Template:Realworld Station residents suddenly find their imaginations are manifested in physical form; a spatial rift threatens to destroy the Bajoran system.
Summary
Nothing happens.
Log entries
- "Station log, stardate 46853.2. We have launched a probe to study the subspace anomaly. Meanwhile, more than half the people aboard DS9 have reported manifestations of their imagined thoughts."
- "Station log, supplemental. The subspace anomaly continues to expand. As of yet, we've been unable to find a way to contain it. As a precaution, we have diverted all incoming ships away from the station."
Memorable quotes
"Family entertainment. That's the future, Odo. There's a fortune to be made. Little holocreatures running around. Rides and games for the kiddies, Ferengi standing in every doorway selling... useless souvenirs."
"You're going to replace all your sexual holoprograms with family entertainment?"
"Oh, no! No! I'm expanding! I'm negotiating to lease the space next door so I can use the same hologenerators."
"You're still disgusting." (Odo walks off)
"Till the day I die."
- - Quark and Odo
"Julian, you are a wonderful friend." (Bashir sighs heavily) "I enjoy the time we spend together!"
"Stop! You're driving a stake through my heart!"
"Try a high pitched sonic shower. It'll make you feel better."
"No it won't!" (Dax walks off) (to self) "I've already tried it."
- - Dax and Bashir
"Sorry I'm late. I was having dinner with Julian."
"How is our young doctor?"
"Young. Anything going on?"
- - Dax and Sisko
"Why do we tell her stories about evil dwarves that want to steal children?"
- - O'Brien
"She really is submissive, isn't she?"
- - Dax, beginning to get annoyed at her double
"I am not submissive! ... am I?"
- - Illusory Dax seeks affirmation from Bashir
"Let me out of here! Let me out of here! Get the Nagus on subspace, I want to talk to him and I mean now!" (He touches the force field holding him and gets zapped) "I'm not spending another minute in this cell!"
"How did you get in there?"
"How did I get in here?! You put me in here!"
"Ahh. Hah! I guess I did, didn't I?" (Odo chuckles)
"Yeah..." (Quark then vanishes)
(Odo chuckles) "No imagination indeed. Hah!"
- - Quark and Odo, as Odo watches his security cameras and sees Quark in a holding cell
"Perimeter sensors are picking up a subspace oscillation. What the hell does that mean?"
- - Kira
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?!" (Grabs a mug from Rom's tray and bangs it on table) "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN..." (Notices Morn passing by) "...And all androgynous creatures... Your attention, please!"
- - Odo
"I'm going to have to ask you all to please refrain from using your imaginations."
- - Odo
Background
Story and script
Robert Legato directs Terry Farrell on the set of "If Wishes Were Horses"
- Writer William L. Crawford says of the mysterious aliens in this episode, "They were a little shy. And they would use their ability to reflect the fantasies or unconscious of individuals they ran into to bring out their good and bad points, so the aliens could make a decision if they wanted to go further." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
- Rumpelstiltskin was originally written as a leprechaun, but was changed when Colm Meaney objected, claiming that this was an offensive stereotype against Irish people. According to Meaney, "Using caricatures or clichés of any nation is not something Star Trek is or should be into." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
Production
- The Gunji jackdaw which appears on the promenade was played by an emu. It is the only appearance by an emu on Star Trek. They proved to be difficult to receive direction, so one of their trainers was dressed as a Bajoran monk. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
- Interacting with and acting like the emu brought back memories of playing a character who transformed into a bird in Brewster McCloud for Rene Auberjonois. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
Buck Bokai, a baseball player mentioned throughout the DS9 series, makes an appearance in his London Kings uniform.
Reception
- This is one of Terry Farrell's favorite episodes because of the fun she had playing two different types of Dax. (Crew Dossier: Jadzia Dax, DS9 Season 2 DVD special features)
Trivia
- The baseball which Sisko keeps on his desk for the remainder of the series is a memento of this episode, given to him by the alien who impersonated Bokai. The ball would go on to have great thematic significance in many future episodes, such as "Call to Arms", "Sacrifice of Angels", "Tears of the Prophets" and "What You Leave Behind".
- Buck Bokai, who appears in this episode, was first mentioned (although not by name) in the Next Generation episode "The Big Goodbye".
- The title of this episode comes from an old English language proverb that goes, If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."
- Odo's disgust over "intermingling" with a holographic shapeshifter foreshadows his tumultuous relationship with the Great Link and, specifically, the Female Changeling.
