star trek deep space nine season 5 episode 16

DS9 Season 5

• View history
• 3 Background information
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Also Starring
• 4.3.1 Uncredited crew
• 4.4 Companies
• 6 External links

Episodes [ ]

Summary [ ].

Sisko , Odo , O'Brien , and Worf are sent on a mission to expose Chancellor Gowron as a Changeling infiltrator, only to discover that it was Martok who had been replaced. The Changeling impersonating Martok is killed, but Gowron is still not ready to end the war with the Federation but does agree to call a cease fire and begin talks. The crew is able to capture a crashed Jem'Hadar ship and return it to Starfleet . Worf helps Quark woo his ex-wife Grilka , while he and Jadzia Dax start a relationship initiated by Dax.

Jake Sisko is doing a report on Julian Bashir in a later episode when they are called to help a Federation colony against a Klingon attack, and Jake has his first real dealings with death and the horrors of war. Keiko O'Brien later gets possessed by a strange noncorporeal being who forces Miles to do whatever she says or else she'll kill Keiko. Miles is, of course, able to outwit the entity, which turns out to be a pah-wraith , who was attempting to kill the Prophets .

The crew travels back in time to the 23rd century and thwarts a plot by Arne Darvin to kill James T. Kirk , (unwittingly reintroducing the previously-extinct tribble species to the galaxy in the process). Odo is forced to reveal that during the occupation, he had three innocent Bajorans executed as he had placed order over justice and did not investigate the crime fully. Later, he and Quark crash on an L-class planet and must climb a mountain in order to get a signal through to Deep Space 9 . After an accident in the holosuite , Sisko begins having visions of past, present and future, preventing Bajor from joining the United Federation of Planets by claiming that it will be disastrous for Bajor to do so.

A few weeks before giving birth to Kirayoshi O'Brien , Kira Nerys tracks down an insane Cardassian who has been killing members of the Shakaar resistance cell as revenge for civilians who were killed in one of their attacks. Odo receives a sick infant Changeling from Quark which he attempts to nurse back to health, but with no success. However, before it "dies", it absorbs itself into Odo's body and gives Odo back his shape-shifting abilities.

Sisko vows to track down and arrest Maquis renegade Michael Eddington after he attacks a Federation starship. Sisko poisons a Maquis colony and Eddington agrees to surrender.

Garak receives a signal from Enabran Tain , indicating that he is alive in a Dominion prison. He and Worf attempt a rescue, but are captured themselves, where they discover the real Martok and Julian Bashir, who has also been captured and replaced by a shapeshifter. Tain acknowledges Garak as his son before he dies. The rest escape and return to the station. An attempt to seal the wormhole to prevent the impending arrival of a Dominion fleet is unsuccessful, thanks to an act of sabotage by Bashir's Changeling replacement, who is later killed during a failed attempt to destroy the Bajoran system by triggering a supernova within the Bajoran sun. Dukat reveals that he has negotiated Cardassia 's entry into the Dominion, becoming absolute ruler of his planet under Dominion rule. In response to the sudden change of fortune in the Klingon's war against the Cardassians, Gowron agrees to Sisko's proposal to reinstate the Khitomer Accords , restoring the alliance between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. General Martok stays on DS9 as Klingon representative for the new alliance.

Julian Bashir meets Lewis Zimmerman , the creator of the EMH , who wants to use Bashir for his next Emergency Medical Holographic program . It is discovered that Bashir had been genetically altered to make him stronger and smarter as he was "slow" as a child. Odo falls in and out of love with a mysterious woman, Quark begins smuggling weapons "illegally," but has a change of heart.

Tekeny Ghemor returns to the station and reveals all his secrets to Kira before he dies. Dukat and Weyoun 5 try to prevent it, but are too late. Quark finds out his mother and the Grand Nagus had fallen in love, and Worf accompanies Martok on a mission to rescue another Klingon ship from the Jem'Hadar. In return, Martok lets Worf into his House . The crew discovers an alternate timeline by the crew aboard the USS Defiant which has the Defiant being thrown back in time and crashing on a planet, and a world of eight thousand being created by the survivors of this crash. This event, however, is prevented by an alternate version of Odo, who confesses his love to Kira.

After the Cardassian-Dominion alliance has nearly wiped out the Maquis, Eddington tricks Sisko into releasing him so they can prevent a last strike. He dies in a blaze of glory, allowing the survivors to escape from the Jem'Hadar. O'Brien, Garak, and Nog travel to Empok Nor to salvage station parts, but Garak is infected by a Cardassian virus and turns to a murderous rage.

Jake and Nog manage to cheer Sisko up by offering him a baseball card . The Dominion offers Bajor a nonaggression pact , which they resist at first, but Sisko endorses it so they will stay out of the fighting. After the crew decides to mine the wormhole to prevent further Dominion reinforcements from coming through, the Dominion attacks and the crew – including Garak – is forced to abandon the station, escaping on the Defiant . Odo, Kira, Quark and Jake stay behind as Dukat, Weyoun, and the Jem'Hadar occupy the station. The Dominion War has begun…

Background information [ ]

• This season was broadcast concurrent with Star Trek: Voyager Season 3 , and Star Trek: First Contact was released during its run, three days prior to the airing of the episode " The Ascent ".
• The writers' primary goal during season 5 was to get the show back on the track they'd been on in season 3 , i.e. moving towards war with the Dominion . Season 3 was originally supposed to conclude with the episode that ultimately became " Homefront ", while season 4 was to open with " Paradise Lost ". However, towards the end of season 3, Paramount had told the writers that they didn't want a cliffhanger ending, and they also wanted "something" done to shake up the show, which ultimately led to the introduction of Worf and the Klingons . The Klingon war arc took up most of season 4, so now that the writers were moving into the next season, they wanted to end the Klingon conflict and get back to the inevitable conflict with the Dominion. As executive producer and writer Ira Steven Behr stated, " Season 4 threw us for a loop, with the whole Klingon thing, and bringing Worf into the show. So the seminal thing about our fifth season was that we wanted to get back on the track we'd anticipated being on a year earlier. We were moving back toward making the shape-shifters and the Dominion our enemies. Not the Klingons. I didn't want to have the Klingons as our enemies ." ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion  (p. 359))
• Art Director Randy McIlvain took over Herman Zimmerman 's role as production designer for the first five episodes of the season, while Zimmerman was working on Star Trek: First Contact . After production of First Contact was complete, Zimmerman resumed his regular role on the show.
• Characters which " crossover " from other incarnations of Star Trek : Arne Darvin in new materials and James T. Kirk , Spock , Leonard McCoy , Montgomery Scott , Nyota Uhura , Pavel Chekov , Cyrano Jones , Freeman , Lurry , Korax , Galloway , Nilz Baris , and K-7 's bartender in stock footage, ( DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations "), and the Emergency Medical Hologram . ( DS9 : " Doctor Bashir, I Presume ")
• Also starting with " Rapture ", the DS9 crew permanently switch to the new Starfleet uniforms which were designed for Star Trek: First Contact . However, the crew on Star Trek: Voyager continued to use the old DS9 Starfleet uniforms , due to being stranded in the Delta Quadrant .

