Some of the Best: Voyager's Fifth Season

Ending season four without a cliffhanger meant the following year could start afresh.

Nothing to tie up, all ready to go - into nothing because the year opened with the crew bored rigid in an empty, starless region of the Delta Quadrant.

Night is memorable for that, Jonathan Del Arco guesting as one of the void aliens and for the arrival of the universe's grubbiest bin men, the Malon. Kings of pollution certainly and here we got an allegory to present day Earth and environmental damage. Go Voyager for being on the button but also because this episode is a rare moment where Janeway doubts herself and the real possibility of actually getting home. The characterisation and brutality of being thousands of light years from home is a good and welcome touch that could have been played on a lot more often and was worked to the max in this season opener.

The Malon were heavily hyped as I recall and we did see them again in Extreme Risk and then much later Juggernaut - a better episode which built on the larger background story around the radiation-sickened crew and the very foundations of Malon society.

Five episodes from the end of the year it might be, but Juggernaut is a cracking episode. Lots of eerie shadows, tales of mutants and some genuine moments of brilliance it's one of Voyager's darkest hours and I bloody love it. Simple idea, well told.

In fact the Malon were managed only slightly worse than Species 8472 who turned up for their fourth (if you count Scorpion as two episodes) appearance but you can forget about them after the early part of this season. So with utter darkness out of the way, we head into more familiar space with the Borg and indeed, Future Borg (Drone) as Seven's nanoprobes and the Doctor's holoemitter get all funky in Sickbay. It's a clear parallel to Frankenstein but with less horror and Seven in a maternal role as this new creation adjusts to existence before heroically destroying itself when the Borg of the 24th Century attempt to assimilate it. Fairly predictable stuff with the whole "humanising" element in there plus the sacrifice - didn't The Next Generation do something a bit similar with I, Borg?

Extreme Risk will forever be remember as the episode that reminded us all of just how many shuttles Voyager got through in 97 episodes with the introduction of the (first) Delta Flyer. Y'know what? It's a damn cool little ship with those moveable teeny warp nacelles, glowing Borg tech, the retro controls a la Captain Proton plus the fact it's almost indestructible. Using it to recover a probe in a race against the Malon was a good, well-paced story and again gave the show a new twist for the new season. The Delta Flyer was a big staple of the year so much so that shuttles hardly needed to be ever used again - although where did they get all the materials to build it from?!

Then there's the humanising of Species 8472. If there's one thing that becomes more evident when you rewatch Star Trek is that the baddies always have that key episode where the writers try and make them understandable. While the episode might be good and give some great twists I always feel let down because the whole point of them being opponents is to be opponents. The Next Generation attempted to humanise the Borg with Hugh, Deep Space Nine with The Abandoned and Hippocratic Oath and Voyager cuddles up with 8472 in their recreation of Starfleet. It's a cool idea that they are training and learning about their enemies but by the end it's all a bit too nice and the sting is neutered. Oh - and nice to see Boothby back and Kate Vernon guest-starring with some very early, cutting edge CG for the day - and a step up from the quality of the lifeforms in season three's Macrocosm.

Now to Once Upon a Time. Repeatedly I have expressed the view that this is my least liked episode of any series ever made without question. It's appalling in every respect. What could have been a decent A story about Naomi's mum being lost is annihilated under the schmaltz and saccharine s**tness of Flotter. Adding a dash of Neelix in there just made it worse and this was at a time when I thought that the Talaxian was getting much better material to work with. I was sadly wrong. A big mess up and one to avoid - which is exactly the polar opposite of the next ep, Timeless.

Garrett Wang's favourite story (surprise!) it delivers in everything. Time travel, crashing ships, future Geordi, dilemmas, great character building and strong roles for two of the show's most maligned crew with both Kim and Chakotay taking a very prominent centre stage. Quite a bold move to make two of the "lesser" crew key players in what is the show's 100th episode but it works. Who could possibly forget them ploughing Voyager into that icefield? One of the show's best ironically after easily its worst.

Followed up by Infinite Regress, we have a fine example of mental health issues tackled by Star Trek as Seven experiences the personalities of others assimilated by the Borg during her time within the Collective. Certainly an opportunity for Jeri Ryan to stretch her acting muscles beyond the placid Seven - who would have thought we'd get to see her imitating a Ferengi? It's a good story but it's at this point that the season really kicks in. Thirty Days does the previously unthinkable and demotes Tom Paris to Ensign in a very bold move which is carried through for a good chunk of the year (although why he gets promoted ahead of Kim...) and deals out a wonderful "this is what happened" tale as we get to find out why he's in the holding cell for a month. Nicely played, unexpected and at least an episode where the issues aren't wrapped up in 42 minutes
.
Next is the brilliant - and I do mean brilliant - Counterpoint. Laced with the ironically calming classical soundtrack, it's a gripping take on the persecution and suspicion of one race (telepaths) by another. Definitely hallmarks of the Holocaust and many other examples of displaced and threatened populations across every century of our history. The relationship between Janeway and her nemesis, played by Mark Harelik are the stuff of TV dreams. The verbal repartee is sparkling with the duplicity that unravels between them just mesmerising. Another of the best that Voyager ever offered not just in this season but ever.

