TV Gold

Right going to get back to this and kick off as usual with a bit of poetic licence...

‘Commence personal log, Stardate 52997.8. This will be my final entry before heading back to Earth. Although life on the station attempts to continue with a general ‘business as usual’ bustling atmosphere of a frontier point adjacent to the wormhole some of the sparkle now for me at least seems to be missing. A great part of that has undoubted been due to the loss of the Bajoran emissary to the prophets Captain Benjamin Sisko whom even now his mythical presence seems to be spoken of in occasional hushed tones by those whose faith is strongest around here. As dutiful and focused as ever I occasionally witness that brief moment when Colonel Kira’s attention fluctuates, she glances up towards a window and wonders about not just the fate of her superior officer and friend but undoubtedly also memories of her close personal friendship with Security Odo. Like the Captain it is seems almost certain that she will never see the constable whom returned to his people at the end of the Dominion war. I’ve not really seen much of Jake (Sisko) since his father joined the Prophets. I guess he’s doing a lot of soul searching about what his future is now. Cassidy seems likely to build that house the Captain had been planning where she hopes she’ll be able to persuade Jake to stay with her in the optimistic belief that their Benjamin might one day return from the prophets to live down on Bajor. Yes, Jake could indeed go down there but grandpa Joseph back in New Orleans on Earth might prefer his grandson to live with him where he could occasionally work in the restaurant. Whatever he decides I hope that he will find the peace he needs right now. I’ve enjoyed the same good natured relationship with Julian (Bashir) and Ezri however such is the loving relationship that Julian has with Ezri it undoubtedly feels a touch uncomfortable as a threesome in Quarks when compared with Julian’s friendship with Miles (O’Brien). Ah, yes, the Chief, gosh I miss that easy going good natured family man, his charming wife Keiko and their two adorable young children. His decision to relocate back to Earth certainly made me think about my own future and that’s why, much though I’ve enjoyed my time here on the station and my occasional trips down to Bajor there really is no substitute for Earth.

Before I catch the next transport back there I’ve just got some time in hand to ponder this seventh and final year and how the entries far in my own personal appreciation chart. I guess there are a few surprises up at the top, bottom of the pile is not what you would think, favourites don’t always score strongly and there are a few duplicate scores in there showing that once again things are never as clear cut as you might think. So as before we’ll be kicking off with a look at my fifth favourite episode…

So first up, possibly a surprise choice but I'm ready to defend it!...

Now I’ve always been a great fan of Deep Space Nine’s occasional trips into the mirror universe however I guess most people undoubtedly discount the series final excursion when comparing all the entries we’ve been presented with. Now glancing over the entire Seventh Season I personally find that “The Emperors New Cloak” has a lot going for it. Admittedly on the face of it having the Grand Nagus attempting to cut a deal with the Alliance seems rather farcical however in the way that its conveyed I felt that the central premise stands up well enough to score an satisfactorily enjoyable nine point first category score. Well of course when considering noteworthy cast performances its always a pleasure to watch Wallace Shawn’s interpretation of the scheming Nagus and although his participation seems fairly limited I’ll give seven points here. It’s rather difficult to split reassuring character interaction and humour during “The Emperors New Cloak”. Quark and Rom make an endearing double act and its easy to raise a smile where the pair struggle to move a cloaked cloaking device just at the moment when Captain Sisko and General Martok happen by. Rom provides further comic potential when he ponders whether tube grubs in the alternate universe are poisonous or not. If you add into the equation the alternate universe versions of Brunt, Garak, Vic Fontaine (albeit very briefly) and (a strangely lesbian) Leeta then the reasoning for balancing out these two categories with eight points apiece should become clear. The whole context of the rebel resistance and the Alliance led by Regent Worf is still as strong as ever so when considering the alien mysticism element I feel disposed to award eight points. Now the aspect of this story where it really falls down is undoubtedly in its special effects quotient. There really is not that much on offer here and I feel only able to offer a token point and that is for the phaser fire/ship decloaking sequences towards the end. With strong and amusing performances and a story that being told a brisk pace never really lets the audience think too much about its content I personally really enjoyed this final visit to the alternate universe. Not only is it all credit to the cast but praise should also be given to LeVar Burton for another sterling performance in the directors chair which all adds up to my nine point overall impression score. All things considered a combined total of fifty points out of a potential seventy allowing “The Emperors New Cloak” to slot into fifth place is quite a reasonable performance for a story that I personally feel is not as bad as some people would lead you to believe!

