10 Times Star Trek Stole From Itself

9. Fascination

Star Trek Deep Space Nine Fascination
CBS

This third season episode of Deep Space Nine reunites Lwaxana Troi with Odo, in what became a surprisingly tender double act. She is suffering from a type of fever that means she projects her amorous feelings onto other inhabitants of the station, leading to several scenes of pure chaos. While the episode is a lot of fun, it is in fact a comedic version of The Next Generation episode Sarek.

The earlier episode is a far more serious take on this idea. The elder Vulcan man is beginning to lose control of his emotions, transferring them to the crew of the Enterprise. The fight in Ten Forward is the most famous scene from this show.

In Deep Space Nine, while the idea is fun, the execution is a little thin. Sarek's episode had an emotional core that made the audience truly care for the trouble that he was going through. Lwaxana is effectively going through a combination of heat and menopause, which is played for laughs, robbing the story of any core.

This is another example of where Star Trek really should have just left well enough alone!

Contributor
Contributor

Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"