Star Trek DS9 Episode 140 - Change of Heart

"When Jadzia Dax is critically injured on an away mission, Worf must choose between saving his wife and completing their assignment."

I really hate the entire Dax and Worf thing, but I sort liked this episode. Dax and Worf are sent to smuggle a Dominion defector out of the Badlands. Before they meet up with him they are attacked by the Jem'Hadar and Dax is shot. The mission must be completed so Worf has no choice but to leave her behind. Half way through his journey, he realized "what the hell am I doing!" and turns back to save Dax. Back at DS9 Sisko rips Worf a new one and tells him that never again will he go on a mission with Dax. He also said that in the same situation he would also try to save his wife.

In sad news, I just heard that Leonard Nimoy died today. He always seemed like a decent guy who was always up for a cameo appearance. A legend.

140 down and 36 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 139 - Honor Among Thieves

"Starfleet Intelligence recruits Chief O'Brien to infiltrate the Orion Syndicate to find a Starfleet informant."


What is up with Starfleet sending random people into dangerous situations. They never use security people to do this stuff, it's always an Engineer or Doctor. So in this one O'Brien goes under cover to infiltrate the space mob. Now I have seen a handful of Biographies about FBI undercover agents and actually this one plays out rather realistically. O'Brien slowly gains the trust of the Boss and then they become good "pals". O'Brien uncovers a plot to kill Gowron, which he reports to Starfleet. He also discovers that the mob boss will soon be killed, he actually feels bad for the guy so he reveals everything to him. The mob boss still decides to walk into his own death, but before that he gives Miles his cat to take care of. In the end Miles feels bad about the entire ordeal.

139 down and 37 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 138 - One Little Ship

This may have been a good episode (although I doubt it), it's just that after that last episode everything else seems subpar so to follow it up with a Fantastic Voyage homage is just so disappointing. First of all, there is a space anomaly that has been causing probes to shrink down to miniscule size. So naturally Sisko sends the Runabout into the anomaly with Bashir, O'Brien and Dax aboard...because that makes perfect sense. Obviously they get shrunken. Meanwhile the Jem'Hadar take over the Defiant. Basically the mini Runabout sneaks aboard the Defiant and saves the day. So how does everyone get back to normal size? Well they reenter the anomaly and everything is reversed. Of course. I guess it was a fun episode but I would rather watch Honey I Shrunk the Kids if I wanted some fun shrinkage.

138 down and 38 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 137 - Far Beyond the Stars

Not only does the episode that follows "Who Mourns for Morn?" not suck, it may possibly be the best episode of a TV show ever. The premise is simple and in fact rather standard DS9 faire. Sisko has a vision, goes unconscious and gets thrown into Earths past. Now here is where this episode goes from Science Fiction to something much much more. There was the episode in which Sisko goes back in time to "become" the man that saves Earth from totalitarian take over. Although that episode was full of a lot of deep rooted meaning apart from the Sci-Fi element, it was still heavily "Star Trek". This episode however, turns into 100% not Sci-Fi nor Star Trek.

A great aspect of "Far Beyond the Stars" is that all of the main characters play totally human roles. This allows them to show their range as actors and they are all incredible. It is great to see Michael Dorn and Armin Shimerman not playing hideous monsters.

The premise is that Sisko goes back to 1950's New York. He is trying to make a name for himself as a Sci-Fi writer. He is working for a Sci-Fi Magazine. His stories are loved by everyone in the office but they will not publish it because of the potential backlash of having a black author. Finally they figure out a way to get one of his stories into the magazine, it is approved by the editor (the somewhat closeted racist Mr. Pabst/Odo) and sent off to print. But, the results are incredibly heartbreaking.

There is a scene at the end in which Benjamin finally has had enough with the racism, the oppression and being treated like garbage. He just snaps and has a complete mental breakdown. What a fucking performance by Avery Brooks. I actually got choked up. Which shocked the shit out of me because not only is this Star Trek, but I always assumed I was the least sympathetic person on the planet...evidently this is not true! That is why this episode is so damn good, it nearly got me to cry! So bizarre. Anyway, I suggest everyone watch this episode now, if only for the fantastic acting.

137 down and 39 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 136 - Who Mourns for Morn?

"Morn is killed in an ion storm and Sisko informs Quark that Morn left his entire estate to him. But Quark has a little competition."

