For the first time in a while this felt like an actual episode! You know, the kind of thing that has a beginning and end within a single sequence of on screen content. I know I complain about this a lot in the other episodes and mostly it just seems like they should have spread some of them out a bit more, but at least this one works well on its own. Well, not quite on its own, it does resolve the Section 31 plot along with the changeling disease plot. It teases that it may resolve the Ezri/Julian tension, but we don't get that this time. I think the initial parts on Sloan's mind were a bit much, but overall it held together pretty decently.
We begin with Julian telling Odo that unless he finds a cure soon he Odo won't have long to live. Odo then tells Kira that he needs her to go on fighting and to leave him alone. He doesn't want to see her in pain as he dies. She isn't happy about it, but leaves after giving him a kiss. Later in Sisko's office O'Brien lets slip that Section 31 is behind the disease that Odo has contracted and after some hesitation Bashir tells him that it is clear that the disease was engineered to kill all the founders and Odo was infected to transmit it to them. Sisko is horrified at the prospect of Starfleet using a genocide weapon and the topic turns to what they are going to do about it and Julian explains his plan to tell Starfleet medical that he has found a cure. Once Section 31 sends an agent Bashir plans to capture them and use Romulan mind probes to find the cure. Sisko only wants to know when he is going to send the message and Bashir says he already has.
That night O'Brien finds Bashir has broken into Quark's to play darts. Julian explains he had started reading A Tale of Two Cities, a book he has started many times but never finished, but this time he can't make it past the first page. He is nervous about Section 31 and the next morning his fears are justified as he wakes to find Sloan in his room. He is prepared though and Sloan in a confinement field and then shoots him with a phaser on stun. Sloan wakes up lying in a containment field, but when he learns of the Romulan mind probes he activates a brain scrambler to kill himself, but Julian manages to stop it. The only way to get the information now is to dive directly into his mind and find it there. Julian gets it set up with Miles' help, but when the time comes Miles insists on coming along.
Inside Sloan's mind they are first greeted by Sloan, but then another version of himself shows up and kills the nice version before he can give away the secret. They are shot by another Section 31 agent and it really hurts. Before giving up though they try to go through one last door but are awakened on the tables they set up. Sisko is there and is disappointed they can't find a cure. Julian tells Odo who seems to have accepted his death. That night they Julian calls Miles to his quarters. He started reading A Tale of Two Cities again only this time it starts repeating itself right where he had gotten to on his furthest attempt. They realize they are still in Sloan's mind and race to the room they almost got to. Sloan is there, but instead of trying to stop them from getting information it is all there on PADDs. He tempts Julian with his secret knowledge and almost pulls it off, but Miles gets him to leave with what they have. The cure works and Odo is saved!
Review: A good pay off to Section 31, although it might have been more impactful if they had started on that plot earlier. It is very counter to what Gene saw as his vision for Star Trek though so maybe that had an impact on their willingness to tell a story with such a grim view of Starfleet.
8 out of 10
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