Customer Reviews

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

bMost series go out like the roach in those old Raid commericals on their backs with legs sticking up in the air. DS9 was an exception to the rule. Pedigree is sometimes telling and, in the case of DS9, it was the grandson of a science fiction film classic; Roddenberry clearly based his characters and the situation of the original Star Trek on Forbidden Planet. Next Generation took that formula to the next level. DS9 was the first major departure from the formula--while it's set in Roddenberry's universe creators Michael Pillar and Rick Berman brought in a much darker element. It fit well.

Season 7 tied up most of the loose ends from the previous six years. As Executive Producer and writer Ira Steve Behr noted, DS9 evolved without any clear cut plan in mind beyond the current season. In many respects, that was the to the series' advantage. Jadzia Dax, Worf's wife and fellow officer, is murdered at the conclusion of season six and it appears that the evil spirits of the Pah-wraith have taken control. The Dominion looks like they will actually win the war and Gul Dukat, Sisko's doppleganger and foe,has over the course of seasons 6 and 7 gone completely insane.

Worf must deal with the loss of his mate and his world continues to crumble as the Dax symbiot returns as Ezri Dax (played by the marvelous and beautiful Nicole deBoer) bring back ghosts he'd thought he had put behind him. Sisko has returned to Earth taking a leave of absence from the Federation to work at his father's restaurant. Image In The Sand opens with Sisko trying to uncover the mystery of his mother's death and his visions. An attempt on his life makes him rethink his isolation from the world. Other strong episodes include After Image where Garak has massive anxiety attacks related to his role in helping the Federation overturn the Cardassian Empire. He feels like a traitor even though Cardassia is now just a pawn of the Dominion. Chrysalis focuses on Julian Bashir's love affair with another genetically enhanced individual who, until recently, was in something of a catatonic state. The best episode for me is Treachery, Faith and The Great River. Weyoun one of the genetically engineered overseers of the Jem H'adar betrays the Dominion. He gives information to the Federation in return for asylum. Evidently he's been judged defective and the Dominion has elected to terminate him and replace him with yet another clone.

Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges and Extreme Measures reintroduces Section 31 the secret cell that operates within the Federation. This secret organization will do anything, regardless of ethics or morality, to insure the Federation wins the war against the Dominion. Willian Sadler is superb as Sloan who tries to recruit Bashir in the former. In the latter episode, Bashir must enter the dying man's mind to find a cure for the wasting disease that was introduced to destroy the Founders (the leaders of the Dominion) by Section 31. It threatens the Founders and Odo who was used to introduce the disease to his people.

The grand finale is a marvelous two parter that doesn't provide complete resolution but, like the best novels, leaves enough loose ends to make the series interesting. I don't want to spoil it as there are a number of powerful surprises.

While season 7 didn't quite live up to seasons 4, 5 & 6 it was a strong send off for the series. Unlike The Next Generation (which I still love despite its flaws), on DS9 not everyone got along and the conflicts made the show that much more interesting. Oh, and if you purchase seasons 6 & 7 you'll get $20.00 back from Paramount (a similar promotion was used for Next Gen). A great series (not just a great Star Trek series)rode off into the sunset without ever looking back.

The seventh season of Star Trek Deep Space Nine is the conclusion of Star Trek's best, richest, most character and plot driven series to date, without exception. Even more so than when The Next Generation was concluded, the sense of the loss of this series for this fan and all of the fans of DS9 was that much more profound, despite the producers, writers and actors extraordinary efforts and the brilliance of this season!

Never before and not since in the history of Star Trek has a series serialized so many portions of its run and from the very early beginnings of the rumors of the Dominion all the way through the final episode in the epic, the entire arc with the Dominion war was prophetic and superior in how it was all set up and concluded.

This incomparable seventh season also brought to the series and the fans the addition of a new character in Ezri Dax. Given that the shows writers had a whole new character to play with and the fact that Ezri turned into such a unusual and wonderful character, many of the seasons early episodes were devoted to her and they were very good shows. High praise goes to Nicole deBoer for her performances during this season.

