Every Sunday my Twitch subs and I watch Star Trek in my Discord. Here are my reviews and thoughts on each of the episodes as I see it. If you're curious about a nerd's views on Star Trek episodes, please read on, I go quite in depth with some of these episodes! I've watched some Star Trek before but not all of it!
Homefront - DS9
8/10
Our first episode starts today with two things. One, the Wormhole keeps opening and closing for apparently no reason. And two, Odo is pissed because Dax keeps sneaking in his room and moving his furniture to piss him off. This means one of two things. Either this is gonna be a fun quirky episode about Odo's neurosis, or it'll be about Changelings.
Anyways so a bombing happened on Earth, and a Changeling was found in the security footage. So the second it is. Sisko is sent to Earth to investigate, being an expert on Changelings, and Odo is sent with him as y'know, a Changeling. Neither of them think they can do much. Everyone is extremely anxious about this, feeling the Earth is in danger. Sisko's old admiral friend is like "it's the most danger the Earth has been in since the last world war"
I can only imagine Sisko is like "Uh, the Borg? My WIFE?". Also how long do you think it'll be before this admiral goes fucking bonkers and goes "we have to kill everyone, it's the only way"?
We also visit Sisko's dad's restaurant. I love that he runs a creole food place, looks good as heck. Nog also comes as a regular (I guess it's just that easy to visit Nawlins from Sanfran), which is fun. He's trying to get into Red Squad, an elite group of cadets. Mr. Sisko is getting up in years and having health problems, and Ben is unhappy about this lol. Also Mr. Sisko is a very funny guy.
Sisko and his Admiral friend want to beef up security in Starfleet and Federation official buildings. The president (NOT a human, which is always cool) is like "uh I don't wanna be the president who started a trend towards authoritarianism", but Odo infiltrates the meeting and scares the shit out of him so he agrees.
Oh no, the Admiral is a Changeling, take a drink! Odo finds him out, though as an interesting twist, he was only a Changeling in this scene. The real Admiral is like "Our security measures aren't working, and the president won't let us buff them up. HE'S TOO SOFT".
HERE IT COMES.
Meanwhile, the blood testing isn't going well, and that's the security measures that are apparently NOT working. Mr. Sisko is pissed and about to be ARRESTED for refusing to test if he's a changeling, and Sisko is TRYING to force him to. It takes Mr. Sisko cutting himself while cooking, and Sisko seeing the blood, and Mr. Sisko being like "Damn you ACTUALLY THOUGHT I was a changeling?!" for him to realize, oh fuck. He's getting paranoid. REALLY paranoid. And it's getting to him, real bad.
Then, the power surges. Over the ENTIRE Earth, ALL of Earth runs out of power. Uh oh. Admiral Boi makes his move, with them beaming to the president's office, and demading martial law declared, because they have it in their heads that all those wormhole openings were cloaked Jem'Hadar ships, and they're preparing an invasion. Ignore the fact that we've NEVER seen them with cloak tech.
They basically force the president into it, and we get starfleet soldiers in the streets.
To be continued
Paradise Lost - DS9
9/10
Martial Law is here, and it's all awkward. As Sisko is going over reports, he and Odo discover some weird discrepancies. Red Squad, an elite group of cadets, teleported back 23 minutes after martial law was declared, even though all other cadets were sent out for field duty. Why were these ones, the ELITE ones, called back? So Sisko calls a commanding officer to ask, who's like "...is this a secure channel? Okay good, this could get us in a lot of trouble if anyone finds out. Thanks for telling me about it! It would really hit Admiral Leyton" and Sisko is a fucking genius and NEVER shows it on his face, and immediately jumps in on it, like "oh yes, wouldn't want that, just needed to let you know so that wouldn't happen". Time to investigate.
We start with him talking about Nog, who tells him all about the leaders of Red Squad, and how they see Sisko as a hero. So he calls in that leader, and pretends that he's unhappy about the sloppy work the Cadet does.
And the cadet SINGS. He SINGS about how he committed treason on the Federation, and sabotaged the power relays so that they could gain power and martial law. He's damn proud of it too. Sisko is DISGUSTED. These are his FRIENDS, his COMRADES, and they happily and actively committed treason to gain power and enact fascism? And he HELPED THEM? How can he turn against them? And Odo is like "But they've already turned against you, and everything you believe in"
Sisko and Odo run off to the president to tell on the Admiral, and if they can find ACTUAL evidence, the admiral is toast. But the admiral finds out about them first, and sends away the cadets to save his ass, and goes to hang a long talk with Sisko to convince him "no, join us. Together, we can be fascists and rule earth. Y'know, to save it from the dominion!"
