Trivia / Star Trek Deep Space Nine S 03 E 22 Explorers

• Cast the Runner-Up: Chase Masterson was originally cast to play Mardah, but Avery Brooks overruled it because he thought she was too old to date a 16-year-old. She's recast here as Leeta, who's paired with Bashir in this episode.
• First Appearance: Of Leeta the Dabo girl. (There's also the first mention of Kasidy Yates — albeit not by name — but she doesn't actually make an appearance until the next episode.)
• Reality Subtext: Sisko explains he grew his goatee because he wanted a change. Avery Brooks had long wanted to grow his beard back, but producers asked him to wait because they wanted to visually distinguish Sisko from Brooks' earlier character, Hawk. Hawk also had a shaved head, but Brooks would have to wait until Season 4 for that.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The original pitch had O'Brien building and taking the ship out. Producers altered it because they wanted a father/son episode.
  • Other considerations for O'Brien and Bashir's Drunken Song were "Louie, Louie" or "Rocketman". "Jerusalem" was apparently cheaper, plus it was known to both actors and deemed an excellent drunk song.