Reviewing DS9

[Sarahjs]

So, I've started like a one millionth rewatch of DS9 - my fav of the Treks and to make it more interesting for myself, I am putting up a brief review of each episode! And sharing. Hope ya'll enjoy! Let's get started with Emissary!

Yes! We get to see more of the actual battle at Wolf 359! I'll be honest, the first ten minutes are so of this episode are a bit hard to watch, mainly because Avery Brooks and Nana Visitor both have very... unique acting styles and it takes a short while for me to get used to every time. But then from about Sisko's first scene with Picard, I get used to it very quickly. Don't get me wrong, I don't think they are bad actors, in fact I find their acting quite suited to DS9 as a whole, it just takes some getting used to. Sisko is also quite angry at Picard for something that was not his fault... I can think of plenty of reasons usually to be angry with Picard, e.g. he can be pompous and is too easily annoyed, but none of these reasons include his brief assimilation by the Borg. I think this irrational anger is quite telling of Sisko's preoccupation with his wife's death, a major theme in this particular episode. Emissary does a pretty good job of introducing the main cast I think. I recall the first time I watched this episode, I liked Odo and Quark straight away, and I recall being surprised at finding a Ferengi relatively unannoying. Especially after TNG. Yes, a very good opening episode. The only thing that annoys me are the Wormhole Aliens or Prophets, if you will. They keep on asking questions like "linear time, what is this?", "lost, what is this?", "pleasure, what is this?" etc etc and it drags out a bit too long. I love Miles arguing with the computer! "In my experience, most people would not know reason if it walked up and shook their hand." Ah, Odo says great things.

Overall, I would give this opening episode a 9/10!

 

[Sarahjs]

Watched another two episodes, which is enough for me for the day!

A Man, Alone

Julian tries to win Jadzia's heart, Keiko is unhappy, Nog and Jake play some pranks and Odo is accused of murder. Julian and Jadzia both make me smile, though it does get a bit annoying after a time. Yes, sorry, I inserted a random comma into the title of this episode. I just like the title better with a comma. Incidentally, the real reason Odo has never "coupled" is because he has a super-secret crush on Kira, in case anyone did not know. This is one of those episodes where neither the audience nor the main cast really believe that the accused party is guilty, there was a couple of them in TOS and TNG, the ones that come to mind are Wolf in the Fold and A Matter of Perspective. I suppose doing an episode like this so early on has its advantages, as one technically can't say they know the character well enough to be 100% certain of his innocence, (as Odo himself says to Sisko), however, his status as a main cast member kind of gives it away. I also love the tension between Sisko and Odo in this episode, it is very well played. It is also bettered by the substories of the Jake/Nog friendship and Keiko's determination to start a school. After Wesley Crusher, it's nice to see a kid like Jake, who is interested in normal kid stuff and is not an amazing genius. Also, I like Sisko's command style. It's very different to Picard's. He is quite happy to have lunch with Julian and chat to him like a friend, I don't remember Picard ever doing that, not even with Riker. Only with Beverly, I guess, but that's different and not in a public place.

6/10

_______________________________________

Past Prologue

Garak! He is possibly my favourite character in all of Trek. Anyway, Julian meets a simple tailor, the Duras sisters visit the station for nefarious purposes and DS9 saves a seemingly reformed Bajoran terrorist from the Cardassians. The stand out scenes in this episode are those between Julian and Garak, filled with subtext. Julian's excitement at meeting a spy are hilarious and this early episode sets a precedent for his love of James Bond and Section 31's interest in him. The terrorist guy is not that interesting. I have noticed a trend with Bajorans - the women tend to have really strong, fascinating characters and the men tend to be unremarkable. I wonder if this was a conscious decision. I tend to think it was, but I could be reading too much into it. Anyway, the other point worth mentioning is this is quite a character growth episode for Kira, in that it makes her question her preconceptions, her attitudes and her beliefs. So quite a good episode, just a little bit dull at times. I was very torn between giving this episode a 6 or a 7, I think the perfect score for it would have been 6.5. I usually tend to round up rather than down, so 7 it is. Hmm. Let me just think of this as a 6, plus 1 for Garak. There, that makes it all better.

7/10

 

[benjaminh]

Good reviews!++ Keep em coming....

