Deep Space 9 Superior

[Starbase]

Looking for par'Mach in all the Wrong Places

Awwww, the episode where Dax hooks Worf. It was funny and interesting watching a Worf in heat over Grilka. Grilka was one beuatiful looking Klingon female. I had forgotten Dax was the agressor in getting Worf to notice her. Quark was also outstanding and funny as ever in this episode!.

Was it me or was watching O'Brien and Kira have sexual tension between them just plain uncomfortable?. It was funny but rather weird the way they wrote that angle into the storyline.

...Nor the Battle to the Strong

This episode was so well written, it reminds me of just how great DS9 is!. This was probably Jake Sisko's best episode ever on DS9. The scene where he comes upon the wounded Starfleet soldier dying in the field of battle was fantastic. Bashir was also excellent, when Jake was still missing and presumed dead the look and mannerism of Bashir was just great acting.

[kmiller1610]

Was it me or was watching O'Brien and Kira have sexual tension between them just plain uncomfortable?. It was funny but rather weird the way they wrote that angle into the storyline.

Yeah, most people think of sexual tension in situations where there is music and drinking and dancing. But childbearing and caring support CAN create those kinds of feelings. I have a good friend whose wife fell for him when he helped take care of her during her adult chickenpox (which can be really bad... much worse than having it as a child). That was the thing that really bonded them.
I agree the scene was uncomfortable, but also noteworthy because it was a bit daring. And O'Brien has always been sort of a representative of the "real world" in the show.

[the Fifth Race]

Yeah, most people think of sexual tension in situations where there is music and drinking and dancing. But childbearing and caring support CAN create those kinds of feelings. I have a good friend whose wife fell for him when he helped take care of her during her adult chickenpox (which can be really bad... much worse than having it as a child). That was the thing that really bonded them.

Pregnant woman have all kinds of hormones raging through them so rational thinking can be impaired. Your story about your good friend is perfectly believable. Good point Kmiller.

I agree the scene was uncomfortable, but also noteworthy because it was a bit daring. And O'Brien has always been sort of a representative of the "real world" in the show.

Another great point!, this whole episode was rather daring. Like brother Base said it is episodes like this and ...Nor the Battle to the Strong that remind me of what made DS9 so great and "daring" like you pointed out Kmiller. I also agree O'Brien brings a sense of stability whenever he is in the storyline, he does come across as the "good guy next door type". They sure did give O'Brien and Bashir a lot of face time in the later season episodes, well deserved as well!.

Jadzia is a stunningly beautiful lady!, and Kira was glowing during her real life/DS9 pregnancy.

[Starbase]

I agree the scene was uncomfortable, but also noteworthy because it was a bit daring. And O'Brien has always been sort of a representative of the "real world" in the show.

Both of the fore-mentioned episodes were rather daring and a little outside the box. Maybe the writers wrote the storyline between Kira and O'Brien with the raging female pregnant hormones in mind but there still seemed to be a spark of romance between Kira and O'Brien that felt genuine (not hormone induced). O'Brien sure didn't seem to mind the sexual tensions even though they both acted uncomfortable.

[the Fifth Race]

Both of the fore-mentioned episodes were rather daring and a little outside the box. Maybe the writers wrote the storyline between Kira and O'Brien with the raging female pregnant hormones in mind but there still seemed to be a spark of romance between Kira and O'Brien that felt genuine (not hormone induced). O'Brien sure didn't seem to mind the sexual tensions even though they both acted uncomfortable.

That whole attraction thing between Kira and O'Brien kind of caught me off guard when I watched it for the first time when it originally aired. I kept thinking to myself 'wow, what are they trying to do with this angle'. I even imagined they were setting up a storyline for a later relationship if Keiko left the show or was killed off. I realize the whole arc for that episode 'Looking for'Mach in all the Wrong Places' was romance with the Quark/Grilka, Worf/Grilka, Jadzia/Worf angles, but the Kira/O'Brien twist was just strange. Although I never thought about the 'pregnant woman/raging hormone' idea that Kmiller suggested about how pregnant woman can fall for caretakers or people that take care of them while pregnant at the time I first watched it. That does make the storyline perfectly believable.

