‘FIELD OF FIRE’ (DS9)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This ‘DS9’ episode has Ezri Dax solving a murder case when a young Starfleet officer gets killed. It would require Ezri to summon one of her past hosts. The resolution of this episode isn’t so satisfying.
In the episode, Art Chudabala as Lt. Hector Ilario celebrates his recent success from a Defiant battle in Quark’s with Bashir, O’Brien, Kira and Ezri. Hector soon heads for his quarters, escorted by Ezri. 🙂
Unfortunately, he’s found dead in his quarters the following morning. Dr. Bashir determines that Hector was killed by a bullet fired at close range from a TR-166, which is this prototype Starfleet rifle.
The rifle was discontinued by Starfleet. Odo notes that a rifle fired at close range would leave power burns on the victim. No such marks can be found on Hector. Chief O’Brien soon has his deductions. 🙂
He discovers the killer gave the bullet a close-range trajectory without being in the same room as the victim. A miniature transporter fitted to the weapon beamed the bullet into the victim’s quarters. 😐
The killer also used a targeting sensor which could target victims from anywhere on the station. Ezri soon conducts her own investigation as she wonders why the killer would kill Hector cold-bloodedly.
She’s soon troubled by memories of Joran Belar, a former host of the Dax symbiont who was a murderer himself. Ezri has a dream about Joran where he tells her he can help locate Hector’s killer.
As another Starfleet officer gets killed in the same way, Sisko asks Ezri to try and profile the killer. After receiving advice from Worf, Ezri soon performs a ritual to summon Joran from Dax’s past lives.
Leigh McCloskey as Joran Belar appears in the foreground of Ezri’s consciousness once summoned. I must admit, Joran looks rather different compared to how I remember seeing him in ‘Equilibrium’. 😐
In that episode, Jeff Magnus McBride played Joran in illusion form. Joran was also in Benjamin Sisko’s body when he took possession of him during Jadzia Dax’s zhian’tara in the episode ‘Facets’. 😐
Ezri clearly doesn’t want to have anything to do with Joran, but Joran encourage her to get inside the murderer’s mind in order to find out who did the killing. It’s an uncomfortable alliance on Ezri’s part.
Joran has Ezri aim a TR-116 gun at unsuspecting people and contemplate the resulting feeling of power. Ezri almost nearly stabs a potential suspect at Joran’s voice until it’s revealed he is innocent.
Sisko, concerned about Ezri’s recent actions, is almost about to take her off the case. But Ezri begs him to give him another chance and he eventually agrees. It must be a struggle for Ezri in the story. 🙁
This episode does showcase some of Ezri’s darker aspects, especially when Joran comes to the forefront of her mind. It’s amazing how she is able to cope with the memories of Joran inside of her.
Once a third victim has been killed, Ezri notices that each of the victims has photographs in their quarters of people laughing. Ezri and Joran conjecture that the killer happens to hate laughter here.
They suspect it’s most likely a Vulcan who did this as Vulcan are known for repressing emotions. I’m glad Spock was not like that. It’s suspected it is a Vulcan who recently suffered psychological trauma.
Eventually, Ezri has a chance encounter with a Vulcan who happens to be Marty Rackham as Chu’lak. Joran is convinced Chu’lak’s the killer and Ezri uncovers that he was one of six survivors of a battle. 😐
Once Ezri targets Chu’lak in his quarters with her TR-166, she sees that he intends to kill her next. They aim rifles at each other. Ezri fires first, wounding Chu’lak and causing him to miss his aim here.
Joran urges Ezri to finish Chu’lak off but Ezri soon calls for a medical team. I wish we had a better explanation on why Chu’lak had decided to target three specific Starfleet victims to murder them. 😐
In the end, Ezri performs the ritual to return Joran to her subconscious. Joran reminds her that he will always be a part of her. Hopefully, Ezri Dax won’t have to summon up Joran again anytime soon.
‘Field of Fire’ isn’t exactly a great ‘DS9’ episode to feature in the series, but it’s far from terrible. I wish the murder mystery’s resolution had more time to be developed in terms of the killer’s motives.
‘Field of Fire’ (DS9) rating – 7/10
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