Classics: DS9 4:12 - Crossfire

Overall: 8.0

Despite its premise, this episode turns out to be surprisingly good.

Plot Synopsis:

Memory Alpha has a summary here.

The Skinny:

Boy loves girl. Girl falls in love with another boy. The first boy has trouble dealing with his jealousy - especially when the clueless girl gushes to him about her new relationship. Normally speaking, plots that unfold along these lines inspire me to run screaming for the hills. In this case, however, I stay put.

In my opinion, the big key to this episode's relative success is René Echevarria's choice to use Quark as Odo's font of wisdom. The scenes between Odo and Quark are absolute masterpieces of characterization -- and funny besides. They allow Odo and Quark to maintain the fiction that they are rivals while also bringing out the way these two actually care for each other. I love, for example, how Quark uses his "manhunt pool" to stress his profits while at the same time giving Odo a backdoor compliment. And I love that Odo decides to soundproof his floor -- without, of course, admitting that he chose to do so for Quark's benefit.

Most of all, I love that it is Quark who is the first to notice that Odo loves Kira because, if you think about it, that makes a lot of sense. Quark, after all, definitely knows what it's like to harbor an unrequited love for a woman. He's carried a torch for Dax from the very beginning. Obviously, he would recognize the signs of unfulfilled longing in someone else.

Because this is an Echevarria script, the scenes between Odo and Kira are also quite good -- and surprisingly poignant. Odo's eagerness to please Kira in the first half of the episode almost makes me explode from the cute (the belt, people!), and his determination to distance himself from Kira later on strikes me as genuinely sad.

Bottom line, because Echevarria stays faithful to the characters as we know them, he manages to reinvigorate an old soap opera cliche. Thus, I think I can safely say that DS9 is the only show that has done the love triangle right.

Writing: 9.0

This may seem like a surprisingly high rating for an episode that is not listed among our features for this series, but I think the script deserves it for its pitch-perfect characterization.

Acting: 8.0

Duncan Regehr bores me, and I think Rene Auberjonois' breakdown-plus-quarters-smash is a little too stiff to be 100% convincing, but otherwise, the acting in this episode is solid.

Message: 7.0

This is not an episode that rises to the top on the strength of its message, but Quark's advice to Odo is decent enough.

Highlights:

QUARK: I'd like to file a complaint.
ODO: Not now, Quark.
QUARK: A noise complaint against you.
ODO: We are conducting station business!
QUARK: My quarters are right below his. You wouldn't believe the racket he makes.
ODO: Quark --
QUARK: Do you know what it's like to hear someone practice shape-shifting? Last night, it sounded like a Takaran wildebeest was tromping around up there.
ODO: That was for all of five minutes. Once you complained, I took the form of a Rafalian mouse.
QUARK: Yeah, little tiny feet skittering across the floor. Back and forth, back and forth.
KIRA: You could hear that?
QUARK: Hello? (He points to his ears.) Sometimes I can even hear him oozing around.
KIRA: Maybe you should change quarters.
QUARK: Maybe he should have a little more consideration. Shape-shifting in the middle of the night. There ought to be a regulation against it!
ODO: Come back in half an hour. I'll be happy to take your complaint then.
QUARK: Oh, I'll be back. You can count on it.
(Quark leaves.)
KIRA: It's just Quark's luck that you would be assigned quarters right above his.
ODO: Luck had nothing to do with it. (LOL!)

ODO: I make order where I can. For one thing, I have a daily routine which I follow unwaveringly. Shopkeepers on the Promenade joke that they can set their clocks by me.
WORF: Unfortunately, I have found it difficult to establish a routine here.
ODO: There are other ways to create order in your life. Your quarters, for example. Everything in mine has its specific place and it's all arranged just so.
WORF: Yes, mine too. Even with my eyes closed I would still know where everything was.
ODO: Exactly.
WORF: I would not tolerate it any other way.
ODO: I'll tell you what else to do. Make sure everyone knows they can't just drop by your quarters to say hello. If someone does - whatever happens - don't make them feel welcome.
WORF: Of course not! That would only invite subsequent visits.
ODO: Precisely.
WORF: So far, the only person who has a tendency to drop by is Chief O'Brien.
ODO: That's probably because he knows you from the Enterprise.
WORF: Perhaps if I am more inhospitable, he will stop.
ODO: Good luck. (Wow. Anti-social much? LOL!)

KIRA: Do you have to stare like that? I think it's making people nervous.
ODO: Good.
KIRA: I've been meaning to ask you. Why don't you wear that belt anymore?
ODO: I don't know. It didn't really serve a purpose. It's not as if I needed it to hold my pants up.
KIRA: I just thought it looked good on you, that's all.
ODO: Really?
KIRA: Really.
ODO: Well, if you say so.
(Odo creates the belt.)
ODO: Better?
KIRA: Much. (Aww. This is devastatingly cute.)

