Eating My Words: Caretaker

For years I regarded it as the lesser Star Trek, the series too far, the show that really disappointed and a point in my full run-through that I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy.

Star Trek: Voyager is, as you might have noticed, 20 years old and recently I finally finished Deep Space Nine (massively let down with that last episode this time round) which meant lining up Caretaker. 

For us in the UK, today has even more significance. It's 20 years exactly since we hurried down the high street to Woolworths and purchased the pilot of the third spin-off, cracked open the plastic case and digested all the wonderful tech info and teasers contained on the sleeve. It was a wonderous experience and these were the days when the box was more than just a transportation item - it was a way into the franchise before you even stuck the tape into the player - and hoped it didn't get chewed on first viewing.

I still recall that first watching; being amazed at the Doctor, loving the hand-over at Deep Space Nine and finding it such a different take to the previous two incarnations. We were back on a starship, somewhere new; the unknown with possibilities galore.

I haven't seen Caretaker since the early 2000's - most likely around the time I watched Endgame and even then it would have been on that very same VHS; Volume 1.1 from CIC Video. 

I flashback to 1994 and remember the rumours, the cast suggestions, the arrival and speedy departure of Genevieve Bujold as Nicole Janeway which only mounted more expectation and hype onto this new child of the franchise. When it did arrive on UK shores some seven months later in July of 1995 to say excitement and anticipation were at fever pitch was very far from the truth; we were way beyond that mark by about March.

Two decades on and Caretaker is, honestly, a great pilot episode. I've derided Voyager a lot in my time for Warp 10, cheese, Neelix, making the Borg all cuddly, having an infinite number of shuttles/torpedoes/crew (delete as applicable) but in Caretaker there is a gold (maybe latinum) mine worth of potential - and the show literally threw it away by the end of the first year and chose another path.

Caretaker is action and adventure to Emissary's more cerebral, philosophical and typically Roddenberry approach to Star Trek. It opened an arc, set the pieces in place and laid out a gameboard that could be developed over subsequent seasons. It would be in one place (which was also true of The Next Generation to some degree) but with Voyager they were alone, lost and would be constantly on the move. Change would be the most constant element and that was one of its unique selling points.

However that's not what appealed to me at the start. I was sold on the conflict, the inter-crew relationships, the difficulty of two crews that disliked each other having to work together for the sole goal of getting home - with the more than occasional detour to look at the anomaly of the week or for Janeway to waste some resources playing at Victorian nanny.

Deep Space Nine had two crews united for the good of Bajor and the Federation who wanted to work together because there was a bigger vision while on Voyager the crews were only looking to be comrades for a short time (maybe) with a sole purpose in mind. But, all the conflict was ditched as soon as the credits rolled on Parallax and Torres was made Chief Engineer. There were touches during the second season's Kazon arc that culminated in Basics and then Worst Case Scenario in year three would drop like a stone to remind us of what could have been - imagine if the season one cliffhanger had been the Maquis trying to take the ship rather than Tuvok playing teacher to some dropouts? Imagine a second year with the Maquis taking priority.

The show chose to play it safe and avoided playing to whatever made it different but Caretaker remains that snapshot of what could have been. The anger and mistrust that could have developed from the Chakotay/Tuvok relationship would have been great to see evolve as would the slow, difficult integration of the two crews. It's perhaps only in season two with that Kazon/Michael Jonas story that we see that thread gather any pace. When we do have stories about the Maquis crew though it makes their swift amalgamation into the crew even more obvious and makes the landmark decisions of the pilot episode seem a distant memory.

But let's focus on Caretaker some more before discussing the rest of the show as I will in my season reviews. Harry Kim has a huge role within the pilot, being captured by the title character and being the audience's eyes and ears within the Ocampan city. His role is pivotal alongside B'Elanna to give the viewpoints of both crews which is something that no other Star Trek series had previously attempted. The #eternalensign ends up spending the rest of the season scanning nebulas and it's only the late second and early third seasons where we see him begin to shine in episodes such as The Thaw, The Chute and getting to take command in Future's End.

While Harry might spend his entire trip home on the bottom rung of the ladder, it's amazing how much of the other characters' backgrounds is laid aside. Janeway's boyfriend is only mentioned fleetingly, Tuvok's age and experience are rarely impressed upon and Paris' rebellious nature gets parked for less a less than desirable womanising aspect of his personality notably until Thirty Days which is a fair way off at this point.

The Doctor at least was given the chance to develop as was the nature of his program within the story although in Caretaker he's not actually used that much. Mind, he is one of the best bits even if he has minimal screen-time. Then there's Neelix and Kes. who certainly polarised fans nearly to Wesley/Keiko levels and while only one of them made it to the seven year distant finishing line, some would argue it was the wrong one.

