Bashir's Uniform is "A Little Brighter"- Obviously, because DS9 started using the new First Contact uniforms.
Ironically, we have to remember something about Bashir, or rather, the "Bashir" who was wearing the new uniform in this and the next three episodes. Because Bashir is also still wearing his Old DS9 uniform- Maybe I should stop there, and wait until everyone has seen "In Purgatory's Shadow" - Then it will become clear how and why Bashir could be wearing a new uniform and an old uniform at the same time. And it is one of those typical things from this show that causes the jaw to drop.
Now, it offends me when people unfairly pan episodes simply because they are exploring something about Faith. And Worf says it here: During a discussion about the Bajoran's Religion and The Emissary in particular, Kira is being ribbed by O'Brien and Dax. But Worf tells her to take heart, not because he shares the same religion with Kira, but because he believes in FAITH. And if you consider Worf for one minute, if you consider the character from all of The Next Generation, you will realize he is one of the most religious people in the Trek 'Verse. He rigidly adheres to his Klingon heritage, while at the same time religiously adhering to Starfleet's Principles- His Faith allows him to retain Personal Honour even when his own countrymen consider him a pariah.
But that is because he is a man of Deep Faith and convictions, he never makes fun of anyone Else's religion, be it an Earth religion, or the religion of Bajor. But he won't put up with Hypocrisy, either.
And the point of this episode is mainly "The Sisko", he has started to accept that he IS "The Emissary" of the Prophets to Bajor, but until now, he was maybe not willing to do everything they are requiring of him.
Most people of real Faith struggle with this all the time, they question: "Is Ghod/Buddha/Krishna/YWHW/Moroni/etc, really asking me to do this?" - Most of the time, I can tell you from experience, probably not. If you have to think twice about it, it's NOT HIM. It's my personal belief that if Ghod wants something from us, we'll know it- There will be no question about it. The way to tell is that it will be something 180 degrees in reverse of what the person would expect to be asked to do.
The thing about Trek is that it treats religion with RESPECT, Trek explores our Terran religions by these episodes which tell us about The Emissary, the Prophets and The Bajoran Religion. They even dissect the concept of hypocrisy, in such a way as to not pan any religions of Earth, but to simply ask people, if they are really doing God's Will, or their own, in Ghod's Name? This is something I ask people who wish to put restrictions on me, whose will is it? Gods, or yours? Usually it's their agenda only and God enters into it not.
The Religion of Bajor also delves into the concept of Prophecy, which most people think has something to do with seeing the future. That's only part of it, Real prophecy is a bit more complicated.
As far as the DS9 story goes, The Sisko is being shown some of the things that will happen soon, he just doesn't know what it all means. Yet. Some of the blanks are just not filled in. It was a clever way to foreshadow the last episodes of season 5, in the form of Visions from The Prophets.
If there are any fans of the great J Michael Stracynski show "Babylon 5", you might see a parallel to when Ambassador Mollari is beaten up by G'Kar and sees a vision of "The Shadows" landing on his home world of Centauri Prime. The only difference between B5 and DS9 is that on B5, this is actually SHOWN "as a Vision" that Mollari has. It might have been more effective to show what The Sisko was seeing, but even without any visual cues we understand what will happen.
Somehow, I felt that Babylon 5 and DS9 were telling a parallel story, many of the same things happen, The Centauri and The Cardassians: They both make the same mistake and both suffer similar consequences.
