Three years after a devastating battle with The Borg and an assimilated Captain Picard that cost him the life of his wife, troubled Federation commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) reluctantly agrees to oversee a remote space station. It's situated near the planet of Bajor, where the locals are only recently no longer being oppressed by the aggressive Cardassians. Sisko will be busy dealing with the Cardassians, working to understand the very spiritual Bajorans, and probing the mystery of "orbs" in the Bajorans' possession as well as the mystery of a neighboring wormhole.
Brooks is an ideal choice for a Federation officer: dignified, reliable, and possessing an authoritative voice that compels one to listen to him. Here we meet a number of the individuals that will be his companions for his seven-year journey; my favorites already have to be tough-as-nails, shapeshifting security officer Odo (Rene Auberjonois), and the cheerfully sleazy Quark (Armin Shimerman). But these characters are all engaging in their own way, with Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) often taking center stage, as Sisko had requested a Bajoran national to be his First Officer.
The final half hour gets progressively more interesting, with Siskos' encounters with an alien intelligence examining the nature of human existence and the idea of a "linear existence" serving as a counterpoint to the exciting and tense action as the DS9 crew must contend with the Cardassians and are drawn into a potential battle for which it seems they are not really equipped.
Patrick Stewart makes an extremely welcome guest star appearance, while character actor Marc Alaimo does well as Cardassian creep Gul Dukat, one of the best baddies in this entire franchise.
All in all, this pilot TV movie served as a fine starting point for these characters and their adventures to come.
Seven out of 10.
Brooks is an ideal choice for a Federation officer: dignified, reliable, and possessing an authoritative voice that compels one to listen to him. Here we meet a number of the individuals that will be his companions for his seven-year journey; my favorites already have to be tough-as-nails, shapeshifting security officer Odo (Rene Auberjonois), and the cheerfully sleazy Quark (Armin Shimerman). But these characters are all engaging in their own way, with Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) often taking center stage, as Sisko had requested a Bajoran national to be his First Officer.
The final half hour gets progressively more interesting, with Siskos' encounters with an alien intelligence examining the nature of human existence and the idea of a "linear existence" serving as a counterpoint to the exciting and tense action as the DS9 crew must contend with the Cardassians and are drawn into a potential battle for which it seems they are not really equipped.
Patrick Stewart makes an extremely welcome guest star appearance, while character actor Marc Alaimo does well as Cardassian creep Gul Dukat, one of the best baddies in this entire franchise.
All in all, this pilot TV movie served as a fine starting point for these characters and their adventures to come.
Seven out of 10.