Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series) Starship Down (1995) User Reviews

Sort of like an old submarine film...but in space.

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 28 December 2014]

"Starship Down" is an interesting episode and plays in many ways much like an old WWII submarine film. This is not a bad thing, as in the original "Star Trek", one of the very best episodes ("Balance of Terror") had a similar sort of style.

The Federation is trying to work with some folks from the Gamma Quadrant who want to break free of their Dominion masters. However, the Jem'Hadar show up and threaten to not only destroy the aliens' ship but the Defiant as well. To avoid this, the ships go into the atmosphere of a nearby planet--and here the sensors don't work very well and all four ships are running blind. So, like old submarines, they slink about--looking for an opportunity to destroy their enemies with only the simplest of weaponry.

This is a very simple and yet very gripping episode. It's one of the best of the season--mostly because plots like this are hard to screw up!

Action and character development

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 20 May 2010]

When the Defiant goes to the gamma Quadrant to attend trade discussions with the Karemma they are discovered by two Jem'Hadar warships and forced to hide in the atmosphere of a gas giant. When they are attacked again the ship takes heavy damage which leaves the bridge out of action, Dr, Bashir and Dax trapped in a turbolift, Worf going to the engineering to control the ship from there and Quark and the Karemma representative trapped in a room with an unexploded torpedo.

While there is plenty of action in this episode it isn't at the expense of character driven scenes; on the bridge Kira must keep the wounded Captain Sisko awake, in engineering Worf learns that to get the best out of the engineering staff he must give them the opportunity to come up with creative solutions to problems rather than just bark orders like he would on the bridge, Quark teaches the Karemman that some times you have to gamble as they try to defuse the bomb and Dr. Bashir reveals one of his fantasies to Jadzia. None of these scenes seemed superfluous each developing the characters featured. The acting is good throughout and the story well written.

Balance of Terror V.2

[ThePizzaMan-796-655655 · 9/10 · 25 May 2020]

A great character building episode with all around great scenes. Just like the original it keeps you on the edge of your seat until they're finally out of harms way. It's also great that with every episode of this season we get a little more of the Worf we're used to. James Cromwell is always a highlight in every episode he graces in any of the series so a solid 9. The only detraction is that it retreads old ground but its great that we get the same episode with different characters done in a interesting and respectful way.

Why the low rating??

[captainmonroe · 10/10 · 12 September 2021]

This episode is one of the best in the series. Worf learning how to command with the Chief's help, submarine warfare, risk management, and MAINLY about the characters, including Kyra's challenges with her C. O. being the emissary. Well done on this episode.

Survival and Ingenuity

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 21 October 2018]

This is a plain old adventure film in the classic style. It is survival by the seat of your pants. When the Defiant is confronted by the new enemy as she is about to rendezvous with another ship, Sisko is injured and a couple red shirts are killed. The main crew must each approach things from a new perspective, including a couple engineers who are under the gun. The best part is a storytelling session where Sisko lies on the brink of death. Kira does all she can to get him to hold on. Nicely done.

Starship 4 plots.

[thevacinstaller · 6/10 · 26 June 2021]

Well, it looks like I am going to be the contrarian for this episode.

There are similarities to the wonderful 'Balance of Terror' episode but with this episode we get four subplots instead of viewing the perspective of the angry space dinosaurs (or some other faction).

My beef is with the amount of subplots going on in this episode. It is a bit scatterbrained for my personal taste and creates a stop and go pace that ultimately take me out of the viewing experience.

I did get a few chuckles out of Quark pontificating on the virtues of greed.

In my opinion trek should stick to having one main plot in the episode or an A and B plot.

I didn't like this one but it is passable thanks to the Quark subplot.

Starts great, but then gets familiar

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 30 July 2022]

The Defiant is attacked by the Jem'Hadar, forcing members the crew to pair off into reflective character exchanges.

I enjoyed the first part which sets up the character situations very well with some strong action scenes, pyrotechnics and cool moments for the likes of Dax and Bashir. It might not quite be the 'Das Boot' tribute the writers original thought up, but I think it still creates entertaining suspense.

When it goes into standard disaster territory, it is reminiscent of episodes like 'Disaster' and 'Civil Defence', but with material that, for me, is not quite as strong.

I like the scenes involving Quark, as Armin Shimerman and James Cromwell work well together and it gives the story a bit more energy, particularly when the torpedo comes into play.

The scenes in engineering are also good, with the idea of Worf treating the lads in the engine room with the same regimented attitude as the bridge crew being the premise for a nice little arc. Michael Dorn and Colm Meaney are enjoyable on screen as ever.

Kira pouring her heart out to Sisko in one long "Don't you die on me" situation is okay in how it resets their relationship towards something better. It does feel very forced unfortunately and the dramatic tone is utterly pointless when you know they are not killing off the character. Nana Visitor does a great job with the material.

There is not much to say about the Dax/Bashir segment as they are indirectly making fun of how badly his character was written in the early episodes and it feels to me like it is there to stretch out the running time.

Sisko/Avery Brooks is terrible

[bbraat · 3/10 · 25 March 2022]

Yeah, I said it. The character and the actor who portrays him are not good.

Sisko as a captain should be removed from his command after his idea to go against the advice of his experts and protocol to take a ship into an atmosphere that he admits is not designed to go into an atmosphere let alone a hostile gas giant. Within seconds the ship is critically damaged, several people are killed, and they spend the rest of the episode just trying to undo the damage this idiotic decision caused.

The other half of the equation, Avery Brooks, is just a bad actor in this role. His line readings rarely reflect the content of this lines. The captain should not be the weak link in the cast.

Another travesty against engineering

[dave-03795 · 5/10 · 24 December 2023]

The story was a bit patchy, too many subplots, although they were mostly pretty good. The split is caused by huge damage to the Defiant, isolating some small groups. This has been done better in other episodes, mostly because the overarching plot is not really strong enough to tie them together; it's just "we're gonna win this battle about trade at any cost LOL".

But the reason I'm writing the review is the Quark subplot which pushes "star trek is not always strict scifi" too far: a torpido hits the ship but doesn't explode, getting stuck wedged half way into the room Quark is in, so he can open the panel and defuse it. This is utterly, utterly ridiculous. It would maybe fit in a cartoon series for preschoolers.

It wouldn't have been too hard to fix: they could have had the same story with the torpedo in a more plausible location and hacked it remotely; it would have taken more words, they could have dropped the Bashir/Dax subplot.

Oh well. DS9 is still worth watching even if you have to grit your teeth through some episodes.