What is DS9's Biggest Misfire?

[Gary7]

DS9 is an accumulation of all things Trek and more. Not a collection that was well thought out and organized. They had some great ideas on DS9, some beautifully executed. Avery Brooks was stellar as the captain of DS9. The various other characters developed along OK. Major-Colonel Kira became a great character, but her romance with Odo was just not believable. Sorry... a changeling is far too different physically.

Odo and his peculiar face. He started out looking much more human, then "devolved" into something like plastic surgery of a massive burn victim. They didn't explain it properly. It was said that it was difficult for Odo to imitate a face... but, he could accurately imitate plenty of complex objects. They could have easily said that the energy required to sustain a human face and all of its emotional aspects requires a lot of energy when done for long periods... so Odo chose a simpler form that required a lot less energy, given how he operates in humanoid form for most of his waking hours. I found it ridiculous that they never clearly pushed that explanation. Odo was developed very well, I think. And it was so logical for him to choose returning to the link. But the romance with Kira made absolutely no sense. Great friends, yes... but I just don't see how Odo would take any enjoyment having sex in human form, as his physiology is totally not geared for it. It would be like serving Kira as a sex toy...

I do agree Bashir was given too much edge with his genetic engineering feature. Jadzia Dax didn't evolve all that well, maybe because of writing or limits with Terry. I thought it was a good idea to kill her off, which added a nice exploration to the symbiant aspect. Worf became a bit of a curmudgeon. I think he should have died a warrior's death in the Dominion War. And that war... had so much potential. They squandered it. It could've been developed so much better. The Romulans should have been more back-stabbing, as is their nature. They became more like Vulcans. Dukat was a fascinating character. But yeah... I'm in agreement that his whole cult thing with the Pau-wraiths was ridiculous.

I didn't really care too much for Quark in the beginning, but later on I developed a keen admiration for him. The writers did him justice, IMHO. And I also like how Rom and Nog evolved. O'Brien was a bit wooden for a great many episodes. Colm Meaney has some pretty decent acting ability and I think they could have stretched him a bit further. But overall, I was really glad he migrated from TNG to DS9. His exploits with Bashir were good fun.

The whole religion angle with Bajor was too much. It did become a bit over done. Sisko dying and returning to the prophets was a bit hokey. Seriously, given the associations made, they should have chosen a Bajoran. I would rather have seen Sisko get promoted and given an administrative job back at Starfleet HQ... or given command of a starship. He did a fine run at DS9 and it was time for him to move on.

I find it painful to watch many DS9 episodes. Now that it is being rerun from the beginning on H&I, I'm watching a few, passing on many. But there were some real gems made. It is still a critical part of Star Trek cannon, and is a nice dimension to the whole franchise. But I still prefer TNG and VOY over DS9, when considering the entire sets of episodes.

 

[psCargile]

Not enough Chase Masterson.


But too much Chase Masterson dates and marries Rom.

 

[Lynx]

Killing off Jadzia Dax.
That was rude and unnecessary.
When the actress wanted out, they should have sent the character to the Wadi or to the Dosi on some secret mission instead of killing her off.
Then they could have brought in Ezri as a replacement but not as a Dax.

 

[Prax]

Sisko: "Ezri to the Bridge....Take your post, .....Old Man"
Ezri: "My post? I'm a psychotherapist, not a gunner"
Bashir: "It's okay, Dax, I'm here too...come sit by me"
Garack: "Well....why am I here?"
Sisko: "Look, everyone just calm down!"
O'brien: "Shouldn't I be down in Engineering?"
Sisko: "Sit your ass down, Smiley! ....Now listen up, people. We...are...the Niners, and we....are here...to kick...some dominion butt! AM I RIGHT?"
Niners: "yess"
Sisko: "I..can't..hear..you.."
Niners: "YESSS!!!"

 

[Voth commando1]

Sisko: "Ezri to the Bridge....Take your post, .....Old Man"
Ezri: "My post? I'm a psychotherapist, not a gunner"
Bashir: "It's okay, Dax, I'm here too...come sit by me"
Garack: "Well....why am I here?"
Sisko: "Look, everyone just calm down!"
O'brien: "Shouldn't I be down in Engineering?"
Sisko: "Sit your ass down, Smiley! ....Now listen up, people. We...are...the Niners, and we....are here...to kick...some dominion butt! AM I RIGHT?"
Niners: "yess"
Sisko: "I..can't..hear..you.."
Niners: "YESSS!!!"

