Enterprise 3x22 "The Council"

rating: ****

the story: Archer presents his case before the Xindi Council.

what it's all about: "The Council" is where the whole Xindi arc becomes operatic.  It's the end of a suite, in a way, the culmination of Degra's appearances and the conclusion of Dolim's transformation into the true face of villainy.  It also wraps up any lingering mysteries about the connection between the Xindi and the Sphere Builders.

Degra had emerged as one of the essential figures of the arc.  He became Archer's best shot at a diplomatic solution to the crisis through a series of events ("The Shipment," "Stratagem," "Azati Prime," and "The Forgotten") that saw him become go from enemy to ally.  In doing so he made an enemy of Dolim, the Xindi-Reptilian who rejects his logic, siding with the Sphere Builders and launching the attack without the full support of the council.

The council itself, as it represents the Xindi, is finally thrust fully into the spotlight, after having been featured throughout the season, with a full explanation at last.  We are given a history of the Xindi, and see the world they currently inhabit, the one ostensibly threatened by humanity.  Anyone still wondering what any of this was about will now have a definitive answer.

And Dolim murders Degra.  It's one of the great tragedies of the series, and one of its defining moments.  That's exactly the stature Degra had obtained during the course of the series.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Casual viewers will have very little excuse not to understand the Xindi arc now.
• series - Another key moment of the arc.
• character - Degra's last stand.
• essential - Character deaths usually tend to mean something in Star Trek, and this episode nails another one.

notable guest-stars:
Randy Oglesby (Degra)
Scott MacDonald (Dolim)
Tucker Smallwood
Rick Worthy

Enterprise 3x21 "E2"

rating: ***

the story: The crew encounters its own descendants thanks to a time paradox.

what it's all about: Though "E2" closely mirrors Deep Space Nine's "Children of Time," there are plenty of other episodes throughout the franchise where time paradoxes or outright time travel present alternate outcomes and thus encounters that otherwise would not or could not have happened.  Actually, one of the more famous is Next Generation's "Yesterday's Enterprise," which features the Enterprise-C, from between the Star Trek Generations and Next Generation eras.  But the descendants bit definitely feels like a riff on "Children of Time."

The episode is mostly another attempt at something like "Twilight," where the urgency of the Xindi mission is emphasized via outlandish sci-fi storytelling, only this time it doesn't quite feel as justified.  Where "Twilight" ultimately focused on Archer and T'Pol, "E2" actually spends much of its time with a wholly original character, the offspring of Trip and T'Pol.  And an aged T'Pol exists in this scenario, where the crew had entered a region of space that spit them out more than a hundred years in the past.  The logic of why they didn't stop the original Xindi attack from happening isn't very sound, nor how exactly they managed to stick around for so long, nor why they didn't do anything or learn anything else...only to conveniently show up right when the crew is about to enter the region all over again...

But the interactions between the crews is good, and the aged T'Pol gives current T'Pol another chance to meditate on what's been happening with her, and even what may happen later, a real relationship with Trip, which the fourth season spends much of its time exploring.  I assume the only reason the episode wasn't focused solely on these elements is because "Children of Time" did that, too, with Odo and Kira.  So they had to find something fresh.  And pretty much...didn't.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A familiar trope receives new life.
• series - Another rumination on the scope of the Xindi mission.
• character - A soft spotlight on T'Pol.
• essential - In hindsight, even if the episode hadn't completely paralleled "Children" by placing a hard focus on T'Pol and Trip, merely putting it on T'Pol herself would've been a nice complement for "Twilight."

notable guest-stars:
Randy Oglesby (Degra)
Tucker Smallwood
Rick Worthy

Enterprise 3x20 "The Forgotten"

rating: ***

the story: Archer and Degra solidify their new alliance.

what it's all about: "The Forgotten" is a chance to remember the victims of the Xindi crisis, not just the ones who died recently ("Azati Prime") but those lost at the very beginning ("The Expanse," the second season finale).  As such it features Trip fairly extensively, as he struggles not just over that but his hatred of the Xindi, which is problematic as Archer attempts to make one of them an ally.  We saw how he began those efforts in "Stratagem," and how subsequent experiences and revelations have persuaded Degra to consider the opportunity.  Like "Stratagem," "Forgotten" gives them time away from most of the other Xindi (Rick Worthy's fellow councilman is present this time), and as such is itself an assurance that Degra really is to be trusted, regardless of Trip's reservations.

