Part III: It's The Characters, Dammit
Now let's take a look a look at the men and women we come to know by the end of the second season, their personal growth and areas that still need further development, their best and worst moments.
Benjamin Sisko: A good character with plenty of stage presence thanks to the talented Avery Brooks, Commander Sisko leads the station into its uncertain future with some hesitation while viewed as a religious figure within the Bajoran faith. Unfortunately, that last bit isn't delved into much in the first two years, but as a Starfleet officer and as a father, Sisko is an interesting character who could stand to have his role in things better-defined in the seasons to come. What we see of him and his personal struggles is sound, with more shades of grey than we'll see in the other shows.
He has his best early moments in "The Maquis" two-parter, when facing off against his old friend Calvin Hudson with heaping helpings of angst and powerful dialogue. He's also good in "Emissary" with some very emotional scenes, "In the Hands of the Prophets" where he takes a stand to protect the burgeoning alliance between Bajor and the Federation, and the Circle trilogy with multiple sweeping speeches. "His worst outing to-date would have to be the ill-conceived "Second Sight"; it's nice to see a follow-up on his grief over the death of his wife, but it's all so hackneyed and ridiculous.
Ben is a man of big words and bigger actions, but we need to see some more core development if he is to keep up with the best and brightest stars of the show.
Kira Nerys: One of the breakout characters of Deep Space Nine's first two seasons, virtually any scene is more alive with her in the room and her actress, Nana Visitor, is unparalleled. Kira was a resistance fighter from the age of twelve up until twenty-six when the Cardassians finally left her world, and at the start of the show she's the Bajoran liaison officer to DS9 to serve under Sisko and the Starfleet presence. The great thing about her from the get-go is her clashing with those Starfleet ways long-time Trekkies are accustomed to seeing; as the seasons develop, so too does she in remarkable ways, at times subtly and at times vibrantly. We see so much of what makes her tick; even in the uneven first season, most of the best episodes follow her and her plight. Her relationship with Vedek Bareil as the second season develops is unliked by some, but I find it pleasing if not particularly engaging.
In "Duet", Kira is terrific; she's also outstanding in the Circle trilogy, in "Necessary Evil" as we glimpse into her tough past, and in "Crossover" as the egomaniacal Mirror Kira. That's not to say she isn't great anywhere, though. The only time I can think of that she was in any way underwhelming would be "Sanctuary", simply because there's an important development for her character here but she's dragged down by the overall lackluster experience of the episode itself. I know there's much more to come featuring Kira, but as it stands by the end of season two she's already made quite a presence for herself.
Kira has already proven herself invaluable to the show's success, but it would be nice to see a more solid portrayal of her relationship with Bareil. (Of course, I know what happens here. I've seen the show before many years ago. As per the structure of these analyses, though, that's what I would complain about, heh.)
Odo: Another terrific character with oodles of growth, Odo is the mysterious shapeshifter found by a Bajoran scientist and eventually, distressed by his lifestyle as a test subject, the 'constable' (security chief) of station DS9 back during the Cardassian days, when it was known as Terok Nor. He stays behind when they leave, for he knows of nothing else, and his dry wit and irresistable antics, combined with the deeper, justice-and-order-driven aspects of his personality, make Odo an absolutely fantastic addition to the show's ensemble. Rene Auberjonois is another amazing actor and he makes everything better just by being there. You'll find yourself infected with the pure joy of the moment when Odo does his rare attempt at 'smiling', and profoundly impacted by his flashbacks in "Necessary Evil".
To that end, "Necessary Evil" is his best outing in the first two years, but honorable mentions go to "Vortex" for cracking open the mystery of his existence in a respectable first outing, "The Alternate" for the wonderful dialogue between he and the Bajoran scientist who found him, and "Shadowplay" for some nice scenes with a young girl he befriends. "A Man Alone" is not only the first episode to deal with Odo's insecurities and links to the occupation, it's also his weakest hour so far; it's nice that the writers wished to address him immediately, but they hadn't quite found the voice to do so yet and it shows.
Odo is extraordinary in his role as mysterious being, but he really takes off as he discovers his people and deals with everything that follows from there in the coming years.
