Jammersreviews

Warning: This review contains significant spoilers for the episode "Field
of Fire." If you haven't seen the show yet, beware.


Nutshell: Some problem areas, but a good view overall.

Plot description: A murder investigation prompts Ezri to confront the
repressed memories of Joran, a former Dax host who had killed three people.

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine -- "Field of Fire"

Airdate: 2/8/1999 (USA)
Written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Directed by Tony Dow

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
Rating out of 4: ***

"I don't know what you and Jadzia and Curzon all see in that man. He's so
insufferable, so Starfleet. I'm surprised the killer hasn't targeted him."
   -- Joran on Sisko
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I should probably admit a personal bias up front: I'm a sucker for a good
homicide investigation. This might explain why I spend more time per week
watching episodes of "Homicide" and "Law & Order" than I do watching Trek;
there's just something about a good police/legal procedural and the
analysis of the criminal mind that I find fascinating.

The Trekkian murder investigation is not a new thing, but it is a fairly
rare occurrence, and even more rare for it to be done well. Look at some of
the alternatives: DS9's "A Man Alone," a far-fetched mess; TNG's "Aquiel"
and "Suspicions," both pretty bad; or Voyager's "Ex Post Facto,"
intolerable if not for the presence of Tim Russ. DS9's "Necessary Evil" and
Voyager's "Meld" were murder investigations that came up with good results,
although they were rooted more in character study than in investigative
procedure.

"Field of Fire" is a solid murder investigation in a more traditional sense
(that is, the focus is on catching the killer), and benefits from some neat
sci-fi twists. And we finally get a meaty Ezri story that seems suited to
her. This one works for the character, rather than simply thrusting Nicole
deBoer into a story that tries to separate her from her usual
cute-and-innocent self the way last week's dismal "Emperor's New Cloak" was
intent on doing.

"Field of Fire" is a follow-up of sorts to third season's "Equilibrium," in
which Jadzia learned that the Dax symbiont had previously and shortly been
joined with Joran, a somewhat insane musician who had also killed people
(although, in "Equilibrium," I thought he had only killed one person,
opposed to the three that the dialog alleges this time; I could, however,
be mistaken). With a killer now loose on the station, Ezri finds herself
having to confront the demons within Dax, with her thoughts about the
killing bringing down the walls of repression Dax has maintained around Joran.

There are some plot problems that "Field of Fire" introduces, although with
effort many of them can probably be explained away through invented
Trillian properties. I won't argue, because I've found the Trill episodes
to be pretty interesting overall. I liked "Equilibrium" as well as
"Facets," despite some of the head-scratching moments. And "Field" has its
share of questionable moments but works in spite of them, thanks to a solid
underlying plot.

The first victim is Lieutenant Ilario (Art Chudabala), a fresh young pilot
we meet in the opening minutes. Chudabala turns a minor role into a
surprisingly human figure whom we get to know within a few well-acted
minutes. I liked him, and I felt sorry when he died--effective manipulation
#1 in murder drama.

Ilario has been shot with a projectile firearm--not exactly standard in the
Trek universe. Further investigation reveals that he was shot with a TR-116
rifle, an experimental Starfleet combat weapon that had been abandoned.
Someone on the station has replicated one and killed Ilario for unknown
reasons. Before long, there's another victim. And another.

In homicide investigations, the most elementary questions become the most
important. How? When? Where? Who?

The episode's answer to "how" is rather ingenious. The TR-116 used by the
killer had been modified, O'Brien hypothesizes, so that he could shoot the
victim from elsewhere on the station. With the use of a special scanning
sight and a small transporter, the bullet had been fired from the gun
through a transporter beam. The bullet was beamed into the victim's
quarters, where it continued its trajectory.

Plausible? Given Trek technology, I'm inclined to say yes. And the episode
even provides us a demonstration: In one of the show's best scenes, O'Brien
tests his hypothesis by shooting a melon from the other side of a wall, as
Odo and Ezri unsuspectingly look on. (Before he fires, he tells them to
step back just a little more. "I've only done this a couple of times." Colm
Meaney: The master of the credible matter-of-fact line delivery.) This
murder weapon pushes the envelope of Trek weapons in a way that proves
interesting. (Even so, I'm a little uneasy about the scanning device that
allows someone to look anywhere on the station--right through the
bulkheads. How does that work? Never mind.)

To attempt answering the question of "who," Sisko enlists Ezri to use her
forensic psychology skills to look for the "why." What's the connection
between the deaths? Even before Ezri is put on the investigation, the
murder is occupying her mind. Joran is in her somewhere--buried, repressed,
often ignored. But the concept of murder brings him out, and Ezri finds
herself having nightmares and with little choice but to deal with Joran.

