DS9 S01E09 & S01E10

In this installment:
(viewed Saturday, June 21st)

Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S01E09 - "Move Along Home"
Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S01E10 - "The Nagus"

---

"Move Along Home"

• This episode has come to symbolize the sometimes slip-shod writing of DS9's early seasons, but it's been a few years since I watched it.  We'll see how it holds up.
• The episode opens on Cmdr. Sisko, in full dress uniform, preparing to welcome the first formal delegation from the Gamma Quadrant.
• And Jake Sisko has started to notice the local Bajoran girls, but has been taking pointers from Nog.  I think I saw this same B plot on Growing Pains.
• How does a genetically engineered super-doctor "forget" his dress uniform?
• The Wadi show up--not the first aliens from through the wormhole, but the first formal contact--and all they want to do is play games.  This seems like it's going to be a fun episode.  Seems.
• Quark is totally not gambling for freaking sticks, dude.  And your nectar is awful.  Gems?  Gems are okay.
• Do you see what your Ferengi greed gets us, Quark?  You cheat the Wadi, and now we have to sit through this episode.
• I've seen every conceivable thing depicted in Star Trek turned into merchandise for Trekkies to snap up and take home.  There are loads of different 3D chess boards available for sale, for example.  Chula?  I've never seen the take-home version of chula.
  
  I think we all know why.
• And Major Kira?  She ain't having it.
• "How many years have you been a security officer, Lieutenant?"
  
  "Six years.  Why?"
  
  "Lost many commanders?"
  
  "Lost?"
  
  "Because you've lost one now."
  
  Lt. Primmin is...not so good at his job.
• Woops.  There are no numbers on these crazy chula dice, but I think Quark just rolled a critical failure.
  
  
  
• And now we all get to play space hop-scotch!  It's a good thing that Lt. Dax has a sense of child-like wonder.
• Kira?  Still not having it.
• You know what I think the real moral is to this particular fable?  LARPing can be hazardous to your health :P
• Seriously though, the next time one of the players in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game adventure path that I'm currently running fails a saving throw, I'm going to put on my best Falow voice and say "AN...UNFORTUNATE...ROLL."
• Odo blowing on the dice?  Priceless.
• Here's the thing I don't get about this whole thing:  How is the station's next-ranking officer not communicating with Starfleet Command and the Bajoran Provisional Government, and explaining to the Wadi that abducting their officers and putting them in (apparently) mortal danger might be construed as an act of war?
• "Seven lives is more than enough for a Trill.  You haven't even finished one."
  
  She does make a good point.
• The resolution to this episode may be the only time that three people falling off of a cliff wasn't exciting.
• "You mean we were never in any real danger?"
  
  "It's only a game!"

---

"The Nagus"

• The Gratitude Festival and the Fire Caves?  Sounds like a pretty awesome Bajoran vacation.  I mean, it's not going to be so fun the next time Sisko has to take a trip to the Fire Caves :P
• The 1st Rule of Acquisition:  "Once you have their money, you never give it back."
• Hey kids, it's Morn!
• This episode is the first appearance of Grand Nagus Zek, the leader of the Ferengi Alliance.
  
  Zek is played by Wallace Shawn, who is probably best known to most of us as the criminal mastermind Vizzini in The Princess Bride.
• Chief O'Brien as substitute teacher is one of the dumber subplots of the this episode.
• "You're saying...Vulcans stole your homework?"
• The 6th Rule of Acquisition:  "Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity."
• Quark is always threatening to toss Rom out the nearest airlock.  What a d*ck.
• Poor Krax.  So many daddy issues.
• This isn't the last time that Quark gets promoted to (or thinks he's getting promoted to) the position of Grand Nagus.  Poor guy.
• The "death" of Zek establishes many of the Ferengi funerary traditions we see later in the franchise, including the selling of commemorative discs containing the deceased's remains.
• Given how loyal he is later on, it's a little strange that Rom is actually one of the plotters against Quark in this episode.  Their relationship is portrayed as much more adversarial earlier on in the series, and undergoes an evolution (like every other relationship with the characters on the show).
• "You go find your kid.  I'm going to eat your eggplant stew."
• Aww, Jake's teaching Nog how to read.  It's like an after-school special.
• Oh, I get it.  The whole airlock thing comes full-circle.

