Deep Space Now

Hillary and Nic take a break from talking Trek to talk about the brutal year that 2020 has been and everything that is going on.

Hillary and Nic suspect that O'Brien is freaking out because the entire crew is all acting strange and seems to be hiding something from him. They'll try to detect the most humorous routine checkup yet, puzzle through an extended log listening session, and uncover the International House of Caviar. All this and more on this episode of Deep Space Now! Deep Space Nine Episode Covered: Whispers

We went to the Las Vegas Star Trek convention this year and we had a lot to say about it! Here's our discussion about the convention and the time we had at it!

Hillary and Nic find themselves in the middle of an Armageddon game as O'Brien and Bashir struggle to survive a very violent peace treaty. They'll hide under the shadow of the amazing hairdos, discover amongst those shadows more of Bashir's questionable "romantic" exploits, and at long last answer the most important question: What does Bashir smell like? Star Trek Deep Space Nine Episode Covered: Armageddon Game

Hillary and Nic welcome Heather to the first early morning Trekfast runabout where they talk over how Star Trek Discovery's usage of the spore drive squares with the actual science and about the real life Stamets that the character's name is derived from.

Father/Son issues abound as Hillary and Nic try to diagnose the social dynamics at play between Odo and his surrogate father who arrives on the station. They test the awkward conversations between the two, probe the validity of a certain red herring, and take the temperature of the gassiest of planets. Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode covered: The Alternate

In this short bonus runabout Hillary and Nic meet up in person outside a bar to review another Star Trek Madlibs. There will be disturbing facts about tribbles, and an impromptu dance number. In short, the usual for whenever Hillary and Nic are in the same space.

Hillary and Nic find the station at the whim of fate, as the crew deals with increasingly bizarre and unlikely events. Will they beat the odds and find something interesting about this episode's antagonist? How much will they bet on the latest evolution of the O'Brien/Bashir dynamic? Is the technobabble in Ops a critical hit or a critical fail? They'll address all this and more in this episode of Deep Space Now.   Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode covered: Rivals

Hillary and Nic talk about Hillary's recent wedding and brainstorm some extremely unconventional Star Trek themed weddings in this week's runabout.

Hillary and Nic find Kira in the middle of an awkward request for sanctuary this week. Will they properly assess the episode's treatment of a new species as a metaphor for immigration? Will they correctly process the lengthy section where the universal translator isn't up to snuff? More importantly is there something untoward about a 15 year old boy tutoring a Dabbo girl or is Jake just making it up to get Ferengi high fives from Nog? All this and more is covered in this week's Deep Space Now!   Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode covered - Sanctuary

Hillary and Nic broaden their cultural horizon so far it reaches past the horizon all the way to Qo'noS. Yep, we're digging into Klingon Opera. More specifically the real life Klingon opera 'U' which we watched and discuss here in this runabout!

This week Hillary and Nic find Sisko in the midst of a most unusual romance. Will Sisko locate his lady in red? What are the ethics of prepping for a date with an abuse of station authority and the aid of the head of security? Do terraformers make the worst husbands? We'll investigate all of these questions and more this week on Deep Space Now!   Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode covered: Second Sight

In this quick little runabout episode, Hillary and Nic take a moment to discuss the recent announcement of the return of Patrick Stewart's return to the role of Captain Jean Luc Picard.

This week Hillary and Nic flashback to the past of Deep Space Nine as an attempt on Quark's life brings up an old unsolved case. They'll fade to a discussion on color schemes, reminisce about noir elements, and dissolve into a conversation about a questionable assassination plan.   Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode covered: Necessary Evil

This week Hillary and Nic reteam with special guest Veronica Garcia to once again create an episode of Star Trek out of some very unusual facts. There will be dancing cows, a big musical number in ops, and some very heartfelt moments with the O'Brien family. Also, Veronica Garcia's book Luno Finds a Home is now available to purchase on Amazon at this link! http://a.co/arYGX03 It's a fantastic illustrated story about a cat finding it's home and a household finding it's cat. In addition, a portion of the proceeds go to Kitty Bungalow!  

