Day 55: DS9, Fascination

Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine

Episode Particulars: S3EP10, “Fascination”

 Summary: The station is celebrating the Bajoran Gratitude Festival, and merriment is in the air. Kira is delighted that Bareil has come up to spend the holiday with her, and O’Brien is eagerly looking forward to seeing his wife and daughter again after they’ve spent months down on Bajor so Keiko can work on an expedition as a botanist. Slightly less happy is Odo, who has to contend with the arrival of Lwaxana Troi, still eager to start a relationship with him. But as the festivities continue, strange things start to happen. Jake, recently broken up with Mardah, suddenly professes an interest in Kira, to both Sisko and Kira’s dismay. Dax starts coming on to Sisko despite his numerous protests. Even Bareil seems to be more intrigued by Dax than by Kira. Sisko, increasingly baffled and concerned, needs to figure out what’s going on before these various love triangles turn into something worthy of a soap opera.

Standalone Thoughts: Much like the appearance of Thomas Riker in yesterday’s episode, the return of Lwaxana Troi was probably just as much about boosting DS9’s ratings as it was about connecting it to her prior appearance. Also like yesterday’s episode, the story that resulted isn’t great, but it’s also not terrible either. In fact, it’s a concept that I might have enjoyed in a different context. There is amusement to be gleaned from having the characters acting a little odd because of forces beyond their control, and it offers an opportunity for characters who don’t tend to interact (Jake and Kira, for example) to share a few scenes together. For all that, though, the episode’s execution is a little flat. Partially because the episode sets up so many romantic entanglements that none of them really get a chance to be explored, and partially because of the one serious note in the whole episode.

I speak, of course, of the relationship between O’Brien and Keiko. It’s material like this that reminds me why I didn’t like Keiko the first time around. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, I really do, but she doesn’t make it easy for me.

Take the scene where she and O’Brien are discussing how they want to spend their evening. Looking at Keiko’s perspective, you can somewhat understand why she reacts the way she does; it was a long, exhausting flight, and she was stuck in a shuttle with Lwaxana, who fed her daughter too much candy and made her sick. And for O’Brien’s part, he hasn’t seen his wife in months, and now he only gets two days with her. He understandably wants to spend as much time with her as he can, and would be upset that things weren’t going the way he hoped. But then the scene plays out, and Keiko is incredibly passive-aggressive, shooting down O’Brien’s suggestions even though she’s the one who told him they’d do whatever he wanted to do, and then sounding like it’s a big imposition when she finally agrees to go out and watch the festival with him. O’Brien, meanwhile, is trying to accommodate her, though he can’t help but let his disappointment bleed through. Sorry, but I’m on O’Brien’s side here. It gets even worse when they have a big argument later on. O’Brien was unquestionably the more unreasonable one during the argument, but then he goes to Keiko and apologizes, even sort of groveling on the floor. Does Keiko ever verbally apologize for her actions onscreen? No. It really does feel like only one of them is putting effort into the marriage, and because O’Brien is such a nice, everyman character, I just wind up feeling bad for him. I suppose I should commend the writers for trying to write a realistic marriage, showing the arguments as well as the good times, but if you want me to believe this is a happy marriage, you have to show both sides compromising and admitting when they were wrong. And we’re just not getting that from Keiko.

That aside, the episode is ok. It probably would have been better if it had either been in Season Two, before we had the Dominion threat hanging over us, or if the writers had polished the story a little more. Still, if you want to skip it, I probably wouldn’t blame you.

How it Relates to the Whole: Well, I’ve been hinting at it for a while now, but this episode finally speaks about it openly; Odo’s got feelings for Kira. It’s a plot point that will be developed fairly slowly, but it’s a noteworthy part of the show, so I should probably acknowledge the first official mention of it. The episode also officially ends the relationship between Jake and Mardah, though that’s nowhere near as big a deal as what’s going on with Odo and Kira. And finally, Lwaxana will appear at least once more, though I don’t believe the events of this episode are referenced. In other words, pretty much every long-term development in this episode has to do with relationships. Make of that what you will.

