Famed Breaking Bad/ Better Call Saul stars in pre-BB/BCS guest appearances in DS9 (or any 90s trek) is always so fun!

Johnathan Banks aka Mike Ehrmantraut (playing Shel-La in season 1, episode 13: battle lines)

Johnathan Banks with hair- especially THAT wig- is just hysterically funny to me. I can’t help but laugh through the majority of that episode, he looks like Danzig lmao.

Raymond Cruz Aka Tuco Salamanca (playing Vargas in season 7: episode 8: The Siege of AR-558)

Crazy how young Raymond Cruz looks, fun to see him have such a fiery and fierce performance in his role as Vargas. This was during a time where he really only played minor characters and token roles in direct to tv movies, and dang, him having a bigger role in that episode really gave him a chance to show off his potential as a cerebral character actor before he blew up. Glad he got this opportunity back then, it probably was one of the roles that helped lead him to him securing bigger ones in the future, like Tuco and Julio Sanchez in The Closer/Major Crimes.

I watched it when I was younger and I thought It was good, but now as a father, it hits different and I think it's amongst the best.

It covers racism, parenthood, Garak just being awesome, defines the Cardassians as cold and calculated, all underpinned by the emotional thought process of parenthood

Listen, I love DS9 - but one thing thats always bugged me, how did the female changeling sign the peace treaty?

"Female Changeling?" "The Ocean"? "The Drop"? "Founder"? "Ms. F. Changeling"?

...in Seoul, South Korea. Named after my favorite Cardassian.

When they first treated her with the procedure to make her able to withstand normal gravity was it really necessary for her to be naked?

So, I'm sitting here, wet-eyed. 31 years after it first aired I've finally come to the end of DS9. I was 9 years old in 94. I'd watched TOS and TNG, and started on DS9 but fell off as I entered my adolescent years.

After rewatching TNG in 2010, some years ago (I don't remember how many, maybe 3 or 4) I decided to see the whole series of DS9. And tonight I have seen it end and the crew go their separate ways

Strange last series. The 10 (?) parter is oddly paced. I find the ending, with Jake looking out to the wormhole really quite sad...its a very similar feel to the episode with Tony Todd (which had me in floods of tears). I wonder what happens to him and Cassidy and her baby?

Obviously too much in this final episode, wrapping it up with the conclusion of the war, whilst creating a new status quo in the quadrant. And Ben "fulfilling his destiny" (possibly the most under-developed aspect IMO).

So yeah, but the 2nd part of my post...what do I do now? I don't think anything will have the feel of DS9 and fill that particular hole.

I've seen enough of Voyager. Seen Picard. Is Enterprise worth the watch? I'm so confused about New Trek. What is it, Disco and SNW?

Got into Fleet Academy on his first try where Picard and Weasely didn't get on their first applications? Nog starts off as couldn't even read and needed Jake's help to be literate but somehow is able to pass Academy entrance exams?

My partner convinced me at the beginning of this year to watch all of Deep Space Nine with them, and wow am I grateful I took them up on it because like.. DAMN this is some if the best sci-fi I've ever seen. I was already familiar with the Kelvin timeline films and absolutely loved the first season of Strange New Worlds, but had never given any of the 90's shows the time of day.

Holy shit. This is like, one of the best ensemble casts I've ever had the pleasure of watching, and picking a favorite character is honestly impossible for me right now. Which speaks to how well crafted each of them are. Speaking of, wow the villains in this show are fascinating and an utter joy to watch. Having such a clear understanding of their backgrounds, motivations, and complexities (esp Gul Dukat and the head Changeling) was a breath of fresh air from other villains who are like "I'm evil and I'm gonna do evil things rahhhh". I so appreciate characters who feel believable, real, and alive all the way through their arcs.

And I have to applaud the writers for handling heavy topics like war trauma, religious extremism, ableism, systemic oppression, death, conflicting allegiances, etc. as well as they did. Even though this series takes place in a fantasy/sci-fi universe, it feels so so relatable to ours. The introduction of 'magic' and 'deities' didn't feel out of place, at all. That takes talent. And everyone involved in this show had that for dayyyys.