Dax: Although actress Terry Farrell has some obvious difficulty getting into the role during the initial batch of episodes, she quickly excels after that. The same can be same of Jadzia Dax's writing; everything about her seems a tad aloof until the episode "Dax" comes along early on, and then we get more into her. As a joined Trill, the host Jadzia has taken the symbiont 'Dax'; Jadzia is a promising young science officer, the symbiont having gone through seven lifetimes of experiences. Easily the most intriguing thing about Jadzia is this Trill business, specifically her previous host's relationship with Sisko. Curzon was Benjamin's good friend and mentor, but he was also quite the man of vices. He dies of old age before the premiere, giving Jadzia and her new superior officer an interesting and amusing dynamic. On the whole, the Trill idea is a wonderful one and has given us many excellent lines on the insights into Dax's illustrious past. The one glaring problem, of course, is that this is all one big double-edged sword; Dax is immensely fascinating, but Jadzia gets lost somewhere in the mix with a far less individual backstory. Despite this shortcoming, things progress more smoothly by the second season; the writers obviously do a 180 on her character with a more wise-talking, fun-loving type that some hate but others can't get enough of, myself included. While the exact reasoning behind the turnabout is never stated, popular fan theory is that the blending is more complete and pronounced and aspects of Curzon have bled through.
Dax's best episode is without a doubt "Blood Oath", where Curzon's past catches up with Jadzia and she runs off with three legendary Klingons to avenge the deaths of innocents. Beyond that, she's solid in "Dax" as the protector of Curzon's dark secret, the Circle trilogy with a string of memorable scenes and "Playing God" as she faces some personal truths of her own while preparing an 'initiate' for potential joining or denying him entry. Her worst personal outing in the first two years is the still-decent "Invasive Procedures", which I nevertheless cite because what could have been a brilliant episode for Jadzia instead sees her unconscious for much of the hour.
While she's emerged as a vital part of the DS9 cloth, it would be nice to see more Jadzia-specific stories in the future. Like Sisko, she simply can't keep up if she isn't given more definition.
Bashir: Wide-eyed and bushy-tailed for much of the first season, then gradually tempered by budding wisdom throughout the second, frontier doctor Julian Bashir is all of 27 with the medical expertise of someone twice his age, but he's unprepared for the adventures that await him. (Parenthetically, it's funny how 27 is so young in DS9, whereas with the 2009 film, damn near everyone is in their mid-20's. But that's another rant for another day.) Siddig El Fadil brings a flair to his character from the very first moment we see him, and he develops Bashir from the pesky and overstated young man he starts off as into a more seasoned character still far from lacking in excitement and enthusiasm by the end of the second year. Although it is my understanding that many fans of the show at first run were far less than thrilled with him in the beginning, I took an immediate liking to him and his inherent fun-loving nature, even if he's so very arrogant sometimes. Julian is best-known for his crowning interactions with Miles O'Brien and the enigmatic Cardassian tailor Garak, and in the first two seasons we see the genesis of both in a highly entertaining manner. Bashir's intrusive methods at first irritate O'Brien to no end, but he eventually wins him over. As for Garak, I have nothing but praise concerning their interactions; their lunches together are one of the show's greatest strengths.
Bashir is at his best in the instant classic "The Wire" as the doctor and friend to Garak who must wrestle with a tangled web of confessions and lies to save the man he's come to find so utterly fascinating. Other great moments stem from "If Wishes Were Horses" as he deals with the uneasiness of a false, submissive Jadzia given his feelings for the woman, "Cardassians" as he teams up with Garak to get to the bottom of a mystery, and "Armageddon Game" where his relationship with Miles really takes off. Certainly his worst outing is "The Passenger", where Julian is possessed by a vengeful alien. El Fadil takes a rare misstep into the realm of dreadful acting here.
There isn't much I'd change about Bashir; he's already pretty much picture perfect in his current role. I am looking forward to his Section 31 ordeals and the depth that grants him, but that's a while from now, yet.
O'Brien: Although he's been around since 1987's very hit-or-miss TNG pilot "Encounter at Farpoint", there isn't much character development for Transporter Chief Miles O'Brien to be found during his days aboard the Enterprise-D. "The Wounded" was his breakout moment, though, coming during the show's strong fourth season and giving him ample backstory involving his role in the Federation's past battles with the Cardassians. O'Brien also weds on TNG, and his wife Keiko gives birth to a daughter, Molly. All this combined with Colm Meaney's terrific acting talent propels the man into a much more substantial role on Deep Space Nine, where he and his family move in with obvious reluctance and try to begin a life here as per his assignment. Like Sisko, this wasn't exactly O'Brien's first choice, but he's here – and he's also in charge of his department. Miles O'Brien adds a wonderful element to the fabric of the series as the everyman, and Keiko as botanist-turned-schoolteacher is a nice touch. Even Molly is good for a laugh sometimes, and it all comes together fairly well. Of course, like with Bashir, many will remember him as the other half of that pairing; Meaney and El Fadil are great together, particularly from the second season onward as the writers slowly realize they've got a goldmine on their hands.
