Synopsis: Sisko builds a replica of an eight hundred-year-old Bajoran spaceship, and tries to use it to prove that Bajoran explorers could have made it to Cardassia without developing warp drive.

Memory Alpha Summary: Ahoy!

Review: After a few heavy episodes in a row, Explorers is a nice break. The A story, a father/son episode, is written quite nicely even if the dialogue between dad and son is a bit on the nose at times. It’s a classic “Dad wants to do something fun but son is a teenager” story, realized with the space them of building a starship, this one made of solar sails. The tie-in to Bajoran/Cardassian history is barely interesting, but I always welcome Gul Dukat, especially when his presence is not there just for conflict’s sake. In fact, there is almost no conflict or tension in the story, which works out okay as there is solid character development throughout.

Speaking of which, the B story with Bashir is okay. While I don’t care one iota about his angst being only a salutatorian, there is a great scene where Bashir and O’Brien are drunk off their asses. It’s a scene you’d never see on TNG and helps solidify their friendship even further. And there’s a laugh where O’Brien tells Bashir he loves him by saying, “I really do…not hate you anymore.”

One fun fact from the episode is learning that back on Earth, people have “transporter credits.” So despite paradise, you can’t just willy nilly transport yourself anywhere in the world at any time. I guess even Earth has limited energy reserves in the 24th century.