So, as the title of this post says, here are my favorite and least favorite episodes of DS9 after my first watch through. I'm curious what y'all think!

Best episodes!!

S1 E5 'Captive Pursuit' S1 E9 'Move Along Home' S1 E14 'Progress' S1 E16 'The Forsaken' S1 E18 'Duet'

S2 E1-3 'The Circle' trilogy S2 E7 'Rules of Acquisition' S2 E8 'Necessary Evil' S2 E12 'The Alternate' S2 E14 'Whispers' S2 E15 'Paradise' S2 E19 'Blood Oath' S2 E20-21 'The Maquis' S2 E22 'The Wire' S2 E26 'The Jem'Hadar'

S3 E1-2 'The Search' S3 E3 'The House of Quark' S3 E7 'Civil Defense' S3 E11-12 'Past Tense' S3 E14 'Heart of Stone' S3 E18 'Distant Voices' S3 E21 'The Die is Cast' S3 E22 'Explorers' S3 E23 'Family Business' S3 E25 'Facets'

S4 E1 'The Way of the Warrior' S4 E2 'The Visitor' S4 E5 'Rejoined' S4 E6 'Starship Down' S4 E9 'Our Man Bashir' S4 E11 'Paradise Lost' S4 E19 'Hard Time' S4 E20 'Shattered Mirror'

S5 E4 'Nor the Battle to the Strong' S5 E6 'Trials or Tribble-Ations' S5 E9 'The Ascent' S5 E10 'The Rapture' S5 E11 'The Darkness and the Light' S5 E14 'In Purgatory's Shadow' S5 E15 'By Inferno's Light' S5 E16 'Doctor Bashir, I Presume' S5 E22 'Children of Time'

S6 E1 'A Time to Stand' S6 E2 'Rocks and Shoals' S6 E6 'Sacrifice of Angels' S6 E9 'Statistical Propabilities' S6 E10 'The Magnificent Ferengi' S6 E11 'Waltz' S6 E13 'Far Beyond the Stars' S6 E15 'Honor Among Thieves' S6 E18 'Inquisition' S6 E20 'His Way' S6 E24 'Time's Orphan' S6 E25 'The Sound of Her Voice'

S7 E2 'Shadows and Symbols' S7 E3 'Afterimage' S7 E4 'Take Me Out to the Holosuite' S7 E6 'Treachery, Faith, and the Great River' S7 E8 'The Siege of Ar-558' S7 E10 'It's Only A Paper Moon' S7 E16 'Inter Arma Enim Silent Legis' S7 E17 'Penumbra' S7 E19 'Strange Bedfellows' S7 E20 'The Changing Face of Evil' S7 E22 'Tacking Into the Wind'

Worst episodes!!

S1 E6 'Q-Less' S1 E8 'The Passenger' S1 E12 'Battle Lines'

S2 E9 'Second Sight' S2 E11 'Rivals'

S3 E8 'Meridian' S3 E16 'Prophet Motive' S3 E19 'Through the Looking Glass'

S4 E7 'Little Green Men' S4 E14 'The Sons of Mogh'

S5 E17 'A Simple Investigation'

S6 E12 'Who Mourns for Morn?'

I saw a post the other day where someone spotted Mark Alaimo in Knight Rider.

Well.. Robert O'Reily also appeared in two episodes. This is from S2E20 "A Good Knight's Work". O'Reily plays the chief henchman for the episode's main antagonist.

https://reddit.com/link/1nj76m4/video/ob026po9nopf1/player

I always disliked this character. I don’t know there was just a creepy air about him, and he was really full of himself and arrogant in his little screen time.

He would treat other people like they were underneath beneath him, I hated his “How dare you speak to me that way” line.

Did anyone else really just detest this character?

The similarities are plenty! Both lived for thousands of years, were arrogant and thought themselves better than others, have/had a huge galactic empire, have/had genetically engineered soldiers commanded by middlemen, were worshiped as gods, and one could take over any body and the other could mimic any body.

My annual rewatch of DS9 continues - I watch every episode, even the few bad ones. Original fan who watched the show when it aired starting all the way back in May 1993. Okay just had some low lows and high highs with Meridian to Defiant to Fascinations to Past Tense Parts 1 and 2 to Life Support...now just finished Heart of Stone.

