DS9 S03E05 & S03E06

In this installment:
(viewed Sunday, August 31st)

Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S03E05 - "Second Skin"
Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S03E06 - "The Abandoned"

---

"Second Skin"

• I was apparently so excited about the Defiant's appearance in the DS9 S3 opener "The Search" that I neglected to notice that S3 is when they make the switch from the TNG-style comm badge to the VOY-style one that will be used for the remainder of DS9 and all of the TNG films (and of course for all of VOY).
  
  
  
  (original art from Star Trek Encyclopedia III, taken from Ex Astris Scientia and edited/captioned)
• See sad Dax.  See sad Dax drink by herself in the Replimat.
• We've got a genuine mystery on our hands.  Time to send a senior staffer off by themselves!
• "Space is dangerous, Doctor.  You never know what might happen."
• Holy moly, do Cardassians love to kidnap people.  I think that you really can't consider yourself a real character on DS9 until the Cardassians (or later, their Dominion buddies) kidnap and imprison, torture or otherwise torment you physically and psychologically.  What a bunch of jerks.
• As the scene zooms in to Kira surveying her surroundings and sizing up her chances of escaping, we get a good look at what is presumably the capital city on Cardassia Prime. 
  
  On a large public view screen, a Cardassian military official speaks in a monotone voice about the importance of Cardassian children to the future.  It's one of the moments when the intention of the writers to draw parallels between the Cardassian Union and totalitarian societies on Earth (especially Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union) is very clear. 
  
  Of course, as DS9 progresses and the Cardassians as a race are fleshed out, it becomes clear that although their government is oppressive and certainly a large number of Cardassians support it, there's more to their civilization than blind obedience.  Eventually we meet (and have already met, in fact) scientists, artists, academics and even members of the military who display dissident qualities.
• "Oh yeah, not only are you actually a Cardassian spy--your dad is totally a legate, too."
• "Commander, this is extortion."
  
  "Mmm...yes it is."
• I get that it's an exciting plot element, and there probably isn't a better way to rescue Kira anyway.  But it's a little surprising to me that Starfleet would allow, let a lone assist, Sisko's plan to take the Defiant (with "modified shield harmonics" to disguise it), himself, the station's head of security (who works for the Bajoran Provisional Government) and a Cardassian tailor into Cardassian space on a rescue mission...all without even having tried diplomatic overtures to the Cardassian government.
• "Mister Garak, I'm impressed."
  
  "It's just something I overheard while I was hemming someone's trousers."
• Oh, she smashed the mirror?  I think we all kind of saw that one coming.
• "The Obsidian Order and the Central Command have been given too much power over our lives.  We're going to change that."
  
  Oh, there some of that dissent right in this episode.  Right on.
• "Treason, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder."

---

"The Abandoned"

• This is one of the few times we actually see Jake's much-discussed Bajoran girlfriend, Mardah--a "dabo girl" at Quark's...who is just like, seriously way too old for him.
• It's the oldest sales promotion in the book:  Buy one cargo bay full of salvaged ship parts, get a free Jem'Hadar infant!
• Being baby-crazy is a really weird character trait for an otherwise-grizzled Starfleet officer like Benjamin Sisko.
• "He's an example of some very advanced genetic engineering."
  
  Takes one to know one, Doctor ;)
• "Sixteen years old and dating a dabo girl...godspeed, Jake."
  
  Miles Edward O'Brien, dirty old man :D
• This is the episode where Odo upgrades from his bucket to a full-fledged set of quarters, complete with a variety of shapes and structures for him to emulate when he reverts to his liquid state.
  
  His first visitor is, as you would expect, Kira.  And she totally brings him flowers, which he then puts in his bucket.
  
  It's so cute you'll want to rip your face off with a garden trowel.
  
  
  
• While discussing the young Jem'Hadar's (although they don't yet know that's what he is) physiology, Dr. Bashir and Lt. Dax describe a (seemingly purposefully-engineered) enzymatic flaw.  This flaw causes the boy to be unable to produce a key isogenic enzyme, without which he would suffer circulatory failure (among other very painful and debilitating symptoms).
  
  Later on, of course, we'll discover that this flaw was placed into their genetic code by the Founders to keep them loyal--through the strictly-controlled disbursement of the drug Ketracel-white (which contains not only this crucial enzyme, but all other nutrients required by the Jem'Hadar.
  
  It's basically the space equivalent of how the geneticists of Jurassic Park engineered all of the dinosaurs so that they couldn't produce lysine, pretty much.
• When trying to control an adolescent killing machine, it helps if they've been genetically-engineered to think you're a god.
• This episode has so many creepy smiling Odo moments...
  
  
  
• It's a little bit difficult to hate your son's girlfriend when her life story includes her parents being killed during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor.
• Jake's a poet and his dad didn't even know it.
• "Seems a pretty cold-blooded thing to do."
  
  "My people don't have blood, Chief."
• So, Odo.  Let's chat about this.
  
  The kid already thinks that he's better than everyone else on the station (except you)...and he's already expressed an intense desire to fight.  So maybe showing him log footage of Jem'Hadar soldiers fighting and killing (which will clearly impress rather than horrify him), and then turning him loose in the holosuite with a combat program is maybe not the best thing? 
  
  I know you're trying, but I don't think he's got the right ethical context for any of this just yet.
• Ha!  Yeah, and then Kira walks in on that and says pretty much the same thing.
• "Is that all you think about...killing?  Isn't there anything else you care about?"
  
