“Its not your fault that things are the way they are”

“Everybody tells themselves that. And nothing ever changes.”

With all of the setup and thematic work in place, “Past Tense, Part II” is free to focus on the more intimate character interrelationships – allowing the real moral value of this two-part tale to be told through example, rather than through strict moralizing. In fact, the more focused character moments produce a heightened tension that makes this installment a much better vehicle for thematic work than its predecessor. Really, the only errors in the entire production come from the silly subplot involving O’Brien and Kira as the search for their missing comrades.

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“If something disastrous happens … if we are frightened enough, or desperate enough, how would we react? Would we stay true to our ideals?” – Doctor Bashir

“Past Tense, Part I” presents a fascinating and thoroughly engaging look at social and moral decay in a society that is too frightened to do anything truly constructive. The fact that its focus is Earth, and an Earth of our not-too-distant future makes its central narrative much more immediate and compelling. For the most part, this is a philosophical “talky” installment – much more at ease providing social commentary through dialogue, than providing action or suspense. And while some of the episode’s messages are a bit too blatantly on display, it is, nonetheless, a worthy attempt at exploring issues which are just as relevant in the 21st century as they were when the episode was aired.

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“See if I care!”

Chief O’Brien’s exasperated exclamation is, perhaps, the best way to summarize what has to be one of the most misguided and thoroughly excruciating episodes of the entire DS9 run. When compiling any list of “worst DS9 episode ever,” “Fascination” would have to be part of the conversation. In a way, it’s a bit of a shame. It starts off strongly with some compelling character moments. But with the arrival of the notoriously toxic character of Lwaxana Troi, the episode goes south in a hurry. This time, not only does she infect the story with hokey, embarrassing and pathetic infatuation, she manages to infect just about every major character as well, resulting in an episode that is mess of catastrophic proportions.

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“Defiant” is an example of a series indulging in more than a little bit of self-gratification. Sure it’s a lot of fun, with plenty of action and intrigue. But the episode’s plot is almost entirely implausible and, despite its obvious connection to TNG, it is simply unable to generate anything remotely close to legitimate drama. The result is an episode that can easily become a fan favorite, but is, simply, “out of character” for a series that so often pays very close attention to nuance and subtlety with respect to character and plot. Because, let’s face it, there’s nothing subtle about this episode.

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Were there ever two plotlines more misplaced than those of “Meridian”? Even worse, neither plot is effective or worthy on its own merit. The result is an episode which stumbles in terms of story, character, pacing and plot. Face it. “Meridian” is a stinker of an episode which hardly warrants a detailed examination.

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