I've lost track of how many times I've seen Duet, but I watched it again today, and again it left me in tears at the end just as it always has. Has enough praise been heaped on Harris Yulin for his astounding performance as Marritza? Is there such a thing as enough praise for such a performance? it's the acting equivalent of a high-wire acrobat.
I just watched "Duet" a couple nights ago. I'm not an overly emotional person, but I got a little choked up, and not for the first time. The moment when Marritza breaks down and admits he heard the screams of the Bajorans and did nothing always gets me. Always. "Duet" is the episode that made me fall in love with DS9.
Duet's one of DS9's finest. A great story with great acting is a 100 times better than an episode full of flashy and pointless action sequences.
One of my favourite DS9 episodes. Great writing and great acting. Harris Yulin is an extraordinary talent. I was privileged to see him on stage a couple of years ago in "Death of a Salesman" as Willy Loman and he completely blew me away.
Excellent episode, but also a bit depressing when you think of how it is more relevant now than when it was made.
It is the finest episode of DS9 to me. I loved Way of the Warrior for the ships--but for story--this ranks with Yesteryear and Harlan's episode. Bab 5 had better story arcs, but DS9 had better stand alones, as it was once noted. Duet is proof of that.
Gotta love Dukat in this episode. "If he says his name is Maritza, he's telling the truth." "He says his name is Gul Dar'heel? Well he's lying!"
I just finished re-watching this episode for the first time in possibly two decades. And to finish that and stumble in here to find this thread! To say this was one of the finest hours in the history of Star Trek doesn't begin to recognize the extraordinary writing that went into it. I love the shifting identity game they play with Maritza. And Yulin Harris! What a magnificent job of acting he did. Not only with his own character, but in bringing out the best that Nana Visitor could deliver.
I agree completely with everything said in this thread, so far. Duet is superb, perhaps only matched by Visitor and Far Beyond the Stars. If memory serves, Nana Visitor is on record, saying Duet was her favorite Kira episode as well.
My favorite episode of DS9. It may very well be my favorite episode of Trek ever. Harris Yulin was AMAZING! It is so perfectly done they he goes from being way over the top to try and convince Kira to breaking down and weeping when he tells her the truth.
He deserved at least an Emmy nomination for that performance. Great, great episode. And, of course, Visitor is always awesome!
Harris Yulin's performance was superb - no doubt about that. But extra props to both the writers and a young Nana Visitor, whose performance was equally stunning. What made this episode so compelling is its willingness to bring a main character's flaws to the forefront, something Trek hadn't done very often previously - and one of the things that made Deep Space stand out from the other series I think. Seriously, the First Officer struggles with a deep-seated prejudice tempered from years of oppression from an aggressive and brutal race. She WANTS to hate him, he gives her reason to hate him - and then, at the last minute, the tables are turned and you go from hating the guy yourself to having nothing but pity for this man. "He's a Cardassian! That's reason enough." "No... It's not." How powerful is that?!?
"Duet" is my favorite DS9 episode. The interaction between Kira and Marritza is amazing. Great acting from both actors. Harris Yulin has been one of my favorites since I saw him in "How The West Was Won-The Macahan Family" in the 80's. He was great as the villain Mr. Peasley in that series.