Day: October 6, 1966

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Batman Season 2

Ma Parker

BatmanBy allowing her sons and other gang members to be captured one-by-one, Ma Parker has slowly infiltrated and taken over the Gotham City penitentiary: there are more of her men there than there are actual prison wardens. One of them has left a little surprise for the Caped Crusaders under the hood of the Batmobile, set to detonate when the speedometer hits 60 miles per hour, but they haven’t counted on Batman’s conscientious observation of the posted 55mph speed limit. When Batman discovers the dynamite under the hood, he returns to the prison, but still doesn’t discover Ma Parker’s plan. It takes a bomb blast and a bank robbery in downtown Gotham City for Batman to realize that the inmates are now controlling the prison…and when he and Robin arrive at the prison, Ma Parker’s expecting them.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Henry Slesar
directed by Oscar Rudolph
music by Nelson Riddle / Batman theme by Neal Hefti

BatmanCast: Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin), Alan Napier (Alfred), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief O’Hara), Madge Blake (Mrs. Cooper), Shelley Winters (Ma Parker), Tisha Sterling (Legs), David Lewis (Warden Crichton), Michael Vandever (Mad Dog), Peter Brooks (Machine Gun), Robert Biheller (Pretty Boy), James Griffith (Trusty), Lee Meriwether (Catwoman)

BatmanNotes: Though the theatrical movie between seasons can lay claim to being the first all-star villain team-up against Batman and Robin, Catwoman’s (uncredited) appearance here marks the first hint of such a joining of forces in the TV series. The Joker and the Penguin are said to be in solitary, but Ma Parker opts to leave them there so they know she’s running the prison now…which also handily means that the show’s guest star budget isn’t blown wide open in the middle of the tenth episode of the season! The prisoner number on Legs’ uniform looks suspiciously more like her costume measurements than the numbers on any of the other prison uniforms.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Original Series Season 01 Star Trek

The Enemy Within

Star Trek ClassicStardate 1672.1: As a landing party surveys a planet, a transporter malfunction splits Kirk into an aggressive aspect and a timid one. The aggressive Kirk threatens the security of the ship and crew, while the passive one tries to maintain his sanity and ability to command. In the meantime, the cause of the transporter problems haven’t been determined, stranding Sulu and the team in the planet’s subfreezing night temperatures while the two sides of Kirk’s personality fight for control of the Enterprise.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Richard Matheson
directed by Leo Penin
music by Sol Kaplan

Cast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Star TrekKelley (Dr. McCoy), Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand), George Takei (Sulu), James Doohan (Scott), Edward Madden (Fisher), Garland Thompson (Wilson), Jim Goodwin (Farrell)

Notes: Writer Richard Matheson had already contributed over a dozen scripts to The Twilight Zone, and his novel “I Am Legend” – the source of most modern zombie mythology – had already seen its first screen adaptation as The Last Man On Earth starring Vincent Price; “I Am Legend” would later be remade as The Omega Man (starring Charlton Heston) and finally under its original title in 2007 with Will Smith. Matheson also wrote for the revivals of Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, and wrote the poorly-received miniseries adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles”.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Original Series Season 02 Star Trek

Mirror, Mirror

Star Trek ClassicStardate not given: Returning to the Enterprise from an unsuccessful mission to ask the leaders of a planet for a possible mineral trade, Kirk, Uhura, Scotty and McCoy are being beamed up just as a freak accident hurls them into another reality, which still contains a USS Enterprise and a Spock and a Federation, but the other reality’s versions are cruel and inhumane – the crew the alternate Enterprise is readying for a strike against the planet Kirk just left to take their mineral resources by force. Kirk and his landing party must try to cover their inexplicable identities and try to fit in, while stopping the savage alternate Enterprise from carrying its reign of terror any further.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Jerome Bixby
directed by Marc Daniels
music by Fred Steiner

