"Empok Nor" is the 122nd episode of the television series ''
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', the 24th episode of the
fifth season. The episode aired on television on May 19, 1997.
The screenplay was written by Bryan Fuller and Hans Beimler, and it was directed by Mike Vejar.
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of
Deep Space Nine
''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (abbreviated as ''DS9'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. The fourth series in the '' Star Trek'' media franchise, it originally aired in syndication fr ...
, a space station near the planet
Bajor
The Bajorans (variously pronounced , , ) are a fictional species in the science-fiction '' Star Trek'' franchise. They are a humanoid extraterrestrial species native to the planet Bajor, who have a long-standing enmity with the Cardassians, o ...
, as the Bajorans recover from a brutal decades-long occupation by the imperialistic
Cardassian
The Cardassians () are a fictional Extraterrestrial life in popular culture, extraterrestrial species in the American science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. They were devised in 1991 for the series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' before b ...
s. In this episode,
Miles O'Brien, Deep Space Nine's chief of operations, leads a team to the abandoned Cardassian space station Empok Nor to salvage equipment for Deep Space Nine. To accomplish this mission it is necessary to overcome
booby traps
A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...
, including two Cardassian soldiers lying in wait on the station to eliminate intruders.
Writing
This episode was one of the first written by Bryan Fuller, who went to write dozens more episodes in the ''Star Trek'' franchise.
Other series he wrote for include ''Star Trek: Voyager'' and ''Star Trek: Discovery''.
Fuller got his start as a writer through the open submission policy of Star Trek at that time, and his submission for a Deep Space Nine plot was accepted.
After his second script for DS9 was accepted, he was hired as a writer for ''Star Trek: Voyager''.
Plot
Chief O'Brien needs to replace a failing component of Deep Space Nine's machinery. The only way to obtain a replacement is by salvaging it from Empok Nor, an abandoned Cardassian space station built to the same design as Deep Space Nine. The salvage team consists of O'Brien, Cardassian ex-spy
Garak, cadet
Nog, engineers Pechetti and Boq'ta, and security officers Stolzoff and Amaro. As Cardassians routinely booby-trap abandoned facilities against non-Cardassian intruders, Garak is brought along to help disarm the security measures, and Garak uses the time to bring up O'Brien and his actions as a soldier on
Setlik III against Cardassians.
On the abandoned station, the team discovers two empty and recently deactivated
stasis tubes and a third one with a dead Cardassian soldier, whose uniform marks him as a member of an elite and ruthless battalion. Suddenly, the away team's
runabout detaches from the station and explodes, stranding them inside with no means to send for help and under threat from the two recently-awoken Cardassians. The team splits into groups to continue the salvage and attempt to establish communications.
The Cardassian soldiers methodically ambush and eliminate Pechetti and Stolzoff. Garak decides to go on the offensive and track down the enemy soldiers himself. He returns after killing one of them, and relays his discovery that the soldiers had been subjected to psychotropic drugs which amplify their natural xenophobic tendencies. The second soldier ambushes Boq'ta, but Garak emerges and kills him before he can kill Amaro, only to then stab Amaro himself.
O'Brien and Nog discover Amaro, who tells them what happened, before dying from his injuries. O'Brien realizes Garak has been affected by the same drug as the soldiers, and sets out to stop him. Garak captures Nog, using him to draw O'Brien out. O'Brien consents to lay down his weapons and face Garak in hand-to-hand combat, but disables him with his own trap, having rigged his
phaser to explode.
The three are rescued after collecting the parts they needed. Back on DS9, O'Brien visits Garak in the infirmary. Garak expresses his sincere regret over his actions; O'Brien informs him there will be an inquest, but it will be made clear that Garak wasn't responsible for what he did. Garak remarks that he is lucky the phaser blast didn't kill him, and O'Brien replies that it was intended to do exactly that.
Cast
In addition to the regular ''Deep Space Nine cast'', this episode features recurring characters
Garak, played by
Andrew J. Robinson, and
Nog, played by
Aron Eisenberg. Guest stars include
Tom Hodges as Pechetti,
Andy Milder
Andy Milder (born August 16, 1969) is an American actor.
Career
He has appeared in such films as ''Apollo 13'', ''Armageddon'', ''Rumor Has It…'', '' Frost/Nixon'', ''Transformers'', and '' Domino''. He was a series regular on ''Fame L.A.'' ...
as Boq'ta,
Marjean Holden
Margaret Jean Holden (born November 3, 1964) is an American actress, stuntwoman and martial artist.
Early life and education
Margaret Jean Holden was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 3, 1964, and attended Northern Arizona Universit ...
as Stolzoff, and Jeffrey King as Amaro.
Reception
Keith DeCandido
Keith Robert Andreassi DeCandido (born April 18, 1969) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer and musician, who works on comic books, novels, role-playing games and video games, including numerous media tie-in books for properties such ...
of
Tor.com
''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction.
From 20 ...
gave the episode 4 out of 10.
Zack Handlen of
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
called it "creepy, thrilling, and horrifying by turns; the script’s only real failing is in a refusal to go much deeper under the surface of its premise than tension requires."
Den of Geek
''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gan ...
ranked this episode the 13th best written by Bryan Fuller, in a review of episodes by him.
In 2017 this episode was noted as featuring scary or eerie ''Star Trek'' content by H&I. In 2018, ''TheGamer'' ranked this one of the top 25 creepiest episodes of all ''Star Trek''.
They categorized this episode as a psychological thriller and slasher genre.
In 2019,
''ScreenRant'' ranked this the tenth best episode for the character Nog, noting how he helps Miles O'Brien despite being a hostage.
In 2021, they ranked "Empok Nor" the 7th scariest episode of all ''Star Trek'' franchise television episodes, remarking "Empok Nor is one of the most unsettling ''Star Trek'' episodes of all time".
References
External links
*
{{Star Trek Cardassian stories
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (season 5) episodes
1997 American television episodes
Television episodes about drugs
Television episodes written by Bryan Fuller