So far, I'm four episodes in to season 2 (the one where Jadzia Dax is forced to give up the symbiont to Lionel Luth... I mean, Verad). My estimation thus far is that DS9 seems to be following a similar pattern to TNG in its first season. It's very obviously standing in the shadow of its predecessor, borrowing concepts/characters liberally from the elder series as it tries to find its own voice. The first seasons of both shows were also of very uneven quality, with a handful of episodes indicating that the show had potential. From season 1, the episodes I liked were "Captive Pursuit", "Progress", "The Forsaken", and "Duet". Most of the rest were of middling quality, and there were a few pretty awful ones ("Move Along Home", "The Storyteller", "If Wishes Were Horses"). I also enjoyed the opening arc of season 2.

I've read a few things here and there online about the type of show that DS9 evolves into, and there are definitely hints of it in these early episodes. Even at this juncture, DS9 seems to be a much more "adult" show than TNG was, dealing with issues such a war, terrorism, politics, nationalism, and religion much more deeply than TNG ever did. That aspect of the show may be partly why as a kid I got quickly bored with it when it first aired (the mediocre quality of season 1 certainly wouldn't have helped). At the same time, there are plenty of episodes in season 1 that look like they could have been recycled TNG or TOS episodes. I'm looking forward to future seasons, where the serialized storytelling seems like it would be a better fit for the kinds of themes DS9 wants to tackle.

I just watched the season 2 episode "Necessary Evil". I really enjoyed the episode for the acting, the flashbacks, and the fleshing out of the characters involved, as well as presenting a conflict for Odo and Kira. But it seemed like the main mystery was full of plotholes:

1) Why was Quark targeted for assassination? The contents of the list would have been meaningless to him. And since he's a Ferengi, paying him off would have been a better way to keep him quiet, and would have attracted a lot less attention than murdering him.

2) Why does Vaatrik tell his wife that he was having an affair with Kira when he wasn't? It doesn't seem to serve any useful purpose. Maybe Vaatrik's wife lied about this in order to create a credible reason why Kira would kill him. But if she knew Kira killed Vaatrik, then why not just tell Dukat directly? Since Vaatrik and his wife were collaborators anyway, they have a direct line to him, and presumably Dukat would want to know if the Bajoran resistance was coming after his sympathizer network.

3) Why is Odo made security chief by the Cardassians despite the fact that his audition for the job was an apparent failure to solve the murder mystery?

It's not Dax that I don't like.. it's Terry Farrell... I feel like my 15 year old daughter is a far better actor .

@ Randle - I definitely plan on continuing, it's just really slow... I don't watch a huge amount of TV, and I've also got anime to watch, as well as Gotham and Agent Carter . I pretty much agree with your s1 assessment. I'm hanging in there because people tell me it's going to be awesome eventually. So far, there's a few flashes of promise, but overall I see why I never stuck with it when it was new.

Feel free to comment on any of the stuff here, or just your own reviews . I'll get back to it sooner or later.

I have a question for you: I've been moving along the episodes at a pretty good clip (about one a day), and at this point I'm pretty much caught up with you.  Would you be ok with my talking about episodes past what you watched, or would you prefer I hang back until you've covered it?  My reason for asking is that I wanted to continue discussing episodes, but I also want to respect the fact that you started this thread and are its primary contributor.  I don't want to hijack it.

I truly don't think Terry Farrell ever got it together. She was always the weak link in the series. In the first season, they were all still trying to find their way (especially Visitor and Brooks), but Farrell was quite gifted at ruining many moments in the series. I'm very tempted to discuss Season Six, but I won't.

And yes, she is very nice at conventions.

I think Cirroc Lofton and Rosalind Chao have her beat in the weakest link dept., but again, I'm biased. 

As someone else already mentioned (you, I think?), Brooks didn't click until S4 when he shaved his head and was allowed to channel his brooding anger into badassery! 

S6 had one of the strongest openings of the series, but I remember more than a few duds as well.  But we aren't discussing that.