Star Trek DS9: Season 1
It took me a year... a year... to finally get through the first season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I decided on my birthday last year to begin the next series in Star Trek after taking a break from finishing The Next Generation. I thought maybe I'd be done the first season by April but nope, it took a year plus 3 days to finish it off. I'd had this entry on my hard drive the entire time, commenting on certain episodes as I slowly went through it. So what happened? I'm not sure, I started off on a good note but I let myself get bogged down by gaming and watching online videos that I wasn't much interested. There was a long time gap to watch the final 4 episodes that within last week, I decided to finish them off as I didn't want to go well over a year to watch one season! I'm hoping this will push me to get back into watching episodes more frequently as if I did, I would be at season 4 by now. I probably cannot comment on what I think of the series as it is still too early (maybe by the 3rd or 4th) but I think I'm starting to like some of the crew. Unlike the previous shows that deal with space travel, study, and diplomacy, this one is about a nearby wormhole that links to the Gamma Quadrant, the relationship with Bajorans, and diplomacy. This is expected obviously since DS9 is a large space station and receives various travellers.
The DVD-R copies I have contain all the episodes per season ripped to a single disc. My former-roomie Shane got them for me. The quality is okay but the author cut out the intro and credits to save space. :(
"Emissary": We begin the series with Commander Benjamin Sisko being assigned by Starfleet as station commander of Deep Space Nine in orbit of Bajor, previously used by the Cardassian Union during its occupation of the planet, now repurposed to help Bajor to enter into the Federation. Sisko is resentful of the duty, having lost his wife Jennifer two years previously during the Borg attack at Wolf 359 and destruction of his former ship, the USS Saratoga, and worried about the well-being of his teenage son Jake while on the station. When he and Jake arrive, they find the station nearly stripped bare of unessential systems by the Cardassians, and the Bajoran staff, led by Major Kira Nerys, distrustful of Starfleet's presence. As the USS Enterprise delivers more Starfleet staff, including Chief Miles O'Brien and his family, Sisko becomes more despondent of the position as he gets his final orders from Captain Jean Luc Picard, the man Sisko holds responsible for Jennifer's death (even though Picard was assimilated into the Borg at the time). Sisko informs Picard that he is contemplating resigning from Starfleet to seek a civilian position, but continues as ordered to perform his job as station commander. With the help of Odo, a shapeshifter who is the station's chief of security, Sisko manages to convince the Ferengi barkeeper, Quark, to remain aboard the station, helping to keep the station as an active waypoint for ships as well as providing Jake a friend in Quark's nephew, Nog. He later visits the spiritual leader Kai Opaka on Bajor, who shows him the Orb of Prophecy and Change, one of several similar orbs believed to be sent by the Bajoran Prophets. Sisko looks into the Orb and finds himself reliving the moments when he met Jennifer for the first time. After his vision, the Kai tells Sisko that she believes him to be the "Emissary", a messiah figure who will help Bajor, and gives him the Orb to study further. When Sisko returns to the station, he finds the rest of his staff has arrived, including Chief of Medicine Dr. Julian Bashir and Science Officer Lt. Jadzia Dax, whom Sisko happily recognizes as a Trill and the current host of his former friend Curzon Dax. Sisko gives Dax the Orb to study for a scientific explanation of the way it works. The station is soon visited by its former commander, the Cardassian Gul Dukat, who was also the last Cardassian prefect of Bajor. Dukat informs Sisko that he has his ship parked in orbit near the station and asks permission for his crew to visit the station's promanade - which Sisko grants. Later, Dax discovers that the Orb is related to several phenomena near Bajor. Sisko recognizes that any investigation will tip off the Cardassians, and arranges for Odo to use his shapeshifting abilities to disable the Cardassian sensors. With the Cardassians unable to detect them, Sisko and Dax go to the location of the phenomena and discover the entrance to a stable wormhole leading to the Gamma Quadrant. Thrilled at the discovery, the two attempt to return through the wormhole but become stuck by some force inside it. Sisko and Dax are exploring the strange environment revealed inside the wormhole when Dax is suddenly sent away, appearing