The Delta Flyers - To the Death

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

The Delta Flyers is hosted by Garrett Wang, Robert Duncan McNeill, Terry Farrell & Armin Shimerman. In each podcast release, they will recap and discuss an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.This week’s episode, To the Death, is hosted by Garrett Wang, Robert Duncan McNeill,and Terry Farrell,To the Death: Sisko and his Defiant crew form a precarious alliance with Jem’Hadar warriors to stop Jem’Hadar renegades from restoring an ancient Gateway. We would like to thank everyone who makes this podcast possible, starting with our Production Managers, Megan Elise and Rebecca McNeill.Additionally, we could not make this podcast available without our Executive Producers:Stephanie Baker, Jason M Okun, Luz R., Marie Burgoyne, Kris Hansen, Chris Knapp, Janet K Harlow, Rich Gross, Mary Jac Greer, Mike Gu, Tara Polen, Carrie Roberts, Sandra Stengel, AJC, Nicholaus Russell, Alex Mednis, Holly Schmitt, Roxane Ray, Tim Neumark, Ian Ramsey, Feroza Mehta, Jonathan Brooks, Matt Norris, Jenny Cordina, Izzy Jaffer, Andrew Cano, Francesca Garibaldi, Jonathan Capps, Chris Garis, Sean T, & Cindy WoodfordOur Co-Executive Producers:Liz Scott, Sarah A Gubbins, Utopia Science Fiction Magazine, Elaine Ferguson, Captain Jeremiah Brown, E & John, Deike Hoffmann, Anna Post, Cindy Ring, Lee Lisle, Sarah Thompson, Holly Smith, Amy Tudor, Mark G Hamilton, KMB, Dominic Burgess, Normandy Madden, Joseph Michael Kuhlman, Darryl Cheng, Elizabeth Stanton, Tim Beach, Victor Ling, Shambhavi Kadam, David Wei Liu, Donna Runyon, Nicholas Albano, Andrew Duncan, Randy Hawke, Penny Liu, Stephanie Lee, David Smith, Stacy Davis, Heath K., Ryan Mahieu, Kevin Harlow, Megan Doyle, Jeff Allen, Tamara Evans, Deb Lahr, & Linda Paige. And our Producers:Philipp Havrilla, James Amey, Jake Barrett, Sab Ewell, Ann Harding, Samantha Weddle, Paul Johnston, Carole Patterson, Warren Stine, Carl Murphy, Jocelyn Pina, Chad Awkerman, AJ Provance, Maxine Soloway, Heidi McLellan, Brianna Kloss, Dat Cao, Stephen Riegner, Debra Defelice, Alexander Ray, Vikki Williams, Kelly Brown, Gabriel Dominic Girgis, Renee Wiley, Maria Rosell, Michael Bucklin, Sarah, Lisa Klink, Dominique Weidle, Jesse Bailey, Mike Chow, Matt Edmonds, Miki T, Heather Selig, Steph Davies, Stephanie Aves, Seth Carlson, Amy Rambacher, Jessica B, Annie Davey, Jeremy Gaskin, Sarah Dunnevant, Charlie Faulkner, Estelle Keller, Eddie Dawson, Greg Kenzo Wickstrom, Lauren Rivers, Jennifer B, Robert Allen Stiffler, PJ Pick, Preston M, Rebecca Leary, SnazzyO, Karen Galleski, Jan Hanford, Katelynn Burmark, Timothy McMichens, Cassandra Girard, Robby Hill, Andrea Wilson, Slacktwaddle, Willow Whitcomb, Mo, Leslie Ford, Jim Poesl, Daniel Chu, Scott Bowling, Michael Jones, Ed Jarot, James Vanhaerent, Nick Cook-West, Brian Heckathorne, Kilian Trapp, Nelson Silveira, Ming Xie, Kit Marie Rackley, Gordon Watson, Andy Bruce, & Durrell Bishop.Thank you for your support!This Podcast is recorded under a SAG-AFTRA agreement.“Our creations are protected by copyright, trademark, and trade secret laws. Some examples of our creations are the text we use, artwork we create, audio, and video we produce and post. You may not use, reproduce, or distribute our creations unless we give you permission. If you have any questions, you can email us at [e-mail] Sponsors:* Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.com* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/tdfSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-delta-flyers/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Delta Flyers Journey Through the Wormhole with Quark Dax and their good friends, Tom and Harry. Join us as we make our way through episodes of Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Your hosts for today are my fellow Trek actors, Terry Farrell, Robert Duncan McNeil, and myself. Garrett Wong. Wow, that's such a gentle intro, Garrett. Because I followed the gentleness of Terry. It's very gentle.

Can you go gentle as well? I feel like we're doing a Jack Cornfield, you know that guy that does the meditation? We got to get his name right first. For the complete and amazing, incredible version of this podcast with video, all kinds of bonus stuff. And today we're going to have a. a very special guest. Jeffrey Combs talking about this episode and our bonus material. If you want

some of that business, join patreon.com forward slash the Delta Flyers. Come on down, join the party. It's a lot of fun. Hi, guys. Hey. Can you, can I hear that the softer way? Just kidding. Hi, guys. Hi, guys. Guess what? Yeah. A fan named Terry Farrell who flew with the Delta Flyers. Wait, what? Yeah. Yeah. She gave me her patch. Let's step back two steps. The fan's name is Terry Farrell. Yes. Like your name. Yes, spelled exactly like my name.

Second of all, you just said she flew with the Delta Flyers. What is the Delta Flyers? Yeah. I don't know. But it says Delta Flyers, Terry Farrell. But she gave me her patch. Okay. So Max Kiserman from Luna Replicas. So if you want, any NASA Replicas, go to Luna Replicas. Max Kiserman, the owner of it, gave me a night, I think it's a 1966 flight jacket and made me a little leather patch. Oh, it's so super cool. I'll wear it on one of our, when it gets colder.

Envious of you. Thank you, me too. But he gave me a patch that says Terry Farrell with like some really cool emblem that, you know, because I don't know military things, I don't know what it means, but that Delta Flyer Terry Farrell patch has Velcro on the back and it fits on it. Oh, my gosh. You're official. You're like the most official of this podcast.

You've got a flight jacket, patches. I don't have a flight jacket or patches. I bought special black pants and I have groovy boots to wear with that jacket. Yeah, you got to complete the look. I can't wait to see that jacket. I'm very, very jealous of you. Max Kiserman. Max Kiserman, if you're listening, don't forget Robbie and myself.

Yeah, LunaReplicas.com. If you so feel like you want to throw something our way and hook a couple of dudes up, please, we're not going to complain, Max Kiserman. Okay. And it's that groovy gray. Oh, nice. Oh, it fits so good. It's so cozy.

And they're super well made. I mean, it feels like official. Wow. Yeah, they're not shoddy. They're really nice. I think we have birthdays, right? Yes, we've got some birthdays to talk about. First of all, Holly Schmidt on November 3rd.

Happy birthday, Holly. Happy birthday, Holly. Happy birthday, Holly. Jeremiah Brown, November 3rd. Happy birthday, Jeremiah. Happy birthday, Jeremiah. Happy birthday, Jeremiah. On November 5th, happy birthday to Ming Shia.

Ming Shia. Happy birthday. Happy birthday, Ming. And our last birthday is Janet K. Harlow on November 9th. That's my birthday, too. Happy birthday, Janet. Happy birthday, Janet. Happy birthday, Jeff Janet. Or I say chef Jeanette, if it's an extra fancy. There you go. Ooh, you rhyme. Yeah. Woo. Love it. Love it. And my birthday is on November 9th. At 10 days, and there you are. Wow. Happy birthday, Terry. Right. Yeah, and happy birthday to Robbie. Want to make a difference in your community, but not sure how? GoFundMe.com right now and start a GoFundMe. Seriously, your next fundraiser doesn't have to start in a school parking lot or a church basement. You can start a GoFundMe today in just minutes.

