Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 2.09

Second Sight

Sisko meets Fenna, a mysterious woman, on the fourth anniversary of the death of his wife at the Battle of Wolf 359. Fenna disappears on more than one occasion before he can learn very much about her. The third time she disappears it is right before his eyes.

Dax and Chief O'Brian help Professor Gideon Seyetik, a visiting scientist, prepare to reignite Epsilon 119, a dead star. Sisko gets a bit of a shock when he meets Nidell, Seyetik's wife, and she looks just like Fenna. Sisko confronts Nidell but she doesn't recognize him.

Sisko and Dax accompany Seyetik and Nidell aboard the Prometheus, the ship that takes them to Epsilon 119. Fenna appears aboard the Prometheus after Nidell falls into a coma. Gideon recognizes her. He saw her once before, a few years prior. Dax believes that she is the unconscious manifestation of Nidell's mental energies.

Nidell appears to be dying. Gideon, believing that it is the only way to free Nidell and cure her, pilots the shuttle (that was supposed to be remotely guided) into the heart of Epsilon 119. He is killed, the star is reignited, and Nidell recovers but still has no memories of Fenna's encounters with Sisko.

Thoughts

Major Kira, Odo, Doctor Bashir, Quark, and Jake also appeared in this episode.

The Battle of Wolf 359 occurred in Star Trek: The Next Generation 4.01 The Best of Both Worlds - Part 2. Sisko's experiences in the battle were depicted in the first episode of Deep Space Nine, 1.01 Emissary.

Nidell is Halanan and comes from the planet New Halana. This is the only episode of Star Trek in which any Halanan appears.

There are two moments when Sisko kisses Fenna. The scenes were very steamy without being overdone.

Dax describes Fenna as a being of pure energy. This made me think of an episode of Star Trek (1966) in which Spock described the Organians as beings of pure energy. That episode was 1.26 Errand of Mercy, which also features the first appearance of the Klingons.

I enjoyed this episode very much. I thought the performances by the two guest stars were both extremely good. Salli Richardson was particularly good in the dual roles of Fenna and Nidell. I really got the sense that they were two different characters.

Notes

Richard Kiley played the part of Professor Gideon Seytik. This is the only episode of Star Trek in which he appeared. I have seen him before in an episode of Kraft Television Theatre, 8.16 Patterns.

I've seen Salli Richardson before in a couple movies but only one in recent years and she did not have a significant part in that movie.

This is the first of six episodes of this show that Alexander Singer directed. He directed six episodes of The Next Generation, the first of which was 6.04 Relics, and 10 episodes of Star Trek Voyager. He also directed episodes of Wonder Woman and The Rockford Files.