To make things even better for this season of wrapping up character and plot arcs, the shows producers decided upon and carried out some very different things for the Star Trek universe. From a brilliant and unprecedented ten episode arc to conclude the series to the extraordinary things they did with many of the characters to conclude the series; such as Captain Sisko's destiny, Rom's gift from Zek, Worf and Martok's intertwined destinies, the ultimate relationship between Bashir and Ezri, O'Brien's new assignment and Odo's return to the great link carrying the message of humanity, all of which wrapped up these characters perfectly.

For those that wish to find out what many of Star Trek fiction's finest authors and Pocket Books with approval through Paramount Studios believes what happens after the conclusion of "What You Leave Behind," there is a whole new re-launch series available and most of these rich stories have received very high praise from fans and critics alike.

The episodes:

Image in the Sand & Shadows and Symbols- These two episodes pick up beautifully where the sixth season left off and starts the character of Benjamin Sisko down the path of the prophets through an unexpected new character introduced in these shows. Ezri Dax is also introduced here in a funny and surprising way.

Afterimage - Ezri is finding out what it is to be a joined Trill and Garak, played perfectly by Andrew Robinson, and becomes her new patient as he finds "he" is a suffering from a moral dilemma.

Take Me Out to the Holosuite - Simply put, this is one of the series funniest and most cherished episodes ever produced.

Chrysalis - Bashir's genetically enhanced friends make a return in this beautiful yet heart wrenching episode.

Treachery, Faith and the Great River - It is episodes like this one that carried DS9 due to its rich script and superb acting as a Weyoun clone is found to be "defective" and seeks the aid of Odo while at the same time Nog may be in Starfleet but he proves he is still a Ferengi.

Once More Unto the Breach - John Colicos returns as Kor in this last amazing Klingon devoted episode of the series.

The Siege of AR-558 - The true effects of war come face to face with several of the characters in this episode.

Covenant - The final arc of Dukat and his covenant with the Pah-Wraiths begins in earnest in this extremely well written episode.

It's Only a Paper Moon - Vic Fontaine and Nog lead in this episode as Nog retreats to the holosuite to deal with his loss during his time on AR-558.

Prodigal Daughter - This beautiful episode introduces us to Ezri's family and a return for O'Brien as an intelligence operative dealing with the Orion syndicate.

The Emperor's New Cloak - This is the last brilliant mirror universe episode and at the same time the last great Ferengi episode.

Field of Fire - Ezri finds herself dealing with Joran, one of Dax's previous hosts that was a murderer and a series of murders takes place on the station.

Chimera - This is one story that I'd always hoped would come along, what if another changeling that was sent out like Odo showed up. The character of Laas is played to perfection by J.G. Hertzler's brother, Garman.

Badda-Bing Badda-Bang - You knew it would have to happen; a show devoted to Vic Fontaine and despite some misgivings with this character and its place in Star Trek, the overall story is very good.

Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges - Sloan from Section 31 returns in this brilliantly written episode which is heavily laden with mystery and intrigue involving the Romulans.

Penumbra thru What You Leave Behind - "Penumbra" is where the extraordinary ten episode arc begins and the conclusion of the Dominion War and the series starts. From gripping character driven scenes to extraordinary space battles between Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Dominion, Cardassian and Breen starships, every scene in these last ten episodes of the 176 hour saga is absolutely brilliant, leaving us, the fans longing for more yet remembering them fondly... {ssintrepid}

Episode list:

Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Afterimage
Take Me Out to the Holosuite
Chrysalis
Treachery, Faith and the Great River
Once More Unto the Breach
The Siege of AR-558
Covenant
It's Only a Paper Moon
Prodigal Daughter
The Emperor's New Cloak
Field of Fire
Chimera
Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
'Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When it Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Extreme Measures
The Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

Special Features:
-Ending An Era
-Crew Dossier: Benjamin Sisko
-Crew Dossier: Jake Sisko
-The Last Goodbyes
-Photo Gallery
-9 Section 31 "Hidden" files

Deep Space Nine's Seventh Season is basically a highlight reel. One show after another sparkles, there are plenty of twists, and, most importantly, the show ends so well. The final arc is truly amazing and makes us remember why we liked the show in the first place.

