Phil: How long has it been since you last watched DS9 (prior to this walkthrough)?
Drake: I haven’t watched it since it was in first run, so depending on the episode anywhere from 23-28 years or so. I quit watching the show regularly at one point in favor of Babylon 5, so there are many many episodes I’ve never seen.
Phil: Does the show hold up? How has temporal distance changed your perceptions, likes, and dislikes of the show?
Drake: Surprisingly, it does hold up, in that I was expecting to hate it, relatively speaking, and I find that I enjoy it more or less the same as I did before. Occasionally, a few things I find I like a lot less, but then I find something I like more in a different episode so it balances out more than I expected. Q-Less was probably the biggest disappointment compared to my memory. Progess was very interesting, in that I appreciated different aspects of it this time around.
Phil: Excluding Quark and Odo, who I think it is safe to say we both really like and appreciate, which characters do you like on the show?
Drake: To answer the question you didn’t ask: Odo, then Quark. That’s kind of important as something they did with Odo is what turned me off the show back then.
Naturally, O’Brien is my next favorite. Being an engineer by nature myself, you can see the obvious appeal. I liked him a lot on Next Generation, it was a wise decision to bring him over from the other show, which was still going on at the time. Later, when Next Generation ended, they brought Worf in, so that will be interesting.
So far, maybe Nog is my next favorite character, though. The other characters have potential, but are still somewhat rough or bland as this is first season and things haven’t gelled yet.
I remember Dax looking a lot prettier when I was 18, heh. Kira is needlessly defiant as you pointed out. I remember thinking that back in the day, but not so eloquently. I remember kind of liking Bashir back in the day. Sisko is very bland so far. Jake is typical teen, played appropriately. Rom is an idiot, but possibly more interesting than the rest.
Phil: If a friend were interested in watching DS9, and had never seen it before, are you more or less likely to recommend it now than, say, a year ago?
Drake: I’d say about the same. Basically the same reaction I gave you. I liked it back in the day, but never finished it due to a hang up I had, and all the stuff where it “got good” happened after that. I could neither encourage nor dissuade someone. I’m really glad you suggested this project, though.
Phil: Which, if any, episodes would you recommend a newcomer skip if they are trying to get into DS9 for the first time? Which episodes should they definitely watch?
Drake: Best episodes: Duet, Vortex, and Babel. In that order.
Worst episodes: Move Along Home, Dramatis Personae, and In the Hands of the Prophets, also in that order, but the order is less well-defined.
Episodes that should be watched for important plot/character development, in show order:
Emmisary, Past Prologue, Dax, The Nagus, Vortex, Battle Lines, Progress, The Forsaken, Duet, and In the Hands of the Prophets.
Most skippable: Move Along Home, Dramatis Personae, and The Storyteller, in that order.
I could give a full yea or nay rundown on each episode with reasons, if you like.
Phil: What are your top three Trek series, in order of preference? Where does DS9 rank after this first season?
Drake: Next Generation, Original, and Enterprise, probably. DS9, then Voyager.
Some other random thoughts. I like how the Bajorans aren’t straightforward good guys. This may be some of the “grittieness” that is plagueing media today, but back then it was kind of new and fresh, plus we still had the Federation as the good guys.
Odo’s mouth looks way worse than I remember. I think that’s the extra clarity coming from a digital copy even in standard definition.
I could write a book on all the topics touched on the last episode, but it was so un fun to watch, that I hardly want to. There are some important moral issues I’m glossing over, but at the end of the day I want entertainment from this and not morality issues. I will add that the specific points Vedic Wynn raised on the teachings were stupid because the two positions didn’t actually contradict each other.