Mini Review #84: Star Trek DS9 3x7/3x8 "Civil Defense" and "Meridian" (Patreon)

How is Season 3 of DS9 this good. Like I really liked seasons 1 and 2 of DS9 but every episode in season 3 seems to be a step up in quality from both those previous seasons. These two were definitely no exceptions! Civil Defense was an incredible pulse pounding episode as our crew raced against time to stop the increasingly larger in scale defense protocols left behind from the Cardassian occupation. I was on the edge of my seat the entire run time of this episode. I loved the pacing firstly and how we started from such a small scenario of Jake, Sisko, and O'Brien stuck in a room together to ending up fighting against the station and its imminent self destruction while our heroes crawl through a tunnel of hot green flame. It was not just an epic episode that made great use of the protective protocols Cardassians would have put into place (which was cool to see), but it was also a great character episode. All the group pairings were so fun and their dynamics as they attempted to stop the computer from destroying the station was amazing to watch. Some stand out moments include Sisko pushing through green fire to save the station, Odo saying something nice to Quark, and of course, who could forget Dukat in a terrifying and then humbling role. Really great episode overall!

Did someone order nuggets, cause Meridian was saucy! I was not expecting such a sexually charged episode in DS9 but here we are! I really enjoyed this one as well and the romance between Dax and Deral was charming and believable. Even though they had only been together for like12 days, which I had an issue with because it seemed like everything moved super fast, the actors did a great job of making it believable and love moves in mysterious ways so who am I to judge! I loved when the frolicked and picnicked on the beautiful grass by the pond. It all just felt so romantic and it was amazing to see Dax so happy... although poor Bashir. That is, until the eventual end we could all see coming. What a gut punch and some tears definitely started to from in my eyes. I wonder if this moment will affect how Dax sees relationships? The subplot in this one was also very saucy but in an icky and creepy way. Someone is so in love with Kira that they need to have a holosuit program of her and task Quark in getting it. While it had some very fun moments, especially when the man walks into the holosuit and finds a Kira/Quark hybrid, it overall just left me with an icky feeling inside. The creepy guy didn't even get arrested and just fled the station! I wonder if we will see him again. He made some threats to Quark which I hope indicates his return eventually.