, discussing protouniversal annihilation and ethical philosophy
"Personal log. Supplemental. One hour. One hour to make a decision that could mean the life or death of a civilization. Or the end to our own. My mind keeps going back to the Borg… how I despised their… indifference as they tried to exterminate us. And I have to ask myself… would I be any different if I destroyed another universe to preserve my own?"
- Benjamin Sisko
Background information
Story and script
This was one of the first episodes to be put in development for DS9's second season. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, No. 3/4, p. 110)
In writer Jim Trombetta's first draft of the teleplay, the A story was the protouniverse story, with Dax's storyline in secondary position. Michael Piller rewrote the episode to place the Trill storyline as the primary plot. Trombetta felt this decision robbed the episode of its emotional balance and that the ethical problem of the protouniverse story is no longer felt on an emotional level. ()
After , this is the second A-B-C (three-story) episode in a row. Michael Piller commented, "The problem with the script was always that nobody could find the balance between the three stories and nobody could find the relationship between the two characters." (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p. 37)
The script described the Klingon love song as "… the sort of thing would have sung to if they were Klingons…" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Terry Farrell said of Dax in this episode, "Everything she does in the beginning is an attempt to get Arjin to react to her, to shake him out of his behavior. Because somebody who's really mature enough to be a host would have handled that treatment differently than Arjin did." ()
Reception
Dale Kutzera wrote about the episode, "Forget the protouniverse. It's not important. ['Playing God'] succeeds by playing as a day-in-the-life episode, finally striking the delicate interplay of A, B and C stories that Michael Piller hoped would characterize each DS9 episode. Here the cast of characters, including the character of DS9 itself, come to fruition. There is a gentle, breezy pace to the show, even a refreshing sense of whimsy with the cat-size vole varmints and a hilarious scene between Arjin and Quark. Terry Farrell, obviously relishing the more bawdy aspects of her character, demonstrates that Dax is as comfortable in a late night tongo game as she is in front of a computer screen, maybe more so." (Cinefantastique) Kutzera also wrote that the episode was: "one of the second season's finest shows that brought the DS9 station to life".
Trivia
Sisko fulfilled his promise to Jake to allow him to bring Mardah home for dinner in the season 3 episode .
This episode marks the second and final appearance of the Klingon Chef played by Ron Taylor. He previously appeared in the episode .
Richard Poe makes his first appearance in this episode. Although the script only refers to his character as "Cardassian Officer" and production sources credit him only as "Cardassian", it is apparent that this character became Gul Evek, as in , Evek tells Miles O'Brien that they have spoken before.
Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #112 ("Never have with the boss's sister")
The chess game played between Sisko and Dax in this episode is recognizable as the famous game D. Byrne vs R. Fischer, 1956 (known as the game of the century). The moves shown on screen are roughly moves 14 to 18.
Terry Farrell and Geoffrey Blake had previously starred together in the 1980s series . Blake's character was the boyfriend of Farrell's character.
Two Pakleds get off the ship in the first scene.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 19,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Geoffrey Blake as Arjin
Ron Taylor as Klingon Chef
Richard Poe as Evek
Co-Stars
Chris Nelson Norris as Alien Man
Majel Barrett as Computer Voice
Uncredited Co-Stars
Ivy Borg as Rita Tannenbaum
Judi Durand as Cardassian Computer Voice
David B. Levinson as Broik
Mary Meinel-Newport as Bolian civilian
Stuart Nixon as civilian
Irving Ross as Bolian civilian
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Unknown performers as five Ferengi playing tongo
References
22nd century; 23rd century; 2369; 2370; acceleration; administrator; "Ak'la bella doo"; analysis; Arjin's father; Arjin's sister; Arjin's sister's spouse; ant; astrophysics profile; Bajor; Bajoran system; Bajoran wormhole; bartender; bearing; black; ; Calondia IV; Cardassia; Cardassians; Cardassian vole; career; chess; citrus blend; ; computer; dabo; dabo girl; Dax (symbiont); Dax's bartender; ; ; Deep Space 9 levels; directional sonic generator; District Sub-Nagus; docent; drowning; dynametric array; EM flux; EM pathway; entomology; entropy; exile; Federation; Ferengi; Ferengi District Sub-Nagus & his sister; field docent; field training; fired; Frenchotte; Galeo-Manada; Gamma Quadrant; Gedana post; gravimetric microprobe; Hamlin; heart; holosuite; inertial damper; inner hull; initiate corps; joined; Klingon concertina; Klingon restaurant; Klingonese; landlord; latinum stairway; ; Mardah; marriage; mass murder; mating season; ; meter; meters per second; microdyne; minute; ; nausea; night owl; "Old Man"; Papa; percent; phase variant analysis; physical law; pilot; pilot instructor; porthole; Promenade; Prophets; protouniverse; quantometer probe; Quark's; racht; redlining; replicator; ; Romulan; Rules of Acquisition; runabout; sense of humor; ; sonic indicator; spectral analysis (spectral line profile analysis); sponsor; Starbase 41; subspace phenomenon; ; synthale; tongo; tour of duty; towel; training program; tricorder; Trills; ; Trill initiate; Trill initiates; universe; verteron; vole; Wormhole Junction; wrestling
External links
de:Der Trill-Kandidat
es:Playing God
fr:Playing God (épisode)
nl:Playing God
DS9 episodes |
877 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Profit and Loss (episode) | Quark is reunited with his lost Cardassian love, but he learns that she is a member of the Cardassian underground.
Summary
Teaser
When a damaged Cardassian ship shows up near Deep Space 9, Commander Benjamin Sisko has Miles O'Brien bring it in via a tractor beam. Sisko and Chief O'Brien go down to greet the passengers, Natima Lang and her students, Rekelen and Hogue. Lang claims that their ship was damaged in a meteor swarm. She tells them she is a decent teacher but not much of a pilot and requests repairs. Sisko offers the Cardassians quarters, but Lang is anxious about being on a Bajoran station. Sisko replies it will be fine if she and her students stick to the Promenade.
In the meantime, Quark's is bustling as usual. Garak and Doctor Julian Bashir have their regular lunch, having a conversation about loyalty to the state versus family. Bashir attempts once again to elicit from Garak an admission of being a spy or an outcast, but is unsuccessful. At the bar, Odo lets Quark know he knows about the cloaking device he obtained, but Quark assures him he has nothing to worry about.
Just then, the new arrivals visit the Promenade, and Quark recognizes Natima and greets her excitedly. Natima, however, quickly slaps Quark and tells him she never wants to see him again, but as she walks away, Quark tells Odo, "This is the happiest day of my life."
Act One
Quark and Natima were once lovers and it is apparent as he follows her, though she continues to deny him pleasant conversation. Steering her companions into the bar, drawing Natima along, he pours a Samarian sunset for her, and, in turn, forcing the other two to go to the bar. He tries to talk to her alone, however, the second he quotes a Rule of Acquisition, any such feelings seem to vanish. Garak and Bashir pass by and Garak acknowledges Natima politely, prompting her to panic silently and leave with Rekelen and Hogue.
The three immediately leave for Ops, where Natima tells Sisko that she and her students must leave quickly. Before she arrives, though, O'Brien has discovered that her ship was actually damaged by Cardassian phaser fire. Natima then reveals they are political outcasts intent on reforming the Cardassian government, fighting for Cardassia's future.
Act Two
Natima explains the nature of the Cardassian dissident movement to Sisko and reveals that Rekelen and Hogue are both important movement leaders. They also reveal that Garak has seen them. Sisko promises to increase efforts to repair their ship by assigning additional engineers.
While Natima talks to Sisko, Quark visits Garak's shop and asks for his advice on Cardassian fashion. The tailor describes Natima's taste in fashion as "too radical" for his liking and warns that a poor choice in fashion can be detrimental to one's health. This thinly-veiled conversation reveals to Quark that he has been warned to separate Natima from the other two, as they will be pursued by the government, and, consequently, so would Natima and Quark. Furthermore, Garak will not help with Natima. Quark then goes to Natima and professes his love, even willing to leave DS9 and his bar for her. After all their history, she doesn't believe him and refuses. She feels betrayed by Quark's action of trying to steal from the Cardassians using her access codes, and believes all he cares about is profit, even if momentarily he does want to leave with her.
A Cardassian warship arrives shortly thereafter, ignoring communication attempts from Jadzia Dax and targeting the station with its weapons and activating its deflector shields. Just then, Garak visits Ops to talk with Sisko.
Act Three
Downplaying the aggressiveness of the warship's approach to the station, Garak explains that Central Command wants Hogue and Rekelen. He describes them as terrorists, but also says they are not dangerous, rather, annoying. Garak reminds him of the fragile relationship between Cardassia and the Federation, but Sisko warns Garak that if the Cardassians attempt to try and take them by force, he will respond in kind. Garak acknowledges that and also invites Sisko to his shop to try on some suits he thinks would look flattering on the commander.
Desperate to get Natima back, Quark offers Hogue and Rekelen a cloaking device to help them escape, but, as part of the agreement, he requires that Natima stay with him. Later, Quark goes to Natima with the device. Natima tries to reason with Quark, explaining that she cannot stay, and threatens to take the device by phaser. Believing she is bluffing, Quark dares her to do so; however she fires the phaser but looks just as surprised as Quark.
Act Four
Natima tells him she barely touched the trigger and did not mean to fire, after which she apologizes and declares her love for him. However, she still says the movement is her life, and she has sacrificed much for it. Quark responds by reliving their relationship, and that she has already given enough for the movement. Finally, she agrees to staying with him. As the two of them happily reminisce about the past, Odo enters Natima's quarters and places her under arrest over Quark's objections.
The Bajoran Provisional Government has agreed to turn Natima, Hogue, and Rekelen over to the Cardassians in exchange for the release of several Bajoran prisoners. Sisko tells Natima and her group, and that he is forced to execute it. Meanwhile, a former rival of Garak's, Gul , visits Garak's shop and tells the tailor that Central Command has changed its mind; he says he convinced them to have the prisoners killed instead. In exchange for killing the prisoners, Garak will be allowed to return to Cardassia from his exile.
Act Five
In Odo's security office, Quark convinces Odo to help Natima and takes her and her students to their ship. First, he tries profit motivations, then by appealing to Odo's apparent lack of emotion, then by trading information. Finally, he begs him, but Odo agrees due to the justice of it. The group leaves with Quark to the airlock, however, Garak greets them there, where he laments that he must now kill him as well as Natima and her students. Quark and Natima attempt to reason with Garak, but he says he's not there to debate the situation and that Quark should have taken his advice earlier. Before Garak can finish, Toran emerges from behind a cargo container, claiming he knew Garak would not go through with it. Toran reveals that he only used Garak to learn Hogue and Rekelen's whereabouts; Garak then vaporizes him as he tries to shoot the group. With the deal obviously gone, Garak allows the group to leave and Quark promises more Ferengi business for him.
Before Natima leaves, Quark tries one final time to convince her to stay. She tells him she must return to Cardassia until her work is done. "So all I have to do to get you back is wait until Cardassia becomes a free and democratic society?" he asks. Smiling, Natima tells him they will meet again some day and promises to make it worth the wait. Once she leaves, Quark asks why Garak shot Toran, to which Garak asks why Quark helped Natima. "I had no choice – I love her," Quark says. "And I love Cardassia, which is why I had to do what I did," Garak responds, adding, "That's the thing about love – no one really understands it, do they?"
Memorable quotes
"I heard an interesting rumor today."
"Only one? I started at least twelve."
- Odo and Quark
"And you believe everything you hear?"
"When it's about you, yes."
- Quark and Odo
"Ooh, you Cardassians do hold grudges!"
- Quark
"Cardassians don't involve outsiders in their internal politics, especially Bajorans."
"Being shot at by your own people goes a little beyond politics."
"We take our politics very seriously."
- Natima and Sisko
"May I offer you some free advice?"
"As long as I'm under no obligation to follow it."
- Garak and Quark
"Consider the cloaking device a gift."
"I'm surprised. Ferengis aren't known for their generosity."
"Oh, we are a deeply misunderstood race."
- Quark and Rekelen
"Well, some people should never be promoted."
- Garak, after killing Gul Toran
"It hurts?"
"Oh, she wants to know if it hurts. Of course it hurts. It's supposed to hurt – it's a phaser!"
- Natima and Quark
"Listen to me, Odo. You do this for me, and I promise you there'll be no more secrets between us. I'll tell you about every under-handed deal, every lying scheme, every dirty trick that… my brother Rom's involved in."
- Quark
"Sometimes we're on opposite sides, but that doesn't mean we aren't close. I've never told you this Odo, but I consider you as dear to me as my brother."
"Ha! And I've seen how well you treat him…"
- Quark and Odo
"Don't! I hate to ruin… such a nice suit."
- Garak, threatening to shoot Quark before Quark shoots him
"So, all I have to do to get you back is wait until Cardassia becomes a free and democratic society?"
- Quark, to Natima Lang shortly before she leaves him
"You have to tell me… why'd you do it? Shoot Toran?"
"Why did you let Professor Lang go?"
"I had no choice. I love her."
"And I love Cardassia. Which is why I had to do what I did."
"I don't understand."
"That's the thing about love. No one really understands it, do they?"
- Quark and Garak
Background information
Story and script
The original teleplay for this episode very closely paralleled the plot of the 1942 Academy Award-winning film . In fact, it was originally called "Here's Lookin' at You…", a reference to a popular quote from the film. The producers however, decided to change some of the more obvious references to the film as well as the title to avoid potential legal problems. (
The scene in Natima's quarters in act two was shortened in the broadcast version, with the start of the scene being unfilmed or deleted from the final cut of the episode. In the scene, Lang discusses getting Hogue and Rekelen to Sadera VI to other Cardassian dissident members and compliments them for their accomplishments over the past five years in opposing the Cardassian Central Command. Later, Quark impersonates a "Lieutenant " and contacts Lang through the com, telling her that Commander Sisko is on his way to her quarters to speak to her. Natima sends Hogue and Rekelen to check on O'Brien's repairs to their ship and Quark enters Natima's quarters soon after they exit. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Production
Armin Shimerman and Mary Crosby's makeup had to be touched up each time the actors kissed, since his orange makeup would end up mixing with her gray makeup. (
According to makeup supervisor Michael Westmore, the love scene in this episode between Lang and Quark is one of his all-time favorite Star Trek scenes due to the fact that despite all the heavy makeup, it is still just a touching, simple romantic scene between two people in love, and the makeup becomes completely unimportant. (Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season 2, DS9 Season 2 DVD, Special Features)
During filming of "Profit and Loss," a struck Southern California, including the Paramount studios where Deep Space Nine was being produced. The earthquake struck on 17 January 1994 at 4:31 AM, when Armin Shimerman, Mary Crosby, and other actors requiring extensive makeup were having their makeup applied in preparation for crew call at 5 AM. Most of the actors in the makeup trailer ran to their cars and drove home to check on family members. However, they were still wearing their makeup, and as director Robert Wiemer points out, "It must have seemed like the bowels of the Earth had opened up and those creatures had come out." Armin Shimerman commented that he "scared the crap out of people" with his alien appearance. Following a two-day inspection of the studio for damage and structural safety, filming continued on 19 January – albeit, amid a series of aftershocks. (
Andrew Robinson commented "When the earthquake hit in January, it was 4:30 am. in Los Angeles, and I was already in the makeup chair, along with Armin Shimerman and couple other actors. It was pretty bizarre: this earthquake hits, and all the power goes out, and all these aliens in varying stages of makeup are milling about in the darkness! People like Armin and Ed Wiley, who was playing this Cardassian, couldn't get through on the phone to their families, so they just jumped into their cars – Armin in his Quark makeup and Ed with his Cardassian makeup on – and drove through the pre-dawn streets of Los Angeles. I can only imagine what the other motorists saw – I think that would be more bracing than a cup of coffee!". ()
Reception
Ira Steven Behr dislikes this episode because he feels that Quark comes across as too heroic. Behr felt there were already enough heroic characters on the show, and that this episode should instead have been a Beauty and the Beast type of story, with Quark resembling Woody Allen; "I felt we didn't need another tough, sexy, swashbuckling character on the show. We had enough of those. We needed more offbeat, interesting characters. It should have been Beauty and the Beast, or Woody Allen and every woman he's ever been with in the films. You don't take Woody Allen and make him into Bogart. You have Bogart telling Woody Allen how to behave, but he does it through his Woody Allen persona. The scenes with Quark drove me mad." (
Michael Piller commented "This is the other disappointing episode in this season for me". (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p 38)
Trivia
In this episode, it is revealed that Quark sold food to the Bajorans during the occupation.
In this episode, the Cardassians are said to be exchanged for Bajoran prisoners, despite the episode stating that the Cardassians had (at least publicly) released all Bajoran prisoners.
This episode reveals that Cardassia considers Garak to be an exile, although it is not clear to what extent his exile is self-inflicted.
Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #223 (Though Quark is cut off before he can recite it)
This is the first episode to refer to the Cardassian dissident movement. It is also the first episode to use the term Cardassian Central Command.
Mary Crosby, once famous for her role as Kristin Shepard who shot J.R. Ewing in Dallas, is the daughter of Bing Crosby, and aunt of Denise Crosby (Natasha Yar).
On the PADD from which Odo is reading I, the Jury, one can clearly see an image of a wooded forest and medieval castle above the text. This is a re-use of the PADD used in the episode , in which O'Brien reads his daughter the story of Rumpelstiltskin, for which those images are appropriate.
Quark's cloaking device will be seen again in as Neelix's malfunctioning heating coil and a piece of Xindi debris in .
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
In this episode, Garak actually truthfully tells Dr. Bashir exactly what he is, saying "Or maybe, I'm an outcast spy," albeit in such a tongue-in-cheek manner that the doctor immediately disregards it as preposterous, which was presumably his intent.
Remastered version
Remastered scenes from the episode are featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 19,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest stars
Mary Crosby as Natima Lang
Andrew Robinson as Elim Garak
Michael Reilly Burke as Hogue
Heidi Swedberg as Rekelen
Edward Wiley as
Uncredited co-stars
Ivy Borg as Rita Tannenbaum
Joni German as Bajoran operations officer
Sue Henley as Starfleet command officer
David B. Levinson as Broik
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Tammy Rodriguez as the yellow-skinned alien dabo girl
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Unknown performers as
Markalian bar patron
Tygarian bar patron
Stand-ins
John Lendale Bennett for Avery Brooks
Kyra Bucich for Terry Farrell (also photo double)
Randy James for Colm Meaney
Mark Lentry for Rene Auberjonois
Andrea Stradling for Nana Visitor
References
2420; 2363; 2368; 2420; Bajoran; Bajoran law; Bajoran Provisional Government; Bajoran sector; businessman; Cardassia; Cardassians; Cardassian Central Command; Cardassian Communication Service; Cardassian dissident movement; Cardassian Empire; Cardassian government; Cardassian Military; Cardassian phaser; Cardassian shuttle (Lang's shuttle); Cardassian transport; cliché; cloaking device; dabo; disruptor; Earth; exile; fashion; Federation; Ferengi; fire; flattery; flitterbird; fugitive; (Toran's warship); heart; hire; holosuite; honey; I, the Jury; kanar; latinum; leader; lovers' quarrel; meteor swarm; Mordian butterfly; motto; outcast; Picnic on Rhymus Major; political ethics; prisoner exchange; Promenade; Quark's; refugee; Replimat; reserve power; Rhymus Major; Rhymus Major suns; Rom; Samarian sunset; Sarek; sewing kit; shuttle pilot; ; strip; tarnish; teacher; traitor; Trelonian; Trelonian government; trench; trend; (planet); waterfall; wing; words of wisdom; Yiri; Yiri's brother
Unreferenced material
Sadera VI;
External links
de:Profit und Verlust
es:Profit and Loss
fr:Profit and Loss (épisode)
nl:Profit and Loss
DS9 episodes |
878 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Blood Oath (episode) | Three old Klingon warriors reunite on Deep Space 9, seeking Curzon Dax, with whom they entered into a blood oath to one day exact revenge on an enemy for killing the warriors' firstborn sons. Finding Jadzia as worthy a warrior as they felt Curzon to be, she joins the Klingons in completing their vendetta.
Summary
Teaser
In his bar, Quark complains to Odo that an elderly, drunken Klingon is monopolizing one of the holosuites, endlessly re-fighting the Battle of Klach D'kel Brakt, a battle the Klingons won over the Romulans a century ago. He has only paid for an hour, but has been in the holosuite for three. With Odo standing by, Quark shuts off the power, and the Klingon, Kor, storms out with a bottle of Breshtanti ale in his hand. He lunges drunkenly at Quark, but Odo pacifies him by telling him a "victory celebration" is awaiting him, and leads him to a holding cell to sleep it off.
Koloth, Kor's friend, comes to bail him out; however, when he sees Kor is still quite drunk, he furiously tells Odo to keep him. Shrugging, Kor passes out again, while Odo rolls his eyes.
Act One
In Ops, Odo brings a report to Major Kira and apologizes for being late, as it's been a "Klingon afternoon." He goes on to explain how he put Kor in a cell for public intoxication and Koloth's failed attempt to bail him out. Odo later reveals to Kira that Kor is singing battle songs and announcing loudly his repertoire "Kor Dahar Master of the Klingons". Dax overhears the name at her station and has Kor released. Dax and Kor go to the Replimat where they find Koloth eating cake and Kor comments on him practicing his fighting skills with his food. Koloth says that a sharp knife takes sharp eye and Kor just calls it luck. Koloth says it is insulting that The Federation would send a science officer to great him with Dax commenting that Koloth never liked the Federation and calls him by his nickname in Klingon "Iceman Koloth". Kor ask Koloth if he reconizes Dax? and Dax reveals to him and to Koloth that she is their old friend and comrade, "Dax" – Curzon Dax having been the last host of the symbiont now inside her. Kor is delighted that their old friend now inhabits a beautiful woman's body, but Koloth protests that some mistake has been made. Dax realizes that their meeting has been arranged by another old friend, Kang, who arrives and tells them that he has finally found "the Albino."
Eighty-one years ago, the three Klingons and Curzon swore a blood oath to hunt down and kill the Albino, no matter what. After Dax does some convincing to Kang that she really is Dax, Kang explains he has finally tracked him down to a hideout in the Secarus system – and, to ensure that no warning causes the Albino to flee before they can reach him, Kang killed the traders who disclosed the location to him.
Act Two
Walking alone with Dax on the upper level of the Promenade, Kang muses that times have changed, and nothing is quite the same as it was in the Klingon Empire, not even a blood oath. With that in mind, he tells Jadzia that she has no obligation to honor her past host's commitments, and formally releases her from Curzon's oath.
While on duty in Ops, Dax asks Kira about her experiences in the Bajoran Resistance and how she felt when she killed Cardassians. Kira is very uncomfortable talking about those days, Kira jokingly asks if Dax is planning to kill someone. When Jadzia hesitates in answering Kira takes her by the arm and leads her away from the main work area and insists that Dax explain herself. Dax reluctantly explains; the Albino was a heinous criminal who led pirate raids on several Klingon and Federation colonies, until a task force commanded by Kang, Kor, and Koloth destroyed his power base. Although many of his followers were captured, the Albino escaped and promised revenge on the firstborn children of Kor, Koloth, and Kang. Four years later, he managed to keep his promise by infecting each of the three Klingons' firstborn sons with a deadly genetic virus; Curzon was godfather to Kang's son, who was named Dax in his honor, and swore the oath along with the other three. Kira tries her best to dissuade Dax from her mission, reminding her that it was Curzon's godson who died, not Jadzia's and that she should not be expected to pay keep her former host's commitments. Dax is unswayed, telling Kira she still remembers the boy's funeral and how she felt when her godson died. She feels like she owes it to Curzon to fulfill the oath, even if the other Klingons don't expect her to. Kira finishes by answering Dax's original question; "when you take someone's life, you lose a part of your own as well."
Dax talks to Kor at Quark's, who is as joyful as ever: "Oh, of course you should come! The splendor of fighting and killing, a bloodbath in the cause of vengeance; who wouldn't want to come!" But when she asks him to speak with Koloth and Kang on her behalf, he hesitates, calling himself an old man whose influence and power are long past.
Dax confronts Koloth in a holosuite while he is practicing his bat'leth techniques. He believes she is too young and fragile to accompany them, so she challenges him to a duel to show him that she still retains Curzon's skill with the weapon. After a few rounds, Koloth concedes that her presence will do honor to their cause, but Kang remains adamant in his refusal.
Act Three
Outside the holosuite in Quark's, Dax presses the matter: ultimately, Kang does not have the right to deny her vengeance against the Albino, who killed Dax's godson. Angrily, Kang agrees to allow her along, storming, "come and be damned!"
As Dax packs in her quarters, Commander Sisko arrives to preemptively deny her a leave of absence, telling her that he cannot condone murder in the name of vengeance, nor can he understand why Jadzia feels the need to do so to honor a commitment Curzon made. Dax tells him that Curzon is a part of her, and Curzon understood and embraced the Klingon concepts of honor and vengeance. When Dax begs him not to make her disobey a direct order, Sisko does not prevent her from leaving, but warns her that she shouldn't expect to just return to the station like nothing has happened. Dax responds that the consequences she faces are up to him.
Act Four
Aboard Kang's ship, on the way to the Albino's hideaway, the Klingons and Jadzia discuss their strategy. Kang advocates a surprise frontal assault on the compound's main gate. His intelligence indicates that the Albino only has forty guards, and the shock and awe of their appearance will give them a decisive advantage. Koloth and Kor endorse the plan and march out of the room triumphantly to sharpen their blades but Dax stays to confront Kang. Unlike them, she can see that the plan is suicide, and demands to know what Kang is really up to. In fact, she says, if she didn't know better, she'd think Kang had been paid to lure them into a trap.
Kang admits that when he first learned the Albino's location, he visited the system to see if it was true, and was contacted by the Albino. The Albino offered Kang a "glorious" battle against forty of the Albino's best warriors and Kang accepted, believing that if he could not kill the Albino, he could die trying.
Believing that Klingons embrace death too easily, Dax urges him to consider an alternative strategy. Kang insists that the Albino's defenses cannot be penetrated by the four of them, and victory is impossible. But Dax has the idea of disabling the guards' phasers, by reconfiguring the ship's disruptors to bombard the compound from orbit with tetryon particles. The resulting dampening field will disable any energy weapons inside. Although the Klingons will likewise be unable to use their hand disruptors, they will have a significant advantage over the guards in hand-to-hand combat. Kang agrees, saying, "perhaps it is a good day to live."
Act Five
After beaming down to Secarus IV, Dax scans the area with her tricorder and detects a gravitic mine buried inside the main entrance: the Albino obviously never intended to keep his bargain with Kang. On the other hand, the booby-trap gives them the advantage, since the Albino will be focusing his defenses on the main gate. The four of them quickly work out an alternate plan of attack: Dax will create a diversion by sabotaging the compound's armory, drawing a fair amount of the guards away from the main house, while the Klingons disable the power station, knocking out the Albino's communications and scanners.
However, Kor points out that if the Albino lied to Kang about facing him down honorably, he might not be in the compound, or even on the planet. Koloth tells everyone to wait for a few minutes while he goes and asks somebody. The others wonder if he's gone insane, but sure enough, he comes back a few minutes later, having stealthily ambushed a "very helpful" guard, who has confirmed the Albino's presence. The four warriors prepare to split up to fulfill their roles in the attack, and Kang locks hands with his fellow Klingons: "May Kahless guide us on this day of vengeance!" After a moment's hesitation, Dax puts her hand on the others'.
When the armory explodes, the Albino realizes that his trap has been outmaneuvered. Before he can order his guards to draw back into the house, the power station is sabotaged, leaving him trapped inside his main hall with his Markalian aide and only a few guards, with no way to signal the others and no functioning phasers. The Klingons and Dax storm into the hall and fight his guards hand-to-hand. Koloth is mortally wounded when a guard stabs him in the back, while Kang fights his way up the stairs through to the Albino.
The Albino manages to mortally wound Kang, but turns to find Dax's bat'leth at his throat. She introduces herself as the former Curzon Dax, and he smirks that she doesn't have it in her to murder him, alluding to the traditional consuming of the enemy's heart once they have been slain. She hesitates, and meanwhile Kang stabs his knife into the Albino's back. He falls to the bottom of the stairs to his death. On the surface, he thanks Dax for the act of friendship in "letting" him have the death blow, but the knowing eyes between long friends hints at the deeper reality: that Kang has saved Jadzia from being forced to make the decision to kill the Albino. Kang utters, "It is a good day to die," before dying. Dax murmurs sadly, "It's never a good day to lose a friend." The only Klingon left standing, Kor, sings in honor of his fallen comrades, as he stands over the body of the dead Albino.