 

[Rahul]

Hey Sarahjs!

Nice reviews, I like hearing your opinions on them, keep them coming!

 

[Sarahjs]

Hi benjaminh and Rahul. I am glad to hear you're enjoying my ramblings.

I have watched three episodes tonight.

Babel

The systems on the station keep breaking down, poor Miles struggles to get a break and a disease whose primary symptom is aphasia breaks out. I often wonder if there is some sort of universal law requiring all trek series to do at least one disease episode. That being said, this particular one is less annoying than most. It has humour and the disease is not caused by something completely random, but was purposely placed there by Bajoran freedom fighters, which is a bit more interesting. Love Odo's reaction to Sisko succumbing to the aphasia "oh, I see." I also like that Odo and Quark had to work together at the end when the aphasia virus had infected everyone else. It was very amusing.

5/10

______________________________________________

Captive Pursuit

Quark draws up some shady contracts with dabo-girls and a mysterious visitor from the Gamma Quadrant comes through the wormhole. What an unfortunate first First Contact! This episode effectively introduces us to and gets us attached to Tosk before the discovery that the is bred to be hunted. It's very upsetting, because technically it's not allowed for them to interfere with the ways of other cultures, but it just seems so unfair. And the Tosk seem to be completely brainwashed by their breeders to believe that their purpose is honourable. Oh well, who am I to judge the ways of others? A good episode. I think Miles did the right thing, he may have interfered, but he enabled the Tosk to have the opportunity to die with honour and I am certain the hunters were only too happy to continue the hunt. Sisko even agreed though he gave him quite the lecture - I am sure Picard would have had an apoplectic fit if Miles had taken these actions on the Enterprise. A good episode.

8/10

__________________________________________________

Q-Less

Vash comes on board DS9 bringing with her an artefact and Q soon follows. Not a very engaging episode, quite dull. I did not find Vash, Q or the artefact particularly interesting. Though, Q: You hit me! Picard never hit me! Sisko: I'm not Picard. An awesome exchange. I disagree though with Q that Sisko is easier to provoke than Picard. All Q had to do to annoy Picard was merely show up on the Enterprise. He had to get Sisko into a boxing ring and punch him several times before he was provoked. I was never a huge fan of Vash, but she was engaging enough in TNG. I think it was a mistake to let a whole DS9 episode focus on her, especially in Season 1. At least when they used the Duras sisters in Past Prologue, they were integrated into a larger DS9 story. This is just a Q and Vash story, basically a TNG story, on DS9, which is quite disappointing. The danger to the station is also not very interesting, it just leads to a bunch of dull discussions at ops.

1/10

 

[Rahul]

I pretty much agree with your opinions on these episodes! (Although I gave them lower ratings in my reviews, but this seems to be more the result of me using different proportions on the same scale).

Q-Less is definitely pandering towards TNG fans to check out 'this new series'. And in this regard it worked for me (mainly because John de Lancie, not so much the episode itself). But for a long time DS9 fan it's probably very distracting, because this episode is barely about the Deep Space Nine crew.

 

[Sarahjs]

I pretty much agree with your opinions on these episodes! (Although I gave them lower ratings in my reviews, but this seems to be more the result of me using different proportions on the same scale).

Q-Less is definitely pandering towards TNG fans to check out 'this new series'. And in this regard it worked for me (mainly because John de Lancie, not so much the episode itself). But for a long time DS9 fan it's probably very distracting, because this episode is barely about the Deep Space Nine crew.

Cool, I've just noticed your review thread - will check it out tonight. Awesome, because if I understand correctly you are watching for the first time!

 

[Sarahjs]

Four episodes watched tonight!

______________________________________________

Dax

Miles leaves to go on holiday to earth and some guys kidnap Jadzia. This episode raises some interesting questions about the Trill, such as, can a symbiont be held responsible for the actions of its previous host. Basically, to what degree is the symbiont in control of the joint Trill? In TNG, the symbiont was shown to be the one mostly in control, yet in DS9, it seems that both symbiont and host contribute to the characteristics of the final joint entity. Jadzia's determination to keep Curzon's promise, shows that the symbiont does have a substantial effect on the host. An interesting episode, I tend to enjoy courtroom dramas, but it was nothing too amazing. I was quite engaged by the Bajoran arbiter, she was quite a character.

