The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From djb on 2009-02-28 at 3:31am:
  This episode was supremely well-written and well-acted. Garak is a great character; it's good to learn more about him. Also great to get some more depth to Quark's character. Also, this episode seemed to go on much longer than 42 minutes, in a good way. I love it when I get so interested and involved with a story that I lose proper sense of time!
  
  I give it a 9.
• From Mark McC on 2009-04-27 at 3:45am:
  I really disliked this one. It's yet another case of "let's write an episode where x falls in love". Trek handles romance so much better when it does it low-key and over a longer time, such as the mostly unspoken romance between Picard and Crusher, or even Odo's feelings for Kira.
  
  Even episodes that do have characters falling head-over-heels in love with the alien of the week usually aren't as full of painfully overlong embraces and clichéd pulp fiction dialogue as this one. Much as I like Quark as a character and think Armin Shimerman does a great job playing him, I just didn't get a sense of any real spark between him and the Cardassian guest star.
  
  As with a lot of episodes in this season the presence of Garak makes up for the failings of the main story.
• From Bernard on 2011-03-29 at 12:39pm:
  I really enjoyed this episode and that's no small thanks to the talents of Armin Shimerman and Andrew J. Robinson plus the writing of their respective characters.
  
  In the hosts review the finger is pointed at how acceptable it is for Quark to forget about profit.. well there are many examples of this over the series. That is the beauty of the character, that if you burrow down deep enough beneath the surface there is quite an un-ferengi like person. Take his actions during the occupation for example, not mercenary but almost charitable. He does it again during the dominion occupation of the station in season six. what I'm trying to say is that he is complex and it is no more ridiculous than any 'lover of the week' storyline that Trek gives us.
• From Abigail on 2019-09-25 at 9:34pm:
  I found it odd that Garak killed someone at the end, and we just all rolled along without worrying about it. It's okay to just kill someone??? Am I supposed to assume that no one knows that happened? Wouldn't an alarm go off with him having fired a phaser on kill? Or, if nothing else, the Cardassians would notice that one of their officers was missing, never to be seen again?
  
  I also felt like Garak had a pretty abrupt change of heart from wanting to do whatever it took to be removed from exile to wanting to do what's best for Cardassia because Cardassia is his "true love". It wasn't the most believable shift.
  
  Besides that, I really liked the episode. Good storyline, great character development for Garak and Quark both.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2009-01-09 at 9:25pm:
  I gave this one a ten because it's DS9 hitting its stride. Here we have a well-crafted little humor episode that actually made me laugh out loud a few times. It's a good stand-alone episode on the heels of the Dominion saga story arc, and even though this episode isn't linked to that story, the mood on the station has changed because of it.
  
  
• From onlinebroker on 2009-10-31 at 7:20am:
  I really loved this episode and gave it a 10,too. Quark is fantastic and I had to laugh out loud when the klingon kissed him and the spit it out!
  Also a very refreshing breather from the terrible overacting of bashir,sisko and dax.
• From JJ on 2010-08-07 at 6:35pm:
  I loved this! The humor is great, as is the acting by Quark!
  Quark shows that he has character. He could have walked away but didn't.
  Makes one wonder whether he was always like this or that he has become like this under the gradual influence of Odo, Kyra, Circo etc.
• From Gul Ranek on 2012-12-19 at 10:01am:
  A very strong and fun episode, I also gave it a 10.
  
  I love the way Armin Shimerman uses nuances of his voice - "I am Quark, son of Keldar! I have come to answer the challenge of D'Gor, son of... whatever."
• From Harrison on 2013-01-13 at 4:58am:
  An under-rated episode that's close to DS9 perfection. While most Ferengi-centred episodes are a chore & sometimes serve to triviliase the series, this one offers masterful, imaginative insight, generating a wealth of plausible and memorable cultural basics that help underpin the Star Trek universe. It's literature-class story-crafting, championing essential precepts like dignity and honour, and leaving the viewer with a lasting sense of what it means to be Klingon, and a grudging sense of respect for the Ferengi.
• From peterwolf on 2013-11-09 at 3:35pm:
  Although the humour in this episode is really wonderful, mainly caused by the cultural clash of Ferengi and Klingons, I see more serious themes in the story. The different versions of Kozak´s death remind me of the famous movie "Rashomon". It is nice to see that Quark is not always a greedy Ferengi, but shows some good parts of his character, too. Strange enough, he is "a brave Ferengi" as Gowron tells us. The final scene with Rom and Quark is just brilliant and proves how great the actors and writers of Deep Space 9 are.
• From Ravenlord on 2015-09-16 at 6:11am:
  I enjoyed this episode tremendously, but something always bothered me about it and I finally think I've grasped what it is. Bajor and Qo'Nos are quite a distance away from each other. From what I can gather, they're essentially on opposite sides of Federation space. Granted, Trek canon often plays fast and loose with distances for story convenience, but it would take at least three weeks of travel at high warp to get from Bajor to the Klingon homeworld. I find it unlikely they would keep Quark sedated the entire trip, and in any case the episode implies that everything takes place in a handful of days.
  
  Classic Trekkie nitpick, I admit. Ignoring that detail, this is still a very fine episode, one of my favorites in fact.
• From JB on 2020-07-16 at 7:38am:
  Great writing, great acting, great episode. Ferengi values and Klingon values in conflict, with understandable tensions and smart resolutions. Genuinely humorous while maintaining diligence to both plot and character--characters that are complex and believable! Even the side plot with O'Brien and Keiko is well done. And the wrap-up is perfect. This is Trek at its best. One of my personal favorites. 10/10

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-22 at 4:32pm:
  I agree with the problem about the Jem'Hadar's rapid growth. Bashir tells us that his cells have an extremely high metabolic rate. All that means is that his body processes almost 100% of the food it intakes and his cells divide accordingly. Metabolism should mean nothing if the body is not taking in any food. If his body was somehow altered to still maintain the high metabolic rate even when no food was consumed, he would simply die. His cells would start to break down his body's own proteins and muscle tissue in the absence of food. The only way to achieve growth like this Jem'Hadar has would be to have him on an I.V. of pure sugar water 24/7. And even then, the rate at which he grows is simply absurd. To go from an infant to a young boy in a matter of days is like watering a plant once and it blooming in two seconds. It's just absurd growth that defies the laws of nature.
  
  That's just a Biology major's point of view. I can certainly suspend my disbelief so the Dominion can be cooler! :)
• From JRPoole on 2009-01-14 at 12:21am:
  I have similar problems to the ones listed here, but they don't take away from the episode too much in the end. This is a bit of a rehash of "I, Hugh" from TNG, but it's well done, and we needed to more about the Jem Ha'dar.
• From MJ on 2011-02-08 at 6:06pm:
  Two episodes in a row that have hints of TNG in them, eh? First DS9: Second Skin (also known as TNG: Face of the Enemy) and now DS9: The Abandoned, also known as TNG: I, Borg. The writers must have been watching a TNG marathon back in October '94!
  
  I'm just ribbing, of course. There were quite a few TNG episodes (especially in Season One) with hints of TOS in them.
  
  In my review I'm kind of incorporating DS9: Chimera from Season Seven, in case anybody reads this and would prefer a spoiler alert.
  
  In both episodes, Odo fails to convince a Dominion race to accept the people around him as he has done. This Jem'Hadar (and Laas the Changeling) not only fail to share Odo's tolerance for the DS9 humanoids, they actually scorn him for the life he has chosen. I like both of these episodes, in this case because it doesn't have the "happily ever after" ending where the Jem'Hadar learns to love the Federation and settles down to a peaceful life. Also, as in DS9: Chimera, the people on DS9 do not warm up to this Dominion life form; instead, they are terrified of him, and want nothing to do with him.
  
  What this does is add dimension to the Odo character. In both episodes, Odo is really the only one who sympathizes with the visiting alien. Also, in both episodes, we actually see Odo is willing to leave his life on DS9 for them. In Chimera, it's to find the rest of the Hundred and link with them. Here, it's to reform a Jem'Hadar and prevent him from rejoining the ranks of the others. These episodes show that Odo is not firmly in the Federation camp. He has grown to love Kira and admire several of the humanoids, but he is not so invested in his life on DS9 that he doesn't consider leaving if a suitable alternative presents itself. DS9 almost loses Odo several times, and it shows how torn Odo must feel, and how isolated. He seems desperate for someone else from the Dominion to choose, and therefore, perhaps, to validate, the same life he has chosen. Not only is he isolated and torn, he is unsure. He is in a state of disorder, the ultimately unacceptable feeling for a Changeling.
  
  On another note, how mad must Admiral Nechayev be after this episode? First, Picard helps a young Borg become healthy and then leave, and now Sisko does the same for a Jem'Hadar. After this, I'm sure Nechayev made a new rule that any abandoned kids from Federation enemies are to be turned over to her pronto!
  
  The subplot had potential but didn't really take up enough screen time to get interesting. It was really overshadowed by the much more fascinating issue of having a Jem'Hadar on board. Still, Jake would seem to have a thing for Bajoran women!
• From zex on 2011-09-07 at 2:43pm:
  I actually thought this was quite a poor episode, largely because the Jem'Hadar "child" was portrayed unconvincingly. I think if that role could've been written, cast and performed a lot better.
  
  There were other problems too... The idea of a rapidly developing humanoid could've been interesting... But this was never really explored. Instead the boy's mind just somehow matured "without external stimulus," which makes about zero sense, advanced genetic engineering or no advanced genetic engineering.
  
  Another missed opportunity was the weird cloaking capability they seem to have. It would've been interesting to get into that.
  
  Instead of anything really intriguing, we get some lame, lazily choreographed fight scene in a holosuite.
  
  The "enzyme addiction" thing is kind of interesting, but doesn't really make too much sense. I could see how genetically engineering a species to be dependent on a unique substance could be useful, but not so much in the way it's portrayed here. How would making your well-honed killing machine irritable, anxious, and with an elevated heart beat help you control it? Wouldn't that just make it desperate, angry, and even more violent than usual? That's just about what we see here when "the child" starts going into withdrawal. Really doesn't make much sense.
  
  Here's another thing that doesn't make sense: DS9 security can't apprehend a lone Jem'Hadar without killing him? I understand that Sisko was under pressure from Odo and his own conscience, but that conflict and its resolution just wasn't portrayed very well. He comes out with a team, his phaser ready, then suddenly does an about face and agrees with Odo that they have to let him go in order to avoid bloodshed. Isn't that what the stun settings are for? Again, I get that he probably didn't really want to apprehend the guy, but that part wasn't really conveyed very well on screen.
  
  So, this wasn't much of an episode, IMHO. Mostly because the Jem'Hadar child just wasn't a very convincing or sympathetic character. That topped by some problems with the plot.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Popescu on 2010-08-22 at 4:25pm:
  When O'Brien and Kira transported to the '60s there was Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix playing so loud that they had to shout to hear each other. That was sooo awesome! :D
• From Zorak on 2016-05-16 at 11:31am:
  I enjoyed this 2 part-er quite a bit. It was an interesting story and I really enjoyed the guest characters. The social worker, the security guards, the residents of the sanctuary, even the mogul.. all played well and convincing. I tend to really like these time travel outings. I think I find Star Trek the most interesting when characters are out of their element. Also Bashir and Dax are becoming less annoying characters and starting to come into their own (well Bashir at least.. Dax still has a long way to go).
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-08-15 at 7:07pm:
  A very enjoyable two-parter that gives good commentary on social issues that indeed do plague the 21st century, albeit a bit stylized. Trek has always had this social consciousness and it is indeed better for it.
• From Steven Wrieden on 2023-08-29 at 7:24am:
  Interesting to me that the older guard says: "best ball club I ever saw,'99 Yankees, no doubt about it". In fact, they won the World Series in 1999. The episode aired in 1995, the Trek writers called it.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From EKH on 2008-01-12 at 10:53pm:
  I think we can assume that Star Trek has been "re-dubbed" for a modern audience, and that Bashir actually uses a term we wouldn't recognize. Otherwise, the language of the future represents a huge break of realism.
• From Benjamin Baxter on 2008-07-13 at 4:15am:
  There are also several occurrences of "man" in the series that could be explained away with the above explanation.
• From JRPoole on 2009-02-08 at 8:16pm:
  I hate to see Bareil die in such a seemingly pointless way, but the character had to be killed off. He's just too humble, too pure, to be interesting.
  
• From A. Rust on 2009-04-18 at 3:43pm:
  I find Bareil's decision neither meaningless nor foolish. His people were constantly haunted by the shadow of Cardassian Occupation and the only way to totally move forward was through a process of forgiveness of the enemy. Though Bashir may have been right in his analysis of Winn's less than noble motivations, I think Bareil would have been in sympathy with her statement that one man's life meant little in comparison to what could be gained. Having not gotten further in the series, I don't know if his sacrifice is in fact meaningful in the long term, but as Kira observes at the end, he was comfortable with his confusion and made the best choice he could for his people under the circumstances. While I think the episode could have had more scenes of drama at the negotiating table to reinforce what he was fighting for, I found Bareil's sacrifice both noble and totally consistent with is character.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-12-06 at 4:58pm:
  I don't think Bareil was being foolish. Some things are worth dying for. He couldn't live with himself knowing he didn't do everything he could, especially if the talks had failed in his absence. In his own way, he went out fighting. Kira would have died for her cause as a freedom fighter too. I also think Bashir was being rather bullheaded, stubbornly and myopically trying to prolong Bareil's life and ignoring the various reasons it's not so simple.
  
  I really think the original writers of the Ferengi painted themselves into a corner with the Ferengis' over-the-top misogyny. In a different episode, Quark protests that the Ferengi have never had slavery, but that's false on its face: they continue to treat half their population as slaves/livestock when we know full well that female Ferengi have equivalent mental abilities to the men. I can't exactly blame Nog for being the product of his culture, but I can't entirely let him off the hook, either. The writers were right to point this out in the dialogue, of course; it just seems half-hearted. It's treated as an annoyance rather than a moral emergency. It's like nobody really cares too much that this species is keeping half its population in a state of abject bondage and degradation for no logical reason. It's almost played for laughs here. Yeah, sexism is absurd, but it's not all that funny. At least, it's not funny to those of us who experience it as a fact of life. (Thanks, Rick Berman.)
  
  Winn seemed unusually not-evil in this episode to me. She really seemed sincere! It added some character depth. One reason for that might be that, according to Memory Alpha, Louise Fletcher was rather ill during filming and couldn't quite bring herself to act the nasty and conniving overtones usually present with Winn. It's quite telling how useless Winn is in this situation, though. She managed to become Kai but can't handle the heat. Whoops! Bad luck, Adami! Gosh, I hope she doesn't freak out and do anything reckless later.
  
  The "humanity" thing bothered me too; I suppose I'll have to assume he meant something like "humanoid-ity." Lazy writing in an otherwise quite interesting and important episode. Good call in killing off Bareil, too. He became sort-of interesting, but he became even more interesting as a quasi-martyr. Bareil would have been a great Kai for Bajor, but Winn is a much better Kai for storytelling. :)

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-23 at 1:11am:
  I'd give this episode an 8. It is at the pinnacle of character development episodes. Before now, Nog has been seen as the annoying little ferengi friend of Jake's, not to be taken seriously. In this episode, he truly opens up his feelings to Sisko. I really liked getting to see that he has interests other than profit. I also liked how Rom expresses his pride for Nog and overrides Quark. I haven't seen further on in DS9, so I'll come back and edit this when I have, but I swear to God I'm going to be furious if I don't get to see Nog in a Starfleet uniform at some point....
• From Lt. Fitz on 2012-06-25 at 5:12pm:
  If the changeling can perfectly impersonate Kira, including the features of her face, why in the freak does she have to have an Odo-like featureless face when she transforms into a changeling attempt at humanoid form? And why is she female with the shape of breasts? None of this makes any sense. She could have just transformed into a talking monkey. Or stayed as Kira and dropped the crystal part of the form. I just don't get why they need an actress in Odo face at all. Perhaps they are limited by special effect budget or something. The way they handle changelings boggles my mind.
• From Dubhan on 2014-07-04 at 7:11am:
  I'm a big ol' softie and both of the story-lines in this episode made me tear up. That makes it a top-tier (tear?) episode by my standards.
• From Abigail on 2019-10-30 at 9:52pm:
  All through this episode, I was thinking it was ridiculous. I thought Kira was actually stuck in a crystal, and that she would magically and quickly get out at the end. And the interactions between Sisko and Nog were really annoying (with Sisko being pretty rude and just mean by the final scene).
  
  Then the ending totally redeemed it! There was an actual point to the episode! And character development ensued! Hooray!
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-08-16 at 11:33am:
  "Just a slip of the tongue" was a tear-jerking line, and this episode does a good job building on Odo/Kira. Taking Nog seriously, a character who has mostly been comic relief so far (though a good insight into the Ferengi through his relationship with Jake) shows a level of maturity in this show's writing.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-12-06 at 7:16pm:
  @ Lt. Fitz - I noticed all this as well. Regarding the changeling's impersonation of Kira, my guess is that much older and experienced changelings have developed their humanoid impersonation skills to an advanced stage. (See: alternate Odo in Children of Time.) Odo is quite young, relatively inexperienced, has barely linked, and has not been in the Great Link; the other changeling is probably one of the oldest and most experienced. It's very possible that changelings have already infiltrated DS9 and have observed all the people there. Whoever did that could return to the great link and share that information with everyone.
  
  I agree this whole show handled the changelings very weirdly. "Female changeling" makes no goddamn sense. Are we supposed to believe that freaking shape-shifters evolved sexes like humans did? She should have been called the "head changeling" or something if she was the leader.
  
  So far as I know, the other changelings adopt humanoid forms similar to Odo's out of affection and/or convention. They probably don't have a default solid state, but it might be useful to have a "look" for when they want to identify themselves as shapeshifters. Why not that look, since everyone in the Alpha quadrant already associates that look with shapeshifters? That's my guess.
• From G. Host on 2022-05-17 at 11:35pm:
  IMO the primary story (Kira/Odo) was far less satisfying than the Nog one.
  
  Nog proves he can be extremely focused in episode like his father Rom where he needs help O'Brien when Keiko is taken over by Pah-wraith. Aron Eisenberg ended up being guest star with most episodes.
• From fL0reign on 2022-09-08 at 6:57am:
  Someone needs to make an episode about lowering the bar for Starfleet Academy admission between TNG and DS9.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From BlueLabel on 2010-06-25 at 4:07am:
  Problem: at the very beginning, when Sisko runs into Odo and the troublesome Klingon, Sisko claims he "didn't know there were any Klingons on the station". What about the guy who runs the Klingon restaurant?
• From Hugo on 2012-01-22 at 6:56pm:
  Whoa! The best in a long while. Excellent pacing ,good drama and suspense and awesome sci-fi!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-25 at 10:44pm:
  I still don't understand why you found the drumhead "offensive". It was a great episode, and this one continues in its spirit.
• From Pemmer Harge on 2009-11-29 at 9:28pm:
  I agree that Paradise Lost is better than Homefront. However, for me, this two-parter will always live in the shadow of Babylon 5's Messages From Earth-Point of No Return-Severed Dreams arc, which dealt with similar subject matter but did it a lot better.
• From L on 2013-05-25 at 6:25am:
  The captain of the Lakota was played by Susan Gibney, the same actress who was the designer of the new Enterpise and Geordie's unrequited true love in TNG, Dr Leah Brahms.
  
  I don't know if this Starfleet takeover plot has further consequences or developments or not. If it doesn't come up again then that's a bit disappointing - but if it is a standalone two-parter this is still pretty good. Mankind still has to be vigilant against its own corruptible nature.
• From peterwolf on 2013-11-27 at 11:11pm:
  Most Star Trek episodes set on Earth add some more realism to the whole series. Since I have visited some of the locations myself (e.g. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris), there is a certain connection of the present age with the Star Trek future, whatever unlikely it will seem. So I like these episodes very much and give at least 8 points to the two parts, regardless of nasty uniforms and recurring power hungry admirals, which are just like in real life. A remarkable scene in "Paradise Lost" is Odo doing the Vulcan nerve pinch on the female Starfleet guard. Did he ever use it on other occasions?
• From bodner on 2014-02-28 at 10:42am:
  so how did they fake the bloodtest? And how come they kept using them later...
• From Rob UK on 2015-02-27 at 3:56am:
  The blood test is easily faked by a changeling, simply kill a solid and store some of their blood inside your changeling body and move that pocket of solid blood to the surface wherever someone is taking the blood sample from you, be that with a hypo Starfleet style or cutting your palm with a blade Klingon style
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-10-02 at 6:04pm:
  This episode feels oddly prescient. Had it been released during the run of Enterprise, it would read as a 9/11-allegory. Blood tests and martial law for increased airport security and the PATRIOT Act. Fake-O'Brien's speech to Sisko "only four of us... in the end, it's your fear that will destroy you."
  
  Episode sits among the best of Trek, as social commentary... even before the events it speaks most directly to. Cutting to the core of our failings as a society, and yet there is hope; our hero Sisko triumphs in the end over the coup d'etat.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Giuseppe on 2010-11-07 at 1:18am:
  Kira comparing the Cardasian rifle with the Federation one... It was a bit like hearing someone compare an AK-47 with an M-16. The first one very simple and very rugged, the other much more advanced, but somewhat more prone to failure. No wonder someone like Kira would recommend the Cardasian rifle to a novice like Ziyal, after all she was a freedom fighter. And its real life counterpart, the AK-47, has been the weapon of choice for most untrained... freedom fighters.
• From peterwolf on 2013-11-29 at 10:36pm:
  Overall the episode is entertaining, sometimes thrilling. However, some parts of the discussions and conversations between Dukat and Kira went wrong. It started in "Indescretion" and gets worse in later episodes. Dukat´s constant need to expose his feelings and motifs to Kira and his begging for appreciation are annoying and "un-Cardassian". It would have been much more effective if these "confessions" or whatever you may call it had occurred unexpectedly and very rarely. For example, such things happen with Garak: all of a sudden you see a different part of his character, of his past, which makes him such an interesting character. The dialogues between Kira and Ziyal are much better and more credible. Also, Dukat showed the potential for a more positive character development, but as we know, in the end it turned out bad. Interestingly, Damar appears for the first time on DS9 in "Return to Grace". His ups and downs account for one of the best character developments in Star Trek. The moment when he gives up drinking is the crucial turning point in the war against the Dominion, while Dukat choose a far more negative path.
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-10-04 at 8:59pm:
  Dukat and Kira have great on-screen chemistry. Scenes between those characters always jump out, so episodes putting them together always resonate. The series found a winning formula here.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From MJ on 2011-01-14 at 4:39pm:
  This one was the last straw for me when it came to DS9's Klingon episodes. In TNG, the Klingons were an interesting and respectable group of characters, and the series explored their culture. Gowron was a formidable opponent but also very honorable, and Kurn was one of the better minor family characters in the series.
  
  Then comes DS9 in which the Klingons (except Worf) return to the mindless thugs they were in TOS. They suck at battle, as proven in "Way of the Warrior" and "Return to Grace". They act dishonorably on several occasions. Gowron has become a madman, a development that could be justified by his thirst for power but still makes the character one-dimensional.
  
  And now Kurn. I liked the character in TNG, and it was very disappointing to see it end this way for him. His point of view is easy to understand. Even when Worf went through his dishonor, he was in the Federation and didn't really have to face it every day like Kurn has. And it blows my mind that the Federation would have such a problem with the ritual murder, an honorable act in Klingon culture, but be OK with erasing someone's identity without their consent. This is a major discrepancy that is simply too large for me to ignore.
  
  Overall, one of my least favorite episodes of DS9.
• From Jon on 2011-05-26 at 4:59pm:
  In contrast to the other commenter, I rather like that the showed that actions have real-life consequences, in contrast to the real feeling we get that actions are self-contained inside episodes - if that. Worf's actions do have consequences for those left on his home planet, somthing that everyone seems to forget.
  
  These characters are not islands unto themselves - they've got ties and interestes beyond the bulkheads that can go bad or good depending on what they do.
  
  I don't think a highly militarized society such as the Klingons would have many detractors in a universe that was rapidly experiencing threats, changes and the doubts that came with the Changling threats. Therefore you can make the case that a military leader (see the TNG episode where Garwon was chosen) that struck a balance would shift towards a more locked-down military political stance to preserve the Empire from percieved threats. Such a mindset isn't that hard for Klingons to fall into.
  
  And its not like Klingons were really a race of sophisticated or otherwise in TOS that suddenly became 'Vikings in Space' in TNG/DS9....i mean, in ST 6 the whole novelty of General Chang and Gorkon was that they were leaders that quoted Shakespeare and were more politically aware, rather than the 'typical fare'
  
  And the leadership of the empire IS dominated by a Council that seems persuasive to the winds of the time and can be manipulated or dominated, in this case the latter.
• From Selador on 2013-04-09 at 9:44pm:
  With regards to how the mines could be effective given that ships could simply navigate around them - the whole point is that they're cloaked. That's why Worf and Kurn have to board the Klingon ship to discover their locations.
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-10-05 at 11:20am:
  The premise of this episode is excellent, "how can Worf bridge a divide between his Klingon culture demands of him and what his life in the Federation will allow?" And the repeated failed attempts for him to do right by Kurn are great. Tony Todd has done a great job acting with pathos this season, first as older Jake in The Visitor and now reprising this role from TNG.
  
