hen it comes to obsession, there's no one like a Trekker (who
will tell you
that "Obsession" was the Star Trek episode where Kirk faced the dikironium cloud
creature). Like some kind of background noise in the cosmos,
information and
lore about the various Star Trek franchises have become ubiquitous and
self-propagating. This is thanks partly to the fans' unbridled enthusiasm
and partly to Paramount's unbridled marketing.
As part of the effort to document Star Trek for detail-hungry
fans, Simon &
Schuster Interactive has issued the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion
(as well as the similar Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion). This
CD-ROM contains a detailed plot summary, credits, a trailer video clip,
still photos, and the complete shooting script for each episode from all
seven seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
The DS9 Companion is a searchable database
presented in the now-inevitable "Okudagram" style of rounded rectangles
(created by designer Michael Okuda) that
have been used on Star Trek displays since Next Generation premiered in 1987. Users can click on
any noun in
a script or plot summary to get a list of matching episodes, allowing them
to look up, for instance, which episodes Lwaxana Troi appeared in or how often a Bajoran
orb pops up in a script.
The DS9 Companion can also be used in conjunction with the 1999
version of
the Star Trek Encyclopedia CD-ROM--the Encyclopedia's episode entries are
linked to the Companion's. There's also descriptive help and a glossary of
in-joke and technical terms used in the scripts, not to mention the
comfortably familiar computer voice that die-hard Trekkers
probably hear in their sleep.
Promenade behind the scenes...
The most interesting component of the DS9 Companion is the
ability to review complete shooting scripts. The scripts take users behind the scenes,
sometimes describing in detail devices or crew members seen only in a
quick pan in the actual episode. All the stage directions, prop
requirements, emotional cues, and production jargon are there, providing a
slightly illicit sense of how it "really" happened in front of
the cameras.
The other offerings are less impressive. The 15-second trailers (some from
the middle seasons are 30 seconds) are merely tantalizing hints of each
episode, accompanied by that annoyingly bombastic and occasionally
misleading narration: "Now, Sisko must face his greatest enemy!
On the next Star Trek: Deep Space Nine!" Actual clips from the episodes would have been far more
interesting. Likewise, it would have been fun to have trivia or anecdotes
about the episodes alongside the plot summaries (which are the same ones as
are on the
official Web site, by the way). Creative credits beyond direction, story,
and teleplay would also have been nice.
Though the user interface is simpler and friendlier than in some other Star Trek products, the Companion sometimes acts on its own in a non-intuitive
manner. For example, clicking on the name Koloth in a script
brings up three
episodes that mention that famous Klingon, including "Trials and
Tribble-ations." Switching from the script for "Trials and Tribble-ations"
to the summary view should display that show's plot summary; but instead the
Companion reperforms the search, switching unexpectedly to the
only episode in which Koloth actually appears ("Blood Oath").
Despite these limitations, the DS9 Companion is worth having for
the scripts
alone, and considering how bulky they'd be in book form, this inexpensive
CD-ROM is the perfect format for them.
