The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Vlad on 2006-03-31 at 12:55pm:
  I finally watched this last night. Is the best Star Trek episode ever? I don't know. But it made the list of my favourite episodes. And mine is a short list.
  
  We've always known that Sisko is human. That's not the issue here. What we come to realize, painfully so, is that he is just as flawed as any 20th century human being. Faced with the paradox "Doing something wrong to do something right", he makes a choice that will cost him his self-respect. And perhaps, it cost him our respect as well.
  
  Ira Behr said that Trekkies see the captains as gods. Well, this God just sinned!
• From RichD on 2006-05-02 at 9:56pm:
  In the Pale Moonlight is an astonishing episode. It ranks in my top 5 among any of the 5 series. I remember how tense and riveted I was when I first saw this episode. A stroke of genius retelling this story through Sisko's log entry. The opening scene immediately captures your attention. We all knew one way or another, the Romulans were going to be key players in the war. What we didn't know, is that Sisko would trick them into it?! Would Picard ever do this? I doubt it. He didn't in The Wounded and he wouldn't here. I do believe Kirk would do it.
• From JTL on 2008-08-17 at 8:37pm:
  This is without a doubt one of the best Star Trek episodes ever done. It is an excellent probe into the human system of moralities and epitomizes what this franchise is all about. Yes, "Favor the Bold" and "Sacrifice of Angels" are awesome, but if there is one postmortem episode I think Gene Roddenberry should be shown if it were at all possible it would be this one. Absolutely astounding. The best? I can't say whether it is or not. However it is very, very high on my list of great episodes.
• From Abigail on 2008-12-17 at 7:47pm:
  Although I greatly enjoyed the plot, I thought the confession-in-personal-log style of telling the story was very cliche. I'm not so into the confessions. If I ignore that minor annoyance, though, it really was a terrific episode.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2009-05-05 at 2:00pm:
  Sisko's treatment of Tolar (holding him up against the wall, threatening to send him back to the Klingons for execution) is not really consistent with his character. I think they should have cut that part out. Although, he seemed to regret it later by saying "Maybe I was under more pressure than I had realized."
  
  Other than that nitpic, this is an episode that never gets old.
• From Jaap on 2010-10-31 at 8:06pm:
  The review says: "Sisko couldn't personally forgive himself for his actions and he felt that maybe recording it all in his log would make him feel better".
  
  I don't say I don't agree but another possibility occured to me. Sisko has grown to be a very "self-aware" person. He's very confident and has grown more confident in the years on DS9. Like he said: HE fell like he just walked through a door and locked it behind him. HE was going to get the Romulans to enter the war; HE was going to convince Vreenak; HE was going to turn the war around; HE was going to defeat the Dominion; HE was going to get the credits with SF Command (and the rest of the quadrant).
  
  But then... he didn't see through the plot, he was outsmarted by Garak; he didn't turn the war around but a Cardassian did.
  
  So i don't think it troubled him all that much that two "innocent" men got killed. Innocent people get killed by the hundreds of thousands at this stage and Sisko has - in some way - been responsible for quite a few deaths himself, just look a the Maquis.
  
  No, I think the thing that pains him most is the damage inflicted to his self esteem. And that's why he got what he wanted but can't be really happy about it.
  
• From Tallifer on 2011-04-21 at 6:18am:
  The point of the Federation is the vision of a utopian future where men have learned to forgo money and concomitant greed, militarism and fascism; where men of all races live in harmony and peace. The moral of Kirk and Picard's inevitable victories of the warlords, maniacs and monsters of outer space was that the Good and the Just will triumph over the Wicked and the Mighty.
  
  If the Federation must resort to Section 31 and murder, forgery and manipulation, then it is just another sinful empire. Parallel to this is the increasing respect for the militaristic and barbaric Klingons and the selfish and honorless Ferengi through the successive generations of Star Trek.
  
  I did enjoy this episode, but these stories should not be told about the Federation: it would have been better to set this Deep Space Nine series in a different polity, perhaps someone neutral like the Tholians. Then the stories could be as free of utopianism as the writers want.
  
  0/10 despite the fun. Simply not Star Trek for me.
• From Gul Darhe'el on 2012-04-04 at 3:01pm:
  During its initial run I didn't get to see much of DS9 beyond early season 4. Also, at the time I was unsure on the direction the series was taking as I found the whole Klingon war story a bit contrived. With that being said, I was stunned at this instant classic years later catching it at random in re-runs. This episode is flawless. Every one (especially the guest stars) turned in spot on performances, the story is completely original, all of the dialogue was interesting and meaningful, I can't say enough. I love the dynamincs and conflict that arise when Sisko employs a small group of professional liars to deceive someone from an ever-skeptical and paranoid race. Simply perfect. I was even more pleasantly surprised upon purchasing the series DVD's that this episode was just one from possibly the best season of Star Trek ever done.
• From DK on 2013-04-23 at 6:18pm:
  Tallifer got it exactly right.  I can understand making this your best episode ever but not best Star Trek.  The artistic vision of this series is most definitely different from the creators of the Star Trek universe.  I happen to like the direction this series took but it is not the "Star Trek" way.  Witness what Roddenberry did when he got a second bite at the apple and created The Next Generation and contrast it with the gritty nature of DS9.  DS9 is a fine vision of the future and a wonderful premise for a show but the differences Tallifer mentions between it and what the vision of the future the creator of Star Trek  had preclude this episode from being the best of what Star Trek has to offer (IMHO).  
  I completely understand the dilemma.  If put on the spot to name my favorite I suppose, like many others, I would choose The Wrath of Kahn.  Ricardo Mantalban was a formidable presence.  Much criticism could be leveled at TWOK too but in the end entertainment is the highest measuring stick but may be different from what Star Trek was all about.
• From BigBoss on 2013-10-08 at 9:39pm:
  To claim that the episode doesn't mesh with Roddenberry's "Trek" is a bit of a misnomer, since Roddenberry's closest vision of Trek was Season 1 of TNG (which is almost universally derided as the worst season).
  
  The issue is that TNG/TOS are well, cartoonish in their morals. You can still tell a great store, but, their stories preclude the possibility of a no-win scenario. Or, to put it even more bluntly, that the only right solution is a morally corrupt one.
  
  This is what makes this episode, and conversly DS9, such a breath of fresh air in the series. Characters have baggage, they have decisions that they wear the repercussions of as scars, instead of everything getting neatly trimmed up at the end of each episode and perhaps not mentioned again. In TNG we never really see anyone make the tough decisions because plot contrivance always foregoes that possibility. The weight of decisions is where DS9 really shines.
• From OmicronThetaDeltaPhi on 2014-06-30 at 1:43am:
  Wow! This is one of those episodes where you leave the TV screen and tell yourself "Now THAT'S what a perfect 10 episode looks like".
  
  It's impressive. It's captivating. It's full of moral dilemmas. Bravo, Deep Space Nine!
  
  As for the claims of this episode being "Un-Roddenberry", I disagree. Sisko simply had no choice, but to do what he did. And he didn't do it to save his ship, or even to save the Federation. He did it to save the entire Alpha Quadrant - including those Romulans he lied to.
  
  And I think that the very fact that Sisko agonized over the whole affair of "presenting a lie as truth", demonstrates how far the morals of humanity have come in the 24th century. A 21st century person wouldn't even blink an eye over this, when the stakes are so high. Yet Sisko feels wretched by what he did. And Why? Because as a Starfleet officer, he values the truth. And this, in my opinion, makes this episode very Roddenberry.
  
• From Phil on 2015-08-22 at 5:03am:
  I don't necessarily see this as being against the spirit of Star Trek if you frame Roddenberry's two series in a slightly different light from what's been presented in the comments so far.
  
  Rather than "Mankind will eventually evolve beyond militarism and pettiness" I believe the takeaway of TOS and TNG should be "if technological progress leads to eradicating scarcity, then mankind can put aside its pettiness, etc."
  
  This leaves room for the Dominion arc--in the first two series you never see the Federation face an existential threat that lasts more than an episode or two. Here you see what would really happen to a society that has its back against the wall, and I believe that both this portrayal and the TNG portrayal are in line with human nature--it's only the context that has changed. Technology and progress can remove the internal causes for base, primitive behavior, but they can't change human nature.
• From Phi on 2015-09-13 at 3:56pm:
  This episode also reminded me of this quotation from Frank Herbert's "God Emperor of Dune":
  
  "I know the evil of my ancestors because I am those people. The balance is delicate in the extreme. I know that few of you who read my words have ever thought about your ancestors this way. It has not occurred to you that your ancestors were survivors and that the survival itself sometimes involved savage decisions, a kind of wanton brutality which civilized humankind works very hard to suppress. What price will you pay for that suppression? Will you accept your own extinction?"
• From tigertooth on 2017-01-06 at 5:10am:
  I gave this a 10 so this didn't hang me up too terribly much, but...
  
  One the Romulan learned the recording was a fake, wouldn't he have transmitted that info to Romulus immediately? Like even before meeting Sisko? If he does that, the whole plan flops.
  
  I think Garak's plan could have been identical if he had just gotten the Romulans to come to the station for any old reason. He can still hide the rod on their ship then blow them up and he gets the same result.
  
  Though, of course, I'd think Romulus would be wondering why the killed Romulans didn't send them a message saying they had come into possession of extremely vital information.
  
  But whatever. I'm not going to let that seriously get in the way of such a great episode.
• From McCoy on 2017-03-02 at 5:49pm:
  While I love DS9, I can't agree it's the best episode ever made. DS9 has without doubt best characters in all Trek (not so boring, soulless mannekins as i.e. TNG or Voy). Even secondary characters, like Weyoun or Garak, are greatly written and performed (why they couldn't write interesting characters in other series is beyond my imagination). However, I'm not a fan of military space opera. I like different kind of s-f - speculations about "what if...", about mystery things in Universe, about human's place in Universe. But not war with aliens. You can make film about war without all that s-f stuff, it's irrelevant. And it's irrelevant here. Maybe it's good episode, mabybe Dominion story arc is good, but... It's not good s-f for me. It lacks that "something". 7/10 is max I can vote for Pale Moonlight, sorry.
• From Axel on 2018-06-17 at 4:10am:
  Interesting takes on this episode. I can't really go along with the notion that this, and DS9 in general, go against Roddenberry's Trek vision, though.
  
  First, TOS and TNG episodes weren't always neatly packaged stories about good triumphing over evil. Kirk faced a comparable moral dilemma to Sisko's-allowing one to die so millions could be saved-in TOS: City on the Edge of Forever. Picard wrestled with numerous Prime Directive violations, showing that Federation values were sometimes at odds with another, perhaps more moral, course of action. And what about when Nechayev scolded him for not sending Hugh back to the Borg and wiping them all out? Moral dilemmas indeed.
  
  Second, as Phil pointed out, the Federation faces an existential threat in the Dominion. Under such circumstances, things are bound to get messy. Nothing like that was ever quite shown in TOS or TNG, although in TNG: BOBW, Picard is co-opted by the Borg.
  
  Third, I don't even agree that this goes against Roddenberry's "vision" of what the future or the Federation were supposed to be. It wasn't a future where all moral problems, ethical dilemmas, and human shortcomings disappeared completely. It was a future where the modern societal problems of poverty, hunger, racism, sexism, corruption, and lack of opportunity had disappeared. Faced with an external threat, though, that future society may make decisions that are still human and survival-driven. And even if the DS9 Federation didn't meet Roddenberry's standards, it's a reminder that the course of human history has a "bunny-hop" rhythm to it: sometimes taking two steps forward, one back.
  
  Anyway, this episode is an amazing story. Sisko and Garak, as it turns out, were using each other. But Garak has no moral qualms about the outcome; Sisko does. This didn't feature a lot of "science-fiction" but it did what Star Trek does best: it gives you multiple points of view and makes you think, all with a gripping plot from beginning to end. Definitely one of the best Trek episodes ever.
• From Thavash on 2019-01-01 at 12:25pm:
  The final scene between Garak and Sisko is a masterpiece
• From Cthulu on 2023-02-06 at 6:06am:
  I didn't see it mentioned in any of the other comments. But there's a line of thinking that Garak used the bio memetic gel as the bomb to blow up Vreenak's shuttle. His claim that it was to be exchanged for the data rod was a ruse, and he simply needed to get material that the Romulans wouldn't be able to detect. That blew my mind when I first heard it, but it makes sense.
  
  Unlike the deal with Tolar, we never learn the identity of the person Garak claims is requesting gel in exchange for the data rod. This mystery person never comes aboard the station, nor does anyone witness the transaction. That could've been to keep the episode within the time limit. But then, why focus so much on this bio memetic gel to the point that we have a separate scene with Bashir arguing over it, and specifically mentioning it can be used to make weaponry?
  
  If true, that would be the one piece of the puzzle that Sisko did not figure out and which Garak got away with. It's also interesting that, when Sisko realizes Garak planted the bomb on Vreenak's shuttle, he never questions how Garak got ahold of a bomb. He probably just assumes Garak used his Obsidian Order skillset to make one.
  
  Of course, this would also mean that Garak had another way of getting ahold of the data rod, or maybe he just traded some of the gel and used the rest for the bomb. That would fit with his claim that the quantity is "open to negotiation".
  
  Anyway, enough of that rabbit hole. It's definitely one of the best episodes in all of Star Trek.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-22 at 5:12am:
  "But why?"
  
  "He was cardassian. That's reason enough."
  
  A line that certainly is a microcosm of the current conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Eventually the killing goes on for so long that both sides don't even know why they do it, except that the other side is their adversary.
• From JTL on 2008-08-03 at 11:35pm:
  A supremely touching episode; when Marritza breaks down at the end there I don't think I've ever felt such sympathy for a character in a television series. The only reason I wouldn't normally give this episode a 10 is because Marritza's death is (while perhaps necessary) very rushed and, as you said, too easy. However this was much too moving as to not get a 10.
• From Thorsten Wieking on 2008-09-02 at 12:54pm:
  What struck me while watching the first season a second time in this episode and episode "Dax" is the fact that obviously there is still the death penalty imposed on Worlds belonging to or becoming a member of the Federation. I for one thought that this punishment has been abolished at least in the future UFP.
  
  Cheers
  Thorsten
• From Bernard on 2010-01-12 at 12:16am:
  Beautifully constructed episode, brilliantly performed.
  
  Enough said!
  
  Seriously though, it seems like they saved the best stuff for the last two episodes. You have to wonder what was going on for most of the season when they can produce this standard of episode that rivals anything TNG could do for emotional impact and profound messages.
• From MJ on 2011-02-09 at 9:39pm:
  This ranks as one of my favorite DS9 episodes of all time.
  
  It's brilliance has already been pointed out by the other reviews here. My only other thought is that I can't think of a single other TV series in science-fiction or elsewhere that produced such a stunningly and powerfully dramatic episode in its first season. I must admit, when I first watched DS9, I was not prepared for this episode based on what I'd seen. And Moritza's breakdown loses absolutely none of its power with repeated viewing, the sign of a truly great episode.
  
  Even TNG, which I still tend to like better, did not produce such a moving episode until its second season (Measure of a Man). Pure brilliance...
• From John on 2011-12-07 at 3:49am:
  While the rest of the characters are well utilized, particularly the brilliantly-written Marritza, the weak link (as usual) is Kira. No surprise there, as she is one of the most irritating and one-dimensional characters in the entire Star Trek canon. Her constantly over-dramatic indignation gets very tired very quickly, and detracts from an otherwise gripping episode.
  
  
• From Jimmy on 2019-08-22 at 1:32am:
  
  For me simply the best Star Trek episode ever written! Excellent acting all around. Captivating and riveting dialogue. Not one punch thrown, not one phaser fired, not one explosion. The current people working on Star Trek could learn a lot from this episode.
• From Abigail on 2019-09-01 at 6:02pm:
  Great episode!
  
  Kira was super annoying in this episode.
  
  But still, it was great!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Wes on 2012-04-13 at 5:40pm:
  Agreed. This is the best episode of DS9 thus far. Probably my favorite up to this point, too.
  
  I noticed something after watching this time. Something about this episode seems really similar to Star Wars. It's like they took the best parts of Star Wars and capitalized on them in this episode. (Of course, I'm not saying that's actually what they did. It just has the things I liked about Star Wars.) I think most of that comes from the great space battle. Other feelings of Star Wars come from all the characters who have some role to play. DS9 makes awesome use of a huge (for Star Trek) cast. This is just an awesome episode. The music was good, too.
• From Thavash on 2018-12-25 at 5:59pm:
  Why did Starfleet not send any assistance to the most strategic Station in the Alpha Quadrant , which was being attacked by the strongest enemy they had yet faced ? For me a major inconsistency.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-10-21 at 3:00am:
  I gave it a 4. There is just not much here. Garak is a fascinating character, but most of the airtime here is spent on scenes with him physically suffering and acting out of character. There are better "Garak's past" episodes than this.
• From Mr. Lincoln on 2007-11-29 at 7:45am:
  This is a very enjoyable episode, and a good introduction to Garak's past (although what we actually learn is up for questions at this point).
  
  For the record, the Morn appearance is immediately after the scene with Bashir and Jadzia when they are discussing her plant. Immediately before the scene where Quark meets with Garak. I enjoy how Morn is looking sad after he realizes Quark's is closed.
• From djb on 2009-04-06 at 5:36am:
  I liked this episode a lot. I'm coming to really like Garak's character.
  
  I think the episode title may be a reference to Larry Niven's "Ringworld" series, wherein the main character, Louis Wu, is an ex-"wirehead," i.e. he used to have some kind of "wire" implanted in his brain that directly stimulated his endorphin receptors. Just a thought.
• From Bernard on 2011-05-06 at 8:40pm:
  This is a very difficult one to judge. I think Robinsons performance is fairly good but not all that others have made of it. The performance however does not necessarily make the episode and in this case it does not quite do it.
  
  There just isn't any payoff here. It just sets up Garak for more stories... and that's great! It just makes this episode fall into the 'above average' bracket.
  
  I'd give it a 6 or 7 but at least it's good enough to keep up this late-season surge of good episodes.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From MJ on 2011-02-10 at 6:46pm:
  I'm not a fan of most DS9's Klingon episodes from the first four seasons. It got better with "Soldiers of the Empire" and "Once More Unto the Breach", and I do really like what they did later with Martok's character. But this one was pretty good.
  
  The personality differences between the three Klingons reminded me a bit of the Three Musketeers. You have the lover of life, women, and drink, you have the ambitious, arrogant one, and the quiet, secretive leader of the group. They are also old friends seeking one final adventure together. Dax is d'Artagnan, the one who wants to join the group and is seen with affection by them, but not quite one of their own until later.
  
  There are some nice moments in this episode, such as the conversation between Kang and Jadzia about their friendship, about the blood oath, and the Klingon glory days. Overall this was very well written.
  
  I also mark it down somewhat because Jadzia just isn't as convincing as a Klingon warrior as I'd like her to be, and because I would expect a bit more in the way of consequences for her actions. Remember how in TNG: Reunion that Worf was reprimanded formally for his vengeance killing of Duras, despite Picard's sympathies. It would've been nice to see some kind of consquence for Dax, but instead this would seem to reinforce the privileged relationship she enjoys with Sisko simply because of Curzon.
• From Bernard on 2011-03-29 at 2:40pm:
  So, here we go again with the new Jadzia who's decided that she's Curzon.
  
  I love the use of the three TOS Klingons although I find it an interesting 'device' to make all the other races long-lived... Romulans, Vulcans and now Klingons all live well into their hundreds.
  
  The episode itself is good enough and I would give it a solid 7. Just wait for Worfs arrival for plenty more where this episode came from. This episode marks the start of a run of high quality toward the seasons end.
• From int on 2011-08-29 at 7:41pm:
  This was a great episode. The three Klingons are exceptionally interesting, unique characters. They make for a very believable team of old warrior friends. The final raid on "the Albino" has a bit of a Three Musketeers (+ 1 Dax) quality to it, and also a bit of a Tom Clancy quality to it... the premise and execution of this episode is almost feature film material.
  
  There were some good subtleties around Jadzia's uncertainty, which at times reached almost palpable levels. As Dax with her 7 lifetimes she is an experienced warrior, no stranger to battle, hand-to-hand combat, and death. As Jadzia, she is a fairly delicate, innocent creature who's never personally killed anyone in her life. As Jadzia Dax, about to enact an ancient vendetta, she's, well, visibly uncertain, torn, unsure of herself. It's interesting to watch her resolve these things, put on some armor and pull her own weight in battle, but stop short of personally executing the albino herself. Interesting how the Klingon interprets this too, as saving the deathblow for himself.
  
