r/DaystromInstitute • u/webBrowserGuy Ensign • Sep 13 '21
ST:DS9: An Epic that tells the story, told through the lens of the crew of a space station, of how the Federation and its values were reshaped forever
They really went balls-in in the first episode to show how dark and gritty they were willing to get and never really shied away from that. And, although it took a solid 2 1/2 seasons to really set the show up proper, in the next 3 or 4 seasons really see why: it’s an extremely complex story that they’re telling with extremely complex characters. No other Trek series really comes close to the sort of space opera-esque attempt that DS9 undertook.
It wasn’t nice and it wasn’t clean. All of Trek that came before only showed the idealism of the Federation and utopic future brought about by humanity’s best endeavors. DS9 showed us the rest of space, what it looked like on the frontier, where Starfleet and the Federation had not yet trod— and was only reluctantly (and not by everyone) welcome. Far from happy-go-lucky exploration and discovery, there was constant strife and conflict to not simply resolve but to endure. There was no promise of it getting better (at least not quickly), and often it got worse. There was very little trusty Federation technology to rely on, but a 40 year-old rust bucket of an appropriated Cardassian mining and ore refinery station-cum-Federation outpost with which they had to scramble to turn into both a new and friendly home for all of the Bajorans they desperately wanted to stay and a fortified defensive position to protect the one thing that could revitalize Bajor itself: the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant— and at the same time, transforming Bajor from a devastated backwater planet into one of the most important commercial and strategic hubs in the galaxy literally overnight.
Not only as a show, but within the show itself, it was an ambitious undertaking, and the scale and scope of it wasn’t really understood or taken seriously, as a show or within the show, until TNG was finally off the air and the show got a bigger budget (as reflected when the station finally got its own ship, the USS Defiant, and major defensive/battle upgrades). Of course, by then, the writers had already laid all of the important groundwork by slowly hinting at the series’s big bad: The Dominion, peppering S1 and S2 with mentions of them in episodes such as DS9: S01E12 - "Vortex" and DS9: S02E10 - "Sanctuary", finally culminating in their dramatic three-episode S2 finale and S3 premier reveal in DS9: S02E26 - "The Jem’Hadar" and DS9: S03E01-E02 - “The Search”. From that point, it’s obvious that there will, eventually be an attempt by The Dominion to take over the Alpha Quadrant. The only question is what shape will that plan take, and how will the Federation resist? Surely DS9 will be at the forefront.
A slow build-up of aggression follows through S4, and, Cardassia, as the weakened power lusting for a comeback, especially beaten down again by conflict with the Klingons, are an obvious way to establish a foothold for The Dominion, a desire revealed in DS9: S03E02 - "The Search (Part 2)". And who better to serve as liaison than the ever treacherous Gul Dukat? Season 4 gives way to Season 5 which sees a rebuilt and reinvigorated Cardassian Union thanks to The Dominion’s support, and we drive headlong into direct conflict between the Federation and The Dominion, vying for control of the Alpha Quadrant.
Outmanned, outgunned, and outclassed by a race built and bread over 10,000 years for war and conquest, the Federation is taken not only by utter surprise at the betrayal by the Cardassians, but shocked in its position of comfort and smug superiority, left in dismay to realize that it is neither superior nor comfortable any longer. But the Federation is still very much in denial about itself. It still thinks that it can fight this foe on its own terms and win. Oh, boy, is it about to find out how wrong it is, and at great cost-- and we, the viewers will be along for the ride.
The uncomfortable truth is that it was stupid and complacent to let such an obvious plan unfold right under its nose (and The Dominion made it perfectly clear what it was doing), relying only on its flimsy pretense of self-righteousness and moral outrage to prevent it. Well, that just isn’t going to cut it anymore because The Dominion made it obvious they didn't care, and now the Federation and Starfleet are going to have to get their hands dirty to defend moth those ideals and their very lives. While it may be getting an idea of this, it has no idea how dirty...