Time for another entry in my top five with...

The traumatic events outlined during Season Six finale “Tears of the Prophets” meant that a period of contemplative readjustment was required as the series entered its seventh and final run. Opening episode “Image In The Sand” is an impressive opener which I indeed rate very highly however I personally find concluding part “Shadows and Symbols” on balance just has the edge. Essentially this double episode tale has Captain Benjamin Sisko attempting to come to terms with both the death of his dear friend Jadzia Dax and his isolation from the Prophets. He, his father Joseph and Jake plan to take a trip to Tyree where he hopes to find the answers he seeks to a mystery puzzle posed by a Bajoran locket his mother once owned. That in itself is worthy of eight points on its own but to further strengthen this score you’ve got to factor in (newly promoted) Colonel Kira’s dealings with new allies the secretive Romulans and their plans for Derna, Bajor’s eighth moon. For me the most noteworthy cast performance of “Shadows and Symbols” has undoubtedly got to be Nicole de Boer whom, in my opinion, positively sparkles as the young ensign struggling to come to terms with adjusting to eight lifetimes of experiences following her joining to the Dax symbiont. The slightly antagonistic fragile working relationship between Kira and senior Romulan Cretak is also worth mentioning as a deliver a second eight point score. I feel that “Shadows and Symbols” offers up a fairly healthy amount of reassuring character interaction within the confined plot parameters whether it be between the Sisko clan and the ‘new Dax in their life’ or back on the station between Kira and Odo or the comfortingly reassuring relationship between O’Brien and Bashir so I’ve decided to award a slightly better than average six points here. Undoubtedly the humour quotient centres around Ezri and the amusement that can be had regarding her ‘space sickness’, her disliking Klingon coffee and how distinctly different her more nervous and uncertain persona is to that of the calm and supremely accomplished Lieutenant Commander Jadzia. For me this has to be the strongest script for the incoming actress and with her character being so diametrically opposed to her predecessor just makes the inadvertent humourous elements presented here all the more endearing and entirely worthy of eight points. The main alien mysticism element takes place on Tyree as Benjamin seeks to locate the ‘Orb of the Emissary’ which leads surprisingly to a hallucinatory return of the fictional science fiction writer character Benny Russell, now locked away in a secure psychiatric hospital writing his ‘Deep Space Nine’ stories on the walls of his hospital room. If you also consider the engaging resolution of the escalating tension between Kira and the Romulans I guess it all helps to further support my decision to award eight points. In my opinion I rather found the special effects element here to be fairly minimal but that was certainly not to the detriment of what is undoubtedly a fine story. Nevertheless with only Benjamin’s opening the Orb and the return of the Prophets at “Shadows and Symbols” conclusion it’s really a fairly average five points. With such an entirely appropriate title this second episode resolution positively sparkles with engaging cast performances and dramatic developments setting the series on its new central character line-up for the coming final run. Although no one could ever compare with Terry Farrell’s much loved regular Jadzia, Nicola deBoer eases relatively easily into the framework of the new Dax host and member of Sisko’s team and on the evidence of her performance here she will fit in just fine. I love her interaction with the Sisko clan on the mission to Tyree and coupled with the entirely satisfactory and enjoyable resolution back on the station between the newly promoted Bajoran Colonel and the new Romulan allies my overall mark would have to be eight points. A combined score of fifty-one points is enough to secure “Shadows and Symbols” a fourth place berth in a story that is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the Seventh Season.

Top three time and here's another episode elimated for the race to be my favourite of this final series...

