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(More customer reviews)While I wouldn't go so far as to call season 4 the best of DS9, it certainly is in the running. With the introduction of Worf into the mix, things suddenly got bumpy as the Klingons were introduced more and more regularly. There's a number of twists and turns regarding Eddington and the regulars that allowed DS9 to surpass NextGen as the best Trek show ever.
In The Way of the Warrior the Federation/Klingon alliance splinters. Hippocratic Oath deals with an unusual casualty of war--the slaves forced to fight it. Bashir tries to cure the Jem'Hadar of their addiction to "the white" against the wishes of fellow prisoner O'Brien. The Visitor is one of the most touching and emotionally powerful episodes written. Michael Taylor's story uses a convention that Kurt Vonnegut did in Slaugterhouse Five; Sisko becomes "unstuck in time". The only constant in is his reappearences is Jake. It's a beautifully realized script with nuanced performances from Tony Todd (who had auditioned for the role of Sisko)and Avery Brooks.
Dukat is further softened up as we discover he has a half Bajoran daughter he intends to rescue in Indescretion. He enlists a reluctant Kira to help. Though Dukat's edgy character is blunted somewhat, it adds further depth to a villan that was characteristic of DS9. The marvelous Marc Alaimo continues to amaze in this well designed episode. He's one of the most underappreciated character actors. In many respects, Indiscretion was clearly inspired by John Ford's classic western The Seachers. Rejoined allows DS9 to dip its toe in the sexuality of Trills. Dax meets a former lover and has a hard time resisting her attraction to this person. Well directed by Avery Brooks, Rejoined does what classic Trek does best--deal with difficult issues and emotions in a 45 minute episode of television. There are a number of other delightful, well written, directed and acted episodes included here.
Little Green Men was a bit too cute for me at first, but I've grown to like it over time. We finally find out the truth about Roswell and it ain't what you expect. Quark makes an early appearence on Earth and the script by Ira Steven Behr and writing partner Robert Hewitt Wolfe delightfully skewers America in 1947. While I'm not a huge fan of the "holosuite" adventures of the crew (their a bit too common and done a bit too often for my taste), Our Man Bashir is still a standout. It's a marvelous confection that tips its hat to Our Man Flint, the Bond films and Matt Helm. Ron Moore's script is on target and we discover that Avery Brooks would make a wonderful Bond villan. Are you listening MGM? Finally, Homefront demonstrates what DS9 and writer Behr & Wolfe always did best--create an atmosphere of paranoia and darkness in Roddenberry's optimistic future world. The shapeshifters are on Earth and they're quite busy undermining security. Or are they? Robert Foxworth (another great character actor)does a terrific turn as an Admiral that will use any excuse to seize power whether or not it really is in the Federation's best interest or not.
I can't comment on the discs because the set hasn't been released yet as of this writing. The DS9 sets have been improving with each set and, while the extras are nice, there's nothing like having the original episodes. My only complaint is that, again, no one was contacted to do any episodic commentary. There's no booklet to give an overview of the series episodes. I personally like the way B5 has included the previews for each episode from the original promos. These allow you to get an idea as to what each episode is about. In the absence of a booklet, these would do quite nicely as well although I doubt that Paramount will change the sets at this late date.
While many B5 fans complain that DS9 ripped off B5 (and I'm a B5 fan), it's not the actual concept of the series that matters. What matters is the quality of the acting, writing and directing of each individual episode and season. DS9, like B5, was an outstanding series even when compared to other mainstream television programs.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Star Trek Deep Space Nine - The Complete Fourth Season (1993)
STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE is set on a space station orbiting the planet Bajor. Commander Benjamin Sisko (Brooks) is in charge of a diverse crew who must fight off rival alien species who want to control DS9 because of its strategic position close to a wormhole that allows speedy travel to the far reaches of space. Season 4 includes the episodes "Broken Link" and "The Visitor," which TV Guide included in its Top 35 Star Trek episodes ever story (Aapril 20-26, 2002)."The Visitor" was listed as the #4 favorite.
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