The Final Frontier 8

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TF01 3,Video Reviews 4, VIDEO REVIEWS --------------- STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - CASSETTE 85 -------------------------------------------- "MASKS" / "EYE OF THE BEHOLDER" ------------------------------- Reviewed by John Kitts ---------------------- "MASKS" Whilst investigating an ancient comet, strange things start happening onboard the Enterprise which are traced back to an alien device at the comet's centre. From here things get very strange - Data is taken over by multiple personalities and the Enterprise is being transformed into an alien world piece by piece. We are told by the personalities in Data that Mosaka. some sort of demi-god is responsible... Somehow, I just didn't like this at first - it just didn't feel like Star Trek. When they decided to destroy the alien ship, why was the Enterprise so helpless to do so? I'm sure they could've beamed over a bomb or any other number of ways. The whole show just seemed to talky and implausible. On the plus side though, and what does recommend it, is the excellent acting, especially by Brent Spiner as multiple alien characters. An episode, I think, that's very much a matter of taste. Some of you will like it and some of you will hate it. "EYE OF THE BEHOLDER" The suicide of a young officer with seemingly everything to live for starts an investigation by Troi and Worf which leads to a murder during the Enterprise's original construction eight years previously... I'm afraid for you non-Troi fans out there it's another empathic ("I feel great pain") episode with the whole thing resting on Troi's feelings. On the plus side though, it's quite a good whodunnit with a few twists and turns and quite an unusual feel to it. Overall, I liked this one, although I hated the idea of a Troi/Worf relationship (even if it was just a part of someone else's memory.) Where on Earth did the writer's get this pairing from? Again it's another reasonable, but not brilliant tape, particularly if "Masks" does not suit you. Another one for collectors rather than occasional buyers I think. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - CASSETTE 86 -------------------------------------------- "GENESIS" / "JOURNEY'S END" --------------------------- Review by John Kitts -------------------- "GENESIS" Directed by Gates McFadden, and nothing to do with Star Trek II's Genesis, this is coming to the end of the Next Generation's final season. The plot goes thus: Lieutenant Barclay receives medical treatment for an alien flu. Unfortunately the treatment creates a virus which makes all the lifeforms on the Enterprise de-evolve. Meanwhile (and to have somebody left to save the day) Picard and Data are off ship chasing a rogue photon torpedo (I kid you not)... The cause of this virus and it's eventual cure are explained away by the most awful Star Trek techno-babble we've heard since Schisms. You might think I don't like this episode but you'd be wrong. When Picard and Data return to the ship they find it powerless and adrift. I loved the scenes of them searching the ship in the dark with only animal howls and shrieks for company - very eerie. To add a bit more suspense, the crew are regressing into different types of animals so you'll never know what they'll come across. Of course it all works out alright in the end and there's even some humour thrown in for good measure. Even allowing for the techno-nonsense, I thought it was an excellent episode. "JOURNEY'S END" Everybody's favourite Wesley Crusher returns to the Enterprise but this time he's embittered with life and outright contemptuous of his old friends. The other side of the plot is a disputed planet between the Federation and the Cardassians. As part of the treaty, the Federation was giving the planet over and relocating the inhabitants... After the excellent episodes "The Game" and "The First Duty", I was expecting a lot of this but for awhile it just goes along showing how rude Wesley can be. When I heard that the inhabitants were descendants of American Indians I groaned. Surely this had been done to death - and of course they didn't want to leave. From here on things improve. I've always enjoyed the Federation confrontations with the Cardassians and this is just as good, with tensions and stakes escalating which just gets worse when Wesley interferes. A good episode with a surprise return for an old TNG character at the end. Two episodes which don't sound too promising from the back sleeve but are actually very good. Certainly a tape to buy for both completists and occasional buyers. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - CASSETTE 89 - "All Good Things..." ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reviewed by Matthew Dean ------------------------ Well, it had to happen didn't it. The one event all us Trekkers have been dreading for the past seven years. The final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. So on a raining Monday evening, I plodded down to my local store, bought the tape, and with a heavy heart pushed it into the video machine. And so it happened. The end.... Ahem. Well - what an episode it turned out to be! Admittedly not the best I have ever seen, but running a close second to "The Best of Both Worlds". For me, "All Good Things..." did an excellent job of tying up all those `loose ends' that TNG had created, and perhaps sparked some ideas for future film production. And while it was the last episode, and everyone tends to become over soppy, I must say that I thought the last scene was perhaps the most fitting way of ending TNG I could have thought of - with the crew of friends sitting together in an intimate game of poker, while the Enterprise moves on... to continue its adventures. My only reservation is the somewhat naff Starfleet uniforms portrayed for the future. This becomes a problem when we think of ST:DS9 and ST:Voyager. What will happen when these series' - or even the movies - reach the time of these uniforms? Will we have to change from our totally cool loose semi-turtle neck... or will we go down to a pair of Ensign Ro's trousers with a wrap around piece of red cloth? I loved the badge though.... Seriously though, I thought that the story was very well thought out and excellently handled by frequent TNG director Winrich Kolbe. And the notion of Anti-time was not only fascinating from a scientists point of view, but also emenated the feeling of utter dread - for here is an anomaly which is unstoppable, and which will turn the universe into.... what? Nothing? No - nothing is something, isnt it - be it air, or water. Just space. But space is still... Oh, never mind. Something for everyone in this very nostalgic tape, and no Star Trek collection will be even deserving of the name if it doesn't contain it. If you havent already, then go out and buy it. If you have bought it, then go out and buy a Dolby Pro-Logic decoder. All Good Things was my first experience in watching a ST:TNG in Dolby Surround, and it was absolutely amazing. STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - CASSETTE 15 ---------------------------------------- "SECOND SIGHT" / "SANCTUARY" ---------------------------- Reviewed by Tim Smith --------------------- Commander Sisko falls in love with a beautiful but mysterious woman, and refugees from the Gamma quadrant arrive on Deep Space Nine on this fifth tape of second season episodes. "SECOND SIGHT" The first episode on this tape is the first to concentrate on the character of Benjamin Sisko since the pilot, "Emissary". Before I go any further I feel that I must point out a glaring continuity error. Sisko is remembering his wife's death at Wolf 359, supposedly 4 years ago. This is on 47329.4. However the battle of Wolf 359 was on, or near stardate 44002.3, during the Next Generation's fourth season. Four years on on from that date would be 48002.3 which would place the four year anniversary of Wolf 359 at the beginning of the third season, not half way through its second! Now, onto the actual episode. It has both it's good and it's bad points, Salli Elsie Richardson does what she can with what is a fairly limited role. Richard Kiley is wonderfully over the top as the larger than life Gideon Seyetik. He doesn't so much chew his lines, as chew them, swallow and digest them. Unfortunately, that's all there is to recommend this episode. For the remainder of the 46 minutes, it leads straight to cliche city. The explanation for the mysterious, continuing disappearances of Sisko's new found love, Fenna is all too obvious, as is the rather lame, but nonetheless, spectacular ending. Interesting to see this side of Sisko, but it could have been done so much better than this. "SANCTUARY" Compared to the next episode on the tape, "Sanctuary", "Second Sight" is a masterpiece of fiction. "Sanctuary" concerns a race of people known as the Skreea arriving on the station and claiming Bajor as their homeworld. However, because they look different, they are treated with hostility and prejudice. The most notable thing about this episode is that two of its guest stars have previous connections with Star Trek. Varani, the Bajoran musician is played by William Schallert who had starred in the Classic Trek episode "The Trouble With Tribbles". The other connection is made by Andrew Koenig who plays one of the Skreea. If you haven't guessed it by now, his father is Walter Koenig, who played Pavel Chekov, in the original series, movies, and of course the latest cinematic adventure, "Generations". And now for the bad news... this episode deals with the important subject of prejudice. In the past, Trek has tackled several thorny subjects and done so very effectively. I'm sorry to say that it completely