Summary
I thinkStar Trek: Deep Space Nineactually gets good before Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) shows up inDS9season 4. Challenges likeStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s inevitable comparison toStar Trek: The Next Generationand uncertainty aboutDS9’s space station setting meanit takes time beforeDeep Space Ninefigures out the type of show that it wants to be. Besides successes like Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) meeting Bajor’s Prophets inDS9’s pilot episode, “Emissary”, andDS9season 1, episode 19, “Duet”, which examines Major Kira Nerys' (Nana Visitor) prejudices against Cardassians, the first season ofDeep Space Ninecan be forgettable.
Common advice to new viewers is that the first three seasons ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nineare worth skipping or slogging through, becauseDS9doesn’t really get good untilDeep Space Nineseason 4. Lt. Commander Worf’s arrival inDS9season 4, episode 1, “The Way of the Warrior”, drastically changes the dynamics ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s cast, andDeep Space Nineseason 4 represents the escalation of the Dominion War, which dominates the remainder ofDS9’s run. There’s no doubt thatDS9season 4 is excellent, but there are earlier signs thatStar Trek: Deep Space Nineis some of the bestStar Trekthere is.
Best Star Trek: DS9 Episode From Each Of The Show’s 7 Seasons
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had an astonishing run of episodes across seven seasons, but which of its 173 episodes best represent each season?
Character Arcs In DS9 Season 3 Prove Continuity Works In Star Trek
Star Trek: DS9 Season 3 Zeroes In On Character Relationships To Build Great Stories
Star Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 3 slowly builds its own continuity with smaller character arcs that prove serialized storytelling actually works in episodic television, and inStar Trekin particular.Episodes that seem like filler on the surface contain important beats that tell stories across episodes, like Odo’s (Rene Auberjonois) growing feelings for Major Kira inDS9season 3, episode 10, “Fascination”, and episode 14, “Heart of Stone”; or the slowly unraveling mystery of Garak’s (Andrew Robinson) Obsidian Order history inDS9season 3, episode 7, “Civil Defense”, episode 20, “Improbable Cause”, and episode 21, “The Die is Cast”.
Relationships and friendships start mattering more inDS9season 3.
While the characters inStar Trek: Deep Space Ninehave never been particularly static,DS9season 3 doubles down on the concept of character growth by maintaining continuity. Relationships and friendships start mattering more inDS9season 3, like the way Kira still grieves Vedek Bareil (Phillip Anglim) throughout the season, Chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) and Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) form one ofStar Trek’s best friendships, and Jake Sisko’s (Cirroc Lofton) influence on Nog (Aron Eisenberg) makes the young Ferengi determined to join Starfleet.All these smaller, individual story lines act as a test run for epic ongoing plotsthat have become a hallmark ofDS9’s excellence.
Star Trek: Deep Space Ninetakes a memorable turning point inDS9season 3, episodes 11 & 12, “Past Tense”, a time-travel story that could be considered filler, but grows terrifyingly more prescient with the systemic disparities that lead to the Bell Riots inStar Trek’s version of 2024.
Star Trek: DS9 Season 3 Sets Up Multiple Important Storylines
The Alpha Quadrant Response To The Dominion Matters To Later DS9 Seasons
The Dominion Warramps into high gear inStar Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 4 because of key setups inStar Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 3. After encountering the Dominion late inStar Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 2,DS9season 3 establishes how different Alpha Quadrant powers respond to the looming threat.Starfleet takes a wait-and-see approach while arming Sisko with the fully-armed USS Defiant, and sends Lt. Michael Eddington (Ken Marshall) as a trusted security officer to counter Constable Odo’s authority. The Cardassians and Romulans form an alliance to pursue the Founders. After a Cardassian peace treaty, Kai Winn (Lousie Fletcher) destabilizes Bajor with power grabs.
As tension looms with the Dominion, the characters and galactic powers onStar Trek: Deep Space Nineunravel mysteries and become more tight-knit in stronger alliances. Seemingly disparate political plots are woven together throughoutStar Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 3, with these different threads pulling tight on each other to influence the shape of the overall story.The serialization, complex character dynamics, and intricate political plots that elevateStar Trek: Deep Space Nineare all present long before Lt. Commander Worf’s arrival inDS9season 4, and that’s why I thinkDS9actually gets good inStar Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 3.
