Synopsis: An officer from the Starfleet Department of Internal Affairs arrives on the station and accuses Dr. Bashir of being a Dominion spy.

Memory Alpha Summary: He’s just a spy on the holodeck

Review: If you can’t tell by now, it’s hard for me not to watch any episode of Star Trek and not compare it to something done on TNG. For the first half here, I kept thinking this was just a poor man’s version of Drumhead what with the abusive investigator with no evidence. But when it became clear that things weren’t what they seemed, I started to think it was derivative of Frame of Mind, but less suspenseful. And then in one fell swoop it became better than either episode. 

Synopsis: Trapped three hundred years in the past, Sisko, Bashir, and Dax find themselves confronting one of the darkest hours in Earth’s history. With history itself at stake, Sisko must risk all to see that the Bell Riots reach their inevitable conclusion, even if it means sacrificing his life

Memory Alpha Summary: Could be our near future.

Review: A very polarizing episode, as it gets political and preachy about the homelessness and mental illness in the early 21st century. As a social worker, I appreciate that they were willing to take this on directly. Treatment of those who are homeless is still very poor in this country. What bothered me about the episode is that Bashir makes it sound like fixing the problem is as easy as snapping your fingers. He whines about how there are medications that can fix mental illnesses in our time period. It also would have been nice for them to mention the real reason that the homeless don’t get much help: there’s no immediate profit in it. 

Synopsis: Sisko discovers that Kasidy Yates may be a Maquis smuggler; Garak takes an interest in Ziyal.

Memory Alpha Summary: The Sisko can’t trust anyone!

Review: A really important episode in the Star Trek canon as it completely solidifies the shift from the Roddenberry idealist Federation to something more familiar to the humans we know and love today. Eddington’s speech about how the Federation’s assimilation of cultures is worse than the Borg’s runs the risk of being bombastic but connects enough to be effective. A little less effective is Sisko’s speech about duty and betrayal, especially since he has a history of sympathizing with the Maquis when he’s not personally affected. 

Synopsis: In this last adventure, the Federation Alliance prepares a final invasion of Cardassia. Meanwhile on Bajor, Kai Winn releases the Pah-wraiths from the Fire Caves which threatens the safety of not only Bajor, but the entire Alpha Quadrant.

Memory Alpha Summary: Gotta put your behind in the past

Review: The finale suffers a bit from everything that came before it, in that the war has just dragged on too long and space battles lack the intrigue they would have if there hadn’t been so many of them. That said, this episode wraps up everything pretty much as perfect as one could have.

Synopsis: O’Brien, Dax, Bashir, and their runabout are reduced in size while investigating an anomaly. Meanwhile, the Jem’Hadar attack and commandeer the Defiant, leaving the runabout crew with no choice but to take their miniature ship inside the Defiant and help Sisko and the others recapture the vessel.

Memory Alpha Summary: It’s a good ship.

Rascals meets Honey I Shrunk the Kids!  From a conflict standpoint there’s not a lot of new ground here (except the ordinary Gamma vs. Alpha Jem Ha’Dar fighting) but visually this whole episode is a treat.  Getting to see the inside of a plasma conduit and computer circuitry not to mention substituting the photon torpedoes for a handheld phaser.