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and chosen by fundraisers everywhere. It works, and it matters. GoFundMe helps you make a real difference. Start your GoFundMe today at gofundme.com. That's gofundme.com. G-O-F-U-N-D-M-E.com. This is a commercial message brought to you by GoFundMe. It is time for poetry synopsis with Robbie McNeil's Limerick.

Oh, and Terr's got it. Oh, and Terror Affairs brought one today to. It is a crazy day. We're excited. All right. Okay, go, Robbie. Limerick goes a little something like this. A Gem Hadar,

squad meets our Starfleet crew and teamwork was something brand new. Trust was needed real soon. Things go bad for Wei Yun in a war game that no one could undo. Very nice. Good job. Thank you. Do you like how I got rhymed Wei Yun? It was real soon. I thought that was that's amazing. That's very good. Thank you. Thank you. I love it. My poetry is not quite as complete as yours my poem for to the death he slithers in a king cobra facing a black panther neither gives their ground can commonality be found they fight together to win letting a new world of pain in yours are always so deep they are is that deep well there's so much more to come i bet there is It's very powerful.

Thank you. You know, you got your message across. God, he was like a snake, and then he was like a cat. And his performance, Jeffrey Combs' performance was spectacular. Agreed. Yeah, it made the whole episode just, wow, he's riveting. Yeah, agreed. This is my haiku for To the Death.

Deep Space Nine attacked. Search for Gem, Hadar, Rebels. alas poor way yune very nice very shakespeare instead of poor yorick

I threw way yoon in there no I know it's but sometimes you have to say those words you never say in real life exactly in a poem in a poem and also because of armen loving Shakespeare I thought you know what I'll throw a little shakespeare in there

yeah okay written by ira Stephen bear and Robert Hewitt Wolfe our heroes. Yes, we love these guys. Directed by LeVar Burton, our friend. Oh, he's so great. He did a good job, for sure. Guest stars, we have Brian Thompson as Tumonturok, the name. Better you say it than me. I had to go back and rewind that one, Taman Turok. But it's crazy because Brian Thompson,

no matter what alien makeup he has on, you know those cheekbones. They're just there. I mean, He's just so prominent. Was he the hothead? Yes, yes. He looks super handsome. He's so buffed. He's like, you know what? He's ruggedly handsome is what I'm going to say.

Right. And he's very, I couldn't believe how much bigger than Worf he was. Oh, he's so. If you saw his body, he was scary. He's really, really super cut and super, super good shape. We've been talking a lot about very handsome actors in our podcast. Well, here's the thing. It seems like a pattern.

But Robbie, remember that list that I saw? The actor from Mr. Lee from the, yeah. Yes. The last episode had maybe the most handsome Asian actor in the world. Oh, my God. Other than Garrett, of course. He was like a Ken doll. He was like an Asian Ken doll.

He was so strikingly handsome. It was crazy. He's on this list of like, it says like, you know, Jen's list of handsome and rugged men. And there's 243 actors on there, including people like Tom Cruise and other people we've worked with before and that we know. And I said,

But Robbie and I are not on there. But this guy was for the last episode was. And definitely, definitely Brian Thompson should be on that list of one of the 243, but he's not. So anyway. Well, we're going to make our own list. Yeah, we're going to make our own list. We talk about enough handsome actors on this show. We do.

Stephen Weber will be on that list, too. Scott Haven is another guest star. He played. They're a Cara. He's the one that was observing you. Oh, he was great, wasn't he? Yes, he was. That was not an easy.

I don't think that kind of part's an easy part to play. I think it's harder to have that stoic thing. Very much so. With tons of makeup on too, very difficult. Well, I think the makeup just gives you so much, though. When people say, oh, that's so hard with the makeup, but the makeup is part of the character. So there's stuff you don't have to do because it's already there.

That's true. Of course, the other guest star is the lovely and talented Mr. Jeffrey Combs as Wei Yun 4. So that's his credit. Wayun 4. Oh, way and four. Oh. I don't understand why

that you would put that in there that way. Does he come back as Wayun 5? Or is this it for him? We don't know because we haven't watched it. Oh, I do too because you know what? I kind of got busy with other things and I didn't really pay attention to this whole Dominion War.

So this is exciting for me. Well, see, yeah, that's what confused me because I've seen a lot of press photos with him in there, his image, his face. And I thought, wow, he's, he's definitely going to be in there a several episode arc. And then we dies in this one. I'm like, what? I was like, and that's it. And then I kept thinking, well, that's possible because he did such a great performance in this one episode that stands alone as the Mount Rushmore of guest star performances. He should have won an Emmy for.

that honestly he was so good if the title or his credit is way un four and there is a way in five and a way in six and a way in one and he should die every time he gaster's on the show yeah okay yes 100 percent i think that four was maybe added in kind of like you know posthumously like it wasn't in there originally so but still your idea thank you i had the exact same thought Robbie. Your idea, I thought he could be the Kenny, you know, Kenny on South Park. He's basically like Kenny on South Park. He dies in every single episode. Exactly. Oh, my God. Who is our special guest star? The absolutely amazing Clarence Williams III as Ometic Clan. I love that name. Ometiclan. It's very, it's beautiful. And he was outstanding, wasn't he?

Did a great job. It is trivia time. So this is the very first appearance of the Vorda since the season three episode The Search Part 2 and this is definitely the very first appearance of the wonderful Wei Yun well according to Robert

Hewit Wolf to the death was written specifically to give the Gem Hadar more depth quote from Robert Hewit Wolf our intention was to show

that the more you learn about them the less you want to be around them so yeah so he was talking about how you know in the Star Trek universe Klingons used to always be thought of as, oh, they're dangerous, they're warriors. But the more you learn about Klingons, the more you like them, the more you want to be around

them. Yes, because they're honorable. Yes, they've got a lot of cool things about them that people don't, you know, they gloss over. Virtues. Yes. They have virtues, even though they approach it in a caveman way. Yes. The Gem and R have virtues too, but they're just bent on death and destruction.

That's their whole motivation. That's it until they die. And to reach 20 years old, right? scene with your guy. And that he was eight, eight years old. It was like, what? And the look he had on his face. They're so expendable. You were over 300. The look on that actor's face. Oh, it was so good. He played it well. I loved it. Okay. Let's continue with this trivia real quickly. We have LeVar, who was very integral in the casting of Clarence Williams III, because that was his longtime friend. Thank goodness. He did a great job. He was perfection in that part. He was. Now,

Now, both Lovar Burton and First AD BC Cameron found this episode extremely difficult to direct. A lot of the fight scenes that we see later were on top of Griffith Park, a very high promontory point where base camp was so far back that anytime someone went back to down to base camp to do anything, they had to wait forever to get those people back up. Oh, wow. Just to go to the bathroom. Just to go to the bathroom. Yeah, yeah.

They had like 35 stunt doubles. And all the makeup, all the prosthetic makeup. And if you think it's hard to get out of our space suits, imagine those costumes for the GemHadar guys. Oh, my gosh. Yep, yep, yep. So a lot of time issues. So very difficult. Lastly, in trivia, we have the fact that this episode was cut for violence, which is a first for the series, for DS9 as a series, and also quite possibly for Star Trek itself, that we have an actual eliminating.

of certain scenes because of the violence factor. And it did receive a 15 rating. We've talked about 15 ratings in the UK. It did? In the UK, yeah. It just seemed like our show. I didn't even occur to me that it was too much. Yeah.

