Hey guys!
As of now, I think this Thread has a bit more the feeling of: "which minor things would you like to have changed during DS9's run".
So I'm giong to make a BIG leap here:
What would I change if I would
completely Reboot DS9:
1. More human characters and fewer, but more complex aliens:
A big problem I have with the beginning of the series is that it feels completely detached. A majority of the main characters are aliens, where each of them has a special 'schtick'. Some work (Odo, Quark), some not so much (Dax). I think the reason why Spock on TOS and Data and Worf on TNG work, is because they are the
only completely alien characters, and thereby get fleshed out really well. On DS9 we had right from the start so many alien characters, it was hard to learn the schticks of each character before getting to know the character itself better. This, of course, should change over the course of the series, where new (and alien) characters get added. But for the beginning: Have just two (and maybe a third minor) weird guy to ease in audiences.
2. Make it a bit more relatable
I really like DS9 once I've gotten into it. But it's really hard to get into, because all the characters are either aliens, or have a very complicated backstory. And everything on a location that is totally detached from my reality and experiences. The other serieses and the movies usually took a big effort to show: it's the fututre, but it's
our future. So, at least for the beginning, make it a bit more 'humans on the edge of the frontier' and less 'weird alien politics and stuff'.
3. Ditch or completely redo the Bajorans
The Bajorans are the worst. They are the constant embodiement of one of TNGs worst aspects: The aliens of the week. They are too weird to be identifiably as humans, but too much 'guys with a bump on the nose' to take them serious as aliens. Also, they have only two characteristics: They were once occupied and they are religous. Woah. What opportunities. So here is the thing: Either ditch them completely and make it the last station in the middle of nowhere. Or let her be around a human colony. (It could be a former colony that seccesed, was occupied, and stuff, so still have a complicated backstory and not be the perfect Star Trek humans, but it would get rid of the 'alien of the week'-look). Or make them completely alien. Like starfish aliens, maybe reptilians, and give them defining characteristics. Maybe even merge the symbiont aspect of the Trills with them. So that they are interesting enough that you want to learn more about them and see them in further episodes.
4. More travelling through the galaxy
Since we're talking about redoing DS9
now, there would be a considerable advancement in special effects, make-up and set design. So here is what I want to see: Make the runabouts a little bit bigger. And let our heroes travel with them to the many planets in the neighborhood. Make DS9 a station from where the heroes start and fly back to, but let them travel a bit more! Show us more alien worlds!
5. More msjor alien nations
For a stationary show, Deep Space Nine has a remarkebly short list of recurring aliens. Unlike Babylon 5, which had many major different societies, DS9 basically only has the Bajorans and Cardassians, later adding klingons and the Dominion. How about we have four or five different recurring species? Maybe the Cardassians, but add another Empire, equally strong, and other different fractions. Give each of them special characteristics. Have a robot society. Another one of non-corporeal beings. Maybe some 'fish-aliens', who live under water half of their time. A species of hermaphrodites, who don't know how gender works and can make no sense of human (and the other aliens') behaviour. And then: Have them all interact. Show us the capital of one species in a major plot arc. Then move on to the next species. Then have an arc about diplomatic conflicts between two of them. Have the conflict between fueled by their different view on the world, ethics and politics (How would robots react to murder in a society, where everyone can make copies of themselves? How would it affect their interactions with biological beings?)
5. Don't make it World War II in space
Seriously. The war against alien opressors has become totally clichéd by this point.
EVERY scifi show does it. From every Stargate show, Babylon 5, Andromeda, Space above and beyond, Battlestar Galactica, clone wars, Defiance and
every other show ever. Really, I think a big draw to Star Trek (well, at least the other four series) has been always that it
doesn't do the WAR IN SPACE stuff. So: either avoid it totally, or do something we have never seen before. This is why I think the conflict with the Borg is much more interesting than the war against other alien nations: The Borg are
truly different. How do you cope with something so strange and alien? Can normal diplomacy even
work? So if you
have to do a war against aliens, make it more like the Bug War from Starship Troopers (the book, not the film), where it is even unclear if the rules of engagement even apply.
So, these are my recommendations for redoing DS9. Of course, this would result in a completely new and different series in the end. But I think this is the point, because we already
have the current DS9
