|
|
|
|
|
Ben Sisko - Avery Brooks Kira Nerys - Nana Visitor Ezri Dax - Nicole De Boer Odo - Rene Auberjonois Julian Bashir - Siddig El Fadil Quark - Armin Shimerman Jake Sisko - Cirroc Lofton Worf - Michael Dorn 
OTHER SEASONS Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 OTHER STAR TREK SHOWS Star Trek The Next Generation Voyager Enterprise OTHER TREKS THROUGH SPACE Babylon 5 The new Battlestar Galactica 
|
Image in the SandAfter six months of sitting in his father's restaurant, Ben Sisko finally gets a message from the prophets in the shape of a vision of a face in the sand. That face proves to be the face of his mother, but also might lead to a new orb, the Orb of the Emissary, that might just open the wormhole again. On the station, Major Kira welcomes a new and seemingly different Romulan officer aboard, but soon finds that the Romulans are a people for whom deceit and betrayal are too much of a way of life. What starts off as an exercise in self-pity turns into an exercise in the Bajoran mysticism that somehow has never quite gelled throughout the show and then finally descends into a soap opera of truly galactic proportions. Unfortunately it is dull in all three stages. At least events on the station are a bit more interesting as the crew realise that Worf needs to assure Jadzia's entry into Klingon heaven by gaining her a great victory and the arrival of the Romulan who you just know is going to prove that leopard spots are as permanent as they come. But the trump card is left right to the end with the arrival of an old friend in a new guise. TopShadows and SymbolsWhen the Romulans refuse to remove the weapons that they have installed on Bajor's moon, Kira orders a blockade of Bajoran ships, ships that can't possibly stand up to the fleet of warbirds that is descending upon them. Ben, meanwhile has to cope with finding a new orb, getting a distracting vision and dealing with a whole new Dax all at the same time. The mission to get Jadzia's soul into Klingon heaven gets underway. There are a whole number of stories going on here, so the pace certainly doesn't dip at any point because it really doesn't have time to. Benjamin Sisko has to search for an orb that really isn't hidden very well (two feet under some sand?) and is then whisked off to a vision that is sourced from Far Beyond the Stars, but which mainly confuses matters further. Just to ensure that the Bajoran mysticism gets even more opaque, he learns that his mother was really possessed by one of the Prophets in order to ensure that he was born. If that doesn't give him a swelled head then nothing will. Whilst all this is going on, Kira and Odo are staring down the gun barrels of a dozen Romulan warbirds. This goes exactly as you might expect, but that doesn't mean it doesn't get a bit tense there for a while. Add on top of that the mission to get Jadzia's soul into Stovokor, which requires nothing less than blowing up half a star with a single ship, and there's more than enough action to go around. But it's the arrival of Ezri Dax that really attracts attention, and a more different Dax you couldn't imagine. Though she contains the memories of her previous host, she has none of the characteristics, but Nicole DeBoer does a fine job of putting enough of Terry Farrell in there to convince that she might just be Jadzia's heir. TopAfterimageEzri was joined to the Dax symbiont without any of the years of training that normally prepares a new host. As a result, she is swamped by memories and personalities and is having a hard enough time sorting it all out for herself without the rest of the crew making life worse by not being able to figure out how to deal with her. The fact that Worf, Jadzia's husband, is still about isn't making life any easier and then Garak starts to have convulsions and the only person with the qualifications to help him is the equally confused Ezri. When a franchise has reached the tail end of its third incarnation it can be allowed episodes that concentrate solely on the inner life of a character. Usually, however, when STAR TREK does this it ends up being rather dull. Fortunately, that rule is diminished somewhat here by the interesting dichotomy of the Trill. A new host, but the same symbiont means that Ezri isn't Jadzia, but in many ways she is. That makes the reactions of the crew, and Ezri herself, understandable and believable. This is helped by the immediately attractive performance from Nicole DeBoer as the newcomer. What is less impressive is the simplistic psychological story that is played out with Garak, one of our favourite characters. If mental problems were this simple to sort out then the world would be a much easier place to live in. TopTake Me Out to the HolosuiteAn arrogant Vulcan rival of Ben Sisko's comes to the station and challenges him to a game of baseball in the Holosuite. He accepts, of course, and sets about building a team to beat the vulcans, but perhaps it's not the winning the matters, but the taking