moments later on the operations deck of Deep Space Nine, while Sisko remains in a white void. Dax quickly relates their findings. Kira, recognizing the value of the stable wormhole to Bajor's future, orders the staff to move the station close to the wormhole's mouth. Gul Dukat, having repaired his sensors, follows the station and discovers the wormhole himself. Dukat enters the wormhole, but when the station's staff tries to follow, they find the wormhole entrance no longer open. Cardassian ships begin to arrive at the station, questioning the disappearance of Gul Dukat and dismissing the claims of a wormhole. After requesting help from Starfleet, Kira attempts to hold off the Cardassians' by altering their sensor reading to appear that the station is heavily armed. The Cardassians eventually see through the illusion, and prepare for an assault. Sisko, in the meantime, finds that he has encountered entities in the wormhole who speak to him through images of his wife, friends, and crew members. The "wormhole aliens" question Sisko's corporeal and linear existence, and explain that they become disrupted when such beings pass through the wormhole. They become further enraged when Gul Dukat's ship attempts to pass through, and forcibly close the wormhole and disable the ship. Sisko attempts to explain how his kind thrive on their linear existence, but the entities point out that he continues to return to the moment of Jennifer's death. Sisko comes to the realization that he has been grieving over the loss of his wife and explains this to the aliens. The Cardassians begin their attack on Deep Space Nine, but just as the shields fail and Kira prepares to surrender the station, the wormhole opens up again, with Sisko in the runabout towing Gul Dukat's ship out of it. On Gul Dukat's orders, the Cardassians stop their attack and depart from the sector. Sisko reveals that he was able to negotiate with the wormhole aliens to keep it open and allow ships to pass through. When the Enterprise arrives in response to Kira's earlier call for help, Sisko informs Picard that he plans to remain station commander indefinitely. Before Picard's departure, Siskel shakes his hand.
"Past Prolouge": The Duras Sisters from TNG are in this episode (obviously before they are killed in Generations) but this episode introduces the major Cardassian character, Elim Garak.
"Q-Less": Dax returns from the Gamma Quadrant in her runabout with Vash, whom O'Brien recognizes when he was on the Enterprise as a past love interest of Captain Picard (her last showing was in the Season 4 episode of TNG, "Qpid"). Although the crew is unaware of his presence, Q - the nearly omnipotent prankster - has also stowed away on the runabout. Vash explains that she has spent the past two years in the Gamma Quadrant, but she describes her method of getting there as a "private matter". Soon after Vash's arrival, the station begins to experience power drains similar to those experienced by Dax's runabout. In the meantime, Q appears to Vash, apparently infatuated with her. Q was the one who transported Vash to the Gamma Quadrant two years earlier, but now she wants nothing to do with him, much to Q's annoyance. Meanwhile, Quark arranges to auction off various items Vash has found in the Gamma Quadrant, most notably an unknown but extremely valuable crystal of some kind. O'Brien spots Q and recognizes him immediately and then warns Sisko of Q's presence, believing that Q is likely the cause of the power drains. Q denies any wrongdoing, although he offers no alternative explanation. As the power drains become more severe, some type of gravimetric field begins pulling the station toward the nearby wormhole. Q challenges Sisko to a boxing match on the Promenade, and they suddenly are wearing antique-style boxing costumes. A few punches are thrown, and Q is shocked when Sisko knocks him down. Q exclaims, "You hit me! Picard never hit me!" (LOL!). Vash and Quark go about their auction and the crystal receives bids in excess of one thousand bars of gold-pressed latinum. Casually joining the bid process, Q ups the ante on Vash's crystal to 2501 bars before bidding one million. Soon after, however, the source of the gravimetric field and power losses is found to be the crystal. The crystal is beamed into space before it can destroy the station, and once outside, it reveals itself to be a mysterious life form and travels into the wormhole. Q and Vash have one final meeting and temps her with an offer to explore some ruins. While enticing, she turns it down. Q then admits that he enjoyed having Vash around as traveling the Gamma Quadrant gave him a sense of wonder by seeing it through her eyes. Still, he affirms that she wants to return to earth. After Q disappears, she then asks Quark about going on this expedition.
