Phasers Set To Stun: Top 10 Episodes from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season Four

On Phasers Set To Stun, we recognize the popularity of all things Star Trek, with a look at the television shows, animation, movies, and much more!

Our popular "Starter Treks" mini-series is back with a look at Deep Space Nine! Our crew is leaving the bridge and settling in at the Promenade to share the ten episodes you need to see from season four, if you aren't ready to watch all 26 episodes!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Space the Final Frontier. Join us for a bold conversation
our prime directive to recap our favorite Star Trek shows,
both new and old, to engage and debate about all

(00:23):
things Trek. Prepare to energize with Phasers Set to Stunt.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hello everyone, and welcome back to phass Set to Stun,
where we continue to show our love for everything Star
Trek and its ongoing series from a film by podcast
which focuses on every quadrant of the expanding universe of
Trek by covering television, animation, movies, directors, and more. Plotting
the course, as always, is your core track Crew. I'm

(01:00):
David Burns, I'm Scott Hoffin, and I'm Wayne Whited. In
this episode, we are continuing our discussion on what we
call the Starter Trek. This is going to be Star
Trek A Deep Space nine Season four. So, gentlemen, I
absolutely love the new opening theme. I am so glad

(01:23):
that they finally decided to change it because it is
much more heroic. But also I love the fact that
the space station is now busy.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah that was a big change. That title sequence.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah yeah, I mean you have a space station floating
in space that really doesn't have a lot going on
what one ship. I'm okay, we need to add a
little bit more depth to the space station to show
up how busy it is. So you get little people
working on the ship, on the station, you got different
ships floating around. I think it's the new opening is
much much better.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Well, I understand what they were trying to do with
the original, and they were trying to show the bleakness
and how far out it was, and you know, and
that it's kind of alone in the in the universe.
But we're past that now. I mean, it's definitely not alone.
Everybody's visiting it, yes.

Speaker 4 (02:12):
So we're able to see that. It's good to see
like the evolution of title sequences, Like not that there
was any kind of growth with Finished Generation, but this
seems to kind of lay the ground work for things
like Strange New Worlds and the rid decks to have
some fun with the title sequences and make them sometimes
a little bit more meaningful.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Oh, there's a big difference now between this one and
the original one. The original one was shot on with models.
This is all CGI, which is something that's now making
its way into the series big time. The title sequence
was done by Industrial Light and magic. They did a
fantastic job at it. And plus we got Forget, we
got Michael Dorn added to the cast, and we got

(02:51):
Doctor Prisher's actor has changed his name to Alexander Sadig,
So that's two new things there as well.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yep, that's a big spoiler to go. No, I'm kidding, Well,
we can't get around. We can't get around it.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
Yeah, no way getting around that.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
No, there's no way getting around after this season. So, yes,
Worf does join the cast, which I think if you
know anything about Star Trek, you knew that was happening anyway. Yeah,
so no surprise there.

Speaker 3 (03:18):
They didn't even keep it a secret back then. We
all knew about it like months before this season started.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yeah. And and he fits so well, he really does.
It's almost like someone coming home and making you feel
better about the show. And there's nothing wrong with the show,
don't get me wrong, but just having Wharf there just
makes it feel more comfortable. Am I wrong in that?

Speaker 1 (03:41):
It was?

Speaker 3 (03:42):
It just it didn't change the dynamic of the series.
That's one thing I was a little against it back
then at the end of the day when it first happened,
because I'm like you know, why is he coming and
interrupting the cast the station, But that didn't happen. He
actually worked his way and became I'm actually part of
the whole chemistry very fast, and it was kind of

(04:04):
nice seeing him there again.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yeah, and see him in Red again, saying that since
what season one looks good on Deseration? It does? It
looks really good.

Speaker 4 (04:13):
It's also feels like it would be impossible to have
such a you know, a Klingon centric arc start without
having such kind involvement now that they couldn't do it.
But yeah, I mean my first reaction was, oh, okay.
Then we get another familiar face in addition to O'Brien,
and that O'Brien might feel a little bit more kind

(04:33):
of kinship, which is kind of interesting because you already
had one established with the rest of his career. Here,
It's interesting how much that dynamic doesn't always work out well,
right as we see kind of clay out in this season.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
Yep, you're correct. Well, let's go ahead and get started
with our top ten episodes. I'm sure our listeners are
anxiously awaiting for us to dive into this. Scott, I
believe you are going to start us off. So go ahead.

Speaker 4 (04:54):
Yeah. So, speaking of warf if you haven't seen Star
Trek Generations, highly it, go ahead and watch that now
before you start this season, because The Way of the Warrior,
directed by James L. Conway and written by Robert Hewett Wolfe,
picks up fresh off the tension of the Dominion infiltration
last season. If you now that we can finally talk

(05:16):
about it, it's the ending of the previous The ending
of the previous season finale was a change link, confiding
in Odo that we are everywhere. So we pick up
on DS nine practicing drills to flush out change links
on the station with Odo as the kind of practice
bait there, and the threat of the Alpha Quadron is
becoming more urgent than ever. It seems to have reached

(05:39):
the Klingon Empire. General Martok appears in the Klingon flagship
at DS nine, ready to stand at the station with
the Federation to face the Dominion, but to prove his claim,
a massive fleet declose outside the station. Soon in DS
nine is filled with Klingons who take the initiative to
search relentlessly for changelings at the cost of station privacy
and freedom. Soon it becomes clear that DS nine could

(06:01):
use some help, which arrives in the form of a
Lieutenant Commander Wharf Freshman. The enterprises destruction scene in the
movie struct Trek Generations.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
Another big spoiler. I'm kidding.

Speaker 4 (06:11):
I mean it gets It's a good point to say,
like from here on in, it's very hard to avoid
spoilers in this because there's such an interwoven arc through
all these episodes. We'll try to dance aroundud as much
as possible, but it it's starting to get pretty tough.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, there's certain aments will still dance around, but you
are correct. There are some things that I'm sorry, it's
just it's so ingrained into the season you can't get
around it no matter how hard you do, especially for
the next for the rest of the series. I think
there's some stuff that's so ingrained that you just can't
get around it. That's right, So just just hold on.
People will get there, I promise. So what I love
about this episode is Gowern because that dude will just

(06:56):
stare through your soul.

Speaker 4 (06:57):
Oh yeah, those eyes, yes, right, he does.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
He's frightening.

Speaker 4 (07:03):
I've seen a lot of other reviewers and whatnot say, like,
you know, the first time, reactions will be like, oh,
that cling on with the eyes, that flais his eyes
all the time. It's it's hypnotic. Yeah, and Robert o'riidley
does a great job there.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
He does. We get a bald Cisco, Yeah, Yes, and
he looks he looks really good. I mean, I feel
like he's gotten better shape because he just looks. I
don't know, but he just looks completely different. I know
he's bald now, but I mean even in uniform and stuff,
he looks completely different.

Speaker 4 (07:37):
He has a different demeanor for sure. He seems more confident,
he seems bolder. I feel like Wayne, when we were
covering the documentary, there was some kind of mention of
Avery Brooks always wanting to go back to this look
that he originally had, but there was some hesitation around
it looking like Hawk from Spencer for higher that's great.
It almost kind of feels like Avery is kind of

(07:58):
coming home into this and he's like, Okay, now that
I've established the Cisco that I want to play, let
me really lean into what I want Cisco to be.
So this is the start of one of my favorite
phases of him, because I feel like it's not just
his look but his the way he carries himself.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:16):
They were expecting a lot of opposition to get from
Paramount against him going bald, but this time they didn't
give any problem at all. They said, okay, and so yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
He looks very commanding. Now there's no doubt about that.
The dude needs business. I want to call out Patricia
Almond in this, who plays the He played lead at
Alexander on Babylon five. I love the fact that I
keep coming back to Babylon five. I swear there's really
startug fans that are going to hate me of this,
But I'm telling you, there's just a lot. There's a
lot of comparisons between these two theories.

