Product Details

• Actors: Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Cirroc Lofton, Alexander Siddig, Colm Meaney
• Directors: Les Landau
• Writers: Michael Piller, Gene Roddenberry, Peter Allan Fields, Rick Berman
• Producers: David Livingston, Ira Steven Behr, Michael Piller
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: June 10, 1997
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304458673
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #550,556 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Original airdate: 5-10-93. Stardate: 46849.3. A first-season highlight, "Progress" combines an amusing subplot involving Nog (Aron Eisenberg) and Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) with a moving dilemma faced by Kira (Nana Visitor) on the nearly evacuated Bajoran moon Jeraddo. It is there that Kira encounters Mullibok (Brian Keith), an elderly farmer who refuses to leave. Kira's efforts to persuade the old man lead to a painful examination of their shared heritage and violent history against the Cardassians. This interplay (blessed by the fine performances of Visitor and TV veteran Keith, in one of his best roles of his later years) lends the episode an emotional urgency that intensifies Kira's tension between her turbulent past and present obligations to Federation duty and Bajor's future. While Jake and Nog pursue amateur profiteering that turns surprisingly in their favor, "Progress" combines humor with the kind of ethical and emotional crises that allowed DS9 to maximize its first-season potential. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Character arc at it's best!, May 12, 2000

By 

Don J. Shaw (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 15: Progress [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This episode focuses mainly on Kira. Our favorite strong willed Major must confront her own demons when faced with a simple, yet complex mission. Is the majority vote always the best case? A crusty, yet charming Bajoran farmer provokes these issues and more in this episode. One of my "early" DS9 favorites.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, August 20, 2003

By 

Andrew McCaffrey "The Grumpy Young Man" (Satellite of Love, Maryland) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 15: Progress [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Throughout PROGRESS, I was convinced that the episode was going to cheat on me, and take the easy way out of the problem. When it confounded my expectations, I was surprised and extremely pleased. I hate it when drama dupes the audience by setting up difficult stakes and then ignoring them, so I was very happy to not only see that avoided here, but that the episode itself was quite thoughtful.

Three farmers stand in the way of progress. Bajor is planning to harvest the molten energy in the core of one of its moons, but to do that all the inhabitants of that moon must relocate. Three simple farmers refuse to leave. The cast includes a man who escaped the earlier Cardassian occupation through sheer strength and determination, and two others who were tortured to the point of losing their power of speech (which, of course, meant that the show producers didn't have write lines for them, or pay them for speaking roles).

The story is rather familiar, as, in fact, are the farmers. It's thanks to a solid performance from Brian Keith as Mullibok, the crusty and cranky old Bajoran, that the story successful so well. The episode rests on his refusal to leave his home, and the actor and the writing are extremely effective at conveying his point of view. He's an extremely sympathetic character despite his overblown and arrogant personality. The episode sinks or swims depending on how likeable the audience finds the farmers, and it is definitely a success on that point.

What I really liked about this one was the fact that there is no real room for a satisfactorily happy ending, and that the episode refuses to take the easy way out. There's a silly subplot revolving around Jake and Nog trading useless items for more useless items in a vain attempt to eventually get their hands on some gold-pressed latinum. It's a nice counterpoint to the seriousness of the rest of the story and the overall episode is quite good and very satisfying.