"The Nagus": A somewhat funny episode. Zek, the Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance, arrives on the station and seems to take an interest in Quark, but it is not clear why. He tells Quark that he wants to use Quark's bar for a conference, where he announces that Quark will be his successor. The Nagus then dies, apparently making Quark's appointment permanent. Meanwhile, Sisko is trying to cope with the friendship between his son Jake and Rom's son Nog. His problem is seemingly solved when Rom orders Nog not to attend school; however, Jake and Nog begin spending even more time together. Jake will only tell Sisko that what they are doing is "private." In the end, Sisko finds he has nothing to worry about when he finds Jake teaching Nog how to read. Quark has a hard time adjusting to his new position, but he becomes popular among the Ferengi entrepreneurs by giving away lucrative business opportunities. Zek's son Krax and Rom attempt to kill Quark and are stopped by Zek, who appears before them still very much alive. Quark's appointment was a test to see how his son would respond in his absence, though Zek says that he has failed. Quark congratulates Rom for having the lobes to try to kill him.
"Battle Lines": Kai Opaka, the spiritual leader of the Bajorans, comes aboard DS9 and requests a tour from Sisko, but during the tour she subtly asks him to take her through the Wormhole. Against his better judgement he complies, and he, Bashir, Kira, and Opaka travel to the Gamma Quadrant. There they receive a distress signal from an unknown source. Opaka tells Sisko not to hold back on her account, so the group goes to investigate. They find a planet with a network of satellites, one of which is malfunctioning. The runabout approaches the planet and one of the satellites attacks it, forcing them to crash land. Opaka dies in the landing, which devastates Kira; however, her mourning is interrupted by a group of people called the Ennis. The Ennis explain that they are at war with a group called the Nol-Ennis, who could attack at any minute. They take Sisko, Bashir and Kira to a cavelike dwelling and as predicted the Nol-Ennis attack within minutes. Many of the Ennis are killed fending off the attack, but after the battle Kai Opaka enters the cave, regenerated by some form of alien nanotechnology. The same technology revives the Ennis and Nol-Ennis, but rather than a blessing it is a curse: Both groups were sent to the planet as punishment for centuries of conflict, doomed to die over and over. As Dax and O'Brien search for the group, Sisko gets the Ennis and Nol-Ennis to agree to meet in an effort to negotiate peace. Meanwhile, Kira must face her personal demons: years of fighting the Cardassians on Bajor have taken their toll on her and she has known nothing but violence since she was a child. However, while Kira is reconciling her problems with Opaka's help, the Ennis and Nol-Ennis refuse to fix theirs and resume fighting. The groups are revived once more and return to their respective camps, but by this time Bashir has discovered that the technology keeps those it revives (including Opaka) from leaving the planet. O'Brien and Dax find Sisko, and Opaka informs him that she will stay with the Ennis and Nol-Ennis. She says it is time for them to begin their healing process just as Kira has begun hers. The Ennis and Nol-Ennis resume fighting. Before O'Brien transports Sisko, Bashir, and Kira to the runabout, Opaka tells Sisko that her work is there now, but reassures him that their paths will cross again.
"The Forsaken": YAY! Ambassador Lwaxana Troi is in the series! DS9 is host to a delegation of Federation ambassadors and Sisko give Bashir the "honor" of welcoming them to the station. While Bashir struggles to please the other three dignitaries, Lwaxana exclaims that someone has stolen her latinum hair brooch. Although telepathic, she cannot sense guilt from anyone, she points out that Betazoids are unable to read Ferengi minds. Odo deduces that she might be unable to read Dopterians, distant cousins of the Ferengi, and arrests the man who stole her brooch. Lwaxana is instantly infatuated with the Constable (LOL!). Lwaxana visits the Security Office and flirts with Odo, who has obviously never been in such a situation. Meanwhile, a mysterious probe-like vessel comes through the Wormhole and the rest of the crew attempt to interface with it. In Sisko's office, Odo asks for advice on how to deal with Lwaxana's aggressive behavior. Explaining he does not have time for "romantic interludes," Odo asks Sisko to do something about Lwaxana, to the Commander's amusement. As Dax and O'Brien investigate the probe further, Lwaxana approaches Odo about having a picnic and is even more determined to catch his interest; when he informs her that he reverts to a liquid every sixteen hours, she shrugs and responds, "I can swim!" She follows Odo on his way to one of the station's Upper Pylons, but a system failure strands them together in a turbolift. "Alone at last!" Lwaxana declares gleefully. While trying to repair the station's systems O'Brien discovers that the computer is somehow different. He informs Sisko that the Cardassian computer seems less hostile and has stopped offering opinions on his commands, which is odd. It also seems to break down whenever