  "I don't think so."
• Starfleet sends the USS Constellation (NCC-55817) to pick up the Jem'Hadar boy from Deep Space 9 and deliver him to Starbase 201.  The Constellation is never seen on screen, nor is her class ever stated (although she was mentioned in a very early TNG episode, "Conspiracy").
• Oh, yeah.  I guess we all forgot that the Jem'Hadar can totally cloak (err, "shroud").  Probably should've thought of that.
• "Major...about the boy:  You were right."  :(

DS9 S03E03 & S03E04

In this installment:
(watched Sunday, August 24th)

Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S03E03 - "The House Of Quark"
Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S03E04 - "Equilibrium"

---

"The House Of Quark"

• (fake) 286th Rule of Acquisition:  "When Morn leaves, it's all over."
• Really, Quark's tactics are spot-on here.  If you have to fight a Klingon, your best bet is really just hoping that he's so drunk that he falls on his own d'k tahg.
• ...subsequently lying and saying that you fought a daring hand-to-hand combat with him, ultimately killing him yourself?  Maybe not such a good idea.
• Keiko O'Brien has to close her school in this episode, as the station's population dwindles due to fears of a Dominion attack.  After the last of the Bajoran students' families relocate back to Bajor, her only remaining students are Jake Sisko and Nog.
  
  If I didn't hate Keiko so much, I'd almost feel bad for her.
• "I'm not just some venal Ferengi trying to take their money.  I'm Quark!  Slayer of Klingons!  I've struck a blow for Ferengi everywhere."
  
  "But what about Kozak's family?  What if they come here looking for revenge?"
  
  "If that happens?  I'll stand up, look them straight in the eye...and offer them a bribe."
• "I can't believe you've forgotten!  It's 'I'm Married to the Most Wonderful Woman in the Galaxy' Day!  I marked it in your calendar!"
  
  Okay, listen up.  I don't think a spouse trying to make their partner happy is stupid.  I'm not one of those Neanderthals that thinks that a husband who does things just because he loves his wife is a sap, or is "whipped".
  
  But the romantic side of Chief O'Brien is easily one of my least-favorite things about DS9. 
  
  Puuuuuuuuuke.
• "Where am I?"
  
  "You are on Qo'noS."
  
  "Qo'noS?  The Klingon homeworld?"
• Give that Keiko an arboretum.  Keikos love arboretums.
• Hey kids, it's Gowron!
  
  (image spoilered for profanity)
  
  
  
  
  
• "The House of Kozak is gone.  For the time being, it will be known as the House...as the House of...?"
  
  "Quark."
  
  "Quirk."
  
  "Quark!"
  
  "THE HOUSE OF QUARK!"
• "You mean D'Ghor has been scheming and plotting like..."
  
  "...like a Ferengi."
• Rom!  You stupid bastard.
• I believe this is the first me that we hear the name of Quark's father:  Keldar.
• Some day I want to get a bunch of people together and do the whole "Klingons cross their arms and turn their backs on someone" routine.
  
  
  
  (this is from TNG's "Sins Of The Father", but the same
  thing happens to D'Ghor in "The House Of Quark")
• "Qapla' Quark, son of Keldar."
  
  "Qapla' to you, too."
• Hooray!  We're getting rid of Keiko and Molly for six months!
• "Brother, I haven't had the chance to tell you...but in the Great Hall, when you stood there in front of D'Ghor?  You were magnificent."
  
  "I was lucky.  If it didn't work, I didn't have another card to play...business is dropping off again!"
  
  "Money isn't everything."
  
  "If father were alive, he'd wash your mouth out with galcor."
  
  "You can't buy respect, brother.  And that's what you have now!  Respect!  After all, that's what you wanted isn't it?"
  
  "Respect is good.  Latinum is better."
  
  "Tell the story again--about how you stood there in front of D'Ghor, not knowing if you were going to live to see another day."
  
  "Everyone's tired of hearing it, Rom.  It's not going to boost business anymore."
  
  "No, I mean...tell me.  I want to hear it again."

---

"Equilibrium"

• Commander Sisko preparing a whole Creole-style meal for his senior staff?  It's a little eccentric.  I wish he'd hurry up and grow that goatee and start killing Jem'Hadar already.
• "You don't like beets, Doctor?"
  
  "Well...they're not exactly a persona favorite of mine, no."
• Aww, Kira just called Odo "cute".  All hands, brace for impact.  Incoming seasons-long, plot-destroying school-boy/girl rush incoming!
• "So guys, we've keyed up tensions with the Dominion.  What next?"
  
  "What about an episode where Dax gets a song stuck in here head?"
  
  "Yeah, that sounds about right."
• "Curzon always suspected you were a cheat."
  
  "Is this some kind of a joke?"
  
  "Don't play innocent with me, Benjamin.  We both know you're trying to cheat me here, so why don't you just admit it?"
  
  {SMASH THE GAME}
  
  Uh, okay...
  
  /me backs away slowly
• So, these guys are freaky...
  
  
  
• I know that when my isoboramine levels start to drop, I like to eat a banana.  I find that it helps.
• I'm not sure why they would take the Defiant on their little jaunt to Trill, given that its primary purpose is to help defend the station from the Dominion.
  
  I guess maybe speed was of the essence, and a runabout would be to slow?  Maybe?
• Julian finally gets his sleep-over with Dax!  Kind of...
• This is the first episode where we really see much of the Defiant beyond the bridge and crew quarters.  They did a good job with the corridors and such, conveying just how cramped the vicious little ship is on the inside.
• So apparently they keep their un-joined symbionts in mud puddles.
• I bet the inhabitants of every world within the Federation's sphere of influence screen their calls to avoid random, uninvited video chats with curious Starfleet officers.
• FAKE HOST, BRO.
• So instead of 1-in-1,000 Trill be suitable for hosting symbionts, we learn that "nearly half" of the entire Trill population is potentially compatible.  Sisko threatens to expose this fact, throwing the entirety of Trill society into chaos, unless they help to save Jadzia.
  
  It's a noble cause, for sure.  I'm not sure a Starfleet officer could get away with making that kind of threat against the governing body of a Federation member world, however.

