"Fascination" is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...

, in which Lwaxana Troi pursues Odo during the Bajoran Gratitude Festival as members of the crew suddenly become infatuated with one another. It is the tenth episode of season three. It is very loosely based on A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...

.

Plot

The crew of Deep Space Nine

Deep Space Nine (space station)

Deep Space Nine is a fictitious space station, and is the eponymous primary setting of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It serves as a base for the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant via the Bajoran wormhole, and is a hub of trade and travel for the sector's denizens...

 is preparing for the Bajoran Gratitude Festival. As Major Kira

Kira Nerys

Kira Nerys , played by Nana Visitor, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Backstory:Per Bajoran custom, her family name, Kira, precedes her given name, Nerys. She has two brothers , and her parents' names are Kira Taban and Kira Meru...

 is getting ready to perform the opening ceremony, she becomes distracted by the arrival of her boyfriend, Vedek Bareil.

Chief O'Brien

Miles O'Brien (Star Trek)

Miles Edward O'Brien, played by Colm Meaney, is Chief of Operations in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Before DS9, he appeared as a recurring transporter chief in Star Trek: The Next Generation...

 welcomes his wife Keiko back to the station after her trip to Bajor. However, she is tired and grumpy and their daughter Molly is sick.

Lwaxana Troi arrives, and begins looking for Odo, claiming to have developed feelings for him since the last time she was aboard the station.

As the festival gets underway, Lwaxana suffers strange headaches that come and go. Each time she experiences one, the people around her seem momentarily disoriented, and then experience a lust for another coworker, friend, or acquaintance.

Those infected include Jake Sisko

Jake Sisko

Jacob "Jake" Sisko, played by Cirroc Lofton, is a character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is the son of Deep Space Nine's commanding officer, Benjamin Sisko.-Overview:...

, who professes his love for Major Kira; Vedek Bareil, who pursues Jadzia Dax

Jadzia Dax

Jadzia Dax , played by Terry Farrell, was a main character during the first six seasons of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine....

; and Dax herself attempts to seduce Commander Sisko

Benjamin Sisko

Benjamin Lafayette Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, is the main character of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Early life and career:...

. Major Kira and Julian Bashir

Julian Bashir

Lieutenant Julian Subatoi Bashir, M.D., played by Alexander Siddig, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Bashir is the chief medical officer of space station Deep Space Nine and the USS Defiant.-Overview:...

 seem to be the only people who are affected so that their lust is requited.

Bareil goes on to propose marriage to Dax. She becomes annoyed that he is distracting her from her pursuit of Commander Sisko, and as a result, punches him.

When Quark

Quark (Star Trek)

Quark is a fictional character in the American television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The character, which was played by Armin Shimerman, was depicted as a member of an extraterrestrial race known as the Ferengi, who are stereotypically ultra-capitalist and only motivated by...

 arrives with the catering

Catering

Catering is the business of providing foodservice at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, public house , or other location.-Mobile catering:A mobile caterer serves food directly from a vehicle or cart that is designed for the purpose...

 and bumps into Lwaxana, who is having another headache, he is also affected. He grabs Keiko as she walks in and insists that she be his love. Everyone then realizes that Lwaxana, a telepathic Betazoid

Betazoid

In the fictional Star Trek universe, Betazoids are a sentient humanoid species from the planet Betazed, a member of the United Federation of Planets.-Overview:...

, is affecting them somehow.

Bashir cures her Zanthi fever, an illness that makes her project her amorous impulses on the people surrounding her. He announces that everyone else should return to normal soon. Meanwhile, the two who belong together, the O'Briens, have made up and are enjoying each other's company again.

Arc significance

• Mardah and Jake are no longer together. She left the station to study at a school that is 300 light years away.
• Odo reveals to Troi that he is in love with Kira.

External links