The cast is in peril, as well as the station, in this next group of episodes.
- Let's spin the Wheel of Character Death in "Life Support". The winner--or loser--is Vedek Bereil, who's advising the Kai on Cardassian negotiations when a shuttle accident almost kills him. The episode turns into "Medical Center", with Bashir standing in for Chad Everett. More and more experimental procedures are tried to save Bereil's life, to the point of replacing his brain with positronic implants. In the end, there's just too much to replace, and Bashir refuses to go further. There's also a B-story with Nog and Jake--I hate the Nog character. I also noticed yet another Kira hairstyle--she's the Troi of DS9.
- Now let's put a main character in peril--Kira--in "Heart of Stone". She and Odo are on a shuttle run and run into a Maquis battle--she ends up in a cave stuck in a crystal that threatens to envelop her (seems kind of goofy). There's even more technobabble than usual in this episode. Odo works furiously to save his friend, and when it seems all is lost, finally admits his love for her. Of course, it turns out "Kira" is just a Changeling, trying to find out why Odo wouldn't join them--the real Kira is fine. Meanwhile--Nog's back (ugh!) and he wants to go to Starfleet Academy. He's afraid he will end up like his father, shilling for Quark.
- Could a Bajoran warning of doom be DS9's "Destiny"? A rogue Vedek arrives, stating that a joint Bajoran/Cardassian scientific mission is part of an apocalyptic prophecy. Sisko and Kira ignore it until the parallels start to spook the Bajoran officer. She tries to convince Sisko to scrap the mission, and he starts to believe the prophecy too. It turns out the Obsidian Order is involved, and Sisko aka "The Emissary" has to save the day.The B-story involves one of the Cardassian scientists (Tracy Scoggins) and O'Brien butting heads on engineering--then she starts to hit on him.
- Blech--another Ferengi-centric episode! Did anyone think their antics were funny? Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn) has a "Prophet Motive", and it involves a rewrite of the "Rules of Acquisition" and a missing Bajoran Orb. Quark is forced to move in with Rom--can two Ferengi share quarters without driving each other crazy? The B-story is about Bashir and a Federation medical award. Overall--this is a terrible episode. According to the Memory Alpha site, the plotline came from an unpurchased Taxi spec script, which explains a lot.
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