DS9 - Far Beyond the Stars - Acting

Odo/Douglas Pabst - Puts in the best acting job of the DS9 cast - and has more screentime then anyone except Sisko. Rene Auberjonois uses his normal voice and does an excellent job as the put upon Editor of "Incredible tales Magazine". Whether its delivering the bad news, being the boss, or bickering with Herb over dougnuts, Rene is always likable, intelligent, and grounded in reality. Grade A

Herb/Quark - Its great to see Armin Shimerman without the makeup. Like Auberjoniois he's completely believable in his role.  Here he's the obnoxious. left-wing Herb. Its a wonder that no one has beaten him to a pulp. Grade A-

Gul Dukat/Policeman - Meanacing and forceful Marc Alaimo shines in the brief 5 minutes he's on screen. He's almost unrecongizable without the Cardassian makeup. Grade A-

Weyoun/Policeman - Jeffrey Combs takes a different approach from Alaimo, and makes his policeman a little more sterotypical, with a hint of parody. Grade B+

Worf/WIllie Hawkins - Michael Dorn is bland and boring in a role that gives him almost nothing to do. Dorn fills up the time by smiling and talking about his Baseball exploits and how much White fans resent him. He's definitely much better as Worf. Like Auberjonois he uses his real voice. Grade C-

Jake/Jimmy - Sporting an odd look and pencil mustache, Cirroc Lofton simply doesn't have the acting skills to improve on a cliche: a bitter street hustler with a grudge against white people. Bascially its OK actor + mediocre dialogue =  mediocre result. Grade C-

Kassidy Yates/Cassidy - Penny Johnson delivers a great performance as Benny Russell's girlfriend. She's much better here than on DS9 pretending to be Starship Freighter captain. Maybe the role was closer to reality and easier for her to play. Grade B+

Bashir/Julius - As the quasi-sophisticated English husband of Kay, Alexander Siddig isn't asked to do much more than throw out a few witty remarks and look good holding a cigarette, but what little he does, he does well. Grade C+

Kira/Kay - Playing a 1950s version of Kira isn't much of a stretch for Nana Visitor. Kay has a different dress and hairdo, but she's still a strong, intelligent, and forceful woman. She's married to Bashir, and is the most sympathetic toward Benny. Grade B-

Martok/Roy - Unrecognizable without his Klingon makeup, J.G. Hertzler gives a satisfactory, if brief performance as Incredible Tales Magazine's bluff, cigar-chomping Art Director. He makes the fifth white male characters who smokes. The only two who don't - are Herb and Douglas. None of the women or the black characters do. Grade C+

O'Brien/Albert - Colm Meaney  is one of the best DS9 actors, but he really fails in this one. Partly,  its having to play an  introverted, slow talking, writer.  But Meany overdoes it, and completely fails with a bogus 'murican accent.  He also deepens his voice and exaggerates the pauses in the script for  no good reason. The closest thing to friend Benny has in the office.   Grade D+

Sisko/Benny Russell - And now we get the most important actor in the espisode, Avery Brooks. As usual, he's a tough man to evaluate since he's such a mixture of good and bad. We can start with the Bad.  Brooks' "Breakdown" at the end is the worst piece of overacting, I've seen on Star Trek - and that includes all the Bill Shatner Ham.  Brooks hyperventilates, huffs and puffs,  whispers, yells, and goes up and down an octave before crying and collapsing. 

But then this ties in to his problematic acting throughout the series.  Charismatic, full of "Command Presence", and with a distinctive pleasant voice, Brooks is excellent when he's barking out orders, getting angry, or just engaging in normal conversation. But when he's called on the express any deep emotion - (other than straightforward anger or joy) , or engage in any subtlety or nuance he fails completely.  In this episode he tries to portray  a milder, more intellectual character - but he goes to the extreme and makes him wooden and too quiet.  In a way, he reminds me of Kirk Douglas, able to play a few notes within a certain range with talent, but completely failing outside it.   Grade C-

Joe Sisko/Preacher -  Played by an excellent actor, Brock Peters, he's given an impossible task with some incredibly stilted dialogue (cf: I have a dinner date with my Grandson) as Sisko's father, and some absurd rants as "The Preacher".  I give the Peters a B Grade for his acting, but both characters are so terribly written,  the overall grade is lowered.  Grade C

Dax/Darlene - Terry Farrell gives a fine comic performance as the gum-chewing, bubble-headed secretary. Too bad she didn't get more lines.  Grade B-