Star Trek Deep Space Nine – The Complete Third Season
Oct/095
Description
Episodes: The Search Parts I and II, The House of Quark, Equilibrium, Second Skin, The Abandoned, Civil Defense, Meridian, Defiant, Fascination, Past Tense Parts I and II, Life Support, Heart of Stone, Destiny, Prophet Motive, Visionary, Distant Voices, Through the Looking Glass, Improbable Cause, The Die Is Cast, Explorers, Family Business, Shakaar, Facets, The Adversary. Amazon.com
Deep Space Nine’s third season begins eventfully, with Sisko promoted to Captain and being given a prototype warship equipped with a cloaking device, while Odo learns where he came from. In the two-part opening tale, this clever gambit is played to hook viewers into the idea of DS9 becoming an ongoing mystery/conflict show. Why the sudden intense change in format? Mostly it was to ensure the show continued to thrive, when a rather greedy production hierarchy fast-tracked Voyager onto the air mid-season (cue unnecessary crossover episode with Tuvok). Of greater concern was ratings thief Babylon 5, which played its counter-Trek cards at precisely the right time. Fortunately the result (initially at least) was a genuine boost for DS9.
Cast members seemed to have hit their stride and played off one another more assuredly than before. For example, Odo’s character took several additional interesting twists, especially in his relationship with Kira. Rene Auberjonois had a very good year, directing two episodes to boot. Avery Brooks had begun this trend with the previous year’s penultimate show. The real surprise was seeing Jonathan Frakes’s name working behind the camera on three occasions, because he also appeared on screen in his alternate rogue Riker role, when Thomas dramatically steals the Defiant. Other welcome cameos that aided the feeling of casual camaraderie included the return of Lwaxana Troi, as well as first appearances by Quark’s mother, the spooky Founder Leader, the lovely Leeta, and the sneaky Eddington. Clint Howard–a cult Trek figure–was briefly welcomed back, and with the many faces of Jeffrey Combs another was born. Stories advanced the complicated Bajoran/Cardassian healing process, while simultaneously brewing potential conflicts far worse than the behind-the-scenes ratings war. –Paul Tonks
Star Trek Deep Space Nine – The Complete Seventh Season
Oct/095
Description
Episodes: Image in the Sand, Shadows and Symbols, Afterimage, Take Me Out to the Holosuite, Chrysalis, Treachery Faith and the Great River, Once More Unto the Breach, The Siege of AR-558, Covenant, It’s Only a Paper Moon, Prodigal Daughter, The Emperor’s New Cloak, Field of Fire, Chimera, Badda-Bing Badda-Bang, Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges, Penumbra, ‘Til Death Do Us Part, Strange Bedfellows, The Changing Face of Evil, When It Rains…, Tacking Into the Wind, Extreme Measures, The Dogs of War, What You Leave Behind Parts I and II. Amazon.com
Deep Space Nine’s seventh and final season came down to loose ends, tying some existing ones together while allowing others to unravel. Symptomatic of the unwillingness to let DS9 go was the immediate arrival of a replacement Dax, though poor Nichole deBoer as Ezri Dax had to have known she’d already missed the boat. Her appearance encouraged last-minute romances to blossom, with Bashir finally getting some action, Odo finally getting together with Kira, and Sisko finally proposing to Kassidy. Another contributing cute factor were numerous trips to the holosuite wherein the all-knowing Vic Fontaine dished out philosophical advice. That was when the crew wasn’t in there to play baseball against the Vulcans, or when Nog wasn’t commiserating about the loss of a leg.
