****
As a season finale, "In the Hands of the Prophets" is a little unconventional. In a lot of ways, it's a regular episode that's another sign that Deep Space Nine was finally finding its legs, and that in itself is something to cheer, but every other finale in the series had something more dramatic to say, at least more obvious. Then again, perhaps the episode does exactly what it's supposed to. Well, let's have a closer look.
Keiko O'Brien, stalwart wife of Chief O'Brien, is finally starting to feel like she's not completely out of place on the station, having opened a school on the Promenade and accepted any student who wishes to attend. Earlier in the season it was a struggle just to get Nog, Jake Sisko's Ferengi friend, to take regular classes. Now she's got Bajoran kids in the classroom. This is a problem, because Keiko has to navigate certain beliefs, such as what exactly the wormhole aliens are. To Bajorans, they're the Prophets, the central tenet of their religion. To Starfleet, they're simply noncorporeal beings.
Okay, so this becomes a sticking issue for ambitious Bajoran politicians, especially Vedek (later Kai) Winn, who makes her first appearance in the episode, as does Vedek Bareil, the more moderate voice who becomes a recurring love interest for Kira. Winn escalates the situation into a whole fiasco, forcing everyone to the mat, including Sisko, whose posting at the station is supposed to help smooth Bajor's transition into stability and readiness to enter the Federation. It is quickly proving to be exactly the opposite.
Considering that the first three episodes of the second season are an extended Bajoran crisis, "In the Hands of the Prophets" has a great deal more significance than it can sometimes seem. This may be due to the fact that most fans found Bajoran problems to be exceedingly tedious. In later seasons, Bajoran affairs practically become invisible, and not just because Dominion concerns lead to an extended war arc. The first season finale is perhaps the statement of a series that would undergo a somewhat radical transition, and so any ongoing perception of its impact may become malleable, when the truth is at the time of its original airing, "Prophets" could not have been more important, both to that moment in the series and for the series in general.
Deep Space Nine was meant to accomplish a lot of things, and one of them was to explore the original intentions of Star Trek in a dynamic and new way. This is one of those episodes that provides that potential any number of unexpected benefits. The theme of faith and science did not ultimately receive a lot of traction, so this is in that sense an experience that still stands out as unique, even though there are many other elements floating about so that you don't have to think of "Prophets" strictly as a morality play.
Coming off the heels of "Duet," "Prophets" will always seem like something of a letdown, but in its own way, it's just as noteworthy, and just as enduring an episode for anyone looking to examine the long-term development of the series.
So yes, one of the things you begin to realize about Deep Space Nine is that you can learn something important about the series in every episode, if it's done right. Finally we're at the point where the show itself seems to have learned that. If nothing else, that's a fine note to end a season on.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Louise Fletcher (Winn)
Philip Anglim (Bareil)
Rosalind Chao (Keiko)
Memory Alpha summary.
The internet’s only comprehensive fan source for the complete film and television experience.
Showing posts with label Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 1. Show all posts
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Deep Space Nine 1x19 "Duet"
****
One of the most justifiably, universally praised episodes in the entire franchise, "Duet" is a fascinating exploration of the limits of moral responsibility.
Kira becomes involved in the case of a Cardassian accused of being one of the worst war criminals of the Occupation. Being a lifetime member of the Resistance, she can easily be identified as someone with a vested interest in seeing Cardassians get what's coming to them. She was a terrorist, freedom fighter, and patriot all rolled into one.
Except life on the station and in the aftermath of Bajorans regaining control of their own lives has complicated her worldview. The old Kira probably would have assumed the Cardassian was guilty and never given it a second thought, condemned him on the spot. Yet a man who is doing everything to accept his fate forces Kira to reexamine everything she's assumed, not just in his case but throughout her entire life. Something just isn't right.
I don't want to spoil "Duet" for you if you've never seen it, but suffice to say it's one of the most complex episodes of any Star Trek. There have been numerous other, very similar efforts, from Next Generation's "The Defector" to Voyager's "Jetrel," and perhaps even Enterprise's "Stratagem," but "Duet" still holds the high-water mark for piercing ambiguity. Kira's journey during it is not only a defining one for her, but for the entire series. In short, this is the one episode that finally cracks the formula of what Deep Space Nine was supposed to be like from the start.
Maybe you want to think of "Duet" in that big sense, and maybe that's a little much, and may actually explain why so few Star Trek fans have rallied around the series. Despite the fact that those who love it really love it, Deep Space Nine still has the same amount of overall approval as the two later series that most fans will only admit to hating. With the original series, and certainly for its time (even as sci-fi television was perhaps best defined by The Twilight Zone, a series Deep Space Nine might be said to be patterned after), good was good and evil was evil, and it was unusual to blur the lines of these distinctions. Next Generation kept that model for the most part (hence the signature, faceless foe known as the Borg), but right from the start, Deep Space Nine took a different tack, and "Duet" is the moment where everything came together.
For a young series, it's an incredibly mature episode. It's arguably the moment Kira stopped being a surrogate for the character she was created to replace (Ro) and instead came into her own. Yes, it's another moment in the first season where she's forced to question her assumptions, but it's the first time she's doing it with a Cardassian, looking at an issue and suddenly finding a whole new perspective. That's what most of the characters in the series struggled to find, and "Duet" is the first time one of them is successful.
Whatever reason you yourself will find, "Duet" will leave an impression on you. It's Deep Space Nine in a nutshell.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Marc Alaimo
Memory Alpha summary.
One of the most justifiably, universally praised episodes in the entire franchise, "Duet" is a fascinating exploration of the limits of moral responsibility.
Kira becomes involved in the case of a Cardassian accused of being one of the worst war criminals of the Occupation. Being a lifetime member of the Resistance, she can easily be identified as someone with a vested interest in seeing Cardassians get what's coming to them. She was a terrorist, freedom fighter, and patriot all rolled into one.
Except life on the station and in the aftermath of Bajorans regaining control of their own lives has complicated her worldview. The old Kira probably would have assumed the Cardassian was guilty and never given it a second thought, condemned him on the spot. Yet a man who is doing everything to accept his fate forces Kira to reexamine everything she's assumed, not just in his case but throughout her entire life. Something just isn't right.
I don't want to spoil "Duet" for you if you've never seen it, but suffice to say it's one of the most complex episodes of any Star Trek. There have been numerous other, very similar efforts, from Next Generation's "The Defector" to Voyager's "Jetrel," and perhaps even Enterprise's "Stratagem," but "Duet" still holds the high-water mark for piercing ambiguity. Kira's journey during it is not only a defining one for her, but for the entire series. In short, this is the one episode that finally cracks the formula of what Deep Space Nine was supposed to be like from the start.
Maybe you want to think of "Duet" in that big sense, and maybe that's a little much, and may actually explain why so few Star Trek fans have rallied around the series. Despite the fact that those who love it really love it, Deep Space Nine still has the same amount of overall approval as the two later series that most fans will only admit to hating. With the original series, and certainly for its time (even as sci-fi television was perhaps best defined by The Twilight Zone, a series Deep Space Nine might be said to be patterned after), good was good and evil was evil, and it was unusual to blur the lines of these distinctions. Next Generation kept that model for the most part (hence the signature, faceless foe known as the Borg), but right from the start, Deep Space Nine took a different tack, and "Duet" is the moment where everything came together.
For a young series, it's an incredibly mature episode. It's arguably the moment Kira stopped being a surrogate for the character she was created to replace (Ro) and instead came into her own. Yes, it's another moment in the first season where she's forced to question her assumptions, but it's the first time she's doing it with a Cardassian, looking at an issue and suddenly finding a whole new perspective. That's what most of the characters in the series struggled to find, and "Duet" is the first time one of them is successful.
Whatever reason you yourself will find, "Duet" will leave an impression on you. It's Deep Space Nine in a nutshell.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Marc Alaimo
Memory Alpha summary.
Deep Space Nine 1x18 "Dramatis Personae"
*
This is probably the best of the random plots from the first season. Still, the same idea was done better by Voyager in "Worst Case Scenario."
Basically, "Dramatis Personae" artificially creates a situation where all the main characters are pushed into their most extreme behaviors, forcing the underlying tensions the series has built at least a part of its premise around to rise to the surface. In Voyager, that meant finally seeing a dramatic confrontation between the Starfleet and Maquis members of the crew via a holodeck program booby-trapped by the one Maquis who actually did exploit what some fans always assumed was inevitable (Seska). Here, it's pretty much the same, with tensions between Starfleet and Bajoran personnel bubbling to crisis.
Now, some of this might seem a little strange to fans who aren't too familiar with the early development of Deep Space Nine. They might be surprised to learn how hostile Kira was to Starfleet's presence. Outside of this episode, it was really only apparent in the pilot; otherwise, other than the difference in uniform she became such a loyal collaborator with Starfleet that she might as well have been a member. This is not a criticism of the series, but rather a way to explain what exactly this episode is supposed to accomplish.
In short, "Dramatis Personae" was almost an anachronism from its original airdate. In a way, this is exactly the kind of episode that would have driven fans crazy in a different Star Trek, or pointed out things they wished had been happening all along. Heck, this one may actually be the reason Deep Space Nine was the first of the franchise black sheep.
Anyway, a couple things worth pointing out. Odo is at the center of this story, being the typical individual unaffected by the weird things going on (which could also make this a fine episode to watch if you like that kind of Star Trek adventure), though I have no particularly strong memories of this being significant to the character one way or another. Also, one of the quirks Sisko develops leads him to building an intricate clock, which can still be seen in his office well past this episode, and it foreshadows his ability and interest, even while not under the influence, to build a Bajoran solar ship in "Explorers" two seasons later. So there are a couple of ways to view this episode as more significant than it really is, but I don't want to exaggerate its worth.
