12 Darkest Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Moments
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- Опубликовано: 7 июл 2024
- The darkest tales of the best Star Trek show ever made.
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For me, Quark telling Nog the truth about humans is a much darker conversation than between Quark’s and Sisko.
*Hew-mons, lol
joe I actually thought that would be the scene they were going to use. Sci-fi is not about the aliens, it is about how humans behave in alien environments and situations and along those lines, I thought Quark's accurate observation was classic trek darkness.
@@jasoncrane1928 it was the most accurate description of humanity and it wasn’t made by a captain or Q.
@@joen0411 Eh, it kinda WAS made by a Q: Q...uuuuark.
@@Sephiroth144 I stand corrected :)
"So… I lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all… I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again, I would. Garak was right about one thing, a guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant. So I will learn to live with it. Because I can live with it. I can live with it."
My favourite DS9 quote.
Best episode of the series imo
The most important part of that whole quote is what he didn't say, or rather, he didn't do: he didn't drink to it.
Computer, delete log entry!
@@Revz8bit best episode of star trek period.
@@yougosquishnow yeah, I'd agree with that also. 👍
My favorite Star Trek moment of all time is when Damar learns his family was located and killed by the Dominion. The ensuing scene between Damar, Kira, and Garak is so well done and intense. And that intensity, emotion, and meaning is only possible due to the huge amount of history and lore that was built up before it. The realization in Damar's face. The irony, anger, and slight gloating in Kira's... "Yeah Damar, what kind of people give those orders?"
Meanwhile Garak is there to put things in perspective after Kira immediately expresses regret for saying that: "Damar has a certain... romanticism about the past. He could use a dose of cold water. [...] If he's the man to lead a new Cardassia, if he's the man we all hope him to be, then the pain of this news made him more receptive to what you said, not less."
Yup, that episode is my favourite. It truly catches one of the main themes of DS9: can a society truly change past its mistakes? Which is quite a meta question considering that what is truly being questioned is if Humanity can truly evolve into the humans we see in Star Trek or if it will be stuck looking more like cardassians, ferengies, bajorans or romulans
@@TheYakusoku It was definitely the right move for them to put Garak there. It allowed Kira to say the harsh truth, and then apologize but have Garak reinforce it..
If she hadn't apologized.. she comes off as a reprehensible person (Taking a dig at someone about their family dieing? yikes).
But, if she does apologize and there isn't a third party to reinforce the statement, it looses it's impact.
@@jemal999 j
Life imitating great art. Remember that for the majority of neutral Ukrainians the war started in 2022 - not 2014.
Darkest moment: Nog's horrific, blood-curdling, high-pitched scream when he loses his leg on the battlefield.
I agree, I winced on a recent rewatch as I forgot that happened
That one physically hurt me.
It's definitely up there. I'd say him breaking down talking to Vic in "It's Only a Paper Moon" would beat that moment though.
The thing is, we'd heard that high pitch scream before. We'd heard both Quark and Rom make screams just like it, but any time they did it, it was treated as a joke, just more silly Ferengi Hijinks. This time, it was a young man, barely an adult, with his whole life in front of him, just saw two people shot dead in front of him and a hole blasted through his leg. Suddenly, that scream wasn't so funny any more.
@@weldonwin This! This is why it hit so hard! It's the double subversion of something that's supposed to be a humorous mockery of a real cry of pain, but in this setting it's just a REAL cry of pain.
Great list, I would add the school bombing, the woman hanging herself on the promenade and Sikso poisoning a planet as honorable mentions. DS9 truly went where no Trek had gone before.
The Kai committing suicide like that as a message really showed DS9 was different than TNG or TOS.
Actually, really good points.
Occasionally, they do make a part 2 to their videos.
Nog's opening up to Vic Fontaine after losing his leg was a dark moment as well, as it emphasizes PTSD and other feelings associated with war.
Darkest DS9 moments? That's like asking , "Which of these dogs is the most dog?"
Dawg...
