#essential episodes

1. Episode 7 - Rules of Acquisition

This is my pick for the Ferengi episode of the season, for two reasons.  One, it introduces us for the first time to the Ferengi culture's incredible misogyny, which is a topic that will play out in interesting ways over the course of the show.  Two, it plants the very first seeds of some really important Gamma Quadrant stuff, that will come to fruition in a big way later. 

2. Episode 8 - Necessary Evil

This episode is basically a cold-case murder mystery, filled with past and present scheming and intrigue.  Like "Duet", one of my recommendations from Season 1, it explores Major Kira's past during the Cardassian Occupation, as well as Odo's role on Terok Nor (the station that would later become DS9).  The twist at the end, which I won't give away for spoiler reasons, really gives insight into exactly how dangerous and determined Major Kira can be, when she's fighting for a cause that she believes in.

3. Episode 12 - The Alternate

This Odo-focused episode continues the story of Odo's search for his origins, which I thought was one of the most compelling early-season plot arcs.  It also introduces us to Dr. Mora, the scientist who discovered that Odo was sentient, and first taught him how to communicate with other beings.  They definitely have an interesting relationship dynamic.

I have mixed feelings about the ending of this episode, but just seeing Odo and Dr. Mora together makes it worth the time investment IMO.

4. Episode 13 - Armageddon Game

This action/thriller episode has a great plot, full of betrayal, double-crossing, and suspense.  More than that, it marks the beginning of Dr. Bashir & Chief O'Brien's friendship, which will go on to become legendary.  Finally, there are a few nice Keiko O'Brien moments in this episode, which is a somewhat rare thing overall.

5. Episode 14 - Whispers

Season 2 did this thing where there would be a run of episodes all focused on the same character, and then they would move on to a different one and repeat the same thing.  This is another O'Brien episode following right on the heels of Armageddon Game, but it's so well-done that I couldn't leave it out.

For most of this utterly creepy and suspense-filled episode, you will have no idea what's going on.  Everyone on DS9 is acting strange toward Chief O'Brien, and he cannot figure out why.  The ultimate answer came as quite a shock to me, and was totally not something that I in any way saw coming.

My one problem with this episode is that I feel like the ending portrays a criminal and gravely immoral act, but that fact is totally glossed over and never really addressed.  I mean, I get that they had to wrap things up, but at least some acknowledgement... Well, watch it, and see whether or not you agree.

6. Episode 15 - Paradise

This episode features Cmrd. Sisko and (yet again) Chief O'Brien crashing on the surface of a planet where technology doesn't seem to work.  Despite that fact, a group of humans has worked hard to make a life there, creating what is in some ways a sort of pre-industrial back-to-nature paradise.  Of course, not everything is what it seems to be, and things get incredibly creepy before the end.

This episode is basically a warning about the dangers of blindly following any kind of charismatic leader, or of unquestionably accepting any system of belief.  It's a warning about how a close-knit community can be a double-edged sword, and how social pressure and conformity can send an entire group off the rails really quickly.  Which is always a warning worth keeping in mind.  

This is one of the DS9 episodes that I saw for the first time as a kid, and it made a huge impact on me.  In particular, that damned torture box gave me intense nightmares for quite awhile afterward.  For some reason, that thing still freaks me out more than any other kind of torture that is ever shown on the show, even the far more explicit kinds.  I'm not even claustrophobic or anything, but I swear I was emotionally scarred by that goddamned box.

It also shows us exactly how stubborn Cmrd. Sisko can be -- which, for better or for worse, is very stubborn indeed.

7. Episode 22 - The Wire

This episode focuses on one of DS9's most fascinating characters: the resident Cardassian tailor-and-possibly-spy, Garak.  True to his character, it doesn't provide many answers about his past directly... Or does it?  At the very least, we learn a few new things about the Cardassians, who are always fascinating, and about Enabran Tain, who will be important again later.

This episode also highlights the relationship between Dr. Bashir and Garak, which became the DS9 fandom's main slash pairing, and which remains an ongoing topic of fanfiction to this day.

8. Episode 24 - The Collaborator

This is a pretty major episode in the series' plot arc, as it establishes who will become the next Kai of Bajor.  (The Kai is basically the Bajoran Pope, if the Pope had more political influence than he does today.  More like the Pope in the Middle Ages, perhaps.)  The two candidates are Vedek Bareil, the liberal candidate, who also happens to be Major Kira's boyfriend, and Vedek Winn, the fundamentalist candidate, whom we saw [SPOILERS FOR SEASON ONE] arranging the bombing of a school and trying to have her rival assassinated.  The outcome of the election looks assured, until some buried secrets from the past are revealed.

I've always really liked the way the Orb experiences and conversations with the Prophets are presented on the show, and Bareil's Orb experiences in this episode are particularly surreal and well-done.  I feel like they really capture the symbolic & allusive nature of dream logic.

The theme of this episode, I would say, is the choices people have to make when there are no good choices.

9. Episode 25 - Tribunal

Yet another standalone O'Brien episode.  (Seriously, there was a lot of O'Brien in Season 2.)  This genuinely scary, Kafka-esque episode highlights the fascist and dystopian nature of the Cardassian justice system.  The ending is a bit deus ex machina, but the insight that we get into Cardassian culture makes it all worthwhile.

10. Episode 26 - The Jem'Hadar

Fittingly enough, the season's closer is the most important plot arc episode of Season 2.  We meet the titular Jem'Hadar species, as well as the Vorta, both of whom will play a huge role in future seasons.

This episode does a really good job of setting the crew up against a powerful, technologically advanced opponent.  I won't give too much away, but the events of this episode left me scared for the future of the Federation, in a way that few-if-any other Trek villians have ever done.

Honorable Mentions

This season featured not one but two multi-episode arcs dealing primarily with political intrigue.  I couldn't spare the precious slots to put either of these arcs in my top 10, but they're both well worth the time if you're willing to invest in a slightly slower-paced, more complex story arc.  

There's also one character-focused episode that didn't quite make the cut for the top 10, but which is still quite good.

Episode 1 - The Homecoming Episode 2 - The Circle Episode 3 - The Siege

This 3-part season opener deals with Bajoran politics, and the internal conflict between Bajoran isolationists and those who want to work with the Federation.  It begins with Major Kira rescuing a Bajoran war hero from a Cardassian prison camp, in the hopes that he will serve as a symbol to unite Bajor.  Unfortunately, that's not enough to prevent a group of extremists from staging a coup.

Some of the highlights of this arc for me were the relevation of the real powers behind the coup, an amazing interaction between Dax and Kira in the third episode, and the closing commentary on the unifying power of heroic symbols -- whether or not the legend behind the symbol is strictly factual.

Episode 4 - Invasive Procedures

I really wanted to include this Jadzia Dax-focused episode in my top 10, but I couldn't quite justify doing so.  The main reason is that this story, about a desperate Trill who will do anything to get the Dax symbiont, appears to have no impact on any future plotlines.  In fact, I'm not sure it's ever really referenced again, when it seems like it really should be.  It's like these events never happened.

Nonetheless, taken on its own merits, it's a good episode that shows us some new things about the ever-fascinating Trill.

Episode 20 - The Maquis, Part 1 Episode 21 - The Maquis, Part 2

This two-part arc shows us that not everything is perfect in Federation-land, and that even a utopian future will have its discontents.  I find the Maquis fascinating and somewhat morally ambiguous, though the show presents them as ultimately wrong; if I was in their situation, I'm honestly not sure where my sympathies would lie.