DS9 Flashback: Paradise

One of Jean-Luc Picard's finest moments in the entire 7-year run of Star Trek: The Next Generation was his defiance in the face of torture in "Chain of Command." The Deep Space Nine writers may have had that moment in their minds in crafting "Paradise," intending something similar for Benjamin Sisko.

Sisko and O'Brien beam down to a planet to investigate a Federation ship that crashed a decade ago. They find their technology rendered non-functional on the planet, and discover a small colony that has been built in the face of this hardship. Our heroes expect a quick rescue, but the leader of the colony, a forceful woman named Alixus, presses them to abandon these expectations and join the colonists in their endeavors. This sets up a clash of wills between her and Sisko.

This episode resulted from the confluence of several ideas. Writer Jim Trombetta was interested in exploring the anti-technology philosophy of the real-world Khmer Rouge within a Star Trek setting. His pitch revolved around a cult leader figure, which intrigued show runner Michael Piller, who had a family member that had actually become involved with a cult for a time. (Piller was also keenly aware that it had been a while since there had been a Sisko-centered episode.)

The result is something of a mixed bag. The opposition to technology is on the bad side of it. The whole philosophy seems silly (to me, at least) in the real world. Not having access to the latest advances is one thing, but actively refusing them where they're available out of some sense of nobility or piety? I simply don't get it. And it seems especially peculiar in a Star Trek context, weirdly retrograde in a show that otherwise praises the wonder of the possible. It's no surprise that the episode struggles to make life in this colony something that anyone would actually prefer to "Trek normal." It would be the equivalent of us today living not just as the Amish do, but in a pre-printing press world.

The beliefs of cult leader Alixus may be strange, but the character herself is still intriguing. It's great that they wrote the character as a woman. In the real world, this sort of figure is pretty much always male. It's a fascinating twist to see a woman meting out harsh punishment, exerting total control over people right down to their sexual autonomy, and ordering Sisko around. It's certainly a more interesting examination of a cult that The Next Generation did when Lore took control of a group of Borg.

The racial component of the episode is also powerful. True, there is no indication that Alixus is motivated by racism, and her quarrel with Sisko is amply defined in other ways. But it's impossible not to watch what she does to Sisko and not think about race. "Sweatboxing" was not an uncommon punishment for unruly slaves in the Antebellum South, and it's notable that Alixus inflicts this torture on Sisko and not O'Brien (even if she has an articulated and believable reason for this).

The episode certainly is a strong one for Sisko, as Michael Piller wanted. He makes the biggest and best stand for Starfleet principles to date on the series. Sisko's integrity is so lofty that even when left alone with water he could drink without much consequence, he ignores it and walks back outside to crawl into the sweatbox again himself. There's also character building of a different kind; we learn here that Sisko has brothers!

It's a decent episode for O'Brien too, who demonstrates his skills by solving in a few days a problem that another engineer couldn't unravel in 10 years. O'Brien bonds with his commander both through their struggles here, and in agreeing to mentor Jake (who Benjamin still imagines joining Starfleet someday). A bit more of his backstory is painted in too, when we learn that he didn't discover his own technical aptitude until his service during the Cardassian war.

It's not really a good episode for anyone else, though. Bashir, Odo, Quark, and Jake don't even appear on screen. Kira and Dax have a bit of a "buddy adventure" hunting down Sisko and O'Brien, but neither of them look very clever in the process. Dax gets a fun quip about how being a science officer means "it's my job to have a better idea," but misses the obvious solution of remote control piloting a runabout to a safe stop.

Other observations:

• Some of the episode is filmed on location. As always, it's good bang for the production buck.

• Sisko talks about how his father "was" a chef, implying once again that he's no longer alive.

This episode might have been much stronger if the cult had been about something other than opposition to technology, with a leader whose charisma was demonstrated more effectively. Still, the hour has its moments. I give "Paradise" a B-.