Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"If the Dominion comes through the Wormhole, the first battle will be fought here. [[You Shall Not Pass|And I intend to be ready for them]]."'' |'''Commander Benjamin Sisko'''}}

 

 

 

The storylines were split among several different areas: the first explored was the rebuilding of Bajoran civilization and the Bajorans' worship of the non-corporeal beings that resided in (and had built) the wormhole, known as the Prophets. Other major [[Story Arc|Story Arcs]] included the never stable relationship with the Cardassians and the dramatic discovery of The Dominion, a powerful counterpart to [[The Federation]] found on the other side of the wormhole. Both allies and enemies of the Federation had to deal with the impact of the Dominion War, which covered the last two seasons.

 

 

Another key difference for ''Deep Space Nine'' was the unprecedented number - and depth - of the supporting characters. While all [[Star Trek]] series have large casts, ''[[Deep Space Nine]]'' is the only one that qualifies for [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]. It was also the only show to have a number of [[Fake Guest Star|Fake Guest Stars]], many of whom deserved a slot in the main titles. Supporting characters like Rom and Garak got more [[Character Development]] and background than many main characters on other [[Star Trek]] series; this was possible largely due to the use of [[Story Arc|Story Arcs]], which were enabled, again, by Deep Space Nine being a fixed location.

For the first three seasons, the show focused on the aftermath of the occupation and the issues this dealt with, as well as throwing up look-what's-come-through-the-wormhole episodes. The show got a [[Darker and Edgier]] retool after season 4, with the addition of Worf to the regular cast and a [[Story Arc]] about the Dominion threat (which had started in season 2-3, and wouldn't become dominant until season 5). Part of this is due to the fact that the producers became more and more comfortable altering [[Gene Roddenberry]]'s positive, optimistic future.

 

 

 

The show currently runs in British and Japanese TV and all seven seasons are available on DVD. It used to run in Syndication on Spike TV in the United States, but due to low ratings has not been seen in repeats in the United States for over a year. As of October 2011 the complete series is available on Netflix streaming in the United States.

 

 

 

See also the [[Star Trek Deep Space Nine Relaunch]], a series of novels continuing the show's story arcs past the finale.

* [[Absence of Evidence]]: In the [[Deep Space Nine]] episode ''The Nagus'', one of the things that tips Odo off that Zek is not dead is the absence of Mairhar'du at his funeral.

* [[Acting for Two]]: Kira and Miles & their [[Mirror Universe]] counterparts. Also [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCmQg6VkQ4A Bashir] in "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?"

** When Kira is giving birth to the O'Brian's baby she yells "This is all your fault!" at Dr. Bashir. Nana Visitor was [[Real Life Writes the Plot|really pregnant]] with Alexander Siddig's child.

{{quote| '''Rom:''' It's not Quark's fault that I got sick. I forgot to get my bimonthly ear scan. And besides, I've probably been getting too much oo-mox.<br />

'''Leeta:''' Really? Who's the lucky female?<br />

* [[Companion Cube]]: Dr. Bashir's teddy bear, Kukalaka.

* [[Completely Missing the Point]]: Jake's sincere disbelief that Weyoun is not sending any reports to the Federation that paint the Dominion in an unfavourable light. [[Sarcasm Mode|Since when did totalitarian evil empires start denying the freedom of the press?]]

* [[Continuity Nod]]: Perhaps the funniest example of this trope happens in "Accession", a nod to the fact that in ''TNG'', Worf helped Keiko O'Brien deliver Molly.

{{quote| '''Quark:''' Did you hear? Keiko's gonna have another baby.<br />

<!-- %% See Awesome/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine, Funny/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine and Heartwarming/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine for various Crowning Moments of Stuff. -->

* [[Crystal Spires and Togas]]: The Bajorans prefer their buildings low-rise, but modern Bajor otherwise fits quite nicely.

** The Second Battle of Chin'Toka resulted in the loss of an entire allied fleet--save one lucky Klingon Bird-of-Prey. Dominion losses amounted to four or five destroyed Breen warships.