DS9 S03E01-02

In this installment:
(viewed Sunday, August 10th)

Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S03E01 & S03E02 - "The Search" (Part 1 & Part 2)

---

"The Search" (Part 1 & Part 2)

• "We're in trouble, people.  We've run seven simulations and they all come out the same: The Jem'Hadar overwhelm our defenses and board the station within two hours."
• "It's definitely a Federation ship, but I've never seen that design before."
  
  "A Federation ship...with a cloaking device?"
  
  C'mon Chief O'Brien, you were on board the Enterprise-D during the Pegasus retrieval.  You know it's possible, just super, super illegal (TNG, "The Pegasus").
• The ship in question is, of course...
  
  (drumroll please)
  
  The USS Defiant (NX-74205):  The lead ship of an experimental new class of pure combat vessels, originally designed to counter the threat from the Borg.  It's very small compared to other Starfleet capital ships (around the same size and crew compliment as the smaller iterations of the Klingon Bird-of-Prey; i.e. technically classified as a "scout" or "escort"), but it packs a punch equal to just about any of its larger cousins.
  
  
  

  (images courtesy of Ex Astris Scientia)
  
  
  
  (images pulled from Star Trek Fact Files via Ex Astris Scientia;
  specs pulled from multiple sources, including EAS and Memory-Alpha)
• Although this episode introduces the Defiant, it still uses the original (well, post-pilot) title sequence in which a runabout departs the station and enters the wormhole.  Eventually (I don't recall when), that end sequence of the credits will be changed to show the Defiant undocking from the station and entering the wormhole.
• "Five years ago, Starfleet began exploring the possibility of creating a new class of ship.  This ship would have no families, no science labs, no luxuries of any kind.  It was designed for one purpose only:  To fight and defeat the Borg."
• This episode is also the first appearance Lt. Cmdr. Michael Eddington, a Starfleet security officer posted to the station along with the new Defiant.
• Along with Eddington, we also get Romulan Subcommander T'Rul, on loan from the Romulan Star Empire (along with the Defiant's cloaking device).  T'Rul is played by Martha Hackett, who will later play Seska on VOY.
• Constable Odo?  Not super-pleased the the new security arrangements.
• Sorry, Major Kira.  You really, really can't pull one over on Odo.
• "I'm a little confused, Commander.  You want me to go with you?  To the Gamma Quadrant?  To help you locate the Founders?"
  
  "See?  It's not so confusing after all."
  
  "You're joking with me, aren't you?  Havin' a little fun with Quark?"
• "Now, there's no way you can legally force me to do this."
  
  
   
• "Besides, I think we would all feel better with someone here to watch over Quark."
  
  "I take that as a personal insult, Doctor."
  
  "You should."
• The Karemma are especially sniveling and irritating.
  
  "All I know is that the Vorta say to do something, and you do it."
  
  "Why?"
  
  "Because if you do not, they send in the Jem'Hadar.  And then you die."
• The Omarion Nebula:  If your shapeshifter buddy is suddenly drawn to a mysterious region of a distant quadrant of the galaxy, you should probably take note of it.
• Leaving behind Dax and O'Brien at the relay station is very much not like Sisko.  He's usually all about disobeying orders when it's The Right Thing to Do™.  I think it demonstrates his determination to complete this particular mission.
• Three Jem'Hadar attack ships?  Okay, maybe.  We'll blow one up real good and the others will back off a little.
  
  Oh, three more?  Yeah, we should go...
• Although they'll show reverence for him later on, the Jem'Hadar who board the Defiant (apparently) do not immediately recognize Odo as a Founder.
• The Defiant will carry a couple of types of "embarked craft" (a term covering shuttlecraft, shuttlepods, captain's yachts, etc.), and a couple of them are of unusual design.
  
  The shuttle in which Odo and Kira escape is a Type 18 shuttlepod, an oddball little craft.  I think it's clear that the effects department intended the shuttlepod to mirror its parent ship's appearance--with the tucked-in nacelles and overall compact shape.
  
  
  
  (image from Star Trek Fact Files, courtesy EAS)
• "Where are we?"
  
  "We're approaching...the Omarion Nebula."
  
  "You should've taken us back to the wormhole!"
  
  "You didn't object at the time."
  
  "I was unconscious."
• A rogue planet in the middle of a mysterious nebula, deep in the heart of Dominion space and tens of thousands of light years from friendly space?  What could possible go wrong?
• As Odo looks upon the Great Link (although he doesn't know what it is at the time), we see one of the Founders and leaders of the Dominion (known to us only as "the female changeling") emerge from the Link and bid Odo "Welcome home." 
  
  
  
  
  She'll become a major antagonist for the remainder of the series.
  
  She's played by Salome Jens, who also played the ancient humanoid in the TNG episode "The Chase".
• In the second half of this episode, Odo finally gets (most of) the answers he's been seeking for his entire life:  Where he came from, if there are others like him, etc.
  
  I really feel bad for the guy when his people turn out to be interstellar despots :(
• Cmdr. Sisko and Dr. Bashir have abandoned the Defiant in another Type 18 shuttlepod, although Sisko questions its ability to get them back to the wormhole.  The shuttlepod taken by Odo and Kira didn't seem to have any trouble reaching the Omarion Nebula, even though these smaller shuttlepods typically do not have warp capability.  It may be that the wormhole is within the operational range of Sisko's shuttlepod, but it took some damage escaping from the besieged Defiant.
• This episode features the first use of the Founders' pejorative "solids" to refer to lifeforms that cannot change their shape (i.e. "monoforms").
• If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times:  Admiral Nechayev is never good news.
• The Vorta masquerading as a Founder is called "Borath", and he's not nearly as entertaining as the other Vorta with whom we'll spend most of our time later in the series :)
• "There's an old saying on Cardassia:  'Enemies make dangerous friends.'"
• "I'm really glad you made it home, Odo.  I know everything is going to work out just fine."
  
