Season 2 is Underappreciated

[Too Much Fun]

Finally a review I can agree with. I was blown away by "Whispers". The mystery was so well built-up that I was sure that the ending would be a letdown and I'm so glad it ended up being totally satisfying. It was the first episode that really distinguished DS9 from TNG for me as a show that could be excellent in completely new and different ways than its predecessor. To a lesser extent, I could say "Captive Pursuit" also accomplished that, which is why I think that O'Brien-centric episodes were some of the early highlights of the first few seasons.

 

[Red Ranger]

I'm afraid I disagree with the O.P. S2 is rather weak. There are a lot of stinkers in this season, almost as many stinkers as in S1. DSN really didn't hit its stride till S3, and when the Dominion War arc was in full swing is when the show really shined. I found most of the Bajoran stuff boring, actually, with the exception of the three-parter at the beginning of S2. The eps that just didn't work for me were Invasive Procedures, Melora, The Alternate, and Shadowplay. -- RR

 

[JediKnightButler]

My wife and I (I'm showing her the series) are currently in S2 and I think that it is a pretty good season overall, particularly the last part of the season with the Maquis duology, The Wire, Jem'Hadar. I'm eager to get to the 3rd and 4th seasons where IMHO the show gets REALLY good but I'm committed to patiently going through every episode for the second time. DS9 is probably my favorite Trek series (or at least VERY close to TNG) and it's hard for me not to find at least SOMETHING in just about every episode to enjoy- even the mediocre ones.

 

[DS9Continuing]

Well, those who like "Cardassians" (like me) will be pleased to read the upcoming DS9 novel The Never Ending Sacrifice. I was really impressed with Robert Mandan as Pa'dar in that episode.

Not only that, but Pa'Dar plays a large role in the Terok Nor trilogy, especially the first book, Day of the Vipers.

That's something I liked about the series though. I found the Bajoran/Cardassian politic stuff to be very interesting and like I said, it fleshed out the universe a whole lot more.

To me, the Cardassian/Bajoran stuff IS Deep Space Nine. It's what the show is, what it was supposed to be. Obviously we're all entitled to our own likes and dislikes, but to my mind, if you don't like Cardassian/Bajoran stuff, then you don't like Deep Space Nine.

.... the battle for power between the lady played by Louise Fletcher and the various men who Kira had sex with. I thought her relationships with different Bajorn political figures were all shallow and poorly developed (I really didn't understand why any of them happened, aside from physical attraction, which made Kira look like a slut who would just have sex with anyone in a position of power)

Seriously, I find this a horrible and utterly factually incorrect characterisation. I fail to see how any woman who has sex with THREE people in the space of seven years can be called a slut by any right-minded person.

 

[Praetorian]

The second season was a little uneven in the middle, episodes like "Melora", "Sanctuary", "Rules of Aquisition", "Second Sight" and others certanly didn't help...however it had a great ending. Eight consecutive episodes of very good quality, from "Blood Oath" to "The Jem'Hadar".
And before that it had the "Circle Trilogy", "Whispers", "Necessary Evil", "Cardassians" and some other nice episodes.

So certanly a good Season of Ds9. The best season of Trek in that year that's for sure.
In fact the only year where a Ds9 Season wasn't the best Trek season was the First...

 

[Too Much Fun]

.... the battle for power between the lady played by Louise Fletcher and the various men who Kira had sex with. I thought her relationships with different Bajorn political figures were all shallow and poorly developed (I really didn't understand why any of them happened, aside from physical attraction, which made Kira look like a slut who would just have sex with anyone in a position of power)

Seriously, I find this a horrible and utterly factually incorrect characterisation. I fail to see how any woman who has sex with THREE people in the space of seven years can be called a slut by any right-minded person.

I think you're misinterpreting what I mean a little bit. I'm not criticizing the character so much as the writing of her relationships. I'm not labelling her a slut simply for having sex with more than one person, I'm saying the writers made her appear that way by not depicting convincing relationships between her and the men she got involved with (which, to be fair, has been a weakness in Star Trek almost from the beginning). If their relationships had been written in a way that made it believable that she and her Bajoran partners were genuinely in love with each for who they were, I would have no problem with them.

The reality is, all I can remember is them talking about how busy the job of a Bajoran official is, how much they wish they had more time together, and them having sex. And that goes for both of the Bajoran men she was involved with...their characters were so interchangable, bland, and one-dimensional that I can't even remember their names. I'm glad there was at least some real substance between Odo and Kira.

