Oh, the false and insincere drama!

“Dramatis Personae” tells the story of attempted mutiny on DS9. Of course, because the characters are all acting so ridiculously out of character, the large arc of the plot is painfully obvious. All that remains are the technobabble details which are utterly incapable of creating any real drama, much less providing any measure of insight into the characters themselves. As such, the episode is both plodding and pedestrian – with the annoyance of melodrama tossed in for bad measure.

Events begin to spiral out of control following the unexpected return and destruction of a Klingon cruiser through the wormhole. Just before it explodes, a lone survivor transports onto DS9 and, before dying, utters a garbled cry of “victory.” Following this, all of the senior officers begin exhibiting bizarre behaviors – including Odo, who collapses after a brief chat with Quark. Afterwards, everyone, except for Odo, becomes obsessed with internal DS9 politics and a sudden perceived power struggle between Sisko and Kira.

Along the way, we’re treated to O’Brien’s blind loyalty to Sisko, Sisko’s obsession with making a wonderfully conceived “clock,” Dax’s conflicted loyalties, and Bashir’s desire to side with whoever ends up the victor. Some scenes, such as Kira “seducing” Dax, or Odo’s interrogation of Bashir are sure to be memorable – if only because they are so offbeat and bizarre. But “possession” episodes only work if they reveal something about the characters that we would not have otherwise discovered.

And that doesn’t happen here.

Worse yet, none of the scenes generate any real drama, despite the attempts of the cast to really ham it up and play to the most melodramatic elements of the story. And the details that all of this is the result of some “psychic virus” left over from a long-dead civilization that collapsed because of internecine power struggles are just too obscure and too hollow to really add any depth to the episode. The psychic virus amounts to little more than technobabble. And the ancient civilization is reduced to Sisko’s clock-building – an enjoyable element, but hardly sufficient to justify the contrivances.

“Dramatis Personae” is an episode that makes use of melodrama – simply for the sake of using melodrama. Very little works as it should and, as a result, the episode ends up both boring and pointless.

Filed under: Deep Space Nine