Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series) The Darkness and the Light (1997) User Reviews

More terrible Federation security

[Hughmanity · 6/10 · 4 September 2020]

It's amazing how poor Federation security is. DS9s computer systems are regularly hacked and shut down at the most inopportune times. The Defiant loses control systems regularly at the hands of the enemy. Worf once let a Ferengi crew of FIVE take over the entire Enterprise ship of 500 people with ease. Now there are apparently "hunter drones" that just fly around DS9 and kill people on a whim and there are no defenses against this.

So what's the solution? Apparently it's letting a very pregnant woman go charging around, beat up Federation security officers, steal a ship and go after the perpetrator on her own only to get captured.

Sounds like treason or at least a career ending move but it's Kira, so of course there won't be any repercussions. She's just a hothead, ya know?

Shades of grey was already taken.

[thevacinstaller · 6/10 · 20 July 2021]

I enjoyed the over the top performance of the Cardassian talking like a narrator of a book.

If I dig deep within myself I can understand the loyalty that Kira has towards her resistance cell and possibly justify the idea of being 8 1/2 months pregnant going on a hitman mission. I have to dig extremely deep since this isn't actually her baby.

I am admittedly pretty bummed out that her team members of the resistance cell died ----- I enjoy their performances in previous episodes.

If I was a writer of this episode I would have wrote it that Odo and Kira both going on this mission to track down the assassin. This way you can have some dramatic tension of either Odo or Kira being in danger and build on that love story angle. Odo should be involved in this since he is a close confidant of Kira's.

The premise of the past coming back to haunt you is solid but this could have been executed more effectively ----- Maybe a post pregnancy episode? Perhaps lean into the conflict of Kira the resistance fighter versus Kira the girl guide starfleet associate?

It's just missing a few elements to tie it in together.

Somebody is killing Kira's old comrades

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 2 July 2010]

Somebody is killing members of Major Kira's resistance cell and it appears that she is some how key to their motivation as after each murder she alone receives the simple message, 'That's One','That's Two', etc. As her friends are murdered she gets more worried, especially when two of those killed were in her quarters at the time that they died. Odo manages to create a list of suspects and tells the Major that he will continue to narrow it down. She however decides to take matters into her own hands and steals the list and heads off to find the killer; an action that nearly gets her killed.

This episode was pretty exciting; I had an idea who was guilty but it turned out I was wrong, not that it was possible to guess the killer's identity as there was no mention of him until the end. It was interesting to learn a bit more about Kira's time in the resistance and to see how brave she is when facing almost certain death. My only real complaint about the episode was that the killer was far to theatrical when he taunted Kira after capturing her, still it wasn't bad enough to spoil the episode.

Summary

[Hackintosh · 8 August 2006]

Stardate: 50416.2

One by one, members of the Shakaar resistance cell are murdered, and Kira becomes increasingly worried that she will be next. Kira is taunted by the killer every time a member of the cell is killed, all-the-while being very pregnant. She finally works on her own to find the killer and save her life.

All told, six members of the Shakaar resistance cell have been killed: Latha Mabrin, Trentin Fala, Mobara, Lupaza and Furel.

It's the first time we learn that Kira officially joined the Shakaar resistance at 13, and that Lupaza made Kira's earring from a piece of metal from Kira's first skirmish.

Completely justified! I'm referring to the Cardassian!

[iblack-23610 · 6/10 · 20 August 2022]

Kira and her gang felt justified for murdering any person on their planet just for being there OK. But they didn't seem to care if they were soldiers or civilians. The past caught up with most of them and were killed but not Kira! She still feels like she's the one hard done by, and to a degree she is. However her putting the unborn kid in obvious danger is inexcusable. She always seems to avoid responsibility no matter what she does to justify her past. She should have been written to be killed off in the series. This episode would have been a perfect opportunity, save the baby and let Kira accept responsibility by dying. Not let her dodge it again.

Memorable Kira episode

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 4 January 2023]

Members of Kira's former resistance/terrorist group are assassinated one by one.

This is a strong episode with some character defining moments for Kira.

The plot is quite simple with no real surprises as events unfold, but the thought-provoking character moments involving Kira and guest character Silaran are pretty good. He is not written as a one-note baddie, but as someone seriously disturbed by what has been done to him. She is portrayed as unapologetic and committed to her beliefs, which is a recognisable in the way people act in situations of occupation and resistance. It echoes the first season episode 'Duet', but with the element of Kira's pregnancy to give it an extra sense of danger.

