‘PRODIGAL DAUGHTER’ (DS9)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This ‘DS9’ episode is another opportunity to get to know more about Ezri’s character. We get to meet her family and perhaps uncover a few reasons why Ezri decided to leave home to be a Starfleet officer.
In the episode, Chief O’Brien has gone missing. Bashir reports this to Sisko and it’s been suspected that O’Brien is on the planet New Sydney, searching for Morica Bilby, who is the widow of Liam Bilby.
Liam Bilby was the member of the Orion Syndicate that O’Brien befriended whilst undercover in ‘Honor Among Thieves’ from Season 6. Sisko asks Ezri if she can ask her family to help in this matter.
Ezri’s family owns a mining operation on a nearby planet close to New Syndey. She is sent by Sisko to find O’Brien; or rather her mother demands that she return home as she hasn’t been home in a while. 😐
It’s interesting that Ezri once had the surname of Tigan since her family’s name is called Tigan. Apparently the Dax host inside Ezri replaces the Tigan surname. It’s been traditional in Trill history. 😐
Upon returning home for the first time in several years, Ezri is reunited with her family. This includes her domineering mother, Leigh Taylor-Young as Yanas Tigan, who is quite a shrewd businesswoman.
There are also Ezri’s brothers – Kevin Rahm as Norvo and Mikael Salazar as Janel. Norvo and Janel work for their mother’s business whilst Ezri decided to be a Starfleet officer in outer space instead. 😐
It’s interesting how Ezri’s family react to her being a joined Trill host with the Dax symbiont. They’re glad to have her back home, but there’s still uneasiness and tension about her being a joined Trill. 😐
Yanas promises to look into O’Brien’s disappearance whilst criticising Ezri’s life choices. This includes hating her hair. What’s wrong with Ezri’s hairstyle? I like it! What was it like before she became Dax?
Norvo seems happy to see Ezri back in their family life whilst Janel is bitter about how infrequent her home visits are. Ezri gets to catch up with Norvo, seeing how depressed he is working for his mother.
Ezri urges Norvo to move away from home, escape their mother’s constant criticism and pursue an interest in arc. Norvo however is intensely self-critical about what he’s done in terms of his artwork.
Thankfully, O’Brien is found sooner than expected as the local police deliver him to the Tigan home. They rescued him from a run-in with the Orion Syndicate. Ezri is so glad to see O’Brien alive and well.
O’Brien soon reveals that he found Morica Bilby dead. He suspects that she was killed by someone in the Syndicate. The police reject this theory as the Syndicate wouldn’t murder a member’s widow. 😐
As Ezri and O’Brien investigate more into this occurrence, O’Brien agrees to help Janel repair some mining equipment. O’Brien notices the equipment has had some recent inexplicable malfunctions. 😐
An agent of the Orion Syndicate, John Paragon as Bokar, warns Janel that O’Brien’s life will be in danger if he doesn’t leave the planet instantly. Janel tries to persuade O’Brien to leave the planet. 😐
O’Brien suspects that the Orion Syndicate is intimidating the Tigan family. He acquires Ezri’s permission to check the mining company’s financial records. They’re both stunned by what they find.
Apparently Monica Bilby was on the Tigan payroll at the time of her death. It implies that someone very close to Ezri may be involved in Morica’s murder. Ezri confronts her family with O’Brien’s findings.
Whilst Janel knows Morica was on the payroll but denies killing her, Ezri soon realises Norva was the killer. Ezri is shocked to hear Norvo admit the truth as Morica tried extorting money from the family.
As a result, Norvo killed Morica and he’s soon sentenced to 30 years in prison. Everyone in Ezri’s family is upset. Ezri doesn’t answer her mother when she wants reassurance that it wasn’t her fault.
It’s sad how the episode ends with Ezri blaming herself for not being there for her family when they needed her once she left to be in Starfleet. O’Brien tries to reassure her otherwise but Ezri isn’t that reassured.
‘Prodigal Daughter’ does end on a depressing note, but I’m glad this episode gives us a chance to learn more about Ezri’s family background. It’s a nice piece of drama that’s very well-executed here.
‘Prodigal Daughter’ (DS9) rating – 8/10
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