The most cardinal sin that an extension to a popular media franchise can make is to be different. Formula, aesthetics, tone, canon -these mean everything and fresh ideas mean little. A lot of the homogeneity in our current mainstream media landscape has a lot to do with the fact that such brands refuse to take risks, adopt more provocative themes, or challenge existing norms within that brand. We've seen the intensity of the backlash when Star Wars does it, and we've seen it also when Star Trek has done it. 'Boldly going' apparently only means so much. And yet, going a different route and taking new chances has often resulted in better art, art that has elevated the brand it is created within. Case in point: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
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Granted, when the third live-action Star Trek show first debuted in January 1993, it was not greeted with immediate positivity for these same reasons. The internet was not ubiquitous at the time but there were certainly voices objecting to its premise and setting, its mood, tone, and politics. Star Trek: The Next Generation was in the middle of its sixth season at the time, both a highly popular and markedly successful entity to compare the new show to. It did not stack up favourably. Star Trek was a series built on exploration yet this was a show that stayed in one place. It was a show that lacked even a starship, let alone one called Enterprise. And of course, let it not be underwritten that in spite of the franchise's long-running progressive bona fides, there was some bristling at the idea of the show's lead being a black man.
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Creators Rick Berman and Michael Piller were prepared for some of this. It had been a mildly contentious idea since its very inception, when allegedly Paramount head Brandon Tartikoff suggested to Berman the idea of developing a show set in the space equivalent of a frontier town -in reference to the western wagon train motif that had fueled the premise of the original Star Trek. It would have its mayor and its sheriff, its saloon-keeper and country doctor and blue-collar labourer, and it would interact frequently with a local native culture. Gene Roddenberry was around, though in ill health, for these early developments and wasn't especially fond of moving Star Trek off a starship. But the producers felt that differentiation was a key to the show's prospects, and its opportunities. A fixed setting could mean longer more involved storylines as resolutions need not necessarily be confined to a single episode. With more or less the same collection of characters and conflicts coming through that setting, a more complex portrait could be drawn of their world and of the Federation and how it functions. It could still have momentum, but of a different kind than the episode-by-episode new planet-new conundrum format. And this would be an especially good way to distinguish it from that other show simultaneously on the air. Though a connection to that other show might better ease it to an audience -being set in the same vicinity of time and featuring a few familiar characters for instance. However that wouldn’t preclude the tone being the same, especially around (though perhaps not openly, at least at first) the Utopian image of Roddenberry’s carefully crafted future.
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Heresy at the time. To some perhaps it still is. But to many others, the product of all those interesting and potentially radical concepts grew into the best of any of the Star Trek shows. And certainly I would contend Deep Space Nine is the show that has generally stood the test of time the strongest, aging little compared to its 90s Star Trek brethren and in fact fitting in rather well with the standards for genre TV drama that we are used to today -some may even argue (certainly a few of its writers) that it was an architect of that kind of television. Almost through necessity of its premise it had to be more serialized than prior Star Trek shows, and as such the drama and conflicts -some rather intense- were sustained, and the characters underwent richer development as a byproduct. And I don’t just mean the eclectic main cast stable, but the various recurring characters throughout the show many of whom were invested with the same degree of depth. And oftentimes that depth was tied into vivid themes and conversations on cogent social, political or even religious topics. From early on, this was all part of the character of the show, and it did reasonably well, though dwarfed by its elder sibling series. Later it was dwarfed its younger sibling series. While the ratings never bore it out, the show hit its stride around the third season, when Piller left to help launch another Star Trek show and writer Ira Steven Behr was made showrunner. He and a stupendous writing staff that included Rene Echevarria, Hans Beimler, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, and Ronald D. Moore took the show to new heights in the quality of the character writing, the drama, the political subject matter, and the overarching narrative through-lines. By its later seasons there could be no mistaking it for another Star Trek show in the comprehensiveness and severity of its engagement with topics and themes beyond the scope of anything Star Trek had discussed before. Sometimes it could be dark, other times merely riveting for the ways it opened up and extrapolated on the established world-building; still other times it transcended what science-fiction television storytelling was believed capable of.
