To Boldy Sew: Star Trek Deep Space Nine S02E04: “Invasive Procedures”

To Boldly Sew is a recap of DS9 episodes, with a specific focus on the fashions of the many aliens and other characters that make up the series. Feel free to discuss matters of plot and general Star Trek things in the comments. 

I’m getting all these screenshots from trekcore.com, which is the same place as the original TNG fashion blog (http://sttngfashion.tumblr.com/).


Sisko’s log informs us that DS9 has been temporarily evacuated due to a violent plasma disruption. Until that’s done, they will maintain the station with a skeleton crew.

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Apparently, this is what a plasma storm looks like.

Sisko emerges from his office to talk to Kira and Dax. Kira says the station was built to last. Dax says she has the Orinoco ready to leave in case it doesn’t. Sisko asks about Chief O’Brien, and Dax reports that he and Odo have sealed off airlocks in the pylons and are working on more.

Sisko calls Chief and he says they’re almost done. They’ve sealed a bunch of airlocks and are checking for crystallization.

While walking through the hall, Odo hears a banging. He opens an airlock and they find Quark inside.

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Quark is wearing his lighter colored upholstery jacket, I think, and has his boots tucked into his pants, which looks as silly on him as it does the Bajorans. He kind of looks like he’s meditating in this pose.

Odo says Sisko told him to stay in the bar. Quark says he volunteered to stay and protect the station.

Odo says he only volunteered to stay because there wasn’t room on the shuttles for 600 bars of gold-pressed latinum. But why is he in the airlock? Quark says he was saying goodbye to his brother. Odo points out his shuttle left 3 hours ago. Quark says he is lost without his brother. Odo doesn’t buy it. Quark keeps up the pretense.

Odo asks O’Brien if he has brothers, and Chief says he has two and of course he said good-bye to them when he joined Starfleet. Quark asks if it brought a tear to his eye. O’Brien says he supposes so.

They leave, and the camera pans away to show us a blinking green dot on a thing inside the airlock. What is Quark up to?

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it’s a fiendish thingy!

CUE THEME

Dax says the storm’s intensity is up by 37% and there’s no way to tell how long it will last. She is happy they can study it.

Bashir comes in and says the view from the Promenade is amazing. He’s secured it.

Dax calls over Sisko and tells him that a small vessel is coming over, flying at a quarter impulse. They can’t get a visual, but are able to hail the ship and get a static-filled voice.

The cargo ship, Ekina, says that they are caught in the storm, badly damaged, and need help. Kira can’t get a good signal on it, and there’s too much interference to transport the crew aboard. Sisko says to use the tractor beam and tow them in. Bashir goes down to the infirmary in anticipation of casualties. Sisko calls O’Brien, who will need to release the emergency seal on the airlock, and heads over.

The ship is towed in and O’Brien and Odo go to the airlock to let them in. A woman runs out, coughing, and O’Brien moves to help, but then a Klingon comes out and pushes him up against the wall. O’Brien says they just saved their lives. The Klingon says he is telling Federation lies. O’Brien says the Federation and the Klingon Empire are allies. The Klingon spits to show his distaste and says the Empire is governed by fools and old women.

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The woman is wearing blue boots, blue leggings, and a bluish-purple jacket with a purple vest. So far, not horrible. The Klingons are wearing what looks like typical Klingon type clothes with kind of leathery textures.

A third person, a non-Klingon, comes out.

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Oh, my mistake, this Klingon is wearing a fur shawl. His jacket does look like leather though.

His ally is wearing an all-green outfit that looks like it’s made out of a bath mat.

He sets a box down on the ground when the Klingon insists. It’s kind of a hexagon shape. He pushes some buttons. O’Brien makes a note of him and comments that the man is a Trill.

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The man says nothing but backs away. The Klingon orders Odo to get inside the box. Odo asks what if he refuses. The Trill pleads for him to listen. The Klingon threatens to kill O’Brien. Odo relents and shapeshifts into the box. The Klingon pushes some buttons to close and presumably lock the box, then urges O’Brien forward.

They head to the infirmary, where Bashir has been prepping for possible casualties from the ship in distress.

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The Klingon pulls off Bashir’s comm badge and instructs his companion to get the Ferengi. He orders Bashir to put the box inside a stasis chamber. Bashir is confused until O’Brien tells him Odo is inside. Bashir then understands, and puts the box inside a drawer.


