With DS9 over, Wes and Clay get together to give some final thoughts about the series as a whole.
Is DS9 better than TNG? Does it matter? The guys try to understand the complexities that make DS9 unique and both amazing and awful (but mostly amazing).
This is it. The final episode of DS9.
“What You Leave Behind” serves to close out both the Dominion War and the series itself. It has action, drama, comedy and retrospection in spades. It’s a brilliant ending to a fascinating series.
But it’s not perfect.
In this podcast, Wes and Clay discuss what the finale does right and what it does wrong. They try to determine if “What you Leave Behind” is a fitting end to the series they’ve been watching for almost two and a half years.
Thanks to everyone for listening and supporting the show. Thank you for not leaving us behind!
The two year journey through DS9 is almost finished! But before they tackle the DS9 finale, Wes and Clay head back to where it all began by revisiting the DS9 pilot, “Emissary”.
In this podcast, the guys discuss
In the penultimate episode of DS9, Damar becomes the leader of a Cardassian revolution. Bashir and Ezri hook up. The Siskos get some big news. And Quark gets some exciting, and then upsetting, news.
Clay and Wes get together to discuss the choice to involve the Ferengi so heavily in the second to last episode of the show. Plus! They defend their choice of O’Brien as the weakest character in the series, analyze the plots in the “Final Chapter”, and look forward to the finale!
Odo is dying. The disease that has infected the Founders has spread to Odo, and he does not look well. To cure him, Bashir and O’Brien lure Section 31’s Sloan to DS9. They plan to enter his mind and steal the cure, and hopefully end Section 31 once and for all.
In this podcast, Wes and Clay discuss the last Bashir and O’Brien adventure and the end of Luther Sloan. Plus! They talk about the ease of capturing a secret agent, boring “dream sequences”, and unrealistic male friendships!
In “Tacking Into the Wind”, our characters face an uphill battle against themselves. Gowron continues to sabotage the war effort, and Kira and Odo attempt to steal Breen technology.
In this podcast, Wes and Clay discuss the collapse of two Trek empires. Plus! The guys talk about the death of Rene Auberjonois, the pointless romance of Odo and Kira, and the evolution of Worf.
“When it rains, it pours.” Things go from bad to worse as Gowron arrives at DS9 and takes command of the Klingon forces. Odo discovers he is infected with the sickness ravaging the Founders. Bashir and O’Brien learn that Section 31 is responsible for the infection. Kira, Odo and Garak are sent to train Damar’s soldiers. Dukat goes blind.
In this podcast, Wes and Clay discuss an episode with an improved focus and structure and how it reboots the final arc. Plus! The guys talk about why Martok is an interesting Klingon, the intentional stalling of Dukat, and the problem with ordering spicy food!
The Breen have attacked Earth. Dukat has convinced Kai Winn to review the ancient texts of the Pah-Wraiths. Damar rebels against the Dominion.
In this podcast, Wes and Clay discuss “The Changing Face of Evil”. Plus! The guys discuss burning the peppers, the abrupt lethargy of the “final chapter”, and the failures of the Winn/Dukat story line.
In “Strange Bedfellows”, the Dominion and Breen alliance could prove costly for the Federation. Worf and Ezri discover an unexpected ally on Cardassia. Dukat manages to turn Kai Winn to the Dark Side.
Wes and Clay discuss an episode that seems like a superior reboot of “Til Death Do Us Part”. Plus! The guys explore the potential redemption of Damar, the narrative need for Dukat, and the close out of Worf and Ezri.
Ignoring the will of The Prophets, Sisko and Kasidy Yates get married. Meanwhile, the captured Worf and Ezri are interrogated by the Breen. On DS9, Dukat works to lure Kai Winn to the Dark Side.
Wes and Clay get together to discuss “‘Til Death Do Us Part” and how it works as the second hour of the Final Chapter. Plus! The guys talk about the Breen popping up out of nowhere, treading water as a narrative, and Dukat and Winn bumping uglies!
DS9 has entered “The Final Chapter”! In ‘Penumbra’, Sisko and Kasidy announce their plans to marry, and Ezri tries to rescue Worf.
The “Final Chapter” is the series ending run of nine episodes that finish out DS9. in this podcast, Wes and Clay discuss the problems with DS9’s serialized storytelling, when characters get “too real”, and the series treading water to get to this point!
In “Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges”, Section 31 recruits Dr. Bashir to aid them in making sure that the Romulan Star Empire remains on the righteous” side of the Dominion War.
Special guest Darren joins Wes and Clay to discuss the final “regular” episode of Star Trek: DS9. Plus! The three discuss pushing Star Trek to its moral limits, making a fashion statement with leather, and beaming out in the nick of time!
In “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang”, holographic mobsters try to run Vic Fontaine out of town. It’s up the crew of DS9 to perform the heist of the century.
Wes and Clay discuss being attacked while playing in the holosuite, a heist without much difficulty, and the powerful sexuality of Nana Visitor!
A Changeling, Laas, finds Odo returning from a conference. Laas reveals that he is another of the Hundred Changelings. Laas tries to convince Odo to leave DS9 and join him in the search for the other Changelings, but things are not so easy for a “Chimera” such as Odo.
In this podcast, Wes and Clay get together to talk about the redemption of DS9’s seventh season and the complexities of the Changelings.
