10 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Episodes That Were Almost Completely Different

7. It’s Only A Paper Moon (Season 7 Episode 10)

Largely fodder for some comic relief in the increasingly dark world of DS9, Ferengi episodes rarely feature much in the way of emotional depth. Nevertheless, as the series inched closer to its finale, it was time for one of these large lobed latinum lovers to get the true dramatic treatment.

The episode centres on Ensign Nog, Starfleet’s first Ferengi, and his recovery after losing his leg to Dominion phaser fire during the siege of AR-558. Clearly in the grip of PTSD, Nog experiences psychosomatic pain despite his fully functional bio-synthetic prosthetic, and retreats to the comfort of Vic’s Lounge, a 1960s Vegas style holosuite program overseen by the eponymous and self aware lounge singing hologram.

The concept was originally from a years old pitch set in the more familiar Quark’s Bar, with the working title ‘Everybody Comes To Quark’s’. Charting a full day at the establishment, the episode would focus on one dramatic and two comedic stories as the various characters would come and go throughout the day.

As writing progressed, Nog’s dramatic story held such dramatic weight for the characters that the comic subplots were dropped entirely. With the locale moving to the holosuite, Nog could truly escape reality as he wanted, the ambitious and bright eyed boy we met in season one completely losing himself after his first brush with mortality, and given the narrative space such a subject deserves.