UNCUT - Duet (DS9 S1E19) | Star Trek Journey 274

DS9 sex scoreboard catch up version No scores that I saw (remember I am only catching up with the short versions) The sex score board Chief 1 Keiko 1 Quark 1 Odo 1

It's good but its FAR from my favourite episode of Star Trek and certainly not even close to the best of DS9.

It is a fine episode but the BEST DS9, let alone the best of the franchise? Not even close. I can’t even fathom how ANYONE could think that, let alone more than one person. My god. Please rest assured, there are much greater heights upcoming. This is a great episode but honestly isn’t even in the top 10. As I said before you started this, season 1 is all about the setup.

Harris Yulin also played a minor but very memorable character in the series Ozark late in his career.

Gul Dukat - Marc Alaimo (“ah-lie-mo”) (Italian last name)

Great review guys! Got goosebumps when you saw the episode end on scene!!!

Another thing about the ending is the assassin got by Odo easily. Like Odo was a security guard in wrestling

Just off the top of my head, I can already think of at least one episode in season 2 that's just as good as Duet if not better, and you can argue that season 2 has multiple episodes that are on par with it. Those episodes just aren't as iconic. And it's hard to compare episodes that are very different from one another and excel in different areas. Plus it's possible that you'll find some season 2 episodes better than Duet that most fans gloss over.

I honestly forgot that Gul Dukat was in this episode.

RIP Harris Yulin

Kira got a uniform update for this episode.

I skip all episodes to get to this!

I’m 14 mins in and struck by Josh’s eyes being lit up with this one, nodding away. Phew! I totally forgot the vivid description of rape as a weapon of war and people buried alive. It’a quite edgy for Trek. Atypical for a relatively developed race to have a death penalty too, especially when they probably want to fully join the Federation. In the 90s this was apropos to the occasional Nazis still being located and prosecuted for war crimes. Well written and directed. Lots of unusual close ups of the set too. Great timing where Sisko goes to the cell to question him and appears on Odo’s CCTV at the cells in a continuous shot. Those brown pillars around the Promenade windows are very bumpy. It’s a shame they wouldn’t let Kira figure it out without Odo as she needs a win as first officer. She wasn’t allowed to make good on her promise to be impartial as she was so resistant to evidence. Sisko contributes nothing though which is good. But that’s what you get for leading the show with a Commander instead of a Captain!

Josh, you have poor luck with banger episodes being spoiled (in terms of them being loved not what's in them). I really wish people would think before posting comments, especially on Youtube. But yes, as many have said, this is a glimpse of what's to come, not even remotely close to the best DS9 has to offer imo.

This is the best way I can put it: I remembered Duet being an amazing episode, and was shocked when I saw it was a S1 episode. It belongs later in the show, but somehow works this early. That's what makes it really stand out.

I think Duet is considered one of the best because in hindsight; after seeing the entire series run, it can be viewed as being on par with the best the series has to offer. It took TNG till Measure of a Man to get there, in my opinion. They hit it out of the park and found their space legs here.

I feel like the only thing this episode is lacking is a stronger performance from the Bajoran assassin, he was a little one note to me. If he had been more subtle it would have been a perfect episode. 9.9 out of 10.

Re: is this the best episode, or are there better ones, this is arguably the best episode if considered on its own, but many other episodes might be this episode "on crack" when considered as part of the overall fabric of the series.

Bet the Cardies used Alligators

Did Alex just use the Both Sides Defense oh no, I mean this guy broke because he stood by and didnt speak out,. The I'm just following orders defense don't work. In the End Miritza was just as bad, and subconsiously he knew that

This Is DS9, not that they don't have their own clinkers, but more often than ot te characters are fantastic, and this is a classic story that unfortunatey resonates even more today as we become the Gul Da heel's

Much like I consider The Inner Light a great episode but not even in my top ten of TNG, I think Duet is a fantastic episode but I still wouldn't put it in my DS9 top ten. Not because those episodes are bad in anyway, but other surpass it for me. It does feel like the show's arrival though. Great comparison to measure of a man in that way. Excellent reaction and discussion, fellas.