It's a continuation of the heavy serialization that had set in with "Azati Prime," and would only have one break from ("E2") as the season winds down.  The season had set up its plot elements like dominos, and now they're being knocked over, and it's some truly inspired storytelling that results.  T'Pol's predicament, the effects of her drug addiction, is also featured.  I think mostly this element is used as the clearest form of the emotional toll the mission has taken, just as Trip continues to embody the home element, having lost his sister in the initial attack. 

By the time we know unequivocally that Degra will be taking Archer up on his offer, he's been forced to repel attacks from other Xindi factions, which is proof enough of his sincerity...and also foreshadowing of things to come in his future...

criteria analysis:

• franchise - I don't mean to suggest casual fans won't be able to appreciate material like this, but their emotional involvement will always be smaller by definition.
• series - Whereas Enterprise fans will gobble this sort of thing up.
• character - The culmination of Degra's character arc as he at last joins the good guys.
• essential - It drives home that the arc considered all the angles, including mourning losses.

notable guest-stars:
Randy Oglesby (Degra)
Rick Worthy
Seth MacFarlane

Enterprise 3x19 "Damage"

rating: ***

the story: Archer must resort to desperate measures.

what it's all about: "Damage" continues the momentum from "Aazati Prime" in both obvious and subtle ways.  It directly follows the events of the previous episode in a serialized rather than two- or three-part episode fashion, something even Deep Space Nine shied away from during its heavily serialized six- and ten-episode arcs at the beginning of the sixth and end of seventh seasons.  Once again, only the later Discovery features storytelling like this.  But then it branches off into a more episodic development, even as it echoes material from the early-season "Anomaly" as Archer discovers he's going to have to make a tough choice about ethics if the crew will be able to continue its mission.

Specifically, he decides to raid another ship.  This is a bold moment, both for him and the series.  Repeatedly throughout the arc we've seen Archer pushed to his limits, but more often than not in metaphorical ways, such as when "Similitude" presents a Trip clone to demonstrate the importance of essential personnel to continue the mission.  This time there's no mitigating factor involved.  It is exactly what it is.

"Damage" also finally reveals a pair of secrets that've long been hinted: the Xindi Council is in contact with the Sphere Builders, and T'Pol has been compromised by a drug addiction.  The Sphere Builders link at last puts aside any doubt about all the time the season has spent exploring the mystery of the spheres almost at the expense of the Xindi.  T'Pol's addiction has been building since at least "Impulse," the "zombie Vulcan" episode where she first experiences the harmful effects of the Expanse on her people.  It's affected her relationship with Trip and now her ability to perform rationally, even though it gives her the perfect excuse to be Archer's loudest critic.  It's a perfect confluence of elements all the way around.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - As with a lot of serialized material I wonder how accessible it is to casual viewers.
• series - Although its significance is surely evident to committed viewers.
• character - From Archer to T'Pol, there's some heavy-hitting material here.
• essential - Just with Archer alone it's must-see.

notable guest-stars:
Casey Biggs
Randy Oglesby (Degra)
Scott MacDonald (Dolim)
Tucker Smallwood
Rick Worthy

Enterprise 3x18 "Azati Prime"

rating: ****

the story: The crew finally intercepts the Xindi weapon.

what it's all about: As proof that the whole season really is one big arc, the seeming climactic moment occurs now rather than at the end of the season...And then we discover that it won't be that easy. 

Daniels and the Temporal Cold War find a kind of redemption here, it must be stated.  In "Carpenter Street" a few episodes earlier, they'd been used as a kind of plot convenience.  Here they are used with pin-point accuracy.  For the first time ever, Daniels offers solid proof of a positive good in the future, an Enterprise-J that's involved in a battle with the Sphere Builders, the aliens manipulating the Xindi. He gives Archer proof that the Xindi in fact join the Federation in the future, and that will end up convincing Degra, the Xindi scientist who designed the weapon and whom Archer conned into giving them its location in "Stratagem," to abandon the cause and switch sides.  And then we discover that Dolim, the lead Xindi-Reptilian, will turn out to be the lead villainous Xindi...

