#Oh my god Data is fascinated by humanity and Julian is fascinated by Data's humanity

[loki-rhymes-with-adhd]

Hey there Trekkies, first time listener, long time caller. I've been rewatching TNG since having finished formally watching the ending of DS9, and I totally fucking forgot this episode existed. We haven't even hit the opening credits yet, and we already have this interaction between my two favorite characters in the entire franchise. Pardon em while I **rattles the bars of my enclosure like a madman**

I fucking love it here.

[5lazarus]

Lore and the Prophets

Written for the Boldly Go Gift Exchange (go check it out, everyone’s wonderful!), and crossposted to AO3 here. Lore thinks he can sneak off Deep Space Nine and get through the wormhole without anyone noticing. The Prophets have other ideas. special thanks to @saathiray for helping me work out the plot and @planesofduality for cheering me on!

Lore is tasting Romulan ale at Quark’s bar, using Data’s credits. His brother comes in useful occasionally, though rarely. Around him buzzes a party. Apparently the station’s constabulary is celebrating all its new recruits. Lore is disinterested. Dr. Soong had programmed him with an appreciation of the finer tastes of life, and the way Romulan ale interacts with his organic mesh is pleasing to him. When he is disguised like Data he likes to think like him--not, of course, because he particularly admires the logical turns of his android mind, or because he misses feeling close to him. It’s method acting, as the Earth actors of the 21st century would claim. He swirls the bright blue beer in the snifter, enjoying the sensation of falling into an electric cloud, and ignores the chatter around him. A vedek slides down next to him and signals to Quark to bring him his usual. His robes and hat are arranged to hide his face. Lore is slightly curious, but not enough to move to another table. He will leave soon--the freighter meant for the Bajoran colony on the other side of the wormhole is set to depart in two hours, with him and his grand plans with it. Dr. Soong might think his brother his greatest creation, but what Lore will wreak will be the best yet. Then a man says, “Commander Data! It’s good to see you.” He curls his fingers around Lore’s shoulder and Lore turns mechanically to regard him, cursing to himself. He fixes his face in Data’s blank stare. “Yes,” he says. He does not recognize the man in the Starfleet doctor’s uniform, but clearly Data would. The doctor smiles warmly. “Oh, Romulan ale,” he says. He slides onto the stool next him. “I suppose you’re running some sort of experiment.” He looks at him expectantly, still inanely grinning, and Lore rapidly thinks of an excuse. The doctor keeps staring at his feet. Why the fuck is he staring at his feet? He opens his mind and suddenly the circuits of his perfect positronic brain fizzled, and panicked at the malfunction Lore tries to get up as the Ferengi bartender says in an echoing voice, THE MACHINE. The doctor, slackjawed, says, THE MACHINE HAS ANSWERED THE CALL. Lore starts in horror as the words echo in his  mind and almost falls off his perch. The Bajoran security officer behind him is suddenly in front of him, and he blinks, because Romulan ale is hypnotic, not hallucinogenic, this should not be happening, not when he set his organic processing system to separate out the suggestic effect-- THE MACHINE WILL KNOW, the Bajoran security officer intones. FOR THE SISKO THE MACHINE WILL KNOW. BAJOR IS OF THE PROPHETS, the Ferengi says: Quark. THE MACHINE WILL KNOW. The doctor says, THE MACHINE WILL KEEP BAJOR FOR THE PROPHETS. Lore says, “What the fuck is this?” His brain buzzes, he seizes again, and his vision goes dark as his body prioritizes life support over data processing systems.

Lore wakes up to the doctor and several security officers hovering over him anxiously, prone on the sticky floor of Quark’s bar, with the changeling constable barking orders to evacuate the place. He grabs the doctor. “What’s happening?” “There’s been a murder,” he says. “You’ve been poisoned too--Lore.” Lore spasms hard and collapses again to the ground, his eyes filling with a bright white light. When he wakes up, he is splayed on a biobed, despite his obvious synthetic parts. He tries to move, but finds himself stuck in a containment field: just his luck. His eyes swivel over to the controllers, where that doctor and a Trill regard him cautiously. The Trill straddles a chair, leaning on the headrest. Lore knows far too much of human biology and understands she would be considered quite attractive. The lankiness of the doctor is more his type, however, more easily manipulated, and while she looks at him warily the doctor has open curiosity on his face. Lore can use that. “Lore, I presume,” the doctor says. “Data’s...brother.” Lore twitches in annoyance. He was the better creation, he suffered more, he survived more--why does he always have to be defined by Data? They are nothing alike. They share the same neuro-synthetic make-up. That is it. “Dr. Soong’s murderer,” the Trill adds solemnly. She places her hand on the phaser at her belt. The doctor looks at her curiously. “An old drinking buddy of Curzon’s.” Lore sniffs. His father spent more time running about the galaxy than with him, and perhaps he wouldn’t have ended up so broken--perfect, he corrects himself, determined and justified and perfect--if Dr. Soong had bothered to stay with him, rather than plugging him into the computer. “Dax,” Lore says. “Can’t say he ever mentioned you.” He is lying, of course, but that’s his right. “And I’m Bashir,” the doctor says. “Dr. Julian Bashir.” Dax rolls her eyes at him, a private joke. Lore feels a flash of envy. He wants to know everything, even the private things. Dax touches her combage while Bashir continues, “You gave us quite a surprise, Lore. We’d been given an alert that you might be heading to the Gamma Quadrant, but we didn’t think you’d show up at Quark’s bar! The Romulan ale--how did it interact with your positronic brain? I don’t think that’s what caused you to black out, but--” “Do you mind?” Lore interrupts. “Are you arresting me or experimenting on me?” He tests the biobed’s confinements again. Dax points her phaser at him. Lore chuckles. “Really, Dax? May I call you Dax? What can I even do to you from here?” The door to the medbay opens and the goo constable and station captain walk in, phasers drawn: Odo, and Cpt. Benjamin Sisko, according to the database he hacked before piloting to the station. “Well, well,” Odo says, “a fugitive. And one who crashed a party of cops, while drinking illegally-imported ale. You can’t make this up.” Lore is a bit embarrassed. “It’s only illegal to Starfleet personnel,” he snarks. “And I am not my brother.” Odo snorts in response. Sisko eyes him, amused, then turns to Lore. “When you were...incapacitated,” he doesn’t want to use the word unconscious for a machine, “you muttered something about a vision. Explain.” “Oh,” Lore says, “we’ve decided on a genre. So now this is an interrogation, not an experiment.” “We can still vivisect you,” Odo says. “No, we can’t,” Bashir says testily. Sisko raises his hands slightly, to quiet them all down. They all look at him. Dax has not dropped her phaser, not once. Lore decides it’s in his best interests to cooperate. “If you must know,” he says, “I don’t know what happened either. I was just biding my time til I could head through the wormhole, where my vision went--blurry, and everyone started speaking as if they were..echoing within the circuits of my mind. They called me the ‘Machine’--they said I will know that Bajor is the Prophets--your wormhole aliens, aren’t they?” Sisko blinks slowly like a snake, taking him in. Lore keeps his gaze steady. He feels if he makes any sudden movements, Sisko will strike, precise and deadly. He is even more carefully controlled than Picard, and smoother. Lore can’t help but admire it. Then Sisko blinks. He stares into the distance, and suddenly shakes his head and refocuses. “Fascinating,” Sisko purrs. “A vedek is murdered while the Prophets tell you to keep Bajor theirs. A likely story. A likeable one.” “Noonian was always a charmer,” Dax says. “Well, he knew how to get you off his back.” Is that a hint of bitterness Lore detects? History he will never know: Dr. Soong burned his diaries when he realized Lore knew his code. “Since you claim the Prophets want to use you,” Sisko says, “let us see what use the Prophets have for you. Odo, Bashir--let him out of his clamps. You may investigate the vedek’s murder. Chief O’Brien has programmed the station’s database to keep you well restrained within its borders. Odo, Dr. Bashir--I want you two to use him. Find what poison they used, cross-reference whatever Starfleet database Lore has compiled--and find who did it.” “And then what?” Lore asks. Sisko smiles. “And then,” he says, “the Prophets will know what to do to you.”