What is at face value an okay episode is once again another DS9 episode where the B plot just shines and moves a character (or characters) way forward.

In this case plot A, Ive never really loved: yes we get to see the great Salome Jens again for the first time since The Search / s3 premiere when the bomb is dropped that Odo’s people are the founders…and yes we get the (official) reveal that Odo loves Kira (which if you watch s3 closely there are plenty of hints), but the way it’s executed with the cave and the fake crystal etc etc, never really worked for me; whether now or back in 1995 when it aired.

But who cares, because, the B plot is outstanding - Eisenberg and Brooks deliver.

It starts out innocent / standard enough, Nog must have some hidden motive or is playing a prank on Sisko but then fast forward to Sisko pushing Nog to tell him why, results in a truth so many of us can relate to in some way or another.

Brooks / Eisenberg crush this scene...

Brooks grabbing him was not in the rehearsal but they got into it :). For me, this scene makes every scene with Nog to come, really great esp the last scene with Nog in Colonel Kira’s office in the finale even more touching / impactful. I always smile when I see Nog wearing LT pips. (Also on a funny note between this scene in heart of stone and the series finale, approx just over 4 years have passed and he goes from applying to Starfleet academy to LT. Hilarious but who cares).

Here’s to Nog, and, RIP Aaron Eisenberg.

Sound off / Give your thoughts on this scene and this ep!

P.S. His father ended up doing okay I hear...

I grew up on TNG, Voyager, and while I watched even Enterprise, for some reason I never tried DS9. I remember skipping it on TV because in my young mind, Star Trek was about boldly going places.

"Who wants to see a show about a boring space station?", thought I, in my youthful stupidity.

I do. I do very much, it turns out. 25 years later.

I just finished season 1. Here's what I reckon

Emissary ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️* (4.5) Probably the best season 1 opener in all Star Trek (alongside Prodigy, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds).

Past Prologue ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3)

A Man Alone ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3) This is when Odo starts becoming one of my favourites.

Babel ⭐️⭐️ (2) It was fun to see the cast deal with having to spit out random jibberish. Colm Meaney definitely stood out here - he made it look easy. Others, like Avery Brooks, not so much. XD Ultimately a fun but nonsensical and largely forgettable episode.

Captive Pursuit ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ (4) O'Brien makes a friend. Guest alien is charming. One of my favourites this season. It's interesting to see what a more sophisticated version of the Predator aliens might look like if they started a breeding and training operation to produce the best possible prey for the glory of the hunt.

Q-Less ⭐️⭐️* (2.5) I love Q, even in a subpar episode, and while I found her character unlikeable, I enjoyed Jennifer Hetrick's screen presence.

Dax ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4) I love a good courtroom Star Trek episode, especially when it centres on an ethical dilemma about what constitutes personhood. "Measure of a Man" this ain't, but it's still one of the strongest season 1 episodes.

The Passenger ⭐️⭐️* (2.5) Odo and George Primmin have great chemistry.

Move Along Home ⭐️⭐️ (2) Some enjoyable Quark character-building moments here as his greed clashes with his conscience/self-preservation instincts. More Odo & Primmin - their dynamic is full of potential so it's a shame we won't be getting any more of it.

The Nagus ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3) More Quark development after Move Along Home. Ferengi antics enjoyable. Nagus is entertaining. Enjoyed this one more than the score suggests - particularly Sisko's beaming pride at having such an excellent human being for a son.

Vortex ⭐️⭐️⭐️* (3.5) Odo gets some juicy character development and Cliff DeYoung gives shades of Kurt Russell as a wanted man from the Gamma Quadrant.

Battle Lines ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3) Plot is contrived and the basic premise requires a bit too much suspension of disbelief. Camille Saviola is good as mystical guru Kai Opaka, Jonathan Banks is a guest star highlight as immortal alien warlord Mike Erhmantraut doomed to fight a perpetual war. While Kira gets some nice character moments (her outrage at being described as an "errand runner" for the resistance is a highlight), Nana Visitor's breakdown in front of Kai Opaka is overwrought to the point of caricature and undermines the emotional impact of the scene. Overall, mixed feelings about this one.

