History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E04InvasiveProcedures

* {{Tuckerization}}: While testing Dax's memories in Verad, Sisko brings up the "Cliffs of Bole," named for frequent Trek director Cliff Bole (who actually directed the following episode).

* TheWorfEffect: ActionGirl Kira is issued a NoHoldsBarredBeatDown by Mareel. Our heroes will have to do something a bit more clever than just start punching their captors.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:[invoked] Quoted by Verad to Mareel when he mentions he would have spent his life pondering how things might have been different if he had been granted a Symbiont.

* CanonDiscontinuity: Possibly, given that Verad is never brought up again when Dax's hosts are listed off in future episodes. Perhaps he wasn't joined long enough to 'count', since the symbiont was only implanted in him for a few hours at most and removing it didn't kill him; or alternatively because he essentially stole the symbiont at phaser point rather than being assigned it. Or perhaps Jadzia, despite her sympathy for him, preferred not to remember the man who almost caused her ''death.''

* CanonDiscontinuity: Possibly, given that Verad is never brought up again when Dax's hosts are listed off in future episodes. Perhaps he wasn't joined long enough to 'count'.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Quoted by Verad to Mareel when he mentions he would have spent his life pondering how things might have been different if he had been granted a Symbiont.

** Keto is shamed into helping Bashir's medical procedures twice.

[=DS9=] is practically empty. A plasma disruption has forced most of the station to evacuate. = Still aboard is a skeleton crew of Sisko, Dax, Kira, Odo, O'Brien and... Quark, who is found acting suspiciously in an airlock.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Verad initially comes over as meek and genuinely regretful about what he is doing, only to reveal he has no real moral issues hurting or killing anyone who stands in his way of what he wants, he just dislikes the violence involved.

* InstantSedation: Bashir takes out Yeto with the off-button hypospray.

* RiddleForTheAges: It's left ambiguous about whether Verad was going to ditch Mareel or if he really did care for her.

[=DS9=] is practically empty. A plasma disruption has forced most of the station to evacuate. (Didn't they just bring back everyone after the evacuation during "The Siege"?) Still aboard is a skeleton crew of Sisko, Dax, Kira, Odo, O'Brien and...Quark, who is found acting suspiciously in an airlock.

And naturally, with the station mostly empty, bad guys show up. Feigning ship damage, two Klingons named T'Kar (Creator/TimRuss) and Yeto, a Trill named Verad (Creator/JohnGlover), and a woman named Mareel board the station. Making sure to lock Odo up in a jar and sticking it in stasis for good measure, they head for ops.

Verad is there for a specific reason. He's an un-joined Trill, dismissed as "unsuited" for joining. So he's decided to do an end-run around protocol, and just steal a Symbiont. And surprise surprise, the most suitable one is Dax.

Jadzia complies so he won't kill the hostage crew. Very reluctantly, Bashir goes through with the operation, doing his best to keep Jadzia stable.

The new Verad Dax however is feeling fit as a fiddle. His lady-friend Mareel, however, isn't wild about this new, confident Verad, who seems rather uninterested in her.

After making a vain attempt to take down T'Kar in ops, Quark is rushed off to sickbay with an ear injury. It's a lie of course, and Bashir sedates Yeto when he is distracted by Quark. The twosome quickly release Odo. Meanwhile Mareel realizes the Verad she loved is gone, and Sisko convinces her to let him separate Verad and Dax so she can get him back.

As Verad prepares to escape to the Gamma Quadrant, he's met with an docking bay that's empty except for a pissed-off Odo and Kira. Taking down the other Klingon, he runs for another shuttle, only to meet Sisko there, waiting with a phaser. Verad dismisses him, claiming that Sikso wouldn't shoot him for fear of harming the Dax symbiont.

He's wrong. With a quick phaser blast, Verad is taken to sick bay and liberated of Dax, who is safely returned to Jadzia.

%%* ButtMonkey: As per usual, O'Brien.

* CurbStompBattle: Major Kira receives on from Mareel, odd since she's generally the one who dishes these out.
** Sisko also hands T'Kar his ass pretty quickly when they go one on one.
* DarkActionGirl: Mareel, who gives a one-sided brutal beating to [[ActionGirl Kira]] of all people.
* DirtyCoward: T'Kar, at least as far as Klingons go. He shows none of the usual interest in honor or battle preffering to hold captives at bay with a disrupter and even aims for O'Brien's wound with a kick when the main cast are talking after he told them to be quiet. Fittingly he's also not much of a warrior by Klingon standards as when it comes time to fight hand to hand he gets his ass kicked by Sisko pretty easily. He also badmouths the current rulers of the Klingon empire -- it stands to reason that a Klingon doing mercenary criminal work would have a skewed sense of honor.

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: In sharing her backstory, Mareel strongly implies she was working as a prostitute when Verad fell in love with her.

