Deep Space Nine Season Seven Episode Five

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Chrysalis

Season 7 Episode 5

Plot Summary: The Mutants (from "Statistical Probabilities") return to DS9 in order to request Bashir' s help in saving Sarina. Sarina's condition has gotten worse since last we saw her. She's having trouble responding by movement as well as by vocal communication. Well, needless to say, Bashir and the mutants use their combined genius to "fix" her. She can talk and move like any normal person. Unfortunately her new condition also brings on the revelation of how abnormal her friends (Jack and Co.) Really are. Bashir instantly falls in loved with the new and improved Sarina (with lemon fresh scent:), and tries to start a relationship. Sarina goes along, wanting to repay the doctor for the tremendous gift he's given her. Eventually, however, Bashir catches on that she really isn't able to have the kind of relationship that he wants with of her. So, sadly she leaves the station to work as a something-or-other, and the rest of the mutants go back to the "institute." Bashir is left despondently staring into space.

Sub-Plot: Nada

My Opinion: I must admit, I'm a tad disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the episode was done fine, there were no plot problems (OK, well maybe one small one), the acting was good, the dialogue was on target. Heck! Even the editing was top of the line! But after such an awesome predecessor, and with such good potential, I was expecting a lot more. First off, The plot device has been used to death. Main Character meets Guest Character, Main Character loves Guest Character, Guest Character leaves show never to be seen again. There's been at least one of these in almost every season of Deep Space Nine (All but season one, to be exact.). And I won't even go into how many times this has been used on The Original Series, The Next Generation, and Voyager! There was a slight twist, but even that wasn't anything much. When compared to it's predecessor, it fails in the comparison. "Statistical Probabilities" was fresh, quite humorous on multiple occasions, and had a much grander scale in general. The whole "There's no way to beat the Dominion" revelation had me glued to the screen to find out how the writers were going to fix the mess. This episode, on the other hand, meant almost nothing in the scheme of things. It was bare bones, as opposed to it's meaty predecessor. My next complaint is that it wasn't thoroughly entertaining. There are moments that I wondered, "When is this going to end?" Come on, I know you had the same thought during the "Do, Re, Mi" Song! Despite, all these down-sides, "Chrysalis" had it's good points as well. Though few, there were some very good moments. I loved Patrick's "stupid question" line. And the mutants discovering that the universe would collapse in a few trillion years. On the serious side there were a few great moments too. Sarina's revelation of how crazy and unstable her friends really were, was quite sad, and well done too. This is probably the reason she chose not to stay with them in the end. Another equally sad moment was when Sarina started talking to Bashir, after coming out of her 2nd "trance". She said something to the effect of, "I'm sorry I couldn't be the woman you wanted me to be." Touching, but then: "I owe it to you." Ouch! That must have hurt. That was the moment where Bashir really realized how one sided his relationship had been. But you said there was a small plot error? That I did! And it really is quite small. At one point O'Brien mentioned that Doctors aren't supposed to have relationships with they're patients. How come this never came up in season two's "Melora"? Oh-well, as it turned out, this aspect wound up not playing a big role in the episode. It's just something to think about. Finally I'd just like to mention that at times even I thought Sarina was really pushing their relationship. Maybe it was just cause she really wanted to repay him, or perhaps we were viewing the scenes through Bashir's point of view. Both interesting thoughts...

Wrap-Up: Well, "Chrysalis" may not have been a great episode, but it was good at times. And even though it's plot was quite unoriginal, it was still very well done. I give it two and a half stars.

Review by -William Phillips

Back to Season Seven Index Back to DS9