The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Azduel on 2010-03-31 at 2:16am:
  This is one of my favourite episodes ever. A 10/10! This episode gives an in depth look at the unwavering devotion of the Vorta to the Founders. The meta exploration into the relationship of the Vorta and the Founders is brilliantly conducted through Weyoun's interaction with Odo, where Weyoun's obvious jubilation of simply being in his presence Odo is depicted. This episode further exceeds my expectations with its unorthodox delivery of insight to one of my favourite antagonist powers, the Dominion, and one of my favourite antagonist characters, Weyoun. To top off this 'magnus opus' of DS9 season 7, 'stubborn old Odo' in the end gives Weyoun what he so desperately wants, his blessing. In the end, Odo's blessing of Weyoun 6 brings meaning to his existence. Bravo!
  ...and the side story is entertaining to boot, offering much needed comic relief to the intrigue and intensity of the Odo Weyoun study.
• From MJ on 2011-03-03 at 6:33pm:
  I enjoyed everything about this episode.
  
  Jeffrey Combs has the role of a Vorta down so well it makes one wonder if he came up with the concept for the race. The smooth speaking delivery, the cautious, diplomatic language, the ability to feign sincerity in both word and expression, and unflinching devotion to the Founders...he does it all flawlessly.
  
  This episode was an interesting twist for the Weyoun character, exploring whether his (or rather, Weyoun 6) doubt of the Founders is partly due to a cloning flaw, or if, despite their cloning, the Vorta are capable of questioning their gods. It also was a nice continuation of the very complex relationship Odo has with his people.
  
  The subplot was a perfect balance to the main plot. Nog's skillful navigation of the "Great River" was hilarious and very...Ferengi-like. I guess there's a little Ferengi in all of us!
• From hugo on 2013-02-28 at 6:46pm:
  i understand it as all communication through the wormhole is cut off for the dominiom, including reinforcements.
  
  Then - how do they know that the Great Link is contaminated?
  
  Otherwise a great ep!
• From spline on 2013-09-10 at 9:45am:
  Hugo, Wayoun likely got the information from the female changeling that is on Cardassia at this time, who knows of the sickness because she is herself sick, and the extent of it due to information revealed later in the season...
• From Axel on 2015-05-17 at 7:49am:
  I enjoyed the Nog/O'Brien subplot immensely. Throughout much of TNG and DS9, the Ferengi obsession with profit has been portrayed in a negative light, and given Star Trek values, this is understandable. But here we have a situation where Ferengi skills prove highly useful, and it adds another dimension to their race. It was really imaginative on the part of the writers to add the "Material Continuum" element, giving the Ferengi some cultural depth. And, it's all done in a light and funny way that makes for an enjoyable storyline.
  
  Alongside this, we get a better glimpse of the Vorta in this episode as well. We find out about their background, about their cloning process, and about their utter reverence for the Founders. Jeffrey Combs, who seems to have been born to play the role of a Vorta, again just nails it in this episode and shows his versatility by acting as both Weyoun clones.
• From tigertooth on 2017-01-20 at 8:08pm:
  This is another episode where I feel like the average rating is rigged. Most of the user ratings are quite high... except for the fact that there's over 100 zero votes.
  
  You might think about dumping those zeros since it seems likely somebody spammed the rating.
• From Kethinov on 2017-01-21 at 7:27pm:
  There is a big update to the site coming in February and I will be doing exactly that among other things.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From MJ on 2011-02-13 at 12:30pm:
  DS9 was ahead of its time, really. The '90's were a time of peace, so the topics the series grappled with-the horrors and stresses of war, injuries in combat, and losing comrades-were incomprehensible to most Western viewers. Since 9/11 and the Iraq War, these issues have been thrust into public discourse, at least more so than they were in the recent past. This makes it very interesting to go back and watch DS9 episodes like the Siege of AAR-558.
  
  The episode gets a lot of things right, and is surprisingly realistic given the time period in which it was produced. I agree that Nog's loss of a leg is not the same in the future as it would be today, although I do think the injury is at least more relevant to the viewer this way. The real beauty of this episode is the changing Nog. Nog has always been pretty gung-ho about joining Starfleet, but this will shake him to the core. Nog is actually one of my favorite characters for the same reasons Worf was in TNG: the first of his kind to join Starfleet, somewhat scorned by his people for doing so, and the issues he faces along the way.
  
  On another note, I really enjoyed the lighting of this episode. I notice things like this because of my profession, and providing lighting in an environment that is supposed to look dark can be challenging, but I really thought they did a great job with this set.

No fan commentary yet.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Rob on 2008-04-27 at 1:46am:
  I love how Ezri's analysis takes in all of Worf's history and, in effect, all of the history of the Klingon Empire. Not in only DS9, but all the way back to the third season of TNG and Duras' involvement in the High Council. Fantastic long-term continuity...!
  
  
• From Pemmer Harge on 2010-03-22 at 11:56pm:
  The best episode of the Final Chapter by quite some distance. Most of the others are at least good, but this one is just better written and more intelligent.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Hugo on 2013-05-03 at 6:12am:
  So the Dominion is retreating into Cardassian space - what about the Breen - couldn't the Federation et al attack Breen space (or is it too far away?)
• From Damien Bradley on 2013-09-28 at 7:55am:
  A minor problem: When Kasidy reveals she's pregnant, they say something about one of them forgetting an injection, presumably the modern method of birth control for men and women. Sisko admits it must have been him. But both partners have to be taking an injection for it to work? That doesn't make sense. If both partners were on it, it would serve as redundant protection in case one person forgets. Even now, we have methods that work for months or years at a time; wouldn't they have permanent reversible birth control for both sexes by the 24th century?
  
  Otherwise, I'm really enjoying the suspense leading up to the finale! I've been making my way through DS9 (with breaks here and there) for a few years now. Enough time to start the series over again! This time leaving out the bad filler (so thanks for your filler quotient ratings!).
• From ChristopherA on 2021-08-26 at 2:36am:
  The story of the Cardassian rebels continues to be exciting and well done.
  
  They are starting to wrap up the series, starting with the Ferengi, but I don't really see why they thought it was necessary to wrap up the Ferengi at all. It was a good idea to complete the “women’s liberation” storyline because the idea of naked Ferengi females is basically of an awkward legacy of the silly cartoonish TNG-style Ferengi. It was really inconvenient that you could not film Ferengi females because they were naked and thus could barely have female Ferengi at all. And the whole idea didn't seem to fit well at all with the DS9 recharacterization of the Ferengi. Their purpose was to be absurdly ruthless businessmen, having them be misogynists didn't add anything interesting to this and was mostly just annoying. So it made a lot of sense to just wrap this up and get rid of it.
  