Caretaker has one element that is consistent with these latter pilots - a distinct, huge alien issue. For Picard's crew it was Q, for Sisko it was the wormhole aliens/the Prophets and pushes the crew to the limit from day one. Having the female version mentioned gave us something to look forward to and a lot of fans including myself may well have believed that her appearance - or at least her final appearance - would close off the show. In reality it provided a simple get-out clause if the concept of a lost starship didn't work and from the fact they sunk Cold Fire into season two and never mentioned Suspiria again you kind of tend to believe it had worked or at the least garnered enough support not to require a quick trip back to the Alpha Quadrant. The Caretaker is unusually not the threat here, desiring to find a solution to his Ocampan issue while holding off the hippie Kazon.

Encounter at Farpoint embraced its predecessor's episodic formula and drove that forward across its seven years, not setting too much up or expecting too much up from its cast. Yes, the first year is barrel-scrapingly bad on occasion but there were signs of gradual improvement once we skip over Code of Honor and get to know the developing characters. Deep Space Nine set a couple of bits in place - the wormhole, the Cardassians, but its fixed point in the Alpha Quadrant meant that these points could never be evaded, they had to be addressed and managed over seven seasons. Voyager could on the other hand escape plot points, move from one arc to another over the course of its trip and explore those differing opinions by placing the crew(s) into a variety of situations where one side might not always be right.

On that front it failed, perhaps in that there was too much front-loaded into the pilot that could not be effectively carried into subsequent single-length episode stories. Considering how the nine characters in this, the largest ensemble in Star Trek were managed, its not a surprise that balls were dropped and might explain why so few of the cast were given any considerable amount of time as the show evolved.

For me, Caretaker represents a dream, a possibility and a vision of Star Trek that may have truly offered that diversity and conflict that we couldn't get from the tight-knit crew of Picard's Enterprise while also giving us the week on week changes that Deep Space Nine's set location could not. However, this all said there would be some truly excellent stories, appearances and ultimately I believe that Voyager is the greatest Star Trek series for concepts - Timeless, Living Witness, Blink of an Eye...the list could easily go on as it tried to push the envelope knowing that each week it could dare to do something different.

Perhaps that gaggle of characters weren't too bad after all and their idiosyncracies really made the adventures into adventures, perhaps this was the ultimate Star Trek action show that occasionally just used a little too much technobabble to dodge a sticky ending. It perhaps was never meant to be a people show, rather about the phaser fights and the big set pieces with those bits of character detail purely there to make these people a bit deeper than action heroes. I now look forward to my own journey through the show and while it isn't Emissary, Caretaker is still a damn good place to meet these guys for the first time.

I Suppose You Want the Office? - Musings on the Major

I'm now up to the middle of season four of Deep Space Nine and I'm finding an enhanced appreciation of everyone's favourite Bajoran major.

Saturday was Nana Visitor's birthday (yes, we're 48 hours behind) and apt to think of how much happened to her character, Major Kira Nerys, by this half-way point in the show and just what she still had to come before What You Leave Behind.

That angry opening exchange between the major and Sisko in Emissary is probably one of the strongest and most memorable introductions in Star Trek as a whole and placed Kira in a very dominant position from day one. We weren't going to mess with her; no way; uh uh and it was going to be a turbulent relationship a far field away from that of either Kirk and Spock or Picard and Riker.

Nerys is the strongest - and absolutely the most confrontational - female character ever to grace the franchise which is probably why I think she's a truly superb addition and it's watching her back as I did the other day in Return to Grace that nailed home the fact I had to write something about her. 

I could go on about some form of Bajoran religious musings that she encountered through the show or perhaps we could debate the change of hairstyles and whether it was sensible to go for the severe military look after the pilot and then make her more feminine in season four; or what about uniforms and if it was a good thought to stick a military officer in heels after three years? And who wasn't giving the thumbs up when Kira gained a Starfleet rank and uniform in the final arc of season seven?

I looked back over the seasons and tried to look for that quirky little thing that makes the character. Perhaps not quite the human virus-catcher that Harry Kim was per se but I realised that with Kira taking it into "quirky thing" territory was doing a disservice to the character and to Nana Visitor herself.  God knows that if you need her off you'd be having a short conversation with the wrong end of a phaser. 

Nerys was able to hold her ground and give as good as she got from the start and she was never one to avoid giving an opinion. Tact was less than forthcoming on many occasions especially during the first couple of years and most definitely where Kai Winn was concerned and wherever she believed she was in the right - just check out Past Prologue and Progress for a couple of examples of that - she's not afraid to disagree with anyone. Also refer to The Collaborator to see how capable Nerys becomes as a match the devious Kai - it's what they don't say here that is the best bit of the conversation.

