‘THE DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT’ (DS9)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This is another Kira-focused episode in the ‘DS9’ series. It’s an episode that takes on a ‘And Then There Were None’ murder mystery plot, but it’s more satisfying than the BBC 2015 version I’ve seen.
In the episode, Kira hears that news that Latha Mabrin, a fellow former member of the Skakaar resistance has been murdered. Shocked and saddened, Kira soon has this garbled recorded message.
The message says “That’s one!” with a picture of Latha displayed all over it. Kira interprets that as a message to threaten all former members of the Shakaar resistance during the occupation of Bajor. 😐
Kira becomes afraid she might get killed by the person who sent that message since she became the surrogate mother of Chief O’Brien and Keiko’s child. She also wants to protect her former comrades.
Later on, Kira receives contact from Jennifer Savidge as Trentin Fala, who is a former unofficial resistance member. Fala is afraid with what is happening since she heard the news of Latha’s death.
Kira makes arrangements for Fala to be transported onto a runabout, piloted by Worf and Dax that’s returning to DS9 in order to be protected. The transport process gets sabotaged and Fala gets killed.
Once that happens, Kira receives another message from the scrambled voice saying, “That’s two!” Later, whilst working with Odo, Kira receives a “That’s three!” message displaying another member.
This happens to be Mobara, although it’s not clear whether he’s dead or not. Very soon, Kira receives a visit from former comrades William Lucking as Furel and Diana Salinger as Lupaza on DS9.
These two have been in ‘DS9’ before since they were in the Season 3 episode ‘Shakaar’. I’m very curious about why Duncan Regehr’s Shakaar wasn’t in this episode. He was in ‘The Begotten’ next. 😐
Furel and Lupaza offer to hunt down the assassin that’s killing all of their resistance cell members for Kira’s sake. Kira prefers to handle the problem alone but she allows Furel and Lupaza to stay on DS9.
During a staff meeting with Odo and Sisko, it becomes clear that whoever’s doing the killing most likely has a vendetta against Kira. Aron Eisenberg as Nog also unscrambles the voice in the messages.
It happens to be Kira’s own voice which is peculiar. I like how Nog gets to work that out in the episode. Very soon, Furel and Lupaza get killed by an explosion when they’re in O’Brien’s quarters. 😦
Kira is upset about Furel and Lupza getting killed. She shares with Odo how she met them during the resistance against the Cardassians during the occupation of Bajor. She’s determined to get revenge.
I must say that the physicality of Kira’s character in this episode must’ve been hard work for Nana Visitor, especially when she was heavily pregnant at the time. I am glad she had the baby in the end.
Once Odo is out of the infirmary, Kira steals a list of suspects from his office before going to solve who’s been killing off her resistance comrades one by one recently. She takes a runabout into space.
Kira soon arrives at the home of Silaran Prin, one of the suspects. There she meets Randy Oglesby as Silaran who captures and immobilises Kira. He happens to be a Cardassian with a heavily scared face.
Explaining his motivations, Silaran is punishing those who’ve been responsible for his disfigurement during a resistance bombing. Silaran accuses Kira of killing without conscience and he calls her guilty.
Kira defends her actions, saying that the Cardassians were a hostile alien race occupying Bajor. Even if he was a civilian during the occupation, she claims he indirectly aided the occupation regardless. 😐
Silaran declares that he’ll spare her baby but kill her as he prepares to operate. Once Kira begs for a sedative, she manages to fool Silaran and knock him out as she took herbs for her own pregnancy. 🙂
Kira manages to kill Silaran in the end and when the DS9 team come to rescue her, Kira is shaken by the experience. She reflects on what Silaran was trying to do and how her actions have affected that.
‘The Darkness and the Light’ is an intriguing episode exploring Kira’s character and how her past affected a disfigured Cardassian. Nana Visitor delivers a terrific performance in her pregnant state. 🙂
‘The Darkness and the Light’ rating – 8/10
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