All that accomplished in one episode, after building up material throughout the season.  It's remarkable, and probably unparalleled in Star Trek until Discovery, the first purely serialized series in the franchise.  It provides ample dramatic material for the rest of the season and makes the rest of it more desperate than the original mission itself, which was already desperate, but hadn't always felt like it was, until this moment, when all the stakes and players are finally revealed.  Kind of Shakespearean, really!

And it's probably the most thoroughly satisfying serialized material of the whole series.  Deep Space Nine wrung a lot of great material out of the Dominion War, but with only a single season to work with, Enterprise rises to the task and proves the worth of the whole experiment.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Meets or exceeds the standard of serialized storytelling in Star Trek lore.
• series - The unquestioned great moment of the serialized aspects of the Xindi arc.
• character - Archer rises to the occasion as a bold leader.
• essential - You can't appreciate the arc or the series without savoring this moment.

notable guest-stars:
Matt Winston (Daniels)
Randy Oglesby (Degra)
Scott MacDonald (Dolim)
Tucker Smallwood
Rick Worthy

Enterprise 3x14 "Stratagem"

rating: ****

the story: Archer uses deception to glean information from Degra.

what it's all about: "Stratagem" is one of the most fascinating episodes of the series.  Like "Twilight" and "Similitude" before it, "Stratagem" is a standalone episode with deep roots in the season-long Xindi arc, and the results show the producers at their most clever.  In all three episodes, they look at the arc from a unique vantage point, and each of them characters are pushed to their limits.  In "Stratagem" it's actually Xindi scientist Degra, a recurring character we've seen repeatedly throughout earlier episodes, but now revealed to be a crucial element of the season, not merely as the designer of the doomsday weapons his people are using against humanity, but as Archer's best hope to stop them.

And the episode doesn't just feature Degra heavily, it essentially is his episode.  For Archer it's a kind of "In the Pale Moonlight," the classic Deep Space Nine tale of Sisko using every means to draft the Romulans into the Dominion War.  Archer is merely trying to trick Degra into giving him information, but it's still fascinating, watching Archer do things he'd never really done before.  At various points in the season he seems almost totally out of control, and yet in "Stratagem," he's clearly completely in control, his best showing of the season and possibly the whole series. 

But we're still left sympathizing mostly with Degra, who has every reason to believe Archer isn't being merely clever but exerting a kind of psychological torture on him, presenting him with fictional scenarios Degra keeps seeing through.  And at the end of the episode?  He's set loose, not really comprehending what's happened to him.  In later episodes he does become Archer's best ally, fighting against the rest of the Xindi Council, risking everything. 

So why isn't "Stratagem" an episode about Archer merely convincing Degra of the morality of switching sides?  Well, for one, all Archer has at this point is humanity's perspective.  Later he'll have material for a better case.  Besides, the earlier episode "The Shipment" already had Archer reaching a kind of understanding with a Xindi, one who is far less invested in the conflict than Degra.  Degra is less Oppenheimer, horrified at the full destructive power of the atomic bomb, than he is Einstein, realizing that the German people have been betrayed by their own arrogance. 

Here is the start of the endgame of the season arc, the turning point, and at its center Degra, on his journey to horrible comprehension.  He learns it by being tricked.  When the full scope of the arc becomes apparent, "Stratagem" takes on a kind of perfect symmetry.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A classic study of enemies confronting each other.
• series - The turning point of the season.
• character - Degra at last takes the stage, and Archer reaches arguably his most brilliant moment.
• essential - An episode that proves the cleverness of the whole arc.

notable guest-stars:
Randy Oglesby (Degra)

Enterprise 3x13 "Proving Ground"

rating: **

the story: Shran shows up, seemingly offering his assistance in the Xindi conflict.

what it's all about: One thing the third season didn't really do very well was integrate non-Xindi arcs.  The Temporal Cold War, for instance, proved an awkward fit in "Carpenter Street," and in "Proving Ground," Shran and the Andorians show up...Actually, that's about it.  They show up.