And imagine if they were to show blood, right, Robbie? Oh, forget it. This would be like a 25 rating then. It's like, I don't know if that exists. Yeah, an R. There was so much bloodshed that should have, they didn't show all the graph. It could have been way more graphic.

than it was, you know, because in the 90s, you can't get away with that, obviously. Well, I feel like when you talk about all the violence that was cut, it feels that way to me. I mean, spoiler alert, I'm probably going to be the least fan of this episode out of the three of us. This was not, I'll just lead with that. This was not one of my favorites, although I love Jeffrey Combs. But I did feel like the fighting felt really chopped up and confusing. to me you know yeah there wasn't a fluidity to it no not a fluidity at all and so it makes sense what you're saying garret that there was a lot more yeah that they had to take out that's why it feels

chopped up because it does it feels because it was yeah exactly what i did uh chuck we won a bunch of emmy's for stunts on that show right and it was always yeah and it was always really important to me as we were breaking, prepping these episodes because there was always action sequences but I would tell the directors like we have to make the action sequence has to be part of our story and it needs to stand alone as its own story.

So the action comes out of the bigger story. Right. Within that action sequence, you need a beginning, middle, and end. Yes, yes, yes, yes. You can't just have fighting that doesn't have an arc to it and tell a story. And this, so back to this episode,

I felt like, every time that was action or fighting, I was like, where's what? Like, where's the story? Where this? I'm confused about geography, about who's in jeopardy, who's not in jeopardy, where people are coming from. It just all was kind of a little haphazard to me. Yeah, a little chaos. Yeah. Chaos in an unorganized way. Without a story, without kind of the beginning, middle, and end of, we're going to go into this battle, uh-oh, we're in trouble. Things look bad. I'm going to do a clever thing to get us out. There should be a story within every action sequence. Even going into battle, we're going to fight side by side. And then I'm thinking, how am I going to be able to tell who are the good Gem

Hadar? I had the same thought. Like have a patch or an emblem or something. To the human, to our Starfleet people, they can't tell the difference between these Jim Hadar. So they should have thought of that when they were prepping for this mission, hey, just so we can know that you're our Gem Hadar, why don't you wear this belt or this band or something? Base paint across the... Something. Yeah, I had the same thought.

The action in this episode was a little sloppy. Let me elaborate a little bit on this cutting of time for violence. According to Iris Stephen Bear, 45 seconds of hand-to-hand combat was cut prior to the episode being screened. this displeased bear a great deal that really hurt the show we built up to this battle and now it's just perfunctory

the fans who wrote letters on the internet saw that the rhythms were thrown off and quote similarly unimpressed was stunt coordinator Dennis Madelone quote in the first edited version 52 Gem Hadar had been killed Dax had killed 10 and Cisco had killed 7 but when the censors got hold of it

they took out over 32 Gem Hadar deaths. So more than half of the deaths were gone after the sensors took a hold of this. Wow. Wow. Isn't it amazing that we shoot so much film

that it well exceeds the time and you only have 42 minutes to tell the story? That's why it's kind of frustrating when these kinds of things happen because it's not unlike a commercial. where a commercial every second counts, you only have 30 seconds or 60 seconds to tell your story,

beginning, middle, and end. Yeah. 42 minutes in a drama, an action, sci-fi drama is not any time. It's so short. You need at least a full 60. Yeah. It's like all these shows should be an hour and a half long. All of them.

All of them. Really? Yeah. Yeah. All of them. Let's go back and redo it all. An hour and a half long, D.S. Yes.

I love it. Great. Well, let's see. dive into the plot of this thing. So we start with the captain's log. It's start 84904.2. And Cisco says after driving away brean privateers from the Bajoran colony of Freehaven, we're returning to Deep Space 9. So it sounds like we started this episode. We've had this big, you know, fight with privateers, brein privateers, and now we're going to come back to a nice, calm space station. Or are we? We cut into the mess.

hall of of the defiant i didn't even know that the defiant had a mess hall you know what it's new it's new okay just remember how tiny it was when we first got on and hasn't it grown suddenly defiance very big yes it went from like we just got it nobody can fit yeah it just has it's expanded outwards basically yeah we have a remodel but the ship looks the same but i do want to bring this up so right exactly um this robbie this episode to me especially with these new mess hall scenes, was so reminiscent of Voyager because we always have those scenes in the mess hall

where multiple characters are sitting around the table. And it may, so that's another reason why I love this episode because it made me feel very comfortable in terms of what I'm used to from Voyager because... Well, most of this episode is on The Defiance. So it's like a space ship. It's like a spaceship.

Yeah. So that's another reason why I love this episode. I liked it too. Yeah. Liked how this was and made sure it was integrated into your show. There's got to be things that they thought. We love this about Next Generation.

We love this about Deep Space Nine. What can we pull what we like from those and make it better on Voyager? Because, I mean, as I've shared, I've now watched some of your show. I know you have. It's freaking amazing. Your show overall is a great show. Oh, I'm so excited. I'm so excited.

I am so excited. Yeah. I'm so excited. I just can't believe it took me so long to start watching it. That's what this podcast is. is done for a lot of people. And for Garrett and I, like, we went back and watched our show in ways we'd never, in a detailed way. And now we're getting to know your show and your characters and all the actors.

It's great. Also, just what you're saying, Avery, I miss him so much. He's so solid. He's great in this episode. And I think it, too, not that I didn't, I'm sure you guys can appreciate this. Not that I didn't think my co-stars were very talented and wonderful to watch. But I think there's some nostalgia watching it again, too, right? Yeah, of course.

Yeah. You're so busy doing that you don't have time to appreciate it so much. I mean, but to step back now 30 years later and watch it and think, oh, wow, look at what we did. these are great this is great every time you watch an episode Terry it's like a high school reunion for you yes well we're in the mess hall we've had this adventure with the brein we're heading back so some small talk banter here dax is telling miles about when she was leila dax and she was a mom and then bashear arrives gives some parenting advice because we learn or we hear that he was first in his class in pediatric medicine of course he is but he's never been a parent look on a

Brian's face is hilarious when he says that, you know, first in my class in pediatric medicine. And then O'Brien's like, almost the roll of the eye. Yeah. Yeah, like, good for you. And then Bashir sits down with them. Dax warns him about the seat he's chosen. That's Worf's he really likes it. I like the moment where she says, I don't think you should sit down there.

And he looks around. He goes, why? Did Miles spill something again? Yeah. That's funny. It's very funny. And it was so great, too, when Worf comes in. Yeah. Or orders the prune juice. I love the prune juice. Large. And how Bashir handles it. Like for a moment, he's going to try to stand his ground. And then he's like, no. I got to give in. Commander, have a seat. Right? And then he moves. It was just beautiful.

