In the seventeenth episode of the fifth season of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>, I just want a good thing to happen to Odo, okay? If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re intrigued, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
THIS IS ANYTHING BUT A SIMPLE INVESTIGATION. IT IS AN EXPERIMENT IN HEARTBREAK. Jesus, between Odo and O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m wondering if the\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0writers just love making these two punching bags for every sad and horrific story imaginable. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not to suggest that I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like this episode. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fantastic love letter to the noir genre; it develops Odo in spectacular ways; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got a twist ending that genuinely surprised me. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I am so sad for Odo, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. SO SAD.<\/p>\n
Arissa<\/b><\/p>\n
In many ways, the script for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Simple Investigation\u00e2\u20ac\u009d sticks to the sexual tension and the mystery of a good noir. Arissa arrives on DS9 full of intrigue and ambiguity, just as the femme fatale often does in these types of stories. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got something she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s looking for, and it turns out that Odo has just what she needs to get it. But from this point on, the writers quietly chisel away at all the tropes and archetypes that come with the noir genre. Arissa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s long-lost daughter isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t real, first of all, and while lying is part of the genre anyway, this is the first chance for the show to take this episode in a shocking direction. Once Arissa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s connections to the Orion Syndicate are made clear, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re tricked into thinking that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve moved yet again into another noir trope.<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I so deeply distrusted her as she flirted with Odo. How common is that story? How often have we seen this archetypical character flirt with someone just to get what they wanted? I also assumed the worst because this is\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>; how often are guest characters allowed to remain on after their stories? So, as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Simple Investigation\u00e2\u20ac\u009d began to change into a story about Odo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first romance, I kept thinking that something was deeply wrong with everything. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0sad<\/i>. I admit that! How was this woman using Odo? What horrible secret was she going to reveal?<\/p>\n
There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the tragedy of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Simple Investigation\u00e2\u20ac\u009d: in the context of the moment, Arissa truly fell for Odo. There was no ulterior motive, no sleight of hand, no card up her sleeve. ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T THAT CRUSHING. DOESN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T THAT MAKE YOUR HEART WANT TO EXPLODE. Given that context, their scenes together \u00e2\u20ac\u201c especially the post-sex scene \u00e2\u20ac\u201c are especially heartbreaking. That conversation is\u00c2\u00a0honest<\/i>. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no hidden meaning there, and she truly enjoyed his presence. Her fear of being unable to escape Draim? Real, too. Oh my god, that means all her stories about what Draim made her do are real, too. (Perhaps not her past of selling access to her mind? I suspect the Idanians planted that in order to make her vulnerable to Draim.) THIS IS SO FUCKED UP.<\/p>\n
Unknown<\/b><\/p>\n
In the end, we never learn Arissa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s name. It is unknown, as is most of her \u00e2\u20ac\u0153real\u00e2\u20ac\u009d life. The tragic reveal that she was programmed with a new identity to remain undercover is downright horrifying, especially given how this reveal then undermines Odo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entire experience. From his perspective, a monstrous thing has just happened, but to the Idanians? They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve successfully infiltrated Draim\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s circle and now have the information they need to take him down. In the grand scheme of things, that might be a great conclusion, but for Odo and the audience? It is SERIOUSLY FUCKING DEPRESSING.<\/p>\n
There will be no closure for Odo. There can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be! This person has a husband and a whole life to return to, and while they might be sad about some aspect of that, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m pretty sure Odo gets the short end of the stick here. HOW ARE THE OTHERS ON THE STATION GOING TO REACT TO THIS. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m actually surprised we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get to see that, given that there were a number of scenes where the crew reacted to gossip over Odo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s private activities. Ah, remember how sweet this all was? NOW IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S A PILE OF GARBAGE EMOTIONS, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0fault.<\/p>\n
Someone needs to give Odo a canonical hug, I swear.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Simple Investigation\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.<\/b> In the seventeenth episode of the fifth season of\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine, I just want a good thing to happen to Odo, okay? If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re intrigued, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[640,614],"tags":[615],"class_list":["post-5873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deep-space-nine","category-star-trek","tag-mark-watches-star-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5873\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"