DS9's Final Seasons' Soundtrack: This One’s From The Heart By James Darren!

The Good: Excellent voice, Catchy tunes
The Bad: Lounge act lyrics that are often more concerned with rhyme than sensibility.
The Basics: Buy if you like a great voice and/or enjoyed Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Don't bother if you're looking for intelligence or something other than fun.


James Darren presents here a wide variety of lounge act songs, most of which have been out of style since the mid-1960s. Why buy the album, then? Well, because he's just that good.

The bias against this album is easily that James Darren is not a young man and this music is completely unmarketable to the 12 - 18 year old c.d. buying public. This One’s From The Heart is a collection of mostly Sinatra standards, recreated in James Darren's smooth, soulful voice. Instead of appealing to the youngsters, this album reaches the narrow demographic of educated individuals who watched and enjoyed the increasingly intelligent Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This is dinner music. It has class.

The connection to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is not an erroneous one; James Darren played a holographic lounge singer in the last season and a half of the popular science fiction show. Most of the tracks on this album were recorded by Darren for the television show. As a result, this album has special meaning and significance for fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Broader appeal is lacking in that most people will prefer the original Sinatra cuts.

Even the simplistic writing on some of the songs is excused by Darren's voice. He's an excellent singer. And if you like lounge tunes, he's putting out great music. His rendition of "Here's To The Losers" is funny, his take on "The Way You Look Tonight" is heartwrenching and his "It's Only A Paper Moon" is memorable.

Basically, This One’s From The Heart is a series of cover songs that were originally made popular by the likes of Frank Sinatra. If you know his mellow voice, smooth lyricked songs, you know what type of music James Darren is singing here. And it may be refreshing to hear "Satin Doll" performed with a slightly different voice for variety, but it's certainly nothing new and that sense comes off from track one. Unlike Heather Nova, who completely reinterprets a song she covers, Darren is simply repeating the music in his own voice and his own charisma.

That's not to say this album isn't good. Darren's renditions of "Come Fly With Me" and "That Old Black Magic" are distinctively Darren's. I've heard the originals while out at restaurants - hence not knowing who sung them - and they sound dramatically different from the versions on this album. I like James Darren's versions here; they fit the songs well and he's just plain smooth.

It's hard to recommend this for everyone because it's not especially great music, but it is the top of its genre. If you watched and enjoyed the last seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine the album is recommended - it's easy to remember some of the best moments of the series listening to Darren sing them again, in their entirety here. If you know my reviews, you know I am a fan of that series and ultimately, that's why I do recommend it.

The best track is "The Way You Look Tonight." It's hard to say what the weak link is because so many of the songs ARE simplistic - it's a pretty simple genre.

For other performers and artists presenting similar works, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Love Songs - Elvis Presley
This Is Benny Goodman - Benny Goodman
I Dreamed A Dream - Susan Boyle

6/10

For other music reviews, be sure to visit my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2003 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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What Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Leaves Behind Is A Perfect Finale With “What You Leave Behind!”

The Good: Engaging acting, Wonderful character work, Great plot, Decent effects
The Bad: Reuse of special effects.
The Basics: Despite some recycled special effects sequences, “What You Leave Behind” finishes the televised saga of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine!


As Star Trek: The Next Generation wanted viewers to know, “all good things come to an end.” With Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it’s all about “What You Leave Behind!” “What You Leave Behind” is the series finale of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and it is the least self-contained finale in the Star Trek franchise. Every other series of Star Trek, one may easily watch the pilot and finale back to back and have, at the very least, an understanding of what is going on. With Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which was much more of a serialized television show, that is not the case. “What You Leave Behind” is essentially the tenth part of a single, long story arc.

