Yora reviews Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - All of it!

[Yora]

S6E5: Favor the Bold

The Defiant and Rotaran are doing pretty well hunting Dominion ships, but when they get back to the starbase Dax goes to Sisko to complain that they really need to go on the offensive if they want to make any progress in winning the war. Sisko has a plan to retake the station and get control of the wormhole. The admirals aren't too keen to draw away ships that are defending major planets, but eventually give the go ahead.

Quark and Kira go to see Odo to talk about Rom, but he doesn't want to see anyone while he is with the changeling leader. They are turned away by the guards, but Odo is also realizing that he lost track of time for the last three days. Kira goes to Weyoun instead because Rom is married to a Bajoran and was a Bajoran engineer. But his sabotage was very obvious and they are going to execute him. Rom is not terribly worried about it but instead wants Quark to finish the job for him. Out of ideas, Kira asks Ziyal to put a good word in for Rom with Dukat. He says there is nothing he can do, and doesn't even think they should show any signs of mercy to the Bajorans, and the conversation doesn't end well.

Damar is chatting with Quark and reveals that they managed to disable a first couple of mines, and that they also should have it cleared within a week. Quark tells Kira and thinks they need Odo to help, but Kira doesn't think they can rely on him. Jake sees that they are talking about something important and shares that he has Morn smuggling messages out to Sisko for him.

Damar brings news to Dukat and Weyoun that two Federation fleets have withdrawn to Sisko's starbase. Once Weyoun is gone, Dukat tells Damar that he needs him to talk to Ziyal on his behalf. Damar tries to appeal to her by saying that her father needs her support and openly speaks in Kira's presence that the Dominion is dangerous to Cardassia. When Ziyal doesn't want to come, he wants to drag her with him, and Kira has enough of him and knocks him out.

Sisko gets prepared for the big battle and mentions to his admiral that he plans to make Bajor his home once they have expelled the Dominion. Nog is made into a full ensign.

Dukat and Weyoun are expecting an attack on the station and think it's obvious that someone informed them about the mine clearing. Damar joins them and wants to have Kira arrested. Dukat is more concerned that Damar tried doing something to Ziyal. Weyoun interrupts them to tell them he is going to start the preparation for the attack. Damar is surprised about the news, but Dukat insists about taking the conversation back to his daughter.

Weyoun goes talking with the Changeling leader and tells her that she did a great job with taking Odo out of the picture, but she reprimands him that getting Odo back is the whole purpose why she is on the station, not the war.

Sikso takes the fleet to the station and before they can reach it they encounter a Dominion fleet.

--

I know I have often talked about preferring ongoing storylines instead of pure one-shot episodes, but now that the show has switched to such a format it becomes evident that there's still an art to making each episode satisfying individually. Like the previous episode, this one feels somewhat meandering and not really having any conclusions. Nothing has really been resolved or significantly changed. The material is decent, but I don't feel like there was any real payoff. Just progress, and even that wasn't really exciting.

What this episode does really well is building up a conflict between Damar and Ziyal. I know it's eventually going to end with a bang, so the scenes probably have more impact now than when you would see it for the first time. But given that they didn't really have any interactions so far, this episode very quickly creates a situation where she is a major problem in Damar's eyes because her behavior is completely interfering with Dukat's ability to command the war. And it does so without being flashy or dramatic about it, and feeling sudden or forced in the process. Great respect for the writers.

In contrast, Odo is still acting weird. Trying to be nice but only stumbling around without any plan and not doing anything.

Once again we have Dukat estimate the mines to be cleared in 78 hours. (3 x 26 hours.) I really enjoy how consistent they are with that. We also get another neat little detail that the Vorta have poor eyesight because they don't have any need for it. But they have excellent hearing. Perfectly makes sense for the duties that they have been created for.

[Cikomyr]

This specific episode is definetly Part 1 of a 2-parter.

Edit:
Btw, coming next episode...

Spaceships
Spaceships
SPACESHIPS
SpaceshipsSpaceshipsSpaceshipsSpaceshipsSpaceships SpaceshipsSpaceshipsSpaceshipsSpaceshipsSpaceships SpaceshipsSpaceships

[Yora]

S6E6: Sacrifice of Angels

Suddenly, spaceships! Spaceships everywhere! No idea how many are on screen, but last episode we were told it's about 2000.

Dukat, Damar, Weyoun, and the changeling leader are watching the battle on the tactical map from the station. Dukat thinks that Sisko tries to break through with some ships to take the station before the battle is over, and he plans to create an opening to get them into a trap. When they are alone, Dukat and Damar agree that once the war is over, it will be time to get rid of the Dominion. Damar thinks that any saboteurs on the station will try to stop them from clearing the mines in the last moment and wants to have Kira, Quark and others detained until the mines are cleared. He also thinks it would be best for everyone if Ziyal is confined to her quarters in the meantime, which Dukat really does not appreciate.

Kira, Quark, Jake, and Leeta are trying to come up with something to stop the mine clearing and Damar shows up with some guards to arrest them, but Quark is overlooked.

Dukat gives the order to set the trap. Sisko is suspicious and Dax and Bashir both agree that it's a trap. But Sisko decides to risk it and orders a large number of ships to attempt a breakthrough. Dukat already celebrates his victory over the Federation, but Weyoun is the usual party pooper. Dukat spells it out directly that the thing that most annoys him is that neither Sisko nor the Bajorans ever acknowledge his superiority over them.

Odo is unhappy to see the battle happening. The changeling leader thinks it's time for him to break his relationships with the Bajorans and Federation and has ordered Kira to be executed as a traitor.

Sisko barely makes it through the Dominion fleet after losing many of his ships when the Klingons finally decide to join the battle. The Defiant is the only ship able to continue on to the station. Dukat isn't worried because the Defiant alone is no threat to the station.