QUARK: You are in a bad mood today.
ODO: I don't have moods.
QUARK: Of course not. You're an unfeeling changeling. All you care about is order.
ODO: That's right.
QUARK: Oh, please. I know what's going on. You don't have to pretend with me.
ODO: I have no idea what you're talking about.
QUARK: You're in love with her.
ODO: Who?
QUARK: Kira.
ODO: That's ridiculous!
QUARK: And what's more, you're worried she's falling in love with Shakaar.
ODO: Is that a fact?
QUARK: It's the truth. Why can't you just admit it? It's nothing to be ashamed of. Look, Odo, I know this can't be easy for you --
ODO: I don't want your sympathy, Quark, and I don't need your advice! Just stay out of my business! (Ouch.)

KIRA: Odo, if someone had told me a year ago that this was going to happen, do you know what I would've said? You're crazy. Yes, I respect him. Yes, he makes me laugh. But we know each other too well. He's seen me go weeks without a bath! We've spent long, cold nights huddled together for warmth. There's no mystery left between us. We're friends, that's all. (A beat.) I guess I was wrong.
ODO: (grim) I'm happy for you.
KIRA: This must seem so silly to you.
ODO: No, not in the least.
(Kira hugs Odo.)
KIRA: You're such a good friend to me. (And Odo finds he's become mayor of the Friend Zone. That's gotta hurt!)

QUARK: I knew it would come to this. You take the form of an animal, you're going to end up behaving like one. What was it? A Klingon targ? A Trellan crocodile? I tell you, this time you crossed the line. I've had it. Odo. Odo! (A beat.) Are you okay?
ODO: You were right.
QUARK: Oh. I take it Major Kira and Shakaar are...? (Odo doesn't respond.) You really are in love. I must say, I really didn't think you had it in you. It takes passion to do something like this, and I always thought you were colder than a Breen winter.
ODO: What was I thinking? How could I have fooled myself into believing she could ever love someone like me?
QUARK: Look, the last thing I want to do is interfere with your personal life but this? This just isn't any good - for either of us.
ODO: I'll try to keep my problems more quiet next time.
QUARK: I'm not talking about the noise. I'm talking about business. I'm losing my shirt in the manhunt pool.
ODO: The what?
QUARK: Anytime there's an unusual crime committed on the station, I run a pool so that people can bet on how long it'll take for you to catch the perpetrator. It's very popular. Frankly, I don't care whether you and Major Kira end up living happily ever after or not. I just want to see the situation resolved. The way I see it, you've either got to tell her how you feel, or forget about her and get on with your life. Concentrate on the essentials. Because you can't keep going like this. It's interfering with your job - and my profits.
ODO: Your profits?
QUARK: Unless you do something about the situation, I'm going to have to stop running the pool.
ODO: (sarcastic) I'm devastated.
QUARK: You should be. The fact that that pool exists says something about you - about who you are. People see you as the guy who always gets his man. Now you're becoming the guy who tears up his quarters and sits alone in the rubble. And no one's going to want to place bets on how long someone's going to sit around in the dark. (He gets up.) Well, I've said my piece. Sorry for butting in. But I'm just looking out for my business.
ODO: Funny. For a minute there I thought you were talking to me as a friend.
QUARK: (big pause) Nah. (Awwww.)

ODO: I'm afraid I won't be able to make our Tuesday morning meetings anymore.
KIRA: Oh. Why not?
ODO: I've decided to schedule additional training exercises with my deputies.
KIRA: Maybe we could have our meetings at another time?
ODO: My schedule is rather tight. And lets face it, the Criminal Activity reports speak for themselves. There's really no reason we have to review them together.
KIRA: Maybe not, but I kind of enjoyed doing it. I thought you did too.
ODO: Of course.
KIRA: Odo, is something wrong?
ODO: It's just a matter of using my time more efficiently.
KIRA: I understand.
ODO: Well. (He turns to leave.)
KIRA: Hey. No belt?
ODO: I'm just trying to keep to the essentials, Major. (Ouch again.)

QUARK: By the way, I dropped by your quarters this morning.
ODO: Oh?
QUARK: I heard some noise, and when I went to complain, I found a work crew installing soundproofing in the floor. I have to say, Odo, I'm touched that you would do something like that for me.
ODO: I'm having the floor reinforced. The fact that they're soundproofing it as well is incidental. If you think I'd put up with three days of construction for your sake, think again.
QUARK: I guess I should've known. Thanks, anyway. (LOL! I love these two.)