Actually, “What You Leave Behind” is the culmination of years worth of stories and character development. It is the climax to a war story, a fierce character conflict, a rebellion, everything but the resolution to a diplomatic nightmare. Despite my considering “What You Leave Behind” to be a perfect episode and one of the top ten episodes of Star Trek Deep Space Nine, “What You Leave Behind” has two problems for people who are detail-oriented. The first is that the mission that Sisko had is not achieved; “What You Leave Behind” does not culminate with the Bajorans joining the Federation. Despite having a decent build-up, like Colonel Kira in a StarFleet uniform for several of the episodes that precede “What You Leave Behind,” the final leap is never made. The other niggling problem is that director Allan Kroeker recycles space battle footage from earlier episodes in “What You Leave Behind.” As much as “What You Leave Behind” should have gone out with a bang, there are troublingly reused sequences, most notably from “Sacrifice Of Angels.”

Outside those two things, which are somewhat nitpicky (especially the first one, at least in the context of the episode!), “What You Leave Behind” is damn near perfect. It is easily the best finale of the Star Trek franchise.

The morning of the united Federation, Klingon and Romulan assault on the Dominion forces in the Alpha Quadrant, Dr. Bashir wakes up in bed with Ezri while O’Brien and his family pack. As the war looks to be coming to a conclusion, O’Brien has decided to move his family back to Earth as he takes a teaching position. On Cardassia Prime, Kira, Damar, and Garak continue to lead a civilian uprising against the Dominion forces. When Jem’Hadar forces storm Mila’s house, killing Garak’s remaining family, he is enraged. As the battle along the Dominion Front is joined, things look grim for the allies until the Cardassians turn against the Breen. Meanwhile, on Bajor, Kai Winn and Anjohl Tennan (Gul Dukat as a Bajoran) are reunited, with Tennan’s eyesight restored by the Pah-wraiths. They begin their journey to the firecaves in order to release the pah-wraiths.

With the Cardassians rising up in the street, the Dominion forces start slaughtering Cardassian citizens wholesale as they fortify their position. With the absolute annihilation of an entire city, the Dominion appears desperate. Damar, Garak and Kira storm the Dominion’s central command post as the space fleet advances. At Cardassia Prime, the fleets are locked in a stalemate when Odo proposes a solution to end the war. Beaming down and linking with the Female Shapeshifter, brings an end to hostilities, but it comes with a price.

The Dominion War over, celebrations break out on Deep Space Nine and the crew spends a last night together before Odo, O’Brien and Worf plan to depart the station. But amid the revelries, Sisko is visited by the Prophets and called to the firecaves for a final battle between Dukat, Winn and himself!

The two-hour series finale of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is interesting in that it takes the opposite form of the series premiere, “Emissary” (reviewed here!). While that episode worked its way out from Commander Sisko into a larger universe, “What You Leave Behind” cuts back the big conflicts until only the battle between Sisko and Dukat remains. The culmination of the Dominion War is a necessary plot change, but the resulting battle between Sisko and Dukat is operatic and character-driven. It also has a somewhat refreshing sense of finality to it, which fits in with the darker themes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

One of the nice things about “What You Leave Behind” is that all of the main characters get their moment. Ezri and Bashir appear ready to start a real relationship, which helps motivate Worf’s decision to join Martok on the Klingon Homeworld. Quark manages to get the last line of the series, Kassidy Yates appears for a decent pregnancy moment and Jake Sisko is vital to the final, heartbreaking image of the series (I swear, I’ve never made it through the finale without crying!). “What You Leave Behind” gives Kira her leadership moments, Odo his heroic and humanistic moment, Damar his chance to lead, and Sisko his chance to make peace with the conflicted aspects of his responsibilities (to StarFleet and to Bajor). Even Nog gets a moment.

One of the most compelling moments of the episode actually comes from Garak. With eight hundred million dead on Cardassia, Garak is in shock and his final scene with Bashir actually hints at the potential that Garak might take his own life in the future (which, based on a convention I once had with actor Andrew Robinson at a convention, is what the actor was actually going for in the scene!). “What You Leave Behind” is chock full of character moments and fans still gush over the scene in Vic’s where they can pick out actors, producers and the like out of make-up in the background!