fails to do so in this case. They are left with the prejudices that they had to begin with and the viewer is left thinking "What was the point of that?" The answer to that question is there is no point to it. If you're going to tackle something like prejudice, or any other controversial subject, you ought to come to some sort of conclusion, characters should learn something, what ever that it, and no one does in this case. The costumes and make up are more than upto the usual standards, as is the ever excellent packaging. The cover features the Skreea leader Haneek (played by Deborah May) and some sort of galactic phenomenon on the ongoing spine picture. Not what you would call the best tape in the series. STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - CASSETTE 16 - "RIVALS" / "THE ALTERNATE" --------------------------------------------------------------------- Reviewed by Tim Smith --------------------- Quark has to contend with a rival bar owner whilst Bashir and O'Brien are rivals on the racquet ball court, and Odo's mentor arrives at the station to lead him on a quest for his origins on volume 16 of Deep Space Nine. "RIVALS" Rivals teels the tale of an El-Aurian conman (played by Chris Sarandon) who discovers a device that enables him to open a rival bar to Quark's. Meanwhile, Bashir and O'Brien discover that they share an interest. racquetball. Incidentally, two of the other guest stars are K. Callan (who plays Ma Kent in "Lois and Clark") and Barbara Bosson (who starred in "Hill Street Blues"). This is a strange episode. On the one hand you have three relatively big name guest stars, and what should be an opportunity to shine from three of the main cast. On the other hand nothing is done with any of them. Sure, they all appear to be enjoying themselves, but that's all there is to it. At the end of the episode I felt like I had just watched a 30 second trailer. The rivalry between Quark and Mazur never really amounts to much whilst the rivalry between Bashir and O'Brien (both of whom suffer from very poor characterisation) reaches epic proportion. It would have been much more effective if it had been the other way around. As for the explanation as to why certain things have been happening it is so incredibly stupid that they must have stuck this one on in desperation. "THE ALTERNATE" The outlook brightens considerably with the next episode "The Alternate". It guest stars James Sloyan as Odo's mentor, Dr. Mora Pol. Sloyan has previously appeared in two of the Next Generation's best episodes, the third season's "The Defector" and the seventh season's "First Born". He also excels here as Mora bringing just the right amount of arrogance, and affection to make him both likeable abd flawed at the same time. Rene Auberjonois puts in an equally as stong performance as Odo torn between his affection towards the nearest thing he has to a father figure and the anger at how he was treated by him. It is a real joy to watch these two play off each other. As for the plot, it works both as a character study and as a science fiction mystery. You even get to see Dax acting as a science officer! There really is nothing to fail this episode on as it succeeds on every level. The ending leaves the way open for a return of Doctor Mora and this is something I'd really like to see. The cover is Dr. Mora Pol and the spine picture that shows a minute galaxy class ship. Worth getting just for the second episode. 7/10 STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - CASSETTE 17 ---------------------------------------- "ARMAGEDDON GAME" / "WHISPERS" ------------------------------ Reviewed by Tim Smith --------------------- Doctor Bashir and Chief O'Brien are apparently killed whilst trying to destroy biological weapons, and O'Brien suspects a conspiracy onboard DS9 in episodes 13 and 14 of Deep Space Nine's sophomore season. "ARMAGEDDON GAME" "Armageddon Game" is another episode in which Bashir and O'Brien are teamed up and as such is the most successful one so far. Unlike the two previous entries (the first season's "The Storyteller" and this season's "Rivals") Bashir and O'Brien are completely alone. This means that their characters, and how they relate to each other can really be explored. You start to understand why Bashir is so driven to succeed as a doctor, and that O'Brien really is happily married. The one criticism I do have is that Bashir still comes over as slightly insensitive and arrogant. His character has improved in leaps and bounds but these traits must be softened. They're not endearing or funny. They're just annoying. The rest of the cast, and the two guest stars (Darleen Carr and Peter White) also shine. Rosalind Chao, Nana Visitor and Terry Farrell are particularly good in showing the warmth and affection between the characters that is the hallmark of good Star Trek. Certainly one of the best of the