Ahhh yes. I suppose it was round about time for one of these “alien takeover” episodes. Odd though, that “Invasive Procedures” comes on the heels of the whole “Bajoran takeover” arc. Apparently a handful of motley aliens – including a hopelessly insecure leader – can accomplish what an entire Bajoran boarding party could not. It’s inconsistencies and sloppy plausibility that really sabotage’s the episode’s attempt to explore the nature of the Trill in general – and Sisko’s deep friendship with Dax in particular.

The episode begins with Deep Space Nine in the midst of a plasma storm which has forced the station to evacuate. Into this storm comes a “damaged ship” which manages to overpower O’Brien and Odo upon docking, thanks to Quark who disables the security grid. After their takeover of the station, which happens all-too-rapidly, we discover that they aren’t there for a black market deal with Quark, but rather their target is the symbiont living in Dax. The episode would have us believe that this whole expedition had been long planned and such – despite the fact that the plasma storm is described as “highly unpredictable.” The end result is to undermine the entire plausibility of the entire plot.

Be that as it may, the part of the “body snatchers” plot of stealing Jadzia’s symbiont, so that the expedition leader can have one, is meant to let the audience in on the whole Trill culture, on how only a few Trill actually get selected for the joining. Is it any wonder that the insecure, cowardly and socially awkward Verad was rejected? Obviously his bitterness at rejection has led him to this point. But the horrendously conceived takeover plot is just too high a price the audience to pay for this minor insight.

More revealing is how Sisko is able to take advantage of his knowledge of Dax to drive a wedge between Verad Dax and his girlfriend, Mareel. But here, too, the episode stumbles. Sisko’s machinations are far too obvious and the characters reactions are far too susceptible for any of this to really work. And besides, do we really believe, for even one second, that things will end up as anything other than Jadzia and Dax being reunited?

And finally, the biggest criticism of the episode comes from Quark and Odo – not to their performances but rather the writing. Odo is simply reduced to being trapped inside a box (think trapping the ghosts in Ghostbusters). Worse still is Quark who ostensibly engineers a complete takeover of DS9 – and gets off without a single consequence. True, Quark does do his part to help retake the station. But really, it’s completely implausible that Quark could be the instrumental agent of takeover and then avoid any sort of repercussions.

“Invasive Procedures” is the kind of episode which epitomizes Trek cliché. It’s a by-the-numbers plot that relies on all manner of technobabble to evolve and then be resolved. The whole “takeover” angle is one that has already been explored ad-nauseum in both the Original Series and TNG. And unlike the opening trilogy of episodes to this season, the takeover here is forced, implausible and hollow. Even the character revelations are minor. You can give the episode credit for Sisko’s psychological manipulations, and for the rousing (if predictable) conclusion. But aside from that, the episode is underwhelming at best, and at worst, a disappointment.

Filed under: Deep Space Nine