this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2023
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I think many of us feel that DS9 is one of those shows where each season is an improvement on the one before it. So it starts out pretty mundane at best with some terrible episodes, but by the final season it's pretty incredible.
My issue with the show extends throughout all seasons, unfortunately. There's a few reasons as to why I am not interested but they're all personal opinion. No serious complaints about the shows quality overall.
I'll take DS9's first two seasons over TNG's first two any time. Yes, even Move Along Home. TNG also peaked around season 5, and was somewhat more mixed after that (but never going quite so low, either).
I'm more forgiving of TNG because it was breaking new ground. DS9 had years of TNG to build itself on. It should have come swinging right out of the gate. There are fewer bad DS9 episodes overall than bad TNG episodes in my opinion, but I will forgive TNG for being rocky at the start, especially when control was continually being wrestled between Roddenberry, Hurley and Berman.
Also, I think there are a lot of excellent season 2 episodes for TNG and I think Pulaski is a highly underrated character. One of the few who develops as the season progresses and doesn't regress. She slowly begins to admire Data and eventually accepts him as a fellow crewmember and not just a robot. You also had classic episodes like Elementary, Dear Data.
I agree on Pulaski. She could have been a great character if she had more than one season.
I don't think there's a truly great episode in TNG's first two seasons, though. They range from "utter garbage" to "fine" . Season three is massive improvement. Watching it back to back, it's almost jarring how much better it gets. Barely seems like the same show.
DS9 ranges from "I'll watch it, I guess" to "holy shit this is amazing". Kai Winn is a fantastic villain straight away, and would be the most talked about villain in any other show. The only reason she isn't is because there are so many great villains in DS9 that she gets lost.