DS9 had the best and most confident season 1 episodes

[Voth commando1]

I always find it strange how few Gamma quadrant species were ever shown on the show.

You have the founders, Jem'hadar, Vorta, Karemma, and a few others.

My favorite early DS9 is probably If Wishes were horses.

However the characters and acting are little uneven.

Terry's "We find romance a nuisance" in "A Man Alone". The way she said that-I understood why people weren't happy with early DS9.

But DS9 did have a good pilot, IWWH, and of course Duet.

 

[MacLeod]

Well given the fact that the Dominion subjucated races it is perhaps not surprising we didn't see that many.

 

[Navaros]

I totally disagree with the OP. Most of DS9's Season 1 episodes are bad. A couple are good/great.

Emissary is a terrible pilot, the story is weak & boring. The Dukat and O'Brien actors are the only ones who nailed their characters right from the start. Every other actor in Emissary (and most of Season 1 too) is either off-kilter (the Odo, Quark, Rom and Sisko actors) or just outright badly-acted (the Kira, Jadzia, Jake, Nog, and Bashir actors).

Season 1 of TOS is vastly stronger than Season 1 of DS9: TOS .

DS9's Season 1 is on par with the Season 1's of other modern Trek shows, but that is only because they all have bad Season 1's too (and most of them stayed equally as bad after Season 1, although DS9 improved after Season 1).

 

[Vger23]

I loved the pilot, but otherwise the first season of DS9 is almost unwatchable.

It's particularly glaring when you consider how good the rest of the series was.

 

[SJA]

I loved the Pilot and the fact that there was a real sense of enmity between Sikso and Picard - Season one is a bit of a bind to get through tbh - But I still LOVE 'Captive Pursuit' and 'Duet' is one of the best eps of Trek ever produced in my humble opinion... I say this as someone who rates Bashir and Alexander Siddig as one of my fav characters/Actors - but he was written terribly in season 1 and Sid was clearly struggling - as did Farrell playing Dax - Esily DS9 weakest season but all shows have growing pains don't they? Still enjoy it more than the 1st, and most of 2nd season of Next Gen!

 

[Armus]

Season one had a few good moments but it wasn't until "Duet" that DS9 stood out as something special. Then we got season 2 which was one of the best seasons ever.

 

[Voth commando1]

Duet and the pilot were fine, I also seem to be a minority in that I liked If Wishes were horses.

Other than that-the first season of DS9 isn't good by far. In fact I'd say it's one of the poorer early seasons.

 

[LJones41]

I wish I could say the same about Seasons 6 and 7.

Actually, I'm not that impressed by the first seasons of all of the shows, with the exception of the Original Series. Its Season 1 was great. Unfortunately, the following seasons were not that hot.

 

[Armus]

I always find it strange how few Gamma quadrant species were ever shown on the show.

You have the founders, Jem'hadar, Vorta, Karemma, and a few others.

My favorite early DS9 is probably If Wishes were horses.

However the characters and acting are little uneven.

Terry's "We find romance a nuisance" in "A Man Alone". The way she said that-I understood why people weren't happy with early DS9.

But DS9 did have a good pilot, IWWH, and of course Duet.

I wish seasons 6-7 explored the Dominion's relationship with other Gamma quantrant aliens rather than focus on a war with The Federation. "The Quickening" revealed how brutally they treated planets who wouldnt submit to their yoke. I thought there were fascinating parallels to the Roman Empire that could have been explored.

 

[Jack Watkins]

I also think SIsko was still being written a little to much like Picard or maybe I should say,Starfleet captain cliche behavior, at his point. He did have a great introduction though with the pilot episode.

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[Jack Watkins]

I agree that DS9's first season (and second) were strong, and I prefer it in some ways to what came later. While a good many episodes were uneven, it's the atmosphere that makes it special. Someone wrote it earlier; there's a sense of being on the frontier that the later seasons lack (and for good reason). The show was more grounded, with stories about religious extremism, war criminals, and the sociopolitical relationships between the secular Federation, spiritual Bajorians, and totalitarian Cardassians. The pilot dealt with themes of family and loss, and was the most intimately personal until Discovery (and is still the best). There's a lot to admire in the first year.

I may be in the minority, but I liked the first season Sisko. More thoughtful, less over-the-top, and not cuckoo for Cocoa-Prophets. Sisko is great across every season, but like the series itself, certain qualities of his were abandoned so the show could move forward with the Dominion.

 

[Sakonna]

I may be in the minority, but I liked the first season Sisko. More thoughtful, less over-the-top, and not cuckoo for Cocoa-Prophets. Sisko is great across every season, but like the series itself, certain qualities of his were abandoned so the show could move forward with the Dominion.

That's interesting, did you see Sisko as a character that was getting retooled, where the writers were just dropping things that didn't work, or that no longer interested them?