  This is a fun episode, and also an interesting exploration of what some less compatible elements of Dax, and specifically Curzon Dax, mean now, for Jadzia...
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-25 at 12:13pm:
  Kor is played by John Colicos, who among other roles played Count Baltar, the principle villain in the original Battlestar Galactica series. He also played Kor in DS9: The Sword of Kahless and DS9: Once More Unto the Breach. His first appearance as Kor was in TOS: Errand of Mercy way back in 1967, 27 years before this episode. Colicos was thus one of the longest running guest stars on Star Trek ever. (It would be an interesting study to find out who holds that record.) According to Memory Alpha, it seems that Colicos was also the first major character to appear on screen in a Star Trek episode playing a Klingon. Thus, Colicos defined the initial look of the Klingons.
• From Harrison on 2013-01-10 at 9:18am:
  A solid story line with some very unconvincing performances from Dax (Terry Farrell, who conveys nothing of the great Curzon, but chews through her lines in the most stilted, smarmy way) and William Campbell, who is hopelesslu mis-cast as Koloth. He exudes about as much noble Klingon aggression as a retired suburban Jr high school teacher. Kang's character is adequately stolid, but it is Kor (John Colicos) who salvage the episode with more believable & impassioned delivery.
• From Scott on 2018-05-18 at 1:11am:
  I know I'm responding to what is now a very old set of comments, but I think you're being (were being?) unfair to Terry Farrell. I think she possesses an outstanding ability to convey emotion with her expressions, and think she did so here.
  
  Of course Jadzia's not Curzon. She's a 27-28 year old woman. But she feels what he felt and I think Farrell did a good job conveying that dichotomy.
  
  One of my favorite DS9 episodes.
• From ChristopherA on 2020-07-22 at 3:21pm:
  I thought it was really neat getting all 3 of the Klingon commanders from the original series, with their original actors, into the same episode. And I really liked the “Klingon-ness” of the episode’s resolution, it feels like a look into part of Klingon culture. Instead of Dax acting like a proper Federation officer and finding some clever way to ethically deal with the problem, she just goes along with them killing everyone they see so they can flat out murder the guy to gain vengeance. I guess she really does make a good Klingon!
  
  Issues: It was somewhat jarring having a comedy Klingon from a comedy episode (Koloth) along with the two serious Klingons from serious episodes, I tend to think the character would have been better utilized in a less serious story. Jadzia never suffers any consequences from doing far worse than Worf ever did when he was reprimanded for seeking vengeance. The idea of disabling all high-tech equipment is necessary for the episode to work but hard to take seriously; if this were possible, everyone would be disabling everyone else’s equipment all the time.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Sean on 2010-07-07 at 7:11am:
  "If the Dominion come through the wormhole, the first battle will be fought here. And I intend to be ready for them."
  
  That's what Sisko said at the end of season two, and just when I thought we'd finally get the big battle we were promised... they turn and head towards Cardassia. Sigh. Still a terrific episode, though, amoung DS9's best.
• From peterwolf on 2013-12-13 at 11:21pm:
  An episode with many unexpected turns. After Cardassia joined the Dominion one of the best (quite surprising) moments was the Romulans joining a new alliance with Klingons and the Federation against the Dominion. They should have done this earlier. The Bashir-changeling with female voice is rather eerie. His determination to wipe out the solar system of Bajor is nearly too much. At least they would wipe out Odo too, although the founders may not consider him as part of the changelings any more.
  Another strong part was Worf not giving up against the 20th or so Jem Hadar warrior in hand-to-hand combat and made them "yield", because they could not gain victory against him. In parallel, Garak had to overcome his claustrophobia and inner fears to save the prisoners of the federation. The short scene in the runabout when Worf and Garak show some mutual respect is very well done.
• From dronkit on 2014-04-21 at 4:44am:
  The continuity with "Rapture" is notewrthy too. The "flock of locusts" skips Bajor and flies right away to Cardassia because Bajor is not Federation, thanks to Sisko's visions.
• From Dubhan on 2014-10-01 at 4:44am:
  This is also a fantastic Garak episode. We get another little glimpse at his background and he saves the day for those imprisoned by the Jem'Hadar.
  
  Is there any question that Andy Robinson is the best actor in DS9? Not in my mind.
• From tigertooth on 2016-12-03 at 5:08am:
  When Dukat announced to Kira that the Cardassians joined the Dominion, Kira's response was to say to Dax "Lock phasers and fire". This was when the huge Dominion fleet was starting to move away. When a huge hostile force is leaving, you don't shoot at them!
  
  I want to believe that Dax was lying when she said Dukat was out of range; she was just stopping Kira from going through with something that could have needlessly cost hundreds of lives.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Hugo on 2012-11-10 at 10:17pm:
  I don't really get it - how did the Dominion ship get there? We saw two jem'hadar fighters chasing our heroes and attacking them - then we saw the ship with the heroes crashing towards the planet in the nebula - but... ? Just before we saw the two enemy fighters breaking off, and no shot was fired against them...
• From L on 2013-08-03 at 9:33am:
  A fantastic exploration of the poignant relationship between the Jem Hadar and their Vorta. The Jem Hadar's blind and doomed loyalty to 'the order of things' was somehow noble, akin to the Samurai ethic.
  Kira's situation as a frustrated civil servant to a bureaucracy she despises was interesting too.
  Lots of moral complexity here.
• From Axel on 2015-07-02 at 4:10pm:
  I like the dual storyline here depicting people wrestling with the morality of what they are doing. At the same time Kira is questioning whether she is a collaborator with evil, Ramata'Klan is being asked to question his own loyalty to the Vorta. Kira ultimately decides that she is playing the very role she fought against during the Cardassian occupation. Meanwhile, Ramata'Klan is well aware of the flaws of the Dominion command structure and the treacherous ways of the Vorta, but has resigned himself to his own role within that system. He chooses obedience-the overarching Jem'Hadar value-over his own freedom and self-determination.
  
  This episode has lots of great scenes and dialogue: Garak and Nog's conversation just before being captured; Jakes interview with Kira and Odo; Ramata'Klan standing up to Keevan and insisting that only he should be able to discipline his men; and of course, Yassim's chilling suicide on the Promenade. Overall, a really well done episode and some fantastic acting by the guest stars who played Remata'Klan, Keevan, and Vedek Yassim.
• From Rick on 2023-11-30 at 3:21am:
  Ummm, couldn’t sisko have just stunned all of them at the end?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From RichD on 2006-06-20 at 12:18am:
  What a fantastic episode. It incorporated brave, bold ideas that were missing in say, the last 2 Star Trek movies. Dukat's meltdown at the end after witnessing the death of his daughter Ziyal was truly gut wrenching. The battle scenes were epic in nature. DS9 is my favorite among all the Star Trek series. This episode ranks among the top five or Six along with In the Pale Moonlight, A Call to Arms, Rocks and Shoals, The Siege of AR558 and The Visitor.
• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-13 at 5:14am:
  The scenes over the past two episodes where the female shapeshifter is talking to Odo about leaving the pathetic solids behind and joining the great link are really quite disturbing. This reminded me alot of Emperor Palpatine trying to turn Luke Skywalker to the dark side in 'Star Wars: Return of The Jedi'. That shapeshifter lady is so evil, it's unbelievable. She just dismisses all solids as irrelevant and constantly manipulates Odo to turn to the Star Trek dark side. I was waiting for her to start shooting lightning bolts out of her fingers at the end.
  
  For all the female shapeshifter's smugness, condescension, superior attitude, and downright xenophobia, it was quite a pleasure to see the prophets destroy the Dominion's ships like flies. It's nice to know that there are those out there who would consider the shapeshifters limited and pathetic, as the shapeshifters consider the solids. It also reveals that the dominion and the shapeshifters are nothing but petty dictators and conquerors. If they were as superior and detached as they claimed, they would be in a situation similar to the prophets, not messing in the affairs of the solids as they currently do.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-03-09 at 4:55pm:
  This episode marks the end of the fun Dukat, and the beginning of the insane Dukat. I love DS9, but I think this is the single biggest mistake in the DS9 story arc.
• From Zaphod on 2011-05-18 at 11:33am:
  What a letdown, what foolish decision to let the prophets conjure away that Dominion fleet just like that.
  
  Btw, I stopped watching DS9 after that bullshit ending to such a promising and exciting story arc, because I just dont trust the authors of the series anymore, dont want to give them the chance to fool me again. ^^
  And I wont read your site anymore btw, guess, the reviews on this site are more to my taste:
  
  http://www.cynicscorner.org/ds9_6/ds9_6s.html
• From Bernard on 2011-05-25 at 4:50pm:
  And I'm sure our webmaster is truly devastated by that announcement Zaphod.
  
  This is by no means the best television I have ever watched, but it is a super conclusion to the 7 episode story arc. It really is. As usual with DS9 it is what's going on with the characters that is important. Here, Marc Alaimo gets to take centre stage and he doesn't disappoint.
  
  This episode also has a rare commodity in Star Trek... genuine suspense. It builds up and up continuing from where the last episode left off. Will they make it? Will Rom do it? All the pay-offs here are brilliant.
  
  The only thing that brings this episode down slightly is the problem with many major episodes later in the DS9 run - too much pointless space battles. I just don't want to see another CGI sequence, that's not why I watch Star Trek. TNG had that aspect nailed, used just enough to show what was going on. DS9 in episodes like this hits you over the head with shot after shot of ships exploding... I want to see more of what's going on in Sisko's head, Dukat's head.
  
  The conclusion that Zaphod takes such exception to is fine with me. In fact they could have used a similar 'get out' in Voyager by using Q to save their bacon instead of the preposterous watering down and then besting of the Borg in 'Endgame'.
  
  The aspect of the prophets that I dislike as shown here, and I already discussed this in a comment on 'Ascension', is that they become more and more interested in Bajor as the series progresses. Instead of Science Fiction you almost feel like you are watching 'Spiritual-Fiction'. Throughout all other incarnations of Star Trek religious belief was continually held up as ancient superstition by our heroes. Everytime there is a culture or being that holds some beliefs they are shown to be backward or erroneous in some way. This show actually starts to suggest that the spiritual people of Bajor are being watched over by beings that didn't even understand the concept of time in the pilot.
  
  Anyway, none of that takes away from this episode as a dramatic piece. As our webmaster describes it, 'utter brilliance'. I would say ALMOST flawless, but not quite.
• From Christopher Wright on 2011-12-18 at 7:56pm:
  Deus Ex Machina. That's that only problem I have with the conclusion. Too many things worked out in this epsiode. The change of h eart Odo had seemed a bit too quick as well. They should have played up the conflict more with Odo in that respect - almost like a drug addict having to give up his fix for the ones he loves. I LOVED the Weyoun's quick retreat comment and body language. I can see why this episode is highly rated, I just wish the resolution was more creative.
• From JR on 2012-06-12 at 7:04am:
  There are so many good episodes in seasons 5 & 6 and this one is non-stop action. It seems like I find ways to nitpick a bit in each one.
  
  I could not, and still cannot, figure out how a mere Captain, on one of the lead ships no less, is commanding the entire fleet of ships. That would be the responsibility of someone three or four grades higher. They even had an admiral (not sure how high) in the last couple episodes that could easily have been included.
  
  I understand Sisko commanding maybe one attack wing, but giving orders to all of them while making a rapier himself is a bit ridiculous.
  
