15) The Die is Cast – Plot: Garak and Odo, captured by a renegade Romulan-Cardassian force, find themselves in the middle of an assault to destroy the Founders of the Dominion. This is DS9 at its best. The acting and writing are excellent, And for once, the guest stars (Paul Dooley and Ken Marshall) deliver the goods and Garal and Odo have never been better. Rating ***1/2
22) Family Business – Quark must return home to rein in his mother Ishka—who has illegally earned profit. Another one- joke Ferengi episode that’s drawn out far too long. The Ferengi “guest star” is incredibly annoying. The Subplot with Dr. Bashir is no better. Rating *
23) Explorer. An endless Jake-Sisko episode – its excruciatingly bad. Sisko builds an ancient Bajoran sail-spaceship and travels to Cardassia. Why? To prove that the Bajorans were able to travel to Cardassia 800 years ago. Given the endless wars & space piracy on DS9, it’s not clear why Sisko/Jake would venture into hostile space with a ship that can neither fight nor run away - but whatever. There’s also a subplot which was so meaningless I can’t remember it. Rating– Zero stars
24) Looking Glass – Some mindless fun as Sisko is kidnapped and taken to the “mirror universe” to help the Resistance. On the plus side “evil Kira” is a hoot. and Nog is allowed to be a triple agent. However the episode pales in comparison to previous M/U story. The attraction of “Crossover” was our Kira playing against “Evil Kira”. Here, we get way too much of boring Sisko and his dull Jennifer.
Sadly, the other main characters are given little to do. And once again the producers show their contempt for Dax. She could have easily been the M/U scientist who must be “turned”. Instead she’s reduced to being Sisko’s M/U sex toy. Evil Kira also beds Sisko and has several black sex slaves. Some rather odd sexual obsessions on display. Note: This one really suffered on rewatch. Rating *
25) Facets – Dax undergoes her Trill Rite of Closure, in which the previous hosts of her symbiont borrow the bodies of her friends and offer insights into her own personality. Another mediocre Dax Episode. Even worse is the Quark-Jake-Nog Subplot. The only highlight is Rene Auberjonois as Curzon. Rating *
16) Adversary - On patrol of the Tzenkethe border, the Defiant is taken over by a Changeling spy who intends to start a war between the Tzenkethe and the Federation by launching an offensive on their territory. Slick paranoid thriller, with an excellent Character moment for Odo. One of Avery Brooks better outings, playing the Captain and barking out orders. Given the lack of a cliffhanger its an odd choice to end the Season. Rating **1/2
17) Life Support - This episode has two strikes against it. A large Jake subplot. And a Medical drama over someone I don’t care about -Vedak Bareil, But it saved frm total failure by good execution, and some excellent acting by all involved. But thankfully we won’t see Bareil again, except as a Ghost. Rating **
18) Visionary This is another “something bad happens to O’Brien” episode– this time he’s been poisoned with radiation and constantly flash-forwarding two hours into the future. During one flash forward, he uncovers a plot to destroy the Space station, and Odo and Sisko investigate. A good concept (the radiation is caused by a clocked Romulan warship) and I loved the Romulans being told off at the end. However, the story is repetitive and often lackluster. We needed more Sisko/Odo investigation and fewer O’Brien flash-forwards and trips to sick bay. Rating ** ½
19) Distant Voices - an attack on Bashir leaves him dying in a coma, and the only way he can survive is to confront himself within his own mind. Starts out strong as we enter a surreal world where Bashir and Quark are the only ones on DS9. But Like Visionary it soon becomes repetitive. The acting is uneven, with Alexander Siddig having to carry the whole episode – and not quite succeeding. The is a low budget “puzzle episode” and once you solve “the puzzle”, there’s not much left. Rating **
18) Visionary This is another “something bad happens to O’Brien” episode– this time he’s been poisoned with radiation and constantly flash-forwarding two hours into the future. During one flash forward, he uncovers a plot to destroy the Space station, and Odo and Sisko investigate. A good concept (the radiation is caused by a clocked Romulan warship) and I loved the Romulans being told off at the end. However, the story is repetitive and often lackluster. We needed more Sisko/Odo investigation and fewer O’Brien flash-forwards and trips to sick bay. Rating ** ½
