Bajoran politics at the forefront here. This could have been a strong episode if it didn't split its focus so much. The initial (very interesting) plot thread of the returning collaborator Kubus Oak gets sidelined and eventually forgotten by the election of the new Kai, the investigation into Bareil's past, Winn's machinations and some bizarre orb experiences. It's just a bit too fractured to get invested in, and it's maybe a bit overly serious.
Philip Anglim is a bit more relaxed here as Vedek Bareil, but still just seems to go through the motions whenever a scene requires him to be serious.
But we get the amazing Louise Fletcher reprising her role as Winn, and every scene with her is both magic and rage inducing. Her verbal sparring with both Kira and Sisko is great. Odo intimidating Quark into doing something illegal is fun. And for all the episode goes through, it does end with a series-changing event when Winn is elected as the new Kai.
My favourite part is a tiny moment which has nothing to do with the story: watch Odo's reaction when Kira admits to herself that she's in love with Bareil.
How did Quark find the right file if Kira and Odo never told him what to look for? All they told him was "certain communication files in the Vedek Assembly records". No source, destination, or date range was ever given, nor did anyone hand Quark a data storage device of any kind with the details of what he should look for.
There's a fairly strong "meh" factor to this episode, because so much of the outcome is obvious from the moment Winn starts Kira on her investigative mission. It's obvious that Winn knows the truth already, and it's obvious that Bareil didn't do it. What saves the episode from a "Meh" (5) rating is the acting. It's always the acting with this show. Even when the plot is utter shite (not that this one was that bad) this cast can usually salvage something worth watching from the muck.
The Bajoran political angle and the new information we gain about the power structure on Bajor during the Cardassian Occupation don't hurt, either. It's especially nice that this little "Opaka has skeletons in her closet too" thread got injected, reminding the viewers that even the most perfect hero you can possibly imagine has probably done something that would kill their reputation if it got out. (In most cases it's a lot smaller than precipitating the massacre of 43 people, but political candidates at all levels have had campaigns derailed by something so little as a careless remark made decades earlier…)
That's a snooze fest. Nothing to see here. The only interesting plot line was perhaps how to treat collaborators after a war. But that's not really discussed thoroughly. It's also one of those strange mystery episodes that I often don't like. There's also this big conflict between lovers. It's not working for me. That's too early. I would have preferred to learn more about their relationship before using their story. It's not like we have seen sparks (or Armor's arrows) flying yet. I also don't like Winn here. Her moves are too predictable and I wouldn't call her plan elaborate. We don't learning anything new about her character: she's still the scheming figure who wants power and isn't very subtle although she talks like that.
I awarded an additional point though because that's (perhaps) part of the big story arch. To be honest, I don't even think this is a must watch when quick-watching the main story. The only thing you need to know: Winn is still the same and she's a powerful figure on Bajor now.
The only interesting thing that I've always missed before: Odo is envy. He loves her already.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-03-10T23:39:27Z
[7.4/10] Kai Winn is one of my favorite villains in all of media because she angries up the blood. The passive aggressive barbs disguised as kindness lodge themselves under your skin. Her smiling demeanor that masks pure contempt for anyone who stands in her way is maddening. The sense of entitlement she carries and deference she expects from anyone and everyone makes you wish Sisko and Kira would just ban her from the station and be done with it for their own peace of mind. That’s the stuff great baddies are made of.
But that’s merely Winn’s demeanor, much of which owes to the incredible Louise Fletcher who knocks it out of the park in every appearance. What makes the new Kai truly contemptible is her hypocrisy. She claims to do all that she does in the name of protecting Bajor, following the will of the Prophets, and honoring the old ways. But they’re all a fig leaf for her otherwise naked desire to seize power and influence. There’s no principle beneath her Sydney Opera House hat or allegedly high-minded spiritual directives; only ambition dressed up in the cloth of religion.
No episode exemplifies that better than “The Collaborator”. When it comes time to select the new Kai, she’s willing to do anything to see that it’s her. She’ll even seek out an alliance with Captain Sisko (with a public announcement, of course), despite declaring him an enemy of the people. Only she’s happy to conveniently forget about that alliance when she has what she wants.