Credits [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Avery Brooks as Captain Sisko

Also Starring [ ]

• Rene Auberjonois as Odo
• Michael Dorn as Lt. Commander Worf
• Terry Farrell as Lt. Commander Dax
• Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko
• Colm Meaney as Chief O'Brien
• Armin Shimerman as Quark
• Alexander Siddig as Doctor Bashir
• Nana Visitor as Major Kira
• Rick Berman
• Ira Steven Behr
• Michael Piller
• Robert della Santina
• J.P. Farrell
• Robert Hewitt Wolfe
• Steve Oster
• René Echevarria
• Hans Beimler
• Peter Lauritson
• Ronald D. Moore
• Terri Potts
• Junie Lowry-Johnson , CSA
• Dennis McCarthy ("Apocalypse Rising", "Nor the Battle to the Strong", "Trials and Tribble-ations", "Rapture", "For the Uniform", "In Purgatory's Shadow", "Doctor Bashir, I Presume", "A Simple Investigation", "Ferengi Love Songs", "Blaze of Glory")
• Jay Chattaway ("The Ship", "Things Past", "The Darkness and the Light", "The Begotten", "By Inferno's Light", "Ties of Blood and Water", "Ferengi Love Songs", "Empok Nor", "Call to Arms"")
• David Bell ("Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", "The Ascent", "Business as Usual", "Soldiers of the Empire", "In the Cards")
• Gregory Smith ("The Assignment")
• Paul Baillargeon ("Let He Who Is Without Sin...", "Children of Time")
• Dennis McCarthy (credit appears only in episodes not composed by McCarthy)
• Jonathan West , A.S.C. ("Apocalypse Rising" – "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", "The Assignment" – "Things Past")
• Kris Krosskove ("Nor the Battle to the Strong", "Trials and Tribble-ations", "The Ascent" – "Rapture")
• Herman Zimmerman ("Trials and Tribble-ations" – "Let He Who Is Without Sinhellip;")
• Randy McIlvain
• David Ramirez (every third episodes after "Apocalypse Rising")
• Steve Tucker (every third episode after "The Ship")
• Michael Westmore II (every third episode after "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places")
• B.C. Cameron (odd-numbered episodes)
• Lou Race (even-numbered episodes)
• Paul Lawrence (all episodes except "Trials and Tribble-ations")
• Robin Winter ("Trials and Tribble-ations")
• Robert Blackman
• Herman Zimmerman ("Apocalypse Rising" – "Nor the Battle to the Strong")
• Gary Hutzel ("Apocalypse Rising", "Trials and Tribble-ations", "The Ascent")
• David Stipes (even-numbered episodes)
• Edward L. Williams ("Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places")
• Dan Curry ("Let He Who Is Without Sinhellip;")
• Kristine Fernandes
• Michael Okuda
• Rick Sternbach
• Michael Westmore
• Laura Richarz
• Fritz Zimmerman ("Apocalypse Rising", "Nor the Battle to the Strong", "The Assignment", "Things Past")
• Anthony Bro ("The Ship")
• Ron Wilkinson ("Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", "Trials and Tribble-ations", "Let He Who Is Without Sinhellip;", "The Ascent")
• Judy Elkins ("Apocalypse Rising", "Trials and Tribble-ations", "The Ascent")
• Adam Buckner (even-numbered episodes)
• Edward L. Williams
• Laura Lang-Matz
• Stuart Lippman ("Apocalypse Rising", "The Ship")
• Judi Brown ("Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" – "The Ascent")
• Carol Kunz (odd-numbered episodes)
• Camille Argus (even-numbered episodes)
• Thomas J. Arp
• Anthony Fredrickson ("Apocalypse Rising")
• James Van Over ("The Ship")
• Doug Drexler (odd-numbered episodes starting with "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places")
• Denise Okuda (even-numbered episodes starting with "Nor the Battle to the Strong")
• Sonny Burman ("Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places" – "Trials and Tribble-ations")
• Mark Bussan ("The Ship" – "Nor the Battle to the Strong", "Things Past", "The Ascent")
• Camille Calvet ("Apocalypse Rising", "Trials and Tribble-ations" – "Let He Who Is Without Sinhellip;")
• Karen Iverson ("Apocalypse Rising" – "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", "Let He Who Is Without Sinhellip;" – "The Ascent")
• Dean Jones ("Apocalypse Rising", "The Ship", "Trials and Tribble-ations" – "Things Past")
• Karen Westerfield ("Nor the Battle to the Strong", "The Assignment", "The Ascent")
• Jacklin Masteran ("Apocalypse Now", "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", "Nor the Battle to the Strong", "The Assignment", "Let He Who Is Without Sinhellip;")
• Brian Andrew-Tunstall ("Apocalypse Now", "The Ship", "Nor the Battle to the Strong", "Trials and Tribble-ations", "Let He Who Is Without Sinhellip;", "Things Past")
• Alicia Tripi ("The Ship", "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", "The Assignment")
• Linle White ("Trials and Tribble-ations", "Things Past")
• Caryl Codon-Tharp ("The Ascent")
• Rebecca De Morrio ("The Ascent")
• Kris Krosskove , SOC (all episodes except those on which he served as Director of Photography)
• Bill Asman ("Nor the Battle to the Strong", "Trials and Tribble-ations", "The Ascent")
• Gary Huddleston ("Rapture")
• Steve Gausche
• Mary Ellen Bosché (odd-numbered episodes)
• Jerry Bono (odd-numbered episodes)
• Phyllis Corcoran-Woods (even-numbered episodes except "The Assignment")
• Stephanie Levanda-Lipsky ("The Ship", "Nor the Battle to the Strong") (credited as Stephanie Lipsky in "The Ship")
• Carol Kunz ("The Assignment")
• Cleo Severy ("The Assignment", "Things Past")
• Stephen M. Rowe
• Mace Matiosian
• T. Ashley Harvey
• Guy Tsujimoto
• Jivan Tahmizian
• Eric Williams
• Jonathan Paul Ramirez (every third episode after "Apocalypse Rising") (credited as Jonathan Ramirez in "Apocalypse Rising")
• Craig Galloway (every third episode after "The Ship")
• Jonathan Posell (every third episode after "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places")
• Edward Hoffmeister
• Heidi Smothers
• April Rossi
• David Rossi
• Robbin L. Slocum
• Dennis Madalone
• Lolita Fatjo
• André Bormanis
• Helen Mossler , CSA
• Chad Zimmerman ("Apocalypse Rising", "Trials and Tribble-ations", "The Ascent")
• Meril Davis ("The Ship", "The Assignment")
• Mike Mistovich ("Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", "Let He Who Is Without Sinhellip;")
• Jill Sherwin ("Nor the Battle to the Strong", "Things Past")

Uncredited crew [ ]

• Hala Gabriel – Production Accountant
• Gary Kerr – Production Illustrator ("Trials and Tribble-ations")

Companies [ ]

• VisionArt Design & Animation ("Apocalypse Rising", "The Ship", "Trials and Tribble-ations", "Things Past", "The Begotten", "In Purgatory's Shadow", "By Inferno's Light", "A Simple Investigation", "Call to Arms")
• Digital Muse ("The Begotten")
• Foundation Imaging ("Business as Usual")

See also [ ]

• DS9 Season 5 performers
• DS9 Season 5 UK VHS
• DS9 Season 5 US VHS
• DS9 Season 5 DVD

External links [ ]

• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5 at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season Five Credits at StarTrek.com
• Deep Space Nine Season 5 episode reviews  at Ex Astris Scientia
• 1 Abdullah bin al-Hussein

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Episode Guide - Season 5

Season 5 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine may be described as the show as its most Next Generation-ish attributes. At least one-quarter of the scripts in DS9 season 5 are “head trip” episodes, and the “Torture O’Brien” trope positively flowers in this run of episodes.