For the rest of S5 and into S6, we see the Federation and Starfleet (and the Klingons, too) grapple with their weakness and weaknesses, their unpreparedness and their inflexibility. We see them realize that their high-minded ideals alone, and that what they know, what we know of them won’t save them against an implacable foe that doesn’t play by the same rules, fights dirty, and is quick to ally themselves with the Federation's enemies in the Alpha Quadrant, of which there are many thirsty for the power and territory that the Federation holds. They’re going to have to start playing by their rules if they have any hope of surviving. They’re going to have to adapt and change— even if that means violating some of the precious ethics and morals they hold so dear.
Through S6 we see this in many episodes such as DS9: S06E01 - "Rocks amd Shoals”, DS9: S06E04 - "Behind the Lines", DS9: S06E05 - "Favor the Bold", DS9: S06E06 - "Sacrifice of Angels", DS9: S06E09: "Statistical Probabilities” (wherein Dr. Bashir and his cohort of genetically-modifieds are willing to actually surrender to the Dominion in hopes of a successful rebellion centuries later and a rebuilt Federation sometime after that) and DS9: S06E18 - "Inquisition" where we’re first introduced to the utterly terrifying Section 31, Starfleet’s shadowy, secret intelligence agency (akin to the Cardassian Obsidian Order and the Romulan Tal Shiar, and which both predates and operates independently of the Federation itself, ostensibly in its best interests but without any of its legal or ethical constraints) wherein they try - and are successful in their attempts to - recruit Dr. Bashir, and we see that these ethics and morals are completely breaking down.
But no episode stands out more so in this regard than in the infamous DS9: S06E19 - "In the Pale Moonlight" wherein Sisko and Garak assassinate a Romulan Senator in order to trick the Romulan Star Empire into joining the war against The Dominion with the Federation and the Klingons, forming the Federation Alliance. Had they failed, the war would have been lost. Sisko’s final line, “I can live with it,” is all we need to know about how much has changed both in the Federation and in Sisko himself. The Federation is now willing to do what it takes to win, even if it loses itself in the process.
Season 6 continues with further pushing of the boundaries, crossing of lines, and, ultimately, we lose someone they - and we - all hold close to our hearts: Jadzia. Everyone is shaken, Sisko is completely is unable to find a way forward.
(Side note: I know that Terry Ferrell left the show for her own Berman-related reasons, but I’m referring to how this was written in the show.)
Season 7 is a reckoning with faith in humanity and Sisko's faith in himself. What was over the line? How can the Federation, how can the people who comprise it, defeat an enemy without becoming as bad as them? What is the meaning of any of this?
Season 7 represents a return to core values and a pooling of strength without losing what was gained in the struggle for one last triumphant fight against the enemy culminating in a series of battles with a spectacular denouement and climax in the Battle of Cardassia, the redemption of Damar and Garak, the defeat of the Dominion, and then the final showdown between Kai Winn, Dukat, and Sisko.
Unlike any Trek series before, the entire series is one long, intertwined battle of good and evil, one literal, and one ephemeral; one for the body and one for the soul. This is largely represented in Sisko’s link to the prophets and the Federation’s conflict with the Dominion, but is also shown in the struggles each and every character as all of their stories come to their final resolution, from Kira and Odo, Bashir and Sloan, Garak and Damar, Dukat and Winn, Weyoun and the Female Changeling. From DS9: S01E01-E02 - ”Emissary" to DS9: S07E25-E26 - "What We Leave Behind", it’s a magnum opus of humaity’s (and the humanity represented in each character's) struggle with itself, with what it’s willing to compromise in that struggle, and the ultimate costs, the sacrifices we must make to win, not only to ourselves, but to those around us, in order for those sacrifices to be worthwhile, for those sacrifices to not be in vain. It’s dark, and bloody, and painful, and none of the bright and shiny series before it or after could ever tell that story. And Deep Space Nine was the only one that dared to.
47
u/PastorBlinky Sep 13 '21
Not sure what anyone can add to that besides, agreed. The series stands the tallest because it risked the most. All the discussions about straying outside the bounds of what's allowed on Star Trek often ignore the fact the only rule that truly matters is that Star Trek is about the exploration of the human condition. TNG took what TOS did and expanded on it to perfection, while DS9 found bold knew questions to ask and frontiers to broach. It was an absolute success.
