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 EPISODE REVIEWS | ||
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The Darkness & The Light Airdate: Week of
1/06/97
Written by: Ronald
D Moore (teleplay) and Bryan Fuller (story)
Directed by:
Michael Vejar
Short-take:
Nana Visitor shines as the Kira of old returns in one of the
season's more intense episodes.
Brief Summary:
As members of her former resistance cell are killed off one by
one, Kira weighs whether or not to seek revenge.
Review:
Isn't it good to see Kira tough again? Not that she ever
really went away exactly, but after so many sessions of crying
and now with the pregnancy, it's occurred to many viewers that
Kira may have lost her edge. Not so. Intense as the
plot was, the most rewarding part of The Darkness and the
Light was to see the Kira of old back, with a twist - her
being held back due to her inability to chase the assassin and by
her fears for the O'Brien baby. Kira fighting that
frustration made the episode as rewarding as seeing her
victorious in the end.
The episode got
off to a good start with a rather innocuous religious ceremony
(interestingly enough focused on atonement) that turned
tragic. Every once and awhile Trek pulls out an unusual
opening sequence that doesn't involve any of the main characters
such as the one seen here. This one was particularly
effective, thanks to some excellent camera work and the abrupt
nature by which it was ended. The switch over to the
innocent scene in the infirmary made it all the more effective.
Once Kira learns
of what has happened, the game begins. A couple of nice
twists came with regards to Falla - the first, that they couldn't
trace her message, the second, that she wasn't a full member of
the resistance cell. Her death and the scene where Kira
dealt with it were both particularly well done. The
surprise arrival of Furel and Lupisa was another nice twist made
nicer by the fact that they brought, of all things, more
herbs. All are good examples of how writer Ron Moore kept
the viewer as on guard as Kira.
All throughout the
unveiling of the plot, Kira had to deal with her inability to act
head-on. Her remark that she was a major in the Bajoran
militia and should be helping in the search was probably the best
example of this. The aftermath of Furel and Lupisa's deaths
was particularly nicely done, as Kira reflects on her own ability
to act decisively the first time she fought the Cardassians,
begging the obvious question of why she cannot act now when her
friends are in danger.
Probably what hurt
the episode the most was the end. The fact that it was
a Cardassian behind it all made sense, but nonetheless it
seemed a bit too obvious for my tastes. With that said, the
dialogue was an interesting change of pace, with Prin treating
the captured Kira like an animal held in captivity.
Probably most rewarding was how the scene raised some interesting
questions about what constitutes a justifiable target in
war. And Kira's quick thinking concerning the herbs was a
very nice twist, particularly since the herbs seemed irrelevant
enough when presented earlier on in the show. The sad irony
of it all was that by being compassionate to Kira, Prin met his
own doom, making him a truly tragic character.
With that said,
there was still one major problem. Was I the only confused
by Kira's speech after she was rescued by the Defiant? It
struck me as a forced attempt to fit the title into the episode
and to add poetry was none was really needed. Almost too
tidy an ending.
But not enough to
spoil a great episode.
Short takes:
-The direction
shouldn't be forgotten. Seeing Kira and Nog work as Odo and
Sisko talk in Sisko's office is an excellent example of Mike
Vejar's eye for detail.
-Quark may be
sleazy, but reading Kira's messages?
- Gotta love Sisko
cutting off Worf's explanation of the problems in searching for
Kira, not only because it saved us the technobabble, but also
because it's great to see him in charge.
- Having
meticulous Odo notice the chair turned around was another nice
touch.
- The episode was
originally to be entitled The Atonement but had to be
changed due to a Babylon 5 episode of the same name being run
this year. Considering that between the darkness and
the light is one of the more well known examples of
overwrought Babylon 5 word chocie, I wonder if the new title was
a bit of a payback.
Writing:
Top notch mostly, with the only complaint being the ending
speech.
Acting:
Visitor is given the chance to shine and does so.
Directing:
Possibly the season's best as Michael Vejar adds many wonderfu
ltouches to the show.
Rating: 8.6 out of
10
Quote:
But Julian, those sedatives taste like something that
crawled out of Quark's ear.
-Kira reacting to
Bashir's prescription
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