The movie
With a solid foundation of
three successful seasons, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Season 4 moves
forward steadily rather than taking a dramatic leap as it did from Seasons 1 and 2 to Season 3, giving us
26 episodes of highly entertaining and well-crafted science fiction. The
writers seem to have appreciated the dramatic depth and potential for good
stories in the direction that DS9 has gone in, as well as the merits of
having the various episodes in a season more interconnected. In addition to
continuing to push forward in the main story arcs, more and more we're seeing a
greater willingness in the stories to draw on material introduced in earlier
seasons, such as the family life of Quark, Rom, and Nog, the relationship
between Sisko and Cassidy Yates, or Worf's ambiguous position between the
Federation and the Klingon Empire. The result is that the individual episodes
fit more into a coherent and evolving whole: while a few of Season 4's episodes
could be transplanted into earlier seasons, most are clearly built into the
context of Season 4 as a whole. And that's the way it should be.
The season starts off with a
bang, with "The Way of the Warrior" introducing both Lt. Commander
Worf (Michael Dorn) as a member of the cast, and drawing in the Klingon Empire
as a new and threatening element in the ongoing story arcs dealing with the
Dominion and the Cardassians. This is sure to pique just about any viewer's
interest: Star Trek's oldest and most well-developed alien race, the
Klingons are always sure to provide a hefty dose of action, intrigue, and
conflict. After this double-length episode starts the ball rolling, for quite a
while the subsequent episodes don't directly address the main story arcs.
However, these seemingly independent episodes have more of a role in the
overall story than first meets the eye: in each of them, some new element is
added to the back story, whether it's added depth to the Cardassian political
and social situation (in "Indiscretion"), an indication of trouble
brewing within the Klingon Empire (in "The Sword of Kahless"), or new
developments regarding the Dominion (in "Hippocratic Oath").
In addition to contributing to
the overall story in some degree, the stand-alone episodes are consistently
entertaining; it looks like the writers were relaxing and having some fun with
the Star Trek universe by bringing out DS9's versions of
time-honored Star Trek tropes. In "Little Green Men," for
instance, we get one of Star Trek's perennial favorites, a time-travel
episode, but with added twist that the protagonists are the ever-entertaining
Ferengi, Quark, Rom, and Nog. Similarly, "Our Man Bashir" is a bit of
a homage to the Holodeck episodes of Next Generation. "Starship
Down" is very clearly DS9's "submarine episode," and
though it's not as successful as it might have been, it's still fun. "Hard
Time" shines as one of the most memorable stand-alone episodes of the
season, with Chief O'Brien put on center stage once again; like the intriguing
"The Visitor," it plays on a theme that was put to good use in Next
Generation, but it would be spoiling things if I told you exactly what
theme that was.
Toward the middle of the
season, we start seeing more episodes that directly advance the most exciting
parts of the overall story arc. The paired episodes "Home Front" and
"Paradise Lost" face up to the threat of the Dominion's Changeling
leaders, "To the Death" brings the Jem'Hadar to the forefront as
threats once again, and the season finale, "Broken Link," also
focuses on Odo and his Changeling origins. Bajor, which had been the center of
attention in Seasons 1 and 2, is no longer in the spotlight, but it's not
forgotten, as we see in "Crossfire" and "Accession," both
of which deal with the political situation on Bajor.
Most of the cast members have
at least one episode focusing on them. Jadzia Dax, who has seemed a likeable
but sometimes rather bland character through the first three seasons, seems to
be taking on a bit more spark in this season, especially in the Klingon-related
episodes like "The Sword of Kahless." As noted earlier, Chief O'Brien
gets a great episode to himself in "Hard Time"; late in the season in
"Body Parts" we also see some drama with his home life. Worf has a
key role in "Way of the Warrior," of course, and also is put on
center stage in "The Sons of Mogh" and "Rules of
Engagement," while Quark continues to stand out whether he's the focus of
the episode (as in "Body Parts") or a supporting player.
The DVD
DS9: Season 4 appears in
the same stylish packaging as the earlier seasons. The seven DVDs are packaged
in a "book" with one hard plastic page for each disc. The cover and
spine of the "book" are a tough, flexible plastic that will stand up
very well to wear and tear. The whole thing fits into a durable, thin plastic
slipcase. It's a very compact set, with seven DVDs taking up barely more than a
double-wide keepcase.
Video
Paramount has certainly been
consistent in its outstanding handling of the Star Trek shows, both Next
Generation and now Deep Space Nine, as the DVD release of Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine – Season 4 continues to impress in the video
category. The episodes, which are presented in their original television aspect
ratio of 1.33:1, look superb. Colors are rich and vibrant, and blacks are
nicely dark and deep; skin tones are natural; detail is excellent; CGI shots
are sharp and clean; and the print is in impeccable condition. The only faults
in the transfer are very minor ones: in the darkest scenes, a small hint of
noise does appear, and the contrast is a bit too heavy, with dark areas a bit
too black. This is a very minor detail, however, in an outstanding transfer.
Audio
A remastered Dolby 5.1
soundtrack is provided, along with the original Dolby 2.0. Sound quality is
excellent; while the surround isn't very aggressive, the overall sound is
clear, crisp, and appealing. Dialogue is always entirely clear and
understandable, and it's well balanced with the musical score and the special
effects. All in all, DS9 continues to sound great.
Extras
Season 4 does offer some
interesting special features, but the menu design of the special features menu
is still user-unfriendly (as it shows only the title of the currently selected
feature, not the others), and Paramount is still missing the boat in presenting
a substantial chunk of the bonus material as "hidden files" that are
not labeled, and must be hunted for using the arrow keys on the remote.
The visible special features
include four decently substantial featurettes. "Charting New
Territory" is an 18-minute piece that looks at the new ground broken in
Season 4's storylines and characters; "Crew Dossier: Worf" is a
14-minute piece focusing on DS9's newest cast member, with interviews
from Michael Dorn; "Michael Westmore's Aliens" takes an 11-minute
look at the makeup effects required for Season 4; and "DS9
Sketchbook" is a 10-minute piece that discusses the illustration work done
for the show.
Miscellaneous special features
also include a photo gallery and a preview trailer for Indiana Jones.
There are ten "hidden
files" all told, each one accessed by clicking on a highlighted part of
the station. Since they're a nuisance to find, and have no labels to identify
them when you select them, these are a hit-or-miss feature with minimal
rewatchability. (It was annoying enough to hunt for them once.) That's a shame,
since the material tucked away here is reasonably interesting: nine out of the
ten files take a look at the making of specific episodes, and one deals with
the visual effects of the show. There's about 35 minutes of material spread
over the ten files, if you have enough patience to find it. I'd have given the
special features a higher rating if this material had been presented normally,
but given the fact that the menu design actually acts as a deterrent to
watching all features, only two stars are merited.
Final thoughts
All told, Season 4 of Deep
Space Nine is another solid set of highly entertaining episodes that fans
of the series will certainly not want to miss. With the entrance of Worf as a
member of the main cast, we also get the appearance of an increasingly aggressive
and unpredictable Klingon Empire as a major player, along with the continuing
threat of the Dominion. The Federation isn't such a safe place to live any
more... which makes for great fun for viewers. With the episodes looking and
sounding as fantastic as ever, Deep Space Nine – Season 4 is highly
recommended.
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