Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 33: Armageddon Game [VHS]

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 33: Armageddon Game [VHS] Review

"Give me two good actors in a room," said frequent DS9 and Next Generation director Winrich Kolbe in Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman's book Captains' Logs Supplemental, "and I prefer that over six bad actors hanging from a rope on the Matterhorn."

Kolbe got his wish in "Armageddon Game," one of the early DS9 episodes to highlight the superb chemistry between costars Colm Meaney (who plays chief engineer Miles O'Brien) and Alexander Siddig (known as Siddig El Fadil at the time, and the actor portraying Dr. Bashir). The two Starfleet characters are assigned to a laboratory orbiting T'Lani III to implement an agreement between the feuding T'Lani and Kellerun societies, who wish to dismantle a biochemical warfare system known as the Harvester. Before the chief and the physician can finish the job, however, Kellerun soldiers overrun the lab and O'Brien is exposed to the Harvester's dangerous contents.

A number of times on DS9, Bashir and O'Brien find themselves in harm's way together, allowing the show's writers (Morgan Gendel in this case) and directors (such as Kolbe) to bring a rare sort of actorly texture to the proceedings. Meaney and Siddig simply click together with their excellent, often funny dialogue, some of it quibbling, much of it pure banter about the most human, everyday things: family, love, decisions once made, etc. A very rewarding show. --Tom Keogh

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 8: Dax [VHS]

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 8: Dax [VHS] Review

Jadzia Dax, Deep Space Nine's Trill science officer, is kidnapped by an armed "extradition" party charging Curzon Dax (Jadzia's previous incarnation) with treason and the murder of a Klaestron war hero, who was a national icon and the father of the gung-ho prosecutor and platoon leader (guest star Gregory Itzin). The extradition hearing is a tepid courtroom drama, but it helpfully sifts through the secrets of the Trill race, the unique symbiotic marriage of mortal humanoid and long-living sluglike beings that were introduced in the Next Generation episode "The Host." While Sisko wrestles with law and ethics (can an entity formed of two sentient beings be held responsible for the past actions committed by one of the pair?), Constable Odo investigates the murder and uncovers a carefully preserved secret that even Dax refuses to unleash in her own defense. Director David Carson, who piloted the DS9 pilot and the feature Star Trek: Generations, can't turn the static script (cowritten by longtime Trek writer D.C. Fontana) into space-age excitement, but he lets Sisko's cocky control have a field day as a sly, smiling courtroom defender. --Sean Axmaker

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 71: Facets [VHS]

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 71: Facets [VHS] Review

Jadzia meets the previous Dax incarnation in a Trill ceremony that extracts the resonant memories from the symbiont and deposits them in a willing temporary host, in this case her closest friends on the station. Meanwhile Ferengi teenager Nog prepares for a Starfleet entrance exam while his father Rom suspects Quark is up to no good once again. This is the kind of episode that actors sink their teeth into: confident engineer O'Brien temporarily turns into a nail-biting mathematician who can't stop apologizing, confrontational Kira becomes a gentle philosopher with a motherly purr, and best friend Sisko agrees to house her psychopathic ancestor (first revealed in episode 50, "Equilibrium"). Odo's physiology results in a personality merge with the earthy, blustery "old man" Curzon and they enjoy it so much they decide to remain together, an unheard-of event in Trill history that shakes Jadzia's confidence to the core. It's a gimmicky episode without much of a dramatic spine, but it's fun to see familiar characters flip into radically different personalities, especially Rene Auberjonois, who convincingly turns Odo into the life of the party without losing the core of his own, unique personality. --Sean Axmaker

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 10: Move Along Home [VHS]

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 10: Move Along Home [VHS] Review

The Wadi are an interesting people. They obviously don't give a hoot about Federation First Contact formalities. In fact, when greeted by an uptight Captain Sisko and his officers decked out in full dress uniform, Master Surchid Falow (Joel Brooks) demands to be taken to Quark's Bar. To play games. Now. Not one to argue in the face of warped logic, Sisko wisely obliges. The Wadi may come from the Gamma Quadrant, but they prefer to reside in Wacky Land. Although it owes its existence to the famous "Checkmate" episode of British TV's The Prisoner, "Move Along Home" is also a tight, well-crafted piece of science fiction writing. The story is deceptively simple. The Wadi turn out to be excellent game players. They win a lot. Ferengi Quark goes gonzo and resorts to cheating in order to salvage his profit margin. The Wadi, who are no fools, catch him and decide he must be punished. They "invite" Quark to play one of their games. So much for Sisko's precious First Contact folderol.