Lots of individual stories could be highlighted here, but of special note is most definitely “Trials and Tribble-ations”, one neat time-travel story about the DS9 crew traveling backward in time to the days of the NCC-1701, where/when they spend much of the time trying to avoid Kirk while trying to prevent his “untimely” assassination.

1. Apocalypse Rising – Klingons! Lots of Klingons! Sisko, Odo and O’Brien disguised as Klingons! These three and Worf infiltrating a drunken Klingon bash! The return of Gawran, one of the baddest of Klingon badasses, bringing more badassery! Great stuff if you dig on Klingons! ****

2. The Ship – While on an away mission, Sisko, Dax, Worf, O’Brien and a neo-Red Shirt witness the crashing of a Jem’Hadar warship whose occupants had been killed in gnarly fashion. The DS9’ers take this as a signal to salvage the ship and get out, but the arrival of a Vorta complicates matters… ***

3. Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places – All right: A Star Trek episode based primarily in romantic relationships that isn’t cloyingly cheesy. Grilka, Quark’s Klingon wife of “the House of Quark”, comes to the station for Quark’s assistance with an accounting issue. Worf begins to get the hots for Grilka, only to become the magnet of Dax’s affections. O, and in a subplot, O’Brien, Keiko and Kira kinda sorta have some three-way tension going on … ****

4. Nor the Battle to the Strong – While returning from a medical conference, Bashir and Jake Sisko receive a distress call from a Federation colony. Soon they’re embroiled in a full-on attack by Klingon forces, and Jake’s bravery is tested mightily. ***

5. The Assignment – This one’s a combination of ST’s Disembodied Alien, Head trip for O’Brien and Torment O’Brien themes: Keiko returns from a visit to Bajor, promptly telling her husband that she’s actually a (yep) disembodied alien. ***

6. Trials and Tribble-ations – Ah, yes, one of the crowning jewels of Star Trek Deep Space Nine and worthy of inclusion on nearly any Top 10 or Top 20 Star Trek Episodes-type listicle. Six of the DS9 bridge crew chase a Klingon criminal into the past, when Deep Space 9 was smaller and was visited by the crew under command of one James T. Kirk… *****

7. Let He Who Is Without Sin ... – The way Riker always touted the virtues of Risa on ST:TNG, you’d think things would go a lot more smoothly when Federation types visit the so-called “pleasure planet.” But nooooooo: Worf and Dax attempt to get their kink on but instead discover a longshot insurgency attempt. Some funny stuff with Bashir and Quark takes an unfortunate back seat. ***

8. Things Past – Head trips all around! Bashir finds Sisko, Odo, Garak and Dax aboard a returned shuttlecraft, but comatose. Meanwhile, the four believe themselves to be Bajoran prisoners in a time approximately seven years past – and only Odo remembers the truth… ***

9. The Ascent – Odo and Quark crash land a shuttlecraft (imagine that) on an uninhabited planet and must survive without most or their high technology. In a subplot, Jake and Nog move into an apartment on another side of the station. Pretty good character-y stuff on the parts of several of Deep Space Nine’s ever-burgeoning cast. ***

10. Rapture – The story of Sisko-as-Emissary/Prophet continues, as the Captain experiences visions. Sadly, no reference to or sample of Blondie’s seminal tune is included. ***

11. The Darkness and the Light – A classic “Kira’s past comes back to haunt her” episode, as her former resistance comrades are murdered one by one… ***

12. The Begotten – In a surprisingly touching episode, Quark acquires a baby Changeling which Quark cares for until its inevitable ST-style ending. The subplot has Kira giving birth to the O’briens’ baby. ****

13. For the Uniform – Michael Eddington, former Starfleet officer gone rogue with the Maquis, returns to the station to unleash his “cascade virus” on multiple computer systems. Also to bog down an entire episode with a critical mass of plot-detail minutiae. **

14. In Purgatory’s Shadow – The shuttlecraft of Worf and Garak (Star Trek Guide loves this episode already) is taken by Jem’Hadar, who put them into a prison camp along with … if the off-chance you haven’t seen it, let’s just say a key member of the bridge crew hasn’t been him-/herself for a while. It all ends with the moment viewers have awaited for some time, namely the invasion of Dominion ships into the quadrant and Federation/Cardassian space. And to be continued. ***

15. By Inferno’s Light – A key episode in DS9 continuity, as many of the concepts and characters who drive the series for the next couple of seasons are introduced here. Most prominent among these is of course Cardassia’s alignment with the Dominion. ***

16. Doctor Bashir, I Presume? – Great title, but rather irrelevant to the story. Starfleet is set to reconstruct the Emergency Medical Hologram program based on Dr. Zimmerman and gets to work in replicating Bashir for the job. Yet he has strange misgivings about the “honor.” ***

17. A Simple Investigation – Odo gets to live the space opera romance story arc in a single episode with a beguiling woman who is not as she seems ‘yadda yadda’ never heard from again. **

18. Business as Usual – Now *this* is more like it. Quark’s cousin Gaila promises to help Quark recoup some recent losses in bad investments if Quark helps move some armaments on the black market. ***

19. Ties of Blood and Water – Ghemor, a hero to Bajorans during the war whom Kira hoes will lead a resistance on Cardassia against Gul Dukat’s new government, comes aboard the station to die. And damn does he drag it out. Not even Dukat and Weyhoun can pull this one out of the doldrums. **

20. Ferengi Love Songs – Still on a run of bad luck, Quark heads home to interact with his mother and the Grand Nagus. On the station, crap about Rom and Leeta’s relationship dominates the “action.” **

21. Soldiers of the Empire – Back to the Klingons! General Martok recruits Worf to join him on a quest for a Jem’Hadar ship which has captured 35 Klingons. Dax tags along, and Worf restores some well-missed élan for battle among Martok’s crew. ***

22. Children of Time – Temporal paradox time for Sisko, Odo, Kira, Dax and (naturally) O’Brien, as they meet their apparent descendants after the Defiant crash-lands two centuries ago/two days henceforth. ***

23. Blaze of Glory – The Maquis are reportedly ready to engage in what is essentially a suicide mission against Cardassia, and Sisko must scheme a way out of the attack which he reckons would immediately lead to between the Federation and Cardassia/the Dominion. The subplot traces Nog’s relative success in his position as a Starfleet security (why, dude?) trainee. ***

24. Empok Nor – O’Brien and Garak lead an away team which includes a handful of Red Shirts to the abandoned titular space station. Of course, it ain’t as abandoned as everyone except the viewers would figure. ***

25. In the Cards – What’s the connection between a 325-year-old baseball card, the Jem’Hadar and one man’s quest for immortality? Check out “Jake Sisko vs. the Barter System” – I mean, “In the Cards” to find out. ****

26. Call to Arms – The inevitable comes to pass: Too many Dominion forces exist in Federation space, too many Federation-allied ships have “disappeared” and the danger of a greater invasion is too real. Sisko ultimately pulls the trigger with a preemptive tactic that causes a war and puts DS9 on the front line… ***  

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Product Description

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season The Enemy Returns. Trust is scarce as new threats await and infiltrate Deep Space 9. Despite their best efforts, Captain Benjamin Sisko and his crew fail to stop the Dominion fleet from returning through the wormhole. Now, they must do everything they can to survive an attack from the greatest enemy they've ever faced. It all leads to start of the Dominion War.