The Doctor is the focus of Latent Image wherein he uncovers a "forgotten" crewmember (Ensign Jetal), leading to a key revelation about his development that we didn't see in the previous season (because it hadn't been written!). As with all the Doctor stories you wonder about the relevance given that he is a computer programme but the character and Picardo's portrayal easily make you forget that and remember how much a part of the crew he has become. 

Fortunately for a season that is heavily dramatic and character developing we have Bride of Chaotica! another great concept episode that turns the action monochromatic and puts us into a holodeck adventure which (sort of) makes sense for once. Incorporating photonic lifeforms and Paris' Captain Proton programme it's played more tongue in cheek than 100% serious with everyone getting a chance to open up a little especially Janeway as Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People. While it's good and certainly unique, I actually found myself loving Gravity.

Mainly played out between Tuvok and Lori Petty's guest character Noss, we find a shuttle party trapped on the wrong side of a subspace sinkhole with seemingly zero chance of every returning home and being forced to scavenge the desolate landscape they are marooned in for the remainder of their lives. Partially a chase episode as others on the planet seek to steal the new technology Tuvok, Paris and the deactivated Doctor have brought with them, Gravity just has it. There's an emotional punch and the combination of Russ and Petty is unusual but beautifully worked - just as well as the sparring we experienced in Counterpoint. I genuinely love this episode with the crew's efforts to rescue the shuttle on one side and on the other the dawning realisation that the nothingness of the wasteland is all that the shuttle crew will have for eternity. Well played and even though you know they will be rescued there's still a looming vulnerability right to the end.

Bliss seeks out the solo strength of Jeri Ryan as she deals with a silent starship with the crew all KO'd by a sinister space anomaly leaving them all convinced their journey home is over and done. Great gravitas brought to this one through the arrival of W Morgan Shepherd as an alien captain obsessed with the phenomenon.

Dark Frontier is a rarity in Star Trek, acting as a feature length story slap-bang in the middle of a season. I've recently covered over this return of the Borg and the expansion of Seven's backstory in Breaking Borg but it's still well worth a good note. Susanna Thompson's Borg Queen is ok but doesn't have the smooth gravitas that Alice Krige brought to the role in First Contact. The pair would share the role across her Voyager appearances and even with all the danger and darkness here, you know Seven will never leave her new family. Dark Frontier is a major event for the series and the pacing, for once, over 90 minutes is pretty even. Helps when you're planning both parts of a two-parter at the same time.

Course: Oblivion is one of those stories that changes with a second viewing. The twist, which (SPOILER) links back to season four's Demon is held back for a while and divides the episode clean in two. With a few differences thrown in on the "demon" Voyager, it's an entertaining watch with a tragic conclusion which both pulls at the ol' heart strings but does that Voyager reset that the series was so fond of pulling.

For Chakotay fans - and Robert Beltran - the sidelined first officer claws his way back to the surface for his most impactful performance since Timeless. Problem here is that the episode is fairly run of the mill. The boxing scenario framed within Chakotay's mind is fairly forgettable and one of the show's alltime weakest. Even now I'm pushed to remember what the hell happened and you have to feel sorry for him almost getting a "token" episode.

Think Tank is memorable for the inclusion of Jason Alexander as a member of the cerebral super-group as well as a revelation that they have cured the Vidiians of the Phage. It's ok, leading to a standard kidnap plot and probably another weak point in the season which started favourably. At least there's Juggernaut and then the superb Someone to Watch Over Me to follow. The second one there is truly one of Voyager's key stories and utilises, surprise, surprise, the Doctor and Seven. By this point you start to realise that the writers did love to scribe for these two and Janeway creating a new triumvirate on the intrepid starship. 

Both actors are, admittedly, on top form here and every single scene is electric. One that's well worth a re-watch again and again - another for a best of... collection.

11:59 capitalises on the upcoming (at the time) millennium celebrations spending 99% of the episode in the late 90's retelling the story of Janeway's ancestor, Shannon O'Donnell. The captain's knowledge of Shannon differs to the actual account with the story uncovering O'Donnell's battle to help a bookshop owner stop the development of the Millennium Gate project. The episode places a pin into the era in which Voyager was filmed but fails to capture the magic we have seen in other "non-Trek time period" stories where the main cast have been used for other roles. 

Following on we have Relativity which kind of sequels the third season Future's End with the return of (a recast) Captain Braxton and chucks Seven through a helluva mill to try and work out a mystery on Voyager that takes her back to a time before the ship launched and into a Starfleet uniform for the one and only time. It's a fun episode and makes up for the shortcomings of the previous week's time-adjusted story with lots of dips into Voyager history although, ultimately, the end reveal is a lot more disappointing than it should be and almost robs the episode of its soul. Harsh, but I think that sums it up pretty fairly!

