‘THE STORYTELLER’ (DS9)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
I enjoyed ‘The Storyteller’ episode. It has two subplots running parallel to each other that were quite gripping to watch. It also showcases some ‘DS9’ characters in interesting ways with how they develop.
In the episode, Chief O’Brien and Dr. Bashir go off on a mission to Bajor to help someone in medical need. Bashir sees the mission as a great opportunity for him and O’Brien to get to know each other. 🙂
O’Brien’s not so keen however. I don’t know what the given reason is, but it’s clearly indicated O’Brien doesn’t like Bashir much. Bashir himself even notices this when they journey off to Bajor in a runabout.
Bashir asks O’Brien if he’s annoying him for some reason, but O’Brien doesn’t say it in many words. Is it because Bashir’s quite smug and arrogant at times in his youth that O’Brien hates him? I’m not sure.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m alright with Bashir as a character. He can be vain and awkward at times, but I find him an enjoyable character. I believe Bashir wants to make friends with everybody he meets.
But sometimes Bashir’s smug attitude can get in the way. Maybe that’s why O’Brien doesn’t like him so much. Bashir tries to be friends with O’Brien, but O’Brien just won’t have it despite holding respect.
Bashir encourages O’Brien to call him by his first name ‘Julian’. Something O’Brien’s not too comfortable with. Ah well, I know these two will soon become the best of friends in later seasons of ‘DS9’.
Anyway on Bajor, Bashir and O’Brien try to help a man called the Sirah, who is an important man in a village community. Kay E. Kuter guest stars as the Sirah, who’s like a very elderly storyteller for people.
The village leader, Jim Jansen as Faren, tells Bashir to save the Sirah’s life. Apparently, a force called the Dal’Rok will destroy the village if the Sirah is not able to fend it off. The chances do seem very likely.
When Bashir and O’Brien visit the Sirah at his home, the Sirah, for some strange reason, chooses O’Brien to be his successor. This is something O’Brien and Bashir are baffled by once they’ve seen him.
Later that night, the mysterious, threatening cloud-like Dal’Rok appears and is about to attack the village. The Sirah begins speaking to the entire village by being ‘the storyteller’ on how to defeat the Dal’Rok.
But the old man becomes weak and collapses, causing a momentary attack by the Dal’Rok. He summons O’Brien to repeat the rest of the tale to the villagers. O’Brien’s very uncomfortable about this.
During the proceedings of the storytelling, the villagers send a beam of light out of their heads to defeat the Dal’Rok. Thankfully, the Dal’Rok is defeated and the village is saved. But sadly, the Sirah dies.
O’Brien then gets declared as the new Sirah. O’Brien’s not happy about this and gets treated as a messiah the next day. He’s afraid he won’t be able to do the job requested of him in defeating the Dal’Rok again.
Eventually, the old Sirah’s apprentice, Lawrence Monoson as Hovath, tries to kill O’Brien, declaring himself to be the true Sirah next in line. He was not chosen instead of O’Brien because he failed one time.
Despite O’Brien trying to give the job back to Hovath, he’s forced to do the Sirah storytelling and defeat the Dal’Rok that night. This of course fails and Hovath eventually becomes the Sirah after all. 🙂
Elsewhere on DS9, Sisk becomes the mediator in a conflict between two rival Bajoran factions negotiating a land dispute. One faction is led by Gina Philips as Varis Sul, who’s a very pretty Bajoran girl.
I like the story Jake and Aron Eisenberg as Nog have with meeting Varis Sul and trying to be friends with her. This is during the time when she’s unwilling to negotiate with the leader of the other faction.
Nog is clearly captivated by the Bajoran girl and, in his own way, helps Varis Sul on how to overcome her problems during the negotiations. He suggests the idea of an ‘opportunity’ to Varis Sul in the story.
The ninth Ferengi Rule of Acquisition gets mentioned in the episode. The rule is ‘Opportunity plus instinct equals profit.’ I like how the Varis Sul story gets played out and how she interacted with Sisko.
Overall, a very satisfying episode featuring two plots. It was fun to see O’Brien and Bashir together with an old storyteller on Bajor and how Jake and Nog helped a young Bajoran girl with a land dispute.
‘The Storyteller’ (DS9) rating – 8/10
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