Ben is relieved of duty as acting head of security of Earth, and he's outside thinking about wtf to do as O'Brien wanders up of all fucking people. Colm Meany then acts his fucking life off, as whoop, it's a SHAPESHIFTER! He's like "Would you believe me if I told you there are only FOUR changelings on this ENTIRE planet? And look at the chaos we've wrought. Whoo boy~". It's nice to see him given a villain's speech.
Ben isn't going to just give up. He and Odo keep looking into it, and see that the admiral is planning a FULL coup soon. But when Sisko goes to try and meet with the president again, the admiral fakes a blood test and gets him thrown in jail. Not for long. After the Admiral gives his villain victory speech, Odo does his thing (Odo was the... something! Take a drink!), and breaks him out, and the Defiant is coming here with evidence.
Sisko is not putting up with this shit, but the Admiral is ahead of him, and is sending a ship over to stop the Defiant. Jesus christ, he just doesn't get how fucked up this all is, does he??? Nope. After he demands that they just BLOW UP the defiant, his second in command he put on that ship as captain is like "Wow fuck this shit" and stops, allowing them to leave. It's over. The coup has failed. Martial law ends, and starfleet leaves Earth. The Changelings are still there, and a threat, but they'll just have to destroy Earth themselves, Starfleet won't do the work for them.
Good shit, sticks the landing very well.
Crossfire - DS9
6/10
YOU'LL GET CAUGHT UP IN THE
First Minister Shakaar is back! He's Kira's old friend who is now the leader of Bajor, and he's here for talks and stuff on DS9. He's made LOTS of enemies though, cause he's a progressive who wants to join the Federation. There's a threat on his life, and Odo and Worf have to try and keep him alive, while he seems EXTREMELY BAD at following any amount of security detail, and doesn't seem at all worried at threats on his life. Odo is VERY unhappy. His unhappiness only grows as he notices the... LOOKS Kira and Shakaar are giving each other.
Kira, please stop falling in love with politicians who are visiting the station. I guess she has a type though. Odo just needs to get into politics, easy! It's an interesting dynamic, Odo needing to keep this guy alive, but also he's his romantic rival. And it gets WORSE than Shakkar goes to Odo like "Hey be my wingman, help me get with Kira, does she ever talk about me and seem interested in me?~"
Quark offers to help, like a good boyfriend. But Odo isn't interested in that. He's just gonna focus on his job and keep this guy and his crush safe, as they wander the station. He's just, very, VERY distracted, and when someone deepfakes Worf's voice, Odo gives him control without checking his security code first, and the turbolift falls into freefall. Odo has to use his Super Strength to stop the turbolift from falling. His mind is CLEARLY not on his work.
As Kira gets into a relationship, she literally goes "Oh Odo I have to confide in you because you're SUCH A GOOD FRIEND <3" This is the most painful thing I've ever watched. And as the assassin is apprehended and they didn't even NEED him, he uh, takes it very VERY poorly, and destroys his fucking room.
Quark comes over (he lives under Odo and hears what goes on up there), a good boyfriend here to help. Also because he runs a pool about how fast Odo will do his job, that's whats really important and why he come over, for sure. The only reason. He tells Odo he either has to confess, or get over it, because it's interfering with who he is. And Odo is like "....you're right".
The episode ends with Odo telling Kira that they need to stop their weekly meetups. Oh just because he's so busy, you know. And then he walks out and does his rounds, walking past Kira and her new boy toy talking in the bar.
This episode is fine. Could be better. Also makes me really sad lol
Odo is the friendzone, take a drink
Crossfire - DS9
7.5/10
Kira is going to Cardassia to a meeting! Her boytoy asked her specifically to do it, and she's annoyed cause she's not a diplomat, and she's complaining to Bashir, who is like the Catty Gay Best Friend and it's pretty great. And then DUKAT SHOWS UP, YAY DUKAT! Dukat is going to be her personal transport to Cardassian space, because he's been fucking fired over his half-bajoran daughter, and lost all of his power and authority, and is now the captain of a freighter. Welp. But don't worry. It's only a TEMPORARY setback.
Ziyal is here, Dukat's daughter! Things have been... rough for her, but she's just happy to be with her dad. Kira is very sweet to her, but their meeting is cut short by a battle drill. On a freighter. Hmm. Weird. We see Damar, who will become VERY important down the road but right now is just an extra, hi Damar!
They have dinner, where Dukat is catty about Kira's new boyfriend. Their dinner is interrupted by a call from the bridge. The planet where they were doing the meeting is destroyed, everyone fucking dead. And the bird of prey that killed them all is still here, and doesn't seem to give a fuck about Dukat or his freighter. And when Dukat fires on them, his weak-ass freighter does nothing, and they just... leave. Cause who cares.
I'm sure this won't have any effects on Dukat's psyche.
Kira convinces him to go after them, but they need something to fight. And Dukat's a traditional Cardassian officer. Kira is here to teach him how to fight like a freedom fighter, against the Klingons who are just going around and murdering indiscriminately. It's an interesting situation.
