3x05 Second Skin

[7.7/10] Science is basically magic in the world of Star Trek, and that means any big personal reveal is plausible. One species has been able to be surgically altered to look like another since the tribbles arrived. Deep cover operatives have emerged on multiple versions of the Enterprise. Poor Geordi was brainwashed by the enemy. Captain Picard lived a whole other lifetime via powerful technology. And there’s major reveals yet to come about almost every member of the Deep Space Nine cast.

So while my natural skepticism of drastic changes to the status quo remains (at least until the series starts experimenting with serialization) there’s something plausible about the twist that Kira has been a secret Cardassian this whole time. As a member of their secret police puts it, the notion of the Obsidian Order reprogramming the mind of one of their partisans, planting her under deep cover in the Bajoran resistance, and pulling her out when the time is right to gain intel on the Federation is well within the capabilities, both technologically and ethically, of a traditional Trek bad guy species.

And yet, what makes the twist so plausible isn’t so much the sense of immoral, intense spy craft being well within the wheelhouse of key Cardassian operatives, but that it’s Kira’s greatest nightmare. For Kira Nerys, the former resistance fighter who abhors the Cardassians, hates them with every fiber of her being, becoming the thing she loathes so much would rock her psyche. As with Odo finding out that his species is in charge of the confederation threatening to destroy his home and his friends, there’s plenty of narrative and character-focused hay to be made from one of our main players discovering they have a connection with the villains that isn’t so easily shaken off.

Of course, we only get to explore that within the space of a single episode, but it’s just enough to give of a taste of how unmooring that would be for Kira, especially when her skepticism gradually erodes and she starts to believe this tale of a birth and life on Cardassia could be true. One of the great achievements of “Second Skin” is the way it aligns Kira’s doubts with the audience’s, letting her be slowly convinced of, at a minimum, the possibility that this tale could be true.

None of it would work, though, without a virtuoso performance by Nana Visitor. The moment when she sees herself as a Cardassian is jaw-dropping, and she sells the shock and horror of that moment like gangbusters. Even when she believes her captors are merely toying with her, the simple act of altering her to look like the people whom she resents from her very bones comes through as not just an unwelcome surprise, but a violation. Visitor’s reaction drives that idea home.

So does her pitch perfect performance in the rest of the episode. “Second Skin” asks a lot of her – emotional, intense acting at every turn – but she’s more than up to it. The fiery, uncooperative attitude that sees her biting back at her Cardassian captors, even when they’re playing nice, feels true to form. Heartfelt moments with a would-be father are appropriately touching through the steely Major being affected by this fast-formed familial bond. Most of all, the wordless moment where Kira stares at herself in the mirror having heard a video recital from her supposed former self, one that finally convinces her this could be the truth and her life over the past decade has been a lie, is a tour de force of acting. Visitor goes high volume, up to and including smashing the mirror, but never loses the truth of the moment – not an easy feat.

The meat of the episode rests in Kira grappling with that possibility. A representative of the Obsidian Order, Entek, calls her one of his agents and interrogates her, gently at first but with increasing hostility. A legate from the Cardassian Central Command, Ghemor, refers to her as Illiana, welcomes her home as his daughter, and protects her from the excesses of her gestapo-like supervisor. The tension between the two Cardassian officials, matched with Kira’s natural resistance to both carrot and stick in this situation, makes for interesting dynamics in every scene.

But this is also, appropriately enough, a good Garak episode. He still has enough friends on Cardassia to be a useful asset to Sisko and Odo in retrieving Kira, even if it comes against his will. And it is interesting to see how readily mercenary and unbothered Sisko is about impressing the simple tailor into service with the threat of exiling him from the safety of his station. Benjamin doesn’t even blink at Garak’s accusations of extortion, a sign of the practicality and morally gray territory through which the station’s Commander is unafraid to tread.

Thanks to Garak joining the search party, we learn a little more about the slippery operative. Whatever his sordid past, he senses enough danger from Cardassian Central Command wanting to neutralize him that he’s not just on a Bajoran station administered by the Federation out of convenience, but out of necessity. When the moment calls for it, he still has the command codes and the authoritative presence to send a Gul packing without question. And when his back’s against the wall, he’s not afraid to kill someone, even someone he once liked, to save his own neck. Simple Garak remains one of the show’s most intriguing characters, and it’s nice to see him in action on a mission where his full talents can be brought to bear.

His slipperiness gives cover to the big twist here. Kira’s Cardassian interrogators aren’t telling her the truth about this deep cover story and secret identity business. But it’s also not a ruse to get intel on Starfleet from her either. Instead, the ploy is a means for the Obsidian Order to expose Legate Ghemor as a dissident – a member of the Cardassian Central Command who’s working against it – using his desire to be reunited with his long lost daughter and willingness to do anything to see her happy and safe to smoke out his network of confederates.
It’s a good twist! The shiftiness and mercenary but committed tricks of the Obsidian Order are what make the “reveal” about Kira plausible. But they’re also what makes it seem feasible that they would go to such elaborate lengths to pin down a major politician as part of a broader conspiracy. The whole episode has focused on Kira’s psyche, while subtly layering in Ghemor’s motivations and sympathies as well. So when the final reveal locks in place, it’s a surprise, but an earned one.

The bond between Kira and Ghemor is earned as well, even if it forms quickly. (And hey, the fact that Kira’s friends rescue Ghemor from certain doom probably doesn’t hurt.) For Ghemor, Kira may not be his daughter, but she’s the closest thing he’s been able to find in the ten years since he lost Illiana. For Kira, despite her hatred of Cardassians, here is someone who showed kindness to her, who bears genuine love for his child wherever she may be, who would give up what he wants to protect her, and who agrees with her that what the Cardassian government’s doing is wrong. There’s a unique concordance between them, one that bridges the gap between them personally, and maybe their peoples.

Therein lies what’s so great about the technological magic that’s so often a feature of Trek. Yes, it makes wild narrative swings possible. But it also provides a canvas upon which the clash of nations can cool in the realm of shared understandings. Kira loathes the ones who oppressed her people. She detests the idea of sharing blood with them, let alone becoming one of them. And yet, through that magic, she countenances what it would be like to have been a Cardassian, sees once more that they are not a monolith, and finds a father figure in the least likely places. The character work, the meaning she gains from the experience, is what makes the twists and stretches here plausible beyond any bout of technobabble or piece of Trek history.