Cast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Barbara Luna (Marlena), Victor Perrin (Tharn), John Winston (Lt. Kyle), Garth Pillsbury (Wilson), Pete Kellett (Kirk’s Henchman)

Notes: The story of what becomes of the alternate Federation and the alternate Spock is told in the 1994 Deep Space Nine episode Crossover. The divergence in history which created the alternate Federation is chronicled in the Star Trek: Enterprise two-parter In A Mirror Darkly.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Original Series (Animated) Season 01 Star Trek

More Tribbles, More Trouble

Star Trek ClassicStardate 5392.4: Escorting two automated freighters to Sherman’s Planet with their precious cargo of quadrotriticale, the Enterprise is diverted when a distress signal is received from another Federation ship under Klingon attack. The sole occupant of the besieged vessel is rescued, but the Klingons destroy his ship and then turn their attention to the Enterprise. Koloth, commanding the Klingon vessel, claims that the pilot of the smaller Federation ship is wanted for the crime of introducing the ravenous (and rapidly-reproducing) tribbles to the Klingon ecosystem. When the pilot turns out to be shady trader Cyrano Jones, peddler of tribbles, Kirk wonders if Koloth doesn’t have a point. Jones left Space Station K-7 after using a tribble-munching life-form known as a glommer to clean up the station’s tribble overpopulation problem. Koloth reveals that the glommer was genetically engineered by the Klingons…and therefore Cyrano Jones could be doing real damage to the Klingon Empire.

Order the DVDswritten by David Gerrold
directed by Hal Sutherland
music by Yvette Blais & Jeff Michael

Cast: William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott / Lt. Arrex / Koloth), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel), David Gerrold (Korax), Stanley Adams (Cyrano Jones)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Starlost, The

The Goddess Calabra

The StarlostWhen Devon and his friends emerge into another habitat dome on the Ark, Rachel is immediately revered as an object of worship – and all three of them notice that she seems to be the only woman present. The Governor of the Omicron dome introduces himself, and assumes that Rachel’s arrival is the prophesied coming of the goddess Calabra. He also seems to assume right away that she is here to becomg his bride, so he may ascend to godhood himself (and, in so doing, permanently consolidate his position of power). His leaps of faith are not shared, however, by the Shaliff, Omicron’s spiritual leader, who realizes that Rachel is telling the truth when she claims not to be a goddess. While she is held in high esteem by the Governor, Devon and Garth realize that they’re living on borrowed time and ask the Shaliff for asylum in his temple. While taking shelter with the Shaliff and his monks, Devon realizes that the “holy texts” store in the temple are, in fact, the technical manuals of the Ark, hinting at the existence of a backup to the destroyed bridge compartment, which may still be intact. But the leave the Omicron dome with that knowledge, Devon must interrupt the wedding of Rachel and the Governor, challenging Omicron’s leader to a duel to the death.

Get this season on DVDwritten by Martin Lager
from a story by Ursula K. LeGuin
directed by Harvey Hart
music by Score Productions Ltd.

Guest Cast: John Colicos (Governor), Barry Morse (Shaliff), Dominic Hogan (Priest), Michael Kirby (Captain), George Naklowyck (Deputy), Paul Geary (Guard), William Osler (Computer Voice)

Notes: This episode’s chief guest stars both have major SF television credits to their names; John Colicos was the first actor to portray a Klingon on the original Star Trek, and a few years after his Starlost appearance would go on to play another villain, the treacherous Baltar, in the original Battlestar Galactica. Barry Morse would go on to co-star as Professor Victor Bergman in the lavish international co-production Space: 1999, and would also appear in the BBC/Universal Studios miniseries dramatization of Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles. Though early plans for The Starlost called for Canadian writers to build scripts around advance science fiction concepts devised by some of the best novelists and thinkers in that field, this episode, based on a story by Ursula K. Le Guin, seems to be – aside from Harlan Ellison’s pilot – the only time in the series’ brief run that this promise was in any danger of being fulfilled.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Star Blazers

S.O.S. Earth: Revive Space Battleship Yamato

Star Blazers2199 A.D.: At the end of the 22nd century, planet Earth has been laid to waste by decades of radioactive planet bombs launched by the all-conquering Gamilons. The surviving human population has resorted to elaborate underground cities to survive, but the radiation will soon reach a point beyond which the surface of the Earth cannot protect them. All life on Earth is doomed.

