EPISODES 2-1
# 2. TRIALS AND TRIBBLE-ATIONS
 Deep Space Nine, Season 5 |
| Episode Number 103 |
| - |
| Info and General Credits |
| Directed by Jonathan West |
| Teleplay by Ronald D Moore and Rene Echevarria |
| Written by Steven Ira Behr, Hans Beimler and Robert Hewitt Wolfe |
| Aired 1996 |
| Stardate Unknown |
| Guest Cast |
| Darvin Charlie Brill |
| Dulmer Jack Blessing |
| Lucsly James W Jansen |
| Lt. Watley Dierdre L Imershien |
| Original Star Trek Cast |
| Cap. James T Kirk William Shatner |
| Mr Spock Leonard Nimoy |
| Dr. McCoy DeForest Kelley |
| Montgomery Scott James Doohan |
| Uhura Nichelle Nichols |
| Pavel Chekov Walter Koenig |
| Original Guest Cast |
| Cyrano Jones Stanley Adams |
| Darvin Charlie Brill |
| En. Freeman Paul Baxley |
| Mr Lurry Whit Bissell |
| Korax Michael Pataki |
| Baris William Schallert |
Premise
The DS9 crew (via the
Bajoran Orb of Time), are whisked back to the 23rd century. There they
pursue a Klingon in
Human disguise called Darvin, who's hell-bent on assassinating James T Kirk in revenge for stitching
him up years before. For Darvin there is no better time and place to do this, than
where it all started: Space Station K-7...
Comments
This
episode was a celebratory tribute to the 30th anniversary of Star Trek, and what
a terrific tribute it was. Ever since the early days of TNG fans have longed to
see the original Enterprise, and both crews thrown into the mix together. There
were murmours of that intent with 'Yesterday's Enterprise', but it did not
materialise, then came 'Star Trek: Generations', and that really wasn't what the fans
wanted, but this was the true vision in all it's glory realised for the first
time. It aired alongside Voyager's 'Flashback' to mark the anniversary, and both
were like visiting old friends. With this episode, the plot was basically a contrivance to get them
into that time, and as such isn't particularly relevant, but the way it was done
was clever. And for the second time Trek visited one of its most popular and
enduring lifeforms, the Tribble.
The effects used were ground breaking at that time, using the same software employed on the movie Forrest Gump, which allowed both the original and modern day crews to interact in real time and in the same environment. It was truly wonderful, and the line-up scene where Kirk questions his crew, Bashir and O'Brien amongst them, was stunning, and will stand the test of time no matter what becomes possible via new FX developments. And the scene at the end, when Sisko approaches Kirk and Spock on the bridge to say what an honour it has been to serve still sends shivers down my spine. Even though the original TOS footage for that scene was taken from 'Mirror, Mirror', it is without doubt one of the most memorable moments in the 34 years of Star Trek (up till then).
Trekmania Image Archive:
Soundbites:
| It seems to be forgotten that April and Pike also had extensive commands of the Enterprise...: |
| Dulmer: "Be specific Captain, which Enterprise? There's been five." |
| Lucsly: "Six...." |
| Sisko: "This was the first Enterprise, Constitution Class..." |
| Dulmer: "....His ship..." |
| Lucsly: "James T. Kirk!" |
| Sisko: "The one and only..." |
| Lucsly: "Seventeen separate temporal violations, the biggest file on record." |
| Dulmer: "The man was a menace..." |
| - |
On changing into 23rd century gear: |
| Sisko: "In the old days, Operations Officers wore red, Command Officers wore gold..." |
| Dax: "And women wore less..." |
| Bashir: "I think I'm going to like history...." |
# 1. DARMOK
| The Next Generation, Season 5 |
| Episode Number 102 |
| - |
| Info and General Credits |
| Directed by Winrich Kolbe |
| Written by Joe Menosky |
| Story by Philip Lazebnik and Joe Menosky |
| Aired Sep 1991 |
| Stardate 45047 |
| Guest Cast |
| Cap. Dathon Paul Winfield |
| Tamarian 1st Officer Richard James |
| O'Brien Colm Meaney |
| En. Lefler Ashley Judd |
Premise
In an attempt to achieve the first breakthrough of real, diplomatic contact, the Enterprise meets
a Tamarian Vessel at some preset coordinates. When communication fails, Picard
is unwillingly thrown into a life and death situation by the opposing
Captain.
Comments
This episode for me basically sums up the
very purpose and meaning of Star Trek; what it's about, what it represents, and what is
at its heart, and in this episode it's the very best of emotive, thought
provoking and imaginative storytelling. This is quintessential Trek at its
finest!! - that which embodies the very core essence of what Star Trek is. This
is why it is number one on my list.
