Cheap Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 59: Life Support (Video) (Rene Auberjonois) (Rene Auberjonois, Corey Allen, Reza Badiyi, Gabrielle Beaumont, LeVar Burton, David Carson, Chip Chalmers, James L. Conway, Michael Dorn) Price
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The strong but flawed script by Ronald D. Moore tries to lighten things up with a trivial, secondary story line about a conflict between Jake Sisko (Chiroc Lofton) and Nog (Aron Eisenberg), as if the main action is nothing but a turn-off. In fact, Bareil's tragedy is presented with painful honesty about the wisdom and morality of sustaining a life that might reasonably be called something less than human. The crossfire of altruistic and selfish interest between sundry characters makes for compelling drama, and the final scene of parting between the living and dying is quite moving. --Tom Keogh
| ACTORS: | Rene Auberjonois |
| CATEGORY: | Video |
| DIRECTOR: | Rene Auberjonois, Corey Allen, Reza Badiyi, Gabrielle Beaumont, LeVar Burton, David Carson, Chip Chalmers, James L. Conway, Michael Dorn |
| THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: | 04 January, 1993 |
| MANUFACTURER: | Paramount |
| MPAA RATING: | NR (Not Rated) |
| FEATURES: | Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC |
| TYPE: | Horror / Sci-Fi / Fantasy, Movie, TV Shows, Television |
| MEDIA: | VHS Tape |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
| UPC: | 097360045932 |
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Customer Reviews of Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 59: Life Support
A major step for the series, a minor one for the writers Episode title: Life Support
Teleplay by: Ronald D. Moore
Story by: Christian Ford & Roger Soffer
Directed by: Reza Badiyi
After jumping apparently aimlessly around, the third season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine finally returns to the series' roots with an episode centered around the rebuilding of Bajor, and the forming of peace with it's longtime opressor, Cardassia.
The story is executed poorly, making the whole step of forming a peace between Bajor and Cardassia an insignificant one, not a tide-turning political event it, with all sence, should be.
In the episode, Commander Sisko finds out about the previously mentioned negotiations as a Bajoran ship carrying the negotiators (our old friends Kai Winn and Vedek Bareil) gets into trouble near the station.
Bareil dies for the injuries he aquires, but Doctor Bashir is able to bring him back alive by ridiculously fantastic methods. Soon it is discovered however, that the good condition of Bareil is only temporary and his body starts falling apart due to the use of a highly unstable medication that only prolongs his life.
So begins the overly simplitic and unprofound conflict between Winn, Kira and Bashir, as the only person able to fully conduct the negotiations refuses stasis as his internal organs shut down one by one.
The ultimate loss of credibility occurs when the other half of Bareils' brain is replaced by a mechanical positronic matrix.
The subject of the episode had lots of potential to it, but the way the issues were treated was probably one of the worst ways imaginable.
Nevertheless, the episode did lead to something, but the progress seemed forced, as the whole episode seemed to have been written as an oblication to the series, fullfilled lazily by the way of a naiv� and badly constructed plot. This feeling wasn't eraticated one bid by a horrible subplot about Jake's first date, wich was taken straight from a teenage soap opera.
It truly is a shame that an episode changing the direction of the series so noticably had to be so bad.
Vedek Bareil becomes more machine than man
For those of us who have always wondered how far medical science can go in the 24th-Century, "Life Support" provides a chilling answer. Vedek Bareil is fatally injured in an accident and Dr. Bashir uses extraordinary means to bring him back to life. Bareil, along with Kai Winn, was engaged in secret negotiations on a peace treaty between Bajor and the Cardassians. The negotiations are moved to DS9 so that Bareil, whose role has become pivotal, can continue to participate. However, Bashir's repair work has already damaged Bareil's circulatory system and while their is a drug that will allow him to continue, it can do further damage. Bareil insists on assuming the risk at what proves to be a ghastly cost.
I have long believed that just because medical science can do something does not mean that it should be done. In other words, life should not be preserved at all costs; there is a line that has to be drawn. In "Life Support" circumstances are contrived which means that line has to be crossed, several times, with horrific results. Of course the episode also serves to underscore one last time the decency of Bareil in contrast to the vainglorious machinations of Kai Winn. Although I thoroughly detest the character, I have to admire the DS9 writers for keeping her around to cause trouble all those years. Kira has to carry the emotional burden of this episode, caught between her love for Bareil and her patriotism as a Bajoran. It simply does not pay to fall in love with a character on Star Trek.
Uneven, at best
The story of Bareil's gradual slipping away, coupled with a political backstory, is shoddily handled throughout, leaving the end result nothing more than an episode wherein it might appear that a great cameo actor asked to written out of the Trek continuity. While Nana Visitor's performance is outstanding, it's not enough to lift this single-hanky story out of the doldrums to stand with integrity alongside the far superior TNG's THE INNER LIGHT, TOS's CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER, or DS9's THE VISITOR. Close, but no cigar.