On the point of why he'd pick a guy that most of Cardassia knew was dead for this plan, why not? I think he figured that the Bajorans wouldn't take the time to do that much investigation. Kiera was pretty much ready to hang him as soon as she heard he was Dar Heel (Ok, not sure how to spell that). As was the Bajoran minister that contacted Sisko, it was only Sisko insisting that this be investigated before the guy was handed over to the Bajorans that forced such an investigation. Had the federation not got involved he would've been hung before anyone even asked the cardassians about it. As for why he told the truth about who he was first..... well.... I guess because Dar Heel or someone like him would never travel back to Bajor under their real name. That would be suicide, so he had to make it seem he was lying about his identity initially, as that's what the real Dar Heel would've had to do if he did travel to DS9/Bajor.

It's Gul Dukat, Alex, not Gul Ducet. You confuse him with Gul Macet. I wonder why? These two don't look alike at all. LOL.

Wow, perfect comparison between Duet and Measure of a Man. There are plenty of incredible episodes ahead. They're great in so many different ways. Very excited for the months to come!

Best episode of Season 1

Maritza wanted the Bajorans to “catch” Gul Darheel through their own efforts. That way the Bajorans would feel a kind of triumph in discovering his “deception” and do their best to bring him to justice. Also, Maritza was just an expert in filing, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t be the kind of person to craft a perfect supervillain scheme. It makes sense that plan isn’t perfectly thought out and his story is ultimately full of holes.

Most of people (like me) putting duet in top 5, are ones that realise the best of ds9 are the character driven episodes, and dam this is a gem Are there more epic episides, sure. Are there episides that explore the gamma quadrant, sure. Are there episides with jaw dropping moments, yeah! Are there episides where you ask how they did this on TV budget, god yes. But I tell you what, I'd take an episode of two actors on top of their game, over any of the shinny newer episides, every time . :) Great reaction guys

Stop and think about how many different kinds of Trek episodes there are; from character dramas, to mysteries, morality tales and so on. 'Duet' may be the best of its niche category, but there are so many other categories left for DS9 to blow out of the water. Saying 'Duet' is the best DS9 episode only means that this kind of episode is your favorite kind of episode. DS9 didn't peak early, it's not downhill from here, not by a mile. 'Duet' is just the earliest example of everything coming together and just happens to nail everything you could ever want from this particular episode archetype.

“Welcome to DS9.” You’ll hear that in the next episode, in S2, S3, and S4. I wonder which you’ll feel is merited once you’re done with the series.

As already said in the patreon takes, I think in germany this episode hit really hard. When we saw it back than in the 90, it was "only" 50 years after WW2 and every old man in the 70s could have been a small piece in the killin machinerie of the 3rd Reich who now was feeling like Martiza. It is a really good Star Trek episode, not only an S tear DS9 episode. Regarding the discussion if this is already peak S tier: nah, everyone has still his personal favorite episode and that is exactly the beauty of Star Trek! It can touch different people in different ways! I for myself like the next episode more than duet ;) But also I think that Star Trek 6 is the best of the movies ;) The idea of Star Trek is to have so many concepts and episodes, that everyone of us can easyly pick his top 50 for every show. Well I'm looking forward what you all think of my personal favorite DS9 and TNG episode, both are still to come :)

Kira got a entire season worth of character growth from this episode

As to the picture from the mining camp. Marritza is a an expert filing clerk, which requires extensive knowledge of computer systems and information processing/sharing. Guess who ensured that photo was going to be discovered.

I don't agree that Marritza 'lost his mind'. He is deeply traumatised. He has survivor's guilt, etc. But he is capable of concealing this and initially passing himself off as just another functional person. He is clearly evaluating calmly his performance when Kira storms out of the holding cells. He adjusts his performance as needed to provoke Kira's motivation to see justice done. There's nothing random about his pitching of his evil and guilt. His plan to atone obviously isn't exactly rational, but it is emotionally understandable. His emotional breakdown doesn't result in mental collapse. He's broken, not insane.

