Quantum Leap – The Complete Fourth Season
Dec/095
Description
Take a trip through time with the daring Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) and his hilarious hologram guide, Al (Dean Stockwell), in all 22 extraordinary, groundbreaking episodes of Quantum Leap: The Complete Fourth Season. It’s adventure like you’ve never seen, with each amazing episode from this eight-time Emmy-nominated season now digitally remastered for incredible picture quality. Journey back as Sam and Al survive a hurricane, trail a murderer, make a monkey out of themselves and even switch roles! With each “leap” into another identity, Sam hopes to find some insight into the jump that will finally take him home. And now, fans can spend more time with Sam and Al with an exclusive bonus episode from the Fifth Season. You won’t want to miss a minute of the adventure!
Star Trek Voyager – The Complete Fourth Season
Oct/095
Product Description
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 02/05/2008Amazon.com
For many fans, Voyager hit its peak in the fourth season, due in no small part to a certain former Borg drone named Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 0-1, but you can call her Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). Following the season 3 cliffhanger “Scorpion,” the crew enters an unlikely alliance with the Borg against Species 8472, led by Seven of Nine, who ends up restoring (mostly) her human roots and trying to assimilate herself among Voyager’s crew all the time feeling the pull of the Collective and resisting the mother-hen attempts of Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). While Seven’s curvaceous figure and skin-tight uniform certainly won over many fans, she was helped by a commanding presence, good writing (”So you wish to copulate?” was a classic line), and a stage that was cleared for her by the coinciding departure of one of the most prominent characters of the series.
Other significant developments of the season included the actors’ getting to stretch themselves out “Mirror, Mirror”-like as evil counterparts in “Living Witness” (also Tim Russ’s directing debut), the time- and mind-bending two-parter “Year of Hell,” a battle with 1940s Nazis in the two-part “The Killing Game,” the Doctor’s comedic sparring with a new rival in “Message in a Bottle,” the Alien-like “Prey,” and Tom Paris (Robert Duncan MacNeill) taking a personal step and switching bodies with an alien in “Vis a Vis.”
The DVD set offers the usual 20-minute season overview, crew profiles of Seven of Nine (natch) and Harry Kim (both of whom show warm appreciation for the Trek crowd), features on Species 8472 and the art of matte painting, and episode spotlights. –David Horiuchi
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
Star Trek The Next Generation – The Complete Fourth Season
Sep/095
Description
26 episodes on 7 discs: The Best of Both Worlds Part II, Family, Brothers, Suddenly Human, Remember Me, Legacy, Reunion, Future Imperfect, Final Mission, The Loss, Data’s Day, The Wounded, Devil’s Due, Clues, First Contact, Galaxy’s Child, Night Terrors, Identity Crisis, The Nth Degree, QPid, The Drumhead, Half a Life, The Host, The Mind’s Eye, In Theory, Redemption Part I. Amazon.com
Season 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation seemed like the year of family. After quickly resolving the breathtaking cliffhanger of “The Best of Both Worlds,” the show took pains to show some of what the Federation was fighting for. We meet Picard’s brother, Data’s father, Tasha’s sister, and Worf’s adoptive human parents, plus an old flame with a surprise son in tow. The Klingon heritage subplot that begins here and builds to the cliffhanger finale (”Redemption”) would continue to the show’s end and through into Worf’s reappearance in Deep Space Nine.
The year also explored the implications of Data, Lwaxana Troi, Geordi, and Dr. Crusher being in love, while Miles O’Brien (given a first name at last) married Keiko. There were old friends revisited: the ubiquitous Q in a hilarious Robin Hood romp (”Qpid”), perennial screwup Reg Barclay (”Nth Degree”), and even the mysterious Traveler from season 1’s “Where No One Has Gone Before” (played by Eric Menyuk, who was nearly cast as Data). There were new races introduced who would have an important bearing on Trek’s destiny: the Cardassians and the Trill. Most of all, though, there were the one-off stories that impressed: “Clues,” with its memory-loss mystery; “Night Terrors,” with some genuine frights; and “Identity Crisis,” with possibly the only time Trek technology really helped Geordi solve a puzzle. Then right at the end, reinforcing the year’s familial theme, Denise Crosby returned as her own half-Romulan daughter! –Paul Tonks