Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 1.02

Past Prologue

Tahna Los, a Bajoran freedom fighter, approaches DS9 as he is being pursued by Cardassians who are trying to kill him. He is transported aboard the space station as his ship is destroyed by the Cardassians.

Gul Danar, the Cardassian commander of the ship that was pursuing Tahna Los, demands that the Bajoran be turned over to him. Commander Sisko decides to grant Los sanctuary until a Bajoran court can decide how to handle the situation.

Doctor Bashir is approached by Garak, a Cardassian tailor who is the only Cardassian resident of DS9. Garak wants to be friends with Bashir, who reports the encounter to Sisko.

Sisko and Kira butt heads over how to deal with Tahna Los. She used to be a freedom fighter and is under pressure from Los to stay true to the cause of the Kohn-Ma.

Odo uses his shapeshifting abilities to spy on Lursa and B'etor who look and act like trouble when they first arrive at the space station. He eavesdrops as they meet with Tahna Los in a secluded part of the station.

Kira ultimately decides she trusts Sisko more than she does Tahna Los and helps him to set a trap for the freedom fighter.

Thoughts

I didn't spot Quark in this episode. Lieutenant Dax is in it and has a few lines. The part she plays in the plot wasn't significant. It could easily have been played by any unnamed member of the crew of the space station.

Garak later became a recurring character in DS9 but this is the only episode from the first season in which he appeared.

B'etor and Lursa first appeared in TNG 4.26 (Redemption - Part One) and 5.01 (Redemption - Part Two). This is their only appearance in DS9. They also appeared in one episode of season 7 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which I have not seen.

I like this episode more than I did the first one. It moves very fast. I only watched it once. I wasn't able to pick up on all the little details. I suspect that if I watched it again it might not all make sense or that I might understand it a bit better but I could be wrong. It is, if nothing else, considerably more focused than the first episode.

This seems like a significant episode as Major Kira's loyalty gets tested and it reveals a little more about the war between the Bajorans and the Cardassians.