Then Warhead might have just been called Dreadnought II since it's the return of a sentient weapon with a mission to complete. While the "original" from season two pitted Torries against her own ingenuity, Warhead gives Robert Picardo one more chance to stretch his acting talents from the usual sarcastic Doctor to the cold personality of an alien weapon. A neat bottle show for the series, Warhead utilises the cast perfectly around the possessed EMH to deliver a satisfying but rushed last ten minutes. It's an episode that feels like there's a lot of quality build up only to be skipped over to reach the titles in the allotted time frame - this 42 minute format (plus ads makes an hour) really killed Star Trek's creativity and writing muscles in the '90's.

The season finale does make up for a lot of the mediocrity that fills out year five. At least these days with a limited run per series we get higher quality each week without too much filler to bulk the schedule. 

Equinox is fantastic. A new type of starship onscreen with the Nova Class (an initial design for the Defiant) and the distinct parallel to Voyager's journey home. This is a sublime "What If" storyline treading the water of events if Janeway had chosen to do anything to get home and not follow Starfleet principles.  Captain Ransom is a captain well out of depth to being with, commanding an ill-suited, small research ship on a lengthy trip home and also without the depth of character we see in Janeway. All the cards are against him from the beginning with the bleakest touch being the fate of Equinox's EMH and the removal of his moral subroutines.

This is top ten Voyager stuff with a genuinely terrifying conclusion leaving Voyager in dire straits and it looking as though the Equinox is going to succeed and escape retribution once again. Class from start to finish and with a conclusion that would open the sixth season and actually be well worth waiting for.

Season Five never really hits its potential with an inspired, gritty opener that is quickly dispensed with as soon as the stars reappear at the end of Night. Voyager could have explored the bleak reality that the journey was now in its fifth year a lot more than it did although you can understand the need not to make the show too dark for too long. 

While Seven would receive a lot of screentime, there are some real key moments for the others who do feel horribly underused on occasion with Robert Duncan McNeill fairing the best outside the "big three" with genuine character changing events unseen outside of this series (until Burnham was stripped of rank in Discovery). What it does do well is the sense of continuation in some of the stories with callbacks to other Voyager episodes thanks to Braxton in Relativity, the continuing Seven and Borg Queen head to head in Dark Frontier and the Demon crew for Course: Oblivion - it feels like there are some real consequences to actions taken which Equinox would hint at and be addressed further by stories such as Flesh and Blood.

It's a year heading towards a more satisfying sixth season. Voyager finally seemed to be fitting into its own Star Trek niche, doing conceptual, off the track stories - and would continue so in the following year...

Enjoyed this article? Why not like and share to spread the word!

Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

Find us on Tumblr 

The End: The Finality of Deep Space Nine Season Seven

After the excitement, action, adventure, character building and general all out war, season seven of Deep Space Nine had a lot to live up to.

Shame is that it followed the greatest season of Star Trek ever produced which meant it was on the back foot to start with and, honestly, it never recovered. Season seven is still brilliant and a fitting way for Deep Space Nine to end with a true closure of the multiple arcs that had run through the show since Emissary but it would be a heavy trip to the finale.

Opening with the two-part continuation to Tears of the Prophets from season six, Image in the Sand and Shadows and Symbols take us to the heart of Sisko's dilemmas as visions, a stabbing and the return of Dax all happen within the space of 45 minutes - and then we get a yomp across the desert planet of Tyree and a spin off into the world of Benny Russell just to top it all off. As season openers go it's low on the bangs and effects but ticks the box for edge and sparkling story whether it's the Sisko line or effectively the alternate A-story with Kira holding the fort on the station with the Romulan Empire trying to assert its position.

The revelation that Sisko's mum was a prophet might get him on Jerry Springer in the 20th Century but for some reason it's not that hard to believe thanks to the arcs and threads woven through the previous six seasons of the show. It's a good one with a very different feel most likely due to those scenes on the desert planet. 

The thing is that introducing a new character in Ezri this late in the game was always going to be difficult but Afterimage does go some way to fill in the new Trill beyond a bout of space sickness and a badly fumbled, hasty joining. Garak is clearly the stronger character in the odd pairing but it's great to see the inexperience and exuberance of the new arrival attempt to take on the super-enigma of the Cardassian tailor/spy. Ezri is a great character but the series doesn't insist on spending a ridiculous amount of time introducing her and focusing on her as Voyager lavished on Seven of Nine. 

Instead we just get on with things. Take Me Out to the Holosuite is a cunningly little diversion from the upcoming finale, divulging us into the possibilities of the holodeck and also exploring those competitive tendancies that exist within Sisko. Facing him off against Captain Solok is a high point of the year and he might be the most unemotional Vulcan we've ever met - and that's saying something. 

Season seven does avoid the family thread that The Next Generation chose to weave in its final year but it does manage to tie up all those bits we've wondered "what happened to..." and Chrysalis is a perfect example. Following on from the introduction of the Jack Pack from Statistical Probabilities it's much more about the relationship between Bashir and Sabrina once she reconnects with the world. In the literary Star Trek universe this pairing is still going strong today (at least it was in the last Section 31 novel, Disavowed).

