306. DuetFORMULA: The Defector + Chain of Command + I, Borg
WHY WE LIKE IT: The performances. The double talk.
WHY WE DON'T: I can't think of a reason.
REVIEW: If you press me about what my favorite DS9 episode is, I'm likely as not to name this one. Duet is a simple series of conversations between Kira and Marritza, but wow. Harris Yulin is an incredible actor, portraying his Cardassian character's many layers admirably. The analogy is to a member of the Nazi party, complicit but horrified. His byzantine plan to make Cardassia face up to its crimes is, well, Cardassian, and his dissembling put-on to Kira will ultimately serve her story arc and expose her very soul (something brewing since Battle Lines). This time, without the OTT emoting.
Duet is also an exploration of both characters' guilt, of the politics of fear, of hatred for one's enemy so long as it is faceless. The performances are full of energy and ultimately, pathos. Marritza's parody of Gul Darh'eel is terrifying and unbelievable, but exactly what she expects (wants!) to hear. When his lies come crashing down around him, he lets ogo of the pretense and gives in to despair. Rewatching their verbal sparring, when we know what's really up, you can see Yulin's layered ambiguity.
There are other wonderful touches. Kira, looking to the Wormhole for counsel... or towards Opaka? And that epilogue. Just when you think a Kira story has gone for the pat ending and platitudes, Marritza is assassinated and Kira, in a spontaneous epiphany, lets go of the hate. It's a wrenching moment and another downbeat ending for her.
LESSON: If we haven't seen Garak again, it's because he doesn't trust Odo to keep the drunken killers off the Promenade.
REWATCHABILITY - High: Terribly intense, it proves that the best of Trek isn't about special effects and high concepts, but about characters and strong performances. Simply wonderful.
Comments
I later learned that the basis for this episode was the novel (which was later adapted as the powerful stage play and ultimately a film) The Man in the Glass Booth. At the time this episode aired, the Serbian "ethnic cleansing" campaign was well underway in Bosnia, pretty much proving that history has a really eerie habit of repeating itself.