“Return To Grace” is a sweeping epic of character drama — legitimate character drama, wholly untainted by melodrama or contrived interpersonal conflicts. It’s a story of redemption, of choice, of sacrifice, and finding common ground between seemingly insurmountable differences. The plot is very simple, allowing for the real heart of the story — the character interactions and dialogue — to beat strongly from start to finish. Throw in a handful of action sequences, some inspiring acting performances, and a solid pace, and this episode is, simply, one of the best that Deep Space Nine has to offer.

The basis for the story comes from episode 4.05 – “Indiscretion,” and looks at the fallout of Gul Dukat’s illegitimate half-Cardassian, half-Bajoran daughter, Tora Ziyal, both in terms of his family and professional life, and for his evolving interactions with Kira. As such, Dukat’s wife has left him and he has been demoted to captaining a cargo vessel — which is called upon to ferry Kira to a joint Cardassian-Bajoran conference regarding the Klingon threat.

As the episode begins, Dukat’s displeasure is quite plain, despite his overt attempts to cast a stoic veneer over his emotions. He clearly chafes at his new station and looks forward to being reinstated … someday. In the meantime, though, he has made the most of the opportunity to spend time with his teenage daughter, Ziyal. Dukat’s love and devotion for his family is plain to see — and is an important layer for his character.

Another layer involves his interest in Kira. Dukat seems more than professionally interested in Kira (his inquisitiveness about Kira’s new relationship with Shakaar is quite interesting), but thankfully the episode never overplays this element and is, instead, more content to show hints of it in order to provide a nice underlying tension. More important for Dukat is earning Kira’s trust and respect as a comrade in arms. Dukat sees much of himself in Kira and believes their lives have been linked by their past military conflict.

This episode provides an opportunity to work together.

When they arrive at the conference site, they discover that the colony has been obliterated by Klingons. Dukat is eager to go after the Klingons, despite how woefully his freighter is outclassed by a Bird-of-Prey. Kira sees it as an obvious ploy to be reinstated — which Dukat never truly denies — but, for Dukat, the biggest motivating factor is seeking justice for the deaths of his Cardassian countrymen. With Bajorans also being killed in the attack, Kira agrees (albeit reluctantly) to help Dukat track down the Klingons … and then exact their revenge.

It’s a simple, straightforward plot and would be otherwise unremarkable if it were not for the powerhouse performances from both Dukat and Kira — with some solid support from Ziyal. Through their efforts, Kira is forced to confront the reality that she and Dukat are not so unlike as she would believe (she tells Ziyal, quite bluntly, that she could never forgive a murderer such as Dukat).

But the emotional arc of the episode really turns on what happens after the successful mission against the Bird-of-Prey (in true High Seas spirit, Dukat, Kira and the Cardassian crew capture the ship as a prize of war). Despite a wealth of military information found on board the captured Klingon vessel, the Cardassian government is averse to proceeding with a military response. To Dukat, this signals the sudden weakness and defeatism that has fallen upon his people. He sees them as having a broken spirit, with little to fight for. His response?

To become a “terrorist,” just like Kira had been.

It’s an incredible turn of events (made all the more powerful because of its plausibility). Dukat chooses the life of a resistance fighter, using a cloaked Klingon ship as his platform, in the hopes of inspiring his people. This leads to the episode’s signature scene in which Dukat tries to recruit Kira with a wonderfully eloquent, passionate, and brilliantly delivered speech. Dukat’s performance is perfect, as is Kira’s conflicted response. She’s clearly moved by Dukat’s passion, she fully understands his perspective. But in the end, it’s a life she’s already led, and wants to leave behind.

As a nice touch, though, Kira doesn’t even try to talk Dukat out of his decision. She understands. What she does do, though, is even more important: she convinces Dukat to leave his daughter out of the campaign. Seeing herself in Ziyal, Kira realizes that she doesn’t want someone else to follow in her footsteps of living the tormented life of a resistance fighter. Dukat agrees, and Ziyal goes to live on DS9.

“Return To Grace” is a powerful character episode. The interactions between Kira and Dukat are wonderfully conceived and executed. This episode is all about payoff — payoff for the history of these two characters and payoff for the events of a previous installment. That it touches on some deep, meaningful ideas adds another layer of depth to the story. All told, this is one of the best episodes of the series. Just about the only thing to hold it back is how much it requires a familiarity with character and plot for its own efforts to reach their fullest potential.

Filed under: Deep Space Nine