How Caretaker fits in

[Tiberius]

For one thing, I'm looking at the uniforms, and it wasn't until Rapture that DS9 got the new ones. It seems to make sense that Rapture is the first episode to take place after First Contact. And, considering what Memory Alpha has to say about the "behind the scenes" info concerning the uniforms, it's the closest thing to a continuity hook we've got if we want to place it accurately. It says:

"This was the first episode of Deep Space Nine to feature the grey-on-black Starfleet uniforms created for Star Trek: First Contact. Sisko also wears a captain's vest/waistcoat, as worn by Jean-Luc Picard in that movie. The uniforms had been held back in production so that they would not be seen until an episode that aired after the official release of the movie. Noticeably, Avery Brooks' tunic does not appear to fit him correctly, making correct positioning of his combadge difficult. For the duration of this episode and part of the following one (DS9: "The Darkness and the Light") he wears the combadge on the grey portion of the tunic instead of the black; the combadge was positioned correctly in all subsequent episodes. Furthermore, Sisko does not have the red stripe around his cuffs that all the other uniforms do. Bashir's "Does my uniform look brighter?" line was a not-so-subtle way of drawing the audience's attention to the new costumes. Besides all the admirals' (and Whatley's aide's) uniform which had not been changed yet, some officers of the lower ranking staff are still wearing the previous costumes. "

Actually, Rapture was the second episode to air after FC was released.

FC was released on November 22, 1996. Three days later (November 25 1996), The Ascent aired. Rapture was aired almost a month later, on December 30, 1996.

 

[StewMc]

On the subject of airdate vs stardate, I can think of one example in all of Trek where it doesn't quite work: The swapped airing order of "Imperfection" and "Drive" in VOY's seventh season.

As a result, the Delta Flyer appears to have been magically resurrected in "Imperfection" after its destruction a few episodes earlier and goes off on a normal mission, then next in "Drive" Paris and Kim are taking the "new" Flyer out on a test run. Luckly a chance line by Paris to Janeway in "Imperfection" about the ship ending up in pieces last time she took it out at least acknowledges the fact that they rebuilt the ship, despite the fact that the episode should have come second (and the stardates reflect that in this case).

 

[myselfeneye]

For one thing, I'm looking at the uniforms, and it wasn't until Rapture that DS9 got the new ones. It seems to make sense that Rapture is the first episode to take place after First Contact. And, considering what Memory Alpha has to say about the "behind the scenes" info concerning the uniforms, it's the closest thing to a continuity hook we've got if we want to place it accurately. It says:

"This was the first episode of Deep Space Nine to feature the grey-on-black Starfleet uniforms created for Star Trek: First Contact. Sisko also wears a captain's vest/waistcoat, as worn by Jean-Luc Picard in that movie. The uniforms had been held back in production so that they would not be seen until an episode that aired after the official release of the movie. Noticeably, Avery Brooks' tunic does not appear to fit him correctly, making correct positioning of his combadge difficult. For the duration of this episode and part of the following one (DS9: "The Darkness and the Light") he wears the combadge on the grey portion of the tunic instead of the black; the combadge was positioned correctly in all subsequent episodes. Furthermore, Sisko does not have the red stripe around his cuffs that all the other uniforms do. Bashir's "Does my uniform look brighter?" line was a not-so-subtle way of drawing the audience's attention to the new costumes. Besides all the admirals' (and Whatley's aide's) uniform which had not been changed yet, some officers of the lower ranking staff are still wearing the previous costumes. "

Actually, Rapture was the second episode to air after FC was released.

FC was released on November 22, 1996. Three days later (November 25 1996), The Ascent aired. Rapture was aired almost a month later, on December 30, 1996.