- This episode is comparable to the TNG episode "Where No One Has Gone Before" in which The Traveler brings the Enterprise to a remote region of space, where the crew's imagination becomes reality as well.
Video and DVD releases
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 8, 7 November 1993.
- As part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD collection.
Links and references
Starring
Also Starring
- Rene Auberjonois as Constable Odo
- Siddig El Fadil as Doctor Julian Bashir
- Terry Farrell as Lieutenant Jadzia Dax
- Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko
- Colm Meaney as Chief Miles O'Brien
- Armin Shimerman as Quark
- Nana Visitor as Major Kira Nerys
Guest Stars
Co-Star
- Hana Hatae as Molly
Uncredited Co-Stars
- Scott Barry as a Bajoran officer
- Robert Coffee as a Bajoran civilian
- Frank Collison as Dolak (display graphic)
- Jeannie Dreams as an operations division ensign
- Judi Durand as Deep Space 9 computer voice
- Kevin Grevioux as a security officer
- Jeffrey Hayenga as Orta (display graphic)
- Randy James as Lieutenant Jones
- Norman Large as Romulan criminal (display graphic)
- Mark Lentry as a command division lieutenant
- David B. Levinson as Broik
- Dennis Madalone as burning man
- Robin Morselli as a Bajoran officer
- Tyana Parr as a Human DS9 resident
- Mark Allen Shepherd as
- Unknown performers as
- Andorian criminal (display graphic)
- Buck-toothed alien criminal (display graphic)
- Dabo girl
- Ferengi criminal (display graphic, unconfirmed)
- Klingon criminal (display graphic)
- Markalian
- Operations division ensign
- Operations ensign
- Plix Tixiplik (display graphic)
- Security officer
- Security officer (voice)
- Two Bajoran monks
- Two fantasy women
- Yridian
Stand-ins and doubles
- Randy James as stand-in for Colm Meaney
- Mark Lentry as stand-in for Rene Auberjonois
- Unknown actress as photo double for Terry Farrell
References
2026; 2042; 2169; 23rd century; 24th century; airlock; allergic reaction; androgyny; anomaly; antipasto; art; auxiliary power; Bajoran system; Bajoran wormhole; Baneriam hawk; baseball; baseball (object); baseball bat; baseball field; baseball glove; baseball mitten; baseman; baserunning; bedtime story; Betazoid; Betazoid envoy; blizzard; Bonsai; captain; centimeter; class-4 probe; com circuit; concussion; constabulary; crop; dabo; Daedalus class; daughter; Dax, Jadzia (illusory); day; Denorios belt; deputy; dermal regenerator; Derry; DiMaggio, Joe; dimensional shift; dinner; dwarf; ear; emergency medical kit; environmental control; exothermic reaction; fairy tale; farmer; Federation; female junior lieutenant; Ferengi; fever; fire; fish; flux density; folded space; gold; ground ball; Gunji jackdaw; habitat ring; hallucination; Hanoli rift; Hanoli system; Harry; heart; holding cell; hologenerator; hologram; holosuite; home run; homework; horse; hour; imagination; impulse engine; impulse sustainer; intruder alert; Jack; joke; junior lieutenant; kilometer; king; kingdom; Larosian virus; lease; level one personal sweep; life support; locust; London Kings; lunch; magnetic shock wave; medical tricorder; Milky Way Galaxy; minute; Nagus; Newsom, Eddie; Old Crow; ops; optical scanner; painting; perimeter sensor; plasma field; playmate; poorhouse; promenade; prophet; proton; pulse wave; pulse wave device; pulse wave initiator; pulse wave torpedo; pylon; quarters; queen; raktajino; red alert; Replimat; rift; second; security sweep; senior officer; sensor; shapeshifter; shields; sir; snow; sonic shower; souvenir; Speaker, Tris; squeaker; Stadius; stake; station log; storybook; straw; stuffed animal; subspace; subspace disruption; subspace oscillation; subspace rupture; subspace scanner; Tartaran landscape; three-dimensional chess; thoron emission; thoron field; torpedo; torpedo guidance; trollop; visual scanner; Vulcan; Vulcan science vessel; wanted poster; warp engine; wave intensity analysis; wave intensity pattern; Williams, Ted; tricorder; World Series; wormhole; year; yellow alert
External links
- Template:NCwiki
- If Wishes Were Horses at Wikipedia
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