Not mine, he was raised by a cat, and thinks he is a cat.
That's harsh! DS9 had loads of lighter episodes and moments.
@@ianwilliams2696 i get that, there were tons and tons of great episodes full of humor and lighthearted content... But on the same token i feel (personally) that the dark was darker and the heavy was heavier. And when compared to the rest of the other shows, DS9 was far and away more geared in that direction. Not so much a criticism as it was a humorous observation. Or not. Maybe im bad at humor. No way to tell, really.
It's like asking "How many Communists does it take to change a light bulb. Answer? All of them, they lack the imagination to do anything independently!"
This video should be called "12 reasons why Sarah should rewatch all of DS9."
One reason is usually enough for me to just plow through all seven seasons AGAIN lmao
She should!
Make it so.
Agreed. I remember writing it off as a kid because it was on a space station, and not a ship. Finally watched it in my 20s and after the 3rd season, I was hooked. It became my favorite st series.
Brilliant!
I love to imagine Louise Fletcher being included in "Far Beyond the Stars", cast as Benjamin's psychiatric nurse!
Oh that's just VILE! I love it!
Nurse Rached lives!!! 😳
@@christopherkraft1327 There are many times during DS9 when I expected the next line of dialog from Kai Winn would be: "Conductant".
Nurse Ratched? Love it!
And it would be then Brother Benny would have put that nurse in a chokehold (like Jack Nicholson did) and calmly ask, "Who's "colored" now?"
The darkest moment for me in Star Trek was in the episode of DS9 "Children of Time" where Odo causes the non-existance of 8,000 colonists to save Kira. His love for her was so strong that he didn't seem to care for those 8,000 people and we all just took it and moved on while forgetting the whole monstrous act.
Of course, if he had allowed the events to run out as planned the Dominion would almost certainly have destroyed the federation without The Sisko around to talk the prophets into cutting off reinforcements.
Yeah that ending fucked me up a bit lol, usually I just go on to the next episode but that one made me call it a night and I had to sit and think on it lol
Well the only good part is that it wasn't our Odo. He would probably do that too, but the Odo directly responsible died.
One of the people who did worse was that alien in TNG who removed an entire species from existence, but in a way it doesn't feel worse because we have no emotional attachment to that character. Things hurt worse when someone we care about does it.
DuKat's breakdown was a brilliant scene. It was assumed (for me at least) that Dukat defending his role in the occupation was just denial, but as he starts going on you see that he actually believes he was a good guy. When he's shouting how he lowered work quotas, gave them basic medical care, and a bit more food you can see in his face he truly thinks torturing a people less than the last guy should earn him thank you cards. One of my favorite scenes.
A literal narcissist. They are frightening to see in real life, and just as utterly certain of their own goodness.
The closing scene when Sisko is cleaning clams at his dad's joint after the death of Jadzia...the camera getting farther and farther and he doing the frenzied cleaning...my wife almost cried and told me "he buckled!"
That one broke me down!! You nailed that one!
She was right.
You knew it was bad because he took his baseball out of his office.
This crew would struggle with the darkness unlike any other. Even in the Sci-Fi trappings, the struggle felt real. This is why I enjoy this series so much.
The end of "The Valiant." Nog and Jake have to confront the realization that being a "great man" isn't the same a being a good captain.
Agreed about "In the Pale Moonlight" , and I would add "The Darkness and the Light". Killing a Bajoran is one thing, but torturing a pregnant woman out of revenge is nightmare fuel.
This is what I expected to be in the top 2
Yeah that should have been on the list. That and nob losing his leg and gul ducat starting a cult on empach nor and knocking up one of his followers then throwing her out an airlock to hide it
@@yougosquishnow Let's not forget his attempts to "Jonestown" that cult.
I'm a life-long Star Trek fan. It aired here in the UK for the first time in 1969 and I watched that first series and was hooked. But looking back down the decades, for me the best of the best is Deep Space 9. Everything about it stands head and shoulders above the rest of the franchise. The actors, the stories, the scripts, the ethos, the concept, the action, the depth, the complexity, the sets, the battles, the lives, the loves, the deaths. And crowning it all, the best actor ever to put on a Starfleet uniform....Avery Brooks.