Dax returns to the station and resumes her post; however, it is clear from the looks of both Kira and Sisko that they may not be able to regard her the same way again.
Memorable quotes
"Shut off the power."
"He'll kill you!"
"No, he said he'll kill you – shut it off."
- Odo and Quark, evicting a drunken Kor from the holosuite
"How did you get in here?"
"I am Koloth."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Yes, it does."
- Odo and Koloth, in Odo's office
"I do not go into battle with one whose honor is washed away in Breshtanti ale… keep him!"
- Koloth, seeing the drunken Kor
"Security reassignments, Major. Sorry it took so long; it's been a Klingon afternoon.
"A Klingon afternoon?"
"Every time Klingons visit the station, I wind up with a Klingon afternoon – but this is definitely one I'll cherish forever."
- Odo and Kira
"I don't have to tell you what this oath meant to Curzon."
"Jadzia Dax took an oath, too, when she joined Starfleet. You're subject to orders, Lieutenant."
"Don't do it, Benjamin. Don't make me disobey a direct order!"
- Jadzia Dax and Benjamin Sisko
"This is a mistake! Kang must not have known…"
"Ah, but what a beautiful mistake!"
- Koloth and Kor, referring to Dax's new identity as Jadzia
"Is Kang coming?"
"Of course he's coming; he's brought the four of us together after eighty-one years!"
"Could it possibly mean that he's…"
"Yes… that is exactly what it means: I have found The Albino."
- Dax, Kor, and Kang
"This time, we will reach the Albino! And when we do, I will cut his heart out and eat it, while he watches me with his dying breath!"
- Kang
"The Korvat colony. First day of negotiations, I walked out on you, right in the middle of that long-winded speech of yours. You should have seen the look on your face. Nobody had ever had the kajunpak't to show their back to the great Kang before Curzon did."
"I almost killed Curzon that day."
- Dax and Kang
"You've said to yourself, 'Every new life for a Trill has to be a new life'! If not, you'd wind up paying off old debts forever. These Klingons can't possibly expect you to keep this oath!"
"No, they don't… that's just it! They say I have no obligation to them… but I do! I know it – I feel it!… if not to them, then to Curzon."
- Kira and Dax, regarding the blood oath
"Quark, you devious little Ha'DIbaH! Bring wine."
- Kor
"I-I was once, if you remember, far less than you see. And far more than I've become."
- Kor, to Dax
"There is tension on your face, Koloth! You ought to drink more."
- Kor
"Of course you should come! The splendor of fighting and killing; a bloodbath in the cause of vengeance; who wouldn't want to come!"
- Kor, to Dax
"You say they promised you an honorable battle hand-to-hand combat at the main threshold."
"That's right."
"Take a look at this. This indicates a gravitic buried at the main threshold."
"Yes, and he plans to detonate it the moment we enter the compound."
"That's what you get for making a deal with the devil, Kang."
- Dax, telling Kang about the mine, response from Kang and Koloth, and Kor, after Dax tells Kang about the mine
"Wait here."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to find out if he's inside."
"And how do you intend to do that?"
"I'll ask somebody!"
- Koloth, offering a simple solution, and Kor wondering if he's gone mad
"May Kahless guide us on this day of vengeance!"
- Kang, before the Klingons storm the Albino's compound
"Look upon your executioners, killer of children!"
- Kang
"I was right, Dax. It is a good day to die."
"It's never a good day to lose a friend."
- Kangs dying words to Dax
Background information
Story and script
Peter Allan Fields' original story, entitled "The Beast", did not feature Kang, Kor, and Koloth. They were to be new characters, but Robert Hewitt Wolfe, a big fan of , suggested using the three most popular Klingons from that series. () The idea came up in a conversation between Fields, Co-Executive Producer Ira Steven Behr, and Executive Producer Michael Piller. (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, paperback ed., p. 186) Fields based "The Beast" on 's 1954 film and ' 1960 remake of that film, . He modeled Koloth after 's character of Britt and Kang after . Kor was based on William Shakespeare's character of , who appeared in Henry IV, Part II. ()
John Colicos was approached by Michael Piller and allowed to give his own input to the script. Colicos commented, "When I started reading the script, I spoke to Michael Piller and said, 'I don't really want to play this character, because it's totally contradictory to the original Kor. I have a huge following from the original one, and if he becomes just a buffoon, then I'd honestly rather not do it.' He said, 'No, [Kor] starts out as a rather dipsy, Falstaffian character, but becomes quite heroic in the end.' I said, 'Let me see the last two chapters, before I commit myself finally.' And then there was a question of whether we should all be killed off, whether this was the last hurrah for the 'Over the Hill Klingon' gang. [Piller] said they were contemplating keeping one of us alive, and I said, 'Well, I better be the Ishmael who lives to tell the story.' When they gave me that, I said, 'All right, fine." ("The Sword of Colicos", Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, issue 8)
The writing staff toyed with the idea of having the three Klingons appear as they did in the original Star Trek, but decided against it. When Michael Ansara asked why the Klingons now looked different, he was told, "Klingons live to be very, very old and that's a natural physical metamorphosis." ()
Several terms are used in the pronunciation guide in the script but not in the final script itself. These include "Cheron", "becht" and "ghoptu".
Production
Before the episode entered production, Junie Lowry-Johnson and Ron Surma checked to see if Michael Ansara, John Colicos, and William Campbell were still acting. They found the first two easily, but had difficulty finding Campbell. He was actually doing Star Trek cruise conventions at the time. () "We were quite pleased that all three of these […] actors were willing to reprise their roles," stated Peter Allan Fields. (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, paperback ed., p. 186)
Regarding the start of filming, William Campbell commented, "I went down there not realizing that they had this age thing of 85 or 100 years later, I thought we would just be older, that we didn't evolve with the carbuncle on the head, and the other changes they've done. However, when I walked in there I said to Rick Berman, 'Somebody out there said we were going to have to put this make-up on, á la Michael Dorn.' And he said, 'Well, yeah. It's 100 years later, and don't ask me why they do it. This is the way Klingons look now, and you've evolved into this.' I said fine, but I had just thought we were going to to come back as the Over the Hill Gang-type thing. Of course it had a lot more significance than that. We were all senior officers, we were part of of this special quest. I thought they did a phenomenal job the the make-up, although Michael Ansara said to me, 'Bill, I haven't worked in six years, this is going to kill me!" ("The Honorable William Campbell", TV Zone magazine, issue 60)
The interior of the Albino's fortress was built on Paramount Stage 18. () The fortress set was actually built on Stage 18 for the episode , as Masaka's . TNG's Stage 16 was taken up by the Barkonian village set constructed for . ()
The exterior of the Albino's fortress was a house in Pasadena designed by . A model of it, which was blown up to show the destruction of the compound, was built on Paramount's Van Ness parking lot. ()
To set the mood for the fight sequence, Director Winrich Kolbe had 's played on-set. ()
The episode's score was performed with extreme gusto. Composer Dennis McCarthy noted, "We just went for it." ()
Reception
The news that the three most well-known TOS Klingons would be returning to Star Trek in this episode was received with huge excitement from Star Trek fans. (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, paperback ed., p. 186)
The music of this episode proved to be very memorable for Dennis McCarthy; "What I remember about the episode is the force of the music." ()
Terry Farrell is a big fan of this episode because it reveals a great deal of depth to Dax. Farrell felt that each of the three Klingons required a different approach from her, and that the character is capable of switching gears like that is something she is quite proud of: "With Kor, I had to convince him that he was a hero, and that in my eyes he would always be a hero, so that was philosophical. With Koloth, I had to prove that I was strong enough to go to battle with him, so that was physical. And with Kang, I had to prove to him that my desire and need to be a part of this blood oath was strong enough that I could not imagine staying behind, that I was mentally strong and capable enough. So I had to exhibit the honor, the physical strength, and the mental perseverance to go with them." ()
Winrich Kolbe commented, "It was the closest thing to that I ever saw. There was a mythological quality to it and these guys were real heroes. I played Wagner in my mind the whole day and it had a feel that was beyond episodic television. It was really The Three Musketeers on a smaller scale and I loved it." (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion) This statement would make Dax the "fourth" musketeer D'Artagnan, while Kor would be Porthos, Koloth would be Aramis, and Kang would be Athos.
On the return of the TOS actors, Michael Okuda said, "At first, you almost didn't recognize them because they were in heavy Klingon makeup. But as soon as Michael Ansara opened his mouth, there was a powerful sense of déjà vu. Having the three original Klingons on the show was magical for everyone." (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before)
William Campbell commented that he, Michael Ansara and John Colicos all greatly enjoyed the episode, commenting, "When it was all over and we finally saw the finished show, we really loved it." One particular scene Campbell enjoyed was the brief scene with Rene Auberjonois. "That was the scene when I walk in to get Colicos out of the drunk tank, and Odo turns around and says, 'How did you get in here?' I say him, 'I am Koloth!' and he says 'You're not answering my question,' and my reply is, 'Yes I did.' In other words, Koloth can do anything. An actor can't have a better intro than that, and all the fans who had seen the old show identified him immediately." ("The Honorable William Campbell", TV Zone magazine, issue 60)
William Campbell also said this episode was his most difficult acting job, and one he would have liked to do again. (Deep Space Nine Chronicles)
As a fan of the Klingons generally and especially the characters featured in this installment, Robert O'Reilly reminisced about "Blood Oath", "I was literally in ecstasy watching it. I was more excited to see that show than I was to see King Lear on TV, and I love Lear." ()
In her book Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before (paperback ed., pp. 184 & 186), J.M. Dillard described this episode as "compelling" and also remarked, "The return of Kang, Kor, and Koloth was moving and powerful."
Trivia
This episode "reunites" three Klingons from , one from each season: Kor (from in season one), Koloth (from in season two), and Kang (from in season three).
This episode marks the deaths of Koloth (William Campbell) and Kang (Michael Ansara), although Kang later appeared in . Kor (John Colicos) is the only one of the three Klingons to survive the events of this episode, though Colicos was the first of the three actors to pass away, on 6 March 2000. Campbell died on 28 April 2011, and Ansara on 31 July 2013.
John Colicos reprised his role as Kor in season four's and season seven's .
Colm Meaney (Miles O'Brien), Siddig El Fadil (Julian Bashir), and Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) do not appear in this episode.
The late Christopher Collins previously played another Markalian, Durg, in . This was also his last Star Trek episode, as he died from a cerebral hemorrhage seventy-seven days after the episode aired.
Michael Ansara appeared in DS9 again, as Jeyal in .
Klach D'kel Brakt, referred to in this episode, is later revealed in to be the Klingon name for the "Briar Patch" seen in .
later touched upon the issue of the changes in the Klingons' physical appearance, while the episodes and ultimately explained why Kang, Koloth, and Kor have the updated Klingon look in "Blood Oath".
When Kor pulls open the holosuite door at the beginning of the episode, the "whoosh" sound of The Original Series doors can be heard.
Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin's Forged in Fire is a prequel of sorts to this episode, giving more insight into the background of the Albino (whose name, we learn, is "Qagh") and Curzon's relationship with the Klingons. There was a sequel, a comic book story called "".
According to Bill Blair, he filmed a scene on for this episode as a Klingon guard which ended on the cutting room floor. This would've been his very first appearance on Star Trek.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 20,
As part of the UK VHS collection Star Trek - Crossovers Set:
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
John Colicos as "Kor"
Michael Ansara as "Kang"
William Campbell as "Koloth"
Bill Bolender as The Albino
Christopher Collins as Guard
Uncredited Co-Stars
Sam Alejan as Starfleet sciences officer
Scott Barry
Ivor Bartels as Starfleet operations officer
Robert Bralver as Albino's guard
Andrew DePalma (stunt actor)
Steve Diamond
Chris Doyle as Albino's guard
Sue Henley as Starfleet command officer
Randy James
Hubie Kerns, Jr. as Albino's guard
Ken Lesco as Albino's guard
Irving Lewis as Albino's guard
Dennis Madalone as Albino's guard
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Joe Murphy as Albino's guard
Denney Pierce as Albino's guard
Michael Wajacs
Sandra Wild as dabo girl
Unknown actress as dabo girl
Stunt Doubles
Chuck Borden as stunt double for Christopher Collins
George Colucci as stunt double for John Colicos
Caron Colvett as stunt double for Terry Farrell
Yannick Derrien as stunt double for Bill Bolender
Tom Morga as stunt double for William Campbell
References
23rd century; 2271; 2289; 2290; 2330; 2345; 2363; Albino's discarded wives; Albino's sanctuary; baakonite; Bahgol; Bajoran Resistance; Bajoran wormhole; bat'leth; blood oath; Breshtanti ale; calisthenics program; Cardassians; centimeter; dabo girl; Dahar master; d'akturak; Dax, son of Kang; ; Dayos IV; directed energy weapon; d'k tahg; eye contact; Federation; Ferengi; firstborn; Galdonterre; genetic virus; godson; gravitic mine; guest of honor; heart; holosuite; host; hug; Ice-man; Kahless the Unforgettable; Kang's Bird-of-Prey; Kang's warship; kilo; Klach D'kel Brakt; ; Klingon captain; Klingon death ritual; Klingon Empire; Klingon law; Klingon ship; Klingonese; Koloth's warship; Koloth's son; Kor's warship; Kor's son; Korvat colony; kuttar; low orbit; Markalian; meter; Milky Way Galaxy; morality; N'yengoren strategy; orrery; palate; plasma leak; Promenade; QiVon; Quark's; racht; Replimat; rib; riddinite; Romulans; ; science officer; scorcher; Secarus IV; Secarus IV traders; Secarus system; Starfleet oath; stone face; tennis court; tetryon; tetryon radiation; trader; tricorder; Trill
External links
de:Der Blutschwur
es:Blood Oath
fr:Blood Oath (épisode)
nl:Blood Oath
DS9 episodes |
879 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | The Maquis, Part I (episode) | When a Cardassian freighter explodes at Deep Space 9, the Cardassians blame Federation colonists in the new Demilitarized Zone.
Summary
Teaser
While a Cardassian freighter, the Bok'Nor, is docked at Deep Space 9, a Human posing as a Starfleet maintenance worker tampers with a nearby wall panel. At ops, Jadzia Dax tells Kira Major Kira she has a dinner date with the Gallamite Captain Boday. Kira expresses unease at dating someone with a transparent skull, through which she can see his brain, and the two have a brief verbal exchange over choice of dates and aesthetics. The docking clamps in upper pylon 1 are released, but Dax picks up an anomaly. She tells the Bok'Nor to shut down their engines. Suddenly, the freighter explodes while leaving the station. Kira orders engineering personnel to report to rescue stations, but a stunned Dax informs her that there is nothing left of the freighter – and no one to rescue.
Act One
Kira and O'Brien subsequently investigate the incident in a runabout, and initially detect traces of kelindide and rhodinium, materials used in the construction of Cardassian vessels. Kira asks if there may have been a malfunction in the impulse generator, but O'Brien tells her it’s too soon to be sure. He then informs Sisko that there is no evidence of explosive devices, and cannot even help him assuage several Starfleet admirals who are pressurizing Sisko for answers by saying that it looks like an accident. However, traces of mercassium are then found in the Bok'Nors debris, which should not have been there at all. Odo asks if mercassium is an explosive but Sisko tells him it’s a synthetic composite used in shield generator construction by the Federation, one they do not share with others. Dax then expounds her belief that the explosion was an implosive protomatter device attached to the Bok'Nors impulse engines, based upon a sudden increase in the vessel’s fusion rate she detected just prior to the explosion. Her belief is supported by the total lack of evidence of an on-board malfunction. O'Brien supports the theory by stating that a protomatter device attached to the Bok'Nors crossfeeds could have caused an undetectable explosion, but is forced to inform Sisko that he needs to perform a high resolution spectra of the debris to be sure.
Commander Calvin Hudson, the ranking officer and attaché in the Demilitarized Zone along the Cardassian border, arrives on the station to investigate the possibility of retaliatory attacks. After a few introductions, they talk in Sisko's office. He briefly catches up with Sisko, but the gravity of the situation comes back. He admits his belief that his presence on the border is a joke; his assignment has been to help colonists, whose land the Federation gave to Cardassia, adjust to the new circumstances. He believes the Federation is abandoning them due to a bad treaty, clearly in disagreement. Contrary to Starfleet's belief, Hudson is sure the Cardassians will not retaliate, but he guarantees a response will come, since the Cardassians never show anyone what they are really planning.
Meanwhile, a covert meeting takes place between the saboteur and a Vulcan on the Promenade. Pretending to read a directory sign, the Vulcan whispers that he has quarters while a ship arrives for him to escape. The Vulcan then visits Quark to offer him a business proposition. He assumes it's due to an earlier bad deal he made with the Vulcans, but, when she assures him that's not the case, he's immediately excited. Introducing herself as Sakonna, she insists it should be a private meeting, so they plan to meet later for dinner.
However, Sakonna and the saboteur were observed from above by a Pelian couple. Later, they abduct him in the habitat ring as he goes to his quarters.
Act Two
Arriving at his quarters that evening, Sisko finds Gul Dukat waiting for him. Sisko immediately asks where Jake is, implying Dukat may have done something to him.
He bluntly states he believes the Cardassian to be capable of anything, hurting Dukat with the remark. Sisko then calls Kira to find Jake, without alerting her to Dukat's presence. Dukat explains that he came aboard DS9 as an unregistered passenger on a Kotakian ship, and has used his knowledge as the station's former commander to move around stealthily. Kira then contacts Sisko to reassure him that Jake is fine and with Nog, observing women disembark a Bajoran transport at Docking Bay 1. Dukat states he has come unofficially, without the Cardassian Central Command's knowledge, to help Sisko find the truth about the destruction of the Bok'Nor, for he believes he knows what happened – renegade Starfleet officers. In order to find the truth, the two of them must take a runabout to the Volan colonies in the demilitarized zone, which Dukat describes as "not so demilitarized I'm afraid."
Sisko agrees to go, taking Dukat's intentions at his word. Dukat notes that he will not be able to pilot the vessel in the event of an emergency as his controls are not illuminated, and infers that this is to deny him technical information. The pair discuss aspects of Cardassian education such as the development of an eidetic memory, which Sisko opines is at the expense of eliminating their children’s joy of growing up. He then receives a distress call from a Federation merchant vessel, attacked by two Cardassian attack vessels. Dukat says they are not authorized to violate the treaty, and must have come from Cardassian colonies. He tries two direct hails, but they do not disengage. Before the runabout can intervene, another Federation vessel arrives and quickly destroys the Cardassians. Sisko doesn't recognize the ship, as it appears to have been modified to carry photon torpedoes. Dukat asks if Sisko now realizes the infighting that has been going on amongst the colonists, without either of their governments knowing about it.
Act Three
Back on the station, Quark has arranged a "business" dinner with Sakonna. She is eager to begin negotiations but he quotes one of the Rules of Acquisition: "Never begin a business negotiation on an empty stomach." When he describes the Rules of Acquisition, she finds them logical and "quite reassuring." Once Quark is ready to discuss business, he is surprised to hear she is looking to acquire weapons: she wishes to acquire a continuous supply of "guns, phaser banks, photon torpedoes, troop transports, and a number of cobalt-thorium devices," among others. "You're not like other Vulcans, are you?", Quark says.
In the demilitarized zone on Volan III, Gul Evek, the Cardassian attaché to the demilitarized zone, is in a heated debate with Cal Hudson and the colony's council when Dukat and Sisko enter the room. Evek appears to not have been aware of Dukat's involvement. When they describe the incident they observed, both sides seem to feel that their colonists were justified. Evek then produces a confession from the Bok'Nor saboteur, William Patrick Samuels, but claims that Samuels committed suicide shortly after giving it. One of the colonists present named Amaros attacks Evek and must be restrained.
Act Four
Later that night, Hudson warns Sisko that the Cardassians have no intention of allowing the Federation colonists to stay and tells him the Bok'Nor was likely transporting weapons to Cardassian colonists. He concedes that Samuels might have destroyed the freighter but claims the colonists have the right to defend themselves. Furthermore, the authorities themselves are involved in the conflict, arming their civilians. Sisko says if it's true, the Federation can use diplomatic channels, but Hudson scoffs at that, saying they'll find discreet ways of supplying them. Sisko then mentions the Cardassian's supply of weapons to Bajoran extremists, suggesting the Bok'Nor could have carried the weapons to a third party before it was destroyed at Deep Space 9. Hudson has to leave to tell Samuels' wife about his death, and briefly reminisces about their time at New Berlin, specifically the fun they and their wives had at the Mazurka Festival. Sisko then asks if something bigger is going on, but Hudson says he's not aware.
On the way back to Deep Space 9, Dukat otes that Sisko is quiet; he is angry at the reckless actions taken that will eventually hurt the treaty. Sisko then guesses that Dukat knew of Samuels' confession. Dukat admits it, but claims he knew nothing of the "suicide", and that he told Evek he was a fool for letting Samuels die. Sisko is further angered by his assertion that Samuels' death had no advantage for the purpose of interrogation, but Dukat counters by reminding him of Samuels' murderous actions. However, he swears on the lives of his seven children that the Bok'Nor was not transporting weapons, despite the fact that it could have rendezvoused with a third party in order to do so.
Back on the station, Sisko gives Dukat quarters and security before he is transported back home. In Ops, O'Brien has confirmed what Sisko believed: the bomb that destroyed the Bok'Nor was of Federation origin. As Sisko prepares to contact Starfleet, Kira starts a heated argument in his office, as she believes that the Federation should be protecting their own colonists ahead of their treaty with the Cardassians, which she believes will be violated by the Cardassians at every opportunity. Sisko then opens the door to his office, asking Kira to leave.
Meanwhile, Sakonna requests that Quark move the weapon shipment schedule forward to that night and he complies greedily. Later on, she and a man posing as a Starfleet security guard subdue the guard posted to Dukat's quarters with a Vulcan nerve pinch. They lead him to an airlock under false pretenses and are joined by Amaros and another of the colonists. They kidnap Dukat by rendering him unconscious with a phaser.
Act Five
Sisko and the rest of the crew determine the course the kidnappers most likely took. A Galador freighter left, but Dax confirms the registry was forged, as the Galadorans don't have a ship in the sector. It was heading toward Farius Prime, but now they know it is a false route. Just as he, Kira and Bashir leave Ops to go back to the demilitarized zone, Kira reports an anonymous transmission from there attributing the bombing of the Bok'Nor and the recent kidnappings to a group calling itself the Maquis.
On the runabout, O'Brien reports that fortunately a Klingon freighter reported the freighter's location. They follow the Maquis into an area called the Badlands with which Bashir is unfamiliar. Kira explains that it is an area of the Cardassian border with frequent plasma storms, which pilots generally try to avoid. "Sounds like the perfect place for a hideout," he observes. They beam to the surface of an Class M asteroid, where the armed Maquis members emerge from nearby foliage – followed by Hudson, now out of .
TO BE CONTINUED…
Memorable quotes
"He happens to be brilliant, his brain is twice the size of yours and mine."
"I know, I've seen it."
"It's not his fault Gallamites have transparent skulls."
- Jadzia Dax and Kira
"Do you deny that the Federation is engaging in organized terrorist activities against the Cardassian people? Deliberately attempting to undermine this treaty?"
"The Federation does not conduct secret wars."
"Then perhaps you can explain where the Federation ship came from, the one outfitted with photon torpedoes."
"Explain why your ships were armed with Galor-class phaser banks."
"They have a right to defend themselves against organized terrorist activities."
- Evek, Benjamin Sisko, and Cal Hudson, about the situation in the Demilitarized Zone
"If Starfleet is unwilling to defend their people in…"
"They chose to live with the Cardassians!"
"Well, I didn't! But I lived with them for 26 years before the liberation came! Every Bajoran lived with them in constant fear! I know what those colonists are going through. Most of all, I know that the Cardassians can't be trusted to keep their side of the bargain in this treaty."
- Kira Nerys and Benjamin Sisko, about the Federation colonists on the Cardassian border
"Education is . Joy is vulnerability."
- Dukat
"Commander, we just received a general subspace transmission from somewhere in the Demilitarized Zone. A group there is taking credit for the kidnapping of Dukat. They're calling themselves the Maquis."
- Kira Nerys
"I'm glad to see you had no trouble finding us, Ben. It seems that one disaster after another keeps bringing us back together again."
- Calvin Hudson, to Benjamin Sisko, emerging out of uniform with the rest of the Maquis
"I've got every admiral within subspace range on my back. Can I at least tell them it looks like an accident?"
- Benjamin Sisko, to Kira Nerys and Miles O'Brien
Background information
Story and script
This episode marks the first appearance of the Maquis, whose origins are rooted in the events of . They later appeared in and several more episodes of (such as the Michael Eddington arc of , and ), as well as being featured prominently in . Michael Piller commented "DS9 is the true inheritor of the Maquis since there is no long term benefit to Voyager". (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p 42)
An early idea for the episode had Jake get involved with an old friend of Sisko's who was now a mercenary. Ira Steven Behr commented "The way it got started originally was that Jim Crocker and the writing staff – including Michael – decided to do . Don't ask me why". (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p 42)
Captain Boday is referenced for the first time in this episode. He would be mentioned again in (where his name would cause an argument between Jadzia Dax and Worf), and (where it would cause an argument between Ezri Dax and Worf).
This episode is the first to refer to the Badlands, and Sisko states that a few ships have been lost there, foreshadowing the being transported to the Delta Quadrant by the in less than a year later.
The conversation that Sisko has with the admiral was actually included in the script, even though it was not heard. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Production
At the suggestion of director David Livingston, costume designer Robert Blackman originally designed a much more revealing outfit for Sakonna than seen in the episode. However when Rick Berman saw it, he told Blackman to tone it back somewhat. Blackman still likes the outfit that Sakonna wears however, as it shows off actress Bertila Damas' figure and is a much sexier look than ever seen on a Vulcan. ()
Reception
In a section about the Maquis in Star Trek and History, Nancy Reagin comments: "More intriguing were the efforts of a Vulcan woman named Sakonna, who attempted to buy black-market weapons from Quark on behalf of the Maquis. Since viewers often equated Vulcans with pacifism, Sakonna's actions further complicated Star Trek's portrayal of terrorism". (Star Trek and History, p 151)
Trivia
Sisko states that the Cardassians were caught shipping weapons through the Yridians, but in the episode earlier in the season, , it is found to be the Kressari who were acting as intermediaries. It is unclear whether this was a continuity error, or whether Sisko was simply referring to two separate incidents.
Referenced Rule of Acquisition: #214 ("Never begin a negotiation on an empty stomach")
This is the second of three DS9 appearances for actor Richard Poe as Gul Evek. He previously appeared in and would later be seen in and the episodes and before making his final appearance as Evek in , the pilot episode of .
The Maquis settlement is a re-use of the matte painting used for Tau Cygna V in .
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode, but Benjamin Sisko asks Kira Nerys where he is.
In the first scene of act 1, when Kira and O'Brien are searching the wreckage of the Bok'Nor, Kira is not wearing her Bajoran earring.
When Dukat and Benjamin Sisko enter the Promenade, having just returned to Deep Space 9 after visiting the Demilitarized Zone, it is obvious that the chest piece of Dukat's costume has detached itself from the underlying material. The rubber armor even catches a few times on the actor's lower arm as it swings while he walks.
In reference to the Badlands, Sisko says, in this episode, that a few ships had been lost there in the past year, which is part of the premise for . Contrary to this, in , when asked about missing Federation starships, Captain Kathryn Janeway responds, "not to my knowledge".
