For those who are new to my episode reviews, you can find the post where I establish my point criteria here
Overview – Temporal
Investigations arrives on DS9 to interview Captain Sisko on the recent voyage
his crew made back in time to the 23rd century, where they
encountered Captain James T. Kirk and the USS Enterprise on their mission to
K-7. Sisko retells their adventure, how they were returning from Cardassia with
a Bajoran orb and a human who was stranded on Cardassia when the Klingons
invaded. Little does Sisko know that this human is actually a Klingon who was
known as Arne Darvin, who nearly a century ago failed in his undercover mission
to poison a shipment of grain and destabilize the Federation’s presence in this
sector. As Darvin tries to assassinate Kirk, Sisko and his crew must covertly
interact with Kirk’s crew and discreetly thwart Darvin’s schemes.
Score: 10/10 – The year
was 1996. There were two Star Trek series on the air: DS9 and Voyager. Each one
had a special episode linking their series to the Original to celebrate. This was
DS9’s showing, and it is a classic. Using the ideas that was shown in the
Oscar-winning movie “Forrest Gump”, the producers were able to splice the DS9
characters into one of the most beloved episodes in all of Star Trek, “The
Trouble with Tribbles”. It was brilliantly executed and was so much fun to
watch. To see classic scenes with our Sisko and his crew woven in was and still
is a masterpiece of Star Trek. There is so much to comment on here. This was
definitely a labor of love, and you could tell that by the amount of detail
involved in it. From the uniforms to the sets to the props, everything is done
so exceptionally well. I would recommend watching both this episode and “The
Trouble with Tribbles” to gain a further appreciation for the detail. As an
example, pay attention to the waitress in the bar who gets annoyed by everyone
ordering raktajinos. She was played by an unknown actress in the Original
series episode, and they recreated her to perfection in the DS9 version. There are
so many inside jokes as well, especially relating to things that fans had been
debating and commenting on for, well, three decades. I could continue, but I
will save further commentary for the other sections here. Suffice it to say,
this is one of the greatest episodes in Star Trek history.
Relevance – 3 points.
An obvious point for the retelling of the classic original episode. I am also
scoring a point for Sisko mentioning how he wanted to speak to Kirk about fighting
the Gorn. I can also score a point for the Dax-Koloth connection as well, but I
think the third point should go to Worf’s explanation over the difference in
the look of the Klingons. Enterprise had a two part story arc that provided a
proper canon explanation for the difference, but Worf simply said it was a
private matter that was not discussed with outsiders. O’Brien and Bashir asked
if it was due to genetic engineering or a viral mutation, and the episodes in
Enterprise decided to combine both theories into one.
Continuity – 3 points. Considering
the amount of detail that went into this episode, there is no doubt that all
continuity is in tact here. All the characters act the way that they are
expected to. Of particular note, Jadzia’s nostalgia for the 23rd
century is quite appropriate as she lived in that time. Universe continuity is
intact as well here. I quite liked how Worf, as a Klingon, showed utter distaste
for the little furballs. It was a nice touch adding some back story to the fate
of the tribbles, and how the Klingon Empire eradicated them and their homeworld.
Story wise not only is maintained, but the DS9 telling actually fills in a
couple plot questions from the original episode. The best example of this is in
the scene where Kirk opens the storage compartment and is buried in a pile of
tribbles. When I saw that episode as a child, I always wondered why tribbles
would randomly fall out of the bin. It was a delight for me to see Dax and
Sisko tossing the odd tribble out of the compartment and have it be them
pelting Kirk (inadvertently, of course). To whoever came up with that idea, I
salute you.
Character Development – 2 points. Here I
can only give two points. For everyone involved in this, nobody really gets their
character developed much here. I will acknowledge that perhaps Odo gets the
most growth and development to his character as he not only becomes enamoured
with the tribbles, but he takes one back to the present and (accidentally)
repopulates the species. It shows a softer side of the constable (who, if you
recall, is still in solid form, so perhaps the tribbles brought him some
comfort). It is also nice to see that Sisko was able to meet two legendary
captains of past series, so I suspect that this could give him a bit of a rub
as well. Also, we really see Dax get swept up into a nostalgic wave here, which
adds a nice little subtext to her character. Not quite enough to get three full
points, though.
Social Commentary – 2 points. While
there was no real obvious social commentary made with this episode I really think
that this episode was about celebrating the past. Similar to recreating the
Enterprise bridge in “Relics”, I loved how they painstakingly replicated the
sets, props, and costumes here. They gave so many hat tips to the fans. Dax
seems to represent us, the fans, with her excitement about being on the
Enterprise. They have the inside joke about Sisko and O’Brien wearing the wrong
colored uniforms, acknowledging how TNG switched the command and support
divisions colors from the original series. Everything about this episode was
meant to celebrate thirty years of a classic television show, and it works.
Cool Stuff – 3 points. If I
didn’t limit this section to three points this could become the highest ranked
episode among my reviews. Let me pick my Top 3 here. First, and foremost, I
love that they re-cast Charlie Brill to reprise his role as Arne Darvin. It was
fortunate that he was available for it. He became the fourth and final actor to
reprise their Original series character on DS9 (the other three also being
Klingons). Second, to see the DS9 characters so expertly woven into the
original series footage was delightful. I have two favorite moments of this, and
I can’t decide which I like more. The first is when Dax is on the bridge, Kirk
sits on the tribble that is on his seat, and he looks over at Dax, who gives
him an innocent little shrug. The second is when Kirk is interrogating the line
of crewmen who were apprehended brawling in the bar. O’Brien and Bashir are in
the line, and O’Brien is even the one who Kirk asks if he threw the first punch.
Finally, I need to score a point for the two investigators from Temporal Investigations.
Their names, Dulmer and Lucsly, are anagrams of Mulder and Scully, the FBI
agents from the X-Files.
Rank
- Admiral (23
points). Seriously, this is a golden episode. I have yet to meet a
person who did not appreciate the love and care that went into making this
episode. An easy Top 10 of any DS9 list (and a strong contender of any favourite
Trek episodes list), it allows the fans to celebrate the thirty (and now fifty)
years of our beloved franchise with plenty of laughs and fun.
If you would like to read other reviews from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, please click the following link.
If you would like to read an episode review from any of the Trek series, click the following link to get to the series catalog. If the episode you want reviewed has not been done yet, then feel free to request it in the comments and I will see what I can do.
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