Let's finish up the third season...
- Sisko, having nothing better to do, builds a ship with his son in "Explorers". He apparently also had time to grow a goatee. Many internet geeks complained that the "solar sail" ship they build is impossible--the sail needs to be hundreds of times the size shown for it to actually work. There's a "building the ship" montage designed to fill time in this "day in the life" episode. Jake announces he's been accepted for a literary scholarship, but unfortunately wants to wait a year (rats!), They manage to get the ship to Cardassian space, where they are treated to an (impossible in space) fireworks display. The B-story is about Julian and an old female schoolmate at the academy--she was the valedictorian. There's a great scene with a drunk O'Brien and Bashir singing together as the doctor commisserates. Turns out the other doctor, the CMO on a Starfleet ship, would rather have Bashir's job.
- Blech! Another Quark-heavy episode in "Family Business". The Ferengi is being audited--which is even worse in their society than in ours. HIs mother (Andrea Martin) is being charged with "earning profit"--illegal for a female. Andrea sounds like Edna Boil from SCTV. His old home reminds me of "The Hobbit"--lots of small circular doorways. The B-story is about Jake fixing up his old man with freighter captain Kasidy Yates (Penny Johnson Jerald). Turns out they're both into baseball.
- While the rest of the crew play darts (don't they have work to do?), Kira runs a special mission for Kai Wynn in "Shakaar". Kira's old resistance cell are now farmers, and they're holding onto macguffin devices Wynn needs to secure her position in the government. Louise Fletcher continues her mustache-twirling ways as the Kai--she tries to play against all sides and fails miserably. Of course, Kira gets way too deep into the situation as always--she spends weeks as a fugitive before turning the resistance leader into a politician. As for the B-story, the dart game is rather goofy--it really went nowhere.
- Dax has a visit with past hosts in "Facets". It's a Trill ritual that involves loaning the other host's memories to others, with the rest of the cast as guinea pigs. They all get to play a new character--it's rather like audition monologues for genre actors! For no reason, they include the murderous host in the ceremony, hosted by Sisko--Avery Brooks gives him a whole Hannibal vibe. Host Curzon (hosted by Odo) decides to hang around--oops! The whole concept makes no sense--why is she asking questions of her previous hosts, when she should already have their memories. Leeta (Chase Masterson), a Dabo girl, has apparently become part of the inner circle with little explanation--I guess they needed another female role on the show. There's a B-story with Nog training for his Starfleet academy entrance tests. As usual, Nog is goofy but earnest.
- All this dart playing, ship building, and mind-swapping have paid off--Commander Sisko is made a Captain in "The Adversary". His first mission involves the Defiant, a planet in crisis, and an ambassador (Lawrence Pressman, a Trek veteran) who's not really an ambassador. It turns out a Changeling is on the Defiant, and it's trying to start a war by taking over the ship. No one can trust another, since any of them (or anything on the ship) could be the Changeling. It's time for the ol' Self-Destruct sequence! We also get the "who's the real Odo?" sequence. There's a Changeling fight and a whispered secret to Odo--"we are everywhere"--which takes us to the end of Season Three.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (and all the Trek series) is available on Netflix.