Joel Brooks is maniacally perfect as Falow. Not to be outdone, gifted Armin Shimmerman manages to imbue Quark with poignant smarm. Watch for truly great Ferengi groveling. Listen for the best upper-level-management line of the entire series ("I'm a Bajoran administrator. This is not what I signed up for!") and cool role-playing game in-jokes. "Move Along Home" may be simple, but it's also a whole lot of surreal fun. --Kayla Rigney

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 76: The Visitor [VHS]

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 76: The Visitor [VHS] Review

Nominated for the prestigious Hugo Award and voted the best Star Trek ever by readers of TV Guide, "The Visitor" transcends the limitations of series canon and exists in a continuum of its own making. There is something indefinable, something both solid and intangible about the love that exists between a parent and a child. If strong enough, it probably could forge a connection through time and space--and beyond life itself. This episode feels very real.

The plot is deceptively simple: a young writer appears on Jake Sisko's doorstep in the middle of a very dark and rainy night. She wants to hear his story; and Jake is an old man. He needs to tell it. Distinguished kudos all around for great writing and great acting. Tony Todd is superb as the adult Jake Sisko. Not only does the man age from twentysomething to 80, he also nails Cirroc Lofton's mannerisms and body language. Lofton's expressive performance as the young Jake is a standout as well. Avery Brooks is a profoundly gentle Sisko here--a father who obviously loves his son. And Rachel Robinson is absolutely luminescent as Melanie, the young writer. (She's also the daughter of Andrew Robinson, who played Garak in the series.) Kudos to the design team for using color and lighting to express Jake's mounting depression. Honorable mention to Aron Eisenberg as Captain Nog. Watch for the "future" uniforms that seem to come from TNG's "All Good Things." "The Visitor" is an amazing episode and it belongs in every Trek fan's collection. --Kayla Rigney

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 72: The Adversary [VHS]

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 72: The Adversary [VHS] Review

The threat of the Dominion has hung over Deep Space Nine since the Federation discovered the existence of the shapeshifting Founders in the third-season opener (episode 47, "The Search, Part I"). In the third-season finale, the Founders infiltrate the Federation. The newly promoted Captain Sisko leads a special mission to the Cardassian sector aboard the battle cruiser Defiant, which turns into a fight for survival when a tubular parasite infects the power and communications centers and a shapeshifter spy takes over the ship. Echoing elements of Alien mixed with John Carpenter's remake of The Thing (including a smartly plotted twist of the blood-testing scene from the latter), the crew scours the ship in nervous search--the agent could be posing as any one of them--while the spy tries to lure Odo away from the "solids" (as they call non-shapeshifting races) to their cause. Balancing action with an atmosphere of paranoia, the episode injects some much-needed adrenaline into the show with a series of tense standoffs and a race against time. We're no closer to understanding the Founders' motives, but by season's end we have a good idea as to the threat they pose to all races on this side of the galaxy. --Sean Axmaker

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 113: By Inferno's Light [VHS]

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 113: By Inferno's Light [VHS] Review

Picking up where "In Purgatory's Shadow" left off, this action-packed episode starts with a bang and never lets up. A Dominion fleet has just invaded the Alpha quadrant, and when scheming Cardassian Gul Dukat announces his alliance with the Dominion, Sisko dares him to seize DS9 by force. Worf, Garak, and Bashir are still imprisoned on a Dominion-controlled asteroid, while a changeling, posing as Bashir, plots to weaken DS9's defenses and turn Bajor's sun into a quadrant-destroying supernova. As this plot unfolds with breathtaking momentum, Garak fights claustrophobia to jerry-rig a life-saving transmitter, and Worf survives seven brutal fights with Jem'Hedar combatants. It all leads to a rousing climax, deepening Andrew J. Robinson's superb portrayal of Garak, and giving Worf one of his most honorable Klingon adventures. Chock-full of noble heroics and riveting suspense, this episode was partly inspired by The Great Escape, matching that classic film with its own prison-break plot line. --Jeff Shannon