part. In the middle of the Dominion war, the crew of the station take two weeks out to prepare for a game of baseball? This episode is slight, silly, disposable and utterly, utterly charming. Though it makes little sense logically it makes all kinds of sense emotionally and that, of course, is the point. It's funny and warm and about as engaging as the show has ever been. For pure entertainment value and nothing more, this is as good as the show gets. TopChrysalisDoctor Bashir helps to cure a female patient of a condition that has kept her locked inside her own mind. As he introduces her to her new world, he realises that he is falling in love with her, but is it all moving too fast? Dr Bashir hasn't exactly had it easy with his love life (he even lost one girlfriend to the Ferengi Rom!) so you just know from the start that this isn't going to work out happy ever after. It takes a lot of inspiration from FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON as a starting point and then goes off on a romantic tangent that, whilst it is nice enough, doesn't tug too hard at the heartstrings. This is a direct sequel to Statistical Probabilities and so it helps if you have seen that one first, if only so that the strangeness of the genetically-enhanced-gone-wrong characters doesn't throw off the story. It is, in fact, a shame that the other three members of the oddball quartet don't have more to do as they make a nice, flamboyant set. TopTreachery, Faith and the Great RiverOne of the Weyoun cloned Vortas defects from the Dominion into Odo's hands with disturbing news that the Founders are caught in the grip of a disease that will leave Odo the last of his kind, this time permanently. On the station, meanwhile, Chief O'Brien's reputation rests in the uncertain hands of Nog. The dullest episode of Season 7 to date and the dullest one for quite some time, this involves Odo and Weyoun sat in a runabout talking a lot. The only real action is ripped off from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK as they hide their runabout in an asteroid field. The disease hitting the Founders might be a sign as to how the war is going to end, but that's yet to be seen and provides the only glimpse of interest in the whole episode. The side story of Chief O'Brien worrying about what Nog is doing is repetitive in the extreme and best left unmentioned. TopOnce More Unto the BreachKor, an old friend of Jadzia's comes to Worf asking for one last favour. He has outlived his usefulness to the Empire and wishes only to fight, but his age has made him a liability. Worf places him as an officer on a vessel where the Captain has reason to hate him, but their hit and run mission behind enemy lines goes wrong and Kor is once again able to prove his mettle. It's an old story that this episode is telling and it seems somehow irrelevant in the flow of the main plot arcs that are going on. The manufactured hatred between the Klingon captain and his new officer is artificial and never really convinces. Only the renewed glimpses into the Klingon psyche as the officers humiliate an old man who has grown infirm simply by surviving too many battles gives it any value at all. TopThe Siege of AR-558A captured Jem'Hadar communications post proves to be a focal point for fighting on a remote outpost. Ben Sisko and his away team get caught up in the fighting when a resupply mission turns into a siege and the Captain has to come up with a way of keeping the post from being overrun by the enemy. The front lines come to DEEP SPACE NINE and the Dominion war, often seeming so distant and almost forgotten, comes to the fore in a very real and immediate way. The presence of Quark in the middle of the mission is an artificial plot device that never convinces, but he brings an interesting moral slant to the proceedings as Ben sends Nog into harm's way. Ezri has to come to terms with the difference between memories of someone else's war and the battle she herself is facing. The new characters that are introduced don't have a lot of time to set themselves up to be cared about before the fighting and the dying starts, but even the established characters don't get out of this one unscathed. The firefight is impressive and manages to walk a fine line between exciting entertainment and the horror and brutality of war. Though it only touches on some of big themes of warfare, that is more than much of the rest of the time, so it is to be welcomed and enjoyed as a real step up in quality. TopCovenantKira is kidnapped from DS9 and taken to its sister station Empok Nor. There she finds old enemy Dukat leading a cult of worshippers of Pah Wraiths, enemies of the Prophets that she worships. Whilst Dukat tries to persuade her that his new religion is the true one, she tries to persuade his followers that he is using them for his own ends. Dukat is now officially bonkers. He was always evil, but now he is completely insane, wrapped up in a religius fervour that makes him more