Rivals (DS9 episode)
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"Rivals" is the title of a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, from the second season. Its episode number is 431, and it first aired on 2 January 1994.
The episode begins with Odo placing El Aurian Martus Mazur in a holding cell after accusing him of swindling aboard Deep Space Nine. While in his cell, Martus acquires a gambling device that alters the laws of probability after his cellmate dies. Because of his change in luck, he is released from confinement after the elderly couple he conned decides not to press charges.
With his new and intriguing device, he sets up a bar and casino that ends up drawing business away from Quark. However, the device soon turns on him and he himself is conned into losing a large sum of money. In addition, the couple he swindled out of money changes their mind and presses charges against him. To prevent more tampering with natural probability, Sisko and Dax destroy the device.
A separate but related story involves O'Brien's attempt to get in shape so that he can compete effectively with Bashir at racquetball. Quark is able to trick the two into participating in a public tournament that people can bet on to attract business. When O'Brien performs abnormally well, he realizes that there are statistical abnormalities on the station.
"Rivals" is considered one of the worst DSN episodes broadcast. This is perhaps because no satisfactory explanation is provided for how the laws of probability are being altered. Although it is revealed that an abnormally high percentage of solar neutrinos on the station are spinning in the same direction, this is considered a result of probability being affected by the gambling device rather than a cause. The lack of a proper explanation detracts from the believability of the episode.
References
The following references are sorted in alphabetical order.
- Episode information from STARTREK.COM (http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/DS9/episode/68144.html)
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Rivals"