Okay, it's slightly more complicated than that.  The episode spends most of its time questioning whether or not Shran has an ulterior motive, and sure enough for most of it he does indeed seem to.  But then he doesn't.  The whole thing's a somewhat convoluted excuse to remind viewers that Shran still exists.  This would've been more relevant had he appeared earlier, or in more than just the season finale as a follow-up.  Instead he just feels tacked on.

I mean, it's not a bad thing.  It's just...awkward.  And it kind of contradicts the extreme dangers Archer and company have encountered along the way, most of them having little to do with dodging enemy Xindi.  That the Andorians can just stroll in at this point, it just feels forced.  Shran and Archer's relationship evolves more toward what it'll be in the fourth season, true, and so that's good.  But...

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Poor excuse to remind viewers that the Andorians are still around.
• series - Still, it's an arc-specific episode that will feel like something is being accomplished.
• character - It just has nothing to do with the Xindi arc, but rather Shran.
• essential - An episode that clearly should not have been developed in a vacuum.

notable guest-stars:
Jeffrey Combs (Shran)
Randy Oglesby (Degra)
Scott MacDonald (Dolim)
Tucker Smallwood
Rick Worthy

Enterprise 3x7 "The Shipment"

rating: ***

the story: Archer finally talks with a Xindi involved in the construction of their doomsday weapon.

what it's all about: "The Shipment" marks a definite shift in the season, between episodes where the crew probed the Expanse looking for answers and finally where they chased after the Xindi themselves.  As such, it's always been a favorite of mine, especially in how it features Archer in the unlikely predicament of having friendly relations with the first significant Xindi he meets. 

But it's actually more significant, in hindsight, as the first real spotlight for Degra, the Xindi scientist tasked with designing the weapon that will obliterate Earth, the follow-up to the attack that set off the arc at the end of the second season ("The Expanse").  Degra would become crucial to the arc; although he made his debut in the season premiere ("The Xindi"), he remained a fairly anonymous figure along with the rest of the Xindi Council in their few appearances before "Shipment."  He would eventually become Archer's most important ally.  As such, "Shipment" amounts to a dry run of his whole arc.

Archer definitely took an emotional rollercoaster ride throughout the season, and sometimes he appeared to go off the rails.  So this is an important moment for him, too, where he passes the Starfleet ideal with flying colors, which given everything else is an important moment to commemorate, to have at all, especially as it is the first time he's confronted with concrete experience with the Xindi.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Even in Deep Space Nine I always wonder if arc-specific moments translate well with casual viewers, regardless of how well they're executed.
• series - No such compunctions for Enterprise fans.
• character - Our first real look at Degra, who becomes crucial to the whole arc.
• essential - If you ever wanted a single moment in the arc where the good guys looked unabashedly like good guys, here's your chance.

notable guest-stars:
Randy Oglesby (Degra)
Steven Culp (Hayes)

Enterprise 3x4 "Rajiin"

rating: **

the story: The crew takes aboard a troublesome passenger.

what it's all about: "Rajiin" quickly puts the season arc back into focus after lapsing in "Extinction."  Not only does it bring back the Xindi Council, last seen in the season premiere ("The Xindi"), but it shows them actively working on something.  At this point they still seem like a fairly anonymous group, perhaps comprised of actors familiar from various other appearances across the franchise, but little more than bad guys who show up once or twice an episode just to remind you they exist.  Once we've been properly introduced, later, these appearances take on greater significance.

The episode itself is another instance of Enterprise evoking the original series.  Kirk was encountering random beautiful women all the time; the association became so great that he was considered a ladies man regardless of whether or not he actively pursued every woman romantically.  The implication seemed to be enough.  Archer had been put in this position before, and this is one of the most explicit examples.

Other than all that, "Rajiin" is mostly an example of the arc being a continuous experience for the characters, as we touch back in with T'Pol and Trip, for example, during the therapy sessions Phlox suggested in the premiere.  So also is the acquisition of a compound the crew needs to coat the ship with; we'll see another explicit example, of why it's so crucial, in the next episode ("Impulse").

