“Fascination” is a light-hearted, Lwaxana-centric episode that badly mangles Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. You would think that spells disaster and it almost does. But there is enough humorous moments to keep the episode from dwelling in the cellar.
Lwaxana returns for the Bajoran Gratitude Festival at which everyone is supposed to reveal their true feelings for one another. Unless you think someone is a complete douche. Presumably, you are supposed to keep that to yourself. Think positively.
Unbeknownst to Lwaxana, she is suffering from Zanthi fever, an illness which causes older Betazoids to project their feelings onto others. Since her motivation for visiting DS9 is to manhunt (Changelingunt?) Odo, she projects her affection for him unto everyone else.
In the spirit of revealing true feelings, people begin expressing odd affections for each other. Jake confesses a crush on Kira, for which I do not blame him. Bashir takes a turn with her as well. It is no surprise. Alexander Siddig and Nana Visitor became an item during the series run. This is the first time Odo expresses his feelings for Kira, too, albeit not to her directly. I see a pattern developing here.
Bareil shows an interest in Dax, Dax shows one in Morn, o’Brien threatens to quit Starfleet so he can spendall his time with Keiko, whom Quark begins showing an affection towards. The episode winds up dangerously close to slapstick farce, but it does not quite hit that point. That said, there is no point to it and “Fascination” is one of the most forgettable of episodes. Consider it a beather before a series of dark episodes to come soon after.
Rating: ** (out of 5)
