DS9-Better of the trek shows?

[Harmon]

DS9 promised to be grittier, meaner and nastier then any other Trek series (least that is how I recall the premise). It failed in that, completely, and utterly. The characters didn’t have a lot of dimension (I had seen them all before). After the second season I bailed on the show, opting for something else (what it was at the time I have no idea).

Few years (seasons) later a friend of mine told me it had gotten better, so I tried to watch it on his word alone, but every episode was lacking in what I was looking for in a show like it. It was just to kind, to nice-nice, it was just to picture perfect in the respects of the social comings and goings. So again I bailed.

(A few things that bothered me were the amount of hand-to-hand fights that resulted in some mightier then though speech by one of the main characters. You know what- I will pass on the speech, just shoot me with a phaser. )

It was suggested that I watch the last season because it was so much better then the others. Because of who it was that made the suggestion I gave the show yet another chance, and found it closing on what it was I was looking for in a show like it. The war was interesting, the characters were thickening out (becoming 3D) and the writing was getting better. All in all it was getting closer to what I had found and what I liked in B5.

I have yet to see all of the last season (I missed more then a few episodes when it was on due to what ever reason), but when I see the show is on and I have the time I try to watch it, simply because someone I once trusted and believed in told me it was good.

 

[Ranger REG]

DS9 promised to be grittier, meaner and nastier then any other Trek series (least that is how I recall the premise).

Maybe you just plain don't like Star Trek. Or worse yet, it's VOYAGER that got you aroused.

 

[Ranger REG]

I would have liked it better if it had been Star Trek: Defiant, rather than Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I dug the Defiant, because it finally let them *explore,* rather than fester in their own dramatic juices on a border station.

Star Trek is not all about going from here to there physically. The Motion Picture got it right at the end of that story, "The Human Adventures continues..."

 

[mojo1701]

There was more interesting stories and character development in one season of any of those shows than there was in three seasons of DS9.

Which seasons? The first three?

 

[Napftor]

I'm pretty much a charter member of the DS9 fan club. My heart belongs to TOS, but my head tells me that DS9 was the richest and quirkiest series of the lot. I can't think of any other comparable TV series with such a rich array of supporting characters and reoccuring guest stars. Garak alone made the series worth watching.

Amen to all of this. DS9 had great stories and great actors/actresses to back it up. And let's get Garak a spin-off series! Who wouldn't want to see a spy/assassin/tailor plying his way through the galaxy leaving confusion, destruction, and well-dressed aliens in his wake. My favorite Garak line, commenting about shooting people in the back, "Well, it is the safest way." That's just priceless.

 

[John Crichton]

I'm really not trolling. It's clear that a lot of people here really liked the show... You know
okay, have fun with that. But, I really thought that the show was terrible. I did stop
watching it at some point. Somewhere around the Dominion War. What was that? Season 3? Don't tell me if I'd just hung in there for 3 years, there'd finally be some payoff. At
some point, a terrible show doesn't require more watching.

You don't want to hear it but, yes, if you hung with it until the end it got considerably better.

And while it's okay to give up on a show that is not entertaining you it's another thing to give it another shot if enough people let you know that you may have missed something cool. Check out older Trek/DS9 threads to see what I mean.

And for the record, until this post you never said why you didn't like the show, but that it basically just sucked and you have a dislike of Ferengi. Doing that while the rest of the posters are talking about why they liked it would be considered by many trolling. You have rectified that with a more detailed post.

When I think of the other Sci Fi shows on TV in recent history: Firefly, Farscape, Battlestar Galactica. Those shows are vastly superior in every way. There was more interesting stories and character development in one season of any of those shows than there was in three seasons of DS9.

You are naming (with the exception of B5, which is missing) some of the best genre TV ever with those shows. It's ok to not include DS9 in that list because it is elite company but I actually would, well more precisely seasons 4-7 (basically, and ironically for me, right after Worf showed up).

And considering you didn't watch the full run of DS9 to catch all the things that you loved in those other shows I suggest you do so. You may be pleasantly surprised. If I only had the first 3 years of DS9 to form an opinion I suspect that opinion would not be a kind one.

In this age of DVD and TV repeats it is easy to catch things you missed. If you are so inclined or have a TiVo/DVR I would highly recommend that you invest a little time into giving season 4 a chance and go from there. You've already seen what comes before and even if you don't remember, those events aren't as important as what is to come. So, if you're really into things like character development and story you owe it to yourself to give the show another chance. Then judge it once all the cards are on the table.

I even like Babylon 5 better than DS9, and I hate Babylon 5 (I know lots of people loved that show too... I thought it was technically cool as a sci-fi show... but strangely flat.)