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Casual fans ought to be reminded of Kirk in the original series.
• series - Nudging the season arc along.
• character - I don't want to sell the episode too hard, but there is character work within, it's just not ultimately the point.
• essential - It would've been interesting if Rajiin had been a member of the Xindi Council.

notable guest-stars:
Randy Oglesby (Degra)
Scott MacDonald (Dolim)
Tucker Smallwood
Rick Worthy

Enterprise 3x1 "The Xindi"

rating: ***

the story: The crew begins its search for the Xindi in a processing plant.

what it's all about: After the big setup at the end of the second season ("The Expanse"), "The Xindi" kicks off the ambitious season-long serialized arc...in a manner that seems like a fairly slow start.  But it's got a ton of stuff it does accomplish, and its unique handling of this kickoff is itself pretty clever.

The biggest thing the episode accomplishes is introducing a host of recurring characters.  One of the things fans loved most about Deep Space Nine was its humungous assortment of recurring characters, who helped make the series feel lived-in.  Voyager never quite attempted to duplicate that, and even Enterprise in its first two seasons used recurring characters somewhat sparingly.  But the third season, at least in the third season, changes that.  Technically the only recurring character introduced in the episode to receive a proper introduction is MACO Major Hayes.  But the Xindi Council, including members who will become much more important as the season progresses (Degra and Dolim), also debuts, and it's this early peak at it that's the episode's best selling point.

Otherwise our crew attempts to make do with scratching for clues.  Some reviews upon its original broadcast remarked that it was downright disappointing to see Archer scramble through a sewer system rather than, y'know, engage the Xindi.  And it is a little disappointing that a season premiere, especially one that kicks off a major arc, has a relatively soft approach.  But it also eventually leads to a killer ending, one of the many mysteries the season will solve: why are the Xindi trying to protect a home planet that was...apparently obliterated years ago?

So in that sense, it's a really clever way to go about the premiere.  The majority of the episode is spent acclimating to new circumstances.  The MACOs are a major addition.  If none of them ultimately spends a lot of time in the spotlight, their presence alone is a key element of the season.  They even end up being featured in the later film Star Trek Beyond!  The concept itself is a fascinating addition to franchise lore, and entirely in keeping with a rougher early Starfleet still operating with spare parts from entities outside of itself (Mayweather and Reed, you'll recall, came from such origins, too).

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Casual viewers will probably end up baffled and underwhelmed.
• series - But Enterprise fans will eat it up.
• character - The incredible wealth of introductions is almost itself worth it.
• essential - Especially in hindsight, as some characters fleetingly seen here become much more important later.

notable guest-stars:
Steven Culp (Hayes)
Randy Oglesby (Degra)
Scott MacDonald (Dolim)
Tucker Smallwood
Rick Worthy
Daniel Dae Kim

Enterprise 1x5 "Unexpected"

rating: **

the story: Trip ends up impregnated...

what it's all about: There are things that sound fantastic in theory that when executed...Early in Voyager's run, Tom Paris is convicted of having an affair on an alien world ("Ex Post Facto"), a decision that painted him in a negative light.  The episode itself is similar to an experience Riker had had in Next Generation, and in general linked both of them with Kirk's famous reputation as a ladies man in the original series.  Paris additionally was established as a rogue figure from the start, but what exactly that meant seemed difficult to pin down past his introduction, and again, the affair seemed to further define that negatively, an uncomfortable thing for Star Trek fans to watch, in a franchise that generally kept its characters likable. 

What I'm trying to say is, that brief summary of "Unexpected" above is pretty much the only thing anyone was ever going to take from it.  It's like a gag.  Trip was established from the start as one of Enterprise's most important characters.  He filled the "country boy" role Bones had in the original series, but he was also established as one of the more naïve passengers of this maiden Starfleet voyage, and "Unexpected" revealed just how inexperienced he really was, and how much trouble that could cause.  Later, in the second season, the series would be able to tap into that to much better effect ("Cogenitor"), but early on it just seemed as if embarrassing him was the best way to do it.  In plain words, it wasn't very flattering, if the only thing you took away from it was the most obvious elements.  Like the fact that he got, well, pregnant. 

