Day 28: DS9, Second Sight

Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine

Episode Particulars: S2EP9, “Second Sight”

 Summary: On the fourth anniversary of Wolf 359 and Jennifer Sisko’s death, Sisko takes a walk around the promenade at night and runs into a beautiful woman, Fenna (Salli Elise Richardson), who flirts with him and then disappears when Sisko turns his back on her for a second. He’s intrigued by her, but he only gets to see her sporadically, both because she seems to disappear whenever things get too personal and because he’s working with the terraformer Seyetik (Richard Kiley) to reignite a dead sun which would allow an entire solar system to flourish. Still, Sisko does what he can to find out more about the mystery woman, which proves both easier and harder than he thought; Seyetik’s wife Nidell is a dead ringer for Fenna, though she has no memory of ever meeting with Sisko. What comes next is a very strange love triangle, with just a hint of technobabble thrown in.

Standalone Thoughts: There’s not a lot to say about this one. You know the moment that Fenna disappears in the teaser that she’s probably not a normal humanoid lifeform, so you spend most of the episode waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then the reveal happens quickly and with only the barest amount of explanation, and it all gets resolved a little too neatly (though I suppose I should give the episode some credit for being willing to go in the direction it did). The episode isn’t even supplemented by good character beats, so the whole thing’s just kind of bland all the way through. About the only thing worth mentioning is that Kiley does play Seyetik with enough boisterous charm that you wind up liking him despite him being full of himself, but it’s all superficial without a lot of depth. I don’t hate the episode, but it’s not one I’ll ever choose to seek out again.

How it Relates to the Whole: I don’t think this episode is relevant to anything in the grand scheme of things. It’s opened up the possibility of Sisko getting a love interest later down the line, but I don’t think that should count, because in TV shows, pretty much everyone has the potential of getting at least one romance episode. No, this strikes me as another fluff episode, not terrible but inessential to the DS9 experience.

Other: *I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that Sisko starts developing feelings for Fenna on the anniversary of his wife’s death. Obviously, he shouldn’t mourn her forever, and the episode even opens with him ruminating that he feels a little guilty that he almost forgot about the anniversary. But it just feels too…calculated, I guess, something that’s deliberately done by writers to make a symbolic point.

*Epileptics beware; the introduction of Seyetik contains a massive amount of strobe lights. I’m not even sure why they were there in the first place, which makes their appearance puzzling (and to some, annoying or dangerous) rather than interesting.

*Is it really appropriate for Jake to be telling a story about how a classmate of his threw up when he and his father are sitting at the dinner table? That just seems like a recipe for disaster, or at least a loss of appetite.

*Seyetik says that “nothing worthwhile was ever created by a pessimist”. Sisko counters with a few names, including Vincent van Gogh. Seyetik’s response? “Look at their work! Dark and dreary and dismal.” Really, Seyetik? You think this is dark, dreary, and dismal? I know what he’s trying to say, but the writers probably should have chosen a better example.

Best Line/Exchange: Once again, I have to go to the only line that jumped out at me;

Seyetik: A great terraformer needs the green thumb of a gardener, the eye of a painter, and the soul of a poet. And of course, it doesn’t hurt to be a raging egomaniac.

(Everyone laughs)

Kira: Which makes you eminently qualified.

Seyetik: Of course! (laughs)

I mostly like this because of Kira’s clearly sarcastic comment, while Seyetik doesn’t seem to be aware that she just insulted him. There’s fun to be had when two characters are talking at cross-purposes, and that’s showcased nicely here.