* {{Irony}}: The final line of the episode is Jadzia commenting how Verad will "always be with me." [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse Verad is never mentioned again in the series.]] Later in the series we go from Verad being obsessed with getting the Dax symbiont to [[spoiler:a Dax that didn't even want it in season 7]].
* KarmaHoudini: Armin Shimerman wasn't wild about this episode because he thought Quark got off way too easy.
** TheAtoner: On the other hand, Quark makes up for his part in bringing the situation about by taking uncharacteristic risks to give the others an opening--most notably a WoundedGazelleGambit that involves ''fighting a Klingon.''

* PetTheDog: While Bashir works to keep Jadzia alive without the Symbiont, he tries to get Yeto to help, eventually resorting to yelling at him to help him keep his patient alive. Yeto, bemused by the doctor showing spine to him, takes the offered instrument and does as ordered.

* TheWorfEffect: ActionGirl Kira is issued a NoHoldsBarredBeatDown by Mareel. Particularly notable as there's no indication Mareel has any formal martial training; she's a former street urchin who used to ''work at an inn''.
** T'Kar also counts. He's supposed to be a ProudWarriorRaceGuy but is bested in hand to hand combat by both Sisko and Odo.

[=DS9=] is practically empty. A plasma disruption has forced most of the station to evacuate. (Didn't they just bring back everyone after the evacuation during "The Siege"?) Still aboard is a skeleton crew of Sisko, Dax, Kira, Odo, O'Brien and...[[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Quark]], who is found acting suspiciously in an airlock.

* WorfHadTheFlu: Only explanation for how Kira got her ass handed to her. When in 2 seasons she would be taking on Klingons 4 at a time.

* DirtyCoward: T'Kar, at least as far as Klingons go. He shows none of the usual interest in honor or battle preffering to hold captives at bay with a disrupter and even aims for O'Brien's wound with a kick when the main cast are talking after he told them to be quiet. Fittingly he's also not much of a warrior by Klingon standards as when it comes time to fight hand to hand he gets his ass kicked by Sisko pretty easily.

And naturally, with the station mostly empty, bad guys show up. Feigning ship damage, two Klingons named T'Kar (Tim Russ) and Yeto, a Trill named Verad (Creator/JohnGlover), and a woman named Mareel board the station. Making sure to lock Odo up in a jar and sticking it in stasis for good measure, they head for ops.

And naturally, with the station mostly empty, bad guys show up. Feigning ship damage, two Klingons named T'Kar and Yeto, a Trill named Verad, and a woman named Mareel board the station. Making sure to lock Odo up in a jar and sticking it in stasis for good measure, they head for ops.

* TheWorfEffect: ActionGirl Kira is issued a NoHoldsBarredBeatDown by Mareel.

* WorfHadTheFlu: Only explanation for how Kira got her ass handed to her. When in 3 seasons she would be taking on Klingons 4 at a time.

After making a vain attempt to take down T'Kar in ops, Quark is rushed off to sickbay with an ear injury. It's a lie of course, and Bashir sedates Yeto when he is distracted by Quark. The twosome quickly release Odo.

%%* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Quoted by Verad to Mareel.

And naturally, with the station mostly empty, bad guys show up. Feigning ship damage, two Klingons, a Trill named Verad, and a woman named Mareel board the station. Making sure to lock Odo up in a jar and sticking it in stasis for good measure, they head for ops.

After making a vain attempt to take down a Klingon, Quark is rushed off to sickbay with an ear injury. It's a lie of course, and Bashir sedates one of the Klingons when he brings Quark in. The twosome quickly release Odo.

** Sisko also hands the Klingon mercenary his ass pretty quickly when they go one on one.

* DirtyCoward: At least as far as Klingons go. The merc played by Tim Russ shows none of the usual interest in honor or battle preffering to hold captives at bay with a disrupter and even aims for O'Brien's wound with a kick when the main cast are talking after he told them to be quiet. Fittingly he's also not much of a warrior by Klingon standards as when it comes time to fight hand to hand he gets his ass kicked by Sisko pretty easily.

* InstantSedation: Bashir takes out one of the Klingon guards with the off-button hypospray.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Quark uses Obfuscating ''Annoyance'' to his advantage several times throughout the episode. First when he meets Odo coming out of the airlock, he acts so smarmy and obviously plotting of something that all of Odo's attention stays on him rather than checking the airlock. Later on, after his gambit in Ops, he wails so shrilly and agonizingly that Verad is willing to send him over to Bashir just so he won't have to listen to him. Once there, Quark continues to be a huge annoying distraction, allowing Bashir to get the drop on his Klingon guard.

** The Klingon played by Tim Russ also counts. He's supposed to be a ProudWarriorRaceGuy but is bested in hand to hand combat by both Sisko and Odo.

* {{Irony}}: The final line of the episode is Jadzia commenting how Verad will "always be with me." [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse Verad is never mentioned again in the series.]] Later in the series we go from Verad being obsessed with getting the Dax symbiont to [[spoiler:a Dax that didn't even want in in season 7]].