Speaker 3 (08:47):
There had to be. I mean, they were running concurrently,
you know. Yeah, there was going to be a lot
of comparison. There was back then in the nineties.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yes, there was. I remember, I absolutely do remember. She
also played Barbara in the nineteen ninety version of Night
of Living Dead. Yeah, yep.

Speaker 4 (09:01):
I feel like there's gonna have to be a series
that you two do, just like we do with Jeff
to kind of get him started on Star Trek. I
think you two need to get me on board with
Babylon five curated list that.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (09:16):
I was so into DS nine at the time that
when I saw like sequest DSV and I was like,
are they trying to be DS nine? And then I
saw Babylon five just because of the titles, which I
know is so shallow, but I was like, Ugh, they're
not quite this thing that I like. So I never
give him a chance. Yeah, it's probably a mistake.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
It is, it is, it is, it is. You chose,
you chose quarterly sir, how about how about a warfa
ordering the warriors drink? Yeah.

Speaker 4 (09:44):
I love that he's still on the Peru. It's fantastic.
I feel like somewhere g is just grinning every time
he every time he yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yeah, No, really good. Two partern Waiting a great way
to open up the theories and the fact that they
are really starting to dive into some more serious episodes
and overarching story. It's big beginning here with Deep Space nine.

Speaker 3 (10:12):
Yeah, and we don't want to forget there. Also is
another very important Klingon that appears, Hennas Martalk.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
JG.

Speaker 3 (10:20):
Hertzler did a fantastic job. We'll see a lot more
of him. We got a brand new Klingon Cruiser here
in this episode, we needed it badly. Is it is
a great two parter, great movie, but if you're going
to go and watch it, try to find the two
hour version and not the separate one hour two parter
because in order to make it the two separate episodes,

(10:43):
they had to cut a lot of it out, and
there's a good fifteen minutes of footage that's cut from it.
So try to find that two hour version.

Speaker 4 (10:50):
And that's why we get on Paramount Plus. Is that right?

Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (10:53):
That is okay, Yes, if you watch it, if you
watch it on two B or any of those other
ones or like they split it and you're missing those scenes,
they're important scenes too.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
They are. Yeah. I like it. I like that Paramount
kept it as one big movie. He's basically what it is.

Speaker 4 (11:09):
I like yeah, And it kind of tricked me because
when I got to the next episode, I was like, wait,
did I miss one? Because it doesn't see him to
track that long.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
But yeah, it didn't know it flowed really well. You're right,
You're you're even to the point where like where would
they have ended this episode? And I know where it's at,
but I'm just saying it's because it was so smooth
that you just didn't recognize that at all. So no
very good two parter for sure. All right, well, let's
move on to the second episode, which is The Visitor,

(11:37):
written by Michael Taylor and directed by David Livingston. It
is the future in adult Jake Cisco lives in the
Bayou by himself. He is visited by a young woman
named Melanie, an aspiring writer who was looking for him
and wondering why he stopped writing. Jake goes in to
finally tell a story that he has wanted to tell.
He proceeds to tell the story of when he was
eighteen years old and his father went on the Defiant

(11:58):
in the Wormhole to witness a subspace inversion that only
happens once in several decades. An accident occurs on the ship,
causing Benjamin to disappear and seemed beat to be dead.
Months later, Jake has a vision of his father reappearing
in his bedroom, followed by yet another time he appears
and this time seems to be back, but despite the
effort of those on the station, lose him once again
as he fades away. This wouldn't be the last time,

(12:20):
and a never ending search that would be last a lifetime,
continuing a very touching story between father and son. This
was a really really good episode. I'm telling you. We
had a very good Jake Benjamin episode last season. We
had a this is another one for this season. Very
good chemistry. Uh you know Tony Todd playing as the

(12:42):
adult version of Jake. Tony Todd is amazing in everything
that guy does. Yes, may may he rest in peace.
We lost him last year. But just the the the
actor was it what say Loftons that his name Rock
Claftonah Hilman. Every Brooks are just really good with one another,

(13:07):
and you really believe they are father and so and
I believe we talked about that the one episode. But
in this one, man, it's just such a fantastic job
again and this episode just really breaks your heart of
what happens at the end of this episode. What has
to happen I should say at the end of this
episode just to make things right, really breaks your heart.

Speaker 4 (13:25):
Yeah, I mean to use a scott in a scott
ism that I probably say a lot. This one hit
me like a hammer, like yeah, before the ending. The
ending has its own kind of hit in different ways.
But the dynamics of this were so genuine and sincere
and emotionally powerful. Like I love Tony Todd as kerrn

(13:50):
Orf's brother, love him even more as Jake Cisco. I
thought it was interesting to learn that when this episode,
Tony Todd had recently lost his aunt who raised him
as a child, three months before. And I saw a
quote where he says, the script got me out of

(14:11):
my shell. It was like she was whispering to me
go back to work, and doing this was as close
to heaven as I can imagine. When you hear that
behind what's clearly a very emotionally powerful performance by him,
it makes me like this season or this episode.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
Even more absolutely. And I love the fact that Nog
is still Nog. Yeah, yes, nothing's changed. So I guess
that just shows you the fringy you know, how they
age differently than everybody else does, clearly. And I believe
this episode one A was nominated for an Emmy for
Outsideing Makeup, but I don't think it won.

Speaker 3 (14:49):
But it did get nominated, No, it it lost it.
It was going up against some some big stuff. Well
now I take that back, you did, You were right,
it was nominated, did not win. It was also nominated
for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation that year. Again,
it was going up against a Toy Story and a
Paula thirteen twelve Monkeys, but it lost that one to
to Babylon five.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
Oh look you're there. We're gonna bring that one back.

Speaker 4 (15:13):
I get it.

Speaker 3 (15:15):
I get This is probably the only time I actually
disagree with them, because this is probably one of the
most powerful episodes of the series. It's definitely one of
the most It was the episode that everyone talked about
the most. Really, I remember it being all over the news,
all over the sci fi magazines. It's deserving of attention.
It's a great episode, great performance is great score by

(15:37):
Dennis McCarthy, which I'm glad like. Within like six months
it was available to purchase. Everything about this episode is
fantastic and it's I do not miss this episode.

Speaker 4 (15:49):
Casting trivia, I didn't realize that the actress that plays
Melanie the aspiring writer is Rachel Robinson, the daughter of
Andrew Robinson Gerrek k.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
Oh, Yeah. Interesting. That's what I love about Star Trek
and how it just you know, keeps it in the family. Sure,
they do an incredible job with that, and in the
fact too that like, even though you may play an
alien in that generation, you can play somebody else in
D Space nine voyager, and on and on and on.
I love the thing. I know why not. You're behind makeup.
You know you're really not going to notice it, So okay,

(16:23):
go with it. And I like that. I appreciate that,
really really do. All right, Well, let's move on to
number three. Scott looks like this is you again.