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An overview of Deep Space Nine is a little bit more complicated than the shows that preceded it. The series is set on the titular space station in orbit near the planet Bajor. It had been built by the Cardassians who ran it during their brutal decades-long Occupation of Bajor and subjugation of its people, but now in the aftermath of that conflict -resolved by the Bajorans winning back their freedom through intense guerrilla warfare, it has come into the hands of the Federation, who administer it with a contingent of Bajoran militia. In command of the station is Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), who in the pilot episode “Emissary” discovers a wormhole near the station leading to the unexplored Gamma Quadrant, and in that wormhole a race of non-corporeal aliens called the Prophets, revered by the Bajorans as gods, and in his communion with them Sisko is proclaimed their Emissary, a role he is quite uncomfortable with. The access route to the Gamma Quadrant transforms Deep Space Nine into a hub of trade, commerce, and exploration -many different Federation and alien vessels passing through it and bringing with them their own conflicts and dramas and curious interactions with the denizens of the station. These include Sisko’s fellow starfleet officers, the Bajoran crew, and unaligned civilians alike.
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On the starfleet side is Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell), a science officer and member of the Trill species whose body is host to an age-old consciousness that lives within her in a symbiotic relationship and who was close friends with Sisko in a past life. There’s also the operations officer Chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney), the recurring transporter chief from The Next Generation -an Irish everyman constantly trying to fix the various structural problems on the station; and Doctor Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), the friendly and wide-eyed brilliant chief medical officer. On the non-starfleet side, Sisko is advised by his Bajoran liaison second-in-command Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), a devoutly religious and passionate freedom fighter for the Bajoran cause who often butts heads with Sisko over their difference in style. The station’s chief of security is Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois), a stern, effective, and profoundly principled humanoid shapeshifter of an unknown race whose desire to find his people and his identity marks him as this series’ equivalent to Spock and Data. Aboard the station alongside these professionals is the Ferengi bartender Quark (Armin Shimerman) who runs a popular saloon, gambling and entertainment establishment that is the heart of the station’s bustling centre -the Promenade, in which there are several businesses that operate -Quark often finds himself in trouble with Odo over his nefarious if not outright illegal activities. Lastly is Sisko’s son Jake (Cirroc Lofton), who grows up on the station to eventually become a journalist -though he appears far less frequently than the other main characters. Later in the fourth season in an effort to boost ratings, Michael Dorn’s Worf from The Next Generation is brought on as well, and in the final season due to a behind-the-scenes mess that resulted in Farrell’s departure, a new younger iteration of Dax called Ezri (Nicole de Boer) comes into the series as well in the role of a counsellor.
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Additionally important is the prominent cast of secondary characters who build out more the world of the show and are often as richly defined (if not more so) than the primary cast. Such as Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo), the former Cardassian prefect of Bajor and the closest thing to a main antagonist that the show has. Other recurring adversaries include Dukat’s aide Damar (Casey Biggs) -who ultimately undergoes perhaps the most transformative arc of the show, the deceptive resurrecting diplomat Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs), and the Bajorans’ pious religious leader Kai Winn (Louise Fletcher). In the world of the station there is Garak (Andrew J. Robinson), an exiled enigmatic Cardassian tailor with espionage in his past, Kassidy Yates (Penny Johnson Jerrold) a freighter captain and Sisko’s love interest, Keiko O’Brien (Rosalind Chao) -Miles’s wife also brought over from The Next Generation, General Martok (J.G. Hertzler), a battle-worn Klingon officer, Quark’s dim but kind brother and employee Rom (Max Grodénchik) and his son Nog (Aron Eisenberg) -a mischievous kid who eventually becomes the first Ferengi in starfleet, Rom’s beautiful Bajoran love interest Leeta (Chase Masterson), and -late in the series- a self-aware holographic lounge singer called Vic Fontaine (James Darren). Notable characters elsewhere include the Ferengi Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn) and Brunt (Jeffrey Combs) a pesky adversary to Quark, the mad Klingon Chancellor Gowron (Robert O’Reilly) carried over from several episodes of The Next Generation, and Sisko’s wise father Joseph (Brock Peters), who runs a restaurant in New Orleans.
