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Wacky Reviews: Star Trek

Paradise Lost - Odo finds that Red Squad have been up to something. Joseph reopens the restaurant four days after the power cut. A shifty Admiral tells Sisko to cover up that Red Squad were beamed somewhere before the powercut, thinking that Sisko is part of whatever's going on. Sisko asks Nog to introduce him to Red Squad. Nog doesn't want to because Red Squad would think he was uncool but Sisko orders him to give a name. Sisko gets the Red Squad member to admit what he did by bluffing and telling him he did some sloppy work "some DAMN sloppy work!" The cocky cadeet lets everything slip: Red Squad caused the power cut. Sisko is sure that the changelings weren't behind this and Starfleet did it themselves. Sisko wonders how he can turn again his friends but Odo points out that they've already turned against him. Sisko goes straight to the President of the Federation, who is typically incredulous. They try to convince him that Leyton was behind it all in an attemptt get his new security measures implemented. Sisko asks the President to order Leyton to have his troops stand down and if Leyton refuses he'll know Sisko is telling the truth. The President, AS USUAL, isn't willing to risk upsetting anyone (the security measures are popular with the public) so Sisko promises to get him proof instead. Nog tells him all the members of Red Sqaud have disappeared. Leyton and Sisko have a sit down in the restaurant. Leyton tries to use their history together to win Sisko over to his side (the Tzenkethi get mentioned!) Of course Sisko doesn't agree and is relieved of his duty and ordered to return to DS9.

Sisko runs into O'Brien outside. What's he doing on Earth? It's not really O'Brien, it's a changeling fucking with Sisko. Sisko says "if you have something to say to me SAY IT" for what I believe is the first time but I can't be certain! The evil O'Brien tells Sisko there's only four changelings on Earth and they've managed to bring about chaos. It's a great scene because of Colm Meaney playing the changeling like a total weirdo asshole. Sisko talks to his dad about a girl he asked out once. Sisko contacts Kira on a Bajoran frequency. Sisko and Odo access a list of Starfleet officers loyal to Leyton who have been assigned to key positions all across the sector. He's ordered more transfers the date before the President makes his speech and Sisko suspects Leyton is plotting to take over entirely. Benteen walks in on them and Sisko congratulates her on being promoted to Captain of the Lakota. Sisko goes to see the President but finds Leyton there. Benteen runs a blood test on Sisko and fakes it somehow to make it look like he's a shapeshifter (of course the stupid President is fooled, he's useless.) Leyton tells Sisko his plan while Sisko is locked up: he's going to overthrow the President and take control of the Federation until the changeling threat is eliminated. Yep, he's Palpatine! Odo breaks Sisko out of the holding cell. The Defiant is on its way to Earth with proof of something important. Sisko goes to arrest Leyton and tells him they have an officer on the Defiant who has admitted to triggering the wormhole's openings, under orders from Leyton of course, to make it look like the Dominion is coming (They don't go all the way to revealing that Leyton was behind the terrorist bombing though. That would have been too far and made him too evil.) The Lakota has been sent to stop the Defiant getting to Earth. The Excelsior Class Lakota fires on the Defiant (commanded by Worf) with its upgraded weapons and they fight back. Sisko gets indignant with leyton. Benteen reports that she's fought to a standstill with the Defiant. Leyton orders her to use quantum torpedos and destroy them. Sisko points out that she knows damn well there's no changelings on the Defiant. Benteen powers down because she knows it's all gone too far. Leyton finally gives up but says he hopes Sisko isn't making a mistake. Odo is worried there's still changelings on Earth but Jospeh isn't going to let them change the way he lives his life.

It's a strong conclusion! I like that even though Leyton's the bad guy you can kind of see his point of view since the President of the Federation seems to be a total idiot. It's probably not quite as good as part one but the fake O'Brien scene is really great and I liked Sisko yelling at Nog so I'm pretty sure I'm just going to give it 9/10 as well.

SCORE: 9/10
 
What's amazing is that this all came out several years before 9/11 and the resulting creation of the Constituion-killing Department of Homeland Security.
 
The defiant Lakota battle was the highlight of the episode for me.

The Irish man as the terrorist was an interesting choice.
 
