Plot – Sometimes the serialised nature and how they made things up as they went along bit DS9 in the ass…but most of the time it yielded real fruits and the idea of Dukat having a previous relationship with Kira’s mother is possibly the best ‘soap’ bombshell moment in the whole of Trek. It makes perfect sense of his obsession with her in the past and it is just about the most loathsome thing that Kira could ever imagine. In storytelling terms, it is pure gold.
Heading back to the Occupation of Bajor is always a worthwhile experience because it was such a violent and painful time and that automatically makes for gripping viewing. Kira is barely back for two seconds and knives are being wielded, children are being threatened and she is engaged in a fistfight. When people are hungry and desperate they will do anything to survive.
This might be the only episode of DS9 that handles rape in such an open manner. Yes, you heard me correctly. This a Star Trek episode about enforced prostitution. These women are scooped up from their families, dumped on a space station, told to scrub themselves clean, and then hand-picked by sleazy, horny Cardassian officers and have to pamper their egos and pretend they are enjoying it whilst they are being abused. It’s the most shocking interpretation of what happened during the Occupation. This is exploitation of the most reprehensible manner. It doesn’t make for easy viewing – especially in one scene where an officer is literally gnawing away at a woman’s neck as though he is trying to devour her. It’s like she’s prey.
Character – Kira is so well defined at this point (she has had six seasons of character dramas to sketch her in) that the best way to show new colours is to take what we already know and give it a fresh spin. She has always had an idealised version of her mother and to have that snatched away and much uglier one put in its place doesn’t sit easy with her. Pro-active as ever, she determines to find out which version of the truth really happened. You just have to watch the horror on her face when she is reunited with her mother after being taken away by Dukat. How easily she has slipped into the lifestyle of comfort that he has offered her. Kira’s instant reaction is hate – her mother and the man she loathes for everything he did to their people – and her desire to see her punished and killed is very natural. It’s almost self-destruction, Kira hating herself because she was created by this woman. The real suspense of the episode comes at the point where the assassination is about to take place…can she go through with murdering her?
A very slight but enjoyable development that has emerged in season six is the warmer relationship between Quark and Kira. She’s always distrusted him (with good reason) and thought he was disgusting (with good reason) and for a while I wondered if they would ever find common ground. But since he showed an ounce of bravery and helped to release her from the holding cells when the fate of the entire Alpha Quadrant hung in the balance she has shown a kinder side to herself to him. Their brief exchange at the beginning of this episode suggests that they are on good terms, if not friends.
I wish there was enough time to get under the skin of somebody like Basso, a Bajoran who has sold out to the Cardassians and abuses his own people to get by. I would love to know what makes him tick. However, it seems very believable that such a man would exist and so I am glad he was included.
Performance – Marc Alaimo was given some wonderful chances to be oily. I would have suggested that this was his best episode in that respect until he was transformed into a Bajoran and seduced Kai Winn. He’s insufferably smug when he calls Kira up in the middle of the night and drops his surprise about him and her mother having a relationship. I swear he lives for these moments. Dukat of the past is a disarming man as well as a ruthless dictator and he knows how to play mind games with the comfort women to make it appear as though he is a knight in shining armour. There is nothing charming about a man who would have a woman deliberately exploited so he can leap in and save her but given he is the hero in his own story you can see why he would want to present himself that way.
Production – It does not surprise me that the director of this episode is more famously known as a director of photography because he crafts every image of this piece with real care. The lightning is especially atmospheric throughout but if you watch carefully Jonathan West is always keeping things visually interesting. Certain images; the sunlight streaming through Maru’s hair, Kira staring into the swirling colours of the Orb, are like paintings.
Best moment – It’s worth noting that the opening scene of this story features two strong women characters talking about another woman. Trek is acing the Bechdel test at this point.
I also really like Kira’s spaz out in Ops, where it seems everybody comes these days to have a coffee and catch up with gossip. She’s in a particularly bad news because of Dukat’s bombshell but actually this is a worthwhile moment to have in any workplace where people lean in too much on the social aspect and not enough on the professional. Every Star Trek show displays this and so it’s nice to see somebody snap everybody back into line.
The scenes between Kira and the sleazy Cardassian Officer are brilliantly handled because they are very wittily scripted and enjoyable to watch…but at the same time he is constantly pawing at her skin and essentially telling her he can make her do whatever he wants which is deeply uncomfortable. It’s a fascinating mix, discomforting and amusing.
Worst moment – I’m in two minds about the Orb of Time. It some ways it does the show a massive favour because it means we can get to the time travel with a ton of incomprehensible technobabble or outrageous scientific excuses. You can get to the numb of the drama by a wave of the hand. On the other hand it is such a simplistic plot device that could do such catastrophic damage to established history it seems odd that such a device is completely outlawed. Sisko’s ‘excuse me?’ is right on the money when Kira suggests a causal jaunt back in time to see if her mother was fucking Dukat.
I wish they hadn’t done that – I want to be better than finding the scene where Kira meets herself as a little girl really cute…but I’m not.
The ending is pleasingly ambiguous. It invites you to make up your own mind. Was Meru a traitor for what she did? Did she betray her husband? Was she just making the best out of a bad situation? Would you have thought less of Kira if she had killed her mother? So many questions unanswered simply because there are no easy answers. Classic DS9.
A reason to watch this episode again – Forced prostitution, terrorism, attempted matricide…this is one of the lighter DS9 episodes out there. This is far from the strongest episode of season six and yet it is still an absolute powerhouse of character drama, a sign of just how strong the show was at this point. Kira goes through her worst nightmare and learns a lot of things about herself in the process. It’s astonishing that even this late in the day they were still bleeding such developments from the regular cast. It’s a quiet Occupation episode but it’s a very thoughtful, disturbing one.
**** out of *****
Clue for tomorrow's episode:
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