Running out of ideas, Quark gets Ziyal to get the others out of the jail. They cook something for Kira and take it to the jail, and when the guard inspects it, Ziyal tranquillizes him. Physical jokes don't work when you tell them, but it's one of the funniest thing in the whole show. Quark tells the two Jem'Hadar guarding the cells to disable the force fields, but they are not impressed by his phasers and he manages to shot them both as they aim their guns. The escape is quickly discovered and Kira and Rom get found by Jem'Hadar, but they are rescued by Odo and Bajoran security guards.

Damar is worried that the Klingons are beating the Dominion fleet, but Dukat tells him not to worry because they will soon get reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant. Rom and Kira try to disable the stations phasers but don't make it in time and the mines are destroyed. Sisko orders the Defiant into the wormhole and Damar discovers that the phasers have stopped working. As the Defiant encounters the Dominion fleet in the wormhole, the Prophets take Sisko to them to tell him that they can't allow him to die now. They are unclear as usual and Sisko shouts at them that they either have to let him fight to protect Bajor or they will have to do something to safe Bajor themselves. They decide to do something but say that he won't be having a life on Bajor. They send him back to the Defiant and the Dominion fleet in the wormhole disappears.

When the fleet does not arrive and their own phasers are still not working, the changeling leader and Weyoun decide to cut their losses and abandon the station, but Dukat takes some work from Damar to accept their defeat and he then runs off to search for Ziyal. When he finds her she refuses to come with him and tells him that she freed Kira and Rom. Damar has had enough and shots her. Dukat completely snaps and Damar leaves him behind.

The rest of the fleet arrives and they retake the station.

--

Hm... this is also okay. It's of course well done, but this story just isn't doing much for me. I feel that it is lacking tension. This is of course to a great part because I already know the story, but that's the case with all the other episodes as well. And I feel many of those have much better pacing and tension. This whole storyline is just working through the scenes and checking off plot points, but it never really snaps. It's always meandering.

A while ago we were talking about how the Founders value their own shared community and if they had send Odo and others away without much consideration how many of them will make it back, or if their agents are sacrificing themselves to create chaos among their enemies. Here the leader makes it very clear that getting Odo to return to them is top priority for them. The whole invasion of the Alpha Quadrant is day to day business as usual, but getting Odo back is what's really important to them. This indicates that they are indeed obsessed with their individual self-preservation. However, an alternative interpretation could be that they don't care so much about Odo as an individual, but that they do indeed value the Link so much that they can't stand the thought that any one of them would reject it. She tells Odo that they are missing him specifically and that it really would be so much better for him personally, but she's lying and manipulating all the time already, so this could be just another deception tailored to Odo's own assertion of individuality.
Though I guess the truth is probably that the writers never really thought about this whole issue and made things up as they went with what seemed dramatically interesting at the time.

I had always remembered Weyoun as being incredibly obnoxious and weasely, in a moustache twirling way. And he certainly is when he's trying to do diplomacy. But watching him now, it really feels like he's always just pretending. He isn't delusional about his personal charms. When not dealing with the Federation or Bajorans, he's very cold and calculated, and I think when he's talking with the leader he even says some things about keeping up appearances with their new subjects. I always liked Weyoun because he was funny, but now I think he's actually quite interesting.

[Cikomyr]

I don't know. I mean, I feel a *****ton* happen in this episode, and there a lot of "omg all is lost", and yet the main characters always have One. Extra. Break.

This 2 parter could have been some sort of Series finale if they had wanted to. I am happy they weren't, but it's all about, after 3 full seasons + 5 episodes of just constantly being defeated at every turn by the Dominion, the first *real* victory the Federation and its allies ever got. Dukat is broken. Ziyal is killed. Odo made his final choice. Worf stood before Gowron and convinced him to commit to an all-out assault.

[Rodin]

I wrote up a really long post on this arc earlier, and my computer blue-screened and it got eaten. Blah. I'll try and write out the highlights again at least.

This arc to me really highlights the strengths and weaknesses of both Deep Space 9 and Babylon 5.

Deep Space 9 is at it's best when it's doing serious character episodes. Sisko feeling adrift when he loses the ability to personally protect his crew. Jake's experience of what it means to be a war reporter, and the true nature of courage. Nog's PTSD in a later episode. Odo struggling to admit his feelings for Kira in the episode where the female Changeling pretends Kira is about to die. All of this is in-depth, personal character examination that Babylon 5 rarely delves into. They have little scenes here and there (Vir getting drunk after the assassination of the Emperor), but they never get a full episode to themselves the way Deep Space 9 does. That's when DS9 is at its greatest, and I was blown away by those episodes.

Where Babylon 5 excels is the long-form storytelling. Characters in that show have a season-long (or even multiple season) arc that they go through. Dr. Franklin with stim abuse. Garibaldi with his paranoia, and again with his alcoholism. Characters believably develop problems over a long period of time, and the problem doesn't just "go away" in an instant. Compare the above with Odo's behaviour over these episodes - he's the Constable we know and love, then suddenly he's a totally different person...for about 3 episodes, when he Learns His Lesson and snaps back to the way he was before.

The same is true of the main plot here. In B5, if they lost the station it would have been a season long effort to get it back. Here, losing it in the first place was clearly the result of wanting a season-ending cliffhanger. The first 3 episodes of the season don't deal with the loss of the station at all - they're just set outside the station. Then we have a three-parter (instead of the usual two-parter, and the station is safely back in Federation hands, the end. We move on like nothing changed. There's a lot of exciting stuff that happens, but this major arc is MASSIVELY compressed in time. As a result, the whole thing feels rushed and the destruction of the Dominion fleet winds up feeling like a Deus Ex Machina.

I found the quality to be quite good for what it was, but I mourn what could have been if the DS9 writers hadn't been so set on "plot episode" vs. "filler episode" and woven this storyline into a longer arc.

