Reopening the Wormhole: A Star Trek Deep Space Nine Podcast

A grand finale requires the grandest of episodes. And here it is, finally! After a 4-year journey, we've arrived at the thing that listeners almost certainly want: a nearly-five-hour-long, in-depth, off-the-wall discussion with a dog snoring in the background. If you're a long-time listener, YOU KNEW THIS WAS COMING. We get into the nitty-gritty of the end of the Dominion War, the tragic (and not-...

This week, the RTW crew decided to postpone their episode about the series finale of DS9, and instead are taking a deep dive into the DS9 documentary. You'll remember back in May of this year, Sam & Kevin had the privilege to see the film in theaters, but Jack was sadly unable to see it himself. Go back and listen to that episode for our larger discussion, featuring Jack listening on forlornly as...

RTW is letting loose the Dogs of War! That's right! It's our penultimate regular DS9 episode! And oohhhhh what an episode it is. Our Ferengi expert and friend Kregg Castillo is along for the ride to discuss the end of the Ferengi storyline on DS9, and so so so so so much more. In fact, at OVER 4 HOURS LONG, this one officially surpasses Indiscretion as our longest episode ever! That's because ther...

With the Dabo Wheel spinning its final spin, and only two episodes of Deep Space Nine left, things are getting heated at RTW headquarters. And as the end draws nearer and nearer, the hosts of RTW are taking a somber and serious approach to crafting the absolute best episodes for their listeners. … Ah who are we kidding? To cover this final randomly-selected episode - a fairly forgettable Sisko-cen...

With only four episodes left of our podcast, the Bashir-naissance comes to a conclusion with this classic season 4 episode. In this one, we spend some time exploring the good doctor's morality, his arrogance, his strengths, and his flaws, through the story of a planet on which all inhabitants are born with a fatal illness. It's a heavy Star Trek episode, and Ghibli Minute's Richard Dunham joins th...

Here at Reopening the Wormhole, we prefer our podcasts shaken, not stirred. But we sure enjoy going STIR CRAZY as we discuss Julian's big foray into being a super spy in the Holosuite to protect the lives of his pals who are trapped in the pattern buffer. The episode is chock-full of fun, with bad-Russian-accent Kira, eyepatch O'Brien, a surprise Eddington, and, best of all, Avery Brooks as absolu...

At long last… the Occupation Arc is complete. And what a treat to get this epic episode so close to the end of the podcast! This one's got it all: giant space battles, Sisko talking with the Prophets, Dukat losing it, the death of a major recurring character, Odo struggling with his allegiance, and hasperat soufflé to boot! Kristina Kephart makes another appearance to discuss this barnburner of an...

Many refer to Deep Space Nine as the darkest Trek, and this episode is one of many prime examples of why. As Bashir is confronted with the possibility that he might be a sleeper agent of the Dominion, Starfleet's own Sloan is forced to reveal his true identity, and that of Section 31, the mysterious section of Starfleet that operates autonomously and reports to no one, taking care of the "dirty wo...

What sweet and strange irony it is to have our eighth-to-last episode be the second episode of Deep Space Nine! All the hours of discussing and dissecting Deep Space Nine has given us a very unique perspective on this early episode, and we are so thrilled to be talking about it for all of you! In the DS9's first post-pilot episode, we see an old friend from Bajor coming to the station, and the fir...

Deep Space Nine has never been hesitant to ask tough questions, both of its characters, and of its fans. This episode is no exception, as Sisko is forced to face his own status as Emissary, and decide between accepting a renegade Bajoran's interpretation of an ancient prophecy, or obey his orders from Starfleet. DS9 and RTW fan Chris Madamba joins the team to discuss this significant episode. Ther...

We are getting dangerously close to the end here! In fact, starting with this episode, we're counting down to the last ten episodes of Deep Space Nine we'll be covering. And what a way to kick off our final ten episodes! And by that, we mean what a dull and forgettable episode to be our tenth-to-last… Luckily, we've got returning champion RTW fan Derek Lavender, and his wife Morgan, along with us...

When the RTW crew is faced with an insurmountable task, like having a lively and fun discussion about an episode where a beloved character loses his leg, they meet the challenge with grim determination. Whether or not they succeed is only for the listener to decide, but one thing is certain: war may be Hell, but podcasting is fun! Kregg is along for the ride on this semi-Ferengi-centric episode, a...