* [[Custom Uniform]]: O'Brien's uniform has shorter sleeves. At the rate that DS9 is falling into disrepair, can you blame him?

** However it's only a partial example, as the Prophets' help doesn't come out of nowhere. Their powers, presence and attitude were already long established.

** {{spoiler|And then, [[Star Trek Online|later on]], the Prophets put them back.}}

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|Did You Just Punch Out Q]]: Commander Sisko, when Q tried playing a prank of a boxing match.

{{quote| '''Q:''' "You ''hit'' me! ''Picard'' never hit me!"<br />

* [[Doesn't Like Guns]]: Odo states this preference in "Captive Pursuit" and his [[Mirror Universe]] counterpart apparently did not agree with concerning this. However, Odo would at the very least wield phasers in later episodes such as "Second Skin" and "Heart of Stone."

* [[Dogged Nice Guy]]: Bashir's pursuit of Jadzia Dax. Ezri later tells him that if Worf hadn't come along, [[Romantic Runner-Up|Jadzia would've chosen Bashir.]]

{{quote| '''Quark:''' Where I'm going, you can't follow. What I have to do, I have to do alone. ''One man...'' who's had enough... who's going to stand up and say...<br />

'''Jadzia Dax:''' ''Goodbye, Quark!'' }}

* [[Dream Melody]]: "Equilibrium".

* [[Drowning My Sorrows]]: Damar (He gets better).

** An oblique reference was made to this on B5. In one episode, a gift shop is set up on the station. One of the characters loudly declaims this idea, saying "This isn't some Deep Space Franchise! This means something!" It should be noted that the writer of this episode, [[Peter David]], has written several [[Star Trek]] novels.

** The [[DS 9]] writers weren't above including their own subtle jabs at B5. One episode featured Bashir having to chaperone a cadre of Ambassadors visiting the station and putting up with all the crap that comes with it.

* [[Gambit Pileup]]: The Dominion War.

** Or even just the double episode {{spoiler|Improbable Cause}}/{{spoiler|The Die is Cast}}, which shows itself to be a double episode only at the end of the first part.

* [[Genius Ditz]]: Rom.

* [[Genre Savvy]]: The Cardassian-Klingon Alliance. After the first crossover ultimately led to [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|the collapse of the Terran Empire]], the Alliance went to a lot of trouble to prevent further crossover, such as redesigning transporters to prevent any more crossovers and issuing orders to kill anyone from the main universe on sight, on the grounds that [[For Want of a Nail|just a couple people from the other side could seriously alter the course of their history again]]. As it turns out, they were completely right. When a second crossover finally happens, it triggers a full-scale rebellion.

* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: Example from "The Begotten" Doctor Bashir to Odo: "You need to relax, I told you that last week." Odo: "And it helped, that and the prune juice."

* [[Gilligan Cut]]: Kira is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAgteTblRBQ always diplomatic.]

*** YMMV, one of his examples is that they never had anything like slavery. But ALL Ferengi females are considered property and forbidden to own anything or earn profit. At least until Quark's feminist mother turns out to be the most brilliant business mind of her generation.

* [[Holodeck Malfunction]]: "Our Man Bashir", sort of. Actually, it was more an example of something going wrong with the ''transporter,'' and the holodeck worked to keep the physical patterns of the crewmembers intact. (On the other hand, the holodeck's safety routines ''did'' malfunction, so...)

{{quote| '''Worf:''' We were like warriors from the ancient sagas. There was nothing we couldn't do.<br />

'''O'Brien:''' Except keep the holodecks working right. }}

* [[How Many All of Them]]: A particularly chilling example.

* [[How the Mighty Have Fallen]]: This is the general attitude other Cardassians inside the Union have for Garak. Gul Toran even says this line verbatim in "Profit and Loss".

* [[Humanity Ensues]]: Odo, for the first half of the fifth season.

* [[Humans Are Warriors]]: The humans are some of the most brutal fighters in the Dominion war, especially seen in "The Siege of AR-558", where Quark points it out bluntly to his nephew.

* [[I Don't Pay You to Think]]: In the episode "Bar Association," Quark tells Leeta "I don't pay you to think. I pay you to spin the Dabo wheel."

