“It’s Only A Paper Moon” is an exceptional episode of Deep Space Nine. It’s an important installment because it carries forward some very real and plausible consequences of the Dominion War. In many ways, the episode is a journey — an emotional journey — which leads its characters (and the audience) into some very uncomfortable places. There are some issues in terms of the style of the episode — for some viewers it may not seem appropriate to the story, but otherwise, this is an important and moving installment.

This is the episode that deals with the emotional and psychological fallout from Nog’s injuries suffered in “The Siege of AR-558.” In that episode, he lost his leg after being wounded during a scouting mission. Now he’s returned to DS9, with an artificially regrown leg, but still suffering from the trauma of battle, disability and recovery. This is the story of how Nog, slowly, “finds himself” once again.

The biggest risk the episode takes is also a very creative one. Just before the battle in “The Siege of AR-558,” Bashir plays song “I’ll Be Seeing You,” performed by Vic Fontaine. Nog has latched onto the song as a kind of emotional crutch. He hasn’t been able to move on from the events of that day, but reliving the injury and the loss of his leg are too painful, so he’s stuck on the relatively peaceful and pleasant experience of listening to the song. Eventually, this will lead Nog to “escape” into Vic Fontaine’s holodeck program.

But that isn’t Nog’s only problem. He’s genuinely irritated by any expressions of sympathy or kindness from his friends and comrades. All he wants is to be left alone (with his song) and he outright rejects any sort of help from either Bashir or Ezri. These scenes, in which Nog rebuffs the DS9 crew, can, on occasion, come across as a bit too extreme. But there’s a truth to Nog’s feelings and wishes to be left alone. And this is what ultimately drives him to escape reality by immersing himself in Vic’s fantasy world.

What’s remarkable about this episode is that we see Nog’s emotional and psychological rehabilitation occur step-by-painful-step. Unlike many Star Trek episodes which leave such recovery to, at best, a single scene acknowledging that recovery will happen, here we see how Nog slowly rebuilds himself — all with the help of a holographic personality.

It’s fascinating to see Vic, essentially, taking on a counseling role, ferrying Nog from one minor success to another. For instance, Nog had, psychologically, become dependent on a cane to walk. Vic helps him by offering a fancy, but less sturdy cane, telling Nog to not put his full weight on it. Slowly, this leads to Nog using it merely as a decorative prop, rather than a fully-fledged cane.

Also of importance was the way in which Vic motivated Nog to be constructive, by talking about the casino’s ledger books. Nog uses his typical Ferengi wiles to scan the books, fix them properly, and turn Vic’s casino into a money-making machine. Nog’s success, though only occurring in a virtual world, is another step in his regaining his confidence.

Of course, all of this leads to something of a debate by the DS9 crew: just how healthy is it for Nog to, essentially, live in a fantasy world? At first, Ezri seems to cautiously support the idea, knowing how important progress, any progress, is for Nog. Much like the episode’s title “It’s Only A Paper Moon,” Nog’s success are real to him, because he believes so fully in the program … but to everyone else … it’s all illusory.

And this leads to the episode’s second best scene. Ezri, who sees a confident, mobile and relaxed Nog in the holosuite, realizes that it’s time for Nog to step back into the real world. But to do this, she has to break apart the friendship and partnership between Vic and Nog. For his part, Vic is thoroughly entranced by the fact that, because Nog has been spending every moment of every day in the holosuite, Vic has, for the very first time since his creation, experienced life to the fullest. Not only does Nog relearn self-confidence, but Vic learns about life. And Vic uses that lesson to give Nog one final push back toward reality.

There’s actually quite a bit to be said here, about the juxtaposition of Nog, who only wanted to live in a fake, “paper moon” world and Vic who, knowing it’s only a paper moon, realizes how important living life actually can be. There’s also the danger to Nog: What is reality? If we believe in something enough, it can become our reality. If Ezri hadn’t pushed Vic, and if Vic hadn’t pushed Nog, the episode would have been one of very real tragedy.

As it is, once Nog realizes that Vic is right, we get the best scene in the episode: the one in which Nog finally admits his fear, and his romanticized, idealized view of himself in the Dominion War. Now that he has been injured, he realizes that he can be killed. It’s a perfect representation of how we all move from “invincible” young adults to more vulnerable, but much wiser and mature adults.

“It’s Only A Paper Moon” is a fantastically conceived and executed episode. And while it’s understandable that some viewers may tune out because of the choice to use Vic Fontaine as Nog’s means of rehabilitation, that doesn’t undermine the emotional and psychological resonance of the episode. I think, perhaps, the only possible change to the story would have been for Nog to choose to help his uncle, Quark, run the bar, instead of returning to Starfleet. That would have fit with how successful Nog felt in Vic’s casino. But, even then, one could say that Nog still was living partially in a fantasy, and not fully confronting the reality of what had happened (and still could happen) to him as a Starfleet officer.

Filed under: Deep Space Nine