The Search, Part 2 (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 2) The Federation makes a risky deal with the Dominion; Odo learns from other Changelings

Rewatching ST:DS9 After the recap of Part 1, a female Changeling (leader? spokesperson?) says Odo was sent by his people out into the universe as their equivalent of an infant, in order to learn about the “solids.”   When she takes Odo’s hand, both of their limbs mingle as orange goo, which causes Odo to appear rattled. Kira is concerned for his well-being, but the female Changeling says she’s let him briefly experience the Link, the communal state where all the other Changeling individuals co-exist in their liquid form.  Meanwhile, after six days drifting in a failing escape pod, Sisko and…

Shutting the Door on the Hard-Knock Life

In sync with the resurgence of labor activism nationwide, actors, dancers, stage managers, technicians and others have been questioning the nuts and bolts of their contracts — both the documents that detail their jobs and the wider assumptions about what they owe an audience. Can the theater, they ask, find a way to uphold them more holistically as humans, even as they continue to gut themselves every night? Some people will not even agree that it should. The idea that theater is a calling, not a job, and that the two categories are mutually exclusive, is so ingrained in the…

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The Search, Part 1 (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 1) Sisko takes the Defiant on a mission to contact the Founders

Rewatching ST:DS9 Although the season 2 finale didn’t end in a cliffhanger, the season 3 opener begins with “Last time on Star Trek Deep Space Nine,” followed by clips, followed by “And now, the continuation.” (Note… not “the conclusion.”) In Ops, Kira and the senior staff are debating how best to respond to a Jem’Hadar attack. Warning bleeps sound. A blunt-nosed, tightly-packed, no-nonsense Federation starship decloaks, and a cheerful Sisko apologizes for the surprise. (Welcome, NX-7207 Defiant, to the Star Trek family.) In the wardroom (a big meeting room fitted with Federation viewscreens) Sisko explains the Defiant was originally developed…

The Jem’Hadar (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 26) Sisko father-son bonding vacation threatened by Ferengi and the Dominion

Rewatching ST:DS9 Sisko is unimpressed by Jake’s botany science project, and offers to take him on a vacation through the wormhole to do a planetary survey, proving he’s learned absolutely nothing from O’Brien’s attempt to take a runabout on a vacation. Space Dad is flummoxed when Space Son announces he’s invited Nog to come along, too, and annoyed when Quark presents himself as Nog’s chaperone. Jake’s friendship with Nog is sincere, but Quark, who hopes that spending quality time with Sisko will help him negotiate using the station monitors to broadcast advertisements, pressures Sisko on the grounds that letting him…

Tribunal (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 25) O’Brien Must Suffer: shore leave interrupted for a Cardassian show trial

Rewatching ST:DS9 O’Brien annoys everyone in Ops with last-minute instructions. On his way to join Keiko on a runabout for their vacation, he runs into a former shipmate from the Rutledge. Boone says he’s left Starfleet and is now settled on the Cardassian side of the demilitarized zone. The two promise to check up with each other later. In private, Boone suspiciously plays back part of a recording he just made of O’Brien’s voice. On the runabout, Keiko is annoyed that O’Brien has left behind the “holocam” he was supposed to bring and instead brought some technical manuals. He softens…

The Collaborator (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 24) Winn tasks Kira with investigating Bareil’s connection to a war crime

Rewatching ST:DS9 In a vision, Vedek Bareil exits the shrine on DS9 and sees a hanging monk and a sporty Kira. According to Kira, the hanging man is Bareil himself. After the opening credits, a shirtless Bareil looks pensively out the window in DS9. He’s in Kira’s quarters, and their relationship has obviously advanced since we last saw them together. The two discuss how they will make time for each other in the likely event he is elected Kai. On the promenade, we see Kai Winn telling smiling Bajoran children, “Honor the prophets, and they will always love you.” With…