Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - 10 Best Episodes

3. "Duet" (Season 1)

Summary: When a Cardassian man arrives on Deep Space Nine suffering from an illness he could have only contracted at a Bajoran labor camp during the Occupation, Major Kira Nerys spearheads an investigation to determine if he is a notorious war criminal responsible for the deaths of countless Bajorans. Why It's Great: It's a testament to the quality of the writing, acting, and directing on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine that an episode like "Duet" works at all. After all, the production didn't set out to make one of the best episodes of the series or to provide Nana Visitor with an episode that defined an already well-written character €“ they set out to balance the season's bloated production budget. Because episodes like "Emissary" and "The Storyteller" had cost more than planned, the series needed an episode that could be shot on standing sets with a minimum of guest stars and as few visual effects as possible. The result was "Duet," an episode which takes place almost exclusively in one room, has only two major characters, and contains almost no action. And yet, "Duet" is easily the most compelling episode of the show's entire first season. Most of the episode is spent between Kira and the Cardassian, in a holding cell, as the two play a game of verbal cat and mouse trying to determine the Cardassian's identity, which, in the end, transforms Kira's viewpoint of Cardassians and forces her to confront her own prejudices. It's not just a great episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine €“ it's a great episode of Star Trek, period.