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Oddly enough, the one
DS9 character who seemed to get lost a bit in the series' first two seasons was Commander Sisko (Avery Brooks). Sisko-oriented stories were infrequent, but "Paradise" places the
Deep Space Nine station leader in a battle of wills with a strong opponent, always a good scenario for the tough, implacable Starfleet boss (as well as for actor Brooks). The story finds Sisko and chief engineer O'Brien (Colm Meaney) trapped on a planet with a duonetic field that renders all their technology (their Runabout shuttle, communicators, weapons) inoperable. Worse, the locals comprise an anti-tech cult ruled with an iron fist by Alixus (Gail Strickland), a 24th-century version of a Luddite who means to assimilate Sisko and O'Brien into the fold.
The episode looks great--most of the exteriors personify the permanently pre-industrial, agrarian-community look of the place. (For some reason, DS9 always did better with designs for exteriors than either Next Generation or Voyager.) But the big draw here is the head-butting relationship between Sisko and Alixus in the context of her cult's duplicity, i.e., its façade of warm acceptance masking brutality and exploitation. Julia Nickson is very good as Cassandra, a colonist sent by Alixus to seduce Sisko in hopes of turning him. --Tom Keogh
From the Back Cover
While surveying nearby star systems in a Runabout, Sisko (Avery Brooks) and O'Brien (Colm Meaney) discover a planet inhabited by a colony of humans who have rejected all forms of technology. After transporting to the surface, the two officers discover that none of their equipment works and they become stranded.
Back on the station, the crew worries when the pair fail to respond to their hails. Meanwhile, the two officers learn that Alixus (Gail Strickland), the leader of the colony, rules the community with an iron fist and her anti-technology philosophies cannot be ignored. As Sisko bristles under her control, Alixus proves she will go to any length to keep them all trapped in this so-called paradise.
