Deep Space Wine: A Star Trek Deep Space Nine Companion

Best Friends Club: A MAN ALONE (1.02)

• Lily Rossen and Cole Paulson • Season 1 • Episode 2

Share episode

Lily invokes Atticus Finch and completely changes Cole’s mind about this multi-layered episode involving a very tennis-obsessed murderer. We also dare to ask the question: is it still champagne if it’s bottled on Koris I?

🍷 Wine pairing: Premier Brut Blanc de Blancs from Idée Fixe

❤️ Find us on Insta: deepspacewine_podcast

Lily:

And then PS in two days the petri dish guy becomes a living breathing member of modern society what and then they never bring up the ethical ramifications of this ever again. Moving on. Right? I love it.

Cole:

What do you do with full ass adult man who just comes into consciousness? I had a thought that he could be a student asked kicker school. Oh,

Lily:

cute. God, I wish they'd done that, right. Anyway, we don't care about that. That is not important. This is Deep Space Nine Yep. Everyone, I'm Willie. And I'm cool. And welcome to Deep Space One, a podcast that attempts to recap and decode every episode of Deep Space Nine, the Forgotten stepchild of the Star Trek universe. Each episode will share a bottle of wine wine down and then wide ourselves up again with our strong opinions about DS nine. Because not social experience, there is nothing people love more than when someone talks at length about Star Trek or when we're

Cole:

just giving the

Lily:

people what they want. It's what they want. They love it. So tonight's episode is season one episode two. A man alone or as I've been calling it, is it still champagne if it's made on Chorus One

Cole:

fun fact already coming in hot. This is supposed to air second. But even though it's second on Netflix, it aired third because everyone behind the scenes actually thought it was a stinker.

Lily:

Oh my god. How dare they.

Cole:

You enjoyed it. I loved great romp. I'm so glad to hear I think the season one slump starts starts real quick.

Lily:

Oh, do you think it's a stinker?

Cole:

You know what? Prove me wrong. I can't wait. I just love that our

Lily:

dynamic has already shifted.

Cole:

How the tables have turned.

Lily:

I'm the Deep Space Nine apologists, right. Yeah. All right. So this episode, there seem to be three main plot lines. The first is a good old fashioned murder mystery, with some questions about odos relationships with others. The second is Julian and Cisco's concurrent explorations of their relationship with DAX and the third is Caicos existentialism and eventual contribution to life on board the station. Do you think that's pretty accurate

Cole:

existentialism? You already giving this episode so much more credit than I was going?

Lily:

I can't believe how the dynamic has completely flipped. This is amazing. I

Cole:

would have said, Do you space nines first pretty dope murder mystery episode. But it's saving grace is it really focuses on relationships and connections and you start to get into all the really unexpected, cool relationships that for me, define the show and and what what makes it great. All these kinds of cool connections happening with maybe the exception of of romance, which is also perhaps

Lily:

not important, but yes, nine p but I need that. Also, there's a throwaway plot about the ethical ramifications of cleaning, which is boiler. It's just quickly in there and then out

Cole:

to such a throw away. If this were Next Generation episode, it would have been 42 minutes pondering the ethics of cloning. But here they're like, oh, yeah, cloning next. Yeah,

Lily:

it's amazing. I think that's what I wrote. But yeah, so the question I'll pose for you call is who is the man alone? Oh, oh,

Cole:

I you know, when I watched this as a youngster, I think the man alone was me. The answer is called for the rest of his life. More on that.

Lily:

Okay, so the one tonight, in honor of this week's episode is not champagne. It's a sparkling wine. So it's an EDA fix premiere brew. It's Blanc de Blanc, which, for those of us who don't know is a sparkling wine made entirely with white grapes. So I think it actually translates to weight on weight. So in this case, it's 100% Chardonnay. It's from a producer called VAs Felix which is in Margaret River, which is in the south west of Australia. So that's just a hop skip and a jump away from us in Perth right now. Some notes this is from the producer, lifted nuances of struck match an ocean sea spray fade to reveal expensive aromas of blood orange, rhubarb and ginger nut biscuit, followed by an undercurrent of freshly steamed jasmine rice, and uplifting lime. A delicate citrus infused acidity completes the Moorish saline finish. For

Cole:

our non Australian listeners, Moorish means you want more of it? Yeah,

Lily:

smashable Smash Ball. Yeah,

Cole:

great.

Lily:

And the suggested pairing is seafood, such as oysters natural or steamed asna Wait, doesn't say

Cole:

you decided steamed as.

Lily:

More on that later,

Cole:

I thought I was a nerd episode one you are inventing Star Trek foods all on your own.

Lily:

I mean it's a question What is it? It is a huge question. As a side note, the lady I bought this off at the bottle shop. She was all like bubbles on a winter night. What's happening at your house? What

Cole:

did you say?

Lily:

I think I just giggled, but obviously recording an episode of my highly popular podcast space one lady

Cole:

are going to get listened to somehow gonna do the marketing. You're gonna make me do everything. Come on now help me.

Lily:

Alright, I'm gonna I'm gonna pop it do it. Jasmine rice,

Cole:

jasmine rice all right. Cheers. Cheers. Okay, and the name of it again is AJ fix. Yep. And I definitely have been trying to make connections about characters in the episode who might have stubborn prejudices that they can't get past is part of your inspiration for this show. Let's go deep. It's good. It's real nice.

Lily:

It's Moorish, saline, Finnish. That's to do with like, the coastal area that it's from,

Cole:

I think a gourmet chef like Benjamin Cisco's father.

Lily:

Nice cool back.

Cole:

This very well, with some steamed as well.

Lily:

I don't think he would steam it. But again,

Cole:

I think he would roll up it one step at a time,

Lily:

one step at a time. All right, should we should we dive in? Let's do it. Great. So the scene opens with Jadzia DAX and she's really embodying Grace Kelly slash

Cole:

Yoda slash yoga actually.

Lily:

She's doing some kind of meditation with a crystal ball. And Julian Bashir and his brother were under

Cole:

locks on holodecks Yeah, seemingly

Lily:

not not knock. Maybe she's just so open to what she's doing. She doesn't really mind.

Cole:

She's she's just yoga Yoda.

Lily:

Yeah, she's in. So beshear comes on super strong. Dac says that they have to talk about trills and relationships. And Julian suggests that they have supper and dry champagne, which he says is bottled on Chorus one.

Cole:

And we all know it's not champagne.

Lily:

I don't need to wine. Explain that to anyone. Certainly champagne from the Champagne region of France.

Cole:

You would think that Julian Bashir graduated top of his class in medical school would at least have some really pompous standards about wine. But

Lily:

But maybe, maybe one standards have changed in the future.

Cole:

Do you think that people of Francis standards have changed? And they just let it go? No, I

Lily:

mean, based on Picard's vineyard, I'm gonna say, well,

Cole:

they let British people be French in the future. Yeah, just let it all go.

Lily:

I mean, this is this is Deep Space One, we could talk about Picard till the cows come home.

Cole:

Excuse me.

Lily:

So she's doing an Aaltonen brain teaser, which is some kind of puzzle that seems really hard. And during the scene, we get so many cheesy lines from beshear as he sort of comes on to her. And then beshear is like quite egotistical and thinks that he can nail the brain teaser straightaway but yeah, she has been working on it for you know, eight lifetimes.

Cole:

It just just pops. Yeah,

Lily:

he stuffs it up straightaway. And some of my favorite lines from him which are just like straight out of 90s pick up books. warm hands cold hot. And what is that exotic scent you're wearing?

