DS9: Season 4 Essentials

Hey look, it's an Essential Episode post! Hooray! Basically, at some point, I felt like the Weekend Round Up and Season Essential posts together were redundant. Instead of deciding which one to keep, I just gradually stopped doing both. Ridiculous. Anyway, I missed these posts and (according to your comments and emails) so did you. This is a tough one since Season 4 is AMAZING but here goes:

Episode 4.3: The Visitor
-There's a whole post about how awesome this one is.
-Basically this is DS9's equivalent to TNG's The Inner Light and it is 100% amazing.
-From watching Jake grow up and then grow old to seeing Nog as a Commander in Starfleet and super-old Dax and Bashir, this one is great fun. (I really think we should've seen Dax in a new host instead of just old Jadzia but whatever, it's still cool)
-Oh, also it will make you cry. LIKE A BABY.

Episode 4.8: Little Green Men
-Like Humbug was for The X-Files, this one is DS9's very first real attempt at comedy and it's totally successful.
-Watch this one to see how Ferengi antics mesh with the 1950's B-movie vibe.
-Meta jokes abound along with a hilarious Worf tooth-sharpening bit.

Episode 4.10/11: Homefront/ Paradise Lost
-Political intrigue, alien spies, crazy changelings--this is the stuff DS9 is made of.
-Check this one out to witness a conspiracy plot unfold into an astounding loss of personal freedoms, suspicion among friends and family, and lots and lots of talk about cajun home cooking.
-Bonus: Lots of Nog in this one.

Episode 4. 24: The Quickening
-Nope, this is not about a group of immortals lopping each other's heads off with swords.
-It's actually a super-solemn but don't let that put you off because it's also a great "we are a beacon of hope" episode.
-Bashir has to come to grips with his own limitations on a planet beset by a deadly plague. It's well-written and acted (and perfectly directed by Rene Auberjonois) and bursting with heart.

Episode 4. 25: Body Parts
-Ferengi Hijinks!
-Quark thinks he's dying and, realizing he has no assets with which to pay off his debts, starts auctioning off his own vacuum-desiccated remains.
-Rom and Liquidator Brunt are both fantastic here.
-Quark learns a lesson... kind of.

Runners Up:

Episode 4.1: The Way Of The Warrior
-This is the one where Worf joins DS9 and gets a pretty new uniform.
-Also, it explains a lot about what's going on with the Dominion/The Founders/The Defiant

Episode 4.22: For The Cause
-Watch this one to find out what happens with Kasidy Yates and Commander Eddington.
-It's kind of a heart-breaker. Just so you know.