"I mean, if the whole cult had ended up dead, that would have been a huge body count and a real tragedy, but it also would have been way too heavy for even DS9."
—-
Well, that is kind of how "Children of Time" ended.

I think one of the mistakes "Covenant" makes is to start the episode with Dukat as the leader of the Pah-wraith cult. It's a bit hard to buy and doesn't leave anywhere for him to go other than failure and defeat.

I think "Take Me Out to the Holosuite" could be considered a Sisko episode, and a good one.

I don't know. For me, this was the low point for the character. I'd much rather watch what they give us with him later on. I find it twisted and kind of fun. Dukat here is just dull.

I agree with Zack that "The Siege of AR-558" is very much an on-the-nose episode. Watching it again, though, it's well-executed on-the-nose, and that carries it a good ways. I was going to say it has sort a "Band of Brothers" vibe, but its sense of hopelessness and dread are more "The Pacific," I think. (Probably…

Now that you mention it, it would have been a much better use of "Breach"'s time to take that subplot about Quark and Ezri and instead make it about Kira and Dax reestablishing/re-exploring their friendship.

I remember reading that Mulgrew would practice her lines as Janeway in front a mirror until she had everything down. I wondered at the time if that meant she gave the exact same performance regardless of what any other actor was doing in a scene (no push and pull there), and that she might as well be shooting her…

SPOILERS

"Prodigal Daughter" also feels like an episode about the guest characters. We're just watching some (pretty dull) random story set in the Star Trek universe, where the regulars are just kind of spectators. It's such a nothing episode.

(Trying to keep SPOILERS VAGUE)

Add in "Paper Moon" in a few weeks, and you've got three of five episodes (and good ones) carried by the recurring characters. This show had a deep bench.

When they announced that Michael Dorn was going to join DS9 in the summer hiatus after Season 3, there were a lot of fans worried that Worf was going to take over the show. (And I remember reading some interviews with Dorn where he made it clear that part of the reason he was doing it was because of his impression…

Can I say just how much I love Avery Brooks' performance in that scene where he lays out his history with Solok to Kasidy? He's amazing: "Solok came in with
some Vulcan cadets who said they were doing research on illogical. human. bonding. rituals. We didn't take kindly to that."

I do have to question whether Avery Brooks has played before. The way he holds that bat when he's conducting fielding practice is just *odd*. Like he took an hour to try to learn and that's the only way he could figure out how to hit the ball.

Definitely. And it's the small stuff in continuity that's important too.

I think that's pretty much the case in season 6 as well, though.
We got the opening six-parter, but then what really happens Dominion War-wise the rest of the season? Damar takes over as Prime Dominion Puppet and the Romulans join the war, and that's pretty much it. Even the finale, in hindsight, is pretty…

I agree that DS9 is known as the Trek show with the arcs, but I would never think of calling them "tightly plotted arcs."

The writers found the things Farrell was good at and wrote the character that way, IMO.

You can only truly appreciate how good an actor Avery Brooks is after you watch an interview with him. He's… unique.

One thing I do really like about Ezri is that she completes Sisko's Dax Trilogy. Curzon was his mentor. Jadzia was his equal. He is Ezri's mentor. It's a nice arc for their relationship.