“What You Leave Behind” finds the actors working at the top of their games. Nana Visitor and Casey Biggs bring their characters of Kira and Damar to the point where they are compelling leaders. Louise Fletcher gets the chance to play Kai Winn as delightfully maniacal and Marc Alaimo pushes Dukat over the line to full-fledged villain once again! The episode is a delight to watch for the quality of all of the performers. Avery Brooks manages to have Sisko’s character seem like a religious icon – like Sisko was supposed to have been all along. And without a word, Nana Visitor and Cirroc Lofton see the series off in a way that creates a beautiful, sad, finite end to the series.

We can ask for nothing more.

[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!]

10/10

For other Star Trek episode, DVD and season reviews, be sure to visit my Star Trek Index Page for an organized listing of all the Star Trek reviews I have written!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Very Different Kind Of Holodeck Hiccup Is Presented In “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang!”

The Good: Interesting concept, Decent acting, Good character work
The Bad: Somewhat esoteric divergence from the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine plotline.
The Basics: “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” starts as a playful episode and becomes another excuse for Avery Brooks to bitch about ethnic issues as Captain Sisko.


Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has many virtuous qualities. One of them is that it tackled complex issues, another is that it had a very solid serialized plotline for much of its run. It is hard to argue with how the show developed well many characters, even some of the recurring guest characters. “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” is the final episodic episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and it is a decent exploration of Vic Fontaine.

Or rather, “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” should have been a great Vic Fontaine episode. Unfortunately, “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” becomes another soapbox for Avery Brooks. Brooks had some creative control over the series and made an interesting, if not exceptional, exploration of ethnic relations issues when he directed and performed in “Far Beyond The Stars” (reviewed here!). While I was inclined to enjoy “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang,” upon rewatching it, it is hard not to be disturbed by the way Brooks appears to be influencing Sisko in this episode. What could be a fluff reworking of an Oceans 11 type plot becomes diluted by Brooks as Sisko bitching about more interethnic relations issues. I’m all for a good social message story, but “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” isn’t that. Brooks’ role in “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” is like a kid sitting at a table of adults quoting by rote a single line of politics, philosophy or economics that he once heard to try to fit in. Objectively, it is ridiculous and the child looks childish instead of like a prodigy. So, too, does Sisko appear to be kvetching about something utterly ridiculous in “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang.”

O’Brien and Bashir are in the process of inviting Vic Fontaine to join them for a crack at the Alamo program when the Vic Fontaine program takes an abrupt turn. The club he sings at suddenly has a burlesque show and Frankie Eyes and his goon Cheech are kicking Fontaine out. Vic Fontaine is faced with a dilemma, a nemesis, and Bashir quickly learns that this is a deeper part of the Vic Fontaine program, a “jack in the box.” In order to keep the program interesting, Frankie Eyes must be thwarted in order to restore Vic Fontaine’s program and club to normal.

As Nog, Bashir, O’Brien, Kira, Kassidy and Odo investigate the new program to see what the options are, Sisko complains to Kassidy about the role of blacks in Las Vegas during the time period of the Vic Fontaine program. O’Brien and Bashir realize that Frankie Eyes will be killed by his mob boss if it appears to him that Frankie is stealing from the mob. After some pretty shallow bitching to Kassidy about how incongruent black people are in the setting of Vic’s club, Sisko joins the team to save Vic Fontaine and with the help of Ezri on the inside of the casino, the crew works to defeat Frankie Eyes.

“Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” is a casino heist episode and it is an interesting turn on the holodeck (or holosuite) adventure story that was pioneered by Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has not dipped into the Holodeck misadventure well much at all, with the combination of the holodeck accident and transporter mishap standards actually being combined for “Our Man Bashir” (reviewed here!). “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” does not usurp that tradition; from the beginning of the episode, it is established that there is an easy way around the “jack in the box.” O’Brien and Bashir can simply reset the Vic Fontaine program. However, in doing so, Vic Fontaine will lose all of the knowledge and experience he has acquired. Given that Nog, O’Brien and Bashir – at the very least – consider Vic Fontaine a good friend, they are unwilling to simply reboot the program and lose the friendship they have forged.