Indeed, the Kai was one of the two thorns in her side but while her opinion of the religious leader never altered, her relationship with Gul Dukat went through a heck of a lot of permutations over time. That's where Return to Grace got me y'see.

Watching that episode reminds you of the journey that Kira explores from the pilot, through to  Duet, into Necessary Evil then through episodes such as Second Skin, leading us to this point in the show. With the Klingons withdrawing from the Khitomer Accords, the Cardassians become uneasy allies in The Way of the Warrior and along with a uniform change, Kira's attitude does seem to soften somewhat. The discovery of Dukat's half-Bajoran daughter Torah Ziyal (Indiscretion) helps to draw the pair closer in mutual admiration only after he accepts her rather than attempting to murder her. Ziyal and her father's return later in the season readdresses that relationship with the junior Dukat very much the fulcrum tying together not just two worlds but the two characters. 

He's the person she loves to hate, representing everything she despises in the Cardassian people but yet there is something that draws them together. They find each other fascinating,  holding personality aspects that each is loathe to admire. But while that is true,  Kira still remains true to her culture even though she is swayed to other points of view,  her background always anchors her -  the situation in Sanctuary for instance shows where her beliefs and the needs of a displaced society comes into conflict. 

Return to Grace is almost exactly halfway through the whole series and more layers of Kira are left to unpeel beyond here most importantly following Dukat's choice to side with the Dominion in season five's By Inferno's Light and Ziyal's death in the excellent Sacrifice of Angels. 

For someone who was so untrusting and held such a deep set hatred of Cardassians, Nerys is more than capable of offering an olive branch and giving a chance when she wants but whatever path she chooses seems to have its fair share of incident along the way. Maybe I should have set her down as Star Trek's most outwardly emotional character as well seeing as how she takes a fair many things personally. The first season's Duet still marks out one of her finest moments/stories and placed her very highly among my favourite characters. Visitor stands her ground ably against Harris Yulin's Marritza as we get to see her confront the emotions she has buried following the Occupation. It's one of the show's most powerful episodes if you've not seen it.

Of course Kira is the onscreen, ever-present reminder that Bajor is only a short distance away - she is the voice of the local people, the guide to the area and the ways of life. A liaison she might be to begin with but perhaps "mediator" would be more apt as she developed. By season seven Kira is negotiating with Romulans during the Dominion War which is a far cry from her opening discourse with Sisko or even Bashir and his "frontier medicine". Had those talks been staged at that point in the series I wouldn't have bet against the odd Romulan taking a walk outside the docking ring minus a space suit.

But what is my point here? OK so we know that Sisko, until he grew a beard and shaved his head, was one of the most difficult characters for the writers to explore. Kira on the other hand get a lot of development (and the odd mirror universe moment), driving her character into dealings with religion, war, love, the balancing of duty and loyalty but crucially at no point does she try and fit in. Look at many other characters in Star Trek (those non-human) and how many want to be "more" human or find their comfort zone within the crew? I'm sure you can think of several just off the top of your head. Worf is a good example too and with his introduction to Deep Space Nine there's a good mix of him, as one trying to fit, Odo who is the observer of the human condition and then Kira who doesn't want to fit. 

Maybe that is the reason she works so well within this dynamic cast - Kira wants to be different and remain a true Bajoran - pulling on a Starfleet uniform isn't her idea of a good choice but she does it because it will ultimately help win the war as she leads a Cardassian freedom fighter group in the biggest career twist Star Trek ever dreamt up.

To be fair Visitor had a wide scope with the major from Bajor aside from the changes we mentioned earlier. What about acting as surrogate for Keiko's baby or getting to play a Russian secret agent? Just a couple that immediately stick in the mind and are worth a flick back thorough the mid-seasons just to catch again.

Through all that fighting and anger, there was the chance for a little romancing but I never saw her as the marrying type if I'm honest. As with most Star Trek loves, Kira didn't have the best of luck - her first boyfriend died (less said about Bareil the better), she split up with the only one that survived (Shakaar) and then watched Odo go back to the Great Link. She was better off with a phaser in hand or a Cardassian to argue with by far.

Romancing did mean that had  Visitor a lot more to do than be the tough first officer and it can be refreshing to watch those opening - and unrehearsed - scenes from Emissary then compare them to the more rounded, experienced and life-aware Kira. No more is she just the terrorist and in coming back to Return to Grace, this is the tipping point for Kira in that she chooses to care for Dukat's half-Bajoran daughter while he goes off to blow up Klingons in his newly acquired Bird-of-Prey. It's the first time Kira actually puts herself forward for a personal act of kindness. Previously she's only ever done anything begrudgingly (take her opinion on time off in Defiant) or unless there's been an extensive argument that's forced her into a very, very tight corner (pick almost any Kira episode for this one but I'd head for Destiny for starters).

Behind it all though, Visitor makes her real and also one of my favourite ever Star Trek characters from any series. She wasn't playing to a low cut cleavage or a provocative costume but relied on good, solid acting ability and some great storylines both to this mid-point of the fourth year and beyond. On the flipside, consider the development still to come from here - Children of Time, Wrongs Darker than Death and Night, His Way, that final ten episode arc - all key threads for Kira who was blatantly a writers' favourite even if the Bajoran religious stories weren't a favourite of the fans.

So we wish Nana Visitor a belated birthday. Maybe next year we'll actually manage it on the day.

Deep Space Nine: Season Two: Creation of the Legend

If the first season of Deep Space Nine introduced us to the characters and setting, the second year was nothing like we expected.

Season two (from 1993/94) stepped up the game. The standalone nature of the majority of the first season was almost swept aside in favour of utilising the stationary nature of Deep Space Nine and building a story around the setting. Indeed, a lot of the stories here would be continued and expanded through the following five years of the show although we wouldn't appreciate that at the time and there would even be a few that got unexpected sequels. Already we've touched on the Dominion's influence on this season so let's take a look at what else was going on out on the edge of the final frontier.

To some degree there was a degree of continuation from season one in the opening - and rule-breaking three-part story focusing on the Bajorans. It would take until season six for there to be another multi-part story but The Homecoming, The Circle and The Siege set the tone for the year; darker, treacherous and providing a greater prominence to the characters of Bareil and Winn who would become recurring characters to different levels of success. The opener with the arrival of former-terrorist-come-legend Li Nalas has some wonderful outdoor location filming during the prison break however easy it might seem to free him.

As openers go it's strong - something that every season of Deep Space Nine managed right through to Image in the Sand and truly emphasises the precarious nature of the Federation's relationship with the Bajoran populace. In true form there's no total happy ending - and no finite ending at all as the story of the vedeks would be a string to follow through the year. The middle part does get a little stale and that's more than likely due to inexperience in writing three-episode arcs but the overall result is still one of the best in the first couple of years. Everyone has at least something to do here and Kira's displacement at this point in the season does jar you a bit - had Visitor not intended to come back for another 26 episodes?!

The shame is that after evacuating the station for The Siege and having a wonderful game of cat and mouse through the access tubes, what bugs me is that they do it all over again in Invasive Procedures. Featuring John Glover and future Tuvok, Tim Russ, it's not bad, just average and from the off you know that the symbiont will be back inside Jadzia by the fifth act. It's more an exploration of Trill science and character than anything else but it's not a story I was thrilled by. Guess they must have needed a bottle show to recoup some of the cost from the episodes that kicked off the season.

Season two is full of peaks and troughs, making it the most uneven season of any of the series in my opinion. There are also times when we get "doubles" shoved together but I'll cover that as we go through the year. The highs are galactic while the lows leave a lot to be desired however considering this is the only Star Trek show set in one place and on a space station there was always going to be a lot of experimentation going on. Indeed, Necessary Evil is a prime example of just that.

The first time I saw a still from Necessary Evil I was instantly enthralled. Focusing on Odo and Kira - easily two of the most watchable characters in the show, it's almost a noir thriller. Shame the sequel, Things Past was nowhere near as strong. Just seeing Deep Space Nine in the Terok Nor days makes this a key segment in the series, visualising the much-talked about Occupation for the first time since it's introduction back in Ensign Ro from The Next Generation. The story itself is great all the way, unusually placing a main character in a less than favourable light which marked the show out against it's sister which was in its final year at this time. 

Deep Space Nine's cast were nowhere near the elite that we saw on the Enterprise with Picard. This wasn't exactly the plumb assignment in the fleet and in this year both this episode and the later Blood Oath certainly painted darker sides to these complex characters. In fact, looking further into the future none of the crew were even greyer than grey which made it even more essential Star Trek viewing for me.

The next high point took a while to come but it's one I remember because my Technology teacher at school found it rather fascinating - Armageddon Game. Coupling an engineered virus with the rocky O'Brien/Bashir relationship was always going to be a winner. I find myself more drawn to their conflict and predicament than the plot that puts them into the situation in the first place. Siddig and Meaney were a great double-team when they were placed together. The fact that this story is followed by the equally excellent Whispers only strengthens that relationship since we see the hostility that O'Brien receives when he returns to the station during the flashbacks. Whispers is a great piece of drama and highlights just why Meaney always ends up with these heavy stories to deal with as the Chief of Operations. The paranoia here is almost at a level where you can taste it. Once again Deep Space Nine proved it could take a fairly well-known story concept and then manage to turn it all inside out just when you thought you had seen everything.

