It's been a while since I've seen an episode of DS9. A few months ago, I had kind of done a restart of DS9 and Voyager and for DS9 I got up to Let He Who is Without Sin (I watch these in order whenever I do a rewatch) and thinking that I had just watched that episode recently, I skipped it and saw "Things Past" and "The Ascent" tonight. One reason I haven't been watching DS9 was because I was revisiting Enterprise (After years of neglecting it) and now I've been watching TAS for the first time. Coming back to DS9 tonight, one thing I noticed (And I noticed this when I watched an episode of TNG a few weeks ago) was just how great the writing is, and how awesome the characters are. Another thing I noticed, and this is when looking at ENT, was DS9 didn't have to rely on action to tell the story. Something I felt negatively about ENT and to a lesser extent, Voyager was all the action that was used. It seemed to get repetitive the action was there mainly for "shits and giggles" kind of. Of course some of the action in ENT was great (Such as the final few episodes of the Xindi Season) but some of it I wonder if it was really necessary. However, I'm not here to bash other shows in favor of DS9, but it was just something I noticed after watching them recently. With DS9, I was watching Things Past tonight (An underrated Gem of an episode) and no matter how many times I watch it, I just love the twist at the end, which was pretty much the final 10 minutes. From Odo in the security office to the confession this was just character driven through and through and the only action was a bomb exploding and phaser fire for the executions. Moving on to The Ascent, this was another character piece focusing on two characters that had 4 years to develop and it just pays off so well. I watch DS9, and I think this was Star Trek at it's best. I wish there was somehow we can get back to this Star Trek, and I think about all the action in the new movie and think it's probably not going to happen. I'm just glad I have the DVDs because ever I go back to DS9, I'm reminded about how great Star Trek got. Going through long periods where I don't watch it makes me realize when I do watch an episode how much I missed it and how awesome it really is. Instead of turning this into a love fest (And the fact that I haven't posted in this forum much in eons), I'll only ask if anyone feels the same way. DS9 may be your favorite series, but whenever you go back to it, do you feel something more. Maybe it's nostalgia, or maybe it's something else.
I used to hate "Let He Who is Without Sin...", but I watched it recently and sort of enjoyed it. Sure its not the best story, but you can't go wrong with anything Monte Markham is in. I've noticed too that characters from the episode have shown up in Star Trek literature recently; Arandis was in TNG's "Losing the Peace" and Fullerton in "The Needs of the Many".
Agreed. I just finished going through my DS9 DVD's a few months ago after a couple of years of them collecting dust on the shelf, and I enjoyed every second of it. Good show.
Only up to 2x09 in my rewatch and I definitely concur with the topic creator. It's no sleight against TNG fans -- I like the show -- but going back and forth between it and DS9, I keep finding myself siding with DS9. Great characterization.
I watch it in cycles all the time. I need to watch all the episodes again though. I tend to skip the ones I dont like but even then they're never as bad as I thought they were.
I was pratically born watching TNG ('81), and, while I still have a fondess for it, DS9 remains my favorite Trek. Underrated, underappreciated DS9. Now that doesn't mean there were no bad episodes but it was the best of the Treks I've seen. Thought-provoking and full of character development.
DS9 under appreciated? It seems so popular and yet at times it does seem underrated. I've read in places where Voyager was seen as more mainstream and hence more popular than DS9, which is why it seems to somehow get more "visibility" in pop culture. Same thing for TNG, but I'll give them that one. I've also noticed that DS9 been out of rotation for a while --it's been mostly Voyager, Enterprise, And a new resurgence of TNG on several channels. On this site, as of today, DS9 gets almost 82,500 posts, just trailing behind the TOS forum. TNG gets about 65,245 and Voyager about the same 69,653 posts. Enterprise, 56,477. It might not mean anything, but it does say something.
I was born at the very end of 1980, so I grew up on TNG as well (and the TOS films)- but I think we were the perfect age for DS9 during its original run. The show was on the air when I was 12-18 years old, and I absolutely fell in love with it.
YES! Oh my goodness yes! I've seen all the Trek series, but I don't feel anywhere near as nostalgic as when I'm watching (or thinking about) DS9... I've always felt that... something more, as well - its like, beyond nostalgia. I've never really admitted it to anyone, but seeing as you've said it first, I might as well confess that DS9 just... holds a special place in my heart. It sounds kind of sappy and ridiculous to say that a mere television show can be such a huge part of one's life and very being - but -shrugs- thats the only way I can really explain how I feel about it. Sisko, Kira, Dax and all the rest are like old friends and I always feel bittersweet when I re-watch it. /sappiness
That's ok. I really got into it when I got the DVDs as I really didn't remember DS9 in Season 4 or 5 when it was originally on. I probably watched them, but when I was revisiting the series on DVD, it just had that something that made it as good as TNG (Which I grew up on so it has to have a special place in my heart) and better than a lot of other TV shows in general. Heck, my favorite show is Farscape, followed by TNG, but close to the top is DS9.
Hey, I'm actually rewatching DS9 too! But for some reason I am kindda fastplaying some scenes which I found not interesting the first 8 times that I saw them ( I seriously have watched it all about 8 times). I need to hide the remote and just see it as it comes! Am actually impressed with the knowledge here on this forum. I feel old or something for not remembering that much details about the show. Need to watch everything in a slow pace now! Now I'm gonna watch how Quarks is playing a game with (so he thinks) the lives of the crew of DS9. Can't help it, but since I know there is no real danger, it is a little less exciting...
Oeps (that is the Dutch way of saying oops haha), I went offtopic. I actually miss the feeling I had the first time that I saw DS9. That I actually went back to episodes to get the clues I needed to fully understand the show I was watching. To get to know the characters, and feel fully connected to them as I did the first time.
As I think is clear from my posts, I have no emotional attachment to this show at all and really couldn't care less about any of the characters There's been a lot of great discussion on here recently. That's a big change from a few months ago when, for whatever reason, this sub-forum was dominated by threads about Ezri's cup size, Worf's penis and awkwardness involving the beautiful Chase Masterson's double identity as poster and actress on the show. We've come a long way, and I'm very proud of us all
I miss ST in general It's not that it's not nice to re-watch but I hate that there's no new series on the horizon.
You should have been here when the DVDs were coming out (I think 2003?). This forum was almost the most popular forum on this board because DS9 had been so un-accessable for so many years that there were so many people who felt like they were watching the series for the first time. I think you would have fit right in those discussions, at least if you wanted great discussion. I remember that year when I watched In Purgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light and I had a strong reaction to it. Many people like it's predacessor, Improbable Cause and Die is Cast, and I did too, but I saw these two episodes and was like, this is how you do big fat reveals that make waiting for it worth it. The last ten minutes of IPS and the first ten minutes of BIL might have been some of DS9's best, because they kept hitting you with twists and turns, and it literally turned the entire universe upside down. It's one of the reasons I love Season 5 so much. When it revealed something, like this, or the End of the Klingon Conflict, or Eddington, or Call To Arms (and In the Cards being a nice prologue to CTA), it was big and it was event worthy.
Compared to the other Trek shows, DS9 is head and shoulders above the rest. It was the adult of all the series and it was honest. It stuck with the issues that make Star Trek great, while at the same time, provided some action and grit that people want.