So, “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” quickly establishes that it will be a holosuite adventure without the mishap, one where the only person at risk is Vic Fontaine. By not falling into the traditional holodeck adventure conceit, “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” has the potential to be a fun episode that illustrates how people in the 24th Century kick back or it can become a pretty abrupt end for the Vic Fontaine character. So, when there is even a momentary divergence for Captain Sisko’s moralizing about why he is not a fan of Vic Fontaine’s program, it stands out. Moreover, how quickly Kassidy turns him around on the issue makes the argument feel like it is just an inserted rant (presumably from Avery Brooks).

That said, “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” is not a bad episode. After the traditional “here’s the plan” for the casino robbery, the execution of the heist goes off with only complications that make the heist play like a decent caper, as opposed to a tense action/drama. But, it works!

Part of the reason it works is because of the acting. The characters all express early on why they would do anything at all for Vic Fontaine and some of the characters, very reasonably, sit it out. Worf’s failure to appreciate Vic beyond the confines of the holosuite makes sense as does Quark’s unwillingness to help Vic out given that he represents competition to Quark’s bar. But, for the rest of the crew, the reasons for helping Vic Fontaine are made clear. “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” works, then, because the actors make the emotional investment to make their characters’ reactions and actions seem plausible. James Darren, especially, seems exhausted and damaged as Vic which works for his predicament.

The regular cast is used as a very full ensemble for “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang,” making it a treat as well. Nicole de Boer is perfectly confident (finally!) as Ezri and Rene Auberjonois continues to make Odo looser, which is an interesting change for him. Colm Meany and Alexander Siddig play off one another to continue to affirm that O’Brien and Bashir are truly good friends, something that is otherwise lacking in the Star Trek universe.

In the end, “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” is the final episodic episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and it is a (mostly) fun episode before the long, dark arc that seals off the greatest series in the franchise.

[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!]

For other works with Mike Starr, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Jersey Girl
Snake Eyes
Miller’s Crossing

7.5/10

For other Star Trek episode and movie reviews, please check out my Star Trek Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Nog Gets Real Character Conflict With “It’s Only A Paper Moon!”

The Good: Excellent acting, Great character work, Decent plot
The Bad: Annoying “reverse psychology” with Vic Fontaine
The Basics: With his return to the station, Nog finds life has all sorts of new challenges he is not yet ready to face in “It’s Only A Paper Moon.”


One of the impressive aspects of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is how the show took seemingly minor characters and developed them into fully-realized, interesting characters who could hold both scenes and entire episodes. One of the characters who had a surprisingly extensive character arc on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was Nog. As the show wound down, Nog continued to get some truly intriguing storylines. Nog’s final spotlight episode was “It’s Only A Paper Moon.”

“It’s Only A Paper Moon” stands out in the story of Deep Space Nine as an intimate character arc and while it has never attained the stature of “The Visitor” (reviewed here!) or “Duet” (reviewed here!), it is still an impressive episode. Like all the best episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it focuses quite tightly on a character dilemma and really explores the character of Nog in a way that is very revealing. The episode is a follow-up to “The Siege Of AR-558” (reviewed here!) and it helps to watch that episode before seeing “It’s Only A Paper Moon.”

When Nog returns to Deep Space Nine with his new robotic leg, he is uncharacteristically distant. While the officers and his friends try to engage him, he professes to be tired and Ezri encourages everyone to give him a little space to recover from his trauma. Nog takes to lying in bed, listening to recordings of Vic Fontaine singing “I’ll Be Seeing You,” as it brought him comfort while he was in the sickbay on AR-558. Jake, however, quickly tires of hearing it and he swipes Nog’s recording.

