Season 1 (17 years later)

[Eric Cheung]

My girlfriend has been Netflixing Season 1 for the past couple of weeks because that was the show on which both of us grew up (we both started with TNG, but certainly in my case, DS9 is the only show I've ever followed from its premiere episode to the finale while the episodes were new).

She skipped the first disk (her brother's only tape of the show was "Emissary," which he'd watch over and over), but in watching most of the first season there are some things I'd either forgotten, or was too young to pick up when I was 11.

First, if I could pitch the show based on the first season it would be "a space-western Dragnet." I never realized just how many episodes were about crime-solving.

Second, even the sci-fi episodes had something to do with character or the politics of the sector. Babel for example, I'd only remembered as the one where O'Brien speaks nonsense. But even that one is tied into the relationship between the Bajoran resistance movement and the Cardassian Occupation.

Third, every episode was pretty damn funny. The dialogue was rich with complex and insightful observations about characters and life.

Also, Bashir really was written to be an arrogant jerk. I think that's something that I might have been just a little too young to pick up the first time around (I think because he was supposed to be kind of young and plucky, and kids kind of think that way too).

Has anyone else only recently rediscovered early DS9?

 

[Kathryn-janeway]

Iv only just got in ds9 after purchasing the season 1. And i think its brilliant all the characters are introduced well and the stories follow on from each episode. I am a true voyager fan but i have realised that in voyagers first season the episodes weren't followed on aswell as ds9 and for that i think it makes ds9 unique in its own ways

'Third, every episode was pretty damn funny.'
'Iv got to agree with you here, iv cracked into laughter with the characters O'Brien's the best for humour i think

 

[Mal]

It's hard to believe how much O'Brien clearly didn't like Bashir when the show started.

Actually it was pretty blatant through 2x13 Armageddon Game. But by the time the show ends, Bashir and O'Brien are such good friends, that it can sometimes come as a shock to see their lack of chemistry during the early parts of the show.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armageddon_Game

 

[Eric Cheung]

To clarify, I liked what they did with Bashir. It's fun to see him get taken down a peg. It's fun to watch him grow up.

The foreshadowing with the changelings in Vortex was eerie, knowing how well it fit with what happened. They weren't that sure what direction they were going with Odo's people until at least a year later.

But Rom's character development early on seems way off and inconsistent with the Rom we know. I think he was supposed to play more of a TNG-type of Ferengi to demonstrate how unique Quark was. But having him attempt to kill Quark seemed a little extreme, especially that early, for someone known for his timidity and loyalty.

 

[Admiral Shran]

I love the first season of DS9, though I will admit that it's my least favorite of the seven.

However, when compared to TNG's first season, DS9's seems like Shakespeare!

It's amazing how well that season has stood the test of time (WOW, 17 years already ).

Even Voyager's first season doesn't hold up as well, and it premiered two years after DS9's!

 

[LitmusDragon]

I've just finished watching the first season again for the first time in years, and yes it really is quite good.

I was also shocked that Rom was a totally different character.

Kira really was the heart of the show in season one. She had so many great episodes.

 

[Tosk]

it can sometimes come as a shock to see their lack of chemistry during the early parts of the show.

They always had chemistry...just that the early chemistry was explosive.

 

[Dee007]

I agree the DS9 episodes go on smoothly one after the other. I am currently following Season 1 and its just Great.

 

[Autobot]

I currently get together every Wednesday to watch DS9 with 4 of my friends, most of whom have never seen it. We've had 24 #DS9nights and are almost finished the 3rd season. I've inserted several other episodes from TOS and TNG too to give more backstory. Like watching all 3 TOS episodes with the three original Klingons who appeared in Blood Oath, TNG's Preemptive Strike and Journey's End for the Maquis, and in the next couple weeks will watch some of the Gowron/Worf stuff prior to Way of the Warrior.

While I'm enjoying watching the show again, it sure seems very theatrical compared with the more realistic sci-fi we've had since, like Firefly and Battlestar Galactica.

 

[I am not Spock]

I've been watching early DS9 again on DVD recently, after not seeing the first few seasons for years (alternating with viewings of seasons 6 and 7 of TNG). I'm shocked at how different Rom is in season one! He's willing to kill Quark in 'The Nagus'! I never would imagine that kind of behaviour from him later on.

