Sun 3 May 2015
A Science-Fiction TV Review by Mike Tooney: STAR TREK-DEEP SPACE NINE “Field of Fire” (1999).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV Science Fiction & Fantasy[3] Comments
“FIELD OF FIRE.” An episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 7, Episode 13 (161st of 173). First airdate: 10 February 1999. Cast: Avery Brooks (Captain Sisko), Rene Auberjonois (Odo), Nicole deBoer (Lieutenant Ezri Dax), Michael Dorn (Lt. Commander Worf), Colm Meaney (Chief O’Brien), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Alexander Siddig (Doctor Bashir), Nana Visitor (Colonel Kira), Art Chudabala (Lt. Hector Ilario), Marty Rackham (Vulcan), Leigh McCloskey (Joran Belar). Writer: Robert Hewitt Wolfe. Director: Tony Dow.
Lieutenant Dax may not look it, but she’s more than one person. Being a Trill, Dax has had a symbiont implanted in her; for better or worse, the symbiont itself possesses all of the memories and skills of every host into which it has been previously introduced. In Dax’s case this turns out to be for the worse, because one of those predecessors was a murderer …
An interstellar war is raging and millions are dying. The huge space station Deep Space 9, now occupied by hundreds of Starfleet personnel, is serving as a staging area for operations in the war.
A young Starfleet lieutenant, one who has distinguished himself in combat, is found dead in his quarters, the victim of a bullet fired from a projectile weapon (an antique by 24th century standards) at point blank range — only there are no “powder burns” on the body, the room was locked from the inside, and no one can think of a motive for the crime.
Later in a fevered dream, Dax unwillingly calls up the forceful but warped personality of Joran Belar, responsible in a previous life for three murders. Reluctantly, she realizes that Joran’s “skills” as a killer could come in handy in the investigation and agrees to let “him” (i.e., the remains of his persona) guide her.
Soon enough two more murders, both victims serving with Starfleet, occur in the same fashion as the first. Despite Joran’s urgings to think like a killer, Dax is having no luck in her investigation — until an offhand remark from Joran lets her connect the dots, enabling her to locate the murderer. When that moment comes, Dax will have only a few seconds to decide whether she should kill — as Joran is all but screaming at her to do — or be killed …
In this particular impossible crime mystery, the HOW is discovered fairly soon (and can only have been pulled off in a science fictional scenario); it’s the WHO and the WHY that have everybody flummoxed. For long-time Star Trek fans, the why and the who just might come as something of a shock.
Tony Dow, who directed this episode, is probably most famous for being the Beaver’s older brother Wally on Leave It to Beaver (1957-63).
NOTE: A transcript of the show (with SPOILERS) is here.
May 4th, 2015 at 4:31 pm
Is it just me or did anyone else notice most of the aliens in Star Trek have weird foreheads. Just saying.
The SF mystery is hard to do in print or on screen but I prefer when the method turns out to be old fashioned and not some wonder. The Lord Darcy stories, though Fantasy, are a good example where magic serves as forensics, but the murder method is never magical.
Asimov’s Elijah Bailey novels are probably the best mix of SF and mystery though Alfred Bester, Wilson Tucker, and many others have tried their hand with good results.
Never could get into Deep Space Nine, it always sounded to me like a really bad hole on a cosmic golf course and the story eventually grew so complex you needed a score card to keep up. That and the heroes were such a sour depressing lot I found myself rooting for the Feringhi.
May 5th, 2015 at 9:52 am
Of all of the STAR TREK followup series, I cared for this one the least. Too much going on that I wasn’t a big enough fan to care very much about.
May 5th, 2015 at 10:59 pm
I remain a fan of the original STAR TREK series especially in context with what it means to TV SF. I hated the touchy feely talk it to death STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION. I still enjoy watching STAR TREK ANIMATED SERIES. DEEP SPACE NINE has my favorite theme and I enjoyed the early episodes but then I fell for BABYLON 5 and never went back. VOYAGER was a disaster. ENTERPRISE was terrible as it suffered under the weight of the franchise until it found its own identity in the final season.
The original movies had their moments. I don’t mind reboots but if you are going to ignore the characters continuity then create your own stories.
Oh, I will miss Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand on the original) who died yesterday. Her character didn’t work after Kirk developed into a womanizer, but I liked her as an actress.