  But having Ishka completely transform the whole society and political system in, apparently, a year or two just seemed trite and hard to believe and entirely unnecessary, it only seems to weaken the usefulness of the Ferengi as an element in future stories. And making Rom the Grand Nagus is, again, overly trite. Sure, it does cap off the long running storyline that Rom starts as the dumb subservient brother and grows into the smarter, more dynamic brother. But it has been well established this is partly because Rom’s genius lies in engineering rather than business. And while he has been shown to have grown courage at standing up to his brother to promote social causes, he is still an engineer with self-confidence, not a politician. It would be more believable to assume that Moogie is now the real Grand Nagus behind the scenes, with Rom as her nepotism puppet.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Captain Keogh on 2013-05-05 at 5:45pm:
  The one problem I have with this episode is the beginning, very trivial, when the USS Saratoga is hit by the Borg vutting beam, it hits the sensor dome, but when Sisko asks for the damage report, the tactical officer says it hit Decks 1-4, I will be looking forward to any insight into this.
• From James T Quark on 2015-08-16 at 2:28am:
  A good start. On my first viewing I had hoped that the whole "spiritual / emissary / religious" aspect wouldn't be a pivotal plot point, but I sure was wrong!
  
  As well, I'm not too fond of the whole Bajoran back story ie the Cardassian Rape of Bajor, so one might as "why watch?" Simple.
  
  The stories are excellent. If you can tolerate the religious overtones and perhaps skip over a few of the less important "Oh those poor, unfortunate Bajorans" episodes, this is a great series.
  
  While TNG will always be my favorite ST series, this would a close second, or maybe even first if they had made the Bajorans a stronger species, and not so deluded by the wormhole aliens magical powers. Imagine the series if it wasn't Bajor that was invaded and occupied but a race like the Romulans or the Klingons! Now THAT would be some good, albeit most likely DARKER, Trek.
  
  All in all, a very good addition to the franchise and a must see for any Trekerie!
• From Allen on 2021-04-17 at 9:50pm:
  Odd how I found this site. I was looking for the propose of the chest/crest rise on the cardassian uniforms. It lead to here. Very thoughtful comments about DS9. I'm revisiting DS9 shows because I missed some of them on the first broadcast. Due to comments. I might have to re-watch the first.
  
  I was there from the beginning of Star Trek. I was a kid when I watched the first Star Trek show on our B&W TV in the 1960's. Some of them were scary to me, being at that age even though I knew it was just a show.
  
  It was the right time for it. The "space race" was happening then.
  
  I am not a "Treky" I don't go to the conventions. I just like watching most of what has been produced on the original Star Trek story and all of the other SyFy built after it.
  
  Here's a question. Would "Star Wars" have happened had Star Trek not have?
• From Kethinov on 2021-04-19 at 3:05pm:
  Glad you found it! I would guess that Star Wars would not have happened without Star Trek becoming such a cult success in the 60s, since pop culture phenomenons tend to build off of each other. I would also guess that Star Trek would not have been revived had Star Wars not been so successful.
  
  Regarding DS9, it remains my favorite Trek show even decades later. Like all Trek shows, the early seasons are rough, but the last few seasons of DS9 are Star Trek at its finest with deep, nuanced writing that remains unrivaled to this day. I recommend to you and anyone else reading to give it a go. It aged well in a way that much of the rest of Trek before and after did not.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-05-22 at 3:31pm:
  I'm surprised that eric didn't take off more for their dropping of the Dosi race, never to be seen again.
• From Bernard on 2010-10-12 at 12:58pm:
  Since revisiting Season One episode 'Nagus' and thinking it was one of the strongest episodes of that season I looked forward to revisiting this one. It didn't disappoint.
  
  Simultaneously blending the exploration of more ferengi social structure, teasing out another tidbit about the dominion and creating a plot twist nicely, this episode is excellent.
  
  I love the part where Pel is revealed and Zek cries out! Brilliant stuff.
• From Wes on 2012-12-01 at 2:08pm:
  Notice in the scene above the bar where Kira returns the earring to Zek and then Quark and Pel come up, that you can see the tape on the floor marking where Kira was supposed to stand.
• From Dstyle on 2013-09-09 at 2:36am:
  There were Pakleds at Quark's! I only wish we could have overheard a bit of their conversation.
• From Dstyle on 2013-09-12 at 2:59pm:
  I feel silly now that I got so excited about seeing Pakleds at Quark's: as I continue to watch this season, I've been seeing Pakleds all over the station. Perhaps they were around the station in the first season or earlier in the second season and I just didn't notice them, but I always love seeing them: they're such a fascinating and absurd species. What are they doing at DS9? Looking for things? Things they need? Things that make them go?

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-05-24 at 2:04am:
  Once again, this episode has very blatant duality between the bajorans and the jews. They are secluded in ghetto-like areas on the stations. Odo refers to bajorans that would sell out their own people to the cardassians, similar to jews that sold out their friends and families to the nazis. I wish they would just come out and admit it.
  
  The ending was abrupt and incomplete. I wanted to see the rest of the flashback
  
  PS- what's up with the obsession with Morn?
• From JRPoole on 2008-12-08 at 4:17pm:
  Why in the world did some one give this a 1?
  
  This is one of the strongest episodes to this point in DS9. It's a stand-alone, but it does a great deal of work in fleshing out both Kira and Odo's characters and their relationship with each other. It's cool to see the station as it was under the Cardassians, great to see Kira in the underground, and the mystery of the plot works well.
• From djb on 2009-01-12 at 7:34am:
  What is with Rom's rogue tooth? It's really distracting.
  
  And, good question: why point out every time Morn appears?
• From Kethinov on 2009-01-12 at 8:04pm:
  It's like Where's Waldo. Cataloging every Morn appearance is like a weird little game for me.
• From Jens-Ivar Seland on 2009-08-02 at 8:55pm:
  Morn (or someone very like him, the focus is unclear) appears at 35:14, passing behind the guy who leter tries to kill quark in the infirmary.
• From Pemmer Harge on 2010-03-14 at 7:07pm:
  One of the very best episodes of Deep Space Nine. This sort of thing doesn't happen on the other Trek shows and episodes like this helped DS9 establish its own identity. The show got more consistent in later seasons, but it only rarely matched this level of quality. I rate it a 10.
• From Bernard on 2010-10-13 at 5:24pm:
  Excellent episode. Wonderful performances by Nana Visitor and Rene Auberjonois. The further insight into Odo's character is most welcome and the revelation at the end is executed superbly.
• From John on 2011-09-10 at 2:48am:
  Pete raises two stupid points.
  
  The first: "this episode has very blatant duality between the bajorans and the jews". I think you mean to say that this episode has very blatant PARALLELS between the Bajorans and the Jews. Duality implies they have opposing, or at least complementary, characteristics. There is a duality between the Cardassians and the Bajorans, for example.
  
