Day 168: DS9, The Changing Face of Evil

Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine

Episode Particulars: S7EP20, “The Changing Face of Evil”

 Summary: Ezri and Worf safely return to DS9, just in time to hear that the Breen have attacked Earth. The atmosphere on the station gets a little tense as the crew prepares for the worst, though some of them try to make it better with relationships or holosuite adventures. Over on Cardassia, Damar has decided enough is enough, and works with a few trusted Cardassian soldiers to help bring the Dominion down from within. It’s a risky move, but Weyoun is so focused on his new allies that it’s a little easier than it looks. And on Bajor, Winn and Dukat start looking through the old texts on the Pah-Wraiths, trying to figure out how to release them from the fire caves and bring about the Restoration. Although I think most people would be more likely to refer to it as the Apocalypse.

Standalone Thoughts: We kind of have a reverse of the situation from last time. We still have three big plots—Damar’s resistance, Winn and Dukat’s scheming, and the Federation trying to deal with the Dominion’s new allies—but now the Dukat and Federation plots are the more interesting ones, even though they’re getting what feels like the least amount of screentime. The Winn plotline is still interesting, but it keeps hitting the same notes over the course of the episode. Winn’s aide Solbor (James Otis) is suspicious of Dukat and her desire to study the evil Pah-Wraith texts, Winn herself is somewhat conflicted, Dukat reassures/manipulates her with promises of power. It ends very dramatically in a way to catch our interest, but with everything else that’s going on this episode, the plotline either needed fewer scenes to make its point, or needed to vary up the content.

As for the rest of the content, it’s mostly good. Damar stepping up to the plate and working behind the Dominion’s back is a nice new wrinkle to the story/the war, and Casey Biggs plays it very well. And the two major attacks the Breen launch show how serious things are getting, thus raising the stakes and making a first time viewer even more nervous about how likely their favorite characters are to survive. The scenes surrounding relationships (Kasidy and Sisko learning how to live with each other and Ezri trying to sort out her feelings for Bashir) are slightly less successful, but that may just be because they feel like distractions from the bigger plots. Still, it’s good to have lighter moments or moments that focus on the individual characters, so it’s not worth complaining about.

Even if it still doesn’t wholly feel like the breakneck pace I remembered from the finale the first time around, things are slowly ramping up to that point, which provides its own excitement. Fortunately, I don’t have to wait several weeks to see how it all turns out.

How it Relates to the Whole: Damar’s intentions have been made clear, Winn and Dukat are one step closer to accomplishing their goal, and the Federation is in another round of the “darkest before the dawn” portion of the war. We’re definitely poised for things to get really serious, and if my memory serves me correctly, it’s going to begin tomorrow.

Other: *While I don’t think it was intentional, I find it amusing that Damar cautions the Breen to never turn their backs on Weyoun, because we were told in “By Inferno’s Light” that there’s a saying that goes “Never turn your back on a Breen”. Is it too much to hope that they’ll backstab each other…?

*I’m normally totally on board with matte paintings and the like to establish location shots—some of them can be gorgeous in their own right—but I think this is pushing it;

That is clearly a black-and-white/slightly colorized picture of somewhere in Europe (I’m thinking Italy). It’s impossible to believe as an actual view, especially when characters are up close to it like this. I know you have to make do with what you have sometimes, especially on a limited time or budget, but there had to be a better way than this.

*At one point, Solbor says to Winn “He who studies evil is studied by evil.” I like that, because it’s a nice rephrasing of Nietzsche’s “When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you” without being an obvious riff, like when Quark used the “I Have a Dream” speech in “The Search, Part II”. It also stands to reason that various alien races have come to the same conclusion over the centuries. After all, good and evil is universal.

Best Line/Exchange: I gravitated towards this one both because it was humorous, and also because it kind of spoke to me personally;

(Worf and Ezri are watching Bashir and O’Brien make battle plans over a model of the Alamo)

Worf: Are you certain he is the one?

Ezri: I’m not certain about anything. (sighs and smiles slightly) But he is handsome…

Worf: You deserve more than handsome. He gets excited playing with toys!

Ezri: He knows how to have a good time! Besides, it’s not exactly a toy; you heard the Chief, he spent hours making that.

Worf (looks at her and sighs faintly): I see it is hopeless to try to reason with you.

Speaking as someone who has been known to develop serious crushes on characters/actors, I know exactly what Ezri’s going through here. You’re attracted to them, and in that first flush, you excuse a lot of their odd or bad behavior. I’m pretty sure Ezri was me the first time I watched DS9, and that’s both reassuring and embarrassing. At least I’ve been able to be a bit more objective this second time around…?