season. "WHISPERS" Chief O'Brien also features in the next episode. "Whispers" is a story told in a series of flashbacks as O'Brien flees from DS9 in a runabout. The episode that this closely resembles is the Next Generation's "Conspiracy". It very effectively builds up a sense of paranoia and tension as O'Brien becomes more and more isolated and desperate. However, the whole of the episode is let down to a certain extent by a rather weak ending. After all that had happened in the preceeding forty or fifty minutes, I was expecting something more. The acting honours can be shared equally but of course special mention should go to Colm Meaney who, as with the previous episode is allowed to show O'Brien as more than the stereotypical Irishman he tends to play. With all the things that have happened to him, O'Brien should be one of the most interesting characters but he so rarely gets the opportunity to show it. Having said that as the series progresses all the characters are beginning to show more than one side to themselves and hopefully this will continue. The cover depicts Ambassador Sharat from "Armageddon Game" and is a final touch of class to an already strong tape. 8/10 STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - CASSETTE 18 - "PARADISE" / "SHADOWPLAY" -------------------------------------------------------------------- Reviewed by Tim Smith --------------------- Commander Sisko and Chief O'Brien are stranded on a planet in the Gamma Quadrant and on another planet in the Gamma Quadrant, Lieutenant Dax and Constable Odo discover a colony with a mystery in the eigth volume of second season episodes. "PARADISE" The character of O'Brien gets a third episode in a row that focuses on his character but this time he shares it with Commander Sisko. Whilst on a planetary survey they come across a world with colonists already on it. When they beam down all their equipment is rendered inoperative by a duonetic field. In a way, this is a combination of a mystery as Sisko and O'Brien try to discover why and where the duonetic field exists, and a prime directive episode as they both run foul of the colony's strict rules. What is satisfying about "Paradise" is that Sisko and O'Brien do not break the Prime Directive, but adhere to the colony's rules. This is typified by a powerful scene in which Sisko walks voluntary into an imprisonment box rather than give in to the colony leader's demands. All of the guest stars are good in their roles. Gail Strickland is suitably austere as Alixus, the colony leader, and is supported amply by Steve Vinovich as Jospeh and Julia Nickson as Cassandra. Nickson previously appeared in the Next Generation episode "Arsenal of Freedom" and as Commander Sinclair's love interest in Babylon 5. The one person to really stand out is Avery Brooks. His performance as Commander Sisko is spot on. It goes to show what I've always maintained, that he is a very good actor when given the right material. All in all a very satisfying episode. "SHADOWPLAY" After three O'Brien episodes, somebody else finally gets a chance. This time it's Dax and Odo. The teaming actually works very well with two contrasting characters complimenting each other. The guest stars are good but are never given anything that stretches their abilities. For those of you who like to keep an eye out for actors who make several appearances in Star Trek will probaly recognise Noely Thornton who appeared in what was one of TNG's worst episodes - "Imaginary Friend". Thankfully she is in a good, but not outstanding episode and gives an engaging performance. The plot is nothing special and though there are good costumes, sets and actors it fails to stop you guessing what twist is going to be before it happens. That doesn't stop it from being an enjoyable episode especially when the predictability of the plot is compensated by the pairing of Odo and Dax and the endearing relationship struck up between Odo and Taya. The cover artwork depicts Alixus from "Paradise" 8/10 STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - CASSETTE 19 ---------------------------------------- "PLAYING GOD" / "PROFIT AND LOSS" --------------------------------- Reviewed by Tim Smith --------------------- Dax must play host to a prospective Trill initiate and Quark meets his former love in volume 19 of Deep Space Nine. "PLAYING GOD" "Playing God" is one of the several Dax episodes in the second season. The Trill initiate is well played by Geoffrey Blake but really acts as a catalyst that enables us to find out alot more about Trills and how Jadzia Dax differs from Curzon Dax. Terry Farrell is perfect as Jadzia and makes the most of the script. The one big let down is the dismal subplot. It is poorly thought out, makes no sense, and is never explained just why the solution to the problem should work. It seems to serve no other purpose than to give the characters something to do