I looked up the episode online, and turns out I have seen it. I remembered it because it had the excellent David Warner - one of my favorite actors. And, yes, I tend to agree with you. It was interesting, but still… cartoony.

Well said and we'll played, sir!

Star Trek will never address a compelling issue in a truly gut wrenching way because, let's face it, it's Start Trek. The entrance requirement to make a show like this watchable is a significant suspension of disbelief. With that in mind, if the show manages to treat war or love or some other human frailty in a way…

I sure as hell am gonna miss these weekly forums when Zack finishes his DS9 run.

Agree with everything you said. However, if they were determined to keep Dax, they could have said "Fuck it!" and brought the symbiote back in an unconventional form. Say a brilliant but cantankerous old person (man or woman) who simply doesn't like Sisko, or a bewildered teen who oddly manifests dangerous…

Ah, Claudia Black. Why won't she respond to my emails? *sadness*

The Dax symbiote was an awesome idea that was marginally exploited, and never truly lived up to its potential. Terry Farrell played Dax as playful and accessible. I think a more aloof, mysterious attitude would have been more appropriate. I think Claudia Black would have been great for the role.
There were moments,…

He had a taste for Bajoran women… I think because Dukat seemed jealous of the Bajoran spiritual tradition. I'm not sure if he ever said it outright, but I interpreted much of his behavior as a form of insecurity with respect to the Bajoran relationship with the Prophets. It's like Cardassians were superior in every…

She is an attractive woman, though her hair in season 1 was… loathsome.

I think I read somewhere - possibly on these very forums! - that what you suggest is exactly what the writers did, i.e. they made him so evil that there was no nuance to him, they wanted to make it clear to everyone that he was a bad guy.
Dukat/Kira shippers. I shouldn't be surprised. I'm sure there were Dukat/Sisko…

It's unprecedented for me to re-watch a television series, but DS9 really stuck with me over the years, and I'm happy I've invested the time to watch it again. Still, the show is deeply flawed in places, and one of them is with Dukat. He was great… a complex mixture of sincerity and cunning… and then he just turned…

I never sensed any genuine chemistry between the actors, not like between the Chief and Bashir. There were times when I watches scenes between Miles and Keiko and I wasn't convinced that they even liked each other.

When I saw the episode on its first run, my college roommate pointed to that exact detail as an indication that Avery Brooks is a good actor.

Thanks. I haven't seen Enterprise, either. I have seen many TNG episodes, but it's been a million years. Mebbe I'll do a TNG rewatch.

I've never seen Voyager, and now that I've completed DS9, I sort of miss getting lost for a couple of hours each week in the Trek style of soap opera. But, I can't decide if I should watch it or not because peoples' range of feelings towards the show seem to run the gamut of indifference to outright loathing. Is it…

Oh God thank you for explaining this!

Up voting this for referencing Kurt Vonnegut.

Plus, it gave the writers an excuse to blow up a ship that looked exactly like the Defiant. Despite myself, I found the scene where the ship went kablooey somewhat jarring.

I agree with everything you just said.

Another poster on here (I forget who) observed that bringing back Pel would have improved the episode 100,000%. Bypasses the entire gender swap entirely - though it also eliminates the humor. I'm sure this episode seemed hilarious to the writers when it was still on paper.