  Or totally, totally not :-\
• "I have a dream that one day, all peoples--human, Ferengi, Cardassian, Jem'Hadar--will stand together in peace...around my dabo tables."
• In the, uh, "scenario" that includes the peace talks between the Dominion and the Federation, Lt. Dax is transferred to the USS Lexington as their new science officer.
• ...and Starfleet pulls out of the Bajoran Sector, ceding it to the Dominion.
• Hey look, Odo figured out how to do birdies!
• In this scenario, the Bajorans and the Romulans--both finding themselves left out of the peace negotiations--forge a pact to fight the Jem'Hadar (and their Federation and Cardassian allies).  It's not the massive, interstellar war that we finally do get on DS9...but it's a pretty scary prospect nonetheless.
• "If it means anything Commander, I happen to share your feelings about this Dominion treaty.  I've thought about it a great deal, and the only explanation I can find is that our leaders have simply gone insane."
• Subcommander T'Rul is shot by the Jem'Hadar (and presumably killed by them, as their weapons notoriously do not have stun settings) in this simulation, but for all we know she's actually killed by the Dominion in reality too.  We never see her again after this episode, and Starfleet operates the cloaking device on the Defiant without Romulan supervision (although I believe they do reference the requirement of only operating it in the Gamma Quadrant once or twice more, before giving up on that premise as well).
  
  Correction:  T'Rul is shown briefly on one of the stretchers along with the rest of the crew of the Defiant when Kira and Odo find the subterranean cavern where the simulation is being run.  But she's not seen after that at all.
• If you need to bust someone out of jail and make an escape?  You could do worse than Garak.
• This isn't the first or last time that the choice to collapse the Bajoran wormhole--stranding the Dominion forces in the Gamma Quadrant--is considered.
• "Well, I guess this means the end of our Starfleet careers."
  
  "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Doctor."
  
  "That's easy for you to say."
  
  "You misunderstand me, Lieutenant.  I meant that it's a little foolish to worry about your careers at a time like this, when there's a good chance that we're all about to be killed."
• "I'm glad to see the plan is going well."
  
  "What plan?"
  
  "You mean no one told you?  You see...I pretend to be their friend, and then...I shoot you."
  
  <3 Garak
• Aww, simulated Garak goes to the great tailor's shop in the sky :(
• "You belong to the Dominion, don't you?"
  
  "Major, the changelings are the Dominion."
  
  "You're the Founders..."
• "I admit this 'Link' of yours is appealing.  But you see, I already have a link--with these people."

DS9 S1-S2 Wrap-Up Video

Wherein I ramble about my impressions upon re-watching the first and second seasons of Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine.

DS9 S02E24, S02E25, S02E26

In this installment:
(viewed Saturday, August 9th)

Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S02E24 - "The Collaborator"
Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S02E25 - "Tribunal"
Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S02E26 - "The Jem'Hadar"

---

"The Collaborator"

• Any episode that starts at the Bajoran temple is pretty much guaranteed to be a snoozer...
• And Vedek Bareil always kind of bothered me.
  
  His...speech...was..always...very...measured...and...quit.
• A vision of your own death probably isn't top of the list for what you want to get out of an Orb experience.
• The only thing less interesting that Bajoran spiritualism is Bajoran politics.
• Vedek Winn...this lady.  Gah.
• "Secretary Kubus...last I heard, you were living on Cardassia."
  
  "I decided it was time to come home."
  
  "Welcome back.  You're under arrest."
• Dude, Bareil.  Lay off the Orb, brother.
• Constable Odo is getting pretty self-righteous with Kubus for a guy who also worked for the Cardassians during the Occupation.  I mean, I have no doubt that Kubus' betrayal of the Bajorans was broader and more severe than Odo's.  But still.
  
  Then again, Kubus did go back with them when the Cardassians withdrew and "lived with the enemy" on Cardassia for a number of years.  I guess returning home from his sentence of exile is his crime?
• Every time Vedek Winn (later Kai Winn) calls Cmdr. Sisko "Emissary", it sounds like she's spitting out of her mouth like it has a bad taste to it.  I hate that character, but Louise Fletcher did a great job with the role.  In some ways, she's almost as wonderful a villain as Gul Dukat.  Almost ;)
• I may find Bajoran spiritualism and Bajoran politics dull, but Bajoran history--especially that of the Cardassian Occupation of 2319-2369--is pretty fascinating to me.  That's probably because it's generally a very well-detailed story, and reminds me of human history.
  
  So to my bad memory's surprise, this episode has a lot of stuff in it about the Occupation, and the elements of Bajoran politics are all colored by events that took place during the Occupation.
  
  That certainly makes it less dull.
• Vedek Bareil, responsible for the Kendra Valley Massacre?
  
  THAT'S NOT TRUE.  THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!
• "Oh, and one more thing child:  I know you're under a great deal of strain, but if you're wise you will never speak to me with such disrespect again."
  
  Yeah, that sort of tone always goes over so well with Major Kira.  I don't foresee that causing lasting problems at all.
• "I love him, Odo."
  
  "Really?  Well...I, uh..."
  
  AWKWARD.
• "You want something from me."
  
  "How did you guess?"
  
  "It's simple:  We've been here more than a minute and we haven't insulted him, threatened him or arrested him."
  
  "Exactly."
• The 285th Rule of Acquisition:  "No good deed ever goes unpunished."
• "The one thing I've learned about humanoids is that in extreme situations, even the best of you are capable of doing terrible things."
• "Stabbed to death by your girlfriend" is probably also not a very popular request for Orb experiences.
• ...and this is the episode where Winn Adami becomes Kai Winn.  The good news is that it totally won't have disastrous consequences.
• Kai Opaka was the real collaborator, although she did it in order to save over a thousand innocent Bajorans.  That's a bummer.

