Day 157: DS9, Covenant

Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine

Episode Particulars: S7EP9, “Covenant”

 Summary: Kira receives a visit from Vedek Fala (Norman Parker), who helped instill faith in Kira during the Bajoran Occupation. He offers her a gift, but when she opens it, it turns out to be a transporter that whisks her away to Empok Nor, which has been taken over by the cult of the Pah-Wraiths. Even more astonishingly, Dukat is the one in charge of the cult. He’s brought her here in an attempt to sway Kira to his side, but for a wide variety of reasons, that seems very unlikely. It’s much more likely that she’s going to spend her time trying to get the rest of the group to come to its senses.

Standalone Thoughts: I’m not entirely sure what I think about this episode. On the one hand, it’s fairly engaging, and it explores the concept of contrasting faiths in a way that doesn’t feel too preachy. On the other, it’s pretty forgettable once you finish watching it. The big thing you take away from the episode is that Dukat is in charge of a Pah-Wraith cult, has convinced his followers that he’s amazing, and wants to try to convince Kira of his sincerity. Sure, there’s a bit of soap opera involving a baby that stands out, and the ending heads towards a pretty dark place, but the bulk of the episode can be summed up as “Dukat and sometimes Vedek Fala try to convince Kira that believing in the Pah-Wraiths is the true way, while Kira resists.” It’s interesting in the heat of the moment, but it all kind of blends together in your head after the fact.

Furthermore, if you’re watching this episode for the first time, it’s probably going to feel like “Once More Unto the Breach”; an episode that at best is tying up a loose end and at worse serves no purpose and is taking time away from resolving the Dominion War plot. It’s slightly better on a rewatch, but it stills feels like something that would have been better to scatter throughout the episodes (Dukat calling up DS9 to taunt Kira or Sisko, or possibly annoying the Dominion), rather than dedicating a whole episode to it. Maybe I’ll feel differently once I reach the end of the show, but right now, the episode is mostly kind of blah. And even if it turns out to be massively relevant, I’m probably still going to think a whole episode wasn’t necessary.

How it Relates to the Whole: In addition to a return to Empok Nor and an unexpected callback to “Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night”, the episode’s main contribution to the remainder of the season is firmly establishing Dukat’s connection to the Pah-Wraiths, which will be playing a major part in the season finale. It might not seem like much right now, but trust me, this is going somewhere.

Other: *Only one observation today, but it’s one that kind of bugged me. One of the arguments Dukat uses to try to sway Kira is that part of the reason he started believing in the Pah-Wraiths was when he got possessed by one in “Tears of the Prophets”, and that she can’t understand what that felt like. Except, she can; she was possessed by a Prophet in “The Reckoning” and the dialogue suggested it was by her own choice. But this is never brought up, either to have Kira dismiss his claims or for her to actually reflect on her own experience and wonder if Dukat might be telling the truth. I’m honestly surprised the writers didn’t go there, since it would have brought something new to the argument and maybe even brought in some of DS9’s trademark grey morality. Given the other callbacks they made, this seems like an odd oversight.

Best Line/Exchange: Most of the conversations didn’t really stand out to me, which meant I once again fell back on my standbys of humor and/or sarcasm;

Kira: Well, it makes sense these people would choose you as their leader. They worship evil.

Dukat: The Pah-Wraiths are not what you think, Nerys. And neither am I.

Once again, we have Dukat making a bit of a meta-commentary on his overall characterization (see also “Return to Grace”), and Kira’s dislike for him manifesting as snark, which is something that will almost always make me smirk no matter the circumstances.  Sure, such a thing can be overused or particularly inappropriate, but I think it works here. Or maybe it’s just that Nana Visitor is really good at delivering her lines. I approve of this particular exchange either way.