Customer Reviews

Star Trek Deep Space Nine - The Complete Second Season

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

For DS9 lovers on a budget, the cheaper asian versions available on the used marketplace are enticing. They are indeed about half the price of the US version. I ordered the 2nd season this way and found it to be actually slightly inferior in quality for viewing, and markedly inferior in packaging even though it was bought new. Several episodes seemed to cut off the last few seconds to squeeze it on to the DVD, and we had tracking problems (slowww) and voice to action synching problems occaisionally. Mind you it got the job done, just not quite there for quality, which can be annoying. The packaging, really bad. The DVD's are stacked in a thin paperboard box with foam sheets between. The box and the DVD's have really bad airbrushed illustrations of something similar to the star's faces. Quite amusing, but not if you just paid for it. My advice is to buy a lightly used US version instead of a "new" Asian one if the money is an issue. I bought a used Season 1 US version and it was perfect, only a small scratch on the box. The DVD's were in perfect shape, and no cut off scenes!

Although DS9 was still finding its legs, season two demonstrated that DS9 wasn't going to be a Trek knock off. The writing by co-creator Michael Pillar, Ira Behr and others developed a number of key conflicts that would continue to pay off until the series conclusion 5 years later. Conflict is the essence of drama and Ds9 makes the most of the conflict between the spiritual Bajorans, the secular Federation, the xenophobic Founders and the untrustworthy Cardassians.

Oscar Winner Louise Fletcher returns to the role of an evil Vedick and she makes the most of this role. During the second season her character develops more depth. Guest stars such as Frank Langella, Steve Weber, Stephen Macht and others bring considerable acting muscle to the series. Let's not overlook any of the regulars. DS9 had an acting ensemble comparable to TNG in depth and experience.

Politics plays a much larger role in DS9 than TNG. Part of that is the confined nature of a series set on a space station. But DS9 really was always meant to be Casablanca in space to some degree. The complex story arcs began their development here during the second season.

The boxed set (unlike the first season) contains 26 episodes and about an hour and a half of extras that are enlightening but hardly essential. Once again Paramount missed the boat with the DVD reissue of this series. Commentaries from actors, writers and directors would have been interesting and provided an extra dimension to the DVD. Additionally, Paramount has priced DS9 like Trek at a premium....

The second season of DS9 ranks not only as one of the best in the seven year history of this series, but also as one of the best in the entire Star Trek legacy.

Things get off to a great start with the opening trilogy (The Homecoming/The Circle/The Siege), and the rest of the season easily lives up to expectations. The Maquis (two-parter), more Nagus (Rules of Acquisition), three legendary Klingons (Blood Oath), Garak (The Wire), the stirring (Cardassians), a mirror universe (Crossover), the underrated (Necessary Evil), and of course the big-ticket season finale (The Jem'Hadar) are just a few of the standout episodes you'll find contained in this DVD set.

I find the political and spiritual themes of DS9 to be extraordinarily entertaining. The brilliant writers and actors really hit their stride here in season two. I've been on vacation this past week, and have been watching episodes almost non-stop, I enjoy it that much.

Top-notch production values enhance this DVD set, making it even a greater value.

Highly recommended....I can't wait for season three.

This season included some great episodes. It starts out with a riveting three-part story about Bajoran society and politics (Homecoming, Circle, Siege) which further develops the Bajoran characters on the show. Invasive Procedures delivers suspense, Armageddon Game is an intriguing look at biological weapons with a subtle built-in irony. Profit and Loss has Quark moving profit down on the priority list (for once) and shows another aspect of Quark.

The best of the set, however, has to be Whispers. An artfully constructed conspiracy story is often underrated and forgotten when fans make top-10 lists, Whispers was the most atypical trek episode that had been produced up to this point. Told in flashback with voice-over narration, Chief O'Brien recalls the steps which caused him to suspect a massive conspiracy. The true power of the episode, though, is in the journey and in a truly inspired twist at the end. The use of subjective point of view filtered through O'Brien keeps the viewer unprepared for what awaits. The set should be purchased because of this very episode.

