Equilibrium (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 4) Grumpy, newly musical Dax hallucinates about masks; Sisko discovers a Trill homeworld secret

Rewatching ST:DS9 Sisko is cooking for his staff. Jake is serving cheerfully. Bashir dislikes beets. Odo doesn’t eat but wants to stir; Kira calls him “cute.” Dax says none of her hosts ever had any musical ability, yet she starts to plunk out a tune on a keyboard, as if recalling a memory. Later she’s…

The House of Quark (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 3) Quark accidentally kills a deadbeat Klingon

Rewatching ST:DS9 On a slow night at the bar, Quark grumbles expositionally to Rom (reminding viewers of recent story arc developments). A drunken Klingon assaults Quark, then falls on his own knife. To attract a crowd (and customers), Quark embellishes: he killed Kozak in self-defense. O’Brien comes home to find a pensive Keiko philosophizing expositionally…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

Crossover (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 23) Kira and Bashir visit the Mirror Universe

Rewatching ST:DS9 Bashir thinks he’s bonding with Kira in a runabout as he namedrops and mansplains cheerfully about meditation and music, and asks her to call him “Julian.” Most of this happens in a single two-person take, and it’s delightfully cringeworthy to watch. A problem with the engines and an unusually rough return trip through…

The Wire (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 22) While examining an ill Garak, Bashir discovers a mysterious implant

Rewatching ST:DS9 While sparring with Bashir over literature, Garak gets unusually cranky and headachy, but insists he’s fine.  Bashir pays a house call to Dax’s quarters, where he treats a plant that’s languishing because it’s away from its natural environment (an apt metaphor for Garak’s situation). This bit not only delivers exposition as Bashir talks…