The Pensky Podcast: Star Trek: Deep Space 9 – Details, episodes & analysis

With DS9 over, Wes and Clay get together to give some final thoughts about the series as a whole.

Is DS9 better than TNG? Does it matter? The guys try to understand the complexities that make DS9 unique and both amazing and awful (but mostly amazing).

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This is it. The final episode of DS9.

"What You Leave Behind" serves to close out both the Dominion War and the series itself. It has action, drama, comedy and retrospection in spades. It's a brilliant ending to a fascinating series.

But it's not perfect.

In this podcast, Wes and Clay discuss what the finale does right and what it does wrong. They try to determine if "What you Leave Behind" is a fitting end to the series they've been watching for almost two and a half years.

Thanks to everyone for listening and supporting the show. Thank you for not leaving us behind!

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DS9 has entered "The Final Chapter"! In 'Penumbra', Sisko and Kasidy announce their plans to marry, and Ezri tries to rescue Worf.

The "Final Chapter" is the series ending run of nine episodes that finish out DS9. in this podcast, Wes and Clay discuss the problems with DS9's serialized storytelling, when characters get "too real", and the series treading water to get to this point!

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Kira and Dukat go on a journey to find the wreckage of a lost Cardassian freighter. Meanwhile, Sisko weighs the pros and cons of having his girlfriend move onto the station. Dukat is already one of the more interesting DS9 characters, and Indiscretion places him at the forefront of a tough moral decision - will he murder his child to save his career? Plus, Quark gets to insult women and Dax and Bashir share a very fine joke. Clay and Andrew join me to discuss moving in together, the Garak and Dukat schism, and saving an episode with no time to spare!

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Shades of Gray, the DS9 episode! In "Hippocratic Oath", Bashir learns about the moral complexities of warfare, Worf learns about the moral complexities of the station, and we learn about the moral complexities of Sisko explaining moral complexities. We also learn quite a bit about the Jem'Hadar and the inner workings of the Dominion contingencies. I guess it's worth repeating: this isn't your grandfathers TNG anymore! Clay and I discuss forgetting about the Vorta, Bashir pulling rank, and Worf being the new guy in town!

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When an accident aboard the Defiant apparently kills Captain Sisko, Jake is left alone to pick up the pieces of his life. However, his father might not be dead after all, and the truth might haunt Jake for the rest of his life. TV Guide once named The Visitor the "best" episode of Star Trek ever produced. It's a heartbreaking story about the love between father and son, with tremendous performances, strong writing, and an emotional center that the franchise rarely portrays so powerfully. But does it hold up? Or is it shackled by a story structure that limits the impact of the narrative? Clay joins me to discuss old age make-up, swapping the grief, and Captain Nog!

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In a feature-length season premiere, the Klingons enter the fray when they suspect a Changeling infiltration of the Cardassian government. Sisko needs help in dealing with those feisty Klingons, and who knows a Klingon better than another Klingon? Worf joins the show in "The Way of the Warrior" and immediately starts to kick some ass and pose for some kung fu pictures! DS9 is "rebooting" yet again, and Clay and Wes have a lot of thoughts about it. Join them as they discuss the upside of Worf, the downside of Spotify, and the pleasant equilibrium of Sisko's shaved head.

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Another season of DS9 is in the can, and that means it's time for Wes to ramble about what went right and what went wrong. This time, he's discussing the third season of DS9. A transitional season of the show, season three had some tremendous highs but also an extended low. Was it an improvement over season two, and what could be done to improve things going forward? Before we move on to Way of the Warrior, let's break down an interesting season of DS9 and try to catch our breath before we move onward. We also give out some awards and discuss the 5 best episodes and the 5 worst episodes of this past year!

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John Carpenter meets Star Trek when a single Changeling boards the USS Defiant and tries to kickstart a war between the Federation and... some aliens we've never heard about before! Paranoia is the name of the game, and The Adversary does a good job at wrapping up season three while examining how effective the Changelings can be. It might not be the ambitious two-parter that was originally planned, but sometimes it's nice to end the year with a smaller story that fleshes out Odo, provides some insight into Eddington, and sees Sisko finally attain the rank of captain. Clay joins me to discuss the size of the Defiant, the unusual nature of travel in DS9, and what happens when one Changeling harms another!

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It's actor play-time when a Trill ceremony requires the crew to become joined with previous hosts of the Dax symbiote. We meet most of the previous hosts, and Odo gets very familiar with Curzon. Plus, DS9 has its #MeToo moment! There's also a subplot about Nog taking a test. Clay joins me to discuss the TNG episode "An Alien Psychopath Runs Riot on DS9", 10 minutes of greatness, and the Curzon we expected!

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