The story around this works better.  It's fun watching him experience the laborious environmental acclimation process, something that was similar to the infamous decon scenes in the pilot but less uncomfortable to watch.  This was material intrinsic to selling the series as early Starfleet experiences, less streamlined than how things would operate in the original series.  Trip's reluctance and then eagerness to experience an alien ship are much more the story than the pregnancy.  By the time we reach that point, it's really just a metaphor about how awkward and truly alien the experience has really been.

Then of course we reach the Klingons, another callback to the pilot.  Archer reminds them what he did for the Empire, and he gets a terse acknowledgement but then a warning not to expect a continued free pass from it.  It's a nice bit of development, both in terms of what happened previously, what will happen in the next few seasons, and the state of Federation/Empire affairs as it exists in Kirk's time. 

...But of course, perception of the episode is basically, "Trip got pregnant!!!" and the aliens possessing holographic technology, which some fans felt uncomfortable about.  But some fans will never be satisfied unless they're unsatisfied about something, regardless of whether or not there's really something to be unsatisfied about...

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Given the nature of the material, it's hard to recommend to casual viewers.
• series - Yet it makes perfect sense in the context of early Enterprise.
• character - It's also a wonderful spotlight for Trip.
• essential - Even if to the untrained eye it seems less than flattering.

notable guest-stars:
Randy Oglesby

Voyager 5x10 "Counterpoint"

rating: ****

the story: The ship faces a series of inspections as Janeway develops an interesting relationship with the man tasked with carrying them out.

what it's all about: "Counterpoint" is one of those episodes that doesn't seem important but somehow draws attention to itself anyway, a clear example of the strength of episodic storytelling.  And yet it actually is important, the more you think about it.

Nothing that happens here has long-term ramifications.  If you never saw it you'd still understand the gist of what happens during the course of the series.  The aliens don't appear again.  No character has a major turning point or breakthrough.

And yet...It's kind of Voyager, as envisioned, in a nutshell, a ship stranded far from home forced to endure things no other Starfleet vessel is likely to experience from alien cultures it happens across, and still upholding its ideals.  In this case, shepherding embattled peoples to safety.  This was a crew constantly at the mercy of the cultures it came across, and space it couldn't easily decide to avoid if there proved to be a problem with those cultures.  The crew sought the shortest route home.  Sure, it made plenty of stops along the way, but in the grand scheme of things, if it had to take the whole original projected length of time to get home, those detours mean nothing.  They add to the crew's morale, which has infinite worth.  They get to pretend they're still an ordinary Starfleet crew.  But with complications, obviously.  Not going around problem space is justified in the same way investigating stuff is justified: if they can negotiate their way through the problems, they still uphold their Starfleet ideals, which again is the whole point of the series.

All that being said, "Counterpoint" is also an excellent examination of Janeway herself, demonstrating her cleverness in much the same way Kirk used to bluff his way through problems.  Except, Janeway's bluffing is a lot more elaborate than coming up with a fake weapon.  Again, if Voyager was all about proving the worth of Gene Roddenberry's original vision, then its solutions would necessarily mirror the kinds we'd seen before.  Kirk is an inescapable precedent; theoretically every captain that followed him would at some point have to demonstrate the same kind of cleverness he used. 

And all that aside, it's just a well-put-together episode, fully in command of itself, which is exactly what you want from a classic.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A great way to sell Voyager to a casual fan.
• series - It demonstrates what the premise looks like on a routine basis.
• character - Janeway shines as she outwits a man who thinks he's outsmarted her.
• essential - This is how episodic storytelling is done.

notable guest-stars:
Mark Harelik
Randy Oglesby
Alexander Enberg (Vorik)

Deep Space Nine 5x11 "The Darkness and the Light"

rating: ****

the story: Kira is targeted by a vengeful Cardassian.

what it's all about: When this originally aired I wasn't terribly impressed with it, thinking someone tried a little too hard to play up the drama of the scenario.  Then I started thinking of it as more of a horror experience, which is rare enough in Star Trek.  I can think of fewer chilling scenes in franchise lore than the Cardassian preparing to carve Kira up to take the baby growing inside out of her. 

