Deep Space Nine Rewatch

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

2-17 Playing God

I didn't care much for either of the plots in Playing God. First there's the proto-universe story, which doesn't makes much sense and is loaded with heinous amounts of technobabble. Since that story took a backseat to the Dax one you could never really get invested in it, or frankly to understand why they didn't go along with Kira's suggestion right from the start and wipe it out. Those lofty high Trek morals sound good on paper, but what are they worth if you and perhaps your entire universe are obliterated in the process. The resolution was as simple as inexplicable. Exactly why would it work to get it back to the Gamma quadrant? Presumably it could expand and grow from there too, and eventually consume the rest of our universe anyway.

Then there is the Dax plot that I also didn't like that much. While it is interesting to get glimpses into Trill society, I couldn't sympathize with either Jadzia Dax, who was much too rude, or the initiate Arjin, who obviously never should've gotten into the symbiont program in the first place. Why Dax didn't flunk him then and there is a mystery. It's not like he wouldn't have any career left. He was a good pilot for starters. But I did enjoy the view of Jadzia in a towel and with her hair hanging loosely. She'll get her ice cream tonight!

The only part I can say I liked were the Cardassian voles. I hope we get to see more of those critters.

Playing God receives a grade of 3+ from me.


2-18 Profit and Loss

Profit and Loss was a somewhat interesting episode, but I found it hard to believe in Quark trying to fill Humphrey Bogart's shoes (yes, this episode is clearly influenced by Casablanca). It did rob him of a of his usual Ferengi traits to have him be this much in love with Natima, a dissident Cardassian woman. Her makeup looked great, by the way, and you just had to wonder how far down those scales went. And for a Cardie, she looked very good. But I had a hard time believing in the love affair, there was little chemistry and call me a bigot, but it felt a bit disgusting conjuring up images of the two of them doing the… well, you know!

Garak is what saves this episode. Once you think you may know him, he surprises you. You really can't tell what side he is on. But I found it implausible that he'd just vaporize that Gul with no repercussions, either from station security of the Cardassian homeworld.

Speaking of implausibilities, I also found it odd that Odo could take it upon himself to just release the Cardassian dissidents (or whatever they were, it was never made clear). He - and Sisko - serves at the behest of the Bajoran government, and one would think they'd be very pissed off at this blatant refusal to follow orders and in the process probably stop the release of Bajoran nationals.

Still, in the end I give Profit and Loss an average grade of 5+.

 

[DonIago]

I still wish we'd gotten some idea of what became of Arjin.

...and now I kind of wish they'd had him become the next Dax host.

 

[tomalak301]

I still wish we'd gotten some idea of what became of Arjin.

...and now I kind of wish they'd had him become the next Dax host.

That would have been really interesting.

 

[tomalak301]

Blood Oath

I love this episode, but I find it a little contradictory over what we learned in Dax. In that episode we learned that the host is not responsible for past deeds of previous hosts. Yet in this episode, Jadzia pretty much says that she wants to join the quest because it is part of Curzon's blood oath. I'm not sure if you can have it both ways though. You can't forget the bad parts of your past (Crimes, etc.) and fulfill your good promises. If you did that, you're pretty much paying for past deeds for most of your life.

Other than that, it was great to bring back Koloth, Kor, and Kang. I think I like them more here then when they were in the Original (except for Kor, who Cocilios' performance in Errand of Mercy is the quintessential Klingon) mainly because they were older and wiser, especially Koloth. I also liked the scene between Dax and Kira about Kira's actions during the occupation. Really good episode, and now we're in the part of the season where I think Season 2 becomes really great. I can't think of an episode from here on out that I disliked and it's all universe building, which was this season's specialty.

 

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

2-19 Blood Oath

I generally prefer the TOS-era Klingons to the bumpy forehead later incarnations, even if I have enjoyed a lot of the later era Trek episodes focusing on Klingon politics. In a lot of ways they're two different species. The TOS ones were smarter and therefore a more deadly adversary, whereas the bumpy ones (including the ENT ones) all too often came off as much dumber, spouting honour while charging senselessly to their deaths.