6/10

_____________________________________________________

The Passenger

Julian and Kira come across a ship in trouble and Julian is possessed by a prisoner. Ugh, this episode... Not good at all. It's worsened by the really strange acting by Alexander Siddig or Siddig El Fadil, if you will. Or his real name with like 20 names that I can't remember, if you prefer. What I am trying to say, that when portraying the possessed Julian, his acting is off and extremely strange and distracting. I don't know whether to laugh at it or be completely confused by it. The way he speaks is almost like he was possessed by the spirit of Evil!Kirk. The concept is also not very interesting, a crazy guy obsessed with immortality, it's nothing very new. So dull concept + poorly executed = bad episode. There is also a substory where Odo and Starfleet security have serious differences in opinion and more Odo/Quark banter as a part of it. I love how Sisko dresses down the Starfleet Officer! This part of the episode is more enjoyable and deserves some score. I guess that this is the strength of even quite bad DS9 episodes, they usually have a decent substory that improves one's overall impression. This episode, I suspect, would be unwatchable without this substory.

2/10

____________________________________________________

Move Along Home

Sisko tries to talk with Jake about women, and some aliens who love games come through the wormhole. This episode is quite ludicrous and not in a good way, in fact in quite a *facepalm* way at times. The first time I watched it I almost immediately figured out that it was just a game, because the aliens said it was straight away, and they had nothing to gain by putting Sisko, Kira, Julian and Jadzia in real danger and obviously wanted to mess with Quark. It has few redeeming qualities, but it does have some. For instance, Quark showed that he has... at least half a heart. Also, Odo continues to argue with the Starfleet security guy and has a very sweet verbal exchange with Jake. I got a few laughs out of this episode in any case, and while it's bad, I don't think it's quite as bad as some think.

3/10

_____________________________________________________

The Nagus

Grand Nagus Zek arrives on the station and names Quark as his successor, Miles has to take over Keiko's class and Jake and Nog continue their friendship. Oh, Nog! The Vulcans stole my homework because they have no ethics. I almost laughed myself to death! Naming practically any other alien race as the perpetrator would have been even slightly believable. Zek has quite an irritating voice. This episode is ok, the main story is kind of ruined for me by Zek's voice, but most of it is quite amusing, some of the exchanges between Quark and Odo are very funny. Also it is dragged out for a bit too long and the story gets a bit dull after a little while. Jake teaching Nog to read is very sweet. Oh, and considering later episodes, Rom acts very out of character...

4/10

_____________________________________________________

Not the best run of episodes today I guess!

 

[Rahul]

Cool, I've just noticed your review thread - will check it out tonight. Awesome, because if I understand correctly you are watching for the first time!

Haha, yes. Somehow I managed to watch almost all other Star Trek series except DS9! Probably because I watched most of it in re-runs, and DS9 is really hard to get into when you're watching it out of order. (Which means I have already seen a lot of episodes from all over the series). But now I'm watching it for the first time, as a whole, in order.

How do you manage to watch so many episodes so fast???

 

[Sarahjs]

You are right, watching DS9 in order makes much more sense because the story arcs get more complicated later on I think.

How do I watch so fast? I always plan to watch one or two episodes in the evenings to relax me after work, it invariably ends up being more! There are worse addictions to have I suppose!

 

[Inactive-Shapeshifter]

You are right, watching DS9 in order makes much more sense because the story arcs get more complicated later on I think.

How do I watch so fast? I always plan to watch one or two episodes in the evenings to relax me after work, it invariably ends up being more! There are worse addictions to have I suppose!

Yeah, i know how you feel, i was suppose to watch just ONE episode today, "Homefront", and i ended up watching "Paradise Lost" and another one! I just couldn't stop!

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

You are right, watching DS9 in order makes much more sense because the story arcs get more complicated later on I think.

How do I watch so fast? I always plan to watch one or two episodes in the evenings to relax me after work, it invariably ends up being more! There are worse addictions to have I suppose!

Yeah, i know how you feel, i was suppose to watch just ONE episode today, "Homefront", and i ended up watching "Paradise Lost" and another one! I just couldn't stop!