  The second: "what's up with the obsession with Morn?" Morn adds a bit a regular levity to the otherwise dark tone of the show. Also, some people just happen to like Morn because he looks like a friendly turtle or something.
• From Matt on 2012-06-07 at 7:23am:
  I can fault the series for some unfortunate parallels between Jewish stereotypes and Ferengi mannerisms, but the similarities to Bajoran characteristics had not occurred to me.
• From Dstyle on 2013-09-09 at 3:07pm:
  An excellent episode: love the dark, shadowy noir style, complete with a femme fatale, a complicated mystery, and Odo's voice over. I almost wish they had used some of the angular Cardassian architecture to create a Venetian blind effect in some of the scenes, but that might have been just a little too much.
• From Rob UK on 2013-11-10 at 11:31pm:
  Great episode for all the reasons you all mentioned so i'll not repeat them but i can't believe the biggest thing you have all missed,
  
  This is a blatant and continuous and excellent homage to Feter Falk as the character Columbo in regards to Odo being an investigator in the modern day parts where he is investigating (he is a master now like Columbo) compared to his first venture investigating, he even drops the famous line (27m53s) "Just one more thing ......." when talking with the widow in modern day and then he begins to question her on seemingly irrelevant details which she points out just like every previous victim of Columbo would whilst slipping a detail he was chasing at the same time dropping her guard taking him for a simpleton, add to this the continuous hand mannerism and the only thing he left out for the perfect Columbo impression was Peter's squint to hide his false eye. This was what made me go 9
• From Abigail on 2021-06-07 at 6:09pm:
  I just rewatched this one and really enjoyed it. It was neat to see the station under the Cardassians and get some character backstory, too.
• From Luke on 2022-08-03 at 8:55am:
  The voice of the female guest star sounds IDENTICAL to that of the Voyager Borg queen, those inflections. However according to IMDB it isn't her. Strange.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2008-12-26 at 6:05pm:
  This two-parter is perhaps the best DS9 offering to this point. Good stuff.
• From JJ on 2010-08-03 at 6:20pm:
  There is a problem here: the Zeppelite ship canrun at warp 9,8.
• From John on 2011-01-08 at 6:54am:
  I love Sisko's speech: "The Problem is Earth..." I love what he says, and I love the way he makes Kira shut up. Kira needs to shut up more often in my opinion.
  
  Here we see the emergence of Sisko as a total badass -- fantastic.
• From Bernard on 2011-04-05 at 2:58pm:
  Solid episode that finishes off the set up from the first part nicely. Unfortunately it doesn't do much more than that.
  
  I too enjoy Sisko's 'the problem with Earth' speech, I also enjoy Dukat who has been a joy throughout both parts.
  
  "What's that phrase? 'Shoot to kill'?"
  
  The Maquis, are an excellent addition to the Star Trek universe and stories will make very good use of them over the next few seasons.
• From Hugo on 2011-11-12 at 10:35pm:
  Not too fond of Avery Brooks' acting in this two-parter, and he is totally outplayed by Dukat. Sisko just comes out as a whiny, grumpy tight-ass.
• From Hugo on 2011-11-12 at 11:10pm:
  I also like that Dukat comes out as not only a villain, and it nuances the image of the Cardassians. On the space battle - it was ok, but felt a bit like a computer game at times...
• From Matt on 2012-06-10 at 8:00am:
  Did anyone catch Hudson's Shatner-esque delivery of the heading towards the end of the episode?
• From Bronn on 2013-07-05 at 6:01pm:
  This was an excellent two part episode and represents the very best of DS9-there's a very complicated issue here and you can sympathize with all sides, even with what Dukat is trying to accomplish. But the Maquis storyline always bugged me because if you're setting up something complicated, it deserves a good resolution.
  
  Obviously you can't resolve the Maquis storyline here because it's still setting up Voyager. But it fails to reach a real resolution at any point. After taking direct action here to stop the Maquis, blowing up some of their ships, Sisko and the DS9 crew are largely going to ignore the Maquis for the next few years, save for a couple of episodes per season. They're more concerned with the Dominion. In the end the Maquis is going to be gobsmacked completely off screen by the Dominion. It's this loose thread that's dangling for a long time that never was completely pulled into place, so it got lopped off when they ran out of stories to do with it.
  
  I feel that Federation leadership takes a bit of unjust blame here. There's degrees to which I can understand them being out of touch, but they're dealt a rough hand. First they finally managed to sign the peace treaty with the Cardassians and setting up a DMZ. This was apparently a fair enough deal with both sides having to concede colonies. They tried to relocate their citizens, but those people refused to move and said they're rather live under Cardassian rule than give up their land. So they leave them...and then they blame the Federation when the Cardassians treat them like crap in attempt to make them give up their lands. Then the Federation is stuck in a position where they either have to go to war, or attempt to police their citizens who start their own shooting war. The Federation breaking a peace treaty with the Cardassians would open a whole new can of worms for them because of their treaties with the Romulans and whatever tenuous agreements they had with the Tholians.
  
  What I wanted to come out of this, at some point, was Starfleet policy to retain some clarity. Either they would go to war to protect their citizens, or they would disavow responsibility for them completely and tell the Cardassians to use their own discretion in dealing with the Maquis. We never got a real resolution to the Maquis situation on Voyager either, since the fact that there were Maquis crew members there mattered for maybe 4 episodes.
• From bodner on 2014-02-14 at 5:59pm:
  @John
  I thought Kira's speech to Sisko was way more brave, to school her superior officer about Cardassians like that.
  Siskos speech to her was most cowardly, he should have said that to the admiral not someone who agrees anyway.

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 djb on 2009-11-15 at 8:39am:
  A DS9 version of TNG: Disaster! Awesome. It was a little disappointing to see the Defiant practically incapacitated so easily, but they made up for it. Always nice to see Jem'Hadar ships destroyed too.
• From Krs321 on 2011-03-28 at 12:26pm:
  I was really hoping for a sonar ping sound while running the 'active scan'.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-11-02 at 2:07am:
  Although it was difficult to tell with all that makeup, the Karemma representative, Hanok, was played by James Cromwell, a very well known star from many films and TV shows. It would be hard to identify a single work that Cromwell is most known for, he has been in so many. He plays the farmer in the movies "Babe" and "Babe in the City". He is a major character in the movie The Green Mile. Also a major character in the movie Star Trek: First Contact (where he plays Zefram Cochrane). Also a major character in the Movie I Robot. He also appears in TNG: The Birthright Parts 1 and 2 as Jaglom Shrek and TNG: The Hunted as Prime Minister Nayrok. A very, very well known actor in other words. Here, it is pretty hard to recognize him, but his voice is quite unmistakable.
• From Gul Ranek on 2012-12-28 at 8:30pm:
  As the review says, a Star Trek submarine episode. I also liked it a lot (season 4 so far has been more or less perfect as far as storytelling goes).
  
  The only thing that slightly annoyed me was when Bashir "absolutely had to" close the door on Deck 2 because it was so crucial for the ship, and ran out to get Dax, drag her into the turbolift, taking his time to shut the door, which took more than 30-40 seconds, while nothing of consequence happened to the ship. He could have easily grabbed her and dragged her back with everyone else, but the writers obviously needed to get him and Jadzia to be alone...

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 onlinebroker on 2009-11-10 at 4:55am:
  cool episode to watch, but what about the final revelation, a shapeshifter, just sitting there waiting to die? No attempt to shapeshift his way outta there, as an insect, or an impersonation? or at least fight?
• From rpeh on 2010-07-31 at 11:17pm:
  On a first watching, this episode is brilliant. The trouble comes when you watch it again.
  
  Why did the Jem'Hadar not beam around as they have done in previous episodes? Why did the Founder not attack from within?
  
