Star Trek DS9

Oct 22, 2018 21:35





I’ve heard a lot of conflicting things about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine...

Some fandom friends, who’s opinions I respect, wax lyrical about its brilliance.

Some online reviews say it’s not so bad, once you get over season one.

Others say it’s the red-headed step-child of the entire Star Trek franchise...

Well, I’ve just finished watching every episode, and I definitely lean towards the ‘it’s totally brilliant, you have to watch it’ camp!

This is the most serialised Star Trek I’ve ever seen. Don’t even attempt to jump in at some later point, thinking you’ll catch right up. Nope. You need to know the ongoing story arcs, or you won’t have a clue what’s going on.

You should also pay attention to the ongoing character arcs, as well - people change, they grow. Some become villains over time. Some villains become allies. Some flip-flop between the two so quickly and so often, you’ll get whiplash!

I’m not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination. I went to church with my primary school when I was a child. We had to sit through some Christian school assemblies every so often and sing songs like Morning Has Broken, and listen to a few bible stories in class back in the 80s and early 90s. My parents were quietly religious, but not me.



These days, I’m like 94% agnostic with on-the-fence-leanings. I try to be respectful of others beliefs, but so many use their religion to prop up absurd assertions or have viewpoints diametrically opposed to my own, that I frequently side-eye anyone who’s religious, just in case they’re one of ‘those types’... like book-burners. Or right-wing, minority-hating people-lynchers. You know the type. They often hang with an orange baboon who calls himself president.

Therefore, I’m utterly shocked that the religious elements of DS9 didn’t have me rolling my eyes in disbelief or annoyance. On the contrary, it became a beloved aspect of the show. I adore Kira's firmly-held beliefs. They were heartfelt, never wavered, and were never held up as something to ridicule. I came to really respect Sisko’s growing beliefs in the prophets, as well. I like that they left it up to the individual to decide whether the Bajoran Gods were real, or simply very powerful aliens who lived in a wormhole...

Certainly, this show is different from the two that came before it. The DS9 crew are largely stationary in their station (heh), instead of gallivanting off across the galaxy seeking out new worlds and civilisations, as we’re so used to.

This allowed DS9 to really delve in and explore the ramifications of their storylines. They rarely used that big reset button that seems to happen on the other shows, allowing characters to seemingly forget what happened just last episode. Actions had consequences on DS9 that were long-lasting and had meaning.

It also allowed for a vast cast of recurring characters that we really got a chance to get to know very well over the seven years.

I mean, I loved TOS, but it’s mainly the story of Kirk, Spock and that other guy, their irascible Doctor buddy, right? I enjoyed the rest of the crew, but they didn’t really have all that much to do.

The Next Generation improved upon this, but I found myself actively disliking certain of their characters *Cough-Deanna-Cough*. And some background characters got left in the cold - like our beloved Chief. Poor, overlooked Chief O’Brien...

Thank heavens DS9 came along to give O’Brien actual worthy storylines and character progression, amiright? There isn’t a character I don’t enjoy in DS9. Not from the main crew, or the station-dwellers - they’re all favourites. I'm always happy to see them on my screen.

...Well, I don’t particularly like their alternate-universe selves. Every time they turn to the evil AU, I quickly zone out, not going to lie.

Now, I’m a bit of a continuity-whore. I LOVE when shows reference themselves. I love when they remember their past and make sure to bring up their own history... When they don’t forget character arcs and character progressions. It shouldn’t be such a rare thing, but it is. Oh, it is. DS9 gives good continuity, people. It’s an expert at it and one of its biggest strengths.

I think the choice to have the build-up to the war with the founders was fantastically handled, too.

It was peppered throughout the early seasons, then came centre stage in later ones, and the final 10-episode climax was the perfect way to end the show.

I like the darkness it brought to the franchise - which it managed to do without losing the true feeling of Star Trek at all. Unlike, say, ST: Discovery, which seems to go to the dark, gritty well of story-telling repeatedly, while completely losing touch with the heart of what Star Trek should be, or what Star Trek came before it.

I can’t give a full (unbiased) comparison of DS9 and ST:D, though, as I stopped watching ST:D after about a second -  the cannibalistic Klingons, the ultra-modern equipment like holographic projectors in the TOS timeline and Spock’s human half-sister turned me off after about two episodes. Seriously! Ack!

The war in DS9, on the other hand, felt like a natural progression of the storyline and characters involved - plus, it showed the reality of a military-based organisation like Starfleet at war! And it did it without getting gratuitous or losing any of its integrity!!