The crux of the story basically surrounds the first real contact with a race called the Tamarians, whose method of communication is unorthodox to say the least. In a desperate attempt to forge a meaningful connection to the Federation, the Tamarian Captain Dathon (excellently played by Paul Winfield), arranges for he and his opposing Captain (Picard) to beam down to the planet El-Adrel. The basic purpose of this exercise is to share the dangers of a mortal foe in hope that such a shared experience will bring the two parties together. I doubt anyone reading this has not seen this renowned episode, so I won't go heavily into all the plot detail, but along with smooth dialogue and slick direction, the episode portrays a fascinating new race, and wonderfully imaginative alien language, (created totally by Joe Menosky), it also has outdoor settings, starship battles, thoughtful philosophical commentaries, and an emotional climax. For this to be removed from the top of the chart would require a truly miraculous piece of Trek television indeed (and now it can only be Enterprise that can deliver that!).
Anyone into spotting severe discontinuities, this episode had a real bad post production FX blunder, for the Enterprise phaser fire was seen to emanate from the forward photon torpedo tube, and was of the wrong colour and width (a very pale light orange in a wide beam, as opposed to a saturated dark orange narrow beam -see relevant screencap below).
Trekmania Image Archive:
Soundbites:
| The first meaningful connection is made: |
| Picard: "That's how you communicate isn't it, by citing example, by metaphor!!.... Uzani's army with fists open...." |
| Dathon: "Sukat, his eyes uncovered !!" |
| - |
Parallels between the Gilgamesh and Enkidu epic, and his current situation: |
| Picard: "He who was my companion, through adventure and hardship, is gone forever..." |
| Tamarian Metaphors | ||
| Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra | H'tale, his eyes closed | The beast of Tanagra |
| Ri and Jiri at Lunga | Shinza, at court | Darmok and Jalad on the Ocean |
| Ri of Luwani - Luwani under two moons | Darmok of Konza, Jalad of Kee'tayo | Zenda, his face black, his eyes red |
| Tiri of Umbiya | Kandeer beneath M'motay | Kalimash, at Ba'ha |
| Umbiya at crossroads, at Lunga | Tember, his arms wide | Kerrah, at Bahshee |
| Lunga, her sky grey | Uzani, his army at Lashmeer | Tember, at rest |
| Gedaya beneath Mo'mentar | Uzani, his army with fists open | |
| The river Tamok, in winter | Uzani, his army with fists closed | (Gilgamesh and Enkidu, at Uruk) |
| Shaka, when the walls fell | Sukat, his eyes uncovered ! | (Picard and Dathon, at El-Adrel) |
| Zeena and Anzo, Zeena and B'Kar | G'lash, when it rises | |
|
Miraab, his sails unfurled |
K'yass his children, their faces wet | |
| (Spellings not guaranteed correct ! -Please, if anyone has the script for this episode, or knows where I can download it, I'd be very grateful) |
| TOS Episodes in Top 50 = 4 | Highest Rank: #12 'City on The Edge of Forever |
| TNG Episodes in Top 50 = 25 | Highest Rank: #1 'Darmok' |
| DS9 Episodes in Top 50 = 13 | Highest Rank: #2 'Trials and Tribble-ations' |
| VOY Episodes in Top 50 = 8 | Highest Rank: #18 'Year of Hell' |
The other great episodes that didn't quite make the top 50.... (in no particular order)
| The Original Series | The Next Generation | Deep Space Nine | Voyager |
|
|
'Q Who' |
'Paradise' |
'Eye Of The Needle' |
|
'A Taste Of Armageddon' |
'11001001' |
'Favor The Bold' |
'Blink of An Eye |
|
'All Our Yesterdays' |
'Time Squared' |
'Emissary' |
'Future's End' |
|
'Arena' |
'Family' |
'Prophet Motive' |
'Displaced' |
|
'Space Seed' |
'The Drumhead' |
'The Die Is Cast' |
'Caretaker' |
|
'Requiem for Methuselah' |
'Power Play' |
'For The Uniform' |
'Prototype' |
|
'Tomorrow is Yesterday' |
'Cause And Effect' |
'Children of Time' |
'Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy' |
|
'The Cage' |
'The Next Phase' |
'Civil Defense' |
'Muse' |
|
'The Doomsday Machine' |
'The Offspring' |
'Destiny' |
'Basics' |
|
'The Tholian Web' |
'The Pegasus' |
'Armageddon Game |
'Distant Origin' |
|
'Journey's End' |
'Rules of Engagement' |
'Scorpion' |
|
|
'Peak Performance' |
'Inquisition' |
'Thirty Days' |
|
|
'Clues' |
'To The Death' |
'Counterpoint' |
|
|
'Birthright' |
'Far Beyond The Stars' |
'Inside Man' |
|
|
'Lower Decks' |
'Workforce' |
||
|
'Face
of The Enemy' |
'Repentance' |
||
|
'In The Flesh' |
|||
|
'Non Sequitur' |
|||
|
'Latent Image' |
|||
|
'Endgame' |
|||
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
The Bottom Ten Episodes (or not so good moments in Trek)
Below are links to brief episode listings for each of these series.
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