for the final act of the episode. If you can ignore it (and it won't be difficult) and concentrate on Dax (and it won't be difficult) you'll be more than happy. Now that Terry is allowed to play Jadzia with more emotion, she is making her a warm engaging character. "PROFIT AND LOSS" Onto "Profit and Loss", the second Quark love story of the season! It guest stars Mary Crosby as Professor Lang, a dissident Cardassian who is fleeing from the military with two of her students. Matters are complicated when she is seen by Garak, played to perfection (as always) bu Andrew Robinson. Armin Shimerman quite obviously enjoys himself immensly with some wonderful scenes between himself, Mary Crosby, Andrew Robinson and a terrifically funny grovelling scene with Rene Auberjonois. Some further insight into the enigmatic Garak is given but still leaving enough of his background and character unexplained to keep his appeal. You're never sure just what he's going to do next and the reasons for why he does certain things. The final act is a good example of this and a satisfying conclusion to the episode. This is a perfect episode and can be watched again and again. Combined with the picture of Natima Lang on the cover it makes an entertaining tape. 8/10 STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - CASSETTE 20 ---------------------------------------- "BLOOD OATH" / "THE MAQUIS - PART ONE" -------------------------------------- Reviewed by Tim Smith --------------------- Three Klingons from Dax's past arrive on Deep Space Nine and she finds that she must fulfill a bloodoath and Commander Sisko discovers a group of dissidents who threaten the Federation/Cardassian treaty. "BLOOD OATH" What can I say about "Blood Oath"? Well, it's not a typical "Star Trek" episode. It's more like some kind of Japanese Samurai film. It also sees three actors (John Collicos, William Campbell and Michael Ansara) reprise their roles as Klingons in the original series. Their acting is without fault and they all bring great depth and pathos to their characters. Terry Farrell certainly equals them in the acting stakes bringing to life Jadzia's feelings of duty to both her Klingon friends and to Curzon Dax. She has two particularly powerful scenes. One is which Dax argues wih Sisko over whether she should join the Klingons in their quest and one in which Kira tells her what it is like to kill. The sets, make up and costumes are all quite remarkable and are part of an extremely high quality 44 minutes. For those of you with a nervous disposition get your hankies out for the ending, an ending of a classic episode. "THE MAQUIS - PART ONE" It's a good job that "Blood Oath" is so good because "The Maquis, Part One" is so bad. Why is it so terrible? It's not the performances of any of the cast or guest stars. They're all fine. It's not the costumes, make up, sets or special effects. They're all perfectly acceptable. It's the whole idea. It manages to break virtually every guideline that Gene laid down for Star Trek. For the record:- 1) Starfleet is not a military organisation. 2) Federation and Starfleet members would not act as they do in "The Maquis" i.e. attacking Cardassian ships and colonies. This episode maybe technically faultless, but it is little more than a trailer for Voyager and betrays the concept of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. Like it or not, that is true Star Trek. Nothing else. 6/10 (and that's for "Blood Oath", and the picture of Kor on the sleeve). STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - CASSETTE 21 ---------------------------------------- "THE MAQUIS - PART TWO" / "THE WIRE" ------------------------------------ Reviewed by Tim Smith --------------------- Commander Sisko tries to stop the Maquis and Doctor Bashir fights to save the life of his friend, Garak, in episodes 21 and 22 of Deep Space Nine's second season. "THE MAQUIS - PART TWO" Okay, let's get the rubbish out the way first. The acting from all concerned is fine, as are the costumes, make-up and special effects. It's all very exciting stuff. Indeed it would fit perfectly into a programme like Babylon 5 (which I enjoy and rate as a good science fiction show). But it does not belong in Star Trek, or at least Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. The show has alway been coming to terms with your enemies, not blowing them up. Even good performances from Bernie Casey as Cal Hudson, John Schuck (from Star Trek's IV and VI) Natalia Nogulich and Bertila Damas who plays a female Vulcan called Sovak can't save this episode because the core is rotten. Mind you Bertila Damas is so drop dead gorgeous as Sovak that I'm considering a move to Vulcan! "THE WIRE" Anyway, onto better things. "The Wire" is another Garak episode. Bashir discovers that his friend is dying from an electronic brain implant that he has become addicted to. As he tries to