Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine
Episode
Particulars: S4EP16, “Accession”
Standalone
Thoughts: I’ll give this episode credit; it’s a message episode that
doesn’t go overboard on the preaching. It handles the subjects of religion and
caste systems fairly well, pointing out the difficulties with the former and
the problems with the latter and never having a big “this is wrong” speech. It
also explores Sisko’s relationship to the Bajorans and the concept of returning
to a caste system after everyone’s gotten used to doing whatever job they wish
in an interesting way, so the episode definitely holds your interest. The
problem is that the ending is tied up a little too neatly. I’m not sure how to
improve it—a physical fight doesn’t seem appropriate, and having Akorem be an
imposter is an even bigger cop-out—but I feel like there could have been a
little more conflict and tension before the resolution.
Upon reflection, maybe some of the problem has to do with
the way Akorem was written. I think the writers were trying to go for a
well-intentioned man who was making a bad decision, but the problem with that
is it doesn’t make for dramatic television if he’s a fairly reasonable man. An
easier way to have their cake and eat it too would have been to bring in Kai
Winn, who is mentioned in the episode as supporting the caste system
wholeheartedly. That way, she could do all the “villain” work, and maybe thrown
in a little more tension. You wouldn’t even have to change all that much. But
maybe Louise Fletcher wasn’t available, so they had to make do with what they
had.
As for the subplot, while there’s nothing wrong with it
on the surface, it does remind me all over again of my issues with Keiko. It’s
not as bad here as in episodes like “Fascination”, but she still comes across
as not really offering a lot of give-and-take in her marriage. When O’Brien
tries to get romantic with her, she puts the kibosh on it because she still has
samples to catalogue. Yes, she probably does still have work to do and is two
months pregnant besides (which might make her less inclined to want sex), but
O’Brien hasn’t seen her in months and hasn’t been living with her long-term for
nearly a year. At the very least, she could apologize and say she’s not feeling
up to it. Instead, it feels like she’s blowing him off. Furthermore, the big
conflict here seems to be O’Brien feeling like he needs to always be there for
his family, but wanting some time to be with his friends. In a normal
relationship, O’Brien and Keiko would talk about it, and figure out a solution
that both of them were satisfied with. But no, Keiko resolves this situation by
resorting to trickery. Sure, it’s humorous, but it doesn’t really speak well of
the relationship in the long term. And from what I remember, it’s not going to
get much better.
I also wish the writers had found a better way to bring
in Keiko’s pregnancy. While the dialogue suggests she got pregnant during a
one-day visit to the station, the last time we actually saw her was in “Fascination”,
which was at least several months back in-universe. I do approve of little
things that suggest that the characters have lives even when we’re not watching
them, but when we haven’t actually seen Keiko for a while, then discover that
she’s two months pregnant, we can’t help but wonder despite ourselves about the
nature of the pregnancy, which I highly doubt was what the writers intended.
Saving the pregnancy announcement for a few episodes later and implying that it
happened shortly after her return from Bajor (maybe even in this episode) would
have fixed the problem. And the conflict of this episode could still exist,
since the pregnancy aspect doesn’t really tie into it. It just makes a lot more
sense this way, though obviously, there’s nothing we can do about it now.
This isn’t a bad episode, but it’s one that works less
and less the longer you think about it. It’s also one that’s fairly
forgettable; if you’re not watching regularly, the details will probably be
gone from your head within twenty-four hours. Not all the episodes can be
winners, but I do think a little tweaking could have put this one on par with
the other episodes I’ve seen lately. Still, it doesn’t feel like a wasted
opportunity, so it’s not as big a disappointment as I’ve made it look. Faint
praise, perhaps, but it’s the best I’ve got at the moment.
How it Relates to
the Whole: While the situation in this episode was neatly resolved, I think
this may be the first episode that’s actually really doing something with Sisko
as the Emissary. One line in particular sounds very much like the writers were
laying the groundwork for things that would come up in the last season. Of
course, that may be me reading too much into it because I know where things are
going, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
The other thing of note is Keiko’s pregnancy, which will
wind up providing a subplot through the fifth season. It’s not going to make a
huge impact on the story, but it’s still worthy of being mentioned.
