We're back for week 2 of remote podcasting, and we're sounding a lot better! DS9...well, it's serving up a more mixed bag. First up, old Cardassian traps are sprung on DS9 in "Civil Defense", and everyone's lives may very well be in the hands of Gul Dukat. After that, we're served up a middling space-"Brigadoon" so bad that we try to mostly talk about the also-bad and deeply problematic B plot in "Meridian".

Also this week: Cardassians gonna Cardass, the first appearance of Jeffrey Combs, and correcting the record.

Note: Chris forgot that muting Zoom doesn't mute his recording. Sorry about that. You'll know what he means when you get there.

[Timestamps: "Civil Defense": 03:16; "Meridian" 32:21]

Well, our hands were finally forced. Welcome to the first ever remote-recorded SSHB! The audio is a bit rough, but it's going to get better in future weeks and, honestly, should've been a lot worse considering.

But while we're stuck at home DS9 finds characters struggling with what their home might be. First up, in "Second Skin", Major Kira goes looking for answers about her past and finds out...she's actually a deep-cover Cardassian?! After that, Quark accidentally buys a baby — as you do — and it turns out to be a Jem'Hadar in "The Abandoned"!

Also this week: so much gaslighting, taint painting, and The Food Network!

[Timestamps: "Second Skin": 03:56; "The Abandoned": 29:08]

[Fine-Tuned Universe playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bogbkRrR1ms&list=PL_cmVfao_gCk6K4zkMsTF633x5kGRkRU5]

Schemes are afoot this week on DS9, of wildly varying quality! First up, Quark finds himself embroiled in Klingon political scheming after an accident at the bar, but his acumen may be more useful than warrior ways in "The House of Quark"! After that, the Trill confuse everyone with a weird plot and ill-defined details and maybe it should've just been a circus instead in "Equilibrium"!

Also this week: forgetting the B plot, a karate lesson, and +6 to charisma!

[Timestamps: "The House of Quark", 00:49; "Equilibrium", 38:35]

It's all Dominion all the time in the three-part epic that closes out season 2 and opens season 3 of DS9! A simple camping trip brings Sisko and Quark face-to-face with the loyal foot soldiers of the Dominion in "The Jem'Hadar". After the drubbing Starfleet takes at their hands Sisko decides he's not going to wait around and goes looking for the leadership to have either a talk or a donnybrook in "The Search" parts 1 and 2! And this all dovetails with Odo's search for the truth about himself in just the worst way possible.

Also this week: camping for fun and profit, fascist hippies, and another patented SSHB season wrap!

Timestamps: Episode discussion, 01:13; Season Wrap: 01:14:20.

The search for truth is on this week in DS9! First up: election of the new Bajoran Space Pope nears and Vedek Bareil is the clear favorite. But the return of a long-exiled turncoat bureaucrat could dig up past crimes and ruin everything in "The Collaborator"! After that, O'Brien just wants to relax with some technical manuals until he gets caught up in the Cardassian "legal system" with only a hammy lawyer and a grumpy Odo to defend him in "Tribunal"!

Also this week: Bajorans love having issues, everyone loses when Kai Winn(s), and directed by Avery Brooks.

Timestamps: "Collaborator": 03:12; "Tribunal", 33:29

Bashir is in the thick of things this week on DS9. First up, in "The Wire" his lunch buddy Garak has a mystery ailment that gives clues to his past and points directly to a single source: Cardassia's infamous Obsidian Order! After that, in "Crossover", technobabble sends the good Doctor and Major Kira hurtling where Kirk and company went before: the mirror universe!

Also this week: Obsidian Order bowling, boob cones, and the madness of Dwight Schultz.

Timestamps: "The Wire": 2:24; "Crossover": 31:14

SPOILERS! Seriously, they are there from the off, so if you've not yet watched all of the first season of "Star Trek: Picard" and don't want to be spoiled, skip this episode! We'll be back next week with more DS9!

Otherwise, kick back and chill with your SSHB friends as we do a very broad, slightly meandering overview of the first season of the latest "Trek" series. This isn't a deep dive, more a high-view impressions recorded MERE DAYS after the season one finale. If that sounds like fun, come check it out and find out which of your stalwarts was VERY unimpressed. You might be surprised by which one it is!

Also this week: no "Mandalorian" spoilers, fallen empires, and "Star Trek" remembers Hispanics exist.

It's just one episode this week as we settle in to talk about some of the ideas presented by "The Maquis" parts one and two, but not so much about the episodes themselves. Former Federation colonists now living in Cardassian space have decided they're getting the short shrift and have decided to take matters into their own hands, which could reignite war between The Federation and the Cardassian Empire unless Sisko and Gul Dukat can stop them!

Also this week: backfill with Jake, a missing scene, and alien reproduction.

Note: "Discovery" S.1 spoilers from 7:18 - 7:52

[Timestamps: catch up with Jake: 1:18; "The Maquis": 7:52]

The past is dropping by DS9 this week! First up, an old flame of Quark's shows up in "Profit and Loss", and she's running from both the Cardassians...and her feelings. After that, a trio of TOS Klingons ridge up and suit up for revenge and Dax wants to go along for the ride in "Blood Oath"!

Also this week: fashion as metaphor, a Dax episode that works, and a bonus poem!

[Timestamps: "Profit and Loss": 01:16; "Blood Oath": 36:08]

This week's episodes don't have much in common, but their titles sure did mash together handily! Isn't that nice?

First up, Odo and Dax look into mysterious disappearances on an alien world in "Shadowplay", and the truth should have mind-shattering consequences! Emphasis on the SHOULD. After that, we could've had an awesome episode about a proto-universe but someone decided we'd rather follow some Trill loser around while he mopes in "Playing God". Whee.

Also this week: down a crewmember, too many plots, and unfettered Dax.

[Timestamps: "Shadowplay", 02:11; "Playing God", 39:00]