LTTP: Star Trek Deep Space Nine

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

Alright so I'm a big Star Trek fan but for whatever reason I never really got in to Deep Space Nine. I saw the occasional episode when it was first on but it never really hooked me like TNG and Voyager did. But to be fair I didn't give it much of a chance.

So here I am watching it all now. First couple seasons were what I remember. Eh. But the show definitely grows. I'm in season 6 now and honestly it's pretty incredible now. For quite a while my attitude towards The Dominion was basically.....when are they actually going to do something? They took their sweet time before they went full invasion of the Alpha Quandrant.

Just saw the episode where Sisko retakes DS9. Fantastic episode. When Rom shuts down the stations weapons but he's a second too late and the Dominion manage to take down the minefield......oh shit. We're fucked now. But nope. Wormhole aliens convinced to stop any ships from coming through. I presume they'll do that every time the Dominion try to send any ships through now? Or it could just be that one time, and they can easily set up another minefield again I suppose.

But yeah, Gul Dukat getting thoroughly rekt this episode made me cheer. Also, Odo is a dumbass. It was very clear linking with changeling lady was going to be bad from the start, and that decision nearly doomed the Alpha quadrant.

Anyways, this is good shit. My opinion of Sisko getting higher by the day too. He's a boss. Almost makes me forget the time he was willing to commit a war crime just to capture the dude that betrayed him. Nah it doesn't. That was badass too.

 

[SodapopVII]

Glad you are enjoying my favourite Star Trek series! I think general opinions on it have only grown more positive as the years go by. Series 4/5/6 in particular are fantastic.

 

[Camwi]

Fuck yeah! DS9 is a masterpiece of television. Some of the best character moments ever.

 

[DrForester]

DS9 is best Trek

Anyways, this is good shit. My opinion of Sisko getting higher by the day too. He's a boss.

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Sisko is the best Captain.

Almost makes me forget the time he was willing to commit a war crime just to capture the dude that betrayed him.

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Sisko did nothing wrong. He made a quick decision to balance the situtation in the demilitarized zone by doing the same thing to a Maquis planet that they did to a Cardassian planet.

 

[jb1234]

Great show. The early seasons (especially 2) are deeply underrated.

 

[BossAttack]

Sisko remains the best Captain. He was a good father, decent cook, friendly with all his crew as opposed to be detached from them, and knew how to lead individuals into war.

 

[DrScruffleton]

actually just finished watching this show for the first time the other day. I loved it, I think it has more memorable characters and episodes than TNG. Cannot say the same for Voyager so far...

 

[ShaggsMagoo]

Almost makes me forget the time he was willing to commit a war crime just to capture the dude that betrayed him. Nah it doesn't. That was badass too.

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Oh, you're still early in season 6. Just wait. And Sisko was right.

 

[Murfield]

I think final season is best season.

 

[BlueGeezer]

Ds9 the best trek? I can live with it.

 

[Dremorak]

My wife and I really enjoyed Next Gen and Voyager, we started DS9 finally a few weeks back and its....fine?
I dunno, its really flat, Sisko is just...there... Not feeling Star Trek without the strange new worlds angle I think.
We might just go to Enterprise or Discovery... or maybe just straight to Picard

 

[KarmaCow]

My wife and I really enjoyed Next Gen and Voyager, we started DS9 finally a few weeks back and its....fine?
I dunno, its really flat, Sisko is just...there... Not feeling Star Trek without the strange new worlds angle I think.
We might just go to Enterprise or Discovery... or maybe just straight to Picard

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How far did you get? It never becomes a planet of a the week style show like TNG and Voyager but the first couple of seasons are mostly setup.

 

[Dremorak]

How far did you get? It never becomes a planet of a the week style show like TNG and Voyager but the first couple of seasons are mostly setup.

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We got around 5-6 episodes in. TNG was cheesy at this point, but it was the fun kind of cheesy, and Voyager's premise is pretty interesting IMO.
This is just... not super interesting. Maybe we'll give it another few episodes, I don't know if we can deal with committing to multiple weeks of episodes till it
gets good lol. We have kids and she works 3 nights a week so we can only watch stuff together a couple of nights a week for a couple of hours
Edit: We did actually just watch all of Orville over the last month and a bit :D that was way better than either of us expected

 

[jb1234]

We got around 5-6 episodes in. TNG was cheesy at this point, but it was the fun kind of cheesy, and Voyager's premise is pretty interesting IMO.
This is just... not super interesting. Maybe we'll give it another few episodes, I don't know if we can deal with committing to multiple weeks of episodes till it
gets good lol. We have kids and she works 3 nights a week so we can only watch stuff together a couple of nights a week for a couple of hours
Edit: We did actually just watch all of Orville over the last month and a bit :D that was way better than either of us expected

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DS9's early seasons are heavy on Bajoran politics and their religion. They're interesting topics but not to everyone's taste.