* [[I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship]]: Shakaar worrying to Odo about starting a relationship with Kira. Later, Odo and Kira. Even later, Bashir and Ezri Dax, {{spoiler|for about a day, until they start making out in a turbolift.}}

{{quote| '''Garak''': I am serious. I don't think she likes me.<br />

'''Odo''': She doesn't. But if she wanted you dead, you ''would'' be.<br />

* [[In the Back]]: As Garak points out, it's the safest way to shoot someone

* [[Intrepid Reporter]]: Jake, who stays behind after the Dominion takeover of the station.

* [[The Judge]]: Els Renora in "Dax", and Makbar in "Tribunal".

* [[Kill the Poor]]: In a [[Time Travel]] episode where Sisko, Bashir, and Dax accidentally travel back to Earth [[Twenty Minutes in The Future|Twenty Minutes into Our Future]]. Sisko and Bashir are assumed to be homeless by the police who find them and they are sent to an interment camp for the indigent. The government of the time claims that it's a progressive measure to help the less fortunate, but Sisko points out that it's really just a way to sweep the poor under the rug so other people don't have to think about them.

* [[Last Day to Live]]: Quark is told he's contracted a deadly disease. In an effort at settling his debts and earning a place in the Ferengi profit-based afterlife, he sells his corpse. Of course, after he learns that he's going to live, he finds out that his arch-nemesis bought said corpse {{spoiler|after paying off the doctor to tell Quark he was going to die to begin with}}.

* [[Latex Perfection]]: Ibudan's disguise in "A Man Alone."

** In the episode ''In the Pale Moonlight'' when Sisko is relating the events of the episode in his personal log the camera is in a generally fixed position right across from him, giving the viewer the impression that it is they who Sisko is speaking to.

** In ''Rules of Engagement'', Worf is accused of war crimes and undergoes an extradition hearing. Worf and his crew mates all give their testimony, during which we see the events they're describing. During these flashbacks, the characters speak directly to the camera.

 

== Tropes N-S ==

* [[The Needless]]: The Jem'Hadar don't need to eat or sleep. [[Inverted Trope|They just forever need Ketricel White just to stay mentally stable and physically survive.]]

* [[Negated Moment of Awesome]]: The Dominion begins an insidious takeover of the Federation under the guise of "peace" -- just as we've been forewarned -- in "The Search". Starfleet capitulates, Jem'Hadar roam free on the station, and even Sisko's subordinates are collaborators. With help from Garak, Sisko organizes a daring insurrection, and {{spoiler|...it's all a holographic simulation. The Dominion was just testing Sisko in order to gauge how he would resist an occupation.}}

* [[Noodle Incident]]: Pelios Station. Apparently, something happened there involving Curzon, Benjamin, and a dancer, but Benjamin's embarrassed enough by the story that whenever it's brought up in public he immediately cuts Dax off.

* [[No Poverty]]: Deconstructed.

* [[Not So Different]]: Once we find out that Odo's people are the Founders, its hard not to see that Odo's inherent need to maintain order derives from the very thing that lead to the Dominion being created in the first place.

** Eddington gives a great [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] to Sisko about the nature of the Federation (conveniently glossing over the fact that he and many other former Starfleet officers in the Maquis, explicitly betrayed the Federation by stealing resources, technology, and weapons when they defected, rather than resigning their commissions to take up the "noble" cause).

* [[Odd Friendship]]: Odo and Quark (though Odo refuses to admit it, even in the finale).

** O'Brien and Bashir to a lesser extent. When they meet, they certainly are this. O'Brien is an enlisted man, realistic, pragmatic, his ideals worn down by the experience of realities of war. Bashir is a young, brash officer, arrogant and pompous who believes in lofty ideas and longs for adventure. As time goes on, they rub off on each other and become less of an odd couple.

