For some reason I always end up enjoying this one more than I think I will :)

Mostly due to the political aspect of the story rather than the Rugel bit, which always seems a bit heavy handed.

Julian interrrupting Sisko to question Dukat, asking for a runabout and not able to give a reason why and Garak in general, all big pluses :thumbsup:

Also nice to see a bit more flesh being given to the Cardassians as a people - here we see a bit of their devotion to their family, alongside the usual Cardassians are evil gubbins :)

Pretty much agree with Dave on this one... lots of interesting stuff in this one.

I find it quite unsettling to see Rugel so filled with hatred towards his fellow Cardassians. V well played by Vidal Peterson.

After Dave's comments, the only thing worth adding is about Cakehole O'Brien. Is she stupid or what? The boy hates Cardassians and has been brought up as a Bajoran. Why the hell would she think he would like Cardassian food? Also, and perhaps more obviously... her husband suffered badly at the hands of the Cardy's in the war when he was a soldier. Isn't it a tad insensitive to invite a Cardassian into their home, and feed him Cardassian food? For goodness sake woman!

Andrew (HM) :yahoo:

And further to Andrew's comments about Keiko, you have to wonder what bright spark decided to place Rugal with O'Brien, considering his history with Cardassians (yes, I know it works from a dramatic angle, and very well too, but does it make sense in reality...?) :lol:

Good episode. What I'm noticing most here, apart from the fleshing out of the Cardassians as a race, is the development of Bashir's character. He's much less exciteable now and far more insightful, which is definitely benefitting Siddig as an actor - he seems much more relaxed in the role at this point, and it's not just in his interplay and teamwork with the ever wonderful Garak, but with all of the characters. The scene in Ops when he interrupts Sisko's conversation with Dukat is a case in point (love the way Sisko says "Don't do it again" to him, not to mention his reaction to being woken in the middle of the night :lol: ).

I think the standout scenes are really the ones with O'Brien and Rugal, which are nicely played by Colm Meaney and Vidal Peterson, especially the one over dinner :thumbsup:

Slightly surprised by Sisko's decision to let Rugal's father take him back to Cardassia against the boy's wishes, but I suspect that's me bringing my TNG sensibilities to DS9 :)

Love the way Garak turns up with Bashir at the hearing then stands in the background with a big shit-eating grin on his face as Dukat is cut down to size :lol: :thumbsup: