Or Pneumonic Devices for Your Cardassian ATM PIN
"Frosted wake... Simple hesitation."
-Chief O'Brien
Oh, those tricky and completely not subtle DS9 writers. "Babel" is the series' first installment in the Star Trek pretentious title tradition. Yes, the virus that sweeps through Deep Space 9 causes the crew to "babble" nonsensically, but did you also catch the reference to the Tower of Babel, the Biblical story that explains why people have such different languages across the globe? We get it, guys: This episode is about not speaking the same language, and maybe not just literally!
I can accept that writing engaging main plot arcs that can be wrapped up neatly in 60 minutes less commercials is a challenge. But like many of the early TNG plots, I found "the crew gets sick" to be less than compelling. Not every episode in the franchise can carry the action of "The Best of Both Worlds," but in rewatching this episode the relatively low voltage premise got me to wonder about 24th Century health care costs. Did the Federation instill Obamacare? Does Bashir collect a co-pay? What about non-Federation personnel on the station that might not have Bashir in their network. You might be surprised that the 9-year-old version of me didn't think about these things in 1993.
The opening sequences of Star Trek episodes are typically a good litmus test for the strength of the episode's premise. Strange happenings, sinister characters, or giant holes in the ground? Those get me excited to boldly go. But at the start of "Babel," the "oh shit" music starts playing as the camera pans a potpurri of strange looking devices behind the replicator O'Brien just fixed. Eventually the shot focuses on a small device, and as the violins crescendo, we are supposed to understand that this iPhone is the heart of malevolence for the rest of this chapter. Hmm, go ahead and scratch my name off under the "buyer" category.
With that said, "Babel" introduces two key characteristics of the station, which has much more personality than any of the other Star Trek vessels. First, we are reminded that Deep Space 9 was a crappy mining station upon its construction, and as such, a lot of stuff is going to break down. The extended scene of O'Brien repairing things to exhaustion might have been over the top, but I'll cut some slack this early in the series. Secondly, as we learn that the virus-introducing device was planted by the Bajoran resistance 18 years prior, the writers establish an "anything goes" premise for Deep Space 9. I probably wouldn't have bought this conceit aboard a Federation-built ship or station, but this was an excellent point early in the series to establish the very environment's potential for unpredictability. Deep Space 9 is more than just the blank canvas the Enterprises have been.
Other quick thoughts:
- The isolinear rods Quark plugs into his computer terminal are basically USB flash drives, right? I expect to have many comments in this vain throughout these reviews, but it amazes me how much Star Trek technology we have already developed today. Those fancy padds they use for mobile information? Not only do we have iPads, but there is a Star Trek Padd app for them!
- Star Trek staff are fans of the "You better get down here" message to their commanding officers, with Bashir using that famous beckon in this episode. Let me just say, there is nothing more annoying than someone calling for you and providing no context for what they need. Does "you better get down here" mean someone with key information is dying of a phaser blast and I should sprint, or does it mean you have a 10% off coupon for my favorite Romulan ale? If I were a station or ship commander, that would be my first rule: Elaborate at all times. Brevity is overrated.
- The babbling took many forms in the episode. First, I tip my hat to the writers for showing how Bashir's ability to read his screen changed as the virus afflicted him. You may have noticed the two shots of his screen; in the first, his research is on the screen, but in the second, the words have all been replaced seemingly at random.
- Additionally, I'm assuming the writers gave each actor some freedom in his interpretation of the aphasia onset. The good: O'Brien and Jake; O'Brien used many words with Irish connotation, and I give bonus points to 15-year-old Cirroc Lofton for pulling it off. The bad: Dax and Bashir; we get it, folks: you're confused. The ugly: Of course, Sisko was very, very intensely confused.
2.5 bars of gold-pressed latinum out of 5
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