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HIS WAY >
Synopsis
Episode Synopsis by Tracy Hemenover
It's Las Vegas, 1962 -- at least, in the holosuite to which Bashir has
invited his fellow officers, to partake of the latest program sent to
him by his friend Felix. The program features Vic Fontaine, a swinging
lounge singer who finishes "You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You" to
much applause. "Trust me, he's no ordinary hologram," Bashir promises
the others. And he's right. Vic is not only heuristic and fully
interactive, but he knows what he is (he calls himself a "lightbulb").
"If you're gonna work Vegas in the sixties, you better know the score,"
he explains. "Otherwise, you're gonna look like a Clyde."
The DS9 officers don't know what to make of Vic's lingo, but they can't
help but be impressed when Vic guesses just by looking at Dax and Worf
that they're married; he also easily divines that O'Brien misses his
wife. He turns to Odo and Kira. "And as for you two -- " They instantly
look uncomfortable, and Vic thinks better of whatever he was going to
say. "Never mind. Forget I brought it up." As the group leaves, Vic
advises them to dress more appropriately for the era next time they're
here. "You guys look like a trapeze act."
Down in Quark's, Bashir swears he didn't tell Vic anything about them,
and invites everyone back tomorrow night. Kira opts out: she's going to
Bajor, and Dax spills the beans that she'll be seeing Shakaar. Odo hides
the pain this causes him.
At the bar, Bashir and O'Brien talk about Vic; Bashir maintains that Vic
is responsible for the fact that he's dating Ensign Walker, thanks to
some pointers the hologram gave him. O'Brien ribs him a little about
asking advice from a "lightbulb". Odo listens to the entire
conversation.
Quark chides Odo later, for never having "opened negotiations" with Kira
even though it's been a year since she broke up with Shakaar. "Odo, the
woman waited a year for you to make an offer, any kind of offer. Face
it, you've had plenty of opportunities, and you've let them all slip
away." He counsels Odo to just forget about her. "You're not exactly the
most lovable person in the galaxy. You're not even the most lovable
person in this sector. Or on this station. Or even in this room. You're
cold, rigid, remote." On that note, Odo is ready to let him leave, but
then stops him. "Odo, make up your mind," Quark says. Odo has. He's got
a favor to ask Quark. "It's about Dr. Bashir's new holosuite program."
Late at night, Bashir comes into Quark's looking for a way to relax. He
was thinking of his new holoprogram, but Quark claims all the suites are
in use. Disappointed, Bashir goes in search of O'Brien.
Meanwhile, Odo is conversing with Vic, alone in the lounge, and tries to
get the hologram to clarify what he was going to say about him and Kira.
Vic says he didn't want to give away any secrets; Odo asks what secrets.
"C'mon, do I really have to connect the dots? You're crazy about the
broad, but you're afraid to do anything about it. And she -- well, you
know...It's the oldest story in the book. She thinks of you as a
friend...But women have been known to change their minds. You just have
to give them a reason." "You make it sound so easy," Odo observes wryly;
Vic tells him, "That's because it's not that hard. The girl already
likes you. That means you're halfway home."
Odo's not so sure about that. He believes that Kira prefers Shakaar. But
Vic counters, "It's not the other guy you have to worry about, it's
you...For starters, you've got to lose this whole Nanook of the North
thing." "I don't understand," Odo says. "You've got about as much
personality as an icicle," Vic informs him, not unkindly. "Cool is one
thing, but you're frozen solid." Odo protests that he does have
emotions. "I just don't always show them." "And therein lies the
problem," Vic says. He proposes "thawing" Odo out. "Turn up the heat,
get those emotions you claim to have bubbling to the surface. It's time
to have some fun."
The first thing, he decides, is a change of clothing. Easily done; Odo
morphs his uniform into a tuxedo and follows him to the stage as Vic
explains that he needs a new piano player. Suddenly the lounge is filled
with people, and Vic is sitting him down behind the piano. "Hit it,
Nanook." Odo is bewildered; he doesn't play piano. For answer, the piano
starts playing itself, and Vic admonishes him to "sell it". The song
begins: "Come Fly With Me". Odo does his best to sham along. Slowly, his
confidence actually begins to grow in response to the friendly reaction
of the crowd and the band. By the end of the song, Odo has loosened up
and is truly enjoying himself, which was Vic's intention. "Cool!" Odo
exclaims as he basks in the applause.
In Vic's hotel suite later, Odo enjoys the glow of his triumphant debut,
until the thought of his friends seeing him like that causes him to
tense up again. "Look at you, I mean, you're standing there like a
statue," Vic scolds. "The only things you're gonna attract are pigeons."
