Poll Favorite Episodes From Season Two

[Arpy]

We've done Seasons One, but Season Two's usually also coupled with it for scorn and derision. If fortune favors the bold, declare some of your favorites from Season Two with a vote!

A refresher:
The Homecoming
The Circle
The Siege
Invasive Procedures
Cardassians
Melora
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Second Sight
Sanctuary
Rivals
The Alternate
Armageddon Game
Whispers
Paradise
Shadowplay
Playing God
Profit and Loss
Blood Oath
The Maquis, Part I
The Maquis, Part II
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[tomalak301]

Season 2 is my third favorite season behind Seasons 5 and 4. It expands the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants, and we get away from the TNG episodic model and start developing the Bajorans, more on the Cardassians and getting a flavor of the Dominion. I think I could do a least favorite bottom 5 rather than a top 5 because it's hard to pick just 5 episodes, especially when 5 of the episodes were continuing stories (The Circle Trilogy and THe Maquis two parter). I think in the interest of highlighting some episodes, I'm going to leave out those two arcs:

Tribunal - Probably the more underrated torture O'Brian show. I loved the Cardassian Lawyer

The Wire - Probably a top 2 Garak episode (Right under Improbable Cause/Die is Cast)

Necessary Evil - DS9 does Noir really really well.

The Jem'Hadar - We finally meet the Dominion and it's terrifying

Tie between The Collaborator and Blood Oath - I think these two episodes are similar from a crisis of conscience point of view. You have Jadzia question her decision to kill someone as part of a promise Curzon made, and you have Kira struggling with the idea that her Boyfriend was a Collaborator, even if the reason was just.

 

[Vger23]

There are lots of good ones here, but my favorites are:

The Homecoming/The Circle/The Siege (loved this arc!)
Necessary Evil
Paradise
The Maquis pt 1 / 2
The Wire
The Jem’Hadar

 

[Arpy]

I think I could do a least favorite bottom 5 rather than a top 5 because it's hard to pick just 5 episodes

I was thinking the same thing as I was preparing the post!

I picked 10 (10!) out of 26 episodes and was still debating adding more. It's a good season.

My bottom 5:
Invasive Procedures
Second Sight — among my least favorite episodes of the series
Shadowplay — and another
Playing God

Final spot is a toss-up between Melora and Rivals. I should probably say Rivals, but I like Chris Sarandon and kinda wish he'd have returned at some point. Or that Quark's hegemony on the Promenade was challenged again. Melora's makeup always bugged me, as did the wheelchair — shoulda been an antigrav. But I think it was a stronger episode overall and also like the idea of her different gravity world...and Crazy Joe Davola's unusual mouth makeup (and the reaction from fans) are also great.

The Jem'Hadar - We finally meet the Dominion and it's terrifying

Exactly!

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Lots of good ones. It seems I am the only one who likes The Rules of Acquisition or Profit and Loss though...

 

[Arpy]

Lots of good ones. It seems I am the only one who likes The Rules of Acquisition or Profit and Loss though...

I really like Profit and Loss. Natima Lang had great makeup; I always love it when we see more of an alien’s body and they put makeup on there too, not just leave it humanoid. Watching her and Quark kiss made my brain glitch as a kid…was this bestiality? And what a fantastic ending!

Also loving the votes Necessary Evil is getting.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Season 2 is my sixth favourite season of DS9 as it felt a bit like the series was still spinning its wheels waiting for something to happen, but there is a lot in there I like. I'm going to limit my list to five episodes again like last time, but I'm also going to cheat and make one of them a three parter:

1. The Jem'Hadar - Gives you a Quark comedy story and an action-packed game-changing arc story in one!
   
2. The Circle trilogy - The end of a five episode stretch beginning with Duet where DS9 was on the top of its game.
   
3. The Wire - A really solid Bashir and Garak story that gives us just enough of a hint of who he really is.
   
4. Blood Oath - Three TOS Klingons invite Dax to a raid on a fortress and the episode somehow lives up to this premise.
   
5. Necessary Evil - Not my absolute favourite episde, but it's definitely in my top 7.

Here have a bottom five as well, just to add a bit of negativity to my post.

1. Invasive Procedures - A huge waste of potential made worse by retreading some of the episode that came directly before it!
   
2. Sanctuary - An immensely tedious story which wasted half its time on translation issues and then spent the other half making me hate the desperate refugees.
   
3. Profit and Loss - Established the rule that all Trek episodes with 'profit' in the title end up at the bottom of episode rankings (including the ones like Prophet Motive that try to be clever).
   