  The conclusion of the episode is highly disappointing. The decision of the Starfleet to inflict the Lovecraftian horror of erasing a man's memory and giving him a new life, just being okay with that, does not sit well. The need to tidily wrap this story up was too strong. I'm not sure what the "best" way to have approached this would have been, but finding a way to let it linger, perhaps to return to the topic in a later season, would have been preferable. This is a product of DS9 not knowing the balance between serial/episodic that it wanted, and it suffers here, wasting a great guest performance.
• From The Bok Obummer on 2022-10-16 at 3:05pm:
  Klingons are such docile whiners, do they just sit by and let the government seize their lands?? Look at Kern whining about how they took his stuff, why didn't he and his house fight Gowrons men? Who cares if they stand no chance, they always brag about honorable deaths.
  Instead he comes to DS9 to whine and just die like a coward. Even the biggest hillibilly would put up more of a fight if the government came to take his stuff.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Jason on 2009-11-22 at 6:20am:
  The talented polynesian flamestick twirler, a lieutenant, had been given the day off by a request from Dax. Dax mentioned that "Captain Shelby owed me a favor." This seems to be a reference to the excellent and ambitious first officer, Commander Shelby, that served briefly on the Enterprise under Will Riker in TNG Episode 3x26 - The Best of Both Worlds, Part I & Part II. Evidently she's been promoted to captain. Great continuity!!
• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2010-02-22 at 6:54pm:
  I give this an 8, a higher grade than people are giving here. There's a lot of interesting one-on-one character interaction here: Martok and Sirella, Sisko and Dax, Worf and Dax, O-Brien and Bashir, Odo and Kira, Dax and Sirella, etc. There's also many comedic momements. The wedding at the end was remarkable to watch. The story told during the ceremony adds many more pages to Klingon lore.
  
  "Remarkable Scenes" I would add:
  -Dax: "Good, I like a challenge"
  Sirella: "I will not be challenged"
  -Dax reciting Sirella's family history and noting the lack of noble blood
  -Martok admitting to Worf that Sirella doesn't like him
  -Martok reciting the stages of the road to Calhia (something like "pain, death ..."). Bashir then says, "Sounds like marriage to me."
  -Dax punching Sirella
  -Worf catching the firedancer and Morn leaving Dax's quarters
  -Hungover Dax finding Odo and Kira in the closet
  -Quark: "No refunds for those on the road to Kalhia, either."
  -the hitting of the wedding party with mallets
  
• From John on 2011-12-19 at 12:46am:
  I really like this episode. It works well in the context of season 6, and serves to drive home the point that the Klingons are no longer adversaries, but allies.
  
  Also, I guess it's cause I'm sort of a romantic, but I really enjoyed the Klingon wedding. You can tell the writers spent a lot of time thinking about it -- it was very well done.
  
  Finally, I have to agree with Orion on his "remarkable scenes", particularly the one where Sirella draws a knife and then Dax clocks her across the jaw. I lol'd.
• From Christopher Wright on 2011-12-19 at 8:22pm:
  I gave this episode a 10 even though some parts of it were uncomfortably silly and forced. I agree that the writers did put a lot of effort into this episode, and the conversations between Worf and Malak and Sisko and Dax showcase the amazing talents of both the cast and crew. Was it me or did Malak's wife have normal teeth in the scene where Dax had the buckets?
• From LKell on 2012-08-14 at 9:59am:
  Dax says to the guy dancing with the fire 'Captain Shelby owes me a favor'
  
  Perhaps a reference to COMMANDER Shelby of The Best of Both Worlds - who has since been promoted?
• From Harrison on 2012-08-25 at 12:03pm:
  An elaborate episode, celebrating the Federation culture in in glorious detail. The story of the Klingon hearts recited at the wedding is simply awesome.
• From L on 2013-08-04 at 9:50am:
  Klingon culture is insane, and their women all look alike.
  
  "A concubine living outside the Imperial stables." Snap, Dax.
  
  "But the second heart beat stronger than the first, and the first was jealous of its power."
  Hooray for politically correct sexism.
  
  Still, this episode was right in coming after the previous ones, and a genuinely feel good one. Loved Odo and Kira talking in the closet all night.
• From McCoy on 2017-02-25 at 10:06am:
  Well, I don't like Jadzia at all, but this is probably the first episode in which I was on her side. I just don't buy all that Klingon "samurai-nordic-honor" bull***. They're just murderers with twisted ego. And racist. Why Jadzia should respect someone, who wants only to humiliate her? Sorry. If you want to be respected, you need to respect others. Chief and Julian should break some ribs, and not only Worf's:)

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Dave on 2007-07-17 at 10:36am:
  Just a minor detail. Surely when Captain Cusack tells the crew when her ship left to go exploring deep space eight years ago, they would have looked it up and realised that the time differential much earlier than they did. Doesn't spoil what was a great episode, however. Just a niggle.
• From Christopher Wright on 2012-01-21 at 10:51pm:
  I agree with the previous comment about the lack of record of the vessel, but the writers might have been making fun of their own plot hole with all the complaints about how the federation keeps such precise records on everything. Perhaps they are so full of records and logs that sometimes things get lost. Maybe the vessel that crashed had a typo on one of its records. It does seem to be quite a big plot hole though.
• From Damien Bradley on 2013-02-25 at 5:57am:
  Just a little nitpicky thing: one month isn't an anniversary. You could call it a "one-twelfth year anniversary," I suppose ...
• From Axel on 2015-05-24 at 7:14pm:
  One of the most amusing things to me about DS9 is all the subtle digs that O'Brien makes at his time aboard the Enterprise. In a previous episode he mentioned how bored he was as a transporter chief there, and I think when Sisko was promoted, O'Brien hailed him as the finest captain in Starfleet :) In this episode, he takes a swat at ship's counselors. It's hard to ignore the possibility that the writers, or simply the O'Brien character, had Troi in mind during that whole segment perhaps hinting at the character's uselessness in many cases. Or maybe it's just my imagination. Either way, it was funny to me.
  
  This one turned out to be better than I thought it would be at the start. Some depth given to all the characters in this episode, both on the Defiant and back on DS9 with the Quark/Odo relationship.
  
  
• From ChristopherA on 2021-04-17 at 12:18pm:
  My wife found Captain Cusack's neediness really annoying and couldn’t stand her. I didn't think she was quite that bad but still had little interest or empathy for her and didn't really care much about the plot. The resolution was clever but, as other commentators have pointed out, it didn't make any sense they wouldn't have already figured that out.
  
  The plot with Odo and Quark felt odd and made me realize how little we understand the stakes of the “game” that Odo and Quark had been playing during the show. This episode seems to say that we should feel good that Odo decided to be kind and allow Quark to break the law with impunity, implying the laws Quark is breaking are basically meaningless. Is that really true? What laws are these anyways? Is the Federation in the habit of making things illegal just because they're a bunch of controlling killjoys? Are these regulations Bajoran tariffs and Odo is basically giving Quark a free gift from the Bajoran treasury? Is he smuggling dangerous goods and some random person we know nothing about is going to get blown up in order to make Quark happy? It just seemed odd that a lawman would not only let Quark off the hook, but would intentionally let the crime be committed. For the morality of this show to make sense you have to assume that the laws Quark is breaking are mostly petty bureaucratic nonsense, but it would be less disquieting if they would actually come out and say so.
  

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From 0mcn on 2012-01-12 at 7:25am:
  
  Ok, can we remember that when Worf and the "other" Dax first had some hanky panky they both were injured... severely, broken ribs etc. Take a look at Worf standing next to Ezri. Ummm it is not believable that she would have been only slightly injured, she would have been totally crushed... I am just saying...

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Psycroptic on 2012-07-20 at 10:22pm:
  This is probably my favourite arc on DS9, so much going on and so much great character development. A bit too much time spent on Ezri and Worf's bickering though.
• From Bronn on 2013-07-28 at 10:32pm:
  I loved Martok telling the proud warrior story of a proud warrior's wife and his proud warrior, honorable targ...that's basically the tale of a door being left open so the dog gets away. It's amusing the way Klingons put their stories into a framework. J. G. Hertzler gives such a great Klingon performance.
• From L on 2013-08-18 at 8:13pm:
  Kai Winn and Dukat making pillow talk in bed together is the single most disturbing thing I've ever seen in Star Trek; because they've been so well-written as characters over the series we know how truly ruthless they really are and that together they will be a major force of evil.
  