So while it was nice to see the TOS Klingons Kor, Koloth and Kang again - this time with bumpy foreheads that aren't explained - it too often seemed like they could just be three other random Klingon characters. With the possible exception of Kang I didn't feel they were that much in character from what I remember from TOS. That goes especially for Kor, who here is a drunkard and in TOS was a formidable enemy. And with the new Klingon makeup I also had a hard time recognizing them. I guess the stupidity displayed by the Klingons really does come from the foreheads. They must have benefited from that Augment virus they contracted on ENT. Given the new look on these old Klingons they probably reversed the process sometime after TOS. But it makes you wonder if Kor, Koloth and Kang were born as smooth-heads?

Surprisingly I did enjoy Jadzia Dax here, and her struggles with both Curzon's old Klingon friends and with the notion that she would be called upon and kill their Albino enemy. Too bad that they took the easy way out and didn't let her kill anyone. She did look good in the Klingon-inspired outfit though.

I'll give Blood Oath a generous grade of 6.

 

[soornge]

my tour of trek universe almost complete with starti g ds9 : to be honest did not likenit when it first aired going to try and watch with an open mind : was alwas a b5 fan at the time : also actually hated the rifleman and still do . started first episode today already think they could have done without the starwar esque intro:

really did like the confrontation between picard and cisco : think they jumped too fast into the whole emissary bit. but whatevs...
just finished the first episode of ds9am i the only one who thinks it was huge dbag move for cisco to step over the injured dude laying on the deck : one moment he is like oh my this is serious : then sees his son and literally steps right over dude laughing and smiling : what a dbag!

 

[tomalak301]

The Maquis

When I rewatch Season 2, and when I'm talking about how Season 2 builds the Alpha Quadrant universe a lot more than any other season, one of the major factors in that are these two episodes. While this whole Demiliterized Zone thing started in TNG's Journey's End, this was the episode that sets up the entire Maquis story line that will last for a few years on DS9. DS9 has always been good at politics and political storylines, and these two episodes really develop what we have seen from the series so far (mention the weapon suppliers that the Cardassians were using in the Circle Trilogy to) and even a Voyager reference mentioning the Ships that were lost in the badlands.

This episode is also a very personal story too for Sisko. We see his relationship with Hudson, even sharing stories about their wives, thus making Hudson's betrayal even more painful. I don't think it was as painful as Eddington, and I think the reason for that is Casey isn't all that great of an actor. He doesn't want to be there, and there doesn't feel like there is much pain to the words he is saying.

Then we have Dukat, and man if there were two episodes that developed Dukat so much it was these two. We learn from him the Cardassian education system as well as it's justice system. We also get to see how big of an ego Dukat has and Alaimo just chews up the scenery. Love his scenes with Sisko in the runabout or his meal scene just pouring the Kanar. Dukat is such a great character in this series, at least until maybe a certain point in Season 6, but that's way down the road from where I'm at now.

The final thing I will say is I loved the scenes between Sakona and Quark. We get two more rules of acquisition, and I really loved seeing how a business proposition is cherished as an opportunity. Also, I think Sakona might be one of my favorite Vulcans on Star Trek. For such a minor role, she had an interesting impact.

Overall though, The Maquis is quintessential season 2. It builds the Trek universe that was started in TNG and sets the stage for what is to come in future seasons. It also sets up Voyager, and it makes me Sad Voyager didn't run with the Maquis idea when they had the chance. Thank god DS9 did though.

 

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

2-20-21 The Maquis, Part 1-2

This The Maquis two-parter is a solid outing of DS9. I enjoyed both episodes immensely. It gave us some fascinating insights to interstellar politics, and it bridged nicely with both TNG and VOY. As the title says, it is about opposition within the Federation to the recent treaty with Cardassia. While I can understand the predicament of Sisko and Starfleet I cannot help but to sympathize with the Maquis. These Federation colonists are reduced to mere pawns in the Federation's ill-conceived wish to placate the Cardassians. This is one of those instances when the lofty goals of the "evolved" Feds are confronted with the harsh realities of actual humans (and aliens).

I think the Feds have only themselves to blame for this mess. They should have stood up for their own people instead of trying to cut a deal with the Cardassians, who cannot be trusted anyway. Why this incessant need to appease those that are your enemies? As these episodes really showed, a treaty with the Cardies isn't worth the paper it's printed on. There's infighting among the Cardassian Central Command and just by chance Gul Dukat is here out of the loop and able to help Sisko. After this incident, can you really trust the Cardassians to honour any new deal?

