“Chrysalis” Gives Dr. Bashir Another Chance At Love.

The Good: Decent character work, Excellent acting
The Bad: Very predictable and plot-focused.
The Basics: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine revisits the plight of the genetically enhanced when Dr. Bashir comes up with an effective treatment for Sarina.


As Star Trek: Deep Space Nine wound down toward its inevitable end, it had a lot of plot threads that had been introduced that it could revisit. Part of what made the show so good and made it feel like it was part of a continuum, a universe and time greater than simply itself, was that some plotlines were introduced very late in the series and had potential greater than what was explored. The plotline that had Dr. Bashir working with a group of genetically enhanced individuals was introduced in “Statistical Probabilities” (reviewed here!) and it was only revisited once more, in “Chrysalis.”

“Chrysalis” is interesting because it almost immediately sets the viewer up for one of two scenarios – a bottle episode or a “Flowers For Algernon”-style character tragedy. But within those two options, the episode manages to both be interesting and contain a few surprises. While it could have been a simple one-shot write-off episode, “Chrysalis” enhances the character of Dr. Julian Bashir even further and it makes “Statistical Probabilities” a much better episode in context of the overall series.

Dr. Bashir is frantic when Nog calls him, telling him an admiral is demanding to see him. As it turns out, it is the genetically enhanced Patrick and he, Jack and Lauren have brought Sarina back to Deep Space Nine for Dr. Bashir. Bashir has been working on curing Sarina of her catatonia induced as part of the genetic manipulation she was subjected to. When Jack helps engineer the theoretical device that Bashir believes might cure her, Bashir performs a risky procedure which helps Sarina interact in normal time, at normal speeds.

As Sarina experiences all that is around her with a childlike sense of wonder and an intellect that matches that of Dr. Bashir, Julian falls more and more in love with her. Advised against getting involved with a patient, Bashir assigns another member of his staff to treat Sarina and he works to be a partner to her.

“Chrysalis” is just as smart as it needs to be and filled with enough emotion to make it enjoyable to watch. In other words, the episode rightly does not sweep under the rug either the ethical dilemma Bashir is confronted with by pursuing a relationship with Sarina, nor the realistic probability that Sarina’s feels are more an attempt to pay a debt than a plausible capacity to love so soon. The result is that Sarina makes sage observations on how others interact, most notably Odo and Kira and she makes for a much more interesting and authoritative observer than, for example, Vic Fontaine, who usually makes such commentary.

Even with serious issues the episode has to address, “Chrysalis” manages to be fun. The show focuses for an extended period of time on Sarina working to make her voice sound natural. After a few elocution lessons from Jack and Lauren, the quartet begins singing and it is hard not to feel the sense of wonder Sarina is portraying in that scene. The audience is given the opportunity to become engrossed with Sarina’s sense of wonder and director Jonathan West does an admirable job of drawing the viewer into a very atypical scene for this series.

As well, “Chrysalis” does not neglect the consequences. O’Brien and Ezri both look at Bashir as someone doing something unseemly when it seems like Bashir may have saved Sarina from being trapped in her own mind only to save himself from his own loneliness. Fortunately, Bashir is both smart and compassionate and the episode is resolved in a way that is eminently satisfying. Part of the satisfaction from the episode comes from the fact that Bashir is not suddenly able to save the others and that that, too, is addressed helps the episode work well.

Because so much of the episode is focused intimately on Dr. Bashir and Sarina, both Alexander Siddig and Faith C. Salie give decent performances. Siddig, for example, is able to infuse a bit of passion into the delivery of some of the episode’s most heartwrenching lines. Bashir, as was observed in “The Sound Of Her Voice” (reviewed here!), has not been the warmest character since the Dominion War began. Making Bashir go cold was gradual and surprisingly thorough. So, in “Chrysalis” when Siddig as Bashir pleads with Salie’s Sarina, it is hard not to feel a tug on the heart as a viewer.

As for Faith C. Salie, she has to be thrilled by “Chrysalis.” Uncredited in the opening credits of “Statistical Probabilities,” she finally gets a speaking role in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in this episode. And Salie makes great use of that. In addition to being musical, she has the chance to play a simply kind character who interacts nicely with Bashir. Salie and Siddig have decent on-screen chemistry, which helps both characters with their internal conflicts.

