Quark’s Bargain Bin: DS9’s worst episodes

No show goes seven seasons without putting out some duds along the way, and DS9 is no exception. Whilst I may have spoken about its generally consistent standard in my top ten post, even I can’t deny that sometimes DS9 did scrape around at the bottom of the barrel. So, without further ado, let me present ten episodes of DS9 that left me feel distinctly underwhelmed.

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Deep Space Ten: The ten best episodes of DS9

Ah, Deep Space Nine. The so-called ‘red-headed stepchild’ of the Star Trek franchise. DS9 was different in various ways. It never had a time when it was the only Star Trek series airing on TV. It was set on a space station instead of a starship travelling at high warp. It was the first Star Trek series to try having non-Starfleet personnel as part of the main cast. It even had a black single father as the commanding officer, which was a big deal back in the day (and probably even now is a bigger deal than it ought to be).

For me, choosing a DS9 top ten was difficult. I feel like it doesn’t have as many stand out episodes as TNG and Voyager. And yet, in its favour, it doesn’t have such long stretches of mediocrity as either of its contemporaries. Anyway, after much thought, I present to you, in no particular order, my DS9 top ten.

The Trials of O’Brien: Times the DS9 writers made Chief O’Brien suffer

When Miles O’Brien left the Enterprise-D for a new job as chief engineer on DS9, he knew it wasn’t going to easy. After all, he’d just swapped the Federation’s top of the range flagship for a rusty Cardassian space station infested with voles and held together with spit and 24^th century baling twine. What he didn’t know was that the writers of his fictional world also had it out for him, and devised ever crueller ways to torture DS9’s resident blue collar everyman.

The Great Star Trek DS9 Rewatch: What You Leave Behind

The time has come for the final attack on the Dominion forces in the Alpha Quadrant. As Sisko and the new Defiant join the onslaught in space, on Cardassia, Damar, Kira and Garak prepare for a direct offensive against the Dominion compound. Meanwhile, on Bajor, Kai Winn and Dukat prepare to release the Pah-wraiths from their imprisonment in the Fire Caves.

The Great Star Trek DS9 Rewatch: The Dogs of War

Whilst Sisko and his senior crew celebrate the arrival of a replacement USS Defiant, Kira and Damar are having a much tougher time of it. A betrayal leads to the destruction of the Cardassian resistance, leaving Damar, Kira and Garak hiding in a basement, uncertain of their next move. Meanwhile, Quark is delighted to hear that the Nagus is coming to DS9 to crown his successor.

The Great Star Trek DS9 Rewatch: Extreme Measures

When Bashir realises he is running out of time to find a cure for Odo, he and O’Brien are forced to devise an alternative plan. Having discovered that Section 31 is likely responsible for the Changeling disease, they lure Sloan to the station, in the hopes that a Romulan memory probe will be able to extract knowledge of a cure. But when Sloan attempts to commit suicide, Bashir and O’Brien have a mere 43 minutes to enter his mind and extract the information they need.

The Great Star Trek DS9 Rewatch: Tacking Into the Wind

Kira, Garak and Odo have been teaching Damar’s resistance how to fight back against the Dominion, and now the time has come for their most daring mission yet – to steal one of the Breen’s energy dampening weapons. But Odo has begun suffering from the symptoms of the morphogenic disease, and the last thing he wants is to either jeopardise the mission – or have Kira find out. Meanwhile, Worf agonises over what he can do to stop Gowron from endangering more lives in the pursuit of glory.