Best Episodes to hook a friend?

[Kosh Naranek]

A friend of mine has watched all of TNG and TOS. I tried to get her into DS9, but she found the first few eps boring.

However, she has offered to give it another go this week. So I am polling the fans. What are your favorite eps? Funniest, most dramatic, oddball, you name it!

Thanks for the responses in advance.

 

[DS9forever]

"Duet"
"Necessary Evil"
"Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast
"The Way of the Warrior"
"Trials and Tribble-ations"
"In the Pale Moonlight"

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Would one of these work:

Defiant
Improbable Cause/Die is cast
The Visitor
Looking for Parmach in All the Wrong Places
Trials and Tribble-ations
Hard Time

 

[3chordboy]

back in the day (mid/late-90s) i bought DS9 volume 3.5 on VHS which had Defiant and Fascination on it. those two were enough to make me go back and start buying the rest of the third season and then even further back to seasons 1 and 2

first episode of DS9 i remember seeing on TV (BBC2) was Move Along Home although for some reason I always thought it was an episode of Babylon 5. haha

 

[Kosh Naranek]

back in the day (mid/late-90s) i bought DS9 volume 3.5 on VHS which had Defiant and Fascination on it. those two were enough to make me go back and start buying the rest of the third season and then even further back to seasons 1 and 2

first episode of DS9 i remember seeing on TV (BBC2) was Move Along Home although for some reason I always thought it was an episode of Babylon 5. haha

Move Along Home is one of my least favorite episodes. I have always disliked it.

I appreciate the input! She agreed to start watching season 3.

 

[bbjeg]

I thought the first episode set the whole series up nicely.

 

[johnjm22]

Improbable Cause is the episode that finally got me hooked after I suffered through the first 3 seasons of DS9.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Duet and Improbable Cause are definitely good choices. The Search also might be a good option because it sets up the series' main arc.

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Thanks! I will add the Search to the list. She loves TOS. I may start with the Tribble episode. We are going to do a Trek show night this evening.

 

[erastus25]

Would one of these work:

Defiant
Improbable Cause/Die is cast
The Visitor
Looking for Parmach in All the Wrong Places
Trials and Tribble-ations
Hard Time

I love IC/DiC, but you need a decent knowledge of the series mythos to really appreciate it.

Looking for Par'Mach and Hard Time are serious character pieces so if you aren't invested in the characters they likely won't go over well. Best to avoid those as well.

As said elsewhere, The Search is probably a good place to start. Or maybe the s1 finale.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Would one of these work:

Defiant
Improbable Cause/Die is cast
The Visitor
Looking for Parmach in All the Wrong Places
Trials and Tribble-ations
Hard Time

I love IC/DiC, but you need a decent knowledge of the series mythos to really appreciate it.

Looking for Par'Mach and Hard Time are serious character pieces so if you aren't invested in the characters they likely won't go over well. Best to avoid those as well.

As said elsewhere, The Search is probably a good place to start. Or maybe the s1 finale.

Several people here have already mentioned Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast, so it is approaching the consensus choice. It happens early enough in the Dominion arc that it is not difficult to figure out some of the basic tensions: the Dominion is a new, unknown threat to the powers of the Alpha Quadrant; and Odo belongs to the race that controls the Dominion. Those are basic things, and everything else, including Garak's past as a spy, can be garnered from the episodes themselves. Rene Auberjonois and Andrew Robinson not only have great scenes that explore the psychologies of the individual characters, they have great interaction. Moreover, it hits at one of DS9's ongoing themes from two sides: if you can't go home, can you make a new home among strangers.

Looking for Parmach is serious? Laughable.

Hard Time is inaccessible to a new comer? Like Defiant and Parmach, it focuses on a character that someone familiar with TNG would know. It would allow a newcomer a taste of what DS9 does with these characters, as well as the themes of the franchise as a whole. Moreover, Colm Meaney is probably the most active of all Trek actors, a thoughtful and dedicated character actor, and his performance in this episode is a tour de force comparable to Inner Light and Far Beyond the Stars. Yes, this is among DS9's darker episodes. However, one does not want to tip toe around what makes DS9 different from other series in the franchise. DS9 is a character driven show; Hard Time cuts right down to the psychology of one of the franchises most visible characters. Perhaps the OP's friend needs to be eased into something. Season one was light, and we already know she did not respond well to it. The OP knows better whether or not she would like to see how thoughtful the series can become (without throwing her into the last part of the series).

 

[Keith1701]

"Duet"
"Necessary Evil"
"Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast
"The Way of the Warrior"
"Trials and Tribble-ations"
"In the Pale Moonlight"

I agree, with list ~~~~ and Good Luck

 

[Kosh Naranek]

We have watched Trials and Tribble-ations. We also watched Muse which she picked out on her own and Improbable Cause + the Die is Cast.

She has enjoyed those eps and said that maybe we should hop around a bit more and see how she likes a few others.

 

[wulfio]

Depends what your friend is in to. I think little green men would be a good general introduction to the series, and an easy stand alone that doesn't require any knowledge of the series.

In the Pale Moon Light is one of my favourites. And a lot of the section 31 ones are interesting. But for a person not familiar with the series, it would probably be a little confusing.

But without knowing her preference in regards to movies/tv I couldn't really give a good suggestion besides the aforementioned.

What episodes did you introduce her to that she found boring?

 

[LeadHead]

If she's a TNG fan, "Way of the Warrior" might be a good one to do.

 

[Finn]

I'd jump to the Worf years as some indicated, as she had seen all of TNG.

 

[Yanks]

I just finished watching and rating DS9.

Here are my top DS9 episodes. I this doesn't hook them, there's no hooking to be done.

Necessary Evil
Blood Oath
The Wire
The Search, part one
Heart of Stone
Improbable Cause
The Die Is Cast
The Way of the Warrior
Homefront
Paradise Lost
The Quickening
Trials and Tribble-ations
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
A Time To Stand
Rocks And Shoals
In The Pale Moonlight
Take Me Out To The Holosuite
Treachery, Faith And The Great River
Once More Unto The Breach
The Siege Of AR558
It's Only A Paper Moon
Tacking Into The Wind

 

[Smellincoffee]

"Move Along Home", definitely.

They'd give me a hook to the jaw without a doubt for inflicting that on them.

 

[Yanks]

^^ lol

 

[apollo1984]

I can't remember all the episodes as I have just started a re-watch but memorable episodes for me are:
The visitor (a very character driven emotional episode)
Trials and tribulations (can't go wrong with a TOS crossover)
Way of the warrior (fast pact action episodes)

Each of the above are memorable for very different reasons.