Time for another few-week break between "Trek" series! This time we're finishing off the "Star Wars" films we've not yet covered in Ten Forwards! So come back with us to 1977 when "Star Wars" had yet to be weighed down by 40-plus years of extra lore, buyouts, new extra lore, fanboy rage, and all the other stuff that can really make it an exhausting franchise sometimes! Yes, it's "Star Wars", not even "Episode IV" at first, as a simple story introduces audiences to a world that would change the pop culture landscape and movie-making for decades!

Also this week: good edits versus bad editions, how many ways can you pronounce "Leia", and doubting the lore.

It's our fifth anniversary and our fifth fanfic outing, tho our last time out deigned to tack a number onto the title! It's DS9 again, classic names out of hats format, and this time a MIX of both scripts and prose! Brace yourself for time shenanigans, daydream believing, some Paramount+ style, and two-hand counseling.

Also this week: wait a damn minute, did NONE OF US use Odo?!

[Timestamps: Caitlin's story: 2:53; Jake's teleplay: 17:07; Chris's story: 39:05; Ames's teleplay: 57:38]

With DS9 wrapped, it was finally time to sit down and check out the acclaimed, crowd-funded documentary "What We Left Behind". We muse on favorite bits, discuss the theoretical "Season 8" opener, and find ourselves shocked to our cores by the biggest reveal in the history of the franchise.

Also this week: a shocking writing process, a bingeing show 20 years early, and hate-watching.

And so another "Trek" series comes to an end with "What You Leave Behind". The Dominion War comes to a dramatic conclusion and suddenly everyone is going their separate ways. Life soldiers on as new responsibilities and new opportunities send our crew in sometimes-surprising and sometimes-obvious directions. "OH CRAP!" The DS9 writers probably shouted at this point, "WE FORGOT TO WRAP UP THE WHOLE DUKAT/WINN/PAH-WRAITHS THING!" And so that's shoehorned in, too.

Also this week: no one likes Ezri/Julian (Ezrian? Julzi?), what next for galactic politics, and wrapping up the season/series!

CW: brief discussion of suicide.

[Timestamps: What You Leave Behind: 1:12; Season 7 wrap up: 1:38:05; DS9 series wrap up: 1:58:12]

Whenever Vic's not on screen, all the other characters should be asking, "where's Vic?" We imagine this was probably a note from Ira Steven Behr as DS9 hurtled towards its end, breaking from the ultra-serialized format the finale has been taking thus far to give us more explicitly separate episodes! First up: Julian and Miles curb stomp ethics for the sake of saving Odo's life by taking a stroll in a dying Sloan's brain in "Extreme Measures"! After that, Sisko gets a new "Defiant" and news of a new baby, Damar gets a new plan, and Ferenginar gets a new Grand Nagus in "The Dogs of War"!

Also this week: seriously, where's Vic? Inception Horn. Plate chat.

[timestamps: "Measures": 1:42; "Dogs": 37:21]

It's time to face facts as DS9 continues hurtling towards its finale in "When It Rains" and "Tacking into the Wind". Damar is fighting for a Cardassia that he ultimately won't recognize. Kira is finding herself assisting old enemies who confront her about the less comfortable facts of Odo's history. And Worf is forced — by a MOST unexpected source — to confront the hypocrisies of the Klingon Empire.

Also this week: actions are not fractions, inapplicable methodologies, and contemplating the Breen.

Right, look, we were pretty glib last week but we have to eat our words after "Strange Bedfellows" and "The Changing Face of Evil". The Breen have thrown the plot into chaos, attacking San Francisco and then positively DECIMATING an allied fleet with their energy-draining superweapon. Also their mere presence has been enough to shove Damar into full-blown revolution mode.

Also this week: blink-and-miss murder, the tragedy of Kai Winn's tight hat, and Italian Fingers.

[Timestamp: episode summaries begin at 1:57]

It's the beginning of the end of DS9 as we come to the start of the 10-episode mega-finale! We start with "Penumbra" and "'Til Death Do Us Part", where relationships take center stage! Sisko finally proposes to Kasidy, but his space-Mom says it'll end in tears! Meanwhile Ezri rescues Worf and they finally confront their feelings, before being captured by the Breen and being tortured into different feelings! And in the world of evil, Gul Dukat has disguised himself as a a Bajoran and gotten into the mind and bed of none other than Kai Winn! And the Dominion have a new ally WHICH CHANGES EVERYTHING!

Also this week: wait, how does this change everything? Also Don Knotts.

[Timestamp: episode summaries start at 00:54]

A plan is a beautiful thing, but how often do they actually go without a hitch? Never in this week's episodes! First up: Vic Fontaine's program has sprung a mafia-themed "jack-in-the-box" and it's going to take a classic heist to save the day in "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang"! After that, Section 31 rears its ugly head yet again and Bashir thinks he has a scheme that can finally take them down in "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges"!

Also this week: the responsibility of art and entertainment, Bashir doesn't understand espionage, and planning our next round of fanfics!

[Timestamps: "Badda-Bing": 03:06; "Inter Arma": 51:22; announcement of a fun thing: 1:27:57]

"Silence of the Lambs" sure is a great movie. Too bad it inspired sad attempt at psychological thriller/murder mystery/rushed nightmare "Field of Fire", in which Ezri is thrust into the Clarisse role and her memories take on the part of the worst Hannibal Lecter ever. After that, there's a lot of bad feelings and no easy answers when Odo has to face the fact that his friends might like him but still aren't cool with most other changelings in "Chimera".

Also this week: jumping to conclusions, Kira/Odo fanfic, and a lengthy actor tangent.

Note: Ames has some minor sound issues at the start of the episode. We promise they're cleared up within a few minutes.

[Timestamps: "Field of Fire": 01:03; "Chimera": 42:14]