1) The Search Part I - Starts slow as Sisko "gets the band back together" for Defiant Space mission to contact the Dominion. As usual Odo and Quark have the best lines. The episode reaches its peak at the end, with Odo returning home and finding the changelings and the Dominion are the same. I'd give the episode a higher rating but there's a lot of filler and exposition and not enough Odo, Garak and the Dominion. Rating **1/2
2) The Search Part II - When the episode focuses on Odo and the Founders its very good indeed. And that's a large part of the episode. However, the rest of the episode fails on rewatch, "it was all a dream", makes everything seem pointless. Rating **1/2
3) Second Skin - Kira at her best. High drama with the Cardassians. Reminicent of other SF stories, Kira is taken prisoner and told she's really a Cardassian spy. Excellent writing and acting. Rating ***1/2
5) Equilibrium - Another unwatchable Dax episode. Rating *
6) Civil Defense. Basically, a plot driven "Find the bomb and defuse it" episode, only this time its a computer self-destruct program what will blow-up DS9. Well executed mostly. Dukat and Garak are the highlight, along with the Quark and Odo zingers. The Jake-Sisko-Obrien scenes are better than expected. Rating **1/2
7) The Abandoned - The was an excellent Odo episode dragged down by a truly awful "Jake subplot". A Jem'hdar baby is found and when he grows quickly into a Teen-ager, Odo takes an interest and tries to lead it to seek peace/freedom instead of becoming a Killing machine. Its a good story, primarily due to Odo. Unfortunately, Odo doesn't appear till 15 minutes in, and Jake's story with Dabo girl is the worst. Interestly, enough, the Dabo girl is not shown as a space alien, but as a white Bajoran. Were the producers trying to push back against a percieved inter-racial taboo? Anway, 3.5 stars for Odo, 1.5 stars for everything else. Rating **
8) Meridian - Another bad Dax Episode. Worse the usual. Rating *
9) Defiant - Riker returns as a "Tom" a Marquis fighter who's Riker's identical twin. A suprisingly sluggish, dull episode, let down by mediocre acting, bad casting, and dull dialogue. Frakes seems bored and has zero chemistry with Kira, while Dukat and Sisko go through a paint-by-the-numbers teaming to recapture the stolen Defiant. I never thought I'd say it: but Dukat is boring! Even the clash between Dukat and the "Order" is spoiled by casting an annoyng, medicore actress as Dukat's rival. Who knew that the authoritarian, empire-building Cardassian's are feminists and believers in "You Go Girl" affirmative action? Rating **
10) Fascination - This was supposed to a light-hearted romp, a sort of DS9's Midsummer's Nights Dream. Plot? An undected virus makes everyone feel amorous. And so, Lwaxana wants Odo, Quark hits on Kieko, Bareil chases after Dax and Sisko in turn is chased by Dax.
I suppose it could have been funny with better execution. But its mostly boring, with lots of things to put on FF: Kieko/Obrien's domestic problems, anything Jake, Kira's love affairs, and Dax/Sisko. The only funny parts was Lwaxana-Odo and Quark. The old cliche is "dying is easy, comedy is hard" and DS9's cast finds it very hard indeed. Rating **
11) Past Tense - Has a good first half as Dax, Sisko, and Bashir are transported to 2024 San Francisco. We wonder where they are, and how they will survive. Dax finally gets a good role as she blends in with the "Rich and Famous" while Sisko and Bashir are walled-off with the lower classes in a "Sanctuary Zone". Things go bad at the midpoint. It becomes clear that Sisko/Bashir are in no real danger, and the whole episode is a political comment on the 1990s Homeless problem. Even worse, the Obrien-Kira search for the missing crewmen lacks energy and is very standard. At the end, we get a cliffhanger hostage crisis, but its still Dullsville. Guest actors are very mediocre. Rating **
12) Past Tense II - Worse than Part I, as we get a padded out "hostage crisis" complete with over-the-top acting by everyone. Hambone "Crazy guy with a gun" is finally subdued by Sisko and everything ends as expected. Kira and O'brien show show up in 1920s and 1960s San Francisco and do nothing of interest. This episode is so dragged out, and so predictable, its sad. Very bad. The high IMDB rating must be political in nature. Rating *
13) Prophet Motive - Tedious, unfunny Ferengi espisode with annoying "Johnny one note" Wallace Shawn. Rating *
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