THE PASSENGER


Having finally pushed past the obligatory character sketches (for everyone but
Bashir and Quark - neither of whom needs one, especially if we're just going
to see the Bashir we saw in "Dax" and in this week's teaser), DS9 finally gets
back on track with an enjoyable suspense story.

Where Rao Vantaka was hiding was not a huge mystery, but it was covered up
better here than in many recent Trek mysteries, in part due to the presence of
Lt. Primmin, from Starfleet Security, who made a nice, very inauspicious, red
herring.  I was pleased to see that I'd guessed right when Dax discovered the
power generator under Vantaka's fingernails.  But this episode had other
things going for it, too.

Ty Kajada's character, for instance, was a nice portrait in miniature of
obsession, stumbling only once when Bashir asked why he hadn't been able to
contact her.  Her response was a bit too shaky, and pretty much clinched that
she wasn't going to be the one hosting Vantaka.

But the high point in characterization in this episode revolved, predictably
enough, around Sisko and Odo.  For perhaps the first time, Avery Brooks really
crackled as Sisko when he dressed down Primmin (who clearly has been spending
too much time in the office and not enough in the field).  Longer than the
scenes in "Past Prologue", Brooks' portrayal of Sisko as a hard-nosed, take-
no-bullshit commander worked ideally here.

Sisko's confrontation with Odo was just as satisfying.  Cut from very much the
same mold as Sisko, Odo is also in the position of having nothing really to
lose once his job is taken away from him.  Sisko, knowing this, is aware that
he has to give in to Odo's needs more than perhaps anyone on the station, but
is also aware that Odo and Primmin have to learn to work together.  This
conflict is one of the most level-headed ones on Trek record, despite the
underlying anger on Odo's part.  Odo acknowledges that Starfleet is going to
have a security force to protect *its* interests on DS9, and that he will have
to deal with it.  But he also refuses to have his methods compromised (which
is reasonable, given that they've worked, barring exceptional conditions).
Sisko's solution is surprisingly simple: Establish a chain of command.

Of course, Sisko's decision is helped a bit by Primmin's initiative, which
pays off (and incidentally offers a twinge of suspicion that HE might be
Vantaka).  The real point of the final Odo/Primmin confrontation is a
reconciliation, of course, bringing events full-circle; Sisko can try to
mediate their problems, but in the end it's really up to them to get along, or
not.

As far as the plot went, it was generally strong, but with some hiccups.

On the plus side, the "mystery" was not the sole focus of the episode (as the
character points discussed above illustrate), so the success of the episode
didn't rest solely on its shoulders.  I felt that the mystery was not
necessarily obvious, but it presented enough clues that the solution could be
rationally worked out.  Since we had no specifics regarding Vantaka's past
history, there were several suspects, any of which could have worked had the
episode been differently written.

Another plus was that the plot didn't rely on the characters acting stupidly
to capture Vantaka.  Primmin's discovery of the potentially devastating device
was a nice touch, and convincingly kept the episode from falling into the
"Let's wrap this mess up in five minutes" syndrome.

On the minus side, I felt that the phenomenon of going into warp while
tractored destroying the ship needlessly complicating.  Had they just brought
Vantaka into dock (or sent runabouts out to knock down the shield), it would
have worked just as well, without the somewhat unbelievable shield modulation
trick being needed.

Another extraneous bit was Kajada spying on Quark and then falling.  It didn't
seem to add a thing to the episode, and could have easily been excised.

What could this extra time have been used for?  Well, the point was made that
Kajada and Vantaka's race needed deuridium to survive.  Why, then was Vantaka
interested in stealing the deuridium after taking over Bashir's body?  That
extra time could have been used explaining this point, or at least explaining
what good the deuridium was to his race.  This is perhaps the most significant
hole in the episode, as it undercuts much of Vantaka's motivation.

But, to wrap up with a good point, Kajada's effective murder of Vantaka was an
impressively atypical way to send a second-generation Trek episode.  While one
can certainly argue with the morality of her action (an argument which is
outside the scope of the episode), it was perfectly in character and, as far
as the law goes (from what we know of it), legal as well.  (One might also
argue that Vantaka was deserving of such a death.)

"The Passenger" doesn't quite make up for the last several mediocre-to-bad
episodes, but it was entertaining, meaty, and indicative that DS9 might be
getting back on track, telling good stories rather than wasting time on weak
character sketches or gratuitous guest star tales.


Grade: A-

DS9 SEASON ONE AT A GLANCE:
Emissary: C-
Past Prologue: A
A Man Alone: B
Babel: A
Captive Pursuit: C
Q-Less: F
Dax: D+
The Passenger: A-
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Total Points: 19 2/3
Season Average: 2.458 (C+)
(Rise of 0.172 from previous episode)