Accession

DVD, DS9 S4 (Accession)

This is a better episode than you might remember. Not much better, but a good, solid, enjoyable story provoking far-reaching ramifications that would play out through the rest of the series. I know that could be said for many 'DS9' episodes, but this is important because it concerns the core premise of the series that was set up in the pilot, 'Emissary' - the title bestowed upon Sisko that has been left to hang, very occasionally causing trouble for the Captain, but rarely more than a passing mention. The Bajorans had taken a back seat from Season 3 onwards as chasing the ratings meant more action and sci-fi plots took over from politics and religion, but they were always going to be integral to the greater picture of the series and episodes like this carried the flame through the asteroid field of other subplots that came to dominate. And it was a satisfyingly mysterious way to end the teaser by having Akorem claim to be the Emissary!

Akorem Laan isn't a bad guy in the Kai Winn vein, he's not a bad sort at all, proving his wisdom in the way he never raises his voice, expecting everyone to come round to his 'enlightened' way of thinking eventually. He remains calm in the face of Sisko's increasingly forceful opposition to his policy of returning to the d'jarra's, carefully intent on what he believes is the Prophets desire for Bajor. He's a quiet man, a poet, and a devout follower of the Prophets, his only fault is in not recognising that the change away from the ways he knew, has benefitted Bajor. He wants to erase the memory of the Occupation by wiping it out in a return to the values in place before the changes wrought by that conflict. It's as if someone from the 19th Century came forward post World War I and World War II and proposed returning to the ways of his time to try and banish the wars from memory. The important thing was for Bajor to remember and learn from the Occupation so that good could come out of it, as they had, rather than returning to a past that had no meaning in their modern world.

Last episode saw a couple of characters return and this one does too: Keiko and Molly O'Brien, coming with the news that O'Brien's going to be a Dad again. It's really nice to see his family back where it belongs as, although the holo-adventures and general socialising with Julian have made for some good scenes, I missed the family life that made the Chief's days a little bit sweeter and a little bit harder. The pregnancy would go on to become a major sci-fi plot so the storm clouds were gathering for O'Brien - he hadn't yet been through a properly torturous episode yet this season and since there's at least one 'torture O'Brien' episode every season he should have been worried (especially with 'Hard Time' on the way!).

The subtext of O'Brien's longing for a good time is played so well between him and Keiko, either staring meaningfully at his big old barbarian cloak (which makes me wonder where they store all these costumes everyone seems to have - maybe they recycle them in the Replicator and replicate them again when the need arises?), or sighing away in the background as Keiko tries to get on with her work. A couple of great moments come when he and Bashir are together - the Worf scene where he shows great concern at Keiko having another baby (since he delivered Molly in an emergency on the Enterprise), is the obvious one, but I also loved the image of Morn in a Spitfire which came from O'Brien having to go home, leaving only the Lurian for Bashir to play with. "He probably doesn't even know where England is," may well be my favourite line of the episode!

When you've seen the episodes as many times as I have you have the luxury of being able to notice more details that you might have missed when full attention was on the story and main characters. I enjoy the unique situation that DS9 affords for background aliens to wander into frame, something that happened very rarely in the other series' because they were in a Federation environment, whereas on the station anyone can be walking through. The long-faced alien behind Kira and Odo during Akorem's speech stood out to me (I'm sure he's been seen before), and I was also taken with the bald, conical-headed guy at the bar who had bright colouring on the back of his saurian head. I thought I saw another Paradan on the Promenade so relations with them must be pretty good at the moment since they keep popping up, unless they just look similar to that race.

It's a shame Captain Archer never went to Bajor on 'Star Trek: Enterprise' as he might well have run into Akorem since he also was from the 22nd Century. I don't think Starfleet even knew about the Bajorans in those days so I can understand why they never featured them or the Cardassians, but that never stopped the Ferengi or the Borg so I'd have liked one episode on that series to deal with those races. Perhaps if the series had gone the full stretch we might have had episodes like that, but we'll never know. I did wonder where Akorem might have been going to or coming from in his solar sailing ship, seen for the second and final time in the series after the design debuted in last season's 'Explorers.' It's possible he went out into space for some poetic inspiration, I suppose, and the ships had been known to be in use for about a thousand years, I think, so by his time interstellar travel was well-established.

The other major returning characters are the Prophets and Kai Opaka. The Prophets hadn't been seen since Season 3's 'Prophet Motive,' and this was only their third involvement of the series. I always love the way scenes from the episode, taken fresh from the participant's minds, are used as the setting in which the Prophets communicate. In this case we return to the Wardroom at the moment Sisko follows Akorem and Vedek Porta to the door, the Infirmary where Bashir checked he was okay, and the Promenade where he made his speech (although Sisko wasn't actually there for the speech, watching it on a monitor in his office). The beautiful soft focus effect which blurs the edges and makes the visuals dreamlike enhance the surreal nature of the moment. There was one scene in which Sisko stares vacantly at Akorem when standing by his shoulder that made me wonder if it was a Prophet taking on his form for Akorem's point of view, but all the rest of the time they were both in the scenes so maybe it was Sisko. It must be difficult to act so loosely for those portraying Prophets as they're dressed as their characters in the familiar station environment and they don't have the assistance of seeing it all hazy to get into alternative character.

