Deep Space Nine Runthrough

pixelburp

Deleted User wrote: »

It's actually fascinating when you watch the making of it. What they pulled off with 90s TV show budgets is incredible.

Its FX holds up really well (just makes the lack of a BluRay transfer all the more depressing), though there were fewer scenes with the new & old cast together than I remembered, but they all worked really well; I can't think of a funnier scene in 'recent' DS9 episodes than Dax's lusting after

Spock

& Brooks' deadpan reaction.

pixelburp

With the discussion over Discoverys Klingons, it was apt that it coincided with 'Soldiers of the Empire' during my runthrough. While in general I'm broadly ambivalent about the new iteration & there are some interesting concepts, one glaring omission that reduces these new Klingons is how humourless and dour they are; the TNG era versions are boisterous, brash and lovers of song & drink. Very viking in many ways and the absence of that makes the Discovery variants extra sanctimonious of all things.

Also, star trek really liked keeping things in the family, directorially speaking. I've lost count the number of DS9 or TNG cast members listed as directors. Every second episode seems to be directed by Avery Brooks, LeVar Burton, René Auberjonois etc - most recently Michael Dorn. The producers were obviously happy to scratch that particular itch

pixelburp

Took a break from the runthrough, and got back into Season 6 over Xmas. The most recent episode I watched was 'Profit & Lace', and ... well, uh... I think the most charitable thing I can say is that they definitely don't make episodes of TV like that anymore - and that's probably a good thing :eek:

The_Valeyard

ds9 is now 25years old now.

Indricotherium

The_Valeyard wrote: »

ds9 is now 25years old now.

I can still remember typing the code from the paper into the video machine to set it to record.

20:00 sky-one Monday night.

Evade

Indricotherium wrote: »

I can still remember typing the code from the paper into the video machine to set it to record.

20:00 sky-one Monday night.

I remember being so excited when the watch this space ad with the asteroid from the opening credits came on. And I've only just realised I was only six or seven when DS9 first aired.

seamus

I knew I saw this thread before.

Childcare necessities usually find me sitting up for about an hour after my wife has gone to bed. Disco and the Orville were good for this, but they're gone now. The last couple of weeks I've watched a few of the good Voyager episodes, but more often than not I just throw on some Family Guy.

I never really got into DS9. I don't know why. I saw a few episodes just by having it on, but not in any kind of order. Watching it sequentially is probably a good idea, but should I start from the very start, or like TNG can you skip to Season 2 and bypass loads of crap episodes without missing out anything important?

Evade

seamus wrote: »

I never really got into DS9. I don't know why. I saw a few episodes just by having it on, but not in any kind of order. Watching it sequentially is probably a good idea, but should I start from the very start, or like TNG can you skip to Season 2 and bypass loads of crap episodes without missing out anything important?

If you have the time watch it from the start. DS9's first season is much better than TNG's but still not great. If you do plan to skip it there are still some worth watching.

EDIT: I probably should throw in some good episodes. The Pilot, Captive Pursuit, Duet, Dramatis Personae, and Q-Less because it's the only Q episode.

Indricotherium

Evade wrote: »

If you have the time watch it from the start. DS9's first season is much better than TNG's but still not great. If you do plan to skip it there are still some worth watching.

EDIT: I probably should throw in some good episodes. The Pilot, Captive Pursuit, Duet, Dramatis Personae, and Q-Less because it's the only Q episode.

A lot of the first few seasons are durt.

Evade

Indricotherium wrote: »

A lot of the first few seasons are durt.

I'd say there's a lot of extremely meh episodes and a few that are outright bad without many spectacular ones but overall worth watching, especially if you've never seen it before.

Indricotherium

Evade wrote: »

I'd say there's a lot of extremely meh episodes and a few that are outright bad without many spectacular ones but overall worth watching, especially if you've never seen it before.

Allamarine.

Evade

Indricotherium wrote: »

Allamarine.

Yeah, that's a bad terrible episode.

pixelburp

Like most Star Trek, there are some duds in that first season - 'Move Along Home' is arguably one of the worst Trek stories from any series, nevermind DS9 - but by and large the show finds its feet far quicker & with more confidence than (say) TNG managed. Equally, little facets of serialisation found its way into DS9 from the get-go, allowing characters & situations more room to grow and develop - without it, I don't think someone like Kai Winn would have had the same effect without all the cumulative instances of her scheming, and butting heads with Sisko / Kira.

If you have the time I'd definitely watch from the beginning, season 1's worth it, even if it's nominally the weakest by far. It gets by on personality alone; it's crazy how charismatic that cast was, coupled with unrivalled chemistry between the actors. Quark/Odo, Bashir/O'Brian, Sisko/his son, Garak/Bashir etc. etc.

Indricotherium

Evade wrote: »

Yeah, that's a bad terrible episode.

In saying that, despite the execution of that particular episode being dire, it is a shame that those sorts of concept based elisodes are largely gone from episodic science fiction.

Rick and Morty does it really well, while still managing to have a great overarching storyline.

Just finished "For the Uniform" and I know that Sisko has his defenders here on this but he went full terrorist on this.

He allowed Eddington rile him so much that he committed an act of bio terrorism and threatened millions of others across multiple planets. No way he would have been rewarded for that.

I think Eddington won that personal battle in the end

pixelburp

Yeah, Sisko went full Captain Ahab with Eddington, and as you say it's a wonder he wasn't court-martialled for effectively poisoning a whole planet. But then that's the episodic formula at work: by the end everything has to go back to normal, no matter how insane events were in the preceding 45 minutes.