---

"Tribunal"

• This is one of those "crew member goes on vacation, with terrible consequences" episode.  Our victim this time?  Poor Senior Chief Petty Officer Miles Edward O'Brien, Chief of Operations for Deep Space 9.
  
  
  
• O'Brien runs into one of his old colleagues named Raymond Boone.  He and Boone served together aboard USS Rutledge during the Federation-Cardassian War.  This is the same ship on which O'Brien served with Captain Benjamin Maxwell, who had a mental breakdown and attacked Cardassian ships after the signing of the Federation-Cardassian Treaty in the TNG episode "The Wounded".  After leaving Starfleet, Boone settled on Volan III--a colony that would eventually wind up on the Cardassian side of the Demilitarized Zone.
  
  
  
  "Boone"
  
  Although it's never seen on-screen, non-canon sources describe the Rutledge as a New Orleans-class vessel.  A different ship of this type was seen (briefly, and badly damaged) in the wreckage of Wolf 359.  Ex Astris Scientia did a pretty good reconstruction, and gave us a good idea of what ships of this class (including the Rutledge) would've looked like.
  
  
  
  (The New Orleans class; courtesy of Ex Astris Scientia)
• "Do these chairs recline?"
  
  "I wish they did."
  
  "You're an engineer, do something about it.  I'll make it worth your while."
  
  EWW.
• Oh, it's another one of those pesky Hideki-class patrol ships.  Actually, I think this is the first time they're given that name.  Not good news for a lone Danube-class runabout, at any rate.
• Gul Evek is never good news, either.
• This episode is a scary, scary exploration of the Cardassian judicial system, as described by Gul Dukat in an earlier episode.
• In response to Chief O'Brien's "arrest", Starfleet orders three starships to the Cardassian border:  The Enterprise-D, the Prokofiev and the Valdemar. 
• "Mr. O'Brien is being treated with great care and respect."
  
  "Good.  Because if he is not, I will hold you personally responsible.  And if that sounds like a threat, it is."
• Oh, and look who's still technically an officer of the Cardassian court system?  That's right, Constable Odo.
• "Commander, Chief O'Brien's attitude towards the Cardassians is hardly a secret.  What if he has actually done something?"
  
  "Then we need to know that too, don't we?"
• "Being accused of a crime is not a disgrace.  Some of the great figures of history have shared the honor with you."
  
  "I didn't figure on dying a martyr."
• Yeah, Odo makes a good point.  Why does either the Federation or the Bajoran Provisional Government not insist on O'Brien's extradition, given that the alleged theft of photon warheads was a theft of Federation property and took place on a Bajoran space station?
• "I regret that I have no teeth to offer your Bureau of Identification."
• "Including the war, how many Cardassians have you killed?"
  
  "I'm...not sure."
  
  "That many, eh?"
• Chief Archon Makbar's sudden willingness to set aside O'Brien's death sentence "in the the interest of furthering Federation-Cardassian relations" echos the willingness of the Klingon court to commute the death sentence of Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy during their equally-farcical trial for allegedly assassinating Chancellor Gorkon in 2293 ("...in the interest of fostering amity for the forthcoming peace talks...").
• The fact that Makbar only has to see "Boone" enter the courtroom with Cmdr. Sisko tells us that she new of the set-up all along, or was at least tipped off about it.
  
  Scummy Cardassian government.  I can't wait for them to sell their souls to the Dominion and then get raked over the fricking coals :P
  
  (not the Cardassian people, mind you--just their government)
• The real Raymond Boone was captured at Setlik III and died in detention.  That's not a happy story :(
• And in the end, O'Brien was just a pawn in a plan to discredit Federation claims that they're not arming their colonies in the DMZ so that the Cardassians can demand that they be dismantled.
  
  What a bunch of bastards.
• And apparently being a Starfleet commander, the CO of one of the quadrant's most important installations and the Emissary to the Bajoran Prophets is just barely enough influence to extend someone's vacation?  That seems wonky :P

---

"The Jem'Hadar"

• Ooh, this is it!  This is the episode I've been eagerly anticipating for two seasons. 
  
  While we're still a couple of seasons away from the commencement of open hostilities between the Dominion and the Federation Alliance, this episode--with the appearance of the Dominion's formidable Jem'Hadar soldiers--marks the emergence of the Dominion as the antagonists that will be the major threat to our heroes for the remainder of the series.
  
  The "cold war" simmers for a couple of seasons, but even that is fodder for some really great episodes.  And once hostilities actually break out?  Whoo boy.
  
  I'M SO EXCITED.  This is my favorite Star Trek, basically.
• So, Jake gets to go to the Gamma Quadrant and do a planetary survey.  Don't you think that might put him at a slight advantage over other students, whose parents don't happen to be the commanding officer of Deep Space 9? :P
• "So I invited Nog to come with us to the Gamma Quadrant..."
  
  Uh oh.
• "Maybe it's because he doesn't like you."
  
  "Don't be ridiculous.  Major Kira's the one who doesn't like me.  Sisko..."
  
  "...doesn't like you either."
• The 102nd Rule of Acquisition:  "Nature decays, but latinum is forever."
• If Sisko allows him to use the station's monitors to sell merchandise, Quark promises to donate 2% of his net profits to everyone's favorite charity:  The Bajoran Fund for Orphans.
• "I thought the Ferengi liked eating bugs?"
  
  "Only certain bugs.  Ferengi bugs."
• The stranger who comes out of the forest and zaps Quark and Sisko with her weird chest light is Eris, who is clearly a Vorta...although we don't yet know what a Vorta is (and neither do Quark or Sisko).  I don't believe any other Vorta ever exhibit the same ability to project a force weapon from their bodies, either.  That may either be an ability specially-engineered into Eris to aid her in her role as a spy, or it may be something that all Vorta can do and we just never see it.  Or it may be something that the writers put into this episode and then forgot about ;)
• When the Jem'Hadar surround the camp, the exhibit an ability that I don't believe we see in the Jem'Hadar when the war really gets going later in the series (although maybe we do see it once or twice between now and then; I don't recall):  Personal cloaking devices.
• "Maybe they were attacked by a wild animal."
  