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episodes 73 & 74: The Way of the Warrior [VHS]

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episodes 73 & 74: The Way of the Warrior [VHS] Review

This ambitious two-part adventure opens Deep Space Nine's fourth season with a major station shake-up, drafting Worf (Michael Dorn) from Star Trek: The Next Generation and pitting the Federation against their allies, the Klingons. The warrior race has their own plan to protect the quadrant from the threat of the Dominion on the other side of the worm hole, which involves "glorious battle" that will break the precarious peace the Federation has maintained. In many ways, it redefines the show in a rougher mode and puts the station in a more volatile situation. The Federation's clash with the Klingons breaks a 20-year peace and forces Worf into the most difficult decision of his life. Sisko's newly shaved pate adds to his battle-hardened authority and Worf's rigid adherence to military protocol adds some much-needed tensions back into the station. It's the most exciting show to date, a sharply written, action-packed episode climaxing with a spectacular battle that moves from outer space to the inner corridors of the station. Once again, the insidious hand of the Dominion lurks in the shadows, adding yet another paranoid dimension to one of the best stories of the series. --Sean Axmaker

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 75: Hippocratic Oath [VHS]

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 75: Hippocratic Oath [VHS] Review

In this episode directed by series costar Rene Auberjonois (Odo), Dr. Bashir and Chief O'Brien, en route from a survey, investigate an energy reading on an uninhabited planet and are shot down by an AWOL Jem'Hadar patrol. The foot soldiers of the Founders threaten to kill the two immediately, but when they discover that Bashir is a doctor, their commander has a better use for him: help them break their addiction to the drug that makes them slaves to the Dominion. Meanwhile Worf, the station's newest officer, has trouble adjusting to the loose sense of procedure on DS9 and clashes with Odo over what he assumes is lax security when he stumbles across a smuggling operation in Quark's bar. Worf's story is a fairly cardboard attempt to contrast his stiff by-the-book Starfleet training with the frontier-marshal-like enforcement of Odo, but the clash between Bashir and O'Brien while held by the Jem'Hadar puts their odd-couple friendship to the test. As Bashir dedicates himself to freeing the soldiers from their genetically engineered addiction, O'Brien treats them as the deadly enemies they have always been to the Federation. --Sean Axmaker

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 62: Prophet Motive [VHS]

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 62: Prophet Motive [VHS] Review

"Prophet Motive" asks the burning question "What would happen if the wormhole aliens encountered the most profit-hungry being in the known universe?" The answer is a thoroughly entertaining display of good ol’ Ferengi chutzpah. Watch as a kinder, gentler Grand Nagus Zek horrifies his loyal subjects Quark and Rom with the Ferengi Benevolent Association. See the huge, silent Maihar'du weep over the New Rules of Acquisition. Marvel at Quark vs. the Prophets (guess who wins).

This is an episode full of firsts. It was Rene Auberjonois's first time out as full-fledged DS9 series director. It marked the first return to the wormhole with an Orb since "The Emissary." (In fact, it visually references the premiere experience almost frame by frame.) And it was the first of many times Bashir and O'Brien play darts. Cool special effects, great writing, solid acting, gratuitous oo-max, much Ferengitude. As always, Armin Shimmerman (Quark) and Max Grodénchik (Rom) work together like a well-oiled comedic machine. Wallace Shawn somehow manages to be both cunning and disgustingly cute as decrepit Grand Nagus Zek. And don't overlook the talents of the very tall Tiny Ron as his bafflingly loyal servant. In the pointless B-story, Dr. Bashir doesn't win the prestigious Carrington Award. "Prophet Motive" is an hysterically well-written episode and a favorite of Ferengi fans everywhere. --Kayla Rigney