Star Trek Guide

Star Trek: The 10 Best Episodes Of Deep Space Nine (According To IMDb)

In the world of Star Trek, there was a time when Deep Space Nine was the nearly forgotten child. The Next Generation stood as the start of the renaissance. Then Voyager had an interesting concept. Enterprise was the one that just didn't work. But Deep Space Nine, it was just there, waiting to be noticed.

Now, twenty years after Captain Sisko and his team went off the air, Deep Space Nine has found a bigger fanbase than ever. Part of it is that as time went on, Trek fans realized that the show was more than what they originally thought it was, and part of it is the show's availability on Netflix. With that new fanbase has come a debate on what the best episodes of DS9 are. According to IMDb, these are the top ten...

10 Far Beyond the Stars - 8.9

"Far Beyond the Stars" leaves behind the usual space station setting of DS9 for the offices of a 1950s science fiction magazine. The episode sees Captain Sisko having visions of Benny Russell, an African-American writer who is having a horrible week. Benny is writing a story about a black captain on a space station, a story where racism is long gone and all people are accepted.

As Benny deals with the very real racism of the time, his soul is slowly crushed. At the end, when the owner of the magazine refuses to publish his story, Benny breaks down. It is one of the most powerful moments in the history of Star Trek.

9 What You Leave Behind - 9

The series finale of Deep Space Nine sees the end of the Dominion War, and the fulfillment of a prophecy as Sisko, the Emissary to the Prophets of Bajor, gives up his mortal body to join the Prophets in the wormhole. Sisko leaves behind not only his crew, but his son Jake and his pregnant wife Kasidy Yates. And while he promised to return, fans of DS9 haven't seen any signs of Sisko or the rest of the cast showing up in the current Star Trek shows, though there are plenty of reasons why they should.

8 Sacrifice of Angels - 9

DS9 has been occupied by the Dominion, but the Federation isn't about to give up. As Sisko leads the Federation's attack fleet, his adversary Gul Dukat counters every move. What Gul Dukat doesn't know is that his captives - Kira Nerys, Quark, Jake Sisko, Rom, and Leeta - have escaped and are working to disable the station's weapons.

Sisko's fleet is getting wiped out by the Dominion when Klingon forces arrive to support the Federation. Even with the Klingons, the Federation is bound to lose this battle until the Bajoran Prophets intervene to help their Emissary. The Dominion ships are destroyed, but Sisko knows that the Prophets will expect something in return. This episode was the end of a seven-part storyline, and while episodic TV is commonplace today, in 1997 it was a revolutionary concept.

7 The Die is Cast - 9

Cardassian spy turned tailor Garak was one of the most interesting secondary characters on Deep Space Nine. His friendship with Doctor Bashir revealed bits and pieces of his life, but it was the two-part story "Improbable Cause" and "The Die Is Cast" where the audience finally got to see just what kind of person Garak was.

"The Die is Cast" saw Garak and the shapeshifter Odo taken captive by the Cardassian secret police. To prove his allegiance to Cardassia, Garak is told to torture Odo for information on the Dominion. Garak reluctantly tortures his traveling companion, begging Odo to tell him something, anything at all, about the Dominion. When Sisko and the DS9 crew arrive to save the day, Garak goes out of his way to help Odo, proving his loyalty to his new friends.

6 The Way of the Warrior - 9.1

As the crew of DS9 prepares for the coming Dominion invasion, the station becomes overrun with Klingons who have arrived to battle the Federation's new enemy. As the Klingons cause a series of problems on DS9, Captain Sisko requests that the Federation send someone who can help calm things down. Who else would they send but Lieutenant Commander Worf? Worf, originally from Next Generation, joined the cast of DS9 with this episode.

When Sisko learns that the Klingons are planning on invading Cardassian space, he tips off Garak, who still has connections in the Cardassian government. This would later lead to tense relations between the Klingons and the Federation, almost bringing the two factions to war.

5 Call to Arms - 9.1

In the Season 5 finale, Deep Space Nine really left things on a cliffhanger. After the Romulans sign a non-aggression pact with the Dominion, Starfleet prepares for the worst. Knowing that the only way the Dominion can send reinforcements to the Alpha Quadrant, Starfleet commands Captain Sisko to block their path with self-replicating mines.

The Dominion learns of the self-replicating mines and begins an attack on DS9 to stop the plan. With Starfleet reinforcements too far away, Sisko is forced to order the evacuation of DS9. As the escape shuttles take off, Sisko's son Jake chooses to stay on DS9 to act as a reporter for the Federation. This was the darkest moment in the Dominion War, and the start of DS9's greatest story.

4 Duet - 9.1

A major thread in Deep Space Nine is the aftermath of the Cardassian occupation of the planet Bajor. Major Kira Nerys, once a freedom fighter for Bajor, now serves as Sisko's right hand on the station. It is through Kira that viewers really learned about the Bajorians, their religion, and what the occupation did to them.

When a Cardassian suffering from an illness called Kalla-Nohra is brought onto DS9, Kira has him arrested. The only way to contract Kalla-Nohra was to have been present at a horrific mining accident at a brutal labor camp Gallitep, and if this Cardassian had it, he must be a war criminal. As the episode plays out, Kira confronts the Cardassian about his part in the torture that took place at Gallite, only to discover a shocking revelation. This episode was integral in building out Kira Nerys.

3 The Visitor - 9.2

One of the most touching episodes of Deep Space Nine is a story that never happens. Set well into the future of DS9, an elderly Jake Sisko sits at home when he receives a visitor. The visitor, a young woman who loves Jake's books, wants to know why he stopped writing after publishing two highly successful books.

Through a series of flashbacks, we see that an accident on the Defiant caused Captain Sisko to become disconnected from time. At first, everyone believes that Captain Sisko was vaporized in the accident, but over time, Jake begins to see his father. As we see Jake growing up and finding love, the supposed ghost of his father keeps appearing. Finally, Jake understands what has happened and knows that if he dies, his father will snap back to the moment before the accident, able to stop it from happening.

2 Trials and Tribble-ations - 9.4

You may have noticed that the Deep Space Nine episodes on this list are real downers. It's all war crimes and great writers defeated by racism with a mix of the Federation getting beat up by the Dominion to keep it interesting. Luckily, we have "Trials and Tribble-ations" to help us laugh a little.

In this episode that celebrated the 30th anniversary of Star Trek, "Trials and Tribble-ations" sees the crew of DS9 travel back in time and get involved in one of the most loved Star Trek episodes ever, "The Trouble with Tribbles." Highlights include Doctor Bashir and Chief O'Brien joining the crew of the original Enterprise in a bar brawl with some Klingons, Jadzia Dax crushing on Captain Kirk, and Worf explaining why he looks different than the Klingons from the original series by saying "We do not discuss it with outsiders"

1 In the Pale Moonlight - 9.5

And right back to the darkness. Knowing that the Federation will lose their war with the Dominion if they don't get the Romulans involved, Captain Sisko commits multiple war crimes. With the approval of the Federation and the help of Garak, Sisko falsifies evidence that the Dominion is planning to break their non-aggression pact with the Romulans. When a Romulan Senator discovers that the "evidence" is fake, Garak assassinates the senator. Knowing this, Sisko does nothing. This episode showed a dark side of the Federation that viewers hadn't seen before, and put a great weight on Sisko that he would carry for the rest of the series. All for the greater good.

Source: www.cbr.com