DS9 S01E07 & S01E08

In this installment:
(viewed Tuesday & Wednesday, June 16-17)

Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S01E07 - "Dax"
Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S01E08 - "The Passenger"

---

"Dax"

• So...Chief O'Brien leaves to escort Keiko back to Earth for her mother's 100th birthday, and the whole place falls apart?  I know that O'Brien is an engineering badass, but it's not like there aren't any other Starfleet (or Bajoran Militia, for that matter) engineering personnel on board Deep Space 9.
  
  Why in the world would they have science and medical officers (senior science and medical officers, at that) studying and conducting station repairs?  IT MAKES NO SENSE.
  
  (You know, except for that special kind of TV series writer-sense where you have to get main characters to perform unlikely tasks in order to set up the opening scene.)
• I believe this is the first time that we see the station's senior staff drinking Raktajino, a Klingon coffee which will become a favorite of station personnel for the remainder of the series (and will be referenced on VOY as well).
• I guess this isn't Lt. Dax's lucky day in terms of creepers.  She's got Dr. Bashir being creepy right to her face, and a pair of stalkers spying on her from behind a wall.  Not cool.
• "'Not necessary, Julian'...but not forbidden, either!"
  
  Uh, no dude.  I think she was just being polite, rather than telling you to stuff it.
• I guess one of the downsides to living multiple lives over the course of many centuries is that there's always time for your mistakes to catch up to you :-\
• Well, that was actually a fairly exciting little chase sequences through the station.  The poor Klaestrons almost got away with it.
• "'Extradition?'  I call this kidnapping and assault."
  
  Well, that's not what we call it in the U-S-of-A, buddy.
• Cmdr. Sisko admonishes Dax's initial refusal of help, reminding her that both treason and murder are punishable by death on Klaestron IV.  I'm a little bit surprised that the Federation would sign the "unilateral extradition treaty" that Ilon Tandro references with a government that still uses capital punishment.
• No extradition treaty with the Bajoran Provisional Government?  SAD TROMBONE.
• The wife of the man Dax is accused of murdering is played by Fionnula Flanagan, who also played Data's "mom", Juliana Trainer (that TNG episode, "Inheritance", actually takes place after this one).
• Curzon Dax:  Intergalactic home-wrecker.
• Damn it, Benjamin.  Even Curzon thought you had a bad temper.
• So Jadzia--the young host to the Dax symbiont--holds degrees in exobiology, zoology, astrophysics and exoarchaeology?  Well, I guess you can't say that she's not qualified to be the chief science officer at Deep Space 9.
• No one likes it when the mommy shows up and ruins their extradition hearing :(
• "Live, Jadzia Dax.  Live a long, and fresh, and wonderful life."
  
  Or, you know...six or seven more years, at least!

---

"The Passenger"

• "Ah yes, well...tricorders.  Very accurate with live people, not so accurate with dead ones.  We learned that first year at medical school."
  
  "Well...I was very impressed, Doctor."
  
  "And well you should've been.  I impressed myself on that one, actually.  I can't imagine what other doctor would even consider examining the scapula nose* for parasitic infection.  I just seem to have a...talent, I suppose.  A vision that sees 'round the obvious, past the mundane, right to the target.  Fate has granted me a gift, Major--a gift to be a healer."
  
  "I feel privileged to be in your presence."
  
  "Glad to have you along."
  
  Again, Bashir...this is why no one likes you for like, three seasons.
  
  (* - I think this is what he said?  Now I'm picturing someone with a nose on their shoulder.)
• All good adventures begin with a distress signal.
• "MAKE...ME...LIVE..."
  
  Well, that's pretty ominous.
• "Every man on the station would love to be buying her a raktajino."
  
