Deep Space Nine 7x23 "Extreme Measures"

rating: **

the story: Bashir's last confrontation with Sloan.

what it's all about: I've always had a difficult relationship with "Extreme Measures."  For one, it's an abruptly episodic episode in the midst of the final ten-hour arc of the series, which is ironic, because I think the arc could've used more distinctive individual material in the arc.  But not like this.  Especially after such a brilliant Sloan episode just before the arc, "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges," "Measures" could almost do nothing short but fail.

Of course, it's also the final Bashir/O'Brien episode, and that's as tall an order as any.  Of all the bonds in the series, the one between Bashir and O'Brien was the best, one that took time to develop, but had been essential to both of them, hitting its peak in a drunken sing-along during the third season's "Explorers."  They end "Measures" having shared a more embarrassing moment, having to acknowledge how important they are to each other, and it's more awkward than heartwarming, which is an odd note to end things on.

Sloan's quick suicide means they have to use technobabble to get inside his head, but there's not much interesting going on there except a few feeble mind games.  It would've been nice, in hindsight, if he'd done something about the Alamo, which was used as a portent in the final episodes in the form of a model Bashir and O'Brien had.  At least then one of them could've played Jim Bowie, the dying defender who still put up a fight.

Anyway, it just feels like anticlimax, and that's not really want you want to see in one of the final episodes.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - General fans had a far, far better Sloan episode a few episodes earlier to savor.
• series - Technically this experience provides the cure to the illness plaguing Odo and the Founders, which becomes important in the final episode.
• character - Technically the final Bashir/O'Brien episode, and Sloan's final fate.
• essential - ...Not essential.

notable guest-stars:
William Sadler (Sloan)
Andrew Robinson (Garak)

Deep Space Nine 7x16 "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges"

rating: ****

the story: Bashir is tricked into working for Section 31.

what it's all about: "In times of war, the law falls silent."  This is kind of a cult-within-a-cult-within-a-cult sort of deal.  If Star Trek became a cult sensation, and Deep Space Nine became a cult sensation within a cult sensation, then "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" became the episode that was the cult within the...well, you get the picture.

In the preceding season, "Inquisition" introduced Luther Sloan and the concept of Section 31, Starfleet's answer to the long-established Tal Shiar of the Romulans and Obsidian Order of the Cardassians, a secret spy organization subject to no one and capable of anything.  It was itself a classic piece of work, and yet it's an achievement that pales in comparison to "Silent Leges," the episode that perhaps crystalizes the Deep Space Nine approach to the franchise.

This was always a series that took a different look at the lore, a more nuanced one, that dared to suggest there was more to Gene Roddenberry vision of a utopian future than met the eye.  While attending a conference on Romulus, Bashir is confronted with the idea of Section 31 all over again, and he becomes determined to expose it.  Except he doesn't take into account just how clever it really is, and that's what's so special about the episode, really, how it takes what was always one of the hallmarks of Star Trek and turned it on its head, the idea that geniuses could work miracles.  The miracle of "Silent Leges" is that it explains how and why Section 31 exists, as a support structure for Starfleet's highest ideals.

In these days of constant revelations about what real world organizations like Section 31 have been up to, it's hard to appreciate that they were founded to do that kind of work, that there really is justification for what looks so awful in the news.  "Silent Leges" serves as an argument in their favor even as Bashir can only consider Section 31 with disgust, as a necessary evil.  And yet (there's even a classic episode with that name in the second season), that was a concept at the very heart of the series, so "Silent Leges" is kind of the final statement of the series about that, in such a sensational, new way that it becomes, well, a cult within a...well, you know.

It's all the more ironic that it's Bashir who stars in the episode, as he was at the start of the series the most naïve Star Trek character ever, so gung-ho to take a posting "at the edge of the final frontier" (so the premise was originally posed) that he was actually fascinated by the idea of Garak, a Cardassian spy who never got to come in from the cold, that he never even considered the danger posed by such an individual.  (It's to be reminded that these dangers were eventually explored in the third season.)  So to become entangled in the very real depths of spy business, the messiness of the frontier, of Starfleet's mission in general, is a way for Bashir to take the series out of the war context it had become immersed in and would end its run exploring. 

It's an ideal episode to view Deep Space Nine at its very best.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - When Star Trek Into Darkness later brings Section 31 to the masses, it's this episode that made the organization truly relevant.
• series - This is what Deep Space Nine was all about.
• character - Shows how far Bashir has come in the course of the series.
• essential - An episode you could sell the whole series on to a reluctant fan.

notable guest-stars:
William Sadler (Sloan)
Andrew Robinson (Garak)
Barry Jenner (Admiral Ross)
John Fleck
Adrienne Barbeau

Deep Space Nine 6x18 "Inquisition"

rating: ****

the story: Bashir is courted by the rogue Starfleet intelligence agency Section 31.

what it's all about: Dating back to Next Generation's first season, conspiracies have as much cache in Star Trek lore as they do society in general.  That season saw "Coming of Age," where the command staff is interrogated for reasons that become clear in the later "Conspiracy" (pretty obviously titled, right?).  Then there was "The Drumhead," which saw Picard grilled before a tribunal concerning his experience being assimilated into the Borg Collective.  The later "Voyager Conspiracy" (which was a Voyager episode, naturally) was a lighter episode in the tradition.  Deep Space Nine gave us "Whispers," in which we're led to believe there's a conspiracy being woven around O'Brien.

"Inquisition" trumps all of these.  And quite easily, too.  It's an iconic episode almost because of the introduction of Section 31 alone.  I was part of a Star Trek web community for years that was named after the off-the-books organization, and when the original owner of the site walked away, another community eagerly snapped up the URL.  Section 31 showed up in Enterprise and then Star Trek Into Darkness.  It had become a touchstone element of franchise lore.

What makes its introduction so brilliant is that it ties together a lot of previously random and even quite inexplicable series lore relating to the character of Bashir, such as his experiences in "Hippocratic Oath," and the time we learned he'd been replaced by a changeling doppelganger.  This is probably as thorough a character study as any series in this franchise has ever attempted.

But yeah, it boils down to the fascinating Section 31, and Luther Sloan, its signature enigmatic agent, a character who only needed to make a handful of appearances to solidify a huge reputation in Deep Space Nine.  This was one of two hugely successful attempts late in the sixth season, back-to-back, that plumbed the new darker tone established by the onset of the Dominion War.  At this point, it almost wasn't even the war itself that helped redefine the reputation of the series, but the new depth of storytelling it allowed.  The other episode is "In the Pale Moonlight."

"Inquisition" goes out of its way to soften its impact, reminding fans that Bashir was always obsessed with spies (citing his James Bond holosuite programs: "Our Man Bashir").  Left conspicuously absent is Garak (he'll factor brilliantly into "Moonlight"), but it does feel right for the good doctor to finally get a taste of the real stuff he previously only daydreamed about.  It might be called irony.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - The introduction of Section 31, thereafter a pivotal piece of the Star Trek landscape.
• series - Redeems a lot of previously questionable creative choices.
• character - A deep look at Julian Bashir.
• essential - Brings everything to a whole new level.

notable guest-stars:
William Sadler (Sloan)
Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun)