[Nate the Great]

SEYETIK: Come now, Lieutenant. Nothing of worth was ever created by a pessimist.
SISKO: I don't know about that. Van Gogh, Beckett, Y'Raka. I wouldn't exactly call them optimists.

Van Gogh suffered from psychotic episodes, but he wasn't exactly a pessimist. Samuel Beckett (best known for Waiting for Godot) I can't find any evidence of depression for. The best I can find is that it was probably just a plug by Ira Stephen Behr who was a fan of his. Y'Raka is of course the fictional part of the Famous, Famous, Fictional trope. This is his only mention, not even the novels tried to flesh out his backstory.

SEYETIK: Precisely, and look at their work. Dark and dreary and dismal. Art should be an affirmation of life.

Oh boy, could I write a screed on this one. I have strong opinions on the purpose of art, but I will spare you.

SISKO: Dax, she's a married woman.
DAX: That would have never stopped Curzon.

Whether it would or not, the censors should've caught this one. Even if we're to buy that Curzon wouldn't care, Sisko would. Dax is being rather offensive here.

SEYETIK: So honour the valiant who die 'neath your sword.
SISKO: But pity the warrior who slays all his foes.
SEYETIK: Yes, well, a bit obvious perhaps, but true nonetheless.

I have mixed feelings about this Klingon saying. On the one hand I can see the tragedy but on the other hand I question why or how a Klingon warrior would ever run out of enemies.

SEYETIK: Nidell is a psychoprojective telepath. Fenna's just another one of her projections.

I hate it when all mental powers are lumped under "telepathy". While I could perhaps allow for the creation of a projection that you can talk and hear through, projecting something solid that your unconscious mind can operate like a puppet seems like a stretch. That kind of power feels more like it's on the level of a Q or Dowd.

SEYETIK: Halanans mate for life. She can never leave me, no matter how much she might want to.

This required more explanation. Do Halanans create psychic bonds that can only be broken with death? Does the marriage ceremony include a biological adaptation that creates a dependency for "pheromones" from their spouse? We really do need an explanation. This whole scenario screams "we don't care about thinking a scenario through, we just want what works for the episode." That stuff was okay in TOS, but it's not okay now.

FENNA: But even if she lives, then I die, and everything you and I have dies with me.
SISKO: Fenna, what we have is a dream. I wouldn't trade it for anything, but it's still just a dream. Nidell's dream.

A key problem with this whole scenario is that Fenna has no life. Nidell wanted to love someone else on an unconscious level, so Fenna loves Sisko. But what is that based on? Pleasant conversation and proximity? Real romance needs more than that.

Memory Alpha

* Originally the romance plot was going to be Bashir's and not Sisko's. I think that "Melora" was too recent for that to work, especially when we're supposed to believe that he could eventually be with Dax.
* The Prometheus is a Nebula-class which is part of the same design family at the Galaxy-class. So why didn't they use the Enterprise-D sets for it?
* Even Memory Alpha points out that the stardates say that it can't possibly be the fourth anniversary of the Battle of Wolf 359.

Nitpicker's Guide

* When describing Fenna to Odo Sisko neglects to mention a very prominent identifier-double tipped pointed ears. Oops.
* The Prometheus supposedly has a Starfleet crew, yet not only do we not see swarms of Starfleet officers on the Promenade but when Nidell is ill she's kept on the station instead of using the Prometheus' sickbay. Furthermore we never see any officers that outrank Sisko. Phil points out that such a thing would steal the spotlight away from our cast, but it's still nonsensical. So why did they use a Starfleet ship in the episode in the first place.
* Phil points out that going by the stardates is been less than three and a half years since Wolf 359.
* Dax says that humility and common sense aren't part of the terraformer job description, yet we saw normal terraformers in "Home Soil." Oops.
* Phil has a problem with protomatter suddenly becoming more controllable and acceptable. He seems to forget that it's been almost a hundred years and science has marched on by now.
* How come Dax is promoting affairs when she was guilty of Curzon's affair back in "Dax"?
* Phil not only points out the "they only need Warp One to outrun a supernova" thing, but mentions that the Warp 5 speed limit isn't being considered.
* Nidell's final outfit wasn't fitted very well, and Phil thinks that she must've bought it from Garak, but we get no such indication. It was just incompetent costumers.