  "Ah, but I'm the one with the raktajino machine."
• Oh, poor Lt. George Primmin of Starfleet Security.  Don't step on Odo's toes.
• The Kobliad are an entire species who are suffering the slow death of their race due to cell deterioration, and the only thing that slows the process is the application of deuridium--a rare element of which we'll never hear again ;)
• I like how, even this early in their relationship, Cmdr. Sisko has recognized that Odo knows his stuff and it's not smart to go around the place tossing their Starfleet weight around.
• "Database Services Not Available"
  
  Yeah, I've had that happen.  It's not good.
• This Vantika cat is like...really creepy.
• In discussing the possibility of Vantika having discovered a way to transfer his consciousness into another brain, Dr. Bashir mentions "synaptic pattern displacement" and says that he's never heard of it being done by a non-Vulcan.  He's referring to the practice of transferring the katra "when the body's end is near" (as referenced in ST2/ST3).
• Everybody loves a glial scan!
• Before he got replaced by a changeling, Dr. Bashir got body-possessed by a Kobliad.  Oh yeah!
• The freighter Norkova is listed as an Antares-class cargo vessel, although there's some debate about what the real "Antares" class/type is.
  
  
  
  (courtesy of Ex Astris Scientia)
  
  But the type seen as the Norkova in this episode is seen frequently throughout TNG/DS9/VOY.
• I...wonder...how...they...talked...Siddig...into...talking...like...this...
• Beaming one dude's brain thingies out of another dude's brain and into a micro-whatever field?  It's a good thing Lt. Dax has all of those advanced degrees.

DS9 S01E06

In this installment:
(viewed Monday, June 16th)

Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S01E06 - "Q-Less"

---

"Q-Less"

• The only thing funnier than Dr. Bashir's "war story" about his final exam at Starfleet Medical Academy is Chief O'Brien's reactionary facial expressions in the background.
• Hey kids, it's Vash!
• Oh, yeah.  And it's Q too, I guess.  Whatever.
  
  Listen, I like Q as much as the next Trekkie.  But one thing I realized as I was re-watching TNG is that some of the episodes with him are real snoozers.  Not all of them, certainly!  Some of them are even really darned good--like "Deja Q" or "Tapestry", and of course his first and last appearances in "Encounter At Farpoint" and "All Good Things...". 
  
  And that's not John de Lancie's fault at all.  He's absolutely awesome.
  
  But for every good Q episode, you also had an episode like "Qpid" or this one right here.  I consider the sparse use of Q in DS9 to be one of its strengths.  The Q-centric episodes on VOY are some of my least favorite.
• Easy, Julian.  She's dating an omnipotent god-being with a bratty temper.
• "You're arrogant, you're overbearing and you think you know everything."
  
  "But...I do know everything."
  
  "That makes it even worse."
• I believe this episode is the first time we see the performance of the Ferengi practice of oo-mox.  Eww.
• I do love it when O'Brien recognizes Q.
  
  "Bloody hell."
• "What does he want?"
  
  "You might ask Vash."
  
  "Why Vash?"
  
  "They new each other, from the Enterprise.  I think they actually met in Sherwood Forest."
• "You hit me!  Picard never hit me!"
• If I slept in a bucket, I'd want a nice one.
• "Do I know you?"
  
  "O'Brien.  From the Enterprise."
  
  "Weren't you one of the little people?"
• The "tritium gas" they're using to trace the power leak?  Unless it's something different in the 24th Century, tritium is an isotope of hydrogen and is radioactive.
• I'm not a lawyer, but I think keeping a space manta ray inside a giant cough drop is pretty cruel.
• "I feel as though I've been asleep for days.  What?  Did I miss something?"

DS9 S01E04 & S01E05

In this installment:
(viewed Sunday-Thursday, June 8-12)

Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S01E04 - "Babel"
Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S01E05 - "Captive Pursuit"

---

"Babel"

• Poor Chief O'Brien.  I bet going from a (comparatively) new, shiny Federation starship to a falling-to-pieces Cardassian space station was a bit of culture shock.
• Speaking of maintenance:  It's made clear in this episode and in others that, in addition to servicing ships from the governments that either own or administer the station (i.e. the Bajoran Provisional Government and the Federation), Deep Space 9 also conducts maintenance and other services for third-party civilian and military space craft. 
  