  The ending is very good, and managed to offset Worf being a bit of an insensitive idiot during the main plot - he MUST have been more sensitive towards humans after his spell on the Enterprise, surely?
  
  All in all I give it an 8.
• From MJ on 2011-01-21 at 7:53pm:
  In my opinion, this is one of the better DS9 episodes. First, it has a twist that is hard to spot. Everything leads you to believe the Dominion wants this ship back because of something about the ship itself: some new piece of equipment, or perhaps some kind of special cargo. The female Vorta gives no real clues about why they want the ship back, and you can only sense the frustration of the DS9 crew trying to find the "item" having absolutely no clue what to look for.
  
  The character interactions are well written and well acted. O'Brien and Muniz, of course...the good-natured ribbing, the camaraderie, all of it is very pleasant to watch. For having never seen Muniz before, I was very convinced that he and O'Brien were good friends with great respect for each other. The interactions between Sisko and the female Vorta...they show the essence of diplomacy: trying to get something you want without giving up too much or revealing too much to the other side. And I loved the moment when Sisko lays it down to his crew, telling O'Brien and Worf to quit their fighting and putting a lid on Dax's unhelpful wisecracks. That was a great moment because it was one of the few times when it seemed Dax's "special friendship" with Sisko did not make him/her exempt from the chain of command or Starfleet duty. The interaction between O'Brien and Worf: true, Worf's insensitivity was a little hard to swallow, but I wasn't too bothered by it since it was believable. But their conflicting views on Muniz, and especially their bonding at the end as they "guard" his body, were a nice dimension.
  
  Initially, I was a bit perplexed about the crew's ability to get past the death of the runabout crew and the science officer who beamed down with them, but all of this is resolved at the end when Sisko is clearly shaken to the core by all the deaths on this mission. Avery Brooks did awesome here; the emotion in his voice was very convincing.
  
  The "bombardment" of the surface by the Jem'Hadar, and its shaking up of the crew, was interesting. Shell shock is very real, and the fraying of nerves that accompanies random, continuous, and extremely loud and shaky bombing was a nice battle fatigue element that is typically missing from Star Trek fight scenes.
  
  Overall, a favorite of mine.
• From ChristopherA on 2020-11-24 at 5:54am:
  I found that this episode really strained my suspension of disbelief, trying to make myself believe that the Jem’Hadar, with all their warrior training and superior technology, were unable to come up with any effective attack plan at all to handle the tiny handful of humans and just chose to let the changeling die. If I get past this, though, I thought it was a decent episode, with a good sense of being under siege, and a good twist ending to the mystery.

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 JR on 2012-06-12 at 6:25am:
  I've never considered myself a trekkie by any means, but I always liked TNG re-runs and the movies, and watched Enterprise when it aired. With netflix carrying all the shows, I have really caught up and just have the rest of DS9 and Voyager to finish.
  
  So, even though I never really thought of myself as a trekkie, I've seen a lot of it and the Eugenics war timeline given in this episode seems really screwy compared to the rest of Trek.
  "The admiral: "200 years ago we tried to improve the species through DNA resequencing. And what did we get for our troubles? The Eugenics wars. For every Julian Bashir that can be created there's a Khan Singh waiting in the wings."
  
  As soon as I heard that line my mind started crunching numbers. The admiral is saying that the Eugenics Wars happened in the mid 22nd century. However, I thought the Eugenics wars were time stamped by TOS to be in the near future of the 1960's, meaning around the 1990's. I took it to mean that genetic experiments during the then present day 1960's would lead to 20-30 year old superhumans that took over the world in the 90's before being deposed. That was before WWIII of the mid 21st century.
  
  Any ideas on this? Just an error and the admiral should have said 400 years? I figure the writers did not want to confuse the non-trekkie audience by keeping the Eugenics wars in the 1990's since that would have put it in the "present/past" when this was made in 1997.
• From Hugo on 2012-09-08 at 9:35pm:
  JR - this was was a screw-up by the writers - there is a comment by Ron Moore quoted on Memory Alpha.
• From Selador on 2013-06-11 at 11:01pm:
  I have a feeling a certain someone has a problem with this episode since the 16 zero fan ratings doesn't really make sense otherwise. Was there no way to implement a one vote per ISP voting system?
  
  A fantastic episode and classic trek - a great sci-fi moral conundrum, excellent characterisation and a nice sub-plot. Also wonderful moments of humour. Gets a 9 from me.
• From Kethinov on 2013-06-12 at 4:56am:
  I do some filtering to prevent multiple voting. But there's nothing I can do about someone with access to 16 different computers on 16 different IPs.
  
  If you like, I can start taking credit card and passport info before accepting a vote. ;)
• From Ant on 2013-09-12 at 10:03pm:
  This one is a filler if I ever seen one where DS9 go cheap soap opera. One of the few episodes where I strongly disagree with Kethinov.
  
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-11-18 at 10:44pm:
  Great cameo from Robert Picardo as Dr. Zimmerman/EMH, great Rom B-plot. And Alexander Siddig absolutely knocks this one out of the park, such pathos in the scene where he breaks down in anger at his parents for giving up on him, and the response from Fadwa El Guindi tops it off.

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 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 chrisw357 on 2006-06-17 at 1:01am:
  Some fans may not know this, but Morn's name came about because of his role as a bar regular. It's an anagram for Norm, the bar regular in "Cheers". :D
  
  Goodbye, sweet Morn! :(
• From Christopher Wright on 2011-12-21 at 1:52am:
  I wish the writers of Enterprise were as good as the ones for DS9...they would have also realized that gold was worthless to the Ferengi and Capt.Archer could have never used it to lure them in that god-awful episode.
• From hugo on 2012-12-21 at 7:16pm:
  great episode! Not too fond of the seductive lady, but the other characters were great - especially the alien brothers!
• From Zorak on 2016-06-23 at 5:01am:
  Wow. Morn's name really is an anagram and intentional reference to Norm. It's so obvious. I don't know how I never realized it.
  
  
• From Mike on 2016-10-27 at 4:48am:
  Re: Zorak,
  
  And, to make it even more fun, Morn's corner spot in Quark's bar is similar to Norm's corner spot in the Cheers bar.
  
  My favorite exchange:
  
  Quark: Why would the Royal family of Luria give Morn that kind of money?
  
  HAIN: He was the Crown Prince.
  
  Quark: Morn was a prince?
  
  HAIN: You didn't know?
  
  Quark: Morn was a prince?
  
  HAIN: That's what I'm saying.
  
  Quark: Morn was a prince.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Dio on 2009-02-05 at 5:17pm:
  This one got a 9 from me, really enjoyed seeing the young officers trying to fill roles of mature officers. After hearing about "Luna" I wanted to see a shot of it, perhaps to see the girl reunited with her family, oh well. Still, very well done and one of my favourites!
• From MJ on 2011-01-31 at 4:56pm:
  The most interesting scene in this episode to me is when the escape pods are leaving the Valiant. We're used to seeing escape pods get away successfully in Star Trek, but the Jem'Hadar ruthlessly target and destroy some of the pods; others don't get away in time and are consumed by the exploding ship. I think this scene was reinforcing the brutal dose of reality these cadets got. It's as if their mistake was pursuing them even in the end, denying them of the chance to learn from it.
  