Are you trying to make some sort of statement with that quintalogue.

 

[Prax]

Yes. I was going to reply with something about Ezri coming on as a replacement, and then it just popped in my head. What the hell are all these people doing on the bridge of a battleship leading an invasion?

 

[Voth commando1]

Yes. I was going to reply with something about Ezri coming on as a replacement, and then it just popped in my head. What the hell are all these people doing on the bridge of a battleship leading an invasion?

They have extra hero points and so are harder to kill than "ordinary" people.

Their's XPs at maximum.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Killing off Jadzia Dax.
That was rude and unnecessary.
When the actress wanted out, they should have sent the character to the Wadi or to the Dosi on some secret mission instead of killing her off.
Then they could have brought in Ezri as a replacement but not as a Dax.

I started this thread hoping that people would look to criticize the series in a different way: in terms of what the writers hoped to accomplish, particularly in the long run. For the most part, posters have shelved their pet peeves. This notion that Jadzia's death is a misfire is utterly ridiculous. As has been covered ad nauseum, her death was not planned whatsoever. It was a last minute improvisation on an already existing story based around unexpected circumstances that the showrunner and writers had no control over. I get it: people were unhappy with how Jadzia left. Given the tensions that existed between the show , the actress and her agent while the seventh season was in production, she was never coming back. How the character's exit was explained is completely superfluous in the end. It's ridiculous how the intentions of the writers have been warped.

 

[Voth commando1]

I started this thread hoping that people would look to criticize the series in a different way: in terms of what the writers hoped to accomplish, particularly in the long run. For the most part, posters have shelved their pet peeves. This notion that Jadzia's death is a misfire is utterly ridiculous. As has been covered ad nauseum, her death was not planned whatsoever. It was a last minute improvisation on an already existing story based around unexpected circumstances that the showrunner and writers had no control over. I get it: people were unhappy with how Jadzia left. Given the tensions that existed between the show , the actress and her agent while the seventh season was in production, she was never coming back. How the character's exit was explained is completely superfluous in the end. It's ridiculous how the intentions of the writers have been warped.

People aren't interested in the thematic or structural missed oppurtunities, failures and so on which is what I think you hope the thread would be investigating there posting there personal opinions as a lot of such threads degenerate into.

 

[Farscape One]

I would have liked to have see more races from the Gamma Quadrant.

Like the Tosk Hunters. I can see them being the Gamma Quadrant equivalent of the Hirogen. And Tosk's abilities strongly imply he was a forerunner or cousin of the Jem'Hadar.

Or the homeworld of the Ennis and Nol-Ennis from "BATTLE LINES". Having the technology to basically make people immortal can bring some good drama and ethical debates. Though I wondered if those stuck on that moon ever considered just beheading their enemies. I wonder if that was how the story was pitched... "Our crew land on a moon with a bunch of HIGHLANDERS."

 

[Trekkin]

I know the circumstances mean it simply wasn't possible, but I kinda wish Jadzia had died a little earlier. Set up that the stakes have been raised to 'can even die outside of finale' levels, and give Ezri some time to be properly introduced and developed before the super plot-ty final arc kicked into high gear.


Oh. Also wasn't a fan of how the show handled Sisko's mother being body-jacked and raped by a prophet, or Odo betraying all his friends (and everyone in the Quadrant). Some things need more than one episode of characters being outraged, in order to feel adequately addressed. That shit should haunt them.

 

[Farscape One]

Another thing puzzled me... did Dukat really have the support of the Cardassian government when he made the deal to make them part of the Dominion, or did he do it on his own and once that fleet surrounded Cardassia, they had no choice but to accede to what was agreed upon with Dukat?

 

[Sakonna]

Worf became a bit of a curmudgeon. I think he should have died a warrior's death in the Dominion War.

That would have made it even more confusing when Nemesis just had him back at his security post on the Enterprise bridge, as if he'd never left. "He came back somehow! Just go with it, no follow-up questions"

(I'm joking, but also suspect the Nemesis team could actually have done this)

 

[Trek Survivor]

I started this thread hoping that people would look to criticize the series in a different way: in terms of what the writers hoped to accomplish, particularly in the long run. For the most part, posters have shelved their pet peeves. This notion that Jadzia's death is a misfire is utterly ridiculous. As has been covered ad nauseum, her death was not planned whatsoever. It was a last minute improvisation on an already existing story based around unexpected circumstances that the showrunner and writers had no control over. I get it: people were unhappy with how Jadzia left. Given the tensions that existed between the show , the actress and her agent while the seventh season was in production, she was never coming back. How the character's exit was explained is completely superfluous in the end. It's ridiculous how the intentions of the writers have been warped.[/

"Misfire" equally applies to how the producers adapt and cope with things "not planned whatsoever", not just the "planned out well in advance"-type stuff. Improvisation is often a necessity, but HOW you improvise is a perfectly valid thing to label a misfire.

