Well, what can I say about Star Trek? This was the fourth series, and it was meant to spin off from Star Trek: The Next Generation, with one minor crew member joining the cast, and a major crew member joining later on.

This was Star Trek‘s effort at doing something new. The idea was that the action would take place in a space station and not a spaceship. In this case, Deep Space Nine was originally Cardassian station, around Bajor. The Bajorans are another race that was enslaved by the Cardassians, but they had a rebellion and got their freedom back. The Federation stepped in to maintain some kind of weird cease-fire, and part of the show was the relationship between the Cardassians and the Bajorans.

To make it even more complex, there is a wormhole which allows instantaneous travel to the other side of space. This makes Deep Space Nine some real hot property, at least until the race on the other side of the wormhole, the Dominion show up. Yes, if you have any interest in this, then you probably like Star Trek. The show developed a complicated story-arc over the years, but I wish it was as tight as the one from Babylon 5.

I had a hard time picking out the best episodes, which is why there are so many runners up. Note that the best episode were stand-alone character-driven ones, and the worst stand alone. The less said of them the better.

Best Episodes, Runners up:

1) S5, Ep25: In the Cards

Jake has to find a baseball card to cheer his father up. This is actually the main plot of this episode. Yeah, there are other things going on, and when I first saw this, I thought I would put it on the other list. However, there is something hopeful about this episode that I like, and when DS9 shows how hope can survive in the worst of situations, it shines.

2) S5, Ep5: The Assignment.

This one is good because the woman that plays Keiko is a good actress. Keiko is possessed my an alien presence, and it really is nightmarish how Miles has to deal with it. He can’t tell anyone or the Pah-wrath will kill Keiko, but he can’t let them win either. This made the episode very interesting, but sadly, the enemy was defeated by tech-stuff.

3) S5, Ep2: The Ship.

The conflict of this show is all about getting a ship from the dominion, and what makes it interesting is we see a lot of characters get killed in the process. Star Trek is no stranger to redshirts that are killed in the line of duty just to show that the situation is serious, and this gets very curious. In the end, the captain admits that he really had to give a lot of blood for the victory, and wonders if it is worth it. The ship actually comes into play in a later episode.

4) S7, Ep 25: What You Leave Behind

This is the final episode, and its only flaw is that it suffers from Lord of the Rings’ too many endings syndrome. DS9 had an eight-episode story arc that concluded here, and the actual episode ended with the main conflict resolved, but then had a twenty-minute “good-bye” fest. It is a good send-off.

5) S2, Ep4: Invasive Procedures

There isn’t really an episode about Dax on these lists, and maybe I just never really got her. This episode brings up Trills. One of the best setups to episodes that I enjoy and I’m a sucker for is the hostage situation, and this one deals with a Trill who just wants Dax’s symbiont. Not only that, he’s played by Jon Glover, an actor I’ve admired since Smallville, even though this episode was filmed way before that. In this one, he plays a sympathetic villain who realizes that getting what you want isn’t everything. Yes, these are old conventions, but they are good.

6) S3, Ep7: Civil Defense

I liked the concept behind this episode, that an old Cardassian defense program somehow gets activated, and all the crew is trapped. Like the hostage situation premise, this one I liked because it is essentially a more high-tech version of this.

7) S4 Ep 10/11: Homefront/Pardise Lost

This two parter was nothing short of prophetic. The show is about the Founder changelings being discovered on Earth, and Sisko must return home to flush them out. He soon discovers that Starfleet is using the fear of this threat to implement new laws. Yeah, it feels like 9/11 and the Patriot act, but this show came out years before that. I can’t believe how timely it is.

8) S1, Ep 18: Duet

This episode is one that really delved deep into the relationship between the Cardassians and Bejorans, and it is about a Cardassian war criminal who was caught. The way the criminal breaks down after admitting that he is guilty is award-deserving. The ending is also tragic and so very, very good.

Best Episodes

1) S4, Ep 2: The Visitor

This episode starts with Jake as an old man, and explaining that he lost his father. He then explains to a visitor to his house who some weird tech took his father, and how he stopped his writing career to bring his father back. In the end, he succeeds, but the way the future plays out is what makes this episode shine. The way the older Jake actor, Tony Todd, plays an old man is also so bittersweet good.

2) S4, Ep18: Hard Time.

The episode begins with O’Brien serving a long sentence in a prison that lasted for decades. He is set free, and then discovered that the prison sentence was only a few minutes, done with some mind-play technology. As he tries to get back to his normal life, he just can’t. There is a serious PTSD issue going on here, and it works well in this episode, as well as dealing with guilt. Too bad this episode is not referred to again, as it could have started a new character arc.