Cole:

Well done making us really find this guy. And yeah, I guess that's the goal. Yeah.

Lily:

So data about him and Bashir is all like, why I'm amazing and pretty women only sex.

Cole:

Do you think the blue balls were intentional?

Lily:

Oh, yeah. Okay. It is the 90s

Cole:

that we're doing a deep analysis

Lily:

Yes, we have the intro. I feel like we covered it last week.

Cole:

Papa Papa. Yes, cold, desolate, full of lonely souls in search of connection. Belonging,

Lily:

bang and chino? Yeah. So the next scene is at quarks. And odo and Quark discuss how the wormhole brings a variety of people wanting a piece of the new frontier. And their discussions are always I don't know, I love their

Cole:

chats. Odo and Quark from episode one is one of the best things about this show. This is probably the best thing about this episode. Yes. So if you're actually if you want anything for me to give you from this episode, it's okay to uncork except, I mean, they have this really Like you discussion about relationships, which is odo was character number one in this episode who rebuffs romance. But he talks about relationships like, he's like a dad on a sitcom in the 90s. What?

Lily:

Okay, let me let me give you my take on it. Okay. So basically, yeah, so they they're seeing Keiko and O'Brien fighting, like they're upstairs and it's audible. They're fighting. And odo doesn't really understand the need to couple and that humanoids want to do that, but he just doesn't want to compromise. Yeah. And then he sort of does his whole bit about the long and the short of it is that you basically end up miserable listening to cling on opera. But I'm kind of like you've got a point. I

Cole:

mean, he does have a point. But this guy is this Shapeshifter who might not even have hormones, but rather than going into that, he's like, I just want to watch my football and drink of beer. But the missus wants me to listen to her soaps. And then you end up watching soaps is just like he has no experience in it. I guess he's just overhears couples fighting at the bar, which is fair. Yeah.

Lily:

But you don't think he's entitled to an opinion about it? Look,

Cole:

oh, and I have a lot in common, I guess is why.

Lily:

wasn't gonna say it.

Cole:

This is an episode where people make really interesting connections, and none of them are romantic. And teenage cool can relate to that. But do we have a right to criticize romantic relationships if we are just on the outside looking in? Absolutely. Okay. That's the spice of life. Great. Well, then I will proceed and do plenty of that. And

Lily:

the only other thing I want to mention about that is that Quark has his own nose on today. Oh, yeah. He's giving it back to rom who will show up later, ya know,

Cole:

to look a little less dead, less days mask.

Lily:

And that clock is also salivating over DAX. Yeah. And odo says he will never have a chance. But will he? So

Cole:

for the two characters who want romance Bashir and Quark are kind of gross, pervy pervs? Yes. And the two who don't are like the wise removed one. Yeah,

Lily:

yeah. Interesting. Then we move to a scene between DAX and Cisco. And call I've been wanting to talk to you about the scene all

Cole:

week. And you started even before we started, I know a jump drive in there just slipped in. Doesn't it is the most exciting thing that happens in this episode.

Lily:

The steamed as so yes. Haven't seen this. They sit down and DAX is ordered steamed us now. As

Cole:

of now, it depends. The variation, the region you're from in

Lily:

Champaign, we call it right. My thought is that it's some kind of seaweed but it's also kind of giving chicken breast egg white omelet vibes. The way they talk about it, like it's a sort of a gross health food,

Cole:

because what can you do it?

Lily:

So Sisko says that he'll eat asna sauteed. He'll eat at rollups which by the way, is not the thing.

Cole:

Not yet.

Lily:

This is the future of gourmet chefs.

Cole:

I googled rolled up and it was five recipes. Because

Lily:

I was like is my is my chef in Korea, like have I somehow missed a rollup and focus eat, but he won't eat it steamed. And Sisko also talks about his father, the gourmet chef, he was a chef having dinner with his family every night and I do not know a single chef who owns a restaurant who has dinner with his family every night. My one bone to pick with.

Cole:

It's wild said two episodes in and we've heard about Benjamin Sisko's father twice. But it's also very nice because someone online pointed out that almost every character on the next generation, like didn't even have parents growing up. Like Picard Crusher Worf data. I think I'm missing some, like most characters were like, orphaned as a child. Yeah.

Lily:

Well, they were really problematic, right?

Cole:

Oh, yeah, exactly. Being an orphan or having locks on as a parent.

Lily:

Yeah. Play narcissist.

Cole:

So I like they're just like, or how about Sisko has a very healthy relationship with his

Lily:

grandma Masha father. So yeah, this discussion, I guess it's like kind of a metaphor. So there are things about DAX that are different, but she has continuity in loving this thing. Whoa, Sisko finds that really comforting. And access sometimes trills friendships won't survive the change. So allow yourself to feel comfortable with the discomfort. And it's kind of a lovely scene, and maybe it's a metaphor about transgenderism. Now, if it were on TV, it would be pretty on the nose. But in 1993, it seems kind of groundbreaking.

Cole:

Isn't that interesting? Because you're right now it would be like, Oh, Star Trek is preaching about trans acceptance in a very clunky way. Yeah. Which frankly, discovery is doing in my opinion. But this episode does talk a lot about the trans experience and Cisco is the most Cool, woke chill guy about it and it's really beautiful. He's like, Hey, old friend. Yeah. You still like steamed Asana? Yeah. And I'm so glad that you're still my friend.

Lily:

But he acknowledges that things are different. He's not saying nothing. It's different. Yep. It's like, I can see that it's you.

Cole:

And x is gracious. And she says, it takes time to get used to this. Yeah, cool.

Lily:

I am inside your head this episode. Like you kind of like threw me for a loop last week because I did not prepare now I'm ready. I'm ready to find meaning in every damn bit of dialogue has changed my mind about this?

Cole:

Metaphor. By the way, there's a definitive answer. I just realized because on a bookshelf in Colorado, in the bedroom where I grew up, there is a Star Trek cookbook written by Neelix. And I would put good money on there being a recipe for steamed dolls in the in it. So I think we gotta get that I'm gonna write my parents and ask them to look up. How to Prepare steamed. Oh, maybe you and I can have for dinner this

Lily:

week. Okay, as long as it's not egg white omelet.

Cole:

Let's find out. Fun fact. Blood wine is just red wine with chunks of cranberry sauce floating in it.

Lily:

Disgusting.

Cole:

I mean, what would you have done for blood wine?

Lily:

Yeah, I suppose it just seems a bit lily livered you know. Great word. I like thank you just need a little little chop up. I brought coops for us to drink from but that you know they're coops. So they're tiny.

Cole:

I just learned that this kind of glass is called a coupe. Yeah, like French for cup.

Lily:

So it is French. And I don't know the translation. But it was designed to be the shape and size of Marie Antoinette's breast. What? You didn't know that? No, yeah.

Cole:

I'm not a breast expert. But there's a small

Lily:

decimal bit shapely. I think that was um, yeah. What someone was into.

Cole:

Do you think she knew that? Her breast size went into a kind of glassware before she was beheaded?