[Gnoman]

My favorite part of this episode is the very beginning, right before they engage the fleet (right between the "and now the conclusion" and the intro. Sisko's dispatching orders, Nog's freaking out, and O'Brien begins to recite from The Charge Of The Light Brigade with Bashir joining in. This doesn't help Nog's state of mind, and we see O'Brien give him the advise to focus on his work to hide the fear - with a slightly quieter "That's what I do".

Something about that sequence resonates strongly for me.

[Yora]

S6E7: You are cordially invited

Sisko is in a very good mood about being back on the station. Martok isn't sure if he should be happy about Sisko supporting his appointment as supreme commander of the Klingon and Federation fleet.

Dax meets Alexander and really likes him. When she and Worf learn that he is going to be transferred to a new ship, Dax really wants to have her wedding with Worf on the station as soon as possible so that Alexander can attend. With the war still going on, she seems to be uncertain when or if there would be another opportunity. She gets Worf to agree, but Kira thinks that everything about the wedding seems to be just about Worf. Dax isn't bothered by it since Worf is so excited about it, Klingon weddings are fun, and she already had five Trill weddings.

Worf asks Sisko, O'Brien, Bashir, Alexander, and Martok to join his ritual to prepare himself for the wedding, which consists of trials to prove all their honnor as warriors. They think it sounds fun and are on board.

Since Dax is going to marry into Martok's house, she needs the approval of Martok's wife. When Serella arrives, she immediately makes it clear that she doesn't want any aliens joining her house and is eager to show that Dax can't pass the trials. She also doesn't like Worf either, but making him his brother was Martok's choice alone. Martok agrees with Worf that Dax has shown many times that she is worthy of their house, but he thinks arguing with Serella would only make it worse.

When everyone comes to the holodeck to face the warrior trials in a cave, Worf and Martok reveal that the first trial is fasting the whole four days until the wedding. When they gather around a big fire to share songs, Alexander passes out from the heat. Bashir suggests turning down the temperature a bit, but the whole point of the trial is suffer through it. Alexander says he's up for it, but Martok offers to make it a bit easier on the humans. But they all insist that they will face the same hardships.

Dax has to show her mastery of Klingon rituals to Serella, who only complaints about her performance and wants her to keep doing it until she gets it right. "You wouldn't make a Klingon woman repeat this three times." "Because she would have got it right the first time." So Dax starts doing it a fourth time. Next she has to recite the lineage of the women of Martok's house, and she can't help herself poking at all the holes she found in the story.

Worf and Martok are preparing the trial of blood and aks who wants to go first. Bashir is a bit dazed from exhaustion, and when they turn their back to them, the three others all take step back.

Meanwhile Dax is having a wild party with all her many friends in her quarters. Odo shows up at Dax' party because of a noise complaint, and apparently Morn got in a fight with a Bolian. Kira tells him not to worry and have the security team join the party. After a few moments she asks him to come somewhere more quiet to have a talk about their relationships now that the crisis of the Dominion occupation is over. Dax is cuddling with a big Polynesian officer in a reed skirt who was doing a dance performance when Serella walks in and is appalled by the whole situation. Dax has had enough of her and throws her out, and the wedding is canceled.

Bashir and O'Brien are hanging from their arms over a coal pit and are absolutely miserable. "Miles. It's working. I am having a vision... I am going to kill Worf."

When Dax wakes up the next morning, the half-naked dancer and Morn pick themselves off the floor and stumble home, running into Worf at the door. They are all dressed, but I am still getting slights hints of innuendo since Dax is involved. Worf tries his best not to be angry but still wants to salvage the situation. As she stumbles to her bed, she finds Kira and Odo still talking in her closet and shoos them out. Worf wants Dax to go to Serella to make peace, but Dax is done with all of that and just wants a simple Federation marriage without joining Martok's house. This makes Worf question if they should get married at all, and Dax is just too hung over to care.

Bashir and O'Brien hear the news from Quark, who says that Dax complained that Worf is stuck up and stubborn, and that Worf thinks Dax acts childishly and doesn't take anything serious. O'Brien has to agree that they are both right about that. But since the wedding is of, they are eager to get eating again. Martok goes to Worf to tell him that they are both making a great mistake. Worf thinks that Dax just isn't anything like what he is looking for in a woman, and Martok tells him that obviously he never thought to get a wife like he got either and that Worf really shouldn't give up on her now. Bashir and O'Brien are sitting down for the feast Quark is setting up for them when Sisko and Martok walk in to tell them that the trials are still going to continue. Worf arrives shortly after and tells them that Dax still refuses to make peace with Serella. So Sisko tells them to wait while he goes to talk with her.

Sisko's approach is to slap her cold into the face. She has absolutely no business expecting to get respect for Curzon's deeds and reputation among the Klingons because she inherited his memories. As the Klingons are concerned, she is still a nobody who still has to prove herself. And since she loves Worf, she just has to suck it up for him.

Somehow she gets Serella's acceptance, who then performs the wedding for them, with all the friends in attendance.

--

This is one of my favorite episodes. Like S4E10 Our Man Bashir, this episode checks several boxes of things I usually really dislike, but I really enjoy it. It's a romance and comedy episode, both usually not my thing. But it still turns out fantastic.

Can't say too much about Worf here. He actually acts well self controlled and polite throughout the episode, which is a bit odd since one would assume him to be rather on edge. We've seen him angry and raise his voice over much smaller things, but here he is nothing but diplomatic. Dax has tolerated much more from him and doesn't really have a reason to be annoyed with him.
Which perhaps is the point. With Worf things are very simple this episode, but it's Dax who is having troubles. Serella is just mean to her the whole time and makes it clear that she doesn't want Dax to pass her tests. She has good reason to be annoyed by that and really doesn't have to put up with it. But she just can't help herself getting underhanded stabs at Serella even when it's completely unnecessary. There really wasn't any need to tell her that her ancestry is fake and her claim to royal blood a sham. What did Dax home to gain from that? But by this point in the series, it feels very believable for the character. Dax can be very diplomatic and nothing but polite when it comes to solving other people's problems, but when it's about her personal matters she frequently is extremely stubborn and has no problem annoying others when the consequences will only be targeting herself. And in this context, it also makes sense that Sisko first gives her a kick before offering her his support.

