These Are The Episodes… Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5

Deep Space Nine

Season 4 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was a bit strange. After the plot finally got moving in season 3, the fourth season reverted back to build-up and development. Still, toward the end, we started seeing some real consequences for some characters. Odo, in particular, revisited his people and, after returning home to Deep Space Nine, left us with a shocking revelation about the Klingon Empire: Changelings have infiltrated them at the highest levels.

As season five begins, the Federation is forming a plan to deal with that situation, and The Dominion is building its forces on the other side of the wormhole.

These are the episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5.

 

Reminder:

  • Must See episodes feature the main plot or primary character development. These are required viewing to understand everything at the end.
  • Should See episodes feature secondary plot elements or character development, and while they aren’t required, they will give you a more complete experience with the show. If you have watched the should-see episodes so far, you should continue watching them now.
  • Take It or Leave It episodes are all one-offs and filler.

It’s worth noting that must-see episodes aren’t necessarily good and take it or leave it episodes aren’t necessarily bad and that ideally, you’d just be watching all of them.

Season 5 has 26 episodes. Fourteen are must-see, seven are should-see, three are take-it-or-leave-it and one you should straight up avoid.

5×01 “Apocalypes Rising

  • Must See
  • Relevant to Benjamin Sisko, Worf, Odo, O’Brien, Dukat
  • Relevant to Klingons, The Federation and the Klingons, The Dominion, Changelings

5×02 “The Ship

  • Must See
  • Relevant to Benjamin Sisko, O’Brien
  • Relevant to The Dominion, The Jem’Hadar, The Dominion is Coming

5×03 “Looking for par’Mach in All The Wrong Places

  • Must See
  • Relevant to Quark, Worf, Jadzia Dax
  • Relevant to Klingons

5×04 “…Nor the Battle to the Strong

  • Should See
  • Relevant to Jake Sisko, Odo
  • Relevant to War is Hell
  • Note: This episode is one of the season’s best

5×05 “The Assignment

  • Must See
  • Relevant to O’Brien
  • Relevant to The Prophets
  • First Appearance of The Pah-wraiths

5×06 “Trials and Tribble-ations

  • Should See
  • Relevant to The Federation and Klingons
  • Relevant to Time Travel
  • Callback to Star Trek (The Original Series) (Episode: The Trouble With Tribbles)
  • Note: This episode is one of the season’s best

5×07 “Let He Who Is Without Sin

  • AVOID
  • Relevant to Worf

5×08 “Things Past

  • Should See
  • Relevant to Odo, Dukat
  • Relevant to Odo Has Feelings And He Feels Them, Cardassian occupation of Bajor

5×09 “The Ascent

  • Take It or Leave it
  • Relevant to Quark, Odo
  • Relevant to Quark And Odo: Secret Love

5×10 “Rapture

  • Must See
  • Relevant to Benjamin Sisko
  • Relevant to Bajor and the Federation, The Prophets, The Dominion is Coming

5×11 “The Darkness and The Light

  • Take It or Leave It
  • Relevant to Kira
  • Relevant to the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor

5×12 “The Begotten

  • Must See
  • Relevant to Odo
  • Relevant to Changelings

5×13 “For The Uniform

  • Must See
  • Relevant to Benjamin Sisko, Michael Eddington
  • Relevant to The Maquis

5×14 “In Purgatory’s Shadow

  • Must See
  • Relevant to Worf, Garak, Dukat
  • Relevant to The Jem’Hadar, Klingons, The Dominion is Coming

5×15 “By Inferno’s Light

  • Must See
  • Relevant to Worf, Garak, Dukat
  • Relevant to The Jem’Hadar, Klingons, The Dominion is Coming, Cardassians

5×16 “Doctor Bashir, I Presume

  • Must See
  • Relevant to Bashir, Rom
  • Callback to Star Trek: Voyager (The Doctor)

5×17 “A Simple Investigation

  • Take It or Leave It
  • Relevant to Odo Has Feelings and He Feels Them

5×18 “Business As Usual

  • Should See
  • Relevant to Quark, Ferengi

5×19 “Ties of Blood and Water

  • Should See
  • Relevant to Kira
  • Relevant to Cardassians, Bajorans

5×20 “Ferengi Love Songs

  • Should See
  • Relevant to Quark
  • Relevant to Ferengi

5×21 “Soldiers of the Empire

  • Must See
  • Relevant to Worf, Jadzia Dax, Martok
  • Relevant to Klingons, Dax is Really Old

5×22 “Children of Time

  • Must See
  • Relevant to Odo, Kira, Dax
  • Relevant to Odo Has Feelings and He Feels Them, Time Travel

5×23 “Blaze of Glory

  • Must See
  • Relevant to Benjamin Sisko, Michael Eddington
  • Relevant to The Maquis, The Dominion

5×24 “Empok Nor

  • Should See
  • Relevant to Garak, Nog, O’Brien
  • Relevant to Cardassians, Station Maintenance is Difficult

5×25 “In The Cards

  • Take It or Leave It
  • Relevant to Jake Sisko, Nog, Benjamin Sisko
  • Relevant to Bajor and The Dominion, Bajor and the Federation, The Dominion is Coming, Jake and Nog are Bros

5×26 “Call to Arms

  • Must See
  • Relevant to Everyone
  • Relevant to War
  • This Happens: Deep Space Nine
  • The Final Scene of the Season: Deep Space Nine

Conclusion

Season 5 is when the overreaching plot of the series really takes hold. The entire season is tense. All sides know that The Dominion is coming to the Alpha Quadrant, and the Federation, in particular, knows that every other squabble is only drawing resources away from preparing for that fight.

As the season draws to a close, the war finally breaks out, and we get the second major space battle of the series. The episode closes out with the Defiant joining a fleet of hundreds of Federation starships and Klingon battleships. Basically, the stuff of every Trekkies dreams, which could never be realized until the transition to computer-generated graphics.

Everything is up in the air now. Dukat stands in Ops. Sisko is leading a fleet ready for battle. Find out what happens next when we watch season 6 next week!

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