Season Two also focused on Star Trek heritage more than The Next Generation ever attempted with not one but two episodes drawing on the past in Blood Oath and shortly thereafter Crossover. Both of which act to start off story arcs that would last through to the final year of Deep Space Nine but would be the strongest installments of their respective strands. For Blood Oath the fact that this would be the only time the three most prominent Klingons from The Original Series would be together makes it even more remarkable and memorable. Terry Farrell manages to hold her own with the three veteran actors but this is much more their episode than hers and it's evident from the opening scene with Kor. Dax's involvement is a little stretched and her return to the station with no reprimand and only a few hard stares doesn't stand up but as with all the best homage episodes it's all about seeing the pieces and characters come together to give a nod to the classics. 

Unusually - and something very noticable - is the action-heavy content of the episode after the half-way point. It's not gory, perhaps a little brutal but not something that The Next Generation would have handled. If they had a battle it was over distance with phasers; more often than not in Deep Space Nine it's hand-to-hand (The Search, Part I, The Way of the Warrior, To the Death...). Perhaps not what Gene would have liked but another piece that stands the series away from it's predecessors and successors.

In fact Crossover manages that with it's heritage firmly entrenched in The Original Series' Mirror Mirror but the creation of the alternative characters here is a master stroke. Garak becomes the cold, calculating military man we suspect lurks beneath the guise of a tailor in "our" universe while Kira transforms into one of Deep Space Nine's most memorable villains, overtly sexual, playful in her terrorising of Terrans and certainly not to be crossed in any way. She would be one of the few mirror universe characters to make it through the four episodes that continued the story. Crossover though is the best of the batch, echoing the feel of Terek Nor that we saw back in the Occupation during Necessary Evil's flashbacks but with a much nastier sense of oppression. I'd have liked to see a second appearance from the sadistic phaser-toting shapeshifter security chief but his existence was cut abruptly short thanks to Bashir. This is also my Dad's favourite second season episode - whether it's a Kira Thing or a homage to The Original Series Thing I'm not sure but I have to agree that it's one of the year's best and the first episode I bought on VHS. Everything about this episode is right; it's a lot of fun but dark and unsettling all in one go. None of the other Mirror Universe shows in Deep Space Nine did it as good.

Sandwiched somewhere between these two is the season's two-parter, The Maquis. Cal Hudson could well have been a recurring character within the Federation terrorist group (something Eddington later took up) however he only gets to step out here. As a side point note that both Hudson and Eddington had personal links to Sisko which makes their treachery even more hurtful. Could this have indicated that Hudson was slated to return and Eddington was subbed in season three?

I found this to be a great story and equally balanced across both parts but as with any Maquis episodes pre-1995 it all screams set-up for Voyager and once that happened, it got a lot more consistent and made much more sense. This was also one of my few early Deep Space Nine VHS purchases (straddling two tapes) and was watched very regularly. While there's not much action here, the story is solid and certainly better quality than the poor Journey's End from The Next Generation.

The Wire also manages to sneak in before Crossover and provides the first decent examination of exactly who Garak is or was. If you come away from watching this the first time without a headache you've done well. Twenty years on I loved this one - there are so many layers, lies, truths and suggestions that you have zero idea what to believe. After watching everything that follows, The Wire gives you a chunk of background that you never fully appreciate until years later. Most of the character bio that's established here would be the basis of the tailor for another five years. It works really well again after a few years of not seeing it as Andrew Robinson's portrayal of the tailor/spy just gets better and better.

Rounding off the year is the superb The Jem'Hadar and while I've talked over the Dominion's arrival before it still has to be noted. Great episode, great effects and a jaw-dropper of an ending that you would never expect although after some of the events from the year we've covered maybe we all should have seen it coming?!

But what of the rest I hear you cry? It's a funny old lot when we pick through it. Season Two has more peaks and troughs than any other year I can think of from any generation. Indeed, it goes from amazingly brilliant and engaging to the other end of the scale week on week with no consistency or sign of fluid improvement. The change in format from going anywhere must have taken quite a toll on the writers and watching these early show back can feel like arduous going at times.

