"Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" A Man Alone (1993)

Director:

Paul Lynch

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (creator: "Star Trek")
Rick Berman (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993)

Original Air Date:

17 January 1993 (Season 1, Episode 3)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Ibudan, a criminal/murderer Odo has dealt with before, returns to DS9 only to be murdered shortly after. . .leaving Odo to be the prime suspect. Meanwhile, Jake and Nog's trouble making prompt Keiko to do something helpful for the station's children.

Plot Keywords:

Graffiti | Murder | Stabbed In The Back | Massage | Clone

Cast

  (Episode Cast overview, first billed only)

Avery Brooks	...	Commander Sisko
Rene Auberjonois	...	Odo
Alexander Siddig	...	Doctor Bashir (as Siddig El Fadil)
Terry Farrell	...	Lieutenant Jadzia Dax
Cirroc Lofton	...	Jake Sisko
Colm Meaney	...	Chief O'Brien
Armin Shimerman	...	Quark
Nana Visitor	...	Major Kira
Rosalind Chao	...	Keiko O'Brien
Edward Albert	...	Zayra (as Edward Laurence Albert)
Max Grodénchik	...	Rom
Peter Vogt	...	Bajoran #1
Aron Eisenberg	...	Nog (as Aron Eisenerg)
Stephen James Carver	...	Ibudan
Tom Klunis	...	Old Man

Company:

Paramount Television

Trivia:

After Odo is relieved of duty by Sisko, he returns to his security office to find it had been ransacked and graffiti was sprayed on the walls. Look carefully, the word "SHIFTER" is what's graffitied on the wall.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Keiko O'Brien: My name is Keiko O'Brien, I'll be your teacher. Why don't we turn on our computers and access the files on Bajor to find out a little bit more about the people and history of this world?

DS9 begins to Show its True Colors (though weakly) in this Soapy Detective Story

Keiko, Miles O'brien's spouse, is having a difficult time adjusting to life on DS9, and Constable Odo appears to be having a difficult time adjusting to Federation hegemony. A merciless Bajoran smuggler who Odo tries to kick off the station turns up murdered in a room which has been locked from the inside and, understandably, Odo is the prime suspect. The episode is crucial to understanding Odo's relationships with Kira, Sisko, and Quark and introduces the show's standard approach to story arc multitasking which will be greatly elaborated in the later seasons. Odo - who really is a man alone - must learn to trust others to help him figure this one out and clear him of suspicion.

The two-story approach was not very well perfected in this episode, and some of the important developmental aspects of this episode (Keiko, Jake and Nog's parts) come across as a slightly annoying distraction from the more intense and interesting mystery story.

As usual, the cinematography and writing are all good.