DS9 Flashback: Ties of Blood and Water

Deep Space Nine is well known for becoming more serialized in its later seasons. Part of that was not just a willingness to tell a story across multiple, consecutive episodes -- it was a willingness to do follow-ups to earlier episodes that, on previous Star Trek series, would have been one-offs. Bringing back Kira's Cardassian "father" was one such follow-up, in the episode "Ties of Blood and Water."

Legate Tekeny Ghemor, the Cardassian who embraced Kira as a daughter when the two were used in an Obsidian Order scheme, is coming to Deep Space Nine. But it isn't a social call. He is dying, and wants to unburden his secrets to Kira before he passes. Kira is out of her depth in providing end-of-life care, and is haunted by her past and her final moments with her own father. Looming over all of this are galactic stakes: Gul Dukat wants Ghemor extradited to Cardassia, and is using his new Dominion allies to force the issue.

Star Trek, in all its incarnations, focuses a lot on "found families," with the crew of a ship (or station) bonding with each other far more deeply than with the occasional parent or sibling that swings in to guest star every now and then. But Kira goes one step farther in choosing the people who are family to her, and this episode thrusts her found family into the spotlight, giving her a chance to say goodbye to a father figure in a way she never did with her actual father.

While we haven't actually seen Kira's relationship with Ghemor develop over time, the episode does a credible job of making us believing in it. Kira expresses real childlike eagerness over Ghemor coming to the station as the episode begins. She's proud to introduce him to baby Kirayoshi O'Brien -- sharing a child that isn't truly hers with a father who also isn't truly hers. Yet for both Kira and Ghemor, the feeling of these connections is genuine.

At the same time, the episode doesn't paper over the significance that Kira has been able to forge this kind of connection with a Cardassian, of all people. Worf is shocked -- almost appalled -- to learn this. What's more, it turns out that Ghemor has done bad things, which Dukat is able to exploit to drive an almost permanent wedge between him and Kira.

The episode also tries to show truth in what it's like to care (medically and emotionally) for a fading loved one. The first of two powerful monologues by Nana Visitor is ostensibly about whether Kira can ask the right questions of Ghemor to maximize the intelligence win, but it's really a monologue about whether she's up to being with a loved one in their final moments -- as she was not for her real father. Sisko and Odo both prove to be good friends to Kira, gently pushing her into an uncomfortable situation that will ultimately bring her growth and closure.

That growth and closure comes in the second monologue by Visitor, near the end of the episode, in which Kira's numbness at Ghemor's death slowly gives way to acceptance of both his loss and that of her father years ago. I've said it before, but you can always count on Nana Visitor to deliver in scenes like these. (And when he's directing, as he did in this episode, Avery Brooks never fails to get the best out of a performer.)

But all that said, this episode doesn't pack as big an emotional punch as other Kira-centric episodes have. I think it's because in between those two big monologues, a lot of what we see is more fun than moving. A lot of the episode revolves around Dukat's machinations. It's a treat to watch Sisko trade barbs with him, or watch Kira throw something at him. It's cool to see Ghemor stand up to him, even when Dukat dangles the thing he wants more anything: information on the whereabouts of Ghemor's real daughter. But those sorts of thrills pull you away from really living in the end-of-life drama that's playing out.

That's not even mentioning the biggest thrill of all: the return of Jeffrey Combs in the role of Weyoun. The Vorta species had been a tough nut for the writers to crack, and when they finally found an actor who did it, his character had unfortunately died in the very same episode. So much did they like Combs and his performance that the entire idea of Vorta cloning was invented as a way of bringing him back. And while Weyoun's antics here do take the sting out of the drama in this episode, it's clear that bringing back Jeffrey Combs was the right thing to do for the series. It would be worth it alone for the scene in which Weyoun knowingly ingests poison!

Other observations:

• Speaking of returning characters, here we see Kira's resistance friend Furel in flashback. (And, at this point in time, while he still had two arms.)

• Thomas Kopache gives a solid performance as Kira's dying father. But Last Week Tonight With John Oliver has kind of "ruined" him for me -- I now just see him as the "Catheter Cowboy."

Leavened a bit too much with humor, I think, "Ties of Blood and Water" isn't as strong as it could be. But I still think it has enough great scenes to work out to a B+.