he is away from it, as if it were a child. The information downloaded from the alien probe is a type of non-sentient life form, which seems to have attached itself to O'Brien like a puppy. Odo, who initially found Lwaxana's spontaneous nature insufferable, grows less hostile toward her. He grows almost fond of her but appears to be in severe discomfort; as he hesitantly reveals, he is in the fifteenth hour of his regenerative cycle and will soon need to revert to his liquid state. A plasma surge creates a fire that traps Bashir and the ambassadors in a corridor. Dax and O'Brien try to establish what went wrong, and O'Brien finally comes to the conclusion that they should build a "doghouse" for their little lost puppy. Containing it may solve their problems. Back in the turbolift, Odo begins to lose control of his form. Lwaxana tries to be supportive, but he turns away from her and calls it a private matter because no one has ever seen him this way. She hands him her hair - a wig - and tells him no one has ever seen her that way either. Although Odo thinks she looks fine without it, Lwaxana has never cared to be ordinary. When he tells her she is unlike what he expected, she smiles and says that no one has ever paid her a greater compliment. She then lets Odo "melt" in her lap (awwww... how sweet!). O'Brien removes the life form from the station's computer, and upon emerging from a conduit with Bashir, the ambassadors call him a hero. Odo and Lwaxana are rescued from the turbolift; the picnic, Odo points out, was not what Lwaxana had in mind. She tells him the only thing that really matters at a picnic is the company.
"Duet": I liked this episode as it reminded me of post-WWII apprehension of Nazi soldiers and the Nuremberg trials. A freighter docks at DS9 so that one of its passengers may receive treatment for a condition called Kalla-Nohra. Bashir is unfamiliar with the condition, but Kira recognizes it and informs Sisko that Kalla-Nohra was only contracted during a mining accident at a brutal labor camp called Gallitep. As Kira helped liberate the camp at the end of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, she asks to greet the passenger. Arriving in the Infirmary, Kira discovers that Bashir's new patient is a Cardassian. She has the man arrested as a war criminal only to find his name, Aamin Marritza, is not listed for any crimes. Sisko sees no option but to let Marritza go, yet Kira is adamant - Marritza is a Cardassian who was present at Gallitep, which is reason enough. Sisko decides to investigate further and has the man held in custody. Further suspicions arise when Marritza claims he has never been to Bajor, an obvious lie as Bashir's tests confirm that the man has Kalla-Nohra. When she interrogates Marritza, he claims that while he served at Gallitep, he was only a file clerk. He claims the atrocities the Bajorans believe occurred at Gallitep were an illusion meant to keep other Bajorans fearful of the Cardassians. An investigation corroborates Marritza's story, forcing Kira to cope with the possibility he may go free. A photograph from Gallitep reveals that the man being held is not Aamin Marritza but Gul Darhe'el, the "Butcher of Gallitep" who reportedly murdered thousands of Bajorans. When confronted with this information; the prisoner proudly admits to being Darhe'el. Kira is shaken. Darhe'el seems convincing, however he lets slip the name of Kira's resistance cell during the occupation -information too obscure for him to know. Other inconsistencies in his story also stand out. Gul Dukat asserts that Darhe'el is dead (buried under one of the largest military monuments on Cardassia, where half of the population viewed his body in state, including Dukat himself); furthermore, Darhe'el was off-world during the Kalla-Nohra outbreak and thus could not possibly have the disease. Odo asks Dr. Bashir to examine the prisoner's medical history. Dr. Bashir learns that "Darhe'el" has undergone cosmetic surgery, leading Kira to realize that the prisoner is Marritza, as she initially believed, but he wanted to be recognized as Darhe'el. Kira confronts the prisoner with this information. Marritza breaks down as he speaks, branding himself a coward. He begs Kira to prosecute him, insisting that Cardassia must be forced to admit its wrongdoings and that he is as guilty for remaining silent as Darhe'el was for committing the atrocities. Hence his impersonation of Darhe'el: he wanted Bajor to give him the trial and sentence that Darhe'el deserved. Kira releases him, realizing he is a good man so traumatized and remorseful from his experiences that he would give up his life to make amends. She insists that another murder is not the answer and that too many good people have already died; she will not kill another. Kira and Odo escort Marritza to a ship departing from the station. Marritza laments that now that his identity has been exposed he cannot bring about change for his people. Kira assures him that his actions were honourable; if his people are going to change, people like him are needed to lead the way. On the way out of the Promenade, Marritza is suddenly stabbed and killed by a Bajoran. When Kira demands to know why, the Bajoran echoes her earlier sentiment: being a Cardassian is reason enough. "No!", Kira realizes, "It's not".