Martok is again nothing but the nice old guy he has been several times before. When Worf decides it's probably better to not get married at all if Dax is already unwilling to make a small sacrifice for their marriage, the first thing that Martok says is pleading with him not to make this mistake. He also is nothing but supportive of Worf and assuring him he has his back when his wife first arrives.

Bashir and O'Brien are also fun with their small parts this episode. I think we didn't have them doing funny things on their own for quite some time.

Last thing I have to say, Worf's and Dax' formal Klingon clothes during the wedding look terrible. Way too tacky with all the gold.

[Mightymosy]

So........ Done?
:-(

[Yora]

Don't know. There is really just one more episode that I remember being really good, but looking at the list I see an overwhelming number that I think where really cringy. Hard to find the motivation to sit through them. And the aspects of the show that drew me into watching it again seem to have been fully abandoned after season 4.

There's also been very little replies to most episodes and it doesn't seem like many people find anything worthy to comment on.

[Wraith]

The banter between O'Brien and Bashir is always some of my favourite moments in DS9. Many similar programmes have a pair of "friends" who are clearly just actors reading lines at each other, but between these two there's a very believable bond between the characters. Probably because they spend so much time complaining and griping to each other, it feels more contemporary - more "real"? - than the often bland and saccharine exchanges between Federation characters.

As for Jadzia's poor attitude, I think that Sisko pretty much spells the problem out towards the end. She has Curzon's memories and a little bit of his mentality and opinions blended with her own, so antagonising Serella probably wasn't Jadzia being a jerk, but it was Curzon speaking through her - he was always rude and a trouble-maker, and his experience with the Klingons let him know exactly how to embarrass someone that was pushing him around.

Sisko nails it. Curzon was a jerk, but a jerk who earned his position over decades of experience. Jadzia isn't doing herself any favours by acting like him, she needs to be her own person and not let her bias her in her way.

[EDIT] For what it's worth Yora, I always read the thread and enjoy it - I don't always comment because you usually say exactly what I'm thinking!
I personally feel that there's some surprisingly good episodes left to see. Inquisition is pretty good, I personally really like Once More Unto the Breach and anything to do with Section 31, and In the Pale Moonlight is generally considered to be one of the best in Star Trek. Please don't let me urge you into doing something if you won't enjoy it, but I'd certainly like to hear your thoughts if you're willing to share them.

[Gallowglass]

That's too bad. I've been enjoying your recaps. There's been a few episodes I barely remember!

[Mightymosy]

I always enjoy reading your reviews as well.
I comment little because I still need to watch it.

[Talakeal]

I have also been reading and enjoying all the reviews, and most of my favorite episodes are still to come.

But then again, I really love ferengi episodes so maybe I am just a wierdo.

[Cikomyr]

Some solid episodes are coming..

Statistical Probability
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
Waltz
Far Beyond the Stars
Honor Among Thieves
The Reckoning
Valiant

Chrysalis
Treachery Faith and the Great River
Once More Unto the Breach
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Badda-Bing Badda-Bang

Aaand the finale marathon

[Yora]

S6E8: Resurrection: Bareil from the mirror universe comes to visit Kira.
S6E9: Statistical Probabilities: Bashir is taking care of geniuses who developed mental problems from genetic engineering.
S6E10: The Magnificent Ferengi: Quark goes to rescue his mother from the Dominion.
S6E11: Waltz Sisko is shipwrecked with a mad Dukat.
S6E12: Who mourns for Morn: Apparently Morn died.
S6E13: Far Beyond the Stars: Sisko hallucinates that he's an 1950s sci-fi writer who imagines Star Trek.
S6E14: One Little Ship: A space anomaly shrinks a shuttle and it's crew to tiny size. (Didn't we have that in TNG already?)

S6E15: Honor among Thieves

O'Brien got roped into infiltrating a criminal gang because the last five agents all got killed and they clearly got warning about all the agents investigating them. So they recruited an outsider to find out where the gangsters are getting that information. O'Brien hangs out in a gangster bar and when one of the gangster is hacking remotely into a system, he secretly activates a safety and then jumps up to save the gangster from being zapped to death. The leader of the gang is impressed and offers him a job.

On the station, everyone is upset because machines keep failing and they aren't getting repaired quickly.

O'Brien befriends the leader Bilby who isn't actually very enthusiastic about his work but it pays well to support his family. He also confirms that they have an informant in Starfleet. After O'Brien repairs some malfunctioning disruptors they just bought, Bilby takes him to a meeting with his boss. His boss wants to know who the new guy is, but Bilby says he trusts O'Brien and that is good enough in their syndicate. The boss comes with a Vorta and they want Bilby's gang to prepare for an assassination. When they leave, Bilby tells O'Brien that he has just taken responsibility for him and his neck is on the block if he screws up.

Later the boss and the Vorta come to the gang's bar because they found out that there's a traitor. The Vorta walks down the line to see if he can pick the traitor just by looking at him, and when he reaches the end he picks O'Brien. But the boss shots one of the other gangsters, saying that the Vorta guessed wrong. After that is taken care of, the Vorta tells them that they are to assassinate the Klingon ambassador with the Klingon disruptors they acquired, and O'Brien figures out that they want to make it look like Klingon infighting. The Vorta can't help himself and explain that the ambassador has been pestering chancellor Gowron to break the alliance with the Federation and concentrate on defending the Klingon Empire, and killing him will make it look Gowron had him murdered, which will increase support for the ambassador's side.

