TV Talk - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

I bet Uhura's thinking "Wow, the 24th century's looking pretty nice."

Well, it has come to this. I finally gather up the guts to talk this show. I’ve heard this show get praised by most and not praised by others.  I think it’s time to add my name to the list as I finally talk about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

My first memory of DS9 was actually on a church trip. I think we went to Louisville for the weekend and there was an episode (In the Hands of the Prophets) playing. At the time, we didn’t have cable at my house, so I didn’t know what this show was. I knew it was “Star Trek” and that’s it. I think my uncle may have even recorded a couple of episodes. When we finally got cable in ‘98, I got to watch the show on FOX 54 coming out of Huntsville. I have no clue how we got that channel, but I guess it had to do with the fact that we were so close to Alabama. While the channel showed current episodes of DS9, it also showed reruns early in the morning at about 5am. 

After DS9 ended its run, it was probably a few years until I saw the show again. I know Spike TV had it in reruns when I was in college. It didn’t stay on there long if I remember. I also remember this YouTube channel had all of the episodes on there. I think I watched the latter half of the show on that channel. Then came Netflix which has every Trek show on there. I’ve mostly been watching a lot of the early episodes on there as well as my favorites. I haven’t finished the show since I’ve seen the latter half a lot, but I’m getting there.

PROS

Woah.

I think it’s safe to say that this is one of my favorite Trek shows. It might be my favorite one, but it’s mostly tied with TNG with that top spot.

• Great Main Cast – I liked the main cast to the show. They were all diverse in personality. Their friendships/conflicts felt real and they weren’t carbon copies of the TNG cast. They all also grew throughout the duration of the show. For example, Bashir went from annoying to pretty likeable in the span of seven years. Even Worf, who came in the fourth season, had some considerable growth on the show. It’s too bad that the Trek movies forgot that little aspect. My favorite characters out of the main cast are probably Sisko, Odo, Kira, Bashir (in the later seasons), Worf, and Quark.
• Awesome Supporting Cast – While the main cast was pretty good, the supporting characters made the show shine for me. A lot of them received good development throughout the show. We had Garak, Nog, Rom (yeah, I know), and a lot of others. They helped mold the station and the show into something fun and interesting. While Morn never said anything, he also provided the fun for me.
• Good Villains – The show also had its fair share of good villains. Since it was pretty serialized, you got to see adversaries develop and turn into genuine threats. Gul Dukat was the best of them. The Dominion and the Founders were also a threat that couldn’t be beaten by words. Even allies to Starfleet were a danger. There were the Maquis, The Klingons, and anyone else who had a grudge. And let’s not forget Kai Winn, the most overly-pious, hypocritical… witch ever in the history of Trek.
• Good Stories – There were a lot of good stories in those seven years. Since the show was primarily set on a station, you had more of a variety of stories to tell. While you had the standard Trek episodes, you had stories that centered on politics, religion, and bunch of other stuff. It also got to explore the gray areas of humanity. It was pretty character-driven more so than some Trek series. I also like how the show became more serialized over time. Their stand-alone episodes were also pretty good. The show even handled comedy pretty well.
• Nice Theme Song – I liked the theme song. It’s not the best one of the bunch, but it’s not a bad one either.  It’s at least better than Enterprise’s theme. I shudder that the thought of that song. I especially like the modified version that came in the fourth season.
• Nice Ending – The show got to end on its own terms after seven seasons. While the finale isn’t perfect (Kai Winn…ugh), it’s still one of my favorites and makes the show end with a nice bang.

CONS

Oh Bashir... at least you got better over time.

Is the show perfect? No, it’s not perfect, folks. Only a few shows get that “Perfect” rating and DS9 doesn’t get that.

• Weak Early Seasons – The first two seasons have some pretty weak episodes. Now, I will say that its early seasons aren’t as bad as TNG’s early seasons. While the first season wasn’t really good, you had some pretty good episodes in there. It just took a while for the show to get its own identity. There was definite improvement in DS9’s second season and it showed. The show definitely got better when Season Three came.
• Some Weak Episodes – Even though the show got better and better as it went along, you had some really weak episodes come every so often. “Let He Who Is Without Sin” is definitely one of those episodes. The Ferengi episodes are usually hit or miss for me too. 
• Season One Bashir – Yeah, he’s getting his own bullet point. Bashir just wasn’t that likable during the first season. He was a horndog and was mostly trying to hook up with Dax throughout the season. He also acted like a know-it-all. Apparently, the creators didn’t know what to do with him at first, so Alexander Shiddig had to make due. Luckily, this was one of the many characters that got to grow and develop over the course of the series. Over time, he grew to be an interesting character.

Favorite Episodes

Finally, here are my favorite episodes from the series. I’ll just list ten of them including the two-parters.

• In the Pale Moonlight – Sisko does all he can in order to bring the Romulans into the Dominion War.
• Way of the Warrior – Worf joins the crew.
• Duet – Kira gets tested as she has to deal with a Cardassian war criminal.
• Paradise Lost/Homefront – When the Federation is attacked by the Founders, Sisko heads back to Earth to help.
• Trials and Tribbleations – A mishap with an Orb sends the Defiant back in time to the early days of Kirk’s time on the Enterprise.
• Emissary – It’s the pilot episode.
• Necessary Evil – We find out how Odo’s origin in becoming the head of security.
• Sacrifice of Angels – The Federation tries to retake DS9.
• A Call to Arms – The Dominion War officially begins.
• What You Leave Behind – It’s the series finale for the show.

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Overall, this was a good show and it’s one of my favorites. I think I’ve said all I can say about it. I do recommend the show. While the first season and some episodes of the second season can be a drag, I’d say watch it all and make up your own mind. That’s all I got for now. I only have Voyager left... that should be interesting. Peace, God Bless, and “Qapla’, suckas!”

Aw.