But I cheered when Sisko went on his very passionate rant about "it's easy being a saint when you live in paradise" to Kira. That sums up all my gripes I've ever had with the all too perfect 24th century. The Feds have lost touch with how it really is out there, and how their ridiculous and, in my not so humble opinion, immoral non-interference policies allows them to stand above the petty squabbles of the galaxy while others are being oppressed and even slaughtered (including their own people). It's easy to see how the Cardassians interprets this as the weakness that it is, and exploit it. That is what Hitler did, especially after Munich.

I wasn't at all surprised when Sisko's old friend Cal Hudson turned out to be a Maquis himself. I could see that from the very beginning. But I thought that the performance by actor Bernie Casey was really sub-par, wooden and dispassionate.

The same can definitely not be said for Marc Alaimo's Gul Dukat, which was a true delight to watch, especially in his interactions with Sisko. Now here a villain I really like - he's boastful, arrogant and intense but also a very multifaceted character. If he keeps this up he might become my all-time favourite Trek villain.

I also liked the Vulcan gunrunning babe Sakonna, who looked great in that tight-fitting dress. Her dealings with Quark were also good, and I especially liked it when Quark tried to one-up her with logic. But it strains believability that they'd let Quark go after this. He's already jeopardized the station more than once before and this ought to have been the last straw. Letting him off the hook now would make them stupid, no matter the fact that he helped out with Sakonna.

Another thing I found hard to believe is that Sisko wouldn't be punished for withholding information about Hudson's defection - he even did it to Admiral Nechayev's face. Instead he's commended by the end. While a part of me sympathized with his actions here, that one should've been unforgivable in the eyes of Starfleet Command.

Summing up, I'll give these episodes a combined grade of 9.

 

[DonIago]

I think the simple fact is that at the time the bulk of the Federation wasn't interested in committing itself to another war, and so the worlds closest to the border became acceptable losses in the interest of preserving the peace. Of course, the Federation gained some Cardassian worlds as well. It's not a neat answer and it's probably not a moral answer...but if the alternative was a war that would have killed thousands, I'd hard-pressed to argue with it.

While I think the settlers found themselves in an unpleasant situation, I also have a hard time believing that they went into this with their eyes completely shut. Unless the Cardassians were an unknown power at the time their colonies were settled (and then surely they must still have been frontier colonies), the colonists did know they were claiming planets right next door to a hostile power. And I find their way of trying to address the problem...lacking.

As for Bernie Casey...I don't get it. I've seen him in this and a B5 episode, and his performance was unchanging.

 

[tomalak301]

Did we ever get the Cardassian version of the Maquis in terms of the Cardassians on the federation side? Did it matter because they were being supplied weapons? We always hear about the settlers who did agree to bring in the Cardassians, at least in Journey's end, but they didn't really talk about the Cardassians much on the federation side of the zone.

 

[DonIago]

Unfortunately, I don't believe we ever heard much about them.

There is "For the Cause", which ends with both a Cardassian and Maquis planet poisoned and the two swapping planets.

 

[tomalak301]

The Wire

This episode is awesome. Not sure if I can really add anything more than that but seriously, this has all the ingrediants of what makes episodes work. We have the relationship between Bashir and Garak, we delve into the many facets of Garak's past, and we finally meet Enabrin Tain, who was one of the more interesting guest stars we've seen on DS9. People say this is a Garak episode and it is to an extant, but I also contend this is a Bashir episode too. In fact, I've been looking for that specific moment where I really start to change my negative mind about Bashir and I think it happens in this episode. Yeah we get some nice moments in Armageddon game, but this episode had that scene where Bashir basically tells Odo he can't talk to Garak until Garak gets past this ordeal, and that really was a badass moment. This really is one of the best episodes of the series, and coming off the heels of the Maquis two parter, it really helps this season have such a turnaround from some of the mediocrity from the middle of the season.

Crossover

This episode is also awesome, but I think I like Through the Looking Glass a lot more than this one. Yeah I'm probably in a minority opinion on that one but this one really did feel like a reintroduction of the mirror universe, while starting with TTLG, that felt like we really got to play in it. I mean this one we meet most of the cast in the mirror universe role, but they aren't really on screen enough (Other than Kira and Garak) to really get a feel of them. Still, for a reintroduction this was a great episode. Odo was great as the supervisor in ore processing, and we really got to see how the mirror universe changed from the classic Mirror Mirror episode. I also really liked Intendent Kira, and you can tell Visitor was having fun in the role.

