“Starship Down” is an action-driven episode that manages to find enough time for character moments to make it both entertaining and worthwhile. The key to the episode is the rich history of Deep Space Nine to develop its characters — to make the history of characters a central premise to each subsequent story. As a result, despite the relative mindlessness of the action, the character moments, minor though they are to the episode itself, become valuable events in the history of the series.

In a sense, this is DS9′s version of TNG’s “Disaster.” But it’s more than just a disaster-movie-in-space. The key to the episode is to how the events mold and shape character interrelationships. There is Dax and Bashir; Sisko and Kira; Worf and O’Brien; and Quark and Gamma Quadrant alien.

In fact, the meeting with the Gamma Quadrant aliens, called the Karemma, are meeting with Sisko and the Defiant over a trade dispute — in defiance of the Dominion. Events turn dire when two Jem’Hadar warships arrive to attack the Karemma ship, sending everyone, including the Defiant into the upper layers of a gas giant planet. The effect is to co-opt a bit of the technical elements of the Mutara Nebula from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. But once the Defiant takes enough damage, the crew becomes embroiled in a fight for survival that also allows for character development and evolution.

Bashir rescues Dax and the two become trapped in a turbolift with limited oxygen and rapidly dropping temperatures. The end result is to reinforce their mutual friendship, while exposing Bashir’s rather obvious — and awkward — advances when the two first met one another. Quark and Hanok engage in a debate about free trade and the lure of gambling (including when it comes to business). Eventually they are forced to work together to disarm a Jem’Hadar warhead that breeched the hull without exploding. Kira must finally confront a concussion-weakened Sisko as her Emissary. And Worf must learn the nuances of command.

Each element provides for measures of both entertainment and enjoyable character moments. The Worf story is, perhaps, the most plausible. Kira and Sisko is the most emotional and — Kira’s desperate plea to Sisko-as-Emissary is especially moving. Quark and Hanok provides the lightest entertainment. While Bashir and Dax is enjoyable — though also a victim of slightly contrived melodrama.

But these moments are what make the episode just a bit more than a classic. For sure, the battle scenes between the Defiant and the Jem’Hadar are plenty fun, featuring solid choreography and visual effects. And if there is a fault to the episode, it’s in the increased emphasis on action over the character moments. Still, the action works very well. And the character moments make the story meaningful.

“Starship Down” is both entertaining and meaningful. And while there are a few contrived and melodramatic moments, the episode experiences far more success than failure. The end result is a classic installment that is as much about character as it is about action.

Filed under: Deep Space Nine