What a weird friggin episode. Morn dies leaving everything to Quark. Quark ends up in a Indiana Jones/Amazing Race situation in which him, Morn's Ex-Wife and two of Morn's business associates end up in a scavenger hunt for Morn's hidden retirement fund. They are soon joined another individual who said that he is some kind of private detective. Anyway, Quark and the others end up back at the bar where Odo arrests the two associates, the ex-wife and the P.I. Also.....Morn is still alive! It was all a trap to lore those four people (all of whom are bank robbers) out of hiding so that Odo can arrest them. Sounds dumb? Well it was!

136 down and 40 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 135 - Waltz

This is a significant episode I believe in the upcoming plot arc. Regardless, it was sort of boring. Sisko is transporting Dukat (who is now a war criminal and also insane over his daughters death) to a Federation prison. Their ship is attacked, Dukat saves Sisko and they make it down to a planet. Now marooned together, Sisko notices that Dukat is unstable and hallucinating. They begin to argue and fight each other. Dukat manages to escape in a shuttle and vows to destroy Bajor. The Defiant comes to rescue Sisko. I must say that I never enjoyed the character of Dukat, so I'm not looking forward to these upcoming Sisko vs Dukat episodes. In fact I have not enjoyed one villain in this entire series.

135 down and 41 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 134 - The Magnificent Ferengi

"Quark mounts a rescue mission when his mother, Ishka, is captured by the Dominion and Grand Nagus Zek offers a reward for her return."

Quark leads a crack team of Ferengi "commandos". Mainly Rom, Brunt and a few others. They run simulations of the rescue and it shows very poor results. In general a Ferengi "army" is a bad idea because they are all so self absorbed that working as a team is nearly impossible. Even though they just want to rescue Ishka for the money, they eventually bond together and do a very good job with the rescue. In fact, Quark and Rom seem more happy with saving their mother than receiving any money. It was a rare showing for Ferengi. I enjoyed this episode. Also, fucking Iggy Pop is in it!?!?!

134 down and 42 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 133 - Statistical Probabilities

"Bashir attempts to reintegrate genetically-engineered misfits into society, but they are asked by Starfleet to become a think tank when they provide insightful analysis of upcoming Dominion peace talks."

To say that these people are misfits is an understatement, they are down right insane. They had received the same illegal modifications that Bashir had received as a child but theirs had gone awry. They are still super intelligent, but also complete mental patients. While Bashir works with the wackos, Strafleet decides to use them during the Dominion negotiation. They come up with the surprising conclusion that the Federation will be destroyed if they negotiate. They are contemplating the think tanks conclusion when Bashir discovers that one of the fruitcakes sabotaged the data, the conclusion was wrong. So crisis was averted. The screwballs go back to the nuthouse, but they promise to work on a solution to dealing with the Dominion.

This episode was directed by Anson Williams?!?!?!


133 down and 43 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 132 - Resurrection

"The mirror universe counterpart of Kira's dead love, Vedek Bareil, takes her hostage on Deep Space Nine as he is running from the evil Alliance of his universe."

So mirror universe Vedek goes to real world DS9 to steal the Prophetic Orb and bring to mirror Kira. In the end, he connects with real world Kira and changes his mind.

They need to end this Mirror Universe crap. It was fun for a while but now it is just dumb. It doesn't make sense that everyone can just so easily jump between alternate universes. It seems like this should be an issue of high concern for the Federation. Nobody seems to care. Also, LeVar Burton always does a great job directing Star Trek episodes, but I'm telling you he always ends up with the shittiest scripts.

132 down and 44 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 131 - You Are Cordially Invited...

This is the Worf and Dax get married episode. I still do not get what she sees in him, he is ugly and has no personality...in fact he is violent. Also, I guess Dax is sort of a man??? I don't know. Also, I'm pretty sure that this is the last we see of Alexander. I'm grateful for this because he sucks.

So most of the episode is them going back and forth cancelling the wedding and then saying it's back on. Dax needs to get accepted into the House of Martok but Martok's wife is a huuuuuge bitch. Worf has a bachelor party and consists of him and his friends basically playing Survivor (not the Eye of the Tiger album, but the TV show...just to clarify). Dax has a party also and this one is like a crazy Roman orgy. Like really...I swear they allude to her having a threesome with a Hawaiian Guy and Morn??? Anyway, they get married in the end. That's all.

131 down and 45 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 130 - Sacrifice of Angels

"Sisko commands the Defiant and 600 Federation ships against a Dominion/Cardassian armada to retake Deep Space Nine. Damar has Kira, Jake, and Leeta arrested."