First off, there is a new Dax host in the last season. Nicole DeBoer plays Ezri Dax in the final season, taking over for Terry Farrell. I always liked the idea of having a new regular character come in before the end to mix things up, and there are a few good episodes devoted to her. "Afterimage" has Ezri trying to get her old friends to accept her; and "Field of Fire" has her enlisting the help of psychopath Joran Dax to catch a clever killer. It was in this episode where we learned how different she was to be from the previous Dax: her readiness to access the twisted Joran part of herself. Also, "Prodigal Daughter" explores her backstory.
All the characters receive a fitting coda. Sisko begins the season confused about his purpose, but wraps up the season fulfilling his destiny. Kira is promoted to Colonel, but finishes up the season as a freedom fighter once again, and ends up in command of the station. Worf has an eventful season, which includes depression after Jadzia's death, nonacceptance of Ezri leading to romance, as well as indignation at Gowron for his purely personal motives in the war. Julian has a couple of run-ins with Section 31 and overall becomes a wiser, more mature person. Garak ends up finally ending his exile, Quark still runs the bar, and Rom becomes the Grand Nagus. All in all, the denouement of the show was perfect.

Some of this season's highlights are "Take me Out to the Holosuite", a whimsical break from the war which pits Sisko against an academy nemesis in baseball, "Once More Unto the Breach" and "The Siege of AR-558", a pair of war stories, "Treachery, Faith and the Great River" with Weyoun defecting from the Dominion, "It's Only a Paper Moon" and "Badda-Bing Badda-Bang", both Vic Fontaine episodes, the first dealing with Rom's injury, the second is a tribute to heist films. The aforementioned "Field of Fire" is a great mystery story, but my favorite episode of the season is "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges". This is the best Section 31 episode of all of them, a complicated morality play/spy story where nothing is as it seems. "The Changing Face of Evil" has more twists than Lombard Street, including Damar finally breaking off and starting his resistance movement. "Tacking into the Wind" finally has Gowron getting his just dessert, and "What You Leave Behind" concludes the series well by ending the Dominion war and having the characters go their separate ways.

It is easy to say that Season 7 is among the show's best. It is definitely worth purchasing.

I said goodbye to some friends tonight, after spending the last six months purchasing and watching the entire DS9 series on DVD. There are few TV shows that can compare with DS9, forget Star Trek comparisons. This was an epic set in the Star Trek universe and it was not primarily episodic, like its sibling shows. I can think of other shows I have seen, such as Hill Street Blues, that depend on your emotional investment to the development of the characters, and this one is similarly well-written. DS9 makes you care.

This seventh season wrapped up most of the story lines neatly, some not so neat.

I enjoyed the ten-part story arc to end the war with the Dominion, which was handled with so much intrigue throughout the series. Weyoun is probably my favorite character and he finally got his time to shine in the best episode in the season, in my opinion, Treachery, Faith and the Great River. I thought he met his fate too abruptly and thoughtlessly at the end, but then again, I also strongly believed the female shapeshifter deserved much worse.
She, and her fellow founders, were directly responsible for the death of billions of Cardassians, Klingons, Breen, Romulans and Federation citizens, not to mention the erradication of the Maquis and the senseless sacrifices of their own bred and cloned slaves, the Jem-hadar and Vorta.
This made me hard to swallow Odo returning to his people at the end, they seemed too brutal to me to deserve any kind of redemption. (I too learned this spoiler early, thanks to the crew dossiers on an earlier season, bad move)

The emissary plot ended about right and in the same tone as the series began, if a bit anti-climatic being scrunched between the goodbyes. I also felt Dukat was better suited in the Dominion Plot than with his extended involvement with the Pah-Wraiths and Kai Wynn (yucky)

The introduction of a new character in Ezri Dax, started out as a disaster in the intial episode, she seemed so annoying. But luckily, they toned her down a bit, and even if I would have like to see Jadzia make it till the end, I enjoyed what the new Dax brought to the table.