I feel the same way when I watch "Emissary"

 

[benjaminh]

Sarah: You probably know this already, but the show gets better as it goes along. Aside from about 5 episodes, I'd say most of the first season was only so-so. The second season was better, and by the third season they were beginning to hit their stride. Seasons 4-7 are mostly good. And most fans of the show think that DS9 had the best and most epic ending of any of the Treks....The last ten episodes are almost like a giant movie.

 

[Sarahjs]

You are right, watching DS9 in order makes much more sense because the story arcs get more complicated later on I think.

How do I watch so fast? I always plan to watch one or two episodes in the evenings to relax me after work, it invariably ends up being more! There are worse addictions to have I suppose!

Yeah, i know how you feel, i was suppose to watch just ONE episode today, "Homefront", and i ended up watching "Paradise Lost" and another one! I just couldn't stop!

I feel the same way when I watch "Emissary"

Pretty much any episode of DS9 for me! Even the not so good ones!

Sarah: You probably know this already, but the show gets better as it goes along. Aside from about 5 episodes, I'd say most of the first season was only so-so. The second season was better, and by the third season they were beginning to hit their stride. Seasons 4-7 are mostly good. And most fans of the show think that DS9 had the best and most epic ending of any of the Treks....The last ten episodes are almost like a giant movie.

It absolutely does! I think Seasons 6 and 7 are my personal favourites, but I find something to enjoy in every one!

____________________________________________________

Two episodes tonight!

Vortex

"Paranoia must run in your species." A strangely prophetic comment about the Founders by Quark. Was it done deliberately for foreshadowing purposes? I wonder. It's such an offhand comment, it's easy to miss, but in retrospect it has meaning. Probably it was foreshadowing considering the gamma quadrant alien vaguely knew of shapeshifters. Quite an interesting story and a decent episode. Nothing too great though, the story with the Miradorn was quite dull for most of the episode, but the gamma quadrant alien was ok, not the most fascinating character ever, but ok. He obviously suffered quite a lot on his world, and mostly wanted to protect his daughter, so I had some sympathy for him. Clearly Odo did as well, considering he let him go. We also get a few clues about Odo's origins, but not really enough to make a substantial impact. He is certainly from the Gamma Quadrant at any rate. ;D

6/10

____________________________________________________

Battlelines

Kira is offended by Dukat's comments on her former terrorist activities and Kai Opaka comes aboard the station because she wishes to go through the wormhole. This episode baffles me quite a bit for one main reason: Opaka is hailed in Emissary as the one hope of keeping Bajor united and yet she disappears half way through the first season. I can't really complain about this I suppose, because we then get the stories with the Bajoran politics and infighting, yet when I first watched the Emissary, I really thought she might be a part of the show for a while. I guess the fact that this episode surprised me actually betters it, and it makes me kind of happy as I did not find Opaka particularly engaging neither in Emissary nor in this episode. One seldom sees someone who is considered important disappear/die in Star Trek. A good episode, but I felt that Kira character story came off a bit too heavy handed here and is a bit annoying. The fighting dudes on the moon are also quite annoying and I don't buy that they would fight for years for a reason they don't remember and choose to keep dying over and over again. Unless they are all insane and are incapable of reason, which the episode also implies. The concept was interesting enough, I think the execution could have used some work.

6/10

____________________________________________________

 

[Sarahjs]

Hi All, watched 3 episodes tonight!

The Storyteller

Sisko mediates a disagreement about a river while Julian and Miles go down to Bajor to try heal a religious leader. This episode is not as bad as everyone seems to think. In my opinion, it's very funny. True the concept of the Dalrock or whatever is silly and the river negotiations themselves are a bit dull, however, Jake and Nog are hysterical, and Miles' and Julian's reactions to Miles becoming the Sirrah are extremely funny. In fact, I spent most of this episode laughing, which is not a bad thing at all!

5/10

____________________________________________________

Progress

Jake and Nog go into business together, while Kira tries to convince a stubborn Bajoran to leave his home. A very good episode. The Bajoran dude was surprisingly interesting for a Bajoran male. He had a lot of character. It could have been a very boring episode if this character had not been so well done and well acted. Kira is interesting here also, torn between being a rebel, something she has been all her life, and performing her duty as is now required of her. Jake and Nog were great also, I love the things those two get up to. Such nice normal children. They are not out saving the universe or anything, but they seem to have a lot of fun!