So, Nog goes to the holosuite to visit Vic Fontaine himself. Enamored with the world of Vic Fontaine, Nog decides that the holosuite is going to be his choice of place to recover. Things go fairly well for Nog there, despite Rom being frustrated by his son’s reclusion. Nog starts helping Vic build a larger casino facility and he becomes entirely invested in the fake world, at the expense of his life outside the holosuite. But when Dax visits Vic on the eve of their groundbreaking, she leaves the hologram with something to consider that will change things for Nog.

“It’s Only A Paper Moon” does a fairly decent job of fleshing out both Nog and Vic Fontaine and the only real problem I have with the episode is how obvious Ezri's attempt to work reverse psychology is. Vic Fontaine has been characterized as a surprisingly perceptive hologram up until this point and when Ezri has to nail home her point, it lacks some of its punch. As it is, it is not a dealbreaker for the episode. In fact, the fact that Vic slips a little bit could easily be viewed as character development and on that front, it works.

Largely, “It’s Only A Paper Moon” focuses on Nog, though and even the potentially melodramatic moments of him and Jake fighting work in the context of the episode. In fact, upon rewatching “It’s Only A Paper Moon,” one of the things that always strikes me is how so very much is forgiven by the epiphanic moment for Nog's character. When Nog finally tells Vic Fontaine how he is feeling, the moment is one of the defining ones for the Nog character, on par with his revelation in "Heart Of Stone" (reviewed here!) about not wanting to end up like his father!

What “It’s Only A Paper Moon” does even better than the prior high water mark for the Nog character is give Aron Eisenberg the space to truly emote. When Nog wrestles with what it means to lose his leg, Aron Eisenberg is granted the great dramatic opportunity to shine and present a more serious side of what has frequently been a comedic or troublingly monolithic character. And when the chance comes, Eisenberg takes it, embracing the opportunity to have Nog express both genuine difficulty with describing his emotions and then later breaking down.

“It’s Only A Paper Moon” is light on special effects, but once again employs James Darren's voice as a sterling example of how great a male vocalist can be. That's a pretty special effect in my book! “It’s Only A Paper Moon” might be the best, low-tech episode of the series and, in true Star Trek: Deep Space Nine tradition, part of the success comes from the fact that the series is prioritizing an underutilized character played by a superior performer who is finally given a real chance to show their worth!

[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!]

9.5/10

For other Star Trek episode, movie and DVD set reviews, be sure to visit my Star Trek Review Index Page!

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

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Odo’s Love For Kira Does Not Go "His Way" When A Hologram Interferes!

The Good: Acting, Moments of humor, Concept of Vic Fontaine
The Bad: Contrived plot to deal with an important character moment.
The Basics: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine deals with Odo’s longstanding love of Major Kira in a strangely banal romantic comedy called “His Way.”


One of the rules about having extensive serialization in shows is that there are only so many dangling threads a series can make without actually paying off the investment in the idea. In other words, as a series goes on, if there is a recurring theme or idea, the show eventually has to deliver on the promise that the idea they teased was not just a random one. When the writers commit to a course of action, like Odo’s love for Kira, made explicit in “Heart Of Stone” (reviewed here!), they have to eventually do something with that. Slowly, they have; Kira learned of Odo’s feelings in “Children Of Time” (reviewed here!) and Odo attempted to move beyond his love for Kira in “A Simple Investigation” (reviewed here!). As Star Trek: Deep Space Nine began to wind down, it was time for the writers to shit or get off the pot with the Odo attraction subplot. “His Way” is the resulting episode.

One has the sense, the more one watches “His Way,” that the writers on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had written themselves into a corner on the subplot and “His Way” attempted to simply get the characters onto the next phase. “His Way” is about ending Odo’s uncomfortable attraction and, sadly for a show that usually involves so little in the way of plot contrivances, the episode does that in a terribly inorganic way. For a change, it is not the character who moves the story or the relationship, it is the plot and an external influence on the character.