They release him from his clamps but keep the containment field but in the medbay. Dax and Sisko leave, Dax never letting her back be exposed, and Bashir clears his throat when the door clicks shut. He begins to explain the poison--a distillation of expired moba fruit cut with smoke, a popular amphetamine amongst the former Bajoran resistance. Odo nods along thoughtfully but Lore is bored. It is clear this has to do with some petty regional squabble. One faction wanted another out, and Bajor’s resident would-be gods decided to intervene. It is odd that they have made him their tool, but Lore cannot blame them. He is brilliant, after all, and has a good reputation amongst the more eldritch species of the galaxy. The Q Continuum and the Crystalline Entity gave him rave reviews. When Bashir is finally done, Lore speaks before Odo can reform vocal cords. “So. What priesthood and caste is he? Have you done your report?” He raises an eyebrow at Odo. “No, of course not. Well, plug me in. Give me his name and twelve seconds and I can tell you everything about him, including what he ate for dinner last night.” Bashir looks at him wryly, rapping his PADD with knuckles. “Simple fare--he is part of the late Vedek Bareil’s order. Rice and a touch of salt. The drink was a surprise.” Lore is confused. He doesn’t know what he is talking about. Odo crosses his arms and smiles thinly. “ Also Romulan ale, which a simple vedek could not afford, let along drink in public. A vintage Quark was told to lay aside, by a certain Tahna Los a few years ago.” Lore is irritated. “If you’re going to withhold information, I’m going to complain to the captain. He wants me here for a reason. You may as well use my processing capabilities, or be done with me now, and hand me over to Starfleet.” Bashir and Odo exchange a glance, and Odo scoffs. “Believe me,” he says, “there is nothing I would like more. But the captain is as good as his word. We are going to see what the wormhole aliens want with you. And then we’ll hand you over to Starfleet.” “So glad I’ve excited such intellectual curiosity in you,” Lore snorts. “Put please--give me the information and let’s be done with it. I don’t like being used, you know. I want to know what they’re doing with me as much as you do.” Odo regards him. “Hm. You do know Captain Sisko drove the Q Continuum off the station, right? We don’t...tolerate horrors coming out of space at Deep Space Nine. And every starbase has been outfitted with the graviton resonance to shatter one of those crystal creatures.” “Right,” Lore says. “Because there’s only room for one ‘horror out of space’ on this station.” Bashir coughs a laugh into his hand, and coughs harder at the look Odo gives him. Proverbial dick-measuring done, the three set to work. Odo accesses the constabulary's databases from Bashir’s desk, and after carefully adjusting the security parameters, allows Lore to begin analysis of his files regarding Tahna Los, the unfortunate vedek, Bareil’s order, and Bajoran religious factionalism. Lore could easily hack into the rest of the databases, and he zips the files and stores them to chew over when he’s finally out of the Alpha Quadrant. He blinks rapidly as he realizes that this vedek and Tahna Los share an arrest record. Both were taken into custody by Cardassian nine years ago, with two people who work with station security. He says aloud, for the fleshier folk in the room, “Kira Nerys, Tahna Los, our unfortunate vedek, and one of your very own officers were arrested together, Constable. Perhaps you should screen your recruits more thoroughly.” He mimics Data in his deadpan delivery. Odo is unamused. Everyone’s a critic. “That doesn’t mean anything,” Odo says. “Kira shares an arrest record with half of Bajor. And most of my officers were...detained by Cardassians, at one time or another.” He looks a little uncomfortable. Collaboration always is--he arrested a few of them. Lore smiles slowly. He has learned many useful things from these files, more than the constable will ever know. “So let’s talk to Kira,” Bashir says eagerly.

