Should I Return My Niners Club Card?

[thedude]

When I originally bought DS9 on DVD, I'll admit, I started with Season 3. Then a few years ago I said to myself "well, I own all other series on DVD completely... why not finish off my DS9 collection?" I'm one of those weird people that is always working his way through a series of Trek... I actually watch one (or most of one) episode before bed every night... I used to have horrible insomnia, so I started watching Trek, and I've never had a problem sleeping again (been about 4 years now).

ANYWAY... I was pleasantly surprised by the first two seasons of DS9, particularly with the first... I think they did a great job establishing the characters, and starting to build some of the long-term storylines. I was particularly impressed with how the Garak/Bashir storyline beginnings, and even more impressed with the Bashir/O'Brien roots. Considering I had previously only seen Season 3+, I had NO IDEA O'Brien hated Bashir when it all started.

I highly recommend Season 1 of DS9... especially if you enjoy the characters and want to learn some more about how it all got started... I think the stories alone in TNG season 1 are better, but a lot more development started in DS9. VOY season 1...? Meh, don't get me started.

EDIT: Just reading this, it sounds like I watched Trek to fall asleep because it was boring... quite the opposite... it made me very content and happy, and still does... great way to block out a lot of BS that goes on in life.

 

[Michael]

I am much more disillusioned with those who skip the early seasons completely in an attempt to 'get to the good stuff'. Because frankly, when they do that, they in fact actually MISS alot of 'the good stuff', and only end up cheating themseleves.

With skipping the earlier seasons they not only miss a lot of the good stuff. When you watch from the beginning, most of the good stuff that comes later on will actually be better!

... it made me very content and happy, and still does... great way to block out a lot of BS that goes on in life.

So very true. People tend to dismiss Trek as a form of escapism. Personally I always thought that aspect is one of Trek's biggest strengths. It's one of the reasons why I love Star Trek so much.

 

[Jaespol]

I am much more disillusioned with those who skip the early seasons completely in an attempt to 'get to the good stuff'. Because frankly, when they do that, they in fact actually MISS alot of 'the good stuff', and only end up cheating themseleves.

I agree 100%. It baffles me how anyone would skip the first two seasons of any TV series tbh but DS9's first two seasons really were great in my opinion and I personally loved all the stuff about Bajor, exploration of alien cultures is one of the things that made DS9 the best ST series for me and there is a lot of it in the first two seasons.
So I implore anyone tempted to skip the first two seasons to think again!

 

[PKTrekGirl]

I am much more disillusioned with those who skip the early seasons completely in an attempt to 'get to the good stuff'. Because frankly, when they do that, they in fact actually MISS alot of 'the good stuff', and only end up cheating themseleves.

With skipping the earlier seasons they not only miss a lot of the good stuff. When you watch from the beginning, most of the good stuff that comes later on will actually be better!

... it made me very content and happy, and still does... great way to block out a lot of BS that goes on in life.

So very true. People tend to dismiss Trek as a form of escapism. Personally I always thought that aspect is one of Trek's biggest strengths. It's one of the reasons why I love Star Trek so much.

Agreed on both counts. I think the later stuff means much more when you actually CARE about the characters. And I think that seasons 1 & 2 are where you start caring. I mean, can anyone REALLY seriously assert that The Visitor (which is the second episode of season 4) could mean as much to someone who skipped seasons 1 - 3 in an effort to 'get to the good stuff' as to someone who had watched three seasons of the Ben/Jake relationship develop???

Personally, I find it unlikely.

And yet, how many people have turned up here all ready to start with The Way of the Warrior?

And I agree about the escapism stuff too. Nothing wrong with that. And I would argue that that was the point of MOST TV shows - not just Star Trek.

I agree 100%. It baffles me how anyone would skip the first two seasons of any TV series tbh but DS9's first two seasons really were great in my opinion and I personally loved all the stuff about Bajor, exploration of alien cultures is one of the things that made DS9 the best ST series for me and there is a lot of it in the first two seasons.
So I implore anyone tempted to skip the first two seasons to think again!

I think the stuff about Bajor is really pretty essential. I mean, how can you appreciate how truly evil Winn is if you don't watch her manipulations during the first few seasons?

 

[robtclements]

I'm sure that Louise Fletcher's terrible over-acting told audiences everything they needed to know

 

[Too Much Fun]

I hate all that Bajor stuff. I almost regret not skipping the first two seasons. The only season 2 episode I really loved was "Blood Oath". In the first, second, and third seasons, there wasn't much that I'd consider essential viewing aside from the Jadzia-centric episodes (with the exception of "Meridian").

The mirror episodes were fun, "Explorers" was delightful, and once things started heating up with the Dominon at the end of season 3, the show began to reach its potential, but I don't think it really took off until season 4, and people skipping to that are sparing themselves from having to watch a lot of boring episodes and not missing much great stuff.

Maybe part of why DS9 didn't do so well ratings-wise is because it took so long to get going. It's unfortunate when a show takes 3 seasons to really hit its stride...some shows don't even have an entire run that lasts this long!

 

[Steve Roby]

So, am I alone in my love for the first season?

Hell, no.

I like the first season, too. Of course, I seem to be in the minority of DS9 fans in that I think the Bajor stories are the best parts of the show. I wish we had more of them.

Oh, I completely agree! The Circle Trilogy from the beginning of the second season is one of the best things Trek has ever done. It's a shame the writers more or less discarded the whole Bajor storyline in the course of the series. Like you I would have loved to see more of it.

Absolutely. The Circle trilogy blew me away at the time, and it still holds up. There are a lot of other classics in the second season, too -- Necessary Evil, Crossover, The Wire... and lots of good third season episodes, too.

As for Bajor, well, I loved "Ensign Ro" and the character of Ro Laren, and "The Wounded" was a good introduction to the Cardassians, so I was primed for a Bajor/Cardassia-centric DS9. "Pre-Emptive Strike" is the one real highlight of TNG's seventh season, IMHO.

DS9's first season is very solid - especially when compared with the other Trek shows (TOS possibily excluded).

TOS definitely excluded. A lot of its best episodes were in the first season. I also like the more ensemble feel of the early TOS episodes compared to the Kirk/Spock/McCoy focus later on. But DS9's first is certainly more solid than the other series' first seasons.

I am much more disillusioned with those who skip the early seasons completely in an attempt to 'get to the good stuff'. Because frankly, when they do that, they in fact actually MISS alot of 'the good stuff', and only end up cheating themseleves.

Yep. There's that whole dumb myth about how all the Trek series took a few seasons to get good. That was only ever true of TNG, and that's because of all the behind the scenes battles going on and the resulting constant turnover in writing staff until Berman and Piller calmed things down on. DS9 hooked me from the beginning. Voyager and Enterprise never really hooked me; I can't say that any Voyager season is significantly better than any other, and while the drastic changes in Enterprise's third and fourth seasons did provide some much needed direction for the show, the results were still never what they could have been.

 

[happydave]

I enjoy Series 1 of DS9 and I even enjoy disliked episodes like 'If Wishes Were Horses' and 'Move Along Home'. Sure they're not strong brilliant episodes, but they're fun stories.