This had elements of an old MASH episode. Each character had his or her chance to connect with Lisa, the voice far away. It allows us to get to know these people a bit better. Sadly, they are immersed in war and, sadly, they seem to be losing some of their humanity. I knew all along that there would be some kind of surprise. Unlike another reviewer, I enjoyed the secondary plot, that of Odo having to deal with favors done him by Quark. He is realizing his kinder side and experiencing true happiness for the first time. If Odo had just used subterfuge to make Quark feel as though someone else had found him out, it would have still been a bit of a betrayal. I was perfectly happy with the justification.
13 Reviews
Quark gets up to no good; Sisco and the gang get therapy
snarky-trek-reviews26 February 2019
Lesson #1 - No one involved in illegal activity thinks of themselves as nefarious.
Lesson #2 - Probing energy barriers can trigger surges of metreon radiation.
Lesson #3 - If your stranded on an L-Class planet you're going to need trioxin.
Lesson #4 - One month anniversaries are still a thing in the 24th century.
Lesson #5 - Wanted men change their com system protocols after each use.
Lesson #6 - If you can't talk to your friends and you can't talk to your wife, you should probably talk to a counselor (or a stranger stranded alone on an L-class planet).
Lesson #7 - Power from the phasers can be channeled to the warp drive in case of emergency.
Lesson #8 - Don't mix your personal and professional lives.
Lesson #9 - Always remember the 285th rule of acquisition: "No good deed goes unpunished."
Lesson #10 - If you need to penetrate a layer of subspace metreon radiation use a shuttle.
Lesson #11 - Subsapce metreon radiation can time-shift subspace signals.
Lesson #12 - A proper burial is a burial among friends, preferably on a space station.
This episode is very satisfying. The Odo Quark dynamic is further evolved with Jake and Kira in supporting roles. Sisco, Obrien, and Bashier get some well written character development.
Verdict: An entertaining and heartwarming penultimate for the season.
Lesson #2 - Probing energy barriers can trigger surges of metreon radiation.
Lesson #3 - If your stranded on an L-Class planet you're going to need trioxin.
Lesson #4 - One month anniversaries are still a thing in the 24th century.
Lesson #5 - Wanted men change their com system protocols after each use.
Lesson #6 - If you can't talk to your friends and you can't talk to your wife, you should probably talk to a counselor (or a stranger stranded alone on an L-class planet).
Lesson #7 - Power from the phasers can be channeled to the warp drive in case of emergency.
Lesson #8 - Don't mix your personal and professional lives.
Lesson #9 - Always remember the 285th rule of acquisition: "No good deed goes unpunished."
Lesson #10 - If you need to penetrate a layer of subspace metreon radiation use a shuttle.
Lesson #11 - Subsapce metreon radiation can time-shift subspace signals.
Lesson #12 - A proper burial is a burial among friends, preferably on a space station.
This episode is very satisfying. The Odo Quark dynamic is further evolved with Jake and Kira in supporting roles. Sisco, Obrien, and Bashier get some well written character development.
Verdict: An entertaining and heartwarming penultimate for the season.
Not essential, but a good character episode.
beanslegit10 May 2022
So this episode has the defiant and all the regulars respond to a distress signal coming from a female captain stranded on a distant planet and running out of air. So they have to race to try and save her. Along the way they manage to establish communication and they all end up chatting to her for hours, I won't go into specifics but the dialogue is very well written and quite heartwarming. Nice ending, and the woman who voices the strandee did a great job. Yes.
A lost voice
Tweekums27 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
While on convoy duty the crew of the Defiant pick up a distress call from a Star Fleet officer called Lisa Cusak, who's ship has been destroyed leaving her stranded on a barely habitable planet. Even though she is six days away the Defiant is the closest ship so Sisko orders a change of course and they set off to rescue her. As they race towards her Sisko, O'Brien and Dr. Bashir take turns to talk to her. This might not be enough however as she is running low on oxygen. When they finally arrive on the planet and find Lisa there is quite a surprise which I won't spoil here.
Back on DS9 Quark is trying to get Odo off his back by encouraging him to spend more time thinking about Kira and less worrying what Quark is up to. Jake observes this and asks if he can use Quark as the basis for a character in a novel he is writing; Quark agrees, on condition nothing Jake sees is reported to his father. Quark uses Odo's relationship to arrange for an illegal trade deal on the night of the anniversary of Odo and Kira's first date the problem is Odo decides it would be far more romantic to celebrate a month after his first kiss meaning he will be on duty the night of the dead and Quark can't contact his associate to change the date of the deal.
This was an enjoyable series, I liked the fact that we didn't see Lisa; just heard her calls for help and her conversations with the crew; these conversations helped the crew as much as they appeared to help her. The ending was as brilliant as it was surprising. The secondary story was at least as good as the main plot, it was great to see Odo change his plans to let Quark get away with it just once; especially as Quark had no idea that Odo knew what he was up to.