Have a look at it and judge for yourself.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
This is probably the best of the random plots from the first season. Still, the same idea was done better by Voyager in "Worst Case Scenario."
Basically, "Dramatis Personae" artificially creates a situation where all the main characters are pushed into their most extreme behaviors, forcing the underlying tensions the series has built at least a part of its premise around to rise to the surface. In Voyager, that meant finally seeing a dramatic confrontation between the Starfleet and Maquis members of the crew via a holodeck program booby-trapped by the one Maquis who actually did exploit what some fans always assumed was inevitable (Seska). Here, it's pretty much the same, with tensions between Starfleet and Bajoran personnel bubbling to crisis.
Now, some of this might seem a little strange to fans who aren't too familiar with the early development of Deep Space Nine. They might be surprised to learn how hostile Kira was to Starfleet's presence. Outside of this episode, it was really only apparent in the pilot; otherwise, other than the difference in uniform she became such a loyal collaborator with Starfleet that she might as well have been a member. This is not a criticism of the series, but rather a way to explain what exactly this episode is supposed to accomplish.
In short, "Dramatis Personae" was almost an anachronism from its original airdate. In a way, this is exactly the kind of episode that would have driven fans crazy in a different Star Trek, or pointed out things they wished had been happening all along. Heck, this one may actually be the reason Deep Space Nine was the first of the franchise black sheep.
Anyway, a couple things worth pointing out. Odo is at the center of this story, being the typical individual unaffected by the weird things going on (which could also make this a fine episode to watch if you like that kind of Star Trek adventure), though I have no particularly strong memories of this being significant to the character one way or another. Also, one of the quirks Sisko develops leads him to building an intricate clock, which can still be seen in his office well past this episode, and it foreshadows his ability and interest, even while not under the influence, to build a Bajoran solar ship in "Explorers" two seasons later. So there are a couple of ways to view this episode as more significant than it really is, but I don't want to exaggerate its worth.
Have a look at it and judge for yourself.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Deep Space Nine 1x17 "The Forsaken"
****
One of the key episodes of the first season was also another one to revisit a familiar Next Generation face. Unlike what might have seemed somewhat gratuitous in other instances, however, "The Forsaken" marks another of Deep Space Nine's maturing points in its formative development.
Now, stop me if you've heard this one: Lwaxana Troi stops by and makes things uncomfortable. The thing is, it's almost as if she's a completely different character. The difference, as Q demonstrated previously, is that she really is in a different series. Where Picard (and others, including her own daughter) only ever got around to tolerating her, Lwaxana finds an unexpected match in Odo, the shapeshifter noted for keeping his own company, a self-imposed alienation. As it turns out, that's something Lwaxana knows a thing or two about, and their budding relationship in this episode alone is a revelation, and a delightful wonder.
The episode's ability to take a commodity as familiar as Lwaxana and fully envelope her in the show's emerging mentality is its most intriguing element, but the rest of it also allows everyone else to relax into what would become a more regular and steady interpretation of what life on a space station could be like. Sure, computer malfunctions caused by rogue sentience and unruly ambassadors had been in Star Trek before, but "The Forsaken" helps make them feel natural in a new and entirely befitting setting. In short, this is an early episode that finally helped things coalesce.
Of course, what truly makes it memorable is Lwaxana and Odo, and if you only watch it for these scenes, you're in for quite a treat. Mrs. Troi makes two additional appearances in the series, and as enjoyable as they are, they still have a hard time living up to "The Forsaken." For a season that struggled a great deal to find a steady tone, that's quite a mark of distinction.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Majel Barrett
Memory Alpha summary
One of the key episodes of the first season was also another one to revisit a familiar Next Generation face. Unlike what might have seemed somewhat gratuitous in other instances, however, "The Forsaken" marks another of Deep Space Nine's maturing points in its formative development.
Now, stop me if you've heard this one: Lwaxana Troi stops by and makes things uncomfortable. The thing is, it's almost as if she's a completely different character. The difference, as Q demonstrated previously, is that she really is in a different series. Where Picard (and others, including her own daughter) only ever got around to tolerating her, Lwaxana finds an unexpected match in Odo, the shapeshifter noted for keeping his own company, a self-imposed alienation. As it turns out, that's something Lwaxana knows a thing or two about, and their budding relationship in this episode alone is a revelation, and a delightful wonder.
The episode's ability to take a commodity as familiar as Lwaxana and fully envelope her in the show's emerging mentality is its most intriguing element, but the rest of it also allows everyone else to relax into what would become a more regular and steady interpretation of what life on a space station could be like. Sure, computer malfunctions caused by rogue sentience and unruly ambassadors had been in Star Trek before, but "The Forsaken" helps make them feel natural in a new and entirely befitting setting. In short, this is an early episode that finally helped things coalesce.
Of course, what truly makes it memorable is Lwaxana and Odo, and if you only watch it for these scenes, you're in for quite a treat. Mrs. Troi makes two additional appearances in the series, and as enjoyable as they are, they still have a hard time living up to "The Forsaken." For a season that struggled a great deal to find a steady tone, that's quite a mark of distinction.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Majel Barrett
Memory Alpha summary
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Deep Space Nine 1x16 "If Wishes Were Horses"
**
I suppose in some alternate version of Deep Space Nine, perhaps one that only lasted three seasons, like the original series, "If Wishes Were Horses" might be more significant. It's perhaps more like an original series episode than just about any other Star Trek.
The problem in the long run is that it's not like a Deep Space Nine episode, at least not in comparison to the vast majority of the show's seven seasons.
You could call it "Shore Leave" and some of the more casual fans won't be able to tell the difference. The one element that more committed fans will still care about is the appearance of Buck Bokai, who was an early manifestation of Sisko's love for baseball, supposedly the last great player the game ever saw. Bokai's significance ends with his appearance here (Sisko's girlfriend and eventual wife, Kassidy Yates, has a brother who still plays baseball, the whole crew played it in the seventh season, and of course there's the ball that's always on Sisko's desk, all things that ultimately mean more than Buck Bokai), but his presence was a rare instance of Star Trek trying to build something of a history for its own future without worrying about world wars and warp drives. Making an appearance in one of the more naive episodes in the most naive season of the series is not a way to be remembered by anyone but the most dedicated viewers. Still, you might consider Bokai to be the forerunner to Vic Fontaine, the holosuite lounge singer who became such a significant feature of the final two seasons.
All considered, though, you can skip this episode except as another odd tribute to a version of Star Trek that Deep Space Nine was never supposed to be. There's a lot of sweet character moments, including the always charming Molly O'Brien, and a truly embarrassing moment or two for Bashir that only serves to further emphasize how much he needs to grow, but you wish that the series didn't have to find them in a premise like this.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
I suppose in some alternate version of Deep Space Nine, perhaps one that only lasted three seasons, like the original series, "If Wishes Were Horses" might be more significant. It's perhaps more like an original series episode than just about any other Star Trek.
The problem in the long run is that it's not like a Deep Space Nine episode, at least not in comparison to the vast majority of the show's seven seasons.
You could call it "Shore Leave" and some of the more casual fans won't be able to tell the difference. The one element that more committed fans will still care about is the appearance of Buck Bokai, who was an early manifestation of Sisko's love for baseball, supposedly the last great player the game ever saw. Bokai's significance ends with his appearance here (Sisko's girlfriend and eventual wife, Kassidy Yates, has a brother who still plays baseball, the whole crew played it in the seventh season, and of course there's the ball that's always on Sisko's desk, all things that ultimately mean more than Buck Bokai), but his presence was a rare instance of Star Trek trying to build something of a history for its own future without worrying about world wars and warp drives. Making an appearance in one of the more naive episodes in the most naive season of the series is not a way to be remembered by anyone but the most dedicated viewers. Still, you might consider Bokai to be the forerunner to Vic Fontaine, the holosuite lounge singer who became such a significant feature of the final two seasons.
All considered, though, you can skip this episode except as another odd tribute to a version of Star Trek that Deep Space Nine was never supposed to be. There's a lot of sweet character moments, including the always charming Molly O'Brien, and a truly embarrassing moment or two for Bashir that only serves to further emphasize how much he needs to grow, but you wish that the series didn't have to find them in a premise like this.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Deep Space Nine 1x15 "Progress"
****
"Progress" is the first time the first season of Deep Space Nine made it known that ordinary brilliance was possible. In terms of importance, it was eclipsed a few episodes later by "Duet." But it's an experience that in its own way is just as essential.
Kira was a hothead who loathed her assignment working with Starfleet to normalize things for her fellow Bajorans. She believed her own people could figure it out on their own, crawling from the wreckage of the resistance fought for decades against the Cardassians. She naively believed that the Bajorans would be able to settle their own affairs.
"Progress" was her best indication to this point that this was simply not going to be the case. She's assigned to help an old man relocate after it's deemed his land will be more valuable used for things other than what he's been doing with it. Surprising to Kira is the fact that the old man doesn't want to leave his home, no matter what others think. She spends the whole episode trying to figure out how to deal with the old man's stubbornness.
It's all about the moral complexities inherent in sticking around the same place and dealing with the same problems. That's what the series was supposed to accomplish from the start. As Bajoran episodes go, this one plays it safe by keeping Kira firmly at the center of the story, no religious matters required, no soft-spoken figures threatening to put the audience to sleep. This is an episode that could only happen and work on Deep Space Nine. Other series have ambiguities to handle, but they get to leave at the end of the episode. Everything begins to change for Kira as a result of "Progress."