4. The Collaborator - I wasn't really keen on this one.
   
5. Rules of Acquisition - Eh, it was alright.

 

[Seven of Five]

I love season two so much, perhaps just a hair over season three. There were a lot of good episodes, and the producers did a good job of continuing what worked well in season one and building on it.

It's just a shame about the middle stretch of average episodes that stop the momentum somewhat.

My rough Top 10:
Necessary Evil
The Jem'Hadar
Blood Oath
Crossover
The Wire
The Maquis Parts One and Two
The Circle Trilogy
Tribunal
The Collaborator
Cardassians

 

[tomalak301]

Since people were doing a bottom 5, I might as well join. These 5 episodes actually do have some redeeming qualities, which I will highlight but for the most part, these are my least favorite episodes of the season.

Sanctuary - Probably my least favorite episode of the season. We got the second mention of the Dominion, but other than that it was pretty forgettable.

Second Sight - I think the only two things I liked about this one was the acknowledgment of Jennifer's death and the Dr.

Paradise - Alixus should have spent like an hour in the box at the end of the episode

Melora - It spotlighted people with disabilities (Something Trek doesn't really do until Kenneth Mitchell) but I didn't like how easily flip floppish Melora seemed.

Invasive Procedures - This episode isn't bad, and I like Gallagher anytime she was on the show, but it's just a forgettable episode. It's so forgettable that Verad wasn't even part of the official Dax Symbiont count, even though he should have been.

 

[Arpy]

The universe got fleshed out a bit in Season 2. In the Circle Trilogy we met botanical DNA traders in the Kressari (the Yridians of interstellar plant life) who also ran weapons for the Cardassians.

As did the high-tech trader Xepolites in The Maquis who have weapons and engines on par with Starfleet. Are they economic competitors of the Ferengi?

Rules of Acquisition introduced us to the Dosii and the Karemma giving us a greater sense of some of the players on the other side of the wormhole. Whispers too with the Paradans.

Sanctuary and Armageddon Game gave us an idea of the neighborhood around Bajor and the Federation’s 9th “deep space”station. Maybe Shadowplay too — were they in the Alpha or Gamma Quadrant?

Cool sci-fi concepts too. Replicants in Whispers, micro-universes in Playing God, biological WMD and instant booby trap vaporizers in Armageddon Game, terraformed waterfalls tall as Mt. Everest and the reigniting of a dead star in Second Sight (take that Genesis!), and fate and luck itself being manipulatable via alien technology in Rivals.

Also, Playing God gave us a Klingon restauranteur and Blood Oath an albino Klingon. And The Collaborator helped expand both Bariel’s and Opaka’s characters — after(!) she was killed and done in the series.

 

[tomalak301]

The universe got fleshed out a bit in Season 2. In the Circle Trilogy we met botanical DNA traders in the Kressari (the Yridians of interstellar plant life) who also ran weapons for the Cardassians.

As did the high-tech trader Xepolites in The Maquis who have weapons and engines on par with Starfleet. Are they economic competitors of the Ferengi?

Rules of Acquisition introduced us to the Dosii and the Karemma giving us a greater sense of some of the players on the other side of the wormhole. Whispers too with the Paradans.

Sanctuary and Armageddon Game gave us an idea of the neighborhood around Bajor and the Federation’s 9th “deep space”station. Maybe Shadowplay too — were they in the Alpha or Gamma Quadrant?

Cool sci-fi concepts too. Replicants in Whispers, micro-universes in Playing God, biological WMD and instant booby trap vaporizers in Armageddon Game, terraformed waterfalls tall as Mt. Everest and the reigniting of a dead star in Second Sight (take that Genesis!), and fate and luck itself being manipulatable via alien technology in Rivals.

Also, Playing God gave us a Klingon restauranteur and Blood Oath an albino Klingon. And The Collaborator helped expand both Bariel’s and Opaka’s characters — after(!) she was killed and done in the series.

I forgot to mention the other thing I liked about Melora was the Klingon Chef.

 

[dupersuper]

There are several others I liked, but I voted for the ones that I loved.

 

[Oddish]

The Circle trilogy was worth watching.
Unlike many, I liked "Invasive Procedures".
"Whispers" was awesomely freaky.
"Paradise" was interesting enough.
"Shadowplay" was cute.
"Blood Oof" had some great fight scenes.
"The Wire" was a Garak tour de force.
"Crossover" was worth watching for Kinky Kira and Explodo.

 

[Trekker09]

Necessary Evil - DS9 does Noir really really well.

I was glad to rewatch this one....really a standout. One of the series' best murder mysteries and a haunting noir atmosphere.
Also enjoyed rewatching "The Wire" and "Jem' Hadar."
Guess I'm the only one who voted for "Second Sight" ....just liked the actress, the split personality and Sisko getting some romantic attention. It did have serious drawbacks though.

