PATRON TAKES - DS9 S1E8

Excellent episode. Take special note of who wrote the teleplay.

Just a C level episode for me... Didn't hate it but don't love it. I always get frustrated with Dax not standing up for herself... But it is still an interesting episode with the past host stuff.

It was fascinating to learn more about Dax and about Trills. And I've always felt that the guest cast was outstanding which made this episode quite memorable to me.

Interesting concept, as it is hard to decide justice when someone is two beings with different pasts. I wasn't as hooked by this one as I feel I should have been, but I do really like the explanation of what a Trill is (does kind of contradict The Host, but whatever, I don't care about that episode.) 7/10, C Tier, Good. Below TOS's Dagger of the Mind and above TNG's Too Short a Season

The Bajoran judge is Anne Haney who played Rishon Uxbridge from TNG season 3, 'The Survivors'. Also best known for Mrs. Doubtfire and Liar Liar. She was a semi big character actress in the 90's.

This is one of my least favorite early DS9 episodes. It's somewhat worthwhile for the worldbuilding, and we do get to see some of Odo's investigation skillset which is enjoyable, but otherwise I really just find this one somewhat unpleasant to watch, and I think courtroom episodes are usually very solid. I think a big part of the problem is the particular "tone" with which carries herself in refusing to stand up for herself. It's supposed to come across as selfless and honorable, but to me it just sort of comes across as stubborn and almost self-righteous, which makes it a tough watch.

If Keiko's mother is 100 years old, how old was she when she had Keiko? But I guess it is the future and for the past 30 years or so it has been possible for women in their 60s to give birth via the help of IVF, egg donations etc. Also timeline wise, Keiko's mother would have been born in 2269 around the time of the third season of TOS and The Animated Series.

We going to court! 👨🏾‍⚖️

Aside from reinforcing some key character traits for some characters, there isn't anything particularly notable to be found here

Wait…is this the episode where Picard, Ro, Guinan and Keiko get turned into kids??

I found this neither here nor there, with TNG style writing where nothing much happens and the plot is in the exact same place minute 25 that it was in minute 10. Not awful, just something to have on in the background since you'll never miss anything important.

It's an Episode, but some world building. There is a bit too much of 'it's an Episode' in season 1 DS9, but I can forgive it cause what it leads to.

Love this one for DC Fontana’s one and only contribution to DS9. She raises a lot of great questions about what it means to be a Trill. Kudos to Anne Haney (Rashon Uxbridge from The Survivors) who played the 100 year old judge. A for “Anne crushes it (the gavel)

Hey, It's an episode about Dax... where she doesn't really do a lot. Good vehicle for Odo as an investigator though. Also, what a crazy thing to have to admit: "In my past life, I was... a horndog."

It bugs me how these stooges can board the station (which is a military facility), commit sabotage, assault Starfleet officers, attempt to kidnap a Federation citizen and get off scot free. If I were Sisko I would have arrested these guys and let them rot in the brig for a decade or two. They're from a non-aligned planet and this should nothing short of an international (interstellar?) incident. The response should be you just assulted my station, Dax isn't going anywhere. Go pound sand. Why not just fax both Sisko and Odo their extradition request? It's because the son knows it's bullshit from the start and should instead recluse himself from the case because is trying to satisfy a personal vendetta. (I enjoyed this one though, particularly the characterization of Dax).

A little bit of a retcon of the Trill vs how they were in The Host, but this episode raises some interesting questions, and helps us get to know Jadzia and the memory of Curzon a little better. Where it fails the sniff test is, they have another Trill testify, and NO ONE ASKS HIM what Trill law says about holding a symbiote responsible for crimes of a previous host. Are we to believe this question has never come up in all of Trill jurisprudence before?

I think this is the first really good episode of the show. It’s a great character piece, and the various actors get to shine. I love the 100 year old judge (returning actress from The Survivors)

This wasn’t an episode I remembered until I just looked it up. Didn’t make an impression with me back then I guess.

Dax.

I know you'll enjoy the court and the feisty no nonsense judge, but this one feels to me like they said "People liked Measure of a Man, right? So let's do that." I like the question and story, but it felt too much like copying TNG's homework.

Always liked how this episode used the station's special legal status (being under Federation control but still ultimately being Bajoran) to its advantage, it makes the setting all the more unique compared to if it was just set aboard a normal Starfleet station

C for Convenient.... that Dax turned out to be innocent. What would have happened if Dax was guilty? I would have liked to see Sisko struggle with a very difficult moral dilemma. The Bajoran judge was played by the actress who played the wife in TNG's "The Survivors".

A new kind of Trek court episode. We aren't told what is right and there's no real ruling.

D.C. Fontana was actually four years younger than Peter Allan Fields, but it still feels like a teamup of writing standouts from past and present.

One of the better episodes so far that I just realized DC Fontana actually is credited as a writer on. Nice of them to bring back the GOAT female writer to do a focused woman character episode early in the run.

Granny Judge is my spirit animal - imo the episode doesn't start until she walks on set

Just realized this is the first time Klingon coffee was mentioned. Loved seeing Anne Haney back as the Bajoran Judge this time.

Classic exploration of morality in Star Trek. And it’s good that we don’t get a definitive answer.

This episode takes the goofy premise of the Host and begins to craft an interesting lore around the Trill. It’s not perfect but there’s a lot here to like. I like the final scene, but in hindsight for an episode focussing on Dax it kinda works better focussing on other characters.

Not the most captivating episode IMO, but we were due some Trill lore, so it serves it's purpose. We also get Bajoran Judge Judy. Regardless of whether the past host, the symbiote, or both are responsible for a murder, I can't see how it's fair to punish a new host who would have been unaware of the crime prior to joining. I think the only fair solution in that case is to simply not transfer that symbiote to a new host whenever the current one dies.

Ironically I think this episode does more for everyone else other than Dax, maybe others will think differently, but this felt like more of a Sisko or Odo episode than hers. I really liked when Benjamin cited Jadzia's personal accomplishments and she smiled and looked down, felt like he was appreciating her and not just the symbiont of his best friend inside her. B for Benjamin

B for background lore on the Trill, and a good grounding for Odo's character as not just a 24th Century wild-west sheriff, but a competent detective and lawyer too.

This is the kind of episode I don't really like. Will one of our main characters be found guilty of murder? Obviously not. It doesn't help that they did a similar "Did he kill him?" plot with Odo just a few episodes ago.

I wish this one ended on a bit more of a resolution. Maybe they rule that Trill can be absolved of crimes with the next host and maybe Curzon was guilty and Jadzia just gets away. Maybe they rule the other way. How is this not a law they already have as a society? Wish it had more of an ending.

A much more interesting take on the Trill, in my opinion, than TNG's "The Host". The blending of personalities between symbiont and host has a lot more dramatic potential than TNG's version, where the symbiont essentially just takes over completely.

Very interesting take on a courtroom episode, and raises some puzzling questions about guilt and crime that really don’t have any real-world applications.

When this was airing, I had been banging my head up against the wall wanting to know more about Dax and the Trilll and they finally delivered. I like how proficient Odo is as a detective!