“Chrysalis” may not be part of the essential Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but it is one of the late-series episodes that effectively utilizes elements introduced earlier in the series to enrich the overall universe of Deep Space Nine.

[Knowing that the season is a much better investment, it's worth looking into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Seventh Season on DVD, which provides the full story for the conclusion to the series. Read my review of the final season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

8/10

For other Star Trek reviews, please be sure to visit my Star Trek Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the episodes and movies I have reviewed!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

A Retro-active Backstory Makes Dukat More Creepy And Kira More Confused In “Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night”

The Good: Decent acting, Good character development, Interesting continuity
The Bad: Weaker plot, Creates some disturbing questions to be raised
The Basics: In “Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night,” Kira learns Gul Dukat and her mother were involved and she travels back in time to confirm that, quickly getting involved with the Resistance when she does.


One of the problems with having a whole room full of writers and not having the entire backstories for your characters determined in advance of ever starting a serialized television show is that sometimes, you end up with problematic inconsistencies. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine there are not too many huge problems that come from retroactively creating backstory for characters, but "Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night" is one where there are some issues.

“Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night” marks the return of Gul Dukat following his disappearance in “Waltz” (reviewed here!). It also marks the return of a sane Gul Dukat, albeit through time travel. Despite all of the other problems with the episode, that is exceptionally refreshing to see. In “Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night,” viewers are given a glimpse of a portion of the Occupation very different from what we’ve seen in “Necessary Evil” (reviewed here!) and “Things Past” (reviewed here!). It is one that is troubling because it offers a view of the Occupation from the perspective of the collaborators characters like Kira have hated all along. In true Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fashion, “Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night” presents a remarkably complicated view of those who went along with the Cardassians.

On the anniversary of her mother’s birthday, Kira gets flowers from Quark, which she refused to talk to Dax about. She is irked, then, to be awoken by a transmission from Gul Dukat who recognizes the lilacs as a favorite of Kira’s mother, Kira Meru. When Dukat claims to have known Meru, Nerys gets upset. When she is unable to find sufficient contradiction to Dukat’s claim, she asks Sisko for leave to use the Orb of Time to get answers. He consents and Kira Nerys is transported back in time to the Occupation. Assuming the name Luma Rahl, Nerys encounters her mother, Kira Meru at the refugee camp. When the women are rounded up for entertainment aboard Terok Nor, Rahl and Meru are selected.

Aboard Terok Nor, the two women – who manage to get assigned to the same quarters – are trained by the collaborator Basso on how to be a serving woman for the Cardassians. While Meru is shocked by the size of the room and the variety of food, Kira is all-business. When the women are put in a line-up, Gul Dukat takes notice of a scar on Meru’s face. Healing the scar, Dukat begins a relationship with Meru, a relationship that puts Kira at odds with her.

“Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night” is an appropriately disturbing episode on several fronts. First, it is difficult for anyone with a reasonable amount of empathy to watch the Bajorans be enslaved by the Cardassians. The scenes in the past are pretty troubling, though they are not overly explicit. Even the idea of exactly what Nerys and Maru are expected to do as “comfort women” is kept appropriately vague.

Moreover, when Kira gets involved with the Resistance in the past, the viewer has to have a pretty good idea that she cannot possibly succeed in killing Gul Dukat. After all, if he is dead in the past, there would be no Dukat in the future to create an alliance with the Dominion that could cost Bajor and her allies millions of lives . . . wait, why shouldn’t Nerys kill Dukat in the past?! Oh, because it’s Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and it is about the character journey, not the plot elements. “Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night” is about Kira Nerys growing as an individual.

That character development is good and it takes Kira to a better emotional place where her character might well become a great leader in the Star Trek Universe, even though it is the logical corollary to the lesson she learned at the climax of the first season episode “Duet” (reviewed here!). Like most character journeys, hers does not come all at once and “Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night” takes her another important step on that road.

Unfortunately, the character growth for Nerys comes at the expense of one of the key elements of Gul Dukat’s characterization. Dukat has a photographic memory and has been characterized throughout the series as incredibly intelligent. Are we to assume that somehow he had a blind spot for Kira Nerys, a woman he has flirted with quite a bit? There is something beyond icky about the character who did not recognize Nerys when he first encountered her (“Necessary Evil”) despite her bearing a strong resemblance and the family name of the woman he had been, up until recently, having sex with. So Dukat’s backstory gets a little murkier as a result of “Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night.”

