5 Things Star Trek: Deep Space Nine got right

(Originally posted to RedshirtsAlwaysDie.com)

Among a good majority of Star Trek fans, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine holds a special place in our hearts.

When you look at the formula for Star Trek, it goes a little something like this:

Crew members on spaceship exploring the cosmos
Weekly conundrum involving either an alien species or some technological issue with the ship
Said conundrum is taken care of by the end of the episode
Lather, rinse, repeat for about 26 weeks

When Star Trek: Deep Space Nine came along, the established formula for an episode of Star Trek got thrown out the window. Being a space station, it resides in a singular place in space, so that first rule of “exploring the cosmos” has been killed immediately. In fact, for me, it was the fact that that first rule was nixed that made me not jump onboard the DS9 wagon at the start. It’s only through going back to watch the series years later, that I realized exactly what it was I had been missing!

So much happened in the seven-year run of this series that in looking back at its run, I think it did more to progress Star Trek than possibly almost any other series. That’s why today, I’m here to share what I think are some of the best things that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine did for Star Trek – in no specific order.

December 14, 2023 0

The best Star Trek trial episodes

(Originally posted to RedshirtsAlwaysDie.com)

One common practice of Star Trek over the years has been to take a pause from the weekly exploration of the cosmos to center on the exploration of ourselves, our own rules or laws.

They’ve done this traditionally by holding trials. Sometimes it’s because of something that has happened in the everyday operations onboard the starship; other times it has to do with a new occurrence of the week. Either way, something has happened which has created a conundrum which must be cleared up for our characters’ lives to move on, and in order do clear up said conundrum, we’re treated to a Star Trek trial episode!

I’m sure for some these aren’t always the favorite episodes because we’re largely confined to a courtroom or inquiry panel hearing setting, so there’s far less phaser fire or meeting new and interesting alien species and the like. But for others, like me…I’ve always loved these style episodes of Star Trek! They stray from the “norm”, tend to make you think and usually there is some truly great dialogue between the characters…which sometimes includes an epic speech from the Captain!

For each entry, I’ll include the Star Trek series, season and episode numbers, and I implore you to go check out the episodes. If you have Paramount+, these episodes are all included on the subscription service, because for as detailed as I’ll try my best here to be, I can only do the episode so much justice in print form. These episodes are all well worth a good viewing in your spare time!

August 25, 2023 0

Trekology: How Deep Space Nine Saved Worf

I am Worf, son of Mogh, house of Martok, son of Sergey, house of Rozhenko, bane to the Duras family, slayer of Gowron.
– Worf, 2401

For 7 seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation, 4 seasons on Deep Space Nine and 4 motion pictures on the big screen, Michael Dorn played Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Worf. Worf’s story between the various incarnations of Trek goes something like this: At the beginning of The Next Generation, Worf is a junior security officer onboard the Enterprise-D until Tasha Yar’s death, at which point, he is made Acting Security Chief, which he remains for the rest of that series.

Following the destruction of the Enterprise (NCC 1701-D) on Veridian III in Star Trek: Generations, Worf takes an extended leave of absence from Starfleet to contemplate his future. However, when General Martok arrives uninvited at Deep Space Nine with a fleet of Klingons to help guard the Alpha Quadrant from the Dominion, Captain Benjamin Sisko calls in some help from Starfleet to help deal with his new Klingon problem, because as he put it, “Curzon told me once that in the long run, the only people who can really handle Klingons are Klingons,” so they fulfill his request and send him Lieutenant Commander Worf to get to the bottom of things.

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June 18, 2023 0