  "You heard my dad.  There are no animals:  Just insects and plants."
  
  "Maybe they were attacked by a vicious tree."
  
  {INSERT GROOT JOKE HERE}
• "How did you know that the security barrier was lethal?"
  
  "Because everything about the Jem'Hadar is lethal."
• The Jem'Hadar know as "Talak'Talan", the first we see on-screen and the leader of the Jem'Hadar who capture Sisko and Quark, is also the first character to mention the Founders by name (although of course we don't know anything about them yet).
• "A Ferengi and a human.  I was hoping the first race I'd meet from the other side of the anomaly would be the Klingons."
• Back on the station, Dax and Kira are in Ops awaiting the arrival of USS Odyssey, a Galaxy-class starship.  Instead, the get a visit from Talak'Talan aboard one of the Jem'Hadar attack ships that will become very familiar to everyone in Starfleet over the next few years.
  
  
  
  (from Star Trek Fact Files, courtesy of Ex Astris Scientia)
• Talak'Talan flat-out informs the crew of Deep Space 9 that the Dominion will no longer tolerate ships from the Alpha Quadrant passing through "the anomaly" and into their space.  He warns them "stay on your side of the galaxy", and presents them with a list of ships that the Jem'Hadar have destroyed for allegedly violating Dominion territorial sovereignty.
• "Where'd you get this data PADD?"
  
  "From the Bajoran colony on our side of the anomaly.  You should be proud.  I hear they fought well, for a spiritual people."
• Captain Keogh:  Kind of a jerk, but he's not wrong.
• And of course O'Brien already started retrofitting the runabouts with extra weapons.  Of course he did :D
• The Jem'Hadar attack ships use a phased polaron beam as their primary weapon, which is capable of penetrating standard Starfleet deflector shields of this period.  Eventually the Federation will update its deflector technology, but this gave the Jem'Hadar a significant advantage during early skirmishes with the Federation.
• The ill-fated Odyssey is, to our knowledge, the first full-fledged Starfleet starship to be lost to the Dominion.  We don't know if any of the ships on Talak'Talan's list were Federation or Starfleet, but presumably if a capital vessel had been lost they would've noticed.
  
  
  
• "You have no idea what's begun here."
• "If the Dominion comes through the wormhole, the first battle will be fought here.  And I intend to be ready for them."
  
  

DS9 S02E22 & S02E23

In this installment:
(viewed Friday & Saturday, August 8-9)

Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S02E22 - "The Wire"
Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S02E23 - "Crossover"

---

"The Wire"

• I definitely recall this really being a standout episode of DS9's second season (mostly because it's pretty much 100% pure Elim Garak), but I haven't watched it in several years.  We'll see how it holds up.
• Galipotans:  How can a culture not acknowledge the concept of time?  This is one of those throw-away lines they put into Trek from time to time in order to spice up the dialog, and if you think too much about it you'll get a headache :P
• The Never Ending Sacrifice:  A celebrated Cardassian novel about seven generations who all give their lives to the state.  That sounds pretty Cardassian, alright.
• "There's more to life than duty to the state."
  
  "A Federation viewpoint, if ever I heard one."
• "Try not to yell at any more admirals for a while."
  
  "I didn't yell, I was just expressing my feelings...loudly."
• "I routinely monitor all of Quark's subspace communications."
  
  "Is that legal?"
• Constable Odo tells Dr. Bashir to meet him in the Security Office around 0200 hours, saying that Quark "always makes his clandestine calls after the bar closes".  So apparently Quark's Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade closes at or before two o'clock in the morning--not very rock 'n' roll, if you ask me.  Even bars here in sleepy Indianapolis are open until three o'clock ;)
• I believe this episode is the first time we hear of the Obsidian Order, the feared Cardassian intelligence and security organization. 
  
  
  
  (insignia of the Obsidian Order)
  
  Somewhat analogous (I would say even more sinister, though) to the Romulan Tal'Shiar (with whom they'll have dealings within a couple of seasons).
  
  Both organizations are clearly fictional Trek counterparts of feared agencies in 20th Century human societies:  The Schutzstaffel in Nazi Germany, the NKVD/KGB in the Soviet Union and the Stasi in Communist East Germany.
  
  Some might say that America's own National Security Agency is reaching Obsidian Order-like levels of sinister reputation, although I don't personally tend to think they're quite there just yet ;)
  
  (And I'm totally not just saying that because I'm afraid they're recording everything that I write on the Internet.  I love you NSA!  Keep up the good work!)
• This episode is also the first mention of Enabran Tain, although--much like the rest of Garak's life--the full extent of Tain's identity and the role he played in Garak's story will only come to light in drips and drops over the course of the next 2-3 seasons.
• "Living on this station is torture for me, Doctor.  The temperature is always too cold, the lights always too bright.  Every Bajoran on the station looks at me with loathing and contempt.  So one day, I decided I couldn't live with it anymore, and I took the pain away."
  
  "You activated the implant."
  
  "I created a device which allowed me to trigger the implant whenever I wanted it.  At first, I only used it a few minutes a day.  But then I began relying on it more and more, until finally I just turned it on and never shut it off."
  
  "How long has it been on?"
  
  "Two years."
• "Doctor, did anyone ever tell you that you're an infuriating pest?!?"
  