They ping Kira, and Lore has to admit he’s curious as to what she’s going to say. She is fascinating. It takes a certain kind of person to go from terrorism to Starfleet-adjacent bureaucracy, and Lore wants to know exactly what that is. He knows he could do it, he has taken his survival matrix and run with it, and of course that is why the Prophets chose him for whatever little mission they have. It’s flattering to be in the center of the storm. It is exactly what he deserves, and he is curious to see what this kindred spirit is like. Major Kira glances at him curiously but without the hostility that characterized Dax or the interest Bashir showed. She looks tired. The vedek must’ve been a friend of hers, or at least a comrade. Lore doesn’t understand that relationship, nothing he has read or experienced has explained friendship beyond desire, but he knows she must feel upset. If only he cared. “Yes?” Kira says guardedly. “You called?” She glances at the body on the table, bites her lip, and looks away. “You don’t think it was the Cardassians, do you? I need an answer to give the provisional government. And if Bareil’s order, of all things, has been infiltrated, we need to start preparing. I’ve lost enough of my comrades to them.” Odo and Bashir exchange a glance, concerned. Lore, again, does not care--but he registers this is a vulnerability he can exploit. Bashir says slowly, “He was poisoned, Major. With a drink that Tahna Los sent him. And the only connection he has to Tahna Los is--well, you.” Kira regards the body. “The Kohn-Ma has long been disbanded. And Tahna Los is held at a monastery in the Rakantha monastery, being rehabilitated for civilian life. He wouldn’t have had access to even a data PADD. It’s the Shakaar cell who guards them, and they’re no friend to the Kohn-Ma. Not anymore.” “You’ve said that before,” Odo says. “And you were wrong.” “Are you accusing me of lying?” “No. Just that your sources might be.” Kira glares at the constable, and Bashir makes a face at Lore. Lore raises an eyebrow. Bashir hides a smile. “Gentlemen,” Bashir interrupts. He gestures at the body. “If we may get back to the matter at hand.” “Sometime before it finishes decomposing,” Lore drawls. Bashir’s mouth twitches into a smile. “Quite. Now, we know the Prophets are worried about a threat to their connection to Bajor--the wormhole, presumably, we’ve been through this before. We have a dead body, killed by a drink sent by a known member of the Kohn-Ma--separatists. And we know this man was not , but a member of the late Vedek Bareil’s secularist order. Now, I’ll willing to bank on the hunch that Tahna Los was framed--but the question is, does this represent a Kohn-Ma resurgence? Who killed him, and why?” Lore says, “Two of your new recruits were arrested with Tahna Los and this...unfortunate.” He regards the corpse with some distaste. At least he will never truly die. Odo straightens abruptly. “I vetted those men myself--” and then the station shakes, and while Lore simply adjusts the mechanical gravitational sense of his body, the fleshier ones stumble. Odo’s combadge chimes. He presses it. Lore cocks his head, curious. Does he pin it to his flesh? Does a changeling have flesh? Can he feel? Sisko’s voice rings out. “Constable, you’d better get to Ops. Bring Lore. A bomb went off in my office.”

In Sisko’s office, one of Odo’s new recruits is running a tricorder over the explosive powder left over from the bomb. Papers are strewn everywhere, and the desk is in splinters. Sisko turns from the window as the wormhole opens and frowns when he sees them, palming a baseball. Lore quickly analyzes the new recruit’s face: it’s one of them that was arrested with the homicide victim and Tahna Los himself. He smiles quietly to himself. Their security is truly incompetent, if they let any old Bajoran resistance fighter in. It’s embarrassing they caught him at all. Then again, it’s hard to disguise himself when he has his brother’s face. He scowls to himself, annoyed. He came first: when his brother took his face. Sisko nods at Odo, who quietly sets a containment field behind him. Lore realizes they know. Perhaps they are cleverer than they look. Even a stopped clock hits on something right twice a day--something Dr. Soong would tell him. Sisko says, “Report.” Odo cannot hide his own smugness. “We have reason to believe,” he says stiffly. Lore quirks his head. Fascinating how even a shapeshifter cannot keep his emotions from working its way to his face: expression truly is a learned behavior, Lore thinks. Odo continues, “We have reason to believe that we have been infiltrated by rogue members of the Kohn-Ma sect, who are striking against resistance fighters who have taken a more moderate position since Bajor’s liberation.” Behind Odo, Bashir puts his hand on his phaser. Lore is amused to see that it is set to stun. The recruit stiffens, but continues to analyze the bomb sample. His hands are shaking. “Really?” Sisko says. “A threat that concerns even the Prophets, who don’t want their connection to Bajor severed. I suppose that makes sense. Recruit, do you have anything to say?” The recruit turns slowly. “Is there any point?” he says. “When even the Prophets are against you.” Sisko says gently, “Not against you. For Bajor. By any means necessary.” He looks at Lore. “Even using a machine.” Sisko nods at Odo, who puts his hand on the recruit’s shoulder and helps him up. He leads him from Sisko’s office and into the turbolift, solemn-faced. “What will happen to him?” Bashir asks. Sisko sighs. “He killed a vedek. You’re better off asking the Major about the limits of Bajoran jurisprudence when it comes to old comrades. But doubtless he will not be getting the same treatment as Tahna Los. And we will need to monitor where he is sent, to make sure the monastery is not being used as a hotbed of radicalization.” Bashir frowns. Sisko turns to Lore. “And now for you, our resident fugitive.” He smiles thinly, and Lore steps back. The containment field is still up. He realizes he’s been tricked--it was not just for the bomber, but for him as well. With newfound respect, he gazes steadily at Sisko. This team is nothing like Data’s crew. They are much, much trickier. “Oh, I hope I won’t be staying long enough to be a resident ,” Lore says, trying to play it cool. “There’s a whole galaxy to see, on the other side of the wormhole. And, well, the Prophets have taken an interest in me. Why don’t you toss me at the Dominion and see what happens?” Sisko is unamused but Bashir snorts. “No,” Sisko says, “I think not. You see, I was sent a top-secret message by Starfleet Command an hour ago--alpha alpha black gamma clearance. A certain secretive department wants you, Lore.” “Section 31,” Bashir says out loud. Lore is unmoved. He has never heard of them. Sisko continues, “And I don’t want them to have you. If you’re so despicable to make an alliance with the Borg,” his eyes flash, and Lore is chilled, “then I don’t want to see what Section 31 will twist you into. I believe in the Federation.” Those words sound hollow, even to Lore. “I believe in Bajor, and I trust the Prophets. I’m sending you through the wormhole, Lore. For the Federation’s good and the good of Bajor. Right to the colonies on New Bajor, where the electromagnetic net in the atmosphere is set to make androids such as yourself move a bit more slowly. And certainly too slowly to be successful in any escape attempt. May this time in contemplation be good for you, Lore. And better than the Borg.” He smiles grimly, and turns away from them to regard the wormhole once more. “Dismissed.”