Hope this has whetted your appetite for how fucking fantastic Deep Space Nine is going to be.

The speed is off to me.

So nice I watched it twice

So you don’t want to hear how great (redacted) is or the arc of (redacted) or about the gray smoke….(kidding there is no gray smoke….)

Why would Maritza lie if he wanted to be caught? Because welcome to Cardassians my friends! Cardassians are master liars and manipulators of people. Both with their own minds, and with others minds. And they're perfectionists. And they pride themselves on all of these things. They view it all as a sign of intelligence, and they highly value intelligence. You saw some of this with Chain of Command, but you're really getting your first glimpse into Cardassian psychology here. If a Cardassian decided to pull something this elaborate, they're not going to half ass it. They're going to make their larp as believable as possible and play a game of 4D chess with you the whole way to get you to believe what they want you to believe. He lied because he knew it would be more convincing if they "exposed his lie." And he knew they'd expose his lie because of course they weren't going to be satisfied with him being a filing clerk. He knew they'd turn everything upside down trying to investigate every word he said looking for something more because they WANTED there to be something more. He wanted them to find what they wanted. He even told Kira all of this once she found out and asked him why he lied. He was being truthful there. He knew eventually somehow they'd find out who Gul Darheel was, and they'd put two and two together. Lying at the beginning made the whole act all the more convincing. The real Gul Darheel would have never just walked onto the station and admitted everything. That would have made the Bajorans suspicious. But lie at the beginning and have the Bajorans expose him, NOW they know it has to be real because THEY discovered it. It's inception of an idea. If you pay attention to the Oracle in the Matrix movies, this is exactly how she manipulates too. She convinces everyone that the path she set them on was the result of their own choices. He knew the Bajorans every move. He was actually trying to manipulate them in order to convince them that a lie was the truth. But the twist is he was trying to do that not to be malevolent, but to help them get as much satisfaction as possible from his death. And yes, he probably was starting to go a little mad from years of unresolved guilt and desperation. Or maybe not mad. Traumatized would be more accurate. That's why the plan didn't really make sense. Or did it really? Maybe his plan was just to embarrass Cardassia into acknowledging it's guilt. The worst thing for a Cardassian, besides losing their mind, is to embarrass them. Or expose the mask. Him claiming he's Gul Darheel while spouting out all the atrocities he's proud of (atrocities which the Cardassian government denies) would certainly embarrass them. Which brings me to another thing that this episode touches on, but always gets overlooked. This episode actually presents the argument of Holocaust deniers, and even seems to entertain it for a while. Of course, then it comments on just how messed up that is, and how messed up Cardassia is for downplaying the occupation and acting like the atrocities didn't happen. But it adds to the realism showing the other side.

As always the personal Preference is different. But to say i hope their is better DS9 than this is wild for me. ^^ Top 10 Star Trek Episode for me. But the comparison to "Measure of a Man" is really Spot on. Really a starting Point for DS9 and you will find your own S+ Episodes for sure. :)

DS9 has begun

There's a throwaway line in this episode that kind of explains why there were holes in his plan. "This provisional government of yours sure works slowly. They should have dragged me away in chains by now." He expected to already be on Bajor facing a trial. And he hoped that by admitting his guilt and antagonizing his prosecutors, that the Bajorans wouldn't look too deeply into his story and expedite his execution. Still not a perfect plan for a lot of reasons, but he really did not expect Kira to actually investigate further after he confessed. Which of course is also why he sought her out and antagonized her to such a degree.

John de Lance as Q, and Marc Alamo as Gul Ducet!

In my opinion, Duet may be the best first season episode of any Trek series from TNG to Enterprise. At the same time, there are plenty of DS9 episodes to come that I would personally rate more highly.

I’m sure everyone had this episode circled when you guys started DS9.

This is the season 1 reaction I’ve been waiting for. Easily the best episode of year one. And don’t worry guys - there are too many “S” tier episodes of DS9 to even count.

I only saw this episode for the first time about 3 weeks ago and was blown away, not gonna lie that scene where Marritza breaks down made me shed a tear. Can we have an honourable mention for the amazing score? Holy shit, great episode!

