This episode fairly closely resembles Disaster from TNG but without Picard stuck in the turbolift with some children which isn't a bad thing. The basic idea is that the crew get split up in various parts of a crippled Defiant and have to figure out how to survive various parallel crises and learn something about themselves at the same time. From lamest to coolest: Julian and Jadzia get stuck in a compartment that is cold and have to hug for warmth, Kira and Sisko are on the bridge and Sisko has a brain hemorrhage so Kira has to try and keep him awake, Worf and O'Brien lead the remaining crew in engineering trying to save the ship and destroy the Jem'Hadar, and finally Quark has to teach an honest alien trader the value of greed and the joy of risks while disarming a live photon torpedo lodged into the hull. So yeah, quite an episode. But for all that, this is the actual opening of the episode:
Sisko has been sent to a distant part of the gamma quadrant to mediate a trade dispute. But this menace is no phantom, Quark has been adding his own fees to increase his personal profit and Sisko isn't having it. They are interrupted by the Jem'Hadar arriving but rather than going after the Defiant they attack the Karemma vessel there to negotiate. The Karemma flee into the atmosphere of a gas giant and the Defiant pursues all three ships but sensors are useless in the gas. They rig up some tetryon sonar but which attracts the Jem'Hadar causing massive damage. They get to work modifying a probe to act as a torpedo but before it is ready they are hit again. Bashir loses a crew member in sickbay but manages to drag Dax into a turbolift where they remain trapped huddling for warmth the rest of the episode.
The probe is ready but as soon as they fire the Jem'Hadar appear and start attacking in earnest. Just before the Defiant is destroyed the probe hits and destroys one of the Jem'Hadar vessels. Sisko is badly hurt on the bridge with Kira and all communications are out so Worf assumes command from engineering. Quark and the Karemma negotiator are stuck in a small room together with a torpedo impinging from the outside and humming like it will go off. The negotiator is horrified at the Ferengi greed but Quark shows him the value of taking risks by defusing the torpedo with him (the writing in these scenes is amazing, watch this one just for this if nothing else). Worf has been very hard on the remaining crew and O'Brien convinces him to use a lighter touch and immediately he starts getting better results.
Kira is stuck with what appears to be a dying Sisko which she is extra upset about since he is an important figure in her religion. She has to come to terms with him also being a mortal man and how uncomfortable she has been around him the whole time. Worf meanwhile has come up with a plan and uses his newly invigorated crew to rig up the remaining atmospheric probe to act as a decoy and the deflector dish to act as a phaser emitter. The plan works and they destroy the remaining Jem'Hadar vessel and rescue the remaining crew. It is clear that after all this things won't be the same between everybody on the crew.
Review: A great ensemble piece that gives all the crew different challenges to overcome both personal and military. Worf is starting to feel like a real member of the crew and that is definitely a good thing!
8 out of 10
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