Nog is struggling with rehab after receiving an artificial replacement for the leg he lost in combat. But he begins to come alive when he starts spending time in the holosuite with Vic Fontaine.
You could say that this episode is the most "Deep Space Nine" episode of the entire series. It's centered on two recurring characters, and the main cast is barely featured. It's a direct follow up to events from a prior episode. And the narrative slows at several points to make room for a song performance. No Star Trek series before or since would build an episode like this.
The Deep Space Nine writers didn't set out to do so either. The concept was a shelved story pitch from an earlier season dubbed "Everybody Goes to Quark's" (an homage to the stage play that spawned the movie Casablanca). The idea was that there was some kind of holiday, all the places on the Promenade were closed except Quark's, so all the characters packed in there and multiple mini-stories ensued. Despite never really finding an angle into a story, the concept lingered to be brought back as "Everybody Goes to Vic's."
The plan was for three storylines -- two comedic, one serious -- and staff writer Ronald Moore thought a Vic episode sounded like a lot of fun. The script for "The Siege of AR-558" was coming together, and it was decided that Nog's recovery from being shot could be the serious story. But as Moore wrote early script drafts, the feeling was that the Nog plot was too heavy, too big, and overwhelmed everything else. Show runner Ira Steven Behr made the call to cut everything else, even though that would mean an episode all about the guest stars. (Moore says Behr joked that had they known what this episode would become, maybe they'd have had O'Brien lose a leg instead so he and Bashir could hang at Vic's.)
Aron Eisenberg certainly rises to the occasion of starring in his own episode. He gives a truly different performance as Nog; the youthful enthusiasm he has always had is understandably diminished here. His early depression and obsession with the song "I'll Be Seeing You" feels like a familiar way of responding to loss, as does his rejection of help -- from a counselor, from friends. Nog's final breakdown and confession of his feelings is Eisenberg's best work on the series, and reportedly struck a chord with many actual veterans returning from combat -- he often said he received a lot of fan mail from former soldiers.
James Darren is doing equally strong work as Vic. We get plenty of the "coolest cat in the room" vibe that the character has displayed in all his previous appearances, but there's a lot of new texture here too. We see a more casual Vic (out of his tux for the first time), a more crafty Vic (swapping out Nog's cane), and ultimately a more vulnerable Vic (as we learn the subtle hell of being a self-aware hologram who doesn't get a life of his own). His best scene in the episode is all subtext, when Ezri congratulates him and starts talking about a timetable to nudge Nog out of the holosuite -- and you can see that Vic had no such plans. Ultimately, Vic is a loving father figure in this episode, giving "his child" what he needs, whether that's hearing the same song for the 15th time or tough love to push him out of the nest.
It is all quite a slow burn, though. While there is fun along the way (more talk of the often-heard-but-never-seen-Alamo, everyone dunking on Bashir's holosuite tastes, Quark angling to get paid for the holosuite time, a fun domestic montage set to the episode's title song), there's never any doubt where this episode is going. And while it's great when it does finally get there, it does take a while. If you haven't bought into Vic Fontaine by this point, a full rendition of "I've Got the World on a String" (twice!) is not going to win you over.
Other observations:
- It speaks to how fleshed-out the world of the show is that Leeta is even in this episode. Her character doesn't really have much of a role here, but it is a fact that he's Nog's stepmother, and it's appropriate that she's around for such an important milestone in Nog's life.
- The show does a pretty good job of incorporating just enough Ezri to plausibly give credence to her job as counselor, while allowing the Vic story to unfold as intended.
- There's a quick joke about The Searchers being a much better Western movie than Shane. But Nog is watching Shane because Paramount owned it. (Side note: the movie is in color, but Nog is of course watching it in "1962," and therefore on a black-and-white television.)
You could almost say that "It's Only a Paper Moon" is an episode about one scene. When that scene does come, it is great... but I think the slow build to get there isn't as strong for me as it is for the many fans who name this among the series' best episodes. Still, I think it's a very solid B+.
No comments:
Post a Comment