He gets Odo to just relax and breathe deeply for a few moments. Then the
doorbell rings. It's two sexily-dressed young ladies, Ginger and
Melissa, who have been invited by Vic. They recognize Odo from the show;
Melissa in particular seems rather taken with him, and pronounces his
hands "artistic" when a bemused Odo shows them to her at her request.
She proceeds to flirt with him quite heavily, and Odo is at a loss. But
the women find him utterly charming.
When it becomes clear that Vic means for them to all go out together,
Odo holds back. He's sure Melissa is a nice girl, he tells Vic, but
she's not Kira. "Tell me something, how do you get to Carnegie Hall?"
Vic asks. Odo has no idea. "Practice! Practice! Practice! Get it?" "No."
"Think of this evening as a trial run. Trust me, you're gonna do great."
The next day, Odo brings Sisko a report, and as he waits for the captain
to read it, he unconsciously begins humming, then quietly singing "They
Can't Take That Away From Me". Sisko looks up in astonishment, but, not
wanting to break the mood, starts snapping his fingers to the beat. Odo
stops, and is honestly surprised when the captain informs him he was
singing just now. When there's another moment of silence, however, he
starts again, and Sisko joins in.
Dax shares a turbolift with Bashir, who tells her that Kira is staying
on Bajor for two more days. "She and Shakaar must be having a good
time," Dax smiles; Bashir agrees, but then Dax's face falls. "Poor Odo."
"Odo? What's he got to do with it?" asks Bashir. "Not a thing," Dax
says. "That's the problem."
In the holosuite, Odo finishes another song with Vic, who notices his
pensive expression. He's still wondering what to do about Kira and
Shakaar. The singer reminds him that he hasn't steered Odo wrong yet.
"Trust your Uncle Vic." Vic then introduces the audience to a chanteuse
named Lola Chrystal, who begins singing a sultry rendition of "Fever".
Odo sits up and takes notice -- Lola looks exactly like Kira. And as she
sings, her attention eventually centers squarely on him. She ends up
draped over the piano in wanton abandon. Odo is mesmerized. "Don't look
now, but I think she likes you," Vic tells him.
The three of them share a toast in Vic's suite, "to whatever makes you
happy"; then Vic retires for the night. Odo experimentally flirts back
at Lola, who is very amenable. She leans in for a kiss, and he is about
to try it, but then pulls back. He just can't. Vic, called back into the
room, is puzzled. "I thought you two were getting along just fine." "Of
course we are," Odo tells him. "You programmed her to find me
irresistible. I could read her a criminal activities report, and she'd
think it was poetry." The problem is that while Lola looks like Kira,
she's nothing like her in personality. "I appreciate what you've done
for me," Odo says. "But I'm afraid it's all been in vain. I may be Romeo
in the holosuite, but I know the first time I see the real Kira, I'll
turn back into Nanook of the North." He turns to leave. "I'm sorry, but
I'm tired of discussing my feelings with a hologram."
A couple of days later, Kira is back on the station, and calls to Odo on
the Promenade, asking brightly if anything interesting happened while
she was gone. "Interesting? No, no, nothing at all. As a matter of fact,
it's been rather dull," Odo exclaims awkwardly, and escapes. Not having
a clue what that was about, Kira goes into a holosuite.
There, as she's meditating, she is startled when Vic appears and speaks
to her. He's between sets, and transferred his matrix to this suite
temporarily. The subject of his visit, he tells her, is Odo. "Don't be
coy. We both know he's nuts about you." Kira is skeptical on hearing of
Odo hanging out in a holosuite. "That's just not the Odo I know." "Which
tells you what?" Vic asks. "You don't know him as well as you think you
do. He's not the same stick-in-the-mud anymore. That cat can swing...But
let me tell you, the only chick he wants to swing with is you." "I take
it that's a good thing," guesses Kira, not sure of the hologram's hip
talk. Vic smiles. "It's love, baby. Nothing better than that."
Kira tries to get back to her meditation, telling him to leave. Vic
looks at her. "Talk about your cranky aliens. You two really are made
for each other." He comes to the point, which is to ask her to the
holosuite tonight, to have dinner with Odo. Kira wonders why Odo doesn't
ask her himself. "Because I'm asking you for him," Vic tells her
logically. "And neither one of us will take no for an answer."
Amazingly, Kira finds herself agreeing. "Well, then I'd better say yes."
"Crazy," Vic grins.
Odo, in his office, is startled to hear himself being addressed by Vic
over the com line, asking him to come to the holosuite tonight. He's
done a complete overhaul on Lola. "I'm telling you, Odo, you're going to
think she's the real thing. She walks like Kira, she talks like Kira."
Odo is skeptical, but intrigued.
That evening, Odo and Kira (in tux and evening dress, respectively) find
themselves gazing at each other across the holo-lounge. Vic suavely
guides them to a table, where he'll be serving them an elegant French
repast. Kira comments on how silly it feels to be in a holosuite,
causing Odo to look approvingly at Vic: this is more like the real
thing.
