The Most Imaginative

[Kate Nichols]

I happened to catch an episode of The Original, City on the Edge of Forever. I had forgotten how imaginative that episode was and am thinking: what was the most imaginative episode of DS9?

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

Allamaraine / Move Along Home.

 

[NCC-73515]

Far Beyond the Stars?

 

[DonIago]

How do you define "imaginative"?

I mean, "Things Past" is fairly imaginative in terms of the technobabble needed to make the premise of the episode work.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Given the OP's choice of COTEOF, I think she is talking about an episode that takes the protagonist on some sort of journey. Far beyond the Stars and Things Past would be good choices, along with Emissary and The Visitor.

I would go with Emissary: it set the criteria for the other episodes of its ilk, with the exploration of regrets.

 

[Mrs. Silvercrest]

In The Cards from DS9.

 

[Smellmet]

I'm quite partial to 'Hard Time' - I thought that was a very interesting idea, and obviously 'Trails and Tribble-ations' is a very cleverly done episode also.

 

[DonIago]

I think "Whispers" works really well, certainly the first and perhaps second time through. It's not exactly a novel concept, but I think it's well-executed, and it wasn't something we'd seen done in Trek before IIRC.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

If Wishes Were Horses, if we’re being literal.

It’s hard to pick one. They were always imaginative, but rarely to the point too see creativity as the episode’s main attraction. DS9’s strength was the characters, world building and main thrust of the story.

Distant Voices maybe?

 

[Agony_Boothb]

In The Cards from DS9.

In the cards is my go to trek episode when I'm feeling down. It never fails to cheer me up.

'YOU ACCUSED THE KAI OF BURGLARY AND KIDNAPPING???'

 

[DonIago]

I do enjoy occasionally referring to someone as a "Soulless Minion of Orthodoxy".

Then there's the "Cellular Regeneration and Entertainment Chamber".

Seriously, that episode had a gift for creative phrasing like few others...

 

[Frisco Del Rosario]

"Things Past" was brilliant for so many reasons: Showing us Terok Nor during the occupation, scaring the hell out of us by turning Jadzia into one of Dukat's chosen, revealing one of the darkest moments of Odo's time on Terok Nor, giving a glimpse of how the Bajoran resistance operated in plain sight, the karmic punishment Garak received in Bajoran clothing, and Quark, as ever Quark.

 

[Qonundrum]

"Move Along Home" is a contender. Not the winner perhaps, as "fan consensus" says it's bad (not unlike how fan consensus said in 1967 that if you didn't ingest certain substances you were a square, a dweeb, or a herbert), but definitely was imaginative. Especially when Quark realizes where the senior officers went to.