Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine
Episode
Particulars: S6EP11, “Waltz”
Standalone
Thoughts: For the most part, this is a decent episode. Sisko and Dukat’s
interactions are pretty compelling, and Brooks and Alaimo play the roles well.
Sure, both of them nibble on the scenery here and there, but given that Dukat’s
clearly meant to be unhinged, Alaimo shows remarkable restraint, or at least
makes Dukat’s madness feel natural to the scene instead of being over-the-top.
Furthermore, Dukat’s justification of his treatment of the Bajorans is very
easy to map onto how the Jews were regarded and treated in WWII, but unlike in “Duet”,
it doesn’t feel like we’re being preached to. For that alone, I’m willing to
give the episode some points. All that being said, Sisko’s stance on Dukat that
comes out near the end of the episode baffles me, and therefore leaves me
unsure what to think about the episode as a whole. As a result, beware of SPOILERS in the next paragraph.
As the episode goes on, Sisko gradually realizes that
Dukat is unhinged. He’s seen Dukat talking to thin air, and he knows Dukat had
a breakdown after Ziyal’s death. So the fact that he concludes at the very end
that Dukat is “truly evil” doesn’t entirely make sense to me. I can understand
Sisko thinking that Dukat is deluded into thinking he’s a hero, and I could
completely understand it if he called Dukat dangerous, because he is. I can
even understand if he considered Dukat to be evil. But “truly evil” seems a bit
much, especially factoring in Dukat’s mental state. Isn’t it possible that some
of the things Dukat said were the product of his current warped way of viewing
the world, and that he might not necessarily think that way if he was of sound
mind? It just doesn’t seem right to peg the man as pure evil, given that he’s
suffering through some difficult physical and mental conditions.
SPOILERS OVER. I’ll
grant you that I’m not always able to pick up on some of the nuances, so it’s
entirely possible that my issue actually makes total sense to everyone else and
I just didn’t get it. In which case, I’d be happy to hear other people explain
what’s going on, and then maybe I can appreciate the episode in its entirety.
For now, though, I’ll probably rank it somewhere in the upper middle of the
season, where it will probably remain. I may not consider it one of the greats,
but it’s definitely fairly strong, and has allowed Season Six to remain pretty
high quality so far. Let’s hope that can be sustained.
How it Relates to
the Whole: This episode mostly exists to set Dukat in a new direction. It
also sets up the dramatic event that’s going to close out the season, and Sisko’s
last line winds up predicting the events of the show’s finale as well. So even
if it’s a little baffling, it’s unquestionably a very important episode, though
one which is much more significant after the fact. Though now I’ll be curious
to read the DS9 Companion to see if
this was planned or not…
Other: *The
lighting and camera people went overboard in the opening scene, pairing Sisko’s
ominous monologue about Dukat with numerous cuts of Sisko walking purposefully
down hallways and filling the frame with shadows. The words and Sisko’s
expression speak for themselves; you don’t have to make everything portentous.
*I really don’t
like the fakeout the episode pulls by making it look like the Defiant spotted Sisko’s distress signal
the moment he activated it, only for that to turn out not to be the case ten
minutes later. Sure, it adds some tension at first, but it just annoys your
audience in the long run. The scenes between Sisko and Dukat would have been
enough to sustain the episode without the fakeout; having the Defiant on a time limit is more than
enough external conflict.
*I couldn’t help but notice that the cut on Dukat’s
forehead that I spotted in “Sons and Daughters” appears and disappears
throughout the episode. Like I said, I normally don’t notice or mention
continuity errors, but the fact that it appears on one of the most prominent
parts of the Cardassian makeup makes it hard to ignore. I just feel like that’s
the one place where the makeup crews
should really focus on to make sure everything looks right.
Best
Line/Exchange: It was hard to find an exchange that both stood out from the
rest and wasn’t too spoilery. Which
ultimately left me with this;
(Dukat is talking
to a hallucination of Damar)
Dukat: No. I
won’t do it, not yet.
Damar: You’re
wasting time.
Dukat: It’s my
time to waste, Damar. Remember your place.
Damar: I mean
no disrespect, you know that. But without you, the war will be lost, and
Cardassia will lie in ruins. Don’t let this one man stand in the way of your
final triumph.
Dukat: I have
to know that he respects me. I think I’ve earned it.
Damar: Of
course you have. He’s just trying to deny you the satisfaction of hearing him
say it. You know in your heart he secretly admires you. Isn’t that enough? Kill
him and be done with it.
I think this exchange is probably the most important one
in the whole episode, because it informs all of Dukat’s actions from that point
forward. It becomes obvious that he’s trying to lead Sisko in the direction he
wants—giving Dukat the respect he craves—and his later rant about Bajor matches
the statement Damar (who’s probably representing the ego) makes that Dukat is
essential to the war effort. Even if I still don’t fully understand Sisko’s
perspective, at least we know what’s going on from Dukat’s point of view, so we
won’t be completely lost. Which I’d say is particularly important in this case.
After the Fact
Update: There was no comment in the DS9
Companion on whether the writers had plans for Dukat at this point in time.
And it does at least explain a little what their intent was, though I don’t
think they pulled it off entirely successfully. But as I said, maybe that’s
just me.
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