Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)
When DS9 first aired, I was more than a little disappointed with it. I had fallen in love with the optimism, discovery, and clean aesthetic of TNG; DS9 was quite the opposite, with depressing things happening on a grungy old space station that didn't go anywhere. I gave it about a season and a half before abandoning ship (erm...station). Two decades later, I sat down to watch it all the way through...and I'm glad I did. Although TNG will forever remain my all-time favorite Trek series, I would argue that DS9 is, objectively, the best Trek of them all.
Kirk has the luxury of wiping the slate clean every week, blasting off to new adventures with minimal fear of his actions coming back to haunt him. Picard is confronted with the occasional story arc, but most of his conflicts are introduced and resolved within the same episode. Sisko is forced to play the long game, fighting tooth and nail for every ally, every strategic advantage, in an ongoing struggle to maintain peace on his station and in his quadrant. As in real life, major and even minor decisions often have lasting consequences. Part of what makes DS9 so compelling is how rich and complex the characters and stories become when the status quo keeps changing.
Over the course of seven seasons, we see friendships develop, rivalries intensify, and romantic relationships blossom and wither. We see conflict of every kind—political, military, religious, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and, of course, whatever the adjective is that means "purely sci-fi in nature." The heroes aren't always heroic, the villains aren't always villainous, and the difference between main and supporting characters is often one of screen time rather than importance. Garak, Kasidy, Vic, and Ishka are just as integral to the story as Kira, Bashir, Dax, and Odo. Ultimately, DS9 is a show about people being people, and that's what makes it great Trek. Sisko and crew don't need to boldly go anywhere to explore the human condition—there are plenty of social issues and tough questions to grapple with just from watching these characters interact with each other.
It doesn't start out so spectacular, though. Instead of spending the first season figuring out what kind of show it is, DS9 goes out of its way to prove what show it isn't: namely, TNG. A darker, grittier take on Star Trek is what DS9's first season wants to be, but it comes across as "TNG, but everybody's unhappy." The good guys are often at odds with each other, glimmers of hope are routinely snuffed out, and happy endings are never to be expected. A number of characters from TNG, including Lursa, B'Etor, Lwaxana Troi, Q, and Vash, make cameo appearances, but their presence feels less like a fun crossover and more like an attempt to further illustrate how different DS9 is from TNG. The very first episode frames Picard—beloved Captain Picard, commanding officer par excellence and savior of the galaxy several times over—as a bad guy, for crying out loud. Although it's certainly interesting to get a fresh perspective on these characters (and I do like how the clash between Sisko and Picard is handled), there's no mistaking the statement these crossovers make. Sisko even says to Q, "I'm not Picard." Moreover, front-loading the series with crossovers (a) makes it feel like DS9 is insecure about its ability to naturally draw in fans of TNG, and (b) takes some of the joy out of these crossovers, because we haven't gotten to know the new characters well enough to fully appreciate their extended interactions with the old ones.
Even overlooking these issues, the first season of DS9 still leaves a lot to be desired. There's an alarming amount of murder—"Past Prologue," "A Man Alone," "Dax," "The Passenger," "The Nagus," "Vortex," "Duet," and "In the Hands of the Prophets" all involve acts or planned acts of cold-blooded violence, as though that's the only kind of conflict you can have while stuck on a space station. And it really does feel like the characters are stuck on the space station, trying to figure out where this show is going. The pilot episode makes it sound like they should be seeking the other Orbs of the Prophets and the Celestial Temple. They're stationed above Bajor, which is undergoing internal strife after a long occupation. The wormhole in their backyard is a literal gateway to adventure, offering direct access to anything the writers want. Yet, despite all these wonderful plot hooks, Sisko and his crew spend their time (when not solving murder mysteries) getting trapped inside board games and freeing the O'Brien household from the tyranny of Rumpelstiltskin. Individual characters get ample development during the first season, but the show itself is so wrapped up in not being TNG that it loses sight of its own potential.
This realization is made in the second season, which explores the question, "Well, if we're not TNG, then what are we?" Immediately, there's a three-part story dealing with the Cardassians meddling in Bajoran politics. The characters start poking around the Gamma Quadrant. Several characters' backstories and cultural backgrounds are fleshed out, and the characters begin forging more interesting relationships with each other (particularly where Bashir and O'Brien are involved). Three of the series' most important antagonists—The Dominion, the Jem'Hadar, and the Maquis—are introduced, and it's clear that we haven't seen the last of them. Suddenly, the show has momentum. It's not entirely clear yet where that momentum will take it, but it's no longer "as far away from TNG as possible." If anything, the show veers back in the direction of TOS for a little bit, recapturing some of that "space western" feel and even bringing in Kor, Kang, Koloth, and the Mirror Universe. DS9 is particularly good about making connections with TOS, whether it's in crossover episodes or in passing references that only the most attentive fans will recognize—and that's one area where I've always felt TNG fell short. So yes, there are benefits to deviating from TNG, and DS9's second season is spent figuring out how to do it well.