dangerous than ever. Only his twisted need for the respect and love of Kira Nerys provides an achilles heel. It is unusual for a bad guy to be given such a detailed character progression throughout a series, but then he is no ordinary bad guy and whilst the audience is never quite sure as to whether he really believes or is faking it all, that's what makes the story so interesting. TopIt's Only a Paper MoonNog comes back from the medical centres with a new leg, but an attitude problem. Despite the best efforts of his family and fiends, he just wants ot be left alone and retreats into the world of holographic nightclub singer vic Fontaine. It is a sign of how far the character of Nog, the Ferengi friend of the Captain's son, has come that he gets a whole episode to himself and it's one of the better ones. Dealing with post traumatic stress disorder and the emotional upheaval that any war veteran, let alone a crippled one, is faced with away from the fight, it starts off really well, but then loses it a bit in the cod philosophy of the holodeck singer. A story that dealt with Nog's condition in the 'real' world would have been more interesting than his retreat into the fantasy world of the holodeck proves to be. Even so, it's a credit to the show that it would even attempt to deal with such themes and there is enough that works to raise the episode above the average. TopProdigal DaughterChief O'Brien goes missing searching for a woman on an alien world and Ezri Dax is the key to getting information concerning his whereabouts. To get that information, she must return home to the family she hasn't seen in three years and face the possibility that someone there is involved the death of the missing woman. A family soap opera isn't exactly what the series needs at this point, but that's precisely what this is - a much-shortened sub DALLAS storyline that might shed a little light on the character of Ezri, but it is otherwise worthless in every single way. The story is obvious, the culprit is obvious, the family relationships are obvious and it just isn't good enough. TopThe Emperor's New CloakEzri turns up at the station, but not Ezri Dax. This Ezri comes from the mirror universe and brings news that the Grand Nagus is traped there and the price of his freedom is a cloaking device. The device is for the Regent, the mirror universe's Worf, and with it he intends to destroy Terok Nor, the stronghold of the rebel Terrans. The Mirror Universe episodes have always been fun, usually because of Nana Visitor's vamping it up as the Intendant, but the spotlight falls of Nicole DeBoer's mirror Ezri, although that does give the writers a chance to throw in some touches of lipstick lesbianism for the fanboy audience. As usual, the good guys aren't very interesting seeing as how they are very much like their equivalents and it's up to the villains to have all the panto fun. This is all complete nonsense, of course, but it is highly entertaining for the regular viewer. TopField of FireSomeone is killing off Starfleet officers in a very ingenious manner that defies dectection on the sensors. The best chance for the killer to be caught is for the investigation team to think like a cold-blooded killer. One of Dax's previous hosts was just such a killer and Ezri can call him up to assist, but will she be able to withstand his influence? It may be couched in terms of a mystery, but this is really all about the battle of wills between Ezri and the memories of her former host. It's not anything that we haven't seen before, but it's nicely done even if the solution to the mystery appears and finishes in the last few minutes in too rushed a manner. And a gun that can kill people through walls? You can bet that Starfleet will be handing those out on general issue in the fight against the Jem'Hadar. TopChimeraReturning to the station, Odo and O'Brien encounter a changeling, but one who is not a Founder. This changeling turns out to be like Odo, sent out into space to learn about humanoids and then return with all they have learned. Odo tries to relate to the newcomer, but he has views that are opposed to Odo's, leaving the security chief to make a choice between his life as a changeling and his life on the station. Odo has been through this story before, pretty much the first time that he encountered the Founders and they tried to persuade him to return to them. The fact that this changeling is not a Founder doesn't make it a whole lot different and the fact that Odo is now with Kira also adds only a little to the plot. TopBadda-Bing Badda-BangThere's a problem with the Vic Fontaine holosuite programme and his casino has been taken over by gangsters. Fortunately, Vic is a hologram with friends, friends who are willing to take on the task of robbing the casino in order to get Vic's place back for him. DEEP SPACE NINE does OCEAN'S ELEVEN and does it pretty well at that. It's a straight up old fashioned caper story with a bit of the STAR TREk set dressing and