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Deep Space Nine benefited from inheriting a lot of world-building from The Next Generation ripe for greater exploration. The Trill had been introduced in one episode of the former series called “The Host” but here they and the symbiont concept get expanded on in terrifically compelling ways. The same is true of the Ferengi, who began as a failed attempt at an overarching villain for The Next Generation then repurposed as recurring comic relief -and while the Ferengi-focused episodes on Deep Space Nine tend still towards humour the Ferengi characters are made more interesting and relatable. The conflict between the Cardassians and the Bajorans also had its origins on the earlier show, but here it is embedded into the fabric of the series’ identity and themes to the point it becomes the most deeply ingrained and considered political situation in the entire Star Trek franchise, many episodes devoted to the history, traumas, and after-effects of the Occupation. And that’s without even touching on the Gamma Quadrant, which is the show’s way of having its cake and eating it -even though Deep Space Nine is not an ‘exploration’ show it has close access to a space where ‘exploration show’ episodes can take place. Several new alien races are introduced via the Gamma Quadrant -the rhinoceros-like drug-dependent soldier species the Jem’Hadar, the manipulative, smooth-talking pale clones called the Vorta, and eventually Odo’s Changeling people who call themselves the Founders -all of these members of an inter-species expansionist antithesis to the Federation called the Dominion.
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The Dominion becomes a primary element of the show almost from their introduction near the end of the second season -used by the show to represent a hostile foreign government, and particularly the Changelings as a source of political paranoia through the fourth season, and Odo of course experiences a fair degree of scapegoating for this. Among other things, the measures it provokes in the Federation is one example of the way the show delineates the pristine image of the Federation, depicting the infrastructure there as not above certain ethical lapses. This was not to outright defy Roddenberry’s vision as to more potently parallel the world of today that Star Trek has always been in some way a commentary on. Sometimes consolidating the less savoury elements of our society in otherized entities is not the best way to make those comments. And so the Federation is questioned at various points through the show. Early on, this is depicted in their relationship to the Maquis, a resistance group made up of Federation settlers refusing to leave home planets that have been colonized by the Cardassians in cooperation with the Federation through treaties. It is hard to disagree with the Maquis’ principles, as much as it is difficult to stomach the Federation participating in colonialism. The actions and ideology of the Maquis is a real challenge to the franchise’s status quo, especially as the writers of Deep Space Nine go out of their way to emphasize a certain righteousness in the Maquis’ cause. There is the aforementioned Changeling paranoia as well, and the treatment of Odo -shadows of prejudice show their face in the Federation through the middle parts of the series. Most controversially though is the introduction in the latter seasons of a secretive agency within the Federation called Section 31, which maintains the stability of Federation life through often unethical, unlawful means -up to and including the plotting of a genocide against a Federation enemy. One of the darkest ideas ever introduced into the franchise for revealing a shadowy underbelly to this utopia, it fits perfectly the ethos of Deep Space Nine and the complex world it was speaking to. Where prior Star Trek shows may have tackled such relevant themes through allegory, Deep Space Nine was always more about being direct.
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It still deals in allegory occasionally -the first season ends on an episode obliquely about creationism in education, and a late-series recurring storyline centred on the taboo of genetic engineering stands in for more than a couple real-world conditions. As metaphor goes, probably most notably is the Ferengi, where topics of business, capitalism and sexism often reside. Yet even still, the episode “Bar Association” revolves very bluntly around a labour strike after Rom forms a union to get better pay from Quark. A two-part episode from season three called “Past Tense” discusses with a mix of allegory and outright confrontation the homeless crisis, something that was very immediate in the lives of the L.A.-based writers at the time, and jumping from there into stronger morals of class consciousness. In an episode called “Melora”, Bashir falls for a woman in a wheelchair in one of the franchise’s first stark illustrations of disability, not shaded by metaphor. Drug dependence with regard to the Jem’Hadar is openly discussed in episodes like “Hippocratic Oath”, arms dealing in times of conflict is expressed in “Business as Usual”, an actual kangaroo court over a trumped up charge is seen in the episode “Tribunal”. And while LGBTQ subject matter still remains openly unaddressed, “Rejoined” comes closer to the line in its metaphorical narrative by including the first same-sex kiss in a Star Trek show; while elsewhere queer coding is readily found in the relationship between Bashir and Garak and the temperament of Kira’s mirror universe counterpart. Further, Dax and the symbiont concept in the Trill species have grown into what feels like a potently clear stand-in for the transgender experience -and an exchange from the episode "Blood Oath" related to Dax’s new gender is often upheld as a model of trans allyship. The most visceral example though of the show preferring the brazen approach is “Far Beyond the Stars” in season six, wherein racism and white supremacy are discussed with extraordinary starkness as Sisko’s blackness is foregrounded by a story where he is made into a 1950s science-fiction writer facing discrimination -one of the most sobering and breathtaking Star Trek episodes ever -fittingly directed by Brooks himself.
