You often hear people say the phrase "boldly go where no one has gone before" whenever Star Trek is mentioned. But this time, it's a bit different. Sure the mission is still the same, but this series brings a lot of firsts to the franchise. It's the first series not to be primarily set on a starship (though one would be used much later on to expand the setting a bit) but a space station instead. It's also the first series to have its main leading character be a person of colour which is a win for diversity at a time when the Black Lives Matter movement I guess had only just begun. And it's the first series not to have any direct involvement from the late franchise creator Gene Roddenberry (though reports indicate that he did work on some of its development). It does have a few connections from
Next Generation such as characters from that show joining this one as well as carrying on some of the themes and conflicts that the show set up initially. Quite a lot to unpack and despite not being as popular as the other shows in the franchise, it has some quirk and charm to it with some very memorable characters. So let's set course and see what happens inside DS9:
Season 1
The titular space station formerly ran by the Cardassians is assigned a new joint Federation/Bajoran crew
led by Commander Benjaman Sisko (played by Avery Brooks) who arrives with his son Jake (played by Cirroc Lofton) and his chief of operations Miles O'Brien (reprised by Colm Meaney from
Next Generation) and his own family on the Enterprise-D. At first the station is in a sorry state, but over time gets better as the new crew get used to their new workplace. Sisko also becomes the Emissary of the Prophets by a Bajoran preist in this first season and other highlights include the head of security Odo (played by the late René Auberjonois) realizing that he may not be the last changeling out there in the galaxy and various events concerning the Gamma Quadrant take place too. One of the things that Gene Roddenberry forbid from being used in the franchise until he passed away was conflicts and conflicts are certainly felt in
Deep Space Nine. I mean OK sure you should respect the wishes of the franchise creator, but at the same time, I can't help but feel that conflicts can lead to good storytelling. The first season overall is good. It establishes the characters well and may be the first Star Trek series to feature a wider array of aliens on a more regular basis than just for a select few episodes (besides the Vulcans and Klingons of course). A good start. 9/10
Season 2
The second season begins with a three part story where commanding officer and Bajoran, Kira Nerys (played by Nana Visitor)
sets out to save a person she thought was long dead leading to a brief war between the Bajorans and Deep Space Nine. Meanwhile, Miles gets trailed, begins to suspect something isn't right with the crew at one point and has a risky adventure or two with Sisko and Chief Medical Officer Julian Bashir MD (played by Alexander Siddig). A resident of Deep Space Nine and bartender Quark (played by Armin Shimerman) who is a Ferengi, also has a few adventures where he gets shot, threatened and reunites with an old lover of his. Plenty happening in this second season and I kind of enjoy seeing how different members of the DS9 crew react to the various events that happen around them. Pretty good stuff once again. 9/10
Season 3
After spending most of the previous two seasons onboard DS9, this season introduces the USS Defiant as a means to help make good stories taking place away from the space station. This season begins with Sisko learning of the Dominion and attempts to broker a peace treaty with the group as a means to prevent another war in the galaxy. Chief Science Officer and a joined Trill Dax (played initally by Terry Farrell) learns that it's current host's life may be at risk and falls in love. William Riker (reprised by Jonathan Frakes) arrives on DS9, but things aren't quite as they seem with him. Among other highlights, this season manages to expand beyond the space station while not completely ignoring it. It also brings a first to the franchise as Quark's nephew Nog (played by Aron Eisenberg) becomes the first Ferengi ever to enlist in Starfleet Academy. Plus its also the first season to have a time travel story. So yeah another good season even if most of the main adventures don't take place solely on DS9. 8/10
Season 4
In a bid to prevent a war between Cardassians and Klingons, Worf (reprised by Michael Dorn from
Next Generation)
is bought to DS9 to sort things out and eventually becomes the space station's strategic operations officer. Odo goes to Earth to help prevent a changeling infestation within Starfleet and begins to have feelings for Kira. Rom begins a strike in order to tell Quark that his treatment of his staff is not good enough and various other events that eventually lead to Odo losing his powers when maintaining a solid form becomes impossible. Perhaps quite an emotional season overall, but a good one too, that brings in a few familiar faces while the threat of war and other things have DS9 right in the middle of it all. 8/10
Season 5
The fifth season begins a story arc that takes up much of the show's final three seasons in which the Federation goes to war against the Dominion with Sisko leading the fight with help from some unlikely allies. But before all that, other things happen in which Worf finds love in the most unusual place, the crew time travel to prevent a certain famous Enterprise captain from being killed, Quark and Odo discover an infant changeling, we meet Bashir's family and meet the apparent decendants of the DS9 gang all before another galactic war breaks out. It's fair to say that a lot is happening in this season, but its also good that its trying to do a story arc while also lots of self-contained stories. Yes another good season. 9/10
Season 6
Now when I started writing this post, I came across this image for season 6 and I felt it was a bit inconsistent given that much of the Starfleet people are given newer uniforms. But anyway, the Dominion have taken over DS9 and the war is brewing with Sisko intending to retake the space station and everyone else also wanting to undermine the Dominion who have allied themselves with the Cardassians. Odo especially as among the Dominion are his own people, the Founders. This whole season is largely focused on the Dominion war, but also spends time to develop characters as they navigate the war in different ways while trying to go about their normal lives. It is true, war changes people. Sometimes for better, other times for worse. 9/10
Season 7
After a devastating loss in the Dominion War (and thus any chance of both sides finding peace with one another), Sisko and Jake return to Earth, leaving DS9 under the command of Kira. As the war continues and reaches its conclusion, a new Dax (played by Nicole de Boer) becomes part of the DS9 crew which leads to some awkward encounters, Sisko leads the crew into playing baseball against a Vulcan team and his destiny as foretold by the Prophets comes to pass. It's not always a good move to introduce a new regular character in a final season of a show, but on this occasion it's OK because its essentially the same Dax, but in a new host's body. Anyway this final season ties up many loose ends and gives us what can arguably be seen as an epic showdown in space. Sometimes people forget that Star Trek can be action packed when given the chance. 9/10
I think overall this is a good Star Trek series. It does well in carving its own path while avoiding the shadow of The Next Generation even though there are a few characters, themes and references that come from that show. It's not a popular series in the franchise, but its good enough for me and I like how the show runners took the risk of changing it to be very different to what has come before while still being about exploring the galaxy and boldly going where no one has gone before. 9/10
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