LizstarTrek - DS9 Season 6, Episodes 16 - 20

Every Sunday my Twitch subs and I watch Star Trek in my Discord. Here are my reviews and thoughts on each of the episodes as I see it. If you’re curious about a nerd’s views on Star Trek episodes, please read on, I go quite in depth with some of these episodes! I’ve watched some Star Trek before but not all of it!

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Change of Heart - DS9 8/10

We start with an ACTUALLY GOOD scene with Worf, where he bets on his wife playing a game of Tongo. O’Brien: “…You have no idea how this game is played, do you?” “…No. But I know my wife.” That’s cute.

Our plot happens. Dax and Worf are sent into Dominion space to get information from a Cardassian operative who’s been spying for the Federation. This is a lot catty married banter, which is pretty fun, and we get this famous line (sorry for the terrible quality)

The B-plot is that O’Brien is trying to get Bashir into Tongo so they can break Quark’s streak. Namely, O’Brien is trying to gode Bashir into beating Quark for him. Dunno if these plots will intersect much, but this is a funny concept. It eventually turns into Quark defeating Bashir because he distracts him with how hot Dax is and how they “let her go” which is SUCH a Quark move, in order to win. Very dirty. Also I don’t like it much. I liked The Bashir that I thought had gotten over Dax in season 2, YEARS ago.

Dax and Worf need to try and get the spy out by sneaking through an alien jungle. They’re still joking around, as Dax said she likes Worf With A Sense of Humor, but as they’re joking around a fire, Dax is attacked by some Jem’Hadar and injured. Now Worf has to continue the mission AND make sure she lives. But she’s not getting better, and Worf needs to continue to extract this spy, with the information he has that can save lives, but it’ll mean death for Dax. But he can’t. He goes back and saves Dax. The spy is killed, and Worf makes it back.

Sisko tells him that although there’ll be no formal charges, because it was a spy mission, it WILL go on his permanent record, and he’ll probably never get a command because of this. Even if they, y’know, all survive. Worf made a decision that could cost a LOT of lives, and he saved his wife instead. No one BLAMES him, but he and Dax are NEVER going on missions alone again

Actually kinda good Worf episode!! Imagine that.

Wrongs Darker than Death or Night - DS9 5/10

It’s Kira’s dead mother’s birthday, and she’s trying to celebrate it, but is interrupted by a message by Dukat, of all people, who’s like “Hey I’m here help you :D Did you know I FUCKED YOUR MOTHER? ENJOY HER BIRTHDAY!”

I know they’re trying to show that Dukat is unhinged now but that’s maybe going too far. It is funny that maybe the biggest fugitive in the ENTIRE QUADRANT came out of hiding juuuust long enough to go “I fucked your mother”. What an asshole.

Kira is obviously bothered by this, even though he’s a stupid asshole who says things to get under people’s skin, and it weighs on her, so she asks Sisko to let her go to THE ORB OF TIME. Y’all remember when we were collecting the chaos emeralds? Yeah, so the prophets send Kira back in time. She sees and protects her mom and dad (and herself and brothers) from an attack by some thugs, and then Cardassians show up and announce that they’re going to be taking some “Comfort Women” to Terok Nor, taking Meru, her mother, and Kira, under the guise of Luma Rahl. They befriend each other.

This episode is a lot of watching Cardassians, who mind you colonized and enslaved this population, skeeving and using women as sex slaves and objects, and it is very VERY uncomfortable to watch. And of course Dukat is there, being his slimy self, “protecting” who he can out of the kindness of his heart (namely Kira’s mom, because she’ll get his dick wet).

It gets a bit more ugly. Kira is kicked down to the slums cause she doesn’t take no guff, and her mom starts to, as far as Kira can tell, ACTUALLY fall in love with Dukat. So she decides to change the future and assassinate her mother, AND Dukat. Wow, uh, kinda extreme Kira? I mean, I can’t relate in any way, but it feels like a stretch. But yeah, she’s PISSED. She hates collaborators, you know how it is. But after she sees how her mother cries from a message from her dad, she warns them of the bomb and is sent back to the future.

I dunno how to feel about this one. It kinda just made me uncomfortable. Also this episode was made because everyone wanted Kira x Dukat, and Nana Visitor was like “FUCK no.” so they did this instead. Which feels gross. Very gross.

