Blogging DS9: S1E14, "Progress"

S1E14, "Progress"
Or, Evictions and Convictions

"You have to realize something... You're on the other side now. Pretty uncomfortable, isn't it?"- Sisko

Much of DS9's first season is spent on the theme of change: The station being turned over to the Federation from the Cardassians, the Starfleet crew learning how to live and work on it, and the new relationships built by commerce through the Wormhole. But nobody sees more change than Kira Narys.

Kira suddenly finds herself in a bureaucratic position after years spent as a near anarchist, fighting the nasty Cardassian occupation. You could forgive her if the transition isn't Creamy-Jiff smooth. But in Progress, Kira finally has to confront the conflict in her personal and professional stations. No longer can she strip down to the strange peek-a-boo necklined undershirt she rocks under that major's uniform, ready to get her hands dirty to prove her street cred. No, Kira, the days ahead will be spent earning white-collar respect.

One of the season's most poignant moments comes when Sisko tells her as much. There are many times in the Star Trek franchise where commanding officers' patience toward subordinance is tough to believe, but I don't think this is one of them. Sisko knows he needs Kira if he has any chance at soldering his two crews together, and nothing would shoe her away from cooperation faster than an iron-fisted commander. I believed Sisko when he told Kira her greatest value to her beloved Bajor was as an officer, and fortunately so did she. While she protected Mullibock's dignity by humoring his stubbornness, Kira symbolically set fire to her own fight-for-the-moment stubbornness when she lit up his hut. This is a critical turning point in the major's development in the show's longer plot lines.

Meanwhile, on the station, Jake and Nog are yet again bored and mischievous, as they realize that even in the 24th century, life without money isn't much fun. The duo sequentially trade extraneous pieces until they own a devoid tract of land on Bajor that turns out to be a target for government expansion of a public work. With a little help from Uncle Quark, the boys come into their five bars of gold-pressed latinum and, presumably, the riches of fun it allows.

While Jake and Nog are often high points of the early seasons, their role in this episode seemed redundant. We have already seen how life on the frontier can be tough for citizens like Keiko and especially the station's kids. We also know Jake and Nog are bright and have potential for great things. I didn't need three steps of arbitrage to verify that.

A few other thoughts:

• As if from the horror movie text book, Kira doomed herself to an ordeal in removing Mullibock when she declared to Sisko, "I won't be long." C'mon, Kira, that never works out well.
• If I didn't know better, I would have sworn Mullibock was played by Anthony Hopkins. That's one of the cool perks of the Trek makeup: They can hide famous actors in plain sight or suggest more famous ones are in the fold.

3.5 bars of gold-pressed latinum out of 5