[DS9] Review: "Covenant"
Scott Andresson
"Covenant"
----
Season Seven, Episode 9
Written by Rene Echevarria
Directed by John Kretchmer
"Your hair. You changed it."
"Your ear. You pierced it."
-- Dukat and Kira
Ugh. I can't find the notes I took whilst watching the episode. Oh well, I'm
sure we'll get by.
Okaaay. "Covenant". What did I think of it? I'm not quite sure -- at least
not yet (great way to start a review, huh?). In part I found it interesting
and perhaps even promising, yet at the same time it was also, shall we say,
off-key. One thing is certain; the episode will inevitably live or die on
the head of it's central character, Dukat. And given that I'm not at all
sure what "Covenant" means for Dukat, it may be impossible to conclusively
judge the episode until a little farther down the road.
Believe it or not, about a year has passed since "Waltz", an episode which
sent Dukat spinning in a strange, murky new direction. What that direction
has in fact *been* is anyone's guess, because let's face it, it hasn't been
handled very well. Let's see, at the end of "Waltz" Dukat becomes a crazed
madman who vows that he's going to destroy Bajor at all costs. Okay. Next
time we see Dukat he simply drops Kira a message to tell her that he once
had an affair with her mom. Uh *huh* -- mind you, that one's probably best
left forgotten, much like the episode itself. Next thing we know, Dukat has
all of a sudden developed a burning desire to get revenge on Captain Sisko,
for what precise reason we're not privvy to. Cue a Pagh Wraith, glowing red
eyes and a sch-pooky synthesised voice. I don't know why The Powers That Be
didn't just go the whole hog and throw in evil maniacal laughter and a pang
of lightening in the background. Any rate, Dukat had sadly degenerated into
a stock cartoon villain, a pathetic shadow of the three-dimensional,
multi-faceted character he once was.
So, the question is, where does "Covenant" take the character next? I had
feared it would seal the nails in his proverbial coffin but I was pleased to
discover that we're not quite at that stage yet. "Covenant" doesn't entirely
redeem the character, nor does it completely undo the damage inflicted upon
him during the latter half of season six. But there is a glimmer of light at
the end of the tunnel. At least, I *think* there is. Anyway, the latest
predicament of our favourite Gul is that he's now the leader of a Bajoran
cult that worships the Pagh Wraiths. This took a bit of getting used to. The
sight of Dukat conducting candle-lit prayer services like some sort of
Sunday school teacher was a bizarre sight indeed. So much so that one might
have been forgiven for thinking that Kira had actually been transported over
to the _Mirror Universe_! How on earth he became a member -- much less the
*leader* -- of this cult is anyone's guess. Did he just pop along to one of
their meetings and proclaim himself the new Emissary of the Pagh Wraiths?
And given his notorious reputation as former Prefect of Bajor, forgive me if
I have a hard time believing that *any* Bajoran would welcome him with open
arms let alone declare their undying allegiance to him. Could you imagine
Heinrich Himmler becoming chairman of the Jewish Church following the Second
World War? Uh...not quite.
But as I said above, this is not to suggest I'm entirely against Dukat's
latest change-of-direction. For a start, it was given some credence by the
fact it was foreshadowed by "Tears of the Prophets" when Dukat sought ought
out the Pagh Wraiths albeit for his own ends. It transpires that his
encounter with the Wraith has had a profound effect on him -- having been
"touched by a god" he now believes that he has been chosen as their
Emissary. The fact that he genuinely seems to *believe* this is demonstrated
in the scene where he prays to the Wraiths alone. Moreover, Dukat believes
that the Wraiths are the true Prophets and that they were cast out from the
Temple only because they cared about the Bajoran people and wanted to play a
more active role in Bajoran society. Dukat is determined to help them
reclaim their place in the Temple.
It's interesting to note that we never actually see Dukat receive a vision
or guidance from the Pagh Wraiths, so it's never a hundred percent clear
whether his actions are indeed motivated by the ministrations of the Wraiths
or by his own ego. Kira points out that Dukat has created some kind of
twisted, "idealised version of the Occupation", with Dukat back on his
station on charge of Bajorans. It's clear that Dukat still has a lot of
"issues" when it comes to the Occupation and his role in it, so it could
well be that part of him is trying to win the love and adoration of the
Bajorans that he was never given during the Occupation. Perhaps it's a
little frustrating that we're left unclear as to what's really going on in
Dukat's mind, but in this case I think that ambiguity is good and infinitely
preferable to the pantomime histrionics of "Tears of the Prophets".
