Move Along Home (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), S1 E10) was recommended by nazzy (she/her), who said: I cannot believe nobody has asked for this one yet!

One of the earliest criticisms of DS9 was that it didn't "boldly go", and in its first two seasons in particular, there were a lot of episodes whose basic synopses read "Weird alien(s) come to the station, hijinks occur." And being a DS9 fan as always meant knowing that criticism is always just around the corner, which meant that for episodes like "Move Along Home", the standard response was an embarrassed shrug and a 'yeah...it hadn't found its feet yet. It got better!'

And "Move Along Home" is the ur-example of this type of story. Weird aliens come to DS9, and introduce Quark to a strange board game of chance that traps members of the senior staff in a bizarre game world??? And that's the episode?!

But then I read a review of "Move Along Home" that reframed the episode for me in a very meaningful way. "Move Along Home", it said, is basically a TOS episode. And that made so much sense! Is Commander Sisko having to play hopscotch and sing a children's song that different from the crew of the TOS Enterprise being forced to fight in "Plato's Stepchildren"? Or acting strangely to break the brains of the androids in "I, Mudd"? Suddenly, it made perfect sense, and "Move Along Home" is no longer embarrassing.

Move Along Home first aired on March 14, 1993, written by story by Michael Piller, teleplay by Frederick Rappaport, Lisa Rich and Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci, and directed by David Carson

Quark plays a board game with the Wadi, a newly encountered species from the Gamma Quadrant, and the lives of the crew seemingly depend on the outcome.

The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore (Bandcamp | Bluesky)

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"I Just Might Say it Tonight" by orcamermaid, can be found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/30425253

"Five times Garak and Julian didn't voice their feelings, and one time they finally did."

The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore (Bandcamp | Bluesky)

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The Cloud Minders (Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), S3 E19) was recommended by Kaleb, he/him, who said: No war but class war baby! I love this episode for being that classic campy trek, while also being a rather good simplification of how environment- particularly an environment caused by oppression in the first place- shapes the way that oppression is justified and continued. Not specifically class related, but that's the medium this episode evokes, and many marginalized identities can be viewed through class structures as well.

I can't deny a good “I won't be the bigger man, I'm dragging you down to my level” type story, especially when it's our protagonist doing the dragging.

I can't help but love Droxine flirting w/ Spock, bc it just registers to me as the relatable experience of “ma’am please, I'm here w/ my boyfriend, who you clearly haven't clocked as such, so I'm gonna try and find the most non-scene causing way to stop this”. It kills me, I don't think this scene is supposed to reduce you to giggles.

Hope you also enjoy!

The Cloud Minders first aired on February 28, 1969, written by Jerome Bixby, and directed by Murray Golden

Kirk races against time to acquire plague-fighting minerals from a world in the midst of a civil uprising.

The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore (Bandcamp | Bluesky)

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