Every day, Watch This offers staff recommendations inspired by a new movie or TV show coming out that week. This week: In honor of the Olympics, and the Olympic-themed episode of NBC’s Superstore, we’re revisiting our favorite episodes about intra-office competition.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, “Take Me Out To The Holosuite” (season seven, episode four; originally aired 10/21/1998)
When it first debuted in 1993, there were some Star Trek fans who accused Deep Space Nine—the second spin-off series in the Trek franchise—of losing sight of creator Gene Roddenberry’s optimistic vision of the future. With the show set on a space station, the Deep Space Nine crew couldn’t just zip away to the next adventure at the end of each episode. And while The Original Series and The Next Generation told episodic stories about agreeable crew members working together to solve problems, DS9 was interested in a more serialized exploration of war, religion, and a crew who didn’t always see eye to eye.
But while the show may have added a few speed bumps to Roddenberry’s Wagon Train to the stars, Deep Space Nine is still recognizably Trek—with all the optimism, cooperation, and empathy that it entails. For proof, look no further than “Take Me Out To The Holosuite,” a goofy, good-hearted baseball-themed lark stuck smack dab in the middle of the show’s grim Dominion War arc.
By the 24th century, baseball has fallen out of fashion. But like a hipster with a passion for penny-farthings, Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and his son, Jake (Cirroc Lofton), are connoisseurs of the obscure sport. So when Vulcan captain Solok (Gregory Wagrowski)—Sisko’s longtime rival—challenges Sisko and his crew to a baseball game, it’s not just a “contest of teamwork, courage, and sacrifice”; it’s also a matter of pride. The only problem is the rest of the Deep Space Nine senior staff can’t tell a fly ball from a first base. So it’s up to Sisko and Jake to whip the “Niners” into fighting shape in only two weeks.