Strangely enough, though the title might be considered cynical, the episode isn't, and that's a tone the series miraculously managed to maintain throughout its run.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
"Progress" is the first time the first season of Deep Space Nine made it known that ordinary brilliance was possible. In terms of importance, it was eclipsed a few episodes later by "Duet." But it's an experience that in its own way is just as essential.
Kira was a hothead who loathed her assignment working with Starfleet to normalize things for her fellow Bajorans. She believed her own people could figure it out on their own, crawling from the wreckage of the resistance fought for decades against the Cardassians. She naively believed that the Bajorans would be able to settle their own affairs.
"Progress" was her best indication to this point that this was simply not going to be the case. She's assigned to help an old man relocate after it's deemed his land will be more valuable used for things other than what he's been doing with it. Surprising to Kira is the fact that the old man doesn't want to leave his home, no matter what others think. She spends the whole episode trying to figure out how to deal with the old man's stubbornness.
It's all about the moral complexities inherent in sticking around the same place and dealing with the same problems. That's what the series was supposed to accomplish from the start. As Bajoran episodes go, this one plays it safe by keeping Kira firmly at the center of the story, no religious matters required, no soft-spoken figures threatening to put the audience to sleep. This is an episode that could only happen and work on Deep Space Nine. Other series have ambiguities to handle, but they get to leave at the end of the episode. Everything begins to change for Kira as a result of "Progress."
Strangely enough, though the title might be considered cynical, the episode isn't, and that's a tone the series miraculously managed to maintain throughout its run.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Deep Space Nine 1x14 "The Storyteller"
**
"The Storyteller" is closer to what the first season of Deep Space Nine should have been doing than some other episodes I can think of. It's basically a filler that doesn't push the series narrative too far, other than being the first time Bashir and O'Brien share an adventure, and features the Bajorans as pretty much the aliens of the week.
Okay, so the first pairing of Bashir and O'Brien is pretty huge. It's not the best of the early adventures for the two (that would be "Armageddon Game" from the second season), but it's better even on that front than too many other episodes from the season, where you really don't have to watch them to be a fan of the rest of the series. It's the first link of one of the major pieces of continuity that Deep Space Nine became so famous for, at least within its own fanbase.
The Bajorans, when featured in an episode, were more often than not subject to fairly dry political maneuvering (other than Vulcans, Bajorans are the Star Trek species least likely to express themselves in something other than hushed tones, unless your name is Kira or Ro). "The Storyteller" is an exception to that rule, and I think an overlooked one. It really has no significance to anything else ever done with the Bajorans, featuring a village with a fairly typical Star Trek problem of being tormented by some weird phenomenon. While spirituality, a common Bajoran theme, is prevalent, it's not the same as the usual Prophets thing that comes up almost every other time.
Instead we have our series regulars having to handle the situation for the hapless villagers, and figuring out that the problem isn't what it seems. Again, pretty standard franchise material.
The truly redeeming factor, again, is that it has so much greater relevance the longer you watch the series. It's the first time since Bashir met Garak that the good doctor has truly come across a relationship that means something, and as such is a good indication that he's going to learn that it isn't the strange wonders he gets to encounter at a posting as exotic as the station (as he originally believed) but the people he meets while he's there that will truly define him. Since it's more a viewer's implication than something that is made explicit in the episode, I won't mark "The Storyteller" as overtly relevant to the series as a whole, even though that's exactly what eventually makes Deep Space Nine so compelling, and something that writers begin to embrace in the next season.
Still, if you want to see the true potential of the show, this is an episode worth considering.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Deep Space Nine 1x13 "Battle Lines"
**
This is another episode where if fate had pushed the series in a few different directions, it would be more significant today. If you must now, this is the final appearance of the one Bajoran everyone could love.
Introduced in the pilot, Kai Opaka was Sisko's window into the mystic world of his new assignment. She was an instantly soothing personality, and would no doubt have been a welcome presence for the rest of the series. Instead, SPOILER ALERT, she dies in this episode and is reborn, but stuck on a peculiar planet for the rest of her life.
In a way, "Battle Lines" is a startlingly mature effort that betrays the innocence that pervades much of the rest of the season, and a clear indication that life truly will be difficult for Sisko and the rest of the residents of the station and surrounding region. It is also, in a less generous estimation, an incredibly immature move by a young series, in an episode that barely does the character justice. In that sense, and in many ways, this is a fairly generic Star Trek episode, the judgment of war, but it's a curious crossroads where I want to give "Battle Lines" due credit, but also temper your expectations. It could have been better, could have been more profound, as the character of Kai Opaka demanded. Another way to express my disappointment is that one of the show's best recurring characters is killed off thirteen episodes into the series, and to put that into a specific context, this is a series that was almost as much defined by its recurring as by its main characters, specifically how well we got to know them. We didn't really get to know Opaka.
Oh, and her successor is Kai Winn, an unintentional (at least to her own thinking) villain, basically her mirror opposite. Some fans grew tired of Bajoran episodes, too much meditation of politics and religion. I think that Opaka could have struck a better balance than, say, Vedek Bareil, Kira's doomed love for the first three seasons. She was Deep Space Nine's Guinan (the bartender from Next Generation), an absolutely moral figure in an ambiguous universe.
Well, perhaps all that makes her fate in "Battle Lines" all the more paradoxically appropriate. Go ahead and decide for yourself.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Camille Saviola
Memory Alpha summary.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Camille Saviola
Memory Alpha summary.
Deep Space Nine 1x12 "Vortex"
**
"Vortex" is an episode that would have far greater importance if the series had not last so many seasons. It's one of the few entries where Odo, theoretically on a quest during the first two seasons to discover his origins, thinks he makes some progress. Of course, at the start of the third season, he finds out who his people are, and his journey is forever altered toward a more direct conflict with them, one of the few instances in Star Trek history where a central character rejects and is rejected by their own kind (even Worf had a love-hate relationship with his fellow Klingons, and Seven continued to be fascinated by the Borg even after acknowledging that they nearly wrecked her life).
Much of the plotting in "Vortex" is hopelessly convoluted, but a stranger who possibly has the answers Odo seeks leads him to interesting conclusions, and in a very roundabout way might even be said to be vindicated once the truth about his origins is revealed.
It's a fine episode to watch in its own right, and continues the trend of the odd shapeshifting constable Odo making for compelling television.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
"Vortex" is an episode that would have far greater importance if the series had not last so many seasons. It's one of the few entries where Odo, theoretically on a quest during the first two seasons to discover his origins, thinks he makes some progress. Of course, at the start of the third season, he finds out who his people are, and his journey is forever altered toward a more direct conflict with them, one of the few instances in Star Trek history where a central character rejects and is rejected by their own kind (even Worf had a love-hate relationship with his fellow Klingons, and Seven continued to be fascinated by the Borg even after acknowledging that they nearly wrecked her life).
Much of the plotting in "Vortex" is hopelessly convoluted, but a stranger who possibly has the answers Odo seeks leads him to interesting conclusions, and in a very roundabout way might even be said to be vindicated once the truth about his origins is revealed.
It's a fine episode to watch in its own right, and continues the trend of the odd shapeshifting constable Odo making for compelling television.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
Deep Space Nine 1x11 "The Nagus"
***
Deep Space Nine is a cult TV show within a cult TV show phenomenon. I'm told not all Star Trek fans love it, but the difference between the ones who do and the others who liked Voyager or Enterprise is that fans who love Deep Space Nine love it passionately. We're an entire subculture of the fanbase.
"The Nagus" is the real initiation of the show's breakout status as a mini-cult. You don't have to love Star Trek to love it. As the title implies, it's the introduction of Grand Nagus Zek, the Ferengi ruler who would make subsequent appearances in nearly every season, and thus a key component of the rich mythology that fans grew to appreciate. Although not as significant as Garak or Dukat (or ubiquitous as Morn), he's someone you love to see every times he stops by.
"The Nagus" is the second episode in a row to put the spotlight on Quark, predictably in a story about manipulation, a famous drama involving Zek's son, who never appears again. It's also a little disorienting to see Rom, Quark's brother, in this and other early appearances, since he hasn't yet maturated into his finished form (much like the rest of the series).
The other good news of the episode is that it's an early test of the friendship between Jake, Sisko's boy, and Nog, Rom's son, one of the defining relationships of the series. Maybe no one will ever mistake Deep Space Nine as the Jake & Nog show (or perhaps, consortium), but you'll be hard-pressed to find better examples of what the show was all about.
This is the first Ferengi episode, too. Even die hard fans of the series were hard-pressed to like these perennial efforts, but the true connoisseur knows them to be an essential ingredient.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Wallace Shawn
Tiny Ron
Memory Alpha summary.
Deep Space Nine is a cult TV show within a cult TV show phenomenon. I'm told not all Star Trek fans love it, but the difference between the ones who do and the others who liked Voyager or Enterprise is that fans who love Deep Space Nine love it passionately. We're an entire subculture of the fanbase.
"The Nagus" is the real initiation of the show's breakout status as a mini-cult. You don't have to love Star Trek to love it. As the title implies, it's the introduction of Grand Nagus Zek, the Ferengi ruler who would make subsequent appearances in nearly every season, and thus a key component of the rich mythology that fans grew to appreciate. Although not as significant as Garak or Dukat (or ubiquitous as Morn), he's someone you love to see every times he stops by.
