Editing Star Trek (section)

==''Deep Space Nine''==
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[[File:Deep Space 9.jpg|thumb|500px|right|''"A Star Trek show where they stay put? It'll never work."'' Boy did they get that wrong.]]
Unlike all the other series so far, ''Deep Space Nine'' primarily takes place in a fixed location - the titular space station Deep Space Nine, out near the borders of Federation Space. Said space station is near Bajor, which was recently freed from Cardassian occupation, and a wormhole to the other side of the galaxy which allows [[Warp|all sorts of of crazy shit to go down]]. If the other shows are a wagon train, this one's the border fort.

Benjamin "The" Sisko is the captain, declared Emissary by the nearby Bajorans for making contact with the wormhole aliens they worship, and he successfully hybridizes the blow-the-shit-out-of-whatever-you-can't-punch Kirk approach with the talk-in-a-very-dignified-way-about-the-philosophy-of-the-thing-and-win-by-rhetoric Picard maneuver, in his ultimately-successful quest to become the baddest motherfucker in space, then literally becomes a space god. Kira the Bajoran ex-<s>terrorist</s> <S>''noble freedom fighter''</s> (who are we kidding she calls herself a terrorist) struggles to free and rebuild her people while coming to terms with the moral ambiguities of situations she prefers to see in black-and-white, Dr. Bashir works to find his character for several seasons before becoming a highlight, Dax gets often written poorly and has to switch bodies doing it, Odo IS ''Liquid Space Cop'', Quark runs his bar and [[troll|heckles]] the Federation from the sidelines, Garak pretends to be a tailor while definitely not being a super-spy, hitting on Bashir, and dropping killer lines, and Miles O'Brien [[gets shit done]] despite being physically, mentally, and/or emotionally tortured in at least one episode a season (referred to by the writers as the "O'Brien Must Suffer" episodes). Also Worf wanders in halfway through, and actually gets to punch things instead of getting punched by them, up to and including offing the Klingon chancellor in an honor duel. It's also a lot more political than other series (though ''TNG'' and ''Voyager'' have their moments) and the last series to have Gene Roddenberry's involvement (with less enthusiasm, in fact often much to the benefit of this particular series thematically.)

It's the closest the pre-Kelvin series ever get to [[grimdark]]. Especially when the Dominion show up. The show has aged remarkably well and the terrorist/freedom fighter debate was repeatedly explored in a very mature and honest way; the darkest episodes ventured into duping the Romulans into a war by assassinating a senator, and forcing a Klingon regime change [[rip and tear|''the Klingon way'']]. ''DS9'' is the most serialized of all Trek shows and could be considered a forerunner to the golden age of television with its long story arcs and deep character development. It's also notable for singlehandedly salvaging the Ferengi after the mess Gene made of them in the early seasons of TNG and bringing back the mirror universe after nearly thirty years with an ongoing plot showing the consequences of Kirk's meddling. Overall, ''DS9'' has to be considered the most consistently good Trek show thanks to the excellent writing and fantastic performances from a truly wonderful ensemble cast. At least until the final season . . .

Which brings us to DS9 Skub. The show was airing around the same time as another thematically similar sci-fi show, ''[[Babylon 5]]''. Not only that but characters also shared similarities, as did the episodes especially as both shows became war stories later on. Interestingly, beginning of both series, introduction of characters and airing of similar episodes were often too close to each other for one show to copy the other but this did not stop massive [[Rage]] and [[/v/|fanboy wars]] from starting between fans of the two series accusing one another of plagiarism and having an inferior product. Happily, as time went on and both shows evolved, these hurt feelings have mostly faded.

There's also that last season. The earlier (good) writers had got pulled to try to make movies, which they'd failed at. The new writers also had to bring in a new Dax due to showrunner Rick Berman constantly being a sexist asshole to actress Terry Farrell. This new Dax, Ezri, was very different from Jadzia, and she only got that one season to make her mark, which season she had to share with the Great Epic Conclusion (it's a miracle Ezri was as well received as she was, and a testament to Nicole de Boer's talent). Those finale episodes were mostly okay and tied up the story semi-satisfyingly, though a few die-hard subplots fell flat.

How good is ''Deep Space Nine''? Every subsequent Star Trek series and even the reboot movies have pretty much ripped off ideas and concepts established during the series. Famously, within the "Trekker/Trekkie" fan community, there's a little cell of fans who like it better than most other ''Star Trek''; these fans are typically called "Niners."
* '''Outstanding Episodes''': "Duet" and "Waltz" (excellent character work elevates low-budget episodes), "Trials and Tribble-ations" (30th anniversary comedy episode that sends the DS9 crew back to the TOS era to stop a rogue Klingon assassinating Kirk), "In the Pale Moonlight" ("how far would you push your principles to save the world?" done very well), "It's Only a Paper Moon" (Nog has PTSD after losing a leg in battle), "The Circle" (the only Star Trek trilogy episode and as close as DS9 will ever get to a movie), "Valiant" (A Defiant full of asshole cadets gets blasted into smithereens for their own hubris), "Empok Nor" (Garak goes feral and brutalizes a lot of people).
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