“Prodigal Daughter” is a middling affair, offering some nice continuity and character moments tucked into a story that is competently, but rather unremarkably, crafted. There are very few (if any) outright mistakes or miscues in the episode. But it’s also a story without much of an emotional or intellectual impact. The best that can be said is that it avoids being a failure. But that’s a long, long way from striving for success.

There are two intertwined threads to this episode: First is O’Brien’s decision to go looking for the wife (Mrs. Bilby) of a dead Orion Syndicate operative — the one who was killed for associating with O’Brien in last year’s “Honor Among Thieves.” It’s a worthy followup to a story that, at the time, clearly had an impact on O’Brien’s character. It’s good to see that O’Brien’s feelings haven’t been ignored. Second, this is a story of how Ezri returns home, for the first time since she became a joined Trill … in fact, for the first time in years. The episode then balances between an exploration of Ezri and her family, and O’Brien’s quest for the truth surrounding Mrs. Bilby.

At first, O’Brien is missing, and because Ezri’s mother is an influential person on the planet where O’Brien disappeared, Ezri heads off to convince her mother to help. Interestingly enough, O’Brien reappears fairly early on, shifting the episode’s mystery from “Where is O’Brien” to “Who killed Mrs. Bilby.” And that, really, is where the episode tries to be a bit too “cute” — the big revelation is that Mrs. Bilby was killed by one of Ezri’s brothers.

That’s not to say that such an occurrence is entirely impossible, but it’s just a bit too convenient to be truly plausible. And, in truth, it kind of undermines some of the realism the episode was trying to portray with respect to Ezri’s family. Those scenes provided for some fairly decent characterizations — particularly the nature of how an overbearing mother can affect how her adult children behave.

To that end, the episode nicely turns the characterizations of the two brothers in on themselves. The abrupt, slightly distant Janel turns out to be fairly sympathetic, while the moody, but likable Norvo ends up being a distraught murderer. The mother is likewise reasonably portrayed as fiercely driven, with high expectations, but who also goes too far in her demands. Still, while all of these elements work within the context of the episode, they just don’t do enough to elevate its subject matter into something truly valuable to the viewer.

One final point: I thought the design of the Tigan family home was nicely done. They live above a dirty, grungy mining operation in a structure that almost “soars” above the landscape, signifying the kind of “ivory tower” detachment its inhabitants have with the rest of the world. It’s subtle, but is also the most effective element of the entire episode.

It’s difficult to say that “Prodigal Daughter” is a poor episode. But there just isn’t enough about it that is praiseworthy. It was “nice” to see Ezri’s family, and to return to O’Brien’s feelings after he was an undercover operative. But the rest of the episode just doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself.

Filed under: Deep Space Nine