[kmiller1610]

Can wait to discuss until season 6, but just finished my favorite DS9 ep so far: One Tiny Ship: Funny, great FX, great character lines, felt very original, great alien on alien conflict (Alpha vs Gamma hierarchy)...... etc et etc...

[the Fifth Race]

Can wait to discuss until season 6, but just finished my favorite DS9 ep so far: One Tiny Ship: Funny, great FX, great character lines, felt very original, great alien on alien conflict (Alpha vs Gamma hierarchy)...... etc et etc...

Great to hear kmiller, I knew you would like season VI, it gets even better in season VII. I will speed up the episode discussion of season V so we can get to the season VI.

[the Fifth Race]

Ok,I just finished the four episode disk II from the DS9 season V box set and they were all great!. Season V of DS9 is better and better every time I re-watch it!.....I did notice that the order of the first two episodes on disk II (The Assignment and Trials and Tribble-ations) were switched from there original airing order. I have noticed this not only on TNG and DS9 Box Set's but also on Stargate and few other related Box Set's. The only logical reason I can think of 'why would they do that'?, is because it lends itself to better storyline continuity throughout the rest of particular season you are watching.

Episode 5 of DS9 season V....
The Assignment
Meeting Keiko upon her return from Bajor, O'Brien is shocked when his wife says, in her own voice, that she is really an entity that has taken possession of Keiko's body and is holding her hostage. She states O'Brien must reconfigure some communication and sensor relays on the station or Keiko will be killed, and sends Keiko into a convulsion to prove her point. Seeing no other alternative and assured no one will be harmed, O'Brien reluctantly agrees to the entity's demands.
Since he must pretend everything is normal, O'Brien attends the birthday party Keiko planned for him. The entity fools their friends, so no one suspects anything. The next morning, she orders him to recalibrate and sequence the impulse response filters in the subspace communication emitters. O'Brien isn't sure this complicated assignment won't hurt the station, and decides to go to Captain Sisko. As he walks toward the captain on the Promenade, he suddenly hears his wife call him, and looks up to see Keiko, her eyes filled with tears, leaning over the railing on the upper level. Before his horrified eyes, she plummets to the Promenade.

Keiko was lucky — she was left with no permanent injuries. O'Brien hurries in to see her, and winds up speaking to the entity still inside her. It warns him again to not tell Sisko, and says he has thirteen hours to complete his task. With no idea how he will finish in time by himself, O'Brien swears Rom to secrecy and puts him to work on the project. At three that morning, a worried Dax approaches O'Brien. She inadvertently discovered O'Brien's alterations and is led to the conclusion that there is a saboteur. Sisko calls an emergency meeting, where O'Brien must pretend to know nothing. Keiko interrupts the meeting and reminds O'Brien that he is running out of time. When Odo brings in Rom for questioning, O'Brien uses the opportunity to finish his work. But Rom refuses to speak to anyone but O'Brien — alone. This forces O'Brien back to Security. Rom secretly tells O'Brien he has done as he's been told and hasn't revealed anything. He only has one question. Why are they recalibrating the deflector in order to kill the aliens within the wormhole?

The question brings it all together for O'Brien. Their recalibrations will focus a beam at the wormhole that, while harmless to humanoids, will be deadly to the aliens inside it. Rom reminds O'Brien that these aliens are the Bajoran Prophets, and is told that, according to Bajoran legend, Pah-wraiths are the enemies of those Prophets. Keiko visited the mythical home of the Pah-wraiths during her trip to Bajor — and it is apparently one of them who is using her body. O'Brien finishes his job, but is confronted by the suspicious Odo. Unable to lose any more time, O'Brien knocks him out, then arranges to meet the Keiko entity in a runabout. They take off and target the center of the wormhole. Sisko orders O'Brien back, but he activates the beam. Instead of firing into the wormhole, however, the beam blasts the runabout. Keiko is hit with a massive shock and falls to the ground. However, she awakens free of the Pah-wraith. Having saved his wife, O'Brien then returns to the station ready to explain his bizarre behavior to Sisko and the crew.