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Meanwhile, the background context between the Bajorans and Cardassians allows for a lot of its own very intense and resonant themes. Throughout the show, the Cardassian Occupation serves as an analogue for several real atrocities, from the Holocaust to the Japanese occupation of Korea, the military juntas in Chile and Brazil, to the apartheids in South Africa and Palestine. Central to it’s conversation are the ethics of terrorism -Kira and many of her fellow revolutionaries were identified as terrorists by the Occupation, their tactics of destruction and violent revolution reflecting those of entities labeled the same in our world. Constantly the show invites discussion over that theme, the justification of Kira’s actions and those of her people against the brutal fascism and institutional dehumanization of the Cardassians. Radically, the show often comes down on Kira’s point-of-view and the implications of a righteousness in standing up against oppression and ultimately her people winning their own freedom. Flashback episodes occasionally show the brutish circumstances of the Occupation, and that even some Cardassians themselves recognize its horrors. “Duet” from season one, staunchly evocative of Nuremberg, interrogates the morality of the Cardassians in light of their actions. And various episodes deal with the aftermath and a still reeling Bajoran people, and how it has impacted their political consciousness.
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And then taking up a lot of space, though still connected to the same points of oppression, conquest, and fascism (it is no surprise that the Cardassians eventually are a part of this) is the Dominion War that is the overarching conflict of the last two seasons of the series. Here the show richly dives into several topics related to war including PTSD and trauma, loss and numbness, the visceral realities of the battlefield, and war crimes. “In the Pale Moonlight” explicitly addresses the latter as Sisko continually compromises his moral actions for a strategic advantage. The physical and psychological ramifications of war are put into focus in “It’s Only a Paper Moon” and the cost deeply felt in episodes like “Tears of the Prophets” and “The Siege of AR-558”. Moving on in the aftermath of war is of course critical then in the latter parts of the series finale.
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Religion is one of those themes often intentionally avoided in other Star Trek shows (Roddenberry's future was decidedly atheistic), but Deep Space Nine finds a myriad of ways to confront its nuanced conversations. And specifically it is a big part of Sisko's arc -his journey to accepting his role as intermediary between the Bajoran people and their gods is one that comes with a swath of struggles and responsibilities but that he comes to better grapple with the more he comes to care about the Bajorans. It's a weight that he shoulders, balancing it with his starfleet responsibilities and values, with difficulty through episodes like "Destiny", "Accession", "Rapture", "Image in the Sand", and "Shadows and Symbols". Apart from the gravity of this duty, Sisko's story through the show also encompasses his relationship with Kassidy (and guilt over the death of his former wife Jennifer) and his parenthood to Jake, a small part of many an episode and the chief theme of "The Visitor", one of the series' most emotional outings. It dovetails nicely with elements of Jake's coming-of-age and his eventual career as a writer, foregoing perhaps the expected direction of going into starfleet himself. Jake's central relationship, apart from his dad, is his friendship with Nog -the tensions and culture clash but comradery between them fueling stories like "The Jem'Hadar", "The Ascent", "In the Cards", and "Valiant".
Every character has their own set of interesting stories. Where on The Next Generation, romance between central characters was left almost entirely as a background thing, most of the Deep Space Nine cast get to be partnered up. Miles and Keiko O'Brien of course came in pre-established, along with their young daughter Molly (Hana Hatae) and a son called Kirayoshi born during the series, and they remain a generally healthy couple throughout. In the sixth season, after building a relationship through episodes together like "The Sword of Kahless", "Let He Who is Without Sin...", and "Soldiers of the Empire", Worf and Dax are married, making for a surprisingly charismatic couple. Prior to this, the series occasionally teased a flirtatious dynamic between Dax and Bashir. But no romantic thread receives as much attention as Odo’s unrequited love for Kira, a major component of stories such as "Heart of Stone" and "Crossfire" before finally coming to a head in "His Way".