 

[Deleted member 3208]

We got around 5-6 episodes in. TNG was cheesy at this point, but it was the fun kind of cheesy, and Voyager's premise is pretty interesting IMO.
This is just... not super interesting. Maybe we'll give it another few episodes, I don't know if we can deal with committing to multiple weeks of episodes till it
gets good lol. We have kids and she works 3 nights a week so we can only watch stuff together a couple of nights a week for a couple of hours
Edit: We did actually just watch all of Orville over the last month and a bit :D that was way better than either of us expected

Click to shrink...

While not as good as later seasons, the first two seasons of DS9 are some of the best starts in Trek. They also serve to introduce some elements that will play an important role in later seasons.

 

[EntelechyFuff]

I love that Era loves DS9. It's incredible.

For those just starting out, it does take Sisko some time to find his footing but I agree with many here that he's the best captain.

 

[KarmaCow]

We got around 5-6 episodes in. TNG was cheesy at this point, but it was the fun kind of cheesy, and Voyager's premise is pretty interesting IMO.
This is just... not super interesting. Maybe we'll give it another few episodes, I don't know if we can deal with committing to multiple weeks of episodes till it
gets good lol. We have kids and she works 3 nights a week so we can only watch stuff together a couple of nights a week for a couple of hours
Edit: We did actually just watch all of Orville over the last month and a bit :D that was way better than either of us expected

Click to shrink...

It only gets good if you care about the characters and the overall situation of the Bajorans trying to rebuild after 50 years of occupation. Still I would say the first season is rough as many of the characters are still in flux and the actors/writers are still getting a feel for the show. Bashir in particular becomes way less horny as the series goes on, so you might grow to like them more. That's not a promise that it'll be worth watching the ~50 episodes before it clicks so if it's not grabbing don't waste your time. It's unfortunately a show that loses a lot by skipping ahead since again those first few seasons setup the foundation.

 

[Xero grimlock]

now move on to babylon 5.

 

[AllThingsPurple]

Currently watching this myself. At the end of season 4 at the moment and honestly I love it. All the msin crew are great.

In fairness to Voyager I never gave it much of a fair shake but my memory of it was i didn't really like any of the main crew. I was very young when I watched these originally, im sure I'd view it a lot differently now.

Will probably give it a go once I'm finished with this.

 

[I Don't Like]

Finished a rewatch couple of months ago. So good.

 

[DeliciousSunnyD!]

My wife and I really enjoyed Next Gen and Voyager, we started DS9 finally a few weeks back and its....fine?
I dunno, its really flat, Sisko is just...there... Not feeling Star Trek without the strange new worlds angle I think.
We might just go to Enterprise or Discovery... or maybe just straight to Picard

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This was basically my exact reaction upon starting DS9 a little bit after finishing every single episode of TNG in order several years ago.

I started working my way through DS9 and I just wasn't feeling it. People say that it gets much better, and that it like most Trek (in particular TNG?), starts out kind of slow/hit-or-miss before finding its footing.

And like you said in your other post, I'm also one of those people who actually happened to really like the first two "weaker" seasons of TNG and I was hoping I'd feel similarly about DS9. But after about 5 episodes in I still wasn't really feeling it and stopped watching, unlike TNG which gripped me immediately even through its shakier episodes. Haven't been back since then and all the time I think I should change that, especially considering how much praise DS9 gets.

I just didn't really care for DS9's ensemble cast compared to TNG, and I didn't much care for the change in show style (serial versus episodic, mostly stationary versus exploratory). Maybe I'll get around giving it more of a fair shake later.

I don't have much interest in any other ST show outside of those two and maybe Voyager someday (and that's an unlikely dedicated watch for me).

 

[dead souls]

Easily the best Trek series, hell I'd say it's the only essential one.

 

[choog]

My wife and I recently finished watching all of DS9. I think I saw bits of it when it first aired, but non of the later seasons.
I think it's great Star Trek especially because of the "staying in one place" difference from other Trek shows.

One thing I did to improve watching almost any show: I used IMDB user ratings to filter episodes. I didn't watch any episode with a rating lower than 7.3 unless it really was crucial to the plot.

 

[davepoobond]

my favorite part of the show was the slow build up of tensions between the dominion and the federation, personally.

a bit boring before that, and a bit wacky at the end of it. otherwise, i'd say i like it just as much as TNG.

My wife and I recently finished watching all of DS9. I think I saw bits of it when it first aired, but non of the later seasons.
I think it's great Star Trek especially because of the "staying in one place" difference from other Trek shows.

One thing I did to improve watching almost any show: I used IMDB user ratings to filter episodes. I didn't watch any episode with a rating lower than 7.3 unless it really was crucial to the plot.

Click to shrink...

i hope you don't/didn't do this with Babylon 5....

 

[Deleted member 2226]

On my rewatch I actually found (like with VOY) that my appreciation for the earlier seasons bumped up a bit more, and the later seasons fell a few notches.

In hindsight it becomes really, really clear they were never going to figure out what they were doing with that Prophet plot line, but man did they end up with perhaps the worst possible choice. It all comes down to throwing a macguffin in a fire, and turning the two best antagonists in the show into cartoon villains.

 

[jb1234]

My wife and I recently finished watching all of DS9. I think I saw bits of it when it first aired, but non of the later seasons.
I think it's great Star Trek especially because of the "staying in one place" difference from other Trek shows.

One thing I did to improve watching almost any show: I used IMDB user ratings to filter episodes. I didn't watch any episode with a rating lower than 7.3 unless it really was crucial to the plot.

Click to shrink...

Man, you missed out on some solid episodes by doing this.

 

[AllThingsPurple]

Man, you missed out on some solid episodes by doing this.

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Yeah. When I was young one of my favourite episodes was distant voices, its kind of hokey now but I still dig the premise

 

[Herne]

So here I am watching it all now. First couple seasons were what I remember. Eh. But the show definitely grows. I'm in season 6 now and honestly it's pretty incredible now. For quite a while my attitude towards The Dominion was basically.....when are they actually going to do something? They took their sweet time before they went full invasion of the Alpha Quandrant.

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The Dominion is vast, spread out over most of the Gamma quadrant. It took them a while to gather enough of a fleet and ground forces and get them ready for an invasion of the Alpha and Beta quadrants. In fact, they weren't even ready when they did finally attack - I can't remember why at the moment (thanks, brain) but they are forced to move earlier than they anticipated and so they don't quite have as many forces in the field initially as they otherwise would have. It forced the female Changeling to act early and to think more on the ground which she was unaccustomed to, and she made mistakes they otherwise wouldn't (like ignoring the Bajorans after they signed a treaty and not seeing that Kira would start a resistance cell on a key strategic point, moving too fast and giving away too much to acquire the Breen as allies and damaging relations with the Cardassians, which resulted in the population rising up against them and the Cardassian fleet turning on Dominion and Breen ships, and so on).

 

[Pluto]

Sisko did nothing wrong. He made a quick decision to balance the situtation in the demilitarized zone by doing the same thing to a Maquis planet that they did to a Cardassian planet.

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That's doesn't make it right, it was a war crime and someone on the bridge should have phasered him right then and there ending his command. Sisko sucks, only Archer is worse.

 

[Jegriva]

I have begun Season 3, after watching all TNG around 2017-2018.
While the italian dub of TNG was <chef's kiss>, the dub of DS9 is very subpar and clearly made on the cheap, so I am watching it directly in english.

Do the DVD have better image quality than Netflix? Netflix has better compression, but it has a shiutton of banding.

 

[Mama Robotnik]

CTRL+F

"Garak"

0 results.

WHAT!?

Literally the best Star Trek character ever. So incredibly well written and performed to absolute perfection.

 

[Mars People]

The last genuinely good Star Trek series.

 

[ZeroDS]

Best Trek. Highly recommend the documentary too if anyone here hasn't watched it already. Was so nice seeing everyone again

CTRL+F

"Garak"

0 results.

WHAT!?

Literally the best Star Trek character ever. So incredibly well written and performed to absolute perfection.

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Also this! He also wrote a real good DS9 novel too

 

[Excuse me]

DS9 is probably the best trek out there. Probably, I mean, it's not exactly the most re-watchable show. Especially the first two seasons that have some really bad episodes.

Wading through the sea of mediocrity until shit starts to get real is a chore some times. Can't remember how many times I have stopped my re-watch around midway of S2 because the show just doesn't start. But dam, when it does start it's soooo good.

Some of the stuff I never liked. For example Dukat was turned into cartoon villain towards the end. All the shade of gray in his character were wiped out and he was just maniac at the end.

 

[Tedmilk]

DS9 is my favourite TV show, period, and while I think the early seasons hold up better than the other Trek's, I can't deny that season 7 was a pretty big letdown. There were some real stinkers in that season (Ezri returning home sticks out as a really boring episode), as well as Dukat becoming a cartoon villain and the resolution between Sisko and Dukat being underwhelming.

 

[choog]

i hope you don't/didn't do this with Babylon 5....

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Man, you missed out on some solid episodes by doing this.

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My time is valuable! I think using the hive-mind helps for things like this.
Also, I did say that I still watched storyline critical episodes.

 

[pillowtalk]

All the supporting characters are so good, I was always happy to see them show up.

 

[AliceAmber]

It is really a fantastic show, easily my favorite Star Trek series. Once you get past the first few seasons it really hits its stride.

 

[GreenMonkey]

DS9 is my favourite TV show, period, and while I think the early seasons hold up better than the other Trek's, I can't deny that season 7 was a pretty big letdown. There were some real stinkers in that season (Ezri returning home sticks out as a really boring episode), as well as Dukat becoming a cartoon villain and the resolution between Sisko and Dukat being underwhelming.

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I just watched with my daughter last year, not having seen it since she was a baby (when my ST fan friend loaned the DVDs to me...watched a lot of TV while hanging out with babies).

The Dominion War arc is great, but the S6-7 prophecy stuff, Sisko/Dukat/etc is just bad (trying to stay vague for the folks that haven't watched it yet). It was pretty clear they weren't quite sure where they were going in earlier seasons where they set it up.

And yes, if you love DS9, you should watch Babylon 5. It's a bit clunky in S1, but the story arcs and characterization are amazing. Just remember that JMS is a bit more cynical about the future. Guess what, fascism and other-izing people still works in the future, who would have thunk it?

 

[LakeEarth]

The first two seasons were rough, but then again so was TNGs first two seasons.

And a definite +1 on Babylon 5. We can have two awesome sci-fi shows about a space station in a tense political situation. That's okay.

 

[davepoobond]

My time is valuable! I think using the hive-mind helps for things like this.
Also, I did say that I still watched storyline critical episodes.

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every episode of Babylon 5 is storyline critical lol. its written by one guy 99% of the time.

anyway.

 

[Meows]

"What is it, my child?"

 

[BebopCola]

Fantastic series, and easily the best Trek when it comes to storyarcs and interpersonal character relationships. The characters don't just grow as individuals, but almost as a family. Best minor characters as well with Garak, Rom, Weyou and MORN.

And Sisko WAS right. Le Mis sucks

 

[Excuse me]

And yes, if you love DS9, you should watch Babylon 5. It's a bit clunky in S1, but the story arcs and characterization are amazing. Just remember that JMS is a bit more cynical about the future. Guess what, fascism and other-izing people still works in the future, who would have thunk it?

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I don't know how JMS managed to write 92 episodes out of 110. That's just insane. Londo/G'Kar character arc is still some of the best TV around. Best scifi show for me. DS9&TNG close second.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

Alright so Dukat has gone completely insane

That episode has now finished. As well as completely insane he is also apparently completely evil. Dukat has changed.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

Nooooooo!

I was hoping Morn would have a line of dialogue before he died :(

I figured Morn finally saying something would be a final episode thing.

 

[weemadarthur]

Nooooooo!

I was hoping Morn would have a line of dialogue before he died :(

I figured Morn finally saying something would be a final episode thing.

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Sorry Guy. Morn speaking would ruin the joke that's built up over the years.

 

[greenhadoken]

I also finally watched this show during quarantine. I can't believe as a huge TNG fan that I took so long to do so, it's great! For me it doesn't quite hit the highs of TNG, but it's pretty incredible. I love the 'new frontier' attitude of DS9, Sisko feels more like a sheriff than a captain, and the show is so much better for not trying to copy TNG. Odo sucks. Quark and Garak for life

 

[firehawk12]

I don't know how JMS managed to write 92 episodes out of 110. That's just insane. Londo/G'Kar character arc is still some of the best TV around. Best scifi show for me. DS9&TNG close second.

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I wonder if B5 is still the one show that holds the record for a single writer writing or co-writing most of the episodes.

 

[Cheerilee]

Alright so Dukat has gone completely insane

That episode has now finished. As well as completely insane he is also apparently completely evil. Dukat has changed.

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Damar is basically the new Dukat, but Dukat was so popular that they couldn't let him go, so they kept him on as something else.