 

[tomalak301]

All this talk about the movie made me want to go back and watch DS9 for some reason. I had been kinda slumping on this season lately (Doesn't mean it's getting tiresome, I've just been busy) but really got into a mood last night and watched a couple more episodes.

Paradise

Not a bad episode, but Alixus is a total bitch. For some reason, she reminds me of Janeway, even though I liked Janeway. I liked the themes of this episode about brainwashing and being forced to give up technology, but something interesting happened when I was watching it. My mind drifted to the BSG Finale in which they too were supposed to give up technology. It was an interesting study on not being able to and the whole human condition on how we have been so addicted to technology. Brooks gave a great performence as Sisko, and Obrien is great in this episode too. The only thing I didn't like was the end and how the group were so forgiving for the sake of community. No one can be independent and I did feel sorry for the children for being forced to live that way. Maybe the episode was trying to tell us about finding possibilities you never knew you had (As OBrien says at the beginning) but I thought it took things to the extreme.

Shadowplay

Of all the episodes prior to Jem'Hadar that mention the Dominion, this one I think is my favorite. The story is disconnected (A-Plot, B-Plot and the always wonder if it's unnecessary C-Plot) but the character work is great. We have a cute relationship between Taya and Odo and Berial and Kira strengthening the relationship and it's just one of those cute episodes. I also liked the holographic people for some reason, and the stuff between Kira and Quark is always gold. It's probably not a memorable episode, but it's a cute one.

Playing God

I don't know how to talk about this episode. The stuff with Arjin and Jadzia was good, but the whole universe developing stuff was forgettable. Still, I loved seen Jadzia being put in her place, even though I like her. Also nice to get some stuff on the whole training to get the symbiont which set the seed for Equilibrium (An episode that doesn't get mentioned a lot here for some reason).



I'm getting to the reasons I love this season so much. From blood oath to the end DS9 was on a streak that was so awesome to watch. I honestly can't wait to experiance that streak again.

 

[tomalak301]

Profit and Loss

Next to Sanctuary, this episode is probably the worst of the season. I absolutely hated the whole Quark/Natima relationship and it just came across as talky and repetitive. However, it did set the scenes for the Cardassian Dissident movement, and the stuff with Garek was great, but this episode overall sucked.

Blood Oath

Here is where DS9 season 2 becomes just outstanding. I love this episode and I love the fact that it has three legendary Klingons in it. Even if you hadn't seen Star Trek (It's going to be tough now to not call it the Original Series thanks to this movie ), the way they act just seems legendary. I also liked Jadzia in this one, trying to fulfill the Blood Oath. It was great that the Albino wasn't really developed that much and the fight scenes at the end were awesome. It's just so sad though that Koloth died. He's such a great character in this episode.

 

[tomalak301]

The Maquis

I guess the thing I liked about these two episodes was that it expanded the universe a lot. It was an inter-series arc with TNG (Starting with Journey's End, which I also watched over the weekend and ending with Pre-emptive Strike) and with quotes like "It's easy to be a saint in paradise," these episodes just make the universe bigger and a lot more interesting. I've been reading a lot saying that the downfall of Trek happened in 1994. I can't agree with that. In fact, I would say 1994 was the best year to be a Star Trek fan. With TNG ending, DS9 having a steller season, a movie on the way, and Voyager coming, it was just really cool to be a Trek fan (And also I was 10-11 years old at the time). I guess many things happened since where it wasn't cool to be a Trek fan anymore. That's a bit unfortunate.

Anyway, the only thing I don't like about this episode was the guy who played Cal. He looked disinterested, bored, and they could have gotten someone better (It definately wouldn't happen, but Samuel L Jackson would have been a great fit) to play him. Despite that though, the stuff with Sisko and Dukat was just pure gold and really cemented Dukat's place in Trek lore. He was already a good character but in this episode, that status was risen to great. The stuff between Sakonna and Quark was great too.

I really wish DS9 would have done more with the Maquis. Everything was a set up for Voyager, and while DS9 did to some more with them, it wasn't nearly enough when they could have had free game since Voyager abandoned the whole thing after the first episode. Still, what we got in these two episodes make it some of the best Season 2 had to offer. Again, there was more emphasis on Cardassian/Federation relations, the politics of it all, and that was the core of Season 2.

