#and the ds9 podcast with jake and nog before aron died

[synobun]

You seem like the kind of dude who'd listen to NPR.

This is a compliment.

The little preview box in my notifs made this look like it was going to be my first ever tumblr hate mail

I was kinda excited ngl

[peacehopeandrats]

Just wanted to say thank you for your recommendation of DS9- my son and I have been watching it and he LOVES it. It's given us something to talk about, and we really enjoy watching it together. We just started season 6. So I was wondering, what are your favorite episodes?

First off, let me WELCOME YOU TO THE DS9 FAMILY!!! You are in VERY good company.

And oh my god. There are just WAY too many favorites to count. What I'll do is give you a list of the ones that I often rewatched. This isn't all of them, I just called up the ones that most people agree with. There are way too many episodes of DS9 that have greatness in them. Even the WORST episodes of DS9 are better than most other shows at their best. The showrunners really loved this show and everyone who worked on it gave it their all. That shows. This truly is a show that stands the test of time.

By the way, if you are loving the show, I suggest you go to the 7th Rule podcast and give it a listen, especially if you decide to do a rewatch yourselves. Aron (Nog) and Cirroc (Jake) started that show years ago, before Aron died. Cirroc and Ryan continued it after he passed and Aron's wife Melissa (rhymes with Lisa) joins them for Aron's episodes. As true DS9 people do, they break down and evaluate the shows for their merits and are pure experts at it. I've always said there was something different about DS9 folks. They see things differently and do things differently because there is theater involved in almost all of their backgrounds. The podcast is an awesome companion piece to the show. They're only up to season 5, but they do a lot of other stuff and still have all of their Virtual Trek Cons up on their youtube, I believe.

Now, on to the episodes, with visuals! 

Duet - This is a no brainer. Probably one of the two best episodes of television ever filmed. Funnily enough, the other of the two best episodes of television ever filmed is also on this list!

In The Hands Of The Prophets, The Homecoming, The Circle, The Siege - This was the beginning of everything for television, wasn’t it? One of the first times when a show said fuck part one and part two, we’re going to make our characters GO on a damned journey. They AND their storylines are going to evolve through the whole damned series. When this set of shows aired I vividly remember turning to my parents and telling them. “Deep Space Nine is going to change everything. Every show is going to do this.”

The Wire - Andy Robinson at his best. Also, though DS9 had already committed to recurring supporting cast on TOP of seven amazing ensemble actors, it was around this time when you realized that the supporting characters were basically MAIN characters. Television blown up again and rerouted to a new era.

Crossover - Of all the shows to go back to one of my favorite episodes of the original Star Trek, it would be DS9. And they didn’t just steal an idea and rewrite it the way other shows did. What they did with Crossover was genius. The fact that they continued it on and returned to the alternate universe again and again just says what DS9 was. The fact that they created The Emperor’s New Cloak pisses me off, though. For that one thing I will never forgive them.

Blood Oath - Yet again DS9 takes iconic characters who were meant to be one shots and says “No, you deserve more!” This is one of the best Klingon episodes of all time. Anyone who doesn’t understand why needs to look into who Kor, Kang and Koloth are. That’s right, DS9 asked these actors to reprise their rolls from the 1960′s Star Trek and then gave them MEAT to chomp down on, not just a few leafy greens.

Second Skin - I’m biased with this one. I know behind the scenes how much time and effort this took to film for some of these folks. But then, you put amazing actors into an episode like this and struggle isn’t a part of the story except where it needs to be.

Through The Looking Glass - Yep, back to the alternate universe again. I love this one because they went back to it. Think about it, if DS9 hadn’t set this precedent, where would Discovery be now, huh?

Doctor Bashir, I Presume - Gotta have some fun ones, right? Another Andy and Sid episode. Really anything these two did together should be on this list.

Far Beyond The Stars - You do NOT have to understand Star Trek or science fiction to watch this episode. AND EVERYONE ALIVE ON THIS PLANET NEEDS TO SEE THIS ONE. Deep Space Nine was so ahead of itself and yet right in the times that it hit racial issues, homeless issues, all sorts of stuff before it was happening, while it was happening, and still hits it today. You remember when I said there were two of the best episodes of television ever filmed on this list? THIS EPISODE is all there is in the world. Really. If you never watch any other episodes of Star Trek, watch THIS ONE.

Take Me Out To The Holosuite - See the “background characters”? Yeah, I don’t either because this baseball team is made of of main characters at this point. I swear I have never seen a show with such talent for increasing their ensemble to like 20 people and letting it keep going. Oh, and I love this one for the fun of it too.

Only a Paper Moon - Notice how they took a character who was basically a background guy and then made him have the biggest story arc of the entire series? Yeah. I noticed that too. So did a shit ton of other people. Some of Aron’s best work is in this one, along with some damned fine writing that is the backbone for this entire series. Spotlight on this show forever, please.

Badda Bing, Badda Bang - Another fun one and I like it because it IS fun. This is real fun in a real way. Totally a classic old spy thing with a DS9 twist. Also, here is yet another glimpse into how they’d added every minor character as a major one by the end of the series. Two of these folks aren’t main characters, one is a main character for only the final season, and they’re all going to rescue another “secondary” character who’s been in these episodes for YEARS now.

What You Leave Behind - This one is personal. I had to watch my friends leave the family they’d had for seven years and find other things to do in their careers. It hurt. I cried, they cried. But you know what? We are more of a family now because of this show. Wouldn’t have it any other way.