DS9: “The Muse”, “For the Cause”, and “To the Death”

Date: July 22, 2020

Season 4, Episodes 20, 21, and 22

Musical Accompaniment: Inspired by a recent friend’s post, I’m listening to the Fallout 1 and 2 soundtracks.

Interstellar News: It was a long Tuesday, and then it was pointed out to me that it’s actually Wednesday.

Favorite Quote from “The Muse”:

Lwaxana: Well, just don’t go do what I did. Look for someone to fix your broken heart then end up pregnant and on the run.

Odo: I don’t think there’s too much danger of that happening.

Odo is super sassy and I absolutely love it.

So what had happened in “The Muse” was…: Jake is hit on by an older woman who can stimulate the brain of artists to increase their potential, but it takes a physical toll on him. She disappears, he recovers, and he has a first draft of his novel “Anselm“. Lwaxana Troi has run away from her husband because she’s pregnant and he wants to raise the baby alone for 16 years, per his traditions. Odo studies up on local law and figure out if he marries Lwaxana she can keep the baby, so they get married and he makes an impassioned speech during the process. Lwaxana, however, wants more than Odo can give her so she returns to Betazed to give birth but promises she’ll be back.

“I’ve never worked on paper before.”: The scenes with Jake and Onaya made me super uncomfortable because Jake is just a wee lad, okay maybe he’s 18 or 19 by now but he’s still a child in my eyes and it just felt wrong and awkward in some ways. I also knew she was trouble the first moment they laid eyes on each other. It’s an interesting story to see just how talented he is and just how far he is willing to go to be great.

The Lwaxana story line was fantastic mostly for her and Odo interacting. Odo shows such compassion when she explains about her daughter, such joy when they’re playing “find the changeling”, and such vulnerability when he makes his wedding vows to her. I will say it looked like Kira was a little sad when Odo was making his profession of love for Lwaxana and I wonder if it means anything. Odo’s face is also super expressive during this episode, with great delight over feeling the baby kick and lots of love when Lwaxana decides to depart. I’m still sad for Odo because he wants to much to care for someone, but he also has zeroed in on Kira. I’m also sad for Lwaxana because she keeps finding men who love her almost, but not enough to let her be herself. I completely understand the feeling of being loved almost, but not quite what you were hoping for. It can be crushing at times. Unfortunately Jake’s story was super ick and I can’t get past that so everything balances out to 5 hours of head and neck massage for me.

Favorite Quote from “For the Cause”:

Quark: So, are you cancelling your date with Ziyal?

Garak: It’s not a date. And how do you know about that?

Quark: You’re a man, she’s a woman, it’s a date. And they are my holosuites, after all.

Quark being forgetful of other types of relationship and totally ignoring the creep factor in age difference, isn’t she only like 13? After the frontal lobe is fully developed it’s fine but before, just no.

So what had happened in “For the Cause” was…: Garak and Ziyal keep staring at each other to the chagrin of Bashir and Kira. Eventually Ziyal is able to win Garak over by pointing out they’re both outsiders and exiles. The Federation is providing replicators to Cardassia to help rebuild but there’s a rumored Maquis attack so everything’s hush hush, oh and there’s a smuggler on station. Odo and Eddington believe it’s Yates and they are correct, but it’s not that simple. Yates delivers medical supplies only but it’s really Eddington that’s the true mole as he steals the replicators and officially declares himself part of the Maquis.

“Anything else is an indulgence.”: So after the bullshit Eddington pulled they still kept him around and then they’re all surprised when he does this? He does make a good point about everyone drinking the Federation Kool-Aid and it might not be all it’s cracked up to be, as the Federation just wants everyone to be one big happy family after all – right? It’s an excellent show of character for Yates who realizes what they have is real and they could never pick it back up if she ran. It will, however, be hard for Sisko to trust her again as she lied to her face without breaking a sweat. It also shows Sisko doing the thing he does when he’s paranoid, like when he thought his dad was a changeling. Also paranoid is Garak, who is wonderful in every scene he’s in. He chastises Bashir for not paying attention, allows Kira to play the big sister, and verbally spars with Quark but the best is at the end where he realizes Ziyal just wants a friend that looks like her. I was very impressed with this episode and give it 8 shuttle runs to deliver me some chocolate cake.

Favorite Quotes from “To the Death”:

Sassy Sisko: “I’ve found nothing keeps me alert quite like a healthy fear of death.”

O’Brien: What makes you such an expert on children?

Bashir: First in my class in pediatric medicine.

Take that O’Brien!!

Dax, She’s Too Old For You Bro: “I stopped counting at 300.”

So what had happened in “To the Death” was…: The Defiant arrives at DS9 to see it has been attacked. Bashir stays behind to tend to the wounded while Odo accompanies everyone else into the GQ to chase after the Jem’Hadar that attacked the station. They find a damaged Jem’Hadar ship that has a Vorta named Weyoun and several soldiers that wants the help of the Defiant to destroy the “rebels” as well as the Iconian gateway. They do some battle drills and figure out how to work together, but their weapons don’t work when they land so they have to engage in hand to hand combat. The gateway is destroyed but the loyal Jem’Hadar kill Weyoun and stay to destroy those that were disloyal.

“A dead man can’t learn from his mistakes.”: The station is in complete disarray but we don’t get to know anything about that (does O’Brien know if Molly and Keiko are okay?) and this focuses only on the mission. Weyoun is delightful, he’s clearly over the rigidness of the Jem’Hadar and seems like he would get along well with Garak. It’s nice to have a callback to a TNG episode, especially one that Worf was present for. I thought it was humorous that the Jem’Hadar needed their fix in the same way my dog wakes up my husband at 3 or 4 in the morning because he’s hungry. The conversation between one of the Jem’Hadar and Dax about how they age, which wasn’t she around for “The Abandoned“, was hysterical. There’s an interesting mix of wonderful banter, clear cultural differences, and having to cooperate and trust those that it’s hardest to for a more beneficial cause. There’s also the great moments by both Dax and O’Brien, including the conversation they have about leaving a recorded message for their loved ones. My husband and I have had “the talk” several times before I fly somewhere and he knows my wishes, but I’ve never considered having something in writing before. My mother, who had a terminal illness, wrote out notes for her nearest and dearest to have for after she passed… but then again she had a lot of time on her hands to think about these things and a pending checkout date. I try to tell those I love what they mean to me on a daily basis, but sometimes I do think it would be nice to have something that lasts longer than a potato. In fact, I give this episode 8 potatoes of various size… but one has a picture on it.

TA Out!