 

[tomalak301]

The Wire

If it wasn't was the steller two part episodes (Improbable Cause/Die is Cast, and In Purgatory's Shadow/By Inferno's Light), this would be the best Garak episode of the series. I absolutely love Garak, and this is just pure Garak goodness for 45 minutes. It's also probably Bashir's first great episode (And he will have many more). Loved the dialoge, meeting Tain, and finding out about the Obsidian Order. I did notice something though. At the end when Garak gives Bashir the new piece of Cardassian Lit, it was a story about Cardassia and the Klingon Empire at war. Was that forshadowing or just coincidental. Other than that, I'd probably say this was a top 5 episode of the season.

 

[tomalak301]

I finished season 2 tonight. Haven't really felt the need to post mainly because I wasn't getting any feedback (Agreement/disagreement, stuff like that) but I wanted to talk about two episodes I really find underrated and then that awesome finale.

The two episodes I just saw are episodes I am surprised at how underrated they are. The first is "The Collaborator" in which Kai Winn is elected. This is a big pivotal episode in the series because it really sets the direction of the Bajorans for the end of the season. I loved it because I love those kind of mystery episodes where you get a twist here and there and then at the end it all comes together and you're like "ah, so that's how it went." However, I do think it would have been interesting if Barial had been the collaborator and not Opaka. I think the writers kind of chickened out with that one, but having Opaka be the collaborator and the one who kills her own son for the sake of 300 others was great writing. It also makes her decision to stay on that planet make some kind of sense. Still, the possibilities for consequences were laid there and it would have been interesting to have it developed further.

I also loved Tribunal, even though I've been a little surprised reading from Jammer's reviews and Memory Alpha that fans were not as keen on the deus ex machina ending and I can kind of understand why. It was nice though to see the Cardassian legal system and it was quite funny as well. Kovat was awesome and Obrien's Lawyer.

Then we get to the final episode of the season, The Jem'Hadar. I liked this episode a lot. I liked what it did to the series, Sisko and Quark's relationship, and the Kamakazi run at the end was shocking and stunning. Not so much the destruction of the Oddessy (Not so much the destruction of a Galaxy, since it was done on TNG with the Yomato), but just seeing how Jem'Hadar react and how far they are going to go. People rank episodes like Call To Arms and What You Leave Behind as great season/series finales, and they are, but Jem'Hadar is something I would rank quite highly. In fact if I were to rank the finales, this is how it would go:

Call to Arms
The Adversary
Jem'Hadar
What You Leave Behind
In the Hands of the Prophets
Broken Link
Tears of the Prophets (Didn't like the whole killing Jadzia and then having Dukat say "I meant you no harm" )

 

[robtclements]

Season 2 may be underrated because it doesn't quite fit in the Niner canon. It shows that DS9 could have become a Next Generation new-adventures-every-week-style show had the writers wanted it. As a member of the hardcore, i prefer the extended dramatic arc approach that began to dominate after Necessary evil; but that doesn't mean i can't see the merit of this transition season. In some ways, it may even be DS9's most interesting

 

[tomalak301]

Season 2 may be underrated because it doesn't quite fit in the Niner canon. It shows that DS9 could have become a Next Generation new-adventures-every-week-style show had the writers wanted it. As a member of the hardcore, i prefer the extended dramatic arc approach that began to dominate after Necessary evil; but that doesn't mean i can't see the merit of this transition season. In some ways, it may even be DS9's most interesting

Wait, what?

 

[robtclements]

Simply because it is a transition series. I didn't say it was the best - for me that would probably be 5 or 6

 

[Michael]

I have to agree with the general consensus here – season two is massively underappreciated. Personally I would rank it among my favorite television seasons. The fifth season is a bit better, but the second comes next, I'd say.

Actually I'm just rewatching this season and I was completely blown away by the quality of the Circle Trilogy. I knew that I loved it, but it was even better than I remembered it! In my opinion it's nearly perfect. I'm glad they were able to get Richard Beymer in the tragic role of Li Nalas. He brought a certain gravitas to the character. But this also got Frank Langella, Stephen Macht and Steven Weber! These episodes may look like a television production, but in terms of pacing, dialog and acting I always thought they were as close as Deep Space Nine ever got to a movie.

One of my favorite scenes of any Trek series is in "The Circle" when Kira is packing and keeps getting interrupted by her friends; just a beautiful, beautiful scene.

Funny you should say that, because I always thought of this scene as my favorite moment in all of Star Trek. This ensemble just has a perfect comedic timing and I love the moment when Bareil suddenly turns up and Kira introduces her colleagues as her friends. Man, this always sends shivers up and down my spine ...

