The Bajorans are undertaking a project to tap one of their planet's moons for energy. But this will require the evacuation of the surface, and a crotchety old farmer living there refuses to leave his home. Kira is tasked with trying to convince him to evacuate, but it soon seems like he's the one doing the convincing, as Kira feels sympathy for his plight. Meanwhile, Jake and Nog embark on a series of unusual trades, trying to earn gold-pressed latinum from worthless goods discarded by Quark.
There are some strong ideas at the heart of this episode. This is essentially a story about eminent domain, of the power of a government to seize property for "the good of the many." On a personal level, it's the story of Kira realizing a major shift in her own sense of identity; she used to fight the power, but now she is the power.
These ideas are stronger than the way they're explored by the script. The cranky old man who wants you off his lawn was a worn-out trope long before this hour of television, has continued to be a worn-out trope since, and nothing presented here really makes it stand out from that large pack. Writer Peter Allan Fields said in an interview that he thought the character he'd created here, Mullibok, was more prickly than he came across in the finished product. He saw Mullibok as manipulating and conning Kira.
Whether that was on the page or not, Fields is right that that Mullibok, as played by actor Brian Keith, is pretty much the stereotypical angry old coot with a secret heart of gold revealed in the end. Don't get me wrong -- it's a natural, authentic performance. It's just also a bit boring because we've seen this schtick before. Mullibok is more folksy than thorny, and even though at this point in the show we don't know anything about Kira's father, you automatically assume she sees something of her father in this old man.
The story line does end in a compelling, Deep Space Nine kind of way. Unable to persuade Mullibok to see reason, Kira is forced to destroy everything he loves and burn his house to the ground to get him to leave. Yet that ending does lack some punch, perhaps because The Next Generation actually got to this kind of Deep Space Nine-y story and ending first. This plot, and the particular way it wraps up, shares many similarities with the season 3 episode "The Ensigns of Command."
Weirdly, the plot involving Jake and Nog -- clearly meant to be a light B story -- is almost more compelling than the A story. According to staff writer Ira Steven Behr, this episode (and "The Storyteller" before it) marked the beginning of "an intense period of trying to turn Jake and Nog into Laurel and Hardy." (Or, as Nog actor Aron Eisenberg saw it, "a futuristic Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer.")
The comedy mostly works. It's fun to watch the boy's turn trash into treasure. It's interesting character development for Jake to be the one who sees the value of trade more than Nog; I guess it makes sense that Nog wasn't learning from a good example in his father Rom. (Or even his Uncle Quark, who here doesn't see any potential in the worthless "yamok sauce" he gives away to start this whole adventure.) It's amusing to watch the boys puzzle over what a "self-sealing stem bolt" does, and for not even O'Brien to know. But it is a bit of a letdown that Jake and Nog sell so cheap in the end, and that we never find out what they'll use the money for.
Oddly, the moments that work best in this episode are a little removed from the core narratives. One of the best scenes is when Sisko comes to talk to Kira at Mullibok's farm. He sympathizes with the underdog too, he tells her, but she's got a job to do. You see him using tactics with Kira in an interesting way, and because it's Avery Brooks in the role and not William Shatner or Patrick Stewart, there are intriguing racial brush strokes at the margins of it all when he talks about siding with the little guy. Also entertaining is a moment when Sisko is challenged briefly by Dr. Bashir over the commander's request that he file a false report. "Make it true, Doctor" is Sisko's curt, effective reply.
There's also a fun scene early on between Dax and Kira, in which Dax talks about being asked to dinner by Morn... and being oddly attracted to him. Most fans just read this as fun with the emerging gag about how Morn doesn't talk. Actress Terry Farrell read the scene in a more interesting way, deciding that Dax wasn't being serious. She saw it as an effort to rattle Kira and draw her out. As she put it: "[A]s Jadzia, I think that Kira puts too much emphasis on what a guy looks like, so I'm teasing her about her youth, and her naivete about what people are really about. I'm trying to be funny, but I am also trying to get Kira to laugh at herself." I think these moments feel integral to Dax's character, letting her be more whimsical because she's really centuries old and has seen it all.
Other observations:
- In a fun bit of world building, the front door of Mullibok's home is just super weird, an odd hexagonal shape that's hinged in an even weirder way. (It sort of opens downward a bit.)
- Not to be outdone in unusual world building, the prop department hands out Bajoran phasers that seem to be color matched to the uniform of the characters carrying them.
- I know why the two other Bajorans living with Mullibok don't speak; the production was cheap and didn't want to pay them. But why have these characters at all? Does it really make a difference whether Kira is morally conflicted about relocating one person or three? Especially when it comes down to just Mullibok in the end anyway?
No comments:
Post a Comment