Let's get back to DS9:
- O'Brien is dealing with mechanical problems in "Babel". He's busy fixing systems all over the station (seems DS9 is a lemon). He fixes a replicator, but there's something strange attached to it. O'Brien starts speaking in random words (hence the episode title). Bashir can't find the cause--his brain functions seem normal. The problem spreads to Dax, and then to others. A virus turns out to be the cause--it randomly reroutes neural pathways. We learn that Quark is using a replicator outside his bar (his isn't working), so the virus is spreading even more quickly, and has become airborne. Kira finds the strange device behind the replicator--it's sabotage! Kira is convinced it's Cardassian (of course), but Bashir finds evidence the Bajorans did it--sabotage for the previous station owners. The virus gets worse--O'Brien's now close to death. (Where is Keiko during all this?) Kira tracks down a doctor involved with the original sabotage, and when he refuses to help, she beams him up so he's infected too. Finally, Odo and Quark are the only ones not affected. Dr. Deus Ex Machina finds an antidote, and everyone is saved.
- Message coming in! "Captive Pursuit" begins with a strange ship exiting the wormhole. It's a First Contact situation with a new race. O'Brien helps save the ship, so he's given the honor. The alien (who says he's Tosk") is very nervous--guess I would be too. Miles has his hands full trying to explain everything. When Tosk is left alone, he asks the computer for info on their weapons (Starfleet seems awfully trusting in First Contacts). O'Brien is convinced Tosk is not telling the whole truth, and he's on the run from something. Odo finds Tosk tampering with security systems, and sends him to the brig. O'Brien presses him, and he asks to "die with honor". Another ship arrives, and three guards that look like they came from the 70's Buck Rogers TV series beam over. They find Tosk and capture him. It turns out the whole thing is a "hunt"--and Tosk is the fox. They are so disappointed that they plan to leave him alive. Sisko says he has to release Tosk to them--the whole Prime Directive thing. O'Brien tries to get Tosk to request asylum--but it's too big a dishonor. O'Brien decides to "change the rules" by knocking out one of the hunters and setting Tosk free. After some dicey moments, O'Brien gets Tosk back to his ship so he can escape.
- The producers must have felt the need to goose ratings with two TNG guest stars--Picard's girlfriend Vash (Jennifer Hetrick) and good ol' Q (John de Lancie) in "Q-Less". Dax finds Vash in the Gamma quadrant, and their confused how she got there. We know she went off with Q on a TNG episode. She tired of him and he reciprocated by stranding her. There's a "mcguffin"--an artifact that keeps knocking out the station's power. Q plays with Sisko, and he decks him--"I'm not Picard".Throughout all of this, O'Brien does exposition for the rest of the cast, since he's from TNG as well. Quark is working his own angle--auctioning off the artifact. Vosh and Q continue to bicker--he does his normal threatening. He also taunts SIsko, saying the Enterprise crew would have decoded the "technobabble" and resolved the power issue hours ago. The auction is on, but Vash is getting cold feet--one of the alien bidders looks like he has a trash can on his head. Meanwhile, the station is getting dragged into the wormhole. After some of the famous technobabble, they figure out the artifact is a "space egg"--it hatches and goes back through the wormhole. Q and Vash part ways, and Bashir stops in comedy relief.
- "Dax" is all about our favorite Trill. She's nabbed by a group of aliens, and our heroes are unable to stop them before they get off the station. They are able to get a busted tractor beam working and grab their ship. The aliens have a valid reason for the abduction--Dax is charged with treason and murder 30 years ago. (Why didn't they go through formal channels, if they had a valid warrant?) Sisko asks what he can do, but she refuses to fight the charges. Sisko finds a delay--the station is Bajoran, and there's no extradition treaty, forcing a hearing. Odo is asked to investigate the case while the hearing commences. The case hinges on whether Jadzia Dax is a different person than the original host. Odo meets with the widow of the murder victim (Fionnula Fanagan) --her son is prosecuting the case--and she learns about the new Trill host. Back at the hearing, another Trill becomes an expert witness, and it gets a little heated. Bashir is called to the stand, and makes a mess of things as always. Sisko calls himself as a character witness, and makes a big speech. Odo determines that the previous host and the widow were "close". Dax finally opens up to Sisko, and then she's on the stand. At the final moment, the widow arrives and admits what really happened (at least the official story). Dax and the widow have a moment to run out the episode.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (and all the Trek series) is available on Netflix.