 

[robtclements]

Funny you should say that, because I always thought of this scene as my favorite moment in all of Star Trek. This ensemble just has a perfect comedic timing and I love the moment when Bareil suddenly turns up and Kira introduces her colleagues as her friends. Man, this always sends shivers up and down my spine ...

The odd thing about DS9 - & the reason that i prefer it to the other shows - is that it never does what you expect it to do, even when you expect it to do the unexpected. Charm is one thing you can't possibly expect from a tv show, yet it keeps turning up over & over again on DS9. Here, of course; the return of Sisko to Ops in You are cordially invited; Sisko & Dax in Explorers (or Bashir & O'Brien singing Jerusalem in the same show); Weyoun-6's adoration of the one true founder, Odo, in Treachery; Kira trying to talk to Sisko in Starship Down

In the famous line of Mel Brooks, Where did they go right?

(& why can't they go right more often)

 

[Too Much Fun]

One of my favorite scenes of any Trek series is in "The Circle" when Kira is packing and keeps getting interrupted by her friends; just a beautiful, beautiful scene.

Funny you should say that, because I always thought of this scene as my favorite moment in all of Star Trek. This ensemble just has a perfect comedic timing and I love the moment when Bareil suddenly turns up and Kira introduces her colleagues as her friends. Man, this always sends shivers up and down my spine ...

Yeah, what a great scene. I didn't like any of the Circle episodes...that was the one and only scene in all of them that I loved. It was almost enough to redeem the rest of them.

And R.C. makes a very good point above me. One of the things that makes DS9 superior to the other Star Trek series is how many moving displays of friendship there were between characters.

I remember in "Birthright", I was so happy over that scene where Data and Worf 'bond' a little bit by talking about fathers. Now I realize part of why I liked that so much is because it was so rare to see that bonding between characters on TNG (except Picard and Guinan).

I remember how when Worf came to DS9, he and Odo kind of bonded over the fact that both like to be left alone and hate when friends come to check on them. Then, hilariously, Odo wishes Worf luck in alienating everyone so not even O'Brien will visit him anymore. It really shows how TNG was a more comfortable environment for Worf because it didn't have as much friendly interaction between crew members as DS9.

 

[VDCNI]

I enjoyed Season 2 overall but for me I do think it has a few issues which has led to it being underappreciated compared to later seasons.

One is that it is quite low key compared to later seasons - the threat of the Dominion is introduced but only explodes into the open in the last episode and relations with the Cardassians feel a little calmer than they were in Season 1. Outside of the Circle trilogy and to a lesser extent The Marquis the episodes do tend to be on a smaller scale. That's not a bad thing but it does mean a lot of them can easily get overlooked.

It doesn't help that most of those low key episodes come in a long streak in the middle of the season which took some of the momentum away after the Circle stories & the fantastic Necessary Evil. The 10 episodes before Blood Oath have their moments and none are truly bad (except Second Sight) but all of them are a little dull in parts and only Whispers and maybe Paradise really keep my attention the whole way through.

Compare that with Season 3 which starts off with a bang and then drops in a big event episode (Defiant, Past Tense, Through The Looking Glass/Improbable Cause) every so often to vary the pace. You could argue how much of that was intentional but it works.

Another problem is that for a lot of the time they still haven't figured out what to do with Sisko - he has his moments but the dominant Sisko of the later seasons isn't there yet and Star Trek without a strong Captain figure does feel a little odd.

Also it doesn't help that now that we know what DS9 will become - the Defiant, Worf, Klingons, The Dominion, war stories, Sisko as tough guy and religious figure Season 2 looks a little out of place as it lacks most of these elements and certain aspects of it (runabouts as their main combat ships for example) are even less convincing than they were at the time.

 

[Ro Boat]

Season 2 had some great episodes. The issue with Season 2 is that it still contains some very poor episodes. By Season 3, DS9 had reached a point where they were producing only a couple of weak shows per season. This pattern continued throughout the run of the show. Season 2 still has a handful of weak shows due to the fact that the writers were still figuring out what DS9 was about.

This should not take away from the truly great episodes during the season. I also have a preference for the greater focus on Bajor/Cardassia. I missed these storylines as they moved to the background over the following few seasons.

 

[Destructor]

I am rewatching the entire series with my gf and I am surprised to realize how great S2 is- I thought DS9 was a bit shit when I was a teenager and really only got into it with the S2 finale that introduced the Dominion (as a teenager I was like: Yay! Explosions!) But now as an adult I appreciate the drama much more and the political episodes of DS9 that make up S2 are all really blowing me away- even some of the lesser episodes are leaving me impressed.