8/10

_____________________________________________________

If Wishes were Horses

The fantasies of the crew start coming to life. I guess this episode is a bit like TOS's Shore Leave, except, you know, less good. Much less good actually. I suppose, more specifically, it is a mixture of Shore Leave and TNG's Liaisons. It has some fun parts, e.g., "Ladies and Gentlemen and all androgynous creatures, I must ask you all to refrain from using your imaginations." LOL Also, snow on the promenade. But mostly it's quite dull. Lots of boring discussions about the cause of the abnormal happenings.

1/10

_____________________________________________________

I don't think I'll be watching DS9 tomorrow, I have some other plans. Possibly not Saturday either, but I may squeeze a couple of episodes in there!

 

[Sarahjs]

Sunday is usually my TV watching day, so watched four episodes to finish off Season 1!

_______________________________________________________

The Forsaken

Some ambassadors come on board the station to annoy Julian and Lwaxana comes aboard to bother Odo. Oh, also Miles argues with the computer and then it gets taken over by a probe. The probe story is quite dull, and it just seems like a catalyst that allows the other two stories to develop and an excuse for people to talk in ops. Julian's annoying ambassador story is better, though the ambassadors are strangely annoying for ambassadors. I thought ambassadors were supposed to be polite and ambassadorial. At least they appreciated it when Julian saved their lives. The Lwaxana and Odo story is the best, mostly because we learn more about Odo and partly because Lwaxana amuses me. And Odo's reaction to Lwaxana's "interest" is hilarious, I suppose because he has never had to cope with a woman coming onto him. Lwaxana comes on very strongly. Another point worth making, is that Lwaxana is not in this episode solely for humour purposes, she has an important role to play. She get's Odo to open up to her and finds some common ground with him. It's very sweet. Now she actually behaves like an ambassador...

6/10

_____________________________________________________

Dramatis Personae

A Klingon ship explodes and the crew starts to act out of character. Sisko is apathetic, Kira is overly aggressive, Miles is paranoid, Jadzia is indecisive, Julian is speculative and Odo is unaffected. It's surprising that they chose to do an episode like this in Season One, considering the audience may not know the characters well enough to fully appreciate what is going on. However, it works in DS9 to a degree, because most of the characters have already been relatively well developed. I like how Odo takes advantage of Bashir's strangeness in order to convince him to find a resolution to the situation. I guess it's the only thing I really like, it's not a very good episode in my view. I didn't really see the point of it.

4/10

_____________________________________________________

Duet

Without a doubt, the best episode of Season 1. Also, one of the easiest grades I have ever had to decide on, as it had already been predetermined in my mind. Anyway, Kira sings a very cacophonous and discordant duet with a Cardassian, yet it turns out that they are singing the same song. Also, Sisko is caught in the middle between the political interests of the Bajorans and those of the Cardassians. Marritza is very good at dissembling and he knows exactly how to push Kira's buttons. I think this is the first Star Trek episode that made me cry and not just tear up, like actually sob. The only really awkward scene comes at the end, when Kira kneels by Marritza's body and everyone just stares at them. It's kind of weird that people would just walk up to them to stare, but it does not really detract from the episode. A great growth episode for Kira also, as she realizes that not all Cardassians are monsters.

10/10

_____________________________________________________

In the Hands of the Prophets

Vedek Winn comes aboard the station and creates a disturbance. I've always been quite fond of this episode. It criticizes religious extremism without bashing moderate religious factions, which is a very hard balance to strike. Winn is a great character, she is so devious and so easy to hate. She is also very disingenuous. It's quite clear, even from this early episode, from her political conniving, that she is not really genuinely religious. Maybe the most dangerous type of person as they tend to overcompensate in their pretences of belief and draw extremists to follow them. The actress is good, every word out of her mouth, that is connected to the prophets, sounds extremely fake. I am surprised more people don't see right through her. I remember being very surprised the first time I saw this episode, that Kira agreed with Winn's principles when it came to running the school. In retrospect, it was not so surprising, Kira is genuinely religious, but she realizes quickly that Winn is not a genuine person. Vedek Bareil is cool in this episode, in that he is different to the typical Bajoran religious leader, but he becomes quite dull and unremarkable later on in the series. In fact, after Sisko's initial meeting with him on the planet, he becomes rather dull and unremarkable in this episode. Bareil: The prophets teach us patience. Sisko: It appears they also teach you politics. An awesome exchange. I enjoy political type episodes. I would not say this episode is really a prequel to the Circle Trilogy of next season, but it does lay some groundwork for it. Oh, I almost wish that Bajoran girl had killed Bareil, that way I would not have be subjected to his dullness in later episodes. Or, on second thought, they might have made him come back from the dead, which would be even worse.