Even with that being the case, they were obviously laboring under the expectation that Rapture would be the first to air after FC was released. That, along with the statement above, demonstrates the writers' intentions. This is also in the Memory Alpha article pertaining to Rapture:

"Although some fans find it unusual that there is no acknowledgment of Star Trek: First Contact in this episode, such as a reference to the USS Defiant needing repair work, this was not an oversight on the part of the writers, but was in fact a conscious decision. Ira Steven Behr was not happy with how the Defiant had been used in the film ("I didn't see the point in bringing it on just to kick the crap out of it"), and he didn't see any reason to draw attention to it in this episode. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) There would eventually be a brief reference to the film in "In Purgatory's Shadow"."

 

[Lynx]

I always use the stardates when it comes to create timelines for Star Trek. Although there are some flaws here and there (as the stardates for the season 2 Voyager episodes "Lifesigns" and "Investigations", the stardates are quite accurate when it comes to making timelines. If you use a reliable converter, it can be even more fun.

The suggestion that "Caretaker" happens between the DS9 episodes "The Abandoned" and "Civil Defence" is a realistic suggestion considering the information on the Memory Alpha site.

So what we have is:
The Abandoned, stardate 48301.1 (Tuesday 20 Apr 2371)

Caretaker, stardate 48315.6 (Monday 26 April 2371)

Civil Defence, stardate 48388.8 (Saturday 22 May 2371)

 

[Tiberius]

That is, of course, assuming that the writers actually pay that much attention to the stardates as well.

 

[Mr_Homn]

Now I want to have an Evek Marathon.

Every episode with Evek chronologically from start to finish. That'd be fun and interesting.


"Journey's End"
Preemptive Strike"
Playing God""
The Maquis, Part I"
"Tribunal"
"Caretaker""

 

[StewMc]

Now I want to have an Evek Marathon.

Every episode with Evek chronologically from start to finish. That'd be fun and interesting.


"Journey's End"
Preemptive Strike"
Playing God""
The Maquis, Part I"
"Tribunal"
"Caretaker""

While the chronological order could be up for debate due to the fact that there are virtually no stardates given towards the end of DS9's second season, a more likely order for an Evek Marathon would be:

"Playing God" (aired 27th Feb '94, stardate unknown)
"Journey's End" (aired 28th Mar '94, stardate 47751.2)
"The Maquis, Part 1" (aired 24th April '94, stardate unknown)
"Preemptive Strike" (aired 16th May '94, stardate 47941.7)
"Tribunal" (aired 5th June '94, stardate 47944.2)
"Caretaker" (aired 16th Jan '95, stardate 48315.6)

Richard Poe plays an unnamed Cardassian in "Playing God", however this is retroactively established to be Evek in "Tribunal" when he tells O'Brien that they've spoken before.

 

[Timo]

The Abandoned, stardate 48301.1

Where does this stardate come from? Besides Memory Alpha, I mean. The wiki argues that the VOY pilot comes after this episode "because of the stardates", but does not tell how the stardate for "The Abandoned" was divined. It's not mentioned in dialogue - is it on a computer display or something?

The same question goes for "Civil Defense".

Timo Saloniemi

 

[StewMc]

The Abandoned, stardate 48301.1

Where does this stardate come from? Besides Memory Alpha, I mean. The wiki argues that the VOY pilot comes after this episode "because of the stardates", but does not tell how the stardate for "The Abandoned" was divined. It's not mentioned in dialogue - is it on a computer display or something?

The same question goes for "Civil Defense".

Timo Saloniemi

It would appear that the stardates come from the UK VHS Covers. The memory alpha page actually notes that there are stardates for episodes that didn't have one mentioned. The same thing appears to be true of the Voyager covers, up until DS9 Season 6/VOY Season 4, when they stopping putting the stardates on the covers. I do seem to remember some of the later Voyager videos having "stardate unknown" on the back covers though.

I suppose there are a few different theories for this, maybe CIC Video were making up stardates for episodes, and then got told off by Paramount or whoever and stopped doing it. Who knows?

Memory Alpha doesn't always seem to use the stardates from the video covers though, Voyager's "Fair Trade" for example has a stardate on the video, but MA don't use it. Same for the much of the latter half of DS9 season 2.