There's also a lot more crossover between TNG 6-7 and DS9 1-2 than I remembered. Some blatant (Bashir,Quark, and Gul Evek turning up on TNG, etc); some more subtle (the episodes Chain of Command, Journey's End, Lower Decks, Pre-emptive Strike, and others, dealing with Fed-Cardie relations and the beginnings of the Maquis)

 

[Tyjos Azari]

I have since it's been a LONG while since I saw it, rediscovering the joy of DS9 is fun. Especially when the Romulans and Klingons show up...."House of Quark" is one of my favs.

I am now in Season 4 of my DS9 Marathon since I picked up the entire season this month [it was worth it for sure!]

Just always know this: When in doubt, watch Star Trek.....DS9 especially since I've been watching TNG and Enterprise recently and had been wanting more and DS9 fit that need perfectly. [If I wanted a space station sci-fi show I'll watch B5, but DS9 just has so much more than B5 since it has 7 seasons as to B5's 5 seasons+Crusade that was cancelled]

"The Nagus" I liked as well, I like the Ferengi episodes.

 

[RandyS]

My girlfriend has been Netflixing Season 1 for the past couple of weeks because that was the show on which both of us grew up (we both started with TNG, but certainly in my case, DS9 is the only show I've ever followed from its premiere episode to the finale while the episodes were new).

She skipped the first disk (her brother's only tape of the show was "Emissary," which he'd watch over and over), but in watching most of the first season there are some things I'd either forgotten, or was too young to pick up when I was 11.

First, if I could pitch the show based on the first season it would be "a space-western Dragnet." I never realized just how many episodes were about crime-solving.

Second, even the sci-fi episodes had something to do with character or the politics of the sector. Babel for example, I'd only remembered as the one where O'Brien speaks nonsense. But even that one is tied into the relationship between the Bajoran resistance movement and the Cardassian Occupation.

Third, every episode was pretty damn funny. The dialogue was rich with complex and insightful observations about characters and life.

Also, Bashir really was written to be an arrogant jerk. I think that's something that I might have been just a little too young to pick up the first time around (I think because he was supposed to be kind of young and plucky, and kids kind of think that way too).

Has anyone else only recently rediscovered early DS9?

Yep. I'm doing a DS9 re-watch right now and am halfway through season 2. I pretty much agree with your observations. Particularly Bashir. I'm a quite a bit older than you, I was 23 when the first season aired originally, but I didn't pick up on his arrogance (I think jerk is a little harsh) until later. Now, he strikes me as more or less the same character as Harry Kim, both were on their first assignments and were eager to make good, but came off as a little pompus. Thankfully, Bashir lost this trait as the show went on, but Kim certainly never did.
​

 

[Eric Cheung]

Yeah, I thought using the word "jerk" would give the wrong impression, but it's what my girlfriend exclaimed with a laugh when he obliviously agreed with Kira's sarcastic praise.

Again, I like where he is at this point because it's fun to watch and because it's fun to realize how much he'll grow.

I think at least one thing didn't help Harry Kim though:

With little change in the crew over seven years, there's not much room for him to move up, especially as a bridge officer. He was never promoted and whether that fueled his mediocrity or his mediocrity fueled his lack of promotion, he stayed still.

 

[Eric Cheung]

We finally Netflixed disc one. My argument was that there were episodes that weren't Emissary (which everyone in my girlfriend's house had seen hundreds of times when she was a kid because she had a younger sibling). We ended up watching all three episodes anyway.

It was the first time I saw Emissary as a movie since the night it premiered on January 3rd 1993. It was kind of shorter than I remember. Though I liked the sequence explaining time to the prophets, I think at the time I might have had the same problem she did, that it went on too long. But now, I think that what they were doing with that sequence was explaining the mandate of the series: that every action in a given episode would have consequences throughout the series.

Also, having now completed the season, we've also picked up on how much Sisko's experienced parenting influenced his command-style, how silly it was for Keiko "I always wanted to be a teacher" O'Brien to start a school (despite its need, it came off as kind of home-schooly. I'm glad they realized that she could still be a botanist with trips to Bajor and Earth.), and also how flaming Garak was, right from the beginning.

