Cheap Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 15: Progress (Video) (Rene Auberjonois) (Rene Auberjonois, Michael Dorn, Alexander Siddig, Corey Allen, Reza Badiyi, Gabrielle Beaumont, LeVar Burton, David Carson, Chip Chalmers) Price

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Customer Reviews of Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 15: Progress

Three farmers stand in the way of progress. Bajor is planning to harvest the molten energy in the core of one of its moons, but to do that all the inhabitants of that moon must relocate. Three simple farmers refuse to leave. The cast includes a man who escaped the earlier Cardassian occupation through sheer strength and determination, and two others who were tortured to the point of losing their power of speech (which, of course, meant that the show producers didn't have write lines for them, or pay them for speaking roles).

The story is rather familiar, as, in fact, are the farmers. It's thanks to a solid performance from Brian Keith as Mullibok, the crusty and cranky old Bajoran, that the story successful so well. The episode rests on his refusal to leave his home, and the actor and the writing are extremely effective at conveying his point of view. He's an extremely sympathetic character despite his overblown and arrogant personality. The episode sinks or swims depending on how likeable the audience finds the farmers, and it is definitely a success on that point.

What I really liked about this one was the fact that there is no real room for a satisfactorily happy ending, and that the episode refuses to take the easy way out. There's a silly subplot revolving around Jake and Nog trading useless items for more useless items in a vain attempt to eventually get their hands on some gold-pressed latinum. It's a nice counterpoint to the seriousness of the rest of the story and the overall episode is quite good and very satisfying.

Our first exposure to the softer side of Major Kira
The Bajoran government and the Federation make plans to provide energy for the planet by tapping the core of one of Bajor's moons. However, there is a stubborn old coot named Mollibok who refused to leave the home he made forty years ago when escaping from the Cardassian occupation. Of course, Major Kira is sent to get Mollibok to change his mind. Meanwhile, Jake and Nog have acquired 5,000 packages of Cardassian yamok sauce from Quark and are trading their way up to a really big deal. "Progress" is another first-season DS9 episode where the emphasis is on fleshing out the characters. We get to see the softer side of Kira, who does not explode every time Mollibok provokes her and even tells a story about a gnarly tree, and the friendship between Jake and Nog is explored as the boys seek to turn a profit. This is a slightly above-average DS9 episode mainly because the ending of the Kira/Mollibok conflict does not offer one of those happy endings where everybody listens to the voice of reason. Just another example of how the needs of the many outweights the needs of the one in the Star Trek universe.

Character arc at it's best!
This episode focuses mainly on Kira. Our favorite strong willed Major must confront her own demons when faced with a simple, yet complex mission. Is the majority vote always the best case? A crusty, yet charming Bajoran farmer provokes these issues and more in this episode. One of my "early" DS9 favorites.