Deep Space Nine

I've been rewatching a bunch of Deep Space Nine episodes. Not all of them, but the good ones. I will always like The Next Generation more, since that's where I was really introduced to Star Trek, but man, DS9 has the best story arcs of any Star Trek. So many great moments. I actually haven't seen many episodes more than once, except for the very end, which I rewatched with my wife a few years ago. And there were a few I had never seen, either because of scheduling, or because the previews made me not want to see them. But yeah, it's glorious. 

First, some thoughts on the intro. It is quite different from its predecessors' intros - there's no monologue about the "final frontier", and only slow camera movement. And of course, the music is slow and sort of melancholy instead of upbeat and adventurous. Even the gold-colored text sets it apart - it's less glowy and more down to earth (or Bajor, or whatever). All that could be considered objectively worse than the Next Generation counterpart. But the DS9 intro is amazing. It captures the feeling of isolation that permeates the show. Starfleet is not coming to help. You can't run very far from problems, even at the end of an episode. You're stuck where you are, and you have to deal with things long-term. 

And one final thought about the intro: It's important to note that, for a few years in there, DS9 was the only source of new Star Trek we had. When I was watching it back in the day, I wasn't comparing the show to TNG. I was just basking in the glory, grateful to have a window into that world. And the music and visuals of the intro still capture that feeling for me, no matter how many times I've watched the show.

[Spoilers for the series]

I started with the three-part thing about the Circle, which I had never seen, and the previews seemed stressful so I hadn't bothered before. The episodes are... fine. Like most Star Trek series[es], DS9 wasn't amazing in its first two seasons. (But still better than most shows.)

Then I started reviewing episodes that introduced the Dominion. The Jem'Hadar showed up in the finale at the end of Season 2, in an episode that starts out all happy and peaceful. Incidentally, it also contains a great monologue from Quark, about how humans don't like Ferengi because they remind us over ourselves (and the audience is like, yeah) - but then he points out that Ferengi haven't abused each other the way humans have, so they're better. (I'd point out that in the case of women's rights, they have absolutely been worse than humans. I kind of hate any episode that involves Ferengi, except for the ones actually stationed on DS9.)

Then at the start of Season 3, they introduced the Defiant. Man, I love that ship. (It will surprise no one to hear that Nemesis in The Plasma Master is heavily based on the Defiant.) I was reading about how some producers were hesitant to give the show its own starship because it might compete for attention with Voyager. That, of course, is nonsense. But it was wise of them to make the Defiant an uncharacteristically-battle-oriented ship, with plenty of flaws that set it apart from everything else. But forget about those, because when that thing starts shooting, it is absolutely glorious.

About the end of that episode: I don't love it when stories have cool things happen and then say they didn't (especially Garak's line about "the plan"). But finding out about about the Changelings - that was huge. I've read that the twist there wasn't the original plan for the Dominion (or for Odo), but it was a good idea, because makes the Dominion that much more intimidating.

I skipped ahead to "Improbably Cause" / "The Die is Cast". The visuals at the end of that episode are great. Romulan and Jem'Hadar ships are cool, but of course what's really great is that the Defiant gets to blow things up again. (And the story here is very important for Garak, and of course Odo.) I also watched the finale of the season, which I didn't really remember. But it seemed important for the next thing:

The start of Season 4 is where things really fire up. If you aren't familiar with the show and want to be, don't read past this sentence before you're properly caught up, because it will spoil things.

Bringing Klingons in was nice, because they have some of the coolest ships in Star Trek. But when the camera pans up to show Worf - that was amazing, a total surprise. It was like this life-changing gift that the producers had just thrown at us. A piece of TNG (which had ended years prior), just... it was just wonderful. And you know what else gave me warm, fuzzy feelings? The moment near the end, when the station's new weapons deploy. The missile launchers and phasers and stuff,  hammering away at the Klingon fleet. It's not just visually cool. It marks a major change in the show. Deep Space Nine is no longer helpless in its isolation. It has evolved. And the station has gained a bit more character, taking a step closer to the Enterprise D that we all know and love.

I skipped something else about that episode. They changed the intro. Instead of the quiet isolation from before, we now see runabouts and other ships docking. There's a Cardassian ship. There are even some people in space suits doing maintenance. And of course the Defiant is there, and at the end it detaches and flies into the wormhole - another reminder of how the station has gained importance and the characters have a greater sphere of influence than they did at the start.

They also tweaked the music, adding a steady beat behind the main theme. This is sort of controversial - this new track doesn't always land a beat at the same time as the rest of the music, and that's because they were too cheap to re-record it. But to be honest, I was happy with the change. It creates a more energetic tone, which matches the changes to the show. ("Growing the beard", as they say, although Sisko already had a beard by this point. But he did shave his head over the summer.)

Then I watched "Our Man Bashir", an episode that's not important, but I had never seen it. I might skip ahead quite a bit. The end of Season 4 is where Odo loses the ability to shape-shift, a condition that lasts for the next TWELVE EPISODES. That was so stressful for me when I watched it before. I wasn't sure they'd ever give it back - it seemed like maybe they needed the Founders to have that advantage over Odo or something. When he finally gets the ability back, it's such a relief. But I'm not sure I need to relive it.

I will definitely be rewatching the finale to Season 5. That was the start of another huge story arc, which was also filled with stress, but in a much more satisfying way. And it looks like the second-to-last one is important because it introduces Weyoun, who everybody hates, but is also important.

I'll update this later.