Following his last appearance I was seriously worried about Dukat, and
whilst what we have here is a little difficult to swallow, I am delighted to
see the character regain some complexity and ambiguity. The writers seem
determined to cast Dukat in the role of arch villain, which is all very well
but it will only work if he has a good motive for being the villain, or the
"anti-Sisko" as this would seem to suggest. "Covenant" supplies Dukat with
that motive and that much of it is interesting and promising. A lot of it
will obviously depend on how things play out when Dukat returns in the
"Final Chapter", but for now I feel a lot easier than I have done for a
while.
Still on the subject of characterisation, the next order of business is
Kira's involvement in the story. I initially was a little confused as to why
she'd been brought to Empok Nor and what the purpose of her involvement was
other than the outward necessity of incorporating a main character in the
story. In short, I didn't understand why Dukat would bring Kira there when
it should be obvious to anyone who's ever spent five minutes in her company
that she'd vehemently disapprove of what he was doing and would try to stop
him. It was during a conversation that Dukat let slip that to him Kira
represents everything he "admires" most about the Bajorans -- her passionate
determination, strength and her fiery spirit. With a resounding "click", it
suddenly became clear to me exactly *why* Dukat has an almost disturbing,
unnatural obssession with Kira. It goes beyond a mere physical attraction.
It's because, to Dukat, Kira basically *embodies* Bajor. And more than
anything he wants to win, if not her heart, then at least her respect and
forgiveness. Forgiveness for the things he did during the Occupation. Dukat
basically needs to make peace with his past and it's almost as though he can
only do this by having Kira forgive him.
If I sound like a psychologist here I do apologise, but this sort of
crystallised the Dukat/Kira relationship as it has played out over the past
few years. The only problem for Dukat is that just as Kira embodies Bajor to
him, he embodies Cardassia and the very Occupation itself to her. I find
this dynamic fascinating and both Nana Visitor and Marc Alaimo are always
exceptional when their characters come face-to-face. The only problem is
that the script falls a little short and despite some nice insight into
their relationship, many of their scenes felt like old conversations grafted
on from previous episodes. At times the "new" Dukat seemed to clash with the
remnants of the "old" Dukat, which further threw us off-balance as to what
exactly Dukat was doing and why. Additionally, I can't say I was happy with
the references to "Wrongs Darker than Death or Night" (which, as I said, was
an ill-conceived episode that is best forgotten) and whilst I'm glad that
Jadzia's death was mentioned, I felt that Kira let Dukat off the hook far
too readily. If I confronted the man who'd murdered my best friend -- alien
possession or no alien possession -- I doubt I'd be as lenient.
There, having discussed the character dynamics, it's probably about time I
actually considered the plot. I've already said that Dukat's status as
leader of the cult tends to beggar belief but I guess it's not beyond us to
suspend our disbelief, something which we're not wholly unaccustomed to
doing when it comes to Trek. With Dukat and the cult in place on Empok Nor,
writer Rene Echevarria clearly attempts to explore issues of faith and trust
and how those samesuch virtues can be misused and betrayed. There was
certainly a fair bit of potential, but I don't think "Covenant" was entirely
successful in its lofty aims. I think there are a few different reasons for
this.
Here we have all the fundamental basics of the "average" cult -- the
charismatic leader that has a need to control others, the blind
indiscriminate followers who are as obedient as well-trained sheepdogs can
be, the leader forcing himself upon some of his female followers and, of
course, the obligatory mass suicide. Rene Echevarria has clearly done his
research, but whilst he certainly seems to have mastered the basics of
cultism, I was left feeling that he was so busy depicting the cult that he
neglected the deeper underlying issues. For instance, we never for a second
got to consider why these people were willing to turn their lives so readily
over to someone else. It does happen, you know. Perhaps because life is
difficult and painful some people look to others for all their answers. In
extreme cases they basically let other people control their lives, make
their decisions for them and dictate how they live their lives. Perhaps this
is to avoid responsibility for their actions or decisions, I'm not sure. I
think we really needed to be exploring *this* to get under the skin of these
people. What we are presented with is a bunch of lobotomised zombies that
are almost laughably gullible. Perhaps Echevarria was so busy focussing on
Dukat that he neglected to give the followers much attention, but I think
for "Covenant" to have been truly successful, we needed more insight into
why these people were willing to follow Dukat without question. Hell, they
even believe his story of a "miracle from the Pagh Wraiths" when Mika's baby
turns out to be half-Cardassian. A miracle, indeed!
At the core of the story is the issue of faith and I don't feel it was
represented particularly well. Every time someone mentioned "faith" it was
in a somewhat glib and clear-cut manner. I could be wrong here, but it
struck me that Echevarria was writing about something he doesn't quite
understand himself, at least that's how it comes across. This is something
I've noticed on DS9 before, that faith is often portrayed as like a badge
you are given to wear when in actual fact it's something that is much more
"grey" (for lack of a better word). It also seems to me that faith is often
confused with blind faith when there is actually a world of difference.
