After a string of really strong episodes you had to figure they would eventually fall down a bit, but fortunately this one doesn't fall too far. It is actually really nice to see the writers acknowledge that not every species in the galaxy would exist in the same conditions as humans, honestly it is only due to budget constraint/laziness that they are so common. Knowing a few people with mobility challenges it seems like a realistic portrayal for her to both be quite able and also a bit resentful of everyone always trying to make accommodations for her.
The episode opens with Bashir preparing a wheel chair for a new crewmember, Melora Pazlar, the first of her species to join starfleet. This is especially momentous since her species come from a planet with much lower gravity so in everywhere she goes she has to depend on either a wheel chair or special braces other than her quarters where she can turn down gravity. She arrives walking through the corridors with her braces and a walking stick but objects strongly when she learns Dax will be accompanying her on her first flight into the gamma quadrant. In Quarks we see Quark negotiating the sale of some rare artifacts but he is visibly shaken when he sees a Yridian walk in. It seems the Yridian and Quark had some sort of deal 8 years earlier and the Yridian has been serving a jail sentence ever since when things went wrong. Before leaving he promises to kill Quark.
Melora arrives for briefing the next day and snaps at everybody for first talking about her and then for not trusting her on the mission alone. Bashir follows her to her quarters afterwards and after some initial bickering he asks her out to dinner. At dinner he is impressed with her knowledge of Klingon and of Klingon food. Quark tries to go to Odo but I guess he is still mad about Quark selling out the station in the last episode and refuses to help. The next day Dax shows up at Melora's quarters to meet her for the mission. She isn't there and when Dax finds her she is collapsed helpless on the floor where she had tried to get some equipment for the mission. Julian escorts her to her quarters after treating her and mentions that he is aware of some research on a technique that could grant her to ability to walk in normal gravity. She is interested and invites him in to try out her low gravity. In the infermary she arrives and they try out the new treatment. It seems to have worked but the effects are temporary for now and she has to turn her braces back on at ops. He mission with Dax goes well though.
On the station the Yridian confronts Quark again but rather than be killed Quark negotiates giving the money from the sale of the artifacts for his life. The Yridian agrees and they meet the buyer in an airlock, but after the money has traded hands the Yridian pulls out a gun and shoots the buyer. He takes Quark hostage and they end up running into Dax and Melora and taking them hostage as well. To escape the stations tractor beam the Yridian shoots Melora but Sisko stalls long enough to give chase in another runabout. After they make it to the gamma quadrant Melora recovers enough to turn off the gravity and then easily defeats the Yridian in zero-g combat. Back on the station she has dinner with Julian and explains that she doesn't want to continue with the treatments since they make her less of who she has always been. He understands and even though the episode ends with them still together in theory we never hear from her again.
Review: The parallels with the story of the little mermaid would have probably been a bit obvious even if Dax hadn't brought them up and it is a fair comparison I think. It might have made more sense if it had been a human who had brought it up, but that hardly ruins the episode. The only real point against it is the disappearance of Melora at the end.
6 out of 10
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