Another of the show's highlights is an unexpected scene where Ezri and Worf
talk on the darkened promenade. Ezri explains her frustration in being
unable to track down the killer, and tells Worf that the next step she
needs to take would be unpleasant. Worf's reassurance that Ezri will do
what she has to ("You are Dax. It is your way") reveals an unexpectedly
sympathetic Worf that we haven't seen since Jadzia's death. And I believe
this is the first Worf/Ezri personal dialog we've seen since "Afterimage."
Interesting.

The unpleasant next step for Ezri is in unleashing the intentionally buried
Joran into her full consciousness. The episode invents Yet Another Trill
Skill [TM] that allows Ezri to bring Joran into her mind as a separate
voice that can give her psychological advice on finding the killer.

It's an interesting concept that also pushes the envelope of Trillian
mental existence. Some viewers are likely to resist the idea.

Whether or not you accept Joran depends partially on how literally you
choose to take him as a character. If you take it purely the way the actors
stage it, you're likely to have some serious problems with elements of the
plot. I don't take everything here exactly as it "looks," and I don't think
Robert Hewitt Wolfe (scripting his first show since leaving the series at
the end of season five) intended anybody to take it quite literally when he
wrote it. It's more of a dramatic device than a realistic one. (However, I
will admit that the nature of Joran can come across as a little implausible
given some directing choices. Having Ezri actually talking to "nobody" when
supposedly talking to Joran is really pushing it.) I see Joran as more
symbolic than anything else, representing Ezri's struggle for control of
the Dax psyche that she has been dealing with since she was joined.

The next issue concerns Joran himself, as he offers a voice that constantly
battles against Ezri's common sense. Joran is played by Leigh J. McCloskey
in a performance that tends to go into excessive scenery-chewing. Sure
Joran was a killer, but was he "ultimate evil"? There are moments here that
will have us believe he killed for the sheer thrill and power, which I
don't think was the intention back in "Equilibrium." Three-dimensional
perspectives on murder are one thing, but Joran isn't permitted to be all
that dimensional, which is a shame. An argument can be made that we're
simply seeing Ezri's perception of Joran in her own biased view, but
there's not enough evidence in the episode to support that claim.

Nevertheless, I appreciated some of Joran's comments on killing and his
seductive attempts to appeal to Ezri's darker side. We see that the darker
side does exist (she confesses to feeling "powerful" when putting an
innocent officer in her rifle sights, for example), without the story
having to resort to, say, mirror-universe stupidity in the process. This is
credible and thoughtful analysis of Ezri as a joined Trill. I also enjoyed
some of Joran's snide and sarcastic comments. McCloskey has an amusing way
of saying things that makes us believe he thinks he's better than everyone
else.

In the meantime, the plot actually works instead of falling apart like in
"A Man Alone" or "Ex Post Facto." The investigation takes on some
revelations that are plausible. The meaning behind the connection between
the victim's laughing photos is executed with clarity, and the deduction
that the killer is a deranged Vulcan is actually more believable than it
might at first seem. Also, making assumptions the way Ezri does to narrow a
field of suspects won't always lead one to the truth, but it is the most
logical way to direct an investigation given limited evidence to follow.

The idea of a Vulcan as a killer pushes the boundaries of Trekkian
morality, but I find it to be a reasonable idea. Vulcans bury and (as we've
seen) bottle their feelings, but they do have them (look at Voyager's
"Gravity" as very recent evidence). The idea of severe emotional trauma
exploding into this sort of violence isn't at all beyond grasp. I've always
found interesting the implications of the war bringing out the darker side
of the Federation. "Field of Fire" is further evidence of that.

And as a psychologist, Ezri would know the possibility exists, so the plot
actually comes off making quite a bit of sense as she digs through the
suspect records. (Okay, so having the killer step onto the same turbolift
as Ezri is a little contrived, but, hey, we've only got an hour to get
through the investigation.) The technique of the plotting, especially Ezri
searching for the killer through the rifle sight, worked on the suspense
level, and Gregory Smith's score offered some refreshing understated
atmospherics.

I also appreciated the ambivalence in the Vulcan's motives. "Because logic
demanded it" is about as vague as explanations come, but if there's one
thing I've learned watching contemporary crime stories, it's that the "why"
can sometimes be the most unlikely thing to find in a murder investigation.

"Field of Fire" isn't perfect (Joran's ability for independent verbosity
can be the most dubious). But it is a compelling investigation. And, who
knows--we might even get some character repercussions out of it. Ezri's
experience has brought Joran out, and there are indications he might not go
away so easily.

--
Next week: Odo must make some touch choices.

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Copyright (c) 1999 by Jamahl Epsicokhan, all rights reserved. Unauthorized
reproduction or distribution of this article is prohibited.

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