Synopsis: Bashir helps a group of eccentric fellow genetically engineered Humans try to make a useful contribution to the Federation; the Dominion offers to sign a truce with the Federation.

Memory Alpha Summary: Cuckoo’s Nest

Review: A mostly awkward episode that has some endearing highlights. I like the themes they touched on of locking away undesirable people while also abandoning hope they can contribute to society, as well as the theme of not abandoning hope in the face of impossible odds.

But I felt a lot of the conversations were too on the nose. Bashir’s transformation to total dickwad (which reminded me of Barclay in The Nth Degree, only not funny) back to reasonable Starfleet officer was very rapid and lost of subtlety; the savants also lacked subtlety and were basically a who’s who of cliché mentally ill patients (the fast talker, the sexual aggressive, the child, and the mute). 

Thankfully, these patients get more screen time in a better episode.