Coddy made a statement in a Voyager thread that americans love war shows. My question is, would DS9 have been better with or without the war story line.
I admit I liked the story for the most part. Weyone was one of my favorite chacters on the series. Anyone that may have some facts on this please post them. Did the ratings go up after the war stories started? Tell me what you think.
I usually don't watch war stories or war based series, Mash being the biggest exception. The complaint I have with DS9 was starting the war story line, and then ignoring it in so many episodes, and in the movies.
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Posted by Jedi Weyoun (Member # 110) on :
Personally, the reason I liked DS9 so much, was beause of the way the story arc was done. Throughout the whole series, there was ONE underlying plot--war with the Dominion. Not, well, today we're at war with the Dominion, tomorrow we'll be out saving the butts of other galactic aliens. The theme remained the same, and while every show was different, and some completely got off the focus of the war, it provided structure to the show, so that rather than lots of completely different episodes beign it's strength, as in TOS, TNG, and Voyager, DS9 was able to focus on the character's lives more. In the beginning we see, for instance, Odo and Kira. WHO would have thought how those two would end up, huh? Characterization was the greatest strenght of Deep Space Nine, and while each episode was still different, because everyone who followed the show knew about the Dominion War, it wasn't necessary every time to recap what was going on, as they always have had to do on the other shows with captain's logs or what not if we need to know some background information. Everyone knew that there was a war going on, and it made it possible to take a series someplace new in developing characters with whom we could sympathize and watch grow.
------------------ "Fear attracts the fearful" ([[[[[[*]}�������������������������
Posted by Elim Garak (Member # 14) on :
With the exception of "The Changing Face of Evil" and "In the Pale Moonlight", all my favourite episodes really took place before the Dominion War or had nothing to do with it.
Ratings went down after the war started, not immediately, but within a few months.
Well, while I rpefer Voyager, I absolutely adored the state of tension in Season Five of DS9. That's where it was at its best for me.
------------------ Elim Garak: "Oh, it's just Garak. Plain, simple Garak. Now, good day to you, Doctor. I'm so glad to have made such an... interesting new friend today." (DS9: "Past Prologue")
Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :
I didn't vote for any of the wars episodes in Star Trek.com's poll, but I see Jedi W point as well. The overall arc was the thing I liked best about Bablon-5, the arc lasted 4 years.
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Posted by Chimaera on :
I think the Dominion war was a good idea, because it opened up some opportunities for stories that otherwise can't be told, or can't be told as dramatically, during peacetime. The introduction of a darker side to the Federation, through Section 31 and Sisko's own determination to bring the Romulans into the war in Pale Moonlight, was an excellent addition to Trek in my opinion.
Granted, this doesn't fit well with Gene Rodenberry's original vision of Trek, which was very utopian. There's nothing wrong with that, but I don't think there's anything wrong with expanding that original vision to look at how people who grow up and live in this utopian society deal with adversities such as war or such things as Section 31.
------------------ "But, it was so artistically done." -Grand Admiral Thrawn
Posted by Jedi Weyoun (Member # 110) on :
Oh...I didn't realize that the war only lasted for four years. *L* that's about as long as i've been watching it, so that was ds9 to me. i never saw anything else *L*
------------------ "Fear attracts the fearful" ([[[[[[*]}�������������������������
Posted by Aethelwer (Member # 36) on :
Actually, I think he was referring to the arc on B5. The Dominion was around since season 2 (more or less), but the war didn't actually start until the end of season 5.
------------------ http://frankg.dgne.com/ "If you feel that there is some intelligent reason why the immortality and happiness of 600 people should outweigh doubled life-spans and freedom from disease for billions, feel free to let me know. Surely, if they were one-tenth as moral and caring as they claimed to be, they would have shared their incredible discovery." - Mike Wong
Posted by Elim Garak (Member # 14) on :
"The Jem'Hadar" battle... nice...
------------------ Elim Garak: "Oh, it's just Garak. Plain, simple Garak. Now, good day to you, Doctor. I'm so glad to have made such an... interesting new friend today." (DS9: "Past Prologue")
Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :
Yes
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Posted by grb on :
I think that the dominion conflict was very important to the sucess of DS9. It brought alot of intersting stories to the show, like section 31, conflict with the klingons, kira having to help cardassia, stuff like that. I don't know if it really had to reach the full scale war of seasons 6 and 7 though. I think the conflict would have been just as interesting if it was a cold war kinda thing, or if we saw the dominion trying more to take over the quadrant through infiltration than through military action.
------------------ "Can I have a hug?" -Dr. Evil
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
Lots of cool battle scenes involving different Federation ships was cool. In fact, the battle scenes were among my favorite elements of DS9. I also think that the Dominion War really worked well for the series. We all knew the Federation was going to win, but it was still dramatic and fun to watch. The war is what will distinguish DS9 apart from the other Trek series for a long time. It was also interesting how the crews attitude changed and evolved over the past 7 years.