  I continue to hate the religious messages as the show still seems to be tacitly approving them, rather than showing how stupid blind obedience to authority is and how contrary to notions of humanity's freedom to choose their own destiny within the larger universe, but it's still a very compelling dramatic build-up to the final conflict.
  
  I don't know how but Ezri seems to get cuter every episode.
• From Scott Nolan on 2018-11-18 at 6:49am:
  I’m surprised that no one has mentioned the excellent acting of Louise Fletcher (Kai Winn) in this episode.She was brilliant in 5he scene where she was begging the Prophets to speak to her. She thinks she’s being religious, but she’s really being self-absorbed.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Benjamin Baxter on 2008-07-16 at 5:43am:
  Problem: Julian's comment that the lock to Quark's isn't that complex, contradicting a scene from an earlier episode that involves a very complex lock created by Rom. Ironically, that's a lock that Julian and O'Brien tried to pick in that episode, if my memory serves.
• From MJ on 2011-01-29 at 1:56pm:
  On it's own, I like this episode a lot. But the way this whole thing gets swept under the rug is a bit too much for me to give it a full 10. Bashir lures a member of Section 31 to the station, kidnaps the guy, tries to use an illegal device to scan his memory, keeps him alive for the sole purpose of scanning his memories, and then eventually the guy dies in what could only be considered murder...or at the very least, manslaughter. And not only does nothing ever happen to Bashir, but it isn't even mentioned. Ever again.
  
  At first I thought it might be because Section 31 is secretive and also frowned on by the Federation. But secret or not, it seems to hard to believe they wouldn't send their own people after Bashir having so closely guarded the cure to the changeling virus for so long. And as we find out in the next episode (spoiler alert), the Federation Council apparently approved the changeling virus anyway, so clearly Section 31 has plenty of sympathizers that they could use to help stop Bashir.
  
  That aside, I like the episode. The Odo scenes are nicely done, and it was good to see Bashir and O'Brien have one last adventure together before the series ended.
  
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-12-25 at 7:41pm:
  This is a nice episode - a light comedic break in this final nine-episode arc. Has heart, giving us some more of that bromance between O'Brien/Bashir, and doesn't take itself too seriously - the writing as the two are about to enter Sloan's mind is just so deadpan about a very silly premise. Simultaneously, it builds towards the conclusion, curing the morphogenic virus and tying up that loose end of Section 31. Not a great standalone episode, but at this place in the story it is most welcome.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Bernard on 2009-11-23 at 3:44pm:
  This is another solid outing. A couple of red herrings thrown in for good measure to keep you guessing.
  
  Worth watching back to see how Vantika is acted by his 'host' as you don't really watch for it first time around. Speaking of which, isn't this another review where you give away what has happened to Vantika? After all, we don't find out until very near to the end of the episode who is carrying Vantika's mind.
• From Paul on 2010-08-31 at 11:04pm:
  'Vantika did the exact same thing on Rigel VII' - isn't that where kang and kodos from The Simpsons are from?
  
  Also Bashir states that humanoids use very little of their brains - this is untrue. All of the brain is used by humans, but not all of it at any one time. Different parts are used at different times. He has been reading too many urban legends and not enough Starfleet Medical textbooks
• From Bryan on 2011-03-29 at 12:10am:
  I have to confess that this episode is painful for me to watch. I find Siddig's performance as the posessed Bashir to be extremely wooden, forced, and silly. It ruined a good episode.
• From greeh on 2011-08-11 at 11:30pm:
  This was a painful one, the first painful one in the series. I'm not sure if I can really explain why. Pretty much everything seemed unbelievable, not well-explained, and too convenient for the sake of moving along the plot...
  
  Somehow it had a weird kind of fairy tale quality to it (maybe some of the usual production staff were sick?)
  
  The red herrings and Bashir being the host was a good twist, but then the possessed acting - and here I agree with another commentator, and disagree with the reviewer - was unexceptional... at best.
  
  I give it a 3.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-16 at 6:12am:
  Pretty obvious problem: If Bashir is possessed by Vantika, why does he continue to talk in the phones British accent? Wouldn't he talk like Vantika did at the beginning of the episode. I also agree Bashir's acting was pretty bad.
• From Shani on 2014-01-09 at 1:01pm:
  I'm not really a fan of Siddig at all at this point. He's performance here was terrible. TNG had much better actors. DS9 characterisation is better (the characters actually have flaws) but that doesn't make up for the difference in acting ability.
• From Axel on 2015-05-10 at 6:39pm:
  When Vantika/Bashir first makes contact with Quark on the upper level of his bar, there is a part where he hurls Quark forward. You can just barely catch a glimpse of Bashir's face as the camera pans up. It's so fast and the angle makes it hard to tell it's Bashir unless you freeze frame at just the right second.
  
  I agree the Vantika-possessed Bashir isn't well acted, though. Siddig's improvement as an actor seems to have happened throughout this series :)

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From JRPoole on 2008-12-03 at 2:59pm:
  I give this 3-parter a 9 overall.
  
  This is DS9 coming into its own. Vedek Winn is scheming, we get to learn more about Bajoran society, and the bit with Li Nalas' legend having little to do with his reality is smart. Plus, this trilogy is chock full of action (the dog fight, the mission to Cardassia 4, the fire fights on the station) and humor (Quark lugging around his suitcase of latinum, Rom selling his seat, etc). The middle part does lag a bit, but other than that, I don't see what's not to like here.
• From Bernard on 2010-02-08 at 7:52pm:
  This final part pays off all of the build up from the previous two and a bit episodes and does it quite well too.
  
  There are particular highlights, such as the bajoran general, Quark, Dax and Kira. A very enjoyable romp.
• From Gul Ranek on 2012-12-11 at 10:39pm:
  The three-parter was mostly decent, as the above comment said, the first hints of what DS9 was going to be about. However, the ending of the entire story was wrapped all too quickly and conveniently in less than five minutes - Kira and Dax bring the evidence to the Bajoran council, the General on the station is instantly notified and gives DS9 back to Sisko, and Nalas is killed.
  
  There might have been a more elegant way to finish the story off... I mean, the cargo manifest that proved that it was all staged by Cardassians could very well have been faked by the Federation in order to break up the rebellion and keep DS9 in the hands of the Federation.
  
  Also, there were never any consequences for Minister Jaro or anyone else involved in the overthrow of the government, which is a major failure on the screenwriters' part. Too bad we won't get to see Frank Langella again.
• From Gemini on 2020-07-01 at 7:49pm:
  Jaro literally kidnapped Kira and was revealed to be leading this extremist Circle in the last episode and he gets no consequences thrown at him for this nor does Kira call him out on it in front of the government? Very weird.
  Otherwise the episode was fine.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From djb on 2009-01-24 at 10:28pm:
  A few comments --
  
  One is just a gripe about a rather consistent habit in Trek to make all people of a certain race have the same hairstyle. The Romulans, for example, always have black hair (except Sela), and always have it in a short bob with bangs (sometimes with a peak in the bangs). Is this realistic? It's not always like this. Probably just a budget issue, and a desire to differentiate different aliens from each other.
  
  The other is that I liked seeing Quark's generous side. Nice touch.
  
  Overall I kind of liked this episode. I liked seeing further development between Bashir and O'Brien, and the twist at the end about the coffee made me laugh out loud.
  
  Also, I liked seeing Keiko's reaction to the news of her husband's death. She was obviously distraught, but she didn't burst into tears uncontrollably. Maybe it's something to do with her Japanese heritage. Also, you could tell (great acting, Rosalind!) that she never quite believed it--call it intuition or whatever--you could see just a hint of doubt on her face when she receives the news. Anyway, another nice touch.
  
  The whole thing of killing everyone involved with the harvesters was kind of dumb. Once the jig was up, and Sisko knew of the plot, the aliens didn't really take seriously that killing two starfleet officers was an act of war that would carry serious repercussions. They're just like, "no everyone involved has to die, blah blah blah," as if there were ever a chance that even if O'Brien and Bashir knew enough about the harvesters, they would misuse that information. Pretty audacious!
• From Bernard on 2011-03-07 at 9:14pm:
  Another episode devoted to the unlikely pairing of Bashir and O'Brien. That is not such a bad thing though, as the pair have an obvious chemistry that works for both conflict and camraderie.
  
