3x10 Fascination

[7.1/10] I enjoy silly Star Trek more than most. Want to give me a Midsummer Night’s Dream-inspired dose of zany love potion-esque antics? I’m there. Want to have two separate Enterprise crews intoxicated by some peculiar molecular chains that leave them loopy? Here for it. Want to make an entire show about the unheralded junior officers getting into comical mischief? Sign me up.

So my issue with “Fascination” isn’t the premise or the tone. The idea of a romantic pheromone affecting people’s levels of attraction and pointing them in unusual directions is good for a laugh. The chaos of childhood crushes or awkward switcheroos in who’s chasing whom for the moment have a Shakespeare-meets-sitcom flair, and I can appreciate that. It’s been a serious, dramatic season so far. So having a lighter installment, one featuring the charms of Lwaxana Troi no less, is a welcome break.

My problem with the episode is that it essentially only has one trick. One person gets the headache, they pursue somebody who’s inappropriate or awkward, and the person they’re chasing gets all flustered and uncomfortable. That’s it. It comes in multiple flavors, but there’s not a ton of difference to the setup from instance to instance, so it starts to grow tiresome. The best you can say for “Fascination” on that front is that it starts to escalate as the episode continues, culminating in one big party where almost everyone’s wires are crossed, but it’s still the same move over and over again.

Jake pursuing Kira has the plausibility of a schoolboy crush and the fact that he’s on the rebound from a relationship with another Bajoran. But from the moment Vedek Bareil starts pursuing Dax and hamming it up, it’s pretty clear what’s going on, and the love triangle business is tired even in small doses. Dax going after Sisko has some juice thanks to Benjamin’s bemused, disbelieving reaction. But the cheese of where things spin out from there is a case of diminishing returns. Sure, there’s some meta amusement to Bashir and Kira hooking up given the actors’ real life romance, or Quark professing his love for Keiko after disclaiming human women a few scenes earlier, but the joke runs out of gas quickly.

Thankfully, at least, it’s a good outing for Lwaxana, which counts for plenty in my book. Yes, her courtship of Odo is a little awkward, but also chaste and sweet in its way. The mix between the extraverted and expressive Betazoid ambassador, and the staid, reserved changeling leads to plenty of good situational comedy. The moment where they dance (er, sway) to the Bajoran Gratitude Festival music is a little broad, but also very funny thanks to the performances for Barrett and Auberjonois.

Even as Lwaxana is sweet on Odo, I appreciate that the episode gives her time to be sincere and empathetic, and not just cartoonishly amorous. Barrett is a talented dramatic actress when given the opportunity. So even if she has some ulterior motives, seeing Lwaxana show legitimate concern for how Odo is holding up after the revelation about his people is endearing. And their scene together at the end of the episode, with Lwaxana perceptively acknowledging Odo’s attraction to Kira and her own futile offer that she’s around if he ever gets tired of waiting for her, is the right mix of sensitive and wistful. The two performers knock it out of the park.

It makes sense, that she’s the source of the romantic pathogen. The notion that “mature” Betazed women can have their feelings project and leak like this is, oddly enough, of a piece with TNG’s “Sarek”, which played a similar idea straight. While the origin of the wacky romantic feelings wasn’t necessarily obvious, Lwaxana being the unique element here made her the likely candidate, even if Bareil and Keiko functioned well enough as red herrings.

My only problem is the idea that the effect of the psychic pheromone wasn’t simply “love at first sight” but rather depended on “latent attraction.” I don’t mind Jake harboring a puppy dog crush on Kira, but some of the other pairings are uncomfortable at best. Bareil having a thing for one of Kira’s best friends is awkward and unnecessary. Kira and Bashir having an attraction seems out of nowhere. Quark disdaining human women while subconsciously liking at least one would at least be cutting as an observation on the psychological transference that such tut-tutting represents, but is still a bit off.

Most of all, though, I don’t care for the Dax/Sisko pairing. The show teased that in earnest in earlier seasons, and if there’s one thing I liked about their setup, it was that it served to disclaim the idea that they would be interested in one another. Benjamin taking the whole thing as a practical joke is the right approach, but the suggestion that Dax’s affections, loony though they may be, are based on something genuine, isn’t a note I ever wanted to see the show play. Still, maybe I’m putting too much stock in something the episode basically instructs the audience not to put too much thought into.

And yet, amid all that fluff and folderol, the show tells a good, more grounded story with Miles and Keiko O’Brien. There too, the conflicts are a little exaggerated. I don’t love the fact that Keiko’s unsympathetic to Miles’ objection to them having to be apart for seven months, and I don’t love the fact that Miles immediately suspects that Keiko’s friend from her expedition is more than a friend. But “Fascination” does a good job of tackling the difficult parts of a partnership, where people mean well but are tired from work or travel or the anticipation and expectations and time apart and so aren’t their best selves. The friction between the O’Briens is magnified for television, but comes with a germ of truth.

That makes the resolution that much better. Miles’ speech about making the odd stupid remark he wishes he could take back, but loving Keiko more than anything and being willing to give up his post on the station to be with her is beyond heartwarming. Colm Meaney is a wounded bird, hoping to fly once again, with utter earnestness in the scene. And despite the comical mishegoss that follows, their reunion at SIsko’s party, replete with Keiko wearing the dress Miles likes and expressing her equal love for him, lands things on the right note.

The tie between the two stories is that despite all the pheromones floating around, Miles’ profession of love was genuine, because his affections for his wife aren’t exactly latent. There’s a sweetness to that amid all the silliness. A goofy tale of light comedy is worthwhile. But sometimes, the kernel of an earnest love story amid all that can be even more potent.