In science fiction television, you can learn how much your audience loves your characters by getting them to act out of character. Star Trek has a long history of throwing its characters into personality-altering romps, starting in 1966 with the TOS episode “The Naked Time,” and again with the TNG episode in 1987 “The Naked Now.” Having the entire crew lose their minds is such a common trope that Lower Decks parodied it in the 2021 “I, Excretus.” But 30 years ago, Deep Space Nine took its turn into strange, bold territory.