Crossfire - Odo lines everything up perfectly for a weekly crime report meepting to Kira (with coffee.) It's mentioned that First Minister Shakaar is coming to the station and some Bajorans object to his visit. He also admits that he purposely took quarters above Quark's so he can annoy him but walking around in the form of various animals. Boring Shakaar comes onboard and meets the senior staff in dress unifroms (except Worf isn't there but O'Brien is despite not being a senior officer.) Odo receives information that someone is planning to assassinate Shakaar. Worf is put in charge of Starfleet Security as Eddington is on leave so has to work with Odo. They get on better this time. Odo gives him advice on maintaining order and they bond over their perfectly laid out quarters. Odo follows Shakaar about as his bodyguard. Bajorans crowd around Shakaar on the Promenade, much to Odo's annoyance. At a function, Odo shifts a belt back on after Kira tells him it looked good on him. He watches intently as Kira and Shakaar flirt and Quark seems to notice Odo's jealousy. Shakaar discusses his Brexit Federation membership negotiations with Odo (they aren't going well.) He praises Odo's hard work and asks him if Kira's ever said anything to Odo to indicate that she's attracted to Shakaar. Odo says no which is technically true but really he knows Kira likes him. Odo hints that Shakaar shouldn't ask Kira out but he's obviously going to do it anyway.

Odo finds that Quark has a Ferengi listening device and thinks he's using it to spy on Shakaar (Odo claims it's to listen to Rom's sleeping.) Quark confronts Odo with the fact that Odo is in love with Kira and jealous of her feelings for Shakaar. Odo storms out. Hmmmph! Kira's late for the next crime report with Odo and he suspects she's been up all night shagging Shakaar. She leaves quickly to give Shakaar "a tour of the station." They nearly kiss but feel awkward with Odo watching. Odo is further distracted by Kira and Shakaar's flirting in a turbolift and the control of the lift is cut. It starts to fall and Odo has to shapeshift himself METAL FISTS to slow it down and save their lives. Odo admits to Sisko that he turned over control of the turbolift without verifying Worf's security code. Worf tells Odo off for not doing enough to catch the killer. He goes off to speak to Kira again, but finds that Shakaar has been in her quarters with her for three hours. He stands outside on guard instead of the officer on duty while they probably have sex. Completely oblivous to Odo's feelings, Kira tells him how dreamy Shakaar is and how happy she is to be with him (Odo can barely hide his feelings so it's maybe a tad silly that Kira doesn't pick up on them at all.) While Odo's busy with all this, Worf's caught the terrorist with Odo's deputies, a member of the Bajoran "True Way" movement (why not just use The Circle instead?) Odo goes back to his perfectly arranged quarters and smashes them up. Quark hears (it's clever how the episode established earlier that Quark can hear everything in Odo's quarters!) and comes to see what's going on. Odo admits that Quark was right. Quark tells Odo he doesn't care about his feelings for Kira, he just wants Odo back on form because he runs a manhunt pool every time there's a crime and Odo's losing him money by not solving crimes fast enough. Odo suspects Quark was talking to him as a friend but Quark says "nah!" It's a great scene from two of the best actors in the show. Odo goes to see Kira and tells her...he can't make their Tuesday morning meetings anymore. And he's stopped wearing the belt. Quark finds that Odo his installed soundproofing in his quarters and thanks him. Odo says it was nothing to do with Quark, wink wink.

It's a great character episode for Odo, wtih some of the best acting yet from Rene Auberjonois. Odo's love of order (FASCISM?) is very well established and here we get to see what happens to him when he loses control. The two scenes with Quark are a highlight and I really like how it goes back to how things were between them in early season one where Quark would actually come to Odo to help him out. What hurts the episode slightly is that Kira seems a bit out of character with how she acts all gooey about Shakaar and doesn't notice Odo's really obvious pain at all. NO I'm not saying Kira should get with Odo instead because he's a "nice guy", she has every right to get with Shakaar (even though he's pretty dull and not as hot as Dax makes out at the start) but it makes her seem dumb when she doesn't notice anything strange going on with Odo. Also would have been nice to member hear a bit more about the negotiations with the Federation and the reason why terrorists want to kill Shakaar. The episode isn't about either of those things so I don't mind too much that they're not explored, but there could have been a few extra lines of dialogue to make them feel less halfassed. Anyway this is very good still!