Trials and Tribble-ations
The Defiant is returning from Cardassian space with the Bajoran Orb of Time. A Klingon named Arne Darvin, surgically altered to look human, has come aboard as a passenger. He uses the Orb to send the Defiant more than one hundred years into the past — near the original U.S.S. Enterprise as it orbited Deep Space Station K-7. Records reveal Darvin was a spy then, and that he was caught having poisoned a shipment of grain on the station. Darvin is out to change history, possibly by killing Captain James T. Kirk, who originally exposed him as the spy.
While Sisko, Dax, Bashir, and O'Brien dress in period uniforms and search the Enterprise for Darvin, Odo and Worf, disguised as civilians, do the same on the station. Soon they are interacting — albeit as little as possible — with Starfleet legends from a century ago. Odo, at the station's bar, watches as Lt. Uhura has her first encounter with a furry, cooing, adorable little creature known as a Tribble.The Enterprise goes to red alert — a Klingon ship is approaching the station! But they only want shore leave. Later, in the K-7 bar, Bashir and O'Brien join Worf and Odo, and are swept into a brawl between the Klingons and Enterprise crew members, including Mr. Scott and Ensign Chekov. Odo and Worf spot Darvin during the fight, just as Bashir and O'Brien are taken by Enterprise security personnel.

Bashir and O'Brien are questioned by Captain Kirk himself, then soon notice that the Enterprise is littered with Tribbles. Meanwhile, Worf and Odo materialize on board the Defiant with Darvin. He reveals that he planted a bomb in one of the Tribbles, set to kill Kirk within the hour. Sisko and Dax go to the Enterprise Bridge and scan the starship, but find no explosive. That leaves a manual scan aboard K-7, but there are over a million Tribbles involved. Realizing the bomb is in the storage compartments, Sisko and Dax enter the bin where the poisoned grain is stored, and see that the Tribbles have eaten it all and died. They scan the compartment — while Kirk opens the outside door and is hit by a stream of falling Tribbles. Luckily, Sisko finds the explosive Tribble before it finds Kirk and has the Defiant beam it into space, where it detonates harmlessly. The timeline continues uninterrupted, allowing Kirk to expose Darvin as before.

Evil alien Keiko in the first episode and Retro Star Trek in the second episode

[Trek_Girl42]

Trials and Tribble-ations.....this fangirl's ideal episode. Loved it, there were so many neat things, and while it occasionally got a little too indulgent, the cutting between the TOS episode and the new footage was excellent. Costumes and sets looked great, and the "women wear less" line was laugh out loud. Fun epsidoe.

Not to mention the editing around Kirk's "beautiful woman" smile directed at Sisko.

[the Fifth Race]

Trials and Tribble-ations.....this fangirl's ideal episode. Loved it, there were so many neat things, and while it occasionally got a little too indulgent, the cutting between the TOS episode and the new footage was excellent. Costumes and sets looked great, and the "women wear less" line was laugh out loud. Fun episode.

Not to mention the editing around Kirk's "beautiful woman" smile directed at Sisko.

I didn't really appreciate this episode that much when I originally watched it when it first aired. But it has definetly grown on me the more times I have re-watched it!. I really like how they did the lighting and stage set-up to match 'The Original Series' and like you mentioned Trek_Girl the costumes as well . Sisko and Jadzia were down-right giddy throughout the episode while observing Kirk and crew go through there daily routine. The special effects were exceptionally good in this retro episode.

[Starbase]

Ok,I just finished the four episode disk II from the DS9 season V box set and they were all great!. Season V of DS9 is better and better every time I re-watch it!.....I did notice that the order of the first two episodes on disk II (The Assignment and Trials and Tribble-ations) were switched from there original airing order. I have noticed this not only on TNG and DS9 Box Set's but also on Stargate and few other related Box Set's. The only logical reason I can think of 'why would they do that'?, is because it lends itself to better storyline continuity throughout the rest of particular season you are watching.

I thought that rather strange about switching up the order of episodes when you pointed that out to me years ago brother Fifth. But after watching the episodes unfold in the new order the Box Set's used, I realized that it was done to make for better continuity. It seems like they do this to put the episodes that are part of the continuing season storyline in closer order and to isolate stand alone episodes.

