It took nearly two months, but I'm finished. I finally put the money aside and purchased the remaining seasons I needed of Deep Space Nine to see the entire show from start to finish.
DS9 was the only Star Trek series that I never saw in its entirety. I was a huge fan of the other shows. and while I did see A LOT of Deep Space Nine, I hadn't seen all of it. I saw the pilot, two additional episodes from the first season, The Jem'Hadar from the second season, The Search 1 and 2, Past Tense 1 and 2, all of season four, all of season five, the first five episodes and last episode of season six, the first episode of the seventh season and the series finale. Beyond that, nothing.
So when I saw the seasons at used DVD store for real cheap, I decided it was time to get on the ball and buy the rest of the show. After all, I always intended to.
Now in the past, I admit, I judged DS9 unfairly. I couldn't stand hearing from fans how great it was and that it was the absolute best Star Trek series. There were even a few times where I said, "No, it's not a good show. It's horrible,"
Curse me! Curse me!
Anyway, in my viewing of the series, I watched it completely out of order. I mean, completely. I picked up season six. I watched that and then picked up season seven and watched that. Then, weeks later, I saw season three, followed by two, and finally one. As I said, I saw and own four and five, so they didn't need a second viewing. The best part was, even though I watched it out of order, I wasn't lost at all. I knew exactly what was going on.
What I appreciate most about the show, and I said this in a prior post, is that I love how different it is from TOS, TNG and later VOY and ENT. Firstly, setting it on a space station is a great idea. I mean, really ,when you get right down to it, what else can you REALLY do on a starship that sets it apart from The Original Series or The Next Generation? Voyager and Enterprise attempted to answer that question with varying success.
Secondly, I'm a huge fan of shows with large casts, St. Elsewhere and LOST being some good examples. The recurring characters on DS9 are just fantastic, Garak being my favorite. I love that even though he was recurring, he essentially was a main character when he was there. The same goes for Rom and Nog.
Thirdly, I noticed this very recently and that is how the series paints the Federation. In the other shows - mainly TNG and VOY, we're made to think the Federation and StarFleet are the greatest things around. DS9 decides to put a spin on that way of thinking. Many of the characters featured resent the Federation and feel that it has no place on the station. I might run the risk of being controversial, but I found it to be an allegory for how the United States is viewed by other countries today (and maybe even years before).
Some of my friends who weren't huge fans of the show felt that it lacked what TOS and TNG had in using contemporary issues to tell stories. I think I felt that way for a while, but having viewed the series now, I think it's one of the stronger Star Trek shows to actually do that. Religion and politics were the forefront of the series and while they may not have used any particular current event in religion or politics, those two things are metaphorical enough to tell a very engaging story.
Overall, I'm glad I watched it. It's been a fantastic experience.
So now that the dust has settled, I think I'm going to call it the best of the contemporary Star Trek shows.
I would even say that it's one of my favorite TV shows, period.
So, all I have to ask is, when do we hold the party to welcome the newest Niner?
DS9 was the only Star Trek series that I never saw in its entirety. I was a huge fan of the other shows. and while I did see A LOT of Deep Space Nine, I hadn't seen all of it. I saw the pilot, two additional episodes from the first season, The Jem'Hadar from the second season, The Search 1 and 2, Past Tense 1 and 2, all of season four, all of season five, the first five episodes and last episode of season six, the first episode of the seventh season and the series finale. Beyond that, nothing.
So when I saw the seasons at used DVD store for real cheap, I decided it was time to get on the ball and buy the rest of the show. After all, I always intended to.
Now in the past, I admit, I judged DS9 unfairly. I couldn't stand hearing from fans how great it was and that it was the absolute best Star Trek series. There were even a few times where I said, "No, it's not a good show. It's horrible,"
Curse me! Curse me!
Anyway, in my viewing of the series, I watched it completely out of order. I mean, completely. I picked up season six. I watched that and then picked up season seven and watched that. Then, weeks later, I saw season three, followed by two, and finally one. As I said, I saw and own four and five, so they didn't need a second viewing. The best part was, even though I watched it out of order, I wasn't lost at all. I knew exactly what was going on.
What I appreciate most about the show, and I said this in a prior post, is that I love how different it is from TOS, TNG and later VOY and ENT. Firstly, setting it on a space station is a great idea. I mean, really ,when you get right down to it, what else can you REALLY do on a starship that sets it apart from The Original Series or The Next Generation? Voyager and Enterprise attempted to answer that question with varying success.
Secondly, I'm a huge fan of shows with large casts, St. Elsewhere and LOST being some good examples. The recurring characters on DS9 are just fantastic, Garak being my favorite. I love that even though he was recurring, he essentially was a main character when he was there. The same goes for Rom and Nog.
Thirdly, I noticed this very recently and that is how the series paints the Federation. In the other shows - mainly TNG and VOY, we're made to think the Federation and StarFleet are the greatest things around. DS9 decides to put a spin on that way of thinking. Many of the characters featured resent the Federation and feel that it has no place on the station. I might run the risk of being controversial, but I found it to be an allegory for how the United States is viewed by other countries today (and maybe even years before).
Some of my friends who weren't huge fans of the show felt that it lacked what TOS and TNG had in using contemporary issues to tell stories. I think I felt that way for a while, but having viewed the series now, I think it's one of the stronger Star Trek shows to actually do that. Religion and politics were the forefront of the series and while they may not have used any particular current event in religion or politics, those two things are metaphorical enough to tell a very engaging story.
Overall, I'm glad I watched it. It's been a fantastic experience.
So now that the dust has settled, I think I'm going to call it the best of the contemporary Star Trek shows.
I would even say that it's one of my favorite TV shows, period.
So, all I have to ask is, when do we hold the party to welcome the newest Niner?
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The House of Quark is a great episode. It has some of the best Quark moments ever, and seeing Quark him teach Klingons a lesson about honor was brilliant. 