SCORE: 8.5/10
 
Return To Grace - Shakaar sends Kira to a conference with the Cardassians to share intel about the Klingons. And of course the person sent to escort her to the conference is Dukat, now a lowly freighter Captain after being demoted, disowned by his mother, and dumped by his wife due to taking Ziyal home with him. He promises Kira he will regain his power one day. Ziyal (still a young teen and not yet recast) tells Kira that things didn't go well for her on Cardassia but getting to know her father has made it all worth it. DAMAR (Casey Biggs) makes his first appearance as a member of Dukat's crew. Dukat runs battle drills. Kira and Dukat have dinner together and he notes that she always dates powerful men: the Bajoran pop and now the head of the government. He suggests that gives him another reason to return to his former position of power. A Klingon bird of prey blows up the conference before Dukat's ship arrives. The Klingons see Dukat's ship as no threat and lower their shields. Dukat tries to destroy them and fails and the Klingons just fly away. Dukat is really hurt that he's not even worth killing anymore. Kira comes up with a plan to go after the Klingons, but it will require modifications to Dukat's ship. Dukat praises Kira's inventiveness and she feels kind of conflicted as she always does when he's nice to her. Kira believes Dukat is only going after the Klingons as a means to restore his reputation with the Cardassians. He claims it's mostly because he cares about his people. He questions how she could possibly be attracted to someone as boring as Shakaar rather than someone as complex as Dukat. Kira gives Ziyal instructions on how to operate weapons. Ziyal tells her that her father feels bad about the things he did during the Ocupation. Kira says Dukat wants forgiveness for the Ocupation from her and she'll never give him that.

Dukat predicts the where the Klingons will taget next. Kira tells him they have to lure the Klingons in by pretending they have valuable cargo. He just won't stop flirting. Dukat tells Kira about a Gul he hates who is now sleeping with his wife. The Klingons are tricked by Dukat's fake cargo and he manages to damage the Bird of Prey with his new weapons. But the Klingons fire back and Dukat's freighter is badly damged. Dukat and Kira beam over to the Bird of Prey, beat up some Klingons (because Klingons can always be beaten up by main characters) and beam the Klingons over to the freighter and the Cardassians over the Bird of Prey. Dukat then destroys the freighter because he's a dick. They find valuable intel on the Klingon computers and Dukat is certain that it'll be enough to restore his former glory. But the Cardassian government don't want Dukat attacking any more Klingons and order him home to return to his former position of military advisor. Dukat knows the Cardassians don't want to fight any more so there's no point in him being a military advisor again. He claims to be the only real Cardassian left and if no one else will stand against the Klingons he'll go to war against them with one Bird of Prey. Kira tells him this is pretty crazy. He invites her to join him in his fight as it'll be like being in the resistance again. He makes a passionate plea for her help and Kira actually thinks about it for a while. Ziyal tells Kira how Damar has been teaching her self defence. Damar's a good friend to Ziyal! Kira of course turns Dukat's offer down but has an offer of her own: she'll take Ziyal back to DS9 with her. Ziyal reminds Kira of herself and she doesn't want her growing up fighting for her life like Kira did. Sisko makes her only appearance of the episode giving Dukat permission to dock when they return to DS9. Dukat can't help hitting on Kira one last time.

It's a good Kira/Dukat episode, better than the last one (which wasn't bad either!) Dukat is his usual self here wanting Kira's love and approval and Kira doesn't do her annoying laugh when he sits on a spike or anything so that's all good. Kira aking Ziyal to live on the station is a nice ending. It's a bit of a talky episode but not boring. It's good.

SCORE: 8/10
 
Sons of Mogh - Worf and Dax fight on the Holodeck again. He's distracted by her cleavage (and really, so was I) and things get seriously flirty until a drunken Kurn shows up on the station, waving a knife. He wants Worf to kill him. Worf opposing Gowron has brought his family disgrace and ruined Kurn's life. Kurn makes the typical remarks about Worf being more loyal to the Federation than to his own family. The House of Mogh have lost their land and seat on the High Council. Kurn feels the only way to regain his honour is for Worf to kill him. O'Brien and Kira are returning to the station in a runabout when a cloaked ship seemingly explodes near them. Some Klingons show up and warn them off. Dax learns from Quark that Worf has bought some Klingon incense and puts the pieces together to figure out that he's about to murder his brother. She and Odo rush in just after Kurn has been stabbed and beam him in to Bashir. Kurn's life is saved but Sisko isn't exactly happy about Worf trying to stab a guy to death and doesn't much care about respect Klingon beliefs. Kurn is very disappointed to wake up alive and even more disappointed in Worf for not being willing to murder him again. Dax suggests to Worf that he get Kurn a job working for Odo's Bajoran security. Worf assures Odo that Kurn will be willing to use the "stun" setting on his phaser.

