PATRON TAKES - DS9 S1E19

One of the best Cardassians with one of the best Bajorans

I hope you guys enjoyed this one. It’s considered one of the greatest episodes of Trek ever.

When I was young a saw the bajourns as jews and the cardassians as nazis. Now i watch and see bajorans are Palestinians and cardassians as Israel. Sad how you can substitute so many other societies in these roles as well.

From out of nowhere comes this banger, what an episode! Amazing acting from Visitor and Yulin. Easily the best episode of S1

Progress was a glimpse of the character that Kira will form into. This really opens the door wide for her future evolution. This is the first episode that shows how this series can cook when they take the fetters off of the writers.

An amazing episode of dramatic television. In the top 3 eps of DS9 ever. A masterclass in acting by the guest and a cunning script.

A truly excellent episode, akin to "Measure of a Man" in TNG. And yet, this isn't even close to the best DS9 has to offer.

In "Chain of Command" Gul Madred lets his own daughter watch Picard's torture carried out because that's how normalized torture is on Cardassia Prime. With "Duet" we find out about what are essentially concentration camps during the Bajoran Occupation. Marritza says Cardassia must admit its guilt. To me these two events are connected. If the Cardassians can justify torture and genocide of other people, it can also turn that hell onto its own people. Marritza isn't trying to save Bajor. He's trying to save Cardassia from itself.

Man, missed the boat on this one. Youtube comment when the time comes it is!

This is DS9's Measure of a Man. The first real, "Oh this is special" episode. Brilliant how so much of the episode is just two characters talking and it's riveting the whole time.

This episode plays as an allegory for the atrocities of WW 2 concentration camps. But it's interesting that our view comes from Kira, who is a self described terrorist. She isn't sorry for what she had to do to survive and is more than ready to hand this man over. But we see that she truly has changed -- as hinted at in "Progress" --- she is on the other side now. It may have been common sport to kill cardassians just because, but we see now her anger and fury over the ending sequence when Marritza is killed.

Best of Season 1 and a good example of how good DS9 can get.

Star Trek: Deep S Nine.

FUCK YEAH HERE WE GO! Strap in fuckers 'cause they don't care if you're comfortable this ride gets bumpy! Welcome Target Audience, the DS9 vehicle realized it could go off road from the safe and structured plots that worked for two shows and realized there's more out there to explore. Not all Star Trek should be like this, but I really like that this one exists and how tasteful they were with such heavy material. FUCK

Deeply moving and easily the best episode from season one. In fact, IMO Duet can easily go up against any other 'best of Trek' episode from any series, and hold up. A beautiful and tragic episode. Hard to believe this excellence is the result of a cheap-o 'bottle episode' to save money near the end of the budget for season one.

This is ONE of my favorite episodes of Star Trek period. This is absolutely fantastic. Kira is excellent but the guest star is phenomenal. In a way it feels like a court episode to me at times. The twists and turns this takes you. In anticipation of the weeks waiting for you to get to this episode since you started DS9 and my impatience is growing Ive watch this one like 8 times. I hope you love it!

Damned near perfect. My only complaint is the final exchange between Kira and the Bajoran killer. We didn’t really need them to make the subtext text at that point.

Unpopular opinion but I thought this was a really good episode

First time I've felt it necessary to post a take this season. This episode shows exactly why DS9 is great. DS9 is a slow burn. It takes a while to establish it's setting, but once the pieces fall into place, this show writes phenomenal stories. Duet is one of those. Excellent performance from everyone involved, great direction, excellently written and at a nail-biting pace. Welcome to dS9.

The best episode of the season, and one of the best of the whole show. Harris Yulin was brilliant as Maritza. Kira’s arc is in the forefront here. At the start, she’s where the drunk stabber is, by the end, she’s flipped.

A lot of people say this is the Measure of a Man of DS9 — the one where, from this point on, the show finally starts to take shape

Goodbye Ds9. Hello dS9.