Captain Avatar, one of the Earth Defense Force’s most seasoned leaders, commands a futile action against Gamilon forces which have now gained a solid foothold in Earth’s solar system on Pluto. The battle quickly turns against the human warriors, and with only two ships left of the fleet he led to Pluto, Avatar orders a retreat. The captain of the other ship, Alex Wildstar, disobeys direct orders and covers Avatar’s retreat – at the cost of his own life. Only Avatar and his surviving crew escape the slaughter, and the Gamilon presence in the solar system is left unchecked.

Meanwhile on Mars, Cadets Mark Venture and Derek Wildstar – Alex’s younger brother – discover the remains of a crashed spacecraft, neither of Earth or Gamilon origin. The sole occupant, a beautiful young woman, died in the ship’s violent landing, protecting a message capsule to the last. Wildstar and Venture are picked up by Avatar’s returning battleship, bringing the mysterious capsule with them.

Once decoded, the capsule turns out to be a message from Queen Starsha of the distant but peaceful planet Iscandar. Starsha offers a solution to Earth’s imminent doom in the form of Cosmo DNA, which can only be obtained on her world. The message also includes complete instructions for building a new propulsion system which will make the journey, spanning hundreds of thousands of light years, possible within one year.

Wildstar and Venture are summoned to a city constructed beneath what was once an ocean floor. Lodged in the surface above them lies the great World War II battleship Yamato, which is secretly being refitted into an advanced, one-of-a-kind starship using Starsha’s wave motion engine designs. To their surprise, the cadets have been hand-picked to join the command crew of the new vessel – which is to be commanded by Captain Avatar, whom Wildstar blames for Alex’s death.

But before the mighty Yamato can be rechristened Argo and launched on the last desperate mission to save the human race, the Gamilons launch an attack to destroy the ship on the ground – unless the ship’s new crew can pull together quickly and repel the assault.

Order the DVDswritten by Keisuke Fujikawa & Eiichi Yamamoto
directed by Leiji Matsumoto
music by Hiroshi Miyagawa

Season 1 Voice Cast: Kenneth Meseroll (Derek Wildstar), Tom Tweedy (Mark Venture), Amy Howard (Nova), Eddie Allen (Leader Desslok), Lydia Leeds (Starsha), other actors unknown

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Invisible Man

Barnard Wants Out

The Invisible ManDaniel and Kate are assigned to visit a scientific conference in Geneva, where Daniel’s old mentor, Dr. Barnard, is expected to announce his latest breakthrough. Barnard defected to a Communist country several years ago, but the CIA has asked the Klae Resource to contact him to see if he wants to return to the western world. Going invisible and contacting Barnard is easy for Daniel, but getting himself, Kate, Barnard and his daughter back to America alive is the hard part…especially when it seems that Anna Barnard’s loyalties lie with the country in which she has grown up.

written by James D. Parriott
directed by Alan J. Levi
music by Pete Rugolo

The Invisible ManCast: David McCallum (Dr. Daniel Westin), Melinda Fee (Dr. Kate Westin), Craig Stevens (Walter Carlson), Nehemiah Persoff (Dr. Leon Barnard), Jane Actman (Anna), Paul Shenar (Alexi Zartov), Cliff Osmond (Elevator Guard), George Fisher (Yuri), Joe Rainer (Guard), Peter Colt (Petra), Ralph Anderson (Bell Boy), Charles Stewart (Man), Inga Neilsen (Swedish Bombshell), Macon McCalman (Consul)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Star Maidens

The Trial

Star MaidensOn Medusa, while Fulvia is on Earth trying to recapture Adam and Shem, Rudi has been forced into the menial role of most the planet’s men and begins hatching a plan to escape. Liz, under the watchful eye of Octavia, is unable to help him. When Rudi decides to free some of the Medusan men at the same time he makes his escape attempt, he’s suddenly public enemy number one among the female ruling class. What he’s unprepared for, however, is how easily his fellow escapees surrender again when Octvaia demands it.

