"Indiscretion"
Very intricate. I remembered the broad strokes for the A-Plot of the episode: Dukat finding Ziyal. But that's all I remembered. For the rest, it felt like watching a "new" episode. I'm glad it addressed a lot of points that were going on in my mind. I'd totally forgotten about the B-Plot.
The A-Plot
Kira's told by an old friend, Razka Karn, someone who looks like he dwells deep inside the seedy underbelly of things, tells Kira that he's found debris from a lost Cardassian ship, the Ravenock, that was carrying Bajoran prisoners six years ago ended up. Kira wants to go there to see if there are any survivors. Sisko insists that Kira wait until the Cardassian Government can send someone as well. Kira doesn't understand why they can't look on their own. Then that someone turns out to be... Gul Dukat!
I have to say, that's creepy as Hell. Up to this point, Dukat's been obsessed with taking Bajor back. He didn't like losing it. But this is the first time he ever came across as obsessed with Kira in particular. He's a narcissist and Sisko should've come tried to come up with a way to put a stop to him coming along. Yeah, you can say he was trying to impress Kira in "Civil Defense" last season, but this is the first time where it seems more personal.
In the Runabout, when Kira tries to lay down the ground rules with Dukat, he says, "I want this mission over as quickly as you do." I think he's a big, fat liar. He wants the mission to go on as long as possible so he can spend as much time with Kira as possible.
I think it's disgusting when Dukat tells Kira that she's a symbol of the new Bajor. A Bajor born out of the ashes of the Occupation. He sees Kira as a Bajoran reshaped by the Cardassians. It felt sickening when he said he admired Kira. I know there's a much deeper undercurrent under what he just said. This is probably the first time what I know comes later colors how I'm viewing an episode now.
Kira puts Dukat right in his place when she says Bajor's accomplished what it's accomplished despite the Cardassians, not because of them. But Dukat doesn't let up and insists on seeing a future where the Bajorans and Cardassians are friends and allies. Obviously working an angle. Then Kira says, "Bajor and Cardassia? Maybe. You and me? I doubt it." I'm glad she said that. But, IMO, she should've taken it further and said, "Never." I'm
not glad that she agreed to be on a Runabout with him.
When Kira and Dukat rendezvous with Razka to collect the debris from the Ravenock, Dukat and Raska each talk about how associates of theirs would love to get their hands on the other. Razka sees right through Dukat's nonsense. Just like I'm sure everyone else does too.
On the planet that Kira and Dukat's search takes them to, it looks like they shot some of it on-location in an actual desert. It looks so much better than using the Planet Hell set. Between the heat and the Cardassian makeup, it must've been a grueling shoot for Marc Alaimo. I bet he drank a water bottle between every take!
Kira and Dukat find the remains of the dead but still have to find the survivors. This is the point where Kira finds out Dukat had an affair with Bajoran woman that his wife didn't know anything about. I had a disturbing thought of comparing Dukat to Thomas Jefferson, who had affairs with several slaves. I don't know if Jefferson ever had deep
romantic love for any slave women
in particular but now that comparison is permanently in my head and is making me think more about the unsavory parts of United States history.
When Kira and Dukat make it to the caves at night, we're very obviously back on Planet Hell, but at least it looked like quite a visual journey on their way over to there. The cave set
definitely looks like the same one that'll appear again in "Waltz". Dukat sitting on that spike by accident
had to be the writers' way of having fun!
After the revelation that one of the survivors, Tora Ziyal, is Dukat's daughter, there's the stinger that he thinks he has to kill her. That's a big "surprise-not-surprise". Initial surprise he'd say that as a father, then completely not a surprise when you stop think for two seconds about who this character is. He comes up a bunch of political reasons for why he needs Ziyal to be killed. He wants to avoid exploitation by other Cardassians, political enemies. Kira asks all the right questions. "No one has to know. Why can't she live on Bajor?" "Why don't you send her away again?" But Dukat has rationalized, internalized answers for everything. It's great to see every point I could think of actually being addressed and brought up by Kira within the dialogue itself.
All I could think of right after that exchange between Kira and Dukat was, "What does Kira have in mind to do in order to stop Dukat from killing Ziyal?" I could tell the wheels were turning inside her head, trying to think of something. Then my mind went through the domino effect of what would happen if Kira kills Dukat. It got me invested and it got me starting to think about kinds of scenarios that could spring out of the fallout. Kira was probably also thinking of how they might deal with any fallout, since she'd keep Ziyal alive no matter what.
The first appearance of the Breen! I forgot about that too! I think Kira and Dukat are able to rescue the survivors held captive by the Breen too easily, but that's just a minor nitpick.
What really matters is when Dukat encounters Ziyal. He feels like he has to kill her. Ziyal said she was told this might happen but she didn't want to believe it. Kira tells Dukat not to, and that he wouldn't have told her about Ziyal if he
did want to kill her. Then there's the kicker. Ziyal would rather die, if she can't be rescued... but Dukat can't do it, he drops the weapon he has in his hand, and then they hug each other.
It's ironic to think that Dukat initially thought he'd have to kill Ziyal, he can't do it, and then when she actually
is killed in the sixth season, it's a large part of what finishes driving him over the edge and will drive him completely insane. Ziyal becomes the last thing that'll keep him tethered after his family leaves him. She becomes everything, or as much as is possible for someone like Dukat.
Not revealing Ziyal until the very end was a masterstroke, to keep the tension and Dukat's internal struggle going right up until the last possible moment. Right up to the point where, at least for now, he doesn't care what others think. He's taking a stand for his personal life. Then later, he'll take a stand for his professional life, even though he'll ultimately take the
wrong stand with the latter.
The B-Plot
Kassidy arranges for herself to work primarily in the Bajoran Sector and is doing it to be closer to Sisko. She even wants to move onto the station. All Sisko can say is, "It's a big step." At this moment I'm cringing at Sisko. That's so
not what he should've said! He should've sounded excited. I was thinking that even before Kassidy said, "Can you sound more enthusiastic?"
Then it gets worse when Kassidy says she thinks he's afraid of commitment, and Sisko says, "Who said anything about commitment?" Ummm... Ben! If you're in a romantic relationship, you're already in a commitment! You should know better than this! The Kassidy says "Not you," and Sisko doesn't say anything after that. He should've pushed back and said he
is interested in commitment. But no. He says nothing, starts to eat, and she leaves.
Captain Sisko, you fucked this up!
After a couple of cute scenes, one with Dax and Bashir and another with Jake, Sisko comes to his senses and admits to Kassidy he was nervous because he hasn't been in a serious relationship in a long time. Sisko and Kassidy patch things up and everything turns out alright.
Obviously, this B-Plot was meant to pad out the episode, but it was a necessary step in the evolution of Sisko and Kassidy's relationship and gives Kassidy a reason to be around more often and to be worked into more episodes.
Overall
"Indiscretion" was better than I remembered, and I can't believe how much I forgot about it. It was carefully thought out and both the A-Plot and the B-Plot represented all the points of view very well.
I give it a 9.
