Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

(Spoiler Alert)

Oh dear we start with Wharf and Quark and it looks as though we're getting a Quark side bar as usual. Wharf looks to crack down on Quarks criminal ways, even if it means stepping on Oddo's toes.

In the main plot Bashir and O'Brien are investigating a warp trail when they are hit by a pulse of somekind making them crash land on a planet where they are captured by the Gemmadar. The lead Gemmadar suggest executing the high ranking officer O'Brien and using Bashir in a tactical exercise. I love that the way in which the Gemmader talk purely in terms in military conflict. Curiously they let him live. Well except for the Quark scare good start to the episode.

Bashir is then brought to a medical station where he talks with the Gemmadar, who it turns out has escaped from the Dominion and he expresses that he wants to free the Gemmadar want to be free of the Dominion and the slavery to the drug that they require to live and that the founders control the supply of. He wants Bashir to help them not synthasise the drug but help them ween themselves off it. As the commander has himself. He thought he was cured by the planet he was on but it hasn't worked for the other men. Bashir agrees to help, but the commander informs them he has five days before the men feel they are betrayed and kill him and then Bashir for not curing them. Intriguing start, its good to see the super soldiers the Gemmadar getting some character developement, as while they are in clear depenancy on the Dominion it is clear that a proud warrior race wouldn't just settle for slavery, imagine the Klingons even if they needed the Cardassians being their slaves without rebellion or an attempt to be free.

Talk of the Klingon invasion and threat to other worlds is rife on Deep Space Nine as is Wharf's investigation of Quark and clashes with Oddo. Back on the planet Julian is no closer to a cure and O'Brien attempts and fails and escape. We are given another interesting look into the Gemmadar mind set as the previous rule of thumb was that one man's death is nothing if he is injured and worthless it is better for the team if he dies. The Gemmadar leader stops his fellow soldiers from killing the injured soldier saying they want to be free of the Vortas rule. Good stuff.

Bashir is no closer to a cure and he cannot understand the Gemmadar leaders remarkable immune system, and the leader begins to question his own beliefs and develop a morale code. Bashir has a debate with O'Neil about whether they should co-operate or not. In a side note O'Brien quotes a Gemmadar soldier but he wasn't in the scene and couldn't have heard it. O'Brien believes that he should not co-operate as the Gemmadar are like animals who are kept on a short leash, he thinks unleashing them is a terrible idea, but Julian pulls rank.

While O'Brien is taking a part out of the runabout to help Julian he talks to soldier and they both agree they don't like each other, and after handing the Gemmadar the part he needs he escapes into woods by activating the transporter. Julian is having no luck but he starts to believe that maybe the leader is just a genetic mutation. The soldier reports to the leader and says O'Brien has escape and he must be killed, the leader wants him brought back alive, but the soldier thinks that there is no cure and that the leader has become soft and like a human. Bashir promise not to run as the Gemmadar leader tries to find O'Brien firs to save his life. Good Scene again.

Wharf has had enough an tries to arrest Quark only to find that he's walked right in on Oddo's undercover operation he was about to uncover the whole underground smuggling ring but Wharf blew it. Decent scene, this wasn't a bad side story at all once it focussed on Oddo and Wharf.

O'Brien finds Bashir having knocked out a Gemmadar and stolen his weapon. O'Brien destroys Julien's research and forces him to leave. The Gemmadar leader captures them, takes them to the runabout and helps them escape but he will not come with them or let Julien finish his research. The Leader sets off to kill his team, the leader must go down with his ship. Rather rushed and slightly dissapointing conclusion but I suppose in story terms it couldn't have gone down any other way.

Wharf speaks to Sisko and discovers he must come to terms with the rules of Deep Space Nine where they deal in shades of Grey.

Julien and O'Brien have a frank discussion about O'Brien's discussion sending those men to there deaths and disobeying orders to end the episode.

Final Thoughts: Strong regular episode of the show, just an regular single episode contained story but it was well played and it was good to see the Gemmadar fleshed out more as characters and some logical questions about them answered. The ending however was rushed and left a little to be desired, but it didn't detract from a good episode with a nice little side story with Wharf and Oddo two characters that just had to clash. (***1/4).