History Recap / StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E12ParadiseLost

* BavarianFireDrill: Sisko hauls in a Red Squad cadet for a chewing out, making the cadet believe Sisko's in league with Leyton. Sisko then demands the cadet walk him through the plan to sabotage the planetary power grid to explain their "damn sloppy work".

* FalseFlagOperation: Leyton's preferred ''modus operandi''. Leyton has Red Squad disable Earth's entire power grid, then blames it on Changeling infiltrators. He also had a subspace beacon placed on the far end of the wormhole that would repeatedly open and close it to make it look like a Dominion fleet was coming into the Apha Quadrant and faked Sisko's blood test for his meeting with the President to make it look like he was a changeling.

* RankUp: Benteen is promoted to captain and given command of the USS ''Lakota''.

* RevealingCoverup: Sisko and Odo notice a transporter log indicating that Red Squad was beamed back to the San Francisco just after the blackout, demobilized, then mobilized just three hours later. When the Academy commandant asks Sisko to erase that log entry, because it might cause problems, it's their first hint that something bigger is at work.

* AntiVillain: Leyton is attempting a coup of the Federation because he truly believes declaring martial law on Earth is the best course to save the Federation from Changeling infiltrators. After his plans are thwarted, Leyton hopes that he was wrong and his coup wasn't necessary.

* BoringButPractical: This episode demonstrates why Starfleet has kept the ''Excelsior''-class ships in service for a century. The re-fitted ''Lakota'' manages to go toe-to-toe with the ''Defiant'', a ship designed to fight the Borg, and very nearly wins.[[labelnote:*]]Bear in mind both ships were holding back using their best weapons and they were mismatched fighers. The ''Defiant'' is a dedicated warship and the ''Lakota'' is an exploratory design. While the ''Defiant'' could certainly have won, the fact that the ''Lakota'' still gave her pause is a testament to Starfleet's flexibility in design.[[/labelnote]]
* FalseFlagOperation: Leyton's preferred ''motus operandi''. Leyton has Red Squad disable Earth's entire power grid, then blames it on Changeling infiltrators. He also had a subspace beacon placed on the far end of the wormhole that would repeatedly open and close it to make it look like a Dominion fleet was coming into the Apha Quadrant and faked Sisko's blood test for his meeting with the President to make it look like he was a changeling.

* WeHaveReserves: Leyton claims he has enough forces to "make a fight out of it." after Benteen and the ''Lakota'' crew turn on him.

* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Cadet Riley Aldrin Shepard shares two names with astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Alan Shepard.

* FalseFlagOperation: Leyton has Red Squad disable Earth's entire power grid, then blames it on Changeling infiltrators.

* ParanoiaGambit: Changeling!O'Brien elaborates on this to Sisko. There are only four changelings on Earth ([[UnreliableNarrator well, so the changeling says, anyway]]), but just the mere thought of infiltration has sent the planet into panic.

* BoringButPractical: This episode demonstrates why Starfleet has kept the ''Excelsior''-class ships in service for a century. The re-fitted ''Lakota'' manages to go toe-to-toe with the ''Defiant'', a ship designed to fight the Borg, and very nearly wins.[[labelnote: *]]Bear in mind both ships were holding back using their best weapons and they were mismatched fighers. The ''Defiant'' is a dedicated warship and the ''Lakota'' is an exploratory design. While the ''Defiant'' could certainly have won, the fact that the ''Lakota'' still gave her pause is a testament to Starfleet's flexibility in design.[[/labelnote]]

* SwissCheeseSecurity: Sisko is able to get from his holding cell all the way to Leyton's office without being stopped by security, all while supposedly being wanted as a changeling infiltrator. Especially egregious since the previous episode had shown Starfleet was beefing up security at its headquarters.

* BoringButPractical: This episode demonstrates why Starfleet has kept the ''Excelsior''-class ships in service for a century. The re-fitted ''Lakota'' manages to go toe-to-toe with the ''Defiant'', a ship designed to fight the Borg, and very nearly wins.
** It should be noted that the ''Lakota'' scored about half a dozen hits on the ''Defiant'' before the latter began to defend itself, the ''Defiant'' initially missed roughly one-third of it's pulse phaser shots on it's initital attack and the ''Lakota'' STILL was the ship "in worse shape" when the battle was called off. Basically all those upgrades meant nothing.

** When Nog is reluctant to provide Sisko with the names of Red Squad, Sisko points out that it wasn't a request. He wants a name, he wants it now, and ''that is an order''!

'''Leyton:''' You don't understand me at all, do you?\\\

* WhatTheHellHero[=/=]TheReasonYouSuckSpeech[=/=]RageAgainstTheMentor: Sisko lets Leyton have it for plotting against Jaresh-Inyo.

* BoringButPractical: This episode demonstrates why Starfleet has kept the ''Excelsior''-class ships in service for a century. The ''Lakota'' manages to go toe-to-toe with the ''Defiant'', a ship designed to fight the Borg, and very nearly wins.

* TheGhost: Lieutenant Arriaga, Leyton's mole on [=DS9=] and the one who was causing the wormhole to open and close at random to simulate a cloaked Dominion fleet entering the Alpha Quadrant. His discovery and arrest is what prompts Letyon to order the ''Lakota'' to attack the ''Defiant'', but he never once appears onscreen.

* WholePlotReference: It's essentially ''Film/SevenDaysInMay'' IN SPACE!