Season 3
Season 3 of Deep Space Nine marks a turning point for the series, as it introduces the USS Defiant, a powerful starship that allows the crew to explore the Gamma Quadrant and face the threat of the Dominion, a vast and ruthless empire ruled by the shape-shifting Founders.
The Search (1)
Stardate: 48213.1. Instead of waiting for the Jem'Hadar to attack, Sisko wants to try a different approach. He wants to take a new class starship to try to find the Founders.
The Search (2)
Stardate: 48213.1. Odo has found his home and is introduced. Meanwhile Sisko finds out peace talks between the Dominion and the Federation have already started.
The House of Quark
Stardate: Unknown. Quark tries to boost his reputation by taking credit for the accidental death of a Klingon in his bar, but lands himself in the middle of a Klingon political struggle.
Equilibrium
Stardate: Unknown. The Trill homeworld is the setting, as Sisko and Bashir take Jadzia home for treatment when she begins experiencing hallucinations after playing a tune she can't recall.
Second Skin
Stardate: Unknown. Kira finds herself on Cardassia as a Cardassian. She is told she is called Iliana Ghemor and was a Cardassian spy.
The Abandoned
Stardate: Unknown. Odo tries to bond with an alien child Quark finds in a load of salvage, while Sisko tries to break his son's relationship with a 20 year old Dabo girl.
Civil Defense
Stardate: Unknown. The station goes into lockdown and the crew is endangered when an old Cardassian security program is accidentally activated.
Meridian
Stardate: 48423.2. Dax falls in love with one of the residents of a multi-dimensional planet, while on DS9 an alien requests a holosuite program of Kira from Quark.
Defiant
Stardate: 48467.3. The DS9 crew welcomes a visit from William Riker of the Enterprise, but the lieutenant’s hidden agenda leads to a tense standoff deep in Cardassian space.
Fascination
Stardate: Unknown. As Lwaxanna Troi visits the station for a Bajoran festival, the crew is stricken with intense romantic attractions to one another.
Past Tense (1)
Stardate: 48481.2. Sisko, Bashir and Dax are accidentally sent to San Francisco in the 21st century due to a transporter malfunction, and must figure out how to get back without changing the time line.
Past Tense (2)
Stardate: 48481.2. Sisko is forced to take the place of a key historical figure on Earth in 2024 in order to preserve the timeline.
Life Support
Stardate: 48498.4. Dr. Bashir must use extraordinary measures to prolong Vedek Bareil's life long enough to allow Bareil to complete sensitive peace negotiations between the Bajorans and the Cardassians.
Heart of Stone
Stardate: 48521.5. After chasing a fugitive into a cave, Kira gets stuck and is slowly encapsulated by a growing crystal stone while Odo tries to figure out how to free her.
Destiny
Stardate: 48543.2. Sisko faces a conflict between his Starfleet duties and his role as the Bajoran Emissary when an ancient Bajoran prophecy predicts that a joint Federation-Cardassian project will lead to the destruction of the wormhole.
Prophet Motive
Stardate: Unknown. Grand Nagus Zek is acting bizarre by giving away money and rewriting the Rules of Acquisition. Quark attempts to get the old Nagus back.
Visionary
Stardate: Unknown. While a Romulan delegation tries to get information about the Dominion, O'Brien gets visions of unpleasant things that are about to happen in the future.
Distant Voices
Stardate: Unknown. After being attacked in the infirmary, Dr. Bashir has a dual mystery on his hands: what has happened to the station while he was out and why is he aging so rapidly now?
Through the Looking Glass
Stardate: Unknown. Sisko is kidnapped to impersonate his deceased, mirror universe self to gain Jennifer Sisko's loyalty in the Rebel Alliance.
Improbable Cause (1)
Stardate: Unknown. After an attempt is made on Garak's life, Odo conducts the investigation on who tried to murder the Cardassian tailor - and why.
