A Star to Steer Her By

It's all loss all the time this week on SSHB. First up: Dukat and Sisko are stranded on an alien world just in time for the good Captain to realize the not-so-good Gul has lost his marbles in "Waltz". After that, everyone's favorite loquacious barfly has kicked the bucket and left his entire estate, such as it is, to Quark – leading the bartender into a series of messes that turn out to be one ver...

It's a couple of weird ones this week on DS9! First up, Starfleet decides it would be best to rub Bashir's life in the face of some genetically-enhanced folks who weren't lucky enough to slip under the radar in "Statistical Probabilities", and for their trouble they nearly get intel handed over to the Dominion! After that, Moogie's been kidnapped by Iggy Pop the Vorta (no, really) and Quark decide...

This week's relationship status is "it's complicated!" First up, the Worf/Dax wedding is finally here in "You Are Cordially Invited", but will their vows be derailed by Klingon custom? After that: Kira comes face-to-face with her lost love's inter-dimensional counterpart in "Resurrection", but is he really after freedom or something more? Also this week: the episode of missing scenes, New Frontier...

We're taking a break from DS9's Dominion War to focus on humanity's war against the Bug threat in 1997's "Starship Troopers"! Yes, it's the third entry in the Verhoeven sci-fi satire trilogy where everyone's favorite Mad Dutchman takes a genuinely fascist novel and turns its messages on its head to prove how stupid its ideals are! It's a harrowing tale of brutal violence, lost innocence, and co-ed...

DS9's deepest dive into blatant serialization yet comes to a close in the two-parter "Favor the Bold" and "Sacrifice of Angels"! The Federation is sick of being on the back foot, but their plans to take back DS9 and the wormhole are sped up when it is revealed that the Dominion has finally figured out how to take down the minefield! Can an insufficient fleet actually take on the Dominion? What can...

It's family matters, cultural ties, and the universal symbol of root beer this week on DS9! First up: the Worfst dad in the galaxy has to face his rottenness while the most maniacal dad over Bajor is using his kid to try and seduce his greatest enemy in "Sons and Daughters"! After that, Sisko worries about his crew while Odo bangs his way to not caring in "Behind the Lines"! Also this week: anothe...

Here comes season 6 and what is, effectively, a six-parter! But it's serialized enough that we're still doing it two at a time. First up: "A Time to Stand" and "Rocks and Shoals". We open from the aftermath of Season 5 to see that the war is really not going the Federation's way despite their precious shipyard victory, life on the station is more gray than it's ever been, and some Vorta are real j...

It seems like only yesterday we were being introduced to the Jem'Hadar way back at the end of season two, and now we're already to the end of season 5 and the long-simmering hostilities between the Federation and the Dominion finally boiling over! Yes, it's "Call to Arms", where a bunch of threads pay off and the Alpha Quadrant is turned upside-down! Also this week: a different way to end seasons,...

Hello, fellow soulless minions of orthodoxy! This week on DS9 there's madness, murder...and maybe just a bit of heartwarming earnestness? First up: what should be a simple scavenging mission to DS9's sister station goes horribly awry when Garak gets murder-stoned in "Empok Nor"! After that, Jake wants to cheer his Dad up, leading to fetch quests galore and a brush with the Dominion in "In the Card...

It's alternate routes of different sorts this week on SSHB. First up, time travel shenanigans cause the DS9 crew to meet their own possible descendants in "Children of Time". After that: one chose the uniform and one chose rebellion, and now they're reluctantly united in a common cause in "Blaze of Glory"! Also this week: Worf is better to imaginary kids, killed by Romantic notions, and Memory Alp...

Time to get back in the saddle, everyone! First up, Quark has a chance to get his Business License reinstated by Brunt, but to do so he must ruin his mother's newfound relationship in "Ferengi Love Songs"! After that, Worf realizes following regular procedure isn't going to get Martok to embrace his Warrior's Spirit in "Soldiers of the Empire". Also this week: an encouraging intro, oo-mox talks, a...

DS9 is settling right into its favorite place this week: complete moral ambiguity and no easy answers! First up: a desperate Quark gets into arms dealing, making himself loads of money but driving off his old friends in place of horrible, horrible new ones in "Business as Usual". After that: time for more Occupation flashbacks and revelations as Kira's Cardassian pseudo-Dad Tekeny Ghemor lets her...

No one is who they seem this week on DS9! First up, when the Emergency Medical Hologram's creator chooses Julian to be the template for the next, long-term version we discover there's more to the good Doctor than meets the eye in "Doctor Bashir, I Presume". After that, a would-be femme fatale finds her way into Odo's life, but the mystery to her is even deeper than she realizes in "A Simple Invest...

