This was an interesting episode to view for the first time today since it calls to mind the diagnosis of aphasia for actor Bruce Willis about five years ago (as I write this). It curtailed his acting career until 2023 when his family announced he would do no more films. It's a sad thing to see in a popular actor like Willis, especially given his stature in action films like the 'Die Hard' franchise.
Symptoms of aphasia first appear in Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) in the story, and one would think that given the stress he was under running around to fix all the things wrong on Deep Space Nine, that that might have been the cause of his nonsensical speech. But then it affects Lieutenant Dax (Terry Farrell), and the virus causing it discovered by Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig) begins to make its way around the entire station until more than half the population is affected. Major Kira's (Nana Visitor) investigation into the history of DS9 around the time the Cardassians took it over from the Bajorans sixteen years prior leads her to the work of a deceased renegade scientist who created the virus but never got a chance to release it against the enemy. However, his assistant, still alive, was familiar with the research but refused to help Kira until she decided to kidnap him with the threat that now he was infected with the virus as well.
Parallel to this story, Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) and Ferengi Quark (Armin Shimerman) verbally spar over how to rescue a cargo captain who defied Commander Sisko's (Avery Brooks) quarantine order and commandeered his ship away from DS9, only to find himself in danger of the ship blowing apart. With Quark's knowledge of running a transporter, he managed to beam Odo out to the vessel and retrieve Captain Jaheel (Jack Kehler) in the Star Trek standard nick of time with not a moment to spare.
By themselves the parallel stories seemed to be handled rather easily, and as another reviewer mentioned, it might have been more appropriate to delve into how Dr. Surmak Ren (Matthew Faison) was able to come up with the aphasia antidote. That was entirely glossed over and gave the episode's ending a rather abrupt feeling.
Symptoms of aphasia first appear in Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) in the story, and one would think that given the stress he was under running around to fix all the things wrong on Deep Space Nine, that that might have been the cause of his nonsensical speech. But then it affects Lieutenant Dax (Terry Farrell), and the virus causing it discovered by Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig) begins to make its way around the entire station until more than half the population is affected. Major Kira's (Nana Visitor) investigation into the history of DS9 around the time the Cardassians took it over from the Bajorans sixteen years prior leads her to the work of a deceased renegade scientist who created the virus but never got a chance to release it against the enemy. However, his assistant, still alive, was familiar with the research but refused to help Kira until she decided to kidnap him with the threat that now he was infected with the virus as well.
Parallel to this story, Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) and Ferengi Quark (Armin Shimerman) verbally spar over how to rescue a cargo captain who defied Commander Sisko's (Avery Brooks) quarantine order and commandeered his ship away from DS9, only to find himself in danger of the ship blowing apart. With Quark's knowledge of running a transporter, he managed to beam Odo out to the vessel and retrieve Captain Jaheel (Jack Kehler) in the Star Trek standard nick of time with not a moment to spare.
By themselves the parallel stories seemed to be handled rather easily, and as another reviewer mentioned, it might have been more appropriate to delve into how Dr. Surmak Ren (Matthew Faison) was able to come up with the aphasia antidote. That was entirely glossed over and gave the episode's ending a rather abrupt feeling.
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