He definitely has been Blessed with a God-like voice.
There was a comparison I ran across once that compared Star Trek and STNG to Wagon Train, and DS9 to Gunsmoke.
"Oh look, it's time to make Kira Nerys miserable, must be a day with a Y in it"
O'Brien "Hold my beer."
*coffee, double strong, double sweet*
Whiskey, single malt, from the highlands...
Ah, so true. 🥺😢😖
Even in the baseball episode, an episode that was supposed to just be everyone having some fun, O'Brien must suffer!
@@qwilliams1539 I mean, they didn't cut the O'Brien nutshot... they were trying to give him a break.
What I loved about Deep Space 9 is the way it depicted war. So often in other Star Trek series and in entertainment more widely war is relatively bloodless and has heroes and villains. DS9 was uncompromising in talking about the way war brutalises and forces moral compromises.
There is also an episode that shows the early enthusiasm of war that I found great. Nor heroes, nor villains, just different cultures feeling that adrenalin rush in different ways. I remember Damar saying something like: "first we reclaim Terok Nor, and then, off to Bajor" in that episode
"A guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant, so I will learn to live with it.
Because I can live with it. I *can* live with it.
Computer, erase that entire personal log."
That line alone is a very large part of why Sisko is hands-down my favourite captain.
The great irony about Garak's desire to go back to Cardassia more than anything, is that, in the end, he can go back home, but it's no longer a home he recognizes.
That episode where Worf, Martok, Bashir, and Garak end up in the Dominion prison was pretty dark. A big tough Klingon like Martok admits to sucumbing to the mental strain of being in prison. Worf fighting for his life. They almost didn't make it out. Also Worf and Ezri getting captured and torured by the Breen.
DS9 really shone in it's darkest moments. I get the feeling the show only scratched the surface of what Garak was actually capable of.
I could watch a whole show about garak and bashir
@@yougosquishnow for me it would be Garak in his Obsidian Order days. They could have at least given us a flashback episode.
Garak giving advice to Kira while they were behind enemy lines during season 7 are some of my favorite moments in that season.
I really don't like how what happened to O'Brien in the "prison" got swept away so quickly, especially since DS9 doesn't shy away from longer arching stories. That PTSD would've been there for years.
SO should have been the federations reaction to it
How else do you think he became the most important person in Starfleet history? Clearly he became a staunch advocate for rigorous mental health support, eventually revolutionizing quality of life throughout the quadrant!
O'Brien already had PTSD from the Cardassian war
@@robinstigator So the question is how does PTSD stack? Is it double PTSD or is it PTSD squared?
@@PamIsley314 probably squared! exponential trauma!
I would say Nog dealing with the PTSD of losing his leg is by far one of the darkest moments in DS9...
Vic Fontaine was one of the best sci- fi characters ever . A combination lounge singer and therapist holodeck creation.
but thank god it had a happy ending and someone who actually cared for him enough to help him get back on his feet so to speak. Thing is with the O'Brien episode is that he got an unfair trial, without getting a word in, imprisoned despite being innocent and then causing his prison friends death and worst of all is that no one can understand or sympathise with him becuz not a day has passed and his memories and PTSD of living 20 years in hell will always remain. Its not just that he went through hell but that his experiences are completely undermined by the fact that they're implants, there's no physical evidence what he went through. I just have to think in my mind he eventually got a memory wipe which shows how he's back to normal the rest of the series.
Finished DS9 for the time a few weeks ago.
I was apprehensive at first, but it soon became my favorite of the franchise.
What TOOK you so long?
@@DMSProduktions Too many other shows.😂
@@MikefromTexas1 OK!
Another dark part of DS9 was during the depth of the war and they were all reading off the lost in combat list and Dax reads off that she lost a friend and almost shows no emotion by the news because of desensitized they all were to lose and death.