Likewise the later Prodigal Daughter rounds out the "Bilby" storyline from season six's Honor Among Thieves with O'Brien's involvement with the Orion Syndicate taking another turn as he tries to track down his former, deceased associate's wife. Simple enough but then this is Star Trek which also means it somehow manages to link up with Ezri's unsurprisingly dysfunctional family. Oddly this is an O'Brien episode where he's not in some sort of severe mortal peril and manages to survive dying at least once which makes it a good year for the chief but not so brilliant for the story quality.

Ezri does get one final solus episode in season seven with Field of Fire. It's something very different but draws on Dax's darkest rebirth using Joran to help catch a killer. Not being directed to the guilty party from the beginning is a hard call in the story but finding him isn't what this is about. The gun is pretty cool and the way in which the killings are taking place is cleverly executed. Joran's effect on Ezri's personality is fairly marked and Nicole De Boer puts in a fine performance here. 

While season seven rounds out stories it just manages to hit the mark on brilliance. Treachery, Faith and the Great River and Once More Unto the Breach which follow it really encapsulate a lot of the best and worst of the year. Both are effective follow-ups and round outs to stories, the former giving us a more insightful look at the background and origins of the Vorta while the latter closes off the "Kor Trilogy" which has taken us through Blood Oath and The Sword of Kahless to this point. Both have original, unique stories but somehow the greatness that was instilled into the sixth season just isn't quite there. 

Jeffrey Combs is superb as the faulty Weyoun defector and it does manage to also explore Odo's feelings about his connection to the Great Link and where he really stands with his people and those who regard them as deities. In a sense Chimera also touches on that aspect with JG Hertzler heavily disguised as Laas a Changeling with a far more advanced use of its shape-changing abilities. Laas is a much softer character for the Martok actor to play and I don't think he's 100% successful at it. Nor is the story a winner with Odo having to battle with his conscience and the ideals of his people all over again. It's a path that's been trodden numerous times especially since season three's The Search.

Perhaps it's expectation lets them down and even now I still feel a bit deflated watching this season - because I have some very clear recollections of these stories, because I'm just bidding time until the ten-parter and thirdly because I just know it's not totally delivering. Looking at it another way there is a lot that needs to be tied up and there may well have only certain manners in which this could be done and still leave enough to provide a decent final dash to the line with the closing arc but more on that in a bit.

Covenant too is a sequel of sorts although if it was necessary I'm never totally sure. It does follow on from Empok Nor and reminds us of the many talents of Dukat but it doesn't seem to give anything at the end and reflecting on the later episodes and how the former Cardassian gul is portrayed I'm not sure that this exposure was required. It does mean that Kira gets one last chance to go head to head with him and who can scoff at any opportunity to see Visitor and Alaimo sparring once more.

Continuing the sequel and closure aspect of season seven is the atrocious Emperor's New Cloak. Now Resurrection last year was poor and Bareil tended to leave me cold on a good day but this one is my low point of the whole season and one of the lowest of the show as a whole. The Mirror Universe was a brilliant addition to the Deep Space Nine mythology and made it feel a lot closer to The Original Series than The Next Generation thanks as well to those classic Klingons and a magnificent 30th anniversary episode. Yet once we'd closed the show on Shattered Mirror and taken a season break from the adventures of Smiley and the Terran rebellion it all seemed to take a slide didn't it?

Making this a Ferengi Mirror Universe episode frankly took the p**s. Sorry, yes I swore but there's no excuse for this one and having Vic Fontaine turn up was butt-clenchingly awful and shocker, Ezri appeared too. All a bit convenient and self-indulgent. I bet Avery Brooks was glad he'd been killed off over there after Crossover.

But then there are some stunners that kick where it matters. The mid-year eps are a bit average yet The Siege of AR-558 is brilliant. Dark, uncomfortable and horribly close to the bone in its portrayal of ground war it contrasts starkly with the space-bourne warfare we're usually accustomed to. Nor the Battle to the Strong in season five had shown the aftermath of a ground battle but here we see the beginning, middle and end in all its gory detail with It's Only a Paper Moon two stories later dealing with the fallout as only Deep Space Nine can. While these two can make uncomfortable viewing they highlight the show at its finest and I can never imagine The Next Generation and certainly not Voyager ever attempting to deal with such events and then have the balls to tackle it again all within the space of a few episodes of the final year. Kudos where due, a great move.

Another hat-tip has to be made to Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges or, "In Times of War the Law Falls Silent". With the benefit of hindsight you can see where the Section 31/Bashir arcs have evolved from because this is Julian playing the spy game for real. He's indulged in holodeck adventures as a secret agent but the reality is nearly as bleak as The Siege of AR-558. Adding in the Romulans just teases the excellence of the episode and having it all turn a bit sour for the doctor is a nice move - again as with It's Only a Paper Moon, only Deep Space Nine could have nailed it this well.