O'Brien goes to inform his superior about the assassination plan, who thinks the best solution is to simply tell the Klingons where they can ambush the assassins. O'Brien is very unhappy about that, having been under the impression that he was gathering evidence to get Bilby in prison. The agent thinks it's best to pull out O'Brien immediately, but he instead knocks him out and goes to warn Bilby that it's a trap. Bilby thinks he's just nervous when O'Brien says he thinks the Klingons tracked him when he hacked into their computers. So he has to tell the truth that he's working for Starfleet and suggests that he turns himself in to be safe in prison. But Bilby tells O'Brien that even if they can't reach him in prison, they will just go after his family instead. The safest option is for him is to walk into the ambush so his boss will have no suspicion he knew about O'Brien.

When O'Brien returns to the station he tells Bashir what happened and that he feels terrible about it, and he's also taking care of Bilby's cat.

--

This episode is pretty decent I would say. Decent characters, decent acting, great conflict, and it looks pretty good. There is just one really big question: Why is this episode in Deep Space Nine? The connection to Star Trek here are very flimsy. It's not even a science fiction story. This is a completely regular noir crime story that does not include any Star Trek elements and does not build on anything that already existed in the show.
It's quite good, but all you need to change is the words Starfleet and Klingons, and this story would work perfectly well in any other setting you can imagine. How did this get suggested for a Star Trek episode, and more puzzling, how got this selected to be filmed? Really weird in context, but by taken by itself it's a good story. I could actually see the story being turned into a full length crime movie.

[Cikomyr]

You... You...

You monster.. You skipped Who Mourns for Morn? Fr Beyond the Stars?! Waltz?!!!

I mean.. Okay. I get it why you didn't wanted to continue. If these don't speak to you there's little point going on.

[Rodin]

S6E8: Resurrection: Bareil from the mirror universe comes to visit Kira.
S6E9: Statistical Probabilities: Bashir is taking care of geniuses who developed mental problems from genetic engineering.
S6E10: The Magnificent Ferengi: Quark goes to rescue his mother from the Dominion.
S6E11: Waltz Sisko is shipwrecked with a mad Dukat.
S6E12: Who mourns for Morn: Apparently Morn died.
S6E13: Far Beyond the Stars: Sisko hallucinates that he's an 1950s sci-fi writer who imagines Star Trek.
S6E14: One Little Ship: A space anomaly shrinks a shuttle and it's crew to tiny size. (Didn't we have that in TNG already?)

Resurrection: This surprised me with how not-terrible it was. I mean, it wasn't good. But given the premise I found alternate-universe Bareil to be a pretty interesting character.
Statistical Probabilities: Just...no. This one and the inexplicable sequel.
Magnificent Ferengi: I find the Ferengi too irritating to make up for the occasional funny moments in this episode.
Waltz: This is the first that I'm genuinely surprised you didn't like. This is possibly my favorite Dukat episode. I love his insanity here, and it shapes how he acts for the rest of the show.
Who Mourns for Mourn: I groaned at the premise of the episode, but once it got going I greatly enjoyed this. It brought the humor that was lacking in the last Quark episode, and I found the whole thing hilarious.
Far Beyond the Stars: Not surprised you didn't like this one based on what you haven't liked in previous episodes. I quite liked it, although I found the premise bizarre and I'm still not sure what the point of the episode was. For what it was though, it's pretty good. It's also kind of neat how they made Sisko not want to take part in Vic Fontaine's holosuite program later on. Having just experienced life in the 1950s, Sisko is understandably more upset about the sanitization of history.
One Little Ship: I don't think TNG did this. They've had the ship slowly vanish from reality before, but not shrinking. ST:TAS did it with the crew and not the ship, and Voyager also shrank the crew. I personally couldn't take the episode seriously because Red Dwarf did it. I kept expecting the shuttlecraft to fly up a rat's butt.


Honor Among Thieves:

I have to agree with your assessment. Why O'Brien of all people? Why is this episode in a Sci-Fi Space Opera?

I may have an answer to that. The writers for DS9 clearly liked film noir based on the number of references to it throughout the series. They also had a big thing for secret agents and undercover investigations. They wanted to write an episode like that, so they gave a flimsy tie-in to Star Trek and picked out Colm Meaney as someone who could play the part of the earnest guy in over his head.

It's pure author appeal, and it worked fairly well.

[comicshorse]

Does this one count towards the 'O'Brien gets something horrible happen to him' count. (Feels guilty about betraying a guy he liked, causing his death)

[Yora]

This is the first that I'm genuinely surprised you didn't like.

I didn't watch it. It didn't watch any of those. I can totally see how it might be something that a lot of people could really enjoy a lot. But I've come to a point where either Sisko or Dukat trying to be seriously dramatic just really gets on my nerves. There have been several episodes of two people having tense conversations alone on a planet before and I think I found all of them deeply unpleasant.
It might be a really good episode, but I really don't want to watch it now.

I intend to watch 4 more episodes this season, and I might actually watch most of season 7. But the episode list for season 6 gives me flashbacks to season 3.

While this episode did fit the typical Let's Torture O'Brien format, he didn't actually get tortured or abused by anyone. I personally wouldn't count it.

[Wraith]

I think you made the right call, Yora. If you don't like "two people sit on a planet and talk at each other" episodes, nor do you like "<character> has hallucinations that echo a plot or mystery" episodes, missing Waltz was probably the right thing to do.

I say that when I am a big fan of both Sisko and Dukat, and watching Marc Alaimo chew the scenery for 45 minutes is definitely one of my guilty pleasures, but this episode was just a bit.... eh. I like Dukat more when he's just inherently vicious, power-hungry and manipulative - him being portrayed as being specifically insane as an sort of excuse for that is a step backwards for his character.

[Yora]

S6E16: Change of Heart

Dax is playing tongo with the Ferengi and Worf and O'Brien are watching them. Worf thinks he knows what Dax is trying to do and makes a bet with O'Brien that she will win the round. Even though she has a really good hand and reaches out to take the winnnings, Quark turns out to have an even better one.