On a lighter note, I’m a big fan of the recurring gag of Morn sitting at the bar. Or the humour of Russian-voiced Kira cooing Juuuulian, or every single solitary time the evil alpaca walked on screen (private joke - don’t ask). And Brunt (FCA)... I giggled hard people, every single time...

My favourite character? Kira. No, Jadzia Dax! No, wait, O’Brien! Ack, it’s Julian, Julian! Fine, it’s a four way tie. Five way, with Quark. But Worf! And Garak! And Sisko! Dammit... Don’t make me choose.

All of the character interactions and relationships built up throughout the show are fantastic, especially as they come without all the usual 'enforced drama' that drags other shows down. Worf and Dax are perfect for each other! Bashir and O'Brien's friendship is a slow build that becomes embedded in the fabric of the show, until you sort of believe it was always there. They even managed to have a father/son relationship that didn't make me want to murder the child within three episodes - I actually like Jake! And Nog! And even (when we get to see her) Molly!! Bloody hell! Dogs and cats living together, I tell you!

I really do love Jadzia Daz. The storyline potential in having this symbiotic creature, that retains all the memories of its past hosts, which can exist in any gender and can interact with the same people throughout separate lifetimes is truly the stuff made of sci-fi and storytelling dreams, right? This Klingon-loving, Tongo-playing 'old man' is a fabulous edition to the crew - and I didn't even hate it when Jadzia Dax became Ezri Dax! I liked Ezri, even if we didn't get long enough to truly know her as a separate entity from Jadzia. Or actually see her relationship with Bashir grow in real time, which was one of the very few tell-don't-show miss-steps the show has made. But, much like Tennant is my doctor, Jadzia is my Dax. I miss her.

I love the strength of the women on this show. Jadzia and Kira are women with such depth. They hold their own right alongside the men in their world. Jadzia can fight like a Klingon and gain their respect. She's unashamedly sexual without being sexualised. What a bloody breath of fresh air!

Kira - if I were in the Star Trek universe, Kira's about the one person I would NOT want to mess with. She's tough. She's justly confident in herself and her abilities. She's also deeply spiritual and surprisingly nurturing.

I love that these two warrior women became such close friends over the show. I hate to say it, but I bought their friendship and camaraderie way more than Beverly Crusher and She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, who I often felt shared time together simply because they were women doing 'girly' stuff, rather than a friendship of strong, powerful women with mutual respect. Of course, I could be slightly biased in this...

I haven't even spoken much about Benjamin Sisko, our Commander/Captain as yet. I'm seriously in awe of that man's voice! I swear everyone gets the sex-voice treatment, and it made me giggle inappropriately quite a bit! Some fans don't seem all that enamoured with our bass-voiced Captain, but I really adore him. He raised a good son, made hard decisions when he had to and managed to change and grow over the course of the show - he never remained stagnant or stunted. And he certainly wasn't someone you ever want to cross, that's for sure. His final storyline could have used a touch more in the telling, but I think he did a marvellous job, overall.

My top ten episodes from the series? Well, glad you asked...

1.06 The Forsaken

Lwuxana Troi throws her cap at Odo - and I actually loved it! Forgetting the fact that I hate her daughter with a passion usually reserved for cold callers, I tend to like Lwuxana, when she's done right. It helps that she's played by Trek legend Majel Barrett, of course. TNG often portrayed her as faintly ridiculous, embarrassing or annoying, with Picard furtively scuttling around corridors, trying desperately to avoid her advances, but here they focussed on allowing her loneliness and poignancy to really shine through. I love the connection she managed to make with our standoffish Constable. It was heartfelt. There's something so intimate about being in a small space with a stranger - it's awkward and claustrophobic even when you're not being romantically harassed by a Betazoid! This was by far the strongest segment of the episode, though I did get a slight kick out of the pompous ambassadors calling Bashir by his first name by the end! I also think this was the first time we really got to learn a bit about Odo's sad past at the Institute - which I still say is akin to scientific torture...

2.08 Necessary Evil

In many ways, this is an origin story - how Odo met Quark, Kira and Dukat, and what DS9 was like back when it was under the slave-mining rule of the Cardassians and named Terok Nor. I'm a huge, huge fan of noir gumshoe detectives, and this episode definitely felt like one to me - Odo the investigator, telling us a story of murder and femme fatales via flashback and voiceover logs. I loved exploring the history of the occupation and seeing characters we've become so used to in such vastly different situations, and learning how they came to be. The revelation that Kira, resistance-fighter extraordinaire, was our murderer lent such a delicious bitter-sweetness to the story, chipping away a teeny bit at her relationship with Odo, whose whole personality and lifestyle is so wrapped up in justice. Brilliant - one that stayed with me long after it ended.

