Field of Fire

DVD, DS9 S7 (Field of Fire)

This one has a portentous ending as if they thought they might follow up on it one day, should the series have continued. The long overdue comeback of Joran raises the episode, but they didn't play with the comedy potential of Ezri talking to herself. Then again this was no comedy, with Starfleet officers murdering other Starfleet officers. It's the cool tech that gives the episode it's killer app - the superb TR-116 rifle with a modified miniature transporter to literally beam the bullet within centimetres of a victim from across the station. The stylish eyepiece sells it too, as does the visionary first-person view that allows us to pass through walls! The episode was ahead of its time visually with that effect. Nowadays it would be much easier to do elaborate wall-travelling in CGI, but then they did it for real, with clever camera work.

Maybe the season has focused a little too much on the new Dax at the expense of the others, but she's certainly brought the series extra stories. Joran hasn't been 'seen' since Season Three's 'Facets', and once before that in the same season's 'Equilibrium', but he's always a powerful, but definitely evil character. His compelling, wily nature almost makes Ezri forget herself and kill someone, but thankfully she wasn't under his skewed tutelage long enough to turn to the dark side.

There are plenty of nods to past Trek, with Saurian brandy mentioned again, a Bolian who gets killed, and didn't Lieutenant Ilario look like Harry Kim! If we didn't know already we learn Bolians live in marriages of more than two, which I have a feeling Andorians also do (must be the blue skin). There are some great sequences, and not just the zooming in on the killer bit at the end - the dream sequence with its speeded up picture and shocking moment of Joran 'killing' himself and Ezri was a spine-tingling scene, especially the refrain of the music Jadzia had going around her head in the earlier episode - Joran's composition.

I thought the characterisation was strong, but I wished they could have got the original actor back even if he wasn't particularly an actor. As usual DS9 continues its subversion of everbody's favourite good guy race; the Vulcans. We've seen Vulcan terrorists (Sakonna in Season Two), and Vulcans who seem to bear a grudge (Solok, this season), and now we get a sniper Vulcan that picks off people "because logic demanded it." Vulcans do make very effective villains, but it would have been nice to see the counselling sessions Ezri would probably have led for Chu'lak (and was that a veiled tribute to 'Stargate SG-1'?). So quite the spooky episode, especially the bit where she creeps around on the side of the promenade we almost never see.

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