"The Nagus" is the second episode in a row to put the spotlight on Quark, predictably in a story about manipulation, a famous drama involving Zek's son, who never appears again. It's also a little disorienting to see Rom, Quark's brother, in this and other early appearances, since he hasn't yet maturated into his finished form (much like the rest of the series).
The other good news of the episode is that it's an early test of the friendship between Jake, Sisko's boy, and Nog, Rom's son, one of the defining relationships of the series. Maybe no one will ever mistake Deep Space Nine as the Jake & Nog show (or perhaps, consortium), but you'll be hard-pressed to find better examples of what the show was all about.
This is the first Ferengi episode, too. Even die hard fans of the series were hard-pressed to like these perennial efforts, but the true connoisseur knows them to be an essential ingredient.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Wallace Shawn
Tiny Ron
Memory Alpha summary.
Deep Space Nine 1x10 "Move Along Home"
**
For some fans, this was one of those infamous, typical season one efforts. At first blush, it's basically an embarrassment to the rest of the series. I'd say give it another try.
Although the visitors from the other side of the wormhole are once again totally unrelated to the Dominion and toss most of the characters basically into a Holodeck Malfunction Episode, Quark is thrust into the spotlight, and does a fare job of discovering his own ambiguities. Initially introduced as a toad (what anyone would've called the Ferengi before him), Quark starts to blossom quickly, without needing to lean on the love-hate relationship with Odo, with the help of "Move Along Home," where he alone is in a position to determine the fate of his more legitimate colleagues. Sure, it's a silly situation, but it ends up making emotional sense thanks to Quark.
You don't absolutely need to watch this particular episode to see how Quark develops, but it's a good one to watch simply to enjoy the character.
And although it's distressing every time someone comes from the Gamma Quadrant during the first season and has no connection to the Dominion, the episode at least uses one of the basic elements of the series premise.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
James Lashley
Memory Alpha summary.
For some fans, this was one of those infamous, typical season one efforts. At first blush, it's basically an embarrassment to the rest of the series. I'd say give it another try.
Although the visitors from the other side of the wormhole are once again totally unrelated to the Dominion and toss most of the characters basically into a Holodeck Malfunction Episode, Quark is thrust into the spotlight, and does a fare job of discovering his own ambiguities. Initially introduced as a toad (what anyone would've called the Ferengi before him), Quark starts to blossom quickly, without needing to lean on the love-hate relationship with Odo, with the help of "Move Along Home," where he alone is in a position to determine the fate of his more legitimate colleagues. Sure, it's a silly situation, but it ends up making emotional sense thanks to Quark.
You don't absolutely need to watch this particular episode to see how Quark develops, but it's a good one to watch simply to enjoy the character.
And although it's distressing every time someone comes from the Gamma Quadrant during the first season and has no connection to the Dominion, the episode at least uses one of the basic elements of the series premise.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
James Lashley
Memory Alpha summary.
Deep Space Nine 1x9 "The Passenger"
*
For me, this is the low point of Deep Space Nine's first season, the one episode out of several outstanding efforts that seemed to try its hardest not to be relevant in any way.
(I should mention that relevance and quality are not synonymous; technically "The Passenger" is competent, but there's just no reason to care about it.)
It's one of those Star Trek episodes that see a main character possessed by some evil mind, and on that score I would traditionally rate at least "franchise" as a reason to watch, but my standards for Deep Space Nine are a little different, especially being from the first season, especially being a series that went out of its way to say it was going to be different. Sure, you can watch this one if you're simply a fan of the franchise, but there's one glaring element that helps get in your way.
It features Dr. Bashir, the young Starfleet graduate hungry for some field experience. Except the episode could have been about any of the characters, and Bashir is simply too wide-eyed at this point for something like this to have any meaning to him. He was supposed to be the guy that reality slaps in the face. This may be Star Trek, and a Star Trek staple, but it's about as far from reality as you can get. Deep Space Nine, put simply, was supposed to avoid exactly this kind of episode.
So you should probably avoid it, too.
I'm doing a slight edit to this one. It's worth noting that Odo has an intriguing B-story involving a possible Starfleet replacement and/or rival who counts as one of the show's first recurring characters. It's not as memorable as other Odo developments from the series, but it's certainly noteworthy. I've upgraded the episode's rating accordingly.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
For me, this is the low point of Deep Space Nine's first season, the one episode out of several outstanding efforts that seemed to try its hardest not to be relevant in any way.
(I should mention that relevance and quality are not synonymous; technically "The Passenger" is competent, but there's just no reason to care about it.)
It's one of those Star Trek episodes that see a main character possessed by some evil mind, and on that score I would traditionally rate at least "franchise" as a reason to watch, but my standards for Deep Space Nine are a little different, especially being from the first season, especially being a series that went out of its way to say it was going to be different. Sure, you can watch this one if you're simply a fan of the franchise, but there's one glaring element that helps get in your way.
It features Dr. Bashir, the young Starfleet graduate hungry for some field experience. Except the episode could have been about any of the characters, and Bashir is simply too wide-eyed at this point for something like this to have any meaning to him. He was supposed to be the guy that reality slaps in the face. This may be Star Trek, and a Star Trek staple, but it's about as far from reality as you can get. Deep Space Nine, put simply, was supposed to avoid exactly this kind of episode.
So you should probably avoid it, too.
I'm doing a slight edit to this one. It's worth noting that Odo has an intriguing B-story involving a possible Starfleet replacement and/or rival who counts as one of the show's first recurring characters. It's not as memorable as other Odo developments from the series, but it's certainly noteworthy. I've upgraded the episode's rating accordingly.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Deep Space Nine 1x8 "Dax"
*
"Dax" is pretty much the opposite of "A Man Alone." It's the first time since the pilot that the fact of Jadzia being a Trill is significant, and the first time since Next Generation that there're some real issues about the whole host-symbiont dynamic. It has the makings of a truly significant episode, and in many ways it is, but there are a number of things that hold it back.
One of the first is that at this point, the creators didn't really know what to do with Jadzia. This is made painfully more obvious once the second season rolls around. That season has the character written all over it. This one doesn't. "Dax" is meant to be the episode that justifies the character, and in many ways, there are almost too many parallels to "A Man Alone," in that once again, a main character finds themselves in trouble with the law, due to misunderstandings that are eventually sorted out.
It's not a bad episode to watch, but the series, and the season, end up doing this same premise better, and that's not much for praise. Still, it's a worthwhile episode to watch if you want to see some meat from a season that otherwise seems to try its best to waltz around doing anything meaningful for a few too many episodes, especially as everyone is still trying to figure out the best way to execute on their highest levels.
"Dax" is ultimately an entry that says, "not there yet."
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
"Dax" is pretty much the opposite of "A Man Alone." It's the first time since the pilot that the fact of Jadzia being a Trill is significant, and the first time since Next Generation that there're some real issues about the whole host-symbiont dynamic. It has the makings of a truly significant episode, and in many ways it is, but there are a number of things that hold it back.
One of the first is that at this point, the creators didn't really know what to do with Jadzia. This is made painfully more obvious once the second season rolls around. That season has the character written all over it. This one doesn't. "Dax" is meant to be the episode that justifies the character, and in many ways, there are almost too many parallels to "A Man Alone," in that once again, a main character finds themselves in trouble with the law, due to misunderstandings that are eventually sorted out.
It's not a bad episode to watch, but the series, and the season, end up doing this same premise better, and that's not much for praise. Still, it's a worthwhile episode to watch if you want to see some meat from a season that otherwise seems to try its best to waltz around doing anything meaningful for a few too many episodes, especially as everyone is still trying to figure out the best way to execute on their highest levels.
"Dax" is ultimately an entry that says, "not there yet."
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
Deep Space Nine 1x7 "Q-Less"
****
Arguably the most effective Deep Space Nine episode created to try and make it attractive to fans of Next Generation, the title already says most of the reason why, because it features Q.
The funny thing is, Q almost doesn't even notice that he's on the space station, because he's too busy obsessing over the other crossover character, Vash (I would argue this as being her best appearance in the franchise, possibly because that romance with Picard never really made sense and clearly was going nowhere fast), and mostly reacting to the actual main characters of the series as distractions.
His best encounter is with Sisko, though, and "Q-Less" as a result has the essential Sisko moment of the season, outside of the pilot, in which Q foolishly engages in fisticuffs with the commander, and gets to utter the line, "You hit me! Picard never hit me!" While Patrick Stewart successfully converted Picard into an action star later in Next Generation and in four movies, Sisko was already more physical in his first appearance than his predecessor ever was, willing to get down and dirty (even when reluctant about it, and rarely needing Klingons to provoke him). It wasn't even in a strictly physical sense, since few Star Trek characters (aside from Kirk, and everyone in 2009's Star Trek) are very mobile, but more in the menace in Sisko's eyes, knowing that his was a kind that was always working, not just out of necessity, but because he was always refraining from hitting someone (making his mirror universe counterpart more appropriate than most fans probably realize). Yes, he hit Q!
A lot of fans complain that "These Are the Voyages...," the final episode of Enterprise was hijacked by Next Generation. The same can be said for "Q-Less," except both episodes say far more about the series they're actually in than the guest characters who supposedly steal the show. This is about as far from a typical Q episode as you can get. As I said, he spends most of it obsessed with another guest character, which is far from unprecedented, but without going out of his way to cause mischief. Like "All Good Things...," rather, he's not the cause of the mischief, he's actually trying to prevent it. It's a grounded Q, even more than the time he became human, and it's very Deep Space Nine. Most fans dismiss this appearance, probably for the very reasons I've just explained. I argue that they make "Q-Less" essential.
