Star Trek - Deep Space Nine, Episode 21: The Homecoming [VHS]

Only Kira Nerys would risk going to war over an earring. And that's precisely what she does in the witty and wise second-season opener. "The Homecoming" is the first episode in a complex trilogy involving the fate of the tenuous Bajoran Provisional Government, an extremist group called the Circle, and, yes, a legendary member of the resistance whose fame really has to do with shooting an unarmed Cardassian Gul in his underwear.

The title refers to the return of Li Nalas (Richard Beymer), but it could just as well announce DS9's coming into its own. With "The Homecoming," the writers started taking chances with the direction of the series--and the payoffs are immediate and far-reaching. Bajoran religion is brought to the forefront and shown to be the driving force for both Kira (Nana Visitor) and her factional society. It's political and separatist and ugly and fulfilling all at once. When Kira risks war over an earring, Sisko backs her up because he knows that if Bajor is to survive, there must be a voice to unite it--and what better voice than an icon? Nalas, the so-called hero, will do. It makes sense. Characterizations deepen and gel here like never before. Visitor and Colm Meaney in particular shine in the Cardassian backstory, and Armin Shimerman's Quark forever establishes himself as a lady's man via the infamous Earring Exchange. Major hootage, minor branding, hellish location shoot. (By all accounts, the misery in the Cardassian labor camp was real.) Great story. --Kayla Rigney