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The standard complaint about DS9 is its merely a ripoff of Babylon 5. I have not been able to stomach watching B5; if I ever have a couple hundred hours of spa
by VLM 9y ago
The standard complaint about DS9 is its merely a ripoff of Babylon 5. I have not been able to stomach watching B5; if I ever have a couple hundred hours of spare time I'll attempt it, until then I'll have to trust other's opinion. Something not often mentioned is the sheer expense of these series; hundreds of hours of limited spare time have to be invested to experience it all. I watched all of DS9 when it was new and then decades later just a couple years ago; it was pleasant but compared to the alternatives I'm not sure it was a wise use of my time. I tried B5 but after a dozen or so hours invested I had barely scratched the surface yet was bored. These series are just painfully expensive. For a non-sci fi comparison try "The Sopranos" where if you're not addicted its very hard to get addicted and the time investment is insane like hundreds of hours required.
Garak is the most interesting character in all of Trek. The linked story was very human focused, but if you get past the species-ism then Garak is clearly the most interesting character in all of Trek. He certainly has the most unique and interesting lines of dialogue.
There are strange human sociology messages in DS9 that are kinda unrealistic. In DS9 land, individuals are extremely newness-seeking and would never interact with someone of their own kind if there's any possibility of interacting with a stranger, and the stranger the better; this political requirement has no relationship with reality of course, and as such the series suffers under a pallor of weirdness. Friendship and family and culture feel at best bolted on, or at worst are outright ridiculous.
There is some relationship between DS9 and Ian Banks Culture-verse, echos of one in the other. Both are kind of a window into a future that does not contain social media and the problems resulting from social media, which is kinda weird, like experiencing a science fiction novel from just before the broadcast era that naturally does not explore the numerous effects of broadcasting. Off the top of my head I can't think of any hard sci fi that is set substantially in the future yet contains aspects of social media from a decade ago, although someone here probably has some good suggestions.
- angersock 9y agoIf you only watched the first season of B5, your frustration and disinterest is understandable. That said, try checking out one of the suggested episodes guides and seeing if that helps. (For anybody interested in the sheer depth of the show, consult the Lurker's Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/eplist.html http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/eplist.html )
- specialist 9y agoGarak's rootbeer scene with Quark remains my personal favorite.
- drewrv 9y agoI love Garak's interpretation of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. "Never tell the same lie twice"
- VLM 9y agoI would correct the linked article to add "our man bashir" S4E9 to be watched at the end of the series, its basically an hour of in-jokes about Garak's secret life. Garak's blood type was "snarky" and that character might be a bit too much for some viewers. Its unusual on TV to have extreme levels of snark that doesn't divert into mere whinyness or fart jokes. I guess that was acceptable at the time of writing because Garak is a space alien. "Tragedy is not the word I'd use. Farce would be more appropriate." in the context of the theatrical version of the assassination of Julius Caesar. Or the time Garak made fun of aesops fables for being too violent (same episode as last) "Treason, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder." WRT the linked article comment about Miles and his incredible tearing pants gag thru the series "Unlucky for you, my sewing kit went down with the ship." was seemingly inevitable...
- fatjokes 9y ago+1 to Garak. The man who could do all those things that Sisko knew he couldn't.
- tynpeddler 9y agoSkip the first season of B5. I love the show to death but I've never watched the entire first season. That being said, when you get to season 3, episode 16 (war without end), go back and watch season 1 episode 20 (Babylon squared). It's actually a 3 part series split between season 1 and season 3.
- krapp 9y agoAlso skip Crusade. It died quickly, and it deserved to.
- oceanghost 9y agoDS9 is exceeded only by "The Wire" but The Wire is not Sci-Fi, but it is by far the most complex television show ever made. I'm afraid to say it eclipses The Sopranos. Someday-- when we have Blu-rays of DS9, I have a dream of re-editing them into a miniseries that hits the high parts of the show and leaves a lot of the cruft out.