A Cardassian informant has critical information about the Dominion that he can't send directly to Starfleet, so Kira sends Worf and Dax to take a shuttle close to the badland and hear what's so important. On the way they are discussing their vacation ideas and Worf doesn't fight her when she wants to go to a fancy hotel on a beach. Which surprises her because he's usually more grumpy, which turns into teasing remarks about Worf having no humor.
"That was a joke! I get it! It's not funny, but I get it!"

O'Brien is amazed by Quark's incredible winning streak at Tongo and wants to learn the game to see how he's doing it. He ropes Bashir into playing with him, even though Bashir really rather wants to go play spies in the holosuite.

Worf and Dax reach the badlands and get a highly encrypted transmission from the Cardassian. Who is really unhappy to see that one of them is a Klingon. "Why did they have to send a Klingon?" "I'm a Trill, does that make it any better?" "Is that supposed to be a joke?" "Not at all. He's the funny one." The informant tells them he has detailed information about all the Founders in the alpha quadrant, but he thinks his Vorta superior is suspecting him and he needs to escape immediately. He's going to make a run for it now and if they want the information they better get to the pickup point before he is discovered to be missing. Dax and Worf agree to be there.

O'Brien and Bashir keep playing tongo and obviously it's a game that is much more to Bashir's skills. With a bit of persuasion, O'Brien convinced Bashir that he should try beating Quark at his own game instead. The Ferengi don't really want any outsiders joining their game, but when they present their suitcase full of latinum, the Ferengi agree to let Bashir try. But since the big suitcase only actually holds six strips, Bashir has to win a lot more money quickly. Which he does. So when he and Quark are the two last players still in the game, Quark starts playing dirty by steering their conversation to Dax now being lost to them. O'Brien sees through it, but Bashir ends up distracted anyway and loses.

Worf and Dax reach the planet and hide their ship in the forest, out of the range of the Dominion base's scanners. Worf has a great time prowling through the wilderness but Dax really isn't getting any joy out of it. When they make camp for the night, Worf's instinct warns him that something is coming and it turns out to be a Jem'Hadar patrol. They ambush them but Dax gets shot. Worf wants to take her back to the ship because injuries from Jem'Hadar guns don't stop bleeding normally, but she thinks it's not that bad and they don't have time if they want to rescue the informant. She's not actually doing that well though, and her typical dumb jokes to deal with stress get quite unfriendly. When she can't walk anymore, she tells Worf to carry on alone and pick her up on the way back to the ship. Worf doesn't make it very far before he admits that she won't make it two more days and turns back to get her to the ship.

When they are back at the station, Sisko is not happy with the situation and the informant being lost. But he can't really fault Worf for his decision anyway. Dax feels bad for having put him in this situation, but he tells her not to worry about it.

--

This episode has its upsides and its downsides, and they meet in the middle to make a solid okay episode. I had a vague memory of the main plot points and was curious how good or bad it would be under a critical view now. And it turned out quite as I expected. It's okay, but the forest parts were not as long or interesting as I thought I remembered. I feel like this is a very solid story idea that could have been made as a much better episode than it is. The execution here feels a little janky and unsatisfying.
Even though this really isn't a comedy episode in any way, it has a high number of jokes. Which I found all really funny. This is my type of humor. The episode has an interesting approach to the A and B-plots by having them both kick off with the same opening scene where Dax is playing against Quark and Worf and O'Brien are betting on who will win. After that they diverge completely and never meet again, but with the common start the B-plot feels actually relevant to the A-plot. Both are stories about trust and confidence.
But at the end of the day, this isn't a great episode.

[Saph]

S6E8: Resurrection: Bareil from the mirror universe comes to visit Kira.
S6E9: Statistical Probabilities: Bashir is taking care of geniuses who developed mental problems from genetic engineering.
S6E10: The Magnificent Ferengi: Quark goes to rescue his mother from the Dominion.
S6E11: Waltz Sisko is shipwrecked with a mad Dukat.
S6E12: Who mourns for Morn: Apparently Morn died.
S6E13: Far Beyond the Stars: Sisko hallucinates that he's an 1950s sci-fi writer who imagines Star Trek.
S6E14: One Little Ship: A space anomaly shrinks a shuttle and it's crew to tiny size. (Didn't we have that in TNG already?)

Yeah, to be honest, I don't think you're missing that much by skipping these. The only real standout there is Waltz, but as people have said, the fun of that is mostly getting to watch Marc Alaimo show off his acting skills. Which I remember really enjoying, but it's not for everyone.

The others are all forgettable-to-bad. I really like Bashir and I still found the episodes with the genetically modified crew to be painful. Ferengi episodes are painful. Can't remember anything about Resurrection, Mourns for Morn, or One Little Ship at all, which probably doesn't say anything good about them. Far Beyond the Stars was just boring.

[Devonix]

Yeah, to be honest, I don't think you're missing that much by skipping these. The only real standout there is Waltz, but as people have said, the fun of that is mostly getting to watch Marc Alaimo show off his acting skills. Which I remember really enjoying, but it's not for everyone.

The others are all forgettable-to-bad. I really like Bashir and I still found the episodes with the genetically modified crew to be painful. Ferengi episodes are painful. Can't remember anything about Resurrection, Mourns for Morn, or One Little Ship at all, which probably doesn't say anything good about them. Far Beyond the Stars was just boring.

Wow this is very strange These are some of the most beloved episodes of Startrek. Especially Far Beyond the Stars. Is one of the most well reviewed and beloved episodes of Science Fiction television period. I remember watching it when the episode came out and it still speaks to me.

[Traab]

Wow this is very strange These are some of the most beloved episodes of Startrek. Especially Far Beyond the Stars. Is one of the most well reviewed and beloved episodes of Science Fiction television period. I remember watching it when the episode came out and it still speaks to me.

Far beyond the stars felt like self indulgent nonsense. Like avery brooks wanted to prove he could be more than a space station commander as an actor and they gave him an episode to show that off. Taken by itself its a good episode, but of another show entirely, its not star trek deep space nine. The other star trek series did a similar thing. TNG had its holodeck adventures, voyager had that time the hirogen took over and they were fighting in world war 2, but they were at least truly connected to the series at large. It was commander data as sherlock, not brett spinner playing sherlock.

