Playing God

The "Proto-Universe" subplot is simply a plot device used to allow us to think- About the next time we smash an anthill or destroy a beehive. Granted there are times to do both of those things, but when I was a child, we did not destroy beehives: We called the "Bee Man" and he would come and GET the beehive and move it to a place where it could develop without harming anyone. This is primarily what is going on in this episode, Jadzia and her Trill Initiate "Arjin" (Geoffrey Blake) have rammed into a developing "Beehive" - A Proto-Universe, in the Gamma Quadrant with a Runabout and have moved it from its environment, a "Subspace Interphase Pocket", where it was growing without harming other universes, bringing it to the Alpha Quadrant where it is not supposed to be.

We do not need to know all there is to know about this Proto-Universe: All we need to know, is that The Runabout piloted by Arjin moved that Proto 'Verse from the spot where it was safely developing on its own, to a place where it would envelop our universe.

We really do not need to know the Dynamics of this, all we need to know is that the thing should not have been moved from where it was, the safety of that Interphase Pocket.

But what we DO need to know, is the interaction between Jadzia-Dax and Arjin. Apparently the Dax "Symbiont" (I'd rather spell it as "Symbiote") has standards for Trill Initiates-Standards which Arjin is falling short of. Jadzia/Dax is simply trying to warn Arjin that he is in danger of not being able to meet those standards, but in doing so, offends Arjin and puts him on the defensive: Which was actually what Dax wanted.

In this episode, we learn more about Jadzia's unique history with the The Symbiosis Commission, being the first Trill in History to re-apply to the Initiate program to gain joining with "Dax" - Who, as Curzon/Dax had rejected her application. We find out that it was Jadzia herself who requested joining with Dax, in an ironic gesture. We find out in a later episode, it was more than just Jadzia's tenacity which influenced Curzon/Dax to renege on his earlier rejection of Jadzia as a host- But this episode does not have time to go into that, that is a discovery for a later date. Suffice it to say it was a choice that Curzon/Dax deliberately made, for a specific reason.

But this Proto'Verse is a problem: Kira compares it to an anthill, to be smashed. Odo on the other hand, "Does not step on Ants"-But if they do not act rapidly, the Station will be engulfed.

A further complication arises when Jadzia discovers there is energy being used up in the 'Verse that indicates there are life-forms living within it. Nothing is ever said about the level of intelligence of these life forms but we must infer that if they are using Energy in a non-random way, then they must be intelligent.

After Arjin tells off Jadzia/Dax he proceeds to engulf large volumes of a blue alcoholic beverage. But he is a level Six pilot, and Jadzia, with all 300 years of experience, is only a level three pilot. And so she must ask Arjin for his help in piloting the Runabout back to the Gamma quadrant with The 'Verse in tow, which is ready to grow by another geometric progression.

There are some very well done exterior shots, of the Station, where the Lab explodes and we see the 'Verse glowing inside. But my favorite shots are of the "Verteron" nodes inside of the "Wormhole/Celestial Temple"- Which Arjin must pilot skillfully through in order to get the 'Verse back to where it needs to be, and what a shot! This was TV, in the classic sense, and those Verteron nodes were absolutely not CGI, as was the Runabout flying through them, this was all practical effects.

Nobody needs to know, where they brought the 'Verse, I'm assuming that if they put it back in the exact spot where it was developing before, it would have developed in such a way as to not harm the Gamma Quadrant.

The reason why their runabout rammed into it in the first place? Is totally unimportant. If this were a two-hour movie, they could have gotten into some of the scientific jargon which explained it. But as this episode was not really about the Proto'Verse, or the Interphase Pocket, but rather about Dax and Arjin, it was only important how the two interacted to bring the thing back to where it needed to be, and the end result: Which was to give Arjin confidence that he COULD be joined, when his time came, and that Jadzia/Dax would support this, should he decide to pursue Joining.

The Irony here, is that there is a "Cardassian Vole" infestation on the Station, which breed like Terran Coprophages/Roaches- And that is a recurring problem in the Station.

But everybody else here is remarking about this protouniverse thing. That is not what this episode is about, not at all. This episode is about Jadzia pushing Arjin in the right direction.

I am going to switch this review back to "no spoilers", because I did not really say exactly what occurred within the episode, I simply made commentary on what things things were actually important, and what other things were actually just plot devices to steer the story into a certain direction. This review is more about focusing our attention on what the episode was really about: The dynamic between a full blown Joined Trill and a hopeful initiate. One of the other reviewers in here also noted the artistic cinematography of this episode, and I wholly agree: there are a lot of great visuals here. And I completely agree on their assessment about the Cardassian Voles in relation to "Gremlins". I suppose if the moderators still think I have revealed too much they can of course switch this back to spoilers, but I really don't think I included any.