Other: *I had to snort when Jake, moping over his breakup with Mardah, agrees to go to the Gratitude Festival, but refuses to have a good time. Sounds like a typical teenager to me.

*I cannot be the only one who winces at the name “Gratitude Festival”, right? It’s just so…clunky. It sounds like something you’d hear on a children’s TV show, or (as a family member pointed out) like a celebration in a dystopian society. Given that the Federation’s supposed to be a utopia, there’s an irony in that.

*Bashir literally tells O’Brien “I’m a poor substitute for your wife” early on in the episode. We know what he really means, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the writers meant it as a double entendre. See, it’s stuff like this that makes Bashir one of the most popular characters to pair off in fanfiction.

*When Odo says he’d like to spend time with Kira at the festival, but knows she’ll be busy as the Master of Ceremonies, Kira assures him “For you, I’ll make the time.” Interestingly, those are the exact same words Gul Dukat used in yesterday’s episode when he was telling Sisko that he’d promised his son that they’d go somewhere for his son’s birthday. I don’t know if that was deliberate or not, or what it says about the characters that they’d use the same phrasing, but it’s certainly something worth noting.

*There now appears to be a lounge area near one of the docking rings. We’ve never seen it before, and I have no idea if we’re going to see it again, but I like the idea. It’s like those sections of airports where you can wait for someone to arrive. And given that the station does have a civilian aspect to it, having a lounge area is a good idea. It feels like the show designers were trying to consider the little details, and I appreciate that.

*There’s an odd moment where it appears that Odo and Bashir are escorting Lwaxana to an officer’s dinner. It’s clearly to set up more shenanigans, but given that Lwaxana is already sticking to Odo like glue, having a second escort doesn’t make a lot of sense. Maybe it’s related to Bashir having to babysit the ambassadors back in “The Forsaken”? If so, I appreciate the touch of continuity. Otherwise, I’m just baffled.

*I do have to wonder if this episode is in any way related to the behind-the-scenes relationship of Alexander Siddig and Nana Visitor, given the passionate makeout session we see between Kira and Bashir. It just feels like this episode helped jumpstart the relationship, or they were already in a relationship and the writers thought it would be fun to let them show it on camera, at least for a few minutes. I don’t want to speculate too much into the personal lives of the actors, but when you know what was going on offscreen, you can’t help but be a little curious.

*Sisko fends off an attack on his person with the same exasperated nonchalance we saw from Neo at the end of The Matrix. This has no real bearing on the episode, but it’s a) amusing and b) a sign that Sisko probably knows how to fight. I can always get behind little beats like that.

Best Line/Exchange: This bit amused me for personal, fandom-based reasons;

Odo: So…what brings you to the station?

Lwaxana: Well, officially I’m here as the Betazoid representative to the Gratitude Festival. But the truth is, I came to see you. You poor, sweet, tortured man!

Odo (tilting his head skeptically): Excuse me?

Lwaxana: Oh, well, I know the torment you must be going through. To spend your whole life searching for your people, only to discover that they’re the leaders of that awful Dominion!

Odo: You heard about that.

Lwaxana: Odo…(touches his face) Don’t worry. I’m here to help you.
Odo: What kind of help do you mean?

Lwaxana: Oh, a sympathetic ear, a shoulder to cry on…a lap to melt in.

Odo: Ah. Well that’s very considerate of you, but unnecessary. My people are who they are, I am who I am. I’ve learned to accept that.

Lwaxana: Oh, you brave soul. Why don’t we go someplace quiet and you can tell me all about it?

Again, this might only be funny if you have any experience in fandom, but…Lwaxana is basically acting like a typical fangirl, gushing over a stoic brooding character convinced that only she can break through that reserve and help him through a difficult time. Odo, meanwhile, is acting completely in character and looking at her with suspicion and skepticism. It’s a clash between fandom and reality, and it makes me grin, even if I suspect it was completely unintentional on the part of the writers.

(And just to be clear, I’m not mocking fangirls who do this. I myself have done this. I’m pretty sure I still do it. That’s probably why it rings so true to me.)