Necessary Evil 

Odo relives some terrible and tragic memories of a past investigation when he was the constable on Cardassian-occupied Deep Space Nine, then named Terok Nor.

Director:

James L. Conway

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (based upon "Star Trek" created by), Rick Berman (created by)

Stars:

Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Avery Brooks	...	Commander Sisko
Rene Auberjonois	...	Odo
Alexander Siddig	...	Doctor Bashir (as Siddig El Fadil)
Terry Farrell	...	Lieutenant Dax
Cirroc Lofton	...	Jake Sisko (credit only)
Colm Meaney	...	Chief O'Brien (credit only)
Armin Shimerman	...	Quark
Nana Visitor	...	Major Kira
Katherine Moffat	...	Vaatrik Pallra
Max Grodénchik	...	Rom
Marc Alaimo	...	Gul Dukat
Robert MacKenzie	...	Trazko

Storyline

Quark is on Bajor negotiating with a woman, Pallra. She wants him to retrieve a strongbox from the station, hidden behind a panel in the chemist's room. A man is secretly listening to their conversation. With the help of Rom, Quark has no problem finding the box, but his curiosity makes him open it. He finds a list of Bajoran names. Before he is able to copy it, he gets shot by a man - the same man who'd been listening in while Quark spoke with Pallra. While Dr. Bashir tries to save Quark's life, Odo questions Rom. He tells about the chemist's room and Odo is immediately reminded of a murder case several years ago. He was forced by Gul Dukat to investigate the murder of the owner of a shop, Vaatrick. His wife Pallra accused a mistress of the murder.

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Plot Keywords:

box | 24th century | unsolved case | tea | neck | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 November 1993 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

46 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Referenced Rules of Acquisition: #139 ("Wives serve, brothers inherit")

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Goofs

A couple episodes earlier in Maloria, Julian says that Anti-Gravs don't work with the Cardassian construction, yet here, he calls for and then transports Quark on one.

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Quotes

Major Kira: We never talked about it.
Odo: We never had to.
Major Kira: I would have been executed.
Odo: You were innocent of the crime I was investigating.
Major Kira: That wouldn't have mattered to the Cardassians.
Odo: It mattered to me.

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Soundtracks

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Main Title
(uncredited)
Written by Dennis McCarthy
Performed by Dennis McCarthy

User Reviews

It's all flashbacky...

When the episode begins, Quark is doing what he usually is doing-- getting involved in an illegal scheme to earn some fast money! However, the folks he's in business are a tricky bunch and for his efforts he ends up being murdered. Fortunately, the body is found quickly and Dr. Bashir is able to revive him. But it is touch and go and the worry is that the killer might return to finish the job.

What follows is an episode punctuated with flashbacks from an earlier investigation that Odo was involved in during the Cardassian occupation. Exactly how the cases are interrelated is uncertain and only at the end do you learn the truth about the murder and the one Odo investigated several years earlier.

This episode is a decent murder mystery. Nothing particularly special except that it allows for some character development between Kira and Odo. It also has a few funny scenes between Odo and Rom when Odo suspects that Rom might have tried to kill his brother in order to inherit the bar. My favorite went like this:

Odo: You're not as stupid as you look.

Rom: Yes I am!