Deep Space 9 Superior

[The Urban Spaceman]

Some people are just clueless.

My first post in this thread in 2013 (I think), glad to know DS9 is still the best!

I'm still in the process of getting a friend to watch it, so I might rewatch some eps with him later in the year.

[Crazedwraith]

I'm rolling my eyes at the comments that say DS9 ripped off Babylon 5

tbf. There is circumstantial evidence. And some odd coincidences.


Isn't JMS supposed to have tried to sold B5 to paramount before they started work on DS9? To the extent they saw his show bible for it?

And there are some strange similarities. The arc-y format. The war stories. The commander (later captain) of the station who is also a religious icon. the tough little special ship they get in later seasons. Even names. Dukat/Duhkat, leeta/lyta.

Or course the characters sharing names are nothing alike. I don't think the creative team were actively ripping off B5. But one does wonder if the big wigs at paramount might have nudged them in a certain direction.

[min min light]

I would think that if anyone was going to deliberately copy something they'd have the sense to come up with different names. It would make more sense if someone read it and forgot about it, and thought it was their own idea.

[blueray]

I've never seen B5, but I'm sure if I tried to watch it now I'd just compare it to DS9.

[min min light]

Don't deprive yourself of it for that reason, it's just the broad outlines that are similar. I really enjoyed it, and I love DS9.

[chrono trigger]

I'm rolling my eyes at the comments that say DS9 ripped off Babylon 5

It's childish that they still feel the need to bring it up at every opportunity.

I've never seen B5, but I'm sure if I tried to watch it now I'd just compare it to DS9.

Both are great shows but i prefer DS9.

[Starfist]

Deep Space Nine is now being repeated on the SyFy channel here in the UK.

It has been 'tweaked' and is being shown before a repeat of Season 3 of TNG.

[The Urban Spaceman]

I would definitely rewatch if I didn't own the series on DVD.

[Final]

And there are some strange similarities. The arc-y format. The war stories. The commander (later captain) of the station who is also a religious icon. the tough little special ship they get in later seasons. Even names. Dukat/Duhkat, leeta/lyta.

Also the jumpgate/wormhole being in close proximity to both stations. I don't mind though they're both great series.

[The Urban Spaceman]

So, at one point next (hopefully) weekend I'm gonna go hang with a friend who's borrowing some of my Trek DVDs. He's on the last season of TNG and about to start season 2 of DS9. At the moment I think he prefers TNG and he seems not as interested in DS9. I've tried to convey a sense of how awesome DS9 is, and referred to bromances between certain characters, and the overall war-arc, but I don't think there's an episode which has 'hooked' him yet.

My question to you guys; is there a particular DS9 episode which 'hooked' you? What, in particular, made you keep watching? And at what point did you think "actually, this is even better than TNG!"?

And I realise, that's actually three very huge, series-defining questions. But do the best that you can, I really am interested in your thoughts (and how I can sell this to my friend!)

In somewhat-related news, a year or two ago I wrote a large chunk of a DS9 story centered on "what if" Damar survived the rebel's attack on the Dominion HQ. A quick scan of the first dozen pages of this forum, and a search on the terms 'star trek' and 'fanfiction' didn't yield me any successful results, so I thought I'd mention this here: I've put the first chapter of the story on my fanfic site (see sig) as a one-shot, so people can take a quick look at the tone of the story, and introduce a couple of the main OC-characters (after all, it can't all be about Damar, right?)

Anyone interested in reading the one-shot? Anybody who's read the one-shot interested in reading more? Should I make a separate thread for this so as not to intrude on the DS9-lovin'?

[min min light]

My favorite episodes are often the exact same episodes that other people call weak, so I'm not a great person for this kind of advice, but if all else fails have them watch the season two finale.

[Gatefan1976]

So, at one point next (hopefully) weekend I'm gonna go hang with a friend who's borrowing some of my Trek DVDs. He's on the last season of TNG and about to start season 2 of DS9. At the moment I think he prefers TNG and he seems not as interested in DS9. I've tried to convey a sense of how awesome DS9 is, and referred to bromances between certain characters, and the overall war-arc, but I don't think there's an episode which has 'hooked' him yet.

My question to you guys; is there a particular DS9 episode which 'hooked' you? What, in particular, made you keep watching? And at what point did you think "actually, this is even better than TNG!"?

And I realise, that's actually three very huge, series-defining questions. But do the best that you can, I really am interested in your thoughts (and how I can sell this to my friend!)

In somewhat-related news, a year or two ago I wrote a large chunk of a DS9 story centered on "what if" Damar survived the rebel's attack on the Dominion HQ. A quick scan of the first dozen pages of this forum, and a search on the terms 'star trek' and 'fanfiction' didn't yield me any successful results, so I thought I'd mention this here: I've put the first chapter of the story on my fanfic site (see sig) as a one-shot, so people can take a quick look at the tone of the story, and introduce a couple of the main OC-characters (after all, it can't all be about Damar, right?)

Anyone interested in reading the one-shot? Anybody who's read the one-shot interested in reading more? Should I make a separate thread for this so as not to intrude on the DS9-lovin'?

If your friend is more of an action fan, get them to watch season 7 *first*, that way they will want to know HOW the characters got to where they are. It's hardly the best way to do it, far, far from it, but for some it would work.

[The Urban Spaceman]

Thanks, that's not a bad idea overall. He's not a massive action fan, though (he can happily sit through 'mystery' episodes). He did have a thing for Vash in TNG and I think he quite likes Kira and Odo so I'm hoping that the fairly Kira-centric episodes might keep him going, until he can fully appreciate the series for what it is.

[Gatefan1976]

Thanks, that's not a bad idea overall. He's not a massive action fan, though (he can happily sit through 'mystery' episodes). He did have a thing for Vash in TNG and I think he quite likes Kira and Odo so I'm hoping that the fairly Kira-centric episodes might keep him going, until he can fully appreciate the series for what it is.

Try some of the Vic Fontaine W/ Kira&Odo ones then, or the one where Jake is "working" with Quark to learn about "nefarious characters" and Odo lets him win.

[Gatefan1976]

I've never seen B5, but I'm sure if I tried to watch it now I'd just compare it to DS9.

Don't deprive yourself of it for that reason, it's just the broad outlines that are similar. I really enjoyed it, and I love DS9.

Can't agree more.
B5 was "better" at handling some aspects of it's storyline (For example, I find the play by play of J'kar/Mollari better than that of Odo/Quark) But I find a lot of the "hero's journey" (Sisko/Sheridan) much better handled in DS9.

Different strokes for different folks, but BOTH are really worth watching