‘THE QUICKENING’ (DS9)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This is another ‘DS9’ episode directed by René Auberjonois. It’s quite a grim episode involving a deadly disease and it showcases Bashir in an intriguing light where his talents as a doctor are tested.
First of all, there is a funny scene at the beginning where Quark mucks up the computer systems on DS9 with an advert to persuade people to come to Quark’s. Worf gets angry with Quark too in this. 🙂
It’s a scene that doesn’t really connect to the episode itself. I imagine it was filmed in order to provide most of the ‘DS9’ cast a chance to appear in the episode. Cirroc Lofton isn’t in the tale mind.
Anyway, the episode has Dr. Bashir, Major Kira and Jadzia Dax journeying to a planet that has been attacked by the Jem’Hadar. Bashir and Jadzia beam down to the planet to find the state that it’s in. 🙁
Apparently the planet is in this mess to be made as an example to those who resist the Dominion. They’ve done it by inflicting an incurable disease called ‘the blight’ that leaves spidery veins on them.
It looks pretty horrid. It starts off being blue before it spreads to become red and has the victims go through a slow and agonisingly painful death. No known cure has been found for this ‘blight’ disease.
I don’t really rate ‘The Quickening’ as a favourite ‘DS9’ episode, though it is pretty effective in terms of the message it delivers. It does remind me of the climate many are going through in the 2020 crisis. 🙁
There is only one person who is the equivalent to a doctor on this planet and that happens to be Michael Sarrazin as Trevean. Trevean means well, but Bashir is distraught by the methods he uses. 🙁
Apparently, Trevean provides a swift and comfortable death for those who have been recently quickened. He gives them herbal treatments – which are poisons – that allow them to die not slowly.
Bashir is determined to provide a cure for these people who are already content to die with Trevean’s help. Bashir forms a bond with Ellen Wheeler as Ekoria, who’s infected with the disease. 🙂
Ekoria is also heavily pregnant in the episode. So this may turn out to be a ‘Star Trek: DS9’ version of ‘Call the Midwife’. 😀 Thankfully the huffing and puffing isn’t so explicit in this ‘DS9’ episode here. 😀
At first, Bashir does well with an antigen he creates with the help of recently quickened volunteers, including Ekoria. It’s also intriguing to hear his backstory of how he wanted to become a doctor here.
His story to Ekoria about fixing his teddy bear was sweet to hear. I know my dog Cuddles lost one of his eyes one time and thankfully I sent him to a cuddly toy hospital to get better, to which he did. 😀
Cuddles: “Thank you, Master! YAY!!!”
Sadly, Bashir’s hopes of procuring a cure for the blight are swayed as he finds the electrical fields from his equipment are causing the virus to mutate rapidly. This is something he didn’t anticipate. 🙁
It does seem grim when no cure seems to be found for the blight and Bashir blames himself for being so arrogant in hoping he could find a cure. But Jadzia encourages him not to give up on this. 🙂
Eventually, Bashir elects to stay behind on the planet in order to help Ekoria with her late pregnancy. He also tries to provide an anti-viral treatment in order to help Ekoria with her own blight condition.
Sadly, the anti-viral doesn’t work on Ekoria, but thankfully her child doesn’t have the blight on him. Ekoria lives long enough to see her baby before he sadly dies. But it means good hope for everyone.
Bashir shows the baby to Trevean and gives him a treatment that will act as the vaccine rather than a cure for pregnant women. Hopefully the next generation of these people can be free of the blight.
But Bashir is still dismayed that the people still infected with the blight can’t be cure. He keeps trying to find a cure. Despite Sisko reassuring him that he made good progress, Bashir isn’t very satisfied. 🙁
It’s interesting how the episode ends on that note where Bashir isn’t quite the saviour doctor he hoped he’d be. And it is easy to sympathise with him as not everybody can be saved from a disease.
Like I said, ‘The Quickening’ isn’t one of my favourites, but I can see why people would rate it so highly. It’s well-directed, well-acted and the story and message it delivers is clear and well-meaning.
‘The Quickening’ (DS9) rating – 8/10
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