  The plot is fairly basic and uninspiring with easy solutions all around. That and the fairly slow pace drag this episode down to below average.
• From Jeff Browning on 2011-10-19 at 5:04pm:
  Sorry, guys, but this episode makes no sense.
  
  We are told at the beginning that these "harvesters" are terrible, devastating weapons that must be wiped from the face of the galaxy. The current crop of aliens is literally willing to kill to rid the universe of this weapon.
  
  Two issues, one minor and one huge:
  
  First issue: Clearly, since O'Brien is infected with the harvesters, the last batch was not successfully destroyed. Some of it clearly remains. There are ways to deal with this, but it is never explained.
  
  Second issue (and this is the biggie): O'Brien is actually infected with the harvesters. And what happens? Does he die a horrible lingering death? Not at all! Several days later, while seriously sick, he is still strong enough to stand. And then when he makes it back to the station, Bashir fixes him up just fine!
  
  Given the fact that the Federation obviously possesses the technology to counter the harvesters, why destroy them at all? They are obsolete. Instead of destroying them, simply make the cure available!
  
  And any putative grasp at the Prime Directive would be useless: The Federation is already interfering by assisting in the destruction process. Why stop at half measures? Simply make the weapon irrelevant.
  
  This creates a logical,issue big enough to drive a truck through.
• From Abigail on 2019-09-15 at 9:51pm:
  I was mostly annoyed by how amazingly easy it was to cure O'Brien after he was infected by the harvesters. The whole episode was about how dangerous these things are, how they must be destroyed, how everyone who knows about them must be killed -- and then when O'Brien gets sick, no worries! It's no problem whatsoever to find a cure -- not even really a plot point. We'll fix him right up!
  
  Kind of ruins the premise of the episode.
• From ChristopherA on 2020-07-19 at 4:36am:
  I had no issue with the idea that the aliens wanted to kill everyone who knew anything about the harvesters, I thought it was a clever surprise. Exploring the idea of aliens who think very differently from humans is classic Star Trek. But the handling of the harvesters is terrible, I agree with previous commenters that it makes little sense for the aliens to launch their plot before the final harvesters are destroyed, and the main point of the episode is nerfed by making the harvesters be so easily cured.
• From Abigail on 2021-06-11 at 7:02pm:
  I just logged in to review this episode after watching it, only to find that I received it in 2015 and said the same thing, haha. I stand by my previous review. The fact that they could so easily cure O'Brien after being infected by these oh-so-deadly harvesters made the entire episode pointless. Why would you need to make such a big deal about destroying a biological weapon (and everyone know who knows about it) that leads to an easily curable disease??

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Bernard on 2011-03-17 at 9:13pm:
  Really dull I'm afraid, there is no real chance of discovering Odo's background in this episode and no real chance for his character to develop. As a result nobody really cares what is going on.
  
  The B plot might be well handled but it could have been done during any episode and in a way that actually complimented an A plot.
  
  Thankfully bigger and better things are just around the corner....
• From Tallifer on 2011-03-19 at 9:34am:
  10 points for Noley Thornton and Odo. The stories were pretty good too. (I found out that Thornton is now a university student studying to become a director.)
• From Dstyle on 2013-09-12 at 3:51pm:
  Why are Dax and Odo so surprised to learn that one of the people in the valley is not a hologram? Doesn't it seem obvious that this must be someone's personal planetary holodeck? Why else would it exist?
• From peterwolf on 2013-11-04 at 9:59pm:
  A rather emotional episode, which lacks action, but is just very nice. Besides the Yadera holograms with the Odo-Taya friendship and the Sisko-Jake plot, the third story of Quark´s diversion was overlooked in the comment. He managed that Vedek Bareil came to DS9 and met Kira. This encounter is certainly the start of their relationship (already predicted by the orb of prophecy). Since this development is very important for the DS9 story arc, I suggest a reduction of the filler quotient.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-12 at 1:04am:
  I absolutely despise mirror universe episodes. I couldn't hardly stand to watch this one. It's almost painful to watch.
• From EKH on 2007-05-02 at 8:30pm:
  The mirror universe episode are my own personal favourites, as they always give fascinating insight into the hidden depths of a character, and this one is no exceptions. It is interesting to see how the main cast would have turned out had things been different, and thus episode features some convincing writing and acting for these possible personalities. In particular Sisko is well acted, striking true as being the same character. I also enjoyed seeing how Kira would have ended up had her life been the opposite of what it was. Still a complete mess, but in quite a different way!
  Also, a big plus for showing Terok Nor orbiting Bajor.
  
  I give it a 10.
• From Remco on 2008-10-23 at 3:00pm:
  At the end, when Sisko asks Bashir and Kira where they have been, Kira replies: "Through the looking-glass". It's unlikely that a former Bajoran slave-turned-terrorist knows about such an ancient Earth book.
• From JRPoole on 2008-12-26 at 9:50pm:
  I must agree with Pete Miller above; I despise mirror episodes. This one is entertaining, though.
• From rpeh on 2010-07-28 at 2:48pm:
  The problem with the Mirror universe episodes is that the writers tend to spend more time coming up with clever "opposites" for the characters than writing a decent story. This one is no exception.
  
  It's worth mentioning that Quark's line "I don't stick my neck out for anybody" when asked if he has been helping Terrans escape is a reference to the famous Bogart line in Casablanca, "I don't stick my neck out for nobody" when Rick is asked something similar.
• From Bernard on 2011-07-16 at 8:12am:
  Rules for watching the mirror universe episodes:
  
  1. Suspend your disbelief completely. If you think about it for even a millisecond you realise that in an alternate universe if so much was changed (terrans being all conquering and then becoming benign for example) then none of the characters we know and love would even have been born... and even if they were they would likely not end up in the same place!
  
  2. Enjoy watching the actors having fun
  
  3. Check your brains in on the way in, don't expect any thought provoking sci-fi or heart wrenching drama.
  
  
  I really like this episode for reasons I can't explain it works very well. The actors have a blast, especially Avery Brooks. I love his performance too, you can see his talent is playing off the wall characters.
  
  The problem is that we revisit this universe in the future! I can't hold this episode responsible for that though and would give it a strong 8.
• From Spencer Miller on 2012-04-10 at 5:18pm:
  Loved Bizarro-world rogue Sisko in this episode! I was disappointed that Garak wasnt given an "altered" character aside from rank, as I was watching I was thinking how cool it would be if he behaved more like a Gul Dukat in the alternate reality.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-12 at 2:45am:
  I enjoy any O'Brien episode, but this one is spectacular. I especially love the speech O'Brien gives Odo in the cell about his personal convictions and morality, as well as loyalty to the federation despite his own opinions. He is truly a good man, and one of my favorite characters in Star Trek. It's a damn shame he didn't get more screen time in TNG. Him and Picard would have gotten along well
• From milesmust on 2011-09-04 at 1:39am:
  This is very clearly a quintessential "O'Brien must suffer" episode (the producers intentionally put Miles through the meat grinder at at least once per season, src: http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Deep_Space_Nine).
  
  This is quite fascinating to watch, although I agree with the reviewer there is a touch of absurdity about the court proceedings.
  
  The judge is too lenient at certain times, too stubborn at other times, depending on what the plot requires. It really doesn't seem to make much sense - since the purpose and proceedings of these show trials is so well established, why wouldn't she just find Odo in contempt and have him removed, rather than put up with his attempts to defend Miles?
  
  I haven't fully thought it through, but it might make more sense in light of the revelation at the end: that this was a highly politicized ploy from the very beginning, rather than some ordinary trial. This particular show trial had an interplanetary audience as well as its usual audience, and Odo had a legal right to serve as Nestor (which was a cool twist, btw).
  
  So, pretty good episode, but whether it makes sense or not, much of the trial proceedings are kind of irritating to watch.
• From Axel on 2015-05-17 at 7:09am:
  So let's see, we have TNG: Face of the Enemy (Troi abducted), TNG: The Mind's Eye (La Forge abducted), DS9: In Purgatory's Shadow (Bashir abducted), and also this episode...O'Brien abducted. It seems to me that the Federation has a border control problem, and going anywhere on your own in a shuttlecraft is pretty risky.
  
  I also thought the Cardassian judicial system was a little too absurd. Granted, trials are often for show in dictatorships and military juntas of any kind, but in this episode it seemed to be almost comically ridiculous. It would be more apropos to have a Cardassian regime that simply makes its victims disappear, denying them the opportunity to be martyrs or visibly oppose the state. This insidious reality of totalitarian regimes is something that has been described by those who opposed both the Nazi and Soviet systems.
  
