“In the Cards” is another turn at sitcom fodder with Jake and Nog up to their old schemes. By this point, Jake is 18 and Nog is a Starfleet Academy cadet, so you would hope they would be more mature than to go off o some silly venture, but there you go. At least it counts as frivolous fun before the Dominion War begins in the next episode.There is a dark mood over DS9 as the Dominion continue delivering Jem Ha’dar and weapons to Cardassia. The war materiel is far beyond anything Cardassia would need for defensive purposes. War seems inevitable. In order to cheer Sisko up, Jake and Nog decide to buy a Willie Mays rookie card for him as a gift. Unfortunately, it is purchased at auction by a Dr. Giger. Fortunately, Giger knows the boys want the card and offers to give it to them in trade for certain scientific material. The boys reluctantly agree.
So they wind up doing odd tasks for various crewmembers in exchange for the items. Here is where we hit Laverne and Shirley territory. Bashir wants his teddy bear and will trade medical supplies for it, for heaven’s sake! It amusing, but absurd.
The main reason I am willing to accept the absurdity is because of Giger’s plan. He is building a device which keeps cells happy. That is right. his theory is that one can be literally bored to death if not careful. He seems quite loony, but he has the Willie Mays card, so Jake and Nog have to deal with him. So do we.
The story intersects with the more serious B-story--a first, with the A-story usually being the more tense--a Wweyoun comes to Ds9 to negotiate a non-aggression pact with Bajor and runs into Giger.
Jake and Nog eventually get the card. Everyone seems happy as a result of their efforts. So the episode ends on a high note before it all hit’s the fan in tomorrow’s fifth season finale.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
