Day 35: DS9, Shadowplay

Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine

Episode Particulars: S2EP16, “Shadowplay”

 Summary: While there is unquestionably a main plot here, this episode is more of an ensemble show in practice. In the big plot, Dax and Odo have gone to the Gamma Quadrant to check out some unusual readings, with Odo mostly coming along for the ride in hopes of learning more about where he came from. The source of the readings comes from a device in the middle of a village, where it turns out that people have been mysteriously disappearing. Odo offers to help, in the process forming a bond with a little girl, Taya (Noley Thornton), whose mother was one of the people who disappeared. Meanwhile, back on the station, Sisko is encouraging Jake to get a job working with O’Brien so he can parlay that into his application to Starfleet Academy (an unexpected bit of continuity from a throw-off conversation in “Paradise”), Vedek Bareil comes to the station and interacts with a flustered Kira, and Quark is, of course, up to something. There don’t seem to be many high stakes in this episode, but that’s okay; the relaxed atmosphere just makes it feel like everything’s going to end up just fine. And as long as there’s at least a little conflict, there’s nothing wrong with that.

Standalone Thoughts: For all the multiple storylines cutting into each other, this is actually a decent episode. It’ll never be one of the all-time greats, but it’s entertaining and lets most of the characters get some attention and development, so I can’t complain too much. The “main” plot follows some familiar tropes and gets a little convoluted at the end, especially if you start really trying to dig into how it works, but on the whole, it’s fine, and Auberjonois does an excellent job of selling the emotions of the situation if not the technobabble side of things.

Sadly, while almost all the characters get to do something to show off their characters, the weak link in the chain continues to be Dax. I actually thought we were going to get a Dax episode that was about her at the start of the episode, because we opened with her making a log entry and then watched as she gossiped about the relationships taking place on the station, before starting to probe into Odo’s love life. At last, I thought, active character development! Not the greatest character development, but development nevertheless. Instead, once they beam down to the planet to investigate, she’s mostly reduced to talking technobabble and gets overshadowed by Odo. I’m not necessarily too bothered by this, because Odo is a great character, but it continues to highlight just how little the show is really doing with Dax. Now that Bashir finally seems to be getting sorted out, she’s taking the “weakest character” slot, and I’m not sure when she’ll finally pull out of it, if ever.

How it Relates to the Whole: There’s actually a lot in here that you can connect to the rest of the show. Another mention of the Dominion, Kira’s relationship with Bareil, Jake trying to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up…there’s plenty of small developments there. If you’re feeling generous, you can also argue that a discussion about holograms will one day relate to a plot development later down the line. There’s still some seams showing—the village doesn’t react to Odo in the way one might expect, given what we find out later—but after a long spate of one-off episodes, I’m glad to see us moving forward again.

Other: *Bashir is the one person in the ensemble who doesn’t really get anything to do this episode. I forgive this, however, because in his one appearance, Kira asks him to spy on Quark for her. Had we actually seen him follow through on that, I feel like we’d have just watched him screw up, asking all the wrong questions and being totally obvious about what he was doing (in addition to this being in character for him, I just feel like his attempts would be played for comedy). I also forgive this because Bashir mentions that “Garak has been lecturing me on surveillance techniques, this’ll give me a chance to try some of them out.” And as should be abundantly clear by now, any mention of Garak is just fine by me.

*What on earth is that facial expression, Kira?

You look like you’re in disbelieving awe, not stunned disapproval, as the dialogue in this scene suggests. Granted, she’s supposed to be attracted to Bareil and that’s probably factoring into it, but even so, it’s not a look you see on Kira often, so it’s a little jarring.

*Credit where credit’s due; Odo does another “just one more thing” moment while investigating the missing people, and it feels in-character and not like another homage to Columbo. I guess the DS9 Companion was right when they said it fit with Odo’s personality.

Best Line/Exchange: In an episode filled with character beats, I wind up going for the cutest one;

Taya: And then the great Minra said to the evil changeling, “Maybe you can turn into a mountain, or a Gherger Beast, or a tornado, but those are big things, and big things are easy. I bet you can’t turn into something small, like a loaf of greenbread.” And the changeling said “Yes I can.”, and he did. Then do you know what happened?

Odo: The great Minra gobbled him up.

Taya: How’d you know that?
Odo: The changeling in your story wasn’t very smart.

Taya: Could you turn into a loaf of greenbread?
Odo: I suppose I could.

Taya: Show me.

Odo: And let you gobble me up? I don’t think so. (scoffs)

It’s just really sweet to see Odo playing along and forming a bond with Taya, especially since he seems to be enjoying himself. I like seeing the softer side of him, especially since it does feel like the soft side and the “tough security” side are natural parts of his personality. Kira/Nana Visitor is probably the acting MVP of the show so far, but Odo/Rene Auberjonois is definitely a close second. It’ll be great to see these two keep growing and developing.