I just went through a whole bunch of s2 DS9 and just had to say that the the set of 22- The Wire, 23- Crossover, 24- The Collaborator and 25- Tribunal were the nail-biting set of tense episodes to string together. Geez!
The Wire got me aghast at the three war crime stories Garak said and I'm not even sure which was real. Great acting on the pain he felt from the device too.
Crossover, the episode was ending and I wasn't sure how Kira and Bashir were going to fix everything. Odo exploding was too much. And we didn't see Quark executed either.
Collaborator, wthex were those dreams of the that guy Vedek that Kira was with? What the hex ending was that?! Winn is a beach! How in heaven's did they let this happen?! Geez!
Tribunal was frightening. They really had to show how O'Brien was humiliated. What the hex was up with Cardassian justice, where the verdict was known and the trial was for show. They had two days, then hours to find a loophole else O'Brien was to be killed. Terrifying.
These eps seriously didn't need to be strung together. My heart could only take so much, haha
The wire is a great episode. Although any episode featuring Garak is a great episode, this one in particular is a great one. As for which of his stories were true, none of them were. That was the point, you cannot believe anything Garrak ever says, with the two exceptions of the times he was completely honest with Sisko. They aren't specific later on on why Garrak got exiled, but it wasn't for any of those stories.
Crossover was a neat mirrorverse episode that deals with the fallout from Spock bringing the Terran empire down. Expect to see more Mirriorverse in the future. And yeah, Odo's death was one of the more gruesome deaths on Star Trek. Right up there with that one TNG episode.
Collaborator, yup, it was a crazy ending allowing her to become Kai, and she has the position for the rest of the series so expect more from her. Like I said previously, she does a great job making you hate the character.
Tribunal is just one fo those make O'brien suffer episodes. Trust me it gets worse.