Speaker 4 (16:31):
Yep. So Wayne, I'm gonna ask you with one very
specific part I want you to help me with.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (16:38):
So. Hippocratic Oath is written by Lisa Klink and Nicholas Correa.
It's directed by Odo, played by Thank You at Least
trip Over It one of my favorite actors in the series,
and I'd love to see him in the director's chair here.

(16:59):
After a cert mission. In the Game of Quadrant, Bashir
and O'Brien crash land on a planet where they're taken
prisoner by a renegade group of gem Hitdar. The small
self soldiers are unlike the rest of the gem Hitdar,
and that their leader has somehow broken free of his
addiction kett yoursell White, the drug that makes them dependent
on the founders. Their leader sees a chance to help
his brethren by forcing Bashir and O'Brien to help them

(17:20):
replicate that cure, but time is running out as their
addiction threatens to kill them. Although Bashir feels obligated to
help them as a physician, O'Brien adamantly disagrees. These two
friends risk losing their lives and their friendship over this
daunting task. Meanwhile, back at the station on Deep Space nine,
Wharf and Odo have a strong disagreement about how station
security should be run. Hard to talk about this one

(17:45):
without spoilers, but it seems like a very, very important
episode when you look at the dynamic between Bashir and O'Brien,
knowing that it doesn't always. It's not always you know,
World War two fight better sessions in the Hollow Suite, right,
Sometimes there can be at odds with each other and

(18:06):
an interesting way to look at how the presence of
the Dominion and the jed Hdar can create some division
between friends.

Speaker 2 (18:15):
What I really is about this episode is the fact
that Warf is uncomfortable. He's he seems like he's struggling
to fit in and find his place and that really
did happen, because apparently according to ronaldy Moore, he said
he used to be a cop more or less on
the USS Enterprise D but it's not going to be
like that anymore. We wanted to keep emphasizing this is

(18:36):
not the next generation. The station doesn't work like the Enterprise.
Wolf is going to have to some troubles fitting in,
but he's going to learn. And I like that. I
like that in that character because that gives a different
dimension to Warf because it just makes him uncomfortable. We
know what it's like when Warf is uncomfortable.

Speaker 4 (18:51):
Yeah, don't be around, Yeah, don't.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
Be wrong.

Speaker 3 (18:56):
Now this I'll be honest. This hasn't never been one
of my favorite episodes of the series. Is not I
don't hate it, but it's just never really enthralled me.
But I will acknowledge that it is very important to
the series, not just for the development of the Jimidar,
but that, as you mentioned, the friendship between Sheer and O'Brien.

(19:17):
You know, but Shear's his ethics means that he's not
going to let anybody die there, you know, not even
his enemies. But but O'Brien, with his history his war
history and his combat history. You know, it makes it
really hard for him to trust the Jimidar. I mean,
and it makes sense. I mean, you have to look
at it both sides. It's it really is like you're
seeing two sides of the same coin.

Speaker 4 (19:37):
You know.

Speaker 3 (19:37):
I just found the episode a little slow, a little talkie,
but a very important episode, and the performances are fantastic.

Speaker 2 (19:44):
Yeah, it's very uh character building because two characters here
who are friends are really starting to fall apart and
you're seeing that in this episode. So yeah, I think
it's very important. So yeah, I agree with you. It
is a little talkie, but it feel very very important.

Speaker 4 (20:02):
That was kind of an interesting like choice that they
have to make, Like I find it very hard to
say like one was right in one because it could
have easily gone either way.

Speaker 2 (20:12):
Mm hmm, yeah, sure could have.

Speaker 3 (20:15):
And have you noticed because it starts here and I
want everyone to pay attention to this. You know that
Warf never addresses Quirk by his name. He always calls
him the FARRINGI our tender. I never noticed this before
and until I saw this pointed out to me, and
then now I can't not stop seeing it or hearing it.

Speaker 2 (20:32):
It's hysterical. I love it. I love it. Yep.

Speaker 4 (20:36):
And you would think that he would there'd be a
little bit more respect developing, because it's like this guy's
keeping you stocked in prune juice. He's probably paying, he's
probably you know, judging you a premium before it.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
But you know, too funny. All right, Well, Wayne, I
think it's finally your turn for number four.

Speaker 3 (20:52):
And number four is Indiscretion. The stories by Tony Marberry
and Jack Trevino and it's written by Nichols Korea, directed
by LeVar Burton. Kiera Naris receives information about the possible
location of a long lost Cardassian prisonship on which her
former resistance lover was held. She reluctantly joins gold Da

(21:15):
Kott on a mission to the desolate planet where the
wreckage is located. During their search, Dakott reveals that he
is secretly looking for a half the Jordan daughter Torah Zayal,
who was also aboard the ship. When they find Zayou alive,
Dacott faces the choice between killing her to protect his
career and saving her and facing disgrace. Now, you know,

(21:39):
just like the previous episode that we just talked about.
This is very important to the relate, you know, relationship
between Kira and Dakott, just like that one was important
to the relationship between O'Brien Wasshir and the development of
the Kardashian Kardassians at this point, you know, Da Kott
is he's portrayed here not as being that you know,
that one sided scheme Cardassian officer that we've known for

(22:02):
the first two years, especially from the show, but you know,
now's he's a father. He's confronting the consequences of his
past choices, you know, especially regarding his daughter's il which
you know, this is her first appearance. And and Kira,
you know, another great episode. We've had some great episodes
in the past, but this is another one that where
she really shines a lot of complexity to her character.

(22:25):
She has to to cooperate with the man that she
despises and you know, to save this child. You know,
it's it's just the dilemma that they're placed in, you know,
especially to kat between his career and the government and
his daughter. It's very powerful. It makes this a very
powerful episode just it allows both of them to move

(22:46):
on from what we know before and expand the characterization,
the depth, and this is exactly what this series needed
right here at this this middle point in the show.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
And I believe this is the first appearance of the Brain.

Speaker 3 (23:01):
Yes, which they've been mentioned a couple of times, but
we got to see them, yeah, because.

Speaker 2 (23:06):
Even the next generation, I believe I had mentioned them
and we had never seen them before. Yeah, so this
is this is the first time. Yeah, this is a
really good episode between those two characters. I can't imagine
having to be in kirera shoes for something like that,
because I mean, you can almost compare that to World
War Two and putting two people from Germany and from

(23:28):
somewhere else and they have to cooperate and work together,
and you can imagine how well that would not go
over together go well over well. So the fact that
you're seeing that here, I can't imagine what Kira would
have to go through. And she is, in a visitor,
such an incredible actress, and she's sow so much depth
in her performances, and she does it here too. You know,

(23:51):
she almost she didn't want him to go obviously, but
she understood that, you know, Cisco really wanted her to
do it. Whether its inn order or not, but she
still needed to do it, you know. So no, very
good episode.

Speaker 4 (24:05):
It is interesting how theyre uh the relationship with a
lot of people, especially Kira and Ducott. How they're it's
like taffy, Like they get close together and then they're
pulled apart, and then they close together like they they
should not like each other. You can see times when
they get kind of common ground and then to cutt
usually reminds of like, oh, but I'm actually a horrible person,

(24:28):
so don't get too close.

Speaker 2 (24:30):
You know.

Speaker 4 (24:32):
It's great dynamics between them.

Speaker 2 (24:34):
It really is. You know, it's funny for the Cardassians.
I don't know if Ducott is my favorite or Garrick.
I love both of them very very much. And as
I go through if I go through these things, when
I'm going through this again, I'm watching it closely because
I'm trying to figure out, Man, which one of these
is the better character. But I don't know if I
can decide, to be honest with you, because they're both incredible.

