Shakaar

DVD, DS9 S3 (Shakaar)

For once one of Quark's schemes goes right for him. It's only a charming little B-story, but it's worth pointing out. Usually he's jumped on by Starfleet or Odo, but this time, with the Chief 'in the zone', everyone's excited about his darts prowess. Until Quark messes up his own opportunity, and does so at the worst possible moment, too, in front of a Vulcan, the worst race to be shown up in front of. Vulcans are rarely seen on 'DS9', but they usually arrive in time to rub someone's nose in it! The real story is an excuse for a runaround on Bajor, Kai Winn's chance to grab even more power, and Kira to realise life is actually better now than when she was in the resistance, just in case she was developing romantic notions of that time. Not that she would, but sneaking around in the hills certainly cooled her ardour for the life.

We get to meet the man who formed the resistance cell Kira belonged to, and a couple of her close friends, though they can't be that close as she's hardly seen them in recent years. Shakaar wouldn't come into the series as much as he should have done - the friendly giant and his friends Furel and Lupaza were all great characters that could have really done with more exploration. A taste of William Lucking's ability comes in the story he tells of losing his arm. He's a stranger to us, but we instantly warm to him, the mark of a strong actor. Other members of the cell are mentioned, including Mobara (later to appear in 'The Darkness and The Light'). The lighting is so good in the planet scenes I'd forgotten some of the ones outside Shakaar's house were filmed on an indoor set! Visiting a farm on Bajor completes the set of visits to the main character's homeworlds this season, and recalled Season 1's 'Progress', another time Kira was put in the difficult position of having to convince someone to do what the authorities wanted. Winn should have realised that Kira's sympathies with these farmers would turn her to their way of thinking, but all she sees is Kira as a servant who happens to have a connection to Shakaar making the Major useful to her. Speaking as sweetly and as convincingly as she can, she gets Kira to do what she wants despite getting off a few barbs throughout the episode.

Winn has rarely looked more dangerous, seizing power, thinking it's all a test by the Prophets (and who's to say it wasn't - Bareil once said Winn's position as Kai would lead further than even she knew). Is there any likelihood that she induced the First Minister's heart attack somehow? There's no hint of suspicion from Sisko or Kira when discussing it, but when you think back to her plot to kill of Bareil to make sure she became Kai it fits the pattern and makes you think... Worse still, all the other times Winn has come through and won, getting what she wanted, and afterwards has proved relatively gracious, but this time things don't go her way, she's thwarted. Not only that, but Sisko refuses to help her (the Prime Directive proves useful for once!), and Kira, ever her arch-enemy is the one to deliver the news, leading to some payback for all the wrong Winn's done her. So Winn ain't gonna be happy. She looked like she was shaking with rage at the end there, and that isn't good for anyone.

Whether Kira found the honest, wholesome Shakaar appealing at this time is hard to say for certain, but her blowing out of the candle for Bareil is very symbolic, but so subtle that we wouldn't know what it really meant until later. If she wasn't in Winn's bad books she most certainly is now, and all semblance of potential for friendly relations are nixed. Winn was happy to bring Bajor to civil war as long as she crushed all opposition to her rule, but the people weren't quite ready for that kind of tyranny. Honourable mention should go to Super Bajoran - one of the soldiers chasing the Shakaar group flings himself from a hilltop to land on a gravelly hillside. Whether he was showing off or not he was clearly having fun. With Bajor being a peaceful planet the military must not get out much...

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