Hands-down his best episode is "Whispers", where we follow O'Brien through an elaborate string of deception and conspiracy only to discover just as he does that he's nothing but a copy of the real O'Brien, and so we witness at the end the character we've been following dying pointlessly. It's quite powerful. "Captive Pursuit" is the episode where we really feel for Miles for the first time, "Cardassians" is terrific for him as he puts aside racism and "Tribunal" as we see him suffer in terrible ways and endure the hardships thrust upon him.
Like several others, Miles O'Brien is great where he is. The annual "O'Brien Must Suffer" episodes, starting with "Whispers" and "Tribunal" in a double feature, are outings I'm very much looking forward to.
Quark: The 'face' of Deep Space Nine, the tie that binds it all together, Quark is a conniving Ferengi with plenty of unsavory business practices who's run a bar on the station since several years before it was no longer known as Terok Nor. He's been here the longest, and he knows it; together with his idiot savante brother Rom (who's just plain idiotic at first, and quite clearly gets a character tweaking in the second season) and his nephew Nog (who develops a friendship with Jake) he plans to bail but Sisko blackmails him out of it. And so he remains, ever-present reminder of the diversity of Deep Space Nine and largely played for laughs but with some nice bits of genuine intrigue peppered in often enough to stop him from growing stale. Major credit to the success of Quark's character goes to Armin Shimerman, who brings the Ferengi to life in ways TNG didn't seem capable of doing if its life depended on it. Quark also gets many infamous 'Ferengi episodes' as the series goes on, infamous because for every ardent supporter there's someone who loathes the lot of them and their style of humor. Quark's highlights often stem from colorful interactions with Odo, and their rivalry is rarely weak.
In the first two seasons, Quark's best outing is probably "Rules of Acquisition"; everything about him is top game here. "Babel" shows him in brief command of the station and it's gloriously funny, "Rivals" gives him some brilliant scenes against his new competition and "The Jem'Hadar" is surprisingly strong with some very insightful looks of his at humanity-at-large throughout the episode. "Profit and Loss" is a rather disastrous attempt at giving Quark more depth because few of his actions really ring true with what we see of him otherwise.
Quark is excellent for laughs and particularly effective when humorously observing Starfleet – and human – ways. The same applies to everything he ever does with Odo. As it stands, he could do with a better track record on episodes that follow him more exclusively and he's a little too obvious in the first season especially.
Jake: Commander Sisko's son and a fourteen-year-old boy at the start of the series, Jake Sisko essentially exists to give Ben more to work with early on and to have misadventures with Nog, Quark's nephew of just a few years his elder. While far from being a bad character, and often genuinely engaging, Jake is nothing much to write home about in the first season, and it's only in the second that more depth starts to show. The assumption that he'd join Starfleet – particularly given Wesley Crusher's early portrayal – is something self-evident that gets dashed when Jake takes a surprising stand against it and remains unsure of where he's headed in life as of yet. Given his age, this is completely believable and understandable, and it's a very nice twist. As for his interactions with Nog, they're often funny and sometimes insightful but the earlier attempts are somewhat underwhelming.
Jake doesn't get much solid material, but he's pretty good in "Shadowplay", where he breaks the news to his father that he's not interested in joining Starfleet. Almost if not equally impressive is his role in "The Jem'Hadar"; he and Nog share some priceless scenes on the runabout Rio Grande. He's also amicable in "The Storyteller"; again it's him and Nog combined, but it's a winning dynamic. I guess if I were forced at gun point to think of a worst episode, it would be "A Man Alone", since his little prank with Nog involving temporarily color-changing victims falls incredibly flat.
This is the kind of character who could either use substantial sharpening, or remain exactly where he is as an aside, depending on how the writers want to do things. Peering into my magic eight ball, I know the answer, but I also know that he gets some great material in the coming seasons.
So there we have it. Two seasons into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, I'm quite impressed with what I've seen. The first season is shaky but contains some real winners, and the second season really finds its footing and proves itself terrifically. I look forward to reviewing the third season and providing a comprehensive analysis at that time, and I hope to hear your thoughts should you have anything to contribute.
FEEL FREE TO DISAGREE WITH ME. Openly bash everything I've said if you have reason to, provided it's sound reasoning. If this thread stagnates, I'll still have accomplished something as I plan to post this to my website once I get it up and running, but it would be nice to see some conversation going about seasons one and two in particular.
PLEASE MARK MAJOR SPOILERS. Yes, I've seen the entire series, and yes, most people here have, but I know there are some who aren't very far into it yet and there are certainly a few things we wouldn't want to ruin for them.
ENGAGE!