Star Maidenswritten by Ian Stuart Black
directed by Wolfgang Storch
music by Berry Lipmann

Cast: Lisa Harrow (Liz), Gareth Thomas (Shem), Christian Quadflieg (Rudi), Christiane Kruger (Octavia), Dawn Addams (Clara), Roland Astor (Troy), Clare Russell (Clara’s Assistant), Annette Lynton (Clara’s Assistant), Ann Maj Brit (Octavia’s Assistant), Susie Baker (Blonde Guard)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Battle Of The Planets

Ghost Ship From Planet Mir

Battle Of The PlanetsA new Earth base on the planet Mir, combining an oceanic research facility with a huge oil refinery, has become the latest target of Spectra’s attacks. Supply ships with human crews are disappearing near a “ship graveyard” in Mir’s major ocean, and Chief Anderson sends G-Force to investigate. The Phoenix arrives and heads straight for Mir’s ocean, quickly finding evidence that Spectra is teaming up with disgruntled locals on Mir to drive humans off their planet. Jason is eager to take the fight to Spectra’s fleet of fighters, but when he empties the Phoenix’s entire supply of missiles, G-Force has to hope that help is on the way.

written by Jameson Brewer
directed by Hisayuki Toriumi
music by Hoyt Curtin and Bob Sakuma

Voice Cast: Casey Kasem (Mark), Ronnie Schell (Jason), Janet Waldo Battle Of The Planets(Princess / Susan), Alan Young (7-Zark-7 / Keyop), Alan Dinehart Jr. (Tiny / Chief Anderson), Keye Luke (Zoltar / The Luminous One)

Note: The Red Impulse element of the original episode is completely omitted here; G-Force’s salvation comes from unspecified “fighters from Mir.” (Various characters pronounce the planet’s name in different ways, ranging from “mere” – a la the Russian space station – to “murr.”) President Kane’s discussion with Chief Anderson seems to imply that Earth is not welcome on Mir, despite the fact that they’ve built an undersea base with a huge oil refinery there; the presence of two factions on Mir seems to infer that Earth has set up shop in the middle of a Mir civil war (!). Large portions of the original Gatchaman episode were cut from this installment, including the initial attack on the supply ship and the entire attack on the undersea base. For the corresponding episode of Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman, click here.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Amazing Stories Season 1

The Main Attraction

Amazing StoriesHigh school football star Brad Bender has it made. The All-State all-star barely even has to try, and fully expects to be named the King of the Prom at school. He’s not quite prepared for a rule change that means he has to sell the most raffle tickets, but his popularity among the student body won’t make it too hard to sell more raffle tickets than anyone else…well, almost anyone else. He makes it a point to avoid any and all contact with Shirley, who he considers geeky and unattractive. His science teacher reminds the class of a historic meteor shower that night, and he’s not quite prepared for the meteorite that crashes into his bedroom window, which somehow magnetizes his whole body. Anything made of metal – staples, sports equipment, locker doors, bicycles, other students’ braces – sticks to Brad now. And so does another student, whose home was also hit by a meteorite, and whose body is also now magnetic.

