Customer Reviews

Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Season 6

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4 star:		(5)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Sixth Season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine truly goes where no Star Trek has gone before. At the conclusion of Season 5, we see half of the crew kicked off of the station while the other half must learn to deal with Gul Dukat, the series main villian. The resulting six episode War Arc truly shows the greatness of the show, exploring all of the different angles of the war. One of the more exceptional shows in the Arc is the third episode, "Sons and Daughters", which examines the different angles that arise between Worf and his son, and the intruging interchange when Dukat brings his daughter to the station, and Kira is forced to deal with Dukat not as a head of state, but as a father. For you action lovers, the arc concludes with the two part "Favor The Bold" and "Sacrifice Of Angels"; but the most gripping moment is seeing Dukat shed a tear when he loses the station, and goes insane when his daughter is killed by his mentee, Damar. The story of Dukat's insanity continues in "Waltz", a "two" man show where Sisko and Ducat must contend with each other...and Ducat's personal demons. In "The Pale Moonlight", DS9 pushes where TNG has never pushed the enevelope, asking how far will Starfleet go to win the war. When the chips are down, is the Federation really as coniving as the Romulans or Cardassians? Sisko is forced to make a deal with the devil to save the Alpha Quadrant, but in the process must betray others to do it. In "Far Beyond The Stars", probably one of the most amazing Trek shows ever, we see the cast in 1960's America, makeup off and complete with racism and hatred. Benny Russell (Sisko) struggles to chase his dreams, while society tries to keep him down. Even in this alternate reality, Odo/Quark are at each other's throats, and Dukat/Weyoun are the villians. One of the reasons this season is so amazing is because Deep Space Nine is more of a character show, which shows us some of the rawest human emotions; love, hate, honor, and treachery are all part of this season. There won't be any long discussions about the Prime Directive here for those who are TNG faithful, the Federation is losing the war, and Sisko & Co. are the middle of it all. Amazing televison, regardless of genre.

This is a must have season for DS9 fans! The two-parter "Favor the Bold" and "Sacrifice of Angels" are definately the best of the lot. Other good offerings include "You are Coordially Invited," "One Little Ship," "Valiant," and "Tears of the Prophets."

I don't use those words lightly. The 6th year of Deep Space Nine is *the* best season of TV episodes Trek has ever seen. Other reviewers have already gone into far more depth than I could ever hope to go on the reasons for this. I'm just posting this review so my rating of the DVD set will be registered.

If you are a sci-fi buff, you owe it to yourself to buy this, though it is not recommended until one has seen Seasons 3,4, & 5, as those provide a vital build up to the epic developments in year 6 - mainly, the outbreak of the Dominion War, which is the first and only time a prolonged interstellar war is (well) portrayed in the Trek universe.

The sixth season, in so many ways, was one of DS9's most astonishing and brilliant seasons, yet it also brought about the end of one of the shows most beloved characters. In an unprecedented move in Star Trek, the season begins with an arc that is altogether some of the most dazzling Trek to ever grace the small screen.

From the commencement of the season, it is quite evident that the season is going to be big in so many ways. From the war with the Dominion to many of the payoff's between the characters that have, in some cases, been building since the first season. Worf and Jadzia's marriage, Odo and Kira finally getting together and Dukat's turn for even the worst are just "some" of the season's highlights.

I stand by my opinion that Terry Farrell's decision to leave the show to do a sitcom that she was later "released" from stands right up there with Denise Crosby's decision to leave STNG, "not too smart!"

As is the usual, the writing, directing and performances by all for this continuation on the saga that is Deep Space Nine are all extraordinary!

A brief synopsis of the more outstanding episodes of the season:

A Time to Stand to Sacrifice of Angels - In this brilliant and unprecedented six episode arc the shows producers takes us from where the fifth season concluded through many of the machinations of the initial stages of the war with the Dominion. Integral to these first six episodes is some the series most extraordinary writing, directing and acting that all lend greatly to this six episode arc being tops among all of the Star Trek episodes ever, from any of the series.