I have just finished re-watching season V and it was excellent and more entertaining everytime I re-watch it.

Episode 5 of DS9 season V....
The Assignment

Evil alien Keiko LOL....Keiko sure showed her acting chops playing this role. She was mean, nasty, kind of perverse and sexy all in one. Poor Miles, he was a wreck going through what he had to endure. The sneaking around and sabotaging the station was killing him inside but he had no choice. Great stand alone episode!

Episode 6 of DS9 season V
Trials and Tribble-ations

Awww, the great retro episode. Like brother Fifth I didn't care to much for this episode orginally, but when you really pay attention to the detail and special effects used to make this episode have that TOS look and feel, it really is a truly great episode. Sisko and Jadzia are so damn good in this episode, both these two characters really stepped it up in season V and were given a lot of attention and great episodes.

Plus seeing Jadzia in a TOS retro Starfleet outfit was down-right sinfully sexy!.

[the Fifth Race]

Evil alien Keiko LOL....Keiko sure showed her acting chops playing this role. She was mean, nasty, kind of perverse and sexy all in one. Poor Miles, he was a wreck going through what he had to endure. The sneaking around and sabotaging the station was killing him inside but he had no choice. Great stand alone episode!

Watching O'Brien lament over not only keeping his family safe but going behind the back of Sisko and Odo was good television. Odo was particularly good in this episode.

Plus seeing Jadzia in a TOS retro Starfleet outfit was down-right sinfully sexy!.

Amen brother Base!, Jadzia (Terry Farrell) is one beautiful and talented lady.

[kmiller1610]

Evil alien Keiko LOL....Keiko sure showed her acting chops playing this role. She was mean, nasty, kind of perverse and sexy all in one. Poor Miles, he was a wreck going through what he had to endure.

These kind of bring em back from the dead, have em inhabited by an Alien, parallel dimension, go back in time, dream episodes where the actors get to stretch their skills have got to be a real treat for the actors. Once you are really INTO the characters (I'm finally there halfway through season 6), it's a treat for the viewer as well. When you are still feeling cynical, it's like.. "Gee I guess they wanted to save money this week, so they turned Keiko into an Alien." Taking the wider view, you recognize that they better save some money, or they won't have enough for the huge space battles, multiple alien, FX episodes.

The production values in DS9 at this point are really top notch. I noticed about 3 episodes into Enterprise how somebody from budgeting cut a lot of corners from those glory days of DS-9.

[the Fifth Race]

These kind of bring em back from the dead, have em inhabited by an Alien, parallel dimension, go back in time, dream episodes where the actors get to stretch their skills have got to be a real treat for the actors. Once you are really INTO the characters (I'm finally there halfway through season 6), it's a treat for the viewer as well. When you are still feeling cynical, it's like.. "Gee I guess they wanted to save money this week, so they turned Keiko into an Alien." Taking the wider view, you recognize that they better save some money, or they won't have enough for the huge space battles, multiple alien, FX episodes.

I totally agree kmiller!, I have read more than a few scifi actors from various series say the same thing that they love when a storyline is written for them to be an alternative (good to evil, evil to good, prude to sexy...etc...) character. And like you mentioned it gives them the opportunity "to stretch their skills".

The production values in DS9 at this point are really top notch. I noticed about 3 episodes into Enterprise how somebody from budgeting cut a lot of corners from those glory days of DS-9.

The production values were "top notch" on DS9. This is one of many reasons why I find DS9 superior to other Trek series. Between TNG and DS9 it doesn't get much better!.

I also agree with you about ENT, the low budget they had to produce that show was obvious, especially that last season.

Great post as usual kmiller!.

[Starbase]

The production values in DS9 at this point are really top notch. I noticed about 3 episodes into Enterprise how somebody from budgeting cut a lot of corners from those glory days of DS-9.

Amen!. DS9 could always fall back on great acting and storylines for those lower budget episodes lacking special effects and such.

A good example of differences between DS9 and ENT, was the recently discussed great DS9 episode Trials and Tribble-ations and the final episode of ENT These are the Voyages.... Both retro style episodes, and even with ENT episode being 10 years newer you could see better production values from the DS9 episode, not to mention better acting and writing.