And Worf, who tied so much of Star Trek together, showed how cyclical in nature one's life can be, usurping the Chancellor he put in power in TNG for the good of the Klingon Empire.

I wish there was another season after watching this one, and I know I really missed the boat when the show was on the air, but thank God for series' on DVD!

--SPOILER ALERT-DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED
For me, Season 7 was a disappointing conclusion to a series that improved each year but unfortunately peaked with the wonderful seasons four, five & six. While the decision to finish the Dominion War with the 10-episode arc was exciting and ambitious, the payoff was much too hollow. Here are my specific problems with it:

Ezri Dax. The Dax symbiant should have died or gone away with Jadzia. There wasn't enough time to develop an interest in Ezri, which left the writers ramming her down our throats for the first quarter of the season. They would have been better off resolving the fate of Dax in a single episode.

Gul Dukat. Personally, I would have rather seen Dukat, along with Dumar, lead his people in a rebel uprising against the Dominion. His obsession with the Pah Wraiths never felt right nor did his (yech!) romantic storyline with Kai Winn. As someone who was consistently villainous throughout the series, Winn should have been the "wolf in sheep clothing" that Sisko was destined to stop. Dukat, while villainous in his own right, had shown a virtuous streak from time to time and would have made a much more exciting surprise hero.

Odo & Kira. I'm sure there are many who feel passionately opposite of me on this one but I think the Odo & Kira romance should have ended before the series did. It had to happen, they had been setting it up for years, but the chemistry between the two never rang true for me and I think it should have run for a few episodes and then gracefully found new paths for each of them. Not that I wanted to see this either, but there was more chemistry between Kira & O'Brien when she was carrying his child.

The female Changeling. I am in agreement with some other reviewers who were vexed by the abrupt end of the war. Plus, it always bothered me that the Founders would be as homicidal as the female Changeling. I think we would have been better off discovering that she had taken matters into her own hands and was acting without their knowledge. Otherwise, surely the Klingons or Romulons would wipe out the Changelings from space. Her character was truly evil and should have been treated as such.

Sisko. Far and away my biggest gripe with the series conclusion was the handling of Sisko's fate. For seven years we had been reminded of his role as the Emissary only to have it end with him pushing the bad guy off a cliff. And when he leaves for this great moment, he just runs off like he left something burning in the kitchen. Not even a glance toward Jake, who I could have been convinced was his son in real life. In fact, even when he appears to Cassidy in a vision, still not a word for or about Jake. Clearly this was a sloppy loose end and I refuse to believe it was the way they had planned it. He could have died, he could have come back, I don't even have a problem with some sense of uncertainty, but for a series conclusion, this was a weak resolution for your central character.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy much of Season 7 and would recommend it to those who like shows like this. DS9 surprised me with the improvement of each new season in much the same way TNG did. I do feel that, given the broader scope of story, it had the opportunity to finish stronger than TNG did but unfortunately, did not.

DS9's seventh and final season was, in some ways, its best. In addition to the long-overdue alliance between the Federation and both of its original series adversaries we see a Cardassian become a hero in the fight to liberate his people from the Dominion, which is wrapped up in an excellent series finale. My favorite episodes include "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River," "Once More unto the Breach," and "It's Only a Paper Moon."

