DVD REVIEW

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Complete Fifth Season  (1996-97)

Starring: Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Michael Dorn, Terry Farrell, Cirroc Lofton, Colm Meaney, Armin Shimerman, Alexander Siddig, Nana Visitor

Rating: NR

Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment

Release Date: October 7, 2003
Review posted: October 8, 2003

Spoilers: Minor

Reviewed by Dennis Landmann

Orbiting the liberated planet of Bajor, a Federation space station (Deep Space Nine) and its crew guards the opening of a stable wormhole to the far side of the Galaxy. Season 5 continues the Dominion threat and adds another spin to the Federation's troubles.

The crew of DS9 has been through a hell of a lot of danger and trouble during the past four years, but nothing can prepare them for what will happen next. With that said, Season Five opens with Apocalypse Rising, using last season's cliffhanger finale as a starting point. As you may or may not know, Odo suspects acting head of the Klingon Empire Gowron to be a changeling impersonator. The Federation selects Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) to infiltrate the Klingon Empire and expose Gowron. That is certainly much easier said than done.

However, with the help of Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig), who transforms Sisko, Odo (Rene Auberjonois), and Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) into Klingons (complete with long filthy hair and a ridged forehead), the mission becomes a little easier. Also helping them is Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) who arrives with his renegade Klingon bird-of-prey to get them inside the Klingon Empire. And last but not least is Worf (Michael Dorn) who tries his best to teach Sisko, Odo, and O'Brien to act like Klingon warriors. Apocalypse Rising is a pretty good season opener and the twist at the end sets up some good old mystery stuff yet to come.

Next up is The Ship, an exciting episode where Sisko and crew discover a highly technologically advanced Jem'Hadar ship that has crashed on a planet. It's not long before a Vorta woman (Kilana) and Jem'Hadar soldiers arrive to take back what is theirs, but Sisko and crew get to safety by barricading themselves inside the ship. The episode turns into a cool stand-off from that point on. Then, Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) and Dr. Bashir face a lot of danger in ...Nor the Battle to the Strong as they answer an emergency distress call from a planet under Klingon attack. In the next episode, The Assignment, a mysterious force takes over Keiko (Rosalind Chao) and instructs O'Brien to make modifications to the station's controls. This is yet another great O'Brien episode, much like last season's Hard Time.

Following it is the season's most fun episode, Trials and Tribble-ations. The Defiant is mysteriously transported back into time when James T. Kirk was captain of the Enterprise and the cute little buggers known as tribbles inhabited the ship. Sisko and crew must dress up in style, board the Enterprise, avoid contact, and stop a lone assassin from killing Kirk with a bomb hidden inside a tribble. This episode applies the technology from Forrest Gump to integrate some of the DS9 crew into scenes with Kirk and Spock from the original Star Trek episode The Trouble with Tribbles, and the outcome is terrific. Sisko does the unthinkable when he briefly interacts with Kirk on the Enterprise bridge, but it was all worth it.

Disc 3 starts off with The Ascent where Odo and Quark (Armin Shimerman) spend some quality time getting lost on a cold planet, as well as trying to survive each other and the planet's harsh conditions. Next is Rapture, an intense episode with Sisko exhibiting powerful visions as the Emissary. Despite her pregnancy, Kira goes on a dangerous mission to track down a killer in The Darkness and the Light. In The Begotten Odo acquires a baby liquid changeling from Quark and begins to take care of it, slowly teaching it how to develop its shape-shifting abilities. Some great conflict arises when Dr. Mora arrives to check in on Odo's progress, and an extraordinary event happens to Odo when the baby changeling dies. Kira also gives birth to a baby boy, making the O'Brien family happy as ever.

Moving on, disc 4 contains four really good episodes (4 episodes in a row is an excellent occasion for this show). First up is the intense For the Uniform where Sisko pursues fugitive/Maquis sympathizer ex-Commander Michael Eddington (Kenneth Marshall) and goes to great lengths to try and apprehend him. A great 2-story episode arc occurs in In Purgatory's Shadow and By Inferno's Light. Worf and Garak (Andrew J. Robinson) enter the wormhole in a runabout and on the other side they encounter a large Jem'Hadar fleet heading for the Alpha quadrant. Before they're taken prisoners in a Jem'Hadar prison they send a distress signal back to DS9, "Jem'Hadar build-up imminent--." The big development of the season, however, comes with the surprise announcement by Gul Dukat that Cardassia has joined forces with the Dominion. With an attack imminent, Chancellor Gowron and Klingon ships come to defend the station. The development at the Jem'Hadar prison is also exciting to watch. Next is Doctor Bashir, I Presume? where we find out about Julian's secret background, though I won't reveal it here.

