The Sci-Fi Cast

Star Trek: The Next Gen – Season 2, Ep 16
Q hurls the Enterprise across the galaxy.

“They’re called the Borg. Protect yourself Captain, or they’ll destroy you.” There are origin stories and then there are origin stories, and Q Who? is among the best in Trek. The powerful alien Q, played masterfully by John de Lancie, hurls the Enterprise and her smug band of heroes clear across the galaxy into scifi equivalent of the heart of darkness.

Picard and his crew come face to face with what many fans (this one included) consider to be the best villains in the entire franchise, the Borg. Part man, part machine they assimilate and digest whatever appeals to them, including 3 whole decks of the Enterprise E. The entire episode is creepy from start to finish, keeps you on the edge of your seat and sets up all of the Borg related mythos that follows in Next Gen, Voyager, First Contact and beyond. Q Who? also contains one of the best lines in all of Star Trek. When Picard pleads with Q to tell them their deadly encounter is just one of his elaborate illusions, Q counters with the ice cold “Oh no. This is as real as your so-called life gets.”

Hands down one of the best episodes of Next Generation. Eighteen crew members killed, baby borg drones, and the birth of über-baddies. Don’t miss it!

Deep Space 9 – Season 5, Ep 18
Quark wants to pay off his debts, but it may end up costing him his life.

When Quark realizes his finances are in the space toilet, he takes up an offer to broker weapons for his cousin Gaila. The latinum flows like wine, but so does the ill-will of the rest of the crew when they realize what Quark’s doing. Dax disowns him and Sisko puts him one stolen, self-sealing stembolt away from the nearest airlock.

All in all, the plot is solid but even the inclusion of a funny O’Brien b-story and the super-sexy companion of arms dealer Hagath can’t rescue this one from being more than what it is – a filler episode. As Ferengi stories go, this is one of the weaker ones, but the scene where Kira, Sisko and Odo give Quark the good cop / bad cop / blob cop treatment is priceless. That said, the lack of any meaningful character development earns it the rank of lieutenant. Worth a watching, but don’t divert the fleet to do so.