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Which leads me to - a week or so ago I saw a box set of the entire seven seasons of DS9 that had been discounted to a crazy low price. I had to snap it up and I've started watching the series from scratch, intending to eventually get all seven seasons under my belt. At the moment I'm a quarter of the way through season 2 and have just watched the episode in which Sisko is lusting after the elusive sexy alien bird. I'm told that the DS9 was at its best from season three onwards, but I've quite enjoyed what I've seen thus far and at the rate I'm watching the discs I'll likely get through the entire thing in a month or two.
On the strength of what I've seen thus far the strongest characters seem to be Odo and Quark, though Doctor Bashir is coming into his own. I've seen some episodes from later seasons and I know that character becomes something of a double act with O'Brian but there not much sense of that in these early episodes. I also find that Sisko, supposedly the lead character, is very underdeveloped and isn't at all as interesting as others in the cast. This would of course change as the series went on.
However from what I've seen so far I think the second season was an improvement on the first - the season started with an excellent three part story that saw the space station itself at peril, and since then there's been some great episodes. Rules of Acquisition was a firm favourite for me but then it would be given that it is a Ferengi storyline and I do so enjoy the Ferengi.
Ahh well I'll be back with another batch of DS9 thoughts after I've gotten through a couple of more seasons. Who knows by then I may be wearing a Star Trek shirt and speaking Klingon.
Live long and prosper
7 comments:
I have been a Star Trek fan since the 70s. DS9 is my favorite of the group. As the show went on, the characters changed, Sisco developed, the dark side of the Federation emerged, and it became an ensemble series with no true lead. And I loved it. I think you will too.
You didn't miss much on VOYAGER. They seemed to be on cruise control on the writing. ENTERPRISE started out the same, but picked up speed, especially toward the end, even the last season finally explaining why Klingons looked different from those in TOS.
Too little too late.
An occasional Trekkie! My god, man, do you realize what you're saying?
DS9 is by some distance the best Trek series. It does start fairly well, and it keeps on getting better as more layers are added to the story, but the biggest thing that controls the improvement is the simple fact that the best characters aren't the main characters. So it takes a while for all the secondary characters to be introduced and then reach their potential and in the mean time we have to suffer Bashir and Sisko and the rest.
Gul Dukat is Trek's finest villain, but it took a while for the writers to realize what makes him tick and that his heavy-handed flirting with Kira works so well. The one with the booby trapped station in series 2 is perhaps the first moment he starts to shine. The plain and simple tailor Garak is probably Trek's best character, but again it takes until late season 3 for him to achieve greatness. And the god like brilliance that is Jeffrey Combs doesn't become a regular as Weyoun until season 5. And that's before we even mention Kai Winn, Eddington, Damar, Nog, Rom, Leeta, the woman, and Vic Fontaine (well, I'm perhaps the only trekkie who likes him but the rest are excellent).
As I say I've seen some of the later episodes but watching the entire run like this means I'm not missing any of the complex plot threads I've read so much about. Last night I watched Whispers so I'm coming to the end of the second season, but on the strength of what I've seen so far, and ignoring all I know about what is to come, I would say Quark and Odo are by far the most interesting characters. I find both Kira and Sisko to be bland but I'm starting to warm to Dax. I know the early seasons are the least well regarded but I've enjoyed most of the episodes I've seen thus far, though I would say that Babylon 5's first couple of seasons were better, but then Babylon 5 cheated at the end and all that plotting and anticipation came to nothing.
Oh and Charles - how many episodes do I have to watch before I graduate from Starfleet and become a full blow Trekkie?
Gary, you may end up like me. I fail in being a true Trekkie. I love other Science fiction too much, Stargate, Dr. Who, and especially Star Wars. :)
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