* [[Offscreen Moment of Awesome]]: In "Soldiers of the Empire", Martok, Worf, and Dax join a Klingon ship, the ''Rotarran'', on a mission to discover a missing Klingon vessel that disappeared near Cardassian space after the Cardassians aligned themselves with the Dominion. Much is said over the fact that the ''Rotarran'' has lost every engagement it has been in with the Jem'Hadar. When they finally face a Jem'Hadar ship in combat, we don't get to see the battle, the outcome of which is the ''Rotarran'''s first victory over Dominion forces.

** Kor and a team of six Klingon volunteers in a lone, damaged bird-of-prey [[Last Stand|holding off]] a Jem'Hadar fleet long enough for the Klingon task force to get away.

** Worf's face in ''Accession'' when he finds out that Keiko is pregnant ''again''. O'Brien relates how Worf was forced to help deliver Molly when the Enterprise was damaged and adrift after colliding with a quantum filament. On noticing his panic, Bashir and O'Brien mock him accordingly.

** Worf and Garak after stumbling into a Jem'Hadar invasion fleet iduring ''In Purgatory's Shadow''.

'''Quark:''' So then, the Andorian says, "That's ''not'' my antenna." }}

* [[The Other Darrin]]: Two different people played Quark's mother Ishka, and Tora Ziyal was played by ''three'' different people.

* [[Password Slot Machine]]: Used in "In the Hands of the Prophets."

* [[Patrick Stewart Speech]]: The baseball scene in "Emissary."

* [[Percussive Maintenance]]: O'Brien does this on the transporter (which, of course, is Cardassian-built) in "Emissary".

* [[Perpetual Motion Monster]]: The Jem Hadar.

* [[Premature Eulogy]]: Occurs as often as would be expected from a [[Star Trek]] work. Some episodes are practically made of this trope.

* [[Pre-Mortem One-Liner]]: One of the best ever by Dukat, addressed to Kai Winn. He says it with so much quiet venom you can almost see it physically dripping from his words: "'''''Eminence.'''''" His [[Bond One-Liner]] after is just as vicious, "Farewell, '''''Adami'''''."

* [[Ratings Stunt]]: Introducing Worf in the fourth season premiere. A rare case of this being done right.

* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: Nana Visitor got pregnant during filming for season 4/5 and the producers decided to integrate her condition into the storyline instead of trying to hide it, leading to Keiko being injured and the baby being transplanted into Kira's body to finish its gestation.

* [[Religion of Evil]]: The Cult of the Pai-Wraths.

** Actually, they are more like the [[Path of Inspiration]]. Though mainstream Bajoran religion portrays the Pah-Wraiths as [[Always Chaotic Evil]] [[Omnicidal Maniac|Omnicidal Maniacs]], members of the Cult of the Pah-Wraiths (who don't call it a "cult", obviously) believe that the Pah-Wraiths have been [[Mis Blamed]] and the ''Prophets'' are the villains, even before Bajor's [[Arch Enemy]] Dukat showed up and took over claiming to be receiving visions and commandments from them. The problem, of course, is simply that the Pah-Wraiths really ''are'' [[Always Chaotic Evil]] [[Omnicidal Maniac|Omnicidal Maniacs]], and rather worse than that really ''are'' giving Dukat visions and commandments, possibly up to and including [[Kill'Em All]] in order to conceal the fact that Dukat is still a womanising murdering [[Manipulative Bastard]]. That it really was ''their'' idea, and not Dukat just covering his tracks via mass-murder, is pretty damn sinister, but that their followers don't believe them to be evil (one even goes through with the suicide because he believes that, despite Dukat's treachery, they really did order it, and kills himself out of "faith") and in fact believe them to be ''good'', stops this being a [[Religion of Evil]].

* [[The Renfield]]: Weyoun and every other Vorta are this whenever a Founder, in fact they are genetically programmed to be as such and it seems that any cunning bastardry in the Vorta's characterisation gets diverted from nefarious plotting into finding the best way to suck up.

* [[Religious Stereotype]]: The Bajorans often fall under this, being a people who's religion dominates their culture.

** A few years later Gul Dukat is revealed to be working with the Dominion.

** And a few episodes later, when it is revealed that Bashir is in a Dominion prison and has been replaced by a Changeling for most of the season. The real Bashir is wearing the old uniform, giving the viewers a precise indicator of when Bashir was snagged.

