Duet

While I think calling this episode the best of all Star Trek, or even just of DS9, is very exaggerated, it is a fine example of good science fiction. The parallels that can be drawn between the plot and history are perhaps a little too obvious, but this is the point: to make you think about something by talking about something else.

There are three elements that make the episode work so well. First, Harris Yulin puts on an excellent guest performance as Aamin Marritza / Gul Darhe'el, being charming and maniacal at equal measures. Secondly, the twists, although more than a few, are believable - there is a logic in the layers of deception, it isn't an effort to fool the audience. And lastly, the ending is fitting not only dramatically, but also as a final lesson.

This may have been the episode that made me a Deep Space Nine fan.

Star Trek the Next Generation had always been on tv when I was growing up and my family watched it sometimes. Naturally I liked Star Trek TNG but when DS9 came around I didn't "get" it.... they're just on a weird space station 24/7 ??

So now that I'm grown up, I'm very lucky that the reruns are currently still on (H&I network and others) fairly often. That's how I ended up catching this as a rerun.

It's really true, that old concept about seeing the world as a child vs as an adult. Now that I'm older and a little bit wiser, I appreciate the story, the writing, the directing and the whole experience of a movie or a TV show -- and that's where this episode really shines.

Many previous episodes of DS9 were spent trying to establish the plot or placate fans of the previous two versions of Star Trek. But this episode changed everything. Often times, Star Trek would make you think - and sometimes even re-think a social idea or concept. And they'r great episodes in many ways too. But this episode brings you in, twists the plot, ratchets up the tension, and in the end, genuinely makes you FEEL an emotion.

This is powerful.

I've seen this episode three times now and every time I see it, I get pulled into the moment, and when it's over, all I can help but say is "G*d d*mn" ... because you walk away feeling the weight of what happened.

Between the writers, the cast and the directors, to say the least, this one hour episode of "scifi" transcended TV and reached deep into the soul - even if just for a moment- of those who actually stop and watch it. A rare accomplishment these days indeed.

Bravo and well done, to all involved in this show. And thank you.

Top notch writing & acting. A perfect stand alone episode that defys being put into any genre. The emotional sense of loss and guilt is real.

I won't discuss in detail the plot of this episode - others have done so better than I can - but I agree that this episode is one of the best pieces of television I have ever seen.

Deep Space Nine always was/is the best of the Treks, as it did not always have a happy ending, but often made you think so that the "ending" depended on your outlook.

I remember seeing this episode when it was first run in Australia and being totally wowed by it. It is an episode that takes you down one direction, then swings you 180 degrees, and ends by making you rethink all you know about guilt and redemption. It truly was the best of the best.

A life changing episode for a thinking audience.

It is difficult to discuss the meaning of this episode of DS9 without revealing important plot twists. However, I can say, as an avid fan of all the Star Trek series, this episode stuck with me more than any other.

The Cardassian occupation of Bajor was in many ways comparable to the Nazi extermination of the Jews. When it appears a Cardassian war criminal, who was responsible for countless murders of innocent Bajorans, might have been discovered on DS9, it looks, at first, like this episode will be some melodrama about the powerful victimizing the weak, or perhaps the evils of militaristic societies.

But this episode holds some surprises. I'll refrain from giving any more details about this episode other than to say this was one of the rare times that any TV show has inspired such an emotional response in me.

It is a shame that science fiction on television is not held in higher regard because this episode was worthy of an Emmy Award.