In the fifth episode of the first season of Deep Space Nine, this was a lot better than I could have imagined. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.
So, in my last review for this show, I touched on why I felt like Deep Space Nine was different from the Star Trek entities that came before it. I think that understanding of the show works to explain why “Babel” takes a fairly standard “problem-of-the-week” episode and makes it feel new and exciting. Let’s deal with the obvious: this is not even close to the first time that a Star Trek show has dealt with a virus being let loose onboard a ship before. It’s exceedingly common in science fiction as a whole! While I do think that “Babel” hits a number of the common trope-y points along the way, the show’s deliberate serialization and willingness to be complicated and negative helped to make this one hell of a journey.
I think that’s because this episode works beautifully to show us a station adjusting to the events in the opening of Deep Space Nine. These people are not just learning to live with one another; they’re learning to live with a station that was nearly destroyed by the Cardassians out of spite. It’s interesting to me to think of what came years after this show: Battlestar Galactica. I think it tackled the logistical concerns of space travel (albeit travel done WHILE A MURDEROUS GROUP OF ROBOTS ARE CHASING YOU) a lot better, but I feel like this is also an admirable attempt at the same thing. How do the people onboard Deep Space Nine react to their ship falling apart around them? To me, that’s the story at the heart of this episode, and I was much more interested in the emotional complexity of “Babel” than anything else.
That’s not to say that the virus here isn’t scary. Aphasia – which is a very real thing – spreads throughout the station, and it renders these people unable to communicate with anyone. What happens then? Chaos? Violence? Surprisingly, no. Sisko’s team is able to clamp down on any possible insurrection or outbreak by organizing a response through the medical team. Instead, the writers of the episode take us through a different kind of journey: what happens when the very same people dealing with a malfunctioning space station suddenly can’t speak to one another? Instead of chaos, this episode drips with dread. You can see the panic on everyone’s faces as the virus spreads, but aside from Captain Jaheel, no one lets their fear take them to an awful place.
That’s what is most compelling about this story. This virus brings out fascinating character interactions. I loved seeing Major Kira take control of the search for the doctor who originally designed the sabotage. I loved the fact that we got to see Commander Sisko be physically affectionate with his son, a drastic and beautiful contrast to Picard’s distaste for children. (Which I wouldn’t change for the world, to be honest. KEEP IT FOREVER.) Plus, I can’t ignore how powerful it is (and was, for the time) for a show to openly display a black father loving his black son so openly. 1993, y’all! It’s like the world has gotten worse about this since then.
I think that the deliberate use of Odo and Quark here was also a brilliant touch. Again, Deep Space Nine is willing to pit characters against one another, to have them openly dislike other people, and IT’S SO REFRESHING. I don’t think any of their scenes would have been as interesting if there wasn’t this palpable sense of antagonism between Quark and Odo. And I don’t get the sense that they’re faking it; Odo’s dislike of Quark is pretty damn genuine. Thus, the show invokes one of my favorite tropes ever through this, and I LOVE IT: FORCING PEOPLE WHO HATE EACH OTHER TO WORK TOGETHER TEMPORARILY. Oh god, I love it so much, and I know that other people might hate it, but I can’t help it.
Yet even if I discard my bias towards this TOTALLY COOL AND AWESOME trope, I think it was smart to show us a different side to Quark beyond his own greed. God, I can’t even fathom how thrilling it was to see him as the sole member of OPs. He was clearly enjoying the fact that he was in control, but he also demonstrated that when he was needed, he could help others out. Granted, he followed that up with a demand for payment, which NO ONE IS SURPRISED ABOUT. Whether Odo actually follows up on that is left unsaid in the episode itself, but I think that’s irrelevant. The point is that Quark did step up when he was needed, and I’m curious if that’ll change Odo’s perception of him.
It’s these elements that lifted “Babel” out of the possibility that this would feel typical. I do think the gradual spread of the virus lent a lot of tension to the story, but that can only be so entertaining, you know? For me, it’s the willingness to push these characters into fascinating places that made me enjoy this story so much. I admit that it makes me excited to see more of Deep Space Nine, too! I want to know if this is something the show will do more of in the future. If so, I think I’m really going to enjoy this.
The video for “Babel” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
– I am now on Patreon!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME.
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