Kurn turns out to be pretty good at the job, even though he finds the uniform uncomfortable. O'Brien and Kira investigate the recent Klingon activity on the Defiant. A Klingon ship requests medical help after it nearly blows up and is towed to DS9. Kurn lets himself be shot and Odo fires him from the job (he didn't last long!) because he doesn't need a security guard with a death wish. Kurn doesn't want to talk anymore and tells Worf his life is in his hands. Worf figures out that the Klingons have been planting cloaked mines around the star system. He want Kurn to help Starfleet find the mines. Kurn doesn't want to turn on his own people but Worf points out that cloaked mines are dishonourable. Kurn admits he opposed Gowron's decision to go to war with the Federation and Worf talks him into helping for the greater good. They can save the Klingon people by stopping them from commiting further dishonourable acts. Bashir gives Worf some cool scars so he can go undercover on the Klingon ship with Kurn. A Klingon catches the brothers sneaking around and Kurn kills him when he notices a knife. They get the detonation codes for the mines and Sisko can now disable them all at once. Worf confesses to Dax that he fears Kurn was right about him going soft as he couldn't tell that Klingon was about to murder him like Kurn could. He thinks that even if the House of Mogh gets its honour back he'll never be able to return home anyway as he doesn't belong. He understands how Kurn feels now. O'Brien and Kira (why are they always the only ones on the Defiant this week?) detonate all the Klingon mines. Worf finds a drunk Kurn holding a gun to his head (but suicide is dishonourable!) Worf promises to make him an honourable man again...but not as his brother. Bashir does surgery (apparently without Kurn's consent?) to completely remove all of Kurn's identity and even his DNA. He'll still remember he's a Klingon but that's all. He'll go and life with a friend of Worf's father starting a new life, never knowing who he once was. The procedure is a success and Kurn forgets who he is. He asks Worf if he's a part of his family too, but Worf says he has no family. And...that's how the episode ends.

The ending is really annoying because this was shaping up to be a great episode. Tony Todd gives another amazing performance, and one completely different than in 'The Visitor'. All of his scenes with Worf are very strong and even though the Klingong beliefs are still really stupid it's so well acted that you care about it all anyway. Then they go and completely remove Kurn's identity which is pretty much just the same as klling him? Bashir's fine with this even though Worf apparently didn't even ask Kurn's permission first (the last we see is Kurn passing out drunk.) Really they could have done a whole episode about the ethics of what they did to Kurn but instead it's all in the last few minutes and is treated as a valid solution. It's just bizarre. And again I actually liked the whole episode up until that point but the ending nearly turned me against it. But I think it's still a good episode?

SCORE: 8/10


Bar Association - Worf is in love with the Defiant and wants to make it the best ship it can be. O'Brien and Bashir play as Irish warriors fighting vikings in the holosuite and Leeta (she's back!) laughs at them. Rom has an ear disease and empties one of Moogie's home remedies into his ear in a digusting scene. Rom passes out but Quark just coldly states that he's going to dock his pay for getting ill when he was supposed to be working. Bashir is shocked that Rom's contract with Quark means he doesn't get time off for being sick. Bashir suggests that Quark's workers need a union. Rom admits to Leeta that it's his own fault his ear got diseased because he'd been wanking it too much (seriously.) Quark tells his workers he's cutting their salary by a third because business is down (due to the Bajoran Cleansing Ritual.) Quark acts much more evil than usual when Rom asks him to reconsider. Worf and Dax catch a thief who broke into his quarters and stole his tooth sharpener. Worf tells Odo these types of thing didn't happen on the Enterprise and Odo instantly reads out a list of times the Enterprise was hijacked and stuff (he obviously had it ready for just such an occasion.) Rom holds a secret meeting of Quark's employees and tels them they're going to form a union. The Ferengi workers are all scared that the FCA will hear but Rom wins them over with a poorly acted speech. Rom goes to Bashir for help since he doesn't actually know anything about unions. O'Brien just happens to be there getting a cyst treated and tells Rom an inspiring story about his union leading ancestor who was brutally murdered. Rom and the others present a list of their demands to Quark, who laughs at them, then walk out on strike. There's a funny scene where Quark disappears in front of Odo: he's using holographic waiters (who all look like him) while his workers are on strike. They don't work very well. Odo admits that he doesn't like unions either but he can't arrest them because they're not doing anything wrong yet.

