DS9 seasons 1-2 were trying too hard be TNG on a space station, but what else was there than TNG at the time, and still it produced some of my favorite stuff of my and many fans' favorites in the series - "Duet," "Dax," "In the Hands of the Prophets," "Progress," "Necessary Evil," "The Wire," "Cardassians," "Crossover," The Circle Trilogy, "The Maquis," more.
I agree it really started to kick along in season 2. There were several episodes that were giving clues about what to was going to come in the next few seasons.