** Which leads to rather hilarious in joke in the episode where Kira says "This is all your fault!" to Bashir during an argument, since (in universe) he was the one that did the fetal transplant from Keiko to Kira.

*** Funnier still because [[Bizarre Alien Biology|Bajoran labor is usually quiet and easy]].

** Around season four or five there were several references to "waste extraction" scattered about in various scripts.

** The Alamo in season seven. Some people thought it might be an allusion to how the series would end, but no, it was just a plotline thrown in because producer Ira Steven Behr had a soft spot for the Alamo.

** Three words: Self-sealing stem bolts. They even made it into [[Star Trek Online|the MMORPG]].

** There's a minor one in the early seasons involving Sisko's nonchalant reaction to being punched in the face. The two most notable examples are ''Q-Less'' and ''Fascination.''

* [[Sadistic Choice]]: In the episode 'For the Uniform', Eddington gives Sisko the choice of rescuing Cardassians or catching him. And then Sisko, of all people, gives one to ''Eddington'' when he demands he gives himself up to save the ''Maquis'' (or their worlds, at least).

* [[Salt the Earth]]: After Starfleet is forced to abandon Deep Space Nine to the Dominion and the Cardassians, Kira Nerys destroys the computer systems. Between this and the budding Bajoran [[La Résistance|Resistance]], the station doesn't become fully operational again until partway into the sixth season (just in time for Starfleet and the Klingons to build up their forces enough to take it back.)

* [[Scars Are Forever]]: Martok's eye & scar. Though in this case it's made clear Martok could get a prosthetic eye, he simply refuses to.

* [[Scary Black Man]]: When Sisko gets ''really'' angry, he fits this to a ''T''. He can do this either by yelling or by getting [[Tranquil Fury|really, really calm]]. (When he slipped into the Joran voice in "For the Uniform", you knew [[Let's Get Dangerous|shit was gonna go down]].)

* [[Scoundrel Code]]: The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition.

* [[Scotty Time]]: Sisko is impatient when it comes to the ''Defiant'''s maintenance, as O'Brien can attest.

* [[Shades of Conflict]]: The Dominion War has a lot of this. The Federation are the good guys for the most part, but they have secret agents willing to do ''[[Genocide Dilemma|anything]]'' to protect it, and the Klingons are rife with corruption. Meanwhile, the Dominion are responsible for a ''lot'' of atrocities back in the Gamma Quadrant, while the Cardassians, while starting out as Space Nazis, fell on hard times and their bad deal with the Dominion eventually pushed a lot of them into the position of [[The Atoner]].

* [[Shapeshifter Mode Lock]]: Odo's shapeshifting ability is removed in a few instances:

** Later, he is turned into a "solid" human by his people as punishment (for half a season).

** The Founder's Disease does this to all Changelings during the war, though most of the ones at home just stay in liquid form anyway.

** Morn is an anagram of Norm, from ''[[Cheers]]''. It was entirely intentional.

** In the comedic episode "Trials and Tribble-ations," the two agents who show up to investigate Sisko's [[Timey-Wimey Ball|time traveling shenanigans]] are named Dulmer and Luscly, [[X Files|anagrams of "Mulder" and "Scully."]]

** In ''Looking for Par'Mach in All the Wrong Places,'' Quark states his opinion on war, and what it is good for. {{spoiler|Absolutely Nothing}}

** The Breen's refrigeration suits are modeled after Princess Leia's disguise as Ubese bounty hunter Bouschh in the beginning of ''[[Return of the Jedi]]''.

** In "The Way of the Warrior", Quark speculates that perhaps he should have listened to his cousin who said, "Quark, [[The Graduate|I got one word for you]]: 'weapons'."

** Sisko's "Hello, ship" was a direct reference to the [[Steve McQueen]] movie ''[[The Sand Pebbles]]'', and the ship in question was also named the ''Sao Paulo''. {{spoiler|But not for long. It was soon rechristened ''Defiant''.}}

** In a more subtle one Garak manages to be [[John Le Carre]]'s most famous novel: he is [[Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy|a Tinker, a Tailor, a Soldier, and a Spy]]

** The Klingons established an illegal cloaked minefield in "Sons of Mogh." The mines were dormant and had to be remotely activated in event of war — and would effectively cut DS9 and Bajor off from support from elsewhere in the Alpha Quadrant.

