1×05 — I am Tosk. O’Brien befriends a new alien, the first from the Gamma Quadrant, but it turns out this guy is an alien bred to be hunted and the crew’s interference causes some hijinks to ensue. This is a purely O’Brien episode and the only side story is a very short couple of minutes featuring Quark.
The episode is nothing special and it stays closer to the fun edge. It has the lighthearted tone some of the episodes should have including the Captain giving into his officers hijinks, but only from afar.
Rating: C
1×06 — Q-Less. In what is sure to be a great many upcoming episodes of random tie ins from TNG we get the first episode featuring Q and his companion Vash who you may remember from the Sherwood Forest episode of TNG, the love interest of Picard that decided to go with Q on an adventure. O’Brien recognizes Q and they have what may be one of the funniest moments of the series thus far, a moment pictured above of Q and Captain Sisko in a small tussle with Q wearing a mustache.
The episode is fun and maybe one of the best of the first half of the first season. Q does a great job, and I didn’t realize this until recently but for a man so pivotal to the series of TNG he pretty much just one appearance per season. Bashir has a great small storyline where he basically sleeps through the whole episode. Pretty good episode.
Rating: B