The second season ends with a spectacular, unsettling bang: the Jem'Hadar destroy a Galaxy-class starship retreating from battle. Starships explode all the time on Star Trek, but the message to the audience is clear: that ship could have been the Enterprise-D, and the nameless grunts of the Dominion don't care who stands in their way or how they achieve victory. This is how you do a dark and gritty Trek—not with infighting and murder and bad things happening to the heroes all the time, but by raising the stakes, showing that anything can and will happen, and casting doubt on whether the heroes can really succeed. The transition from second to third season is where DS9 finally resolves its identity crisis: "Oh, right. We're awesome."
From here on out, DS9 is consistently excellent. With the show having settled on a central conflict and figured out the right tone, the story develops organically within the framework that has been established. Almost every episode fleshes out characters or culture in a big way—we learn a lot about the Dax symbiont, the Changelings, the Ferengi, and a dark chapter in Earth's history; we get to see characters in unusual contexts in episodes such as "The House of Quark," "The Abandoned," and "Explorers"; and we see the return of Thomas Riker, Lwaxana Troi, Grand Nagus Zek, and several plot threads, from the Mirror Universe to the Occupation. Seeds are sown for the conflicts of future episodes, and the newly arrived USS Defiant expands the show's potential significantly. DS9 has a firm grip on what lies behind and what lies ahead, and it's exciting to watch the series come into its own.
The show picks up even more momentum in the fourth season, kicking things off with "The Way of the Warrior," an episode that elegantly picks up multiple plot threads from TNG and weaves them into the ongoing story. Now the Klingons are major players in the conflict with the Cardassians, and Worf has signed on for a tour of duty that will develop his character in profound ways. After so many years of being the guy who gets beaten up so the villains can look extra powerful, Worf finally gets a chance to shine, and he adds a dimension to the story that we never realized we were missing.
The fourth season is also where the series realizes its full storytelling potential, tackling topics such as labor strikes, drug addiction, assisted suicide, and same-sex relationships. Episodes such as "The Visitor," and "Hard Time," and "Body Parts" explore the vast creative possibilities of science fiction. "Little Green Men" and "Our Man Bashir" are a reminder that even a more serious Star Trek can still be fun. Romantic relationships that last more than an episode begin to develop, the conflict with the Dominion reaches the heart of the Federation, and there's a very real sense that a few of your favorite characters might not be around next season.
(More to come.)
Kirk has the luxury of wiping the slate clean every week, blasting off to new adventures with minimal fear of his actions coming back to haunt him. Picard is confronted with the occasional story arc, but most of his conflicts are introduced and resolved within the same episode. Sisko is forced to play the long game, fighting tooth and nail for every ally, every strategic advantage, in an ongoing struggle to maintain peace on his station and in his quadrant. As in real life, major and even minor decisions often have lasting consequences. Part of what makes DS9 so compelling is how rich and complex the characters and stories become when the status quo keeps changing.
Over the course of seven seasons, we see friendships develop, rivalries intensify, and romantic relationships blossom and wither. We see conflict of every kind—political, military, religious, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and, of course, whatever the adjective is that means "purely sci-fi in nature." The heroes aren't always heroic, the villains aren't always villainous, and the difference between main and supporting characters is often one of screen time rather than importance. Garak, Kasidy, Vic, and Ishka are just as integral to the story as Kira, Bashir, Dax, and Odo. Ultimately, DS9 is a show about people being people, and that's what makes it great Trek. Sisko and crew don't need to boldly go anywhere to explore the human condition—there are plenty of social issues and tough questions to grapple with just from watching these characters interact with each other.
It doesn't start out so spectacular, though. Instead of spending the first season figuring out what kind of show it is, DS9 goes out of its way to prove what show it isn't: namely, TNG. A darker, grittier take on Star Trek is what DS9's first season wants to be, but it comes across as "TNG, but everybody's unhappy." The good guys are often at odds with each other, glimmers of hope are routinely snuffed out, and happy endings are never to be expected. A number of characters from TNG, including Lursa, B'Etor, Lwaxana Troi, Q, and Vash, make cameo appearances, but their presence feels less like a fun crossover and more like an attempt to further illustrate how different DS9 is from TNG. The very first episode frames Picard—beloved Captain Picard, commanding officer par excellence and savior of the galaxy several times over—as a bad guy, for crying out loud. Although it's certainly interesting to get a fresh perspective on these characters (and I do like how the clash between Sisko and Picard is handled), there's no mistaking the statement these crossovers make. Sisko even says to Q, "I'm not Picard." Moreover, front-loading the series with crossovers (a) makes it feel like DS9 is insecure about its ability to naturally draw in fans of TNG, and (b) takes some of the joy out of these crossovers, because we haven't gotten to know the new characters well enough to fully appreciate their extended interactions with the old ones.