Product details

• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 7.2 ounces
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Subtitled
• Release date ‏ : ‎ February 7, 2017
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, Cirroc Lofton, Colm Meaney
• Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Paramount
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01NBFEFOP
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 7
• #100,105 in DVD

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The Best Moment in Deep Space Nine 's Greatest Episode Is a Punch Left Unthrown

And all it took was the life of one romulan senator, one criminal, and the self-respect of one starfleet officer..

Twenty-six years ago today, Deep Space Nine delivered the knife under its cloaked examination of Star Trek ’s morals in wartime with all the delicate precision of a sewing needle: the incredible “In the Pale Moonlight,” not just one of DS9 or Star Trek ’s finest hours , but one of the all time greatest episodes of TV ever made. But the finest moment in an already immaculate piece of television is all about the ways to enact violence without lifting a single finger.

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“In the Pale Moonlight,” framed around a maudlin Captain Sisko recounting recent events in his personal log after a long, long day, is about the increasing moral compromises he is willing to make as one of Starfleet’s vanguards in the increasingly dire war against the Dominion. Seeing an opportunity to bring one of the Federation’s coldest enemies, the secretive Romulans, into a war they’ve stayed neutral in, Sisko finds himself drawn into the charismatic orbit of the simple tailor and occasionally master of all sorts of spycraft, Garak the Cardassian clothier , as the two plot to artificially construct evidence of a Dominion plot to invade the Romulan Star Empire, and pass it along to a Romulan senator.

The episode layers on its tension through each circle of hell Sisko is willing to put his soul through. Even the first step of simply working with Garak on such a plan is already heinous enough for the high and mighty values of Starfleet’s officer class, but bit by bit, Sisko begins to see the proverbial river of blood he must wade into to come out of the other side with even a chance of Romulus entering the Dominion War. Using criminals to fake evidence, crafting the perfect deception, planting it in Senator Vreenak’s hands, all this would be tantamount to the gravest of moral costs our hero could pay... and then it all blows up in his face when Vreenak calls Sisko out on his bluff, realizing the data rod he’s been handed showcasing the Dominion’s supposed plans is counterfeit.

It’d be here that any other Star Trek show would plant its flag as the lowest moment one of its heroes could sink to: they played dirty, and now must face the consequences of taking the low road. But Deep Space Nine is not any other Star Trek show , and so it prepares to thrust its knife. The next day, as senior staff monitor casualty lists and Sisko braces for his fall, a Starfleet Intelligence report comes through confirming the death of a Romulan Senator in a shuttlecraft explosion the Star Empire is laying at the hands of Dominion subterfuge. It’s Vreenak: he’s dead, the secret of Sisko’s moral cost with him, and Sisko knows exactly who’s to blame for the explosion.

As Sisko storms down to Garak’s shop, we get it: the finest moment in all of Deep Space Nine . Time and time again in the show, in ways small and large, we’ve seen up to this point that Benjamin Sisko is not a man who pulls punches, metaphorically or otherwise. From laying out Q the moment he tries to cast the then-Commander as another Picard, to his dogged determination to root out the anti-Cardassian guerrillas of the Maquis, Sisko has always acted as he does here: to come in swinging. He decks Garak, sending him clean across the room. He yells his accusations at Garak—he killed Vreenak, he killed the criminal they used to forge that data rod; all along, he’s knowingly brought the Romulans into the deadliest war the Alpha Quadrant has seen in generations on a falsehood. Even without the punch, this isn’t Sisko passionate or dogged or determined. He is furious , something we have seen simmering in him before, but now fully unleashed.

But Garak never fights back. He takes Sisko’s punch, and all the rage, goes to block the second swing, but he doesn’t match Sisko’s braggadocio. He waits. And then in cold, calculating form, he turns Sisko on himself—laying out all the evidence that the Romulans will now have, from a dead senator to an imperfect, damaged rod containing even the faintest traces of evidence of a Dominion plot, and guides Sisko along the way to a conclusion that was there from the beginning of the episode. Sisko would see what Garak predicts the Romulans will see, and would enter the war against the Dominion , just as they will. Garak doesn’t even have to say it, he just lets Sisko work through it out loud himself, not even having to push him... because for all his posture, for all the fists swinging, they think exactly the same. And if anything, Sisko is even dirtier than that, because he already knew that in going to Garak he would get someone who willing to dirty their own hands on his behalf, and leave him with the victory he wanted—at any cost, no matter what he’d claim otherwise.

And so, with Sisko at the lowest depths of hell at last, he and Garak are locked as kindred spirits in this game of spycraft and moral theater. It’s a remarkable moment, one that has rightly stuck with Star Trek for the two and a half decades since it first broadcast, because of the way it skewers the franchise’s legacy of purported enlightenment in such an elegantly compelling way . For years before this, Starfleet and its officers have been depicted as above this kind of underhanded manipulation—that our heroes talk their ways out of fights, that they maintain the moral high ground, and that even when they falter, when they play a little dirty, it’s with a roguish charm, and in the manner of a hero, the small, innocent prices paid, for a greater good that is always worth it. It’s never meant to stain their soul, because in the end, it always works out in the hero’s favor—and their righteous view of the universe.

Sisko’s greater good is hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of beings slaughtered to prevent the complete destruction of the Alpha Quadrant powers as we know them, predicated on a lie. In the end, he got it, not in the noblest of manners as the heroes before him might have, but through cloak and dagger deception and knives in the dark. Because, back against the wall, he was always willing to throw that punch—and because Garak knew it too, he himself never had to.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Season 2, Episode 16

Where to watch, star trek: deep space nine — season 2, episode 16.

Watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Season 2, Episode 16 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

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Avery Brooks

Cmdr. Benjamin Sisko

Rene Auberjonois

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Colm Meaney

Chief Miles O'Brien

Episode Info

'Star Trek: Discovery' season 5 episode 3 'Jinaal' is a slow but steady affair

Humans have evidently evolved beyond the need for stairs in the 32nd century as teleportation has replaced the simple act of actually walking to places

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Star Trek: Discovery" season 5, episode 3

The latest installment of "Star Trek: Discovery" season 5 on Paramount Plus adds a little water – and possibly some fertilizer – to the various different story seeds sewn last week. 

Entitled "Jinaal," the primary plot revolves around a revisit to the planet Trill and as you may recall, the last time we spent any length of time here was the episode " Forget Me Not " (S03, E04), which was not terrible. In fact, it was undeniable highlight of the third season, which itself had some of the best we've seen from "Discovery." Incidentally, that was first look at the Trill homeworld since " Star Trek: Deep Space Nine " episode "Equilibrium" (bizarrely, also S03, E04). (If you need a recap on how to watch Star Trek: Discovery, check out our Star Trek streaming guide for Paramount Plus .)

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Get all the Star Trek content you can possibly handle with this free trial of Paramount Plus. Watch new shows like Star Trek: Discovery and all the classic Trek movies and TV shows too. Plans start from $4.99/month after the trial ends.

Curiously, in that episode "Forget Me Not," Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) was given a rare and welcome chance to shine and he does so once again in this episode as well. To briefly recap, Adira (Blu del Barrio) and her lover, a Trill named Gray (Ian Alexander), were aboard a generation ship way back when. They were both orphans, very much in love, and Gray had just received his symbiote when the ship was struck by an asteroid and everyone was ordered to evacuate. Unfortunately, Gray was fatally injured and the only way to save the symbiote was for Adira to join with it. And that's how it was for all of season three right up until the fourth season episode " Choose To Live " (S04, E03). 

