Invasive Procedures

DVD, DS9 S2 (Invasive Procedures)

A Dax episode technically, but not so much Jadzia Dax as Verad Dax - John Glover (who went on to play the supremely villainous, almost Gul Dukat-like Lionel Luthor in 'Smallville') steals the show with his two-tone performance, as a weak, needy, but determined, slightly unstable, perhaps unbalanced Trill, who becomes the supremely confident and relaxed host of the symbiont.

It's more of a Sisko episode in terms of the regulars, although all the main characters, bar Odo get a good bite of the action (even Odo, as he and Kira tag-team against Tim Russ' pre-Tuvok Klingon T'Kar), and there are a few action scenes, with most of the main cast getting into fights at one time or another, even Quark who tries to undo some of the damage to his reputation (if that's even possible!), by taking an uncharacteristically heroic course, leading to the resolution of the danger. But it's Sisko who really does the talking.

At first he does his Captain Kirk bit in a violent struggle with T'Kar, but later, as Kirk would invariably do, when violence is no longer an option, he uses his wits and his tongue - first to make Verad see what he's done (one of the best scenes, where they reminisce over shared memories such as the cliffs of Bole, or Andorian food until Sisko abruptly leads him to see what responsibility he has), then to convince Mareel that Verad does need her more than ever, though she sees this new, improved Verad no longer finds her assistance necessary.

The episode's end brings us into sympathy with them, as Mareel has what she wanted; the old Verad who needed her, but he feels such loss. It's strange that for such a Trill-centric episode Jadzia ends up lying unconcious for most of it. We do get a glimpse of what she would be like without the reassurance and knowledge the symbiont carries inside it, though the shock of losing it amplifies her weaknesses. She becomes almost like the version Bashir had dreamed of last season ('If Wishes Were Horses'), but here he just cares about helping and protecting her as a great friend.

This episode emphasised what Klingon characters were on DS9 to this point - they are, in simple terms, wrestlers - big, beefy, loudmouths, a little dumb (Yeto was a neanderthal!), big muscles, sweaty, hairy... that would change (okay not completely), but so far this was the only kind of Klingon we'd seen here. Russ is brilliant as such an antithesis to his best known Vulcan role, and even when you know it's him, he's still radically different in movement and voice. Many interesting facts get dropped, such as how only one in ten Trills are deemed suitable for symbiosis; Jadzia has a sister; O'Brien has two brothers...

As always when Quark's involved there are moments of high hilarity, and it's always a pleasure to see the Ferengi cross verbs with Odo! I always loved the station being empty, although it's odd to have the place evacuated two episodes in a row. It's kind of cosy, but creepy as Odo and O'Brien go round locking the places up, and I only wish they'd turned the lighting down, but the effect of the storm was well designed. A strong start for the season proper, giving a very good ensemble piece, Klingons, further Trill revelations, and Glover's performance that remained with me since I first saw it. One thing the episode left me wondering was what a Tribble would be like if it had a symbiont inserted into it...?

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