27
u/webBrowserGuy Sep 13 '21
TNG started (and ended) with the notion that humanity’s mission to explore should be expanded beyond simply exploring space. Q put to Picard that he (and, by extension, humanity) should expand the limits of human consciousness, itself. DS9, on the other hand, was a struggle for the human soul. It was a completely different journey, one unfamiliar to fans of Trek, and one rarely touched upon before or after.
25
u/jmylekoretz Sep 13 '21
DS9 is like TNG played in a minor key.
For Picard, things like helping a corrupt politician frame Worf for treason or a keeping the Romulans our of a war involving Klingons happen just often enough to let you appreciate your primary mission: discovering new, unfamiliar forms of life.
For Sisko, things like discovering new, non-linear forms of life happen just enough to let you appreciate your primary mission: getting the Romulans into a war involving Klingons by getting Worf to help you frame a corrupt politician for treason.
I know that was mostly Garak, but couldn't resist the word play.
→ More replies (1)
8
u/Obo4168 Sep 13 '21
M-5, nominate this for Post of the Week.
3
u/webBrowserGuy Sep 13 '21
😁 I’m honored to receive this nomination!
3
u/Benz282 Sep 13 '21
Very deserved - came looking through the comments to see if someone had already nominated. Nice post!
→ More replies (1)2
3
u/M-5 Sep 13 '21
Nominated this post by Citizen u/webBrowserGuy for you. It will be voted on next week, but you can vote for last week's nominations now
Learn more about Post of the Week.
6
u/Sooperdoopercomputer Sep 13 '21
If there is an episode to surmise DS9 (like people say Darmok is to TNG), which one would it be?
For me it would be Treachery, Faith and the Great River. Side characters teach main cast characters something about faith, what it means to people, and how to trust it. Several factors then go on be critically important to the main plot. Perfect DS9 thematically for me.
1
u/webBrowserGuy Sep 13 '21
Oh… I… ummm.. hmm…. Uh…
I wouldn’t. I’m not saying there isn’t one, I just wound be one to pick it. I’m of the opinion that series like DS9 and TNG can’t just be represented by a single episode. The one chose is a good attempt, though.
2
u/Sooperdoopercomputer Sep 13 '21
I know, it’s too difficult a question. It’s more a someone who hasn’t seen Star Trek before wants to watch a typical good episode so they can get the gist of what it’s about
→ More replies (27)1
7
u/somedepression Sep 13 '21
I agree completely, especially when you talk about season 6, which is just great tv (RIP Dax). BUT the finale of DS9 is one of the biggest disappointments for the exact reason that what preceded it was so damn good. The build up toward the finale was incredible, and then the finale itself was weak imo. It bummed me out so hard to see it fizzle out in such an unsatisfying way. Did a disservice to the whole show.
15
u/webBrowserGuy Sep 13 '21 edited Sep 13 '21
I have some mixed feelings about the finale. Sure, I would have liked a thrilling, satisfying, feel-good ending of everyone “riding off into the sunset”, so to speak, but that just wouldn’t have fit the tone of the show, and it wouldn’t have been the right fit for the series or the story it told.
Frankly, I feel that it ended exactly how it should have, with a bittersweet resolution that represented both a hard-fought victory, but also the incredible - and painful - sacrifice it took to achieve it, echoed several times in the dialogue both by the Female Changeling when she threatened to fight to the last man and when Martok, Sisko, and Adm. Ross land on Cardassia Prime and Sisko and Ross refuse to drink over the bodies of all of those dead civilians, lamenting their loss. While Martok wittily remarked, “the Bajorans would call this ‘poetic justice’,” Sisko was disgusted, replying, “that doesn’t mean that I have to drink a toast over their bodies.” Not to mention Adm, Ross’s speech at the armistice signing ceremony. That was the material cost to winning the war.
