Star Trek 334: The Search, Part I

334. The Search, Part I

FORMULA: Brothers + Balance of Terror + The Passenger

WHY WE LIKE IT: The Defiant's gonzo phasers.

WHY WE DON'T: Dax's hairstyle (thankfully only for this story).

REVIEW: A new season begins with the threat of the Dominion looming, so another direction for Deep Space 9. The most important new addition is the Defiant, a ship with a familiar name, but an unfamiliar design. A squat warship designed to fight the Borg, it fits nicely with Sisko's time working at Utopia Planitia and by being overpowered and prototypical, it's totally in DS9's "fixer-upper" mold. The cloaking device is interesting, and gives DS9's ship a more covert, submarine like feel that again, is appropriate to the series. I couldn't wait to see it in battle, and once I did, I wasn't disappointed. Those crazy phasers alone are worth the price of admission, and the cramped interiors make for much more dynamic battle, both in space and hand to hand. That open-ended battle with the Jem'Hadar is the high point of the episode.

Another addition is Eddington, the genial security officer forced on Sisko by Starfleet. Odo immediately gets defensive and even overreacts. It's stuff we've seen with George Primmin in Season 1, so the retread feels a lot like a reason for Odo to skip town to meet his people. T'Rul looks like an addition to the cast, but she won't be seen after Part II. I don't find her particularly appealing, so I don't much mind, but it'll be a bit strange that the Romulans let Starfleet use a cloak on good faith. Other changes are cosmetic, like Odo's belt and collar and Dax's hair.

But about that plot... It's really all a set-up, and as soon as Odo starts getting race memory impulses, you have to guess his people will turn out to be the Founders. They'll try to hide it, but not very well, in Part II. We'll pick up this discussion then. The commercial arm of the Dominion, the Karemma, make their appearance, and frequent guest actor John Fleck gives a fun, haughty performance. The Karemma also give Quark a reason to participate in the season opener, though I don't much care for Sisko making him kiss the Nagus' staff. It's a little much. Hopefully Part II can deliver on all these promises.

LESSON: You don't want to be near Odo when he has to go to the bucket.

REWATCHABILITY - Medium-High: The Defiant is HAWT and the action scenes HAWTER, but there is a sense of deja vu about the Odo conflict.