It's not the first good episode of DS9, but IIRC, I think it's the first episode that deserves the S grade.

It's so satisfying to see this one hit for you guys the way that it hit for so many DS9 fans. Good stuff. I'm so excited for what's yet to come!

While this may not be the best episode of DS9 (although it belongs in the debate), it's the first truly great episode.

Cardassians get by far the best guest actors of any alien species.

I'm with the comments that this episode is the doorway to the great episodes but not the best. The later seasons are able to go places that Star Trek as a whole wasn't ready or able to explore yet and needs set up, much how knowing the TNG cast in S6 helps those hit harder. The show gets VERY good at episodes that "end on the scene" with either heavy hitting mic drops or uncomfortable ambiguity.

I have been waiting for this since TNG boys LETS GOOOOOOOOO

You finally made it. Congrats

I thought it was interesting looking at the timeline of events. 6 years ago, Darheel died peacefully in his sleep. During the following year, Marritza underwent his facial alteration before taking an academy teaching post. The dissatisfying end of Darheel was almost certainly the catalyst for Marritza's plan... it must have infuriated him that Darheel didn't suffer for his crimes, so he saw a way to kill 3 birds with one stone: to end his tortured guilt over his own failure to prevent the atrocities, to publicly enact the punishment Darheel should have received, and to force Cardassia to admit its sins against Bajor. And maybe even to give Bajor the satisfaction of justice. Tragically, the only outcome that succeeded was the one that deserved fulfillment the least. A great story.

"you're on the set of a show... it's not as good as your show.." haha its funny I cant wait for the apology when they finish ds9, the best trek series ever made

This may still be the best episode. The first of many?

I'm surprised nobody has talked about comparisons between Gallitep and Auschwitz. But I'm not through your post episode review yet.

Keep in mind, Maritza personally knew and worked with Darheel and probably men like him; his performance wasnt random-he was asking himself if this was what he was.

And yeah, there's probably been 6 or 8 TNG eps just in the first 5 seasons where a large number of people said it was their favourite(MoaM, Q Who, Drumhead, BoBW, Family, Redemption) and none of that stopped you from finding TNG S6 to be your favourite Trek season so far. Hell even Aquiel couldn't ruin the season for you. Some eps are just going to be hyped like that. It hardly means it's all downhill from there. As with all matters of opinion, YMMV.

