Product Details

• Actors: Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Cirroc Lofton, Alexander Siddig, Colm Meaney
• Directors: Allan Kroeker
• Writers: Ethan H. Calk, Gary Holland, Gene Roddenberry, Michael Piller, René Echevarria
• Producers: Hans Beimler
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: August 6, 2002
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000003K9A
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #507,660 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The lives of 8,000 colonists, and the ultimate fate of Kira Nerys, hang in the balance in this exceptional fifth-season episode of DS9. The trouble begins when the Defiant investigates a mysterious planet in the Gamma quadrant, penetrating an energy barrier and causing conflicting timelines that must be resolved. In one timeline, Sisko and his crew encounter the Gaian villagers, who are the descendants of... Sisko and his crew! In the other timeline, 200 years earlier, the ship crashes and its survivors--including the dying Nerys--become the progenitors of the thriving Gaian colony. While the time-travel dilemma may seem routine, René Echevarria's thoughtful teleplay--a hybrid of two freelance story submissions--places noteworthy emphasis on Odo's unspoken love for Nerys, which is finally expressed when circumstances call for intimate disclosure. Echevarria also deserves praise for not compromising the devastating outcome of the Gaian timeline; for Nerys and Odo alike, it's a hard-hitting consequence that gives the entire episode an emotional and thought-provoking spin. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of DS9's finest hours, May 8, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 120: Children of Time [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A very powerful and intriguing episode, definitely the best show of season 5, IMO. It is a reset-button episode in many ways, but that's largely unavoidable. This episode does a lot to advance the Odo/Kira story thread and it does a great service to most of the main characters in how they might react to meeting their descendants. Leave it to staff writer Rene Echevarria to pen another compelling character piece using a novel sci-fi premise.

Given that we know the Defiant and her crew will return to the station, the inevitable reset-ending comes with a twist that is appropriate and very fitting though a bit unsettling. Not only does it prevent the show from closing arbitrarily, but it provides us with a bit of shocking insight into Odo and what he might be capable of.

Great script, good setup for future episodes dealing with Odo <-> Kira, and sharp acting from the entire ensemble. This one's definitely a keeper.

BTW, it's amazing how much future-Molly looks like Chief O'Brien who's supposed to be her great-great-great-great-great grandfather. Nice casting job :)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of DS9's Finest Episodes, July 10, 2002

By 

D. Munro (PA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 120: Children of Time [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I'll spare you another synopsis (you can just read the ones below). But it's a wonderful episode...to me, it is on my list of the Top 5. For those of you who love Odo & Kira the way I do, this episode is a biggie--it directs their "close" friendship to a certain path. The ending is shocking...but it leaves a huge mark. If you loved watching them in "Crossfire," then you want to see this one!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of DS9's strongest emotional episodes, March 18, 2001

By 

Kelly (Champaign, IL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 120: Children of Time [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Deep Space Nine will largely be remembered, at least by me, for the grand and sweeping epic that comprised its entire last season, and with good reason. However, one sometimes had to do some digging around in there for the character stuff (not to say it wasn't there-- it was-- but it was often secondary in importance). In this episode, however, there's no connection to the over-arching plot and no giant space battles, and so we get to see the characters in a very unique situation (well, not entirely unique on Star Trek, but still unusal). They get to meet their descendants. Furthermore, they are forced to choose between erasing those people from the timeline and getting home themselves. They know that some of them, including Kira, will die in the crash, and the rest will never see their families again. But they don't have the right to deny their descendants existence. The "version" of Odo who has lived on the planet for 200 years is a very compelling character, especially as a tragic lover. Overall, this is one of my favorite single DS9 episodes, and it can be watched on its own-- whereas the last 7 or 10 episodes, while forming an extremely exciting plot, really do all have to be watched in order to see that plot. So unless you're up to the daunting task of collecting the entire Dominion War, this episode (along with the comic classics "Little Green Men" and "Trials and Tribble-ations") should be at the top of your list.