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How to get a friend into DS9?

ReadyAndWilling

Fleet Captain
i started my Trek voyage in TNG and TOS. i loved these shows for their episodic stories and in relation to TNG, awesome, awesome characters.

i remember watching a couple episodes of DS9 when it was first shown back in the 90's and i could never get into it because i just had no clue what the hell was going on. there was so much talking and not enough exploring or interesting stories that the other shows had. i really liked VOY at the time because it had all of these each and every week.

only now, 10 years after DS9 left the air am i beginning to fully appreciate DS9. i think watching DS9 on DVD minus the ads makes it a much better experience, too. i'm also not forced to sit through 1 third of advertisements.

of course this is bitter/sweet because the story arcs are so long and well developed that it's almost impossible for someone to watch, say, an episode midway through S6 and understand WTF is going on. there's no way anybody could understand the intricacies of the Dominion, the Jems, the Vorta, Changelings, the controversy of Sec31, the cardasians, the romulans, the defiant and it's cloaking tech etc etc etc. just thinking about the show while writing this post is quite honestly, exhaustive. so how the hell could someone watch one episode and understand all of this? it would be very demanding for me to ask him to invest the time watching one season, let alone seasons 4-7 (the seasons from which i've watched episodes).

with a show like TNG i could watch an episode with him and he'd appreciate the epicness of picard, data, riker and even, the great exploration.

is there an episode i could watch with him that he could enjoy? i was thinking Rocks and Shoals because it fleshes out the Jem'Hadar, either that ep OR 'hippocratic oath'. which episode would give him an appetite to watch it without me pressuring him?
 
Show him Meridian, because it's all up hill from there. :p

You should have a good idea of what he likes in his TV shows, simply select an episode that has whatever those things are in it.

If he's familiar with TNG maybe "The Way of the Warrior" would be a good place to start since it is where Worf joins the crew.
 
I don't think there's any easy introduction episode, aside from the pilot. Most of the best ones rely on a bit of background knowledge of the characters and how they tick.

For example, Necessary Evil is great, and you could probably sell him on Odo and Kira with that, but the Quark/Rom stuff would be totally lost on him.
 
Show him "Duet". It's very early in the series' run so there's no real spoilers involved, and all the necessary backstory is explained or can be inferred from the episode itself, but it shows the Bajoran-Cardassian animosity that runs through the series and will give him a feel for the situation in the early episodes. Plus it's a damn good story.
 
If he's like most male sci fi fans, he likes space battles.
Sacrifice of Angels
Die is Cast
WoW
 
One question... Why are you trying to get your friend into DS9? I'm not trying to criticize your efforts. But I question how some trekkies try to get people into trek just because. If you truly think DS9 would be to his liking based on his interests and his taste in tv and movies, go for it. If not, it's iffy.

What is his TV watching style? Is he into any sci-fi shows or movies? Is there some geekiness in him?

It's not easy to suggest an episode. I'd suggest earlier seasons since the latter seasons usually require too much backstory to understand the plotlines.

Good Luck
 
One question... Why are you trying to get your friend into DS9? I'm not trying to criticize your efforts. But I question how some trekkies try to get people into trek just because. If you truly think DS9 would be to his liking based on his interests and his taste in tv and movies, go for it. If not, it's iffy.

What is his TV watching style? Is he into any sci-fi shows or movies? Is there some geekiness in him?

It's not easy to suggest an episode. I'd suggest earlier seasons since the latter seasons usually require too much backstory to understand the plotlines.

Good Luck

i see you have quite the displeasal of mainstreamers trying to join in with us trekies. its like dabo and you dont want him to play ;D
 
On the one hand I loved the arcs in DS9, but on the other hand, it's nice with TNG, Voyager etc that you can just watch one episode and know what is going on!

It took my a while to get into DS9 and I was a Trek fan.... I had watched parts of TNG as my Dad and brother were big fans, I myself became a Trekkie with Voyager... it was a friend who was a Trek fan who convinced me to watch DS9, I had tried watching it before but never like the first season.... of course it only gets better from there!
 