Perhaps "The Wire" would have fitted on this list as well. One of Garak's darkest moments. Of course many other episodes and scenes would just be as adequate. Goes to show how good DS 9 was/ is.
I remember Garak going nuts on the other cardassian station with the salvage crew.
That, and I think you're talking about his withdrawal with Bashir, and fights with him and has a seizure?
Anyways I love Garak. Character was too well that I got spoiled.
Given that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is considered the ‘darkest’ of the Trek series to date, and as it dealt with religion/politics/warfare/how people react to crises, a Trekker worth his or her dilithium can count on it dealing with really serious issues. Great video!
i binged DS9 last month and it is by far my favourite Trek series ever
Your take on the torture scene in the Die is Cast, I think, is off. The reason being that Garak tortures Odo to save him because Tain, had he done it himself (he threatened to), would have killed Odo. Garak needs some kind of confession, begs Odo for it, anything, so that he can report back to Tain. When it comes down to it, Garak keeps Odo's darkest secret, that he yearns to go home. This bonds the two men and they ultimately become friends because of it. Garak never intended to kill Odo, he just wanted to put on enough of a show to impress his father, which is what this episode is really about: Tain never had acknowledged, let alone showed pride, in Garak. This was Garak's naive attempt to gain his father's love, which as we know, never happens. On other occasions when he had a chance to go home, Garak made the opposite choice, usually helping people or the cause.
The episode that's just too dark for me is the one where the O'Brian's little daughter gets trapped in the wilderness and out of time and when they rescue her, she's spent 20 years on this planet with no human contact. I usually skip it. It's just so dark.
Making Dukat go evil again wasn't the hard decision for the writers. It would have been making him hit rock bottom, start a genuine redemption arc, and make it convincing enough that the viewers accept it. Turning over to "the only good fascist is a dead fascist" is by far the easiest route they could have taken. Bold faced evil is the easiest character arc to write, ever.
Gul Dukat did nothing wrong
Kivan got his karma when he was left as a lifeless robot, stumbling into walls on Empak Nor.
"I hate Ferengi."
Jadzia finding out she's a murderer (or Joran was) stands out. So does Ezri's brother turning out to be a killer.
Deep space nine never shied away from the horrors of war and the depths to which even the good guys will sink to in order to achieve victory. The underlying theme throughout DS9 is war, how it impacts on people and what it takes to defeat an enemy and in the end everyone sacrifices something in the end and nothing is ever the same after. It does unsettle those with with a less strong personality but I feel DS9 portraits war and the necessities of war very accurately.
". . . [T]he depths to which even the good guys will sink to in order to achieve victory." This mistaken in a vital sense. Suppose you are a soldier (or a civilian for that matter) and you are faced with making existential decisions, not just about yourself, but which can damage or kill every one around you and threaten even your nation's very existence. Survival and victory are profoundly different things. For example, at the moment Russia is striving for "victory" in Ukraine, while Ukraine is struggling for survival. The purposes, and "victory conditions" are profoundly different for the two sides. Even within a particular constrain you can encounter scales of necessity defined by personal stances. One contrast you can make is between Garak and Sisko here. Garak is unabashedly pragmatic, driven primarily by his own survival, and a realistic evaluation of how the Federation, Bajora, and Cardassia would treat him. Critically, he must protect DS9 simply because of all the refuges available, only DS9 will accept him with few questions. So, he is absolutely on the side of DS9 "within limits." He's neither brave nor heroic in any epic sense, but like Odysseus, he is a cunning man and does whatever he must to maintain things as best he can. Sisko, has a far greater responsibility he has accepted. He is first, a Star Fleet officer, sworn to up hold what ever it is Star Fleet officers are supposed to owe duty to - presumably the Federation. Second, he is in absolute charge of a space station and the welfare of every one on it. He does not have the latitude of stepping back and saying, "that would not be right/moral/ethical. We'll all just have to die." He cannot. like Socrates, stick to his personal principles and suffer the consequences, and even Socrates made the choice between his principles nailed to the mast and his family's welfare. Socrates' choice did affect others. But where Garrak would not think twice about taking actions we would consider questionable, Sisko is faced with the sharp divide between upbringing and ideals, and duty. He concludes he can live with it, but Garrak never even would have to think about this.