it plays all the better for it. Gone are the horrors and drama of the Dominion war and here is an entertaining, lively fun romp that is completely disposable, but a good time whilst its on. Even the sense of time, place and the old Rat Pack movies are summoned up for the cause. It'll leave you with a goofy smile on your face and that's even before the Captain gets up to sing. TopInter Arma Enim Silent LegesDr Bashir is asked to attend a conference on Romulus to give presentations on Dominion biogenic weapons. He is also asked by Section 31, the rogue Federation intelligence agency, to spy on one of the Romulan power brokers. When he learns that Section 31 plans to assassinate the Romulan, he is forced to go to their council with information that might end their alliance with the Federation. Anyone who has read John Le Carre's The Spy Who Came In From The Cold or has seen the film version will instantly recognise where the plot for this episode has been borrowed from. They will also be able to tell you exactly how it is going to end. For anyone else, it is an enjoyable enough piece of mystery with double crosses aplenty right down to the final revelations about who is really responsible. TopPenumbraWhislt Ezri Dax goes after a missing Worf in an area of unstable space known as the Badlands, Ben Sisko proposes to Kasidy Yates and she accepts. Their plans for a quiet wedding, however, don't take into account his position as the Emissary, or what the Prophets might think. DEEP SPACE NINE has been many things in its run, but it has rarely been dull. This, however, is just that. Ben talks about building a house, proposes, asks his son to be best man....and the audience falls asleep. When the episode ends, it becomes apparent very quickly that this is a set up for a longer plot arc, but that is no excuse for this level of boredom. TopTill Death Us Do PartImprisoned and tortured by the Breen, Ezri and Worf confront their feelings for each other, and for others not present. On the station, Ben struggles to decide what he must do after being told that he should not marry his intended. Kai Winn gets a vision from the Prophets that warns of a coming messenger - Gul Dukat in Bajoran form. The second part of this story pretty much goes back over the same ground as did the first part. Aside from Ben's 'should he/shouldn't he' dilemma there isn't anything new here. Ezri and Worf continue to have the same argument for a whole episode and it just gets tedious. Kai Winn's seduction by Gul Dukat turns out to be the most interesting strand of what appears to be a running story and, true to form, when the Bajoran religion is at the centre of the story, the story gets dull. TopStrange BedfellowsDamar learns that the alliance between the Breen and the Dominion comes at the cost of Cardassian holdings and is not happy. Ezri and Worf finally come to terms with each other as their execution approaches and Kai Winn learns that her visions weren't sent by the Prophets, but rather by the Pah Wraiths. As the story stretches into its third episode, patience is being stretched thin. Whilst Kai Winn's seduction to the dark side of the force, sorry we mean the Pah Wraiths of course, is completed and the jailbirds finally sort out their feelings for each other the audience's attention wanders and we are left wondering how what could have been quite a tight single episode has been increased to a bloated three. And it's not over yet. TopThe Changing Face of EvilThe Breen stage an attack on Starfleet Headquarters on Earth, undermining confidence. The Federation needs a victory fast and believe that they have found the way to get it, but the Breen annihilate their fleet. Support comes from surprising source, whilst Dukat and the Kai discover the way to release the Pah Wraiths from their prison. A huge space battle is usually the sign of a great episode, but not in this case. The story continues to lumber forward without real progress, though it is gaining in portent as the strands slowly wind themselves together on their way to what promises to be a cracking finale. Unfortunately, because that is still some way off, we get the glacial pace of recent episodes. Thank goodness, then, for big space battles and some nicely judged comic moments with Worf scorning Ezri's feelings for Dr Bashir. TopWhen It RainsKira and Odo go undercover to help the Cardassian military become a force of resistance fighters. Odo starts to manifest symptoms of the disease attacking the Founders, leading Dr Bashir to make some disturbing discoveries surrounding the origin of the plague. The long, slow build up to the season finale continues at its long, slow pace. This episode is much more obvious in the amount of filler that it contains with Odo and Kira facing Cardassian prejudice even whilst trying to help, Dr Bashir trying to get hold of information and Chancellor Gowron trying to take over the running of the Klingon war effort. Nothing actually happens in the whole episode, merely the