It's the sneaky two-parter we've been chatting up for a bit since it mucked up our scheduling! Things really hit the fan and a whole lot happens in the one-two punch that is "In Purgatory's Shadow" and "By Inferno's Light"! Worf and Garak are kidnapped by the Dominion while on a rescue mission, Julian is revealed to have been a Changeling for over a month, and in the least surprising betrayal ever...

Everyone welcome! Welcome to A Star to Steer Her By's 200th Episode spectacular! We've come a long way and we're honestly more than a little amazed to be here! Thank you to all who've joined us! For our big 200 we are eschewing the usual procedure and calling on some former guests to join us for a few rounds of "Trek" trivia before making them have some fun with Shakespeare! It's a bit of a long o...

Some familiar faces are dropping by DS9 this week, for good or ill. First up, when Odo gets his hands on a baby Changeling in "The Begotten," Dr. Mora drops by to meddle. I mean give advice. Yes. After that, the hunt for Eddington continues and is continually botched by Sisko making it personal in "For the Uniform". Also this week: changing our remit, Bajoran birthing rituals, and more than you wa...

And so do we! As mentioned a few weeks ago, a two-partner snuck up on us forcing some last-minute rescheduling, and today is the result. So buckle up as the SSHB crew tackles three episodes at once! First up: it's Odd Couples week on DS9 as Quark and Odo are stranded on a hostile world, while Jake and Nog try the roommate thing in "The Ascent". Next up, art + electricity = Sisko going full Jesus i...

Just don't travel in "Trek", it never ends well. First up, Dax tries to get Worf to chill by going to Risa, but he instead throws in with a bunch of fun-hating fundie puritans in "Let He Who Is Without Sin...". After that, something goes wrong on the way back from a conference (what?! NEVER!) and we're left exploring Odo's darkest secret in "Things Past". Also this week: how Worf is Hank Hill, Duk...

Everything's varying levels of familiar this week on DS9. First up, it feels like "Power Play" but the wrong O'Brien has been possessed in "The Assignment". After that, DS9 goes all "Forrest Gump" and "Back to the Future II" into TOS to celebrate the 30th anniversary of "Trek" in the classic "Trials and Tribble-ations"! Also this week: Bajoran MacGuffins, swinging shifts, and a LOT of TOS chat! [T...

It's extremes of emotion this week on DS9! First up, everyone's looking to get with Klingons when Quark's ex Grilka shows up in "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places"! After that, Jake sees war up close and finds fear his primary companion in "...Nor The Battle To the Strong". Also this week: improved Dax, sassy solid Odo, and Quarktajino! [Timestamps: "par'Mach": 00:42; "Nor The Battle":...

It's all Dominion all the time for the start of Season 5 on DS9! First up, having discovered Gowron is a Changeling agent in the previous finale, Starfleet Intelligence sends in a crack team of non-spy non-assassins to infiltrate a Klingon party and murder the Chancellor in "Apocalypse Rising"! After that, Sisko and his team witness a Jem'Hadar ship crash, and then enter a tense standoff with the...

It's big losses all around for everyone's favorite DS9 ship this week. In "Body Parts", Quark preemptively sells his desiccated corpse after a terrible doctor's visit, but the buyer still wants to collect even when it is discovered the bartender is fine, and to refuse is to be banished from Ferengi society! After that, Odo is forced to face the judgement of his people as the only Changeling known...

We're borderline topical this week as, just in time for season two to premiere, we're taking a look at the first season of Disney+ juggernaut "The Mandalorian"! When an enigmatic bounty hunter finds a target too adorable to just hand over to creepy Imperial Werner Herzog, he finds himself on the run in search of solace and space bucks. Soon he is encountering old friends and foes, making new ones,...

The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long, which one could say applies to the Jem'Hadar that Sisko and company find themselves having to reluctantly team up with to prevent a splinter group from obtaining a powerful tool in "To the Death". But candles can burn others, and centuries ago other Jem'Hadar left a terrible disease on a once-great world that Bashir has vowed to destroy in...

Relationships seem to be the real focal point this week on DS9. First up, Lwaxana is having marriage trouble and Jake has fallen in with a dangerous older woman in "The Muse"! After that, Sisko has to grapple with the fact that his girlfriend might be a traitor while Garak worries Ziyal might be out for blood in "For the Cause"! Also this week: whispers of TOS, upsetting age gaps, and Chris & Cait...