The acting in “Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night” is very good. Leslie Hope has a good outing as Kira Meru and Thomas Kopache reprises his role as Nerys’s father well. Even Wayne Grace makes the most out of his brief guest starring appearance as a Legate who Kira gets stuck with, in the process revealing that Dukat has a routine for picking up Bajoran women. Grace has great deliveries, rambling his way through the lines in a perfect drunken fashion. By contrast, David Bowe is loud and in-your-face offensive as the Bajoran collaborator Basso. The lack of subtlety in Bowe’s performance actually makes his character work, much the way the subtlety in Grace’s acting makes his shorter role memorable.

The episode largely comes down to Marc Alaimo and Nana Visitor on the acting front, though. It is nice to see the two interacting where Dukat is not throwing himself at Kira. As a result, Alaimo retroactively illustrates how Gul Dukat could have obtained power and retained it using his impressive charisma. Similarly, Visitor makes what is a pretty complex character journey seem plausible in only forty-three minutes. Visitor softens Kira Nerys up in a reasonable way by playing the character as deeply conflicted for most of the episode. That works well for the purpose of “Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night.”

Ultimately, though, “Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night” is not a great episode, but it is engaging enough to watch and rewatch and despite how creepy it is for those who remember the character traits of those involved, it holds up better than one might think.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Sixth Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the penultimate season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

For other works in which Wayne Grace appears, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Mulholland Drive
The X-Files - “Humbug”
Star Trek: The Next Generation - “Aquiel”
Dances With Wolves

7.5/10

For other Star Trek episode reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the Star Trek episode, movie, and season reviews I have written!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Sisko's Visions Of The Future Cause A "Rapture"

The Good: Interesting character development, Nice acting, Basics of the plot
The Bad: Most of the rest of the series is revealed
The Basics: When Sisko discovers a lost city on Bajor, all of existence is opened up to him for him to understand, if only he can survive the visions!


Near the end of the fourth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Captain Benjamin Sisko accepted his dual role of religious icon and StarFleet captain. Since then, the subject has been avoided. Until "Rapture," which is still in the first half of the fifth season. It's refreshing to see that the first place this duality is tested is in a fairly major way. "Rapture" has the biggest consequences of the series to date.

Captain Sisko's mission appears to be a complete success when the Federation announces that Bajor is ready for admission into the Federation. Sisko, for his part, finds himself obsessed with a painting that has the only evidence of a mythical Bajoran city. Sisko uses the artwork to find the real Ba'hala and the Bajorans and Federation are each impressed. But as Ba'hala is unearthed and Kassidy Yates - the Captain's estranged love interest - returns, Sisko begins to suffer from more and more visions like the one that allowed him to find the mythical city. The visions come with a price and Sisko's brain is put in serious jeopardy. Bashir reveals that he can help, but his aid comes with a price: Sisko will never be able to receive another vision from the Prophets.

In Sisko's maddened state that comes from lack of sleep and more visions of the future, this consequence is unbearable. Sisko wants nothing more than to understand how all of time fits together as he tries to process the imagery from the Prophets. And unfortunately, some of the imagery is not terribly difficult to understand for fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. For example, Sisko sees a swarm of locusts over Bajor, but he understands that it is headed for Cardassia. This is a pretty significant revelation about where the series is going if one only considers what type of ship looks like a locust. And very simply, "Rapture" does reveal major plot points for the rest of the season, if not the rest of the series.

If anyone was to give away this much of the rest of the series, I suppose it's good it comes in the codified terms of the series itself. Unlike the internet where rumors surface constantly, "Rapture" gives the viewer prime dirt on upcoming arcs of the series without the potential for being wrong. And it's a clever idea. When Sisko finds the lost city, the madness overtakes him and it is compelling to watch.

Sisko's character arc is significant beyond anything else in "Rapture." As Sisko becomes more and more ill, he is forced to deal with the various aspects of his life. First, he turns away from StarFleet and his duty as his mission on Bajor nears completion. Sisko is in danger of becoming obsolete as the reasons for his assignment to Bajor come to an end. Second, his sudden embrace of Kai Winn pushes him away from Kassidy, who feels unsure of their relationship to begin with. Sisko seems to have overcome his feelings of betrayal over her aiding the Maquis in a way that he has not forgiven the other defector. Finally, Sisko turns away from his own son by putting the visions ahead of his own health. Jake faces the possibility of losing his father while Sisko is utterly indifferent to the probability. One of the best moments of the episode is the somewhat whimsical dialog between Kira and the vision-trapped Sisko when Kira, quite worried about his catatonic state, wakes Sisko and he loses the meaning of everything.

