Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
"The Quickening"
Air date: 5/20/1996
Written by Naren Shankar
Directed by Rene Auberjonois
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
"Maybe it was arrogant to think that [you could find a cure in a week]... but it's even more arrogant to think there isn't a cure just because you couldn't find it." — Dax to Bashir
Nutshell: Not the most audacious of premises, but the execution and realizations are absolutely stellar.
When Bashir, Dax, and Kira answer an old automated distress call in the Gamma Quadrant, they arrive at a destroyed planet to find a culture infected by an incurable disease designed by the Dominion two centuries ago as a terrible punishment. The disease is known only as "the blight," and every individual on the planet is born with the condition and is fated to ultimately die by it. The disease is a sort of time bomb; "the quickening," the very advanced and painful final stage of the blight, kills everyone sooner or later. Many die in their childhood, and since most do not live to have children of their own, the culture is looking upon the prospect of their ultimate extinction.
There's nothing particularly special about the way the story of "The Quickening" unfolds, other than its absorbing execution. The idea, after all, of Bashir getting so personally involved in the plight of his suffering patients is nothing we haven't seen before. But execution here is everything. Like with "Hippocratic Oath," Rene Auberjonois proves quite capable at directing DS9 and making a show have lasting impact on an emotional level. "The Quickening" is small, slow, quiet, and involving drama. It's a very simple medical-oriented show for Bashir that really works, unlike "Life Support" from last season, where he was constantly at the mercy of a manipulative plot.
The most important reason for "Quickening's" success is that it allows us to care about the characters and the victims of the blight. I can't put my finger on why exactly it all works so well—whether it's Auberjonois' direction or Naren Shankar's precise dialogue or a combination of both—but the show makes us very sympathetic for these people. Like the Federation, they were once very much in control of their own fate, but their resistance to the Dominion's autocratic hand led to a vicious attack and endless suffering ever since. Yet while keeping everyone someone we can sympathize with, the drama keeps its bounds and never goes the least bit overboard. There's no preaching or excessive melodrama here—just a very even-handed, fair approach to the material.
And such is the case with pretty much the entire story. The creators and actors all seem to know where they're going with the story, and never push harder than they should. Take, for example, the character of Doctor Trevean (Michael Sarrazin). He's a Kevorkian-type who wants to spare people the agony of their final days of life by assisting them in a dignified suicide once the quickening sets in. In the first act, the character initially seems blatantly obvious, right down to an understandable but exaggerated conflict between him and Bashir, who finds it incomprehensible that anyone would help end the life of someone who needs real medical treatment. But the creators play down the conflict angle and make Trevean a sincere and well-intentioned character whose points and actions are very bit as relevant as Bashir's considering that a cure for the condition has indeed been assumed impossible. I appreciate that the episode shows Bashir's disapproval for Trevean's assisted suicides yet still remains completely fair to Trevean and doesn't slight his position.
The show also raises the very true notion that such a culture wouldn't exactly welcome an outside hope for a cure with open arms. Indeed, Trevean even makes a not-so-subtle threat aimed at Bashir and all healers "who bring false hope." The fact that everyone has lost hope in saving themselves is certainly understandable, and the episode manages to work it into the equation realistically. In order to run experiments, Bashir needs volunteers. But it takes a while for the hopeless to work up enough hope to defy the pain and allow Bashir to work with them in their weak, quickened stage.
One of the first Bashir works with is Ekoria (Ellen Wheeler), a pregnant widow who has not yet quickened—who hopes she can survive long enough to give birth. Wheeler does a terrific job with the material. She's another example of the show's strong point: precision characterization performed without needlessly maudlin moments. Eventually, Bashir has a roomful of volunteers, and before too long he even thinks he may have a potential cure.
But things turn dreadfully wrong when all of Bashir's patients begin gyrating and trembling in pain as an unforeseeable element causes them to reject the treatment. (This leads to perhaps the show's one slightly excessive scene where Bashir gets overly involved in trying to save one dying patient while yelling "Breathe! Breathe!" until Dax has to shake him back into reality.) By morning, Bashir has a roomful of bodies, most of whom asked for Trevean's poison to speed their death. Only Ekoria survives the night.
The deaths lead to an interesting character scene where Bashir reveals to Dax that his arrogance got the best of him. I especially liked some of Bashir's dialogue: "I was so arrogant to think I could cure these people in a week; but there is no cure—the Dominion made sure of that." And Dax's response was even better—very relevant and a very scorching wake-up call: "Maybe it was arrogant to think that. But it's even more arrogant to think there isn't a cure just because you couldn't find it." This is a very good scene that's easy to overlook.
Kira and Dax head back to the station, but Bashir decides to stay behind and observe Ekoria's pregnancy while continuing the search for a cure. Things look bleak. Ekoria quickens while still several weeks away from being ready for delivery. She doesn't think she will make it, but Bashir helps her through it until the scene where we're presented with the obligatory childbirth scene. Childbirth scenes make for one of TV's biggest clichés, but this birth is a powerful one—Ekoria gives birth to a child with no signs of the blight, and seconds after she realizes what this means, she collapses and dies. A bit theatrical, perhaps—but very effective nonetheless. Bashir realizes that his treatment will not cure people who already have the blight, but it will prevent mothers from passing it onto their children. It isn't a complete cure, but it's a very large and important step forward. It's nice to see Bashir be a hero under believable circumstances.
The writers also further prove Trevean is not a simple caricature by providing a scene where he enthusiastically takes on the responsibility of seeing others get the vaccine in hopes of curing the future generation. The ending also features a particularly poignant moving crane shot that shows Bashir watching from afar as the people crowd around the newborn baby that they see as their savior. I really liked this shot. Kudos to Auberjonois. David Bell's score also deserves recognition.
While "Quickening" isn't a groundbreaking episode that goes out of its way to choose a topic that's particularly audacious or new, it does cover its chosen topic almost perfectly and with emotional depth. Dramatically, it ventures just up to the point that it should and no farther. The result is a story that feels very real, with characters that act rational and true to themselves, such that we care about what happens to them and we care about the story.
Previous episode: To the Death
Next episode: Body Parts
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101 comments on this post
Thu, Sep 11, 2008, 10:10pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Aug 2, 2009, 12:43pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Nov 10, 2009, 9:25pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Jun 16, 2010, 2:28pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Jul 13, 2010, 10:43am (UTC -5)
Sun, Dec 26, 2010, 2:24pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Jan 27, 2011, 6:40pm (UTC -5)
Sat, Jan 29, 2011, 6:46pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Feb 4, 2011, 1:02pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Jan 23, 2012, 6:31pm (UTC -5)
The arrogance of bashir who thought no cure existed solely cos he could not find it , and people die.
Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 2:25pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Oct 29, 2012, 1:46am (UTC -5)
Sat, Feb 16, 2013, 5:03am (UTC -5)
BASHIR
People are still dying back there.
SISKO
Yes... but their children won't.
Tue, Feb 19, 2013, 4:18pm (UTC -5)
I also noticed the Mother Theresa parallel, although her philosophy was to keep them alive as long as possible despite the suffering as she believed letting them die was against God's will whereas Travean wanted to end their suffering. Both were doing what they believed was right, but they were both ultimately unhelpful and misguided endeavors.
Wed, May 8, 2013, 9:48pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Jul 10, 2013, 8:05am (UTC -5)
Fri, Aug 2, 2013, 4:16pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Aug 6, 2013, 4:12am (UTC -5)
Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 3:11am (UTC -5)
I also agree with Joseph S on what he said about the ending of the episode not going the simple route of someone holding the cure of the disease for themselves or the plague being a Dominion plot. The ending where the doctor actually created a vaccine and not a medicine and where Sisko said that at least their children of that species will survive is perfect for this episode.
Wed, Oct 23, 2013, 6:29pm (UTC -5)
7/10
Wed, Jan 1, 2014, 11:32am (UTC -5)
If Julian can't translate medical jargon to something Ekoria can understand, that's pretty sad. Speaking "layman" isn't a foreign language.
Mon, Feb 3, 2014, 11:57am (UTC -5)
Instead, the fact that he found a vaccine was completely unexpected (by me at least) and felt really plausible and genuine. And in a way it was even more touching for me than if he had found a realy cure.
The bitter-sweetness of the ending, and the definite embodiment of hope (not for themselves, but for their civilisation's future) actually kind of choked me up (which is unusual for me, I have to say).
Really, really well done.
Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 3:20am (UTC -5)
I also felt something for the victims, especially Ekoria. The effects of the disease were well depicted but not overdone. It seems shallow in comparison to everything else, but I have to say Terry Farrell was even more beautiful with her hair down. I'll remember this episode for many reasons, all of them good.
Tue, Feb 25, 2014, 5:20am (UTC -5)
As for the "translate for you" comment by Dax to Bashir - it was more tongue-in-cheek than anything.
This was always a classic to me. 4 stars.
Mon, Mar 31, 2014, 9:21pm (UTC -5)
9.5/10
Thu, Jul 31, 2014, 9:11am (UTC -5)
Not much to add to Jammer's review here.
Damn, this virus was something. It even grew stronger in the presence of technology used to try and figure it out.
Julian gets his ego slapped around a bit to the point where he, of all people, doesn't need to take credit at the end.
The Dominion once again a revealed as "no joke".
Funny how an innocent baby always translates to hope. I really felt for Ekoria, enduring the excruciating pain for weeks to ensure her child had a chance to live.
This episode always brings a tear to my eye and a lump to my throat.
I can't find a reason not to give this one a 4.0.
Great Trek!
Tue, Aug 19, 2014, 8:08am (UTC -5)
Sat, Jan 3, 2015, 7:47pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Feb 13, 2015, 4:50am (UTC -5)
Sun, Dec 6, 2015, 4:01pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Jan 3, 2016, 1:56pm (UTC -5)
But even if it didn't follow the formula, doesn't mean it's not formulaic in its own way - it's a pretty generic medical piece in fact. I just didn't get on with it. Ironically, perhaps the most enjoyable part was the completely out of context intro. 2 stars.
Sun, Feb 21, 2016, 2:17pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Feb 29, 2016, 4:39pm (UTC -5)
I wondered the same thing. I concluded that he's kind of making things up to create levity, sort of ret-conning his own past to pretend that when he sewed his bear he was preparing to practice medicine. I guess it feels like a poetic conceit on his part rather than disclosure about his past. It's like an opera singers saying that when they sang for their parents at the age of three they were beginning their career in the opera house already; untrue but retrospectively cute to say.
One thing I'd like to point out about this episode occurred to me very early on in the story and never left until the end. Namely, that if the Dominion engineered a fancy virus to punish these people and make an example of them it strikes me that it would be quite dangerous for Starfleet people to be found there. But more to the point, very dangerous for the victims as well. If they're already undergoing punishment imagine the punishment they'd get if they found a way to cure themselves and undo what the Founders did to them. I rather think that if the people effectively defied the Founders by curing their population that the Jem'Hadar would be sent back in but this time simply to wipe them out, which is what the Jem'Hadar normally do from what we've been told.
At the end of the episode when Bashir developed a vaccine and the people were celebrating, my thought was "Wow, he just signed their execution order. These people are going to be wiped out because of this." It plays well into the theme of his arrogance that he didn't even consider this when deciding to help them.
Sun, Apr 3, 2016, 4:07pm (UTC -5)
There is no evidence that the Dominion has been back to check up on them. As long as they lay low on their own planet and/or don't bother the Dominion, they are probably safe. The Jem'Hadar may or may not come, which is better than the certainty of a slow extinction of the entire race.
Mon, Apr 18, 2016, 2:54pm (UTC -5)
But will someone please feed that poor baby?
Tue, Apr 19, 2016, 11:33pm (UTC -5)
So, Bashir, the man who adamantly demanded that Bareil be allowed to die with dignity back in "Life Support", even over the objections and downright pleading of Kira, is now absolutely aghast (AGHAST I TELL YOU!!!!) that there is someone on this planet helping people die with dignity. Never mind that they've been suffering from this disease for two centuries without any hope of a cure. Never mind that even his genetically engineered intellect couldn't come up with a cure (and doesn't by the end of the episode). Assisted suicide is evil! Okay, maybe it's not fair to bring up his genetic enhancements as that hasn't been introduced to the series as of yet, but I trust you get my point. This goes directly against Bashir's established characterization of being perfectly okay with letting people die with dignity instead of prolonging their suffering. And that is only done because this week we're supposed to see euthanasia as wrong, character traits be damned.
There's also a couple of other major problems with "The Quickening". First, Kira just farts off to some random nebula for an entire week while Bashir and Dax work on the cure? Umm, what the hell was she doing that whole time?! Did she spend the entire week meditating or something? And apparently it's once again perfectly okay for numerous members of the senior staff to just go missing for days on end without anyone back on the station caring even slightly. Second, the opening scene of the teaser is completely unnecessary and apparently is only there to further shit on Quark. It adds exactly nothing to the story and is completely unconnected to anything that comes after it. Oh, Quark made some advertisements that he downloaded into the comm system? Why, that diabolical fiend! To quote "Raiders of the Lost Ark" - the man is nefarious! Seriously, who gives a shit?! But I guess we really needed another scene of Kira threatening physical violence against someone for no apparent reason because it's not like she did that exact thing only two episodes ago with Garak.
Still, Jammer is absolutely right that the characterization is beautifully precise and focused for the guest characters and that the execution of that material is extremely well done. I also loved how Trevean is presented as a guy who is genuinely concerned about his people and more than willing to help distribute the vaccine. Given how ludicrous they made Bashir's reaction to his assisted suicides, they could have easily made him a mustache-twirling villain. Kudos for not going down that predictable route.
4/10
Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 3:52pm (UTC -5)
EKORIA: Trevean. Am I dead?
TREVEAN: Is that what you want? I can end your suffering. Your child will have known nothing but peace.
EKORIA: No. He deserves a chance to live.
TREVEAN: The Blight will take him in the end.
BASHIR: Trevean. I didn't realise you made house calls.
TREVEAN: I was concerned that she might be too weak to come to me.
Now, yes, this is Trevean late in the episode. But this is the type of thing that Bashir is (understandably) concerned about -- that Trevean sticks around sick people, telling them how the blight will kill them anyway so might as well get on with it, and continuing to push until either they agree, someone else intervenes, or he finally gives up. He does not just get their consent, but pushes for it, and argues that that is what their two-weeks-from-birth child, who obviously can't consent, would want too. And to his credit he *does* give up. But Bashir's not wrong to be concerned that this guy is pushing them too hard. To put it another way,
Bashir's reaction makes sense as a response to this situation and what he sees as glorifying death. I don't really think the episode is even arguing against euthanasia -- Bashir's initial reaction is shown to be arrogant/wrong and Dax tells him how arrogant he was. It *is* arguing in favour of hope, but a) a muted hope and b) once the hope comes it's the suicide-assistor that Bashir goes to to dispense it, i.e. the person in society Bashir trusts the most is the guy in charge of assisted suicide.
Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 11:46am (UTC -5)
Another problem I found looking back after watching it, which goes somewhat along with how Bashir is basically allowed to take close to a month off of work on the station with no consequences. Why didn't he have some other people come and help him? Obviously this isn't a Prime Directive issue, as these people have clearly had contact with other worlds before, so bring some other Federation medics back to the planet in order to help find a cure. If Sisko and Starfleet are willing to let DS9's Chief Medical Officer leave for such an extended amount of time, why don't they send him some aid?
I might be willing to rise the score to a 5/10, if I'm feeling generous. But there are still the other problems with the episode. I think I'll stick with 4/10 for now.
Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 12:37pm (UTC -5)
I agree that it's weird not to send aid, and for Bashir to be able to work on this indefinitely. Given that I find Miles running off to investigate Mrs Bilby's disappearance on his own for some unclear length of time pretty ridiculous in Prodigal Daughter, I should admit some consistency on this point. It doesn't actually bother me in this episode, for some reason, but I agree it's a problem that they (the writers) should have tried to patch up.
Mon, Jul 4, 2016, 12:54pm (UTC -5)
@Luke, I think the biggest difference with Bareil is that *Bashir* was the one who had already tried everything to save him before admitting surrender. His ego as the galaxy's greatest doctor drives him to try. It actually fits his character pretty well, inclusive of the death of Bareil.
I also didn't like the Quark-bashing. I wonder if Armin Shimerman was in on this; he was a Trekkie since "Glass Menagerie" first aired and campaigned to audition for the role of Quark. He did amazing things with the material he was given. Was that the full extent of his influence?