You know, I'm realizing on this run through DS9, just how little Dax was used in S1, and when she was how off her character felt. Back in Hide and Q, a lot of people pointed out how Data's speech when he rejects Riker's gift was the first real glimpse of where the character was going, and I very much feel the same is true of Dax in that scene on the promenade. This is where the writers and Terry started to figure out how to write and play Dax as both 28 and 300+ years old at the same time, and it worked great. Tyranusfan explained perfectly why Marritza didn't just march onto the promenade and say "yup, Gul Darhe'el, that's me". It would be way to transparent and raise a ton of questions. He had to sell he was hiding it and only after it's revealed play into the whole "if I've been found out I may as well brag" act. As for why he chose to impersonate someone who was very publicly known to be dead, I think there are a few reasons. First, he can't well impersonate someone who's alive and currently walking free on Cardassia, nor does he have the resources to kidnap someone like Dukat and drag them to Bajor(plus Dukat was walking around freely on DS9 in the pilot so that wouldn't work). It had to be someone who did some really messed up shit, not just some random guard who was a small player in the atrocities. He needed to play "the Devil". Second, while I'm sure he knew Darhe'el being dead would be revealed, he no doubt assumed, and he was nearly correct, that the Bajorans would simply assume the Cardassians were lying to secure his release. Finally, he probably wasn't entirely objective in his choice. Marritza may have had no choice to be at that camp. For all we know Cardassians have conscription, and he was assigned to Gallitep and had no means to change assignments. He was clearly traumatized but the things he saw and heard in the camp and probably had nightmares about it ever since, combined with guilt over his own cowardice(a bit of a mirror to O'Brien's guilt over being brave and doing his duty, but being disturbed by having killed). Marritza HATES Darhe'el, and he hates himself for turning a blind eye to the things he saw. He wants to punish both men. He wants to punish Darhe'el by destroying his legacy and giving the Bajorans the satisfaction of executing him. And he wasn't to punish himself by making sure he's forgotten. Like he said "Marritza's dead, he deserves to be dead". So I think being so emotionally compromised explains any logical failings in his plan. As for dying so quickly from being stabbed, I'm assuming the knife was probably coated in some particularly deadly neurotoxin that there's no antidote for, since a simple stab would, even to the heart, might have a rather high survival rate considering they could carry him into the infirmary and have Bashir start working on him in like 20 seconds. Probably wanted to make sure they didn't get the chance. Duet makes great use of Dax in that one scene, Odo for his investigation and being able to get what he wants out of Dukat, and of Sisko for walking that fine line between due process and not pissing off the Bajorans. But ultimately this is Kira's episode, and when you consider where she was in he view on Cardassians at the start of the season, or even at the start of this episode, it makes the growth we see from her even more stark. After everything she's seen(and I praise the writers for not sugar coating it), it would be pretty understandable for her to unapologetically hate Cardassians in general for the rest of her life, but she doesn't. No matter what THEY did, she won't let it destroy HER. She chooses not to be blinded by her pain, and to recognize that simply being Cardassian isn't reason enough to hate someone. Kira is Sisko's first officer, but even her title of "Bajoran liason officer" clues you into the fact that like Spock being more the science officer than anything, that's not her role in the show. She's here to remind us this isn't a federation station, and that Bajor is a central part of the show. But while Kira might not be my #1 example of what an XO should be, the fact she chose to grow beyond the things she saw during the occupation, to be better than that, is the reason she's one of the trek characters I respect the most.

Chief was linking to the Bajoran archives, the only photo they had of Gallitep. The Bajoran women helping him isn't a totally random character, she's been around, presumably is the head of the Bajoran engineering staff. Like Kira to Sisko, O'Brien is the head of engineering but she's the Bajoran head of engineering. We've seen her working with the Chief the last few episodes

Y'all don't seem to remember but you actually like the first few episodes of DS9

The one we've been waiting for. This is really like DS9's "Measure of a Man", the example of how good DS9 could be. Looking forward to watching this one with you guys

Absolute kino.

Well, if he HAD been the real Darheel, he wouldn't readily admit who he was, knowing that the Bajorans wanted him for war crimes. If Maritza had come on board roaring "kill me if you dare!" then people would likely just think he's crazy. Letting them "uncover his lies" is more authentic. He's playing a part, and he's trying to be as convincing as possible. In his mind, he's also expecting a broadcast trial, and he has to be convincing enough to indict all of Cardassia in order to achieve his goal.

Alex: "I want to give this an S, but it's season 1, so..."

The very best episode till now for me. I feel for this man and it still also gives some more insight into the real cruelties committed by the Cardassians on Bajor. Also, if anyone still wonders, 1:1 parallels to Nazi Germany with the small difference, that they did not loose Cardassia but merely had to end their occupation on Bajor and the besieged sectors. Great acting, nice twist, believable motivations for all characters.

I'd only seen bits of this episode beforehand (obviously I knew of its reputation), so it was FUN to watch it fully through with you! Now I have, I think the high regard it has with the fanbase is more for the acting than plot? FYI, IMDb ratings have three DS9 episodes higher than 9, then four episodes at 9. This episode is one of the 9s

Well, yes

This episode has rings of TOS episode The Conscience of the King and Kodos the Executioner.

Wasn't actually the first episode to end on the scene. Dax, Battle Lines and Progress all ended on the scene, they just faded to black and then showed the credits rather than superimposing them over the scene. Close enough.

Oh, I just loved this. The shape of things to come when this series hits the highs (and there are a LOT). Just wonderful.

Always love to see the return of "Gul Ducet". I wonder if he's related to Dukat and Macet, I see the resemblance.

