DS9 Season 3

Summary

 * Benjamin Sisko brings the USS Defiant (2370), a ship he helped to construct at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, to Deep Space 9 to protect the station from a Dominion attack. He and his crew enter the Gamma Quadrant on a mission to locate the Founders of the Dominion.
 * During the same mission, Odo locates his people's homeworld in the Omarion Nebula. His joy at discovering others of his kind is short-lived, however, as the Changelings are discovered to be the Founders of the Dominion. Odo returns to DS9 with his crew mates.
 * Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington is assigned to DS9 to oversee Starfleet security matters.
 * Several Bajoran station residents leave the station out of fear of a Dominion attack. Keiko O'Brien closes the station's school after the last Bajoran student leaves. At the urging of her husband, Chief Miles O'Brien, she embarks on a six-month agrobiological expedition on Bajor.
 * Jadzia Dax discovers the had previously been hosted by an unstable and murderous musician named Joran.
 * Thomas Riker, disguised as William T. Riker, defects to the Maquis and commandeers the Defiant, to use it against the Cardassian Union. Sisko, Kira Nerys, and Gul Dukat eventually negotiate Riker's surrender. During the incident, it is discovered the Obsidian Order is engaging in unauthorized military activity in the Orias system, the exact nature of which is unclear.
 * During a visit to Earth, Sisko, Dax, and Dr. Julian Bashir are accidentally transported back to the year 2024, which unintentionally leads to the death of noted civil rights activist Gabriel Bell, causing catastrophic changes in the timeline, which prevent the establishment of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets. Sisko assumes Bell's role in the subsequent Bell Riots, thus restoring history.
 * Kai Winn Adami and Legate Turrel begin negotiations for the Bajoran-Cardassian Treaty, with Vedek Bareil Antos acting as Winn's advisor. The negotiations are disrupted when Bareil is gravely injured in an accident aboard a transport ship. The location for the negotiations are moved to DS9, while Dr. Bashir takes extensive measures to save Bareil's life. Bareil guides Winn through the negotiations, leading to the signing of the treaty, however Bareil succumbs to his injuries soon after.
 * Nog requests a letter of recommendation from Sisko to apply to Starfleet Academy.
 * The Wormhole relay station experiment conducted by the Defiant in the Gamma Quadrant diverts a comet fragments laden with silithium towards the Bajoran wormhole. The silithium permanently wedges the wormhole slightly open, permitting the signal to DS9 from a Subspace relay station in the Gamma Quadrant.
 * Grand Nagus Zek acquires the Orb of Wisdom on Cardassia III, and subsequently sells it to the Bajorans at a substantial profit.
 * Dr. Bashir becomes the youngest-ever nominee of the prestigious Carrington Award, which is subsequently awarded to Dr. Henri Roget.
 * An engineering accident caused Miles O'Brien to repeatedly shift several hours forward in time for brief intervals, during which he discovers an impending Romulan attack on both the station and the Bajoran wormhole. O'Brien dies of radiation poisoning during one of his trips forward, however the O'Brien from several hours into the alternate timeline goes back to take his place, preventing the attack.
 * Sisko is abducted and brought to the Mirror universe by O'Brien's mirror counterpart, in order to assume the identity of Sisko's mirror counterpart to complete a mission the mirror Sisko had undertaken before his death. Sisko successfully persuades the mirror Jennifer Sisko to defect to the Terran Rebellion. Sisko is then returned to his own universe.
 * The Obsidian Order is found to be collaborating with its Romulan counterpart, the Tal Shiar, amassing numerous ships for an unsanctioned attack on the Founder homeworld. Odo and Elim Garak discover the plan and are taken prisoner. Despite having previously attempted to have Garak killed, Enabran Tain former head of the Order and architect of the plan, invites Garak to join the operation and regain his standing among his people, which Garak accepts. The operation is found to be a trap, however, as the Founder homeworld is found to be abandoned, and a fleet of 150 Jem'Hadar fighters overwhelm the Romulan and Cardassian ships in the ensuing Battle of the Omarion Nebula. Odo and Garak are the only individuals to escape, thanks to the timely arrival of the Defiant. The Obsidian Order is apparently disbanded soon after.
 * Sisko's son Jake arranges for his father to meet freighter captain Kasidy Yates. The two quickly bond over a mutual love of Baseball.
 * Bajoran First Minister Kalem Apren dies of heart failure. Kai Winn is appointed as a replacement and soon enters into a dispute with former resistance leader Shakaar Edon over the return of soil reclamators. With the support of Kira Nerys and the Bajoran Militia, Shakaar announces his intention to run for office of First Minister himself.
 * Sisko is promoted to the rank of . During a subsequent mission to Tzenketh, the Defiant is sabotaged by a Changeling operative, attempting to incite a war between the Federation and Tzenkethi. The crew manages to regain control of the ship, and Odo is forced to become the first Changeling to kill another of his own kind, though the dying Changeling utters an ominous warning: "You're too late. We are everywhere."