Speaker 3 (24:52):
Yeah, and they both have very great character development all
the way through the series. Yeah, wow, I would be
hard choice, Yes, it would. Maybe we'll talk about that.
The episode season seven.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
How about that? Yeah, most likely, Yeah, that sounds like
a fine tone. All right, Well, let's go ahead and
take a break, gentlemen, and when we come back, we
will continue our discussion of season four, Deep Space nine.
Welcome back to listeners as we continue our discussion of
Star Trek Deep Space nine, Season four. Of our top

(25:21):
ten episodes that you should watch, number five. Now, this
is a fun episode, I might add Very Little Green Men,
written by Robert Hewitt, Wolf and Tony Marberry, directed by
James Conway in a parody of nineteen fifty science fiction films.
QRK wants to test out the new ship, Quark's Treasure

(25:44):
he's acquired, so he and Rob take knocked Earth to
begin his Starfleet training. On the way there, they learned
the ship had been sabotaged, causing him not to be
able to drop out of warp equip. A quick thinking
rom does what he can to prevent sure destruction. Before
they know it, the three of them find themselves on
Earth in nineteen forty seven, being held against their will
by the military. Of course, Gordic is up to what

(26:07):
he does best, trying to get some financial gain while
someone special happens to come along to try and get
them help to get back to their own time. I'm
not going to ruin who that is. We're going to
keep that a secret so I won't get phasered on
this episode. No, this was a really really fun episode
because what a great way to explore you know, Area

(26:32):
fifty one and those kind of things that was going
on in our country back then. Great job start trek,
you know. I know we get a lot of episodes
where they go back into the past and they show
up on Earth and stuff like that, but I tell
you what, this was a really unique one and one
that really stood out to me.

Speaker 4 (26:49):
Yeah, it's one where I'd encourage people to look beyond
the description of the episode whatever platform you're on, because
I personally kind of rolled my eyes in the description.
I was like, I don't know if I want to
do this. It feels like it's gonna be fun, but
too fun and whatever. Wow, this was such amazing performances
by Quark and Rom and Nog, especially when the universal

(27:15):
translator as I love the the use of that and
the resolution of that. I think we're pitch perfect. And
then how Quark kind of leans into the predicaments was
very entertaining, Like all of it, cover to cover was
just a lot of fun. Ye, so I highly encourage

(27:37):
Washington soon.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
I even even said last season on how much Rom
has grown on me. He grows even more on me
this season. And this is one of the episodes that
he really does max is it grodent chick? Is that
how you pronounce his name? Does an incredible job as Rom.
And you know, there are so many scenes here that
are just you know, you kind of bust out laughing

(27:59):
at it when he started going, what my moviie, I
just lost it. I just loved it. It was so good.
But just just had his relationship between him and Nog.
I love the relationship so much because I mean, Cork
is this jerk. Let's be honest, He's a jerk, and
Robs just trying to look out for his son, you know,
and you know, he stands up for Nog all the time,

(28:21):
even though Cork puts a Rom down. And it's just
I just love that relationship between the two of them.
But there was a lot of fun in this episode.
There really was.

Speaker 3 (28:30):
There was this I've always considered this one of my
top ten of the entire series. I love this episode
when it first aired. I love it again. I've watched
it twice for this podcast. It's just such a fun episode.
And we needed these fun episodes because we got a
lot of darkness coming ahead. So it's great to have
this nice little break in the storyline. And and like

(28:52):
you said, the three actors, the three u f Enda
actors are just wonderful. I love the for Indy. They
don't annoying me at all. I love the episodes. I
look forward to them all. I'm glad we chose this one.
I knew we would. Everything about this episode is great.
And I love the fact that we get to see
we get to hear them speak their own language. I mean,
that's something we never found heard before first time. Ye,

(29:14):
so many, so many great things. Don't want to spoil
it because it's it's worth watching. You're you're gonna enjoy it.

Speaker 2 (29:20):
Yeah. Absolutely. And in them thinking Quirk is their mother.

Speaker 4 (29:23):
Oh my god, that was so funny, Well, I don't
it is for her to say. It's probably not spoiling
anything if I say that. We see that uh Nog
has the lobes to stand up for himself.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
And sometimes stick the Yeah, that's not spoiling anything, you.

Speaker 4 (29:39):
Know, so great, great use of all three of them
in this.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
Yeah, absolutely, all right. Well, let's move on to our
sixth episode, Wayne, and.

Speaker 3 (29:48):
That is our man Basher, written by Robert Gillen and
Ronerd D. Moore and directed by wind Rich Colby. Doctor
Julian Basher indulges in his favorite Hollow Suite fantasy, playing
a suave nineteen sixty secret agent. When a transporter accident occurs,
the station's crew patterns are stored in the Hollowsuites memory,

(30:10):
merging their identities with the program's characters. To keep them alive,
Basher must stay in character and complete the adventure well.
Garret joins him and questions his adherents to idealistic spy tropes.
As Basher faces off against a villain modeled after Doctor
Noah bearing Cisco's likeness, he is forced to use ingenuity

(30:31):
rather than violence to outwit his enemies. Now Here, this
is another fun episode. We had two of them practically
back to back, and like I said, it's definitely needed
a very fun, very light hearted episode, you know, like
it's we've got a lot of darkness coming up in
the season. Not that that's bad, but there's a lot
of really deep dramatic stories, so this nice little break

(30:53):
in there. But if you really look at it, it's
a typical straight forward Holidck episode. We've seen he ties before,
you know, and there's no no secret of what they're
what they're parroting here. It's you know, it's Dame James Bond.

Speaker 2 (31:06):
Obvious. They got for that too.

Speaker 3 (31:10):
Yes they did. They they got a very stern letter
from from MGM, which I thought was hilarious. I did
not know that before until I was doing the research
for this. Yeah, I guess they weren't very flattered with
with what they had. But you know, there's a lot
of a lot of great visual gags, a lot of
great clever writing, you know, and and even just even
a bit of character growth for Basher and Garrick, you know,

(31:32):
the two of them in their relationship. It's definitely one
of my again, one of my favorite episodes of the
series because the cast, it looks like they're having a
lot of fun. You know, The sets are incredible, stunts
done nicely. They really spent a lot of money on
this to do it right, so, uh, you know, screw you, MGM.
You know, let's have fun.

Speaker 2 (31:53):
And and not to give anything away, but the person
who plays the villain did an amazing job as the villain.

Speaker 4 (32:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:02):
Yes, I loved him as the villain. Was like, holy crap, man,
you're good. And he was having fun. You really could
tell he was having a blast. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (32:10):
I think this is another one where I kind of
rolled my eyes when I saw the description and I
was like, oh no, but it plays out really well,
like it's it's fun when it has to be. It
has the right amount of danger involved. It certainly does
make me think that, like present day, whatever that would be,
they've got to have so much advancement in halideck technology

(32:35):
and security because there are so many times some of
these wacky Halodeck mishaps. It's like, all right, do they
have like protocols in place so they can pull certain
switches or whatever to make things not fall into chaos?
But if they did that, there'd be no stories, so.

Speaker 2 (32:50):
They wouldn't be right. And I think this came out
around the time Pierce Brosen's Golden Eye came out, didn't.

Speaker 3 (32:56):
It, Yeah, ninety five.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
Yeah, so it's interesting that they were doing that to
coincide with that film.

Speaker 3 (33:05):
So but MGM, that's probably why MGM took notice.