Lily:

I mean, was it the most important thing she had to think about? But it's kind

Cole:

of a nice thought, like, you know, I didn't make it. I didn't make it much further than that. I shall live

Lily:

sipped from term now. Tonight's we'll be recording a podcast about taxation. All right. Well, wait. So yeah. Meanwhile, Keiko has stormed out of quarks. And O'Brien looks agitated. There's some marital discord. And then also, odo has a problem with a W player in my screen onesie. And he starts a fight with him and tells him that he has 26 hours to get off the station. So

Cole:

lots we just learned we learned that there are 26 hours in a day under Express nine. We learned that marriage is nothing but lots of fighting and storming out on each other. So another strike against romance in this episode,

Lily:

as as odo was saying,

Cole:

but also, when quark and odo are eavesdropping, and Quark says, Oh, they're fighting because Keiko doesn't want to be here. And odo says who does? Yeah. Which is a glimpse into this stoics I think it's like one of the only times you actually get a hint at what what's even going on. And notice mind. He's miserable here and you don't really know what he's still doing here because he's a superhero who could be flitting around the universe, but he's miserable. Yeah. Solving petty fistfights and trying to catch Quark smuggling, steamed Ozma, etc. The station choices I don't think it's interesting. It is

Lily:

interesting, much like this episode. Alright, so then we cut to O'Brien and he's found Keiko on the promenade and he offers to give up his promotion and transfer somewhere else. But Keiko doesn't want this. But she just still feels lost on the station. Because they don't need a botanist and she wants to feel useful, which is fair. O'Brien says that she can make the promenade pretty like put some flowers on it.

Cole:

belittling way to talk about a botany career,

Lily:

and then Keiko questions raising their daughter on DS nine. But then Kira interrupts on a brand's combadge Because there's some upper docking pylons and the other commission and a brand's got to get to that. And so basically, brand doesn't understand that Cakery doesn't want solutions. She just wants one singular moment of empathy and understanding validation. And this is a common thread in their relationship through the entire series that really she's She just wants him to listen and say that must be hard. Yeah, I

Cole:

mentioned last episode that I think everything I needed to learn in life I learned from Star Trek, but I wish Star Trek had taught me the importance of validation in

Lily:

a in a roundabout way it does. Like this is not a marriage one. No,

Cole:

it's It's, I'll give it this much. This is a very, it's a completely understandable argument they're having. I struggled with Kinkos acting and the whole series. I always wonder if it's the writing or the acting or O'Brien being a D bag that really gets To me, but the scenes I definitely struggle with.

Lily:

Yeah, I mean, it's like a crucible, isn't it? It's, it's, it's all just this melting pot of terribleness.

Cole:

to shame to oh, I mean, there's no sides to take. You're right. miles just needs to validate her completely understandable feelings before jumping into the problem solving. Right? So kids, if you're listening at home, validate first, and then problem solve together. Yeah.

Lily:

I don't know if we should be giving relationship advice. There it is.

Cole:

I'm just saying what my clinical therapist friends say.

Lily:

That is what they would say. So then what's happening in same time is Jake tries to boyfriend knock. And he's wearing a beautiful two toned camel and purple onesie.

Cole:

Fashion watch.

Lily:

And dog has like a little lollipop thing. I can't remember that's cool to jump

Cole:

drumstick or something.

Lily:

What is it? I thought you would know? I

Cole:

did once Neelix probably has a recipe for it. I believe it's a Jam Jam. Jam

Lily:

Jam. Yeah, it looks great. Kind of looks like a paddle pop.

Cole:

Do you like Nagas sort of two layer?

Lily:

Kind of looks like what the youth were now. Yeah, it's

Cole:

super hipster and baggy and cool. Yeah.

Lily:

So odd layering.

Cole:

As long as we're on Ferengi fashion watch. The reason that ROM and nog? Were visors devices? Yes. I mean, it's a kind of cool little weird Ferengi fashion accessory. It's also so that the makeup artists don't have to put fake skulls on the back of their head. That's all it's happening. Great.

Lily:

It's such a statement though.

Cole:

I love it.

Lily:

So Jake wants to be besties with narc? Yeah, he's

Cole:

the one who goes up and starts. human boy. Yeah. And minded. Yeah,

Lily:

he's Cisco's son through and through. nons not convinced. But the writing's on the wall. So back in Cisco's it's not it's not a ready room. Is it? What

Cole:

is it his office office,

Lily:

I wanted to call it his office. But it seems odd, there's

Cole:

probably a better word for it. I'm so sorry. What is happened was upside down.

Unknown:

I know explains what's happening to Sisko. So the reason that he got into a fight, and that there is a Jordan on board, his name is Abel, Dan. And he was a black market leader during the Cardassian occupation on the station. And basically, this guy was gouging pejoratives for medical supplies. But some people in the Bitcoin community still thought of him as a hero. Essentially, odo sent him to prison for murder for killing a Kardashian. But he's recently been released by the majority because killing Kardashians isn't considered much of a crime anymore. And this is a really interesting scene about sort of odos perspective, Sisko's perspective. And odo has a really great line where he says that laws change depending on who was making them. But justice is justice.

Cole:

All right, fair, right. Yeah. Like you think he's about to break out into stars. Yeah, this is maybe the second best scene from the episode. And it's a great scene in an otherwise hit or miss episode. I love that. Well, let's see, you'll learn very quickly what his deal is. I mean, if you can condense the guy into one word, it's just us. Yeah. Why? Why is he so obsessed with it? Maybe we we still need to find that out about this character. But I really love that you think he's about to launch into this beautiful speech about the universal justice must be upheld. And Cisco just interrupts him since because like, No, shut up. There are rules on the station. And if you're going to be on my staff, you actually need to follow them. So I don't care about your vigilante values. You actually follow the rules just like I don't I don't have time for you. speechifying

Lily:

totally deflates it. And he's like, if you can't do it, we'll find someone who can. Yeah, it's almost

Cole:

too beautiful that all this is not next generation anymore. Because Picard might be like, the universe demands justice. And he would go on this Shakespeare monologue. But Sisko's, like, No, I'm actually just here to follow the rules. And so are you Oh,

Lily:

like Carrie, kind of a manager. And I'm your manager, like I got sent

Cole:

her to be an administrator. And I know it's not sexy. But that's the show. We're on flow. I didn't write Yeah.

Lily:

And then odo storms off, like a teenager. This guy seems pretty miffed.

Cole:

I guess the other really interesting thing. The other line notice says is I decide who has rights and who doesn't on the Promenade, which is odo taking the law into his own hands. A lot of discourse in 2023, about odo is a little unkind and even calls him a fascist, which I guess I always thought was a little harsh, because I had a soft spot for odo growing up. But even here, he's like, I decide who has rights. Yeah, he's willing to just go up and start throwing punches with some guy who the majority government has let out of jail. You also see Oh, thrown under the bus, in sort of all cops are bastards, anti police discourse nowadays, and maybe they're onto something. I feel

Lily:

like he rains it in a bit after this episode. They know

Cole:

continue following this podcast to find out. We shall see. Yeah, I'm actually really curious to see I'm

Lily:

female. I've written ello ello ello

Cole:

what's going on in the hola sweet?

Lily:

Ibadan the black market scam is getting a sexy massage from a webbed fingered lady. And it looks highly erotic. Oh look at those webs.

Cole:

We all know that the best massages

Lily:

got from webbed fingers. And then she does like a little bit of back kissing because we all know that's hot. And then has these tend BDSM know, an assassin dressed in a faux black leather outfit with gloves and he's stabbing him in the back route. And this proves that only 90 characters have sexy times and then they get what's coming to them. It's death.

Cole:

Strike three against sexual and romantic relationships on this episode route. It's like a horror movie where as soon as you have sex you got murdered. Perfect does not live. And then we're back even realized this thesis was that strong in this episode. finding more and more layers.

