[DS9] Lynch's Spoiler Review: "Covenant"
=B^)
> From a plot standpoint, that pretty much makes sense -- in particular,
> given the state Dukat was in the last time we saw him, having him
> wind up with the cult is very plausible. It's even plausible to have
> him lead it; Dukat has an awful lot of personal magnetism, and that's
> often what cultists are drawn to. The only stretch I have here is
> putting the cult on Empok Nor; it is nicely isolated, but seems to me
> almost as an excuse to use the DS9 set rather than create a new
> environment. So, I've no problem there.
>
It makes sense... if Dukat is to be the anti-emissary of the
anti-prophets, he needs the anti-DS9. Besides, its a replica of the
Cardassian station he grew to love over the years...
Timothy W. Lynch
the spoilers for DS9's latest episode, and you will refrain from
reading them if unwilling to be spoiled.
In brief: Good when it focuses on Dukat and Kira; iffy otherwise.
======
Written by: Rene Echevarria
Directed by: John Kretchmer
Brief summary: Kira is kidnapped by a Bajoran cult which worships
the Pah-wraiths -- and which is now led by Dukat.
======
I really, *really* wanted to like "Covenant" a lot. It focuses in on
Bajorans and in particular Bajoran faith, which I usually find
interesting; it followed up on the Pah-wraiths, which seems necessary
given the past half-season; most importantly, it gave us the return of
Dukat, who is rarely dull. ("Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night,"
next week's rerun, is one of the extremely few cases where Dukat
winds up dull.)
As a result, my expectations may be blinding me a bit. I certainly
liked *aspects* of "Covenant" here and there, but the episode seems
to be one of those cases where the parallels to 20th-century events are
laid on so thick that aspects of the story get lost. (TNG's "The
Outcast" was a particularly egregious example of that; it fared far
worse than "Covenant", actively undercutting its own points in a well-
meaning attempt to make them.)
In this case, the parallel would be to cults in general -- in particular,
this struck me as a mesh of the Jim Jones cult in late '70s Guyana and
the "Heaven's Gate" mass suicide a couple of years ago in San Diego.
To sum up the premise, Kira is visited by an old friend, Vedek Fala
(Norman Parker), who taught Kira all through the Occupation and
kept her alive in the refugee camps. Unbeknownst to her, however,
Fala is a member of the Pah-wraith cult, and Kira winds up being
taken by Dominion transporter to Empok Nor, where the cult has
taken up residence thanks to its new guru ... Dukat.
From a plot standpoint, that pretty much makes sense -- in particular,
given the state Dukat was in the last time we saw him, having him
wind up with the cult is very plausible. It's even plausible to have
him lead it; Dukat has an awful lot of personal magnetism, and that's
often what cultists are drawn to. The only stretch I have here is
putting the cult on Empok Nor; it is nicely isolated, but seems to me
almost as an excuse to use the DS9 set rather than create a new
environment. So, I've no problem there.
After that, the story really covers two stretches of ground. The first is
strictly between Kira and Dukat; Dukat wants to open Kira's heart to
the Pah-wraiths, and in particular seems to have a stake in proving to
Kira that his people do indeed love him. The second is the rise and
fall of Dukat's little slice of heaven: we see the gradual unraveling of
the cult, thanks to Kira's interference and to Dukat's own
weaknesses.
The first group, the Kira/Dukat material, is by far the more interesting
of the two. Dukat calls himself a changed man, and in terms of
outward attitudes he is in a few ways -- but aspects of his character
certainly have not changed. Ever since Dukat had Kira back in his
clutches last season, he's radiated an eerie calm around her; the scene
in his office during "A Time to Stand" last year is an absolutely
standout example of that. That same sense of "she will be mine
someday; I'll wait as long as I need to" was very much in evidence
here; granted, this time he appeared to be interested in her on behalf of
his gods rather than for his own personal interests, but that same
ability to make the viewer's skin crawl is there.
Something else that endured despite Dukat's "changes" was
interesting, too: Dukat's wish for acceptance. As Kira put it, Dukat
has had a "desperate need to win the love of the Bajoran people" for a
long time -- now, I think a lot of that was retroactively added
somewhere around season 5, but it's been an integral part of Dukat's
makeup ever since. It's been an interesting motivation for Dukat in
many ways, and despite his conversion to the cult it rather clearly still
exists: even now, he was willing to debate the Occupation with Kira,
and even now he views her as a symbol of Bajoran obstinacy and
anger: if he can convert her, he can convert anyone. If Sisko has
always been a rival for Dukat, Kira has always been a goad -- and that
has been true almost since day one.
