And away you go :)

Difficult to know what to make of this one.

It has easily, the finest intro teaser to any of the pilots, with the showdown with the Borg at Wolf359. I kind of felt cheated when that was handled offscreen in TNG's Best of Both Worlds. Here it is though in all it's magnificent splendor.

Sad to say, the episode never then really lives up to this early promise and depite performing it's duties solidly, there's little there to elevate the episode to great. Sure, it sets up the premise of the series rather well, and it introduces the characters rather effectively, but the story itself for me felt a little flat.

Essentially though, we can tell already that this series will be quite different to what's gone before it. Firstly it's stationary (despite O'Brien soon having the station whizzing around :rolleyes:), meaning that these characters will actually have to stick around and deal with any consequences of their actions. Secondly, and this later becomes one of DS9's hallmarks, this show will quite obviosuly place more emphasis on the politics of the region, and the quadrant as a whole, which to me at least is fascinating.

As far as the characters go, as I said earlier they're ably introduced. Sisko seems out of sorts though. Whilst it's understandable he may hold some form of grievance with Picard, he seems a little too openly hostile, especially compared to the character that we'll come to know as the series progresses. Star Trek, up until this point has always had strong characters, and dynamics between those characters. This seems to be no exception, although little can I tell from this pilot episode just how great this group would become.

The Bajoran/Cardassian arc was perpetuated within TNG's run, firstly introducing the Cardassians in Season 4's The Wounded, and then later introducing the Bajora (as they were then called) and their conflict with the Cardassians in Season 5's Ensign Ro. The thread was never a favourite of mine from TNG, and the whole thing only really served to set up the introduction of the fantastic Ro Laren. Old news I'm sure, but for those that didn't know, the series originally was written with Ro taking the First Officer position. It was only after she turned down a 7-year committment that the pilot was rewritten to feature the new character of Kira Nerys.

As I said earlier, this is a steady introduction, but beyond the jaw-dropping teaser there's little to elevate this one beyond the average. On the other hand, it's light years ahead of TNG's opener, Encounter at Farpoint :thumbsup:

Emissary fits perfectly into the typical Trek pilot expectations - the good series (TNG and DS9) have poor pilots, while the poorer series (VOY and ENT) have excellent pilots.

To be fair, it does have a lot to do in the space of 90 minutes; establish the new characters, establish the Bajorans and their religion, and finally bring in the wormhole and the prophets, as well as keeping in some action in order to keep Joe Public watching. Plus you need the now obligatory 'character from the old series' :)

The main problem I personally have with Emissary is that there's too much time spent with the prophets, which is ultimately confusing for first-time watchers. In retropsect, when you know the series, it makes more sense, but I feel this was a bad move for the series as a whole.

I agree, its good for introductions but I think they did spend too much time with the prophets for the openers. The non linear existance could have been explored at another time however it does serve to give us background on Sisko. Just a little odd to spend so much time on it when as the pilot its purpose is to draw the viewers in, maybe a little ambitious.

Is it ever explained why Dax sees the paradise like scenery and Sisko sees the hell like environment? Is it because he is the one they choose to make contact with.

I do love the idea of Sisko becoming their Emissary though and all that that will entail in the future.

:ph43r: I like Kira :p

Dax sees it how it really is, whilst Sisko sees what the Prophets want him to see.

:snooty: :lol:

:lol: thanks, I never got that :)

Whateveryone else said ;)

Not the best introduction to the series but enough promise to keep you watching. For me the big positives have to be Dax :drool: , O'Brien and Sisko, with honourable mentions to Quark and Odo.

Kira comes across initially as fairly unlikeable and perhaps suffers a bit from living up to the "Bajoran women are aggressive and confrontational" thing established in TNG. Julians okay but doesn't do much at this early stage :)

Nice to see a bit of politics being set up very early on. As james said one of the things I like about the show :)

Fairly solid opener, I thought, improved by the presence of Patrick Stewart. Not sure whether Commander Sisko would have been that stroppy with Captain Picard.

I got a bit lost with the linear time bit which went on a bit but there you go.

Can't really add much to what has already been said.

I'd always kind of liked Kira, although I only started to watch DS9 really seriously at the start of season 4, and she was a much better formed character by then. With the character originally being Ro Laren, it took a while for Kira to bed in. I'd forgotten just how irritating Kira was at the start... somehow if it had been Ro, the aggressiveness and confrontation would have seemed right.

I'd also forgotten just how irritating Bashir was too, what a smug brown-noser!

But Sisko as a character was introduced well, and I liked the Sisko/Dax relationship straight away.

Not enough of Quark, Odo and all the others to really make a judgement. Nice to see O'Brien take centre stage, though I was a bit confused as I couldn't recall any real hints from TNG that he was such an engineering whizz. Yes, I know he was transporter chief, but that's very specialist I'd have thought!