O'Brien and Bashir are shocked to see Worf enter Quark's while the picket line is outside. We cut to the next scene and the three of them are in a holding cell being told off by Sisko for brawling on the Promenade. Sisko tells Quark that he wants him to end the strike. Quark goes to Rom and offers him latinum to end it. Rom refuses and quotes the Communist Manifesto. Brunt (urgh) shows up with some Nausicaans saying he's here to help Quark end the strike. Brunt and his thugs break into one of Rom's union meetings. One of the Ferengi instantly starts begging for mercy and it's quite cringeworthy. Brunt gives them one last chance to go back to work before their finances on the Ferengi homeworld are stripped. Rom makes another speech to convince them to keep striking. Worf apologises to O'Brien for the fight and says living on the station isn't suiting him so he's moving his quarters to the Defiant. He'll be happy to be living there by himself. Leeta kisses Rom (on the forehead.) Quark warns Rom that he has to give up before Brunt has him killed or something. Rom still thinks Quark doesn't care about him. The Nausicaans play a game where they throw darts into each other's chests. Brunt says an example has to be made of someone Rom cares about, like Leeta for example. But he can't beat up a hot girl so they beat up Quark instead. Quark and Rom talk some more (this episode has far too much of Rom talking) after Quark's eye socket has been crushed. Quark suggests that Rom disolve the union and make it look like Quark won and he'll secretly give in to Rom's demands six months later. Rom insists he do it now. Business is booming again in Quark's (the Bajoran cleansing ritual is over) but Rom's quit for a job working as a maintenance engineer on the station.

It's a Ferengi episode. It's not as bad as the one about Moogie last season. There's some funny stuff here, like the holographic waiters and the brawl between O'Brien, Bashir and Worf. And Rom quiting Marx isn't something you'd expect to see in Star Trek. But man it just gets to boring by the ending. I hate Rom? His acting isn't good. His voice is dumb. And he just talks endlessly in this episode and I had to sit here listening to him talking so yeah I'm pretty sure I hate him. He should be kept to much shorter appearances anyway. But yeah this isn't actually bad I just didn't like a lot of it very much.

SCORE: 6.5/10
 
There’s another Ferengi episode (with Brunt) still to come this season!

Agreed about The Sons of Mogh. I thought it was really good that Worf actually did stab Kurn at the beginning, because even though you know he has it in him, you just don’t expect that to happen. But they got the ending so wrong. I can’t believe Bashir would ever agree to wiping someone’s memory, regardless of Klingon custom. Of all the characters other than Odo he’s the most by-the-books and moral one. They should’ve spent a lot longer talking it out and explaining why it really was the only option.
 
I think sometimes the writers followed their "not something Gene would do" mantra without thinking through the consequences. It was great they were different but not if falls off the Trek morality map entirely for no logical reason.
 
Accession - Keiko and Molly are returning to the station and Miles and Julian are sad they they'll have to stop playing with each other. Also Keiko's pregnant. A young Bajoran couple wants the Emissary's blessing before getting married and Sisko is happy to give to them (speaking in Bajoran!) but still feels weird about being a religiious icon. An ancient Bajoran ship (like the one the Siskos flew in 'Explorers') comes through the wormhole. The pilot claims to be the Emissary. He entered the wormhole over two hundred years ago and spoke to the Prophet. They healed his wounds and returned him to the present day for some reason. Also he's a famous poet named Akorem Laan. He's shocked that Kira is doing a job outside of her d'jarras, the Bajoran caste system was abandoned when the Cardassians occupied the planet. Sisko is happy to step aside and let Akorem take on the role of Emissary as he thinks the Bajoran is much more qualified for the job. Bashir and Quark congratulate Miles on his upcoming baby but he doesn't seem very excited about it. There's a funny bit where Worf says "NOW!?" when he finds out Keiko's going to have a baby (he delivered Molly!) O'Brien is a bit sad that he won't have time alone with Keiko now that the new baby is coming. Kira and other Bajorans clap for Akorem in their stupid Bajoran way of clapping before he makes his big speech. He believes the Prophets returned him now to heal the wounds of the Occupation and return to the d'jarras. Kira and other Bajorans look worried about this but do their stupid clap again anyway. Akorem isn't going to force the d'jarras at first, but hopes in time the Bajorans will decide to make it a matter of war. Sisko points out that they won't be able to join the Federation if they adopt a caste system but Akorem says he and Kai Winn are fine with this. Sisko thinks it's a mistake. In the replimat, Kira feels uncomfortable when a Bajoran with a lower ranked d'jarra gives up her seat for her. Kira tells Sisko it's not their place to question the Emissary and the Bajorans would have done anything Sisko had asked for them when he was emissary (the implication being he never asked.)

