Starting on Deep Space Nine

[DalekJim]

Captive Pursuit is genuinely excellent but a lot of DS9 S1 is just TNG on a space-station. Those mediocre episodes are usually saved by excellent character interaction though which was great from the very beginning.

Babel is almost comically bad. A virus that makes people talk jibberish... really?

 

[Tosk]

Babel is almost comically bad. A virus that makes people talk jibberish... really?

Why is that bad? Aphasia can be caused by a virus right here, right now. It's not some crazy out-there sci-fi thing.

 

[DalekJim]

It wasn't so much the premise but the execution. An episode that explored how vital communication is to us could have been excellent but it was a really generic disease-of-the-week episode. Kira was badass though and it's always funny to see everybody be a douche to O'Brien for no reason.

 

[royalfan5]

I also got Dax watched last night, and I thought it was a good charcter building excerise, especially given the layered nature of the symbiont.

I've gotten through the Nagus now. I enjoyed the Nagus quite a bit, as far as developing the Ferengi. Move Along Home failed to impress, and The Passenger was ok, I guess.

 

[mythme]

The Passenger cemented the fan reaction to Bashir. From the start he came across as a genuine jackass; juvenile, awkward and (aside from his medical ethic) unprofessional. The Passenger just added another layer of loathing because...he...talks...so...slow as Vantika. It isn't until Past Tense that Bashir "grows up". After that, Siddig is superb, IMO. After such a rough start, Bashir became one of my favorite Trek characters.

 

[R. Star]

I also got Dax watched last night, and I thought it was a good charcter building excerise, especially given the layered nature of the symbiont.

I've gotten through the Nagus now. I enjoyed the Nagus quite a bit, as far as developing the Ferengi. Move Along Home failed to impress, and The Passenger was ok, I guess.

Dax was a good episode. The "trial" aspect of it did seem kind of forced, but it was a good character development exercise.

The Nagus, was a silly fun episode. And yeah, it did flesh out the Ferengi a bit beyond those snarling trolls we saw in TNG. Rest assured Grand Nagus Zek will be back.

Move Along Home... beyond making fun of the Alamarain dance, there's not much good to say about this one.

The Passenger... I dunno, call me weird, but I kinda liked this one. Guess I like murder mystery episodes and this was kinda like that. Season 1 Bashir is a bit of an aloof dolt, sure... but unlike the other series DS9 made an active effort to make their unpopular character better.

 

[royalfan5]

I wrapped up the first season. I see why everyone always holds up Duet as an example of good DS9. I will probably start the second season in a couple of days.

 

[TheGodBen]

One other piece of advice: You might not want to watch the special features as they contain spoilers for the whole show. For example, the Kira featurette that comes with season 1 details a great deal of her character arc up until the finale. While you may know a lot of the broad strokes already, there might be some information in those features that ruins a twist, and DS9 does have some great twists.

 

[DalekJim]

I wrapped up the first season. I see why everyone always holds up Duet as an example of good DS9. I will probably start the second season in a couple of days.

The second season starts awesome, then sinks in to seemingly endless, empty, BEYOND tedious filler..... then ends with a string of 8 or so excellent episodes that redeem the whole season.

 

[Sindatur]

I wrapped up the first season. I see why everyone always holds up Duet as an example of good DS9. I will probably start the second season in a couple of days.

The second season starts awesome, then sinks in to seemingly endless, empty, BEYOND tedious filler..... then ends with a string of 8 or so excellent episodes that redeem the whole season.

Depends on if you like the Bajoran Politics and Religion. While it's true, there are more awesome episodes per season later on, I like the Bajoran Politics and Religion stuff, so, I find the first two seasons of DS9 more enjoyable than many fans do, and while I like the stuff that comes from S3 on a great deal, I do miss the Bajoran Politics and Religion when it gets pushed to the back burner

 

[DalekJim]

I like Bajoran politics too. Episodes like that completely vanish in the middle of S2 and we get crappy Bashir and Sisko romance of the week episodes.

 

[MacLeod]

I wrapped up the first season. I see why everyone always holds up Duet as an example of good DS9. I will probably start the second season in a couple of days.

"Duet" is not only a good example of DSN but of Trek as whole.

 

[dub]

I like the Bajoran Politics and Religion stuff, so, I find the first two seasons of DS9 more enjoyable than many fans do, and while I like the stuff that comes from S3 on a great deal, I do miss the Bajoran Politics and Religion when it gets pushed to the back burner

I'm with the minority on that one, too. I loved when they explored Bajoran religion.

 

[R. Star]

I like the Bajoran Politics and Religion stuff, so, I find the first two seasons of DS9 more enjoyable than many fans do, and while I like the stuff that comes from S3 on a great deal, I do miss the Bajoran Politics and Religion when it gets pushed to the back burner

I'm with the minority on that one, too. I loved when they explored Bajoran religion.

The Bajoran politics and religious theme grew on me with rewatching. You may hate her(in fact that's the point), but Kai Winn really was an awesome villain.

 

[Sigokat]

I like the Bajoran Politics and Religion stuff, so, I find the first two seasons of DS9 more enjoyable than many fans do, and while I like the stuff that comes from S3 on a great deal, I do miss the Bajoran Politics and Religion when it gets pushed to the back burner

I'm with the minority on that one, too. I loved when they explored Bajoran religion.

The Bajoran politics and religious theme grew on me with rewatching. You may hate her(in fact that's the point), but Kai Winn really was an awesome villain.

I was never able to get into the Bajorans politics and religion themes. I don't know why, maybe because through the entire series I never got to like Kira...she just irritated me more than anything. But I do agree that Kai Winn turned into a great villian as the series progressed.

I bought the entire DS9 DVD set and just finished it a few weeks ago. DS9 really did become my favorite Trek series and even though there were plenty of episodes that put me to sleep in every season, the exciting ones kept me watching.

 

[Lindley]

"Feel free to stay as many days as you'd like... even a week if necessary."
-Vedek Winn

 

[R. Star]

"Feel free to stay as many days as you'd like... even a week if necessary."
-Vedek Winn

That's the most polite way of saying "Get lost you tramp!"

 

[royalfan5]

So I've gotten through Invasive Procedures as this cold I've gotten has crimped my other plans. I thought the three season arc to start the season was pretty good. I think I am going to enjoy the Bajoran Politics stuff. I thought Invasive Procedures was a good stab at exploring more Trill things.

On a side note, am I the only one who thinks it would have been sweet if they would have had Robert Urich as a guest star at some point?

 

[royalfan5]

Well, I finally wrapped up my trip through DS9, I can say I enjoyed it tremendously. Although for some reason Vic Fontaine just annoyed the hell out me. I may start reading some of the Post-DS9 novels to keep getting a little bit of a fix there. I also think I will watch Dirty Harry as well.

 

[R. Star]

Well, I finally wrapped up my trip through DS9, I can say I enjoyed it tremendously. Although for some reason Vic Fontaine just annoyed the hell out me. I may start reading some of the Post-DS9 novels to keep getting a little bit of a fix there. I also think I will watch Dirty Harry as well.

I greatly enjoyed the DS9 relaunch novels. It basically reads as a season 8 to me. Start with Avatar by S.D. Perry. Pretty much picks up right where What you leave behind left off, and is something of a TNG crossover as they play a minor role in it, though don't steal the show by any means.