  No mention is ever made of compensation on the part of the ships' owners, although one might imagine that various civilian and governmental agencies might have contracts with the Bajorans to allow their vessels to receive docking rights and maintenance services from the station--although that is, of course, entirely speculative.
• I like how O'Brien just gives Cmdr Sisko a big ol' heap of sass and then walks away, and Sisko doesn't do jack about it.  I mean...I don't think he'd take that from anyone else.  But he's like "Okay, the Chief's having a bad day.  I'll just give him some room."
• Constable Odo is a really, really exceptional bouncer.
• Ha!  I forgot about Quark's "big box of security access optolythic data rods".
• Part of me wonders if the writers were having a bad dialog-writing week, and just thought they'd come up with something where most of the dialog could be complete gibberish.
• ...in which Odo turns into a cart!
• Cardassians!
• Bajorans!
• "Unless I can find a way to counter the virus...he'll be dead in 12 hours."
  
  "And since they didn't write Garak into this episode, O'Brien is our most interesting character.  We can't let that happen!"
• Apparently Deep Space 9's docking clamps can be manually exploded to separate a ship from the station in an emergency.
• Ah, the old "infect the guy with his own germ so he has to help you" routine.  Very clever, Major Kira.
• On their own, I'm not particularly fond of either Quark or Odo.  I don't hate them, but they're not my favorite characters on DS9 or anything.
  
  But pretty much any episode where they interact with one another is guaranteed to be good for a few laughs, at a bare minimum.  This episode, while fairly weak overall, is no exception.
• Before going into business for himself on Terok Nor / Deep Space 9, Quark served aboard a Ferengi freighter for eight years.
• "If you need me use this string impact."

---

"Captive Pursuit"

• Unsurprisingly, the Ferengi Commerce Authority doesn't seem to have regulations against codifying sexual harassment into one of your employee's contracts.
• Welcome to the Alpha Quadrant, sucker.
• "You can't go sneaking up on someone like that, friend.  It's an Alpha Quadrant rule."
• Tosk is freaking adorable.  I just want to hug the lizardy little fella.
• We find out during Chief O'Brien's initial conversation with Tosk that the permanent population of Deep Space 9 (not counting ships and transient guests, etc.) is around 300 people.
• We finally learn from O'Brien what the Bussard collector (called "ramscoops" in this episode) does:  "...to capture stellar gasses and convert them into usable fuel."
• And apparently Quark does not like being called "barkeep".
• These TRON-looking jag-offs (aka "Hunters") have got to go.
• Sisko explains to the head Hunter dude that most of humanity no longer hunts animals, but even species that do still hunt (e.g. Klingons) would never even consider hunting a sentient species.
• "Glass jaw!  Now I know why you wear a helmet."
• I didn't remember how...rule bend-y Sisko is pretty much from the get-go.  I like it.
• "You broke a lot of rules.  So...totally don't break any more, okay?"
  
  "Okay."

Mini-Review: ENTERPRISE-D model by Eaglemoss

Mini-Review

USS ENTERPRISE (NCC-1701-D)

(Enterprise-D model from Eaglemoss, the first installment of the "Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection";
shown next to a standard fine-point Sharpie marker for scale)

I've been aware for a while now of the series of starship models made by British collectibles manufacturer Eaglemoss, marketed as "Star Trek:  The Official Starships Collection".  It's obviously an officially-endorsed series of collectibles, and has even been featured heavily on StarTrek.com.

Well, about a week ago I finally bit the bullet and signed up.  You can get these models in two ways:  Poach them one-by-one on eBay, etc. or sign up for a "subscription".  If you do the latter, you get roughly two models each month as they're released.  I opted for the subscription because...well, because what else is a Trekkie going to do, right?  They're fairly far along in the series by now, so I should have quite a few months of twofer shipments until I "catch up" with the production.