Inquisition - DS9 8/10

O’Brien hurt his shoulder kayaking in the holodeck again. It’s very funny that this keeps happening to him, dating back to season 2 of TNG. Bashir fixes him, then gets ready to head out for a medical seminar. He’s stopped, however, and assigned to quarters, alongside every other main staff member. Someone in staff is a spy, and internal affairs needs to find out who is it. They call Bashir out and this Willem Defriend ass mfer is VERY friendly. Very good cop energy. NEXT time they send him back, this guy is not so good cop. He’s grilling, hard, and Bashir gets a transmission from O’Brien who’s like “They are grilling me HARD about you, they think you’re a spy- okay bye”

Bashir is clad in irons because they decide he’s a spy, seemingly just cause they want to find one. Sisko is annoyed as fuck, and is like “nope, I’m still in command, I will sit on the interrogations and make sure that you don’t violate his rights”. All of it boils down to him being genetically enhanced, and it’s a lot of circumstancial evidence and speculation, based on what feels like bigotry. They also believe that Julian has had his memories repressed and is a sleeper agent, basically. It’s like that episode where Geordi almost murdered O’Brien after being trained by Romulans. Remember that?

They’re about to illegally drag Bashir away and put him in jail, and he’s instead teleported out by Weyoun, who’s like “All of it was true :D You’re our spy <3” Bashir refuses to agree with it cause yeah, why would he be a spy, he wouldn’t ever do that. So he’s like “why are you and Sloan BOTH trying to get me to admit the same lie… you’re working together for the same goal”

He’s “rescued” from the Dominion, and everyone on the bridge is SURE he’s a spy, and are all angy and disgusted with him, including O’Brien, who shoves him away… with his hurt arm. Bashir is like “But you hurt it with Springball” “Yeah, but it’s fine now”. ….It’s not real. NONE of it is real. He’s taken out of the holodeck, and Sloan comes clean. He’s part of something called “Section 31”, which is a secret branch of Starfleet that no one else knows about and answers to know one. They’re the Starfleet secret police. tHey were set up 200 years ago and have just been running… which is SCARY and VERY ominous. They try to recruit him, and he’s like “this is fucking disgusting, no.”

Don’t hold your breath.

Everyone comments on how fucked up secret police are, and that they should do what they can to oppose them. And they’ll do it by having Bashir join them, and play double agent.

So, I know where Section 31 GOES. And I know I don’t like it .But that doesn’t reflect poorly on this episode. This episode was good and set them up as direct villains in a good way, IMO. Like, they won’t handle it well, but… I don’t hate the idea of “Star Fleet can be bad actually”, but I AM worried they will turn it into “Starfleet IS bad actually”. We’ll see.

In the Pale Moonlight - DS9 9/10

This is one of the big ones.

Our episode starts with an exhausted Sisko opening a log, and telling a story of 2 weeks ago… something that happened, something that’s been weighing on his mind.

Two weeks ago, on a Friday, like all Fridays, Sisko posts the casualty list of the past week. As everyone is morose and sad about dead people, they remark that a lot of deaths recently have been because people are over the Romulan border and then the Dominion kill them, because the Romulans are neutral. And that’s the moment when Sisko decided. He was going to bring the Romulans into the war. But the Romulans won’t just join the war, they need a REASON. They need PROOF of the obvious: After the Dominion defeat the Klingons and Federation, they WILL go after the Romulans. But that information is hiding in the Dominion.

We know who can help with that.

This is as much a Sisko episode as it is a Garak episode. Sisko needs Garak, who is willing to help, though it’ll rip through all of his assets. And as things get worse, with Betazed being invaded, things warm up. They need Garak NOW. Unfortunately, all his operative friends were killed IMMEDIATLEY after he contacted them. Oops. But he has a plan. They’ll get the senator MOST into allying with the Dominion to come, and give them a forgery proving things are bad. It’s kinda… immoral, but come on. They WILL attack anyway. He’s practically saving them.

They get a guy out of jail to help them make the forgery. This guy attacks Quark like an idiot, and now Sisko needs to bribe Quark to not press charges, cause this guy isn’t on the station, you dig? It disgusts Sisko, and makes him almost call off the entire thing… then he gets to his office, and sees another list of casualties. People are out there dying.

His list of deeds grows. He has to take biomemetic gel, VERY illegal, and sell it to someone for a rod. He disgusts the people he works with, Bashir especially, for this. He threatens the forger that he will get him killed if things don’t work right. He’s falling deeper, and deeper into this.

The Romulan comes aboard the station… he’s pretty anti-Federation and pro-Dominion, but Sisko IS a pleasant man, so he eventually agrees to many of Sisko’s points, but of course he wants proof. And Sisko gives it. And now it’s waiting time… to see if the forgery worked.