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 20,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Tony Plana as Amaros
Bertila Damas as Sakonna
Richard Poe as Evek
Michael A. Krawic as William Samuels
Amanda Carlin as Kobb
Marc Alaimo as "Gul Dukat"
Special Appearance By
Bernie Casey as Calvin Hudson
Co-Stars
Michael Rose as Niles
Steven John Evans as Guard
Uncredited Co-Stars
Scott Barry as Bajoran officer
as Maquis member
Jasmine Gagnier as Starfleet operations officer
Kevin Grevioux as Starfleet operations officer
Grace Harrell as Peliar Zel female
Sue Henley as Starfleet command officer
David B. Levinson as Broik
Joe Mack as Peliar Zel male
Mary Mascari as Bajoran woman
Mary Meinel-Newport as Bolian
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Stuart Nixon as Starfleet command lieutenant
John Saint John as Native American Maquis
Unknown performers as
Alien female colonist
Alien female Maquis
Bolian Maquis
Bok'Nor merchant officer
Bok'Nor officer 1
Bok'Nor officer 2
Cardassian colonist
Cardassian soldier 1
Cardassian soldier 2
Colonists
Council member 1, 2, and 3
Ferengi waiter
Klingon Maquis
Kressari
Vulcan council member
Stunt Doubles
Dennis Madalone as stunt double for Tony Plana
Joe Murphy as stunt double for Marc Alaimo
Patricia Tallman as stunt double for Bertila Damas
Unknown stunt performer as stunt double for Richard Poe
Stand-ins
Rachel Abe – stand-in for Terry Farrell
John Lendale Bennett – stand-in for Avery Brooks
Mark Lentry – stand-in for Rene Auberjonois, Michael Krawic and Marc Alaimo
References
21st century; 2327; 2343; 2350; 2356; 2358; 2360; admiral; Alpha Quadrant; attaché; Badlands; Badlands asteroid; Bajor; Bajorans; Bajoran border; Bajoran Provisional Government; Bajoran sector; Bajoran space; Bajoran wormhole; Bardeezan; bearing; beer; Bergen; Boday; business negotiation; Cardassian; Cardassian border; Cardassian Central Command; cobalt-thorium device; co-conspirator; code of behavior; ; Deep Space 9 levels; deflector grid; Demilitarized Zone; distress signal; dogma; Dukat's children; Earth; engineering personnel; explosive device; extremist; Farius Prime; farmer; Federation; Ferengi; Ferengi wine; freedom; frisking; Galadoran; Galador freighter; Galador II; Gallamite; Galor-class phaser bank; golside ore; gun runner; hat; heart; ; gun; impulse drive system; impulse generator; impulse signature; Jake-o; jumbo Romulan mollusk; kelindide; kidnapper; Kressari; latinum; Lissepians; long range sensor scan; marriage; mass murder; Mazurka Festival; mercassium; metric ton; New Berlin; Nog; Norway; Occupation of Bajor; old man; phaser bank; photographic memory; photon launcher; photon torpedo; plasma storm; plomeek soup; Promenade; proprietor; protomatter; proximity scan; Quark's; R&R; ramscoop; ranking officer; receipt; Regulon system; rodinium; Ropal City; rulebook; Rules of Acquisition; Saltah'na clock; ; Samuels' daughters; sausage; searching; Second Order; security guard; sensor range; shield generator; ; ; slip of the tongue; Soltok IV; SID; Starfleet; Starfleet Command; subspace transmission; suicide; three-dimensional chess; toast; tummy; Volan colonies; Volan II; Volan III; Volan III moon; Vulcans; Vulcan (planet); Vulcan Bill of Rights; Vulcan port; warp signature; "wee small hours"; wild woman; Yridians
Starship references
Bajoran transport; Bardeezan merchant ship; Bok'Nor; ; Bolian vessel; Cardassian attack vessel/Cardassian shuttle (unnamed); Cardassian pursuit vessel; ; Federation merchant vessel/Federation merchant ship; Klingon freighter; Kotakian ship; Maquis ship; ; runabout; support courier; troop transport
Other references
Promenade Directory: Amphitheatre; Andorian Fast Food; Bajoran Consulate; Bajoran Customs Office; Banzai Institute; Berman's Dilithium Supply; Bowling Alley; Cargo Loading and Transfer; Cavor's Gravity Devices; Chief Engineer's Office; Curry's Martial Arts Training; Del Floria's Tailor Shop; Diet Smith Corporation; Diva Droid Corporation; Dock Master's Office; Federation Consulate; Fredrickson's Squid Vendor; Garak's Clothiers; Geological Assay Office; Gocke's House of Mirrors; Klingon Consulate; Import Protocol Office; Infirmary; Jacobson's Used Photons; Jupiter Mining Corporation; Lodging and Accommodation; Milliways; Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club; Quark's Bar; Replimat Cafe; Richarz' Accessories; Rush Dilithium Crystals; Schoolroom - Mrs. Keiko O'Brien; Sirius Cybernetics Corporation; Spacecraft Resupply; Spacely Sprockets; Station Operations; Subspace Communications; Tom Servo's Used Robots; Vince's Gym; Vulcan Embassy; Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems; Chez Zimmerman
External links
de:Der Maquis, Teil I
es:The Maquis, Part I
fr:The Maquis, Part I (épisode)
nl:The Maquis, Deel I
Maquis, The, Part I |
880 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | The Maquis, Part II (episode) | Sisko tries to rescue Gul Dukat, stop the Maquis terrorists, and prevent a new war with the Cardassians.
Summary
Teaser
With Sisko, Kira, and Bashir at his mercy, Calvin Hudson comments with amusement upon Sisko's shock at seeing him. Sisko responds that he had hardly recognized his friend out of , prompting a reminiscence between the pair about their aspirations as Starfleet Academy graduates years before. However, Hudson claims to now have a better cause: the Maquis. He feels he cannot turn his back on the settlers, as he considers the Federation has done. Sisko counters that Hudson's joining the Maquis has actually endangered lives and the treaty, but Hudson believes the Cardassians aren't honoring the document though he has no evidence to support this. Sisko demands the return of Gul Dukat to which Hudson accuses Sisko of siding with the Cardassians over him. According to Hudson, the Maquis's top priority is peace but insists the Cardassians' crimes cannot go unpunished, and Sisko points out that it is revenge, not peace, they seek. "I prefer to call it retaliation," Hudson smirks. After Sisko declines his offer to join the Maquis, the Maquis stun him, Kira, and Bashir. Hudson tells his fellow compatriots that they should leave immediately; knowing Sisko's temper, he doesn’t wish to be around when his friend regains consciousness.
Act One
Admiral Nechayev is waiting for Sisko in his office when he returns to Deep Space 9, and Dax informs him that a Legate Parn of Cardassian Central Command will be arriving soon as well. As well as expressing concerns that Odo is not suitable for the position as head of station security, Nechayev refers to the Maquis as "a bunch of irresponsible hotheads" and tells Sisko to talk to them as, since they're still Federation citizens, they should be willing to listen to reason. Nechayev's views leave Sisko fuming and he tells Kira what he feels is the real problem; Earth. Kira is confused, as Sisko explains that on Earth there is no crime or poverty nor war and it is easy to be a good person in paradise. For the people in the demilitarized zone, however, there are still many problems and they're doing whatever they have to in order to survive, all while Starfleet Command still expects them to be 'saints'. Kira appreciates and supports Sisko's true understanding of the situation, and informs him that Legate Parn has just arrived on the station. He is on his way to greet the Cardassian leader when Odo reports that he has caught "one of the Vulcan's accomplices."
Sisko arrives in the security office to find Quark in a holding cell. Quark attempts to evade discussion of his business with Sakonna but eventually reveals that he arranged for the Maquis to acquire weapons from the Pygorians. While he had not heard of the Maquis at the time, he is sure Sakonna plans to execute her plans within the next few days. Legate Parn, upon meeting with Sisko, informs him and Kira that the Cardassian Central Command has discovered Dukat to be the leader of "a small group of misguided officers" who were smuggling weapons to the demilitarized zone. However, neither Sisko nor Kira believe him. Sisko concludes the Command is, in fact, arming their colonists. Hudson was right.
Afterward, Dax reports that three Federation citizens have been killed on Hakton VII in retaliation for the destruction of the Bok'Nor. Focusing on Dukat, Chief O'Brien discovers the subspace distortion of the Maquis ship's warp drive and reconstructs their probable course. Sisko immediately leaves on the to rescue Dukat, along with Bashir and Odo. Kira however believes Sisko should leave Dukat at the mercy of the Maquis with him "getting exactly what he deserves". Sisko tells her before he leaves that "the Central Command wants him dead. That's reason enough for us to want him alive".
Act Two
On one of the Maquis worlds, Sakonna attempts to establish a Vulcan mind meld with Dukat, however, it is unsuccessful. Dukat attributes it to his mental discipline and boasts about Cardassian methods of information extraction. He starts to openly mock his captors for thinking themselves renegades, and considers that even the Bok'Nors destruction does not of itself prove their resolve. Sakonna concurs with Dukat's assertion that the Maquis lack the Cardassians’ stomach for violence, calling it a "gift" they wouldn’t want, but her comrade Amaros loses patience and comes down to continue the interrogation himself. Just then, Sisko, Bashir, and Odo arrive, wanting to talk and work together on revealing the Cardassian plot. There is a momentary standoff, during which Dukat grows impatient. "Shoot them!" he yells and knocks Sakonna over, triggering a firefight. The Maquis are arrested, but Sisko allows Amaros to go free with a message to Cal Hudson that it is not too late to settle things peacefully, as he has not informed Starfleet of Hudson's actions. Sisko also tells Amaros to inform Hudson that Sisko still has his uniform and that he can have it back whenever he wants.
Act Three
They bring Dukat back to Deep Space 9, where he enjoys a fulfilling meal in his quarters. Sisko arrives to talk to him. Discussing the fate of the prisoners, Sisko tells they'll be tried for their crimes under the Federation Code of Justice and released if acquitted. Dukat finds this barbaric and says that in a Cardassian trial the verdict is known beforehand. He responds to Sisko's inquiry that they may mistakenly try the innocent by claiming "Cardassians don't make mistakes." Dukat then inquires about the fact that Federation, not Cardassian, forces rescued him. Sisko tells Dukat about Legate Parn turning him into a scapegoat to be executed "after a comforting trial." Dukat processes this briefly, and mentions he predicted this strained relationship with the Command since the end of the Occupation of Bajor. Dukat then offers to help Sisko stop the smuggling if he helps to stop the Maquis, and he agrees, believing for the moment that Dukat didn't know about the Command's plan. He invites Dukat to their next staff meeting.
The next day in Ops, Odo has obtained an extensive list of weapons Sakonna bought from Quark, but he has been unable to find out more from Sakonna herself. The crew focus on the weapons smuggling instead for the time being. With Dukat's help, they find a Xepolite Free Trader, impervious to scanners and with a faster engine than the runabout. After initially not responding to hails, O'Brien fires off its bow, and trader named Drofo Awa explains with a phony story involving his large shipment of Regreein wheat husks. After Sisko tries to convince him to let them search the ship, Dukat interjects, using his authority and forcefulness to talk the man down. He lowers his shields and allows them to detain a shipment of weapons from him, finally obtaining proof of the conspiracy. Dukat sits back down, pleased to gain a small amount of trust from the group.
Act Four
Back on the station, Quark and Sakonna are sharing a holding cell. He calls her position with the Maquis illogical; she scoffs at the idea that a Ferengi can display superior logic to a Vulcan, but Quark quotes the Third Rule of Acquisition to her, "never spend more for an acquisition than you have to." The Maquis, and Sakonna, want to "acquire" peace in the Demilitarized Zone, and now that the Central Command's plan has been exposed, the two sides – the Maquis and the Cardassian settlers – are in stalemate, and "peace can be bought at a bargain price." But if the Maquis escalate the conflict, then peace with the Cardassians will become that much more "expensive". Quark challenges her to fault the logic in his argument. To her (muted) astonishment, she cannot.
Meanwhile, Sisko explains that the Maquis are going to attack what they believe to be a weapons depot hidden in a civilian center on one of the colonies, though Sakonna doesn't know which one. Sisko believes her, as Vulcans don't lie as a rule. Dukat challenges that, but takes it for granted for the moment. He ensures the Cardassian Central Command is not aware of this, and takes it on to find out where the depot is located himself.
In the meantime, Sisko visits Cal Hudson one final time, interrupting a council meeting. He bluntly says if they attack the depot, they endanger the treaty, and therefore become enemies of the Federation. He will stop the Maquis if they approach the depot. He tells Hudson they stopped the weapons smuggling, and that there's no need for the Maquis, but Hudson ignores it, saying they're in a war, and he intends to win even if he has to fight Sisko. Sisko brings along Hudson's discarded Starfleet uniform, which Hudson vaporizes with a phaser before he leaves the room, letting Sisko know definitively where he now stands.
Act Five
Dukat says he believes the depot is on the Bryma Colony. They'll have to intercept outside its sensor range, so the colony doesn't call for reinforcements. O'Brien says they'll need to establish sensor probes in the system's Oort cloud to detect them, since they don't know what route they will take.
The crew is waiting in runabouts Rio Grande, and when the Maquis arrive at the depot. As neither Hudson nor Sisko wants to hurt the other, the resulting dogfight is relatively slow paced and targets are only auxiliary systems. Soon, the Mekong, Orinoco and one of the fighters are out of the fight. Sisko's runabout and Hudson's fighter are alone, and each try to disable the other. Hudson manages to knock out Sisko's engines, but his own phasers are disabled. Despite Sisko's plea, Hudson flees and, over, Dukat's strong objections, Sisko allows him to escape, refusing to kill someone for trying to defend his home. Dukat expresses his disappointment, but Sisko curtly tells him he will not lose sleep over it.
In his office, he confides in Kira after reading his congratulatory message from Starfleet. Kira says he deserves credit for preventing a war. But Sisko can only wonder if this is true, or whether he has merely delayed the inevitable.
Memorable quotes
"On Earth, there is no poverty, no crime, no war. You look out the window of Starfleet Headquarters and you see paradise. Well, it's easy to be a saint in paradise, but the Maquis do not live in paradise. Out there in the Demilitarized Zone, all the problems haven't been solved yet. Out there, there are no saints — just people. Angry, scared, determined people who are going to do whatever it takes to survive, whether it meets with Federation approval or not!"
- Sisko, on Nechayev's suggestion that he "establish a dialogue" with the Maquis
"Commander, you know there's no reason to go after Dukat. I mean, you heard Legate Parn; they don't want him back."
"Are you suggesting we leave him to the Maquis?"
"Why risk our lives over someone who's caused so many deaths? The way I see it, he's getting exactly what he deserves."
"The Central Command wants him dead. That's reason enough for us to want him alive."
- Major Kira and Sisko, about rescuing Gul Dukat from the Maquis
"The Maquis are a bunch of irresponsible hotheads!"
- Alynna Nechayev
"Look, I know the Cardassians can't be trusted. I know the Central Command would like nothing better than to wipe out all the Federation colonies in the Demilitarized Zone."
"Then you agree with our position."
"Not for a second. Because your position is illogical."
"Do you propose to lecture me on logic?"
"I don't want to, but you leave me no choice."
- Quark and Sakonna
"They have weapons, you have weapons – everyone has weapons, but right now, no one has a clear advantage! So the price of peace is at an all-time low. This is the perfect time to sit down and hammer out an agreement. Don't you get it? Attacking the Cardassians now will only make peace more expensive in the long run! Now, I ask you, is that logical?"
- Quark, to Sakonna
"I don't understand; you're a Cardassian!"
"I'm not just any Cardassian. I'm Gul Dukat, Commander of the Second Order."
- Drofo Awa and Dukat
"Legate Parn's ship just put in at Docking Bay Five. Maybe you'd like to give the same speech to him."
- Kira, to Sisko
"I don't know how many of you here actually belong to the Maquis. Those of you who don't probably have friends who do. So please make sure you pass along what I'm about to tell you. There is a treaty currently in place between Cardassia and the Federation. If you make yourself an enemy of Cardassia, you make yourself an enemy of the Federation."
- Benjamin Sisko, to the Maquis about the treaty between the Federation and Cardassia
"A very rousing speech, Ben. I suppose my best rebuttal would be to kill you."
"But you won't."
- Hudson and Sisko
Background information
Story and script
Much consideration went into the line "It's easy to be a saint in paradise." According to Ira Steven Behr, the line was a result of him having always wanted to dig deeper into Starfleet, to see what Earth was really like, and to examine the paradise that Gene Roddenberry had envisioned. Indeed, Behr had wanted to do this on but had never been allowed; "I'd been waiting to say that line in Star Trek for a long time. We need to dig deeper and find out what, indeed, life is like in the twenty-fourth century. Is it this paradise, or are there, as said, 'Weasels under the coffee table." () This episode finally allowed Behr a chance to raise such a point. "We were able to give a speech about how it's easy to be safe in paradise [….] We thought it was a fundamental thing to state," he recalled. (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 340) In Behr's own words, he felt featuring this line was so important "because, yes, it's a paradise – but so what?" () Robert Hewitt Wolfe commented, "It's easy to be a saint in paradise, but this ain't paradise! It's easy to be a saint on the Enterprise, but it's a little bit harder to be a saint on DS9. Sisko is still kind of a saint, but he's a saint that just has to work a lot harder." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 100)
Ira Steven Behr intended to have Hudson die at the end of the episode. However, Michael Piller vetoed this idea. (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p. 43)
An ultimately unused line from the episode's script stated that Hudson and Sisko had once played dom-jot on Pelios Station against two Zakdorn on the suggestion of Curzon Dax. The two Starfleet officers clearly lost and Curzon told them that he had placed a high bet on the Zakdorn. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Visual effects
For this episode, the DS9 visual effects team was asked to make it look as though Odo turned his arm into a fluid, stretched it across a room, and then pulled someone off a ladder. Never having done that before, the team had to write special computer software in order to accomplish the assignment. (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, paperback ed., p. 165)
Reception
Ira Steven Behr was extremely proud of this episode. ()
When Michael Piller watched the dailies, he commented to Behr that he had been right to have wanted Hudson to die at the end of the installment. (The Deep Space Log Book: A Second Season Companion, p. 43)
Continuity
Ira Steven Behr considered this to be one of the most important early episodes in establishing the darker Star Trek ideology for which Deep Space Nine ultimately became famous. In particular, he referred to Sisko's speech to Kira, and the line "It's easy to be a saint in paradise," as expressing a much less optimistic view of Humanity than had ever before been presented in Star Trek, stating, "Sisko's speech in this episode was the beginning of our really starting to question some of the basic tenets of Star Trek philosophy." () This theme of examining the most basic elements of Star Trek philosophy returned in: a speech Quark gives about the Federation in the episode as well as a speech he delivers about Humans in ; the third season two-parter and ; the fourth season duology and ; Michael Eddington's comparison of the Federation to the Borg in the episode ; the character of Richard Bashir in the fifth season episode ; and ultimately the creation of Section 31 for the sixth season episode .
This is the first episode to introduce some ambiguity to the character of Gul Dukat. Dukat had appeared five times prior to this episode (in , , , , and ) but had predominantly been depicted as a villain. In this episode, his character is fleshed out, particularly in the scene where he is speaking to the Xepolite hetman. After his conversation, Dukat notices that Kira is looking strangely at him, and he smiles to himself. This ambiguity as to Kira's attitude toward Dukat remained a recurring theme for the duration of the show, perhaps seen at its most ambiguous in the fourth season episode . However, despite this ambiguity, Nana Visitor herself never wavered from maintaining that there could never be any kind of romantic relationship between Kira and Dukat, since, in Visitor's opinion, Kira would never be able to forgive Dukat and stop hating him. ()
Admiral Nechayev says the Maquis on the Cardassian side of the DMZ are still Federation citizens when telling Sisko to establish a dialogue with them. However, in , Picard made it clear that colonists that chose to remain on the Cardassian side of the border would give up Federation citizenship and be under Cardassian jurisdiction.
Sisko later discovered, in the fifth season episode , that Cal Hudson had been killed by the Jem'Hadar. That episode also saw the last activity of the Maquis, which had been wiped out due to the increased military presence in the DMZ brought about by Cardassia joining the Dominion.
Trivia
Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #3 ("Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to")
Dukat's line that "on Cardassia, the verdict is always known before the trial begins" became the basis for the episode .
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
This was the final episode of Star Trek directed by Corey Allen.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 21,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Tony Plana as Amaros
John Schuck as Parn
Natalija Nogulich as Alynna Nechayev
Bertila Damas as Sakonna
Michael Bell as Drofo Awa
Amanda Carlin as Kobb
Marc Alaimo as Dukat
Special Appearance By
Bernie Casey as Calvin Hudson
Co-Star
Michael Rose as Niles
Uncredited Co-Stars
Sam Alejan as Human medical officer
Majel Barrett as Narrator
Kevin Grevioux as Human security officer
Chuck Madalone as Maquis guard
Tom Morga as Maquis guard
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Jeff Pruitt as Maquis guard
Unknown performers as
Alien Maquis
Bolian Maquis
Buck-toothed alien
Seven Human Maquis members
Klingon Maquis
Kressari
Three Volan III colonists
Stunt Doubles
Dennis Madalone as stunt double for Tony Plana
Joe Murphy as stunt double for Marc Alaimo
Lynn Salvatori as stunt double for Bertila Damas
References
ability; accomplice; admiral; asteroid; Attack on Bryma; Bajor; Bajorans; Bolian; Bryma; Bryma Colony; Bryma system; captain; Cardassia; Cardassian; Cardassian border; Cardassian Central Command; confiscation; constable; crime; deflector shield; Demilitarized Zone; deuterium; discount; disruptor; docking bay; dozen; Earth; evasive maneuvers; expression; Federation; Federation Code of Justice; Ferengi; graduation day; gun runner; Hakton VII; Hetman; intermediary; kiloton; Kressari; landing pad C; leader; Lissepians; lobe; maintenance facility; maneuvering thruster; Maquis; Maquis planet; M-class; M-class planets on Maquis ship course; mind meld; nacelle; navigation array; navigational array; Oort cloud; outlaw; paradise; particle accelerator; photon torpedo; piracy; poverty; primary fusion core; Promenade; propulsion system; pulse cannon; Pygorians; Regreein wheat; renegade; replicator; Rules of Acquisition; runabout; Saint; Saltah'na clock; Second Order; sensor range; shapeshifter; Starfleet; Starfleet Academy; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Headquarters; subspace distortion; supply depot; tractor beam; Umoth VIII; Volan; Volan III; Volan III moon; Vulcans; war; warp drive; warp engine; weapons array; Xepolite
Starship references
Bok'Nor; ; Federation attack fighter (Hudson's
and Niles' ships); ; ; Parn's ship; ; Xepolite Free Trader
External links
de:Der Maquis, Teil II
es:The Maquis, Part II
fr:The Maquis, Part II (épisode)
nl:The Maquis, Deel II
Maquis, The, Part II |
882 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Crossover (episode) | An accident inside the wormhole sends Kira and Bashir into the "mirror universe", where Klingons, Cardassians, and Bajorans rule over their Human slaves.
Summary
Teaser
"Medical log, supplemental. Major Kira and I are returning home after opening the hospital on New Bajor, the first Bajoran colony in the Gamma Quadrant."
As Major Kira and Doctor Bashir make their way back to Deep Space 9, Kira asks Bashir to take over the helm control of the runabout , as she has a headache and would like to meditate. Bashir mentions that he once had the opportunity to study with a rhythmic breathing expert named Isam Helewa, but Kira seems rather less than interested. When he mentions that he would like to learn any Bajoran techniques, Kira tells him that Bajorans usually just sit quietly. There is a brief pause as Kira meditates before Bashir begins breathing spastically. She looks up, irritated, and asks him what he is doing. He explains that he is using a technique called Bellows Breath meant to increase one's energy flow.
In an attempt to change the subject, Kira suggests that they listen to some music. An undaunted Bashir asks what type the Major prefers, but unfortunately her musical knowledge is limited to Bajoran composers. He immediately tells the computer to play a selection by Tor Jolan, one of Bajor's greatest composers, much to Kira's surprise. She wonders how he knows of Tor and he explains that he has made a point to listen to Bajoran music ever since he was assigned to DS9. They seem on the verge of finding a common ground when he starts comparing Tor to the great Boldaric masters of the previous century which seems to further annoy Kira. He remains as gung ho as ever, attempting to get to know Kira on a first-name basis.
Bashir goes on to say that Nerys is one of the most interesting women he has ever met and he is glad they are putting their past conflicts behind them. Kira sarcastically adds that they are making room for new ones. Laughing, Bashir relates that he and Chief O'Brien were once at odds with one another, but now he claims they are "like this" as he crosses his fingers. He presses on, trying too hard as usual, and tries to get Kira to call him Julian instead of Bashir. However, when he attempts to hit on her, she tells him to stick with Dax instead. This finally silences the doctor.
As their runabout drops out of warp, the warp field does not collapse properly and they are engulfed in a white flash upon entering the wormhole. In the wormhole, both Kira and Bashir feel dizzy, as Kirk and crew did in the original transporter incident. When they exit the Bajoran wormhole in the Alpha Quadrant, they are shocked to see the station is gone, instead orbiting Bajor much as it did during the occupation. Before either of them can react, the runabout's sensors detect a Klingon attack cruiser moving towards them. Two Klingon officers beam aboard the runabout and are shocked to see Kira. Apologizing profusely, they offer to escort her back to the station; she simply nods, obviously confused.
Upon arriving at , the two Klingons confer with a Cardassian officer named . Bashir and Kira board the station, where they are confused to see Garak and even more confused to see another ... dressed entirely in black.
Act One
Bashir politely asks where they are and Garak informs him that they are aboard , the center of authority in the Bajoran sector for something simply referred to as "the Alliance." Kira observes that she and Bashir took a wrong turn at the wormhole, suggesting they return to their runabout. However, the other Kira, whom the Klingons and Garak address as "Intendant," seems to have other plans. Bashir attempts to intervene, only to be vociferously chastised as a "" for his tone of voice. The Intendant believes she has an idea of who their visitors are, and if she is right, she tells Kira she cannot let them go. Dismissively, she orders one of the Klingons to put Bashir to work and reminds them to tell the supervisor to keep an eye on him, as the doctor is unaware of their rules.
Garak and the remaining Klingon escort Kira as they follow the Intendant out the airlock area and onto an identical version of the Promenade. Large banners display what appears to be a winged version of the Cardassian emblem enveloping the Klingon emblem, and below the flags, exhausted Humans carry large pieces of machinery in service to the Klingons and Cardassians. A Klingon officer named Telok informs the Intendant that a Terran has been discovered attempting to stow away aboard a freighter and brings the man to her. Approaching the Terran, the Intendant takes on a compassionate tone, asking his designation; she is dismayed to hear he is a and observes how long and hard he had worked to earn this designation. Her tone changes to business as she tells Garak to send the Terran to the mines. Garak wants to execute the Terran to make an example of the man, but the Intendant claims Garak has made a career out of setting examples. He presses the issue, pointing out that two other Terrans have been caught trying to escape and asking that he be allowed to conduct an interrogation at least. While the Intendant permits this, she warns Garak not to kill his prisoner.
Elsewhere on the station, an ore processing section identical to the one on DS9 houses dozens of Humans, who perform the same slave-like role as their Bajoran counterparts once did in the "normal" universe. As Bashir is escorted to the processing area, warns that they need to upgrade one of the machines' thorium containment cells or there will be an accident. O'Brien stresses to Odo that he will not be held responsible for the resulting consequences. The Klingon escorting Bashir brings him to Odo and informs Odo that Bashir does not know the rules. Odo asks Bashir for his designation. Bashir can only think of his name, which Odo interprets as a joke; as a result, Odo brutally slaps him. Again, Odo asks for a designation, so Bashir informs Odo he does not have one; Odo corrects him, adding "sir" to the end of the statement. A rhetorical response garners another slap. Bashir becomes visibly enraged as they talk, but it is apparent that Odo takes perverse pleasure in provoking him. Upon hearing that Bashir is a doctor, Odo sarcastically reminds him to scrub before he operates. Bashir is put to work but notices that O'Brien has observed the exchange with great interest.
Leading Kira and the guard escorting her to Ops, the Intendant passes several Alliance emblems before entering the office normally occupied by Benjamin Sisko. She sits and urges Kira to do the same, dismissing the guard, her eyes feasting on Kira like an excited child on Christmas. The Intendant reveals to Kira that almost a century ago, a Human named James T. Kirk accidentally traded places with his mirror universe Terran and drastically altered the course of history on this side.
At the time of the switch, the Terran Empire was barbaric but strong. While in the mirror universe, Kirk met a Vulcan named and had what the Intendant calls a "profound influence" on him. Spock preached peaceful reforms after "our" Kirk left, rising to commander in chief of the Empire in the process of doing so; however, once he had completed his reforms, the Empire was too weak to defend itself from the newly-formed Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. Kira wonders how fits into the picture. The Intendant explains that the planet had been occupied by the Terrans for decades when the Empire fell. Upon becoming free, it petitioned for entry into the Alliance and became "quite an influential member" in later years. Her story finished, the Intendant wonders if the other side is similar at all.