You Are Cordially Invited - Despite the war still raging, in this great episode, we see Star Trek's first Klingon wedding between Worf and Jadzia. Beyond the festivities of the episode, you can truly tell that the actors were having a great time as well.

The Magnificent Ferengi - Iggy Pop makes a guest appearance as a Vorta in this great first Ferengi episode of the season where the Dominion captures Quark and Rom's Moogie.

Waltz - Gul Dukat makes a return to the series after the death of his daughter, Ziyal. Coupling that death with his downfall as the leader of the Cardassian Union has seriously demented his views and Sisko finds himself being the object of Dukat's quest for revenge.

Far Beyond the Stars - Hailed as the series most poignantly well written, directed and performed episode, this episode should've received many more awards than it did. Through his connection to the prophets, Sisko finds himself switching between two different realities; his life on DS9 and a life in which he's a struggling writer in the fifties on Earth and dealing first hand with racism at its worst.

One Little Ship - As an homage to other great Sci-Fi movies, the producers decided to shrink a runabout and it turned out perfectly for this episode in which Bashir, Dax and O'Brien are stuck in a shrunken runabout while the Defiant is taken over by Jem'Hadar.

Honor Among Thieves - DS9 does a mob show as O'Brien is forced to work under cover in the Orion Syndicate and this show works extraordinarily well, highlighting Colm Meaney's talents as a brilliant actor.

Change of Heart - Worf's devout devotion to duty is and his devotion to his wife are brought to the forefront and in conflict in this episode in which they find themselves on a mission to pick up a spy but Jadzia is injured.

In the Pale Moonlight - This episode is the most dramatically well written and performed episode of the season as Sisko finds he is no longer capable of dealing with the casualties of the war and he devises a plan to bring the Romulans into the fold from their neutral status which also prompts him to deal directly with Garak.

His Way - After six long years of pinning over Kira, Odo's greatest wish comes true after the introduction of Vic Fontaine, DS9's resident lounge singer.

Valiant - Nog takes on a larger and more interesting role in this episode in which he and Jake find themselves on board the USS Valiant which is being run by Starfleet Academy's Red Squadron and a fanatical but inexperienced captain.

Profit and Lace - In this extremely funny Ferengi episode, Grand Nagus Zek is deposed by Brunt and Zek comes to DS9 to enlist the aid of Quark.

Time's Orphan - This O'Brien episode speaks greatly for the producers ability to write good family shows when Molly is drawn into a time portal and Miles is able to retrieve her but not the child that entered the portal but a teenage version of her.

Tears of the Prophets - In this extraordinary season closer, the war is still raging but the Federation is taking an upper hand and the Dominion is looking for some way to turn events in their favor. To their relief Dukat makes a return and his sudden addiction with the prophets does more than they could hope for, causing the wormhole itself to close and Sisko loses his connection with the prophets, causing him to go home to Earth, defeated. Here is where actress Terry Farrell made the decision to leave the show and the death of Jadzia comes about. {ssintrepid}

Episode list:

A Time to Stand
Rocks and Shoals
Sons and Daughters
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
You Are Cordially Invited
Resurrection
Statistical Probabilities
The Magnificent Ferengi
Waltz
Who Mourns for Morn?
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker than Death or Night
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
The Reckoning
Valiant
Profit and Lace
Time's Orphan
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

Special Features:

Mission Inquiry: "Far Beyond the Stars"
24th Century Wedding
Crew Dossiers': Julian Bashir & Quark
DS9 Sketchbook: John Eaves
Photo Gallery
10 Section 31 "Hidden" files

The highlights of this one are Worf's marriage to Dax. It was great to see him get together with someone other than Counselor Troi from Next Generation. Though short lived; it made the series a better one. In DS9 we had the O'Brien's, Odo and Kira and now Worf/Dax. It's a contrast to Next Generation, which didn't show a lot of depth in the interpersonal relationships.

Far Beyond the Stars takes Sisko to another dimension where he is a science fiction writer facing racism in the 50's. In this one he is the creator of a Deep Space Nine saga. The editor won't publish it. Not only will the editor not publish his story but he won't consider any of his work good enough for publication. This tale is by far the most poignant and heart wrenching of all the series.

As usual the set is light on extras, but the episodes more than make up for it. If Paramount ever issues this seven season set as one unit; (like the UK Borg Box of seven seasons of Next Gen) it should have a lot more in the way of episode commentary and interviews.

For what you are paying; a lot more in the extras could have been produced for such a great series. I still have to give it five stars. The episodes surpass the final ones in the last season.

It's not a classic series, but like most of the Star Trek francise it's good and nice to watch.If you have bought the previous 5 series it's a must buy. If you havn't either start from the begininning (and watch it from series 1), or if you just want a 1 off series think about buying another. But all in all this is a good series, just not a classic. I pesonally recommend you buy the complete 7 series it's brilliant.

The spaceship made the difference. TOS, TNG and Voyager had ships. They had episodic adventures every week. The absentee viewer -the ones who watched only once in while -thought all these shows were better than DS9 because there was no continuing stories. No need to really pay attention to characters, because the Temporal Reset Button would be hit during the last five minutes, and then the crew was jaunting off for a new adventure. Plus the bad guys had to come to them.

For some, DS9's serialization -especially in these final two seasons - would prevent any new viewers from watching. As I said, some had watched TOS, TNG and Voyager because every week the crew would meet new aliens. But DS9 was always conceived as a stationary show. Thus it forced the writers to create dozens of adjuvant roles, supplementary characters, and recurring characters -eventually, they would create nearly 30! And at times, because of this, it was hard for new fans to get involved.

This almost serialization grew deeper, as the sixth season opened with a 6-episode story arc. "A Time to Stand" opens three months into the Dominion/Cardassian alliance. The war is not going well for the Federation and since DS9 is now in the hands of the enemy, the crew works from the Defiant. A plan is hatched to destroy a ketracel-white facility -after Sisko's crew mines the wormhole, the Dominion must produce the life giving force for the Jem'Hadar. Of course, things don't go as plan...

The arc includes "Rocks and Shoals", "Sons and Daughters" (perhaps the weakest story in the series), "Behind Enemy Lines", "Favor the Bold", and "Sacrifice of Angels." Other highlights include the hilarious wedding of Worf and Jadzia in "You Are Cordially Invited", "Resurrection", "Statistical Probabilities", "The Magnificent Ferengi", "Waltz", "Who Mourns for Morn?" "One Little Ship", "Honor Among Thieves", "His Way" (which introduced the hologram character of Vic Fontaine and the love affair of Kira and Odo) and "Profit and Lace"

Also included in the season was "Far Beyond on the Stars", a brilliantly written, acted, directed (by series star Avery Brooks) tale about racism. It's a wonderful hour that takes straightforward and honest look at a time when life for African Americans was -despite some positive steps -difficult. All the regular actors appeared out of make-up in various roles as writers at the fictional Incredible Tales. It is simply one of the best hours produced for the show.

Also included was "In the Pale Moonlight", perhaps the darkest episode of Trek ever produced. With the war going badly for the Federation, and with Betazed (Counselor Deanna Troi's home world) now in enemy hands, Sisko decides he has to get the Romulan's involved (who've maintained a distant "no involvement" policy). But to do so, Sisko will need to compromise some of his self-respect as a Starfleet officer. But how far is he willing to go? How much does the need of the many out weigh the needs of the few -or the one?

Finally, in the season ender, "Tears of the Prophets", we say goodbye to a regular cast member, as Gul Dukat ends the life of a beloved Starfleet officer and closes the wormhole, cutting off all chances for Bajor and, ironically, the Dominion. In a sad and open-end conclusion, Sisko returns to Earth to take stock of his life and where it's going.

Elsewhere, the war continues

The sixth season of DS9 was a considerable challenge to all involved: the ongoing war with the Dominion lead to the loss of the space station to the Cardassian/Dominion alliance; Dukat crossed over to the dark side completely as he sold his soul to become the head of the new Cardassian government; Worf and Dax married; Odo romances Major Kira and, finally, Section 31 reared its ugly little head recalling the hysteria of the McCarthy era Communist witch hunts.

With more of the cast stepping behind the camera and an influx of vets from Next Generation helping out as well, DS9 managed to maintain its roots but continue to forge its own, unique dark identity among the Trek franchise. There were so many plot threads dangling from previous seasons that they could easily have gummed up the storytelling in season 6. Instead, they provided just the right amount of variety and allowed the conflict between the Dominion and Federation to continue without it becoming too tiresome.

If that wasn't enough there was a unique story that was every bit as special as Trials and Tribb-ulations from season 5; the brilliant Far Beyond The Stars (written by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler from a story by Twilight Zone vet Marc Scott Zicree)allows Ben Sisko to venture into the past with a twist; he's a 1950's science fiction writer working for Incredible Tales of Scientific Wonder Magazine. The crew is there as well inhabiting similar roles. Sisko's main story is called Deep Space 9 about the very troubled space station whose crew are caught in the midst of interstellar war. It's a powerful episode that transcends its cleverness to become a great episode of science fiction television (and not just a great Trek moment).

The season ends with the murder of Jadzia Dax at the hands of the villianous Gul Dukat. Suddenly, Worf moves from Newlywed to grief stricken husband all within the span of 26 episodes. Tears of the Prophet also has major changes in store for Sisko, the wormhole and DS9. If the original Star Trek and Next Generation are an example of the franchise childhood and adolescence, then DS9 represents its adulthood. The series continued to deal with complex story lines, themes and dark moments that made it a very real adult series. The Trek franchise never improved from DS9. It has continued (with mixed results)but is missing the risk taking that characterized DS9.

There are quite a few digital compression artifacts visible particularly if you watch the film in progressive scan mode. Still, squeezing 4 episodes of DS9's dark, rich and active frames onto a single dual layered disc comes fraught with problems. On the whole the boxed sets have looked pretty good considering how many episodes are squeezed onto each disc. The 5.1 sound hasn't been used to maximum advantage on any of the DS9 sets but they do sound pretty good overall and are an improvement over Next Gen's boxed sets.

The extras appear to be promising but, once again, Paramount has chosen not to allow there to be any writer/director/actor audio commentaries. With a series this rich and full of interesting characters, DS9 would benefit from a couple of the key episodes having a commentary track. Ira Steven Behr would be the prime candidate (since he and Robert Hewitt Wolfe more or less ran the show day to day after Pillar left)for an audio commentary. It's a pity as DS9 certainly warrants boundiful extras.

Still, this is a rich season full of strong writing/direction and acting that looks good if not spectacular on DVD. The dark DVD transfer is a major improvement over many of the home videos and released. Is this the best season of DS9? It would definitely be a close match between season 5 and 6. Season 7 had many memorable moments but it lacked the dynamic tension of these particular two seasons.

This is it for fans on the fence- what you waited for. The ultimate in battle scenes and ruthless war maneuvers. The episode "In The Pale Moonlight" is a great example of the mastery that this show was capable of. Philosphically it's perfect, and morally wrong at the same time. Pretty nifty. Box 5 is a masterpiece as well, and 7 will be alright, but it doesn't get much better than this.

GO GET NOW- because only the first few thousand have the bonus disk

I'm the first person to recommend this often overlooked part of the Star Trek saga, and with this season 6 DVD, this is where it really starts to get good. The first six episodes are in serialized arc format, and they rule. You will never look at Star Trek the same way after viewing them. The rest of the season is equally worthy, paritcularly "Far Beyond the Stars"; a retro-episode that tackles racism efficiently, and poignantly. If you're new to DS9, I'd recommend Seasons 3, 5, or 6 to start off with (although it is ideally better to start from the beginning). It's a highly complicated show, with arcs running throughout the seven year run, and more characters than any show could ever boast to have. A must for any fan of true Drama, and Sci-Fi.