that Galaxy class ship bites it, I was floored. They purposely used a ship in the same class as the Enterprise to increase the shock value and show the Dominion's threat and it was VERY effective.

It was never shown on screen, but was there an event that was shown that lead to his abduction and replacement where he ended up on that prison asteroid for a couple episodes? If so, anybody remember what that was?

There was just that mention of going to a conference, and the only thing that adds up would be when Jake was doing a story on Bashir - at a conference, in the episode "Nor The Battle To The Strong". The switch could have happened then.

Remember only the season 5 episodes before the episode "Rapture", as that was when they got the newer, better-looking uniforms from "Star Trek: First Contact", and the 'real' Bashir was wearing the old-style uniform in the prison.

It wasn't THAT long ago... That was when The Klingon/Federation war was still going strong... Later, in "In the Pale Moonlight" it's mentioned that it's only a matter of weeks, or a few months at the most (I'd have to check), so in terms of OUR time, it was probably only an episode or two.

That twist really had me scratching my head when I first saw it as well.

Bashir be wearing the old-style uniform in the prison? That was obviously intentional, so you know just how long the switch occured. Sure it's hard to grasp - Changeling Bashir went to Risa with Leeta, Dax, Worf and Quark, Changeling Bashir performed brain surgery on Sisko, Changeling Bashir went back in time...I was offering a possible on-screen explanation as to when the switch happened.

Perhaps there was another medical conference he went to that wasn't mentioned in any of those episodes prior to "Rapture".

Bashir is kidnapped and replaced and nobody even mentions it after he returns. They made a huge deal about how Sisko was so tormented over not recognizing Eddington's true motives but he apparently didn't mind that he couldn't tell that Bashir was a fake and that the fake doctor had gone so far as to perform brain surgery on him. The very next episode was even focused entirely on Bashir and his mental state and there was not one mention of the fact that he just spent at least a month as a prisoner of war. That just seemed completely unrealistic to me.

I have the same complaint about O'Brien and his 20 year imprisonment in season 4. They spend a whole episode where he can't come to terms with what he's been through and is going through a complete breakdown, and by the next episode there's no hint that he ever went through the experience. I don't mind some use of the reset button but when you have your characters go through such life changing events it really cheapens the effect when you seem to erase everyone's memory of it the next week.

I'm enjoying the ride but I can't help being bothered by these things.

Renegade Jem'Hadar blow up a pylon and the station is back to 100% with "The Quickening" the next episode.