One of the best moments is the beginning where Bashir looks out at the stars filled with wonder at the chance to explore new worlds. I feel that way every time I look at the sky (apropos, I am writing this just a few hours before the Juno probe enters Jupiter's orbit, a chance for real discovery). He has the audacity to hope that his two lovely female companions (about whom we know he has fantasized) will join in his romanticism. Sadly they just roll their eyes. The events of the Quickening are meant to reality-check his enthusiasm. But I still like that he is an inherently optimistic character. If I'm not mistaken, he is the only one in the whole cast who has a positive outlook! Every other member of the cast is deeply jaded and has every right to feel that way: Sisko, Dax, Kira, Odo, Quark, Worf, O'Brien, even Jake.
Tue, Aug 9, 2016, 1:26am (UTC -5)
And I think it is a serious flaw in DS9 that the writers often blurred the fundamental evil of the Founders with Odo's desire to return home and join the great link, as if partaking in shape-shifting orgasms would mitigate killing 800 million people on Cardassia or torturing babies and children for generation upon generation w/out end.
It would be like saying, "well Hitler wasn't such a bad guy 'cause he really loved Eva." All he really needs is a hug.
Bah. The worst most evil Nazi running a WWII concentration camp is a saint compared to the Founders.
Tue, Aug 9, 2016, 2:18am (UTC -5)
I think you're right about the scope of the Founders' crimes, but fwiw the Nazis did what they did in the midst of normal human society, whereas the Founders are really a life form quite different from what we're used to. We can barely grasp how they think, let alone how to judge their morality. Agreed that they needed to be stopped at all costs, but judging a race seems like it ought to be based on what that race understood at the time they did it, and there seems to me a lot of evidence that the Founders have huge gaps in their understanding of many things. There are hints in the series that they may even spend aeons in the link, perhaps thousands of years at a time literally doing nothing. The female Changeling mentioned once that they don't even really register the passage of time, which makes it an incredible hassle for any of them to have to monitor events in real time.
If we consider that they've had those habits for thousands upon thousands of years, it might not be such a surprise that they've lost all touch with what we'd call enlightened reason. Maybe Odo could teach them; maybe he's deluded. But if he could teach them something it would be worthwhile, since they're easily the oldest race the Federation has ever met other than various godlike beings. I have a suspicion that the Founders may have been stewing in that link for even millions of years, in which case even I could see how that would make any short-term events and even other races completely irrelevant to them. "I've been here for a million years, and you played with sticks a few thousand years ago. Just screw off."
Sun, Jan 29, 2017, 11:50pm (UTC -5)
I liked that Dr. Bashir didn't come up with the cure/vaccine in just a day or two, as sometimes I believe Really Big Problems end up having a solution within a amount of time that is too short. In a way, it didn't feel like a month or so, to me, but the events of the story led me to believe time had passed (mostly because they said so). But that was better than a somewhat instant "Eureka!" moment I'd come to expect.
As far as him being gone for so long, I do believe that would present a problem on the station. They had no idea how long he was going to be gone. I'd think they'd get a replacement, at least a short-term one. He seems to have a good staff, but he is the Head of the Department and he would be missed for many different reasons.
Heh, I had to watch this over the course of two days, and had completely forgotten the beginning, with the catchy jingle of Quarks bar, by the time I got to the ending. I found it funny, especially when Worf walked in, but in retrospect, it was obvious to me it was just a way to get the other characters into a very Bashir-centric episode. Whether or not is was fair to Quark's character, well, it seems like something he'd try because *why not?*.
I big thumbs-up from me for the episode, though. It was better than I remembered it being.
Have a great day... RT
Sat, Mar 11, 2017, 1:42pm (UTC -5)
Sun, May 7, 2017, 9:41am (UTC -5)
Hey, we're 3 people in a shuttle, in enemy territory, getting a vague distress call. I'm sure between a doctor (who's on the mission for no reason), a former terrorist, and a science officer with a fetish for dumb, violent men, we can solve any planet-wide issue. Also, let's beam down to some random spot and assume this is where all the action is.
Stupid. Hard to look past the forced premise.
Thu, Aug 17, 2017, 6:52pm (UTC -5)
Aside from that grim reality, the episode benefited from some good guest actors like the pregnant woman, the older man doing the euthanizing and the one bald-headed patient. The scene when the bald guy dies was powerful as the others also began dying. Yes, a bit cliche with Bashir trying to resuscitate him but still a powerful scene.
Like Jammer mentions, the shot of Bashir standing on part of the ruins observing the newborn baby and the crowd from afar was also well done.
I felt the episode dragged a bit and I didn't wind up feeling emotionally attached to the dying people -- yes their plight is a terrible one and it generates even more impetus for defeating the Dominion, but I also wonder how Bashir can just decide he needs to help these people without worrying about duties on DS9. We know he is a very dedicated doctor -- "Hippocratic Oath" comes to mind.
I'd rate "The Quickening" 2.5 stars -- didn't think it added much more to Bashir's character although the arrogance/hubris dialogue with Dax was excellent. Some loose ends like how Bashir can spend a few weeks on the planet, what happens to the babies ... it didn't really resonate with me emotionally. Not really an episode to touch on ethics either. Credit deserved for not going beyond the realm of what's believable in terms of the medical part -- kept it grounded with the doctor/patients and desire to help at all costs.
Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 2:24am (UTC -5)
4 stars.
Wed, Aug 29, 2018, 11:19pm (UTC -5)
I never disliked the Jadzia character, but just that hard balled no-eyed thing in a live body as well as the TNG ep where it took over Beverly Crusher... It is nasty to think that a culture would pick up those things and put them in their bodies in the belief that their intellect would be increased.
Since Starfleet will now know what the Founders are all about, they should have taken that disease and made a huge vat of it; located the Founders in the goo caramel/butterscotch pudding state and poured it all over them. Let them die early on and there would not have been a war. I detest the creep that wrote destroy Earth, this is the only home us humans is got and if in reality aliens wanted us dead, we'd be dead. If Yahweh, before he was called Yahweh, had had his way human beings would never had been cloned in a lab in the subafrican lab. However, blah, blah, blah, he did his best kill all the earthlings........
Oh, yeah, pick on Bashir because he would turn Bariel into a g. d. robot. That is what he would have been and where would his and Kira's kove be then? Hmmmm? People, get real. This is not realism it is fantasy!!!!!!! Get with it.
As far as get a new doctor 'cause Bashir is away? They would have tons of doctor's on a station like DS9 just as they did on TOS and TNG and very unlike the dopes that set up Voyager on a trip into fires of hell Badlands, got it yet?, no doubt there would be Bajorean medical teams; there is a Bajorean nurse by Bashir's side.
USE YOUR IMAGINATIONS. BETTER YET, READ GRIMMS FAIRY TALES AND LEARN TO IMAGINE.
G'BYE
Sat, Dec 1, 2018, 12:06am (UTC -5)
Not much to add to Jammer’s review. It’s an episide that’s more of an emotional moving experience than one open to a lot of analysis
Fri, Jan 11, 2019, 9:34pm (UTC -5)
QUARK: Eh, this ep was about arrogance vs humility, self-aggrandizement vs altruism. And this amusing (Dorn was so funny with his prune juice!) beginning was about Quark's arrogance. "The nerve of him!" says Kira. "I love how my name spins around!" says Quark. That darn Quark was meddling with the stations systems, injecting them, so to speak, with his ads. Kira threatens to hurt him, if he doesn't fix it. He does.
Is Julian too arrogant ? Is he doing it for the glory? Trevian threatens Julian - if Julian is here for his own selfish purposes, Trevian will hurt him.
Is Trevian too arrogant? Is he doing it for the glory?
Do they both like watching their names spin around a just little too much?
The episode really isn't judgmental, and that's what makes it great. I think we have a bit of a deliberate mislead on Trevian - we're to wonder if he's really a good guy. This adds to the impact of the scene where he's thrilled with Bashir's news about the baby.
I think the message is that while both arrogance and self-interest serve their purpose, it is in humility and selflessness that we will find our true fulfillment and successes.
There's a lot going on in this ep, and I wish I had the time for a more thorough analysis. But good stuff!
Fri, Jan 11, 2019, 10:21pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Feb 15, 2019, 6:42pm (UTC -5)
Starfleet has been in and out of the Gamma Quadrant many times at this point. I missed why this is the first time they have picked up that distress call, one that has been signaling for 200 years?
Why is every new discovered planet filled with white actors? It seems more often than not that aliens are only truely alien looking or majoritively diverse when they are villians.
Overall great episode.
Thu, Apr 4, 2019, 7:42pm (UTC -5)
Much more compelling than some of the times they go to Cardassia/Bajor/Ferenginar and you only see one painting and a single indoor set the whole episode.
Wed, Apr 24, 2019, 12:49pm (UTC -5)
So Bashir's actions are more or a restoration, or to co-opt the title of another Trek episode that involved a restoration, a Tuve-fix.