Then, after all of that, Gray Tal has his consciousness transferred out of Adira and into an artificial synth golem before heading back to Trill to complete all that monk-style studying. And now you're all caught up. 

While a trip back to Trill is nice, you can't help but start to wonder if this fifth and final season will end up a 10-episode long epilogue as it ties up all its loose ends, almost like season five of " Babylon 5 ."  Commander Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) pops up in this episode at last, which more or less just leaves Commander Nhan (Rachael Ancheril), whom we last saw in the episode " Rubicon " S04, E09, to make an appearance. Although Ancheril's IMDb page does currently say, "Coming up in 2024, Rachael will be seen again in 'Chucky' season three [and] 'Star Trek Discovery' for its final season," so who knows. 

The big highlight this week was, as we alluded to above, Cruz's chance to stretch his acting chops just a little bit and he does not disappoint. The two biggest grumbles however, are the dialogue written by a writer who just saw "Lethal Weapon II" for the very first time and that the notion of teleporting around the place instead of just walking, has been taken to ludicrous extremes. 

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"Star Trek: Discovery" seems to be at peace with lifting from other IPs, sci-fi or otherwise. We've seen a nice " Close Encounters of the Third Kind " reference with mashed potato and we've even seen a fun nod to "Scooby-Doo," but these were all subtle. Then there was the extremely unsubtle " Die Hard " thing and then in " Scavengers " (S03, E06) the writers went  way  beyond homage and practically lifted a set piece directly from the 1987 movie "The Running Man." The premise was the same, the effect was the same and even the setting was practically identical.

This week's insight into what classic movie the Gen-Z writers of "Discovery" have recently discovered comes from a legendary scene with equally legendary dialogue between Sgt. Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Sgt. Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) during a rescue attempt after the latter learns that the toilet he's been sitting on has been rigged with a bomb in the first "Lethal Weapon" sequel. Lest we forget, this underrated action extravaganza also gave us Leo Getz and immortalized phrases like "diplomatik immunitee." and "but, but...you're blick."

Still, at least it was just a line or two of dialogue this time and not an entire set piece. My other main grumble with this episode as we mentioned above is the carefree abandon with which transporters are used. And I've touched upon this before. Despite beaming becoming a very common part of everyday life of the 32nd century, to the extent that folk use transporters instead of stairs and even to just change outfits, like we saw in the season four premiere episode — but the thing is, transporters kill you .

The creators of " Star Trek " have never officially confirmed that transporters kill you. However, solely based on the science, transporters do kill you. In simple terms, these teleportation devices scan every molecule in your body and briefly store them in the pattern buffer, while at the same time, the original body is to all intents and purposes, disintegrated. The transporter then converts the scanned copy into energy and beams the data stream to the desired location, where the body is rebuilt, from a sub-atomic level, using technology similar to a replicator. It's comparable in principle to a fax, except this fax machine destroys the original, to prevent duplication, although that has been known to happen.

The issue is essentially an existential one. Since our bodies are made up of identifiable matter, why won't transference of consciousness occur? What makes our consciousness so unique? What's the difference between an identical copy and you? If you were to put your copy into a different room that you hadn't been into, would you be able to see it? No. It's a perfect copy, but it's not you. There is a good article on Ars Technica that really goes into detail on this.

Still, all of this banter aside, this episode is not ... terrible. It is very evenly paced and that, despite the not-exactly edge-of-seat storyline, makes it bearable. Every sub-story seems to be given equal time and brief-but-enjoyable interplay between Lt. Tilly (Mary Wiseman) and Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) is fun. Plus, of course, we get to see the Trill homeworld again, which is nice. 

In other "Star Trek" news, " Strange New Worlds " has been renewed for a fourth season, while " Lower Decks " will end with its previously announced upcoming fifth season, expected to air sometime this year. Creator Mike McMahan and executive producer Alex Kurtzman posted a statement on the Star Trek website: “While five seasons of any series these days seems like a miracle, it’s no exaggeration to say that every second we've spent making this show has been a dream come true. Our incredible cast, crew and artists have given you everything they have because they love the characters they play, they love the world we've built, and more than anything we all love, love, love Star Trek."

Meanwhile, "Strange New Worlds" is currently in production on its third season, which is set to debut in 2025. It seems that all of this combined with the fact that "Section 31" ended up as a movie , casts doubt over the future of the Starfleet Academy spin-off and hopefully signals the end of the idiotic idea of "Star Trek: Legacy." Perhaps Paramount should look to cancel other ludicrous endeavors like the proposed Picard movie instead of cancelling decent shows in their efforts to tighten purse strings. 

The fifth and final season of "Star Trek: Discovery" and every episode of every "Star Trek" show — with the exception of "Star Trek: Prodigy" — currently streams exclusively on Paramount Plus in the US while "Prodigy" has found a new home o n Netflix.  

Internationally, the shows are available on  Paramount Plus  in Australia, Latin America, the UK and South Korea, as well as on Pluto TV in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel. They also stream on  Paramount Plus  in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In Canada, they air on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and stream on Crave.

 —   Watch the bittersweet trailer for 'Star Trek: Discovery's final season (video)

 —  'Spaceman' sees Adam Sandler shine as a cosmonaut in crisis in Netflix's somber sci-fi film (review)

—  Star Trek's Seven of Nine returns in new novel 'Picard: Firewall' (exclusive)

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Star Trek Easter Egg Calls Back to a Forgotten Deep Space Nine Episode

The latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery does a less corny version of a goofy classic from Deep Space Nine.

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This Star Trek: Discovery article contains spoilers.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine earned its position as a favorite series among fans because of its more complex take on the franchise’s themes, thrusting the United Federation of Planets into a huge war that tested its moral compass time and again. But even at the height of the Dominion War, DS9 also found time to follow Jake and Nog’s search for a baseball card and to check in on a holographic Rat Pack lounge singer.

But even within that wide range of possibilities, the season three episode “Facets” stands out as an oddball. Written by René Echevarria and directed by Cliff Bole, “Facets” introduced the Zhian’tara ritual, through which Trill hosts find closure for their symbiotes by spreading host personalities to others.

Although “Facets” isn’t exactly a “Sub Rosa” level embarrassment, it is a weird episode that mostly went unmentioned in the larger canon until Discovery reintroduced the Zhian’tara ritual in the season four episode “Choose to Live.” In that episode, the Guardians of Trill use the ritual to separate Grey from the Tal symbiote carried by Adira and into a Soong-style golem. As usual for Discovery , writer Terri Hughes Burton and director Christopher J. Byrne emphasized the emotional over the goofy, not invoking the sillier parts of the idea.

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That’s not the case for this week’s Disco season five episode “ Jinaal .” When Burnham and Book’s search for the secret of the Progenitors brings them to Trill, they find a guide in the form of Jinaal Bix, a host from 800 years ago. Through Zhian’tara, Bix allows Jinaal to embody Dr. Culber, who takes the duo to the next clue.