At Ops, Dax says that she hasn’t gotten a response from Odo or O’Brien. Sisko suggests running a Level 3 security scan, but the Klingon comes in at that moment, with O’Brien and Bashir as hostages, and says not to bother.

The Klingon shoots his weapon into the air as a threat and tells them all to get in the center of the room. The woman tells the Trill man that it’s going to be all right.

Sisko, Dax, and Kira get to the center of the room and the woman takes their badges. Then he orders O’Brien and Bashir to join them. The Trill and the woman go to the computers and start to type.

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The Trill’s outfit has some interesting stitching on it around the collar, but it’s still just a boring green. Meanwhile, his Klingon companion seems to be wearing a leather corset of some sort?

O’Brien apologizes to Sisko, saying that somehow the intruders managed to override the security systems in the docking ring. Sisko asks how they did that. O’Brien says he’s got a good idea, and tells the story of Quark in the airlock.

Dax is looking intently at the Trill. Sisko asks if she knows him. Dax doesn’t answer.


 

Quark is alone, looking at something in a box. The second Klingon comes in. Quark addresses him as Yeto and says it’s a pleasure doing business with Klingons as they’re punctual.

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note for later: Yeto is the Klingon with the fur shawl.

He says he has the merchandise but he doesn’t see any latinum to pay for it. The Klingon says Ferengi think they’re so clever, but they’re stupid. Quark says there’s no need for name-calling. He says if he doesn’t need the liquid data chains then he can find other buyers. Yeto says he doesn’t need them. Quark is skeptical – he ventured out in the storm for nothing? Yeto just calls him a stupid Ferengi again.


Back at Ops, Sisko confronts the other Klingon. He demands to know what their business is. The Klingon says they’ll have to ask his employer, nodding toward the Trill.

The Trill man just apologizes and says that if everyone would just cooperate, it’ll be over soon.

Yeto comes up in the turbolift and has Quark with him. Quark is loudly protesting and demands to know what’s going on.

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Kira says she was about to ask him that question.

The woman says “that’s enough”, silencing him.

Sisko says he agrees and wants to know what’s going on.

The Trill man says he wants Dax. Sisko says she’s not going with him. He clarifies and says he doesn’t want the girl, he wants Dax.

Dax herself says that he’s there to steal her symbiont.

Bashir says that if he removes the symbiont, because if he does, she’ll die. Sisko calmly notes that he knows that.

The Trill just keeps apologizing. He says he wishes he didn’t have to do it. Sisko says “then don’t.”

He says that he spent his whole life trying to qualify for the joining. He studied constantly, every waking hour, and sacrificed everything, but then he went before the evaluation board and they reduced his life to one word: “unsuitable.”

Dax says that it’s nothing to be ashamed of – neither of her parents or her sister underwent symbiosis, and they are happy and productive – only 1 Trill in 10 is chosen.

He is not consoled; he says it’s easy for her to say as she was chosen. Dax says she was lucky.

The woman says that now it is his turn to be lucky, and calls him Verad.

Kira asks why Dax. He says he did research and determined that the Dax symbiont is the best for him. He says they have multiple mutual interests.

Sisko says there’s another reason, isn’t there? The wormhole. He’s going to steal the symbiont and escape to the wormhole.

Dax says she understands his frustration but there could be dozens of reasons why the board didn’t select him – they have to be very careful as an improper joining could cause permanent psychological damage to the symbiont and the host. They were looking after his best interests.

Verad disagrees and says he’s been condemned to a life of mediocrity and he’s not going to accept that. He deserves more and he’s going to get it.

The woman tells Yeto and T’kar that it’s time. They start to drag away Bashir and Dax. Bashir says he’ll have no part in this. Verad says he understands, and shoots O’Brien.

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It’s not clear where O’Brien is hit, exactly, but he falls back. This screenshot really emphasizes how curly O’Brien’s hair is.

Quark runs to hide behind the stairs.

Bashir tries to help O’Brien, but Verad tells him not to. He says his life is over already, so either Bashir helps him or he and his friends will die. His choice.

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T’kar (who is not wearing the fur shawl) seems to have fur sleeves, but the chest area is made out of some shiny material that reminds me of a garbage bag, or maybe Morn’s usual outfit.

Dax says he’ll help. She doesn’t want anyone else on the station hurt because of her. But she wants Verad’s word that no one else on the station will be harmed. He promises.