discover a cure he delves into Garak's past. Strong performances are showcased here with Siddig El Fadil and Andrew Robinson virtually shattering the television screen with the power of their roles. As Bashir delves into Garak's past, and as Garak tells Bashir of why he was exiled to DS9 we learn all that there is to know about him. Or do we? You'll have to watch the episode and find out, but can you believe all that you here? The episode keeps you guessing right up until the end, and unlike a few previous episodes, it is not predictable. It also allows the viewer a further insight into Cardassian society. A good episode that grips you from the start and doesn't let go. The video sleeve features Cal Hudson from "The Maquis - Part Two" 5/10 (all for "The Wire"). STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - CASSETTE 22 ---------------------------------------- "CROSSOVER" / "THE COLLABORATOR" -------------------------------- Reviewed by Tim Smith --------------------- Kira and Bashir are thrown into an alternate universe and Kira discovers that Vedek Bareil may have been a Cardassian collaborator. "CROSSOVER" After "Blood Oath" which featured characters that originally appeared in the classic series, "Crossover" is a direct sequel to a classic series episode. In fact Captain Kirk is actually mentioned in the episode, another of Roddenberry's "rules" now broken. This is an interesting sequel in that for the first time since Star Trek II we've seen the results of Kirk's actions in an original series episode. The costumes and set design all bring the alternate universe to life. It's not so much the big changes but the little ones that make the difference. This really is Nana Visitor's episode, and she quite obviously relishes both roles. Mention must also go to Avery Brooks, and Rene Auberjonois who portray very different versions of their regular characters and do so admirably. Andrew Robinson also appears as Garak who is second in command of the alternate universe DS9. Does this offer us a clue to his past? There is one thing that marrs this though - another major continuity error. At one point Bashir tells the alternate universe O'Brien that the other O'Brien has a five year old daughter. That would mean that since DS9's second season occurs at the same time as Next Generation's seventh, Molly would have had to be born in TNG second season, but O'Brien and Keiko married in the fourth season episode "Data's Day" and Molly was born approximately a year later in the fifth season episode "Disaster". This makes Molly about three, not five. The even more annoying thing is that the mistake is repeated two episodes later! "THE COLLABORATOR" "The Collaborator" brings the Kai saga started in the first season to a conclusion. Philip Anglim, Louise Fletcher and Camille Saviola all return for the finale. I must admit that I was not looking forward to this episode. I thought that the last political intrigue story (not counting the trilogy) "In The Hands Of The Prophets" was abysmal, amnd I could not bear to watch another forty four minutes of that. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The episode is extremely atmospheric with the visions that Bareil sees via one of the orbs all adding to the mystery. You never quite know which way the story's heading and you're never certain whether Bareil was the collaborator or not. Two things happen towards the end of the episode both of which are unexpected, and one of which bodes trouble for the future. Leaving out the silly Kira/Bareil love story, this is an excellent episode. 8.5/10 STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - CASSETTE 23 ---------------------------------------- "TRIBUNAL" / "THE JEM'HADAR" ---------------------------- Reviewed by Tim Smith --------------------- "TRIBUNAL" O'Brien is put on trial on the Cardassian homeworld and Sisko and Quark come face to face with the stormtroopers of the Dominion, the Jem'Hadar, in the final volume of Deep Space Nine's second season. "TRIBUNAL" "Tribunal" is directed by Avery Brooks and he does quite a good job with it. He is helped by exceptional performances from Colm Meaney, Rene Auberjonois and Rosalind Chao as well as the two main guest stars Fritz Weaver (who is hilarious) and Caroline Lagerfelt. We get to see the Cardassian homeworld for the first time which also allows to understand the Cardassian military mind a bit more. The only big minus to all this is that it's tied in with Maquis to a certain extent. It's not really important to the plot but the whole concept of the Maquis is so abhorrent to me that it did marr an otherwise excellent episode. As with a few other storylines some aspects of the plot are a little predictable. Indeed part of the ending seems to come straight from an original series episode. However, that doesn't stop it from keeping the viewers attention thoughout it's entire length as