- Rewatching this, I'm finding this episode stressful af. 😂 There's a lot they do to make things feel unsettling and off.
- I like that Kukalaka makes an appearance in this episode. And how Bashir bids him farewell before leaving, too. Julian is cute.
- I like how the opening scene with O'Brien and his dislocated shoulder turns out to be important.
- So I *think* Bashir is meant to be in a holodeck simulation starting from when the computer wakes him up on the morning he's supposed to leave for his conference, and he doesn't think he's had enough time to sleep. But there are two places in this episode where the holosimulation could have started (on the morning of his conference, and later in the episode when Bashir is woken in his holding cell by Sloan). Based on the dialogue in the ending scene, it's the first scene that's the divergence point, but I wonder why they put in this second fake-out? And also, like, simulation!Sisko (and others in the simulation) being initially supportive/defensive of Bashir, but then turning hard on him later on in the same simulation, shortly after that second potential divergence point? It's a bit odd.
- Also, given the divergence point, where the entire investigation and conversations about it only occurred in a simulation, I'm guessing the implication here is meant to be that the charges against Julian are just kind of made up and the real purpose of this whole investigation is just to evaluate his suitability for Section 31 recruitment. Possibly it was ALSO to make sure he hadn't been compromised following his Dominion captivity & replacement, but I'm guessing the main objective was the first thing, and the latter (if it was at play) was ultimately in service to the first thing.
- Odo mentions in the last scene that "every other great power has a unit like Section 31. The Romulans have the Tal Shiar, the Cardassians had the Obsidian Order." He didn't mention the Klingons, though, so now I'm wondering if the Klingons also have an intelligence division like this. I asked my partner this and activated one of his Instant Headcanon Drops:
"Well, being a secret assassin wouldn't really fit the 'honorable warrior' ideal in Klingon culture. But I'm guessing all of the great houses employ some secret murdery people that they don't acknowledge having, with the implicit agreement that if those people ever find out anything of interest to the empire generally, they're expected to report it to the chancellor. And obviously, Gowron is the type who would employ some such people working in his own interest too. So that's how I see that role being implemented in the Klingon Empire."
What do you think of this headcanon?
- I guess my main thought on this episode is that I'm pretty meh about it because it introduced Sloan and Section 31, both of which I don't find particularly entertaining and the latter of which has never been used well, either in DS9 or in later shows. On the plus side, I think it's a good Bashir episode, one of many that gets to contrast his youth and idealism with a more cynical view of the world. A lot of things try to break that idealism but Bashir is made of some pretty stern stuff.
I guess it's kind of implied in this episode that Section 31 needs to strongly stress-test its recruits to make sure that they DO have a moral compass and strong loyalty to the Federation and its ideals; otherwise the agents they recruit would immediately get corrupted by the (basically unchecked???) power they've been given and end up just undermining the Federation's ideals rather than protecting them -- I get what the writers were going for here with trying to create this moral dilemma/moral grey area of how much "ends justify the means" thinking is justifiable in protecting the continued existence of the Federation and its ideals. So they want Section 31 to be noble/idealistic enough for there to actually be a moral debate here. But it just seems... IDK, a little unrealistic that a secret agency would operate this way (take THIS much care in who it recruits so that its original mission can continue more or less unsullied because each generation maintains the same level of quality in its recruits), rather than that attitude lasting maybe a generation or two before completely collapsing and being taken over by power-hungry pricks. Or maybe I am misreading the intention of this episode? But it just seems to me that either (1) Section 31 are cartoonishly evil (boring), or (2) they are meant to be "nuanced" in a way that just makes me think, "there's no way this would actually happen in real life, though, for us to have this debate..." (unrealistic).
Welp, there's my Section 31 rant.
- Oh and this episode is also good for Bashir whump/darkfic too. But yeah, I'm not sure if it's worth it for getting Section 31 and its associated plotlines. ðŸ˜
- Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the "taking things Bashir has actually done in previous episodes and giving it a traitorous spin" element here was fun. I hope the writers had fun going through their past episodes like that, searching for suspicious Bashir moments.
Quodo potential:
- This one is a bit harder. Quark and Odo (especially Quark) play so little role in this episode and it's hard to even vaguely tie them into any scene or any theme from this episode... Maybe have hologram!Quark and Odo discussing Bashir's case with each other, or real!Quark and Odo discuss what they think about either Section 31 or potential-spy!Bashir. I'm actually a bit curious about what Odo's attitude toward these spy agencies is -- he maybe kind of defends or rationalizes their existence a bit here, and he has some authoritarian leanings where there's a "correct" morality and the state is justified in enforcing that with whatever means necessary. But at the same time, he is more interested in rule of law and public accountability and justice rather than furtive methods. And there is a certain kinship between him and Garak even though they have clear disagreements about morality (see 5x26 "Call to Arms": Odo: "You'd shoot a man in the back?" Garak: "Well, it's the safest way, isn't it?"). So yeah, maybe there's some potential to expand on Odo or Quark here.
no subject
- I like that Kukalaka makes an appearance in this episode. And how Bashir bids him farewell before leaving, too. Julian is cute.
