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The
producers of Star Trek took a huge risk when in 1993
they decided to set their new Trek series on a Cardassian
space station orbiting Bajor. This time around there would
be no 'going where no one had gone before', no travelling
through space in pursuit of 'strange new worlds.' Now the
aliens would come to them. An ambitious, and somewhat risky
gamble. But, one that paid off...
Season
One of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine starts with arguably
the finest opening of any of the Star Trek series to
date. Emissary begins with a flashback to the huge
space battle between the Federation and the Borg. It is during
this battle that Captain Sisko's wife is killed after his
ship is destroyed by a Borg attack ship - one controlled by
the assimilated Captain Picard. Two years later Sisko meets
Picard again as Chief O'Brien transfers from the Enterprise
to his new position aboard Sisko's space station at the farthest
reaches of the galaxy.
The
on screen relationships of all the principle characters gels
from the start - much better than the beginnings of TNG,
Voyager or Enterprise ever managed to achieve.
There is something believable about Quark and Odo's constant
bickering; about Julian's general dullness and his infatuation
with anything with breasts (do you remember how in your face
that was at the beginning?); O'Brien and Bashir's friendship
that gradually grew; and Quark's desperate attempts to make
easy money. Though over the course of the seven year run all
of these characters changed dramatically.
Chief
O'Brien and his wife were not the only members of Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine who progressed from The Next
Generation. Lwaxana Troi (played by Majel Barret) also
makes the odd guest appearance, as does Picard's nemesis Q.
Memorable
episodes from Season One include Babel, in which O'Brien
suddenly starts to talk gibberish and then everyone else starts
to contract this disease; Q-Less in which Vash and
Q appear; The Nagus which sees Grand Nagus Zek make
his first appearance; The Storyteller - Bashir and
O'Brien depart on an away mission - a not too appealing trip
for O'Brien; and
If Wishes Were Horses which sees the inexplicable appearance
of a number of fictional and historical characters aboard
DS9.
But
by far the most memorable episode is Duet. This is
a Kira episode which sees the Bajoran believing that a dying,
elderly Cardassian was the mass butcher at a Bajoran forced-labour
camp during the Cardassian occupation. This episode is incredibly
moving and is still as strong today as it was when it was
first broadcast. It was this episode that made me appreciate
that this series was committed to focussing on relationships
and solid story telling.
This
season has fewer episodes than usual (20 instead of the usual
26) and so more extras have been slung on the final disc.
The extras are impressive - with much more than was available
with the Next Generation box sets. These include:
Deep
Space Nine: A Bold New Beginning;
Crew Dossier: Kira Nerys; Michael Westmore's Aliens:
Season One; Secrets of Quark's Bar; Alien Artefacts:
Season One; Deep Space Nine Sketchbook; 10 hidden
Easter Eggs of Section 31 Hidden Files; Photo
Gallery and Original Deep Space Nine Preview. Although
sadly a couple of future seasons storylines are given away
in a number of the documentaries.
Now
this is what I call an impressive DVD collection and now that
Paramount has reissued them in slimline packaging at the bargain
price of £34.99 you really have no excuse for not adding
these DVDs to your collection.
Darren
Rea
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