[Cikomyr]

Far beyond the stars felt like self indulgent nonsense. Like avery brooks wanted to prove he could be more than a space station commander as an actor and they gave him an episode to show that off. Taken by itself its a good episode, but of another show entirely, its not star trek deep space nine. The other star trek series did a similar thing. TNG had its holodeck adventures, voyager had that time the hirogen took over and they were fighting in world war 2, but they were at least truly connected to the series at large. It was commander data as sherlock, not brett spinner playing sherlock.

Do you even check before making these speculations? Background information indicates that focus on the racism (and sisko as the focus character) only came in later draft of that script.

You are inferring a lot of erroneous assumptions just because you feel the episode is indulgent.

[Saph]

Wow this is very strange These are some of the most beloved episodes of Startrek. Especially Far Beyond the Stars. Is one of the most well reviewed and beloved episodes of Science Fiction television period. I remember watching it when the episode came out and it still speaks to me.

I'm pretty sure you're the first person I've ever heard call those six episodes the most beloved of Star Trek. The Ferengi episodes consistently get rated as people's least favourite of DS9, the Mirror Universe episodes are 'why did this get a sequel again?', and even the cast and crew didn't take One Little Ship seriously.

[Yora]

The big problem with Far Beyond the Stars is the same as with Past Tense and Troubles and Tribbleations. They might be good stories in their own right, but they are not dealing with issues that are part of the show's setting, or issues related to the characters of the show. Very similar reasons apply to why I dislike The Visitor as well.
They are not part of the story of the show, but unrelated stories alwardly shoved in. The same objections also apply to Honor among Thieves, but that one at least does not involve time travel and the motive of the assassination does connect to the long term plot of the series, even though it's irrelevant.
I have no issue with people liking these episodes on their own merits, but they really don't fit into this show.

[Algeh]

The big problem with Far Beyond the Stars is the same as with Past Tense and Troubles and Tribbleations. They might be good stories in their own right, but they are not dealing with issues that are part of the show's setting, or issues related to the characters of the show. Very similar reasons apply to why I dislike The Visitor as well.
They are not part of the story of the show, but unrelated stories alwardly shoved in. The same objections also apply to Honor among Thieves, but that one at least does not involve time travel and the motive of the assassination does connect to the long term plot of the series, even though it's irrelevant.
I have no issue with people liking these episodes on their own merits, but they really don't fit into this show.

Both Far Beyond the Stars and Troubles and Tribbleations felt like "outreach" episodes that were there to try to get people like me, who were generally SF fans but who had lost interest in DS9, to give it another try. (In my case, it sort of worked in that I watched those two specific episodes, but didn't start keeping up with the show regularly again because I just was not into the Dominion arc. I was getting my "everything is complicated and terrible, so pay attention and worry" SF stories elsewhere and all I wanted out of Trek was the more hopeful and less hard to keep track of setting of TNG, and DS9 just wasn't doing that.)

Either of them would have felt less out of place in earlier Star Trek series, since both TOS and TNG were very episodic so having one-off "weird" episodes with thin reasons for a different setting was less jarring. (TOS particularly seemed up for anything, probably because they were still figuring out what kind of show they were rather than having settled into a specific idea of "what a Star Trek plot looks like", at least in the early episodes.)

[Traab]

Do you even check before making these speculations? Background information indicates that focus on the racism (and sisko as the focus character) only came in later draft of that script.

You are inferring a lot of erroneous assumptions just because you feel the episode is indulgent.

Im not saying thats what it was, im saying what it felt like to me. See, I dont have to check the background info to decide how an episode comes off to me, thats the fun thing about a personal opinion. I watched the episode, it felt like avery brooks wanted to stretch his acting muscles, and so they plopped an entirely different show into the series for reasons that are otherwise inexplicable. That may not be what actually happened or the actual rationale for deciding to put in a pilot for an entirely new series, but its how it felt to me. That wasnt star trek, it wasnt commander sisko stuck in a particularly racist time of america, it was some random african american dude trying to make a living as a sci fi writer with only the vaguest of connections to the show it was supposed to be. And so despite it being on its own merits a fairly good episode, I didnt much like it because I clicked on ds9 to WATCH ds9, not social commentary on the 50s in america.

[Yora]

S6E17: Wrongers Darker than Death or Night: Kira learns that Dukat had a thing with her mother.
S6E18: Inquisition: The evil secret Federation KGB interrogates Bashir.

S6E18: In the Pale Moonlight

This episode relies heavily on numerous plot twists and the surprises are a major part of what makes it work. More than possibly any other Star Trek episode, this one really should be watched knowing as little as possible about it.

Sisko is sitting down in his quarters to record his log. He's so exhausted and on edge that he has to ask the computer what day it is. The last two weeks were so awful that he has to record his confession:

Sisko is releasing the weekly list of war casualties and everyone is getting fed up with the Romulans allowing the Dominion to freely move through their territory to make sneak attacks against the Federation. If the Romulans would finally join the Federation and the Klingons, they could beat the Dominion, but as Dax explains, the Romulans have no interest in keeping the other regional powers from destroying each other. Sisko decides that he will find a way to change that. He and Dax try to figure out the thinking of the Romulans and conlcude that they will have to show the Romulans some hard proof that the Dominion is planning to betray them.

Sisko thinks any such evidence would probably be kept hidden in the Dominion headquarter on Cardassia, which means he needs Garak to get it for him. Garak thinks he might be able to arrange something, but warns Sisko that with stakes this high, getting their hands on such evidence will most likely get really ugly. But Sisko tells him that things are already really ugly for the Federation and tells him to go ahead.

In the night the station gets news from Starfleet that the Dominion has conquered Betazed. Which means that only Vulcan stands between them and Earth, so they really need to Romulans to help them soon.

