DS9: “Dramatis Personae”, “Duet”, and “In the Hand of Prophets”

Date: June 13, 2020

Season 1, Episodes 17, 18, and 19

Musical Accompaniment: Pirates of the Caribbean music, from Ambient Worlds

Interstellar News: I made a giant vat of marinara sauce, my Grandpa Freddy’s famous garlic meatballs, and cried a lot about technology not working today. Also, I FINISHED SEASON 1… in a WEEK!

Favorite Quote from “Dramatis Personae”:

Kira: I know that none of us were really responsible for our actions, but I feel like I owe you an apology.

Sisko: For attempted mutiny.

Kira: Well, yes.

Sisko: I think we’ll let it go. This time.

Kira and Sisko have such a great chemistry as work partners.

So what had happened in “Dramatis Personae” was…: Kira and Sisko are at odds over a Valerian ship docking but are interrupted by a Klingon ship coming through the wormhole early, the ship exploding, and the sole surviving crew member who beamed over says “Victory” and then also dies. Quark and Odo are talking when Odo literally flips inside out and wakes up fine, but Bashir is acting strangely. In fact everyone is acting strangely and taking sides, it’s the Bajorans vs. the Federation – though not everyone is divided so evenly.

Odo figures out that some telepathic archive the Klingon brought on board is causing everyone (but him because, well, he doesn’t have a humanoid brain) to reenact a power struggle, so he cons Bashir into developing the cure in order to get a “leg up” on the others. Odo then plays the other two sides like a two-dollar banjo and, once everyone is in Cargo Bay 4, he activates the solution and spaces the energy matrix. Oh, and Sisko built a clock… maybe that will be important later.

…”Welcome back, everybody”: This entire episode I kept going “this is not okay” or “that’s weird” until I started to catch onto what Odo was doing. I realized that Odo is basically Data who saves the station because he’s not a humanoid. Clearly the beings who populated the universe in “The Chase” were wrong to do so because humanoids are susceptible to all kinds of ridiculousness. Also, more of the ship should have been effected but there weren’t as many people in the cargo bay… or did they deal with them later once senior ops were under control. Everyone did such a great job acting differently than their usual character, and I actually liked this Bashir a little better. I didn’t quite understand what Dax was doing, but O’Brien is absolutely the man I want on my side if I’m choosing. Everyone went a little manic and I totally bought the conspiracy mindset they were all thinking. Also, Quark gets thrown into the bar by Kira and it was fantastic… poor Quark. Props to Odo who earned himself at least 6 hours in his bucket for this one, he skillfully played them all.

Favorite Quote from “Duet”:

Marritza: I have to be punished. We all have to be punished. Major, you have to go out and tell them I’m Gul Darhe’el. It’s the only way.

Kira: Why are you doing this?

Marritza: For Cardassia. Cardassia will only survive if it stands in front of Bajor and admits the truth. My trial will force Cardassia to acknowledge its guilt. And we’re guilty, all of us. My death is necessary.

Kira finally understanding why he’s doing all of this.

So what had happened in “Duet” was…: A freighter hails DS9 as one of its passengers requires medical attention for Kalla-Nohra, a disease so rare it could only be contracted if after a mining accident at a labor camp named Gallitep. Kira goes to pay her respects, having liberated the camp and seeing the aftermath, but finds a Cardassian named Marritza and holds him for war crimes as the horrors of war return to her. Sisko goes to find out who this man really is but Bashir proves Marritza is lying. Sisko’s in an awkward place between Bajor and Cardassia but allows Kira to take charge in interrogation.

The background investigation shows the man resembles Gul Darhe’el, the Butcher of Gallitep, but a deeper probe shows he really was just the file clerk Marritza who finally couldn’t stand the guilt of being a bystander. He put his affairs in order, had plastic surgery to look more like Darhe’el, and flew to DS9 in order to be captured and pay for his crimes. Kira, thankfully, knows they need more Cardassians like him if the two sides are ever going to move forward. Unfortunately, on his way out, Marritza is stabbed by a Bajoran who is of the opinion that being Cardassian is crime enough and punishable by death.

…”Nothing justifies genocide”: So the guy who plays Marritza/Darhe’el is the same man who played Judge Wexler in Ghostbusters II (which I have made reference to a bunch over TNG and now DS9) and he plays his part BEAUTIFULLY in both the movie and this episode. He has me, and Kira, believing that he’s just some innocent Cardassian clerk and then that he’s an infamous Gul until he ultimately breaks down that he just feels someone should own up and tell the damn truth. This was such a powerful episode for so many reasons. We see that, in war, there aren’t always the “good” and the “bad”. Kira is asked how many Cardassians she killed, soldiers or civilians, and she doesn’t answer but explains her people were just defending themselves. It really thrusts me into today’s conflict with all that the Black community has gone through, yet some people will only ever see the color of their skin and not what is underneath. Humans, Bajorans, and Cardassians come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life, they aren’t all inherently evil just because one country invaded the other.

While Kira and Marritza dominate most of the screen time, the others help move the story along to see if it’s just Kira not being able to see past her prejudice or if it’s really something more. Odo plays Gul Dukat just as easily as he played the senior officers last episode in order to see some paperwork, Sisko handles everyone to make sure this thing doesn’t get out of hand, and Bashir provides the medical surety that is needed to prove who the Cardassian is. I absolutely hate how the episode ended, but understand why it did. In fact it drives the point home more for Kira that now she needs to think about healing and not just being mad at Cardassia forever. This deserves a 10, but I’m mad at the ending still so it’s 9.5 containers of vodka sauce. The ending, however, will not stop me from adding it to my ongoing list of favorite episodes and other ranked things.

Favorite Quote from “In the Hand of Prophets”:

Bareil: The Prophets teach us patience.

Sisko: It appears they also teach you politics.

Sisko is sassy to whomever he pleases, thank you very much.

So what had happened in “In the Hand of Prophets” was…: Keiko is teaching her class about the wormhole when Vedek Winn comes into her class and says Keiko is teaching blasphemy. There’s the whole “separation of church and school” argument that happened (and still happens) here in America. Keiko refuses to back down as she’s not prohibiting religion but it seems religion won’t tolerate education.

O’Brien and Neela are looking for a tool and happen to find it and their missing Ensign reduced to a puddle in one of the tubes. Bashir finds the Ensign was killed and O’Brien finds odd security holes. There’s an explosion at the school, thankfully no one is hurt, and Vedek Bareil comes to try to unite the two sides. We find out it’s all a ply by Winn, who has Neela working for her, and Neela attempts to assassinate Bareil. Kira, who knows everything, figures it out and realizes the Bajorans need to do a little more give with the Federation.

…”Be careful who you share your jumja with”: What turns out to be Keiko giving O’Brien shit and keeping him on his toes was actually a very perceptive bit of foreshadowing that you should always check your assistant’s work. As a teacher I completely understand Keiko and back her up. I was raised Catholic so I went to Sunday School on top of my K – 8 public education. I learned my religious stuff on Sundays and my life stuff throughout the week and if I needed to reconcile them I discussed with my parents or friends. I was sent to Catholic High School, which was ridiculous, and didn’t feel like there was as much diversity. It makes sense as public school give you a broad view of the world and private school zooms in to the one view that they like best. I’m also glad that Kira saw right through what was happening and it eventually led to a better understanding between her and Sisko. I also loved that I got a real season finale and not a cliffhanger of various strength. A bit of a rocky first season, but I enjoyed it and this episode… 7 jumja lollipops.

TA Out!