I had completely forgotten about this episode. It only took about ten minutes of watching before I realized I had been blocking it out all these years to preserve my high opinion of DS9. the show took risks with stories that would not fit in well with other trek series. It often worked. Occasionally, it did not. Guess which category ’prodigal Daughter” falls into?The big question is whether this was supposed to be two separate episodes that got crammed together because of the big Dominion War finale coming up. I cannot say for certain, but that is the only excuse I can think o for how contrived the two plot points collide.
O’Brien goes AWOL on a non-Federation planet in order to search for the widow of Bixby, the guy he befriended while trying to expose the Orion Syndicate. He does not return to DS9 as scheduled, so Bashir spills the beans to Sisko where O’Brien is.
The planet just happens to be where Ezri’s overbearing other owns a mining company. Ezri is estranged from her mother, but agrees to ask her for help in tracking down O’Brien in exchange for a visit. Ezri reluctantly agrees.
Ezri’s family puts the “fun” in dysfunctional. Her mother is a bullying ice queen who ran her off years ago. Both her brothers have been forced into helping ruu the company, including her free-spirited artist brother, whom mommy dearest thinks is a pussy. We go on wit this charming portrait for awhile until the police show up with O’Brien.
He has found Bilby’s widow, but she has been killed, presumably by the Orion Syndicate. Fortunately for plot convenience, the Orion Syndicate has been doing business with the mining company because of Ezri’s older brother. Her mother did not know anything about it.
Here is the kicker: he has been making payments to Bilby’s widow for a no responsibility job. She was arguing for more money, so the artist brother whacked her in order to both solve the problem and prove to his mother he has a pair.
An Ezri-centric episode is a good idea. She has been around for nearly half a season and we still know nothing about her. We do learn wy she is so insecure. She has all those mommy issues haunting her. While I did not find her family drama all that compelling, it is made far worse by tying in the annual O’Brien Must Suffer story with it in such an outlandish way. What were the writers thinking?
Rating: * (out of 5)
