Shades of grey … “Hippocratic Oath” is an episode which immerses itself in Deep Space Nine‘s purposeful decision to portray its characters, stories and themes in less-than-absolute terms. And for this episode, that choice becomes part of the story itself — to the point where it becomes a prominent, and poignant, bit of dialogue. Overall, the episode’s two plots are serviceable, if not particularly exceptional. But it is the complications which arise from the conflicts that truly elevates this installment above average.

The primary story involves Bashir and O’Brien — two men who, despite an obvious difference in personality, have forged a fairly strong friendship. This is reinforced (no doubt on purpose) early on when Bashir offers his understanding and support when O’Brien relays a bit of his marital tensions. The scene works because it builds on their past camaraderie and friendship and, more importantly, serves to provide a contrast for what is to come. Put simply, the pair are abducted by the Jem’Hadar and Bashir is coerced into trying to find a cure for the drug that keeps the Jem’Hadar in a state of perpetual servitude to the Dominion.

For his part, O’Brien is dead-set against Bashir’s efforts. O’Brien sees Bashir’s attempts to cure the Jen’Hadar as potentially threatening to the Federation. And one of the criticisms of this episode — one which wants to be an exploration of the “grey areas” — is O’Brien absolutist (and simplistic) point of view. True, the episode tries to establish O’Brien as a former “soldier” who only understands and “us vs. them” mentality. It’s not like O’Brien is merely suspicious (in fact, the scenes where he raises his suspicions are pretty solid), it’s the fact that O’Brien seems utterly unwilling and incapable of seeing any point of view other than his own. The problem with this approach is that everything we’ve seen from O’Brien, from TNG through DS9, reveals that he is a man who has matured beyond such a myopic point of view. As a result, his motivations in this episode are very, very weak.

Bashir, on the other hand, sees the situation with much more clarity. Bashir has an inherent optimism about people in general that allows him to accept the possibility that the Jem’Hadar just might want to break free from their addiction and servitude. And to the credit of the episode, it’s a fascinating notion that there just may be Jem’Hadar who aren’t blindly loyal to the Dominion. It’s another example of the “shades of grey” that are so often represented in reality, but so rarely find their way into fiction.

Ultimately, O’Brien’s intransigence with respect to helping the Jem’Hadar leads him to disobeying Bashir’s orders — because O’Brien feels that it is the only way to save them both from being held captive. If you can set aside the implausibility of O’Brien’s absolutism, the episode does a very effective job of portraying the rift that this act causes between the two friends. There’s clearly some hard feelings, on both sides. Bashir is upset that not only was his work destroyed and the Jem’Hadar were, in essence, sentenced to death by O’Brien’d actions, but also he is offended that O’Brien could not trust his judgment. For his part, O’Brien is unhappy that Bashir cannot simply accept that his actions were to save his friend’s life. The episode leaves their conflict unresolved — a wise choice considering that their experience would take more than a couple of minutes of screentime to find resolution.

Also worthy of note is the performance from the Jem’Hadar leader, Goran’Agar (Scott MacDonald). The performance here proves especially compelling — and it’d be no surprise for anyone who has previously seen “Captive Pursuit.” MacDonald portrayed the alien Tosk with the same intensity and subtlety, particularly through the use of his eyes. The episode greatly benefits from the performance.

The subplot includes a minor rivalry between Worf and Odo. Worf, who was head of security on the Enterprise for more than five years is unable to simply let go of those duties on DS9, despite his new responsibilities as tactical officer. This, of course, brings him into direct conflict with Odo. And if there is a criticism to this storyline, it is in Worf’s relative lack of attention to his primary duties. The episode goes out of its way to establish that Worf is acting at the expense of his new position, but it’s difficult to believe that Worf would use any effort outside of his new role.

However, the story does address Worf’s prior character focus and it does allow Worf to get an appreciation for how Odo enforces security on DS9. More importantly, it leads to a conversation between Worf and Sisko about the differences between life on DS9 and on the Enterprise. Sisko says, with more than a nod and a wink from the writers about the differences between the two shows, “Let’s just say that there are more shades of grey on DS9.” Quite true. And this episode was, more than less, an exercise in illustrating those differing shades.

Despite its obvious flaws, “Hippocratic Oath” is a solid episode thanks to its thematic foundation and its complex approach to character relationships (even if the characters themselves are somewhat misrepresented).

Filed under: Deep Space Nine