Star Trek: The Way of the Warrior

Episode: "The Way of the Warrior"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 4, Episodes 1 & 2

Original Air Date: October 2, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Garak episode!

A Klingon fleet arrives at the station, preparing for an attack on the Cardassian home world.  They believe - correctly, as it turns out - that Founder infiltrators have staged a coup, overthrowing the military regime on Cardassia in favor of civilian rule.  The Klingons want to attack in order to prevent further incursions in the Alpha Quadrant.  They do not take kindly to the Federation's efforts to interfere with their plans.

"The Way of the Warrior" marks a major turning point for Deep Space Nine for a couple of reasons.  Recasting the Klingon Empire in their original antagonist role is one.  More important, at least for the fans, is the return of Worf.  Captain Sisko recruits the NextGen alum to help with the situation and fortunately for all of us, Worf agrees to stick around once the initial crisis subsides.  He'll remain in the principal cast for the rest of the series.

This presents an interesting wrinkle to my little game of drawing character legacies back to the original series (read here).  Clearly, Worf should get his own chair back.  So...

Chekov = Worf = Odo = Worf

But this leaves the question of what to do with Odo.  After all, he's not going anywhere and we still have four seasons to go.  For me, the best solution is to give Odo a chair of his own...

Odo (née Chekov line)

Two principals in particular will benefit from the addition of Worf to our story.  Already, we can see that his relationship with Dax is going to be an interesting one.  It also frees up Odo to be more than just the grumpy guy around the office.  Now that Worf can share in that responsibility, Odo's story can take off in exciting directions.  And what a tale it is, unique in Star Trek (so far).  

Food Notes

"The Way of the Warrior" includes one of the most popular individual scenes of the entire DS9 run, only tangentially related to the main plot.  Quark and Garak commiserate over their dependence on the Federation, a glass of root beer serving as the perfect metaphor.

Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

An important side narrative is the captain's effort to invest in a romantic relationship with freighter captain Kasidy Yates, played by Penny Johnson.  Johnson boasts 16 Trek appearances, including 15 as Yates.

Penny Johnson Jerald was born in Baltimore, March 14, 1961.  She graduated from The Julliard School in New York.  Her on-screen resume is absolutely stellar, particularly on television.  She has had principal roles on four high-profile shows: The Larry Sanders Show, 24, Castle and The Orville.  Films include Do the Right Thing, What's Love Got to Do with It, The Lion King (2019) and the upcoming Mufasa: The Lion King.