Move Along Home

Allamaraine!

This episode has one huge plus: these aliens acted in a somewhat alien manner and seemingly without the station crew even understanding it. Most Trek aliens behave like humans usually with some exaggerated trait and it's known and loudly trumpeted. Proud Warriors, Space Romans, etc.

Here, it's true they appear to have the exaggerated trait of gamers, but ultimately nobody really knows. Maybe this IS how these aliens do first contact. But at the end of the day, they sweep in and sweep out and you never really know.

This sort of thing should have happened all the time in first contact situations.

Another plus is this one is VERY memorable.

The main downside to me is that this episode was too early. It's a bit like TNG's "Naked Now" in that respect, though not as severe.

Another problem is I can't even fathom how Quark figured out the missing staff was somehow inside the game.

Avery Brooks didn't apparently like this episode according to IMDb and after seeing the show, I can certainly understand why. It's simply a bad episode...one that is inexplicably stupid.

The Wadi are a race of folks who just came from the Gamma Quadrant. Oddly, instead of initiating normal diplomatic or first contact behaviors, these weirdos are solely interested in going to Quark's place and gambling. At first, Quark thinks they are a bunch of easy marks but soon they turn out to be gambling savants. So far, so good. However, when they show Quark one of their games, the command staff disappear and find themselves in some sort of live action game much like a platformer game.

None of the show makes any sense...none. And, after kidnapping the crew and scaring the crap out of them, the Wadi just leave and the episode ends. Huh?! Poorly written...and in a way that might just make you cringe.

UPDATE: By the way, it isn't just me who hated this episode. At the 50th anniversary Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, this was voted as one of the 10 worst of all episodes from every Trek franchise! That is some ignoble designation!

I'm not sure why it's rated so low. I found it fun and suspenseful. Sure there's some cheesy acting but I notice this a lot in the first season of DS9. I'd give it slightly above a 7.

DS9 makes first contact with a species from the gamma quadrant.

This is an odd episode that has a reasonably good premise, but when the final reveal comes it feels a rather pointless experience to me.

There are some positives, such as some of the character exchanges between Sisko and Jake, Sisko, Dax and Kira and Odo and Quark. You get a good sense of characters loyalty to each other from the situations they are seemingly put in.

Many visuals are a good standard, particularly the cave scenes that feel quite exciting and well made. Plus the general design of the game both internally and how it physically appears within Quark's.

The Wadi are not the most inspired of alien designs, particularly supposedly coming from the far reaches of the gamma quadrant. As a first impression of what DS9 would be serving up using the wormhole concept, it is quite poor.

There are a number of annoying moments such as the crew trying to stop the game with the 'we are not amused' attitude and making futile attempts to talk to characters who do not acknowledge them. The allarmaraine nursery rhyme sequence is (briefly) almost as painful as watching Captain Kirk and Spock's humiliation at the hands of Parmen. Dr Bashir (also briefly) is again poorly characterised.

When the final reveal comes it is exactly what you thought it might (but hoped it wouldn't) be.

"Move Along Home," is often dismissed as one of the series' more eccentric episodes, but I find its charm undeniable. Yes, it's quite silly, with an unusual premise: the crew, especially Sisko, Kira, Dax, and Bashir, are unwillingly pulled into a bizarre game by the Wadi, an alien species fascinated with chance and challenge. However, the episode's fun lies in its surreal, almost whimsical atmosphere. Watching the crew try to solve strange riddles and puzzles adds a playful, unpredictable vibe uncommon in Star Trek. It doesn't advance any major story arcs, but it gives the actors a chance to show new sides of their characters, caught in an absurd, almost dreamlike scenario. Sure, it lacks depth, but "Move Along Home" is pure enjoyment-an amusing change of pace that proves even a serious sci-fi series can afford to take a lighthearted detour.