Season 1 re-watch -- wow this is good!

OKthe title is misleading... H & I shows DS9 a little too late for me to watch it regularly...but I did catch Emissary part 1, Duet & In the Hands of the Prophets.

I have always thought Duet was one of Trek's greatest episodes, and it was confirmed...but seeing Kira, and in the other two episodes a good intelligent counterpoint to other viewpoints. She's a great fit for this show, and providing a great opportunity for diversity.

Just all the little stuff...like how Sisko interacts with Jake -- how Wesley & Beverly SHOULD have been. A great little example, how Sisko gently corrects Jake in a viewpoint where he could be the mirror of Vedek Winn, instead of truly being "better".


Oh and great seeing Morn all over the place!

My only issue with the show -- the opening sequence is the MOST boring one out of all the series!

 

It gets less boring in S4.

 

The first season of DS9 is much better than it's reputed! "The Emissary" wastes little time in introducing everyone and dropping them in it. From then on, the show almost tries to act like it's been around, forever, already. I could've done without Sisko being hyped as the Messiah, right out of the gate, simply to aggrandise the character. It seemed like overkill, honestly. But Season One has its own charm and I'm a fan of it.

 

I rate season 1 of DS9 very highly indeed. It has one of the best pilot episodes of any TV series I've seen, and a high standard of good episodes throughout.

I liked Sisko's link with the Bajorans and the prophets early on - it was season 7 that ruined it.

All those characters got a good chance to shine in season one, and I find a lot to like in the early episodes.

I know I'm in the minority, but I thought the series latter years (season 6-7) were a big dip in quality.

 

I just recently re-watched this and found I liked Julian a lot better this time around than I did when I originally watched it. First time around he got on my nerves...now I just see him as a sort of eager puppy trying hard to fit in. He might become my favorite character after Sisko.

 

Season 1 definitely spends a little too much time not trying hard enough to be different from TNG, but I felt it stirring even then, doing eps that couldn't have happened on TNG (or not easily) ...little did I know how much DS9 would become a distinct and fantastic show in the under-rated season 2. Also, Emissary remains my fave Trek pilot. It's not even close.

 

I was enjoying your post about Trek's masterwork until I read that part. That intro is wonderful! Makes the hairs on my arms stand up.

Oh and Morn is ok...just wish the guy would shut up a bit, y'know?

 

I have not seen much DS9, but I'm getting there -- currently watching all of Trek in order (just started S5 of TNG).

However, on a whim a few months back I decided to watch the DS9 pilot just to see what it was like. And my god. I WEPT. Like, streaming tears. I don't know if it was just a weird place I was in at the time or what, but that whole "It's not linear" and "Why do you exist HERE?" stuff just destroyed me. Really looking forward to when I reach DS9, because that pilot hinted at what all the fuss is about with that show.

 

Emissary has a different tone than all the rest of DS9. It's more intense, and it comes across more like a film than as a TV episode. As for season one, it's the best first season since TOS, but it's hard to appreciate it at first. I found it really takes having watched all 7 seasons and then going back to s1, after you know everyone.

What was off-putting at first was all the Bajoran politics. I like all that now, but I care about Bajor now, after all 7 seasons. In s1 it was like they were forcing Bajor down your throat, taking for granted that every little mundane aspect of Bajor would fascinate the audience. They needed to draw us in, to earn our interest in Bajor. That only happened for me several seasons in. So s1 is good after s7 as a "prequel", but not as your first DS9...

 

Last time I attempted a watch through of DS9 (in 2013), I was weirded out at the start that the lead character isn't a Captain in rank, and takes until the start of season 3 to do so! That's one of those facts that I always forget about DS9. Dunno if the creators decided on that for artistic reasons or if it was executive meddling, but I still think it odd.

 

At the start of DS9, the station commander wasn't in charge of enough people or an important enough situation to warrant a post captain as c.o. Having Sisko start as a commander emphasized that.

 

DS9's huge, though. Sisko commanded fewer people than on a starship?

 

Most people on DS9 were residents, not crew, I suspect. Moreover, it is at least insinuated that most of the security and engineering crews were Bajoran, especially up to the introduction of Eddington.

 

Yeah, they really should have had a station administrator liason to Starfleet given all those civilians. Kira just threatened everyone into line.

 

And Eddington was Starfleet's attempt to push Odo aside as head of security, which was interesting. Not as interesting as Eddington himself turned out to be, of course.

 

I'm almost up to DS9 production in the 50-year mission vol2 and am curious about their choice too. This was no ordinary station, and the existence of a stable wormhole was a big deal as we know from TNG's "The Price". There should have been several starships assigned to protect their....I mean Bajor's...asset. I assume it comes down to Bajor wanting a limited military presence after 50 years of occupation.

 

Everyone knew the Bajoran sector was under Federation protection, so Would someone risk a war by attempting to take the station? Obviously we did have a war put that was in part about the Dominion trying to bring their idea of order to the region as well as their distrust of solids.

 

Season one of DS9 comes off a lot better when you understand the characters better than you would have first time around.

 

There are some good episodes in Season 1, one of them being the aforementioned "Duet." The only downside being the horrid "Move Along Home" which has Sisko at one point giving a look like "Really?" when they have to do some silly hop-scotch bit.

Jadzia Dax was a bit more reserved and mysterious (but still beautiful) and Julian Bashir was immature, a bit shady, trying to get into Jadzia's jumpsuit.

 

I'm glad they gave Jadzia a personality in Season 2. Maybe they overdid it when they put her in Camelot outfits, but she was kind of boring in the first season. It's one thing to be someone who has lived several lifetimes, but the current life is the most important. It was also what I liked most about Ezri. We already got to know Dax, but to see someone have to struggle with her life and the lives of past hosts were really interesting to me.