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His Way
Stardate unknown
Can Odo learn to be a lady's man?
Synopsis
Credits Written by Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler Directed by Allan Kroeker Guest stars Debi A. Monahan as Melissa, Cyndi Pass as Ginger, and special Guest Star James Darren as Vic Fontaine  Review This is definitely not the best episode for Kira and Odo to start their relationships in. And it's not because I never cared for the thought of Kira and Odo together, either. We meet Vic Fontaine, the easy-going, almost telepathic pseudo-shrink from Julian's newest holosuite program. After his introducing number, the first of four such singing interludes, he immediately tells all of Julian's friends who were there to see him how each of them were faring in their personal life. Okay, we've seen sentient holoprograms before, and remember how one managed to hijack the Enterprise D twice? IF such a flexible and intelligent holoprogram as Vic Fontayne were in existence and not all of them were so affable and slips "Pally" into every other sentence, surely they constitute a threat great enough for Starfleet to take notice? If Vic can unilaterally move himself around the holosuites, make phone calls over station-wide systems and basically have autonomy, what's there to prevent more sinister characters from other programs to abuse their freedom and blow a station up, for example? The way Vic could move himself around and manipulate the technology of the station to suit his purposes sounded an alarm in my head, and I think the writers would be better off not giving holoprograms so much power. The premise of the story is for Odo to finally reveal his feelings for Kira. Having passed by opportunity after opportunity and watched with pangs of loneliness as the Major went through relationships with Bareil and Shaakar, Odo goes to -- Vic Fontaine, for advice. Now Odo is just not the sort of person I'd imagine to confide so many of his secrets to anyone, particularly not to Quark or Julian's new holosuite program. His feelings for Kira has always been awkward, and his shuffling feet and reclusive nature don't brighten things up by much. I thought the only bright spot in the whole business is Lola, the Kira look-alike Vic concocted from the Russian vixen that was had been in Julian's spy program. She had a very cute number "Fever", and Visitor obviously had fun being sexy and feminine without reserve. How Vic can actually make a holoprogram himself is an unsolved mystery, but Lola herself is a great idea. Vic saying, "It took me a week to get rid of her Russian accent." drew laughs. However, the introduction of such a perfect replica of the Major predictably led to the "Trick the Constable into thinking he's not with the real Kira" scene where he gushes his love for her over a dinner. When Odo realized he was with the real deal, he runs off, ashamed and suddenly stone-faced again. Insulted, Major Kira's reaction to Odo's brusqueness was most peculiar. We've all seen Kira do many things, but I just don't see how she suddenly took a strong liking to Odo after that ugly scene. Their predictable squabble and subsequent mending-of-fences at the end concluded an episode of too many absurdities and bad lines for both Odo and Kira. My Rating 2.5 Gads it was awful. Only Lola brightened things up. She was really cute. Your Rating 9.0
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Vic Fontaine in his element
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