I_saw_it_happen

I will begin by stating I am not a fan of Star Trek, original or TNG. I respect the series for it's promotion of sci-fi, and keeping it alive in some dark hours, but overall, Star Trek has always seemed a bit too safe and kiddy of a sci-fi show for me. It always seemed a series bent on being 'family viewing'. At it's best moments, it would get a hint of more maturity, and then pull back, scared.

I was assured that Deep Space Nine was different... darker, flashier, better story arcs, better acting, and... less kiddy.

That's half true. There are episodes of DS9 that definitely fall within the 'best sci-fi episodes ever' list. There are a perhaps a couple dozen episodes (that's a lot, really) that I;d say are just downright brilliant. And some of the characters become so well developed by the end of the series it's incredible.

And then there's always the kiddy element, the silly, clownish elements that make non-Trek fans like me feel a bit more assured in our skepticism towards the merit of the franchise.

The series is pretty weak until Season 4, and then gets pretty solidly good. There are some gems scattered in the first 4 seasons, and missing those seasons would make the characters and their motivations (and the politics) that arise later in the series difficult to appreciate. But it's a lot of ho-hum mediocrity to have to sit through, for a satisfying but not mind-blowing payoff. I can see how DS9 paved the way for a whole genre of sci-fi on TV that I now somewhat unfairly hold as the standard by which to judge DS9 itself upon... but so be it, I'm spoiled by the goodness this show resulted in enough to wish it had been a better template.

The strength of this show is indeed it's character development, though the space-fights towards the end are damn good, too. But by the end, for all the promise and the possibility this show inspires, one wishes the show's creators and writers hadn't so frequently opted to err on the side of 'tamed down'. It's where they forget to do so that the show shines.

If you decide to watch this, I'd HIGHLY recommend finding a review site with episode reviews by someone who's opinion you agree with, so you can skim over the exceedingly regretful episodes. Otherwise you may find yourself in the situation I'm in --- wishing I wasn't holding all the corniness of this show against it's brilliance.

I started watching this show several years ago, when it was new (in America) and fell in love with it. It had a good first few seasons, But then it began to parody itself, and seemed to dumb itself down painfully. It became more about 'the characters' then food. The premise becomes hard to take seriously. At this point, each episode is perhaps 30% flashbacks from within the episode itself. It feels like filler--- which is good neither in food nor TV. Now, the announcer explains every five or so minutes that something incredible and brand new and never before done will happen... and the hype gets exhausting.

I made the mistake of closing my eyes for a few minutes, just listening to the show as it played. It was laughable without the flashing camera back-and-forth. Loud, dramatic music with pounding drums, Ramsay screaming about "french fries oh god what the HELL is wrong with you oh you donkey NOOOOOOOOOO O Chef NOOOOOOOO (clanging pans) It's RAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW CHEF! CHef O NOOOOOOOOOOO (louder drums) GET OUT! GET OUT! NOOOOOOOOOO. YOU moron, you can't COOK FRENCH FRIES JUST GET OUUUUUUT!...." Yeah, it gets silly.

At a certain point, if Ramsay's letting people who deserve the verbal abuse he's giving them as deep into the series as he does, then the show's not realistic, unless it's not really about cooking. If it's not really about cooking, then it's just 'the Real World', maybe dumber.

The season finales are always great big emotional releases... but it's becoming more and more painful to sit through a season to get there.

There comes a point, when you've watched all the glitzy, fancy sci-fi series that have come out in the last decade, and miss that sense of discovering an awesome new series with some good sci-fi elements that you start turning backwards, watching shows from previous decades, which begin to make more and more unrealistic projections of the next 20 yrs...

But then there's this show, this horribly-titled, 1-season show, with a pilot that begins on the wrong foot (sickly children in need of help. Awwwwwwwwww....) but... about three or four episodes in, you're hooked.

Because it's a damned good show. It relies a bit heavily on the whole 'Gaia Earth' theory, and it's a bit corny to hear characters circumventing the usual technobabble of sci-fi by insisting all oddness on the planet can be explained through 'the planet's strong metaphysical plane' (I mean, what the ****?)... But having just finished watching all of 'Deep Space Nine', I can definitely say that Earth 2's cheese quotia is far below that of anything 'Star Trek'. I'd even put it on par with some of the old Stargate SG-1.

Though there are weak episodes (mostly in the beginning). The good news is that a few of the characters who begin out the show extremely annoying eventually become quite likable, and the way in which story arcs develop is commendably good.

Beware when watching this show that you see the last few episodes in the right order. The very last episode is called 'All About Eve', even though it's often packaged earlier in the series. If you see this episode before others, you'll ruin the mildly cliff-hangery (and unresolved) ending for yourself.