Although building to a climactic series finale through a massive eight episode story arc a lot was undoubtedly expected by the feature length “What You Leave Behind” with the writers having to conclude many character and story arcs in a satisfactory manner, so no pressure then! At the heart of this double episode undoubtedly the main aspect is in offering up a conclusion to the ongoing ‘Dominion War’ and I have to say that I myself was entirely captivated with the way that it was played out in the extended canvas that was on offer so it lead me to offer up eight first category points. When considering noteworthy cast performances I guess it would primarily be the usual suspects of Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs) and Damar (Casy Biggs) leading this category although the interplay between Kai Winn (Louise Fletcher) and Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) also helps to enforce a seven point score. I personally felt that “What You Leave Behind” offered up a fair slice of reassuring regular character interaction with on reflection many examples coming to mind. Early on we have Bashir and O’Brien surveying the intricate model of the Alamo fort and the conversation regarding the future of this edifice further reinforced the friendship between the two men in the minds of the viewer. Another scene worth mentioning occurred in the latter stages where Ezri and Bashir playfully teased Quark and Kira regarding ‘betting on whom would be the next Kai of Bajor’. If you factor in that extremely touching final scene in Vics where the lounge singer toasts his dear friends for the last time together with another fine vocal rendition and an eight point score for this third category seems entirely appropriate. Personally I found humour fairly minimal but I guess that’s really down to the dramatic nature of the central premise and the writers need to effectively conclude characters stories. However at least for the ‘Kai betting’ scene I’ll grudgingly award four points. Now in my opinion it is alien mysticism where “What You Leave Behind” really excels. At first glance you’d probably think that this was entirely down to events centring around the Founders, Jem’Hadar and Vorta with a healthy dose of the future of Cardassia. However special mention should be given to the resolution of Gul Dukat’s interest in the Pah Wraiths and the scenes featuring the now unmasked Cardassian, Kai Winn and Captain Sisko are suitably tense, exciting and extremely effective in conveying the immense power that these evil spirits have. Delivered almost as an afterthought in the overall plot of this double episode feature that is the ultimate ‘sting in the tail’ aspect making “What You Leave Behind”’s alien mysticism score a entirely respectable nine points. On balance the dramatic flame filled sequence in the fire caves could on its own be worthy of eight special effects marks but I guess I’ve really got to factor in some more excellent space battles along to way to signify the war’s ‘dying gasps’. At its heart “What You Leave Behind” succeeds in offering a satisfactory conclusion to the war whilst bringing several surprise character resolutions in the resulting subsequent peace. For anyone whom has loyally followed the series over the entire seven year run there has undoubtedly got to be an immense feeling of nostalgic sadness towards the stories latter stages as we switch into reflective mode effectively culminating in the final assembled ensemble scene in Vic’s club. By its very nature Deep Space Nine never followed the established place of other series in the Star Trek franchise and “What You Leave Behind” is a fitting summation of all that had been achieved by not unduly sugar coating the post war situation. Both in central plot and character development perspectives I found this feature length double episode an entirely rewarding viewing experience and award an overall mark of eight points. Pulling all the scores together gives “What You Leave Behind” a total score of fifty-two points and a third place spot in my Season Seven preferential chart.

Ever closer to the number one next week!

Well 'close but no cigar' time and just missing out on the all important top spot is...