So, that core material was fine. If I had any problem with it, it's that
both Kira and Dukat spent too much time reiterating the past and not
enough creating new challenges: the continuity is nice, but when I
feel as though the dialogue's a rerun it's a bit iffy. Still, I had little if
any problem here.
The cult-centered material, on the other hand, held almost no interest,
and that's unfortunate. The philosophy of the cult *was* interesting:
the idea that the Pah-wraiths were exiled because they were meddlers
is a solid one (a fact to which any "Doctor Who" fan could attest), and
Dukat's argument that Bajoran scripture is simply "history written by
the winners" certainly has merit. I'd like to have seen more with that.
Unfortunately, we didn't. What we got after that was a virtual
reiteration of the major "sins" of a lot of cults, followed by a step-by-
step telegraphing of Dukat's downfall. Couples need permission to
have children? Seen it. The cult leader is actually the one fathering
some or all of the children? Been there. Cultists love their leader so
much that they'll protect his life at the risk of their own? Check. The
cult leader will covertly silence opposition rather than let it be heard?
Heard it. The cult leader preaches mass suicide? Sure, why not?
Once the story strayed away from Dukat and Kira, it ceased to be a
story and turned into Cult Anatomy 101, and that's a pity. Once the
dust has settled, the only real impact is that Kira knows Dukat's even
further involved with the wraiths and that she's lost a friend the
viewers never saw before this episode. I'd like more.
One pleasant exception to the parade of stock cult characters was
Vedek Fala. A lot of his actions were telegraphed just as much as
Mika's or Benyan's, but Fala seemed like a fundamentally deeper
character. Perhaps it was the realization that he'd turned to the Pah-
wraiths well before Dukat came upon the scene, but he was the only
one of the cultists apart from Dukat who appeared to have given his
beliefs any actual thought. His past relationship with Kira also gave
their scenes more than a simple believer/skeptic feel, which helped.
As a result, while I fully expected he'd wind up taking the poison
anyway, I was a bit sorry to see him go: the rest of the lot could have
gone belly up so far as I was concerned, but Fala was actually
interesting.
Fundamentally, my other problem with "Covenant" is a lingering
impression it's fostered. It may just be me, but I'm left with the same
feeling that I had in "Tears of the Prophets", which had its initial birth
after thinking about "Waltz": namely, that the DS9 staff isn't quite
sure what to do with Dukat now that he's lost the station again. For
years, we had Dukat the adversary, Dukat the occasional ally of
convenience, Dukat the representative of a wholly different world-
view, Dukat the almost true ally, and Dukat the patriot. Even after he
joined the Dominion and became "Dukat the villain" again, he usually
seemed more aware of his surroundings than most, and able to take
the long view where others could not or would not. In the end, he
mostly got his wish -- the Cardassian return to Terok Nor -- and then
saw it all taken away from him due to his own hubris, even costing
him his daughter. That's a hell of a character arc.
Since then, we've had one episode of Dukat the raging loony, one
episode of Dukat telling Kira about her past, one episode of Dukat the
possessed, and now one episode of Dukat the cult leader. Very little
about those have been fundamentally inconsistent with his character,
but there's also very little there that seems to have any direction. On
those occasions when he gets to make philosophical or political
points, they often still resonate: that's part of what made "Waltz"
work as well as it did, and it was definitely the main selling point of
"Covenant." He's running out of points to make, though, and this
seemingly aimless bouncing around from role to role isn't helping.
Other points:
-- As telegraphed as it was, Dukat's attempted murder of Mika was
*very* nicely done. It seemed a nice idea, particularly since if Mika
had been blown out earlier, her body might simply never be found by
the cultists: look, it's another miracle! The music for the scene was
beautifully crafted, and I also appreciated that the outflow of air
actually *stopped*, as lots of similar scenes tend to ignore that fact.
-- Where exactly did Dukat *get* all of this poison?
-- It's a good thing Bajoran women have short gestation periods;
otherwise I'd have had real problems with Mika being in labor only a
third of a season after Dukat was initially possessed.
-- The first act consisted of only one scene; we've seen that approach
before, most notably in "Doctor Bashir, I Presume," but it's
interesting when done well.
-- It's now official: everyone has known all along that Dukat caused
Jadzia's death, and none of them had any reaction to it, at least on
screen. Yes, that's annoying.