placing of pawns around the table. It verges of boring. TopTacking Into the WindThe Cardassian resistance mounts a desperate mission to gain a working example of the Breen energy-suppressing weaponry, but can they succeed where they can't even get along with each other? With Gowron now running the Klingon war effort and causing a series of disastrous defeats in order to weaken General Martok politically, Worf finds himself force into direct action. With the action split between several storylines, this episode feels a bit patchy and uneven, but whilst the Breen technology theft story is a fairly standard one, the political infighting once again adds depth to the show's examination of the Klingon political system and its shortcomings, also giving more depth to the characters of Worf and Martok. TopExtreme MeasuresWith Odo on the very edge of death, O'Brien and Dr Bashir lure Section 31 contact Sloane into a trap, but he attempts suicide to evade them. In one last desperate effort, they go inside his mind to try and find out what he knows about the cure for Odo's disease, but it is not a secret that he is willing to give up easily. Taking a trip inside the mind of someone else is an old standard tale and gets used in almost every science fiction show at some point, and has cropped up in the STAR TREK franchise on more than one occasion. This time around, it makes for a perfectly acceptable, though far from insipired, episode that contains a nice twist about two thirds of the way through and benefits from the return of William Sadler's Sloane. TopThe Dogs of WarThe Dominion wipe out the Cardassian rebellion, but Kira finds a way to turn that their advantage in fomenting a genuine revolution. Sisko takes receipt of a new Defiant class warship and gets some surprising news on a personal level. Dr Bashir and Ezri finally sort out their feelings towards each other and Quark is offered the position as the new Grand Nagus of Ferenginar. The end is coming and it is obvious from the number of plot strands being tied up that the season finale is only an episode away. This is all about setting up the finale and as a result is far from satisfying, but it does have Quark being sucked up to by his nemesis to enjoy. Otherwise, we could have skipped right past this and got on with the business at hand, the final assault on Cardassian space. TopWhat You Leave Behind You - Part 1The Federation/Klingon/Romulan alliance attacks Cardassian space. The battle is huge and the allies are losing to Dominion forces when the Cardassian ships change sides. There is a calm before the storm where all of the characters are given their quiet moment and then the battle commences. And it's huge. Spaceships explode all over the place and it is all very impressive, even if it does keep getting interrupted by Kai Winn and Gul Dukat attempting the raise the Pah Wraiths. It's all action on the ground and in the air, barely stopping long enough to take a breath before plunging into the next action sequence. If there's a fault, other than the fire cave interruptions, it is that the Alliance ships seem to be the only ones being blown up. More even carnage would have seemed more effective. TopWhat You Leave Behind You - Part 2The rebels on Cardassia, having taken Dominion headquarters, fail to persuade the Founder to surrender. Odo, however managest that and the war is over. For the crew of Deep Space 9, however, life moves onwards and upwards. For Ben Sisko, however, there is one task that the Prophets still require him to achieve, a task that will save the Celestial Temple, but might take his life. The last ever episode of DEEP SPACE NINE and it turns out to be an anticlimax after the heady action heights of Part 1. That's because the show left too much to sort out in the last episode even with the main plot string - the Dominion War - is effectively over in the first five minutes. Where other shows have taken their final bow with a whole episode based on saying goodbye and others have left it merely to the last line, DEEP SPACE NINE tries to have it both ways, combining a plangent farewell to each and every important character (with the ignoble exceptions of Garak and Jadzia Dax, but then she's dead) whilst still trying to shoehorn in the resolution to the release of the Pah Wraith story. As a result, neither of them comes off as well as they should. The Pah Wraith story, after such a long build up over the last few weeks, is a severe let down. It is by turns predictable, ridiculous and rushed. Only the fact that both Kai Winn and Dukat finally meet the fates they deserve gives it any sort of semblance of satisfaction. As to the wallowing in tearful goodbyes - well we got off to a rocky start with this crew way back in Season 1, but we have since come to respect and love them and it is sad to finally see them go. One person we won't be sad to see the back of, however, is James Darren's singing hologram. Top |
|
|
|
If this page was useful to you please sign our 