Which brings us, triumphantly to the final spread of episodes encompassing all from Penumbra through to What You Leave Behind. And what an arc that is. It seems that everyone gets their fair share of action here so let's head on through.

Starting out with Worf missing and Ezri determined to find him leads us into the revelation that the Breen are now allied with the Dominion which then narks off Legate Damar who finally sees that the writing is on the wall, makes it clear he's going rogue and leads to the formation of the Cardassian terrorist group and a visit from Kira, Odo and Garak. Of course there are two memories we all carry from this line of the story - Damar's "For Cardassia!!!" and Colonel Kira getting herself a Starfleet field commission.

Back on the station Sisko gets married and discovers he's going to be a dad and then leads the fleet to the Cardassian homeworld where the war is put to rest and Martok gets to sup some blood wine. Sadly that's not the end of the road because as we know, Dukat has been wooing Kai Winn and turned her, successfully, over to the Pah Wraiths. Cue ultimate showdown between Sisko and Dukat and the captain's apparent demise as he enters the Celestial Temple.

Jeez. That was the briefest summation of all time. Now I adore the final ten episodes of Deep Space Nine like no other multi-episode arc. It is still unrivalled in Star Trek history in terms of scope, continuation, finality, characterisation and overall damn greatness. The 10 part arc does everything you could expect and more - even to a point where I felt disappointed by What You Leave Behind... because it was so final. I love what the novels have done since 1999 however the show is a perfect bottle, a beginning, an end and one heck of a middle. Look at what is achieved here and you realise how much had gone into the seven seasons and how the producers ensured that the viewers were paid off as best as possible and as fully as possible. 

Rom becomes Nagus, Bashir and O'Brien nigh on cose down Section 31 and Garak gets to go home. Even a couple of straggly bits from The Next Generation were closed (Gowron!) but the pace never slowed and there was still character evolution to the bitter end especially around the brilliant roles of Kai Winn, Odo and Dumar who all take big steps within the overall story here.

I have no doubt I will cover off the arc in more detail in a separate pot in the future because a season overview is the last place I'll do it any justice but here are some of Deep Space Nine's strongest stories, its most inspired moments and heartbreaking goodbyes. All even better a second, third or fourth time round. This was the first time I've watched it all the way through from Emissary and certainly you do appreciate the box-ticking closure that Deep Space Nine attempts in season seven a lot more than either The Next Generation or Voyager managed effectively.

For everything it got right or wrong though, season seven of Deep Space Nine is the strongest and most concrete ending to any Star Trek series ever. There is nowhere left to go, the character arcs are resolved and we have a firm conclusion to 176 episodes both with the 10 episode arc and the double-length finale.

So that's it for Deep Space Nine. I'll leave the season one Voyager review over to Matt but I'll return shortly with my look at the second year of Janeway and crew in a short while.

Fan of the final season? Was it the best closing year of any Star Trek show?

The Overriding Arc: Deep Space Nine Season Six

Season Five ended about as darkly as it possibly could. 

The station was in Dominion hands, Kira, Odo and Jake had stayed behind and Sisko was joining the fleet to take on the Gamma Quadrant's greatest power. So not much to resolve then.

Sensibly this isn't all wrapped up in 44 minutes and the first six episodes create a mini-arc never before seen on the show. It certainly set Deep Space Nine apart to not only conclude the previous season's cliffhanger as always at the beginning of the following year but not to completely resolve it for several weeks. It also meant I was shelling out for the videos every two weeks.

Time to Stand, Rocks and Shoals, Sons and Daughters, Behind the Lines, Favor the Bold and Sacrifice of Angels isn't without its faults or the sense of dragging out time to fill but it achieves much given the extended development time. The opening pairing do focus more on the activities of Sisko and the Starfleet officers from the station (accompanied by Garak in place of Worf who is bunking with Martok on the Rotarran) and having them confined to either a tiny starbase, Defiant or the Jem'Hadar ship they captured in The Ship precisely a season before. The fish-out-of-water element was a master-stroke but the six-parter fell a bit flat in it's mid-section with the focus shifting from the Defiant crew to the beginnings of a resistance cell on Terok Nor and the return of Worf's rapidly aging son, Alexander. Seeing his speedy maturation makes me wonder if he might have dropped by Genesis. 

There's a lot of backstory in there as well as the sprinkling of Sisko being removed from the front lines which lasts for all of two episodes before he's back in the command chair of the Defiant preparing to take back the station. Favor the Bold is all about set up, maneuvering the players into their cliffhanger positions ready for the retaking of Deep Space Nine. The sections which do take place on the station I found dragged when highlighting the actions of the Founder and Odo gelling around but Dukat, Weyoun and Dumar were always watchable and the sparring between them here and through the remaining two seasons of episodes were some of the best bits worth waiting for.  The final battle sequence in Sacrifice of Angels and the recapture of the station are some of the show's best space pieces by far - so good that they were reused extensively in What You Leave Behind.  The conclusion is satisfying and I know that it's rated amongst the series best - however I prefer the standoff and double-dealing that takes place in Rocks and Shoals between Sisko and the injured Vorta overseer, Keevan.