Many criticise the portrayal of her renegade actions whilst pregnant, but I think the writers hold true to the character. She reacts violently to defend herself and the baby from an assassin, so for me, all the motivations are plausible. The lack of any consequence is the biggest stretch to the suspension of disbelief, but it's not the first time Star Trek presses the reset button following events that should have major implications for a character. It would also have been useful to see the character Shakaar contribute to this story but unfortunately that did not happen.

Nana Visitor and Randy Oglesby both do great work with the material they have, plus the support from the likes of Rene Auberjonois, William Lucking and Diane Salinger is good.

I think it is technically a very strong episode with numerous great visuals. I particularly like the framing and lighting of numerous scenes, plus Kira's action sequences are very well done considering what the are asking the audience to accept that she is doing.

Kira does as she pleases once again

[jeremy-915-532321 · 4/10 · 12 June 2012]

Well Kira outdid herself this episode.

1) Assaults several security personnel who are trying to stop her killing everyone by flooding the corridor with vacuum. 2) Would have killed said people but for passing out. 3) Misused emergency transport for her own ends. Twice. 4) Accessed Odo's security data without access. 5) Deleted Odo's security data. 6) Stole the Defiant 7) Knowingly takes someone else's unborn child into mortal danger. 8) Murdered a Cardassian

But all's well that ends well and they all go home happy.

Seriously?

No Simple Answers

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 29 October 2018]

Major Kira is a frustrating character. Other than Quark, there is no more volatile and frustrating character in this series. She is filled with venom engendered by her experiences as a rebel fighter. One day, a significant resistance fighter is killed and it turns out that someone is seeking revenge. When the count reaches five, we realize that she may be next. Of course, she breaks every rule in Starfleet. For some reason, her actions are ignored and she never loses status. She almost gets the station blown up and assaults guards. She goes off on her own, attempting to apprehend the perpetrator. And, she risks the life of the baby she is carrying as a surrogate for the O'Briens. Finally, it isn't hard to understand the motivations of the bad guy. He has suffered huge losses himself. War makes things less simple.

Great mystery thriller turns into comical b-movie

[romkevdv17 · 5/10 · 3 December 2021]

All I have to say is that this episode was ramping up to be a 8 or possibly even a 9. But then the ending reveal turns it into some shlock cheesy action movie where the terrorist or villain of the film is some person bent on revenge because of some obscure past wrong-doing. The climax is over-acted, poorly written and childish. The villain reveal is comical in his lame motive. Some guy gets injured in an attack and has facial deformity, how original. Then he goes on to have a bunch of Shakespearean monologues with elaborate fanciful words. It is just silly. For all of Star Trek's clever episodes and unique concepts you have a stinker like this that makes it look like any run-of-the-mill B-movie with no effort. Kira's 'arc' is equally comical with the dialogue about the guilty and Cardassian occupation. Couldn't they think of anything clever or interesting? The climax is an absolute bore to watch and cringeworthy that really dampens all the great build-up in the rest of the episode. Skip this episode, it'll save you from feeling disappointed and irritated. Its a shame with the fantastic episodes in season 4 and how often they got detective/mystery thriller's right. Maybe its the fact that Odo barely plays a role in this episode, which he should do as the security officer. What's he doing all this time except staring at a list of 25 random Cardassians. Not to mention the fact that Kira runs into the terrorist first-thing after removing 5 namss from list. At least her Shakaar colleagues are sympathetic and her stories about the past are too, even if they are just exposition. Also they're all people we've never heard of before which makes it hard to sell the emotion. Kira should probably be court-martialed for this.

Kira is a jacka$$, as usual; only now she's endangering the O'Brien's baby

[txriverotter · 2/10 · 27 June 2022]

I've never been a fan of Kira. From the very first episode I thought Nana Visitor way overacted this character.

Yes, she's angry the Federation is coming. Yes, she's angry from the Occupation of Bajor. Yes, she's angry because she's just angry.

We definitely get that.

But what I don't like is that Kira regularly breaks all the rules and never pays. It's not the first time in Trek history we've had this, but it's a real common occurrence with this particular character.

In this episode, which started out to be an interesting mystery, we learn a member of Kira's old resistance cell, the Shakaar's, has been murdered. Kira receives a taunting message "That's one." which lets everyone know this isn't going to end well. Then Kira is contacted by someone who wasn't a member of the resistance, but helped them. And she's terrified, so Kira has Dax and Worf stop by on their way back to DS9 to pick up this lady so she can stay at the station. But upon transport, the lady is murdered by some sophisticated device that can break thru Federation technology super easily.

