On my first run through of DS9...

[Jean-Luc Picard]

It took me so long to slog through the first two seasons. Some episodes were terrible to the point of being laughable, a small few were outstanding, but the majority were just boring. One or two literally put me to sleep. But I persevered because everyone said that it really hits its stride at Season Three.

And having just finished Season Two, I can believe that. The last two episodes of the season were awesome! "Tribunal" was a fantastic look at the Cardassians and a good mystery, turning what I feared was going to be just another O'Brien episode into a story where every character had the chance to do something. And "The Jem'Hadar" was a great introduction to the Dominion.

So I'm really eager to watch the third season!

 

[RyuRoots]

Shame on you, of all people, taking so long to get here, Jean-Luc.

I think overall the first two seasons ESPECIALLY S2 are better than that, but I do agree that the show, like TNG, hits a stride in S3. And unlike TNG, I think it never looks back.

 

[Jean-Luc Picard]

Haha, I've caught the occasional episode and have read the post-series books, but have only just got around to watching all of it. Season 3 is on its way in the post, so I can't wait to see how the show progresses.

 

[Geckothan]

I didn't think season 2 was so bad myself, a huge improvement on season 1. There were a few filler episodes, but plenty of great ones (Circle trilogy, Necessary Evil, Whispers, The Maquis, The Wire, Tribunal, The Jem'Hadar), still more bad ones than good ones but the good ones though. DS9 gets better and better every season, so if you enjoy season 3, you'll almost certainly enjoy the rest of show even more as you get through it.

 

[Bluesteel]

I'll say that DS9 really hits the strides at S4. But thats not to say that S1,S2,S3 are bad. They good all though a bit boring. Who doesn't love an arrogant Julian with the fluffy hair?

 

[Kevin01801]

I was not a fan of DS9 when it aired. I lost interest about 4 episodes into the first season and never thought I'd go back. After revisiting that first season on DVD late last year, I went through the remaining seasons and now consider DS9 my favorite (never thought TNG would ever lose that distinction in my mind!!) Enjoy it -- you're getting into some of the best Trek created.

 

[Navaros]

Season 1 and Season 2 of DS9 are both full of very boring, very bad episodes with a few good/great ones sprinkled in. Having said that, I don't see how DS9's first two seasons are any worse than any season of any other modern Trek show, rather, they are equivalents.

DS9 does indeed get way, way better starting with "The Jem'Hadar" and on though.

 

[Pemmer Harge]

I really quite liked Season 2 - it was a big improvement on Season 1 and some episodes like the Circle trilogy, Necessary Evil and The Jem'Hadar were excellent. I do agree though that Season 3 was the point where the show kind of sealed the deal. There are a few weak episodes, but it's more consistent than the previous seasons and the introduction of the Dominion makes things increasingly interesting. And characters like Sisko, Bashir and Dax start coming into their own.

 

[Geckothan]

And characters like Sisko, Bashir and Dax start coming into their own.

Sometimes I actually going back and watching S1-2 even though some of the episodes aren't so great because it's fun to see how much the characters have evolved.

 

[TeutonicNights]

I'm probably in the minority, but I like season 2 MUCH better than season 3.
Episodes like "The Maquis"(The awesomeness!), "Whispers", Cardassians and others were AAA. Imo it was just more consistently good.

I mean I see how many people think DS9 wasn't great until they gave them their own ship and the Dominion thing kicked in, but that's exactly why I like S2 so much. They had to work with what they got and it worked so well. Also nice little details (Kling chef for example).

Besides, season 3 had laughable episodes too. Meridian, Distant Voices. Fascination. Which episodes of season two were laughable?

And season one also has a special place in my heart, although I'd place it after S3. It's amazing how competently they built up some of the relationships and political background.
Considering The Nagus was the first Ferengi-centric episode since the failures of TNG, it was a masterpiece. "In the hands..." was rock-solid as well. Vortex was a very decent "adventure episode" and they managed to get a little "Star Wars"-y as well in "Past Prologue" and Q-Less. Though I'd admit some of season one is pretty boring and some stories were rather weak.

Man DS9 owns

 

[Tallis Rhul]

Season 1 in my opinion had one too many episodes reliant on characters from TNG. I wasn't keen on Q-Less for example, and although it was nice to see the Sisters of Duras it was a bit random they'd be ending up in that neck of the woods (although not inconceivable).