Wed, May 1, 2019, 3:54pm (UTC -5)
the dead, not for the quick, therefore you lie.
CLOWN: It is a quick lie, sir, it will go away again from me to you.
Teaser : ***.5, 5%
We begin by finding an entertaining way to justify paying most the cast in this week's episode. Quark has begun inserting YouTube ads for his bar onto the station monitors, which I think entitles him to a life sentence in a Cardassian work camp. If ever there was a cogent anti-capitalist message on this show, it's here. Quark didn't just advertise on the monitors, however, as an enraged Worf—yes noticeably enraged, even for him—barges in demanding Quark's head on a platter of Gagh. The prune juice he ordered *on the Defiant* was dispensed in a tacky-as-hell plastic mug that plays Quark's jingle every time it's tipped over to imbibe. Double life sentence. Well between Worf and Kira, Quark's sphincter has tightened enough to produce his own diamonds, so he's going to purge the system while Kira's off in the GQ. I assume the Bajorans are setting up a Disneyland or something considering how they keep establishing colonies for the Dominion to destroy.
Actually, she's been tasked—for whatever reason—with piloting the blue shirts, Dax and Bashir, to a planet they've decided to bio-survey. I think Julian has been taking LSD or something because he's acting like his S1 self, prattling on about stars in some ill-advised attempt to impress these ladies. Thankfully, this fluff is put to rest when their runabout receives a distress call from a planet just outside of Dominion space.
Dax and Bashir beam down to the besieged world and are greeted by an impressive matte painting, reminiscent of the pull-back effect used in the teaser to “The Best of Both Worlds.” The world they find is populated by a lot of miserable-looking people scavenging about the ruins of their civilisation. There are dead people being carted around, everyone is filthy, the sun is just a little too bright. A woman approaches the pair and starts convulsing in pain, begging them to take her to Truvada or something so she can die. He apparently runs a hospital. A man sets himself down by Bashir as Dax makes inquiries.
EPRAN: The Blight's quickened in her. There's nothing you can do. You should leave here. now. Go back to where you came from and forget about this place.
Act 1 : ***.5, 17.5%
Dax manages to trade her hair clip for transportation to the hospital and Bashir determines that these aliens' physiology is sufficiently different from their own that the blight is not a threat, but also that his medicines don't seem to work on them. We see the woman who now has Jadzia's hair clip admiring its loveliness on her own blight-disfigured head. Adorning injustice.
The blue shirts carry the quickened woman to Truvada's hospital, which resembles a church or a cult more than a place of medicine. Then it's time for confession. A man whose lesions have become inflamed (he's quickened) stands up to express his gratitude for Truvada's care.
TAMAR: Yesterday, when I woke up, I saw that it had finally happened. I'd quickened. I always thought I'd be afraid but I wasn't, because I knew I could come here. Last night I slept in a bed for the first time in my life. I fell asleep listening to music. This morning I bathed in hot water, dressed in clean clothes. And now I'm here with my friends and family. Thank you, Trevean, for making this day everything I dreamed it could be.
Then he takes a deep drink from a goblet. Truvada and the blue shirts chat a bit. Bashir is incredulous about what's going on here, but Truvada explains the backstory: they were once a sophisticated people, but in choosing to defy the will of the Dominion, their world was ransacked and their entire population cursed with this blight. They are an example to others—cough couch—who might choose to defy the Changelings. Then Tamar convulses, the poison he drank taking effect. Bashir rushes over to help.
BASHIR: Can't you see he's dying?
TREVEAN: Of course he's dying. He came here to die. People come to me when they quicken. I help them leave this world peacefully, surrounded by their families and friends...The Blight kills slowly. No one wants to suffer needlessly. Not like that woman you brought me.
***
Truvada's “hospital” here, to me, reads like a very clear allegory for Teresa of Calcutta's House of the Dead, made infamous in the British documentary “Hells' Angel.” A humanitarian worker called Hemley Gonzalez wrote about his experiences there:
“Workers washed needles under tap water and then reused them. Medicine and other vital items were stored for months on end, expiring and still applied sporadically to patients...Volunteers with little or no training carried out dangerous work on patients with highly contagious cases of tuberculosis and other life-threatening illnesses. The individuals who operated the charity refused to accept and implement medical equipment and machinery that would have safely automated processes and saved lives.”
In Teresa's hospice care centres, she practised her belief that patients only needed to feel wanted and die at peace with God—not to receive proper medical care.
“There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ’s Passion,” Mother Teresa said. “The world gains much from their suffering.”
The difference between Mother Teresa and Truvada here is that his evangelism is not voluntary. This is of course because Teresa's Catholicism and the religion of the Dominion are of different types. I've talked about this before; the religion of the Bajorans and the Dominion are actually of the Pantheonic variety, where the gods are measurable and subject to the laws of the Universe, instead of the author and master of those laws, immeasurable and omnipotent like the God of Abraham. Truvada evangelises on behalf of the Dominion because he's been beaten into submission by it, conditioned by the literal and eternal plague which claims the lives of his entire race. While it's very good that this episode doesn't conflate the two types of religion unlike the myriad Bajoran faith stories we've had so far, it would have been braver to contextualise this story within a Bajoran tale. It would have made a good Kira story actually, but we will get there eventually.
What the blight has done to these people is to subjugate them into the religion of the Founders by force. This is not exactly the same as what Catholic missionaries do, but there are important similarities. Missionaries like Teresa of Calcutta consider illness to be an act of God; as she herself said on many occasions, it was more important that the ill (and the poor, and the maligned) accept the grace of God than be cured of their ailments. She and others would advertise medical care for the infirm, but offer only conversion. “The Quickening” was written at a time when AIDS was an incurable and fatal disease. In many communities, HIV had become a defining feature, a culture all its own, like the blight. In all cases, the culprit is ignorance; Teresa believed in ignorance that God created illness and that it was immoral to even attempt to defy his will; AIDS was considered fait accompli for groups like the gay community because they were kept ignorant of preventative and eventually curative measures (if you don't know what I'm talking about, look up Ronald Reagan and the AIDS crisis); the Dominion takes elements of both, exacting divine judgement on a race which defied their will. It may not be “immoral” in the same way as it was for Teresa to attempt to cure the blight, but it may as well be since hubris against the Dominion is what condemned them to begin with. Truvada doesn't love the Founders the way Weyoun does, but they are, for all intents and purposes, gods to both men in equal measure, inviolate.
***
Dax determines that the distress beacon has been repeating the message for over 200 years, an idea borrowed, oddly enough, from “The 37s.” Bashir, though incensed by the suffering here, has accepted that they should leave, but before they can a very pregnant and blighted woman greets them. Her baby is due in a couple of months and she wants to live long enough to bear it, but fears that she'll quicken before that happens. Truvada may have rejected them, but she and others would welcome any help Bashir could offer. But there's a complication as Kira calls down from the runabout to report that there are Jem'Hadar ships in the area.
Act 2 : ***.5, 17.5%
Bashir and Dax believe they might be able to cure the blight, much like they did on some other mission we never saw. Kira gives the two optimistic nerds a look that's just about perfect for this story. She agrees to hide the runabout in a nebula for a week so the blue shirts can make their stand. This isn't a flaw in the story by any means, but two things stand out to me here:
1.Kira is good in these scenes, but her presence in most of this season has felt incidental. Like Riker and especially late Chakotay, she seems to be suffering from first-officer syndrome; she is her job and little else.
2.I like the return of science officer Dax a LOT, but this throws into relief how stupid her characterisation is in episodes like “For the Cause” was.
Anyway, the pregnant lady, Ekoria, finds the blue shirts a place to work in her group home. Dax manages to use her humour and soft touch to inject a little levity in the situation, complimenting Ekoria's husband's defiant optimism, expressed in visual art he left her and their town, as well as making good-natured jokes at the expense of Julian's doctor ego “they love to keep people waiting; it makes them feel important.”
After a little while, Julian manages to isolate the virus. His exuberance has carried him off to the clouds, but Jadzia manages to keep things grounded, translating his tech-talk for Ekoria and conveying the significance of their findings. The blue shirts have inspired so much hope in the young woman that she decides the three of them should enjoy her final meal, a feast she's been saving up for her death at Truvada's hospital. And she's three days from retirement, too.
Julian's having less luck recruiting volunteers for his study. He needs people who have quickened to chart the progress of the virus, but they aren't in the mood to be guinea pigs. Finally, Bashir makes a demonstration of the magnificence of Federation medical technology but repairing the arm of a young boy so he can play with his friends.