9/10

_____________________________________________________

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

"Duet" might be one of the best episodes in the entirety of Trek. It shows just how exceptional DS9 was at story telling, thanks to the great characters and the darker setting.

It is also one of the many chances when Kira shines through, solidifying her place in my heart as the best Trek character ever.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

Four episodes watched tonight!

______________________________________________

Dax

Miles leaves to go on holiday to earth and some guys kidnap Jadzia. This episode raises some interesting questions about the Trill, such as, can a symbiont be held responsible for the actions of its previous host. Basically, to what degree is the symbiont in control of the joint Trill? In TNG, the symbiont was shown to be the one mostly in control, yet in DS9, it seems that both symbiont and host contribute to the characteristics of the final joint entity. Jadzia's determination to keep Curzon's promise, shows that the symbiont does have a substantial effect on the host. An interesting episode, I tend to enjoy courtroom dramas, but it was nothing too amazing. I was quite engaged by the Bajoran arbiter, she was quite a character.

...

There are many things that differ between the trill from ds9 and the one(s) from tng.

They don't look at all alike (as a matter of fact, they wanted to make jadzia look exactly like the trill from tng initially but decided against it because it would be stupid to disfigure a beautiful woman for an entire series, wise decision. So they put the spots instead, which are kind of sexy and jadzia was able to pretend that they were tattoos during her short stay in twenty first century Earth, which would have been more difficult with the ridges or bumps, or whatever it was that that trill had on his forehead.) and the trill from tng obviously have no problem with reassociation (Beverly could attest to that). Also the trill from tng keep their condition a secret and lie about who they are. That's enough fundamental differences to conclude that these are two distinct species with different mores.

 

[Sarahjs]

@Bry_Sinclair - Duet is definitely in my top 5 Trek episodes. There are some very exceptional ones so I find it hard to pick a favourite overall, but it's definitely up there!

@Kobayashi Maru - Indeed, there are a multitude of differences between TNG Trill and DS9 Trill! I wonder how it can be explained! I personally tend to accept DS9 as correct in their portrayal of Trill though, simply because one of the main characters is a Trill and therefore they feature more! Also, I don't particularly like the one TNG episode that features Trill, so I tend to ignore it, which is very bad of me, but there it is!!

_____________________________________________________

Tonight's viewing comprised of what is known as The Circle Trilogy!

The HomeComing

Kira gets an earring from Quark, Jake plans a date with a girl and an extremist Bajoran group draws graffiti the station walls as well as on Quark's head. I feel that the Circle Trilogy is a solid trilogy but nothing exceptional. Lee Nullis is quite dull in himself, but pitiable, because he really does not want the attention, and, in fact, never did what the Bajorans say he did, at least not in the way they tell it. In fact, it's quite clear that he has no drive of any sort to be a leader. I suppose his story is mildly interesting, but his personality, not so much. Sisko is right that Bajor needs a symbol more than anything else though. They could pick a worse symbol. The Circle don't seem very threatening at this point, they are running around drawing graffiti and branding Ferengi, so most of the episode seems quite unimportant and frankly a bit boring. Oh, the most dramatic thing that happens is that Kira gets recalled to Bajor.

