I've got nothing to add for Trials and Tribble-lations. It's all good.

He does fail to deal with his punishment in Hard Time.

I think one of the reasons the cliches aren't too bad is that there's no obvious redemption arc for Jake. His "last stand" in the hospital is so clearly panic and fear, rather than him finding the courage to stand up and shoot down the attacking Klingons. Sure, he redeems himself in a sense by admitting his cowardice…

I said this last week, but I like the Kira and O'Brien B plot in "Par'Mach." I'm not going to claim it's really realistic or is a perfect fit for the characters, but I think it does make sense that in being so intimate with each other due to this unusual situation, O'Brien and Kira have to decide where to draw the…

Also-no Bashir, so there's no one with medical expertise to treat either Muniz or the Founder. Obviously treating a changeling in the field would not be easy, but he'd have a shot. Sisko, Dax and O'Brien with rusty field medicine training? Not a chance.

Considering he lost his wife in the battle with the Borg when he wasn't in command, I can actually see that being a real reaction for him afterwards, even if he never realizes it.

The O'Brien plot is FANTASTIC. I love it unironically.

Also, he made them pay for their own gas.

What @BreakingRad:disqus said, along with the idea that what's a punishment for Odo seems a step too far for sleeper agents they presumably want to come back unharmed.

Because Dax has the self control of a gnat around former friends and acquaintances.

That's the real reason they stopped after 7 seasons, they were afraid of how horrible the sacrificial episode would get.

The downside of a political system explicitly built on vulnerabilty to "Chicken!" taunts.

I do like that at the end of "Apocalypse Rising," peace isn't restored. For saving the Empire from at least one Changeling infiltration, Sisko and crew…get to return home. That's it. No "Oh, the Empire is in your debt, we'll stop fighting!" No, Gowron owes them, but they also snuck into a very important function with…

It's less an issue of "they couldn't have gotten to him" and more "the timing is just too ambiguous for my liking." And…

"I Brake for Honor."

On the one hand, I've always been bothered by the timing of how Odo is afflicted with this condition that forces him to return to the Founders. How did they get to him? When? And did they expect him to come back at all, or was it more of a "Well, if he doesn't return he's dead, so problem sorted all around?" And for…

"The Quickening"  is just…man. It's so good. I love the part of the end where Bashir reveals that he's made a vaccine, and Trevean is just beside himself with joy. It's so little in some ways, considering how many people are still going to die, but it's a chance, and they've had nothing for decades. And it's another…

I agree that the ending to "Body Parts" is really strong. I mean, yes, it's a restoration of the status quo as a whole-Quark's bar is open for business again-but it could only happen this late in the series. No matter how well written, if this had been in Season One or Two, we would have gone "Wait, why would they…

I'll just note I didn't claim it was justified frustration.

There's probably a lot of speculation about why Eddington went to the Maquis, but I agree with the idea that at least one reason was his career stalling. As he put it in a previous episode, security doesn't get to become captain. Of course, you might claim that's not the case since Worf has been promoted to a command…