Customer Reviews

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I've been buying the DS9 DVD seasons in reverse order because I remembered the later ones being better; however, after watching the third season again I've began to question that decision. The third season is when the Defiant allows the show to be more dynamic allowing the crew to travel through the gamma quadrant and not remain on the station. There are a lot of series changing episodes and episodes plant seeds that prop up later in the series. There are also a lot of exciting two-parters in this season, and the extra features on the last disc are excellent. This is one of the best seasons IMHO; my only regret is not buying it sooner.

Although the premise behind Deep Space Nine was that of a run-down space station at the edge of nowhere, by the middle of the second season, life seemed to be getting a little too easy for the crew of the station. Not to say that they didn't have problems, but the adversaries and adversities they faced weren't a thousand miles away from the type of troubles that beset the crew of the USS Enterprise. But the end of the second season of Deep Space Nine changed all that.

For almost two years, the wormhole had been attracting all sorts of relatively positive attention towards the station. Scientists, explorers, and Ferengi business were all attracted to this spatial oddity in hopes of furthering their own interests. But in the season finale to the second year, the series was completely turned around when the wormhole suddenly becomes a threat -- beyond it lies the mighty Dominion, who appear to be taking a very proactive, almost Rumsfeldian role in their "defense". Suddenly, the people on the station are frightened and scared. A Dominion attack could come at any moment. In the third season we see Starfleet sending, not a scientific research starship, but an experimental warship, so powerful and unstable that it is almost a menace to itself.

This was the shot in the arm that Deep Space Nine needed. Not only is this a cantankerous old space station in the middle of nowhere, but now it's a cantankerous old space station in the middle of nowhere that could come under overwhelming attack at any time. The change in premise seemed to energize the writing and production staff. Even the stories that do not directly involve themselves with the running story seem like a step up from the past two years. Although Deep Space Nine hadn't been a bad series in the past by any means, we can see it developing further in this season.

As with the last two DVD box sets, the extras here are geared mostly towards the third season. Documentaries focus on revealing the makeup "secrets" or unearthing the original design sketches of the various buildings and spaceships seen during this year. There's also a special on Odo, featuring Rene Auberjonois who these days appears to be basing his look on that of Santa Claus. Again with this set, the documentaries are on the short size, mostly five to ten minutes long (I doubt there is one over a quarter of an hour).

Season three slowly ratchets up the tension, mixing standalone episodes with stories that enhance the overall arc. The big story and the characters are moving along nicely now, and the changes in the series fundamentals gave the producers and writers some great new potential for stories in the future.

DS9 is (in my never-to-be-humble opinion) the best of Trek and season 3 is an excellent example of why.

By the third season the series had really begun to hit its stride. The basic premise had been established, main characters and conflicts had been introduced and now new themes needed to be found and developed. The series had been criticized as not having enough action, especially when compared to TNG. Conflict needed to be introduced and it was on many levels. The on-going quest of Odo to find his own people was addressed and expanded to incredible levels. Kira was forced to face her beliefs about her faith, her people and herself. We learn more about the Ferengi and their culture as Quark and him family struggle to evolve with its changes. Sisko deals with changes in the Federation, the Bajoran and his own family. O'Brien faces his own mortality and the ever present conflict in his own family. Jadzia lays to rest her past lives and Bashir enters into new relationships. And those are just the main characters!

The Federation itself recovering from the recent assault by the Borg, and trying to maintain uneasy relationships with Klingons, Romulans and Cardassians now is becoming aware that threats exist from the Dominion.

The groundwork is laid for upcoming seasons including the format of story lines building over a series shows in arcs. The on-going themes already established by this series of making the characters more multi-dimensional than either TOS or TNG by incorporating more of their lives into the story is continued and expanded as are the mirror universe and time travel premises.

The additional features include about 45 minutes of interviews with the producers, writers, actors and others focusing on certain aspects of the show or particular episodes. The 'hidden files' (I found 7) are segments about 2 minutes each appear to be snippets from the interviews but are well worth the effort to access them.

For the first two season, one of the critical barbs thrown at the show was this series was not living up to Roddenberry's idyllic setting of no conflict with the peoples of the Federation. And that because DS9 was set in one location and the stories had to come to them instead of the crew going out "where no one has gone before", that the late creator would be saying all of it was wrong. So of that was true, as most of the key demographics -young males -felt DS9 did not measure up to TNG -especially in the action and excitement department. And while Odo and Quark where by far the most popular characters, most felt Sisko was too low-key and by being that way, viewers were not embracing the political and religion stories on the whole.

And because of the events in the season two finale, "Jem'Hadar", the crew were going to need more than three runabouts to stop a possible invasion from the Gamma Quadrant. The arrival of the Defiant solved two problems off the bat. The ship would be give the crew the chance to travel beyond the space station, and with the ever-increasing threat from the Dominion, it would ramp up the action quotient.

"The Search" introduced us to the Defiant and the Founders, the rulers of The Dominion. And, surprise, they turn out to be Odo's people. The two-part episode revealed much of Odo's past and it began to set up the conflict that would become so much part of the series in later years.

Highlights of the season included the opener, "The Search" to be followed by "The House of Quark", "Second Skin", "The Abandoned", "Defiant", "Past Tense, parts 1 & 2", "Improbable Cause", "The Die is Cast", another journey to the mirror universe in "Through the looking Glass" and "The Adversary".