As an episode of this particular series, it's one that helps put things back in perspective, perhaps for the first time since the pilot, pulling away without losing focus, but rather gaining more than it seems.
It's one that definitely deserves another look.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
John de Lancie
Jennifer Hetrick
Memory Alpha summary.
Arguably the most effective Deep Space Nine episode created to try and make it attractive to fans of Next Generation, the title already says most of the reason why, because it features Q.
The funny thing is, Q almost doesn't even notice that he's on the space station, because he's too busy obsessing over the other crossover character, Vash (I would argue this as being her best appearance in the franchise, possibly because that romance with Picard never really made sense and clearly was going nowhere fast), and mostly reacting to the actual main characters of the series as distractions.
His best encounter is with Sisko, though, and "Q-Less" as a result has the essential Sisko moment of the season, outside of the pilot, in which Q foolishly engages in fisticuffs with the commander, and gets to utter the line, "You hit me! Picard never hit me!" While Patrick Stewart successfully converted Picard into an action star later in Next Generation and in four movies, Sisko was already more physical in his first appearance than his predecessor ever was, willing to get down and dirty (even when reluctant about it, and rarely needing Klingons to provoke him). It wasn't even in a strictly physical sense, since few Star Trek characters (aside from Kirk, and everyone in 2009's Star Trek) are very mobile, but more in the menace in Sisko's eyes, knowing that his was a kind that was always working, not just out of necessity, but because he was always refraining from hitting someone (making his mirror universe counterpart more appropriate than most fans probably realize). Yes, he hit Q!
A lot of fans complain that "These Are the Voyages...," the final episode of Enterprise was hijacked by Next Generation. The same can be said for "Q-Less," except both episodes say far more about the series they're actually in than the guest characters who supposedly steal the show. This is about as far from a typical Q episode as you can get. As I said, he spends most of it obsessed with another guest character, which is far from unprecedented, but without going out of his way to cause mischief. Like "All Good Things...," rather, he's not the cause of the mischief, he's actually trying to prevent it. It's a grounded Q, even more than the time he became human, and it's very Deep Space Nine. Most fans dismiss this appearance, probably for the very reasons I've just explained. I argue that they make "Q-Less" essential.
As an episode of this particular series, it's one that helps put things back in perspective, perhaps for the first time since the pilot, pulling away without losing focus, but rather gaining more than it seems.
It's one that definitely deserves another look.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
John de Lancie
Jennifer Hetrick
Memory Alpha summary.
Deep Space Nine 1x6 "Captive Pursuit"
**
The first time we get something to visit us from the other side of the wormhole introduced in the pilot as one of the most important elements of the series, it's a little disappointing in retrospect that the creators hadn't yet come up with the concept of the Dominion (introduced properly in the second season) or that the aliens featured in "Captive Pursuit" are never seen again...
Some of this ends up making the wormhole seem like an excuse to allow the series to circumvent its own premise and still do an alien-of-the-week episode, but it's at least interesting that Miles O'Brien gets his first notable episode, trying to mediate between an abused victim of another species' sport that has stumbled into our territory, and thus allowing everyone to muse on ethics, in a way Captain Janeway would have been proud of.
That's really it, though. As representative of the series, "Captive Pursuit" comes up a little dicey, though it's the first regular episode dealing with an episodic problem unrelated directly to any of the series regulars to be worth watching. Ah, that is to say, it's a suggestion that "Babel" is not the best you'll get from this show, and that's promising indeed.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Scott MacDonald
Memory Alpha summary.
The first time we get something to visit us from the other side of the wormhole introduced in the pilot as one of the most important elements of the series, it's a little disappointing in retrospect that the creators hadn't yet come up with the concept of the Dominion (introduced properly in the second season) or that the aliens featured in "Captive Pursuit" are never seen again...
Some of this ends up making the wormhole seem like an excuse to allow the series to circumvent its own premise and still do an alien-of-the-week episode, but it's at least interesting that Miles O'Brien gets his first notable episode, trying to mediate between an abused victim of another species' sport that has stumbled into our territory, and thus allowing everyone to muse on ethics, in a way Captain Janeway would have been proud of.
That's really it, though. As representative of the series, "Captive Pursuit" comes up a little dicey, though it's the first regular episode dealing with an episodic problem unrelated directly to any of the series regulars to be worth watching. Ah, that is to say, it's a suggestion that "Babel" is not the best you'll get from this show, and that's promising indeed.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Scott MacDonald
Memory Alpha summary.
Deep Space Nine 1x5 "Babel"
*
"Babel" set a dangerous precedent for the budding series. It was the first time you didn't need to particular care for the premise to watch. Basically, if the premise of a series like Deep Space Nine, particularly in the first handful of episodes, doesn't matter in a story, then that story doesn't really matter. Yet it probably seemed like a good way to soften the moody impact early episodes had already had on fans.
"Babel" is a fairly typical franchise entry, something the creators probably thought was a good thing, but it ends up being so nonspecific that it feels like maybe the series wasn't as cutting edge as it thought it was. A malady spreads across the station, leaving everyone to speak in gibberish. That's about it. It's a little fun to watch actually develop, especially the moment Sisko realizes his son has been affected (probably the first time since the pilot that either of them have really been relevant, especially in relation to each other), but otherwise...mostly forgettable.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
"Babel" set a dangerous precedent for the budding series. It was the first time you didn't need to particular care for the premise to watch. Basically, if the premise of a series like Deep Space Nine, particularly in the first handful of episodes, doesn't matter in a story, then that story doesn't really matter. Yet it probably seemed like a good way to soften the moody impact early episodes had already had on fans.
"Babel" is a fairly typical franchise entry, something the creators probably thought was a good thing, but it ends up being so nonspecific that it feels like maybe the series wasn't as cutting edge as it thought it was. A malady spreads across the station, leaving everyone to speak in gibberish. That's about it. It's a little fun to watch actually develop, especially the moment Sisko realizes his son has been affected (probably the first time since the pilot that either of them have really been relevant, especially in relation to each other), but otherwise...mostly forgettable.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
Deep Space Nine 1x4 "A Man Alone"
****
The most shocking thing about Deep Space Nine is that as a representative of the regular outsider-looking-at-the-human-condition archetype, Odo shattered every previous and successive model. It probably didn't hurt that he truly was an outsider. Need proof? Watch "A Man Alone"
A truly shocking episode for a new series, "A Man Alone" depicts Odo's predicament in horrifying fashion. While most fans of the series will know that Odo already had a fine relationship with Kira (which would develop into something even more fine) worked really well under the Cardassians, and maintained a quasi-adversarial relationship with Quark, it's perhaps worth reminding that he was incredibly gruff, especially in the beginning, and this didn't make things any easier for him. "A Man Alone" is a detective story, but it's also Odo being accused of being the culprit and becoming a pariah on the station, where many of the residents are as unhappy to be there as Sisko was in "Emissary" (and in fact, it's one of the first times Keiko O'Brien lets her husband knows she doesn't like it there, either).
Odo eventually finds a comfortable groove, but even moreso than Voyager's Doctor, still has a bumpy ride toward theoretical happiness, certainly once he discovers where he's really from. Unlike everyone else (Data learns in the first season of Next Generation exactly who his maker was) in franchise lore, Odo's origins are a mystery that intrigues him throughout the early years of his show. "A Man Alone" is shocking, especially for Star Trek, in how it portrays him, a deeply troubled individual who finds it difficult to find allies, and still more shocking, coming so soon after the debut of the series. But this is Deep Space Nine. Things will eventually be exactly like this all the time.
It's not hard to see why the creators quickly backed off this kind of alienating storytelling, unsure if they really want to go this far after seeing where it could go. I think in many ways fan reaction to the series even today is defined by the flux of the first season. If you still can't figure out where you stand with this show, then "A Man Alone" may be entirely revelatory for you today.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
The most shocking thing about Deep Space Nine is that as a representative of the regular outsider-looking-at-the-human-condition archetype, Odo shattered every previous and successive model. It probably didn't hurt that he truly was an outsider. Need proof? Watch "A Man Alone"
A truly shocking episode for a new series, "A Man Alone" depicts Odo's predicament in horrifying fashion. While most fans of the series will know that Odo already had a fine relationship with Kira (which would develop into something even more fine) worked really well under the Cardassians, and maintained a quasi-adversarial relationship with Quark, it's perhaps worth reminding that he was incredibly gruff, especially in the beginning, and this didn't make things any easier for him. "A Man Alone" is a detective story, but it's also Odo being accused of being the culprit and becoming a pariah on the station, where many of the residents are as unhappy to be there as Sisko was in "Emissary" (and in fact, it's one of the first times Keiko O'Brien lets her husband knows she doesn't like it there, either).
Odo eventually finds a comfortable groove, but even moreso than Voyager's Doctor, still has a bumpy ride toward theoretical happiness, certainly once he discovers where he's really from. Unlike everyone else (Data learns in the first season of Next Generation exactly who his maker was) in franchise lore, Odo's origins are a mystery that intrigues him throughout the early years of his show. "A Man Alone" is shocking, especially for Star Trek, in how it portrays him, a deeply troubled individual who finds it difficult to find allies, and still more shocking, coming so soon after the debut of the series. But this is Deep Space Nine. Things will eventually be exactly like this all the time.
