The crew's imaginations run riot and it's all great fun. There are bizarre happenings on DS9 - Rumpelstilkskin, a legendary baseball player, Bashir's dream Dax, strange animals, snow and on and on. But things quickly become more serious as a space rift threatens the station. I am reminded yet again in this episode as to how much the writers liked the Quark character - he so often get the best lines in the show. They're throwaway lines but so very often pithy and amusing. In this case Odo and Quark are having a usual acrimonious discussion and Quark makes a suggestion that Odo finds offensive and Odo says "That's disgusting," and Quark replies "It's a living." There is both tension and a wishful fantasy in this show. Since, as of yet, I don't care much for the Bashir character, his pining for the imaginary Dax is hokey. But O'Brien's distress is believable and touching. A fun and engaging episode and a meeting with a new, unknown alien species. I wonder if we'll see more of them.
Review of If Wishes Were Horses
