Star Trek: Deep Space 9
I just have one thing to say: I am SO in love with Kira Nerys.
PLOT
I loved seeing Bajor and the Bajoran people more than in other shows. They are more interesting to me than Klingons, Romulans or Cardassians, races that were made to be quite plain, at least for now.
I like the change of spaceship to spacestation, although many times I didn't remember it wasn't a ship but having a planet (Bajor) so close, and the wormhole and not being able to escape gives something different to the show.
I never really saw any similarity -more than that- to Babylon 5, though. This is still Star Trek and has its own plotlines and style, so -now that I've watched both shows- I don't really understand the debate over which is better.
The Dominion plot was very enjoyable and gave the last seasons a continuity that is refreshing when you have been watching stand-alones for some seasons. And I really liked the idea of the whole quadrant being conquered in opposition to what Star Trek originally is (discovery and some minor battles).
MAIN CHARACTERS
(from worst to best, more or less, in my heart)
Sisko (Ben & Jake): I got sooo bored every single time these two were on screen. Benjamin plays his role as commander and emisary but he's so boring, so perfect that it just stinks a little bit. Such a boring character. And Jake, who didn't even need to be there, why is he also soooo boring? He's a pain in the ass most of the times and just plain boring the rest of times.
Ezri Dax: she's a poor substitute for Jadzia. Probably she doesn't have time to develop as a character, but she's too plain. The only thing interesting about her is how she interacts with Worf and Julian and Quark, but that's it. And it's a shame the memory of Jadzia ends up being this softened version of her. I would rather have her just dead leaving a void on the station.
O'Brien: He's the regular mechanic with a family that we need on every spaceship/spacestation. There are two points on his story that I find worth mentioning:
First, his relationship with his wife versus his relationship with Julian. We assume he loves Keiko and it seems so most of the time, but there are also times when he doesn't want her back because married family life is boring and playing cowboys with Julian is fun... And I find that to (a) be a big inmature gesture (b) mean that he really doesn't love Keiko that much. And, also, TWICE in the last season, he risks his life just not to leave Julian alone risking his: something that is totally unnecesary and stupid, and looks like he loves Julian more than anyone in the world. In fact, there are a couple of jokes in the end about how O'Brien like Julian more than his wife and how he loves his wife because she has dinner ready for him. Ha. Very funny.
Secondly, although not initially related in my head with the previous parragraph, that great episode where -out of nowhere and never to be seen again- we were gifted with a wonderful fanfiction story between O'Brien and Kira. I loved it because it was a great impossible love with UST scenes and it had Kira on it (♥), but it made no sense and I don't really see O'Brien with her in any possible AU.
Worf: I have already seen Worf in 2 Star Trek series (TNG and now DS9) and, please, I know having a klingon on Starfleet has its advantages for making up stories and linking with the Klingon Empire, but he's kind of boring. Always the same face, always the same words. Ahhhhgggg. The only time he got a bit more interesting (but just a bit) was with Jadzia. And that's just because he wasn't the only one on screen and Jadzia is so cool!
Julian Bashir: He's kind of interesting since all the genetic engineering drama, and much better in the end that in the beginning. I remember it kind of bugged me at first because he was too much after Dax and it felt a little annoying after she had turned him down twice or three times already. That went away after some time, and since then he's a good guy that isn't much more than the medical officer, but he has his moments.
Nog & Rom: I loved how this series made me think of Ferengi in another way other than stupid ugly bandits. And I love the characters of Rom -who is an engineer wonder and a timid person who loves his mother and doesn't care about profit- and Nog -who wants to be so much more than what is expected of him and grows so much once inside Starfleet.
Quark: He's a common Ferengi but also a Ferengi that spent too many years among humans. I like how he starts sloooowly to have small gestures to people he loves (small for humans, big for Ferengis), like giving them free coffee. And the way he cares about Jadzia just before and after her passing it's something that is ok with me too because he has some kind of heart. And I like that he doesn't lose his personality in 7 seasons, he just plays it little by little a bit more human till the end.
Garak: Nice outsider with a spy past. He's obviously pretty simple in the end, but I love the mystery that surrounds him in the beginning and how he plays his part.
Dukat: A very complicated, very disturbed Cardassian. No onen can say Dukat is boring, and for that I thank him but, OMG, he's so sick.
Odo: What a wonder! I absolutely loved every plot line with him. His very existence is the core of Star Trek to me -how are other species? They probably are like nothing we can imagine. I loved seeing the dilemma between going back to your people and staying with the one you love. I loved his doubts when he started feeling something for a human being. I loved seeing him with a woman for the first time. And The Great Link. He's probably the most interesting thing from this series.
Jadzia Dax: We all love Jadzia, right? She's the funny, pretty, intelligent, rock&roll girlfriend we all would like to have had. There's only one thing that bothered me about her storyline and that's how she died: she was going to the Bajoran temple to pray for a baby. That's no death worthy of Jadzia Dax.
Kira Nerys
As I first said, I love her.
There's some sort of drama and romanticism on Bajoran resistance women that I find fascinating. The first time I watched a Star Trek episode it was one of Ro Laren's from TNG and obviously I fell in love with her (I was a bit obsessed with Michelle Forbes back then so it was easy). And now that I know Kira, I don't know if she's a copy of Ro Laren (probably she was heavily based on her since Michelle didn't want to sign a new contract for a new series after her episodes on TNG) or it's just something that comes with this type of character, but they both have the same air of loneliness and ruthness and pain and void with a good heart and all those repressed feelings and past drama... And that's something I can't help but love.
Plus, she's a strong female character in the early 90's (and I guess we have Ron Moore to thank for that, the later creator of Battlestar Galactica) and although her character goes through some changes that not everyone agrees with, I find her pretty believable and I love her more and more when we start seeing her in a more intimate light. She just conquered my heart.