Odo receives a really nice episode in A Simple Investigation where he helps a woman and becomes romantically involved. It's definitely among one of the better "stand alone" episodes of the season. Of course, Quark is the subject of Business as Usual, though the episode also makes an effort to comment on illegal weapons trade and (Quark's) morality. Armin Shimerman is great as Quark in this one. Ties of Blood and Water is a slow episode concerning Kira and her "relative" from Cardassia who decides to spill the beans on Cardassia's secrets before a terminal disease kills him. Gul Dukat, of course, insists that he be returned to Cardassia, but Sisko doesn't give in to that demand. And Ferengi Love Songs is a so-so episode with Quark visiting his mother.

In Soldiers of the Empire, which is also only so-so, Dax (Terry Farrell) and Worf join Klingon General Martok (John Hertzler) on a mission in a bird-of-prey. A big character development is the intimate relationship between Dax and Worf, which is explored throughout the second half of the season. Following it is Children of Time, a pretty damn good episode. Dax maneuvers the Defiant to explore a planet, but a strange circumstance transports the Defiant into a paradox universe of some sort. Upon landing on the planet they find out the inhabitants are all descendants of the Defiant crew from 200 years ago. I won't say anything else to spoil the plot, but this episode is among the very best of "stand alone" episodes of the season. In Blaze of Glory Sisko must enlist the help of Michael Eddington to track down rogue Maquis missiles headed for Cardassia, an event that could start a war. There are several great moments in this episode, such as when Sisko orders a raktajino in the middle of a dangerous situation. Also making an appearance is former cadet Nog (Aron Eisenberg) who is now a Lieutenant on the station. Next is Empok Nor, an exciting episode that takes O'Brien, Garak, and a few engineers to an abandoned Cardassian station to retrieve valuable cargo. When a synthesized drug takes over Garak, there's no telling where he will stop. In short, a pretty good/fun episode.

The final two episodes of the season appear on Disc 7. In the Cards is about Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) and Nog doing their best to lighten up Benjamin Sisko's mood by bidding on a vintage baseball card during one of Quark's auctions. When they lose to another bidder they pursue an alternate option, trading with the winner. Meanwhile, there is increasing tension and danger felt by the main crew of DS9 as a war with the Cardassians/Dominion appears to be forthcoming. And indeed a war begins in the season finale. Call to Arms is the best cliffhanger ending of any of the previous four seasons, because this time the stakes involve not only personnel and the people of DS9, but the station directly. In response to increasing Dominion military build-up in Cardassian space, Sisko and his crew come up with a plan to cripple any future Dominion ships from entering the Alpha Quadrant. An elaborate task begins to plant the entrance of the wormhole with as many cloaked mines as possible before time runs out. Gul Dukat and Dominion Vorta Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs) respond to this action by going into attack mode, which prompts the immediate evacuation of all people on DS9. The last ten minutes of Call to Arms are especially great. That last shot of the Defiant joining the Federation fleet is exciting as hell.

So, yeah, I certainly can't wait to find out what will happen next! And now is also a good time to say Season Five is the best yet. I didn't mention every episode in the many paragraphs above, which is why I'll say it here: Things Past explores Odo's past as Chief of Security while DS9 was under Cardassian control. The two remaining episodes, which appear early in the season, are Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places and Let He Who Is Without Sin..., though I don't remember a whole lot about them. Additional developments of the season is Rom's marriage to Leeta (Chase Masterson), the beautiful dabo girl at Quark's, and Bajor signing a last minute "non-aggression" pact with the Dominion. I'm sure that angle will be explored further in Season Six.

I'm not sure what else there is to say about Season Five, because I think by now you can sense my reaction towards it. For the sake of a conclusion, let me say this season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is exciting, innovative, and simply kick-ass.

>>Continued on Page 2 (Video, Audio, Extras, Overall).

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