All posts by Beau

47. Change of Heart (6.16)

Synopsis: On a mission to recover a Federation informant on the Dominion world of Soukara, Dax is injured and Worf must choose between completing the mission or saving his wife. Meanwhile, O’Brien enlists Bashir’s help to defeat Quark in a game of tongo.

Memory Alpha Summary: No need for Klingon love poetry

Review: Finally, an episode that really explores Dax’s and Worf’s relationship.  Their exchange in the runabout at the beginning is just delightful as Worf explores his sense of humor.  And we get to see their actual bonding and not just the constant foreplay we’ve been privy to. 

Continue reading 47. Change of Heart (6.16)

48. Looking for par’Mach in All the Wrong Places (5.03)

Synopsis: Worf helps Quark woo Grilka, his Klingon ex-wife.

Memory Alpha Summary: Hercules and Cyrano

Review: Morn! Not only do we get to see him using his finger to lick every last drop of alcohol from his glass like it’s his last one, we get to see Worf just throw him across the room to attract a female. Man, that never gets old. 

Continue reading 48. Looking for par’Mach in All the Wrong Places (5.03)

49. Extreme Measures (7.23)

Synopsis: Bashir and O’Brien lure a Section 31 agent to the station in a desperate search for the cure to the disease that is killing Odo. (Part 7 of 9)

Memory Alpha Summary: Inception this

Review: It’s kind of nice during this nine-part serial that we have an episode that just focuses on one plot instead of three or four.  And while Star Trek has never been the best at doing mindfuck episodes, this is a solid attempt.  The “exploring someone’s brain through abstraction” has never appealed to me that much, but they don’t get too trippy and William Sadler (Sloan) is perfect for the role.  It was fairly obvious at first that when they “woke up” in sickbay they hadn’t actually woken up, but then they had me almost believing Odo was dead because they drug it out a while, so nice touch.  

Continue reading 49. Extreme Measures (7.23)

50. Indiscretion (4.05)

Synopsis: Kira and Dukat search for the six-year-old crash site of a Cardassian freighter that was carrying Bajoran prisoners. Also, Sisko deals with Kasidy moving onto the station, a new development in their relationship.

Memory Alpha Summary: If this episode happened in season one, Dukat would be dead.

Review: Nearly every Dukat episode is a good episode and this one is no exception. The softening of his character is necessary not just for him but for the entire Cardassian race, as we already have the crazy fucking Klingons and the cold-as-ice Romulans; there’s no need for Dukat to be a constant asshole, especially when it isn’t war-time.

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51. The Maquis (2.20, 2.21)

Synopsis: When a Cardassian freighter explodes at Deep Space 9, the Cardassians blame Federation colonists in the new Demilitarized Zone. Sisko tries to rescue Gul Dukat, stop the Maquis terrorists, and prevent a new war with the Cardassians.

Memory Alpha Summary: No sign yet of Chakotay

Review: A pretty blah episode as far as tension and action, but an extremely important episode as far as the direction DS9 goes. It had always bothered me that Roddenberry viewed future humans as essentially flawless. It made for very predictable and occasionally preachy scripts. This quote by Sisko made my spine tingle:

Continue reading 51. The Maquis (2.20, 2.21)

52. It’s Only A Paper Moon (7.10)

Synopsis: In the aftermath of an injury that left him disabled on AR-558, Nog returns to Deep Space 9, but finds he cannot go on living his uncertain life and seeks shelter within the fictional world of Vic Fontaine and Las Vegas, 1962.

Memory Alpha Summary: R.I.P. Aron Eisenberg

Review: I always like me some Vic Fontaine, and again he turns out to be a much better therapist than the paid therapist on the show.  At least Ezri doesn’t shame Nog like the rest of the crew is doing. It seems unrealistic to me that in the enlightened 24th century, members of the military would expect PTSD to last only a couple of days before every superior officer just be like, “Suck it up soldier!”  

Continue reading 52. It’s Only A Paper Moon (7.10)

53. Starship Down (4.07)

Synopsis: Sisko defends a Karemma ship when it is attacked by the Jem’Hadar. Meanwhile, Quark and the Karemma trade minister argue about the value of dishonesty in trading before having to work together to disarm a Jem’Hadar torpedo.

Memory Alpha SummaryQuark saves everyone’s ass again

Review: Disaster, Part II!

In the former we had a quantum filament making the ship fall apart. Here we have…toxic gas. Yeah, it doesn’t quite have the same tension. But it’s still a pretty fun episode for character development. Kira struggles with being friends with someone she considers a religious figure. Bashir gets to cuddle with Dax and not be creepy about it; they even joke about it and Dax delivers a great quote:

Continue reading 53. Starship Down (4.07)

55. Return to Grace (4.14)

Synopsis: Kira and Gul Dukat chase the Klingon Bird-of-Prey that destroyed a Cardassian outpost where Cardassian and Bajoran representatives were holding a conference.

Memory Alpha Summaryand Grace wasn’t happy about it

Review: The writers continue to do a fine job at pigeonholing Dukat into plots while developing his character in a realistic way. On TNG, the story about him reuniting with his daughter would have just dangled forever, but here they deal with it in a fairly satisfying way.

Continue reading 55. Return to Grace (4.14)

56. The Collaborator (2.24)

Synopsis: Kira’s lover is accused of collaborating with the Cardassians during the Occupation.

Memory Alpha SummaryKira’s future lover does too!

Review: Holy Hannah is Vedek Winn awesome television. Every time she talks it makes your skin crawl, yet her character is entirely believable at the same time. Vedek Bareil, on the other hand, is kind of dull, so this turn of events is actually welcome, as having Winn as the Kai will definitely lead to better episodes in the future. Unfortunately, we haven’t had enough time with Nerys and Bareil to really buy into their love for one another, so the emotional parts of this episode fall flat a bit. 

Continue reading 56. The Collaborator (2.24)