The stakes of “Facets” weren’t quite so high, and fittingly, neither was the episode’s tone. Jadzia sends the minds of the previous Dax hosts to Quark, Bashir, Leeta, O’Brien, Odo, Kira, and Sisko, who all take on new personalities. O’Brien becomes nervy and scared when Tobin possesses him, while the maternal Audrid softens Quark’s hard edges. The murderous Joran transforms Sisko into a Hannibal Lecter type, making malevolent observations through an invisible holding cell wall.

The most outrageous of the transformations involves, fittingly enough, the shape-shifter Odo, who takes on the identity of Jadzia’s most immediate predecessor Curzon. Although a gregarious man in his life and a close friend to Sisko and the Klingon Martok, Curzon’s joi de vivre makes him selfish, fighting to hold on to his new life. Due to his shape-changing abilities, Odo undergoes a more thorough transformation, as he and Curzon blend into a single being. This new being happens to look a lot like Odo performer René Auberjonois , giving the actor a chance to work with less make-up.

Culber’s transformation isn’t quite so dramatic. The change to Jinaal gives Culber’s actor Wilson Cruz the opportunity to be a swaggering charmer instead of the empathetic physician he usually plays, as well as the opportunity to compliment his own (admittedly very impressive) physique.

Unlike Culber, Auberjonois and Avery Brooks (Sisko) go hard into playing off-beat characters. Never one for subtlety, Brooks chews all the scenery available to him as the evil genius Joran. He never makes for a credible threat (contrast his presence to that of Brad Dourif’s killer ensign Lon Suder in Voyager ), but he is fun to watch.

Likewise, Auberjonois takes advantage of having his face freed from most of the make up he wore on DS9 to mug at every opportunity. Drawing from his many years on stage, Auberjonois exaggerates every gesture. It’s not quite as obnoxious as Brent Spiner ‘s performance in “Masks,” The Next Generation ‘s spiritual predecessor to “Facets,” but it does feel like it comes from a different show.

Which isn’t always a bad thing. Every Trek series has dabbled in other genres, from the gangster episode “A Piece of the Action” on The Original Series to the zombie thriller “Impulse” on Enterprise . Discovery continues that tradition with its current season and episodes like “Jinaal,” showing that Star Trek can handle a wide range of tones, and even get really goofy.

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Star Trek: Discovery is streaming now on Paramount+.

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

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Episode list

Star trek: deep space nine.

S1.E1 ∙ Emissary

S1.E3 ∙ Past Prologue

S1.E4 ∙ A Man Alone

S1.E5 ∙ Babel

S1.E6 ∙ Captive Pursuit

S1.E7 ∙ Q-Less

S1.E8 ∙ Dax

S1.E9 ∙ The Passenger

S1.E10 ∙ Move Along Home

S1.E11 ∙ The Nagus

S1.E12 ∙ Vortex

S1.E13 ∙ Battle Lines

S1.E14 ∙ The Storyteller

S1.E15 ∙ Progress

S1.E16 ∙ If Wishes Were Horses

S1.E17 ∙ The Forsaken

S1.E18 ∙ Dramatis Personae

S1.E19 ∙ Duet

S1.E20 ∙ In the Hands of the Prophets

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Captain Picard's Best Story Is in a Surprising Star Trek Show

Picard's assimilation by the Borg left wounds that never truly healed. He first confronted that truth in an entirely unexpected Star Trek series.

• Patrick Stewart's iconic performance as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine is a career highlight.
• Picard's traumatic assimilation by the Borg in "The Best of Both Worlds" shaped his character and haunted him throughout the series.
• Deep Space Nine delves into Picard's guilt and trauma from the perspective of Benjamin Sisko, offering a new angle on forgiveness and healing.

Jean-Luc Picard made Patrick Stewart a household name, launching him from the comparative obscurity of the English stage thanks to the now-classic Star Trek: The Next Generation . Stewart's long association with the role let him deliver a number of performances as Picard that now stand as career highlights. That includes Season 5, Episode 24, "The Inner Light" in which he lived out the life of an ordinary man on an alien world, and Season 2, Episode 9, "The Measure of a Man," when he delivered a stunning courtroom argument in defense of Data's free will.

However, out of all of Stewart's Star Trek appearances, his best performance as Jean-Luc Picard might not have come in The Next Generation or even the de facto follow-up series Star Trek: Picard . Star Trek: Deep Space Nine features a cameo by Stewart in the series' premiere, in which Picard encounters one of the survivors of Wolf 359. Not only did it signal a key moment in the character's biggest ongoing plot thread, but it gave Stewart a moment to quietly shine in his signature role.

The Borg Will Always Haunt Jean-Luc Picard

Picard was famously abducted by the Borg in The Next Generation Season 3, Episode 26, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1." He spent six days as a member of the Collective, which referred to him as "Locutus" and intended to use him as a go-between for a presumably soon-to-be-assimilated humanity. Season 4, Episode 1, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" depicted the infamous Battle of Wolf 359, in which the vast bulk of Starfleet engaged a single Borg cube under Locutus's directive, and was utterly destroyed. 11,000 people lost their lives, and the cube continued unopposed to Earth, where it intended to assimilate the entire population.

They were thwarted by the Enterprise-D, now under Will Riker's command, who abducted Locutus and used his link to the Collective to put the Borg to sleep. The cube imploded, and Picard was freed from Borg control, though he remembered everything he did while he was assimilated. "The Best of Both Worlds" was a watershed moment for the franchise, bringing the Borg back for a triumphant curtain call after their celebrated introduction in Season 2, Episode 16, "Q Who." Besides introducing one of the greatest villains in the entire franchise, it marked Star Trek's first real departure from stand-alone episodes and towards more complex arcs.

That came part and parcel with growth and change for the protagonists -- something that never happened in Star Trek: The Original Series . The Next Generation even punctuated the severity of Picard's assimilation with the very next episode -- Season 4, Episode 2, "Family" -- which acknowledged the extent of his trauma and devoted the bulk of its running time to exploring it. That was unprecedented for a Star Trek series, which typically just warped off to the next planet once a given crisis was resolved. Picard's psychological wounds have never truly healed, and much of his character in the ensuing years has been defined by the way he grappled with that dark legacy.

Exploring the extent of Picard's trauma began during The Next Generation's run, most notably in Season 5, Episode 23, "I, Borg" when he learned to accept another ex-Borg in spite of his hatred for the Collective. His big moment of catharsis arrived in the feature film Star Trek: First Contact , where he must first halt another Collective attack on Earth, and then stop them from traveling back in time to assimilate the Earth of the past. Even then, however, his time as Locutus haunted him, which all three seasons of Picard developed in some detail.

Deep Space Nine Confronts Picard with His Victims

How star trek: deep space nine was created.

Picard feels unconscionable guilt for his role in Wolf 359 , but the fact remains that he had been assimilated and was a helpless puppet to their will. He's a victim of the Collective as well, and there's a fair amount of survivor's guilt that factors into his trauma. All of that, however, is centered around Picard himself, and not Locutus's victims. Most of the time, that process is largely internal. "Family" aside, The Next Generation rolled merrily along after "The Best of Both Worlds" without any indication of the devastation left behind, with Starfleet in shambles and tens of thousands of its personnel dead. The slow rebuilding took place almost entirely off-screen.