In case you hadn't heard… a new retrospective documentary was created by show runner Ira Steven Behr and was released for one night only in theaters. You'd better believe your boys at RTW caught it (or at least, two of them did…), as did returning champion guest, the mysteriously named Commander Sisko! Commander Sisko (no relation to Benjamin) sat down to talk with the guys at length about this lo...

Even during the darkest period of the Dominion War…. There's always time for a good heist! Deep Space Nine once again proves it can do light-hearted capers with the best of them as the crew outdoes Danny Ocean himself to save Vic's bar from closure, thanks to a "jack in the box" (?) created by Vic's holosuite programmer. RTW fan Jason Butze joins the crew to discuss this brilliantly crafted and de...

Batter up! It's the epic showdown of the Logicians vs the Niners, and who better go step up to the plate than baseball fan and awesome dude Eric Ambler, of What Were We Watching fame! We'll be unraveling the sheer joy of this frivolity in the middle of the Dominion War, discussing the skill level of all these aliens at this ancient Earth sport most of them haven't heard of, lamenting yet another i...

What would you sacrifice to save someone you love? How much would your life change if you were never able to gain closure through grieving for departed loved ones? These questions and more are at the heart of The Visitor. It's been hailed as the greatest Star Trek episode by some, and canonized by Deep Space Nine and television fans alike, and with good reason. Just like Old Man Jake did with his...

After a brief visit from Javisko and Valjeddington, the crew is joined by Jovan Vignjevic to discuss the big Eddington-Les Miserables episode. And you just know you've been wanting to explore the world of MathBach; this episode is your chance! We'll also be discussing the political landscape of Serbia and other Eastern European countries, the complete scariness Sisko exudes in this episode, and th...

With Hollow Man and the Winter of Star Trek (& Our Discontent) over, the boys have re-materialized and are ready to talk DS9 yet again, and they're so excited about it. And how could they not be? Worf and Dax are BACK! And they're having one of their best episodes ever here. On a daring rescue mission to save a Cardassian defector, Jadzia gets shot in the jungle of Soukara, and Worf has to make so...

Just a few weeks into spring, the Winter of Star Trek & Our Discontent is closing out, with an exploration of our discontent via the middling-to-bad 2000 thriller Hollow Man. None of the guys are quite certain about why they're doing this, but what they are certain of is that Sebastian Cain is a CREEP! They'll be discussing his descent from supercreep into supermurderer, and along the way, marveli...

You ever wake up to an alarming discovery? Like you slept through your alarm, or you have 10 urgent new unread messages, or you are actually a Cardassian and have been your entire life? We can relate, and so can Kira, in this tense episode from season 3! As Kira tries to sort out whether she is who she thinks she is, the RTW crew realizes that, while this episode is powerful and effective, the int...

We're dipping our toes into one of our favorite story arcs this week: the season 8 arc! And in this episode, we're right in the middle of all the insanity: two races who have hardly interacted are becoming allies to face the incoming threat of the Terran Empire; meanwhile, Jake & Nog get into some shenanigans that nearly cost Bashir his marriage. The RTW crew has a ball talking about this fantasti...

The Winter of Star Trek & Our Discontent is nearing completion! Today we bring you the final in our series of Star Trek movie episodes. And what better place to end than with the original Star Trek film, enigmatically titled Star Trek: The Motion Picture. It is a truly bizarre and utterly fascinating piece of American cinema history, coming right on the heels of Star Wars, and on the cancellation...

The death of a somewhat prominent side character in a show is almost always difficult, and in this week's episode, we see Kira's beloved Bareil go from being on Life Support, to being on Life-less Non-support. It's a struggle that yet again reveals the depths of Winn's selfishness, as well as Bareil's passion for Bajor. Meanwhile, Nog & Jake pop up to add a completely inappropriate b-story. Sam, J...

We know what you're thinking: "When are those damn RTW guys going to read my mail?!?!?!? And furthermore, why bother phrasing this description this way when anyone who's reading it obviously already knows what the name of the episode is?!" While we don't have a decent answer for the second question, the answer for the first is RIGHT HERE! That's right, we've gone through our email backlog, dating...

One of the reasons we love Deep Space Nine is its consistent tendency to defy our expectations. This episode is no exception, as it brings Jonathan Frakes in for a guest starring role, but defiantly casts him as Tom Riker instead of Will Riker, and then defies your expectation yet again by making this Tom Riker-starring vehicle into a Sisko-Dukat caper. We are reaching Maquis levels of sadness yet...