  "Chief O'Brien, all the time, and I don't pay any attention to him either!"
• This episode is such a finely-crafted story about Garak's past, and it's the penultimate moment in the relationship between Garak and Dr. Bashir.  The fact that he tells a story about an atrocity he committed during the Occupation, killing his aid "Elim" in the process (and Elim is, of course, one and the same with Garak), is just a fantastic piece of storytelling by the writers.
• Odo's insistence on being able to interrogate Garak about unsolved crimes that he believes involved the Obsidian Order meets with Dr. Bashir's stern insistence that--no matter what Odo might suspect of Garak--he's Bashir's patient and he won't be harmed while he's under medical care.  Odo kind of nods and marches away, in what seems to be a professional acknowledgement of the other man's rigid adherence to his professional obligations--something Odo can no doubt appreciate.
  
  I often say that one of the reasons I like DS9 so much is because, unlike previous incarnations of Trek, its characters were allowed to be edgier, darker and more flawed--and thus, more realistic and interesting.  While that's certainly true, I think that DS9's characters are also--in some ways, at least--some of the most principled characters in all of Trek canon.
• Don't tangle with a detoxing Cardassian, Julian O_o
• "Why are you telling me this, Garak?"
  
  "So that you can forgive me, why else?  I need to know that someone...forgives me."
• Oh!  I forgot that we actually get to meet Tain in this episode.
• Enabran Tain knows Dr. Bashir's middle name:  "Subatoi"
• "Everyone has reason to fear the Order."
• "Don't thank me.  I'm not doing Garak any favors.  He doesn't deserve a quick death.  On the contrary, I want him to live a long, miserable life.  I want him to grow old on that station, surrounded by people who hate him, knowing he'll never come home again."
  
  "What a lovely sentiment."
  
  "And it's from the heart, I assure you."
• "Out of all the stories you've told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?"
  
  "My dear doctor, they're all true."
  
  "Even the lies?"
  
  "Especially the lies."
  
  
  

---

"Crossover"

• The Bajorans have established their first colony on the Gamma Quadrant side of the Bajoran Wormhole, as is their right as the possessors of the space where the Alpha Quadrant opening is located.
  
  Its name?  New Bajor.  Not very original, if you ask me :P
• Dr. Bashir becomes a better character as he develops into a seasoned Starfleet officer (and less of the irritating boyish fop) over the course of the series, but his little annoyance of Major Kira while she's trying to meditate in the runabout on their way back from New Bajor proves that he's still got a long way to go at this point in the character's development :)
• Ooh!  Ooh!  OOOH!  THIS IS OUR FIRST TRIP TO THE MIRROR UNIVERSE!
  
  (On DS9, at least...which easily had the best Mirror Universe episodes--and the most of them, I think.)
• Upon exiting the wormhole, Bashir and Kira discover that the station is no longer at the mouth of the Alpha Quadrant side of the wormhole...but still orbiting Bajor.
  
  They're also greeted by a rather unfriendly (and over-sized) Vor'cha-class attack cruiser.
  
  ...and then boarded by some even less friendly Klingon warriors, brandishing disruptors.
  
  All in all?  Not a good day.
• Except that the Klingons seem to think that Kira is someone important.  So that's good.
• This episode introduces us to one of the most shamefully fetishized characters in all of Star Trek canon:  The Mirror Universe version of Kira Nerys known as "Intendant".
  
  
  
  How you doin'?
  
  So listen, here's the thing.  I always thought Kira was extremely attractive (although in my defense, that's at least partially about her strength and badass attitude, and only mostly about how crazy, stupid hot she was).  A pleather-wearing, bi-curious version of her with not-so-subtle dominatrix overtones?
  
  It's like they wrote the character with Teenage Sam specifically in mind.  It's not fair, really.
  
  I just can't be held responsible for anything moderately uncouth I might say when discussing this particular character.  Now, I try to keep this blog PG-13.  So you don't need to worry about anything completely inappropriate or gross.
  
  But I may do some modest digital drooling, and it's not going to reflect very well on me as a person.  I'm sorry.  Please just trust that in almost every other context, I'm a very progressive individual and a committed feminist.  Please believe that.
• "Center of authority?  Whose authority?"
  
  "The Alliance, of course."
  
  
  
  Insignia of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance
• Mirror Universe versions of Garak and Odo?  Both jerks.  I mean, moreso than their regular versions.
• The 14th Rule of Obedience:  "No jokes."
• "I'm Kira Nerys."
  
  "That makes two of us."
• The Intendant tells Kira the story of Captain Kirk's incursion into the Mirror Universe and encounter with Mirror Universe Spock (TOS, "Mirror, Mirror"), which resulted in the weakening of the Terran Empire--which was subsequently conquered the Alliance.
• Kira is really, really clever in how she manipulates the Intendant.  And even when the Intendant realizes that's what's happening, she's so thoroughly manipulated that she doesn't care that she's being manipulated.
• "Have you ever heard of a Starfleet captain named James Kirk?"
  
  "Kirk? Of course."
• Mirror Universe Quark?  Kind of a quiet badass.
• Mirror Universe Sisko?  AWESOME SPACE PIRATE WHO GETS TO SLEEP WITH THE INTENDANT.
• Mirror Universe O'Brien?  Kind of a sad-sack, but he has a cool nickname:  "Smiley"
• One of the Klingon officers who frequently accompanies Garak around Terok Nor is "Telok", who is played by John Cothran, Jr.  He played the Klingon captain Nu'Daq in the TNG episode "The Chase".
  
  
  
• "Garak is planning to kill her.  Tonight."
  
  "That's it?  That's your 'valuable information'?  Garak has been trying to kill her since the day he got here."
• Apparently you can asplode a Changeling with a phaser.  Who knew?
• That purple dress.  THAT PURPLE DRESS @_@
• "We've got ships from here to New Bajor out looking for you.  Where have you been?"
  
  "Through the looking glass, Commander."