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It plays very well with Odo's outsider status, first as a man without a people and then a man ideologically opposed to the way of his people. He has a yearning for belonging but an iron sense of principles, allowing him to continually be a lonely figure for the duration of the series. In other senses this role makes him emblematic of the immigrant scapegoated for the actions of people who look like him (something previous Star Trek actor George Takei only knew too well). His endless array of conflicts over his identity whilst maintaining his gruff and disciplined demeanour makes his perhaps the most compelling character arc of the show. Or at the very least second only to his beloved Kira. Her history and actions during the Occupation, the trauma it placed on her and yet unwavering lack of remorse over what was needed to regain the Bajorans’ freedom are staples of her character that never cease to complicate her relationship with the Federation and to the viewers. Her attitude towards Cardassians, and often Dukat specifically, is the central conflict of many of her best episodes including "Duet", "Second Skin", "Return to Grace", and "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night". Figures and episodes from her history often make appearances, and of course she is a key avatar for exploring the institutional politics of Bajor, frequently pitted against Kai Winn and the increasingly populist control she attains for herself. Kira is the most direct and driven character on the show, yet her sweeter side is sometimes given room to shine in things such as her friendships with Odo and Dax.
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Friendship is the key tie that binds Bashir and O'Brien, two characters who are at odds initially, but develop into perhaps the Star Trek franchise's most wholesome bromance. They go on holosuite adventures together, make crafts, and play darts at Quark's, always with an infectious chemistry. Quark's is often a central fixture of the show and a very fun environment, Quark himself typically featured in episodes involving some scheme he becomes wrapped up in, while also occasionally he is a vessel for expanding the world and politics of the Ferengi. Rules of Acquisition, a Ferengi constitution, often get quoted by or around him, and though Quark remains in his ways across the show he becomes slightly more of a genial character. He, Rom, and Nog often make for an entertaining trio in the likes of "Family Business", "Little Green Men" and "The Magnificent Ferengi", their personalities bouncing off each other in enjoyable ways. But Quark's best foil through the series is Odo -a marvellous odd couple buoyed by a marvellous chemistry between Auberjonois and Shimerman.
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Dax’s stories often have to do with her relationship to her symbiont, the actions and anomalies of her past selves often impacting her in the present and occasionally struggling to reconcile her unique sentience. Highlights of these include "Invasive Procedures", "Facets", and "Rejoined". Bashir’s most interesting arc comes late in the show when it is revealed he is a secret product of illegal genetic engineering. Worf mostly continues along the same lines of development as in The Next Generation, albeit with perhaps a better sense of surety in his place within both the Federation and Klingon Empire. Ezri is all about the anxiety of living up to her past hosts, Jadzia especially. And while O'Brien doesn't have much of a specific journey through the show, he is the subject of a seasonal type of episode dubbed "O'Brien Must Suffer" -shows like "Tribunal", "Hard Time", and "The Assignment"- in which O'Brien is put through a ringer of trauma or distress. And of course, the secondary character story arcs of Garak’s gradually revealing backstory and trauma from his time as a spy, Nog's entry into starfleet, Dukat’s ever-changing shades of villainy, and even Damar’s late-stage heel-turn are often just as captivating as what any of the main characters are going through.
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What allows for all of these deep and consistent character studies is that lack of a brand-new situation every week and the structure of the show that strikes a perfect match of episodic and serialized. Each season has more one-offs than not, but Deep Space Nine benefited enormously from its long-form storylines. It began with the conventional two and even three-part episodes before encompassing larger narratives, especially around the fourth season -which features in the background an extended conflict between the Klingons and Cardassians. The onset of the Dominion War though changes the style of the show. The last episode of season five and the first six of season six form a single narrative arc in which the station is in the hands of the Dominion. The war then looms in the background of nearly every episode until the end of the series, which comes as the culmination of a nine-episode arc that concludes the series. These runs each maintain a necessary constant tension as they go deeper into the weeds. But several other aspects of serialization are laid gradually in spurts over time, such as the character arcs mentioned before, the Ferengi stories, the early developments with the Dominion, the Cardassians, the political and spiritual intrigue on Bajor, and the mirror universe episodes -the show having travelled back to the original series's mirror universe in season two's "Crossover" -returning to it once a season with episodes that delight in recasting the personalities of the core cast and sometimes killing their counterparts off.
