Spoilers Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

[pukunui]

I have now finished season 1. A bit of a shaky start but it improved steadily over the course of the season. Some cheesy bits throughout (like the “hold on to something so you don’t get sucked out into space along with the purple gas” scene in Dramatis Personae) but also some real fantastic acting (see also Dramatis Personae).

What’s interesting to me is that I know I would have watched all of these episodes on TV when they were knew, but none of them seem familiar to me at all. I know the characters and recognize the DS9 set, but the actual stories? It’s like I’m watching them all for the first time.

Contrast this with TNG, for which I can still remember specific episodes despite not having watched them for an equal amount of time.

 

[payn]

I have now finished season 1. A bit of a shaky start but it improved steadily over the course of the season. Some cheesy bits throughout (like the “hold on to something so you don’t get sucked out into space along with the purple gas” scene in Dramatis Personae) but also some real fantastic acting (see also Dramatis Personae).

What’s interesting to me is that I know I would have watched all of these episodes on TV when they were knew, but none of them seem familiar to me at all. I know the characters and recognize the DS9 set, but the actual stories? It’s like I’m watching them all for the first time.

Contrast this with TNG, for which I can still remember specific episodes despite not having watched them for an equal amount of time.

Im enjoying hearing about your fresh take on the episodes.

 

[pukunui]

Im enjoying hearing about your fresh take on the episodes.

Thanks. I feel it's clear that the cast were a bit awkward at the start (especially in the pilot, which is typical and understandable), but as they became more comfortable both in their roles and with each other, they started to shine. I can see what everyone means about DS9 being a character-driven show. When the acting is good, it's really top-notch stuff.

I still find the space station a bit claustrophobic, so I'm looking forward to the arrival of Defiant and the increase in off-station settings in later seasons. I think part of what's off-putting about the station is its austere Cardassian design -- all blocky and harsh angles and ugly colors. It's not aesthetically pleasing like the inside of a Federation starship with all its curves and flowing lines.

I also think the non-Federation fashions on the station are pretty awful. Jake and Nog have bad taste in clothes., although neither of them is as bad as Quark, who always looks like he's wearing his grandma's upholstery cut-offs. And those Bajoran uniforms are not at all flattering!

The action sequences tend to leave a little to be desired. I've noticed numerous scenes where the actors basically just stand there waiting to get shot or have something fall on them or whatever. The hand-to-hand combat choreography isn't the greatest either (I'm thinking of the scene where Sisko is fighting the Bajoran who tried to inject him with something in "Dramatis Personae").

While I hope that the action sequences improve over the course of the show, I acknowledge that it's really the character drama that is what makes this show shine (especially in season 1).

On to season 2, which I'm fairly sure I also watched back in the day. (I think I stopped watching DS9 around the time TNG ended, but I don't remember exactly when. I may have continued for a while. I also can't remember how much of Voyager I watched before giving up on it as well.)

 

[payn]

Thanks. I feel it's clear that the cast were a bit awkward at the start (especially in the pilot, which is typical and understandable), but as they became more comfortable both in their roles and with each other, they started to shine. I can see what everyone means about DS9 being a character-driven show. When the acting is good, it's really top-notch stuff.

I still find the space station a bit claustrophobic, so I'm looking forward to the arrival of Defiant and the increase in off-station settings in later seasons. I think part of what's off-putting about the station is its austere Cardassian design -- all blocky and harsh angles and ugly colors. It's not aesthetically pleasing like the inside of a Federation starship with all its curves and flowing lines.

I think thats what I liked about it. It felt alien, or certainly not Federation. There was no retreat to friendlier space. You are finally gonna see what life in the frontier is really like.

I also think the non-Federation fashions on the station are pretty awful. Jake and Nog have bad taste in clothes., although neither of them is as bad as Quark, who always looks like he's wearing his grandma's upholstery cut-offs. And those Bajoran uniforms are not at all flattering!

Yes the PJ look is questionable, but looks comfy.

