The third season ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nineis when the third live-actionStar Trekshow starts to pick up, butthere are still some episodes inDS9season 3 that you’re able to completely skip. After a few seasons of trying to figure out what kind ofStar Trekshow it wants to be, season 3 plants the seeds forStar Trek: Deep Space Nineto grow into a groundbreaking part ofStar Trekhistory. Some ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s best episodesare found inDS9season 3, like the stellar — and shockingly prescient — two-parter, “Past Tense.”
Now, being skippable doesn’t mean that theseStar Trek: Deep Space Nineepisodes are all bad. A few of these episodes are actually pretty entertaining, or interesting for developing individual characters, even if they’re not among thebestStar Trekepisodes. Some even have plot points that tie into newerStar Trekshows, likeStar Trek: Lower DecksandStar Trek: Discovery— butnothing in these episodes makes them essential viewing when it comes toDeep Space Nine’s overarching plot. Watch them if you like, but know that youcanskip them without missing much in the long run.
5Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3, Episode 10 - “Fascination”
Lwaxana Troi’s Visit To DS9’s Gratitude Festival Is Fun, But Non-Essential
Star Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 3, episode 19, “Fascination”, is basically a filler episode, so you may easily skip it if you want to move the plot along. At the core of this fun little romp is Ambassador Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett-Roddenberry), in her secondStar Trek: Deep Space Nineappearance.Lwaxana is better onDS9than onStar Trek: TNG, butit can be uncomfortable seeing Lwaxana throw herself at Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois), who’s visibly ruffled by the Ambassador’s advances.
Betazoid Zanthi Fever is referenced inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 4, episode 5, “Empathological Fallacies”.
Lwaxana’s infatuation with Odo is amplified by her undiagnosed Zanthi Fever, which broadcasts her heightened emotions to the rest ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s characters, whostart pairing off with each other in seemingly arbitrary, unusual romantic matches. That, too, is discomforting because the affected characters seem to think that their newfound desires are genuine, and act on them accordingly. There’s a lot of unfounded jealousy and more than a few “let us never speak of this again” moments. And becauseDS9’s characters, in fact, never speak of it again, you may easily skip “Fascination.”
4Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3, Episode 4 - “Equilibrium”
Jadzia Dax Gets Sidelined In Her Own Story
I love “Equilibrium” for its look at the Trill homeworld, the further development of the Trill culture, and how it dives into Lieutenant Jadzia Dax’s (Terry Farrell) hidden backstory — but this great idea wasn’t executed as well as it should have been.“Equilibrium” promises a compelling mystery in its first half, with Dax’s haunting visions and irritable attitude, which indicate there’s something wrong with the symbiont. A trip to the Trill homeworld reveals that an unsuitable host, Joran Belar (Jeff Magnus McBride), stole the Dax symbiont over 80 years ago, and Joran’s memories are the cause of Jadzia’s hallucinations.
OnThe Delta Flyerspodcast, Terry Farrell revealed that “Equilibrium” was still being written as it was being shot, which explains the episode’s disjointed storytelling.
Unfortunately,“Equilibrium” shortchanges Jadzia Dax in a story that’s supposed to be hers. Dax’s illness leaves her sidelined in the second half, instead of actively investigating the conspiracy in the Trill Symbiosis Commission. That plot is handed over to Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), who are certainly capable of doing the legwork, but they’re not Trill themselves, so it comes off as human meddling. “Equilibrium” could have been Jadzia Dax’s finest episode, but the rushed writing means it just doesn’t shake out that way.
The episode isn’t necessarily essential viewing forStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s overall arc, so it is technically skippable, but"Equilibrium" does do some interesting world-building for the Trill culture. Joran comes back as a much creepier formerhost of the Dax symbiontinDS9season 3, episode 25, “Facets”, andDS9season 7, episode 13, “Field of Fire”.Star Trek: Discoveryexpands on what “Equilibrium” established by returning to the Trill homeworld. If you’re interested in the Trill as a culture, and don’t mind Dax getting sidelined, I’d give “Equilibrium” a chance — otherwise, you could skip it.
3Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3, Episode 16 - “Prophet Motive”
DS9 Hits The Reset Button On Grand Nagus Zek’s Philanthropic Changes
When viewed from Quark’s (Armin Shimerman) point of view, “Prophet Motive” is a kind of horror episode that sees Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn) trying to reform Ferengi culture with a revised, philanthropic version of theFerengi Rules of Acquisition. The changes that Zek wants to make are fully the result of the Grand Nagus' encounter with the Bajoran Orb of Wisdom, instead of being genuine — at least, at this point inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine— soeverything has to go back to the status quobefore the end of the episode.
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Latinum tarnishes, but family is forever.
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Nothing is more important than your health… except for your money.
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No good deed ever goes unpunished.
A good deed is its own reward.
Not to mention,there are far better Ferengi episodes inStar Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 3. Early in the season is episode 3, “House of Quark”, which sees Quark marrying Klingon widow Grilka (Mary Kay Adams) after claiming to kill Grilka’s husband. Later, episode 23, “Family Business”, has a much more interesting insight into Ferengi progressivism, with the introduction of Quark’s mother, Ishka (Andrea Martin) — who will later influence Zek toactuallymakeDS9’s changes to Ferengi culture. “Prophet Motive” is entertaining, but it doesn’t really result in any immediate consequences.
2Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3, Episode 18 - “Distant Voices”
Emmy-Winning Makeup Doesn’t Save The Slow Pacing
Star Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 3, episode 18, “Distant Voices”, puts Dr. Julian Bashir in the spotlight, trapped within his own mind as the young doctor approaches his 30th birthday. As Bashir tries to figure out why, exactly, he’s stuck in the illusion of the station, and surrounded by versions of hisDS9co-workers and friends that represent his own internal voices, Julian gradually ages until he reaches 100 years old.This episode doesn’t really have exciting action, political intrigue, or big moral dilemmaslike you’d expect to find in greatStar Trekepisodes.
Instead, “Distant Voices” is an intimate, slowly-paced character study of Dr. Bashir from his own perspective.There are some revelations about Julian’s character as he shuffles along the station sets, growing increasingly older and more frail with every passing moment. We get to see some things that Bashir doesn’t want to share with others, like how he intentionally failed his final exam at Starfleet Medical, or almost became a tennis champion — but unless you’re specifically looking to learn more about Bashir himself, you can go ahead and skip “Distant Voices”.
1Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3, Episode 8 - “Meridian”
Jadzia Dax’s Frustrating, Out-Of-Character Love Story
Jadzia Dax is an excellent and much belovedStar Trek: Deep Space Ninecharacter, so it’s truly unfortunate that two Dax episodes are on this list, but “Meridian” is a prime example of howearlyDS9didn’t serve Dax’s best interests as a character. This paper-thin love story sees Jadzia giving up everything—including the future of the Dax symbiont—to live with Deral (Brett Cullen), a man she just met, on Meridian, aBrigadoon-like planet that appears once every 60 years before phasing into another dimension.
Deral is so dull that it’s hard to see why Dax is even into him.
“Meridian” only works if you believe the love story, andthe lack of chemistry between Jadzia and Deral just isn’t strong enough to sell the episode’s premise. Deral is so dull that it’s hard to see why Dax is even into him, let alone why she’d risk her life to stay on Meridian. Instead, it feels like Dax got stuck with being the main character of “Meridian” because she’s a conventionally attractive woman in theStar Trek: Deep Space Ninecast.
Really, the best part of “Meridian” is its B-plot, which includes the very first ofJeffrey Combs' manyStar Trekcharacters. Combs plays Tiron, a deep-pocketed patron of Quark’s who wants a holosuite program of Major Kira. Quark’s attempts to get Kira in the holosuite are funny, capped off by Tiron’s discovery that his program features Quark’s head on Kira’s body. But it’s still not enough to save “Meridian” from being the most skippable episode ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 3.
