Any Niners actually prefer the early seasons as a whole?

[PKTrekGirl]

^ I think most of us think of the beginning of season 4 as sort of a cut-off. Not only because of Worf, but because of what he brought with him - more interaction with the Klingons. Many of the Klingon stories are not necessarily Worf stories except in the most superficial of manners...and I think more Klingons really gave the show more of the whole 'a war is coming' vibe. And also eventually gave us Martok, who many DS9 fans (myself included) would argue is more important to DS9 than is Worf, who spent a good bit of his tenure on the show moping or being disgruntled about one thing or another.

Also, the opening credits of the show changed over at the beginning of season 4, I believe - a change that clearly illustrated the direction of the show had changed, even in the writer's eyes! Changing the opening credits really spoke 'ramping up the action' much more than did Worf stepping onto the Promenade. No longer was DS9 this lonely outpost in the middle of nowhere. Now, it was the center of the action. The credits make that pretty plain.

Finally, wasn't this about the time that Avery Brooks changed his look? Because IMO, at the same time he changed his look, he began easing the character into more of what HE wanted Sisko to be - in *every* way (or, as much as they would let him get away with). And this change also cannot be underestimated. I liked Sisko from the beginning...but I'm glad Avery Brooks stood up and said he was tired of playing a black white guy. And I think once Avery Brooks started playing the charcter HIS way, Sisko was alot better, and more interesting.

 

[JM1776]

As I said, "a not entirely unreasonable take."

I'm glad Avery Brooks stood up and said he was tired of playing a black white guy.

Well, this is a whole different can o' worms, so ...

In a way, you have the early seasons, the Klingon Interregnum, and finally the Dominion War.

 

[Crewman6]

I definitely divide the series mentally into the first three seasons and the latter four. Worf's arrival is a great cutting off point (as are the other changes to credits, Sisko's look, etc.) I guess S4 is a transitional season, in many ways, as the Dominion Arc doesn't really kick into high gear until Season 5.

But I certainly think of S1-3 as being very similar in tone and style and I still prefer that style and flavor of DS9 to what it became in later years, without denying that there still are absolutely incredible episodes in those years and lots of fun to be had.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

JM1776 said:
As I said, "a not entirely unreasonable take."

I'm glad Avery Brooks stood up and said he was tired of playing a black white guy.

Well, this is a whole different can o' worms, so ...

In a way, you have the early seasons, the Klingon Interregnum, and finally the Dominion War.

Well, you can 'say' that, I suppose. But in my experience, most DS9 fans (at least those who post regularly in this forum) don't think of it that way, which goes to your original assertion that people who place Way of the Warrior and The Visitor in the second part of the show have no real right to do so because they are before the technical midpoint.

What I was trying to do with my post is to give you the reasons why most DS9 fans make the cut-off between the first and second halves of the show at the Season 3/Season 4 break. And those reasons include more than just Worf showing up (which was want you implied in your post).

Alot more.

Worf himself was fairly inconsequential to me, for example. He wasn't my favorite character on TNG and he was pretty much at the bottom of my list on DS9.

For me, the credits and Avery Brooks' remolding of Sisko were bigger factors in the mental process of splitting the show into the two parts. Along with the increased Klingon interaction in general, whether it was with or without Worf himself. Maybe instead of Worf, then, I would say that Ron Moore being given a free hand to write Klingon stories is *really* the factor that moved the show in another direction.

In my view, Worf was only the vehicle with which DS9's best and most interesting Klingon was introduced. And I don't think I'm alone in that POV. I bet if you took a poll of *only* the really avid DS9 fans (and not the TNG fans wandering in to vote), most of us would vote for Martok as our favorite Klingon.

We LOOOOOOVE our Martok!

 

[Darth_Pazuzu]

If we were to break down DS9 into separate periods, here's how I would do it:

EARLY DS9: Seasons 1, 2, & 3 (up until Improbable Cause)
MID-PERIOD DS9: Season 3 (from Improbable Cause and The Die Is Cast onwards) through Seasons 4 & 5 (up until In Purgatory's Shadow)
LATER DS9: Season 5 (from In Purgatory's Shadow and By Inferno's Light onwards) through Seasons 6 & 7

 

[Opus]

I really liked DS9 from the beginning. I thought the early shows helped establish the series in later seasons. The early seasons gave us the Bajoran political and religious culture, the O'Brien/Bashir friendship, the Kira/Odo relationship, among a lot of other stuff.

Plus, the first few seasons had some great shows in its own right, including the best series premier ever with 'The Emissary'.