-- Kira's escape attempt was careless on her part. Rather than trying
to kill Dukat, she should've taken the gun and gotten to a shuttle or the
transporter; once back at DS9, she could have ordered a flotilla to head
over to Empok Nor. That's not a criticism; it just strikes me as
something she'd smack herself about later.
-- Odo's wish that he were a believer so that he could accompany Kira
to services really *was* sweet.
-- Am I the only one who wanted to see the response of the DS9 crew
when they got Dukat's message?
That about covers it. "Covenant" did what it was supposed to when it
focused on the characters, but it got lost in the "cultisms" enough that
bits of it are tedious. Still, it's probably worth the hour -- definitely,
if you're a Dukat fan.
Wrapping up:
Writing: Too many "hey, let's throw in this cult trait" moments, but
often good Kira/Dukat material.
Directing: The airlock scene was great; overall it was reasonable.
Acting: I didn't care for Jason Leland Adams (Benyan) much;
everyone else was reasonable, and Alaimo and Parker were
particularly good.
OVERALL: 7. An awful lot of episodes have scored in the 6-8 range
so far this year; that's not bad, but it's a little frustrating. Let's get a
knockout!
NEXT WEEK: A rerun of "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night."
Of all the choices... [On a different note, you can expect a review of
"Star Trek: Insurrection."]
Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
tly...@alumni.caltech.edu <*>
"So I guess the ancient texts just had it all wrong, then."
"Oh, come now, Nerys! You know as well as I do that history is
written by the victors!"
-- Kira and Dukat
--
Copyright 1998, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
This article is explicitly prohibited from being used in any off-net
compilation without due attribution and *express written consent of the
author*. Walnut Creek and other CD-ROM distributors, take note.
CDS218
cult's turnaround on Dukat at the end seemed too abrupt to be believable.
The theological debate regarding the Pah'Wraiths was an interesting bit
(regarding their exile, forget "Dr. Who" and look at every creation story
from Prometheis to Adam and Eve), but as you said, it got short-changed.
And your remarks regarding Dukat raise an interesting point: while they
haven't completely ruined the character, they have set him down a path that
doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. After "Waltz" it seemed we were going
to see him return to his previous, ruthless-dictator state (didn't he howl
at Sisko at one point that he wished he'd killed every Bajoran before the
Cardassians withdrew?). What we have now is...what the hell do we have now?
A plot convenience, I think ("Quick, we need a whacked-out cult
leader...DUKAT! We can blame it on the whole Pagh'Wraith thing...I know it
didn't happen to Jake, but what the hell. We got a deadline.")
Hope springs eternal, but I'm not optimistic.
Laurinda Chamberlin
>WARNING: This, then, is the "Covenant" between us: I will write
>the spoilers for DS9's latest episode, and you will refrain from
>reading them if unwilling to be spoiled.
>
>[...] given the state Dukat was in the last time we saw him, having him
>wind up with the cult is very plausible. It's even plausible to have
>him lead it; Dukat has an awful lot of personal magnetism, and that's
>often what cultists are drawn to. The only stretch I have here is
>putting the cult on Empok Nor [...]
Seriously? In all this, the most implausible factor is that Dukat has
set up shop on Empok Nor? How about the idea that Bajorans would
turn for spiritual guidance to the former Prefect of Bajor, on whose
watch 5 million of their people had died? The man ran a slave labor camp,
and some of the cultists had supposedly been in such camps. After all
we've heard about Bajoran suffering at the hands of the Cardassians,
presenting us with this scenario argues that the writers really have
no conception of how people would be affected by such experiences, and
they don't expect us to, either.
>The cult-centered material, on the other hand, held almost no interest,
>and that's unfortunate. The philosophy of the cult *was* interesting:
>the idea that the Pah-wraiths were exiled because they were meddlers
>is a solid one (a fact to which any "Doctor Who" fan could attest), and
>Dukat's argument that Bajoran scripture is simply "history written by
>the winners" certainly has merit. I'd like to have seen more with that.
[...]
If they had wanted to raise the issues of cult worship seriously instead
of just give us another Cuckoo Dukat episode, they would have left Dukat
out and placed Fala at the head of the cult. Then give us some substantial
philosophical differences with mainstream Bajoran religion and have Kira
truly wrestle with the question of why the cultists are misguided.