Speaker 4 (33:09):
I mean, if GM at their movie out yeah, yeah,
it's like calm down, like your movie is out there,
people can go back and see it again and again
and again and again. They can only see this one
again if they recorded on their VCR. Yeah right, so
like you're not hurting if anything is promoting your movie
exactly the spy mood to go watch it.

Speaker 2 (33:28):
But yeah, it's almost like didn't the NIX generation get
slapped on the hand for Sherlock Holmes. They did the
same scenario.

Speaker 3 (33:35):
Right right, And you know, I also want to point
out too that this had a fantastic musical score by j. Chadaway,
very unique score for Deep Space nine. It's also available
if you can find the Deep Space nine Volume one
by La La Land, which out of print. Really hard
to find, but the complete scores on it. It's worth listening.
Great great score and it was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
That very jazzy almost double O seven bond. Yeah, theme
closed that it was very simple. It was the theme
to Deep Space nine that he.

Speaker 3 (34:04):
Was You're right it was, which was really cool.

Speaker 4 (34:07):
That's cool.

Speaker 2 (34:08):
Yeah, very unique way to do it all right, Well,
let's move on to another two parter. Scott, this is you.

Speaker 4 (34:16):
Yeah. We go from the light way back into the
heavy like the Big Old Swing, Home Front and Paradise Lost.
I'll just lump them together into one. Description written respectively
by Robert Hewett Wolfe and Ronald D. Moore, and then
directed respectively by David Livingston and Reva by Addie. The

(34:37):
wormhole begins opening and closing for no apparent reason as
horrible news comes from Earth. A massive explosion kills twenty
seven people in Antwerp, and a changeling has been spotted
at the crime scene. Cisco and Odo travel to Earth,
where Admiral Leyton makes Cisco acting head of Starfly Security
on Earth. His first mission is to convince the Federation
President to heighten security in ways that would severely curtailredom

(35:00):
of its citizens. Cisco also has an uncomfortable reunion with
his father, who not only reviews it to care for
his ailing heart, but also refuses to accept these new
security measures. Earth also reunites Jake with Nog, who longs
to join an elite group of cadets called Red Squad.
In the second part of this two part episode, martial

(35:20):
law is instigated, which puts Cisco's father at odds with
his son. However, as Cisco continues to investigate the Chin
the escalating threat, he finds a more insidious plot just
below the surface. I think there was a great family
dynamic between Joseph Cisco and Jake and Benjamin. Absolutely. I

(35:42):
love love Brock Peters in this role and in general,
like he's one of my favorite parts of you know,
Undiscovered Country, and his performances Joseph Cisco throughout the series
I think has done exceptionally well. I was also surprised
to see Susan Gibney as Commander Erica dun Team because

(36:07):
as soon as I saw I was like, oh, that's
Jordan's almost his crush squeeze or whatever. It was hard
not to see that. I was like, I'm so distracted,
like you're you're a twin right, But yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:20):
You know, listeners, if you don't want to hear this,
here it comes again. Another Babylon five item. So apparently
Robert Foxfort, who plays Admiral Leeton Layton in this uh
he played a similar role in Babylon five as General
Haig in a two episode and he went to Deep
Space nine, which kind of pissed off J. Michael Sheizanski,

(36:41):
the creator of Battle On five, so he basically killed
off and wrote off his character in Babblin five Goodbye.

Speaker 3 (36:48):
Yeah, that was right about the same time, wasn't And
I think ye.

Speaker 2 (36:52):
But now this these this two part it was really
well done. Going back to Earth, a huge threat on Earth,
and the twist and stuff that we kind of get
in this two parter is really well done. But yes,
the chemistry between the family of the Ciscos was just phenomenal.
And what really amazes me and just shows you the
talent of some of these actors is the fact that

(37:15):
you can just bring on brock Peter. So obviously he's
been in Star Trek before. You know, he played Admiralcartt
Wright in But They Undiscovered Country in the Voyage Hall,
so I mean, he's no stranger to Star Trek. But
the fact that you can bring in an actor that
can just fit in and blend like he has been
there the entire time with two characters who are part
of the main cast and you don't miss a beat,

(37:35):
just shows you how good he is at acting and
being able to have that chemistry with other people because
they didn't miss a beat with that.

Speaker 3 (37:43):
Yeah, this is a really good two parter. I think
it's the last of the two parters for the series.
Everything becomes a part after this. It's a great two parter.
It's great to see Earth again, you know, with with
Voyager out in the Delta quadrants and d space and
all the way over here or you know, we're not
going to get to Earth as much as we did
in the next generation, so you know, here we are.

(38:05):
Good episode, good way of exploring Cisco's background and his
family and everything. It's a funny episode.

Speaker 4 (38:11):
You know.

Speaker 3 (38:12):
This was originally supposed to be the third season finale,
fourth season opener, And the only fault I find with
this two parter is that it's kind of obvious they're
kind of they're lacking some money to make to do
what they want, because, like I said, this was planned
as a cliffhanger where they always save all the extra
money for they didn't have it for this being in

(38:33):
the middle of the season. But besides that, great performances,
especially from Avery Brooks and Brun Peters. I do want
to I do want to point out one little bit
of continuity that I liked. I didn't notice this the
first time around. But the Federation President mentions, he's, well,
let me quote him, with the exception of the Borg incident,

(38:55):
there hasn't been a state of emergency declared on Earth
in a century now. He's he's got to be referring
to one of two things, either Veiger's appearance at Earth
in Star Trek the motion picture, which happened almost exactly
one hundred years before this episode, or the whale probe
in Star Trek four, which was about what eighty six

(39:15):
years or so, because I was think about fifteen years
after that, So it's one of those two.

Speaker 2 (39:20):
Take your pick.

Speaker 3 (39:20):
But that's a nice little little continuity extra that they
added to it.

Speaker 2 (39:25):
That was a good touch. I didn't catch that. So no, Yeah,
although I mean.

Speaker 4 (39:30):
I'm glad that you mentioned the Borg incident because I
think that makes kind of a unique case for watching
DS Night or giving it a try, even if you
don't want to dive into the entire series and just
want to kind of take our selects. I would say
that this almost kind of proves that DS Night is
helping to tell kind of the story behind the scenes

(39:51):
of things like best of both worlds with Wolf three
five nine, Right, how does that impact all manner of
you know a lot of different people, whether it's citizens,
whether it's diplomats and you know, governing bodies and things
like that to other species. Right, This I think gives

(40:14):
kind of a wider look at that kind of a
threat and how it can have so much of an impact.
That's just an interesting kind of case for even though
it takes a lot of investment. There's a lot to
watch here, there's a lot to get through, but it's
it's one of the most in depth explorations I think
this franchise has ever done.

Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yeah, I agree. And then another fun scene between Nog
and Benjamin. This one wasn't as serious as last season.
It was just this one's funny because he just got
that getting agitated by Nog. Yes, and you can just
see it's like, oh God, go and get away from me.

Speaker 4 (40:52):
Yeah. But it's interesting that like now, like as you
mentioned that, there's a little bit of a they're not
quite peers, but you at least see that kind of
like mutual respect, and you can see that Noug is
doing well. He's definitely taking it seriously. He's not resting
on anything which I think would be good for Cisco

(41:13):
to see it.

Speaker 2 (41:14):
Absolutely would, and I agree with you. All right, well,
let's move on, Wayne.