This week Hillary and Nic find themselves in the middle of the business opportunity of the century with Quark, the Nagus, some angry Dosi, and a Ferengi named Pel who has a secret. They'll have to re-examine the Nagus for fine print, haggle over the episode's treatment of women in the workplace, and renegotiate the love subplot in order to make sure they get a sweet deal.   Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode covered: Rules of Aquisition

Hillary and Nic take a break from talking about episodes to talk about Mad Libs again. This time they tackle Nic's misspelling of titles, the frat house living of cadets, sentient beverages and Starfleet Academy's most famous and unexpected alumni.

This week Hillary and Nic navigate the tension between two different pairs on Deep Space Nine. They carefully chart the romantic gravity between Bashir and Melora, the new wheelchair bound ensign. Then they steer around the death threats emanating from one of Quark's old friends coming to settle an old debt. Finally they crash land straight into a character's name that's impossible not to make fun of...a lot.   Deep Space Nine Episode covered: Melora 

This week Hillary and Nic take a break from discussing Deep Space Nine to discuss the potential repercussions of one of the Star Trek Mad Libs.

This week Hillary and Nic find themselves in the midst of some tricky issues when a Cardassian boy raised by Bajorans becomes the subject of a custody struggle. They untangle through the webs of O'Brien's fairly open racism, the delightful threads of Garak's charm, and the grim realities of the episode's ending. All this and more on this weeks Deep Space Now!   Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode covered - Cardassians

Hillary and Nic take a break from Deep Space Nine this week to discuss Discovery, the first new Star Trek show in quite a while. The first half of the conversation was recorded shortly after the first two episodes premiered, and the second half was recorded shortly after the season finale.

This week Hillary and Nic have to survive some rather invasive procedures along with the crew of the Deep Space Nine when intruders come on board. They scan the performances of the guests, probe the disturbing timeliness of the villains justification, and diagnose Quark's horrible whines of pains. All that and more on this week's Deep Space Now.   Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Episode Covered - Invasive Procedures 

In this Runabout we welcome Veronica Garcia to the show to play a game where she provides strange facts and we do our best to transform them into a Star Trek episode pitch! In this case, a pitch that involves more digestion based drama and space dolphins than the typical Deep Space Nine episode.   You can purchase some of Veronica's art on her Redbubble shop

This week Hillary and Nic brave a bumbling evil Bajoran Steven Weber, embrace the thrill of a Dax/Kira adventure, and risk the dietary nightmare that is spider sandwiches as the crew of Deep Space Nine tries to stop a coup in it's tracks.   Deep Space Nine episode covered: The Siege

This week Hillary and Nic take a break from Deep Space Nine to look into the Black Mirror at the Star Trek inspired episode "USS Callister."

This week Hillary and Nic stumble upon a conspiracy within Bajor and watch as the crew struggles to deal with the absence of everyone's favorite Bajoran Major. In this episode we fall over ourselves trying to keep up with Kira's ever expanding unplanned farewell party, bump into the ethics of exposing someone to an unexpectedly steamy hallucinogenic vision, and crash into the question of whether merely being a part of a trilogy of this sort makes it more difficult for the episode to work on its own. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode covered - The Circle

Hillary and Nic take a break from Deep Space 9 for a week to talk about the Star Trek influenced TV show The Orville. Half of this episode was recorded after we watched the first episode and half after the first season ended.

Hillary and Nic return from their hiatus to investigate the whereabouts of a famous Bajoran freedom fighter with the crew. They reconnect with the crew, discuss using Bugs Bunny tactics in warfare, and thrill to the introduction of Skeletor Nixon. All this and more this week in Deep Space Now!   Star Trek:Deep Space Nine episode covered - The Homecoming

Having completed the entire first season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Hillary and Nic take this episode to look back on it as a whole and reflect on the things they liked, didn't like, and look forward to seeing in season 2.