The first ship in the series is the second most famous starship in the Trek universe after the iconic original NCC-1701, the Enterprise-D from Star Trek:  The Next Generation.  This is my mini-review of that model.  I'm going to kind of break this down into categories...

(This mini-review does not include any video.  But if you'd like a bit more detail about the model, including a look at the accompanying magazine and some good video shots, check out this video on YouTube by "IrishTrekkie".  I'll be linking his review videos with each of my mini-reviews, as he's done the entire series of collectibles up to date and I think he does a great job.)

---

Size & Scaling

I'm consistently disappointed in pre-painted, pre-assembled collectible starship models because of their scaling issues.  I understand that a Galaxy class starship is going to be much larger than a Constitution class starship if you scale them both at, let's say 1:2500.

But I wish they'd just do that, and go ahead and charge me more for the large models.  This problem has plagued me from the Star Trek Micro-Machines that I had when I was an adolescent all the way through the handful of Hot Wheels starships that I purchased a couple of years ago.

The Eaglemoss models are no exception to this disappointing fact of life.  If you were hoping to play Enterprise-D versus Bird-of-Prey and have everything be to scale, I'm afraid you're out of luck.

The Enterprise-D model is markedly teeny-tiny.  It fits easily in the palm of my hand.  Now granted, I have big hands...but my point stands.

Here it is next to an unfinished 1:2500 Galaxy model from AMT (don't ask about the paint job; it's not done and I was screwing around with some markers).  As you can see, it's a wee little representation of a massive starship.

(Hey, I said "don't ask about the paint job".)

---

Plastic vs. Metal

The other big problem you run into with a lot of "die cast models" is the shockingly small amount of metal they seem to be able to include in the model and still get away with calling it "die cast".  This was a particular problem for me with the Hot Wheels edition of the original refit Enterprise, where only the secondary hull was metal and everything else (primary hull, neck, pylons and nacelles) was plastic--and warped, wobbly, rubbery plastic at that.

I'm happy to say that there are no such issues with at least this particular Eaglemoss model.  No, it's not 100% metal.  That would be a fairly unrealistic expectation.  But the bulk of the primary hull is solid die cast, and the parts of the model that are plastic still feel very solid.  No warped pieces or "wobbly nacelle syndrome" here.

The model as a whole feels very, very solid.

Here's a breakdown of what's metal and what's plastic.

---

Details & Overall Quality

The detail on the model is probably its best feature.  This is leaps and bounds better than anything I've seen from Hot Wheels, etc.  My model had a few spots where the paint didn't get laid down correctly for windows and lifeboats, etc.--but those spots were very few and far between.

One not-so-small detail that a lot of people will miss is the saucer separation feature.  I'm disappointed that this model doesn't separate, but given its small size and construction I see why they didn't do it.  I think if they did so, it would either be too much or too little metal and it would be unbalanced.

(You can see in the front here were there's some botched paint...but that's really the only

noticeable occurrence of that on the whole model.)

(The detail on the ventral side of the primary hull is crazy good. They did about

as good a job with "aztec" pattern painting that I've ever seen on something this small.)

As I mentioned above, the overall quality is great.  Solidly-built, seams are hardly noticeable, etc.  I actually had to tap on the top of the primary hull with a coin to know for sure where the plastic center section ended and the metal outer section began.  The seams between the plastic enter of the primary hull, the metal outer part of the primary hull's dorsal side and the plastic of the neck connecting the primary hull and secondary hull are pretty much invisible. 

(The Eaglemoss Enterprise-D with the Hot Wheels Saratoga.  The Miranda class models are among some of 

the better Hot Wheels ones, and I don't really have any complaints. But the Eaglemoss model is worlds better 
even than the better Hot Wheels models.)

---

Conclusion & More Pictars!

Overall, I'm very pleased.  Solid, well-detailed and the stand is even pretty cool.  It uses this sort of "floating" design that means that they didn't have to poke a hole in the bottom of the model.  I believe they use this same design for most or all of the models in this series.