Unfortunately, Kira informs the Intendant that her Bajor has not been so fortunate. The Intendant is eager to hear about life in Kira's universe, but Kira insists that she cannot stay. However, the Intendant does not know how to send her back, nor could she if she wanted to do so. The Alliance, upon seizing power, declared that any visitors from other universes must be killed immediately to prevent future incursions after the first crossover, but unlike Garak, she says she does not like using violence. Kira knows exactly what she means, and that she is looking for an excuse not to kill "our" Kira.
Kira solicits the Intendant's help, as she feels a leader like the Intendant could teach her what she needs to know to bring about a stronger Bajor in her universe. "My side once changed the course of your history," she says. "Well, maybe your side can change mine." While the idea appeals to the Intendant, she says she will still have to kill Bashir. When Kira asks her not to, she says letting him live is too dangerous and the Klingons and Cardassians would not allow it; however, Kira knows herself too well and points out that the Intendant does not give a damn what the Klingons or Cardassians think. "Oh!" the Intendant croons. "You know how to manipulate me!" She agrees to go along with Kira's idea and calls for a guard to find her some quarters.
Act Two
The next day, Kira, who has essentially been given free rein, visits the ore processing center to find a now-filthy Bashir pushing a cart full of ore. Mirror Odo greets her at the door. Like his counterpart on the other side, he prides himself on his efficiency. He offers assistance should she need him to explain anything, and when she demurs, citing that she has worked in ore processing before, he laughs out loud. When Kira mentions the name Kirk to Bashir, he immediately realizes where they are, having read about the transporter accident at the Academy. He plans to befriend the mirror O'Brien in the hope that this O'Brien knows as much about transporters as theirs does; meanwhile, Kira tries to find other help.
is no different in the mirror universe aside from the clientele, with a mixed group of Bajorans and Cardassians standing around a dabo table as Kira enters. has heard of the crossover and remarks that Kira is indeed the spitting image of the Intendant. However, he is surprised to find that Kira knows him. She claims that the two of them are close friends on her side and that her Quark does her a lot of favors. As her Klingon escort still observes them from the doorway, Kira nonchalantly mentions that her Quark gets things done for her that no one else can and inquires about a transporter. He is aware of how the first crossover occurred and agrees to help her if she can show him how to send other people across. Although Kira begins to talk about revolving doors, Garak enters followed by two Klingons and yells Quark's name angrily.
Greeting Garak amicably, Quark attempts to act as if nothing is wrong. However, Garak informs him that he is under arrest for helping Terrans escape from Terok Nor. Quark claims he is a coward who does not stick his neck out for anyone, but the Terran whom Garak interrogated has said otherwise. Knowing what is about to happen, Quark pulls out a Cardassian phaser rifle and attempts to escape, only to be dragged away by the Klingons. "I shall miss him," Garak observes. "He always let me win at dabo." Shortly thereafter, and a group of Terrans enter, helping themselves to free drinks in Quark's absence, and Kira sees another potential window of opportunity.
Meanwhile, the exhausted Terrans are allowed a lunch break. Bashir seizes this opportunity to introduce himself to the mirror O'Brien. Handing what little food he has been given to one of the other workers, he makes his way over to where O'Brien is fixing a panel of some sort. Hearing that the two of them are best friends in the other universe piques this O'Brien's interest; he wonders what he does on the other side. Bashir informs him that he is chief of operations of the station, giving him reason to pause his work and consider the possibilities. When Bashir describes the other details of his O'Brien's life, mirror O'Brien says his other half must have gotten the lucky draw of the two of them.
Bashir switches subjects, asking how much O'Brien knows about transporters. While he claims to be no expert, he adds that he knows as much as any Terran. "I hope that will be enough," Bashir remarks, explaining about the transporter plan. O'Brien finds the plan untenable and believes Bashir is lying to solicit his help. While Bashir insists that he is sincere, the spell that came over O'Brien when he heard of his other half seems broken, as he goes back to work and tells Bashir he does not know him. Odo interrupts to announce that break time is over and that Sisko has requested O'Brien's presence. O'Brien protests that he must finish his repair work, but as usual, no one listens to him.
Back in Quark's, Sisko and the other Terrans are enjoying themselves at the bar and he remarks that the Intendant called him all the way from the Fowla system just to see Kira. She observes that he and his friends do not act like typical Terrans. As he explains, the Intendant provides him with a ship in exchange for "duties... of a sort" that he collects from other vessels. While most Terrans are enslaved, he and his crew are allowed relative freedom because he amuses the Intendant. He observes that Kira must amuse her as well.
O'Brien enters the bar to ask what Sisko wanted, and seeing him seems to brighten Sisko's day. Referring to O'Brien as "Smiley" despite O'Brien's objection to the nickname, Sisko asks how he is being treated in an attempt to make small talk. He observes that Smiley does not like him, which O'Brien reluctantly confirms, evoking a laugh from Sisko. He states that the fact that Smiley is not afraid to show this dislike is why he amuses Sisko. Getting to the point, Sisko tells O'Brien that his impulse driver coil needs to be repaired. O'Brien notes the problems in ore processing which he needs to fix first, but Sisko cannot be bothered with such things and orders him to fix the ship first. As the Intendant calls for Sisko and he leaves the bar, Kira realizes that she may not have any hope at all.
Act Three
Kira enters the Intendant's quarters to find the Intendant in a bathtub with several Vulcan servants massaging and bathing her as Sisko sits on a couch facing the door. The Intendant wants to know if there is another Sisko on the other side, and on hearing there is, the idea of two of Sisko pleases her. As she speaks, Sisko gets up to check on his ship, obviously not amused, but the Intendant stops him to ask if she has hurt his feelings. Obediently, he replies, "I never had any to hurt," and exits.
Once Sisko is gone, the Intendant talks to Kira as the Vulcans help her out of the tub and dress her. She mentions that she has heard Kira is looking for a transporter, and Kira reminds the Intendant that she is looking for a way back home. However, had Kira come to the Intendant with her request, she would know that transporters were re-designed after the first crossover to prevent future accidents. That leaves the Intendant to wonder why Kira did not do so. As she approaches Kira, her voice betrays a combination of hurt and distrust. Kira reluctantly admits that she is afraid of the Intendant. "I don't want your fear," the Intendant confides as she stands face-to-face with Kira, "I want your love. If you can't love me, who can?"
The door chime rings. Telok informs the Intendant that Garak has arrived with a prisoner. She tells them to come inside; they drag Quark, who has visibly been beaten, with them. As Quark apologizes for what he has done, the Intendant kneels beside the Ferengi and comforts him, explaining that he helped the Terrans because he felt sorry for them. However, she reminds him that the Alliance needs the labor to process ore, for without the Terrans, nobody would perform such tasks. Rising to her feet, she tells Garak to give Quark a quick death and seems to all but forget about the incident as Quark is dragged away begging for mercy. Kira is aghast, but the Intendant, now in a happy mood, announces she plans to throw a party. "What shall we wear?" she asks her pet.
Kira enters her quarters carrying a lavender dress to find Garak waiting for her. "Lovely," says the Cardassian of the garment. "I do admire a well-tailored gown." He proceeds to explain that the Intendant will never let Kira return to "our" universe as she is clearly enamored with Kira. Describing how the Intendant talks about Kira constantly, Garak compares Kira to a Drathan puppy lig left on the Intendant's doorstep and hints at his true intentions as he makes a point of mentioning that the Intendant trusts Kira with her life. Kira points at the guard outside her door as evidence of how much the Intendant trusts her, but Garak reveals that he arranged the guard, not the Intendant. "Oh, she trusts you, as much as she trusts anyone. So who better to betray her?" he suggests. Garak's plan is that the Intendant will be "gone" in the morning and Kira will take her place. Shortly thereafter, he explains that Kira will retire to Bajor and he will take her place, at which point he will become the Intendant and Kira and Bashir will be sent home. He leaves Kira to ponder the idea and adds that, should she refuse, he has arranged for Bashir rather than the Intendant to be gone.
Act Four
Hurriedly entering the ore processing center, Kira warns Bashir that the two of them must escape tonight. She does not have time to explain the web of lies and treachery, but she tells him to be careful because he might be in danger. Regardless of where they go from there, she insists that they must find a way to the runabout. She tells him that there will not be much warning if an opportunity presents itself so he should be prepared.
On the Promenade, Kira finds Sisko half asleep, his eyes closed, leaning against a pillar. She claims to have valuable information that she is willing to trade, and he finds amusement in the idea that Kira has already "gone into business for herself." When she tells him she wants her runabout or a way off the station, he laughs. "She'll have my head... or something else," he says of the Intendant's reaction to such a plan. Kira dispenses with the negotiations and announces that Garak is planning to kill the Intendant. However, Garak has been doing so since he first arrived on the station. She reveals the plot in hope that it will convince him she is serious, but he laughs and observes that the plan is more creative than Garak normally gets. Frustrated, Kira wants to know why Sisko does not seem to care about the fact that he and his fellow Terrans are slaves; he counters by arguing that he has made the best of a bad life for himself. Disgusted, Kira accuses Sisko of being no less a victim than anyone else noting that out of everyone she has met in this universe the only person who had a shred of decency was, of all people, Quark; as she leaves, her words seem to weigh heavily on his conscience.
Kira attends the Intendant's party in Quark's that night wearing the purple dress and Garak greets her charmingly. Telok brags to his fellow Klingons about his time in service to the , commenting on the unpredictable nature of and , when one of Sisko's crewmembers accidentally bumps into him. He punches the Terran dismissively, adding, "Stupid Terran pig!" The Terran pulls out a knife and rises to his feet, but does so with restrained anger as he knows he is not an equal. At seeing that the Terran is willing to challenge him, Telok nods approvingly, ready for a fight. However, when Sisko shakes his head, the Terran puts the knife away. "What's wrong, Terran?" Telok taunts. "Lost your nerve?" Telok spits in the Terran's face and the man almost loses control, but another shake of the head from Sisko prompts him to restrain himself. Visibly disgusted, Telok orders the Terran to get out of his sight, and as the man does so, Sisko takes his place threateningly. However, the room shifts its attention as the Intendant enters.
The guests cheer as the Intendant enters followed by her Vulcan servants and the musician asks what her pleasure is. She tells him to play something bright in a happy mood and joins the festivities as Kira observes her, deep in thought.
Meanwhile, Bashir sits exhausted in ore processing in front of a pile of rocks. Odo approaches him from behind and kicks him, noting that Bashir is not accustomed to the workload and, as such, has much to learn. "It's a shame this is going to be your last night on the job," he adds, with a hint of sadistic pleasure. His taunting is interrupted when, just as O'Brien warned, the thorium containment field on one of the machines short-circuits. The Terran workers scatter as Odo contacts engineering, and Bashir uses this opportunity to steal a phaser from one of the Bajoran deputies. Still facing the deputy, he begins to back out the doorway following the panicked workers. Odo spots Bashir and reaches for his own phaser, but Bashir shoots the Changeling, causing him to explode, and splattering goo everywhere. Not taking the time to gawk, Bashir leaves immediately.
Act Five
Telok and some other soldiers can be heard in the distance as Bashir runs through one of the corridors and enters a conduit. A pair of Klingons runs by, oblivious to his location. He crawls a short way before he finds O'Brien attending a panel on the wall. However, when he solicits O'Brien's help, O'Brien claims not to see him and goes about sealing the thorium leak. Bashir realizes it is futile and remarks that he thought O'Brien was a decent man, which O'Brien insists he is. O'Brien is worried that the Alliance will find and kill him if he helps Bashir, but Bashir points out that O'Brien, as well as every other Terran, is already dead. He begins to enter another conduit, but O'Brien points out that the runabout pads are through another conduit, asking if there is room on the ship for him. The two of them emerge in another corridor only to find the Klingons have cut them off.
Interrupting the party, Telok brings O'Brien and Bashir and informs the Intendant of what has transpired; she immediately looks at Kira furiously. She declares that Odo's death is her fault for keeping Bashir alive in the first place and laments Odo's death. Garak and the others observe closely as she proclaims that Garak will use Bashir as his "example," and kill him slowly in public view for all Terrans to see. When Kira attempts to speak, the Intendant threatens to have Kira join him. She then turns her attention back to O'Brien. As he has been a perfect worker for years, she wonders what got into him, and he tells her that hearing about life on the other side and himself being chief of operations made him realize that, whatever the other side is like, there has to be something better than life as a Terran. "Not for you, Mr. O'Brien," the Intendant informs him. "Oh, he's going to be taking you with him – just not exactly where you thought he would be taking you."
With a nod from the Intendant, Garak begins to lead Bashir and O'Brien out of Quark's, but taking Garak's gun from its holster, Sisko intervenes, inspired by O'Brien's words. The Intendant does not believe what she sees and asks Sisko if he has lost his mind. He quietly replies, "No, I didn't lose it. I just... changed it." By this time, "our" Kira and Sisko's crewmen have taken the cue and are all armed. They slowly exit the bar before Sisko shoots the panel above the door, locking it shut. As he does so, the Intendant is near tears; for all the disparity between them, she had true feelings for Sisko.
Kira warns Sisko as he escorts her and Bashir to the runabout pad that the Intendant will track him down wherever he goes. Bashir suggests that he and his crew come with them, but Sisko assures them he can stay ahead of the law. "Maybe we'll stir up some things on this side," he adds with a grin. On hearing this, O'Brien changes his mind about leaving and joins Sisko's crew, as Sisko says he can always use a good tinkerer and putterer. Kira thanks Sisko before she and Bashir board the runabout.
Disengaging the docking clamps, Bashir and Kira take the runabout straight to impulse and depart Terok Nor as quickly as possible. As they head for the wormhole, Bashir reports that the runabout still has a plasma injector leak from the warp core, which Kira is counting on to return them home. They mimic the conditions of their original entry into the wormhole that brought them to the mirror universe, but a Klingon cruiser heads straight toward them, trying to keep them from leaving and nearly destroying the runabout. However, as the Klingons on this side know nothing of the wormhole, Bashir and Kira are able to maneuver toward it and enter. They are inside the wormhole when one of the runabout's systems short-circuits and there is another brilliant flash of light.
In Ops aboard Deep Space 9, Commander Benjamin Sisko emerges from his office and asks if the crew has found anything. Odo stands next to Dax as she reports that a search vessel picked up traces of the runabout's warp signature and indications of a plasma leak, but no ship. There is an alert from the computer, and O'Brien announces it is them, although their deflector grid is damaged. Sisko tells Dax to hail the runabout and with a mixture of annoyance and concern, asks where they have been. "Through the looking glass," Kira responds.
Memorable quotes
"Bartender!"
"He's just been arrested."
"Arrested? What a damn shame. Who wants a drink on the house?"
- Mirror Sisko and Mirror Garak
"I'm Kira Nerys."
"That makes two of us."
- Kira Nerys and Intendant Kira
"Wouldn't that be something, Benjamin? Two of you at my side!"
"I need to check my ship."
"Benjamin. Did I hurt your feelings?"
"I never had any to hurt, Intendant."
- Intendant Kira and Mirror Sisko
"Smiley!"
"Miles, Mr. Sisko."
"I don't like the name Miles. That's why I named you 'Smiley'!"
- Mirror Sisko and Mirror O'Brien
"What do you care about Terrans' freedom?"
"I care about freedom! What I don't understand is why you don't care. Why the only one I have met on this station who seemed to give a damn was a Ferengi toad named Quark!"
- Mirror Sisko and Kira
"You're not accustomed to this workload, are you, Doctor? You have much to learn. It's a shame this is going to be your last night on the job."
- Mirror Odo, to Doctor Bashir
"On this side, Terran workers do not speak to their superiors as you do. They certainly do not murder them! He was the only one of his kind, the man you killed. Do you realize that? He is irreplaceable! No one ran that operation as efficiently as he did. No one kept order among the workers as he did. This is my reward for treating you Terrans with the least bit of respect! Very well. I can learn from my mistakes. You want to set an example, Garak? Use him! Set an example for all Terrans! Let him die slowly in public view on the Promenade! Let his pleads for mercy echo through the corridors for all Terrans to hear!!"
"Intendant!"
"Another word from you, and you will die right beside him."
- Intendant Kira and Major Kira –
"This man is a doctor where he comes from. And there's an O'Brien there, just like me... Except he's some kind of high-up chief of operations. And they're Terrans. Can you believe that? Maybe it's a fairy tale he made up, but it started me thinking how each of us might have turned out, had history been just a little different. I wanted him to take me with him because, whatever it's like where he's from, it's gotta be better than this. There's got to be something better than this."
- Miles "Smiley" O'Brien
"We've got ships from here to New Bajor out looking for you. Where have you been?"
"Through the Looking-Glass, Commander. But it's good to be back."
- Sisko and Kira
Background information
Story and script
The original title of "Crossover" was to be "Detour". (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
Michael Piller commented: "We've been pitched sequels since began, and I wasn't interested. But I couldn't get away from the fact that it would be interesting to know what happened after "Mirror, Mirror" finished. I couldn't escape the idea that Kirk's influence in the world that he left might have been profound and changed history. What would be more of a gross violation of the Prime Directive? Ira [Behr] said, 'What if he actually screwed things up?' Spock listened to what he said and then they turned this evil empire into a much more gentle empire that was conquered and taken over by the Klingons, the Cardassians and others. I was watching Schindler's List and I was thinking if I were a little older, I could have been in one of those camps in Poland. If Germany had won the war, I would not be here doing what I am doing today. I guarantee you. I was very pleased with the way the script turned out". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages)
Writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe wrote the fall of the Terran Empire into the script as an analogy for the fall of the Roman Empire to barbarians and the Chinese Dynasty to the . He also wanted to illustrate that if an Empire is as brutal as the Terran Empire was in , there were probably reasons why it was so brutal and he wished to convey the message that, in such circumstances, one cannot change things overnight, and even the actions of Captain Kirk can have severe consequences; "Empires aren't usually brutal unless there's a reason. There are usually external or internal pressures that cause them to be that way. So I just thought that if the parallel was that brutal, there had to be a reason. And the reason was that the barbarians (the Klingons and the Cardassians) were at the gate." ()
Wolfe elaborates on the political/historical metaphor contained in this episode when he says, "My analogy was to the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was as brutal and as nasty as it was because all around it, it had very aggressive barbarians that it was afraid of. The Chinese had the same thing, the Mongols were always there. So if you suddenly make the Romans nice guys, or the Chinese nice guys, well that's great and everything, but then the Mongols come across and it's all over. So that was kind of the idea, what was the mirror universe like a hundred years [after ]. Well, it might not be a very nice place." (Hidden File 03, DS9 Season 2 DVD, Special Features)
Worf was to appear in this episode, but Michael Dorn was unavailable as he was filming the series finale of , . His lines were given to Andrew Robinson and the lines intended for Elim Garak were used to create the character Telok. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library) When Dorn did appear in later mirror universe episodes, he played Regent , leader of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance.
Production
David Livingston commented on the filming of the episode that it was: "a killer. I don't usually call Michael Piller to comment on the scripts, but when I read the draft, I just called him and said, 'Cool', and hung up. It was not a pleasant experience for me because of all all the pressure. It was just not fun. I wanted it to be a lot more than it is, but I'm glad to do it. It's one of the most expensive episodes we've ever done. We had more prosthetic makeup because the station is inhabited by Klingon, Cardassians and Bajorans, and the humans are basically slaves so they're wearing different costumes. We had swing sets that were huge, like the mining set, and very complicated to shoot. The shooting time was long because of the look and because of special effects, like smoke and steam and that kind of thing. Plus, we did make changes in the sets themselves, like Quark's, in which we replaced the big graphic in the bar with the symbol that represented the Bajorans, Klingons and Cardassians melded together". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages)
The teaser scene in which the two Klingon soldiers board the runabout is intentionally shot from extreme angles, which director David Livingston compared to essentially shooting up the actors' noses. He did this intentionally to emphasize how different things were in the mirror universe. During the preproduction period of this episode, Livingston watched the 1949 movie for inspiration, although he has admitted that he may have gone too far in using radically different angles. (DS9 Season 2 DVD.)
The knife wielded by the Terran when he is knocked over by Telok was designed by Rick Sternbach for an episode called "The Beast", which became the basis for the episode , and it was originally intended to be wielded by a Klingon. (Deep Space Nine Sketchbook, DS9 Season 2 DVD, Special Features)
Reception
After this episode aired, there was a great deal of discussion about how sexy and alluring Nana Visitor was as the Intendant, with the costume she wore garnering a great deal of attention. According to costume designer Robert Blackman, the general consensus amongst fans was that it was the revealing costume that gave Visitor this new level of seductiveness, but Blackman disagrees; "It's not that I've exposed more of her body – it's exposed pretty much the same way it always is. What's the difference? She's the difference. It's how Nana wears it. It's what she does. She walks like a provocative woman, with her legs crossing in front. She uses her hips, and a whole other kind of body English than she normally uses." ()
In Star Trek 101 (p. 125), Terry J. Erdmann and Paula M. Block list "Crossover" as one of the "Ten Essential Episodes" from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Trivia
This is the only mirror universe episode in which the crossover is made via the Bajoran wormhole. All subsequent episodes show the crossover being made by way of a specially adapted transporter. The novel Fearful Symmetry posited this is because the crossover in this episode was a deliberate attempt by the Prophets to connect the two universes.
In later mirror universe episodes, the Terran Rebellion captured from the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance, which is what alludes to when he says he and his men will "stir things up on this side."
Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode. Later episodes would establish that Jake Sisko was never born in the mirror universe, making him the only character in the Star Trek universe known not to have a mirror counterpart.
While Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois and Colm Meaney all appear throughout the episode as their mirror counterparts, their regular characters of Benjamin Sisko, Odo and Miles O'Brien only appear in the final scene. Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax) also only appears in the final scene.
Quark does not appear in this episode, only his mirror counterpart.
The mirror Odo's uniform sports a belt and collar, which Auberjonois liked so much that he began using it in his regular series Odo uniform as well.
Prior to the establishment of the history of the televised mirror universe, a mirror version of O'Brien appeared in the novel Dark Mirror, depicting a mirror universe in which the Terran Empire had survived well into the 24th century. That version of O'Brien served as a conn officer aboard the ISS Enterprise (ICC-1701-D) from 2364 until at least 2367.
According to the novel "Disavowed", Bashir steals the weapon he uses to kill Odo from the of . The Desca of the "prime" universe is a long running character in the novels.
Awards
This episode was nominated for an ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Regular Series (Marvin V. Rush).
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 22,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Alternate Realities collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Andrew Robinson as ""
John Cothran, Jr. as Telok
Co-Stars
Stephen Gevedon as Klingon #1
Jack R. Orend as Human
Dennis Madalone as Marauder
Uncredited Co-Stars
René Auberjonois as (mirror)
Pam Blackwell as Terran slave
Avery Brooks as (mirror)
Mark Lentry as Terran slave
Colm Meaney as (mirror)
Estella Russell as Terran slave
John St. John as Klingon patrol guard
Armin Shimerman as (mirror)
Nana Visitor as (mirror)
Unknown performers as
Bajoran guard
Bajoran musician
Bajoran personnel
Dabo girl
Female Cardassian guard
Female Klingon guard
Four Terran marauders
Male Klingon guard
Nine Terran slaves
Vulcan servant 1
Vulcan servant 2
Stand-ins
Ivor Bartels as stand-in for Siddig El Fadil
John Lendale Bennett as stand-in for Avery Brooks
Mark Lentry as stand-in for Rene Auberjonois
Robin Morselli as stand-in for Nana Visitor
Randy Pflug as stand-in for Colm Meaney
Unknown actress as photo double for Nana Visitor
References
2267; 2368; 0413 Theta; ability; Alpha Quadrant; amusement; arrest; Bajor; Bajor (mirror); Bajoran; Bajoran music; Bajoran sector; Bajoran wormhole; bath tub; barbarian; Bellows Breath; ; Boldaric; bury the hatchet; Cardassian; career; chief of operations; college; commander in chief; composer; confession; crossover; dabo; Deep Space 9; deflector grid; disruptor rifle; dizziness; docking clamp; Drathan puppy lig; driver coil; Earth (mirror); electro-plasma; emergency stabilization control; euphemism; expression; fairy tale; Fowla system; Ferengi; flag; freedom; Gamma Quadrant; gift; heart; ; ; impostor; Intendant; joke; jumja tea; ; ; kiss; Klingon; Klingon-Cardassian Alliance; Klingon cruiser; laborer; ; latinum; leader; long range sensor; love; ; marriage; medicine; meditation; mines; mirror universe; mirror universe cultures; mirror universe history; New Bajor; ; ; nap; Ops; ore processing center; pagh; parallel universe; pig; Promenade; plasma injector; Promenade; Quark's; Quark's (mirror); revolving door; rhythmic breathing; Rules of Obedience; runabout; Smiley; soul; ; spoon; spitting; Starfleet; Starfleet (mirror); Starfleet Academy; supervisor; tax; ; Terran Empire; Terran Rebellion; Terok Nor (mirror); theta (classification); thorium; thorium containment cell; transporter; thruster; toad; Tor Jolan; transporter accident; transporter technology; ; Vulcan, warp field; worker; wormhole
External links
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DS9 episodes |
884 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | Tribunal (episode) | When Cardassians arrest Miles O'Brien for working with the Maquis, he's put on a Cardassian trial, where the verdict is known before the trial begins: guilty.
Summary
Teaser
Chief O'Brien and his wife Keiko are scheduled to go on vacation, but as a workaholic, he finds it difficult to let go and just leave. Out of uniform and carrying his bag, O'Brien reminds Dax of various things that need attention as he makes his way to the turbolift. She assures him that she will look after the station as if it were her own child, although this does not seem to make him feel any better. Kira seems annoyed, albeit in good humor, and she reassures O'Brien that the rest of the crew are perfectly capable of running the station without him for a week. He reminds her that he will be available over subspace, at which point the major politely requests that he "get out of our hair."
O'Brien takes the hint and gets in the turbolift as Dax reminds him to have a good time, something he seems to have forgotten. As soon as the turbolift leaves, Commander Sisko emerges from his office and tells Dax and Kira that O'Brien has been driving him crazy all day. The turbolift returns as he speaks and O'Brien starts to tell Sisko something about a recently installed subroutine, but the commander orders him to disembark Deep Space 9. Only after O'Brien is gone do Sisko, Kira and Dax allow their true amusement to show through.
O'Brien hurries along the Promenade on his way to the runabout and nearly drops several PADDs he is carrying. A nearby Human moves to help with the load, but O'Brien reassures him he has it under control. As O'Brien walks away, the man seems to recognize his face but not his name. O'Brien stops and realizes whom he has just seen and turns back, recognizing Raymond Boone, one of his former colleagues from the . recognizes the name Miles O'Brien immediately and is glad to see him after so long.
Boone is impressed with O'Brien's status as chief engineer, Boone says he left Starfleet eight years ago and now resides on Volan III; a confused O'Brien points out that Volan III is on the Cardassian side of the Demilitarized Zone. Boone admits that the new Federation-Cardassian Treaty puts him and his fellow colonists in harm's way, but as he mines ladarium, he says the Cardassians leave him alone, as they use the material for their warp drive. O'Brien is nonetheless surprised and does not understand how Boone could live among the Cardassians after what happened in the Border Wars at the Setlik III massacre. While Boone says the incident convinced him to leave Starfleet, it convinced O'Brien to stay in. The two plan to meet the next time Boone is on the station, but Boone loses his friendly air once O'Brien is gone.
Boone enters his quarters carrying a data pad. He has recorded the exchange with O'Brien, and now he sorts through it to find the portion where O'Brien stated his name. "O'Brien! Miles O'Brien," it says.
Act One
On the way to their vacation destination, Miles is engrossed in something he is reading in a PADD as Keiko asks if he brought the holo-cam along. He asks if he was supposed to do so and she reminds him that they went over the list of items to bring along last night in bed. "I was dead as soon as my head hit the pillow," Miles says, his mind obviously elsewhere. He =sarcastically claims there must have been someone else in their bed, as he only remembers falling asleep. Dismissing her husband's sarcastic remarks, Keiko asks what he is reading, and to her chagrin, he informs her it is a technical update manual. Switching subjects, Miles observes that it might have been a good idea to bring Molly with them on their vacation and wonders if she will be okay with the . Keiko sarcastically tells him that Molly likes the Petersons more than her own parents, reassuring him Molly is fine. However, he suggests traveling back to Deep Space 9 to pick up both the holo-cam and Molly, which would only cost a half-day's worth of vacation time. A stern look from Keiko causes him to rescind his suggestion and he goes back to reading. After a moment of awkward silence, Keiko asks how many he brought; he innocently asks what she means, although he knows she is referring to his update manuals. "Just a few," he claims sheepishly. Keiko simply stares at him, her arms crossed.
