DS9's rocky start

[Temis the Vorta]

No doubt about it, Brooks was fairly awful in Emissary. But there were some signs of greatness in the episode: the ambitiousness of the Prophets plotline, the way DS9 was messed up and a very different environment for a Star Trek series, the way several characters (Kira, O'Brien, Quark and Dukat particularly) really stood out as interesting from the start.

 

[scorpius1701]

I actually liked the beginning of DS9 much better than the ending. Even if the actual plot was lackluster in an episode like "Move Along Home" you still have the drama and conflict of Kira and Odo clashing with their Starfleet superiors. That was something that was absolutely lost in the final seasons with everyone being on one side or the other with no inbetween. (Even Garak of all people.) It just seems really odd that a show that prided itself on displaying shades of grey would choose a final storyline where the bad guy goes to hell and the good guy becomes an angel. I liked seasons 1-5 a lot better than 6-7.

 

[RobertScorpio]

I am currently rewatching DS9 S1 and it is definitely hit or miss, although the hits are better than I remember them being. Some episodes such as "If Wishes were Horses," "Babel," "Move along home," and "Q-Less" are, IMHO, just dreadful and really have little to add to the show. That having been said, "Emissary," "Captive Pursuit," "Progress," and "Duet" (my all time favorite DS9 episode, hands down) are really first rate and help build the foundation for the show.

With the exception of TOS, all the series had the hardest time during their first season, so I expect it takes them a year or so to work out the kinks, figure out what works and what doesn't, and drop the dead weight.

Harris Yulin, who plays the Cardassian in Duet, plays one of my all time favorite TV bad guys in the series HOW THE WEST WAS WON (the Macahans). He plays the evil Deek Peasely..I hated that guy for YEARS because of that role!!!

Rob
Scorpio

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

No doubt about it, Brooks was fairly awful in Emissary. But there were some signs of greatness in the episode: the ambitiousness of the Prophets plotline, the way DS9 was messed up and a very different environment for a Star Trek series, the way several characters (Kira, O'Brien, Quark and Dukat particularly) really stood out as interesting from the start.

I thought Brooks was excellent in the pilot.

 

[Michael]

I thought Brooks was excellent in the pilot.

He was.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

No doubt about it, Brooks was fairly awful in Emissary. But there were some signs of greatness in the episode: the ambitiousness of the Prophets plotline, the way DS9 was messed up and a very different environment for a Star Trek series, the way several characters (Kira, O'Brien, Quark and Dukat particularly) really stood out as interesting from the start.

I thought Brooks was excellent in the pilot.

I thought so too.

When I first saw it when it first aired, I remember not liking Kira, actually...but quite liking Avery Brooks and Sisko.

Glad Nana Visitor dialed back the hostility a bit over the course of season 1.

 

[Trekwatcher]

I am currently rewatching DS9 S1 and it is definitely hit or miss, although the hits are better than I remember them being. Some episodes such as "If Wishes were Horses," "Babel," "Move along home," and "Q-Less" are, IMHO, just dreadful and really have little to add to the show. That having been said, "Emissary," "Captive Pursuit," "Progress," and "Duet" (my all time favorite DS9 episode, hands down) are really first rate and help build the foundation for the show.

With the exception of TOS, all the series had the hardest time during their first season, so I expect it takes them a year or so to work out the kinks, figure out what works and what doesn't, and drop the dead weight.

Harris Yulin, who plays the Cardassian in Duet, plays one of my all time favorite TV bad guys in the series HOW THE WEST WAS WON (the Macahans). He plays the evil Deek Peasely..I hated that guy for YEARS because of that role!!!

Rob
Scorpio

Yulin is a fantastic actor. I mean no disrespect to the rest of the cast, but he just out-acts everybody else in that episode. Visitor does a great job but Yulin's Marritza is such a show stopper you just wait for him to be onscreen again anytime they have scenes without him. You believe he really is the dreaded and brutal Gul Darhe'el in the middle of the show as much as you believe he is the cowardly and meek Marritza we see at the end of the show sobbing in his cell. Even in the coda where he is walking with Kira and Odo, just before his demise, he does a great job of conveying his mixed emotions on the situation-regret that he failed in his goal to be taken to be Darhe'el, relieved that he will not be executed, as well as embarrassed and ashamed to be sent back to Kora II.

When I saw this episode the first time I was transfixed-it was the most powerful post-TOS episode I had, and have, ever seen.

 

[Zeo Ranger IX]

Deep Space Nine hooked me during the final few minutes of the premiere...the brief exchanges between Kira/Quark and Bashir/Odo spoke loads for their characters and promised good things to come. Then the final pull away across the promenade as Sisko and Miles planned repairs to the station...it just begged of promise for a completely different series. And it delivered in spades.

I agree the show didn't really take off for a couple years, but I do like the first two seasons a lot. I'm glad it didn't continue in that way, though. Arc stories, the Defiant, and the excellent recurring characters made the series into my personal favorite.