EPRAN: How did you do that?
EKORIA: Does it matter? He can find a cure for us if we help him.
Oh man...credulity is so dangerous, so pernicious. These people are ready to believe in anything if it might mean an end to their suffering, not unlike those poor souls in India who converted for dear old Mother Teresa. But Bashir does his very best to keep expectations realistic. He explains to Truvada and the crowd that he cannot promise them a cure, but nor will he ask for anything beyond the opportunity to try and help them. Post-scarcity society, baby.
Act 3 : ****, 15% (shortish)
EKORIA: Maybe you should go home. Maybe my people don't deserve your help.
BASHIR: They've just been suffering so long they've lost hope that things can be better.
EKORIA: It's more than that. We've come to worship death. I used to wake up and look at myself in the mirror, and be disappointed that I hadn't quickened in my sleep. Going to Trevean seemed so much easier than going on living.
Ekoria found a reason to try and go on living when she discovered she was pregnant, but Bashir has brought a new hope to these people. Jadzia reports that there is a line of quickening folks ready to let Bashir work on them, including Epran from the teaser, “I cancelled my death for you. I was really looking forward to it.” Ouch.
Several days later, we surmise, Epran is very close to death, but Bashir is passing around a new hypospray to the volunteers. Julian thinks it might contain the cure they've been after. While they wait, Bashir and Ekoria have an interesting conversation.
BASHIR: Sometimes. I prefer to confront mortality rather than hide from it. When you make someone well, it's like you're chasing death off, making him wait for another day.
See, myths aren't a bad thing. They give meaning to our lives. The point is how we interact with them. Do you worship death, or do you tell it off?
This tender moment is interrupted by Jadzia reporting a problem; Epram is convulsing, dying in agony.
Act 4 : ****, 17.5%
Epram begs for help and Bashir makes a startling discovery; the EM fields from their equipment are causing a reaction in all the patients who are now screaming and writhing in pain. Jammer was a little down on this, but this scene was genuinely one of the most difficult to watch on Trek for a while. Epram dies and Truvada enters the clinic where the others are begging for him to help them. The whole lot of them start crying out for their dose of hemlock.
Morning comes in the form of a distressingly beautiful outdoor shot, and Bashir is left with a pile of dead bodies and his own profound disappointment and self-disgust.
BASHIR: I'm going to tell you a little secret, Jadzia. I was looking forward to tomorrow, to seeing Kira again and casually asking, how was the nebula? And oh, by the way, I cured that Blight thing those people had.
This concludes with the oft-quoted bit about arrogance and how it cuts both ways. Siddig and Ferrel are extremely effective here. This is fascinating because we see that credulity, despite being tied to humility in the face of divine will, is in its own way a kind of arrogance. You can try and be a genuinely humble servant of God, or a mediator for the suffering, or a doctor with the best of intentions, and still be so arrogant that you miss the forest for the trees. Bashir stumbles through the streets, exhausted and subdued, like those around him, by the cruel might of the Dominion. He finds Ekoria, now quickened—probably thanks to Dr Bashir's would-be cure. She isn't bitter towards him though, thanking him for the hope he offered and wishing him well. But we aren't done yet. Kira returns to pick up Dax and return to DS9, but Bashir is staying behind, armed only with low-tech alternatives and his own will to do no harm.
Act 5 : ****, 17.5%
He holes up with Ekoria who's trying to survive long enough to give birth. He discovers that the antigen he gave her has vanished from her system. Hmmm. He estimates that the baby will be due in about a month and a half.
EKORIA: I'll never make it that long.
BASHIR: Well, I can induce labour in two weeks. The baby will be old enough by then.
The quiet ferocity with which Siddig gives these lines is simply marvellous. He talked with her earlier in the Kukalaka scene about a doctor's bedside manner, about projecting the air of “caring competence.” He's not projecting, though. He *is* competent, and by god does he care. Ekoria is going to die and they both know it, but her baby has a chance. Two weeks.
Later, we find Truvada tending to her. To his credit, he asks her if she wants her chalice of death. She rejects it.
Finally, the weeks have passed and Ekoria is giving birth. Bashir makes the discovery, that the baby has absorbed all the antigen, like a vaccine. The unhindered joy in Bashir's voice is really quite wonderful as he hands her her people's hope for the briefest moment before she finally dies.
The story continues to crescendo from this beautiful scene as we see Truvada accept the privilege of seeing that his people are inoculated and the blight erased from their future generations. He takes the baby outside and holds it high for all the world to see, while Bashir watches from afar. The religious imagery is quite intentional, as we see that Truvada and his people have now been evangelised by Bashir. But his mythology doesn't demand worship, subservience or credulity, only hope.
Episode as Functionary : ****, 10%
I didn't report it in the act to act reviews, but I had to stop several times during the episode to shed tears. The writing, directing, acting and scoring of this episode are quite masterful, brimming with bittersweet moments, profound insights and quiet dignity.
There's an epilogue on DS9 where Avery Brook earns his paycheque. He congratulates Bashir on his accomplishment, but Bashir isn't finished working; he's still trying to find a cure. Now THIS is one of those DS9 meta-commentary bits that actually works and doesn't come across as presumptuous. Back in “Explorers,” the writers were so desperate to prove that long-term stationary storytelling is more rewarding than the planet of the week ethos of TOS/TNG. That was annoying and, ironically for this episode, arrogant of them. Here, Bashir thinks he's going to fix the planet of the week all by himself. And he does after a fashion, but he also realises that there's value in sticking with it, in looking to expand upon his success and develop a cure as well as a vaccine. It's as if the series is saying, “While there's value in the Trek model as it is, there's more that can be said if we don't try to cram it all into 45-minute episodes,” instead of “Our stories aren't episodic because we're better than you.”
While this story seems disconnected from the broader themes and plots of DS9, it's actually integral to the mythology around the Dominion which is going to be explored heavily in later seasons. The Founders are so convinced of their own superiority that god-like wrath and—hehe—dominion have come to define them and the culture they rule in every way. Federation optimism and ideals, personified as they tend to be in Bashir (c.f. “The Wire”), are the one subversive element with any hope of countering this malevolence. Great work all around.
Final Score : ****
Wed, May 1, 2019, 4:21pm (UTC -5)
Though a good episode, a certain triteness infests "The Visitor" throughout.
This episode is having none of it.
Wed, May 1, 2019, 5:29pm (UTC -5)
@Jackson
I'm curious, on what level do you compare this to "The Visitor"? I'm struggling to see the connection besides of course them both being good DS9 episodes.
Wed, May 1, 2019, 10:44pm (UTC -5)
I'm also not a big fan of episodes where a character is narrating the story.
Thu, May 2, 2019, 10:18am (UTC -5)
Mon, Jul 8, 2019, 4:15pm (UTC -5)
I still feel from time to time that Siddig's acting chops could use some work, occasionally coming off hammy and overplayed, but nonetheless I could feel the pain of Bashir in this episode quite strongly and that is a credit to Siddig.
Bashir has a teddy. That's cute.
Thu, Aug 22, 2019, 7:49am (UTC -5)
VOY- pregnant Torres is the cure
DS9 - pregnant Ekoria is the cure
Who was the pregnant elixir on Enterprise?
Wed, Jan 15, 2020, 3:52pm (UTC -5)
But naturally, this all gets the DS9 treatment.
For once, we're not in a little rustic village filled with Californian B-actors, but a ruined planet, filled with an entire population suffering from a degenerative and ultimately fatal disease.
Worse, it's been deliberately inflicted on them by the Founders, using advanced technology which even the Federation can't match. And after over a hundred years of failed attempts to cure it, the only solution the local doctors can offer is a quick-killing poison, once the suffering from the disease becomes too severe.
This makes for an interesting conflict with Bashir, both when it comes to his interpretation of his hippocratic oath and his determined belief that he can find a cure and save the day.
And truth be told, I found it easy to understand Truvada's actions and viewpoint. They've had a hundred years of this plague, and all previous attempts to cure it have failed - and it has both a 100% infection rate and a 100% fatality rate.
In that situation, having seen generations of people growing up with the knowledge that they're going to die writhing in agony, not only would you have no hope of a cure, but you'd offer the only thing you could - a chance to end the pain.
In many ways, Bashir's disagreement with Truvada makes little sense, especially since only a short while ago, Bashir was more than happy to (effectively) euthanase Worf's brother.
Of course, at least part of this is because Bashir believes himself clever enough to find a cure and beat the Founders at their own game.
