DS9: “It’s Only a Paper Moon”, “Prodigal Daughter”, and “The Emperor’s New Cloak”

Date: August 28, 2020

Season 7, Episodes 10, 11, and 12

Musical Accompaniment: Songs that start with the letter ‘T” on my iTunes

Interstellar News: 3 more days left to back the Kickstarter and help unlock the 14th stretch goal! Also, Rest in Power Chadwick Boseman and Fuck Cancer.

So what had happened in “It’s Only a Paper Moon” was…: Nog comes back to DS9 after receiving a biosynthetic leg to replace the one he lost and he’s obviously withdrawn. He’s constantly listening to Vic’s recording of “I’ll Be Seeing You” and heads into the holosuite where he gets an idea, he wants to do his rehab with Vic. Jake brings a date to come see Nog, but Nog is cold to them and starts a fight and then is surprised when Vic throws him out. Vic and Nog patch things up and we get a montage of them working together to build a new casino. Vic’s not used to being on for days so he gets some rest while Nog takes care of the books. Nog slowly begins to come out of his funk, which Ezri is delighted at, but Vic realizes Nog can’t stay there forever so he turns off the program. Nog finally shares with Vic that he’s scared, the war has become real and anything can happen to him – or anyone – at anytime. Nog goes back to limited duty and returns to tell Vic he made a deal with Quark to leave Vic’s program running 26 hours a day.

Favorite Quote:

Rom: My son is insane.

Ezri: Rom.

Rom: He’s a one-legged crazy man!

Ezri: He is not crazy.

Sisko: But he is living in a holosuite.

Rom going off the rails, Ezri trying to calm him down, and Sisko being perplexed. This is right before they all start bashing on Bashir about his holosuite programs.

“I’m an engineer, not a philosopher.”: I am so excited to find that Trek can do a counseling episode mostly correctly. Patient-led therapy can be a fantastic tool and this was a fun way to put a 24th century spin on it. Nog needed time and space to get used to his new leg and he transferred his anger to everyone in his life from before the accident because now they will all look at him differently and he just lashed out. War can take its toll mentally and physically and it did both for Nog. Ezri, the actual counselor, did nothing of note except for when she gets Vic to see he can’t keep Nog. The fact that she thought a hologram could counsel better than her is beyond me, but I digress. I love that Nog goes back to what is familiar to him, business, as it’s his safe place. He grew up thinking he was going to be Ferengi businessman like his father and uncle and then realized he could forge his own path. Now he’s having second thoughts because he’s coming to terms with his decision. A distraction was certainly what he needed and it worked out well in the time elapsed format. I do like that we see them dealing with the fallout of something. We got virtually nothing regarding aftercare when Bashir was kidnapped, O’Brien was imprisoned in his mind, or after Picard was assimilated. I give this 9 counseling theories of note.

So what had happened in “Prodigal Daughter” was…: When O’Brien doesn’t return to the station, Bashir tells Sisko it’s because he went out to New Sydney to find Bilby’s widow who recently disappeared. Ezri’s family is from that system and Sisko asks for her help, which Yanas Tigan agrees to if Ezri comes to visit. We meet her two brothers, Norvo and Janel, who help with the family business and may have gotten themselves involved with the Orion Syndicate. Family dinner is awkward and it’s clear the mother is overbearing. O’Brien is found and brought to the Tigan household where he shares that Morica Bilby is dead. O’Brien helps to fix some equipment when Bokar comes to threaten Janel, so O’Brien and Ezri look through the family financials and find that Morica was on the payroll. Janel explains that the Syndicate helped loan them some money and paying Morica was their “owed favor”, but it turns out Norvo killed her to prove to his mother that he could handle any problem. Ezri stays for the trial and then returns to DS9, upset she left and never looked after her brother.

Favorite Quote:

Kira: How much gagh did she order?

Odo: 51 cases.

Ezri: Each containing a different variety.

Kira: There are varieties of gagh?

Poor Ezri. The Cruzon/Jadzia train is a hard one to follow if you don’t like bloodwine or gagh.

“He has a boot with my name on it.”: We’ve gotten to meet everyone’s family at this point in time, so of course Ezri needed her episode. We see why she became a counselor, her family is a hot mess. We also see her use her backbone by ordering O’Brien because sometimes it sucks to be the enlisted dude, though it all works out in the end because the family did not cover it up. I was worried that her family would be the ones the tried to bribe the police or something, but they were not that kind of rich folk. It also sucks that it was the brother she liked and obviously got along well with, because that makes it hit harder when her mother realizes that she created the environment that led to this terrible tragedy. Other than seeing the family awkwardness and O’Brien being a boss engineer, I didn’t get much out of this episode. 2 “awwwwws” for Bashir impatiently waiting for O’Brien. Also, what happened to all the gagh?

So what had happened in “The Emperor’s New Cloak” was…: The Nagus is missing and Quark gets a surprise visit from Mirror Ezri who explains that a cloaking device is needed in order to secure Zek’s freedom. Quark and Rom steal one off of a Klingon ship and go to the Mirror Universe in order to ensure Zek comes back and to get away from angry Martok. Mirror Vic (not a hologram) is shot and the trio is captured, Ezri is a mercenary. Mirror Brunt helps them to escape and they get the device to Regent Worf. Unfortunately Quark and Rom are taken captive along with Zek while Mirror Ezri makes out with Mirror Kira (the Intendant), much to the chagrin of Mirror Brunt (who is in love with Ezri) and Mirror Garak (who just wants to kill Kira). They enlist Rom to help put the device together and they cloak to sneak up on the Mirror Defiant. Ezri, however, sabotages the ship as payback for Kira killing Brunt. The rebels defeat the Alliance, Ezri helps the trio get back to their own universe, and Mirror Leeta helps “debrief” Ezri.

Favorite Quote:

Rom: Isodine coupler. Does this look like an isodine coupler to you? I don’t see how anything gets fixed around here.

Garak: I’d advise you to watch your tone of voice, Ferengi!

Rom: Or what? You won’t let me install the cloaking device?

Garak: I’m sorry if I’ve upset you. Now would you please get back to work.

Rom: Don’t mind if I do.

I love Rom, he gets better with each episode.

“That settles it. I’m never helping you again.”: Mirror Kira is all about killing the Ferengi. I’m pretty sure she’s responsible for killing Quark, Rom, Nog, and now Brunt. Poor Mirror Garak just wanted to kill someone, preferably the Intendant, and then he is killed by his own device at the end. Watching Vic get shot was kind of funny, but his presence is just too short. I loved listening to Rom try to understand the “alternate universe” and then confusing himself more, it was very Rom. I absolutely LOVED when Rom stands up to Mirror Garak, it was so much fun. Also, if you enable captions you get to read “hostile hissing” when the Ferengi go after Mirror Garak when the ship is sabotaged, which made me giggle with delight.

I loved that Quark was so confused at first that he thought Ezri wanted to role play and he was totally into that, let your freak flag fly Quark! I was glad to see they had Mirror Ezri be fond of women and that the Intendant be bisexual, but both felt forced and overt as opposed to how much passion there was with Dax and her former beau. The best part, though, is when Rom and Quark are carrying the cloaked cloaking device and Rom tries to “act natural” by staring at the bulkhead. However, when that’s the best part of the episode you’ve got a problem. This was not the most successful outing for the Mirror Universe, but I’m glad it’s the last for DS9. One thing I’m left wondering is: do they bring the cloaking device back and, most importantly, does Martok kill them? On the count of 3, we’ll pick up the cloaked cloaking device…

TA Out!