History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E08NecessaryEvil

* LesCollaborateurs: The murder victim in the past turns out to have been a mole for Gul Dukat, hence Dukat's desire to appear hands-off in the investigation, Ches'so's comfortable lifestyle, and the mystery surrounding [[MacGuffin the list of names]] -- they're all Bajoran informants.

Odo flashes back to five years ago, when Gul Dukat deputized him to become his "investigator" and look into the murder of the station's Bajoran chemist. Odo is reluctant to do the assignment but agrees to find the murderer to prevent Dukat from summarily executing a bunch of Bajorans. He questions the chemist's widow, who says that her husband was having an affair with a woman who must have killed him out of jealousy. The woman turns out to be Kira.

* FemmeFatale: Pallra oozes this trope as a high-class sex bomb who has people blackmailed and killed.

* YouGotSpunk: Dukat is amused that Odo is not afraid of him.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Gul Dukat would rather find who's responsible for a murder than randomly execute ten Bajorans, as the government would ''like'' him to do.

Quark is on Bajor talking to a wealthy Bajoran woman named Vaatrak. She hires him to recover a mysterious object on Deep Space Nine. Quark enlists Rom's help, who proves to be such a skilled thief that Quark vows to reinforce all of his security systems at the bar. They recover the object, a small box. Quark opens it, but all it contains is a list of eight Bajoran names. As Quark puzzles over the list, a Bajoran emerges from the shadows and takes the box, telling Quark that Vaatrak knew he wouldn't be able to resist opening the box. The man shoots Quark and departs. Rom returns after a few moments and discovers his brother comatose and screams for help.

Back in the present, Rom recalls that one of the names on the list might have been "Chesso." Odo visits Vaartak, but she denies knowing anything about a list or a Chesso. Odo notes that Vaartak is living quite opulently for having recently been in financial straits, but Vaartak claims that she received a gift from a secret lover. Odo returns to the station and chats with Kira about how this recent crime reminds them both of the murder that first brought them together.

In the present, Kira tells Odo that she's identified "Chesso" as a Bajoran with a similar-sounding name who just yesterday died in an accident. Odo realizes that Vaatrak had the man killed after Odo gave her his name. Now that she knows Quark is still alive, she'll try to have him killed too. After more investigation, Odo discovers that Vaatrak has recently received 100,000 litas from "Chesso" and seven other Bajorans. Odo realizes that the names on the list were Cardassian collaborators, and Vaatrak has been using the list to blackmail them. He leaves to question her again, though her assassin still lurks in the shadows.

* {{Blackmail}}: This is Vaatrak's motive for acquiring the list of names. Unlike the many times that Quark has described Odo's extortion as blackmail, this really ''is'' an example.

** In the present, Odo tells Kira "you were a better liar than I thought" for hiding how she was the killer. Kira defends herself on how her job was never to assassinate the shopkeeper, just steal his list of collaborators and he caught her in the act.

* GoodCopBadCop: Sisko and Odo, respectively, when grilling Rom about why Quark was shot. Odo plays on the "fraternal inheritance" motive angle along with the usual PerpSweating, while Sisko uses family friend connection between his and Rom's sons to "rein in" Odo.

* HyperAwareness: Odo notes that Vaatrik Pallra hasn't been crying as she claims since her eyes aren't swollen.

* ProfessionalKiller: Vaatrak has one on the station who tries to kill Quark twice.

* TwistedEchoCut: Quark and Dukat are sharing an EvilLaugh when the scene {{Age Cut}}s to a group of customers laughing in contemporary Quark's.

Odo flashes back to five years ago, when Gul Dukat deputized him to become his "investigator" and look into the murder of the station's Bajoran chemist. Odo is reluctant to do the assignment but agrees to find the murderer to prevent Dukat from summarily executing a bunch of Bajorans. He questions the Chemist's widow, who says that her husband was having an affair with a woman who must have killed him out of jealousy. The woman turns out to be Kira.

In the present, Kira tells Odo that she's identified "Chesso" as a Bajoran with a similar-sounding name who just yesterday died in an accident. Odo realizes that Vaatrak had the man killed after Odo gave her his name. Now that she knows Quark is still alive, she'll try to have him killed too. After more investigation, Odo discovers that Vaatrak has recently received 100,000 litas from "Chesso" and seven other Bajorans. Odo realizes that the names on the list were Cardassian collaborators, and Vaatrak has been using the list to blackmail them. He leaves to question her again, with Vaatrak's assassin still lurking in the shadows.

Quark is on Bajor talking to a wealthy Bajoran woman named Vaatrak. She hires him to recover a mysterious object on Deep Space Nine. Quark enlists Rom's help, who proves to be such a skilled thief that Quark vows to reinforce all of his security systems at the bar. They recover the object, a small box. Quark opens it, but all it contains is a list of eight Bajoran names. Quark puzzles over the list, a Bajoran emerges from the shadows and takes the box, telling Quark that Vaatrak knew he wouldn't be able to resist opening the box. He shoots Quark and departs. Rom returns after a few moments and discovers his brother comatose and screams for help.

