Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Seven

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Seven, 1998-1999. Galactic war is waged.

Created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller. Directed by Allan Kroeker (4 episodes), Steve Posey (4), Mike Vejar (3), Winrich Kolbe (2), Les Landau (2), Chip Chalmers (1), Jonathan West (1), John Kretchmer (1), Anson Williams (1), Victor Lobl (1), LeVar Burton (1), Tony Dow (1), David Livingston (1), René Auberjonois (1), Michael Dorn (1) & Avery Brooks (1). Written by Ira Steven Behr (8 episodes), Hans Beimler (8), René Echevarria (7), Ronald D. Moore (7), David Weddle (4), Bradley Thompson (4), Philip Kim (1), David Mack (1), John J. Ordover (1), Robert Hewitt Wolfe (1), Spike Steingasser (1) & Peter Allan Fields (1). Starring Avery Brooks.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: D
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: Things have to get wrapped up by the end, so that makes the story arc fairly predictable (at least in terms of where things are going - not so much in how we get there), and leaves less room for the writers to play around. But apart from that unavoidable constraint, they keep up the quality of season six. Personally, I'll always love the original series best. But objectively speaking, Deep Space Nine is clearly the best that Star Trek has to offer. It probably should have had another season or two, though; it's a shame they wasted their first two. A

GPA: 2.8/4

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Six

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Six, 1997-1998. The galaxy goes to war.

Created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller. Directed by Allan Kroeker (6 episodes), Mike Vejar (2), Jesús Salvador Treviño (2), LeVar Burton (2), Winrich Kolbe (2), David Livingston (2), Victor Lobl (2), Anson Williams (1), Chip Chalmers (1), René Auberjonois (1), Avery Brooks (1), Allan Eastman (1), Jonathan West (1), Michael Dorn (1) & Alexander Siddig (1). Written by Ira Steven Behr (9 episodes), Hans Beimler (9), Ronald D. Moore (6), Bradley Thompson (5), David Weddle (5), René Echevarria (3), Michael Taylor (2), Pam Pietroforte (2), Mark Gehred-O'Connell (1), Marc Scott Zicree (1), Philip Kim (1), Peter Allan Fields (1), Harry M. Werksman (1), Gabrielle Stanton (1) & Joe Menosky (1). Starring Avery Brooks.

Concept: 3/4 (Good). There's always been a lot of talk about war in Star Trek, but, 30 years in, this is the first time you really see it in detail. It's not just some battles, or after-the-fact lesson-learning, or "by the way the Borg killed a lot of people now lets get on with what we were doing." They had to spend five seasons building to it in order to make it work, losing casual viewers in the process. Ballsy.
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). Every season of this show keeps surprising me with its quality. I'm a little sad that I now only have 26 episodes left; they're only just beginning to exploit the Star Trek universe's potential.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.7/4 (Good)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Five

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Five, 1996-1997. Political stability erodes under the threat of invasion.

Created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller. Directed by Allan Kroeker (4 episodes), Kim Friedman (3), Jonathan West (2), René Auberjonois (2), LeVar Burton (2), Mike Vejar (2), James L. Conway (1), Andrew J. Robinson (1), Jesús Salvador Treviño (1), Victor Lobl (1), Gabrielle Beaumont (1), Les Landau (1), David Livingston (1), John T. Kretchmer (1), Siddig El Fadil (1), Avery Brooks (1) & Michael Dorn (1). Written by Ira Steven Behr (9 episodes), Robert Hewitt Wolfe (9), Ronald D. Moore (6), Hans Beimler (5), René Echevarria (5), David Weddle (2), Bradley Thompson (2), Bryan Fuller (2), Pam Wigginton (1), Rick Cason (1), Brice R. Parker (1), David R. Long (1), Robert Lederman (1), Michael Taylor (1), L.J. Strom (1), Peter Allan Fields (1), Jimmy Diggs (1), Edmund Newton (1), Robbin L. Slocum (1), Gary Holland (1), Ethan H. Calk (1), Truly Barr Clark (1) & Scott J. Neal (1). Starring Avery Brooks.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good). Bonus point for "Trials and Tribble-ations."
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4).  Aaaaaand now it's better than The Next Generation. What the hell. There isn't a single bad episode all season, and a surprisingly large handful are great. I'm kind of glad I never gave this show a chance in the 90s - I get to watch it now like it's new (like Star Trek didn't die a slow, painful death over a decade ago), and I am excited to find out what happens next.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Four

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Four, 1995-1996. Political stability erodes under the threat of shape-shifting infiltrators.

Created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller. Directed by James L. Conway (5 episodes), LeVar Burton (5), David Livingston (4), Les Landau (3), René Auberjonois (2), Avery Brooks (2), Alexander Singer (2), Winrich Kolbe (1), Reza Badiyi (1) & Jonathan West (1). Written by Ira Steven Behr (9 episodes), Robert Hewitt Wolfe (8), Ronald D. Moore (6), Hans Beimler (5), René Echevarria (3), Nicholas Corea (2), Toni Marberry (2), Jack Treviño (2), Michael Taylor (1), Lisa Klink (1), David Mack (1), John J. Ordover (1), Richard Danus (1), Robert Gillan (1), Tom Benko (1), Barbara J. Lee (1), Jenifer A. Lee (1), Jane Espenson (1), David Weddle (1), Bradley Thompson (1), Daniel Keys Moran (1), Lynn Barker (1), Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (1), Mark Gehred-O'Connell (1), Naren Shankar (1), Louis P. DeSantis (1), Robert J. Bolivar (1) & George A. Brozak (1). Starring Avery Brooks.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Not as consistently good season three, but pretty good.  They start out the season with more ambition than even the movies have: a full-scale battle with Klingons. The willingness to take the story in unexpected directions fizzles out, though. Some of the more interesting moves (like renegade Gul Dukat) are ignored as soon as they're set up. And the season finale, which is meant to end on a cliff-hanging twist, basically serves to point things back in the direction of status quo.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.0/4 (Indifferent)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Three

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Three, 1994-1995. Imperialists maintain a defensive posture to defend their interests... in space!

