Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season 6

Deep Space Nine's sixth season began ambitiously with a six-part story arc devoted to the Dominion War. This was a brave move in many ways, but a sensible one too. Whereas other sci-fi shows wouldn't commit to showing the impact of war (e.g., Babylon 5), here there were numerous visible sacrifices. Characters were frequently kidnapped and held prisoner, allowing screen time for other members of the ever-growing cast (at its peak there were as many as 18 individuals with speaking roles per episode). This year also introduced the idea of Starfleet Intelligence and its sinister Section 31; alliances were built only to crumble almost immediately; Sisko led a suicide mission and at long last his destiny as the Emissary took a serious turn. Amid all this sturm und drang the writers felt it necessary to inject some levity. In fact, there was so much comedic sidetracking this year it actually seemed as if they were afraid of the series' dark tone. Witness: Quark undergoing a temporary sex change, leading a Magnificent Seven-style band of Ferengi (with a cameo from Iggy Pop), Morn's nonspeaking character being sorely missed, the blend of Troi and Guinan into '60s crooner Vic Fontaine, and, in one fan favorite episode ("Far Beyond the Stars"), Sisko having visions of himself and the crew as 1950s staff writers on pulp magazine Incredible Tales. There were also cute reconciliations among Worf's extended family (leading to Trek's first cast wedding), and even the revelation of Bashir's genetically enhanced origins quickly became a subject for easy jokes.