THIS episode is a taste of what's ahead for DS9! Great Acting, morally grey subjects and resolutions played out. Top Tier DS9!

Fucking fantastic.

Duet is a great example that you don't need to spend a lot of money for an effects heavy story to have impact. Kira grows as she begins realizing that not all Cardassians are monsters, when she says to the man who stabbed Marritza that him being a Cardassian isn't enough. Harris Yulan (who sadly died on June 10) was great as Marritza, playing a man whose guilt eats at him, despite not having done anything. Guilt for what his people did, and guilt for feeling a coward for not doing anything. Definitely an S.

“Duet” was the first time this series exhibited any true potential. This episode is excellent. Good enough to earn its place among the best of TOS and TNG. The powerhouse performance by Harris Yulin as the Cardassian with a conscience forced Nana Visitor to bring her A-game and it shows. I’ve never comprised a Top 10 list for DS9…but this episode would certainly be high on that list! Absolute S-Tier! 🖖

Fun fact: It’s inspired by a movie called Man in the Glass Booth if you want the non-sci fi version of this. As for the episode itself, easiest S of my life, in my top 10 episodes for all of trek.

One of the best episodes of Star Trek ever. Highest of highs here.

Yes, writers. Build those cardassians. Build those Bajorans. Keep cooking! :)

AWWWWW YEAHHHHH

Finally the show begins, no seriously though this is what DS9 is about great character growth, multiple layers inside of a story, and amazing plot twists that will make your head spin. This series ups the quality on with each Season just wait until you get to Season 3.

A demanding episode. Watching it in germany hit even harder. My friends and I discussed it a lot and back then, in 1994, only 50 years after the holocaust, we had to think about all the people in their 70s who felt like Marritza

So many meh episodes recently, but finally we get to an episode many say is one of the best and I agree. DS9 may still not have it's legs yet for a bit but when looking back I think it's safe to say this is where the writers first start getting the show and what will make it work.

One of the top ten best episodes of all Star Trek, period. Whenever I think of DS9 S1's quality, there's always that caveat: "Well, at least they had 'Duet.'" Almost all of this episode's immortal greatness owes itself to the (late, great) Harris Yulin, who is most likely the single best cameo guest star in all of Trek (someone in early S4 of DS9 gives him the run for the money in another "Top Ten" episode, but that's another story). When I subscribed to y'all's channel, THIS was the episode I most look forward to you both reacting to. I'll echo what others say that this is the tone that DS9 thrives on. As for the ending, I suspect y'all might be confuzzled by the last-second violence. I think it's a thing in most Star Trek shows that the series' respective security officer HAS to suck at their job in order for things to be... interesting. This won't be the last time that Odo comes across as incompetent in order for cool plot shiet to happen. I suppose it just comes with the territory. Anyways, I hope y'all like it. And--if not--thanks for giving this show faith thus far~

DS9 fans say this is the first "good episode" of DS9, which is unfair to Progress, Past Prologue, Captive Pursuit.. But it's really one of the best episodes of the whole franchise so far. I expect two big cheers at the decision to end with the producer credits on the scene of the dead Cardassian instead of a station shot!

This episode is a real diamond on the rough that is season 1! If I have ANY complaint, it's that the stab wound should have been easily healed with Star Trek medical tech. But I realize the importance of the death to the show's themes so I give it a pass. Solid S tier here.

Here is your preview of how great this show gets. If you guys aren't blown away by this one, I will eat a tribble. S-tier stuff.

First truly great episode of DS9.

How many twists can you count?

This is why DS9 had to exist. While this story can succeed in TNG, the death at the end doesn't fit their tone. Yet this episode can't end any other way. Trek needs DS9 for that little extra breathing room.

not just one of the best episodes of season 1, or of ds9, but one of the best eps of star trek ever made

Just when it seemed DS9 was a tad boring, we get this. An amazing episode, and great character development for Kira. This one is DS9

The best episode of Season 1. A dramatic tour de force that keeps us guessing, with the highlights being Visitor and guest actor Harris Yulin, better known for his parts in Scarface, Ghostbusters II and Clear and Present Danger. RIP, he literally passed away a couple of weeks ago at time of recording.

