Customer Reviews

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 18: Dramatis Personae [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

this episode dissects for us, the deranged steps people take in their so called quest for ascending to power , of course because right is on THEIR side,and the other side therefore is ,by necessity, a traitor ,and an oppressor.As if anyone who has ever wrested power from an evil ruler ,by plotting and deceit ever turned out to be a lesser evil. this episode,made me reflect, and it made me aware ,again of all the pettiness we all have to keep curbed , unless we become tyrants in one form or another. Very powerful acting by all the crew,an again and again veiwing for me and my trekkie husband.

The crew gets a distress call from a Klingon ship as it comes through the wormhole. The ship explodes as the only survivor is able to beam himself aboard, but he has been hit with Klingon disruptor fire and dies of his wounds within seconds of beaming to the station. His final word is "Victory!" right before his death rattle.

Bashir starts to do an autopsy and Dax and O'Brien go in a runabout to try to locate the mission recorder (their version of a black box) to see if they can determine what caused the ship to explode.

From the get-go, everyone starts acting weird. O'Brien tries to ascertain Dax's loyalty and tells Dax that he doesn't trust Kira. Dax acts like an 8 year old and just keeps going down memory lane with stories of her past with Sisko when she was Curzon Dax.

Kira has got her shoulder pads in a wad over a docked freighter that she believes helped the Cardassians during the occupation. She wants to board the freighter, but Sisko refuses and Kira decides it's time to get rid of Sisko.

Some bizarre energy hits Odo in the head and he falls unconscious in the bar, but he recovers in sickbay. Neither he nor the doctor know what the cause is or if there are any lasting effects. Odo is perplexed by Bashir's behavior - he seems to be overly concerned with station politics and the friendly duel between Kira and Sisko and Odo knows something isn't right.

Kira confronts Jadzia in Quark's bar and tells her she needs to pick sides, because she's going to get rid of Sisko with, or without her help. Quark's big parabolic-dish ears pick up on the threat and Kira realizes this and picks up Quark and nearly rips his head off before throwing him across the bar.

When Quark, wearing a fancy neck brace, comes to tell Odo about Kira's behavior and her plot to get rid of Sisko, Odo really knows something cooky is going on and it's not just Bashir. Kira, a long-time friend of Odo's, even tries to get Odo in trouble by trying to trick him into doing something behind Sisko's back.

Odo starts pouring over the scrambled messages on the Klingon's data recorder and puts the pieces of the puzzle together. On a bio survey in the gamma quadrant, the Klingons found some energy spheres that a long dead race used to harness telepathy. They believed the spheres would help them know the secrets of their enemies, but instead, it made them all paranoid and crazy and they all started killing each other.

When the Klingon beamed aboard, he did so with an energy matrix that somehow infected the crew in ops.

Now Odo knows what's wrong, but what can he do about it? O'Brien has disabled communications with Bajor and Kira has disabled communications with the Federation, so he can't call for help. He has to play the crew like pawns to get them to behave the way they need to so he can try to help them. Odo displays incredible skills in humanoid psychology and pure brinksmanship.

Despite the good acting and almost-believable premise, there are holes in this story. Supposedly only the crew in Ops was in danger and infected because they were in the room when the Klingon boarded - but it's the next day when Odo gets hit upside the head by this energy matrix - and it's in the bar, not in ops. Considering he must "hold" a position of looking like a humanoid and that he's a liquid when at rest, it's asinine that he's laying on the cot in the infirmary unconscious... if he's "out," he should be a liquid - this pre-dates the man-made virus that kept him from shape-shifting in the last season.

The best part of this episode is character development and a way for the actors to stretch out their sea legs. Siddig El Fadil (Bashir) does some of his most believable acting in this episode and Quark begins to change from just a thieving troll to an actual caring person and cooperative with Odo - and Odo shows how cunning and wise he really is.

You have to see this episode!! This was a TEN!! This station is divided Sisko vs Kira; Federation vs Bajorans! Everyone wants to command the Station even Bashir! Its up to Odo to try to find out whats going on. "Anyone against Sisko is against Me!"

A dying Klingon beams onboard the station and suddenly the entire crew (minus Odo) becomes infected with the William Shatner over-acting virus. Well, that's not exactly true; a few of the performances are laced with subtleties. But for the most part, this is just an excuse to get the regular actors to perform out of character. And for the most part, this is amusing and quite watchable.

A power-struggle breaks out between Sisko and Kira. Kira becomes overly aggressive, while Sisko retreats into himself. O'Brien turns into a suspicious, McCarthy-type figure, questioning everyone's loyalty and mistrustful of outsiders. It's fun to see the cast get a rest from their usual characters, and they obviously relish the opportunity. I was particularly impressed by Avery Brooks' restrained performance as a detached and reclusive figure, only occasionally lashing out. On the other hand, it's a pity that Dax seemed to get stuck with the dopey, ditzy portion of the virus.

Overall, I liked this one. The altered personas make for entertaining viewing, as does watching Odo slowly work his way through the mystery. His manipulation of Bashir's changed personality is particularly good bit of writing, and the short scene of Quark as a pretend whiplash victim is a hilarious highlight.