Speaker 3 (41:18):
You have number eight, and that is Hard Time, written
by Daniel keyes Morin, Lynn Barker, and Robert Hewitt Wolfe
and directed by Alexander Singer. Chief O'Brien is falsely convicted
of espionage by an alien raise and subjected to a
simulated twenty year prison sentence implemented directly into his mind.

(41:40):
When it returns Steep Space nine, only a few hours
have passed in reality, but O'Brien is haunted by the
traumatic memories of decades of confinement. Struggling to reintegrate with
his family and crew, he becomes withdrawn, angry, and deeply
guilt ridden over the death of his imaginary cellmate. His
emotional turmoil him to the brink of suicide as he

(42:02):
feels unworthy of forgiveness and normal life. Now this originally
wasn't on my top ten choices. I didn't even remember
this episode that was even in the series. For some reason.
I don't remember watching this one at all, but watching
it again, and I did watch it twice before this podcast.
It's really grown on me. This is incredibly powerful, incredibly

(42:25):
emotionally intense episode, probably one of the most series of
produced up to this point. You know, Brian's he's forced
to have to deal with with trauma, guilt PTSD from
this imprisonment, and I have to really applaud the producers
for treating all of this in a very, very realistic way.

(42:49):
Cole Meani's such a great actor. I love him in
everything he's done, you know, not just chief O Brian.
He's done so much stuff over his career, but he's
really acting his chops off in this episode.

Speaker 2 (43:00):
You know.

Speaker 3 (43:00):
I think his scenes with the Keiko and Molly, and
you know how he's unable to act around them properly
because he's been in his mind, he's been so away
for so long. He just can't mentally adjust. Some of
the strongest scenes in the episode, in my opinion, and
the ending. I'm not going to give anything away because,
believe me, I want you all to watch this, but

(43:21):
it's not what you would expect from a nineteen nineties
Star Trek episode.

Speaker 2 (43:25):
Not at all.

Speaker 3 (43:26):
You know, there's a lot of spoilers, you know, and
I don't want to give away those, but you know,
unlike most of Star Trek are in fact, really most
of TV in this era, you know, everything tends to
get wrapped up in a nice tidy bow. Not here,
and I applaud them for doing it that way, because
it really would have diluted the impact the episode had

(43:47):
with a viewer if I had done that. Just an
absolutely fantastic episode. But I want to bring up a
little piece of trivia that I wanted if you to know,
this episode was when it was written, and I think
it was written during the first season. Originally wasn't going
to have O'Brien. This was originally supposed to feature insignt Sito,

(44:10):
you know, the Jordan cadet from the Next Generation that
was killed where they find her still alive from about
what was the lower decks. I believe it was where
they find her here still alive, which you know, I
think that that would have made a fantastic episode too,
if if it would have taken place earlier in the series.
But here, at this point, we needed an O'Brien episode,
and this just gave it to us big time. Snap

(44:31):
slapped us right in the face with it.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
Yeah, no, it was. It was. There were some really
good performances in this episode between Alexander Fidegg and col Meani.
Some very good scenes between those two. I do want
to call out Craig Walton, who plays eg R. He
was Neil and Nightmare el Street part three of the
Dream Warriors. Yeah, yes, absolutely, but I mean the whole

(44:56):
thing when O'Brien just snaps and obviously you know what
happens a little bit later on, just is some very
very powerful Star Trek at its best and something you're
right wing, you don't typically see in Star Trek at all.
Of what happens.

Speaker 4 (45:10):
Yeah, this is done very respectfully. When you mentioned things
like PTSD and related kind of you know, threats of
suicide and things like that. So just just know this
is a very deep and powerful episode. I would probably
consider a scrub episode after this, something to just relave

(45:32):
the tension, because this one, even afterwards, it stayed with
me for a while. It almost feels like kind of
a negative opposite of the inter Light from Next Generation.

Speaker 3 (45:46):
Oh yeah, yeah, it is very similar in style.

Speaker 4 (45:49):
And what's interesting is that Margo Rose is an actress
that plays a character named Rinn in this episode. She
was from the Interlight when she played the Card's wife
heads off to call Mini. Like you said, absolutely just
powerful performance. Uh to Where'slym child? Also is kick over, Brian.

(46:12):
They all do a great job in here. It's a
very mind bending episode, and it tells me that the
counselors on these ships, in these stations need a commentation
and a vacation. Yeah, they've got to have their work,
like you know, clear my calendar.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
Right, No kidding. There's the reason why this episode is
called hard time, because I'm telling you it's every bit
of that meaning of that title.

Speaker 4 (46:35):
Yeah, maybe kind of mix things up a little bit.
Maybe watch this and then Little Green Men there you go.
That would be yourself like an upper afterward.

Speaker 2 (46:43):
Yeah, yeah, no doubt about that. All right. Well, let's
move on to episode nine for the Cause, written by
ronaldy Moore and Mark O'Connell, directed by James Conway. Equipment
from the Kardassians is set to arrive at Deep Space nine.
Fearing the Maquis might be up to something, Benjamin increased security.
He is surprised when Eddington and Odo approach him that

(47:03):
they suspect Cassidy Yates is smuggling against his deep feelings
for her. He is forced to put his crew on
her trail and discover exactly what she is up to.
All of this will lead to the discovery of a
major secret that will send shock waves across the station
and beyond. Elsewhere. Garrick has his eyes on Zile, who
just so happens to be the daughter of Ducat and

(47:26):
under the protection of Kira. So this episode caught me
by surprise of the things that happen in it towards
the end, it is it is when a certain thing happens,
You're like, why is he doing that? And then when
it does happen later on, you're like, oh, okay, wow,

(47:48):
it really catches you with your pants down. I guess
you could say, because it really does. I'm not I'm
not a big fan of a certain person in this
episode or this season. She's not a main cast member,
so you probably already know who I'm talking about. I
was kind of glad certain things happened, but as far
as I'm going to go with that first time at

(48:10):
the Majorian game, springball is shown interesting there, Garrick being
quite the player, I might add with you know what,
and one of the moments, one of the lines that
I absolutely just sends a chill for you and makes
you really sit and think. Is when a certain someone

(48:31):
says that he compares the Federation to the Borg that
was that Oh damn, damn. When you really think about that,
you're like, oh, I don't know how to side on
this one now, because that kind of makes sense, right.

Speaker 4 (48:48):
And that's one of the most fascinating things about this series, right, Like,
you think about the Federation in certain ways, like it's
very utopian, can do no wrong, and all this other
kind of stuff, and then just moments where it just
calls it into question. Not that it's wrong, not that
it's bad, not that it's necessarily even in doubt, but
there's question m hm. And there are a lot of

(49:09):
questions that get raised throughout this series that I think
open the door for things like Pegard when we eventually
look at that and it's kind of like not everybody
is in John Luke's camp and there are some some
fallacies to kind of explore there.

Speaker 3 (49:24):
Well, I'm glad you brought that up too, because you know,
this really goes back to the core of deep space
science creation. It wasn't supposed to be as clean cut
and clear as the next generation there was supposed to
be a lot of questioning, a lot of darkness and
grittiness and you know who is the good guy and
who's the bad guy?

Speaker 2 (49:44):
In this episode.

Speaker 3 (49:45):
Really really plays that up. You just don't know what
side you should side with. I mean really, it makes
you question everything that everyone is doing.