  But all the other lessons about the cult of personality, the arrogance of youth, and the danger of the group mentality are aptly explored and upheld here. Nicely done episode, including some interesting moments between Jake and Nog.
• From Christopher Wright on 2012-01-19 at 1:53am:
  I agree with the other comment how it was a dose of harsh realism to see escape pods being destoyed, but having only one escape (the one with our heroes) was a little too contrived. Anyone else wonder why the secret battleship even allowed their pod to survive? I mean was the dominion captain like, "oh well, we missed that pod with one torpedo, better let it get back to federation space with knowledge of our top secret ship."? Other than the plot holes like that a very well-acted and entertaining episode.
• From McCoy on 2017-03-03 at 4:44pm:
  Hm... J.J. Abrams obviously didn't saw this episode before filming his first Star Trek film. If you give a ship to cadets, you can expect nothing more than a disaster.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From MJ on 2011-02-25 at 6:18pm:
  A decent two-parter.
  
  First, this Romulan ploy to hide weapons on the Bajoran moon seems a bit forced. I know the Romulans are supposed to be the deceptive chess masters always looking to one-up the Federation with some clever ploy, but it seems out of place here considering the Romulans are already at war with the Dominion. And Kira would be much more believable if she was just a tad bit anguished over this whole situation rather than arrogantly sure of herself through the whole thing. Ever see the movie “Thirteen Days”? In the real world, I’d imagine Kira is losing some sleep over something as significant as the Romulan Empire building up weapons on her homeworld’s moon. Instead, she acts more like Maverick at a game of poker. I don’t buy it.
  
  Sisko’s mission to find the Orb of the Emissary and his false vision was enjoyable. I’m usually not a fan of this Emissary story arc, but this is one of the rare times it was well handled and intriguing. I like the idea of explaining Sisko’s connection to the Prophets by having him be a descendant of them; it grounds the story a bit more and removes some of the supernatural. And I always LOVE when Brock Peters guest stars. He’s a fantastic actor.
  
  The third subplot, where Worf and the DS9 comrades go on a mission to get Jadzia into Sto’Vo’Kor is the best, though. I like the petty bickering between Bashir, O’Brien, and Quark, especially over the mess hall incident. And Worf’s apology is a nicely done scene. Their destruction of the shipyards was a very good action sequence, and made for a fine plot addition.
  
  In the end, the three subplots work well together; I even like the occasional flash to Damar and Weyoun.
• From Lt. Fitz on 2012-07-05 at 5:02pm:
  The whole Trill thing is weird.
  
  It seems a bit unfair that keeping a symbiont alive can entail what seems to me to be the enslavement of a Trill host. She didn't want to host Dax? Then it should have died. I mean, Ezri already had a life. She was in Starfleet, for goodness sake. She obviously wasn't planning to be a host. Now she is stuck with the symbiont. And, why didn’t they just put the symbiont in Stasis until they could find it a willing host?
  
  Also, it has been established that when symbiont and host are put together, they basically become a new person. Shouldn't that new person have to be reconsidered for Starfleet? It's not the same Ezri after all. What if Dax had ended up in a Trill like Joran?
  
  I know. It's a TV show. I'm probably thinking it through too much. :)
  
• From Lt. Fitz on 2012-07-05 at 6:17pm:
  I don't get it. I watched the very first episodes after watching this one, because it seemed to me that the prophets were being very inconsistent. In the first episodes, the prophets don’t know what linear time is. They don’t seem to know what Sisko is. They even conclude that he must be destroyed! He has to argue with them to save himself! Now, late in the series they are written to have reached far across the quadrant to take control of a human woman to produce Sisko himself. Making Sisko what exactly? A human/prophet hybrid? The son of the gods? The savior of the wormhole? To do all this, it seems to me a species needs to have a pretty firm grip on what linear time is. It’s clear that the writers have gone too far with the whole emissary thing. Throughout the series it seemed like they were really pushing to go too far with it, and in this episode, they finally did it.
  
  I now understand why a lot of Trek fans had problems with DS9. It was mostly working for me when I could frame the prophets as a difficult-to-comprehend race of aliens that the Bajorans were mistaking for gods who must have been inadvertently interacting with the Bajorans simply because their planet was in the vicinity of one end of the wormhole. But now, I don’t know what to think. Their nature is so inconsistent and unclearly defined that they have become completely inconceivable to me. When a story includes such opacity, it strikes me as carelessly written. Even the most bizarre circumstances in the previous series could always be explained in general scientific terms within the rules of the Star Trek universe as it had been defined. But in the DS9 universe, literally anything can happen and no explanation is required. DS9 definitely took Star Trek from science fiction to space fantasy, which is a bit of a downer for me since I greatly preferred Star Trek being science fiction. If I wanted space fantasy, I could always turn to Star Wars.
  
  This is not to say that I dislike DS9. I generally like it. But, as I read someone else comment, it’s not really Star Trek. I just wish that it would have remained consistent within its unique universe, but it idn’t.
  
• From Hugo on 2013-02-13 at 7:56am:
  I was a bit disappointed with the events on the Rotarran - I was expecting there to be some point where Bashir and Quark would be useful for the completion of the mission - now they were just passangers. The Chief, on the other hand, got to contribute...
• From James on 2014-06-05 at 11:45pm:
  Seems like someone is sabotaging your rating system. All of seas 7 episodes have an inconsistent amount of zero votes. I really doubt that seas 7 is so hated that the majority of people would give all the episodes a zero. So, for this season I think I'll depend on YOUR ratings for my guide. Someone obviously has a lot of time on their hands. Too bad they are using it to skew the results on, IMHO, the best Star Trek review site on the Web.
• From Axel on 2015-05-11 at 4:46am:
  Maybe it's just me, but the Romulan decision to defend their hospital with torpedoes seems perfectly justified. If I were in their place, I wouldn't trust the defense of a crucial hospital facility to the antiquated ships the Bajoran militias use. Maybe they were a bit too secretive about the whole thing, but it's not exactly an act of war. Kira and the Bajorans come across as unreasonable by demanding outright that the Romulans remove the weapons rather than work something out. I guess you could explain it as the Bajorans having deja vu about an outside power starting a military occupation in their space, but that part of the story didn't really work IMO.
  
  Still not sure what to make of this whole Prophet/Pah-Wraith thing. I agree it gets a little carried away in Season 7, although in this particular episode I think it made for a good plot.
• From McCoy on 2017-03-05 at 2:06pm:
  I really liked return of Ben Russell. Seems like the writers know that their idea of Sisko being Prophet is silly. After all Russell is insane during writing this story:)
  I'm probalby in minority but I regret they didn't kill Jadzia earlier. Never liked her irritating behaviour. In this one episode Ezri is better written, performed and more interesting character than Jadzia in previous six seasons alltogether.
• From ChristopherA on 2021-04-26 at 4:41pm:
  I found the plot on the Rotarran excessively silly. It just seemed rather unrealistic for Quark, in particular, to go on a suicide mission he cannot contribute to, just because he thinks it would vaguely honor Jadzia’s memory. He never really seemed all that obsessively smitten with her before. I could believe Worf, but it just really came across to me as though O’Brian, Bashir, and Quark mainly went along because they knew that the scriptwriters wanted them to go and weren't really going to kill them, so it was worth a little inconvenience in honor of Jadzia. And it was also pretty silly that Quark was allowed on the bridge during combat, where he served no purpose other than as a distraction.
  