The Die Is Cast (2)
Stardate: Unknown. Now rejoined with his former mentor, Garak is ordered to interrogate Odo about the secrets of his people, while the joined Romulan/Cardassian attack fleet moves towards the Founders' home world on a mission of destruction.
Explorers
Stardate: Unknown. Sisko rebuilds an ancient Bajoran space vessel from the blueprints, and he and Jake take the ship on a trip, attempting to prove that the ancient Bajorans went beyond their solar system without warp drive.
Family Business
Stardate: Unknown. Quark and Rom return to the Ferengi home world because their mother has broken the law - by wearing clothes and earning profits, forbidden for women in Ferengi society.
Shakaar
Stardate: Unknown. News arrives that Kai Winn has also become Bajor's political leader. She asks Kira to negotiate with an old resistance friend about returning soil reclamators.
Facets
Stardate: Unknown. Dax asks the crew to join her Zhian'tara ritual. The memories of her former hosts will take over their bodies. Nog is preparing for Starfleet Academy.
The Adversary
Stardate: 48959.1. The Defiant is off to show the Federation's presence to the new Tzenkethi government. While underway the ship malfunctions and Bashir is suspected of sabotage.
Avis de la communauté (2)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s third season is more action-packed and full of adventure than ever before. In order to confront the Dominion threat Commander Sisko requisitions Starfleet’s fist and only warship, the Defiant, and takes it into the Gamma Quadrant to find the Founders and negotiate a peace; and when that fails the Cardassians and Romulans take matters into their own hands. Meanwhile Kai Winn negotiates a peace treaty with Cardassia but soon nearly starts another civil war on Bajor. Additionally, the origins of Odo and Garak are finally revealed. Also, several new recurring characters are introduced, including the Female Changeling, Leeta, Moogie (Quark’s mom), Liquidator Brunt, Kasidy Yates, and Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington. In Season 3 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine really finds its footing and starts telling its own stories (as opposed to being a version of TNG).
Another solid season. In this season, more episodes are dedicated to tell the overarching story line that really takes up speed with dramatic episodes like *The Die is cast* and *The Adversary*. Isolated episodes become rare. This season marks the end of the "pre-game": After this season we know the most important factions, alliances, characters and conflicts in the sector. The stage is set for the show's main story that will unfold over the course of the next seasons. However, season three also has its fair share of bad episodes like *Meridian* or *Fascination*. It also shows first signs of repetitive patterns. Perhaps that's inevitable 75 hours in but episodes like *Shakaar* re-use a lot of ideas from previous episodes. Likewise, the story of Jadzia Dax is a bit repetitive. I mean, she's great and her race is fascinating but now it's time that she becomes her own persona; writers must stop to tell stories that basically definer her first and foremost as a Trill. Show runners have also analyzed hot to improve the show over season two. They came up with the Defiant. She's a fine ship. She helps to overcome the limitations set by the inevitable fact that the space station is stationary. By the end of the season all main characters are thoroughly introduced. They are all likable. Only exception is perhaps Bashir. They don't know what to do with him and *Distant Voices* wasn't exactly offering an opportunity for Siddig to change this perception. My average rating is perhaps closer to 6 than it is to a 7/10. But DS9 is designed to be more than the average of single episodes. Thus a 7/10. * :clown:My guilty pleasure: *The House of Quark* (*Family Business* isn't bad either) * 👍Best episode: *Improbable Cause*/*The Die is cast* (double feature) * 👎 Worst episodes: *Meridian* * ⏩ Guide on how to speed watch the main story: *The Search, pt 1* → *The Search, pt 2* → *(Second skin)* → *(The Abandoned)*→ *(Defiant)* → *(Life Support)* → *(Heart of Stone)* → *Improbable Cause* → *The Die is cast* → *The Adversary* * :black_heart: Benjamin, the Civil Rights leader watchlist: *Past Tense (pt 1 & pt 2)*