I can't believe you weren't keen on the 3-parter at the beginning of Season 2 though, Jean-Luc, I thought that was really nicely put together! I completely agree with you about the last 2 eps of season 2 though, they do completely kick up a gear and shove the rest of the show on the course towards the end of 7, some really nicely thought-out writing all round.

 

[DevilEyes]

I'm probably in the minority, but I like season 2 MUCH better than season 3.
Episodes like "The Maquis"(The awesomeness!), "Whispers", Cardassians and others were AAA. Imo it was just more consistently good.

I mean I see how many people think DS9 wasn't great until they gave them their own ship and the Dominion thing kicked in, but that's exactly why I like S2 so much. They had to work with what they got and it worked so well. Also nice little details (Kling chef for example).

Besides, season 3 had laughable episodes too. Meridian, Distant Voices. Fascination. Which episodes of season two were laughable?

And season one also has a special place in my heart, although I'd place it after S3. It's amazing how competently they built up some of the relationships and political background.
Considering The Nagus was the first Ferengi-centric episode since the failures of TNG, it was a masterpiece. "In the hands..." was rock-solid as well. Vortex was a very decent "adventure episode" and they managed to get a little "Star Wars"-y as well in "Past Prologue" and Q-Less. Though I'd admit some of season one is pretty boring and some stories were rather weak.

Man DS9 owns

Yeah, season 2 is at least as good as season 3.
Season 3 has "Second Skin" (one of my favorites), The Improbable Cause/The Die Is Cast", "Defiant", "The House of Quark", "Past Tense", but season 2 has "Necessary Evil", "The Maquis", The Circle trilogy, "Whispers", "Cardassians", Tribunal"... Season 2's Mirror Universe episode ("Crossover") is stronger than S3's MU episode ("Through the Looking Glass"). And if S2 has lame episodes like "Melora" or "The Rivals", season3 is even worse in that respect with "Meridian" and "Fascination".

And season 1, while it was weaker, still had a few great eps, like "Duet". The beginning and the ending of the season were the strongest.

 

[Navaros]

Which episodes of season two were laughable?

Laughable and unwatchable and/or barely-watchable episodes of S2:

"Invasive Procedures"; "Melora"; "Second Sight"; "Sanctuary"; "Armageddon Game"; "Paradise"; "Playing God"; "Crossover" (generally well-regarded by fans but I don't see how this is a good episode just because it is slightly less asinine and pointless than the other MU episodes); there are also many laughable/unwatchable moments in "Cardassians", namely any scene in which Rugel is onscreen.

Having said that, every single season of DS9 has a slew of bad episodes like the aforementioned. But the later seasons have a higher number of great episodes in addition.

I would also say the Circle episodes are quite boring if the viewer doesn't care about Bajorans, although I can at least appreciate those episodes as a decent writing effort, unlike the aforementioned episodes.

 

[TeutonicNights]

Oh well. I suppose we could argue which episodes are unwatchable or ridiculous all day-it basically comes down to personal taste I guess.
I don't consider episodes like Melora "great", but they kinda had some redeeming qualities (mostly in the details), which I don't see in "Fascination" or "Distant Voices". And I don't really see why "Paradise" should be considered bad at all, but okay.

I wonder why so often, people consider season 3 so leaps and bounds over season two. Season two didn't have the Dominion episodes, yes.
But season two had the Maquis, a closer look on Cardassians and Bajorans (AND a big setup for the Dominion as well). They handled all of that very competently in my opinion. They weren't "trying" anymore.

I agree about the Circle arc to be overrated. It was cheap on FX for starters, which really hurt the episodes imo, the whole "taking back the station" thingy was pretty weak and ridiculous, too. It kinda was like the episode's outcome was zero. Much ado about nothing.
And there wasn't enough of Bajor itself to make it a living, credible place. And that would have been the place to do it. Show some streets where people riot etc.
On the other hand, The Search wasn't a masterpiece, either.

What's definitely odd about season two is the choice of episode order. Not only did they have three Miles-heavy episodes in a row (whispers, Armageddon game, Paradise), but the choice of putting "Invasive Procedures" right after "The Siege" was weird.

If you watch them in a row, you see the station being evacuated and the whole business about Quark having to stay behind with his Latinum case (cause Rom sold his seat), THEN in "Invasive Procedures" you have the station being evacuated *again* and Quark being left behind because his Latinum case didn't fit on the Runabout (wtf?). If there had been references to "The Siege" it might have been alright, but there hadn't. Strange.