10 Star Trek Episodes That Just Didn't Work

This episode suffered from big ideas and poor execution and Frederick Rappaport, who wrote the episode, was very dissatisfied by the ending. He wanted the audience to believe that the crew really had been in jeopardy, but the reveal that they were never in any danger robbed the plot of its urgency.

The episode suffered from a budget issue. It was the biggest budgeted show that Deep Space Nine had attempted since Emissary, and Michael Piller took responsibility for the monetary issues they ran into. He felt that his work on The Next Generation would have prepared him for DS9's first season, yet here they were with plans for a huge exterior game set, that became a series of corridors.

Another issue with the episode was the game itself. Chula got its name from Chutes and Ladders, with it being a three-dimensional version. Not many people understood that to be the case. Rappaport also wanted to raise the stakes by having everyone but Bashir arrive back at the end of the episode, with Quark having to part with his winnings to get him back.

In the end, the episode is remembered for Allamaraine but oh how we try to forget.