Day 27: DS9, Necessary Evil

Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine

Episode Particulars: S2EP8, “Necessary Evil”

 Summary: On a dark and stormy night (yes, I’m serious), Quark is called down to Bajor by Mrs. Vaatrik (Katherine Moffat), a woman who used to work at DS9 during the Cardassian occupation. She wants Quark to retrieve a box for her that was hidden in the panels of her late husband’s shop, for a reasonable price. Quark does so, but can’t resist opening the box, which contains a list of Bajoran names. Before he can make a copy for himself, he’s attacked and nearly killed, and Odo is assigned to figure out what happened. Making things more complicated is the fact that Mrs. Vaatrik is a figure from Odo’s past; during the occupation, Gul Dukat “hired” Odo to look into the murder of her husband, and Odo strongly suspects the two incidents are related. Basically, the episode is half-flashback, half-modern day, and 100% enthralling to watch.

Standalone Thoughts: I’m kind of in love with this episode. Much like yesterday’s episode, it includes tropes I’m fond of—in this case, film noir and murder mysteries—but it also provides backstory on some of the characters, which in turn gives the writers more material to work with later down the line. Mix in a good female character (Kira) and throw in a small scene with Bashir that shows him at his best, and it’s basically all I could ask for. All it’s missing is a cat, Garak being sly, and maybe a guy in a nice suit.

In the interest of fairness, though, I’ll admit that when I put my bias aside, the story can be a little shaky. The acting, atmosphere, and new character information are all great, but if you try to follow the story as a murder mystery, it doesn’t hold up as well. We start with a robbery and it looks like it’s going to be another Quark-centric episode, then Quark gets incapacitated and we realize it’s an Odo story and involves a cold case, then Kira shows up in the flashback which distracts us even further, and it all just kind of blends together so we lose track of the original point. There’s not a lot of tiny clues that the audience can use to figure things out on their own, some of the important clues are just handed to us instead of letting us see them being discovered, the revelations are understated, and the very ending and reveal of the murderer is a surprise, but not necessarily in a good way. Plus, nothing’s really done after the reveal; I understand why, but it still makes the end of the episode fall flat. It’s absolutely worth watching, but I wish it could have ended just a little stronger.

How it Relates to the Whole: As I said, the backstory we get here will become relevant later on, mostly for Odo and Kira but also for Dukat as well. We also get our first hint that Rom, while not smart in the intellectual sense, has a lot of technical know-how that will eventually be expanded upon. Finally, I’d be willing to argue that some of the groundwork is being laid for a relationship between two of the characters, though it’s still in its very early stages. Well done and ties into the overarching narrative—no wonder I like this episode so much.

Other: *I really have to give it up to the technical guys this time around; they did a fantastic job. The cuts between the present day and the flashbacks are great—the first one in particular is perfectly timed. The lighting, sound effects, and smoke in the air really sell the idea that DS9 used to be a horrible place to live/work, and it’s hard to believe that it’s the same set we see in every episode.

*On a related note, the costuming for Mrs. Vaatrik is amazing. If the intent was to be reminiscent of outfits from the 20’s and 40’s (as an homage to murder mysteries), then they absolutely nailed it;

That rant on ugly Federation fashions is still forthcoming, but today, they did good.

*If anybody tells me that Rene Auberjonois’ delivery of “Oh, there was one other thing” was not an homage to the Columbo TV series, I will call them a liar. His voice changes too much; it has to be deliberate.

Best Line/Exchange: I’ll admit that this line sounds way better when spoken, but hopefully you’ll get the idea in writing as well;

Odo (dictating a security log): In this job, there is no unfinished business. This assault on Quark reopens a five year old murder case that I’ve never, not for a moment, closed. Patience is a lost virtue to most; to me, an ally.

If writer Peter Allan Fields was going for a hard-boiled, pulp detective novel feel with those lines, then I’d say he got it about right. Auberjonois reads it just right too, sounding a little tired and bitter. Noir really couldn’t ask for a better tribute.

After the Fact Update: I won’t be questioning anyone’s honor today; it turns out that not only was the Columbo thing deliberate, but Peter Allan Fields wrote a lot of Columbo episodes, though he doesn’t say whether or not throwing in a “just one more thing” was intentional or not. Auberjonois, on the other hand, does say he changed his line delivery on purpose to pay homage to the show. Well done on all fronts, there.