This is an episode that could have suffered greatly had it not been so very focused on the characters. Instead, "Rapture" is pulled off as a tight hour that has a compelling series of conflicts. We believe inherantly in Sisko and his desire to understand the entire realm of history is believable. After all, given the chance to see everything that will ever happen and attempt to draw meaning from it, who wouldn't want to take the opportunity?

Much of "Rapture" is dependent on the acting of Avery Brooks. Brooks plays Sisko with a glassy eyed reverence and cluelessness that he has never done and that keeps the episode visually interesting for the viewer. His confusion as things take over Sisko's perspectives is realistic and well-played. This is the first and only episode Brooks plays Sisko with a complete sense of abandon and it's an acting challenge that Brooks rises to meet right away.

The episode is filled out by decent guest acting in other quarters as well. Penny Johnson is great as Kassidy, making her uncertain in a different way. She keeps Kassidy's body language withdrawn, which is realistic considering how her character betrayed Sisko and how naturally mistrustful he must be of her now. Similarly, Cirroc Lofton plays Jakes Sisko quite well as a son who faces losing another parent and being powerless to stop that from happenning. The guest cast is rounded out by Louise Fletcher who does an amazing job portraying Kai Winn as cold and indifferent. Here, Fletcher has the chance to open up some when Sisko turns to her for aid. Her warmth and desperate joy over being accepted by Sisko is greatly conceived by the acting of Fletcher.

In the end, "Rapture" is a fine episode for anyone who enjoys a tense medical drama or anyone who wants a decent debate on the nature of religious enlightenment. It is often too insular in the series, but at this point in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the series is focusing more on telling a quality story than actually trying to get new viewers. And when one considers the locusts swarming Cardassia . . . well, those of us who are into it, we're hooked. Part of the essential Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for the return of Kassidy, the Bajor aspects and the choice Jake is forced to make.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Fifth Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the perfect season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

7/10

For other Star Trek reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2012, 2007, 2003 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

A Respectable Comedy That Combines The Greatest Trek With The Original: “Trials And Tribble-ations”

The Good: Funny, Charming, Excellent special effects, Intriguing concept with a good execution, Acting! Character elements
The Bad: The Orb of Time is problematic, Cheap jokes, The Klingon cop-out
The Basics: In a humorous episode that nevertheless maintains the seriousness of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "Trials and Tribble-ations" provides an enjoyable viewing experience for all audiences.


When the 30th Anniversary of Star Trek came around - it's almost hard to believe that event was over ten years ago! - the two existing Star Trek series's at the time wanted to commemorate the event (for the 25th anniversary of Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation had presented a two-part episode featuring Spock). Star Trek: Voyager did a flashback episode featuring George Takei as Captain Sulu (ironically called "Flashback"). On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the cast and crew got even more ambitious; they returned to one of the most popular episodes of Star Trek and recreated it with the characters from Deep Space Nine. After much debate, the episode they chose was the humorous "The Trouble With Tribbles," which involved Captain Kirk foiling a Klingon attempt to sabotage an agricultural venture through the aid of the furry, ever-multiplying Tribbles. The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine take is "Trials And Tribble-ations" and it utilizes footage from the Star Trek episode and integrates characters from Deep Space Nine in in order to tell a new story in the same time and place.

When the U.S.S. Defiant takes on a human passenger when the Cardassians surrender one of the mysterious Orbs of the Prophets, they soon find themselves inexplicably in the past. It turns out the Orb was the Orb of Time - which has the properties to allow the one who activates it to translate a ship or person to a different place and time - and the passenger was Arne Darvin, the surgically-altered Klingon spy who Captain Kirk exposed as a spy almost one hundred years before. Darvin is revisiting the time of his exposure in order to kill Captain Kirk and regain his honor (his life took a turn for the significantly worse when he was exposed by Kirk). So, Captain Sisko, Dr. Bashir, Chief O'Brien, Dax, Odo and Worf set to finding Darvin and stopping him from killing Captain Kirk. While Bashir and O'Brien scour the lower decks of the U.S.S. Enterprise, trying to keep a low profile, Worf and Odo find Darvin aboard the nearby space station K-7 and learn that his assassination attempt is intended to be ironic . . . and unstoppable.

