Move Along Home

"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.

First contact has been made with aliens called the Wadi in the Gamma Quadrant and they are on the way through the wormhole and to the space station. Where do these aliens want to go but Quark's for some gambling. That's what these folks are all about games of all kinds.

But Quark cheats a little as he considers these people rubes. But when they catch him at it, the aliens have him play a game of their own. Sisko, Kira, Dax, and Dr.Bashir find themselves as pawns in a game of the aliens faced with all different kinds of perils. How they do depends on how well Armin Shimerman spins the alien dice.

The story is a bit silly, but the cast regulars and guests do sell it.

Haven't seen this in a long time and it is not the best episode of DS9, but like early TNG episodes, early DS9 episodes tent to get better over time.

When this episode and DS9 first aired, I did not like it very much, now I like it. When Voyager first aired I did not like it either and I hoped that the same would happen, what happened to DS9 a couple of years earlier. But it never happened.

This is actually very entertaining with kind of a surprise ending. Just watch it, you will like it. The characters are not fully developed yet and feel fresh.

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.

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!