DS9 I had a very hard time watching, but I did finally watch the entire series. It's so much like a soap opera that it was difficult to watch. I would say the episodes were 50/50 of good and boring. Being stuck on space station was a bad idea, they definitely need a ship to change the scenery.
~snip~
As noted, I've only watched DS9 all the way through once, but that is one series that I probably couldn't watch all the way through again. I would have to skip a ton of the boring episodes. I really don't like Soap Operas.
I rewatch DS9 a couple times a year, and Voyager once a year. I am on season 6 of voyager, where they found the abandoned borg cube.
Quarks bar was awesome.
I agree about Quark. He was one of the best characters on the show. Without him, that show wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it was.
That and Kira was HAWT!
It's kinda ironic that I'm currently in a
DS9 binge re-watch right now, currently season three. I get the soap opera though. In my opinion, Rick Berman and Michael Piller were shooting for a morality dramatic series or classic good versus evil story.
I think they accomplished that goal by putting the wormhole entities, Gul Dukat and Benjamin Sisko at the core of the series. Everything ties into those three character(s). Bajor's evolution was shaped by the wormhole entities' orbs. The wormhole entities (a.k.a. good aliens) influence of Bajorian culture helped them endure and combat the domination of their world by the Cardassian Empire. The entities "adoped" Sisko as an interface between themselves and the linear universe. Sisko interconnected Bajor with the rest of the Alpha Quadrant and the Gamma Quadrant. Later, the pah-wraiths (a.k.a. bad aliens relatives of the wormhole entities) countered with their own corporeal representative: Dukat. Of course, Dukat served as the figurehead antagonist for Sisko long before his pah-wraith destiny manifested itself.
There were a multitude of storylines but they all revolved around the main story struggle of good and evil between the entities, Sisko and Dukat. Heck, the malevolent threat of The Dominion united the four major galactic powers of the Alpha Quadrant--The Federation, Klingon Empire, Romulan Empire and eventually Cardassian Empire--enemies and allies who previously held uneasy truces amongst themselves. It's the introduction of The Dominion that truly makes
DS9 special for me. A galactic empire forged by a race of people, pacifistic yet orderly shapeshifters, who were once hunted and nearly destroyed by the multitude of worlds that, in time, they made serve them with absolute unwavering obedience. The Dominion's Founders created the Vorta, calculatingly devious administrators of their will equal to any Romulan, and the JemHader, warriors as vicious as the Klingons. It was an entire society dreamed up unlike any other before in the Trek universe.
I would compare the third through seventh seasons of
DS9 with any seasons owned by the other series of the franchise. It was good (sometimes even great) science fiction but often good drama too. And the Ferengi provided continuous comedic twists.
TOS molded my empathy for humanity.
TNG heightened my sense of wonder.
Voyager showcased human perseverance and even
Enterprise was somewhat inspirational for its attempt to re-ignite the passion of the franchise for newer generation of fans. For me, DS9 invokes closer examination of how actions impact people's lives and their future.
I love DS9 for all that. And for the Bajorian spitfire known as Kira Nerys.
