Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)
Episode: 1.07 (02/8/1993)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1
Notable Guest Stars:
John de Lancie (Q) – This is John de Lancie’s second series with Trek (out of four he will appear in to my knowledge)
Jennifer Hetrick (Vash) – This will be Hetrick’s third appearance as Vash, Picard’s love interest and archeological thief.
Review:
Do I like this episode? Not really. But it does have one of my favorite Sisko moments in it. Vash and Q are finally brought back into the storyline, to kind of thread DS9 into the greater universe of the show. Sisko mentions that he attended a briefing about Q about two years before. It makes me wonder how often Q is briefed about. He’s been around to the Federation’s knowledge for at least six years. I’m assuming this briefing was probably around the time of BOBW, which means Sisko probably got this briefing a short time before he got to meet the Borg.
My thoughts on Vash are not positive. I’ve never really found her appealing as a character, though I don’t really hate her entirely either. I will admit that she fits in better with the DS9 crowd then she ever did with Enterprise.
I am confused at the fact that O’Brien recognizes her but doesn’t seem to understand the connection to Q earlier. Or perhaps Jadzia never tells him the story. I’m not sure what was going on there.
I don’t particularly like Q in this episode. He comes off as vaguely predator like with his continued pursuit of Vash. I will say it does have the writer’s desired effect of bringing back some of the maleficence that Q held in his early years. But I think they should have focused more on his interactions with the crew, rather then on Vash. According to Memory Alpha, John De Lancie wasn’t happy with the characterization either, thinking his character was better used for making people think about philosophical issues rather than acting like he was after a woman.
One of Q’s continuing arcs is testing the mettle of humans, their morality, and their ethics. He doesn’t do much of that here, in fact he basically chases after Vash, makes Julian take a three-day nap, and annoys the crap out of Sisko and Miles.
Side note: I strongly believe that they weren’t sure how to use Julian in this episode after the first scene, because that is the only reason, I can see for making him “sleep” the rest of the episode. Which takes place over several days.
So what are the positive notes about this episode. Well, the interactions of Sisko and Q. This episode shows that Sisko (if you weren’t already aware) does not react the same way that Picard would. He has different ways of strategizing, and different ways of running his station. Q makes several comments during the episode that imply he expected another Picard but instead he gets something different. In fact, in one of my favorite scenes, Q gets punched in the face by Sisko. It sets Sisko apart from his predecessor Picard, and also there are probably several Enterprise crewmembers screaming “I could have done that!?”
So a question for you. In a novel, Trelane (the alien from the original series) is reveled to be a Q. I wonder, if perhaps, Trelane grew up to be the Q we know and love (though I will admit everything written post episode on him suggests they are two separate individuals.) I am pondering this (well, not seriously), due to a quote by Q where he talks about how the past was interesting, but modern Earth was so boring. So what are your thoughts?
Interesting Notes:
- Written by Jill Sherman Donner and Michael Piller
- Directed by Corey Allen
- This episode originally did not include Q, but only Vash.
- This is Q’s only DS9 episode (sadly) and Vash’s last episode in the franchise. So far anyway. Who knows if they will bring her back in Picard. I think Q would have fit in there, but then again, DS9 has a unique enemy of their own.
Pros
- Quark and Vash
- Sisko punching out Q
Cons:
- Did no one check in on Julian?
- Are there no customs system on the station that might have scanned the giant rock/egg/baby alien?
Screencap via CygnusX1.net
Sokorra Lewis 