Jeffrey Combs character of Weyoun has always exhibited a worshipfully reverent, utterly loyal persona towards the Founders and their objectives in winning the war with the inhabitants of the Alpha Quadrant. However this total genetically created indoctrination to their creators is unexpectedly challenged during “Treachery, Faith and the Great River” when the sixth cloned incarnation of Weyoun astonishingly requests political asylum from Odo whom although retaining his usual air of scepticism goes along with the proposition. As a central dramatic plot it succeeds admirably through its ability to sufficiently engage the viewer to want to know how such a character development will play out between our ever wary Security Chief and the turncoat Vorta. Counterpointing this we have the more lightweight but just as insightful and enjoyable aspect of Ensign Nog’s Ferengi scheming and double dealing in an attempt, within the framework of his Starfleet service role to barter for new gain a new stabiliser for the Defiant. These elements of drama and comedy successfully compliment each other leading to my awarding nine first category points. This story has the usual fine performances from Jeffrey Combs, Casey Biggs (Damar) and Salome Jens (Female Shape-shifter) plus you can also factor in another endearing performance from Aron Eisenberg (Nog) making a pleasing eight point noteworthy cast performance score. Reassuring regular character interaction feels reasonably strong during “Treachery, Faith and the Great River” particularly between Nog, O’Brien and Bashir so an above average seven points seems appropriate. The station based scenes generally have a good natured humourous atmosphere as Nog continues his numerous convoluted bartering negotiations for the stabiliser however the young Ferengi does inadvertently upset General Martok which leads Chief O’Brien to observe as the aggravated Klingon enters Quarks on the rampage that in the so-called Material River ‘waters just got choppy’. For this, other inadvertent incidents and the general feel of this plot I feel disposed to award eight points. Again we touch upon Vorta existence within the Dominion plus there is that aspect of Ferengi trading tradition so lets say a seven point alien mysticism score here. The weakest aspect of “Treachery, Faith and the Great River” would have to be its special effects quotient but the pursuit of Odo/Weyoun by Jem’Hadar forces feels just about worthy to scrap six points. I came away from watching this with a real warm satisfied feeling of a story that had delivered so satisfactorily strongly two engagingly appealing plot threads which further enriched the appeal that this series holds for me. The tense dramatic Vorta defection premise is excellently counterpointed by the good natured lightweight but equally appealing Ferengi dealing going on back at the station and leads me to deliver a strong nine point overall impression score. With a combined strong score of fifty-four “Treachery, Faith and the Great River” really does sparkle brightly amongst this final years offerings and is entirely justified in securing second place spot, so very close to being best of the season, but it ultimately had to defer to one other script this year. Bet you can’t guess what it was!

The time has come for me to announce my favourite episode of Season Seven which is...

Ever since Julian Bashir created holodeck lounge singer Vic Fontaine there has always been a pleasingly relaxed cosy locale to which our series regulars could go to relieve their high-tech daily stresses and strains of continued existence on a Federation Outpost on the front line of the on going Dominion War. Not only can they delight in the soothing singing talents of this accomplished 50s crooner but this distinctly atypical holo-character blends an uncanny nature of understanding peoples problems beyond the confines of his club with his ability to put the person quickly at their ease. The stations senior officers have, since his introduction towards the latter half of last year, grown very attached to their charming off hours host and when his business is unexpectedly threatened by ‘a tougher crowd muscling in on his operation’ they quickly rally round to help the friend in trouble. Alright so the basic premise of “Badda-Bing Badda-Bang” is in reality a corrupted holographic program that could ordinarily be corrected by simply shutting down the program and manually reset it. However in the best tradition of time honoured Star Trek, like for instance the Original Series story “A Piece of The Action” our series regulars fully enter into the period setting spirit of the thing by dressing the part and dealing with the unwelcome visitors on their own terms through an imaginatively staged scam. The suitably measured lightweight, good natured delivery of this central premise I find particularly appealing and memorable coming as it does before the serious multi-episode series finale story arc takes over. For me “Badda-Bing Badda-Bang” is entirely worthy of a ten point maximum in the dramatic plot category for successfully engaging the viewers attention as to wanting to know just how it will ultimately play out within the confines of the 50s Las Vegas locale. Ever since he debuted in the Season Six story “His Way” James Darren has suitably enhanced the social off hours scenes of our series regulars with his soothing dulcet tones whether it be rendering period specific songs up on stage or interacting with our heroes between entertaining his visiting appreciative clientele. By its very nature “Badda-Bing Badda-Bang” finds him very much at the forefront of events and he certainly contributes to a second category score of eight points. This story is positively replete with reassuring regular character interaction with numerous examples throughout its length. You have Bashir, almost reprising his Season Four secret agent persona asking for a ‘vodka martini stirred not shaken’ and sitting at the bar Odo delights fellow customers with his ‘stretching his hand to get to the glass’ trick. With the disruption to the usual relaxed atmosphere of Vic’s club our regulars all pull together talking about it both on and off duty showing the real family atmosphere that exists on the station. One voice of dissention comes from Captain Sisko whom is unwilling initially to take part in the planned scheme citing historic opinion to coloured people at that time during a ‘cosy evening’ in his quarters with Cassidy however his fiancée eventually wins him round to joining in. When considering all this I’ll award nine points for this third category. “Badda-Bing Badda-Bang” is very much a good natured lightweight tale so it’s not hard to find aspects of humour within the story. I particularly like the almost embarrassed look on Odo’s face when he is temporarily distracted by the dancers whom appear early on and then later another suitably uncomfortable moment, this time for O’Brien (masquerading as a pick-pocket) whom unexpectedly is about to be taken away to be strip-searched by an overzealous security guard. Reflecting on the story in general I’ll give eight humour points. Now the alien mysticism on offer here purely derives from the hypothetical 50s Las Vegas location and those inhabiting it however it seems believable enough I feel to warrant another eight point score. As we’ve seen before strong stories like this usually fall down when considering special effects and “Badda-Bing Badda-Bang” is no exception. There are a few Odo shape-changing moments, particularly with Nog standing next to the clubs vault so I’ll give it a couple of points only. For me this feels like one of the strongest relaxed feel good period-specific stories that Deep Space Nine has offered up over not just Season Seven but the series in general and leads me to award a overall impression ten point maximum. With such a healthy collection of scores “Badda-Bing Badda-Bang” comes out of this personal appreciation revaluation scoring with a combined total of fifty-five points out of a potential seventy thereby making it my favourite of this particular year.