Miles finally takes the hint and sets his manuals aside. He tells the computer to play something by Minezaki Koto; Keiko is still annoyed, but a smile begins to appear on her face. As the music plays, Miles gets up and kneels beside Keiko, bringing their faces close to one another. The two of them embrace and begin kissing one another, but as they do, they are stopped by Keiko's chair, which refuses to allow Keiko to lean back any further. Laughing, she asks if the runabout chairs recline, to which Miles admits he wishes they did. "You're an engineer – do something about it," she suggests playfully, adding, "I'll make it worth your while." They resume their embrace and forget any hostility they may have felt earlier when the computer announces that a vessel is approaching.
The computer identifies the ship as a Cardassian patrol vessel. Miles tells the computer to raise the runabout's shields as he returns to his seat. They try to send an emergency subspace message to Deep Space 9, but the Cardassians jam their transmissions and hail them. With a hint of contempt, O'Brien opens a channel with the vessel and identifies himself. On the other end is Gul Evek, who politely informs him that they have spoken before and orders him to shut down the runabout's engines to prepare for an inspection. Although Miles points out that they are nowhere near the Cardassian border and Evek thus has no authority to search the runabout, Evek claims the question of authority can wait; for now, he warns O'Brien to comply or he will take "preemptive action." As Evek says this, the computer alerts Miles that the sensors have detected a photo lock-on from the Cardassian vessel, an indication that Evek is prepared to open fire. Giving O'Brien ten seconds to comply, Evek terminates the communication.
Reassuring Keiko that neither of them has done anything wrong, Miles lowers the runabout's shields. Evek and two other Cardassian soldiers immediately beam aboard and materialize behind him the moment he does so. Evek thanks Miles for his cooperation and informs him that the Cardassians have orders to arrest him. Keiko is aghast as Evek tells the other soldiers to search the ship and a baffled Miles asks what the s are. "You have the right to refuse to answer questions, but such refusal may be construed as a sign of guilt," Evek informs him, to which Miles demands to know what the charges are. Evek asks if Miles would like to deny all knowledge of the crime; when Miles again asks what the "crime" is, Evek interprets his response as a "no." Keiko insists that they have rights as Federation citizens. Somewhat dismissively, Evek acknowledges that their "rights" under the Cardassian Articles of Jurisprudence will be protected.
Miles demands to speak to Commander Sisko, and with a mix of sternness and compassion, Evek assures him that they will contact Sisko and see that Keiko is returned safely to DS9. He goes on to explain that Miles will be taken to Cardassia Prime, where he will await trial. Miles seems to realize the futility of arguing and pushes Evek out of the way, attempting to grab Keiko, but one of the Cardassians shoots him with a phaser. Keiko cries out as her husband collapses and is beamed aboard the Cardassian ship along with Evek and one of the officers. The remaining officer restrains her from reaching for the command console, and she screams her husband's name.
Act Two
The setting is now Cardassia Prime. A government building looms prominently in the distance and large viewscreens placed strategically on the walls of various buildings display a Cardassian man giving a speech. A pair of soldiers forcibly escorts O'Brien into a darkened room and walk off-screen as a bright light shines on him. "Remove your clothes," a deep, emotionless voice commands. The overly bright light shining on him moves in a circle as he speaks. "My name is Miles O'Brien. My rank is chief of operations, Starfleet; I'm a Federation citizen," he defiantly states to the owner of the voice, a uniformed Cardassian whose features remain anonymous. "Remove your clothes," the man repeats bluntly. O'Brien repeats his statement as well, still somewhat disoriented, but the soldiers who brought him in grab him as he does so, slamming him against a nearby wall. Each soldier grabs a side of O'Brien's shirt and together they rip it off. Forcing him to the ground, they remove his pants as well. "Would you care to make a confession?" the faceless voice asks, and O'Brien repeats his statement yet again, although less adamantly this time. Still emotionless, the officer orders the soldiers to "process" O'Brien.
O'Brien's head is restrained as one of the soldiers uses a pen-shaped device to perform a retinal scan, causing a picture of him and a dossier to appear on a nearby screen. The soldiers drag O'Brien to a sleek chair with arm and leg restraints. He manages to punch one of the soldiers and begins to get up, but the other restrains him and administers a sedative. As the sedative begins to take effect, the chair shifts to a horizontal position and O'Brien once again proclaims his Federation citizenship, the defiance of his original statement all but gone this time. One of the soldiers clips a sample of O'Brien's hair while the other uses a pair of pliers to remove one of his molars. Finally, pale blue light engulfs O'Brien's body, presumably forming a holographic record, and the chair returns to its vertical state as a Cardassian woman enters, formally clothed.
She approaches the now-silent O'Brien and asks the interrogator if O'Brien has been processed. Observing a cut on O'Brien's forehead, she remarks with a tinge of annoyance that the prisoner was not to be harmed. One of the soldiers explains that O'Brien had to be restrained and the other brings in a black jumpsuit-like garment. Now assuming a more amicable demeanor, he hands the garment to O'Brien and motions for him to stand. The woman walks alongside O'Brien and apologizes sincerely for the way he has been treated. She introduces herself as Makbar, the Chief Archon, and assures him that she wants his stay to be as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. By "circumstances," she means the holding cell (similar in appearance to those aboard DS9) to which she has led him.
Makbar follows O'Brien into the small cell and informs him that she has scheduled his trial to begin in two days; he has been assigned the venerable Kovat as his public conservator, or lawyer, which Makbar takes as a good sign. After all, she explains, many feel Kovat to be the best legal counsel in all of Cardassia. However, when O'Brien asks again what he is being charged with, she takes on a decidedly less comforting tone. "All in good time, Mister O'Brien," she says as she exits the cell. "All in good time." A dazed O'Brien is left, still naked and holding the black jumpsuit, to wonder what his fate will be.
Aboard DS9, Keiko sits in Sisko's office with Sisko before her, Odo at his side. The commander informs her that Starfleet Command has ordered the , the , and the to the Federation-Cardassian border near the Demilitarized Zone, hoping that the threat of endangering their treaty with the Federation will give the Cardassians incentive to release O'Brien. However, this is not good enough for Keiko, who insists that her husband is being tortured. Odo, who served aboard DS9 when it was Terok Nor under Cardassian rule, confirms that the use of torture is standard Cardassian interrogation policy, further worrying Keiko. She reveals that O'Brien spoke to her on numerous occasions about the Starfleet officers whom the Cardassians took prisoner at Setlik III and what they were like after their release. The thought of being like them disgusted and scared him. As much as Sisko wants to help, he reminds her that they do not know where O'Brien is being held. Seeming to understand his logic but not wanting to admit it, Keiko leaves the office.
Sisko and Odo follow Keiko into Ops, attempting to reason with her, but their conversation is cut short when Major Kira announces that there is an incoming transmission from Cardassia Prime. It is Makbar, who introduces herself as "the Archon representing the Cardassian Empire in its case against Miles O'Brien." While she claims it is not possible for Sisko to see or speak with O'Brien, she assures him that O'Brien is being treated with great care and respect. Warning her that O'Brien had better be treated properly or he will hold Makbar personally responsible, Sisko assures her his warning is a threat. Makbar goes on to announce that the charges against Chief O'Brien will be revealed at the trial as per Cardassian Jurisprudence. Keiko finds this outrageous and demands to know how they are supposed to prepare for a trial without knowing the charges, but Makbar claims the verdict has already been reached; the trial is to demonstrate how it was reached.
While Makbar offers Keiko the opportunity to attend the trial, she tells Sisko that only family members of the accused enjoy this privilege. Odo interrupts to inquire about O'Brien's nestor, a type of adviser. The court has assigned O'Brien a conservator and a nestor by default, but Odo volunteers to take on the role of nestor instead. When Makbar informs him that the nestor must be an officer of the Cardassian court, he reveals that Gul Dukat made him an officer four years ago in order to testify in criminal cases during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. Reluctantly, Makbar agrees. Odo now takes the stage, inquiring as to the penalty O'Brien faces for his crimes. Makbar informs him that O'Brien has been scheduled for execution next week. Keiko is appalled by the notion of condemning a man to death before the trial even begins, but at Makbar puts it, "We believe in swift justice." With that, she terminates the transmission.
Once the transmission ends, Odo tells Sisko that he and Keiko will leave immediately for Cardassia Prime and they exit in a turbolift. Meanwhile, Sisko tells Kira to conduct a complete security sweep of the station for anything that might explain what has happened. Noting O'Brien's well-known dislike of Cardassians, Kira asks what she should do if she finds he is guilty. Sisko grimly admits he wants to know that as well, if it is true.
Act Three
O'Brien lies in his cell as an older Cardassian man approaches. Entering the cell, the Cardassian speaks in a soothing voice and warmly introduces himself as Conservator Kovat. Kovat sits next to O'Brien, who impatiently asks why he would need a lawyer if he has already been sentenced. The role of conservator, Kovat explains, is to help the accused concede the wisdom of the state; O'Brien refuses to dignify such a statement with a response and simply laughs. Undaunted, Kovat maintains his comforting demeanor and relates an old Cardassian expression: "Confession is good for the soul." In addition, he adds, hearing the guilty confess makes the public feel better, and while such is not the primary purpose of the trial, he points out that it is not a bad side effect. O'Brien looks at Kovat as if he were insane.
Kovat seems pleased as he reviews the information collected during O'Brien's processing. When O'Brien asks what he has been charged with, Kovat dismisses the question and claims there is no need to worry about it at this point. O'Brien calls the entire process insane and gives up on getting any straight answers. Whatever O'Brien may or may not have done, Kovat reassures him it does not matter in the long run. "The purpose of this trial is to demonstrate the futility of behavior contrary to good order," he says, calling the entire process uplifting for everyone. "Not everyone," O'Brien corrects him, but the words fall on deaf ears. Kovat enthusiastically describes how all crimes are solved on Cardassia and even the poorest of the poor can walk the streets in the dead of night safely. O'Brien informs Kovat that he is not guilty and holds the entire process in contempt, an attitude Kovat claims will put on a good show. Before Kovat leaves, O'Brien asks if he has ever won a case. "Winning isn't everything," Kovat proclaims as he walks away.
Meanwhile, the crew of DS9 has discovered plenty of evidence – all of it pointing directly at O'Brien. Twenty-four photon warheads have been stolen from a weapons locker, and Jadzia Dax, with a tricorder, points out that they were beamed out of the locker in such a manner that it would require a transporter expert. Bashir sees what she is getting at, but he refuses to believe it. Furthermore, however, Kira has verified via command logs that O'Brien was in the locker minutes before the beam-out took place; his voiceprint is even logged in the computer. Frustrated, Bashir wonders why anyone would steal photon warheads. Kira points out that a Maquis raider stole photon launchers from a Bolian freighter only two weeks ago – launchers, but no warheads. They only find more questions as they dig deeper, such as how the Cardassians found out O'Brien was carrying the warheads and who in the Maquis he could have been giving them to.
Odo visits O'Brien in his cell to see if he has been treated properly, and when O'Brien mentions that one of his molars was removed, Odo states that he is familiar with the practice. All Cardassians are required to give one of their molars to the Bureau of Identification, a procedure normally performed at age ten. While Keiko has come with Odo, she is not allowed to visit her husband in his cell. However, Odo grimly informs him that families are always invited to trials and executions so the public can see them weep. The thought of this appalls O'Brien and he says he does not want Keiko to be present. He desperately asks whether the Cardassians told Odo anything about the charges against him, which they have not, although Odo has an idea.
Rather than explain the theory outright, Odo uses indirect questions to test O'Brien's responses. He asks if O'Brien has ever had dealings with the Maquis, but the chief is unsure of what he means; rather than explain, he asks if O'Brien knows anyone in the Maquis, which he denies; finally, he asks if O'Brien has ever sold weapons to the Maquis, which he also denies with visible frustration this time. O'Brien wonders if anyone will ever tell him what he supposedly did, at which point Odo realizes O'Brien truly does not know anything. He reveals that Commander Sisko contacted him several hours ago to inform him of the missing warheads and that they suspect the warheads were in the cargo bay of the runabout. This begins to clarify things for O'Brien, as he knew the Cardassians found something in the cargo bay. However, he denies any knowledge of the theft and begins to break down.
O'Brien confides in Odo that he has been in Starfleet his entire adult life and during that entire time, no one has ever questioned his loyalty. Odo observes as O'Brien speaks, gaining new insights into his colleague's personality. While O'Brien admits he is not an angel, he claims he has never cheated nor stolen, and tried to be the best Human being he can. Odo tries to comfort him by reassuring him that being accused of a crime is not a dishonor and Keiko will be at the trial but not weeping. "And neither will you," he adds. "I want the archon to see the unwavering eyes of an innocent man." Calling for the guard, Odo exits the cell. O'Brien thanks him for coming and he exits. ()
Act Four
Dax discovers that while O'Brien's voice opened the weapons locker, the voice was a fabrication assembled piece by piece from existing recordings. As she shows Bashir, the peaks in the sound clips are slightly out of sync when compared with a recording from the real O'Brien. Meanwhile, Kira has narrowed a list of potential Maquis suspects down to twelve people who were on the station on the day of the theft and isolated Boone, who several merchants observed talking with O'Brien on the Promenade. Sisko tells security to find Boone at once.
Broadcasting live to all of Cardassia, Makbar announces the commencement of O'Brien's trial. She sits at high podium emblazoned with the Cardassian emblem; to her left sit several young children, while to her right sits the chair from which witnesses testify. Kovat stands in front of the podium and informs her that his client is ready. The children tap their knuckles against the sides of their seats respectfully as O'Brien enters and takes his place at a raised seat facing the archon. The archon offers O'Brien a chance to "spare your family and the Federation further humiliation" by confessing; he declines without hesitation. Keiko enters with Odo, and Makbar, per Cardassian Articles of Jurisprudence, offers her a chance to disassociate herself from her husband and testify against him. Giving O'Brien a supportive look, Keiko adamantly refuses. She and Odo sit directly in front of O'Brien on the main floor next to Kovat's seat. Makbar is about to call the first witness when Odo interrupts her.
Before the hearing proceeds, Odo requests that he be allowed to confer privately with Kovat, which perturbs Makbar. She concedes that it is Odo's first time serving as nestor and he therefore may not be accustomed to protocol, but the nestor has no authority to address the court. He begs the court's indulgence and Makbar reluctantly does so; Kovat begs Odo not to ruin the case for him as he is only a year away from retirement. The idea that an innocent man could be convicted seems incredible to the conservator when Odo informs him of the new evidence. Regardless, however, he reminds Odo that no evidence may be submitted after the verdict has been reached. Odo attempts to press the matter but Makbar impatiently interrupts their conference to ask Kovat if they are ready to proceed, which he hurriedly claims they are. Odo does not concur.
Despite Makbar's warning, Odo requests permission to address the court and proceeds to do so over Makbar's objections, asserting that O'Brien's conservator refuses to bring to light new evidence which would prove his client's innocence. Kovat can hardly believe his ears as Odo speaks, and Makbar exclaims that Odo is out of order. Given the situation, Odo angrily demands to know what he is supposed to do. Respect Cardassian judicial procedure, Makbar claims, pointing out that were this a Federation courtroom he would ask that she do the same of their procedures.
Odo uses this point as a segue to the fact that no crime has been committed against Cardassia and therefore the trial should be taking place in a Federation courtroom in his estimation. When he mentions that the crime in question was committed aboard a Bajoran space station, a flabbergasted Kovat proclaims he is extremely humiliated and denounces the case as he attempts to leave the courtroom. Makbar sternly orders Kovat to sit down before warning Odo not to try the patience of the Cardassian people, for he will find the punishment very unpleasant. "I regret that I have no teeth to give your Bureau of Identification," he concedes with disdain. Makbar explains that she fully expected the Federation to come up with fabricated evidence to confuse the issues at hand, and as such, she rules that no new evidence may be submitted. ()
Back on DS9, Sisko and Kira stand beside a seated Boone and attempt to extract some form of information from him. Talking to O'Brien does not mean he is guilty, Boone claims; after all, they're old friends from the Rutledge. When Sisko reassures him that they do not plan to turn him over to the Cardassians, Boone observes that he has no reason to think they will since he has done nothing wrong. Sisko tells Kira to hold Boone for further questioning.
Meanwhile, Bashir enters the infirmary to find the lights malfunctioning. He attempts to access them through the computer and is about to leave when a voice from behind him tells him not to turn around. A man stands in the shadows, his features indistinguishable, and claims that Boone is "not one of us." As Bashir realizes the man is from the Maquis, he asks for more information. All the man will say is that the Maquis knew nothing of the theft of the warheads. Bashir turns around seeking further information only to find the man gone and the lights once again functional.
Act Five
On Cardassia Prime, Gul Evek can be seen on the same wall-mounted viewscreens as Makbar was previously. He describes the Maquis as "savage, Federation-born killers" as the camera switches to an interior shot of the photon torpedoes from O'Brien's runabout, which he cites as evidence of his accusation. After Evek confirms for Kovat that the Maquis are based in the Demilitarized Zone, the conservator asks how Evek knew the weapons were intended for the Maquis. Evek claims to have received the information from "reliable sources" but does not reveal the nature of his sources, citing national security concerns, causing Odo to interrupt the proceeding yet again.
Odo wants Evek to reveal his sources, and more to indulge Odo than out of her own curiosity, Makbar asks whether Evek can do so. Evek claims the details of how he obtained the information cannot be revealed without risk to national security, an answer Makbar accepts but Odo does not. He presses for more information on how Evek learned the warheads were in the runabout; again, Evek quotes "reliable sources," for which he gives the same rationale. Although Odo is still unsatisfied with Evek's answers, Makbar impatiently dispenses with the issue. The trial, she says, is already the longest in the history of Cardassia. Kovat resumes his questioning and promises to be as brief as possible.
A pair of Bajoran deputies escorts Boone into the infirmary aboard DS9, where Sisko and Bashir are waiting for him. Bashir asks why Boone has not spoken to his parents in eight years and Boone claims he never got along with them; his parents, however, told Bashir otherwise. Sisko continues to connect the dots, adding that Boone divorced his wife of fifteen years and was discharged from Starfleet around the same time he stopped talking to his parents. Bashir finishes by explaining that all of these things happened shortly after Boone's return from Setlik III. On hearing all of this, Boone seems to know what they are talking about and attempts to push his way past the deputies guarding the door. He is restrained and placed on a biobed.
"Some romantic vacation," O'Brien remarks to Keiko. She reassures him that there will be others, but he does not share her optimism and asks that she not be present at his execution. Their conversation is cut short as a bell announces Makbar's return and the room stands respectfully. Taking her seat, Makbar announces that the offender will testify. O'Brien informs her that he has nothing to say to the court, but he is compelled to testify under Cardassian law. Kovat meanwhile suggests to Odo that he advise O'Brien to confess and throw himself on the mercy of the court. "I never heard of a Cardassian court showing mercy," the constable counters. That, Kovat insists, is not the point, but Odo declines despite Kovat's urging. The irony of Odo interrupting before and refusing to speak now is not lost on Makbar.
Kovat approaches the witness stand and inquires whether O'Brien was abused as a child. Annoyed, O'Brien wonders what Kovat is talking about. He hypothesizes that perhaps O'Brien's parents were abusive and that perhaps the chief hated them. O'Brien informs Kovat he loved his parents, and when Kovat suggests spousal abuse on Keiko's part, he indignantly describes her as "the most wonderful, supportive person I've ever known." Kovat respectfully apologizes for the question, claiming he is only looking for a reason why a fine man such as O'Brien would become a criminal. Perhaps O'Brien could assist him, Kovat suggests, but O'Brien insists he is not a criminal. "Well," Kovat declares in a resigned tone as he resumes his seat, "I tried."
With Kovat done, Makbar takes over, asking O'Brien how many Cardassians he has killed. He has not killed any since the Federation-Cardassian War, but she requests a count that includes the war. Odo asks what relevance such information has, but she insists O'Brien's war experiences are very much relevant and repeats her question. O'Brien admits he is unsure of the number. What then begins as a neutral question becomes very much loaded as Makbar asks whether there is a warm place in O'Brien's heart for the Cardassians now that the war is over and whether he has stated on numerous occasions, "The bloody Cardies can't be trusted." He reluctantly admits this is true, at which point Kovat chimes in and concedes the verdict on his client's behalf. Despite O'Brien's objection and adamant insistence that he is innocent, Makbar orders him to stand down. Before the trial goes any further, a guard escorts Sisko and Boone into the courtroom.
On seeing the newcomers, Kovat objects but Makbar, now staring intently at Boone, silences him. She addresses the court to proclaim that the Cardassian system of jurisprudence has worked once again and a guilty man has been brought to justice. However, she claims to see in O'Brien the potential for rehabilitation. In the spirit of furthering Cardassian-Federation relations, she says she will set aside the verdict and release O'Brien into the Federation's custody. As the courtroom clears, a dumbfounded Kovat asks Odo what has just happened, still in shock. Odo remarks dismissively to him, "You won." Kovat whispers to himself, "They'll kill me."
Sisko explains on the way home that the "Boone" Miles encountered before leaving was actually a Cardassian spy who replaced the real Boone eight years ago, as genetic tests from Doctor Bashir confirmed. They first became suspicious when Boone's wife spoke of how radically different he was when released from imprisonment after the Cardassians captured him at Setlik III. Keiko is still confused as to why the Cardassians would want to frame her husband, but as Odo points out it was never about Miles. The entire scheme was an elaborate plot to give the Cardassian Central Command an excuse to destroy the Federation colonies on the Cardassian side of the Demilitarized Zone by making it appear as if the Federation were supplying weapons to the Maquis. After all, if the Federation itself was supporting the Maquis, the Cardassians would have no choice but to use military action. When Sisko entered with "Boone", Makbar knew he had the ability to embarrass the High Command with all of Cardassia watching. The O'Briens then resume their interrupted vacation, albeit without any bags or holocam, which is perfectly fine with Keiko.
Memorable quotes
"Would you please go on vacation and get out of our hair?"
- Kira
"Is he gone?"
- Sisko, on O'Brien
"My name is Miles O'Brien. My rank is chief of operations. I am a Federation citizen."
- O'Brien, while being processed
"I've been told that I've already been charged, indicted, convicted, and sentenced. What would I need with a lawyer?"
"Well, Mr. O'Brien, if it sounds immodest of me I apologize, but the role of public conservator is key to the productive functioning of our courts. I'm here to help you concede the wisdom of the state."
- O'Brien and Kovat
"Winning isn't everything."
- Kovat, to O'Brien
"I've been in service to the Federation – Starfleet – all my adult life. No one has ever questioned my loyalty. No one in my entire life has ever had cause to ask, 'Miles O'Brien, are you a criminal?' I took an oath to defend the Federation and what it stands for. I don't steal from them, I don't lie to them– I'm no angel, but I try to live every day as the best Human being I know how to be. I need my little girl to wake in the morning and look up at me and see a man she can respect! Until now, she always could."
"Being accused of a crime is not a disgrace, Chief. Some of the great figures of history have shared the honor with you."
"I didn't figure on dying a martyr."
"Not all of them were martyrs. Not all of them died. Some of them were just innocent men, like you."
- O'Brien and Odo –
"How can you schedule an execution before a trial even begins?"
"We believe in swift justice."
- Keiko O'Brien and Makbar
"You have the right to refuse to answer questions, but such refusal may be construed as a sign of guilt."
- Gul Evek
"The offender Miles O'Brien, Human, officer of the Federation's Starfleet, has been found guilty of aiding and abetting seditious acts against the state. The sentence is death; let the trial begin."
- Makbar
"I regret that I have no teeth to offer your Bureau of Identification."
- Odo –
"Wh- -wh- what happened?!"
"– you won."
"–they'll kill me."
- Kovat and Odo
Background information
Story and script
The original title of this episode was "Dark Tribunal".
The plot of the episode was based on a statement made by Gul Dukat in : "On Cardassia, the verdict is always known before the trial begins, and it's always the same." As Ira Steven Behr later stated, "That one line gave us the concept for the whole episode." ()
The plot clearly takes inspiration from the novel "The Trial" by Franz Kafka. The book tells the story of a man arrested and prosecuted by an incassible and burecratic authority, with the nature of the crime neither revealed to him or the reader. The Cardassian Court is reminiscent of the court described in Kafka's work.
Cast and characters
Armin Shimerman (Quark) and Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) do not appear in this episode.
This episode marks the first known Star Trek appearance of recurring alien background actor Mark Major.
Production
Production Designer Herman Zimmerman said he took inspiration in the set design for this episode from 's 1948 book , and of the final look of Cardassia, Zimmerman explained, "Spartan, uncompromising and merciless are all adjectives that you could use to describe Cardassia." ()
The courtroom was a redress of the holosuite set. ()
This was the first episode directed by Avery Brooks. B.C. Cameron, who worked as his First Assistant Director on the installment, recalled, "It was kind of hard, because he was very closed. He wouldn't really share a lot of information." (What We Left Behind) However, Brooks himself enjoyed directing the episode, particularly for directing Colm Meaney and Fritz Weaver, as well as portraying Cardassia. ()
B.C. Cameron's difficulty with Avery Brooks' directing came to a head while they were working on one particular scene. "He called me aside in Quark's Bar," Cameron remembered. "It was pitch black in there, 'cause we weren't shooting in there. It was dark, and I went in, and he said, 'I want you to make sure I get what I need.' And I said, 'It's kind of difficult sometimes, because I come to ask you questions and then you act like you don't want to tell me things, or that I'm bothering you.' And he said, 'I guess you don't understand my sense of humor.' And I said, 'To be honest with you, sir, I'm not sure you have one.' And he kind of reared back his shoulders, turned around, a little half-grin came on his face, and he said, 'What is it you want to know?' And I said, 'I'd like to know, when you have a scene in your mind, to tell us what you want.' 'Come with me,' he said." Brooks proceeded to tell Cameron the precise camera moves and blocking he had in mind for the specific scene they were working on, instructions which Cameron extremely appreciated. (What We Left Behind)
Robert Stromberg of Illusion Arts, Inc. created the matte painting of the city of Cardassia Prime for this episode. (Cinefantastique, 104, Vol 25 #6/Vol 26 #1)
Continuity and trivia
The lists "Tribunal" among annual torture-O'Brien episodes, sometimes referred to as "O'Brien Must Suffer" episodes.
The discussion to which Evek alludes occurred in , when O'Brien contacted Evek for assistance in exterminating a colony of Cardassian voles that had made its home aboard DS9. At the time, he was credited simply as "Cardassian Officer".
Andrew Robinson (Elim Garak) has likened the Cardassian brain to the of the Human brain, which, in Robinson's words, "knows what boundaries are … [and] how to take care of itself so that the species survives." Consequentially, Cardassian philosophy places order above both freedom and equality, resulting in an society where the good of the state is placed above that of the individual. Kovat epitomizes this philosophy in his defense of the legal system: "Whatever you've done, whatever the charges against you, none of that really matters in the long run – This trial is to demonstrate the futility of behavior contrary to good order."
Sending the to the DMZ was a tribute to , as "Tribunal" was the first Star Trek episode to air after TNG's series finale, .
This is the first mention that the Cardassians use cosmetic alterations in order to infiltrate their enemies. Later examples were Seska on , whose true identity is revealed in the episode , and Gul Dukat, who masquerades as Anjohl Tennan in DS9 Season 7. This technique also played an important role in the third season episode .
This episode marks the first appearance of Cardassia Prime on the DS9 TV series. The planet had previously appeared in the TNG two-parter and .
Reception
In their reference book Beyond the Final Frontier, writers Mark Jones and Lance Parkin commented, "Avery Brooks gets a great performance out of Colm Meaney, one that makes you realise just how wasted his talents had been on The Next Generation – it really does stand up well with Patrick Stewart's performance in ''. A great episode, where the fact a character is clearly innocent of the trumped-up charge is the point of the story, not the great 'revelation' at the end."