There was a really nice shot of four Prophets standing in a row outside the Bajoran temple, and the episode was noticeably directed elegantly, with smooth motions throughout that made watching a real pleasure and an antidote to the fast cutting and jiggling camera of most dramas post-20th Century. The scene in Sisko's office when he's viewing the speech is a small, but pertinent example: the camera slowly circles the back of his screen as he watches. It goes on for several seconds, and would probably be seen as indulgent nowadays, but it tells you everything you need to know about his mood as Akorem advocates returning to the caste system that had been abandoned. For the first time Sisko begins to realise the influence for good he had with the Bajorans so when he gets the nod from the Prophets at the end he's actually pleased that the status quo has returned. He's quickly accepted again, shown by a visit from a Bajoran with his daughter - I didn't realise Bajorans had the same regional accents as America: this one speaks in a twanging Southern kind of voice which was quite funny to hear coming from a Bajoran face.

Kai Opaka, or simply Opaka as she should be known, is one of the most important pieces of the episode. Her message to Sisko that their (at this point I must say I never worked out whether she said 'paghs' or 'paths') would cross again one day. This is that long-awaited moment set in place way back in Season 1 when she was stranded on the planet where the inhabitants fought unendingly and could never die. She'd made one other appearance, in Season 2 during Bareil's vision, but this was the direct contact with Sisko that was promised. I can understand if it had been considered a let down by some as she only has one brief scene in Sisko's vision as he walks down the Promenade at night, and then as a Prophet towards the end, but its simplicity belied the connotations of her words, a turning point for Sisko in accepting his identity as the Emissary.

Sure, it would have been great if the real Opaka actually came to him, but her message asking who he is and later telling him he is of Bajor was instrumental in where the story would go right up to the last episode. Like Wesley's encounters with the Traveller, these things happened early in the first season, practically in the middle of the series, and ended at the end of the last season and that is poetic in itself. And perhaps Opaka had been shown this moment in an Orb experience which may have been why she told Sisko they'd meet again - her role had always been to recognise and encourage the Emissary, after all, and that's what she did.

The device of the Promenade shifting from lighted and welcoming to dark and sinister had been used before at least once, when Dax experienced strange visions in 'Equilibrium.' The way the transition happens is very nicely done, with Sisko walking past a pillar so that we lose sight of him, then the camera comes out the other side and the lights have dimmed with dark corners everywhere. A very effective use of the sets and lighting to create a mood. The words Opaka says later in the episode, "You are of Bajor" didn't have an exact meaning at the time because the writers were pretty much making things up from season to season, but they were savvy enough to leave these little threads and story points to be picked up at a later date, and if they didn't pick them up or forgot about them then the audience probably did to (I'm thinking of Chalan Aroya from the last episode of this season who never returned after her brief appearance).

Although they don't appear, we hear mention of Nog, Kai Winn and First Minister Shakaar. Nog is talked of by Quark in an uncharacteristically nostalgic mood (influenced by both Nog and Rom leaving him in recent episodes?), as being a cute baby, though the thing with babies is they're always stuffing things in their ears (a good play on alien culture as opposed to human); Shakaar as being a potential ally for Sisko when Starfleet isn't happy with the way things have transpired (never happy those Admirals - complaining when he's the Emissary and again when he's not! Though actually it's more Sisko reading between the lines); and Kai Winn, who seizes the opportunity of a new Emissary to side with him against Sisko on the subject of d'jarras. No surprise there, but it might have made for a more interesting episode if she'd been actively involved.

The Bajoran history revealed through all this was a treat. We'd only really gone as far back as their struggle against the Cardassians, or very ancient achievements in art and culture (shame it never rubbed off on Kira!), so this was all fascinating stuff. Vedek Porta was quite stunning as the friendly little old man who seems so pleasant and kindly, then later reveals his true nature by pushing another Vedek off the Promenade because he was of a lesser d'jarra! The actor did well as a Prophet too, but the way he calmly asserted the facts as if that was all Sisko needed to hear to understand why this man had been killed was chilling in its understatement.

Akorem was quite likeable, if misguided. It's clear he wasn't a power-hungry individual, but one that wanted to do the Prophets will, whatever that was. He's quick to accept the judgement that Sisko is their choice, but I wonder if any cynical Bajorans thought it a bit suspicious that Sisko goes off into the Wormhole then comes back with an empty Runabout claiming the other guy had been sent back in time by the Prophets. He could have chucked Akorem out an airlock or murdered him and then made up the story - maybe he even added the extra bit on the end of one of the poems! But there's been enough common experiences between him and the Bajorans for them to know he's an honourable man.

The thrilling twist at the end is the revelation that the whole appearance of Akorem was for Sisko's benefit, and one of the earliest inklings that the Prophets understand Sisko's doubts and troubles and wish to aid him. Importantly it's another happy ending, but one that would have far-reaching connotations for Sisko. He's satisfied that things are back to normal, but he's forgotten the hardships. He almost lost Kira when she sadly explains her intention to step down as First Officer to pursue her d'jarra, which had considerably more resonance than when she actually did at the beginning of Season 2 because they've built up such a rapport. It's a nice scene that shows how far the various denizens of DS9 have become attached to each other, proving those that complained the cast weren't a family, very wrong.

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