19) Distant Voices - an attack on Bashir leaves him dying in a coma, and the only way he can survive is to confront himself within his own mind. Starts out strong as we enter a surreal world where Bashir and Quark are the only ones on DS9. But Like Visionary it soon becomes repetitive. The acting is uneven, with Alexander Siddig having to carry the whole episode – and not quite succeeding. The is a low budget “puzzle episode” and once you solve “the puzzle”, there’s not much left. Rating **
20) Heart of Stone - On a deserted planet, Odo tries to save Kira when crystal that begins growing around and enclosing her body. An uneven espisode with good and bad in equal measure. The good? The interaction between Kira and Odo througout the espisode and the brief scene between the founder and Odo. The Bad? An extremely dull subplot related to Nog joining Starfleet, and the annoying "scratchy" voice adopted by Kira as the Crystal grows around her body. Also the episode was much better the first time round. On rewatch, the filler scenes are blatantly obvious. Love to rate it higher, but so much dullness can't overcome a very good 10 minutes. Rating **
21) Shakaar – A rather pointless Bajorian Political story - Kira goes back to Bajor to help a rebel populist called Shakaar. Frankly, with the Dominion on the march, and the Federation problems with the Cardassians/Romulans, Bajor seems like very small beer. Even worse is O'brien-Darts subplot. The Kira-Kai Winn scenes are quite good but those are only 10 minutes of 40. .And the mediocre guest “star” doesn’t help. Very forgettable. Rating **
21) Shakaar – A rather pointless Bajorian Political story - Kira goes back to Bajor to help a rebel populist called Shakaar. Frankly, with the Dominion on the march, and the Federation problems with the Cardassians/Romulans, Bajor seems like very small beer. Even worse is O'brien-Darts subplot. The Kira-Kai Winn scenes are quite good but those are only 10 minutes of 40. .And the mediocre guest “star” doesn’t help. Very forgettable. Rating **
22) Family Business – Quark must return home to rein in his mother Ishka—who has illegally earned profit. Another one- joke Ferengi episode that’s drawn out far too long. The Ferengi “guest star” is incredibly annoying. The Subplot with Dr. Bashir is no better. Rating *
23) Explorer. An endless Jake-Sisko episode – its excruciatingly bad. Sisko builds an ancient Bajoran sail-spaceship and travels to Cardassia. Why? To prove that the Bajorans were able to travel to Cardassia 800 years ago. Given the endless wars & space piracy on DS9, it’s not clear why Sisko/Jake would venture into hostile space with a ship that can neither fight nor run away - but whatever. There’s also a subplot which was so meaningless I can’t remember it. Rating– Zero stars
24) Looking Glass – Some mindless fun as Sisko is kidnapped and taken to the “mirror universe” to help the Resistance. On the plus side “evil Kira” is a hoot. and Nog is allowed to be a triple agent. However the episode pales in comparison to previous M/U story. The attraction of “Crossover” was our Kira playing against “Evil Kira”. Here, we get way too much of boring Sisko and his dull Jennifer.
Sadly, the other main characters are given little to do. And once again the producers show their contempt for Dax. She could have easily been the M/U scientist who must be “turned”. Instead she’s reduced to being Sisko’s M/U sex toy. Evil Kira also beds Sisko and has several black sex slaves. Some rather odd sexual obsessions on display. Note: This one really suffered on rewatch. Rating *
25) Facets – Dax undergoes her Trill Rite of Closure, in which the previous hosts of her symbiont borrow the bodies of her friends and offer insights into her own personality. Another mediocre Dax Episode. Even worse is the Quark-Jake-Nog Subplot. The only highlight is Rene Auberjonois as Curzon. Rating *
26) Destiny – Sisko's role of Emissary is tested when a Bajoran cleric forsees a Cardassian-Bajorian Science Mission will end in disaster. A well-written, well-acted episode let down by a predictable ending, the small stakes involved, and usual awkwardness in handling religion. Further, Sisko "The Emissary" has never made any sense or interested me. Side note: All three Cardassian scientists are women since Engineering/Science is considered a female speciality on Cardassia. "Men just don't have a head for science" snarks a Cardissian science babe to O'Brien. Rating **
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