what you leave behind

Deep Space Nine.

Four months have gone by, and I've completed yet another series of Star Trek in that time - Deep Space Nine. And what a magnificent series it is. The Next Generation remains a firm favourite of mine, and the Original Series will always be the fine vintage that it is, but the craft at work in DS9 surely affords it the distinction of being the series that is best-made.

In many respects, the writing is what makes the series, and it is as imaginative as it is bold. There are, of course, the usual Trek tropes and technobabble, but these crutches are wielded with enough grace as to render them unnoticeable. I can't say that the characters were more loveable, but they all harboured a depth which no other Trek character before, save for Picard, had come with. Character interaction and development was always dynamic and fulfilling.


Dominion and Cardassian ships make their last stand at Cardassia Prime.

In context of the franchise, the writing was groundbreaking. As opposed to having the series based on a starship, the story arc progresses aboard a starbase orbiting the planet of Bajor, Deep Space Nine. And for the first (and only) time ever in the franchise's continuity, a full-scale war develops through the series, defined by pitched battles between whole fleets of ships, and not by border skirmishes and insidious brinkmanship.

The dark tone of the series was also unprecedented. Important characters were picked off like flies. A joyful ending is never guaranteed, and plots were sometimes left unresolved, leaving one to speculate as to their dénouement. The series also delved more deeply into topics that were merely touched on by previous ones, such as religion and the nature of faith, or the vagaries of morality in war and occupation. These were examined, for instance, through whole story arcs, written around the religious Bajorans, their occupation by the brutal Cardassians, and the Bajoran resistance to the occupation.


the flame is passed on.

Acting was strong all around. Special mention goes to Nana Visitor as 'Major Kira', the charming Alexander Siddig as doctor 'Julian Bashir', Andrew Robinson as the psychotic 'Garak', Armin Shimmerman as 'Quark', and the magnificent Jeffrey Combs as 'Weyoun' and 'Brunt'.

A note on Captain Sisko. Well, I like him. But not as much as Picard or Kirk. Picard was a paragon of humanity, an exemplar of human intellect and morality; Kirk, on the other hand, was dashing, impulsive and bold, cutting an intrepid figure that fit the tone of exploration. While Sisko is neither as compelling as Picard or as charming as Kirk, he finds a compromise that works, and is as steadfast and loyal a Trek captain as any.

I doubt I'll have as much fun watching Voyager or completing the Original Series. DS9 hit the ground running, and won a hard race uphill. I'll miss it.

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collapsing Bajoran wormhole.


[fin]