Especially considering that Kira fucking hates Dukat. Like, they've had some episodes where they hang out and laugh, but Kira can NOT get over y'know, the fascism and the murder. And she does not want to.
It's important to note that while they're making Dukat sympathetic, he's like, still evil He's an asshole. He's a very complicated character, and a GOOD one, right now.
They find the Klingons, and get them interested in taking their cargo before using the gun they took from the dead planet on them, blowing them the fuck away. Not QUITE enough though, and as their freighter is nearing explody-status. Kira and Dukat beam over and take the ship, beaming the Klingons over to the weakened freighter, taking the bird of prey. Damn, good victory y'all, those Klingons will go back with their tail between their- oh, Dukat fucking killled them.
Things get worse and worse. Dukat messages the Cardassian government with the news, and they offer to hire him as their military advisor again. but tell him not to fight, because uh, they're going to try and be diplomatic and get a peace to this war. Dukat is PISSED at this. So he's going to take a line from Kira, show he really HAS learned from her! And he's going to start a resistance cell, taking on the Klingons as a pirate!! :D And KIRA is going to help him!
Uh fucking NO she's not. He's like "you NEED to help us, for your own sake" but no, she wants NOTHING to do with this. She's not even tempted. She has one thought. She needs to save Ziyal, from this life, and from Dukat. And y'know what? Dukat agrees.
Ziyal is here to join DS9 and live on the station for a while. Good episode! Important character stuff.
Sons of Mogh - DS9
4/10
Dax and Worf are fighting and flirting, very VERY heavily flirting. But that's interrupted by an intoxicated klingon. Worf's brother, Kurn, is back! :D It's been a long while. He WAS on the council, but also Worf's... Worfing, that ended. So what's he doing here? Well, he's here to invoke some ancient thing that requires Worf to kill his brother. Oh boy.
Meanwhile, O'Brien and Kira find a weird kind of explosion nearby, and go to investigate it, but find a Klingon ship that's like "we're doing exercised here, go the fuck away". They decide to investigate further because of course they do.
Meanwhile, Worf is about to kill his brother, and stabs him, but Dax and Odo, who were investigating this and barge in and save Kurn at the last minute, teleporting him to the infirmary. Sisko is PISSED that Worf would do murder, and ignores that it was a y'know, ritualistic assisted suicide, and refuses to allow it, so they'll have to find another way. Uh, why are we so anti-right to death i nteh 24th century? That's very weird to me.
Kurn is pissed off that Worf is once again choosing the Federation and their ways over him. This episode is weird and I'm not enjoying it so far.
So they need to find something else for Kurn to do. So, what to do? They get him a job, so he can stay on this station and start a new life. So Worf asks Odo to accept Kurn as a security officer. This puts Worf in Odo's debt, but apparently Kurn makes for a good security officer. He's a bit uncomfy with the uniforn, but he's okay with it.
Back at the "training exercises,", a ship falls out of warp, a Vor'cha, very damaged. Weird. The Defiant hauls it back, as Kurn is fired from his job, because he LET someone almost kill him, because he wanted to die. A security officer who won't even defend himself is worth nothing, so he's fired. Welp.
They find out that's going on. The Empire is setting up cloaked mines around Bajor, just outside Bajoran space. Probably. There is REASON TO BELIEVE this. But they need proof. They need to infiltrate the ship and find out. Worf convinces Kurn, and they sneak in and investigate. It goes well and they get the codes to blow up the mines, though Kurn DOES kill a Klingon officer who catches them and was about to kill Worf. That doesn't settle well with Worf. He doesn't feel Klingon anymore, but knows Kurn needs to be with Klingons. So what's their plan?
They erase Kurn's memories and surgically alter him. Worf calls in a favor with an old famiyl friend for him to be adopted by them as their son who has suffered from amnesia. What a fucking wild way of fixing this issue, what the fuck. THIS is okay, especially doing it without his consent (he'd prolly be okay with it but still), but ASSISTED SUICIDE IS BAD??? Worf ends this like "I have no family", and Kurn gets to be a Klingon
This episode is kinda dumb. The mission statement of this episode was apparently "We've been teasing the 'will Worf choose the Federation or go back to the Empire" storyline a bunch but here we decided, he realizes he can't go back. He's not fully Klingon anymore, he's something new, and he has to accept that". But I think they do it kind of badly. Like, he realizes this in a very negative way. Instead of going "I can't go back, and I am not fully Klingon, I am something more, and the differences between me and Klingon society are GOOD things that I LIKE about myself", instead he's mopy and angry that the humans have changed him. And of course all the shit about Kurn is kind of stupid. It still gets a 4/10 because there are some good parts, I like the mines stuff, and also Dax is REALLY hot in the opening. Movek.