Sisko goes to Garak to see how things are going. Garak tells him that he was able to find some people in influential positions who agreed that the Dominion has to go and were willing to help, Unfortunately, they were all caught and killed. But Garak tells Sisko to not give up yet. Given the stakes, it's far too early to throw the towel yet. Instead he recommends that they will forge the evidence themselves. And he already has a plan how to sell it convincingly. The Romulan Senator Vrenak is a big fan of the Dominion and going to a conference with Weyoun. If Sisko would ask him for a secret meeting on the way back to Romulus, he probably would come to see what it is about. And if they can convince him, then the Romulan leadership will have no doubt that the proof for Dominion betrayal is real,

Garak's plan is to forge a holographic recording of a meeting of the Dominion leadership in which they discuss their plans to attack the Romulans once the Federation and the Klingons are beaten. When the Romulans ask where they got it, the Tal Shiar will certainly be able to confirm that a lot of Cardassian intelligence officers in the Dominion headquarters suddenly died just a few days ago. Sisko has to clear that with his superior, but Garak is certain that they won't see any other choice. He also has a forger in mind who can create the fake recording and urges Sisko to call the Klingon immediately to have him brought to the station before his execution.

The forger is really happy when he arrives on the station. He's not at all happy when he hears he will be working with Garak. A few hour later, Sisko gets a call that the forger just got really drunk in Quark's bar, started a brawl, and stabbed Quark. Sisko explains to Odo that the man is part of a very sensitive Starfleet security matter and that he really can't afford to have any records of his presence of the station. Odo is willing to go along with it, but only if Quark decides not to put charges against the man. Quark is more than delighted when he sees that Sisko wants to bribe him for his silence, which makes Sisko realize that he probably made a mistake agreeing to the whole plan. But since it's Friday again, the new casualty list is on his desk and he sees no option but continuing.

Garak catches Sisko in the turbolift to give him an update that he found someone who would sell them an original Cardassian high security data rod which they will need to make the forged recording look authentic. Unfortunately, the owner will only sell it for considerable amounts of weapons-grade biotech chemicals. He is really sorry, but he doesn't think that they will be able to find any other source in the time they have left. Sisko first refuses right out, but after a few seconds of thinking tells Garak to try haggling for a lower amount.

Bashir is really unhappy about having to prepare the canisters for transportation without knowing where they will be going. Sisko can't tell and when Bashir wants that order in writing, Sisko already has the document on his desk. He also has no objection to Bashir writing a complaint to Starfleet.

Garak shows Sisko the latest version the forged holo-record of Weyoun and Damar discussing strategy that mentions a plan for attacking the Romulans later. Sisko agrees that it looks much more believable and natural now, but all that Garak really had the forger change was to add more bickering. Sisko and Garak give the go ahead to copy it on the non-rewritable security rod. The forger wants to make his exit, but Sisko makes it very clear that he is not going to go anywhere until the forgery is well on its way to Romulus. Garak suggest that he returns to his quarters and he will come to talk to him there later.

Sisko goes to the meeting with Senator Vrenak and Garak suggests that he will try to sneak on his shuttle and search the computer for information about the Dominion. The shuttle arrives in the landing bay still cloaked. Vrenak doesn't waste a single moment to tell Sisko how little he thinks of the Federation and the chances of the station holding out much longer. Sisko tries to convince him that the Dominion will attack the Romulans once they have their other enemies defeated, and with the resources of the Federation and the Klingons, the Romulans won't stand a chance. And just as Dax predicted, Vrenak tells Sisko that he would need to see prof of that. Vrenak is not particularly impressed by the recording and tells Sisko he wants to check the datarod himself.

Later Sisko is called to Vrenak's quarters where he is informed that it's a faaake!. Two days later Worf brings news that Starfleet discovered that a Romulan diplomatic shuttle had been destroyed, presumably by Dominion sabotage. Everyone is happy to hear the news. Except for Sisko who excuses himself. He goes straight to Garak and is furious about him assassinating the Romulans. And he also admits to have killed the forger as well. Garak tells him that these deaths were totally worth it because now the Tal'Shiar will find the datarod that has been damaged in the explosion, and any file corruption will mask the signs of the forgery. Sisko is seriously pissed, but with the Romulans turning against the Dominion, he can't really argue with Garak. Which is the thing that pains him the most about it.

Deciding that the confession is too dangerous to keep around, he deletes the whole log entry.

--

This episode is widely regarded as the best Star Trek episode ever. And it very well might be. However, having seen it four or five times now, it really loses a lot of its punch after the first watching. It's still good, but not that mind blowing when you know what to expect. It has Garak at his most genius bastard, which for me is it's main selling point. Lots of people really love Sisko's moral conflict, but as I've said on various occasions before, his performance never really hooked me personally. It's a bit hammy here, but even I agree that it's a very solid performance. It really is just Sisko and Garak with a little help from Dax and Bashir. Worf, Quark, and Odo shortly appear on screen, but that's it. It's really quite surprising that you can pull of an episode with mostly just two characters this well without having them stranded on a planet. Even the forger and the senator have only very short appearances.
Even being the main highlight of the entire show, I find myself not having a lot to say about it. It's really good and I don't have a single thing to complain about it. That it works much more effectively the first time you see it can hardly be called a shortcoming. Given how well it works the first time, the reduced impact on second watching was totally worth it.

Though on a personal note, considering that this is Star Trek at it's peak, my opinion of Star Trek as a whole has fallen considerably over the years. This is very good. But I hesitate to call it great. I used to be a huge Star Trek fan 20 years ago, but now I feel only this show is actually still watchable. And even Deep Space Nine doesn't knock my socks off anymore. I think this might be my last rewatch of the show. I've probably seen it four or five times before now and might be on my sixth. But I don't know if I'll want to come back to it again in 10 or 20 years. When I return the DVDs back to my parents on Christmas, I don't feel any need to get them for my own collection.