But since this is DS9, his actions actually make things worse, and he's forced to watch Truvada dealing out the only solution which works: a little dose of poison.
And therein lies the key point of this episode: a chance for Bashir to be humbled and reflect on the fact that for all his brilliance, he does have some limitations.
As a character study, this is one of the better ones in this series, even if Bashir's partial redemption is linked to some clumsy religious overtones.
Though as happens so often in this series, it's a shame that there's no discussion of the trigger for this episode. The fact that the Founders are willing to both destroy a civilisation and then punish the survivors and their descendants with a terrible, personally tailored virus is something which should really deserve at least some commentary, but it's just waved aside.
Tue, Jan 21, 2020, 9:36am (UTC -5)
He's been enjoying it, but with a big caveat: so far, he's absolutely *hated* Bashir. He wrote up a half-serious half-joking character ranking list (with Odo at the top) that had Bashir right at the bottom underneath "unnamed background extra #214". He has been thoroughly irritated by his chatter and his status as Series' Designated Horndog, and has said in no uncertain terms: "hey fenn if bashir and dax get together at some point, it's in your best interest not to tell me, because I will drop this series like a brick".* **
Anyway, when I heard he had 'The Quickening' coming up next, I made a bet with him that he would like Bashir in this episode. The bet's stake is... one steak, bought for me if he ended up liking Bashir and bought for him if he didn't.
One episode later... he owes me a steak. Only "a very mild steak", but hey -- I won the bet, and he's developed a very mild liking for Bashir now. Win/win.
In the process of posting about this, I've come to realise I never actually left a comment on my runthrough, so let me just say I really love this one. Bashir is at his finest when dedicated to healing, no matter how difficult it may be. His dynamic with Dax is a lot better now -- the awkward pickup attempt phase has ended, letting them settle into something comfortably platonic. I love how the two complement each other here, with Dax as the "worldly" one translating for Bashir off in his own little medical motormouth world. She gives him the push he needs to go from being self-absorbed to being truly selfless -- staying on the planet, no matter what, until the cure is found.
I'm with Jammer on loving the episode's final shot. I remember watching that, expecting Bashir to wade into the crowd and the adulation... but no, he watches, happy for the long-awaited vaccine to take up all the attention instead of himself. As it should be.
Also his teddy bear story is sweet as hell. Nominating Kukalaka for best character in the Star Trek franchise.
* He added a caveat to his "Dax + Bashir = drop the series" ultimatum halfway through watching 'The Wire': he said he'd drop the series not because he hates Bashir, but because him being with Dax would mean Bashir's not being true to himself. Because he belongs with Garak instead. Clearly.
** SPOILERS I'm aware that spoilers spoilers Dax spoilers Bashir spoilers spoilers season 7... though definitely not in the way he'd imagined it. Neither of us have reached that point yet, though.
Fri, Feb 21, 2020, 4:46pm (UTC -5)
----------------------------------------
Interesting premise bogged down by the most idiotic execution possible.
Let’s begin with the stupid, numb-nut opening scene.
Four or of our main characters talking about the juvenile song by Quark and scolding the designated little kid of the show. He tempered with the station’s comp systems, WHOOP-DE-DOO!!! Like he’d never done that before. Odo says it’s a class-3 offense (whatever that means, this is juvenile comedy, not meant to go deep or explore statements). Quark does shit like this every episode just so we can have the weekly Quark-Odo childish spat going on for 96 episodes now. And that Odo threat about a class-whatever offense is supposed to scare Quark? Such a pointless line that nobody even cares. Move on. After four years, writers lack originality, or even adult intelligence to come up with a better Odo-Quark interaction.
Oh but wait, the “class-3 offense” is supposed to work with… wait for it… the Magistrate! Oooooooooo, now Quark is scared. Who the hell is the Magistrate, who the hell knows? It doesn’t matter, this is DS9 slapstick humor. Just know that Quark is supposed to get some verdict from the Magistrate and that scares the hell out of him, not that you will see any remnants of this process with the magistrate due to a stupid song will be heard at any moment in any future DS9 episode, because, DS9 writers. What is the value of Odo’s threat other than a stupid line injected into a totally dumb-ass scene with zero relation to the rest of the episode in tone and topic? Less than zero. Way to begin what is supposed to be a very serious episode with an oafish, low-IQ scene, denigrating four main characters further.
Oh, of course, let’s please not forget Kira grabbing Quark by the collar and verbally abusing him. Are we supposed to pretend it has any effect? Quark doesn’t. I wouldn’t either after I’ve seen it zillion times, but this is a TV show, so he will fake caring for the sake of stupid!
Then, comes in Worf, who ordered a glass prune juice from the replicator and gets Quark’s free-refill mug, and this is why he appears at all in this episode. Is this what DS9 has reduced Worf to now? A mighty Klingon getting his feelings hurt and joining the regular bi-weekly (being generous) dose let’s-shit-on-Quark parade led by Odo? Way to crap on a great TNG character, unimaginative, pathetic writers of DS9.
When Dax and Bashir arrive to the planet and walk through the village, some dude has his arm rigidly lifted at a 90-degree angle continuously points his finger right to their faces as he approaches them, passes them by and goes to sit down with a buddy. What the hell is that? Does Auberjenois not realize as the director how oafish that looks? Did he tell the dude to do that? It looks stoooopid.
Once they begin talking to the villagers, more gratuitous dialogue happens. Dax gets transportation to the hospital because she gave a hairclip to that one lady. The lady has access to transportation but not to a hairclip. Whatever.
There’s then a guy who comes to Trevean’s place and says that it’s the first time he slept in bed in his life. First time he had worn clean clothes and bathed in hot water. He looks, in human years, about mid-30s I suppose, so I am supposed to believe for around 35 years, his body NEVER felt hot water and NEVER put on clean clothes. Trevean has access to hot water and clean clothes that he continuously deprives the villagers of for three-plus decades? Yeah, OKAY.
Never mind that Trevean considerably looks older than everyone else and has yet to catch the blythe and ZERO explanation is provided by the writers because they were too busy coming up Worf’s prune-juice temper-tantrum or the fascinating world of Magistrates and verdicts that we never get to see!
200 years ago, these people were as advanced as humans (Trevean says so) and the Jem’hadar destroyed their world. So, for two centuries, they had a distress call out and nobody had been to find a cure, yet our Bashir will. Two centuries, and nobody helped them? Do writers even know how long two centuries are? 60 years, I may have bought it. 200 years? No thanks. But of course, it makes it that much more dramatic that “our” Starfleet hero will find something! By the way, why would the Jem’hadar not use that distress call as a chance to catch other aliens anyway? Not a word said about that, no explanation. Yes, I know, the writers are too busy.
It’s obvious that these people don’t want help and Bashir’s presence obviously causes some serious disturbance, and yet, nobody touches him or gets rough with him, because we are in the safe-zone of Berman trek. Trevean even tells the tale of many people having come for help before and how they exploited them, leaving with their clothes and food, etc. Yet, these people are not *that* hostile to Bashir – even after his efforts cause a dozen of them to die in writhing agony – other than a few bad staring contests (oh, and let’s not forget that guy with the goofy-ass finger-pointing in total silence for seconds as he approaches them, passes by, and walks away).
I could immediately tell that some people were going to believe Julian, and that he would fail at first and end up in a so-called more difficult position, but ultimate emerge as the hero who rises up to find some level of greatness from an impossible situation. Because, the writer is a long-time TNG writer where everything resets every episode, our heroes remain spanking clean and (almost) perfect. Also, how cliché that the baby of the pregnant woman gets saved (at least). And worry not, planet inhabitants, “the” Bashir will continue to keep looking for a cure for you, after having saved your children, the episode makes sure we know that with the closing scene.
In the meantime, nice commanding decision by Kira to leave Bashir and Dax for a whole week alone on the planet in a very unsafe environment. Jem’hadar may stop by and hurt them, the locals may get violent toward them. Ah, but no problem, Dax can continue to trade hair clips for transport, and other planet-like privileges.
How long was Bashir gone from the station? At least two months I believe. Not a very busy station, I suppose, this DS9 station is, not that we are IN THE MIDDLE of the Dominion war or anything, or not that DS9 plays a MAJOR role in that war or anything. Oh no, no worries at all!! Just like that, Bashir can take two months off. Also, let’s please not send Bashir any help for two months, leave him alone in a hostile environment, with limited equipment and no medical assistants. It’s not like the lives of a whole planet-population are in danger or anything (!!)