This ends the six episode story arc. It was a well thought out story, lots of moving parts and it was well written. It ends with Sisko and his fleet attacking DS9. Dukat lays a trap, allowing Sisko to get close to the station before he unleashes his Dominion fleet to surround them. Dukat then orders all of the remaining Federation crew on DS9 arrested for treason. Quark gets Dukats daughter to help them escape capture and Odo also assists in their escape. When the Cardassians find out that Dukats daughter helped in the escape, she is killed.

Sisko is wise to the trap but soon is overwhelmed when Dukat finally destroys the minefield. Sisko and his fleet flee into the wormhole where he is visited by The Prophets. They help Sisko destroy the Dominion ships. He can focus on taking back DS9. Dukat tries to fire on Sisko but he can't, it seems that Rom sabotaged the weapons system. The Dominion/Cardassians begin to flee DS9. At the end, everyone is reunited and feels so good.

I hate these episodes that are so good that I can't even think of a good joke.

130 down and 46 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 129 - Favor The Bold

Things are starting to heat up. Sisko makes a plan to take back DS9 but he needs a huge fleet to do it. Worf and Martok go to the Klingon council to appeal for more ships. Meanwhile on DS9, Rom has been accused of treachery by the Dominion and sentenced to death. Kira and Quark work on a plan to warn the Federation that the minefield will soon be destroyed. Jake and Morn manage to sneak a message out of DS9. Odo is confused as to where his loyalty should lie and Dukat's daughter is starting to get wrapped up in ship politics. That's a lot going on!

The end is cool. Sisko arrives at the wormhole with a large fleet of ships (although far less than he hoped). I love the visuals of these large fleets of starships, it always looks very cool.

I liked Rom in this one. He sentenced to die and yet he doesn't really seem to care. Not that he is being brave, more like he is just too depressed to give a crap. It was amusing.

129 down and 47 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 128 - Behind the Lines

I forgot to mention in the last episode that Dukat brings his daughter onboard the ship and he also starts hitting on Kira, which is odd. So anyway. In this one, Dax is sent on a mission to command a ship behond enemy lines and destroy a very powerful Dominion sensor...which she does. Meanwhile on DS9, Kira and the rest are doing their best to get the Dominion and the Cardassians at each others throats. It is working, as the trust between Dukat and Weyoun begins to shatter. But suddenly a new threat appears on the station, that Female Changeling that is always trying to manipulate Odo.

Quark discovers that the Dominion is about to finally destroy the minefield. This is bad, as they could then get much needed supplies. Him and Kira work on thwarting this, but Kira walks in on Odo linking with the other Changeling. This is not good because it seems that Odo may be switching sides. (non of that was in anyway a sexual reference)

128 down and 48 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 127 - Sons and Daughters

Worf is still commissioned on Martok's ship. They pick up a new recruit. Worf's son Alexander. He wants to be a Klingon warrior but he is sort of a buffoon. The other Klingons make fun of him and Worf is embarrassed. He finally proves himself by nearly sacrificing his life to save the ship after it is attacked by Jem'Hadar fighters. Alexander is then accepted into the House of Martok. But really...who gives a shit?

127 down and 49 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 126 - Rock and Shoals

"Sisko and his tired crew crash on a planet where they encounter a band of Jem'Hadar."

Dax is severely injured in the crash. Sisko sends Garak and Nog out on a scouting mission but they are captured by a band of Jem'Hadar who are also trapped on the planet. Their leader is Keevan and he is gravely injured. He offers to exchange the pair for Dr. Bashir, who can give him medical attention. Sisko brings Bashir and he works on Keevan.

Meanwhile, the Jem'Hadar are getting out of control because they do not have their Ketracel White (didn't he play Steve Urkel?). Keevan knows that they need to be stopped and tells Sisko that he must kill all of the Jem'Hadar soldiers. For some reason, Sisko is torn as to whether or not he should kill the soldiers because after all they are all this way because they are drug addicts??? Or something.

Sisko tries to negotiate, but the soldiers are out of it. So the crew kills them all. Also Ensign Gordon is killed, who I didn't even realize was there.

126 down and 50 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 125 - A Time To Stand

Basically, now begins a giant Dominion story arc that is sometimes pretty cool and sometimes boring as shit...

Now it is a few months into the war and the Dominion still run DS9. Jake is functioning as a reporter on the station, Kira is doing something I guess, Quark is running the bar and Odo has used his pull as a Founder to become security chief. DS9 is running rather smoothly actually.

