Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season 6 (1997–98)

Star Trek: DS9: Season 6 (1997–98)

26 episodes, approx 44 minutes each.

Note: I do my best to avoid spoilers in my posts, but the following text will refer to events that happened in Season 5, so if you're as sensitive to spoilers as I am and haven’t watched all of Season 5 it would be advisable to not read beyond this sentence.

Anyone still reading will maybe know that the long-building Dominion War is finally underway and that the entry-point into the Alpha quadrant is guarded by Starfleet and its allies. But not everyone in the Alpha quadrant sees the aggressors as a threat; some see the invasion as an opportunity to (re)gain power, forcing Sisko and his team to fight a war on two sides. That situation is the basis of Season 6.

Furthermore, even though they're Federation allies, some races are enjoying the war (the Klingons, naturally) and are happy to see it take shape. But their presence on DS9 causes problems of its own.

I mentioned previously, when describing Season 1 (1993), how shades of gray on DS9 aren't limited to just station decor. In this season motivations of both the 'heroes' and 'villains' are similarly often situated somewhere between black and white. Such ambiguity is a useful tool in a writer's arsenal when used correctly. Unfortunately, there's often a lack of subtlety with regards its application and a number of important themes are too often handled clumsily.

Action/events are split between life on the station for some of the senior staff and life on the front line for the remainder of them. In both cases the threat of the Founders is a concern, but it rarely feels like a full scale war is happening. With space being so big (must resist a Douglas Adams quote) it would be wrong to expect a constant struggle with no downtime, but I feel that a little more ever-present tension could've helped the non-war episodes of the season play to their individual strengths while also being perceived as entirely relevant parts of the whole.

On the plus side, more Dominion activity means more Weyoun, which means more of Jeffrey Combs, a great character actor. His work with Dir. Stuart Gordon is B-Movie gold, but for me his role as the sycophantic but dangerous Vorta is just as memorable (he plays Brunt, too).

Overall, Season 6 isn't DS9 at its best, but there are enough dramatic moments, weighty details and expectation reversals to please fans who've been with the show from the beginning.

Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs), a Vorta clone in service to the Founders, served as a prominent Dominion representative in the Alpha quadrant during the Dominion War.