Speaker 2 (49:55):
I mean, and look at the character Yeric. I mean
you think, oh, this is a good guy. I'm gonna
like him, and then he does He's like, oh never mind,
yeah right, yeah. So I mean it's you're right. I mean,
it's it keeps you on your toes, that's for sure. Yeah.
And it's and I see that's why they wanted to
do that. They didn't want it all knife and glossy
like the Next Generation was. I like the fact that

(50:17):
they went dark, and it's going to go darker. I mean,
we've got three more seasons. It's going to get rough.
So and I appreciate that. So Star Trek needed that.
In my opinion, it really did.

Speaker 4 (50:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (50:28):
Yeah, and I was rather insistent because it almost did
make our top ten. But it's just this episode is
just too important, not just to do Space nine, but
much more. You know, it has lasting repercussions for Star
Trek Voyager as well. But it's really hard to discuss
this episode without giving out spoilers, and we don't want
Jeff's phaser to run out of power, right.

Speaker 4 (50:49):
I'd say along those lines, you know, you have the
benefit with streaming of watching something more than once. Once
you see where certain things go. This does probably bear
worth you know, it probably is, at least in parts
worth watching a second time.

Speaker 2 (51:04):
Yeah, agreed? All right, Well, let's move on to our
final episode, Scott.

Speaker 4 (51:09):
Yeah, super light one at the end of this series.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (51:13):
Broken Link is written by George A. Brozak and Robert
Hewitt Wolf and directed by Les Landau. So big spoiler
warning for season three's ending. I think we're past that.

Speaker 2 (51:25):
Right, Yeah, yep.

Speaker 4 (51:26):
Knowing that Odo had a hand in basically killing a
changelingk which has never been done before, we see here
in the beginning there's kind of a lighthearted situation in
Garrick's shop where soon after Odo collapses with a sudden
and horrible affliction, he begins to rapidly lose his ability

(51:49):
to maintain his salid shape as he continues to seemingly
melt away. The Shears scans revealed that he may lose
all cohesion and die without serious intervention that comes with
a high price as he realizes that the only answer
can be found where he also faces harsh judgment for
his recent crimes on the homeworld of the Change looks Wow.

(52:13):
A lot of powerful performance in this episode, particularly by
Renee as Odo. He consistently impresses me. I've been a
fan of that actor since Benson to David, Oh yeah, yeah,
something interesting that I noticed here, and he does it
to great effect. It's never distracting, but I only really

(52:34):
noticed it in this episode how effectively Renee uses blinking
to convey emotion and like distress, and you know sometimes
when he's kind of struggling with knowing what to do,
a lot of emotional depth you get from him. Probably

(52:55):
not spoiling things by saying we see a certain shape
shifter again in this episode, who I've mentioned before as
being very important and also amazing performances. Dave, you and
I had the benefit of talking with Brad recently about
one flu over the Cuckoo's Nest, and we were talking

(53:16):
about Louis Fletcher as Nurse Ratchet. Say that way again,
that kind of acting where they are so stoic and
so seemingly wooden, but there's so much kind of impressive
depth in that kind of delivery that it just makes

(53:40):
that person. I don't know, it's very very hard to
separate that person from the character they portray, but they
do it to great effect.

Speaker 2 (53:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (53:49):
Yeah, like last season, you know, here we're given a
very self contained, psychological season finale. It's not like the
action acts episodes we used to get with the Next Generation.
But you know, this is really really important episode, very
pivotal episode, kind of sets a stage to the next
three seasons that's coming up, the you know, the war,

(54:11):
but more importantly, it's it's a turning point for Odo.
You know, he's he's torn between his duty to the Federation,
his loyalty to d Space nine, his bond to the Founders.
You know, what does he do and and and the
fact that the Founders have have deemed him a trader
and they intend to punish him. That's a huge blow
to Odo. You know we talked about last season. Odo

(54:33):
wants nothing more than to return home to the Great Link,
but here he's he's forced even further away from his dreams.
You know, it's there, there's a there's a lot of
talk in this episode, but it's so well written and
so beautifully performed that by the cast, it's it's really
a worthwhile episode to include this to this list.

Speaker 2 (54:55):
In my opinion.

Speaker 3 (54:56):
I I just watch this episode again for like the
fourth time two hours ago, and it's it's incredibly powerful.

Speaker 2 (55:02):
Love love the episode, and you know it may not
end with it could to be continued, but it is
a cliffhanger at the end leading us into season five.
And you're right, the randomifications that are coming for the
next three seasons is just going to be insane. For everything,
for the Federation, for Deep Space nine, for Bajoran, all
of it is going to get crazy. So buckle up, people,

(55:27):
the next three seasons that are going to be crazy,
and it's gonna be tough to pick us some episodes,
ten episodes in some of these seasons because so much
is happening. We're really gonna have to buckle down. But
there's one moment in this that I found hysterical, even
though this is a very powerful episode. So when Kira
brings the criminal activity report to Odo just to brighten

(55:47):
him up.

Speaker 4 (55:47):
Oh yeah, yeah, it's excited.

Speaker 2 (55:53):
Let me see. I love that moment so much. But
the other moment that it's not funny that I just
thought was extremely powerful. With Odo's walk through the promenade. Yeah,
oh that was just rough, but you could tell he
wanted to do that.

Speaker 4 (56:09):
Yeah, you know, that's that's all Rene.

Speaker 2 (56:12):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (56:12):
Like I know, there's you know, writing and directing that
leads it that way, but you can see how much
he is so invested in this character.

Speaker 2 (56:20):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (56:21):
And I love Garrick's job on the Defiant. I thought
that was absolutely because you could see Odo is just
completely enthralled with everything he's saying, you know, learning all
this stuff, and that's exactly what he wanted to keep
them busy, to keep him, you know, his mind off
of it. I just love those scenes because you know,
it's it's it's kind of hilarious the way Odo is
just you know, fixed and listening to every word he

(56:41):
say and not realizing that you know, he's just doing
that to keep his mind off of what's really going on.

Speaker 2 (56:46):
Yeah, and earlier we mentioned you know you really can't
trust Garrek, and you saw what happens in this episode.

Speaker 3 (56:52):
Yeah, right, right, and again that's powerful. That was powerful
when when he learns, you know, the answer to his quest.
And I'm not going to say why. His face yep,
you know, he tries to hide it in front of
the Founder, but his face after when she turns away,
whoa wow.

Speaker 2 (57:08):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (57:08):
Yeah. Well, and the what he tries to do again
just makes you think in different ways. You know. Obviously
there's a pretty clear idea of you know, right and
wrong there, but you can see the motivations of both.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
Yeah you can, Yeah, no doubt. All right, listeners, Well
that was our top ten. So now we are going
to dig in and have a little bit more fun.
As we always do with these, we are going to
discuss our favorite scene moment with a certain character this
season is obviously Bushier Wayne. I'm gonna start with you.

Speaker 3 (57:45):
Well, Bashir had a lot of good moments this season,
but one particular I want to point out, and it's
not an episode we chose for our top ten, but
I'm still gonna choose anyways, and it's from the Quickening.
You know, Doctor Bashir has to try to deal with
the effects of a flag that the Jemadar have unleashed
on a planet because the planet it has been a

(58:05):
resisting dominion control He's determined to help the suffering people
because and he's certainly he can find a cure, but
he learns that not every disease is curable, and kind
of his arrogance gets the better of him. And then
when he witnesses the death of a young village woman
who believed him believed that he was going to cure them,

(58:27):
it really changes him mentally and emotionally. He breaks, you know,
he's forced to confront his limitations and come to terms
of the fact that sometimes as a doctor you don't
always succeed and people die even though you really tried
your best. One of my favorite bits of dialogue comes
near the end of the episode, when Basher begins to
realize that he can't save them. He says, there is

(58:49):
no cure. The dominion made sure of that, but I
was so arrogant. I thought I could find one in
a week. And then Jasia tells him, maybe it was
arrogant to think that it's even we're airing it, to
think that there isn't a cure just because you couldn't
find it. It's it's really a turning point for the character.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
Of doctor Bashir.

