Trek for Rookies - Deep Space Nine

Title

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Original Air Dates

January 3, 1993 – June 2, 1999

 

Main Story Line

An anomaly within the five Trek series, DS9 takes place on a fixed-position space station, rather than focusing on exploration. It bridges between Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. It can easily be put forth that it is the most dramatic and darkest Trek series. Also, because of its fixed position, DS9 allowed for more complex and long-running plots, as well as the recurrence of characters that weren’t primary crew.

Captain Sisko

This message is approved by the Captain.

The Captain

Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks)

Intense, powerful presence. Generally maintains the same levels of honor and dignity of other Trek Captains, yet on occasion crosses some moral and ethical boundaries without regret. Quick to smile, but quite often, that smile is accompanied by a gaze that would intimidate the most battle-hardened Klingon. Completely devoted to his son. Even before I knew that Avery Brooks loved jazz in real life, Sisko always brought to mind the musician Thelonious Monk…brilliant, but rhythms that many might not understand. Maybe not someone you’d want as a diplomat during delicate negotiations, but you’d want right at your side during a battle. To best sum him up in one phrase? “Intensely on edge."

Back, l to r: Worf, Dax, Jake. Front, l to r: Quark, Odo, Sisko, Kira, O'brien.

 

Primary Characters

First Officer Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) – Bajoran. Devoutly religious. Spitfire attitude.

Chief of Security Odo (Rene Auberjonois) – Changeling that can assume any form he wants. No-nonsense. Direct.

Chief Medical Officer Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) - Human. British. Doctor. Ladies man (or, well, at least he thinks he is.)

Chief Science Officer Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) – Trill. Falls within a small population of her race that is allowed to maintain a continuum of consciousness with beings from previous lives. The wisest of the characters, but so wise, she’s beyond being serious all the time, and embraces happiness, joy and fun.

Strategic Operations Officer Worf (Michael Dorn) – Klingon. Joins the crew in season four. Was previously on TNG, but is given more room to grow as a character and to be the Klingon that he is.

Chief Operations Officer Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) – Human. Another carry over from TNG. Meaney is a great actor, but this character’s story arcs did tend to slow things down.

Jake Cisco (Cirroc Lofton) – Human. The son of Captain Sisko. Rebellious against his father’s military ways.

Quark (Armin Shimerman) – Ferengi. Runs the bar on Deep Space Nine. Provided excellent storylines regarding greed vs. nobility. However, even after seven seasons, I found it difficult to care about a Ferengi.

Exceptionally Outstanding Secondary Characters

This section does not exist in other TFR posts. Since the space station was in a fixed position, DS9 had greater capability to have recurring characters. The following characters shined, both in how they were written, and how they were acted out.

Elim Garak (Andrew J. Robinson) – Cardassian. On the surface is supposedly a simple tailor, but there are complexities in the character that I wish had been explored further. Provides some of the best dramatic moments in the show. Became one of my favorite characters out of all five Trek series.

Dukat (Marc Alaimo) – Cardassian. Alaimo was top notch in his portrayal of this character. You hate him, you admire him, you hate him again, but are always impressed. An entire series focused on he and Garak would be amazing.

Martok (J.G. Hertzler) – Throughout the Trek series, the majority of Klingons are portrayed merely as brutal, aggressive war mongers. Hertzler’s portrayal of Martok gave depth and understanding to the Klingon culture little seen elsewhere. Another character it would’ve been awesome to see with more screen time.

Weyoun/Brunt (Jeffrey Combs) – Combs appeared in DS9, VOY and ENT. Whether playing minor recurring characters or being at the center of an episode, he was masterful. Was greatly saddened when I learned that season five of ENT, which never happened, could’ve possibly seen him join the crew as Shran the Andorian.

Alphas

~ The beginning of season 4 has probably the best space battle I’ve ever seen filmed, on TV or in theaters. Ever. Seriously.

~ Intense drama.

~ Klingon wedding!

~ As mentioned above, a good majority of the secondary characters especially shine.

 ~ In TNG, even though he’s a Klingon, Worf tends to get his butt kicked. A lot. But in DS9? We get to experience him in all his battle glory.

 ~ Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisco accomplished a rare feet in the Trek realm. He was a child actor that could actually act!

 ~ One of the coolest Trek episodes ever created happens in DS9. It’s entitled Trials and Tribble-ations. The powers that be mixed new footage with an episode from TOS, to have it seem that the DS9 crew was actually interacting with Captain Kirk, Spock and others that were in the original TOS episode entitled The Trouble With Tribbles.

Worf discovering the joys of a Ferengi tooth sharpener.

Deltas

 ~ I and many others have turned to Trek to get a dose of the potential goodness and nobility that humankind has to offer. Although those qualities can be found in DS9, it did have an intense focus on the more painful aspects of life, such as war, treachery, dishonesty, and blind religious dogma. Quite often the drama was excellently written, but “uplifting” is not a term I would apply to the show.

 ~ Tied in with the point above, religion plays a large part in the overall DS9 story arc. For me, there’s enough ignorance in the real world based on ancient myths that want to contradict facts. Wasn’t too keen on seeing it in Trek. After all, Roddenberry originally created Trek with the intent that Chaplains were no longer needed in the 23^rd century. By the start of the sixth season, my head was about to explode if I had to hear,”But the Prophets say…” one more time.

 ~ Kira Nerys. 

This is her in dialogue form:
Ensign: So, Kira, what do you think of the Cardassians?
Kira: I hate the Cardassians. They enslaved, tortured and killed my people.

Ensign: So, Kira, what do you think of that mining freighter?
Kira: It reminds me of the Cardassians. I hate the Cardassians. They enslaved, tortured and killed my people.
Ensign: So, Kira, what do you think of rainbows, lollipops, sunshine, candy drops and unicorns?
Kira: They remind me of the Cardassians. I hate the Cardassians. They enslaved, tortured and killed my people.

 ~ Towards the end, at its worst (and every series has its low points) certain episodes seemed just like “General Hospital, In Space, With Nose Ridges.”

Who should watch Deep Space Nine? 

Being a Trek rookie myself, when someone asks me, "Which series should I watch first?” I usually respond,”Look, if you plan on watching all five series, I’d recommend one of two paths: Either watching them chronologically in the Trek timeline, starting with ENT, or watching them in the order that they were created, starting with TOS.”

But, there are over 7 billion minds on this planet, all with their own version of reality. Also, not everyone may be as fortunate as I was last year in watching all five series, back to back, for the first time, within a six month period.

If you want to focus on one series, thinking it might take a year or more to get through; If you like dark, gritty, drama; If you like complex, long running story arcs; If you’re watching Trek not so much for inspiration, but for intensity; then DS9 might be the show for you.

There’s one thing that is certain: Since I entered the Trek fandom, there’s one series that seems to have the most enthusiastic, dedicated and passionate following. They refer to themselves as “Niners.” And who knows? Maybe you’ll fall into that category.

If you’d like to see previous articles in the series, here you go!

TFR: Overview 

TFR: Enterprise 

TFR: Voyager 

TFR Supplemental: How to Cope with the ENT Theme Song 

Next week’s Trek for Rookies? Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Stephen Sumner is the science fiction columnist for Action A Go Go. He's proficient in Klingon swearing and has attempted the Vulcan process of Kolinar (with only mild success.) His other favorite sci-fi series include Firefly and Battlestar Galactica. He can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/VierLights or on the Tumblr machine at http://vierlights.tumblr.com/