>Fundamentally, my other problem with "Covenant" is a lingering
>impression it's fostered. It may just be me, but I'm left with the same
>feeling that I had in "Tears of the Prophets", which had its initial birth
>after thinking about "Waltz": namely, that the DS9 staff isn't quite
>sure what to do with Dukat now that he's lost the station again. [...]
Or, they want to do something with him that isn't supported by past
characterization. Really, "Waltz" was the last episode I thought had
anything worthy to offer about Dukat.
>-- Where exactly did Dukat *get* all of this poison?
Maybe Weyoun's been offering it to him on a regular basis.
>[...] Still, it's probably worth the hour -- definitely,
>if you're a Dukat fan. [...]
It's funny, then, that I don't hear too many Dukat fans saying that.
--
Laurinda She walked by herself, and
all places were alike to her.
Maureen Goldman
> -- It's now official: everyone has known all along that Dukat caused
> Jadzia's death, and none of them had any reaction to it, at least on
> screen. Yes, that's annoying.
Good review. I only want to comment on one point. In the season's opening
two-parter there is a scene at Quark's in which the guys are talking about
the pagh wraith having killed Jadzia. (I believe it was Quark, Bashir and
O'Brien.)
So this aspect was known for a very long time... not surprising since the
possessed Dukat simply raised his empty hand and zapped her with a
firebolt. Which has to look different than the result of a phaser blast.
Maureen Goldman
> Seriously? In all this, the most implausible factor is that Dukat has
> set up shop on Empok Nor? How about the idea that Bajorans would
> turn for spiritual guidance to the former Prefect of Bajor, on whose
> watch 5 million of their people had died? The man ran a slave labor camp,
> and some of the cultists had supposedly been in such camps. After all
> we've heard about Bajoran suffering at the hands of the Cardassians,
> presenting us with this scenario argues that the writers really have
> no conception of how people would be affected by such experiences, and
> they don't expect us to, either.
It isn't as though they have The Jerry Springer Show. C'mon, we all know
that our fellow humans are capable of following all sorts of ideals and
leaders, so there is no reason to expect the Bajorans to be different. If
anything, I would think that Dukat would be quite a prize - the sinner who
has seen the light and now wants to lead them all to glory.
I disliked the episode, but I liked his spin on the pagh wraiths.
David B.
It's really hard to enter the mind of a cultist and know why they do
what they do and believe what they do. To us (the more "rational" among
us) their actions can be really hard to understand. They understand (in
their own warped way) but we have no clue. That's why it's hard to see
why they'd follow Dukat. To us their actions are illogical.
There's no way we can really make sense of what happened in this
episode.
Johan Tjäder
> > Jadzia's death, and none of them had any reaction to it, at least on
> > screen. Yes, that's annoying.
> So this aspect was known for a very long time... not surprising since the
> possessed Dukat simply raised his empty hand and zapped her with a
> firebolt. Which has to look different than the result of a phaser blast.
So they may believe that it was an accident that Dukat became possessed.
We however know otherwise. Since Dukat "inflicted" the possession with
evil intent it could be argued that he is partly responsible. It may be
so that the writers intend for them to find out later...
And of course, if someone I didn't like killed my best friend -
possessed or not - I would blame him. But I am on the other hand not an
enlightened 24th century human...
--
Johan Tjäder
etx...@etxb.ericsson.se
David E. Sluss
DB>There's no way we can really make sense of what happened in this
DB>episode.
So DS9 has some continuity after all...
--
// David E. Sluss (The Cynic) \\ // "I'm impatient with \\
//_________ sluss%dhp.com _________\\//__ stupidity. My people have __\\
\\ Manager of The Cynics Corner: //\\ learned to live without it." //
\\ http://users.dhp.com/~sluss // \\ Klaatu //
Maureen Goldman
> > possessed Dukat simply raised his empty hand and zapped her with a
> > firebolt. Which has to look different than the result of a phaser blast.
>Johan Tjäder <etx...@etxb.ericsson.se> wrote:
> So they may believe that it was an accident that Dukat became possessed.
> We however know otherwise. Since Dukat "inflicted" the possession with
> evil intent it could be argued that he is partly responsible. It may be
> so that the writers intend for them to find out later...
A pagh wraith is not the same as a geni that grants wishes. Dukat was
releasing the enemy of the Prophets - the enemy of my enemy is my friend,
and all that. He had no control over it whatever, just a notion of what it
could do with the orbs. Jadzia's presence in the temple was entirely
happenstance.
David B.
This is one time where I actually believe Dukat's excuse. Finally, he was honest
about something...