I don't remember the name of it, but the episode in which Garak is suffering panic attacks. Eventually, it is revealed that they are being triggered by his intense guilt over helping the Federation break the Cardassian codes... which results in massive casualties of his own people. The moment when he acknowledges that he is a traitor to his race is gut-wrenching.
Andrew Robinson was fantastic in every scene throughout the whole show!
@@sarahkinsey5434 No other show in the franchise gave every last member of the cast an opportunity to put on a master class in acting.
@@badladyami Even Morn?
Specially Morn!
I feel like they are purposely avoiding "The Visitor"
Moments too dark for a darkest ds9 moments video
The confrontation between Kira and Prin in The Darkness And The Light was quite dark.
I get the feeling that the actor who portrayed Gul Dukat had a strong position in not letting the character evolve into something good in the end. He TOTALLY would not have let the writers do something like that to him and he probably would have fought them tooth and nail if he ever saw them moving the character that way.
GUL DUKAT DID NOTHING WRONG
Halfway in before the first mention of Chief?
And here I thought it would be a '10 O'Brien episodes and two more' list
Top Ten Times O'Brien was figuratively kicked in the nuts.
Go for the opposite: the Most Uplifting/Inspiring Moments in Deep Space Nine
Which ones were they then? Not trollin', genuinely asking - as a DS9 fan :)
I agree, because DS9 overall dark & war tone didn't click with me.
War never does, some current war movies catch my interest only because of the relatability as a veteran.
But to focus on the darkness of space (I know it's their but TV is a escape for me, not to watch dramatic events that are personal triggers) and lean heavily into it...
I see why people love DS9, however the tech was meh (I do love the holosuite that knows it's a holosuite) and I'm more a fan of tech & exploration
Title would be "The Only Three Uplifting/Inspiring moments in Deep Space Nine"
@@JaredLS10 😂😂😂
Does that include the Baseball episode?
Do a video on 10 best Odo episodes
We need a top “bromance” episode, basically the best non romantic relationships between characters ie. Data and Geordi, O’Brien and Bashir, Quark and Odo.
Absolutely - I second this request whole-heartedly :)
Pff Bashir and Garak is where its at. Apparently Garak actually played the character as having feelings towards Bashir so it would be very appropriate for the list!
Garak and Bashir... wait, you said NON-romantic?
I'd like to add Paris and Kim.
McCoy and Spock....yes I said it.
"In the Pale Moonlight" Is one I rewatch periodically, particularly when I'm facing crises of the kind if not magnitude dude in my own life. Situations where I have to violate some of my own ethics if I want to survive them.
I have been watching Star Trek since 1969 when it first arrived on British TV. The Original Series is sacrosanct. I will not let anybody diss it at all. Next Gen. left me cold. I wasn`t in a position to watch all of DS9, and it has taken me this long to sit and binge the whole thing in a few weeks. And it is BRILLIANT. The depth and breadth of the issues it faces, the emotions it arouses, the topics it throws open for discussion, and the quality of the acting by everybody on board, is utterly stupendous. (I love it, and as soon as we have finished watching Voyager, we are going back to to beginning of DS9 again). This list could be expanded several times over, and still not satisfy everyone. But let us not forget the deep satisfaction given by the few light-hearted episodes, Trials and Tribble-ations, Ferengi Love Songs, In The Cards, et al. Even the "Dark" episodes are satisfying in their depth. All I can say is `thank goodness I caught them again`!
Waiting patiently for Star Trek: Sisko
I love all of Trek. However, I can definitively say that DS9 was by far my favorite out of all of it. Which is saying a lot because I enjoyed all of it.