  I also agree with the above sentiment that having the prophets "disappear" all the dominion ships in the wormhole was pretty cheesy. It would have been cooler if Rom's minefield ended up working after the dominion thought it was clear and ordered their ships through. But, I gather there will be some repercussions to Sisko for asking the prophets to act, and I guess that will make for a good storyline down the road.
• From Captain Keogh on 2013-03-17 at 11:20am:
  I remember the first time I saw this episode, I was only 8, I was amazed at how many ships there were.
  
  I alos loved the ending where Dukat is being led away and O'brein is holding a baseball bat, I just thought there was a bit of humour in that.
• From L on 2013-08-04 at 8:05am:
  I didn't see any O'Brien with a baseball bat.
  
  This was a fitting climax. Hard to see how the rest of the season can compete.
  
  I was as shocked as Dukat was when his daughter was killed. Why did they have to do that? I really liked her. Almost made me cry, especially coming straight after the honest exchange between them of their love for each other.
  
  The Changeling's callousness and superiority is becoming more evident and sinister.
  The head changeling's apparent blandness just increases this evil.
  
  I did not like the Prophet's cliched intervention, and the demanding of a 'price' to do so. I don't see any reason they had to deny Sisko his future happiness, other than the usual psychopathic motivation of those who call themselves gods.
  A very slight anti-climax to a moving story arc.
• From TheAnt on 2013-09-15 at 11:22pm:
  It really is a great episode, tension and quite some excitement how the situation will resolve with such impossible odds.
  A remarkable scene in my book is when Quark stand stunned after killing the two guards.
  
  Odo comes around all of a sudden, sadly it does not feel altogether convincing. Ok Kira have given him a verbal kick in the gonads, yet even so he shrugs off the lure of the changelings from having been all enthralled.
  
  The reason I cannot give the episode a solid 10 is the fact that the Dominion is defeated by a Deux ex machina - that's where the storytelling depart from the style which have made Star Trek great - not even 'Q' did any supernatural rescue from the Borg for example. I shake my head and give a thumbs down on this detail.
  
  Now if we accept that, and watch this as Space opera in the Star Trek universe.
  Then Dukat's madness is rather fitting, and as such t can be viewed as one heck of an episode for entertainment value, with good action and multiple story lines that make it top notch drama.
  
  A small correction, it's actually Weyoun who push for the idea of wiping out Earth's population. Whereas Dukat appear to think it might not be necessary if only the will to resist can be broken by a decisive victory.
• From Axel on 2015-05-10 at 12:13am:
  Sure, this does end with a deux ex machina as other comments have pointed out. It's made a little more bearable by the fact that the wormhole aliens (hate calling them Prophets) do extract a price from Sisko in exchange for intervening purely at his insistence. Without that aspect, it would've been a lot more ridiculous to simply have them make the Jem'Hadar fleet disappear. It would've begged the question as to why Sisko doesn't just go to the wormhole aliens every time he needs help fighting the Dominion.
  
  I would've preferred an ending that involved the minefield too. Far too much time was spent on that plot element for it to simply end as abruptly as it did. But the episode still gets an 8 from me for all its other awesomeness.
  
  It's been suggested that Roddenberry might've included more space battles in TOS if he'd had the budget and technology. This episode shows what that can add: a fantastic visual to go along with the plot. It's also beautifully acted especially by Alaimo.
• From Zorak on 2016-06-21 at 4:48am:
  All other things aside, the ending with Dukat was surprisingly heart wrenching. As much of a villain as he is and as much as he had it coming to him, I couldn't help but feel for the guy. That was brutal.
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-11-26 at 7:17pm:
  While Gul Dukat definitely doesn't deserve any statues on Bajor, Marc Alaimo should have one built for his portrayal in this episode. Fantastically played turning point in Dukat's character arc.
• From jobu on 2024-02-26 at 1:49pm:
  On to this episode and arc. All I remembered from my first watch was the deus ex machina which irritated me so much I stopped watching for a while. Even knowing it was coming, I still found it just as ridiculous.
  
  The prophets wiping out the dominion ships is just such a massive missed storytelling opportunity. The DS9 creators loved to mock and boast about flouting Star Trek and Sci-Fi tropes about technobabble and reset buttons. So their conclusion to a 7 episode galactic invasion story is a magic wave of the hand without a scratch on any of the main cast? My mind immediately went to the original V Mini-series where after thought provoking allegorical storytelling a little girl with super powers stops the evil enemy on the brink of destroying humanity with the wave of a hand. This was just as awful to me. There will be a "penance" is not enough.
  
  I could think of more compelling story turns off the top of my head and I'm not a writer. How about the Prophets meeting the Founders? How about Weyoun and Dukat meeting the Prophets ? Weyoun questioning his entire belief system leading to a Dominion dissident movement? Or if you really want to do the epic divine intervention, do a DS9 take on the TOS Organians or TNG Q . Render all weapons useless passing through the wormhole. Make the Federation immune to Dominion weapons and vice versa. Hand wave the Jem'Hadar drug dependence away and see what happens. Create an even graver threat forcing them to cooperate. Anything other than Poof! All the Bad GuysTM are gone. Its far too simplistic like the Vedic who killed herself to "oppose evil."
  
  What really bothers me is the moral implication. This show already has Founders who have no respect for lifeforms other than their own. They literally create two races of disposable beings to do their bidding. Now the Prophets just wiped how many Dominion troops out of existence, tens of thousands? So apparently in DS9, all powerful beings have absolutely zero regard for life. What, its okay because the Dominion were "the enemy"? That's just an awful message. For a show intent on exploring moral ambiguity that's again way too simplistic.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Johnny Storm on 2006-05-07 at 11:59am:
  I have to admit that I am mainly a TOS and TNG fan but I would go so far as to say that this is IMHO my candidate for pretty much the best episode of any Trek, ever.
  
  It beautifully portrays a father's love for his son. It is the only ep of Trek that has ever brought tears to my eyes (and my wife's). It is successful on a number of different levels: the plot, the superb acting, the view of how the DS9 charcters will turn out in future (very like "All good things...").
  
  Having said that it does not stand up so well to repeated viewings and the view of the future was superceeded by later events.
  
  Still a great one though.
  
  
• From RichD on 2006-06-02 at 9:16pm:
  I just saw this episode recently. I had not seen it in many years. I'd forgotten how incredibly moving and touching it is. I am a full grown man. I do not cry often watching a tv show or a movie. Maybe ET when I was a boy. This episode gets me every time. Perhaps it reminds me a lot of my relationship with my father. The thing that struck me with this most recent viewing, was Cirroc Lofton's acting. It's like a .150 hitter coming up with the game winning hit in the World Series. Superb. Where did that come from? If he'd only been half as good, the episode would have suffered. This is an episode you can watch and show to someone who doesn't even follow the Star Trek. It's that good.
• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-25 at 2:06am:
  You know, as I was watching this I thought "I can't wait to see how low a rating eric gave this reset button episode". When I came to find out that you gave it a TEN my mind was blown. I am sorry, I usually agree with all your ratings but I found this episode to be filler, doubtlessly the producers recovering from the expensive "Way of the Warrior". I couldn't focus on the episode because the whole time I knew that this couldn't possibly be. I knew that DS9 didn't just end with an old man jake kicking the bucket and the Klingons owning deep space nine. Now if I went back and watched it again, maybe I'd enjoy it more. I did like seeing Nog as a CAPTAIN.
  
  Bottom line, I disliked it. I thought it wasn't nearly as profound as it was trying to be, and I think that TNG "The Inner Light" is a much better executed version of a similar premise. I recognize that I am in the minority, so I won't mess up the fan votes by submitting mine. I, however, would give this one a 3. I didn't care for it at all.
• From Alex von Treifeldt on 2008-07-07 at 8:25am:
  An absolute cracker! I only saw it 7 July 2008. Your last sentence sums it up perfectly! The series really came alive for me today! I just didn't know what hit me...
• From djb on 2009-11-08 at 6:48am:
  The concept of a "reset button" episode is not, in itself, bad. Some of the best TNG episodes had that going, to some degree (The Inner Light, Tapestry, Yesterday's Enterprise, and All Good Things come to mind). It's all in the execution. This episode executed the reset button quite well. In fact, you could even say that aspect strengthens this episode, in a way.
  
  For one, it's obvious from the very start. As soon as we find out that the old man is Jake, it's clear that this is not a typical episode. Then when he refers to his father's death, since we know Sisko doesn't die, it has to be some kind of alternate-reality-type episode.
  
  One way it which this aspect is a strength is the way it implies how things would have turned out if Sisko weren't around; in other words, Sisko is instrumental in the events that happen over the next 4 seasons. This is clear, but the episode highlights that. Plus, as someone else pointed out, Sisko is left with the memory.
  
  I always appreciate these small excursions from the normal sci-fi Trek. It reminds us that this show (series of shows) is about the human journey as well.
• From L on 2013-05-28 at 8:29am:
  Jake and Sisko's relationship has always been portrayed so wonderfully, an openly affectionate father-son dynamic is rarely seen in popular culture or sadly even real-life. This was beautiful and moving.
  My only concern - does losing his father and his consequent bumming around make Jake a great writer, or will he still be one with the timeline 'fixed'?
• From meinerHeld on 2013-06-03 at 2:57am:
  Too bad that the poignant exchanges between Jake and Melanie are rendered meaningless. Nonetheless, just the chance to see a sagely Jake in an exquisitely homey setting, dispensing wisdom unto the youngun, was beautiful.
• From Dstyle on 2013-10-24 at 7:44pm:
  You know how sports teams sometimes wear retro throwback jerseys in certain games? It must have been throwback uniform day on Commander Nog's ship, because there's no way that TNG era uniform was still in use!
• From Zorak on 2016-05-17 at 8:53pm:
  As good as the acting was by the regular cast all around, I think it was Tony Todd who really made this episode what it was.
• From Coihue on 2018-10-02 at 4:37pm:
  Made me cry. Every-time-they-get-together.
  This was even better than The Inner Light.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Marissa on 2012-08-02 at 1:45am:
  I absolutely love the final scene of this episode, where we only see Odo's reflection in the mirror. It kind of makes the whole thing feel surreal. Odo's offer of friendship there is a beautiful moment for both of my two favorite characters of DS9, and the choice of camera angle was just perfect. Too bad I can't seem to find the proper words to describe exactly why I love this scene.
• From Dubhan on 2014-07-16 at 5:41am:
  This episode is pretty jam-packed. It's got action, subterfuge, sabotage, willful disobeyance of orders, a substantial space battle (!), and - the best part - great dramatic scenes between Garak and Odo to hit you in the feels. This is some of the best Trek has to offer.
• From Mike D. on 2017-01-25 at 6:50am:
  I've heard season 4 is when this series really takes off, and I hope this awesome two-parter is a taste of what's to come. Garak's wide-eyed stare is so effective, he really is a great character. I loved the special effects in this episode, both the peeling Odo and the big ship battle.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-15 at 3:16am:
  Yelgrun has a barely tolerable lisp that annoys the hell out of me. It sounds like he's wearing a retainer.
• From onlinebroker on 2009-11-15 at 5:53am:
  The scene where Nogg checks his grandmas blood is just hilarious. Loved the whole episode, and I agree, great performance by Iggy Pop!
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-02-18 at 9:40pm:
  The laughing between Quark and Nog at the end of the episode seems to be an ad-lib. Out of character, but I always laugh with them when I see it.
  