Lily:

It's the whole series. Yeah. So we're back on the BFF nog and Jake and Jake has changed. He's had a costume change. He's changed into a blue and purple onesie. Oh wow. And noncorrosive budget for this episode. And nog has grainy and bowl lights whatever that is. Then Julian comes in on DAX So Julian comes in all your princess is in another castle on DAX Do you have that concept? No.

Cole:

Explain.

Lily:

Your princess is in another castle. I think it was actually an article written by a feminist whose name I do not know

Cole:

you're getting into a girl. Tell me about this feminist.

Lily:

Um, so it's it's the thesis is kind of about the Mario Princess Peach trope. And Bauza and basically, it's sort of a it was a precursor to the Intel movement where this ratchet talks about the way men who perhaps are not in a super privileged position feel that they are owed six by beautiful women.

Cole:

Yeah. All right, naming the INCEL Yeah, let

Lily:

me quickly look up. Nerds and misogyny. It's what it's about. Originally published in 2014. Okay, oh, okay. The author is male, female, a feminist, I guess.

Cole:

What? Can you explain the meaning of the title? Like, can you connect the dots alone? Okay,

Lily:

so the phrase refers I'm reading from Urban Dictionary phrase refers to a cutscene in the original Super Mario Brothers. And it says thank you, Mario, but our princess is in another castle. And it becomes increasingly frustrating because you have to, like keep beating things to get to the woman. I guess. I mean, it's kind of become a shorthand as well, like for that thing when nerdy guys feel like they

Cole:

owed sex by women. Yes. Okay. Which is Bashir in a nutshell. Yeah.

Lily:

The overall problem is one of culture where instead of seeing women as you know, people, protagonists of their own stories, just like we are about as men are taught that women are things to earn to win, right? If we try hard enough and persist long enough, we'll get the girl in the end. Like life is a video game and women like money and status are just part of the reward we get for doing well. Okay,

Cole:

got it. So perhaps in that light Mario Kart was a revolutionary text because peach could drive around car

Lily:

that's completely annihilating the stereotype that women are bad drivers. Yeah, that's definitely what

Cole:

I would play peach a lot. And I would often drive her like right off Rambo road. So like for fun. No, it was just horrible that Mario Kart, so I don't think it had a lot to get the envelope on female drivers. Can we get on I guess? I think you were Wario that

Lily:

was easy. What easy was worried it was Wario and I was Bauza.

Cole:

Okay, but either way Bashir is effectively saying you owe me. Because Have you heard that I graduated top of my class. Yeah, Starfleet medical.

Lily:

And will I get it now? Why you won't have a bar of me? It's because you're sleeping with Cisco.

Cole:

Because he saw them having a drink together and enjoying some steamed? Well,

Lily:

obviously, you're doing sexy time web massages with him.

Cole:

I mean, the saving grace is that in 1993 The idea was that beshear is scum for seeing a man and woman talking to each other and assuming that they're romantically linked. It's still but sure you've got a long long redemption arc ahead of you. Yeah,

Lily:

yeah, season one is pretty bad. Yeah. So DAC says that she that trills find roommates, a bit of a nuisance and Julian's all like me a nuisance. Like I haven't been acting like a complete sex pass since I met you

Cole:

I think she's completely blessing when she says that,

Lily:

I think, right because she's had a ton of romances.

Cole:

I mean, granted, they still didn't understand the character, but you find out that she's just the most hedonistic YOLO person who Lashon Frankie's left and right she loves a good Smash. Yes, yes. But I love the idea that like this is still canon, and she's just lying through her teeth.

Lily:

I love it. Yeah, so she says that chills try to rise above romance. And you know what? It's kind of gross because it implicates Bashir. And he's like, Oh, well, now you've explained that you're not having sex with Cisco. How about that date? I've still got the champagne on ice.

Cole:

She says. trills aren't even interested in romance. And he's like, Well, I've got champagne. Yeah.

Lily:

Meanwhile, the best friend's club a hygiene thing. Was The BEST FRIENDS Best Friends club is nog and Jake. You

Cole:

know the probably was a novel series called that about these two rascals? Yeah, getting into hygiene.

Lily:

I actually. Sidenote, I have this thing. I'll look at them. They're so cute. I have this thing in TV shows where if there isn't a best friend's club then I just won't keep watching it.

Cole:

Okay, examples from other shows. Please.

Lily:

I got really into Bosch Did you ever watch that ton of best friends club in that okay. Buffy Yeah, they're all mean that's the point of the show. Dexter Okay, say in like next year, I was saying next gen like Jody and data. They are the best friends. Best friends. Like maybe original

Cole:

and on Voyager like Seven of Nine and the little girl. Oh,

Lily:

I mean, maybe the doctor look best friends club is fraught. You know, sometimes someone wants to smash in Best Friends club and that could ruin Best Friends club. Then life sometimes Best Friends club become smash club.

Cole:

Woof. Yep, yep.

Lily:

These are the big the lofty ideas I'm looking for in a TV show. Yeah,

Cole:

but we've got a cute little friendship format one of many really kind of awful prank they pull really

Lily:

mean prank I just want to have like a quick shout out to the pastel green power suit that the Victorian lady is wearing all right

Cole:

fashion watch.

Lily:

So yeah, they pull this like really mean prank where they like make them really itchy and then they turn blue and green and they have no idea what's going on. So like clearly they're up to some like sort of naughty high jinks which aren't like they're not busy they've they've that rambunctious, young idling children young preteens needing something to do so and they laugh and it's outrageous. But then that quote by a security officer,

Cole:

I had in my notes, great acting from the victim's imagine this is like your one moment on TV and you just got one minute where you got it yourself and have them add blue skin to you and post.

Lily:

It's amazing. They really put it up to this and you know what, if any of the extras are out there listening to this, please get in touch.

Cole:

I see you when I stand you. Yeah. Let us know what that was like. We'd love to interview you.

Lily:

Did you get to keep the suit. But yeah, Keiko. She's watching and she she looks very uncomfortable. She is not impressed. Yeah, these kids today. Then we have a bit of a next scene, which is the Lauren otter moment where odo is reciting the facts of the case. He's doing a bit of strolling around the body and he says that the webbed finger lady was the Loriann to massage Hello program 101 A. What is 101? B?

Cole:

You gotta pay extra for that. One thing I love about Star Trek is all this sort of dipping their feet into into other genres. Yeah, you'll get a bromance episode a quirky screwball comedy you'll get murder mystery, but like law and order this episode is not complicated murder mystery. There's like two clues.

Lily:

Have you watched Lauren Oda? That is Lauren Oda.

Cole:

Oh, I actually have seen like two episodes.

Lily:

I've seen most of it. I thought that a lot of best friends clubs.

Cole:

I thought online order like the crime itself almost changes every act. But here it's like yeah. The door only open twice. Yeah, that's the mystery.

Lily:

The knife perforated the heart. It is the killer has knowledge of the genre and anatomy. Okay, all right.

Cole:

And it's almost a classic closed door murder. Isn't that almost a sub genre of murder mysteries like if there's no way in or out how could the murderer have gotten in or out? Yep. So it is just the most distilled? Yeah, plastic so that's fine. Sure.

Lily:

Killed by the butler. I just went in there with a candlestick in the library. In

Cole:

the in the program when I want to know I

Lily:

then went back with Keiko, and she's telling a brand that the kids are up to no good and the place needs a school and miles just looks bemused and unhelpful. And that's that whole scene.

Cole:

No, it ends on him having a kernel of an idea

Lily:

what yeah. Oh, God. All right, tell me. Well, she

Cole:

says they just need a school and O'Brien says, Uh huh. And that's that's where the scene ends. Oh, he

Lily:

says Hmm. In his mind, he's

Cole:

acting is it column is great actor. You and I disagree about everything.