Lore is terrified. Bashir stings him with a hypospray that makes his movement malleable and leads him into the turbolift and towards the docks. He tries to work his mouth, but nothing comes out. Bashir himself is stony-faced. He doesn’t approve, but he follows orders. Lore curses himself, he should have realized that Captain Sisko of all people is not to be trifled with, the man lost his wife to the Borg, of course he wouldn’t be able to work out a deal. He’s heard so many stories of people who have managed to bargain with the station’s crew, he thought that he out of all people would be able to come up with a deal. The turbolift stops and the doors chime open, and Bashir pushes him forward gently, hand at his neck, another prodding a phaser into his back. Lore wonders if it is set to kill. He stammers, “D-don’t--” as they march to the runabout. Bashir opens the door and regards him sadly. “You are magnificent, do you know that?” he says. “A truly human android. Even more than your brother. Fully flawed, emotive, angry. So you deserve a chance.” He walks him into the cabin and straps him into the pilot’s chair of the runabout. “I hope you take this one. It’ll be the last you get, but who’s to say it’s better than you deserve?” Bashir turns the runabout on and activates the autopilot. “Good luck, Lore. And godspeed. I hope you find what you need on New Bajor. Slowing down a fast-paced mind--” He exhales sharply. “Well.” He smiles. “I was genetically augmented, you know. Using a procedure based on Dr. Soong’s experiments. So I think I understand a bit how your mind works, and how it can go--not wrong, but how it is hard. Perhaps this will be good for you.” He pats him on the shoulder. “It’s better than Section 31, at least. Good luck.” The runabout leaves and Lore is left in the lurch as the stars spin away and the wormhole opens to swallow him, leaving the Alpha Quadrant far behind, and he cannot move as his mind slows in the odd electric silence. He wishes, he wishes, he wishes--and then time slows and he can only contemplate as a spectre taking the shape of his father looks at him and says, THE MACHINE IS OF BAJOR. THE MACHINE KNOWS.

[sleepymarmot]

DS9 season 6

[Season index: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 PS]

Here I get angrier and discourse-y

A Time to Stand

The Garak/Bashir scene (finally)... and Bashir looking like this... I feel blessed

when he talks about his “boyish smile” but cannot smile at all. that hit hard

aw Worf/Jadzia!

the Terok Nor dynamics are fascinating. I'm very impressed by Kira's willpower...

jesus fucking christ the Dukat/Kira scene :O D: 😨

why is Bashir doing mental calculations now, he's not Data

Rocks and Shoals

Kira's storyline about being self-conscious about collaborationism is great. In the previous episode we saw her trapped and vulnerable, especially in the viscerally horrifying scene with Dukat, and now we realize along with Kira herself that all of that is having it good.

Sons and Daughters

how did Sisko send a signal that Martok heard but the Jem'Hadar didn't?

Alexander lived on the Enterprise because Worf's parents were incapable of raising him anymore... I guess that was so inconvenient for the DS9 writers they decided to just ignore it instead of at least trying to invent an excuse.

"But the last time you defied him, he left you here to die!" "We talked about that. He admits he overreacted" bwahaha

Oh Alexander, so much secondhand embarrassment...

god, he gave her a dress, eww

oh my god, and he immediately re-gifts it to his own daughter, what a jerk

accepting Worf into the house of Martok involved much less ceremony...

why doesn't this episode address Alexander's age? did the writers assume, again, we didn't watch TNG? they could have said something about his grandparents protesting because he's about ten years old. something about Klingon children growing up very fast, and humans disapproving of child soldiers.

I don't understand how Ziyal can be so naive. Sure, she's kept unaware of the creepy sexual aspect of Dukat's advances (though I was waiting for Kira to snap and finally say "Your father keeps hitting on me, please don't force me to be in the same room with him"), but surely she must see why Kira finds his company uncomfortable and inappropriate! I do like that Ziyal is on his side again. And I enjoy seeing the continuation of Kira's storyline where she has to walk the line between keeping a polite facade and staying true to herself, gets too used to engaging Dukat&co on their own terms and has to take a step back to reassert herself.

Behind the Lines

Wait, if the Romulans have signed a non-aggression pact with the Dominion, why do they still allow Starfleet to use their cloaking device against it?

I've already been concerned about their open discussions of resistance activities, but a Founder's presence on the station makes it even worse! Sure, discuss your plans over a bar table that might well be a changeling...

Odo, for fuck's sake, she's going to learn all about the resistance from you...

"She didn't find out about the resistance, if that's why you're worried" in the same scene: "If she had some hidden motive, I would have sensed it"

Odo!.. >:(

Captain Dax!

Do the Cardassians still have the truth serum? If no, it's a giant plot hole; if yes, things are looking really bad...

Favor the Bold

oh god ewwwwww

why is Leeta making that noise

haha you go Kira

"We are way, way past sorry" good. unforgiving Kira is the best Kira

Odo's longing for his kind works so much better when the Founders are not on screen -- the things they actually say are so boring, one-dimensional and unconvincing... Though I find interesting that Odo's storyline mirrors Kira's in this arc: the female changeling manages to seduce him while Dukat fails to do the same to Kira.

Sacrifice of Angels

"DAMAR: I doubt he was working alone when he tried to sabotage the station. He must've had help. His wife Leeta, Jake Sisko, Major Kira. DUKAT: What are you proposing? DAMAR: That we arrest them. Keep them in custody, at least until the wormhole is reopened." Finally someone wakes up! I was expecting them to do this an episode ago...

"War is such thirsty work. Don't you agree?" "Perhaps if you didn't talk so much, your throat wouldn't get so dry."

Oh look! He's actually pretty shocked by the suggestion to "eradicate [an entire planet's] population"! Even this guy has standards.

"A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place. To force them to acknowledge your greatness" classic Dukat. this is his ideology in a nutshell

"Then you kill them?" I'm loving the discussion of the differences between the Cardassian and Dominion approach

"Perhaps the biggest disappointment in my life is that the Bajoran people still refuse to appreciate how lucky they were to have me as their liberator. I protected them in so many ways, cared for them as if they were my own children. But to this day, is there a single statue of me on Bajor?" how is it possible to be so deluded?! fucking incredible

"Link with me, Odo. Embrace the clarity" EMBRACE ETERNITY

Where's the Enterprise during all these battles?

haha Quark & Ziyal make a great team

"The only reason they haven't killed me yet is that I'm part of their victory celebration. Seven o'clock, Dukat makes a speech. Eight thirty, cake and raktajino. Eight forty five, execute the Ferengi"

holy crap, they actually detonated the minefield! I didn't expect that

LITERALLY DEUS EX MACHINA

(I'm beginning to think this is a predestination paradox and the wormhole aliens started taking care of the Bajorans throughout history because Sisko told them to...)

Shit, I thought Dukat was about to snap and kill her, but it's even worse

I didn't expect to feel sympathy for Dukat ever again after those scenes with Kira, but this show played me again. I guess he'll completely lose it now?

Did you really had to remind us that the trainwreck that was Garak/Ziyal existed?

Wait, please tell me this isn't Dukat's last appearance and he's not about to spend the last 1,5 seasons in an asylum?

You are Cordially Invited

Why does this Klingon woman have human teeth?