Wrapping up the arc almost as a bow on the box is You are Cordially Invited. Notable for the wedding of Worf and Jadzia. And that's it. It's one of those necessary episodes but I never caught the excitement. They got married. Great. Let's move on - which would usually be a good thing to say but we slam straight into one of my all time least liked episodes; Resurrection. Jeez this is awful. I dislike Bareil in the Prime Universe so giving us the mirror version was like pouring salt into a wound. The problem is that Bareil was a drippy character and by this point the originally well-realised Mirror Universe was growing tired and a little too full of character co-incidence. Note - I love Deep Space Nine but this and The Emperor's New Cloak are dire. No argument. Close the case.

The season is abruptly pulled up and returned to form with Statistical Probabilities and the Jack Pack. I once believed these guys to be super-annoying but I loved it this time and the dynamic of the more vocal three members of the group is fantastic. It's easy to see why a season seven sequel happened because they're so good with Jack himself one of Deep Space Nine's most memorable returning characters.

In line with this, Bashir does get some serious meat this season with his next top role coming in the overlooked Inquisition. I say overlooked purely because it's not one that would leap into a "Best of..." list but should be recognised as a classic of the show and I mean for more than the arrival of Sloane and Section 31 an organisation that would reappear in both Enterprise and Star Trek into Darkness. They are the perfect foil for the enhanced physician and coupled with Statistical Probabilities is another episode to create a memorable returning character in the final year. Bashir's story turn might not be to Siddig's liking but it did provide a lot more intrigue and depth to the doctor that I for one welcomed. 

While Bashir got some great moments, season six also carries the best Ferengi episode Deep Space Nine ever did and I regret it took me 20 years to realise that it was such a moment of excellence. Finally they got the balance of comedy and adventure spot on with The Magnificent Ferengi enhanced by a surprise turn by Iggy Pop as a Vorta. There's even death by misdemeanour as Moogi is part of a prisoner exchange on the off-kilter Empok Nor. The script sparkles, Quark and Rom have never been better and dropping in extended family and the ever-magnificent Jeffrey Combs makes this ever watchable. Tragically the other Ferengi episode in season six, Profit and Lace is total bilge of the worst kind. A sex change Quark is not something I ever need to see again - well, at least until the next full run-through in about four years time. 

Kira is the character who gets a noticeable retreat from the front line in season six accounting for Nana Visitor's real-life pregnancy. Always watchable and a highlight of the show, her absence mid-year is glaring but she does have the brilliant highlight of Wrongs Darker than Death or Night. It's one that I've added to my "I totally underrated this episode back in the day" list with it's rapid removal of characters and the eventual one-on-one confrontation that takes place. Nerys and her captor are well-matched - not quite to Marritza levels from Duet but a comfortable top three I would suspect and this one is much more sinister and calculating to the end. Visitor plays her terror on the money here and I would definitely say this is a hidden gem of the year and maybe the series as a whole.

What you do notice about this year and I loved then as much as I do now is the appreciation as a character that Sisko achieves. Kicking off with the good-but-not-Duet episode, Waltz it's a year that totally encapsulated why Avery Brooks was the perfect choice as the station commander. Anything with Brooks facing off against Marc Alaimo is worth 44 minutes of your time and this one is no exception. It's a twist on that Duet formula with the main character here being in the more submissive position and placing it in neutral territory also adds a sense of dangerous loneliness.

Brooks performances in season six only get better though with Far Beyond the Stars close behind and one of the truly format-breaking episodes in Star Trek's history. With the cast fully out of makeup the story directly targets some of the darker aspects of the 20th Century but it is Sisko/Benny Russell that steals the show here and it's easy to forget that there are hints to the larger picture within this brilliant tale all based around the "issue" of a black space station captain. The beating Russell receives at the hands of the two cops played by Alaimo and Jeffrey Combs is truly shocking, more-so being intercut with Weyoun and Dukat delivering the blows. Brooks' delivery of his final speech is just as emotionally hard-hitting as the closing moments of The Visitor. Truly a classic to this day and at this point Far Beyond the Stars was my favourite on the original watch through.

That didn't last for long though since just six episodes later we hit the utterly franchise-shaking, mid-digit waving In the Pale Moonlight. Amazing to look back to years one and two and see that the writers were head-scratching as to how to deal with Sisko yet three years later his character was solidly defined, exciting to watch and brilliantly played by Brooks. 

This episode was a show-stopper with the finest, darkest ending the show ever experienced - indeed he could live with it. The unusual pairing of Sisko/Garak makes this story sparkle as we see the descent towards the point of no return loom ever closer. The added twist that the plan actually fails is quintessential Deep Space Nine proving that life is never the perfect picture that many a The Next Generation episode used to excel at on a weekly basis. There is impact here, there is a price to pay and in some respects it would have been nice to see someone work out - some way down the path - that the Romulans were tricked into believing their ambassador was assassinated by the Dominion. One of the five episodes I've watched the most ever and I never get bored.

