DS9's Best Science episode?

[Bad Thoughts]

I was struck by this statement from ISB, quoted in Memory Alpha, concerning Time's Orphan:

It had been a long time since we'd done a science fiction episode

Of course, DS9 has the reputation of shying away from stories that rely on science and technology, using the science already established by the franchise but doing little to expand upon it. Nonetheless, it got me thinking about how little hard science fiction was done on DS9. This one episode, perhaps the most science-oriented episode of the last two seasons, merely used time travel as a device to create a problem for the O'Brien family. Potentially any "anomaly" could have been used to similar effect.

Looking over the list of episodes, I would guess that only 5-6 episodes in seasons 3-7 could really be described as being science episode, in which the science does more than establish the setting or the dilemma. Conversely, we see few "new races:" the Breen are perfectly costumes so that we can only speculate about their biology.

If any episode stands out to me for its approach to science, it is "Explorers:" even while it is attempting to be retro in the context of the Trek universe, it deals seriously with technology and the relationship between it and humanity.

What are the other strong science episodes in the series?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I don't think 'Hard science fiction' was done much at all in Star Trek. That term implies an imaginative approach to how culture might shake out in extensions of realistic science, and more science fictiony episodes of Star Trek usually focused on made up science. But I know what you mean, DS9 focused more on cultural and political episodes and character driven episodes than the 'What if' premises of other Treks.

DS9 did a good job the handful of times it did those 'What if' science fiction premises. One Little Ship was a fun comedy episode, Visionary was good, and the episode where Keiko was possessed worked really well.

 

[Autistoid]

I donno that's a real tricky question.



The dax thingers, seems to me to be very science based.

Julians genetic engineering issues.

The dominion genetic engineering.

The nature of the founders themselves.

That being said I think it was quite intentionally, which is why I enjoyed the show so much.

Granted they could of done a little bit more, but I can't imagine how they would go about doing it.