PLOT
I loved seeing Bajor and the Bajoran people more than in other shows. They are more interesting to me than Klingons, Romulans or Cardassians, races that were made to be quite plain, at least for now.
I like the change of spaceship to spacestation, although many times I didn't remember it wasn't a ship but having a planet (Bajor) so close, and the wormhole and not being able to escape gives something different to the show.
I never really saw any similarity -more than that- to Babylon 5, though. This is still Star Trek and has its own plotlines and style, so -now that I've watched both shows- I don't really understand the debate over which is better.
The Dominion plot was very enjoyable and gave the last seasons a continuity that is refreshing when you have been watching stand-alones for some seasons. And I really liked the idea of the whole quadrant being conquered in opposition to what Star Trek originally is (discovery and some minor battles).
MAIN CHARACTERS
(from worst to best, more or less, in my heart)
Sisko (Ben & Jake): I got sooo bored every single time these two were on screen. Benjamin plays his role as commander and emisary but he's so boring, so perfect that it just stinks a little bit. Such a boring character. And Jake, who didn't even need to be there, why is he also soooo boring? He's a pain in the ass most of the times and just plain boring the rest of times.
Ezri Dax: she's a poor substitute for Jadzia. Probably she doesn't have time to develop as a character, but she's too plain. The only thing interesting about her is how she interacts with Worf and Julian and Quark, but that's it. And it's a shame the memory of Jadzia ends up being this softened version of her. I would rather have her just dead leaving a void on the station.
O'Brien: He's the regular mechanic with a family that we need on every spaceship/spacestation. There are two points on his story that I find worth mentioning:
First, his relationship with his wife versus his relationship with Julian. We assume he loves Keiko and it seems so most of the time, but there are also times when he doesn't want her back because married family life is boring and playing cowboys with Julian is fun... And I find that to (a) be a big inmature gesture (b) mean that he really doesn't love Keiko that much. And, also, TWICE in the last season, he risks his life just not to leave Julian alone risking his: something that is totally unnecesary and stupid, and looks like he loves Julian more than anyone in the world. In fact, there are a couple of jokes in the end about how O'Brien like Julian more than his wife and how he loves his wife because she has dinner ready for him. Ha. Very funny.
Secondly, although not initially related in my head with the previous parragraph, that great episode where -out of nowhere and never to be seen again- we were gifted with a wonderful fanfiction story between O'Brien and Kira. I loved it because it was a great impossible love with UST scenes and it had Kira on it (♥), but it made no sense and I don't really see O'Brien with her in any possible AU.
Worf: I have already seen Worf in 2 Star Trek series (TNG and now DS9) and, please, I know having a klingon on Starfleet has its advantages for making up stories and linking with the Klingon Empire, but he's kind of boring. Always the same face, always the same words. Ahhhhgggg. The only time he got a bit more interesting (but just a bit) was with Jadzia. And that's just because he wasn't the only one on screen and Jadzia is so cool!
Julian Bashir: He's kind of interesting since all the genetic engineering drama, and much better in the end that in the beginning. I remember it kind of bugged me at first because he was too much after Dax and it felt a little annoying after she had turned him down twice or three times already. That went away after some time, and since then he's a good guy that isn't much more than the medical officer, but he has his moments.
Nog & Rom: I loved how this series made me think of Ferengi in another way other than stupid ugly bandits. And I love the characters of Rom -who is an engineer wonder and a timid person who loves his mother and doesn't care about profit- and Nog -who wants to be so much more than what is expected of him and grows so much once inside Starfleet.
Quark: He's a common Ferengi but also a Ferengi that spent too many years among humans. I like how he starts sloooowly to have small gestures to people he loves (small for humans, big for Ferengis), like giving them free coffee. And the way he cares about Jadzia just before and after her passing it's something that is ok with me too because he has some kind of heart. And I like that he doesn't lose his personality in 7 seasons, he just plays it little by little a bit more human till the end.
Garak: Nice outsider with a spy past. He's obviously pretty simple in the end, but I love the mystery that surrounds him in the beginning and how he plays his part.
Dukat: A very complicated, very disturbed Cardassian. No onen can say Dukat is boring, and for that I thank him but, OMG, he's so sick.
Odo: What a wonder! I absolutely loved every plot line with him. His very existence is the core of Star Trek to me -how are other species? They probably are like nothing we can imagine. I loved seeing the dilemma between going back to your people and staying with the one you love. I loved his doubts when he started feeling something for a human being. I loved seeing him with a woman for the first time. And The Great Link. He's probably the most interesting thing from this series.
Jadzia Dax: We all love Jadzia, right? She's the funny, pretty, intelligent, rock&roll girlfriend we all would like to have had. There's only one thing that bothered me about her storyline and that's how she died: she was going to the Bajoran temple to pray for a baby. That's no death worthy of Jadzia Dax.
Kira Nerys
As I first said, I love her.
There's some sort of drama and romanticism on Bajoran resistance women that I find fascinating. The first time I watched a Star Trek episode it was one of Ro Laren's from TNG and obviously I fell in love with her (I was a bit obsessed with Michelle Forbes back then so it was easy). And now that I know Kira, I don't know if she's a copy of Ro Laren (probably she was heavily based on her since Michelle didn't want to sign a new contract for a new series after her episodes on TNG) or it's just something that comes with this type of character, but they both have the same air of loneliness and ruthness and pain and void with a good heart and all those repressed feelings and past drama... And that's something I can't help but love.
Plus, she's a strong female character in the early 90's (and I guess we have Ron Moore to thank for that, the later creator of Battlestar Galactica) and although her character goes through some changes that not everyone agrees with, I find her pretty believable and I love her more and more when we start seeing her in a more intimate light. She just conquered my heart.