The Orb: A Star Trek Deep Space Nine Podcast

The Mirror Universe. Typically when Star Trek fans think of the Mirror Universe, they think of The Original Series and the episode "Mirror, Mirror." And while it's true that the Enterprise's mission to the Halkan homeworld gave birth to this sexy and sinister place, it was Deep Space Nine that really gave a home to the land of alter egos. In this episode of The Orb hosts Christopher Jones and Matt...

The Maquis. They were created for Voyager, but it was DS9 that really fleshed out the story of this group of settlers caught in the middle of a conflict between the Federation and Cardassia. In this episode of The Orb hosts Christopher Jones and Matthew Rushing examine how governments forget the little people when making concessions to enemies, how the blind eye of the Federation Council led to an...

The Dominion War. By the second season it became clear that Deep Space Nine was going to be more about characters and real life than any previous Star Trek series. And the pursuit of this led DS9 across a line that no one had dared cross before. The introduction of the Dominion set up one of television's greatest story arcs, but one that has been criticized by fans, by Majel Barrett Roddenberry, a...

Vic Fontaine. Deep Space Nine always marched to the beat of its own drum, but with the introduction of a 1962 jazz lounge in the sixth-season episode "His Way" the show began to swing, too. Vic Fontaine was only on the show for a short while, but in the ten episodes in which he appears or is mentioned he became a key part of the family and touched the lives of the entire crew. He tickled the eardr...

DS9 Season Two. The first season of Deep Space Nine took a while to find its footing as it established a new kind of Star Trek, and it wasn't until the end of the season that we saw those seeds truly planted. But when the show returned for its sophomore outing it had clearly grown up a bit. The Circle Trilogy—with its Bajoran political intrigue—set the tone for storytelling that was deeper and mor...

In the Pale Moonlight Commentary. It's widely held as the darkest moment of not only Deep Space Nine but all of Star Trek. Captain Sisko's decision to trick the Romulans into entering the Dominion War rocked the foundation of Roddenberry's world and the principles of the Federation. Despite this—or perhaps because of it—"In the Pale Moonlight" is one of Star Trek's finest pieces of storytelling. I...

Impressions of a First-time Niner. As hard as it is for we die-hard Niners to believe, there are many Star Trek fans who are just now viewing Deep Space Nine for the very first time. In many cases, they've heard from friends how DS9 is a rich series filled with character depth and complex story threads and have decided they must see this for themselves. And then, they get into Season One and wonde...

The Breen. When the writers of Deep Space Nine needed to throw one more challenge at the Federation Alliance, they turned to a name we all knew but a race we knew nearly nothing about: The Breen. In this episode of The Orb hosts Christopher Jones and Matthew Rushing take on these menacing aliens in Boushh cosplay as we look at what we think we know about them, their role in the culmination of the...

The Visitor. The only episode of Deep Space Nine to be nominated for the Hugo Award, "The Visitor" is a moving story that works with or without the Star Trek elements. This account of Jake Sisko's life following the apparent death of his father tugs on the heartstrings and effectively conveys an enormous sense of loss, anguish, and guilt. In this episode of The Orb hosts Christopher Jones and Matt...

Bad Episodes We Love. Okay, maybe "bad" is too strong a word; but we all have different tastes in Star Trek, even within the series we love most. In this episode of The Orb hosts Christopher Jones and Matthew Rushing examine episodes that were a ratings flop with fans but which we think get a bad rap. From gunji jackdaws to arrogant scientists to micro universes, find out which stories deserve a f...

The Defiant. After the disastrous first encounter with the Jem'Hadar left the Galaxy-Class USS Odyssey in ruins, it became clear to Sisko that they would need something more than runabouts to protect the station and to venture into the Gamma Quadrant. So he returned to an old project he had worked on and asked Starfleet to pull a unique warship out of storage—the USS Defiant. It's a little ship, a...

Badda-Bing Badda-Bang. Just before Deep Space Nine wrapped up with a ten-episode arc that resolved the Dominion War, the crew took one last moment to cut loose and enjoy themselves—and they did it in the name of one of their dearest friends. He may be nothing more than photons and forcefields, but Vic Fontaine influenced the lives of almost everyone on DS9 in a positive way. So when his hotel was...