  I'd probably give it an 8. There's one part that I dislike. It's when Nog, Quark, and Rom first come out to greet Yelgrun. The three stare at each other with these bad-ass looks on their faces. Maybe it was a parody of some old movie, but I thought it was a stupid moment.
• From rpeh on 2010-08-03 at 7:20am:
  It's a great episode that manages to mix fun and suspense well. The references to westerns make it even better.
  
  @Orion Pimpdaddy, Gene Roddenberry created star trek as a western in space: "Wagon Train to the Stars" was his description, so homages to the genre are entirely appropriate. It's tough if you don't understand them.
• From Popescu on 2010-09-22 at 2:55am:
  This episode is absolutely fantastic! I've never laughed so much watching a ST episode. Watching those little Ferengi banging their heads to form a commando and confront the Dominion was simply amazing.
  
  "Two slips of latinum to the first who makes it to the infirmary" - I couldn't believe my ears hearing that :)
  
  A very nice relief episode during the Dominion war and a very very good reuse of characters! Bravos!
• From MJ on 2011-01-26 at 6:18pm:
  Well, both the Vorta may hate Ferengi, but I love them! Or rather, I love the Ferengi as they are portrayed in DS9, which did the same thing with the Ferengi that TNG did with the Klingons.
  
  DS9 really made itself better and more rounded by expanding on the Ferengi through episodes like this. The Dominion War, the Maquis, Sisko's struggle with his wife's death, Odo's separation from his people, Kira's stories and the horrific history of the Bajoran persecution...all of these are very serious topics that deal with complex issues. How nice to have the comical Ferengi episodes enter the series every now and again!
  
  My two favorite scenes in this episode are the bungled rescue operation in the holo suite, and the prisoner exchange at the end. I couldn't stop laughing...very well done!
  
  
• From attractionmagnetical on 2011-07-11 at 6:59am:
  I have to say, Keevan really made this episode for me. His constant disgust while being dragged around the station, his bored expressions while the Ferengi planned, his over-the-top predictions of doom, his dying words, and of course, the behaviour and expressions of puppet Keevan were all priceless. Christopher Shea (the actor who played Keevan) did a delightful job with puppet Keevan; I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. Plus, Iggy Pop made a delightful appearance, too.
  
  As an old movie buff, I really appreciated the many references to the classic "Magnificent Seven" film, although I suspect that DS9's younger audience may miss a lot of them.
• From Axel on 2015-08-17 at 3:30am:
  DS9 really found a great crop of actors to play the recurring Ferengi characters. This episode is their crowning achievement. The ensemble works well together, each one bringing his own hilarity to the group. The return of cousin Gala, the assassin Leck, and of course Jeffrey Combs as ex-Liquidator Brunt combined with the usual trio made for a spectacularly humorous and adventurous episode. Close runner-up to "Little Green Men" as far as Ferengi episodes go. Not a dull moment in this one, and great continuity with other story arcs as well. One of my favorites.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jason on 2009-10-24 at 7:23am:
  Great episode. "You're even more insidious than the Borg -- at least they tell you that they're going to assimilate you!". But it's too bad about Eddington; I liked him. At least his plot was well enough hatched that he got away safely to the Badlands.
• From MJ on 2011-01-14 at 8:08pm:
  Several episodes of TNG and DS9 have dealt with the Maquis now, and they’ve all been very, very good. It’s a dilemma that is relevant to the real world, in situations like the Middle East peace process. What’s great about these episodes is how powerful the Maquis point of view is always portrayed. These are not truly terrorists, they are ordinary men and women who are convinced tey are doing the right thing for their well being. But you can also understand the Federation’s point of view.
  
  This might be one of the best Maquis episodes yet, if for no other reason than Eddington’s very well written speech to Sisko. Hell, he almost had me ready to join the Maquis, even knowing they don’t really exist! But this episode hints at a greater theme, a disturbing one, at least for Star Trek fans. The Federation has always been the “good guys” in TOS and TNG. It’s a group of aligned planets whose goal is to explore the galaxy and make peaceful contact with new worlds, and to protect the fundamental rights of its members. DS9, for all its other faults, is really the first series to explore the darker side of the Federation, and it’s a very compelling theme. For the first time, we see covert agencies, we see attempted military coups, we see naivety in government…and we see a distant bureaucracy unable to grasp the demands of its former colonists. The Federation that Gene Roddenberry conceived is shown in a very different light in DS9. I don’t know that Roddenberry would have approved, and I don’t know if I really do either. But whatever the case may be, it certainly is fascinating, and it strikes a powerful chord: after all, isn’t America supposed to be “paradise”? And don’t we have our darker side too? This is what separates DS9 from other Trek series, and in my opinion, what ultimately makes DS9 worth watching.
• From peterwolf on 2013-12-03 at 5:15am:
  Kiras interference with the Ziyal and Garak romance was absolutely unnecessary. Her charater shown as being a tough woman is overdone too often for too many times. Physically she does not fit into the role. It is total nonsense that she could fight Klingon or Jem Hadar warriorrs in hand-to-hand combat. Only Dax, who is much more athletic and trains constantly with Klingon combat prorgrams could stand a chance against such opponents.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From MJ on 2011-02-02 at 4:59pm:
  This episode is one of the things that sets DS9, and Star Trek in general, apart from other TV series. The powerful social message and creativity of this episode is so rarely seen on TV these days. This episode also convinced me that Star Trek has found some of the most talented actors in the business. In this case, Avery Brooks!
  
  His mental breakdown as Benny Russell is breathtaking in its intensity. Had I been on the stage during the filming of that scene, I probably would've neglected my job because of being drawn into his performance. Sometimes Brooks overdoes the emotion just a tad, but in this episode it was stunningly real. It reminded me of "The Ship" when he contemplates his dead comrades at the end.
  
  The concept of the episode is well executed. I share the webmaster's dislike for "it was all a dream" episodes. In TNG's "The Inner Light" for example, I couldn't believe how the Kataan aliens could reconcile abducting a person, making him live his entire life in their world having doubted his sanity, only to reawaken him back on his ship to once again doubt his sanity. But in that episode, Patrick Stewart's performance helped overcome this glaring problem. In this episode, the performance of Brooks and all the others does the same. And the ending is a nice twist in the sense that DS9 is sort of getting in touch with its roots. Gene Roddenberry lived in a time of social upheaval, and dreamt of a future where all humanity is united regardless of petty differences. Benny Russell shares that same dream.
  
  This episode reminds us that Star Trek is more than just another TV series. It's a form of social commentary. It forces us to look at ourselves in new ways and keep our imaginations going. This episode is a gem for sure.
• From djb on 2011-04-15 at 8:11am:
  This episode was painful to watch, but very powerful, and still enjoyable. Viewers in the 90s, especially younger ones, can easily take for granted that a popular show could depict a "negro captain." Just 50 years previous, this was unthinkable, and it is good to be intimately reminded of how hard it is to be an oppressed minority. Sisko, a 24th century man in the Trek universe, most likely has no direct experience of racism, and probably doesn't appreciate what his ancestors were up against. The experience probably gave him some good perspective.
  
  It was great to see all the actors without their makeup! It was also a pleasure to see them playing different characters. I'll bet it was refreshing for all of them. I liked how each character had some similarity to their corresponding DS9 character, but was also markedly different. Michael Dorn's character was very different from Worf, but like Worf, was very good at a physical skill and competed in it. Marc Alaimo and Jeffery Combs still played villains, but their villainy was much more overt. Shimmerman's character may have been annoying, like Quark, but he was also very idealistic and principled, very unlike Quark.
  
  A unique and fascinating episode.
• From Jay on 2013-02-26 at 6:36am:
  I had half a mind to stop watching the series after this episode, because after Sisko said, "I'm a human being" I knew the series couldn't possibly get any better. Honestly, maybe the best acted anything I've ever seen. Definitely a performance deserving of an Emmy.
• From L on 2013-08-06 at 7:48am:
  I couldn't work out if the pulp artist was an un made-up regular or not, he looked familiar but I couldn't place him.
  
  The rocket model on the table in the writer's office seems to be inspired by the Tintin on the moon books, which came out in the early 50's.
  
  I loved Jake's character, he played it well. The two cops were really disturbing.
  
  'You are the dreamer, and the dream.'
  Powerful episode.
• From Dstyle on 2013-12-02 at 12:53pm:
  L, the pulp artist was Martok. I admit, I had to check IMDB, but he was so familiar and it was driving me crazy!
• From Zorak on 2016-06-23 at 9:38pm:
  I both like and dislike this episode. On the upside, the acting was great, the sets were well done and it was definitely powerful and expertly written and directed. On the downside, there's just something about them doing an episode like this that just doesn't seem right. Focusing on Sisko being black feels very out of place to me. I can't quite articulate why this felt cheap, but it did. That being said I still really enjoyed the episode.
• From McCoy on 2017-02-26 at 8:37pm:
  11/10 and a winner of my personal Best Trek Episode Ever. It's not only a story about racism. It's a story about how other people and ideology can destroy you (but not your idea). I've experienced something similar in my life, so I'm taking it probably more emotional.
  One more thing - it's not "it was all a dream". It's more meta-level. Similar to Dick's "The Man in the High Castle". A character, who suspect, he's fictional.
  Masterpiece!
• From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2017-09-08 at 7:11pm:
  I was wondering about the pulp artist too, I thought either Garak or Morn. I hadn't thought it could be Martok?! I have to watch it again. Oh, twist my arm :-)
  
  I also liked seeing Michael Dorn without klingon make up. Such a good-looking guy forever covered up with THAT make up! sigh... (he looked even better when he was a few years younger, in TNG: Homeward, where worf was surgically "altered" to look human for a mission. Hah!)
  
  I usually don't like "it was all a dream" episodes either, as a concept. But I agree with the other reviewers that this one had so much going for it, that it really makes up for the cop-out device. Also, it's not absolutely clear that it was JUST a dream. It could be the wormhole aliens sending him visions.... although as I hear myself say it, I don't think that makes it better at all :-(
  
  But really great episode thought provoking in a serious, deeply star-trek way, but also super funny. A solid 8 from me.
• From J B on 2020-11-20 at 6:39am:
  This is a fun episode, but it is just too heavy-handed and over-the-top for me to understand why so many people love it so much.
  
  The main storyline (in Sisko's dream) contains no moral ambiguity, something which regularly adds interest to this series. Instead, it comes off as straightforward and excessively melodramatic. There is no resolution either--it ends abruptly during Benny's breakdown which makes for an unsatisfying, incomplete story. It feels like the director is trying for some emotional impact here, but the whole thing is so overdone that it almost comes across as camp.
  
  The fun part is seeing the whole regular cast in their new roles in the dream.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From siukong on 2010-08-31 at 5:31am:
  I don't necessarily see your beef with this episode as that big of a problem. In espionage, sleeper agents often have to ignore smaller opportunities that arise in order to achieve success with their long-term objective. Changeling-Bashir probably didn't want to blow his cover and risk losing the chance to cripple the Federation, Klingons and Romulans all in one fell swoop. That act would achieve a lot more than just killing a single Starfleet Captain and/or Bajoran major.
• From Christopher Wright on 2011-12-13 at 3:50am:
  I actually didn't notice that the real Bashir was wearing a different style uniform (but I am no Sherlock.) I know from reading the other reviews that uniforms are HUGE to the owner of this site. Speaking of uniforms, why is it that in the Star Trek universe, no one is EVER removed of his/her uniform when taken captive? Does that even make sense? I mean, it would have prevent Kirk's escape from the Klingon jail world (moon?) in ST VI. I guess that such questions shouldn't be asked - like when Ben Affleck asked Michael Bay on the set of ARMAGEDDON: "Why is it easier to train oil riggers to be astronauts than to train astronauts to be oil riggers?"
• From Wes on 2012-04-10 at 1:19pm:
  The staging when Sisko calls for battle stations makes me laugh. And it's not just in this episode. But when he does, Bashir moves forward, out of the picture and Kira moves from one side of the central console to the other. Would there really be that big of a difference in the controls from one side of the central command console to the other?
  
  I mean, I totally see why they do it. It has nothing to do with the function of the consoles. It adds a dramatic, moving element to the shot in what would otherwise be a very boring shot following a command for battle stations (like on the other star ships we're familiar with).
• From Lee on 2012-04-10 at 1:31pm:
  I actually like the fact that they use different uniforms for the different Bashirs, and that's not because I am too stupid to realize the difference between them :p
  
  I think it adds to the shocking moment of realizing that one of our main characters has been replaced for such a long time (the uniforms have been changed for quite a while). For that reason I also like that the real Bashir isn't shaved :p
  
  But I think the changelings behaviour seems a bit too suspicious, I mean, he didn't act like that in the episodes before, but here he acts too "evil", almost like in a cartoon for children. I think it would've been much more convincing, if the fake Bashir would've acted just like the normal one, not with the dramatic music and looking around like a suspicious bandit.
  
  But all in all, it's a great two-parter and it's on my list of favourite episodes!
• From dronkit on 2014-04-21 at 2:23am:
  An almost suicide "reconaissance" mission to find prisoners in the heart of the dominion and they send a petty runabout insted of the Defiant?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From GDorn on 2011-10-16 at 11:53pm:
  This episode has the classic shrinking problem shared with Honey I Shrunk The Kids and Inner Space. If you simply remove some of the empty space between atoms to decrease volume, the mass will remain the same and the density will increase. So even though the runabout is six inches long, it weighs the same as a normal sized runabout. O'Brien and Bashir walking around in the circuitry would have destroyed it, ramming the control panel would have destroyed it, and there would have been no need to fire torpedos at the Jem'Hadar - ramming them alone would have been more than sufficient.
  
  This leads to all kinds of physics abuses, like building a excessively large ship, shrinking it to normal size, and noticing that the ablative armor is almost completely immune to conventional weaponry due to sheer density...
• From Mike on 2016-10-28 at 6:21pm:
  Even with the point about increased density, I think Dax would've found firing a torpedo at the Jem'Hadar far less risky than ramming into him. It seems like having the Rubicon ram its way out of the plasma vent when they first entered the engine room was tricky enough.
  
  I also don't know that O'Brien and Bashir simply walking around the circuit would've destroyed it, but the mass/volume/density relationship would've probably allowed them to much more easily lift everything. That's hard to show on TV, however. I agree with the original review that getting the air molecule thing right is pretty impressive.
  
  Anyway, I enjoyed this one. It had some good action and an interesting story. I also prefer the episodes of DS9 where the Jem'Hadar are shown to be more than mindless hordes of soldiers.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-08 at 2:56am:
  This episode has one of the most intriguing "hook" beginnings of all of star trek. I thought the whole episode was just stupendously done, and the director(s) achieved a truly spooky feel throughout it. I was a little disappointed at the quick, cheap ending. When I looked down and saw that there was only 10 minutes left, I could feel the cheap ending coming on.
  
  I think the episode would have been REALLY cool if they had made it into a two-parter and really explored the situation with the rebels and such.
  
  -1 for the cheap ending, but all in all one of my favorite ds9 episodes. The Obrien concentration was fun.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-09-30 at 3:41am:
  A perfect 10 all the way! You get to watch O'Brien slowly lose everyone he cares about drift away in deception. Every time he finds someone to confide in, they turn against him. First it is Jake, then it is Odo, then a Starfleet commmander. All trust becomes diminished. I would not want this to happen to me.
  
  What is great is that if you are watching the episode for the first time, you will not be able to figure out the mystery, no matter how smart you are. Nor, do you notice that the clone O'Brien is constantly drinking a kind of coffee that the real O'Brien never dirnks. Fantastic!
  
  
• From djb on 2009-01-28 at 8:11am:
  I liked the buildup in this episode. At first, the way people are acting towards the fake O'Brien is subtle, yet noticeable, and it eventually becomes more and more strange and overt.
  
  I also loved the acting; yet another great performance from Rosalind Chao (and others). I especially liked the scene where they're eating, with the closeups on their faces. He knows she's up to something, but won't tell. She knows he's not really her husband. The tension is terrific.
  
  I definitely didn't guess what was going to happen, but I did get an inkling when he was told to go back by the starfleet admiral. I began to think that there was something wrong with him rather than the others, given that if there seems to be something wrong with everyone but you, chances are you're the problem!
  
  A very decent episode, worth watching twice.
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-03-16 at 1:03pm:
  Bashir totally misjudges what has happened when, at the end, he says, "I think he was trying to be a hero." Honestly, O'brien just wanted to survive. Heroic just doesn't seem to apply here.
• From Popescu on 2010-08-10 at 2:18am:
  I feel that a lot of Star Trek is inspired by the writings of Isaac Asimov. This episode also I think was inspired by the short story "Let's get together" by the writer.
  
  Well, not the entire episode, just the ending stroke me as being very similar.
• From MJ on 2011-02-04 at 6:15pm:
  This should have been a two-parter. This episode was so gripping that it kept my attention right up until the very end. If they'd have done a "to be continued" when he arrived on the planet and then further explored the Paradas rebel plot a bit more in part two, this would have been fantastic. Instead, as with several DS9 episodes, they try to rush the ending after giving us a truly intriguing storyline. I share the webmaster's below average rating for that reason alone.
• From bernard on 2011-03-08 at 4:05pm:
  Whenever the webmaster has given a rating that is near enough 4 points below the mean then that points toward the true score of the episode being somewhere in between. I think that is true here.
  
  We have a good episode that is one of those oddities that you can get equal fascination from both first and second viewings, first from O'Briens point of view and then when rewatched from the other characters point of view.
  
  Overall a quality outing.
• From Zaphod on 2011-04-20 at 9:36am:
  Great episode, one of the best DS9 episodes this far.
  4 points is ridiculous, as is giving no good explanation for such a low rating.
  It's not just another conspiracy episode, for Christ's sake!
  None of the conspiracy episodes in other series of the franchise was even close to be this original and well written.
  Waiting to the very end to solve the mystery was a very clever move too as it saves the suspense until the end.
  And it's no "cheap ending", quite the opposite. TNG "Conspiracy" had a cheap ending, this one here is amazing and makes you watch the episode a second time just to see it from the other's point of view.
• From James T Quark on 2015-08-16 at 1:14am:
  This is actually one of my favorite eps of DS9. I understand a lot of viewers don't like "dream" episodes, "tricked into thinking the holosuite is real" or episodes where things are conveniently reversed due to time manipulation.
  
  I get why some people don't really enjoy those type of episodes but I'm the opposite. I really enjoy the twists they exhibit and this episode is a perfect example.
  
  On my first watch, I was completely fixated and didn't see that twist coming at all.
  
  I'd give it a ten and a must watch.
  
  JTQ
• From ChristopherA on 2020-07-18 at 2:01am:
  I did not enjoy watching this episode. It sets up an intriguing mystery at the beginning, but you quickly get the idea that “something weird is going on” and after that, the mystery doesn’t develop, it just sits there until the end, when it is suddenly resolved so quickly that I only have a vague idea what happened. I felt like the middle half of the episode was just padding and the episode needed more story to add more context to what was going on.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jeff Browning on 2011-11-27 at 10:33pm:
  Logic problem: in the opening sequence, the admiral tells Sisko that he is going to be at the star base for a long time - hence the need for an office.
  
  Immediately after the intro, the admiral announces that the Defiant crew is going to be taking the captured Jem Hadar fighter behind enemy lines. Soooo, apparently Sisko is not going to be at star base for a long time after all?
  
  In the context of the rest of the episode, the Admiral's comment makes no sense at all.
• From L on 2013-08-03 at 8:56am:
  This episode does a great job of setting up psychological and motivational tensions between Dukat and Weyoun, and also just the general stress the old DS9 crew are under.
  The scene with Odo reluctantly trading in his star power for favours with Weyoun was brilliant.
  As was that between Dukat and Kira. If she could only spit acid. I cringed at him touching her.
  As we've invested so much in the situation, everything was compelling in this episode.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From TheAnt on 2013-09-18 at 8:13pm:
  This is the episode where DS9 really loose track and derails completely.
  Our favourite Cardassian villain becomes some sort of ersatz 'Dart Dukat' and Sisko feeling a disturbance in 'The force' etc etc.
  I have no idea what the scriptwriters thought they were doing, or had they taken a vacation and left the stage to some juvenile fan of another fiction universe?
  A lot of 'Boom crash bang & fireworks' and very little substance.
  Many fans have been screaming blue murder over this episode, so do I.
• From MJ on 2019-03-11 at 11:21pm:
  ROSS: "Starfleet has chosen you to plan the invasion of Cardassia."
  