* [[Space Western]]: Not a direct example, but draws on several Western tropes such as the frontier town near a strategic pass, the bar, the sheriff, etc.

** [[Genre Savvy|Bashir]] gave this a shout-out in the first episode, waxing poetic about how he chose Bajor over any other posting or research grant because it was in the "farthest reaches of the galaxy", which would let him practice "[[Frontier Doctor|frontier medicine]]" "where heroes are made". Unfortunately, he chooses to [[Insufferable Genius|wax poetic]] about this [[Establishing Character Moment|in front of]] local Bajoran representative [[Fiery Redhead|Kira Nerys]], who is...unamused.

* [[Suspiciously Specific Sermon]]: In "Far Beyond the Stars", the character corresponding to Sisko's father gives some very specific advice to Sisko while giving a street sermon.

== Tropes T-Z ==

* [[Taking a Third Option]]: This trope is directly quoted by Kira in the third season premiere "The Search, Part I" after the senior staff (minus Sisko) has run many simulations and found that the station will be overrun by the Dominion very quickly in the event of a full-scale assault. Dax says that that leaves them with two options-- abandon the station and make their stand on Bajor, or collapse the entrance to the wormhole. Kira says, "I want a third option" and almost at that very moment, the third option appears in the form of the new USS ''Defiant.''

* [[Techno Babble]]: A Star Trek staple. Q also refers to it by name during his appearance.

* [[Ted Baxter]]: Quark.

** "The Search, Part I and II", the first part ending on a cliffhanger with Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, and Bashir's seeming death or capture, the brand new Defiant seemingly destroyed, and Odo finally meeting his people. The next part reveals {{spoiler|the Changelings are the Founders, the head of the Dominion}}.

** "Improbable Cause"/"The Die Is Cast": Garak blew up his own shop, Tain is working with the Romulans to destroy the Founders, Garak is willing to forget that Tain tried to kill him and rejoin the Obsidian Order, Tain orders Garak to torture Odo and he ''does'', Odo admits he wants to rejoin the Founders, the leader of the Tal Shiar is actually a Founder and the entire plot was a means to eliminate both the Obsidian Order and the Tal Shiar in one fell swoop... whew.

** Let's not even start to talk about "Inferno's Light", where the writers decided to just throw everything in the air and decide to keep the status quo about whatever they could catch. The rest, [[Nothing Is the Same Anymore|not so much]].

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: "In The Pale Moonlight", in which Sisko does it to ''himself''. Also, "For The Uniform".

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Sisko:''' Commander, launch torpedoes.}}<br />

* [[Will They or Won't They?]]: Odo and Kira. {{spoiler|[[They Do]] after nearly a ''decade'' of tension.}}

* [[Word of Gay]]: Andrew Robinson has commented in multiple interviews that he considered Garak "omnisexual," and also strongly implied it in the character book he wrote. Robert Hewitt Wolfe has [http://www.exisle.net/mb/index.php?showtopic=38718&st=160&p=857040&#entry857040 stated] that he wrote Garak to be attracted to Bashir, but Bashir [[Oblivious to Love|never realized this]].

* [[World of Cardboard Speech]]: Inverted for "In the Pale Moonlight".

* [[Worthless Yellow Rocks]]: After the writers realized gold could be replicated, they realized its value would be nothing to a Ferengi. Thus latinum was created, and any mention of gold was retconned into being pressed with latinum.

* [[You Look Familiar]]: [[Jeffrey Combs]] as Brunt and Weyoun, among others.

* [[You Never Did That for Me]]: [[Played for Laughs]]:

'''Sisko''': "I'm not Picard." }}

* [[Your Mind Makes It Real]]: Garak's bloody nose while in Odo's "dream" manifests itself in the real world as he lies unconscious in the infirmary.

[[Category:Hugo Award]]

[[Category:Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]