Created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller. Directed by Cliff Bole (4 episodes), Reza Badiyi (4), Jonathan Frakes (3), Les Landau (3), Avery Brooks (3), Alexander Singer (3), René Auberjonois (2), Kim Friedman (1), Winrich Kolbe (1), David Livingston (1) & Jonathan West (1). Written by Ira Steven Behr (11 episodes), Robert Hewitt Wolfe (11), Ronald D. Moore (5), René Echevarria (5), Hilary J. Bader (2), Tom Benko (1), Christopher Teague (1), D. Thomas Maio (1), Steve Warnek (1), Mike Krohn (1), Mark Gehred-O'Connell (1), Evan Carlos Somers (1), Philip Lazebnik (1), James Crocker (1), Christian Ford (1), Roger Soffer (1), David S. Cohen (1), Martin A. Winer (1), John Shirley (1), Ethan H. Calk (1), Joe Menosky (1), Robert Lederman (1), David R. Long (1) & Gordon Dawson (1). Starring Avery Brooks.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent). The concept of the show is bad, but some of the episodes have some great ideas in them.
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 0/4 (Terrible)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). I'm delighted, and a little shocked, by the sudden shift in quality of this show. Back in the 90s I had given up on Deep Space Nine after the awful first two seasons, switched over to Voyager, and never imagined I was missing anything. And for all these years I just assumed it was a bad show. I guess it's about time I found out I was wrong. While nothing here is as good as the best Next Generation episodes, on an episode-by-episode average, it's nearly as fun to watch as TNG's best seasons.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.6/4 (Eh)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Two

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Two, 1993-1994. Democratic imperialists and former terrorists work together on a space station in order to keep away fascist imperialists.

Created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller. Directed by David Livingston (5 episodes), Winrich Kolbe (4), Corey Allen (3), Les Landau (3), Cliff Bole (3), Kim Friedman (2), James L. Conway (1), Alexander Singer (1), David Carson (1), Robert Scheerer (1), Robert Wiemer (1) & Avery Brooks (1). Written by Michael Piller (7 episodes), Ira Steven Behr (6), Robert Hewitt Wolfe (5), Peter Allan Fields (4), James Crocker (4), Jim Trombetta (4), Jeri Taylor (3), Bill Dial (2), Rick Berman (2), John Whelpley (1), Gene Wolande (1), John Wright (1), Evan Carlos Somers (1), Steven Baum (1), Hilary J. Bader (1), Mark Gehred-O'Connell (1), Frederick Rappaport (1), Gabe Essoe (1), Kelley Miles (1), Joe Menosky (1), Morgan Gendel (1), Paul Robert Coyle (1), Jeff King (1), Richard Manning (1), Hans Beimler (1), Flip Kobler (1), Cindy Marcus (1), Andrea Moore Alton (1) & Gary Holland (1). Starring Avery Brooks.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent). Everyone's less of a jackass this season, which is a huge improvement. They're still a far cry from good characters, but at least they're watchable characters.
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad).
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). It's considerably improved from the first season. Someone's paying enough attention to avoid the major plot holes and continuity errors. A few episodes are even good - but for every good episode, there are two bad ones.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.6/4 (Eh)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season One

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season One, 1993. Democratic imperialists and former terrorists work together on a space station in order to keep away fascist imperialists.

Created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller. Directed by Paul Lynch (5 episodes), David Carson (4), David Livingston (3), Winrich Kolbe (2), Les Landau (2), Corey Allen (1), Robert Legato (1), Cliff Bole (1) & James L. Conway (1). Written by Michael Piller (8 episodes), Ira Steven Behr (3), Robert Hewitt Wolfe (3), Peter Allan Fields (3), Rick Berman (2), Lisa Rich (2), Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci (2), Katharyn Powers (1), Gerald Sanford (1), Michael McGreevey (1), Naren Shankar (1), Sally Caves (1), Jill Sherman Donner (1), Hannah Louise Shearer (1), D.C. Fontana (1), Morgan Gendel (1), Frederick Rappaport (1), David Livingston (1), Sam Rolfe (1), Richard Danus (1), Evan Carlos Somers (1), Hilary J. Bader (1), Kurt Michael Bensmiller (1), Nell McCue Crawford (1), William L. Crawford (1), Don Carlos Dunaway (1), Jim Trombetta (1) & Joe Menosky (1). Starring Avery Brooks.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad). It takes the entire two-hour pilot just to explain the set-up, which is crap, but it doesn't matter much anyway since it's irrelevant for most of the show.
Story: 0/4 (Terrible)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad). O'Brien is the only main character who isn't a jackass.
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad). It's good, in-so-far as everything looks exactly like it should look. It's not the artists' fault that the writers asked for a world that's dull and vaguely unpleasant to look at.
Acting: 1/4 (Bad). Some truly awful acting. (Although, again, O'Brien is the exception to the rule.)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). At its best, it's just barely an okay show. Usually, it's crap. The stories are the biggest offender - poorly conceived, uninteresting, and filled with plot holes and continuity problems. The show has a pretty good reputation, though, so I'd like to hope that that area will be fixed in later seasons. But short of a complete retooling, it could never be as good as TNG, simply because none of these characters get along. DS9's whole concept is that it's about unpleasant people, forced to work together on a job they don't want to do, in a place they don't want to be. What's fun about watching that?
Objective Rating (Average): 1.3/4 (Bad)