B5 had some of the best characters and story I've ever been witness to from a TV show or anywhere else. I think you may have an irrational and intense hatred of stationary space objects that house hydrogen based life forms. Was a family member killed by falling space station debris?

 

[Simplicity]

You are naming (with the exception of B5, which is missing) some of the best genre TV ever with those shows. It's ok to not include DS9 in that list because it is elite company but I actually would, well more precisely seasons 4-7 (basically, and ironically for me, right after Worf showed up).

Well, also leaving out the Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, Dr. Who, etc. But yeah, those are what I consider good (heck, great) shows. DS9 doesn't hold a candle to any of them (at least what I've seen of it). Maybe the later seasons do get better... I haven't seen the later seasons, so no opinion there.

In my mind, DS9 goes slightly above Andromeda and Earth: Final Conflict in the quality of series list for now.

B5 had some of the best characters and story I've ever been witness to from a TV show or anywhere else. I think you may have an irrational and intense hatred of stationary space objects that house hydrogen based life forms. Was a family member killed by falling space station debris?

Ha! Other than Mir falling on my cousin....

I understand what people like about B5. REALLY cool bad guys. Really cool good guy aliens. Interesting characters... But it all seemed horribly wrong to me somehow. Like the show just didn't have a soul or something.

Farscape had Crichton. Star Trek had Kirk and Spock. Who was the soul of B5? Maybe if there were more puppets I would have liked it better. It didn't help my view of the show that they used so much CGI (and not particularly good CGI... especially in the early seasons) for ships and the station.

 

[John Crichton]

Well, also leaving out the Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, Dr. Who, etc. But yeah, those are what I consider good (heck, great) shows. DS9 doesn't hold a candle to any of them (at least what I've seen of it). Maybe the later seasons do get better... I haven't seen the later seasons, so no opinion there.

Fair enough. But seriously, give season 4 a shot. You may really like it. I have always confessed to not liking seasons 1-3 much. As a matter of fact, I have 1-7 on DVD and they are unwatched as of yet. I'm considering watching a few select eps from 1-3 and then the entire run of 4-7. Take that for what you will.

In my mind, DS9 goes slightly above Andromeda and Earth: Final Conflict in the quality of series list for now.

Heheh. Never seen Andromeda but I actually really liked the first season of Earth: FC. Later seasons were bleh. Boone was a cool character.

Ha! Other than Mir falling on my cousin....

*rimshot*

I understand what people like about B5. REALLY cool bad guys. Really cool good guy aliens. Interesting characters... But it all seemed horribly wrong to me somehow. Like the show just didn't have a soul or something.

Farscape had Crichton. Star Trek had Kirk and Spock. Who was the soul of B5? Maybe if there were more puppets I would have liked it better. It didn't help my view of the show that they used so much CGI (and not particularly good CGI... especially in the early seasons) for ships and the station.

During its initial run I didn't like B5 but I've now come back to it on DVD and it has blown me away. Sinclair and then Sheridan were great characters and carried the show when the story didn't. And yeah, the early CGI was awful but if you could get past that (which I eventually did) the story underneath is fantastic and history making as the first TV series to have a preset plot presented over the course of 5 years.

 

[Staffan]

Who was the soul of B5?

Sinclair and Sheridan, mainly. But also G'Kar and Londo - their character arcs are probably the best I've seen on TV.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Actually I didn´t like Sheridan that much (though he definitely had some good scenes), but I can agree on G´Kar, Londo and Sinclair.

Deep Space Nine will probably always be my favourite Startrek show. But I will hesitate to compare it with other shows, even if similar in design (like B5), because Startrek will always have "a special place in my heart".

The introduction of the Dominion was interesting, because it was hinted at quite early that they existed (I believe the 1st season already mentions it once), and only later do we begin to understand what it actually is and what they do want.
We already knew the Klingons, the Romulans and even the (relatively new) Cardassians to good to pull that off.

The interesting bits of the war(s) arc are also the players and their changing roles in it.
DS9 had not only character development (Sisko begins as sceptical commander that doesn´t believe in Prophets nor that the job as commander of DS9 is the job he wants, and finally accepts his role as a prophet), but also in the big "organization" development.
Tthe Federation slowly shows its darker sides (Section 31, the willingness to go to a war (including launching the first strike) ) and is also proven to have its limits (Unable to hold back the Klingons, struggling to win a war against the Dominion and even unable to protect its most central planets). The Cardassions change from opprossors (Bajor) to victims (Klingon War) to collaborateurs (Alliance with Dominion) to rebels (against the Dominion)...