  I felt the idea that Sisko was basically descended from one of the Prophets was weird and pointless, it didn't seem to serve any purpose other than to pad the runtime. I don't see how this in any way improves over the more straightforward assumption that he is an ordinary man, and the Prophets picked Sisko to be the Emissary purely because they can see outside of linear time and knew he was going to be the right man in the right place at the right time for their purposes.
  
  Aside from this, though, I did kind of enjoy how Sisko took some time off to visit the restaurant and go on a holy quest, the episode did have a sort of grandiose feel to it.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From MJ on 2011-02-12 at 9:16am:
  There have been quite a few DS9 episodes that took on too much, and had to suddenly tie up an otherwise good episode. This one did very nicely, though. I didn't think anything was resolved too quickly between Ezri and any of the others. Interesting that Garak was the one chosen to be her first serious counseling effort aboard DS9, and his problem is a big one. His breakdown as he realizes what is truly bothering him is wonderfully acted, as only Andrew Robinson could.
  
  I thought the reconciliation between Ezri and Worf was handled perfectly. It involved few words, and Worf right to the point with expressing his feelings, but without being too vulnerable, which is exactly how you'd expect him to do something like that. You can understand his pain, too. It's confusing for him: in his culture, the custom is to honor a loved one who is dead, and Dax doesn't quite fit in to the typical situation.
  
  All of this explains the deeply cutting remarks to Ezri made by both Garak and Worf. That, combined with Sisko's "tough love" would certainly push a person.
  
  I know that when DS9 was on the air and in the years since, there have been mixed fan feelings about Ezri Dax. Many people became attached to Terry Farrell and Jadzia, understandable after six seasons. But I really like the introduction of Ezri Dax. The character gives the show a chance to explore another side of Trill society: what it's like when a host isn't prepared for the symbiont, and is flooded with centuries of memories...not to mention having to face many of the people one of the previous hosts knew. And fresh-faced, perky but humorously befuddled Ezri is a good choice for this new host.
• From Krs312 on 2011-09-22 at 12:49pm:
  I also think that Ezri is a more interesting character than Jadzia.
• From Rob UK on 2023-12-08 at 10:57am:
  Personally i've always struggled with both Jadzia and Ezri Dax, even back in the 70's we all knew what a Mary Sue was (if you don't belive me go and watch Police Academy 1 and pay attention to the name of the new mayor), never mind in the 90's when this was produced.
  
  The Trill symbiote makes an almost plausable excuse for why any female who gets one can take on any modern man of any race both physically and mentally at the drop of a hat no practice needed by channelling the very convenient multi talented previous hosts (they become like Cartman trying to play Ronin and end up with all the powers). This even applies in direct hand to hand combat against multiple mighty klingon warriors trying to gut her, where actually Klingon warriors are dying all around her but these weaklings have no chance for she has the powereth of previous male hosts inside her.
  
  Am i just too old and jaded now hahahahahaha

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Damien Bradley on 2013-03-03 at 1:41am:
  I liked this episode quite a bit, except for one scene: the music scene. I'm sorry, but no matter how genetically enhanced your brain is, you don't sound like that after a near lifetime of not speaking, let alone not having your voice trained. That scene was painful.
  
  Aside from that, it was some great character development (even so late in the series) for Bashir. I feel bad for him. Aside from his short-lived relationship with Leeta, he's been pretty lonely, and now he finally meets a woman like him, whom he can really relate to! Too bad she has no experience with relationships, and yes, he did move awfully fast and make a whole lot of assumptions about what their relationship would look like! Rather presumptuous. But understandable, given his character and given how lonely he's been.
  
  The episode reminded me of the movie "Awakenings," where several catatonic patients are given a treatment that temporarily allowed them to function and interact. I was afraid that this episode would end the same way, with Sarina returning to her original state. I thought that her not returning to her original state, but not staying on the station, was a good middle ground. The moment when Bashir is talking to her while she was pretending to be unresponsive, and then her responding to his "do you love me" with "I don't know!" was quite touching.
  
  One little note: maybe this episode was produced before the scientific consensus was that the universe will actually expand forever rather than collapse inward on itself. Or maybe in 400 years there will be new evidence for the "Big Crunch?" Or, maybe Jack is onto something the rest of us aren't? Funny either way.
• From Selador on 2013-09-22 at 4:17am:
  Oh wow. This episode has 10 written all over it. Just superb. So many beautiful scenes and the overall story was immense. I think I might like this even more than In the Pale Moonlight.
• From Dr. Philip Channard on 2015-06-10 at 12:07pm:
  Sarina reminded me of Tiffany from Hellraiser.
• From lumzi23 on 2017-01-22 at 11:09pm:
  Gotta disagree with Damien. The music scene is one of my favorite scene in all of DS9 (or even in all of ANYTHING!) It was amazing.
• From Scott Nolan on 2018-10-23 at 12:41pm:
  Sarina is played by columnist and frequent “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” panelist Faith Salie.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Bernard on 2009-12-31 at 4:07pm:
  Quite a sweet episode, everything seems to tuck into place neatly by the end. Marvelous performances by both Rene Auberjonois and Majel Barrett Roddenberry ultimately carry this episode to it's decent score from me, a 7.
• From Fan on 2011-08-12 at 6:38am:
  I was going to whine a little about how Odo being contained in the folds of Lwaxana's dress was unrealistic, but I figured it out - her dress would just have to be made out of some kind of non-porous or micro-porous material, and the whole matter would've had to have been kind of sloppy (which would actually add to the story some, because it works even better as a kind of double entendre for something else that's messy and private and involves trust and vulnerability, and also makes the whole event even more significant for Odo, with Lwaxana's active efforts saving his life).
  
  Maybe some of this should've been hinted at in the actual episode instead of just having that shot of Odo melting into the folds of her dress?
  
  Anyway, this episode was quite good. There was a lot of good humor, as the review suggests. Odo's facial expressions and body language in the elevator is priceless. O'Brian's plan to adopt the non-biological lifeform by creating a stimulating "doghouse" program - that was pretty great too. Oh yah, Bashir getting the commendations at the end from the "Ambassadors of Unhappiness" - also good
• From Abigail on 2019-08-30 at 10:19pm:
  I actually thought this episode was really boring. The Lwaxana/Odo interaction was somewhat entertaining, and we got some good backstory about Odo, but that was about 5 worthwhile minutes out of a 45-minute, generally dull and pointless, episode.
  
  I do seem to be in the minority with this opinion, though, it appears!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2008-12-01 at 4:09pm:
  I give this one a 10 because it exemplifies everything that Trek is about. I love the paralells between Winn's scheming and the intelligent design debate, I love Sisko's calm mediation, and I love Keiko's resolve. Vedik Winn's character is great, and the actress (I can't remember her name to save my life) is perfect for the role.
  