Like, DS9 has some characters that just got retooled, changed by the writers on the fly to fix things that weren't working (Jadzia, Rom), and others where the change was dramatic, but all that evolution was shown on screen (Kira, Odo, Nog). I would have always put Sisko in the latter category -- his change from pilot to finale is EXTREME (he may change more than any other Trek regular, and he certainly changes more than any other Trek captain), but I always thought they did a good job of letting us see what explained and motivated all those changes. Now I'm wondering if there were some character re-jiggering shift points that I missed...

 

[Jayson1]

I think many of the changes to the characters actually happen in season 2. O'Brien/Bashir finally become friends in that episode were they are on the run from aliens and O'Brien is dying because he was effected by toxins from the weapons they were trying to destroy. Jadzia becomes who we know her as in "Playing God" when we meet the Trill intern who comes to study with her to be a future host. Rom becomes smart when we know he can open Quarks bar lock and then the plate in the place in "Necessary Evil." Dukat becomes a a real villian and not just a random Carddasian bad guy in "The Maquis" two=parter. Garak actually has a role because in season 1 he was only in 1 episode. Sisko would get his major change in season 4 "way of the warrior" and Kira and Odo in "The Search" that opens in season 3. Jake had his in season 1 when he told his dad he didn't want to be in Starfleet and bigger one in "Explorers" when we find out he wants to bbe a writer. Quark is kind of the same the entire time but he does tame himself a little more around people who aren't Ferengi.

Jason

 

[Seven of Five]

I think TNG's is easily the worst. ENT would be above that, though outside of 5-10 good episodes, it was mostly dull.

DS9 and VOY both had bad episodes in their respective first years, and also some really good ones. I rank them both about the same really.

I struggle to make a top 10 of episodes for S1, but there is definitely some top notch stuff. I agree with the sentiment that Nana Visitor as Kira really stole the show. I thought Odo was fine though - obviously he got better as the show went on, but I enjoyed, for example, any time on screen he shared with Quark. O'Brien was another good one for the start, though he inherited his development from TNG I suppose.

Obviously TOS had the best first season and trumps all.

 

[Mattadd]

I disagree-I forget the episode but it had Odo being accused of a crime as its A Plot. In the episode Julian is still pursuing Jadzia she says "We find romance a nuisance." In the most awkward stilted way possible. Now I'm sure Terry hadn't yet gotten a full feel for the role but it was not pleasant to watch.

The Emissary is fine and so is Duet but other than that season 1 was not my favorite.

Jadzia was straight up awful in season 1, and that line is a great example of how they botched her character out of the gate. All of the Ferengi were atrocious to watch as well. Props to the writers for turning things around for those characters after badly mishandling them in season 1 though.

That being said every season 1 of Star Trek has been awful. DS9's was still probably the least terrible of the bunch.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

I have to agree, Strongest season 1 for me goes to DS9 by a country mile.

Ent, Voy? not even close. TOS? eh, even if I adjust my expectations for the time it's a no. And clearly TNG's first season isn't even close.

 

[GeekUSACarl]

Voyager has the most consistent, solid first season. But it has nothing that grabs my attention either. DS9 has Duet and I also enjoyed episodes like The Nagus and Dramatis Personae which I enjoyed more than anything in Voyager's first season.

TNG season 1 has some horrible episodes so horrible that it actually goes full circle and wins my affections, haha. But it also has some straight up good episodes; The Arsenal of Freedom, We'll Always Have Paris and The Neutral Zone.

So I'm probably more fond of TNG's first season but I'm more satisfied with DS9's first season and Voyager's first season is the most rounded.

This for 80/90s episodic Trek of course.

After I finish my current ds9 run I am going to hit up Voyager again, But I remember not thinking voyager had any one well rounded season.

I mean, I liked it more than ENT.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Jadzia was straight up awful in season 1, and that line is a great example of how they botched her character out of the gate. All of the Ferengi were atrocious to watch as well. Props to the writers for turning things around for those characters after badly mishandling them in season 1 though.

That being said every season 1 of Star Trek has been awful. DS9's was still probably the least terrible of the bunch.

I have to agree, Strongest season 1 for me goes to DS9 by a country mile.

Ent, Voy? not even close. TOS? eh, even if I adjust my expectations for the time it's a no. And clearly TNG's first season isn't even close.

This is where I think I differ on this question. Best season 1? TOS, then DS9. But most consistent? TOS, then VOY. The first seasons of Voyager was very consistent. The characters and their relationships were defined right out of the gate, within a few episodes if not in the pilot. You know how every person feels about Tom Paris. Of course, they overcorrected what they thought were the problems with DS9's reception. Most of the character would remain who they were in the first season.

 

[Voth commando1]

I always felt Voyager's first season wasn't bad. I liked the Romulan episode, and enjoyed more than a few of the others.

TNG-I enjoyed the pilot, and where no man has gone before.

DS9-enjoyed Duet and the Pilot set up the series well.

ENT-watched it only sporadically but a few good ones-wasn't Regeneration a season 1 ep?

TOS-had the best first season. In terms of sheer memorability.

 

[Farscape One]

"REGENERATION" was near the end of season 2.