Deep Space Nine changed all of that with its own central protagonist, Benjamin Sisko, whose wife was killed at Wolf 359 and who has had to raise their son Jake by himself ever since. "Emissary" opens with the battle itself, which hadn't been depicted onscreen before. For example, the Enterprise-D arrives in the aftermath during "The Best of Both Worlds." Sisko is a lieutenant commander onboard the starship Saratoga during the battle, only to see his vessel and its crew taken apart in the space of moments. He's able to rescue Jake, but his wife Jennifer is killed, and he's forced to abandon her body as the survivors flee the ship in an escape pod. All the time, Locutus's passive, indifferent face seems to loom above it all.

"Emissary" officially begins three years later, as Sisko takes command of Deep Space 9 for the first time. He's consumed by feelings of reluctance for the job, and is considering resigning Starfleet to take Jake back to Earth. Picard arrives to give him the assignment: ensure Bajor's reconstruction and application to the Federation. In the course of their conversation, it becomes clear that Sisko blames Picard for the death of his wife, and hasn't begun to forgive him for the loss. That changes during the course of the series pilot, as Sisko has his encounter with the Bajoran Prophets (who are advanced alien beings who dwell within the wormhole), and finds closure for Jennifer's death. He and Picard meet again, and Sisko rescinds his desire to return to Earth, then shakes Picard's hand before the two return to their respective posts.

Picard's Journey to Forgiveness Will Never End

How star trek's vulcans evolved beyond gene roddenberry's creation.

The two scenes speak volumes about both men, as Sisko finds new purpose in his life and learns to forgive Picard for his part in his wife's death. That serves as the launching point for Sisko's journey, ending with him joining the Prophets at the end of Deep Space Nine's run. Picard faces a darker reality: for the first time onscreen, he's properly confronted with someone who lost a loved one at Wolf 359. While he earns Sisko's forgiveness, it's a task he'll need to do over and over again, sometimes for no one's sake but his own. That pays dividends in Star Trek: Picard Season 3, when Captain Liam Shaw reveals he too is a survivor of Wolf 359. Like Sisko, he's not inclined to forgive the once and former Locutus either, and unlike Sisko, he never really reconciles with the man.

All of that is set up with Stewart's performance in "Emissary." Though brief, it establishes a strong baseline for the trauma inflicted by the Borg, as well as Picard's somewhat halting ability to confront his complicity in Wolf 359. He masks it behind duty, pushing through Sisko's obvious anger and falling back on military protocol to complete the assigned task. Stewart conveys the oceans of emotional turmoil going on beneath the surface without overtly tipping his hand. The audience can see how much Picard's guilt weighs on him without diminishing Sisko's anger or pain in the process. There's no undoing what's been done, however, and no matter what steps he takes, forgiveness and reconciliation will always be slow in coming.

The actor reveals this vulnerability in the space of a few short minutes, in a story that isn't his. Yet the way he uses that time is quietly awe-inspiring. He doesn't overshadow Sisko in these scenes, and the attention remains firmly where it should be on Deep Space Nine's lead. At the same time, he lays the groundwork for what becomes Picard's central emotional wound as a character, and the ways he can't always heal the damage no matter how hard he tries. It's a reasonably quiet moment in a long career, both within the franchise and without. But amid a bumper crop of brilliant performances from the actor, its brevity and emotional resonance may have no peer.

Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are currently streaming on Paramount+.

The Star Trek universe encompasses multiple series, each offering a unique lens through which to experience the wonders and perils of space travel. Join Captain Kirk and his crew on the Original Series' voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian vision of the Federation in The Next Generation, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep Space Nine. No matter your preference, there's a Star Trek adventure waiting to ignite your imagination.

• April 15, 2024 | Actor Talks “Authentic” Scotty On ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’; Season 3 Production Passes Milestone
• April 15, 2024 | Review: ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Season 4 On Blu-ray Brings It All Together
• April 15, 2024 | Preview ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Episode 504 With New Images And Clip From “Face The Strange”
• April 12, 2024 | Interview: Wilson Cruz On How “Jinaal” Sets Up The Rest Of The Season For Culber On ‘Star Trek: Discovery’
• April 12, 2024 | ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Renewed For Season 4; ‘Lower Decks’ To End With Season 5

Review: The EXO-6 ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ 1:6 Odo Figure Is The Shape of Things To Come

| April 9, 2024 | By: Jeff Bond 7 comments so far

Constable Odo 1/6 Scale Action Figure

Manufacturer: EXO-6 Price: $215 Grade: A+

Way back in the no-man’s land between the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan , when it briefly looked like there might be no more Star Trek movies and there hadn’t been a new Star Trek TV show since the 1973 animated series, I had a weird dream one night that there was a new Star Trek series on the air and one of the actors in it was René Auberjonois. At the time I knew Auberjonois from his performances in the 1976 King Kong remake and The Eyes of Laura Mars (where he did an uncanny impression of Lloyd Bridges using only his face).

What I didn’t imagine was that Auberjonois would indeed appear in a new Star Trek show a decade or so later—but his face would be covered by a thick layer of latex makeup and he would be playing an alien shapeshifter named Odo. Like Spock, Data, and later characters like Seven of Nine and Saru, Odo was part of the Star Trek formula that dictated an alien “other” character was always needed to provide an outsider perspective on humanity. A holdover from the Cardassian’s shepherding of their space station Terok Nor, Odo retained his job as a security officer to become Deep Space Nine’s “constable”—a sheriff who keeps a close eye on the denizens that live on and visit DS9, particularly his arch nemesis, the Ferengi Quark. Odo can use his shapeshifting abilities to impersonate other beings or even disguise himself as inanimate objects—all a boon to his work maintaining law and order on the station.

René Auberjonois as Constable Odo in a Deep Space Nine publicity photo (Paramount)

Odo’s origins were initially mysterious, even to himself (in one first season episode after chasing what he’d thought to be a clue to his background, a lonely Odo gazes out into space from a runabout and ponders, “Home…where is it?”). Eventually, he discovers that he’s part of the race of the Founders, dangerous “changelings” and founders of the Dominion, a warlike confederation of races that threatens the Federation. Odo consequently finds himself torn between loyalty to his friends on DS9 and the race that gave birth to him. Auberjonois, a reliable and effective character actor, gave Odo a gruff, no-nonsense personality that set him off from DS9’s mix of hotheads, pious clerics, and very human Starfleet officers. He figured in some tremendous storylines, although I wish the show hadn’t gone in the direction of putting him and Major Kira—two of the strongest characters in the series—in a standard romance that ultimately weakened both of them.

René Auberjonois as Constable Odo in “What You Left Behind” (Paramount)

EXO-6 Odo Figure

EXO-6’s Deep Space Nine line of 12” action figures has been absolutely stellar in its quality, and Odo might just be the best release yet. One might think that capturing Odo’s deliberately featureless prosthetic makeup would be a breeze, but it actually seems more like a trap as the proportions of the character’s face come off as deliberately vague and confusing due to the makeup. Sculptor Dean Tolliver pulls off the assignment flawlessly, from Odo’s prim, downturned mouth to his piercing, deep-set eyes.

EXO-6 DS9 Odo figure

One big challenge to these characters is hair—it has to be molded into the one-piece head sculpt which often gives the entire character a plastic, doll-like sheen. Odo’s hair even in the series has an uncanny, sleek appearance that lends itself well to this kind of reproduction—there’s a very fine seam bisecting the head, something you can catch with careful examination on this and some other EXO figures, but it mostly disappears within the hair sculpture, and that’s really the only minor flaw (if you can call it that) in the figure.