O'Brien's annual mangle-run comes from Honor Among Thieves and the first appearance of the oft-mentioned Orion Syndicate. It's OK but the trouble is if you're expecting the levels of Hard Time you'd be disappointed. That's not to say it's bad but it's not quite hitting those heights. Miles' relationship with Bilby is great and would be explored further in season seven's Prodigal Daughter. The O'Brien family story close to the end of the season though is poor in comparison. Never been a fan of Keiko/Molly stories and fortunately this is the only one that ever got made. I'd agree with general opinion that it's one of the series weakest episodes and it isn't helped by season six being one of the strongest batches ever. In another year it might have been average but here it sits firmly below par.

In other news mind there is the shouldn't-work-but-does One Little Ship. It could well have been a terrible episode filled with shoddy effects and a story that might have made us cringe and recall Land of the Giants however by adding in some Alpha and Gamma Jem'Hadar, Sisko hatching a cunning plan and just three of the crew being miniaturised aboard a Runabout it's a concept that works and Deep Space Nine gets away with - I reckon Voyager could have attempted it but could well have failed.

Actually season six did have it's fair share of oddments - Who Mourns for Morn? was a Quark story at heart with some neat double-crossing and a nice selling ploy that it focused on the ever-present (and apparently super-talkative) barfly. Valiant too was a little out of the norm, relying on Jake and Nog to carry the story while also reintroducing us to Red Squad last seen in season four's Paradise Lost. It's a good outing for the pair and I have found that their episodes have been a lot stronger than I remember. That and a lot more enjoyable; Cirroc was underrated I think and that might be because Jake just isn't your typical Star Trek main character and the show is better for this. He offers the other side, the non-establishment opinion and with Valiant it's his perfect soapbox in what is an utterly futile and mindless mission.

However, it is a year best documented for the death of Jadzia Dax.

The Worf/Dax relationship had been gestating since he arrived in The Way of the Warrior with their wedding earlier in season six then followed some time later by the ill-fated away mission in Change of Heart. I wouldn't say it's a standout story of the year, again because of the calibre of episodes that surround it, but it is important in relation to the Worf/Dax dynamic and also to see Sisko take him down a peg or three for his choice of wife over mission.

Tears of the Prophets was highly anticipated but just misses the mark that Call to Arms hit in season five. Marking the turning point in the war with the Dominion and a major victory with some top notch battle sequences, the events on the station do tend to make Sisko's success take a back seat. His choice to take his baseball to Earth and that the season ends on a very downbeat captain peeling potatoes in a back alley is one of the most understated closes of any batch of episodes produced.

Jadzia's death isn't as senseless as Tasha Yar's although being at the hands of Dukat makes it ever so poignant and adds another layer to the structure of the series and the tensions between Sisko and the former Cardassian despot. Also having two episodes back to back involving the death of a Starfleet officer is a little much. I still love it as an episode and it's a fantastic 45 minutes but the element of danger, the unknown is missing which filled every word of Call to Arms. Sisko might be gone but knowing that there was a year left ensured there was no doubt he would be back. Removing the wormhole and reintroducing the Pah-Wraiths meant they were still a force to be reckoned with and certainly one that meant the Dominion weren't the only problem to be solved in the final year.

What were your memories of season six? Was this the best of times for Deep Space Nine? What were the highlights?

Live on YouTube
Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

+1 us on Google+

Add us on Tumblr

Add to to conversation on Star Trek: Risa

The Case for Insurrection: 15 Years On

With today marking the 15th (yep I was surprised too) anniversary of the release of Insurrection I felt it the right time to slip this online...

As the title credits on the First Contact DVD rolled I realised two shocking things. One - that I was coming ever so close to Nemesis and second; that I had to go through Insurrection to get there.

Now I have to say that it really isn't that bad after all. Actually it's quite a substantial change of pace and yes, it is about the length of a two-parter but it shouldn't be written off that easily. Some of the bad press is for the two reasons I've mentioned there but also it had a lot more involvement from the cast than ever before. Stewart was involved with production and Frakes was back for a second shot at directing but what criticism would have been levelled at Insurrection if it had been all out action again as with First Contact? Lack of originality? Copying? 

Changing tack and doing something different is one of Star Trek's greatest assets and it's been effective in many an episode right across the franchise. Insurrection is nothing if not different. Even the opening sequence which plays under the titles and sketches out the idyllic existence of the Baku is a mirror to the events of the previous film. It all seems a lot more chilled out and arty from the outset if I'm honest although it could have done without the cute palmpet thing.

So why should we give Insurrection 90 minutes of our lives again? While it's not the explosive kick-ass dark cinematic moment that it's predecessor managed so effectively it's possibly The Next Generation's most true to Roddenberry's vision movie produced. The core of the film is based around the principles of the Prime Directive and how far you should go to ensure those rules are not broken. It's got it's action sequences but it also has a very big heart and while Generations was a classic Espresso, First Contact a bottle of Oozo, Insurrection would be a milky hot chocolate served by the fireside. It's the most feel-food of the series and also the lightest on the mind. I'm still working on an analogy for Nemesis that is printable by the way.