Oh yes, and don’t forget the War! There was an early announcement that the show would attempt a 10-part resolution to the Dominion War, but viewers could be forgiven for forgetting all about it with so much sentimental distraction. When the horrors of war did resurface, they at least injected a few surprises into the mix. Odo and his ambiguously “evil” Founders were hit with a melting disease, prompting a backstabbing race for the power of developing and owning a cure. The original baddie Cardassians finally settled on the Federation’s side. Contrary to these interesting twists, however, were the unexpected turns taken by matters relating to Sisko’s spiritual destiny. Suddenly the mystery of the wormhole and an entire religious belief system was reduced to the problem of correctly translating the words of a sacred book. The struggle to join with some evil aliens significantly diluted the attempt at resolving what had begun seven years before in the show’s pilot episode. Ultimately, Sisko’s destiny, as with all those who’d followed him to the open-ended climax, was to be decided elsewhere. In a move that was either bold and daring–or possibly born of desperation for not having thought things through properly–the show’s storylines were to be continued in a series of spin-off books. –Paul Tonks
Star Trek Deep Space Nine – The Complete Sixth Season
Oct/095
Description
Episodes: A Time to Stand, Rocks and Shoals, Sons and Daughters, Behind the Lines, Favor the Bold, Sacrifice of Angels, You Are Cordially Invited…, Resurrection, Statistical Probabilities, The Magnificent Ferengi, Waltz, Who Mourns for Morn?, Far Beyond the Stars, One Little Ship, Honor Among Thieves, Change of Heart, Wrongs Darker than Death or Night, Inquisition, In the Pale Moonlight, His Way, The Reckoning, Valiant, Profit and Lace, Time’s Orphan, The Sound of Her Voice, Tears of the Prophets. Amazon.com
Deep Space Nine’s sixth season began ambitiously with a six-part story arc devoted to the Dominion War. This was a brave move in many ways, but a sensible one too. Whereas other sci-fi shows wouldn’t commit to showing the impact of war (e.g., Babylon 5), here there were numerous visible sacrifices. Characters were frequently kidnapped and held prisoner, allowing screen time for other members of the ever-growing cast (at its peak there were as many as 18 individuals with speaking roles per episode). This year also introduced the idea of Starfleet Intelligence and its sinister Section 31; alliances were built only to crumble almost immediately; Sisko led a suicide mission and at long last his destiny as the Emissary took a serious turn.
Amid all this sturm und drang the writers felt it necessary to inject some levity. In fact, there was so much comedic sidetracking this year it actually seemed as if they were afraid of the series’ dark tone. Witness: Quark undergoing a temporary sex change, leading a Magnificent Seven-style band of Ferengi (with a cameo from Iggy Pop), Morn’s nonspeaking character being sorely missed, the blend of Troi and Guinan into ’60s crooner Vic Fontaine, and, in one fan favorite episode (”Far Beyond the Stars”), Sisko having visions of himself and the crew as 1950s staff writers on pulp magazine Incredible Tales. There were also cute reconciliations among Worf’s extended family (leading to Trek’s first cast wedding), and even the revelation of Bashir’s genetically enhanced origins quickly became a subject for easy jokes.
Any of these events would have been satisfactorily cute if the war had ended and the show had moved on. But it confused the viewer when every so often the battle would be rejoined mid-episode. The clinching proof that no grand design was really at work was in the sudden exit of Dax. Despite all the jarring humor scattered about after the strong opening, the show seemed unable to avoid reverting to shock tactics for its finale. All of which hardly made the promised final year seem a particularly enticing prospect. –Paul Tonks
Star Trek Deep Space Nine – The Complete Second Season
Oct/095
Description
26 episodes on 7 discs: The Homecoming, The Circle, The Siege, Invasive Procedures, Cardassians, Melora, Rules of Acquisition, Necessary Evil, Second Sight, Sanctuary, Rivals, The Alternate, Armageddon Game, Whispers, Paradise, Shadowplay, Playing God, Profit and Loss, Blood Oath, The Maquis Part I, The Maquis Part II, The Wire, Crossover, The Collaborator, Tribunal, The Jem’Hadar. Amazon.com
Only Kira Nerys would risk going to war over an earring. With the witty and wise second-season opener “The Homecoming,” the writers started taking chances with the direction of Deep Space Nine–and the payoffs are immediate and far-reaching. It’s the first episode in a complex trilogy involving the fate of the tenuous Bajoran Provisional Government, an extremist group called the Circle, and a legendary member of the resistance whom Sisko believes might be able to unite Bajor.