Bashir is confused and appalled, but Dax tells him to do as he’s told. He demands to treat O’Brien’s wound first, as it won’t take long and there’s an emergency medical kit nearby. Verad consents.

O’Brien does some moaning and grunting as Bashir takes a thing and holds it to the wound, which appears to be on his arm. He then passes it to Kira and tells her to apply it every 20 minutes or so to help the wound regenerate, and there’ll be no permanent damage.

Sisko tells him not to be a hero. Kira tells Dax it’s not over. Sisko wants to give an emotional speech, but Dax beats him to it and tells him that she knows he’ll do everything he can and, in case it’s not enough, she wants him to know it’s been fun. The male Klingons drag them off.

The woman (the captions named her as Mareel at this point, so I’ll call her that) kisses Verad on the forehead and tells him good luck. He says it won’t be long and she’ll see, everything will be as he promised. She says she knows.

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Mareel has a classic hairstyle, almost a beehive, with a little curl at the end. I’m not a fan of the “big” hair look, but I like the color and the length. Her top looks like a leather-like material, with a weird cross-body strap that seems to serve no purpose whatsoever but doesn’t look terrible.


In the infirmary, Verad and Dax are lying on tables with only their stomachs visible. One of the Klingons is keeping watch. It’s Yeto; he’s wearing the fur shawl.

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I feel like it would be easier to just have a whole sheet over them with a slit cut out for the incision site, but it looks like there are a bunch of extra pieces of fabric atop the chest area. This is understandable with Dax, but I guess Verad is also sensitive about having his nipples seen.

Bashir wants to apply a Delta Wave inducer to keep Verad asleep and increase endorphin production to accelerate the healing process. Verad says he doesn’t want it. Bashir strongly recommends it.

Verad doesn’t want his advice and wants to be awake. He tells Bashir to use a neuro electrical suppresser and set up a monitor so he can watch, so he can assist if there’s any trouble. This sounds totally bonkers, but okay.

Dax is calmly waiting to begin. Bashir apologizes and puts the inducer thing on her. Dax says not to blame himself; he did everything he could. She falls asleep.


 

Back in Ops, Kira asks how long Dax can survive without the symbiont. Sisko says that usually the host dies within hours after its removal. But Jadzia is young and healthy and Bashir will do what he can, so he thinks she’ll live through the night. O’Brien says that still doesn’t give them much time.

The Klingon, T’Kar, comes over, yells “No talking!” and kicks O’Brien. Sisko is mad and he jumps up and throws T’Kar against the wall. They grapple for a bit.

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Meanwhile, Kira gets into a fight with Mareel, but is defeated. O’Brien clutches his injured arm and Quark is staying out of it.

Sisko defeats his opponent, but Kira has lost, so Mareel points her weapon at him and says she doesn’t want to kill him but she will.


 

In the infirmary, Bashir removes the symbiont from Jadzia.

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He has a slicing things and he cuts it out, then carefully carries it over to Verad, who watches as it’s slid inside of him. He has an almost orgasmic expression at first, but then looks like he’s in pain. There’s no blood involved.

Verad’s expression changes and now he looks orgasmic again.


 

Back in Ops, everyone is looking depressed and quiet.

Quark whispers to Kira and asks her if she realizes they’re going to kill them and implores her to do something. She asks if he has suggestions. He does not. He says he’s a victim of circumstance.

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Kira asks him how four armed terrorists got by their docking ring security grid. He claims to know nothing about it, but she tells him he crossed a line and sold them out and now Dax might die because of him. One way or the other he is through. She gets up and walks over to the table where O’Brien and Sisko are sitting.

Mareel asks if she’s okay, and Kira says she’ll live. The woman then says not to try it again as she doesn’t want to have to hurt anyone. Kira says to say that to Jadzia. She says that’s different.

Kira asks if she believes that. She says that Verad says they didn’t leave him any other choice. Kira says that’s his reason, what’s hers? She says she owes him. She grew up on the streets of Khefka IV and wouldn’t have made it out without Verad.

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Her top is clearly meant to be leather or some other kind of tough material, but her pants look like they’re either casual sweatpants or leggings.

Sisko asks what he was doing on Khefka IV. She says he was the communications clerk at the Federation Consulate. He visited the accommodation house where she worked and she helped him relax. When he was recalled to Trill, he asked her to come along.

