This episode uses a mystery to feature Odo in a romantic role. A mysterious woman shows up with a lot of secrets, ala Dashiell Hammett. As she tries to wade her way through a series of challenges, there are two aliens trying to get a small transmitter off her. Her life is in danger and because Odo is immediately attracted to her, he does everything he can to protect her. Odo experiences sexuality for the first time and falls deeply in love. If there is a negative here, it is the convoluted efforts of those controlling this woman.
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Hitchcoc31 October 2018
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snoozejonc24 January 2023Odo gets mixed up with a female with connections to a criminal syndicate.
I think this is a mediocre episode with some good moments.
The plot is quite noir-like in that Odo gets involved with a femme fatale (ish) and there is a little a bit of a mystery around her background. However, for me the plot does not unfold in an intriguing way and the antagonists are not threateningly portrayed. The focus is more on the character development of Odo through the romance and whilst the mystery is explained in exposition dumps.
As with most Star Trek romances I think it does not work very well due to the episodic nature of the show and small amount of chemistry between characters. Arissa for me is not special enough to warrant a major character like Odo falling in love with her and, as usual, it feels these characters are in love because the writers say they are. Dey Young is not bad, but plays a standard, damsel, love interest character with no major acting challenges.
The positives I take from the episode are how it shows Odo in a physical relationship and it incorporates his changeling biology into certain aspects of the intimacy. This lays the foundation for future storylines.
Easily the most entertaining scenes involve the other DS9 regulars in their supporting roles for the story. All the gossipy scenes are humorous and Bashir's holodeck program is very funny. Colm Meaney's appearance is hilarious. -
thevacinstaller26 July 2021An interesting episode that provides a bit of romance/mystery into Odo's life. I could buy into Odo having an attraction for a mysterious woman as he is captivated by solving problems. While it is true that Odo is not human and not held captive by our emotions he has also lived his entire life around humans and was even transformed into one of us, so it's not too big of a stretch for me to believe he is capable of love.
In a modern tv show I bet they would have established Arissa as a love interest and played this out for several episodes before the reveal that she is an undercover agent. Probably would have had greater impact?
I appreciated the twist ending and did not see it coming. -
Tweekums12 July 2010When Odo goes into Quark's bar he isn't looking for romance but finds it in the form of Arissa, a woman who claims to be there to meet a man concerning her daughter who she allegedly put up for adoption fifteen years before. Unfortunately the man she was looking for had been killed. When she is caught taking a data storage crystal from his storage Odo realises the story she has told him was not true. She admits this saying that she has been involved with the Orion Syndicate and they want the contents of the crystal. Odo offers her protection and they end up spending the night together. As Odo grows closer to her it is revealed that the story she told him was not true; not because she lied but because she didn't know who she really was herself.
This was a really good episode, as always Rene Auberjonois put in a fine performance as Odo, guest star Dey Young was good in the role of Arissa, the two of them had a nice chemistry. As well as the main story there was some fun to be had from watching Kira and Dax gossiping about Odo and in an earlier scene seeing Chief O'Brien's reaction to being told that he is to play the bad guy in Dr, Bashir's new holosuite program. -
skinnybert5 February 2021Sure, I get what they're doing. Spock could have a love interest, because we see that Nimoy portrayed him as *repressing* his emotions, not burying them. Data more honestly stated he simply could not return romantic affection and did not (although he did seem to have some regard for both his cat and his "daughter" Lal).
Odo falling in love is well-portrayed by Rene Auberjonois, but it doesn't fit his character profile. Yes, it's nice to see him have some joy, but is it really meaningful? The Kira infatuation was always a weak element before, not illuminating anything about his character. Even interspecies sex makes little sense, because Odo's body is not actually human. Odo doesn't even take a break from solid form -- a major plot point in other episodes hardly even acknowledged here.
This of course reflects a deeper flaw in the Trek series: alien beings who are just like humans when the plot needs to happen the same as it would for non-sci-fi. Which is OK (sometimes even great; see TOS "Balance of Terror") but even more interesting is to sympathetically glimpse the unbridgeable difference of the truly alien -- which, to its credit, the Trek universe (including DS9) does try to do, sometimes.
But not here. If you just want to see Odo be in love, and you don't require that story to really inform or shape how the DS9 series has shaped his character, here you go. It isn't terrible, it's just disconnected from the rest of the show. -
altec917 March 2008I was touched. One of the finest episodes of the series, with excellent antagonists and a mature, well-handled potential romance. You can't go wrong with this episode.
The episode even cleverly incorporates elements found in cyberpunk lore (the attractive/dangerous woman has a cyberlink on her neck to connect to computer systems), and a nice detective/procedural back and forth between the protagonists.
The antagonists are portrayed very well, with a clever darkness about them. Some of the best "villains" to be seen in the DS9 series. OK, that's all I really have to say for now, however, I seem to be required to write at least 10 lines of text. Alright, the whole cast ensemble cast works great in this episode, as usual. -
planktonrules18 January 2015"A Simple Investigation" is a sub-par episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space 9". I say inconsistent because throughout the series, Odo has been the epitome of professionalism as the head of station security, however here he really, really lets his guard down--and all because of a pretty woman who is clearly a serial liar.
Odo meets Arissa near the beginning of the episode. This stranger complements him and clearly is trying to ingratiate himself towards him. Later, Odo learns that she has some involvement with the dreaded Orion Syndicate. However, she bats her pretty eyes and acts like she's a damsel in distress--and Odo seems to fall all over himself believing this crazy story. Eventually, Odo wakes up to the reality that she is NOT prime girlfriend material, and Odo's rebound relationship just isn't meant to be.