Back down to earth next week as I turn my attention as usual to the lower reaches of my chart. Catch ya later!

For the last time I’ll turn my attention to the lower reaches of my ‘personal appreciation chart’ to see which Season Seven entries I found rather lacking when I came to score them against my subject categories. Worst offender for me during this run has got to be “The Siege of AR 558” which although typical fare in a series that is never shy of exploring the darker side of space exploration I found particularly unpalatable. By its very nature it was lacking any appreciable humour but was also dragged down by minimal alien mysticism and special effects and fairly average reassuring character interaction. I’ll agree that for Quark and in particular Nog this is an extremely moving piece of television but for myself I found just way too dark and gritty compared with other stories during this year. One up from bottom we find another entry in the ‘Section 31’ saga and a reappearance of its operative Sloane in “Extreme Measures”, a story with no humour and once again weak in alien mysticism and special effects elements. I’ve never really got into all this ‘cloak and dagger’ Starfleet stuff and this story did nothing to change my opinion, leaving as cold on the subject as ever. At least with the episode above where ‘Section 31’ again crop up in “Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges” there is a stronger alien mysticism element but that is countered by particularly weak humour and special effects elements. Whilst we are trawling the depths my hopes were dashed by the reappearance of last years genetically enhanced quartet in “Chrysalis” which only made 22nd place on my chart due to a surprising lack of humour and a fairly mediocre dramatic central plot. Rounding out the bottom five “Prodigal Daughter” did little, in my opinion, to further enhance Ezri’s character with her family offering little in the way of engaging intrigue and entertainment potential. Again a lack of humour and zero special effects negated any chances of a higher placing that 21 on the chart.

So we’ve done the all important top five, had a quick glance over the bottom three but now I think its time for the complete picture of how I’ve rated Season Seven plus some closing thoughts…

Image In The Sand (9+8+8+4+8+2+8 = 47) (8th)
Shadows and Symbols (8+8+6+8+8+5+8 = 51) (4th)
Afterimage (8+8+8+5+6+0+9 = 43) (13th)
Take Me Out To The Holosuite (5+6+8+7+5+0+6 = 37) (20th)
Chrysalis (7+8+8+2+3+0+7 = 35) (22nd)
Treachery, Faith and the Great River (9+8+7+8+7+6+9 = 54) (2nd)
Once More Unto The Breach (8+8+8+2+8+6+8 = 48) (7th)
The Siege of AR-558 (7+8+5+1+2+2+7 = 32) (25th)
Covenant (8+8+5+0+9+1+8 = 39) (18th)
It’s Only A Paper Moon (7+8+8+5+2+0+8 = 38) (19th)
Prodigal Daughter (7+7+8+1+6+0+7 = 36) (21st)
The Emperor’s New Cloak (9+7+8+8+8+1+9 = 50) (5th)
Field of Fire (10+9+8+1+8+0+10 = 46) (9th)
Chimera (5+7+7+0+8+9+6 = 42) (15th)
Badda-bing Badda-bang (10+8+9+8+8+2+10 = 55) (1st)
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (7+8+2+0+8+1+8 = 34) (23rd)
Penumbra (8+6+8+2+7+7+8 = 46) (12th)
‘Til Death Do Us Part (8+7+8+0+8+1+8 = 40) (40th)
Strange Bedfellows (7+8+8+3+8+0+7 = 41) (16th)
The Changing Face of Evil (7+8+7+1+8+8+7 = 46) (10th)
When It Rains… (8+8+8+6+8+0+8 = 46) (11th)
Tacking Into The Wind (8+8+8+2+8+1+8 = 43) (14th)
Extreme Measures (8+8+5+0+3+2+7 = 33) (24th)
The Dogs of War (8+8+9+8+8+1+8 = 50) (6th)
What You Leave Behind (8+7+8+4+9+8+8 = 52) (3rd)