Oh, my God. Well, Cisco gets a call to them and says all senior staff report to the bridge immediately. They walk into the bridge. And everyone, including, including myself, is in shock because DS9 is missing basically an entire pylon, the upper pylon. Yeah, that was crazy. Very shocking. We go to our title sequence. We love your title sequence, Terry. It's so beautiful. They upgraded it. Yes, they did. Yeah. It's great. I know. I had to see my name this. I was like, you know what? I'm going to watch it. I usually skip it. But you know, every once in a while, you just want to see your name on the screen and go, look, my name was on the screen. just, I sometimes don't skip it because I just want to hear the music. And it's so beautiful. It's really beautiful. Oh, and because of you, Garrett, I paid attention this episode to the music. And I thought,

I can't imagine, right, being a composer, composing every episode. Yeah. Holy cow. Remarkable work. Yeah. Gorgeous. Thank you for pointing that out. Of course. We come back after the credits. And there we are in a corridor. Kira's caring for injured people. There's dead people. It's just a big mess. Quark comes running in, panicking about Rom. Where's Rom? Where's Rom? Kira tells him she saw him. He's just fine. And then Quark's pissed off. He says, I'm going to kill him for scaring me like this. Very funny turn from Arm. Did he sound different to you character-wise? Like, to me, it was the most non-cork I've ever heard him speak. He's emotional. I guess. I like it. No, this is, good because it's a little picture

into how he actually really does care about his brother. Yeah. They can't do it too off. In other ways, it takes away from his Ferengi greed and yeah, all of that. But yeah, I think that was great. It's almost like he let his guard down for a split

second and he let us see that, which was even more masterful coming from Mr. Shimmerman, if you think about that. Yes, and we saw so much what was the episode? Was it with Pell? The Frankie woman that, or female, that disguised herself as a male, that was the other vulnerable time we saw him and that was masterful. It is, yeah. And we don't get that many of those moments. So it's nice

No, he doesn't. Yeah. Nice to see. This was also, I think, Quarks residual scene. Yes, it was. Yes, definitely. Get residuals now. And we don't see Kira again either. Hey, Robbie, the holidays are approaching. Yes, they are at warp speed. But not at trans warp speed. No. because then I'd be a salamander. Me too. Yes. But now is the time we should get our shopping done. Uncommon Goods makes holiday shopping stress-free and joyful with thousands of one-of-a-kind gifts you can't find anywhere else. Did I tell you that we purchased a puzzle from Uncommon Goods? No, tell me about it. Well, it's this amazing nebula puzzle. It's an infinite galaxy and you can put it together in thousands of different combinations. So I was thinking, I'll do the puzzle here and then send it to you and see what you come up with.

Then after I finish it, I will send it to Armin, that he could do it, and he can send it to Terry. We could all take photos of our finished puzzles, put it up on social media and have the fans vote on which one is their favorite. I love it. A little friendly competition. See who comes up with the coolest image in the end. And it's also something that you could do with your family and friends. Uncommon Goods has something for everyone. You'll find thousands of new gift ideas that you won't find anywhere else. When you shop at Uncommon Goods, you're supporting artists and small independent businesses. Many of their handcrafted products are made in small batches, so shop now before they sell out this holiday season. Man, here's the best part.

And with every purchase you make at Uncommon Goods, they give back $1 to a nonprofit partner of your choice. They've donated more than $3 million to date. That's incredible. Well, shop early, have fun, and cross some names off your list today. And to get 15% off your next gift, go to UncommonGoods.com slash TDF. That's UncommonGoods.com. TdF for 15% off. Don't miss out on this limited time offer. Uncommon goods. We're all out of the ordinary. But Bashir Dax and Cisco arrive on the scene. We learned it was a Jem Hadar strike.

They boarded disguised on a civilian freighter. And Kira says they were in and out before anybody could respond. There's tons of casualties. And she does mention they left five minutes ago. So Dax very smartly, because she's the smarty pants. She says the ion trail is still there. We can probably track them. So Cisco leaves Kira in charge. Dash. And Cisco does say have Starfleet send some backup for us, because this could be bad.

They're scary. Yeah. He wants backup to come to the station, just in case something else comes back to the station, right? Yeah. Yeah. And he takes Odo and Dax, and they're going to go chase the Gem and R. We're off in an adventure. They just got back from the Breen fight, and now they're turning around.

That's our job, man. That's right. I'm still laughing at Bashir. If he held his ground for another three seconds, that alarm would have went off saying, everyone report to the, you know, to opt. So he would never have had to get up at all. Yeah. Oh, we don't see him again either.

Do we not? Is he done? No, because he has to take care of all the people on Deep Space Night. He is done as well. And we don't see Jake Sisko at all in this episode. All right. So we're back on the Defiant. We're back on the bridge. It is cloaked. The trail, this ion trail that Dax suggested is getting fainter, but they're following it. Cisco wishes, he mentions he wishes that Defiant was always guarding DS9, just that it didn't have to go out and take care of the Breen or any of that stuff. And off to the side, Wharf thinks that's a very bad idea. And Miles says, well, you would think it's a great idea if you had family on board. so oh okay because i thought he thought that was a bad idea because he lives on the defiant but he also has to be at the ready so he has to be ready to go go go so they need they need two defiance yes they

also wasn't it cool when we went to uh when we uh decloat or cloaked that shimmer when we cloak yes there's a lot of little special effects like that in this episode a lot of good visual effects So Dax picks up something. It is the gem, it's a Gemhader warship. But when we arrive, very badly damaged. And it's emitting a distress signal. Scan for life signs. There's seven life signs on board.

Cisco takes a team to the transporter room. I thought they were going to go beam over there. He's like, yeah, I did too. Come with me. We're going to, you know, transporter bay. I never thought that at all because they already said that this ship is about to lose containment. It's about to blow up.

So I knew that they were going to go straight to the transporter room with their phasers and beam them aboard and just keep it. I didn't know it, but I love that idea because when we go inside, all the security team surrounds the transporter pad with their rifles pointed at it. And the Gem had our beam over. And I remember they said there were seven life signs. And I kept counting. There's only six. Where's the seventh life sign? Right.

They're a little short way in steps. through these very tall Jem Hidar. So they cast all tall background guys then. They must have been. They had to. Yeah, because they're big guys. Jeffrey Combs is not a, he's not a shrimp. He's average.

He's average, I would say. But he looks tiny compared to the team of the car. These are basketball dudes in the background. He is grateful to Cisco for saving their lives. And Cisco accuses the Jemadar of attacking their station. and Weyoun admits that they attacked them too, so yes, they did attack them. And then suddenly, Omectalon is like, don't tell them anything. So you see the Gemadar sort of telling Jeffrey or Wayun, don't talk, don't give them any information.

It was, wasn't it Clarence Williams' character? That's right. But I have a question because they beam in and you see all the Gemadar mid holding their weapons. but then we find out that their weapons have been separated from the beam in. And I kept thinking, how do you even do that? I thought when you beam somebody, if they're touching something, that comes with you, obviously. But there's technology to separate their weapons away. Yeah, well, it would be mechanical or metal or there must be a way to bring organic matter through and not.

All right, I'll buy that. I would think that's a defense mechanism. Of course, you'd have to have that. otherwise you'd beam something, or they could beam on and blow us up, right? Yeah. So maybe that's already built. It feels like that should be a default. Like if we're going to beam over strangers, they can't bring any weapons.

No, sorry. Yeah. Sorry. If we trust you, we'll give you one. But until then. Wayune mentions that do as you're told or you won't get your white. So we definitely establish that he's got access to the drugs they need to stay alive. he's also mean he's a little mean to them he's bossy he's very much for being the short

guy from the jungle book oh yes yes and i looked up the name to make sure it's the it's an indian python in the jungle book and he's the one who mowgli trusts right but he's not a good guy he's right and way un's like that he comes in and he thinks he's such a smarty pants and that nobody can read how disingenuous he is. Yeah. But Cisco has his number right from the get-go. Yep. He does ask to speak to Cisco privately, and we cut into the mess hall next.

Wayon is filling Cisco in on the predicament. So this is the scene where we lay out basically the circumstances of the episode. And this is a long scene. It's a very long scene. I had to restart it a couple of times. because I started to space out, and I was like, oh, gosh. There's a lot of information. There is.