Doctor Bashir gets in a new lounge singer program that he is very proud of and he has his friends visit him there. The remarkable aspect of the program is that Vic Fontaine, the entertainer at the club, is a fully sentient hologram. Self-aware and insightful, Vic Fontaine is the reason Julian is dating the current woman he is with. After mulling it over, Odo has Quark let him use the program and Odo is pretty accurately evaluated by Vic, at least as far as his stalled relationship with Kira goes.

Vic Fontaine, then, begins to try to loosen Odo up. Having him appear on stage pretending to play piano, Vic gets Odo to experiment with socializing. When Odo does not take to the holographic women Vic comes up with, the pair attempts a trial date with a holographic Kira. When Odo finds that more ridiculous than helpful, Vic Fontaine lures both Kira and Odo to a date on the holosuite where Odo charms the real Kira until he makes it clear he believes he is interacting with a hologram and the attempt comes crashing down around him.

“His Way” is not, it ought to be noted, bad television. In fact, it is decent television and the climax of the episode is one of the moments that fans waited almost six full years for (whether they knew it or not!). “His Way” is, however, unremarkable Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The show usually has the characters controlling their own fate, making their decisions and then wrestling with the consequences of their actions. In “His Way,” Odo is robbed of the decision to make his own choices.

Odo, as a character, is a fascinating individual. He has a strong sense of order and while he starts the series with a well-articulated disdain for relationships, by the third season, he is emotionally aware enough to know that he has love in him. After that, Odo is plagued by a terrible sense of timing and his solution is simple; he comes to feel safe in a static non-romantic relationship with Kira. So, when he expresses an interest in becoming more romantically available for Kira, this is actual character growth.

Odo’s choice, however, puts him in the hands of a character who is not content for Odo to develop at his own pace. “His Way” is about ripping the bandage off the wound and Vic Fontaine is the empowered hand with the eager fingers to do that. As a result, viewers do not begin a new arc wherein Odo slowly becomes more and more comfortable and works his way toward a relationship. By pushing Odo and Kira into a holographic date so fast, Vic Fontaine creates the circumstances by which the two must deal with Odo’s feelings in a decisive way.

No matter how cathartic the resolution is, the journey is far more average than most fans want to admit. The plot contrivance of Vic Fontaine setting the two up after a disastrous practice date feels like what it is; a pretty standard farce plot, but not something Star Trek: Deep Space Nine does particularly well. While there are some great comedic moments in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the show is a high drama, not a wandering comedy. “His Way,” while it is a nice interlude after the brutal Sisko episode that preceded it, still feels out of place in a very dark season.

Even so, Vic Fontaine is an interesting and likable character. Clearly based upon the popularity of Star Trek: Voyager’s Emergency Medical Hologram, Vic Fontaine is a novelty character as a sentient hologram. Fully realized in both his humanity and self-awareness as a hologram, Vic Fontaine is an excuse for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to present some big band standards and with James Darren playing Fontaine, the music comes out delightfully. James Darren has all the charisma needed to play Vic Fontaine and he leaps into the role in a way that allows him to illustrate that sense of charm exceptionally well. Darren is not just a great male vocalist for the episode, he is a casual, fun guy who is added to the mix of serious, determined character actors with surprising ease.

“His Way” also provides Rene Auberjonois with another chance to illustrate what a versatile actor he is. Odo cannot simply become a romantic lead; that would pretty much gut the well-established character. So, “His Way” gives Auberjonois a chance to do that somewhat incrementally and Auberjonois does remarkably well with loosening Odo up without reinventing the character entirely. “His Way” also has a fun character/actor interaction wherein Auberjonois and Avery Brooks sing to one another as a distracted Odo waits for Sisko. It’s a fun scene and both actors pull it off as if it were perfectly natural for their characters.

In the end, “His Way” is something of a “necessary evil” episode that progresses Odo’s character in a way that seems forced, but essential. It is part of the essential Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, even if it is a somewhat unsatisfying addition to the vital storyline.

[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!]

7/10

For other Star Trek reviews, please 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.
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