Background information

 * Most of this season was broadcast concurrent with Season 1, the first episode of which aired the same day as .  was also released during its run, three days prior to the airing of the episode.
 * Michael Piller leaves the show to focus on creating Star Trek: Voyager, although he remains a creative consultant. Ira Steven Behr becomes the series' new Executive Producer, and effectively becomes showrunner for the remainder of the series.
 * At the end of season 2, the producers were alerted to the fact that feedback from the fans was not especially encouraging. In particular, young male viewers felt that DS9 didn't match up to TNG in terms of action and excitement. As well as this, many fans felt that there wasn't enough interaction with alien species and there wasn't enough traveling. Quark and Odo were the most popular characters, while Sisko was well-liked but seen as a very low-key character without much presence. Generally, episodes which dealt with religion and politics, such as from the first season and  from the second were unpopular. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
 * At the end of season 2, director of photography Marvin Rush left DS9 to begin work on VOY and was replaced by Jonathan West. West didn't bring a new lighting technique or visual style to the show, so most fans don't notice any major difference between Rush's cinematography and West's, but one thing that West did change was the type of camera lenses used. Throughout season 1 and season 2, Rush had used wide lenses which tend to separate foreground subjects from background objects by having the foreground in focus and the background out of focus and indistinct. From the start of season 3 however, West began to use telephoto lenses, which flatten the field of view between foreground and background, and as such, when characters are talking in the foreground, the station in the background is clearer to the viewer than ever seen up to this point. The producers were especially happy with this decision as they felt that it was during season 3 where characters like Sisko, Jake, and Keiko began to think of the station as their home for the first time, so it made sense that the station was now becoming more visible to the viewer. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
 * Characters which "crossover" from other incarnations of Star Trek include Gowron, Thomas Riker and Kalita , and Lwaxana Troi from TNG and Tuvok's mirror universe counterpart  from VOY.

Cast

 * Avery Brooks as Commander Sisko
 * Rene Auberjonois as Odo
 * Siddig El Fadil as Doctor Bashir
 * Terry Farrell as Lieutenant Dax
 * Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko
 * Colm Meaney as Chief O'Brien
 * Armin Shimerman as Quark
 * Nana Visitor as Major Kira

