Part II, Chapter LV: "Or What You Will..."
“Season Two is often lumped in with the first one, mainly because it was pre-Dominion. But when you compare it to the first season, they’re very different beasts. We’d hammered out a lot of the relationships by that point, figured out which actors worked well together. We could start to tailor the stories to our strengths, and I think that when you look at it objectively, that really comes through. I’m biased of course, though.”
- Ronald D. Moore, on the second season of
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
With one moderately successful season under its belt,
Deep Space Nine was set for an explosive second season. In addition to being the show that would open UPN, the plot threads that would dictate the story for the rest of the show’s run would be laid in this season, with more recurring characters being introduced, and a mirror to the Federation, the Dominion, being hinted at throughout the season.
Season Two opener, “The Homecoming” would not actually be the story to open UPN, that honour would go instead to the series premiere episode, “Emissary”. However, “The Homecoming” would air immediately after, skipping the rest of the first season. [1]
The move to UPN brought much publicity, especially as Paramount hoped that it could become the “fifth network” to rival NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox. While the previous season had averaged a 7% viewership rating, the move to UPN would see it increase to 9%. While this meant that it still trailed somewhat in comparison to
The Next Generation, there was real hope that it could lead the franchise into a new era. The increased success of
Deep Space Nine on network television, as opposed to being aired in syndication led to discussions of bringing the upcoming show
Odyssey to UPN as well. [2]
The second season would be released to positive reviews, with the more clear direction the story was being directed being noted by many critics. To many, after a slightly shaky first season, it seemed that
Deep Space Nine had properly found its place in the franchise.
List of Episodes of Season 2 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: [3]
- The Homecoming
- The Circle
- The Siege
- Invasive Procedures
- Khitomer [4]
- Cardassians
- Good Friends and Happy Families
- Workmanship [5]
- Necessary Evil
- The Rules of Acquisition
- Giant
- The Maquis (Part I)
- The Maquis (Part II)
- Armageddon Game
- Quiet Days [6]
- Impregnable
- Tzenketh [7]
- Whispers
- Paradise
- The Night that Covers Me
- Whatever Gods May Be
- Profit and Loss
- Confederates [8]
- The Collaborator
- The Wire
- The Jem’Hadar
Bold denotes a story written by @The Chimera Virus
Main Cast of Season 2 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: [9]
- Commander Benjamin Sisko – Laurence Fishburne
- Constable Odo – Rene Auberjonois
- Dr. (Lt. j.g.) Julian Bashir – Siddig El-Fadil
- Lt. Jadzia Dax – Famke Janssen
- Jake Sisko – Cirroc Lofton
- Chief Miles O’Brien – Colm Meaney
- Quark – Armin Shimerman
- Lt. Andrew Kelly – Christian Slater
- Major Kira Nerys – Nana Visitor
Recurring Cast of Season 2 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: [10]
- Captain John Sheridan – Peter Capaldi
- Anna Sheridan – Kirsten Dunst
- Admiral David Gardener – Pierce Brosnan
- Keiko O’Brien – Rosalind Chao
- Rom – Max Grodénchik
- Nog – Aron Eisenberg
- Elim Garak – Andrew Robinson
- Gul Dukat – Marc Alaimo
- Vedek Winn – Louise Fletcher
- Vedek/Kai Bareil – Phillip Anglim
- Grand Nagus Zek – Wallace Shawn
- Lt. K’Rene – Virginia Madsen
- Sub-Commander Jenai – Linda Hunt [11]
The fact that the show had become more successful with the move to UPN led Paramount to order further seasons. The cast had all signed contracts for six seasons, and Paramount made it clear that they intended to use them fully. This was a sigh of relief for the writers, who were effectively given free reign to explore the arc they were intending to. [12]
[1] As said before, this is so that people watching the show for the first time aren't dropped in the middle of the story.
[2] Some of you mentioned that you were surprised to see that I was putting Osyssey into syndication, and on second thought, it makes sense to have it here as the "second show" and to keep people coming back more than once a week.
[3] Unlike normal, I actually had difficulty in cutting this season down. I didn't want to remove any particularly important stories, hence the inclusion of "Rules of Acquisition" despite its quality. @The Chimera Virus has written some crackers for this season as well.
[4] Introduction of K'Rene, small hints of a relationship blossoming between her and Dax.
[5] A rare O'Brien episode in that he doesn't suffer.
[6] The season's "quiet" episode, in that it's character driven, no real outside focus. Follows the crew during what appears to be a bit of relative calm.
[7] Introduction of the Tzenkethi. A few of the crew are veterans of the Tzenkethi war, as is the new ambassador.
[8] Re-introdiction to the Breen. They maintain their static voices from OTL, but I have my reasons why. They just won't be revealed yet.
[9] Right. Copy-pasting lists is too much of a pain for lists like these. From next season, tables.
[10] The three (Tzenkethi, Breen, Tholian) ambassadors don't get credits here, as who performs them is a little more fluid than the other recurring characters.
[11] This is a character written by @The Chimera Virus, so they'll primarily appear in stories written by him. But hey, Romulans!
[12] As with OTL, A six season contract may not necessarily translate into six seasons. It could easily be more or less.