Meridian

The plot from this is lifted from the play/movie "Brigadoon"...though without all the singing, Van Johnson, Gene Kelly and the rest. When the story begins, the Defiant spots a planet that just appears! They are invited to land and learn from these nice folks that their planet appears and they live their lives every 60 years. Then, it disappears after a bit and becomes invisible and the folks go to sleep for another 60 years! It's actually a pretty ridiculous idea but try not to think about it.

During their visit with the nice folks, a VERY frisky guy from the magical planet seems VERY bent on getting his groove on with Jadzia Dax. Slowly, Jadzia also starts having feelings towards the guy. In fact, she's so taken by him that she agrees to move to the planet to stay with the guy. Ultimately, this doesn't work, as the writers weren't about to write her off the show...yet.

Overall this is a reasonably pleasant episode though it's hardly original. Worth seeing but forgettable.

The minute the planet appeared in space, I said to myself, "This is Brigadoon!" It was so obvious.

I loved Brigadoon but not because it was Brigadoon. I'm a huge fan of Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly. They carried this. The music and singing and costumes carried it. These characters and actors cannot carry the DS9 adaptation of it. It succeeds only as an homage to the original film. It has little merit of its own.

On top of all that, we already know the outcome even if we don't know the film. Dax is a recurring character and can go nowhere. There is no element of surprise. This is a poor episode but bearable if you're reading or knitting while you watch it.

Quick Review:

Story #1 - Sisko and the squad are off in the Gamma Quadrant in the Defiant exploring strange new worlds. This after getting their butts handed to them by the Jem'Hadar and the Founders. That confrontation wasn't even close if you will remember. And the Dominion didn't just physically destroy them in short order, they mentally and psychologically controlled them as well. This mission defies common sense and makes me wonder if the writers were getting bored with stories on the space station. It's so much more fun being out there in space and meeting interesting beings.

The planet they come across has an interesting dilemma they face as a society relating to dimensional shifts.

One of the sappiest Trek love stories ever to unfold on the screen does so involving Dax with one of the planetary lover boys attracted to women with spots. Planet man: "How far do those spots go down?" Dax: "All the way..." This romance is silly and ridiculous on so many levels. It makes Captain Kirk's weekly infatuations seem mature and realistic by comparison.

By the way Dax, did you happen to mention the worm living inside of you?

In the end the love story was so contrived it made me upset the writers were trying to present something which completely insulted the viewers in a way that had me saying, "Give me a break..."

Story #2 - Quark is offered a lot of compensation to create something interesting (and definitely ethically challenged) relating to the holosuite and Major Kira by an alien that reminds me of Pinocchio's naughty friend Lampwick. This weirdly obsessed alien asks Quark to create a computer simulation of Kira because he has been rejected in real life by her. When Quark asks the alien why he wants a holosuite creation of Kira they have a non-verbal understanding that borders on obsessive creepiness. All I could think as I watched the episode is: Oh boy, when Kira finds out........Instead...there is a hilarious twist which made me laugh out loud.

"With a brief stop to climb a tree!" Honestly? Eight lifetimes and still falling for a line like that, Jadzia! Well all the actors did what they could with a thin gruel, but " Please Sir, I don't want any more!"

This is a mixed episode, containing two stories, one good, & the other pretty boring.

Not too surprisingly the boring part involves Dax, who has a romance with a humanoid from a colony on a planet that only appears for a few days before disappearing again for 60 years.

The other story is back on the space station where an alien has the hots for Major Kira, but as he cannot get her teams up with Quark to arrange something. Pity this wasn't fleshed out more and the tedious Dax plot was squeezed instead of the other way around. Terry Farrell may have been attractive but she was a lousy actress, as is her character.