The baby, of course, belongs to O'Brien, and his wife! which is an extremely odd creative solution the producers came up with at the end of the previous season to explain why Kira looks pregnant even though she doesn't seem the type, because Nana Visitor was and short of dropping even temporarily one of the show's best characters, this seemed like a good idea.  Except for this episode, it's actually a pretty lousy idea, one of the worst the series ever had, but a pregnant Kira ratchets up the drama of this particular story considerably.  It contrasts nicely with the notion that she finally has to confront an innocent Cardassian who became a monster because of things she did during the Occupation.

"Things she did" means that Kira was a terrorist.  In the '90s being a terrorist was an acceptable thing to be for a character who was supposed to be unambiguously a good guy.  That's why Voyager had all those Maquis terrorists, too.  Post-9/11, this is hugely inconceivable, of course, and as a result these are creative decisions that continue to be the unspoken elephant in the Star Trek room.  In fact, until "Darkness" there had really been no question as to whether or not Kira's prior actions were justified.  The more I thought about this, the more I realized just how important this episode really is.

The Maquis, when they debuted, had a thousand reasons given to them, and all the moral ambiguities spelled out.  The Bajorans were given the relatively simple story of the Occupation, and the need to reclaim their world from the Cardassians, at any cost. As Star Wars has shown, and especially Rogue One, selling terrorism as entertainment isn't as hard as you'd think, even after 9/11.  It's called resistance when it's the good guys, right?  Well, innocent people still die, and that's still tough to deal with. 

The messy Bajoran/Cardassian past was something Deep Space Nine used to great creative success from the very start, including the acknowledged classic "Duet," in which Kira meets a Cardassian who pretends to be a war criminal just so someone among his people will be punished for their crimes.  And yet, as late as the third season, "Shakaar" glorifies the "resistance group" Kira belonged to and never considers for a moment that some evil was done, too, regardless of whether or not it was for the greater good.

This is the moral ambiguity of the series in a nutshell.  Kira's group is targeted by a Cardassian played by Randy Oglesby.  He'd later portray one of the key Xindi in Enterprise's 9/11-themed season, the one who makes the big moral breakthrough in that arc, deciding it's not worth supporting his people unconditionally no matter how evil he's been told humans are.  In "Darkness" he's a Cardassian who was scarred in one of Kira's acts of terror, and wasn't even a soldier but civilian.  Kira still tries to argue that he played a part, that basically because he was Cardassian...he was guilty anyway. 

All this plays beautifully into the rest of the series.  Presenting a Cardassian who seems to be evil with a capital E is in some ways a preparation for the looming entrance of the Cardassians into the Dominion, and thus the start of the Dominion War.  But even the enemy can't be clear-cut in this series, since Odo's people are the Founders, who run the Dominion, and every appearance of the Jem'Hadar to this point had presented them in a sympathetic light (although this changes in a few episodes), despite their debut marking the definitive villainy of the Dominion...

This is a hugely complex episode, and it reflects extremely well on the complexity of Deep Space Nine itself.  It's a classic that reflects the past and future of the series, and you can't ask for much more than that.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - The difficult subject of terrorism enacted by main characters examined for the first time.
• series - Reflects backward and forward.
• character - One of the truly necessary Kira spotlights.
• essential - Uncomfortable in all the right ways.

notable guest-stars:
Randy Oglesby
William Lucking
Aron Eisenberg

Deep Space Nine 1x12 "Vortex"

**

"Vortex" is an episode that would have far greater importance if the series had not last so many seasons.  It's one of the few entries where Odo, theoretically on a quest during the first two seasons to discover his origins, thinks he makes some progress.  Of course, at the start of the third season, he finds out who his people are, and his journey is forever altered toward a more direct conflict with them, one of the few instances in Star Trek history where a central character rejects and is rejected by their own kind (even Worf had a love-hate relationship with his fellow Klingons, and Seven continued to be fascinated by the Borg even after acknowledging that they nearly wrecked her life).

Much of the plotting in "Vortex" is hopelessly convoluted, but a stranger who possibly has the answers Odo seeks leads him to interesting conclusions, and in a very roundabout way might even be said to be vindicated once the truth about his origins is revealed.

It's a fine episode to watch in its own right, and continues the trend of the odd shapeshifting constable Odo making for compelling television.

franchise * series * essential * character

Memory Alpha summary.