Day 98: DS9, The Ship

Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine

Episode Particulars: S5EP2, “The Ship”

 Summary: While examining a planet in the Gamma Quadrant, Sisko and a small crew are startled when a Jem’Hadar ship comes into range and then crashes into the planet. All the crew were killed on impact, so the team immediately starts investigating it, hoping they can repair it enough to bring it back to the Alpha Quadrant. Things get more complicated when another Jem’Hadar ship shows up, blows up the runabout, and forces the team on the ground to take shelter inside the ship. While O’Brien divides his time between getting the ship up and running and looking after an injured crewmate, Muniz (F. J. Rio), Sisko discusses matters with the Vorta Kilana (Katlin Hopkins). It soon becomes obvious that there’s something on that ship that the Dominion wants, and it’s the only reason they aren’t openly attacking the ship. And thus begins the race to figure out what it is they want before that balance of power shifts.

Standalone Thoughts: While this episode is kind of a mashup of several genres, I’d say it works on the whole. You’ve got a horror movie feel when they first explore the downed ship, then something like a ticking clock thriller, and there are bits of character drama with a psychological element scattered throughout. But the one thing they all have in common is heightened tension, so the shift from one to the other is noticeable, but not distracting.

Plus, the rest of the material is pretty solid. The lighting really sells the cramped environment the crew is stuck in, the conflict goes in interesting directions for the most part (more on that in a second), and above all, the acting is exactly what’s required for the situation. I particularly want to praise Rio, because while it’s not immediately obvious, Muniz is kind of the most important character in this episode, which is rare for a guest star. Yet he sells the role convincingly, first simply as a character and then as an injured person who’s rapidly deteriorating. Thanks to him, the rest of the actors have something to really play off of, and we get to learn more about their characters as a result. Even Dax gets a little something, when we see that she resorts to snarky comments under stress. Basically, 99% of the episode is good. Not enough to be in my top five, but still good.

As for that one percent…it doesn’t drag the episode down, but it does cheapen things a little. Without spoiling anything, the characters come right out and deliver the message of the episode in order to drive the point home. Cut out or change one conversation, hell, one line of dialogue, and I think it would have been much better. The writers could still have gotten the idea across without it, either with different dialogue or just with body language. In short, this is very much a case where they should have listened to the writer’s mandate of “Show, don’t tell.” But at least that’s just a brief stumble rather than a complete derailment, so I’ll just comment on it and hope that this isn’t a trend going forward.

How it Relates to the Whole: We learn a little about how Jem’Hadar ships work, which will come in handy round about the sixth season (in fact, this very ship may wind up being involved). On a broader, less tangible note, the episode has a vibe that I think becomes a little more common as the show goes on, a combination of heightened stakes, genuine loss, and tough conditions. Which may be part of the reason why I liked the show so much.

Other: *One little detail I appreciate about the episode is that we have two obvious aliens (as in, they have more effort put into their makeup than just a few prosthetics) in Starfleet uniforms, one of whom is an ensign in charge of the runabout while Sisko’s on the surface. It’s a good reminder that Starfleet isn’t entirely populated by the small handful of races we regularly focus on.

*When the crew is first investigating the broken ship, they encounter several burst pipes that are leaking smoke everywhere, and they just keep walking right through the smoke without even breaking stride. I guess their tricorders would have told them it was safe to do so, but given how wary they were, you’d think they’d have exercised just a little more caution.

Best Line/Exchange: One exchange jumped out to me right at the beginning (as in, before the credits even started), so that’s probably as good a choice as any;

O’Brien: How many times to I have to tell you to stop calling me “sir”? I’m not an officer.

Muniz: Well, you know more than they do.

O’Brien: Well, I wouldn’t go that far. But I do know more than you, so listen to me while I try and teach you something.

At first blush, this is just a fun bit of banter. Looking back at it once you finish the episode, though, it’s a good, efficient way to make us care about Muniz and his relationship with O’Brien, since a good chunk of the episode revolves around that. There’s also a brief callback to this moment, when Muniz calls O’Brien “sir” and he doesn’t react to that because he’s too worried about Muniz’s condition. So while I first chose it for the banter, I’m sticking with it because it’s plot related. Can’t ask for much better than that.