What makes Maritza a selfless martyr and tragic character was that he intended for no one to know who he really was when he was executed. He wasn’t doing it for recognition, he legit was doing it for the Bajorans he saw murdered and for Bajor itself to heal, and for Cardassia to admit it’s guilt. Kira was right when she said he was a good person, the most interesting cardassian to show up so far

This is widely regarded as the season's stand out episode. It's hard to argue. One of the most memorable heavyweights in all of Star Trek.

Easily the best episode of Season 1, and the first to show a real glimpse into how great the show will become. Amazing performances.

One of the strongest stories in DS9 and the best Kira episode to date. This is the best episode of Season 1 in my opinion.

I note the Bajoran who kills Maritza just for being a Cardasisen. Too many people in the real world think like that.

Already in season 1, we have my favorite episode of the series. Marritza’s performance as Gul Darheel is terrifying and cutting. If he portrayed himself as a moustache-twirling villain, the act might have slipped sooner, and instead he says horrible and callous things that really hit to your core. A stellar premise, stellar acting, and a stellar final message that dares to paint Bajorans as bigoted.

Even if someone is of the view that Marritza deserves to be punished and disagrees with Kira's actions at the end that actually provides more evidence for why the episode is great - believing everyone who worked at the camp is guilty means you're now in the position of agreeing with the space-nazi file clerk and taking his side over Kira which is not the position anyone watching this imagined finding themselves in.

A wonderful episode. It actually gave me Silence of the Lambs (with a twist or two) vibes upon my rewatch. The ending feels abrupt but appropriate.

This is your "Welcome to DS9" moment. Now imagine this episode, but on crack, and you have a glimpse of what this show is going to become.

Congratulations, guys, on experiencing this for the first time. Getting a little sense of what the hype was all about?

We have reached a new shap! Great episode with a downer of an ending I predict Alex will enjoy. 🤗

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 standing ovation

In the Top 5 DS9 Episodes of all time, in the conversation for the Top 10 Star Trek episodes of all time. Harris Yulin with the greatest guest performance ever? I fucking love this episode. 11/10 S Tier++++

Best episode of season one for me. Easy S.

I've been waiting since season 1 of TOS for this episode. This is my all time favorite Star Trek episode. I think the performances of Nana Visitor and Harris Yulin throughout this are simply impeccable and never fail to make me cry. It's a perfect mystery, a perfect character study, a perfect allegorical tale, a prefect star trek episode. This when DS9 shifts into full gear for me.

A genuine masterpiece. But it is funny how the last TNG episode was Second Chances and this is Duet and the episodes would work with the titles flipped

This is a great episode to rewatch. When Harris Yulin is gloating about the atrocities committed at the camp, he really lays it on thick and it almost comes off as overacting. But when you realize he's playing a character who's playing a character, you really appreciate how layered his performance is. (Not to mention the fantastic job by Nana Visitor as well.)

With every commercial break this episode powered up by 100% !fucking fire!

The 'Measure of a Man' point for DS9 i would say. The first truly great episode of the show and up there as one of the best of the franchise. Nice we got here a lot earlier than TNG

Stand aside Odo, now here’s a Real Fascist!

RIP to Harris Yulin, architect of one of Star Trek's greatest guest performances. November 5, 1937 – June 10, 2025.

THE Episode. In-cre-di-ble acting by both Yulin and Nana Visitor, who proves here once and for all she's a more than worthy Ro Laren replacement. (if it wasn't obvious in 'Progress' already)

The two surest character combos in Star Trek are Kirk-Bones-McCoy and a person alone in a room with any given Cardassian. S.

Harris Yulin’s performance in “Duet” set the standard for every future guest actor on the series, and unleashed the potential of the show for every great story that followed.