Wayun offers to make him the ruler of the Federation, not just president, not chief of staff, but you'll rule it all. So he obviously something big is at stake here if Wayans offering to make Cisco the ruler of the federation. And he says, you know, we should try to reach some kind of understanding. So Wayun does talk about some Gemha-Hadar attacks. act the station and Wayun says, I can help you find them, but I need, I need you to do something for me. And Wayne says, I want you to help me eliminate the Gem Hadar. The bad ones, the

renegade ones, really. Yeah, he says they're the renegade Gem Hadar. And he mentions the Iconians and that they controlled a vast empire about 200,000 years ago. And they created these things called gateways that are like portals you can jump anywhere you can move instantaneously from one planet to another from one solar system to another don't even need ships yeah quick trivia iconians were mentioned one time before in next generation and it was Picard who destroyed another portal oh interesting oh cool yeah I love that about your show that the the mythology of all the different shows how it comes up and don't they do that with all the shows there's a thread you know but it seems like yours is more so than we did more yeah yeah i think we're a living bible you really are

you really are living bible i love it we need to make a t-shirt ds9 we're a living bible i love you might want to say star trick bible though so nobody gets confused it's true we're living star trick bible there exactly well we can tell cisco that they recently some dominion scientists recently discovered one of these gateways and took they took a team of scientists there to try to restore it investigate it but the gem hadar guards rebelled and now they're trying to take over this gateway so the gem hadar rebels are in charge of a very important gateway and they're working with the iconians no the iconians are long dead this is a long time oh oh oh okay but but the fear here is that even though this is a small

splinter group of 150 Gem-Hadar, they, being in control of these portals, could probably convince other Gem-Hadar units, regiments to join them. So then now they could be this unstoppable force that goes anywhere to destroy any planet or any group of people or species. Exactly. They annihilate everyone except for the Dominion. And other Gem-Hadar, probably. Thank you. Wayun says at the end of the scene, the gateway has to be destroyed. Do you agree? And Cisco agrees but that pause was great right yeah Avery paused and it was just like it felt like I could in that moment the kind of standoff with the two of them I could really feel LeVar in the room oh yeah yeah because this pace and the manipulation yeah okay we cut to the bridge next

Cisco fills the whole team our Starfleet team in on what's going on that they're going to with the Gem Hadar, which everyone's kind of shocked. And uncomfortable with. Zach starts it off. Let me get this straight. We're going to work with the Gem Hadar to fight the Gem Hadar, which is a great line right there. I love the end of the scene when Cisco says there'll be a joint brief briefing session at 1900 hours. O'Brien says, followed by get to know your buffet at 1930.

And then... Did he say that? Is that in here? Yes. I missed that moment. And then Dax at the end, she goes, and I forgot my dress uniform. There's good comedy in there. I know.

I told Terry, I said, you had some great comedic moments in this episode. Thank you. I wonder who wrote them. I wonder if it was Robert or if it was Ira, because it had the flavor that my character was written by someone. Yeah. Because there was a good through line. It felt that way anyway. Yeah.

Yeah. We should message Robert about this question. The very handsome Robert Hewitt won't. He can be on our list too, Robbie. Yes, he can go on the hands of the list. Definitely on our list. Yes. Because, yeah, because he's the nerdy, quirky, but super handsome guy.

Yes. Yes. I love that combination. Well, we go to Cisco's cabin next. And basically a short scene with Cisco and amectalon, but this is about who's in charge. and it's it's a power standoff they're both shot very well lots of subtext going on here power vibes but cisco says i'm the boss on this on this mission i'm the first omectalon agrees ultimately until this mission is over and the the traders are found and terminated fine but after that

we'll see and cisco dismisses him so so now we know cisco's in charge charge, the teams are working together, and this is going to be interesting. In the mess hall, joint meeting, battle plans are happening. We learn about the base camp. Cisco shows them diagram or the plans of the base camp. We realize that there's about 150 of them. We can't blow this place up. Our weapons wouldn't work.

Yeah, there's some special thing about the material that their camp is made out of. Neutroniums. Wayune explains to him. Tronium, even a direct hit. Direct hit with a quantum torpedo wouldn't necessarily destroy our objective, so it wouldn't get the gateway. So they have to go in basically hand-to-hand and fight these rebels. Well, we don't know hand-to-hand yet, right?

So they all assume they have their weapons. Or weapons, yeah, man-to-man, I guess, you know. But you can't just shoot bombs down there. Boots on the ground. Yeah. And thank goodness for our Star Trek nerd to understand all of these things. Yes. I did like where one of the Gem Hadar, I forget who takes a shot at Odo and says, you know,

well, the gods will decide justice for a traitor god and looks over to Odo. I know what I was like, you think of my God? For shame. He says, I'm no God, right? Yeah, they're taking shots at Odo. Then they insult Wharf, I think. He gets into it with. In shots, meaning verbal shots.

Yeah, verbal shots. No one shot at Odo with a gun. No. Yeah. But they're, they're, yeah, they're criticizing. They're pot shots. They're just being, you know. Mean.

Mean. Yeah, bickering, I guess. They're mean girls, those Gem Hadar. They are. They're mean girls. It is. This is a very high school episode. The whole thing with, this is Wharf's seat and no one can sit there.

That's like a high school thing. And then, yeah, mean girls, it really is. Yeah. Well, and it's weird because the Gem Hadar are these great big guys that pop in what in In three days, they're full grown and what? Yeah, so, yeah, maturity is not their strong point. Well, he's being more than mean. I mean, Tumont Turok says one day the Klingon Empire will fall before the Jemhadar.

And when that day comes and piles of Klingons lie dead at my feet, I will think of you standing here impotent and weak and I will laugh. That's being more than mean. That's like almost saying something about someone's mother. Well, they're provoking, right? they're very bad fighters and they're provoking that's when wharf grabs tamonterax and to montrax grabs wharf and cisco has to break it up and uh and he tells everybody at the end of the scene cisco says i promise you'll both have more fight than you can handle before this is over

so foreshadowing all this action that got cut from the episode but they're really setting up this this is going to be an ugly fight a vicious fight we could cut into a corridor, we're not sure what we're seeing. Is this the battle? Are they down there? Wharf's walking down a corridor. He knocks out a Jim Hedar. Dax and Miles are following. They head into an engine room. And Wharf shoots a soldier who's guarding the warp core, and they take out two of the soldiers in there. Miles is getting this bomb ready. And Dax says, wait a minute, there's a third one here. And they look all around. And then the lights change suddenly. We realize it's a simulation. Yeah, that was pretty cool, actually.

Yeah. I like that. Yeah. And O'Brien says, we're dead. An omectalon is up above with Cisco, Wayune, ammectalon, they're all watching. They say, and Omectalon's like, that's correct, you're dead. So this is practice for the battle. We learn they've got a defense grid.

Well, wait a second. Also, ammectalon shames all of us because we were looking for the third source. soldier and he goes there wasn't one and you got to work with that you just got to do it yeah there was no third guard we are in the corridor where cisco is very frustrated and says these drills are supposed to help you guys you know help our guys work as a team he's telling omediclon this is all supposed to bring us together make us work as a team um but you've got to stop putting our people down like you can't talk to you know that's not team building he says i just want you to maintain the pretense that we're on the same side.

Yeah. Let's pretend like we're friends. Yeah. That's funny. Yeah. And then we hop into the turbo lift. And Ometoclon says that they must have mixed teams to fight this fight. They can't just have Gem Hadar teams and Starfleet teams. They need to mix their people together.

