Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Babel (1993–1999) HD online

This unusual episode takes a very different look at a standard Star Trek plot - the ship-wide seemingly insurmountable threat story.

In fact, it starts out as a comedic episode following Miles O'Brien around as he tries to repair chronically failing Cardassian technology all over DS9. Shortly after, however, the story takes a very sinister turn as O Brien becomes heavily aphasic and is followed very quickly by many others on the station. Eventually, Sisko quarantines the station, and Kira is sent on a mission of mercy to try to locate the one person who may be able to save the crew.

Brooks and Visitor turn in excellent performances in this episode, and the episode is important in the development of O'brien, Jake and Ben and Kira's characters. And there is a good amount of conservative exposition about the Bajoran underground.

A solid, if not entirely original, episode.

As this episode opens Chief O'Brien is being swamped by the number of repairs being required to the station's systems. A repair to the replicators seems a fairly minor thing but when he fixes the system he activates a device which create a virus that contaminates all the food and drink created. This has the effect of making the suffer be unable talk normally; whenever they speak they just come out with a stream of random words, the same thing happens if they try to write anything. As it becomes clear what is happening the crew must race to find a cure and the cause before the whole station is effected. When they find the cause they are shocked to see the booby trap has been their since the station was built but never activated as its Bajoran creator was caught by the Cardassians before he could activate it. He is now dead but his former assistant is still alive so Kira must secure his help whether he want to help or not.

This was a good stand alone episode where most of the main characters featured, it was fun to see Quark taking a role in a position of responsibility when the command officers had all been effected by the virus. Just in case saving everybody from the virus wasn't exciting enough they have a problem when a ship tries to break quarantine which threatens to cause an explosion as it is still clamped to the station when it powers up its engines.

O'Brien is way overworked trying to repair the many breakdowns in several ship systems. When repairing the replicator system O'Brien accidentally releases a virus; a virus that results in its victims becoming severely aphasic and unable to speak coherently. Come to find out, the device releasing the virus was placed many years ago by the Bajoran underground in their fight against the Cardassians. It is then a race to find one of the scientists who planted the device and to prevent one of the merchants from taking his ship away from the station. It's all very tense and interesting to see how Quark and Odo work together to prevent the merchant from leaving; Quark is his usual smarmy but oddly engaging self. A superior episode.

1.04 "Babel"

A virus that causes people to talk gibberish starts spreading through the station. It's a race against time to find a cure before everyone is incapacitated...or worse.

Like the previous episode, this is another inconsequential "terrarium" ep. The "virus that makes people act weird and it's kind of humorous but then we find out it's actually killing them" trope has been done a lot (and a lot better) in ST and it really has worn thin by now. Aside from some very minor character development for Quark and some great early scenes with O'Brien, this is a very forgettable episode.

THE GOOD

-The O'Brien scenes at the start are great. I love his sarcastic comments, and Colm Meaney is such a great actor (with an awesome accent) that I would be entertained watching him read lines from a quarterly earnings report.

-The shot where it pans through the inner workings of the replicator and then focuses on the sabotage device right as it turns on is a cool one.

-Some good Quark scenes. It's interesting how he fluctuates between bravado and cowardice seemingly at random, a trend that holds throughout the show's run.

-Nice continuity mentioning Keiko's school established in the previous ep. It's easy to take for granted since all shows do it nowadays, but at the time DS9's serial storytelling was brand new for ST (and relatively uncommon on TV in general), and the fact that I don't even notice it most of the time is probably a testament to how well it is done.

THE BAD

-Another claustrophobic episode that takes place essentially all on DS9 (aside from one scene on a runabout).

-*Sisko takes sip of coffee* "O'Brien!" I cringed. They may as well have used a laugh track and a *womp womp* trombone to go along with that dumb gag.

-A lot of really bad acting from Avery Brooks.

-Jadzia gets nothing to do for the second time in three eps.

THE UGLY

-Odo shapeshift count: 1 (a metal cart...and also the handheld device on top of the cart, oddly enough), 4 total for the series

-Not sure which runabout Kira takes. It's either the Yangtzee Kiang or the Rio Grande because it doesn't have the Ganges' extra module on it.

-The ship that is trying to escape DS9 isn't visible during the exterior shots of the station and the runabout.

A strange virus infects DS9. At first it involves aphasia and a kind of distorted, nonsensical speech, and the serious physiological consequences. Unfortunately, as the crew begins to fall away, Kira seems to be the only one that can save them, but it takes some pretty heavy handed actions to make it happen. Odo is front and center as a trader becomes a threat to the station, due to his selfishness. This is a pretty ordinary episode, but it is engaging and keeps one's interest.

Have you ever seen an episode of a show that you enjoyed but you also felt that if you hadn't seen it your life wouldn't have changed one bit? Well, that's how I felt about "Babel". It's not a bad show to watch but is very slight to say the least and does nothing to really advance the narrative.

When the show begins, O'Brien is frustrated with all the broken systems on the station. However, everyone's frustration soon is stretched to the limits when a weird virus breaks out on Deep Space 9. Suddenly, and without warning, people begin speaking gibberish-- long strings of random words with no meaning. And, oddly, they write the same way and no one can understand anyone who comes down with the virus. Not surprisingly this virus is NOT naturally occurring but was created by someone--but who and why and how to stop it is a HUGE concern.

This is a silly episode that is quite original but also pretty dumb at the same time. Not terrible but not exactly one of the series' finest moments.