Category: DS9

After he promotes equal rights for female Ferengi, Grand Nagus Zek is deposed and replaced by (acting) Grand Nagus Brunt (of the F.C.A.). To restore order, Quark undergoes a sex change operation to convince a Ferengi cola merchant that Zek’s radical plan has merit. Yes, this really happens.

“Profit and Lace” is frequently derided as not only one of the worst DS9 episodes of all time but of the entire Star Trek franchise! Wes and Clay discuss the attempt at a “golden age” homage and why it doesn’t work in the Star Trek universe.

Plus! The guys discuss sexual harassment in the workplace, the inability for the series to take the Ferengi seriously, and making a “truly” Ferengi episode!

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While on a trip to Ferenginar, Jake and Nog are attacked by the Jem’Hadar. They are saved by the USS Valiant, which is apparently commanded by a crew of Red Squad cadets – an elite group from Starfleet Academy that we last saw in Paradise Lost. The Valiant is on a dangerous mission to locate a Dominion warship behind enemy lines, but the biggest danger might be the cadets themselves.

DS9 pays homage to “Lord of the Flies” with a story about the collapse of values in the face of authoritarianism. Or at least… that’s what it seems like they were doing. But hey, the destruction of the Valiant is pretty great, huh?

Wes and Clay also discuss the unique uniforms of Red Squad, the training protocols of Starfleet, and the growing schism between themselves and the listeners!

Support Clay’s Kickstarter at www.blodyhel.com!

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After an ancient Bajoran tablet is discovered, Sisko finds himself embroiled in a battle between good and evil. The battle is known as “the Reckoning”, and the result will determine the fate of Bajor. Unfortunately, the ultimate battle is between Jake and Kira.

The Reckoning is the annual “Bajor” episode, so we get another Kai Winn appearance, some vague statements from the Prophets, and a lot of questions about the need to continue this storyline.

In this podcast, Wes and Clay discuss their frustrations with the Prophets and the confounding actions of Kai Winn! Plus! They discuss the problem with important stories happening once every 26 episodes, Sisko as Abraham, and accepting the Prophets as the “good guys”!

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When Bashir shows off his new holosuite creation, a swinging lounge singer with top-notch relationship advice named Vic Fontaine, Odo has his interest piqued. He’s been pining after Kira for years now, but he’s unsure of how to proceed with her. Will this insightful, lightbulb powered hologram be able to provide him with any meaningful advice?

DS9 feeds the ‘shippers with an episode that finally gets Odo and Kira together! It’s also a holodeck adventure, which is fairly unusual for DS9, and it has a light-hearted, charming tone has has Clay absolutely smitten. Put on your finest lounge act record, stir up a martini, and have things “Your Way”!

Plus! Clay and Wes discuss the nonsense of judging a romantic relationship, the schism between backstory and series, and who O’Brien is looking at, but not touching!

Support Clay’s Kickstarter at bloodyhel.com!

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The war against the Dominion is going poorly. The Federation is suffering defeat after defeat, and the death toll is rising. One last hope remains: to bring the Romulan Star Empire into the war effort against the Dominion. But the Romulans are hesitant to commit to the war, as they’ve cozied up to the Dominion in the hopes that the war eliminates all of their enemies.

In “In the Pale Moonlight”, Captain Sisko must decide how far he is willing to go to save the Alpha Quadrant. Are the values of the Federation sacrosanct, or must he prove Section 31 correct? The war has taken many lives, and it just might take Sisko’s soul.

In this podcast, Wes and Clay discuss the critically acclaimed episode and try to measure the RPM of Gene Roddenberry in his coffin! Plus! The guys talk about the ethics of “the needs of the many”, the joy of seeing a Romulan, and the problems with the final scene!

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Internal Affairs visits the station and begins to interrogate Doctor Bashir, who they believe to be a Dominion double-agent.

“Inquisition” is most famous for being the introduction of Section 31, a shadowy covert ops group that operates without the supervision of Starfleet or the Federation. It’s also a solid episode that manages to create a creepy, paranoid atmosphere that dovetails into a look at what values the Federation might need to compromise in order to survive. We also get some adorable shots of Bashir’s teddy bear!

Clay and Wes also discuss Section 31’s penchant for leather, the nuances of Sloan’s argument, and how they could have made Section 31 even more intimidating!

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Dukat contacts Kira and informs her that he and her mother were once lovers. Kira is disgusted enough to request that Sisko allow her to use the Orb of Time to travel into the past to verify the claim. While in the past, Kira meets her mother, Kira Meru, and discovers a dark family secret that threatens to change everything.

While the time travel aspect is a bit questionable, Wrongs Darker than Death or Night is an extremely fascinating character piece for Kira and for the Bajoran Occupation as a whole. It delves into some moral questions that might not have answers, and it works to both flesh out the pre-DS9 universe and the choices that Bajorans had to make during the Occupation.

Plus! Wes and Clay discuss the impact of faulty plot mechanics, the importance of “Waltz”, and the devastation of the Kira family!

Support Clay’s Kickstarter at bloodyhel.com!

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While on a mission to rendezvous with a Cardassian spy, Dax is seriously wounded and Worf is forced to make a choice between saving his wife and completing the mission. It’s our first episode since the wedding to focus on the marriage of Worf and Dax, and “Change of Heart” gives you plenty to chew on. We get some insight into the banter of newlyweds, learn about Worf’s definition of “duty”, and learn all about the sleeping arrangements of our favorite Trill and Klingon!

In the B-plot, Bashir and O’Brien try to defeat Quark in a game of Tongo, and Clay reveals how little knowledge about early DS9 he has retained.

The guys also discuss literal figures of speech, expecting explanations from Star Trek, and how to make a nonsense game work for television!

You can support Clay’s Kickstarter at www.bloodyhel.com!

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O’Brien is recruited for an undercover Starfleet operation where he must infiltrate the Orion Syndicate and bring it down from the inside. During his mission, he befriends a man named Bilby. As their friendship flourishes, O’Brien becomes more and more conflicted about his mission: will he be able to betray Bilby?

Back on DS9, the station is falling apart without its chief engineer. And that’s pretty all that you need to know about that plotline because… that’s all that happens.

Wes and Clay discuss “Honor Among Thieves” and find themselves thinking about The Departed, wondering how an episode that features the theme of “family” can so completely ignore Keiko and the kids, and debate the plotlines that feature Miles O’Brien!

Be sure to check out the Kickstarter for Clay’s new book, “BLOODY HEL”: www.bloodyhel.com

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O’Brien, Dax, and Bashir are shrunk down to “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” size while exploring an anomaly. Meanwhile, the Defiant is attacked and captured by Jem’Hadar, leaving the tiny runabout and tiny O’Brien, Dax, and Bashir no choice but to take their miniature ship and selves into the Defiant to retake it. Fortunately, it’s a tiny ship that can still shoot tiny photon torpedoes! DS9 returns to a sci-fi concept episode while still keeping the focus on the Dominion threat, and the result is an episode with a whole bunch of plots and information and tones. Clay and Wes discuss an episode that refuses to take things too seriously and ends up feeling like the whole is less than the sum of its parts.

Plus, the guys discuss the physics of being small, the whole being less than the sums of its parts, and revising the Jem’Hadar!

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Ben Sisko suddenly finds himself as a science-fiction writer in the mid-1950s and creates a character named “Benjamin Sisko”, a black commander of a space station in the distant future. The rest of the DS9 cast is also here – they’re writers, ballplayers, con men and corrupt cops. Far Beyond the Stars deals with racism and the insidious ways that it finds its way into various aspects of life, and it’s generally regarded as one of the strongest stand alone episodes that the series ever produced. Listen as Wes and Clay discuss DS9’s attempt to re-calibrate the series with an episode that has a lot to say and does so in a very sophisticated way.

Plus! The guys discuss the extreme pipe-work of Colm Meaney, what would have gone wrong with the TNG cast, and the unfortunate misery of enduring 3+ hours of make-up for a single shot!

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When Morn, Quark’s best customer, dies in an accident, his barkeep is shocked to learn that Morn was rich! And not only was Morn rich, but that his will stated that, upon his death, everything should be left to Quark. With his newfound wealth, Quark also gains some new enemies: a group of colorful con artists have arrived on DS9 in search of Morn’s wealth. It’s up to Quark to get a handle on the situation, find Morn’s money and get out with his life (and a cool 20%).

Wes and Clay also discuss building an episode around a gag, finding out that latinum is a liquid, and wondering about the impact of having the end of DS9 in sight!

While en route to war crimes hearing, Sisko and Gul Dukat are attacked by Cardassians and end up marooned on a deserted planet. Sisko is badly injured and must rely on an increasingly unstable Dukat if he has any hope of making it out alive. Unfortunately, the Federation’s psychiatric care seems to be lacking, as Dukat is now hearing voices in his head and appears to be losing his grip on sanity.

Patron Isaac marks the end of a guest-hosting era as he joins Wes to discuss a very important episode in the arc of Dukat, a character who has been there from the very start of the series and is inarguably one of the great villains of Star Trek. Wes and Isaac also discuss the motivations of Thanos, being annoyed that you saved the wrong people, and villains mischaracterizing Benjamin Sisko!

When Quark’s mother is kidnapped by the Dominion, a group of rag-tag Ferengi assemble to save her… and collect on the reward. In yet another Ferengi episode of DS9, this one loosely based on the Magnificent Seven, we return to what both works and does not work for this Star Trek species.

Clay and Wes discuss the mindset of Ira Steven Behr, the upside of Iggy Pop, and bad reasons for visiting Empok Nor.

A group of genetically enhanced augments visit Deep Space 9, seeking mentorship from Julian Bashir (who was similarly enhanced as a young child). The group quickly demonstrates impressive forecasting abilities and Dr. Bashir is drawn towards working with people on his own intellectual level, even if they are quirky and potentially violent.. When Weyoun and Damar visit the station for peace talks, Dr Bashir and his new friends discover that their calculations imply that the war against the Dominion cannot be won.

The Mirror Universe and Vedek Bariel are brought back to life when the Mirror Universe version of Kira’s long lost love appears on the station. Is he another Mirror Universe character unhappy with his own lot in life, or is he a thief scheming to steal one of Bajor’s most treasured possessions?

The marriage of Worf and Dax is put to the test when the matriarch of the House of Martok visits the station.

With Federation defeats piling up, Sisko hatches a plan to retake Deep Space 9 and prevent additional Jem’Hadar troops from entering the Alpha Quadrant.

Sisko is removed from commanding the Defiant, and Odo becomes unable to resist the allure of the Great Link.

While aboard a Klingon vessel commanded by General Martok, Worf is reunited with his estranged son Alexander. It’s been many years since father and son have seen each other, and in that time Alexander seems to have changed.

While attempting to escape Dominion territory, Sisko and the crew on the Defiant crash land on a planet devoid of anything but rocks and shoals. Unfortunately, a crew of Jem’Hadar and their Vorta, Keevan, have also survived a crash landing on the same planet.

It’s been three months since the events of “Call to Arms” and the war against the Dominion is going poorly for the Federation. Fleets of ships are being lost every day, and the Cardassian-Dominion alliance has proven to be a fearsome enemy.