2.14 Whispers

A very well done psychological sci-fi mystery! Chief O'Brien wakes up and everyone around him is just a little bit... off. The tension, the paranoia, the narrative told in flashback... the scene of O'Brien's growing fear of his own wife's cooking (I may have screamed at him not to eat it!). Of course, in the end, we learn the inevitable - it's O'Brien we should have been looking at suspiciously all along. The clone's death was so tragic in the end. I'd like to re-watch it at some point, knowing the story properly and seeing how it all fits together from my shift in perspective.

3.11-12 Past Tense

Whew, what a pair of episodes! I always enjoy trips to the past, and Past Tense didn't disappoint, it was suspenseful and emotional. Sisko, Bashir and Dax are transported back to a pivotal moment in Earth's history... and promptly change things by accident. With the premature death of an historical figure, our intrepid heroes must ensure Earth's history unfolds as it should, in order for a social revolution to create the Earth of the future we all love (and secretly hope will be a reality in the real world someday). Sisko really shines as he takes Bell's place in the narrative, and it’s an episode that really made me sit up and take notice of him. These episodes, much like City on the Edge of Forever, really highlight the social dissonance between the rich and the poor in the very near future - the homeless herded into what amounts to prison camps with a wall around them, so the rest of society can happily go about their business, forgetting they even exist. It's a future that seems all too close to being a reality, isn't it? It's terrifying just how close.

3.20 Improbable Cause

Ahhh, Garak. I adore Garak. He's suspicious, droll, misanthropic, duplicitous... he is, in other words, utterly perfect. You never entirely know which side he's truly on - except his own, of course. I enjoyed watching his friendship with Bashir grow, and this outing he gets a chance to interreact with Odo!  Who set a bomb in Garak's store, trying to murder him? That mystery takes Odo and Garak all the way to the Cardassian border, with plenty of intrigue and some sparklingly fantastic dialogue from our two dry, witty heroes. The lovely continuity from previous stories is the cherry on top of this delicious pie. We finally learn more about The Obsidian Order, the ships they've been building and why they're joining up with The Romulan Tal Shiar. And now Garak's off to help poke The Dominion in the eye, ratcheting up the future war. In the words of the Jake Perralta... noice!

4.02 The Visitor

Can I give this one 11 out of 10, please? Or maybe 15 out of 10. I cried the ugly cry. Every solitary time that Jake teared up, so did I. I was a wreck by the end. So, Sisko gets zapped, seemingly dies, and Jake lives a life with the ghost of his father popping in infrequently, stirring up his emotions - and mine. He's haunted so much by the past and fixing it that he wrecks his marriage and ends up alone, telling his story in flashback to a wayward fan of his writing in his last remaining hours. Jeez, this was good. It's such a detailed, in-depth character piece - show this to the naysayers, people. Show this to prove that Star Trek is more than just science-babble and alien shenanigans. This was pure character-driven narrative at its very best, and it was beautiful and sad and wonderful. The actor playing elder Jake was utterly fantastic, but Cirroc was just as good in his early moments. It would have been better for Jake (though of course, not for the audience) if his dad had died outright. He could have gotten closure. Mourned and moved on. Instead, he ended up tormented and obsessed, striving to do the impossible - and of course, being Star Trek, he succeeded. Thank heavens, or we wouldn't have this beautiful episode to ponder over for years to come! It's one of the show's finest moments.

4.09 Our Man Bashir

Juuulian! This episode made me smile from beginning to end. I do like a 'holodeck gone wrong' story! Bashir makes a perfect James Bond character, with a deliciously sarcastic Garak tagging along, a real-life put-upon spy. I always enjoy a spot of humour - it's the spicy seasoning to all the drama that goes on. Gives us all a moment to breathe and lets the show have a laugh and not take itself too seriously. Star Trek has the odd comical episode here and there, but it isn't like, a Joss Whedon show, that effortlessly blends the two together, more's the pity. Our Man Bashir gave the cast a chance to take on other roles and have a little fun - and it showed! They were obviously having a hoot-and-a-half! Bashir's fantasy life in the holosuite is one of my favourite things about him, and we get more and more hints of this as the show moves on, with Bashir and O'Brien enjoying many a holosuite program together. It's a delightful character quirk, and one that many a geek can get behind - who doesn't dream of having their own holodeck?! It's the best Star Trek invention ever!