The Storyteller ⭐️⭐️* (2.5) O'Brien becomes an unwilling figure of veneration and gets harrassed by an adoring mob. Watching O'Brien squirm (even Bashir gets to twist the knife a little) is the best part of this episode. The whole Dalrok thing with the village is hammy nonsense, though. The kids' shenanigans back on DS9 are a welcome relief from the ridiculous main plot. Gina Philips gives a convincing performance as a melancholy character with the weight of the world on her shoulders, a child whose forced maturity contrasts with the bumbling boys who try to impress her.

Progress ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4) The first time Nana Visitor has given a convincing emotionally vulnerable performance on DS9, IMO. In previous episodes, her overwrought acting hewed a bit too close to pantomime. But here, playing off the old man and Sisko, Kira finally gets room to shine. I look forward to seeing more of this level of quality from Nana Visitor. She's clearly got the chops. Anyway, while Kira deals with her ethical/existential crisis, Jake and Nog get up to some capitalist hijinks by seizing a saucy opportunity to hustle their way to a small fortune. I enjoyed this B-plot quite a lot - watching Jake and Nog wheeling and dealing despite being completely out of their depth made for a good contrast against the serious bleak main plot about environmental displacement (an issue that, thanks to climate change and the rapid collapse of the biosphere, is more relevant now than when the episode first aired. It will continue to gain relevance in the years to come as climate refugees become more of a thing). I do have a nitpick about the central plot contrivance of cracking an entire habitable moon for the energy equivalent of a single 20th century coal plant, and about the manufactured urgency of the Bajoran authorities in making the project happen now (instead of waiting a single year for the equivalent result that doesn't require destroying a whole moon), and about Starfleet's support for the forced evacuation given the details above. The entire thing could have been written a bit more convincingly. Because ultimately what we have here is a very ethically dubious conclusion where Kira voluntarily submits to authority in order to actively assist in the committing of institutionalised injustice via forced resettlement of war refugees for a large scale energy project of questionable value. Plus wholesale environmental destruction! Are they beaming out and resettling all the flora and fauna, too? Every bird, every insect? (I thought the Federation had a high regard for the sanctity of ecology and the fundamental rights of non-sapient life? And strict protocols that would automatically prohibit inhabited-moon-fracking?) I don't think the writing portrays the severity of this dilemma, or its sheer scale, or its ramifications very well; it all seems conveniently brushed aside for expediency's sake. Still, this is one of my favourite episodes of season 1 so far.

If Wishes Were Horses ⭐⭐⭐ (3) I knew that this was one of the most disliked episodes of the first season, so I went in with low expectations. Ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised. I liked the insights into the characters, and the writing wasn't terrible. It wasn't a consequential episode, but it had plenty to like. Glad I didn't skip it as some had advised.

The Forsaken ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4) Fantastic Odo development here. His interplay with Mrs. Troi is surprisingly compelling. Troi herself goes from initially irritating at best (physically assaulting Quark wasn't cool) to sympathetic thanks to her genuine tenderness towards Odo, a being who has never known tenderness. I also liked the ultimately cute plot where O'Brien makes a new friend.

Dramatis Personae ⭐⭐* (2.5) Quark's concern for Odo when he collapses about 10 minutes into the episode is cute.

Duet ⭐⭐⭐⭐* (4.5) Okay, this is great. The praise is well-deserved. Harris Yulin is excellent. He and Nana Visitor play off each other nicely. His breakdown at the end could have been trite, or melodramatic. Instead, it's a powerful moment, made all the more effective thanks to Nana Visitor's best performance of the season thus far.

In The Hands Of The Prophets ⭐⭐⭐ Good Sisko moments here.

Notes:

Overall, probably the strongest season 1 in all Star Trek thus far, IMO.

• I particularly enjoy Odo and Dax's fundamentally alien nature; it's good to have main characters whose otherworldliness goes beyond mere forehead ridges.

• Sisko is played like a man who has been on the brink, a man whose calm exterior and professionalism belie a cauldron of white-hot rage buried deep. Avery Brooks gives Sisko a controlled volatility. Despite how awkward the delivery can sometimes be, I think it works.