For example, Cardassians and Melora are good ideas which tie more detail into the Occupation of Bajor (as well as revealing the station's former name) and recycle a main cast idea from the show's development in Daphne Ashbrook's gravity-restricted Ensign Pazlar. Nor am I a fan of lame Ferengi episodes especially Rules of Acquisition. After a Bashir love story we get a Quark one. Seems block ideas were common in 1993! I won't dwell on these as they do seem to give more background on the cast than the more popular installments. They just pace very slowly and let down the rhythm of the show. Over the following years the Ferengi shows would be my lower points of the year and usually indicated a really good episode would be following to make up for the squabbling and custard pie throwing.

Nor did I care much for the mediocrity of Second Sight, Sanctuary, Rivals or The Alternate. Actually, no I take that back - Rivals is truly a bad episode and even now it's just too cheesy for me. The whole betting premise leaves me wanting the end credits too quickly and Martus is annoying from the off. I know the writers want us to be siding with Quark and I do immediately. The change of allegiance of Rom however doesn't flow with the character nor how he develops 

Aside from the appearance of a Nebula Class starship, a mention of the Dominion or Odo's dad dropping by to mark them out in the history books they were all nice filler character stuff. It's not that I torridly hate these episodes but when you compare them to anything from season three and beyond the quality isn't quite there; Deep Space Nine was still taking baby steps and not able to walk on it's own. Having season three as a time when this show was truly on it's own for a time seems to have forced the hand a little with that year producing top drawer drama from the off. Even those Ferengi episodes were near-bearable and I include Family Business there but not Profit and Lace. 

Even the second half of the season has some uneven footing. Paradise is much better a few years later and the conflict between Sisko and Alixus is some of the best at this early stage in the show's development with the commander's continued resistance to accepting their fate being an incredibly powerful part of the story.  Shadowplay too had it's cool twist but this repeat viewing does highlight that it doesn't carry as much weight and ends up as a nice cute story about Odo and a child. The concept here is good but, while an episode like Future Imperfect delivers cool tweaks throughout that can be enjoyed on repeat, Shadowplay relies on you not knowing the outcome.

The weakest point of the year is probably the duo of Playing God and Profit and Loss which left me cold all over again. Very average stories focusing on Trill initiates and Cardassian scientists. Neither of which have any influence on the rest of the show but do act to flesh out Jadzia and Quark. If these episodes had been part of the previous year they would have been head and shoulders above but such a large step was taken from that year to this that they get swallowed up by all the other outstanding contributions. The same could well go for The Collaborator and Tribunal which suffer from being sandwiched right between some of the best shows of the second season in Crossover and The Jem'Hadar season finale.

I've documented my feelings on Bareil before. He straight bores me and his removal from the supporting cast mid-way through the third season was, for me, a breath of fresh air. I never believed the character and Philip Anglium never held my attention as the vedek seemed something of a wet lettuce. It's a nice whodunnit but its placement does make it suffer. Likewise Tribunal doesn't match up to the earlier O'Brien Hell story, Whispers. Colm Meaney does a good job but the conclusion still feels rushed after 20 years and we know it'll all work out. Getting to see the Cardassian judicial system in operation is fun and a distraction but it does come across as a late season filler before all the end of year explosions and exposition for season three.

Having watched the first two seasons back in full for the first time in nearly two decades I get restless to watch the remainder of Deep Space Nine knowing that the weaker shows are now behind me. There was a lot of work still to be done when The Homecoming aired but the series was a different beast by the end of the year. It had matured, implanted the threat of the Dominion and given every character the chance to be explored at least once. I enjoyed season two originally and watching it back now reminded me of how much those later season episodes hooked me in for the next five years. For me this is the year that finally got me obsessed with Star Trek and into serious fandom territory. The second season steadied the ship and started to add the depth to recurring plot threads but it would remain a stepping stone from the era of The Next Generation as that show ended. Season Three faced the challenge of going solo with no USS Enterprise-based show as backup.

The quality had to be there from the first episode and a couple of little, teeny tiny changes would make that happen...

You can read our first season rewatch review Part One and Part Two as well as our discussion regarding Emissary by clicking the links!

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Deep Space Nine @21

You can also view our articles on Emissary and the first season of Deep Space Nine right now by clicking on the links. What are your thoughts 21 years on? Is it just as good, worse or better than ever?

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Rediscovering Deep Space Nine's First Season (Part 2)

Following on from last time, we look back at the first season of Deep Space Nine...

The feeling that this show had a mixed bag screams out from the start. The pilot is excellent - the best opener of them all - but then the path to season two winds and skews like nothing before. The Next Generation's first year was less than perfect but here the show doesn't know what it is. It tries a lot; ethics, comedy, action, horror (to a degree), religion, politics, family...but there seems to be no direction and the quality overall is average on more occasions than not when it should be spectacular.

What's Recurring?