Other: *There’s
a nice bit of worldbuilding in the early scene where Akorem is explaining what happened
to him. He thinks he’s only been gone a few days, and when Sisko asks him the
year, he says its 9174. The audience might double take for a moment, but it
actually makes sense; Akorem is from two hundred years ago, and the Bajoran
calendar was probably very different then. Heck, the Bajorans may still use it,
while the Federation sticks to the Gregorian calendar (and they may even have
given that up, given that we get
Stardates instead of actual dates). It’s a little thing, but I appreciate the
detail.
*I can’t be positive, but I think Akorem has been
mentioned before. The names of his poems sound familiar, though I can’t
remember what episode they came from. If I’m right, then this is a good example
of the writers taking a bit of background information and expanding on it, and
I’m just sad that I didn’t remember it so I could put it in my “How it relates
to the whole” section. But I’ll have to read the DS9 Companion to be sure.
*When Worf learns Keiko is going to have a baby, his
response is a horrified “Now?” It’s
amusing enough when you think he’s taking it literally, but then O’Brien
explains to Bashir (and the audience who hasn’t seen or doesn’t remember TNG) that Worf was forced to deliver
their first baby thanks to the Enterprise
being damaged, and Worf’s line becomes doubly funny. It’s a nice continuity
nod, and is even better because it makes sense regardless of whether you’re
familiar with TNG or not.
*Just before Akorem makes the big speech that kicks the
plot in motion, Kira and Odo have a discussion about faith that’s hard to
follow, but at the same time seems more deep than it actually is. From what I
can gather, Odo is arguing that it’s not possible for Sisko and Akorem to both
be the Emissary, and Kira disagrees. The discussion ends with Kira saying
“That’s the thing about faith. If you don’t have it, you can’t understand it
and if you do, no explanation is necessary.” Being an agnostic, I don’t fully
understand what she means, but I have heard similar sentiments expressed before
and can at least understand where she’s coming from. The thing is, this doesn’t
really seem like something that requires this level of theological discussion.
People thought Sisko was the Emissary, then Akorem comes along with an equally
credible claim on being the Emissary, and Sisko steps aside and lets him take
over. Because the Bajorans didn’t know about Akorem, it seems fairly logical to
me that they would see Sisko as the Emissary, then easily give the title to
Akorem based on his credentials. It doesn’t necessarily invalidate Sisko’s time
as the Emissary, it was more a matter of misreading the sacred texts. Again,
this sort of thing isn’t my area of expertise, but I don’t think this is the
contradiction Odo says it is. If someone more versed in theology wants to prove
me wrong, I’d welcome the different perspective.
*I’m not sure if this has been going on for awhile and I
haven’t noticed, but this was the first episode where I realized that the
Bajorans have a different way of clapping than Humans do. While we tend to clap
our palms together, Bajorans rap the back of one hand against the palm of the
other. I tested both ways out, and while there’s nothing actively wrong with
the Bajoran technique, it still feels off and less natural than the Human way.
But again, it highlights a difference between alien cultures, so I’m not going
to object to it.
Best
Line/Exchange: This was the only bit that really jumped out at me today
that I could properly parse (unlike the exchange between Kira and Odo from
above);
(Sisko has decided
to step down as the Emissary)
Dax: So you’re
off the hook. How does it feel?
Sisko: It
feels, uh…good. No more ceremonies to attend, no more blessings to give, no
more prophecies to fulfill. I’m just a Starfleet officer again. All I have to
worry about are the Klingons, the Dominion, and the Maquis. (sighs almost contentedly) I feel like
I’m on vacation.
While I’ve never been entirely clear on the definition of
“Irony”, I think Sisko’s lines here wind up fitting our perception of irony in
two ways. There’s the obvious more comedic irony in that he feels less
stressed, even though he’s got a lot of big issues he still has to deal with,
but as the episode continues, the lines become more ironic because now he’s
fighting to regain a position he said he wanted to give up. It’s always
interesting to find a line that works on multiple levels.
After the Fact
Update: If Akorem has been mentioned on the show before, the DS9 Companion didn’t bring it up. It
did, however, shed some light on a question I’d been wondering about for
awhile. But we’ll get to that a
little later in the season.
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