DS9 – The Adversary

 

Plot – I can remember thinking at the time that I really can’t have been paying too much attention to DS9 because I had never heard of the Tzenkethi before. Turns out nobody had. Or if they had it must have been some obscure reference. I rather like the idea of a Trek show having a race we know nothing about at the centre of an episode. Funnily enough, we still don’t know anything about them by the end of the episode – we never quite make it into their space or see what they look like. Why should the universe be so small that only the big powers of the Quadrant are the focus of all the stories?

Character – Does a Star Trek show have to be commanded by a Captain in order to be taken seriously? According to a certain section of Trek fandom, apparently so. They would be delighted by the events at the beginning of this episode and although I was pretty nonplussed about it at the time, I can now see that this was a real turning point for Avery Brooks. From this point on he was able to create his own look and command with authority and style. The episode opens with Jake saying that he has been wanting to say something for a very long time and I was wondering if it was going to be ‘let’s get out of this dump.’ It is a fact that Kirk, Picard, Janeway and Archer all start their respective shows as Captain’s and some of them even make it to the exalted position of Admiral before they leave the franchise but Avery Brooks’ Sisko goes on a far more elevating journey of Commander to God. It’s fully justified in my eyes. Although given how O’Brien sucks up to him in this episode you might think that he has already reached that status. It’s great how Sisko mentions that his rank really doesn’t change anything because he already has the assignment and crew that he wants. The rank doesn’t make much of a difference.

Sisko describes Kassidy as very independent, a little opinionated and with a nice sense of humour. Oh mate, you haven’t seen anything yet. It’s great that important aspects of the show are simmering here; Sisko’s relationship with Kassidy, Eddington getting close to Sisko, Dax earning her stripes as the biggest gossip in town, the changelings stepping out of the shadows…

The hyper paranoid Bolian should have been a recurring character but he should only show up in episodes where he is questioning everybody around him. Homefront. Empok Nor. The Assignment. The Darkness and the Light. Field of Fire. He could be the sign that we’re in for a scary episode.

Standout Dialogue – ‘I don’t have time to play choose the changeling!’

‘He said you’re too late…we’re everywhere.’

Performance – Avery Brooks, freshly promoted, is really authoritative. There’s no doubt who is in command of this ship.

Production – Can DS9 turn out the Trek equivalent of The Thing? Throw in some influence from The Hunt From Red October into the mix and you have one of the most atmospheric Berman era episodes yet. It’s a chance to explore the Defiant in a lot more depth than has been possible before and a whole new bunch of sets is conjured up to make it a believable setting, and drenched in shadows and bathed in red light it becomes a claustrophobic, submarine-like environment for the changeling to stalk about in. The Thing elements come in the shape of the extreme paranoia that everybody feels knowing that the Changeling could be anyone or anything and whilst the shapeshifting special effects are a little ropey 20 years after transmission, the fact that I am only saying ‘a little’ is something of a miracle. Some of the Enterprise CGI landscapes make me want to dive under the sofa in embarrassment. The morphing effects can be excused because they look rather stylish…and well who is anybody to say that that isn’t what a morphing changeling looks like?

The camera is in on the joke that the changeling can hide anywhere and at times crawls along the sets in a menacing way suggesting that it is sneaking up on the members of the crew. In the middle sections of the episode the music dares to get loud, dramatic and exciting. Berman must have been having a fit.

They get to do the blood test sequence twice and wring every ounce of tension out of the idea. I love the close ups on everybody’s faces as they are being performed, as though everybody is expecting it to be everybody. The first time around it is especially tense because Julian has been behaving suspiciously in the bowels of the ship so we are waiting for him to spring and make his move. It’s almost a disappointment that it turns out to be the one person who is fresh to the crew, but it does confirm that there is a changeling in their midst which is a terrifically spooky development. Why is it that whenever there is a possibility of a traitor on board that every crew suddenly starts acting questionably? It’s a hilarious phenomenon.

Best moment – Odo is rather foolish to suggest that no changeling has ever harmed another and that he would hate to be the first…doesn’t he know how television works? When you make a promise like that, you have to break it by the episodes end. There’s a real focus on just how little Odo understands his people here and how embarrassed he is that they are causing all this trouble. It’s something the show would really go on to the exploit in the shows final four years, capitalising on Auberjonois’ considerable talents as their black sheep. He has to make a terrible choice at the climax and with this being DS9 it has huge consequences for Odo to come. I don’t care how awkward the FX shot of Odo grappling with the changeling is, it’s a really dramatic, grisly death and his parting words to Odo with a smile make it all worthwhile. They really are sick bastards, dishing out threats in their dying breath. Nobody conveys hurt like Auberjonois and his reaction to the murder he is forced to commit really hits home.

The look that everybody gives each other over the ward room table as Odo reveals the changeling message is worth the admission price alone.

A reason to watch this episode again – This is peak DS9, at the point where it was really finding its voice and the actors had become massively confident in their roles. The Dominion was slowly invading the show and becoming its life blood and this outer space chiller is where that is all cemented. Claustrophobic, moody and dramatic, The Adversary wants to make the idea that a changeling can be anyone or anything the most chilling of ideas and that one of their number can cause a huge interstellar conflict. It’s basically laying the groundwork for the rest of the series. This being DS9 with its flawed, grungy crew it isn’t long before the fireworks start and they are all turning on each other. I love the fact that there are several trained killers on the crew so when the shit hits the fan like this you know that they are capable of really looking after themselves. It adds an extra layer of frisson to the tense moments. You have the political ramifications of the changeling starting a war, the personal threat of the crew being in imminent danger and the emotional threat to Odo at having to protect his family at the expense of his people. I think it was at this point that I think the writers and actors realised they were really onto something. It’s a tense finale and doesn’t feel the need to end the season on a false moment of jeopardy but instead to linger on the threat of much more danger to come. This is a stylish episode and one to savour.

****1/2 out of *****