Then two of Kira's closest friends show up at DS9 and decide they're going to stay in Kira's quarters with her, to keep her and them safe, since supposedly, the station's security has been strengthened even more than normal. Well, they're immediately murdered because literally ANYONE can break into the Federation's systems, and here comes Hulk Kira, as another reviewer likes to call her.

For some reason, she staggers down the hallway toward her quarters, beating up every strong male Security Officer she encounters, at eight months pregnant no less, and tries to open a door that will kill them all because of the vacuum. Luckily, the moron passes out before that.

She wakes in the infirmary and Odo comes to tell her he has a list of suspects and he's working thru them, but he will find out who's doing this and stop them. So ignorant Kira decides, at eight months pregnant WITH SOMEONE ELSE'S BABY, that she's gonna illegally access Odo's security files, then delete said files so no one can follow her, and steal a Federation ship to trek off on her own and find the killer.

You can guess what happens next. She finds the killer and almost ends up being killed herself, along with the O'Briens's baby! I understand she's upset about her friends, but what a selfish a$$ she is.

Then we get some really bad dialogue from this schlock-villain, until Kira somehow saves herself, like none of the other cell members were capable of, and blah blah blah all is well that ends well, no mention of that security breach and stolen ship.

If I was Keiko O'Brien, the first thing I'd do when Kira got back to the station was punch her in the effing face. And hard! It won't hurt the baby.

This was a waste of an episode on multiple levels, and it's a shame because it started out really good.

A decent enough idea but the writing was quite poor.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 6 January 2015]

"The Darkness and the Light" is a frustrating episode. While it has a neat idea for the plot, some really awful dialog and poorly written characters make this one a chore to watch from start to finish--especially the finish.

When the show begins, one of Major Kira's old friends in the Resistance has been murdered. Soon, more and more of these old compatriots start dying and it's obvious that someone has a beef against these folks. But without knowing who it is, they only can sit around like sitting ducks.

This episode gets really bad in the last 10 minutes...really, really bad. When Major Kira thinks that her old friends have been blown into space, she runs about the ship beating up every security officer she sees. Why?!?! And isn't she supposed to be REALLY pregnant?! Soon after this bad scene, she miraculously knows exactly who is behind all this and how to find them...and we have absolutely no idea how this magically occurred. What's worse is that instead of bringing a security detail or telling the Bajorans, she goes off on her own and is soon caught. DUH!!! Then, unfortunately, we are treated to some of the worst dialog and speechifying I've heard on any Trek episode.

The bottom line is that the show stinks because it rarely makes much sense and the final confrontation scene was terribly handled.

Kira is getting tiresome

[zombiemockingbird · 3/10 · 5 May 2023]

If they had done this story when Kira wasn't pregnant, it would have been a pretty good episode; but the fact that she is pregnant to the point of being a couple of weeks from delivering makes it absolutely absurd. If I were Keiko I'd rip that baby out of her before she kills it. All of that aside, we get it; Kira is angry. Ridiculously angry. All the time. And she reacts to her anger in dangerous, idiotic, juvenile ways, all the time, and puts other people in danger. When her friends are killed in the O'Brien's quarters, she goes charging down the hall like some deranged elephant, beating up her co-workers who are trying to protect her, until thankfully she passes out. Then of course she goes off on her own to avenge everyone, we have to hear some long, drawn-out, non-sensical dialog about light and darkness, blah, blah, blah, and she kills the assassin and saves the day! Puke.

What expertise do Starfleet security officers need to have again?

[tomsly-40015 · 3/10 · 11 November 2023]

Starfleet security - obviously it hires everyone incapable of everything. Punched KO by a woman that is highly pegnant with just one strike. Several of them in a row. Why even have Starfleet security guarding the corridors if they cannot stop anyone? And why is it anyway that Starfleet security never wears any protective gear on duty? It's like police officers go on patrol without a bullet proof vest.

And Kira can break tons of rules again, misuse her security level, hack into computers, steal data, knock security officers KO, steal a ship and go on a personal vendetta which ends in her killing someone without any disciplinary actions or even the slightest investigations taken afterwards. By now, every single main character of the show should have already been demoted or stripped of rank by constantly disobeying orders or taking things in their own hands.

And Kira must be a lucky guesser, too: From a list of 20 suspects, she rules out 3 and from the remaining 17 she picks one and tada, she finds the assassin already. She should play Dabo at Quark's professionally with that kind of luck.

And to be honest: The Cardassian at the end had a point. Even in war there are rules. Bombing houses with civilains in it, can not be justified by "you had no right to be on our planet".