The problem with DS9 is that the writers were still given enough rope to write one-off episodes that ignored central themes or plots. Which, granted, B5 still

The problem with DS9 is that the writers were still given enough rope to write one-off episodes that ignored central themes or plots. Which, granted, B5 still has as well, but far fewer. It's indicative that later seasons of DS9 (93-99) were structured a lot more like B5 (94-98) than TNG.