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Am I the only one who thinks the space station setting on "DS9" is a strength and not a weakness?

It seems intrinsic in the meaning of 'premise', It is its core directive, it's undertaking. You know, these are the *voyages* of the Star Ship dot dot dot.. it's whatever year mission to boldly *go*. Cue the music.. Star *Trekking* across the Universe. I don't think it is a catchphrase but a mission statement. Why is that so wrong? Why are different aliens of the week not a good thing? If Deep Space Nine had its value as a station that doesn't mean it is the only way to go either.
I agree that their is nothing wrong with that. After 4 ship shows I just wish they would try something new, especially since they can always go back and do a new ship show if they want in the future. Also if they do go with a ship show, which they have, I am hoping they find a new angle to make it feel different from the other ship shows. I do have high hopes that "Discovery" will be that. I guess I want the show no matter what is to feel unique. Berman Trek did have a kind sameness to it but with "DS9" I did feel like it felt more different than the others, partly because it's setting had never been done before in Trek.

Jason
 
That is true. DS9 had a different angle on things. It required an adjustment of expectations from some of us.
 
That is true. DS9 had a different angle on things. It required an adjustment of expectations from some of us.
I'm curious. Do you not just like the show or is it the premise that you also dislike? Would you have been open to a space station show if it had been good in your opinion or do you think Trek can't work without a spaceship exploring space? Even if exploring space was a core principal like you say why is it wrong to change that and evolve into something else as long as it still had other things that are associated with Trek like some of the familiar aliens or starfleet? I think exploring the human condition has always been the most important idea that Trek had to stay true to.

Jason
 
I personally would not want the show to change into something else. It is and was, what it was. If I'm honest that is what I believe. Just as I am happy for the other shows to be their own 'beast'. I might whinge but you can't change things. I think different things appeal to us at different times in our lives and one day I might be mature enough.. ha!... desperate...ha... no, probably in the mood enough to invest in watching DS9. If it were on TV I would watch it mainly because it has been promoted here but I might quietly get snarky here and there. I do remember watching it in an earlier run but it has been so long ago I can barely remember. So a re-watch would be almost fresh.
 
I personally would not want the show to change into something else. It is and was, what it was. If I'm honest that is what I believe. Just as I am happy for the other shows to be their own 'beast'. I might whinge but you can't change things. I think different things appeal to us at different times in our lives and one day I might be mature enough.. ha!... desperate...ha... no, probably in the mood enough to invest in watching DS9. If it were on TV I would watch it mainly because it has been promoted here but I might quietly get snarky here and there. I do remember watching it in an earlier run but it has been so long ago I can barely remember. So a re-watch would be almost fresh.
You might like it or aspects of it or specific seasons which is how I like "Voyager." Might not be a favorite but everything we watch doesn't have always be the greatest thing ever that we feel the need to devote much fandom to. Sometimes killing a hour and not being super bored is enough.

Jason
 
Every moment I spent watching and loving TOS in the 60s, I yearned to get away from the ship, and find out what else was out there, on future Earth, the rest of the Federation, etc, all the places the ship doesn't go to. I wanted to go to some places and stay for awhile, live with people there for awhile. That's why DS9 was so valuable, and why I'd have no interest in the holodeck.
 
Every moment I spent watching and loving TOS in the 60s, I yearned to get away from the ship, and find out what else was out there, on future Earth, the rest of the Federation, etc, all the places the ship doesn't go to. I wanted to go to some places and stay for awhile, live with people there for awhile. That's why DS9 was so valuable, and why I'd have no interest in the holodeck.
I'd have TONS of interest in the holodeck, but yes, I had always wanted a series where we actually stopped and looked around for a while, dug a little deeper rather than warping off to the next crisis of the week. With DS9, we got it.
 
In reality, I would love a Holodeck. But as a premise for a TV episode? I can't say I rank it much higher than 'it was all a dream'. The holodeck could be used well - as a setting for some other story (whether you actually like the episode or not, Take Me out to the Holosuite does this well - the holosuite element is incidental to the story) - but it all too often ended up being the story itself, which, to put it in contemporary context, is like watching your characters play a video game.
 
In reality, I would love a Holodeck. But as a premise for a TV episode? I can't say I rank it much higher than 'it was all a dream'. The holodeck could be used well - as a setting for some other story (whether you actually like the episode or not, Take Me out to the Holosuite does this well - the holosuite element is incidental to the story) - but it all too often ended up being the story itself, which, to put it in contemporary context, is like watching your characters play a video game.
Agreed.
 
We'd love to have a holodeck in our house. Why anyone thinks they'd need one in the actual world of Star Trek, I have no idea. You're IN the future with all these amazing real places to go. Do REALITY instead! A starship can use a holodeck if they're stuck in space for long stretches without shore leave. It's a crutch. But if you can go to actual planets and meet actual aliens, etc, do that. Don't hide in a high tech closet.
 
At the time it came out, most people thought the show would tank because who wants to see a Star Trek show without a ship? How do you "Boldly Go" if you can't go anywhere?

But it became obvious that the station was a strength (at least to all of us) It allowed for a level of depth that IMO TNG didn't and Voyager simply couldn't have.
 
I don't know why--but early descriptions of Odo as a shape shifter--talk of the prophets--I was half expecting to see something out of Clive Barker's Imajica
 
There was much 'trekking' and journeying in DS9 - not necessarily of the interstellar kind....
The inner journey was frequently the focus, sometimes represented subtly.
 
Well DSN did allow us to explore the Star Trek universe and some of it's major races in a way the ship based show never did.
 
Every other Trek show has been on starships so you would think people would love to see a new setting that hasn't already been explored in great depth. Plus I like how they couldn't fly away from their problems at the end of the week which is something that made the show feel arc related though I never really felt it was as arc related as some do.
I agree. Voyager kept encountering the same aliens without explaining why. It would have made more sense if Voyager had said it was parking at some planet for a year, with Voyager acting as a make-shift space "station".
 
I agree. Voyager kept encountering the same aliens without explaining why. It would have made more sense if Voyager had said it was parking at some planet for a year, with Voyager acting as a make-shift space "station".

I agree with all of that. But in my opinion that's largely a flaw of Voyager's writers, as opposed to a flaw in the premise of a ship-based Trek show.

Anyhow, I don't believe anyone rather than an absolute minority feel DS9's space station setting is a weakness. It's not 1993. The station setting allowed for the Promenade - probably my favourite Star Trek set :)
 
IMHO, it is neither an inherent strength, nor a weakness. It simply allows for a different type of stories to be told.

Just as I will have a very different set of stories and impressions to tell when I spend a year in visiting a different country every week, as opposed to spending the entire year in the same foreign location. Perhaps I will have seen "more" in the first case, but in the second case, I can probably relate with much more depth as to what it is I've actually seen in that foreign country. Both have their charms and drawbacks, and it's what the writers do with the premise that actually counts.
 
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