Ah yes, Jadzia is too proud and independent and should follow her fiance's totally reasonable suggestion to humiliate herself to fit better in his culture. fuck you

Resurrection

am I supposed to recognize this guy?

oh no it's a Mirror episode

I... don't... care...

ugh, her again

I wish I just fast-forwarded this episode

Statistical Probabilities

How did I know from the title that this is a Bashir episode...

lol my dude when Bashir gets his look on his face you know you're fucked

I can't believe Miles pretended to have work just so he could be in the same room as Julian... romance is not dead

Don't know what to think about this episode. There are some good conversations about ableism and intelligence, but that set of stereotypes and assumptions... It's like the final Sherlock episode. And it was implausible when they could read Damar so well in the first place. And the long-term predictions are a million times worse! Do they include variables like "wormhole aliens destroy the entire enemy fleet because Sisko asked nicely"?

Plus I don't like how this season portrays Bashir's enhanced intelligence... I thought he was just made smarter than average, not make mental calculations at the same speed as Data... Where did that come from. Why.

The Magnificent Ferengi

"May I help you, gentlemen?" lmao

"Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a nap."

"By the time the Dominion is done with you, all you'll want is a quick death." I love his serene tone haha

This was hilarious :D I really like this show's ventures into black comedy! Also Keevan looks exactly like Orlando Bloom and it cracks me up.

Waltz

Dukat's career has been through a lot of ups and downs over the seasons, and this is the lowest point ever that brings a new dynamic: Dukat so powerless that Sisko can afford to feel pity for him. I'm glad Dukat seems sane.

"A bottle of kanar and an Orion slave girl would be nice" ew

oh, so he has hallucinations. oh well.

"From this day forward, Bajor is dead. All of Bajor" Ouch. Sisko, I think you made it worse... I might have used the same rhetoric in Sisko's place, but damn, his final statement about Dukat's evilness rings pretty hollow since it was him who dragged "kill all Bajorans" out of Dukat's subconsciousness into the light. Like, I understand, when you're injured and trapped with an armed crazy fascist who tries to force you to praise him, you'd want at least the final satisfaction of telling what you think about him to his face, in no way I blame you for it... But if someone is mentally unstable and obsessed with proving to you he's a good person, and you reject it and instead goad him into exposing and accepting his darker motivations -- then don't say he is irredeemably evil? I can see how Sisko's rhetoric could have worked as reverse psychology -- his opponent would have started the speech about killing everyone, heard himself, stopped in horror and realized the error of his ways -- but Dukat didn't have enough self-awareness for that even in better times, and certainly not now. This was just giving your enemy ideas. Nice job breaking it, hero! When Dukat sabotaged his own redemption arc by joining the Dominion, it was beautiful, but when someone else does it to him... Idk, I usually like the Batman/Joker dynamic where the bad guy is obsessed with the protagonist and defines himself in opposition to him, but I'm not sure how well it works here... On the other hand, it has been a part of Dukat's character that he has an almost fourth wall breaking awareness of his role in the story as a likeable complex antagonist, so there is some poetic sense that he turns to straight-up villainy when someone convinces him that is the better role for him and he decides to live up to it. 

The sad thing is, except that strange last scene, I was absolutely with Sisko the entire episode. And contrary to his words at the end, I found it an excellent example of grey morality. I've talked about it a couple of seasons ago -- allowing the antagonist to plead his case and then explaining why he's still wrong -- and this episode dedicates a lot of time to this. We've basically already heard Dukat's self-justifications, but learning what exactly was his role during the occupation and what he has done differently that made him think he was so much better than the other Cardassians -- that's something I've wanted since the beginning of the show. Cardassians are my favourite part of the show because of their messed up ideology, and Dukat is the one character who keeps talking about it, which is why he's so interesting for me. (Initially, heavy focus on ideology was what I expected from Garak and his character arc, which is one of the reasons I was disappointed in them.) It's great how he gives a lengthy speech that does make him sound pretty reasonable and sympathetic for a minute, and then with a single line Sisko breaks the spell and makes him reveal the ugly racism under it all, the reason why Dukat is deeply wrong despite any good intentions: "From the moment we arrived on Bajor, it was clear that we were the superior race. But they couldn't accept that. They wanted to be treated as equals when they most certainly were not". But, honestly, this isn't exactly news. Dukat's always been a racist, a victim-blamer, an egomaniac, an opportunist, and this episode doesn't even touch the issue of Bajoran women. So in this episode, he says pretty much the same things as when he played a "morally grey" role, but now that suddenly means he's "not morally grey"? Because of some bat-swinging during a psychotic episode, and a final villainous speech based on an idea fed to him by Sisko? He's responsible for a genocide, that's bad enough -- you don't need to start blaming him for things he's not fully responsible for! One of my favourite things about Dukat is that his crimes mostly happened offscreen, before the events of the show, so his presence on screen was sort of a test of integrity for both other character and viewers -- can you still tell right from wrong without a visceral reaction to violence and suffering happening right now before your very eyes? The characters have always passed that test; but now, regrettably, the writers decided that the viewers cannot. At the beginning of the episode he's a war criminal half-mad from loss, and Sisko feels sorry for him; at the end of the episode he's a war criminal completely mad from loss, and Sisko thinks he's evil. I guess, this might be interpreted just as Sisko's version of Kira's stories at the beginning of the season, where she briefly forgets how much she hates Dukat, and by the end of the episode he gives her a reason to hate him even more. I guess it comes down to the first line in this liveblog that I wrote during the first minutes of the episode: when the enemy is neutralised, we can afford to feel sympathy for them, but as soon as they start posing real danger, compassion goes out of the window and our first priority is to stop them. Except, of course, that works for any enemy, they don't have to be "truly evil"... So my complaint about that line still stands. Besides, it really deflated the drama; five minutes ago we had Dukat delivering his mad king's speech with the Shakespearean levels of gravitas, and now Sisko almost looks in the camera and summarizes his experience with the dramatic equivalent of "That's as many of four tens. And that's terrible."

Alright, let's try to stop raging about the dumb final scene and say something about the actual episode... I wish this was a real courtroom episode without the madness -- but the imaginary Weyoun, Damar and Kira's arguments were very well done. Their opinions sounded authentic while the delivery was distorted by Dukat's point of view. Just look at the imaginary Kira draping herself sensually over everything... :D

Dukat has a special talent for making me feel terribly guilty. You know the parts from his final monologue about Bajoran "superstitions", how they "clustered in their temples and prayed for deliverance"? Well, as I dislike the episodes about Bajoran religion I kinda see where he's coming from, and now I feel like a Nazi...