The Prophets. To the Bajorans they are gods. To Starfleet they are aliens. Whichever may be true, to the viewer the Prophets are a mysterious force that resides outside our normal space yet exhibits great influence over the lives of we corporeal inhabitants of linear time. In this episode of The Orb hosts Christopher Jones and Matthew Rushing discuss the Prophets, how they are used as a plot devic...

The Visual Design of Deep Space Nine. The mandate going into DS9 was to create something very different from previous incarnations of Star Trek. Setting the show in a non-Federation environment at the junction of interstellar traffic meant that the station would be a strange and busy place. What was needed was something a bit darker, a bit sinister—and completely alien. Picking up on the threads f...

The Bajoran Orbs. One of the unique aspects of Deep Space Nine was the inclusion of religion and spirituality. And just as religions on Earth have their artifacts, so too does religion on Bajor. For the Bajorans these come in the form of powerful objects called Orbs. Also known as Tears of the Prophets, Orbs are mysterious hourglass-shaped energy fields that the Bajorans believe were sent by the P...

Worf. He began as the token Klingon in "Encounter at Farpoint" and evolved into one of the longest-running characters on television. As a critical part of the crew on two Star Trek series, Worf was transformed from a two-dimensional representation of Federation-Klingon progress into a three-dimensional representation of the Human-Klingon balancing act. In this episode of The Orb, hosts Christopher...

Favorite Episodes. With 173 episodes to choose from, it's difficult to pick just five favorites. But in this episode of The Orb we do just that as hosts Christopher Jones and Matthew Rushing each toss five episodes onto the table for discussion and explore why these stories highlight some of the best moments from Deep Space Nine.

Garak. He's one of the most beloved characters on Deep Space Nine and one of the most complex in all of Star Trek. Garak appears in just 33 of DS9's 173 episodes, yet it feels like he's always there. His character arc can stand up to that of any of the "main cast" and—as a study of the psychological motivations for one's actions—there is no better puzzle to unravel than the one called Elim. In thi...

Science vs Religion on Bajor. Deep Space Nine did an excellent job of balancing two very different—yet intertwined—ways of viewing the world. People often come down on the extreme sides of world views based on either religion or science. While the two certainly seem diametrically opposed on the surface, there are similarities. In this episode of The Orb, hosts Christopher Jones and Matthew Rushing...

Miles O'Brien. One of the longest-running characters in Star Trek, we first met Miles O'Brien in the TNG pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint" in which he was the conn officer on the Battle Bridge. He went on to appear in 51 more episodes of The Next Generation before moving over to Deep Space Nine as Chief of Operations. By the time we got to DS9 his character had a full background, yet there is...

Kira Nerys. She grew up under Cardassian oppression, learned to fight for her feedom and beliefs, and came to trust the Prophets implicitly. After breaking free of the Occupation she found herself fighting what she saw as a new battle for freedom—this time against the Federation. Kira Nerys's life was defined by difficult positions, but through it all she held steadfast in her convictions and beli...

Jadzia Dax. In order to know who you are, it's important to know who you've been. That's the advice given by one of DS9's youngest crew members—and also its oldest—Jadzia Dax. Most of us find coming to terms with one life task enough; but what would it be like to juggle eight lives? In this episode of The Orb, hosts Christopher Jones and Matthew Rushing examine Jadzia the young woman, Dax the symb...

Quark. Coming into Deep Space Nine, the Ferengi were a joke. Their disastrous introduction in the first season of TNG left them as little more than (perhaps unintentional) comic relief. But Armin Shimerman's brilliant portrayal of Quark breathed new life into the Ferengi and turned this profit-driven race into a vehicle for meaningful commentary—all without losing the fun. In this episode of The O...

Odo. When he was found in the Denorios Belt, Odo was literally a blank slate. As a being without form, without knowledge of his origins, and without knowing how to interact with those who had brought him in, Odo found himself at the beginning of a long journey that would ultimately find him torn between the world of his birth and the world in which he—for the lack of a better term—grew up. In this...

Julian Bashir. He arrived on Deep Space 9 as a young, eager, and arrogant doctor ready to bring Federation medical knowledge to the wilderness. He said goodbye to his crewmates as a thougtful and mature man, loyal to his friends, his work, and his ideals. In this episode of The Orb, hosts Christopher Jones and Matthew Rushing take a closer look at Doctor Julian Bashir, his inner search for accepta...