Sisko and his small crew of O'Brien, Dax, Nog Bashir and Garak have been commisoned by the Federation to take a captured Jem'Hadar ship into enemy space and destroy a supply of Ketracel White (remember, that drug being used to mind control the Jem'hadar). So, they are accidently attacked by a Starfleet ship, but manage to escape and complete the mission. The engines are heavily damaged and calculations show that it will take them 17 years to get back to base.

Meanwhile, Weyoun is trying to convince Dukat that they need to dismantle the minefield in order to get supplies back to DS9.

125 down and 51 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 124 - Call to Arms

Sisko is ordered to prevent the Dominion forces from reinforcing Cardassia. Rom comes up with the idea to block the wormhole with mines. As they deploy the mines, Weyoun tells Sisko that if they block the wormhole than DS9 will be attacked. Sisko continues and then he evacuates civilians off of the station. Kira, Odo, Morn (the bar patron frequently seen drinking...also Morn is a homage to Norm from Cheers), and Jake (functioning again as a war reporter).

Soon the station is overrun and the Cardassian/Dominion take control, with Gul Dukat regaining his old office back. However, while they were busy fighting with DS9 Siso and Martok managed to sneak attack and destroy 50 off the Dominion ships.

O'Brien and the others suggest that Sisko go back to save Jake but he says no, Jake is a man now. The episode ends with the Defiant meeting up with a huge fleet of Starfleet ships and Klingon warships. I enjoyed this one. I like seeing bad-ass Sisko and the visuals in this episode where excellent. So ends season Five.

124 down and 52 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 123 - In The Cards

"Jake wants to give his father a present to cheer him up, a 1951 Willie Mays baseball card, but runs into complications with a mysterious geneticist, Dr. Giger and a Dominion ambassador group."

The plot seems stupid, but the episode was not too bad. The thing is, how crazy rare this 1951 baseball card must be. No way many would survive into the future. Especially since in the Star Trek universe, Earth has gone through a ton of turmoil to get to this point. But, whatever.

So Dr. Giger offers to trade the card to Jake and Nog if they bring him a list of obscure items from DS9. He needs to the crap to work on his "Cellular Rejuvenation and Entertainment Machine". His theory is that cells get bored and that's why you die. If you stimulate the cells than you can be immortal.

Meanwhile Kai Wynn is on the station trying to work out an alignment with the Dominion (headed by Weyoun). When Dr. Giger disappears, Nog and Jake become suspicious of Kai...for some reason. Also, Weyoun becomes suspicious that everyone is plotting against him...Kai, Giger, Jake, Nog... He then confronts Nog and Jake who are scared out of their minds. Then he confront Giger who seems confused.

Then seemingly out of nowhere everyone figures he each other and becomes friends. Or something. I have no idea. It just ends really strangely.

123 down and 53 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 122 - Empok Nor

"O'Brien, Garak, Nog and an engineering team go to Deep Space Nine's abandoned sister space station, Empok Nor, to salvage components. The away team soon discover that all is not as it seems."

While on Empok Nor they are confronted by a handful of crazed Cardassian soldiers. They are rather easily killed with the help of Garak. But, soon Garak starts getting crazed himself. He acts paranoid and starts getting super aggressive. Evidently there is some sort of Cardassian super-drug in the environment that causes Cardassians to become sort of alpha-male-ish. Garak eventually kills one of the Starfleet engineering team members and then takes Nog hostage. O'Brien overloads a phaser and causes it to explode next to Garak knocking him out cold.

They are make it back to DS9 and Garak is treated. O'Brien tells him that there will be a hearing, but that he will be fine because he was not in control. This happens a lot in Star Trek. An officer gets "influenced" somehow and kills a person, but they are never held accountable. Seems crappy.

122 down and 54 to go

Star Trek DS9 Episode 121 - Blaze of Glory

Sisko interrupts a message about a Maquis invasion of Cardassia using cloaked missiles. Sisko goes to Eddington to find  out the hidden location of these missiles. Eddington takes Sisko to a planet where he discovers that it was all a trick to help Eddington get back to his wife. Unfortunately, his fake message also caught the attention of the Jem'Hadar who are now attacking. Eddington and Sisko fight them off and save the small group of Maquis, but Eddington ends up getting killed in the process. As much as I did not like the portrayal of Eddington, I did enjoy the character itself and it was disappointing to see him killed off in such a lame way.

121 down and 55 to go