Re: Alright, tough question. Give out your Top 10 DS9 episodes (no tie
Aw, you had to make this thread when I'm only six episodes away from finishing the series.
Anyway, given how inconsistent season 7 is, I probably won't want to change it when I finish, unless the series finale really blows my mind. Here is my (admittedly skewed towards Jadzia and romantic episodes) top ten in order, with number one being my most favourite.
10.
"Blood Oath" (Season 2, Episode 14)
- A rousing action story with an interesting philosophical dilemma, and a casting reunion that's a bonus bit of lovely nostalgia for those familiar with the three guest actors.
9.
"The Visitor" (Season 4, Episode 3)
- One of the most moving episodes, even though it's full of silly technobabble and has all the ingredients to be a horribly schmaltzy melodrama. One of the best examples of superb acting elevating a show far beyond its limitations to the point where it's not just good despite its flaws, but actually great despite its flaws.
8.
"His Way" (Season 6, Episode 20) - A show so bewitchingly romantic and sweet that it had me cheering for my two least favourite characters to find blissful love together. And I don't care if it was just a self-indulgent move by its producer, the lounge scenes and the introduction of the Vic Fontaine character were transcendently captivating in their joy.
7.
"Change of Heart" (Season 6, Episode 16)
- The premise is a little faulty (of all the people you could send together on a dangerous, life-threatening mission, a married couple is one of the stupidest possible choices), but for me personally, it's a real treat to get an episode that finally explores why Worf and Jadzia Dax are right for each other in spite of their differences (which
"Let He Who Is Without Sin..." should have been), and what a fine example they are of the old expression "opposites attract". Mixing action and romance nicely is a surefire way for an episode to win this Niner's heart.
6.
"Take Me Out to the Holosuite" (Season 7, Episode 4)
- Perhaps the most surprisingly enjoyable episode in the series. One of the best pure comedic episodes, set right in the middle of a mostly dour war-addled season. Builds on our affection for the characters built over seven seasons, showing some of them in their most endearingly eager, affable, and hilarious states, particularly Sisko, Odo, Quark, O'Brien, and Bashir. The episode itself is like a good, casual baseball game. Even when tempers get high and anger comes out, it's all in a good fun.
5.
"Our Man Bashir" (Season 4, Episode 10)
- Another triumph of a comedic piece, this time not only because it allows us to delight in the actors loosening up and playing their characters in new and surprising ways, but also because of how brilliantly it spoofs the James Bond franchise.
It may be a slight, insignificant episode in the grand scheme of the DS9 saga, but I believe Avery Brooks gave one of his best performances in the whole series as the deliciously over-the-top Dr. Noah, who wonderfully embodies all the excesses of the most cartoonish Bond villains.
4.
"To the Death" (Season 4, Episode 23)
- As far as drama goes on DS9, I don't think it gets any better than this. Way underrated and I feel it should have the status among fans that
"In the Pale Moonlight" does. Like that episode, it provides a consistently intriguing exploration of the Federation's cultural differences with another race (in this case, the Jem'Hadar), but while that episode sinks under the weight of its hammy performances, this one handles the conflicts between its characters with masterfully subtle, yet powerful performances.
The interactions between Sisko and Weyoun, Sisko and the Jem'Hadar leader, Worf and another soldier, and Odo and Weyoun are all absolutely enthralling. For someone like me who thinks Star Trek is at its best when it allows characters to have conversations that are intelligent, nuanced, and throught-provoking, an episode like this is heavenly. And on top of all that, they have the amusingly odd pseudo-bonding conversation between Jadzia and a Jem'Hadar soldier, which is a highlight of the series for me, a kick ass action climax, and Weyoun's shocking and hilarious death.
3.
"ReJoined" (Season 4, Episode 6)
- The only episode I find more emotionally involving than
"The Visitor". A devastatingly poignant tragic love story about two people who belong together and want to be together with every inch of their being and can't, in the same tradition of TNG's
"Lessons" and
"The Perfect Mate", but better. Never have I wanted so badly for two fictional characters to get together and been so sad that they couldn't.
2.
"You Are Cordially Invited..." (Season 6, Episode 7) - After seeing this episode, I understood for the first time in my life why people cry at weddings.
I think having a wedding at DS9 brought out the best in all the characters. It highlighted the dogged loyalty of Bashir and O'Brien (which brought the great comedy of demonstrating how that loyalty gets them into trouble), the endearingly obsessive commitment to tradition of Worf, the admirable ability to sympathize with different perspectives and commitment to duty of Sisko, and Jadzia's relentless hedonistic desire to enjoy life no matter what (and how like Bashir and O'Brien's loyalty, this intergral part of her personality can get her in trouble with hilarious results).
For most of its running time, it's some of the funniest material in the whole series, and then at the very end, it's some of the most moving. Despite their constant fixation on war, honour, and violence, the Klingons prove to be a surprisingly impressive culture when it comes to their grasp of love.
1.
"Trials and Tribble-Ations" (Season 5, Episode 6) - Like
"You Are Cordially Invited..." an episode with a premise that is ideal for giving the characters an opportunity to shine brighter than most episodes would. Pure bliss from start to finish for someone who is a fan of all Star Trek history up to that point and has much affection for the characters of this series. The highlights are endless.
Dax's glee at everything around her, Sisko's hero worship of Kirk, Bashir's paranoid elevator speculation, O'Brien's amusement at Bashir's overanalyzing and pride in being spoken to by Kirk, Worf's tribble condemnation. Even Odo, who is often so irritatingly sour gets in on the fun by mocking Worf. And Kira, my least favourite character, is reduced to just sitting down reciting minimal exposition because Nana Visitor was pregnant!
What a perfect episode. Impeccable writing, special effects, acting, characterizations, and plotting. There is no doubt in my mind that this episode is the peak of the series (not that it's all downhill after it...just that the show never again created such a flawless masterpiece of a story). Okay, people can quibble about how contrived the means of time travel was, but it doesn't matter because for me no other episode is more charming and fun moment-to-moment than this one.
Clearly season 4 rules supreme on my list.
If I had to pick a season 3 episode for the list, I would choose
"Explorers". I think it's a great season, even though none of its episodes are in my top ten. Honourable mentions also to
"Captive Pursuit" and
"Whispers" - the first two episodes that proved to me that DS9 could go places with story and character that TNG never had and be awesome in ways it never could be.
I guess a lot of my choices are different from others here because I'm such a sucker for love stories (and Jadzia episodes), lighter episodes, funnier episodes, and episodes that focus more tightly on characters than plot.
These are the episodes that affected me the most deeply. They all left me with an overjoyed feeling that I'd just seen something truly special because of how stimulating they'd been soul-wise and I find the episodes that are generally more positive (if not all the way through, then at least in the end) accomplish that best.
. I love how DS9 gives me that polar opposite problem of that. 
