A Man Alone (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
"A Man Alone" is the fourth episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Original airdate: January 17, 1993. Teleplay by Michael Piller; story by Gerald Sanford & Michael Piller. Directed by Paul Lynch.
Quick Overview: Odo is accused of murder.
During an idle conversation about how the newly opened wormhole has increased the number of "new faces" on the station, Quark and Odo observe an argument between Miles and Keiko O'Brien. Odo wonders what the argument is about, and Quark informs him that Keiko does not enjoy life aboard DS9. Suddenly Odo takes note of one of Quark's customers and orders the man to leave the station; when he refuses, the two begin brawling until Sisko breaks it off. As he leaves the bar Odo gives the man twenty-six hours to leave the station.
In Sisko's office Odo explains that the man's name is Ibudan and he smuggled goods to Bajorans during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. Some Bajorans consider Ibudan a hero, but Odo claims Ibudan let a young girl die because her parents did not have funds for the medical supplies she needed. Odo later arrested Ibudan for murdering a Cardassian officer, but when the occupation ended he was set free. When Sisko tells Odo that he cannot arrest Ibudan now because the man has not broken any laws, Odo simply says, "Watch me." However, against Odo's protests, Sisko forbids this.
Later, Ibudan is killed in a holosuite and one of Ibudan's friends tells Sisko and Kira that Ibudan told him he was afraid Odo would kill him. Further evidence points to Odo. In fact, Odo himself points out that only a shapeshifter could have killed Ibudan given the evidence on hand. While the man who reported Ibudan's fear of Odo is discussing the murder in Quark's bar, Quark tells him that Odo is not a killer. The man is surprised, given Odo is Quark's worst enemy, and Quark says that he is the closest thing Odo has to a friend.
Amid calls for Odo to be put in jail, Bashir discovers evidence that Ibudan was conducting medical experiments. As Ibudan was neither a doctor nor a scientist, Bashir decides to conduct further tests. Meanwhile Sisko informs Odo that he is temporarily removing Odo from the investigation of Ibudan's murder. Odo is insulted by Sisko's claim that he personally does not believe Odo is guilty, because he knows that it is not true.
Hostility toward Odo among the station's civilian population grows. Bashir's sample from Ibudan's container begins to grow into something, but he is not sure what. Keiko O'Brien decides to start a school, but in the meantime a mob forms outside Odo's office. Sisko tries to calm the crowd, insisting they are looking for a way to express their anger and not real justice, but Bashir tells him he has new evidence: the sample is growing into a clone of Ibudan. Ibudan killed his own clone, and Odo eventually finds and arrests the real Ibudan.
Guest stars
- Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien
- Edward Laurance Albert as Zayra
- Max Grodénchik as Rom
- Peter Vogt as Bajoran #1
- Aron Eisenberg as Nog
- Stephen James Carver as Ibudan
- Tom Klunis as Lamonay S.
- Scott Trost as Bajoran Officer
- Patrick Cupo as Bajoran Man
- Kathryn Graf as Bajoran Woman
- Hana Hatae as Molly O'Brien
- Diana Cignoni as Dabo Girl
- Judi Durand as Computer Voice
- Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn (uncredited)