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admiralgorn
Reviews
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Duet (1993)
The Best Episode of Star Trek.
This is, in my personal opinion, the most powerful episode of Star Trek ever brought to fruition. The central issue is the guilt of the coward: something that we all fear, despise, and yet sympathize with. We pray that when morality is discarded we will have the bravery to stand against inhuman cruelty, and yet we know we can't; a society in motion pays no heed to the ethics of the individual. This episode beautifully portrays the emotional evisceration of a Cardassian who was too afraid to stand and sacrificed himself after the war to bring justice to those who suffered as a result of his indecision. Nana Visitor, herself one of the most talented actors (or actresses) in ST history conveys the evolution of a person consumed by hatred for the enemy to despair for those who could not protest true evil with masterful skill.
Star Trek has served as grounds for calling into question many of Western society's most pressing ethical questions; let each viewer of "Duet" be reminded of the burning and eternal torment of the coward, a guilt that can be understood but cannot be forgotten or forgiven.
Harris Yulin and Nana Visitor should be congratulated as having been the vessels of the most powerful emotional journey in all of Star Trek's history.