Lily:

This is great. It's amazing stuff. Meanwhile, there's a bizarre and he's in a blue suit and he's doing some tattling to Cisco and Kira. So it will Dan told blue guy that he was afraid odo would kill him. But curio says that there isn't a more honorable man on the session than odo. And I think that's maybe the first indication that they have a close relationship or that she thinks very highly of him. Yeah, I

Cole:

agree. Because I think all we learned about her last episode is that she's Joran. She's a bizarre nationalist. But then she's also defending this, this guy who most visions mistrust.

Lily:

And that's the first thing with blue jumpsuit. Blue jumpsuit

Cole:

guy, interestingly, was meant to be a bit of a continuing thorn in the side of the officers. And the cat. I mean, he's a super creeper. And he did give me the heebie jeebies. And it might have been interesting, but I think literally the the writers just forgot he existed. Or I My theory is that much like me, everyone got bored with visual runs very quickly. Yeah. This is a second episode and I'm bored with the visual runs.

Lily:

Yeah, then it's not very interesting. Very interesting. And then there's a tiny scene with a really wooden security officer and order once the record of all passengers on board the station because they have stopped ships coming and going from the station while they're solving this murder.

Cole:

Wait, you call this a tiny scene? This is my favorite scene of the entire episode. Come on. This has Eboo Don's day timer schedule. You learn a lot about his guy. Do not take note. First of all, odo looks at his schedule, which is in English on this visual on ship. You learn that Eboo Don enjoys closet. Yeah. Okay. Did you miss this? This is Eva Don's Daytimer. He really likes tennis. He's got some lunch meetings. This is just incredible. I have a theory that TVs were smaller in 1993. And they weren't expecting us to be able to read this. Because, okay, alright,

Lily:

let me see. Lifeboat drill.

Cole:

He's attending. There's a Star Wars reference. He's got a lunch meeting with Dallas and Tina who is a writer on the show on the crew. And then he's got tennis in holodeck, too. And he's attending the ship's concert. of it. There's more. He's got more tennis. holodecks and what's that? Shopping at promenade? Tennis. So much Janice. He's got to backup his computer files I got such a close reading. You missed. Look.

Lily:

Sometimes I'm so on. Pilots are so intent on what is happening in the plot and what people are wearing that I can't believe that Mrs. tables

Cole:

have turned so much. This episode is wonderful.

Lily:

Oh my god, he loves tennis.

Cole:

But then at the end of the schedule. Oh no. It's Clue Number Two. It's a closed door murderer. And he wrote odo Yeah, in his letter he wrote.

Lily:

Thank you. Meanwhile, Keiko has tattled disco about Jake. Sisko disapproves of the relationship between Jake and nog. And Keiko suggests that a school will keep the children out of trouble she offers to set up set school, Cisco loves it, and he says he can't force the children to go but Keiko assures him that she can come up with a comprehensive and inclusive program for all the different species.

Cole:

What a great idea suggested by Miles O'Brien off screen. Yeah,

Lily:

sure. Wow. And on a side note, there are some great share is their pink kind of tub chairs and they look like they belong on the enterprise. Interesting. A little taste of home. Yeah. And then Cisco lays it out on Jack about nog and says you can't be friends with a Frankie because he's racist.

Cole:

Looks like we've all got some prejudice to work through in this episode. It's the same.

Lily:

So back at CSI, only DNA is the people who entered the room after the murder. In the hi suite. Yeah, so and basically Otto realizes that he's been set up.

Cole:

Yeah, it's it's sort of interesting about odos. I think I just got to sort of self hating streak. And he's the first one to realize that all fingers point to him. Yep. There's only a matter of time. So I got framed.

Lily:

Yeah. And then back at the command center, odo is laying out his theory to Kira, and maybe there's little Best Friends club brewing. And you're asking him if he has an alibi for the time in the meta. And to this he responds that he has to regenerate every 18 hours. So he was in his natural state of goo in a pail. Yeah. And I can't wait to revisit this. And odo special bucket we

Cole:

learn about odos bucket. I think the most adorable thing about this character is his little bucket. Sorry. Is that really condescending? No, I just I feel like I just other to odo diminishing his bucket. I'm sorry.

Lily:

I mean, it's it's a hilarious bucket. And he's clearly it's like a I

Cole:

mean, you know, it's hilarious. The writing on Star Trek Picard season three, when they're trying to track down a shapeshifter. And they're like, What if we went and looked for a bucket shaped exactly like photos, because every Shapeshifter has cone shaped bucket,

Lily:

that's just this. There's just this one bucket that they will order off Amazon. I liked it as a throwback, though. clunkiest. So yeah, so basically, he was he was good girl in the bucket. And the killer must have known this. So who would frame him. And odo says there's about 500 different people, but he hasn't seen any of them lately,

Cole:

which has interest me a little more. I think this episode could have been so much better if it had told us more about odos past and a little bit more about how he ended up on the station and why justice is so important. Maybe the idea is to keep it mysterious. It's

Lily:

just like Ben Yeah,

Cole:

but you're just getting these scraps and you learn that he believes so firmly injustice Jhaveri style that he has hundreds and hundreds of enemies, probably visual learners and Cardassians and everything in between. And so you got you gotta respect to the guy for a living. He doesn't have a lot but he lives by his SmartCode Yeah.

Lily:

So then we're back on the Dubow table at quarks and Kagerou is trying to convince rom who is quiet brother to send Nan to the school and Episode Two ROM is a total Jack weird non Rami rom he's like really mean and he's kind of British. And then he calls Keiko, a little lady. Yeah, that is not the ROM we will come to know and love later, right?

Cole:

It's really disconcerting. Isn't it like ROM from a bad dream? He does say that. He's taught nog all he has to know about business which we probably knows very little. Yeah.

Lily:

But he asks Keiko, what does she know of Ferengi education, which is sort of a fair question. If she's trying to be his teacher. Yeah. But then she does a great spin Keiko. She has a pretty good understanding of what it entails. Yeah. She sort of feeds back to him. The apprenticeships that they do. Yeah. And then and then ROM has a really great quote where he says that, what we do is we throw them into the cutthroat competition of Ferengi commerce. And anyone who survives graduates, which if you're alive in 2023 is just capitalism. 101 We're in it.

Cole:

Yeah. There it is. Yeah. Do you think Ferengi are meant to symbolize modern day humans? Yes. All right, got that out of the way moving on.

Lily:

Then Keiko tries to manipulate rom into the advantages understanding other cultures will have on on NOGs business acumen. But he counters with you a female because Ferengi is Ferengi's live in a patriarchal society. And he says that Naugle never listened to her because she is female. So then Keiko stomps off. And at the bar, the blue onesie majora and is spreading dissent about odo who points out to the other insurance that he's talking this mad shit to that odo was also chief of security when the Kardashians were in charge. So why is he still chief? And then we have a great bit were quite chimes in that there is no way that it is a collaborator and he's not a killer. It's so cute. And blue suit says that aren't his greatest enemy. And and yeah, it's great and then says that he's an ill tempered, overbearing crosshatch. And yes, maybe he's his greatest enemy, but I guess that's the closest thing he has in this world to a friend. And coming in with the insight. I love it.

