Does anyone find DS9 to be a bit of a yawn?

[Gecko of Gorn]

Yeah, it was a bit yawn inducing, but Avery Brooks' occassional bouts of yelling would bring me back to attention.

 

[Michael]

LOL, I can't help but think what people call "the soap elements" is just Trek finally doing actual relationships and the dramas that take place within them. After a gazillion eps in the other series of "Beam down to the planet, things are not as they seem, phasers and diplomacy, warp away to the next planet.." the love life of Sisko, Jadzia, Worf, Kira's men disasters, Rom.. may feel like soap opera. But I think it's really just about the characters more than the mission. Real people have relationships.

Amen to that. Most people who call Deep Space Nine (or Battlestar Galactica and Stargate Universe for that matter) "soapish", don't seem to have a good understanding of what a soap opera actually is.

 

[Smitty]

I was a big TOS fan and a bigger TNG fan. When DS9 started up I just could not get into it given that TNG was still going strong. Once TNG was done my life had changed in that I now had couple of kids and I moved across the country. Life was distracting, so as I result I never tried DS9 after season 1 and have only seen a handful of VOY.
Here were are almost 20 years later and I have recently started collecting and watching the DS9 DVD's. Like others have mentioned I too had heard that DS9 does not get really interesting until season 4. But I am working my way from the beginning and have started the second disc of season 2. It is not TNG but I will say that I have been enjoying things so far. As for VOY, that will be next and I have a couple of seasons already obtained.

 

[Amaris]

I love DS9, it is second only to TOS, and they're practically even because I switch them back and forth depending on my mood, but overall, DS9 is spectacular television, and a testament to good Star Trek. One of the reasons I love the show? Well, look back a few pages and see all the religious discussion that sprung from the differences between Kai Winn and Major Kira, and you'll get an idea why I think the show is so fantastic. Any show that can spark a strong ethical or moral discussion on the nuances of the behavior seen on the series has some great writing working in it's favor. DS9 has great writing in spades. Yes, they stumbled a few times, particularly in early season 1 & season 2, but I have season 3 on DVD (I eventually want them all when I can afford them, or wait for that complete series pack to drop in price), and I have to say, I love season 3. Everything from The Search Pt. 1 all the way up to The Adversary. Very few missteps for me in that season, and my favorite double episode in all of DS9 is still Past Tense (with WYLB a very close second).

 

[Nightdiamond]

I used to think the same way- especially when the show first came on. I wondered if it would last too.

I was so used to the 'seek out and explore' format, that I thought I just couldn't get DS9.

Then some of the episodes started getting juicy, suspenseful and then the big blowout came with the Dominion war and the battle scenes.

I think because of the stationary situation, they could focus more on intense story lines, much more than the way TNG did.

Heck, DS9 took more risks with storylines and content than TNG did too.


TNG had a tendency to sidestep certain topics, while DS9 had a little more freedom to explore them - "beyond the Stars" "Duet" "Rejoined" etc.

Look at some of the dialog from certain episodes- when you compare it to TNG at times, it can be much more intense.

Ironically TOS had some intense dialog in it too, given its age.

DS9 turned out to be an important launch point for Voyager and the Trek storyline in general, IMO.

I have to admit though, I wonder that if they hadn't introduced the Dominion arc, if the show would have ended sooner.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I thought the whole backstory of Bajor having been occupied by Cardassia and this being still fresh in all the interactions with humans, Cardassians, Bajorans was really groundbreaking for Trek. Even when you were having fairly pedestrian episodes you always knew you were on a Cardassian built station with it's own problems and history swirling around it. This was done very effectively unlike the Maquis storyline in VOY which was dropped after a couple eps. Also so much is built on over the whole 7 seasons that rewatching is particularly good.. when you see Kai Winn in the first seasons after knowing what is to come it has a lot of impact.

 

[MikeS]

Though I may be assimilated.Disagreeing with DS9 fans is futile.

Keekwai, welcome to TrekBBS. Why do you think disagreeing is futile? Maybe if you came up with some solid reasons for finding DS9 "a bit of a yawn" (I've read all ten pages of this thread and have only seen "I don't like it 'cos it is boring" and repeated flaming at a mod) we could discuss these with you, who knows, you may "win some of us over" to your way of thinking.

What I will say has pretty much been said already in this thread. I thought DS9 was slow up until late season 2. Yes there were some outstanding episodes "Progress", "Duet" the "Circle trilogy" come to mind, but they were islands in an ocean of mediocrity. I couldn't connect with Julian, his arrogance annoyed me.

But from Season 3 onwards it's like watching a different show. DS9 is an excellent addition to the Trek franchise, fleshing out alien species/Federation members we've met before but not gotten to know. Not "Boldly Going" became a positive and it was refreshing to get away from the "alien of the week" phenomonen. The arcs this allowed really pay off in the latter seasons and the Dominion took over as my favourite enemy, they're much more three-dimensional than the Borg.

I loved the religious dichotomy between Kira and Wynn, Odo and Weyoun. Interestingly someone here mentioned the Bajorans being akin to the persecuted Jews. I used to think that but then a Muslim friend of mine told me he thought they were akin to the Palestinian people and that the Cardassians were the nation of Israel. It actually makes a bit more sense to me now if I think of it that way. I should start a thread about that.

Keekwai - give it a go, you may like it, and if not it puts you in a much stronger position to criticise.

Cheers.

 

[pharBeyond]

I love DS9, and think it's the best of the Star Trek shows precisely because it wasn't "Alien of the Week" episodes. That said, I still liked TNG, Voyager (couldn't get into Enterprise)...
The character development, the long story arcs, the ideas that actions have consequences, and the fact that many of the questions asked are still (and perhaps more) relevant today. (What is a terrorist? Political Intrigue, Religion or Science?etc...)

The best analogy I can think of is the X-files, which I also loved. Personally I didn't like MOTW (Monster of the Week) shows as much as I loved the "mythology" episodes...

But maybe it's just me...

PS: must have been the golden age: xfiles and DS9 started the same year!

 

[keekwai]

Though I may be assimilated.Disagreeing with DS9 fans is futile.

Keekwai, welcome to TrekBBS. Why do you think disagreeing is futile?

That was just a joke.

Maybe if you came up with some solid reasons for finding DS9 "a bit of a yawn"

Stated already.

repeated flaming at a mod)

Two instances of self defense.

you may "win some of us over" to your way of thinking.

No need. I've already been convinced that post Season 3 things get better. "I" have been "won over" already.

Keekwai - give it a go, you may like it, and if not it puts you in a much stronger position to criticise.

See above

 

[MikeS]

you may "win some of us over" to your way of thinking.

No need. I've already been convinced that post Season 3 things get better. "I" have been "won over" already.

Keekwai - give it a go, you may like it, and if not it puts you in a much stronger position to criticise.

See above

Glad you're enjoying it. Hope you're enjoying this board too.