  In any case, I did enjoy a few of the plot twists and I thought it had some terrific acting.
• From Zorak on 2016-05-14 at 4:03pm:
  Episodes like this annoy me a bit. It's hard for me to take the plot seriously when it's based off of the fact (shown time and again throughout Star Trek) that any foreign government can abduct a Federation citizen for whatever reason they choose with no consequences. They kidnaped the Chief of Operations for Depp Space 9. How is that not an act of war? The excuse of the week should hardly be relevant.
• From ChristopherA on 2020-07-21 at 6:46am:
  I was amused by the Cardassian “legal system”. It is sort of a cross between two real-world concepts – show trials which look like a modern trial and pretend to determine guilt or innocence but are actually rigged by the state, and the fact that many cultures have simply given authority figures the job of deciding who is guilty and punishing them, with nothing like a modern trial at all. It was somewhat absurd, but interesting. However, not quite interesting enough to fill a whole episode, it did get somewhat repetitious and stretched.
  
  I agree that the idea the Cardassians could just abduct anyone at any time with no repercussions was disturbing and kept weighing on my mind the entire time. Another episode where I felt our heroes were insufficiently outraged by what was going on, as if the Cardassians were justified in entering Federation space, overpowering and capturing a Federation vessel, and kidnapping a Federation officer simply because they unilaterally declared that person to be a criminal (which, in Cardassian terms, means an enemy of the Cardassian state – a category which likely includes an awful lot of Federation citizens).
  
  Now, I can believe that the episode could have gone forward as shown anyway, with the Federation letting it slide. Previous episodes with the Cardassians have made clear that the Federation really wants peace and is willing to make sacrifices to get it. Starfleet Command may well be willing to sacrifice one life to avoid the devastation of a war they do not feel ready to fight. But you would at least expect more displays of outrage, saber-rattling, and heightened tensions over this act of war.
  
• From Steven Wrieden on 2023-08-26 at 8:14am:
  This was certainly inspired by Franz Kafka's The Trial.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From David on 2008-08-07 at 10:37pm:
  I was wondering the same thing about the Defiant - the first thing that came to mind was that since Trill is 36 hours away even in the Defiant (which can go quite fast if I recall correctly), maybe they figured the risk of permanently losing a key staff officer + losing 2 other key staff officers for many days (or even weeks) in a slower runabout was worth losing the Defiant for a few days.
• From JRPoole on 2009-01-10 at 10:37pm:
  This is decent. The flashbacks are genuinely creepy, the Trill trivia is cool for the most part, and it all goes down fairly easily.
  
  I don't read Star Trek novels, but it occurs to me that there's probably a DS9 novel out there that goes into all this business with the symbionts and how their relationship with the Trill evolved, which would probably be interesting. If anybody knows of such a novel, let me know.
• From rpeh on 2010-07-28 at 9:20pm:
  Total borefest. It's as if the writers realised that they had enough material for 20 minutes so added everything they could think of to pad it out.
  
  I don't agree it's even good Dax development - it doesn't depend on anything that goes before, doesn't add anything very important, and doesn't create anything new for the future. Pure padding.
• From peterwolf on 2013-11-09 at 9:34pm:
  Not a very outstanding episode, but the beginning with the cooking and party preparations shows why I like Sisko more than all the other Star Trek captains (except Kirk, because he is the first one and a totally unique character). Sisko as played by Avery Brooks appears to be a credible human being with weaknesses, true emotions, and what I like best, more humour than the other captains. The Dax conspiracy story is not too bad, I only wish that the painted Trill city, like Cardassia or Kronos capitals depictions, would be replaced by some appropriate graphics in future, augmented versions, similar to enhanced TOS.

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• From martin on 2007-09-26 at 8:21pm:
  I think the Defiant did not cloak because of their deal with the Romulans about not being permitted to use it outside the Gamma quadrant.
• From Pemmer Harge on 2010-06-19 at 9:51pm:
  The best episode of Deep Space Nine
• From McCoy on 2017-01-04 at 8:30pm:
  You've rated this only 5? Same as previous, boring Dax story? I really don't understand. This episode is absolute 10 for me. Intiguing mystery, solid emotions, great development of Kira-Cardassians relationships. Truly, one of best DS9 episodes!

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• From JRPoole on 2009-02-09 at 5:36pm:
  I find this episode interesting because it signifies a change in Trek's philosophies to a certain degree.
  
  TOS and (especially) TNG were both very anti-religion. The show's philosophies about science and rationality over religion and faith are clearly evident in many, many episodes. That starts to change a little on DS9. Sisko has always been uncomfortable with the role of Emissary, but here he begins to grow into it a little, and the plot of this episode suggests that there is something to the Bajoran faith beyond ancient mumbo jumbo. But even before this, Sisko has a more balanced view of such things than Picard ever did. For example, the episode in which then-Vedek Winn threatens Keiko's school makes it clear that while Sisko doesn't believe in the prophets as such, he understands their importance to the Bajoran people.
  
  Even if the "prophets" are explained in scientific terms as non-corporeal beings who live in the wormhole and exist outside of linear time, this episode makes it abundantly clear that their fate is tied to that of Bajor and that the ancient texts are in some ways "true," and that the Prophets are somehow (perhaps without their knowledge) guiding Bajoran society through their interactions with the orbs.
  
  This is an interesting wrinkle, and DS9 is definitely the most fully-realized series in the franchise, but I have to wonder if Gene Roddenberry would have approved of the new direction.
• From djb on 2009-05-22 at 8:27pm:
  I agree that DS9's exploration of religion is interesting. But in a sense, it's not a religion. Not to get off on a spiritual/religious rant here, but in my mind, the very definition of "spiritual" (despite its Latin roots meaning "breath") refers to that which is non-material, and which is not subject to scientific/empirical verification (for better or for worse).
  
  The Prophets, AKA Wormhole aliens, are non-coporeal, but still exist in the material universe, and are observable. In other words, there is nothing sacred or holy about the wormhole aliens; they simply are very, very different from humanoids.
  
  The fact that ancient Bajorans didn't understand the true nature of the wormhole and its inhabitants, and decided to worship them as gods, to me, seems nothing more than superstition, even idol worship. Primitive people often deify, and therefore worship, that which they cannot understand, so arguably the Bajoran religion is nothing more than a vestige of pre-scientific ignorance.
  
  The way the "prophecy" in this episode fulfills itself reminds me of the ancient Greek story of Oedipus Rex. The prophecy was fulfilled by Oedipus' very act of trying to avoid it.
  
  Similarly, Vedek Yarka foolishly tries to avert a prophecy given by the Prophets, and of course, in doing so, helps to fulfill, or at the very least is completely ineffective in stopping, the prophecy he set out to thwart. This was because he did not take into account that if the Prophets can see past, present, and future, they would have seen his efforts to avoid the inevitable, and then THAT would be the prophecy itself. Fascinating.

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• From Mike on 2016-11-19 at 3:53am:
  It was interesting to see Quark launch on another passionate defense of his people's ways to those who seem to look down their noses at the Ferengi. In DS9: The Jem'Hadar, he does this with Sisko/humans, pointing out that the Ferengi never engaged in genocide, slavery, or nuclear war. Here, he tries to convince the skeptical, slightly annoyed "Prophets" that there are good reasons for Ferengi avarice.
  
  Overall the episode was okay. I enjoyed seeing Quark figure out what happened to Zek. And it's always a bit boring to me when Sisko or others interact with the Prophets. Seeing Quark interact with them was a nice change of pace, both funny and intriguing.
  
  The Bashir award subplot had some funny scenes, especially when Odo takes interest.

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• 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.

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• From Tallifer on 2011-03-26 at 4:37am:
  Two problems for me with this episode:
  
  1. Are a few soil reclamators used by a handful of farmers actually supposed to reclaim enough soil elsewhere to support an interstellar trade in foodstuffs? Why not build a couple new reclamators?
  
  Furthermore these reclamators are very ineffective. There is a tiny community of farmers, and yet one of them has not even benefited from the machines yet, but must wait her turn.
  
  2. The politics are startlingly naive. To me it was obvious from the beginning that Kai Wynn was engaged in corrupt relations with a huge corporate agribusiness which intended to exploit Bajoran government funding for profit. The reclamators were intended for the feeding of Bajorans, not the profits of a food-export corporation.
• From Mike on 2016-11-01 at 7:51pm:
  I liked this episode a lot. The Bajorans, like so many real-world peoples, are dealing with internal turmoil and conflict after throwing off their occupiers. In this case, it's driven by an aspiring despot who hopes that boosting her planet's economy will also aid her own personal ambitions. It pushes her to risk civil war, something few others have the appetite for given the issue is the use of farm equipment. It's a well-written, well-acted episode.
  
