It is really odd how they decided to start this super serious, dark episode with a gag about Quark rigging the com units and replicators to produce ads for his bar/casino. From there it pretty directly transforms into a story about a people cursed with an uncurable disease for disobeying the Dominion. But Bashir doesn't believe in a no win situation so he returns to the planet even after learning that his electronic instruments are making the disease worse. Luckily for him he doesn't need them though since he had already created a vaccine, it just didn't work on patients not in utero. Probably my favorite part of the episode is the Trevean, the local who assists blight victims in having a comfortable death is totally down for Bashir's cure after it works rather than being a caricature who can't accept a change, even such a good one.
The episode opens with a bit of silliness, Quark has modified the stations systems to display ads for his bar on all the com screens and in the form of talking cups whenever a beverage is replicated. Kira isn't amused, but she has business scouting in the Gamma Quadrant so she leaves him to fix it. While scouting in the Gamma Quadrant they detect a distress beacon. Dax and Bashir beam down to investigate and find a ruined city. All the people have lesions on their bodies and they are approached by a woman with inflamed lesions who begs for help. Bashir scans her, but he doesn't have what he needs to help her. Dax locates a hospital and they take her there. She is taken to Trevean who emerges a minute later. A man thanks him for the comfortable bed and warm meal before drinking a poisonous compound and dying in front of them. Bashir is horrified by Trevean explains they weren't always like this. The Dominion gave them the blight as punishment for defying them and while there is no cure he provides a comfortable death for those who have quickened, the final stage of the illness before death.
Outside the hospital they are approached by a pregnant woman named Ekoria. She is interested in Bashir's talk of a cure and volunteers to help him in any way she can. Before they can get much further though Kira contacts them, the Jem'Hadar are approaching. Bashir talks her into sending down medical supplies and returning the following week to pick them up. They get started studying the disease from samples from Ekoria. This is a start but Bashir also needs samples from patients who have quickened, but has a hard time getting volunteers. He impresses the population by healing a boys arm, but Trevean appears and reminds the people that healing an arm isn't like healing the blight which Julian agrees with. He does get a few volunteers and fairly quickly finds what appears to be a cure.
But things start going bad pretty soon after that. It turns out the disease is programmed to mutate, and even worse it somehow detects the EM from his instruments and makes the disease extra painful. Even worse Ekoria is showing signs of the blight. Kira returns but Bashir isn't willing to give up so he stays behind while Dax heads for home. Bashir keeps trying with more primitive tools but it doesn't seem to be working. He does help Ekoria make it long enough to deliver her baby and to both their great joys, the baby is free of the blight. The cure he developed doesn't help people with the disease, but it prevents them from passing it on. Trevean is super stoked about it and asks Bashir how to make the cure which he is only too happy to teach him. Bashir returns to the station and keeps working on a cure, but it doesn't seem likely.
Review: At first it seemed like Bashir was returning to is more jerky first season persona with his freak out about Trevean helping people die with dignity, but it becomes a more nuanced trait as the episode develops. It goes a long way to show how committed to helping people Julian is.
7 out of 10
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