-----------------------------------------
Folks, that was an exercise in nit-picking, nothing more.
Don’t take it too seriously. Some of what you read may be true, but it’s all about nitpicking, nothing more. I agree with Jammer’s review 100%, this episode is strong. In fact, I am thankful to another member of the board for motivating me to watch this episode again (probably for the 5th or 6th time).
But if my intention was to shit all over it, with endless nitpicking, that was what that exercise would have looked look like.
Mon, Feb 24, 2020, 2:25pm (UTC -5)
Sorry, I expected a critical reflection on the shortcomings of the particular episode not a slating/purposefully negative review.
Because you gave me something I didn't want I give you this. (Picture me looking very stern at you)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhhoS3zOskE&fbclid=IwAR15C8ZQysrYN9-F543YAuhtFB2nbdKNAq4Fix3exNRVfLkZcN8VseR45a4
Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 12:00am (UTC -5)
I did exactly what I promised, applying those standards of nit-picking here. Sorry you expected something else.
Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 12:57am (UTC -5)
Ok, call what I write deep dive nitpicking (I'm not entirely sure what that means) but my comments on episodes are my actual opinion. What you wrote here is not your actual opinion.
To admit the scene where the one guy (who later dies in the hospital) points at Bashir always stood out as pretty bad acting / directing.
And the reason why the people were not too mad at Bashir after the people died in the hospital was that he didn't take money and the people who came to him were already "quickening" which means that they would have died very soon. If they hadn't gone to Bashir the would have gone to Trevean. The pointing guy even says so when he enters. Plus Bashir at the beginning openly states that he cannot promise anything.
His entire arc in this episode is the classic hero's journey and a good comparison to the eye ball scene. In the everybody dies in the hospital scene and the aftermath I completely understand what is happening and why people behave in a certain way. In the eye ball scene I have no idea why anybody does anything and I have the lurking suspicion that I'm not supposed to. Let's ignore the eye ball thing itself, maybe they are just sick perverts who like to torture people but why would seven not at least try to beam Itcheb to her ship. She appears, tries to take him but he says no and that is the end of the debate and then she shoots him. Both their motives are nebulous. STP and Discovery are shows that constantly leave me with questions that these shows never answer. The eye ball scene is the very foundation of her character on the show and there are many things that make no sense about this scene or are at least not explained in any way. It is simplistic and manipulative drama.
Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 12:50pm (UTC -5)
Of course. That was the whole point of the exercise, I made that clear twice already. You don't have to defend "The Quickening" (as I made clear above, I agree with Jammer's review). The point was, for the third time, that with the standard of nitpicking imposed on every syllable and second of every shot there, I can shit on any episode of any series, or any series period (ok, I won't repeat it a fourth time, I thought that had been made clear from the beginning).
Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 1:09pm (UTC -5)
"The point was, for the third time, that with the standard of nitpicking imposed on every syllable and second of every shot there"
I'm sorry that I don't remember every discussion here. So in essence this is an elaborate way to criticize my writing about ST:Picard as idiotic and/or pointless.
Noted.
Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 1:18pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 1:32pm (UTC -5)
I would note also that the passage of time has a huge effect on people's opinions of media. I went back the other day and read some of my initial comments about ST: Into Darkness 4 years ago and already I don't even agree with myself. There's a paper for you, Booming. :-)
Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 2:24pm (UTC -5)
"No. I used neither of those terms, nor did I imply them. But ok... "
didn't you? What I do is "deep dive nitpicking" (your words) which I suppose is a worse form of nitpicking. Cambridge dictionary defines nitpicking as: "giving too much attention to details that are not important, especially as a way of criticizing."
Collins defines it as:"If someone nitpicks, they criticize small and unimportant details."
So you say my reviews are deep dive nitpicks but you do not even want to imply that what I write is pointless. Interesting.
Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 3:20pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Jun 16, 2020, 12:02pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Jul 22, 2020, 6:54pm (UTC -5)
But... I’m thinking Section 31 and Garak were right... the founders should be destroyed. They are flat out evil.
Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 6:08pm (UTC -5)
The Founders are all of one mind ("the drop becomes the ocean and the ocean becomes the drop) and they have no sympathy for the suffering of those who had nothing to do with their persecution.
I hated when Odo went "home" to "his people" in the last episode. To me, that's like finding your biological father after a lifetime of searching only to discover he's a serial killer.
Garak should've wiped them out while he had the chance. Yes, they are evil.
Fri, Jul 24, 2020, 2:54am (UTC -5)
That is some advanced thinking guys.
Every "great" empire in human history has committed genocides and other horrible stuff, even the modern European ones like France, GB and the USA. Julius Caesar did half a dozen genocides alone.
Look up the stuff France did in Algeria. Concentration camps, chemical warfare, mass torture, forced relocation, 10% of the population killed. That war ended in 1962.
This deserves this quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b07MuI_pw28
Tue, Sep 22, 2020, 9:17pm (UTC -5)
In a way, this episode also offers a nicely minimalistic portrait of the Federation: two blue-shirts alone and doing their science thing, trying to help a less technologically advanced culture in need of aid. This episode just epitomizes a certain Trek ethos.
Apparently DS9's regular set designers were off shooting the First Contact Movie, so other set designers stepped in for this episode. The results are special, with this episode arguably having the best matte-paintings and landscape-composite shots of 90s Trek. The episode's "alien village" sets are also impressive, with their odd buildings and sloped, rubble strewn streets, everything off kilter or on the verge of collapse.
As Jammer says in his review, the episode's script isn't that surprising, isn't that original, and yet everything just clicks together so well. Rene's relatively fresh direction, and the fresh production design, seems to gel well with a wonderfully bare-bones script (too bad there weren't fresh musical composers).
The stripped down nature of the episode also lends it a heightened quality, very abstract and almost mythic, Bashir the western hero wondering into a desert town to do battle with just his tricorder and hypospray.
Incidentally, watching Bashir here had me wondering where I'd rank him amongst my favorite Trek doctors. Bones is first place, of course, but I'd put Bashir second. Ignore his super-power reveal - DS9 eventually character assassinates all its characters - and he has a nice little arc, the wide-eyed frontier doctor who matures from booksmart rookie into a model, battle-hardened Starfleet officer.
Voyager's EMH I'd place third. He had more great Doctor Episodes than any other Trek doctor, and he's acted with more flair and gusto, but it's hard to relate to a rude, wise-cracking, neurotic hologram.
I'd place Crusher third. I liked her grace and quiet style. Her private dinners and conversations with Picard were always cool. But she rarely had anything to do, and only had one great episode dedicated to her.
Still, that's four distinct, great-in-their-own-way Trek Doctor's in a row. Not a bad track record for a franchise.
Next game doctor Phlox, of course. I never warmed to him. Always seemed like but a polite version of the EMH, and the aesthetics of his infirmary always irked me. Still, he arguably got "Enterprise's" best directed episode ("Dear Doctor", its moral implications aside).
Tue, Sep 22, 2020, 10:17pm (UTC -5)
For me, no question Bones is No. 1. He was part of the Big 3 -- no other Trek doctor had as important a role as he did and Kelley really delivered. I didn't always like the writing he was given in terms of being forced to disagree with Spock but on occasion it really worked ("All Our Yesterdays") comes to mind.
No. 2 has to be the EMH doctor -- really think Picardo's acting elevated this character to be (after 7 of 9) the best VOY character for me. I always enjoyed is acerbic wit, facial expressions, and he's definitely the most humorous of the doctors.
No. 3 is Phlox as I think of the range of tones Billingsley could portray. "Dear Doctor" and "Damage" are a couple of episodes I think of when he has those really deep ethical conversations with Archer. Also in "Regeneration" he does a brilliant job confronting his own mortality. Really liked his curiosity about humans in early ENT.
No. 4 is Bashir -- ranking him 4th doesn't feel right to me given how much I like him on DS9 but all things considered, I didn't like how, at the start, he was overly attracted to Dax ("Emissary" for example). Him and O'Brien made the 2 best buddies on any Trek series, but the genetic meddling I thought was unnecessary as well as making him super-competent as a bridge officer.
No. 5 is Crusher -- no question about this for me. Of all the doctor actors, McFadden is the weakest for me and I prefered Pulaski from Season 2 over Beverley. Yes, it's nice to have the mom thing and being buddies with Picard but I just found her too plain.
Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 7:56am (UTC -5)
Fri, May 21, 2021, 12:53am (UTC -5)
Also, I have to agree that after this episode, the disease Section 31 infected the Founders with in Season 7 begins to look less like a war crime and more like justice.
