Synopsis: When Captain Solok of the Federation starship T’Kumbra challenges former classmate Sisko and his crew to a game of baseball, Sisko refuses to lose to the arrogant Vulcan and begins to take the game too seriously.
Review: Being a huge baseball fan, I’ve heard about this episode for years. I was really looking forward to it and left sorely disappointed. The reason for the baseball game is mildly interesting, but the antagonist is a character we just met this episode and barely explore. The baseball itself is terrible; not just the players, but the depiction of it, including some of the rules (e.g. the Vulcan player would be automatically out when he enters the dugout).
Synopsis: Kira asks Tekeny Ghemor to come to Deep Space 9 to provide information about the Cardassian government and the revitalizing dissident movement; Gul Dukat arrives and demands Ghemor’s extradition.
Review: A sequel to “Second Skin”, but unlike that one fails miserably to evoke any intrigue or emotion. Again I think a huge part of the problem is Visitor just over emotes when she’s angry, happy, or sad. The script doesn’t do her any favors, though. I understand why she cares about Ghemor, but she treats him like he’s her actual father, and she didn’t even spend that much time with him. Additionally, the flashbacks with her real father are cliché (“Don’t go Nerys” “I’ll be right back father!” “Oh, he died while I left!”).
Synopsis: Sisko searches for the mysterious Orb of the Emissary. Worf, Martok, Bashir, O’Brien, and Quark attack a Dominion shipyard in orbit around Monac IV. Kira confronts the Romulans over their arming of their hospital base. Deep Space 9 also receives a new resident who has a very familiar name.
Review: It’s pretty common in dramas for characters to abruptly end conversations but it’s pretty ridiculous here. At one point Kira just walks away from a conversation with the Romulan after dropping the mic and then later ends two transmissions.
Synopsis: Jake and Nog get into trouble while trying to cheer up Sisko by acquiring a mint-condition 1951 Willie Mays rookie baseball card; the Dominion offers to sign a nonaggression pact with Bajor.
Review: It’s a bit odd for the penultimate episode of the season and the final episode before the Dominion War to be mostly fluff, especially given the B-story is serious but also fluffy. I’ve never been too comfortable when the A-story is super serious and the B-story is comedy, and it’s even weirder when things are reversed. We have Weyoun and Kai Winn both present and neither feels particularly intimidating, especially with Weyoun participating in the cellular ennui experiment.
Review: Those involved love this episode but it does nothing for me. Heavy on allegory and low on pathos, this one just hit every expected beat. Kira yet again defies her uniform and her direct superiors to go off on a vendetta, which is exactly what her would be Cardassian killer expects her to do because she’s so predictable. And then we get the villain tying Kira down and giving her long-winded speeches about good and evil and I just can’t. The makara deus ex machina herbs that save her put the icing on the cake.
Synopsis: With the Dominion War raging, the old Klingon warrior Kor feels left out of the action, and looks for some way to get his share of the honor of battle. However, his efforts to play a part are stymied by Martok, who holds a grudge against Kor.
Review: Really feeling the season 7 fatigue here just like in TNG. There was not a single point in this episode that wasn’t utterly predictable and derivative. I knew Kor (who we’ve never met before) was going to go on one last mission and die. I knew the mission to destroy the Dominion outpost would fail. I knew the beat of every Klingon boast and proclamation.
Review: A preliminary to the O’Brien Must Suffer campaign, we see him overworked until he accidentally sets off a booby trap virus that gives him aphasia and puts the entire station at risk of death. Other than some good screen time for O’Brien, there is virtually nothing worthwhile here.
Synopsis: An ancient Bajoran prophecy of doom complicates the first joint Bajoran, Cardassian and Federation science mission: an attempt to establish a permanent communications link through the wormhole.
Review: An uncomfortable episode, as you have fairly lazy conversations about faith and religious doubt, with otherwise strong characters being easily manipulated by loose coincidences. Then, when the prophecy comes true, the characters spend a lot of time on exposition explaining how it came true. I never cared, despite some intrigue with Sisko challenging his title as Emissary.
Review: Man, this “trial show” really doesn’t work. I appreciate the intent with trying to shake things up further for Worf who is struggling with his identity. And I don’t even really mind the scenes where character testimony is shown in cut-scenes where they talk to the camera. It’s just flat out boring.
Death By Troggles 
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