If this isn't your favourite episode of the season, if this isn't the kind of trauma and character growth that episodes like The Bonding, Reunion, Inner Light and Lessons have taught me to expect you'll enjoy, then I give up trying to figure out what you're looking for. Top 5 episode of DS9

This is the best guest actor performance of the season right guys?

This is the best episode of all of STAR TREK (...so far). It never fails to make me tear up.

You both noted how good Kira's growth was after Progress. This takes it up another notch. Kira is often shown early as a hothead, unable to parse technobabble, and feels she has to fight everyone. She grows out of her Occupation identity, and nothing shows that more clearly than her final line.

first time Take comment, But had to go on record to say this is easily one of my favorite episodes from Harris Yulin's performance as Marritza, he does so well at both acting and acting as someone his character wasn't, to the post conflicted and fully justified feelings of Kira. Chef's kiss IMO

This is the episode I've been waiting for you to get to. Harris Yulin puts on a clinic and his performance has stuck with me ever since. East S tier for me.

TNG and DS9 danced around the Cardassian/Bajor real history metaphor up until this point, but I think here it’s finally made explicitly the Holocaust. The episode would have been great without the twist ending, but that final perpetuation of the violence is what elevates it to a classic for me.

We've all been waiting for this one! For me, this isn't just a master class in how to do a bottle episode, it's the first story that felt like only DS9 could have told it. They've spent the series building the Bajoran/Cardassian political backstory and now we get to see some of the fallout. Great vehicle for Kira given what we've learned of her character, and Harris Yulin (RIP) is the best guest star in a season of great guest stars. A highlight episode for the whole franchise, still.

A quintessential DS9 episode. Yulin's emotional and physical acting is outstanding, and Nana holds her own against it.

I suspect this is exactly the type of episode that Josh and Alex will appreciate. If so that's convenient, because most of us appreciate it

Easily a top 10 DS9 episode, if not top 10 in the entire Trek franchise. Kira is great, the guest actor is amazing, and the back and forth dialogue between both characters is just so good. The ending scene is the cherry on top.

This is why the Cardassians are my favorite species. This is the first time we get real insight into their psychology. They are a very 3-dimensional species. So much more than just "they're all evil space nazis." How many more Cardassians do you think are like Maritza? Are people like Maritza actually the norm, but we just never see them because they are too afraid to speak out?

Here we are at last. Not only is this the first GREAT episode of DS9, this masterwork is universally acknowledged as one of the finest in the entire Star Trek Canon. Nuff'said.

Harris Yulin didnt just cook with his performance , he was the whole restaurant!

Well made episode that is just poorly thought out. There is no such thing as "this concentration camp bookkeeper feels bad, lets cut him some slack!". Also, even the bookkeepers went on trial in real life. "I was following orders" was also dismissed as a valid defense. I'm sorry, this episode wants to be profound somehow with musings on guilt and forgiveness, but it misses the entire concept of "who cares if an Auschwitz employee feels guilty, It's irrelevant"

The first great DS9 episode.

Welcome to DS9's first masterpiece episode. This one is iconic. This actually became the standard for the writers later on. When they went to write, they'd ask themselves, "How can we top duet?"

This is not only one of my favorite episodes of DS9 and of all Star Trek but also of all TV. The delivery by Nana Visitor and Harris Yulin is just amazing to watch.

This is a story about how, when you make assumptions about another, it can blind you to the truth of that other person, and how blind hatred will destroy any chance of peace. It's the first truly great episode of DS9, I feel.

As much as you guys enjoyed "Progress," I'm sure you'll like this one a lot. Sometimes Star Trek is at its best when it's just a couple of good characters, great writing, and stellar acting -- no "pew pew" needed. This is DS9 doing what it does best: moral ambiguity, and there's no better character for these types of stories than Kira. An absolute S episode, so good that it is one of the most memorable of the entire series.