Idk how I'd fix this episode. 

I'd like to throw out the mental illness altogether but then half of the episode stops working. 

If I couldn't invent a completely different ending, I'd throw out the final scene, letting Dukat's actions speak for themselves. 

Or there would be a final scene, but similar in tone to "The Ship", where Sisko'd be like "Whoops..." and also traumatised by the experience. 

Or, if it were absolutely necessary to state the moral of the story and remind the viewers that Dukat is Bad(tm), maybe he'd say something like "Yes, I gave him the idea, but everyone is responsible for his own actions, and blaming everyone but himself is what he wants and does, so I'm not going to". 

Maybe I'd end the episode with Sisko killing Dukat and the final scene being like "Generally I value life but you know what? No regrets". (Of course the best outcome would be if Kira killed Dukat but I've already been informed it won't happen.) 

tl;dr: There are some impressive scenes, lines and acting, but the episode is deeply compromised by its general intent, mental illness excuse and the final scene.

Who Mourns for Morn

Not the best Quark episode... Gags about Morn don't work for me because the prosthetic is so bulky the actor can barely move in it, let alone make facial expressions, and it's impossible to believe that guy becomes talkative, charming and athletic as soon as the cameras stop pointing at him.

Far Beyond the Stars

Finally, a classic episode that lives up to its reputation -- and an AU that's good enough that it does not require an explanation. (The Prophets... made an elaborate simulation of 20th century Earth... to inspire Sisko to fight on? Okay.) I feel that somehow this is the best story about Sisko as the Emissary so far, even though -- or maybe because -- it was only discussed indirectly. It works as a history episode, as an AU episode, as an issue episode, as a meta episode about Star Trek itself...

I'm a bit confused by not-Bashir's role as one of the white writers who just don't get it -- just another reminder of how little I understand the concept of race... I've never thought of him as white -- would he be, by 1950's standards? I get that the episode is specifically about antiblackness, but they did mention sexism against not-Kira, so why not him?

I tried hard and failed to recognize the artist -- turns out, it was Martok! I'd never guess...

I'm darkly amused at Odo as conservative, contemptible half-antagonist again (similar to the roles he played during both occupations and in Mirror universe). His conflict with not-Quark is still recognizable, not just superficially imitated without any of the substance (remember when Quark called Odo a fascist?).

Similarly, I almost laughed when Dukat and Weyoun showed up as racist cops -- just in case you somehow still aren't drawing parallels to the current events, the show does it for you... How sad it is though: a show filmed in 1990s about the 24th century remembering the 1950s looks like an immediate reaction to the news reports of today...  

It was a pleasure to see Kasidy in both worlds! I've missed her. She's such a likeable person, and has effortless chemistry with Sisko (and Benny).

Joseph was great, a beautiful variation on his role in Homefront/Paradise Lost.

I was impressed to learn afterwards that the writers all had real prototypes. So they’re based on a group of real people and group of fictional character at the same time, and both sets of influences are recognizable. That’s incredible. 

One Little Ship

"I love it. Let's go"

more enjoyable than I expected

Honor Among Thieves

ooh nice scenery

this is the kind of story I find hard to watch both because it's painful to wait for something terrible to happen, and because it's not very captivating

Change of Heart

ah yes, Bashir learned all the rules from half a second glance *eyeroll*

this is season freaking 6!!! you told us two seasons ago that Julian's crush on Jadzia is dead! what the fuck?

moral of the story: don't send married couples on dangerous missions toge -- wait, as I was typing, Sisko said the exact same thing lol

why are all Jadzia/Worf episodes so bad. why are all Jadzia episodes so bad. is this a conspiracy?! why is her every episode about almost dying? you know, at this point I'm kinda looking forward to it happening for real.

Wrongs Darker than Death or Night

What, you can easily travel back in time? Just like that?

I didn't expect this show to actually use the term "comfort women"!

Kira looks like she needs a bucket to vomit in... I may need one too...

*Dukat kisses Meru* *mine and Kira's vomiting intensifies*

let me guess, the episode will end with Kira realizing that "my mother deserves death for having Stockholm syndrome" was a bit too harsh

"Kira and collaborationism" is one of my favourite themes in this show istg

"Believe me, there's a part of me that wishes that I hadn't. But the fact is, no matter what she did, she was still my mother" I actually wanted to Kira to go through with the assassination! But then it'd create a different timeline and the episode wasn't about that. 

ok, I spoiled myself about Dukat/Meru so it lost the shock value, and I can see that it's incredibly contrived, but on the other hand it somehow managed to make Dukat's harassment towards Kira even more gross and creepy which is impressive

I have so many technical questions though. If Bajor has a freaking time machine why is no one using it in the war? Why is the Dominion not trying to get its hands on it? Why does it work differently than in "Tribbles"? Is it a closed time loop or alternate timeline? -- at the start of the episode, have Meru and Dukat met the time-travelling Kira or not? Dukat said he was the Prefect only for ten years but in this episode young Nerys looks about four and she certainly isn't a teenager at the end of the occupation -- how does all of that add up? Wait, if Ziyal was 13 by the end of the occupation, it would make more sense if Dukat was in charge for about 20 years and, roughly speaking, spent seven of them with Meru (as said in this episode) and thirteen with Naprem, and the line in "Waltz" is a continuity error -- but putting it this way sounds more wholesome than he deserves, since from the words of that one dude in this episode and a scene in "Things Past" I got the impression that those unfortunate Bajoran women passed through his quarters at a much faster rate...

btw remember when I was hoping that Dukat's mentions of his children to Sisko were intentional manipulation? now I'm pretty sure they were.

wow, TvTropes: "The episode itself... which is rather a letdown. With such a name, you'd expect some sort of horrible atrocity to be happening" -- you mean, MASS SEX SLAVERY, long-term psychological manipulation, prostituting oneself to a tyrant and learning to like it, and planning the murder of one's own mother -- these things are not horrible enough??? who tf wrote that entry

(btw, kudos to this episode for handling these heavy topics without going the exploitative shock value route like "Violations" that actually showed rape scenes on screen.)

also someone mentioned that Terok Nor is very brightly lit and now I can't get it out of my mind... why, set designers, why...

Something I liked: in the opening scene Dukat says: "Captain Sisko gave me the clarity to see beyond the lies, the self-deceptions that were controlling my life. He helped me see to the truth about myself. And now I'm going to do the same for you." And that's what happens indeed, even if not exactly in the way he might have intended. Sisko made him acknowledge the violence under the pretty words and justifications, and now we get to see the ugly true face of what Dukat calls -- and genuinely believes to be -- "love".

