The sixth season begins with the Dominion War well established and the station in the hands of the Cardassian/Dominion alliance. The first six episodes deal with Captain Siskos (Avery Brooks) attempts to stave off the progression of Dominion forces into Federation space as well as regain possession of DS9 before the minefield surrounding the mouth of the wormhole can be destroyed. If the Dominion gets the wormhole open and reinforces its position with additional troops and ships from the Gamma Quadrant, its almost a virtual certainty that the Federation will lose the war. This is one reason why I like the latter seasons of DS9 as we bear witness to what a interstellar war would be like in the TREK universe. Whereas weve seen stand-alone episodes (and movies) where Kirk and Picard have saved Earth from other alien threats, the antagonists of DS9 cant be defeated in the space of a two-part episode. This allowed for the writers to really step up to the plate and show us the one-step-forward, two-steps-back momentum of a huge conflict. Thanks to this series, we finally get a true sense of how massive the Federation is without losing perspective on following the character arcs of the shows nine main characters or their importance to the war. Indeed, now that Ive been able to look back on it, the success of DS9s story arc war format may be part of the reason why the current TREK series, ENTERPRISE, is choosing to utilize the year-long Xindi arc on that show. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?
Season six is my favorite of the series and in it the ethics of battle play just as much a role in the episodes storylines as do the action moments. Of the latter theres no shortage of; were witness to numerous space battles including the massive operation to retake the station in "Sacrifice of Angels". The writers of the show could have easily forgotten about the other horror of war, that being the conscious of the survivors who have to live with the knowledge of what they did to win. Yet time and time again in this season we see Sisko, Worf, Kira, Bashir and the others have to examine their moral compass as key turnpoints in the war are reached. In "Inquisition" we learn that the Federation has a covert agency that will do anything to ensure their way of life remains unbroken, up to and including breaking their own laws. Directly following that episode we see Sisko carry the burden of knowledge of how he shaped events to bring the Romulans into the war. "Rocks and Shoals" show us that while they can be different species, the soldiers on the battlefield can share the same code of honor even though their commanders may not. Ive seen critics judge DS9 harshly by following these conventions, saying that the series wasnt true to Roddenberrys ideas of a perfect future for our species. I say that of all the modern TREK series so far, DS9 is more a spiritual brother to the original STAR TREK than any other, NEXT GENERATION included. Remember when Kirk had to make hard decisions between the safety of his ship and the lives of his friends, or when Spock and McCoy argued over a tense situation? Thats here, and its just as much STAR TREK as seeking out strange new worlds.
The writers didnt forget to include humorous moments throughout the season. I think the best Ferengi stories are to be found in this season, from the "Magnificent Ferengi" to "Profit and Lace" to "Who Mourns for Morn?". The wedding of Worf and Jadzia also allowed us to celebrate life in the middle of death while "His Way" gave us the introduction of 60s lounge singer Vic Fontaine. Still, my two favorites shows are "Statistical Probabilities" which further expanded on the great idea of making Doctor Bashir a genetically enhanced human and "Far Beyond the Stars", a look at racism and how it even made its impact on something as progressive as the science fiction writing community of the 50s.
By now the fans who have been picking up these disc sets know what to expect from the bonus features. The sixth season set follows the established path of earlier DS9 sets by including two crew dossiers (for Bashir and Quark, both about fifteen minutes each) and new featurettes about the making of "Far Beyond the Stars" and the Worf/Jadzia wedding. Its probably because Im such a fan of this epoch of the show and what was being accomplished with its storytelling that I cant help but want more of this material. Id love to have even just one commentary track for an episode on this set, especially for something like "Far Beyond the Stars". How great would it have been to listen to what the writing staff thought of this episode, or for them to expand on what they wanted to achieve with the war story arc for this season, or how the departure of Terry Farrell changed their plans for the set-up for next season. The set is a fine piece of TREK entertainment to own but I cant help but hope for a deluxe DS9 DVD set one day with commentary tracks, additional cast interviews, promo spots and other goodies.
Again the packaging for the box set is nicely done, and video/audio presentation is good without any major issues spotted. A photo gallery and a sketchbook featurette showing John Eaves starship and gadget designs, round out the features. No deleted scenes or bloopers are included again, all the more reason for a deluxe collectors set to be made one day.
If there was just one reason to get the sixth season of DEEP SPACE NINE, its for the shows storytelling. Creatively the series was firing all on cylinders and everything was coming together to produce some of the best episodes of the franchises 30+ year history. If DS9 was before your time or you overlooked it because it wasnt Kirk or Picard, you owe it to yourself to take another look at this underrated series.
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