To build trust for his team. Because they don't trust the federation, as we don't trust them. But that's his solution. Yeah. He does mention in here how the the GemHadar know all about the gateway, and Cisco stops the lift. And he says, the GemHadar are more loyal to the founders than the Vorda. And Cisco agrees to mix teams in the TurboLift with him. He's like, I think you're right.

We need some of your, you know, specialty and your knowledge. Your josh. Your josh with our Starfleet jush. And he says, mostly I want. everybody to come back alive. And Ometoclon's like, well, we'll see. I'm not sure. Yeah. Everybody. They're expendable. Yes. They see it as being expendable. Yeah. We just have to achieve our objective. And that's the most important thing. Well, Yun is in this scene as well. He's in the turbo left as well. Yes. Yeah. And he was shocked to find out that these Gem

Hadar know what's going on. Yeah. Yeah. And they don't care. They're still out to do the right thing in the Jekadar world. Cisco's like, your secrets out. All right, we go back to the bridge. Veracara stares at Dax, which is always very funny.

She's like, am I really that interesting? I'm just staring. I like the silence of it all. This is maybe my favorite scene in the entire. It's really good. Oh,

thank you. I like the scene too. It was fun. He's trying to learn about her behavior, anticipate her actions. That's how he's going to be a team player. and Dax asks about him, you know, how they, do they sleep or eat? Nope, he says, they don't sleep, they don't eat.

It's just the white gives them everything they need. She brings up women. Nope, no women. They're birthed in chambers. They fight it three days. They're ready to fight. She asks how old he is. He says he's eight.

Dax says she stopped counting at 300 when he asks, how old are you? I stop counting it. 300. Yeah, his reaction was very funny. Oh, you don't look it. Yeah. And I said, thank you. Thank you. I love that moment too. I love that whole scene. It was very sweet. Yeah. It was. Yeah. I'm wondering if Ira or Robert is a big fan of Adam Ant, the musician.

Why? Because, Dax, your line is pretty much very reminiscent of the song Goody Two Shoes. When it says, don't drink, don't smoke, what do you do? Yeah, so you go, don't sleep, don't eat. What do you do for relaxation? But still, it's the same basic format. Yeah, I love that song. Yeah. All right.

So we're in the mess hall. Miles Odo, Worf, and Dax are there. They're discussing the Gem Hadar. And then O'Brien says, no women, I'm not surprised. And Worf goes on to be no, I mean, spending long night singing songs of your deeds, good food, good drink, and I say good women. So they're just having this nice little banter. Comparing the, I guess, the Gem Hadar to their lives and things like that. Wayun's there, right? No, he's not there. He's at another table staring over at their table. Yes, but he's there.

He's in the mess hall. Right, right. Yes, yes, yes. They clock it. And Odo's like, why does he keep staring at us? And that's what O'Brien says, I don't think he's staring at us. I think it's you. And that's when Dak says, oh, it's probably because, you know, know the Vorda consider the founders like gods and then you're kind of and then Odo's like I'm not a founder right so he's like well you're a changeling that's close enough to them so it's just just a kind of a informational scene but that's when that's when the Jemadar come into this into the mess hall omenteclon is is he's basically trying to come and get the white the catcher so white it's time they're they're on a schedule they need to be they need to replace the white and

way you're sitting there eating and he's so cocky he's just so funny oh my god he goes gross isn't he his time when i say it's time he's so deliciously awful in this scene yes isn't he yeah then he's like okay very well prepare six vials he puts his his hand on top for the secret code or something prepare six vials unlock he opens it up and he says omediclon can you vouch for the loyalty of your men and omediclon says his part we pledge our loyalty to the found like they're going through this. It's all ritual here, right? But Wayune is so bored with this.

He's just like, oh, God, will you vouch for them? It's very funny how he's playing this whole scene. I love it. Yeah. But they get their white. Then Tamantaraq's and Worf kind of get into it. Again. Yes, again as they're leaving.

Tamantirok is actually sort of picking on O'Brien. So he walks over to O'Brien, who's on his combat team and says, we've got to go resume our battle drills because, you know, the Gemma Hedar about training and more training and more training. Yeah, it begins that way. So it's innocent enough. Tremontorak is not trying to start any type of, you know, he's not trying to be aggressive. He's just saying, let's prepare, let's go and train. And O'Brien's not ready. I'm not ready. I'm eating. He's like in a minute. So that's when Tremont de Rock starts saying stuff, well, look at them. They stuff themselves with food, but they have no appetite for battle. And then Wharf is like, okay, well, I'm going to stick up for O'Brien a little bit, which. he does, that Tamantaraq says something else, then lays hands on O'Brien's shoulder,

which is when Worf says, not enough. He back hands to Montaerac, and the fight ensues, they roll over. They're broken apart. Everyone comes in, and you see Cisco there. You see Ometiklan. Cisco, big daddy comes in. Yeah, we're done. Break it up, right?

That's right. The question it says, who started this? Cisco, I'm sorry, is Cisco said that? One of the two says that. Whoever says who started, Worf says, I'm one. And Tamantaraq says, I'm the other one who started this whole thing. And at that moment, that's when Ometeklan goes ahead and issues his own version of justice. Breaks his neck.

What the heck? That's his buddy, too, but he takes him out. It's his first. It's his second. Yeah, it's his second. He kills him, and then he tells Cisco to kill Worf. Right. And Cisco just sends Worf.

No, you're confined to his quarters. Anytime you're not on duty, you're confined to your quarters. And he's like, yes, sir, and walks away. He's grounded. He's on a timeout. Yeah, but the look on a Metcglan's face afterwards is he has no respect for Cisco whatsoever. He's like, are you kidding me? He even says, you should die in his place for not killing him.

So it's some major tension going on here because there's a complete different value system between the Gemma Dar and the Federation. He even says, he even says, you should die on his place. And when this mission is over, I'll see that you do. Yeah, he's just going to kill him. It's very intense. It really is. Very intense.

Oh, my God. Yeah. We walk into a corridor next and Odo's walking around a corner and behind him out pops Wayune from his cabin. And he basically tells Odo, I'm here to serve. Oh, he's so gross. He's so scary and, ugh. Yeah. He says he'll help Odo get back to his people.

He knows that Odo wants to, you know, reconnect with. this people and otta says no what i want is to end this conversation way it's like okay all right love that i'm here to serve i comply but this is super close-ups like yeah yeah this is the closest close up the tightest shots i think i've ever seen on star trek ever well we've had ECUs it and for wayoun's makeup it looked really great but there was a spot in otto's makeup in the corner of his I just killed me. I honestly, the entire time I'm watching it, I felt like I had a little brush of glue in my hand,

and I just wanted to stick it right in there and, yeah. I mean, if I was in the scene with him, I would have been like, makeup. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yeah, it distracted you from the actual scene. It did. It really did.

Yeah, of course. Yeah. It's just remarkable, but I've looked through a lens of a camera. And it's amazing, a film camera, it's amazing how it isn't as clear as you would expect. Right. Yeah. Right? Yeah.

You expect it. There's a kind of a gray film. Yeah, it looks like a filter or something. Yeah. Yes, it does. So you can't see those kind of details. And that's why you need to make of people to be really coming in and paying attention. Yeah.