There are also many episodes that begin long-lasting storylines. The Wire is a mind-bending episode dealing with Garak's sordid past. It also set up one of the best story arcs on the show that would blossom in the following season. The arrival of the Maquis was an infinitely important Trek development, for it not only began a storyline which lasted for several seasons, but also contributed storylines to TNG and made Voyager possible. Crossover brought back the mirror universe from the original series and began a storyline that would continue well into the sixth season. The most important, though, has to be contact with the Jem'Hadar, signalling a metamorphosis in the series and beginning the journey to the show's destiny.

Sadly, the season is dragged down by inferior episodes, some of which are generally considered to be the show's worst. Melora is a clunker of a preachy message episode about the handicapped. Similarly, Rivals is a boring episode with the most preposterous science that I have ever heard in an episode of any Trek show. There are a number of filler shows which keep this season from reaching its full potential. Nevertheless, it contains some enjoyment, and is worth the purchase. This season paved the way for the rest of the series.

In the second season of DS9, we see the continuing development of a superior science-fiction series, based on excellent story-writing and character development.

The 3-part season-opening story arc (The Homecoming, The Circle, and The Siege) shows us the darker side of Bajoran politics.

Invasive Procedures gives us a deeper glimpse into Jadzia Dax.

Shadowplay teaches us about loss and the lengths someone will go to keep memory of loved ones intact, while at the same time giving us a cryptic preview of the Dominion.

Blood Oath gives us a glimpse of the past with Klingons being portrayed by legendary original Trek actors, such as Michael Ansara.

The Maquis two-parter kicks off the storyline regarding ex-Federation members having to go it alone against the Cardassians in the De-Militarized Zone.

Crossover shows us the consequences of James T. Kirk's actions from the original Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror."

The Jem'Hadar finally introduces us to the sinister Dominion, in what will turn out to be the dominating storyline for the rest of the series.

There is much more that can be said about this wonderful season but there is not enough time and space.

The best that can be done now is to purchase this season (and all the others) on DVD and see for yourself.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was groundbreaking in its first season. It was dark, but a good dark and not the negative kind of dark the producers don't take kindly to in interview after interview. To contrast the dark it was also the most cleverly funny and humurous as well. It stretched the Star Trek universe by bending its rules, its atmospheres and its characters. Season 2 did little different in its approach. In some ways, Season 2 is slightly, if just a tad, bit better than season 1 and that is usually expected. There is only one gripe...the extension of the main story. Season 2 seemed to be strecthing down the same road for most of the season except for very intelligent and low-key mentions of the Dominion and the in-your-face-forget-what-Star-Trek-was-before-eat-this-for-a-change-storyline in "The Jem'Hadar". The episodes were well produced and acted exceptionally and I can't complain that they were excellent hours of television but half way through the second season I found myself saying, haven't I seen this before. (Maybe Enterprise should pick up on that question!) However, amid some of that a few episodes popped up that made me realize that Deep Space Nine is not just science fiction in the Star Trek realm but science fiction in the realm of our reality. Spaceships and aliens are just background features next to the examinations of our souls as friends and lovers and workers.
A few episodes stood out for me in the first season and they were Progress, Dramatis Personae, and Duet. Each of these episodes exemplified the human condition when thrown into conflict with moving on (Progress), the absence of control (Dramatis...) and when confronted with the Hitler of our generation (Duet). Though Season 2 trudged some of the path of season 1's less character driven episodes the episodes titled Armageddon Game (my fav of the season), Necessary Evil, The Wire, and the Collaborator all stood out above all the others, even "The Jem'Hadar". Each of these episodes show the extent the human condition and character development the show would specialize in later in its run. The great thing about the The Wire and Collaborator is that the plot is centered around semi-regulars (Garak and Bareil). Deep Space Nine went out of its way to create more than just 7 or 8 solid characters. It created well over 30 that you love to see again and again. Dukat, Rom, Nog, Martok...the list could go on.
The gripe I have with the DVD is the lack of change from season 1 to 2 (and so on all the way up to 4, so far). The interview with Nana Visitor in the first season set was engaging and interesting and the other special features were intriguing but short. The season 2 special features are at times even shorter and the interview with Terry Farrell was almost unwatchable because of its excessive use of footage from the show and not enough content from the interviewee. Other than that the Section 31 files are always a treat and this is a recommended buy!