Just started Season 7 here myself, and got an introduction to Ezri Dax - never really saw her in action during any of the bits n' pieces of DS9 I saw before the current, whole runthrough. She's ... uh, kinda annoying. The starry-eyed newbie routine is a bit jarring but I'm sure / hoping that'll calm down.

There's probably a good compare & contrast to be had between DS9 and Discovery, because it's interesting to see so how often Federation ideals or rules get stretched, trampled or just plain ignored in the name of the Dominion War; yet Discovery gets routinely roasted over similar idealistic lapses of judgement during its own war setting. Like I said 2 posts back DS9 has the benefit of arguably Trek's strongest cast so maybe it's easier to give a pass on the darkness when in the next scene it's offset by Quark up to his old tricks, or Bashir/O'Brien wandering around dressed as spitfire pilots. Perhaps all it'd take would be to remove the stick from Burnham's butt in season 2 and let her loosen up a little.

Samuel T. Cogley

In the pale moonlight... that is all.

Evade

pixelburp wrote: »

There's probably a good compare & contrast to be had between DS9 and Discovery, because it's interesting to see so how often Federation ideals or rules get stretched, trampled or just plain ignored in the name of the Dominion War; yet Discovery gets routinely roasted over similar idealistic lapses of judgement during its own war setting. Like I said 2 posts back DS9 has the benefit of arguably Trek's strongest cast so maybe it's easier to give a pass on the darkness when in the next scene it's offset by Quark up to his old tricks, or Bashir/O'Brien wandering around dressed as spitfire pilots. Perhaps all it'd take would be to remove the stick from Burnham's butt in season 2 and let her loosen up a little.

I think a big contributing factor to the difference is four seasons of mostly sticking to Federation ideals before the war forced the DS9 crew cross some lines. Discovery didn't get that and we're just left to assume they're more typically Federation outside of the war. It also didn't hurt that the Dominion war looked like a war and not six ships allegedly invading a planet.

Inviere

seamus wrote: »

I knew I saw this thread before.

Childcare necessities usually find me sitting up for about an hour after my wife has gone to bed. Disco and the Orville were good for this, but they're gone now. The last couple of weeks I've watched a few of the good Voyager episodes, but more often than not I just throw on some Family Guy.

I never really got into DS9. I don't know why. I saw a few episodes just by having it on, but not in any kind of order. Watching it sequentially is probably a good idea, but should I start from the very start, or like TNG can you skip to Season 2 and bypass loads of crap episodes without missing out anything important?

Definitely watch from the start if you can. Sure there's a few duds through the first run, but what Trek show is any different? You'd be missing out on a lot of early development by skipping it, plus it has one of the shows best episodes

You soulless minions of orthodoxy

odyssey06

seamus wrote: »

I never really got into DS9. I don't know why. I saw a few episodes just by having it on, but not in any kind of order. Watching it sequentially is probably a good idea, but should I start from the very start, or like TNG can you skip to Season 2 and bypass loads of crap episodes without missing out anything important?

For DS9 Season 1, I would recommend that you watch these episodes, as they either contribute to the main story arc, introduce the gamme quadrant, or are key episodes in terms of introducing the cast members:

• Emissary
• Past Prologue
• A Man Alone
• Captive Pursuit
• Dax
• Battle Lines
• Vortex
• The Nagus
• Duet
• In the Hands of the Prophets

That's not to say the other episodes are all poor, just you could skip them without getting confused in Season 2. I quite like the claustrophic nature of Dramatis Personae for example.

odyssey06

For season 2 speedy rewatch I would probably watch to Necessary Evil... then skip everything except The Alternate and resume with Blood Oath.

I would include Armageddon Game as I like OBrien-Bashir eps.

Relikk

Inviere wrote: »

Definitely watch from the start if you can. Sure there's a few duds through the first run, but what Trek show is any different? You'd be missing out on a lot of early development by skipping it, plus it has one of the shows best episodes

That's what's great about modern TV shows. 10-12 episodes leaves no room for filler when there was usually 20+ episodes to write and film. The same with Stargate SG-1. There was always a few filler episodes and the usual recap episode per season.

My love for DS9 grows every time I watch it. It's by far my favourite Trek series.

The_Valeyard

Relikk wrote: »

The same with Stargate SG-1. There was always a few filler episodes and the usual recap episode per season.
.

I didnt mind filler episodes in Stargate as some were quite good, but the needless pointless flashback episodes really annoyed me!!

"The Sound of Her Voice" is up next. I thnk that I have to be careful in the room watching this later, loads of dust in the air for some reason

Yup really dusty and some has gotten into my eye

coffee_cake

ooo i can stop spamming the general thread now haha

coffee_cake

pixelburp wrote: »

A few more random thoughts while working through the first few episodes of the 5th Season:

- I never thought I'd say this, but Jake is not half as annoying as I remembered him; he's a bit of a drip, but nowhere near Wesley Crusher levels of annoying. "Nor to the battle, the strong" made me feel for the guy, despite the cheesy voiceover
- Is there a more unsung guest actor in TV Trek than Jeffrey Combs? Feels like every second episode, there he is, playing another random alien.

i was thinking both these things! he was even a ferengi

Sleepy

I never really liked DS9 when it was on it's original run on Sky 1 back in the day. After burning through Enterprise, Discovery and The Expanse in the past few months though and it being available on Netflix, I've just downloaded the first season onto my Kindle to watch during my commute...

Urgh season 1 and most of 2

It gets so much better