Best known for playing Lieutenant Commander Worf in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, actor Michael Dorn also directed four episodes of Star Trek. Dorn is one of many Star Trek: DS9 actors who became directors. Star Trek: Deep Space NineAvery Brooks (Captain Benjamin Sisko) and Rene Auberjonois (Constable Odo) each directed nine episodes of DS9. TNGLeVar Burton (Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge), and Star Trek: VoyagerRobert Duncan McNeill (Lieutenant Tom Paris) and Roxann Dawson (Lieutenant B’Elanna Torres) became successful television directors.
Many Star Trek actors, including Dorn, were given the chance to direct episodes because Star Trek producer Rick Berman’s “School of Directors” allowed interested actors from the 1990s Star Trek programs gain practical experience as directors. THE Star Trek The Director’s School was inspired by Dorn’s Star Trek: The Next Generation co-star Jonathan Frakes (Commander William Riker), who may be Star Trekis the most well-known actor-turned-director, as there are many new Star Trek episodes directed by Frakes. The four episodes of Star Trek directed by Michael Dorn varies in tone, but Dorn handles each one deftly.
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Star Trek: Enterprise Season 1, Episode 25 – “Two Days and Two Nights”
Archer’s visit to Risa misses the mark
When the NX-01 Enterprise arrives Star TrekThe resort planet Risa in Star Trek: Enterprise season 1, episode 25, “Two Days and Two Nights”, The crew hopes to enjoy a peaceful shore leave, but the two-day visit to Risa is not so easy. Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating) are robbed by shapeshifters. Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) is targeted by a Tandaran spy looking for information about the Suliban. Even Dr. Phlox’s (John Billingsley) hibernation is interrupted by Ensign Travis Mayweather’s (Anthony Montgomery) injury. Only Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda Park) really has fun.
The various plot threads in “Two Days and Two Nights” pose a challenge for Michael Dorn’s fourth and final film. Star Trek episode as director, especially since each plot needs a slightly different tone. The infirmary scenes are funny and Hoshi’s date is appropriately romantic, but most of the episode just doesn’t mesh very well. Archer’s connection to Keyla (Dey Young) is direct and heavy with exposition of Star Trek: Enterprise season 1, episode 21, “Detained.” The Tucker and Reed subplot being played for laughs is strangely transphobic in retrospect, which makes it difficult to watch today.
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 7, Episode 21 – “When It Rains…”
Tensions rise on DS9 during the Dominion War
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 7, Episode 21, “When It Rains…” is the fifth chapter of the nine-part saga that ends Star Trek: DS9with characters moving to their places like pieces on a chessboard, while each side seeks its own type of victory against the Dominion. Colonel Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) and police officer Odo (Rene Auberjonois) join forces with Legate Damar (Casey Biggs) to help the Cardassian uprising against the Dominion, Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) investigates Odo’s mysterious illness and Kai Winn (Louise Fletcher) conspires with Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) undercover.
Dorn deftly handles many characters in the aptly named “When it Rains…”, and it helps that Dorn’s involvement as Worf is relatively downplayed, with the story’s Klingon focus trained on Chancellor Gowron (Robert O’Reilly) and General Martok (JG Hertzler). The configuration for DS9the exciting conclusion of moves forward, showing that Dorn understands where and how to maintain interest in a dark chapter of history. Star Trek. The most interesting thing is that the narrative in Dorn’s framework subtly conveys the characters’ alliances: pairs like Winn and Dukat or Worf and Martok to do we agree, while Kira and Damar are still not on the same page.
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5, Episode 25 – “In the Cards”
Jake Sisko’s Baseball Card Mission Lights Up DS9 Season 5 Finale
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5, Episode 25, “In the Cards”, is Michael Dorn’s directorial debut. The episode follows Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) and Nog (Aron Eisenberg) as the pair try to get an authentic Willie Mays baseball card for Jake’s father, Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). The boys’ misadventures exchanging favors and tracking down items for the station staff recall previous attempts to turn a profit in the past. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1, episode 15, “Progress”, when the “Noh-Jay Consortium“it got stuck with 100 crude self-sealing rod screws.
Like most feel-good episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, “In the Cards” stands out as a breath of fresh air amidst the grim surrounding circumstances. The episode’s structure emphasizes Jake and Nog’s quest rather than the imminent threat of the Dominion, and Dorn’s direction respects the central message of hope rather than taking the comedy too far. Rather than being motivated by profit, this series of trades is driven by Jake Sisko’s love for his father. Best of all, Jake’s desire to do something nice for Ben starts a ripple effect that affects most everyone. DS9characters in a positive way.
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6, Episode 18 – “Inquisition”
Michael Dorn directs Star Trek’s introduction to Section 31
In a story that director Michael Dorn calls “Kafka style“, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6, Episode 18, “Inquisition” sees Julian Bashir at the center of a multi-layered test orchestrated by director Luther Sloan (William Sadler)the director of Starfleet’s special intelligence division, Section 31. Sloan cites Bashir’s humanitarian efforts in previous episodes as evidence that Julian is actually a spy for the Dominion, a story that appears to be corroborated by Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs). Bashir comes to the opposite conclusion, that Sloan is the spy before the reality of Bashir being in an elaborate mock test is finally revealed.
“Inquisition” is a complex Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode that requires skillful direction, and Michael Dorn achieves this spectacularly. The story would fall apart if the truth about Sloan’s mission was telegraphed too soon, but Dorn’s directorial trickery ensures that the audience is compelled to uncover the mystery alongside Dr. Bashir. Sloan’s test exists within its own believable reality before Section 31’s revelation and its clandestine mission reach staggering weight. “Inquisition” is proof that Michael Dorn can direct dramas Star Trek episodes as well as the comedic ones.