It does not. The Romulan is PISSED AS FUCK, and says he will share this deception with the entire quadrant. But as he returns to Romulus…. his ship is blown up. All signs point to Dominion sabatoge. When Sisko learns this he immediately goes and DECKS Garak.

Garak had planned this from the start. He was pretty sure the forgery wouldn’t work, so he was going to kill Vreenak and blame the Dominion. The Romulans will enter the war, and all it will cost are a few lives, and the self respect of one man.

Sisko says he can live with this. He repeats this multiple times, trying to convince himself, and then deletes the log. Episode end.

We had a lot to say about this… I liked it, a lot. I dunno if it’s an ALL TIMER, but it’s very good, and very interesting. And Garak is of course perfectly.

His Way - DS9 10/10

It’s time for the new main cast member of DS9. This is Vic Fontaine. He introduces himself with song. He’s a jazz singer from the 20th century, put into the holodeck! Oh, and one more thing, he’s self aware that he’s a holosuite program in the 23rd century. Why? Bashir, the owner of the program, says its just better that way. Sure. He’s a lounge singer, a nice one, and very, VERY observant. He immediately realizes Worf and Dax are married, O’Brien misses his wife, and Odo and Kira are… well, let’s not get into it.

Actually, let’s get into it. Odo is feeling anxious about his crush on Kira, and that she still just thinks of her as a friend. Especially because she’s visiting her ex, Shakaar. The fire is under his ass. He’s terrified of trying to change this, and also is, y’know, Odo. Quark gives him a push, tells him he’s gotta do SOMETHING, cause he cares about his boyfriend and wants him to be happy. But what can Odo do? He needs someone to help him…

He enlists Fontaine, who’s like “Dude you have no charm. We’ve gotta work on that”. We then get maybe the goofiest scene in the entire series. It maybe has some competition with them playing hopscotch in season 1, or the time Odo taught a jar of beer what a cube was. It’s three minutes of Odo pretending to play the piano, getting more and more into it, and it is so good.

Odo doesn’t get very much character development. At least, not like, PROGRESSIVE development. And here we go. He has to loosen up. Show his emotions more, he’s bad at that. He’s already a good guy, and charming in his own way, but he’s gotta loosen. We also get an AMAZING scene where Odo starts humming and singing to himself in Sisko’s room, and he’s LOVING it, cracking up almost.

KIRA, KISS ME, PLEASE

Fontaine, being basically a benevelent God in the holosuite, creates a Kira hologram to flirt with Odo and allow him to practice. He almost kisses her and then is like “Uh no, it’s weird, she acts nothing like her. You programmed her to like me. I could be reading prisoner reports.” When Kira comes back, and goes to meditate in the holosuite, Fontaine forces himself into her program… again, a God, and convinces her to go on a date with Odo. At the same time, he hacks the intercom and tells Odo to go on a date with his new Kira hologram he made tonight, for more practice. HE’S PLAYING THEM SO WELL. A BENEVOLENT GOD OF LOVE. It’s also very fascinating cause he has AMAZING chemistry with all the main characters, like he’s alwaysb een here, and always well… and maybe…~

They have a date. Odo thinks she’s a hologram. Kira thinks she’s ACTUALYL on a real-ass date with Odo, and seeing this more loose Odo, who’s just being himself cause he’s not up in his own head with fear and anxiety about the consequences, she’s really liking it. She’s enjoying herself… a lot. Way more than she expected. And she keeps bringing up that it’s their first date. Their… FIRST date…

It goes AMAZINGLY… Until Odo mentions that she’s a hologram, and ruins the mood. Cause then he’s like “oh shit she’s REAL” and gets up in his own ass again. He’s like “I’ve ruined EVERYHTHING” and Kira is like “oh god I’m in love with Odo.” She’s like “should I act on this clarity?” to Dax who’s like “uh, yeah?” and then all the tension is released, as Kira confronts Odo. They get in a yelling match like “Yeah, why don’t you just TAKE ME TO DINNER?” “WELL WHY DON’T I JUST SKIP THE FORMALITIES AND KISS YOU?” “YEAH, WHY DON’T YOU?”

And then he does

Please ignore that his makeup keeps rubbing off onto her.

Everyone watches in awe. I would be too. Also some jealousy.

The episode ends with Odo thanking Fontaine, who asks him to leave the holosuite up for a few minutes. He feels like singing. He sings as Odo walks away, snapping his fingers.

I fucking LOVED this. It was actually amazing payoff. And Fontaine shows his first showing here AMAZINGLY, very entertaining. I am STUNNED I liked this more than the previous episode, but I mean hey, I’m nothing if not an idiot with bad taste.