I get a bit fed up with the moaning about Insurrection especially seeing as it's been out since 1998. For me the concept did seem a bit twee but there are pockets within the movie which keep me watching. From the beginning it marks out distinct differences with First Contact. This time Starfleet are the interlopers; the invaders. They are the ones observing a peaceful people with Data (as we discover), their saviour. The shuttle chase is certainly unique and nicely done and who could forget the Captain's Yacht making it's only appearance to date even if it is fleeting?

The worry is that while the cast of the first six movies got to chew on Shakespeare, Melville and Masefield, Picard's crew are landed with Gilbert and Sullivan here and Irving Berlin in Nemesis. Was anyone really bothered with the franchise by this stage or had they been resigned to the notion of the odd-numbered curse which clearly meant that Nemesis would be good whatever happened?

So, yes, it appears they had. An interesting start accompanied by that nifty shuttle chase and Data recovery set up great possibilities but it never seems that they get delivered on. When the Enterprise arrives for instance the Baku turn out to be nice and peaceful, welcoming those who were behind the duck-blind observation post as guests. However good action sequences can't make up for the fact that the Baku are, well, a shade dull. Even Donna Murphy comes across as a little weary from time to time. The Baku just aren't bothered with anything and their serene lifestyle does start to come across at times as edged with a little arrogance.

In some respects you can't blame the Sona for leaving and finding something more exciting to do with their time. The whole face-stretching thing is a little uncomfortable but it's one more unique element to the movie and covers the identities of the protagonists until the final acts of the story.They are still aiming to remain young in their own way but it's not worked out as well. Ru'afo is as driven a foe as Soran and the Borg Queen before him. The former of those two is the closest comparison as they are both willing to give up everything and sacrifice anyone necessary to achieve their goal. Cleverly though the Sona get Starfleet assistance to keep themselves on the right side of the law.

So we can see from the sequences and characters mentioned here that there are at least a few things that make Insurrection unique among the movies and therefore worthy of at least the occasional rewatch. Maybe it's just worth a third or fourth viewing for a beardless Riker flying the Enterprise with a 1980's Atari joystick?! You can't accuse any Star Trek before or after this movie of ever pulling a stunt that even came within a ten mile radius of that moment. I still feel that it gets massively underrated for being a little quirky, not just repeating more heavy action sequences and giving the cast something different to deal with.  

There is clearly a moral message in here about environmental issues, resettlement and the basic principle of being able to differentiate between good and bad however aside from Frakes perhaps no other cast members should be allowed to touch the franchise in either writing or production areas. Not only does that factor apply here but also to the subsequent Nemesis as we will see. Giving more focus on Picard as the all-action hero isn't the best but after First Contact who could blame him for wanting a bit more off-ship action (see also Nemesis and the Argo).

What I do like about Nemesis is timing. Being only slightly more than an hour and a half in length it's quite tight on the story with very little "baggage". I love the villains here. F Murray Abraham is just awesome as Ru'afo and spits and hisses through most of the scenes he's in. Putting him opposite Stewart is a masterstroke and does save the movie from mediocrity. The youthening techniques that the Sona employ are truly unique if not slightly unsettling when it gets to the point where there can be no further manipulation. The mission to gain the secret of the Baku and resolve their aging really is different  but I doubt it would have carried as much clout had there not been such a heavyweight actor underneath the stretching makeup.

Adding the element of Admiral Dougherty into the story and thereby Starfleet's implicity within the matter and there's a winning villainous package. Dougherty isn't necessarily evil, just following orders and making a right hash of it. He knows the actions to relocate the Baku is wrong but yet he continues because of the "financial" victory it will bring. The needs of the One certainly look like they are outweighing the needs of the many here. Ultimately the admiral pays the price but not before falling further into darkness and agreeing to the destruction of the Enterprise.

Where it does fall apart however is the "Picard as Moses" leading the Baku to safety. It is messiah-like in its nature and in some strange way that's perhaps why I like it. It's a rare occasion where The Next Generation did the unexpected and went for a mellow approach; there's children, there's families here and even a bit of romance for Picard which counterbalances against the dangers faced by a beard-free Riker and the crew of the Enterprise as they attempt to inform Starfleet of Dougherty and the Sona's plans. There's lots of wonderful landscape shots in here as the Baku go....somewhere. To be fair it seems that doing away with Riker's beard may have been a Samson-esque act which meant he didn't get asked back for a third stint which might, in retrospect, have saved Nemesis from becoming the car crash moment in Star Trek history.

Overall I still enjoy watching Insurrection and with today marking 15 years since release it might even get a special dusting down. I can even manage to stomach all the saccharine moments of stopping time and that CGI slug. Odd-numbered it was however it'll still be remembered for being better than what was to come along and assist in burying the franchise in 2002...