Back on DS9 Quark is trying to get Odo off his back by encouraging him to spend more time thinking about Kira and less worrying what Quark is up to. Jake observes this and asks if he can use Quark as the basis for a character in a novel he is writing; Quark agrees, on condition nothing Jake sees is reported to his father. Quark uses Odo's relationship to arrange for an illegal trade deal on the night of the anniversary of Odo and Kira's first date the problem is Odo decides it would be far more romantic to celebrate a month after his first kiss meaning he will be on duty the night of the dead and Quark can't contact his associate to change the date of the deal.
This was an enjoyable series, I liked the fact that we didn't see Lisa; just heard her calls for help and her conversations with the crew; these conversations helped the crew as much as they appeared to help her. The ending was as brilliant as it was surprising. The secondary story was at least as good as the main plot, it was great to see Odo change his plans to let Quark get away with it just once; especially as Quark had no idea that Odo knew what he was up to.
Slow Brew
Tundrorock2 February 2021
Thankfully, I didn't have the high expectation burden of knowing it was the 500'th episode. This episode exposes some of the crew's insecurities in an interesting way. Nice side story involving Quark and Odo. It also offers a break from the space battle action scenes and heavy war life or death situations.
Unrealised Potential
Shahusta1 February 2014
Warning: Spoilers
A fair episode, though a bit too much soap for my taste. Avery Brooks and Penny Johnson did however act well a relationship going through a rocky patch.
I didn't pick the "already dead" twist, thinking instead of a Dominion espionage or ambush ploy. (Debra Wilson's somewhat overacting made Lisa sound a bit suspect.) But I would have preferred an ending where Lisa's voice was still alive when they reached the planet. This would have allowed her to "attend" her own wake once everyone was outside the energy barrier, which could have been a truly moving scene rather than the "learning experiences" that we got.
And it was out of character for Odo to let goods be smuggled. He would have been more likely to intercept the goods but "accidentally" fail to link them to Quark.
I didn't pick the "already dead" twist, thinking instead of a Dominion espionage or ambush ploy. (Debra Wilson's somewhat overacting made Lisa sound a bit suspect.) But I would have preferred an ending where Lisa's voice was still alive when they reached the planet. This would have allowed her to "attend" her own wake once everyone was outside the energy barrier, which could have been a truly moving scene rather than the "learning experiences" that we got.
And it was out of character for Odo to let goods be smuggled. He would have been more likely to intercept the goods but "accidentally" fail to link them to Quark.
Debra Wilson is Phenomenal
cgravesmontalbano8 March 2021
Upon my first viewing of DS9 many years ago, this episode was one of the ones that stuck with me. Not necessarily because it was an "upper-echelon" episode on its own, not because anything universe-altering happens, but because Debra Wilson managed to create such an immediately likeable and memorable character in Cpt. Lisa Cusak.
Being #500 is a big responsibility.
planktonrules25 January 2015
"The Sound of Her Voice" is the 500th episode in the "Star Trek" franchise. So, after tons of "Star Trek", "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" and "Star Trek: Voyager" they've finally hit this huge milestone. Unfortunately, while a very good episode, it wasn't as resounding a success as the show a few seasons back created to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the series ("Trials and Tribble-ations", 5.6).
The show's main plot involves a long distance distress call. A ship's captain, Lisa Cusak, has begun sending distress calls to anyone who might respond. It seems that something odd about the atmosphere of some planet caused her ship to crash and the Defiant is many days away from rescuing her. There is a problem, however, because the crash site is a class L planet--with a thin atmosphere that necessitate Cusak using all her available oxygen...and then perhaps some. So, it's a race to the planet and the crew of the Defiant take time to talk with Cusak and keep her spirits high.
The other plot is ill-defined. For some reason that makes zero sense, Jake and Quark are working together on some smuggling. This plot DID end well, but otherwise is far inferior to the Cusak one in every way.
So is it any good? Yup. But for a 500th episode I guess I just expected more. Still, it is worth seeing.
The show's main plot involves a long distance distress call. A ship's captain, Lisa Cusak, has begun sending distress calls to anyone who might respond. It seems that something odd about the atmosphere of some planet caused her ship to crash and the Defiant is many days away from rescuing her. There is a problem, however, because the crash site is a class L planet--with a thin atmosphere that necessitate Cusak using all her available oxygen...and then perhaps some. So, it's a race to the planet and the crew of the Defiant take time to talk with Cusak and keep her spirits high.
The other plot is ill-defined. For some reason that makes zero sense, Jake and Quark are working together on some smuggling. This plot DID end well, but otherwise is far inferior to the Cusak one in every way.
So is it any good? Yup. But for a 500th episode I guess I just expected more. Still, it is worth seeing.
A Great episode ... but ...
alsation7230 January 2014
Warning: Spoilers
The USS Defiant receives a distress call from a Starfleet captain stranded on an alien world after her ship has been destroyed. She's stranded on a Class L world (inhospitable to human life). Its also surrounded by a strange energy field. The old mystery force-field bit.
