That’s also the year TNG went from niche show to being generally popular, when all my non-nerd friends and acquaintances started watching. It’s the first year of “modern trek” and established the mold that all the other shows would follow.

At first I really disliked Data (what is he a mime?) but he eventually won me over and was my favorite character; he was great. Worf was my other favorite, actually – I loved his deep voice and stoic little one liners. He was very funny.

He was perfect for DS9 and a great addition to the cast. The earliest internet rumors about DS9 said that O’Brien, Ro, and Worf would be joining the new cast. Ro ended up leaving altogether instead, and Worf didn’t end up moving. Which was probably good for TNG. So when Worf finally ended up on DS9, my reaction was “finally” – it just seemed right.

He had better material on DS9 than on TNG anyhow; some of the “Troi and Alexander” melodrama in those last few seasons was pretty lame.

Also, yeah, first three seasons of TNG, despite individual episodes, were just cringe-worthy. The only three main actors I ever liked in that series were Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, and Diana Muldaur. I was never impressed with the rest (though they did improve along with the show’s overall scripting), even Michael Dorn, who could do Worf okay, but otherwise just seemed completely silly in his delivery and expressions. (This includes DS9, though by then he was very polished at playing Worf. I still remember him from the 1940′s episode though *cringe*.) Good thing Woof was so stoic!

But for that first season or so, the acting of the main cast was something you had to kind of get past to like the show. The guest acting on DS9 was another story altogether. The “extended cast” (including people like Dukat, Garak, and other frequently recurring guest stars) were better than the main cast on any other trek before or since. I don’t know how they managed to find such amazing talent.

Brooks seemed to take the longest to warm to his role. I thought he was “wooden” and odd for the first few seasons, even though eventually Sisko became one of my favorite Trek captains.

Visitor is one of the few cast members I liked instantly. I’m *quite* aware most people didn’t. I watched it in a large group college dorm setting, and she was by far the most disliked character that first season (too “bitchy”). I guess that’s kind of what I liked about her, she was a good actress but a genuinely unlikeable character. That was something pretty new for Star Trek. And then she (and the writers) MADE you like her and made you understand her.

I don’t always see eye to eye with Michelle (WAY too much feminism) but I get why she likes Kira so much because I like her too, for a lot of the same reasons. I think its why I’m really enjoying her DS9 reviews. We both love the show, and for a lot of similar reasons.

It isn’t just DS9. I always thought the acting was uneven on TNG as well, particularly at first. Stewart was FANTASTIC and I think that is a big part of what made the show work, especially on season 1, where the rest of the cast bordered on cheese most of the time. I love TNG almost as much as I love DS9, but I can admit the acting was at times cringe-worthy, especially Wesley and Geordi.

The show with the best cast, in my opinion, was Voyager. I really liked it, particularly that first season or so. I think that’s why I am often so down on the show overall. So much wasted potential, crushed by mediocrity in the writing room. I’m rewatching it now, I’m currently on season 6. It’s better than I remembered, but still quite flawed. The likeability of the characters and cast is, in my opinion, what kept it watchable and made it work, all things considered. Despite the drivel they were often given to work with.

BL is a little different. Sure the characters are flawed; but Kelley was too smart not to sell them to the audience. Character-based humour – not gags & pratfalls – was a big part of that process, as it later became on DS9. Frankly, i wish that he’d been given the ST reboot, rather than the current talentless troika

I was pleased that it was such a distinct departure from TNG and TOS… perhaps they were trying too hard to create a different brand with the show, and I can see how that would alienate long-time Trek fans, who wanted something closer to the original premise.

Part of the problem is something that as become a (possibly) unintended cliche in modern film & TV: DS9 is a show which isn’t particularly interested in making the main characters likable. The writers – & one assumes the actors, too – seem to assume that audiences will sympathise with them because of their individual situations; but apart from with the Ferengi (a choice which borders on the bizaare in this context), there’s oddly little effort put into making them attractive in any conventional way. The faults of Sisko, Kira, etc, are brought further into the foreground than would ever have been allowed on TNG (or Voyager, for that matter); & the traditional honours are destressed

It was a fresh approach back then & – if you got with the programme – worked wonderfully with this hard-edged, basically unglamorous cast; but it does rather make a rod for the show’s back. If the audience doesn’t care, they won’t watch

Alphas mark II, please note….

(Mind you, it didn’t help that the most conventionally sexy actors in the cast – Siddig & Terry – appeared to playing the other’s character during the first season of DS9. By Necessary Evil, of course, the writers had changed Julian & Jadxia to fit the actors rather better…)

Thanks, Michelle. I really think you hit all the crucial notes of this episode with the analysis. I remember seeing this the first time and re-evaluating Kira once more. She is easily the character with the best series arc.