This week Hillary and Nic find themselves in the middle of a major debate over religion in schools! In order to navigate through it they'll discuss O'Brien's jumja stick, Vedek Winn's amazing outfit and even more amazing performance, and discover how a man went from ensign to frisbee in record time. All this and more on this week's Deep Space Now!   Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode covered - In the Hands of the Prophets

Hillary and Nic have spent over 20 episodes talking to you, but my oh my have we forgotten our manners. We never bothered to introduce ourselves. We correct that right here.

This week Hillary and Nic find themselves confronted with one of the heaviest episodes in season one shortly after learning of the events of Charlottesville. We look at the episode Duet and discuss both why it is so effective, and why it is still so relevant.   Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode covered - Duet

Hillary and Nic take a break from talking about episodes this week to talk about Hillary's trip to the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention!

This week Hillary and Nic find themselves in the midst of an alien play with a potentially lethal curtain call. In order to exit stage right, we'll applaud the cast's twists on the characters we know and love, gasp at Kira's questionably effective seduction techniques, and take the intermission to honor stuntman number nine. All this and more on this episode of Deep Space Now!   Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode covered: Dramatis Personae

This week Hillary and Nic find themselves in the cross hairs of the most dedicated of stalkers in all the Star Trek universe: Lwaxana Troi. In order to escape her literal grasp they will need to discuss Odo's reluctance to be vulnerable, O'Brien's willingness to dive deep into the technobabble, and Bashir's worst assignment yet. All this and more on this episode of Deep Space Now! Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode covered - The Forsaken

This week on Deep Space Now, Hillary and Nic face a station where wishes have become reality! To escape this waking dream we ponder the effects of having Bashir's fantasy version of Dax made flesh, question how quickly Kira agrees to an extremely risky course of action, and keep a running and lengthy tally of the many horndogs within this episode! Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode covered: If Wishes Were Horses

In this episode Hillary and Nic find themselves in the way of Progress! In order to avoid getting steamrolled over they'll debate Mullibok's character, protest over whether or not Kira is acting in character, petition for more hijinks with Jake and Nog. and hold a hearing over how to say Self Sealing Stem Bolts five times fast. All this and more in this episode of Deep Space Now! The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Episode Covered in this episode is "Progress"

In this episode Hillary and Nic talk to production illustrator Jim Martin who, in addition to working on Deep Space Nine has worked on Starship Troopers, Alien:Ressurection, The Matrix Reloaded, Princess and the Frog, Oblivion, Big Hero 6 and more! We talk with him about what it was like to jump into Deep Space Nine as his first art job, the many things he worked on as a part of that team such as the Defiant and the Bajoran Solar Sailing ship, and how he has kept the passion and the enthusiasm for art alive throughout his career! You can check out some of Jim's work at these two links: http://martinconceptart.blogspot.com/ http://jimjam-art.tumblr.com/

In this episode Hillary and Nic gather around to hear a story which, if told poorly, could destroy an entire village! We'll set up a compelling hook looking at the intriguing premise of the B plot. We'll raise the stakes by discussing Bashir and O'Brien's awkward flight to Bajor. We'll reach our climactic third act by discussing the three awkwardly long sequences in the episode, and we will resolve with plenty of wicked cool chariot stats, because that's what all the cool people are talking about these days, right? All this and more in this episode of Deep Space Now!   Episode Covered: The Storyteller

In this episode Hillary and Nic find themselves marooned on a planet of endless war with the Kai and a hefty heap of war trauma. To win this battle we strategize accounting for a fantastic performance by Nana Visitor, charge into sudden and seemingly meaningless death, then to slow and clearly meaningless technobabble, and even meet on the field of combat over the success or failure of Kira's character arc. All this while saying a sad farewell to an important recurring character.   DS9 Episode Covered: Battle Lines

In this episode, Hillary and Nic continue talking to Academy Award winner Doug Drexler. In this part we get to hear him discuss his time working in makeup on The Next Generation, the transition to CG, and of course the incredible effort gone into recreating original series sets and models for the episode Trials and Tribble-ations.