"Trials And Tribble-ations" is a fun episode, but like most all Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes, it manages to be fun while being smart and advancing an overall plot. "The Trouble With Tribbles" was a fun episode, but there were never consequences for the episode in terms of either the Klingon conflict or the problems of terraforming the colony on Sherman's Planet - which is where the grain the for the agricultural venture was headed. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is all about consequences. Arne Darvin's disgrace at being outed by a little ball of fur would be humiliating for a Klingon warrior and spy. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine deals with the consequences that the original series neglected. Darvin's rage festers for years and when his opportunity comes, he strikes.

It's a clever concept and the execution of that concept is fairly brilliant. Using the special effects technology pioneered in Forrest Gump (reviewed here!), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine integrates characters and footage shot in the mid-1990s with the existing footage from the late 1960s. And while the footage had to be culled from various episodes of Star Trek, the net result is clever and seamless. The special effect of putting Dax and Sisko on the bridge of the Enterprise with Spock and Captain Kirk is incredible. When Sisko interacts with Kirk, the process is astonishing and enjoyable to watch.

None of that would have been possible without the quality of actors from this particular series of Star Trek. In order to engineer the effects that put Dax and Sisko on the Enterprise bridge (for example), the actors had to work against a greenscreen, which meant for the most part they were working opposite nothing, no one. They are required to interact with individuals who are not present and Terry Farrell, for example, does a flawless job of appearing to make eye contact with William Shatner's Captain Kirk and reacting to him. Knowing there wasn't even a stand in for the scene makes this acting impressive. Even more impressive is that such concerns never come up during the actual viewing of the episode. It seems so well put together that this sort of evaluation only happens on retrospect.

"The Trouble With Tribbles" was a funny episode with the point being to produce an amusing hour of science fiction humor. "Trials And Tribble-ations" takes the story to the next level and makes a dramatic presentation - stopping an assassination - with a number of jokes tossed in. And from the opening moments, Dax makes a joke about the officers from Temporal Investigations always being on time, this is a drama with jokes thrown in as opposed to an outright comedy. And with this series, there are subtle jokes that only fans who are looking for them will find. For example, the officers from Temporal Investigations are Dulmer and Lucsly, anagrams of Mulder and Scully, as this series' tribute to The X-Files.

The enjoyable thing here is watching a very serious cast, like the characters on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine finding themselves in such outrageous circumstances like having to deal with multiplying bunches of fur. It's the science fiction comedic equivalent of when the cast of The Practice did a crossover with the nutballs of Ally McBeal.

There are problems with "Trials And Tribble-ations," but most of them are big picture issues. So, for example, the device that makes this whole adventure possible, the Orb of Time is an extraordinarily powerful artifact for the Cardassians to give up willingly. It seems odd that none of their scientists figured out what the special power of this Orb was. It's plot convenient, but problematic in the big picture. Even when it returns, at the end of the sixth season, the mechanics of the artifact are unclear. For those of us who loathes Star Trek: Enterprise, "Trials And Tribble-ations" contradicts its existence by defining the number of ships called Enterprise in the history of StarFleet and the Federation.

Even more problematic for a series that is usually so direct is that the opportunity arises to directly deal with why the Klingons from Star Trek look different from the Klingons in the Trek movies and beyond. Worf provides a pat answer and the show goes on with an unsatisfying resolution to this problem.

But those are big picture issues. For the most part, casual watchers of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and fans of Star Trek are likely to find this a real treat. Watching O'Brien and Bashir bumble around the Enterprise is fun and seeing Dax in one of the outfits of the time is also fun for fans who remember that in the original series "women wore less." Actress Terry Farrell seems to have a real sense of humor about it.

The nice thing is, this little science fiction romp with a lot of comedy is very accessible to people who aren't fans of the Star Trek series'. Everything the viewer needs to know is encapsulated in the episode. For those who think science fiction tends to be a stuffy genre, this is the perfect response.