Inquisition

"Why would the Dominion leave your runabout orbiting the camp" well I'm glad the writers are aware of their plotholes... :D

"Captain, if Doctor Bashir had been involved in one or two questionable incidents, I could understand how you might be able to dismiss it, but the sheer number of incidents form a pattern of behaviour that can't be ignored" you could say that about literally any of the main characters lmao... every episode of any Star Trek series contains a questionable incident plot twist?? let me guess, it's set up by Sloan to make him confess

Second Skin 2

"And because you didn't want billions of Federation citizens to lose their lives needlessly, you agreed to provide us with information that would help us end this war quickly" heh, nice use of Statistical Probabilities

oh wow, Weyoun and his ship are actually real! I didn't expect that

the DS9 crew are all acting so strange, I guess they're part of the simulation too

"I admit it takes exceptional people to do what we do. People who can sublimate their own ambitions to the best interests of the Federation" heh, is this the final test?

wait, they kidnapped him THAT early? Bashir really should stop going to medical conferences...

this episode was pretty predictable after so many similar stories, but I do like these types of episodes, and this one utilised well the long-running themes of Bashir and secret service, and Bashir's idealism. And he got to join the club with Data, Riker, Picard, Dax, O'Brien, Worf -- am I forgetting anyone? Oh, right, Wesley -- that was one of my favourite episodes, actually... Oh, and I just rewatched the scene is the beginning where Bashir wakes up tired in the simulation for the first time, and remembered that episode of TNG where Riker kept losing sleep because aliens kidnapped him every night.

In the Pale Moonlight

Garak saves the day! I'm glad to see him live up to his reputation.

Actually, I don't think the plan was THAT immoral. Especially how it turned out in the end. The worst part was the danger to the Federation in case the forgery was discovered, but Garak took care of that. So ultimately, my only regret would be the use of that biomimetic gel in the clearly wrong hands. Call me cynical, but I fully agree with Garak that the price they paid was very small. Sure, for a Starfleet officer all of that must feel very dishonorable, but I'm sure the secret services of all major powers in the galaxy pull this kind of crap and worse on a fairly regular basis.* Hell, I think what Sisko himself did to apprehend Eddington was worse by my standards! And how is bribing Quark worse than blackmailing him, which Sisko has been doing literally since the pilot?! I think his guilt would have worked better for me if the plan failed and all of that were for nothing. 

* Actually, why WAS Sisko the one doing this? And not someone like the just-introduced Section 31?

On a less serious note, I love that Sisko isn't satisfied with the recording until someone talks shit about Dukat :D then he's like "mmm perfect"

I feel obligated to mention the quality of writing and directing! And the wonderful ambiguity of the final "I can live with it" -- I love things like this.

His Way

let me get this straight, Julian got rejected three times by the same woman but she started dating him after he asked a hologram for advice?? wtf. Miles is surprised by the latter part but I'm more concerned about "Bashir is repeatedly rejected and refuses to stop pursuing a woman" (what is this, season 1???! between that and the mention of his crush on Dax several episodes ago, certainly feels like that, and not in a good way) and also about "Bashir dates a woman offscreen because the relationship is so shallow it's apparently not worth showing but we need to remind the viewers he's Straight"

"Is that the best you can do?" "I'd like to see someone do better." "So would I."

"You're not exactly the most lovable person in the galaxy. You're not even the most lovable person in this sector, or on the station. Or even in this room"

how many of those dumbass songs must I endure?

I'm really bored...

ughhh this is embarrassing

and THIS is creepy

(at least Odo is better than Barclay and backs off...)

he can just go to any other holosuite and interrupt whatever people are doing in there? D:

oh god, he can also use the station's com line?! SOMEONE DELETE THIS PROGRAM IT'S GETTING REALLY SCARY

kill me. or kill this episode with fire

ughhhh it's finally over bye. the scene with Quark was very good, but the rest... how come Kira and Odo by themselves are probably the most interesting characters but their romance is this utter dreck?

The Reckoning

why doesn't the universal translator work here?

how did the wormhole animals get here, anyway?

(I’m keeping this typo lmao)

for once, Winn is absolutely right!!

did he actually break it?.. this is not a dream?.. Winn won't be pleased

it's episodes like this when I miss TNG, and Picard's total refusal to treat Q like a god

this is getting stupider and stupider...

take a shot every time Sisko claims to know something 

you know your story is bad when Winn is the most, and probably only sympathetic character in it (and Kira spends the entire final scene talking how bad Winn is? what?) Winn is being rational and ends up saving lives while Sisko keeps justifying his shitty actions with weak babbling about how "The Prophets want this, they work in mysterious ways" -- have they switched bodies while I wasn't looking?!

Valiant

Jake has a nice stylish outfit

That's strange... Why didn't they return to the Federation space after the war began? Will that be the point of the episode -- that they continued the mission on their own out of sheer hubris?

so this poor girl and the others spend months trapped on a tiny ship inside enemy territory because that guy wants to feel adult and important and likes to play captain?

so, they finally found one specific battleship they had been looking for for 8 months? and it happened the next day after Jake and Nog come on board? is that just because Nog adjusted the warp drive?

dude! your job was to gather info! if that battleship kills you, you fail!

The First Duty 2

...but a lot more bloody D:

this episode was better than I expected

Profit and Lace

aaaalright, here we go, let's see if this really is the Worst Episode Ever

why is Ishka wearing clothes that accentuate her breasts? the clothes in the previous episodes were so baggy I assumed that Ferengi women don't have boobs

"...brilliant Ferengi female. Do you know any?" I suppose Pel wouldn't be able to get here fast enough?

okay, Quark reluctantly doing his best to advocate for female rights is actually pretty awesome

are u telling me all Quark needed to be a better person was a little estrogen?

I actually... didn't find this bad for a Ferengi episode? and it was more interesting to watch than some other episodes in this season -- I was genuinely unsure what would happen and was rooting for everything to turn out well! 

Of course I'd prefer if Ishka made the case for Ferengi feminism herself -- but, at least, the narrative is on its side this time, unlike at least one previous episode. And this time she has more agency than in her previous appearances (Zek's lover/hidden mastermind and damsel in distress) -- she's using her position of power to implement a whole new progressive law, and it even seems like she made it to Zek's side for that purpose and domestic bliss was a nice side effect. 