Cole:

Yeah, I have. I have two things to say. One is that this wind is hitting me. The others that I Googled Christ This patch turns out it's an actual word. Yeah. Great, great word. It's very old timey. Imagine the universal translator like managing cork talking and like Frankie and I think he meant to say Crosby um, I was really surprised that in episode two this love hate between quark and odo is already I mean basically love, right? Totally.

Lily:

Yeah. It's such a strong connection. Yeah. And then watching from the bot is a Jedi.

Cole:

I wrote I wrote Obi Wan Kenobi. Alderaan. Right, they're in a schedule.

Lily:

But no, it's a bearded old Belgian guy, and he's acting kind of suspicious. And there's a bit with beshear where he sort of tricorders around trying to find some DNA looking clever. And then next same blue suit has rallied a mob and brought them to the command center to harass Cisco. And Kira is not having a bar of it. No way. PS I just noticed that she's rocking a pixie haircut and it looks great. Yeah,

Cole:

they did cut her hair since episode one which is great. Yeah, I'll agree. And this is thanks to Nana visitor, who after the pilot said that it was absurd. That kid would wake up every day in style her hair. She says that Kira is a person who just wouldn't care about how her hair looked. Because she's got like, you know shit to do. Yeah, so yeah, we get no nonsense care.

Lily:

Yeah, tell that to her full face of makeup. I'm not I'm not gonna tell women how to be women. But

Cole:

anyway, back to the scene. We could say that loyalty is part of Kara's DNA, right? Yeah. The vote was about justice cares about loyalty to her people or to the people that she's come to trust. Right. Yeah.

Lily:

And I think they share a kind of black and white moral compass kind of

Cole:

perspective as well. Yeah, you're right. It is. Loyalty is pretty black and

Lily:

white. But it's interesting that she can say the nuance when he was the chief of security while the Kardashians occupied the station. Yeah,

Cole:

I mean, I think the episode we're gonna show finally gets amazing in in season two is the one where you see Kira and odo meet during the occupation and that trust develops. Yeah.

Lily:

So yes, here is pixie all the bizarre ins are in single turn onesies and they look like toddlers in insurance

Cole:

so tiresome. They should

Unknown:

take a leaf out of NOGs book with some cute layers. Yes. And two tones. Totally. Yeah. But yeah, curio is adamant that odo didn't do it. Cisco points out that he is the prime suspect. And Dak says that this could all look like a conflict of interest. And thank you to some of her patients and smiling but enraged acting. If you know, you know. And then we're back with the investigation and Bashir is telling odo that the only thing he found was co ference fragments near the matter reclamation unit. Whatever that is, and Eminem was trying to get rid of them. It's a biological sample container. And it was used for a medical inspection experiment on board the ship. And none of this makes any sense to me or them. And then Bashir checks his pinball machine. And its DNA fragments.

Cole:

The tech and science here is I'm pretty sure none of it makes any sense at

Lily:

all. It's beyond what we can understand.

Cole:

What matters is you find some organic stuff and puts it in a little bubble bath let's it

Lily:

in a petri dish in a fancy little bubble bath. Yep. And then Sisko summons odo and I don't enter Sisko's office and his suit is the same color as the doorframe. Explain odos suit color.

Cole:

The reason all security officers wear this beige they blend in do you think poor odo just couldn't like when he was trying to plan? Did he just match the door? So

Lily:

I'll send the Jordans made a onesie same color as the door? I'm just putting it out there. I think it's great. It's

Cole:

a great fanfare. Yeah.

Lily:

Thank you. So if this guy's telling him that Medicare and tax will be in charge in the investigation, and Sisko says that personally, he doesn't believe that odo killed ever done. But odo questions this as Sisko doesn't know him at all. And surely there's some doubt in Sisko's mind, which Sisko denies and says that it's merely in everyone's best interest. To which Auto Replies I'll take care of my own best interests because he has an avoidant attachment style.

Cole:

Yeah. When when Cisco relieves out of duty, this self hatred is creeping in, and I just think he, he feels he doesn't deserve much better than what he's doing. And

Lily:

then he storms out again, back on the Promenade. The Victorians mutter about odo as he walks past. And they've smashed up his office and written shifter on the wall roof. Yeah, it's very distressing, but luckily his best friend club Kwok appears

Cole:

the closest thing he has to a friend exactly and this this is the best scene of the episode. This is

Lily:

the best scene of episode 10 of suicide. So o'clock appears. And he is stunning in an outfit of mismatched patterns, because he has power clashing,

Cole:

our clashing word of the day. That's cross patch.

Lily:

And then he also has to find out who messed up his office. And it's so cute. So odo

Cole:

has been devaluing himself all episode. But he says, you know, without me as head of security, you're gonna get sloppy without me to keep an eye on you. I've turned you into a better cook. So I mean, he's measuring his self worth with his buddy of his who actually he has this cat and mouse relationship. And that's sort of yin yang. Yeah. Well, and then then odo makes a joke. I know. But

Lily:

is it a joke? So I don't office to work for him to work for Quark, but maybe he's serious. I don't know. Odo is unknowable in this episode.

Cole:

My take is that because he I think he got me for a second because he even gets cork for a second. Yeah. And then cork and I realize that obviously, it was never going to work in a crime organization for a bar. But um, I mean, the guy doesn't have much to live for but he does have like resin cork. So the beginning of the episode, odo is just sitting in the bar, resin cork, that's actually like one of his favorite things to do. Yeah, he's like, I might be jobless, and people might want me for murder. But I can still joke around with cork. You Yeah, it's

Lily:

great. And there seems like they just have just this old timey feel to it, you know, it's like they're, I don't know, you know, I want to say Agatha Christie novel, but maybe it's, um, I've had too much wine, who's that author.

Cole:

It's great whenever we start to come to the, the meaning of these episodes. I am getting a lot from this rewatch, because I loved odo and quarks dynamic throughout the whole series. But I also always thought it was maybe a little silly that the head of security has this love hate thing with this criminal. But here, you sort of realized that I mean, Quark amounts to probably a little more than than petty thievery. And trying to catch him is what gives OTOs life meaning he doesn't have much to live for. And he's actually really grateful that there's this guy trying to smuggle in the Yannick sauce, and self sealing stem bolts. And it's it gives him like a reason to get out of bed in the morning, excuse me out of pale in the morning. And suddenly, I buy odo and Quark more than I ever did. Yeah. So all right, this episode has some redeeming qualities, I thought. So.

Lily:

The only other thing that happens in that scene is that Quark has asked around about Ibadan. And apparently he didn't have any enemies in prison. But he hung out with a lot of Jordan dissidents. So he's been scoping out things sold through for odo. He's doing the research, he used his like gross underworld connections to find out things. And then we're back at this year's petri dish experiment, which he is growing a tumor with hair.

Cole:

Okay, when you were a child, did you have this toy that you put in water? And you didn't always know what it would grow into, but you left it alone for maybe an hour and it would grow into like a crazy, monster or bird? Or person? Know that sounds terrifying? It was it was kind of terrifying. I think it was probably five and we would buy it at the store as just a lump, like a little. Yeah. Okay. And then it would it would grow into something surprising. And that's just effectively, I mean, it just put some DNA in a in a bath. And then

Lily:

like, let's see what happens. What could go wrong? Well, the ethical ramifications of this DNA growth, ethically

Cole:

very, very dubious. Wait, wrong show.

Lily:

So yeah, it's humanoid. And then we have a funny little bit where Cisco asks ducks out for lunch and beshear pipes up with Yes, No one invited you but Shia get the memo. He won't get the memo.

