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Star Trek Deep Space Nine - The Complete...
Episodes
Disc One: “The Search, Part I”,
“The Search, Part II”, “The House Of Quark”, “Equilibrium”
Episodes
Disc Two: “Second Skin”, “The
Abandoned”, “Civil Defense”, “Meridian”
Episodes
Disc Three: “Defiant”,
“Fascination”, “Past Tense, Part I”, “Past Tense, Part II”
Episodes
Disc Four: “Life Support”, “Heart
Of Stone”, “Destiny”, “Prophet Motive”
Episodes
Disc Five: “Visionary”, “Distant
Voices”, “Through The Looking Glass”, “Improbable Cause”
Episodes Disc Six: “The Die Is Cast”, “Explorers”, “Family Business”, “Shakaar”
Episodes Disc Seven: “Facels”, “The Adversary”
Stars: Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Siddig El Fadil, Terry Farrell, Cirroc Lofton, Colm Meaney, Armin Shimerman, and Nana Visitor
Guest Stars: Marc Alaimo, Wallace Shawn, Aron Eisenberg, Max Grodenchik, Penny Johnson, Salome Jens, Mary Kay Adams, Lawrence Pressman, Robert O’Reilly, Philip Anglim, Andrew Robinson, Felicia Bell, Paul Dooley, Andrea Martin, Jeffrey Combs, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Dick Miller, and Louise Fletcher
Writers:
Ira Steven Behr, Jeri Taylor, Rene Echevarria, Ronald D. Moore, Gordon Dawson,
Evan Carlos Somers, Hilary Bader, Christian Ford, Roger Soffer, Thomas Maio,
Steve Warnek, James Crocker, Robert Lederman, David R. Long, Joe Menosky, John
Shirley, Ethan H. Calk, David S. Cohen, Martin A. Winer, Philip LaZebnik, Robert
Hewitt Wolfe, Mark Gehred-O’Connell, and Tom Benko
Directors: Jonathan Frakes, Jonathan West, Rene Auberjonois, Reza Badyl, Winrich Kolbe, Corey Allen, Les Landau, Cliff Bole, David Livingston, Kim Friedman, Alexander Singer, and Avery Brooks
Based On “Star Trek” Created By Gene Roddennberry
Feature Length: 19 hours and 41 minutes
Extras:
“The Birth Of The Dominion And
Beyond”, “Michael Westmore’s Aliens – Season 3”, “Time Travel Files
– Past Tense”, “Crew Dossier: Odo”, “Sailing Through The Stars”,
“Section 31 Files”
Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Subtitles: English Captions and Closed Captions
Packaging: Digipack Book Style Gatefold Within A Slipcase
Chapter Stops: 8 Per Episode
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year of Television Broadcast: 1994-1995/DVD Release: 2003
Home Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: Not Applicable
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
The
third season of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” was when the series began to
form an identity of it’s own through the combination of serialized episodes
and the beginnings of the entire “Dominion” story arc, which would
eventually take “Deep Space Nine” to where no other “Star Trek” series
had gone before, to war. Over the course of season three, viewers can begin to
see the show takes shape not only through storylines, but characters until by
season four, “Deep Space Nine” pretty much hits it’s stride and resembles
the show as most fans remember it. However here you can see Avery Brooks’
character of Commander Sisko begin to grow the mustache and beard though he
doesn’t sport the whole shaven head look until season four and the makeup on
Odo (Rene Auberjonois) becomes more finalized and smoother in appearance in
Season Three too. The starship Defiant makes it’s first appearance in
the season opener “The Search, Part I,” which kicks off beginnings of how
the viewers and the races from the Alpha Quadrant from the point of view
primarily, but not exclusively of The United Federation Of Planets, see the true
nature of and threat presented by the Dominion.
We
come to learn that the Dominion is a forced alliance of systems in the Gamma
Quadrant controlled by Changelings, which are the shape-shifting race Odo is a
part of. In fact we come to learn that the Dominion was aware of the existence
of the Federation long before first contact occurs in this two-part episode, but
while the Federation tends to be a more democratic organization, the Dominion
and it’s changeling “Founders” run their part of the galaxy from an
authoritarian standpoint with their middlemen “The Vorta” performing as
liaisons between the various planetary systems and the "Jem ‘Hadar"
functioning as their enforcers. Both races are genetically engineered by the
Founders with the Jem ‘Hadar kept under control through an addiction to an
isogenic enzyme known as “Ketracel-White.” The Founders had not counted on
contact with races from the Alpha Quadrant to occur naturally for another two
hundred years so when it is readily apparent that diplomacy will not bring an
understanding between the galactic superpowers, the Dominion begin to spread
descent among the races of the Alpha Quadrant prompting devastating losses for
the Cardassians and the Romulans who attempt a miscalculated first strike on the
Founder’s home world. The season
concludes with the ominous message delivered by Odo from the lips of a
decomposing Changeling, “You’re too late. We are everywhere.”
