We get a number of genre TV tropes in this batch of episodes...
- Is Kira a deep cover operative? In "Second Skin", our Bajoran liaison/renegade learns that she had been leaving a double life--with the other as a Cardassian spy. They gave her false memories to perform her role in the Bajoran underground, and have now brought her back to the fold and "restored" her Cardassian features. There's even a doting father (Lawrence Pressman), trying to convince her. They show her the corpse of the real Kira--kept on ice? Seems like a real waste of resources, just in case you would need it. Meanwhile, our heroes and Garak go on a mission to save her--they keep doing the stealth thing in the Defiant, making their way across Cardassian space. It turns out the Obsidian Order was after the father--he was the suspect. This "double life" story has been used several times on the various Trek series.
- Quark buys some ship wreckage--and winds up with a Jem'Hadar orphaned baby--in the appropriately named "The Abandoned". The baby is growing at an accelerated rate--needed to move the story along and a staple of genre television. Meanwhile, Kira is uncharacteristically perky and upbeat at one point when trying to get into Odo's quarters. Speaking of the shapeshifter, he the only one able to stop the now-teenage Jem'Hadar, who appears to know he is a Founder. Odo is assigned to care for the child--the episode turns into a lesson on racial tolerance. There's also a B-story about Jake and a Dabo girl--with Sisko trying to break it up.
- O'Brien trips an old security program in "Civil Defense". It decides the station's crew are renegade Bajorans, and locks down an ore processor, trapping O'Brien, Sisko, and Jake. It also starts locking down other systems on the station. Gul Dukat's pre-recorded messages keep playing, telling the rebels to surrender. When they manage to escape, the whole station shuts down in retaliation. Ooo and Quark are stuck in the security room and Bashir, Kira, and Dax and stuck in Ops. It's the ultimate "bottle" show. The "trapped cast" storyline is a constant of genre TV. The real Dukat finally shows up to save the day--and ends up getting trapped on the station as well. Sisko and Co. manage to stop the station from self-destruction.
- It's Brigadoon in SPAACE in "Meridian". The Defiant is exploring the Gamma Quadrant--and a planet suddenly pops into existence. It shifts between dimensions. The planet and inhabitants become energy when they go to the other dimension, but come back into existence when they return. Of course, Dax falls in love with one of the inhabitants--I would think she is too logical to do that. They figure out how to stabilize the planet--but not before it shifts again and won't return for 60 years. The B-story is about a alien (Jeffrey Combs) smitten with Kira--he pays Quark to make a holosuite starring our Bajoran. The problem--he doesn't have a scan of Kira, and stoops to his normal underhanded ways to get it. Combs will return in other roles on DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise.
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