Tue, Aug 31, 2021, 2:44am (UTC -5)
I mean...we have like 9 in my town.
Tue, Aug 31, 2021, 3:16am (UTC -5)
A hospice is different from what Trevean provided. A hospice provides a terminally ill patient with palliative care. Trevean does assisted suicide and euthanasia which is a far more contentious issue.
Thu, Jan 6, 2022, 11:27am (UTC -5)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFjx0iaBZic&list=PLXCALJAH2Zp5E0KqlyZ-ooryBJV3cIRuR&index=2&ab_channel=FishMan
- There is no villain (technically the Dominion but they have no active role apart from being a minor obstacle and some background).
- I thought about it because ST:Picard kind of tried this but failed were this episode succeeds. STP tried to show that you have to try, even if success is far from guaranteed because it is the right thing to do but in the process they framed Androids and Romulans as a threat which adds to the "try as much as you can" narrative the by line "or the oppressed will kill you". This episode treats all positions as legitimate and vilifies nobody involved. Dax is concerned and sets Julian straight when he needs it. Travean is portrayed as a deeply sad but caring man. Ekoria hasn't given up hope and is willing to fight. All the characters involved, big and small play an important part.
- The episode doesn't take the easy way out. It gives the important truth "Even if you try and even if you succeed in some sense that doesn't mean that all turns into a paradise". People are still dying there. We get no hurrah but a dedicated Julian trying to save even more. Sisko even checks up on him and accepts that not only does Julian have to do this but it is the right thing to do. Another nice little touch.
- Great performances. Even Terry Farrell was quite ok. Alexander Siddig who his parents know as Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abderrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi or plain simple Siddig, pulls of a good performance and Ellen Wheeler and Dylan Haggerty are just great.
- Bashir's arc is simple but effective. The arrogant doctor who fails horribly, wants to give up, is called out on his arrogance, then tries again and maybe doesn't achieve what he dreamed up but maybe what he wanted. Help the people on this planet.
- The ending is so sad but still so fulfilling. I just love it. Poor Ekoria.
5 out of 4 stars.
Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 12:02am (UTC -5)
No B plot.
Kevorkian---and more importantly the ideology behind the real-life Kevorkian---is the antagonist.
This episode did more than any prior episode to characterize the Dominion as a looming threat. Four stars for that alone, and the execution cements that.
Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 4:31am (UTC -5)
"Kevorkian---and more importantly the ideology behind the real-life Kevorkian---is the antagonist."
That might have been your impression but it is not mentioned and I did not perceive it that way. The character of Travean is portrayed positively in general. Travean is also an anagram for veteran which even more implies a sympathetic view of what he does. But I would not necessarily see the episode as pro assisted suicide either but that it argues that Travean did the best under the circumstances. If people want to see an antagonist then it is the illness but as we all witness right now, Illnesses are unrewarding antagonists. I still think this episode has no real antagonist and it doesn't need one. It is Deeps Space Nine at it's best. The two Starfleet officers want to help and try, even though it is dangerous, which is very much Star Trek in it's purest form but we also have Bashir's arrogance, a Human shortcoming, in line with DS9's darker themes.
While reading the Memory Alpha page I saw that it was written by Naren Shankar who many here probably know as the showrunner of the Expanse.
Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 4:33am (UTC -5)
Wed, Feb 23, 2022, 8:29pm (UTC -5)
"Evil, oh well. And the cure is genocide?
That is some advanced thinking guys.
Every "great" empire in human history has committed genocides and other horrible stuff,.."
Well, what's the advanced thinking way to deal with the Founders? Hope they don't do anything bad?
With this planet, it was 200 years ago, and we only hear their version of things, but the Dominion attempted to destroy Bajor by bombing its star and killed hundreds of millions of Cardassians in a literal attempt to eradicate them.
If you have some advanced thinking way of dealing with that beyond "lots of people have done bad things", do share.
Thu, Feb 24, 2022, 1:33am (UTC -5)
"If you have some advanced thinking way of dealing with that beyond "lots of people have done bad things", do share."
I'm not saying that we should stand at the airport with flowers when the Dominion invasion fleet lands. Still genocide seems a bit much. Maybe that is just German skittishness when it comes to genocide.
Sun, Mar 20, 2022, 7:53pm (UTC -5)
Wed, May 4, 2022, 10:34pm (UTC -5)
Sat, May 21, 2022, 5:14pm (UTC -5)
I didn't mean to come across so harsh.
It is a tricky issue. I think the show waffled around quite a bit with the nature of the Dominion. Sometimes they would be shockingly callous with no redeeming qualities and other times far less extreme. I think this one fits quite squarely in the former.
Sat, May 21, 2022, 6:35pm (UTC -5)
As for Afghanistan, well the Talibani regime harbored the 9/11 terrorists. We should have dealt with Saudi as well but there was no way Afghanistan was getting a pass after attacking us.
Oh. And Ukraine. Under your theory, we provide no aid, weapons, etc. We just let Putin butcher them.
I swear many of you on this forum have some fucked up opinions.
Mon, Jun 27, 2022, 9:28pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 4:43pm (UTC -5)
"The vaccine is not difficult to make, but seeing that everyone gets it is a huge task. "
Mon, Jul 11, 2022, 11:20am (UTC -5)
As powerful and overwhelming as the Borg are, they are also cold and emotionless and thus their actions are devoid of malice, sadism and cruelty. The Dominion demonstrated all those traits by infecting an entire race with an incurable disease.
Moreover, the Borg are truly convinced they're doing you a favor and serving a greater purpose by assimilating you. The Dominion know damn well that they aren't doing these people a favor, in fact it was their explicit intention to commit harm
Thu, Jul 14, 2022, 1:09pm (UTC -5)
The interplay between Terry (Dax) and Siddig (Bashir) is well done. There's reason to sympathize with Trevean. Ellen Wheeler's work as Ekoria is superb. And so on .. just a subtle, graceful, meaningful episode.
There is one point with many of the comments with which I take delicate issue. There are notes about "How could Bashir be gone from the station so long without leave?" or "What did Kira do for that week in the nebula?" or "How did they escape detection by the Jem'Hadar?" and the like.
My suggestion is that we can never look too closely at the setups that allow a story to be told. We buy into things like warp drives, replicators, transporters, and universal translators even though each of those are fantasy technology. Trek has a tendency to throw light years around like they are candy, but the physics just doesn't work that way as Einstein explained.
Every show, every play, every film is an illusion that relies upon dramatic conventions and devices to help the audience suspend its disbelief for the sake of the story. If a guy walks on stage with a leafy branch as says he's a "forest," then he's a forest. If we need to get Bashir and Dax on an isolated planet whose people are suffering from a seemingly incurable disease to that Bashir can learn humility while displaying his brilliance, then the set up to create that situation should be of no concern.
Sun, Sep 4, 2022, 2:11pm (UTC -5)
The natives' hostility to Bashir, both pre- and post-vaccine attempt, was super silly. They were going to die anyway, for sure. He may have been able to find a cure. He didn't. Okay, he may have proffered hope that turned out to be false but isn't that what medical research is?? You either try to cure a disease, knowing you might not succeed, or you resign yourself to the disease taking its course. Why'd you be mad at him?!?!? Demented.
Ekoria (or whatever her name was) seemed to be the only intelligent inhabitant on that entire planet. SMH...
I did like the end. I figured it was going to be the usual "found the solution at the eleventh hour and they all lived happily ever after" routine, but it was more plausible than that. Knowing you're going to die way before your time and there's no cure but your kids' future will be safe and healthy is... an unimaginable feeling. Very nicely done.
I liked Jax with her hair down. Foxy!
Wed, Jan 18, 2023, 10:12pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 9:37pm (UTC -5)
I do wonder why we had to endure a few seasons of Bashir the hopeless womanizer. There was no need for that (except to perhaps alert HR yet again), and DS9 spent no time at all transitioning him out of that, no lessons learned as far as I can see.
Tue, Jul 25, 2023, 10:58pm (UTC -5)
As to the episode, it's likely the best one for Bashir. Dax fares well. But, above all, I think the episode is made by the performance of Ellen Wheeler as Ekoria.
There is some poignant irony in the fact that Rene Auberjonois directed "The Quickening." In 2019, Rene's lung cancer had spread to his brain. He opted to take advantage of California's End of Life Option Act. On December 9, he spent the day with his family but ended the day and his life by taking medication prescribed for assisted suicide. His death certificate, however, listed the cause of death as metastatic lung cancer.
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