You might as well call this the 12 best episodes of Deep Space Nine. There are some absolute GEMS on this list.
Hippocratic Oath ... the whole episode is dark AF, but the scene at the end when the Goran'Agar stays behind ... "You are a soldier? You explain ..." ... chilling ...
I really liked the Adversary episode. To me it seemed like almost a love letter to John Carpenter's The Thing. I don't know if they intended it to be such, but the claustrophobic setting of being on a starship combined with the paranoia aspect really had that kind of feel to it.
I watched the entire seven seasons after watching one of these pull togethers - well worth it. Many thanks. To good to list !
Garak's 'interrogation' of Odo wasn't just because of his want to go home. Garak is a trained observer and knew Odo was hiding something and that was why he continued the torture. He got Odo to admit, maybe even to himself, that he wants to return to his people.
Sure, but Garak's desire to return to *his* people was why he agreed to do it at all. This common ground created a charming but severely messed up bond between them.
True, but Garak kept that to him afterwards
I was going to joke about Allamaraine but there is one I'd add, For the Uniform. Specifically the bit where Sisko announces that he's going to fire biogenic weapons comprised of trilithium resin and goes ahead with this threat by firing them at a Maquis settlement, the only thing that stops him was Eddington giving himself up. He would have continued otherwise.
In Sisko's defense he told Edington exactly what he was going to do before he did it. The Maquis just assumed he was bluffing.
@@Walexander3243 True, but he still did the deed and made that planet uninhabitable for years all for a personal grudge. How he got away with it without StarFleet taking any notice is beyond me, I'm pretty sure they're complacent with his actions.
You forgot a very important plot point about point 6, "Hard time." In O'Brien's prison memory, he killed his friend and cellmate. This is the source of almost all of the Chief's problems.
Best one liners "shall we die together" "I'm afraid, I know" etc.
Okay, now you have to do the inverse - the 10 lightest, most fun moments of DS9. Probably a 50% split between Trials and Tribble-ations and Take Me Out to the Holosuite, but I can live with that.
with Sisko punching Q for seasoning...
I wasnt at all surprised you had enough dark moments from ds9. I would have been surprised if this was any other star trek, but ds9 js full of dark moments. That is part of what made it so great. That and the amazing acting.
Let's see... Jake's suicide in The Visitor, Ezri getting in touch with her inner psycho killer, Miles watching himself die over and over again (mostly in Visionary), Garak going full slasher on his friends on Empok Nor, Ben trashing the atmosphere of an entire planet just to score a point against one dude, Julian having to say out loud that he was too defective a child for his parents to accept, so they fixed him, etc. Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can build a few more lists like this one.
DS9: not Roddenberry’s Star Trek. Yet, it’s a far more realistic portrayal of what the future could be like. Roddenberry was not psychologist or historian: he was a utopian dreamer, with a lovely dream… that was ultimately not very realistic.
Science fiction is rarely supposed to be realistic. And calling Star Trek as a setting realistic is rather laughable. Often science fiction is about what we want to happen, what may happen if we work hard enough. A-holes in space was certainly NOT what I ever watched any fiction for. I want good or at least good-ish guys, not shades of greys like modern politicians. As amazing as the writing was for DS9, that is why I could not rewatch it.
Socialism/communism can only be a utopia if you have replicators.
Avery Brooks is a fantastic actor and was my favorite captain of all the series. (I do like the new Pike tho) DS9 was such a great show, between Brooks and Meaney u had some of the best acting Trek has seen. Great video, thanks!
Sisko and his personal log...that's a powerful episode. And my favorite of the whole series. When you try to be a reasonable person in an unreasonable situation (war), it's not good.
Far Beyond the Stars was one of my favorite episodes. We got to see the other half of the cast as humans.
This list is everything that makes DS9 the epic that it is!
An old Jake Sisko dies by suicide to save his father. ("The Visitor") There's definitely a stinging darkness and sadness in that moment. It isn't evil, but it certainly reduces many to tears.