In the first of these we see a "defective" Weyoun clone who questions the Dominion's policy of conquest and urges Odo to use his status as a Founder to change the Dominion into a more peaceful society. The scene between them is reminiscent of Kirk's parting message to the mirror-Spock in the original series, and in DS9's finale Odo does indeed honor Weyoun's request. In "Once More unto the Breach" we see Kor once again. After two episodes and who knows how many decades of feeling his best years are behind him he says, well you can guess what he says, and proves his worth in battle one last time.

Vic Fontaine really shines this season, particularly in "Paper Moon". He's sort of an unofficial counselor, much like Guinan was on Next Generation.

I didn't like the pah-wraith storyline that much. I think they could have found other ways for Dukat to cause trouble in the last season. As for Gowron, who started the Dominion War by invading Cardassia in the first place, he gets his comeuppance this season.

We also saw DS9's final mirror universe episode, "The Emperor's New Cloak". It's apparently a different quantum reality from the third season episode "Through the Looking Glass," because in that episode we saw Alliance ships decloaking, and here the Alliance didn't have a cloaking device. While it may not have been the writers' intention, that's how it worked out. Watch the two eps back-to-back some time. It's the best way to explain the discrepancy.

I spent the better part of a weekend watching all twenty-six episodes in this box set, and I must tell you that this is a magnificent end to a wonderful show. Nicole deBoer, who is new to the series, does an superb portrayal of Ezri Dax, the new host of the Dax symbiont. Also, the final episode (which is a two-parter) does an excelent job summing up the series. I especially loved the "Farewell/Memories" sequence. This is a must-have for DS9 fans!

I'll make this brief. DS9 was a seven year Trek show with more plot threads and arcs than any Trek has had before, and maybe any TV show ever as well.

Finishing off this unbelievable series is a TEN EPISODE ARC, that wraps up the entire series; ends the war, finalizes Sisko's role as Emmisary, wraps up the friendship between Bashir and O'Brien, seals Dukats fate, etc. Oh, and the Breen are featured, and lemme just say, they have (NICE) ships.

Of all the things you should know, it's that if you haven't seen the rest of the series, please start in order before viewing S7. It's so Arc-driven, that most people who just jump in will be completely lost. But if you have been there from the beginning, you wont regret the purchase, and you'll even shed a tear during the final episode. Hope this helped.

First off, allow me to comment on the price- TOO HIGH, by a factor of two.

Hey Viacom/Paramount, many excellent competing sci-fi series have NO PROBLEM selling their DVD sets for $50/season, so why do you insist on idiotically charging double to triple that? When your Amazon DVD sales rank is hovering in the #4,000-7,000 range (not only for DS9 but NextGen as well), there just MAY be a problem with that strategy. DUH.

Secondly, allow me to say that I LOVE DS9, and think it the best overall of all the StarTrek series. Yep, it even narrowly edges NextGen, which while great, was overly familiar and 'safe' at times. Not so DS9, by and large. Even when the series occassionally got whimsical (as with the the Vulcan baseball episode or the Vic Fontaine character) it did so in interesting and original ways that added to the series.

But Paramount did this series WRONG, in the end. You can tell from the last few episodes of Season 7 that the writers/creatives staff had planned to tie up all the story arcs in Season 8. A season they were NOT to have, due to the AWFUL decision to cancel DS9 in favor of the (extremely mediocre) Voyager.

The weak reason given was that having two Trek shows out there at the same time was 'cannibalizing the Star Trek franchise'... when in reality, the fading ratings were more due to the fading quality and freshness of the ST franchise, some of which was inevitable (without a major 're-imagining' that we're STILL waiting for, due to a lack of vision/guts from those at the top), and some of which wasn't, as anyone who had to endure awful season after awful season of Voyager 'till it FINALLY got 'okay' near the end, can attest.

The ensuing bomb series 'Enterprise' was the coffin nail that finally proved the point- tired, formulaic cookie-cutter writing and boring, simplistic, idealized characters just were not cutting it anymore. When the plot and style is as safe and predictable as the sun coming up in the morning, and a show has an 'ensemble' cast yet you find you only give a rat's ass about one or two of the characters, the writing is on the wall.