A lot of people praise Harris Yulan for his performance here, but I'm totally team Nana Visitor on this one. She really gave a stellar performance. Way back in the day, people on the internet were mad that it didn't get her an Emmy nomination. And back then, the Internet basically was a lot of Trek fans.

Fantastic episode! Harris Yulin is incredible as Marriza > Darheel > Marriza

For me, all of a sudden, something is wrong with the timing on this episode. :) Somehow the Patron / YouTube video is running a little bit faster than all of my copies (Paramount+, Netflix, European DVD copy). All the episodes before were fine, except for different cut orders in one epsiode. It's especially funny with all the music because it's like one quarter or so off the regular. Sounds superfunny when the two audio tracks from my copy and your copy merge. :D

This is the peak of Season 1 for me, by far.....but not even in the same league as what is to come. :)

Ok, for reals this time, this is THE LAST bad episode of DS9. Only can go up from here.

Love the fact there is such an extensive makeup for a character who just appears on a viewscreen for a couple of minutes. Outstanding episode.

Don't worry about this being the peak of the series (for some it might be and that's fine, but there's so much yet to come). Duet is to plenty of later episodes as Mt. Fuji is to the Himalayas. It stands out on its own as a fantastic episode (especially amongst the rest of the season) and is easy to pick as a "best of the show" for that reason, but there are many other episodes that may reach similar or greater heights for you.

Josh & Alex, in case you don’t know and would find it mildly interesting… the actor that plays the Cardassian Gul Dukat was the main guest actor who played in the card game in “Time’s Arrow Part One” (your favorite episode) at 22:30. 😁

I’ve never been nearly as enamored of this episode as most of the fandom seems to be. Do I love the story it’s trying to tell? Yes! Do I like the balance of the plot threads? Mostly. But the guest actor’s delivery always falls kind of flat to me, and I don’t even think it’s his fault! When he’s given something subtle to work with, his voice and delivery are excellent. But the lengthier monologues he was given to work with just… aren’t great. :’D I *could* chalk that up to his character just not being able to execute his plan as well as he wanted, to preparing so much for the role that he wrote several overblown speeches. But. Honestly? That’s a cope. The episode would be stronger if either: 1) he’d been more subtle and skilled at his attempt, or 2) the other characters had responded to his speeches with SOME kind of hint of reaction that they thought something felt a bit off, even if perhaps it took Kira a while since she’s so emotionally invested.

I'm a few episodes behind on my DS9 reactions but I have to skip ahead to see this one day of. This is my favorite of all of DS9, but don't worry, there's plenty of bangers to come if it's not your cup of tea.

I think you can chalk up most issues to Maritza's plan and execution being imperfect. He set up a bunch of evidence to make it easy for anyone to "discover" he's Gul Darhe'el. But what he wasn't counting on was how thorough Odo's investigation was, that Odo was able to get access to normally restricted files, going into his recent past, connecting the dots that his behaviors looked like he was putting his affairs in order in a way that looked like he would never return. And then also the additional medical evidence Maritza didn't account for being uncovered. He did his research too, he knew Kira was there (and mentioned her as being a member of the resistance group), knew how to get under her skin. They initially uncovered the "truth" he wanted them to see and kept antagonizing Kira to enrage her and further solidify her determination to have him executed, and tried to dig his heels in up until almost the very end when he broke down. I don't think he was crazy, but wracked with unimaginable guilt at his cowardice, tried to do one last brave act, but failed because his captors were more intelligent than he'd anticipated. I love love love this episode btw Also, it's hard to see because of the SD video, but there was indeed blood on the knife on the ground, though obviously not a pool of blood under him - I'm sure TV censors would not have approved. It's a pretty gnarly looking knife too, with two prongs at the end

You guys were chatting when they explained what the Chief was doing with that other person. They were connecting to a database to get that single picture of Marritza which was the only one anyone could find. So The Chief had to do some techno nonsense to link up to something to get access to that photo.

This was the episode I was waiting for you to get to. I was locked in from here on out when I first watched. I can think of at least four more episodes that are of this caliber, if not greater, that I eagerly await for, but there will be some time to get there. But I think I can live with that.