It's not hard to see why the creators quickly backed off this kind of alienating storytelling, unsure if they really want to go this far after seeing where it could go. I think in many ways fan reaction to the series even today is defined by the flux of the first season. If you still can't figure out where you stand with this show, then "A Man Alone" may be entirely revelatory for you today.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
Deep Space Nine 1x3 "Past Prologue"
****
So many episodes from the first season of Deep Space Nine have been lost in a void that it takes almost an act of will to pierce the fog and rediscover what exactly was accomplished in the formative development of the series.
"Past Prologue" is a prime example. It will never be mistaken for an entry from later seasons, even the first half of the second, for which it could be mistaken, yet it's one of the most important and necessary entries the creators could have contributed. You'll be astonished, once you hear what's in this one, because I doubt for most fans, even of the series, will be able to identify it by title alone (hopefully the Fan Companion can start to rehabilitate its reputation). The funny thing is, if this had been an episode of Next Generation, this wouldn't be a problem, but that's what Deep Space Nine essentially was, a whole series of episodes that would've been highlights for any other Star Trek. It was harder to appreciate this early on.
Okay, so the first thing you need to know is that it's the first appearance of Garak. This is notable in its own right, even before you're reminded that he isn't seen again until the next season, and grows to mythic status at the end of that one. But this one's just as notable as "The Wire," not only introducing the "plain, simple tailor," but his ideal relationship with the originally, incredibly naive Dr. Bashir. Those fans who only became interested in the series later on are missing out on a version of Bashir that's one of the most interesting characters in any version of the franchise, a brilliant but inexperienced, wide-eyed dreamer who is anything but ready for the DS9 experience, and is therefore all the more remarkable for surviving it entirely intact (in the third season, you begin to appreciate his rough push into maturity).
Garak could easily have been a series regular, and nearly was in later seasons, but it's worth noting that as far as anyone knew just from viewing this first season, he was a one-off character who played like no one else since Q as guest characters go. That's reason enough to give "Past Prologue" another shot, yes?
There's also the Duras Sisters, unofficial MVPs of Klingon guest stars, arguably more significant than Gowron, only eventually upstaged by DS9's own Martok. They were mainstays in Next Generation, and were blown up in Generations, and were one of several attempts by the show's creators to maintain a link from one series to another, and as always, they're worth the visit, no matter where they are.
The crux of the episode isn't even any of this! It's actually the first hard look at the pathetic state of Bajoran society, and the terrorist mentality that pervades it after decades under Cardassian Occupation. It's not really an essential Kira episode (there are two others from this season that more easily lay claim to that title) so much as a necessary look at the Bajorans, the whole reason Starfleet took on this assignment.
Like a direct answer to the pilot, "Past Prologue" is a look at the grim everyday realities of a space station, and sets up what most of the rest of the season couldn't really live up to.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Andrew Robinson
Barbara March
Gwynyth Walsh
Vaughn Armstrong
Susan Nimoy
Memory Alpha summary.
So many episodes from the first season of Deep Space Nine have been lost in a void that it takes almost an act of will to pierce the fog and rediscover what exactly was accomplished in the formative development of the series.
"Past Prologue" is a prime example. It will never be mistaken for an entry from later seasons, even the first half of the second, for which it could be mistaken, yet it's one of the most important and necessary entries the creators could have contributed. You'll be astonished, once you hear what's in this one, because I doubt for most fans, even of the series, will be able to identify it by title alone (hopefully the Fan Companion can start to rehabilitate its reputation). The funny thing is, if this had been an episode of Next Generation, this wouldn't be a problem, but that's what Deep Space Nine essentially was, a whole series of episodes that would've been highlights for any other Star Trek. It was harder to appreciate this early on.
Okay, so the first thing you need to know is that it's the first appearance of Garak. This is notable in its own right, even before you're reminded that he isn't seen again until the next season, and grows to mythic status at the end of that one. But this one's just as notable as "The Wire," not only introducing the "plain, simple tailor," but his ideal relationship with the originally, incredibly naive Dr. Bashir. Those fans who only became interested in the series later on are missing out on a version of Bashir that's one of the most interesting characters in any version of the franchise, a brilliant but inexperienced, wide-eyed dreamer who is anything but ready for the DS9 experience, and is therefore all the more remarkable for surviving it entirely intact (in the third season, you begin to appreciate his rough push into maturity).
Garak could easily have been a series regular, and nearly was in later seasons, but it's worth noting that as far as anyone knew just from viewing this first season, he was a one-off character who played like no one else since Q as guest characters go. That's reason enough to give "Past Prologue" another shot, yes?
There's also the Duras Sisters, unofficial MVPs of Klingon guest stars, arguably more significant than Gowron, only eventually upstaged by DS9's own Martok. They were mainstays in Next Generation, and were blown up in Generations, and were one of several attempts by the show's creators to maintain a link from one series to another, and as always, they're worth the visit, no matter where they are.
The crux of the episode isn't even any of this! It's actually the first hard look at the pathetic state of Bajoran society, and the terrorist mentality that pervades it after decades under Cardassian Occupation. It's not really an essential Kira episode (there are two others from this season that more easily lay claim to that title) so much as a necessary look at the Bajorans, the whole reason Starfleet took on this assignment.
Like a direct answer to the pilot, "Past Prologue" is a look at the grim everyday realities of a space station, and sets up what most of the rest of the season couldn't really live up to.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Andrew Robinson
Barbara March
Gwynyth Walsh
Vaughn Armstrong
Susan Nimoy
Memory Alpha summary.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Deep Space Nine 1x1/1x2 "Emissary"
****
There are too many things to recommend about the first episode of Deep Space Nine. It may be the best pilot in franchise history.
Famously envisioned as the series set on something other than a starship, Deep Space Nine is the first Star Trek incarnation to feature the name of its setting in the title, a trend that continued through the next two creations. DS9 is, of course, a space station, still controversial a setting, as many sci-fi fans believe the idea was stolen from J. Michael Staczynski's Babylon 5, at that time still waiting for an official launch. Gene Roddenberry had been briefed on the concept before his death in 1991, but this is the first time the Great Bird of the Galaxy had no direct input on a resulting product in the franchise. It was truly the dawn of the Rick Berman era.
Anyway, "Emissary" has its roots squarely in the Next Generation "Best of Both Worlds" two-part episode that left a seismic impact on fans. Benjamin Sisko, serving as first officer of the Saratoga, experiences the Battle of Wolf 359 firsthand, the moment Captain Picard, as semi-assimilated human representative Locutus, leads the Borg in its drive toward Earth and obliterates an entire Starfleet armada along the way. Sisko's ship is among those lost in the disaster, and while he is able to rescue his young son Jake, he loses his wife Jennifer. Three years later, he's still brooding over the loss, unable to truly move on, when he's assigned to Deep Space Nine, formerly Terok Nor, a Cardassian station in orbit of Bajor, a planet that has been ravaged for decades and now a protectorate of the Federation, a potential future member, assuming the politics work out. The Bajorans, however, are just as reluctant about this situation as Sisko, who only wants to resign his post, while the Cardassians try and pretend everything's fine.
Just like, well, Captain Picard, who is the officer assigned to help Sisko make the transition. Sisko is less than pleased about it. In fact, he can barely hide his fury. He blames under no uncertain terms Picard, and can't stand to be in the same room as him. It's the first time anyone we're supposed to care about has reacted negatively toward Picard, for whom the audience has always had sympathy, possibly because no one we knew had been adversely affected by his experience with the Borg. Other than, you know, all those ships lost at Wolf 359.
However, Sisko finds himself confronted by Bajor's spiritual leader, Kai Opaka, who says she sees something special in him. It's probably the first time someone has approached him in three years and see potential in him, and not just a body to be moved around, to occupy space here or there. Opaka moves him along the path toward discovery of the wormhole, a passage through space that also happens to contain the Prophets, the basis for Bajoran religion. Except the Prophets are also noncorporeal beings who are interested in rehabilitating Sisko, help him move on from his loss, and move forward, because as Opaka suggested, he has great things to accomplish. They don't understand the concept of time, or human experience, and while Sisko helps them with that, they help him look beyond these things, too.
It's a profoundly spiritual introduction, and if that had been the only contact with the Prophets, "Emissary" would still be a milestone in franchise lore, the first time a main character is truly challenged to become something greater than they once were, to accept the possibility of their own potential. In fact, that's what Deep Space Nine is all about, Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future in working order, striving toward perfection, even while everything seems to work against this ambition. Roddenberry himself liked to believe that humanity would have already reached that point, so all the characters to this point had already come to a basic understanding of themselves and their abilities.
Sisko is surrounded by individuals who have much work to do. Miles O'Brien, a familiar Next Generation presence but mostly relegated to a transporter operator, suddenly has an entire space station to maintain, and a family to pacify, just like Sisko. They're mirror images, in many ways. Major Kira is the angry Bajoran who doesn't believe there's any point to working with Starfleet, but is forced to try. Jadzia Dax is suddenly a young woman, but the symbiont used to belong to an old man Sisko called friend. Julian Bashir just earned his medical license, and is looking forward to adventure, naively. Odo seems most at home, but he's the outsider who doesn't even know who his people are. Quark is the opportunist who doesn't want this opportunity!
Sisko actually didn't have that much more to do during the first few seasons of the show, so that makes "Emissary" all the more important, setting everything in motion, and it does so in grand fashion. Seeing that this would be the first time Star Trek stayed in one spot for an extended period of time (seven seasons, in total), it was important to establish that there would be enough interesting things to care about, and if the characters themselves weren't enough, then hopefully the threat of the Cardassians, long established in Next Generation, and the Bajorans, who had suffered under them for many years, and had previously been represented by the popular character Ensign Ro, who was actually supposed to be featured in Deep Space Nine. Gul Dukat makes his first appearance during "Emissary," and like Sisko would take a long time to develop into the major character he'd become (in fact not even appearing again until the second season).
