Synopsis: Sisko faces his first challenge as a captain: preventing the Founders from starting a war in the Alpha Quadrant.
Tag: odo
3.21: “The Die is Cast”
Synopsis: Loyalties are tested when the Obsidian Order and the Tal Shiar attack the Founders, and Starfleet orders Sisko not to get involved.
3.20: “Improbable Cause”
Synopsis: Following an explosion on the Promenade, Garak and Odo discover a joint plan by the Obsidian Order and the Romulan Tal Shiar to stage a preemptive strike against the Founders.
3.14: “Heart of Stone”
With every rewatch of the series, I’ve come to appreciate this episode more — almost entirely for the B plot, interestingly. The A plot is good, but for me, the B plot is just so surprising and moving that every time I rewatch, I’m almost surprised to remember that oh, right, it’s not actually the primary focus of the episode.
3.06: “The Abandoned”
I actually liked this one a lot more than I remembered liking it, and I ended up having a lot more to say about it than I expected. As established, I’m not really the biggest Odo fan, but I actually liked him a lot in this episode, and felt like they were doing some really interesting things. I get that they didn’t want it to just be a retread of TNG’s “I, Borg”, but I also found it a little disappointing that the show seems to come down on the side of genetics as destiny with the Jem’Hadar, particularly when Odo himself points out that he’s started to reject his own genetic “programming”.
Content warning: I do talk a bit about Mardah, the dabo girl dating Jake, and how her comments about her background have some pretty troubling implications, perhaps more so than the writers intended. I don’t get graphic or anything, but just wanted to mention that the possibility that she was, essentially, being sexually exploited as a teenager is a theme I examine for a bit. The Mardah section of the post is pretty clearly demarcated, though, so it should be easy enough to skip over.
3.02: “The Search, Part 2”
(Alternate title card for this one: “Odo Loses His Virginity”.)
WHEW! So, a whole lot happens in this one, even if some of it was just a dream simulation. The biggest thing, of course, being the revelation, soon after Odo finds his people, that they are, in fact, the mysterious Founders, the power at the center of the Dominion.
3.01: “The Search, Part 1”
Wow, wow, wow. I know I said back at the end of season one that I was shocked to have gotten all the way there, but that applies even more now, let me tell you. It has been a lot of fun, and I am really, really grateful to everyone (well, all four of you, by the most generous estimate) who’s been reading and commenting and talking to me on Twitter. Here’s to season three!
(Bonus: a couple of my top “I need cheering up” episodes are coming up in the next few weeks, so we’ve all got that to look forward to, as well.)
2.16: “Shadowplay”
I…actually like this one a lot more than I would expect, given, among other things, how Odo-heavy it is. Both the main plot and the two subplots have some fun elements and do some interesting work in moving forward either character arcs or series storylines. Overall, it’s fairly solid!
2.12: “The Alternate”
OK, so, first of all, it was kind of weird that they just…took the obelisk off that planet, right? Like. Y’all couldn’t just take 3D scans of it or something? Come on, you cannot just take random shit from an alien world and not expect things to go terribly wrong. Have none of you people survival instincts???
With that out of the way…
2.08: “Necessary Evil”
Ah yes, the episode where I remember why “Which Side Are You On?” is on several of my DS9 playlists.
I like this episode a lot! But there are parts that I’m not totally thrilled with. Honestly, it probably doesn’t help that I just kind of…don’t like Odo very much, and don’t feel he’s necessarily earned the benefit of the doubt. So I find the ending a bit frustrating, which I’ll go into a bit more later.