160. It's Only a Paper Moon

Summary

The crew happily greets Nog as he returns from two months of recovery following the loss of his leg in The Siege of AR-558. His new biosynthetic leg is working fine, yet he walks with a cane and seems withdrawn and depressed, refusing Sisko's offer of a welcome-home party. He retreats into depression, sleeping constantly and doing nothing...he has no duties, being on indefinite medical leave. He drives Jake to distraction by playing a recording of Vic singing "I'll Be Seeing You" ad nauseum. He finally visits the holosuite to see it performed in the flesh and ends up asking Vic if he can just stay in the holosuite permanently. A surprised Vic agrees, and despite their misgivings about this isolation in a fantasy world, Ezri and Sisko adopt a "wait and see" attitude. Despite some initial setbacks, most notably a near-fistfight with Jake, Nog begins to open up and live again. His dependence on his cane diminishes and he and Vic begin planning to expand the lounge into a casino. Ezri tries several times to get him to return to the real world but he insists he just needs time to recover, and Vic seems to have matters well in hand. Too well, in fact. Being active 26 hours a day is a new experience that the hologram is enjoying. Finally, he realizes he can't keep Nog there forever and when Nog refuses to leave, he deactivates his own program. When Nog cannot get it running again, the Chief explains that if Vic doesn't want to start up he won't. Vic confronts Nog in the empty holosuite and gets him to admit that he's terrified of a world where he's no longer confident of his own invulnerability. This confession allows him to step back through the holosuite doors and into the land of the living once again with the knowledge that while he is scared, it will pass.

Analysis

They're on a roll with this season. The only real disappointment has been Covenant. I found this an excellent episode and I didn't really expect to, with its focus on secondary characters, mainly Nog and Vic...who was in danger of becoming overused, but the character is handled so well in this episode that I found myself hoping for more Vic in the future. DS9 ventures even further into uncharted territory of drama and continuity with its realistic and affecting portrayals of the horrors of war, which started seasons ago but really came to a head earlier this season with "The Siege of AR-558." War is no longer a sanitized, remote event on this series. It's a nonstop, grinding reality that affects every man, woman and child it touches...and sometimes leaves them crippled in both body and spirit. A character we know well was seriously injured, and he didn't recover instantly with a smile. He suffered serious emotional consequences, as would anyone who'd been through his ordeal. His self-chosen holosuite therapy was an intriguing fusion of Barclay's old cathartic Musketeering and Vic's straight-talking, buck-up-little-camper approach that worked so well for Odo. I do wonder at the message, though...Nog's trained counselors were unable to help him whereas a worldly- wise layman who did nothing but provide a catalytic environment was just the ticket. It's probably a reflection of our own culture's overemphasis on therapy, when we could all, in the words of Crocodile Dundee, probably just use a few more mates.

The episode is genuinely affecting. The Ferengi family hug at the end had me misty, I kid you not. Nog's emergence from his depressive cocoon at Vic's was completely believable, though his revelation at the episode's end and his sudden willingness to leave the holosuite was too abrupt. Nor did the episode, with its poo-poohing of counselors, dump all over Ezri. In a great exchange, she slyly conveys to Vic that he's getting too involved with Nog without coming right out and saying "Hey, bub, time to kick the kid out." And of course, the music was terrific. I enjoyed it immensely...and the punchline, that Vic's program will now run 26/7, was just the right kicker. The station needed a permanent place to hang out besides Quark's.

The episode also gets my automatic 0.5 ratings point bonus for being a Worf-Free Episode (TM).

One last note: The continued emphasis of Julian and Miles' fascination with the Alamo will have future implications, mark my words. Given the fate of the Alamo I'm trying not to read too much into it...or the fact that in an earlier episode, Odo played the part of General Santa Ana.

Rating: 9.5

Memorable Quote

Leeta: Are you all right?
Nog: No. But I will be.

"You showed me what it means to have a life. Now I'm returning the favor." --Vic

Classic Scene

I'd say Nog's puzzlement over the end of "Shane" was a sly injoke. It's an argument that has kept film buffs going for decades. I also enjoyed the wardroom scene where each crewmember dumps on one of Julian's holoprograms, with his indignant interjections of "Hey!"

Sexually Slanted Line 'O the Episode

"You never know when a lady might need a light." --Vic. Come one baby, light my fire.

The O/K Status Report

Neither appeared for more than five seconds.

Special Alerts

1