Friday, December 16, 2022

Star Trek: Dramatis Personae

Episode: "Dramatis Personae"
Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Season 1, Episode 18
Original Air Date: May 30, 1993

A Klingon attack cruiser returns from an expedition through the wormhole but explodes before it can dock with the station.  A single officer manages to escape in the transporter, then dies on the pad in Ops, his final word, "Victory!"  Soon after, the DS9 crew splits into factions, turning on one another.  Sisko leads one side, Kira the other.  Thank goodness, Odo is unaffected by whatever has infected the crew and is clever enough to save them all.

"Dramatis Personae" gives the actors some room to flex their thespian muscles.  Avery Brooks, especially, gets to have some fun as he swings between paranoia and a quieter madness.  In addition to guarding against Kira's mutiny, Sisko inexplicably builds a beautiful clock.  Writer Joe Menosky intended to evoke Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II, evidently a mad tinkerer in his spare time.  There are some especially tasty Odo-Quark and Kira-Dax exchanges, too.  The story dips the series's toes in the Mirror, Mirror concept, one they'll explore more later.


Food Notes

In an early scene, Quark serves Dax a Modela aperetif, the beverage's first appearance in the canon, leaving me impressed by the mixological skill Armin Shimerman had to learn for the show.  [Or did he get some prop assistance for this one?]  The drink rekindles my own layered cocktail ambitions.  Surprisingly, I haven't seen any recipes for this particular concoction online.


Acting Notes

Tom Towles played the roll of Hon-Tihi, the lone, briefly surviving Klingon officer.  Towles was born March 20, 1950 in Chicago.  Before jumping into acting, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps.  His career began on stage with the Organic Theater Company.

Towles broke through as Otis in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, a gig that earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination.  Other films included Night of the Living Dead, The Rock and Dr. Doolittle.  Television appearances included Seinfeld, Malcolm in the Middle and Firefly.  "Dramatis Personae" was his first of two Trek appearances.

Towles died in 2015 of complications following a stroke.  

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