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A guide to DS9 episode plots
(startrek.website)
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this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2023
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Risa
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From someone who did the same: there is no way to understand what DS9 is about without watching it end to end, it's just designed differently than TNG or TOS or Voyager, which were made for people to catch individual episodes and feel like they watched something. DS9 has intricate plot points that expand over an entire season, and then on into the next. I thought I knew what the show was about, but I was so very very, wonderfully wrong! Instead of it being my least favorite, I see now that it's the deepest of them all, though they all have their individual contributions, especially for the historical time they were released in.
So my advice is to wait until you have a few hours, then watch all of season 1. You'll be glad you did, and can decide when to find time to continue with season 2.
Learning about Garak will be infinitely more satisfying that way:-). He is one of the most "interesting" characters on the show, but really when you think about it, they all are.
To borrow a quote from B5, "No one here is exactly what he appears."
Except Garek, obviously. He's merely a simple tailor.
I dunno, man. I heard he used to be a gardener.
OK FINE I will watch DS9 again, convinced me.
Friggin Risa strikes again.
We are sneaky that way. :-)
Somehow at the same time I also convinced myself to rewatch Babylon Five, go figure:-P.
Me watching DS9, you watching B5…
Everybody you interact with lately (including yourself) has a surge of good taste!
Injecting those shows into our thoughts, is what gives us culture! :-P
Best reply I've ever recieved on the question. Thanks for that.
There's only two of us in the house and only one of us like watching Star Trek which makes it very hard to find time to watch on my own. We like watching TV and movies together but when your significant other doesn't like what you like, it isn't easy to watch what you want on your own time.
I think the estimate is that DS9 has 126 hours of content across all episodes ... now I just need to set aside about five days alone and without sleep to be able to watch it all.
If anything the anticipation of watching the series is very exciting for me.
Thanks again for the great response!
Or if you only have 82.5 hours available, check out the episode recommendations at https://medium.com/maxistentialism-blog/star-trek-deep-space-nine-in-82-5-hours-10acde591fd2 I found it a great way to watch it in a slightly condensed form, focussing on the main themes.
Thank you for your kind words.
Actually there is a chance that your housemate might like DS9, even if they do not like other more canonically "sci-fi" shows - much more than others like TNG and Voyager, it returns to the roots of TOS and then blows way past them in offering "grit" and "grime" and dirty nasty backstabbing surprises, which were more or less absent from the more sanitized, pristine & safe spaces of e.g. TNG. Like, by offering a new set of bad guys to explore each week, those other shows focused more on exploration and "us vs. them", whereas DS9 by re-using the same cast was able to delve deeper into drama and in particular "us vs. ourselves" matters.
As one example, if you devoted your entire life to fighting terrorism - the raping & pillaging of your people - and then one day woke up to find that you had become the very thing that you used to fight against, would that bother you? Take note that such thoughts are not everyone's cup of tea, and just b/c DS9 offers more "drama" / deeper character development than other Star Trek shows (which take multiple series to get time to dip into such back-stories), doesn't mean that they will automatically like it!! But there is a chance that they will, at least?
Also, rather than binge it, personally I think I would recommend watching an episode a day and then NOT watching another until you've had time to "digest" that, b/c it does deal with weighty matters and for me at least although I had the opportunity to do it either way, I found that more fun. But ofc you have to do whatever you can find to work for you!:-P