  I like to contrast this one with the TNG episode "The Devil's Due." You see that DS9 is not only grittier than TNG, but it's also a little more nuanced in its approach to science vs. religion. Sisko, while uncomfortable with his role as the Emissary, at least understands the importance of the Bajorans' religion.
  
  In the end, I think this one actually works pretty well as a season finale. The Winn/Bareil feud, which heats up as the series progresses if memory serves, gets introduced here, and this one sort of functions as a capstone episode for Kira and sets the stage for the political tensions to come. Nice work.
• From Bernard on 2010-01-19 at 12:08pm:
  I was very surprised to see the fan average below 8 for this one.
  
  Perhaps like the reviewer they were rating it against what they expect of a season finale? I don't find that a particularly balanced way of looking at what is a stand alone episode whether it comes in the middle or at the end of the season.
  
  I really like this one, Louise Fletcher is brilliant as the scheming Vedek Winn. The main theme, science vs. religion is nicely highlighted and the tension is built nicely throughout. I really like the way they had Major Kira finally 'adjust' to her new life and accept Sisko. That seemed a fitting way to wrap up the season.
  Now I've come to the end of my revisit of season one I feel great optimism based on the content of the final two episodes, without which Season one comes dangerously close to being average.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-18 at 4:42pm:
  To answer the question posed by JRPoole, the actress is Louise Fletcher, best known (aside from her role as Vedic Winn) as Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" with Jack Nicholson.
• From Wes on 2012-11-30 at 10:21pm:
  I was so dissatisfied with the end of the episode as it relates to Winn. Who cares if girl won't admit to being in league with Winn! That has never stopped Odo before. He would be able to get to the bottom of this. It would just take some time. It makes me think to the end of the series and Winn's involvement; it's quite frustrating. If they had stopped Winn now, the series would have ended quite differently. I just hate how evil Winn is. I guess that means she is an excellent villain.
• From alphabeta on 2013-07-10 at 10:30am:
  Additional Morn sightings; in the middle of the episode during first Odo's/Quark's conversation and then Odo's/O'brien's conversation, Morn can be seen walking by in the background twice, counterclockwise, the 2nd time with what looks like a Jumja stick. Guess he's just out for a snack and a walk around the promenade!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2008-12-11 at 1:15am:
  Isn't Malcolm McDowell's character in "Generations" another El-Aurian?
• From Paul on 2010-09-18 at 2:23pm:
  Generations came out after this episode
• From Bernard on 2011-02-15 at 12:32pm:
  I do have a soft spot for this episode, but it is fairly predictable and ultimately only serves to continue the Bashir/O'Brien friendship story that runs throughout the series.
  
  My favourite moment is when O'Brien walks into the racketball court to find Bashir squatting on the floor showing him the 'V-sign'. Probably not funny to Americans but Colm Meaney's expression has me in hysterics every time I watch it.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-19 at 12:48pm:
  Obvious perhaps, but I enjoyed the appearance of Chris Sarandon (possibly best known for his role as Prince Humperdink in the Rob Reiner film "Princess Bride" who played Martus in this episode.
• From Selador on 2013-01-21 at 11:09pm:
  The luck devices were preposterous, but not actually impossible so the episode wasn't spoilt. I'm starting to like Bashir, he's irritated by the strangest things. Saw the twist coming a mile away, strange that the conman didn't, but on the whole a solidly fun episode with good dialogue that asks the viewer to suspend just a little too much belief.
• From AW on 2015-12-01 at 7:31am:
  "Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack." I think this might might be my favorite rule.
  
• From Mike on 2017-05-20 at 2:39am:
  What I've always liked about Star Trek science fiction is that it offers some ideas that are plausible, some that are annoyingly ridiculous, and some that are implausible but entertaining or interesting. This episode falls in that last category. Sure, the devices are nonsense, but the attempt at explaining how they work, as well as the plot of the episode itself, are all just good fun. The Martius/Quark rivalry is enjoyable, as is that between O'Brien and Bashir. This episode strikes me as being more of the DS9 trademark standalone episode. The crew isn't out exploring the galaxy; instead, the galaxy's intrigue comes to them. Usually it's serious, but occasionally it's lighthearted. A well done episode, worth watching a second time.

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 Tallifer on 2011-03-20 at 1:18am:
  This is a terrific beginning for an epic story in two parts. There is not a single false note in this.
  
  Of course, being an historian and a lover of classic literature, I always appreciate the more grandiose episodes of Star Trek.
• From Bernard on 2011-04-03 at 11:19am:
  Strong episode. Nicely paced, explains the back story for the Maquis perfectly. This had to be solid of course as it sets up Voyager.
  
  Love the Sisko/Dukat partnership which at the time I thought was to become something akin to O'Brien/Bashir but thankfully the creators made sure that their relationship stayed more like Picard/Q.
  
  The point is the writers are using the 'unlikely pairing' angle again and it works so well.
  
  Shame we hadn't seen Hudson prior to this episode to make it more wrenching and less predictable when his revelation comes to light but that sort of continuity and almost serialisation is to come later in the series.
  
  Overall a good outting, shame about part two.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-25 at 1:05pm:
  Cal Hudson was played by Bernie Casey, a very well known TV and movie actor who has many credits to his name, among them Roots, Murder She Wrote, Babylon Five, and the James Bond movie Never Say Never Again. Bernie Casey also played football for two NFL teams: The San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams. So far as I know Bernie Casey is the only actor to appear on any Star Trek episode or feature film who also played football for the NFL. Another interesting study.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JJ on 2010-08-06 at 9:27pm:
  There's not really a problem in that they are able to destroy the wormhole with photons as it's not real but part of the illusion.
  
  The pillar in the background when the female shapeshifter is explaining Odo's history to him is the same as in the previous episode where the DS9 crew collects some shape shifting matter from a planet and bring is to the station!
• From John on 2011-01-09 at 2:20am:
  I enjoyed this episode a lot, with the exception of the scene where Kira is talking to the "arboretum" about her plans to send a disguised message from the runabout. She knows that the Changelings don't like or trust her, and she has no idea if one of them could be one of the forms in the garden, listening to what she's saying.
  