More to the point, she’s willing to surreptitiously kick up any dust she can around her main rival for the job, Vedek Bareil. She’ll even offer sanctuary to the hated Bajoran Quisling who worked with the Cardassians during the occupation if she thinks he’ll help her generate dirt on the other major contender for the job. There’s no scruples to Winn, nothin that limits how far she’ll go, beyond whether or not it will bring her the authority and recognition she so craves.
Her machinations set up a compelling mystery though. What really happened when some collaborating Bajorans gave the Cardassians the location of a resistance cell, leading to horrific massacre? There’s on official story, involving that hated Bajoran quisling and a monk who committed suicide, but Winn’s ready to suggest that it was Bareil who passed on the key details. The potential accusation, draped of course in faux-concern over how promoting a collaborator to Kai could harm Bajoran spiritual life, forces Kira to quietly investigate the claim, lest Winn blurt out her suspicions more publicly.
The premise works. Kira having to investigate her own boyfriend and consider the increasing possibility that he may be partly responsible for one of her people’s great tragedies, has good narrative and emotional potential. The story features some solid plot obstacles for our heroes to leap over, including impressing Quark’s digital lock-picking skills into service, recreate security footage, and uncover who may have been involved in the cover-up and why.
But I’m not crazy about the Bareil material. His visions when gazing into the tear of the prophets don’t find that right mix between the bizarre and the relevant that a good dream sequence does. Instead, they’re an excuse to use a gauzy lens, include some weird angles and symmetry, and call it a day. Even when you know the details of what he’s grappling with, they don’t seem particularly well-attuned to setting up the ultimate reveal or hinting at the truth.
They seem to be setting up that he feels increasingly guilty (or is at least increasingly likely to be exposed) for having transmitted the location of the resistance cell, while Kira is circling in on him. I’ll confess that I thought it was a little too obvious. There’s emotional hay to be made from Bareil struggling with his past misdeeds on the cusp of receiving a great honor, and from Kira slowly learning that her esteemed boyfriend may not be the great man she thought he was. But it felt like “The Collaborator” spent too much time spinning its wheels before pulling the trigger on their reciprocal discovery and confession.
Even if it had, there would still be stand out moments in the episode. There’s two scenes in particular when otherwise practiced and measured characters drop the mask for a moment that stick with you. When tasking Kira with the investigation, Winn sets aside the gentility for a moment and warns the Major never to speak to her with such disrespect ever again in a tone so harsh and frightening it’ll make your toenails curl. Given how consistently Winn puts on her friendly airs, seeing the look and tone of genuine menace grabs you.
Likewise, I love the moment where the otherwise unflappable Odo is flummoxed, however momentarily, when Kira tells him that she loves Bareil. It’s a great indicator of the friendship he feels toward her and, more to the point, the attachment he feels to her, even as he quickly brushes it off and goes into one of his diatribes about how humanoids are the last to realize these things about themselves. (It’s also not a bad motivator for him to help find any dirt on Bareil.)
But there is none, or rather, it points in the wrong direction. I’ll confess that not only did DS9 hoodwink me here, but also that I love the twist. It turns out that while Bareil helped with the cover-up, he didn’t commit the crime. The one who transmitted the key info to the Cardassians was none other than the saintly Kai Opaka, who sacrificed her own son in the massacre because letting the Cardassians eliminate that one cell was more just and fair than allowing them to kill thousands in search of the resistance fighters.
That’s the difference between Winn and Bareil. Winn will give up any principle, stoop to any tactic, no matter how underhanded, to boost herself up the ladder. Bareil, on the other hand, will give up his own chance to be Kai, allow the woman he loves to believe a vicious lie about him, in order to protect the good name of someone revered by his people. What she stood for, what she means to those people, and the strength of her convictions are more important to him than his own success and well-being. There’s a selflessness to him, a willingness to truly do what he thinks is best for the Bajoran people, that cuts a marked contrast from Winn’s craven efforts.
The irony, though, is that what’s best for Bajor may not be to let Winn take power as Kai. As much as Bariel wants to help Opaka save face, as he confesses to Kira when she uncovers his alibi, sullying her reputation may be preferable to letting someone so without principle become the spiritual leader to the Bajoran people.
That’s the beauty of Deep Space Nine though. Moral principle intersects with practical impact which intersects with the unknown and unexpected consequences of our choices that reverberate through the ages. The ride through “The Collaborator” is a bit bumpy, but it takes us to one hell of a destination.