 

[DonIago]

^I have to say with regards to "Crossover", that excepting the plot threads introduced by the novels, you have to appreciate the sad irony that our Kirk did manage to influence Spock, but the results were so tragic for humanity and others.

 

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

2-22 The Wire

I really liked The Wire, but then again I always seem to like episodes which feature our resident plan, simple Garak prominently. It had some awesome interactions between Bashir and Garak and the episode proves, like Duet did in the first season, that you don't need a lot of special effects and action to make a good story. Just have a lot of great talking and let the characters go and you can have some great drama.

While some viewers might be disappointed to learn that they in fact didn't learn a lot more truths about Garak, I loved that element. Garak's line about that all he said was true, especially the lies, had me cracking up. Who is he and what was he? Part of Garak's appeal is the ambiguousness to him. He's likable enough, but for all we know he might be a terrible person. And if he is indeed exiled on DS9, why is he still supplying Cardassia with intelligence and acting on their behalf?

I also found Enabran Tain an interesting fellow. Even if we saw little of him here, he also came off as a character with many layers. And that Obsidian Order must be something really scary, since even the Romulan Tal Shiar pales in comparison.

The Wire gets a grade of 8+ from me.


2-23 Crossover

I realize that these mirror universe episodes are just meant for fun and not to be taken too seriously, but somehow I've never been able to get into that gushing mode most Trek fans have - and yes, that includes TOS's Mirror, Mirror as well. It's not like they have any bearing on the "real" Trekverse. At least in Mirror, Mirror and this Crossover we have some of our characters experiencing and remembering the events, even if the methods of crossing over are really nonsensical and far too convenient (a transporter and wormhole malfunction respectively).

I don't quite get the appeal of seeing mirror counterparts acting pure evil for evil's sake. I understand that sometimes people are just assholes, but you do need at least some sympathetic characters. Fortunately, in Crossover, we have that in O'Brien and, surprisingly, Quark (like we had T'Pol, Trip and Soval in ENT's mirror episodes). So in order for a mirror story to work for me, it cannot show everyone being evil.

These mirror episodes doesn't seem to want to answer the question about what it is that makes people do evil things, personality or circumstances. It's not like "our" Kira would become Intendant Kira had she been raised in this mirror universe. On the other hand, O'Brien is basically the same in both universes.

Mirror Sisko was a real bastard but it was interesting to see him switch sides after O'Brien's impassionate, yet low-key, speech. But I suspect that pirate Sisko would identify more with mirror Archer had his accomplishments than with real Sisko.

I'm not sure I like the reasoning behind how this alliance of Klingons and Cardassians came about. Somehow it robs Mirror, Mirror from a lot of punch and paints Mirror Spock in a very unfavourable light. Frankly, it's not logical to have transformed the Terran Empire into a pacifist state just so that aggressive neighbours can conquer it. Mirror Spock came of as a smart cookie. He realized that mindless oppression wouldn't be good for the empire, that's one thing, but all out pacifism? In the mirror universe? On the other hand I kind of liked the irony of it all - the understated message to pacifists even in our universe that the best way of achieving peace is being prepared for war.

Unnecessary shallow observation: Intendant Kira looked absolutely stunning in that tight latex outfit she had. Her character was hard for me to get a grip on though. And were where the mirror counterparts of Jadzia Dax, Bashir and Jake?

The grade for Crossover will be a 7- from me. I should perhaps have settled for just a 6, but the nods to TOS and realizing that this is mostly mindless fun makes me generous.

 

[DonIago]

Huh. It just occurred to me that with regards to the MU, our Kirk is essentially their Edith Keeler. He preached the right message, but in the wrong way.

...I somehow doubt he'd appreciate the irony. :/

 

[tomalak301]

Finally finished Season 2 tonight.

The Collaborator

I've always been a fan of this episode but that is probably just me liking the Bajoran Kai situation that started back in In the Hands of the Prophets. This season started with this three part epic Bajor story to really develop the people and the planet (And give some credience to how the series as a whole started) and we end the season with the choosing of the next Kai. Also, I've always been a fan of Bareil, so this episode did a great job giving him some much needed backstory as well as Opaka's. I think the only thing that holds me back is I really wish he had been a collaborator and they didn't pull out the cheat at the end. I know they put it all on Opaka, but because Opaka is on that prison planet, the power of the scene wasn't felt really well. Now if they had made it so Bariel was the collaborator, I think that would have been really interesting for the character.