Sisko has a dream where he sees Kai Opaka who asks him "who are you?" Bashir says he experienced an "orb shadow" and that the Bajorans believe they only happen when some ignores what the prophets were trying to tell them during an orb experience. Sisko waves it off. Kira tries to make clay sculptures (as that's her djarras) but isn't very good at it. O'Brien plays darts with Molly and Keiko is surprised by his viking outfit. Molly doesn't want to play with him and he looks sadly at his viking gear. Sisko tells Kira that he thinks the Federation blame him for Bajor no longer joining as he quit the emissary role. He admits that he feels like he did fail Bajor. Kira tells him she's quitting as first officer to return to Bajor and learn how to sculpt even though she obviously doesn't want to. O'Brien and Bashir see each other for the first time in days and Quark tells them they had the holosuite booked. They have to cancel because Bashir doesn't want to play with Morn instead. A Bajoran religious guy is found dead on the Promenade after falling from the second level. The Vedek proudly tells that he did it because the dead man's d'jarras was unclean and he wouldn't step down from the order. Sisko tells Akorem that he wishes he'd never gave the role of emissary up and is going to challenge Akorem's claim before more people die. Sisko thinks the only way to settle it is to go to the wormhole and ask the prophetis. They go inside in a runabout and have a shared vision where the prophets do their usual thing of appearing as people they know to talk to them. The prophets say that Akorem finding them "first" means nothing to them. They admit that they sent Akorem to the future for The Sisko and that Sisko is the real emissary. Sisko suggests they return Akorem to his own time and the prophets agree, but leave him with no memory of everything that's happened. The Opaka prophet tells Sisko that he is "of Bajor." Keiko lets Miles off the hook by telling him Bashir is depressed and needs Miles to hang out with for an hour or two. Then tells Julian the same thing. The d'jarras is over thanks to Sisko and most of the Bajorans are happy to hear it. Sisko shows Kira one of Akorem's best poems, a poem she remembered being unfinished. He is also very happy to give his blessing to a young Bajoran girl.

It's the Jane Espenson episode! She's good with things like character and plot! The whole "emissary" thing has kind of been on the backburner since season one, only coming up once or twice a season but it's back in a big way here and it makes for a very good episode, probably the best "Bajoran religion" episode yet. Sisko is forced to finally face what being the emissary actually means to him and makes the choice to embrace the role. The subplot actually makes Keiko likable so that's nice too!

SCORE: 9/10


Rules of Engagement - Worf has a dream where he walks around the Defiant which is full of dead crewmembers and dead Klingon children. He's in a holding cell and has a hearing started in five hours. Klingon prosecuter Ch'Pok (Ron Canada) wants Worf extradited do the Klingon homeworld to stand trial for destroying a Klingon transport ship that decloaked while the Defiant was battling Klingons. Sisko is defending Worf and wants Odo to do some investigating. Ch'Pok tells the Vulcan admiral who is serving as judge that he does not dispute any of the facts in Worf's reports but intends to put Worf's heart on trial: was he a Starfleet officer doing his duty or a Klingon warrior giving in to bloodlust? Director Levar Burton does a thing where the witnesses testifying do so by talking directly to the camera in flashbacks. So, for exmple, when Dax is giving her testimony it cuts to her fighting Worf on the holosuite and talking about him being a fearsome warrior while fighting him. It's something different for Star Trek! She admits Worf has a violent Holosuite program where he gives the command to murder children in a historical battle. Sisko is called to testify next and tells details of the mission (they were providing aide to Cardassians, it wasn't meant to be a combat mission.) Quark's testimony nearly has Morn speaking but Ch'Pok tells him to get to the point so we don't get to see it. Quark tells that Worf said he hoped the Klingons would try something during the mission. O'Brien gives more details of the destuction of the transport ship. Ch'Pok gets him to admit that he might have acted differently if he'd been in command and not fired as quickly (but he's speaking with hindsight.)

Ch'Pok advises Sisko to concede and promises he'll keep Worf from being executed and even defend him himself. Sisko thinks it's just because he's worried about what Worf will say on the stand. Worf gives his side of the story and tells Sikso he was excited by battle, like any Klingon, but didn't let that excitement cloud his professional judgement. He says hesitating would have risked the Defiant and the Cardassian convoy so he'd do the same thing all over again. Ch'Pok tries to make him angry by talking about how he's hated by other Klingons for siding with the Federation and being raised by humans. Ch'Pok says a true Klingon would rejoice at the deaths of any enemy, even children, and maybe Worf isn't a real Klingon if he didn't enjoy killing them. Worf finally hits him after he brings up Alexander. Odo finally finds something useful for Sisko. Sisko calls Ch'Pok to take the stand as an expert on Klingon matters. Sisko presents him with the list of names of the Klingons who died on the transport. Sisko then reveals that those same people actually all died three months earlier in an unrelated crash. Brooks is in full on theatrical mode here by the way. There was no one on the transport at all and the whole thing was staged to disgrace Worf and stop the Federation from helping the Cardassians. Sisko goes to see Worf and Worf admits that he had felt a chance for vengeance when the Klingons attacked and shouldn't have took the mission. He says he should have checked the target before firing and Sisko tells him "you're DAMN RIGHT" you shold have checked. So even though Worf was set up he was still in the wrong and it's a nice ending.