7/10

_____________________________________________________

The Circle

Sisko is mad about Kira leaving and The Circle continue their nefarious plots by drawing graffiti on Sisko's quarters. ;D Everyone says goodbye to Kira in a disruptive fashion and Vedek Bareil graces us with his dullness. I wonder if it would be possible for a person to speak in a greater monotone...? Lee Nullis is supposed to report directly to the prophets? What does this even mean? Must he go to the Wormhole and literally report to the Prophets, or must he spend all his time in the temple? Neither of these sound like very useful or meaningful activities for him. Well, the former sounds interesting at least. Then Kira spends time gardening of all things and has a conversation with Bareil. Imagine if Kira also spoke in monotone, it would be the most boring conversation ever. Then Vedek Winn makes things more interesting, though not too much so, she is not effectively used in this episode. The Circle receiving weapons from Cardassians is more interesting and it explains Dukat's rapid capitulation and apology in the previous episode, I just think that it would have been more effective, had Minister Jaro known this, it would have made him seem like a formidable and conniving enemy, like a puppet master. As such, his lack of knowledge merely makes him seem stupid. At least the Circle starts doing something substantial, rather than random acts of vandalism. I think I like this episode less than the first one.

6/10

_____________________________________________________

The Siege

Sisko delays following the Prime Directive to hold the station against the forces of the Circle and Quark uses the evacuation to turn a profit. I like the Bajoran General, he is among the more remarkable of the Bajoran male characters. Ugh, Jaro is unbelievably dull in this episode, not an interesting villain in the least, and his interactions with Winn creep me out about as much as Winn's accidental relationship with Dukat in season 7. Anyway, at least this episode is more exciting otherwise and has a bit more movement and action. Even Bareil is not so offensively dull in this episode, as in the last one. How quickly Vedek Winn switches sides when she sees that she is on the losing team! Also, Lee Nullis does something brave and perhaps proves himself deserving of the reputation that was bestowed upon him.

8/10

 

[Sarahjs]

Invasive Procedures

The station is evacuated due to a plasma storm, with a skeleton crew left behind to protect the structure, while some dudes come to steal Jadzia's symbiont, Dax. Also, Tuvok is a secret Klingon. Verrad is quite a dull Trill, no wonder he feels that he needs a symbiont, he has practically no personality, but he is extremely annoying with the symbiont, I kind of like him better without it - he is sweet. This episode actually baffles me to a degree, as soon as Verrad received the Dax symbiont, he should have realized that what he was doing was very wrong and given the symbiont back. Sisko tries to get such a reaction out of him actually, which tells me that what I am saying should have happened. But the events suggest that the host has too much control over the symbiont, which is not how I had previously understood it. But at the same time, the symbiont completely changes his personality, so I am quite confused. Besides this confusion the story is ok, quite exciting at times, but a bit too baffling to get a super high score. Maybe I should stop overthinking these Trill issues?

5/10
_____________________________________________________

Cardassians

A Cardassian boy bites Garak. A similar episode to TNG's Suddenly Human, right down to accusations of abuse by the adoptive parents. Sisko's decision here absolutely baffles me. The decision made ultimately by Picard in Suddenly Human was the right one, I have said this before. However, this particular episode is augmented by Cardassian politics and plots, and, of course, by Garak. Rugal staying with the O'Briens was very sweet. There was an interesting harmony between Miles's dislike of the Cardassians and Rugal's hatred of his own people. Now Miles has to try and convince Rugal that not all Cardassians are bad. I think this episode may also have started a trend of Julian waking up and finding nefarious types in his room. Very amusing. It's so sad, the Cardassian children in the orphanages actually want to go to Cardassia, Rugal does not. Children are the last thing that matter to Dukat as far as I can tell, despite anything he might say. "Gul Dukat, who was the commanding officer of Terok Nor eight years ago?" Great question. An very enjoyable episode, but still, I am baffled by Sisko's decision. How will going to a place he does not want to go to help Rugal with any sort of healing process?? I actually read a DS9 novel that was a continuation of this particular episode. A very interesting read, can't remember the title or author now though.

8/10

_____________________________________________________

Melora

A woman from a gravity free world comes onto DS9 to serve in Starfleet and someone arrives to kill Quark. A dull episode, the woman is annoying as well. I guess it's quite cool watching them float around though. Even the Quark story is not very interesting in this episode, it takes up very little of the episode. Actually, so dull, I don't have very much to say about it... It's not quite bad enough to be termed as unwatchable, it has some action and some mildly exciting flying space things happening, but it's almost there. Quark is amusing also I guess.

1/10

_____________________________________________________