In this episode Hillary and Nic take a break from talking about specific episodes to talk to Academy Award winner Doug Drexler who has worked on the franchise in makeup, scenic art, vfx and so much more. In this first part of a two part interview he talks about his youth spent watching Star Trek, how he started working in makeup and of course, how he came to work on The Next Generation and eventually Deep Space Nine. Make sure to tune in next week for the second half!

Hillary and Nic enter the Vortex this week and watch from a safe distance as Odo's capacity to trust is tested to the limits by a mysterious newcomer. We navigate through some spectacular visuals, orbit some fantastic performances and probe whether or not Croden works as a character. All this and more in this weeks Deep Space Now.   Episode covered: The Vortex

Hillary and Nic do a cost benefit analysis on being the Nagus in this episode of Deep Space Now. We bargain for more time with best buds Jake and Nog, appraise the Ferengi stylings of Wallace Shawn, and buy up all the family drama we can obtain. Will we find ourselves in a bull or a bear market? Will all the columns add up, or will our audit find us spaced out an airlock? Find out in this brand new episode of Deep Space Now!   Episode Covered: The Nagus

Hillary and Nic find themselves inside the most nightmarish Cheesecake Factory ever built in this episode of Deep Space Now. To escape they'll have to solve the riddle of Jake's questionable knowledge about dating, look for clues in some fantastic dialogue deliveries and character moments, and compose a winning strategy for how to handle diplomatic relations between two vastly different cultures. Yeah, we're goners. I thought we had a shot till that last one. The difficulty really ramps up suddenly at the end of this game it seems. Well we'll still give it our best shot!   Deep Space Nine episode being covered: Move Along Home

In this slightly gassy episode Hillary and Nic discuss the horrifying nature of the conceit of this plot, the jaw dropping amount of technobabble and a cat fight between security officers, one of whom could turn into a literal cat if he wished just to get those free 8 extra lives. Oh, and it wouldn't be complete without a look at one of the more bizarre acting choices we've seen so far on this show. All this and more!   Episode covered this week: The Passenger

Hillary and Nic join the DS9 crew in a legal argument for Dax's very life! We look at the evidence of what makes a person a person, cross examine the selection of secondary characters in this episode, and hold Julian in contempt. Not of court, but just in general. Dudes got boundary issues something awful. What's the verdict? You'll have to listen to find out!   Episode of the week: "Dax"  

Q snaps his way onto Deep Space Nine in the episode Q-Less, and Hillary and Nic counter with their discussion about the most memorable banker in all of Star Trek, Q's abusive relationship with Vash, Julian's smooth moves and some how we end up talking about nipples. I blame Q. He's a tricksy one he is.

In this episode Hillary and Nic discuss the episode Captive Pursuit, where we meet a brand new alien that can be, and frequently is summed up in one word: Tosk. We talk about the amazing makeup, the difficulty of forming a friendship between two very different cultures, and wonder just how O'Brien isn't in a cell by the end of his escapades in this.

As an aphasia virus runs rampant on Deep Space Now, Hillary and Nic run rampant all over this episode! We discuss Quark and Odo's epic frenemy status, the misery of keeping a space station that seems to hate you maintained, quarantines, bioterrorism and lots of other upbeat topics that terrify us to our very cores! Oh, and for the love of all that is holy can we get the chief to fix the printer? It keeps screaming bloody murder.

Hillary and Nic try to digest a very stuffed episode with A Man Alone. We've got Julian's unsettling flirtations, Starfleet's unsettling bioethics, Keiko settling in by starting a school, a Odo possibly violently settling a score with an old enemy, a lynch mob unwilling to settle for anything less than Odo's death, and the weirdest bedbugs in all the Alpha quadrant which thanks to the power of friendship are now settling in on the station. Whew! I'm exhausted just typing all that, but boy oh boy did we have a lot to say about it all.