It's a pretty good episode but a tad too talky with most of it being Worf's trial. There's some nice directorial techniquies used to make it more interesting, but at the end of the day it's still standard courtroom stuff. But for Worf's character it's the best episode since 'Way of the Warrior' and the final scene with Sisko is very strong.

SCORE: 8/10
 
I didn't care for the "talking to the camera" testimony technique; for me it seemed too gimmicky and pulled me out of the story. The trick was used to much better effect later when Sisko dictates his personal log to the camera in "In The Pale Moonlight."
 
It was a bit weird but it was better than just having them just dryly testify...the episode was really talky and needed a bit of action.
 
I don't generally warm up to any of the Law and Order: Federation episodes across the series, mostly for that reason.

The Measure of a Man and The Drumhead are exceptions because there was actually something interesting at stake. But if a main cast member is on trial for a crime, you know they are going to be freed by the end of the hour. (Except O'Brien in Hard Time -- THAT was a good expansion of the crime-trial-punishment theme).
 
Hard Time - An old man draws in the sand in an alien prison. It's O'Brien! But as an old man! He's told he's free, after twenty years. He wakes up in the present day and is surprised to see that Kira hasn't aged at all. She explains that his memories of being in prison were implanted in him, none of it really happened, and the punishment is fitted to the individual. Sisko explains to Keiko that O'Brien was wrongly arrested and by the time it was cleared up it was too late. There's a nice shot of him returning to the station and looking at it through the runabout window. On his return he tells Bashir that he was alone during his entire impisonment, but flashbacks show he had a cellmate named Ee'Char (Craig Wasson) from the start. On seeing Keiko for the first time he's surprised to find that she's pregnant as he'd been gone as long he forgot. Miles acts strangely at dinner with Keiko and Molly, hiding some of his food in his napkin as the prison guards sometimes wouldn't feed him for weeks. Ee'Char tries to teach him how alien sand-drawing techniques in flashback. They're becoming good friends. In the present day he sleeps on the floor rather than in bed with Keiko. While playing darts with Worf, he thinks he sees Ee'Char on the Promenade and wanders off. Jake (yes Jake Sisko is still a character on this show) teaches him the names of tools he's forgotten in the last twenty years. Bashir is concerned that Miles isn't seeing his counselor. He says he just wants to forget what happened and get on with his life and yells at Bashir.

In flashback he gets mad at Ee'Char asking him about Keiko and kicks his sand drawing. He freaks out and nearly start a prison riot. In the present day he threatens to beat up Quark when he doesn't get served fast enough. Ee'Char appears to him again and Miles tries to tell him he's not real. Ee'Char says he's his friend and Miles needs him. Odo and Quark watch him talking to nobody. Sisko calls him into his office to tell him he's concerned. O'Brien tries to tell him he's fine but Sisko relieves him of duty and orders him to get help. He blames Bashir for grassing him up to Sisko and yells at Bashir and Ee'Char that he's not their friend anymore, that the old Miles is dead. He goes home but shouts at and scares Molly when she keeps asking him to look at her drawing. He smashes up some stuff with a huge space spanner. He takes a phaser and sets it to maximum and holds it to his head. Bashir comes to stop him. O'Brien explain that he's not killing himself because he can't live with himself but to protect the people he loves. He finally tells Julian about Ee'Char. They were together for nearly the full twenty years. A flashback shows crazy-bearded old Miles starving and asking Ee'Char if there's any more food. Ee'Char says no, but when lights go out Miles sees him digging up some food. He attacks him and they have a fight, with Miles snapping Ee'Char's neck. He digs up the food and realises Ee'Char was saving it for both of them. But he's already dead. The guards began feeding him the next day. The guilt over killing Ee'Char is what's driven him mad, and it doesn't matter to him that Ee'Char wasn't real because it felt real. He makes a speech about how humanity hasn't really evolved beyond hate and violence. Bashir tells him that the fact that he feels guilt is what makes him human. Ghost Ee'Char tells him to be well and he puts the phaser down. He agrees to start seeing the counselor againa and take medication Bashir gives him. He returns home and cuddles Molly who says daddy's home.

