"Apocalypse Rising" (October 5th) had the crew (Sisko, Odo, Worf, and O'Brien) infiltrate the Klingon Homeworld to uncover Gowron as a changeling. Along the way, they discovered that one of Gowron's closest aids was actually the changling. The episode was pretty good, and they did a lot of work with Odo and his coping with being human. Worf's "Klingon Crash Course" was interesting and humorous to watch.

October 7 was "The Ship". While exploring a world in the Gamma Quadrant, the crew witnessed a Jem'Hadar warship crash land on the planet's surface. Determining that all hands died on impact, Sisko ordered the ship hauled back to Deep Space Nine by the Defiant for study. However, when the Jem'Hadar showed up to claim the wounded ship, Sisko and his men were stranded on the planet's surface. Mysterious aliens appeared to claim the vessel from Sisko, who refused to give it up forcing the crew to fight against Jem'Hadar servants -- called the Vorta -- for the alien vessel and a deadly secret that waited inside, a dying shapeshifter.

The episode was...O.K., but that's all. They did touch on the issue of trusting one's enemies, but it seemed forced.

October 14 -- "Looking for Par'Mach in all the Wrong Places": While having a drink with Dax, Worf was taken by the sight of Grilka, a Klingon woman, as she entered the station with Tumek and her guard, Thopok. Worf fell instantly in love, and watched, horrified, as Grilka kissed Quark. Grilka is Quark's ex-wife, thanks to a complicated marriage of convenience. Undaunted, Worf decided to pursue Grilka, and tried to capture her attention at Quark's. He was emotionally crushed when Tumek said that, since Worf is dishonored among Klingons, Grilka can never mate with him. Tumek then added insult to injury by commenting that Worf's human upbringing showed that he knew nothing about how to pursue a Klingon woman. Taking this as a challenge, Worf helped Quark to impress and eventually "hook up" with Grilka. Along the way, Dax helped Worf to deal with the situation and she got him to realize that he isn't the traditional Klingon he thought he was. Worf and Dax also ended up "hooking up".

This episode was...amusing, and tried to expand the character of Worf a little bit. The episode's most memorable line came from Quark. "War, what's it good for? Absolutely nothing."

October 21 -- "...Nor the Battle to the Strong": Writing a profile on Dr. Bashir, Jake Sisko is travelling with him in a Runabout when they get a distress call from a Federation colony under attack by Klingons. Jake convinces Bashir to go to the colony, despite concern over taking the eighteen-year-old Sisko to a battleground. Once they arrive, Jake is stunned by the sight of scores of wounded and dying people. Forced to lend a hand to the medical team, Jake panics when explosions rip into the ground around them, and runs away.

This was one of the best episodes of the season. We got to see how a war situation affects Jake. The normally calm and collected younger Sisko falls apart under the stresses of war. We also see how heroes can sometimes be just victims of circumstance.

October 28 -- "The Assignment": Meeting Keiko upon her return from Bajor, O'Brien is shocked when his wife says, in her own voice, that she is really an entity that has taken possession of Keiko's body and is holding her hostage. She states that O'Brien must reconfigure some communication and sensor relays on the station or Keiko will be killed, and sends Keiko into a convulsion to prove her point. Seeing no other alternative, O'Brien is forced to obey the entity's demands.

The plot twist of having evil profits try to take over the wormhole was cool, and the episode was exciting to watch. It's not the best that DS9 has to offer, but I enjoyed it just the same.

November 4 -- This season's most anticipated episode will feature some time travel. "Trials and Tribble-ations" will takes Sisko and the crew back to the original Enterprise when Darvin tries to get vengeance on Kirk. Just for fun, the Tribbles are back, too. Think the Klingons will mind? The episode uses a lot of visual effects (how else would they remove Shatner's gut?). They used footage from the episode "Trouble with the Tribbles" as well. Sisko and the crew travel back in time to a pivotal moment in the history of the original Starship Enterprise. The U.S.S. Defiant is returning from Cardassian space with the Bajoran Orb of Time. A Klingon named Arne Darvin, surgically altered to look human, has come aboard as a passenger. He uses the Orb to send the U.S.S. Defiant more than one hundred years into the past -- near the original U.S.S. Enterprise as it orbited Deep Space Station K-7. Records reveal Darvin was a spy then, and that he was caught having poisoned a shipment of grain on the station. Darvin is out to change history, possibly by killing Captain James T. Kirk, who originally exposed him as the spy.

This was probably the most entertaining episode of DS9 ever. The exploding tribble was cute. O'Brien and Bashir being grilled by Kirk was...unexpected and a riot. Worf finally addressed the issue of the Klingons (they didn't have ridges on their heads in the classic series) by not saying anything at all (I couldn't stop laughing at that point!) And Lieutennant Sisko got to give Kirk the daily duty roster in a clever use of old footage. This was a fitting tribute to 30 years of Trek!

November 11 -- "Let He Who is Without Sin...": Worf's relationship with Dax hits a rough spot, and he plans to discuss his feelings during their vacation on Risa. But things go from bad to worse when they -- along with Bashir, Quark, and Leeta -- arrive on the beautiful, climate-controlled "pleasure planet." Worf learns that the Temtibi Lagoon's "social director," Arandis, is a former lover of Curzon Dax. Then,Worf falls under the influence of the New Essentialists Movement, a group bent on "restoring the moral and cultural traditions of the Federation." Its chairman Pascal Fullerton's goal: shut down Risa.

I thought the idea of the episide was o.k., but they seem to be focusing on Worf too much. His confession of killing a kid while playing soccer was a good idea done poorly. The Worf I'm used to would say "I killed a child while playing a human's game" instead of going into this story about when he was a child. Worf was better when he was direct about things. This "kinder, gentler" Klingon stuff is just too lame. Sorry, Mr. Dorn. Blame the writers!

Upcoming Episodes:

November 18 -- "Things Past": Sisko, Odo, Dax, and Garak are found unconscious in their Runabout. While Bashir attempts to revive their bodies in the present, Sisko and the others wake up on Terek Nor -- the station's previous name -- during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. It is seven years earlier, and the four have been mysteriously placed into the roles of a group of Bajorans that are sentenced to be executed!

November 25 -- "The Ascent": Odo is dispatched to escort Quark to a Federation Grand Jury hearing, an eight-day journey away. Halfway to their destination, they find a bomb aboard the Runabout. They contain the explosion in a transporter beam, but the Runabout is still severely damaged. Forced to crash-land on a frozen, desolate planet, Odo and Quark learn that they have lost their communications system, their replicator, and most of their rations in the explosion. Stranded, the longtime adversaries must rely on each other to survive.

We may see a 14 year old female captain. Kasidy Yates is not expected to return, but Quark's mother will. The Defiant will be all but destroyed in Star Trek VIII-First Contact. Of course, we will see the birth of Miles and Keiko's child.