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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 1

Episode 1: Emissary

Sisko starts as a calm, collected and determined captain. Quite thoughtful when he hears Locutus' message. Barely know him for three minutes and his breakdown at the death of Jennifer still moves me. Gives one hell of a dark look to the cube. Sweet with his boy and quite stoic it seems. Doesn't care for long winded explanations. Perplexed by the old man. Quite a friendly and cheerful sort, though it seems to be an act. More than a bit taken with Kira. Quite wise with his understanding of Ferengi matters. Confronts Picard with pain and venom. The intimidating way he whispers every line at him was when I knew Brooks would be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Shatner and Stewart. Has a defeatist view of his job, but gets invigorated each time hes with Kira. Puts on a lot of fake, cheesy smiles when telling Quark his plan. Pretty decent flirt, too, even if prior knowledge makes things a bit difficult. Has great fun teasing Dax. Dismissely cool with Dukat. Very excited by the wormhole. Remembers his diplomatic training. Fan of baseball, which is tolerable. Heals a little bit from his experience and ends still hurt, but refreshed.

Odo is a very strict man and won't let rank get in the way of enforcing rules. Has a lot of animosity with Quark and takes great glee in anything thats remotely negative to him. Pretty much likes Sisko purely because he's got a partner in making the Ferengi's life a misery. Gets up to some sabotage. Bit jilted to not be involved, but finally has a chance for some answers. Quite cynical. Cares about people, though.

Bashir is a bit of a nervous man, but still braver than most blokes at asking women out. Ultimate excitable idealist with a hero complex and an occasional lack of thought. Very happy once the wormhole shows up. Able to take charge in medical matters.

Dax is a bit of a dirty old woman, isn't she? It's lovely how familiar she is with Sisko. Has a nostalgic smile when the tear shows her the bonding with her symbiote. Smoothly navigates past Sisko's attitude problems. Has some biting sarcasm when she needs it.

Jake is already nowhere near as bad as Wesley, but his whiny complaints, even if they are valid, aren't endearing him much.

O'Brien is still remarkably polite and patient for how overworked he is. Doesn't much appreciate the absolute shithole he's been left. Hesitant to talk to Picard, but manages to express gratitude without really saying much. Can get aggressive when he needs to be and has quite a temper when technology doesn't work. Exasperated with impossible orders. Has some authority to him.

Quark is a little disappointed in his nephew and tries to be cloyingly diplomatic and charming. The model for the less caricatured Ferengi. A pretty wise, astute and politically savvy man. Has the same defeatist mood as everyone. Politely accusatory when Sisko heads to the bar. Lecherous bugger.

Kira is a shouty, feisty sort and has little patience for basically everything. Nursing one hell of a wound from her freedom fighter days. Not impressed much with Sisko, but quite shocked and almost hopeful when the old man comes to collect him. Does not take Bashir's lack of tact well. Bashing the mug to call for attention is quite a power move. Overjoyed to see Cardassians having problems. Admires forcefulness in others. Bit too used to functional technology, but has a lot of guile.

Picard starts pleasent, but gets reminded of his old wounds when Sisko keeps being angry at him. One of the few optimists out of this bunch. Has great respect for O'Brien and mourns him immediately after he disembarks. Parts amicably.

Opaka is a decent spiritual leader.

Dukat isn't quite as polite as most Cardassians, but he's still civil. Has a grudge over losing his old job. Gives some perfectly pleasant threats. Sees through the heroes' bullshit effortlessly.

Starting with a stark text scroll. A pretty fantastic battle scene that allows us to actually appreciate a lot of the death and destruction that TNG kind of had to gloss over. Some remarkable shots, including the shaky cam during the evacuation, to show that Sisko is barely able to focus on anything, the reflection of the destruction imposed on Sisko's head, emphasising that this is going to hit him for a while and showing many VFX shots through windows and sharing space with the actors, which is beautiful in its own right. Really is a dark dilapidated dungeon, isn't it? Intelligent move for O'Brien to be the first character Sisko meets. Give the audience a bit of familiarity. Teasing a meeting with Picard has a similar effect, but without letting Stewart dominate the new cast. Keeping their meeting terse at best shows a lot of respect for the audience. No character shilling here. Bajor is a beautiful world. The beach scene is proper fun. Quark runs a fun bar. During the sabotage plan, the camera makes sure to focus on various important elements, like the duffel bag, just so we don't miss what's going on. The wormhole is as sudden as it is beautiful and the temple lends itself to some great imagery. Definitely had a fair bit of cash for this pilot. Ends much brighter (literally) than it started.

Like all pilots, it has to juggle introducing characters, writing out the lore and mythos of this little segment of the universe, having a decent adventure in its own right and set up the themes. And beyond the obvious political and religious implications (though they're already doing something interesting with religion), it's very clear that DS9 is a refuge for the hurt, the lost and the weird. Sisko's pain is obvious enough, but everyone else is either wounded, searching for something or simply doesn't traditionally belong. Many of them snipe at each other and would probably rather be anywhere else, but they are all going to gain something vital from being here.

The way the temple works is interesting. Rather than a divine experience leading to healing, Sisko's pain and inability to move past it pollutes the divine. They initially regard him as a threat and part of the reason they cant grasp linear time is because hes too traumatised to comprehend it himself. He keeps returning the gods to his worst memory, which seems a lot like the myopia a fair few religious people treat their own faith with: vengeful, angry, bitter people will insist that theirs is a vengeful god and will endlessly be trapped in the source of their vitriol, without enough self awareness to recognise that God or whatever they believe in has just become a proxy for how a few hang ups have negatively dominated every moment of their lives. Even positive memories are returned to this internal hell. Sisko having self awareness, admitting to his pain and the incapability of him knowing how to get past it is paradoxically the first step towards getting through it and by doing so, he feels compelled and inspired to build up a shitty little outpost into a place deserving of all the attention it's about to receive.

I was considerably more fond of Encounter at Farpoint than most, but even with that, I'd say this is the best pilot in the franchise so far.

Next, we'll see A Man Alone