Crew

 * Executive Producers:
 * Rick Berman
 * Michael Piller ("The Search, Part I" – "Distant Voices", "Through the Looking Glass")
 * Ira Steven Behr ("Improbable Cause", "The Die Is Cast" – "The Adversary")
 * Creative Consultant:
 * Michael Piller ("The Die Is Cast" – "The Adversary")
 * Line Producer:
 * Robert della Santina
 * Producers:
 * René Echevarria
 * Peter Lauritson
 * Supervising Producers:
 * Ronald D. Moore
 * David Livingston
 * Co-Executive Producer:
 * Ira Steven Behr ("The Search, Part I" – "Distant Voices", "Through the Looking Glass")
 * Co-Producer:
 * Steve Oster
 * Associate Producer:
 * Terri Potts ("Life Support" – "The Adversary")
 * Executive Story Editor:
 * Robert Hewitt Wolfe
 * Casting by:
 * Junie Lowry-Johnson, CSA
 * Ron Surma
 * Music by:
 * Jay Chattaway ("The Search, Part I" & "Part II", "Equilibrium", "The Abandoned" – "Civil Defense", "Defiant", "Visionary", "Through the Looking Glass", "Family Business", "The Adversary")
 * Richard Bellis ("The House of Quark")
 * David Bell ("Second Skin", "Past Tense, Part II", "Heart of Stone", "Improbable Cause")
 * Dennis McCarthy ("Meridian", "Fascination" – "Past Tense, Part I", "Life Support", "Destiny" – "Prophet Motive", "Distant Voices", "The Die Is Cast" – "Explorers", "Facets")
 * Paul Baillargeon ("Shakaar")
 * Main Title Theme by:
 * Dennis McCarthy (credit only appears in episodes not composed by McCarthy)
 * Director of Photography:
 * Jonathan West ("The Search, Part 1" – "Explorers", "Facets" – "The Adversary")
 * Kris Krosskove ("Family Business" – "Shakaar")
 * Production Designer:
 * Herman Zimmerman ("The Search, Part I" – "Civil Defense", "Life Support" – "Heart of Stone")
 * Art Director:
 * Randy McIlvain
 * Editors:
 * J.P. Farrell ("The Search, Part I")
 * Robert Lederman ("The Search, Part II", "Second Skin", "Meridian")
 * Tom Benko, A.S.C. ("The House of Quark", "The Abandoned")
 * Richard Rabjohn (every third episode after "Equilibrium")
 * Steve Tucker (every third episode after "Defiant")
 * David Ramirez (every third episode after "Past Tense, Part I")
 * Unit Production Manager:
 * Robert della Santina
 * First Assistant Director:
 * B.C. Cameron (odd-numbered episodes, as well as "Heart of Stone")
 * Brian Whitley (even-numbered episodes except "Heart of Stone")
 * Second Assistant Director:
 * Paul Lawrence
 * Costume Designer:
 * Robert Blackman
 * Visual Consultant:
 * Herman Zimmerman ("Meridian" – "Past Tense, Part II")
 * Visual Effects Producer:
 * Dan Curry
 * Visual Effects Supervisor:
 * Gary Hutzel (odd-numbered episodes except "Improbable Cause")
 * Glenn Neufeld (even-numbered episodes except "Past Tense, Part II")
 * David Takemura ("Past Tense, Part II")
 * Judy Elkins ("Improbable Cause")
 * Post Production Supervisor:
 * Terri Potts ("The Search, Part I" – "Past Tense, Part II")
 * Supervising Editor:
 * J.P. Farrell
 * Scenic Art Supervisor/Technical Consultant:
 * Michael Okuda
 * Senior Illustrator/Technical Consultant:
 * Rick Sternbach
 * Makeup Designed and Supervised by:
 * Michael Westmore
 * Set Decorator:
 * Laura Richarz
 * Set Designer:
 * Ron Wilkinson (odd-numbered episodes)
 * Scott Herbertson (even-numbered episodes)
 * Illustrator:
 * James Martin
 * Visual Effects Coordinator:
 * Judy Elkins (odd-numbered episodes through "Facets", except for "Family Business")
 * David Takemura (even-numbered episodes through "The Adversary", except "Past Tense, Part II" and "Shakaar")
 * Laura-Lang Matz ("Family Business", "Shakaar")
 * Visual Effects Series Coordinator:
 * Philip Barberio ("The Search, Part I" – "Through the Looking Glass")
 * Edward L. Williams ("The Die Is Cast" – "The Adversary"
 * Wardrobe Supervisor:
 * Carol Kunz ("The Search, Part I" – "Civil Defense", odd-numbered episodes from "Defiant" through "Destiny", "Prophet Motive", odd-numbered episodes from "Improbable Cause" through "Facets")
 * Camille Argus (even-numbered episodes from "Meridian" through "Heart of Stone", "Visionary", even-numbered episodes from "Distant Voices" through "The Adversary")
 * Script Supervisor:
 * Judi Brown
 * Special Effects:
 * Gary Monak ("The Search, Part I" – "Civil Defense", "Defiant" – "Life Support")
 * R.J. Hohman ("Meridian")
 * Property Master:
 * Joe Longo
 * Construction Coordinator:
 * Thomas J. Arp
 * Scenic Artists:
 * Denise Okuda (odd-numbered episodes)
 * Doug Drexler (even-numbered episodes)
 * Hair Designer:
 * Josée Normand
 * Make-up Artists:
 * Camille Calvet ("The Search, Part I", "The House of Quark" – "Equilibrium", "The Abandoned" – "Past Tense, Part I", "Heart of Stone" – "Prophet Motive", "Distant Voices" – "Improbable Cause", "Family Business" – "Shakaar") (credited as Camille Calvert in "Heart of Stone")
 * Dean Gates ("The Search, Part I" – "Second Skin", "Civil Defense" – "Defiant", "Past Tense, Part I" – "Past Tense, Part II", "Heart of Stone", "Visionary", "Improbable Cause" – "The Die Is Cast", "Shakaar" – "Facets")
 * Karen J. Westerfield ("The Search, Part I" – "The House of Quark", "Second Skin" – "Past Tense, Part I", "Life Support" – "Through the Looking Glass", "Explorers" – "The Adversary")
 * Dean Carl Jones ("The Search, Part II" – "The Abandoned", "Meridian", "Fascination", "Past Tense, Part II" – "Life Support", "Visionary" – "Distant Voices", "Through the Looking Glass" – "Explorers", "Facets" – "The Adversary") (credited as Dean Jones from "Visionary" through "Distant Voices")
 * Karen Iverson ("Past Tense, Part II" – "Life Support", "Destiny" – "Prophet Motive", "The Die Is Cast" – "Family Business", "The Adversary")
 * Hair Stylists:
 * Gerald Solomon (odd-numbered episodes)
 * Norma Lee (even-numbered episodes)
 * Ronald W. Smith
 * Sound Mixer:
 * Bill Gocke
 * Camera Operator:
 * Kris Krosskove ("The Search, Part 1" – "Explorers", "Facets" – "The Adversary")
 * Raymond Stella ("Family Business" – "Shakaar")
 * Chief Lighting Technician:
 * R.D. Knox ("The Search, Part I" – "Visionary", "Explorers" – "The Adversary")
 * Ralph Johnson ("Distant Voices" – "The Die Is Cast")
 * First Company Grip:
 * Steve Gausche
 * Key Costumers:
 * Mary Ellen Bosche (odd-numbered episodes through "Family Business", "The Adversary")
 * Len Levitt ("The Search, Part I", "The House of Quark")
 * Phyllis Corcoran-Woods (even-numbered episodes through "Shakaar", "Facets")
 * Cleo Severy (even-numbered episodes through "Shakaar", "Facets")
 * Jerry Bono (odd-numbered episodes from "Second Skin" through "Family Business", "The Adversary")
 * Music Editor:
 * Gerry Sackman ("The Search, Part I" – "Fascination")
 * Stephen M. Rowe ("Past Tense, Part I" – "The Alternate")
 * Supervising Sound Editor:
 * Bill Wistrom ("The Search, Part I" – "Fascination")
 * Mace Matiosian ("Past Tense, Part I" – "The Adversary")
 * Sound Editors:
 * Ruth Adelman ("The Search, Part I" through "Past Tense, Part I")
 * Sean Callery
 * T. Ashley Harvey
 * Guy Tsujimoto
 * Jivan Tahmizian ("Family Business" – "The Adversary")
 * Production Coordinator:
 * Heidi Smothers
 * Post Production Coordinator:
 * Cheryl Gluckstern
 * Visual Effects Associate:
 * Laura Lang-Matz ("The Search, Part I" – "Explorers", "Facets", "The Adversary")
 * Production Associates:
 * Kim Fitzgerald ("The Search, Part I" – "Heart of Stone")
 * Kristine Fernandes
 * Sandra Sena ("Destiny" – "The Adversary")
 * Science Consultant:
 * André Bormanis
 * Main Title Design:
 * Dan Curry
 * Location Manager:
 * Lisa White ("Meridian")
 * Stunt Coordinator:
 * Dennis Madalone
 * Pre-Production Coordinator:
 * Lolita Fatjo
 * Casting Executive:
 * Helen Mossler, CSA