Cole:

And so now poor for Cisco as to have lunch with Bashir. And you

Lily:

know what she takes the opportunity to do? It's to snoop on DAX. And then there's a kind of good bit where Cisco is talking about DAX and mixes up her pronouns and then corrects himself.

Cole:

It's a really cool scene. Yeah.

Lily:

This also a good scene in this episode. Because again,

Cole:

this would almost be too on the nose in 2023. But it's the friend of a trans person being like, you know what, I'm happy for this person. And, and even, he's allowed to have a moment of missing the DAX that he knew missing the male ducks. But still 100% supporting the female deck. Totally. It's really great. Yeah.

Lily:

I love it. Yeah, so he has all these memories of DAX and they used to hook up with women together and crafts around. But but she wonders why Cisco wouldn't date someone who was so intimate with and he says that DAX used to beat me regularly at Judo Counter Punch, which honestly sounds kind of sexy. But I think in context, it's not. Yeah,

Cole:

I mean, I guess Cisco is also saying this is person who used to overpower me with strength. Yeah, I can't consider them

Lily:

like a father figure. Yeah, okay. Yeah, right. It's like a cool uncle. And then the same thing that happens in the scene is that at the bar, odo sits down, and all the Bitcoins around him mumble, and everyone gets up and leaves, including more, including mine. Yeah, yes.

Cole:

I thought I thought I trusted you.

Lily:

I was like, I hadn't seen this episode for a while and I was like, oh, at least one will stick by him.

Cole:

No, do better, more rude. And then

Lily:

meanwhile, Keiko is setting up the school and O'Brien brings their daughter Molly to say Hi, Sam. We see Molly. None of the parents have committed to sending their kids there and it's a little bit worrying. But O'Brien has brought her a present and it's kind of thoughtful. It's a handheld school bell. Never nice moment he replicated it. He thought about it. So one point to a brain this episode.

Cole:

Suddenly, you've got me thinking about gifting as a form of love language language in a world where you can replicate anything.

Lily:

Thought Right. Um, and then back on the Promenade. Someone is yelling murderer killer, Shapeshifter freak. And there's a mob and they follow odo who runs and hides in his office. And it's and it's scary and horrible and O'Brien call security Kyra hops to and so to Cisco and mourn is part of the mob. Mon. How could you Lauren goes

Cole:

on a journey in this series to every character is dynamic. They've got lessons to learn and mourn has some growth to do. Yeah, I feel like he's very easily led to what if we don't know his intentions? What if he's just there for good show? Like maybe he thought it was one of those street performers. Like what's this crowd? So I'm about to do smash mob. So I'm gonna do some dance tricks.

Lily:

God, and then we've got Beshear and he's looking at his petri dish, which is looking super creepy and all flashy.

Cole:

It's about halfway through what the little toy does. Yeah. Yeah. It

Lily:

kind of looks like a shock embryo. Dark embryos that is what Tiktok sends to my algorithm. Yeah. I have a complex so then blue suit guy is leading the mob and then Cisco in here arrived, but the mob keeps building it's escalating.

Cole:

I think the extra is do some great work here, by the way. Yeah, there's this just lots of really angry pitchfork people.

Lily:

I mean, I love a mob in a scene. There's so much interest, people shaking their heads. Firing fists. Yep, yep, yep. Yelling. Yeah. And they break the window. Oh, and then the Jedi bizarre and is looking on. And he again is not acting suspicious. No, just on his way to attend a scam.

Cole:

So obviously, at this point, you realize that the episode is about distrust of people who are different. In group out group, which is a theme that Star Trek has tried many, many, many times. And I'm just I don't think it covers a lot of new ground in this episode. I

Lily:

guess I still enjoy the Star Trek episodes that don't reinvent the wheel. Yep. Like it's for me. It's comfort watch. So that was very comfortable. That

Cole:

true. But you feel bad for odo? Because he's misunderstood. I think it'd be able to

Lily:

his character and it also creates a sense of the the discord of of being on the frontier of trying to negotiate these things and and create sort of a stable sense of life and community.

Cole:

I just sort of a Western I mean, if if the Space Nine is the is the frontier, this is the the Mexican guy who comes into town and the white guys don't like him. Yeah.

Lily:

And then Julian DACs are watching the petri dish, and it's definitely humanoid, and Julian gets his eureka moment. And then we shift back to the mob scene. And the mob is escalating further, and they're all shifter shifter, kill the beast. And Cisco tries to de escalate and ask what they plan to do to odo. The blue guy smiles coyly and makes a joke about getting a rope around the neck of a shifter How would one do it? And Atlanta is really well the visual runs all laugh and then Cisco tries to get them to disperse.

Cole:

Don't condemn him because he is different from you.

Lily:

Exactly. Yeah. So violence has erupted. And then he's favored. Odo emerges and then Sisco gets his Atticus Finch moment.

Cole:

Now before you get to see some of cures hand to hand fighting chance Oh, yeah, yeah. The first the first sort of like two fisted punch in the Yeah, punches right Krav Maga

Lily:

so bizarre and says they want justice. And Cisco says do Is it justice or is it just a way to express your anger and fear? Do not condemn this man because he is different from you, and they need to take it to a court of law. And then I have a A quote from To Kill a Mockingbird.

Cole:

This is all my dreams come true. All right, hit me in your

Lily:

head. Yep.

Cole:

So impressed by.

Lily:

And this is Atticus Finch. And he says you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. Maybe like a shapeshifter, aha. Right.

Cole:

So maybe Harper Lee is almost suggesting that it takes a shapeshifter to truly understand justice, because they are able to shift themselves into seeing things from others perspectives,

Lily:

like they're not just a handbag or a chair, they can also see that you are unhappy in your relationship watching cling on opera.

Cole:

Yeah. You have just completely redeemed this entire episode.

Lily:

God, gosh,

Cole:

odos. Like, he has the potential to be the most empathic character on the station. Yeah.

Lily:

And in this scene, he comes out because Cisco started firing the phaser. And he's like, this has gone too far.

Cole:

Yeah, yeah. I love that. That's when he is like I mentioned, I never liked guns on my station. I don't want us to descend into violence. Yep. I do have more appreciation for odo as a character because I was ready to. I was honestly ready to dismiss not just this episode, but like odo as this like all cops are bastards. Fascists. Yeah.

Lily:

And I can see the nuance in that I can say, that is accurate in some ways.

Cole:

But the idea that he his moral code centers on justice, because he actually can see, like lived experiences through the eyes of other living beings. Yeah, it's beautiful.

Lily:

Thank you. I just, I sort of wish in the series that they showed him shapeshifting and to other people. Yeah.

Cole:

There isn't. Yes. It's a shame because they decided that he is actually not that good at shapeshifting. And he's still trying to master he's like a baby humanoid, which is why they give him that makeup. Yeah. Because he's trying to look like a Jordan, but he can't even he's nowhere near getting the nose. Yeah. But so like, part of his character is that he can't do realistic people.

Lily:

Sure. But then why did the other shapeshifters show up? Looking like him?

Cole:

I guess, because they're I mean, if we're, if we're clinging to Kenan and trying to rationalize everything, which we are, yes, they are trying to make him feel at home. They're trying to convince him that he's with family. Sure. So it's like, sure we can talk as humanoids. And if this is what, like where your brothers concept? Yeah, yeah. Where your brothers and sisters so sure. I think it's a little. Sometimes the female Shapeshifter is in scenes without odo. And just it looks like that. Yeah. So I think it's a little clunky. And then the other thing is that apparently, as Alex Mackay as it is, the the cost of every shapeshifting is very, very high. So after they established that he's a shapeshifter, you know, three times in the first three episodes. Yeah, you need a really, really good reason to show his shapeshifting. Yeah, so he doesn't get to actually shapeshift around.

Lily:

I think the like, budget constraints help the show as well.

Cole:

True. And then also, all he wants is to blend in. And so he doesn't want to be walking down the promenade shape shifting his way into a bird.

Lily:

That's why that scene is so heartbreaking when he's when the mob is following him. Yeah, I felt the terror. Yeah, the Terra where he has to go hide in his his office. Yeah. So then Assange, Julian runs out and does what you always do in a murder investigation, and you shout out the evidence that you found. But in this case, it does de escalate the situation. He says that the man who was murdered wasn't done. Right. It's a clone watch. So Ibadan created a clone and then killed it to frame odo. And they found this out through evidence of gene sequence degradation. That was the word yes. And then PS in two days, the petri dish guy becomes a living breathing member of Algerian society what and then they never bring up the ethical ramifications of this ever again. Moving on. Okay,

Cole:

so yes, it kept Captain's log, the clone has achieved sentience, and it's becoming a member of the German society will

Lily:

never speak to him again. We'll have him right. I love it.

Cole:

What do you do with full an adult man who just comes into consciousness? I had a thought that he could be a student at kicker school.

Lily:

Oh, cute. God, I wish they'd done that, right. Anyway, we don't care about that. That is not important. This is Deep Space Nine. Yep. So odo knows who the bad guy is, and it's the one person who has been acting suspiciously and that's the Jedi guy. What they never would have known. And there's a great bit where odo has shapeshifted into a chair. And then he Alex max out of it.

Cole:

And then he knows that the guys wearing a Mission Impossible masks love it. No, it's like, okay, this guy's a master of cloning. Oh, he's also a master of like wearing masks wearing masks. Totally different situations

Lily:

like a believable mask though.

Cole:

I was so mad about the mask. I loved it, like pick your evil superpower, dude.

Lily:

But I love this scene. Because odo is just like once again proving he's out of a Raymond Chandler novel because he just monologues in this totally private detective style, about how he's figured it all out. He rips off the mask and it's great. And then he says that killing your incline is still meta, which is good to know, I guess.

Cole:

But what about creating a clone? No, fine. That's fine.

Lily:

She just did it. Nope. I washed my hands if you

Cole:

accidentally made a living breathing person might be okay.

Lily:

And then I have a really silly thing that I would like to talk about in this scene as well. I'm ready. It's the fact that they call the Jedi guy who is Ibadan Mr. Lamoni s. Did you notice that?

Cole:

I did. I wanted to discuss it but I didn't think I had anything to say okay,

Lily:

so call out. I was hoping that his name was an anagram me too and then it would it would be arranged to spell I am Lord Voldemort.

Cole:

But I did pause to wonder if it was an anagram for Hebrew Don but it wasn't it

Lily:

wasn't but then I did take the time to work out some anagram Okay, so this is leaving out Mr. So this is just Lamone as Mr. Just it was too hot. All right, so we've got only same Oh, right. We've got lose many Okay, and then we've got Omen slay

Cole:

Oh think you might have just cracked it thank you

Lily:

slay oh man slay Yeah, so then we've got the command is log and maybe Dan is handed over to the majority authorities just hours before he's claimed begins a new life by me.

Cole:

I would have loved sometimes The show follows up on things. And I would love it like Season Three that like evens clothes and just shows up and has a wild story.

Lily:

And he's like calling fishy a dad or somebody has

Cole:

a romance with Kira Oh.

Lily:

So the mom seems to have dissipated, but no one has apologized to odo, which is very sad. And life has begun to return to normal, whatever that means. So the final scene is Keiko is waiting in the school for kids to show up and it's no no seven. Sisko drops off Jake.

Cole:

Seven minutes late.

Lily:

I know. He's busy. He's

Cole:

busy. He's busy. He's

Lily:

got paperwork, and so does mean Episode Two rom he's dropping off nog.

Cole:

The first glimmers of the ROM we we know and love began to emerge.

Lily:

And then too bizarre and kiddies show up as well. The lesson begins and it's on bizarre and social life in history. Maybe Cisco should stick around for a little refresher. Cisco is thrilled and as one of his genuine huge smiles and that's the end of the episode love to see it. So I guess what I want to ask you call is who is the man alone?

Cole:

Yeah, I've been pondering ever since he put that thought in my head at the beginning. I mean out of the obvious answer, because he the closest thing he has to a friend is his his Frenemy. Yeah, he's he's the only Shapeshifter he's the only one of his kind.

Lily:

I mean clearly like he's he's the sort of main protagonist of the story.

Cole:

I mean, is it is the clone who's suddenly

Lily:

he's now just is Driftless he is a man alone.

Cole:

Just wandering around, has no parents knows nothing. But hey, he's a he's

Lily:

a living, breathing member of assurance society.

Cole:

Next question. Well, my answer to the man alone is 12 year old Cole Paulson. Oh, because his his media diet was nothing but Star Trek episodes where you learn that there are all kinds of beautiful relationships in the world but not romance. I really do think I embedded this on some level. I think this particular era of Star Trek from next generation to DS nine and Voyager is really a sexual Yeah. And even when they try having romantic relationships, they're they're just not icky,

Lily:

icky. They're like that. brother sister, right.

Cole:

And I think I really think I might have taken that on on some level. I mean to this day, I think friendships are the best form of human connection. I think friendships are beautiful. And I think I've learned that from from Kirk and Spock and Cisco, and DAX and odo and Quark. And those are the kinds of relationships that little chubby 12 year old Cold started seeking out. And I just had no respect for these actual romantic relationships because Star Trek doesn't either for better or for worse. Yeah.

Lily:

So are you saying that the basis of this show this episode is best friends club?

Cole:

We've just done it.

Lily:

Oh my god. It's beautiful. We really got

Cole:

we went on this journey together.

Lily:

Kind of like a little Best Friends club and barons club. Yeah. All right. So I think we're, we're gonna create a new segment that we're gonna have Okay, in the show. Fashion watch. best outfit.

Cole:

This episode gave us a lot of really beautiful fashion moments. I think my word goes to Naga for his hipster Gen Zed, understated, three color approach.

Lily:

Yeah. I agree. It's beautiful. And look, I want to say quarks power clashing. is great. But I think for me, it's gonna be the pale green power suit. For an extra number 500

Cole:

You really took a shine to the mint power suit.

Lily:

That's beautiful. Yeah, yeah. And it really the contrast was when she turns blue. Yeah, amazing. Well,

Cole:

then if that's the winner, a special shout out to the doors of ops. Where the actual fashion inspiration for OTOs outfit for the show. Well,

Lily:

we went date All right, thanks, guys.

Cole:

Thanks, everyone. I'm gonna finish this eat a fix, which is not real champagne.

Lily:

Yeah, what do you think of it? Do you like it?

Cole:

I think it's delicious.

Lily:

Got it on the episode. Does it grow on you like the episode?

Cole:

It grows on me like some DNA in a bathtub becomes essential before

Lily:

long shock embryo stage clone alone.

Cole:

Thanks, everyone. See you next week for everyone's favorite queer Kardashians. Oh my god yeah.

Lily:

Oh my god, I can't wait bye.

Cole:

Deep Space wine is hosted by Lily Rawson and myself cold Paulsen music bisexual nouvelle artwork by Daniel over Nelson. And special thanks to bloom and Izzy Rawson Our in house anagram descrambler.