Odo’s clothes are of drab and utilitarian Bajoran make, almost allowing him to disappear among the brown and bronze arches of the space station’s promenade, and the figure captures the cut of the uniform, its Bajoran insignia, belt and boots perfectly.

If you watch the series, you know that Odo doesn’t roll with standard Starfleet weaponry—he’s his own weapon, with the ability to turn his arms into whiplike tendrils or any other shape that might come in handy to subdue a scofflaw. Odo comes with the standard Starfleet PADD and a tricorder, but this figure boasts two more-character-based accessories that really set this release off and required a larger-than-normal collectors box. One accessory is Odo’s “bucket”—a metallic container that the shapeless being relaxes inside in liquid form after a hard day’s crime-fighting. EXO also includes a spectacular clear vinyl sculpture of Odo in mid-transformation, congealing upwards from a puddle on the floor, his arms folded and his distinctive features starting to take shape.

Bucket and shape-shifting accessories for EXO-6 DS9 Odo figure

These accessories make Odo’s display footprint about twice the size of a normal EXO-6 figure, but it’s worth it, especially since at $215 he’s in line with most of the other DS9 figure price points.

Odo was released today and is available now at EX0-6.com .  This is another spectacular figure release from EXO-6 and since they tend to sell out quickly, you’d be well advised to order ASAP.

The Odo figure is part of EXO-6’s Star Trek: Deep Space Nine collection. Quark and Sisko have already sold out. The Kira figure [ see TrekMovie’s review ] is still available. Dr. Julian Bashir is next in line , but the pre-order period has already sold out.

Upcoming EXO-6 Dr. Bashir figure

A closer look at Odo

Jeff Bond is a freelance writer and book author who’s addicted to plastic models and action figures. You can catch up with him on  Facebook  and  Instagram  where he posts model works in progress, and takes commissions. His latest Star Trek book is  Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Art and Visual Effects .

Find more Star Trek merchandise news and reviews at TrekMovie.com .

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Incredible detail, the greatest representation….

Finally, an EXO sculpt that actually looks like the character.

Kind of funny that it’s the one with a deliberately featureless messed up face.

Wow. I sold my TMP Kirk and Spock due to the poor likenesses.

But this actually looks really good. Maybe….

Gotta admit, this IS a good one! 🫤 If only I had the bars of latinum… 😒💸

This looks absolutely fabulous!! 😍

Well done. These are so well done. Not surprised they keep selling out.

I sure hope Hiya Toys can give us a diverse range of Star Trek figures drawing from the entire legacy of Star Trek like Exo-6 is doing here. Playmates has certainly dropped the ball but I still have faith that a good quality line could be a success. I hope unlike Playmates, Hiya will take fan’s comments and input into consideration like Exo-6 is also doing. We fans like feeling like we have some say in the thought process of creating a line and being appreciated by the teams responsible for developing products like this and Playmates just took all our patronage for granted.

Star Trek Just Doubled Down on Its Wildest Body-Switching Concept

Welcome back to Trill.

Body switching is a classic sci-fi trope. From Freaky Friday to Farscape , and of course, most of Quantum Leap, the idea of the consciousness from one person inhabiting the body of a different person will never stop being the fuel for speculative stories that are both hilarious and profound. But, when Star Trek invented the “joined” species of the Trill in 1991, it took the body-switching/body-surfing trope to a new level. While a specific Trill symbiont might live for several hundreds of years, this slug-like creature generally inhabited a humanoid host. This “joining” often created a new hybrid personality each time, sort of like Time Lord regeneration from Doctor Who mashed up with internal alien parasites from Alien; a chest-burster that never burst, but just stayed in you forever.

And if all of that wasn’t wild enough, on June 12, in the episode “Facets,” 1995, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine added a new wrinkle to Trill canon. Not only were the memories of all the previous hosts alive and well in the current symbiont, but, through a process called “zhian’tara,” a specific host’s personality could leave the symbiont and enter into the body of... anyone! Basically, this was Trill joining via spacey magic, and now, 29 years after “Facets,” Star Trek: Discovery is doubling down (tripling down?) on this very specific form of consciousness transfer in the Season 5 episode “Jinaal.” Spoilers ahead.

The Trill host trick

Dax and Odo discuss sharing memories in “Facets.”

Although the Trill were established in The Next Generation episode “The Host,” the vast majority of Trill canon comes from Deep Space Nine , thanks to the presence of Jadzia Dax, who later, in Season 7, switched hosts and became Ezri Dax. But, in the memorable Season 3 episode “Facets,” Jadzia’s previous host, Curzon, left her body through the zhian’tara process and settled in the body of the station’s resident shapeshifter, Odo. From that point, Odo’s entire personality was merged with Curzon’s, which put everyone on the station in a deeply uncomfortable position.

As a stand-alone episode of DS9 , “Facets” remains a fantastic story about memory, regret, and what one generation owes the next. But, the legacy of “Facets” is easily the concept of zhian’tara, which was used to save Gray Tal’s consciousness in Discovery Season 4, and now, in Season 5, is being employed again to unravel an 800-year-old mystery.

Discovery’s return to Trill

Cubler (Wilson Cruz) takes on an ancient Trill tradition in Discovery Season 5.

The planet Trill was first seen in DS9 in the episode “Equilibrium,” but Discovery has actually visited the planet more times, starting in the Season 3 episode “Forget Me Not,” and now again, in “Jinaal.” This time the need to transfer the memories of one previous Trill host into someone else is all connected to the secrets Jinaal Bix has about researcher of the Progenitors in the 24th century.

After transferring Jinaal’s consciousness into Culber, the entire personality of our stalwart Starfleet doctor changes, and, just like “Facets,” he suddenly becomes cockier, and more evasive. If you watch “Facets” right after watching “Jinaal,” the parallels are clear. While Curzon’s secret was connected to something personal, Jinaal’s secret has broader implications. Turns out, Federation scientists were working on cracking the Progenitor tech during the era of the Dominion War, and so they decided to bury any knowledge of the technology to prevent any planet or government from weaponizing their research.

Interestingly, this detail dovetails with Picard Season 3 a bit, in which we learned that Section 31 was pushing different Federation scientists to weaponize the organic nature of Changelings. Basically, the Dominion War created a lot of corrupt scientific research within the Federation, making the top-secret Daystrom labs that Riker, Raffi, and Worf raided perhaps just a small sample of the horrible top-secret weapons the Federation has developed.

What Discovery does is make it clear that Jinaal did the right thing at the time by hiding the research — even if that doesn’t help our heroes at the moment.

A classic Original Series nod

Sargon enters Kirk’s body in “Return to Tomorrow.”

Of course, within the canon of Trek, the Trill weren’t the first time the franchise explored the concept of sharing consciousness. Spock transferred his katra to Bones in The Wrath of Khan , and Kirk switched bodies with Janice Lester in the controversial final TOS episode “Turnabout Intruder.”

But, one wonderful 1968 episode from TOS Season 2 — “Return to Tomorrow” — featured ancient beings borrowing the bodies of Kirk, Spock, and Dr. Ann Mulhall in order to build more permanent, android bodies. When the ancient being of Sargon enters Kirk’s body, one of the first things he says is: “Your captain has an excellent body.”

Now, 56 years later, when Jinaal finds himself in Culber’s body, he says something similar: “Wow, this guy really works out!”

Across decades of internal canon, Star Trek can make the same body-switching joke, and make it work, in any century.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 drops new episodes on Fridays on Paramount+.

• Science Fiction