Starship Down (6 Nov. 1995)

A damaged Defiant must play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with two Jem'hadar ships inside a gas giant.

Director:

Alexander Singer

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry, Rick Berman (creator),

Stars:

Avery Brooks, Rene Auberjonois, Michael Dorn

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Avery Brooks	...	Captain Ben Sisko
Rene Auberjonois	...	Odo
Michael Dorn	...	Lt. Commander Worf
Terry Farrell	...	Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax
Cirroc Lofton	...	Jake Sisko (credit only)
Colm Meaney	...	Chief O'Brien
Armin Shimerman	...	Quark
Alexander Siddig	...	Doctor Bashir
Nana Visitor	...	Major Kira
James Cromwell	...	Hanok
F.J. Rio	...	Muñiz
Jay Baker	...	Stevens
Sara Mornell	...	Carson

Storyline

Captain Sisko is asked to mediate on the Defiant between the Karemma and the Ferengi. Hanok, its representative, finds there's little profit in trading with them. Quark has made up all sort of non-existent fees and Sisko is not amused. Then two Jem'Hadar ships suddenly attack the Karemma ship. It tries to flee into a gas giant planet with dangerously high wind speeds, but the Jem'Hadar still follow. Sisko orders the Defiant to go after them to help the Karemma. With barely no sensors and the phasers inactive, the crew must be creative. The situation brings contemplation. Quark is joined by Hanok in the mess hall. He tries to make things well with the Karemma, Bashir and Dax are trapped and they discuss the crush the doctor had on her. Kira reevaluates her relationship with Sisko as both captain and the Emissary, while Worf learns a few things about command.

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Plot Keywords:

24th century | concussion

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 November 1995 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Quark: [to Hanok] I tried to cheat you, and I lost. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna give up the game.

User Reviews

Action and character development

When the Defiant goes to the gamma Quadrant to attend trade discussions with the Karemma they are discovered by two Jem'Hadar warships and forced to hide in the atmosphere of a gas giant. When they are attacked again the ship takes heavy damage which leaves the bridge out of action, Dr, Bashir and Dax trapped in a turbolift, Worf going to the engineering to control the ship from there and Quark and the Karemma representative trapped in a room with an unexploded torpedo.

While there is plenty of action in this episode it isn't at the expense of character driven scenes; on the bridge Kira must keep the wounded Captain Sisko awake, in engineering Worf learns that to get the best out of the engineering staff he must give them the opportunity to come up with creative solutions to problems rather than just bark orders like he would on the bridge, Quark teaches the Karemman that some times you have to gamble as they try to defuse the bomb and Dr. Bashir reveals one of his fantasies to Jadzia. None of these scenes seemed superfluous each developing the characters featured. The acting is good throughout and the story well written.