 

[DanCPA]

Darth_Pazuzu said:
If we were to break down DS9 into separate periods, here's how I would do it:

EARLY DS9: Seasons 1, 2, & 3 (up until Improbable Cause)
MID-PERIOD DS9: Season 3 (from Improbable Cause and The Die Is Cast onwards) through Seasons 4 & 5 (up until In Purgatory's Shadow)
LATER DS9: Season 5 (from In Purgatory's Shadow and By Inferno's Light onwards) through Seasons 6 & 7

works for me

 

[Arpy]

^ Me too.

The first two seasons are overlooked, and have some of the series' best episodes...Dax, Progress, Duet, Necessary Evil, The Maquis, and The Wire are all A's in my book. ANd who doesn't like Captive Pursuit?

They also have some of the series worst...The Passenger, Second Sight, and Shadowplay. Move Along Home often gets piled into this list, but I think it's just a sour fanboy reaction to really unexpected ending...seeing the ep as a kid, I didn't have an equal reaction until the Season 2 finale of nBSG.

It's a shame they didn't continue with the Bajoran politics episodes too, 'cause I wonder what a Season 6 or 7 The Circle Trilogy would have been like. And In the Hands of the Prophets was great...just had the unfortunate role of Season Finale in a franchise ever-seeking the next Best of Both Worlds, Part I.

 

[Lezta]

I really found myself missing the character confrontation in the later seasons and the focus away from Bajoran politics saddened me.

 

[Robotech Master]

There was a different feel to the first two seasons which I sort of miss from the later seasons.

Everyone was different in the first seasons. Sisko was unsure of himself, Jadzia was a cold fish, Julian was so eager to please, Odo never budged an inch with Quark, Nog was a schemer, etc.

Actually season 1 is the set I most often rewatch. Strange, huh?

But Ds9 was just great from start to finish, with a few bumps along the way. It's infinitely rewatchable.

It's among my favorite shows, along with classic Star Trek, Buffy, Angel, Robotech, X-Files, and nuBSG.

 

[Jayson]

In general I prefer the later seasons yet despite that I think Season 2 might be the shows very best season. IMO Season 2 is more in tune with what the series was supose to be about when it was created. The Dominion stuff was kind of forced onto the show but the writers did a good job of making it work.


Jason

 

[Tactical Drone]

I don't know if I prefer them per say, but since the 4th season got me hooked, I went back and watched the earlier seasons, and love them just as much as later ones. As a TNG mark, Worf is what drew me to try out DS9, and thank goodness, cause I would have missed out on a superb show.

 

[Russell Croutear]

While I feel DS9 was pretty much near perfect in seasons 4-7, I think seasons 1-3 are very under-rated by some people, especially the fantastic second season, which expanded on the themes set-up in the final two eps of season 1 and dropped many of the TNG reject stories. Season 3 was a nice transitional season gradually moving the story away from Bajor and onto the Dominion whilst not completely dropping those issues (like Voyager did with the Maquis, for example).

 

[Orac]

I prefer the mysanthropic Odo of the early episodes to the "Mr Lovey Dovey" he became toward the end of the series run. He had some great Spock like lines when he was a humanoid hater, when he started sleeping with solids all those great lines went to Quark and even Quark got softened up over time, I guess too much time hanging around homo sapiens will do that to you.

 

[Arpy]

Jayson said:
In general I prefer the later seasons yet despite that I think Season 2 might be the shows very best season. IMO Season 2 is more in tune with what the series was supose to be about when it was created. The Dominion stuff was kind of forced onto the show but the writers did a good job of making it work.

I so totally agree - on every point. I was disappointed that the staying in one place and exploring it idea was reworked into explore one place as it fits around this kewl war to end all wars idea.

The Bajorans were left hanging, the mystery of Odo's people became the way in which to legitimize the new war villains, and the Gamma Quadrant was left largely unexplored. Quark's, a seedy den of exotic aliens became Cheers, and the holodeck anchored us back in 20th Century America.

I love what they did with everything...maybe even the holodeck ("It's Only a Paper Moon" and "Our Man Bashir" were good) but I really felt a loss at the loss of the original premise.

 

[Trekwatcher]

I really enjoy the early seasons, particularly season 1. They did a lot of groundbreaking establishing the relationships between the cast (Bashir and Garak, O'Brien and Keiko, Sisko and everybody!) and between the larger players such as Bajor, Cardassia, and the Federation. One good thing in season one is that the cast are not always portrayed as great friends, with sometimes significant tensions between them, that I found very interesting.