While not essential to the long-term story of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, this is an essential episode for fans and a delightful "thank you" from the producers for the devotion of the audience. This is great with a bowl of popcorn and friends with a sense of humor.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Fifth Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the perfect season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

7/10

For other Star Trek reviews, please be sure to visit my Star Trek Review Index Page by clicking here!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

(No Longer Gul) Dukat Returns With Problems (And No) Galor(e) (“Return To Grace”)

The Good: Great character development, Wonderful acting, Decent special effects, Nice plot, Humor
The Bad: Moments of treating Dukat like an idiot
The Basics: When Dukat returns a broken man, he finds a cause: eradicating the Klingons who are infesting Cardassian space in a wonderful story of character development.


When last we saw Legate Dukat in "Indiscretion," he was hunting for someone and he found her. Tora Ziyal joined him and when last we saw Dukat, he was happy and conflicted. Fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine saw a chance for some real character development with Dukat and his return has been long-awaited. In "Return To Grace," Dukat resurfaces and it's an excellent piece where they cannot disguise that the episode belongs to the Cardassian villain.

In "Return To Grace," Dukat returns to ferry Kira to a diplomatic conference. Stripped of his rank and position, left by his wife and family, Dukat is a broken man, who is hanging on to Tora Ziyal, his daughter. Ziyal brings him joy and he seems actually satisfied with his life. Then the Klingons attack the conference, killing the Cardassians and Bajorans there. As a result, Dukat goes on the offensive, taking his limited ship into a hopeless battle to attempt to rid Cardassian space of Klingons. Finding his government unwilling to act, Dukat becomes more and more obsessed with defeating the villains who are operating behind his line.

The episode works best when it is utilizing Dukat in an intelligent manner. Occasionally in "Return To Grace," Dukat is treated as naive or simply stupid. This is especially applicable when Kira is briefing Dukat on how to be a terrorist. His ignorance around how to convert the freighter into a fighting ship is disappointing. It treats a character who has been a brilliant warlord like a child and that's sad. Dukat could never have survived the Occupation had he lacked imagination and intelligence as he occasionally does in this piece.

The bulk of the episode is wonderful and it does manage to focus on Dukat in an intelligent way. Dukat is a compelling villain and here he seems especially rich. It becomes clear that Dukat is someone who loves his planet and his people very much. His instant desire to safeguard them is strong and compelling. He seems a man who has lost everything and for the first time he has hope for purpose. It makes his reactions to the Deetapa Council's refusal to act seem very realistic and his character here is blissfully full of intrigue here.

Add to that, Major Kira does have a chance to explore her rich character. She is great in her ability to revisit her terrorist character as well as engaging her sudden parental instinct. Kira and Ziyal come together in a very organic way and it is wonderful to seek Kira engage the young woman. Kira's strong here and she fits quite well with Dukat's new position as a character in transition. She has the attempt to gloat and does not engage it. The humor at the opening of the episode is wonderful.

Add to the wonderful character development is great acting. Cyia Battan is competent as Tora Ziyal. She plays Ziyal as young, confused, inexperienced and sells the audience on her desire to fit into her father's world. Battan does an excellent job convincing us of her character's naivete by using her eyes and body language like a professional. Her performance is magnificently contrasted by Nana Visitor's stern, straightforward role as Kira. Visitor reprises the sense of Kira's desperation and cunning tactical sense that has been buried for some time. She makes the transition organic and believable.

But the acting that stands out over anything else is that of Marc Alaimo. Alaimo plays Dukat in a great way. For the first time, Dukat must seem uncertain and Alaimo works it well, while maintaining the integrity of the character. Alaimo has a talent for seeming completely devious even in the lowest of circumstances. Even better, Alaimo manages to transform Dukat at the start of the episode and throughout "Return To Grace." He shines as a neglected talent on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine here.

"Return To Grace" is a treat for fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a payoff for those who have been with the series since Gul Dukat's stunning, villainous entrance in the series premiere. This is a piece that is accessible to those who are not fans who like the idea of a story of a lost man searching for purpose. But just for sitting down and watching something, "Return To Grace" is difficult because it alludes to a lot of parts of the Star Trek universe only explored in this series. The character work is wonderful and a pleasure to watch, but less understandable without knowing where the characters have been.

This episode feels like something of a middle act, with "Indiscretion" (reviewed here!) being the first part, and indeed, it is a transitional episode for both Dukat and Ziyal. Add to that, Kira's solution to Ziyal joining Dukat's fight against the Klingons impacts her and it's refreshing to know that will be followed up on. Part of the essential Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for everything this episode puts forth.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Fourth Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the turnaround season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

9.5/10

For other Star Trek reviews, please visit my Star Trek Index Page!