Odo flashes back to five years ago, when Gul Dukat deputized him to become his "investigator" and look into the murder of the station's Bajoran chemist. Odo is reluctant to do the assignment but agrees to find the murderer to prevent Dukat from summarily executing a bunch of Bajorans. He questions the Chemist's widow, he says that her husband was having an affair with a woman who must have killed him out of jealousy. The woman turns out to be Kira.

Back in the present, Rom recalls that one of the names on the list might have been "Chesso." Odo visits Vaartak, but she denies knowing anything about a list or a Chesso. Odo notes that Vaartak is living quite opulantly for having recently been in financial straits, but Vaartak claims that she received a gift from a secret lover. Odo returns to the station, and both he and Kira are uncomfortable about that initial murder that first brought them together.

In the past, Odo interrogates Kira, who initially assumes that Odo is a john and rebuffs him. Once Odo clears up the matter, she claims that the murdered man was nothing but a friend, and she knows nothing about the murder. And besides, she has an alibi: Quark. Then she accuses Odo of collaborating with the Cardassians by being Dukat's enforcer. Odo objects, saying that he doesn't choose sides, but Kira counters that he will have choose one eventually.

In the present, Kira tells Odo that she's identified "Chesso" as a Bajoran with a similar-sounding name who just yesterday died in an accident. Odo realizes that Vaatrak had the man killed after Odo said his name. Now that she knows Quark is still alive, she'll try to have him killed too. After more investigation, Odo discovers that Vaatrak has recently received 100,000 litas from "Chesso" and seven other Bajorans. Odo realizes that the names on the list were Cardassian collaborators, and Vaatrak has been using the list to blackmail them. He leaves to question her again, with Vaatrak's assassin still lurking in the shadows.

In the past, Odo interrogates Quark, who initially tries to claim that he hired Kira as a prostitute, but Odo knows that Kira doesn't do that kind of thing. The Ferengi finally admits that she paid him to be her alibi. Odo confronts Kira again, and she admits that she's a member of the Bajoran Underground who is on a mission. She continues to deny committing the murder and begs Odo for mercy. Dukat arrives to receive Odo's report, forcing Odo to take a side. He covers for Kira.

With the mystery solved, Odo lets Kira know that he has finally solved the five-year-old mystery: Kira really ''was'' the murderer. She killed the chemist because he was the spy handler for the eight Bajoran collaborators. Kira tearfully admits that the lie has been a great burden on her, but she never came clean because she thought Odo would never be able to trust her in quite the same way. Odo seems about to assuage her fears, but then drops his head, unable to say anything.

* CannotTellALie: Ironically, Odo's reputation for BrutalHonesty helps Kira escape Dukat.

* DramaticThunder: Throughout Quark's meeting with Pallra.

* FemmeFatale: Pallra oozes this trope, but it's a RedHerring. The true FemmeFatale is Kira.
* FriendshipMoment: Odo points out that it's been over a year since the Cardassians left, and Kira could have told him the truth any time. When she admits she didn't want to risk their friendship, he notes that it might not have to.

A Bajoran woman hires Quark to recover an item on Deep Space Nine, which leads to the reopening of an old murder case, from the days of the Occupation, involving Odo, Gul Dukat, and Kira Nerys.

* {{Cyberpunk}}: The flashbacks definitley feel like this, being set in a dystopian, futuristic area.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure:
** During the Occupation, Odo was regarded as a fair, neutral observer who the Bajorans came to when they needed to settle disputes.

* WhateverHappenedToTheMouse: The ever-pragmatic Dukat told Odo he was hiring him to investigate in preference to the recommendation of his superiors, who told him he should just round up and execute ten Bajorans at random in retaliation for the murder. Odo failed to find his culprit, however; which leaves us to wonder whether Dukat decided to carry out those executions.
** Considering that a later episode shows Odo present at just such an execution, the answer is almost certainly "Yes".

* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Nobody ever had to teach Odo the "justice trick" -- it's ingrained into him on a genetic level, an early glimpse of the Founders' inborn need to impose order. Intentional or not, Odo's blunt statement at the start that "Everything's under control" is chilling in retrospect once we learn about the Dominion's true leaders.
** Rom's surprising facility with technology ends up being very, very important by the end of season 5.

* {{Irony}}: Odo says that his passion for justice may be his only clue to the nature of his own kind. Turns out their desire for order and security is the closest thing they have to Odo's ideals.

* {{Cyberpunk}}}: The flashbacks definitley feel like this, being set in a dystopian, futuristic area.

* CharacterDevelopment: In this episode, Rom moves to being at a midpoint between his Season 1 characterization as a StupidEvil character who's out to bump off Quark and take control of the bar, and his later GeniusDitz personality. He shows off some mechanical skill when he's breaking through locks, but also clearly isn't too bothered by the prospect of Quark's death, since it'll cause him to inherit the bar -- albeit he doesn't try to finish off Quark himself, which he'd have done the previous season.

* CallBack: Odo mentions walking out on the Bajoran scientist who was studying him ("The Alternate").