5.04 Nor the Battle to the Strong

An analysis about the effects of war on the psyche. The danger here feels very, very real. It drew me in. I can't tell you how glad I was that we got this kind of story - that Jake, one of 'us' was the insight into this. War isn't glamorous or romantic. It's terrifying, and it takes a very particular mindset to be a soldier, follow orders and not let very reasonable and very understandable fear take you over. I like that they allowed Jake to go there - to not be the brave one, to not be the stoic warrior, finding an inner strength he never knew he had. Instead, he runs, hides, and is ashamed. He shouldn't be - being terrified in war is the absolute correct response, the human response. It's just not one that's usually highlighted in stories told about war. You know, we barely see the bad guys in this episode, but we always feel them. They're just around the corner, breathing down our necks. Tension was built brilliantly, the fear permeated the whole story. Loved it!

5.06 Trials and Tribble-ations

The only episode of DS9 I'd seen before I watched the show itself! I caught it as a two-parter with The Trouble with Tribbles, and it was immensely satisfying to finally see it in context from the other side! What an achievement it was - and a true love letter to TOS and the fans themselves. It  made me laugh and tear up, just a smidge. The costumes! The sets! The in-jokes ("We do not discuss it with outsiders")! Spock! Kirk! Scotty! And the tribbles. Oh, the tribbles!! It was pure, unadulterated fun from beginning to end and I was SO here for it! It was a big, hot, steaming mug of nostalgia, and it hit the spot perfectly. I think my favourite scene was Kirk giving the crew, including O'Brien and Bashir, a dressing down after the bar fight. How they incorporated the DS9 crew into the TOS episode simply astounds me - I don't have the technical knowhow to see if it was flawlessly done (it certainly looked so to my untrained eyes) and I've no idea the amount of work and skill involved in bringing something like this to fruition, but I imagine it was quite an undertaking, especially back then. It was no tribble at all, I'm sure!

6.13 Far Beyond The Stars

In a word: sublime. It's a lovely novelty - seeing these actors in such different roles, in period costumes, and especially seeing those who are normally in face-concealing make up without all the prosthetics, was a delight. I was actually a little embarrassed how long it took me to recognise Michael Dorn at first! It's another chance to have the actors dress up and play someone else, but there's nothing humorous about this outing. It's pure drama and social commentary from beginning to end, and it's a wonderful story. A true Trekkian story. Sisko is a black Captain. In the 24th century, that's nothing to be remarked upon - but not so very long ago, it would have been a very, very big thing, indeed. And let's not kid ourselves, it's still somewhat surprising today, 65 years after this story was set. The fact that a black actor led DS9 in the 90s was huge. It's important and it’s an aspect about this show that I love. Not just the diversity of the cast, which, quite frankly is the very essence of what Star Trek is all about, but also the fact that one of those ethnically diverse actors is the main character, the actual Captain. It feels like we should have evolved further than we have, that we should be much closer to the point where we don't even remark upon a person's ethnicity when it comes to something like this. But it does still matter. There aren't enough women getting meaty roles in TV and film. There isn't enough representation for LGBTQ+ actors and characters. When a cast is racially diverse, it's still a big thing, an anomaly. And it shouldn't be by this point. Star Trek was founded on the basis of equality, or at least the need to strive towards it, and, again, we're shown just how far we have to travel to get there. This episode delves into the not so distant past, exploring what it means to be a black man in 1953 who wants to be a sci-fi writer. Who just wants to see his name in print. Who doesn't want to have to pretend to be white to get the same opportunities that his co-workers enjoy (with the exception of the one woman on the payroll, of course). We follow the story of Bennie Russell, and it's such an eye-opening one, yet one we're familiar with. His editor has a negro and a female on his staff, but he wants it kept under wraps - society isn't ready to learn the truth, it's all society's fault, of course, nothing personal. Racism and sexism in action. This episode has much to say on these issues, and it says it well. It's hardly subtle, but then I don't believe bigotry was all that subtle back then. It's hardly all that subtle now. This isn't merely a 'message' episode, though. It's character exploration of Benjamin Sisko. It's a dream-scape scene. It's fourth-wall breaking, in a way - does Bennie exist in Sisko's imagination, or do Sisko and DS9 exist in Bennie's? Is it a vision from the prophets, sent to teach Sisko something about himself? Is it the DS9 writers themselves, describing their own idealised dreams of the future...?

Special mentions to...

1.18 Duet

3.05 Second Skin

6.19 In the Pale Moonlight

7.04 Take Me Out To The Holosuite

7.08 The Siege of AR-558

7.10 It's Only A Paper Moon

So, what were your favourites? Characters? Moments? Episodes? Tell me!

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