Get this season on DVDteleplay by Brad Bird and Mick Garris
story by Steven Spielberg
directed by Matthew Robbins
music by Craig Safan

Amazing StoriesCast: John Scott Clough (Brad Bender), Lisa Jane Persky (Shirley), Richard Bull (Mr. Hiller), Barbara Sharma (Mrs. Bender), Tom Napier (wylie), Bill Allen (Cliff Rath), Nicholas Mele (Scientist #1), Joan Foley (Scientist #2), Brad Bird (Scientist #3), Dominick Brascia (Billy Johnson – Fat Kid), Isabelle Walker (Francine), Eric Bruskotter (Stan), Michael Joshua Cramer (Kid), Megan Wyss (Girl #1 Blonde), Piper cochrane (Girl #2 Darcy Cook), Larry Spinak (Geek)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Alf Season 1

Looking For Lucky

ALFLucky, the Tanners’ cat, has been on ALF’s radar since he landed on Earth, but he has agreed not to eat any family members. When Lucky turns up missing, however, the Tanners automatically suspect their alien house guest, and there seems to be little ALF can do but pack up and leave. But he’s so fond of the family – and even their cat – that he sets out to find Lucky and bring him home…until he gets mistaken for a stray pet himself.

Download this episodewritten by Bob Bendetson & Howard Bendetson
directed by Peter Bonerz
music by Alf Clausen

ALFCast: Max Wright (Willie Tanner), Anne Schedeen (Kate Tanner), Andrea Elson (Lynn Tanner), Benji Gregory (Brian Tanner), Darwin Joston (Dogcatcher), Carrie Lorraine (Heidi), Jed Mills (Heidi’s Dad)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Chocky Season 3: Chocky's Challenge

Episode 3.2

Chocky's ChallengeChocky’s first appearance before adults on planet Earth doesn’t have the intended effect; at least one professor at Cambridge insists that Albertine is playing some sort of trick on them. A newspaper article on her acceptance brings a flood of other parents to the college, claiming that their children are equally exceptional. Albertine meets other young people whose minds have been touched by Chocky, and all of them are keenly aware when another mind joins them.

written by Anthony Read
based on characters created by John Wyndham
directed by Bob Blagden
music by John Hyde

ChockyCast: Prentis Hancock (Arnold Meyer), Anabel Worrell (Albertine Meyer), James Hazeldine (David Gore), Andrew Ellams (Matthew Gore), Richard Wordsworth (Professor Ferris), Kristine Howarth (Professor Wade), Illona Linthwaite (Dr. Liddle), Roy Boyd (Professor Draycott), Joan Blackham (Mrs. Gibson), Freddie Brooks (Mike), Paul Russell (Paul), Karina Wilsher (Su Lin), Paul Shearer (Reporter), Michael Plaister (Porter), Glynis Brooks (Chocky)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Babylon 5 / Crusade Season 4

Between The Darkness And The Light

Babylon 5As Sheridan’s interrogation continues, Garibaldi makes his way to the Mars resistance base, trying to convince them that contrary to the ISN reports, he was brainwashed by Bester into betraying the resistance and handing Sheridan over to the authorities. But with tensions running high among the rebels, they simply take Garibaldi hostage until Lyta scans him, proving that his claims about mind alteration are true. Garibaldi, Franklin and Lyta slip into the facility where Sheridan is being held, and Garibaldi uses his newfound popularity among Earthforce loyalists to gain access to the captain, though force is needed to break him out. Meanwhile, Susan has taken Sheridan’s place at the head of the swelling resistance fleet, but finds that her plans for a massive strike on Mars have been discovered by Earthforce. But with some of her support fleet already too close to Mars to abort the mission, Susan proceeds with the attack, and finds out that Earthforce has a new class of destroyer which integrates Earth and Shadow technology. Her fleet succeeds against the overwhelming odds, but Ivanova pays dearly for the victory, leaving Sheridan to resume his command of the resistance fleet.

