Station log: stardate unknown

Ronald D. Moore pens this episode that first debuted on 14 October, 1996.

Worf (Micheal Dorn) agrees to help Quark (Armin Shimerman) in an attempt to help woo back the Ferengi’s Klingon ex-wife, Grilka (Mary Kay Adams), last seen in The House of Quark. Worf is stunned by her appearance and has some newly discovered feelings for her.

The story also continues to develop an interesting relationship between Worf and Dax (Terry Farrell) as her flirting with Worf becomes a lot more obvious through the course of the episode until we (and they) get a payoff.

In other parts of the station, things are getting awkward between O’Brien (Colm Meaney) and Kira (Nana Visitor) as she continues to carry Keiko’s (Rosalind Chao) pregnancy to term.  They both realize they are getting closer than either one feels comfortable with. And what happens when they are forced to go on a vacation with one another?

The Quark/Worf storyline plays as an homage to Cyrano de Bergerac and is a fun and very fairly light episode that lets the viewers enjoy character moments without worrying about the Dominion for an episode or two.

This one is all about the character moments and the relationships that are developing between major characters and it’s a pretty nice respite from the darkness that has preceded this episode, and the things we know must be coming in the future.

And poor Bashir (Alexander Siddig) by the end of the episode…

Station log: stardate unknown

Rene Echevarria pens this episode from a story by Brice R. Parker. First airing on 21 October, 1996 this is a solid Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) story.

As the young man continues to develop his writing, he and Bashir find themselves at a Federation hospital on Ajilon Prime, which finds itself under assault by the Klingons. The young man is given a look, firsthand, at the horrors of war, and the things that occur during it, and he begins to think of himself as a coward when he is forced to flee and abandon Bashir.

When he flees, he encounters a dying man, and upon his return he learns Bashir was injured, and he carries a lot of guilt over his inaction. In the end his article becomes a very important look at the horror of war.

This ends up being a very solid episode, and lets Lofton show some chops he hasn’t been able to before, while dealing with a very important story.

The Human Adventure continues next week with one of the best, and funniest episodes of Deep Space Nine ever. And then Thursday the Voyager continues her journey home as I explore The Complete Series for both classic Trek series, now available on DVD from Paramount Pictures.

Boldly go…