ST:DS9, What You Leave Behind, Episodes 725-726

Well... my estimate for completion for June 24th was three months ago. I'd like to say I was doing lots of other, more productive things instead of keeping up with my 5 episodes per week, but I don't really have a good excuse. I fell behind. I lost interest. I was distracted. I get distracted so very easily.

I wrote a bit when I finished TNG. I felt it was important to do so, not only to justify the time investment of 170+ 45-minute episodes entails, but also to reflect on why I would invest such time, and what that time meant to me. Reading back, I'm glad I recorded some of those things, for they're making me realize how different of a show DS9 is.

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW BECAUSE I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THEM UNFETTERED

DS9 is by far a more character-driven show. If this is obvious, then that's fine, I'm merely stating, and also framing to say that DS9's characters, and their interactions, were far superior. TNG had a few good standalone characters (Picard, Data, sometimes Worf, sometimes Guinan), but often character interaction was a little flat, and tended to play second fiddle to the ridiculousness of whatever Trek-plot happened to have them imperiled. It was rare that two TNG characters' interactions went to the depths that DS9 went. Odo's pained longing after Kira (for 5 goddamn seasons), or Worf and Jadzia's courtship/marriage, or the series-long bros-for-life camaraderie of Bashir and O'Brien. There were even a compelling and interesting villains in Eddington, Gul Dukat, and Weyoun, who ended up making a great foils throughout the series. I'll admit: TNG was certainly under different direction than DS9, but having seen how characters in the Star Trek universe could be handled, it made me wish it'd been done that way all along.

That isn't to say there weren't weak characters, or weak storylines. Anything to do with Jake Sisko made me immediately bored/annoyed, and many of the Ferengi episodes, while humorous, were still a little painful. I disliked immensely the Vic Fontaine episodes towards the last seasons: despite wanting to like them for their originality, I couldn't get past the fact that the Dominion is coming through the fucking wormhole and all they want to do is listen to some holo-crooner. Most of my complaints towards the show are where they introduced something that took away from the core tenets and themes of the show (ie, stop bringing back the alternate universe, please). I understand that you can't just have dark, brooding episodes week after week for 7 years, but set next to episodes that are so good the bad ones become a little unbearable.

Also, reading back over some of the episode summaries, I'm realizing that DS9 is essentially two shows with the same characters. The first major arc was with the Maquis, and the second arc was the Dominion. I sort of have to take my hat off to the writers: you almost made me forget about the first arc, even though I liked the Maquis storyline quite a bit, particularly with the character of Michael Eddington. It was good writing, and made me feel like the writers had figured out their audience, and they wanted to write something smart. I appreciated the effort, and the ever-increasing stakes with the introduction of the Dominion threat was an impressive feat to carry over 7 years.

I can't decide if the show suffered much from the departure of Terry Farrell (to be replaced with Nicole deBoer). I was jarred to have the 7th season start off with the introduction of a completely new character, particularly when the show had reached a level of gravity that could have actually supported losing Jadzia's character permanently. Ezri's introduction was handled alright, but the fact that so much time had to be dedicated to resolving and re-hashing Jadzia's character arc into Ezri's that I wonder if other things had been left out. It was cute that Bashir and Ezri ended up together. It was painful going through Worf and Ezri's teen drama for 10 episodes.

I liked the final episode. It was a good wrap-up, even if it did leave off on a few weird notes. I got the gratuitous space battles I wanted. I got the slaughter of untold millions, perquisite of a galactic conflict. I got lots of staring off into the inky black of a cold, peaceful Alpha quadrant. But I felt like a few things were missing. Having Sisko as the triumphant hero making the ultimate sacrifice seemed somewhat lessened by the fact that he survived by getting promoted to an internship at the Celestial Temple. The Prophets' warnings of "sorrow" and untold misery if he married Kassidy Yates never had the weight to it the rest of the season built it up to have. Sisko became a time traveling Frosty the Snowman, saying "I'll be back again someday. Maybe yesterday."

In trying to pick a favorite character, I'm having a bit of trouble (which is a good thing). Every character has at least 1 good episode, and 1 or more shit episodes. I have many favorite moments between Quark or Bashir, but there are also examples of good lines, good character development, or just good (or not bad) acting from others. Odo is probably the character I identify with the most, but the second he got what he wanted I sort of lost touch with his motivations. Garak was always intriguing, and had lots of great lines, but I never felt like he was the schemer that everyone made him out to be (rather, more of a victim, less of a predator). Sisko was a great commanding character, but after I saw how Avery Brooks acts in real life, I was always a little scared of what he was going to do next.

DS9 to me will always be a pointer to a weird point in my life. In the same way that TNG was the sort of "golden age" for the Star Trek franchise, and represented largely my introduction and continued fascination with science fiction, DS9 more or less represented the introduction and continued affirmation of the idea that "life just gets more complicated." Where TNG elicits fond memories of family get-togethers and weekly Trek viewings, DS9 elicits memories of family squabbles, divorces, and our eventual departure from watching any Star Trek show altogether. I was recently reminded of a DS9-themed game based around the Klingon characters around during DS9's run. It required you to learn portions of Klingon, read and regurgitate Klingon literature, and pay attention to clues subtly dropped during in-game cinematics. I remember that I played it once or twice, deemed it too hard, or too "adult," and I went back to playing Quake. For years, the cover of that game stared at me, making me feel guilty as only Chancellor Gowron could.

DS9 was a compelling show that asked good questions about the nature of war, and those who will die for what they believe in. It showed the Trek audience that one could still have great character development within Roddenberry's formula, even if the basic architecture of the show is largely different from that of TOS or TNG. Unfortunately, I don't think DS9 finds high acclaim or recognition outside of Trek fandom, as it never quite reached the same cult status as its forebears. It's hard to appreciate something like DS9 when its brilliance is predicated on the steps it took away from its predecessors, particularly when you aren't familiar with the subtleties of said predecessors.

That said, I'm happy to have watched it. And now I am free. Free to watch whatever the fuck I want.