I'm really looking forward to getting the next installment, which I believe is the original refit Enterprise from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.  I don't own the Hot Wheels version of the Enterprise-D, but I do own (and was sorely disappointed in) their version of the refit Enterprise.  I'm eager to see how the Eaglemoss version stacks up.  From reviews I've seen, I've every reason to believe that it'll be crazy good.

Oh, and the model came with a magazine all about the model and the creation of its television counterpart.  It's neat, but nothing you can't see on Ex Astris Scientia and the like.

Here are some additional pictures.  These are all relatively small because I didn't want this blog post to take forever to load.  But the full collection of full-sized pictures (whatever default size an iPhone 5S takes...3000px wide, I think) up on my webhost and you can see them all here.

 

 

  

DS9 S01E02, S01E03

In this installment:
(viewed Sunday & Monday, June 1-2)

Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S01E02 - "A Man Alone"
Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S01E03 - "Past Prologue"

---

"A Man Alone"

• Just a quick reminder:  I'm watching these and labeling the episode numbers in the order in which they're listed on Netflix.  So even though "Emissary" is generally considered to be E01-E02 of DS9's first season, and "Past Prologue" aired right after that, "A Man Alone" is listed on Netflix as E02 (it was produced before "Past Prologue", and they list "Emissary" as a single episode).
  
  So the episode names will always coincide with Memory-Alpha, but the episode numbers may not.  Don't blame me, it's Netflix's fault and I'm just trying to watch a whole lot of Star Trek without going crazy trying to figure out what was produced first, what aired first and what counts as a single episode.
  
  For the purposes of my commentary on the series, at least (I watch those on Netflix; the movies I own on DVD or BR), Netflix is the law :P
• They have all of these little rooms all over the station where people can do weird stuff like study orbs and meditate with giant floating balls of goo.
  
  Correction:  This appears to be an actual holosuite.
• "Julian, you and I need to have a talk about Trills and relationships."
  
  "Fine, we'll do it over supper."
  
  I don't think he gets it.
• I like the DS9 theme, but I always slightly lamented the fact that none of the series after TNG got a "These are the voyages..."-style prologue.
• I'd forgotten that they plant the seed for Chief O'Brien and Keiko's domestic tensions fairly early in the series.  I always, always hated Keiko; not because I'm automatically siding with the man or think that O'Brien wasn't a jerk to her sometimes.  She just grates on my nerves.  During the series' original run, I kept rooting for him to leave her, or for the ship she took on one of her many excursions to Bajor or back to Earth to be attacked by the Jem'Hadar :P
• "I'll never understand the humanoid need to...couple."
  
  "You've never...'coupled'?"
• "I decide who has rights and who doesn't on this Promenade!"
  
  I...don't think that'll sit very well with either the Federation or the Bajoran Provisional Government.  This ain't the Cardassian occupation anymore, buddy.
• "What do you want, hu-man?"
  
  "You don't know it yet, but we're going to be super-good friends."
• C'mon, kids.  No likes a Garanian bolite attack.
• This isn't a bad episode, but the "whodunit" is relatively easy to figure out early on.
• The display on the Bajoran transport on which Ibudan arrived at the station contains an inside joke that reinforces my assertion that the rivalry between Star Wars and Star Trek is more imaginary than real--especially among production staff.
• "I can't imagine any parent not welcoming the opening of a school here."
  
  Well, I don't think you know some of the parents very well...
• Well, you have to respect Odo for suggesting that he's a suspect before anyone else does.
• And this is also the first time we hear Odo's need to regenerate every 18 hours (this figure is later revised to 16 hours) by returning to his natural liquid state.
• And with the second episode of the series (third, in order of when they aired), we already have the establishment of "Keiko's School for Wayward Space Station Children".
• This episode is also the first appearance of Rom.
• "I'll take care of my own best interests."
• They really set up the "special relationship" between Odo and Quark from the beginning of the series, and it's probably my second favorite character dynamic on DS9 (after Bashir and Garak).
• The thing in the vat?  Gross.
  
  
  
• I didn't notice it in "Emissary", but Morn is present in the background at Quark's right from the beginning of the series (although he won't be named for quite some time.)
  