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 23,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien
Caroline Lagerfelt as Makbar
John Beck as
Richard Poe as Evek
Julian Christopher as Cardassian
And
Fritz Weaver as Kovat
Co-Star
Majel Barrett as Computer Voice
Uncredited Co-Stars
Ed Alvarez as Cardassian processing guard
Bill Blair as Bajoran worker
Kevin Grover as Cardassian officer
Sue Henley as Starfleet command officer
Susan Lewis as Bajoran civilian
Nancy Long-Usui as Cardassian girl
Mark Major as Cardassian officer
Susan McNabb as Bajoran security deputy
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Michael Zurich as Bajoran security deputy
Unknown performers as
Bajoran worker 2
Cardassian boy 1
Cardassian boy 2
Cardassian passerby 1
Cardassian passerby 2
Cardassian processing guard
Maquis member
Taal visitor
References
2347; 2355; 2362; 2365; 2366; 2368; accusation; advisor; aiding and abetting; Alpha Quadrant; angel; anti-grav sled; ; Bajoran; Bay-Prod D-Nine; bearing; biographical extract; "bloody"; ; Bureau of Identification; Cardassia Prime; Cardassians; Cardassian Articles of Jurisprudence (jurisprudence); Cardassian border; Cardassian court; Cardassian Empire; Cardassian High Command; Cardassian law; Cardassian nebula; Cardie; Central Prison; ; child abuse; confession; confiscation; conservator; constable; conviction; criminal; criminal case; criminal investigation system; criminal record; Demilitarized Zone; DNA; DNA analysis; dozen; Dukat; expression; Federation; Federation-Cardassian Treaty; Federation-Cardassian War; flattery; framing; heart; holo-camera; ID number; indictment; ; Kovat; ladarium; lawyer; Maquis; marriage; mining; molar; ; ; nestor; officer of the court; ; photo lock-on; photon warhead; photon launcher; ; poor; prejudice; Promenade; retirement; sedition; sentence; Setlik III; Setlik III massacre; side effect; sluice; spouse; spousal abuse; Starfleet; Starfleet Intelligence; Starfleet oath; Starfleet record; steal; ; subspace frequency; surgically altered; suspect; Taal; technical manual; transporter expert; voiceprint; Volan III; weapons locker; weep
Spacecraft references
Bolian freighter; ; ; Evek's patrol ship; (aka Cardassian patrol ship); ; International Space Station; Maquis ship; ; ; runabout; ;
External links
de:Das Tribunal
es:Tribunal
fr:Tribunal (épisode)
nl:Tribunal
DS9 episodes |
885 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | The Jem'Hadar (episode) | On a camping trip in the Gamma Quadrant, Sisko, Jake, Nog, and Quark encounter the ruthless soldiers of the Dominion, the Jem'Hadar. (Season finale)
Summary
Teaser
Jake Sisko brushes a small plant as Commander Benjamin Sisko enters their quarters. He tells his father he is growing Bajoran katterpods for a science project to see which hybrid yields the largest root. "That's it? You're just going to watch them grow?" Benjamin asks. Jake seems content with the project, but Benjamin thinks he can find something more challenging and asks what Jake would do if he could choose any science project he wanted. After thinking it over for a second, Jake says he would learn how to pilot a runabout. As that would not be a science project, Benjamin asks for his second choice and Jake suggests he would visit the Gamma Quadrant to conduct a planetary survey. "All right, let's do it," Sisko declares, calling the proposed trip a working vacation.
As Major Kira reviews the arrival roster for Sisko in his office, she suggests he visit New Bajor while in the Gamma Quadrant, as she has heard the new irrigation system is impressive. He tells her he hopes to spend time alone with Jake and notes with amusement that he will miss a reunion between Jadzia Dax and a rival of hers, Captain Keogh. When she mentions that Keogh is arrogant, Sisko notes that Keogh had said the same of her. Jake enters and announces that he has invited Nog to come along on their trip, at which point Dax and Kira sense the awkwardness of the moment and quickly leave. Sisko reminds Jake that the two of them were supposed to spend time together, but Jake says Nog plans to drop out of school if he fails the project. Mrs. O'Brien has given her permission for the two of them to team up. Reluctantly, Sisko agrees to let Nog come along.
In Quark's bar, the Ferengi notes that Morn has been glumly sitting with the same drink all day and asks him to talk about whatever is bothering him. "I'm not just your bartender – I'm your friend. Whatever it is that's wrong, I'm here for you." However, Odo walks by as Morn is about to speak and Quark immediately loses interest. He anxiously follows Odo and inquires about Sisko's response to a request that he use the station's monitors to sell merchandise. Odo informs him it is a firm "no," and as Quark wonders why, Odo suggests that perhaps Sisko does not like him. Quark dismisses the idea. He asks if there is any way to change Sisko's mind, to which Odo simply laughs and walks away.
Nog interrupts his uncle's scheming to announce that he will be unable to work for the next few days. Upon hearing about the trip with Sisko and Jake, Quark grins and puts his arm around Nog.
Act One
As he and Jake enter the cockpit of the runabout, Nog eagerly asks how to fire the phasers. Sisko begins to worry, but Jake reassures him it was a joke. Sisko enters behind the boys and suggests the two of them go in back and store their luggage. Nog volunteers to take Jake's bag for him, and once he is gone, it is clear Sisko did not find his joke humorous. "Fire the phasers?" he asks rhetorically. Jake promises his father he will hardly know Nog is along, but Quark enters the cabin and asks where he should put his bag, surprising even Nog. Quark declares that Nog needs proper supervision, explaining innocently that Rom does not trust "hew-mons" and has requested he go along. Although Sisko obviously does not like the idea, he agrees at Jake's request.
In the Gamma Quadrant, the motley crew visits an M-class planet similar to Earth, with lots of vegetation, fish, and insects but no large animals or predators. Sisko describes the planet as Paradise, but Quark fails to see the beauty of it and describes what he sees in two words: exploitable resources. He claims to have an allergic reaction to nature, although he declines an invitation to sleep on the runabout as he supposedly wants to get to know Sisko better. Later, once Quark puts ointment on his earlobes and begins to feel better, he comments on how there is nothing like facing the wilderness to bring people closer; Sisko immediately tells him the answer is no. Quark dispenses with the flattery and claims that with access to the station's monitors he could offer "collectibles" such as Andorian jewelry, Bolian crystalsteel, and Vulcan IDIC pins at a significant discount with low overhead. He even offers to donate 2% of his net profits to the Bajoran fund for orphans but realizes he wasted his time in coming along. Quark tells Sisko he could increase it to 3% as he walks away.
Jake and Nog begin their survey and conclude that the planet's atmosphere is 77% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 2% carbon dioxide. They find traces of various elements in the water and inform Sisko that they plan to check other water sources, but Sisko suggests taking a break until tomorrow as he is about to cook dinner. Jake immediately knows what his father is getting at: jambalaya, which excites him but confuses Nog. Jake is sure Nog will love it, and he is right. As they sit around the campfire eating jambalaya, Jake and Nog both decline a second helping and Nog remarks that he is gaining an appreciation of Human food. On the other hand, Quark does not share his sentiments, disgusted by the fact that there is dirt in the sauce and bugs continue to land on his food. A somewhat confused Sisko says he was under the impression Ferengi liked eating bugs, but Quark corrects him: only certain Ferengi bugs.
Talking in private, Sisko tells Jake to get some sleep because tomorrow will be another big day. The two of them reminisce about a camping trip on Itamish III when Jake's mother was still alive and taught him how to water ski. Jake says he cannot remember a time when the three of them were happier, reminding Sisko of how much he misses his late wife. Despite the rocky start their trip has had, they are both glad to have the rare opportunity to spend time together. When Sisko suggests that they do so more often, Jake says he'll be ready and jokingly adds that Nog will be too; as the two of them laugh, a shrill cry from Quark brings them back to reality.
The sleeve of Quark's shirt is on fire and he waves it around in a panic until Sisko grabs him with a blanket and extinguishes the flame. Once Quark calms down, Sisko asks if he is all right. A frustrated Quark declares he has not been all right since the trip began, to which an equally frustrated Sisko takes on a condescending tone as he tells Quark to sit down and be quiet. Nog hisses angrily and storms off into the forest, followed closely by Jake. Quark claims this is Sisko's fault because Nog could not stand to see his uncle insulted. He accuses Sisko of being bigoted toward the Ferengi, which Sisko denies, but when he asks Sisko to name a single Ferengi who Sisko likes, the commander is unable to do so. The two of them bicker until a panicked humanoid female enters the campsite, apparently running from something.
Similar to a Human in appearance, the alien has elongated ears and a light complexion, but before Quark or Sisko can react, she emits a telekinetic energy discharge that knocks Sisko to the ground. She looks at Quark threateningly but he cowers in fear and tells her not to hurt him. She asks how many of "them" there are and Quark tells her there is only Sisko and himself. Confused, she tells him she meant the Jem'Hadar. Sisko assures the alien they are not her enemies and she warns them to run. At that moment, several armed reptilian humanoids appear, seemingly out of thin air, and surround them. "It's too late. You're done running," the lead one smirks to the runaway alien. "This has not been a good day," Quark observes.
Act Two
Traversing the foliage, Jake and Nog return to the campsite to find it deserted and the fire recently extinguished. Nog insists something has happened to their chaperons, suggesting a wild animal attacked them, but Jake reminds him that there are only insects and plants on the planet. "Maybe they were attacked by a vicious tree!" Nog exclaims seriously. Jake dismisses Nog's comment but notes the presence of boot-shaped footprints below them. A visibly shaken Nog wants to beam aboard the runabout to plan their next move, but Jake insists that Quark and his father are in trouble, as he knows his father would not leave without telling him first. They decide to track the adults with their Starfleet tricorders.
Quark, Sisko, and the alien are placed in a large cave, surrounded by a pinkish circle that appears to be emitting a force field. While his companions sit quietly on the ground, Quark wanders around the interior of the circle yelling for help. Sisko tells him to shut up, but he blames their situation on the alien, urging her to tell the Jem'Hadar she has never seen him or Sisko before. As Quark denounces any association with the alien to the surrounding darkness, Sisko stands and again tells him to be quiet; when the Ferengi claims he is entitled to his opinion, Sisko threatens to put his fist in Quark's "opinion." However, Quark informs Sisko that he is incapable of being scared of him, as he is already more scared than he has ever been. Sisko tells Quark he's not helping, to which Quark points out that the alien is doing nothing but sit on the ground. Sisko thinks she is more scared than he or Quark is, although Quark reassures him this is not the case.
The two of them sit as Quark begins to calm down and Sisko observes that their companion has probably been through a lot. They wonder what the boys are doing; Quark is certain that Nog will "find the nearest dark hole and climb in it," but Sisko thinks Jake will search for them. Shifting focus to the force field surrounding them, Sisko reaches toward the pinkish circle but the alien intervenes, informing him that the security barrier is lethal. Sisko thanks her for the warning and comes closer to her, eager to find out how she knew this information. She says everything about the Jem'Hadar is lethal and on learning that Sisko has never heard of the Jem'Hadar, she seems surprised. Sisko introduces himself, explaining about the Federation and the wormhole. The alien says her name is Eris and she uncertainly shakes Sisko's hand. Introducing Quark somewhat dismissively – the Ferengi returns the favor by simply nodding with a hint of annoyance – Sisko focuses again on the Jem'Hadar.
Eris tells him the Jem'Hadar are the most feared soldiers in the Dominion and upon hearing the Dominion's name, Quark interjects himself into the conversation. He mentions Ferengi efforts over the past year to open trade negotiations with the Dominion and he seems to doubt Eris' credibility, as he has never heard of the Jem'Hadar in all that time. When Eris says that negotiations with the Dominion are dangerous, Sisko wonders why anyone does business with the Dominion at all. However, doing business is not a choice; the Dominion decides a civilization has something it wants and then takes it, as was the case with Eris' people. Eris tells of how her homeworld, Kurill Prime, was offered entry into the Dominion. When they refused, the Dominion sent in the Jem'Hadar and seized the planet by force, conquering the planet almost immediately. At the time, she was on a freighter, which fled in light of the Dominion invasion. The Jem'Hadar tracked her down because her mother was an outspoken opponent of the Dominion and wanted to make an example of her.
A suppression collar is around Eris' neck, suppressing her telekinetic abilities, and without it she says she might be able to break through the force field. However, she believes that escape would be impossible even if she did break through, as no one escapes from the Jem'Hadar. Sisko points out the limited number of guards, indicating overconfidence on the Jem'Hadar's part. He attempts to take the device off, believing it is the only thing between them and freedom. Meanwhile, Jake and Nog have aimlessly wandered through the forest for hours when Jake picks up humanoid life signs on his tricorder. They spot the Jem'Hadar camp and while Jake wants to get a closer look, Nog points out the Jem'Hadar probably will not look any friendlier close up.
Act Three
Having resumed his attempts to attract attention, Quark continues to yell into the darkness as Sisko and Eris talk. Eris asks whether they have to take Quark with them if they escape and as he works on the suppression collar, Sisko points out that Quark's seemingly useless chatter is in fact serving a purpose. After all, he points out as a Jem'Hadar officer named Talak'talan enters, if there's one thing Quark is good at, it is attracting attention.
Quark and Eris stand behind Sisko as Talak'talan deactivates the force field and steps into the circle. He refuses to discuss why they are being held, stating only that "the Founders" do not want them released. Quark intervenes and offers Talak'talan a thousand cases of tulaberry wine; his response is to grab Quark by the chest forcefully, nearly crushing the Ferengi's rib cage. Sisko begins to intervene, but pulling out a phaser, Talak'talan tells him not to bother and throws Quark to the ground. When Sisko demands to speak with the Founders, Eris defiantly claims they do not exist. Talak'talan insists they do and reveals that the Founders created the Dominion. However, he refuses to allow Sisko to speak with them.
Looking down at Quark with disdain, Talak'talan says he had hoped the first race he would meet from the other side of "the anomaly" would be the Klingons. Sisko sarcastically apologizes and Talak'talan warns him it is too late for apologies and the Dominion will not allow ships from the Alpha Quadrant to violate its territory. He says he has heard the Klingons are effective warriors and mentions the bat'leth, demonstrating his knowledge about the Alpha Quadrant; when Sisko is not interested in discussing the Klingons, Talak'talan brings up the Cardassians. After asking somewhat rhetorically if Sisko is satisfied with the Federation-Cardassian Treaty, he calls it a "tactical error" on the Federation's part. Sisko asks how he knows all of this, and Talak'talan informs him that the Dominion gains more knowledge every day. He refuses to give the Dominion any information, but Talak'talan says he will not be asking the questions. Asked who will be asking them, he remarks, "I was really hoping to meet a Klingon." Reactivating the force field, he leaves.
Jake and Nog beam aboard the runabout and scan the planet's surface for Human and Ferengi life signs. They attempt to beam Quark and Sisko up, but the computer is unable to do so due to what it calls a spatial distortion field. Jake suggests that they fly back to Deep Space 9 to get help and Nog agrees, telling the computer to plot a course back to the station. It asks him to restate the command, so Jake tells it to disengage the autopilot system; however, neither of the boys knows the authorization code. An alarm sounds and a red light flashes as the computer announces that a vessel is approaching, which causes them to panic. "Computer! Evasive maneuvers! Fire phasers! Launch torpedoes! And escape pods!" Nog yells frantically, although the computer is still locked and does not comply. When they tell the computer to display the ship, it disappears, having gone to warp. Left with no other options, Jake says he will have to disengage the autopilot manually.
On the station, the is due to arrive in eight hours when something begins coming through the wormhole. Kira tells Dax to display it on the viewscreen and it is a Jem'Hadar attack ship. Dax hails the vessel and raises the station's shields, but a Jem'Hadar beams into Ops despite the shields. O'Brien activates a containment field around the intruder and Kira introduces herself before telling the Jem'Hadar it is "customary" to identify oneself before beaming into someone else's command center.
The Jem'Hadar introduces himself as Talak'talan of the Jem'Hadar and informs Kira that Commander Sisko has been detained indefinitely. Sisko, he says, will serve as an example to anyone who interferes with the Dominion by coming through the wormhole. Dax defiantly tells him that idle threats will not stop the Federation from exploring the Gamma Quadrant, so he walks through the force field and gives Kira a Bajoran PADD with a list of vessels he says have been destroyed for violating Dominion territory. The PADD came from New Bajor, he tells her, adding that they fought well for a "spiritual" people. He beams back aboard his ship and O'Brien attempts unsuccessfully to lock on with a tractor beam as it re-enters the wormhole.
Act Four
Sisko finally pries the casing on Eris' collar loose to reveal a locking mechanism. She asks what he plans to do if she breaks through the barrier and he tells her he can contact his son and the runabout, inviting her to come back to the Federation with them. When Sisko asks Quark to help him with the collar, Quark turns around angrily and tells Sisko he is tired of being ordered around. Eris watches them with interest. He claims he has realized why Humans dislike Ferengi: They used to be a lot like them. As Quark points out, however, events in Earth history such as slavery, concentration camps and interstellar wars are far worse than anything committed by the Ferengi; therefore, he claims, the Ferengi are better. With that, he begins to work on the locking mechanism.
Sitting on the floor of the runabout surrounded by isolinear chips, Jake and Nog continue to work on the autopilot system. Jake claims he watched Chief O'Brien work on the navigational array of the Mekong a couple of weeks ago, but Nog is skeptical. As they pull out another chip, the computer announces that the warp core will collapse in ten seconds and begins counting down. Once he realizes what is happening, Jake hurriedly replaces the chip. A burst of inspiration comes to him and he searches with his hand for something in the control panel; he removes a small device and the computer tells him the autopilot system is offline. The boys are elated until they tell the computer to lay in a course for the wormhole at warp 8 and it again reports that the autopilot system is offline. They prepare to attempt to fly the runabout manually, although neither of them knows what they are doing.
Meanwhile, the has arrived at Deep Space 9 and Captain Keogh informs the crew that traffic through the wormhole has been suspended until the Odyssey can investigate what kind of threat the Jem'Hadar pose. Dax insists that the remaining runabouts go with him and he notes the lack of combat experience among most of the crew. When Bashir reminds him that they have fought the Maquis before, Keogh tells him he expects the Dominion to have "sharper teeth." Kira points out that in that case he needs all the help he can get and Keogh reluctantly agrees to let them come along. O'Brien reports that he has already begun to refit the runabouts with extra banks of photon torpedoes and that they will be ready within a few hours; Dax notes that it will take at least that long to offload nonessential personnel from the Odyssey.
Walking through a corridor with a Bajoran deputy on one side and a Starfleet one on the other, Odo reviews additional security protocols, which he plans to implement in preparation for a potential Jem'Hadar attack. When he sees Kira approach him, he dismisses the deputies. She reminds him that his duties do not require him to go along on the mission, obviously worried for his safety. He acknowledges this as they walk toward the runabout pads but tells her that someone should be there to look after Quark while the others worry about Sisko. A surprised Kira says she was under the impression he hated Quark. He does, he tells her, but he would rather see Quark in jail than in the hands of the Dominion. Odo believes that they would all miss Quark if something happened to him. "I'd be willing to take that chance," Kira responds. "But not today."
The Odyssey, Mekong, and Orinoco travel to the Gamma Quadrant to find it surprisingly void of Jem'Hadar activity. Tachyon scans show up negative, but Keogh notes the Dominion might have cloaking technology. As the other ships search for them, Jake attempts to fly the Rio Grande manually – and, as Nog points out, very slowly at impulse. Nog impatiently presses him to go to warp, but Jake is still learning how to fly at impulse; Nog urges him to at least go a little faster and he points out how difficult it is to make manual course corrections without the aid of a computer. In any case, at their current speed Jake estimates it will take them five years to reach DS9. The boys are thrilled when they see the Odyssey and the other runabouts drop out of warp and O'Brien beams aboard the Rio Grande. He reassures Jake that they plan to rescue Sisko.
Act Five
Picking at the collar around Eris' neck, Quark remarks that the device is very sophisticated and much slimmer than most telepathic suppressors he had seen. Eris complains that he is hurting her, but seconds later he manages to break through the lock and she removes the collar. She tells Sisko and Quark to stand back and disables the force field using the same telekinetic attack that she previously used to shock Sisko, prompting a nearby Jem'Hadar to run toward them. Sisko tackles the soldier and manages to take his weapon, shooting him and tossing the weapon to Quark. Stuffing the telekinetic suppressor in his pocket, Quark shoots a second Jem'Hadar as it decloaks and attempts to shoot Sisko. The three of them leave the cavern together.
The Odyssey and the runabouts assume an attack formation as they detect three Jem'Hadar attack ships on long-range sensors. However, O'Brien informs Keogh that he will have to break formation as half of the runabout's systems are nonfunctional. Keogh tells him to head for the wormhole but gives him ten minutes to try to locate Sisko. The Jem'Hadar ships come within firing range and Keogh orders them to use attack pattern delta, but when they engage the ships, the Jem'Hadar use a phased polaron beam to penetrate the Odysseys shields. In their first pass, they knock out the forward torpedo launcher and port nacelle. After rotating through the entire spectrum of shield harmonics, Keogh realizes the shields will be of no use and has his crew divert shield power to the weapon systems. The Jem'Hadar seem intent to focus on the Odyssey, despite the Mekong and Orinocos attempts to draw fire away from it.
Oblivious to the events transpiring around them, Eris, Quark, and Sisko run through the woods looking for Jake and Nog. Quark is out of breath and must rest but Sisko refuses to leave him behind, noting that they would not have escaped from the Jem'Hadar without him. They are transported off the surface as they talk. Once in the runabout, Sisko greets Jake warmly, while Quark grabs Nog's ear and tells him he is never going on a field trip again.
As the Mekong, the Orinoco, and the Odyssey concentrate their fire on a single Jem'Hadar fighter, it returns fire on the Mekongs sensor array, disabling it, and it is forced to initiate evasive maneuvers as the Federation forces appear to be losing the dogfight. Fortunately, O'Brien contacts the Odyssey to inform them he has rescued Sisko and the others. Keogh tells the runabouts it is time to leave, but as the ships retreat, one of the Jem'Hadar ships heads straight for the Odyssey. Kira and Bashir try to intercept it with no success, but rather than fire at the larger vessel, the Jem'Hadar intentionally ram the Odysseys secondary hull at the deflector dish, initiating a chain reaction that causes the ship to explode. There is a momentary silence, as no one can believe what they have just seen. O'Brien, still stunned, wonders aloud why anyone would ram a retreating vessel. Sisko realizes the unfortunate answer: The Jem'Hadar were sending the Federation a message about the Gamma Quadrant. With the other Jem'Hadar vessels gone, the runabouts solemnly return to the Alpha Quadrant.
Quark pulls Sisko aside as the others exit the runabouts, holding up the telepathic suppressor and telling him they need to talk. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew greets Eris in Ops. She comments on how disorienting it is to think she is on the other side of the galaxy, but Sisko enters, armed and tells her she will have to get used to it. The rest of the crew backs away from Eris as Sisko approaches her, accompanied by Quark, still holding the collar. Quark explains that he believed there might be a market for the suppressor in the Alpha Quadrant — until he realized the collar was nothing but a sophisticated locking device. Sisko notes that she could have used her telekinetic abilities at any time and asks why she did not; as Eris points out, he already knows the answer.
The Jem'Hadar wanted Sisko and the others to escape in order to plant Eris as a spy. "Well done, Commander," she replies arrogantly as he hypothesizes. However, she is not a Founder. As Odo moves to arrest Eris, she transports off the station, although to where it is uncertain. As she did not rematerialize on the station and there are no nearby starships, there is no way to track the Vorta. Only one thing is certain: the Dominion will be back, and since the space station is the most likely location of contact, Sisko resolves to be ready for them.
Memorable quotes
"Pretty isn't it?"
"I don't see what's so pretty about it."
"I think they mean the trees and stuff."
"Quark! This is as close to paradise as you're going to get. All you need to do is allow yourself to see it!"
"I'll tell you what I see, in two words: exploitable resources."
- Sisko, Quark, and Nog
"I get a mild reaction now and then."
"To what?"
"…Nature."
- Quark and Sisko
"You Federation types are all alike: You talk about tolerance and understanding, but you only practice it toward people who remind you of yourselves. Because you disapprove of Ferengi values, you scorn us, distrust us, insult us every chance you get."
"Quark, I don't have to stand here and defend myself."
"Tell me, Commander, would you allow your son to marry a Ferengi female?"
"I never thought about it!"
"Exactly my point!"
- Quark and Sisko
"I hear the Klingons are effective warriors. What's that weapon they're so fond of, the… Bat'leth?"
"I am not interested in discussing the Klingons."
"All right. Then what about the Cardassians? Are you satisfied with the treaty your Federation made with them? It seems a tactical error."
"How do you know so much about our side of the galaxy?"
"We gain more knowledge every day. And now we have you to help us learn more."
- Talak'talan and Benjamin Sisko
"If the Founders are the ones who give the orders, I want to meet them."
"Those aren't my orders."
"He can't take you to the Founders because they don't exist. They're a myth."
"The Founders exist! They created the Dominion."
"And the Jem'Hadar are their servants?"
- Benjamin Sisko, Talak'talan and Eris
"I don't plan on telling you anything."
"I won't be the one asking the questions."
"Then who will?"
"I was really hoping to meet a Klingon."
- Benjamin Sisko and Talak'talan
"I'm Third Talak'talan of the Jem'Hadar. I am here to inform you that your commander has been detained for questioning by the Dominion."
"Detained? For how long?"
"Indefinitely. Commander Sisko will serve as an example of what happens to anyone who interferes with the Dominion."
"What kind of interference are you talking about?"
"Coming through the Anomaly is interference enough. Unless you wish to continue to offend the Dominion, I suggest you stay on your side of the Galaxy."
"You're making a mistake if you think that detaining Commander Sisko will stop us from exploring the Gamma Quadrant."
"We anticipated that response."
- Talak'talan, Kira, and Dax
"Here is a list of vessels we've destroyed for violating our territory."
"Where did you get this data PADD?"
"From the Bajoran colony on our side of the Anomaly. You should be proud. I hear they fought well for a spiritual people. I hope we won't have to repeat this lesson."
- Talak'talan and Kira
"The way I see it, hew-mons used to be a lot like Ferengi: greedy, acquisitive, interested only in profit. We're a constant reminder of a part of your past you'd like to forget."
"We don't have time for this…"
"But you're overlooking something: Hew-mons used to be a lot worse than the Ferengi. Slavery. Concentration camps. Interstellar wars. We have nothing in our past that approaches that kind of barbarism. You see? We're nothing like you. We're better. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lock to pick."
- Quark and Sisko
"Starfleet's orders are simple. Traffic through the wormhole will be suspended until the Odyssey can investigate the Jem'Hadar's threat."
"What about Benjamin and the others?"
"Don't worry, Lieutenant. Commander Sisko's return is a top priority."
"If you're going to try to rescue them, then we're coming with you."
"Are you sure that's wise? With the exception of Major Kira and Mister O'Brien, none of you've had much combat experience."
"We fought the Maquis."
"All the Maquis had were a pair of lightly-armed shuttlecraft. I expect the Dominion to have sharper teeth."
"Well then, you're gonna need all the help you can get!"
- Keogh, Dax, Bashir and Kira Nerys
"I've been looking over this collar of yours. I thought if I replicated it, I might be able to turn a tidy profit. Imagine my surprise when I discovered there's nothing in here. It's just a complicated locking device."
"Which means you could have used your telekinetic abilities at any time. So the question is, why didn't you?"
"You seem to already know the answer."
"The Jem'Hadar wanted us to escape, didn't they? That was the plan all along, for us to bring you back here so that you could spy on the Federation."
"Well done, Commander."
"You're one of the Founders, aren't you?"
"You think the Founders would waste their time with you?"
- Quark, Benjamin Sisko and Eris
"We were retreating. There was no need for a suicide run."
"They're showing us how far they're willing to go."
- O'Brien and Sisko, after the destruction of the USS Odyssey
"She'll be back. The question is who she'll bring with her."
"If the Dominion comes through the Wormhole, the first battle will be fought here. And I intend to be ready for them."
- Kira Nerys and Benjamin Sisko
"A Ferengi and a Human. I was hoping the first race I'd meet from the other side of the Anomaly would be the Klingons."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you."
"It's too late for apologies. The Dominion will no longer stand by and allow ships from your side to violate our territory."
- Talak'talan and Benjamin Sisko
"You have no idea what's begun here."
