Deep Space Nine is now 25 years old!

[conuly]

For my money, it remains the best Trek.

Now, I know a few people who have tried to watch it and couldn't get into it. Generally I find this happens with the first season of a series, and so I have my own list of "Episodes you can skip". You might want to try to watch these episodes, but if you're not feeling it within the first few minutes after the opening credits, you won't miss much by skipping them entirely!

The letter F in parentheses indicates that this is a Ferengi episode. The letter H in parentheses means it's a Holodeck or Vic episode. The letter L in parentheses indicates that it's a Lwaxana Troi episode, and frankly, I'd rather gouge out my eyeballs than watch any of her episodes, in any show. I'll catch you up at the bottom as to the other two.

First season

You can skip episodes 4, 5, 7 (catch the scene where Sisko punches Q on YouTube), 10, 14, 16 (this is where Sisko's baseball comes from)

You should at least read the synopsis of episodes 6, 11 (F), 13, 20 (you should at least watch long enough to develop a keen antipathy towards Vedek Winn, because my god she's one of the best Trek villains).

Second season

You can skip episodes 6, 9, 11 (F, mostly)

You should at least read the synopsis of episodes 4, 7 (F), 13, 15

Third Season

You can skip episodes 3 (F), 8, 10 (L), 23 (F)

You should at least read the synopsis of episodes 4, 11 and 12, 16 (F)

Fourth Season

You can skip episodes 8 (F), 10 (H), 25 (F)

You should at least read the synopsis of episodes 16 (F), 21 (L)

Fifth Season

You can skip episode 6

You should at least read the synopsis of episode 20 (F)

Sixth Season

You can skip episodes 10 (F), 12 (F),

You should at least read the synopsis of episode 14, 20 (H), 23 (F)

Seventh Season

You can skip episode 15 (H)

In general, if you don't like the goofier Ferengi episodes, you can gladly skip them. Even if I didn't list them, you can skip them and read the synopsis. Ditto with the Holodeck episodes EXCEPT "It's Only a Paper Moon", which is both a Ferengi episode and a Vic Fontaine episode, and is actually great.

You should definitely try all these episodes first before you decide to skip them, except any Lwaxana Troi episode and Move Along Home. (Actually, I don't particularly dislike Move Along Home, but everybody else does.) I don't remember which Vic Fontaine episode it is where Sisko sings something at the end, but you should YouTube that scene - turns out that Avery Brooks can really sing!

There are some episodes which aren't necessary but which are really good - I didn't list those as skippable. I can make a different list for those if you like, but if you feel the need to skip more than a couple of those then it may be that DS9 legitimately isn't the show for you.

Comments

[chanter1944]

Good *lord*, how is DS9 25 years old? *boggles* How was it 18 years ago that my friends and I were watching season 7, every Tuesday night like literal clockwork, then sprinting home in a desperate bid to make curfew? Wow.

I'm odd in that I really enjoyed Move Along Home. Kira showing how quickly she must have grown up, when faced with the skipping/singing game, Sisko again singing beautifully, Quark pulling out all the honest stops, all oily façade gone, Dax and Sisko scrambling for deeper cover... Maybe it's just me.

I don't remember episode order for season 3, so I wonder. Is The Jem Hadar one of the eps you listed to skip if so desired? That's a favorite of mine, and to this day I would *swear* that, at least when going off auditory input alone, there are *sparks* between Eris and Sisko. I'm told that there are visual cues I miss that put the royal old kersplat on my theory, but... darnit, I just wish.

[conuly]

I didn't advise skipping any Jem Hadar episodes.

[mab_browne]

I've been having a lovely time watching/rewatching DS9. I'm due to start season 7 soon. And yes, Winn Adami is a top-notch villain for any show.

[conuly]

Every time I see her, I just want to punch her in her smarmy face. I love it.

[cellio]

Wow, 25 years already?

I haven't watched it since the original airing, but one episode that stood out and that I still remember the title of is The Visitor. It's not part of the core story; it doesn't depend on anything else; it's a character piece, not arc. (I actually sat my husband down and showed him this one, when he didn't watch the rest of the series.) I remember it being an excellent standalone episode.

[conuly]

That's a great episode, and I tend to imagine that that universe still exists somewhere.

[larryhammer]

I put that one on a shelf next to "The Inner Light" (TNG).

[rivendellrose]

Oh, DS9. My first fandom, and forever one of my favorite shows ever. ♥

[conuly]

YES.

[archangelbeth]

...I didn't overly dislike Move Along Home either! I mean, it would've classed as "filler episode" if it'd been anime, but hey.

Agreed about Winn. She's got some nuance. She's also REALLY VILLAIN.

