Oh, the cliché catchphrases one could throw at “One Little Ship.” Everything from “Size matters not” to “Honey, I shrunk the runabout!” would work, and then some. This episode is based on a thoroughly preposterous idea that, somehow, inexplicably, actually works. It’s a “boatload” of fun. And that’s “the big and the small” of it.

So yeah … on to the review …

Whilst investigating a spacial anomaly, the crew of the Runabout Rubicon (Dax, O’Brien and Bashir) are shrunk to the size of a fingernail (the science is explained in the episode and I’ll take the episode’s word that it’s plausible enough). Meanwhile, during the exploration, the Defiant is attacked and captured by the Jem’Hadar. It’s up to the Rubicon crew to infiltrate the Defiant and help Sisko, Kira, Worf and Nog retake the ship.

As a premise, I think it’s fairly safe to say that this one is utterly ridiculous. But to the credit of the episode, it finds the right approach to portray events with enough realism to make them work onscreen, and with enough tongue planted firmly in cheek to allow the audience to, as Picard might say, “bow to the absurd.”

I think the key to the whole endeavor is the way the Jem’Hadar are portrayed. None of what transpires in the episode could possibly happen with the Jem’Hadar as we know them. But the story introduces the concept that the Dominion has begun “growing” new Jem’Hadar specifically for the war in the Alpha Quadrant. And there is a rather pointed rivalry between the “Alphas” and the “Gammas” (the Jem’Hadar who originated in the Gamma Quadrant and are, now, beginning to grow too old to fight effectively). This rift, which is little more than a glorified plot device, is what allows our heroes to overcome desperate odds and win the day.

In the meanwhile, we’re treated to a number of scenes in which the Rubicon navigates through the Defiant with its crew alternating between incredulity and dry humor (Bashir, at one point, remarks that a badly timed joke was “small” of him). You certainly can’t build a series on this kind of nonsense. But as far as humor goes, this is one of DS9′s best.

There really isn’t much to say about “One Little Ship.” If you buy into its premise, then it becomes a thoroughly enjoyable, engrossing tale. If not, it’s hopelessly preposterous. Still, it’s much more palatable than the never-ending Ferengi-humor episode the series has forced upon viewers over the course of six seasons.

Filed under: Deep Space Nine