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Season two builds on these with the first really interesting Dax episode, “Invasive Procedures”, in which her symbiont is forcibly extracted and placed in another. “Cardassians” explores the theme of war orphans through concerns around a Cardassian child -one of many- left behind on Bajor after the Occupation and has extremely compelling things to say about abandonment, indoctrination and prejudice, while low-key also being a good mystery episode. “The Alternate” marks a curious look into Odo’s backstory as he and the Bajoran who raised him investigate a life form that may be related to him. “Whispers” is a very engaging paranoia story in which O’Brien grows suspicious of strange behaviours of the crew towards him. “The Maquis”, a two-part episode, introduces its rebel group into the franchise with an intriguing story of their resistance and philosophy. “The Wire” sees Bashir delve into Garak’s complex past in order to save his life. “Crossover”, the first Mirror Universe episode, is quite novel and thrilling. “Tribunal” sees O’Brien framed and put through a show trial on Cardassia, a keen look at their fascist legal system. And “The Jem’Hadar” not only introduces the titular race and conflict with the Dominion to good effect, but is before then a neat look at the culture clash between humans and Ferengi as Sisko, Jake, Quark, and Nog go camping together.
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It is followed up with the two-part “The Search” in season three, resolving the mystery of Odo’s origins as it sets up the Dominion and their Changeling Founders even more. “Second Skin” showcases Kira’s worst nightmare as the Cardassians try to gaslight her into believing she is one of their undercover agents. “Defiant” -revolving around the show’s resident runabout ship- brings Riker onto the show for an unexpected stand-off and sequel to an episode from The Next Generation. In the two-part “Past Tense” the crew is sent back in time to the early twenty-first century (2024 specifically) where they become involved in a social riot over the debilitating state of homelessness and poverty -that wound up quite an accurate and sobering prediction from the show. “Heart of Stone”, a significant episode in both the arcs of Odo and Nog, sees Odo and Kira stranded together, while on the station Nog petitions Sisko to support an application to starfleet. “Explorers” is a wholesome episode involving Sisko and Jake in a primitive Bajoran spaceship. “Family Business” marks the first serious look at the sexism in Ferengi culture. And “Facets” sees Dax’s past selves embodied by her crewmates, allowing for some very fun acting from the ensemble.
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The fourth season opens on “The Way of the Warrior” and the introduction of Worf onto the show along with some compelling Klingon intrigue (also the introduction of Sisko's stylish new look). “The Visitor” looks into a future where Sisko has died and Jake spends a lifetime tormented by the loss and visions of his father -it is ultimately one of the most beautiful episodes in all of Star Trek. “Hippocratic Oath” follows Bashir’s efforts to help a group of Jem’Hadar overcome their dependency on a drug enforced on them by the Founders -a stirring episode on addiction. “Little Green Men” is a wonderfully fun episode in which Quark, Rom, and Nog go back in time and become the Roswell aliens. Same is true of “Our Man Bashir” in which Bashir and Garak become trapped in a holosuite spy program with the faces of the Deep Space Nine crew imprinted on the characters they meet. But then “Homefront” and “Paradise Lost” follow Sisko and Odo back to Earth to investigate a Changeling threat and the consequent measures taken by starfleet command -the latter title an apt descriptor of the show’s attitude towards the Federation. “Bar Association” is the show’s great pro-labour episode as Rom persuades Quark’s staff to go on strike. “Hard Time” puts O’Brien through his worst torment yet as he experiences the memories of decades of imprisonment on an alien world and struggles to readjust when returned to the station. And “For the Cause” revolves around Sisko’s suspicions of Kassidy being in the Maquis -a fascinating injection of drama into their relationship.
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The start of season five coincided with the fortieth anniversary of the Star Trek franchise, and as such an early highlight is the tribute episode “Trials and Tribble-ations” in which the crew travel back in time and through some neat compositing effects interact with the events of the original series episode “The Trouble with Tribbles” -it is a delight! Another time travel episode shortly after however called “Things Past” is much more grim as it looks more intimately at the effects of the Occupation on Bajorans and Odo’s complicity in it. “The Ascent” sees Odo and Quark stranded on a planet together, wringing the most fun and drama out of their recurring conflict. “For the Uniform” involves Sisko dealing with a starfleet traitor to the Maquis and his obsession with capturing him. A great espionage two-parter comes out of this season -”In Purgatory’s Shadow” and “By Inferno’s Light” that reveals the extent of the Dominion’s sights on the Federation and the machinations of powers being wielded against each other to sow discord. “Doctor Bashir, I Presume?” is the show that reveals Bashir’s great secret along with a stirring allegory towards living with certain kinds of disability. Finally, the season finale “Call to Arms” excellently kicks into gear the Dominion’s invasion and the wider Dominion War as the crew are forced to flee and relinquish the station.