I agree, after she shot herself in the foot during negotiations, there was no way Terry Farrell was staying, but HOW the character was written out (even the death option itself had multiple choices as to how) is the subject, I suspect, of many people's complaints. The How isn't at all superfluous as you claim - the "how" inevitably becomes part of the ongoing narrative of the series, therefore I'd argue the "how" is very, very relevant and a completely legitimate target for "misfire" from people here

 

[Bad Thoughts]

The How isn't at all superfluous as you claim - the "how" inevitably becomes part of the ongoing narrative of the series, therefore I'd argue the "how" is very, very relevant and a completely legitimate target for "misfire" from people here

We know quite well that efforts to bring back Jadzia, either in person or in terms of clips from past episodes, were stymied by Farrell (or at least by her agent). Why this state of affairs existed was because of the nature of the negotiations between Farrell, her agent, and Rick Berman. If Farrell and her agent were going to make it difficult to come back after her contract was not renewed, Jadzia being dead or alive was superfluous: by that point, she would never appear again. In hindsight, I'd say that ISB got the most mileage out of the debacle than could be expected: a death, hastily improvised, but one that explained a gaping hole in the cast.

 

[Paradise City]

Section 31 was a great innovation but they wound up badly mishandling the Sloan character. I think the Dukat character fell off the cliff creatively when he went mad. I liked that character as "bad" but not all bad. There was too many filler episodes in the last season that could've been better devoted to the DW arc. And the Mirror episodes were also generally pretty poor.

 

[Prax]

Another thing puzzled me... did Dukat really have the support of the Cardassian government when he made the deal to make them part of the Dominion, or did he do it on his own and once that fleet surrounded Cardassia, they had no choice but to accede to what was agreed upon with Dukat?

I believe, in the 3rd or 4th season, the "civilian authority" had overthrown the military rulers of Cardassia. When Dukat allied with the Dominion, it's possible that this civilian authority was itself overthrown. The Dominion placed Dukat, a disgruntled former general, in the seat of power. It's likely he instituted proscriptions against all those political opponents we hear about in season's 1-3. Maybe he took their property, too.

 

[Sakonna]

Another thing puzzled me... did Dukat really have the support of the Cardassian government when he made the deal to make them part of the Dominion, or did he do it on his own and once that fleet surrounded Cardassia, they had no choice but to accede to what was agreed upon with Dukat?

I believe, in the 3rd or 4th season, the "civilian authority" had overthrown the military rulers of Cardassia. When Dukat allied with the Dominion, it's possible that this civilian authority was itself overthrown. The Dominion placed Dukat, a disgruntled former general, in the seat of power. It's likely he instituted proscriptions against all those political opponents we hear about in season's 1-3. Maybe he took their property, too.

That's always how I interpreted that... that's actually one of the things I love about the Dominion/Cardassian alliance. At the point that's revealed, they've spent seasons slowly simmering the Maquis situation, the Cardassian dissident movement, and then this huge exogenous event occurs and immediately blows out both of these stories. That's life... spend all this time planning and working and moving forward, and then something comes out of nowhere and smashes it off into a totally new course.

 

[SSOASS]

Honestly I cannot think of a big misstep that they made. Some individual episodes were not spectacular and a few were pretty bad ... but the main plot elements .. I am fine with all of them

Maybe Kira liked some of the "forms" Odo could create .. but beyond anything like that, they seemed to connect to me.

I wish Jadzia has stayed all 7 years (nothing against Ezri) .. but once Terry said she was leaving, killing her made sense

Dukat going insane made sense, he had power, lost it, gained more, lost it, got sucked in with the Dominion and it looks like he realized that was a mistake, his daughter was killed and he went off the deep end and lost some of his pretext.

 

[The Grim Ghost]

Rom. Every single time he spouts off with MOOOOGIEEEEEE or something stupid like that it just stops the entire show for me. I really don't understand why none of the powers that be could have just asked him to take it back a notch or two. Then he would have been a bearable character to me.