Reviewing a full season after two decades does give you a totally new perspective on the show. Back in 1993 I found Progress, Move Along Home and The Forsaken to be pretty poor for Star Trek. My opinion has somewhat altered and (cough, cough) I might even admit that the return of Lwaxana Troi is one of the stronger episodes of the year. Majel Barrett is never better than here as Mrs Troi and there's certainly a great level of chemistry between her and Auberjonois especially trapped in the turbolift. Actually that part of the story defines one of the strongest things about Deep Space Nine that is also featured in Progress and the highlight of the year, Duet; one to ones.

If you look across the show's seven year history there are some great stories which rely on two characters going head to head in some way. Immediately I can think of Waltz (Sisko and Dukat) and In the Pale Moonlight (Sisko and Garak) as a further two examples and that was certainly a strength that came out in this season. The differences was Deep Space Nine's trump card. It could be conflicting, it could be a bit edgier and it could, to some degree take a few risks. 

Plumping Move Along Home or If Wishes Were Horses in The Next Generation would not have worked but in these early days of the station it's a case of see what happens and what gets a reaction. Both of these are quite enjoyable episodes but certainly not classics that would end up in a top ten of the series. Move Along Home is saved from obscurity by a great performance from Armin Shimerman as Quark and his role definitely has a major impact on the first year.

Quark becomes a social commentator in Deep Space Nine and once the "stern" character of the pilot is massaged, there is a lot more to the character and the relationship with Odo which plays the "cop" against the "robber". I actually think Quark is very underdeveloped across the year but that might be because the character is so well crafted from the beginning. Whatever happened to that Community Leader role Sisko so grandly offers to him?! By two or three episodes down the line it's all but forgotten. Not something that really affects the overall run of the show but regardless it was significant in Emissary.

Gritty; Unique

Ok, but the big issue with season one is that it just can't make its mind up whether it wants to be totally unique, gritty and the bad boy of the Star Trek universe or of it fancies itself as a stationary version of The Next Generation as if someone had parked up the Enterprise and was refusing to move her. The latter seems to be the choice for the first year with Alien/Incident of the Week, some kids banter between Jake and Nog about the school or self-sealing stem bolts and frankly not a lot else. It was bland to say the least but there was great potential. The shame of it was that the noose of The Next Generation kept looming up in the background. After just the pilot (which in itself featured Captain Picard) we have Lursa and B'Etor turn up in Past Prologue. 

The Next Generation should have showed that reflecting back on your origins so soon is not a good move as that's where that show chose to meander with The Naked Now. They really didn't need to do it again in Deep Space Nine but they went and did it anyway - and more than just the once that they could have got away with.

On the whole though season one is a lot better than I remember it. Babel is a really neat idea and a twist on the killer virus angle that's been paced many a time in Star Trek. At the core it's nothing new and feels like an average space filler with hindsight. It's the next episode where things start to get a bit more meaty. Tosk's flight in Captive Pursuit is still one of the best moments of the year. The arrival of that first alien from "the other side" was much anticipated and luckily the creators chose to get it over with early on. 

They're certainly an interesting bunch (that we never see again) and I remember the trailers looking great. It's the first sense that things around the station are going to be different to Picard's experiences on the Enterprise.  The tragedy is then we hit a run of very, very average episodes almost to the end of the season. There's nothing exceptional and it's all run of the mill which might be why this batch is such a disappointment in comparison to the rest of the series. 

The characters are great, the location is awesome and there's barrels of potential yet nothing really happens and there are no consequences for any actions; no-one comes back. Bashir certainly develops from the stuttering graduate of Emissary and evolves into a more confident officer by the end of the year. O'Brien is a totally different person with the more evident presence of his family which does change the dynamic of the role. 

Over in security Odo puts on a gruff, no-nonsense front but behind it all there is a heart (or is there...I mean, he is a shapeshifter) and we get to see it a couple of times in Vortex and The Forsaken. Auberjonois' character is the most enigmatic but the true strength of Odo lies in his verbal bouts with Quark. Oddly I also found his encounter with Lwaxana Troi easier to stomach this time round and brougght another angle of vulnerability to the role. At the start the Ferengi was a more serious role but, as the season rolls on, the part softens and acts as the human observer alongside Odo as well as comic relief. 

Fortunately he never descends into the farcical part that would befall Neelix in the later Star Trek: Voyager. Season one is fairly Ferengi-light save for The Nagus which does at least bring us the eponymous financial leader. It's not quite a comedy romp but does start laying the seed for recurring characters and themes (maybe without knowing it). Of course earlier in the year we had also met Garak albeit briefly in Past Prologue and like Zek we would have to wait for season two for a second appearance. This was also true of Vedeks Winn and Bareil. following on from their initial spots in In the Hands of the Prophets.