Blind faith is what the cult members displayed when they basically turned
themselves over to Dukat -- quite willing for him to control their every
action and quite willing to do so without question. Blind faith is obviously
a very, very dangerous thing -- particularly when you give it to someone as
unwholesome as Dukat. I don't quite understand how anyone can be willing to
do such a thing, but it goes without saying that it can lead to tragedy.
Blind faith is trusting unquestionably, with your eyes firmly closed.
As for true faith? Think of a person you really trust and have faith in and
then ask yourself *why* you have faith in them. The answer will most likely
be "because they *earned* it". *That's* the difference, at least in my
opinion. True faith is earned and it's a feeling of inner knowing, of trust.
It does NOT mean being blind and not questioning that faith. Discernment is
absolutely necessary all the time. That's the thing that some people lack
when they look for answers, be it in religion or, as in the case of
"Covenant", a charismatic person claiming to have all the answers. Many
people do look to others for answers while in actual the only person who is
qualified to provide those answers is YOU and your own conscience. These are
very important, relevant issues that are central to the theme of this
episode, but sadly I didn't feel they got as much consideration as they
ought to, in favour of a barrage of old cliches about cults and "faith".
Ironically, although this entire story was probably only devised as a means
to get Dukat back into the picture, I actually think that it might have
worked a little better had Dukat *not* been the leader of the cult, or at
least had his involvement in the story been played down. Think about it, by
making Dukat the leader of the cult and bringing in Kira, it's basically a
given that Kira will immediately disbelieve Dukat and try to stop him while
he will desperately try to lure her over to his cause. Now don't get me
wrong, I really enjoy the Kira/Dukat dynamic, but in this case I think it
may have come at the expense of fully developing the storyline. Consider
this -- Vedek Fala. Fala has evidently been Kira's mentor and teacher since
childhood and she's long admired him for his conviction to his faith. But it
transpires that his faith lies not with the Prophets but with the Wraiths.
Fala claims that he cannot understand why the Prophets would stand by and
let Bajor endure the horrors of the Occupation and do nothing. He's come to
realise that maybe the Pagh Wraiths are the true Gods and did want to stop
the Occupation.
There's a lot of potential in this and by further exploring Fala and his
conversion to the Wraiths Echevarria could have better fleshed out the cult
followers, which as I said before, was something that really needed to be
done. If Fala had been leader of the cult instead of Dukat, this would
dramatically have made things a lot harder for Kira. She despises Dukat, so
there's no way she'd ever listen to him, but if the cult leader were Fala, a
man she admires and respects greatly, we could further have explored Kira's
faith and maybe even have had her question her beliefs. Because as it
stands, Kira's unwillingness to even *consider* that the cult's beliefs
might be valid makes her look as blind as Dukat's followers. At the begining
of the episode, she claims to respect other beliefs, but there's not much
evidence of that. Mind you, this is an attitude a lot of "religious-types"
display, ie. their faith is the ONLY faith. Blind faith again? At any rate,
it's a complicated subject with no easy answers, and that's something I
don't think the episode accurately reflected. Fala was a character that had
a lot of potential and I think that the key to better handling the story
would have been to focus more on him and his relationship with Kira. As such
he's somewhat wasted, including his eventual fate which felt crudely tacked
on and ambiguous only for the sake of being ambiguous. Had the episode taken
a different tack, I think the story and its themes might have been better
served.
Not to say that what we've got is bad, because it's not. It's quite
entertaining watching Dukat slowly set up his own fall from grace and trying
desperately to avoid revealing that he isn't all he's cracked up to be in
the eyes of his followers. The episode was nicely brought to life by John
Kretchmer, who did a capable job directing and I particularly liked the
scene where Dukat tries to kill Mika -- very nicely shot. A pity it doesn't
actually make sense. Why wasn't she pulled out into the vacuum space? She
just sort of slumps to the ground. I don't get that. Anyway, David Bell
delivered his typically striking score while the lighting guys really
deserve credit for making the DS9 sets look and even *feel* different just
by altering the lights. Good job. As for the acting, the guests were
somewhat average whereas Visitor and Alaimo were their usual excellent
selves, giving a flawed script quite a boost.
The final verdict? As I said, unavailable at this point. The episode itself
was interesting and engaging but ultimately failed to live up to its
potential -- worth a look, but rather disappointing. In many ways,
"Covenant" felt a lot like set-up. So whether the episode will ultimately
rise or fall depends largely on how this set-up is resolved at the end of
the series. We shall see.
Rating: 6
..........................................................................
Scott Andresson - brah...@hotmail.com
_____________________________________
--------Celestial Temple Star Trek Reviews:--------
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Station/2542
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"That is why I am here. Not to conquer you with
weapons or with ideas. But to co-exist and learn."
-- Sisko, DS9's "Emissary"
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