I don't think there's any easy introduction episode, aside from the pilot. Most of the best ones rely on a bit of background knowledge of the characters and how they tick.

For example, Necessary Evil is great, and you could probably sell him on Odo and Kira with that, but the Quark/Rom stuff would be totally lost on him.

Show him "Duet". It's very early in the series' run so there's no real spoilers involved, and all the necessary backstory is explained or can be inferred from the episode itself, but it shows the Bajoran-Cardassian animosity that runs through the series and will give him a feel for the situation in the early episodes. Plus it's a damn good story.

If he's like most male sci fi fans, he likes space battles.
Sacrifice of Angels
Die is Cast
WoW

One question... Why are you trying to get your friend into DS9? I'm not trying to criticize your efforts. But I question how some trekkies try to get people into trek just because. If you truly think DS9 would be to his liking based on his interests and his taste in tv and movies, go for it. If not, it's iffy.

What is his TV watching style? Is he into any sci-fi shows or movies? Is there some geekiness in him?

It's not easy to suggest an episode. I'd suggest earlier seasons since the latter seasons usually require too much backstory to understand the plotlines.

Good Luck

yeah, see i'm not sure if i can really do it one episode.

he's not a science fiction guy either. i'm pretty sure he just likes high quality television and movies.

he's a big fan of the tv show millenium if that helps.
 
Fringe is okay. You'd have better luck with nuBSG or Firefly as intros to science fiction. On to this exciting thread!

I have a lot of experience drawing friends and girlfriends into Star Trek, it depends on their temperament. For girls, I usually start off with The Inner Light and Tapestry, give them a few fun, light-hearted Data episodes and then seal the deal with "Chain of Command" after they care a bit about the characters. If you're lucky, your girl will start suggesting Star Trek when you get together :).

Best to introduce him to TNG before DS9, which should ALWAYS start with the pilot. I recommend showing him some of the best of TNG in random order, possible a bit of the Worf arch, and then make sure he's seen The Best of Both Worlds and Star Trek: First Contact as they provide some added context to the Ds9 pilot (the movie's not exactly in the timeline, but it's good in its own right).

If all goes well, the DS9 pilot will be compelling right away and your friend (if suited to Star Trek) won't be able to put it down until "What we leave behind" .... Good luck!!
 
I'd probably say just stick it with Emissary, yes it's weird and confusing, but it was a good start.

Other than that I'd probably say Necessary Evil, Duet, or Dramatis Personae.
 
Although I loved "Necessary Evil", I don't think you should use it to introduce DS9 -- mainly because of the ending. The reason why it's such a punch in the gut is because we the audience have known Kira for twenty-seven episodes: to a first-time viewer that impact would be lost, and it might even bias him against her character.

he's not a science fiction guy either. i'm pretty sure he just likes high quality television and movies.
Then, once again, I say start with "Duet". The only really science-fiction thing about it is the setting. With some minor rewriting it could easily be set in mid-20th-century Earth, with Darhe'el as a former concentration camp commander and Kira as a former Jewish partisan.
 
I have a couple of friends who are Trek fans and for some reason they just cannot get into DS9 and that is really frustrating for me because it is my favorite Trek series of all time! It may just be one of those things where you can't have everyone like what you like. One of my friends though, finally told me that she was going to watch DS9, but we'll see if she stays true to her word!
 
I have a couple of friends who are Trek fans and for some reason they just cannot get into DS9 and that is really frustrating for me because it is my favorite Trek series of all time! It may just be one of those things where you can't have everyone like what you like. One of my friends though, finally told me that she was going to watch DS9, but we'll see if she stays true to her word!

I see you passed over the chance to make the obvious pun of getting the OP's friend "into DS9".

Damn. And you could've worked in the OP's username "ReadyAndWilling" in there, too. Oh, well.
 
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