DS9 S02E20 & S02E21

In this installment:
(viewed Tuesday & Wednesday, August 5-6)

Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, S02E20 & S02E21 - "The Maquis" (Part 1 & Part 2)

---

"The Maquis" (Part 1 & Part 2)

• The ill-fated Cardsassian freighter Bok'Nor is one of many redresses (this one sand-colored) of the versatile Merchantman studio model originally designed for Star Trek III:  The Search For Spock.
  
  
  
  The Merchantman (courtesy of Ex Astris Scientia)
  
  
  
  Left: Bok'Nor; Right: Merchantman
• "It's not his fault Gallamites have transparent skulls."
• Cmdr. Hudson is still wearing the "Type B"-style Starfleet uniform common to late seasons of TNG.
• Human or Bajoran colonists who fight the Cardassians as members of the Maquis isn't particularly surprising.  But Sakonna, the Vulcan member of the Maquis featured in this episode, is a bit surprising given the Vulcan tendency toward non-violence.
• Quark offers Sakonna a glass of Vulcan port, which is interesting given that Vulcans are supposedly unable to experience the intoxicating effects of alcohol.
• "Where are we going?"
  
  "The Volan Colonies."
  
  "The Demilitarized Zone?"
  
  "Not so demilitarized, I'm afraid."
• "Of all the human beings I have met, you strike me as the most joyless and the least vulnerable."
• "Now do you see, Commander--that without any help from either one of us--they've managed to start their own little war out here?"
• There's just some great Sisko-Dukat dialog in this episode.  Two of my favorite Trek characters bandying words and chewing scenery.  This two-party is one of my favorites of DS9's first two seasons for a reason :)
• Quark also serves Sakonna "jumbo Romulan mollusks", despite the fact that Vulcans are also traditionally vegetarian.
• 214th Rule of Acquisition:  "Never begin a business negotiation on an empty stomach."
• Hey, it's our old pal Gul Evek!
• "The Federation does not conduct secret wars!"
  
  Shh...nobody tell Section 31.
• I consider the fact that there is no photographic documentation of Sisko wearing lederhosen at New Berlin's Mazurka Festival one of the greatest crimes in the history of Star Trek.
• Gul Dukat has seven (!) kids.
• "I can tell you one thing:  The Cardassians are the enemy, not your own colonists. And if you can't understand that, then the Federation is even more naive than I already think it is."
• Kidnapping Gul Dukat?  Okay, that's pretty bold.
• "Give me the right to set a curfew!  Let me conduct more searches of arriving passengers!  Give me fifty more deputies!"
  
  "And the station will be just like it was during the Occupation."
  
  "Say what you like, it was safer then."
  
  "...unless you happened to be a Bajoran."
• "Commander, we've just received a general subspace transmission from somewhere in the Demilitarized Zone.  A group there is taking credit for the kidnapping of Dukat.  They're calling themselves...the Maquis."
  
  
  
  
  Although I've already viewed the TNG episode featuring the Maquis ("Preemptive Strike"), this DS9 episode actually aired a few weeks before that one.  This is our first look at the group.
• Hudson's a traitor!  I totally never saw that coming, what with all of his aggressive sympathizing with the militant Federation colonists and all.
• When Admiral Nechayev and Legate Parn are both already waiting for you?  Yeah, that's not good.
• Speaking of which, Parn is played by John Shuck.  Mr. Shuck played a variety of roles on various Trek films and series, but his most notable role was as the Klingon ambassador to the Federation in ST4 and ST6.
  
  
  
  John Shuck as the Klingon Ambassador (left) and Legate Parn (right)
• "Establish a dialog with the Maquis.  They're still Federation citizens.  I'm sure they'll listen to reason."
  
  Admiral Nechayev, the undisputed champion of Not Getting It.
• "Do you know what the trouble is?  The trouble is Earth.  On Earth, there is no poverty, no crime, no war.  You look out the window of Starfleet Headquarters, and you see paradise.  Well, it's easy to be a saint in paradise.  But the Maquis do not live in paradise.  Out there, in the Demilitarized Zone, all of the problems haven't been solved yet.  Out there, there are no saints.  Just people--angry, scared, determined people who are going to do whatever it takes to survive, whether it meets with Federation approval or not."
• "And one more thing...how long do I keep him here?"
  
  (Odo gestures to Quark in a holding cell.)
  
  "Forever."
  
  (Sisko drops mic, walks away.)
• Hahahaha!  And the Central Command is gonna frame Gul Dukat.  Perfect!  The good news for them is that he totally doesn't hold a grudge, and he's not about to be in a serious position of power in a couple of seasons ;)
• Mind-melding with a trained, disciplined Cardassian military veteran and accused war criminal?  Yeah, but that's really easy and not at all horrifying.
• Gul Dukat describes the Cardassian system of "justice", in which the verdict is always known before the trial and is always "guilty".
• "Very simple, very effective."
  
  "And needlessly bloody."
  
  "Sounds like a Cardassian plan to me."
• The 3rd Rule of Acquisition:  "Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to."
• Quark's out-logicking Sakonna is pretty amusing :)
• "They have weapons, you have weapons, everyone has weapons!"
• As of this episode, Deep Space 9's compliment of runabouts is as follows:
  
• USS Rio Grande (NCC-72452)
• USS Orinoco (NCC-72905)
• USS Mekong (NCC-72617)
  

At least two of them have mounted, are are capable of having mounted, "rollbar"-style weapons pods (presumably containing micro-torpedo launchers).
• The Maquis are again making use of the small Federation attack fighter, sometimes called (in non-canon sources) the "Peregrine" type.
  
  
  
  (image courtesy of Ex Astris Scientia)
• "I thought you were strong, Commander.  But you're not.  You're a fool.  A sentimental fool."
  
  "I said I would stop the Maquis, and I have.  But I will not kill a good man for defending his home."
  
  "You disappoint me."
  
  "Don't expect me to lose any sleep over it."