In
between the Dominion story arc episodes we get plenty of character driven
episodes regarding the Ferengi, the Trill, and the Cardassians. A few “Next
Generation” characters pop up in front of the camera to include Robert
O’Reilly as the Klingon High Council Leader “Gowron,” Jonathan Frakes as
the cloned “Lieutenant Thomas Riker,” and Majel Barrett Roddenberry as
“Lwaxana Troi” while behind the camera Jonathan Frakes, Avery Brooks, and
Rene Auberjonois directed eight of the 26 episodes that make up the third season
collectively. During the first half of season three of “Star Trek: Deep Space
Nine” there was no other Trek series airing in first run episodes on
television though by the second half of season three, the first season of
“Star Trek: Voyager” would launch UPN and “Star Trek: Generations” would
have already made it’s theatrical debut. So for those keeping track of events
in the “Star Trek” universe during the third season of “Star Trek: Deep
Space Nine,” they should understand that while the episodes unfold at a
certain point “Generations” and the first season of “Voyager” are
occurring relatively simultaneously.
As
with the previous seasons of “Deep Space Nine,” this third season set has
been digitally remastered with a great looking picture quality presented in
their original (1.33:1) broadcast aspect ratio with a full new English Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack as well as an English Dolby Surround Soundtrack
and English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired encoded onto
each of the seven discs. The menus are the same as on previous sets save for the
Defiant traveling through the wormhole to Deep Space Nine instead of a
runabout. The inside flap of the packaging contains front and three quarter
views of the Defiant and a scale size comparison in relation to the
Galaxy Class Starship Enterprise-D and the Deep Space Nine space station.
The
extra features are all found on disc seven and include “The Birth Of The
Dominion And Beyond” (11:20), which focuses on the creation of a worthy
adversary to carry the series over the next four seasons that followed and how
the series became increasingly more like an extended space opera where the
writers and producers would try to create an audience expectation of one thing
and then surprise them with another. “Michael Westmore’s Aliens” (12:44)
covers the makeup used on creating a Cardassian cover for Nana Visitor, aging
Siddig El Fadil with makeup for another episode, the evolution of the Ferengi
makeup as well as Odo’s more streamlined appearance. The “Time Travel
Files” (7:01) covers the two-part episode “Past Tense,” which in my
opinion is one of the best of the season three episodes and is still
frighteningly timely today. In addition to the memorable dialogue I quoted from
the third season finale “The Adversary,” the dialogue exchange where Dr.
Bashir asks Commander Sisko “How could they let things get so bad?” and
Sisko replies hauntingly “That’s a good question. I wish I had an answer”
is quite sobering.
There
is a profile on Actor Rene Auberjonois candidly discussing his character in the
“Crew Dossier: Odo” (11:46) featurette as well as the recognition the series
got for the episode “Explorers” in the featurette “Sailing Through The
Stars” (5:42). There are also 7 hidden “Section 31 Files” that are easy to
find that give additional information on the episodes “Second Skin” (2:17),
the casting and philosophy behind “Second Skin” (3:00) where writer Robert
Hewitt Wolfe states “Eventually what you pretend to be is who you are.” Kurt
Vonnegut made the same observation, but in a far darker manner in his book
“Mother Night.”
The
Section 31 Files focus on additional aspects to be found in the episodes
“Family Business” (2:40), “Past Tense, Part II” (2:40), “The Die Is
Cast” (2:15), and a look at the special effects for “The Search, Part I”
(1:46), and “Visionary” (1:49). The series gets better from here on with the introduction of
“Worf” (Michael Dorn) from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” joining the
cast beginning with season four.
“Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine” beams down to retailers on and offline on Tuesday, June
3, 2003, from Paramount Home Entertainment and is a must for any Trek fan and
sci-fi collector alike.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Box Set Now By Clicking On The Text Link
Below!
Star Trek Deep Space Nine - The Complete...