 

[SciFi75]

I knew that DS9 had a lot of room to work with and that it would take off on it's own course. I also found that the character of Sisko was the most real of the Starfleet captains, too. He's the commanding officer that you want to have if you're on a starship and the odds are against you in a battle. No offense to Picard and the other captains but Sisko acts...he doesn't talk. As he said to Q: "I'm not Picard." Well said!

 

[AlphaMan]

The Emissary is one of the most profound pieces of storytelling in the history of TV. I didn't appreciate it at the time it came out, but as I matured, I saw what the writers and actors were trying to do... What they did. I love it to this day.

 

[Fatemo]

The Emissary is one of the most profound pieces of storytelling in the history of TV. I didn't appreciate it at the time it came out, but as I matured, I saw what the writers and actors were trying to do... What they did. I love it to this day.

I agree. The way the poker game becomes a metaphor for the rest of the show was quite well done.

 

[Natural]

I still want to cry when I watch TNG's first few episodes. Fortunately both series picked up steam quickly, and by S3 or so, both were rolling.

 

[Michael]

The Emissary is one of the most profound pieces of storytelling in the history of TV. I didn't appreciate it at the time it came out, but as I matured, I saw what the writers and actors were trying to do... What they did. I love it to this day.

I agree. The way the poker game becomes a metaphor for the rest of the show was quite well done.

Poker game? *checks if this is really the DS9 forum*

 

[crouteru]

I'm surprised Avery Brooks' acting is getting a lot of bashing. He really sold the emotional scenes with the prophets in 'Emissary' to me. I could have done without his Michael Jackson impression during his orb experience though, but I'll take over-acting instead of no-acting any day. The one actor I don't think did too well in season one was Siddig El Fadil. I pretty much cringed whenever he had a scene. He got so much better in season two however.

 

[misskim86]

I kinda agree, it felt like DS9 tried to be TNG on a space station at first, thankfully they found their own role after a year or so

 

[Gul Bones]

The first Season they played it safe, with TNG-like storylines. Also Kira was perhaps a tad too aggressive for my liking but thankfully this was rectified as the season progressed.

Season 2's opening triple header was just fantastic. The melding of politics and religion mixed in with some great action sequences i.e. the guerilla warfare to defend DS9 and rescuing Li Nalas from the forced labour camp really made it memorable

But again it got mired mid-season with too many throwaway storylines that could easily have made a TNG episode, which if your trying to move yourself away from the shadow of your predecessor is not good. Thankfully they began to find their feet mid-season 3.

I still feel Emissary is the best, most ambitious Star Trek pilot of all time. Especially the Borg Sequence at the beginning, just breathtaking.

 

[PhoenixIreland]

I didn't like Brooks acting at first either but looking back on it now, I think he performed well.

Theres a reason most shows are bad untill 2 or so seasons in, the writers and actors are still finding their feet.

I hated the prophets scenes as pointless the first time, but watching it recently it does some important things:
1. Some character development for Sisko, loosing his wife not even being able to bury her, sets up well for the close relationship he'd have with Jake in years to come.
2. THe prophets not understanding time etc...good thinking since ST makes the mistake alot of presuming all aliens would be like us.
3. The explanation of liner existance to the prophets by Sisko actually helping him work out his repressed feelings of greif was a fantastic tie in

(in the battle flashback)
"we do not bring you here....you bring us here...why do you exist here"

"Every time I close my eyes, I see her like this! and I've never learned how to live without her"

"So you exist here...it's not liner"


It also, from the get go, showd how O'Brians character was wasted on TNG, he was a more gritty and hands on engineer than La Forge and came across as more human than the others.

 

[RobertScorpio]

I didn't like Brooks acting at first either but looking back on it now, I think he performed well.

Theres a reason most shows are bad untill 2 or so seasons in, the writers and actors are still finding their feet.

I hated the prophets scenes as pointless the first time, but watching it recently it does some important things:
1. Some character development for Sisko, loosing his wife not even being able to bury her, sets up well for the close relationship he'd have with Jake in years to come.
2. THe prophets not understanding time etc...good thinking since ST makes the mistake alot of presuming all aliens would be like us.
3. The explanation of liner existance to the prophets by Sisko actually helping him work out his repressed feelings of greif was a fantastic tie in

(in the battle flashback)
"we do not bring you here....you bring us here...why do you exist here"

"Every time I close my eyes, I see her like this! and I've never learned how to live without her"

"So you exist here...it's not liner"


It also, from the get go, showd how O'Brians character was wasted on TNG, he was a more gritty and hands on engineer than La Forge and came across as more human than the others.

The more I watch THE EMISARY the most I appreciate it. There is more going on than just the linear motion of the story. What I got out of it?

That no matter what Sisko kept telling them, about humans living a linear existence, we really don't if we keep living in the past with our memories, as he was doing. That is why they were confused with Sisko's words.

Great episode...Would love to have seen Picard/Sisko meet again at the very end of the series. Just to see how far Sisko had come in those seven years..

Rob
Scorpio