This episode is quite interesting although or because Dr Bashir gets trapped again in a struggle of morality as a doctor and his own happiness as a simple man.
We meet Sarina and the other genetically enhanced misfits again that once tried to convince Bashir that surrendering to the Dominion will save millions of lives. This time Bashir is determined to cure Sarina from her catatonic state because, unlike the others, her disorder has a chance to be cured. He succeeds and Sarina awakes from her sleep like Sleeping Beauty and turns into a charming, intelligent and empathic young woman.
Bashir instantly falls in love with her - not only because she is genetically augmented like him, but also because she is the woman he always has been looking for. He realizes the dilemma though: A romantic affair with a patient. That's why he hands her over to another doctor for further treatment.
Yet, here now lies the big problem with Bashir's behavior. Falling in love with a patient is one thing. Bashir realizes that he cannot longer be Sarina's doctor. You could argue that a doctor should know better and keep an emotional distance to his patients. But ok, love happens. What I find much more disturbing is the fact, that Bashir took advantage of Sarina's emotional state. As the episode title "Chrysalis" implies, Sarina has been trapped inside a cocoon for years, unable to interact with her environment. And suddenly she has turned into a beautiful butterfly and wants to fly, but Bashir holds her back and wants to keep her for his own good.
Sarina first replied to Bashir's adcances but it feels like she does this out of guilt. To repay Bashir for saving her. She also tells him that she wants to make him happy because he cured her. But this woman never had the chance to learn, who she really is, what she wants, what she is capable of doing and she never saw other planets, met other people, other men, experienced love.. Bashir wants to hold her, keep her. Understandable since he feels lonely. But he just doesn't realize that he is about to deny her making her own experiences and finding her own way into her new life. And that is Bashir's biggest flaw in this episode: Egoism, arrogance and.a possessive attitude.