Star Trek: Starship Down

Episode: "Starship Down"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 4, Episode 7

Original Air Date: November 13, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Our friends are out on a Defiant adventure for trade talks with the Karemma.  When one of the Karemma ships is attacked by the Jem-Hadar, our heroes rush to defend it.  Meanwhile, Quark gets to know Hanok, the Karemma trade minister, better.  Initially mistrustful of one another, they must work together in the end to dismantle a torpedo.

This is one of those episodes that is just fine - solid quality but not exactly memorable, at least for me.  As such, I was a bit surprised when our child claimed it as one of their favorites.  "Good character development for everyone," they explained.

Hmm.

Let's see.  Sisko nearly dies.  As he lies on the ground in front of her, fighting to stay conscious, Kira pours her heart out to him, talking about how important he is to her as a religious figure even though they never talk about it and she knows it makes him uncomfortable.  In a C-plot, Worf makes further adjustments to his leadership style in the midst of crisis.  We get to see multiple sides of hustler Quark in action, skillfully managing the relationship with Hanok as both adversary and friend.  We see O'Brien's pride in both his captain and his engineering crew.  Bashir saves Dax's life and they celebrate the healthy friendship they have found together.

Yeah, that's pretty good for one episode.

Acting Notes

via Succession Wiki

James Cromwell (Hanok) was born in Los Angeles, January 27, 1940, to actress Kay Johnson and blacklisted actor/director John Cromwell.  He graduated from The Hill School, a prep school in eastern Pennsylvania, then studied at Middlebury in Vermont and Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.  He studied acting at HB Studio in New York.  

Before August 1995, Cromwell had a reasonably successful career, boasting numerous film roles plus appearances in several high-profile TV series.  In August 1995, not long before this episode aired, he became a Hollywood superstar, practically overnight.  That was the month the surprise commercial and critical smash hit Babe was released.  Cromwell played Arthur Hoggett, a farmer with an adorable sheep-herding pig.  The role earned him an Oscar-nomination.  His phone has hardly stopped ringing since.

He has appeared in many successful films, including L.A. Confidential, The Green Mile and The Artist.  Television work includes principal roles on Six Feet Under, American Horror Story: Asylum and Counterpart.  To date, he has seven Emmy nominations, winning once.  

On top of everything else is an impressive Star Trek resume.  "Starship Down" was already his fourth Trek credit.  For the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact, Cromwell was cast as Zefram Cochran, the inventor of the warp drive, an essential development in Trek history.  He has since appeared as Cochran three more times, including a Mirror Universe episode on Enterprise and as a holograph in Lower Decks.