BTW and FWIW, Duet is Nana Visitor's favorite DS9 episode. Easy to understand why.
My favorite series by far was DS9. It had everything a Star Trek Show needs. I've watched the whole series 5 times over the years but I'm feeling another watch is needed. I really miss the characters in this show. The first time I watched it I was going through a dark time and all I had to look forward to every night was DS9. The show saved me from total breakdown. Hail DS9.
How about Sisko destroying a Maquis colony in order to get revenge on Valjean?
It wasn't just revenge, Eddington was using bioweapons to make Cardassian colonies uninhabitable by said species. But everyone else on the Defiant looking around like "wait....we're REALLY going to do it?" was pretty rough.
it wasn't really dark. Just harsh. he didn't hurt anyone. he made it so they couldn't stay on that planet anymore.
@@Bwleon7 There would have been people who refused to move "because it's their home", there would have been people who couldn't evacuate in time, rest assured, Sisko murdered innocent people in that episode.
@@Torquemadia They were nomads before, no one would have done any of that. You try too hard
@@OhNoTheFace I'm guessing you have not met many people.
What about that episode where Jake kills himself to save his father? I almost cried from it.
Edit: s4e03 “The Visitor” is the one I’m talking about.
Tony Todd in another great ST performance.
I always tell people about this episode when I want to point out really good writing. It was mesmerizing to watch.
The thing that really hurts about Garak torturing Odo, well to me it's not the torture itself, it's the intel that he finally gets out of it. Because Garak tortures him because he knows Odo is still keeping something secret, and he wants to get it out of him. And that secret is Odo revealing that he just wants to go home, and rejoin the founders because, despite all their faults, they're still his people. And then Garak breaks down, because he realized he tortured Odo because he had the exact same desires Garak himself had. That was where the true darkness lay.
No, he wasn't buckling to war in the pale moonlight. He had an appiffany. He realized in that moment war is ugly, war isn't civilized and it isn't morality that will win it. And he's OK with that, because sometimes you got to do ugly things to preserve things of beauty. In that one look, in one sentence, computer delete last log, he conveyed all of that. So powerful.
Epiphany*
Your point is good, but god damn it, you're on the fucking internet. Spell check.
The conclusion is certainly ambiguous but the fact that you can't see the ep ending beyond face-value really is worrying
Specially after, you know, 2003.
I'm surprised the mere mention of "Children of Time" didn't make this list.
I also like when Garak got exposed to that drug on Empok Nog and turned into a freaking psycho.
I grew up watching DS9 not really appreciating it. I just finished watching the whole series again and was blown away. Season 1 had some cringe... but the series as a whole was amazing with the storyline and character development. Highly recommend people to watch this series from beginning to end! 😁
If you do another list you can't leave out the Jem'Hadar's suicide run on the USS Odyssey at the end of the episode The Jem'hadar. Not many darker moments that really set the tone of what the federation is up against. There's also the moment Sisko poisons an entire planet just to catch Eddington, and conveniently forgetting to clear it with Star Fleet first.
"nor the battle to the strong" is one of my favorite DS9 episodes.
How about a top 10 list of the rules of acquisition that actually make sense?
For me "Duet" is the darkest of the dark. And probably the most sad. There are only two episodes in the Star Trek universe that still make me shed a tear... DS9's "Duet" and "City On The Edge Of Forever" from TOS
Thanks, Sean. Good job. Now I'm going to start this series all over again, with fresh eyes.
How is The Visitor not on here? The utter trauma of Ben Sisko returning to haunt his son, the anguish when he sees how he has wasted his whole life trying to save him and at the end old Jake making the ultimate sacrifice. My god this was dark even though it had a happy ending.
... because I can live with it.
I CAN live with it.
Computer, erase this entire file.
Great list.
Everything always boils down to "In the Pale Moonlight."
A timely reminder of why DS9 is my favourite ST. Time for a full rewatch binge.