Quark as a woman is an objectively transphobic gag, of course (and yes I know that it’s my privilege that allows me not to be viscerally upset by it enough to immediately ruin the episode forever). But I didn't actually find it as nasty as the same joke in "Facets", where the narrative and other characters used it to made fun of him, and the shot of his head on Kira's body in "Meridian"; here it's for greater good, and being in a woman's shoes (literally) gives him some perspective, plus nobody seems to think sex reassignment surgery is a big deal. Other characters criticise Quark’s performance of femininity in the same tone as Worf criticised others’ performance of Klingon-ness. Like, I see that this is fundamentally Bad, but I was preparing myself to be outraged much more so it doesn’t feel that bad.

And it's gross that Quark sexually exploits his workers and the narrative doesn't punish him, but that happened before in season 1... 

Unlike, say, The Reckoning, it doesn't affect the show's overall plot or lore in a negative way -- I'd even say it's the opposite because of the big win for women's rights on Ferenginar. (It shows a frustrating lack of progress in Quark's character arc, but a lot of episodes share this problem...) So, even though this episode is unfunny and largely offensive, I don't feel it's exceptionally terrible -- just another example of the problems this show has always had. I have more problems with stories that break the entire show, than isolated episodes like this which can be easily skipped and ignored.

Time's Orphan

what about the Orb of Time, wouldn't it help?

Keiko, that's a terrible decision

I guess the episode will end with both Worf and the O'Briens realizing this parenting problem is too difficult for them, and they'll do what they should have done from the start and re-rescue Molly

No, Miles, your plan is horrible. If it works I'll never forgive this episode.

I'm glad it ended well. But feral!Molly was obviously a lost cause from the beginning...

The Sound of Her Voice

Odo, are you being shitty on purpose?

I was worried when Bashir didn't want to talk at the beginning, but this is almost scary!

I suspected something like this...

Julian no...

“I really care about all of you, even if sometimes it would appear that I care more about my work” says the guy who spent two seasons running after everybody like “PLEASE BE MY FRIEND!!!11!”

This entire thing looks like Julian and Miles are about to make a public proposal to each other...

"Someday we're going to wake up and we're going to find that someone is missing from this circle" *looks directly at Jadzia*

Tears of the Prophets

*sigh* Okay, I'm emotionally prepared, here we go

*sees Jadzia on screen* no I'm not prepared

ughh why are Bashir and Quark being so gross

where has he been all this time?

"I don't hold you responsible for Ziyal's death. You may have fired the phaser, but it was Benjamin Sisko who forced your hand" ????? dude. this is a stretch even by your standards.

"You've gone from being a self important egotist to a self deluded madman" Weyoun is not wrong

(but you know acknowledging within the story that your writing is shitty doesn’t fix the problem)

Klingons and Romulans!

why must I listen to this stupid song and look at Bashir and Quark being shitty and badly written

Oh great, the wormhole aliens can somehow contact him whenever and wherever they want, no orbs or travels to the wormhole necessary. WTF?

I like how Weyoun and Damar roll their eyes at Dukat's nonsense. same

"I've immersed myself in the study of the Bajoran ancient texts, and I've come to realize that the wormhole is much more than the gateway to the Gamma Quadrant. It's the Temple of the Prophets" o rly??? truly an astonishing discovery

congrats on finally getting the Renegade eyes, Dukat

what is Garak doing here?

ugh. 

Dukat went from the embodiment of the best storyline on the show to the embodiment of the worst storyline on the show

At least Weyoun and Damar keep reacting to his every word as "That's nonsense" so at least someone inside the story doesn't like this plot as well. I think Dukat has passed them the torch of being the fourth wall breaking meta character...

...but, you know, if the wormhole would really close forever I'd be glad. of course they'll find a way to reconnect with their "Prophets" somehow

I interrupt the ugly crying to ask: how the hell would Sisko's presence on the station have saved Jadzia's life?!

"for the first time in my life I've failed in my duty as a Starfleet officer" uh, how?! 

this is the worst season finale in DS9

Ohhh man... The season started so strong I was overjoyed. I've always wanted more stories set on Terok Nor during the occupation, and didn't expect the show to deliver in this way! The change of status quo was exciting -- it really felt like Shit Got Real and a serious war was on and things would not be the same again! And Kira's little storyline about normalization of oppression and fighting it, first of all inside one's own heart, was great. But then it just went downhill...

Odo's betrayal made me lose all sympathy and trust towards him forever, and even without that, his character arc was greatly weakened by the presence of the Female Changeling, who is the worst combination of uninteresting and unlikeable. When the Founders are somewhere out there, Odo's longing for them is poignant, but when you see them on screen being bland and annoying, the magic just evaporates. 

An underused female character fridged to make a male character's arc less interesting: he loses his Morality Chain, his mind, and complexity as an antagonist. It's just so lazy. His main redeeming quality is the love for his daughter, and we're tired of writing bad people who still have some sympathetic motivations, that's too difficult, so let's take the object of that love away from him to make him Purely Evil(tm). And since the plot requires this rationalist character to do something OOC in the finale, we need to make him crazy or it couldn't happen. He's evil because of mental illness, he's evil because he gets himself possessed by a demon, he's evil because he has red eyes -- that leaves the viewer with the impression that his previous crimes weren't bad enough, that the writers think overseeing colonisation/genocide for years is tolerable but five minutes of hate speech & one minute of glowing red -- that's the real moral event horizon! Mental illness made him evil, huh? Take that trope and throw it in the trash along with Intendant Kira's Depraved Bisexual trope. Hey, remember when this show was about dealing with the effects of war and oppression, and Dukat embodied the different ways that oppression manifests? well now he's a comicbook villain with glowing satan eyes who shoots death rays 

The wormhole aliens are now suddenly Good Gods hijacking bodies and using them for Voldemort-Harry ray battles

The best-forgotten stupid tropes about hyper-intelligence are dragged from TNG and pasted onto Julian

The writers pulled out of their asses Bashir and Quark's unrequited love for Jadzia?? Bashir's crush was cute in season 1, but he got over it long ago, and Quark has always been just friends with her. Bashir had such a nice friendship with her, and now he's wishing that her marriage would fail so he'd get a shot, even though she was never interested in him in the first place? Fucking disgusting. Way to compromise his character.

And, of course, as the final insult, they fucking killed Jadzia for nothing.

So, let me count: Jadzia literally dead. Dukat's character almost completely assassinated, Bashir’s comes pretty close. Odo's character weakened. Lore and plot of the entire series fucked up. God. I have no words anymore. How do you ruin something so quickly?!