- Eris
Background information
Story and script
A working title of this episode was "Dominion". (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
The second season finale was one of the first episodes to be put in development for DS9 Season 2. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 24, 3/4, p. 109) This installment had its roots in an idea that was intended to serve as the first season finale. It would have involved a crossover between and DS9 in which both crews faced a ruthless intergalactic invasion force. (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 36)
The original script for this episode mentioned that the Jem'Hadar shroud was intended to be similar to that employed by the . It also noted that the Tosk were engineered as a gift to the Hunters as a reward for their loyalty to the Dominion, thus establishing that the Hunters and Tosk were Dominion members. Writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe confirmed this connection, saying, "You want some Tosks that you can hunt, the Vorta will provide them for you.' The thought behind this is that the same people who breed the Tosks as gifts to the hunters, breed the Jem'Hadar as well." () However, none of this is actually mentioned in the episode itself.
According to Robert Hewitt Wolfe, the Dominion knew about the Federation long before the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole and had plans to deal with it when the time came. However, the Dominion did not expect contact with the Alpha Quadrant for another 200 years, which is explained in . With the wormhole providing immediate access between the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants, Wolfe said the Dominion's plans for the Federation were disrupted, which explains why it chose to observe and gather information until the end of the second season.
Of the organization of the Dominion, Robert Wolfe explained, "The businessmen, the Vorta, were the negotiators, the friendly guys who show up with the carrot. 'Hey, we're your friends. Have some phaser rifles, or space travel, whatever the hell you want. We'll arrange it. All you'll have to do is owe us.' Then, if you don't toe the line, they kick your ass with the Jem'Hadar." ()
Writer/producer Ira Steven Behr admitted that mistakes were made in the process of defining the personality and nature of the Vorta. This is most evident in the lack of telekinetic powers among later Vorta characters, and the fact that Eris did nothing to acknowledge Odo as a Founder, as the idea of the Founders being Changelings was not conceived of yet.
In an early version of the script, Quark cited the , the and the Tarsus IV massacre as barbaric events that nothing in Ferengi history could match. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
After Quark's speech in which he concludes that the Ferengi are less barbaric than Humans and thus better, the stage directions said that, while Sisko is not at all convinced, Quark's words give him food for thought. According to Ira Steven Behr, "We were going into the end of the second season and it was time to lay to rest this long-time feeling that the Ferengi were the 'failed villains' of the Star Trek universe. I wanted people to see them as something else. And if we could show that Sisko, whose character has a lot of weight, would take what Quark says seriously, then the audience would take it seriously." ()
The choice to make the Odyssey a Galaxy-class starship was to demonstrate that the Jem'Hadar could have destroyed the Enterprise-D, had the ship appeared in the episode, and to make the Dominion threat all the more terrifying. According to Robert Hewitt Wolfe, "We wanted to show the long-term fans how dangerous these guys were. And it's my belief that if that had been the Enterprise and not the Odyssey, and Picard rather than Keogh in command, it still wouldn't have survived." () Wolfe also stated, "We had this crazy idea to blow up a ship that looked just like the Enterprise as our season two finale, and that kind of implied something." (What We Left Behind)
Cast and characters
Eris actress Molly Hagan commented, "I love the Ferengi, so any time they had a lot to do I was happy. Armin particularly is so damn funny I could watch him read the phone book. I loved the episode and I loved all the quirky head gestures I made and I looked so beautiful. It was a terrific cliffhanger."
The actor who portrayed Captain Keogh, Alan Oppenheimer, was seen previously in the TNG episode as Koroth, the Chief Cleric of Boreth responsible for the cloning of Kahless, and later played a Nezu ambassador in .
Production
The outdoor scenes on the Gamma Quadrant planet were filmed at the Descanso Gardens, in the Los Angeles suburb of La Cañada Flintridge. (Deep Space Nine Chronicles)
Of the Jem'Hadar makeup, Michael Westmore explained, "You start with the concept of the rhinoceros nose, but without a horn. If you put a horn on it, viewers would say, 'Oh – rhinoceros.' But what makes Star Trek so interesting is that you give the creature the same feel and meanness by putting little horns all around the face. It makes them dangerous – if you bump into one, you're going to bleed. So you know automatically that you never get close to the Jem'Hadar." ()
The Odyssey was a re-use of the four-foot Enterprise-D model originally built for TNG. The shots of the Odysseys destruction also involved the breakaway Enterprise-D model originally built for , as well as part of the damaged Constitution-class refit model built for and the damaged Miranda-class nacelle model originally built for .
Footage from TNG was re-used for a fly-by shot of the Odyssey, as seen from one of the runabouts. Footage from was also re-used for shots of the Odyssey docked at Deep Space 9.
The season wrapped on . ()
Reception
Mark A. Altman wrote that he thought the episode: "an uneasy mix of broad comedy, soapbox polemic and ominous foreboding. The episode amounts to little more than a simple concoction of meets when Sisko and son along with Quark and Nog come across the Dominion's footsoldiers in the Gamma Quadrant. The episode culminates with some first rate pyrotechnics although the show takes much too long to get going. Thankfully, the Jem'Hadar promise both to be worthy antagonists for the Federation as well as a welcome addition to what has amounted to be very sparse Gamma Quadrant lore". Edward Gross wrote: "Despite the fact that there is much about this episode to suggest and 'The Best of Both Worlds' it works because it establishes a new Federation enemy who has the ability to kick some intergalactic ass. Already we can tell that our people are going to have their backs to the wall and it will be interesting to see how they ultimately respond. In a way, the Jem'Hadar represent what the Borg should have been in but weren't. Some great special effects as well". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 50)
This episode inspired the introduction of the in DS9's third season. "At one point, [executive story editor] Robert Wolfe and I were sitting around after the 'Jem'Hadar' episode had been filmed," recalled Ira Steven Behr. "We were looking at dailies and said, 'Jesus, we're blowing up Galaxy-class starships; these guys are tough, and all we have are these freaking runabouts that no one likes and are very difficult to shoot in." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 79)
Reportedly, a number of fans became nervous when they saw the trailer for this episode, which featured a shot of the Odyssey exploding, which some thought was to be the destruction of the , since this episode aired weeks after the conclusion of . ()
This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects. The award was won by .
Continuity
The interaction between Sisko and Quark in this episode proceeded from that relationship having been set up in the series pilot . Armin Shimerman observed that, in "The Jem'Hadar", their relationship "finally gets back on track a little." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 59)
This episode features the first appearance of the Jem'Hadar and the Vorta.
The trade negotiations to which Quark refers began in the episode , which was the first episode to mention the Dominion. Behr has said this was an intentional way of hinting at future events in an otherwise inconsequential episode. There was also an indirect reference in to the fact that the Dominion invaded the Skrreea homeworld, as well as in .
Bashir cites the crew's experience fighting the Maquis in in response to Keogh's observation that the crews lacked any real combat experience.
The Odyssey was the third starship destroyed on-screen, following the , in , and the USS Enterprise-D. The latter ship had been destroyed several times during the run of TNG, in the episodes , , , and .
This is the last episode to regularly feature the 2360s combadges from TNG and early DS9, which were first used in the Star Trek: The Next Generation premiere episode, .
A good deal of research and technical upgrading presumably took place sometime after this episode, as Federation starships are far less vulnerable than the Odyssey to Dominion weapons in later engagements. When the Dominion attempt to take over Deep Space 9 at the end of season five, Weyoun is surprised to learn that the station's shields hold despite the fact that they previously had been useless against Dominion weapons. ()
Although Sisko denies Quark's request for posting advertisements on the station monitors, Quark proceeds to do it anyway (without permission) nearly two years later, in .
Trivia
This was the last episode for which Michael Piller served as the writing supervisor. While he nominally continued as co-showrunner with Ira Steven Behr until later in the following season, Behr essentially took over all show-running duties after this episode.
This episode is the season finale of DS9's second season and marked the start of the producers' strategy of leaving the audience in suspense and building on events in previous seasons without the use of cliffhangers. This strategy later led the show to take on a serial-like feel, and became quite common for DS9 in later seasons.
During the rescue mission with the Odyssey, none of the regular characters are present onboard the station.
Morn speaks in the German version of this episode. In the Spanish and Italian versions, he sighs instead (all three at the same point just before the intro).
Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #102 ("Nature decays, but latinum lasts forever").
Remastered version
Remastered footage from the episode is featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 23,
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Alan Oppenheimer as Keogh
Aron Eisenberg as Nog
Cress Williams as Talak'talan
And
Molly Hagan as Eris
Co-Stars
Michael Jace as 1st Officer
Sandra Grando as 2nd Officer
Majel Barrett as Computer Voice
Uncredited Co-Stars
Leanza Cornett as Ferengi waiter
Robert Cox as Odyssey sciences officer
Kevin Grevioux as DS9 operations officer
Sue Henley as command officer
Kerry Hoyt as Odyssey operations officer
David B. Levinson as Broik
Tom Morga as Jem'Hadar soldier
Randy Pflug as
Chuck Shanks as DS9 operations lieutenant
Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
Michael Zurich as Bajoran deputy
Unknown performers as
Jem'Hadar soldier
Odyssey chief engineer (voice)
Stunt Double
Ousaun Elam as stunt double for Avery Brooks
References
2369; Alpha Quadrant; Andorian jewelry; atmosphere; attack formation; attack pattern delta; autopilot; Bajoran; Bajoran Provisional Government; Bajoran sector; Bajoran War Orphans Fund; Bajoran wormhole; bat'leth''; bearing; birythium; Bolian crystalsteel; ; camping; carbon dioxide; Cardassians; Cardassian border; casualty report; communications array; concentration camp; constable; containment field; cooking; copper; damage control team; datapadd; Devonian; direct run; discount; Dominion; Dominion cold war; Dominion planet; Dominion planet sector; Dominion territory; ear; Earth; ETA; evasive maneuvers; exercise program; Federation; Federation-Cardassian Treaty; Ferengi; field trip; ; freedom; Galaxy class decks; Gamma Quadrant; guidance and navigation relay; holosuite; IDIC; irrigation; Itamish III; itch; jail; Jake-o; jambalaya; Jem'Hadar; katterpod; Klingon; Kurill Prime; latinum; lead; leader; liberal; Maquis; marriage; Milky Way Galaxy; nacelle; New Bajor; nickel; nitrogen; nonessential personnel; ; ointment; orbit; oxygen; phased polaron beam; phaser; photon torpedo; planetary survey; plasma leak; preliminary survey; profit; Promenade; Quark's; question; red alert; Rom; round; Rules of Acquisition; runabout; runny nose; security barrier; security personnel; sensor; ; slavery; square; starship; stench; strip mining; suicide run; suppression collar; tactical control system; targeting control; telekinesis; telekinetic ability; telepathic suppressor; ; trade negotiation; transporter signature; tricorder; underbrush; Vorta; Vulcan; water; water skiing
Starship references
Bolian freighter; ; Federation attack fighter; ; Jem'Hadar fighter (Talak'talan's attack ship; unnamed); ; ; ; ; shuttlecraft
Deleted references
USS Odyssey dedication plaque:''' ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; Engineering Group; ; ; Fleet Ops; ; ; ; ; Mars; : ; ; ; : ; ; ; ; ; ; Science Ops; ; Sol system; ; Starfleet Command; ; ; Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards; ; ; ; yard engineer;
External links
de:Der Plan des Dominion
es:The Jem'Hadar
fr:The Jem'Hadar (épisode)
ja:DS9:新たなる脅威
nl:The Jem'Hadar
DS9 episodes |
886 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | The Search, Part I (episode) | Sisko takes an untested Starfleet warship into the Gamma Quadrant in an attempt to find the Founders of the Dominion. (Season premiere)
Summary
Teaser
Kira, Dax, O'Brien, Odo, and Bashir are in Ops, having a discussion about the possible invasion by the Jem'Hadar, the soldiers of the Dominion. Dax says the only two options are to abandon the station and make a stand on Bajor, or to collapse the wormhole. Just as Kira rejects both ideas and demands a third alternative, a subspace surge activates the security sensors; O'Brien is shocked that a cloaked vessel somehow approached the station's shield perimeter completely undetected. Suddenly, the ship decloaks, and hails the station. On Ops' viewscreen, Commander Benjamin Sisko appears, standing on the bridge of an experimental vessel called the . He tells Kira that he has "brought back a little surprise for the Dominion."
Act One
Sisko and the senior officers discuss the Defiant in the station's wardroom. Sisko says it is a prototype; a warship originally designed to fight the Borg. With the Borg threat becoming less urgent over the years, the idea was abandoned after design flaws were found during initial testing. Sisko avoids the technical details, but sums up the situation: the Defiant is overpowered and overarmed for a ship of her size, and almost tore herself apart when tested at maximum impulse. When Kira complains at being sent this from Starfleet to fight the Dominion with, Sisko tells her that they are not going to fight the Dominion – yet. Their mission is to go into the Gamma Quadrant, locate the Founders whom are believed to be the Dominion's leaders and to convince them that the Federation is not a threat to them. The Defiant is to be used in order to show the Dominion that the Federation can, and will, defend themselves should there be an attack.
At this point, Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington and Sub-Commander T'Rul enter, informing Sisko of the new security measures they have implemented. When Odo objects, Sisko introduces the sub-commander, and says she is here to operate the cloaking device, loaned to Starfleet by the Romulan government. She says her role is to keep unauthorized persons away from the cloaking device. When Sisko tries to introduce his officers to her, she interrupts, saying she is not here to make friends. She then leaves, abruptly. Eddington then says he is here to make friends, and introduces himself to Kira. Odo is more than a little put out by Eddington being from Starfleet Security, and asks what exactly Eddington is doing here. Before he can reply, Sisko tells them that there will be a full station briefing at 1800 hours, and the Defiant will depart at 0700. He dismisses everyone.
Odo comes to a conclusion. He informs Sisko that there is no need to brace himself to tell him unpleasant news, and that he already knows he has been replaced as head of security. Sisko runs to catch up, telling him in a corridor that he will still be head of all matters concerning non-Starfleet security. For Odo this is not enough, and he asks why. Sisko says he has even been to the Chief of Starfleet Security herself, but the decision was final, due to concerns about recent security breaches on the station. Odo blames it on the restrictions caused by Starfleet regulations, and Sisko tells him that his reluctance to follow those regulations is a problem as well. Odo thinks it is to do with his being a shapeshifter, and assures the Commander that his resignation will be logged shortly.
Inside the Sisko quarters, the commander finds Jake sitting at the dinner table eating an I'danian spice pudding, even though he is supposed to be unpacking. Sisko finds he now thinks of the station as home, and wonders aloud when he began to think of "this Cardassian monstrosity" as that. Jake suggests it was last week, when the commander brought some of his items, including a 2,000 year old Yoruba mask, to the station, out of storage on Earth. The two have a comforting moment together as the elder Sisko looks for a place to hang the mask.
Kira comes up to Odo as he looks out of a window on the Promenade. She says that the provisional government has asked for his presence on the mission. Odo says he highly doubts that, and he thinks it is just an attempt to make him feel better. Kira almost acknowledges that it is, and says that she is his friend, and is trying to make him see that he is still needed on the station. She leaves, after telling him that the Defiant leaves at 0700 hours. Odo continues to quietly look out the Promenade's viewports.
Act Two
Quark is in Sisko's office, confused as to why he has just been asked to come on the trip to find the Founders. Sisko says it is because eight months ago, he helped Grand Nagus Zek establish trade links with the Karemma, who are part of the Dominion. They may help to establish contact with the Founders. Quark tries to find excuses not to go, but Sisko will have none of it. Quark then flat out refuses, saying he has no intention of repeating his last experience with the Jem'Hadar and he legally cannot be forced to go. In response, Sisko gets out the Grand Nagus' staff, saying that the Nagus has already agreed to Quark's going on this mission, in the interests of keeping business opportunities open in the Delta Quadrant for the Ferengi Alliance. Quark is forced to accept it and is made to kiss the staff before leaving, to Sisko's amusement.
Dax tells Sisko that O'Brien's checks indicate the ship will be ready at 0700. The two discuss the chances of succeeding; Sisko says the chances are slim, but better than the chances of surviving a Jem'Hadar attack on the station. Dax says she thought she'd never see him so passionate about something since Jennifer died. Sisko says it was going back to Starfleet Headquarters, and being inspired by the admirals that made him passionate again. Dax says that Curzon never thought Sisko would be an admiral – he thought that Sisko would always have to be in the thick of things, and not sitting behind a desk. Dax leaves, after they both agree that they need to get some sleep.
On the Defiant the next morning, Bashir tells Sisko that the medical facilities are severely lacking. Dax enters, informing the commander that Quark has settled into his quarters, despite being disappointed by the decorations. All systems are online, and they are about to depart, when they alerted to someone's presence in the airlock. It is Odo. He requests to come aboard, and Sisko agrees. Bashir volunteers to find him some quarters, as he has to go down to sickbay. The ship leaves, and cloaks once it enters the Gamma Quadrant. It begins to head for the Karemma system.
Odo has been forced to share a bunk with Quark, as it is the only remaining quarters aboard with life support. Odo sits in a corner, as Quark begins to complain about almost everything there is to complain about. Odo says he has been holding his humanoid shape for 16 hours and needs to revert to his original form. Odo does not want Quark to watch. When Quark continues, he gets angry, and tells him to stay out of his way. Odo then shifts into a liquid, and goes into his bucket.
Jem'Hadar fighters are detected in the vicinity. Sisko orders the ship to remain on course, as this will be a good time to check if the cloaking device is effective against Jem'Hadar sensors. The ship appears to have detected them, as it turns round. The sub-commander disagrees, saying it may be subspace fluctuations that a cloaked ship emits at warp, and suggests dropping out of warp. Sisko gives the order to do so. The ships scan the area with antiprotons, and it is unknown whether they will detect the ship. The ships almost seem like they have detected the Defiant, but they fly off into warp.
Act Three
On arriving on the Karemma homeworld, Quark tries to persuade the first minister Ornithar into putting them in contact with the Founders in exchange for trade advantages (namely a three percent increase of tulaberry wine purchases). However, stating that their only contact with the Dominion leadership is through the Vorta race, who didn't instruct them how to deal with the newcomers, Ornithar is reluctant to help them. He also points out he doesn't even know if the founders are real, and that the Jem'Hadar will intervene at the smallest sign of insubordination. Quark then threatens to discontinue buying the wine altogether, prompting Sisko to point out that losing an important trade agreement with the Alpha Quadrant might also displease the Dominion.
Compelled by Sisko's argument, Ornithar directs them to an unmanned subspace relay station in the Callinon system, where the Karemma send all communications for the Dominion. Interestingly, while looking at the star chart on the viewscreen, Odo recognizes a familiar form, the Omarion Nebula and feels inexplicably drawn to it. Quark, with his job now done, chooses to remain with the Karemma to continue trade negotiations and get a ride home and Sisko agrees.
When the Defiant arrives at Callinon VII, the site of the subspace relay station, it engages the cloaking device and enters orbit. Dax and O'Brien beam down and manage to tap into the main computer suspiciously easy. However, before they upload the information to the Defiant, the two are interrupted as a hand grabs Dax's shoulder while an alarm is triggered which activates a shield around the facility, trapping them inside. As Jem'Hadar warships approach the planet, Sisko is forced to flee and abandon the two of them on the surface with T'Rul's approval and despite Bashir's objections.
Act Four
Bashir wonders what will happen to Dax and O'Brien. Sisko assumes they will be interrogated, and hopes they will also try to contact the Founders. He moves on and calls Odo to the bridge to talk through security measures, but, oddly, Odo refuses, saying he's busy. Kira leaves to talk with him when T'Rul reports that three more Jem'Hadar vessels heading in their direction. Sisko decides to drop out of warp, cut off main power, and wait until they pass just like last time.
Kira finds Odo obsessed with the map on the computer in his quarters. She confronts him but also wants to repay the friendship he's shown her when she needed him. Odo then reveals to her his strange obsession with the Omarion Nebula, and begs her to let him go there in a shuttle. Kira is very confused by Odo's attitude, and tells him that they can consider taking him once they've finished their mission to find the Founders. Odo however angrily and desperately tells her he needs to go there right now. As Kira insists that the mission comes first, the ship comes under fire from three Jem'Hadar ships, who have managed to penetrate the cloak.
Act Five
The Defiant decloaks and destroys one of the attacking vessels, but sustains heavy damage, and soon loses shields and main power, enabling Jem'Hadar soldiers to beam aboard. Kira is knocked unconscious, but Odo rescues her and escapes. After a brief fight, the bridge crew is overwhelmed.
Kira wakes up on a shuttle with Odo, who informs her that the Defiant was captured by the Jem'Hadar. When she finds out the shuttlecraft is heading for the Omarion Nebula instead of back to DS9, Kira protests energetically, but Odo is unmoved. They finally arrive in the nebula, and discover an class M ahead, but no star system. They land the shuttlecraft on the surface, and discover a strange mass of viscous liquid. As they are watching, several humanoid forms resembling Odo's appearance rise from the liquid. One of them, a female Changeling, approaches Odo and greets him: "Welcome home".
TO BE CONTINUED…
Log entries
Ship's log, USS Defiant (NX-74205)
Memorable quotes
"I've brought back a little surprise for the Dominion."
- Sisko, referring to the Defiant
"She may have flaws, but she has teeth."
- Sisko, talking about the Defiant
"I have no interest in speaking to you, or listening to your witless prattle! So stay out of my way, or you'll regret the day you ever met me!"
- Odo, to an overly chatty Quark
"Rom only has his son to think about. I have a business!"
- Quark
"We'd all feel a bit better with [Odo] here to watch over Quark."
"I take that as a personal insult, doctor!"
"You should."
- Bashir and Quark, aboard the Defiant
"What the hell is wrong with Starfleet? How could they do this to him?"
"This has been a long time coming, Major. Starfleet has never been happy with the Constable. They've been pressing me to replace him for the last two years."
"Because he worked for the Cardassians."
"No, it goes deeper than that. Odo is not what you'd call a team player."
- Kira and Sisko
"Who's your contact in the Dominion regarding administration, trade, defense?"
"Our only contact with the Dominion has been through the Vorta. I have no idea who they report to. All I know is that the Vorta say to do something and you do it."
"Why?"
"Because if you do not, they will send in the Jem'Hadar, and then you die."
- Sisko and Ornithar
"Ever since we've come into the Gamma Quadrant, I've had this feeling of being drawn somewhere, pulled by some instinct to a specific place. The Omarion Nebula."
- Odo, to Major Kira
"Where are we?"
"Approaching the Omarion Nebula."
"You should have taken us back to the wormhole."
"You didn't object at the time."
"I was unconscious!"
- Kira and Odo, aboard a Defiant shuttlecraft taking them to the Omarion Nebula
"Welcome home."
- Female Shapeshifter, to Odo
Background information
Story and script
In devising this episode, the DS9 writing staff decided to introduce a pair of characters which they intended to feature as recurring roles: Michael Eddington and T'Rul. According to Ronald D. Moore, Eddington was initially conceived merely to fill in when Colm Meaney was away doing a film. Likewise, T'Rul was originally conceived to be a recurring character who would be in charge of operating the cloaking device on board the . ()
Of the creation of the USS Defiant, Robert Hewitt Wolfe pointed out, "Bringing in the Defiant was based on our own internal perceptions of something that would make the show better. It was not based on ratings." There was also a practical reason for its introduction, as Ira Steven Behr explained, "We'd created villains who were that powerful, and all we had floating around as the thin red line of defense against this possible invading army were three runabouts." ()
Rick Berman was initially against the idea of the ship having a cloaking device because one of the tenets of Gene Roddenberry's universe was that Starfleet "did not believe in sneaking around." However, Ira Behr and Robert Wolfe managed to convince Berman that the Defiant was a unique ship in a unique situation, and, with the added stipulation that the cloak could only be used in the Gamma Quadrant, Berman agreed. ()
As his first contribution to the show, Ronald D. Moore was charged with naming the ship. He originally wanted to call the Defiant the "USS Valiant", but was unable to, as the 's name also began with a "V". As such, Moore decided to call the new ship the "Defiant", after a ship seen in the third season episode : the .
A couple of the story points in this episode were written into the episode due to a season-long campaign to make the DS9 main characters more of a family. "Even in 'The Search', we were trying to get that feeling," commented Ronald D. Moore. "Sisko comes back to the station and Jake says to him, 'DS9 is becoming home,' and Quark is showing that he actually cares about what happens to these people when he says good-bye as they go off to the Gamma Quadrant in the Defiant." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 79)
Cast and characters
Rene Auberjonois initially felt that the decision to have Odo find his people was a bad idea; "I thought if we solved that mystery about Odo's character, I didn't know where we'd go with him." Auberjonois felt it would be the dramatic death of the character and that fans would lose interest in him. However, after being told that Odo would indeed find his people but would almost immediately alienate himself from them, Auberjonois came to see the potential; "What it did was make the character more complex. It just added to Odo's angst and to his depth, and it made him more challenging and interesting to play. And the fact that he ultimately comes to understand that he can't go back to his people, that he can't go home again. They opened up more avenues for me to travel as an actor." () Hence, Auberjonois was pleased by the way this installment developed his character of Odo. (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 332)
Armin Shimerman hated the scene where Sisko makes Quark kiss the scepter of the Grand Nagus; "Despite the Federation's lip service to their Prime Directive, which says they're not supposed to apply their standards to any culture's attitudes, it seems to me that this was another example of the Federation making fun of, taking advantage of, and ridiculing the Ferengi way. So kissing the scepter was a bit irksome to both the actor and the character." ()
T'Rul was played by Martha Hackett, who later went on to play the recurring role of Seska on .
Production
The making of this episode involved changes to the makeup and costume used to portray Odo, at the request of Rene Auberjonois. Having liked the way his had looked in , he had lobbied the producers to keep this design. ()
There were also some behind-the-scenes changes. For example, this was the first episode with Jonathan West as Director of Photography.
Doug Drexler cited the Dominion relay station in this episode as an example of a set whose look and feel were created using many brightly lit graphics, saying that the set was too dark to see any of the set otherwise. (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, paperback ed., p. 193)
Reception
magazine cited the whole two-parter "The Search" as the best episode of Deep Space Nine when they ranked the series #47 on their list of "The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time".
In (issue #100, p. 68), writer Pamela Roller commented, "In the two-part 'The Search', fans got a taste of what is an exciting shift to a more 'defiant' attitude for both the show and Sisko."
The New Trek Programme Guide reviewed this episode thus; "A new focus, DS9 going 'out there' for just about the first time in an attempt to turn Sisko into a 'proper' Star Trek captain. The Jem'Hadar attack on the Defiant is breathtaking, and there are some great Odo/Quark scenes. Various racist undertones concerning Odo are also explored. A promising new direction."
One aspect of this episode that Science Consultant André Bormanis approved of was how it portrayed the clunkiness of the Defiants systems. "I liked the idea of getting away from the concept that all Federation technology was squeaky clean and perfect," he said. ()
Aftermath
The DS9 writing staff's attempt to introduce, in this installment, two new recurring characters paid off with mixed results. After this episode's two-parter, the DS9 producers realized that the T'Rul character would not offer enough story material to warrant keeping her around. However, Eddington did proceed to recur as the series continued, and, according to Ronald D. Moore, the DS9 writers decided, over the course of the third season, to expand his character and even went so far, towards the end of the year, as to set Eddington up as a possible Founder infiltrator. ()
Following his work on this episode, Jonathan West served as Director of Photography for every subsequent episode of the series run, except for the ones he directed.
This was the first of eleven DS9 episodes, the last being , that premiered without another Star Trek series also on the air. All episodes of DS9 before this premiered while The Next Generation was still running, and after "Past Tense, Part I", Voyager had begun.
After naming the new ship introduced in this episode as the "Defiant" rather than the "Valiant", Ronald D. Moore later created a for the sixth season episode .
Continuity
This episode is a continuation of the events portrayed in and the first of a two-parter, concluding with . This episode takes place eight months after and two months after "The Jem'Hadar". It's first stardate was established in Sisko's log, it's second stardate was recalled by Odo in .
The 's weapons in this episode feature a heavy, machine-gun type of sound effect. All other episodes in the series involving the Defiant firing its weapons use a different sound effect, resembling a cross between a phaser and a cannon.
The Defiant was built to fight the Borg, which it does for the only time during the Battle of Sector 001 in .
This episode features the first on-screen appearance of the Karemma. They were mentioned in the season 2 episode , but they were not seen at that time. This episode also establishes that Quark was obviously successful in opening trade negotiations with the Karemma after being referred to them by the Dosi, and it suggests that Grand Nagus Zek's plan to get in touch with a higher ranking member of the Dominion by making demands which the Dosi couldn't fulfill was successful.