  The name is an anagram for "Norm", George Wendt's character on Cheers.
  
  As someone who has been compared to Norm at some of the bars I frequent, I've often said that I'm "more of a Morn than a Norm".  I guess they're really the same thing ;)
• The only person on DS9 that I hate more than Keiko is friggin' Molly.
• Bajorans are a grumpy bunch.  I mean, I know they were terribly oppressed and persecuted for like...60 years.  But still, that's no excuse to be a butt-face.
• How is the door to Odo's security office not shatter-resistant?
• It's nice to see that--while Sisko's trying to talk down the crowd of angry Bajorans--O'Brien and Kira are pretty much always down for a fight.  When a scuffle breaks out, they're both just kind of like "Oh, we're throwing down?  I'M IN."
• FREAKING CLONES!

---

"Past Prologue"

• It's Garak time!  It's Garak time!
  
  Seriously, the early intrigue with Garak's backstory is really enjoyable.  It's one of the highlights of the early seasons of DS9.
• "Thank you, Mr. Garak."
  
  "Oh, it's just plain, simple...Garak."
  
  
• Tahna Los and his involvement in the anti-Cardassian resistance movement and the more radical "Kohn-Ma" terrorist group are the first in a long line of "Kira's past comes back to bite everyone in the butt" episodes.
• Kira going above Sisko's head to take her concerns directly to a Admiral Rollman?  That seems kind of out-of-character for her.  Of course, at this stage of the series they're still establishing exactly what her "character" is.
  
  And from the later conversation that Rollman has with Sisko, it doesn't sound like the admiral appreciated it :P
• Speaking of Adm. Rollman, here's an interesting tid-bit:  She's played by Susan Bay, wife of Leonard Nimoy and cousin of Michael Bay.
• Chief O'Brien's smoldering dislike of the Cardassians, first showcased in TNG's "The Wounded", crops up again and again on DS9.
• Hey kids, it's Lursa and B'Etor!
• "Go over my head again, and I'll have yours on a platter."
• "There's a time for levity my young friend, and a time for genuine concern."
• Is there anything you can't do with an anti-matter converter?
• The name of the runabout Yangtzee Kiang is a slight misspelling of the compromise name for the Yangtze River decided upon in the early 20th Century by Western cartographers.
• The Bird-of-Prey that rendezvous with the Yangtzee Kiang is presumably the same "D-12" class ship later destroyed in a battle with the Enterprise-D (Star Trek:  Generations).
  
  This episode gives us a pretty good idea of the scaling between the Danube-class runabout and the Bird-of-Prey. 
  
  
  
  
  Given that Trek effects artists tended to scale the BoP up and down at will to suit the needs of the script, this comparison is far from iron-clad (see also Ex Astris Scientia's excellent article on the "Bird-of-Prey Size Paradox").  But I tend to think that the Duras Sister's ship is a good example of the smaller "scout class" Birds-of-Prey. 
  
  These are sometimes referred to by fans as the "B'rel" class, to differentiate them from the larger "K'Vort" class cruisers.  Although both names appear on-screen at various points, there's no canon evidence to suggest that one refers to a smaller type and another to a larger variant.  I do tend to refer to the smaller scout-type BoP as the "B'rel" and the larger cruiser-type BoP and the "K'Vort", but these distinctions are entirely non-canon.
• The Ganges, the runabout on which Cmdr. Sisko and Chief O'Brien are lying in wait, is the first occurrence of one of the runabouts being outfitted with a rollbar--sort of a scaled-down version of what we see on the Miranda class.  In later episodes, we do see runabouts fire weapons (presumably micro-torpedoes) out of these modules.
  
  
  
• Starfleet really doesn't do a whole lot to discourage the Cardassians from sending ships over the border into Bajoran space sort of willy-nilly, do they?
• Benjamin Sisko has no time for Cardassian I-told-you-so's.
• This is the first of many, many plots by various folks to blow up the Alpha Quadrant entrance to the Bajoran Wormhole.  When things get dicey with the Dominion, even Starfleet considers blasting the hell out of it.