© 2012, 2008, 2003 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Protecting The Separations Of Church And State: "Shakaar"

The Good: Good character development and acting
The Bad: Story is set up in an obvious way, Technical aspects of the universe
The Basics: In a wonderful transition episode, Kira and her old resistance cell leader go rogue to protect Bajoran freedoms.


When Vedek Bareil died in the third season of Star Trek Deep Space Nine, there was a sudden gap in Major Kira's life. As well, Kira and Sisko lost an important ally in the conflict with Kai Winn. Kai Winn, the spiritual leader of Bajor, had been held in check by Kira, Sisko and Bareil and without the Vedek, Winn has the potential to be more of a menace than ever before.

"Shakaar" picks up this rather obvious potential and runs with it. When Kai Winn becomes the pro tempe First Minister of the Bajoran government, it seems that she is in complete control of both the religion and the government, a perilous place for any society. When a group of farmers refuse to release some equipment that the government loaned to them, Winn calls on Kira to solve the problem. Why? One of the farmers is Shakaar Edon, the leader of Kira's resistance cell during the Occupation. Kira is sent to get the equipment back from Shakaar and instead finds herself on the run with him and other people from her past.

One of the nice things about "Shakaar" is that it fills a nice gap of time. Kira is on the run from the authorities for over two weeks. There's the sense that this is a complex problem and it makes sense that it is not easily solved. The situation illustrates its complexity when Shakaar is forced to face off with Bajoran security and it becomes obvious that both leaders have reached a stalemate.

This is one of the most intelligently written single-episode scenarios of the series and it feels like that from the moment the episode begins. Unfortunately, the same may not be said of Kira's character arc. The way the episode is constructed, with her mourning for Vedek Bareil in the beginning, is a little more formulaic. So when the end comes and Kira declares her mourning for Bareil over, it seems very obvious.

Beyond that, the episode is pretty fabulous, certainly better than most episodes of any hour-long drama out there today. Kira's conflict is a rather massive one and the scope of it is almost instantly pulled from the small issue of farm equipment to the problems inherent in a theocracy where the head of state is also the religious leader.

This conflict is a wonderful one to present with Kira as the focus. Her character has often been caught between her duty and her religious zeal. Here, even a fundamentalist such as Kira sees the problems and it is her political duty and strong moral code that steps over the bounds, encouraging her to rebel and not take the potential tyranny laying down.

While Kira is presented wonderfully in the episode as the central character, the other characters have strong resiliency as well and add balance to the episode. While Kira is the fulcrum, Kai Winn is on one end of the lever. She illustrates her megalomaniacal traits perfectly beneath the veil of reason and religious mandate. Shakaar, introduced here for the first time, makes his presence known as a clumsy, but morally firm man who wants nothing more glorious than to work the earth in peace. He's a natural leader and that comes across in this episode very quickly and very well.

The problem with the struggle is that the understanding of the Star Trek universe seems to be suspended for the purposes of dragging the episode out. While even now it might be debatable that a group of people trying to hide out in the hills ought to be fairly easy to track using U.S. spy satellite technology, it seems ridiculous to believe that a band of rebels hiding running through the hills of Bajor could not be found using starship scanners. And we've seen Bajoran ships, they're out there; with a problem of this magnitude it seems strange that they would not be employed to find Shakaar and his group. And that "reads" as wrong. Why Lenaris Holem is hunting Shakaar by foot in an age of starships and transporters seems somewhat questionable.

But this is not the fault of the actors and here they give a whiz-bang performance. Recurring as Winn is award winning actress Louise Fletcher and she once again illustrates why good money should be spent for getting great actors for television. Fletcher has a subdued quality to her that makes her character's political machinations believable. She manages to create one of the most quiet and cunning adversaries ever to grace television. And it goes far beyond the writing, it has everything to do with Fletcher's bearing and the way she modulates her voice from suggestive to menacing.

Nana Visitor similarly gives a decent performance, standing out for making the time frame of the episode seem believable. That is, Visitor's performance in the latter portions of the episode give the viewer the feeling that she has been on the run for weeks and there's a wary quality to her performance here that sells us on the idea that she is tired of fighting and of war and terrorism.

The final actor of note is Duncan Regehr, who plays Shakaar. He creates a man of great charisma and it goes beyond his obvious rugged good looks. Instead, Shakaar is played like the common man of intelligence and it's a welcome sight to see someone both intelligent and practical on screen.

