Redshirts Always Die
Fansided

New fans should check out Collider’s 10 best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine list

By Chad Porto

LAS VEGAS - AUGUST 13: Actor Avery Brooks, who played the character Capt. Benjamin Sisko on the television series "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," is surprised by actress Penny Johnson Jerald, who played Capt. Kasidy Danielle Sisko, his character's wife on the show, during Brooks' appearance at the Star Trek convention at the Las Vegas Hilton August 13, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS - AUGUST 13: Actor Avery Brooks, who played the character Capt. Benjamin Sisko on the television series "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," is surprised by actress Penny Johnson Jerald, who played Capt. Kasidy Danielle Sisko, his character's wife on the show, during Brooks' appearance at the Star Trek convention at the Las Vegas Hilton August 13, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a great show and these are 10 great episodes.

If you’re new to Star Trek, and maybe have only seen the likes of Lower Decks, Prodigy, or Discovery, then you’re probably in need of a good crash course in the rest of the Trek lore. Each series, from Enterprise to Deep Space Nine, is worth watching. Granted, some more than others, but each has something worth checking out.

Even the Animated Series from the 70s had something for fans to check out, as it was arguably the show Gene Roddenberry wanted to make had he had an unlimited budget. It had cat people (Caitians), who to this date have only had one live-action appearance.

So if you’re new to the series, Collider has a list of 10 episodes that most fans will absolutely co-sign.

While the series does have some carry-over from episode to episode, it’s not so much that you can’t put together what’s happening, so if you feel the need to jump around you won’t be completely lost.

In listed order:

  1. “In the Pale Moonlight” (Season 6, Episode 19)
  2. “Far Beyond the Stars” (Season 6, Episode 13)
  3. “The Visitor” (Season 4, Episode 3)
  4. “Duet” (Season 1, Episode 19)
  5. “Who Mourns for Morn?” (Season 6, Episode 12)
  6. “What You Leave Behind” (Season 7, Episode 25)
  7. “Homefront/Paradise Lost” (Season 4, Episodes 11 & 12)
  8. “The Sound of Her Voice” (Season 6, Episode 25)
  9. “Take Me Out to the Holosuite” (Season 7, Episode 4)
  10. “Trials and Tribble-ations” (Season 5, Episode 6)

In the Pale Moonlight remains my personal favorite

The list has everything, from a callback to the original series (“Trials and Tribble-ations”), to an episode built around a game of baseball (“Take Me Out to the Holowsuite”) and even an entire episode built around the fake death of a tertiary character.

Yet, for my money, the best Deep Space Nine episode is “In the Pale Moonlight”.

It’s the single-best episode in my opinion solely due to the performance by Avery Brooks. Unlike the rest of the series, Brooks’ Benjamin Sisko recounts the proceeding events through his captain’s log. He admits to bringing rules, regulations, and laws, and doing dastardly things in order to help persevere the Federation against the Dominion.

It’s a morality play, and at the end of it, you can see what kind of toll that is truly taking on Sisko. It’s a master class in storytelling from the first line of dialogue to the last. It’s quotable and unpredictable.

Truly, in my opinion, the apex of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Next. The Top 100 episodes in Star Trek franchise history according to metrics. dark

Home/Star Trek: Deep Space Nine