I've done it once before on this blog, but I'll start reviewing a few great episodes of classic TV shows as an example that stuff on the small screen can sometimes rival that on the big screen.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was a bit of a mixed bag in terms of consistency. It had a decent enough premise but most of the early drama was squandered as the struggled to understand and define it's own identity. Only in the second half of it's run, with the establishment of a huge returning ensemble cast, Galaxy changing conflicts (The Maquis Threat, The Dominion War), expanded mythology (wormhole aliens) and a more devil-may-care, balder badass Avery Brooks as promoted Captain Sisko did things get more dramatically satisfying.
Although there's plenty of great hours to choose from, the one DS9 episode that I keep returning to is For The Uniform. So what's so great about it?
1/ Although not part of the epic Dominion War arc that dominated DS9 (in it's later years, it does rely on a great deal of backstory and mythology built up in previous episodes. This wealth of backstory concerning a rebel group The Maquis and the defection of one of the DS9 crew, Security Chief Michael Eddington, does give depth to the plot and characters in the way that the events of The Hobbit might enrich your experience of Lord Of The Rings.
2/ It's a tale of brinkmanship; essentially two guys on opposing sides trying to outwit each other in a game of cat and mouse. When you've got a clash of competing intellect like that, you don't need much action to generate genuine excitement (it's why Wrath Of Khan is still so great).
3/ Again, like Wrath Of Khan, it celebrates the courage and abilities of a crew willing to push their skills to the limit, flying a spaceship into battle that's badly damaged and barely working. It's a World War II two movie about an inferior submarine trying to out-maneuver a superior enemy. The sequence of the crew trying to relaunch a battle damaged USS Defiant embodies the exhilarating and exciting can-do-anything-if-we-put-our-minds-to-it attitude as they quickly and calmly solve problems and avoid disaster.
4/ For The Uniform does a great job of solving The Wrath Of Khan problem of never having the main characters meet by inventing a bridge based hologram to allow Captain Sisko's opponent Michael Eddington to appear on the bridge and have a face to face confrontation. Not only does it up the level of drama, but it reduces the viewscreen FX budget, and allow the space station bound supporting cast to appear in the show too!
5/ As with other examples of Star Trek, the episode allows a classic piece of literature to be interwoven into the narrative, in this case Les Miserables. Using a classic story, DS9 not only highlight it's subtext about repressed victims of society but deepens the characters of Sisko and Eddington by comparing them to the novel's hero Valjean and it's villain Javert.
6/ There's some nice performances in the episode too. I was only familiar with actor Ken Marshall's work as the cocksure hero from Krull, but he gives Eddington many the many layers needed to show a terrorist who's convinced his action are for the good of the meek and oppressed. There's also some very nice character stuff with Terry Farrall's Dax and Avery Brook's Sisko which is the nearest you'll get to the Kirk/Spock/Bones relationship in spin-off Trekdom.
7/ Best of all though is that the episode highlights what DS9 could do that no other Trek show could do; have the Captain be a complete cock. Whether he's full on bluster mode (the punch bag scene shows Brooks at his hamming, bluster best) or whether he's making morally dodgy decisions that will allow him to win this week, it's brilliantly refreshing in any TV series to have a central character be able to occupy a more anti-hero role.
Great stuff, all aided by the fact it's a spaceship set episode with them travelling around blasting the crap out of each other (which is like cat nip to a kitten for me).
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