I love this episode and the performances, S tier stuff, but this part was wild: Sisko: I don't think you're objective enough to do this. Kira: I am emotionally invested in the outcome on a personal, ethnic, and national level. Sisko: Say no more.

In one episode the writers, actors, and director showed us what Deep Space Nine can do. Actor Harris Yulin (who sadly passed away on June 10 this year) knocks it out of the park in every scene. The ending scene stings but also brings us around full circle: as Maritza falls to the ground, Kira realizes she is changed: not every Cardassian is evil. Unlike the murderer, Kira is no longer someone who hates every Cardassian on sight. Side note: as a theater director I’ve always felt this episode would translate beautifully on stage, but the idea of casting someone to play Maritza in the shadows of Harris Yulin is enough to make me never want to pursue it! This one’s an S.

This is the episode which shows the heights of what DS9 can be, and it's a bottle show, with two actors talking to each other. and yet explores guilt, responsibility, and seeing people for who they are, rather than what they are, and let's Kira build hugely. Note, this is Armin Shimmerman's favorite episode, and he's barely in it, that's how good it is.

An outstanding episode. I love everything about it especially that ending. Comparing Nana Visitor here to Battle Lines is like night and day.

Here DS9 finally goes all in on Cardassians and Bajorans being stand-ins for Nazis and Jews (and others abused and killed during that era). We saw some hints of it in previous shows, but here they go ALL IN on it. It took them all season but it's a turning point. Also continues to improve on Kira so much.

This episode was made for absolutely everybody but I think it was specifically made for Alex and Josh and hopefully for us as well.

It's amazing how much better it works if you give a relationship time to cook. A definite stand-out in Season 1.

This is one of the greatest Star Trek episodes ever and represents what you can hope for the future of this series. It is inspired by the 1975 drama “The Man in the Glass Booth,” which I think you would really like.

For me, this was the episode that Kira stepped out of becoming a "Ro Laren type" and stepped into her own shoes. A powerhouse performance from both Nana and the guest that I still recommend to people who don't even like Star Trek.

I know Progress was very good but this is the episode when my favorite first officer in the entire franchise finally arrives. Welcome to DS9 guys.

Imo the first S Tier episode of DS9. Not only is it great, it really showcases the kinds of Story DS9 can tell that other Trek shows can't. Outside of maybe the Klingons and Romulans, no other relationship between two factions can be examined with the kind of nuance DS9 can with the Cardassians and the Bajorans

This episode is one I would show to a non Star Trek fan to show how good Trek can be. Even without knowing the backstory the two person play for much of the episode is top drama in any genre.

This is Fire Pen: The Episode. Every scene here is an S-tier. Banger dialogue, twists and turns that keep you on your toes, power house performances from start to finish. Gul Dukat showing back up. And HUGE development from Kira, with an ending that is the most Star Trek thing ever, while being one of the bleakest Star Trek things ever. THIS is Deep Space 9.

Very interested to see your reactions to this episode. This was the episode that convinced me that DS9 was going to be good. One of the best episodes in all of the Star Trek franchise.

One of the best episodes of Star Trek ever made, with a powerhouse performance by Harris Yulin!

RIP Harris Yulin (June 10, 2025). Thank you, sir, for one of the most impressive and memorable performances in the series.

This is the best example of what DS9 can do in season 1. Serious, heavy, powerful. I just hope you guys enjoy. So much so I’m sure you guys have probably heard this ep name before too.

This for me is the best episode of the season, So much of the Kardashians story and it’s layers and it’s revelations lead you through such an emotional journey that you’re right to feel a little confused when this episode is over This one for me is worth a rewatch every time

In my opinion this is the best episode of DS9 season 1

We were all waiting for you to get to this episode. This is what good DS9 looks like.

Hey, not to be ungrateful... but have you ever considered providing these updates as a single message? Like, when you schedule a bunch of Patron Takes reads, you just put a single message with a line and date for each one?