I love this series, especially "In the Pale Moonlight." However, I have often wondered if Janeway not only would have gone along with the events, but rather than Garak having to hide the true design, Janeway might have even thought it up herself and executed it. Thinking of the actions of Admiral Janeway in the Voyager Finale, that character seems likely to do it.
Glad to see In The Pale Moonlight getting the respect it deserves.
Another great one Seán! 🖖🏻👨🏻🦲
Why's Sean the only TrekCulture host these days? He' s cool as hell, but what happened to Adam Clery and Marcus Bronzy? I Dig those guys too.
I've got nothing against Seán, but I would honestly like Adam Clery to narrate most parts of my day lol
The Surfshark ad that started up recently has Adam explaining he's working behind the scenes of WhatCulture and their partnership with Surfshark is a part of that, leaving him little time to get in front of the camera (though he recently did the video on the new Star Trek movie).
Would like to see more of Marcus in these. Variety is good for basically watching clips of a show we have all seen dozens of times.
@@ViroVV Agree. Sean has improved, he came off as somewhat emotionless in his earlier videos, but even now when he's better, it's still nice to have other voices.
Especially since Sean is doing pretty much all the WhoCulture videos and some WhatComics videos as well.
I love nothing more than a well told "The only good Nazi is a dead Nazi" story and Gul Dukat is the epitome of it.
Except doesn't Duet's story rather conflict with that?
The Darkest Episode for me has to be the Quickening where Bashir has to try to find a cure to a disease an entire planet is suffering from and he takes months to find the answer
especially when Dax points out to him that he is arrogant if he thinks he can find a cure in a week.
@@amandamills4133 the moment he realised he couldn't help is crushing television. But good
Best video yet guys. Well done.
Fantastic Video !!
Kira always laughs at people saying they are lying, then finds out they aren't. So if you want to fool her, just tell her the truth.
Kira was really, really bad at her job.
I always liked Garaks line,
"And all it cost was the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal, and the self-respect of one Starfleet officer. I don't know about you, but I'd call that a bargain."
I'm a little surprised Children Of Time (S06E22) isn't on this list. The idea that a version of a beloved character would virtually murder thousands of people to save the woman he had a crush on was very disturbing to me. It's especially dark when you realize that the people snuffed out of existence weren't nameless or faceless offscreen characters. The show went out of its way to introduce them as people to the audience.
I loved that episode. What struck me the most was that the whole crew was willing to sacrifice their current lives to save those of their descendants. That blew me away... til Odo did what he did.
He refused to participate in the murder of the woman he loved. That everyone else was a-ok with it was ridiculous to me. I consider it one of the less "realistic" of the "realistic" series.
@@patrickmccurry1563 I think what the crew was willing to do was actually very faithful to the spirit of Star Trek. The entire crew (including Kira) decided the lives of the many were worth the sacrifice of the few. Alternate Odo on the other hand was borderline evil in my opinion. He lived with those alternate timeline people for 200 years but he erased their lives without hesitation because he prioritized his feelings above the lives of other people.
@@Super_Middleman
I'm not convinced that Future Odo actually lived "with" the colonists, but rather kept his distance. He never mentions any of the colonists and the colonists don't mention him either. He apparently feels no connection to them.
That likely made it easier for him to rationalize what he did.
Great list! Only point I would argue is that the jem hadar don't have a code of honour that compels them to attack in rocks and shoals.
They are designed to be completely obedient and dependant on a drug.
A code of honour would be more klingon.
Sorry, nerd point over.
Meh, less dependant on Ketracel white than being genetically-engineered to obey (DS9 S4/E04 - Hippocratic Oath)
"In the Pale Moonlight" reminds me of "Demons run when a Good man goes to War."
I would add "For the Uniform", Sisko preparing to poison every single Maquis colony to capture Eddington.
How the hell did you pare this down to just 12!?!? Some of these dark moments lead to other dark moments.
Excellent list!
11:36 Yep, totally agree w/the conclusion to be drawn on that 1!
Number 12 is hilarious. Dukat was the biggest troll. I love him.
This was so awesome!!!!