Part III, Chapter XV: "If You Ever Want To Be Free"
“I had much more fun on the set than I was expecting to. Christian and Colm helped me to settle in, and everyone else was very welcoming. It had more of a ‘let’s get down to business and make a TV show’ feel on set, but we’ve pretty much all remained close friends to this day. But the most fun I had that first season was Homefront. Working with George again was good fun, and we all got to see a side of Sulu that we hadn’t before with him as the Federation President. Of course, given where George is now, I can’t help but to think that that was where the idea started for him.”
- Marina Sirtis on her joining
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
With Season Three,
Deep Space Nine had started its major plot arc, the Dominion arc, in earnest. The power of the Dominion had been seen, and Starfleet had started to militarise in response. Rather than continue to deal with the Dominion directly, though, the fourth season would opt to stay primarily within the Alpha Quadrant, following the crew as they dealt with the Dominion’s attempts to turn the powers there on each other. Though, the opening two-parter, “Ghosts”, would deal with the Dominion more directly, as it saw the Hur’q make their first on-screen appearance.
Season Four of
Deep Space Nine would gain a small amount of viewers, averaging 10% of US households, a 1% increase over the previous season. As it became clear that
Deep Space Nine was tackling bigger issues and was not just a run-of-the-mill science-fiction show, audiences that had previously dismissed the genre began to give the show a try, in part due to the advertising scheme which made use of the internet, unlike most shows of the time.
List of Episodes of Season 4 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
Ghosts (Part I)
Ghosts (Part II)
The Visitor
Indiscretion
Not What You Say
Trials and Tribble-ations
Sanctuary
A Whole-Body Tragedy
The Way of the Worrier
Narn
Little Green Men
Return to Grace
Needs and Aides
An Embarrassment of Riches
Starship Down
The Last Serenade
Our Man Bashir
United We Fall (Part I)
Divided We Stand (Part II)
Hard Time
The Quickening
Apocalypse Rising
The Long Dark
For the Cause
To The Death
Homefront (Part I)
Bold denotes a story by @The Chimera Virus. Italics denote a story concept suggested by @Ogrebear. [1]
Main Cast of Season 4 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
| Captain Benjamin Sisko | Laurence Fishburne |
| Constable Odo | Rene Auberjonois |
| Lt. Jadzia Dax | Famke Janssen |
| Jake Sisko | Cirroc Lofton |
| Chief Miles O'Brien | Colm Meaney |
| Quark | Armin Shimerman |
| Dr. (Lt.) Julian Bashir | Alexander Siddig |
| Lt./Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Kelly | Christian Slater |
| Major Kira Nerys | Nana Visitor |
Recurring Cast of Season 4 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
| Captain John Sheridan | Peter Capaldi |
| Anna Sheridan | Kirsten Dunst |
| Admiral David Gardener | Pierce Brosnan |
| Counselor (Cmdr.) Deanna Troi | Marina Sirtis |
| Keiko O'Brien | Rosalind Chao |
| Kassidy Yates | Penny Johnson Jerald |
| Lt. Cmdr. Michael Eddington | Kenneth Marshall |
| Joseph Sisko | Brock Peters |
| Mildred Jean Kelly | Betty White |
| Rom | Max Grodenchik |
| Nog | Aron Eisenberg |
| General Martok | J. G. Herzler |
| Elim Garak | Andrew Robinson |
| Gul Dukat | Marc Alaimo |
| Tora Ziyal | Melanie Smith |
| Damar | Casey Biggs |
| Weyoun | Jeffrey Combs |
| Navarch Winn | Louise Fletcher |
| Kai Bareil | Philip Anglim |
| Leeta | Chase Masterton |
| Female Changeling | Salome Jens |
| Grand Nagus Zek | Wallace Shawn |
| Lt. K'Rene | Virginia Madsen |
| Commander Arpad Tigan | Bryan Cranston |
| Commander Solaris | Linda Hunt |
| Ambassador T'Prieke | Mädchen Amick |
| First Omet'iklan | Clarence Williams III |
| Ambassador Delenn | Mira Furlan |
Though the show seemed to be keeping viewers, some long-time fans were turned off by the sharp shift away from the episodic format.
Deep Space Nine, by and large, was not the sort of show where one could watch the episodes in whatever order one wanted to. This did have many upsides, however. The increased serialisation meant that the larger stories were more nuanced, and time could be spent on the detail of the stories, as they built to a larger conclusion. In addition, time was available for all of the characters to be developed, even those who were recurring. This contrasted greatly with
The Next Generation, which was at times, derisively referred to as the "Picard, Riker and Data show". Some of the writers were worried, though, especially as that with each season, the size of the recurring cast would increase, compounded by the announment of the recurring cast additions for Season Five, including Reese Witherspoon as Lt. Ezri Kell. [2]
The continued success of
Deep Space Nine was proving the versatility of science fiction as a genre, and was helping UPN to firmly establish itself as a "go-to" network for entertainment.
[1] @Ogrebear's suggestions are really helping me inject more Babylon 5 into this. I think that they'll make for some good stories. Only one is adapted straight from a B% story, though.
[2] I am finding it somewhat difficult to give each character the time they deserve, but Season 4 is the last time there's a large addition. Witherspoon is pretty much the only new cast member in Season 5. From here, the recurring cast will slowly decrease in size for a few reasons.