  Why not build more reclamators? Well, I'm guessing they are sophisticated pieces of machinery that rely on several industries to build. Bajor, still wartorn and relying on aid and loans, can probably only afford to build a couple of them. Plus, they probably have to wait a while because it takes time to detoxify large amounts of land. Real-world soil detoxification takes months or years and requires lots of composting and solarization. Even in sci-fi world, this process probably takes a while. I think the reclamators make a good plot device in this episode for the premise that the writers were going for.
• From Kevin on 2020-08-02 at 3:58am:
  The B plot in this episode is so strange. I know it was just to pad out some runtime in the episode, But maybe I wasn't paying attention to it enough- I don't recall the Chief making plans with Bashir to fake the injury - as i'm pretty sure that is what happened. Bashir played along, and because of it, ended up stuck with Quark at the end instead. That would've made for at least a more logical side story.
• From Azalea Jane on 2021-12-15 at 8:02pm:
  Ah, I love Winn. Love to hate her, anyway. Louise Fletcher is amazing. Seeing her go from calm to livid with the most subtle of facial expressions is amazing. Anyway, I recall from early season 2 that Winn was associated with the Circle, and thus seems to be an isolationist and/or a complete opportunist. Thus her flowery language of joining the Federation is probably all a ruse. It's been so long since I saw the whole series last, I don't even remember! But by now it's basically established that if Winn is breathing, she's up to something, and if her lips are moving, she's lying. And she knows Kira is onto her, but can't let it slip that she knows. Visitor and Fletcher play off each other wonderfully.
  
  I just love the character development in this series, especially compared to my bae TNG. All these events in Kira's life are changing her and affecting her and keeping her interesting. Her covert/overt antagonism toward Winn is always shifting. I like the accumulating backstory of her as a freedom fighter, and how her relationships with other fighters has changed. It's also fun to see Bashir and O'Brien become bros.
  
  Watching this I thought O'Brien and Bashir faked the injury together so O'Brien could get out of the spotlight. I like how they left it open to interpretation.

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• From MJ on 2011-07-30 at 4:12pm:
  "newest and best captain in Starfleet". Well, this explains the awkward goodbye between O'Brien and Picard in the pilot. Maybe the Chief just didn't enjoy his time under Picard. It could just be an effort by the writers to cement O'Brien as a DS9 main character, which he wasn't in TNG.
  
  The episode certainly had plenty of suspense and illustrated the main problem Starfleet would have in dealing with the Founders. The main problem with this story, though, is that it seems hard to believe that an ambassador would have the power to assign a mission to a Starfleet ship without anyone at Starfleet Command knowing about it. I realize that some routine missions and actions could be decided at the station level, but something like this seems like it would've needed more communication between DS9 and Starfleet, not just an ambassador showing up and giving the green light. I guess one reasonable workaround is that Changelings infiltrating Starfleet made it possible on that end.
  
  Anyway, the episode was pretty good and I even enjoy watching it a second time despite knowing the outcome, so I give it a 6.
• From Gaius Gracchus on 2021-08-26 at 10:14pm:
  "No changeling has ever harmed another" has been repeated so much this season, it deserved this level of payoff.

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• From Orion Pimpdaddy on 2006-05-13 at 2:33pm:
  When Dukat is about to kill his daughter, at the end of the cave, look carefully at the right side of the screen. Something appears to crawl down the camera lens and then crawl back up. It may be a drop of water, but that does not explain how it changes direction. It is probably a spider.
  
• From John on 2011-01-11 at 7:28am:
  Another Kira episode. It plays out like this:
  
  Kira hates Cardassians and won't shut up about it. Gul Dukat shows up. Kira is outraged. Dukat is arrogant. Kira gets defensive and self-righteous -- this goes on for about 20 minutes, as usual. Kira puts her foot in her mouth and finally shuts up for a little while. Dukat shocks everybody (except the audience) by proving once again that he's even more evil than they thought he was, but not quite super-evil (yet). Kira witnesses all of this but doesn't learn anything (as usual). The end.
• From Rob UK on 2014-03-03 at 9:36pm:
  I was just watching this episode and just after Dukat sits on the thorn all is not right, i edited out the scene and uploaded it, check this out
  
  Good bit of humour i thought
  
  http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ehovn_major-kira-anal-fisting-gul-dukat_fun
  
  No copyright infringement intended purely for fandom and entertainment purposes only ;) Thanks for sharing that little snippet of sanity Kethinov

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

• From Pete Miller on 2006-06-25 at 9:40pm:
  I love how they don't allow those nasty DS9 uniforms on Earth. Cool people wear the TNG uniforms, and that includes everyone on Earth.
• From EKH on 2007-05-11 at 9:03pm:
  I was surprised to see such a low score for this one. Personally, I find this to be the best two-parter so far on DS9. I love seeing how, despite the near-perfection of the Federation, humans still have some basic flaws. They are unavoidable, since most of them can be good qualities in many situations. The story strikes me as credible and well-executed, and I like seeing some internal Federation politics, which we don't get much of.
• From JRPoole on 2009-03-25 at 8:54pm:
  It's pretty rare that I seriously disagree with our host here, but this is one of those times. I think this is one of the best DS9 episodes in existence.
  
  I love seeing Earth. I love Sisko's dad. I love the paranoia about changelings. I even like Nog's struggles at the Academy. I think the tension between the President and the Federation's ideals and Star Fleet's insistence on raising security. It's rare that Trek makes uncomfortable decisions, and it works well here. I haven't seen the conclusion yet (not since the original run, anyway) so I'm hoping this is building up to something special.
• From Tallifer on 2011-03-30 at 12:18am:
  People who complain about the mixture of uniforms clearly do not understand that every historical military has had a mixture of uniforms even within the same branch. For example, at some points in Star Trek there appear to be uniforms for stationary assignment and others for naval assignment. For a campaign and for the home front. For Monday and for Tuesday.
• From Gul Ranek on 2012-12-30 at 11:31pm:
  The thing I can never get my head around when I watch this episode is Joseph Sisko's restaurant - if, as Picard put it in First Contact, there is no money on Earth, what's the point of having a restaurant? Okay, maybe it would be fun for Sisko's dad to have a restaurant and provide free food to people just because he's a nice guy and likes to cook, but why the hell would someone be a busboy or chop onions in the kitchen the entire day without getting paid?
  
  Or maybe he charges latinum...
• From Mike D on 2017-04-06 at 5:21am:
  This story line just doesn't quite work for me. We keep hearing this is happening all over the planet, but we don't SEE it. The action is just contained to a few small sets. The scope of this story is too big for the show. They should have set this on maybe another space station, or on DS9, but not the entire planet Earth.
• From Axel on 2020-04-10 at 1:15am:
  Admiral Leyton: “What I’d like to know is, why was (the Changeling) imitating me?”
  Commander Benteen: “Well, sir, you live on a very nice bayfront property with an amazing view. You have a vacation home in the Riviera. You own one of the biggest luxury shuttlecraft in the city, and the rumors are that your wife is excellent in bed.”
  
  SERIOUSLY, Leyton? You’re an admiral in Starfleet Security and you can’t deduce why a Changeling would want to impersonate you?
  
  That boneheaded line aside, Leyton’s an excellent idea for an antagonist. When I saw this two-parter, I didn’t expect they would take the direction it did. The Changelings foment just enough chaos on Earth to plunge the planet into fear which lets paranoid, reckless people like Leyton do the rest for them. It’s as insidious as it was effective, and made for a great story.
  
  For Gul Ranek, there’s a lot out there on the economics of Star Trek. I can’t repeat it all here, but basically Earth and the Federation have a post-scarcity economy. All resources, energy, and necessities of life are either replicated or efficiently mass-produced. In this world, people no longer have to pursue something because they need to make money, they can do what they enjoy. The Picard vineyard isn’t necessary, but is something the family wants to do to give the authentic French wine experience. The Sisko restaurant is similar, offering real Cajun and Creole food as part of New Orleans life. It’s the same desire for personal fulfillment and social betterment that is the basis for Starfleet itself, just a different version. As for the currency, who knows? Maybe it’s an advanced barter system. It just isn’t for profit. I do agree it’s unlikely that in such a world, lowly jobs like busboy or prep cook wouldn’t be appealing…we can only assume “Nathan” works there out of some sense of family loyalty or is compensated in some way.