In the Deep Space 9 Companion, Joe Menosky is quoted regarding the Star Trek episodes he wrote while living in Italy:
It's a great set-up: a Klingon croaks a mystifying "Victory!"; not long after, Odo's head is turned inside out by an unknown agent, but the story slows to a crawl, ultimately yielding nothing but a half-finished clock, visible thereafter in Sisko's office.
In the meantime, the crew, under influence of an alien archive, compulsively re-enacts an ancient schism, backing Sisko or Kira, while an immune Odo seeks a cure. In an effort to relieve the portentous mood, the script renders Dax nostalgic and dizzy, vaguely like her alter in "If Wishes Were Horses." Bashir fares best. As if taking Garak to heart, he's playfully cagey, and gets the best line: when Odo asks about the Klingon, the doctor responds, "He's still dead, if that's what you mean." The old joke a twinkling star, here.
"Dramatis Personae" evokes many episodes, including "Mirror, Mirror" and "Day of the Dove" from TOS. There's no reason Menosky and company would know, but it also bears great similarity to "The Savage Syndrome," a script for the never-filmed Phase II. However broken, "Dramatis Personae" may have been idea bank for the ensuing series, as Kira tries out the Intendant and Bashir revels in deceit. Ben Sisko's clock obsession prefigures his solar spaceship in "Explorers," and the ancient spire in "Rapture."
TNG did best with alternate-life scenarios, as in "Conundrum" and "The Inner Light" (Picard kept the flute). This formula is tricky on DS9: who cares about a play-acted mutiny when the real thing seems possible? "Dramatis Personae" is ultimately as fatuous as the supposed Maquis tensions on Voyager.
Given world enough, I'd try to reverse-engineer what Menosky had in mind. The original title was "Ritual Sacrifice"; Sisko's persona was inspired by Emperor Rudolf II, forward-thinking patron of arts and sciences in 16th-17th century Europe, keeper of a legendary cabinet of curiosities. Kira obsesses over Valerian gunrunning, evidenced by dolamide traces, the names suggesting sleep and sadness. The infectious archive belonged to the "Saltah'na," which evokes "sultan" (or maybe expat Menosky had been eating salted cod).
Given implied East-West border anxieties, a rounded version might've been DS9's answer to Black Narcissus. But episode-writers: if you build a clock, tell the time.
"there was always a fairly large gap between what I turned in and what was shot. And I can't even tell you what the differences were, because I never got to see any of the shows I wrote during that period!"Well, that's close to disowning the work without burning bridges. Considering "Dramatis Personae" comes near the end of Season 1 -- followed by two ambitious, provocative segments that would've eaten producer-hours -- this one fell to a time crunch.
It's a great set-up: a Klingon croaks a mystifying "Victory!"; not long after, Odo's head is turned inside out by an unknown agent, but the story slows to a crawl, ultimately yielding nothing but a half-finished clock, visible thereafter in Sisko's office.
In the meantime, the crew, under influence of an alien archive, compulsively re-enacts an ancient schism, backing Sisko or Kira, while an immune Odo seeks a cure. In an effort to relieve the portentous mood, the script renders Dax nostalgic and dizzy, vaguely like her alter in "If Wishes Were Horses." Bashir fares best. As if taking Garak to heart, he's playfully cagey, and gets the best line: when Odo asks about the Klingon, the doctor responds, "He's still dead, if that's what you mean." The old joke a twinkling star, here.
"Dramatis Personae" evokes many episodes, including "Mirror, Mirror" and "Day of the Dove" from TOS. There's no reason Menosky and company would know, but it also bears great similarity to "The Savage Syndrome," a script for the never-filmed Phase II. However broken, "Dramatis Personae" may have been idea bank for the ensuing series, as Kira tries out the Intendant and Bashir revels in deceit. Ben Sisko's clock obsession prefigures his solar spaceship in "Explorers," and the ancient spire in "Rapture."
TNG did best with alternate-life scenarios, as in "Conundrum" and "The Inner Light" (Picard kept the flute). This formula is tricky on DS9: who cares about a play-acted mutiny when the real thing seems possible? "Dramatis Personae" is ultimately as fatuous as the supposed Maquis tensions on Voyager.
Given world enough, I'd try to reverse-engineer what Menosky had in mind. The original title was "Ritual Sacrifice"; Sisko's persona was inspired by Emperor Rudolf II, forward-thinking patron of arts and sciences in 16th-17th century Europe, keeper of a legendary cabinet of curiosities. Kira obsesses over Valerian gunrunning, evidenced by dolamide traces, the names suggesting sleep and sadness. The infectious archive belonged to the "Saltah'na," which evokes "sultan" (or maybe expat Menosky had been eating salted cod).
Given implied East-West border anxieties, a rounded version might've been DS9's answer to Black Narcissus. But episode-writers: if you build a clock, tell the time.
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