 

[Farscape One]

Regarding some of the mentioned lower tier episodes people have mentioned, I have a good and bad view on them.


"INVASIVE PROCEDURES" - Good: I can understand why Verad is never counted going forward. He was joined only for a few hours, certainly not long enough for a real blending to occur. Whatever memories Dax might have gotten at the end of that episode might easily have been forgotten in a day or two. However, I do feel that the back and forth joining of Dax to Jadzia is what triggered the breakdown of the barrier keeping out Joran... doubt it's a coincidence that barely a year later is when that happened when the barriers were working for 80 plus years. And Tim Russ does a good Klingon. Casting John Glover was genius. Bad: like "DAX" in season 1, another Jadzia episode that barely actually involves her.

"MELORA" - Good: Klingon restaurant owner was a treat, and his first appearance. A shame we didn't see him more often. I always thought after Martok was given a permanent detachment on the station we might get to see him more. Bad: Melora really comes off as unlikeable for too much of the episode.

"RULES OF ACQUISITION" - Good: Putting the most important piece on the DS9 chessboard in a Ferengi episode? GENIUS! Never saw that coming. Bad: honestly, I never found this one bad.

"SECOND SIGHT" - Good: Great new views of the Nebula class ship. Reigniting a dead star was a great concept, and Seyetik was very entertaining. Bad: I'm sorry to say this episode was pretty boring.

"SANCTUARY" - Good: One of the ONLY times the franchise actually dealt with not being able to communicate. Loved that, and it would happen more often if not for television. Bad: the Skreeans looked like brats. They were offered an entire planet, but they were hung up on Bajor being Kentanna? And she made Kira feel guilty for backing a decision that actually made sense for her own people? That's some nerve.

"PARADISE" - Good: Everything about this one was good... Bad: Until the ending. It really soured the message that NO ONE wanted to leave.

"PLAYING GOD" - Good: A day in the life of Jadzia. And the voles were cute in an ugly way. Good scifi concept with the protouniverse. Bad: Arjin was badly cast. One of the only times DS9 dropped the ball there.

"PROFIT AND LOSS" - Good: Armin Shimerman acted the hell out of this one, as usual. And having Garak appear automatically elevates any episode. Bad: CASABLANCA on DS9 just didn't feel right.

"THE COLLABORATOR" - Good: Nana Visitor, as usual, doing an excellent job. Bareil comes off as very honorable here. And Winn being Winn. Plus, Rene's acting choice in his office when he and Kira were talking definitely planted the seeds for the writers later on. Bad: There are points where I can feel the episode just drags.


I'm going to add my own episode...

"RIVALS" - Good: Bashir and O'Brien is always gold. Quark being Quark, as usual, is a joy to watch. Bad: The episode just didn't feel like it belonged on DS9, other than what I mentioned before.

 

[tomalak301]

"INVASIVE PROCEDURES" - Good: I can understand why Verad is never counted going forward. He was joined only for a few hours, certainly not long enough for a real blending to occur. Whatever memories Dax might have gotten at the end of that episode might easily have been forgotten in a day or two. However, I do feel that the back and forth joining of Dax to Jadzia is what triggered the breakdown of the barrier keeping out Joran... doubt it's a coincidence that barely a year later is when that happened when the barriers were working for 80 plus years. And Tim Russ does a good Klingon. Casting John Glover was genius. Bad: like "DAX" in season 1, another Jadzia episode that barely actually involves her.

But Jadzia said she remembered everything about the experience. For that reason alone he should have counted.

 

[Arpy]

But Jadzia said she remembered everything about the experience. For that reason alone he should have counted.

Do you count your rapist as a time you had sex? Nah, screw that guy.

That said, it does inform your character, so he should have been utilized somehow.

 

[tomalak301]

Do you count your rapist as a time you had sex? Nah, screw that guy.

That said, it does inform your character, so he should have been utilized somehow.

Despite the cover up, they did count Joran Dax and he killed someone.

 

[Farscape One]

But Joran was fully joined with Dax. For 6 months. Verad was joined for a few hours, and it wasn't permanent. Otherwise, Verad would have died. Jadzia needed the symbiote back in her because she was fully joined with Dax.

Consider "FACETS"... the personalities of each host came through each person. Despite Lela saying 'what is a person but the sum of their memories', I still don't think Verad's memories stayed in Dax for long.

 

[Arpy]

That's an interesting point. During the zhian'tara, do the memories of the previous Dax's bring back with them any of the hosts they took over for the ritual? Does Jadzia Dax have echos of Kira, Quark, Bashir, O'Brien, Sisko, Leeta, and Odo in her too?