Order now!Download this episodewritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by David J. Eagle
music by Christopher Franke

Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (Captain Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Commander Ivanova), Jerry Doyle (Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Franklin), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Jason Carter (Marcus Cole), Stephen Furst (Vir), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander), Andreas Katsulas (G’Kar), Peter Jurasik (Londo), Marc Gomes (Eisensen), Bruce Gray (Interrogator), Marjorie Monaghan (Number One), David Purdham (Captain James), Musetta Vander (Felicia), Greg Poland (Guard), J.P. Hubbel (Evan), James Laing (First Guard), Anneliza Scott (Assistant)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Earth: Final Conflict Season 1

Decision

Earth: Final ConflictEarly in the 21st century, a number of alien Taelons, calling themselves the Companions, have arrived on Earth, ridding the human race of disease, famine and other scourges of overpopulation, bringing Earth into a new era of prosperity. But not every human being trusts the Companions – what is the price of the Taelons’ boundless generosity?

Policeman William Boone tries to arrange for heightened security for the visit of Da’an, one of the Companions, to an urban area, only to have his efforts rebuffed. Boone’s worst nightmare comes to fruition when an attempt is made on Da’an’s life, and Boone’s partner takes the bullet meant for the alien. Worse yet, the sniper is revealed to be a fellow war veteran of Boone’s, now a member of an underground resistance movement whose mission is to undermine the Companions. While hunting down his fleeing former comrade, Boone is offered a high-ranking security position by the Taelons, but his immediate obsession is to solve the case at hand. But when Boone’s wife is killed in an act of terrorism, he is left with many questions – how widespread is the resistance movement against the Companions? And who killed Boone’s wife – the resistance, or perhaps the aliens themselves?

Season 1 Regular Cast: Kevin Kilner (Captain William Boone), Lisa Howard (Captain Lili Marquette), Von Flores (FBI Agent Ronald Sandoval), Leni Parker (Da’an), Richard Chevolleau (Augur), David Hemblen (Doors)

written by Gene Roddenberry
directed by Allan Eastman
music by Micky Erbe & Maribeth Solomon

Guest Cast: Miranda Kwok (Kwai-Ling), John Evans (Morovsky), Lisa Ryder (Kate Boone), Michael Filipowich (Corr), Monique Mojica (Mayor Ruiz), Paul Boretski (Jordan), Majel Barrett Roddenberry (Dr. Belman)

Notes: Launched almost exactly six years after the death of its creator, Earth: Final Conflict is the result of a series concept originally titled “Battleground: Earth” which Roddenberry was developing for CBS in 1976 before he was lured away to work on the proposed new Star Trek series which later evolved into the first Trek theatrical film. Majel Barrett, Roddenberry’s widow (and a recurring guest star in Star Trek’s numerous incarnations as well as Earth: Final Conflict) discovered her husband’s pilot script in 1995 and began looking for a studio to develop it into a new series. The name of Gene Roddenberry was officially made part of the show’s title to cash in on the posthumous fame of the creator of Star Trek.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Deep Space Nine Season 06 Star Trek

Rocks And Shoals

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStardate not given: In their commandeered Jem’Hadar warship, crippled and under attack, Sisko and crew take refuge in a nebula where they crash on a planet which is deserted – except for a troop of Jem’Hadar who have also crashed there. Their Vorta supervisor, Keevan, has been severely injured, and their supply of Ketracel-white has dwindled to one vial. When Garak and Nog are captured, Keevan arranges a trade for Sisko and Bashir, who is able to treat the Vorta. In exchange, Keevan makes a proposal which will enable Sisko and crew to survive–but not without a moral dilemma. Meanwhile, on Terok Nor, Kira finds it increasingly difficult to maintain neutrality.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Ronald D. Moore
directed by Mike Vejar
music by David Bell

Guest Cast: Andrew J. Robinson (Garak), Phil Morris (Remata’Klan), Christopher Shea (Keevan), Aron Eisenberg (Nog), Paul S. Eckstein (Limara’Son), Lilyan Chauvin (Vedek Yassim), Sarah MacDonnell (Neeley), Joseph Fuqua (Gordon)

LogBook entry by Tracy Hemenover