Indiscretion (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

"Indiscretion"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode
Episode no.Season 4
Episode 4
Directed byLeVar Burton
Story byNicholas Corea
Teleplay by
Featured musicDennis McCarthy
Production code477
Original air dateOctober 23, 1995 (1995-10-23)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"Indiscretion" is the 77th episode of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the fourth episode of the fourth season.

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures on Deep Space Nine, a space station near the planet Bajor, as Bajor recovers from a long and brutal occupation by the imperialistic Cardassians. In this episode, Major Kira Nerys, a Bajoran, goes on a mission with Gul Dukat, the Cardassian former overseer of Bajor, to look for survivors of a destroyed ship.

This episode expands on the backstories of Dukat, the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, and the resistance cell Kira was involved with during the occupation. This episode also introduces the character Tora Ziyal, Dukat's half-Bajoran daughter, and marks the first appearance of the alien race known as the Breen.

This episode was written by Nicholas Corea, from a story by Toni Marberry and Jack Tevino and directed by LeVar Burton. It aired in broadcast syndication on October 23, 1995.

The story alludes to John Ford's western The Searchers through its characrisation of Dukat seeking a half-caste Cardassian with the intention of murdering them, until his change of heart. This mirrors John Wayne's character Ethan Edwards, whose search for his niece, abducted by a Cheyenne chief as a child and then become one of his wives, initially appears to end in her murder by her uncle.