18. Dramatis Personae

Summary

Kira is upset with Sisko after he refuses to allow her to detain a cargo ship she suspects of running arms to the Cardassians...at least not without proof. A Klingon scout ship returns prematurely from the Gamma Quadrant and promptly explodes just as the first officer is evacuated to Ops, but he dies on the transport pad with the word "Victory" on his lips. While in Quark's trying to determine what the Klingons' mission was, Odo suffers a strange attack that renders him briefly unconscious, to Bashir's puzzlement. It soon becomes clear that the crew are behaving strangely. Kira becomes even more aggressive than usual, Sisko turns distracted and bored, Dax becomes flaky and nostalgic, O'Brien becomes paranoid and Bashir turns political and Machiavellian. Odo seems to be the only one who notices anything amiss, and his alarm increases as it becomes more and more evident that Kira is planning some sort of mutiny against Sisko. He learns that the Klingons were exposed to some kind of telepathic matrix and that before their ship exploded they had been engaged in a similar power struggle to the one he sees unfolding before him, leading him to deduce that the Klingon who beamed over brought the matrix with him and infected everyone in Ops, except himself...without a humanoid brain he's immune. He enlists Bashir's help and finds a way to expel the telepathic matrix. Kira makes her attempt, Sisko and O'Brien escape, but Odo manages to trap everyone in a cargo bay through subterfuge and some force field manipulation. He frees them from the matrix and opens the bay doors, sucking the matrix into empty space.

Analysis

I gotta say, I love this episode. It's a fun sort of role-playing psychodrama with everyone stepping into what is supposedly a totally new persona...the kicker is that each person ends up with what is really just an exaggerated version of their own real personality. Kira really is aggressive, O'Brien really is obsessively loyal, Sisko does have other things on his mind all the time and Bashir really is an observer of sorts. What I like is the random elements that the telepathic matrix introduces...Sisko designing and building a clock, Dax's frequent lapses into reminiscence, that sort of thing...and the scenes of Kira trying to gain Odo's support are a hoot and a half. Through this minefield Odo maneuvers like a pro, playing everyone like a violin (especially Bashir) and visibly supporting both sides while he secretly works to rid everyone of the matrix. One thing that disturbs me...Dax's "altered" personality, giggly and somewhat absent-minded, bears a bit too much of a resemblance to what her character actually ended up being. An amazing coincidence? You be the judge.

Rating: 8.0

Memorable Quote:

Kira:  I just feel I should apologize.
Sisko:  For attempted mutiny?
Kira:  Well...yes!
Sisko:  I think we'll let it go.  This time.
Classic Scene:

The two scenes in Odo's office where Kira, wanting Odo on her side (as everyone does), tries to sway him by rather ostentatiously flirting with him, are absolutely priceless. Lounging in his chair with her legs up on his desk and purring "Constable" at him...gee, a little subtlety is usually called for, Kira.

Sexually Slanted Line 'O the Episode:

"I want satisfaction!" --Quark (yeah, yeah, don't we all)

The O/K Status Report

Aside from the aforementioned telepathically-induced flirting, no developments. Although the fact that Kira, albeit unconsciously, showed no qualms about turning on the sexual charm with him might be significant. Or not.

Special Alerts

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