How Do We Solve a Problem Like Sisko?

The issue from the start in the way of characters though is Sisko. As the main character you want him to have some balls, step up to the plate (add your own cliche here) but for most of the season he's adrift on a sea of tranquility taking it all very easy. Given that he's one of the most important Starfleet officers in the galaxy thanks to the wormhole you would think he'd be a bit more concerned but Sisko comes across here as a very logical, thinking man. He talks in almost a whisper at times but there is the occasional moment where you can see the bald, goatee-ed Sisko of the Future in his actions be it laying out Q or in combat during Battle Lines. However, in this first year his character remains very static, we would have to wait until The Maquis in season two for any real development of the role. The trouble is at times he does look uncomfortable in the role - Move Along Home for instance...

Brooks actually plays Sisko with a lot of emotion be it cold to Picard in the pilot or more strongly when faced with some serious religious conflicts in the season finale. It is a difficult line to walk and perhaps these first episodes really show how narrow that path was for Commander Sisko; not that it got any better, he just grew into the position more as time went by!

One issue that didn't need solving but really needed taking out of those super-shoulder pads was the Bajoran first/liaison officer Major Kira Nerys. Major Kira is the strongest character of the year and of the whole series. Nana Visitor did a masterful job and sets out her stall from the first lines she utters in Emissary as she meets Sisko and he takes the office. 

Now Progress, which is a Kira-focused story is an episode that the mature me appreciates more than back in 1993 but there's one even more impressive later down the line, nay one of the best episodes the show ever produced; stick Kira and a Cardassian in a room and we have Duet. The dialogue here absolutely crackles and even 20 years on it's still a wonder to watch even if you know what revelations occur towards the end of the story. Harris Yulin is awesome here as Marritza, giving the performance of the year. This is where Deep Space Nine excels - the conflict, the turmoil of the characters as wounds are opened. The air crackles everytime these two are together and there seems to have been some real moves forward, only to be pulled away again in the final moments.

The issue of war crimes was close; it's not something that will ever leave the station given its proximity to Bajor and over the course of the show the troubles and occupation would be returned to on many occasions and take many different forms and not just in the present.

Barrel Scraping

We can talk for hours on how good the final pairing of stories were here but there were also some great turkeys lying around. Vortex is woeful at best. The alien character toying with Odo is weak and I didn't care what happened to him by the end. It teases lots of Odo development and then gives precisely nothing by the conclusion. I find Q-Less hard to stomach as well. I've never been one for Q. There have been some good and great Q episodes over the duration of The Next Generation and Voyager but this isn't one for the family album. Adding Vash into the story only emphasises how much Deep Space Nine was tugging at the hearts and memories of The Next Generation's ready-made audience.

Dramatis Personae is another weak link here. I can see that it's an attempt to do what The Naked Now did for The Next Generation and show the characters out of character but it's just dull and unnecessary. I'd probably say even against the two episodes I cite below it's my least favourite due to that. It's one redeeming feature perhaps? Sisko makes the clock that would adorn his office for the remainder of the show.

But the real drop outs of the season? Whether I think they are better than when I first saw them I'd still plump If Wishes Were Horses and Move Along Home at the bottom of the pile. Alright is as much praise as I can lavish on two poorly conceived stories which almost make a farce of the Deep Space Nine concept. There's no character exploration, weak explanations and Avery Brooks performing the most excruciating and uncomfortable dance ever. I know theses are below par but now I would watch one of these two in preference to Dramatis Personae which leaves me stone cold in every department; the level of drama is just below nursery school Christmas Nativity.

With In the Hands of the Prophets however, the season closes with a ton of prospects ready to be tackled in the next year. Cleverly - and something Deep Space Nine did regularly is ending the season on a not-a-cliffhanger-but-is-a-cliffhanger moment. Everything isn't as well as we thought with the Bajorans and that would come true in the opening three-parter of season two. A storming conclusion to the year where we see that Sisko and Kira have actually started seeing eye to eye. The rebellious Bajoran technician adds a great, if obvious twist to the tale but Louise Fletcher's Winn is the star and would only get better and more devious with the passage of time and seven years. However much she makes me squirm, Winn is a marvellous addition to the show...unlike Bareil but I'm not going there. Playing all angles while still managing to have her own agenda I didn't expect her to last the course or play such a big role in the future but then season one didn't give anything away did it?

So that's where we're at.The station is starting to become the Starfleet commander's home even though there are some challenges brewing at home and soon beyond the wormhole. It's been a year of bedding in, treating those settling in niggles and getting used to the environment both in front of and behind the camera. 

Bring on The Homecoming please. I can't get enough.