Well, nowadays, we've got big monitors and high-deaf cameras. You see a lot more. Digital cameras. it's much easier to see but you're right back then it was film you had to look through the eye piece yeah and my point being sometimes during the eyepiece looking in the eye piece you can't see those details yeah it just yeah speaking of eyes uh jeff has contacts on right that's the only way his eyes are like a violet oh my god they're crazy aren't they be it's just wow good choice yeah we go to the bridge next miles walks in it gives dax uh isoliner chip with the message for kiko

and Molly in case he doesn't come home. And these are moments to me that are, you know, that's reality. Profoundly human. Yeah. This is very much any anyone we know that's in a military service, this is what they have to do if they go into combat, right? You have to leave a message for your loved ones. But Dax is trying to not console him, but sort of cheer him up or be the pep squad

and saying, like, no, it's not going to happen. You'll be fine. I already know this. You're going to be 104 years old or whatever. You're going to be lived to a ripe old age. Yes. Yeah. Let's visualize and make that happen.

Right. Yeah. Well, she also says, I've been around a long time, and I can tell when people are survivors and when they're not. Yeah. And you've got it. Like, you've got whatever that thing is. Right.

Besides, I have to send a message to my mother. Yeah, exactly. Which is funny. Otherwise, well, you record these two? It's like, yep, doesn't everyone? So it's kind of a funny button, too. Yeah, funny, but we go to the engine room next. Worf comes in.

He's heard about the threat from Ometoclon and says Cisco should stay on the ship during the battle, but Cisco declines. He's going to go fight this fight. And Worf just warns him, you know, watch your back. He does say, if you die, I will avenge your death. Very cling on of him. The way they wrote that was hilarious.

If somehow he does carry out his threat, he would not live to boast about it. That's what he says, which is very much. He didn't say, I'm going to kill him. He goes, he would not get the ghost of it. You know, that's all. So very funny. And Cisco turned to him, gives him a look.

He's like, well, that's very reassuring. Like, maybe have my back during the battle. Yeah. Yeah. I'd like to not plan on dying. Exactly. Yeah. Or my revenge that.

Yes. Revenging my death. Thank you. Well, Dax calls says that we're approaching Vandros four. So they head all. Terry, when you've watched yourself say we're approaching Vandros 4, Captain. Did you think of Luther Vandros, the singer? Did that come across your head, your mind?

I don't know. Not today. Not today. I don't know. Just checking. That was my non-second order. Let's go. Let's continue.

Arms locker. Arms locker was very cool, though, because it's like this montage of weapons being handed out. Was it a real arms locker? I don't remember. Or was it that little half suitcase thingy that we've seen. No, it was an arms locker. Oh, a real one. Like a room.

Thank goodness. And the shots were cool. It was well done. Armory. It's like an armory. Great. Yeah. Good.

Good. Very dramatic. The Gem Hadar take the weapons off of stun. They talk about setting him to max power to kill setting. And then there's a gem Hadar speech, basically. He gives where he says, we're dead. We have to go to battle to reclaim our life. The opposite.

What the hell? I just love how that's written, though. If you think about that. It is very well written. Because you're saying, we're already all dead. If you want to reclaim your life, you find it in the battle. It's like, what? That is so intense and so well written.

I love that writing. Yes, it is. So after a metaclon goes through this speech that he gives before battle, I thought it was so effective because he's so calm. Clarence Williams III when he's delivering that. He's not yelling or screaming this out. He's just so deadly calm that it's just very, very, it's very moving for me. And, of course, as they head off after saying victory is life, O'Brien comes up with his speech.

He says, I am Chief Miles Edward O'Brien. I'm very much alive, and I intend to stay that way. This go response, amen, let's get it done. Let's just let him you guys. Can I get an amen? Yeah. So even though there's a lot of battle and a lot of stress and a lot of, you know, mention in this episode, there's some amazing comedic moments in here that I,

that endear me to this episode, Robbie, that make me love this episode. Okay. We're on the planet. We'll talk about it. If we go to the planet surface next, the landing party gets down there, they're taking cover behind some trees. You said this was Griffith Park. Is that where they filmed?

Yeah, that's where we were. Yeah. It was gorgeous. The trees, to me, looked like Pacific Northwest. They look like, I don't know, sear trees. Is there, Oregon or something? Washington, yeah. Yeah.

I can't believe those trees are in Griffith Park. They were beautiful. You haven't been for a while. No, I haven't. And it's bigger than people think. Yeah. It's a big part. Where they were at, they are so high up as well.

Oh, interesting. Beautiful trees. Anyway, they take cover. Cisco waves everybody out. They gather by the base. Ometoclon says the rifles don't work. None of their weapons are going to be helpful. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, they thought that we were sabotaging them. Yeah. Right. And then Dax says, no, it's the gateway is giving off some kind of energy. A damning field, so they can't operate it. Yeah. And then suddenly these Gem Hadar shimmer in from Invisible World.

Yeah. They're right there next to them. And they have to fight hand to hand with bladed weapons. Did they have all of these? Did they have like weapons on them when they did? They had knives, these crazy-looking, yeah. They did, but did we have to our guys think about that? No, no.

No, you guys had to disarm them, whoever you could, yeah, and they'd use that, their weapons. And that's how we lost a lot of people. Yes. Right at the get-go. Oh, that's right. Because they had no weapons to fight these guys. These guys were ready to go. But it's funny that, oh, very conveniently, every one of those, Gemma, have a black vest on over their clothing.

So you knew who was the bad guy. Oh, I didn't notice that. Oh, I didn't either. Oh, both of you. Oh, my gosh. It was a black, literally like a black vest, like a sweater vest that every single Gemadar that shimmered in had on. And I was like, wow, that's very convenient to make it look like it.

Like bulletproof vests. Kind of, but it just, it was a way for them to differentiate between the good Gemadar and the bad gemadar. I didn't see that because that was a big bump for me. For you, yeah. How did they know? I didn't catch it. Right.

I don't know how if you're in the middle of a battle that you'd, have the clarity of mind to go oh wait a minute they've got a little black their their stitching is different that's how we'll know who the bad guys are stitching is different it'd be more obvious okay all right I agree but I saw the but it's interesting that neither of you saw that though but it was I know right I was just paying attention to the fighting in the scene yeah yeah there's a brief fight and not my favorite fight I've seen I've seen more dynamic kind of hand-to-hand this one was a little off. It's a combination, right, of the fight and the editing.

Yes, yes, and the editing was a little bumpy for me. But a Metaclon says to Cisco, you're probably going to quit, right? And Cisco says, nope, guess again. He grabs the blade. They head down by the entrance to this place. Structure. The gateway. They head down there.

This time, our Gemha-Dar shimmer in and start to fight the rebels. And then Starfleet joins in, lots of hand-to-hand fighting there. Warf and Dax leading to charge with some pretty cool Klingon moves, I thought. Yeah. Well, we're Warf and Dax. Yeah. But then again, remember, 32 seconds of fight scene are gone because it wasn't allowed. So it is very choppy and not as flowing as it could be.

I wonder why it just seems surprising to me that sensors wouldn't let it in. I wonder if it was more time. Okay, we talked about how many deaths originally, that one, the first cut. It was 52 deaths, right? So back then, 52 deaths was like John Wick on steroids in the 90s. This was before John Wick. Before John Wick.

No one had ever seen that high body count. So immediately this. Not on Star Trek. Well, Kling on moves, get him inside. We're inside the vestibule. Worf's heading to the gateway. Dax says she'll cover him from behind. So she and her gang are fighting guards that are pouring in.

Wharf takes out another guard and says, keep moving. They head through a quarter into a vestibule. And this is where Dax is fighting. And Vira-Cara, how do you say his name? Veracara. Veracara. That guy, her buddy, Dax's eight-year-old buddy. Yeah.

They're both fighting and having this conversation. And you're still there? Yeah, meaning are you still alive? Don't you say something like you're definitely going to make one of the holy I say, don't worry, you'll make an honored elder yet. That's right, the 20-year-old, 20-year-old Gemmodar. So I love this. It becomes this sort of like camaraderie thing that we never would have expected.

