Star Trek DS9: Season Four Continues / by Mark

Moving on…

  • Dax has to deal with one of her past hosts (again) in "Rejoined". In this case, it's another Trill that used to be Dax's wife. Unfortunately, there's a a Trill taboo about their later hosts getting back together--it's a whole "don't ask, don't tell" thing. There's a also the point that they are both now female--after they throw technobabble and sweet nothings at each other, it results in one of television's first same-sex kisses. This is what Trek does best--cloak current issues in sci-fi trappings. Meanwhile, I've noticed that Worf isn't getting a lot to do on the show--he had a bigger part on TNG.
  • The Defiant is attacked by the Jem'Hadar in "Starship Down". They are forced to go into the atmosphere of a planet, which means plenty of CGI. It basically becomes a submarine drama. At one point, Dax and Kira move to another station on the bridge--since the stations are just touch displays on glass, why not just reconfigure the one you're in front of?  In a later attack, the bridge is cut off from the rest of the ship, and so engineering (O'Brien) thinks they are dead. I'm not so sure I would assume that. The episode provides a number of character moments, as they say what could be their last words.
  • Ugh--another Quark episode! He and the other Ferengis become "Little Green Men" after they end up on 1947 Earth. Darn that time travel! We get to hear Ferengi language minus the universal translator--it's all gibberish to the "Earthlings". It's the same for the Ferengis. Quark, of course, sees it as a great chance to make a fortune. There's a lot of social commentary throughout the episode--nuclear weapons, the danger of cigarettes, and what's allowed under "national security". There's a cute reference to "Hangar 18"--where aliens supposedly are stored. The US Army General is played by Charles Napier--who also played one of the "space hippies" in the TOS episode "The Way to Eden".
  • Worf finally gets something to do in "The Sword of Kahless". Get ready for endless discussions about honor and Klingon history! John Colicos drops by as ex-Commander Kor--his fourth Trek appearance over three series (TOS, The Animated Series, and DS9). He gets Worf and Dax to follow him on a quest for the famed weapon. Colicos provides a Shatner-level show of scenery chewing throughout. There's a whole "Indiana Jones" thing going on as they figure out traps and fight off bad guys. It then turns into "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" with each of them fighting for the Bat'leth, which apparently has the ability to influence minds (?!?). In the end, they beam it into space.

 

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (and all the Trek series) is available on Netflix.