Star Trek: In the Cards

Episode: "In the Cards"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 25

Original Air Date: June 9, 1997

via Memory Alpha

Emotions on the station are at a low ebb.  The sense of impending war with the Dominion has everyone feeling down.  Even Captain Sisko isn't able to muster his usual optimism.  Jake takes it upon himself to cheer up Dad and he enlists Nog's help.  Among the treasures in Quark's latest auction is a Willie Mays rookie baseball card.  The two young buddies scheme to get it.  Obviously, nothing goes quite as planned, yet all falls into place by the end and they manage to make a lot of other people happy along the way.

As soon as we finished, the kid declared this one of their favorite DS9 episodes.  I was surprised.  I certainly appreciate the comic relief stories as the series can get heavy for long stretches but I rarely think of them as the best ones.  In fact, quite a lot of critics are partial to "In the Cards."  What do I know?

I do feel a little sad for Leeta, no longer having a teddy bear.

It's a great episode for the recurring cast, though aren't they all?  Nog, Kai Winn, Weyoun, Leeta and Morn (we haven't really talked about him, have we?) all get meaningful material, the last two without any spoken lines.

Music Notes

via Memory Alpha

Composer Dennis McCarthy won an Emmy for Deep Space Nine's main theme.  His Star Trek credits are extensive with underscore work on 88 NextGen episodes, 77 for DS9, 65 for Voyager and 30 for Enterprise.  He is also the score composer for Star Trek Generations.  He has ten Emmy nominations in total including nine for Trek.