Because remember, the principal idea that they wanted to convey was the more you get to know the Jamadar, the less you want to know them. But it's different with Dax and Veracura. They almost become this cool We're buddies They're buddies They're sitting there like Yeah, that's right

And they're making And they're making kind of jokes While they're fighting Which is awesome I love it This could be the spin-off show The spin-off show It could be Dax and Veracara

Oh yes The adventures of the two of you Oh my God, thank you It's really fun to watch And you know Terry You were great But it's exactly my point of like

I'm not sure they know what story they're telling Because if they're really telling the story the more you get to know them the more the less you want to know them yeah this story shouldn't be there it weakens their thesis like it weakens yeah right all that's why i'm not sure it also supports that they that they are those renegade gem hadar and then there's our gem yeah and maybe it's better to have that question of oh like how human are they and for some reason i break into some it's okay to

have the comic relief with one, I think. I agree. I agree with you. I think there's always going to be an anomaly, Jim Hidar, who doesn't fit into that sort of mold where you don't want to get to know them at all. There's going to be one where I kind of do want to get to know that guy, though. Veracara's the cool one. So they're always going to be one cool one of the people you don't want to know.

And not dissimilar from having the simulation we were doing and we were waiting for the third, we were looking for the third guard, unexpected. And this is unexpected. And I think it's good because being part of Starfleet, we have to give room, give space for aliens and their descriptions to maybe not match up every time. Yeah. People surprise you kind of thing. Terry, this Veracura-Dak's relationship while fighting reminded me so much from Lord of the Rings, the trilogy, when you see Gimli, the dwarf and Legolas the elf with their fighting. He goes, I'm on number 32.

about you? And I've got this, you know, there's this whole dialogue going on between the two of them while they're in death, fight to the death, you know, scenes. So I thought it was great. I loved it. Daxon Varacara have their funny little conversation while they're in the midst of battle. And then we go back to Wharf inside a corridor, more fighting. He's on his own now. And we learn that he's been hiding Odo in a sack. He says, that's so good. I think we've waited long enough. He puts the satchel down, and Odo morphs into himself and knocks down the guards. It was like he was like an octopus for a second. Yeah. Bam, bam, bam. Okay, it's cool.

But at the same moment when that happened, I thought, really, you didn't bring him out in the beginning? He could have saved a bunch of lives from getting, you know, losing a lot. We lost some good guys right in the beginning. If you had Odo, Mr. Do Anything in the beginning. Mr. Octopus. Yeah. Well, that's why. he couldn't be there then.

I guess. Yeah. Yeah. We cut into a passageway. They're getting much closer to the gateway. Cisco checks with Miles that the explosives are ready to go. And Miles says we have a backup detonator in case we need it. So we're getting close to taking out this gateway.

Finally, we get in the gateway chamber and we see the gateway. There's all these images, different destinations, just flying by. They take out the guards. O'Brien starts to set up the explosives. And in those images, we see like Bayjor, we see Kronos, we see the Eiffel Tower. Yeah. I even noted that you see the Blackpool Tower, which is Blackpool England.

Where you do the convention. So cool. Yes, exactly. You're like, I was just there last year. But I also made a note. I said those images, as cool as they were, that whole scene to me looked very original series-esque, just sort of kind of. Low techie and cheesy, yes, very much so.

But there was a surprise attack at this point, right? With the minute they come in here, and this is when Cisco saves Ometiklan from being, you know, basically killed. Yeah, saves his life. And Remedaclons confused. Oh, it's so confused. What are you doing? Yeah. I threatened your life.

Yeah. And you're willing to sacrifice your, to save my life after I threatened to kill you? I like Cisco's answer where he says, if you have to ask why, then you'll never understand. Exactly. Very why. That's that perfect thing. People can only meet you where they've met themselves.

Yeah, it is. But I still like this scene because Ometeklund now has something to think about, you know, that he never, never would have even thought could be possible. That's the point, right? The blind spots reveal. Let's open our minds up, yeah.

Yeah. I like when they're all running out, Odo runs by and says, let's go Dax. And then Dax says to, do you say to your buddy, if I were you, I'd run like hell? That's what I thought he said. Yes.

Yes. To a down to renegate. No. Oh, yeah, yeah. No, no, no. That's what it was. So she had, she had overpowered a bad guy and just basically said, look, if I were you, I'd run like hell. So she's saving his life and giving him a piece of advice as well.

So she let him go. Yeah. Yeah. But off they go. We go out to the planet surface. This is a very original series moment as well because the whole explosion happens off camera. Right. We hear it.

I was like, really, can't you cut to a wide shot and see this? We spent too much money on all those Gem Hadar makeups. That's what it was. But they've destroyed the gateway. And again, to me, this is a big cheat. Like, this is where you should not save money. No, especially because it's such a dynamic. It's the whole dynamic of the whole show and to not see the explosion.

We never see it. It's a little anti-climactic. You want it to be enormous. And not some weird blast where you just see a big dust ball but like cataclysmically bad

like yeah I agree especially if these portals are so expensive or gateways are so powerful yeah but we are definitely not ready

for this moment when Wei Yun says you've all done quite nicely now if you don't mind I'd like to inspect the wreckage but at which point a Menteclan pulls up his weapon

and vaporizes him he's just like that I was shocked. I'm like, wait a minute. I was too. I know that Jeffrey Combs comes back as Wayune. I, I didn't know that at all. I had no clue.

I was like, maybe he doesn't come back. He only did one episode. You know what's funny is? I was thinking, before I started watching the episode, I was thinking, the only time I remember working with him, I just remember being really close to him in a discussion. So I thought, I wonder if it's in this episode and I didn't see it. So I was thought, there's got to be something else.

There's some trick. he comes back. I don't know where it is. But Ometaclon takes him out and says that's for questioning their loyalty. So I thought that was, yeah. So obviously he's not understanding Cisco, period. Yes. No, he's not learning anything from this episode.

But he tells Cisco they're going to stay and hunt for the other rebels, take the rest of the rebels out. And he says to Cisco, the next time I see you, we will be enemies. Yeah, he didn't learn. But you know what? appreciate his honesty yeah he's you could see that in Cisco's face like well-noted or whatever he said it was i'll keep that in mind there you go yeah it's important to know oh now we've been back to the ship yeah now we beam back yeah i was wondering what you were saying like we've been back i'm sorry you know how i am i got it all right and that's it we are done with a recap discussion of

this episode woohoo Let's talk about theme slash lesson slash moral for this episode, Robbie McNeil. My theme or lesson is even enemies can find something in common and something to respect. Do you have a theme slash lesson slash moral, Terry? I would say keep an open mind. I think this is a common Star Trek theme. Don't judge a book by its cover. Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yeah. My lesson is it's always better for collaboration as opposed to competition. So the mixed teams together, right? Patreon Paul winner. Submitted by Martin de Plays, in the face of a greater threat, uncomfortable compromises and alliances must be made. Well, I like that the best.

That's a good one. That's good one, Martin. Good one. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you, everyone. That's the end of our podcast. And join us next time when we will be recapping and discussing the episode,

The Quickening with Terry yet again. Woo-hoo. Yay. Thank you. Yes, for all of our Patreon patrons, please stay tuned for your bonus material and a little bit more Terry Farrell. And we're going to get right to it.

Everyone else, we'll see you next time. I'm going to be Burted. B. B. B. B. B.

B. B. B. B. B. B. B. B.

You know, I'm going to be able to be. I'm going to be able to be.