3) S6, Ep13: Far Beyond the Stars

Personally, I think that this is a better tribute to Star Trek than Trials and Tribble-ations. The story is about how Sisko is some science-fiction writer in 1950s America. He meets the rest of the crew, who are not in their alien makeup, and Sisko’s alternate persona just has to believe that the science-fiction stories he is writing is real. The publisher doesn’t want to read a story with an African American captain, but Sisko’s persona can’t allow it. As someone who is a writer, it is difficult to follow a dream and resist how others want to change it. This episode is actually referenced in another episode, but I don’t think it works, honestly.

4) S3, Ep 22: Explorers:

This one is a simple story with Benjamin and his son building a starship with a solar sail and taking it out for a voyage. There really isn’t much more to this story than that, but as a father, I loved watching it, and it ends on a very happy note. Yes, there is a lot that doesn’t make sense with the father building a ship in the space of one episode, but it works all the same.

5) S4, Ep.4: Indiscretion:

This one begins on a mission to find a lost Bajoran ship, which forces Kira and Gul Ducat to work together. It is here where it is discovered that Ducat has an illegitimate daughter with a late Bajoran mother. When they meet his daughter, it is not certain whether or not Ducat will kill her because of some honor thing, or something. This really established Ducat as a strong but sympathetic character.

6) S3, Ep. 18: Distant Voices:

Most people don’t like this episode, but this is another story setup that I enjoy. This one begins with Dr. Julian Bashir being it with a mental attack by a Lethian, and Bashir wakes to discover the station empty except a handful of friends. He then discovers he is asleep, and his friends are just representations of his personality. It is definitely overstated so the audience can discover this, but honestly, I’m not certain I would have got it. In the end, Bashir must face the Lethian face-to-face, and I always admired shows where the hero defeats the villain with words and not deeds. This one does it well.

7) S2, Ep16: Shadowplay:

This episode feels like a TOS or TNG episode (That’s Star Trek The Original Series and The Next Generation for all non-Trek people), as the crew discovers a colony with some weird thing happen and they must solve the problem (even though that violates Starfleet’s Prime Directive). In this case, they discover that the colony is nothing more than a big holodeck, and it gets pretty interesting from there. There is also an awesome friendship that develops between Odo and a little girl that is just sweet, to say the least.

8) S6 Ep19: In the Pale Moonlight

In this story, Sisko needs help fighting the Dominion, because Starfleet and their allies are losing. He decides to trick the Romulans into fighting along side them. What is odd is he is found out, and he still gets out of it. Heck, Starfleet even supports his lying. The reason why this episode works is due to Sisko addressing the camera directly, making it very personal.

9) S1, Ep16: The Forsaken:

I almost forgot that the primary plotline with the alien probe attacking the station. What I do remember is a scene when Odo and Lwaxana Troi are trapped in an elevator. This set-up is common for television, and it seemed more of a setup to try and tie-in character from The Next Generation with Counselor Troi’s mother. Still, there is something very sweet about seeing Odo admit that he can be hurt and is wearing a disguise, and then Lwaxana doing the same. It certainly established Odo as a deep character, and there was a lot to be admired as he was developed over the years.

Worst Episodes

1) S6, Ep23: Profit and Lace

And most say this is the worst episode, and I’m inclined to agree. In this episode Quark must pose as a woman. He doesn’t just Mrs. Doubtfire himself, but he gets the operation and shows his new lady cans at the end. In the end, he’s so hormonal, that he needs a hug from Odo…aw….crap. That’s what this episode is…crap!

2) S1, Ep19: In the Hands of the Prophets:

In this episode, the Kai Winn doesn’t like children in Keiko’s school not learning about the prophets. See, this is why we don’t have prayer in school! Yeah, it just doesn’t work, because it is preachy. Maybe the proper term is “reverse-preachy”.

3) S5, Ep7: Let He Who Is Without Sin…

This is another reverse-preachy episode where the characters act complete out of character until they become hedonistic to the point of stupidity, or conservative to that extreme. It’s terrible.

4) S6, Ep14: One Little Ship

This starts with a Runabout that shrinks, and then has to join up with the Defiant, the size of one’s hand. It is a Saturday Morning Cartoon plot at best. It ends with Worf saying a poem that sucks so bad, I can’t even read his expression after it.

5) S2, Ep15: Paradise

This episode has Sisko visiting a planet where tech has been banned, apparently by force. The leader is an unsympathetic jerk, and I hate this.

6) S3, Ep.10: Fascination.

This one has characters falling in love with people they really shouldn’t. It turns out the explanation is pretty simple: Lwaxana Troi. She was on my best episode list, right?

7) S4, Ep 8: The Sword of Kahless

Imagine the Lord of the Rings, but with Klingons. Except the Ring is the Sword…and it just doesn’t work.

8) S1, Ep9: Move Along Home

Most people hate this episode, showing Quark playing a game where his friends become the pieces. It feels like a TOS episode, or an early TNG episode. I’ll summarize it and say that it seems like there is a lot at stake, then nothing.

9) S3, Ep5: Second Skin.

Kira becomes a Cardassian. I get the feeling that this is how this episode was pitched, and the story behind it wasn’t really that good.