It is absolutely essential viewing for any Star Trek fan, either as the first episode of Deep Space Nine, or for its profound insights into the human condition.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Marc Alaimo
Aron Eisenberg
Max Grodenchik
Felecia M. Bell
Camille Saviola
J.G. Hertzler
Patrick Stewart
Memory Alpha summary.
There are too many things to recommend about the first episode of Deep Space Nine. It may be the best pilot in franchise history.
Famously envisioned as the series set on something other than a starship, Deep Space Nine is the first Star Trek incarnation to feature the name of its setting in the title, a trend that continued through the next two creations. DS9 is, of course, a space station, still controversial a setting, as many sci-fi fans believe the idea was stolen from J. Michael Staczynski's Babylon 5, at that time still waiting for an official launch. Gene Roddenberry had been briefed on the concept before his death in 1991, but this is the first time the Great Bird of the Galaxy had no direct input on a resulting product in the franchise. It was truly the dawn of the Rick Berman era.
Anyway, "Emissary" has its roots squarely in the Next Generation "Best of Both Worlds" two-part episode that left a seismic impact on fans. Benjamin Sisko, serving as first officer of the Saratoga, experiences the Battle of Wolf 359 firsthand, the moment Captain Picard, as semi-assimilated human representative Locutus, leads the Borg in its drive toward Earth and obliterates an entire Starfleet armada along the way. Sisko's ship is among those lost in the disaster, and while he is able to rescue his young son Jake, he loses his wife Jennifer. Three years later, he's still brooding over the loss, unable to truly move on, when he's assigned to Deep Space Nine, formerly Terok Nor, a Cardassian station in orbit of Bajor, a planet that has been ravaged for decades and now a protectorate of the Federation, a potential future member, assuming the politics work out. The Bajorans, however, are just as reluctant about this situation as Sisko, who only wants to resign his post, while the Cardassians try and pretend everything's fine.
Just like, well, Captain Picard, who is the officer assigned to help Sisko make the transition. Sisko is less than pleased about it. In fact, he can barely hide his fury. He blames under no uncertain terms Picard, and can't stand to be in the same room as him. It's the first time anyone we're supposed to care about has reacted negatively toward Picard, for whom the audience has always had sympathy, possibly because no one we knew had been adversely affected by his experience with the Borg. Other than, you know, all those ships lost at Wolf 359.
However, Sisko finds himself confronted by Bajor's spiritual leader, Kai Opaka, who says she sees something special in him. It's probably the first time someone has approached him in three years and see potential in him, and not just a body to be moved around, to occupy space here or there. Opaka moves him along the path toward discovery of the wormhole, a passage through space that also happens to contain the Prophets, the basis for Bajoran religion. Except the Prophets are also noncorporeal beings who are interested in rehabilitating Sisko, help him move on from his loss, and move forward, because as Opaka suggested, he has great things to accomplish. They don't understand the concept of time, or human experience, and while Sisko helps them with that, they help him look beyond these things, too.
It's a profoundly spiritual introduction, and if that had been the only contact with the Prophets, "Emissary" would still be a milestone in franchise lore, the first time a main character is truly challenged to become something greater than they once were, to accept the possibility of their own potential. In fact, that's what Deep Space Nine is all about, Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future in working order, striving toward perfection, even while everything seems to work against this ambition. Roddenberry himself liked to believe that humanity would have already reached that point, so all the characters to this point had already come to a basic understanding of themselves and their abilities.
Sisko is surrounded by individuals who have much work to do. Miles O'Brien, a familiar Next Generation presence but mostly relegated to a transporter operator, suddenly has an entire space station to maintain, and a family to pacify, just like Sisko. They're mirror images, in many ways. Major Kira is the angry Bajoran who doesn't believe there's any point to working with Starfleet, but is forced to try. Jadzia Dax is suddenly a young woman, but the symbiont used to belong to an old man Sisko called friend. Julian Bashir just earned his medical license, and is looking forward to adventure, naively. Odo seems most at home, but he's the outsider who doesn't even know who his people are. Quark is the opportunist who doesn't want this opportunity!
Sisko actually didn't have that much more to do during the first few seasons of the show, so that makes "Emissary" all the more important, setting everything in motion, and it does so in grand fashion. Seeing that this would be the first time Star Trek stayed in one spot for an extended period of time (seven seasons, in total), it was important to establish that there would be enough interesting things to care about, and if the characters themselves weren't enough, then hopefully the threat of the Cardassians, long established in Next Generation, and the Bajorans, who had suffered under them for many years, and had previously been represented by the popular character Ensign Ro, who was actually supposed to be featured in Deep Space Nine. Gul Dukat makes his first appearance during "Emissary," and like Sisko would take a long time to develop into the major character he'd become (in fact not even appearing again until the second season).
It is absolutely essential viewing for any Star Trek fan, either as the first episode of Deep Space Nine, or for its profound insights into the human condition.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Marc Alaimo
Aron Eisenberg
Max Grodenchik
Felecia M. Bell
Camille Saviola
J.G. Hertzler
Patrick Stewart
Memory Alpha summary.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season One
In January of 1993, Star Trek expanded once again, notably for the first time in its history to have two series run simultaneously on television (though it might be noted that competing crews had been a problem for fans since 1987, not just as a matter for debate but as a practical concern, between movie and TV adventures). Deep Space Nine was the first franchise incarnation to launch without the hand of Gene Roddenberry, guided instead by the emerging new creative generation led by Rick Berman and Michael Piller.
1x1/1x2 “Emissary”
The show immediately focused squarely on internal matters, from the “Best of Both Worlds” flashback that introduced Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) to the space station Starfleet inherits from the aftermath of the Cardassian-Bajoran conflict. Visually, the debut of the wormhole, and the Prophets who help guide Sisko to an unlikely destiny, are a catchy way to distinguish Deep Space Nine from Next Generation, which is called to mind both in the guest appearance of Picard and the promotion to series regular of Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney). Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo), Nog (Aron Eisenberg), Jennifer Sisko (Felecia M. Bell), Rom (Max Grodenchik), and Kai Opaka (Camille Saviola) all mark their first appearances, establishing the regular appearances of guest characters in the series. In addition, J.G. Hertzler marks an early debut as well, a cameo as a Vulcan captain, before finally returning in what would become a regular role, three seasons later.
1x3 “Past Prologue”
Major Kira, the Bajoran liaison officer created to replace Ro Laren once Michelle Forbes passed on the series, receives her first proper introduction, and Nana Visitor quickly establishes herself as not just a worthy successor, but a dynamic force and icon in her own right. Also notable for the debut of Garak (Andrew Robinson), and an appearance by the Duras Sisters.
1x4 “A Man Alone”
Odo (Rene Auberjonois), station security chief and shape-shifter, is properly established here (just read the episode title again), as well as his relationship with shady Ferengi bartender Quark (Armin Shimerman), probably the earliest episode with the most direct relevance for later episodes, after the pilot.
1x5 “Babel”
While the story itself is pretty throwaway, this is the first episode since the pilot to handle the ensemble in its entirety.
1x6 “Captive Pursuit”
Hard to believe that early on, the inhabitants from the Gamma Quadrant were left as one enormous riddle, a way to bring the typical Star Trek episodic alien worlds to the station, which isn’t to say you’d be wasting your time, waiting for the Dominion, with the early seasons. This is as much an O’Brien episode (any Next Generation fan must have loved Deep Space Nine from the start just for a more regular dose of that) as anything, plus an interesting episode in itself, which in hindsight probably still manages to conjure the Dominion (would it really be much of a stretch to assume The Hunters engineered Tosk - played by Star Trek troupe regular Scott MacDonald - after the pattern of the Founders, who after all similarly engineered the Vorta and the Jem’Hadar?).
1x7 “Q-Less”
Vash and some other dude (“You hit me! Picard never hit me!”) take up residence for an episode, just in case viewers are still wondering if this new show really is Star Trek.
1x8 “Dax”
Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) probably with this episode has the honor of initiating the Deep Space Nine trend to feature the context of a character through unfortunate aspects of their past (“Necessary Evil” is probably the most famous example). Jadzia, however, has a whole lot of past, which this episode is specifically designed to spotlight, since she’s a Trill, the latest host for the Dax symbiont, one of the more ambitious elements of an already ambitious show, since the prior host, Curzon, has been established already to have a past with Sisko (which is why he’ll sometimes call Jadzia “Old Man”). Probably an overlooked episode.
1x10 “Move Along Home”
Easily dismissed as one of those classic, silly Star Trek first season episodes, another look will reveal it does its best to do what later seasons would do more easily. Notably, the second of two appearances of Lieutenant George Primmin (James Lashly), a sort of prototype Eddington meant to serve as a Starfleet counterpoint to Odo. Also worth viewing to see Quark paint himself into a corner.
1x11 “The Nagus”
Ah! The first appearance of Maihar’du (Tiny Ron)! Oh, and Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn), who employs Quark in a plot to trick his own son (never, ever seen again) into revealing that he doesn’t have the lobes to become the new Nagus.
1x12 “Vortex”
Later, of course, we’d learn concrete details about Odo’s people (yay!), but this is another example of what a comparatively innocent Deep Space Nine might have to say about the subject, offerings as it turns out some accurate teasers.
1x13 “Battle Lines”
Kai Opaka makes a premature exit (if Bajorans and viewers don’t appreciate it, two words: Kai Winn), wrapping a continuity episode around an episodic one.
