Continuing to trudge through the fourth season…
- Shades of TNG! It's holo-wackiness when the doctor becomes "Our Man Bashir". We do learn that breaking into someone else's holosuite is illegal--since when? Anyway, the whole episode is a Bond parody, all the way down to women's names with sexual innuendo (Mona Luvsitt?) Coupled with the holosuite problems is a transporter accident that puts the senior crew's images into Bashir's fantasy. Nana Visitor does her best Natasha Fatale impression (you know, "moose and squirrel"?), and Sisko makes quite the Bond villain as "Dr. Noah". Overall, it's a goofy episode.
- Things get a bit more serious in a two-parter starting with "Homefront". A Changeling terrorist attack on Earth turns Starfleet paranoid enough to declare martial law (keep in mind this episode aired years prior to 9/11). They also put Sisko in charge of Starfleet security--adding blood screenings and phaser sweeps. Odo helps out despite a natural hesitancy from the Ferderation. A number of subplots were added as "episode helper" in order to make it a two-parter, including one with Sisko's father (Brock Peters, also played a Starfleet admiral in two Trek movies). The first part ends with the Changelings disrupting Earth's power grid, and martial law going into effect.
- "Paradise Lost" continues the story with Starfleet's "Red Squad" (an elite group of cadets) who fall under Sisko's suspicion. It turns out they were responsible for the power outage, and that Starfleet Command put them up to it. Admiral Leyton (Robert Foxworth) plans to overthrow the government in order to "protect Earth", so Sisko has to find evidence to take them down. Colm Meaney gets a juicy cameo as a Changeling to irritate and scare Sisko. After various machinations on both sides, a lot of speechifying, and a ship battle, the good guys win the day.
- Kira, Odo, and a Bajoran minister are in a triangle--although Kira doesn't know it--in "Crossfire". The whole "Odo's unrequited love" storyline is annoying--either tell her or forget it! Even Quark has Odo figured out--he's in the "friend zone". At one point, Worf and Odo compare notes on how to establish order on the station and in their lives--they are more alike than they thought. Odo's shapeshifting power seems to have improved--he somehow stops a falling elevator by becoming a metal brace. The whole episode has a vibe a la "The Bodyguard".
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (and all the Trek series) is available on Netflix.