Everyone settles into their characters nicely this season. Quark begins to shine more, Garek develops (but doesn't mature), Dax -is too painful to talk about in any season, Kira is less annoying -she got a lot better over the years, and everyone is somehow shadowed by Avery Brooks (Sisko). To this day, he is probably my favorite actor. After seeing him in an interview, I thought he might be controllably schizophrenic because he acted so crazy (yelling odd, non-rhyme poetry and barking at the host - making those around him look a little uncomfortable), but when he's acting it's as though he believes every word, thought and nuance of his performance. He is a stellar actor. They ALL are. Even O'Brien get's an episode here and there and pulls it off. That's what makes this show so solid, not a weak link in the chain. Production and writing through to performance. It's a great collection of stories for all ages.

I never realized just how many DS9 fans there were out there. I thought that I was alone amongst all the TNG fans. TNG was great, but DS9 had a life to it's own. It remained true to Trek, but brought new life with a whole new plot concept.

The Galaxy got bigger, but the amount of distance needed to travel for a good storyline got shorter. If memory serves, I really got into the show when season 2 started to conclude. The Dominion was coming and that turned out incredible.
I'm looking forward to starting all over again with season one and then the rest as they come out. Do yourself a favor and buy these seasons. Support DS9. I know I will.

This was the season that won me over to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine! I became a "Niner" (subset of Star Trek fans) after I watched the repeat airing of the season finale "The Jem'Hadar". I had never seen anything like it on TV before. "The Jem'Hadar" featured an intriguing "who are they?" story about the fearsome Jem'Hadar - the soldier race of the Dominion, coupled with the grandest space battle (at that time) that I had ever seen on TV. Sure, the space battles would improve in later seasons, as would the characters and writing, but it showed me enough to keep me on board.

Later on I would see the remarkable three-part season opener - commonly referred to as "The Circle Trilogy" - along with other gems like "Blood Oath" (which brought back three of the original Star Trek's best Klingons: Kor, Kang and Koloth), "The Maquis, Parts I & II" (for better or worse, this is where Voyager began), "The Wire" (one of the best Garak stories) and "Crossover" (DS9's first visit to the classic Mirror Universe).

This was the year that Ira Steven Behr, Peter Allan Fields, Robert Hewitt Wolfe and James Crocker started to fully realize what the Dominion was and what it would later become. This quadrant-spanning empire was first mentioned during the first season, but this is where the ongoing story arc truly started. If you like SF that is daring, vivid and thoroughly complex, DS9 is the series for you.

*A special note: May God bless the families of the seven brave astronauts who died on board the space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003. And may He forever hold them in His warm embrace.*

Season Two of ST:DS9 was a vast improvement over the first season. Characters were more fleshed out, relationships became stronger and more developed, and above all the introduction of Star Trek's best villain since the Borg: the Jem'Hadar. I also enjoyed the political and religious sub-plots that wove their way through most of this season. Of those episodes, The Collaborator was by far the best. Louise Fletcher as Vedek/Kai Winn and Philip Anglim as Vedek Bareil were excellent in their roles. I know some did not like this aspect of the show, but I always thought the writers' excellent development of the Bajorans over the life of the show was one of the things that made DS9 so good.

This season also introduced the Maquis, again one of the better creations in the Star Trek universe. The two episodes featuring the Maquis during this season were not that great, but over time the writers developed them into an interesting group for which you sometimes felt empathy. And of course we have to mention the Dark Universe episode, Crossover. The Dark Universe comes from the Classic Star Trek series, but you have to give credit to the DS9 writers and producers. They took a near 30-year-old idea and developed a much more interesting Universe. In addition to Crossover, season two featured homage to Classic Trek with the Klingon-centered episode, Blood Oath. This was a great Jadzia Dax episode and gave viewers the return of three Classic Trek characters and actors: Michael Ansara as Kang, William Campbell as Koloth, and John Colicos (the original Battlestar Galactica Baltar) as Kor.

For anyone who is a fan of Star Trek, and in particular DS9, this set is a must-have for the collection.