This is a really clever episode that unfortunately drags a bit in the middle. The set up about Julian being worried about aging and getting put into a coma hallucination is great. Him figuring out that the station in the hallucination is actually him, fantastic. Him wandering around trying to get various parts of his mind to help him fix the "station," that part kinda dragged. The ending is well done and the wrap up with Garak is really good. I also really like how this episode continues to foreshadow Julian's status as an augmented person, it would have been nice if they could have worked this out earlier, but at least it didn't just happen in the episode where it is revealed.
We begin with Garak and Bashir having lunch together and discussing Julian's upcoming 30th birthday. Garak doesn't understand why he isn't excited to be aging as age is a sign of dignity and power among Cardassians. Quark and a Lethean approach and Quark tells Bashir the Lethian is looking to get bio-mimetic gel, but Julian refuses to help. Later Bashir finds the Lethian in his office, when they see each other the Lethian grabs him by the head and blasts his brain with psychic electricity or something. Bashir wakes up in the infirmary with the lights flicker. Communications are out, the computer is out, and he suddenly has gray hair. He makes his way onto the promenade and it is also dark. Quark is cowering in his bar and something is throwing chairs. He heads to security and runs into Garak. He notices he is hearing voices in the distance, but Garak doesn't seem to hear them. They agree to split up and search for survivors. Julian heads into the core but the lights start going off and he is trapped by a forcefield as the Lethian charges at him. He escapes into a turbo lift and makes it to the wardroom where Dax, Kira, Odo and O'Brien are planning.
The four of them aren't themselves, but they agree to start working on repairing the computer. The rest look on as Miles works on the communication. He detects a signal but it is Dax talking about Bashir being in a coma and he realizes the truth, he is the only real one there, the rest are part of his mind. Dax gets grabbed by the Lethian and suddenly Julian is playing tennis on the promenade with Garak. Then he is in the infirmary with Sisko but he also gets grabbed by the Lethian. Bashir is aging more and more rapidly and runs into Quark taking bets on which organ will fail first and kill him. Garak is then having a birthday party for Julian and he realizes that Garak is actually the Lethian. He also realizes he is safe from him, but has to complete the repairs. They head to the infirmary and the Lethian can now only try to taunt him into thinking he will fail. Julian fixes the computer, puts the Lethian in a quarantine and orders the computer to sterilize him. He wakes up in the actual infirmary. Back at lunch Garak first hassles Bashir for not trusting him, but ends with, "there's hope for you yet."
Review: An episode with pronounced highs and a few not so great lows, but overall a good one. I am going to add a point for the subtle setup to the augment storyline, not sure how long the wait will be until it arrives.
7 out of 10
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