Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Four

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Four, 1995-1996. Political stability erodes under the threat of shape-shifting infiltrators.

Created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller. Directed by James L. Conway (5 episodes), LeVar Burton (5), David Livingston (4), Les Landau (3), René Auberjonois (2), Avery Brooks (2), Alexander Singer (2), Winrich Kolbe (1), Reza Badiyi (1) & Jonathan West (1). Written by Ira Steven Behr (9 episodes), Robert Hewitt Wolfe (8), Ronald D. Moore (6), Hans Beimler (5), René Echevarria (3), Nicholas Corea (2), Toni Marberry (2), Jack Treviño (2), Michael Taylor (1), Lisa Klink (1), David Mack (1), John J. Ordover (1), Richard Danus (1), Robert Gillan (1), Tom Benko (1), Barbara J. Lee (1), Jenifer A. Lee (1), Jane Espenson (1), David Weddle (1), Bradley Thompson (1), Daniel Keys Moran (1), Lynn Barker (1), Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (1), Mark Gehred-O'Connell (1), Naren Shankar (1), Louis P. DeSantis (1), Robert J. Bolivar (1) & George A. Brozak (1). Starring Avery Brooks.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Not as consistently good season three, but pretty good.  They start out the season with more ambition than even the movies have: a full-scale battle with Klingons. The willingness to take the story in unexpected directions fizzles out, though. Some of the more interesting moves (like renegade Gul Dukat) are ignored as soon as they're set up. And the season finale, which is meant to end on a cliff-hanging twist, basically serves to point things back in the direction of status quo.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.0/4 (Indifferent)