Since he thinks this Kira is a hologram, Odo is more relaxed and open
with her than he might otherwise be, and Kira is somewhat taken aback by
this new Odo. She admits to being a bit nervous; after all, it's their
first date. "There's nothing wrong with being a little nervous," Odo
tells her. "As long it doesn't get in the way...Of enjoying yourself."
"I thought the only thing you enjoy is your work," Kira observes. To her
puzzlement, he seems surprised that she knows that, and she can't fathom
why he would say, "Well done, Vic," under his breath. Odo gets back to
the conversation. "I do enjoy my work. But I'm afraid I've used it as an
excuse to avoid the rest of my life," he confesses. "I know the
feeling," she agrees.
At that moment, Vic begins softly singing "I've Got You Under My Skin."
The air seems charged as Odo and Kira look deeply at each other. "What
do we do now?" Kira asks. Odo sees only one thing to do: dance. She
complies, and is amazed by his confidence and skill as they glide across
the floor together. There comes a point when the music pauses; Kira
gazes into his eyes as if she's seeing him for the first time. "I had no
idea you could dance." "It's amazing what you can learn in a holosuite."
Then Kira comments that she can't believe they're doing this in a
holosuite, and suggests a restaurant elsewhere on the station. But Odo
demurs, telling her as delicately as possible that it would be difficult
for her to leave the holosuite. "You make it sound like I'm a hologram,"
she says, and is startled to learn that that is exactly what Odo thinks
she is.
Odo appeals to Vic to tell her the truth. "There's nothing to tell," Vic
admits. "I'm good, pally, but I'm not that good. You've been dancing
with the real McCoy." Odo and Kira are both thunderstruck. "Hey, I
brought you two lovebirds together," Vic protests. "That was the whole
idea, wasn't it?" Unable to find the words to explain all this to Kira,
Odo flees the holosuite in mortification. Kira looks accusingly at Vic,
who holds up his hands. "Don't say it. Computer, end program."
The next morning, Vic calls Odo in his office, but Odo doesn't want to
hear anything the hologram has to say. "It was for your own good," Vic
insists. "It was time for you to stop playing around with holograms and
start playing around with the real thing." Besides, he points out, would
Odo have come if he'd known it was really Kira? "If you think about it,
there's not much to be mad about. I saw the way she looked at you while
the two of you were dancing. The lady digs you big time." But Odo is too
angry and humiliated to listen. He cuts off the transmission.
On the Promenade, Dax notices Kira's preoccupied mood. "Have you ever
had a moment of pure clarity?" Kira asks at last. "A moment where the
truth seems to just leap up and grab you by the throat?" Dax guesses
wrongly that this has something to do with Shakaar; when pressed, she
admits to having had only one or two such moments in all her seven
lifetimes. "Nerys, total clarity is a very rare thing...And when it
comes to you, it's important that you act on it. Because believe me,
confusion and doubt will take over before you know it." At that moment,
Kira sees Odo exiting his office. "You're absolutely right," she tells
Dax. "Makes perfect sense." Moments of clarity might be rare, but this
is Kira's second one in two days.
Kira catches up to Odo, who says he would prefer to forget all about
last night. But she insists that they need to talk about what happened.
Over dinner. Anywhere but in a holosuite. Odo asks acidly if Shakaar
would approve, but Kira informs him that she and Shakaar are just
friends. Her trip was only to update the First Minister on the war. "Now
are we going to have dinner together or not?"
Their voices begin to rise, and so does the chemistry between them. Odo
wonders what's supposed to happen afterwards; Kira suggests maybe they
could go dancing. "And after that, I suppose you'll expect me to kiss
you," Odo challenges. "It's possible," she allows. "Well, then who needs
dinner?" he exclaims angrily. "Why don't I just get it over with and
kiss you right now?" "Well, why don't you?" she half-shouts.
Odo then does exactly as suggested: he grabs her and kisses her
passionately. They're oblivious to the fact that they're in the middle
of the Promenade, being eagerly watched by dozens of people. Finally
they break off. "You're right," Kira says when she can breathe again.
"Who needs dinner?" In answer, Odo kisses her once more, and this time
it's deep, long and sweet.
Sometime much later, Odo enters Vic's again. "Julian tells me that you
and the Major are quite an item," the singer says. "For the moment,"
replies Odo, unwilling to trust in his good fortune. "Who knows how long
it'll last?" "That's my Odo, always ready to turn victory into defeat,"
Vic chides. However, Odo thanks him for all his help. Vic invites him to
sit in on a number; when Odo declines, he asks for a favor. "Leave the
program running for a few minutes after you leave. I feel like singing."
"Whatever makes you happy," smiles Odo, and he leaves the suite to the
strains of "Come Fly With Me".
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