A series of strange murders rock the station. A killer is on the loose. In response, Ezri consults with Joran, a previous Dax host, in order to enter the mind of a serial killer and find out who is responsible before it’s too late.
In this episode of the podcast, Wes and Clay discuss “Field of Fire” and find some brilliance amidst a lot of terrible rubble. Plus! The guys discuss a choir of angels for the Trill, solving crimes with no evidence, and shooting melons!
Grand Nagus Zek has gone missing in the Mirror Universe. Quark and Rom, with the aid of Mirror Universe Ezri, head into the “alternate universe” to rescue him. Many hilarious situations ensue!
Wes and Clay discuss the final DS9 episode to deal with the Mirror Universe, “The Emperor’s New Cloak”. Plus! The guys talk about DS9 wasting everyone’s time, the logistics of non-hologram Vic, and Ezri being too strong a focus in the final season of DS9!
O’Brien has gone missing while looking for the widow of his old friend Bilby, and Ezri heads home to see if her family can help find the chief. Unfortunately, Ezri’s family has its fair share of skeletons in the closet.
Wes and Clay discuss “Prodigal Daughter” and try to determine if it has the worst script in the entire DS9 series. Plus! The guys talk about Trill not being supportive of being joined, bland descriptions of the murder you’ve committed, and dialogue centered around a mislabelled gizmo!
In “The Siege of AR-558”, Nog lost his leg. In “It’s Only a Paper Moon” he loses his enthusiasm for life and it’s up to Vic Fontaine to pull him out of his depression.
Clay and Wes get together to discuss an episode that quietly examines PTSD and phantom pain, as well as the distractions that tear us away from reality. Plus! The guys talk about making an episode without your main cast, getting punchy in a 1960s Vegas lounge, and slamming doors for no good reason!
Kira is abducted and taken to Empok Nor by a Bajoran cult that worships the Pah-Wraiths. Once there, she discovers that the groups charismatic leader is none other than Dukat. But is Dukat truly reformed or is this another of his tricks?
Wes and Clay form a “Covenant” in this episode of the podcast and they discuss how Dukat is an encapsulation of some of DS9’s worst flaws. Plus! The guys talk about aging into Calvinism, eating poisoned apple sauce, and convincing people that the baby isn’t yours!
During a supply run to AR-558, Sisko meets a group of Starfleet officers who have been pushed to the brink trying to hold a vital Dominion communications array. When a group of Jem’Hadar attack, Sisko and his crew experience, first hand, the horrors of front line combat.
Wes and Clay discuss DS9 embracing the wretchedness of the Dominion War in “The Siege of AR-558”! Plus! The guys talk about taking Quark seriously, how to under-write effectively, and they wonder why there aren’t more Ferengi in Starfleet!
Kor, the elderly Klingon warrior, arrives at DS9 and informs Worf that he wishes to die with honor. Worf tries to convince Martok to help Kor get his wish, but Martok has hated Kor for 30 years and that isn’t about to change any time soon.
Meanwhile, Quark and Dax have a strange plot about misunderstandings.
Listen as Wes and Clay discuss exciting space visuals, the backstory of Martok, and the Legend of Kor!
Weyoun lures Odo to a remote planet and reveals two things. First, he wants to defect to the Federation. Second, he’s not the Weyoun that Odo knows and loves! Or is he?
Meanwhile, Nog teaches O’Brien about the Great Material Continuum when they kick off a scheme to repair the Defiant.
Clay and Wes sit down and discuss “Treachery, Faith and the Great River” – which involves talking about all three of those things. Plus! The guys discuss being reunited with the Dominion, killing Weyoun 5 off-screen, and if DS9 is a “good” Star Trek series!
The genetically enhanced group from “Statistical Probabilities” returns to the station to have Doctor Bashir treat Sarina, the quiet one. After Bashir works his magic, he begins to fall in love with his patient and becomes too enamored with a life that he has always wanted but has never been able to have.
Wes and Clay discuss “Chrysalis” and wonder if DS9 is on a slow, downward trajectory. Plus! The guys discuss the dated humor of the “deaf voice”, the stationary characters of Kira and Odo, and the quantifiable loneliness of Julian Bashir!
Baseball has been in DS9’s DNA since the pilot episode, so with the final season underway the producers of the series decided that it was finally time to have a baseball episode! Sisko and the station crew battle a Vulcan superteam on the holosuite while Odo plays umpire.
Wes and Clay discuss an episode of the show that screams ’90s television and ’90s culture. Plus! They discuss the rise and fall of Boston baseball, the difficulty in filming a baseball diamond, and finding it hard to continue supporting Colm Meaney!
When Ezri Dax returns (?) to Deep Space 9, she is greeted with a mix of enthusiasm (Quark) and hesitancy (Worf). Meanwhile, Garak begins to suffer from panic attacks.
Wes and Clay discuss “Afterimage” and try to decide if bringing Dax back to the show was such a good idea. Plus! The guys discuss Garak cracking under pressure, Ezri getting promoted, and why podcasting with a cold is so annoying!
The seventh and final season of DS9 opens with the reunion of Sisko and Dax, the emotional turmoil of Worf, and the empowerment of the Bajoran people. It ends with a revelation about Sisko that may or may not change everything?
Wes and Clay get together to discuss Star Wars and Star Trek going outside their lanes, the lack of excitement amongst Bajoran officers, and a low key start to the final season!