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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DS9 Comes Into Its Own, February 28, 2003
The third season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was a pivotal one in the series. The groundwork for the series was finally laid, and the show finally moved from a TNG-picaresque storytelling style to a true story arc, when we finally get the first taste of the storytelling that would make Deep Space Nine a truly great show. The season begins with The Search, which formally introduces the Dominion, a powerful empire led by 'changelings' with anymosity for the 'solids'. The episode also features the Starship Defiant being introduced to the station, thus altering the dynamic of the series drastically, and some reticent fans who didn't like the idea of a show about a space station finally jumped on board. There are exciting action episodes, such as Defiant and Civil Defense, a time travel adventure in Past Tense with gentle social commentary, and an astonishingly good Garak two-parter (Improbable Cause, The Die is Cast). Life Support features the departure of Kira's love interest with dignity and honor, and Explorers is the kind of warm character-based story that the show could never make enough of. Also highlights include a trip back Through the Looking Glass and the genuinely suspenseful The Adversary, which has Sisko promoted to Captain, continues the storyline of shapeshifters infiltrating Alpha Quadrant civilizations, and the drama of Odo killing one of his own. Once again, the acting and character development are exemplary. Sisko becomes interested in Bajoran history, which indicates a possible growing comfort with his unwanted role as the planet's spiritual leader. Jeffery Combs is indespensable as both the antipathetic Brunt and the ingratiating, pleasant Weyoun, the Dominion's mouthpiece. Odo goes through the most turmoil in this season, learning of and turning his back on his people, being constantly frustrated on his affections for Major Kira, and finally killing another shapeshifter. All of this angst is pulled of admirably by Rene Auberjonois. Garak finally gets a storyline revolving around him, and it turns out to be the best two-parter that DS9 ever produced. All of this sets the scene for the rest of the series.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Shapeshifiting to interesting themes during season 3, June 7, 2003
Season 3 of DS9 is where things got really intesesting.During the first season and part of season two all the key pieces for the ensuing conflict that would continue throughout the course of the series. Like B5's Shadow War, the Dominion-Federation War, would be center stage during season 3. Sisko finally gets a ship that can hold its own against many of the Jem Hadar spacecraft. The Defiant is an "overpowered, overgunned craft" that providesa a way for Sisko and company to meet, greet and defeat(as well as be defeated)oncoming advesaries. In the opening two part episode, Sisko and his crew take the Defiant into Dominion space in an attempt to discover who and where the Founders are. Unfortunately, the Defiant is taken down too easily to make the episode credible. Still, it does provide a unique glimpse into the ideal presented by Founders and the reality of their civilization as they try and seduce Odo to join them. "Defiant" also provides an opportunity for NextGen actor Jonathan Frakes to appear on DS9. As Riker, he charms Kira into giving him a tour of the Defiant in order to steal it. Written by NextGen writer Ronald Moore and directed by Cliff Bole, it's an interesting and intense episode well acted by Frakes. The episodes "Second Skin","The Abandoned" and highly acclaimed two parter "Past Tense" (a transporter accident hurls Sisko and company across time and space to Earth during a conflict in the year 2024. A key figure of the past Gabriel Bell attempts to help Sisko and Bashir during a fight. Bell is killed prematurely thus altering history and forcing Sisko to take the man's identity to ensure the continuity of his world. "Life Support" provides a serious look at the ethics of artifical life support. The character of Vedic Bareil suffers from brain damage during an attempt to resuscitate him. Bashir gradually replaces Bareil's brain with implants making his contribution to peace talks possible but robbing him of his humanity in the process. "Improbable Cause" gives us further background on Garak. Garak chooses to rejoin his mentor Enabran Tain in a combined assault with the Romulans against the Dominion. There are many other fine episodes during the third season worth noting. Most important, though, is the doubt cast on Odo when his relationship with the Dominion's Founders becomes clear and the introduction of a new Star Trek security chief Michael Eddington played by the Marvelously oily Kenneth Marshall. The extras are nicely put together and all appear on the last disc in the set. The most interesting are the Birth of the Dominion and Beyond, Time Travel Files: "Past Tense", Sailing Through The Stars: A Special Look At "Explorers" and the crew dossier on Odo. The 5.1 remix on the audio gives additional depth to the episodes making them more cinematic and allows one to finally hear all the detailed sound effects buried in the stereo mix of the broadcast episodes. Unlike Season 1, Season 3 features 26 episodes and the transfers are pristine. Although not flawless (how could they be with minor analog artifacts? and an occasinally slightly