"In The Hands of the Prophets": At the Federation school, Keiko discusses with her students about Bajoran culture, a topic Miles learned about from Neela, his Bajoran assistant. Keiko teaches her class about the science of the Bajoran wormhole and the aliens that live inside it. This scientific view is different from the religious approach taken by the Bajorans, who believe the wormhole is the legendary Celestial Temple inhabited by their "Prophets", whom they worship as gods. Her class is interrupted by one of Bajor's spiritual leaders, Vedek Winn (played by Louise Fletcher, who was Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest). Winn questions why Keiko doesn't teach Bajoran religion in her classroom. Afterwards, Keiko reports the incident to Sisko. When Sisko asks Winn about the dispute, she says there may be consequences if Keiko refuses to teach religion. Meanwhile, Miles discovers an important engineering tool is missing, but is distracted when he and Neela discover the remains of a Starfleet ensign. Outside the school, Winn and a group of Bajorans protest Keiko's teaching methods. Winn offers Keiko a solution: all she has to do is simply stop teaching about the wormhole. When Keiko refuses to accept Winn's proposal, Winn leads the Bajoran parents to take their children out of school. Sisko visits Vedek Bareil for advice on the problem. Bareil opposes Winn's views but he cannot support Sisko as he is attempting to become the next Kai, the leader of the Bajoran religion. Sisko returns to DS9 and asks for help from Kira, but she also refuses to help. Meanwhile, Odo and Bashir finish investigating the remains of the Starfleet ensign Miles and Neela found earlier. They discover that the ensign had been murdered by a phaser when he became aware of someone tampering with the Runabout security controls. Later, an explosion occurs inside the empty school, destroying it. Sisko confronts Winn, blaming her actions for increasing the risk of violence on the station. Neela meets with Winn, revealing that the two had been working together. She informs Winn that her escape plan with the Runabout will no longer work. Winn tells Neela to continue with the plan, even if it means Neela must sacrifice herself. Bareil arrives at the station to help, and at the same time, Miles and Dax discover a hidden sub-program on the station's computer created by Neela. The program controls a timed delay of forcefields running from the promenade to the Runabouts. They alert Sisko who is nearby, just as Bareil and Winn begin to address a crowd of Bajorans on the promenade. Sisko searches the crowd just in time to see Neela raising her phaser at Bareil. Sisko tackles Neela to the ground and saves Bareil's life. Kira suggests that the assassination attempt was planned by Winn to secure her position as the new Kai, but Neela insists she was working alone. Kira later apologizes to Sisko, and agrees with his earlier sentiment about Winn's actions. Sadly, I disliked this episode as it stereotypes (with inaccurate histories) the conflict of religion and secularism in public schools and of course, portraying the fundamentalist religionist as intolerant while the secularist is hailed as the hero of reason. If I were Keiko, I would teach (since it is only one school/class) both the Bajoran teachings about the Celestial Temple and the science of the wormhole (if a school with separate classes, then the wormhole can be taught in a science classroom and the Bajoran teaching in a religion/philosophy/social studies classroom). By doing this, I let my students make their own decisions on what to believe but they would be informed and have access to accurate information that has no agenda. It would have been wrong for Keiko to teach only natural explanations on certain topics since science is not the only way to gain knowledge. What if Winn's beliefs are the truth? Shouldn't both of them be open to the possibility that their own view could be wrong or both of them are wrong? They are too far on opposite sides of the spectrum and this I find leads to real intolerance and hinders progress. I can forgive this episode given it is over 21 years old but if this were to come out recently, I would have been more disappointed as the writers didn't do their homework or engaged in the dialogue of science and religion - a dialogue that has produced fruitful results despite fundies on both sides souring it at times.
The first season of DS9 is not bad and the foundation has been laid with the setting and characters. I'll expect Season 2 to be continuing the foundations before things get real. I'll let you guys know my progress in my monthly entries.