Kira is surprised. He got her out of a bad situation and now she’s willing to kill for him? She says she owes him her life, and if there’s anything she can do for him she will.

Even if it means losing him, Sisko asks. He says that after the surgery, he won’t just be Verad anymore, he’ll be a blending of Verad, Dax, and all the previous hosts. She says that Verad told her he’d say things like that. She knows he’ll change. He’ll be smarter and more confident, but in all the important ways he’ll be the same.

Sisko says that if he told her that, he’s lying. Once a Trill is joined it’s like a rebirth. He’ll be a completely new person. She says that she’s not going to betray him. It doesn’t matter what Sisko says, she loves Verad and will stand by him no matter what.

Verad, entering just then, says he never doubted it.

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To symbolize his newfound confidence, Verad is showing more of his chest now. Seriously, this is the same shirt, but without the high turtleneck collar. So either he a) had a similar shirt that showed more skin b) was actually wearing layers, and removed the undershirt or c) ripped off the neck layer from his shirt.

It’s a subtle, but effective change, as he’s no longer hiding behind his clothing.

She goes to him to embrace him, but he doesn’t return the embrace. He says he’s not just Verad, he’s Verad Dax.


 

Back in the infirmary, Bashir is keeping watch over Jadzia. He tries to get the Klingon guard to help, and he wonders why bother; she’ll be dead in a few hours anyway. Bashir says not if he has anything to do with it. Yeto again asks why, reasoning that she let herself be slaughtered like a mindless t’gla. I don’t know what that is but it sounds like an insult. If she wanted to live, she should have fought back. Bashir says she did what she did to save the rest of them. Yeto says she is a fool and deserves her fate.

Bashir gets mad. He says that he doesn’t give a damn about his warrior philosophy. This woman is dying and he needs his help to save it, then holds out the instrument.

Yeto notes that the little human has some spark. He does as requested.

Bashir gives Jadzia a hypospray on her neck while Yeto works on the wound. She wakes up and recognizes him. He says he thought he’d lost her. She starts to cry, realizing the symbiont is gone. He says the operation was a success. She says she feels alone.

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I think this is the first time that we see that Jadzia’s markings go down past the neck. She’s certainly not been as undressed in previous episodes.

He says she is stable and if only they can get the symbiont back in time. She says she’s scared. He says he won’t let her die. She says she’s empty, and falls back to sleep.


Back in Ops, Verad calls Sisko “Benjamin” and Sisko says that Curzon, Tobin, Jadzia, and all the others are part of him now. He says it’s amazing the number of ideas and memories. Sisko says 8 lifetimes of memories must be incredible.

Sisko says the station must look different to him now. Verad says that he knows the place, and he knows Benjamin. He asks if he remembers when they first met, and then they start down memory lane remembering places they went and things they did, and start laughing about it.

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Oh, yay, more stories about the good old days…

Kira and O’Brien exchange glances. Mareel rolls her eyes, shifts position, and looks at the floor.

Then Sisko remembers discovering the wormhole. Verad gets quiet and says it’s one of Jadzia’s proudest moments. Sisko says she is bleeding to death in the infirmary. Verad says he’d rather not discuss it. Sisko says, “You have to discuss it, Dax.” They can’t let her die.

Verad says she won’t die, she’ll live on in him. Sisko says that Jadzia’s memories will live on, but she will die and you’ve killed her. He says he knows that and won’t be able to forget it. He says he’s going to do everything he can to make up for it – he’s not going to the Gamma Quadrant to hide, there are worlds who will benefit from his knowledge and experience. He can help them.

Sisko says he has a better idea – help Jadzia. Put the symbiont back where it belongs. Verad says he can’t do that, it’s too late and the integration is underway. Sisko says they can stop it. Mareel (the woman) says that Sisko is just trying to confuse him. Verad says the symbiont is weak from the operation and if they do another joining so soon, it might not survive.

Sisko says he’s willing to risk this. Mareel asks why he is wasting so much time with this, and Verad barks out that Sisko is his friend, now go watch the others. He then asks Sisko if they are still friends. Sisko says he hopes so, now come with him to the infirmary and prove it.

Verad says he can’t do that. Sisko pushes his arm off his shoulder. He says he is not the Dax he knows and their friendship is over. Verad looks visibly hurt.


Verad lounges in Sisko’s office outside of Ops.

Mareel brings some Senarian egg broth to O’Brien, telling him it will keep his strength up. He refuses, then when she starts to take it away, agrees and drinks it.