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The subsequent storyline through the early episodes of season six is consistently engaging, dramatic, and thrilling with “A Time to Stand” and “Behind the Lines” being perhaps standouts. Following these, “You Are a Cordially Invited” plays out the wedding of Dax and Worf with a lot fun and garlands. “Waltz” on the other hand is a strikingly minimalist show wherein Sisko and Dukat are marooned together and the latter is confronted over his war crimes. More striking though is “Far Beyond the Stars”, which brings the whole cast out of make-up for a story in the 1950s in which Sisko’s alter ego experiences the brutality of systemic racism in one of the most sobering and brilliantly executed Star Trek episodes. As the season goes along it penetrates ever darker territory. In “Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night”, Kira learns a shattering truth about her mother in another glimpse into the horrors of the Occupation. “Inquisition” begins as a solid mystery story about Bashir being interrogated as a spy, that turns into a challenge to the foundational ideals of the Federation. But “In the Pale Moonlight” is the high watermark of this trifecta, a structurally intriguing episode about the severe moral compromises Sisko makes for the war effort -it is often cited as Star Trek’s darkest episode, and it is entirely earned, a masterpiece of thematic complexity. At the end of the season there is the tender “The Sound of Her Voice” wherein the crew form an attachment to a starfleet officer communicating through a distress call from a crashed escape pod, and “Tears of the Prophets” -in which on the eve of commanding an invasion, Sisko ignores a warning from the Prophets to dire consequence in perhaps the bleakest season finale of the show.
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But the final season begins with his reconnection with the Prophets and the introduction of Ezri Dax. Before the end, the show makes a point to have some fun through a pair of holosuite episodes, “Take Me Out to the Holosuite”, in which Sisko organizes a baseball game (one of his passions) against a rival crew; and “Badda-Bing Badda-Bang” in which they participate in a heist in Vic Fontaine’s 60s nightclub program. Vic is also a central figure in “It’s Only a Paper Moon” in which Nog evades his duty in the program while suffering raw PTSD from an injury in a prior episode. That prior episode, “The Siege of AR-558” is a profoundly affecting ground-level war story -the show taking this season to delve into as many rich war themes as it can. And it does this at length through the show’s final stretch of an arc. It wraps up several character threads and storylines through individual installments like “The Changing Face of Evil” -in which the Cardassians find a moral backbone, “Tacking Into the Wind” -in which two series’ worth of Klingon corruption comes to a head, “Extreme Measures” -where Bashir and O’Brien deal one last time with Section 31 to avert a genocide, and “The Dogs of War” -in which among other tense developments, the Ferengi choose their future. The series comes to an end with “What You Leave Behind”, a thrilling two-part story that brings to a climax both the war and Sisko’s spiritual journey with the Prophets, as well as arcs for Odo and Kira, and everybody leaves the show with a perhaps a bittersweet but rightful resolution. A fantastic finale, worthy of the fantastic quality of Deep Space Nine.
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This show has a distinct legacy within the Star Trek brand. What some fans love about it are the very things that other fans dislike about it -the harsher tone, the serialization, the complexity of its issues and moral ambiguities, the fact it throws out some of the utopian elements of Roddenberry’s vision in favour of something that resembles more a mirror to our own world. I can understand why some are offended by that, especially those who prefer to think of Star Trek as escapism. But I cannot take that opinion. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine may not embody the fullness of that hopeful future but it is the best series of the Star Trek name. Pushing the limits of its drama, politics, and conflicts, it is the most human of any of the shows, the richest to revisit and the most thematically profound. It has also aged tremendously well, not only in its content but its form. Deep Space Nine would fit in comfortably in the age of prestige TV which followed very close on its footsteps. The years have been kind to the show as it still finds new fans even outside of the usual Star Trek spaces. While it was the franchise outlier in its time, never as popular as the shows around it, it is now quite broadly recognized for its quality. It’s cult popularity buoyed it enough that a documentary on the series was produced in 2019 called What We Left Behind that touches on its status and perhaps underrated impact on the television landscape. A show unafraid to be uncomfortable, it has a comfortable legacy.
It may not have explored strange new worlds in the conventional sense, but no Star Trek show has more boldly gone where no one has gone before.
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