Along the way, even the episodic episodes began to take on the running story of the Dominion. Quark and his Ferengi family, while used as comedic results, grew deeper, becoming something TNG never could do, make them interesting.

And unlike its sister series, DS9 never really ended on a big cliffhanger. As a matter of fact, it liked to leave you on a more threatening note. The final lines delivered by Odo -the last words from a dying changeling Odo killed in self-defense -left you feeling that a large conflict with the Dominion was coming.

"He said 'you're too late, we're everywhere'"

Dear Amazon Customers,
One of the most exciting series of Star Trek returns for it's third season. That series being Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Now in its third season, the show begins to take on a sense of maturity and adventure not before attempted in previous Star Trek universe programs. It is at this time that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine defines itself as a different type of show from predecessor Star Trek programs.

In the third season, we see Benjamin Sisko played by "Avery Brooks" take on more of the role as the father to Jake Sisko played by "Cirroc Lofton". The bonding of these two characters adds a level of domestic humanity to a character typically positioned in previous Star Trek programs as strong, overbearing and in command of matters. Even though Commander Sisko has a duty to Starfleet, he recognizes his duty as a father to his son.

Another aspect not seen in previous Star Trek programs is the introduction of a dominant antagonist force. In this case, the group that calls themselves the Dominion is introduced to the series. For the first time, the Federation faces an adversary that is just as determine to gain power through universal conquest instead of through peaceful negotiations. It is this theme that is the center point for rest of the entire Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series.

In the third season, the audience is treated to a full interaction of all the characters. We see Quark played by "Armin Shimerman" not only take on the rest of the cast of characters in a fierce stance to show Ferengi ingenuity and free enterprise but also takes on the Ferengi commerce structure and it's leaders in order to maintain his way of life.

We get to see Jadzia Dax played by "Terry Farrell" challenge her own society and herself with concept of Trill cohabitation with the symbiont life forms they carry inside of their bodies. Jadzia wanting to live her own life is tormented by the past lives of her previous symbiont's Trill host. This aspect of these multiple lives of the character Jadzia Dax becomes one of the most challenging story developments of the series.

Along with all of the character elements being developed in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, we see the reappearance of the warlike race known as the Klingons. In the third season, the Klingon society is challenged by the concept that their system may not as equitable to all of those who show strength. We see that even other alien races can teach the proud Klingons something about their society and themselves as well.

One of the most challenging aspects of to the Star Trek universe was made in the third season with the introduction of the armored and warlike starship vessel called the "Defiant". In all previous and future Star Trek universe programs, the Federation has insisted that they were a peaceful organization. With the introduction of a true war vessel, this notion was forever shattered. This single aspect alone pushed the writers of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine into areas of themes and plots never before explored in the Star Trek universe.

The bringing together of all these elements lead to a masterful piece of SCI-FI entertainment that is viewable over and over again. The only way you will know for yourself is by purchasing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3 on DVD. Watching the culmination of the previous seasons plots come together in the third season makes season 3 on DVD well worth watching. You will surely enjoy viewing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3 on DVD.

Instead of analyzing each season's merits or demerits I wanted to comment on the overall quality of the DS9 box sets themselves - the things that a DVD collector may want to consider when deciding on whether to purchase the sets or not - especially since these sets are not cheap.

1. Video/Audio quality - Excellent, especially compared to the Star Trek: Next Generation series. If I have one slight quibble, it's that the picture has a slightly 'hazy' quality - but this can be seen in the broadcast version of the earlier seasons too. Otherwise the colors are clean, there is no noise, and on a big-screen TV it looks excellent. The 5.1 surround sound is very nice - much better again than for TNG - you can really hear the ships flying around/behind you in battle scenes.

2. Menus and extras - The menus have the look and feel of the control panels in Ops on DS9. A nice touch is that while on the season 1 and 2 main menu a runabout flies by, on the season 3 menu the Defiant flies by. The extras are numerous and really worthwhile, including indepth looks at individual characters, comments on special episodes, special effects/makeup, and so on.

3. Packaging - This is the one thing I am rather disappointed with. The US release of these boxes are packaged in rather cheap-looking plastic cases that look ready to split at the seams at any time. Compared to the European or Japanese releases these boxes look well, rather nasty. The redeeming feature is that the design is quite nice.

Overall however, these box sets are worth almost every penny for any Trek or sci-fi fan. Kudos to Paramount for releasing them all in one year instead of making us wait for months for each box too.

With the Dominion threat,and the introdution of the battleship,Defiant,DS9's third season was finally coming into it's own.
Along with more character development in the lead as well as the supporting cast(Garak,Dukat,Kai Winn,Rom & Nog),the writing was even stronger than before with great episodes such as House Of Quark,Civil Defense,Second Skin,Visionary,Past Tense,and Explorers.Also introduced in this season are Leeta,Ishka("Moogie"),Brunt,Shaakar,and Lt.Commander Eddington.
Unfortunately with Star Trek Generation hitting the big screen,and Star Trek Voyager's big premire,DS9 was lost in the shuffle.But it would use it's underdog status to emerge as the greatest Trek series the following season.