Jadzia Dax's new "up" hairstyle is unique to this episode and part II.
Sisko's reaction on how bad the coffee is on the Defiant is similar to his disgust with the replicated coffee on DS9 in the first season episode .
This is the first episode in which Sisko expresses a love for Bajor and the first time he voices his refusal to allow it to fall, under any circumstances. The theme of Sisko's love for the planet eventually became more and more important as time went by, and went on to be one of his primary motivating goals in the series finale .
Odo's reaction to Lieutenant Commander Eddington is almost identical to his reaction to Lieutenant Primmin in the first season episode : on both occasions, he tells Sisko that he will be handing in his resignation.
Further, while talking to Sisko about Eddington, Odo references his frustration with having to adhere to Starfleet procedures being a key reason why he can't keep the station safe. These concerns were previously raised in , following the explosion of a ship and two kidnappings, where Odo says, "If you [referring to Starfleet] will let me be in charge of security, I will give you a safe station."
This episode sees the first appearance of the Female Changeling (played by Salome Jens), the Founders and the . It is also the first appearance of Romulans in Deep Space Nine.
This is also the first appearance of the wardroom.
The new style combadge that was used up to and including is first seen in this episode, after it was designed for .
Odo's uniform remained like it is in this episode for the rest of the series.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.1,
At this point, CIC Video dropped the previous continuous volume numbering, introducing a season-specific volume number, which is displayed at the top of the front cover.
As part of the DS9 Season 3 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest stars
Salome Jens as Female Changeling
Martha Hackett as T'Rul
John Fleck as Ornithar
Kenneth Marshall as Michael Eddington
Uncredited co-stars
Majel Barrett as Narrator
Steve Diamond as Bajoran officer
Chris Doyle as
Jem'Hadar soldier 2
Jem'Hadar soldier 5
William Frankfather as male Changeling
Kevin Grevioux as Starfleet operations officer
Sue Henley as Human civilian
Tom Morga as
Jem'Hadar soldier 1
Jem'Hadar soldier 4
Tami Peterson as female Changeling
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Unknown performers as
buck-toothed alien
Male Changeling
Defiant helmsman
Three Jem'Hadar soldiers
Stunt doubles
J. Suzanne Rampe as stunt double for Martha Hackett
Patricia Tallman as stunt double for Nana Visitor
References
4th century; 2366; 2369; 2370; alloy; Alpha Quadrant; Africa; antiproton beam (antiproton); Bajor; Bajoran; Bajoran Provisional Government; Bajoran wormhole; bearing; beritium; boarding party; Borg; bunk bed; bunk mate; business partner; Callinon system; Callinon VII; Cardassian; caterer; central computer room; Changeling; chief of security; Chief of Starfleet Security (individual); Class M; cloaking device; Constable; central computer room; ; debriefing; ; ; design flaw; diamide; dirak; Dominion; Dominion cold war; Earth; emissary; escape pod; evasive pattern; explorer; Federation; Ferengi; Founders; ; Gamma Quadrant; Grand Nagus; Grand Nagus' staff; heart; I'danian spice pudding; inertial damper; interior decorator; International Space Station; Jem'Hadar; Jem'Hadar fighter (two unnamed, three unnamed); Karemma; Karemma homeworld; Karemma system; kilometer; latinum; lead ship; leader; "lining one's pockets"; meter; military expert; Nog; ODN matrix; "Old Man"; Omarion Nebula; Omarion Nebula star; outpost; phase inducer; polyduranium; Promenade; Romulan Star Empire; security officer; security protocol; sensor range; Starfleet; General Orders and Regulations; Starfleet Headquarters; Starfleet Security; sub-commander; ; subspace variance; Thursday; transporter; tulaberry wine; Type 18 shuttlepod (Shuttle 01); user interface; Vorta; wardroom; Yoruba mask; Zek
Other references
USS Defiant dedication plaque: ; Antares Ship Yards; Bajor sector; ; ; ; ; ; ; chief of staff; ; ; ; ; ; ; Fleet Operations; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; Research and Development; ; ; Science Operations; ; Starfleet Command; ; Tactical Ops; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; Yard Engineer;
Deep Space 9 schematic: cargo turbo subsystem; crew quarters; crossover bridge; defense sail; defense systems monitor; deflector emitter; docking clamp; docking control cabin; docking pylon; docking ring; docking ring airlock; environmental purge/fill station; exhaust cone; fusion reactor assembly; habitat ring; ops module; ore processing center; phaser strip; photon torpedo launcher; power transfer conduit; promenade; radiator; reaction control thruster; reactive shield wall; runabout pad; sensor array; structural assembly; subspace antenna farm; tractor emitter; tug tractor emitter assembly
External links
de:Die Suche, Teil I
es:The Search, Part I
fr:The Search, Part I (épisode)
ja:DS9:ドミニオンの野望・前編
nl:The Search, Deel I
ru:Поиски, часть I (эпизод)
DS9 episodes |
887 | http://s3.amazonaws.com/wikia_xml_dumps/e/en/enmemoryalpha_pages_current.xml.7z | The Search, Part II (episode) | On his homeworld, Odo learns about his people while back on the station, Sisko discovers that the price the Federation is willing to pay for peace with the Dominion may be too high.
Summary
Teaser
On the shore of the Great Link ocean on , Odo faces other Changelings and Major Kira is standing on the sideline. A Changeling in female form welcomes Odo to his "home" and explains he was newly formed when he left them. Odo has many questions and, soon, it sounds like an interrogation, but Kira relaxes him, explaining that it is not a police investigation. The Female Changeling explains the Link and, when Odo says he has been alone all his life, she offers her hand to reinforce his welcome with a partial link. Another Changeling cautions her, with concern it is too soon, but she insists. This affects Odo deeply, as he realizes that he has truly found his home and his people.
Act One
"Commander's log, supplemental. It's been six days since we had to abandon the Defiant after the Jem'Hadar attack. We still don't know what happened to the rest of the crew. Doctor Bashir and I have plotted a course back to the wormhole. Whether the shuttle can get us back there or not is questionable at best. Our engines are failing, our external sensors are barely functioning, and life support systems are at 20% and dropping."
In a shuttlecraft, a weary Sisko is dictating a report on the loss or capture of the Defiant by the Jem'Hadar and the unknown status of the rest of her crew, except Doctor Bashir, who is in the shuttle with him. Suddenly, the shuttle shudders and Bashir and Sisko try and get the sensors to work so they can find out what is causing the turbulence. They speculate that it may be a tractor beam when they hear something behind them. They both turn and note that the hatch mechanism is starting to rotate, indicating that someone is opening the hatch from the outside. Not knowing who that may be, they both arm their phasers and prepare to defend themselves.
The door slowly opens and they are surprised by the appearance of Chief O'Brien, followed quickly by Jadzia Dax. They have been rescued and other ships are looking for the rest of the Defiants crew. Dax indicates that there is a big surprise waiting for them back at Deep Space 9.
On the Changelings' homeworld, Kira and Odo are waiting in an arboretum. Odo is getting impatient and Kira is trying to calm him down. When the Female Changeling returns, a brief discussion ensues about Changeling history and why they don't trust "solids". She enjoins Major Kira from sending any message that may be traced to the planet, as the Changelings value their isolation. The Female Changeling then begins giving Odo some shape-changing lessons. Major Kira goes off to the shuttle to try and get an untraceable message through to Sisko, disguised as elevated background radiation, something she learned while in the Bajoran Resistance.
Sisko is disembarking onto Deep Space 9 when he is met at an airlock by Admiral Alynna Nechayev, who informs him that the treaty delegation from the Dominion has already arrived. They discuss some background information and then the admiral informs Sisko that one of the delegates would like to see him the moment he arrives. Sisko enters a suite and meets Borath, a Vorta who claims that he is one of the Founders of the Dominion. They have a brief discussion about trust and future alliances.
Act Two
On the upper deck of the Promenade, Bashir is greeted by Garak, the resident Cardassian tailor. As they exchange pleasantries, they pass a Jem'Hadar soldier looking down on the main Promenade deck. Garak informs Bashir that the Central Command is in favor of the treaty, but indicates his own misgivings about it, noting an old Cardassian proverb that states "enemies make dangerous friends." As they continue their discussion they encounter Romulan Sub-Commander T'Rul, who is very upset and informs them that the Romulans were excluded from the negotiations. She warns that if the Federation attempts a treaty with the Dominion without the Romulan Star Empire's approval, it will mean war.
In one of Defiants shuttlecraft on the Changeling's homeworld, Kira configures the shuttle's communications system to transmit her signal and is informed by the craft's computer that it cannot be sent. This is due to excessive external interference from a subsurface power source and an analysis is not possible due to a polymetallic substance in the surrounding rock. While Kira is frustrated by this, Odo arrives. He is exhausted from his shape-shifting lessons and goes off to regenerate, leaving Kira alone with her frustration.
In his office, Sisko looks extremely concerned when his staff announces the arrival of Admiral Nechayev. They get into a discussion regarding the Romulans' exclusion from the treaty talks. Admiral Nechayev makes the point that if the Dominion and the Federation create this alliance then the Romulans will be irrelevant. This leaves Sisko deeply troubled.
Sitting in the garden on the Changeling homeworld, Odo and the Female Changeling have a fairly detailed discussion about Changeling history, including the fact that solids have been hunting and persecuting their kind for eons, and Odo's place in their history. They then embrace each other and merge into a link.
Act Three
Meanwhile, Kira is facing a large metallic door and scanning it with a Starfleet tricorder. She notes that this is an anomaly since Changelings shouldn't have need for doors. She then contacts the shuttle's computer and asks it to scan the door, and is frustrated when the computer tells her that there is too much interference for it to do so.
In Quark's, Bashir and O'Brien are drinking synthales on the house and discussing the new treaty with Quark. The discussion is interrupted by a Jem'Hadar officer, who picks a fight with O'Brien when he tells him he is in his way and throws him across the bar. When Bashir comes to his defense, he is also attacked by the Jem'Hadar and thrown up against a wall until finally security chief Eddington breaks up the fight. Bashir insists that the Jem'Hadar be incarcerated for what he did to O'Brien, but the doctor is reminded by Eddington that the Jem'Hadar have carte blanche on the station, for the moment.
Sisko has a troubled meal in his quarters with his son, Jake. The elder Sisko is very distracted and lost in thought when Dax comes in and informs him that she has been transferred as science officer to the , without the commander's approval. While they are discussing this turn of events, Bashir calls him and requests that they meet concerning Chief O'Brien.
Moments later, a very angry Sisko storms into a meeting between Admiral Nechayev and Borath and demands explanations as to why Dax has been reassigned without his consent, why the Jem'Hadar who attacked O'Brien is walking the station free and why the Federation is risking a war with the Romulans to sign a treaty with an organization they barely know or trust. Nechayev tells Sisko that the Federation is pulling out of the sector and all of the Starfleet officers on the station are to be reassigned. Bajor's request for Federation membership is being suspended indefinitely, and the Federation is withdrawing from Deep Space 9 and handing the station and Bajor over to the Dominion. Sisko asks about what happens if the Bajorans aren't happy with being handed over to the Dominion. Borath tells Sisko he's sure they'll raise no objections, and makes it clear the Jem'Hadar will only be sent in if they resist. Nechayev promises Sisko that he will be promoted to Captain for his work.
The admiral states the Dominion will control the wormhole as well, calling it the price for peace. Sisko responds that the price of peace is "too damned high", and asks to talk to the Federation's negotiating team before the treaty is signed. Nechayev then tells him that it was signed that afternoon, and congratulates Sisko for helping make it possible.
Act Four
In the arboretum of the Changeling planet, Odo, in the shape of a Arbazan vulture, flies in, lands, and changes back into normal form, as Kira watches in amazement. They begin to talk and an exhilarated Odo gushes about being a vulture, feeling the air currents beneath his "wings" and soaring past treetops. Kira then asks the Changeling for help with the door that she found. Odo also wonders about the door, and who or what could be using them if the Changelings are not.
On the Promenade back at the station, Sisko is drinking a cup of coffee in the replimat when Garak walks in, complimenting Sisko on the job he has done for the past two years but notes that when Starfleet returns to the sector it will be to fight the Bajorans, who have just formed an alliance with the Romulans against the Dominion and their allies. In the ensuing conversation, Garak sits at Sisko's table and detects a tone of bitterness in Sisko's voice. The Cardassian mentions that he shares that bitterness. He further opines that, after a great deal of thought, he can only conclude that their leaders have gone insane, and that "it's a pity" that they are both committed to following the orders of their respective leadership. Sisko agrees with the "pity" part. At this point, Sisko states his surprise at at how much they seemed to think alike, to which Garak comments that "life is full of surprises."
Suddenly, from down the Promenade, T'Rul appears, yelling for Sisko while being chased by two Jem'Hadar soldiers. Sisko and Garak get up and just when T'Rul reaches them, the Jem'Hadar manage to shoot her in the back with a hand weapon. She falls into Sisko's arms, dead, just as the soldiers arrive. Sisko immediately gives her over to Garak and begins to fight the Jem'Hadar in hand-to-hand combat. The Jem'Hadar overpower Sisko while Garak looks on helplessly.
In the station's security office, Garak enters, followed by Dax and Bashir. Dax demands to see Sisko. Eddington, seated behind the security desk, states that no one is allowed to see the commander without authorization from Admiral Nechayev. Through a ruse, Garak manages to knock out Eddington with a hypospray. They free Sisko and take phasers from the office's armory. Dax informs Sisko that O'Brien is waiting for them on Landing Pad C with the and a full complement of photon torpedoes. Sisko asks Dax how she knew that they'd need the torpedoes and she answers that she anticipated that Sisko would want to destroy the wormhole to prevent further Dominion forces from arriving from the Gamma Quadrant. He agrees and they begin their run to landing pad C.
Act Five
On the Changelings' homeworld, Odo is examining the door that Kira found and makes a startling discovery: the door is not meant to keep people out, rather it is to keep whatever is inside, in. The locking mechanism is a strange shape that only a Changeling can use without resorting to special tools and Odo morphs his hand to the required shape.
In the station's corridors, Dax, Garak, Bashir, and Sisko are running towards the docking ring when they encounter a Jem'Hadar patrol. During the ensuing battle, Garak is shot and killed. The rest of the group move on and there is another battle at the airlock to landing pad C. They all enter the Rio Grande safely, where O'Brien is waiting for them and they launch without further incident. As soon as they launch, they head directly for the wormhole. Thirty seconds from arrival, Admiral Nechayev, with Borath at her side, contacts the Rio Grande from the station and orders Sisko to stand down, but Sisko refuses. Borath then threatens them with the Jem'Hadar and Sisko states that they had better not expect any reinforcements for "about seventy years". Sisko turns to the forward viewport of the Rio Grande and sees the wormhole open for them. He then orders attack pattern theta and O'Brien turns hard to port and launches three photon torpedoes into the wormhole. The wormhole implodes and the blinding light of that event illuminates the interior of the Rio Grande.
Meanwhile, in the underground complex of the Changelings' homeworld, Odo is working on the lock mechanism by having his right hand shape-shifted into a lock-picking tool and it finally opens for him. As the door opens, it reveals two armed and ready Jem'Hadar guards who immediately take them into custody and march them deeper into the underground complex. They enter an underground chamber filled with various types of equipment and five inclined tables. The three tables on the left hold Bashir, Dax, and T'Rul, and the two tables in the back hold Sisko and O'Brien. Borath and two Vorta technicians are also present. A third Jem'Hadar stands guard in the chamber.
Borath invites them in and Kira runs up to Sisko and tries to talk to him. Borath informs her that they are unconscious because he is running an experiment on them. Kira is immediately suspicious and concerned, demanding to know what sort of experiment the Vorta has been running. Borath answers that it is a simulation exercise designed to determine how they would respond to an attempt by the Dominion to gain a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant, to measure how much they would be willing to sacrifice in order to avoid a war. However, according to his findings, they are extremely stubborn and Borath is thankful that he is not the one who has to solve that problem.
At that moment, a female voice states, "But I do." All within the chamber look towards the entrance where the Female Changeling has arrived. Odo is surprised that she knew about the experiment, but Kira figures it out quicker and challenges the Changeling, stating that she belongs to the Dominion. The Changeling corrects Kira by replying that the Changelings are the Dominion. Odo is awestruck as he realizes that his people are the Founders, the leaders of the Dominion. She admits to the irony that the hunted now control the destinies of hundreds of other races.
Odo now challenges her as to why the Founders should need to control anyone. She replies that "What you control can't hurt you," and that following maltreatment by solids when they were attempting to explore the galaxy many years ago, they set themselves the task of imposing order on a chaotic universe. Kira objects, stating that the order of the Founders should actually be called "murder". The Founder states that what the solids call it is irrelevant to the Founders. Odo then asks how the Founders can justify the deaths of so many people, to which the shapeshifter answers that the solids have always been a threat to them and that's the only justification they need.
Odo retorts that these solids have never harmed the Founders, implying that none of the Alpha Quadrant solids have ever harmed the Founders, and that the Federation is just like what the founders used to be, explorers and researchers. The Founder counters that the "solids are nothing like us." At this point, Odo pauses to consider and then answers that neither is he. He states that his whole life has been devoted to the pursuit of justice and that justice means nothing to the Founders. The Founder doesn't challenge that, rather, she believes that Odo would rather have order than justice and that the Great Link will satisfy his need for order. Odo declines, acknowledging the temptation of the offer, but maintaining that he already has a link to his comrades. Odo then turns to Borath and orders him to wake up the prisoners and that they are leaving. Borath objects and Odo, turning to the Founder, states that he is leaving with his friends. The Founder objects and looks shocked when Odo confirms his intent. The Founder states that "no Changeling has ever harmed another." To this, Odo replies that whatever she does to his friends, she will also have to do to him. The Founder concedes the point and confirms Odo's orders to Borath, the Vorta. But she warns him that the next time they will not be so generous.
The Vorta technicians move among the unconscious Defiant crew, removing leads, patch cords, and devices. As they do so, the crew wakes up slightly dazed and asking what happened. They all have various confused memories of the Rio Grande and collapsing the wormhole, except T'Rul, who remembers being shot by Jem'Hadar soldiers. Kira explains that none of what they remember is real and that they've been held in the chamber since the Jem'Hadar captured them on the Defiant and that they've been in a simulation. Sisko demands an explanation from Borath, but the Vorta merely informs the commander that the Defiant is in orbit and that they can transport up to it when they are ready. Odo informs Sisko that he will be remaining behind for a few moments, and Kira indicates that she'll come up with Odo. Odo promises Sisko that he will explain everything later, but that he and the others must leave immediately. Sisko then taps his combadge and has himself and his crew beamed up to the Defiant.
As Odo and the Female Changeling walk through the arboretum to the Great Link, the Founder expresses her wish that Odo will someday return to them. When Odo expresses his doubt of that, she points out that he'll always be an "outsider" with the solids. Odo states that being an outsider isn't so bad, it gives one a unique perspective and that it is a pity that the Founders have forgotten that. The Founder then states that she might visit him, but the Alpha Quadrant seems wracked with chaos, and that it could use some order. At this point, Odo warns her that imposing her form of order on the Alpha Quadrant may prove more difficult than she imagines. The Founder walks out into the Great Link and, turning back to Odo, states "We will miss you, Odo… but you will miss us even more." With that, she merges back into the Great Link.
When she is gone, Kira approaches Odo. As they hold hands, Kira taps Odo's Bajoran combadge and the two of them are transported back to the Defiant.
Memorable quotes
"You see… I have a dream. A dream that one day all people: Human, Jem'Hadar, Ferengi, Cardassians… stand together in peace… around my dabo tables."
- Quark
"I don't believe it… I'm talking to a tree."
- Kira
"To become a thing is to know a thing. To assume its form is to begin to understand its existence."
- the Female Changeling to Odo
"Why would shapeshifters need a door?"
- Kira
"Well, I guess this means the end of our Starfleet careers."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Doctor."
"Well, that's easy for you to say."
"Oh, you misunderstand me, Lieutenant. All I meant was it's a little foolish to worry about your careers at a time like this when there's a good chance we're all about to be killed."
- Bashir, Garak, and Dax
"I'm glad to see the plan is going as scheduled."
"What plan is that?"
"You mean no one told you? You see, I pretend to be their friend… and then I shoot you."
- Garak and a Jem'Hadar soldier
"You belong to the Dominion, don't you?!"
"Belong to it? Major, the Changelings are the Dominion!"
"You're the Founders!"
- Kira, the Female Changeling, and Odo
"Why control anyone?"
"Because, what you can control, can't hurt you… so many years ago we set ourselves the task of imposing order on a chaotic universe…"
"Is that what you call it, 'imposing order'?! I call it murder!"
"What you call it is no concern of ours."
- Odo, the Female Changeling, and Kira
"How do you justify the deaths of so many people?"
"The solids have always been a threat to us, that's the only justification we need."
"But these solids have never harmed you. They travel the galaxy in order to expand their knowledge, just as you once did."
"The solids are nothing like us."
"No, I suppose they're not… and neither am I."
- Odo and The Female Changeling
"I admit, this… link, of yours, is appealing – but you see, I already have a link – with these people."
- Odo
"It's taken you many years to find your way back home. Are you really willing to leave it again so soon?"
"Unless you intend to stop me."
"No changeling has ever harmed another."
"Whatever you do to them, you're going to have to do to me."
"They are free to go. But next time, I promise you, we will not be so generous."
- Female Changeling and Odo
"You will always be an outsider."
"Being an outsider isn't so bad. It gives one a unique perspective. It's a pity you've forgotten that."
- Female Changeling and Odo
"The Alpha Quadrant seems racked with chaos. It could use some order."
"Imposing your type of order on the Alpha Quadrant may prove more difficult than you imagine."
"We are willing to wait until the time is right. We will miss you Odo, but you will miss us even more."
- Female Changeling and Odo
Background information
Story and script
The abrupt realization that the Bajoran wormhole has not been destroyed and that none of the events Sisko and the others experienced truly happened is an example of a deus ex machina-style ending. However, rather than this being an avenue by which to create a quick resolution, the writers have claimed that the very point of the episode is to be found in this 'it was all a dream' ending; as Ira Steven Behr explains of the writers' attitude to two-parters in general, "We like to use the first part to set something up and then totally subvert the audience's expectations in part two."
As such, the idea for the 'false reality' ending was two-fold. On the one hand, the writers wished to convey just how powerful the Dominion was – they were technologically so far advanced that they were literally playing with the Federation. On the other, in accordance with Behr's statement above, it was to show viewers that the real story of the episode was not the struggle for the Wormhole, but was in fact Odo's personal journey. Part I had focused on the larger plot, the bigger picture, and part II seemed to be doing the same, with Odo's story in a subservient position, but the conclusion exposes this interpretation as inaccurate, that it is Odo's story wherein the real meaning is to be found. Behr argues, "It was a perverse need to have some fun with the audience", and everything beyond Odo's story was "all just fireworks and mirrors."
He says that he was trying to convey to the audience that real drama and conflict happens on a smaller personal level by tricking them into following the 'wrong' plot. However, he acknowledges that it doesn't really work and he understands why so many fans felt the conclusion to the episode was a great disappointment; "We wanted to make a point that this was a drama about people and conflict on a much smaller level. But no one seemed to get it, so maybe it wasn't such a great idea." () Interestingly, Behr would do something similar in the fourth season two-parter /, where what seems logical, rational and right in part I is made to seem paranoid and draconian in part II.
Reception
Jonathan Frakes commented "it was like having a Next Generation episode assignment to direct a Data story. It was that rich. Rene is a wonderful, inventive actor, much like Brent Spiner. Everyone was great. The sets on Deep Space Nine are fabulous to shoot. They're much bigger. There is more room. And it's hard to find a bad angle on that space station." ()
"Empire" Magazine cited the whole two-parter, "The Search" as the best episode of Deep Space Nine when they ranked the series #47 on their list of "The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time".
Trivia
This is the first episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to be directed by Jonathan Frakes, in his first directorial stint after . He directed two further episodes, and , and made a guest appearance in – all in Season 3 – as well as directing three episodes of and at least two of .
The bulk of the episode continually splits between reality (Kira and Odo on the ) and the psychological projections created in the experiment being conducted on Sisko and the others. This is masked by the normal formula of having "A" and "B" stories; only in the last minutes of the episode is the psychological experiment revealed.
Discounting the psychological projections, this is one of very few episodes to not feature any scenes on the real Deep Space 9. It is also one of only two episodes (the other being ) to be set entirely in the Gamma Quadrant.
The Female Changeling decides in this episode that war is the only option for the Alpha Quadrant, and from this point forward a cold war existed until the episodes and .
The monolith that is seen several times in the background of the garden on the Founders' planet is almost identical to the monolith which appeared in the episode as a 'relic of Odo's people'.
After this episode, the Vorta did not appear again until the season 4 episode .
Borath, the Vorta researcher who is also supposedly a Founder in the psychological projection Sisko and the others experience, was originally supposed to be Eris, the first Vorta encountered by the Federation in . The character was changed because actress Molly Hagan was unavailable.
When Odo says he has been referred to as a Changeling "on occasion", he could be referring to the first season episode , in which Croden calls him a changeling, and the second season episode , in which Taya does so.
The line "No Changeling ever harmed another" returned in the season 3 episodes , , and and the season 4 finale . This is despite the fact that Odo is frequently threatened by both the Founders themselves, as well as their agents.
The Female Changeling fulfills her promise to visit Odo in the episode , albeit by pretending to be Kira.
In the scene where Bashir is intercepted by Garak upon arriving back at the station, in the background the end of the set can be seen as the walkway and its railing end abruptly. In addition, the whole Promenade background seems to be sloping down. This is only partially concealed by the Jem'Hadar standing in front.
Remastered version
Remastered scenes from the episode are featured in the documentary What We Left Behind.
Video and DVD releases
UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.1,
As part of the DS9 Season 3 DVD collection
Links and references
Guest Stars
Salome Jens as Female Changeling
Andrew Robinson as "Garak"
Natalia Nogulich as Alynna Nechayev
Martha Hackett as T'Rul
Kenneth Marshall as Michael Eddington
William Frankfather as Male Changeling
And
Dennis Christopher as "Borath"
Co-Stars
Christopher Doyle as Jem'Hadar Officer
Tom Morga as Jem'Hadar Soldier
Diaunté as Jem'Hadar Guard
Majel Barrett as Computer Voice
Uncredited Co-Stars
Majel Barrett as Narrator
Scott Barry as Bajoran command officer
Patti Begley as Bajoran command officer
Ivy Borg as Rita Tannenbaum
Robert Coffee as Bajoran civilian
Brian Demonbreun as civilian
Kathleen Demor as operations lieutenant
Sue Henley as command officer
Mark Lentry as command lieutenant
David B. Levinson as Broik
Mary Meinel-Newport as Bolian civilian
Robin Morselli as Bajoran officer
Sherry O'Keefe as Bajoran officer
Tami Peterson as female Changeling
Randy Pflug as
Michael Prokopuk as civilian
Pinky Villaseñor as female Vorta
Michael Wajacs as Bajoran civilian
Unknown actors as
Buck-toothed alien
Changeling
Vorta
Stunt Double
Dennis Madalone as stunt double for Colm Meaney
References
2369; 27th century; Alpha Quadrant; Arbazan vulture; background radiation; Bajor; Bajorans; Bajoran Resistance; Bajoran sector; Bajoran wormhole; Bolians; Cardassia; Cardassians; Cardassian Central Command; career; Changeling; Constable; dabo; ; Dominion; Dominion cold war; Dominion history; door; dozen; Eris; Federation; Federation Council; Ferengi; flower; Founders; ; freedom; gambling gene; garden; Gamma Quadrant; Great Link; great power; Jem'Hadar; kilometer; landing pad; leader; ; meter; metamorphic ability (shape-shift); Milky Way Galaxy; mono-form; saying; Omarion Nebula; Omarion Nebula star; out of the loop; potato; Promenade; Quark's; Replimat; ; rock; Romulans; Romulan Star Empire; runabout; science officer; security officer; Solids; Starfleet; Starfleet Command; station regulation; thermal radiation; theta band frequency; tractor beam; tree; tricorder; Type 18 shuttlepod (Shuttle 01); visionary; Vorta; "wide berth"
External links
de:Die Suche, Teil II
es:The Search, Part II
fr:The Search, Part II (épisode)
nl:The Search, Deel II
ru:Поиски, часть II (эпизод)
Search, The, Part II |