Uncredited crew

 * Les Bernstein, Motion Control Programmer
 * John Carroll, On-Line Editor
 * Pat Clancey, Compositing Editor
 * Caryl Codon, Hairstylist
 * Joshua Cushner, Motion Control Programmer
 * Rebecca De Morrio, Hairstylist
 * Hala Gabriel – Production Accountant
 * Adam Howard, Harry Paintbox Animation Artist
 * Nancy J. Hvasta Leonardi – Makeup Artist ("Shakaar", "Facets", "The Adversary")
 * Michael Key, Makeup Artist
 * Nina Kraft – Makeup artist ("Destiny")
 * Don Lee, Bluescreen Compositor
 * Chris McBee, Hairstylist
 * Michael Moore, Hairstylist
 * Gil Mosko, Makeup Artist
 * Erik Nash, Motion Control Programmer
 * Joan Phillips, Hairstylist
 * Dave Quaschnick, Makeup Artist
 * Thom Surprenant, Makeup Artist
 * Faith Vecchio, Hairstylist
 * Scott Wheeler, Makeup Artist

Companies

 * Filmed with: Panavision cameras and lenses
 * Video Optical Effects:
 * Digital Magic (all episodes except "Facets")
 * Pacific Ocean Post ("Facets")
 * Special Video Compositing: CIS Hollywood
 * Motion Control Photography: Image "G"
 * Computer Animation:
 * VisionArt Design & Animation (all episodes except "Explorers", "Family Business")
 * John Knoll ("Explorers")
 * Matte Paintings by: Illusion Arts ("Family Business")
 * Editing Facilities: Unitel Video
 * Post Production Sound: Modern Sound