  Um, wouldn't an operation like this involve a bunch of admirals with years of experience coordinating fleets of starships, rather than a captain who'd been running a space harbor and serving as a Bajoran liaison? Don't get me wrong, I like the Sisko character, but having him plan something like this is a stretch. It's like if Eisenhower had told Lt Col Rudder that he was responsible for planning the Normandy invasion.
  
  The storyline involving the Chintaka battle was pretty cool. I liked watching the difficulties in getting all three alliance members on board with the same plan. Seems pretty realistic. The orbital weapon platforms were a cool idea. The Dukat storyline was a bit of a bore, but that may be because I agree with Ant that this Pah-Wraith stuff is where Dukat goes off the deep end.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Praelat on 2009-05-13 at 5:07pm:
  "Why was Worf wearing an old-style TNG uniform?"
  Easy: When he arrived at the station, he was on a temporary assignment and therefore not part of the regular DS9 crew. When he joins the crew for good in the end, he switches to a regular DS9 uniform. That's it :)
  I loved the episode. I'm from Germany, and I watched this episode for the first time on video in England, when it was still a year away in Germany. I was so surprised with the "restart" of the series, bit I positively loved it and still do.
• From Wes on 2011-01-18 at 4:27pm:
  Every time there is someone on the station wearing a TNG-style uniform, you think it's some sin and put it in your "Problems" section. IT'S NOT A PROBLEM. It's consistency. Since "Emissary" it has been that way on DS9. If anyone comes to the station from a starship or starfleet command, they wear the TNG uniforms until next season. I wasn't ever a very big fan of it, but it is consistent throughout the series.
  This episode reminds me somewhat of TOS federation-klingon hostilities.
• From Bronn on 2011-11-07 at 3:34am:
  You're just caught up on the inconsistency in the fact that "Generations" had crew members occasionally in DS9 style uniforms, but that was solely because they were afraid the actual TNG uniforms weren't going to translate to the big screen, with visible zippers. But it wasn't an official style change. If you watch the film again, you'll see that the cast changes back and forth throughout the entire film between DS9 style uniforms and TNG style. Patrick Stewart is probably the only one who didn't change his uniform style at all, and that's just because he had a specially designed captain's uniform starting around the 4th season of TNG.
  
  Here's how it worked: Crew members on space stations had space-station style uniforms like DS9. Starfleet personnel serving on spaceships had TNG style uniforms. You see that any time someone visits the station from a ship up until the change-over to the "First Contact" style uniforms. It was a consistent rule, not something to be confused about.
• From DK on 2013-09-23 at 2:55am:
  More Star Trek stories should have been built around this model. Long story arcs, plenty of combat drama and lots of fight scenes make for very enjoyable episodes. I didn't even mind it so much when they had Kira beating up Kingons but really, I don't care how hard my sister hits me, I' m not going to fall to the deck. So that was either the biggest pussy in the history of the Kingon empire or.... Well, I guess that's it, the Kingpns she beat up were the biggest pussies of all time. The powers that be should really leave the hand to hand combat to the men.
• From Kenneth on 2014-04-13 at 3:43am:
  First impressions of episode and overall change in tone for the season is set right away from the new graphic and speeding up of the theme song. Some one in the graphics department decided to add some life to the images of the station. Sisko bald is bad ass. Jadzia and Kira showing some skin. Ds9 season four off to a good start
• From jbense on 2017-12-28 at 8:04pm:
  The new theme music for season four sure is different, but I disagree with your opinion that it is better.
  
  The original theme had an elegant austerity to it--horns building upon each other in counterpoint with a soft orchestral backing. It was beautiful, the best of all of Trek's theme songs IMO.
  
  The season four version is faster. The strings are shrill and detract from the intricate horn counterpoint, particularly by overpowering and obscuring some of the pleasing harmonies at the end of the tune. The new graphics, which I admitedly do not care for, unfortunately also come with irritating sound effects which further tarnish the music. Altogether, these changes subtract substantially from the bare appeal of the original theme.
  
  Of course this is all up for debate based on personal preference, but as a musician I was disappointed when the original theme was replaced.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From RichD on 2006-06-13 at 11:41pm:
  Fantastic episode. The Klingon advocate was incredible. He very nearly won the case. The way the plot unfolded was quite extraoridinary. I would have never guessed that the Klingons were trying to lure the Federation into giving up Worf while at the same time, keep them from escorting medical convoys. The plan was very romulanesque. I guess that's my only knock. It was unbecoming of the Klingons to behanve in this manner. Being underhanded. We learn later however, the Klingons were not acting on their own valition. The Quark scene was great. That guy kills me. Finally, I just love the way Sisko both lectured and scolded Work while patting him on the shoulder all at once. The mark of a great leader. Something my ol' high school basketball coach use to do. Tear us down, and build us up. I enjoyed this episode.
• From Dave on 2009-05-14 at 9:11am:
  I also love the Klingon lawyer - the actor's guest starred in a few episodes (TNG and Voyager if memory serves). Fine tradition of aggressive Klingon lawyering in Trek - always good to see. And at least Worf wasn't threatened with a spell on Rura Pente :-)
  One thing - why would Chief O'Brien say he would have taken command if Worf had been injured in the battle. Surely Major Kira would have been the ranking officer?
  
• From onlinebroker on 2009-11-05 at 6:40pm:
  I don't like this episode at all and gave it a 2. First of all I find the whole premise doesn't make alot of sense, why would klingons complain about bloodshed, why did the advocate call Worf a coward for killing people, and in the same sentence call the guy who exterminated a whole city a hero.
  Then Sisko was unbearable in this episode. He talks as if this was some sort of poetry contest, makes me really miss Picard.
• From rpeh on 2010-07-31 at 1:45pm:
  A brilliant episode; gripping and suspenseful. The Klingon advocate in particular was superb - I loved the bit when he told Sisko he would defend Worf himself in any subsequent trial.
  
  Just one problem. He asks Worf "Did you weep...", but we know from The Undiscovered Country that Klingons have no tear ducts. It seems unlikely that the advocate would use a human expression in this situation.
• From Bronn on 2011-11-13 at 5:59pm:
  "Klingon history honors conquerors who murder civilians, yet it is illegal for Worf to murder them now? What's the bloody difference? Well, Klingons are very... odd."
  
  That's hardly hypocrisy at all. Think about all the reverence we today might hold for Alexander the Great. Or better yet, Julius Caesar. Caesar's conquest of Gaul involved the burning of hundreds of villages, killing perhaps hundreds of thousdands. In his most famous battle, he refused to allow starving civilians-women, children-to be evacuated from Alesia because he wanted to stretch the Gaul's food supply. He is certainly revered, still today.
  
  "Ah," you might say, "but we don't pretend to be him, running around and killing women." If you think of Holodeck programs, though, as just an evolution in video gaming technology...Worf was just playing "Klingons: Total War." There's plenty of people who enjoy games like Grand Theft Auto who still believe in the wrongness of senseless violence.
• From Martin on 2014-04-03 at 4:15am:
  Good episode.
  One problem though...why does sisko have only 3 dots in his uniform during the trial?
• From AW on 2015-12-17 at 5:57am:
  This is one of the only times I have seen a deus ex machina ending done in a way that was satisfying and didn't come off as a cop out.
  
  I guess it really wasn't a deus ex machina because now that I think about it that awkward bit of dialog (right before the brilliant "the truth must be won" line) where the advocate reveals an ulterior motive makes sense. However, I doubt the advocate would have revealed that bit of information. Unless he didn't know about the ruse. Yeah that is more like it. In fact that explains why he would contradict himself as other commenters pointed out. The Klingon were using an uncharacteristic (non-battle) strategy to accomplish 2 the two different goals.
  
  Excellent complex episode. Best so far in my opinion.
  
  [Ha, I just realized I wrote that comment like I was having a conversation with myself]
• From Armsauce on 2018-07-13 at 1:58am:
  Some great acting from Avery Brooks in this one as well, especially at the end with Worf.
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-10-05 at 10:48pm:
  I had to look up who directed this episode. LeVar Burton! Impressive work. Loved the cuts between the courtroom and the scenes presented by the witnesses.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Sean on 2010-06-07 at 8:45am:
  That was such a fun episode, the producers did such an excellent job on recreating the Enterprise and merging the TOS footage. I can't remember the last time I laughed so much during Star Trek!
  
  And as a side note, I think that mystery sixth Enterprise must be the 1701-E, because Geordi says in First Contact that the Enterprise has been out of spacedock "for almost a year", so presumably when this episode was set, the Enterprise-E was out there, stutting her stuff.
• From rpeh on 2010-08-01 at 5:00pm:
  Wonderful stuff. A perfect tribute to TOS and a great episode in its own right.
  
  One minor problem: Bashir says to O'Brien "Surely you took elementary temporal mechanics at the academy" but we know that O'Brien didn't graduate because he was worried about having to call Nog "sir".
• From packman_jon on 2012-05-15 at 5:48am:
  So much fun. Even if Dax's line about McCoy brings a visual of college-age McCoy "getting to know" Emony...! Still, it's too hard not love this episode!
• From Drac on 2013-02-17 at 8:52pm:
  Very good episode, but as a second watch i found it too easy they captured the klingon effortlessly and silently out of the blue and he told them what he did. Chop chop, time to cut this short :)
  
• From Selador on 2013-06-10 at 7:13pm:
  A classic episode. It had a wonderful feel and was perfectly pulled off. Just superb!
• From AW on 2015-12-22 at 12:40am:
  Just one problem (though the writers couldn't have known at the time) they say that it was the first enterprise when we know that is not true. I guess I was the first Federation enterprise as the Federation hadn't been formed yet when the first was made.
• From Thavash on 2018-12-24 at 7:33am:
  Watching in 2018, I'm still amazed at how seamless they made everything look.
• From Mitchell O on 2023-12-15 at 12:04pm:
  “ All very entertaining and probably the biggest fanboy episode ever made.”
  
  Until Lower Decks came along!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-07-10 at 12:30am:
  What a wonderful episode! I loved every bit of it, both the comedy and the serious. Personally, I found the moment between Jake and Sisko at the end more moving and sweet than anything in "The Visitor"
• From JR on 2012-06-12 at 5:48am:
  I liked this one quite a bit. Jeffrey Combs was great as every character he played. It was years after I watched Enterprise during its run that I realized he had played so many roles. Its such a shame Enterprise only managed four seasons...it would have been great had they made him a regular on that bridge.
  
