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Lunch » Tags » Tv Shows » Reviews » Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 9: The Passenger

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 9: The Passenger

1 rating: -2.0

Science Fiction & Fantasy TV show

Original airdate: 2-23-93. Stardate: Unknown. There's more than a hint of Hannibal Lecter-like cleverness in the nefarious plot of Rao Vantika (James Harper), a murderous Kobliad criminal who's brought aboardDS9after being retrieved by Bashir and Kira … see full wiki

Tags: Tv Shows, Science Fiction & Fantasy

1 review about Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 9:...

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The command crew is clueless and ignores two of the three logical suspects

Jun 21, 2008

by CharlesAshbacher

Rating:

-2

Kira and an arrogant Dr. Bashir are in a runabout when they receive a distress call from a Kobliad ship. When they arrive, the ship is in flames, the pilot is dead and only a Kobliad security officer (Ty Kajada) and a prisoner are alive. Bashir is able to enter the brig, only to find the prisoner (Vantika) injured and near death. In a last gasp, he grabs Bashir and says, "Don't let me die!" and then proceeds to die.
When they get back to DS9, Kajada expresses extreme skepticism that Vantika is actually dead and insists on a complete autopsy. It turns out that Vantika is a master criminal and mass murderer and has evaded capture several times by faking his death. Kajada insists that all measures be taken to conclude that Vantika is truly dead.
A shipment of the very rare and valuable substance deuridium, that prolongs the life of Kobliad people, is due to arrive at DS9. A Star Fleet security officer is assigned to oversee the shipment and he quickly runs afoul of Odo. In a fit of unprofessional emotion, Odo takes Commander Sisco aside and demands that he be put in charge. When problems such as a computer purge arise, Commander Sisco and the remaining command crew believe that Vantika is still alive and his consciousness is residing in another. Rather than considering Kajada, Kira and Bashir to all be suspects, they concentrate only on Kajada. Of course, Vantika's consciousness is in Bashir, a fact that the viewer easily concluded long before.
In a climactic scene, the evil Bashir and his mercenary crew, with the aid of Quark, capture a ship and try to escape with the deuridium. At the last second, Dax is able to beam signals over to the ship that break Vantika's hold on Bashir and the crisis is over.
This is a bad episode; it would certainly have turned me off of the series if it had been one of the first episodes that I saw. The command crew act very foolishly in believing that Vantika is capable of transferring his consciousness into anyone, yet never consider Bashir or Kira, two of the three people who came into contact with Vantika when he was alive. Star Fleet command personnel are supposed to be the cream of humanity, yet in this case, the command crew appears to be very ignorant. Furthermore, Odo's emotional outburst was completely uncalled for and Cisco should have reprimanded him for his unprofessional conduct.

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