Finished your reaction. I'm so happy you loved it.. Pizza was awesome too. Yeah don't get us wrong its ONE of our favorite episodes, this is in NO way the peak though. DS9 is just getting started.

I think the reason that this tends to be a fan favourite is precisely because it is the first true banger of the series, much like Measure was. As such I suspect it tends to get weighted above any letter grade we might give it. There are certainly going to be episodes in the future that are as good or better but when it comes to the hype surrounding this one it's perhaps better to view it through the lens of "favourite" than any objective assessment we might want to make.

I think you're right Maritza died too quick and cleanly for a stab wound. It didn't take away from the fact that it was a heartbreaking dramatic death.

I wouldn't overthink people saying this is their favorite episode of Star Trek. Take ANY good episode and there will be some people out there for whom it's their favorite. There will be episodes you like better than this.

One thing you should notice about Trek (with a couple of exceptions) the races that use the heavier prosthetic makeup tend to use actors who are more theatrical in nature. The Race of Cardassians certainly fall into that category.

With early great episodes of Trek (Especially post TOS) thanks to serialized nature of story telling (even be it character based, let alone plot), t's far harder for a show to knock it out of the park. Actors and writers still haven't got their characters fully. Immersion of a characters history hasn't been explored enough yet to really feel the weight of their unseen history. Take both of your love of the TNG episode Lessons. Put that same episode into season 1 of TNG and it wouldn't have near the weight that it has after we have gotten such a deep dive into the Picard's character, and how much the actor and the writers have got that character down by the point of the 6th season. Something that they didn't by episode 20 of season 1. Episodes like I,Borg, Family, even The Bonding wouldn't have had the same level of impact if they were episode 20 of their respective show. And there are absolutely episodes in the later seasons that are going to hit hard. Great, great episodes. Hell there are some that are going to hit harder than this episodes that I don't even thank are as successful episodes. But it's all based on the foundation that continually gets more and more detailed and immersive for the viewer to really feel the characters. Thats the strength of a great early episode of a show. It not only shows potential it also gives the writers direction to work even further with. For example you see several critics when they review various Trek series in the franchise, and you will see them often include the Pilot of an episode. Primarily if not that its a fully realized episode, but just for successfully getting the premise and the barebones of the respective characters laid out as distinct from the rest of the cast. For myself (and you have seen several mentions in the takes already) welcome to Deep Space Nine. This is what the show aspires to be. Not that it doesn't exceed it, but this is the first real example of what it can be when great. And let's try and build on that. For myself while there are three episodes of TNG season 1 that I really, really like. It took the one two punch of Measure of a Man and Q-Who that made me feel I hadn't been wasting my time and just pushing through for my long standing love of TOS and desperate desire to have new Trek.

Marc Ah-LAY-Mo...

The Borg make for great spectacle, but they are too much of just a force of nature to be proper villains, and so they just get boring after a while. The Cardassians on the other hand make for fantastic villains.

The reason he started out by saying he was maritza was because he wanted Kira to discover his 'lie' which in turn would add credibility to the real lie; which is that he was in Gul Darheel.

This episode really is where the show starts to find its flow.

So glad you guys agree that this is the start of DS9's beard. Great metaphor to use and watch grow. Also please see this as the start of DS9's exploration of the complicated relationship between Cardassians and Truth.

The answer to why he told them the truth is because you can never trust a Cardassian you will learn that later in the series

woohoo its here! I'm ordering a pizza and when it gets here I'm going to watch you guys end up hating one of my favorite episodes lol (I hope not lol)

Best episode of season 1 hands down, in my opinion. The writers and cast really nailed it. Easy S.

This is a huge surprise. I was expecting another TNG episode first. Welcome to DS9 - this is the one we've all been waiting for (at least the first of them). This right here is one of the top 5 episodes of DS9; and it basically exists because the show was running out of money. When people ask, why is DS9 so highly regarded, what sets it apart from TNG? This is one of the top episodes that you show them.

I think it's safe to say a lot of us have been looking forward to this one.