All in all though... a promising, though certainly not perfect start.

Andrew (HM) :upside:

I've seen this episode a fair few times now and I have to say I always enjoy it. The first half sets up the premise in a very interesting way, I find. I love seeing the station in such a state of disarray because it's so different from the previous Trek's pristine world and it creates an interesting and quite edgy atmosphere.

The second half is less convincing, I find, and the pace slows dramatically to a point where it feels padded. I do like the goings on within the wormhole, and the way it is all represented using Sisko's memories and the way he finally starts to deal with his grief, though.

Strangely, this time through I didn't find Kira in the least bit annoying, which is a first. Usually I want to start throwing things at the tv as soon as she appears :lol: In fact, I'd go so far as to say that all of the characters seemed to move in quite easily to me, this time around, apart from Bashir who comes across as very stereotypical at this point.

That said, I was never convinced by Avery Brooks. For me, in the brief two minute scene where he confronts Picard, Patrick Stewart wipes the floor with him and throws him out with the rubbish :lol: Must be something to do with commanding a space station that makes actors wooden :lol: But, bearing in mind that I remember him improving over the 4 seasons that I watched regularly, and that I've got 3 unseen seasons to view for the first time, I'm going to withold anymore criticism of him.

Odo and Quark, of course, immediately steal the show :thumbsup:

It's quite funny seeing O'Brien taking on such a major role here when over in the TNG rewatch he's only been appearing briefly in the background. Fair play to Colm Meaney and his instant likeability that he forced them expand the role to such a degree :thumbsup:

At the moment I'm full of the same enthusiasm I had for this show back when Brian (Skibore) loaned me a tape of this episode that someone had recorded for him off US tv all those years ago. I'm looking forward to the ride :thumbsup:

Better bloody well had be after getting that box set :rolleyes: :lol:

And the winner of the last person to joing the DS9 rewatch goes to........ :lol: :rolleyes:


TBH I'd go with pretty much all you said but obviously without the Avery Brooks comments. Probably due to how many times I've watched it but I just can't see anyone else as Sisko, or even anyone else I'd rather see as :)

Oh and the Kira stuff, I never had a problem with her. Although I am a very easy going non-judgemental kind of guy :blink:

Yeah, right :lmao:

I didn't have a problem with Kira, it's only in these first few episodes where baNana plays her a bit too hyper, imo :)

I think the shoulder blade pad things went to her head. Not to mention the whole Bajoran women are pushy thing :rolleyes: :lol:

Forgot to mention the music. I'm not a big fan of Dennis McCarthy's scores and this theme sounds like a Dynasty reject. They should've got Jerry Goldsmith in :)

I'm afraid I'm with Dave re Avery Brooks. It's easy to draw a parallel with Michael O'Hare, but for me it truly is Brooks' style the way in which he portrayed Sisko. Admittedly he takes a season or so to properly find his feet, but he's light years ahead of O'Hare. With Brooks it was style, with O'Hare it was because he was :shit:

Always loved the DS9 music. It's a close call as to which music I prefer, DS9 or Voyager's themes. Probably the DS9 one just, especially after they reworked it (was it the beginning of season 3 or 4?).

Kira, pisses me off everytime I watch the first season. In fact, probably the first couple of seasons. As the series goes on though I end up warming to her somewhat. It's a complete transformation by the time the final season rolls around.

A decent introduction for O'Brien, considering that he put in 5 years on TNG it was nice to see Patrick Stewart seeing him off, rather than having it done off-camera. Bashir does come across as being stereotypical to a certain degree, but aside from Kira, the character that usually irritates the f*ck out of me here is Dax. Could she come across as being anymore smug if she tried? Have to say, I've always preferred Ezri to Jadzia.

The only other observation to make, about Kira, is that the character was initially written to be Ro Laren from TNG. Michelle Forbes however declined, instead looking towards a movie career. I like Kira, eventually, but I always wonder how the series would have gone with Ro being first officer, I always thoroughly enjoyed her on TNG.

Yeah, me too. Ro Laren was the best thing about TNG s5 for me, would've loved to see her here. Like I said though, no problem with Kira after the first few episodes :)

So this Ezri then... Are you telling me things that happen after season 4? :ponder: :p ;)

Not necessarily. Before the end of season 4 you'd know about the alternate universe. For all you know Ezri turns up there :p

I hadn't seen this.

Bloody charming :lol:

Hey! Just be glad I'm agreeing with you for once! :lol:

Cheeky sod, I knew you wouldn't admit to it :lol:

Admit to what?????? :innocent: :lol:

Er.... me actually :lol: :lol: :lol:
And I liked Kira right from the off too :p