2x14 Whispers

[BlackMasakari]

I always liked this episode alot - now i am rewatching ds9 again and i must say i am shocked about the way they treat the clone.
He was a perfect replica of Miles O'Brian and they never explained, why they had to kill him, after he had such a horrible short life where nothing seemed to be real anymore and there was no joy only pain.
He only felt it necessary to get to the parada system to find out what was going on, not to assassinate anyone, wasn't he ?
Also weird that Mollie O'Brian acts so weird around Miles - she would be obviously too young to get the fact that he would be a imposter.

It's an awesomely written and played episode, but the ending is just unnecessary cruel.
What a sad death - all alone in a shattered world when the real O'Brian leans over him.
DS9 is in many ways the complete opposite of often cotton-candy TNG, but this goes too far imo.
What do you guys think ?

 

[katra]

That episode is a weird one, but I always liked it.
The ending is a bit cruel, and it does play the the exact opposite effect anything on TNG did, where the Strange Entity of the Week was just plain gone at the end of the episode.

On the topic of Molly, kids are very perceptive. Sure, the guy looks and sounds and acts like her Dad, but the replicant could have done something so subtle that just she noticed. Tone of voice comes to mind there.

The clone WAS an imposter, and with no way to know if it meant any harm or had a secret agenda, perhaps death was the only option.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Did they say exactly how the clone was supposed to carry out its mission? Obviously it was some kind of sleeper agent which would be activated by "remote", but what was it actually supposed to do? Shoot? Or blow up, like a ticking time bomb? If the latter, it would make the most sense to kill it outright, lest its handlers activate it anyway.

 

[BlackMasakari]

Hmmm, they could also have just detained him on ds9, but then the episode would have been short or it could have become a completely different episode where the morality is discussed what to do with the clone and how to find out if he poses a danger, how he can be reprogrammed - but obviously life would have been very difficult for the clone, different than that of a Thomas Riker, who wasn't excactly William T. at the point he was discovered anymore.
As for Molly, yes kids are very perceptive, but if he was an exact clone i don't think he gave anything but his true self to others at the start - anyways.
It was the paradan that shot him in the end not a federaly.
They must have different ethics, though there must have been some discussion between sisko and the paradan of what to do with the clone when it was confronted by the paradan.

Anyways, nice episodes, but abit too weird sometimes :P