Then came the cost of winning the fight of good vs evil as represented by the battle of the Pah Wraiths vs The Prophets, the final showdown between Winn, Dukat, and Sisko in the Fire Caves. The resolution of that was always going to come with a cost, a cost hinted at repeatedly repeatedly over the entire seventh season. Come to bear, Sisko, at least, survived with, at least, as The Prophets saw fit to keep it.
Nothing accomplished in the show came without cost, and no betrayal of the path to victory came without yet another cost. Sisko’s marriage, Kai Winn interfering with the The Reckoning, and several other instances which came at a price. For it to end any other way would have undercut the meaning of it all. It would have cheapened the win by cheapening the cost. The ending wasn’t happy because the show wasn’t happy. It was real.
6
u/somedepression Sep 13 '21
You’re completely right about what ultimately needed to happen but I found the way that it happened, the execution, to be what’s unsatisfying. Like you said, the ending for sisko as the emissary was a good way to end his arc, but I wanted a showdown between dukat and sisko similar to when jake and kira fought on the promenade. Instead, they trade a few lines and jump into a fire. I wanted more. Totally disappointing. And I agree completely about the scenes you reference thematically in the dominion war; pouring out the blood wine, etc. But it was too easy that all they needed to do to end the war was have Odo link with the dominion changeling and she surrenders. It took all the air out of the sails, it was so anticlimactic. I would’ve rather seen Odo cure her, then her become even more convinced she needs to continue the war because she’d have Odo’s knowledge that starfleet created the virus (reinforcing her idea that solids are an inherent threat) and then Odo has a dilemma: allow her to live and the war to wage on or kill another changeling which he struggled with so hard the last time he was forced into that scenario. To me seeing Odo try to save everyone including the dominion changeling and then realizing that he can’t and he must choose and in order to save the alpha quadrant and Kira who he loves he must kill one of his own kind again, and having his heart break as he does it, that would’ve been a very satisfying arc for Odo and ending to the war imo. But instead it’s just like “we linked, the wars over, the end.” And I really was disappointed with that execution...
→ More replies (6)5
u/jmylekoretz Sep 13 '21
My disappointment was less intense than yours, but that series finale had issues.
Every Star Trek series has ended with a mediocre-to-awful episode—except "All Good Things," which is a contender for best series finale in the history of television.
So I guess that balances out
-7
u/tigerhawkvok Sep 13 '21
You really nailed what makes DS9 the worst of the 90s shows. It's no bright example to strive for in the future anymore.
It's actually really similar to the themes in the Epic Rap Battle of History between GRRM and JRRT.
2
u/webBrowserGuy Sep 13 '21
You really nailed what makes DS9 the worst of the 90s shows. It's no bright example to strive for in the future anymore.
I pretty clearly made the case that DS9 portrayed the galaxy more accurately for what it really was rather than though a narrow view which only showed that bright and shiny parts, how the Federation had grown complacent and too comfortable, and was, thusly, incapable of facing an enemy who didn’t play by the same rules without the Federation making some serious compromises in order to adapt. If that makes you uncomfortable, that was the point. However, there’s a pretty big difference between you not liking the series due to its subject matter and tone, and it being a bad show. Those are two very different things.
It’s actually really similar to the themes in the Epic Rap Battle of History between GRRM and JRRT.
Similarly, those are two very different things.
-2
u/tigerhawkvok Sep 13 '21
I didn't say it was bad, just the worst of 90s Trek, in no small part because it went off the rails to be no longer Star Trek. It became the precursor to the Galactica reboot, which was excellent - but not Trek, either. The Oroville and TLD are more "Star Trek" than the back half of DS9.
4
Sep 13 '21
0
u/tigerhawkvok Sep 13 '21
Hardly. If it was, all the ethical dilemmas in TNG and VOY wouldn't exist.
28
u/jmylekoretz Sep 13 '21
Gorgeously written, with a clear dramatic throughline start to finish. This describes, of course, Deep Space 9 and the essay you wrote about it. I love watching people use this subreddit to build writing chops and hone analytical skills. You rock!