The action sequences tend to leave a little to be desired. I've noticed numerous scenes where the actors basically just stand there waiting to get shot or have something fall on them or whatever. The hand-to-hand combat choreography isn't the greatest either (I'm thinking of the scene where Sisko is fighting the Bajoran who tried to inject him with something in "Dramatis Personae").

While I hope that the action sequences improve over the course of the show, I acknowledge that it's really the character drama that is what makes this show shine (especially in season 1).

Its Star trek its gonna be a lot of...

Though it gets a bot better once Worf joins up.

On to season 2, which I'm fairly sure I also watched back in the day. (I think I stopped watching DS9 around the time TNG ended, but I don't remember exactly when. I may have continued for a while. I also can't remember how much of Voyager I watched before giving up on it as well.)

I think the seasons finale of 2 is where the series really takes off.

 

[pukunui]

I have to say - I went into this not expecting to like it at all, and I certainly wasn't impressed after the pilot, but I'm really digging it now. I'm invested and can't wait to watch the other 6 seasons.

 

[Staffan]

I have to say - I went into this not expecting to like it at all, and I certainly wasn't impressed after the pilot, but I'm really digging it now. I'm invested and can't wait to watch the other 6 seasons.

 

[Ryujin]

I have to say - I went into this not expecting to like it at all, and I certainly wasn't impressed after the pilot, but I'm really digging it now. I'm invested and can't wait to watch the other 6 seasons.

It sounds like where you originally left off watching it is where it really started to improve. It took at least a couple of seasons for the actors to truly find their footing and grow into the characters. I have always found Major Kira's character to be particularly engaging. An officer, working under a Federation commander, on a Cardassian station, owned by Bajor, who is a career officer/former freedom fighter/terrorist and devoutly religious. Nana Visitor had to do one hell of a balancing act with that.

 

[pukunui]

It sounds like where you originally left off watching it is where it really started to improve. It took at least a couple of seasons for the actors to truly find their footing and grow into the characters. I have always found Major Kira's character to be particularly engaging. An officer, working under a Federation commander, on a Cardassian station, owned by Bajor, who is a career officer/former freedom fighter/terrorist and devoutly religious. Nana Visitor had to do one hell of a balancing act with that.

Yeah probably. I was a huge TNG fan as a teenager, and I watched DS9 (and Voyager) because they were usually on right after TNG and, hey, it was Star Trek! But I didn't like either of those shows as much as TNG for the reasons I've stated previously. So when TNG ended, the others didn't hold my interest enough to keep watching. I don't regret giving up on Voyager, but I am starting to see the error of my ways in giving up on DS9!

 

[Zardnaar]

Yeah probably. I was a huge TNG fan as a teenager, and I watched DS9 (and Voyager) because they were usually on right after TNG and, hey, it was Star Trek! But I didn't like either of those shows as much as TNG for the reasons I've stated previously. So when TNG ended, the others didn't hold my interest enough to keep watching. I don't regret giving up on Voyager, but I am starting to see the error of my ways in giving up on DS9!

If TBG and Voyager can out today idk if they would get a season or 3.

TNG rewatch outside the usual episodes it's not that good imho and two seasons are borderline unwatchable.

If you're not a trekking or nostalgia goggles. We couldn't do S1 and Voyager we bailed after 6 or 7 episodes.

DS9 is often mentioned as best Trek these days o close to it.

Netflix made them more accessible.

Alot of 90s shows don't hold up and 80s are worse.

 

[Ryujin]

Yeah probably. I was a huge TNG fan as a teenager, and I watched DS9 (and Voyager) because they were usually on right after TNG and, hey, it was Star Trek! But I didn't like either of those shows as much as TNG for the reasons I've stated previously. So when TNG ended, the others didn't hold my interest enough to keep watching. I don't regret giving up on Voyager, but I am starting to see the error of my ways in giving up on DS9!

It's taken me a while to come around (a bit) on "Voyager." I still think that any real captain would have spaced the entire crew, at one point or another, but the "Borgwatch" seasons that I originally panned are something that I've come to see as some of the better stuff. Seven of Nine actually had some of the best, most incisive episodes, but my bias against the character as eye candy prejudiced me against them.