FOUR-STAR EPISODES: 1
AVERAGE EPISODE RATING: 2.6
-The Homecoming **
Kira and o'brien rescue a supposedly-dead resistance hero from cardassian prison, while an isolationist faction grows on Bajor.
-The Circle **
Kira and vedek bareil (philip anglim - THE ELEPHANT MAN, DALLAS: WAR OF THE EWINGS) become close. Lifeless...
-The Siege **
A Circle-led militia tries to occupy the station. Steven weber (WINGS, STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP) is wasted.
-Invasive Procedures ***
A fine tale about an unjoined trill (john glover - GREMLINS 2, ROBOCOP 2) who tries to steal the dax symbiont. In some juicy guest casting, VOYAGER's tim russ plays a klingon mercenary, and megan gallagher (THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW, HILL STREET BLUES) is glover's love interest. They don't resolve quark's storyline, but otherwise...
-Cardassians ***
The presence of an adopted cardassian orphan on the station causes unrest. A hearing determines his fate (and uncovers some shady doings). A lovely performance by robert mandan (SOAP, THREE'S A CROWD). The writers were asleep at the switch for the ending, but otherwise it's tight with nice chemistry.
-Melora ***
Julian falls for a gravity-challenged officer, touchingly played by daphne ashbrook (HOOPERMAN, GIMME AN 'F'). His familial backstory will later be changed...would the writers just say that he's lying here, to hide his past?
-Rules of Acquisition **
A ferengi posing as a male because of the sexist laws of their society, falls for quark. A nice effort, with an uninspired ending.
-Necessary Evil ***
A flashback tale about odo's first case as constable, when the station was called Terok Nor and run by dukat. Kira is a murder suspect with secrets to hide. Dark visuals set the tone beautifully.
-Second Sight ***
Sisko feels romantic stirrings for the first time since jennifer's death, over a mystery woman who keeps disappearing...literally. She turns out to be a subconscious teleprojection of an unhappily married woman - a condemnation of the unhealthy affects of enforced monogamy, anyone? Guest star richard kiley (MAN OF LA MANCHA, JURASSIC PARK) brightens things, as does the away mission aboard USS Prometheus. The ending is a bit contrived.
-Sanctuary **
Three million refugees come to the alpha quadrant seeking a home...and choose Bajor. With andrew koenig (GROWING PAINS, INALIENABLE)!
-Rivals **
Quark's business is squeezed when a rival casino opens. A curious episode...at times fun, but it never fully feels like STAR TREK. Did the director or writer have no franchise experience? Indeed no, quite the opposite. Do too many recognizable guest stars take us out of the TREK reality? Chris sarandon (THE PRINCESS BRIDE, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS), barbara bosson (HILL STREET BLUES, COP ROCK), and k callan (AMERICAN GIGOLO, LOIS & CLARK) all put in fine work. The writing alternately delights and frustrates - use of the correct "couldN'T care less", but then the embarrassing 20th-century euphemism "pass away". Okay, i'm overthinking this one...
-The Alternate **
The bajoran scientist who "raised" odo discovers a similar life form on a gamma quadrant planet. Is there any writerly contrivance which could explain why sisko thinks his father is dead?
-Armageddon Game **
Bashir and o'brien help two species destroy the biological weapons with which they waged war on one another...only to find out that all who have knowledge of the weapons are slated for death. They're suddenly on the run (with a plague-infected o'brien) on an alien planet, while DS9 is diplomatically told of their "accidental" deaths.
-Whispers ***
A tight exploration of paranoia, inside the mind of a sleeper agent double of o'brien who isn't aware of his own nature. Very sharp, with an ending that's a genuine surprise (a rare feat in TREK).
-Paradise ***
Sisko and o'brien are stranded in a colony that has forsaken technology...but a dark side emerges. There are plot holes, yet it's hard-hitting, as sisko demonstrates powerful non-violent resistance techniques. And he delivers a withering dismissal of the religious impulse...which is a stunning breath of fresh air, given DS9's dipsy wipsy inclinations (and his part in it). The ending feels just a bit contrived, perhaps because one doesn't see enough of the positive side of the colony's life, and the remove technological life creates from "core" behavior. Could this have been a four-star two-parter?
-Shadowplay ***
Odo and dax investigate mysterious disappearances in an alien village. He helps the local protector (kenneth mars - THE PRODUCERS, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN), and strikes up a touching friendship with a child. Kira and bareil fall into each other's arms. Their first kisses are quite moving, and surprisingly erotic for TREK.
-Playing God ***
A trill visits, for mentoring by dax. She is surprisingly cold.
-Profit and Loss **
Mary crosby (DALLAS, THE ICE PIRATES), as quark's former flame, is the first actor to make cardassian sexy.
-Blood Oath ****
-written by peter allan fields
-directed by winrich kolbe
Kor. Koloth. Kang! Three aged klingons arrive, to fulfill a blood oath they shared with kirzon dax eighty years before. Jadzia feels compelled to join their quest. The klingons are played by john colicos (THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, CREEPSHOW), michael ansara (ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY, GUNS OF THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN), and william campbell (DEMENTIA 13, THE RETURN OF THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN AND THE BIONIC WOMAN), reprising their classic TREK roles. Formerly smooth foreheads are now ripplingly ridged. It's possible this one only achieves four stars through its retro X factor...but it's a great ride all the way.
-The Maquis 1&2 ***
A group of border colonists being harassed and attacked by the cardassians, resort to violence without Starfleet's blessing. The first part crackles with life - an old friend of sisko's (bernie casey - BRIAN'S SONG, REVENGE OF THE NERDS I,III,IV) is the ranking Starfleet officer in the demilitarized zone, and their scenes together bring more believability to ben's past than anything DS9 has heretofore shown. The older style uniform is a nice touch, too. Part 2, with a fine appearance by john schuck (ROOTS, THE NEW ODD COUPLE) as a cardassian legate, is a bit simplistic and illogical...but has a fine scene wherein quark out-logics a vulcan. TNG's natalija nogulich makes an appearance as admiral nechayev.
-The Wire ***
Bashir struggles to save garak's life, when a torture-coping device implanted in his brain malfunctions. Paul dooley (SIXTEEN CANDLES, A MIGHTY WIND) makes his first (and best) appearance as tain, former head of the cardassian Obsidian Order. The ending is a trifle simplistic.
-Crossover **
Kira and bashir enter a mirror universe, where the other kira is an amoral tyrant who favors milk baths and sex slaves...i'm just saying. Could the writers have come up with a MORE obvious scene for establishing the link between this and the mirror episode of classic TREK? And while nana's skill set as an actor is less than bursting, do the writers have to go out of their way to make her look stupid?
-The Collaborator **
Kai candidate winn (louise fletcher - ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, MAMA DRACULA) outpolitics bareil to become Bajor's religious leader.
-Tribunal ***
O'brien is shanghaied by the cardassians, and stands trial. Under cardassian law, accusation equals conviction. Odo uses his never-rescinded cardassian credentials to get onto o'brien's legal team, and his presence is seamless. Dark and tight.
-The Jem'Hadar ***
Sisko, jake, nog, and quark go on a science field trip to the gamma quadrant. The adults are taken prisoner by jem'hadar, the Dominion shock troops. A rescue is mounted by runabouts and the galaxy-class starship Odyssey, which is destroyed, heralding a dark storm heading the alpha quadrant's way. A vorta pretends to be a jem'hadar prisoner as well (and she has telekinetic powers...which will never appear again). Quark compellingly defends the ferengi way of life, pointing out that humanity at its worst was, well, worse. This one's about as good as three stars gets.
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