1x14 “The Storyteller”
Notable as the earliest O’Brien-Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) episode. Nog and Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) also share one of their earliest b-stories in the episode, even establishing dangling their legs above the Promenade.
1x15 “Progress”
If “Past Prologue” is easy to overlook and “Duet” is considered the sole classic of the first season, then “Progress” is the Kira episode I’ve tried to champion as another strong piece of nuanced storytelling, something the series would come to be defined by.
1x16 “If Wishes Were Horses”
A bit of fluff that nonetheless is still a strong bit of early defining material, whether over the relationship between Dax and Bashir or Sisko’s love for baseball (which in later years would become iconic, in the form of the ball he keeps permanently on his desk), exemplified here by legendary fictional player Buck Bokai.
1x17 “The Forsaken”
Unlike “Q-Less,” this episodes manages to make a trademark element of Next Generation, namely irrepressible Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett), entirely its own, establishing a counterpoint relationship with Odo that would help soften his rough edges.
1x18 “Dramatis Personae”
Like Voyager, Deep Space Nine was envisioned to push the boundaries of Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a perfect future where everyone gets along, and this episode demonstrates how, with a little push, everything that had been working so well during the first season could unravel in a heartbeat.
1x19 “Duet”
Here’s the one everyone seems to remember from the season, with good reason, because it elevates the premise of the series to where it would eventually rest, diving deeply and without apologies into the complexities both of the show’s fictional world and what the viewer might notice all around them. This wasn’t just escapist entertainment anymore, the episode might as well have been saying, but a bold move to broaden the franchise’s horizons. Notable also for a Gul Dukat appearance, because in the early seasons, they were more rare than memory might suggest, and for the debut of another short-lived recurring character, Neela (Robin Christopher), who was herself a replacement for a failed attempt earlier (circa “The Forsaken”).
1x20 “In the Hands of the Prophets”
Basically the unofficial second season premiere, with the debuts of Vedeks Winn (Louise Fletcher) and Bareil (Philip Anglim), lots of resulting Bajoran politics, and generally, a return to the sense of what the pilot was trying to set up, the uncomfortable dynamics of a Starfleet crew trying to live totally immersed in an alien environment.
It’s amazing to think how the series has become perhaps even more relevant today than when it first came on the air (notably, around the time of the first World Trade Center terrorist attack), how in a post-Iraq War world, Deep Space Nine can still have things to say, especially given its apolitical, shades of gray storytelling style (notably, in the first season, exemplified by “Progress,” “Duet”). A lot of viewers who readily identify themselves as fans still don’t much care for the early seasons, and not just for seemingly throwaway episodes like “If Wishes Were Horses” and “Babel,” but because they don’t care for the very things that helped make the show what it was, right from the start. I would argue, you can’t be a fan of Deep Space Nine without a healthy appreciation of how it began.
1x1/1x2 “Emissary”
The show immediately focused squarely on internal matters, from the “Best of Both Worlds” flashback that introduced Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) to the space station Starfleet inherits from the aftermath of the Cardassian-Bajoran conflict. Visually, the debut of the wormhole, and the Prophets who help guide Sisko to an unlikely destiny, are a catchy way to distinguish Deep Space Nine from Next Generation, which is called to mind both in the guest appearance of Picard and the promotion to series regular of Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney). Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo), Nog (Aron Eisenberg), Jennifer Sisko (Felecia M. Bell), Rom (Max Grodenchik), and Kai Opaka (Camille Saviola) all mark their first appearances, establishing the regular appearances of guest characters in the series. In addition, J.G. Hertzler marks an early debut as well, a cameo as a Vulcan captain, before finally returning in what would become a regular role, three seasons later.
1x3 “Past Prologue”
Major Kira, the Bajoran liaison officer created to replace Ro Laren once Michelle Forbes passed on the series, receives her first proper introduction, and Nana Visitor quickly establishes herself as not just a worthy successor, but a dynamic force and icon in her own right. Also notable for the debut of Garak (Andrew Robinson), and an appearance by the Duras Sisters.
1x4 “A Man Alone”
Odo (Rene Auberjonois), station security chief and shape-shifter, is properly established here (just read the episode title again), as well as his relationship with shady Ferengi bartender Quark (Armin Shimerman), probably the earliest episode with the most direct relevance for later episodes, after the pilot.
1x5 “Babel”
While the story itself is pretty throwaway, this is the first episode since the pilot to handle the ensemble in its entirety.
1x6 “Captive Pursuit”
Hard to believe that early on, the inhabitants from the Gamma Quadrant were left as one enormous riddle, a way to bring the typical Star Trek episodic alien worlds to the station, which isn’t to say you’d be wasting your time, waiting for the Dominion, with the early seasons. This is as much an O’Brien episode (any Next Generation fan must have loved Deep Space Nine from the start just for a more regular dose of that) as anything, plus an interesting episode in itself, which in hindsight probably still manages to conjure the Dominion (would it really be much of a stretch to assume The Hunters engineered Tosk - played by Star Trek troupe regular Scott MacDonald - after the pattern of the Founders, who after all similarly engineered the Vorta and the Jem’Hadar?).
1x7 “Q-Less”
Vash and some other dude (“You hit me! Picard never hit me!”) take up residence for an episode, just in case viewers are still wondering if this new show really is Star Trek.
1x8 “Dax”
Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) probably with this episode has the honor of initiating the Deep Space Nine trend to feature the context of a character through unfortunate aspects of their past (“Necessary Evil” is probably the most famous example). Jadzia, however, has a whole lot of past, which this episode is specifically designed to spotlight, since she’s a Trill, the latest host for the Dax symbiont, one of the more ambitious elements of an already ambitious show, since the prior host, Curzon, has been established already to have a past with Sisko (which is why he’ll sometimes call Jadzia “Old Man”). Probably an overlooked episode.
1x10 “Move Along Home”
Easily dismissed as one of those classic, silly Star Trek first season episodes, another look will reveal it does its best to do what later seasons would do more easily. Notably, the second of two appearances of Lieutenant George Primmin (James Lashly), a sort of prototype Eddington meant to serve as a Starfleet counterpoint to Odo. Also worth viewing to see Quark paint himself into a corner.
1x11 “The Nagus”
Ah! The first appearance of Maihar’du (Tiny Ron)! Oh, and Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn), who employs Quark in a plot to trick his own son (never, ever seen again) into revealing that he doesn’t have the lobes to become the new Nagus.
1x12 “Vortex”
Later, of course, we’d learn concrete details about Odo’s people (yay!), but this is another example of what a comparatively innocent Deep Space Nine might have to say about the subject, offerings as it turns out some accurate teasers.
1x13 “Battle Lines”
Kai Opaka makes a premature exit (if Bajorans and viewers don’t appreciate it, two words: Kai Winn), wrapping a continuity episode around an episodic one.
1x14 “The Storyteller”
Notable as the earliest O’Brien-Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) episode. Nog and Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) also share one of their earliest b-stories in the episode, even establishing dangling their legs above the Promenade.
1x15 “Progress”
If “Past Prologue” is easy to overlook and “Duet” is considered the sole classic of the first season, then “Progress” is the Kira episode I’ve tried to champion as another strong piece of nuanced storytelling, something the series would come to be defined by.
1x16 “If Wishes Were Horses”
A bit of fluff that nonetheless is still a strong bit of early defining material, whether over the relationship between Dax and Bashir or Sisko’s love for baseball (which in later years would become iconic, in the form of the ball he keeps permanently on his desk), exemplified here by legendary fictional player Buck Bokai.
1x17 “The Forsaken”
Unlike “Q-Less,” this episodes manages to make a trademark element of Next Generation, namely irrepressible Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett), entirely its own, establishing a counterpoint relationship with Odo that would help soften his rough edges.
1x18 “Dramatis Personae”
Like Voyager, Deep Space Nine was envisioned to push the boundaries of Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a perfect future where everyone gets along, and this episode demonstrates how, with a little push, everything that had been working so well during the first season could unravel in a heartbeat.
1x19 “Duet”
Here’s the one everyone seems to remember from the season, with good reason, because it elevates the premise of the series to where it would eventually rest, diving deeply and without apologies into the complexities both of the show’s fictional world and what the viewer might notice all around them. This wasn’t just escapist entertainment anymore, the episode might as well have been saying, but a bold move to broaden the franchise’s horizons. Notable also for a Gul Dukat appearance, because in the early seasons, they were more rare than memory might suggest, and for the debut of another short-lived recurring character, Neela (Robin Christopher), who was herself a replacement for a failed attempt earlier (circa “The Forsaken”).
1x20 “In the Hands of the Prophets”
Basically the unofficial second season premiere, with the debuts of Vedeks Winn (Louise Fletcher) and Bareil (Philip Anglim), lots of resulting Bajoran politics, and generally, a return to the sense of what the pilot was trying to set up, the uncomfortable dynamics of a Starfleet crew trying to live totally immersed in an alien environment.
It’s amazing to think how the series has become perhaps even more relevant today than when it first came on the air (notably, around the time of the first World Trade Center terrorist attack), how in a post-Iraq War world, Deep Space Nine can still have things to say, especially given its apolitical, shades of gray storytelling style (notably, in the first season, exemplified by “Progress,” “Duet”). A lot of viewers who readily identify themselves as fans still don’t much care for the early seasons, and not just for seemingly throwaway episodes like “If Wishes Were Horses” and “Babel,” but because they don’t care for the very things that helped make the show what it was, right from the start. I would argue, you can’t be a fan of Deep Space Nine without a healthy appreciation of how it began.
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