Tribunal

I think I like this episode more than Whispers when talking about the Torture Obrian shows in Season 2. While Whispers hinges on the end, Tribunal works as a Cardassian story and a comedy all the way through. The writers took a line of dialog from Dukat in Emissary and made an episode out of it, while kind of furthering the Maquis storyline and this episode works really well. Also, I love Korvat. He's the epitome of your typical Lawyer.

Jem'Hadar

What a way to end the season. We got mentions of the Dominion in a few episodes in season 2, but now we finally meet them, and man what an introduction they were. It starts as kind of a silly story with a camping trip to the Gamma Quadrant, and it ended with Sisko getting a better understanding of Quark and a full fledged holy crap moment with the destruction of the Odyssey.

Speaking of the Jem'Hadar, one of my favorite things about this episode was how scary, threatening, and intimdating they were. Granted, the Federation adapts as the series went on, but you watch this episode and you watch the Jem'Hadar ships flying through space and it's ligitamantly scary. They are big ships, and can take out any other ship with one shot. The Kamikaze suicide run is still one of the most holy crap moments of the series because like Sisko said, the dominion showed how far they were willing to go.

Despite it playing for silliness, I did like the Quark/Sisko stuff here. we barely saw any Sisko/Quark scenes together in the first two seasons so I'm glad we got it here, and I think it grew both characters towards a mutual understanding. I will say though that the stuff with Jake and Nog was somewhat forgettable, but I'm not going to fault the episode for it. Still, it was quite an introduction to the new threat and it changed the series significantly.

As for Eris, I wish we would have seen her again. I know the telekinetic abilities disappeared, but while everyone is wondering how the Klingons got ridges, I'm wondering why we never saw another Vorta with Telekinetic powers. I wonder if Eris was programmed with those abilities as part of the plan to make their threat against the Federation. Unfortunately we will never know and I'm not sure many star trek fans really care.

 

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

2-24 The Collaborator

As with most episodes dealing with political intrigue I very much enjoyed The Collaborator. I think I might develop a love/hate relationship to the now Kai Winn. I thoroughly despise her but she's so delightful to watch that I wouldn't want it any other way. Contrast that with the noble, boring Bareil and I can very much understand that the producers wanted to make Winn the new Kai. The scenes where she confronts Sisko and Kira made me shiver with joy. Excellent, especially Sisko's not so veiled contempt.

I would've liked it even better if Bareil indeed had a dark past, and had not just covered up for Kai Opaka. That would've given his character some depth. Now he remains a walking stiff. And once again I'm reminded of the lack of romantic chemistry between him and Kira.

They did go a bit overboard with Bareil and his Orb quests. There was no need for so many to tell the story, but I suppose it was an efficient way of filling out the hour.

At any rate, this new development in Bajoran politics/religion should prove to be very interesting. How much of a foil to DS9 and the Federation will she be?

I give The Collaborator a grade of 8 on my 10-graded scale.


2-25 Tribunal

In many ways Tribunal bothered me. While we got to see a chilling story about how Orwellian Cardassia really is, it was nevertheless blunted by being so over the top. Show trials like these usually only "work" to an already subjugated audience, but here they invited the entire Federation to watch. It just strained believability. If they wanted to orchestrate a situation that would allow them to take care of the "border problem" then I'm sure a more effective means could've been thought up.

This brings me to my main gripe with the episode. It sure painted the Federation in a less favourable light. Here the Cardassians not only brings a Federation citizen - and Starfleet NCO - to trail, but they abduct him on Federation territory. This would be construed as an act of war and yet the Feds do nothing! If this is how they behave, then perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised that the Cardassians thought this ploy would work. Recalling the events of The Maquis, this would be another example of how the Cardassians cannot be trusted and that this treaty the Feds have with them isn't worth squat.

And I sure didn't like the ending, which was awfully convenient. Besides the revelation of the surgically altered Cardassian, why was Sisko and him allowed into the courtroom in the first place? Instead I wish we'd seen some balls from Starfleet, sending a special ops team down to free O'Brien (and drop a bomb or two on Central Command while they were there).

I'll give it a 4.


2-26 The Jem'Hadar

I quite liked most of the second season finale, The Jem'Hadar. But it did take much to long to get into the real action. First we had to deal with a lot the Siskos, Nog and Quark prepare and then go on a hiking trip in the Gamma quadrant, and that dragged.