this is largely due to the solid direction and exception acting. "THE JEM'HADAR" After having their name mentioned in several previous episodes the Dominion, or at least one faction of them finally make an appearance. The makeup and costumes are impressive to say the least. These are not the kind of people that you want to meet at all, let alone on a dark night! They are easily the DS9 equivalent of the Borg and as with the Borg they will have to be used sparingly to be effective. This also involves the first location filming since the opening episode of the second season. Using such a beautiful location makes the sudden intrusion of the Jem'Hadar that much more striking. On the minus side, that old chestnut, predictability, rears it's ugly head again, with a surprise twist that can be seen coming from a mile off, as well the slightly unbelievable destruction of a starship. But these are minor faults in an otherwise corker of an episode. A good way to end a vastly improved second season. Also congratulations must go to CIC for the excellent packaging that has accompanied every single video in the series. 8/10 STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - VOLUME 3.1 --------------------------------------- "THE SEARCH PART 1" / "THE SEARCH PART 2" ----------------------------------------- Reviewed by Tim Smith --------------------- Commander Sisko takes an experimental ship through the wormhole in an effort to find the leaders of the Dominion and Kira and Odo make a startling discovery in the first tape of thirs season episodes. Deep Space Nine begins its third season as it did its second, with a story set over more than one episode, and carrying on events from the previous season's finale. There are a few changes to the show including a new uniform for Odo, the addition of a conference room set, and of course, the USS Defiant. There was much speculation about the third season, one of which was the departure of Peter Allan Fields, so I had severe doubts about DS9's future. After watching the first few episodes, I was impressed with their quality and if "The Search" and the subsequent episodes are anything to go by, the future of the show looks secured. Amongst the improvements to Deep Space Nine the biggest have to be the portrayals of Sisko and Bashir. Sisko is now allowed to show emotions and this has really energised the character, whilst Bashir is a confident and competent officer, who portrays none of the annoying characteristics he had previously. As well as this, all of the characters have gelled together nicely and this gives the show a really strong feel. The plot may leave something to be desired. It moves along at a good enough pace, and indeed is one of the rare two-parters where the second part is stronger than the first, but suffers from that old chestnut of being too predicatble. However, the strengths of "The Search" far outweigh the weaknesses. Sit back and enjoy the start to what looks like will be Deep Space Nine's strongest season yet. 8/10 STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - VOLUME 3.2 --------------------------------------- "THE HOUSE OF QUARK" / "EQUILIBRIUM" ------------------------------------ Reviewed by Tim Smith --------------------- Quark claims credit for killing a Klingon in his bar and ends up on the Klingon homeworld, and Dax begins to have dangerous hallucinations which threaten her life in episodes three and four of Deep Space Nine's third season. These episodes are not as good as "The Search" Parts 1 and 2; they're better! "THE HOUSE OF QUARK" "The House Of Quark" is hillarious and certianly the funniest DS9 episode to date. Robert O'Reilly makes an appearance as Gowron and handles the comedy perfectly, as does Mark Kay Adams (now playing Na'Toth in Babylon 5) who plays... well, you'll have to watch the episode to find out. Of course, it goes without saying that Armin Shimmerman is perfect as Quark, and absolutely revels in the part. "EQUILIBRIUM" "Equilibrium" is the first Dax episode of the season and like season two's "Invasive Procedures" (also the fourth episode of its season) concerns Sisko and Bashir trying to save Dax from dying. All of the cast are as good as ever, but of course Terry Farrell gets the opportunity to shine, and succeeds admirably in the task. We also get to see the Trill homeworld (funnily enough it's called Trill), learn more about its society and discover a deeply hidden secret about the Trill. There is nothing that I can find serious fault with in "Equilibrium". It fulfills all the basic needs you would want from a typical episode. Both of these episodes compliment each other extremely well, and are worthy additions to Star Trek's history. If there are any of you who have not watched Deep Space Nine, or have watched it but been disappointed by it, buy volumes 3.1 and 3.2 - you won't be at all disappointed; you'll be impressed. 10/10