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Things I was surprised by when I watched Deep Space Nine
So since I decided to view the entire run of DS9, I found that I was pretty surprised by stuff that actually happened on this show. Coming from being such a huge fan of Voyager, I realized what a polar opposite this show is when compared to Voyager. Please note, there will be spoilers in this article. So if you haven't seen DS9 and wish to I urge you to leave this blog until after you've seen the entire run.
Boldy Going...
The show takes place aboard a space station. They only receive a big ship in the beginning of season 3 and before that they rely on shuttle crafts to do their exploring. They don't venture out and meet new races very often in the show. In fact the show pretty much centers on Bajorans, Cardassians, Klingons and the Dominion. Many Trekkie's dislike and disregard DS9 for this reason. I give DS9 props for doing something different. I feel it's still very Trek in that it's examination of alien cultures is all really about examination of the human race. This is something that DS9 does extremely well at times.
Episodes:
In the Pale Moon Light, Duet, Far Beyond the Stars, Crossfire
Action
After reading articles and forum posts it's a bit strange to see people talking about how DS9 is more action oriented than the other ST series. Though maybe that is speaking coming off of TNG. Coming from Voyager, I was surprised at how little action there is. On Voyager the plot/characters seems to revolve around action. This is not so for DS9. The type of action is also quite different. Voyager is all about space battles between ships and the occasional cushy phaser fight. Voyager fights are very safe and you always know our heroes will come out okay in the end. There is a lot more hand to hand combat on DS9, even if the actors are not inclined towards it. Still, they look convincing doing it! Also an interesting little tidbit (one which I didn't even notice) apparently the studio ran out of money for the DS9 finale and all of the ship battle scenes were reused footage from previous episodes.
Episodes:
The Way of the Warrior, The Darkness and the Light, Valiant, The Siege of AR-558
Most Action Oriented Characters:
Kira & Worf
Life is cheap!
On Voyager when Jennifer Lien left the show, they allowed Kes to evolve into a higher being and had to leave the ship because she was destroying it with her telekinetic powers. On DS9 when Terry Farrell left the show, they killed her character off. Same with recurring characters Bariel and Ziyal. That made for some lovely story lines involving the rest of the characters and how they were adjusting to life with out them.
Episodes:
Tears of the Prophets, Sacrifice of Angels, Life Support
Character Development
Again coming from Voyager where the show is about the action and the characters revolve around the action. DS9 was all about it's characters and more often than not an episode would delve into the psychological aspects of a character. DS9 even had character arcs for it's supporting cast. To the point they had more development that some of the main characters on TNG and Voyager!
Characters who had the most development:
Odo, Kira, Sisko
A Family Show about War
I knew certain things before I'd really watched the show but I hadn't realized how much this show is about war until I'd actually watched it. Now don't get me wrong the show is not entirely about war but it's major plots do revolve around war. The show starts off with the end of a war between the Bajorans and Cardassians and they touch on Wolf 359 as it effects the Siskos. Then there is the Dominion war that involves all of the major players in the alpha quadrant (federation, bajorans, cardassians, klingons and romulans). The perspective of the wars are through the characters and how it effects them in their day today life and explains their motivations. And this is a family show so there is no blood but they do have many episodes the delve into the psychological aspects of the characters. Which to me makes it all that much more interesting, the limitations the show had to deal with made for some fascinating episodes.
Episodes:
Duet, In the Pale Moon Light, It's Only a Paper Moon, A Time to Stand through Sacrifice of Angels.
Romance, Sex and Sexuality
(this one is a bit long so I'm breaking it down into smaller categories.)
Romance
On a ship lost in the DQ with 70 years of travel to reach home its strange that there is almost no romantic relationships forming on the ship. We get Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres who are the first and only couple on the ship to have a child together. Then we get the quickly disaster that was Chakotay and Seven and the already established Kes and Neelix. Riker and Troi don't officially hook up until the films, and Crusher and Picard are hinted at in the alternative timeline but that doesn't last in the films. That's why I was so surprised by the amount of romantic relationships that crop up on DS9. By that I mean actual honest to goodness confirmed their in a relationship. At one point the main cast of characters are all in a long term relationship/marriage except for Jake, Quark and Bashir (although Bashir is kind of ify in this instance considering what he has with Garak and O'Brien)! That's not to mention the supporting characters and the romances they have. The Odo/Kira romance arc takes place for almost the entire run of the series! I think because there is so much Romance on this show many people feel it strays in to soap territory.
Episodes:
Heart of Stone, Crossfire, Looking for a Par'Mach in the All the Wrong Places, Children of Time, You are Cordially Invited..., His Way, Chimera
Character with the most Romances:
Kira (long term relationships with Bariel, Shakaar and Odo)
Character with the most Romantic failures:
Bashir
Sex
This is a family show so there is not much they can actually show. Though it is fascinating what they do actually get away with in this show. It's made very clear that Quarks holosuites are used primarily for sex. In fact there is an episode where a sleazy business man makes it his mission to bang a holographic Kira via Quarks Bar. There is references to Ferengi sexuality which involve rubbing the ears (Oo-maks), it's seen quite frequently. Rom even makes a passing reference to masturbation in one episode. There's also lots of PG Chaneling sex and some afterglow scenes.
Episodes:
Behind the Lines, Chimera, A Simple Investigation, Meridian
Character who had the Most Sex:
Jadzia
Sexuality
Sexuality is pretty fluid on DS9 and there are a few episodes which do acknowledge that. Particularly, in the case of the Trills, Changelings and Garak. Garak is probably the closest we have to a gay character on Trek. His sexuality is not made clear on the show, though the actor penned a book post series that describes Garak as omnisexual. The Trills are a symbiotic species and a specific symboit may live for hundreds years through many different hosts. In one particular episode Dax meets a host who she had been married to in a previous life. There are many taboos surrounding their relationship that they want to continue. Changelings are a race of beings that have no specific gender, though they do have gender identity. Specifically Odo has gender identity growing up on Bajor.
Most Sexually Ambiguous Character:
Garak and possibly Bashir.
Episodes:
Rejoined, Chimera (yes that episode again!)