The stranded Captain Cusak asks that they keep a constant conversation going with her to keep her alert and to make her feel less isolated, and naturally they all make friends with her because she's a great person.
A strange energy field that surrounds the planet is finally punctured and its has time-shifting (temporal) properties. Anyone else notice that the previous episode had a very similar premise with Molly? DS9 tends to do that.
On the planet they find the long-decomposed remains of Cusak's body deep in a cave, having been dead for about three years. They were communicating through time; mmm k.
The thing that really annoyed me was that here was a starfleet captain, dead only three years ... and the team that happens to discover her remains take it upon themselves to conduct a funeral??? Seriously??
Did they try to contact her friends and family at all? Truly strange.
The Quark/ Odo hi-jinx is hardly worth a mention. But besides the ridiculously self-important funeral they conducted it was a good episode! If not a little sad.
The stranded Captain Cusak asks that they keep a constant conversation going with her to keep her alert and to make her feel less isolated, and naturally they all make friends with her because she's a great person.
A strange energy field that surrounds the planet is finally punctured and its has time-shifting (temporal) properties. Anyone else notice that the previous episode had a very similar premise with Molly? DS9 tends to do that.
On the planet they find the long-decomposed remains of Cusak's body deep in a cave, having been dead for about three years. They were communicating through time; mmm k.
The thing that really annoyed me was that here was a starfleet captain, dead only three years ... and the team that happens to discover her remains take it upon themselves to conduct a funeral??? Seriously??
Did they try to contact her friends and family at all? Truly strange.
The Quark/ Odo hi-jinx is hardly worth a mention. But besides the ridiculously self-important funeral they conducted it was a good episode! If not a little sad.
Good episode with decent character moments.
snoozejonc18 July 2023
The Defiant answers a distress call from a stranded Starfleet officer.
The writers use a solid sci-fi concept to present a number of reflective character exchanges between various regulars and the guest character. Some of the conversations are more interesting than others, but it has a lot of heartfelt moments about friendship that works well and builds up to a strong finish.
As for the B-Plot, it is pretty light hearted, but continues the positive vibes about how people should value each other. You would have to be an extreme cynic not to raise at least one smile.
All actors are on good form, particularly the guest star Debra Wilson who exhibits great charisma in her voice performance.
The writers use a solid sci-fi concept to present a number of reflective character exchanges between various regulars and the guest character. Some of the conversations are more interesting than others, but it has a lot of heartfelt moments about friendship that works well and builds up to a strong finish.
As for the B-Plot, it is pretty light hearted, but continues the positive vibes about how people should value each other. You would have to be an extreme cynic not to raise at least one smile.
All actors are on good form, particularly the guest star Debra Wilson who exhibits great charisma in her voice performance.
Talking with your crazy aunt.
thevacinstaller3 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I give this episode points for the unexpected twist of Cusak having been dead for years but able to communicate with the crew through space magic.
I know this is supposed to be a heart warming episode but I did feel the acting of the Cusak character was a bit too 'big' ----- This is a dignified starfleet captain who is facing death ---- she comes off as 'my favorite aunt who drinks a bit too much'. Make her a civilian? Make her a Klingon female? A romulan?
The Odo/Quark plot is fine but there is nothing to really chew on to interpret about that.
I know this is supposed to be a heart warming episode but I did feel the acting of the Cusak character was a bit too 'big' ----- This is a dignified starfleet captain who is facing death ---- she comes off as 'my favorite aunt who drinks a bit too much'. Make her a civilian? Make her a Klingon female? A romulan?
The Odo/Quark plot is fine but there is nothing to really chew on to interpret about that.
Makes little sense
datcatman20 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
If Cpt. Cusack needs tri-ox due to the high CO2 levels, the best course of action would be to have her rest as much as possible and talk as little as possible. Granted, the point is moot due to the time distortion, but still, it's a pretty obvious plot hole.
Snoozefest
tomsly-4001525 November 2023
Very boring episode. Reminded me of the movie "Frequency" where a man talks to his dead father from the past on the radio made possible by some kind of temporal distortion. But this one at least was interesting and action packed.
Here, the crew talks to a Starfleet captain that survived a crash on an alien planet. Unfortunately the Defiant needs several days to reach her. In the meantime the crew takes shifts in talking to her which feels like a session at the psychiatrist. Very boring after a while because nothing actually happens.
Sisko completely acts our of character when he is all cold and distanced towards Kassidy. He would have reacted differently to her if he felt that he is not able to perform his duties as a captain when she is around on the ship.
Here, the crew talks to a Starfleet captain that survived a crash on an alien planet. Unfortunately the Defiant needs several days to reach her. In the meantime the crew takes shifts in talking to her which feels like a session at the psychiatrist. Very boring after a while because nothing actually happens.
Sisko completely acts our of character when he is all cold and distanced towards Kassidy. He would have reacted differently to her if he felt that he is not able to perform his duties as a captain when she is around on the ship.
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