  My only gripe with this episode: I can't imagine many things being easier to replicate than a glossy piece of cardboard.
• From OmicronThetaDeltaPhi on 2014-02-11 at 9:47pm:
  @JR
  
  As any serious collector of baseball cards could tell you, a copy - no matter who accurately rendered - can never replace the real thing. Even if the two objects are physically indistinguishable, the original has a history and an emotional value which the copy simply does not possess.
• From Zorak on 2016-06-14 at 4:04am:
  I have to agree with the general positivity toward this episode. It was a gem. I love when Star Trek mixes the serious with the mundane in such a tongue in cheek way.
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-11-23 at 3:25am:
  Great, light episode in the midst of a buildup to the all-out Dominion War arc.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From RichD on 2006-06-08 at 1:32am:
  Armin Shimerman is one of the most underappreciated actors in all of Star Trek. He was the first actor on DS9 to develop his character. By the middle of the 1st season, quark was fully realized. He is one of my favorite characters. He makes poignant observations when you least expect it that really do strike a chord. I loved his comment and reaction when he was told that humans would smoke tobacco for recreaton...."you mean they poison their bodies on purpose?" Then, he has to ruin it by being Quark, "if they buy poison, they'll buy anything." This episode was hilarious from beginning to end. I also like the univeral translator malfunction. Little subtle things like that make this episode a charmer. One last thing. By making Nog appreciate humans more than ever, it gives him an added incentive to become a starfleet officer. Nice touch.
• From JRPoole on 2009-03-23 at 4:16pm:
  Does this episode estabish that the univeral translator is a device worn in the ear? I can't remember it ever being referred to this way, but it makes sense. It's still problematic, though: How would it broadcast in different languages?
  
  I know, I know...I need to just accept the UT as a plot device and let it be. But I do like episodes that at least acknowledge its existence, even if they do confuse the issue even more.
  
  This is a real winner all the way through. DS9 does humor episodes better than any other Trek series, probably because the Ferengi--usually the center of humor episodes--are all acted so well on DS9.
• From MJ on 2011-01-14 at 5:26pm:
  I agree with the webmaster's review, and with RichD. This episode is pure genius: writing, acting, everything.
  
  The setting was remarkably well done, with the classic dual human response to visiting aliens: the suspicious general who sees them as a military threat, and the "egghead" professor who sees them as peaceful and wants to communicate. The detail of the people's uniforms, the lighting...all of it set the perfect mood for 1940's Earth.
  
  The interactions were, of course, hilarious and fitting. Armin Shimmerman's performance in this episode was superb. He's always great as Quark, but this was award worthy. But Rom, Nog, and the guest cast of Americans all did outstanding, too. They all made this work brilliantly and played their characters perfectly.
  
  I was a little curious as to what would be the fate of the professor and the nurse since they helped the aliens escape quite possibly ruining their happy future, but it's possible this was overlooked in the overall secrecy of the Roswell incident. Speaking of that, I couldn't help but think Star Trek seems to be paying homage here: the Roswell incident is one of the things that contributed to the popularity of science fiction and human imagination about aliens.
  
  The beginning, too, was great. Nog's selling of his childhood possessions, especially the Ferengi tooth sharpener to Worf, added to the overall comedy of the episode. In fact, we get quite a nice dose of Ferengi culture here including the Ferengi language which was interesting to hear. I really cracked up when Quark was asking Nurse Garland for oomox.
  
  Outstanding stuff!
• From Jons on 2014-02-02 at 9:17pm:
  I really enjoyed that episode, but excuse-me, how is it NOT 100% filler??
  
  Nothing that happens here has any incidence on anything in the series. Nog gets to Earth, but you don't need to see that episode to know that...
• From Rob UK on 2023-12-01 at 9:59pm:
  I love this episode but we definitely have a problem, Odo can't shape shift into making good human hair (it is mentioned several times throughout the show run), but here he can make himself into a very convincing hairy German Shepheard style dog

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Krs321 on 2011-03-07 at 1:20pm:
  Fun episdoe but opens huge plot holes. So now the Mirror Universe people can just jump dimensions whenever they want? Uh, what?
  
  Why didnt Mirror O'Brien ask Sisko if they could have 50 photon torpedoes, phasers, or medical supplies, replicators, etc.
  
  Did Sisko give Mirror Kira the code or did he let Terok Nor blow up? If not, why wouldn't he?
• From John on 2011-09-13 at 4:27am:
  I hate Mirror Universe episodes -- they are the ultimate contrived filler nonsense. The only reason this one gets a 3 from me instead of a 1 is because of Tuvok.
• From Lt. Fitz on 2012-06-25 at 9:24pm:
  Sisko didn't bring her back because she was needed to help the Terrans in the alternate universe. That would be a totally selfish move on his part and totally out of character.
  
  Also, I don't understand the hatred for "filler" episodes that so many people demonstrate. Trek has always had episodes that are self-contained and episodes that involve more continuity. Some episodes focus more on sci fi, and others seem to be done just for fun. To me, the mirror episodes are fun as heck because it gives the actors a chance to have fun playing twisted personalities. I didn't care if it made no sense from a sci fi angle that Kirk and his double were able to switch back to their proper universes by simply beaming back somehow in "Mirror, Mirror." It was just fun to see Spock in a goatee and Chekhov try to kill off Kirk. Yeah, my mind was smarter than the sci fi in that episode, but I easily put that aside and enjoyed the spectacle of it.
  
  This episode was just plain fun. (Sometimes I think that Nana Visitor is better at playing the evil version of Kira than the good one.) And, yeah, Tuvok being there was great. I loved him in Voyager.
• From Kenneth on 2014-04-12 at 5:28am:
  No commentary on sisko taking down dax ??
• From tigertooth on 2016-10-08 at 4:18pm:
  I'm a little surprised by the positive reaction to the inclusion of Tuvok. Yeah, it was a cool moment when he appears but then... he never really does anything.
  
  I liked mirror-Rom's arc during the episode. But as others have noted, this episode had way too many questions that have no clear, good answers.
  
  And I agree about the general dislike of the mirror universe. You can't even make any connections between the standard and mirror versions of the characters since sometimes they're totally different. While I didn't like Distant Voices, at least you can glean some connection regarding how Bashir views his colleagues by how he portrays them in his mind. But in the mirror universe, you get nothing - just two totally different characters that look similar. I'd prefer it if they used the mirror episodes as comedy.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Remco on 2009-06-26 at 8:24pm:
  I liked how Dukat's rationalizations in this episode echoed some of the Iraq war rationalizations. As the western world was going to bring a superior but bloody democracy to Iraq, Dukat was going to give Cardassian superiority to the Bajorans.
  
  The Iraqis, like the Bajorans, did not quite accept that superiority.
  
  Of course, then Dukat pulls a Hitler, and starts terrorizing the population, which is where the comparison ends.
• From Christopher Wright on 2011-12-21 at 1:04am:
  Musically speaking a waltz has three beats per measure which lines up with the three voices in Dukat's head. Sisko's arm cast thingy reminded me of C-3PO. Brilliant performances by both main actors in this one.
• From Zorak on 2016-06-23 at 3:04am:
  I have to agree. That was a fantastic performance by the actor who plays Dukat. I think he might be my favorite Star Trek villain in the entire franchise.
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-11-27 at 9:13pm:
  Dukat is the anti-Sisko, this episode is a phenomenal insight into the post-Ziyal Dukat... but he shows that there has always been shades of his depravity from the very beginning. Fantastic acting, fantastic character. Easiest 10 I have given.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From John on 2010-03-17 at 3:49am:
  I think their decision not to show the viewer the battle with the Jem'Hadar was a good one. It left that battle to the imagination of the viewer and saved time which could then be spent on things like character development. Yes, it could have been a cool battle, but subtracting a point because they used a perfectly valid storytelling device that happened to omit material you personally wanted to see is a little overboard IMHO.
• From Kethinov on 2010-03-17 at 4:14am:
  I've always felt that it's sort of anticlimactic that they didn't show the battle. It's a legitimate payoff to the buildup to expect, I think. That's not to say this is a bad episode. It's certainly fantastic. I just think a more roaring climax would have served the story better.
• From Harrison on 2013-02-23 at 6:34pm:
  One of the very best Klingon episodes, with lots of rich cultural detail.
• From Bronn on 2013-07-17 at 7:14pm:
  Beautiful episode. Martok is the gold standard when it comes to Klingon characters. He's three dimensional, and he's well-rounded enough that it makes the Empire seem functional. Without seeing a character like Martok you'd wonder how the Empire ever held together-they have no patience to do things like basic maintenance on their ships, they get bored with administrative tasks, and they prefer to attack head-on rather than provide any consideration of strategy. But DS9 decided to find a way to make Klingons seem more balanced without ruining their previous characterization, and this episode is the highlight of Klingon story-telling.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From penguinphysics on 2010-11-07 at 6:28am:
  Kurtwood Smith also played the Federation president in STVI:TUC

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2009-07-06 at 8:23pm:
  The scenes that have Worf talking about leaving Starfleet just don't work. The audience is not fooled for a minute, especially since his name is in the opening credits. I still like the episode though.
• From MJ on 2011-01-11 at 10:22pm:
  Watching DS9 up to this point, I was thoroughly unimpressed by the Federation's response to the Dominion. Don't get me wrong, I love the show. It was really coming into it's own, introducing new story arcs, adding further depth to its circle of characters, and really proving itself as a series to be on par with TOS and TNG, with the potential to outshine them. But within the story itself, the Federation has seemed impotent, while every other power in the region is realistic about the Dominion and doing what they can to stop them.
  
  Consider the Romulans. They have attempted to collapse the wormhole, and then launch a pre-emptive strike on the Dominion. The first plan was stopped by the Federation, and the second plan went forward with no Federation support. Now the Klingons plunge themselves into the fight, and again the Federation hesitates.
  
  The only justification I could come up with for the Federation's behavior is that its fight with the Borg has altered its strategy. Wolf 359 taught the Federation to be wary of massive confrontations, and the fact is, the Federation faced the Borg threat with very little help from the Klingons and none from the Romulans or Cardassians. Maybe in the eyes of the Federation, it's time the others stepped up to face the Dominion threat. That is understandable.
  
  Another thing I don't understand, is where are all the other Alpha and Beta Quadrant powers right now? The Sheliak, the Gorn, the Tholians...surely there is some involvement? This seems to have been the time for Star Trek to summon its prior alien encounters, since the Dominion is clearly something everybody should be concerned about!
  
  That being said, I love the angles DS9 is exploring; it is something unique that neither TOS or TNG have dealt with yet.
• From AW on 2015-12-15 at 7:26pm:
  The subspace realm Jake gets sucked into on his second to last try looked a lot like the place where Sisko met the creators of the wormhole in the Pilot.
• From tigertooth on 2016-10-18 at 4:03am:
  This certainly isn't unique to this episode, but as an example: right before the final attack on DS9, Gowron says something in Klingon. Worf then translates to "today is a good day to die".
  
  But why didn't the universal translator already translate it? I mean, Gowron wasn't speaking English that whole time, right? He was speaking Klingon.
  
  Anyway, great two-parter.