Continuing its blend of action, mystery, intergalactic politics, and religion, the second season gave prominent parts to Jadzia Dax (”Invasive Procedures,” “Playing God,” “Blood Oath”), Kira Nerys (”The Collaborator,” in which Odo gives the first sign of his feelings toward her), the Cardassian Garak (”Cardassians”), Odo (”The Alternate”), Chief O’Brien (”Whispers,” “Tribunal”), Commander Sisko (”Paradise”), and Quark (”Profit and Loss”), and Dr. Bashir developed relationships with both O’Brien (”Armageddon Game”) and Garak (”The Wire”).
Highlight episodes include the alternate-universe “Crossover,” which pays homage to the original series’ “Mirror, Mirror,” and the two-part spotlight on the Maquis (first introduced in The Next Generation), a loose-knit organization of disenfranchised Federation colonists who resort to terrorist methods to provoke a new war between the Federation and the Cardassians. By the end of season 2, the only thing DS9 lacked was a really good villain. It got three for the price of one. Turns out the Dominion (first discovered in the underappreciated Ferengi spotlight “Rules of Acquisition”) is a trinity of evil: the Founders, the Vorta, and the Jem’Hadar, those born-and-bred bad guys whose mission in life is to serve the Founders. The season-closer “The Jem’Hadar” is an intelligent, powerful episode that reveals all–and nothing–about the Dominion. –Kayla Rigney
Star Trek Deep Space Nine – The Complete Fourth Season
Oct/095
Description
STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE is set on a space station orbiting the planet Bajor. Commander Benjamin Sisko (Brooks) is in charge of a diverse crew who must fight off rival alien species who want to control DS9 because of its strategic position close to a wormhole that allows speedy travel to the far reaches of space. Season 4 includes the episodes “Broken Link” and “The Visitor,” which TV Guide included in its Top 35 Star Trek episodes ever story (Aapril 20-26, 2002). “The Visitor” was listed as the #4 favorite.Amazon.com
The fourth series of Deep Space Nine can be summed up in one word: Klingons! The show’s producers apparently felt beset from all sides. Babylon 5 was a huge hit, as was Star Trek: Voyager, the flagship of new channel UPN. Stepping up DS9’s action quotient seemed to be the answer. Time would tell, however, whether doing so via Trek’s tried-and-tested former bad guys was the best solution. Opening with a special two-hour extravaganza, the new year was immediately unfamiliar. Dennis McCarthy’s original theme–despite winning an Emmy–had been deemed too subdued. As its upbeat new rendition kicked off, the station was seen in battle and swarming with activity. Moments later, we met old/new crewmember Worf, whose sudden appearance was the result of a brewing invasive strategy by the Klingons. This initiated the first of many loyalty shifts, as the Cardassians became the victims. With plenty of re-appearances by Gowron, Kor, and Kurn, it was clear that an ongoing space opera was being crafted. Dukat revealed a tragedy-ridden daughter; Odo’s relationship with his people (and Kira) became increasingly melancholy; and even the Jem’Hadar foot soldiers were given a sympathetic angle by their drug addiction.
Adding to the layers of ambiguity about Earth’s (read: the producers’) position over being at war, was the “outing” of two recurring characters as rebel activists. Lest we forget the homely/spiritual side of the Captain, time was spent with a future version of Jake, with his father (Brock Peters), and on the nature of his role as “the Emissary.” Avery Brooks worked behind the camera a couple of times, but this year the surprise was LeVar Burton directing five shows. There was still time for comedy: the Ferengi warped back to Roswell in 1947 and Bashir played James Bond. But the year will be remembered predominately for its violence. One of the episodes Burton directed had its fight scenes drastically cut, while the series as a whole won an Emmy for its space battle effects.–Paul Tonks