Star Trek: 10 Best Cardassian Episodes
6. Lower Decks
No, not the animated series, the seventh-season Next Generation Episode that the animated series is named after. In this episode, young Bajoran officer Sito Jaxa (previously seen alongside Wesley Crusher and Nick 'totally not Tom Paris' Locarno in the episode The First Duty) is given a mission. This mission is to accompany a Cardassian-turned-Federation agent, Joret, back into Cardassian space. The two share an uncomfortable shuttle ride as they discuss the past history between their two species, then the mission is to get underway.
Throughout the course of this episode, Sito Jaxa and her fellow ensign Sam Lavelle have been competing for the same promotion, but neither is sure of what to expect. The senior Enterprise staff are distant and occasionally secretive, making both Sito and Lavelle uncertain. In the end, Sito does not return from her mission. Federation intelligence suggests that she was killed and the crew are stricken with grief for the loss.
Easily one of the most moving and thoughtful episodes of The Next Generation, Lower Decks remains an episode not just about the nature of the Federation's relationship with the Cardassians, but of its own failings and calculated risks.