A group of haughty Federation diplomats is visiting Deep Space Nine, and Bashir has been assigned the ignominious task of entertaining them. But one of the ambassadors soon finds a more interesting diversion -- Lwaxana Troi becomes infatuated with Odo after he recovers her stolen jewelry. Meanwhile, a passing space probe downloads a playful computer virus with an apparent infatuation of its own: the attention of Chief O'Brien. Malfunctions caused by the virus soon threaten the lives of Bashir's charges, and trap Odo and Lwaxana together in a turbolift... just as the shapeshifter is nearing the end of his regenerative cycle.
The annual episode featuring "the boss's wife" was a tradition on Star Trek, even after the death of Gene Roddenberry. There hadn't been one in the sixth season of The Next Generation. Somehow, it was decided to have her appear in season one of Deep Space Nine instead. Maybe they realized all the plausible character interactions on Next Gen had been played out. Majel Barrett herself, if not her character, was more beloved by fans; maybe the producers thought that her appearance on the new show would earn some goodwill. Who knows? But here's the shocking thing: Lwaxana Troi is actually the best part about this episode. And it's not even close.
Certainly, that could be read as the most backhanded of compliments. And yes, the other elements of this episode are pretty terrible. When we learn that Bashir has been ordered to babysit some spoiled ambassadors, for example, I'm not sure whether to be more sorry for him or the ambassadors. I do wonder how a group of people so oblivious to basic social cues ever rose to such positions. (But then, I'm assuming some sort of meritocracy here in the future of Star Trek. If you're using modern day as the model, then ambassadors can be spoiled rich people appointed by their powerful friends.)
The O'Brien story line isn't much better. Act 1 opens with a barge full of technobabble that lasts for minutes. It's supposed to establish a baseline for the audience of what the computer normally acts like, but goes on way longer than necessary (especially for anyone whose been hearing O'Brien complain about Cardassian engineering for over a dozen episodes). From there the story goes through some boilerplate puzzle solving, then culminates in belaboring the analogy of this computer virus to a needy puppy.
But the thing is, none of that stuff really matters. It's all shoe leather to get to this episode's reason for being -- trapping Odo and Lwaxana in a turbolift together. And amazingly enough, I'd have to say that payoff is actually worth it. It's such an important moment of growth for Odo. We learn that he's really never been shown any warmth or tenderness in his life, and has become unwilling to be seen as vulnerable as a result. It's a huge deal that here he experiences kindness and sympathy for the first time.
It's also interesting to see where Odo has drawn his own boundaries. He freely confesses things to Quark that might seem quite personal to the rest of us -- that he's never been in love, that he has no sense of smell -- but there's one line he won't cross. He's never shown reluctance to shift in front of others, but he doesn't want to be seen forced to remain in a fully liquid state. Nor does he want to step outside of his comfort zone even a little. He seeks help from Sisko on getting rid of Lwaxana, and is quite put out to get only romantic advice. When the turbolift gets stuck and he realizes his predicament, he looks genuinely alarmed, more so than we've ever seen him.
It would be enough if this marked good character development for Odo, but it's actually great character development for Lwaxana too. We see how much of her boisterous persona is merely a constructed front. We see what happens when she finally runs out of steam talking about herself, and it's that she taps into an empathy more profound than even her daughter famously possesses. Lwaxana lets herself be vulnerable too, and the moment she removes her wig for Odo is surprisingly tender and genuine.
Majel Barrett excels, it seems, when she has an excellent actor to play off of. We saw this opposite David Ogden Stiers in the Next Generation episode "Half a Life," and it happens again here with Rene Auberjonois. He seized this opportunity to add more dimension to his character, and as a result, she did too. Auberjonois explained his approach in an interview, and I find it quite insightful: "When I'm doing a tragedy or playing a serious character, I concentrate on finding as much humor in the character as possible. And if I'm playing a comic character, I look for the sad side. Because that's the way you get the audience's emotions going, by making the pendulum swing in as great an arc as you possibly can. So Odo's vulnerability is something that interests me a great deal."
Speaking of the comic side of things, the humor in this episode works better than in a typical Lwaxana episode too. Her quip referring to Odo as the "thin beige line" is hilarious, and her brushing off of Odo's protests are cute ("I can swim"). There are more good jokes at the margins too, such as Quark taking it as a compliment when Odo says he's above petty theft.
Other observations:
- The back story of Odo's relationship with a Bajoran scientist is sketched in lightly here. This would become the basis of some solid future stories.
- Sisko maybe needs an HR department. When people come to complain to him about sexual harassment (Odo here being the second time), he seems to shrug it off too easily.
- The producers acknowledged that Odo's "melting" should have affected his uniform as well as his face. Still, the uniforms were too expensive to ruin one that way, they said.
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