I'm glad to watch this show as an adult now. I'm looking forward to the first ever three-parter, which opens season two.

 

[flemm]

Third, every episode was pretty damn funny. The dialogue was rich with complex and insightful observations about characters and life.

I wholeheartdly agree on this point. DS9 doesn't blossom as sci-fi action/adventure until season 3 at the earliest. What makes up for this in the early going are all the little character moments and hilarious bits of dialogue. It makes it hard to recommend episodes in seasons 1 and 2 because often the best moments are not the focus of the main story.

Season 2 is among my favorite seasons of the show because it combines those priceless character moments with better main stories (especially at the beginning and end of the season).

The later seasons of DS9 are epic and awesome. Their popularity is most definitely justified. But it doesn't come without a price. A lot of the tensions within the main cast that drive the show early on are marginilized by the end in favor of romance, the Dominion War, or episodes that focus on some particular sub-group such as Ferengi episodes or Klingon episodes.

 

[Joeman]

It's amazing to me what they did with Bashir. The way I felt about him in the end was at the opposite end of the spectrum from how I felt about him early on.

 

[tomalak301]

It's amazing to me what they did with Bashir. The way I felt about him in the end was at the opposite end of the spectrum from how I felt about him early on.

I still think Bashir was the most developed character on the entire series. It was an excellent journey to see him on.

 

[Eric Cheung]

Third, every episode was pretty damn funny. The dialogue was rich with complex and insightful observations about characters and life.

I wholeheartdly agree on this point. DS9 doesn't blossom as sci-fi action/adventure until season 3 at the earliest. What makes up for this in the early going are all the little character moments and hilarious bits of dialogue. It makes it hard to recommend episodes in seasons 1 and 2 because often the best moments are not the focus of the main story.

Season 2 is among my favorite seasons of the show because it combines those priceless character moments with better main stories (especially at the beginning and end of the season).

The later seasons of DS9 are epic and awesome. Their popularity is most definitely justified. But it doesn't come without a price. A lot of the tensions within the main cast that drive the show early on are marginilized by the end in favor of romance, the Dominion War, or episodes that focus on some particular sub-group such as Ferengi episodes or Klingon episodes.

I think most of the stories that dealt with such topics in the later seasons were quite well done. Some of the Klingon episodes got a little repetitive, but and I think the Bashir/Ezri stuff was a little to late-90's NBC Must See TV, but one of the luxuries of such long-form storytelling as a seven-season TV show is the ability to go off and explore a little pocket of the universe that's been created once in a while. I've always thought TV has the same potential as novels in that regard, especially the serialized Dickens-style works of the 19th century.

 

[JarodRussell]

DS9 simply is the best Trek show ever made. Hands down.
Each of the characters grew immensely during the show's run.

 

[flemm]

I think most of the stories that dealt with such topics in the later seasons were quite well done.

They were, and the later seasons are great. However, I do think there is a change in focus so that, while much is gained, some good things are lost, mostly the complexity of the interactions within the main cast.

A good example of this is the Quark/Odo relationship which is so entertaining early on. They still have their moments in the later seasons, but they are much more rare. Another example is Kira's relationship with Sisko, which has basically been smoothed over by that point so that they are a lot more like a traditional Captain/First Officer. This is all just a natural part of the show's evolution, but it's one reason why I enjoy the early seasons almost as much as the later ones: the epic scale is not there yet, but the tensions within the main cast get a lot more attention.

In the later seasons, there's a tendency for the cast to get isolated in sub-groups so that you get a Bashir-O'Brien episode, a Ferengi episode, a Kira-Odo episode, a Klingon episode and so on. That is partly by necessity because the cast had expanded to the point where the writers really couldn't deal with everyone at once.

Early on the ensemble cast is tighter, so you don't get that same tendency for the show to get broken down into sub-families as often. The one real criticism I have as to how the main cast was dealt with towards the end was how marginilized Quark and Quark's bar eventually became. Early on Quark's was the center of life on the station. By season seven everybody's spending far too much time in Vic's.