DS9, in its mid- to late years, was the opposite of all that. Darker, edgier characters, tougher situations (who can forget Sisko's aiding and abetting an assassination, in the name of winning the war?), and a willingness to break the Trek 'mold' when needed served the series well.

Unfortunately, DS9 was at times not as 'accessible' as it could have been (some of this had to do with its oft-used religous themes), and it got off to a slow start in its first couple of seasons (as had NextGen before it), but still, the quality was all there. They just had the misfortune of having to compete against Jeri Ryan's catsuit while other 'suits' made the safe and easy choice- the mediocre-to-bad but slightly higher-rated Voyager over a wonderful DS9 series that was in full stride.

'tis a pity. Season Eight would've rocked the house, and the last third of Season Seven would've been so much the better for not having to frantically (and inadequately) trying to tie up what loose ends it could. Fans watching the closing episodes with a discerning eye were doubly cheated- their series ended prematurely, AND not well.

Hey, when the final episode is mostly MONTAGE (a la 'Baywatch', lol), you know something didn't go right.

Wake up Paramount/Viacom, you've managed, through the above-stated idiocy, to put a formerly hugely successful, four-decade running franchise on life support. Either get a clue, or sell the Trek franchise to someone who actually has one.

As the success of the new Battlestar Galactica series proves (helmed, ironically, by a former DS9 writer), people are not tired of sci-fi, they are tired of visionless, gutless, formulaic, weak-ass sci-fi.

There is no other word for this absolutely fabulous show that falls neatly and wonderfully into the Star Trek universe but......unforgettable.
This shows' creative writing and producing staff wove a tapestry of characters and interwoven plots like master painters.All characters were totally believable,colourful and three dimensional.
The biggest thing I loved about DS9 was its' different take on the Star Trek domain.This was centered around a group of individuals who worked and lived in a deep space federation station.For all fans used to life on the Enterprise this was some departure.It took guts and vision and the gamble paid off handsomely.
One soon found out that this was not going to be a boring series centered around a static and boring way station.It was an incredibly diverse place with a myriad of cultures and races that passed through its' portals,some benevolent but many others quite malevolent.
We learned over time of its' history and saw our favourite characters virtually grow right before our eyes as much inwardly as outwardly.We also sadly,saw some die.
It was a show that I spent seven memorable years with,never missing an episode.Even though it's been off the air for some time now I still miss my "old friends".I know I won't ever forget them.It was an unforgettable journey.
One thing that comes to mind everytime I recall the show is the relationship between Capt.Cisco and his son Jake.To me it was the most natural,heartfelt,positive and powerful role model for father/son relationships extant on TV then,before or since.
I will always consider the original series my favourite of all of them.But STDS9 comes in at almost a virtual tie.It is almost an apples and oranges argument.They were of the same universe but of two very different and original aspects of it.And I treasure both for those very reasons.
"The Next Generation" was just that, a new generation/crew on the newer version of the same ship...same old,same old."Enterprise"is the current prequel to the whole series but with far too little panache or interest to make it worth ones while to watch for too long.And "Voyager",well it was the WORST of the entire series so far and it(the craft and series!) should have remained lost forever.
To anyone who maybe didn't quite get the feel for DS9 the first time around and is a Star Trek fan I can't encourage you enough to try the show again.If you perhaps aren't a Star Trek fan and/or are trying to decide how best to test the Star Trek waters for the first time,I again urge you to view this series.
All of you will marvel not only at the originality and quality of the scripts but the fantastic ensemble acting and character depth that develops practically right from the start.This is NOT a Capt.Kirk or Picard race around the universe shooting up every alien in sight with phasers on kill(with apologies to both series).This series comes at you from day one from a totally different place than all the other series and it is the one thing that drove many in Star Trek fandom to either like it because of that or dislike it because it didn't fit their "mold".
My advice? Make my "old "friends" your NEW ones!!!