Nitpicker's Guide for Deep Space Nine Trekkers - Softcover

As I've said in the previous guides, I'm not sure why these nits and "odd little moments" are some of my favorites. Most of the ones listed below didn't jump out at me the first time I watched the episodes. But after the third or fourth viewing, my eyes happened to wander over the right part of the screen at the right time. Others were pointed out by members of the Nitpicker's Guild and confirmed with a smile as I finally saw them, too. I hope you find them enjoyable as well!

1. Spock's Visage. I freely admit that this one is difficult to see. And even if you can see it, you'll agree that it's not a nit. If it really exists, it's a lovely homage. Watch carefully during the title sequence for Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Just after the comet passes, focus a bit to the right of the center of your television screen. You might be able to make out the face of Spock--angled to the left--in the comet dust. It seems to form from nowhere and then travels quickly to the left before dissipating.

2. She's Pulling His Leg...for Real! At the end of "Past Prologue," Kira and a former associate named Tahna Los tussle in a runabout. Tahna is attempting to launch an explosive that will collapse the wormhole and keep Bajor for Bajorans. To launch the explosive, Tahna must press a big red button mounted on the ceiling of the cockpit. Kira is on the floor. Tahna is standing. So what strategy does Kira--ex-freedom fighter, ex-feared terrorist, ex-"really nasty person on a bad day"--employ? Well, she doesn't direct a blow to Tahna's legs. She employs a tactic from the Winnie-the-Pooh martial arts system. She sits on the floor and pulls his leg!

3. Kung Fu Repair Philosophy. Speaking of martial arts, "Captive Pursuit" features a "bred for the hunt" individual named Tosk. When his ship limps up to the station, O'Brien lends a hand, helping Tosk repair it. Then, while climbing out of the bowels of the ship, Tosk accidentally kicks O'Brien in the head!

4. Must Be One of Those Cardassian Mic-Cord Snakes. During "Q-Less," Sisko visits O'Brien as the latter attempts to repair a powerless runabout. Just after O'Brien closes a floor hatch, a microphone cord snakes into the picture on the left side of the screen.

5. Kentanna, Final Resting Place for Hippie Outcasts. The Skrreeans make up the aliens-of-the-week for the episode "Sanctuary." Having found freedom from their cruel oppressors the T'Rogorans, the Skrreeans now seek "Kentanna"--their promised legendary home. Three million strong make this pilgrimage, and DS9 soon fills with the dazed refugees. Although no decipherable audio exists above the crowd roar as a particularly large group enters the promenade, closed captioning give us some indication of the Skrreeans' true origin. The subtitles read: "This is great!" "This is incredible." "This is pretty far out." "Dig this place."

6. The Colonists of Eternal Doom. Some legends are almost too sorrowfully strange to tell. The creators give us the briefest hint of one such legend in "The Maquis, Part 1." During this episode, we see an exterior shot of a colony. In the background, an aqueduct snakes up a mountain. It just so happens that this exterior shot is a reuse from the episode "Ensigns of Command"(TNG). Since nitpickers don't deal in reality, we must conclude that these poor colonists first crashed on a planet bathed in hyperonic radiation. Many died, but they finally adapted, only to have the Enterprise come and evacuate them because their world was deeded to the Sheliak. (We know this from "Ensigns of Command.") Then...these poor people moved to another world, started all over, built an exact replica of their old colony...only to have the Federation deed their planet to the Cardassians!

7. Miles "Jackson" O'Brien. I usually don't comment on the costuming of Star Trek. After all, who knows what people will be wearing hundreds of years from now? For "Tribunal," however, I made an exception. In this episode O'Brien stands trial on Cardassia Prime. The prisoner outfit that O'Brien must endure for the entire episode consists of a shirt and pants wrapped with strip-mesh belts. As I say in my review of "Tribunal," the costume makes O'Brien look like a reject from a Michael Jackson video.

8. Yet More Evidence of Time-Traveling Incursions. In "Visionary" Bashir uses a "tool" that is actually the warp nacelle from the plastic model kit of a Romulan warbird! The only question is: Why would Starfleet travel all the way back to our time just to acquire the packaging for this instrument? Is plastic exorbitantly expensive in the twenty-fourth century?

9. Nothing Serious, Just a Fluff Piece. "Facets" features a Dabo girl named Leeta. At the very end of the program--just after Rom announces that a newly attired Nog is "coming"--Leeta stands in the background near the Dabo table in her low-cut, skin-tight Dabo girl outfit. Unexpectedly, she reaches up, grabs both sides of her outfit, and gives her cleavage a quick fluff.