Despite having everything to do with the machinations of Bajoran government, this episode remains very accessible to non-fans of the series as a stirring story about the dangers of losing the separations between church and state. It is a worthwhile episode that makes a lot of sense and enhances an already wonderful main story of this series. Part of the essential Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and a nice civics lesson to boot.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Third Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the breakout season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

7/10

For other Star Trek episode reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2007, 2003 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Alexander Gets Written Out As A Warrior In "Firstborn."

The Good: Acting, Idea, Characters
The Bad: Comes too late in the series to be useful.
The Basics: When Worf and Alexander are nearly killed, a mysterious figure aids them in discovering who is behind the attack in a decent father/son mystery.


When Worf, the Klingon on Star Trek The Next Generation discovered that he had a son in the episode "Reunion," the producers of the series were committing to the idea that actions in the Star Trek universe had consequences and that some elements of the show would be serialized. It was a great day for the franchise, because too often the series ignored the consequences of actions and decisions, making certain episodes lose realism with how the characters reacted. For example, that Picard never seems to resent Cardassians after having been tortured by them seems a little odd.

Alexander, Worf's son, was an intriguing addition to the life of one of the most interesting characters on Star Trek The Next Generation. He was 1/4 human, 3/4 Klingon, looked like a Klingon and behaved like a spoiled human. As the series wound down, the producers tried to tie up as many loose ends as possible. Alexander was one such loose end. In "Firstborn," he is effectively written out of the series.

"Firstborn" finds the Enterprise visiting a Klingon colony for a festival. On the planet surface, Alexander and Worf watch a Klingon play and Alexander seems to connect - for a change - with his Klingon roots. The two are ambushed and Worf gets them out of the jam with help from a Klingon named K'mtar, who claims to have been sent by Worf's brother to look out for them. The only clue to their assailant is a knife that indicates the son of one of the Duras sisters, two women who have never had children . . .

"Firstborn" is something of a mystery/chase story as the Enterprise spends a lot of time tracking the Duras sisters down (including contacting Quark on Deep Space Nine). What makes it worth watching is the meat of the episode, everything beyond that. K'mtar is a likable character that Worf is immediately suspicious of. Still, K'mtar's sole purpose seems to be to goad Worf into instructing Alexander on how to be a warrior. K'mtar's approach is one that Worf never tried with Alexander, trying to sell Alexander on the necessity and intrigue of being a warrior, a concept that goes over with the boy a great deal better than the "tradition" and "honor" reasons Worf used to spout at him before he accepted that Alexander was not and did not want to become a warrior.

"Firstborn" is one of those rare episodes where all of the guest actors are fantastic. It makes a great deal of sense that this episode would feel rather organic on the acting front as all of the guest stars have been in previous episodes. Brian Bonsall gives perhaps his most mature performance in his final outing as Alexander (the character was recast for his appearance on Star Trek Deep Space Nine). Both Gwynyth Walsh and Barbara March are magnificent as the Duras sisters, as they seem to have become quite comfortable with the roles. And James Sloyan, who had appeared on Star Trek The Next Generation as Romulans and other aliens and - by this time - on Star Trek Deep Space Nine as Dr. Mora Pol, gives a wonderful performance as K'mtar. Being a more mature and experienced actor, Sloyan brings a great deal of weight and emotion to the role and it pays off big.

It is Michael Dorn who manages to bind all of the performances together in his role as Worf. Dorn acts as a mediator between the mature acting of Sloyan and the young, emotive acting of Bonsall. Michael Dorn exhibits an impressive ability to go from doing physical acting (fights and the like) to dialog that is fairly extensive and emotive. "Firstborn" is an excellent example of this actor's ability to shift gears rapidly and still seem realistic.

"Firstborn" is a nice father/son story and it's a refreshing change from the usual Worf/Alexander story where the two are yelling at each other. Even people who are not fans of Star Trek The Next Generation or science fiction in general may enjoy the story on that level. People who are traditionally science fiction fans are likely to enjoy the father/son working together to solve the mystery aspect in the science fiction context.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete Seventh Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the final season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

7/10

See how this episode stacks up against the other Star Trek episodes, movies and DVD sets with links back to their reviews by clicking here!

© 2011, 2007, 2004 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

| | |