blurry look to some of the episodes), they are among the best in a well designed boxed set. The lack of a booklet providing credits and a basic outline of the plot is still a problem. I suppose Paramount figured that most folks purchased the DS 9 Companion. In fact, the third season transfers put the 2nd season transfers of many of the B5 episodes to shame. Obviously great care was taken and, unlike early Trek NextGen episodes, there's rarely any of the compression problems one would expect. What's amazing (and easy to forget) is how well structured and written DS9 was; while it follows the Trek formula a little too closely at times, DS9 takes a number of risks that never occurred to the makers of the earlier Next Gen and of later series Voyage and Enterprise. I'd recommend the DS9 Companion in addition to the boxed set. Unfortunately, DS9 doesn't come with any booklets (unlike the fine synopsis in each boxed set of B5). It's hard for many fans to remember which of the cryptically titled episodes features what. Another drawback to the boxed set is the lack of any writer/director/cast/producer commentary tracks. I would have been interested in hearing producer Michael Pillar's and writer Ira Behr's comments on the key episodes "Past Tense 1 &2". I'm surprised given the wealth of extras here, that Paramount hasn't sprung for two or more cast commentaries as it would make the hefty cost a bit more understandable. I'd definitely recommend seeing season 3 prior to seasons 4 & 5 as they outline the background for those seasons and the conflicts between the characters of Eddington, Sisko, Odo and Kira. While DS9 3 isn't a perfect set, it features nearly flawless transfers with a wealth of documentary extras that will be of interest to Star Trek fans. Always the Rodney Dangerfield of the Trek family when Next Gen was on, DS9 is still among the best written and detailed series (outside of B5)created during the90's.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Many great episodes, but falls short of perfection, February 20, 2003
This is the season where we truly begin to see the show that Deep Space Nine would become. There are many memorable moments in this third season, as well as intense character development across the board. Many storylines introduced in season 2 would finally spawn fantastic episodes in season 3, and the show really began to take on a unique feel as compared to any previous Trek show. The season opens with the two-parter "The Search" which was the perfect opener to a rousing season. The arrival of the Starship Defiant at Deep Space Nine signaled a radical change in the show's dynamic, as now the crew could venture out into space. Many fans reluctant to try the show earlier were converted by this development. Also, the structure of the Dominion is revealed, and the 'Odo angst' begins. Other noteworthy adventures include "Defiant," which features the return of Tom Riker as a Maquis terrorist who hijacks the Defiant; "Civil Defense," a seemingly metaphoric episode that is suspenseful and has what in my opinion is the most humorous diatribe trading between Dukat and Garak; the "Past Tense" two-parter, which is a good time-traveling episode with gentle social commentary, a continuation of the mirror universe storyline in "Through the Looking Glass. "Explorers" is a warm, character-driven episode that the show could not make enough of, and "The Adversary" is a great conclusion to the season, with Sisko finally being promoted to captain, a suspenseful cat-and-mouse chase with a changeling onboard the Defiant, Odo killing one of his own kind (accentuating the Odo angst) and the implication that changelings have already infiltrated the highest echelon of Starfleet Command, a plotline which would become the basis of an excellent two-part episode in season 4. The two standout episodes of the season, however, are "Improbable Cause" and "The Die is Cast." Improbable cause has Odo investigating the (apparent) attempted murder of Garak, where nothing is as it seems. The Die is Cast deals with a combined Romulan and Cardassian fleet taking the fight to the Dominion and being utterly destroyed, due to changeling infiltrators. There is much great drama in this episode: the relationship between Garak and Tain, the Eddington/Sisko conflict, and the interesting fact that these two private men have their actions guided by the same dream: to return home. Astounding stuff. Why only 4 stars? I can't reconcile giving 5 stars to a seasons with arguably the two worst episodes ever produced in the show. "Meridian" is the worst love story I have ever seen produced in any medium, and just like season 4's "Rejoined", Dax allows herself to be led astray by hormones, in spite of all her wisdom, importance on passing on the symbiont, etc. etc. I'm glad the producers finally realized that nobody was buying it. The other bad episode also dealt with love. "Fascination" is one of those "fun" episodes that just never worked out. Although the plot device to spontaneously attract people is logical (I guess), the pairing is odd, to say the least (Jake and Kira? Quark and Keiko? I think not). And, furthermore, the comic aspect of the episode just never materialized. It felt labored and just painful all around. Deep Space Nine's Third Season began to show the show's potential. There are plenty of great episodes here, and this is the show's true beginning, as we see a more bold structure pervade the show. A worthy buy.
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