There's a reason why they do so many "torture O'Brien" episodes: Colm Meaney is really good at playing the tortured O'Brien. This is the finest example of that genre and it's a pretty much perfect episode of Star Trek. It uses a science fiction plot to explore real human emotions and that's when Star Trek is at its best. I don't have much more to say!

SCORE: 10/10


Shattered Mirror - Jake stands in his old spot on the upper level of the Promenade, missing Nog. He goes home and finds his mother there with his dad. Of course it's not his real mum, just the mirror universe version who he's wanted to meet for the last year. Jennifer was here to tell Sisko that the rebels have driven the alliance off Terok Nor. Sisko goes to work and rather stupidly leaves Jake with Jennifer. Sisko comes home to find them missing and a transporter device left behind. He tries to bring O'Brien and Kira over to the mirror universe with him but it only lets him beam over. Smiley O'Brien explains that he and Jake aren't going anywhere. Smiley downloaded the plans for the Defiant last season and they've built one (in less than a year?) but they need Sisko's help getting the engines running. Obnoxious Mirror Bashir punches Sisko as payback for last time. Jake meets mirror Nog, who runs the bar and is a jerk. Jake is still giddy about meeting another version of his mother and wants her and Sisko to get together. Jennifer admits to Ben that it was her idea to bring them here and he obviously isn't happy about her putting Jake in danger. An Alliance fleet heads for the station (which is weird since the station orbits Bajor, an Alliance planet, so they should already be there?) Garak, with a metal collar around his neck, is brought to Regent Worf. Evil Worf laughs! Mirror Dax slaps Sisko for sleeping with her while pretending to be somone else the last time he was there. Sisko stops Bashir from torturing the Intendant (who is held as a prisoner.) Garak kind of offers Worf sexual favours but Worf says he's not his type (but he still has him chained up like a dog it's kinky.)

Sisko is tired after a day working on the Defiant and Jennifer massages him. He seems to be softening to her a bit but Smiley arrives to tell them the Alliance fleet is just eight hours away. Bashir and Dax offer to go and slow the Alliance fleet down in their X-Wings. Sisko asks the Intendant for help defeating the fleet, pointing out that Garak will have convince Regent Worf that she is to blame for losing the station and she'll be killed or worse when they arrive. She tells him about a fault in their targeting systems. There's a kind of pointless scene where a Klingon pretends that Garak stole the key to his collar to get Worf to beat him up. Jennifer tells Sisko that she'll send Jake home to DS9 right away as she doesn't want him hurt. Sisko isn't sure if the connection he felt to her was ever real. Nog chases Jake off from standing in their old spot. The Intendant tries to seduce a guard whose wife she murdered. Nog then breaks her out for killing his father and uncle and giving him the bar. That's pretty convoluted and really why would he risk losing his bar by helping her? Smiley is willing to let Sisko go home when the Alliance arrive but Sisko takes command of the Defiant. The Intendant murders Nog to stop him telling anyone where she's going, which again shows how stupid he was for breaking her out. She then just happens to run into Jake and Jennifer who've been taking their sweet time getting him home. There's a pretty cool action sequence with the Defiant fighting Birds of Prey around the station, weaving between its ring and pylons. The Intendant tries to shoot Jake but Jennifer jumps in the way. She lets Jake live because he's Sisko's son (again, very convenient.) The Defiant takes on Worf's ship in another cool action bit (the Defiant is the Millennium Falcon here and Worf's ship is a stardestroyer) but it's kind of ruined when Bashir comes back and saves them and goes "Yeah!" in the world's worst Han Solo impersonation. Garak suggests to Worf that he retreat and he does so. Garak convince Worf that the Intendant must have betrayed them again and they'll hunt her down and kill her together (if you're excited to see this don't be: it's never followed up on.) Sisko gets to the Infirmary just in time to watch Jennifer die with Jake (kill settings on phasers are usually instant deaths.)

It's more mirror universe silliness. In fact it's not quite silly or campy enough, if anything, with only Regent Worf really raising a few smiles. The stuff with the Siskos and Jennifer is okay but should have been better really (Cirroc Lofton's acting hurts it.) I mean it's kind of sad when she dies but compared to the real emotion of 'Hard Time' it's pretty poor. What the episode does have going for it is some of the best starship action scenes yet in the series, but even then you have to put up with Bashir being annoying. So I don't know. I wasn't really feeling it.

SCORE: 6.5/10
 
Yeah, the battle scenes make an otherwise underwhelming episode worth watching. Really fun and creative.

I just watched “Let he who is without sin”, where Worf joins a terrorist group on Risa. Worst episode ever. It’s so stupid and boring it makes Move Along Home seem entertaining.
 
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