[conuly]

I love to hate her so much. Her and Dukat, the original match made in Hell.

[dragovianknight]

I loved "Move Along Home". It made not a lick of sense, but it was great fun (especially watching Sisko play hopscotch).

[chanter1944]

Ah, I'm not the only one! :)

[wendelah1]

It was the best Trek series. But I haven't seen the new one.

[conuly]

Disco is... well, it's not an ensemble, to start. I like it, but it's not really like the other Treks at all.

[okojosan]

Aw man, I love the Ferengi and Lwaxana Troi. The DS9 episodes I can't stand are the alternate universe ones. I also tend to get bored of the ones where they go back in time to American history. Why do they never go back in time to Chinese history, or some African country's history?

[conuly]

Because then the writers would have to know something about other peoples' history.

[dariaw]

I loved DS9. And I do think it's the best Trek, especially in terms of building a complex political world for them to interact with, plus so many awesome characters (I love TNG about as much, but mostly for the 5-6 characters I totally adore and don't bother with the rest of it)

[conuly]

True, it definitely has the best ensemble.

[brithistorian]

DS9 is my favorite Trek. First because I think it's objectively the best Trek, but more importantly because it was my Trek. I wasn't around for TOS, school and extracurriculars kept me from seeing the first 4 seasons of TNG during their first run, so DS9 was my first time watching a Trek series as it came out and that, for me, made all the difference in the world.

[conuly]

Being YOUR trek makes a difference :)

[poliphilo]

25 years old! Now I do feel ancient.

I liked how DS9 had big story arcs and dealt at some depth with issues like post-colonialism and the relationship between politics and religion and how you manage an uneasy peace. It also had the strongest ensemble cast of any Trek series- and some great characters. It fell off towards the end when it went all boys'toys and battles in space.

[conuly]

Yeah, that 7th season was not so great. But you gotta watch it if you've held out that long.

[thewayne]

I watched probably 3/4ths of it before giving up, which I think is a good shake. I might think differently of it now, back then I wanted space ships, not space station. I'm rather a different person now than then.

[conuly]

Well, if you got 3/4 of the way through then nobody can fault you for saying you're done.

[sabotabby]

I feel so old. This is why I don't remember a whole bunch of details. I'm chuffed that everyone seems to be rewatching (or watching it for the first time). It's by far my favourite of the Treks, though Disco has the potential off being up there.

[conuly]

Disco will be a better show when they stop killing all the women.

[jesuswasbatman]

I really loved DS9, including "Move Along Home" which I don't get the hate for.

My retrospective issues are with some of the Klingon episodes, which for me slide too far into moral relativism with Klingon "might makes right" morality, and the way that the Mirror Universe episodes quickly degenerated into really offensive pseudo-lesbian fanservice, after nicking all their initial good parts from Blake's 7.

[conuly]

Sounds like everybody here thinks Move Along Home is fine. So now I really, really don't get it.

[saturnofthemoon]

I've always felt that DS9 had the strongest first season of the three 24th century shows.

[conuly]

I think I prefer Voyager's first season, though they squandered all their plot.

[silveradept]

...I should probably actually properly watch this one all the way through, shouldn't I? I watched with in syndication to get the gist of the big plot arcs and the character quirks, but I'm not sure I've actually done the whole thing.

That said, I did really like DS9 for the cast and the way it deliberately built arcs.

[conuly]

Yes, but you can skip large chunks of the first two seasons and still understand the rest.

[zesty_pinto]

I still haven't watched all of them, but a good number of them are pretty solid. I love(?) how some of the concepts they talk about are still very much real debates today.

The one that still gets to me and I will tell people about time and time again is that one about the planet of luddites. Although it was about technology being a choice, it can just as easily be interpreted today as an episode about antivaxxing.

[conuly]

The thing with the luddites is it's kinda like they wanted to do an arc about this subject (see also: Worf at Risa) but they copped out at the last minute. And if the Luddite cult leader's goals are so popular among some citizens, why not get some of those citizens to found a new tech-free colony? Even if you couldn't get Federation permission, you could do the same silly "crash" thing anyway.

[archersangel]

i can't believe it's been so long.

(even though the icon is labeled "sarcastic" i'm serious. using it because it's the only DS9 one i have)

[conuly]

Don't walk - run!

Now that jingle is in my head. Thanks.

[amaebi]

My fave, too.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

I couldn't get into it, though in fairness, I pretty-much gave up on it less than halfway through the first season, and only saw it sporadically after that. There were a few good episodes I remember: the best was the one where Jadzia Dax had to avenge the Klingon god-sons of Kurzon Dax; also the one where Quark accidentally killed a Klingon and thus had to marry his widow.

[conuly]

First seasons can be super clunky, so.