Sisko notes that Verad looks different – that he stands and moves differently. Mareel says he’s better than he was. He says he’s glad she thinks so. Sisko points out that he dismissed her, and Verad never did that before. Mareel says he’s under a lot of stress.

Sisko says that Verad was under stress the minute he stepped on the station, but never turned on her before. She asks what his point is. He says that Verad no longer exists, and she knows that better than he does. She says that nothing has changed between them and Sisko’s attempts to turn her against Verad aren’t working. You really believe that? He asks. Yes.

He says to make him believe it. Go in and talk to Verad. She looks over and says she doesn’t want to disturb him. Sisko says he is sitting in there all alone and needs her. She says that’s enough. He doesn’t know why she’s reluctant – this is a good time to get reacquainted. She gets annoyed and shouts at him.

Verad comes out of the office and asks if anything is wrong. She says everything is fine. He says be careful, he wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.

Quark is fingering something. It looks like a coin. He rolls it across the floor where it hits the shoe of T’Kar, who bends over to pick it up.

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We so rarely get views of shoes that I have to pause on this shot. T’Kar’s boots have a kind of leather braided strap over the top. I like the look, though I’m not sure they have any kind of purpose. Also, the front of the boot is taller than the foot. I assume this is helpful in preventing stubbed toes.

Quark gets up from his seat and jumps on top of the Klingon, shouting “I got him!”

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T’Kar roars in frustration and bangs Quark against the railing behind him. Quark wonders if they should talk about this. T’Kar throws Quark to the ground, where he bangs into the table and then falls to the floor. Apparently he landed on his ear because he moans in pain.

Verad comes out to see what the commotion is about. The Klingon pulls Quark up by the arm and dismisses him as pathetic. Verad tells Mareel to take him to the infirmary, so they leave together.

In the infirmary, Bashir is grumpy about treating him. Quark is practically screaming in pain. Bashir scans him with a tricorder and says the damage looks like it’s superficial, but Quark whispers “no” to him. Bashir then says that Ferengi ears are very sensitive so he’d better run some more tests. Quark screams and writhes in “pain.”


In Ops, Verad notes that the storm’s intensity has dropped another 20%. He tells Benjamin that it’s almost over.

Mareel, coming back, says she’s getting tired of waiting. She asks Verad how he’s feeling. He says better than ever, thanks to her. He would have spent his life a mediocre man, dreaming about what might have been. He says she knows what she has to do, and she says to worry about getting them through the wormhole.

Verad says he doesn’t want her staying any longer than she has to. Give him an hour, then get to the runabout and follow him to the wormhole. She says the sooner he leaves, the sooner she can follow, and the sooner they’ll be together. She hugs him, and he’s clearly not feeling it, and doesn’t hug her back. She pulls back and says it’s going to be all right, right? He just says to wait for him at the rendezvous point. He leans in to kiss her, she pulls back, then he tries again and kisses her on the cheek.

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Not quite a loving embrace, is it?

Sisko is watching.


 

In the infirmary, Quark is still writhing in “pain” and whimpering. Yeto says to stop whining or he’ll put him out of his misery. Bashir defends him, throwing out some medical technobabble that he’s probably making up, and says that it could be fatal. He tells Yeto that if he helps it will go faster.

Yeto shouts that he is not Bashir’s nurse. Bashir says “let’s not go through that again. Just hold this against his ear.” He does so, and Quark screams loudly. Bashir goes off to another part of the room and then comes back and tells Quark to relax, then moves to hypospray him, but instead hyposprays Yeto in the neck. He immediately collapses on to Quark.

Quark says he feels better already.

They move aside the Klingon so Quark can climb down from the table, and then go over to the stasis chambers. Bashir opens the drawer and removes the box that Odo is inside, saying that they need to get him out. He doesn’t know the access code, though.

Quark tries, listening carefully as he pushes some buttons. He describes it as a standard Delgorian locking mechanism, sophisticated, but vulnerable if you know the weaknesses. He takes a laser scalpel and cuts out a piece of the wall, then sticks his hand in and is able to release the lock.

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Meanwhile, the storm has decreased another 15%, which Verad says is more than enough to allow safe passage to the wormhole. He uses the stolen comm badge to call Yeto, but Yeto doesn’t answer. T’Kar tries calling him using his arm, which I guess is their own comm system. Yet doesn’t answer him either.