Speaker 3 (59:08):
It's where he stops being that that brash and non
likable woman chaser, you know, the fresh young lieutenant that
we saw back in the pilot, and he becomes more seasoned,
more compassioned human doctor that continues throughout the rest of
the season. It's just a great we didn't choose it,
but it's a great but sheer episode. If you want
to watch a love in episodes, watch this one.

Speaker 2 (59:29):
Scott, what about you.

Speaker 4 (59:32):
I was kind of torn between hippocratic Oath and Iraman Bashir,
and I think I'm gonna surprise that I'm leading into
Araman Bashir because of what Wayne was just mentioning. Hell,
for a while, he was just this, you know, desperate
guy that always seemed to be chasing after women and
always in the wrong ways. So it's interesting to see

(59:54):
him in that kind of misogynistic James Bond kind of
hollows program, right, And yeah, almost as soon as he's
into it, he has to turn that off and play
himself instead of the character that he's trying to immerse
himself in in the Hollow Suite. He doesn't seem to

(01:00:15):
take it too seriously, but it's just an interesting turn when,
like you said, we get this Bashir who isn't quite
that character who's kind of evolved, and we almost get
kind of a look at you know, kind of a
hyper fictionalization of that kind of thing where he's always
chasing women, but here he kind of puts it to bed.

Speaker 2 (01:00:35):
I think, yeah, absolutely, Dave, what about you? Well, for me,
I'm going to go back to the hard Time episode
where his explanation to a Brian about them destroying a
good man and he can't let that, let them do
that to him. He gets such an incredible speech there
for a dear friend he cares about and it just
proves that he goes beyond being a doctor. He cares

(01:00:56):
deeply about someone. And it shows you. I mean, we
see it there, you know, even your guys, the explanation
of the moment you've Pope picked. It shows how much
he cares about people. And he's he's grown, he's developed,
and his story arc is getting better with that. He's
not that brass guy anymore. Like you mentioned, Wayne, he's
not that women chaser anymore. He sees the people around
him and what they mean to him and how much

(01:01:18):
he cares about them. Even Garrick for crying out loud.
You know, we know Garrick and he knows Gerrick, but
he still cares about him and wants to make sure
everything's okay with him. But the fact that what he
goes through here in hard times and even before that,
remember the episode him and O'Brian got into a fight,
you know about what he was doing. So the fact
that he still comes to a brian's side and cares

(01:01:39):
about him and wants to make sure that he's mentally okay.
And you know there what happens towards the end of
the episode, you know, it was really important that this
year was there for his friend, and I just think
that was very, very important and just a great part
for sure.

Speaker 3 (01:01:56):
Yeah, it just proves from all three of our chway.
So it's a lot of character growth for the for doctor.

Speaker 2 (01:02:03):
Bashir, yep. Absolutely, all right, here comes the fun when
worst episode of the season, Scott, I'll let you go first.

Speaker 4 (01:02:14):
That's sides kind of tough to pick, but this is
one that I think is half bad, and I'll say
it's the Muse. I say half bad because the the
Jake and Onaya dynamic and the resolution of that it

(01:02:35):
didn't quite hit with me, seemed kind of odd. The
other half of it that has a dynamic between the
Walks on a Troy and Odo, I think was a
lot more interesting and powerful, especially when I consider this
as major Barrett's last appearance I believe is the Walks
on a Troy. We also get another treat because we

(01:02:58):
hear the voice of mister Freeze with Michael and Sara
as Jail, but I think it's probably one worth skipping
if you have to choose, I think if you're a
completionist that wants to follow Lavauxana Troy and Odo's ark,
I think there are some great moments between the two
of them, but the majority of it, with the the
Jake story just didn't hit with me. Wayne, What about you?

Speaker 3 (01:03:20):
Well, I didn't have any difficulty at all choosing which
one I didn't like, because there was one episode that
made me very, very mad, and it was The Muse
and it's it's gotten none to do with the cast.
They do a fantastic job, so I really the blame
falls solely on the writing, maybe the producers for letting
that episode even be made, you know, I just that remains.

Speaker 2 (01:03:43):
Well.

Speaker 3 (01:03:43):
The main story with Jake and being seduced by by
what is it o'neara. It's just creepy and icky in
my just a teenager, and she's she's clearly predatory, you know,
feeding on the creative energies, you know, from what he's writing.
I've never been a fan of that type of story,
sci fi story that that emotional vampires feeding on another

(01:04:05):
person's feelings of love or anger or in this case, creativity.
But because it's been done so many times and practically
every sci fi TV series that was made all the
way back in the sixties, they did this back in
the original series. It's the fourth season now, and we
should have left all this type of storytelling back, you know,
during the first two seasons. And then you got that

(01:04:27):
BT storyline with Lawauxana Troy, you know what you do
in seeking Odo's help because her husband wants to take
their onborn child. I don't know. It's one thing when
Lawaxana is chasing around men like you know, a card
or Odo. You know, that's that's funny, but the idea
that she's remarried and pregnant just kind of makes her

(01:04:50):
a bit trashy the best way to put it, you know,
and and to make matters worse, like you said, this
is this is the last time we see the character
Wauk Sanda Troy. What a terrible way to end such
a long running and fun character. I'd rather just, you know,
scrub this episode completely from my memory.

Speaker 2 (01:05:12):
Scrub away. So I am going to not give the trifecta.
I actually went with a different episode. I went with
episode five Rejoined. Dax Is reunited with one of her
former hosts mates, Leonara Khan, and the two struggle with
their feelings for one another. Ugh on Trill, it is
obviously strictly forbidden to reassociate with a past lover. The

(01:05:35):
punishment is exile, meaning the simet will die. You know,
I feel like I'm always picking on romance or love
episodes or something like that. But I'm telling you, Star
Trek can do it right, but my god, can they
do it wrong?

Speaker 4 (01:05:51):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (01:05:51):
Yes, And this one was absolutely horrendous in my opinion,
and I just I never want to see it again.
When I will use the scrub word with you and
I will scrub this one from my mind because I
don't want to ever want to revisit this one. I
will not rejoin with Rejoined, Okay, because no, thank you
for moving on.

Speaker 3 (01:06:11):
That was my second choice.

Speaker 4 (01:06:13):
So what are you saying here?

Speaker 2 (01:06:17):
Don't rejoin it? Don't don't All right, what do you think, listeners?
Did we get it correct? Did your episodes make the cut?
If not, let us know and why. We would love
to hear your comments. You can check us out at
www dot a, film by podcast dot com for film
and TV articles and our entire library streaming free. Write

(01:06:39):
to us at film by Podcast at gmail dot com
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(01:07:02):
scare Fest interviews that we did when we visited the
convention a few weeks ago. That was very interesting. Matter
of fact, we talked to Brooke Bundy, who is from
the Next Generation, so very interesting. Wayne got the interview
her as well. Yeah, so go check it out. Wayne Scott,
thank you so much. As always, it's always nice to
have you join me on these Phaser sets. On episodes.

Speaker 4 (01:07:25):
Yep, Black Wise, it's fun.

Speaker 2 (01:07:27):
It is sure all right, And if you're listening to
the show, but then you want to follow us on
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