Rounding out the top ten there are indeed five stories which although I’ll not being into detailed points scoring examination are certainly worthy of special mention. With the arrival of the new Defiant replacement, the brand new U.S.S. Sao Paulo the series penultimate story entitled “The Dogs of War” I feel admirably prepares us for the feature length finale which follows it. You’ve got the serious nature of Damar’s Cardassian resistance movement rubbing shoulders with the medium weighted future of the Ferengi people under a new Nagus (initially thought of as Quark but then surprisingly turning out as Rom) and the pleasingly lightweight deepening romantic relationship between Ezri and Bashir. One place below in seventh we find “Once More Unto The Breach” which offers a fitting send off for legendary Dahar Master Kor whom whilst serving onboard the Ch’Thang inadvertently undermines General Martok’s command. It’s a really quite atypically touching Klingon story of an aged revered figure attempting to retain a level of effective fighting dignity in a new combat situation who bravely sacrifices himself for the sake of the crew. In eighth spot relying more on words than special effects season opener “Image In The Sand” is no less powerful for taking this approach and provides the viewer a welcome thoughtful rest bite following the traumatic events of “Tears of the Prophets”. For me Ezri Dax’s finest hour was during the suitably tense “Field of Fire” when during an investigation she is forced to confront the murderous past host Joran. The dramatic interaction between these characters is effectively rendered by both Nicola deBoer and Leigh J McCloskey making the viewer wonder if Ezri’s personality can be irrevocably swayed by the dominant unstable personality of Joran. For me there is much to praise within the multi episode concluding story arc but when placing episodes into preferential order I settled on “The Changing Face of Evil” as being worth of gaining tenth place. With Gul Dukat taking on the identity of Bajoran Anjohl his scenes with Kai Winn are electrifyingly dramatic particularly when the Kai’s assistant Solbor uncovers Dukat’s real identity and confronts the Kai regarding how she is being used by their old bitter enemy. This is indeed alien mysticism at its strongest coupled the Breen attack of Earth and the emotionally traumatic sight of the U.S.S. Defiant being destroyed by a new Jem’Hadar/Breen energy weapon. Just about keeping out of the lower reaches under performing episode ‘drop zone’ are “It’s Only A Paper Moon” (Nog getting used to an artificial leg by spending excessive hours with holo lounge singer Vic Fontaine) and “Take Me Out To The Holosuite” (admittedly a ‘story telling shock to the system’ this late in the series but as a ‘uniting the series regulars in a sporting endeavour’ not quite as I thought) there is indeed a reasonable amount to praise in this final run of Deep Space Nine.

Anyway time, for the moment anyway, to ‘re-seal the airlocks’, return back to Earth with plenty of good memories of, in my opinion a truly excellent atypical jewel of a somewhat neglected series within the franchise. It took risks taking Star Trek into rather atypical areas of story telling (e.g. metaphysical, religious, bitter interspecies war etc) which took Starfleet officers into less convivial settings than you typically find onboard Picard’s ‘Enterprise’ or Janeway’s ‘Voyager’. I salute the cast and crew of Deep Space Nine for all that they achieved during those seven years and ‘what they leave behind’ is some dam fine episodic sci-fi television worthy of continued enjoyment for years to come.