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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 1 Review

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television show that premiered in 1993, and is consistently ranked among the best Star Trek series of all time.

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“What you’re asking for is another murder.

Enough good people have already died.

I won’t help kill another“

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First and foremost, I personally find it on par with The Next Generation so far, but it has the potential to become better later on. The overall storylines are more political in nature, but mostly to its benefit as it handles its themes really well. I find the opening theme absolutely beautiful along with its imagery. It is iconic. The VFX are also strong for its time and most of the stories flow well, though some are weaker with the first season being expectedly uneven. And I really liked the changed setting from a ship to a space station.

As for the characters, Benjamin Sisko is so much different from Picard and for the better. Instead of copying that iconic character, they created a wholly new one thankfully. Having a black man lead a SF series in the nineties is truly groundbreaking, and the character is more complex, more aggressive and at times quite bitchy. I really like him so far.

Kira Nerys is also fantastic. She is a powerful female character who is consistently brave, thoughtful and her arcs are usually some of the best and most emotional on the show. Odo is also pretty good, though less utilized so far, and Quark is more annoying than fun. The others are all quite forgettable, at least so far. The acting performances are uniformly great.

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Emissary is such a powerful opening two-parter. It offers us an origin story for Commander Sisko and his first day in charge. I found his story so emotional and unforgettable, and both episodes have undeniable power to them, especially in terms of storytelling. What a great way to start this new show this was.

Past Prologue is unfortunately much less interesting and here is where the season went off the track unfortunately. A Man Alone uses Odo well, but is overall not great. Babel is your typical virus episode that doesn’t differentiate itself from other such episodes whatsoever whereas Captive Pursuit is a solid, thriller-like episode that is flawed, but more fun.

Q-Less brings Q onto the show, and I was not thrilled. Yes, I’ve always disliked this overrated creation, and here in particular he has no business being as this show is more serious and not suitable for his personality at all. It was an obvious miscalculation. Dax is a powerful episode that is conceptually very fascinating, and it’s executed mostly in an interesting manner.

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The Passenger is utterly forgettable while Move Along Home is a Quark episode and of course it’s thus more silly than meaningful. The Nagus uses him much better, but still I am not a fan of his character at all, at least not so far. Vortex is the only terrific Odo episode of the season that finds him wanting to reach his people. It’s moving and very effective.

Battle Lines is a particularly entertaining episode where the dead are resurrected, though silly of course, but it works as it’s quite fun. The Storyteller is nothing special, but Progress is a solid Kira episode dealing with a particularly interesting, always relevant subject matter. If Wishes Were Horses sees everyone’s wishes come alive on the station and it’s a very silly affair.

The Forsaken sees Lwaxana Troi make a cameo appearance, and though not fitting for this show, I loved seeing her again as she is always a very funny presence. Dramatis Personae is a solid Klingon episode that is well paced and quite engaging.

But Duet is a stuff of legends. This episode is an absolute masterpiece that has to rank among the greatest ST episodes of all time. Kira is determined to bring down the war criminal who killed many of her Bajoran people. However, it turns out he was only a reluctant accomplice in a twist that was so powerful and unexpected.

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The whole episode is fascinating, complex and grounded in reality and parallel to the real world. The courtroom drama elements worked splendidly, Kira was so amazing here and the final scene is incredibly moving. I also quite liked In the Hands of the Prophets. It’s not the subtlest treatment of religion versus science, but it’s a pretty good one nonetheless.

In the end, the first season of Deep Space Nine is a messy, uneven, but still very intriguing beginning of the show which became much better in its second half. The characterization is strong and the politics are very complex. I expect more from this show in its later seasons.

Worst Episodes: Q-Less and If Wishes Were Horses.

Best Episodes: Emissary, Vortex, Duet and In the Hands of the Prophets.