  She's normally a lot more cautious than that when dealing with anyone who isn't a Bajoran.
• From Lt. Fitz on 2012-06-24 at 1:59pm:
  Yeah, this episode was a real downer. Here I thought they were going to get really bold with the collapsing of the wormhole (I thought they would find some Star Trek Magic way of opening it back up again, perhaps “spiritual” communication with the prophets from Bajor or something), but then it became this silly Matrix thing which took all the suspense out of it. The founders needed to see how far the federation would go to defend themselves? The fact that they lost an entire starship rescuing TWO people from the nearby planet the last time you met them didn’t convince you that they were gutsy? And then to top the whole thing off, the founders just LET THEM ALL GO. This following the dominion showing that they are willing to fly their own ships into starfleet vessels to prove their ruthlessness! This made no sense! Why let them go? So they can just go and prepare to defeat the Dominion when they finally get around to invading, which I assume is coming in the future? Kill them while you have them! Destroy what’s left of the Defiant! They kill the entire crew of the USS Odyssey (in the most edge-of-the-seat scene of the series so far – I literally shouted “WHOA!” in my living room), but then they are all, “OK! Take ’er easy! We’ll kill you… I mean see you later!” It totally reminded me of the James Bond cliché of the bad guy having Bond for dinner, giving him a comfortable room, and letting him walk freely around the moon base or whatever. I mean there’s evil arrogance and then there is plot convenience. I know that they couldn't kill off the cast of the show, but they needed some other ending that had some level of plausibility. I even thought that maybe the admiral lady and the fed security guy might have been replaced with replicants or something and perhaps Dax and Obrien also, which would explain the sudden and easy return to the station and the hidden and quick pro-Dominion result to negotiations. At least then there could have been some sort of more realistic ending in which the non-replicants fight back on the station and truly prove the tenacity of the federation-bajoran alliance, pushing the first intrusion of the dominion back into the Gamma quadrant. But, no. They were never at the station, any of the good writing during those scenes is simply gone. Reset button time. Total bummer of an ending to such a stellar season opener!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Shernand on 2006-11-24 at 7:20pm:
  One of the best DS9 episodes, watched it 3 times and it's still fun to see dukat showing up and the computer replicating phasers and firing ;)
• From szycag on 2008-07-28 at 6:40am:
  This feels like it should be a season one episode... I thought it was kind of predictable. I knew Dukat would find out what was going on, just like I knew they'd find some way to get him stuck on the station afterwards. I thought they'd redeem it with a subplot about Kira coming to grips with her prejudice of cardassians like with Duet or Second Skin, but it was just going through the motions really. I just can't believe they'd be having problems like this after three years on the ship. Feels like a TOS plot, even has red shirts getting fried.
• From djb on 2009-04-27 at 8:10pm:
  Neat episode! A Cardassian easter egg, if you will. No doubt Dukat planned it from the beginning. "I just happened to be taking a stroll around the demilitarized zone, when, imagine my surprise..."
  
  Reminds me of TNG: Disaster. Controls and systems disabled, people stuck in different parts of the ship/station attempting to get a hold on their situation, and a collaborative effort eventually (and barely) saving everyone.
  
  I also like how when Dax's hands get burned, and she can't get them treated right away, she continues to be extremely useful, offering one idea after another.
  
  Dukat is a great character, and it's great to a) see him come aboard all cocky, and b) change his attitude once he realizes he's as hosed as everyone else! Apparently he didn't count on someone laying a trap for him.
• From Popescu on 2010-08-22 at 1:19pm:
  djb, I think you are wrong when saying that Dukat planned this. The program was triggered by accident when working in the ore processing section.
• From peterwolf on 2013-11-10 at 2:30am:
  Not a bad episode, but I vote for 6 points, mainly because the final sequence is incomplete. We see Garak, Kira and Dukat fighting against the self-destruct program while the clock is ticking and then the focus is only on Sisko preventing the fusion reactor to explode. The people in OPS are forgotten ... Dax is injured (she needs some bandages on her hands), Garak, Kira and Dukat are in the middle of a fight that is not resolved, aso. So the two story lines never really fit together, only the third one provides a nice, appropriate ending on the promenade, when Odo suggests to Quark, which Ferengis might be more devious than him ...
  I like how Garak criticized Gul Dukat for his attempts to get involved with Kira (although it is not too obvious). In later episodes Dukat´s speeches addressing Kira with the same intention get extremely annoying and are a horrible waste of time. If the writers had been wise, they would have taken Garak´s advice and never tried to let Dukat go on with that rubbish.
• From dronkit on 2014-03-28 at 5:42pm:
  Oh, O'Brien, every engineer should know these rules:
  
  1- when you buy used electronics, first thing you do is full memory wipe
  
  2- if it ain't broke, don't fix it

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-22 at 8:11pm:
  I think your review was much too nitpicky. I mean, who really cares about the uniforms? It's Jonathan Frakes. He doesn't wear ds9 uniforms! ;) And all that with the airing schedule.... honestly who cares again. Most people watch these out of sequence with the movies anyway.
  
  I think it was absolutely AWESOME continuity to bring back Riker's double and not just abandon that interesting plot line from TNG. The whole Cardassia Prime thing was really cool, too. The only problem I had was not getting to see all the Defiant's information on the shipyard being discussed at the end. Wonderful episode, and great way to bring in Jonathan Frakes!
• From omex@omex on 2011-09-11 at 1:01am:
  I thought the politics in this episode were portrayed very well. I don't have first hand experience, but I understand that the final resolution is very realistic. This is how things get done in both international and domestic politics. There are multiple interests involved, there's duplicity, there's inter-agency secrecy and strife (like the Obsidian Order's secret machinations in the Orion Sector), and conflicts are resolved through bargaining, with a special role for the fall guy, or the sacrificial lamb (Tom Riker).
  
  I love how Dukat is set in opposition to the Obsidian Order, which is encroaching on his authority. Also love how in the end, even though he wants the information from the Defiant, he recognizes that, "Someone has to pay for the damage that's been done, and I don't want that someone to be me." Again, the politics are great.
  
  Probs: I'm not sure I'm crazy about how Kira was portrayed in this episode. It seems like she should've been a little more sympathetic to Riker given her history. I mean, she's certainly been very sympathetic to the Maquis in previous episodes, so she seems just a little out of character.
  
• From Wes on 2012-12-10 at 7:59pm:
  Memory-alpha says: "Although this episode was screened three days after the release of Star Trek Generations, the stardates indicate that it takes place shortly before. This makes sense, as Riker and Sisko's conversation would seem to indicate the Enterprise is still active."
• From AW on 2015-12-04 at 7:32am:
  Another great RDM episode.
• From Zorak on 2016-05-15 at 3:22pm:
  Of all the time's I've ever had to suspend my disbelief at something in Star Trek, the thing Tom Riker does once he makes off with the Defiant might be the hardest to accept. I'm talking about him ripping off his false sideburns. Are you telling me that he loved his goatee look so much that he was willing to risk this super important Defiant heist by wearing a disguise instead of simply growing out his beard a little for real and then shaving it later? That's completely insane.
• From tigertooth on 2016-09-26 at 3:20am:
  Good point, Zorak!
  
  As to the "problem" of Kira being back on duty, I believe that's because she took her mandated day off and presumably enjoyed at least two of the things Bashir ordered her to enjoy.
  
  I wish the Cardassia Prime set looked bigger. Or somehow different -- it looked too much like a starship bridge to me.
  
  Anyway, this was great. Tom Riker was fun, all the Dukat stuff was great, the various interplays between Cardassia-Starfleet, Central Command-Obsidian Order, Sisko-Dukat, Starfleet-Maquis, Kira's relationship to the Maquis... really well put together and executed.
• From JB on 2020-07-17 at 10:02am:
  Problem:
  
  Riker said he was "passing through" DS9 on his way to Risa. Isn't DS9 on the outskirts of Federation space? Sloppy writing.
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-08-15 at 2:47pm:
  Great use of Frakes, and all episodes where Alaimo gets to play off Brooks as an ally of necessity are can't-miss.