3.24 — “Shakaar”
Plot: A death on Bajor leads to the temporary appointment of Kai Winn as head of the provisional government, ahead of the upcoming elections, in which she is running unopposed. A dismayed Kira is further surprised to be tasked by Winn with negotiating for the return of soil reclamators from the old leader of her resistance cell, Shakaar.
Thoughts: This is a nice episode, featuring some of DS9’s best characters. But it is far from the best episode featuring these characters.
Does Shakaar, played by Duncan Regehr, look familiar? Regehr played Ronin in TNG 7.14, “Sub Rosa.” Yes, the ghost who seduces Beverly Crusher. Now he is being set up as the love interest of another auburn-haired principal cast member.
Why doesn’t this episode excite me more? I think because it reestablishes a previous status quo. A lover of Kira Nerys is installed as the head of the government of Bajor, neatly replacing Vedek Bareil, who was written off the series in episode 3.13, “Life Support.” Kai Winn threatens to increase her power, but ends up in the same station in which she started the episode, with reinforced, but not really new, animosity towards Kira. The illusion of upheaval leaves us back where we were before the death of Bareil. The darts subplot is so slight to be not worth mentioning.
Did anyone enjoy it more than me?
The quote from Odo, “One of the prices of giving people freedom of choice is that sometimes they make the wrong choice” seems like it could have been inspired by current events.
3 out of 5 soil reclamators.
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