As my husband and I are going through our second full watch of Star Trek as a couple, I thought it would be fun to report on the highlights along the way. So I decided to copy the same format as Charlene at Bookish Whimsy, who is going through her first-ever run of Star Trek and sharing her favorite episodes for each season. To compare, see her favorite episodes of DS9 season three.
Things are slowly picking up for DS9, and nearly all my favorite episodes reflect that, no surprise. I did want to give an honorable mention to The Adversary, which almost made this list. The changeling’s last words to Odo were certainly ominous. On to the top 5…
5. Visionary
O’Brien keeps having hallucinations of himself, that turn out to be glimpses of the future. When he finds the station and his life will be in danger in the future, he must find out what’s happening before it’s too late. O’Brien always seems to get the brunt of these psychologically traumatizing episodes, but it’s definitely interesting to watch him consider his choices and make the decisions he needs to in order to save the day.
Garak + Odo being tortured by Garak + changelings. That’s all you need to know to clue you in that things get real in this episode.
So during these episodes you’re like, “What the heck, Star Fleet?!” but then there’s a big reveal in the end that changes everything. This one had stayed with me from my original watch, and for good reason.
2. Second Skin
When Kira wakes up in a strange place with Cardassian skin and told that she is Cardassian, she refuses to believe it and seeks the truth of what’s happening. This was another one I had really remembered from my first time watching, as I tried to imagine what it would be like to grapple with being told you are someone else entirely.
Sisko, Bashir, and Dax are accidentally sent to Earth’s past , where they become part of a nasty chapter in history. It’s not anything we’ve actually experienced here yet, but what’s scary about this episode about how it feels like something that really and truly could happen. These are definitely a couple of very thought-provoking episodes.
What are your favorite episodes of DS9’s third season?
Past Tense is absolutely amazing – I was so frustrated that it was told in two parts and just couldn’t wait to find out how Sisko was going to get out of it all. I also love Defiant and House of Quark. 🙂
But at least with two parts you get more story! I was nervous about House of Quark because I didn’t love it the first time, but it wasn’t as bad as I remembered! I’m not a big fan of Ferengi or Klingon episodes so it’s kind of a double whammy for me, ha ha.
That’s true – but the wait could be agonizing, particularly when they began splitting stories between seasons.
True, I know that couldn’t have been fun to watch live!
Yay Past Tense – it is the stand out episode of season 3. Such a good, hard-hitting story. So true about poor O’Brien getting his head messed with so much. I feel like I liked a lot of those episodes, but I don’t remember Visionary as much.
Hey, it’s another good list. There were a lot of good ones this season.