Day 159: DS9, Prodigal Daughter

Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine

Episode Particulars: S7EP11, “Prodigal Daughter”

 Summary: O’Brien has gone missing after going to the Sappora system to check in on Bilby’s widow, still feeling responsible for what happened in “Honor Among Thieves”. As it turns out, Ezri’s family lives in that area, and Sisko asks her to ask her mother Yanas (Leigh Taylor-Young) to help, especially since she’s in a position of some influence. Yanas agrees, but only if Ezri comes for a visit. She hasn’t been home in three years, and we can see why; Yanas isn’t particularly maternal, which resulted in Ezri leaving home, oldest brother Janel (Mikael Salazar) throwing himself into the family’s mining business, and middle son Norvo (Kevin Rahm) feeling adrift and uncertain about himself. To make matters worse, while Ezri’s navigating these difficult waters, there are increasing hints that there may be trouble with the Orion Syndicate. Just what someone who’s still getting used to the symbiont inside her needs.

Standalone Thoughts: I think this episode can be summed up as “good idea, mediocre execution”. Giving us some of Ezri’s background is a fine concept—after all, she deserves it as much as all the other characters. Furthermore, tying it into a pre-existing storyline is a good excuse to fit that background in. But the end results are decidedly mixed.

While the overall problem with the episode is that it’s another case of an episode that has very little connection to the Dominion War plot, the more specific problem is that I don’t think the episode succeeds at the goal it was going for. In theory, it’s supposed to be a story about a dysfunctional family, and possibly explaining some of Ezri’s personality. And to give both the writers and actors credit, they do try to show as well as tell us this. Certainly Leigh Taylor-Young manages to play Yanas as an overbearing, passive-aggressive kind of person, and you can see how living with someone like her could mess a person up. But for all that, something doesn’t quite click. Ezri doesn’t need to have this background; being joined with the symbiont and being unprepared for it is enough to explain her uncertainty. Making her come from a bad home situation just seems like adding insult to injury.

Even leaving that aside, it just feels like three-quarters of the episode is family drama that’s being discussed but not explored. Ezri rarely seems to be talking to all of her family at the same time, so it feels like both she and the audience are getting exposition dumps instead of anyone really taking any steps to resolve anything. Then the bits of the story that are about the Orion Syndicate come along, and they don’t entirely connect up to the rest of the story. Yes, the last few minutes of the episode pull it all together pretty well and actually has a bit of an impact, but mostly we just seem to be watching a strained family, and that’s not particularly entertaining. I can only imagine how it would feel if your own family has similar dynamics…

This is far from the worst episode of the show or the season, but it’s not great either. Unless you really like Ezri, it’s probably safe to skip. Which is too bad; Ezri deserves better than this, in multiple ways.

How it Relates to the Whole: While this is a followup to “Honor Among Thieves” and gives us a glimpse into Ezri’s background, the episode doesn’t really have a long-term impact, although I will accept the argument that it may be laying some groundwork for one small part of the finale. On the whole, though, it’s a character episode that’s not bad but could have been better.

Other: *Not much caught my attention today. About the only thing that was noticeable to me was that Ezri’s non-Starfleet outfits are actually…nice. Not pretty or noteworthy enough to mention in the fashion roundup, but they actually looked like something I’d wear during day-to-day living. Sure, the pants appear to be made of velvet, but that’s not necessarily weird. In fact, given some of the outfits I’ve been showcasing these last few months, that’s downright normal.

Best Line/Exchange: I’m on a more serious quotes kick, it seems;

(Ezri and Norvo are talking about Norvo’s art and artistic skills)

Norvo: I’m not very good, Zee. I never was. All of this, it’s an indulgence, just like my other hobbies; poetry, music. I can’t…concentrate. My mind wanders. I don’t have the discipline it takes to succeed.

Ezri: Those are Mother’s words. (sits down beside him) I know because I’ve heard them too. She wasn’t right about me and she’s not right about you, either.

Thankfully, I have very supportive parents, but I know there are people who can relate to this exchange. And even if it’s not coming from their parents, I’m equally sure we’ve all had those moments of doubt where we question ourselves the way Norvo does. Ezri’s reassurance, therefore, is also comforting, even if we can’t relate to it directly. If she can succeed despite both internal and external doubts, then we can, too. That’s probably not the intended message to take away from this episode, but it’s a good one nevertheless.

After the Fact Update: I was incredibly relieved to discover that apparently the entire writing crew thinks this episode was a mess. It started out as a Sisko story, then the writers realized they didn’t have any concepts past the teaser, and they were two weeks away from shooting. Then they decided to do a story about Ezri’s background, and someone suggested that Ezri’s family was part of the Orion Syndicate, that Ezri had left to avoid the “Family business”. Then they thought it was a little too dark, so they scaled back, but by that point, they were close to shooting, so they just had to take what worked and run with it. They acknowledge O’Brien’s involvement doesn’t work, that the plot feels kind of like a soap opera…the director even says this doesn’t feel like a DS9 episode. And I’m just happy that I seem to be in complete agreement with everybody.