But then we got our first encounter with the Jem'Hadar, the ferocious foot-soldiers of the Dominion and they both looked and acted very nifty. They're going to be a formidable foe for Starfleet. They can penetrate shields and had no qualms about ramming and destroying a Galaxy-class cruiser (I almost cheered when the Odyssey blew up, 'cause I'm evil and don't like that ugly design…). We also got a first mention of the Founders, who seems to run this mysterious Dominion. And since I'm a little bit spoiled I know that Eris was our first encounter with a Vorta, another part of this Dominion. Given how she beamed herself out into "nowhere" (perhaps through the wormhole?) it also says a lot about the level of technology the Dominion have. One might argue that it wasn't that smart of them to reveal themselves like this, but they obviously wanted the Federation to know just how powerful and dangerous they are.

The battle sequence was really good. I liked the Sisko and son interactions and I even thought the Jake and Nog trying to pilot a Runabout was a bit amusing. I also found Quark discussing the relative merits of the Ferengi compared to the humans enlightening. Interestingly enough, Sisko didn't seem to contest it.

This should prove an interesting set-up for future stories since the Dominion now has practically forbidden travels through the wormhole. But will the Federation accept that? And will the Dominion stay on their side?

The Jem'Hadar gets a grade of 7+ on my 10-graded scale. It gets a deduction for the slow first part.

 

[tomalak301]

Interesting you and I basically share the same feeling on Collaborator. I think it would have made Bareil much more interesting if he didn't cover for Opaka because of Kira's black and white feelings on collaborators. I think they could have taken the episode further showing that ugly things had to happen during the occupation. We saw some of it in Necessary Evil but it would have been cool to see someone like Kubus, for example, have a life or death reason for being a collaborator.

 

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

^ Somehow I get the feeling that they (the producers) didn't dare make Bareil a darker character at that time. Given how progressively darker the show got, I think they could have done it if the episode had been made in a later season. But now he was the good guy standing up to the evil Winn, and Kira's love interest to boot, so no.

 

[tomalak301]

The Search

It's a shame this is probably the weakest season premiere for DS9. Looking at all the other ones, they are all just really better, and they follow through in amazing ways. The Search on the other hand takes a great ending from Jem'Hadar, and does a good first part but this kind of squanders the second.

The first part is pretty good for an opening. We are introduced to the Defiant, which is my favorite ship in Star Trek by the way, mainly because when it's firing phasers, it's almost like a cross between a Video game and the Millennium Falcon, and I love how maneuverable it is. Anyway, we're at the point of the series where we see a romulan on the ship and I have to ask why didn't think follow through with this part of the Cloaking device. It would have been rather interesting to see a Romulan as a regular character, and yes I know Martha Hackett went on to play Seska (A great character) but they couldn't get someone like Susie Plakson to play a romulan or something? Anyway, the thing I like about part 1 the most is it feels urgent. We now have a response to the Dominion Threat and we also have a conclusion to Odo's looking for home storyline. I also really loved that the writers carried the Sisko/Quark dynamic into this episode, and one of my favorite scenes is the one with the Negus Scepter. Sisko has gotten pretty good at blackmail.

The second part is where it all falls a part though. It's not a bad episode per say, but it's one that was kind of unsatisfying. We meet the founders, but I think that's the only thing that happens. It becomes an Odo story on his origins and the fact that the Changelings are the founders should have been a lot bigger than it was. Also we get the "it was all a dream" thing and the only thing I really liked about this storyline was Garak having a lot of fun with it. In fact, I don't mind this storyline that much (At least not like most people), but it was still unsatisfying, considering everything that came before. I would almost say these episodes kind of Neutered the dominion. They're still formidable, but they don't feel as threatening as we saw in Jem'Hadar.

House of Quark

I love this episode a lot. I think some of the best DS9 episodes featured Quark but they were not Farengi episodes. This one has him stuck in a situation where he has to get a Klingon family out of ruin after killing the husband by accident. The things I took away from this episode were the fact that this may be the only episode we saw Gowron as a competent chancelleor, and Grilka might by my favorite female Klingon, at least behind K'ehleyr. I'm glad we got to see her again, but I wish we got to see her even more. Also, she's kind of attractive.

As for Obrian and Keiko, I'm glad Keiko is going off the station. I don't mind her character as much as many DS9 fans do, but it did seem like she was holding Miles back. Now we can really see the friendship between him and Bashir develop.