As an episode of Trek, this may not be the very best there is to offer. But as an episode of television, strictly for entertainment purposes, "Badda-Bing Badda-Bang" is Fantastic. I also happen to think that it's not bad Trek either. Plus this week at work I had two different customers with the last name Pauley, and I got to shout out, "That's the problem with this business, too many people named Pauley!" At that point I laughed hysterically while everyone else looked at me like I was insane. Thanks, DS9.This episode stands out from the rest so distinctly because it completely deviates from the running story arcs of the series. I think that's what makes it so much fun. For a week we get to forget about the Dominion War and all the intricacies of what is going on and just play a game. That may have confused viewers at the time, but I think that the further exploration of this toy they call the holosuites is also worthy of screen time. Rarely do we get to see the holodeck/suites used for their intended purpose. We see them malfunction, almost kill people, become sentient, etc, all the time. Later on, Voyager does a decent job of showing the holodeck as hangout, or even a good getaway. But in this episode we get to see an entire game played out.
Vic Fontaine's lounge has been taken over by mobsters who kick him out, and compromise the existence of the program. This was all intentionally written in by the programmer, an off-screen jokester named Felix. Felix calls the incident a "jack-in-the-box," meaning something that pops up unexpectedly and must be dealt with. Fontaine is important to the crew, as they have all used him as a sounding board during struggles in their lives. He's important, but they don't go so far as to say that he's a real person. I like that. Even though Fontaine knows he's a hologram, and knows the other players are not, they don't try to make the case that he's sentient, a mistake often made in Trek. A fictional character can be smart, intuitive, and have a tremendous impact on one's life, while still being a fictional character. Have you ever read a novel that changed your life or helped you through a difficult period? That's what Vic Fontaine is, nothing more.
The crew has to band together in order to drive out the new management and restore order. They need one more person for their plot, but Sisko refuses. He's the one person that never visits Vic, and he reveals that it's because he feels uncomfortable in mid 20th century Vegas, because black people were not a part of that history. Sure, he says, they were there. As staff, as entertainers, as second class citizens. But for him to play the role of an average patron, or especially a high-roller, just feels out of place. I like that they brought this up. I just finished reviewing TNG's "Time's Arrow," and I couldn't help but feel weird about a black Guinan hosting a very hoity-toity white people literary review. They missed an opportunity in that show to address the racial injustice of the past, and opted instead to just ignore it. DS9 does not do that. They acknowledge that playing in the past would have certain risks for certain ethnicities. It should be done, and it's done well here with Sisko making a great case. But Kasidy counters by saying that she realizes it isn't historically accurate, but she pictures Vic's as a depiction of what it could have been like if people had been more enlightened. Further, she stresses that she's never been uncomfortable there, because the racism that Sisko speaks of does not exist in the recreation. It's not as good of an argument as Sisko's, but it works and he decides to join in a very dramatic surprise reveal.The plot is simple. They will rob the casino, so that when Frankie Eyes goes to give his boss Zeemo his cut, the safe will be empty and the whole thing will fall apart and all go back to normal. I encourage you not to look much more into the plausibility of that plan. It's just a game. Everyone has their role, and the whole thing plays out in a very Ocean's 11 fashion. Of course, everything goes wrong. The drink with the ipecac gets spilled, the normal count guy is out, and the safe has a re-locker that Nog is unfamiliar with. But all the players improvise and get the job done. Vic's is restored to normal, and they celebrate with a performance of "The Best is Yet to Come" by Vic and Sisko (who has a great voice, by they way).
And that's it. A holodeck episode that is just a holodeck episode. Not a holodeck gone wrong episode, or a holodeck character takes over the ship episode. Just an episode where all of our main characters play a game on the holodeck. I think I enjoyed this so much because holodeck technology is just the coolest thing ever introduced by Trek, yet rarely gets explored in a manner that shows what normal people would actually use it for. "Badda-Bing Badda-Bang" is just so much fun that it's Fantastic!
Published September 23, 2018
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