So I definitely care enough about these characters at this point in season 2 that I can happily dive into a station life episode. It's genuinely interesting to see some of the more mundane and routine aspects of ds9. Truly, there's very few ways you could mess this up. All our heroes get a scene or two (Odo, in particular, delivers a fantastic performance, despite only appearing in one scene) and Terry is really strutting her stuff and showing some of the full Dax quirks (and Quarks?) that have been hinted at before.

The core concept of a Trill with training wheels getting sent to shadow her is great. Honestly the whole recipe for this episode is great. There's almost no way you could mess it up...

Except maybe centering it around a trash character, portrayed by an actor who gives season 1 Bashir a run for his money in terms of wooden performance. It's awful. It's distractingly awful.

I don't buy him in a single scene in the whole episode.

OK so that's the main Dax story ruined, what else is going on?

Ah right, the proto universe. Great concept. Truly great - a crushingly massive moral dilemma with no possible solution that will take Sisko to the brink and force him to make an impossible decision oh never mind it's over.

I actually had to rewind 10 minutes because I assumed I had missed something, but no. They just forgot to write an ending.

How did they manage to get less meaning out of this concept than Futurama did with the civilisation on Bender's Ass or Rick and Morty did with the universe being used as a car battery?

Surely Trek should delve deeper into the meaning and significance of this? But no. Colossal waste of potential.

Proto-universe gets 2/10, Arjin the Training Trill gets 2/10, but Terry puts on a masterclass. Other highlights like odo's 'it's not our place to destroy a universe!' and Quark's rule of acquisition 112 are enough to make me give an EXTREMELY FORGIVING 6/10.

See me after class, DS9. Must do better with ingredients this strong.

I adore the development of Jadzia in DS9. It's gradually, lovingly done. This episode certainly is a fun, lighter DS9 hour with excellent development of Dax -- really picking up what Dax (the episode in season one) and Invasive Procedures had earlier established. Look how she grows ever more interesting and confident. I adore how she gets on with the Ferengi -- and is better at Tongo than Curzon Dax was. Seeing her judge another Trill initiate to see if he is ready really has given us the best look at Jadzia herself yet.

Unfortunately, Arjin the initiate is a bit of a loser. And the sci-fi plot is a HUGE loser. As interesting as it wants to be, it sadly just sits there looking ridiculous for half an hour. There's even a whole scene where Jadzia is gradually spewing technobabble for nearly a whole minute studying this "universe" where we just don't know what she's saying. It turns out later that she may have discovered evidence of life in this shiny bauble. But... the things she says... don't really indicate life -- unexplained they are. UFOs don't mean aliens. And science must come before leaping to insane conclusions. A few seconds later we're hearing about a civilization that must have transpired in this time. Um...

Um...

Yeah, it requires emptying your brain for about ten minutes. Fortunately, when Sisko discusses the challenges of deciding what to do what it really looks like is a sweet conversation with Jake about who he's dating. Yes, this is what matters. And this is why I love this series. Characters' journeys matter far more than the nonsense stories -- even as I can fall for any great sci-fi nonsense.

In the end, it is certainly Jadzia's development that matters here. If I could divorce it from the terrible science I would.

When a young Trill shows up early to begin training with Dax, he turns out to be a bit indecisive and wishy-washy. He triies to impress her and does so in a stumbling and uncertain way. For a guy that got picked from 3000 possible candidates, his cluelessness seems to be quite astonishing. The most significant event is a mass of space "seaweed" that contains a new universe, that is expanding and could threaten the known universe. How to get rid of it? Alas. We also have Cardasssian voles that have taken over the station. Is this ever resolved? Below average episode.

This episode has Terry Farrell becoming a mentor to trill candidate Geoffrey Blake who is filled with all kinds of self doubt which he masks with a thin arrogant air about him. We learn also that Curzon Dax the most immediate previous host body for Farrell was also her mentor.

The station itself has some other problems. Some Cardassian Voles are inhabiting the station and they multiply like Tribbles. They're also not as harmless as those beloved creatures from Star Trek prime.

That's not the real problem. Traveling through the wormhole Farrell and her charge bring back nothing less than a nascent universe. Getting it out of the station and back in its proper dimension has to be done lest this universe is threatened.

Some confusing science bits make this episode a bit confusing.