I am watching DS9 from the beginning, what should I look out for?

I've seen various episodes out of order in the past, but now settling in to watching the whole thing from scratch.

Aside from finally appreciating the story arcs and character development properly (which is the main reason I'm watching it because it's often unwatchable otherwise!), anything else I should be looking out for?

Remember it suddenly get good a few weeks before S1 ends.

Beyond that, enjoy.

Lucky you.

Try to keep your hopes down. Seasons 4-6 are some of the best Star Trek ever to appear onscreen though even they are sometimes overrated.

But wrapped around those seasons are 1-3 and 7 which are far, far less in quality.

Remember that some of the episodes in 4-6 are considered great NOT because they were necessarily great storytelling or drama, but because Deep Space Nine veered so far from the generally accepted Star Trek worldview and narrative that it shocked and amazed (and thrilled) lots of fans.

A reviewer once said Seasons 6 "In the Pale Moonlight" is where the Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry is grabbed off the street, dragged into the shadows, and strangled.

Beware comic relief episodes. Don't let them get you down. They usually don't go well at all. They also tend not to be important to the story arcs, so if you find yourself grinding your teeth to get through one, skip it and consult spoilers if you want to be sure you didn't miss anything important.

In general, while the show is arc heavy for trek, its arc episodes are pretty distinct from its stand alone episodes and the show doesn't go about dropping hints whose importance is only obvious in retrospect. You don't need to be on the constant lookout to avoid missing something important to the story arcs; you'll know it when you see it. Basically, you can relax while watching the show if you're watching it in order.

For the love of all that is good in the universe, just skip episode 7 of season 5 when you get to it. Trust me on this one. No good can come from watching it. It'll make you wonder why the writers got beaten with the Voyager stick that week. The comic relief shows are bad, but who knows? You may like them, and at worst you'll think they're stupid. Not this episode. Watching this episode is more likely to result in a broken television than in a minute of enjoyment. Watching it will actually detract from your enjoyment of other episodes. Rewatch the previous episode instead.

Other than that, just have fun watching. It's pretty good overall. It's got its ups and downs, but other than already mentioned the downs aren't that low and the ups, because of the arcs and character development, are much higher than for other Trek television shows. Enjoy.

That's the one where Worf wanted to make sandwich, but didn't know to get Jadzia to help him. That's why he was such a party pooper throughout the episode.

"Duet", and "In The Pale Moon Light", are not only among the best of Trek, but among the best hours on television ever.

"Far Beyond The Stars", ain't too shabby either.

Actually just seeing episodes 1-3 in full finally makes me go 'ooohh' because it was all very confusing the circumstances whereby the federation came to Bajor, etc, but now I can see the shift from 'confusing' to simply 'complicated'

I've seen all of Babylon 5, I will be paying close attention to things!

I have seen that, but I obviously understand it's far better in context which I hope to enjoy

I just finished a complete rewatch myself. Moments of brilliance, moments of silliness. Overall I proved to myself that it's the best post-TOS Trek overall.
If you can, skip the damn Ferengi episodes, they make you want to puke.

In general, I hated anything focusing on the Ferengi (with the exception of The Magnificent Ferengi I think it was called, it had a real sense of self awareness among those Ferengi assembled about how incompetent their people were at combat) and most focusing on the Bajorans. I think it was writer, editor Mark Altman who once describe the Bajorans as one of the most annoying races in Star Trek.

On DS9, it's Ferengi episodes.
On TNG, it's Troi, Crusher, or children.
On Voyager, it's Neelix, Torres, or holodecks.
On Enterprise, it's anything temporal cold war.

You're all wrong. Apart from the drag episode, the Ferengi stuff was gold.

MOOOOOOGHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The one where Neelix almost killed himself was pretty good. I felt for the guy. His whole friendly/annoying thing was just an act to hide how depressed and lonely he was.

I'm going to differ again and say that the show was great throughout, including the first three series. It became more action-oriented and sexy after that, which made it somewhat more accessible.
Some incredible episodes. Maybe my favourite TV series of all time.

See if you can spot where Patrick is wearing his glasses during the scene in the cargo bay with Lauren, Jack, and Sarina.

I largely agree. Except for Sisko's hair. That really did improve in season four. Bald Sisko with the beard looks much more the part.

The developing relationship between Kira and Odo.
Two great actors and characters.
That's the foundation of this series.

I'd be hard pressed to name a single interesting episode between Emissary and Duet, but I stand to be corrected, and I'd *love* a reason to go back to my DVDs and check. Convince me.

Past Prologue
Captive Pursuit
Dax
Vortex
Battle Lines
The Storyteller
Progress

All good episodes. YMMV.

You're right. Past Prologue, Captive Pursuit and Progress were all very good indeed. (The others have some good ideas but very poor execution IMO.)

Yeah, I'm probably giving the first season too little credit because later seasons were so much better -- and because TNG was still on at the same time and proved to be more consistently good at what it did, even though that which it did was a far lesser thing than what DS9's first year did in its best moments.

Absolutely. If we made a list of the top 10 Trek episodes of all series, those two would make the list.

I think someone who had ZERO exposure to Trek would find "Duet" to be a very engaging hour of television. No reliance on special effects, just good writing, superb acting, and a surprisingly poignant resolution.

A couple of scenes from "Duet," with no spoiling of the incredible ending.


And "In the Pale Moon Light" is one of the best depictions of moral ambiguity ever: Sisko compromises his ideals to save the Federation...

I guess I'm the only one who liked the Ferengi episodes. It took me a while to warm to Kira and Dax, was much more of a Bashir/Garack/Quark fan. And of course the Sisko goes without saying. Now I feel compelled to rewatch it all, too.

I also liked the Ferengi episodes, they were fun and Quark often gave insightful views and advice. I was never able to warm up to Kira, to me she was a throw away character and the Odo/Kira relationship felt forced. The Bashir/Garak theme was terrific and Garak was an underused character.

I wasn't a big fan of the Ferengi episodes--they had a tendency to descend into cartoonishness--but I liked it when a non-human like Quark or Garak could offer their perspective. My favorite scene in all DS9 is probably this one:

I hate rootbeer.

This. Just sit back, relax and enjoy one of the best series ever.

A really great show, must keep lookout for the similarities and the differences with B5 so next time you get in argument about which is better and which stole what parts from which, and when, you know what the fuck you're talking about.

I liked the Ferengi episodes--except for Profit and Lace, and even there it took about three viewings before I tired of it.

One thing: The writers had a tendency to have the character SAY what was going on too much, rather than have a situation play out through action and let the audience figure it out. I think there's an old writers addage about "Show, don't tell" or something like that. As a result, I think people on DS9 tend to talk too much. A friend once told me his father sat down to watch an episode with him and, in the middle, said "Don't these people ever shut up?"