DS9 Flashback: Necessary Evil

After ending the first season strong, it took a while for Deep Space Nine to pull out another episode as good. It finally came with the distinctly Deep Space Nine-esque "Necessary Evil."

Quark's shady dealings with Bajoran widow Vaatrick Pallra mark him for an assassination attempt. But Odo's investigates, he finds himself looking farther into the past. Back in the days of the Cardassian occupation, the murder of Pallra's husband was the first case Odo ever pursued -- a case in which Kira, then with the Bajoran resistance, was a prime suspect. Now that past crime seems key to solving this new one.

When I say that "Necessary Evil" is distinctly Deep Space Nine, I mean that it never could have existed in this form on The Next Generation. First, it breaks from format in ways more extreme than Next Gen was willing to do save on the rarest of occasions. The episode neither begins nor ends with exterior shots of space. It opens on a "dark and stormy night," in a lengthy scene of conspiracy between Quark and the widow Vaatrick Pallra accompanied by no music -- lighting and sound effects alone are used to establish the moody tone.

The style is pure film noir, with Odo providing the gumshoe narration (and even paying homage to Columbo when he "just one more thing"s Pallra during his questioning). It actively demeans the normal Star Trek way of doing things, with Odo going on a lengthy diatribe against keeping a log.

It makes extensive and essential use of flashbacks, showing us how the characters of Odo, Kira, and Quark all met each other. (On previous Treks, there was no mystery surround "first meetings." We either saw them in the first episode, or it was understood not to be particularly important.) We learn how an uncharacteristically timid Odo found his spine and asserted his sense of justice, how he became an investigator, and why he hates being called "constable" so much. We learn of the surprising importance of Gul Dukat in these formative moments. It's all surprising, revealing, and relevant to the "present day" -- everything that would be a hallmark of the TV series Lost, which was still a decade in the future when this episode was made.

Most significantly, the episode dares to end ambiguously, with the relationship between Odo and Kira very much unsettled. It turns out that Kira was a murderer all those years ago. It's an ending hard to see coming when you'd have to suspect your regular hero of doing something bad, and when the widow Pallra actually is guilty of something herself (just not murder). And while there's context for forgiving Kira in the occupation, her role as a soldier, and the punishment she would have received from the Cardassians, that fact remains that her relationship with Odo began with a lie. And it's a lie that she never confessed to him even after circumstances changed. The episode dares to end without putting their friendship neatly back together. (Nor could it have done so believably anyway.)

Though the Odo/Kira relationship is the spine of the story, there are great accents on the episode throughout. In particular, it's a fantastic episode for Rom. We learn he's more capable than you'd ever imagine... he's just also too innocent and honest to use his considerable skills in a typical Ferengi way. You see him get the "good cop, bad cop" treatment from Sisko and Odo in an especially fun scene. And his siren-like wail at the end of the episode is comedic gold.

Every aspect of the production rises to the occasion of the great script. The characters in the flashback get entirely different costuming, makeup, and hairstyling. The stunt team does an exciting ratchet gag when Quark is phasered at point blank. But the real standout is the lighting department: they deliver that "dark and stormy night" I mentioned earlier, a moody look for the Promenade at night, and an entirely different look for the station under Cardassian rule.

Other observations:

• The keenest observations would be those of Odo, who goes into full Sherlock Holmes mode with comments on Vatrick's eyes and Kira's hands. It makes total sense that he notice these kinds of physical details, observing them to incorporate into his shapeshifting.

• The "Cardassian neck trick" is a fun Macguffin we never get to see.

• This episode apparently had a scene cut for time to the regret of both producer Michael Piller and actor Marc Alaimo (who played Dukat). It strongly implied an affair between Dukat and Pallra, suggesting Dukat as a red herring suspect for her husband's murder.

I give "Necessary Evil" an A-. It's a formative standout of Deep Space Nine's early seasons.