Let's review the three remaining episodes in the first season of Deep Space Nine--
- It's the old "cast gets possessed" bit in "Dramatis Personae". Kira's angry that a Valerian ship is going to dock--they helped the Cardassians in the war. A Klingon ship comes thru the wormhole then explodes, with a single survivor beaming over before dying. Odo talks to Quark to get info on the Klingons when they first came through, then suddenly has an attack. Quark calls Bashir, and when Odo comes to, the doctor is very interested in the station politics. Sisko and Kira have an angry exchange on the Valerians, O'Brien becomes paranoid, and Dax becomes preoccupied and removed from his duties. Kira tries to get Odo then Dax on her side, while Sisko has stepped away from his duties and is working on a clock in his quarters. Odo seems to be the only one unaffected. A recording from the Klingon ship is retrieved, which indicates a mutiny was underway before the explosion. They found a set of telepathic "energy spheres" in the Gamma Quadrant which caused the mutiny and change in personalities on the station. Odo manipulates Bashir into shutting down the field and sucks it out the airlock (how is energy affected by a vacuum?). The cast gets a chance to play against their regular roles throughout the episode.
- Kira gets another big role in "Duet"--it's a "message" episode. A man is beamed onto the station with a disease that only occurred at a Bajoran forced labor mining camp. The patient is Cardassian Marritza (Harris Yulin), which means he must be a war criminal--it's an Auschwitz parable. Odo nabs Marritza, but he's not a known criminal, and he denies he ever was on Bajor. Bashir confirms Marritza has the disease, and that's the only way he could have gotten it. Kira gets the Bajoran government involved--they want the Cardassian handed over. Sisko hesitantly allows Kira to run the investigation. It becomes a psychological exercise between Kira and Marritza, and "audition scenes for young actresses" follow. Marritza finally admits he was the leader of the mining camp, but Odo determines that isn't the case. He actually is Marritza, a file clerk at the camp, who went insane and decided he was the leader there--even undergoing cosmetic surgery to look like him. He wanted to be punished to bring the issue to the forefront, but Kira lets him go. Another Bajoran knifes him on the station, killing him.
- Keiko O'Brien stars "In the Hands of the Prophets". A Bajoran religious leader Vedek Wynn (Louise Fletcher) objects that Keiko is teaching science vs. Bajoran beliefs on the wormhole. It's creation theory vs. evolution in SPAACE! Keiko goes to Sisko to help, but Kira suggests there needs to be a change in schooling--or possibly separate schools. Sisko talks with Wynn with no luck. Wynn plays passive-aggressive against Keiko, and she resists in return. Wasn't Keiko a botanist when she arrived? Why is she so passionate about this? Sisko talks to another Vedek, Bereil (Philip Anglim) on Bajor. but he's a candidate to be the next Kai--and doesn't want to make waves. Meanwhile, Miles is working with new assistant Neela (Robin Christopher). He's on the lookout for a tool that could be used to break ship security, and finds it melted down--the result of a fatal "accident". Miles is not convinced, and Bashir proves the death was the result of phaser fire. The school is blown up, and Sisko blames Wynn's religious rhetoric. It becomes clear Wynn is doing this to gain favor and become the new Kai. Neela turns out to be the attacker, and Wynn the mastermind. Neela tries to take out Bereil on the Promedade but misses the mark. This leaves Kira shaken in her beliefs and the relationship between the Federation and Bajorans in tatters for season two.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (and all the Trek series) is available on Netflix.