- I like how the opening scene with O'Brien and his dislocated shoulder turns out to be important.
- So I *think* Bashir is meant to be in a holodeck simulation starting from when the computer wakes him up on the morning he's supposed to leave for his conference, and he doesn't think he's had enough time to sleep. But there are two places in this episode where the holosimulation could have started (on the morning of his conference, and later in the episode when Bashir is woken in his holding cell by Sloan). Based on the dialogue in the ending scene, it's the first scene that's the divergence point, but I wonder why they put in this second fake-out? And also, like, simulation!Sisko (and others in the simulation) being initially supportive/defensive of Bashir, but then turning hard on him later on in the same simulation, shortly after that second potential divergence point? It's a bit odd.
- Also, given the divergence point, where the entire investigation and conversations about it only occurred in a simulation, I'm guessing the implication here is meant to be that the charges against Julian are just kind of made up and the real purpose of this whole investigation is just to evaluate his suitability for Section 31 recruitment. Possibly it was ALSO to make sure he hadn't been compromised following his Dominion captivity & replacement, but I'm guessing the main objective was the first thing, and the latter (if it was at play) was ultimately in service to the first thing.
- Odo mentions in the last scene that "every other great power has a unit like Section 31. The Romulans have the Tal Shiar, the Cardassians had the Obsidian Order." He didn't mention the Klingons, though, so now I'm wondering if the Klingons also have an intelligence division like this. I asked my partner this and activated one of his Instant Headcanon Drops:
"Well, being a secret assassin wouldn't really fit the 'honorable warrior' ideal in Klingon culture. But I'm guessing all of the great houses employ some secret murdery people that they don't acknowledge having, with the implicit agreement that if those people ever find out anything of interest to the empire generally, they're expected to report it to the chancellor. And obviously, Gowron is the type who would employ some such people working in his own interest too. So that's how I see that role being implemented in the Klingon Empire."
What do you think of this headcanon?
- I guess my main thought on this episode is that I'm pretty meh about it because it introduced Sloan and Section 31, both of which I don't find particularly entertaining and the latter of which has never been used well, either in DS9 or in later shows. On the plus side, I think it's a good Bashir episode, one of many that gets to contrast his youth and idealism with a more cynical view of the world. A lot of things try to break that idealism but Bashir is made of some pretty stern stuff.
I guess it's kind of implied in this episode that Section 31 needs to strongly stress-test its recruits to make sure that they DO have a moral compass and strong loyalty to the Federation and its ideals; otherwise the agents they recruit would immediately get corrupted by the (basically unchecked???) power they've been given and end up just undermining the Federation's ideals rather than protecting them -- I get what the writers were going for here with trying to create this moral dilemma/moral grey area of how much "ends justify the means" thinking is justifiable in protecting the continued existence of the Federation and its ideals. So they want Section 31 to be noble/idealistic enough for there to actually be a moral debate here. But it just seems... IDK, a little unrealistic that a secret agency would operate this way (take THIS much care in who it recruits so that its original mission can continue more or less unsullied because each generation maintains the same level of quality in its recruits), rather than that attitude lasting maybe a generation or two before completely collapsing and being taken over by power-hungry pricks. Or maybe I am misreading the intention of this episode? But it just seems to me that either (1) Section 31 are cartoonishly evil (boring), or (2) they are meant to be "nuanced" in a way that just makes me think, "there's no way this would actually happen in real life, though, for us to have this debate..." (unrealistic).
Welp, there's my Section 31 rant.
- Oh and this episode is also good for Bashir whump/darkfic too. But yeah, I'm not sure if it's worth it for getting Section 31 and its associated plotlines. ðŸ˜
- Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the "taking things Bashir has actually done in previous episodes and giving it a traitorous spin" element here was fun. I hope the writers had fun going through their past episodes like that, searching for suspicious Bashir moments.
Quodo potential:
- This one is a bit harder. Quark and Odo (especially Quark) play so little role in this episode and it's hard to even vaguely tie them into any scene or any theme from this episode... Maybe have hologram!Quark and Odo discussing Bashir's case with each other, or real!Quark and Odo discuss what they think about either Section 31 or potential-spy!Bashir. I'm actually a bit curious about what Odo's attitude toward these spy agencies is -- he maybe kind of defends or rationalizes their existence a bit here, and he has some authoritarian leanings where there's a "correct" morality and the state is justified in enforcing that with whatever means necessary. But at the same time, he is more interested in rule of law and public accountability and justice rather than furtive methods. And there is a certain kinship between him and Garak even though they have clear disagreements about morality (see 5x26 "Call to Arms": Odo: "You'd shoot a man in the back?" Garak: "Well, it's the safest way, isn't it?"). So yeah, maybe there's some potential to expand on Odo or Quark here.