Even overlooking these issues, the first season of DS9 still leaves a lot to be desired. There's an alarming amount of murder—"Past Prologue," "A Man Alone," "Dax," "The Passenger," "The Nagus," "Vortex," "Duet," and "In the Hands of the Prophets" all involve acts or planned acts of cold-blooded violence, as though that's the only kind of conflict you can have while stuck on a space station. And it really does feel like the characters are stuck on the space station, trying to figure out where this show is going. The pilot episode makes it sound like they should be seeking the other Orbs of the Prophets and the Celestial Temple. They're stationed above Bajor, which is undergoing internal strife after a long occupation. The wormhole in their backyard is a literal gateway to adventure, offering direct access to anything the writers want. Yet, despite all these wonderful plot hooks, Sisko and his crew spend their time (when not solving murder mysteries) getting trapped inside board games and freeing the O'Brien household from the tyranny of Rumpelstiltskin. Individual characters get ample development during the first season, but the show itself is so wrapped up in not being TNG that it loses sight of its own potential.
This realization is made in the second season, which explores the question, "Well, if we're not TNG, then what are we?" Immediately, there's a three-part story dealing with the Cardassians meddling in Bajoran politics. The characters start poking around the Gamma Quadrant. Several characters' backstories and cultural backgrounds are fleshed out, and the characters begin forging more interesting relationships with each other (particularly where Bashir and O'Brien are involved). Three of the series' most important antagonists—The Dominion, the Jem'Hadar, and the Maquis—are introduced, and it's clear that we haven't seen the last of them. Suddenly, the show has momentum. It's not entirely clear yet where that momentum will take it, but it's no longer "as far away from TNG as possible." If anything, the show veers back in the direction of TOS for a little bit, recapturing some of that "space western" feel and even bringing in Kor, Kang, Koloth, and the Mirror Universe. DS9 is particularly good about making connections with TOS, whether it's in crossover episodes or in passing references that only the most attentive fans will recognize—and that's one area where I've always felt TNG fell short. So yes, there are benefits to deviating from TNG, and DS9's second season is spent figuring out how to do it well.
The second season ends with a spectacular, unsettling bang: the Jem'Hadar destroy a Galaxy-class starship retreating from battle. Starships explode all the time on Star Trek, but the message to the audience is clear: that ship could have been the Enterprise-D, and the nameless grunts of the Dominion don't care who stands in their way or how they achieve victory. This is how you do a dark and gritty Trek—not with infighting and murder and bad things happening to the heroes all the time, but by raising the stakes, showing that anything can and will happen, and casting doubt on whether the heroes can really succeed. The transition from second to third season is where DS9 finally resolves its identity crisis: "Oh, right. We're awesome."
From here on out, DS9 is consistently excellent. With the show having settled on a central conflict and figured out the right tone, the story develops organically within the framework that has been established. Almost every episode fleshes out characters or culture in a big way—we learn a lot about the Dax symbiont, the Changelings, the Ferengi, and a dark chapter in Earth's history; we get to see characters in unusual contexts in episodes such as "The House of Quark," "The Abandoned," and "Explorers"; and we see the return of Thomas Riker, Lwaxana Troi, Grand Nagus Zek, and several plot threads, from the Mirror Universe to the Occupation. Seeds are sown for the conflicts of future episodes, and the newly arrived USS Defiant expands the show's potential significantly. DS9 has a firm grip on what lies behind and what lies ahead, and it's exciting to watch the series come into its own.
The show picks up even more momentum in the fourth season, kicking things off with "The Way of the Warrior," an episode that elegantly picks up multiple plot threads from TNG and weaves them into the ongoing story. Now the Klingons are major players in the conflict with the Cardassians, and Worf has signed on for a tour of duty that will develop his character in profound ways. After so many years of being the guy who gets beaten up so the villains can look extra powerful, Worf finally gets a chance to shine, and he adds a dimension to the story that we never realized we were missing.
The fourth season is also where the series realizes its full storytelling potential, tackling topics such as labor strikes, drug addiction, assisted suicide, and same-sex relationships. Episodes such as "The Visitor," and "Hard Time," and "Body Parts" explore the vast creative possibilities of science fiction. "Little Green Men" and "Our Man Bashir" are a reminder that even a more serious Star Trek can still be fun. Romantic relationships that last more than an episode begin to develop, the conflict with the Dominion reaches the heart of the Federation, and there's a very real sense that a few of your favorite characters might not be around next season.
(More to come.)