Verad reasons that the doctor must have overpowered Yeto, which T’Kar thinks unlikely, and that he must have freed the shape-shifter. He wants to go to the ship at once.

Mareel says to take a hostage. Sisko volunteers, but Verad says that although he’d love the company, he doesn’t think he has his best interests at heart. He says he hates to inconvenience Kira.

She agrees readily, saying that if Odo is free there’s no way he’s getting off the station. Verad takes his leave, saying he will miss Sisko and he wishes their friendship, which lasted two lifetimes, could have lasted three. Sisko says that Verad will see him again.

Verad doesn’t reply, and heads out.


Sisko asks Mareel where their rendezvous point is. He says that he hopes she likes it there because she’s going to be waiting for Verad for a long time. How would he know, she asks. He says that he saw the look on her face when he told her to wait for him.

She says that the plan was that Verad would get there first – that he’d wait for her, not the other way around. Sisko suggests it was a slip of the tongue. She says no, it was a lie, and he’s never lied to her before. He’s not coming. He doesn’t need her anymore.

Sisko says she’s wrong, and he needs her now more than ever. She laughs and says he never gives up. She says she’s not going to betray him. Sisko says he’s not asking her to, he’s asking her to save him, and to help them save him. She says all he cares about is Jadzia. He says yes, and she cares about Verad, and they can save them both.

He says that Dax and Verad were not meant to be joined and they need to remove the symbiont while there is time. She says if he hurts Verad she’ll kill him, then hands over the comm badge she stole and her weapon. Sisko says he doesn’t doubt it.

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Verad, Kira, and T’Kar head to an airlock. There’s a table inside the airlock, but Verad walks past it to the second door. He tries to open it and it refuses. He looks beyond and sees nothing. The ship is gone.

Odo appears and says he released the docking clamps. Kira takes advantage of their surprise to attack T’Kar. Verad starts to run down the hall. Kira defeats T’Kar.

Verad runs down to the next airlock, but Sisko is waiting there. He says the goodbye was a little premature. Verad says he’s not going to shoot him. Sisko asks why he’s sure. Verad says they both know that if Sisko shoots him, even on stun, he risks killing the symbiont.

Sisko says that if he lets him go, Jadzia will die. Verad says Dax will live, and what’s Jadzia compared to 8 lifetimes of knowledge and experience. He says goodbye, and walks past Sisko.

Sisko is still holding the phaser. He calls out to Verad, who stops and looks back. He says “don’t call me Benjamin” and then shoots Verad right in the chest.

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“oh.”

 


 

Verad wakes in the infirmary to find Mareel sitting by him. He says he feels strange and empty.

Sisko says it’s over and the symbiont is where it belongs. Verad says so close, he had it and now he’s alone. Mareel says he’s not alone; she’s there and will always be there. He says he can’t remember any of it. The knowledge. The confidence. It’s all gone.

Bashir calls over Sisko. Jadzia is waking up. She hugs him. He asks how she is and she says she’s fine. She remembers everything he thought and did, and it’s very sad, but she guesses he’ll always be with her.

They look back toward Verad, who is looking confused and sad.


Stray Thoughts

* This is kind of a better explanation of and dive into Trill physiology than last season’s episode “Dax“. Even though Jadzia is unconscious for roughly half the episode, she shows more personality here than an episode that was supposedly about her.

* I normally don’t really make a note of the guest stars, preferring to focus on the plot and story (and fashion!) but John Glover played Verad and he did a spectacular job. The difference between Verad and Verad Dax was immediately evident, even, as Sisko says, from the way he stood and walked. Great job. Apparently he’s won a bunch of Emmy awards from his roles as guest stars on TV shows, and I assume they’re all well deserved.

* Is “accommodation house” a synonym for brothel? Is that the sort of “accommodation” that Mareel was providing when she helped Verad to “relax”?

* There was a lot of standing around waiting in this episode. I forgot there was a storm going on and was wondering why they were all just hanging out in Ops for an extended period.

* If they could bring Quark to the infirmary for an ear injury (that he brought on himself) then why not O’Brien, who was clearly suffering but not screaming? Also, if I’d been Verad’s group, I might have considered making use of the security cells rather than having everyone sitting out in the open and periodically attacking them. But I guess that would make for a boring episode, and less chance for the heroes to win. I do give them bonus points for taking out Odo, though.