“RAPTURE”
You know it’s a bad sign when the kid has to tell his parent to stop playing with his food.
Despite a bona fide classic in “Trials and Tribble-ations” and a couple of other strong episodes, I’ve found the first half of season five a little uneven. I wonder if perhaps all the time, effort and love that went into the stunning anniversary episode took away from the surrounding episodes somewhat. There hasn’t been much of a sense of cohesiveness to the narrative yet: the Klingon war ended, except it kind of didn’t, the Dominion are still there and yet that storyline hasn’t progressed in what seems like forever. We’ve had a new relationship in the form of Dax and Worf, only to quickly regret its very inception in “Let He Who is Without Sin...”, one of the franchise’s worst episodes.
Fortunately, for me at least, “Rapture” marks a dramatic shift in the season’s fortunes. The storytelling finally comes into sharp focus in one of my favourite episodes of the entire series: an absorbing, fascinating and provocative episode that serves as something of a flashpoint, subtly sowing the seeds for the rest of the series to follow. Now, it’s always possible my opinion will change with this rewatch, but I always considered “Rapture” the beginning of DS9’s “golden run” of episodes, which would continue through to the next season’s “You Are Cordially Invited”.
I’m not even sure where to begin with “Rapture”. There’s so much to unpack and I don’t particularly have the time or energy to examine it all, so I’ll keep it fairly brief. It’s a rather unique, oblique episode and a story that could only have been told on DS9. Sisko’s descent into vision-fuelled obsession has shades of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (particularly during the dinner scene, with Sisko sculpting his food into ancient Bajoran symbols). The quest to find the lost city of B’hala boasts a wonderful “Indiana Jones” vibe, even if the budget would only stretch to Sisko wondering through that old cave set. It also reminds me of the film “Limitless”, although that wouldn’t be made until years after this episode.
The idea of the once-reluctant Emissary becoming a hardcore prophet for the Prophets is phenomenal, and it’s wonderfully executed. Whereas DS9 has never shied from showing us various characters’ orb visions, the writers rightly decide not to show us Sisko’s visions, and that is a wise move. For a start, the Prophet vision sequences have long since lost their novelty and are rarely as effective as they could be. By deliberately not sharing what Sisko is seeing, it incorporates an element of doubt, making it easier to see things from the strictly secular perspective of Starfleet. Whereas Sisko and Kira see his visions as legitimate messages from the Prophets, the rest of the crew are rather more pragmatic, particularly when it becomes clear that these visions are in fact killing Sisko. Are they, in fact, visions, or is Sisko maybe just experiencing brain damage from his accident in the holosuite? Certainly, his behaviour is rather disconcerting when viewed from the outside—culminating in him barging into Bajor’s Federation admittance ceremony, ranting and raving about “LOCUSTS!” like a deranged man.
Of course, knowing what we know about the Prophets, it’s fairly clear that what Sisko is experiencing is genuine, but the fact no one can say for sure lends the episode an effective ambiguity and nuance. There are some wonderfully scripted conversations that deal with faith and belief in a more balanced and thoughtful way than Trek has perhaps ever done before. Even though the characters may not agree, there’s basic respect for each other’s perspectives, a capacity that, sadly, many lack in our increasingly polarised day and age. The episode doesn’t dismiss the legitimacy of belief and one scene, with Winn of all people, demonstrates just how powerful faith can be in giving a person purpose and resilience in the face of hardship and suffering. Yet, it also highlights the danger of unwavering, unquestioningly belief, with Sisko readily willing to sacrifice his life for the Prophets. It’s unnerving seeing our lead character descend into such blatant obsession, to the extent he’s unable to think of his beloved son.
Avery Brooks carries the episode with a fairly subtle and engaging performance, and he’s particularly good at conveying a sense of being caught between two worlds and overcome by wonder and a strange sense of peace and contentment. The episodes boasts numerous excellent scenes, the best of which may be the scene in Sisko’s quarters with Jake and Kasidy, where Ben recounts holding Jake as a baby in his arms, and admitting that now the baby he’s holding is the universe itself. Brooks is superb in this scene; his voice and his eyes conveying such intensity of feeling.
Kudos also to Cirroc Lofton, who gets a chance to shine, and it’s also great to see the return of Penny Johnson as Kasidy. If I have one complaint about the episode it’s that it doesn’t satisfactorily deal with the aftermath of Kasidy’s betrayal and imprisonment, which kind of gets fudged over. “Rapture” definitely had too much going on already to spend any more time on it, but I feel Kasidy’s return warranted at least its own sub-plot in another episode. Unfortunately, I understand Johnson’s lack of availability at the time made it difficult to plan her appearances far in advance. It’s still great to see this family reunited. The moral dilemma that forces Jake to counter his dad’s wishes is beautifully done, as is the heartwarming final scene between Ben, Jake and Kasidy. There are no easy answers here, which makes for marvellous drama with heartfelt performances all round.
I loved that we got some advancement in the storyline of Bajor’s admittance to the Federation, even if, perplexingly, it’s a plot point that will never be dealt with again. I guess we can only assume that at some point after the series, Bajor will be admitted. Perplexingly, First Minister Shakaar is absent, which I imagine must have been due to Duncan Regehr being unavailable, but it’s great to see Kai Winn in one of her best appearances yet. Although she starts off as still the same old snake (“don’t you look...sweet”), her scene with Kira on the Promenade is one of the episode’s highlights and in just a few seconds of screen time adds tremendous depth and nuance to a character that could easily veer toward two-dimensional pantomime villain. I love and appreciate that scene so much, and Louise Fletcher is superb.
One thing that maybe doesn’t sit right with me is Starfleet’s attitude to the Prophets—or, as they would see them, the wormhole aliens. I can understand their hesitancy to have Sisko embrace the role of religious icon, and Whatley makes it clear that the only reason Sisko doesn’t lose his commission here is that it would piss of the Bajorans big style. But their attitude regarding the Prophets is almost to want to deny they even exist, when, in fact, they clearly do. Why isn’t Starfleet more curious about them; why don’t they want to make contact with them, perhaps establish some kind of relationship? Given their powers, that would surely be highly advantageous for the Federation. Although given what they’re capable of, I guess the risk might outweigh the benefits, as Grand Nagus Zek discovered. But their attitude does seem short-sighted and disinterested given that Starfleet’s mandate is to “seek out new life”.
That about covers it, I think. “Rapture” is a superb, complex, intelligent drama that utilises the characters beautifully, explores interesting themes with subtlety and elegance, and also serves as something of a prologue to the events of the rest of the season and beyond. Definitely one of my favourite episodes of DS9 and one that fires on all cylinders.
Rating: 10
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