An episode entirely about relationships, only on DS9. Well, I guess the B story about Quark is only half about relationships, the rest of it is about profit. I didn't remember the details of my last watching, but the entire time they were talking to Captain Cusak I kept thinking that it wasn't going to turn out well. Side note: I am pretty sure this is the first appearance of the shuttlepods on the Defiant. I may be wrong but they seemed new. (I cheated and looked it up, this is the first appearance of this type of shuttlepod, someone literally stole the previous version.)
The episode opens with the B story. Odo is in Quark's telling Quark that he needs to replace his barstools with ones that have backs. Quark manages to plant the idea in his head that he needs to do something to celebrate his one month anniversary with Kira. Meanwhile on the Defiant they have detected a distant distress call, and since this is TV they are of course the only ship within range. At first they can only hear the voice of the injured woman trapped on a barely survivable planet so they head that way at high warp. Eventually they manage to get through to her and learn she is Captain Cusak, last survivor of the USS Olympia. Her ship had been on a long distance survey mission and on their way back encountered a planet with a strange energy field. They scanned the field which destroyed their ship. She was the only survivor making it away in an escape pod, but getting trapped on the planet below.
The main story is all about the various crew members talking to her in shifts since she has nothing else to do. She manages to get them all to open up about the stress they are under because of the war. Back on the station Quark, with Jake observing to learn about real crime for a story, gets Odo to agree to take Kira on a date for their anniversary in a holosuite. And while they are busy he arranges a few covert business deals. Back on the Defiant things aren't going well for Captain Cusak. She ran out of the drug she needs to survive the thin atmosphere (the same drug McCoy allegedly gave Kirk to help him fight on Vulcan in Amok Time.) They drain their phaser reserves of energy to get there faster.
On the station Quark has all his deals perfectly timed to happen while Odo is in the holosuite so of course Odo changes the day he is going on his date. Quark is distraught since it is too late to reschedule. But Odo overhears this and realizes Quark has actually done him a bunch of favors that helped him get with Kira so he changes his date back to the old time without telling Quark why. The Defiant arrives and sends a shuttlepod down to rescue Cusak, but when they search the cave they find her body, her three years dead body. They hold a wake for her back on the ship and it is real bonding moment for the crew. It even gets Sisko to open up with Kasidy about their relationship problems.
Review: A good character episode, but also kinda bland. I am going to put this right in the middle of the quality scale. Most other Trek shows wouldn't have episodes this character driven and if they did they wouldn't work.
5 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment